Kaylee's crayon activity tote

The tote is a little big but it can hold color books and 

color wonder lap desks too as pictured here.

Crayon tote

I made the handle extra long because Kaylee likes to wear her bags/purses cross-body style which is very popular today in high fashion.  Models are wearing purses that way and Kaylee seems to have picked up on that because she wears her silver sequined heart shaped purse that way. 

I lined the inside and rolled the hem with the variegated rainbow thread so that it would match the outside.  

I haven't made any crayon totes in awhile so I decided to make Kaylee her very own crayon tote.  I used rainbow striped fabric, rainbow variegated thread with yellow and red fabric on my serger.  

I started out making the stretchy crayon pockets to hold the crayons or pencils as pictured here.   I made the pockets big enough to hold the toddler coloring pencils or markers so that we could leave it in the car and not have it melt all over the upholstery. The reason I made the

pockets stretchy is so that Kaylee could easily take the pencils in and out of the tote.  It also allowed me to learn how to use the new elastic foot on my serger.  I admit it took me several tries to use the elastic foot with elastic and a triple cover stitch but the end results were worth it.  It will take more practice for me to get used to that one. 

I also used a rolled hem with the rainbow variegated serger thread to make the edge match the rainbow fabric.  I was so excited about how it came together looking like it was all planned together.  

I made the bag stiff with a stiff machine washable lining so the tote would stand up, and not spill its contents all over the floor.  I learned some new techniques making this tote for my daughter.  She kept asking me if i would finish it soon all throughout the process.  I hope she likes the fun bright colors.

Learning how to serge beads onto fabric

I was playing with my serger tonight and tried a new technique.  I used the beading foot and sewed these little 4 mm beads onto a cover-up I made some time ago.  Who knew embellishing with a serger was so easy. 

Here is a close-up of the beads serged directly onto the fabric.  I am so excited about the beading foot.  I just couldn't wait to try it.  I know two little princesses who are going to want some fancy beads sewn on their dresses.

Visiting grandma at Lake of the Ozarks 2013

Sophia and Kaylee having fun riding in Captain Roger's boat. The girls told me they were searching for Orcas.  I didn't tell them there are no Orcas in freshwater at the Lake of the Ozarks.

Water was smooth.

Kaylee and Sophia riding co-captain.

Dance party on the deck.

Kaylee going for a ride in grandma's swing.

Winghaven Wahoos

Here is Sophia (in the pink swim cap) and some of her teammates who she has become friends with over the summer. Kaylee snuck into the photo too at the swim meet.

Fresh from our container garden, I cut these fresh banana peppers and jalapeños

I am having good success with my pepper plants.  The kids and I like the sweet banana peppers and Scott loves the hot jalapeños.  They went really well with our tacos I cooked tonight. Mmmm! 

Deck container garden is doing well -just a few photos

My deck container garden is doing fairly well.  I am sure my neighbors are thinking "what?"  Well, container gardening is so easy because you rarely have to pull weeds which is the part of gardening that I detest.  The toughest part is buying flower pots large enough to not stunt the root growth.  I invested in some very large pots this year.

After many errors I have finally gotten this right.  I have veggies growing.  Yeah!  We have been eating the lettuce out of our container garden for months now and it finally decided to flower and seed which means with the hot weather it has gone bitter. Yuck.  It is definitely a cool weather plant..  

Sophia has also had the opportunity to pick strawberries from our strawberry plants all spring.  Although the strawberries were very small but tasty.  Now that it is turning hot outside the strawberries will not produce anymore but the plants still look a pretty green.

The other vegetables are starting to come out now.  I am so excited that these are sprouting.  I am even going to let Scott eat one of these jalapeños tonight pictured near the bottom if he wants it.  

Sweet Banana peppers

Sweet red bell peppers, not red yet though. 

Cherry tomatoes

Peas

Broccoli plant

Oregano in the background and basil and purple basil

Rosemary

Mint

Chocolate mint

Jalapeño peppers I grew for my husband who loves spicy foods. 

 There is a lot more here but this is just a sampling.

 My favorite thing though is this beautiful, "not edible" Chocolate Calla Lilly that just came back from last year's Mothers Day 2012.  I gave one to my mom, my grandmother, and my mom's friend Cathy.  This is the last thing I ever gave my grandmother as a gift before she passed. I also planted one for myself.  I thought it had died because it never sprouted a leaf or stem all spring. Last week, a tiny green sprout came up where it was planted the year before. For the last week, I have been praying for God or Grandma to give me a sign that Grandma is here with me.  I miss her dearly.  Today is the one year anniversary of her meeting God in heaven and my Calla Lilly bloomed.  Coincidence?  I don't know.  I think somehow Grandma is helping me with my plants.  I have never kept plants alive for long, but this one came back and my vegetable garden is thriving. Grandma Consolino had a green thumb and taught me when I was a small girl all the names of flowers and plants.   I think somehow she may be helping me now, but I am not exactly sure how.  I miss and love her so much.  I wrote this as a small tribute to her on this day June 25, 2013 to celebrate life, memories, and the love that I have for her and who she has taught me to be.  She was truly the most beautiful person I have ever known with the biggest heart. 

Wahoo swim team color flip flops

I made these Wahoo Swim team flip flops for Sophia.  I hope she likes them.  She has been wearing pink shoes/sandals with everything including her team swimsuit so I thought she might like some flip flops color coordinated to her team swimsuit. I plan to surprise her with these in the morning.

Kaylee - finally has a strawberry outfit

I serged this little summer outfit with my serger.  It was fun to sew something especially for Kaylee.  She wanted a strawberry dress like Sophia's but I figured a shirt and skort were more practical for her.  She is my super active kid who really  keeps me hopping.  If you have ever tried to hold a conversation with me and felt like I have ADD well then you have seen Kaylee in action. Sorry, about that.  She is such a sweetheart but she can move across the room in seconds if she sees trouble she can get into she does.  

I serged this out of knit type fabric so it is soft and fluid, moves with her active little body. I enjoyed learning a triple cover stitch to make the waistband smooth and similar to "ready to wear" clothing. I made the lettuce edge ruffle on the bottom to give it a simple sweet girly ruffled flair.  

Porcupine or hedgehog shorts set I serged

Sophia has a new obsession with hedgehogs or porcupines. She saw this fabric and couldn't resist having mommy make her a shorts set. 

Here she is modeling it and making faces at me. 

Back view of her fun outfit.

Shorts I sewed for her.

Here is the ensemble before I added the finishing touch of the bow on the front.

Power went out last night as I took this picture of this outfit I serged in a day.

Sophia's newest custom designed owl outfit by her favorite designer -mom

A few weeks ago I acquired a new serger. Usually, when I start sewing or serging I work nonstop.  However, this fun whimsical little outfit took me weeks to complete because I am still learning how to use all the new features on my new serger. This new model has so many features and possibilities that my old serger was not capable of doing. Each time I would start on another part of the

blouse or

skirt, I would read and decide which stitch

 I could practice.   

This project took awhile since I was learning these fancy rolled hems like this pictured below...

And the newest Wave Rolled Hem like pictured below

It was so much fun to try all these cool stitches on my machine.

I even had to pull out my old standard sewing machine and practice buttonholes which I haven't done in quite some time.  It was a bit of a fun challenge sewing buttonholes that would

accommodate owl shaped buttons.  My daughter loves the owl buttons.  

Below is a back view of the outfit displaying the owl buttons.

So as you can see, Sophia loves her new whimsical outfit that mommy made for her. Now, Kaylee wants one.  Maybe Kaylee's won't take as long as this one if I ever get around to starting it. 

O'Fallon Public Works Fair 2013

We went to the O'Fallon Public Works Fair and explored all the heavy equipment used by the city.

Sophia driving the big machines.

Kaylee driving.

Sophia about ready to scoop Kaylee up. 

Sophia scooping.

Hula hooping it up.

Kaylee hula hooping

Kaylee and Sophia posing for photos.