Back to School Outfit

This little girl of mine is starting the third grade! I cannot believe that my youngest is a third grader. She is such a sweetie. She is so excited for school this year. She plans on walking or riding her bike with her friends and sister. I loved third grade! I had the greatest teacher and can remember all the cool art projects and ceramics we did. It was the first time I noticed boys and actually thought they were cute! School starts tomorrow and all the kids - wow, did I say all - there are only four left at home now and only four going to school. How weird is that for me. When I am used to having so many around and the hustle and bustle of getting seven or eight children out the door along with taking care of two or three little ones while they were away you can understand how having only four who pretty much take care of themselves is kind of a different thing for me. I miss the days when everyone was home, but I so enjoy these days as I watch everyone become very good people. Some are taking a little time to "grow up" as we say but their journeys are their own and they will look back at their first days of school and remember that there was always a loving home to come home to after a long exciting day of learning.

By the way, the skirt she is wearing we made. She picked out the fabrics and designed the flower she wanted. She was looking at my pinterest boards one afternoon last week and said she really wanted this skirt that I had pinned. She picked out four pairs of jeans for me to use. It was so cute, I had to explain that she needed those pants for school and we would use an old pair that had holes in the knees. In the end, this back to school outfit cost me exactly $0.00! I had everything in my stash already. Autumn pointed that out to me, she is always watching out for me!

Pyrex!

Recently I cleared out my bookshelf and decided to display my Pyrex collection. Actually, I am only displaying some of my Pyrex collection. I am saving the snowflake and daisy patterns (which I think look like a type of snowflake) for winter time. The side shelves have smaller refrigerator dishes and bowls as well. My children asked me where all the books went - well, they are now dispersed all around the house in other bookshelves. I have been collecting for only six months now and have really gathered quite a bit. Goodwill, thrift stores, garages sales and antique stores are my main sources. I collect all kinds of kitchen stuff but I have to say it has been so fun finding these little treasures. I think one of the funnest things I do is share with my sister. She collects the primary colored things and as you can see I collect the pink and turquoise. (Also, the green spring daisy stuff as well, but that is for my everyday use). When I find fun stuff for her I send it to her and she does the same for me. So some of my pieces have come from California. It is so fun getting a surprise box from her and just as fun for me to put one together for her. I have one right now almost ready to go for her. I have been using these bowls for family gatherings and gatherings with friends. I just love it! Just so you know that I am not a hoarder or anything, I have cleaned out the the dishes I no longer use and gave probably more to the goodwill than I have put back. At least that is what I like to tell myself ;) I know this is silly, but it sure has been a nice distraction from all the hard things I have had to deal with this last six months.  I have always loved "junking".  I love to find new uses for old things. I am currently working on some projects now that I think are going to turn out really cute - using old things and making them into something useful for today. I will share those things as they get done. For now I have a wedding to get ready for and am working hard to get all those little things that Ashleigh has assigned for me to do done. That is the best distraction of all, sewing and gathering for my little girls big day!!