Happy 85th Birthday Dad!!

Happy Birthday Gigi

Gigi is eleven years old now.  Eleven?  Eleven!

We always have two birthday celebrations - a friend party and a family party.   Gigi wanted a small party with just her closest friends at the house to play and eat dinner.  It was the best party.  There was minimal stress and lots of food and laughter.  Her family party was on the actual day of her birthday.  Per Gigi's request, I made fake mac 'n' cheese (mac 'n' cheese made with sweet potato instead of a ton of cheese) and alien heads (brussel sprouts).  Her cake was a "Better Than Gigi" cake - chocolate cake soaked in caramel sauce and layered with whipped cream and crushed Twix candy bars.  Yum!

Here is my Gigi summary:

Gigi is a super intelligent child with a wonderful sense of humor but is very messy and leaves a trail of destruction every where she goes.   She is Little Miss Sunshine and Pigpen all rolled into one.

She loves to snuggle and thrives on the approval of the adults who are important in her life.  She is able to shrug off the girly drama and is a self-proclaimed tomboy nerd who loves Pokemon and Skylanders. 

Even though she doesn't realize it, she enjoys competition.  Right now her passions are school, piano, softball, and basketball.   Her need to excel causes her to have a fear of failure and the unknown.  I am constantly reminding her that Gene and I don't expect her to be the best - just try her best.  She told me last week that she doesn't love one sport in particular... she loves the rush she gets during the game.  That is good insight for an eleven year old.

Thank you God for this kid.

My prayer for Gigi is that she continues to hold onto her inner joy and always remembers that she is brave and courageous.  Lions and Bears - G.

Something for myself - a new purse

Hard to believe, but I finally made something for little ol' me.

I bought this fabric months ago with the intention of making something for myself.  I love all the colors and the floral suggestion of the pattern.  When I want to shake things up with my sewing I go to Goodwill to look for items that I can upcycle.  A few months ago, this great military inspired green belt caught my eye.  My waist is not in any shape to draw attention to it by wearing a cool clunky belt but I thought it might make a neat shoulder strap for a purse.

A month or so ago I found the time and inspiration to create a new purse pattern.  I only cut out the body of the purse because... well, that is all I had come up with.  I didn't know how I would finish the purse, I just knew what size and shape I wanted.  Now that I have carried to purse for a few days I know that when I make this style again that the side pockets and the purse body would work better for me if they were deeper.  I carry around a lot of big stuff like books and water bottles.

This past week, Greta was sick and missed a week of school.  You might think that I had an entire week at home to create but not so... I was needed every couple of minutes to sooth and comfort a sick child.  That's my job.  On day five of being homebound, and Greta starting to feel better, I had an hour or so of uninterrupted time.  As a result, I am enjoying my new purse!

On a side note, I work in spurts.  I might sew for a week and then paint for a week.  Then I get bogged down with other distractions.  I like to jump from partially finished project to partially finished project.  Right now, I have an art journal page sitting open on the desk waiting for the last touches of paint and details.  Maybe I'll get to that today.

My next sewing project for myself is going to be a big weekend travel bag.  I have been snapping pics at the stores whenever I see one I like.  I want to remember all the little details.  Hmmmm, I wonder how long it will take to complete the travel bag?