the little moments

For some reason its the little things that count. The little moments that you remember most. Times that stand out in my memory are usually small moments of time...a thing said, a card, a look or a feeling.
For me as a mother I am full of those little moments with my girls. As a wife its the small gestures and notes and sweet cards my hubby has given me. Like the time we were dating and he left a love note and a big bag of gummy bears on my dashboard when I was at work. I remember those things~
I always say I'm not that high maintenance and don't require huge acts, just a bunch of little ones!
I'd rather have daisies picked alongside a road then storebought expensive roses. I like the romance, card and thoughtfulness of small acts of kindness and love. My girls are full of those little acts and it makes being a mother so rewarding. Of course there are plenty of days where I'm exhuasted, frustrated and completely drained feeling so unappreciated. (Don't always go by feelings!)
My little Adah gives me thousands of kisses a day. Thousands of "I love you's" and dozens of hugs an hour. I don't forget a single one. My Petra gives me tender touches on the hand, and so many sweet smiles. Our eyes meet and she gives me that sweet smile of hers. It melts me. She is so tender and sweet and we connect. Hailey is growing up and that inbe"TWEEN" stage is full of interesting moments! (For both of us) its definitely a learning stage for me. She needs that affection still even when she may not act like she does. If she comes running up and sits on me, lands on me with her long legs and big feet like an overgrown child then that is her "hint" (I need a hug) She is learning who she is, what she likes and how to control her feelings and emotions. Hard. Showing me an outfit she picked out (that could quite possibly be very strange) and my urge to say something is wrong with the corny german shepherd socks pared with a capri pant and top and biting my tongue-well those are some little moments I'll always remember. I praise her for her hard work at piano. The moments I hear the girls practicing a play upstairs. Hailey choreographing rediculous dance numbers to perform for us on rainy days. Those little moments will never leave my memory. The way I feel when I see them all getting along running around the yard together. Adah sitting way too high up in a tree and me smiling and praising her for climbing so well instead of freaking out and telling her to get down. Her beaming pride at being a "big girl". To take the time out and enjoy the little moments takes effort sometimes in the crazy pace of life. I feel blessed that I can stay home with my girls. I know that our pace of life has changed since moving to this rural area and I love it. We have all changed. We are closer -and at the same time more in eachothers face! Thousands of little moments sewn together making a happy family.
I cherish those little moments.

The girls earn stamps or stickers for their instrament practicing. When they get 15 stamps they get a special dessert date with Mama. I love those dates! Its our time just one on one. Its SO worth it. Especially as Hailey is older and needs that attention. Petra just beams and soaks up every moment. She is a true romantic. She love the atmosphere and music, noticing the littlest details. Enjoying browsing the menu and smiling at me putting her napkin on her lap. Us 2 are so alike its scary! I truly enjoy being with her. Hailey mostly cares about having my attention and the food. She isn't as concerned with the details or the atmosphere as much as being able to talk and she feels special that she is not having to compete for conversation! As they grow up before my eyes I try to savor every moment. Guilty feelings sometimes that I let some time slip by without cherishing it. Time I can't get back. Its going so fast! I pray that I can live up to the task of raising teenage girls! Woah.

We enjoyed a wonderful mother's day. My hubby is so thoughtful and got up before everyone else to go get cards and flowers and chocolates for me and my mom. Sweet. He's been so busy at work he didn't have time until then! We enjoyed a delicious Italian lunch and a sunshiny relaxing day.
I am not used to sitting around doing nothing....but thats exactly what I did!

Here are a few pics from the past month or so...

Petra and my date on a beautiful sunny spring evening, (loving my new photoshop actions "sunflares and sunbursts) I made her wrap dress last year from jersey knit and stretch lace. She LOVES it! Calls it her "Audrey Rose" dress.

Adah modelling for me a dress for my shop:

Dropping off Hailey at work at the stables, takes my breath away. So happy for her that she gets to learn farming, and work with horses in such a beautiful setting!

Hailey the cat lady :)

Taking a walk on the trail one evening with the whole family...enjoying the sun setting on our beautiful town. Chase looks for rabbits. Adah and Petra hand in hand singing. Hailey exploring. Petra loves the open spaces to practice her leaps.

Petra's end of the year performance for Academy of Ballet~so proud of this girl. She has such grace and expression. Truly loves to dance with her whole heart and soul and is gifted in ballet!

she got some air!

practicing violin

Lovely Spring~

Spring is finally here! Yahoo! Its been 1 long Winter. It must be a recurring theme but the past few Winter's have been so rough! Trials a plenty and dark and gloomy  weather and spirits. I need to schedule some tropical vacations next Winter! I am SO affected by weather. I NEED sunshine~it lifts my spirits and nothing makes me soar like being at the beach in warm sunshine. I'll take sunshine with NO beach over grey skies and blizzards though! I'm not that picky! Why do I live in the North?! I'm convinced I am a southerner-or at least far west! Maybe its in my ancestry somewhere...hmmm.
Well, I've been hard at work this Winter at least! Working on my new sewing pattern release: Pearl Patterns. Ever the entrepreneur I decided it would be great to have my own sewing pattern line~in PDF form (the latest trend) so that once the work is completed its the "gift that keeps on giving". As opposed to sewing custom orders constantly. Don't get me wrong I LOVE to sew. But its exhausting. I feel like I am running my own sweat shop with myself as the only worker! Its been trying for sure. A blessing and a curse at the same time! I love to create, design, dream up things. I love to photograph (amen!) and create a vision and a theme to my designs wrapped around a photo shoot. That is how I got started in sewing children's/clothing in the first place! I love that part of it. It helps pay the bills so I keep doing it but hoping that things will pick up for Cal at work and I can just focus on creative fun as opposed to trying to make a dime. The pattern line will hopefully be a great thing for me to use the creative part then it keeps selling once the work is done! So far its been met with a lot of challenges. Learning the ropes at something very difficult and detailed. I am not into doing things quick and crappy. I like quality and doing things right. So, its been drawing and re-drawing, erasing, re-sewing. Learning how to draft and make sure all the sizes are correct. Making sure the finished product fits. Then the whole getting it into a tutorial and making it perfect on the computer. Wow, its been a whole lotta work -more then I thought. The girls are enjoying the fun part~ modeling for me when each pattern is complete.
I truly love seeing a thought and idea come to fruition from the first picture in my mind to the finished picture in front of my computer screen. Exciting! I am not controlling although it is fun to have my stamp on everything from start to finish. It helps me keep my vision consistent. Hair/makeup/styling/drafting/sewing/designing. I guess I'm a one man show huh?!
The first pattern was a vintage inspired 1940s style bathing suit. Inspired by the very first box of vintage patterns I received from my grandma years ago. I was so inspired by those patterns that they sparked a whole new vision for my sewing. For over 10 years I've been dreaming up designs with those 40s/50s patterns! Making everything from dresses for myself to sunsuits for my girls. Such fun to imagine what my own grandma could have made from them and having her see what I came up with using the same pattern she sewed with! I love the 1940s era-everyone who knows me knows that! It inspires me. The simple feminine shape of clothing, the attitude of women on the homefront. I wanted to capture the fun of those days along with the flirty side with the hair and colors/fabrics.
Here is a sampling of our fun photoshoot. You can get the pattern at www.pearlpatterns.bigcartel.com
or in my shop! www.vintagepearlclothing.etsy.com
(The girls got into it when I turned on Pandora 1940s and 50s music! They got a little carried away with their beach party! It was very cold outside so we had to shoot inside-oh well!)
Here she is Gertie's Bikini:

*some instagram shots from my phone of us getting ready for the shoot inspired by Babiekins magazine~get ur copy its such a great mag! (thankful my girls love to dress up and be photographed, they are such naturals for the camera it makes my job so fun!) You can follow me on instagram: prairieangel

  

it got a little crazy~ Dance party!

50s music on an I-phone, now thats technology at its best!