Thursday, July 31, 2008

Angel Seams- The Mother of the Groom Wedding diaries-first in a series

This is a preview to my Mother of the Groom series August 7th, where I will be blogging the last month before my son Cameron marries on September 7th 2008.

Prepare to be blessed

Love you bunches,
Troysie

Angel Seams

If you were to have caught me on the phone last night I would have been so excited you would have had to tell me to take a breath to get my story out.

I have been searching for the perfect Mother of the groom dress for months. I tried on lacy ones that were so scratchy I realized I have been in Capri's and tee shirts way too long. The perfect store bought dress has eluded me so I decided to go to the pattern store where I found patterns for the basic dream dress in my size. I was especially excited when I found the perfect fabric at an amazing price and I was on my way.

I don't know if Project Runway gave me a false sense of skill but in my heart of hearts I knew I was a little bold in my thought that I could make the dress myself, Yes, I can sew and fit a pattern to my shape but I have a strong and critical eye for details and to me, what makes the difference in a dress that looks homemade and one that looks professional is the hem. Hems are my downfall, and I realized I should reserve my sewing skills to Halloween costumes, and baby blankets. At a friends suggestion I decided locating a seamstress was in order, but where to find her...

I got suggestions on how to find a seamstress from friends but got no real leads. There are a lot of little shops in my area and I was sure the perfect gal for me was out there. I started missing my the good old days when Moms dear friend Betty who would have whipped up that dress for me in a heartbeat ...

So I leaned on my Abba Father and sure enough he delivered in of all places Walmart.

I was in line buying some baby blanket fabric and noticed the woman in front of me buying lots of material. I asked her if she lived in Fontana and knew of a seamstress in the area. "I am a seamstress". I kind of thought to myself "Is it gonna be that easy God?" Her daughter confirmed that she was indeed a seamstress and later in our conversation she told me that her customers are mostly large size women, chills...
Got her name which of course was BETTY and I was SOLD!!

Went to see Betty last night, I walked into her home and saw racks and racks of clothes all with perfect hems and I thought, "Thank you God" She totally saw no problem in making my dress vision come to fruition and told me "Don't Worry" she explained she also worked for David's Bridal for 6 years as a seamstress and with that she got a hug. As I was walking out, she showed me her creations and her own personal label which of course was an...

Angel.

Mother of the groom dress... Check

Memoirs of a Kitchen Lady- Pre-School Tee Ball

I love the first few days of school when I serve lunch to the new preschoolers. I'll bet you never even thought about it, but it is a learned skill to select your lunch all on your own and another skill to learn to carry your lunch tray and milk together.

I tell my friend the pre-school teacher that it always reminds me of when my son was in Tee-Ball. When Cam was learning the game of baseball in Tee-Ball they had a parent at each base who would stop the child from over running the plate. It was a total crack up to see the parent use their body as a human shield so kids could get the concept of running and stopping.

In the first few days of school it takes about four parents and the teacher to get the kids through the line parent #1 stays with the waiting kids to show them to stay in line, luckily there is this marvelous invention of rings on a string that the kids hold on to so they can learn the concept of lining up. The next parent teaches the kids to wait their turn in front of the food. The teacher shows the kids the proper way to hold their trays with TWO hands and select their food which is a trial in its self because many little children have never made a food choice in their little lives. Two more parents round out the journey to the lunch table.

Another thing I love is how quickly the kids learn the ropes and how the second year preschoolers are the "old pros". They don't need help and make sure everyone knows they aren't "babies" and can make their own choices.

They grow up so fast in this first year and before I know it, they are tall enough to see all the food choices, carry their trays without a hitch and are on their way to the big wide world of school.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Turn Around

We are ending our summer vacation and in a brief 6 weeks my son has grown into a wonderful young man.

A day in the life of June Eric was playing video games, watching mindless cartoons, eating whatever.

Early July Eric went to summer camp and came back a renewed young man of God who explored his Bible and really thought about what he was watching on TV and listening to on his Ipod, Early July Eric was worth every cent extra we had to pay for late camp registration.

Mid July Eric created his own recipe for Blueberry French Toast that won rave reviews and scored a 9 out of 10 from brother and Dad. (Sorry, mom hates French Toast so I don't count)

Late July Eric is amazing, he takes his dog on daily walks, still enjoys his video games and his new favorite show Total Drama Island. He floored Steve and I by his helpfulness on our recent vacation when he took the initiative to get the hotel luggage cart and brought all our things to the room in one trip and, yesterday, he made us BBQ hamburgers for dinner.

We forget he is almost 14 and as tall as many full grown men, to us he is still our Goo Goo baby but this summer he showed us a glimpse of the wonderful man to come.