A corned beef awaits the pot tomorrow, plus the traditional cabbage and carrots. A loaf of soda bread is to be baked this evening in preparation for St. Patrick's Day.
Malachi got into the green mood by lying on the green side of his quilt today. He enjoyed the bright color, and shared some space with me while I got out my mandolin and practiced Little Red Haired Boy. 
If I am very lucky, and stay up very late, I will even have a new green skirt to wear tomorrow. The fabric is a beautiful green-on-green shimmery stripe that right now is washing. Don't you hate it when you go to start a proejct, only to realize the fabric neatly stacked in your fabric bin has not been washed and dried yet? Grr. That was my lot today. And I had so carefully planned out this time to sew!
Oh well. I can practice Little Red Haired Boy more and work on an Irish accent to use tomorrow. And watch Rick Steve's Europe programs on Ireland and wish desperately that I was there.
Love,
Sarah
The pattern was very easy to make since the original rompers are a very basic shape. It was easy to see how the pieces should look and I measured the boys to get the right size. Judah and David both wear the same size (2/3T) but I had to cut the trousers on Judah's outfit just a bit shorter, since he is an inch or so shorter than his brother.
I used the same basic shapes for his pattern but I changed the trousers to be wider at the waist, leaving me room to make a few little box pleats at the top, and I made the legs a little narrower at the ankle. I also made them open at the crutch seam for easy diaper access and sewed the top and trousers together at the waist.
His outfit was made from an old maternity ensemble that had long since been worn out and stained. I used the good parts of the fabric and made his top from a blue shirt and the trousers/sleeve bands/collar from an old skirt. His applique is a wee teddy bear. (in passing, I never knew how fun appliques could be. I've never used them before and now I'm thinking of all sorts of uses for them!) 
Here are some pictures of my darlings wearing their new clothes today, so you can see them "in action". :)
I haven't had very much time for sewing beyond the odd hour or so in the afternoon when the boys nap lately. They've been keeping me quite busy! A few days ago they discovered the 25 lb. sugar sack in one of our cabinets and it is hard to keep them out of it. Little David likes to quietly get into and deposit quiet handfuls into a zippered cosmetic bag he acquired from the purse of his grandmother. Which lead to another problem I discovered over the weekend - ants in the boys room! Sugar deposits everywhere! A sweeping and scrubbing got rid of both - for now. Anyone know good ways to keep determined toddlers from opening a cabinet? Child safety locks last a few minutes at most! 
I had to hang it with stout quilting thread for the time being. David isn't sure where his clear fishing line is, so for now, you can tell it hangs from the ceiling. Hopefully we'll find the clear fishing line soon since I think that will make it look much better. I'm pretty happy with how mine came out, although its a bit more primitive looking than Meg's cheerful and whimsical one. Ack, that's just my personality I suppose. Dismal plaids and dark calicoes rather than bright prints and perky polka-dots! I hope the boys aren't too freaked out by the eyeless birds that gaze solemnly over their sleeping quarters.
And at night I can draw them across the window and they work effectively to keep people from seeing inside. Which is handy, since little David has become quite fond of Stripping and that is not something I want people to see if he happens to climb in his window before I find him out!
The boys room is not really a real bedroom. It is a closetless room off the kitchen. I think at one time it was a side porch since it sits a little lower than the kitchen and you have to step down into it from the kitchen. It doesn't have a door in the doorway and there is no closet. But it is large and roomy and has four windows and a door leading to the outside. We put a shelf in front of the door for the time being, to keep the toys up and to prevent people from wanting to use it as a door. The boys use the closet in my sewing room for their clothes so they have plenty of space to play on their floor.
As aforementioned, the boys like to yank pictures off of their walls. The things I *do* have up they thankfully haven't disturbed (yet). For a little decoration, David made each of them their names from some old wooden blocks. They sit on the top of each window. Since their are four windows, we have one apiece for David, Judah and Malachi. The last window has the word "Love". 
Here is a plaster mold I did of little David and Judah's feet last year. How much they have grown since then!
And a beautiful cross stitch that my friend 
From the ceiling, David suspended a planetary system with the central light fixture representing the sun. Here is my oh-so-naughty baby boy, climbing in his window to try to pull Uranus from orbit. Since the blinds are out of the windows, he finds the ledges very desirable and convenient to climb upon.
Judah knows when Little David is doing wrong. He is especially good at those times and especially attentive to me, as if to instill in my mind the superiority of his behaviour over that of his elder brother. "Look, Mama. I'M being good!" 
The Lincoln home is part of a group of period houses in a 4-block area that the national park service has bought and restored to 1860's period. It is a beautiful area and David and I enjoyed walking down the streets as we waited for our tour of the Lincoln home. It was cozy to be near each other and to pretend we lived in one of those houses and that we were out for an evening stroll with our baby. 
We studied each one to see which we liked the best.
We decided on this one, a stately yellow and green home with a large yard where the boys could run and play, just a few houses down from the Lincolns. 
As twilight grew near, our tour was called and many dozens of people had gathered in the street in front of the house, be-garbed and be-costumed and be-lighted with flashlights and lanterns, forming a vast parade in honor of Mr. Lincoln's birthday that snaked its way down the street and to the Old State Capital. While the well-wishers trekked off, our little tour group climbed the steps of the Lincoln home and entered.
the room where Lincoln received news of his presidential nomination ~ 
the dining room, arranged as if for supper.
One interesting thing I did learn on the tour (I have been on it before) was that the wallpaper in the Lincoln's bedroom was a copy of the actual wallpaper that really was in their bedroom. The brightly colored carpet on the floor clashed oddly with it, almost gaudy. But, out tour guide explained, that was a popular notion of the day. Harmony through contrast. I thought how well that explained the sometimes wild color combinations on original 1860's period clothing and accessories, even the colors in the print of a fabric from then.
As we exited the house, darkness had fallen. The street lights were on, illuminating the neighborhood in a dream-like glow. A little boy approached David and asked him, "are you really from the Civil War? Shouldn't you be really, really old?" 
We went then to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum for their period ball.
The other enormously wonderful thing was the birthday cake they had in the cafe for Abraham Lincoln. A 42-inch cheesecake, topped with a gingerbread fascimile of the Lincoln home. That was definitely the best cheesecake I've ever had in my life. I took a photo of the recipe, which I plan on somehow shrinking so I can make one for us here at home. The man who made the cheesecake also made things for our current president and former President Clinton's inaguartion dinners. . .he is definitely very, very good at what he does. 
Before we left, we walked through the museum exhibits. The corriders were quite bare and it was very quiet and still. It was almost creepy to see the life-like silicone figures, which I wasn't able to take pictures of since photos aren't allowed in the exhibit areas! DO go to the museum if you are ever able to! It's an amazing experience!
And here is David and the gentlemen who compose the medical unit ~
And here are we ~
As we hurried out into the chilly night, we were stopped by one more person right before we reached the parking deck. A lady got out of her car and hurried over to us, asking to take our picture so she could show her children!