Little Monsters

One of Savannah's nicknames before and after she was born was Tummy Monster. It was a nickname well-deserved. Now I have a new tummy monster, and again the nickname is well-deserved. I feel like I'm carrying a gremlin at the moment, not sugar and spice or snips and tails.

Savannah loves monsters, really LOVES them. When I was her age I was petrified of monsters under my bed and was certain that they would bite my achilles until it sprang up to my kneecap like a roller shade, if I got out of bed. Savannah would probably be thrilled to discover a monster under her bed. So while she was sleeping I created her own little monster, named Violet. Violet is hand-sewn from felt scraps, which is unusual because unless I really, really have to, I don't sew with a needle and thread. Violet has a little pocket on her tummy so she can double as a tooth pillow should the tooth fairy visit us anytime in the next year or so.

Violet the monster, who enjoys sleeping under Savannah's bed.

The little princess had to get some extra energy out this evening so she danced away to Tchaikovsky for an hour after dinner. When she dances, my "job" is to watch her. I get to play "the audience" according to Savannah, and speaking over her performance is not appreciated.

Finally, the finale! She bows, then curtsies, then poses for pictures.

I feel guilty for not finishing my craft projects right now. Between moving chores and baby fatigue, I barely have the energy to function all day long. The one project I'm really trying to finish before the move is Savannah's Halloween costume. I asked her if she wanted me to make her a princess or pirate costume this year and she said, "No!" She wants to be scary. She decided to be the most obscure thing - a bewitched pumpkin from Scooby Doo that comes to life and grabs people when the back-from-the dead witch Sarah Ravencroft brings it to life. She wanted to know if I could put a scary voice box inside her costume that makes eerie sounds. Picturing the poor kids in our new town peeing in their Halloween costumes when they encounter Savannah on Halloween night, I told her not this year.

I suppose even if I am slow to complete my projects right now, I'm still busy creating the greatest thing in the world, life.

Crayon crafts and baby blankies

Today we went through the house and tossed out or organized what we could to prepare for our move. Savannah's craft drawers got a big cleaning today but I wasn't sure what to do with her enormous shoebox box of crayons. Savannah was a compulsive peeler of crayon labels from ages two through, well, now, so most of her crayons had been peeled. We sorted them into color piles and baked them in the oven to make new crayons. This will be perfect for an upcoming unit we are doing on nature and textures where she'll be collecting things she likes from outside and making rubbings. Savannah was very interested in watching the crayons melt in the oven into "crayon muffins." Got some broken crayon pieces of your own? Here's the recipe:

• sort broken and peeled crayons into piles of your liking (they can be totally mixed if you want or in theme colors such as primary, patriotic, etc)
• preheat oven to 350
• fill a muffin tin with your crayons
• turn off the oven and place the crayons inside, keep the light on so you can watch - they go pretty quickly
• remove the melted crayons and let cool overnight or place them in the freezer for 10 minutes to cool

Sorting the crayons. I like to do it this way because I think it gives more depth to children's drawings. Most people just mix them haphazardly.

Sorting the broken bits into a muffin tin.

Savannah can't take her eyes off the "crayon muffins."

Some of the finished products. We ended up making 2 dozen!

I also finished making some gifts for my new nephew. He's getting a very boy themed blanky and burp cloths with fire trucks and cars. I was hoping to find fire engine fleece but no luck, so no matchy, matchy. Every baby needs something colorful, soft, machine washable, and thick enough to keep them warm in cold cars or to avoid painful head bonkings on hard surface floors. Here's my tutorial for this baby blanket.

I'm hoping for a girl since I know girls. I think a boy would be overwhelming for me. On the bright side Kevin and I have agreed on one single boy name over the past five years so at least if we did have a boy the name is already settled. He doesn't like any of my boy names and I don't like any of his, with this one exception. If we have a girl I don't really know what we'd name her. It would involve another one of our great debates.

Chicken Dreams, Homeschooling and Avoiding Stretch Marks

Chicken Dreams
All day I've been dreaming of chickens in between signing and faxing paperwork and other moving details. First thing in the spring, we are ordering our brood and building a hen house. I'd like to get eggs to incubate and hatch so Savannah can see this wonderful process right before her eyes. It will mesmerize her and me too! Plus, if one of the chicks imprints on her and follows her around as "Mommy" that would be an added thrill for her. We'll probably order Rhode Island Reds but I haven't finished researching all the breeds yet.

Belly Potion
Today I made a belly potion (as Savannah calls it). "tion" was one of the new sounds we've been practicing this week and potion is one of her favorite "tion" words, hence the belly potion. It is for mothers to rub on their bellies everyday during pregnancy to avoid stretch marks. I had terrible stretch marks with Savannah so I'm trying to prevent or minimize them this time. Even four years later, I can't stand to have my belly touched, even by my own hands, so rubbing it on is not a party. But it does soak right into my skin so I don't have to worry about getting it on my clothes. It looks like my entire belly shattered and had to be put together again, piece my miserable piece like a Victorian crazy quilt made from the tiniest scraps of same-colored material and assembled by the most skilled surgeon who stitched the scraps together with the finest silver thread. It's almost like a spider web fused to me but not quite one of Nature's masterpieces. Anyway here's my belly potion recipe and I'll let you know if it works for me.

Belly Potion Recipe (to avoid stretch marks of pregnancy)

Mix together in a jar with lid:

• 4 oz of almond oil
• 2 oz of jojoba oil
• 1 tsp of vitamin E
• 2-3 drops of lavender essential oil

Cap it and shake. Apply daily during pregnancy from the top of the public bone to the bottom of the ribs and make more potion as needed.

Homeschooling
Savannah has been doing extremely well in homeschooling. I can hardly believe it. I have an organized curriculum and teaching folder with lessons and activities prepared (language and literacy on one side, math on the other) but not a schedule. This way we actually have "school" for two or three 20-30 minute intervals in a day. Our first is always the reading and writing lesson. I love this time together. She sits on my lap as if she were smaller and I were reading her a story, but really, she reads the stories to me. She's already reading the Level 2 easy readers on her own and everyday she escapes to her room and sprawls out on her reading rug to read herself (or her animals) stories. The other day we stopped at a restaurant for lunch and I was grumpy from feeling so hungry (apparently with this one I'm much more likely to feel grumpy than puke). Savannah was dawdling and said she didn't want to get out of the car until she had finished the book she'd begun. I had to laugh - I was looking at a replica of myself as a young child, always with my face in a book, even through meals and family events. It drove my mother crazy. Now I suppose it's my turn, but to be honest, I love it.

I've started introducing a math unit almost every day as well and she's been doing very well with that too. Today she completed charts and read them, counted, played numbers Bingo, and put events in order. Kevin wants me to commit to homeschooling her through high school but I'm not sure. He has some very good points but for now I'm going to take it month by month. The 20 minutes of one on one attention she gets is superior to the attention I could give a classroom of students in a regular 90 minute period. And there's no need to waste time catching others up, returning paperwork, performing housekeeping tasks such as attendance, grading, announcements, breaking kids into groups, signing up for technology, etc. and she gets to choose how fast she goes and what her current interests are. For "science" right now, she's interested only in baby so every week we look at three websites to track baby's progress over time. She chooses one picture that she likes the best of a fetus in utero and prints and cuts it out to add to her baby book to see the progress baby makes week by week. We measure the approximate length on her ruler and she keeps it all together like a weird science scrapbook album. This week she's impressed that baby's skin is transparent and eyelids are fused shut. She doesn't know what to make of the placenta yet and says it looks more like a belly button tail. But, she's relieved that baby no longer has webbed hands like a frog and is growing finger nails. As for me, I'm impressed that my uterus is the size of a grapefruit but feels like it's the size of a sofa...

Our contemporary green home - self-sufficient living

We just signed the contract and I am so excited about our new house in upstate NY. We close on the 24th of October and we can't wait to move in! It is pure chance that we saw it at all on the morning we were leaving and we were surprised by how much we liked it.

It is set at the top of a hill on a private dead end road on 15+ acres. The other homes on our road also have acres of land. It has fertile, sloping hills, an enormous pond that's been stocked with bass and bluefish, and woods with trails through them. The house was built in the seventies and was designed to be passive solar. There is a fabulous green house built in (and near the kitchen) that I'm excited to grow herbs in year round and start my seeds in early in the spring. The master bathroom contains a deep European tub, built-in wooden benches, and a sauna. The home is wired for radiant floor heating and sits on top of a large thermal mass for insulation. There is also a large centrally located wood-burning stove. It has a two-car garage with built-in workshop on one-side and an additional barn as well as a circular driveway. Basically, it was love at first sight. Kevin is already plotting whether to use geothermal with the large pond, solar panels, radiant floor heating or a wood burning furnace. I plan to put in a swingset for Savannah and an in-ground trampoline (for me as much as for her), an 8 by 12 foot root cellar that I'll need help constructing, a large garden, and raspberry canes for Kevin, blackberries for me, and an assortment of our favorite apple trees for pies, cider, and applesauce. Here are some pictures, but don't judge it until you see it in person (and have the chance to ice skate, ski then thaw out in our sauna....)

Front entryway on the North side covered with a deciduous tree in summer.

Back of the detached garage and the deck off of the kitchen and dining room on the west side, faces the pond and my future root cellar. Shaded in summer by deciduous trees.

Spacious deck on the west side.

The south western side of the home, showing the walk-out finished basement and greenhouse.

The southeastern side of the home.

The northeastern side of the home.

The two-car garage facing the driveway on the north side of the home. The right side of the garage is already set up as a workshop so Kev is thrilled with that.

One of the many views from the land and house.

My attached greenhouse! Larger than it appears in this picture and I can access it from the kitchen. Doors open to ventilate it outside and inside.

One-third of our future ice-skating pond, Savannah's ongoing frog lifecycle experiment, and the possible site of a future geothermal system.

Pumpkin bread for Lauren

We are pumpkin fanatics in our house so I have a collection of pumpkin recipes that we rotate as soon as the first leaf turns yellow so we never get sick of our pumpkin goodies.

This is our favorite recipe for pumpkin bread and I often make extra loaves for neighbors in the autumn. It will fill your house with that perfect pumpkin baked good smell. (I have to confess to actually stepping outside just to step back in with a fresh nose so I can inhale the wonders of my autumn kitchen.)

FAVORITE PUMPKIN BREAD

Grease a 9 x 5 loaf pan. Position oven racks in the lower third of oven, then preheat to 350.

Whisk together these dry ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp baking powder

In a glass measuring cup combine and set aside:

• 1/3 c milk
• 1 tsp vanilla

In a large bowl (all your ingredients will eventually end up here) or kitchen stand mixer beat until creamy:

• 6 TB of softened unsalted butter (NOTE: don't use margarine and reduce salt above if you don't have unsalted butter for baking)

Then add in gradually:

• 1 c white sugar plus 1/3 c brown sugar

Add in one at a time:

• 2 eggs
• 1 c pumpkin (NOTE: I usually add an additional 2-4 Tb of pumpkin)

Add the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the liquid mixture beating until just blended (I sometimes do this part by hand or on low speed on my stand mixer).

Spread into pan and bake for about 1 hour (sometimes it needs a few more minutes for the center to firm, but don't overbake.)

Optional variations:

• 1/2 c pecans or 1/2 walnuts (fold in at the end)
• 1/3 c dates diced or raisins (fold in at end)
• 1/3 c shredded coconut, carrots, or zucchini (fold in at end)

This moist bread is great plain, with butter melted on top, with cream cheese, or for breakfast with an egg. If you're hankering for something extra sweet, you can mix in a small bowl some room temperature cream cheese with powdered sugar to make a frosting as well. I also sometimes wrap up a slice and HIDE it in the fridge (as only moms can do) because if I don't, I'll never get a second slice of this bread. Kevin and Savannah make it disappear like a rabbit in a hat.

With the additional pumpkin in the can, we usually make a pumpkin smoothie with pumpkin, ice, milk or milk substitute, 1/4 tsp of vanilla and 1/4-1/2 tsp of pumpkin pie spices. It is a delicious treat and a great way to use your leftovers.

Savannah's cozy car quilt

We're finally back from our last house hunting trip to NY. On the morning we were scheduled to fly back to Colorado, we decided to look at one last house before making an offer on another one. It must have been fate because we loved it. It has more than 15 acres that made Kevin feel right at home, trails through the woods for snowshoeing and cross-country skiing, a large pond for ice skating and fishing, rolling hills and fields. Beautiful land. The house is a contemporary eco-home built in the 70's by the original owner, who still lives there. It is passive solar with a green house and sauna and just waiting for me to cultivate a garden and apple orchard (oh yes, and Kevin's 1 acre of raspberry canes!). Updates on the house later as things progress, I will just say that this is not the sort of home you might envision us in although our European backgrounds were right at home there.

Today Savannah read to me A Picture for Harold's Room while I finished her cozy car quilt. She picked out the fabrics for the front and the fleece for the back as well. My quilting turned out not as well as it could have since my machine won't lower the feed dogs - they kept popping back up so I had to fight the fabric the whole time, but in the end it turned out fine and it fits her perfectly for the car. If our offer is accepted on the contemporary house, I'll have to start making modern and Japanese-style quilts - kind of exciting!

Savannah's new car quilt - we use them all fall and winter so she can stay warm while the car takes its time to warm up... Wish I had one too!

Stippling turned out remarkably well, considering I had to fight the feed dogs the whole time I was quilting.

Under contract and tummy talk

Finally, finally, 50 showings later, our house is under contract. Now we can relax a little more on our upcoming trip to NY while looking at houses and land. After we burried St. Joseph in the front yard upside down under the "For sale" sign (and Savannah said the house selling prayer with me), we had at least a dozen showings with three interested parties and one offer, so who knows, maybe St. Joseph looks kindly on little rascals with blonde curls who like to play pirates or maybe the lowered interest rates on loans played a role.

On our upcoming (and last) trip to NY before our move in October we will be evaluating whether or not a certain piece of land is an ideal building site for us. If so, great, we'll snatch it right up and look for temporary housing for a year while our building plans are underway. If the land is not ideal for us, we'll be looking for a house the whole time we're there.

Savannah likes to have snuggle time everyday and talk to "baby" in my tummy. Today she told the baby how much she loved it and how she was going to share her toys. She told the baby all about her day of ballet dancing, bike riding, baking, pirate fights with daddy (in which she cut off both his hands in battle) and coloring scary pictures for kitty so the cat would get scared and jump into her arms. Savannah is always plotting like that.

When she didn't like a talk we had today about behavior she told me she was going to pack her things and go live at Dearest's house. She also announced that she wants to be the one in charge of taking care of baby if baby ever gets sick. For anyone who has ever played doctor with Savannah, you'd know this is not a good thing as her Nazi streak comes out while you are innocently lying there on your sick bed. A cut on your finger quickly becomes an infection that spreads to your arm and brain, which have to be removed. Immediately. With lots of shots and injections and other small tortures but no medication.

I've got a bunch of unfinished projects once again - half a knit sock for myself, two baby quilts, and one lap quilt for Savannah for the car in winter time (oh yes, and my shrug that just might get finished for next summer).

At 9 weeks I've gained 1 pound but it feels like 10 - all in my belly. Thank goodness for city fit pants, they are so low on the hip there's room for your belly to hang out over the top. I think the beginning of a pregnancy is the awkward body stage where no one knows you're pregnant yet, you just look dumpy around the waist. I sympathize with young girls who have just begun to grow breasts and are going through the same awkwardness. Having a full round belly is kind of a relief after the first months.

Savannah's Picassos and Potato Leek Soup

It's no secret that we love Savannah's artwork, which is always changing. Today she drew this girl swimming on her chalkboard. I love it! When we move to NY, I promised her she could continue taking a karate class, since she loves that so much, and instead of dance or gymnastics she requested either a music class or an art class.



I'm working for the next week, which sadly, will take most of my energy. I don't have good first trimesters, which makes me feel like a terrible mother. Instead of feeling excited like Kevin or Savannah, I just try to make it through the fatigue, headaches, and sickness without much thought devoted to the baby on the way. I did buy another Baby Bjorn though, as this is the one thing I couldn't live without as a new mom. By the end of September, my body should be finished building its new infrastructure and I should be back to normal. No cravings or aversions (except to turkey, which is the baby not me) to report. I still love all the same things, especially sushi, avocado and seaweed.


We've had a lot of rain in Colorado so it's perfect soup weather. Here's my favorite Potato Leek Soup recipe (and I promise to post my Middle Eastern Split Lentil Soup recipe for my Mom soon!):


In a heavy bottom soup pan, add 3Tb of olive oil plus 1Tb of unsalted butter. Heat to medium low and add slices from 3-4 (very well washed) leeks. Saute for 6 minutes then add 2 large diced and washed Yukon Gold potatoes with skin on for another 3-4 minutes.

Add 5 cups of water and 3-4 teaspoons of chicken bouillon (be sure your bouillon is free of MSG (monosodium glutamate) - I prefer to use Organic Better Than Bouillon Chicken Base)

Cover with lid and simmer on low heat for 30 minutes.

Add 1/4 cup half and half, 1/4 cup Parmesan and freshly ground pepper (and maybe extra salt)to taste.

I also usually add a pinch of herbs de Provence and sometimes flat leaf parsley.

I like to serve the soup with open-faced tomato and avocado sandwiches with a shake of Herbamare and pinch of powdered garlic on top and a side green salad.

Savannah's excitement

Savannah cried her happy tears when she found out she was going to be a big sister. She opens her "body" book, which is an anatomy book I used for my high school students when I was teaching, to look at the size of "her baby" everyday. She was excited to see that her baby is developing elbows this week and is a size she can measure on her ruler. "When will my baby be big enough to hear music?" is what she really wants to know. I have yet to determine if this is because she wants her baby to listen to Mozart as she did in utero or because she wants to play her own music. If it's the latter, her baby won't be able to hear music for quite some time.

She also tells me that she loves my tummy "extra amounts" now that it's making her a baby and she wishes that my tummy would make her 97 babies. Then we'd have to have a dining room table like the Mayor in Whoville where each child gets 2 seconds to say hi in the morning to mom and dad before being whisked away by the automatic timed seat rotation.


Yesterday we took a trip to the Wildlife Experience before collecting Daddy from the airport. We went for one reason - Savannah wanted more pennies for her souvenir penny album. In their Great Hall they had a fine art exhibit adjacent to the indoor mini-golf course, with a large open entryway between. I was just thinking what a bad idea that was when Savannah knocked me off my feet with her golf club. She bonked me in the nose, which bled from the outside and inside, and am still recovering from the pain of it. Poor Savannah cried more than I did. I was pleased to have a bump and scab this morning instead of the black and blue bulge I was expecting.

Savannah makes up a play for me at the Wildlife Experience Playroom about a stingray and a clam.

Savannah builds a beaver dam.

Kevin returned from his trip to NY but we are still at square one looking for housing. We both really like the same small town, Altamont, but there's nothing suitable for us yet. We have a short list of houses that require major renovations on our part. One of them has a large pond, which I love, but the farmhouse is in need of some major renovations. Another is an historical home in town but the floor plan is odd and the home would need major energy-efficiency renovations. We also may build our dream energy-efficient green home since there are a few promising parcels of land we can afford. One of the things we like so much about this town is it's small size and location, the combination of intellectual and agricultural roots, and the fact that they actually have a town center where you can walk to everything. This gives the town a real sense of community as well as of intentional living. On my first day there I met the kindergarten teacher and the Mayor! Both fabulous people who love their town. We fell in love with it right away.

I've been really worried about my health the past few weeks since I've been so tired all the time, queasy in a gastrointestinal sense, and have not been feeling the same level of energy that I usually have throughout the day. My night owl ways have faded into wishing I could be tucked in before Savannah. I was frustrated that I had been losing weight but my waist line seemed as thick as an oak no matter how many salads I ate. I think I lost four pounds of cheek fat, which actually looked better before. I'm sure I won't be losing any more now, although the kitchen sink did swallow my breakfast this morning.

Supereasy and soft fleece baby blanket tutorial

One of the things I've made for Savannah that has gotten the most use over the years is a double-sided fleece blanket (okay she has at least four of them). When she was little, it protected her from hard surfaces for tummy play and protected my carpets from baby drool. Later they were used in the car to keep her warm before the car warmed up. Then they were used to soften the wagon ride, to snuggle in the jogger on cold days, for tea parties, to tuck her dolls in, and larger sizes are used outside (or inside) for picnics and for forts. So to us, they are indispensable (not to mention machine-washable, soft, and durable).

1. Cut two same-size pieces of fleece (we usually coordinate one solid with one color) in the size you prefer, or about 30" x 36".

2. Place them right sides together (or wrong sides out).

3. Using your favorite seam length from 3/8" to 5/8", sew around the perimeter of the blanket leaving a 5-6" opening in the middle of one end. If any of your seams are uneven or larger than 1/2", simply trim away the excess fabric. If perfection is your thing, you can pin and use a walking foot rather than a regular foot.

4. Using the opening, pull the right sides out being sure to pinch the corners so they turn sharply. You can also shape these after the blanket is turned right side out.

5. Once you're satisfied, topstitch around the perimeter (I usually topstitch in contrasting colors and about 1.5"-2" inside the seam).

Here I am topstitching with my walking foot and I have a line drawn on my machine so I can sew a relatively even seam. I used a water-soluble fabric marker for the line - it washes off the machine very easily and if any rubs on the fabric, it comes right off in water.

6. Next sew up the opening by hand using matching or invisible thread. Voila, a super-soft fleece baby blanket.

This one is for my friend Melissa whose baby's sex is a surprise. I thought the bright colors and navy backing were neutral enough for any kiddo plus, babies love the contrasting stripes, even before their eyes can see colors. I might make one just like this for myself as well.

This one is for a high school friend in NY who is having a baby boy with a sailboat themed room. Something about these blue stripes said French Navy to me.

Life's little surprises

Yup, that's mine (third one today to be sure) and it's positive. Really it's too early for me to announce this with any certainty since baby was conceived in July before the Olympics but if all goes well, Savannah is going to be a big sister sometime in April or May.

More socks and lessons learned

I made Savannah a second pair of the North Country socks and they turned out just as well. Savannah picked out the yarn herself, called beachball blue. As much as I love the sock pattern, I'm not keen on the yarn we picked out. The cotton stretches out after use, so I'm trying out a new yarn for a pair for myself called Heart & Sole with Aloe, Self-striping Knit Socks. So two-thumbs up on the pattern, and no recommendations on the yarn.

Savannah has been doing really well with her reading. The level 1 readers have become fairly easy for her and she reads some or all of her own bedtime stories now. She used to get stuck on big words and now she just tackles them sound by sound and usually gets it all by herself. She reads whatever she can get her hands on, recipes, newspapers, brand names, my trade magazines, it's inspiring to see what a big impact literacy has on her life. We are also practicing activities like what belongs together, opposites, shapes, what's wrong with this picture, counting activities, and interpreting illustrations. It's fun.

The weather has changed here with the leaves in the past few days. Today Savannah is wearing a sweater that was mine when I was little. It was handmade by a lady in Brunswick, Maine and has thistle buttons on the front that impressed Savannah. She's growing so quickly. Even last year I thought this sweater would never fit her.

I've ordered some Tai Chi DVDs so I can start at home. I love the short form and hope I can remember some of it! My main form of exercise this summer has been cleaning the house (yuck!) and yardwork so I'm really looking forward to having something to center my day again.

My first pair of socks!

When I flip through a new knitting book, sweaters inspire me, camisoles inspire me, baby blankets inspire me, not socks. So, I always thought knitters were crazy when they said knitting socks was addictive and fun. I would think to myself, "Uh, huh, socks, are the last thing I would ever want to knit." Well, procrastination being such a great motivator, I've just made my first pair of socks! (I'm procrastinating from finishing my shrug that I've been picking up and putting down all summer long.)


First I'm proud that I was able to knit them at all, considering that when I began, I had no idea how to turn a heel or what a gusset was. Secondly, I'm proud that they actually fit Savannah's feet! It was fun to have her try them on before I completed the toe to see if they would fit her or not. Next time I think I'll close the toes just a little earlier though! Mostly, I'm proud of myself for finishing a pair of something! If there's anyone out there who could make just one sock and stop there, it's me, although in our house any poor sock missing its mate is instantly turned into a sock puppet.




Here's the free pattern I used that was so easy to follow. I had to remind myself how to SKP and do the Kitchener stitch but I found a video from the knit witch on you tube that showed me how to do these things. I made them from Sugar 'n Cream 100% cotton, a yarn I don't typically knit with. It's machine washable, which is great, but not so easy to work with and less forgiving than blends.

Here they are on my little cutie this morning!

End-of-summer skirt for Savannah

Savannah models her new skirt in front of the fireplace.

I made Savannah a new skirt today, inspired by watching Sewing with Nancy (one of the PBS shows I love to record and skip through for ideas). It's made by cutting out strips that measure 2" on the waist end and 3" (or more) on the hem, then sewing them together. She was thrilled with it and so was I until she went to help her dad do oil changes on the cars and returned with a huge oil spot on the butt...so much for that skirt.

More modeling, with typical four-year-old attitude.