"Paper Bag skirt"

Not sure why it's called a "Paper Bag Skirt" it's anything but that! I love this adorable flouncy, twirly skirt. (I've actually made 3 of them now) :)

Here's the tutorial by Make It and Love It. Have fun makng your little girl one!

http://www.makeit-loveit.com/2010/08/paper-bag-skirtand-hidden-mistake.html

Too big for onesies

Eden my baby, is 2 years old now and has finally outgrown onesies. I can get them on but it's a little too low and snug. So now I have a ginormous pile of cutie onesies looking to be re-purposed. Here is my first project. A little comfy stretching dress with matching comfy pants. I traced some sleeves from another long sleeve shirt and sewed them into the tank top onesie. Took about 30min to make the skirt, sleeves and pants. Super cute, comfy and easy!!

Doilies, going vintage

I bought a "mystery bag" of sewing supplies from a clothing drive and the bag was full of doilies, and a bunch of other surprises. What is a girl to do with a load of doilies???

The search was on....and on..and on.

I found it, the perfect project! Actually in a book I've had for a couple years now on Embellishing.

A doily scarf!

I wore it yesterday and got alot of compliements! I actually still have about half of the doilies left. The search is on again for re-purposing doilies!

A fresh breath of Autumn

There is something so wonderful about Fall. I love the dramatic change of seasons and colors, the breeze smells like apples and makes you think of pumpkins. Fall Colors are my favorite crimson red's, dark greens, browns very earthy colors. We played in some HUGE piles of leaves with the girls, I think we are still picking sticks out of their hair. Here is a cute little kid's poem that describes Fall perfectly:

October

October's the month
When the smallest breeze
Gives us a shower
Of autumn leaves.
Bonfires and pumpkins,
Leaves sailing down -
October is red
And golden and brown.

---

October leaves are lovely
They rustle when I run
Sometimes I make a heap
And jump in them for fun.

---

Autumn leaves float quietly down
And form a carpet on the ground.
But when those leaves are stepped upon,

Listen for the crackling sound.

I miss the sounds and smells of the traditional Fall season in the States, things like apple picking, Festivals, Harvest parties, carved pumpkins lit up on people's porches, hay and corn mazes, I especially miss all those Autumn flavors and scents that scream "home and comfort!" Apple Cidar, Pumpkin Pie, warm spices and caramel. It becomes a melancholy time of memories remembering a table packed with family and food. So, I dug out my scented candles from the States and let them burn all day...I have been saving them, opening them for little moments at a time to sneak a smell. Today was a big day for me to actually light them knowing that those little "scents" that remind me of home would soon be gone, but it was worth it! I even have a few hours left for another melancholy Fall day.

Happy Fall!

Humbled by a 3 year old

The day Novie turned 3 she was registered to begin Ovoda (pre-school). She had her 3rd birthday Nov. 14th which was a Sat. and began school Monday morning the 16th. Crazy?! No kidding! We knew it would be the best to put her in school so she would quickly learn Hungarian. Since neither Andy or I speak Hungarian we knew this would benefit her and is the wisest decision for school at this point in time. Every other staff child has a Hungarian parent. Not even a year later and still 3 years old, Novie's teacher told us Novie is bilingual and has surprised us with how quickly she has learned. AAHH, so crazy and so amazing the mind of a child. We ONLY speak English at home and she has mastered another language. I know she has been speaking Hungarian for months now but to hear her teacher "brag" about Novie really made me realize that my child speaks 2 languages without my help and of course I'm proud :) Wow, it's hard not to get jealous that it only took her being in pre-school for a few hours a day for 7mo.

I've been humbled repeatedly through this process as my 3 and yes, even my 2 year old have corrected me, conjuga

ted correctly, or used words I do not know. It's tricky as a mommy knowing they know more than me... I feel like I

'm supposed to be the one leading, guiding, encouraging them, yet when it comes to this area of my life the roles have switched and I'm not sure how to respond, and I'm not sure how I feel about it.

Last week Novie came up to me and said,

"Mommy let's play Hungarian. I will be the shop lady and you have to buy things from me." So we began, yes I was corrected on how to play but also on the words. I realized to make an item an object I had to add, "t" I kept forgetting that. Yes, Novie

corrected me. I constantly mispronounced words and the list goes on. I struggled that day between crying and laughing. Novie knew I needed to practice and

she h

elped me and encouraged me and I would laugh thinking about how sweet she was, saying, "Mommy you need to practice more" or "mommy that's not the right Magyarul word, but you are getting

good." But I also cried, I'm tired of studying another l

anguage but I know studying is the only way I will learn. I'm tired of making mistakes being corrected and st

ill not grasping certain concepts even after months of language school, tutoring and hearing it explained. Maybe I'm not tired but frustrated it doesn't come "easy" to me. Maybe in 10 years I will look back at these feelings and laugh. I'm proud of my daughters and how fast they have learned a new language and adapted. I also know they call Hungary home. I pray I will also feel the same way, and I feel the biggest way to make that happen is to learn Hungarian so I will keep trying and keep studying.