A Crochet I Will Go

Over Christmas break, I took up a new/old hobby. When I was 14 or so, I taught myself how to crochet. I love having a 'lap craft' to work on when watching tv or watching the kiddos play, and crochet is perfect for that! I can work on something, and it keeps me warm while I work!!! When I decided to take it up again, I wasn't very smart, and I only bought one skein of yarn. And yes, I ran out. There was enough of the yarn to turn it into a makeshift infinity scarf. I probably won't ever wear it, but whatevs. So, Christmas Eve day, I decided to do a really stupid thing. I went to Hobby Lobby. Yes, you read that correctly...on Christmas Eve day. What else was I supposed to do? I had no yarn, and they would be closed the following day. This time I bought 5 skeins of yarn. It was gone within four days. I went back and bought 6 more...there are only two and a half left, and it will more than likely not be enough. This is the current project with it though...

Pretty afghan, yah?

Quilting 101 Over and Done!

Saturday brought the last day of quilting class to my Mom and I. It was a bit of a catch-all on how to finish up a quilt project. We learned how to do sashing between rows; how to make binding and bind a finished quilt; how to lay out a quilt pattern on the quilt top (actual quilting, not piecing); how to stretch and baste the layers of the quilt; and we met a local professional quilter (check out her blog here) in case we would like to send our projects to her for machine quilting rather than hand-quilting them ourselves. It was a very involved and quick class. I hope I remember half of the things we went over! This is the sampler that I put together during our last four hours together for practice. Now I just have to sit down and practice, because I think I would like to hand-quilt a few small pieces. However, I may not be able to make consistent enough stitches, so we shall see!

More than Just Paper!

Heck fire, I am managing to post twice in one day! Unbelievable!!! I was really hoping to have time to do this one, because we did a really fun craft this afternoon and you guys just have to see it!

Loo has been asking for days what our craft would be this weekend, and I was really drawing a blank. It's time for fall crafts, but my brain wasn't functioning quite right to come up with anything. As I was falling asleep Friday night, it came to me. My sister-in-law had made this really cute whimsical art piece by cutting scraps of scrapbooking paper into shapes and she put it on a bright sheet of paper and framed it. It looked like a peacock. I wish I had a picture of it, as it was super cute! Anyway, I decided that we could each do our own and that way we could embellish our art however suited each individual. Everyone had total control over what he/she was doing, from paper choice to design. Here are some glimpses into our day:

 A couple of paper choices and my template.

My finished product

Everyone joins in on our family craft times!

A work in progress

 Voila'! They were adorable! Everyone worked so hard, and we really had a good time making them. It took us about an hour and a half from start to finish. The plan is for everyone to make another one for Christmas and again for Easter. They can be switched out of the frames for each season or holiday!

And to start the day off, a couple of guys from Lowe's showed up with these babies:

Whirlpool Duet with Steam. I love them! They are soooo quiet! And lo' and behold the dryer dries clothes on the first try!

Spring has Sprung

Spring break began for me on Friday at 3:30, and I have filled every minute since with springish delights. Friday night was ice cream with the fam, and on Saturday the garden preparing began. Hubs and I decided that we would like to try gardening this year; hopefully we haven't bitten off more than we can chew! Literally. He brought home the tractor from work, and everyone took a turn driving it as we filled and leveled the garden plot.

 

After the garden dirt was situated, we decided to work on some flower beds that had been started and either not yet finished or were just needing updated. We all loaded up and went to Lowe's to check out the plants in bloom. I love the way that Chris had already landscaped the house, with one exception...he had no flowers and very little splashes of color. Being the indulgent husband that he is, colorful blooms was what we went in search of. We found petunias, pansies, saxifraga, and phlox in lots of purples (my favorite color), yellows, whites and pinks. The results of two days labor (we did not finish until this afternoon)???



Before

After

Before

After (this one isn't quite complete yet, but filling up!)



 Twin beds under the windows in front of the house; they frame the porch in.

 Winnie did not know what to think of all of the dirt and commotion, so she just smiled for the camera.

Simple Saturdays

What a lovely day today has been! Chris and The Boy had to go to baseball try-outs this morning, so it was just me and the girls for the better part of the day. The Boy and Lou live an hour away, so getting to and from the try-outs took longer than the actual event itself. It's a bit irritating at times that they are not just right around the corner, and certainly makes us have to rush around to get to their evening events (sports and school presentations and what-not), but we try to get to as much as we can.

Anywho, the three minis and I had a shopping girls day out. We were looking for Easter dresses, but didn't have a lot of luck in that endeavor. Each mini got a dress and an outfit, and I got a few tops and a great pair of gladiator sandals. We had lunch at a local pizza joint and headed back home to the boys.

When we got home, the Hubs was in the hammock and The Boy was playing the XBox. The girls immediately stripped down to their Soffe shorts and tank tops and paraded out to the trampoline. I grabbed my camera and went out to catch some shots of spring as I listened to the squeals and giggles of my babies.

After trampoline jumping, the Hubs and the kids shot baskets and worked on batting skills for a bit before taking a short hike through the woods to the side of the house. A turtle shell and squirrel skull were found. Quite the treasure seekers those kids are. A quick cleanup had us going out for dinner.

An evening trip to craft store was necessary, as we are trying to complete Lefty's bedroom re-do. The painting of the walls is complete, so now we have the chore of accessorizing. It sounds garish, but her theme is music, and the colors are...wait for it...lavender, Barney purple, red, and gold. The purples are on the walls (mostly lavender with the darker shade as accent wall), and her accessory colors are the red and gold. Her furniture is black. So, in order for you not to be under the impression that this is the boudoir of a hooker...

Those are some teaser shots of what we have done so far. The name letters are purple with red polka dots. The floral arrangement is all black and red (her school colors...such a cheerleader), and was the reason for our trip to the craft store. It turned out pretty good for my first attempt at a giant floral arrangement.

All in all, it was a day of sports, shopping, laughter, crafting, sunshine, and FAMILY! It doesn't get much better than that folks.

Paper!

A few weeks ago, as I was digging through my recipe cabinet looking for a specific one, I realized that I need a better system. We try out lots of recipes from about ten different (fabulous) books, and then I can't remember which book which recipe came from. I dislike recipe cards and boxes, so Chris suggested writing down all of the ones we really like and putting them in a binder, but I hated to have to double my work since the recipes are already in print...until I found the most adorable paper ever!

If you are ever looking for cute personalized stationary, check out The Stationery Studio. They have a ton of items and patterns to choose from, lined or unlined, with or without envelopes, and you can pretty much personalize it however you want. It did take about ten days to get here after I ordered it, but there was a winter storm across the state, which affected its arrival time, I'm sure. When I opened the shipping box, there it was. I really had no idea how it would be presented, and was a bit worried that it might be just loose sheets. They are definitely not full-sized sheets of paper, and are bound at the top with glue. So, what I got for my efforts was a notepad of 300 sheets of perfectly personalized, lined paper. As you can imagine, I was thrilled to be able to get started on this new project. So while the hubs watched the All-Star pre-game festivities and competitions, I spent last night sorting through the mess that I called my recipe binder (threw away about 30 random scraps of paper), and began transferring delicious recipes to my new kitchen sheets! The Sprite slam-dunk contest did distract me a bit though. ;-)

Snow Day!!!



To me the words 'snow day' = fabulosity! That is, until May when I realize I will still get to see the same 18 adoring fans staring at me yet another day, rather than beginning my summer vacation! I had some pictures to post of all of the productive things that Chris and I did this weekend, but alas, they will not upload from my phone, and the cord to my camera is MIA. MIA in my terms means that it is tucked away in some drawer or bag where I won't lose it. Guess what? I lost it. I also had photos of old projects, including the quilt that the babies and I made at school, which was donated to a family whose home and entire belongings were burnt in a house fire on Christmas Day.

The various projects that Chris and I completed this weekend (with our extra day today) included re-painting and re-decorating Boo's bedroom; spot cleaning the carpets; making freezer meals for the month (easy main dishes that I can pull out and simply heat up); updating some of my documents for school; and packing away the lingering remnants of Christmas decor (snowman dishes and wreaths on doors).

I so cannot wait for Boo to see her room. She has waited so patiently since we moved in (5 months), enduring a toddler boy theme of airplanes and baby boy blue. Now her room had bright lime green paint with turquoise zebra striped bedding and turquoise and purple accents throughout. Too cute! She will maybe cry.

Last Monday, Chris and I started a journey to change our 'foodstyle.' I am using that word in place of the word 'lifestyle.' We both have eating habits that are unhealthy (including eating out numerous times a week), and unfortunately our sexy physiques are showing those negative habits! We are taking the kiddos to Disney in July, so we both figure we have about 26 weeks to shed some weight. I would like to lose 45 lbs. Unfortunately, I do not see that happening by our trip; however, my goal is to lose a pound a week until we leave. The rest will come off after the vacation. This past week, we both only drank one cola (not diet), and we only ate out twice. For me, I am having to watch my snacking at school and resist temptation to take the easy choice and eat a school lunch. It is requiring me to plan ahead the night before, pack a lunch (mindful of the calories), and be sure to get a 30 minute work out done. The work out only happened three days last week. I hate exercise. I would rather do other things with my time. It is my nemesis. On a happy note though, I did lose my one pound in the first week.

Goals for week #2: exercise 5 days; drink 3 bottles of water each day; eat out only 2 times again; lose 2 lbs!

Starting weight = 162.8 lbs
1/10/11 weight = 161.6 lbs

Yay for lists!

The list did help, believe it or not. I managed to get the craft room clean enough to set my sewing machine back up and have my sewing table reclaimed from the mountain of Christmas gift wrap supplies that had taken over. The floor is mopped and the room is ready for me to begin quilting tomorrow!

I also helped Em and Ab get their rooms cleaned out and back in order for school to resume next week. Since we moved in August, their rooms have just been somewhat thrown together...but no more! Organization was the word of the day today. Those were three major obstacles/tasks/projects that I was fretting over being done...I am exhausted beyond standing any longer...but they are done!

Tomorrow I intend to tackle the quilt, my closet, and the game closet. I may also manage lesson plans tomorrow evening since Em is having her boyfriend over for New Year's Eve. Productivity is now my middle name.

Productivity and the lack thereof

Ever feel as though you have a bazillion projects to do, or even just things to get done, and all that seems to get accomplished is about half of all of them? That's where I am today. I have four days left of Christmas break, and have managed to complete approximately zero tasks that I had planned on finishing. Funny how you tend to think that there will be oh so much time to get things done "if only I had a few days off of work to tackle some projects." Funny because there isn't ever that much time!

I am an avid list maker, and did not make a specific list in writing of the various things that I wished to get done over the holiday. Maybe this is my quandary. That being said, here is the list as of today:

• clean out craft room
• assemble quilt scraps to backing
• clean out Em's room
• clean out Ab's room
• clean out my closet
• sort CD/DVD library
• lesson plans for January
• plan meal plan for January
• make/freeze casseroles and sauces for January/February
• sort game closet
• arrange basement to make room for shelving units

Now that I have a list, perhaps I will be more diligent in conquering the tasks at hand! Doubtful, but I will try!!!