For a year now, Esme has been drawing dress designs on any scrap of paper she can get her hands on. Armed with a file folder full of drawings and a free book coupon from Shutterfly, we sat today and arranged them all together.

She was so proud of each and every drawing and was able to give me detailed explanations of each one, even the ones she had drawn months ago. Her eyes lit up seeing them all in book form and I can’t wait for it to arrive in the mail.

Who knows if she’ll continue with her love of fashion, but it is fun to watch her experiment with it now.

These are not the best scissors in the house. They aren’t the newest or the sharpest, either.

They are, however, the only pair of full size, non child, non fancy-blade, scissors I could find in the house today. And I know we own a ton of scissors.

Determined to have a pair of scissors I can find when I need them and not have to climb under the couch or look behind everything on the art desk or wind up using a tiny sized pair just to cut something, I labeled them and hung them, not quite out of reach of little hands, just above my sewing room counter.

Next step is a chain, a la bank pens.

Colors, 50% off.

Four Mamas

Seven awesome kids

One adorable puppy

Very little rain

A whole lot of steps

Almost three hours of fresh air and running and imagination

Make for a thoroughly wonderful afternoon hike.

If I could make a living out of “going to your house, rifling though your things, and making costumes from what you already have” I would be a happy camper. Do you think people would pay me for that?

Scratch that, I am pretty sure I would do it for free!

Thankfully, I have plenty of opportunities to do that in my own home, and awesome kids who are happy to let me dress them up.

Leia and ‘generic female Jedi’ had a great time at a friend’s Star Wars themed birthday party today. The side buns were a success and there were minimal light saber incidents. I’d call that a win all around.

It would be a shame not to share some other pics from their photo shoot. Enjoy.

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How better to open a birthday present at your Star Wars themed party?

We’re all ready to head to a galaxy far, far way to celebrate a little Padawan tomorrow.

Despite the weather’s attempts to convince us otherwise, spring is springing here in Salem.

Spent the afternoon dealing in heirloom jewelry. Some original settings, some newly reset. Not how I usually pass a Thursday afternoon, but enjoyable all the same.

We had planned on a quick stop at a local hiking spot before a visit to the MOS. We never made it to the museum, there was so much science to discover outside!

It was a perfect day and a perfect way to celebrate Earth Day.

“I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in.”
~George Washington Carver