Weekending

This last week was...interesting.  

I recall looking at the weather forecast last Sunday, ecstatic about all the sunny days and warm temps.  YES!  I thought.  Full mornings outside!  Hard long afternoon naps!  Time to get things done! Good running weather!  Perfection!

Then my girls decided not to nap.  AT ALL.  And it was hard.  I really struggled towards the end of the week, to not just get angry that I had no break (or to feel resentful that my "breaks" were my runs, my long HOT runs).  On Friday when I called Ian and sweetly (well, pointedly) asked him to please bring home a bottle of Smoking Loon Cabernet or forget about fancy dinner my man! I laughed a bit inside.  

I recalled the distress I felt mother's day, tapped into that part of me that already aches for my grown up girls to want me more.  I hung up the phone and stared into Ainsley's mischeivious eyes and as tired and grouchy as I felt about the 4 hours ahead before daddy came home I mostly just felt glad.  Glad because next year my girl will be in preschool.  4 morning a week preschool and even just typing it now a wave of sadness and dread sweeps over me. From that moment on life for the two of us will change forever.  This sweet little bug that I grew and birthed and raised on my hip will be off into the world, spending whole mornings away from me and my love and care and my heart already aches for the change.  

It's interesting.  The moments that are the hardest, that stretch me the most, are the moments where I most certainly find the most joy, the most purpose and happiness.  Much like how our terrible mother's day brought so much clarity, this week brought me perspective.  I will never have this time with them again.  Soak it up, live in it now.  You can rest when Ian gets home (or when they go off to college).

But back to this no nap thing.  What's up with that huh?  You'd think a morning running around in the hot sun at the arboretum with a cute friend would do it, right? Nope.

Friday morning at the Arboretum with sweet Lily

Louise was down to her wet yellow onesie by the end of the morning, 

just as it should be on a hot late spring day

Peekaboo!

Oh the water...and not a towel or dry shirt in sight.

Who me?  I never nap! NEVER!!!

Then Saturday came with the opening of the local farmer's market, which to me is akin to Christmas morning.  Ainsley of COURSE tested the waters big time with yet another what to wear battle and dampened my spirits.  But we persevered and ate our donuts and when Ainsley had to pee Ian drove the girls home and I stayed on to sample herb vinegars, find the perfect basil plant and fill my market tote to the brim.  I walked the mile and a half back home in the most unsupportive pair of shoes I own, genius (#blistersthreeweeksbeforeragnar).  Then Ian and I sipped on coffee and talked while the girls played in their pool.  I ignored all the work to be done for once and just enjoyed my family.  After lunch Ian tried his luck with nap time (double successes!  if I weren't so thankful for the hope this gave me I'd be REALLY annoyed) and I went to get some groceries and stumbled across some garage sales on the way home.  I do believe I'll have to set a budget for myself for garage sales this summer.  If the loot is anything like I found yesterday, I'm in big trouble.

I've vowed to be very practical in my thrifty searches, only purchasing things that we truly need, or that I have a plan for within the next few months.  Even so, I made out like a bandit.

Woodsco toddler chair/stepstool, you can never have too many tiny chairs with little ones around, I don't even mind that it's a new source for MY TURN! fighting, definitely worth it.

in stepstool mode

three unembroidered cloth panels, complete with color instructions on the sides

I'd been searching for a. an embroidery project and b. cafe curtains to hand from our kitchen window, how perfect!  I'm not sure I'll actually embroider them though, I kind of like the blue, and the color matches out kitchen perfectly.

And Nana thought that corn would be for squirrels...

Just waiting to be washed and sewn!

I also found two new quart lidded pitchers for lemonades and teas, yard upon yards on vintage eyelet lace, 4 long sleeved shirts for the girls for next winter and a pair of authentic real live pink ballet tights for Ainsley.  She has not taken them off since I gave them to her. Ah, garage sale bliss.

And speaking of spendthrift ways...I've found yet another use for all those old sheets I can't seem to get enough of, sundresses for the girls!

One of the good things that came out of all those LONG afternoons this week was lots of planning and sewing with my biggest girl (while my little one catnapped or had quiet time with books in her crib).  Ainsley is over the moon for her new sundress, particularly smitten that it matches her jammie pants I made for Easter (all from the same sheet people, a 25 cent sheet).  This pattern is the flower girl dress from Weekend Sewing.  I will bet that in one years time I've made every pattern in that book.  It's that good.

Louise has a new dress too, sharing a sheet with Auntie Sonya's new pj pants

Making these dresses and all those pj bottoms has just continued to show me how much I LOVE sewing. With the last of my amazon birthday money I ordered these two sewing books.  One, a completely selfish indulgence (as it only has patterns for me) the other a delightful mish mash of children's and adult clothing, toys and household patterns.  I can't wait to delve in.

most excited to try out some shirring, I have my elastic bobbin all wound!

I know I know, I don't NEED another skirt, but a drop waist wrap tie skirt?  Ah, I might just have to.

My last indulgence, a new cookbook.  You may recall that mere months ago I purged my collection and whittled it down to six, yet here I am adding another behemoth to the stash.  I saw this on a booklist of one of my favorite bloggers and ordered it from the library to take a closer look.  After earmarking 23 recipes, trying out the lemonade recipe and the strawberry rhubarb crumble (which we had for dessert last night...yum!) I decided I simply had to own it.

The photos are lovely, the recipes scrumptious and easy.  I can see the girls and I muddying up these pages in no time.

Gooseberry Crumble.  I made Strawberry Rhubarb instead.

In fact, while propping this book up to take some photos Louise promptly scooted on over to join me, flipping through to find her favorites.

Homemade Lemonade

Food must make her sleepy.  But look at those curls!, I bury my face in them at least 10 times a day.

So this week I've learned something.  I'm not jumping up and down about the daily sunshine forecasts and big full days.  I'm not planning on free time or naps at all in fact.  I am focusing on this great weekend we've had as a family, on the hope of cooler temps tomorrow to shut off the ac and get a good long run in (because oh my Ragnar is in less than 3 weeks!!!) I'm relishing in the last week of full spring activities before the reality of even longer hotter unstructured summer days sets in.  Even then? I'm thankful to be here with my girls while they still need me so, because as hard and tiring and LONG as that feels sometimes, it mostly just feels really really good.

Hope you've all had a great weekend!