my thing.

I am so excited to tell you about my awesome sewing class!  I had a blast learning so many new techniques and getting to ask about 100+ questions to my instructor and making some really fun new projects.  This was the first class I've taken and it was a very casual setting, in someone's home with about 5 students but it was a perfect and comfortable setting for me - and, did I say I had fun?

I'll give you a quick rundown of things I learned and made during the 10 week class.  Most weeks we sewed a little in class and then had homework to try out a new skill we were taught - it was a great way to learn hands on and with really cute projects, too.

Week one ruffle, types of needles to use on your machine & info about tools and thread too. *Ruffle scarf, not pictured

Week two make and sew bias tape and sew darts. *Apron

Week three fabric flowers, lining a project/bag, edge finishing & hand sewing techniques *Tote with flowers

Week four shirring (SO fun!), cleaning & caring for your machine & intro to sergers. *The Maddy dress Evelyn is wearing!

We five introduced us to a handful of awesome feet you can buy for your machine (ruffler, rolled hem, walking foot etc.)

A close up of the shirring and the second dress I made (for Norah) since I loved it so much!

Week six zippers! *Faux leather pouch

Week seven making & using piping, pleating. *Throw pillow

Week eight pattern making & working with knits! *Circle skirt & leggings

Week nine sewing with elastic & appliques. *Poodle on the skirt, waste band on skirt & leggings.

Week ten catch up week!

Norah's wearing the circle skirt & leggings (they are capri style and not actually uneven, just the way she's standing) and Evelyn's wearing the Maddy dress - adorable!

During class I heard my instructor say that sewing was her "thing" and I loved that phrase. I've used it before when talking about others but I'm going to say it... I think sewing is my thing. At least for now and I hope for a long long time because I really love doing it. I hope I can continue to improve and try new things!  Have you discovered your "thing" or things - something you can escape everyday things to do and something you love?  I have other things I like a lot but this is somehow different - I feel good about it when I complete something and during it I love it too as I'm creating something from a flat peice of fabric.  It brings me so much joy!

trier.

This past weekend we drove (45 min) to partake in the pilgrimage of the Holy Robe.  The Trier Cathedral hasn't put Christ's tunic since 1996 (and previously had only been shown to the public in 1933 and 1959).  The Cathedral has had the Robe that is believed to have been worn by Jesus since the 4th Century.  Unfortunately, we were unable to take a picture as we were whisked by the Robe.

Unfortunately, the weather was unexpectedly very cool and crisp, but we wandered around a bit and saw a small portion of the beautiful city.  We hope to visit again when the weather is warmer.

 Enjoying our Italian lunch. Again, two toddlers & eating out = a bit crazy but sometimes there's not much way around it when you're out and about.

 The Trier Cathedral

 We parked near this beautiful area with the pond, tons of flowers and a cute little park.

Doing big girl things.

"potty!"

And, why does she keep asking to go potty?

She wants the same praise as her sister gets for doing it?  Or she just doesn't like diapers!  She's gone on the toilet the four times we've put her on... here we go again?  Maybe.

norah 2.5.

Even though I get to post as many pictures as I want on here of the girls I love counting the milestones as they grow.  Norah is 2.5 years old!  I honestly love her more than I ever thought possible and cry sometimes with the overwhelming amount of deep love I have for her (it scares me).  Our family is so blessed out to have Norah as an addition!  What a little charmer, silly goose, crazy lady, fake crying, cuddly bundle of joy she is.  She is also a great camera poser/smiler - here she is playing the back yard - one of her favorite things to do these days.

Both girls were in stellar moods last week at breakfast so I whipped out the video camera and caught some of that goodness on tape.  The thing that's driving me nutso is that the end of the editing got messed up so just ignore that last word banner :)

And, a potty update on Norah.  I would say she's potty trained but... things have been a little back and forth at times.  She knows what to do and when to do it but, getting her to decide that's more important than going in her pants and continuing down the slide at the park is another story :)  Also, poor Nors went from having a double ear infection and on antibiotics to the ER with a UTI and onto more antibiotics and now we're not sure she's even better so... going hasn't been her favorite thing since it's been a little painful for her. My poor baby.

During her naps I've been experimenting about what to do with a semi potty trained kid.  I tried for a few days to not put her a diaper and well, she wasn't ready for that.  Then I moved to diaper on with duck tape around her waste, she got the diaper off and continued to wet the bed so the newest and most effective thing has been... diaper on backwards and duck tape a onesie on!  I know, complicated but it works.  In the below picture I tried for the diaper on forward and she got it off but kept that onesie on... silly silly.

And finally... our big girl is sleeping all night in her big girl bed!  Woohoo.  Now, to get her to to stay in the bed during naps is another saga we'll battle for a while (so, she's napping in the crib and sleeping at night in the bed).  Here she is on her first night before bed.  She did awesome and loves the big girl bed.  When she wakes up in the morning I just hear her knocking on the door usually and sometimes saying Mommy? or Daddy?  It's obviously adorable.

easter.

We had a blessed Easter Sunday last week where we reflected on Christs' sacrifice for us with our church and enjoyed down time in our beautiful village.

Nothing too exciting to report. We went to the church service (where there was no childcare, what?!) and left immediately to beat the crowd of cars & people.  We stopped at a local restaurant and enjoyed white asparagus soup (white asparagus is in season here and very popular), salmon and schnitzel.  The girls were wonderful little guests as well :)

After naps we explored a newfound walking path in our village. 

Ate dinner where Evelyn is loving feeding herself!

 Got out the easter basket...  And then skyped family! 

Here are the girls enjoying their first candy necklaces the following day.  Evelyn ate hers all at once and begged for more while Norah made hers last all day - it's fun to see the differences between the girls.

we love GB (not green bay).

We had a wonderful opportunity to travel to Great Britain this last week.  What a great few days we experienced!  David had to work in GB and stay for about 10 days but the girlies and I decided to join him for part of the trip to see a few great friends and part of London (in a day).  We drove from our house to our friend's house (the Briggs) west of London.  It took us about 12 hours traveling to get there and the girls did wonderful.  We dropped a car off at the airport so that when us chicks flew home we would just get in our car and drive back to our place.  So, we drove through part of Belguim into France to catch the ferry with our car across to England.  How cool is that?!  The girls were thankful for the break and Norah was loving that we were on a boat.

So happy on the ferry ride!

We spend the evening catching up and getting to know the Briggs - having dinner, seeing the sheep near their home and learning about their life.  I know Melissa from college and had never met her British husband Stephen or her son Benjamin!  It was really awesome to experience just a piece of their life and have that TU connection.

Stephen, Melissa & Benjamin in front of their beautiful home.

After a spot of tea in the mornin' we were off to explore a bit of the city of London.  We mainly just hit the big spots walking here and there and taking the tube a few places.  We were able to see Trafalgar Square, the Queen's palace (Buckingham), Downing Street (wow, a street!), the London Eye (from a distance), Big Ben, and the Tate Modern Art Museum.  David's been to England a few times but I hadn't so we're hoping to go back for a bit longer to experience more of the city.

Behind Norah is the palace. Isn't Nors so beautiful!? 

The flag is up and the Queen is in :)

Cheerio from London!

Norah was in love with the fountains at Trafalgar Square.

Big Ben and Parliament. A truly beautiful building

Millennium Bridge

After the day of exploring we spent another wonderful evening with friends!  Jeff & Sharon have been friends with my parents since before I was born so seeing them and catching up was like being with family.  It was so awesome to talk about the transitions of moving (overseas) and building community and support wherever we go (and they go).  Jeff has the pleasure to work for the Billy Graham Evangelical Association and with that job has come a lot of moves (more than 11). It was just so great to talk about where we're at with our transition overseas and where they are at (they just moved to London 3 months ago).  David and I felt very encouraged and loved by being with the Andersons - thanks for having us!

We love those Andersons!

For the next two days David had to drive and speak at two different bases so the girls and I played stayed and played on the AF base.  We walked around the grocery store and BX and played at the park.  Here's a fun thing we did... the party aisle at the BX had packages of cheap sunglasses ($2/5 pairs) so instead of worrying about them breaking or losing a nice pair we got a package of cheap ones!  Great entertainment for us all :)

 

The last day we were with David (he stayed another week for work) we visited Cambridge.  It was a beautiful town and we mostly just walked the streets and saw some of the stores.  We stopped for awhile to lounge on this wide open grassy area where tons of people were out on blankets and reading.  Of course Norah wet her pants at the park so we changed her panties but she wouldn't put her pants back on - eh, kids will be kids!

One funny little story... since we try to walk near our village often we're out and about where there's no toilets.  We have offered Norah to go potty in the woods which now she loves to do and is proud that she does.  Last week a neighbor friend came by and took Norah on a walk with her and she definitely did ask our neighbor if she could go potty in the woods -- and she giggled the whole time :)  So, while we were playing at the park on base I was chatting it up with another mom and David says to me "Ummm, your daughter is going potty 'in the woods' here at the park."  In response I laughed and told Norah she did a great job not going in her panties (don't worry, she went over by the fence so it wasn't where other kids were playing).  And then finally, at the large grassy area in Cambridge, Norah says she has to go potty right before we were trying to leave and catch the bus out of town.  So, I just had her pop a squat right there in between my legs!  Do you all think we're terribly unruly and teaching Norah bad things?  I don't want her to act like an animal but I think it's so awesome that she wants to avoid peeing in her panties!  I know these are the funny memories we will love to look back on.

I heart her. Adorable. 

The weekend David had between speaking engagements he used wisely by exploring the beautiful landscape in Northern England (Yorkshire)!  He went on a 15 mile loop through 4 different towns in the hills.   Despite getting lost for an hour and walking through private property with angry looking sheep staring him down, it was a success!

One of the things David appreciated most about the hike was the local hiking community.  There were tons of people doing multi-day trips by staying in hostels and B&B's that accommodate walkers.  David grabbed a delicious microbrew at a pub in the middle of the hike! 

that's my King!