Last Day of School

Today is the last day of school.  Boy has this year gone fast.  Zachary will be a Freshman in high school next year.  I find that hard to believe.  I remember very vividly, taking him to his first day of pre-school and how he cried nearly every single day the whole year.  I also, remember quite well his first day of kindergarten and how I cried.  I feel myself, as most parents with children this age probably do, very conflicted.  I want to let go and let him experience life but I want to hold on so tight because I only have a few short years left until he's off to college.

I am enormously proud of Zachary.  He will be taking AP World History next year as a Freshman as well as honors level courses for all of his other classes.  Zachary has struggled and we've hit bumps in the road but he always manages to keep going and I think that says a lot about his character.

Here is my handsome guy before heading off to his 8th grade dance 2 weeks ago:

I think some words from one of my favorite authors seem appropriate here. "How did it get so late so soon?  It's night before it's afternoon. December is here before it's June.  My goodness how the time has flewn.  How did it get so late so soon?" ~Dr. Seuss

I think what I am trying to say is I wish I could slow time down, just for a minute.  I am blessed and proud but sad at the same time.  I love you Zachary!

*I am trying to add a Follow Me on Facebook gadget to the sidebar but can not seem to figure it out just yet.  In the meantime here is the link: https://www.facebook.com/NotSewPlain.  I have been a bit more successful at using the FaceBook page for quick updates.  Check it out!

13.1 at 13

Do you remember what things you were interested in or the kinds of activities you were doing at the age of 13?  I don't remember any specifics but I do know one thing, I wasn't out running 13.1 miles, the distance of a half-marathon.  Zachary on the other hand will be able to say I ran 13 miles at the age of 13.  Can you imagine?!?

Last weekend we drove down to Fredericksburg, VA for the Historic Half Marathon, part of the Marine Corps Marathon series of races.  Which by the way DH and Zachary are registered for the Marine Corps Marathon on October 27.  So, you will hear more on that later.

DH and Zachary are running buddies.  They started running together when Zachary was 7 years old and we lived in CA.  As part of the Big Sur Marathon, a 3K kids run was held the day before the marathon.  The 3K was part of an iniative to get kids running called Just Run for Kids.  There were other kids run runs associated with larger 5K races around the area and Zachary ran in several of those. When we moved out to the east coast the boys started running 5K races together.  They then started going longer distances; The Navy 5 Miler, Shamrock 8K, Marine Corps 10K, and now a Half Marathon.

To say I am proud of Zachary and this accomplishment is an understatement.  I stood at the finish line waiting for them to cross with a huge knot in my throat, my heart was so swollen with pride.  The boys finished the race in 2 hours 15 minutes.  Of the 7,700+ runners at the race, 44 of them were under the age of 14.  Less than 200 were under the age of 18.

People all along the race course cheered Zachary on.  After the boys had finished and were resting a bit a gentleman came up to Zachary and asked his age.  When Zachary told him he was 13, the man shook his hand and said "do you know what I was doing at the age of 13?"  He told Zachary how impressed he was by doing the race at his age.  Sometimes, as parents, we wonder if we're doing a good job it moments like those that confirm to us that we're doing okay.

Here are a few photos from our weekend:

Start / Finish Line

Piper w/ the dog Piper the girl at the Race Expo

Race Expo

Race Expo, I imagine someday Piper will be joining the boys on the races.

Race jerseys

Monkeys jumping on the bed.  I don't think this is the best way to rest up for a race.

Congratulations on an amazing accomplishment Buddy!

Zachary's Sewing School

A couple weeks ago, I was working on some sewing and the kiddos were hanging out with me.  Piper decided she wanted a skirt for her bear.  Zachary has been asking me to teach him to sew for a while now, so I thought this might be the perfect opportunity.  I handed him some fabric, a measuring tape and some scissors and put him to work.  He did a fantastic job making a tiny skirt for Piper's bear.

A couple days after this school was closed due to Mother Natures last attempt at winter weather.  

After all the fun outside was had:

While Piper was down for a nap, Zachary decided he wanted to sew a skirt for her.  He used the Oliver + S Lazy Days skirt and some purple (her favorite) polka dot fabric from my stash to make her a perfectly adorable skirt.

She was thrilled with the results, we had to put it on right away.  Too bad she looks like such a rag-a-muffin in all the pictures I took of her wearing it.  She has worn it a few times since, you would think I would have snapped a better shot, but alas I have not.

Zachary's next plans are for a pair of PJ pants for himself.  He's already picked out some really nice blue, plaid flannel I have in my stash.  I love that he is interested in something I do.  It's nice that he and his Dad are able to bond a lot over gadgets, video games and other technology related things but sometimes I feel left out.  Now, I get to be a part of things he likes to do too. :)

Snow Day!

Yay! We have had our first snow day since sometime in February of 2010.  The past two years Zachary has had more time off from school due to hurricanes than snow.  Last week he was terribly disappointed by the early dismissal from school due to inclement weather which in the end turned out to only be rain.  As you can imagine, we have been in desperate need of a snow day.  We have already been out for round one of fun in the snow and will likely go back out this afternoon if the snow is still here.

Of course I took a lot more photos and you can see them here.

Room Re-Do Part 1

Over the weekend we started a full room makeover in Zachary's room.  I wish I were here to report that we were all done and show off some final photo's but no such luck.  This is the first time we have ever done any kind of room redecorating in the 14 years we've been married.  Being a military family that rented homes and moved every 3 or so years just didn't allow for this kind of thing.  Needless to say, we are working out a lot of kinks with our first project.  So, it's going a little slower than expected, but it's fun watching it come together.

This is the before:

This is during:

We let Zachary pick out the colors, new furniture and new linens.  I think he did a great job on his selection.  I was hoping to be finished painting by today so we could get his furniture back in his room tomorrow and he won't have to continue to sleep on the couch.  We'll see if that happens.

December in Review

So, December was an incredibly busy month at our house.  I never intended to take a blogging break, I just never really got a chance to sit down at the computer for more than a few minutes here and there.

So much happened in December, it's all still a little blurry (good thing I have pictures)...

The beginning of December, Zachary had an audition for Tri-County Choir.  I am pleased to announce that he was selected to both the Tri-County Choir and the State Choir (his audition for that was in November).  The weeks ahead will be full of rehearsals here, there and everywhere but what an exciting time for him.

Then there was a piano recital:

We visited with Santa:

We attempted to get some birthday photos taken:

This was sort of the theme of the photo shoot.

A special little girl turned 3, and there was a party!  Complete w/ princess dress:

A beautiful cake, the birthday girl helped to make: 

A lot of fun was had by all!

At some point I must have hit my head because I also agreed to make not one, but two different wedding cakes for two different friends:

Somewhere in the midst of all this Christmas came and it was lovely!

So, in addition to ALL of this sometime in early December on the Oliver + S blog Liesl was asking if anyone would be interested in testing a new pattern.  I volunteered and was sent a pre-released pattern to make this lovely:

Liesl + Co Woodland Stroll Cape

The cape was just released this week in both an adult and child sized version.  I will go into greater detail later this week, because there is a good story to go with it.

I have been sewing up a storm and feeding my fabric addiction quite a bit over the past month.  I have a lot to show you in the coming weeks.  Tomorrow we start back to library and I have a fun project to show you tomorrow in honor of story time.  Check back to see what it might be...

Zachary Shout Out

I spend a good deal of my time here talking about Piper and the activities we do, etc.  I have 2 children and I love them both dearly.  Zachary has done some great things lately and they shouldn't be overlooked.

In October, Zachary and his Dad ran in the Marine Corps Marathon 10K for the third year in a row.

Each year his time has steadily improved.  This year he finished the 6.4 miles in 54 minutes 55 seconds.

Just a week or so ago, report cards came out.  I couldn't be a happier Mom when a report card like this comes home.

This past weekend, Zachary along with about 20 other school mates were selected by their choir director to audition for the All-State Choir.  1200 kids from around the state auditioned.  Zachary said he was very nervous.  Wether he is selected or not, it was an honor just to be allowed to audition.  He has also been selected to audition for the Tri-County Choir in a few weeks.

I have to say, I'm pretty lucky to be Mom to such a great kid!  

Busy, Busy, Busy

I feel like some weeks I hardly get to sit down, those weeks tend to occur when soccer is in season.  The season is going well, the boys are 2-1.  Zachary was named game MVP for yesterday's game.  Here are a few pictures from yesterday.

Surviving Summer

We did it!  We successfully made it through summer.  This was the scene at our house yesterday morning.

I would say it was a good summer.  We did some of this:

...and some of this:

...and a lot of this:

And we ended our summer with Zachary doing this:

Someone mentioned to me yesterday that he'll be in high school next year.  I got a little choked up about that.  Not about him being in high school but rather by how quickly it has happened.  The first day of school always brings with it a wave of emotions.  It's exciting to look toward the future, anything is possible on the first day of school.  It's also, so bittersweet to look at the past.  I remember his first day of kindergarten like it was yesterday.  I didn't cry the first day, I cried a week later when the parents were met at the door and not let into the class room.  I didn't cry yesterday when he got on the bus, but my eyes welled up later when I watched him walk up the driveway by himself.  Each new school year brings a new, larger step towards independence.  It won't be long until we're taking Zachary to college or Piper is starting kindergarten.  Until then, I hope we can continue to have fun summers full of memories. :)