oh look, another gif.

are you annoyed by these yet?
yes i admit i may be a little obsessed. but they're cool. and fun to make.

and when i realized i had this series of photos from field day in may...well--come on. they're just perfect, right?

that's miss ava in the center, playing with the GIANT PARACHUTE, which i'm sure we can all agree was The Best Thing Ever in gym.
consider this my way of getting us all excited about BACK TO SCHOOL!

also, my apologies to the unfortunate teacher who's err...bottom is so well-captured in these photos. although, considering she had just given birth to her third baby like 2 months prior--props, girlfriend.

enjoy your weekend! and let me know--which was your favorite? the GIANT PARACHUTE? or are you some kind of weirdo who enjoyed crab-walking? ooh! or whenever you had to wear those colored pinafores made of nylon mesh to show different teams! sooo flattering!

feel free to skip this one.

i was going to begin with “if you’ll allow me to indulge myself for a moment…”

but then, i realized, blogging is nothing if not inherently self-indulgent.
hi, here’s my pantry i organized. and my picture i painted. and my skirt i sewed. now praise me. and dance for me! (whip crack)

be that as it may, this is my space for self-indulgence, and so i shall. it’s quick Brain Check Time, and the forecast is looking rather grim these days.

oh look, the poor little suburban white mommy has the sadz. let’s all boo-hoo for her.

and there it is. the inner dialogue that depression takes on. the running soliloquy that follows your every move—that judges your every thought—dropping by for a quick kidney shot. oh, did you think you’d get out of bed and DO something? why bother. nothing is worth it. just go back to bed.

it’s like having your very own creepy stalker. except one that can read your mind. and doesn’t want to steal your panties so much as just beat you down emotionally. but other than that—totally like a stalker.

we’re solidly in the dog days of summer. the frenzy of june and july has given way to too many days in the house. too many days cleaning the same dishes, vacuuming the same floors, folding the same laundry, stopping the same sibling battles. too hot and far too mosquito-y to enjoy any outside time. trigger #1—getting too stuck in a rut. i know it. but i can’t really help it. this is the minutiae of life—the things that need doing daily. the job i signed up for 13 years and 10 months ago. 

i feel like a drowning person clinging to the thought that in 2 weeks we start anew—the school year begins! it’s a new schedule, a new beginning! change is in the air—the change of seasons and the cooler air like a balm to my depression addled mind.

but then my stalker returns…why do you think that this school year will be better? you always start out so upbeat, and 4 weeks in it’s lateness and screaming and mismatched socks and unbrushed hair and rushing out the door. and you know what else? while we’re talking—your kids are HEALTHY you ungrateful swine. you have friends all around you who’s children are sick and facing surgery and you’re sitting here depressed???!? pathetic.
p.s.—you’re fat.

i’m lulled into total inactivity. although, that’s not entirely true. my newly downloaded marble shooter game gets a lot of action. (level 78—WHAAA?!?!) it’s mindless and repetitive and doesn’t ask me for anything.

it’s the weirdest thing. i simultaneously want to go for a jog, and eat a dozen donuts. i want to crawl into bed, and hop a plane to somewhere—anywhere.

i’m not sleeping. 2 AM has become my mistress these days. then i finally fall into a fitful sleep and in the morning i beg off mothering, if that’s even a thing you can do. and i’m pretty sure you can’t.
feed the baby a waffle. put on sesame street. mommy doesn’t feel good. let me sleep, i tell the older ones.

and i hate it. i hate that i say that. that i did that. that i’m telling you that now. that i spent more hours of my day today either asleep or playing stupid computer games than i did interacting with my children.

so i have guilt. trigger #2. and i sleep too late so i can’t sleep so i sleep too late so i can’t sleep…vicious messed up sleep cycle. trigger #3.

the day goes by in a blur of sitting. and sitting. then getting up and loading the dishwasher. and sitting back down. and thinking hey, maybe i’ll go sew something. you like sewing, right? go—sew! or…just sit here. because…why not? what difference does it make anyway.
and then night comes and jeremy comes home and i look at the sum total of my accomplishments for the day and in my eyes they equal precisely ZERO. trigger #4.

and i get frantic. grasping at whatever i think will help me conquer this get over this climb out of this pit. and i’m haunting target at 10:30 at night with greasy hair and a ratty t-shirt, throwing $150 worth of whatever into my cart because hey, why not? maybe it will make me feel better. but even as i’m paying i’m tucking the receipt carefully in my bag knowing i’ll probably return half of it.

jeremy, to his credit, allows me my retail therapy. whatever will help he’s there for. and if a new fruit basket is what my stalker demands at the moment jeremy is totally on board. (seriously, it’s a cute fruit basket)

i texted him this afternoon. i can feel it coming, i say. i’m slipping down and i don’t know how to stop it and i HATE it. so he comes home from work and climbs into bed with me. and doesn’t get annoyed or angry when i have no idea what’s for dinner. because i started looking for something but then i remembered i didn’t buy broccoli. and then i wandered away.

long periods of time pass where i’m just staring.

shake it off, shannon. shake it off.

a cheater post

***********************************************
normally when i blog about something i've sewn i post pics of the final product and the instructions all in one big post. generally made even bigger than truly necessary because of my inherent wordiness. oops.

but i just don’t have it in me today to edit all the photos and type all the instructions for these dresses…even though they’re really easy.
how easy?

easy enough that i made all 4 start to finish in one day while sick with the flu and running a fever. that easy.
and when you score this cool venice-print fabric for $2/yard (!) and the navy and white trim for 10 cents a yard (!) and so you can dress all four of your girls and your son gets a matching bowtie and the whole shebang cost you about $15, well, i’d say that pretty much deserves a post of it’s own.

i know! it’s amazing! $15!

of course, as i mentioned before, trying to photograph my five children wearing their outfits is basically like trying to line up five angry squirrels and get them to all stand still, smile and look at the camera at the same time.

try #1: size order

which is to say: virtually impossible.



although, come to think of it, squirrels might be a little easier. i mean—no one would question if you had them on tiny leashes. and if i had some peanuts to get their attention…

fail.

regroup for try #2: monkey in the middle.

and fail.

so it’s settled then. my next sewn garments will be photographed on squirrels.

in the meantime, here is what i made for my human models.



simple empire waist sundresses. i used the trim across the top and as straps. guinevere’s had a regular bodice…



and the three little girls had gathered or ruched bodices.



i added two navy blue buttons on the front just for a little sompin’ sompin’, and because i liked the additional nautical touch.


my little man got a coordinating bowtie, and happened to have this blue and white striped dress shirt i got him at the thrift store. in the words of tim gunn—it’s a lot of look. but it goes, right?



and here’s a little secret…shhh…come closer…when the hubs was ironing this shirt for harrison to put on she said, shannon—is this a woman’s shirt? and lo and behold, it was (the buttons, if you’re into this sort of thing, button in the opposite direction on a woman’s shirt) i solemnly swear it was in the boy’s section at the thrift shop. what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him. and yes, he did notice the buttons weren’t right. and yes, i did act quite innocent. you think i’m telling him he’s wearing a ladies shirt? bah!

so tutorial on the dress forthcoming. and on a related note, does anyone know where i can buy a couple of cheap squirrel traps?