Hot Tub Chaos....

Swimming lessons are done for the day and teacher says Bubbalu can go in the hot tub. A post-lesson treat for all the kiddos. They love it! Especially in our not-always-sunny Pacific NW summers.

Mommy walks over when she decides it’s time to go and tells Bubbalu, “Ok, it’s time to go, get out and get your flip flops on”. Six pairs of 4 yr old eyes look at me.

“NO! Teacher said I could stay in here!". Five pairs of 4 yr old raised eyebrows, one pair of Mommy raised eyebrows.

“Bubbalu, GET. OUT. NOW.” (No, not yelling….the scary quiet voice paired with the look that every Mom has which primary purpose is to scare your kids witless. I'll not tell you what my MIL calls this voice and look...Something along the lines of the big scary guy who rules the underworld of fire and brimstone. Yeah.)

“NO!”. Five 4 yr old children thinking, “hey, if HE gets to run the show, maybe I should try to!?”

At this point I’m trying to maintain my dignity (and balance) while chasing a 4 yr old around a small in ground hot tub while 5 other children look on with awe at Bubbalu’s response and fear at the Momma with THE FACE. Awesome.

Course, the pool deck was jam packed with parents and grandparents watching their precious young’uns learn the art of staying alive in the water. And now watching me run around the hot tub deck trying to grab my defiant son.

Yep, I eventually won. AND I did not fall in. Score +2 for me.

Bubbalu’s consequence of his (very public) defiance? No post-swimming lesson hot tub time the next day….which was the last day of swimming lessons. Painful.

Fast forward to three hours pre-swimming lesson the next day. I’m feeling super sad about Bubbalu not getting to sit in the hot tub with his swimming buddies. He LOVES people. He LOVES making new friends. He will be very sad not going in.

I hemmed and hawed, trying to come up with alternate ideas for a consequence for him instead of banning him from the hot tub on his last day of swimming lessons. I admit I almost changed my mind.

I’m glad I didn’t. What would that be telling him? Disobey and be defiant, especially in public…Mom will be angry and punish me….then I’ll get out of it the next day. Um…NO.

That last day in the pool he was telling anyone with a pair of ears that, “My Mommy said I can’t go in the hot tub today!”

Awesome. Make me look like a mean Mommy.

Then his teacher says to him, “Hmmm, sounds like you might have gotten in trouble.” THANK YOU. YES.

Bubbalu, “Yeah, I didn’t listen. I wouldn’t get out when Mommy told me to yesterday so I don’t getta go in the hot tub today. I'm gonna listen better next time”.

Almost fist pumped the air and cheered. What I said MUST have sunk in. (Pun completely intended)

Here’s to following through!

I am by no means trying to brag about how wonderful my children are, how compliant they are with respect to discipline or even my own response. Sometimes you just gotta finally say, 'Phew, that was good". Especially when so much feels like it's going wrong. Which I have much more to share later....and it involves paint. Yup.

Amanda

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Lace-Trimmed T-Shirt Tutorial!

The most popular post to date is this lace-trimmed tshirt tutorial, originally Posted Jan 24, 2010. I've have many new followers since then, so thought I'd reshare! Enjoy:

Step 1: Buy an inexpensive, boring plain v-neck from, well, ANYWHERE. Me? I chose an Old Navy dark gray tee:



See? It's boring. It needs some help.

Step 2: Dig through huge bag of vintage lace and notions lovingly thrifted and given to you by your Grandma K and pick out some sassy, funky or complimentary ribbon or lace. ( Hee hee hee, I'm imagining my ribbon saying, "My my Amanda, you are looking mighty FINE today!" Get it? Complimentary ribbon? OK, It's just me then.)

Step 3: (If needed) Serge or zig-zag stitch raw edge of lace or ribbon. (Yep, I'm slowly getting over my serger fear! However, it must still be having an effect on me because I completely forgot to take a photo.)

Step 4: Pin lace around neckline of t-shirt. Remember to not pin the back of the shirt while pinning. I pinned both the inside and outside edges of the lace all the way around the neckline:



I didn't have enough lace, but would have liked to go all the way around to the back of the neckband. Instead I serged the ends and pinned them down at the shoulder seam:



Step 4.2: Carefully miter (translation: fold it until it looks right) and pin lace or ribbon in place at the bottom of the "V" if you chose a v-neck style t-shirt. Of course, with a scoop neck or regular t-shirt this may not be needed...OR, you may need to every so often add a tiny fold to allow the lace to curve around the neckline correctly. Once again, just fold and pin until it looks right.



Step 5: Stitch the lace to the shirt along the inside/unfinished/serged edge first:



Step 6: Stitch the outside edge of the lace to the shirt, following the decorative pattern. I followed the curves as much as possible so it wouldn't flip up after washing:



Step 7: I stitched the folds down at the bottom of the "V" so it would lay flat. My stitch lines are marked in red:



Step 8: Admire your handiwork then jump giddily around your sewing room because you created something cute, individual, inexpensive AND sassy in a short amount of time:



Step 9: Try sassy new shirt on and attempt to take a self portrait without showing the camera or your face or earrings. Whoops, guess I didn't do Step 9 very well:

Pin It

Step 10: Wear it everywhere. It's a washable t-shirt so who cares if your 3 year old smudges it with jelly coated fingers? Just make sure that 3 year old isn't wielding a sharpie. I mean, I'm pretty good at getting stains out but that's pushing it.

This Lace Trimmed T-shirt can dress up jeans, dress down a suit jacket but can also be worn under a simple zip up hoodie paired with faded black yoga pants while feeding the kiddos lunch and doing laundry. Oh wait? Is that just me?

Enjoy your sassy Lace Trimmed T-shirts!

A


*** Make my day and become a fan on the Vintage Dutch Girl Facebook Fan page found HERE. ***

Fabric Makes My Heart Go Pitter-Patter....

Opening a box of ordered fabric always makes my heart go pitter patter!

Today I opened a delivered box and found these:



{smile}

On the left is a snuggly flannel print, on the right is a lighterweight knit stripe with some shimmer in the gray area - it's beautiful!

Can't wait to run these up to the bonus room and get sewing...

Amanda