An outfit for Maddie, and some randomness....

Maddie has been wanting a skirt and top "like Sissy's Easter dress" for a while now. Every time she came up into the loft she would ask if it was done yet....don't you just love a nag? So a couple of weeks ago I promised her that by Sunday morning she would have her very own Easter dress.

I made the top out of the Olivia Paige pattern (the skirt is the Miss Claire), but I was being a little lazy. I skipped the tucks on the front bodice (I just used the lining pattern piece for the main bodice and the lining), I sewed the cross over back together and just made one back skirt (think fake wrap dress), and then I added a sash. It went together so fast! And the princess approves because she says she feels five in it. Five? Really? What's so cool about five? Why can't she want to be three? Sheesh! The fabric is Hunky Dory by Moda.

A few random bits...

First off, an adoption update, we are waiting on paperwork (we have done everything we can up until now) and our next step will be to send over our Dossier! I don't talk about it much here or in real life because when I do I start thinking about things like....how many years will they have to be in an orphanage before I get them, I wonder if they're hungry, I hope they have a kind caretaker....but what if they don't?! You see what I mean. I'm trying to save all of my emotions for when I have a PICTURE and I know who they are!!!! I think part of this way of dealing comes from what we have lived through in the last few years. I find that I have a hard time getting excited about anything until it happens....sometimes I feel bad about that, but I guess we all have our own defense mechanisms, right? I do think about what it will be like when my babies get home a lot. I think about how nice it's going to be to go to bed at night with everyone asleep and safe under the same roof....that's going to feel heavenly.

Now I wanted to explain a few things...I have went through my archives and pulled a few posts. I didn't think that anyone would notice, but a few people did. The only reason that I did this was that I felt that some older posts may have had a little too much information about where we live. We have never had any trouble with that sort of thing, but we want to be as safe as possible. I know that I'm not the only mama who worries about that kind of thing, so I knew that y'all would understand!

One more thing! Lately I've been getting a lot of email asking "How do you get it all done?" HA! That's easy, I don't! Hunny if I have given the impression that my children always have clean socks in their drawers, I'm sorry! LOL! They don't. In fact I find myself overjoyed when sandal season hits because that's one less thing I have to worry about. One of my favorite cousins, Amy, told me one time "Girl, I'm just trying to keep the laundry under the widows so the neighbors don't see!" I love her. I do have to say that my house stays pretty clean because I can't think in a dirty house, but my kids help A LOT. I tell them "Guys we can do whatever you want today, but the house has to be clean first." and that's all it takes. We work together, get it done, and then do whatever we want. Each child has a "station" that has to be cleaned and maintained throughout the day. Molly has the kitchen, she unloads the dishwasher, cleans off the counters and table, and sweeps. Tim has the living room, he cleans up toys, shoes, blankets, and cups. Maddie has the bathrooms and the shoe closet, she takes the dirty clothes to the laundry room, and straightens up the shoes. Then we all fold and put away laundry together. When I get a load out of the dryer I just plop it onto the couch and we all spend a minute or so folding and then we put it away. Another way that I get my sewing time in is by staying up late! Molly and I LOVE to stay up late! Molly will fix a pot of coffee, we will put on an audio book, shut the door to the loft, and I will sew while she draws or works on her own project. We can't do this every night, because we do need sleep sometime, but we usually get to stay up at least one night a week.

Tonight I'm headed to my sister's house for some girl time :) I'll be back soon, probably two pounds heavier from chocolate and pizza.....no big thang, we'll just have to go climbing again to burn it back off! xo, Sam