Worm Playdate

Today marks our second annual worm playdate! 

First off, before I get into the details of this year's date, I had to pull up these adorable pictures from last year. Oh, those sweet little faces have grown so much in one year's time!

I vividly remember Mikey and Kanani being very interested in observing the squirmy little guys and would pick them up with tongs or tweezers to investigate but most definitely did not care to touch them. Gabriella, however, really, really enjoyed scooping them right up and letting them squirm all around on her. They all ooo-ed and ahhh-ed for what felt like hours.

I'm thrilled to report that this year Mikey and Kanani were on board with the bare-hand worm touching! They showed not one ounce of hesitation and dove right in. I was beyond excited for them. 

I was amazed by the level of fearlessness that surrounded me. 

Josiah, mmmm, not so much. He sat back, very cautiously and watched. His leery body language clearly communicated the fact that he didn't care to take any chances. I wondered, though, if it were presented to him differently, if he'd change his mind.  I asked Gabriella to hold one up and out for him, as if to hand it to him and he sure enough stuck his little hand out to receive it. She plopped that squirmy worm right into his tiny palm before he could even process what had happened. He giggled a bit then quickly dropped it. Denise is swift with that camera of hers and caught a few adorable pictures.

A few more of our time together...

When they'd had their full of observing, they carried each little one to a special place in our yard and said goodbye. Although the worms may have been tugged on a bit (a lot) by three sets of inquisitive, knowledge thirsty hands, I still do feel good about rescuing them from the bait department at Walmart. :) I'm rooting for them to live a life full of adventure before the early birds get them. 

Thank you so much, Denise, for all of these wonderful pictures.  You are SO awesome at capturing precious moments when we're together. I am so grateful for you and that amazing quality of yours! 

Little River Water Day

I've lost count of what number this makes Little River's annual Water Day. Regardless, I hope we continue to keep them around for a long, long time. Everyone had such a great time today!

Isaac, Elias and Alyana on the water slide! 

Nathan and Eli having a little fun shooting hoops.

Don't you do it, Josiah! Don't drink that nasty, dirty water! 
(That is the exact face he makes in the bathtub right before he slyishly slides down for a sip.
 I can't seem to get him to understand quite yet how disgusting that is. YUCK!)

Cutie-pa-tootie!

Yep, Michael dropped that entire handful (and a few more) of dirt into the pool.  

Daddy and Josh were having a blast with the kids on the slip-and-slide. They were playing with them gladiator style. The kids were eating up the attention! 

Even though it took Gabriella and Mikey almost every bit of three hours (the entire time) to warm up to the idea of the slip-and-slide, I'm so glad they did. I love watching them conquer something that may seem somewhat fearful at first sight. 

Go Gabby, Go! Look at that form! 

They worked hard for their luxurious soak in the dirty (thanks, Mikey:) ) pool water. 

We've already got some ideas brewing for next year's water day. We can't wait! 

Crib Sleeping

You wiggle your arm in the tiny space behind the back of my neck and wrap it ever so tightly around the other side. You know exactly what it is you want. Me. You grab my face with those ever so tiny hands of yours and sweetly kiss my lips. You eventually waller all around and find yourself at rest laying halfway on and halfway off of me. I'm positive many would see me crawling into the crib to help get you to sleep as unnecessary or bazaar but I see it as knowing exactly what it is I want. You. To comfort you, to love you, to esteem you, to cherish you. 

A Fort Building, Oobleck Making, Rainy Kinda Day

Being able to explore the outdoors and run around in the fresh air sure does help the day move along nicely. Rainy days can prove a bit challenging at times. We are all for playing in the rain but today's rain brought lightening. Staying in was our safest bet. 

However, the day turned out to be the perfect fort building, Oobleck making kinda day. 

Sadly, I caught no pictures of our famous "kitchen chairs and a fitted sheet tent" but did capture an abundance of Oobleck ones. 

These, to me, were perfect black and whites.  

Josiah and Mikey teamed up so well...

Whereas Gabby preferred to marvel in her Oobleck alone...

I just love that little grin on her face. 

Caption for the second picture in this collage..."Ooooooo"

Mikey and this container, I love it! 

And Josiah, adorableness as always! 

Our Oobleck started off too hard with not enough water then ended up too runny with too much water. Either way, Oobleck never let's us down! The messier the better. :) 

We also wrote a couple of books today. 

I wish we (I) would remember to do this more often. It is such an excellent tool for learning to read. Gabriella, whether she is familiar with all of the words or not, confidently reads them from cover to cover. It's meaningful to her because she's experienced the contents firsthand and we created it, word by word, together. These types of books also serve for excellent "Daddy!!! Guess what we did today!?!?" sharing times. 

In his own special way, Mikey has even got the hang of how to read them. He half way memorizes the order we wrote them in and looks for clues from the letters at the beginning of certain words on each page. I really enjoy listening to his version. :) 

Lastly, just because I remembered and these were in arms reach (AND for my fear of NEVER being able to back blog enough), here are a few more of Josiah playing with Oobleck for the first time at 11 months old. 

Sewing

Learning how to sew has been one of those things that I'd more than LOVE to learn to do but for one reason or another I've felt incredibly intimidated by. As soon as I'd think of it, I'd immediately feel defeated. I was sure I'd never build the courage to try. 

My dear friend, Emily, has helped change all of that for me and I am so very grateful. A few hours on a Saturday morning has left me no longer feeling like the idea of sewing is impossible. I'll never be able to thank her enough for the time she took to sow into my life. 

I have so many more mistakes to make before I learn the gist of things but I am on my way and I'm so happy about that. 

Here is the product of our time together that lovely Saturday morning.  

I probably sat, staring at this skirt for hours and hours after I got home that day. I was in awe, feeling a bit of disbelief, a smidgen of pride and a great deal of excitement from what's to come. Quite possibly the very best feeling, though, was the feeling I got from seeing how excited Gabriella was about it. She wore it that day and the day after and the day after that. She wore it so proudly. She proclaimed to everyone she crossed paths with, "My mommy made this for me!"   

I have been itching to make a few more skirts for Gabriella but have had a hiccup or two with my sewing machine so I spent some of my waiting time working on these adorable little flowers (which Emily also taught me!). 

Things have picked up and I have now finished my first official (solo) project, a gift for Emily's precious daughter, Ayla! I adore this fabric!

I've also been dying to try my hand at making Gabriella a few maxi skirts. Grandma June gifted Gabriella and Alyana with one she found at Burlington Coat Factory and it has become her very favorite article of clothing to wear. After studying that skirt over and over and watching a few hundred YouTube videos, I finally took the plunge and gave it a try. 

Ehhhh...not bad. Not perfect but not bad. 

It makes me really happy to know that this skirt probably cost right under five dollars to make (seeing that I didn't use all of the six dollar fabric (3/4ths of a yard) I purchased). I LOVE the print and would really love to make myself a matching one. :) Maybe one day.

I've learned quite a bit from this experience. I've learned that stretch fabric is flighty. No two seem to have the same amount of stretchiness. I've also learned that a walking foot can be a valuable tool. If I ever get one, I am sure I will appreciate it greatly. I find pinning tissue paper to my fabric a very interesting little trick but would love not to have to. :) 

I've since made two more little maxi skirts for her. This one...

And this one...

The owl print is a little wild but we still love it! 

Gabriella is very intrigued by our new sewing adventures. She has asked many times for her own sewing machine so that she can learn to sew with me. She wants a set of everything I have, just for her. 

Here she was, one day, writing a list of things she'd need in order to begin. 

design fabric

sewing machine 

thread 

scissors 

needle
pins

sewing lessons 

Sigh, she is so adorable. I love her so incredibly much. I can't wait to teach her. I'm not sure I even know enough to do so but I sure am going to give it a whirl.