make their day

Thursday 

would have been the birthday 

of co-worker and good friend of Tyler's,

except that

he died about 15 years ago.

In honor of Wayne,

Tyler had encouraged his team at work

to 'make someone's day'.

I thought I'd do the same here at home.

I didn't make his day,

But I shopped for almost 2 hours 

trying to find the perfect socks for Brandon for his interview.

I failed.

But after going everywhere I could think of to go,

I came home with an 'at least snazzier than black' pair...

I let Jeremiah have the leftover steak in the fridge,

Which may not seem like a big deal at all,

but the boy loves food.

And I love leftover steak.

so the sacrifice was great...

(not that making someone's day requires sacrifice.

But it could.)

Again, not a exactly a day maker,

but a purposeful gesture, at least.

Josiah

got to make dinner.

Yes, it helped the family (and me!)

but it also earned him lots of praise.

And he got to cook,

which he loves.

Still probably not quite a home run in the 

make their day game though.

But the girls.

I did manage to truly make the girls' day(s).

I taught them, one at a time,

(ever. so. patiently.)

how to sew on the machine.

First, they started out practicing sewing straight,

using some cast off fabric pieces,

using the edge of their presser foot as the guide.

if you look closely, you can see how straight her stitching lines are

After a half hour or so of that,

 they practiced stitching on straight lines

and then

curvy lines,

by lining their needle up with their drawn line.

A few minutes of that,
and Lexi was wanting to learn how to 'swirl'.

(free motion quilt)

I reminded her that she was just barely 7,

and this was her first time at the machine solo,

and she probably wasn't ready for that quite yet.

So she tried to create swirls with a regular foot

and lots of starts and stops and turns...

By the time Tyler got home, 

I was so worn out from 

attempting to make the kids' days,

I had nothing left to make his :-(

(although - I  did buy him a couple of pairs of snazzy socks, too)

But - we've got a date this Friday :-)

Maybe I can make his day then ;-)