And Sew on...and Sew on...and Sew on...

This afternoon I made a Halloween costume for our little Hayden. His love of sharks prompted him to want to be a Great White Shark this Halloween. Being the good mom that Andie is, she sat at her computer and diligently looked at anything she could find that would make a shark costume for her little guy. She found a Blog where a lady had created her own pattern and made quite a nice looking shark. Hayden seemed happy with it except for not having 5 gills on each side and a white tummy. Andie tried looking at patterns that could be adapted to make a shark. After tons of research, she took brown paper and cut out a shark shaped pattern and taped it together. Hayden was pleased. Then Andie trundled off to the fabric store and picked up fabric for me to make this costume. Armed with Andie's brown paper cut out and a picture of the Blog costume and a picture of a shark Hayden found acceptable in one of his shark books, Gramma started to sew this afternoon. As I sewed on this costume I looked at my hands getting older and started to think of my sewing history. My mom was an excellent seamstress. She even sewed for the public when I was a child so that she could work out of our home. I remember her sitting at her sewing machine making beautiful dresses and things for different people. She always had a glass of RC Cola to sip on.

Papa gave her a full length mirror which they attached to their bedroom door to assist in this process. He actually gave her a wallet with a tiny mirror in it and a note that let her know the real gift was the full length mirror.

My mom sewed on a Pfaff (I don't think I spelled that right) sewing machine. She knew every part of the machine. She cleaned, repaired and maintained it herself. It sat in a really nice wood cabinet in her bedroom in front of the window. Neffie, my little sister, now has this machine. On that machine my mother made wedding dresses for each of her daughters, blessing clothes for grandbabies, and I even watched her make a little white suit for a pre-mature baby who had died to be buried in. She made formal piano recital dresses for me and my sisters. She made suits for my father, slip covers for furniture and the list goes on.

When her daughters got old enough, she taught each of us to sew. If a seam wasn't right, Mimi had no qualms about telling us to rip it out and do it over. The catch phrase was always, "If it is worth doing, it is worth doing right!"

One of my favorite memories was trying to pin a hem in any skirt or dress made for me. We had a dress code in the Lawrence home. Dresses went below the knee. Now my body is really long from my shoulders to my waist. Then my legs are long from my hips to my knees. However, from my knees to the ground it is not so long. So we would try to come to some compromise about the correct place to pin those hems and invariably it ended in a laughing match looking at where the hem was pinned. I enjoy sewing. I'm not the world's best seamstress but I can stitch things together and do a few repairs.

I made a lot of clothes for my girls and a few things for Jake. There just always seemed to be a lot more patterns for little girls and not as many for boys.

Some of my more notable efforts are very silly to me now. At the time they were great deals but in today's fashion world, not so much. I made Claude a bright yellow sports coat out of yellow double-knit fabric. I tried to make my little girls bikini's. I made Jake a red plaid sports coat and red slacks. Claude said he looked like a little 'used car salesman'. Such silliness.

Jake, Nissa & Andie

Whenever we took the kids somewhere big that we might loose them (like Disneyland), I would make them all the same color shirt so that I could count heads and not lose any of them. One time I used some bright yellow bandana print fabric and to mkde them all matching shirts. Very easy to find my kids that time. My favorite fabric purchase story happened right after moving to southern California when Claude was in the Air Force. We rented an apartment and then were asked to be the managers of this little 13 or 15 unit complex. We moved to apartment #1. It needed curtains in the windows. Claude had re-enlisted in the Air Force and they gave him what was called a 'variable re-enlistment bonus'. There was more money than either of us had ever seen. We used it wisely and one of the things we purchased was a little White sewing machine for me in a very inexpensive wooden cabinet. My first project was to make curtains for the kitchen windows in this apartment. I measured my windows, determined to just made simple curtains, and we headed off to the fabric store. I figured I need something like 10 feet of fabric. Claude and I picked out the fabric we liked best. He took Nissa (a baby at the time) and I went to the cutting table. For some reason, I translated my 10 feet into 10 yards. Oh My Heck!! As the lady is unrolling the bolt I'm thinking, that looks like a lot of fabric, but Claude and I had both checked my measurements. As I'm standing in the checkout line, I realized my error. When I got out to the car I told Claude I bought 10 yards instead of 10 feet. Bless his heart, he just shrugged his shoulders and said, "Well, I guess you can make a refrigerator cover too!" We both had a chuckle. I didn't make a refrigerator cover but I did make placemats and gave them to all our family for Christmas presents that year.

My next favorite fabric purchase story was when Jake was little. The girls were in school so he must have been about 3 or 4 years old. While the girls were in school I took Jake with me to buy some fabric. I picked out a piece I thought would be great for whatever it was I was going to make. I put the bolt on the cutting table and as the lady was getting ready to ask me how much I needed, my adorable little blond wonder looked up at me with those big eyes and said, "Mom, be sure you get enough for your hippos!" Ya gotta love kids.

Today I thought back to when Nissa was a little girl. She was about 2 years old and we wanted to take her Trick-or-Treating. I used old pillow case fabric and made her into a rag doll outfit. Jake wanted to be Dracula one year. I made him a black cape with a red lining. Then I headed to the dentist to get disclosing tablets. You chew them after you brush your teeth and they turn the inside of your mouth red to show where you didn't get your teeth quite clean. I also slicked Jake's hair back with Vasoline that year. BIG mistake. After 4 shampooings when we got home he still had oily hair.

When Katelyn was little she really wanted to be Robin of Batman and Robin fame. I made her an outfit just like Robin. She loved wearing it. I remember Katelyn and I going for a walk and looking for fall leaves. Andie had moved to Texas and they just don't get the fall leaf color we did in Maryland. So Katelyn and I picked out the best leaves in the brightest colors we could find and mailed them to Andie. I dropped my camera in the bag while collecting the leaves and for a long while after that I had a hazy spot on my lens. Valuable lesson learned about cameras and damp leaves. One of the years before I made Katelyn a pumpkin outfit for Halloween. This is Paul in that pumpkin outfit.

Katelyn & Paul

When Aubrey was little she wanted a princess dress for Christmas. Aubrey loved everything pink. So I found this beautiful material with pink sequins on pink fabric. I got the cutest princess pattern I could find and set to work making the dress from "H E double toothpicks"! Do not, I repeat the warning, DO NOT buy fabric with sequins on it. They are glued on. The glue sticks to your sewing machine needles and causes great frustration. Also the loss of many sewing machine needles. The dress was a cutie though and Aubrey Anne was a happy little girl. Bailey turned 2 and needed dress up clothes. I found a pattern sale at Hancock's and bought 5 patterns for $1 each. I made a ton of little dress up clothes for the mini-Marx's. When Andie got married I made 4 brides maid dresses and a dress just like theirs for Katelyn who was the flower girl.

Over Hayden and Bailey's little life I've made a lion, a frog, a Native American dress, a brave knight, a princess and now a shark. I can't wait to see our Hayden in his shark outfit. I still have to put a hem in the bottom but I need to be sure where to make that hem and will pin it after it is on Hayden.

Hayden as a lion and a frog

Bailey (Native American) & Hayden (Horse) then Charlotte (Betty Crocker) & Hayden (Brave Knight)

When we were getting ready to retire, I replaced my old White sewing machine with a new one from Sears. It's in a studier cabinet. It took a bit to learn to use it but now I totally enjoy it. I do like to sew. I'm grateful my mom patiently taught me this skill. It has saved us a bunch of money when we were starting out as a young married couple. It has allowed me to make some nice gifts for family and friends over the years. And now it brings back a lifetime of memories that I can cherish even when these Gramma hands get too full of arthritis to sew in the future.

Big Brother is Watching Me...

Okay, I just published my last post about reading. My last sentence was about wishing I could read faster. When I hit publish then I was given a prompt that I could view my blog. I always do that, then copy and paste it into a Word document I've set up, then print it and punch holes in it and put it in my journal notebook. I noted the Google Ad that came up as I was waiting to view my last blog entry...here's the Big Brother part...the ad was for 'Eye (something) Speed Reading' !!! How Orwellian can it get!?!?

Reading...

Drum roll please... I finished reading "The Lost Symbol" last night. It is an excellent novel. Totally enjoyed it. Dan Brown does a good job of weaving his story. I'm going to read my October Ensign first and then I'm going to finish the 8th in the Work and the Glory series. I also only have about 100 pages left in the Koran. I hope to finish that one in the next 3 or 4 days. Then I'm going to the library for a copy of Hawaii by James Michener. I want to read it before we head to Hawaii in December. I wish I read faster but I've never been able to read very fast. I do love reading though.

Some Weeks Are Harder...

Last week was one of those tougher weeks to plow my way through. Some are just like that. But it had a positive side to it as well. A couple of weeks ago I was asked to teach the Relief Society (Women's Organization at Church) in my home ward (congregation). I love to teach lessons as Church. So this request to substitute teach for a sister who would be out-of-town was a welcome invitation. My topic was a talk given by Pres. Thomas S. Monson (Prophet & President of our Church). The title was "Be of Good Cheer". A couple of weeks ago when I was given the topic, I immediately went to lds.org and printed out a copy from the General Conference issue of the Ensign (Church magazine for the adult age group). I read it and was immediately impressed with how timely it was for me, personally. Over the next 2 weeks I read, underlined, made notes and tried to generally prepare for presenting this lesson. One of the things that fascinates me about these opportunities, well anytime you have a chance to serve at anything really, is the focus your mind and heart takes on the topic for which you are preparing. Suddenly things begin to pop out that you might have otherwise just glossed over in life. At this time I was reading my Old Testament (I'm in Psalms), the Koran (while I walk my treadmill each day) and Jeffrey R. Holland's book 'Broken Things to Mend' at the same time. I finished Elder Holland's book and began reading Dan Brown's new novel 'The Lost Symbol' during this time. These are all very interesting things to be reading at one time. David's Psalms are often a plea for forgiveness, his feelings about the love and mercy of the Lord if we just trust in him and live righteously, David also speaks Messianically a lot. Beautiful poetry even when I get lost in what he might be trying to say. This reading I'm focusing on the word 'trust' which is found in almost every Psalm. The Koran I'm reading because I want to personally know what it says. Will I remember everything I read? I can assure anyone I will not. But I'm learning things that are positive and things I truly do not agree with. I'm finding the wording interesting while reading the Old Testament at the same time. It is a fascinating book. Elder Holland's book is just a pure joy to read. He is my favorite General Authority in Church to listen to speak. I love how he turns a phrase and that he seems to say just what I need to hear. After reading the talk "Be of Good Cheer", I read more in 'Broken Things to Mend' and the very next chapter I read was a talk given by Bro. Holland that was just like the talk by Pres. Monson that I was to teach. It was thrilling to read these two things back-to-back. As my week progressed last week and it just got tougher and tougher to plow through, an interesting thing happened. I would find myself driving from Sadieville to Georgetown or the reverse of that. My CD player in my car almost always has a CD in it for me to sing along with. I love to sing in my car. I've made a holder full of CD's with my favorite songs to sing off of from CD's I own at home. It is much safer to put one of the homemade CD's in and sing through an entire CD than to be changing from one to another while I drive and only sing 3 or 4 songs of any given CD. But this week I spent my drive time talking to myself and my Heavenly Father a lot. And I found myself saying to Him, "I know there is something for me to learn from this experience. I feel strongly like we will make it through this one, that the journey will be hard, but that the end result will be for the better and lessons will be learned." I felt comfort. The difficulty did not go away but I felt a comfort and peace that allowed my head to clear and me to accomplish the next step in resolving the issues at hand. Saturday night I went to the General Relief Society Broadcast. This is sent via satellite so that all the sisters in the Church can have access to the words of our General Relief Society presidency and one of the members of the 1st Presidency of our Church. I was invited by our Pioneer Ward (congregation) to visit with them before the broadcast. They were have a pie social before the broadcast. It was great to visit with the ladies and meet and make friends with a few of them. Then we all went into the chapel and listened to the broadcast. The words were direct, encouraging, and faith-building. Pres. Henry B. Eyring, 1st Counselor in the 1st Presidency spoke to us at the end. He spoke of the Legacy of the Relief Society organization. This is the oldest female organization that I know of. It is rich in history. As Pres. Eyring spoke of this history he said, "The Society is composed of women of covenant who did not take themselves around the storms of life but directly into them." If you know anything about the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, you know about the Mormon Pioneers and their struggles. These people were kicked out of Kirtland, Ohio, then Missouri, then Nauvoo, Illinois. Then they crossed the plains in wagons and handcarts. Some took their journey by boat around the tip of South America and landed in California and came across from there. Others marched with the Mormon Battalion as requested by the US Government and then came up from Southern California. Everywhere they went they built anew their communities. They were beautiful communities with hard-working, honest, caring people. They always left their homes and cities in better shape than what the land had been when they arrived. They always started from nothing and built beautiful cities and communities. I love these stories. Claude has direct relatives that fit into these stories. I do not but I feel a part of this legacy created and left for those in the Church today. As I heard Pres. Eyring's words I felt that I was 'walking through the storm of my current life and not around it'. The intermediate hymn at the Saturday evening broadcast was "How Firm a Foundation". I love the 3rd verse of this hymn. Many years ago when I was just barely pregnant with Andie and we lived in Southern California, I was on the Relief Society stake board. I was privileged to go to one of the last General Relief Society Conferences in Salt Lake City with the ladies on our stake Relief Society board. As I sat in the tabernacle one of the General Authorities who spoke counseled us to memorize the words of hymns so they could be recalled in times of needs and be a source of strength to us. The hymn sung in the meeting after that address was 'How Firm a Foundation'. As the tabernacle full of ladies sang the words to the 3rd verse, it immediately became my favorite. Those words are..."Fear not, I am with thee, Oh be not dismayed. For I am thy God and will still give thee aid. I'll strengthen thee, help thee and cause thee to stand, upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand." These words are taken from Isaiah 41:10. Saturday night I also noted the words at the end of the 2nd verse. They are..."As thy days may demand so thy succor shall be." Now, that word succor was one I was fascinated with for years. You just don't hear it a lot. When I was teaching New Testament in Seminary years ago, and my memory is that we were learning about the Prodigal Son, I came across a definition for the word 'succor'. We were told it means 'to run to'. In the story of the Prodigal Son the father is watching for this son who is lost. He sees him a way off and 'runs to him'. He doesn't wait for the son to come to him, he runs to the son. The word 'succor' comes from the Latin word 'succurrere' according to my Webster's dictionary. The Latin word is made up of 2 parts. The 1st part is 'sub' meaning 'under. The 2nd is 'currere' meaning 'to run'. The intent is to assist, aid, help, relieve someone who has gone under or below or is in need of being lifted up. You would do that by running to them or reaching out to them. I felt this week that that is what Heavenly Father was trying to convey to me, a sense of comfort even though I must continue through the difficulty. He didn't take the difficulty away, I still need to endure and learn, but He does comfort and sustain or succor me and I progress through the difficulty. The final verse to the hymn is verse #7. It is written well out of the staff of music with verses 4-6. But for the broadcast they had us sing verses 1-3 and verse 7. These are the words..."The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose I will not, I cannot, desert to his foes; That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake, I'll never, no never, no never forsake!" I knew as I sang those words that I was being sustained and the tender mercies of a loving Heavenly Father were washing over me. I felt peace. What a blessing. Pres. Monson's talk "Be of Good Cheer" was spot on for me. I was able to teach with a firmness of conviction regarding his message. He was counseling us that we live in a time when it is very easy to be filled, almost consumed, with fear and dread over what is happening in our country and world. But he counseled us to focus on the blessings we have from living in this day and time and from our membership in the Lord's Church. I felt the power of his teaching as I lived through last week and I'll continue to feel these this week and through my life. I know that this mortal probation is but a spot in eternity. But it is such an important spot. To come to earth, take on a mortal body, and then live so that this physical, natural part of me comes into alignment with the spirit part of me and that I am doing and living a righteous life and can be worthy of returning to a loving Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. What strength and purpose these beliefs bring to my life. Life can be hard. It can sometimes seem like it doesn't make sense and why go on the way I am. But I do believe that there is purpose and growth that come from enduring through adversity and being still enough at times to feel the love and care coming from above in each tender mercy.

Crabby 2...Interesting Papa Anecdote...

Crabapple Jelly Today I made the crabapple jelly. It took all day. I only expected a couple of hours. Big Guy Clauda helped me and between the 2 of us we managed to get this much jelly made. I now know why we purchase jelly at the store!!! However, buying it at the store is not nearly as satisfying as looking at those jars and knowing your hands and time filled them with jelly.

Papa Anecdote

While making the jelly, Papa called. We learned that he can get his prescription drugs through a mail order system and, if he orders the generic version, he can get them for free. We went through the process of me filling out paperwork and Papa going to his doctor with the paperwork and getting 2 of the prescriptions we needed. Then I mailed the paperwork and today he got his prescriptions. We'll add the third in 90 days when his current supply runs out. I also had him take a paper to his doctor to declare him fit for the walking track at The Pavilion in Georgetown. This is an indoor track and, while he won't use it much while the weather is good, he'll really enjoy it in the winter. He walks 2 miles each day in his neighborhood, 1 in the morning and 1 in the evening. Papa took all his paperwork I filled out and gave it to The Pavilion today, then he walked a mile around the track. As he walked he actually counted the steps around the track. The sign posted by the track reads "It takes 11 1/2 times around the track to walk one mile". The track has 3 lanes. Papa walked 12 times around the track and he tried each lane. As he walked the lanes he counted how many steps it took to go around each lane. When he was finished he had calculated an additional 5 steps between each lane (the middle was 5 steps longer than the inside and the outside was 5 steps more than the middle). When he finished his walk he went by the front desk on his way out and asked the poor kid at the desk which lane they used to come up with the 11 1/2 times around the track to figure 1 mile since there was a difference of 5 steps in each lane. The kid did not know. Imagine that!!! I told Papa they had probably never, in all their years of being in Georgetown, had any person ask them that question. Now go ahead...chuckle...it is amusing!!