Marie Grace Designs

Oh well...

Guess I'm just gonna have to eat strawberries and cake for lunch again. 

This country living can be pretty tough some days.

It helps to have a little country boy around.

He can help keep a look out for the local wildlife.

Who needs iPhones...

These 2 are outside with 2 cans and some string.

By the way... This is a test post. Please forgive any weirdness.

Is it weird...

Is it weird to head up a blog post with a picture of my lunch? Let it serve as an explanation for why its been so quiet here... I've said it before... the quieter here on the blog the busier at the house.

~ The garden frames are full of both new little veggie plants and small things ready to eat like the above strawberries and spinach. We've been able to pick a bowlful of strawberries almost everyday. And I'm attempting to stagger some areas of spinach plantings in an effort to never run out of fresh spinach again. Ever. Because I love it.

~ I've finally gotten into enough of a routine that we are completely off store bought bread products! With all 6 of us, 4 of which are adult-ish, its a lot of bread!

~ Have been spreading the wealth of homemade cereal I've making by passing on jars full of the stuff to friends.

~ After some half-assed composting we've finally gotten control of 2 full compost areas... one in the garden for regular kitchen composting of food scraps and peelings and 1 larger one near the goats for larger things like trimmed and fallen tree limbs. We even spent some time over the weekend reclaiming some dead-fall with a wood chipper and made our own mulch for around the garden frames.

~ I've finally convinced Bubba that wearing a hat is a good thing. All it took was the entire family acting like we've won the lottery every time he puts a hat on. Lots of cheers and clapping. Come to my house and put your sunhat on and you'll be rewarded with a standing ovation!

~ I've started on sewing summer clothes for the younger kids. Shorts for Bubba, more Skinny Tees (did you here that Rae is working on a BIG kid Skinny Tee pattern?!?), and jammies all around. Lots to do.

~ Drier... what drier? Between the washline and the rack inside I do believe my drier is gathering dust! I may never use it again.

The school year is almost over, Tater has her homeschool eval this week and the big kids will be done with their Cyber Chart in another 14 days, so we're all really restless and ready to run full on into summer and all the possibilities it brings. Bubba is big enough to really love being outside and its so good to see him happy and active. 

This may sound odd... or maybe wishy-washy... but it feels like there's another major shift going on around here. Maybe all families that have several kids, especially kids that are spread out as far as mine are, all go through this sort of thing. It just seems like things are always... shifting. With Bubba now firmly planted in toddler-hood it just feels like we're all on the move again after some span of relatively quiet hermit-ish living as is welcome when there's a wee one in the house. 

Somehow his transition from baby to toddler gives me some sort of piece of my brain back... along with the use of my hands. He's finally sleeping good at night and for a daily nap without me having to be with him (finally).

Now that my baby-having days are passed, I feel a sense of... moving on, perhaps? Readjusting? And yes, shifting. To watching my babies becoming... people. Wondering if I've set a good enough example. Wondering if I've taught them the important things and figuring how to sift the really important things out of the not-so-much. Spending time really enjoying them and watching and listening as much as guiding.

Wondering what in the world I will fill myself with when there's not so much handholding and diaper washing to do.

 

 

 

 

First of the season...

(photo heavy)

Its been a really weird spring. First unseasonably hot. Then cold. Then hot again. And dry. 

For the past few days its been cool and rainy and actually feels like a real spring. Seems the garden thinks so too because all the wee seeds we put in, that I was worried would never produce due to the crazy weather, have all emerged. There are tiny little sprouts of all sorts in the garden frames.

And the strawberries that have been growing plump are ever so slowly turning red. We have a quite prolific little strawberry patch but really my little crew tends to eat through them before I ever have a chance to freeze any. This year I'm playing strawberry guard in effort to put up some freezer jam.

Left unguarded...

Bubba has been a little uncertain about leafy edibles. I suppose if big sister will eat it he will too...

And Tater is very proud of her little herb pots which have all begun to sprout as well...

 

Sandbox Pants and a Flashback Tee...

Shirt stats:

Pattern: Flashback Skinny Tee from Made By Rae

Size: 2T, long sleeve, 1" cuff. (no modifications)

Fabric: Interlock from the dreaded Joann Fabrics

I love this shirt with all my heart. Super quick to make, especially if you do it all "quick and dirty" like I do... I sew the cuffs to the sleeves while they're still flat, add some top-stitching at the shoulders and sleeve seams, and zigzag all the other seams. Done.

I have a bunch of this fabric that I got on sale and I'm working on using it up to get it out of here. Its okay but gets pilly pretty quick. I've been using it for pajama shirts which nobody really sees and only used it for this shirt because it was the first one I made with this pattern. I figured that if I screwed it up or it didn't fit it wouldn't be a big loss. That said... I have some adorable knit fabric from Spoonflower for the next one!

I wasn't too sure how I'd like the fit of a "skinny" tee on a toddler but it is fabulous. I think this is my new go-to tee pattern and plan to make a stack of short-sleeved ones for summer.

Pants stats:

Pattern: Oliver and S Sandbox pants

Size: 2T (no real modifications)

Fabric: Lightweight denim from Joanns. 

Okay, I actually like the denim from Joanns. Its light and soft and so far seems to wear pretty well. I've made Tater a few pairs of O and S After School Pants with it and don't have any major complaints at this point. I would, however, be open to any recommendations for lightweight denim from other sources.

I went up to a 2T for Bubba because he's in cloth diapers and I wanted a loose fit in the rump area. The larger size means the legs are really long for him but instead of shortening them I just gave them a very healthy cuff in the hopes I'll be able to let it down as he grows. 

At the moment this is my favorite pants pattern for Bubba. Its got lots of modification potential and I've already started fiddling with a few other pairs... some with pockets, some without, some with elastic all the way around instead of the drawstring, and some shorts.