Busy Little Bee

It’s going to be 92 degrees here today in Atlanta. It’s hard to get into a “fall” state of mind with that sort of heat, but that didn’t stop me from having a holiday-cookie-baking-urge, pre-halloween pumpkin shaped cookies would be perfect right? I also had an un-stoppable urge to sew something by hand, and the need to re-paint a vintage rocking horse, all within the last 2 days!

Being a stay at home mom of two kids can be pretty daunting. With 1 child you get a bit more “you” time (even if it doesn’t feel like it, because I know it sure didn’t back when I had just the one). With two its all about balance. It helps give a bit of meaning to the day for myself and the kids if I pick some sort of project to complete. It’s even better when the project involves them. The rocking horse they get to ride and see the result of a new paint job, the cookies they get to eat, and the toy they get to play with. It also gives me something to work on and makes the day go faster. Yesterday we went out and got the supplies to paint the horse. Painters tape, spray paint and some little wooden thingies to cover some screw holes they were missing. BG loves these sort of adventures, and loves helping in any way she can.

I really enjoyed sewing this little guy, I’ve never sewn a toy together before, let alone by hand. iI is SO neat to look at it and know I made it 100% by my own hand. It almost doesn’t seem like I did it. I used some much loved and long-ago-stashed Heather Ross “Far Far Away” fabric, I thought it was a bit fitting. I should have tried to make a horn for him.

That particular fabric is a bit too soft for a project like this. It’s totally fine but I think a stiffer fabric would hold shape better. I used a bit of Blue Sky Alpaca Organic Worsted for the hair, and LOVE the crimp, makes it feel like a bit of a punk rock pony and added a lot of personality. I sewed the mane on a bit crooked, and one of the ears somehow is upside down (it has a small pleat on the under side of the ear, so one has a pleat on the top, oppsy!) and in hindsight I would have made the tail hair longer as a mod if I were to make it again, and I didn’t bother to ad on any of the face details. The fabric is sooo soft, and BG went a bit crazy when she saw him. I wish she had watched me sew him but I worked on it during nap and evenings. I would like to make a few more and improve my technique! It was very easy and fast!

Here is the old rocking horse from Grandma that LG got for her 1st birthday. She loves it, and will jam on him over and over, and can go pretty fast too. I let BG come outside with me while I spray painted him, and while she didn’t understand the concept of wet paint, certainly enjoyed herself! I still want to add a bit of yellow to the base and eventually paint the eye white and blue. I should have taken a before picture, it was a plain off-white, and the eye was solid black.

Whenever I have the camera out, BG wants to pose. She dressed herself in a big frilly petticoat, and some butterfly wings and then asked me to take her picture. That face she is making is becoming a bit of a signature look for her it seems. It’s funny what kids figure out on their own, I’ve never really asked her to do much when I take photos accept look at me. I’ve found if I say too much she just exaggerates and does silly faces. Speaking of photography, I am still working on part 3 of my series, but it’s going to be the most time consuming bit, and I want to get it right for all you indie yarn dyers who have sent me questions about how to photograph yarn colors properly. So keep an eye out for that, it is in the works!

Here are my cookie stacks, quartered and waiting in the fridge. The hardest part about making cut out cookies is remembering to refrigerate the cookies so many times. After mixing, after rolling, after cutting! Cold dough seems to be the secret to making really nice cut out cookies. I was lazy and just used the recipe on the back of the pumpkin cookie cutter box. I love to use almond extract instead of vanilla, but LG is just 1 and it’s all anti-peanut for a little while yet, and I am sure she will sneak some from her sister.

I’m sort of in shock over all my crazy domestic urges (and uh, heck no I am not pregnant so don’t even go there!), and enjoying showing the girls all the sort of fun projects we can work on together. Being home with my two girls is tiring, stressful and hard but oh my goodness it is a special kind of wonderful I would not trade for the world. I love being their mother, I love taking care of them. In this economy I think it may have been a bit foolish or me to give up that cushy job I had, but I know I’ll never regret it. I am so lucky to have two such wonderful little girls.