We had the pleasure of spending last weekend with our grand daughters. They haven’t had a sleepover at Grammy and PePaw’s house since early fall so this was really a treat. My son dropped them off on Friday and came back Sunday to pick them up. As usual, we managed to do all sorts of things over the weekend.
On Friday, we spent a lot of time outside as Saturday promised to be very rainy. These girls love being outdoors and like all kids, they need that time to run around and burn some energy. They played frisbee and basketball for quite a bit before heading to the woods in front of our house. Both girls decided to dig for treasure without any preconceived notion of what that treasure might be. After digging for a long while, PePaw asked if they wanted to dig for worms.
They were excited about this and ran right to the compost bins. Previously the girls have held the worms in their hands, especially Big Sister. This time, they wanted them on their shovels to look at and then off the worms went, into a bucket. These girls are adventurous and try most any activity they are offered. While they were playing with worms, I snuck into the house and grabbed a handful of ‘treasure’ (marbles and little glass gems).
Acting quickly, I tossed them into the dirt nearby. It took forever for the kids to discover them but once they did, they were very excited. The interesting bit about this was how each girl thought the gems got there. H, being a very worldly six year old, immediately said “Grammy, the kids who lived here before you must have been playing here and forgot about these.” (Note – she has no idea whether any kids lived here before me). A wasn’t close by when her big sister explained this to me. A few minutes later, Little Sister asked me, “Do you think some pirates left these gems here?” Two very different theories. Of course at three years old, A doesn’t feel the need to explain where the pirates came from or why they left this treasure for her. She found five pieces of treasure and was so excited.
Back to the weekend, as expected it rained most of the day on Saturday. But this made for perfect crafting weather. We were looking at images on the computer trying to learn if rainbows could have pink in them even though poor, poor pink sadly is not ever mentioned in the ROYGBIV order of things. We decided yes, pink can be seen in rainbows. While doing this important research, we saw a craft making rainbows with colored stickers. Miraculously, Grammy had stickers in the craft drawer. They added cotton balls for clouds too. It was interesting to me to watch each girl make her rainbow. Big Sister wanted her stickers aligned on the guidelines but not touching. Little Sister insisted on overlapping her stickers so no guideline could be seen.
After lunch on Saturday we were invited to my parents, Great Papa and Great Grammy, for hot cocoa and cookies. The girls loved it and were super about letting us visit while they colored pictures and ate cookies.
Big Sister always asks to sew something while she is here. She knows I won’t refuse her this request. Usually we don’t sew when Little Sister is around because she really isn’t old enough. But it all worked out.
First project was to make this whole cloth project with A. She loves fire trucks and ambulances so I thought she would like this. My vision was to show her the matchbox cars and she could drive them along the roads, keeping busy so I could sew with H. She didn’t get into this at all. Blankets are for babies and stuffies. I don’t think a matchbox car even touched the fabric. It was immediately put to use to wrap up a stuffed animal. Soon Pepaw came to the rescue and took her downstairs to play.
This gave Big Sister and I plenty of time to get started on her first quilt. She was thrilled. Being a very tactile person, she favors the bin with flannels and minky scraps. Her choices centered around dog and cat fabrics and a bright pink scrap to brighten things up. I cut a stack of squares for her to arrange on the design wall.
I loved how seriously she took this part of the process. She wanted symmetry and was able to work it out with the squares she had. I wish I had taken more pictures but it is more fun to stay in the moment with her. This time, she was a very able participant. She sat on my lap and guided the fabric along. I showed her the 1/4″ markings and we talked about the need for a straight line. Fortunately, my machine has speed controls and I could set it to go very slowly. She also learned to pin the pieces together. This made her Grammy a little bit crazy. She looked at the pins like she was judging the quality of fine diamonds, choosing which pins she wanted to use. At times, I had to bite my tongue to keep from saying, ‘c’mon, just pick a pin’. If you think about it, when sewing many things happen at the same time. Pressing the pedal, guiding the fabric, taking the pins out, pressing the seams etc. She was wanted to do each part. I did help quite a bit with keeping the fabric straight but she will get there.
To simplify the project, we didn’t use any batting. The quilt is very soft with a flannel backing. We sewed the layers right sides together and then flipped it right side out. H did a great job turning the corners out. That was as far as we got the first day. Sunday morning we finished it up with a topstitched edging and two lines of quilting, corner to corner. She chose to use ‘special stitches’ for those seams. I love the joy on her face in this picture. She was very proud of this project.
Sunday was better weather wise. We took the girls to the nearby park which also has some great hiking trails around it. After playing on wet slides and swings, we wandered into the woods. The girls spotted this rotten tree stump and started playing. They decided to make a person. Using moss for hair and the smile and leaves for eyes and nose, they soon had a person. Big Sister immediately named her Treetopolis.
Now you have a snapshot of the weekend. Not pictured are the pizzas we made, the paintings the girls did and the amazing shows they performed form us. One involved dance and the other featured their amazing air guitar skills. They are becoming such good friends. So much fun to be with – even if we did go to bed at 8:30 Sunday night after they went home. 🙂
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I enjoy these posts, seeing the girls and hearing about all the fun you have with them! What grand memories! A’s expressive face just makes me chuckle. H did a fantastic job on her quilt – yay! I love Treetopolis, too!
Treetopolis was a lot of fun. We have such great moss around here and you can pick it up off logs in these big pieces – they were enjoying this whole process quite a bit. Funny too how quickly she came up with the name. Treetopolis????
Wow! Sew fun and wonderful. You and the girls and grandpa too are creating such wonderful memories. They will ALWAYS remember these special times. I have no doubt. And a FIRST QUILT and with one so young. She is off to a fabulous start. I don’t think the smile could get any bigger!
Heidi – Her smile says it all, right? She really enjoyed this and she felt like she made it instead of watching me make something (which is what it has been in the past). We are very grateful to live close to the kids and grand kids.
Lovely quilt she made! I recently introduced my twin six year old great granddaughters to quilting. I gave them each a shoe box of 2 1/2 strips and an 18” design board. Interesting their choices of color and arrangement. I let them sit on my lap one at a time and we sewed the strips together and backed each little quilt with polar fleece. They were delighted with their first quilts. So much fun spending weekends with them and it’s does guarantee you an early bedtime when they go home. Exhaustingly enjoyable!!
Using leftover strips is a great idea Dawn. I love that. I was actually thinking that next time it might be good to have some charm squares sorted into a box for her to look through so we don’t have to cut pieces. This time I cut larger squares so she could finish faster because of little sister. But maybe the next time I have just the Big Sister, we could do something more.
Your girls are growing up so fast. They are both just beautiful and look so happy! There is nothing more precious than time with them, but wow is it ever exhausting. We saw our Littles the other night and at burgers with them and our daughter and SIL. They are wanting a weekend with Grandma and Papaw, so we are looking at scheduling that sometime this month. They both asked if they could make a quilt and some cookies while here! 😀
It has been fun to see yours growing up Linda since they are close to the same ages as mine. Do the kids get along well?
Seems like baking cookies and making a quilt are the perfect plan for your weekend with them. 🙂
Yes Laney and Ev get along quite well, and they also play pretty well with the 7 yo twins of our son-in-law. They see them every other weekend, but we have not met them yet. Lots of adjustments going on!
sounds like you had a wonderful time with your grandchildren – that beats a sewing weekend anytime
Looking at my sewing room after the weekend was done, one would think it had been a huge sewing weekend!! Takes a LOT of sorting to pick the fabrics. 😉
But so worth it.
What a fun weekend with those adorable girls! You guys are so good at finding such a variety of things to do with them. I love the rainbow creations and H’s quilt, too! I bet you slept well Sunday night!
I really enjoy this sort of thing. My major was Child Development in college and I had an in home daycare for a while when my kiddos were small. Now that I am an old grammy, I do get tired out with it but it is still one of my favorite ways to spend time.
Oh, what fun you had with your granddaughters! And what a great job your granddaughter did on her little quilt. I am hoping my granddaughter will enjoy quilting, but I will have to wait awhile as she is only 2-1/2 years old.
As you know, it goes fast! You’ll have her in your lap at the sewing machine in no time. I just hope H continues to like this so we can keep working on projects together. We’ll see. My daughter had no interest at all. One of my boys liked sewing and made a number of projects, including a flannel quilt for his girlfriend when he was about 20 or so. That was pretty fun to watch.
Love.
What a fun weekend full of such varied activities. I enjoyed reading about all of them, but am chuckling over it that you had just the right stickers for rainbow pictures. Such sweeties. I can also see why you went to bed a 8:30!
Of course I had stickers! Hahaha, they have been in a drawer for a long time and it was great to have a use for them. 🙂
What a great weekend you all had! I love all the fun activities, the imagination of the girls and their grandparents is beyond my wildest imaginings! The quilt is wonderful that H made with you. I definitely get the need to retire early after a full weekend!
These two are in a strong ‘pretend’ stage. They love to act things out, play house, create things. I love it!
I call our grandson “the best sleeping aid ever invented! ” So I totally understand the 8:30 bedtime!
Being a grandma is the best job ever!
It is the best job I have had thus far!! Yes – they are a strong sleep aid!! Luckily they also are good sleepers and are out by 8pm. Lets us get to bed early too!
Sleepovers are the best and I am so glad you got to host them. Then to see their Greats as well is special. I absolutely adore the pirate story and the kids before you part. Sneaky gramma! I think that’s so cute and I love that you thought to do that. I really must get A up for some alone time in the sewing room. We have done some art work for her 7th birthday and it turned out well but I promised her we would do a winter dress and well… it seems winter is gone and spring is here. Perhaps a little mini quilt like what you did might be a good start. Bernie
Hey Bernie – Another project I am thinking of making with her is a simple skirt. With knit fabric and an elastic waist. Pajama pants are also super easy. We set a sewing date for H and I over her spring break in April. She gets to come here solo and that will allow for lots more time I the sewing room. So fun!
You did an amazing job! This remembers me to my grammy … she was in the forest with me, she explained and learned the clock with me and much other things. You had two 1000 volt energy grandchilds… and so many ideas … love all the fotos and the story! Yes, prepare strips and let her choose the colours … it will be amazing!
No hot dog with worm garden kitchen? Lol… my nice found worms with two years in the garden and opened her mouth…. In the very last second we could avoid this fast food… big smile and thanks for this great report! You safe money, no sleeping pills!
Oh my gosh – Eva, I love the hot dog – worm story. That is so funny. Some children want to put everything in their mouth!! That is so cute.
What a special weekend you all had together! I loved the rainbow craft and how each girl had a different view of what constituted a rainbow! These times are special and end way too soon. I bet you were exhausted.by the time they left!
Thanks Terry. It is so fun to see them develop as little individuals. Sometimes the little one mimics her big sister – totally normal for this age – but then I see something like this and her own personality is taking charge. I love this!!
Oh my gosh – this sounds like the best weekend ever… I am with little one – Pirates!! Definitely Pirates!!!