A Bear, A Baby, and A Perfect Day For A Party...

I spent more time outdoors and busy making this little bear than working on bags last weekend. It's okay. I'll be back at that today. For now, I thought you'd like to peek into yesterday.

 

For starters, I made this wee bear for my niece - who turned two last week. The party was Sunday afternoon, and in pure Donna fashion, I waited until Saturday evening to figure out a gift for her. This pattern is from DeerDarlingDolls on Etsy. 

 

I always follow patterns and recipes to the letter...the first time. I make adjustments to suit my taste after that. The tummy embroidery is my own design, but the next time I make this pattern (which is simple, by the way), her arms and legs will be "beefier". Turning these out after sewing nearly killed my hands, and they're still sore as I write this.

 

Great-niece loved her new stuffie, and she toted it around in her new little shopping cart - another gift form another relative - the rest of the afternoon. It was adorable.

 

Great niece is my sister, Diana's great-grandchild, so she and my brother-in-law came down from MN to celebrate, too. Her grandson, Ethan is the Birthday Girl's daddy, along with her older sister and this new, precious, little boy. He's only a month old!

Of course, this great auntie held him for more than a little while, and he was alert, strong (lifting his head up to look around quite often), and content. He's a true pleasure to be around. Of course, I needed to get a photo of him with his "GiGi".

 

This last photo is of me, with Di and my youngest sister, Jan. We had such a nice visit, and it was great to spend an afternoon with both of them. I'm the eldest of all my sisters and brothers. I have one more sister, who is closest in age to me, who couldn't attend. She's been very ill this past year and has been on and off the recipient list for a donated lung. We all pray that that will happen soon for her, fully understanding the loss of a loved one in another family that would make that possible. For now, she stays safe at home, rarely attending family functions anymore.

I got home around 5, and the critters were glad to have me back. It was past their dinner time, after all. I was glad to be back, too. I'd spent an hour and a half clearing snow with our yard tractor before getting my act together to travel north to the party. When I got back home, I took care of the dogs and cats, changed into a comfy set of sweats and made my evening tea. I dozed off in the chair shortly after.

All in all, it was a very great day and I'm so glad I went to the party. Tag will visit with you tomorrow, and I'll be back on Wednesday with more inventory progress.

By the way, I realized that I neglected to write a post on Saturday. I guess I got so busy making that little bear, I completely lost track of time. I actually didn't finish her until 2 am, and then went straight to bed. Two demerits for the neglectful blogger. giggle I know you understand and will give me a pass. Thanks!