Lorax Clothes, Continued

Last night I finished a second shirt for Ingrid after she went to bed.   This one is a larger size from Old Navy.  I took one of the panels and cut it out and carefully fused it to the shirt, making sure to tuck in the edges for a finished look.  After that, I cut up the side of the shirt at the seam and ducked it under the foot of my sewing machine.  With 60 stitches to choose from, it was difficult to narrow one down, but I finally picked a finishing stitch and CAREFULLY went around the appliqué.  My mom would be convinced I went too slow, but I didn't want to screw it up and be out the OOAK appliqué and a t-shirt.

Ingrid asked to have her hair braided after her bath.  ALL OF IT, MOM so that it's curly in the morning.  I obliged.  Then I tried out the new shirt on her.  She decided she will wear it to school in the morning.  She asked me to grab my camera and started posing.  What a hoot!

Lorax Clothes

Yeah!  It only took an extra week, but I finally got one of the Lorax skirts made using my new sewing machine.  PLUS, I came up with a unique shirt idea after searching in vain for a machine embroidery design of the Lorax that I liked.

The truffula shirt was made after the whole family went to Joann Fabrics to find some fake fur and to Old Navy for a few t-shirts.  The "trufulas" are attached to the shirt with snaps so they can be removed before washing.  The trunks are a zebra print turned sideways and cut out using wavy lines.

Can you say cute???

PUT YOUR CLOTHES AWAY

Fact:  Ingrid does not like anything to do with clothes, except wear them and admire them.

She doesn't like putting them in the dirty clothes basket, doesn't like to do laundry (I can forgive her that one), doesn't like to unload the dryer, fold clothes, take clothes upstairs and, especially, put clothes away.

Here's the current state of her dresser:

And here's the new rule to "fix" her dislike of dresser clutter.

Telecommuting

I love telecommuting in the spring with the nice weather and the ability to open a window in a bright airy room.  It's not every day that I get the opportunity; maybe twice a month, at best.  At home, we have a room that eventually will become the family library room with bookshelves and a reading nook.  For now, it has my work desk that looks out over the front of the house.  Double doors to the library quietly separate me from the rest of the house so I can do conference calls if needed.  I can hear Erik playing with his cars outside the room.  If I'm not on the phone, I open the door and the toy car conga line makes its way into the library.

What's the best part about telecommuting?  Being able to sneak into the kitchen and whip up a batch of fresh chocolate chip cookies for the kids after school, like I did today.  It's the little things...

Zip Line Test Runs

We still are working to perfect the backyard zip line for some family fun.  While Harmony was here, we went out to show her the latest features of the ever changing fun line.  The launch pad was completed (sans railing) and we put a primitive seat (a 2x4) under it for comfort.  I still have to stay at the end of the line to catch the zipping kiddo.  Our landing area is full of rocks and boulders.  We haven't figured out a solution yet.

The swing set pieces are leaning up against the launch pad/future treehouse.

San Tan Legacy Soccer Clinic

Our friends spotted the email offering a free two day soccer clinic put on by the coaches of the San Tan soccer league - the same league that Annika has participated in for the last two years.  These clinic coaches are from the Legacy teams.   The Legacy teams are the club soccer teams   Club soccer is synonymous with $1500 soccer.  That's right - $1,500.00 per season!  Even if that were easily in our budget, I find it a big waste on an eight year old.  We'll stick to their seasonal recreational program and pocket the rest of the $1500 in the kids 529 plans.

The Corbeil-Coggins family feels the same.  Their daughter, Arianne, is a week older than Annika and therefore participates on the same league/age bracket.  With August birthdays, our kids are always the oldest on the team because San Tan uses a July 31st cutoff date.  That doesn't bother us at all.  Every year we both say the same thing - our daughters may be the oldest on the team, but every year, they end up being the smallest.

I picked up Arianne at her after school program and brought her home to get cleats and shoes and water.  Annika was waiting at home.  The girls attend different schools.  With water, snacks and a chair for me we were off to the "clinic" where the girls practiced drills and training techniques ahead of Legacy tryouts. (We won't be trying out - we're just enjoying the two days of free coaching and exercise).  Arianne's mom will take Annika next week.  Annika did great - blocking several goals and using her speed to do amazing footwork around the other girls.

During a bathroom break in the 98 degree weather, I captured the sun casting a shadow on the park's sign against the wall.  I thought it looked cool.

My New Machine

I was anxious to get back from our Saturday evening pizza fun to try out my new toy.  Worn out by multiple trips to birthday parties, archery practice and what not, I was worn out by night time.  Too late to learn a new sewing machine.  By Sunday I was ready to get going.  My new sewing machine was here and I was itching to break it in with a simple skirt for Ingrid - with Lorax material!

Sunday brought home Woody, Harmony and Ingrid.  No time for the sewing machine, again.  I've got the bobbin set and I love the self threading needle.  It's now Monday and I can't wait to get going.  Now all I need is some elastic (I haven't finished unpacking my sewing supplies) and I'll have my foot on the pedal!

Did the Swing Set Fit?

Once friends and family heard that Woody was on his way back from California, the single question I kept hearing was, "well, did it fit?"

The answer is yes, the swing set completely fit (and completely filled) the borrowed pick up truck.  In fact, there was enough room for Harmony to make the trip back to Arizona, too.  That was a surprise.  We unpacked late night in order to have the truck ready to return Monday morning.

Thank you so much Steckline family for the car trade!  We couldn't have done it without you.

Fun With Friends

I was so looking forward to Saturday night I ended up smiling all the way to our friend's, the Lheureux's, home in Gilbert.  Morgan was dropped off at a sleepover birthday party at 3 PM.  Woody and Ingrid were living it up in Los Angeles.  I felt nearly "naked" with such a small family - me, Annika and Erik.  With Woody out of town, I called my friend Esther and said we should get the kids together.  Within 60 seconds, the play-date/pizza party was arranged.

I brought the entertainment - a surprise to Esther and Benoit.  My only instructions were to clean out the playroom.  The outside temp hovered around 105 degrees - clearly a sign of what's to come this summer and how creative Arizona parents are to get the kids moving and shaking in the heat.

Our five year old bouncy house "jump-o-line" was a big hit, as I expected, with Ollie, Char-Char and Erik.  Annika jumped too, and provided some great supervision of the little ones.  Char-Char did not hold back and jumped for nearly 45 minutes without stopping.  Finally, after nearly an hour of jumping and beach ball throwing, the kids were tuckered out.  And we were smiling.  Time for a little electronic entertainment with iPads and iPhones.

We ordered pizza and Esther and I chatted while Benoit went to pick it up and the kids were quiet and content with their little screen babysitters.

Twenty minutes later, we were enjoying pizza and kimchi, quickly cutting the kiddo slices with Asian kitchen scissors - best idea EVER!  A big bowl of berries were quickly gobbled up by hungry kids.  Annika was such a great guest - helping everyone and picking up the play room.

Our drive home was quiet and serene.  You guessed it - the little man was WORN OUT tired.

Thank you Lheureux family for the fun evening!

Wedding Party

Morgan, Annika, Ingrid and Erik have been asked to participate in Andy's wedding as junior bridesmaids, flower girl and ring bearer.  With only three weeks left, we're scrambling to get their dresses fitted just right for the big day!

Here's Annika after school getting her dress fitted.  The dresses look fantastic!

Surprise Vacation

I picked up Ingrid from school at 11:30 today.  She had no idea I was coming.  She was in line to go from lunch to recess when I met up with her.  I told her I had signed her out.  For what, she asked?  You can imagine her surprise when I explained that she was going to ride with Dad and spend the weekend in California with Harmony.  We stopped by her classroom and picked up her backpack, let her teacher know she wasn't coming back until Monday and off we went.  Ingrid was all smiles when she saw her carseat loaded in the borrowed pick up truck for the trip.  We added a small pillow and a few toys and snacks and away they went.

Recycle Monster

In celebration of Earth Day 2012, Ingrid's class sent home a note asking families to work together to create a monster using recycled or trashed materials.  Did you know that monsters have sippy cup noses and aluminum can top earrings?  Did you know robot-monsters had purple lips?  Now you do.

Presenting Ingrid's robot-monster:

Saturday Afternoon Crafting

After archery practice we settled into a comfortable Saturday amidst the clouds and intermittent rain.  We cleaned the living room and cleared a few more boxes.  Rome wasn't built in a day, but I sure would like to be completely unpacked NOW.  I'm waiting to get the library painted and the shelves built.  For now, we're focusing on fixing up the outdoor space; the heat will be here soon and we'll be able to spend more time indoors settling into our space.

In our new neighborhood, there is an abundance of kids, which is great.  However, there are no kindergarteners for Ingrid.  Playdates are harder to schedule when we live some distance from the school. We called a friend for the second time, but no call back as of yet.  This is hard on Ingrid.  She is struggling seeing her sisters have their friends over or run across the street to see other friends.

I set aside the afternoon to do some activities with my five year old after we had lunch and bought a present for a birthday party that Annika is attending on Sunday.  We settled on making new crayons from our old crayons using IKEA molds.

Ingrid enjoyed sorting the crayons and helping to peel the paper.  We got a bunch of 1¢ boxes of crayons from Office Max at the beginning of the school year.  They work great to mix with Crayolas to form new crayons.  Ingrid decided to make flower crayons.

Garden - Part III

Posts are up to help the climbing veggies!

More barrels for more herbs!

We're getting there!

Easter Egg Hunt

The Chung family Easter Egg hunt has traditionally been at the end of the day on Easter.  The Easter bunny has continually visited during nap time catching everyone off guard as he hides eggs in the yard - not many, just enough for each kiddo to find a few and have fun.

This year the Easter bunny snuck into the backyard while nearly everyone was watching the 1971 cartoon version (the original) Lorax.  We all headed outside with Easter baskets for a fun hunt of jelly beans and small Kit Kat (melted) bars.

Erik caught on quickly and filled his pet "dog" (so he called it) with eggs and hearts.  After the hunt, the kids pooled their candy and traded to give each kiddo the candy they like (aka the candy that likes them...)

Easter Finery

Happy Easter!!!

Christ has risen!  Hallelujah!  After a fun Cajun party, it was a quiet morning at the Chung household, with most waking up well after 7 AM.  The kids were excited to see their baskets, patiently waiting for Erik (the late sleeper) before opening.  The Easter bunny brought wood signs for their rooms, books, movies, hat and purse, and cars.  Everyone was very happy with the Easter bunny this year.

Raging Cajun Party

Our neighbors, the Dow Family, threw a fantastic evening party for about 30 people tonight - kids included.  It was nice to be able to socialize and enjoy adult company while having our kids with us.  We're no strangers to seafood bakes - crab, clams, corn, potatoes, sausage and lemons all steamed together.  But this was our first crawfish event.  It was soooo good.
Before the party, Ingrid and I made a mad dash to the store to get ingredients for a dessert dip and some fresh strawberries.  We brought the strawberries and a very well liked chocolate chip cookie dough dip with graham crackers.   The rest of the food at the party was equally delicious and the mixed drinks were quite yummy.
The Dows have a fantastic backyard, complete with lemon, lime, orange, fig, pomegranate and grapefruit trees!  There's a Brazilian pepper tree on a raised circle bench in the center of the yard and a backyard wood fireplace.  The pebbletec pool and hot tub are unfenced.  Woody and I took turns keeping a close eye on Erik who was living-it-up as a party guest.
We stayed until 9 PM and then had to say farewell to get our wound-up kiddos settled into bed.  Annika was out in about five minutes (typical).  Erik stayed up way to late babbling on and on about the party.