Picnic in the Park

I know I need to write about out trip to St George's and Mike's memorial, but it seems a little overwhelming because it was such an important thing to us and so perfect and wonderful.  I don't want to rush and forget anything, so I will tackle it when I have more time.

I'm still feeling a little (maybe a lot) sad at having to leave our family and friends, knowing this will probably never happen again, getting us all together like that.  But we have the memories and can exist on them for a long time.

But in the present, we're gradually coming into warmer weather, and the girls and I went to the park yesterday, not the one across the street but one we pass on the way to school.  It's called Fisher Park, but Graysen calls it Community Park - Komuny Park.

We always have to have our lunch boxes with food and drinks.

Silver glitter shoes and a black tutu - perfect playtime outfit.

The one thing that Fisher Park has that she loves is the zip lines for kids, but as far as other things, it's more of a big-kid park.  She's gradually beginning to be able to play on some of the things, but Katherine really just spends her time wandering around and scaring me to death climbing up the tall steps to the slides - big curving ones.  She came down one slide, twisting and turning, and looked a little shook up, so she refused to try again.

When we first got there, Katherine saw this and went running to it, yelling "IGLOO!"  She listens and concentrates on books and TV shows and really has a very good vocabulary for just being 2.  

She is beginning to like the merry-go-round and holds on nicely.  She really likes for me to sit there and ride with her, and I did a few times, but I'm not a big fan of riding around in circles.

I was glad to see Graysen tackling this "spider web."  She met 3 new girlfriends in the space of 30 minutes, so excited to tell me about her new friends.  They never bother to exchange names, just run and play alongside each other.  Then when one friend would leave, she would sit and look sad and say, "I miss my new friend so MUCH."

All the picnic tables were in the sun, so we found a shady spot on the grass to eat their lunch.  Katherine entertained herself by running in circles around Graysen, and then they both ran in circles down into the "hollow".

I don't think we've ever left the park - or anywhere - where both girls are happy to leave.  They complained all the way to the car and Katherine complained all the way home, but once we got home, Kate went immediately to sleep, and Graysen had a tea party with 2 of her dolls - Millie and a nameless one.

Graysen needed to change clothes once more for the tea party and ended up choosing this dress I found at a consignment shop years ago. She loves it a lot now that it's too little, but Emily and I thought the hem length was sweet and old-fashioned looking.

Just adding a video from this morning's romp in the freshly cut grass. 

Graysen has on Katherine's skirt and vice-versa.  It is hard for Graysen to hand down clothing to her sister and insisted on wearing the 2T flamingo skirt.  Kate doesn't really care what she wears, but she was really worried about some "rabbit poop" she thought she saw and mentioned several times.  I wish I had half the energy these girls have.  

A Good Weekend to Begin the Summer

I'm not sure I can actually say the word "summer" as long as I have my heat on sometimes, but it's June, so we'll go for it.

It was a good busy weekend, and I'm so thankful for it.

Friday was the Rooster Valley Farm School's graduation/carnival, and there was some conversation about whether we would take Graysen.  Positives were that she loves bouncy houses and that she would see her friends and play.  Negatives were that Emily couldn't go, and early afternoon is not a good time for Kate (nap time).  She was not graduating and would never know about it so wouldn't mind missing it.  They were given shirts on Wednesday to wear Friday, and I didn't even make it to the car with Graysen's.  It's really a mystery.  I had it in my arms with her other end-of-school things but stopped to talk to a few people on the way to the car.  When I went to look for it later, it was not in the car or any of my bags.  I even drove by the school, thinking I might have dropped it beside the car but did not see it.  It was gray, and she didn't love it and probably would not have worn it anyway.

Sooo, after a lot of discussion, I decided I would take the girls out for an early lunch and take a look at how crowded things seemed to be at the school and make a decision then.

Going to Dairy Freeze is such a treat for the girls, and I think it was more the eating outside on the red picnic table and benches than the actual food.  Although once we found out they had corn dogs, there was no doubt about what the girls wanted.  Corn dogs, French fries, and lemonade!  Mimi lunch.

The best thing was that just as we sat down, a familiar car drove up - and it was Brooklyn!  And her mom.  How exciting!  They ordered their food, and we had a fun lunch.  Carrie said she and Brooklyn were going to the carnival, so that decided it.  I took a wet and sleeping baby home to her dad, and Graysen and I went back to the school.

It was 2 hours of nonstop fun for the girls.  While graduation was going on for pre-K, the preschoolers played wildly in the tree house and on the riding toys.  Notice the clothing the girls chose to wear today.   These are 2 girly girls for sure.  Without a skirt or tutu, they don't feel completely dressed.

Those flip-flops were not the best shoe choice and ended up in my purse.

One of the group actually rode a horse!  And one did not.  But it was okay.

Sweet girl.  She always thinks she wants to ride, but once she sees the size of the animal, she decides not to.  She was pretty brave to have her picture taken with the horse though.

It was a beautiful day - even hot.  So many people milling around and LOTS of children.  I was glad not to have Kate to keep up with.

The girls first got tattoos.  It's serious business to offer your arm to a complete stranger.

It looks like even Chloe got one.  This is such a beautiful and solemn baby.  Her sister Gracie is in Graysen's class, and I've watched Chloe go from a baby to a toddler - just like Kate - looking for mud puddles and throwing rocks.  I've yet to get a smile from her, but maybe next year I will.

The bouncy houses were Graysen's only reason for going though, and thank goodness there were no big lines.

She and Brooklyn settled on this one and would come right out and get in line again.  The man, Ethan, I think, is the husband of one of the teachers, and he was wonderful with the children - full of funny quips and rhymes and fake names for them.  He kept them going in and out at a pretty rapid pace, and Carrie and I found a picnic table and some water to keep us content.

She did take a cotton candy break.  She wanted pink, but the teenage boys running the machine didn't ask, so she got blue.  She handled it really well and ate most of it with little mess.

You'd think 2 hours was enough, but when it was time to go, Graysen cried.   Good decision to attend, thanks to Carrie and Brooklyn.

When she got home, Ryan was ready to take her fishing, so I sat with Kate while she slept until Emily got home.

I didn't ask, but I bet she had no trouble going to bed early and sleeping hard.  Me either!

Sewing Lethargy

While Mike was in the hospital in August and things were not looking good, I came home one night and threw all my quilting things off the table and into a plastic bin.  Since that time, I've only gone into the sewing room to make necessary repairs and do two projects:  This lap quilt for a friend and an advent calendar for the children.

The room became a catchall for things I didn't have a home for and has become pretty scary, but I just could not seem to get any enthusiasm for sewing.

I'm determined to change that now and get busy.  Without even bothering to clean the room, I've done 3 projects just this week.

Getting back into machine embroidery was the first thing.  I bought a few shirts from ARB Blanks and did this one for Graysen.  Why I picked a design with over 30,000 stitches to get myself back into embroidery is a mystery to me except that Emily, Graysen, and I all agreed on it.

Graysen loved it and helped me pick out the colors.  It was really a lot of fun to do except for the plastic film I used.  I like to place a layer of plastic film over the shirt while I'm sewing it to give a better look.  Reading the directions on the box of Sol-U-Film Washable, I saw that I could soak for 30 second to 2 minutes and it wold dissolve.  It didn't.  I soaked all night, and it still sat there thick and shiny, which would NOT do.  I finally came to the conclusion that I had accidentally placed heat soluble film into the water soluble box, and when I pressed across it with a hot iron, it started to dissolve.  It was still a lot of trouble though, and I was really pleased to see that it turned out okay.

So did Graysen love it and wear it immediately?  No, of course not.  She admired it and talked about it, but when it came time to put it on, she flatly refused.  Why!  Only she knows.  Our conversation before school.  Me:  So you don't like the shirt.  You chose the design:  G:  I love it.  I love mermaids.  M:  Why don't you want to wear it or just try it on?  G.  I don't know.  -Looking sad-  I only like pink things.  M:  The starfish and the fish are pink, and I did a pink flower in the mermaid's hair.  G:  I just don't want to wear it.  M.  Well, we're in a hurry so pick out a shirt you like (for school), and we'll go on.  And did she pick out a pink shirt?  Again, of course not.  She chose an old hand-me-down faded green shirt that has a sequined shamrock on it - way too short.  M:  I thought you only loved pink shirts.  G:  Well, I love this shirt.  Maybe Katherine will like the mermaid one when she's 4.

I've decided to take a day each week and do nothing but sew, knit, or crochet - or clean the sewing room and get rid of things.

Today I did an outdoor umbrella!  Ryan had found this umbrella for a good price and bought it used, but it had a lot of repair to be done.  The pockets to hold the frame (spokes?) were all torn and frayed, and the Velcro that held it shut had rotted with time and weather.

It look daunting when I first saw it, but I found some thread and a strong needle and proceeded.

It was actually quit easy when I saw what the pockets were supposed to look like.  All 8 of them were in some state of disrepair, unstitched on various sides and raveling.

They were all intact though, so it was a simple matter to sew around 3 sides, tucking under the raw edges.  It worked out pretty well, I think.

Next was a row of Velcro to fasten the edges of the umbrella together when it was up.  It was old and weathered and just ripped off when I tugged on it.

I found a long strip of white Velcro and sewed one side down without problem.  The other side was cut into piceces for some reason, so I sewed 3 pieces down the length.  The big problem was that the Velcro has a sticky back and started to gum up my needle.  I was too lazy to clean it since I was so close to finishing, so I had to keep rethreading.  It did work out finally, and I think it's going to work.

Not my best job of sewing but adequate for what it is.  Now all we need is a little sunshine.

The third and last project of the day was Ballerina Bear's arms.  I can't remember how many times I have reattached those arms.  Graysen tends to swing her around and around by her arms, and the purple fabric for the outfit just frays more each time.

She was too chubby to get under the needle of my machine, so armed with thread and needle and a good audio book on the computer, I did battle with those arms.  I tucked them farther into the batting, turned under the purple satin, and stitched many many stitches.  They won't come out easily, but I don't promise they won't ever come out again.

I enjoyed breaking my bout of lethargy and getting back in the sewing room, but I'm looking for some things next week that are a little more fun.  

This Little Book

I know I have bigger and more important things to write about since we just got back from the most wonderful trip, but when I was looking for a notebook to take some notes this morning, I found this.

From the looks of the first entries, I bought it for my heirloom/smocking classes in Meridian.  I think the year or so I spent in the company of this group of ladies was one of the happiest times of my life.

I had no grandchildren at the time and none expected any time soon, but I had always loved smocked clothing and embroidered and delicate heirloom baby clothing.  When we moved to Meridian, I was working in the afternoons and evenings, and Mike worked too far away to come home for lunch, so I had every morning to get into whatever mischief I could find.

The first thing I did was take a course in tatting.  A local community college offered classes, and I had always wanted to learn.  My grandmother had done beautiful tatting, but by the time I was ready to learn, she was too shaky to teach me the intricate stitches.

We had a sweet funny lady to teach us.  She was well into her 80s (at least) and had the strange first name of Fritz.  We all sat around a table and followed her directions - and she was not one for giggling or messing around.  She was serious!  I think I was the worst pupil in the class and thought I would never get that final little satisfying knot that told me I could tat!

Once I did though, it was so much fun.  Before I finished the class, Daddy had a fall that he never recovered from, and I packed up and went to Andalusia to help take care of him his final few weeks.  He knew very little but had to be watched constantly to make sure he didn't try to get up, so I would sit beside him and talk to him and practice my new hobby - hour after hour, day after day - until he finally passed away.  You would think I would have gotten to be a master tatter with all that practice, but I never really did much more with it after that - because I found out about the Meridian Senior Center from Fritz.

She taught there, and even though I wasn't a senior yet, I could pay $10 a month and enjoy everything the seniors enjoyed.  I went a few more times for tatting but wandered around and discovered the heirloom smocking class.  Teresa Anders, a retired classroom teacher, was our instructor, and she was GOOD.  Fun but a stickler for doing it the right way.  I remember showing her a facing I had tacked down with some stitch, and she kind of cocked her head and said, "I think you can make it look better."  I knew then not to take any shortcuts.  We had at most 4 or 5 people on a given day, and what fun we had.  I would take that day off and drag my sewing machine and all my "stuff" to the center, work and play all morning, then eat lunch and go into the afternoon.  That night, I would sit in the sunroom and smock and sew to my heart's content.  Happy days for sure.

I am amazed when I look back at pictures and see all the things I created during that time.  This is the first thing I made.  We had such a laugh over the fact that I made some mistake with the neck, and it was big enough to go over my head.  With help, I managed to make it presentable.

I don't think I could do it now, but under the watchful eye of Teresa, it seemed all things were possible.  I looked at a dress in a magazine and asked her, "Could I do this?"  She said, "I don't know why not." and she was right.  I could do it and did.

I have pages of detailed settings for my machine and measurements and even color combinations that I liked for smocking.  But flipping through the pages, I saw I had used this little notebook for other things - all of them evoking some memory..

There are a couple of pages of furniture measurements to see how they would fit in the new house in Greensboro.   That move was exciting but bittersweet, leaving our good neighborhood friends and the house we loved, not to mention my smocking friends.   I had finally bought furniture I loved, and I have very few pieces of it now.  The list and measurements of all those pieces makes me have tears in my eyes, even though I'm enjoying not having so many things and so much furniture.  That sunroom couch that I spent so many happy sewing hours is now my living room sofa - not ideal, but I can't part with it!

Next are some directions and addresses and a list of supplies.  This was one of several classes Sherry and I took, all just good memories and lots of fun.  I hope we have another chance to do that one day, meet and quilt and laugh and make grilled cheese sandwiches with an iron in the hotel room.    Just looking at the lists, I could remember what we worked on and how much fun we had, especially in the Jenny Neimeyer class.  Crazy quilters on the back row laughing at our mistakes.  Our last class together, we had just found out we were going to be grandmothers for the first time.  We had our ultrasounds to compare, and I don't think anyone could have been happier than we were at that time.

There are a couple of grocery lists in the book - one looking like a Weight Watchers menu from the class I took with my neighbor Kay.  Never has losing weight been so much fun - except for the 6 a.m. walks I had to take with another neighbor Nancy and a neighbor dog - the extremely overweight cocker spaniel who gamely met us every morning and trudged along with us.  I wish I could remember her name - Molly, I think.  We would cross a road and walk on a high school track, and one morning Molly flushed out an armadillo that sounded more like a bear thrashing around and caused us to burn a few more calories that morning running away.  These ladies were hard to leave.  Kay and Jerry moved to Florida, and she died a few years ago, and I lost touch with Nancy, but I still have those good memories.

The next pages are filled with instructions for a "tote and mini-tote."  That was the class where I met my friend Barbara in Montgomery at the Kudzu Blossom quilt shop.  She had a new sewing machine and was having trouble figuring out which was her quarter-inch foot, and I followed the wrong directions and ended up with the mini tote which thankfully Mama loved, so all was not lost.  Barbara and I bonded over our problems and have had a lot of quilting fun since then.  I treasure her friendship, and we're doing the best we can to keep in touch with 2000 miles separating us.  We met on my last trip to Georgia and had lunch and lots of conversation plus getting to see some of her work - I know another person who actually gets things done!

I have a page with my medications listed, so this little notebook went to the doctor with me, I guess.

Then the rest of the book is devoted to Baby Graysen.  Once I found out there was going to be a baby, I started making lists.  I have instructions for a crib sheet, the giraffe pillow, and the shadow stitch pillow for her nursery.  Burp pads and changing pads, smocked dresses and playsuits.  I did things then and followed through.  I wish I could do that now!

The last section I have is labeled BOOKS and is 5 pages of books I guess I wanted to buy or borrow to read to the new baby.

Looking through the list, many of them have been read to the girls over and over, and it gives me a nice list now for the next trip to the library.

I wonder what these next blank pages will hold.

Hopefully a list of ALL the projects I have waiting for me in the sewing room.  I'm glad I wrote down these details because otherwise I would have forgotten a lot of these happy times.