Wordless Wednesday: Soccer Saturdays

I have been slacking on posts- or rather publishing posts. I have 8 posts waiting for pictures! It's hard when you're the photographer in the family and no one wants to photograph you. :)
This is what we have been doing with our Saturdays for the last 2 weekends:

(Tate #4)

Mayer is a BEAST! He loves it; but is super serious and all business on the field. He scores, blocks and has even had a few assists (that may or may not have been accidental).

Tate loves it too; however, face is exactly the opposite! The joy he has while playing is obvious and has been since the first time he ever played. He may not look like a serious competitor, but don't let that smile fool you!

I never expected to be a soccer mom, but I really enjoy our Saturday mornings (with the exception of the chilly Kansas weather)! :)

Because Size 2T Slim Pants Don't Exist

One thing I miss about cloth diapers is that they held my skinny boys' pants up! Mayer needs pants with a 12-18 month waist, but 24-36 month length. He has an 18 gallon tote over flowing with size 18-24 month/ 2T hand-me-down pants... just pants! Since size 2T pants fall off and I got rid of most of the size 12 month pants, I had to add length to the 18-24 month sizes.They are still a little big around the waist, but I'm not about to go out and buy more clothes when he has so many!

I had seen a pin on Pinterest to add a contrasting panel to kids' jeans to lengthen them. I thought it was a good idea and liked the look, so pinned it to help me remember. I forgot about it until it started getting cooler outside. (In case you can't see the time-lapse between pictures, I intended to write this a long time ago!) Fortunately, it worked like a charm (except for once when I tried to get fancy with a zig-zag at the bottom). This pair even got an extra pocket.

They still look a little short with his boots, but work well with his tennis shoes and crocs. It has even worked with some of his sweatpants. Unfortunately, he doesn't have any jeans that fit him that don't added the panel. I also don't have enough khaki scraps or figured out a way to lengthen a nicer pair of pants. Thankfully, he doesn't have to dress up much.

 

I need to do this to two pairs of my own sweatpants that are too short to be pants and too long to be capris. While Tate struggles with the same problem, but I hesitate to add length to them since Mayer, my little shorty, will be inheriting them next. (I will probably be adding lengthening panels to these same jeans for several years for Mayer!)
Tate's pants have a different problem, the classic boy problem- holey knees! While he is lucky enough to receive hand-me-downs from his cousins, most of the jeans need repaired. He wears the holey pairs daily and we save the non-holey for special occasions, so they don't end up in the same shape. His favorite pair:

Wordless Wednesday: Books In Bed

We have a strict "no toys in bed" rule. They have their "babies" (stuffed animals), but I just can't say no to my boys reading in bed! Probably because I was guilty of reading after bedtime when I was growing up.

 

Wordless Wednesday: Basketball and Birthday

 

Both boys are playing basketball this year, so Saturdays are busy, but so much fun! Mayer spends most of his time chasing the ball. Tate is starting to get things figured out- dribbling, shooting, rebounding, stealing.

 On Sunday, Mayer turned 3! He had an elephant themed party. My sister-in-law made his cake.

I can't believe he's so big old! He finally got a big boy bed and is so proud of it. He even invited everyone to sleep with him. "We can fit! It's BIG!!"

Wordless Wednesday: Sadly Mistaken

I have always argued that Mayer looks like me when I was a little girl (reference here and here). He has seen pictures and thought they were of him.

I hate to admit that I was wrong, but I may have been. When we were looking at old family pictures last weekend, I noticed that Mayer looks an awful lot like my brother-in-law as a toddler. I also noticed that Tate makes some of the same faces as Michael and they look a like too.

Can I be half right?! :)

Zipped Pullover

A friend brought me a box of hand-me-downs for Mayer. He doesn't really need any more clothes, but I found a pair of pajamas and a t-shirt that begged to be refashioned into something new for his birthday. I read a blog post on making a t-shirt into a jacket and knew it was something I wanted to try.
Before- t-shirt and fleece footie pajamas:

 After- a zipped pullover

I decided I didn't want another hoodie because he prefers to wear stocking caps. I didn't realize until I was re-reading the first post I had seen that she had also made a zipped pullover. I loosely used her tutorial as a guide. I mainly used it to help with adding the zipper because I'm still not comfortable sewing them. 
I added long sleeves, extended the neckline and made a knit trim for the front pocket. I also added an "M" because he's learning to spell his name and loves to point out every letter M we see.
Back view:

 I will try to get a picture of him wearing it after his birthday. 
Updated photo: 

Elephant Sweatshirt

Mayer's favorite animal is an elephant. I saw the cutest sweatshirt on Pinterest and I knew he would love it. The problem is he doesn't need any more clothes. The boy has plenty of hand-me-downs! Luckily I found a sweatshirt in his drawer that would work for a refashion. I also had a grey sleeve and some sweatshirt scraps.

I ripped the sleeve off the sweatshirt to use it as a pattern. I drew out the elephant (technically I modified one from clip art) and then cut it into 2 parts. I couldn't quite get the portions to fit exactly along the sleeve, which is why I decided to add a small tusk.
His birthday is in less than a month, so I have to wait to give it to him. I am so excited about it, I had to share early! I will try to remember to update when I have a picture of him modeling.
Updated picture: 

 

Wordless Wednesday: Big and Small

I had a totally different post in mind for today, but I changed my mind after Mayer got dressed. He's used to wearing hand-me-downs. So far he thinks it's cool to wear clothes that his older cousins and Tate wore. Every so often, when he wears something I am reminded how small Mayer is and how big Tate was/ is for their ages.

It's hard to tell the differences in their sizes by the pictures, especially since Tate is sitting in both of them.

Mayer's New Hat

Since it's National Sewing Month, I am sharing some of my recent projects. This project severed two purposes: #1- Mayer has outgrown all of his bucket-style hats. I like them for the summer because they cover more than a baseball cap. #2- I was able to use scraps fabric I already had in my stash.

I used this pattern, but I didn't follow it exactly. Sewing with recycled materials, I am usually trying to save as much of the material as I can, so I only use 1/4" seam allowance. This pattern calls for 1/2" seam allowance and I kept forgetting. That would probably be why the hat fits Tate and me better than Mayer!
I also didn't have time to finish the brim seam like the pattern called for. I knew it would require measuring and ironing and I was in a time crunch to finish it before we went to the lake. I opted to use 2 different colors of thread, since the hat is reversible, and used an overcast stitch so it at least it wouldn't unravel too much when we wash it.
Another modification I made was using a t-shirt, instead of fusible interfacing, to give it stability. I was hoping by adding the t-shirt it would help absorb sweat better. I don't know if it works or not because he chose to wear a hat that was too small all weekend! :)

Wordless Wednesday: Mayer's 1st Day of School

 

This morning was Mayer's first day of school. He has been SO excited! He couldn't stop dancing and singing, "I going to school! I going to school!"

   
He let me take one good one outside the school. 

Mayer was too busy staring at a little girl in his class to get a picture with his teacher, Miss Bonnie! My boys are so different! It was much easier to leave him than it was on Tate's first day of preschool. Tate cried and cried; all I got from Mayer was a distracted, "Bye, Mom!"

Since Tate has an August birthday, he's considered kindergarten ready. I wasn't comfortable sending him yet for a number of reasons. Kindergarten is all day here and 3-4 days/ week he still takes an afternoon nap. Long-term-- he'd be starting high school at 13! The best pre-k options are too expensive for us, yet I didn't want him going back to preschool because academically he would be bored.
After much deliberation, we decided to home school him for a year. Even after a week of school, he's still pretty excited. My mom and I are working on pre-reading, writing, numbers and his favorite, art. He is going to take science classes through the local rec commission and play sports through the Y and/ or the rec to help socially.

Wordless Wednesday: Glow Run, Shin Splints and Munchkins

Last Saturday I ran in the Glow Run 5k (except it wasn't technically a 5k/ 3.1 miles... or even 3 miles) with my sister-in-law, Amy and several other friends. I finally got to officially meet a Twitter friend too. We started tweeting almost 3 years ago about cloth diapers and baby wearing!

 

It was my first run with my best friend, Jen. We have a long running history, even though both of us just started running last year. We were the slowest runners on our 8th grade basketball team. Sometimes the team had to run extra laps because Jen and I were too slow. As a result, we became really good friends and even nicknamed ourselves "the slowpokes." 

She started running to train for a half marathon. So when I was bored with my workouts, Michael suggested that I start running. I sort of laughed him off until he said, "If Jenny can do it, so can you!" Challenge accepted! I still wouldn't call myself a runner, but I try.

At the finish... I think my face looks funny because I was trying to figure out how to get 3 miles. There was a big crowd stopped in front of me, so I didn't make it.

This week I have been prepping for my triathlon. I waited too long to get new running shoes and as a result, I gave myself shin splints. It's really hard to break in new shoes when I can't run in them!  I am icing my shins every chance I get. The baggies are filled with 1 part rubbing alcohol to 2 parts water so they don't completely freeze.

 

I have also been wearing long socks and baby legs (instead of buying compression leg sleeves) in the evenings and when I workout. Mayer tells me I look like the Lollipop Guild when I wear socks with stripes. Oh, the honesty of a 2 1/2 year old! I suppose he's right...

He loves the Lollipop Guild!

He also does another version where he tries to sound like a munchkin and do their dance. It is hilarious!

Boy Wonder

The superhero craze is still going strong at our house. Mayer's favorite is Robin. He has a Little People Robin that he carries around. The problem is Robin hides from us and we have trouble finding him. He doesn't always hang out in the Bat Cave (pictured below, but SHHHH.... it's in a secret location!!), so it's hard to locate where he has gone when Mayer wants him.

 

Since no toys are allowed in bed, Mayer has been wanting Robin to watch him sleep, from his bookshelf, at night. When he woke me up in the middle of the night wanting Robin, I knew I had to do something! I was not about to get out of bed at 2AM to search for Robin hiding somewhere in the living room! I decided I would try to make a stuffed Robin.
First, I drew a picture to use as my pattern.

Then I gathered my material- t-shirt scraps, of course!

I ran into a problem-- I forgot to allow for a seam allowance when I traced my picture! It's really only obvious on his arms. I stuffed him with fleece and smaller t-shirt scraps cut into tiny pieces.

Mayer was pretty excited to see the finished product! He even had to wear part of his Robin Halloween costume to bed.

I realized I forgot Robin's cape! I found a t-shirt sleeve and hand stitched it on. I didn't painted the gold on his belt (so he will match Mayer), yet I don't think it matters. He could have used some more stuffing too, but I was afraid he would look too fat.

It's easy for me to be too critical of my work. As long as Mayer is happy with it, that's all that matters! This Robin is probably a one-of-a-kind creation; although, now both boys are begging for a Batman to go with Robin because they are partners. :)

Wordless Wednesday: Cheese Faces

 I wish I could get some normal pictures of Mayer!

 As soon as he sees a camera or phone pointed at him he goes into cheese mode... what a ham!

Wordless Wednesday: Saggin'

It's finally official- Mayer is mostly potty trained. I'll admit, it's a little bittersweet. I will miss the cuteness factor of the cloth diapers, but not the laundry! (Even though both boys are still wearing cloth diapers/ trainers to bed.)

 

Thank goodness, at least I can make him some cute t-shirt boxer briefs.
The problem is without cloth diapers, he doesn't have anything to help hold his pants up!

 lil' gansta
It's really hard to play when you have to hold your pants up.

Right after I took this picture, he let go of his pants and they fell down! :) Playing in puddles is also a good way to hide when you have an accident.

"No potty, Mommy!"
My baby is growing up!
 

Pillowcases

I love to give handmade gifts to my boys, but I couldn't figure out what to make them for Valentine's Day! I decided on pillowcases. For some reason, we have accumulated a ton of pillowcases, so my original plan was to embellish one for each boy. Then I remembered we found some remnants in giraffe print, which would make an awesome pillowcase for Tate. I added some hearts from t-shirt scraps. He loved it!

Mayer's pillowcase came from a t-shirt I bought my junior year of college. I let a friend talk me in to getting a size XL. It was huge and made the perfect size for a pillowcase. It also has hearts appliqued on it, similar to Tate's.

Since I had procrastinated, I only had time to finish one each for them before Valentine's Day. They received the others later, as random gifts, which I prefer anyway.

Mayer's second pillowcase was one from the linen closet. It didn't have a match and I don't know where it came from. He is big into transportation right now. Since I am a hoarder, I am always looking for ways to use scraps, so I used t-shirt scraps to make vehicles for him.

Tate's second pillowcase was made from a t-shirt I got at a garage sale. I was originally going to make something for myself because it is from my other college alma mater. I added the basketballs from t-shirt scraps. He loves to listen to sports broadcasts on the radio and basketball is his favorite. It doesn't matter what teams are playing or what sport, he just likes listening. Of course, he loves the Jayhawks, but he also prefers the Salthawks (local high school) and Blue Dragons (Hutchinson Community College).
He started listening to game broadcasts during Salthawk and Blue Dragon football season, but really got interested during basketball. He gets upset when we can't find a game on the radio for him to listen to. I'm not sure what we are going to do when basketball season is over... listen to Blue Dragon and Royals baseball? I've never been a huge baseball fan, but I think HCC usually has a decent program. Unfortunately for us, since the Kansas City Royals are our "local" team, those are the broadcasts we get to listen to. :)