Close Knit

 I got on a sewing kick yesterday.  FINALLY!

I mean, I did sew a couple tops over the last few weeks, but felt like I wasn't finding something that I could wear on a cruise or even during the summer.  But the fabric from L.A. inspired me.  Not that I used any of it yet.  

Heavens!  The sheer thought!!! 

It has several weeks of marinating before I cut into that!

Nope, I cut into some navy knit stuff from my stash and some remnant pieces that I got off the free table a long time ago but have been eyeing for some time.  

The above is basically a hi-lo shirt with an added band of the print on the bottom.  The sleeves are really loose.  They're from a different pattern.  I didn't like them at first as they're kind of floppy and I thought they made my arms look thicker than they really are.  But they're growing on me.  I probably won't use that sleeve pattern again tho.

It's loosely based on the body of the pattern below.    I added a scooped neckline and modified the hem as I cut the fabric.  

I'm risky that way.

Other women from my sewing group would make a new pattern for the changes, but I'm a "Let's cut this puppy and see what we end up with" kind of gal.

If I don't like it, I have a seam ripper and will make it work.  Or hang it on my bedroom door for Meri to see when she comes next and she'll claim it.  

Nothing wasted...

Anyway, lots to do today.  Robb has a friend from Arkansas coming today and Ryan and he will goof off on the computers until Robb gets home from work.  They went to high school together and are still close.  

Amazing...  

The only people I hung out with in high school that I'm still friends with are my sisters.  

and we're still pretty close...

But I don't think any of them want to spend a day playing Medal of Honor with Ryan.

So... Many... Hugs...

I just realized that I hadn't posted anything yesterday...  It's been a madcap life at the McVal residence.

If I'm not getting Leon off onto the bus or going to end of the year concerts, I'm painting.  I also hadn't realized how blasted long it takes to paint so many sections of fencing...  I probably should have started this months ago.  No wait.  it was still snowing then.

Oh well.  It WILL get done!  

And whatever doesn't get done, I'll cover the offending areas with black and red tulle or divert the grad party guests eyes by jumping all around maniacally and screaming, "Look at what I can do!"

Last night, we attended Meri's LAST end of the year concert "where everyone cries".  I think it's labeled that on the school calendar.

She was crying before it even got to the end...

Being a Senior is tough.

Meri as well as another girl had a solo for this one.  WHAT a sad song!!!  I think the director was looking for tears on purpose...  Meri did a fantastic job!  I'm so proud of her.  The video is below.  She comes down front about half way through.  What a voice!

Then for the last song, the seniors crowded down front already in tears.  Some had younger siblings stand with them who were in 7th or 8th grade.  

After the NEW traditional ending song, Meri burst into even MORE tears and started hugging everyone.  First the Beast, from Beauty & the Beast high school musical fame with Meri, who happened to be standing next to her.  She sobbed into his shoulder.

Then a buddy for a lot of years got his shoulder soaked too.  We had the front row seats and everyone was pushing past us to get to their Seniors and kids.  We just sat still for a bit until the din broke down just a little.  

Meri was still hugging people.  We hadn't missed anything.  Ryan, Leon and I got in a "honestly" a line to hug her.  SHEESH!  JUST before it was our turn, someone called for a Senior picture.

REALLY?!

All the choir Seniors and their beloved director.  Tear stained faces all around.

Mine was tear stained too.  The mother of one of Meri's longest friends was seated next to me and I may or may not have blown my nose on her sleeve...  Ok, I didn't.  But I'd warned her that I might since I hadn't brought any kleenex with me.

Caught up with Meri after that and gave her a solid hug.  I had needed it too.  Then she ran to catch her dad and the rest of the family.

So... many... hugs...

And today, back to the painting.  Wish me luck!

And You Can Call Me...

This girl...

I love her to pieces, even when she hates me.

 

On Friday, I called her to see how soon she'd get home because she was Ryan's chauffeur for the afternoon.  She said, "In about five minutes, just leaving.  But you might as well start calling me Val."

Wha??  

"You should start calling me Val!"

Why? Why would I call you Val? I'M Val.

"BELLE Mom!  You should start calling me BELLE!"

I guess the fam is right about me needing a hearing aide.

EEEIIIEEEEE!!!!!

She got the PART!!!

She is now the Belle of the ball.  The Belle of my heart.

  

The Belle in the Beauty and the Beast high school musical this spring!!!

 Probably not animated...

And I think I'll be making her costumes for it.  She's already decided that the ball gown, if I make it for her, will also double as her prom dress so she'll be the Belle of THAT ball too!

On Saturday, we did a road trip where we were in the car for six hours.  More on that trip tomorrow.  She gave us all the details on how she found out and it was adorable.  She also put on the Beauty and the Beast soundtrack on spotify and sang for six hours with Robb and I as backup and Mrs. Potts.

Robb could be her stand in easily, since he now knows all the songs already.

When Ryan was a toddler, he wouldn't eat unless we had the Beauty and the Beast VHS playing.  He wouldn't sleep unless he was snuggled up to a Belle toy.  So we're quite familiar with B&theB already. But this version is the Broadway version, so a few new songs.

Robb's got  them all nailed now.  

This girl is going places!

And I should probably start calling her Belle.

HITS! Everywhere You Go!

Leon wrote a book!!!  Well, a story anyways.  These kindergarten assignments are TOUGH!

It took me a minute to decipher it, but the picture he drew helps.

"I can ride a dinosaur with my friends."

His dad wasn't a good speller either...

After school, he decided to try on his Catboy outfit from PJ Masks, that he wore last year for Halloween.  It's skin tight.  Then we went to visit my bestie at the nursing home with him still in costume.  The people there LOVED him!  He felt pretty important.

We came home and carved the pumpkin we bought earlier this week.  It's already turning a little bit, so it may not last until Halloween...

If you can see here, the eyes are on either side of the head with sharp, sharp teeth in the front. 

It's a T-rex pumpkin.  

The gourd is from the volunteer plants in my garden. 
I've got lots and for the record, they taste like BLAH! 
So they're purely ornamental...

I found some biscuit cutters in my drawer that are super strong, so we used a hammer and pounded out the eyes.  I may use that on my own personal pumpkin and just do polka dots all over it.  

But that's not for a couple weeks.

Got the boy all cleaned up and we headed to the school to listen to Meri sing.  

T

The All-State tryouts are coming up and several groups from our school are going to go.

 She looks so serious...  But she's listening intently to what the judges are saying.

Here is her group just before they sang.

And here is the video of them singing a German piece.  The judge mentioned that they looked like human metronomes and they toned it down a bit for this song, but I can tell what he's talking about.

Anyway, what a day!  Got so much sewing planned for this weekend that it's not even funny!!  

Can't wait to show you.

Wild Spirits

It's Spirit Week!!!  Homecoming is on Friday.

You know what THAT means!...

Parents have to work on artsy projects for their highschoolers so that they'll fit in. 

:)  Just kidding.  At least I don't need to sew Meri a pair of sparkly bell bottoms like I did for Ryan one year at the last minute...

But Meri did come home last night around 8 and ask me to draw this and mount it on some cardboard for a door decorating thingy they're doing today while Robb helped her figure out her Physics assignment.

That's a Viking on a horse, in case you couldn't tell.  

The paper wasn't wide enough so the horses legs were cut off mid shin, so we made it look like it was running through fire. 

Convincing?

Them Vikings are TOUGH dudes!!

So are we.

But then she forgot it this morning and had to come back home to pick it up and finish her breakfast.  Poor kid.  She's going under the anesthesia today too for some fillings.  She's got her mama's teeth...

Don't know where she's been keeping them.

There Will Be Tears

 The first day of Leon's kindergarten year. 

The first day of Meri's Senior year.

I was up at the crack of dawn, sitting for 30 minutes at the wrong venue before I found out the mother's were setting up elsewhere.  So I dashed over there and got assigned drink pouring duty. And apparently the Tigger/Pooh waffle iron was just too cute to use...  I'm batting a zero so far.

BUT I got some good shots of Meri and her friends at the Senior breakfast and got to talk to a few moms that had kids the same ages as mine.

Then all the Seniors gathered outside the high school for the class picture.  I scanned the kid's faces looking for my Meri and didn't see her at all.  So I called her.  

She was inside with some friends taking pictures there...

She and Perla were wearing crowns.  Don't you have all DAY for that??

So with her almost in tears for missing the BIG pic of the year and me for having missed her being in it, I got this one.  

Anyone know how to photo shop them into the big one?  sigh...

Then I hightailed it over to the elementary school, a whole 3 blocks away and got to see Leon sitting with his classmates before they headed back to the kindergarten room.

I'm sitting at my desk now about to melt into tears of all kinds.  It's going to be a rough day.

THOSE Girls!!!

These girls have been friends of Maddy, almost her entire life.

Nicole since babyhood.  They were neighbors of ours at that time.

Char since pre-school.

and Krysta a little later than the others. I think middle school.

aside from the kidnapping stint with their foreign exchange friend from Czech...

 

They were the most faithful, loyal, god fearing friends, a young woman could have while growing up.

They organized a Bible study group that met before school most days.

How many high schoolers do THAT?!

And while their faith has scattered them all over the globe to share God's Word, they still act like crazy school girls when they're put back together.

 I wish I'd had friends like that back in the day.

Playing Life

It is a NEW day people!!!  And what a bright one it is.

Looking forward to seeing Meri's play tonight!  It's the dress rehearsal and I get to go free with my camera!!!  So stay tuned tomorrow!

Leon and I attending the dress rehearsal last year.  He insisted on the costume and why not??  

It's not just for cast members!

Here is a shot of her last year.

Her fan club.

And the year before.

 Yodeling never sounded so good!

I just came across her dirndl when sorting my closet on Tuesday...

It's a keeper. 

Maybe not an OFFICIAL fan club, but we were at heart.

They take after their mother.

;P

Also looking forward to the weekend.  More tickets to the play, yes, but also time to get some sewing in, a few trips to town, etc.  

If this were the 1800's, it would take roughly four hours just to travel it.  With the stops I'll be making, I'll probably fill it...  Back then, all the stops would be on the same road, just a hop, skip and a tumble from each other.  Then probably a stop at the saloon...  

Or not.

Back to the grind.  Another day, another few dollars in debt.  That doesn't sound right...

There Will Be Tears

The vocal concert last night was beautiful but I really wish the director hadn't explained what the meaning of the last choir song meant.  Because I cried throughout it.  I did NOT need to know that it was written about the writer's fight with breast cancer and with her dead mother's memories...

Yikes.  I was a mess.  And when I looked at Meri, she started getting that way too.

Robb was still feeling sick, so I was alone and sat with one of Meri's best friend's mom.

And she had no tissues with her...  

I probably won't sit with her next year...

It was also the director's last year here as he's moving off to bigger and better things and the kids and he were pretty emotional from that too.  The Seniors made him a painting of all their hand prints.

It has been his first post out of college so this has been pretty special for him too.

 Tears all around, especially for the last song.

For the Go In Peace song, all the choir kids from 7th - 12th jam together on that tiny area and sing.  If there are siblings, they stand together.  So lots of hugs and tears.

Meri's made so many friends in the upper classes, even though she'll tell you that she has none.  She does...  Maddy was the same way.

As I was leaving, Meri met up with me sobbing, saying that she HAD to get out of here.  I told her that she needs to calm down before she left.  You can't drive when you don't have windshield wipers for your eyes.

You'd think she was never going to see these kids again.  But they do have 1.5 weeks left before the Seniors graduate and another 2-3 weeks left of school in general.  

But on a night like this, they tend to forget that.

So there will be more tears later.

Oh yes.... LOTS...

There's Something About Meri

It is a work in progress...  Gotta fill it up!

So while Meri worked on that in her free time when she COULD be doing homework or staying home with me to clean her room, Leon and I mozeyed around the mall and found a friend. 

 And his usual picking out an old (new to him) Fisher Price toy, out of the huge trunk that he loves.  It was the only true motivation to get him out of the house last night.

I'll buy you a toy...

I'm lame...

And this morning's "special" photo!  The ONLY photo I took this morning and I get that on the screen.  TOO perfect...

I didn't even notice it until I downloaded the photo to my computer.

"M-squared" will be here this evening and I'm so looking forward to seeing them!  I won't be home to greet and feed them, but there will be bodies here and a crock pot of chili waiting for them.  We've got a big weekend planned!  When DON'T we?!

Meri's school play is this weekend AND a Jazzy competition.

It's all about Meri...

YOU have a great weekend too!