Feeling Crafty..part 2

Ivy's dress is nearly done(it didn't take 2 weeks to make, I've just been busy)! I've even convinced her to wear it for school pictures on Tuesday. If we're paying for pictures anyway, might as well have her look nice in them, right? I'm just finishing hem on the ruffle & doing a self-made single bias tape on the armpits(out of the same fabric). It's a little hard to tell, but on the back there is a sort of ruching/gathering with elastic on the inside of the back piece. I may be making her a small matching purse, from an Amy Butler pattern, called Stash & dash bags, since I have leftover fabric.

I haven't even started on the boys' pants yet, but I'm planning on using this online tutorial called "10 minute trousers." Essentially, it's using the boys' existing pants or shorts as a pattern.

new background

i made it myself! thanks for the tips natalie!

Feeling Crafty

Yesterday I found a cool new fabric store a couple miles from me, and found these 2 designer fabrics(both thin corduroy) for $3/yd--the online co-op I sometimes order from is $5-6/yd+shipping. So I thought it was a good deal. I'm going to make the boys matching pants & a dress(maybe jumper style?) for Ivy. Looks so yummy for fall.

first days of school

ivy & collin both started school last week. ivy on tuesday & collin on thursday.

all ready for her 1st day

she gave me the thumbs up on the backpack(i got it while talking to her on the phone)

poor ivy. her school faces east & the sun was in every kids' face while their parents took pictures.

fancy pantsy lunchbox. seriously, i think this is her favorite part about school: she gets to take a lunch with her, like collin has been doing.

excuse just the shirt & boxer undies. collin was super excited to try on his new backpack. the one from last year barely made it thru the school year, so i had to find something built better. it's thomas the train.

Update

Why do things have to get harder before they get easier?? Everything was settling in nicely with Tom's new job, Ivy & Collin starting back up at their schools, and I was finally feeling like I could actually breathe and relax. By the way, Ivy and Collin are both loving being in school.


Wednesday afternoon, that all came crashing down. Tom called me in the middle of Collin's therapy to let me know that the parent-company he was going to re-join(he was with them before the split-off) is retracting the job offer(even though he already accepted and and everything was almost finalized). We're guessing their retracting it because of Tom's deployment, which is BLANTANTLY illegal. They're legally obligated to keep his job or comparable job for him while he's gone, so he has something to come back to. Tom's filing a complaint, and getting a statement in writing from the company why they took the offer back.

At work(same buldings as the parent company he's transferring to) has this plastered all over the walls. This is why he wants the statement in writing from the HR department.



He has a company helping him with the complaint, who specializes in military situations like ours. If nothing happens with the complaint, we're going to government representatives over our district & the district the company is located in. After that, bring on the news stations! The sad/ironic part is that this is one of the top Defense Contractors companies in the contry..they get contracts from the military!!!!!!!! This is one fight we are going to give it our all.

Comfort & strength

Andrew & Grandpa Lewis

Friday night, very late, I got a Father's blessing from my dad. We were staying at the same hotel as they were for the wedding. With all that's going on/will be going on pretty soon, I've felt like I'm on an emotional roller coaster. So many things were said, some too personal to share here. I was blessed many times w/peace. I was also blessed that there would be angels watching over me & Tom. I am soo lucky & thankful to have a dad who can & is more than willing to give Father's blessings. I'm also very grateful to have seen my parents for the wedding, and to spend quality time(albeit short sometimes, due to restless boys) w/other members of my family. It's probably going to be awhile before the next time we're able to go see them.

Our trip to Vegas

One of my younger brothers just got re-married, in the Las Vegas temple, on Friday. We went up Thursday, and got back Saturday evening. Longest road trip we've done w/the kids since April, when we went down to San Diego for Tom's friend's wedding. Enjoy the pics!

Thursday

Between these books w/buttons to push, our portable dvd player, and lots of snacks, the kids were set.

Collin, just relaxing.

We were in a hurry to leave on Thursday, and I had seen Ivy packing her own bag Wednesday night. Didn't double-check it till we got to Vegas. She had packed her swimsuit, 3 pairs of underwear, a pair of sandals, and the pj's she's wearing here. (Ivy was getting a dress from my brother's new in-laws when we got there, so we didn't have to worry about packing that). We picked her up a couple outfits to play in after dinner @ In N Out.

Somewhere out by Barstow.

We teased Ivy about joshua trees being "cactus trees". A little while later, she kept asking the infamous/inevitable "Are we there yet?" every 2-3 minutes, till I turned on a movie for them.

One of our many bathroom stops. This is Primm, Nevada. 1st city past the Nevada/CA border. We didn't stop here, I just took the pic on the way out. The place was called "Terrible's resort & casino". We had a good laugh about how it must be pretty terrible. In Las Vegas, we also saw "Terrible's Car Wash". Tom teased Ivy that they must use mud to wash the cars with. My new sister-in-law told me that Terrible's is a franchise & all over the place in Nevada.

Nevada was pretty hot, but not as hot as we expected. Still in the 100's, but it felt like high 90's since it's a very dry heat, reminiscent of when we get the Santa Ana winds.

Friday

My brother Aaron & new sister-in-law, Kristen.

Both sets of parents got lost in the temple, after everyone had come outside for wedding pics. It took awhile before they were found. Don't have a pic, but they got a big cheer when they came out(as if they were the new brides & grooms).

Wedding reception, Friday night. Family pics were taken before guests arrived. By the time we got there, all 3 kids were asleep. Ivy was cute sleeping on Tom's shoulder. I wanted to get a pic, but the flash of the camera woke her up. After she had been awake for awhile, Tom bribed her(with In N Out stickers) to get her pics taken w/the other little girls who had matching dresses.

Back at the hotel. The kids loved jumping on the 2 beds we had in the room. This tank top was used under Ivy's dress for the reception, she just didn't want to change. It's her first ever tank top.

Andrew looks like he's crying here, but he was having a good old time.

Saturday

This is on our way back thru Baker, CA(30-50 miles from Barstow, closer to Nevada). The world's tallest thermometer, or so Tom says. You can't see it well in the pic, but it said 101 degrees. We could tell a huge humidity difference between CA and Nevada. Once we got back home, we felt very sticky.