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Giant Floor Pillows

Published on by poolepartyof55 Comments

So I was wandering the intoxicating halls of Pinterest the other day and came upon the neat project of sewing giant floor pillows.  Since my children adore all things associated with forts and pillows, this seemed right up our alley!  I am envisioning using these goodies for cozy movie nights, pig piles and all things requiring a bit of cushioning… The awesomely graphic fabrics make them even better!  The directions and inspiration are found on Mandy Made’s creative blog and I’m sure you will find all sorts of other things you want to make once you take a stroll through her pages!

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I loved the idea of how simple this project looked and couldn’t wait to begin.  I happened to have some home decor weight canvas hanging about, just waiting for the right project!  As I began this project, I felt like Mandy’s directions were very good and nicely simple.  I had a little trouble getting the corners just right, but I still think the pillows turned out well.  I made two giant cushions; one following Mandy’s plan of using scraps to fill the pillow (#1, grey with white sides) and one with a little more structure using a foam rectangle covered in batting (#2, yellow with grey sides).  If I make more (which I will, since I have three children and currently two coveted pillows), I will follow the second strategy.  I like that pillow #2 ended up a lighter in weight and more reliably full.  We’ll see if I end up remaking pillow #1, or leave it as is.

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I also worked on a different closing method on pillow #2, as I realized that it would be nice to to wash the exterior case.  In a house with three kids and a dog who has a penchant for all things soft (and a tendency to shed), these will need to be washed periodically!  I ended up using an iron-on velcro closure, which worked like a charm!

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The best part about these pillows is I had barely finished closing pillow #2 before the cushions were being put to use in a serious play session!  The kids could not keep off of them, as evidenced by these photos (below).  I could barely take a picture before the pig piles began!  A true sign of success!

Happy Pillow Making!!

Love Note to Our Nanny

Published on by poolepartyof52 Comments

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About a year ago, life changed in a big way for our family.  No, I am not talking about the birth of our daughter… well, one thing led to another, I suppose.  No, I am talking about the addition of a nanny to our family unit.

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While pregnant with Tatum, it was clear to me that if another chickadee was going to join the nest, this mama needed some help!  Still, I was reluctant to ask for assistance, and even more reluctant to really want another person floating around in our midst.  Although this person was only going to work part-time for us, being a stay-at-home mom, I realized I would need to like this individual, as well as respect him or her.

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As a first step, we enlisted the help of a tried and true nanny placement service to help us find our very own Mary Poppins.  We went about our search, meeting various people who looked great on paper, realizing that no matter how great someone’s resume was, we were looking for someone who would just “click” with our family.  I had been advised by a veteran-nanny-searching-parent that “with the right person, it won’t feel strange to have someone in your home”.  So, like finding a mate, chemistry obviously plays a big part in finding a nanny.  After a few missed connections with nannies from the service, I began to wonder if we would, in fact, find someone.  Already the baby was born and we were still searching with no great leads on the horizon… Then, as luck or fate would have it, the perfect person fell into our life at the perfect time.  We spent a few weeks gingerly feeling around the edges of this new relationship, wondering if this person might like us as much as we liked her.  Thankfully, the rest is history.

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Dear Andrea,

We think you are wonderful and feel so lucky to know you.  Thank you for all that you do to keep our family moving forward.  You are flexible and kind and have mixed right into our chaos.  You add order to our mess and fun to our routine.  Because of you, I know my way around our ironing board (whereas before I didn’t even know where it was).  Our laundry is washed, folded, and put away (often on the same day)!  You are the extra set of hands that allow me to hold my baby and not feel guilty that the dishes haven’t been done.  You are the board that I bounce ideas off of and you keep me accountable with all the projects I take on.  Your refreshingly frank nature means that you usually mention if you think my methods could use a little tweaking.  You are teaching me that it is okay to ask for help.  I trust, respect, and like you… The kids love you.  We love you.  Thank you.  You don’t know how much this means to our family.

Love, The Poole Family

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This has been a pivotal year for all of us.  It speaks to growth, change, and adaptability.  Our family is larger now, not by one, but by two.  This is not a forever situation.  There will come a day (sooner than I would like), when our nanny will move on with her own life.  The relationship will change, but my hope is that she will stay a part of our family.  By total chance, we found someone who has grown to love us as much as we love her.  We feel so lucky.

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