Oh yea...the DRESS!!

Maybe you noticed Josie's adorable little sunshiny frock in the Wizard of Oz photos. Maybe you wonder where you can buy such a lovely little piece of wearable joy. Maybe you think I should link to the Etsy shop where you can buy your own. Maybe you know where this is heading...

I MADE JOSIE'S DRESS!!! 

Truly, it was easy. I've been meaning to bust out the old sewing machine for sometime. And when I finally drug it out to make some desperately long overdue curtains for our front door, I was inspired.  Thank goodness for Etsy. I found this super easy pattern for $6, printed it out, headed to JoAnn's to grab some fabric inexpensive enough to justify exploration and knocked this puppy out in a couple of  after-bedtime sewing sessions.  Of course Bea has a matching one on the way and I've already got a whole stack of next projects.  I think all I needed was one decent finished project to get my sewing groove back.  (Hey Carrie Schmitt Harrison - is there some reason we never used patterns in college when we were sewing?! I totally crack up every time I imagine us drinking Soleo by the gallon, converting bedsheets from the thrift store into summer sundresses!) Anyway mamas, like I said - this is a super easy pattern and there are lots of other easy tutorials online. Grab yourself some fabric and a little self-confidence and get to work.  (You'll see if you click on the pattern that it's just for a really simple dress with elastic sleeves & neck-line, but it's really easy to jazz up. The rick-rack and button really kicked it up a notch IMHO, but arose out of necessity since Josie thought it was too plain before. You really could do loads of things with this pattern. Josie's already asked for different sleeves and pockets next time.)

And although I bought this fabric and made this dress first because I wanted to make a "You Are My Sunshine" dress for Josie, it is definitely the "Yellow Brick Road" dress now.  (On that note, I can't tell you how sweet it was that when deciding what to wear to the Wizard of Oz show that Josie insisted on wearing this dress and not her Dorothy costume. I couldn't believe it, and it made me realize how giving something handmade really is such a loving thing.)

Off to see the wizard....

So here's a fun little tale of a full-day immersed in Oz with my sweet gal Josie.

 Yesterday we headed to McNicholas High School for their production of the Wizard of Oz.  (The hubs of one of Josie's teachers is a teacher at McNick and, knowing Josie's passion for all-things-Dorothy, she put this event on our radar! Thanks Donna!)  So, as if seeing Wizard of Oz live on the real stage wouldn't be enough to send Josie over the moon with excitement, we also got to have lunch with the cast.  For an extra $5 (yup, just 5 bucks) we had lunch, met the main characters, posed for photos and did crafts.  It made the actual show all the more special. When Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man & Lion came walking down the yellow brick road into the room, Josie really could.not.believe.her.eyes!  See for yourself. Clearly, the pure joy is dripping off of her!

Before we left the house we snapped a couple of photos, but everyone was way too excited to land the perfect shot.

With a little time to kill, we snapped some more photos in the car.

And, then...we arrived!  I didn't tell Josie about the cast brunch until we got there. She was SOOOO excited! Here she is walking down the yellow brick road to the cafeteria.

 It was SO cute. We went past lions & tigers & bears on the way down the hall, then through a field of poppies (of course singing the whole way). The room was decorated like an Emerald City with cute centerpieces like this one.

The cardboard cut-outs were a pretty big hit, but of course she had no idea what was coming up after we ate!

Glinda had left magic wands for everyone and Josie danced along the yellow brick road making wishes for Dorothy to hurry up ;)

It was so cute! They made flying monkey puppets and hearts for the Tin Man and had little coloring pages to keep them busy (not to mention yummy food).

And then she received word that Dorothy was coming soon...

And caught her first glimpse of her...

(And all the photos of her little jumping up & down are a blurry mess so we'll ignore those!)

And then she waited her turn and got to meet The.Real.Dorothy ("mama, the real one, I mean the actual real Dorothy!")

And the Cowardly Lion-

And Scarecrow & Tin Man -

Is her expression here not just adorable!! I mean, how excited is she?! :)

It was such a special day for Josie & I and nice to spend some time together - just the two of us.  Really, it was all perfect...oh - except when everyone around us starting chowing down on Reese Cups & Peanut M&Ms and I had to give Josie benadryl because she was complaining of itchiness and coughing...but really, it was all perfect.  And in case you are wondering, Lou and Bea spent the day together having their own little adventure. Although they set off to the mall to get Lou some new work threads, he came home with only a bag of socks for himself and new clothes for Josie and Bea. (What a dad!)

Ballet Day

A few weeks ago we had Parent Observation Day for Josie's class with the Cincinnati Ballet Academy.  She has a great teacher this year who makes it really fun for them (like sprinkling them with fairy dust so they can leap higher) but also sticks to great technique and ballet fundamentals.  Here are some photos of our tiny dancer. Enjoy!

We're jammin'

Did you see that? Yea, that picture up there. That's our Josie looking her happiest, proudest and blissed-out joyful!  Of course Josie is happy very often. People often remark about her "sunny" personality and she is just a radiant, glowing little soul. But, the Easter jam session in DD's basement, and the real drumsticks, and real drumkit and leading her own band - well that was glowing like I've never seen before.  

Here she is rocking out!  (She loves her some Fresh Beat Band - Drummer Marina is her favorite - and oh heck, I never did post the pictures and videos from their concert last month, did I?!)  Anyway, she amazed us with the way she took to the kit - even counting off the beginning of each song and ending each solo with a cymbal crash. Hysterical. 

DD - you may need to change that "Danger MEN Playing" sign to accommodate the new rockstar in town. 

 Bea was also very impressed! 

Here are a couple of videos from the big jam session.  She dubbed her band "Josie and the LaLaLows" and everyone (except me who was manning the ipad) joined in on the signing, dancing and playing of dozens of instruments that DD has lying around. 

ENJOY!

Easter in Xtown

We headed up on Sunday to spend Easter with Grandma & DD. It was a beautiful day jam-packed with one bit of fun after the other: egg-dyeing, candy-munching, bubble-blowing, ham-eating, drum-playing, jeep-riding, dog-cuddling, car-swinging goodness.

Here are some of the highlights.  (The whole jam session silliness will get a post all its own soon.)

Bea loves Bella (and her hand-me-down dress from Lylabird):

Josie takes Bea on her first ride in the Barbie Jeep that DD found last year at a garage sale (Score!)

A butterfly lands on Grandma (which for us means good luck, which was just what I felt we needed with Bea in that Jeep and Josie at the wheel);

Sweet, Sweet Josie wraps her arm around her little sister (and sometimes forgets to watch the road):

Off the go:

What a gorgeous day:

A little jump rope break in the parking lot:

Bea looks longingly at the empty Jeep:

And thinks she should take it for a spin. She can't reach the pedals, but thinks she's driving.

And then thanks to DD, really thinks she's driving.

Gooo Bea!

Then Josie gets the bright idea to be the "gas-pusher" while Bea steers. And they're off!

There are lots of other fun activities throughout the day. Bea swings in the carswing that they bought Josie 4 years ago.

Grandma & Josie dyed eggs:

Which Josie took as very serious work:

DD took Bea on a tour of the yard. This girl is always, always on the move:

More dipping:

And walking:

Bea loves Bella:

Josie loves Bella. And Bella loves them both - especially Josie who filled Easter Eggs with dog treats so Bella could have some Easter fun of her own.

Grandma's turn to tour with Bea:

Mama's dogwood tree brings back memories of dozens of springs on the back deck:

And new springtime memories under the dogwood:

Let the great Easter Egg hunt of 2012 begin!

After some blue candy (can you see her lips?):

And some more swinging:

Josie stops & starts her and earns one of Bea's famous looks:

"Don't worry Bea; I won't push you too high..."

And we are back to wind-through-the-hair, swing-induced bliss:

And now for the eggs:

(Perfumed by the smell of Grandma's lilacs floating through the yard)

Bea finds her first egg:

And knows just what to do with it:

More eggs:

More catapulting them into the basket with the velocity of Major-League pitcher:

All told, quite the Easter at Grandma & DD's - even if we didn't make it home til 10pm. Hey Grandma & DD - please be sure to pass on our big big thanks to the Easter Bunny! xo