Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Life

I admit it. I'm a HORRIBLE blogger! Yes, I've been avoiding my blog, deliberately not posting updates - because I have been feeling a little overwhelmed by life in general, and an unhealthy desire to blog regularly. I totally admire the people who blog daily, or even several times a week, and I feel like I can't measure up to them, so I may as well not even bother.

Totally defeating the purpose of creating this blog in the first place, right??? LOL! I apologize again for being a total flake, and promise you that, while I may not post as frequently as I want or feel I should, I think about my friends here quite often, and when I'm not posting, I am living life as fully as I can!

I don't even know what all has gone on since the last time I posted, but I do know that I have been spending crazy amounts of time holding and snuggling this divine baby boy of mine :o) He is so sweet and yummy, and smells just delightful! I adore him, and love knowing that I hold him "more than I should". It's SO worth the sleep that I miss out on, and I know that if I don't hold him now, there will never be a time when I can go back and catch up ;o) Adron seems very serious about not having any more babies, and it's totally breaking my heart. I can't change it, so I'm going to squeeze every possible drop of preciousness out of my time with Jonah.

So, the girls are all settled in school. We got the 1st report cards today, and overall, I am fairly pleased with how they are doing. There are definitely some areas we need to work on, but that's life, right? I've gotten my new machines, and am LOVING them! I had no idea how nice it was to sew with premium machines lol! The mastery classes are awesome, and I'm learning so much! I've not done a ton of sewing, but what little bit I have has been delightful =)

I am keeping my sweet niece, Amelia, 3 days a week, and it's phenomenal. Jonah is a dream baby, and Amelia is even easier than he is. Jonah absolutely adores her, and it's really funny to watch him with her! I swear they are twins separated *before* birth lol!

Here are a few pictures that I love - they are mostly the past week, but a few are a little older:
















Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Missing my friends :o)

Summer is crazy, it seems! I thought May was my busy month, but August was so nuts that I only managed to scrap one page!!! I keep meaning to post, and I've thought about it nearly every day, but something has always come up to prevent me from getting here. In fact, I went 3 whole weeks without visiting anyone else's blogs, too!!!

I'm hoping that I can get into a nice routine with my life, including keeping the house neat, sewing regularly, and blogging at least a couple times a week. ;o) If I don't do it, feel free to yell at me lol!

Right now, I'm finally getting used to having just the boys home during the day. I miss the girls like crazy, but I'm enjoying my time with the guys. Ellie started kindergarten, and Madeline started middle school this year. Audrey is now a high schooler, and is doing marching band. That means practice 3-4 times a week, with performances almost every Friday. Then, she and Ellie started cheering again last week. I am a little irked by Audrey's practice being moved from Monday to Wednesday, as Wednesday is the ONLY night I do something for *me*. I guess that isn't so important, really, but I'm struggling to be okay with it. I am incredibly angry about having to give up my study group, but I suppose it's part of being a mom. Add to that the fact that she hates me right now, and I'm just not a happy mama! Now my adult contact is pretty much limited to Sunday morning at church, and online... Sighhhhhh.... I dunno what to do about my attitude.

But, on the bright side, I was able to go buy myself some awesome new sewing stuff! Yesterday, I bought a brand new Bernina Aurora 430 sewing machine and embroidery arm, and a Bernina 1150MDA serger (at least I think that's the model# - the Bernina website isn't loading for me!). I also got a ruffler attachment, an extra bobbin case to use for elastic thread, and a few other little accessories. I am so excited!!! Of course, I have to wait until next week for them to be ready for pickup lol!

I also started building my sewing area =) I got several cabinets to use for my sewing table and for my cutting table. I still have to get tops for them, but I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I realized that the cabinets are going to be about 9" too short for my cutting table, so I may have to reprise the plans. I am also planning to buy an armoire-type cabinet to store my fabric. I am going with all white furniture, and am playing with ideas for decorating now lol! I am heavily leaning towards using Lila Tueller's Soiree line. I was thinking about using aqua with pink and maybe some yellow accents, and I think these are just perfect! There are just so many gorgeous fabrics out there, and it was so hard to narrow it down lol!

In order to create my sewing space, I had to go up to that insanely hot room and start digging through all the boxes that came back full of clothes and fabrics that had been cleaned to remove the smoke smell/soot. I got through the clothes pretty quickly, but there are just so many of them! I can't remember who blogged it, but I read the other day (in regards to stash reduction) that if you wouldn't buy it today, then you should just get rid of it. So, I'm trying to apply that same principle to the massive piles of kiddo clothing ;o) I have actually gone through all of the boxes of fabric, too, and started by sorting them into basic categories: diaper fabrics/pieces, woven solids, woven prints, woven checks/stripes & corduroy, specialty fabrics, fabrics with pile, knits, and scraps. Of course, there are more knits than anything else lol! That presents it's own problems with storage, but I think I can figure it out... Now I have to go through all the other boxes of non-fabric contents. Exciting, huh? And, for now, I'm not at all sure where I'm going to put things until I get storage areas set up. Of course, I can't set those up until the boxes are out of the way, so it's a vicious cycle lol!

I also found out that they decided to refinish my family furniture pieces!!! I am absolutely ecstatic about that - and can't wait to get them back!

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Wow!

Ok, so the folks that came up with the GroBaby diapers have absolutely lost their minds!!! They are doing another blog giveaway, but this time it is their brand-new Tiny Bubbles laundry detergent!



I have been wanting to try this since it came out, but, like most things these days, I hadn't made it that far. I've still got most of a bottle of sports wash sitting in my laundry room...

In other news, I am on Dani's team for DSA's Battle of the Creative Teams :o) Here's the LO I made for it for this week - I'm particularly happy with the way it turned out:



Last night, I played along in the ESS speed scrap and I really love the way this LO turned out!



And, to round out this post, I've been busy getting ready to sew lol! I've cut out a diaper bag, a purse, 4 jonjons, a slip for Jonah's daygown, a top for me, a skirt for me, and 2 card wallets (I'm working up a tutorial for those, if anyone is interested). The bags and card wallets are interfaced, pleats pinned, and I'm ready to sew. I'm doing shadowwork embroidery on the jonjons, so those will be a minute, and I've got to get the slip done today so Jonah can wear the gorgeous whale daygown that Christa made for him :o)

I'm gonna run - I've got to get Audrey some new shoes for band camp, need to pick up the fabric to make some a-line dresses for Meagan's girls, and I've promised Madeline a trip to the library.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

CT Call!





So if any of you are looking to work for one incredibly cool, super laid back designer, you should totally apply for this!!!! I absolutely LOVE working with Dani ;o) And her CT is a really great bunch of ladies, too. I might be a *little* biased, but I'm having a great time =)


Here are some LOs I've made with her kits:










Thursday, July 2, 2009

Sale!

Really quick post - I am LOVING this sale at Enchanted Studio Scraps!!!



While you're there, check out the challenges! I have so much fun playing there, and Danimoy is hosting the font challenge for the 1st half of July ;o)

Here are a few LO's I've done (click for credits):











Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Pics and more

I have been suffering from a SEVERE case of cloth diaper lust lol! I am craving some fluffy mail, and have been trying to figure out what cd'ing system I want to use. Noah has been in disposables since he was 6 weeks old (moisture broke his little bottom out!), and Jonah is my hybrid baby. He's mostly in cloth, but we use disposables at night and whenever my wool isn't clean. All of the PUL covers I have are worn out and are no longer waterproof. So, I've decided that it's time to get things under control, put Noah back in cloth (hoping it will motivate him to potty train), and have some great diapers for Jonah, too. I am planning to use one size diapers. They will fit both boys now, and once Jonah outgrows his itty bitty dipes, and Noah is potty trained, I'm not going to have to buy or make any mid-size diapers lol!

I love the look/idea of the Gro Baby, of course, but I just spotted some the other day that are waaaay cute - and affordable! Check 'em out at the Smartipants site. And even better, they are doing a giveaway on the Monkeytoes blog! Check that out, too :o)

Now for those pictures I've been threatening lol! Here are some beaded pacifier holders I made for Jonah and Amelia:



And here are a few little things I made for Amelia (and Angela lol!). I made a nursing cover and burp cloths, two little dresses, an appliqued onesie, knit some wool shorties to go with the dresses, and made a few little snuggle socks that I forgot to take pictures of ;o) Here they are:



And here's a lo I did of my favorite baby girl :D



Got more pics to upload - I'll be back soon!

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Dude, where's this month gone???

I've been crazy busy! And I thought May was my busy month lol! I've had a lot of stuff going on, both good and bad, but most importantly, Angela, my bff, had her 1st baby Tuesday night!!! I am so in love with that precious little girl - and will upload pics asap!

I've been sick for the past week. Went to a Zumba class last Saturday, in an attempt to take charge of my body, and came home and slept the rest of the day. Turns out I had a very, very bad throat infection that is still making me uncomfortable after 5 days on antibiotics. Granted it's WAY better than it was, but still very tender.

Our a/c went out and it took a week to get it fixed. Thankfully, we were able to go get a couple of window unit a/c's to get us through. The big one will go upstairs in my sewing room (we were going to have to buy one, anyway), and the little one cost less than it would have been for us to spend one night in a hotel room :o) All in all, a good deal!

I've made a bunch of new wool covers, and a few things for my yummy little Amelia, which I will post pictures of soon.

On the subject of diapering, have you seen the new Gro Baby diapers??? I SOOOOOOOOOOO need some of these! I have been trying to decide which one size diaper system I want to use for the boys, and I really fell in love with the idea of these during the Great Cloth Diaper Hunt last month! I had thought about using pockets, but this makes so much more sense to me - you buy a few of the outer shells, and more of the inserts and you're set. Check 'em out: Gro Baby Cloth Diapering System (or if that didn't work, for some reason, http://www.thenaturalbabyco.com/grobaby%E2...2-ic-11_16.html should).

Be back soon!