My 5 year old

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Elly turned 5 years old on Tuesday.

My first baby has become a spunky, kind-hearted, and sweet little girl.

A letter to my Elly Angel:
Your Daddy and I are so proud of the lovely girl you have become. You are a wonderful, caring sister to your siblings. You welcomed both Brooke and Malcolm into our family with open arms. You ask to hold Mal every day, several times a day. You can’t wait to play with Brooke when you get home from school.

You are a wonderful daughter, brightening my day with your cheery disposition and kindness. I am amazed and occasionally frustrated by your conviction and stubbornness.

Here is a list of some of the things you like:

Your favorite color is purple.

Your favorite meal is french fries and spicy chicken (aka buffalo wings).

You would wear a leotard every waking hour of the day if I would let you. Periodically, we have long discussions of why leotards cannot be worn to school.

Like most other girls we know, you adore Queen Elsa.

You love mermaids and wish you could be one.

You are a natural born leader, taking charge of what games to play and dictating how to play them.

You enjoy making crafts at home and at school.

You enjoy school, but often put up a fight before school because you miss your family while you are there.

Any drawings that you make either has our family in it or a rainbow. Sometimes it has both.

It has been a fun 5 years, Elly. Here’s to many more.

Nesting Craze

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Baby Mal is due in 3 days. So naturally, I have energy to spare and have put it to good use in finally completing our dining room.

Now:

I just adore the pictures I had printed from Snapfish. There are no pictures of Baby Mal, but he isn’t likely to care for at least a year or two and that will give me enough time to accumulate some pictures of the kids together.

Before:

It’s such a huge transformation. It is amazing what a new can of paint can do (and what a new camera can produce). Though Dan was worried about the bright orange, even he admits how much better the dining room looks.

Because I had such fun making the Haigh letters, I bought more letters to do Baby Mal’s name. 

Poor 3rd child. He has to share his room with the occasional guest until we buy a bigger house. Though truthfully, it is Dan and I that will have to share our room for the first few years with Baby Mal. It is only his clothes dresser and changing table that is in the guest bedroom.

Happy Mother’s Day 2014

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Dan made me breakfast.

Elly gave me a beautiful necklace and pin.

I spent the rest of the day in the place where I hope to spend every Mother’s Day: my garden.

I planted the after-frost seeds today, inserted all the cages and frames, and laid down the soaker hose system.

I purchased my soaker hose system from Gardeners Supply Company. It is worth its weight in gold, especially since I detest standing over a garden in the heat holding a hose. With the soaker system, I just attach our hose, turn the water on and walk away for 2 hours. It’s a thing of beauty and the only reason my garden survives the long, hot summer.

Vegetable and Herbs in my grow beds and garden bed this year:

Asparagus
Strawberries
Tomatoes, of course
Jalapenos
Parsley
Basil
Zucchini
Cucumbers
Spinach
Swiss Chard
Rhubarb
Marigold
Chives
Thyme
Sage
Rosemary
Lavender
3 different kinds of mint for tea
Lemon balm

Gosh, when I write it all down, it looks like I went and lost my mind. It should be noted that the asparagus, rhubarb, chives, thyme, sage, rosemary, lavender, mint and lemon balm are all perennials and thus require little to no effort. All I have to do is keep the weeds at bay. Here’s hoping our local shop hurries up and fixes Dan’s lawn mower soon. I could use some grass clippings to mulch around all the plants and help discourage the weeds.

After a day of gardening, I am sore and a little chewed upon thanks to the swarm of gnats that followed me everywhere. It was a wonderful day though.

I hope your Mother’s Day was just as wonderful!

Pregnant with Mal

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It’s a ….

(Can you see the writing on my shirt? I bought it a half hour after the ultrasound!)

Dan and I are so excited!

His name has been set for months. (Oddly enough, we had no girl names picked out).

Malcolm Joseph

We are naming him after our maternal grandparents.

His nickname will be Mal as in Captain Mal from Firefly.

Despite measuring a little large, the due date of September 18th remains steadfast.

Elly is slightly disappointed that she will not have a baby sister. She was so hoping to name her Ariel. Yet, I think she will get over it.

Dine to Donate

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On Wednesday April 10, the MOMS Club of Pottstown/Pottsgrove hosted a Dine to Donate at Friendlys on Shoemaker Road in Pottstown.

As listed in the flyer above, all proceeds went to the Mason Gulotta Foundation to help support research at CHOP for congenital heart defects. For more information on the Foundation please visit here.

For a little background history, Mason Gulotta is the son of a MOMS club member.

He was born with several heart defects and has undergone 3 open heart surgeries in 3 years. Yet 20 years ago, children born with these congenital heart defects were not expected to live through childhood.

We were proud to be able to donate over $200 to this great foundation. Thank you to all who came out Wednesday night and supported us.

On Saturday May 31st, the MOMS Club of Pottstown/Pottsgrove will be hosting a Flapjack Fundraiser at Applebees in Pottstown from 8am – 10am. Rainbow the Clown will be in attendance making balloon creations for the kids. There will also be a basket raffle. All proceeds will benefit Happy 2 be Home, a local organization that retrofits houses for children with chronic illnesses or injuries. For information on how to purchase tickets in advance, please contact us at pottsgrovemomsclub@gmail.com or visit our Facebook Fan Page.

A Post from Elly

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New-ish Pattern, a Striped Twirly Skirt

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I made this skirt for Elly 2 years ago.

You can tell it has been a long time if you look at the picture of Elly wearing it. She looks like such a baby with all that chub!

Yet, it was only after finding a test knitter last year that I was motivated to complete the pattern.

While visiting the Please Touch Museum with my dear friend and my godson, I took more pictures of Elly in the skirt. My favorite picture was of Elly showing off its twirling abilities while running in circles!

The specs of the skirt:
Sizes Available:
To fit ages 3 months [12 months, 18 months, 24 months, 4 years, 6 years ] with approximate waist measurements ** [17, 17.25, 17.5, 20, 21] inches / ** [43, 44, 44.5, 51, 53.5] cm

Yarn:
MC: Malabrigo Merino Worsted [Aran-weight, 100% Merino, 210yds/190 m, 3.5oz/100gm skein] color 61 Butter 1 [1, 2, 2, 2, 3 skein(s)]
CC: Claudia Hand Painted Bouclé [Bulky weight, 78% Kid Mohair/13% Wool/9% nylon; 432yds/395m, 7oz/200gm skein] color Red Wagon; ½ [½, ½, 1, 1, 1 skein]

Needles:
US 7/4.5mm 16-inch circular needle
US 8/5.0mm circular needle or size needed to obtain gauge. Length of needle will depend on skirt size selected; also, a longer needle might be desirable for the ruffled skirt hem.

Supplies needed:
Tapestry, or blunt sewing, needle
Sharp sewing needle and sewing thread
¾-inch wide elastic (for waistband)
Large safety pin

Recommended Skill Level:
Easy (Basic stitches, simple color changes, simple shaping and finishing)

Price:
$5.00 USD

The pattern can be purchased here on my website, Ravelry, Craftsy, and Etsy.

Thank you!

Sunday Snapshots (of Elly in her Sandbox)

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It was the first warm day. Spring hadn’t even officially started.

Yet, Elly didn’t let that stop her.

She’s been begging to play in her sandbox, but I have been telling her that it was too cold.

I think she was half surprised and half thrilled when I answered the same question she has been asking for the past month with a Yes.

Oh, the joy of sand.

Painting the Dining Room

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I have always heard that if you paint your dining room walls red, then guests will want to eat more and talk more.

I am not painting our dining room walls red. My cooking can stand on its own legs now and our family does not need any encouragement to talk longer.

No, I am painting the walls orange!

Well, everything above the chair rail is going orange and everything below the chair rail is yellow with orange stenciling.

Every time I stencil I fall in love with the process all over again. This stencil is from an Etsy store called Royal Design Stencils.

Now Dan was a little surprised by my choice in color. He even tried talking me into only painting one wall orange, but I couldn’t keep such a bright, fun color to just one wall. He’s lucky I am keeping it to the dining room. I could have painted our bedroom orange.
Oh, now there is an idea!

Back to the dining room.

This is the never ending paint project. According to my old blog posts, I started painting the walls below the chair rail in May 2012. Hopefully, I will finish painting above the chair rail by May 2014. I think it would say something bad about my character if I let the project drag on longer than 2 years.