Shhhh....don't tell my girls.

Remember how I can never make up my mind about anything? Yes, well, I'm once again asking for opinions to help me make up my mind. I'm planning on making Elena and Isabel dress-up clothes for Christmas (I know, I know, that's all I ever do is sew--but really, I loved dress-up clothes as a kid, and still do in fact. And they play with the ones they do have all the time.) So what dresses do you think I should concentrate my efforts into? Bear in mind that I have a limited amount of time, money, and most of my fabric I have stashed is DI curtains, bedsheets, etc.

Now this dress, I love, from Sense and Sensibility, and I plan on making it someday for a nice church dress, (when I can afford fabric instead of my DI tablecloths and curtains) but that doesn't mean I can't make it as a dress-up dress too right?

I love these ones, but they look pretty time intensive. Plus I'd have to find something to puff out that skirt.

These are costume patterns so they shouldn't be too hard, right? I would have loved this dress as a girl.

I really think this is at the top of my list right now. It's got kind of a Rapunzel look--that's what Isabel say's she wants, a Rapunzel dress. There are actual Rapunzel dresses, but personally I think her dress is kind of blah.

Adorable, but given my constraints of time and money, this might have to wait a bit. (Not too long though, Elena will be out of it's sizing in a year or two).

Same idea but the working girl version. Again, not likely to make the cut this time I'm thinking.

This might be perfect, except that I don't think I have any appropriate fabric. I bought mostly fancy odds and ends. It certainly would be nice because of the easiness of it all.

I am definitely going to make a cape. (Another thing I secretly crave to wear everyday--how would that look, me out at Macy's in a long burgundy velvet cape doing my grocery shopping?) It will be easy to make and fast. Plus my neighbor, Natalie just made a gorgeous cape for her little boy Joshua--he's going to be King Arthur--the one in the top right-hand corner in the picture below. And my girls were going crazy for their own.

I bought some black velvet curtains at a garage sale this summer for four dollars and if I have enough of it, I think that's what I'll use. So my question on this one is, should I make the first Mccall's pattern or the second Simplicity one? I love that white cape in the Simplicity pattern, I just don't think I'll have enough fabric of the black velvet. I do have these gold curtains that might work and I may have enough, but it's really, really light-weight material. Hmmm....

So, no telling my kids, alright? And give me your opinion. I'm almost finished Lindsay's and Sterling's costumes, and then I only have all of my kids' costumes to sew, so I'm almost ready to start sewing these? Right?? Ha. I will start cutting the pattern pieces out though while I'm at my girls' gym class.

Oh, and my other question is, should I make these easy to get into and out of--using velcro, or should I just keep the buttons or zippers like the patterns call for?

Crazy kids.

Sorry, some of these are fuzzy--it wasn't the best lighting. But yes, this is what my family has been up to lately. Otherwise, I've been frantically trying to finish homework and sewing costumes. Leo and Ana finished their soccer season. And that's all the update I have today.

Bummer.

Ah, Isabel. What more can I say about this crazy duckie? Tonight she was in a jumping mood and had to take flying leaps where ever she went, which was often on something high.

Elena and Josh (our neighbor) climbing trees.

Isabel doing what all of my kids and Natalie's (my neighbor) kids love doing the most. Digging in the dirt.

Josh in his most stellar tree-climbing-footwear. He never takes his boots off.

Elena in the pose that she planned herself.

Levi, another of Natalie's kids.

Sebastian, the kid that Levi most likes to pick on.

Luke--yes, I know he's in a girl's pirate costume, but Natalie wasn't opposed and I wanted to see how it turned out. This is actually Ruth's Halloween costume. Pretty sweet, eh?

Josh and Isabel hard at work scrubbing the tables. Best money I ever spent on kids toys was buying two buckets and a couple of bars of Zote soap. The kids will scrub down the patio, the playhouse, the trampoline, the picnic tables, and even the trees for hours while singing, "It's a hardness life for us! It's a hardness life for us!" They've never quite got down the hard-knock life for some reason. And it sounds like a broken record because that's the only part of the song they know.

The best part is that sometimes Isabel (who always plays the mean step-mother) says "Get to work!!!" in the most awesome mean voice ever. I had it on my camera videotaped, but then for some reason iPhoto didn't upload the videos and then I deleted everything on the camera before I realized that. Trust me, you missed out. That's why this is a bummer.

This is from two weeks ago at Ruth's baby blessing (or afterward anyway). Wyatt brought his car to jump it--til it broke anyway.

Sad to see this picture after last night's horrendous loss to U of U, but all those cousins are cute anyway. Too bad Orrin and Karlee weren't there.

And this was a fruit tart I made a long time ago. Leo loved it, I liked it alright, and the kids weren't interested.

The recipe is here on Joy of Baking.

As for me, I've been busy sewing and studying. I led my neighbor, Natalie, astray down dark paths. She is now sewing costumes for all her kids. (Hey Mom, I also taught her to make bread!) I now have solidly in mind what costumes I'm making for my own kids this Halloween. Yes, I know I'm insane, but I am sewing one for each of my kids--it should be really simple though. I was encouraged by how easy that baby pirate costume was. These should be similar.

And that's it. Buenas noches.

Albuquerque

Okay, I know I already said the Houston house was our favorite house, and it still is. But Albuquerque deserved it's own post because #1 I want to live in Albuquerque, I don't want to live in Houston. And #2 I love the style of NM houses so much. Pueblo style isn't my favorite, but it's up there on my top 5 favorites. Spanish Revival style, well, that would be my absolute favorite style of houses. Neither of these are that, but you see more of those in California anyway. We both really liked these two houses.

Albuquerque #1--Leo's favorite. Modern Pueblo. Neat entrance. Very cool.

Leo's favorite room (of course because it's almost entirely windows.) It needs a little updating, but I like the windows too.

Umm, this would be my favorite part. I love the patio.

Another view of the gorgeous patio.

I also love the ceilings.

Again, love the ceilings and the space and the light. Needs new carpet. A nice tan carpet. And just because, here's two pictures that would be my favorites for this room, above the fire place.

Yes, both John Singer Sargent. I've kind of been on a kick lately of loving all his paintings. They're so varied, everything from camping in the Rockies to Morocco to Parisian society to Venetian landscapes and on and on. I love that at times his paintings are impressionist and other times more realistic, and sometimes in between. Anyway, back to the house.

And the kitchen needs updating but not bad. 4 bedroom, 3 bath, 2896 sq ft on .38 acres for $300,000.

Second house: Traditional Pueblo, my favorite.

I love that it feels like you stepped back in time going in. Oh, and I would take down those awful abstract atrocities and you guessed it, put up some John Singer Sargent paintings.

Yes, I really did post 5 more Sargent paintings. I put them under the room I'd put them in. Maybe that's a bit much, but this house lends itself so exactly to them. You could hang these much more romantic paintings and they would fit perfectly with the character of the house. Can't you just imagine them hanging here and there, some smaller and others quite large. Okay, I really wouldn't hang 5 Sargent's in my house, I would try for more of a mixture of artists, but really, his paintings are lovely.

I love how this house is so fun and different (okay, it's probably not all that different from a lot of other houses in NM but it's different from all the house in IL or ND or UT even.)

Gorgeous kitchen. I love the space and the cabinets.

Sweet.

My favorite part. How could you not love living there? Okay, I know it's not all that kid friendly, but really, have you seen Albuquerque backyards? They're just dirt and desert anyway, at least this looks cool and refreshing. The kids can go play at the park. That's what parks are for, right?

Heaven.

Again, love the earthiness of it all, and the feeling of stepping back in time.

By the way, this is the only painting I think doesn't exactly match the room, but it's late, so I need to get to bed and stop looking.

And the bedroom has a lot of light too.

It's a 5 bedroom 3 bath, 3717 sq ft on 1 acre for $275,000. Now I better go to bed while visions of houses in Albuquerque dance in my head.