I hardly sew at all anymore... two beautiful daughters and their wonderful summer has taken over my life. Every now and then I get overwhelmed by the things I want to sew, but then I remember what I'm doing with Holly and Greta is a million times more important. There will be more time to sew when school starts. And then I'll be wishing I was at the beach or swimming with my two best girls rather than sewing. There are a few things that I really do truly want to get done - a swim cover-up for myself, a twirl skirt for my friend's daughter, and then I definitely have to sew up Holly's birthday dress.

So, finishing up these cargo duffles felt like a real triumph! Each time we travel with Holly and Greta, I have to empty my temple bag so that it may be used to pack the girls' clothing. No longer! Now they each have a duffle to use. I doubt these duffles will be used exclusively for Holly and Greta when traveling. They're a great size and I can see them being used for all sorts of things.

Making these was time consuming - that's a lot of quilting! The pattern is fairly straight forward and with the help of some tips and a sew-along, I managed just fine. I used fabrics from Leah Duncan and Andover Chambray, purchased from Lima Sews.

I'm happy with how they turned out. And maybe they weren't actually as much work as I think they are. I worked on them for over a month, so it felt like a long time, but some of my sewing spurts were only 30 minutes.

A time and a season.

To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow. - Audrey Hepburn

We planted our garden back in Mid-March and harvest time is coming up. I'm not much of a gardener - I have almost no experience. We seem to have a difficulty each time we plant a garden. This year was leaf miners. I think my chard and beets are going to make it though. Other than those 2 things, we planted carrots, green beans and peas. I also have some tomato plants and a pot of parsley and cilantro growing. I've really enjoyed watching over and caring for my garden. It definitely takes time and some work, even though it's small. I realized this year that because the outdoors brings me peace, I need to focus some effort on being there and connecting to the earth. Having a garden has been helpful. Hopefully I can learn more with each one I plant.

I love making homemade popsicles for my family. They're inexpensive and I know what's going in them. These chocolate popsicles are divine. Recipe---->

Chocolate Popsicles:

• 1 can coconut milk
• 1/8 water kefir
• 1/4-1/3 cocoa powder
• 1/4-1/3 maple syrup

Combine the coconut milk and kefir water. Let sit, loosely covered with a towel, on the counter for 12-24 hours. Whisk in the cocoa powder and the maple syrup. Pour into molds.

You can also make ice cream. For ice cream, I double the recipe and then use my ice cream maker to freeze it. It is so good! It's creamy and a little bit tangy because it's cultured. We all really enjoy these. Just one more reason to brew your own water kefir.

Holly is going to Kindergarten in the fall and it's breaking my heart. My coping methods of choice are shopping for school clothes and making school clothes! It's helping!

This is the first of what will probably be too many school dresses. Hoping that the busyness of summer activities keeps me from over-sewing for school. The kid can only wear so much and my girls usually pick favorites! Anyways, I used a peasant dress pattern and this tutorial but I added a bit of extra gathering to the skirt which I have mixed feelings about. I love the big, deep pockets. And this is an excellent color on Holly. Holly was so thrilled to try it on, and very disappointed when it came off. Hopefully that's a good sign. Or maybe that's the trick to ensuring my kids wear what I make for them... a little anticipation.

I'm planning on making Holly one or two knit dresses, one or two woven dresses and a jacket! A skirt or two too... maybe leggings...

This is the last hopscotch dress I'll be sharing this spring. This was also one of the first round dresses. I started out making a 3T (for Greta) and a 4T (for Holly), but I ended up melting the 3T (whoops), and as it turned out the 4T was too small for Holly. I tossed the melted one, and the other one sat in my cupboard for a while. And then I finally trimmed off some of the length and hemmed it and now Greta can wear it. Greta has more knit dresses than she truly needs but I don't feel so bad since dresses and skirts are all she wears. She does not wear pants/shorts, the only exception is about once a month she'll wear a pair of pajama pants to bed. I made her a pair of shorts last month. Her response, "I didn't want shorts! I wanted a skirt."

She'll wear this dress 2-3 days in a row... so I'd say it's a win.