Crazy Chic on Field Day & Horse Farm Dream

Ok, so here's my crazy little chic on Field Day. She was so excited about field day, that she woke up around 5:30am the morning of Field Day and was ready by 6am... she doesnt even have to leave for school until 7:20am! She had a blast! For me, I was a little run down and tired (from all of the end-of-year events) so I didnt have quite the enthusiasm that she had, but it was awesome to watch all of them have such a great time! Mr. Israel does such a great job planning out all of the events and the kids love every second of it!

So Friday was our last day.... yeaaaaaaaah!!!! I don't know about any of you guys, but boy was I ready for summer!! Im ready to chill out a bit... do a little R&R... well, and maybe play with some new skirt & dress designs!! :) Just finished my first dress... along with 2 more skirts... I havent taken pictures of them yet... but Ill post them as soon as I can to see what you think.

On a whole other note... my husband and I have been looking at purchasing some acreage or finding a small horse farm to buy lately... I think we are ready to branch out of the subdivision world... needing a little more space, a little more quiet, need to simplify our living a little bit, be more appreciative and enjoy the beauty that already surounds us, help our daughter nurture her own individuality... scale back from having so much "stuff"... find some time to sit in the rockers on the front porch... are you laughing at me yet? I sound like an old grandma, dont I? Why dont we do that anymore? Why dont any of us take time each day to just relax and take some deep breathes? Everyone always seems to be on the go... including us! We are just trying to rediscover some balance in our lives... to appreciate the blessings we have been given... so we'll see how that all goes... the real estate market is not at its best so I know now is not the optimal time to sell... but we'll see what happens... if its meant to be, the right deal will come along, and if its not meant to be, than it wont... atleast we are fortunate enough not to be in the position where we HAVE to sell... like so many others right now... tough times right now... but tought times may help us get back to the basics... maybe it will help us refocus on the right things... shave off the excess, so to speak.

Well, enough of my rambling... one thing I seem to do quite well!! :) I hope everyone has a wonderful Memorial Day weekend... and for all of you who are traveling... be safe!!!

Introducing SAVANNAH...

This is SAVANNAH. She's our triple S gal.... sweet, sophisticated, with a little dash of sas! :)

SAVANNAH is my new baby... she is a much "sweeter" look from my usual... but Ive been pleasantly surprised with the reaction.... several orders already, so I think it might be something I need to nurture a little more... the "sweet" side of things, that is.

Sorry it's been a while since my last post... have gotten a little busier with orders lately, while PTO is still going strong with end-of-year events... 1 1/2 more weeks until school is out though... YEAH!!!!!!!! We have a busy summer planned... but it begins with 1 week of down-time after school lets out, so Im just going to take it one week at a time!!! :)

Let me know what you think about this one... feedback (good or bad) is what helps me grow in the right direction. I hope all of our mommies had a wonderful Mother's Day... mine was a wonderful gift from above... spent with my family.. being super sweet to me all day long, completely relaxed with absolutely no rushing around!! :) Does it get any better than that?!!!

A few more pics of Williamsburg

Colonial Williamsburg

So our Colonial Williamsburg week was awesome! What a great place... just as neat as I remember as a child! Alex seemed to enjoy it just the same... we were so worried she would get history overload and be so bored by the end of the week. But it never happened... Yeah! She got to dress up one day as one of the little Colonial Williamsburg children... she was very excited about that!

Of course, the costumes are what got my attention... there are so many beautiful details on those dresses! Im hoping to incorporate some versions of those details on some of my upcoming skirts... I have so many different ideas sworming in my head right now... I just need more time to work on them. I just have to hang on and finish out this PTO gig... I made a commitment, so I need to see if through... taking up a ton of time this year, and its all been great... just keeps me from putting as much time as I would like into designing... so Im looking forward to the summer... although I'll need to be careful I dont bury myself up in my studio!! :)

Newest addition... another baby skirt is born! :)

Ok, the past 2 weeks have just gotten crazier and more chaotic with each hour that has passed... especially with the recent loss of a very cherished hour... I have dark circles under my eyes that Ive labelled "Spring Forward... right back to bed".... I just love waking up when its pitch dark again... Im so very motivated by darkness... can you hear the sarcasm in my voice?... it's pretty thick... Anyhoooooo... :) Luckily, I did find enough time to finish my newest little creation... yippeeeee!!!!

Meet STELLA!!! She's confident, a little whacky, and has her own unique point of view. She's my newest addition to the skirt collection! This one is made with a colorful & whimsical owl print, mixed with a red ditsy polka dot, a vibrant fuschia pink pleated trim, and then a whacky green & turqoise polka dot ribbon snap strap... you just never know when you'll want to carry around the little girly change purse or maybe just a favorite keychain without the fear of losing it! Let me know what you think... I welcome ALL feedback... good or bad!

I'm getting ready for Spring Break next week... squeezing 2 weeks worth of my "To-Do List" into a few days, but boy, am I looking forward to it!!!!! We're heading to Williamsburg... not the typical kid spot for Spring Break, but I remember it from when I was a child and I just remember it being such a neat, neat place... hoping my daughter thinks the same!!! All else fails, I know there's an indoor pool where we are staying and icecream somewhere throughout Williamsburg... so we'll be just fine regardless!! :) I'm personally just looking forward to some long overdue uninterupted family time!!! So to all of you that will be on Spring Break as well... be safe and have an awesome week off!!!!

First order of business when I get back is my 1st dress... I know what the design will be... just have to work out the fabric choices and cut out the pattern.... so stay tuned!! Later my taters! Have a wonderful day!!!

My little tree-hugger

OK, I'm back up and running again... came down with an awful sinus infection last week... really thought it was just a bad head cold until around the 3rd bad day my ears started to tighten up... i knew at that point i needed to seek professional assistance! So I am 6 days into the antibiotic and finally feel back to normal again... yeah!!!!
So I'm going back about a week and a half (right before I got sick)... we had 2 or 3 absolutely beautiful days... low 70's, beautiful sunshine, you would have thought it was the end of April, not middle of February!!! So we decided to take advantage of it and went out for a scooter ride around the lake... and along the way we inspected some Minos, skipped some rocks, tried to fish for snapping turtles with a long tree limb (didn't work, just in case you were wondering! :), had a contest on who could throw a rock the farthest, played on the playground, climbed some trees (well, one of us did anyway! :) It was great!!!
I wish I would slow down enough to do more of this... still working on that thing I mentioned earlier... that whole stepping back out of the Mommy Boot Camp mode... we have such a good time when we do this. Why in the world is it so hard to "just enjoy the moment"... I tend to get caught up in the "what comes next" instead of "whats going on now"... that whole "we have to get this done, that done, oh! and then there's that other thing..." way of thinking.
Those rare moments where we're down at the lake goofing off, or walking, or biking... or having family game/puzzle night, or Friday pizza & movie night... those are the "real" moments... the ones that really count... so how do you balance the endless to-do list with that quality time of being in the moment? i think the key might have to do with time-management... something I definitely need improvement on! So that will be my area to focus on this week... we'll see how it goes... I have a new skirt that's waiting to be sewn up (fabric is cut out and ready to roll)... I'm hoping to finish that one tomorrow... I'll post when I get it photographed to see what you think... and of course, I'll need some suggestions on what to name the new baby.... so be thinking about some new groovy "S" names!!! :)

My little imaginative one... Tin Foil City

Ok, so my daughter made some poor choices yesterday and we've been trying to take a different approach lately with discipline... we WERE taking the approach of talking with her about what she did wrong and what would have been a better choice... we had been trying this approach in many different versions, tones and octives... it just wasnt seeming to stick. So, we decided to take a different approach... instead of mommy and daddy getting all upset when she lost her 3rd sweatshirt this month or whatever, we explained to her that there would be "consequences" to making poor choices and not being responsible. So yesturday, she made some poor choices (not a huge deal, but enough to address), so we gave her some extra chores to do for the day (i.e one was to put away the "safanator 3000" - which i still have no idea what that really was... an "invention" of hers that was put together by a clothes basket, some tin foil and a few other things...) So I left her alone upstairs for a while to get some of these chores done... well, I hadnt heard from her in about an hour... which is a bit unusual... usually we hear her yell down "Mom - can you put this in the downstairs closet for me... or Dad, can you come up and help me with the litter box"... etc, etc.. So I decided to go check things out... and brought my camera with me! :) I snuck up really quiet behind her bedroom door and snapped a quick picture of what she was doing... and then asked what that was she was working on. She explains (very matter a factly).. "Im making a mall, with cars, people, balls for the kids to play with... and oh, this is the sunsphere over here" All of these things were made out of the tin foil that she pulled down from the "safenator 3000". I didnt have the heart to ask her right away if she had finished all of her chores yet. I admired her little creative tin foil city for a while, then nicely asked if the chores were finished... there were a few stragglers, but for the most part, she did a pretty good job. Ive been trying really hard not to "sweat the small stuff" lately with her... its a struggle sometimes for me... I really want her to grow up into a kind, responsible, motivated, energetic young lady... its really my bible study and church time that really keep me in check... reminding me to take that step back... so that i dont let her childhood just pass right by me... to be "present" in the moment... enjoy these wonderful little "tin foil city" moments... ya never know, she could grow up to be an architect... and that could be her defining moment. So as I type this little story, its more of a reminder to myself to keep working on this part of myself... that tends to get caught up with the "Mommy Boot Camp" moments sometimes... I'll keep you posted on how thats working for me later... :) Have a great day all!