~Callie's 'strawberry' party!~

Callie has been counting down the days to her 4th. birthday for weeks!  Every morning she would wake up and tell me how many days til her birthday!! :)  Here she is 'patiently' waiting for daddy to take pictures of her and her presents. 

She loves her new Strawberry Shortcake doll.  It says different phrases and sings songs if you press her hands.

Grandpa reads Callie her cards.

Another favorite gift--A Snow White dress, tiara & shoes that I have kept in my closet for years!!!  I bought this super-cheap when she was a baby and have been anxiously awaiting the time for her to grow into it!! :) 

Samuel got picked to get a prize from the library this week.  He picked out a book for his sister and gave it to her as a birthday gift.

Callie was quite captivated with Grandpa using newspaper for wrapping paper.  We no longer use wrapping paper(we use re-usable fabric gift bags), so this was a special treat for her to tear open a gift.  I love my father-in-law's creativity in wrapping and selecting gifts for the kids.   

Can you tell she is excited to get a box of a favorite cereal for grandpa!!! :)  He also bought her a giant box of ice cream cones!!!  YUMMY!!!

Callie has been waiting to open all her cards that came in the mail.  I always keep them back until their actual birthday for them to open.  This card was from her Grandpa & Grandma.  She's excited about going shopping with the money they gave her.  She also got a card from an uncle, aunt & cousin for her shopping trip.  Now she is counting the days until mommy is taking her shopping! :)

Callie, our 4 year old, with all her birthday cards & gifts.

See all the balloons---Callie blew up EVERY single pink balloon.  12 total!!!  She has quite the set of lungs! :)  Samuel helped blow up the green ones.  Callie wanted pizza for her birthday dinner.

A strawberry cake was requested.  It was very easy to make.  I melted chocolate and wrote her name and the #4 in chocolate to decorate the cake. 

Smiling for Daddy.

Blowing out the candles....

It took her 3 times to blow them all out.  Candles were provided by Grandpa.  Mommy ran out---AGAIN!!! :(

On Sunday, Callie requested a strawberry dress for her birthday.  She specifically wanted a shirt and a skirt.  I sewed all morning, taught lessons, sewed some more, taught more lessons, finished sewing!  3.5 hours of sewing on her birthday outfit today!  She loved it!!!

The neighbor lady was practicing piano.  Callie was asking what that sound was when I snapped this picture.

Full length view of her 'strawberry' shirt and skirt.  The shirt buttons in the back and has cute little slits with bow embellishments on the front.  The skirt was just a simple tiered peasant-style skirt.

She wanted this particular posed photograph taken before going inside.

Now more pictures with her new princess outfit.  Aren't the gloves hysterical?

Looks like she's ready to shoot some guns!!! :)

I love this back shot of Callie.

And one last picture.....Aren't little girls feet in high heel dress-up shoes simply adorable?!! :)

And if you got this far, thanks for sharing in Callie's birthday celebration with us!! :)  She had a wonderful birthday today and is ready for bed!!!!!  Off to read a bedtime story to two little munchkins...... 

My 2 babies.....

.....have grown up overnight.  Or so it seems. :)  Daddy brought them both hats from Steak & Shake the other night.  They did NOT want to put them on and look all cutsey for our cameras!!!  I think these pictures turned out better than the picture perfect 'cutesy' ones....

Samuel, my 5 year old who has to constantly remind me that "he's a BIG boy now".  I still think of him as my baby boy!!!  He's NOT at all fond of me referring to him as such...:)  I will still come and snuggle with me early in the morning sometimes.  I treasure those moments.  He is a VERY serious, but LOVING child who gives me a bear hug so tight before bedtime it almost knocks me over!!!!  He's going to be a big, strong guy one of these days!  He loves to figure things out.  Work with his hands.  Fix things.  He might very well follow in his daddy's and grandpa's footsteps and be my genius, mechanically-minded, can-fix-anything son!!  Oh, and can you tell by the picture, he doesn't like to be interrupted when he's concentrating on something!!! :)

Callie, my drama queen, looks so serious in this picture.  If you look close enough, you'll see the stubborn set of her jaw and the annoyance (at being bothered) in her eyes.  She is VERY strong-willed, independent, and persistent.  On one hand, she LOVES all things princessy, fairy-talish, pink, purple, glittery, but, then before you blink, she's out diggin' in the dirt and climbin' to the very tip-top of the swing-set and hangin' up there all by herself!!!  She loves me to read her 'stories' every night before bed.  If I forget, she lets me know first thing in the morning, that 'you forgot to read me my story!' :)

My 2 babies, 17 months apart, are no longer babies and are growing up way too fast!!!

Now, to take some candid shots of my oldest two!!  But, first, I think the fire truck has FINALLY left.  The chain saws are FINALLY quiet and maybe, just maybe, I might be able to FINALLY go to sleep!!!!  Night-night all..............zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Making one boy's day special....

Once upon a time there was a middle-sized boy that wanted a Jedi cape.  He was shopping with his mommy one day last fall and came bearing a bolt of clearance brown knit fabric.  He begged to please buy it.  His mommy said, "No." and the boy was soooo sad.  Little did he know that his mommy planned on buying it as a birthday surprise!!!  So, one day in October, the boy opened up a package with brown knit fabric. 

Not the type of gift that any other boy would appreciate or even understand.  But this gift made this boys' day!!  Day after day passed and his mommy just didn't have the time to sew the cape up.  The boy kept asking his mommy when, but she kept saying I'll sew it later.

Finally, the day arrived.  The mommy said she would on Friday, a day that she didn't have to work.  The boy kept asking all day long where the fabric was at.  The mommy said it was in her sewing bag.  Finally, she finished the projects she was sewing and went to get the fabric.  She dug around in the bag and produced a length of brown shiny stuff.  Was this the fabric?  The boy said, "Yes!"  The mommy didn't think it was quite the right one, so she dug around some more and found the length of brown knit fabric.  They both decided a lined cape would be the thing to make.  They used both lengths of fabric.  The boy asked for a hood and the mommy sighed knowing it would be an even longer project to finish.  Mommy showed the boy how to make a pattern piece for a hood.  She showed him how to lay the pattern out and cut it.

Then came time to thread the serger with brown thread.  The boy watched with wonder as his mommy threaded the new color through.  He said with awe in his voice, "That looks complicated!"  Thankfully, the serger threaded correctly on the first try and the project was underway.  Several hours later, the cape was ready!  The boy put it on and was sooooooo happy he beamed!  He went outside right away to show it off while his mommy snapped pictures.  This morning, he woke up and told his mommy that he went to sleep with it tucked under his arm.  That made his mommy melt inside and wonder why it took her sooooo long to make it for her medium-sized boy!!! :)  She now has requests from 2 other boys, one big and one little for capes of their own.

And just some other random sewing this week..........

Some coin purses with clear id pockets.

The fun fabric inside!

The stuffed turtle, Pookie, that all 4 kiddos fight over.  I have found a pattern for a turtle to make some more!