Swap Jackpot

My my my.

I really did hit the swap jackpot ... again.

I have been so fortunate to have had such positive experiences swapping; the Kitchen Swap hosted by Terri was no exception. I was lucky enough to be matched up with Mary Grace who can not only sew, knit, and crochet but she has bunches of tutorials (some with video!). I have spent more time than I should have on the computer checking out her blog. Have you ever heard of Tunisian crochet? The finished look is really cool and Mary Grace was generous enough to have several how-to's on her blog (just click the 'crochet' on the right side and it will lead you to the list of tutorials).

Well, with out further ado ... here's the loot:

A recycled jeans apron. Here's the back story. Awesome eh?

Two Tunisian crocheted dishcloths and a nylon scrubbie. It's safe to say that my dishes will be sparkling clean now!

Did you see the cute ribbon at the top of the post and the recipes - man am I spoiled. You will have to wait until Mary Grace gets her goodies before I post them ... don't want to ruin the surprise. I will say this - great minds think alike ;-)

Land Of The Living

Oh boy. Where has the time gone. May has seemed a blur. I was ill prepared for all the commitments I had; both to myself and to others. I don't like that feeling. Not one bit. I am really disappointed that I didn't sew anything for myself. So much for May(d) for Me she grumbles and mumbles.

Rereading that first paragraph sounds really negative and whinny. Sorry about that. It has been a bit overwhelming of a month. Such is life. The sun still rises and sets whether you are ready for it or not ... and that's OK. Your laundry will still be waiting for you tomorrow (or the day after that ... or after that!). Dinner does need to be made even if it's mustgo (everything must go from the the fridge/freezer). The last day of preschool school comes before you (and your boys) are ready for it to.

The terrapin in your front yard doesn't care if your furniture is dusty. He is just plodding along ... any bunnies he runs into won't be the ones on the floor in your house!

The snapdragons you planted that hadn't bloomed don't care if they aren't the same color. Their mixed blooms are beautiful together.

The lizards (there were two) don't care if there are plastic toys covering your back porch and more sand out of the box than in. They are small and quick ... and as we discovered, can scale walls like Spider Man.

And the teachers gifts you cranked out at the last minute are only a mere token of the love and affection you feel towards those who helped you be a better mommy by giving you a safe and happy place to leave your children while you did laundry, dusted, and prepared mustgo.

I just thought I would pop in and let you know that I am indeed among the land of the living. More about the totes, some swap goodies, and my defunct skirt later. Off to write my post for Turn the page ... Tuesday for June 2nd - hope you join me!

Intermission

After the break I promise some sewing goodness. You won't want to miss the show!

Oh ... and BYOPC (bring your own pop corn) ;-)

Skirting The Issue

I finished my skirt. Well, almost. I haven't hemmed it because it hangs sooo low; way lower than the last one (and I used the same pattern ... and no - believe you me I haven't lost any weight!). Perplexing. I am going to throw it in the wash one more time and see if it shrinks up a bit more. I vaguely remember that happening to my first skirt. If not, I'll have some alterations to do before hemming. arg.

All this hemming and hawing (I couldn't resist) to say, I haven't touched the two tops I want to make. My mind hasn't been clear (or my afternoons) to really get in and get going. A good excuse to avoid something difficult. sigh. I am determined to at least make one of the tops this month. Did I mention that I have two swaps (to sew for) and four teacher gifts to complete (and mail) by the end of the month. I also just picked up a great book (off my shelf) and now can't get my nose out of it. You will have to wait until Turn the Page ... Tuesday (June 2 - let me know if you are posting) to find out what it is :-P

Well. All this talk of what needs to be done (not to mention the never ending mounds of laundry!), I better stop skirting the issue and get going this morning. Coffee to make, mouths to feed, hugs and kisses to give, cleaning to be done ...

There is a light at the end of the tunnel!

I'm Still Counting ...

Blessings that is. Thank you all for your kind words. I knew you all would have me chuckling and not feeling so ... so ... so arg!!!! Friday was a much, much better day. I haven't made too much progress on my skirt for May(d) for Me - it seems as school is winding down for the boys everything is picking up.


I did manage to make a quick little drawstring bag for these teeny-tiny mini-con transformers that Henry got for his birthday ... 12 of them. oy.

Recognize the fabric?

I'm so predictable.

The tutorial was very easy to follow. The size she has you make (which is what I did) would make a nice little jewlery bag ... let's start thinking Christmas / teacher gifts! ;-) The only thing I did differently was make my own drawstring out of the red linen I used for John's hat.



Anywho; just thought I would let you know that I am indeed still alive. We have been eating bagels and english muffins for breakfast; the boys are still very health and strong; my mom quietly checked the DVD back in and then rechecked it out on my card to buy us some more time (literally) - meanwhile DH truely saved the day (and $30) by diassembling the DVD player and removing the disc (which is now safely back at the library ... the DVD and the player still work); I have regained full use of my neck, shoulder, and ankle; the McDonalds CD's somehow disappeared ... "I don't know" must have thrown them in the trash where they belonged; the straps on the stroller continue to be toddler proof (for now); and naptime is still my saving grace. (If needed, explaination here).

Count Your Blessings

• When the 'special' breakfast you made for your kids that took you 40 minutes to make turned out terrible ... at least we have food
• When your children tackled and body slammed each other WWE style all morning while you tried to clean up from the 'special' breakfast ... they are both healthy and strong
• When you cannot extract the library's DVD that is due today because the DVD player was knocked off the shelf the other day by "I don't know" ... your mother is the librarian who happened to check this out on her card and doesn't get charged the $1 per day late fee
• When you suddenly have a shooting pain in your shoulder/neck and can barely turn your head ... you can at least barley turn it
• When you have a huge knot on your shin from walking into the trash can and a nice bruise on your ankle from a 2 1/2 year old dropping his sippy cup on it ... you are now distracted from that pain by the pain in your shoulder/neck
• When you are counting on Happy Meal toys to keep your kids quite while you get your hair cut ... they give you music CD's instead and not another piece of plastic (ok - who am I kidding ... we needed more plastic today)
• When your 2 1/2 year old cries, whines, and tries to get out of the stroller while you get your hair cut ... the straps are still toddler proof
• When nap time comes and neither want to go to bed ... they fall fast asleep ~ and.it.is.quiet.

Work In Progress

So how are coming along? May(d) anything yet?

Sofa Diving

Huh?

So that is what was poking me during the movie the other night ...

Cha-ching.

MIA - now recovered. Returned to home base.

Mission Accomplished.

Small, Medium, & Super-sized

The big debut is here ... I've teased you with a few sneak peaks here and there - now the unveiling!

I just love how these turned out (despite my poor embroidery skills - ink marks show everywhere).

Making these reminded me of when I was young. You would make a card or an ash tray (gasp!) and paint it crazy-like and quite frankly it was the ugliest thing you've ever seen but mom {loved} it. I get that now. I {love} all the scribbled, stickered, glitter glued, buttoned pieces of paper ... rocks, acorns, walnuts, leaves, crumpled flowers, and unidentifiable objects my boys give me. I only have one stipulation - if it moves it stays outside ;-)

Now back to the ugliest thing you've ever made ... I don't feel that way about these at all - just wanted to clarify that. They just have that made imperfectly but with perfect love vibe. Henry picked the fabric too for each thinking of what each 'grandma' would like (spripes and orange brown - Amy Butler; paisley - Heather Bailey)

You may notice the size difference ... the super-sized one was the first one we did. He was so excited to be allowed to draw on fabric that he just got crazy with it. We decided it was a good magazine mark. The Medium one I directed him to stay with in the lines and the small one I used masking tape to create the border. He was a little disappointed that he didn't have room to draw a person but then decided that it was ok because grown ups don't need pictures - just words.

Here's the link to the Soule Mamma post that will take you to the directions. This is a freebie from her new book. A few suggestions ... it was difficult for Henry to draw on the fabric despite me taping the tar out of it. His penmanship is actually quite good for a five (FIVE!!!!) year old, but you wouldn't know it by these. Not a big deal, just don't expect precision. I kinda dig our medium size the best. Here are the finished sizes: small: 3 1/2" by 6 1/2" ~ medium: 4 1/4" by 7 1/4" ~ super-sized: 6" by 8 1/2".

We had so much fun making these ... I see a few more being made before mid-June ... DH, don't read too much into that ;-)

A Shout Out To All Women!

Here's a little something that it's in my Mom's Devotional Bible that I'd like to share. I think all women will appreciate and understand. This is for the mama's, aunties, sisters, cousins, teachers (you get the picture) who make a difference in child's life.

(PS - I won these flowers!!! Thank you Angela and Teleflora!)

Without Children

What a boring and depressing world this would be without children! Just think, there would be no need for lollipops, cotton candy or licorice. Ponies would be out of work. Amusement parks with carousels would be obsolete. Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny would have to retire. And nobody would care when a baby robin fell out of it's nest.

Infectious giggles would never be heard and "peek-a-boo" would disappear from the English language. If there were no children, who would make grandparents smile, who would play pat-a-cake, and who would try to whistle with crackers in his mouth? Balloons would never pop, milk would rarely spill, and sticky hands from chocolate bars would be a thing of the past.

Without children there would be no use for toy trains, dolls that walk and talk, or Jack-in-the-Box. Barney the Purple Dinosaur would have no one to hug, and Kermit the Frog would just turn green and die. Caterpillars wouldn't get stroked, and turtles would never get to sleep in the house. All in all, life would be a real drag.

Let's face it, children are the essence of life. They are joy and love personified.

~ On Raising Children by Mary Hollingsworth ~

Five

Today's the day.

Henry's five.

I'd say he's one happy little boy.

Riding off into the sunset already ...

Ok ... the sunrise - riding off into the sunrise. We were up early this morning ;-)

A Quickie

Just popping for a quick post. I finished this apron today. No pattern. Just kinda winged it.

One down for May(d) for Me. Ok. sorta. I've had this fabric for a least a year intending to make a birthday apron. I like aprons and I like birthdays so it make perfectly good sense to me at the time. Unfortunately I seemed to just put this on the back burner. I finally decided to get it done for this weekend; Henry is turning 5!!! How can that be? sigh.

Here's a close up.

The green gingham was my mom's from when I was little.

Ok. Gotta go clean my bathrooms for all the little boys who are going to make them dirty again ;-)

Deep Thoughs: Crayon Psychology

Broken and discarded ...

Sometimes we just need to shed some layers ...

We need to get down to the raw material and turn up the heat ...

To enable us to mend our hearts ...

And reach a little higher.

Turn The Page ... Tuesday

Before I give my big review I have some old business to take care of. I completely and totally flaked and forgot to announce the winner of my Thankful Things Swap book. Shame on me. And the winner is .... Jannza! Washington's Lady will soon be continuing her journey! I hope you enjoy.

And now on to the regular scheduled programing ...

I read this book almost a year ago and I plowed through it (pun intended). I was so inspired I wanted to immediately start our own garden, raise chickens, and live off the land entirely. No more big super stores for me. Well. The past year hasn't quite been like the fantasy that evolved while reading AMV but I sure did learn a lot from this book and have made some significant changes to our household.

Barbara Kingsolver documents (along with her husband and their daughters) one year of their life ~ living off of the land ~ buying as much locally (I think it was 100 or 150 mile radius) ~ raising poultry ~ and much much more. They share recipes, talk about their struggles in giving up foods that are not 'in season', and their journey to self sufficiency. They are funny, real, and incredibly resourceful while acknowledging a bit of monotony (there's a chapter on a squash conspiracy ... it will make you LOL).

Realistically, my family is not in the same place as they are. Her schedule is flexible: she is a writer and does have deadlines but it's mostly of her making. We are city dwellers with minimal land to plant, small children, and a few generations out from 'real gardening' ~ but that doesn't mean we can't still make some changes. They do an excellent job of helping the reader to become aware of the not only the financial cost of trucking produce across state lines but the environmental cost too. Kingsolver recognized that we all can't keep up at her pace - she encourages us to start right were we are; baby steps. Truth be told ... I still buy bananas but grow my own herbs and belong to a local food co-op. We are taking steps to have a garden ready for next spring; however, I am quite certain that the only turkeys we are ever gonna raise are my two boys!

We all can't be farmers, whether it be time or lack of a green thumb; but we all can begin to think locally. I think the back of the book says it best "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is an enthralling narrative that will open your eyes in a hundred new ways to an old truth: You are what you eat."

Before you clean out your fridge and head to your farmers market ... don't forget to visit these ladies for their Turn the Page ... Tuesday post (if I left anyone out just let me know) ~ happy reading!

Stacey

Jannza

Heather Jane

Carol

Paula

Handiwork

I was lead around by the cutest 2 1/2 year old I know ...

I got down right muddy (and sopping wet) planting flowers in the rain ...

I finished the gifts for Mother's Day (official pictures after the big day) ...

I read the directions for my peasant blouse - ok I know that was using my eyes but I held the directions in my hands (and took a deep breath - I'm afraid ~ what made me think I could actually make this top) ...

I washed some fabric to make an apron for this weekend's festivities (think fifteen five year olds, cake, juice boxes, and Transformers' games) ...

I hope your weekend was handy-dandy!

May(d) For Me - The List(s)

It's May first. You know what that means don't you? May(d) for Me has officially begun! You in? I hope so. Here's what I hope to accomplish this month in two parts - the wish list and the in a nap time list:

~ The Wish List ~

I've owned this pattern for a year - a YEAR! I've been too afraid to tackle it. I don't have the fabric picked out yet ... I'm going to make a muslin first (especially after my last experience).

My plan is to make the top first.

If all goes well - then the tunic.

I just got this pattern not too long ago and plan to use some of the fabric from this stash.

Again, I plan to make a muslin first. Wish me luck!

~ In A Nap Time ~

These are a few items that if my fabric is ready and the boys are down ... I would hope to be able to finish with a good 2 - 2 1/2 hour stretch.

• A skirt - any skirt - I bought a nice sea foam green linen that I could see as a cute A-Line
• Another Ta-Ta top. I've renamed the sweet chemise ;-) I am going to make a muslin for this one too ... a girl can never be too careful
• Anna Maria's smock (with a little twist ... stay tuned). I do love how Made By Rae made the back the front. I might have to do a little switch-a-roo too
• Another skirt - just in case I get stuck-frustrated-demoralized by any of the above listed items. I know I can make a skirt (and an apron - might just have to throw one of those in there too)

Well. That's a lot. Um. Like a whole lot. I might as well forget about cleaning my house, feeding my family, running errands, or sleeping ... he he. I'm curious to see what I actually accomplish. I'm a little afraid of the wish list but I'm gonna go for it. I hope you will step out of your comfort zone and try something new - something for you and you alone (and don't forget to post it on Flickr!).

Happy May Day!