Jacket Into Pants

We got a late start on Halloween this year, deciding on kid costumes at the end of AUGUST. Fortunately, they don’t involve too many details and projects. Mr C decided on a Minecraft Creeper.

Last month our community had a multi-congregation free clothing exchange, with which Grandma Teri Porter, Aunt Niki, and many others helped immensely. Aunt Niki found a Creeper jacket for Mr C in his current, but nearly outgrown size, and a fantastic Pikachu hat/scarf/mitten combination. With the Mario pajama pants I found, he could fully outfit his fandoms.

We stopped as a family at the thrift store. (The other one in town had to close.😔) We wanted to find green pants to go with his jacket. Green pants we did not find, but another creeper jacket we did. This one was even the next size up, which is ideal for wearing more than a few months. I decided to go for it, and convert the jacket into pants.

Mr C gets attached to items very quickly, and was upset that I wanted to disassemble his first jacket. He thinks one of the boys from class donated it, so it was a special item. As the cuffs were already hitting above his wrists, though, it was worth being the mean mom and consoling my teary-eyed boy.

He brought me pairs of his sweatpants and and thermal pants as guides. I own thrifted patterns for boy pants, but since I kept the sleeves intact, I figured using a complete item would be an easier pattern this time.

I had a seam-ripping party at Grandma Porter’s house while Zak and Uncle Cohen built a shed roof. I made sure my travel sewing pouch contained a seam-ripper, but then used it. Thus, I carefully seam-ripped with my fabric scissors. Zipper salvaged and hood removed. I did wait to finish removing the jacket pouch pockets until I got home, because they had been seriously reinforced. Even with a seam ripper, they were still my downfall, and left a few holes in the fabric. I patched those by zigzagging over them. The ones in front I could hide behind the relocated pockets, but the ones in back are now intentional statement pieces.

The arms became the lower legs, with a bit of extra fabric added around the ankles. The back torso became one thigh piece, with a slice partway down the side for the pocket. The front got stitched up where the zipper had been after I placed the pocket. I should have compared the torso pieces a little better before this point, because I had to add a strip to one side to even them.

Besides the waistband being flipped and slightly shortened to add to the ankles, the remaining piece would be the wonky inner thigh pieces. The hood came into play. I chose to do it in two separate pieces so I could get the right crotch angle and curve. No sewing job is complete without stitching something incorrectly and unpicking it, so this was accomplished when I stitched the wonky bit in the former neck opening instead of the former shoulder opening. The pieces still didn't fit exactly. I distractedly watched movies on my phone while attempting to get them to fit right, before realizing first, I should switch to music, and second, that the straight flow of the leg on the outside was more important than perfectly fitting the wonky shape around its edges on the inside. It continues to be wonky, but works.

I did the one-leg-inside-of-the-other trick to stitch the two together. I added thick elastic and twill tape to the waistband so it could be tied and tightened if the elastic were not enough. The twill tape that shows is actually from the shoulders and neck of the jacket, with some sparkly blue twill tape lengthening it from the inside. I added buttonholes, made sure everything was inside the wide waistband, pinned, and stitched.

Scraps form a creepy bunny.

Mr C tried on one leg partway through the process, which is when I found out the waist was super high, and I could use part of that height for the side and ankles. It took me about a week, working mostly after the kiddos went to bed. I finished after they slept, and had to wait until morning to see if my completed project actually worked. Smiles. I don’t think he’s upset about it anymore. Thanks for trusting me, Mr C.

Bowling Birthday

As this is our first year with a middle-schooler, I wasn’t sure if they would do anything special for Miss V's birthday. We tied a ribbon in her hair in hopes that someone might recognize it was a day to celebrate. They sang to her in three classes, and the Principal even took a picture and sent a personalized message. Zak and I were quite pleased and impressed with how much effort the teachers and faculty put into each student's birthday. 

I didn't do much to decorate, but had fun making a little poster and hanging several copies throughout the house.

Last school year, Miss V earned a coupon for a free game of bowling. We’ve had the coupon magnetized onto our door ever since. The time had come.

She’s always enjoyed baking, so we made chocolate cake from mixes, found a delicious whipped Oreo frosting recipe, and went to work. Miss V decorated it all by herself, using the spinning cake stand from Aunt Niki.

Responsible parent that I am, we ate the cake and ice cream first, then bowled, and lastly filled up on dinner.

None of us has honed our athletic abilities lately, so it was a bit of a rough start in the first game. We had lots of fun cheering for one another. We noticed our neighbor’s name on some high score boards. We all improved by the second game, getting multiple spares and strikes. Zak and Miss V each got a bonus roll at the end. Mr C kept us laughing with his dances and fake bowling ball vomit whenever the machine would return the balls. Overall, I think she had a pretty good birthday, and our family had lots of fun together.

He Persisted

Mr C loves to climb and play on the floor. I asked him last year if he wanted to try wrestling, because I thought he'd do well with it. This year I encouraged it a little more, and signed him up for junior wrestling. Our knowledge was very minimal, not knowing any of the rules or methods of scoring. At first he didn't know how to do the warm-up bear crawls, army crawls, and the other myriads of mat crossings they did. By the end of the two-month season, he followed the directions swimmingly. He still didn't care for the actual wrestling and competition, but he did learn some moves and improved over time. His favorite parts of the practices were playing Sharks and Minnows and the toe-touch game.

I didn't sign him up for the competitions in the beginning because we didn't know the rules, how to score, or basically anything. At the end of the season I noticed one more nearby tournament he could do before state. I signed Mr C up to compete. The next morning he told me he had a hard time sleeping because he was worried about the competition. I wanted to look up and review ways to score in wrestling and teach him, but he didn't want to even talk about it, and acted anxious. Zak and I talked, and we realized it was stressing him out quite a bit. Before Mr C came home from school that day, we decided that rather than forcing him to do something he was dreading, we would give him some options.

We let him know he could go and just watch the matches, since we had never actually watched a real bout. Another option would be to go and participate if he chose. Zak also told him he could just stay home, but I hoped he would at least come to watch the others.

I remembered listening to the Freakonomics podcast where they said it was helpful to quit things you didn't want to continue doing. Mom told me Ammon had wrestled briefly, and hated people watching him during the competitions. I also reflected on the counsel given at church this past Sunday on allowing our children to accomplish difficult things to prepare them for service as adults. Parenthood is confusing.

Mr C got home, and we went over the options. He said he just wanted to watch. Then he changed into his singlet. I decided to not make a big deal of it. We walked into the excited crowds of parents and participants at the tournament. We asked if he wanted to wrestle, and he decided to try. One of the timing officials helped us figure out on which mat he would be wrestling, and how to find when his other bouts would be.

The first bout was three minutes, and Mr C did some great twists, turns, escapes, and position changes. His coach came for part of it to help. Mr C kept going, and worked hard to the end. We were so excited and proud of him for his efforts, especially since he wasn't even sure he wanted to compete. The second and final rounds went very quickly, and Mr C did what he could. He still doesn't like the competition aspect, but he was grateful for the experience and medal. 

Throughout the season, he learned some moves, built up strong biceps, worked on being a good listener, and spent some time with a few friends. He was glad, though, the season finished and he could go back to being home in the afternoons. We are so proud of him for doing his best, even when he was scared. We had a lot of fun cheering on our beautiful, caring, strong son. We love you, Mr C!

Waiting with Daddy by the mat

Attempting to do a "Fireman's Carry"
during practice

State Capitol Tour

 One part of stay-at-home Momhood I adore is chaperoning field trips with the kiddos. I do get nervous about being the adult responsible for other people's children, but the fear is outweighed by the joy of seeing my kiddos with their peers in these learning environments. Last year I went with Miss V on an overnighter cabin campout with workshops by the Fishlake National Forest Rangers and others.

This year I rode on the bus with Miss V to the Utah State Capitol building and Natural History Museum of Utah. She and her classmates at the back of the bus serenaded us with songs from their end-of-the-year program on the state of Utah. The government officials were not in session, so it was just us, some women posing in formal wear for photographers, a few international tourists, and the next tour group of kids. In the Hall of Governors I spied the portrait of Governor Mike O. Leavitt, who was in office during my school years. I still remember a video we watched of him in drivers' ed in which he told us "If you leave late, you will arrive late," with the encouragement not to drive recklessly.

One display focused on the many languages spoken during the mining heyday in Carbon County. Multi-lingual and -ethnic groups aren't who you normally picture in the small rural towns of Utah. History and memories should be recorded and preserved. 

The pillars of stone, tile work, paintings, and history throughout the Capitol Building are pretty incredible to see up close. Those were all eclipsed to the grade-schoolers by the elevator. There's nothing like traveling through the ceiling when you can see the layers. I ended up losing each of the six students in our group here and there. Fortunately, no one died, and we came together in the end.

The museum was hosting a Thai Temple exhibit. The carvings were incredibly detailed and intricate. Most were reproductions, but some were original stone. It is amazing what can be transported to the other side of the globe. I think the students appreciated the multi-sensory exhibits in other parts of the museum. They spent a chunk of time trying to reassemble magnetized rubbery "pottery" which demonstrated some of the challenges archeologists face when finding and examining evidence of past cultures. 

By the end of the tours, my feet were ready for a sit. There were lots of sleepy kids on the ride home. I'm glad it's still possible for students learning about the branches of government to travel to the locations about which they learn in the classrooms. I'm also grateful Miss V isn't ashamed to have me tag along on her school trips.

Thinking of Grandpa Wayne Porter at the 2002 Olympic Exhibit

With connections to Beaver, one must always 

take a selfie with Mr. Philo T. Farnsorth.

School's Out for the Summer

Some photos from June. Highlights include a massive double-rainbow Zak spotted, Miss V's first self-haircut, a (temporarily) broken Suburban, and new plum trees in the back yard. Miss V does love her ice/water "cereal."