Ahnalin's Graduation and Pirate Day

Ahnalin graduated from Kindergarten!

What a big day!

 We are proud of our baby.

Yes, I know she is a big first grader now, 

but she is still our baby.

Ms. Mass was the very best Kindergarten 

teacher in the whole world!

Ahnalin has already cried because she misses her.

We hope to meet at the park for picnics with her this summer.

Nana came to see Ahnalin "cross the bridge"

from Kindergarten to First Grade.

One of the Kindergarten moms put together

all of the best artwork, poems and pictures

of the year into a book for each child. 

We will keep this book forever.

An interesting tidbit is that in every picture of Ahnalin 

in the book, she is wearing a "mama made" outfit. 

I am so proud of me!

We are so very proud of our girl for graduating Kindergarten.
She is not so hip on going to first grade though.
She wants to be in Kindergarten with Ms. Mass as her teacher
FOREVER!!
We love you too Ms. Mass!

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Since last week was so crazy,
and our internet was soooo messed up,
I got behind!

So here are a few more Kindergarten things
that I did not get to post.
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Last Tuesday, the Kindergarten classes
celebrated "Pirate Day."

Ahnalin is NOT into skeletons or scary stuff.
And due to her sensory issues, she did not
want to wear any of the
more traditional "pirate-y" things.

So, we found this fabric.

It had pirate ships, maps, "X marks the spot", etc.

She insisted that her blouse have
"sleeves that are open but with no stringies hanging down."

Ahnalin was honored as a "Student of the Month" for the
Kindergarten class.

India got to be at Ahnalin's class for the Pirate Hunt!

Since Ahnalin has a summer birthday,
her teacher let her celebrate her "Un-birthday"
a few days before school let out.

Ahnalin chose mama-made chocolate chip scones
and strawberries as her "Un-birthday" treat to share with the class.
And she picked out wedding plates from the dollar store
to serve her treats on! LOL!!!!

And just because they are so cute,

here is Ahnalin and her baby doll Beth.

Ahnalin decided to put on a play, 

starring herself, and her baby doll,

called "All Orphans Are Welcome Here."

Not kidding!

She read a story to Baby Beth about

how everything was smiling when she was born.

And she told her that she would love her forever

because that is what adoption is all about.

Made me all teary.

So sweet.

The star took a bow at the end of her play.

She has been clomping all over the house lately in my lime green heels 

and my straw hat. 

It is so normal "little girl" and I just love it!

So, that is Ahnalin lately.

We are midway through Vacation Bible School and

will be back there again in the morning. 

Oh, and did I mention that we are 14 days from Disneyland???

The Graduate!

She Did it!!

Hallelujah!!

On Saturday, June 12,

India graduated high school. 

We are so very proud of her!!

After an unbelievably difficult year, 

this felt like the biggest triumph in the world!!

 

The sun was shining and it was a beautiful day and yes,

India and I got sunburned. 

India and her buddy Erin.

After the ceremony,

we all went back to the house to get ready for the party!

My brother and sis-in-love came from Arizona with my precious

niece, Cherish, for the party!! 

Isn't Cherish scrumptious???

Don sang India's song. 

Each of our girls has a song that has been "theirs" since 

the first day of their lives in our arms.

India's is "Here Comes The Sun" by George Harrison

and her Daddy sang it to her for the first time just hours 

after her birth. 

India and her yummy cake.

Not a great picture, but LOTS of yummy food!

India and her "twin", her cousin Tyler.

Ahnalin and cousins Isabella and Anna.

The lovely Miss Cherish wearing an outfit Auntie Sivje made her. 

Oh I miss that squishy baby!!!

It is a good thing I can sew because I make the

UGLIEST frosted cupcakes in the known world. 

However, I make buttercream frosting from scratch and it is super yummy.

What is this?

We tied a mylar "Grad" balloon to the stone acorn 

on the pillar in the front of the house.

Well, by the end of the day, the balloon had impaled itself on the acorn. 

Hm....

India's childhood friend from Chicago, Laura, flew out here

on Tuesday to be with India for the week of graduation.

What a GIFT!!! The girls had a blast!

India did not go to "Grad Night" because the school did not allow guests.

So, India and Laura decided to dye their hair blue.

Yes, really. 

And super conservative me said "ok."

Laura's blue is underneath.
Not India's!

India is happy about her new Ipod Touch.

Yes, those would be mustaches on the blue haired darlings.

They walked through the entire Galleria all afternoon wearing

fake mustaches. 

They said they were stared at by many "hot guys" and 

I am just sure they were not staring at the mustaches, right???

We had to take Laura to the airport this morning so she 

could fly home today.

Laura, thank you for spending India's graduation with us.

So, my girl is graduated and I FINALLY have 

my internet back up and running. 

I will post more later.

I have LOTS to post!!

Happy Tuesday.

(Oh, and did I mention that we are leaving for Disneyland in 15 days???)

A Gift from Karin!

A package arrived from Germany!

And Ahnalin is one happy girl!

Karin is an amazingly gifted

designer and seamstress.

I love her patterns!!

She has 6 pattern ebooks and the Viola is now in English!

She also sells garments she has sewn on her website.

(Hm..same pose for Ahnalin!)

Remember this dress? 

The Viola is one of Karin's patterns

and I was so excited to sew this.
Ahnalin is crazy about it!

And look what else was in the package!!!!

Farbenmix Ribbon!!! I have always 

wanted some but never had it before. 

I LOVE IT!!

And the gummies!!
Gummies from Germany are the best in the whole world!!

Thank you so much Karin!

I love it all!!

I am so sorry I am so behind on my blog.

India graduates in the morning and this last few weeks 

have been completely crazy. 

I have lots of pictures to upload and 

India's graduation dress and Ahnalin's pirate day to show you. 

Still working on those tutorials when I have a few moments as well

My first baby graduates at 9:00 AM Pacific time and then we will have our

big celebration party at the house. 

We are so proud of our girls!!

Thank you all for your kind encouragement and prayers for my family.

I KNOW that your prayers helped to get our India through this year. 

I am so very grateful. 

Sivje

New Dresses For Me And For Ahnalin

Busy Busy!

I have had hardly any time to sew,
but I have been squeezing in time when I could grab it!

With India's high school graduation on this coming Saturday,
and Ahnalin's kindergarten graduation on this coming Thursday,
there are been many, many different obligations that must be met.

However, with these impending celebrations,
new dresses are a necessity.
Now, I know that many sensible, normal, intelligent people
would say that a new dress is not really a need.

To that, I say
PFFT!!!!
(That is me sticking out my tongue!)
(MOM!!)

I mean, what is sleep compared to a new dress?

Really!

Ahnalin has recently become complete obsessed
with Beatrix Potter books.

She LOVES them with a passion that is so sweet to see.

So when I found this darling fabric on the clearance rack of my
favorite fabric store,
I had to buy it.

Then I remembered the Beatrix Potter buttons I had been
hoarding for nearly 20 years!
They were PERFECT!!

I used the Natalie pattern from
Olabelhe and added some darling vintage cotton rickrack
and new yellow cluny lace.

She loves it!

And for me,
well.

Be kind.
Please.
This is making me nervous.

You see, I have not made a dress for myself in many, many Pounds years.

I will just be honest and say that it was MUCH easier to sew
for myself before I was so, er,
curvy.

So, I used Vogue V8469 and finally cut into some long hoarded
and much petted Amy Butler "Gypsy Caravan" fabric that I adore.

Let's just say that next time I make this dress,
I will make it at least 1 size smaller,
with no sleeves, and a tad longer.

I should have made a muslin.
Yeah, I know.
I do it for all of India's dresses,
and most of the custom work I do.
But I just cut directly into my gorgeous fabric and when I realized
how big the pattern was, I just had to make it work.
I could take in the side seams but the neck was just too big.
So I had to take several tucks all around the neckline in front and back.

Those tucks are no where to be found in the original pattern.
Yeah, next time I make a smaller size.
And the zipper,
well, I prick stitched it.
And yes, I took pictures, so the tutorial is forthcoming.

I am just so rotten at taking good pictures, that I am
struggling with getting a good shot of the actual stitches.
It is coming though.

So, I do have to say that I really did like how this pattern
went together. I fully lined it and there is not a
visible seam anywhere.
I SHOULD have made a muslin, I know I already said that.
But when I make this pattern again,
and I will, I know what to change.

I have to say, that I am actually pretty proud of myself for
making a dress for me and wearing it.
I used to do that all the time before kids. All the time.
I hope that the next dress I make for myself will not have to
cover as much me.
I have NO excuses.

Anyway, we are out the door now to Baccalaureate and I have
TONS of sewing to do when I get home.
Next up, besides the tutorials I have to finish,
is India's graduation dress,
and a pirate costume for Ahnalin's pirate day on Tuesday.

Happy Sunday.

Totally Swamped!

Hi Bloggy Friends.

  I am still here! Really! 

I know I have been wayyyyyyy behind on all my blogging promises 

and I am still working on them. 

This is my sewing table right now!

I have the tutorial for India's satin drawstring bag almost done but forgot a few key photos, so I need to do those. And I am working on a dress for myself and will photograph the prickstitched zipper process when I do it. And I have to make both India's and Ahnalin's graduation dresses. 

India's will be out of this white embroidered batiste.

And Ahnalin's will be out of this Beatrix Potter fabric

that I got on clearance at my favorite fabric store. I can't get it to

rotate but the designs are from Ahnalin's favorite stories.

Did I mention that India is graduating from high school on June 12? 

Well, we are having a party for her that afternoon and I still have to get the invitations in the mail. I sent out E-vites but a bunch of the email addresses bounced back so I feel like a total ding-dong. I need to get those corrected and then send them out again. India has big dreams of Alice in Wonderland decorations and I want to do that for her but I am struggling to just keep my head above water right now. So, my guess is that her party will just resemble a yummy summer bar-b-q instead of the party of her dreams.

In addition to all this stuff, I am working on details for getting my patterns listed

at some new-to-me online stores. So soon,

you will have a a few new options for purchasing my patterns.

Last week, India was in her final choir concert of her high school career.

There is still the Chamber Choir Dessert Concert which 

is Friday, but this picture was taken at the last concert 

of the Concert Choir along with all the other choirs.

India is in one of the black dresses in the center. 

Ahnalin was in a cranky mood and Don and I realized that this would be

our last chance to hear the entire concert without having 

to chase down Ahnalin. 

So, she stayed home with Nana and Papa and Don and I got 

to listen to the whole concert! 

It was wonderful!

The choirs are so good and the music was lovely.

And this was Ahnalin last week.

Yes, the end of May and Ahnalin was wearing her coat,

because it was cold and rainy but there were blossoms on the trees.

We noticed that she had picked off most of the blossoms within her reach on the 

tree because she uses them for little displays all over the house and yard.

So, hopefully in the next day or so, I can show you my new dress

and at least a few other things. 

I am sorry I have been soooooo remiss in posting.

If you have a spare prayer, please send some my way.
My migraines have been brutal lately and they are interfering 

with my productivity.

Love to you all!

Thank you for your wonderful comments on the Bollywood Ball Gown posts.

You all are so encouraging to me.

Happy Sewing!