Back to life...back to reality...

Well, life as a Stay-At-Home Momma abruptly came to an end last Friday, when I happened to call the human resource department for my district and they gave me a job. A full time job. A full time job starting Monday morning. What?! So yes, I am once again a teacher. I have to admit, I have missed it. There's something so energizing about 28 smiles greeting you in the morning. And while I am physically exhausted and miss my at-home babies, I think they may have needed a break from their momma too.

Case in point:
Liss, after 13 tiresome months, decided that she was capable of sleeping through the night after all. We're on day 8 in a row. Not only that, but she has taken 2 naps every day for the last week, and decided that it was OK to be weaned after all. She's up to 3 English words: hi, out, and ball; but she seems to be fluent in Dog.
Miles, after days and days of trying and failing, just up and decided that riding a two-wheeler is no big thing, and just took off today.

 I'm so torn about life right now. I had so many unfinished projects! (I'm SUCH a procrastinator!) So many places we were going to go! I hate seeing my babies grow up so fast in a week. But I know I've been called to teach and I truly believe that this job fell into my lap for a reason.  God, give me us the strength to manage and enjoy both jobs. September will be here before we know it, and I'll be able to take my babies to the zoo.

Big Reveal!

So I’ve had this problem for a little while now…

 My living room, even when “clean”, still looked like this:

 A horrendous, baby death-trap. Cords everywhere. DVDs that look like toys to a 12 month old. Sharp corners at eye level. And not very pretty to look at. I was cleaning up toys 24/7 and even when they were picked up, they were still there.

So my solution…
Driving through town one day, months ago, I spotted a really cool dresser out in front of the local thrift shop. I drove right past it. The next day, I admired it again. And again. This went on for about 5 days. I never stopped. And then one day it was gone. And then the regret set in. I’d been wanting a new entertainment center for a (long) while and that dresser was perfect! Oh well. Then, I was randomly browsing Craigslist one day and happened to click on a posting about a dresser. It was IDENTICAL to my thrift store regret!!! Somehow, (rather easily I might add) I convinced Josh that we needed this dresser and that I would refinish it. The next day we picked her up and brought her home. I set to work sanding, priming, and painting.

 So here’s the before and after!

No more cords, TONS of storage, and so much more me!! I LOVE it. All our DVDs fit in 1 drawer. There are 2 drawers for toys, 1 for CDs, 1 for cookbooks (since I have no kitchen storage either), and 2 that I haven’t decided on yet (maybe yarn??). Plus drawers for all the media stuff. I still don’t know what to do with the pictures. I kinda like them just sitting on top there.
And here’s the best part….

Fun, unexpected splash of color!! :)
Now I have some more work to do. The random oak side-table has got to go.

My newest treasure.

Just look at this beast! Isn’t she gorgeous?? Ok, maybe not. But I love her. All 81 inches of her.

Look at the detail on the cabinet doors! And they open up to reveal three more drawers. Love the storage of this thing!
 
I must admit though; she is beyond ugly. And totally not my style. But for 50 bucks, I couldn’t pass her up! Just wait until you see what I do to her! Muahahaha!

My new best friend.

I have to share about my new best friend.
I did this with it:

And this:

And this:

It’s called Picnik – online photo editing. Uh-mazing. And FREE!!! (Unless you want the SUPER-DEE-DUPER effects.)
Look at all these pretties I made with this website! All with my original photography.

Nice and vibrant and sharpened. Makes those buttons really POP!

I love this look and always wondered how photographers did it. Even my boring table looks amazing!

This would make some fantastic art! Can you believe those are the same buttons?
 
I love old looking photos. I even whitened my grout!
OK, so I’m probably the last person on earth to discover this site, but in case I’m not, there ya go! Picnik!

Summertime!

Well, Mister Sun has finally decided to shine down on us here in the valley. After a very cold May and beginning of June, the 95 degree weather is welcome, although I wouldn’t mine just a couple days of spring…

There’s nothing like a couple of six year olds, a slip and slide (thanks, Mom), and some dish soap on a hot day.

And to top it all off – chunky baby thighs in a swim suit? Nom, nom, nom! I could just eat her up!

   

So, what are you doing this summer?

Happy Birthday Lissy Bear!

  It has been 1 year since you graced this world with your  presence. 1 year since the doctor plopped this chubby, fuzzy, pink bundle into my arms and I breathed in your scent for the first time. 1 year since I fell in love all over again, so instantaneously.

So here’s a year in review for you to look back upon when you’re older, and actually care.
At 1 week you refused to nurse, so mama had to pump and bottle feed you. That, and changing nasty black diapers consumed my entire day for 2 weeks. You slept a lot and looked like an absolute angel.  At 8 days old, I caught you rolling over on camera! Everyone believes you to be a prodigy.

At 1 month, the colic had set in. Mom mastered the art of the Dudu Wrap. You screamed when we held you. You screamed when we rocked you. You screamed when we laid you down. You screamed when we bounced on the big ball ,and practically yelled SHHHHHHH. You calmed down ONLY when you were strapped to mom, walking the neighborhood, and listening to Jack Johnson. Jack still soothes you, just like it did brother. Someday, I’ll personally thank that man.

At 2 months, the smiles started appearing and it’s a good thing too. The morning dimples somehow made up for all the evening screaming. You were also getting really good at holding your ginormous head up.

By 3 months, you really came “alive.” I loved that you recognize your mama! You found your thumb and haven’t let go. Your silly little expressions became a source of great entertainment. We laughed that you sound like a little Pterodactyl. RAWR!

At 4 months, you had your first Halloween and dressed up as a cute little pumpkin. You also had your first taste of rice cereal. Nom, nom nom! You’re really ticklish and LOVE your brother – he seems to be the only one to make you laugh.

At 5 months, you got your first tooth. And your second. And your third. (Just when I thought the colic was over.) You also started sitting up on your own and you are so proud of yourself! You had your first Thanksgiving and tasted cranberry sauce! Yummy!

At 6 months, you started crawling. You usually ended up stuck underneath the couch because you couldn’t move forward. You celebrated your first Christmas and met lots of new family members. You also slept through the night. Once.

By 7 months, you had 5 teeth. You mastered crawling and decided you weren’t content with that, so you began pulling yourself up to stand, and started walking along furniture. Mom and Dad start frantically baby proofing.

At 8 months, you love our field trips. Especially the park. You could swing all day. You were made to fly. That scares mom.

By 9 months, you try walking on your own, taking steps here and there. You wave at familiar faces and your face lights up when daddy walks in. When you wake up at 3 am, you cry “mamamama,” and my heart melts, so I give in again.

At 10 months, we suddenly realize that it’s not a fight to put you to bed anymore! We go to visit the grammas and poppas up in Humboldt, and celebrate Gramma Kris’s birthday. We also celebrate your first Easter at Great Grandma and Great Grandpa’s house.

At 11 months, you are our joy. You run after Brother, squealing with delight. You jump up and down when I get you up from your nap. You nap! You say “Da-ee!” and clap your hands when you see daddy. You “woof woof” at the dogs and “pthhtttt” at the candles. You sleep through the night on occasion, and still like to snuggle when you don’t. You get your first fever and cuddle with mom for an entire day.

I am in awe that in such a short amount of time, you have grown so much. You’ve gone from a formless little creature to an independent, carefree, jubilant little girl. You fill my heart with joy, and sometimes my head with fear. I am anxious to see what you will become, but I know better now, than to take these precious moments for granted. Even today, as you cried and cried, not wanting to go to sleep, I held you, and rocked you, and breathed in your smell, knowing you will never be this small again. And then I tucked Jack Johnson under your door so you could fall to sleep.

Happy Birthday, baby!

Vote for ME!!!!

Well, for my shirt that is!

VOTE!

So one of my favoritist blogs, "Made by Rae" had a little spring top contest. It was some much-needed motivation to do some selfish sewing. I seriously hadn't sewn for myself since I was in the fourth (or so) grade and I made myself a fishy shirt with matching red hot pants...yeaaaah...
Don't mock me, I won first runner up at the county fair for those pants! I wish I had a picture!

So anyway, I made myself a couple tops from McCalls 5388. The first one, for practice, ended up being way too tight in the armpits.

It's funny, I actually really like this one. But see how it puckers in the armpits? Sad. :( I used some eyelet fabric that I bummed off of my mom on my last trip home. I think she had originally bought it with plans of a dress for me. That should tell you how old it is. It's 80's curtain fabric. I thought it would make great "practice fabric." Pretty hideous, until it's magically turned into a shirt! Then I loved it! 

So I tried again. This time with some pretty quilting fabric that I bought at JoAnn's for just this purpose. I adjusted the size of the pattern and redrew the armholes.

I love the pink and red polka-dots. And I love how my Grandma Dolly's red necklace looks with it. And I love the puffy sleeves. And I love the neckline. I think I love sewing for myself. :)


So vote for me! And I will love YOU forever!

"Bubblegum Happy"

kcwc: day 3-7 because I’m horrible at blogging with any sort of regularity.

But I did meet my goal! I worked on kids’ clothing for every day for at least an hour! Whoop! Unfortunately, I cannot show all of it, because some of it is super secret until Saturday after a certain someone’s baby shower. Here are a couple projects I can show you.

1) Freezer stenciling loveliness.
I think this is my new favorite project. Finally something that B actually likes too! As you can see by the fuzziness, he was really into his dino-tee.



Freezer stenciling is a really great way to bring new life to stained boring shirts. I have plans for lots more, but my printer ran out of ink and I’m not feeling the drawing skills right now.

2) Overalls for Liss.
I love love LOVE this fabric! Something I picked up at JoAnns. (I really need to start reading those selvages for fabric names!) And only my 2nd go at a pattern in my new sewing endeavors!

 

Ok, so maybe they’ll be overalls for NEXT summer. But cute, nonetheless.  Oh, did I tell you, she’s WALKING?! At 11 months! Ack!


And remember this??



 I’m really glad that I stopped with my kids clothes challenge for time to finish it! More details to come! :)

A Bicycle Built for Two…

I have REALLY been wanting to go out for a bike ride in the beautiful weather we’ve been having. Only problem?
This:

Yeah, that is what the seat of the infant rider looked like. Nasty. I think there was a creature living in the padding on the back. I didn’t take a picture to show you. Let’s just say, I was not about to put a baby in the thing. So I decided to make a new one. I couldn’t find any tutorials out there, so I made some step by steps. It was a super simple process, I don’t know why I didn’t do it sooner.
Materials:

• 1-2 yards of canvas or other sturdy material. I got a yard of 54” canvas from Walmart that worked just fine.
• 1 yard of fusible fleece. It really doesn’t have to be fusible, but it’s what I had, and made the project even easier.
• Thread

Process:
First, use your old nasty seat pad as a pattern. I traced it onto a double layer of fleece first, also marking the strap holes. In retrospect, you don’t need to mark the holes now, because they won’t show once its all turned. When you cut this out, allow for a seam allowance by cutting about a half inch outside of the line.

Do the same thing to a double layer of fabric. It kinda looks like an airplane, don’t you think?

Now iron your fleece pieces to your fabric pieces.

Pin your two assembled pieces, right sides together, and stitch, leaving about a two inch opening so that you can turn it right side out.

Don’t forget to notch your curves so it lays nice and flat. Here it is all turned right side out.

Next, I marked lines where the folds are, and topstitched those. It just makes it fold easier and fit into the seat better.

Now, mark and make your strap slits. I used my button hole foot for my machine.

Last thing, mattress stitch your 2 inch hole shut!

I also changed this:

To this:

And I included little loops, so I could attach a toy or cup, or whatever else. Knowing my daughter, she would throw anything she had out of the seat.
Unfortunately, we can’t go riding just yet. The infant helmet I thought I had, is nowhere to be found. Sigh…

But she’ll look sweet upon the seat of a bicycle built for two!

kcwc: day 2

Ok, I did, in all honesty, spend my 1 hour requirement on my kids clothes today- cut overalls for Liss and got some freezer paper stenciling done for B and a friend's new baby, but I have no pictures yet. I would have spent more time on it, but…

The Spring Top Sewalong deadline was extended!  ARGH!

So I HAD to finish the top I had originally planned on for the contest! Hooray! It actually fits! I call it: "Bubblegum Happy." Lame? Maybe. Anyway, I think there is going to be a reader's choice vote in the future, so stay tuned...maybe if my 3 followers will vote for me, I'll win. Hehe.

 

kcwc day 1:

Well, we’re off to a bumpy start. With all the things I had to do today, I didn’t get a whole lot done. And this one might be cheating, but it was a genuinely on my list, so I can now cross it off.

I now love this layered style of little boy shirts even more.  Here are a few of B’s cold weather shirts. Not bad- a little wrinkled, a few mud stains, but still fit! Last week we had a couple 90 degree days and so we were really digging for t-shirts that fit. Not many in there. So what’s a mama to do but get out her trusty Ginghers Fiskars?!

So I turned these:

To these:

Perfect for summer!  Of course, the wind kicked up today and it’s cold again…

Day 1 down…6 more to go! I’m hoping to have something more exciting to show tomorrow. :)

Kids Clothes Week!

Kids Clothes Week Challenge starts tomorrow! I'm-a-do-my-best to make something every day, although I admit I'll be cheating tomorrow, because it's my work day, AND the week of open house, AND staff meeting day, AND t-ball game, AND I'm snack mom...

Happy Mother’s Day!

I love this quote by Washington Irving:

“A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts.”

And since I can’t find a scanner, or even a decent picture of my best friend, Mommy, and I, here’s one of me and my loves.

What’s that you say? You like my shirt? Why, thank you! I made it myself!