Mountain Getaway and Sewing

Last week, Jamie and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary. We were very lucky to get a weekend away. This was the first time we've gone anywhere together without children since long before Eli was born. Jamie's mom, along with his brother, sister, and their families all pitched in to watch them down in Barnwell. My parents dropped them off Friday afternoon, so that Jamie and I could get a start on our trip as soon as he got off of work. We went to Maggie Valley, NC and stayed at my parents' mountain home. It was so relaxing to sleep late and go shopping without pushing a cart around with the kids. We were able to go to the Smoky Mountain Folk Festival Saturday night at Lake Junaluska. It was about 4 1/2 to 5 hours of folk music, bluegrass music, clogging, square dancing, etc. It was very fun to listen to all of the many talented musicians and dancers. It really made Jamie and I want to start our own little family band when the kids are old enough. Jamie is convinced he is going to play the banjo and Eli has already said he will be the guitar player. I would love for them to take clogging too when they're a little older. I think they would have a blast!


I have also been sewing a little lately. I decided to try and make Katie some little dresses because they sure are easier when she's hurrying off to the potty every 5 minutes. I made one last Tuesday night. It is the little dress with a sash around the waist. It is completely lined and took a while to do. It also has a zipper in the back, which I do not know how to put in very good, so before I make another dress with a zipper, I'm going to need to seek help from someone. While we were in the mountains, we visited the Walmart. Our Walmarts do not have material anymore, so I was thrilled to find material at the Walmart in the mountains. I bought some cute fabric for Katie and found another pattern for some cute little dresses that don't require as much work as the previous dress I made. They each only take about 1 yard, so for $2 a yard, how could I resist. They also don't have a zipper. I liked that pattern because I can make them with a sleeve or I can make it sleeveless and just put little shirts on underneath--so I can use them this fall/winter too. Hopefully, I'll get better as time goes on and I can make lots of fun things for her to wear.

Of course, Eli's been a little upset that I'm making Katie all of these things, so we bought him a shirt at Walmart. Jamie actually picked it out. It says, " This is what trouble looks like." It points straight to him.

And to end this long tale, Eli made me laugh the other day when I sent him upstairs with his daddy to change his clothes. (He had had an accident.) He said, "Daddy, don't spank me." Jamie looked at him and said, "Why would I spank you?" Eli said, "Because I'm your son."