Spring Sewing

I have been sewing a lot lately. My kids have finally grown out of worn out the clothes they've had for the last two years (they grow slowly...) so I was excited to make a lot of new things for them for the spring and summer!

I refashioned a lot of my old things for Anna. A button up shirt became a cute little tank. And my old t-shirt is now a smaller t-shirt. And I finally tried out freezer paper stencils, which I loved!!

Matthew got shorts and t-shirts with stenciled shapes and animals. Anna got skirts and t-shirts and simple cap-sleeve tops.

I also made Anna a cute little Easter dress with this beautiful fabric from my friend Jill's stash. I love it. And Matt got a bow-tie which he was quite happy with.

*Some of these projects were inspired by beautiful things made by other people. Here, here, and here.

I've got a few more things I'm finishing up, so I'll do part 2 soon!!

My Afternoon in the City

Last week, I got to spend an afternoon in Manhattan all by myself. Thanks to my friend who watched the kids, I didn't have to wrestle a stroller onto the subway or fear losing my children in the throngs of people that always cover the sidewalks in the city. It was wonderful.

I did some shopping and people watching and picture taking. But my main purpose for the trip was to visit some of the fabric stores in the Garment District. I could have spent days, not hours, looking through those amazing stores and dreaming up all the things I could make with that beautiful fabric.

I found some great things to buy, ate a delicious slice of pizza, and then headed toward home on the subway... ferry... and bus. I loved my afternoon, and I'll hopefully be able to sneak in a few more of them in the next 7 weeks.

Right Now

Anna is potty trained! She picked up on it really fast, thankfully. She absolutely loves Batman and Zorro, and is always pretending to catch bad guys. She is very independent and will tell you that she is 5 years old if you ask. She has also decided she doesn't need naps anymore.

Matthew will be 5 in just over a month. He is smart and loves to figure things out and he remembers almost everything he learns (except the rule about not jumping over the back of the couch...). He is best friends with Anna and is a wonderful big brother. He is always hungry.

Joseph passed the boards and is done with all of his big tests and projects! He just has a few more classes, requirements, and patients to finish up at school, and then he'll be finished. He graduates on May 9!

I have a stack of fabric that I'm working my way through. I'm going to start posting more pictures of what I sew, since that is my main hobby right now. I am getting excited for our move and for our visitors coming next month!

Lancaster, PA

Joseph has spring break this week, so we took a quick trip to Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The countryside was beautiful and I loved the rolling hills and lovely farms. We took a horse-drawn buggy ride through the Amish country and learned about their culture and simple way of life. It was about as opposite of NYC life as you can get.

We had fun playing tennis, swimming at the hotel pool, and shopping at the outlets, too. It was a great little family vacation that was much needed by all of us.

The rest of Joseph's spring break will consist of him taking the WREB licensing exam - a 3 day clinical observed test. He's getting so close to being done and we are so excited!

Our Zoo

The Staten Island Zoo is just down the street from our home. With a boy who loves animals as much as Matthew does, you can bet that we visit the zoo a lot. It is free on Wednesday afternoons, so we head over there for a couple of hours to make sure they are taking good care of our animal friends. We love the brown bats, otters, iguanas, crocodiles, scarlet macaws and peacocks, to name a few. The kids love feeding the farm animals and playing on the big animal sculptures. I love that they get to experience the zoo regularly and make such great memories. This is one thing we will definitely miss when we leave Staten Island.

Slow Down, You Move Too Fast

Nothing makes you slow down quite like a house full of sick kids. We've been taking it easy around here for the past little while, and I've been enjoying the quiet days and one-on-one time I've had with Matthew & Anna. Now that we are feeling better, I hope to remember to leave some unscheduled time for quiet and play and not fill our days with errands and long lists.

I just finished reading this book for the third (or fourth...) time. I love it, and every single word spoke to me to tell me to slow down, waste less time with unimportant things, and really appreciate life. I recommend this book to anyone, mother or not. I'm sure I'll be pulling it back out in a month or two when life gets crazy again.

P.S. We have a current obsession with Zorro at our house. The kids are constantly wearing capes and masks of some sort, running around the house yelling "Zorro!", sword fighting, and writing the letter Z on anything and everything. They love watching an episode of the old Disney series before bed each night with Joseph. I love watching them love something so much.

Finally February

For some reason, January felt like it lasted for a year. I was happy to see February come... and now it is almost halfway over! We've had some nice weather that has allowed us to play outside and enjoy the sunshine, and it feels good.

Joseph's sister, Mary, is visiting us this weekend and we got to attend the opera! We saw Ernani at the Metropolitan Opera House and it was wonderful. We really enjoyed ourselves and it was a great experience.

This next month is pretty busy with school work, tests, church callings, and other projects. There is always something to do, but that is how we like it. Oh, and happy Valentines Day!