Making Jeans Last a Little Longer

I don't know what my girls do, but they get holes in their jeans so fast. In an effort to try and make them last a little longer I put patches on a pair of O's jeans this morning.

I had been wanting to do this for several weeks. O keeps complaining about being cold in the morning. It has been cold and holes in the knees would make me cold too. O had a birthday party to go to this afternoon so I finally made time to patch the jeans. I had her pick out some scrap fabric I had. That almost took longer than sewing on the patches!

How I Did It:
I took some cotton fabric, just slightly larger than the hole to be patched. I put a piece of flannel fabric behind the cotton. I cut both pieces of fabric into a fun shape that would cover the hole in the jeans. (If you don't have scrap fabric laying around like I do, go to the fabric store and go through the remnants. Bring the kids and have them help you.)

Using a blanket stitch and embroidery floss I hand sewed the two pieces of fabric to the jeans covering the hole.

I then put Fray Check around the edges of the fabric. This will prevent the fabric from fraying and falling apart during the wash. It also saves me a step. I did not want to take the time to hem the scrap of fabric or zig zag the edge.

Not a totally long term solution, but these patches should last until O outgrows the jeans. Which will be soon.

After sewing on the patches I got a giant hug from O. "Thank you mommy! I love them." She proudly wore them to her party. CK now wants a pair. No problem. She has holes in her jeans too.

BFF

O:  "Sandy is not Sarah's BFF anymore."
Mommy: (WHAT?! Who is Sandy and Sarah and did my 6 1/2 year old just use the term BFF?!)
"What does BFF mean O?"
O: "Best Friend Forever."
Mommy: "Right. Where did you learn that term?"
O: "CK"

OMG, my 6 1/2 year old is using BFF.

Offiial Halloween Portraits

Happy Halloween

I made the girls costumes this year. If you remember last year, there was too much going on with house repairs and I wasn't able to make them.

I have been so busy, it was getting too close to Halloween Parade day at school for O. Several days ago, she came to me crying (big crocodile tears) afraid I wasn't going to finish in time. I tried to convince her that I would finish. Even if I needed to stay up all night on Thursday. She didn't totally believe me or trust me. I'm not sure why.

CK seemed to be okay. Trusting that I would finish in time, but she is different. She won't say. She internalizes.

Thursday afternoon I finished O's Tinkerbell costume. She was so excited. So proud, and felt much better. Now she was worried I wasn't going to finish CK's costume.

5:30am O woke up. 5:30AM!!!! Went to the office to check on my progress from the night before. Came to my bed with joy in her voice, "You FINISHED!" YES, I said I would. My sweet girl then asks me "Did you have to stay up all night? Did you get any sleep?" Yes, my dear sweet girl, I went to bed at normal time and got some sleep. UNTIL 5:30am!

Once CK woke up I had her try on her costume. "It's beautiful!" she says. "You finished it." I knew she was worried a little too. She just won't say. I promised the girls I would start earlier next year, but they need to do their part and decide earlier.

Today at the school Halloween Parade the girls proudly showed off their costumes and made sure to tell eveyone "My mommy made it!"

Official Halloween Portraits will be tomorrow, right before Trick-or-Treating, but here are pics from today.

After school we went to a local farm/pumpkin patch. It's a wonderful old fashioned pumpkin patch. Plus I like the idea of supporting one of our local farmers. Here are some pics:

Here are the Jack-O-Lanterns we carved from our pumpkins. I love doing this as a family. From left to right; C's, mine, O's, CK's. The girls designed their own and CK carved her own.

My Beloved Turns 39!

C is my best friend, the most caring loving husband and daddy, a wonderful cook, my biggest fan (other than maybe my mama and papa), makes me feel like the sexiest women alive, and makes me laugh until I cry. I love our family time together as well as our alone time and date nights and days. C makes the most of spending quality time with his family. He always makes me feel beautiful and loved. I am so blessed and proud to call him my best friend and husband.

I love you C! Happy 39th Birthday!

Our Miracle Baby Turns 8!

I can't believe my miracle baby is 8 years old today! I waited for her for so long and now she is 8 years old. It seems like yesterday that CK was born. How time flies.

CK is a wonderful big sister. She is so smart. Nothing gets past her. She is Beautiful, loving, caring, and always helpful. She is always willing to try new things. A wonderful pianist. Enjoys the outdoors and camping. She is a Girl Scout and loves God.

HAPPY 8th BIRTHDAY CK!!!

 

A Day at the Aquarium

One of my favorite places to go is the Monterey Bay Aquarium. After spending two days in Capitola and a wonderful night in Santa Cruz with my brother and his family, the girls and I spent Sunday (of Labor Day weekend) at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. What a wonderful day. Just me and my girls. We missed daddy terribly, but we will find a day to bring him.

Here are some pictures from our day (double click on the image to enlarge)

One of my favorite creatures of the sea are the Sea Horses. So beautiful. So many different kinds. My favorite Sea Horse is the Sea Dragon. (green leafy one)

We went to see the Great White Shark they have in their Outer Bay exhibit. I was so excited to get this shot. Then I got home and C told me that wasn't it. Oh well. It's still a nice shot.

Look who I found on exhibit. The girls just loved this little bubble window.

So much to see at the Aquarium. O had not remembered she had been there before and CK was excited to be back.

Wonder

Pure joy!

This last image is perfect to reflect how our day was.

Our Second Day at the Beach

As I said in a previous post, Labor Day weekend was the Begonia Festival in Capitola. You saw what did on that Saturday. It's taken me a while (just a little busy), but I wanted to blog the rest of that weekend. It was such a great weekend.

Sunday, the girls and I caravan-ed back down to Capitola with my brother and his family. Sunday they had their annual begonia floats parade. The beach was packed around the water to watch the floats.
Here are some of the floats.

Our favorite was Snoopy!

 After the floats we sat on the beach. The kids all played. We were there with two other families, so when I mean kids, I mean KIDS. Here is a photo of all the kids together. WOW.

13 kids!!

Uncle S brought some of the kids to see the sea critters in the rocks.

It was another great day at the beach. Nice weather. I sat and relaxed while the girls played in the sand.

After the beach S, G and the M.E.S.S. kids and my girls and I all checked into a hotel in Santa Cruz. We had a very fun sleepover. The kids all had so much fun laying in bed watching TV and having breakfast in the room.

Sunday was just me and my girls. I'll be posting that next.

Laughing

I am SO behind! I promise to catch up on my blog soon, but I just had to post this NOW.

We were in the car driving to mass and the girls were in the back seat laughing. O was making herself laugh, it's so wonderful to hear. Then O says:

"Today is a laughing day!"

Every day should be a laughing day.

A Day at The Beach

The girls and I spent the day at Capitola Beach today. It's Capitola's annual Begonia festival. The sand castles were amazing. The weather was perfect. I think the girls favorite part was flying their new miniature kites.

 

These are the girls favorite sand castles they saw today.

 

The girls loved spending a day just playing at the beach.

 

  

  

The girls flying their mini kites. What fun!

 

On our way back to the car, we were able to choose some Begonia's to take home. These did not make it onto the floats that will be on parade tomorrow. We didn't mind. We will enjoy them at home for a few days.

Lunch with Old Friends

Since middle school I had wanted to learn sign language. In middle school I had a friend who was deaf. Not being able to talk to her upset me.

Not being able to communicate with my friend bothered me so much I took a sign language class in junior collage. That wasn't enough. I loved sign language. I ended up getting my minor in Deaf Education at SJSU.

Today I was able to tell my friend, JC, I learned sign language and received my Deaf Ed. minor because of her. We had lunch together today. Joining us were two other friends from middle school, E and I. It was wonderful to be all together after all these years (30 years, JC made sure to tell us.) Having lunch just like when we were 11 years old, but now it's better. We are able to communicate. Talking with our hands, we were there signing away for 2 hours. If there was something we did not know how to sign JC was happy to show us the sign.

CK, O, E's daughter and I's cousin were there as well (all the same age). CK and O loved signing to JC. They had been practicing. The kids loved learning sign language from JC. She sat and taught them many animal signs. Such a wonderful afternoon!

Sometimes you don't realize how you effect other peoples lives. I hope my beautiful friend realizes how special she is and how she has effected so many lives. She helped us grow and learn. I am so thankful for knowing her in middle school. I am enjoying getting to know her better now and look forward to our next lunch.

JC signing horse

Signing the letter D

JC teaching the kids signs....this is fish

CK signing mouse

O signing mouse

signing tree

Our Mouser

Enough about the kids....gotta post about the cat. I'm a little behind on my posts. There are a few I haven't had a chance to post, but this one could not wait.

Some of you know, Genie was born on a farm. Mousing is in her blood and she's really good at it. I have found many mice and birds at my back door (half eaten). The girls have sat and watched (from inside the house) Genie eat crickets and grasshoppers....loving every minute.

Not too worry...the catch of the day never comes into the house. We do not have a cat door that goes from outside to inside. Only from inside into the garage, for this very reason.

Tonight, during dinner, Genie was outside sitting at the bushes in the backyard. The girls and I were in the kitchen eating. We knew Genie saw something in the bushes. She would not leave that bush. Moving into attack position at the slightest movement from inside the bush. This went on for about 15 minutes.

The girls and I, still eating dinner, kept watching Genie. All of a sudden I saw something race from the center of the bush to the top (at the lattice). Oh my gosh I jumped up. Genie walked away with her head held down. I felt bad for her.

Leaving the girls inside, I went out to take a look. Sitting right there at the top of the lattice was a HUGE MOUSE. This was a very healthy fat mouse. No wonder Genie was sitting there for so long. I went back inside and the mouse took off somewhere deep in the bushes.

Genie went in and out of the house for about 45 minutes after this. Always going straight to the bush to check for the mouse. The girls encouraging her every time she went outside. "Go get the mouse Genie!"

Another day Genie. You will get that mouse. I know you will.

My next project....remove all the bushes and ivy from the back fence. Not really looking forward to that since I know for sure now what lives in there. Of course, my smarty pants daughter tells me exactly what I need to wear while I do this....jeans, knee highs, long sleeves, tennis shoes, gardening gloves, and a helmet. The girls also offered to help. (don't think so)

First Day of School

Today was the first day of school. Summer went by much too fast.
No more babies! Both girls are in school full day. It's going to be an exciting year.

My big 3rd Grader! I can't believe it! She has another great teacher this year. She came home, on the first day of school, with homework. I love it! She found her sister at lunch to eat with her. Such a great big-sister!

No more baby! Here is my big 1st Grader! Again, I can't believe it! O also came home from the first day of school with homework. I love it! She has the same teacher CK had for 1st grade so that made it easy. She was very tired when I picked her up from school, but woke up quick when we stopped at the park before going home.

The house was so quiet today. I missed the girls, but I'm going to love this new chapter.
Here is to a great year for both of my smart girls!

Need I Say More?

Baby Blues says it the best.

Tahoe - Friends and a Wedding

We are in Tahoe for a last little Summer trip before school starts. Our good friend is also getting married today.

Last night we went to the wedding site and met the bride and her daughter. It did not take long for CK and O to make a new friend.

It's going to be a beautiful wedding!

New friends

The wedding site

A new family

The Bride and Groom to be

What My 6 Year Old Worries About

O: "Mommy, will a boy ever like me?"
Mommy: "Yes, of course!"
O: "Why?"
Mommy: "Because you are beautiful, funny, sweet, and have a wonderful devilish sparkle in your eyes.
CK: "You are very funny."
O: "Thank you mommy."
Daddy: "Don't worry the boys will love you."

A Must Read

My cousin, Windshield Rosary, posted this story on her blog.
It is a MUST READ! I want everyone I know to read
this essay, by Laura Munson.

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Girl Scout Day Camp

This year my niece joined us. I thought she might enjoy some girl time and a week of Girl Scout Day Camp with two of her girl cousins should take care of that. It did....big time!

The three girls got alone great. There was absolutely no fighting, crankiness, or bickering, until the 6th day when CB was going to be going back home.

CB missed mommy and daddy, of course, but Auntie T was right there with big hugs when she felt sad. We called mommy and daddy every night. O took good care of CB all day at camp. They were in the same little unit and O made sure CB wasn't sad. She took very good care of her cousin.

Make new friends, but keep the old.
One is silver, and the other gold.

A circle is round, it has no end.
That's how long, I will be your friend.

One of the many Girl Scout and camp songs the girls and I sang all week. Many...many...over...and over....all year long.....

Crafts, creek walking, Girl Scout traditions, new friends, old friends, bonding time with cousins. What a wonderful week. Nonna even came out for creek walking day. What a treat. The girls loved it!

The Monkey Bridge (rope bridge) was about 6' off the ground. It took 3 hours to put up, 45 minutes to take down, but a lifetime of memories! I'm so very proud of CK, CB, AND ME for going across the bridge! O got scared. She wanted to go, but was just too scared. That's fine. I told her she didn't have to do it and there were other girls who didn't do it either. O cheered me on big time when I went across. I was scared to death and told O that. I don't like heights, but I did it, I did it for my girls. For O. I wanted to show them that even though you might be scared there are some things you still need to do. I'm so glad I did! What an experience.

Look at that face! My beautiful sweet niece. I enjoyed getting to know her better, hugs, girl time at camp, her laughter and that beautiful smile. Thanks J and B for letting her stay with us for the week. We had a fantastic week. Memories to last a lifetime!