Where Have I Been?

Hi, yes, I am still here, and I am still creating! The past two months have been busier than I like life to be, and finding time to sit at the computer to write has been a challenge.

Since I last posted, Emma turned five! My sister-in-law made her the cutest cake with ducks and ladybugs as Emma requested.

The last week of July, my daughters attended a vacation Bible school. Because I knew they would be sitting on the floor a lot, I wanted them to have shorts to wear. I made them linen shorts with ornamental stitching. I didn’t get a photo of Emma wearing hers, but here is Ellie wearing her pair and a photo of both of the pairs of shorts drying as I had to wash them between days.

While they were participating, I met with my friend and now business partner to plan a new business: Hearthside Textiles & Tea LLC. We have registered with the state and county and have planned our first workshop event to teach participants how to handsew a linen napkin!

We are currently working on ordering an inventory of fabrics to offer for sale and finding locations to hold pop-up sale events. We both love to sew with natural fibers and want to offer the option to purchase lovely fabrics in person.

That week, my daughters were invited to a birthday party for my 12-year old niece. She and her 10-year old sister put together a beautiful afternoon tea party on their deck.

My parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary at the end of July, and my brother and his wife hosted a lovely party for the family! Because Mom and Dad had Queen Anne’s Lace, colored pink and blue in food coloring, for their wedding flowers, my sister-in-law did the same thing for flowers for the party. The girls and I helped make the bouquets before the party.

The week after Bible school, our entire family became ill. According to numerous tests—both in and out of the doctor’s office—we didn’t have “the virus.” But we definitely had a nasty virus. My mom also had surgery to remove a malignant tumor from her colon the week we became sick. It was so hard to stay away from her instead of being with her in the hospital and during initial recovery at home.

Once we were well and could go back to my parents’ house, I desperately needed to weed the garden. I hadn’t tended it for almost a month, and the weeds had taken over. So, on a beautiful Friday, I spent nearly the entire day pulling weeds to get the garden ready for fall crops.

We also took the girls for 5 evenings of swimming lessons after we were well (we had to reschedule them because they too, were scheduled during the time we were sick.) It was so fun to see them make progress in the pool! I will share two funny stories about Emma that happened the first night, and the last night of lessons, respectively.

To get the girls comfortable with going underwater, the instructors would throw plastic rings to the bottom of the pool at the appropriate depth for each girl for her to retrieve. I overheard the instructor tell Emma to get the rings for him, and she immediately did—by grabbing them with her toes and bringing them to her hands and proceeding to give them to the instructor without getting her face wet! I laughed so hard. She was following instructions! But it was not exactly what the instructor had in mind. He then clarified the expectations, and she willingly followed. Getting rings from the pool floor became one of her favorite activities.

The other funny story is that Emma asked if she could go down the water slide. Her instructor told her that she could do so on the last night. I heard their conversation as they were walking to the slide, and he was telling her that it was completely fine to change her mind if it was too scary when she got to the top of the slide, etc. Well, he didn’t know that she is one of the most determined little humans ever, and when she decides to do something, it is going to happen! I saw him standing on the edge of the pool, waiting for her to make up her mind, when she decided it was time to go down the slide. He exclaimed with surprise: “There she goes!” And quickly jumped into the pool after her. I could be wrong, but I think he fully expected her to change her mind, which is why he was waiting for her by the ladder instead of at the bottom of the slide in the pool. When I saw that Emma was at the top of the slide and no one was in the pool yet to help her, I was hurrying across the pool to get there. Of course, she was never in danger, the instructor did a great job, but it was rather amusing to watch.

Ellie enjoyed the lessons, too, and even jumped off of the diving board into 11’ deep water! It was at that moment that I knew that it had been worth it to have other people teach her to swim. I don’t think she would have jumped off the diving board had Ryan or I suggested it! And considering her swimming level, we probably wouldn’t have considered asking her to do so! But these instructors know what children are capable of in water and did a great job with the girls.

A couple of weeks ago, I also planted the garden with fall crops to have a few more garden-fresh vegetables before winter sets in! We are looking forward to the peas, lettuce, kale, carrots, beets, and radishes!

On August 20, my nephew married a lovely girl, and we attended the wedding. I wish I had taken photos of the lovely flower arrangements. His mom grew the flowers, and she and the sister of the bride made all of the arrangements!

We eased into school this year. I was planning to start August 1, but as you just read, that didn’t happen because nothing went according to plan the first two weeks of August. But I started with a few lessons the middle of August, and then started full-time last week. The girls are loving it so far, and I am enjoying it too. It’s actually easier now that both of them are having lessons, and Emma is old enough to follow along with Ellie’s lessons. The three of us spend each morning together, and I try to have lessons wrapped up by noon so that they have the afternoon to play and explore and create to further develop their minds and life experience! Homeschooling is a challenge, I must admit, because I am introverted. But when I think of the incredible gift of the education that we are giving them, it is worth the sacrifice!*

To celebrate the beginning of the school year, we took the girls to a friend’s house to ride ponies for the first time. They had so much fun! But we had to leave abruptly because Emma had the worst allergic reaction she has ever had. I will definitely be getting her tested for horse allergy, but it could also have been that it was a reaction to the cats and dogs on the premises.

I have also been teaching classes at Sew Classic Fabrics on Saturdays. There are two more classes scheduled with me: a chenille pillow class (September 3) and another Jelly Roll Race class (evening of September 16).

Thanks for reading! I will be back to posting about sewing and knitting projects again soon!

*If you ever wonder why homeschool is a gift to children, read For the Children’s Sake!

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