What a blast!

Beverly

I have such a big grin on my face reading this. It's wonderful that she has such a cool grandmother to teach her...and that she wants to learn!

the dress sounds like it will be adorable for her when finished!

Betsey

YAY!!!! This will be a wonderful dress. Talk about a duck taking to water! ;) Tell her we will have to see pictures when it's all done.

I'm so glad you are both enjoying the process too. It's wonderful.

Sharon

Thanks, she is a real treasure. We had to run up to Fabric Depot for some more of the black knit, and had lunch out. Imagine, a 70-year-old and a 14-year-old having lunch and conversation, and it was fun! :-)

Here is her inspiration:

Beverly

Of course! I forgot to take my camera yesterday to take pics of the first stage, but definitely will have pictures of her in the finished dress.

The lesson I learned trying to teach her mother stuck with me. I don't insist on perfection with DGD, although she is coming along nicely and does things well.

I have to wonder what that little dress is made from that they feel the need to charge over $600, never mind over a thousand! Good grief, even if it's made from hand woven silk chiffon, with every stitch put in by mice, it shouldn't reach that price! For a factory made dress, it's insane!

I do love read I have to pass this gem on. I know you and all will get a giggle from it.

The GMNT has the typical teen habit of turning his room into a cross between a dumpster and a cess pit, complete with mugs of rotting dregs and heaps of festering socks. Now, I am FAR from the world's best housekeeper, but I don't use the carpet as a waste paper basket... And I have periodic fits of trying to straighten out the greatest areas of muddle. GMNT has 'lost' several things recently, and there was an Evil Pong eminating from his room. I uttered an ultimatum: clothes were either to be put away on in the wash and all rubbish was to be binned, or he would fail miserably to get on the next trip. That just happens to be a £475 4-day trip to Spain with school as part of his GCSE studdies. And he'd be landed with the bill if he failed to go! Ooer!

I was in there the other night helping him to clear up a bit (by pointing to things and saying 'Washing basket! Bin! Give to me -' and so forth. Eventually I asked him WHY everything was on the floor rather than where it should be.

It's an initiation rite, he says, sstraight faced and instantly. Everything has to spend three months on the floor before it's allowed to belong my room! Then he flashed the dimples at me!

Yeah, I giggled!

Last night I cleared about a square yard in 15 minutes. That's how fast you need to work! I said. He blenched! ;)

My two do it as pre-teens :-( Well the socks bit not the mugs so much yet....

Glasses, mobile phone & dental retainer??

Thanks for the idea. DS1 is off to Disneyland Paris in May ;-)

Pretty much my technique too. I keep hoping to get a calm enough week at work to take an afternoon off and deal with their room, but at least evenings are light enough to do a bit now.

It IS a good answer.

Yep, how come if Mum is in the room (even if not helping) progress gets made and the floor magically (if slowly) appears, but the moment you leave a stasis field seems to fall over the whole pile of stuff?

Lizzy

"Silk. Made in Italy"

But Kate, it's from the "Philosophy di Alberta Ferretti " collection. That must make it super *extra* special.

There is much truth to that. I love both my daughters, and mostly we got on well when they were young, but it's definitely a very special relationship one has with grandchildren. DGS is 19 and still gives me hugs, in public!

ROTFLOL! What an imp!

But I bet he actually did get some real tidying done.

Beverly

It'll come...

And keys, vital GCSE textbooks, EHIC, bank card...

It's amaizing how much carpet he's found in the last 3 days!

No, I think it's more of a compost heap in James's case! :D

Well, you can see about half the carpet, after 4 days! And his room makes Harry Potter's cupboard look generous!

The clothes all got sorted by dint of making space for what fits after mucking out all the too small stuff. You know, anything less than a 42" chest, 36" waist, 17" collar!

He's turned HUGE, Kate!!! What happened to that sweet little tyke that lived with you before?

It grew! 6'2" in his stocking feet: an inch taller than his dad was before the prolapsed disk robbed him of a generous inch!

James was always at the 98th percentile, from birth. His first shoes were a size five! At three he was in aged 5 clothing, and he now stands like the Bass Rock in the Firth of Forth: massive, with the tides swirling round his ankles!

A few of his school friends are cathing his up for height, but none seem to have quite his massive qualities.

I've got two of those. Both about 6'2", one slender with long muscles, the other a massive type with wide shoulders and thighs as big as most waists, not fat, but big muscles. They were such sweet little babies, it seems only a few years ago. I blame vitamins, good food, never having to sleep in short beds, or cram themselves into small shoes and clothes. No rationing or shortages.

My cherub:

Ahh, FREEDOM! Not for him - for YOU :-)

See you tomorrow - sorry don't have a good up to date picture of me :-(

Lizzy

The King of the Legos has gotten so very grown up!!!! Good posture there, Mom. :) (I stand up very straight around both kids now too. lol) Both monkeys are taller than me now, but not quite that much taller. Anna is almost 5'9". Andy is about 5'6".....for now. We had to get bigger running shoes for him a couple weeks ago, and now I can't keep him fed. That means he will shoot up another huge bunch soon. That's how he's always grown. Bigger feet first, gotta lay a good foundation. lol

Sharon

We'll get some tomorrow! :D

Oh, my, Kate! He's certainly turned out well, hasn't he? What a delightful young man! Not a child anymore *shedding a tear or two* as they do, when you're not looking, suddenly they're towering over us. I guess that's why it's so essential to train 'em while they're small.

In this instance, Mom was right!

Absolutely! I knew after years of dealing with stroppy teenages that I wasn't going to LIVE with one, so on the whole he's very civilized - the grunge-pit bedroom notwithstanding!