Sewing!

For Christmas, my mom and dad really surprised me and bought me an awesome sewing/quilting machine! I really was so surprised. I have been asking my mom and my mother-in-law to teach me for some time now, but we are all just busy. The sewing machine sat in my basement and so before Anna was born I decided to finally take some sewing classes. Little did I know, how much I would enjoy this time to myself!

I signed up for classes when they were "buy one, get one" which was awesome! The cost is around $35 dollars for 2-3 hour class. I took the beginner class and then two classes a little more challenging. Honestly, I thought it was going to be really hard because even just reading the manual to the darn machine was like reading a foreign language. To say I was overwhelmed, was an understatement. So, I was really surprised at how quickly I picked it up and learned how easy it really was. Plus, it helps having a new "computerized" machine. The two teachers have been so helpful and nice. The classes only have like 6 people in them and everyone has been so nice. It's only five minutes from my house, so it's nice and close too, which is a big plus. I also like that the classes are in the evenings, like from 6-9pm, the time works great for me. I have enjoyed getting to know the other ladies in the classes, and honestly, it is so nice to have adult conversations for a few hours while learning something. I can't tell you how nice that is!!!

In the first class we made just simple bag but learned so much about all the ins and outs of the machine and little tid-bits of helpful info. Think a small pillow case with a draw string. Perfect teaching for pillow-case dresses for my little ladies! :)

In the second class we made a skirt. We could do any length or size but I decided to make a small one for one of the girls. I already had the fabric and so I just measured and made it in a few hours. The hardest part was pulling through the darn elastic on the top. It is lined and everything.

In the third class we made a tote bag. This was much harder, as it was lined on the inside also with the same fabric and not so straight cuts to line up. I absolutely love the fabric.

Sorry the photos are the best quality, I took them with my phone. I have been using the tote bag to take library books back and forth. It's very light-weight and I really take pride in the fact that I actually made it.

I have lots of patterns and fabric and plan on getting super organized and making time for myself to sew. I really enjoy it and with five little girls to make things for, I want to really get good at it! Tim is always after me to get a hobby, so I hope I can make time to really sit and quietly sew. Once Anna is out of our room, I want to move the sewing machine and table up to my bedroom, because in the basement is just too far away. That way on nights when the girls are in bed and Tim is working, I can watch TV and sew or when Tim wants to watch a game, I can sew and yet, we can still be together. One day, I hope to have a craft room and have lots of ample room!

If you follow me on Pinterest, you can see other things I hope to make one day! I will definitely keep y'all updated on things I make! Just writing this post make me motivated to get going on it again! (Ya know, things have been busy..I had my fifth child a few days after my third class!)

Family Day in WV at the Cabin!

On Saturday we headed up to our family cabin in WVA! It's really nice living about 40 minutes closer than we used to, and now door to door is only 1 hr! I still can't believe that it has been TWO years since I have been up there...which was also the time that we announced that we were 10 weeks pregnant with Emily! Wow, have things changed since then! As a joke, right after we said grace for dinner, I said, "oh, and we have an announcement...." (this is exactly what I said when we announced our pregnancy with Emily!) I paused for just a second and then quickly said, "we WON'T be having anymore children!!!" My mom and dad both almost spit their food out! Haha!

We try to all get together once during the summer to celebrate my Grandma's birthday (July 29th) and it just so happens that my sister's birthday is July 26th and my dad's birthday is August 3rd. My Grandma is a beautiful 88 years old today! She is such an important and strong woman in my life. She's been there for the littlest things all the way to my biggest milestones and next to my parents, was definitely the most influential person in my life. My grandma worked with my mom for most of my life, so I grew up seeing her every single day until I was in middle school.

We brought the girl's pool with us but even though it was so humid, it wasn't very hot so we had to find other things to keep them entertained.

Playing on the deck when it wasn't raining....looking for deer, bunnies, squirrels...

...taking naps on the porch....

...."helping" unload the dishwasher...

...going for "nature walks" with Aunt Tina and Uncle John, Mommy and Daddy...picking flowers...

....of course lots of eating....(Maddy's face cracks me up..this is what I got when I said, "say cheese!")

...enjoying family...

....My Dad and my Aunt (his sister)...corn, local tomatoes with motz and fresh basil, cole slaw, potato salad, 14lbs of shrimp and 30 crab cakes make for an awesome dinner!!

And like it or not...lots of photos!

Note: Natalee, you refused your hair bow in your hair and that's why you don't have one. (Just so you know when you're 15 asking why I don't have one in your hair! And yes, your hair is always in your face, but I am NOT cutting bangs on you EVER!!!!)

All and all it was a fun (and very long) day celebrating birthdays and families!

Park Birthday Party

We were graciously invited to celebrate Zach's 3rd Birthday over the weekend! Zach is Julian's sister's little boy (Megan is Tim's sister and she is married to Julian so this is their nephew.). Since our girls don't have any cousins around here, it's nice that Nastassja is close by and we can get the kids together on occasion. I took the triplets by myself and it was so nice to have some time with just the three big girls!

Claire is in pink, Maddy is in blue and Natalee is in purple.

The birthday boy and his Momma!

Chocolate face!

The girls had a great time playing at the park and having cake. They are absolutely loving cake these days and I often use it as a bribe!

We played at the fun park too. I used to play a this park a lot when I was a kid, although the park is different now and way more elaborate.

My girls have no fear when it comes to doing things. They go, go, go and just will do anything. I am so proud of them. There were other kids there that were much bigger than my girls and wouldn't go down the "big" slides (and I have to admit, they were much larger than my girls are used to!). There were many obstacles to climb over and go on to get to certain areas of the play equipment and my girls have no problem doing any of it. I was really impressed.

I was also happy that I could focus on getting so really good photos of them. I know, I did take a lot! Some turned out better than others...but I still wanted to share.

Going up to the BIG slides!

Love this photo of my Maddy-bug!

Claire was so proud of herself!

My Nat!

Love this photo of Claire! This was a ship and so the girls were so excited and thought it was a pirate ship. Claire kept saying, "argggg, I'm a pirate!" It was cracking me up! They are obsessed with Jake and the Neverland Pirates!

It was a great party and such a fun day at the playground!