Vogue 8379

I wore my Vogue 8379 wrap dress to church yesterday, and got quite a few compliments! I'm quite happy with how it looks, and don't feel as bumblbee-ish as I thought I might. I'm going to love it with my black boots.

You can read my full review here. Pretty much the only change I made to the pattern was to do a FBA. This dress was quite easy to make, and everything matched up well. The neckline lays nice and flat, and doesn't gap a bit (I tried getting a photo). I will definitely be making at least one more of these. You should too!

The Craft Meme

I got tagged by bfmomma, so here goes:

Four choices--list crafts that you are familiar with, in the categories you'd choose:

1. Love it! This is my thing.
sewing (duh! ~G~), knitting, quilting, baking/cooking

2. I do or have dabbled in it.
hand embroidery, origami, cross stitch, smocking, music (harp and viola, though not for years), photography, drawing/painting, scrapbooking (though see #4), stained glass work, calligraphy, lace-making.

3. I'll give it a try.
crochet, card making, dyeing, mosaics, soap-making (i did it once with a friend, would like to do it again), jewelry making, beading, basket weaving, glass blowing (wouldn't that be cool?!), spinning.

4. I've got absolutely no interest.
machine embroidery, scrapbooking (tried it, not my thing), pottery, weaving, woodworking, book-binding, collage, felting.

I would like to know more about Carolyn, Stacy (I swear she does everything), Beki, and Lisa.

Well Children

Since Calvin's and Connor's birthdays are only 2 weeks apart, I always schedule their well-child checkups at the same time.

Here are the details:

Calvin ~
almost 8 years old (next week!)
51.8 lbs (25th percentile)
47.5" tall (10th percentile)
86/50 blood pressure (first time, he thought it was funny)
clean bill of health. :)

Connor ~
3 years old!
33.9 lbs (75th percentile)
39" tall (50th percentile)
clean bill of health.

"I two. No, fee."

Wednesday was Connor's third birthday! Since we were in Chicago then, we celebrated with cake last night.

Connor loves Thomas the Tank Engine, and said he wanted an "Emily" cake (Emily is one of his favorite characters). I made a triple layered chocolate cake which I frosted with a butter frosting and put Emily (and Salty) on top. Voila! An Emily cake! ;)

He got a few Thomas toys, and played with this Duplo set all evening. Wednesday night we told him his birth story and looked at pictures from when he was born. That was a lot of fun.

More Flowers

I've been spending a lot of time in the garden again. We've harvested some tomatoes and our peppers (sweet bell, serrano, and habanero) look good and healthy. Here's some of what is blooming right now:

Gladiolus (gladioli?) are my favorite flowers (these are in a vase on the kitchen table). I've always treated them as annuals, and thrown them away in the fall, but these are so pretty I'm going to try and save them for next year.

Again, I've never saved dahlias either, but I'm going to try and save these too -- they are so pretty! This particular plant is just covered in blooms.

I bought and planted 2 hydrangeas this year. I can't remember if this is the bush with the large or small blossoms (I meant to get 2 of the same bush, but messed up). I'll be moving this one in the fall, it's getting more sun than I thought it would, and looks a bit burnt.

I think these are called Ozark Sundrops. They are so cheery. :)

I have so many ideas/plans percolating in my head, regarding the yard. Those of you reading this that garden, how do you keep track of what you want to do? I'm thinking of getting a little notebook, maybe a pocket calendar, and writing down my ideas, along with noting plants I want to move or divide, and when. I should probably sketch out the landscaping that I've done so far as well, and label the plants on the sketch. What do you do?

State Fair

We spent Saturday at the State Fair. Normally we go on a Friday, but Calvin had gymnastics day camp all last week. I thought it would be really crowded, but it wasn't! We had a great time, and were there 8:30 - 4:00!

I found out I placed fourth with my strawberry jam! That's my jar on the right, with the white ring. My combined fruit jam (peach-strawberry) didn't place at all. (I also don't live in Fox Point. They get it wrong every year, and I tell them to correct it every year. They said it has something to do with their computer system and my zip code)

As I wrote earlier, my two-piece sport outfit placed first. I took pictures of all my entries, but I don't think I've ever posted a photo of this complete outfit on the blog.

We ran into my friend Luther and his family while waiting in line for baked potatoes.

Caleb and Calvin took a turn on the big slide.

One of my favorite places is the Birthing Barn. We petted a 2 week old baby goat named Jerry, saw lamb triplets, a week old Holstein cow, chicks and ducklings, and these piglets. They are 3 days old.

We also watched a cool BMX/skateboarding show, had cream puffs, played in the DNR area, and bought a food chopper thing that makes great salsa. All in all, a great day at the fair!

Pay It Forward

I got this from Lori. I think it's really cool, especially since I try to live a life of PIF.

Pay It Forward meme

I will send a handmade gift* to the first three people who leave a comment requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don't know what that gift will be yet, but you will receive it within 365 days. The only thing you have to do in return is "pay it forward" by making a similar agreement on your journal.

My handmade specialties are sewing (clothes or bags/totes), quilting, and some knitting.

*The "gift" you send doesn't have to be handmade--choose your specs when you post it on your blog.

If you want to join, leave a comment with your email addy (so I can reply -- spell out the email if you don't want it harvested), and we'll hash out details.