We went to a fancy plant place on the way to Longwood Gardens on Easter Sunday. Everyone found things to like.
Including a really expensive Easter brunch...
I have been busy lately, outfitting P with appropriately old-fashioned clothes. She is Laura Ingalls after all.
And I made a baby carrier for the new baby. Claudia and Al were kind enough to model it for me. It is the mei tai carrier from Sew Liberated. The pattern was really easy--so easy in fact that I was half kicking myself for buying it. But with so little time for crafting these days, it is nice to skip the test runs and just know something will turn out well the first time. Which this one did.
Lots more stuff to show. Nothing says end of pregnancy to me like manic frenzied crafting, and I've been doing plenty of it!

Off the deep end

I can admit that I may have lost my mind a little bit. Lately, when I've had to fill in my address (requesting a lot of flower catalogues here), if there is a line for 'business name' I've been putting "The Pine Street Doll Factory." I sure do love making dolls, and I think it is a reasonable hobby, especially for someone with 2 doll-loving daughters. But I realize that not allowing said daughters to play with the dolls because they're um...too special is, perhaps, a little bit crazy.

Anyway, I'm thinking I might take this crew down to Vix when they're all done and let Emily sell them for me. The truth is that my girls really do have plenty of dolls. And it is nice to get a little money to cover some of the costs of my hobby (ahem). Plus I like the idea of other little girls having these sweet, simple rag dolls to play with. And I really wouldn't be able to stand seeing P and Claudia mess up their hair...

By the way

Did you know that I live with two princesses?

Imperfect Blogging

I don't mean, of course, that the blog isn't perfect. That is obvious. Instead, I'm thinking of blogging about things that aren't perfect. I seem to read a lot of a particular genre of blog that can be summarized briefly as "aren't we happy and aren't my kids beautiful and precocious, look at how beautiful and original and handmade my house is, look at this beautiful dinner I made/quilt I sewed/sweater I knitted.

Don't get me wrong. Nobody makes me read these blogs, and on the whole I really enjoy them. For the most part, they make me feel sort of optimistic. Inspired. Motivated. And although I am constitutionally incapable of ever even implying that I am happy all the time or coping really really well for long periods of time, I think this blog has mostly been sort of that type. I generally post only when I have something to share that I'm sort of proud of etc.

But sometimes, when everyone in the house and the babysitter have had the barfing flu for a week, and the house is trashed, and all I want to do is sleep, there's just not a lot that belongs on that kind of a blog.

I took some pictures of the house as it's been lately. I was thinking of them as the pre-nesting pictures (optimistically, perhaps--on the assumption that eventually I will have some sort of hormonally-driven urge to whip this place into shape). I know there is nothing particularly edifying about pictures of other people's messy homes, and I only post them now in pursuit of some honesty in blogging. This is not one of 'those' blogs...

A late morning nap

The February Funk

I'm doing my best to ward it off. In spite of the ice that is still piled in heaps at every intersection in my neighborhood. In spite of the fact that even if I bundle myself and the kids up and haul all of us out to the park, nobody is ever there. In spite of our $1000 dollar heat bill last month (and no, we haven't been keeping the house at 72 degrees. If you are planning a visit to our place, please bring slippers and a sweater.

But Claudia and I made bread today and we're having broccoli soup for dinner. We turned a wall in the kitchen into an art gallery. I have craft day this Saturday. I have many patterns for spring dresses for the girls... And of course, the new baby to start knitting and sewing for.

Yup, that's our news--which most people in real life know by now. One more Schwarz-Madrid is en route and due this spring.

Hope you are warm and managing to keep the February funk away however you can too...

There was some chat on a craft web site I frequent about how well Waldorf dolls hold up over time. I thought I'd share some pictures of the kids' dolls. I rudely stripped them naked for the purpose of the picture.

They are arranged from oldest on the left to youngest on the right. The one on the far left has shared raspberries with Penelope (hence the stains). It was originally a boy doll that I made for Diego, but he never played with him much and it has been appropriated by Penelope. He (now she) and the next doll to the right are now the twins, Vanilla and Canilla.

The dark skinned doll 2nd from the right is Claudia's most beloved and is definitely showing it--she's lost her mouth and her hair needs some attention. She was originally a fairy that I attempted to make for the daughter of a co-worker. She had awesome sparkly hair, but I could never get the wings figured out, so I kept her and Thorin eventually chewed her sparkly hair off. Claudia calls her "Nati-butt" which is also what she calls her best friend in real life (a little boy whose name is Nati).

The doll in green is featured (tragically) in a previous post.

And the doll on the far right I originally made to sell at the local craft shop, but I became too attached to her so she has sat on my sewing desk for the last few months. The girls kept taking her to play with so I finally gave her to Claudia and now she is "Jared." This is complicated: Diego and P and I are reading the Spiderwick Chronciles (totally awesome) and there are three kids in those books: Mallory, Simon and Jared. Penelope plays endless games where she is big sister Mallory and Claudia is younger brother Jared and together they befriend fairies and fight goblins. So...Jared.

Anyway, even though they are somewhat shabby, they are still much loved and much played with.
Having an assortment of nice clothes for them helps because everyone look better in nice clothes.