Happy Birthday!

I saw this on someone else's blog. I cannot remember who, but I just need to say that I took this exact design from someone else (although I did add the initial). It was my first time using interfacing and applique-ish type techniques but it turned out pretty well I think! I ended up using a shirt with a small design on it because there were no solid t-shirts. But with some strategic placing of the petals, it was back to a plain slate. This is a shirt for a little girl down the street. Her dad and DaddyMan are co-workers, so although we aren't technically "friends", the fact that they live four houses away means we got invited to her 2nd birthday party. They also just had another little girl a month ago. I haven't seen her yet but of course I'm making her a matching onesie! I hope to have that done tomorrow but for now, I think this is really cute!

ps. I delivered a freezer meal and gift to my friend today! That one is officially scratched off my list. Finally!

Belly Laughs

Three started laughing today! I think I've mentioned that One is Three's absolute favorite. Even from day one, One's face was the one he would focus on the most. He'll smile at One's picture in his who-loves-baby book but just look at the others. Well, today One walks in the door and Three starts laughing! Completely out of the blue! It was the cutest thing ever! So One comes over and starts fake laughing himself and it just got Three going. These little giggles turned into shrieks and full out belly laughs. It was such a great moment.

And Three has also started touching my face. He spreads his little fingers out and puts them on my cheek and just looks at me.... It's like he's really looking at me for the first time. Of course, sometimes it feels like he's gouging my eye out - so we're still working on the aim. I am so in love!

Here's me and Three in the sling I finally fixed. My seam ripper hasn't got such a workout in quite a long time! But I needed to exchange the rings I started with for bigger ones and now it's so much easier to adjust. I got these rings at ACE hard wear but this is a much better deal (even considering shipping). I LOVE LOVE the fabric but what a bad angle to take a picture! Ugh. Please forgive me. I couldn't get the fabric in the picture otherwise (although I certainly looked much better! )

The old stand-by

So many crafts have fallen through. I have so many things that need to be done. I decided to go to my old stand-by for my friend's baby SK.3, due any day now. It is the everything gift. A burp cloth, a changing pad, a lap blanket for the carseat or stroller, a lovie....whatever you want it to be! It's just fabric of your choice (a fat quarter will make two) and chenille. You could also use flannel. If you don't want to make your own, a friend of mine has some for sale here.

Growing up

One had his first real play date today. Such a big moment in his life and mine. We have known this family for several years and were so happy that our boys would go to school together. Would have a familiar face on that first day of kindergarten. Anyway, One called me to let me know he went home with MN.1 like he was supposed to (thank you for having him do that!) and I gave him the whole "have fun, be good" talk. Yeah, yeah mom. One's big concern was that he didn't have his cub scout shirt for tonight. So, after promising that I would send the shirt with DaddyMan, One couldn't get off the phone fast enough. Can't imagine why he would want to play with his friend more than he would want to talk to me...

Word has it that they got ice cream after school for a snack. :o)

But I did finally get that picture of the kids that I meant to get on Sunday. Tonight at story time...


Two got tired of taking pictures and opened her book...


Three thought it looked so yummy, he wanted to try it!


Of course he did! Check out what book it was. This favorite from my childhood. And I just love the laughter in the big kids' faces. It is my greatest hope that they always feel this close to each other.

Muffin Tin Monday

(Clockwise from top left: saltine crackers, grilled cheese, grilled cheese,
tomato soup, applesauce, and salad)

Muffin Tin Monday is something we have just really run with. The kids absolutely love it! They take turns helping me cook every night but it is especially fantastic to get to help on muffin tin monday. Who knew? And we have to get creative to fill all the tins. That means throwing in chunks of cheese or opening a can of olives.... but tonight One had his own plan for filling up the tins....salad! I have never made such a miniature salad but it was great. And there is just something about an iceburg lettuce salad that screams crunched up saltines on top! Maybe it's my southern beginnings, but oh my! Not many things could taste better!

Catch-up

Oh my! What a crazy past few days we've had! I realized after the kids went to bed that I didn't get a picture of them all today. Oh well, it's just another thing on my list that I'm behind on.

Soooo, to catch up...

Saturday, One and I went on a date to get his Cub Scout uniform. Waaay more pricey than I was thinking, but considering Cub Scouts is essentially free, I guess it all balances out. But One must be growing! He almost ate us out of house and home that day. He better not be trying to grow out of his uniform!

And One is feeling left out of the sewing fun and asked me to make him something. We came up with "Dark Vader" pajama pants and went to Joann's where he could pick out the perfect fabric, which ended up being solid black cotton. One more thing on my list but I know he'll love it.

Two has been feeling sick these last few days. A very weird illness where she would feel very icky in the morning but usually end up feeling back to normal by lunch-ish. We've been doing lots of snuggling. One morning she just knew she was going to throw up. I got her a bowl, which she put up to her face and then immediately fell asleep! Like any good mother, I, of course, took a picture.


That night she had her first accident ever. (TMI WARNING!!!) It was after 11pm and she woke up to go to the bathroom but didn't quite make it. Poor girl thinks she peed her pants but as all of us moms know, just because it's liquid, doesn't mean it's pee... Ugh. And of course all she wanted was for me to pick her up and hold her. It was so disgusting but you know I did it. Now that's true love. But, she woke up this morning perky as all get-out so whatever it was has passed!

Earlier in the week I had made some felt hearts. I'm playing around with colors because I'd really like to make something valentine-y for the mantel, but these hearts were teeny and I ended up turning them into hair bows. And then, when I had my bow-making materials out, I was inspired to whip out some big bows. Because what do you do when your daughter doesn't always want to wear hair bows? You make bigger bows!


Two wore the big purple one today and it was adorable!

And then this afternoon, I had my girls small group. Or what used to be my girls small group. Remember being a teenage girl? Yes, well two of my (three) girls are not getting along at the moment, so neither one will come for fear that the other might be there.... which leaves just me and one girl. We have been knitting and I have gotten pretty far on the scarf I am making for my aunt that was just visiting.

But, tomorrow I have a play date with my friend who's baby is due soon. Remember this that never happened? Yes, well I had big plans to sew this adorable toy that I saw in a book. And make her a meal to eat or freeze. Do I have all of the ingredients? No. Is the fabric dry to begin cutting? No. Oh well. I still have a few more weeks and besides, her ulterior motive is really to get her hands on my bebe au lait nursing cover so she can figure out how to make one of her own. Now that I can handle. Maybe she could do a tutorial?

So, sorry for the lame post. I hope to get back on track this week. I don't know if anyone even reads my blog to notice that I haven't been around but I am really loving doing it.

Junior High Flashback

I took a sewing class last night! Through my fabulous park and recreation department. It was so fun! I can make just about anything with my machine.....as long as it only requires a straight stitch, but OH MY GOODNESS!!! Now I can zig-zag, I can do ALL of the decorative stitches that my machine offers....wow. Love it! I learned so many random, helpful things, but the teacher had those little 4x4 scraps to practice our stitches on and it took me right back to 8th grade home ec!

Funny thing though, I also learned that I have a vintage machine! Now, I knew it was old, but vintage? Really? I bought it second-hand from a dear lady at my church during my senior year of high school (almost 12 yrs ago). I think I paid $150 for it, which I know was such a deal, but I had to make payments on it in order to afford it.

So here's my machine. A 1969 Viking Husqvarna, series 6010. It was top-of-the-line in its day and is still in perfect condition.


I love it so much! I think I might need to name it. Gertrude? Trudy? Hmmm.

But it's such a funny story of how it came to be available. See, this lovely woman at my church was married to a rather nerdy kind of guy (hmmmm, much like DaddyMan, now that I think of it). Anyway, I guess this husband kept talking about getting a new computer and Lovely Church Woman threatened that if he ever came home with a new computer, she was going to go out to buy a new sewing machine! Well, this went on for several years until one day, he came home with a new computer and that was that. New machine for Lovely Church Woman and fantastic opportunity for me! Funny thing is, my mom spoke with this woman in the last few months and the woman spoke longingly about her/my machine and how she wished she had it back because her new fandangled machine, with all it's fanciness, just couldn't compete.

I guess it's true, they just don't make them like they used to. But there's not a chance in the world that she's getting her hands back on MY machine! :o)

Unfortunately though, no crafting has gone on today. Two is coming off of a sickness, got up waaay too early this morning, and has been cranky and tired and needy all day. And Three has decided that he really needs to be held while he is sleeping. So I spent the day loving on my babies and letting everything else fall away. Because as much as I do love crafting, I love my babies more and hope I will never turn down an opportunity for a little snuggling. Even if they're sick. (Hey, you get it where you can!)

Brightening my world

How easy do you think it is for me to find my phone in my big black-hole-of-a-purse when it's ringing and I'm in the middle of a group of people wishing I had picked a different ringtone or least not chosen to have it ring so loud that I really, really try to get to it quickly? Not easy at all! I've gone into the phone store looking for a different cover but all they have are little rubber edges (don't you love my technical lingo?) to put on it. But then it wouldn't fit in its case and oh yeah, did I mention they're like 30 bucks? What's a girl to do?

Welllllllllllll, this girl took a new look at the leftovers of the used-to-be-tights-but-are-now-legwarmers from the other day and went, ah ha! I sewed a little cozy out of one of the hips of the tights and I love it!

Who's gonna answer her phone a little bit faster from now on? Now about that ringtone....

It's like we were there!

Only we weren't! And aren't I glad? You betcha! Keeping track of three little ones in that crowd sounds like a nightmare, and that's not even considering the whole bathroom situation! But how much fun did it look like when the people started walking on the frozen reflection pond when the inauguration was over? You know that's like a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing. I bet if you went to go do that next week, you might get a ticket or something, but 1.4 million people? What can they do?

But what a fantastic day! I wonder if my kids will remember or even understand the magnitude of it all? I know I don't get it as much as the previous generations do. So maybe it's a good thing that they won't get what a big deal this was. Maybe they'll look back and wonder how it could have ever been otherwise.

the "lellow" un-80's

If you know anything about Two, you probably know her favorite color is LELLOW!!! For a surprising two years now! Did I tell you she's not even 4? We're talking half of her life here. Amazing. Not so long ago I saw a tutorial for a pillowcase skirt and at a recent trip to my favorite store (Goodwill, you really should know that), you know I was looking through the pillowcases. Well, how could I pass up a yellow pillowcase? You know I couldn't! So today, this pillowcase became a cute skirt. And....for the big finish.....a too short pair of tights (a la Target-a-few-years-ago), became....wait for it....leg warmers! Oh my! Two loves them! A little girl in her ballet class wore leg warmers last week and that was that! She had to have some.

I have a sweater that I had planned on chopping up to make her leg warmers (yellow, of course) but as I was going through old clothes to pass on, I came upon these 24 mos tights. It was an ah-ha moment, I tell you! Of course all leg warmers are easy to make, but my big concern was how I'd make them stay up. With old tights, it was perfect! And best of all, these didn't fray! I don't promise that with all knit tights, so make sure you test first, but cutting up tights and then you're done? I'm not sure it could get any easier!

Sunday Love

Round Two

I'm having such a great time with my aunt in town that I didn't get a chance to post this yesterday, but we made a second batch of the heart crayons. My aunt, my kids, and me. It was awesome! She's always been my favorite aunt and I'm so glad that my children are getting to love her too. We took out the darker colors this time. These are RoseArt crayons that I found half-price at OfficeMax - score! One more batch and I should have enough for One's entire kindergarten class. The kids really love this one.