27.10.09

Fashionista

Abbie decided to have a Fashion Show in celebration of her 7th birthday. She began planning her party several months ago. She asked me to applique a shirt for her to wear. I let her look through my appliques, and she chose to have a purse on her shirt. She picked out zebra fabric for the design. And, of course, Hannah Kate needed a matching pillowcase dress to wear to the party!

The party began with hair and make-up appointments for Abbie and all of her girlfriends.

Once all of the fashionistas were dressed to impress, they each took the runway and then posed for a picture. At this point, Hannah Kate lost interest, but she did stand with Abbie long enough for a picture. Sort of.

And then it was time for Abbie to open her presents. When I asked her what she wanted for her birthday, she told me a trampoline. Well, she had to settle for an LSU pillowcase dress sewn and monogrammed by yours truly. But I'm pretty sure she liked it.

Happy birthday to you . . . Happy birthday DEAR ABBIE!

And, yes, Mason was in attendance for the Fashion Show, but he and Braylon (Abbie's other boy cousin) stayed far away from the make-up and hairspray. I snapped this picture earlier in the day before we headed to the party. Is he not the most handsome little guy you've ever laid eyes on?!? He is just AWESOME!

23.10.09

Bulldogs to Bubbles

October is my favorite month . . . at least for now. I'll probably say the same thing about November. Anyway, it started out as usual for Louisiana. Balmy. Hot. Steamy. Humid. Somehow those words really have nothing to do with October. And fall. But we have had a few cooler days and pulled out the "blue jeams" (as Mason calls it) and long sleeves.

Mason is still playing soccer. Well, let's just say he's still on the soccer team. He isn't much for playing. He looks more like a cat chasing a butterfly out there. He has decided he doesn't like soccer because of the "other team." He told me last Saturday that he wants to play football instead. I reminded him that in football, the other team not only comes after him but knocks him down, too. He said, "But I'll be wearing a helmet, Mom." Well, maybe we should get him a helmet for soccer. Perhaps then he would go after the soccer ball instead of the butterflies. Anyway, he has three games left. I hate to say it, but I think all of us will be glad when soccer is over.

Hannah Kate is nearly two! I realized the other day that I need to begin making plans for her birthday party. I mean, I don't even know the theme yet! But I have picked out our Christmas cards. Anyway. Hannah Kate . . . is something else these days. And I think we should just leave it at that. She is smart as a whip. She knows her ABCs and can count to 11. Her vocabulary and command of the Engligh language really amazes me. She has better sentence structure at times than Mason does.

Poor babies . . . they've been drug all over the parish and elsewhere while I've been busy gathering all of our building permits, getting electricity established at our lot, picking out brick, meeting with our builder and the other millions of things that have to happen before one can actually break ground on building a house. But we are there! Finally! We should break ground any day now. We're just waiting on our builder to get started.

In addition to the soccer field, we've spent Saturdays cheering on the Tigers and Bulldogs. Win or lose . . . it doesn't matter. It's still a bunch of fun.

Playing outside . . . riding bikes, blowing bubbles, swinging, sliding.

Church . . . new sanctuary dedication, Beth Moore Bible study, playing the piano.

Sewing . . . I've made several new pillowcase dresses during the past couple of weeks, as well as some really cute appliques. You'll see more of that later.

We're just plain ole BUSY!

2.10.09

My New Purse

My favorite color is black. My bridesmaids' dresses were black. Most of my clothes are black. Nearly all of my shoes are black. And my purses are always black. You see, black goes with anything . . . no matter what the season or occasion . . . it never goes out of style.

Being a stay-at-home mom necessitates that we make wise spending choices. So that means my purchases of purses and fashionable handbags are limited. As a matter of fact, during the past four years, I've purchased only two purses. And both of those were black. The last one I bought was about a year and a half ago. It's more of a handbag. You know . . . the really big ones. Well, I hate it. I've always hated it. I carry very little in it, and I can never find what I'm looking for because it's buried so far down in the bottom. And then the thing just flops over because there isn't anything in it to hold it up. So I decided that today was the day for a new purse.

Of course, my eye was drawn to all of the black ones, and that's what I intended to get. Another black one. But . . . I found myself humming a little ditty . . . something to the tune of "Glory, glory to ole Georgia," . . . and my eyes began to wander to the RED ones. On a whim . . . I couldn't help myself . . . I picked up a red one and ran to the check-out counter before I changed my mind. After all, it's more of a cranberry red and can probably complement any outfit I'd choose to wear (after all, most of them are black anyway!) or add a pop of color where I need it (you know, to go along with the black). And it was on sale . . . 45% off! I walked away very pleased with my new purse.

My main objective today was to get tennis shoes for Mason and Hannah Kate. I already had Hannah Kate's t-strap keds, size 7. Mason was much harder! Having tried my luck at several stores thus far, I stopped in Dillard's. Well, I didn't find any tennis shoes for him. But I did pass right by the Polo rack. The SALE sign caught my eye so I stopped to browse through the Polo shirts. I was trying to find a decent color in his size, but they were already picked through. The only one left was gold, and the Polo emblem was purple. So I thought about it for a minute. I didn't care for it, but I knew my husband would like it. So I got it. It was on sale.

We had to through the men's section on the way out. And there it was . . . a Polo display with those knit shirts that my husbands likes to wear. He has all of the basic colors and then some. But we never purchase these unless they're on sale. This particular display had only one color - purple and gold. There were purple shirts with the emblem in gold and gold shirts with the emblem in purple. I thought about this for a minute. The purple shirt Seth currently has dons a green Polo emblem. He was always looking for a purple shirt with a gold emblem while we lived in Mississippi and at outlet malls, but, of course, there were none to be found. Now, this shirt was not on sale. But I knew how surprised he would be and how much he would love it. After all, I had my new red purse. And Mason had his new LSU polo. So I was inspired. I picked up with purple Polo shirt with the gold emblem on it and bought it for him.

As I left the mall, I realized that I had nothing for my Hannah Kate except those white Keds. She didn't need anything . . . but there wasn't a purchase for her like my red purse or Mason's gold Polo or Seth's purple Polo. My cell phone rang. It was Cindy. She asked if I'd been to the post office lately. I told her I hadn't been in three days. She said she sent me a package on Tuesday and that I absolutely HAD to have it by tomorrow . . . it's for Hannah Kate. She didn't tell me what it was, but I didn't even have to ask. I just knew it was something red! And sure enough . . . !!! Well, there was a little something purple and gold, too.

So I came home, changed purses and then laid out my purchases very carefully . . . still humming . . . Glory, glory to ole Georgia. G-E-O-R-G-I-A. After all, the Tigers are in Athens this weekend. Tomorrow. Between the Hedges. 2:30PM CST.

The Binder Mom

For the Journey