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!)

All the blogs abuzz

All the blogs are abuzz today with reminders to get out there and vote. I scheduled today's post on Sunday and seeing as I had already taken part in early voting, the idea to put an election-related post on today totally slipped my mind. But after reading through several very thoughtful and appropriate posts like this one, I've decided to bump down the laundry chronicles and add my two cents and that is this: no matter where you stand on the issues, no matter who you like the best, no matter if you think none of the candidates are your very favorite, get yourself to the polls and vote. Because I have to agree with Scheiss Weekly on this one; if you don't vote, you forfeit all whining rights. And you also show a great deal of disrespect to all those people who came before us and fought so dang hard for the right!

The Laundry Chronicles - Weekly Edition

So any of you that read my blog on a regular basis (so basically, my sister) know that laundry is not my forte, passion, friend or anything that implies a positive attachment to it. In fact, I'll tell you what would have made getting my vote for President a whole lot easier: someone who was going to find some good "save the environment reason" for me to buy disposable clothes. Although I suppose that still wouldn't eliminate my least favorite part about the laundry process: putting it away. Bleck! Just thinking about it makes the anxiety start to bubble up in my stomach.

I've turned over a new leaf recently and have lists and lists and spreadsheets and spreadsheets of my daily/weekly/monthly/hourly tasks and what time I should carve out to complete them blah blah blah! And I have to admit that having a schedule put up on the wall looking all nice and neat and OCD-like has really lit a fire under me to accomplish accomplish accomplish those tasks so I can check them off. So the past two times that the laundry has gone through the washer and dryer, it has also gone through the folding process, back into the basket, and..........................wait for it.................INTO THE DRAWERS! That's right folks, it's been put away all nice and neat like I had hired a real professional or something. But here's the problem (and you knew there had to be one or there could be no more Laundry Chronicles). I have this overwhelming pile of laundry next to my bed that was thrown there and added to again and again before I completed this recent transformation and I'm having a hard time finding the time energy desire to do anything about it. It's like I don't want to go near it, like it's a part of my old life, the bad life, the one where I couldn't manage to put away the laundry and if I approach it and try to do something about it, surely all those feelings of guilt and failure (yes I AM being melodramatic) will just come flooding back. And we can't have that. Because that just might be enough to extinguish this tiny little flame that has been lit under me. So for now I guess I'll continue to close my eyes or turn my head when I walk past and pretend that it's not there. Is there such a thing as a laundry therapist? I have issues!

Family Moment Monday

The other day I was thinking about how rare it is that hubs and I together actually sit down and play with Pumpkin together. Usually it is him or I because one of us is entertaining her while the other one showers/gets ready/completes some task/gets food ready etc. But we always try to carve out some time every Monday night after hubs gets home from work that we designate specifically to spending time just the three of us. Usually it's about an hour and consists of singing a few songs and a few rounds of Ring Around the Rosies or Patty Cake. It's cute to see how excited Pumpkin gets when she realizes that we are both participating and one of us isn't running off to get something done. As she gets older we will be able to teach her things, play other games and even use it as time to discuss family activities/issues. I think the most important part now is to get ourselves into the habit of making time that is real, solid, "put everything else on the back burner for a minute", family together time!

For other ideas to use for family time, go to Motherhood for Dummies and check out Family Moment Monday.

SHE'S BAAAAAAAAACK!

So I am very aware that I have been somewhat absent as of late on here. However, I think I have figured out a way to keep up with posting and in the process rid myself of all those guilty feelings that come from not keeping up with posting. Ready for it??? Yeah it's nothing big and I'm not even gonna tell ya because it will reveal how technologically backwards I am sometimes. So stay tuned this week and see if I'm really as smart as I think I am. Now I think I'll go eat some leftover Halloween candy.........give myself something new to feel guilty about. :)