Dress Progress

We are one week away from our Disney trip and I still have much to do on the dress. Josephine has her heart set on wearing this to our dinner at the Royal Castle in Disney World. Let's hope I finish this...


I plan to work on this and attempt to mend the Sleeping Beauty costume for Violet this weekend. I just made appointments for all three kids at the Bibiddi Bobiddi Boutique for the day of the dinner. I really cannot wait to see all my loves in costume. Oh - Jesse will be taking part in the Little Knights package - we will see what happens there...

The sewing begins...

I am at it again - let's hope I do not drive myself crazy with this latest project. I enjoy making costumes for the kids for Halloween. In the past, I have made various fowl costumes - including a turkey, a chicken, an owl, and a peacock.

Josephine - 15 months
Josephine, 2 years; Jesse, 10 months
Josephine, 3; Jesse, 22 months

When I finally let the kids start choosing their costumes, I made Princess Aurora, aka Sleeping Beauty.

Josephine, 4; Violet, 17 months; Jesse, 2

This year, Josephine has asked to be Belle from Beauty and the Beast. After tracking down an out-of-print pattern on Ebay, I ordered the perfect yellow satin from Vogue Fabrics. Since the "Deluxe" Disney pattern is out-of-print, it was suggested that I first cut the pattern out of Swedish tracing paper so I can reuse or sell the uncut pattern when finished. It actually worked out well - I was able to modify the pattern easily to fit my petite subject. Here it is - the costume all cut out and ready to sew with the tracing paper on top:I will update on my progress.

Thank goodness I started this early - today Violet informed me that she would like to be Cinderella. Five minutes later she said she wanted to be Ariel. We shall see what she wants tomorrow...
Oh, and if you are wondering about Jesse - this year he is too cool for my costumes - he wants to be Ironman. Yes, I will be purchasing that one - not making it.

Lucky Catch Cruise

Even though I still feel like a tourist in Maine, it is great to entertain out of town visitors because we have a great reason to check out new things. This week, my mother-in-law visited and we decided to try our hand at lobstering. We took a 90 minute cruise on Casco Bay and we reeled in eight traps, removed the lobsters, and re-baited them. Everyone on the boat had the chance to partake in various tasks - all while enjoying the beauty of the bay. Our cruise took us by some Civil War fortresses and a few lighthouses. It was simply breathtaking! Although our haul was only four lobsters, the kids had a blast. This cruise is definitely good for all ages. Here is a self-portrait of my lobstering get-up on the boat:

Discovering Portland

Finding new things to do around town and locating new local favorite spots is so much fun to me. By the suggestion of a local friend, we checked out the Children's Museum and Theatre of Maine. And, can I just say, we became members on our first visit! We have since been back three times. It is simply a perfect way to spend the morning in the city. My kids absolutely love going and always find something new to check out. The museum has different daily activities that we have attended - from building towers out of cups to an outdoor bubble activity. Definitely where we will be spending a lot of time!
In addition to finding somewhere for my children, I found a fabulous salon for myself! It is called Head Games and I found it on the web. I did a search for the best curly haircut in town and it came up with Maureen at Head Games.
Interestingly enough, I chatted with her and she told me that she actually cuts curly hair dry - completely dry. Odd. I am really intrigued - she recommended that I not wash my hair - EVER. Just condition it and style as usual. I am playing around with this, but I cannot make it more than five days without shampooing my hair. I'll admit - I get a bit itchy. :) Love Maureen!

A drink served with meat?!?

Some of our awesome new neighbors invited us out to dinner. We headed to Buck's Naked BBQ in Windham, Maine. I love baby-back ribs and I was looking forward to some cool drinks and getting to know our new neighbors. Well, we ordered drinks - beers all around, except for me - I tried a mixed drink from their menu. Goodness - the house drinks are served with a spare rib on top! What a sight it was! I felt the need to advise the others not to be jealous of my meat on my drink. HA!

Moving along to the food - I tried fried pickle chips - way interesting...My ribs arrived "naked" and I chose the house BBQ sauce. There was no doggy bag that night - it really was some fabulous BBQ! And, so great chatting with our neighbors.

Just a Quick Product Recommendation

Going to the beach with three kids and all the supplies needed to keep everyone happy is not an easy task. When we visited Crescent beach the other day, the two ladies we met up with had these fabulous carts:
This thing is a must-have for the beach! It holds everything and keeps the whining to a minimum. The extra wide wheels aid in navigating the sand. I got mine on the way home from the beach the first day. I used it today - what a lifesaver! It also folds down flat to put in the car.
If you are local in Maine, you can find them at the Christmas Tree Shops for $40. It is called the Nantucket Beach Buggy - I hear they sell out quickly every summer. For you online shoppers, it can be found as the Wonder Wheeler.
Happy beach going!

Exploring our town!

Getting the kids away from the boxes was my goal this week - as well as unpacking some boxes, of course...
Monday my mother and I took the children to Len Libby's Chocolate Factory. We did not actually take the tour, we just hung out in the candy shoppe. I think that was enough excitement for my kids. They were so overwhelmed when I told them that they could each pick one piece of candy. It took them twenty minutes to choose! Here they are with the life-sized chocolate moose:
Our Tuesday outing was a bit more scenic...it was a beautiful day and we were invited to join a new friend at Crescent Beach on Cape Elizabeth. This beach is located in Kettle Cove and was perfect for the kids to play. Because it is located in a cove, the waves are much more gentle. And, my new friend had staked out a place on the beach right next to a fresh water inlet. So, it was like a little stream that led out to the beach that the kids played in. The kids played and had a picnic lunch. It was so fabulous - pretty much will plan on being here every nice day this summer! Check out the view:
On Wednesday we drove down the road and checked out Smiling Hill Farm. I have passed this a couple of times driving around town. We decided to check it out - it is a working dairy farm with a great area for the kids to check out animals such as alpacas, rabbits, roosters, quail, pigs, goats, chickens, miniature horses, and cows. Check out Josephine saying hello to a twelve day old calf:
The kids really enjoyed being able to feed all these animals and climb on various play structures placed around the barnyard. It really was a fabulous day at the farm. And, since it was a dairy farm of course there was a creamery with fresh ice cream. I highly recommend stopping in and picking up some ice cream, cheese curds, and some fresh local organic milk!
Another thing that has fascinated my children is the mailbox. We have lived in suburbia since they were born and never had the luxury of having a mailbox at the end of our driveway (we always had the community box). At any rate, the mail retrieval is a production now - they are amazed that we do not need a key to get the mail. This day I caught them returning each carrying a piece of mail. And, not surprisingly, they left the rest of the mail in the box. Too excited that they each got their own piece of mail!
Now that my kitchen is in working order, we are cooking more and more at home. Last night, we made one of my mother's favorite dinners (and my husband's favorite - but, he was out of town) - chicken fried rice. I only use brown rice in this recipe and cut the vegetables super small so as not to alert the children of their presence. It is a lot of work to make this, but, I make extra servings to eat for left-overs - great reheated!