Some big news in our neighborhood is this: Matthew lost his first tooth. This event has been eagerly anticipated for at least two years (ever since Matthew observed Sarah's first visit from the tooth fairy). He ran through the entire house, eagerly squealing his news to any animate object. He scrubbed his tooth really well before he put it under his pillow, and he included a note to the TF asking for $2 instead of $1 since his tooth was so clean. It's obviously more valuable than 'other' teeth.
Sarah sewed all by herself on my sewing machine for the first time. She has been begging me to teach her how to use it, so on Sunday we sat together to sew a hankerchief. I taught her the safety rules and the basic functions. She used the pedal herself and knows how to lock stitch, sew a straight line, make a basic turned hem, and turn the fabric while sewing. She was immensely pleased and promptly took her trophy to Dad to show off her budding skills as a seamstress. She has been asking me each afternoon since then if we can sew another project. I think it would be fun to let her sew her own pillowcase. Once again, it's a simple project with nothing tricky (darts, tucks, curvy contours, etc.) to mess up. I wonder what fabric she would pick if I let her have her choice at the store.
Recently we decided to pop popcorn without the lid on. We laid a clean sheet on the living room floor and sat in a circle around the machine. The air popper blew the popped kernels into the air and the children would catch it and pretend it was snow. It was so much fun! Speaking of snow....
We've been blessed with a snowy day in central Texas, so the children really enjoyed staying home from school and playing outside. Alas, stores generally don't carry mittens, gloves, and other snow essentials, so we froze pretty quickly. Sarah was inventive and layered 4 socks on her feet and used Dad's socks for mittens when her token pair of mittens because too water-logged and cold. She made a teeny snowman on the trampoline, and made a friend to go with it. Matthew was so excited to make a snow angel on the trampoline, and he also enjoyed jumping on the trampoline to watch the snow bounce around. Matthew and Daniel really enjoyed pelting me with snowballs, then coming inside for hot cocoa (prepared by Dad, complete with whipped cream and hazelnut syrup) by a crackling fire. Luckily Texan store DO sell firewood, mostly for creating a winter ambiance in the home.
I have finished sewing Sarah's pioneer dress, and she loves it. She can't wait to wear it to the pioneer farm in Austin. We are applying to be historical reenactors at this farm. I've been very interested in living history museums and historical reenacting lately, and we hope to do this as a family vacation this fall in Arizona, at one of the largest American Heritage festivals in the USA, and again in Virginia, at a Civil War reenactment that lasts 9 days. The biggest draw to me are the balls. Doesn't every little girl dream of being at a REAL ball? I know I sure did, and still do. It's one of those wishes that I very much hoped to see fulfilled, but never really expected to see happen. (A few of the others on that list include swimming with dolphins, having an art piece on public display(check), writing a book, doing an art/cultural history tour of Italy, attending REAL operas and ballets (double check), and exploring ancient Mayan ruins.) I found out that most historical reenactment societies host a few balls each year, and everyone comes in period clothing and dances the same dances tht would have been performed for that time period. How fun!! I am bent on attending one of these balls, and I'm planning my ball gown now so I have plenty of time to get the fabric on sale. The hardest part of the ball costuming is finding patterns for male evening wear. I am trying to put together a formal suit for Nathan, but those patterns are demmed elusive, and the finished products at costume shops are ridiculously expensive: $200 for just the suit coat! I am irrevocably attracted to the smart cut and snug fit of the clothing of an early 1800's gentleman of England. Think of Mr Darcy. No wonder he's a classic romance in literature: he wears such nice clothes! We'll see what I can come up with for my own gentleman's attire.
2 comments:
http://paul-and-amanda.blogspot.com/2008/10/introducing-elizabeth-bennett-and.html
A friend of mines wife made these- hopefully it gives you an idea- she is on Facebook.
Any way have fun, looks like you are!
Fun! Thanks for the link, she has cute costumes!
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