Convalescing, Confetti, and Couture

We've been finding lots of ways to stay occupied this week.

Immediately, Natalia wanted to color--and she's been doing really well, considering she's a lefty and that arm is busy being elevated or iced. I am impressed by her steady concentration and neatness. We'll see when the novelty wears off...maybe it won't! :-)

The biggest challenge for me is keeping Adam from being too physical around Natalia and making sure he gets extra hugs and time with Mama. His latest fascination is making confetti. He seriously will sit at the table and quietly cut paper into tiny pieces for 1/2 hour. Not a peep outta' him! A lifesaver for the 4-5 o'clock hour when I'm preparing dinner and he typically is getting rammy. AND, he thinks it's fun to use the dustpan and brush to clean it up for Mama too! I think that's MARVELOUS!!!

Paper "doll" horses that were in a new coloring book from Grandma. (And I just had to join in on the fun with "Cousin Violet" from Downton Abbey! Who could resist?!?!)

And, finally...what to dress this girl in once we do need to leave our house, socialize, and return to our lives?!?!

Besides the fact that Natalia has been busy outgrowing her winter wardrobe already, and I didn't want to hack the left sleeve off of her shirts needlessly, here is what I did:

*Removed the seam attaching the left sleeve of the long-sleeved black, white, and brown T-shirts she already had to use for layering. (Will reattach later.)

*Purchased 3 teen XS short-sleeved T's on sale and made them into tunic tops. Rooted through my buttom and fabric stash for embellishments.

*Took in the underarm seams on 2 tank tops I had that didn't fit right to make 2 more tunic tops.

*Purchased a pair of navy leggings and a pair of dark blue jeggings also on sale. She already had brown and black leggings. (She typically wears jeans everyday, but buttons, zippers, and such are currently problematic, and all her shirts are suddenly getting shorter on her. Major growth spurts in this household.)

*Nothing wasted expense, and she now has a spring/summer warddrobe!

Oh, and I had an extra Youth T-shirt and black puffy paint on hand, so I copied one of the pictures out of her new horse coloring book, and voila! (She was wearing her favorite horse shirt when she arrived in the ER, and they had to cut the full length of the arm.)