A Labor of Love

I come from a VERY crafty family. I have been surrounded by "crafty talent" my entire life. My grandmother actually owned her own sewing company and her shop was located in a room behind the garage. Growing up I spent a lot of time in that sewing room so the sewing machine is no stranger to me and I was surrounded by my mom and her sisters who also sewed. My mother made almost all of our halloween costumes growing up, my Aunt Merlene well she did everything sew, draw, paint, you name it she does it. My Aunt Kathy was not so much a crafty individual but she had real "make up artist/creativity" talent and my Aunt Trish crochets and scrap books quite a bit. When I was younger it never really occurred to me that this was a luxury most kids didn't have. If I ever wanted something made or needed help making something someone in my family was always able to do it. So here I am now 32 years old and just now taking on sewing projects BY MYSELF and let me tell you... IT'S A LOT OF WORK! 

 I'm on PINTEREST one day and see these great "peeka a boo toy bags" that help organize your children's toys. I have a small house and two kids with lots of toys so of course I think to myself "I NEED THOSE." I go to my mom, show her the link on how too and we head out to buy fabric. She helps me figure out the patten and then I am left to fend for myself, which I do! I spent and entire week making bags and I am still not entirely finished but I do have quite a bit to show far. 

So here are my Peek A Boo Toy Bags and I love them. But what I love most is seeing MY WORK around the house. My bags will never be Etsy worthy and any great sewer would spot the flaws in nothing flat but regardless I am proud of them. I sew slow and crooked, I am lousy at measurements, and I had to use that thing to take apart my messed up stitching more times than I would like to remember but in-spite all of that my bags are still cute. I love that I got to spend time with my mom working on something we both enjoyed. It made me think about her when she was my age making our halloween costumes in my grandmothers sewing shop. Did she mess a up and have to run out and by more fabric? Did she have to ask her mom how to sew in elastic? Did she cut her hands cutting out the pattern? Turns out she did:) I have no idea if I will ever be a great sewer but I do have a vision of Ellsie coming to me someday and asking me for help on the PEEK A BOO TOY BAGS she will obviously want to make for her kids!

 For me this project started as cute idea to help organize my kids toys but now it means a little something more. Last night out of the blue Ellsie turned to me and said "Mom thanks for my monkey bag (Paul Frank Print) for all my princess' I really love them." I like seeing her use my "creation" and I love that she knows I made them for her and Nixon.They don't see all the flaws in them that I do, they just see something their mom made for them and that makes me HAPPY! Maybe someday I will attempt bigger projects but for now I still have 4 toy bags to finish up (I'm giving some out as Christmas gifts). 

Wish me LUCK;) 

Lake San Antonio

I can't think of a better way to "end" our summer than a BOATING trip! This past weekend we took a family trip to Lake San Antonio and IT WAS SO MUCH FUN! Growing up, my second home was on a boat so it was so fun for me to make the same memories with my kids. It was nice to know that after taking a little break (due to pregnancy and nursing) I was able to wake board and ski, however, not without gaining an entire sore body. This mama is slightly out of shape but what counts is that I STILL HAVE IT IN ME!(Of course there are no pictures of me though...figures) And of course Chris wake surfed and boarded like he's never had a break...blah! I'm not bitter or anything;) 

For a while now Nixon has really been  into "driving" things. He pretends to drive my car and loves when we put him on toy ATV'S or something. But none of these things compare to driving the boat. Nixon NEVER left the drivers seat and when he did it wasn't without a full blown fight. I'm talking wheel gripping, full blown screams, and a few kicks when it was time to step away. He does make a STINKING cute boat driver if I do say so! 

While Nixon found his love of driving the boat, Ellsie became attached to her new BLUE sunglasses. When I was a kid, it was always a treat to get to go to the boat marina. We were allowed to get a popsicle or even sometimes a new hat or sunglasses. So on our first day we headed straight to the marina to pick up a few things and Ellsie found some blue sunglasses she had to have. They pretty much stayed on her face the entire trip. 

One of the highlights for me was tubing as a family! Our friends had the monster of all tubes so being all together wasn't hard. The difficult part was pulling Nixon away from the drivers seat. He screamed for a good ten minutes but then we finally got into a groove and enjoyed being pulled behind the boat. After the family tube session Chris and I went for a little ride just us two. I'm pretty small and can easily ride on my knee's where Chris had to lay flat. I had it so EASY! Chris had to hold up his entire body weight while I leisurely sat on my knee's. When we were getting off I said to Chris that I forgot just how much fun that is! We had a great time. 

Like I stated before Chris managed to make wake surfing look like a piece of cake. It isn't! But it was very cool to watch. The object is to get close enough to the boat to surf the wake. It only took him like 3 tries and then he had it the rest of the trip. 

And of course it wouldn't be a trip to the lake without feeding the deer. Every morning and evening we were greeted by these little guy's and the kids thoroughly enjoyed feeding them bread. I think Penny and Nixon ate more bread than they actually fed to the deer and Ellsie was so excited she kept running up to the deer and scarring them away but hey, they still loved it!
Ellsie and Nixon love taking care of their baby cousin Penny. Of course Nixon liked it a little too much...almost suffocating her with LOVE. HAHA

As you can tell I am very AT HOME on a boat. It was a great trip and I am so happy that I got to enjoy a boating trip with my family this summer! xoxo