Yay! Fireworks!

I love fireworks. They make me weepy though. Does anyone else cry at fireworks? Just me? Huh...

We had a BEAUTIFUL July 4th weekend here. The stars aligned, the angels sang, and the weekend unfolded in a strange sort of perfection that rarely actually happens. The weather, the parade, the fireworks,  the annual art fair, the crowd attitudes... All was just fun, exciting and made living the small town life seem ideal, if only for one perfect weekend.

We went to the art fair this morning. I love supporting artists and try to as much as possible, however, like everyone right now we are trying to conserve. But - I discovered an artist new to the fair, whose work spoke to my soul. At first I refrained from buying. I talked myself out of it and left the fair without going back to her booth.

But I sat at home and obsessed. Enough to get back into my 'being seen in public' clothing. Enough to get back into my sun baked car. Enough to go back into the now midday art fair crowd. And picked out some of her art with zero guilt. I had planned on one big picture, but came home with three medium sized. It sounds really overboard, but her prices were way too low. I wasn't going to barter backwards though, so I bought three. It made sense at the time.

But look... so pretty. You can click on the pics to make them larger.

Can't beat folk art bought on the the Fourth, right? It is hard to take photos of framed pictures, but hopefully you can see some of the awesome detail in spite of the glare. She had such a variety, from mermaids, to Abraham Lincoln collage type paintings, to holiday, to a million other things. I had such a hard time deciding. Alas, she is not online which is such a bummer for my mad midnight art purchasing moments, but good for my wallet and that whole conserving the resources thing.

The art find was a big cherry on top of the perfectly sweet weekend. Now we are sitting around this evening in our cool house. We are all sun baked, feet weary from walking many miles, stomachs full of food from the grill and grateful for this time together. I hope everyone had a nice and safe weekend. It is always interesting getting back into the regular routine after a holiday weekend, isn't it?

Back from my unintended blog vacation...

With nothing interesting to say. But in this case, no news is good news. We just busily bumped headlong into summer and I am not used to a go, go, go kind of lifestyle. Much has been neglected due to the frantic pace of our recent days; this blog, crafting, projects, laundry. Now I am ready for the relaxed portion of summer that involves a lot of shade, books and iced tea. 

Quote from this lovely little cartoon I used to watch as a kid. Thank you youtube. Because of you, my children also get to experience the joys of Simon and the land of chalk drawings.

We've been cleaning out closets and I have a huge pile of old t-shirts that all had long happy lives, but are no longer public worthy. Most are too stained, stretched out or full of holes to donate, but it was really hard to send them off to a landfill. So I decided to turn them into winter blankets. I can back them with some of our old sheets that have seen better days as well. They won't be the most beautiful blankets ever, but they will probably be the most comfortable.

The other night I had the itch to doodle and grabbed the top t-shirt. I wanted to see what permanent markers would look like on one. (On purpose for a change. I have many permanent marker oops marks on shirts to attest to the staying power of the ink.)

It was fun and there is so much potential with this combo. Especially for kid shirts, or if you want to embroider and add beads. I read online if you iron it a bit afterwards it will set the ink. It won't last forever, but when I washed this it stayed pretty true, so I imagine it will last long enough to have some fun.

I can't wait to try sketching on a t-shirt that isn't all stretched out and stained. Cool t-shirts seem to be so expensive anymore. It is really hard to stomach paying $25 or more for a t-shirt, but that seems to be the going rate around here. This way I can buy cheap plain ones and fancy them up myself. The kids can't wait to try it out themselves.

So that is that. Summer is here, the obligatory parties, celebrations, recitals, trips and fun but frenzied events are all behind us. Much summer lallygagging, merrymaking and barefoot days ahead.

Pictures from recital day...

Hair and makeup done and ready for the show!

The girl's other costume. (Never found the hair ribbon.)

The only mishap was at the end, when my poor little guy waddled out onto stage. He was loaded down with nine bouquets of flowers! (During the bows at the end, the dancers bring the flowers that were sent to them.) Apparently, my boy has quite the fan base AND he somehow ended up with two meant for his sister.

It was one of those things that was funny and cute for everyone else, but horrifying for him. Don't worry, he's over it now, and so am I - it was really hard to watch him struggle up there! I came close to hopping onto stage like the overprotective parent I am and carry off my little star.

Notice my daughter gazing lovingly at a carnation while her brother struggles (don't worry, she has her own bundle of flowers in her other hand). A distracted sister and a mom taking photos of the ordeal - I bet you are glad you weren't born into this family.

The plunder.

In vases.

I don't have that many pictures of the dances because I was busy watching. The show was amazing this year. The dancers were so talented and vibrant, with great songs and costumes. Rather exciting for our small town, actually. Very fun. But I admit, I am glad it is all done now. No classes until next September which is really nice. This mom is worn out! I'll need the rest too, since the girl informed me she wants to add jazz to the dance line-up. So basically, I'll be needing rest and a second job!

Dress Rehearsal: Where and when all the sewing was deemed totally worth it.

Jump. Shake, shake. Jump. Shake, shake.

My boy's favorite part because he gets to shake his little booty and the crowd goes wild. Dress rehearsal went well. The boy discovered that he likes being on stage. The girl has loved the stage for years now. My silly shy children think dancing in front of a bunch of strangers is fun. The recitals actually are a lot of fun. I love when we get to this part where the parents' few jobs consist of arriving on time and watching. And sitting. It is finally a time we 'have' to sit for a few hours with live entertainment. Nothing wrong with that.

This isn't the best picture ever of the kids, but I like how I accidently caught the silhouette of their dance instructor watching them from in front of the stage. It sort of makes it look like the kids are on a movie screen. Or that one show where the cartoon silhouette guys used to make fun of cheesy movies. What was that show? Uggg... that is going to bug me until I remember.

Yes, my kids' hair could look better. Gone are the days of having one little girl in one little dance. I used to curl her hair and do make-up for every rehearsal. Ha! With two kids and two dances I call it successful if we get there on time with only one costume piece missing. This time it was the girl's hair ribbon thingy for her ballet dance. Who needs hair ribbons, right? Don't worry, I'll girl her up properly tomorrow night. But alas, it will be sans ribbon, I am afraid. I still can't find it.

I forgot to take pictures of my girl's ballet dance. Shhhh... don't tell her. I'll take some tomorrow at the actual show. Her ballet dance was toward the end and I was getting a little spacey by then. Speaking of spacey... I'd better head off to bed. An early rehearsal tomorrow morning, then a short afternoon before the big show. That is a lot of sitting to do. I must rest up!

Normal Thursday

A normal day, thank goodness. Yesterday, was my stepson's 18th birthday and pictures for the dance recital. Tomorrow is dress rehearsal, Saturday the recital. Sunday is the birthday party day for my stepson. Today, we are basking in normal average day-ness. Nothing exciting except a bit of rain outside, so we're keeping cozy inside. And we are enjoying it!

Today, I sewed a little practice dress for my daughter out of an old sheet. I wanted to test out the Miss Madeline pattern I downloaded the other day before I used it on any fancy material. We are both really happy with it. It came together really easily and she loves it. I am trying to convince her to let me turn the practice dress into a summer shirt for her, but so far no luck. I think it would look cute with cropped pants. But I will definitely be using the pattern more for both shirts and dresses. A very fun and quick project for a very fun and relaxed day.

Hope your Thursday was as laid back and enjoyable as ours. I am gathering my energy to get ready for for the weekend ahead of us. It should all be fun, but I'll take the laid back quiet times when I can get them!