Farewells

Weekly Rewind
Things have been rather quiet since Emily's departure over a week ago. It was a bit rough getting back into the routine last Monday since Grayden had been off school an entire week, but by Tuesday the morning chaos was back at its normal, moderately frantic level. Our big outing this week was to the swimming pool where Grayden has been taking lessons for the last two months. Up until last summer Grayden was an eager swimmer, enjoying splashing and jumping in the pool. Unfortunately when we arrived in California for our extended stay he developed anxiety over the water, which I think was just a manifestation of his anxiety of being separated from Joe. Heading into this summer I wanted to help him get his confidence back in the water so decided to sign him up for private lessons. Since he tends to get overwhelmed in large groups of kids he doesn't know this seemed like the best way for him to get some positive time in the water. Luckily we were paired with the sweetest college aged girl as the instructor, a perfect fit for Grayden's sensitive, yet assertive personality. He is also quite the lady's man and likes to pour on the charm as needed. This past Saturday was the last lesson and he has made so much progress. He will now swim with his face in the water, dive under water for rings, jump from the side and swim short distances without holding on to anyone. The added bonus is since there is someone to swim with Grayden I can take Audrey into the pool and she loves it. This week she just wanted to play on the stairs and practice picking up the diving rings and enjoyed watching the scuba diving class taking place in the large pool next to us.

Since Joe left, Audrey's progress to being a real walker had stagnated and I was beginning to wonder if she would ever work up the nerve to walk on her own. I am happy to report as of Sunday she has repeatedly taken multiple steps and seems very motivated to keep it going. My parents will be here on Wednesday for a one week visit so I'm sure she'll make lots of progress showing off her new skills for Grandma and Grandpa.

This week was pretty productive for sewing. In addition to the project I decided to blog about I also made a skirt and started on a matching blouse. I decided to wait to post it until the entire outfit is done, so look for it next week. Since writing the blog means a night off from sewing I've been finding it hard to stop sewing long enough to blog. I should try and be a bit more disciplined and write a little each evening but since I've always been a bit of a procrastinator I don't think anything will change. I'm sure writing more slowly would help my grammar, syntax and overall editing, but oh well I'm not looking to win any awards!



The Project

• Fabric  - 1 used woodland camouflage military blouse (courtesy of US tax payers), 1/2 yard black cotton $2
• Pattern - none, inspired from online photos
• Notions - 1.75 yards black ruffle $4, 1 package bias tape $1
• Time - 2 hours for the prototype, 45 minutes for the final version
• Total Cost - $7

This is the time of year in military communities that orders to new duty stations come through and families begin the inevitable task of packing, moving, and starting over. Since I spent my entire childhood in the same small town, living in the same house for the majority of that time, all this moving took some getting used to. Six moves in 14 years is actually nothing compared to some family's numbers! Prior to moving here last summer we had "homesteaded" in Washington, DC for four years, an eternity in military time. During that time we saw a number of families come and go. Some we had crossed paths with at prior duty stations and some we had met for the first time while in DC. When we received our orders to Mississippi, the one positive thing I could cling to was the fact that we knew several wonderful families that were already here or were arriving here at the same time we were.

When service members are attached to deployable units the social network of military spouses becomes extremely important to the families left behind. Since most of us are far away from our extended families it is crucial to have people you can turn to that are able to step in and fill that roll when needed. Over the last nine months I have been amazed at the comradery, compassion and friendship that has been demonstrated by both old and new friends. These friendships have extended beyond the usual boundaries of just the spouses of Joe's direct colleagues, but also the spouses of members of other battalions at the base. Special credit for laying the foundation to build these relationships must be paid to one woman.   I have had the pleasure of crossing paths with this friend at three duty stations and have always admired her warm and outgoing personality, as well as her resolve, resiliency, wit and life experiences. The mother of five, she still somehow manages to find time to look out for the needs of others while also volunteering for the Navy Marine Corp Relief Society and serving as the spouses club president. She made it her mission this past year to revive the club and make it an inclusive, fun social outlet that offered something for just about everybody.

Sadly, for those of us left behind, this  family is off to their next assignment overseas this summer. This week I had the honor of sewing a farewell gift on behalf of the spouses club to thank her for her contributions to our community.

Influenced by Etsy and the indie crafting revolution the world of handmade, up-cycled items has even infiltrated military circles. There is at least one company making handbags and other accessories out of clients' military uniforms. Since we did not have the time to send in the uniform and have it made I was asked to create an apron similar to the ones made by militaryhandbag.com.

I first created a prototype using one of Joe's old uniforms. It took me about two hours to disassemble the uniform, configure the apron and sew it up.  I was able to sew up the second one in about 45 minutes. Instead of using bias tape to finish the second one I decided to add a ruffle to give it a feminine flair. On both versions I used bias tape along the top edge that extends to become the ties. If I were to make more I think it would be fun to add some pop with different colored ruffles, bias tape or backing materials. I'm open to special orders...