Easter dresses 2009

Once again, Rebecca made fabulous dresses for the girls and a fine vest for Sam (the only son with some sartorial interest). She picked the fabric out last year from the clearance rack at JoAnn's. Each is satiny, shiny and gingham-checked The girls picked thier own patterns, and this year they decided big poofy designs. I think Abby's might have a petticoat. As usual, Rebecca stayed up late for several nights last month in order to finish the dresses on time. Every year the kids look great. The dresses will get worn until the seams rip and the hems fray, especially for the younger girls. They eventually make great costumes for the dress-up box.

Of our kids, Emma is the one who is showing the most interest in craft and design. After her Easter dress was done, Emma noted that the bands on her dress could have been done in alternately colors of the fabrics from the other dresses. She often comes up with ideas for clothing designs, and she has even talked her mom into helping to create a few of these items. If I remember correctly, Emma designed and constructed her first dress when she was 5. She selected bits and pieces of fabric from the scrap box and told Rebecca where to piece them together. Last month, Rebecca gave Emma a bag of scrap fabrics (actually, Rebecca was throwing pieces out and Emma rescued a bag of scraps), and Emma and Lillian used safety pins to create outfits for their stuffed animals.

Sam and Emma like to visit the neighbor's yard, because they have a year-old puppy named Cricket. Sometimes they visit just because they can walk in that yard without sloshing through a mud pit. I have been reading a book on organic lawn care trying to come up with ideas on how to improve our back yard. We don't have much of a yard, but it will still take quite a bit of work to tear it out, build a drainage system, build up soil and then reseed the lawn. I hope I'm up to it.