Still Catching Up

So, I'm still trying to catch up with life here. I'm sure it's obvious. I feel like I'm standing in the dressing room of life, hollering for an attendant and asking, "Can I get this life in another size, please? This one just won't slide up over my hips...." or something like that. There just isn't enough time to squeeze everything I want and am into what I have available to me, y'know?
In the interest of trying to keep things brief, here's a rundown of the highlights of our last week or so.
Thursday was the last day of school. Remember the first day? It wasn't so long ago, really.

So, summer is here and I'm not quite ready. My schedule chart is done and decorated with pretty clip art, but that's as far as I've gotten. I have not bought supplies yet for all the fun activities....I'll spare you the details. I am just trying to roll with it, but am rather frantic. However, I have managed to get Mondays off "for the summer and to save gas." This is not really a financial savings for me, as I won't be making up the hours. But it will help me to be more sane and to spend a little time with my babies, which is all I ever want in life anyway. I hope I can talk my boss into a three-day work week with one day at home for all the publishing I do. That could be a good trade-off and help me out a bit. I'm going to ease him into it, though. We'll start with this and try another phase of it once school starts.
Also of note, I finished the dress that Emma designed for herself.

It's orange, because that's her favorite color, and it has an apron made of vintage hankies for which we rummaged around in a bin. The white one is actually a biscuit towel. It says "hot biscuits" on it which is why I absolutely had to buy it and use it on her dress.

Excellent for twirling. Check out those sweet little bare feet!


The pattern was a little harder than I expected and the finished product is not very good. I am frustrated that I am not instantly good at this sewing business, but that's probably why I am now obsessed with it. Must. Conquer. This.
Let's see.....what else? I am enjoying the return of swimming lessons. This means that I get to sit at a table for 30 minutes every morning of the week and knit. I really do wish I could show you pictures. The yarn is absolutely delicious - it's a cotton/modal blend and it's silky and drapey and I'm really enjoying it. It's also Mary's gifty, so, it shall remain a secret until it is finished, sent and received.
And....since I have Mondays now, there will be sewing. Hancock's had an 88-cent pattern sale a couple of weeks ago. I have found that I really love the vintage re-issued patterns that several companies have. Dresses from the 40s and 50s were so lovely. I bought more patterns that weekend than my husband even knows about. So, don't tell him, 'k? But, as they roll off the machine (at a sickeningly slow pace and with many, many "opportunities for learning"), I'll let you see 'em all. It'll be fun.
I think that mostly catches us up.
Andrew started a photography class today. He really enjoyed it. It's at the art museum downtown and we stopped to feed the ducks at the lake with my brother, who lives right across the street from the museum. It was just what my heart needed. And there were baby ducks and geese just everywhere peeping and following us around. My favorite were a pair of baby geese that came up behind us just as we were leaving. Their honkers weren't quite developed, so they made a sort of warbling whistling noise and they even let the kids pet them! There was a baby duck that was tagging along with them. He didn't know that he was so tiny compared to his buddies.
And I'm off, now, to start preparing for the summer today - on my day off - you know, the summer that's already here? Maybe I'll be ready for it by tomorrow....

DAILY BLISS: local blueberries for lunch and the anticipation of a little rain