Takin a break

I know I just got back but I'm feeling overwhelmed with all there is to do this week to get ready for the big Turkey day. So I'll be back in a week or so. Have a fabulous Thanksgiving all and count your blessings!

Fooled Ya!

So remember that post a couple weeks ago that said I was back? Hmmmm, apparently not so much. Last week my mom was in town and so I didn't take any time to blog because it would have been precious time away from hanging out with her. We had lots of fun despite not doing much. And this week I've had to begin dealing with the terrible twos. And you know what? All those mom's were right, it's not exclusive to two-year olds. Because my lil pumpkin is only 17 months and it was literally like someone flipped a switch last week and she has become a whole new, toy throwin, tantrum-havin, ball of shrieks and tears. I mean really. Last week I said "Sorry, that is mommy's sewing ruler, you can't play with it okay?" to which she responded "O-kay." This week the same uttering from me was met with a glass-shattering scream followed by moans of despair as she collapsed onto the floor. She put everything she had into that collapse and as a result bonked her head on the tile which set off a whole new series of the shrieks. And did I mention she wants to be held 24 hours a day, by me and only me? Yep. And don't get me wrong, I love to hold and snuggle my little one but I also love to have clean laundry, clean dishes and a balanced checkbook and so I occasionally must decline the request to "hold you" and face the consequences. Trust me, they are severe.

So all of that and the fact that I spent a large chunk of time on this little project

(got the pattern here) ate up my week and here we are Thursday posting for the first time. Feel free to show your empathy for my tantrum blues in the comments. And also feel free to tell me how the rest of y'all are able to get your text to wrap around your picture. I'm clueless!

Voodoo, A Yummy Apology, and Zitcream

So I'm working on this little gift I'm giving out to neighbors and church friends for the holidays (picture to come) and I needed some cool-looking fonts, which as you know do not exist in Word. So I searched the internet (as I always do when I have a dilemna) and lo and behold you can download all kinds of fun and crazy fonts for FREE and use them in your already existing programs like Word! I know, there are some of you reading this (okay, let's be honest, only about one person ever reads this) thinking "hello! welcome to the 21st century!" who have probably been using these fonts since before man stood upright (I swear it feels like I'm that far behind in the technology department sometimes...anyone ever heard of a wheel?) but for me this is a new thing and I'm giddy with excitement about it. Just think of all the things I can create now that I am not stifled in the font department: signs, t-shirts, little sayings to put on boards to put in my house (okay, to be real I currently have no boards hanging in my house but who knows what kind of inspiration this new discovery will bring), labels for.....stuff, I mean the possibilities are endless. Granted I could have technically created all of these things before but they would not have been nearly as COOL! I feel like a whole new world has opened to me. (Just in case your still wondering what the crap that title is, google them with the word font behind it.....you're in for a treat.)

The Laundry Chronicles - weekly edition

I was off to such a good start. And by that I mean that I actually put the laundry away for a whole week. But the baskets are back, at the foot of my bed, full of laundry that is waiting to go home to the drawers and hangers where it belongs. And even though I'm constantly telling hubs to back off about my lack of laundry savvy, even I have to admit that it gets old having to dig through mismatched socks and stacks of towels for that one thing you know is there somewhere. Its frustrating to the point of wanting to pour the whole dang basket out onto the floor; that would sure make the search easier, but then you're back to square one as far as the whole "getting the laundry put away" thing goes. It's a vicious cycle I tell you.

But enough of the negative nancy, wanna hear about one of my laundry room successes? Yes I do occasionally have them.....very, very occasionally! It's that age old "the dryer ate my other sock" problem. So, I got a little basket and put it on the shelf in my laundry room and everytime I fold clothes (folding is my forte), and end up with odd socks I toss them in that basket. And twice, that's right--count 'em one, two--twice this week I have gone to the basket and created a perfect pair. I feel like the old matchmaker herself. Now before you start sending me your bachelor sons to find wives for, let me get a few more weeks under my belt with the socks. But I'm pretty excited about this if I do say so myself, and I do.

Until next time, happy folding.

Take Time to Read

Something that has always been important to me and that my mom did a very good job of showing me the importance of is reading. I am obsessed with reading. I love a good book, I love that I'm able to increase my knowledge and understanding of things just by using my library card, I love being able to spend a few minutes each day away from all the stresses of my life and focused on the lives of the characters in whatever I happen to be reading at the time. When I was little I remember my mom having to limit the amount of time I was allowed to read each night before bed of I would have stayed up until midnight at the age of six. I was never one of those kids who struggled to complete those daily 20 minutes of reading assignments. When I was in middle school, I would read whatever my mom was reading which at that time was a lot of mysteries. She also had a subscription to the Reader's Digest and I remember having battles with her over it. Whichever of us got the mail that day would sneak it into our room trying not to be discovered. If I realized that it was past the time it should have been delivered, I would sometimes go into my mom's room and look under her pillow and slip it away into my own bed. It was a fun game that we played because we were always looking for some new written word to be devoured.

This passion for reading and learning is something that I want to pass on to my own daughter. Something that I do to accomplish this is make sure to read to her everyday. Right now it's a part of our bedtime routine and I always read her a book or two before bed. Sometimes I have to remind myself to do it. Other times it turns into neat family time as my husband and I sit down with her and a pile of books to go through together. We let her turn the pages and point out the pictures that she knows the words for. We use silly voices and rhythms and try to get her involved as much as possible. And it appears to be working. She would rather play with books than with almost any other toy. And in fact, the other day I brought home a child-sized recliner/rocker which is to be her Christmas gift. I set it down to go look for a place to put it until December and came out to find her sitting in it with her blanket on her lap and a book in her hands, babbling away as she turned the pages.

So the next time you have a few minutes with your kids without anything to do, pick up a book, a magazine, and advertisement and take time to read with them! For more ideas of ways to spend quality time with your family, visit Family Moment Monday at Motherhood for Dummies.

You know you're a mom when........

you have nothing to feed your daughter (okay, granted the fact that you have a daughter is the first clue that you're a mom but bear with me here) for lunch and then you find a hot dog and some tortillas and the brilliant idea comes into your head to make a hot dog and cheese quesadilla. And then before you know it, that hd&c quesadilla starts to look pretty good so you have one yourself. You actually sit down (okay, you just lean against the counter, who has time for sitting down?) and eat a hot dog and cheese lightly grilled inside a tortilla. And you know what? It's not bad. Well it's either not bad or you've been running around the whole day like a crazy man and haven't eaten anything so at this point cinnamon flavored dirt would taste like a 5 star meal. Yep, that's how you know. You're a mom. Isn't it great?! :)

Susie Seamstress

So I got a sewing machine for Christmas a couple years ago from my mother-in-law at my request and then it sat in a closet, in a box for over a year. Then my friend had a baby and I decided it was time to bust it out and I completed my first baby quilt unassisted (well my mom did provide some technical assistance via the phone) which basically means I tied it and bound it. In the past I would pick out the material, put it on frames and tie it and then hand it to my mom the next time I saw her and offer to trade a bathroom cleaning for an hour of her sitting at the the sewing machine to "finish it" for me. But this one I did on my own, there are many boo-boos throughout the quilt to prove it.

And since then, I've been bit by the sewing bug and I keep getting these urges to be all domestic and stuff and well, sew things. I am by no means a pro; in fact I'm barely to the point of allowing my completed projects to be viewed with the light on. But because I love ya so much I've decided to show you some of the things I've completed recently. You don't even have to turn off the light!


Front and back of a baby quilt for my new niece Lucy.


My first attempt at baby burp rags with towel fabric on the back. Yes I am aware that they are not even rectangles. Thanks for pointing that out.


A queen size quilt I made as a going away present for my friend Monica. Grams helped me tie it and Gramps helped tack it to the frames so I made them be in the picture. Aren't they cute?


A very tired Pumpkin modeling my most recent project: a kids size apron. That right there is the first ruffle I've ever done. Don't look too closely.

So that is some of the stuff I've been up to lately. Now I'm planning out all my homemade Christmas gifts. We'll see what unfolds. (Note: I am fully aware that I stink at putting up photos on here and making them look all nice and cool with the text that goes around them and such. It's on my to-do list to improve in this area. At this point I'm lucky that there are pictures on the blog. So bear with me!)