Sewing, Sewing, Sewing
The anthem of the week has been, "Mom, did you pack ______?" The boxes are slowly accumulating, and as they do, the toys are gradually disappearing. I've reached somewhat of a plateau packing-wise, though, and in the stalled waiting period I'm itching to find something productive to do. Sewing has filled that void of toys and work this week, and the kids have been loving it!
The kids have just started getting a regular allowance, so we've been paying them in change and teaching them to tithe. Inevitably, someone's offering gets lost on the way to church. So we pulled out the fabric scraps to make an "offering pouch." As I began to work, the project morphed until we had two little Bible covers with pockets for tithe. Only Thomas ended up with a simple pouch, since he wanted a puppy satchel for his coins.
What could possibly say "church" and "offering" more than pirates and princesses, right?
I love Cora's Bible! Her toddler-room Sunday School teacher gave each of the kids in her class a little Bible with certain verses highlighted. Each week at church she had the kids find those verses. I never would have thought of it, but the kids knew how to navigate their little Bibles!
The next day Cora was pushing her doll stroller around (she's literally put MILES on it!) when I realized just how torn the seat had become. Back out came the scraps, and the result was a new stroller seat.
We've been doing a lot of talking about transition and the little things we're going to do to ease the upheaval for the kids. One of the things we have planned is to all camp out in one room the first night in our new house, and to let the kids sleep under their "Can't Quite Let Go" quilts. They've all been washed and folded and are going to be coming with us on our next trip to Indiana so that they can be there safely waiting for us when we arrive. When I made Cora's quilt, I'd saved some scraps to make a tiny matching quilt for her doll. Today, while the boys were at school, we sat down with our scraps. She told me where she wanted each piece and sat beside me as I sewed, asking every few minutes if Dana's quilt was finished.
Dana seemed to appreciate it too. Cora had only one more request: a doll-sized blankie like the ones they sleep with, so that "Dana can have sweet dreams."
It's funny, but with all the other pieces up in the air, there's something comforting to us all about the hum of the sewing machine and the excitement of new handmade things to play with.
The kids have just started getting a regular allowance, so we've been paying them in change and teaching them to tithe. Inevitably, someone's offering gets lost on the way to church. So we pulled out the fabric scraps to make an "offering pouch." As I began to work, the project morphed until we had two little Bible covers with pockets for tithe. Only Thomas ended up with a simple pouch, since he wanted a puppy satchel for his coins.
What could possibly say "church" and "offering" more than pirates and princesses, right?
I love Cora's Bible! Her toddler-room Sunday School teacher gave each of the kids in her class a little Bible with certain verses highlighted. Each week at church she had the kids find those verses. I never would have thought of it, but the kids knew how to navigate their little Bibles!
The next day Cora was pushing her doll stroller around (she's literally put MILES on it!) when I realized just how torn the seat had become. Back out came the scraps, and the result was a new stroller seat.
Please excuse the boxes--like I said, there's been some major packing going on! We took the stroller out for a trial walk right away and she assured me the princess seat was wonderful and her doll loved it.
We've been doing a lot of talking about transition and the little things we're going to do to ease the upheaval for the kids. One of the things we have planned is to all camp out in one room the first night in our new house, and to let the kids sleep under their "Can't Quite Let Go" quilts. They've all been washed and folded and are going to be coming with us on our next trip to Indiana so that they can be there safely waiting for us when we arrive. When I made Cora's quilt, I'd saved some scraps to make a tiny matching quilt for her doll. Today, while the boys were at school, we sat down with our scraps. She told me where she wanted each piece and sat beside me as I sewed, asking every few minutes if Dana's quilt was finished.
It's identical to Cora's twin-size quilt, only in miniature. She had so much fun picking out her favorite squares to use!
Dana seemed to appreciate it too. Cora had only one more request: a doll-sized blankie like the ones they sleep with, so that "Dana can have sweet dreams."
It's funny, but with all the other pieces up in the air, there's something comforting to us all about the hum of the sewing machine and the excitement of new handmade things to play with.
