Tractor Pants

Another great swim lesson for Heath today. As far as I could tell. Once again my attention was mostly on Stella, learning the tough lesson of keeping her hands to herself. She was already in a grumpy, tired mood, so she was not interested in watching Heath enjoy the pool from afar. And sharing the limited poolside toys with other waiting siblings proved to be harder than it may seem. Not to mention the fact that we were in an indoor pool, and an indoor pool on a hot and humid day is like sitting in a personal steam bath. So not only was she shrieky, sqwaky, scratchy, pinchy, pushy, and frequently boneless, she was also heavily pink-cheeked and sweaty-headed. All she needed was a little foam about the mouth, and she truly would've looked like a little rabid West Highland Terrier.

But we made it and Heath had a great time. Then we headed off to Hancock's fabric on South Boulevard. This time Stella was confined to a stroller. Like a Golden Retriever, Heath immediately sniffed out the John Deere tractor prints row. He chose a lively green and yellow plaid (with tractors, of course) number. He picked it up and wandered around the store, saying to no one in particular, I need a yard of this for some pants to wear to work in the mountains.

I found a few more pieces to attempt a skirt for myself and shorts for Stella, and made our way to the cutting table, so a nice lady behind the counter could measure our fabric and cut it to the appropriate length. She wasn't very speedy, was incredibly chatty, and Stella was growing more and more restless (and loud, screaming, Out, and practically throwing herself out of the stroller). The more I tried to speed the process along and not pay too much attention to Stella (because letting her roam around was not going to be an option), the slower our dear fabric helper became. Then she began to give unsolicited parenting advice. Mmmm...my favorite.

Eventually she cut our fabric (and eventually let it slip that she doesn't have children of her own, but she has nieces and nephews and dogs and...), and Stella resettled into the stroller, realizing her attempt to escape was futile. And we were finally out the door. With our fabric.

A decent start was made on the tractor pants this evening. And I got Stella's nightgown cut. Big, BIG oopsie made with that one. Nothing that isn't fixable. It's just going to have four seams instead of two, but a night-night dress, nonetheless.