SIX

How did this little lovely turn six so fast?  Claire is one of the kindest, sweetest and most tender-hearted girls you will ever meet.

Some of Claire's current favorites and highlights from the year:

TV Show: Doc McStuffins, Peppa the Pig

Movie: Tangled, Alvin & the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel

Song: "I See the Light" from Tangled and "Our God" by Chris Tomlin

Food: chocolate chip pancakes, plain turkey sandwiches, apples, RiRi's roast

Candy: Reese peanut butter cups, pretzel m&ms

Toy: Barbies, American Girl doll, scooter

Activity: Dance & soccer, playing outside, riding bikes, reading

Friends: Evie, Kate, Kathryn & Avery

Stats: Height-3 feet, 7 inches, Weight-40 pounds

Sizes: Clothing (size 6 ... finally) and shoes (size 11)

My proudest moments this year: On 2/19/12 when you asked Jesus into your heart, learning to read, your first speaking part in the Christmas choir program at church

Struggles: speech articulation, not liking your homeschool videos, attachment to me when we go to dance

Sew What: Recent sewing projects

I guess these are recent if you consider 4 months ago recent ... some are more recent than others I guess.  These are some cute Valentine's Day shirts I made for the kids.  David loved his car shirt!  The embroidery designs came from Applique Cafe.

Here are three cute knit long rompers I made for Luke.  I only wore them a few times before they were too short!  All of these designs came from Applique Cafe too.

I've had these pants cut out for Luke since the fall.  I finally got around to sewing them up just in time for (1) a very warm spring, and (2) Luke to outgrown them.  He looked really cute the few times he wore them.  (See pics below.)  David got matching pants in both prints and I think he will actually be able to wear his still in the early-fall.  At least these outfits were not a total fail!  I just used Heat 'n Bond lite on these fabric squares and straight stitched around them.  Not time for a trip to my mom's house to use her super-nice embroidery machine.

 

Seriously ... why is it so hard for me to get a picture of my boys together?

Claire is modeling a cute top I made for her.  My favorite thing is that she can wear it with a long-sleeve tee and jeans in the winter and without a tee and leggings in the summer.  I couldn't get a good pose out of her where you can actually see the dress.  The straps tie in the back in a cute bow.  This pattern is called the Addison top/dress and you can purchase the pattern here.

These two skirts came from this book.  I purchased the fabric to make the first skirt (fuller one), but had enough left over to make a slimmer skirt too (the second one).  I love this fabric so much, I don't mind having two skirts from it.  Super cute paired with white tee.

This dress is called Happy and I purchased it on Etsy.  I've had it cut out for a while and finally sewed it up.  Despite all the ruffles, it did not take long to make. 

This was my first attempt at "shirring" (using elastic thread in your bobbin and then ironing to make it cinch up).  You can see it close up below.  I wasn't hard at all, but I'm not sure I did it right.  Seems a little loose to me!

I am going on a sewing retreat next weekend (Thursday night-Sunday) and hope to have lots of finished projects to show you! 

Menu Plan Monday: April 16

With the exception of a few leftovers, I am pretty much following Kelly's menu plan over at Faithful Provisions this week ... or at least trying some of her recipes based on sales this week.  This is an excellent resource for menu planning.  Each Sunday, Kelly does a post where she lists her family's meal plan and recipes ideas for store specific sales items.  This week, we are going to try a new veggie ... eggplant.  They are 10/$10 at Kroger this week.  (I've had eggplant before but I rarely cook with it.  I don't think my kids have ever eaten it.)

Monday: leftover slow cooker cheesy chicken & rice, steamed broccoli

Tuesday: Kids' night at Chick-Fil-A after soccer practice (this is our last week of soccer)

Wednesday: Black bean pizza, salad

Thursday: Thai eggplant and tomato pasta salad

Friday: Tomato-covered minute steak, salad, garlic bread

Saturday: Roasted vegetable lasagna, salad, garlic bread

Sunday: Lunch out with a Groupon; dinner-Roasted vegetable quiche, muffins & fruit

Check out Laura's blog for more Menu Plan Monday.

A hunting we will go ...

What a busy Easter weekend we had!

Egg Hunt #1

Friday night, Claire and I headed out to the annual Carrico egg hunt, hosted by our friends Chris, Claire, Dean and Madeline.  David was at a birthday party, so Will stayed home with Luke and picked up David from his party.

Hostess Madeline and my Claire.  These girls are cute buddies.

All the kids ready to hunt some eggs.

And they're off ...

Here comes Claire!

Egg hunter egg-traordinaire.

The kids were anxious to sit down and eat some candy after all the hunting!

A rare grown-up picture!  My friends Holly & Claire.

Egg Hunt #2

Saturday morning, we headed out bright and early to have breakfast with the Easter Bunny (and hunt more eggs).  Claire and David really liked the bunny.  I think they have finally conquered their fear of characters after several painful trips to Disneyworld!

They really could not get enough of the bunny.

Luke, on the other hand, was not a fan!

Breakfast is over ... time to hunt eggs! 

A rare picture where all three kids were looking forward.

Walking to the egg hunt with Daddy.

Easter Baskets and Egg Hunt #3

The kids were up bright and early Sunday morning to see if the Easter Bunny had visited.  He did!

The kids tore through their baskets like maniacs so I did not get many good pictures.

After church, my sister and her family came over for lunch and another egg hunt.

My sister and my nephew.

Hunting more eggs.

Love the face on my nephew above ... he was mad that somebody else found the golden egg.

Cousins!

Silly Luke!  That is about all his Easter basket is good for!

This was the best picture I could get of all 3 kids (and Will's black shoe is in the corner).

Oh my, what a fun weekend celebrating our risen Savior! (with family, friends and fun!)