Not a lot- It's all on my mind!

I don't have a lot to blog about.  Everything is on my mind right now.  Do you ever have a day, or a week, where you have so many thoughts, ideas, and to-do's that you can't even keep your thoughts straight?  And you can't even turn your ideas off to fall asleep?  That's where I'm at now.  Maybe getting some of it in print will ease my mind.

I looked through iphoto, and came across a handful of sweet sandbox/swingset/sunset photos.  I grabbed a bunch, and I realize they have nothing to do with my words, but they are fun to look at, anyways!

Our summer calendar is filling up.  Graduations, End-of-the-year Teacher gathering, Grad parties, Wedding shower, Wedding....  I've got to get my calendar organized for the summer!

For the wedding we are all in I need to find  size 11 black cowboy boots for Eli, and off-white lace shoes for Adi in a size 6 or 7.   Any help or suggestions are much appreciated:)

 Our Spring Dinner through out Lake Association is this weekend.  I'm in charge of buying the prizes.  $500 worth!

Eliott will start pre-school this fall.  I need to get him registered!

 Our class field trip is Thursday.  26 Kindergarteners are going to the zoo!

It's time again for a family picture.  Now that the grass is green, and we are seeing some consistent sunshine.  But, oh, to organize our wardrobes again!

Because of Eli starting pre-school in the fall I need to pull my kids from their current daycare, and put them in a daycare in town so he can be bussed.  I had a really hard time pulling them from the one, but was very happy, and confident, and excited about my new daycare.  Until I received a phone call last night that it may not work out because of numbers.  Not sure where to go on this one?!

Eliott will start t-ball this summer.  I need to get him registered!


Does anyone else ever have moments like these?  Too much to think about?  Too much going  on?  It seems to happen all at once?  Please tell me I'm not alone!

Weekend Fun!

We love to be at the cabin.  We love the fun and activities, and we love our cabin friends that we spend time with.  We look forward to Friday all week long.  In fact, Eli was already asking on Sunday on our way home from the cabin when it would be Friday again.  We count down all week: and they know the routine.  Friday they spend the morning with Auntie, Daddy gets off of work early and picks them up, and they head straight to the cabin.  Mommy has to finish her work day, and joins them as soon as she can.  (This won't last long, though, there's something like 17 days of school left- but who's counting?!)  Then the routine will change a bit, but until then we will pack our weeks full with unpacking, and re-packing, and do as much cleaning up and laundry as we can in-between!

This past weekend was definitely packed full:

The kids spent MUCH of their time on the dock fishing.

Daddy was out there to help when he could, but Eli is old enough now that he can bait his hook and take off his fish all on his own.  He didn't always need Daddy right there, but was sure to let us know when he had a bite!

The sunny that Adi caught was "this big"!

We always know where the kids are.  Shelbie doesn't wander too far from there, and acts like it's her job to watch after them!

I love that my little princess loves the color pink, and also, loves worms!

And loves, loves to play on the 'blue swing rope'!

We took the pontoon out for a chilly little cruise on Saturday, and the kids were very excited about waving to a loon that was nearby.

We saw so many loons on our lake this past weekend.  We are excited about watching them all summer.  There is something so peaceful about watching them float about.

We had a little Cinco de Mayo party on Saturday, complete with a coconut!

Dan the neighbor was probably exhausted after all this excitement on his dock!

What a good sport he was to help them all out, and put up with all the flying rods and hooks!

Notice how Adi has not left the minnow bucket in all of these pictures?!  Minnows will keep her busy for hours!

They boys' big catch!  One of them, anyways!  They were catching fish like crazy on Saturday, and were sure to run and show us each one!

Adi has a new little friend just down the road.  Her and Delila spend lots of time together, and look forward to playing with one another the minute they wake up in the morning!

He's ready the minute he wakes up to get back on the dock.  No time to get dressed.  The life jacket goes right over the jammies, he grabs his fishing pole, and off he goes.

I don't quite have the push down like Daddy does.  Something about what I do just isn't quite what she wants.  I think she needs it higher than I can push.  After all, the girl has no fear!

The weatherman were a little off with their forecast on Sunday, and we were able to squeeze in a couple of quick boat rides before the rain really started!

This was my first time in the fishing boat since we bought it last fall.  We are loving the little, old, vintage thing!

Eli and I were having fun playing in the mirror!

"Look at me!- I'm Spider-girl!"

Eli was so happy to drive the boat.

Buddies:)

They are always running around with smiles at the cabin!

We had to drive over to my parent's cabin to help with their pontoon lift.  We decided it would be much more fun to put up the canopy on the boat and take that, rather than the car!

We made it there and back- Nice and dry!

We are looking forward to another weekend packed full with fun and friends.   

 Hoping for some beautiful weather, and at least a few fish for Fishing Opener!

DiY bandana skirt tutorial

One of my sweet little former students walked up to me the other day to show me the cute skirt her Mom had made her.  She told me it was 'so easy- just sew together 2 bandanas'!  Well, I think it was a little more than that, but I loved how cute it was, and was determined to put one together for Adi.

As I was literally running through Wal-Mart one day last week grabbing a couple of last-minute things for Kindergarten Come & See day I happened upon the end cap that held all of their cute bandanas.  For $1 apiece, I couldn't pass them up.  I was in a hurry, so I quickly grabbed 2.

I googled bandana skirt tutorials, but couldn't find one that I really liked.  I figured it couldn't be too hard to just make it up as I went, and if I totally messed it up- I was only out a couple dollars!

Today we had some pretty crazy stormy weather in MN, so I decided to dig in.  It worked!  And, most importantly- she LOVES it!


I started with 2 bandanas and a scrap of fabric that I already had on hand:

I noticed that the bandanas were really thin, so I decided to fold them in half and use the fold across the top to hold the elastic in:

When I measured around Adi's waist it was about 18 1/2", and I wanted the length about 10", give or take.  I cut the ends off the bandanas so it was 15".  I wanted a little bit of a gather:

I cut the bandanas to 9" in length.  I trimmed the scrap fabric to 4 1/2", and also made it 15" long:

I sewed right-sides together so the fabric scrap would run along the bottom (on the opposite end of the fold):

I now had 2 pieces that looked exactly the same.  I ran a stitch a tiny bit over an inch down from the fold for my elastic to run through:

 Across the raw-edge of the fabric scrap piece I folded up and ironed 1/4", and then 1/4" again.  I pressed it really well, then stiched it on the machine:

I sewed the front and back pieces together (right-sides together), but started from the bottom, and made sure to leave the top 1"+ a little, open for the elastic to run through:

 This is what it looked like when I ran the stitch up both sides, but left the top open for the elastic to run through:

I hooked a safety pin to one end and ran the elastic through:  

 Then I zig-zagged the elastic together really well.  After the elastic was sewn together, I hand-stitched the openings closed:

And she loved it!!!!  Of course, her waist is so tiny, that like all bottoms on her, I had to roll the top down so it would stay up:

It's perfect for her!  She will love running around in this at the cabin:

Now I'm anxious to try it again with a different pattern- there were lots to choose from!  Let me know if you give this a try!  I'd love to see it and hear how it went!