How can it be Tuesday, already?

We needed a slow weekend around here. And that's just what it was. Now suddenly the week is flying by again. It felt really nice to spend the bulk of last weekend with my husband and kids... some fishing, some hiking, some sewing, some hanging out, some weeding in the garden. More and more in the past year I have noticed that we do that. We have settled into a steady rhythm that is very comfortable. There was a time when I needed a whole day to escape from young kids, but now I find myself wanting to do more and more just the four of us. Maybe it takes six years (since the birth of our first) for everything to come together.

This is a little stuff sack that I made this weekend for my daughter out of fabric that she chose. She wanted something to hold her buttons which are the rewards she's received at school. (What's not to love about a teacher who gives buttons for rewards?!) It is truly fascinating how my daughter covets these buttons, looking at them, arranging them, lovingly storing them away. She "recorded" them on a cut out of her hand. Twenty buttons with room to add more, all carefully kept in her monkey sack.

This is a quilt that she and I finished. She chose the fabrics and then sat at the machine. She sewed the strips up, working the fabric under the foot as I pressed the peddle to control the speed. We were quite the team and she was so excited to sew on my machine. She asked me to quilt it with hearts, flowers, and swirls in hot pink thread. Yes, she's an average six year old girl, I've come to accept.

I hand sewed the binding for her when she lost patience with this part of the process. It totally warmed my heart to walk out the next morning to find her doll's bed all set up with the pillow and quilt that we made along with a doll quilt underneath made for her by a dear friend. (This sweet doll bed came from friends whose daughter is now sixteen. That sixteen year old also made it up for her dolls and stuffed animals when she was a little girl.)

It's kind of hard to explain, but I don't think my daughter could have expressed her gratitude any more deeply. Watching her play with the things that we've made together because she requested it... well, it's just such a reminder that I'm living the kind of life I want to live.