A Hodgepodge of Sporadic Thoughts

My eyes are blurring and my fingers are cramping and my thoughts are rambling so I thought I'd hop on here as an excuse for a smocking break this evening. Let me just say, smocking is the bane of my existance. I don't know why I even try? I don't enjoy it and once I start a new dress, I pull my best Scarlett O'Hara impression and declare that I will never smock again.

I think it is because my mom always made each of us (yes, all three!!) a new dress for every Easter, Christmas, and other special events so I feel like my successfulness as a mother is measured by the dresses I can make for my children.

Because that makes total logical sense, no?

I did get smart and take a class in February for an adorable dress that has a minuscule amount of smocking involved. Enough to make it qualify as "smocked" without the time involved to make me want to turn into a swearing sailor. (just kidding Mom, I don't swear!) ;)

Don't judge. It's a little wonky and desperately needs to be ironed, but you get the idea.

Cute right?

I had very lofty goals of making so many cute clothes for the girls to wear this spring and summer. In January I make the trek up to Mary Jo's Fabric Store in NC to load up on yards and yards of fabric to make some clothes for them to wear this spring and summer. Because you know, starting in January would give me plenty of time to work on them before the weather warmed up.

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

This is about as far as I have gotten and it is already April.

My intentions were admirable at best. I'm currently on dress 3. We'll see what happens...

Maybe I could get more accomplished if my brain didn't feel like this:

Information overload.

This is the desktop on my computer and it drives Will crazy that I keep so many things up at a time. This is me though, and if I didn't have a family to take care of, this is probably how my entire house would look.

I thrive on the chaos and think I work best in a mess.

These are about 25 different projects and ideas that I want to try and can't seem to find the time to.

And all of them insignificant and trivial:

recipes, sewing, decorating, crafts with the girls, etc.

When I see an idea, it gets in my mind and the only way to get it out is to make it, cook it, sew it, etc! The sad thing is, when my mind gets cluttered like this, my housekeeping skills become non-existent. It's like I can't think clearly to stay organized and function like a normal human being.

My neglectful habits rubs off on my children too! I found this baby doll the other day enjoying her breakfast sans clothing courtesy of Miss Caroline Fowler.

Anna Cate's dollhouse is a great representation of the current state of our humble abode.

except imagine it about 20 times messier and the clothes' piles in each room look more like massive mountains

How is it that we produce so much laundry, it literally consumes an entire day to complete?

Eight loads people!

That is how many I washed, folded, and put away over the course of the day. Anna Cate was running a fever yesterday so we were quarantined to the house, which by the way, I actually love. I prefer a full day at home than almost anything else. All I did was laundry, housecleaning, and lots and lots of reading.

And speaking of, this is our current favorite:

Guess Who, a vintage (can I call my mom's stuff vintage?) reading primer that she is letting us borrow for when Anna Cate starts having an interest in learning to read. I got it out the other day just for fun and it turns out, it is a hit!

I can remember learning to read with it myself and I still love looking at the beautiful illustrations. It is true that they just don't make them like they use to. Even Caroline can tell the difference in this book from our other ones and loves to ask for me to get it down to look at the pictures. Although, several times, I have caught myself talking like the book:

Oh. Oh.

Look Anna Cate.

Look at Caroline.

See funny little Caroline.

Oh yes I did just post this picture!

(and oh yes I'm sure she will die if she sees it when she's about thirteen.)

But really, look at funny little Caroline and her tiny little hiney!

This is pretty much sums up the day with this child. She is adamant about going to the potty all by herself now, but never puts her undies on correctly. They just get pulled up around her waist.And the hand washing...

I have to continuously monitor the bathroom to make sure she hasn't snuck in for a quick (or not so quick) scrub. And she's learned to open doors by herself so shutting the door is no deterrent for this child. She just finds a small chair or stool to drag over to the door where she can reach the knob to let herself in.

***

And totally changing gears, but very in keeping with the randomness of this rambling post, we have two birthdays coming up in May. We having a joint party this year which means coming up with a party that celebrates both of them and what they love to do right now.

I won't go into much detail because we are still a month out, but it has been a fun one to work on. ;) For Caroline's contribution to the party's theme, she and I have spent several mornings scouring thrift stores while Anna Cate is in school looking for some tea cups and pretty china plates.

We've had fun looking and almost have what we need.

For Anna Cate's contribution to the theme of the party, all I can say is thank goodness tulle is inexpensive!

And thank goodness for the weekly 40% off coupons at Hobby Lobby!!

I mean seriously, who else starts working on their children's' party ideas this far in advance? I know I'm not normal, but why be normal when it is this much fun to be a little nutty?

Ok, that's all for now. I need to get back to my smocking so the dresses will be finished in time for Easter!

***

As I just reread this post, I realized why it is so lengthy and all over the place. I lost my phone last Friday and haven't really been able to talk to anybody in days. Guess it is all spilling out onto here!

:)