Catching Up

Exciting Saturday night around here: a trip to Walmart to replace all our cars' windshield wipers!

Stace, Violet and I went to Placerita for a nature walk Sunday, as we continue to try to catch her up on her PE hours. On Saturday, Stace and Vi went for a nice bike ride.
 

Cora helped Stace with some car tasks over the weekend, and washed a couple of cars, too.

Winston, why do you like putting soft toys in your water bowl???

It does make sense why Evie would like to lie on a heating pad.

And, in a cat way, it makes sense that she'd like to lie on the fabric Violet is cutting out.

Violet made this sleeveless mock turtleneck! She's recently turned her artistic interest to fashion.

She also made his hat, which she gave to her friend Sofia.

Violet and Stace fixed a bunch of her arrows, and I took her to the archery range for some more PE. 

And she and I went to Towsley Canyon for a walk.

Well, as long as Winston is comfortable...

Cora's (Hand-)Crafted Costume

Cora was invited to a birthday party where the guests were asked to dress up and create a character, kind of like role-playing in Dungeons and Dragons. 

She took the invitation seriously, and decided the outfit she envisioned for her character would be easier to make than buy. She downloaded a pattern, taped it together (see photos here), bought fabric, and went to work.  

She made both a gown and a cape, and painted a mask.

It came out beautifully, and Violet painted the wings on her back.

She used the same vinyl she used for her corset (leftover from our dining chairs) to make the mantle, which she painted, trimmed out, and attached jewels to.

She has some incredible creativity, drive and talent.

Meanwhile, Stace and I joined my parents at a huge car show in Glendale while Cora was at the party.

There were some beauts!

Creative Pursuits

 Creating with curious kittens around can be a challenge.

Here, Cora is adding rivets to her brown leather pants to achieve a stylized look for her upcoming MacBeth scene she's doing for the school district's theatre festival. 

Or, at least, she's trying to.

Cora's hand is deep in the pant leg, so Evie is attacking it through the material.

Cora persevered, and was able to create this amazing outfit. Shirt from Amazon, and she'll add a leather cord to tie round and round the arm. She painted the gloves with the same leather paint she used on the corset, which she completely made from scratch with the sewing machine. I look at the corset, and truly can't believe she made it!

I had a little crafty evening myself - a group of girlfriends got together for dinner and Valentine's craft on Saturday night.  

Also, I finally had better luck with my bread baking. I've been struggling for a couple of months with it not rising enough, despite changing nothing about the recipe or method from when it worked well each time. 

So, I've been tinkering, and this one came out so well.

Violet is still drawing up a storm. 

She made this beauty on her iPad. It seems to be a great investment for her. 

Tidbits

We had a long weekend for Martin Luther King, Jr., Day, so on the Monday, we hiked at Rivendale, near Towsley Canyon, with Colleen and Liana.

Over the weekend, Stace took care of rats in the attic, and Cora played D&D twice, once at Logan's house and once at Jay's, her new school friend.

We also looked again at windows and paint colors for our eventual project in Violet's room.

On Tuesdays, Violet has a long break between her Placerita classes, so we had "cooking class" at Auntie Mel's house. Melanie had wanted to make fancy ramen with Violet to spend some time with her. Ellie helped cook, too!

How amazing do these look?! That's perfectly cooked pork belly, along with the veggies and eggs.

We had enough leftover to feed Stace and Cora that evening! After dinner, Stace and I watched the Maltese Falcon. Since watching some old Christmas movies, we've gotten into watching classic films. 

Cora is working on a new theatre-related project - creating her own leather(ish) corset for an outfit for a MacBeth scene she'll be in soon. 

Yes, she could just buy one, but she was ready for a new project. We got out her old sewing machine, and as she ran into some trouble, Stace and Winston worked together to fix it.

More "I can hold two cats at the same time" fun!
 

Summer Crafting

We've been enjoying some lovely lazy summer days. Violet has kept busy by sewing up some of her stuffed animals that had acquired battle wounds.

All mended!

Violet took part in a ceramics painting class at the store in the mall this week. There were lots of classes to choose from on the flyer, but she liked this arrow wall hanging the best.

Jake and his family were on their vacation when we returned from ours, so he and Cora didn't see each other for over a month. They were happy to get back together when he was back in town.

All the stuffed animals were in the trampoline because Cora had to get them out of her closet, and we also had to vacuum all the carpets and couches because of the flea problem. Seb made himself at home with the animals - it reminded me of that scene in E.T. with E.T. surrounded by the toys.

Stace likes to preach about limiting screen time, and I don't disagree in theory. But, he learned a valuable lesson over the weekend about how Minecraft can be engaging for HOURS.

He was helping direct the girls into crafting a medieval English castle. I was lucky to be able to get them to break away in time to head to Ikea to buy the bookcase we needed for Cora's closet project.

Sewing Success

Cora received gift cards to Joann from Nan and Pop, and she was very excited to choose fabric, a pattern and other things she needed to make her first project.

Stace helped her a lot, as did discussions with people who know how to sew, and online video tutorials.

Cora was pleased, and we were all proud, of her first effort - this pair of pajama bottoms, with a drawstring waist.

We purchased a long-sleeved T-shirt that matches the fabric, and, voila!