Sewing Pep Talk

I went to the sewing shop the other day. I had dutifully attempted to clean my sewing machine of lint, and oil it like I should. I followed the instructions I got with it. But it sure didn't work when I put it back together!

So after seeking advice from a friend I contacted the Fashionette Sewing Center. Sound like a blast from the past? Well, it is. Ralph, the man who runs the shop is turning 85 next week. He started fixing machines when he was 21. So he has a few years of experience. He offered to clean and oil the machine while I watched so I could do it myself next time, and he gave me a little sewing lesson on the ins and outs of my Sears Kenmore 1320. He spent two hours teaching me and I think it was the best $50 I've spent in awhile. You just don't find that kind of service anymore! Highly recommended. If you go, make sure you have some TIME.

I got a great sewing book from my sister for Christmas. It has a lot of projects that kind of build on each other. Now that my machine is running again, I did one of the mini projects in the book. You are supposed to draw out a picture and then "free" stitch over it. Meaning, you are supposed to put the feed dogs down and really take control of the machine.

Well, I couldn't get that to work, so I just kept the feed dogs right where they were and stitched on my design, which I nabbed from The Graphics Fairy. Bad picture, blah, blah, blah, but it was kinda fun. I used a fancy disappearing ink pen from Joann's. Here's the book:

I'm excited to get sewing now that my machine is working lickity split.

I have adopted this as my sewing mantra (from the book): "You're the boss! (Not Tony Danza--YOU) Don't let that machine sass you, or make you feel like you can't do this. You can. That's just a machine and you're in charge! Be the boss!" Each time I sew I'm going to find a mirror and yell this at my reflection Jack Donaghy style. I think it's going to work.

Some Ava pics for you. Overalls courtesy of Aunt Jen:

This scene is becoming more and more familiar when I pick up Ava from her nap:

A friendly wave (wearing mom's mittens):

Have a good day!

Sockin' it to Ya!

Ava is mobile in full-force now. We are used to the spills, slips and bumps that come with the territory. I realized, however, that most of her socks don't have "grippies" on the bottom. Maybe that's because she has tiny feet and most of her socks would fit a baby that can't even crawl yet. :0) So I remembered a tip I saw in Real Simple: use puffy paint! Remember? From the 80's?

Here is a picture of her new socks. (or "shaaaa!" in Ava-ese) I put cardboard inside the socks so the paint didn't leak through to the other side. It was pretty super easy. And Ava stays on her feet (a little bit) more. :0)

Ava Update

Hi all,

Just an update on our almost-15-month old today. She is growing like crazy now! She says "Mama, Papa, wuff-wuff, hi, bye-bye, oo-oo ah-ah (monkey sound), no, no, no, no and more no. She says it all the time!

She has taken up to about 6 steps at a time, but she's still pretty cautious about it. She has, however, 3 dance moves now, so I'm hoping that she starts walking more in the next few weeks so she can bust them out at the weddings we are going to!

My other favorite things she is doing now is giving hugs upon request. And she will pat your back (or her stuffed animals) when she hugs you. She will also follow simple directions to hand us things, or put things in a container. It's so fun to realize that she understands so much of what we say.

This is a picture of her post-ponytail hair Snuggle time with Papa

Working on her "new" computer (our old laptop. She loves pounding on it!)

Trying on her bike helmet. She loved it! :0)

A smorgasboard of Ava pics.

Why yes, my daughter IS eating graham crackers off the floor. And yes, we DO feed her. Father's Day!

Ava took a dip in her new swimming pool (Thanks, M & G!)

She LOVED it. She is a beach baby, much to her papa's delight. My parents were up for the weekend, and we had a great time. Look at those adorable thighs!

Good news about Ava's hair-dos. I'm getting better at them! Here she is rocking the pig tails.

And here.

AND here.

Ooo, and here's her VBS costume! I had some extra material leftover from mine.

Doesn't she look so ancient Egyptian?



Heh, this picture depicts how sometimes Ava's bibs can make her arms look a bit...short.

There! An Ava fix for you!

Our Big Girl. I Refuse to Call Her a Toddler, Though.

Guess who turned 1 last week? Nope, not me. Nope, not Mr. Wonderful....Yes! It's Ava! Some people refer to 1 year olds as "toddlers". I can't bring myself to do it. After all, she doesn't toddle yet. I still have time!

We had a celebration with my side of the family over Memorial Day weekend. We had a great time of watching the Bird go through the rites of passage that come with a birthday for the first time. She was really excited about the wrapping paper and the gift bags, really confused about people looking at her and singing in a big group and entirely unsure about the frosting and cake. The party was resplendant with my sister's far superior birthday cake. I didn't try to compete last week with my birthday cake, but I did try a pretty easy cake. I'm not a baker, and I've never made a birthday cake before, but it was fun!

Ava was a pretty cool customer when it came to trying her birthday cakes. Here she is:

With the proud parents:

I used a paper pattern to cut the 9x11 cake into a number "1".

ps. if you buy Red Hots in the cake decorating aisle, they cost about 10x's more than if you walk two aisles over to the candy aisle. It's a crime, really.




And for your visual pleasure, my amazing sister's amazing bird cake. Holy confection perfection, Batman!