Making a "new" dress from an "old" dress

My daughter loves pink and she loves dresses. So, the dress below with pink and orange, butterflies and flowers, that I got on the clearance rack last fall at JCPenney, has been quite a favorite this summer. It pretty much got worn every 3rd or 4th day.

As the summer is winding down, and I know we're heading into fall, then winter and spring, when a tank top dress just isn't a reasonable clothing choice, I figured I needed to do something to update this cute little outfit.

I was at Walmart and saw their long sleeve t-shirts on sale for $4 and that they had a shade of pink that was pretty close to the dress at home. I purchased it and brought it home to see if it would match. It's a bit darker than the original top, but there are so many shades of pink in the dress, it works.

I took pictures of our project along the way. So that if you have a similar dress that still has life in it, it just needs to be lengthened, or given a new look, you can copy these steps and make it work for your daughter as well.

The t-shirt, in a size 7/8, and the summer dress on my ironing board.

First, I pinned the tank top to the t-shirt so I could see where I would need to cut the t-shirt. Then, I figured, why not add about 4 inches or so to the length, so it will last all the way until next summer...maybe into the next fall?!?!

Then, I pinned where I would need to cut it (I added about another .5 inch to the 4 inches so I would have a good seam allowance) and ran a tape measure across the dress, so I would cut a straight line.

Here is the t-shirt, cut at the length I needed.

Then, the hardest part was taking out the old tshirt. I used my stitch ripper and carefully tugged and pulled. There is a "lace" waistband on the dress, one of Sissi's favorite parts of it, so I needed to keep that part in tack. The tank top had been sewn to the dress and then the lace waist band sewn over it. You can see how I tried to at first just cut out the tshirt, but then realized that the lace would be backed by the old tank top, which is a different color pink, so then I started pulling the stitches.

Great! A fully removed tank top and the lace is all still attached and in one piece.

Then, I pinned the tshirt into the dress. I first lined up the 2 side seams, then the center of the front and the back, and then the center of those sections, so I had 8 pins connecting the t-shirt to the dress. Then I went back and put "pin tucks" in the spaces in between each pin because the t-shirt had more material than the skirt's width. This way, the material was evenly spaced and didn't get all bulky at the end.

I put in 2 seams, one along the elastic and then attached the top of the lace to the t-shirt as well.

Here is my girl, so excited and jumping in her new dress.

She was so happy that she can keep wearing it through the winter! Glad I got to keep the dress and have a happy girl!

Let me know if you have any questions about how I did the update.

Our First Week of School 2014

Not sure if I'll be able to keep up with weekly school posts this year. 

You know, you're so excited at the beginning of the year and do all these fun crafts and things and then a couple of months in, there just isn't the same level of enthusiasm. 

My problem is, I get busy, I let life get in the way and the first thing to go is the "fun crafts" in our homeschool. I know this year is going to be busy...life and new culture and language are GOING to happen and you know what, that is also "school," that is also learning and living, butI am also going to TRY this year to keep the craft aspect alive as well. The kids sure love it, and when I asked them today what was their favorite part of this week, it was the Senet game they made, the paddle dolls they did, and the cookie dough maps they all created. SO, pray for me, to keep the fun alive?!

Working on their sugar cookie dough maps of Ancient Egypt. You can see Gwangi has cut out the Red Sea and drawn in the Nile and the delta area with his knife.

Krypto, just starting to carve his out.

The boys made their own Senet game based on their readings this week. All they needed were a piece of paper, Legos, and some craft sticks that were colored on one side with a marker.

Cookie dough maps all cooked (and expanded) and some frosting put on them...yum! I think a piece had already been broken off and eaten from this one :).

Yummy cookies.

Krypto took some time to frost/paint on his Nile River and the green areas on the sides due to the yearly flooding.

Paddle dolls. We used cardboard box tops and then colored them.

We used a hole punch to put holes in the head of the doll and put pieces of string in the holes. We tied some of Sissi's beads on the strings so that when you swing the dolls, the beads hit the cardboard and make a sound.

Krypto working on his paddle doll's hair.

Krypto's finished product. Notice side facing features, a pony tail as opposed to a head of hair, and the decorations on the dolls clothes are Ra and Set in a battle.

Sissi's paddle doll. Her girl has pink hair, lots of makeup on the side facing features, and a cat on her clothes.

Gwangi's doll with a battle scene from "Peeps from other lands: Egypt - the Kofu story."

Just a peek at some of our History and Literature selections. There were also a few books that they read on the Kindle for this week.

Sissi started Sequential Spelling for the first time. I usually wait until 2nd grade to begin spelling, as I have found that later is better in this department. Mine tend to get frustrated with spelling if they aren't a strong reader yet. You can see how she went from spelling "in" to spelling "beginning" by Friday/Day 5. I really like how it keeps words in "families" and teaches spelling patterns.

This is a view of what level 3 looks like. This is Gwangi's spelling list that I worked with him on this week (Day 5 was on the next page.) There are 180 days in each book, so enough for a school year. You call off the word, give it in a sentence for context, and they spell it back and write it down on a piece of paper.
Krypto is using the program as well, but his is online this year, making one less subject that I have to do with him.

List of Meals for the 30 Day Pantry Challenge

I was a bit busy last night setting up for the first day of school and reviewing my Teacher's Notes, so didn't get a chance to do my "inventory" and menu for this 30 Day Clean out the Pantry Challenge that I've given myself.

After a great first day of school, and a trip to Chick Fil A to get some free ice cream by turning in some unopened Kids' Meal toys/books, I was ready to begin!

Here is what I think I've got supplies in the pantry, fridge, and freezer, to make... (again, short of the perishables like fruits/veggies, milk, eggs, and cheese)

4x Italian meals - spaghetti, lasagna, baked ziti etc.
Chicken, Potato, and cheese soup (tonight's dinner)
Corn and Potato Chowder
White Chicken Chili
Beef Enchiladas
Corn Bread Taco Bake
Chicken Pot Pie
Roast Chicken with Okra
2x Venison Sausage breakfast wraps
Leftover Frozen Rot. Chicken thawed and put on a salad
Asparagus, Artichoke, Spinach dip
Tilapia with Alfredo sauce
Tortellini with ground venison and spaghetti sauce
Bavarian pretzels topped with chili
Pork Chops with Gnocchi
Mandarin Orange Chicken with brown rice
Kung Pao Chicken with brown rice
Pizza and taquitos
2x Venison Steak with poutine
1x Venison Steak with blue cheese and potatoes

I also have the makings for ...
pecan pie
pumpkin pie
tang pie
2 cakes (good thing we have 2 birthdays this month :))
quick breads like zucchini and banana (plus several frozen loaves and muffins already made)

Also on hand are several boxes of cereal, oats to make oatmeal, breakfast bars, chips, flour and sugar and baking supplies.

To buy is the following ...
Sandwich meat and cheese for lunches (we have about 6 loaves of frozen bread we need to use up)
Canned corn (I need 1 more can to make the corn chowder)
Beans/chili mix for the corn bread taco bake and white chicken chili, everything else is on hand
Pesto and chicken for a Chicken Pesto Pasta that Sissi has specifically asked for for her birthday dinner meal...I can certainly accomodate that.
Perishables each week, like milk, eggs, cheese, fruits and veggies.

So, what do you think? Any other ideas?

First Day of School 2014-2015

Today was the first day of our new school year!

I printed off some neat signs for them to have at their seats and blew up balloons again (they really, really liked that from last year!)

I got up early to have my quiet time and shower and when I came downstairs, at 7:45 to start breakfast, no one was awake...very strange in my house!

I began making pancakes and soon Krypto arrived. He walked around the table and read everything and said, "Awesome 6th grade, Incredible 4th grade, Super Fun 2nd grade, and Super Nice Mommy!"

Ahhh! What a sweetie!

This is Gwangi's seat.

Sissi sits next to him.

On the other side of the table is Krypto.

For breakfast, I made pancakes. I went ahead and put sprinkles in them. This one...hmmm, well, Sissi was "helping" and so a few too many sprinkles got put in this pancake. Of course, Sissi claimed it as her own.

Outside, first day of school for our 2nd grader, Sissi.

First day of school for our 4th grader, Gwangi.

Our 6th grader, Krypto.

Our two boys together :). So handsome!

30 Day Pantry Challenge

It's that time,we're getting ready to move.

The last time we did this, going to Tanzania, I wasn't very good at dwindling down my food supplies and so ended up tossing, donating, and giving quite a bit away.

This time, well, we just got back from a road trip, and as is usual on those kinds of trips, we spent a bit more than I had expected and so need to do some trimming this month to make up the difference.

Hence, the challenge - Other then perishables like milk, eggs, and fresh fruit/veggies, try to only eat from our pantry, freezer, and fridge for the entire month of August. (Quick caveat *We have 2 birthdays this month...Sissi's and Indy's...so there might be exceptions for those special events.)

Can we do it?

I never have done this before, though I've seen it blogged about and tried by many others.

So, I'll comment and post and let you know how we do.

Any suggestions, any thoughts? Have you done this? Any good recipe ideas? I'm off to do an inventory and make a list of what meals we can eat with what we have. We have a pretty well stocked pantry and freezer, so I know we won't starve, but I may have to pull on some creative juices to put a few things together.

We'll let you know how it goes.

A Bit About Scheduling

I took some time yesterday to set up our schedule for the next year, and more specifically, the next couple of weeks. Here is a look at how I organized our studies.

First, I actually got a planner this year, at the Homeschool Conference here in Winston Salem, back in May. I compared several different kinds, and went back and forth, and compared again, and finally settled on this one. In the past, I used a blank sheet of paper each day, but I would lose them and had no continuity to see all that we had accomplished over the year, because at the end of each week, they went in the trash.

This is what each undated week looks like. Lots of blank columns that I can do with as I will! It also has monthly spreads, but I haven't used those yet.

Here is how I organized my eight columns. The first two are stuff we do together - our morning devotions, Tapestry work, science, and language. Then, each child has two columns of their own. I've listed their assignments, with specific books and pages to read for Tapestry, in those columns (if you click on the picture, it will be larger and you can see it a bit better.) This will help a bunch this year, as we're expecting the oldest two to take more independent ownership of their work and check their assignments (6th and 4th grade) and because Mommy and Daddy will be switching out being the teacher as we each have a half day of language school ahead of us when we get to Kyrgyzstan. Our homework will need to be in the evening...who needs sleep?!

Krypto is officially in the Dialectic stage of learning...it is the stage of "arguing" and making connections, using logic to understand how things relate and why they happen. One of the things students tend to do in this learning phase is keep a timeline of History. I got him a blank timeline book at the Homeschool Conference and we'll use it for the next four years of school so he'll have a complete, chronological view of  History to look back at.

I also went ahead and bought two more, so that when Gwangi and Sissi are ready, they can have the same timeline books.

I printed out pictures and figures from our Tapestry of Grace Yahoo! group so that each week he can see the highlights that I'm expecting him to remember and add them to his timeline. He'll also be free to add other events and people that he's interested in remembering their "place in History."

I also printed out all of our mapwork for the year for all three children. Each week we'll do our mapwork together, usually on Monday, so that they have a visual frame of reference for whatever reading they are doing that week.

Here is just one week's sample reading list from Tapestry of Grace. The 3 week "Egypt" mini-unit is available as a free download for you to check out on the Tapestry of Grace website. You can see that it is broken up by subject on the left side - History Core, History In-Depth, Literature, Fine Arts, and Worldview. There are separate pages for vocab, famous people and timeline entries, writing assignments, and a Government and Philosophy credit for those at the Rhetoric/High School level. 

On the bottom of the page you can see the color coded levels of students. First, a Lower Grammar student is usually K-2nd grade. They are a student that cannot read independently for content and understanding. Most of their work is done as a read aloud. Then, you have an Upper Grammar Student, anywhere from 2nd-5th grade. This student can read independently for comprehension of their material. A Dialectic student is next, the traditional Middle School years are covered here, and finally a Rhetoric student is what we know as High School and can start in the 9th or 10th grade depending on a students ability to make cohesive arguments and analyze their reading assignments.

If you need a more detailed "How to Plan out and Use Tapestry of Grace," I have a 4 part Review and Planning guide that I wrote 2 years ago. You can check out the first of the four parts here - 

Review - Tapestry of Grace, Part I

Leaving Tapestry now....

How I set up each student's notebooks.

There are dividers for each subject and we'll clean them out each Unit and begin again.

The first tab is their new King Fu materials - King Fu

This is a program where they will be memorizing all kinds of "catechism" and theological type questions (over 500 of them) and as each student progresses to different "belts" the questions get harder and are associated with a memory verse(s). By the end of the program there will be 575 questions memorized along with 98 verses.

This is specifically Krypto's binder, and I have the DE (digital edition) of Tapestry and I print off his Accountability and Thinking Questions (AQs and TQs) for him each week so he can read them before he reads his assignment so he know what he is looking for in the material. Then, he has paper behind the questions so he can write his answers, take notes, etc. and we can use that each week when we have our History and Literature discussions.

Finally, I put a cute, personalized note in front of each binder for them to find on the first day of school.

The tabs, in order, are - King Fu, Bible journal (for them to write a quick, one line synopsis of whatever their Bible reading is for the day. The two older ones will be reading through the Bible chronologically this year with their studies.), AQs and TQs, Writing Assignments, Maps, History (I have the kids draw pictures when I'm doing the Lower Grammar read alouds with Sissi. It gives them a neat visual reminder of all we've covered through the year.), Science (we also draw, journal, and do lab reports for our science studies), and finally Language. We'll be starting the year off with reviewing what we learned last year in Russian and when we arrive in country, I believe we'll be switching to learning Kyrgyz.

Such fun! I hope this has helped and I would love to hear your organizational ideas as well. Each year looks a bit different and it's always great to have new ideas!

My most recent update, after adding in a Rhetoric student, can be found here.

A Confession and a Lesson

I have been reading through the Word again this year with a couple of friends. It's a much smaller accountability group than I've been in for the past few years, but it's been wonderful. As the year has worn on, life has happened, travel, stuff and we've all gotten a bit behind in our daily commitment to read and pray. When we were together over the 4th of July, we found an option on our phones to "catch up" our reading plan and so we all did...the point is to keep on going and if you feel overwhelmed with trying to make up a couple of extra weeks of reading, then just start where you are and make that your new day 1.

Well, good intentions....

We kept traveling and I read a day here and there, but I got home this weekend and found myself behind again, by 2 weeks. What to do?!

Well, I clicked the "catch up" button again and took a deep breath and prayed and recommitted to reading His Word.

I found myself reading 1 Kings 13 yesterday morning. A not overly familiar story, but I did know it. What made me stop and take notice this time was the following...

In this story there is the Man of God and the Old Prophet. The Man of God knows what the Lord has told him to do, he repeats it clearly to the King and to the Old Prophet. But, when the Old Prophet knowingly lies to him and the Man of God takes his word for it and goes to his home to eat, he is held responsible for his disobedience. At first, I think, "That's not fair! He was lied to and tricked into disobeying!" But, then immediately I hear that voice say, "But he knew better! He had my Word! He knew the truth and yet was willing to be swayed."

It happens to us all...even Men and Women of God, Prophets Young and Old, and just normal, stereotypical lay people... We have His Word, we know the Truth and yet when someone comes along that we hold up or esteem, are we easily swayed to do what we know is wrong? What we know the Lord told us not to do?

Now, I don't feel that I have been in this situation recently. So, I'm not sure if this got my attention because the Lord was trying to warn me, or was it just a reminder? Was it His way of saying to me, "Stay in my Word. I know you get busy, but don't go a week without reading what I have to say to you."

I'm believing that if you pore yourself over the Truth, when someone lies or tries to deceive you, even if they claim to be a believer, you will know that it isn't right. If He has spoken to you, told you to do something, then do it. Don't let "someone" change the marching orders. You already have them, straight from the King!

The sad part is, even though he was lied to, he was still held responsible and punished for his disobedience. It's a strong life lesson that even when you are called the Man of God, doing His work, speaking and performing miracles in front of the King, you are only one step away from disobeying and being held accountable.

May we all take the time to steep ourselves in His will and Word and walk in the Truth!