spooooky

It's almost Halloween!!! OK, we have about a month to go, but I can still get excited!! I love this time of year...the candy, the ghouls, the candy, the witches and did I mention candy?
Well this year I've decided to do one spooky craft with the kids a day. So craft along with me. It doesn't have to be huge, just fun! I'll post all the crafts (when I remember) that we do.

The pictures up there are from last Halloween. It's amazing how much the kids have grown since then! I'm working on their costumes (you'll notice last year was store bought/hand me down. I was super pregnant at the time so give me a break!) They are some super excited kids! Spook you later!

overdue diaper bag

My friend Sarah saw my diaper bag on the floor in my dad's living room. She asked everyone in the house who the "diaper bag that doesn't fall over" belonged to. I then promised to make her one also...that was almost three months ago. I'm embarrassed that it took me so long to sew, but we all get carried away in the stream of life sometimes and things get pushed aside.

Well, I'm happy to say it's finally done! I used fabric from Lizzy House's Red Letter Day line. The pattern is the Everything Bag in Amy Butler's Little Stitches for Little Ones.

***If you don't sew, you can ignore the next part or read and be bored!***

I'm not going to do a full pattern review, but I will say that it was pretty easy to sew up. The longest part was putting all the interface and fusible fleece on. I've made three of these bags so far and not found any errors in the pattern instructions. The only thing I don't like about the bag is that the divider is not attached at the bottom, so I may try to change that next time I sew it.

Oh and please excuse the poor lighting in that picture (and the messy desk).

jump rope dress

I made this dress from and Oliver and S pattern (the jump rope dress). I used fabric from Lizzy House's Red Letter Day line.
I loved the pattern since the collar was so easy and came out great! I think I'll make one other version of this dress then on to sewing some boy clothes!

It's official!

Ian is officially part of the family! This little cutie's adoption was finalized this morning!
Here's the now officially formed Nordin family! Congrats Evelyn, Kim and Ian!!

tatonka

Liam is studying Native Americans in class. So at home I thought we'd try to make a little teepee. Liam picked out the fabric from my stash. I personally think he has great taste! I used the teepee tutorial from Sew Mama Sew except I had to change a lot of it since I wanted to use what I had on hand.
Well, the teepee collapsed moments after this picture. Liam hasn't even had a chance to sit in it since he's at school. Oh well, the little ones still had fun with it! And I can rebuild it. Word of advice, don't try making one without bamboo. I used zebra sticks and they weren't strong enough. And no I didn't plan the shirt/teepee match. Just a coincidence. Can you tell we like Anna Maria here?!
And look out world! Little Matthew has finally figured out this whole roll over thing! I think he was very excited about it all. He kept doing it and squealing.

janie's blanket

For a sweet baby Jane in Ohio to keep her warm on those chilly nights. I started knitting this around 5 months ago. It's seen me through a lot. Truly a comfort knit.
This was knit from a pattern in Comfort Knitting & Crochet Afghans. I changed it up a bit though. (What knitter doesn't?)

ahh then end of summer...

and the Pullman Strike. However you spent your Labor Day weekend, I hope it was full of

rhino dimples,
















knights in plastic armor,

















skateboarding lessons,






















baby pow wows,

















tricycle excitement,

















ducklings on bikes,
















and super hero conferences on picnic blankets. Happy Labor Day!