PLAY!

I like going to plays, like watching my son in The Music Man.

My son came to me one day and said he wanted to try out for the school play. A few days later, he came home and said he had signed up for tryouts. The next week, he came home and said he had made it. Well, since I was in school myself, I didn't have time to really talk to him about it and help him or take him. He just did it all by himself.

Thanks to a play member's mom who is a photographer, we all have access to hundreds of great pictures from the play. Here's just a few. My son is the man reading the newspaper in the blue shirt and vest.

My favorite song of the musical, Pick-a-Little. I had to share one of these pictures to show you how fabulous the girls dresses were. They were so bright and colorful, and I LOVED their hats.

76 Trombones . . .

Cast and crew . . .

Second, I love to play by making things. I always have a project list going on, and always add more before I'm close to finishing current projects. I like crafts, like the earring holders and watch bands I made last week. And I love making clever gifts.

Last week was teacher my appreciation week. Here is the treat we gave our teachers this year. I found this and lots other great ideas at Room Mom 101.

Last, I have a whole room devoted to my playing. It is the largest bedroom (besides the master bedroom) in the house, and it has the biggest closet (3x bigger than mine). It is my craft room, and I live in there. It has a key lock so I can keep kids out while I'm working, and so I can use it as a hiding place for gifts and surprises, plus keep little hands out of my works-in-progress. The key stays on me at all times, it is so valuable, I protect it better than my phone or camera.

I like to play at sewing. I did sew 2 more quilt tops, with this bright fabric, and completely finished machine quilting and binding one of the 2 for my mom for Mother's Day. It turned out so cute, I love it. I am definitely going to keep the other for myself. I did a darker green (like a grass green) on the back of her quilt, and will be putting a darker purple on mine. Sorry, no finished pictures, I tried killing another camera. I had a water bottle pop open in my bag and spill almost 2 cups of water in my purse, soaking my camera. Luckily, I was able to save it by placing it in a bag of rice (open, take out battery and SD card) and it works again. It just wasn't available on Sunday when I finally finished and rushed out the door to visit my mom. I'll post pictures when I finish the next one.

I ended up cutting 6" strips, 72" long, taking 1/2" seam allowances, making each strip 5" finished. I quilted it on my little home sewing machine by pinning like crazy (~400 pins), rolling up the ends to start in the middle, and doing a wavy line down each seam. It took a lot longer than I ever thought it would, but it turned out perfect. Now my mom has a picnic quilt to take to the park with grandkids in her new wagon (Mother's Day gift from me and my siblings).

I firmly believe every one needs to play. Not just little kids. Adults, too. Hubby would agree. He's the first to tell you he's just a big kid. He likes to play outside, especially in the dirt. In fact, we're heading to Moab to play jeep safari.

So, what do you like to do to play?