Projects: A Little Crochet, A Little Knit

A crocheted scarf for my cousin's eleventh birthday. I was excited to get it to her in time for the recent snow! This pattern is from a tutorial and can easily be done in a day, probably half a day. I did the majority of it while watching my Anne of Green Gables video one Saturday.
This hat is for one of C's co-workers. She did not find out if the baby was a boy or girl, so I used the aqua Baby Boo bamboo yarn. When she delivered a girl, we added a pink ribbon, and I love this color combination. This hat ended up a bit too tall, and I can only blame it on my inexperience with this yarn which is super soft but I guess stretchier than what I'm used to using. Hopefully, she'll get to wear it without it looking too silly.

H is working on Valentine's for his class right now, and I need to get some decorations up. I cut out some construction paper hearts with H to make a little garland for our mantel. I have some other decorations around here somewhere. Sewing projects to come very soon!

25 Questions: Christmas Edition

I posted this last Christmas, but I enjoyed it so much, I'm re-posting. If you decide to do a Christmas Questions list, leave a comment so I can enjoy yours :)

1. Egg nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot chocolate!

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Santa just fills the stockings at our house; we don't put much emphasis on Santa. In fact, when W's PT asked H if Santa was going to bring him some presents, he replied, "Well, we wrap our presents." The reason for not emphasizing Santa is twofold. One, I want my children to focus on the true reason and spirit of Christmas. Two, I want them to know that Mommy and Daddy work hard so that they can get presents. If it wasn't for the good music and books that include Santa, we probably wouldn't do it at all, but I am a sucker for Twas the Night Before Christmas. Below is the response to this question from another blogger that I got this little question list from. I love, love, love her response!

We don't do Santa at our house. We want to be sure that we are telling our kids the truth and that we are celebrating the real reason for the season. If our children are to believe in a man that they cannot see, I want it to be Jesus! However, we told our daughter that people like to "pretend" about Santa at Christmastime and she said she wants to pretend, too. Pretending is fun and that is fine with us! But the presents are from mommy and daddy. We get the credit for that!

Please no hating on me about Santa. It doesn't bother me at all that others do Santa stuff. My brother is almost a decade older than me, so I think that's partly why I was never that into Santa as a kid. Not to mention my mom is not a secret-keeper or much of a surprise-giver.

3. Colored lights or white? White. In fact, my mom gave us her old artificial tree this year (the first time I've ever had an artificial tree, terrible, I'm a real-tree girl all the way), anyway, it is pre-lit with colored lights. That will not do, so I put our white lights on it, and didn't plug in the pre-lit ones. Also, I really like putting the lights on because my dad always checked the lights. It makes me think of him. What can I say? Down with artificial trees!

4. Do you hang mistletoe? No, maybe when the children are older (isn't that stuff poisonous?)

5. When do you put your decorations up? Either the Friday or the weekend after Thanksgiving.

6. Favorite holiday dish? Sausage balls, macaroni and cheese "pie" (as my dad called it), deviled eggs!

7. Favorite childhood memory? Wrapping presents with my grandmother and the year my dad decided we were going to have a Charlie Brown Christmas tree.

8. When/how did you learn the truth about Santa? I think I just sort of figured it out (see #2 above).

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? As a child, I could open one gift on Christmas Eve. Now, we open gifts with my mom on Christmas Eve. This year, I am going to let the boys open one (their matching red Thomas pajamas, so they can have them on for Christmas morning pictures!)

10. How do you decorate the tree? I am a bit of a tree hog (maybe not as bad as Kate). See #3 for the light situation. I put on the lights, then unwrap and unbox the ornaments and hang those, and I have the star we used at my dad's house. I let H help hang some of his ornaments (several John Deere/tractor ones).

11. Snow. Love it or dread it? Love it, usually.

12. Can you ice skate? Yes, the last time I tried, and that was a looong time ago.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? It might be this year's, check back after Christmas :) But a favorite from the past was all of Jane Austen's completed novels in hardback!

14. What is the most important thing about the holidays to you? Being with my family, doing things that will give my children good memories, and making sure my children know the real reason for celebrating.

15. Favorite holiday dessert? My mom's Fresh Apple Cake.

16. Favorite Christmas Tradition? Going to Christmas Eve church services (haven't done that in a couple of years), watching A Charlie Brown Christmas with my boys, and before he passed away, hearing my dad say, "I hate Christmas, I hate Christmas, I. Hate. Christmas." What can I say, I'm a bit twisted.

17. What tops your tree? The gold-garlanded, color-lights star that was always on our tree at my dad's.

18. Do you prefer giving or receiving? I love giving to my kids, and who doesn't enjoy receiving?

19. Favorite Christmas song? "What Child is This"

20. Candy canes. Yum or yuck? I'll eat them, but they're not my favorite.

21. What do you want for Christmas? Can someone give the gift of sleep and/or more time?

22. Do you attend an annual Christmas party? No, seems a bit sad, but really, I'm probably glad.

23. Do you dress up for Christmas Eve or wear P.J.'s? We usually go to my mom's, but it's not dressy (but not pj casual either, I wish it was!)

24. Do you own a Santa hat? Yes, we wore them in parades when I was in band in high school. I wear it when I'm decorating the tree.

25. Who do you normally spend Christmas with? Christmas morning and lunch is reserved for just the four of us. Then, my mom and step-dad usually come over as well as my MIL later in the day.

Aack! December

As much as I've been looking forward to Christmas (I love putting up the tree and all the decorations, love Christmas music and the Christmas tv specials -ha, calling them specials ages me doesn't it?), I can't seem to absorb that it's really almost here. I must put in my Amazon order soon. I don't want to be crossing my fingers that it makes it here on time. I do have some things I'd been getting for the boys, but what about the adults on my list!?! Oh, and let's not forget those Christmas pajamas I so rashly mentioned on this site. How will I ever get all this done?

I think this week has been particularly stressful as C's truck is "on the blink" (as my daddy said), and we've had to share my car. Sharing my car consists of frantically getting everyone ready to go in order to leave in time to get Daddy (C) to work ON time. Then after all that hurry up and go. We have an hour before preschool starts. Tuesday, the boys and I decided to live it up and have a "second breakfast" of Chick-fil-a chicken minis and OJ. Now, we could get used to that:)

Thankful for Two

Today, when I think of the many things I am thankful for, one that is at the top of the list is for my two boys. I am thankful for them both individually, of course, but today, when I saw W share his Doc car with H without my prodding, I thought: I'm so glad to have two. I went to the kitchen where we were frantically cutting, cooking and googling how many TBS in 1/3 of a cup, to tell C, "I'm so glad we have two. Two to grow up together and learn from one another." One for each of my arms to wrap around to pull into a mommy-special group hug. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Blessings to you and your loved ones.

Pants-along: Just starting to look like pants

Still slow going (surprise, surprise), but I got a little done on the pants-along pants. You know I do like hanging clothes, etc. on trees; although, the wind was giving me some flack. Not complaining about a breeze in August, though.
I wish the legs were as slim as they appear. I'm a little concerned about them being baggy. Joanna at Stardust Shoes has given directions for "butt darts," so I should be able to take the waist in if needed. However, not sure about how the legs will turn out. We shall see, we shall see.

Here's a close-up of the top-stitching on the inner seam. I completely stole the orange and brown color scheme from Joanna. The color is off. Must get C to take pictures of final product, so the colors will turn out more true.Next up is front pockets which look like they require some fairly serious rotary cutting skills. May have to call C in for help!

Looking forward to a trip to the library today to pick up books for the boys as well as this Charlie and Lola DVDAm I the only one starting to think about Christmas? In a totally-looking-forward-to-it, let's-decorate-the-tree-fun type of way? Maybe it has to do with my list :)

Friii-i-day In The Park

I think it was the 3rd of July...

We took the boys to a park today since C was off work. C and H played miniature golf, and H got a hole-in-one! We even let W take a few hits on the last hole. It was fun! The weather here has been beee-yooo-ti-ful, but today took the cake! 77 degrees at noon on July 3rd and crazily not humid?! Unheard of around here. Sorry, if anyone from Maine is reading this I know some of the bloggers I read who reside there have been bemoaning constant rain. After the park, we went to a local deli restaurant and ate outside. Yes, even C. You know the weather must be nice if we talked him into sitting outside. He does not like heat. Then we came home, and I spent way too much time on Fabricworm dreaming... Hope everyone has a great 4th of July. I think we may try to catch a parade and watch some fireworks from afar.

The Gift Revealed

I've been alluding to a big, super Christmas gift, but I've just now gotten C to get a picture ready for me to show here. After lots of hemming and hawing, thinking and re-thinking, second-guessing my commitment to making things, talking to C and Mel about it, C and I decided he would purchase a sewing machine for me for Christmas. Not just any sewing machine, the mother brand of all sewing machines... with no further ado, behold my BERNINA!



Okay, that's not the best picture, but it's all I've got. I am ashamed to admit that I had not sewn on it at all when I went in for my first mastery lesson with it (yes, you get six classes with the purchase of this brand). However, this past week, I put together what I am calling a burp cloth (it could be a "lovie") for Mel's little one. So, finally, I really sewed on it and made something. Hooray! I am still planning to stick to my plan to make pajamas for us all for 2009's Christmas morning. I did use flannel for the backing of the burp cloth, so that was my first experience sewing flannel. I'm not sure if our pajamas will be flannel... I need to make a trip to the great big fabric store soon to decide on some material. I hope this will prove to be a smart, useful purchase and not just a dust gatherer. Of course, my mom has already mentioned that now we could make some curtains to replace the deteriorating ones on my back door. (I'm not kidding, C and I are thinking of taking some pictures to send to HGTV in the hopes that they will come help us :) Oh, and I'm still wanting to choose a name for my gal (besides Bernina). She needs a name, any suggestions?

Anything Can Happen

I wanted to regale you with my resolutions and how it would take something of a revolution for me to stick to those I (should) make. I think instead of resolutions mine should be called "challenges to myself." I have the usual ones: exercise more and eat healthier. I have the mommy-specific ones: get the baby books up-to-date and write in the boys' journals on a regular basis. Let us just say, there are lots of things on my to-do/resolution/life's work lists! However, I am enjoying the Curious George movie with all my boys tonight, so I'll just leave you with one challenge I really want to meet this year: make pajamas for all four of us to wear next Christmas! Also, this great Shel Silverstein poem that I want to make my mantra for 2009:

Listen to the mustn'ts, child.
Listen to the don'ts.
Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts.
Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me...
Anything can happen, child.
Anything can be.

Here's hoping for and wishing you a happy and healthy 2009!

Christmas Questions

1. Egg nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot chocolate!

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Santa just fills the stockings at our house; we don't put much emphasis on Santa. In fact, when W's PT asked H if Santa was going to bring him some presents, he replied, "Well, we wrap our presents." The reason for not emphasizing Santa is twofold. One, I want my children to focus on the true reason and spirit of Christmas. Two, I want them to know that Mommy and Daddy work hard so that they can get presents. If it wasn't for the good music and books that include Santa, we probably wouldn't do it at all, but I am a sucker for Twas the Night Before Christmas. Below is the response to this question from another blogger that I got this little question list from. I love, love, love her response!

We don't do Santa at our house. We want to be sure that we are telling our kids the truth and that we are celebrating the real reason for the season. If our children are to believe in a man that they cannot see, I want it to be Jesus! However, we told our daughter that people like to "pretend" about Santa at Christmastime and she said she wants to pretend, too. Pretending is fun and that is fine with us! But the presents are from mommy and daddy. We get the credit for that!

Please no hating on me about Santa. It doesn't bother me at all that others do Santa stuff. My brother is almost a decade older than me, so I think that's partly why I was never that into Santa as a kid. Not to mention my mom is not a secret-keeper or much of a surprise-giver.

3. Colored lights or white? White. In fact, my mom gave us her old artificial tree this year (the first time I've ever had an artificial tree, terrible, I'm a real-tree girl all the way), anyway, it is pre-lit with colored lights. That will not do, so I put our white lights on it, and didn't plug in the pre-lit ones. Also, I really like putting the lights on because my dad always checked the lights. It makes me think of him. What can I say? Down with artificial trees!

4. Do you hang mistletoe? No, maybe when the children are older (isn't that stuff poisonous?)

5. When do you put your decorations up? Either the Friday or the weekend after Thanksgiving.

6. Favorite holiday dish? Sausage balls, macaroni and cheese "pie" (as my dad called it), deviled eggs!

7. Favorite childhood memory? Wrapping presents with my grandmother and the year my dad decided we were going to have a Charlie Brown Christmas tree.

8. When/how did you learn the truth about Santa? I think I just sort of figured it out (see #2 above).

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? As a child, I could open one gift on Christmas Eve. Now, we open gifts with my mom on Christmas Eve. This year, I am going to let the boys open one (their matching red Thomas pajamas, so they can have them on for Christmas morning pictures!)

10. How do you decorate the tree? I am a bit of a tree hog (maybe not as bad as Kate). See #3 for the light situation. I put on the lights, then unwrap and unbox the ornaments and hang those, and I have the star we used at my dad's house. I let H help hang some of his ornaments (several John Deere/tractor ones).

11. Snow. Love it or dread it? Love it, usually.

12. Can you ice skate? Yes, the last time I tried, and that was a looong time ago.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? It might be this year's, check back after Christmas :) But a favorite from the past was all of Jane Austen's completed novels in hardback!

14. What is the most important thing about the holidays to you? Being with my family, doing things that will give my children good memories, and making sure my children know the real reason for celebrating.

15. Favorite holiday dessert? My mom's Fresh Apple Cake.

16. Favorite Christmas Tradition? Going to Christmas Eve church services (haven't done that in a couple of years), watching A Charlie Brown Christmas with my boys, and before he passed away, hearing my dad say, "I hate Christmas, I hate Christmas, I. Hate. Christmas." What can I say, I'm a bit twisted.

17. What tops your tree? The gold-garlanded, color-lights star that was always on our tree at my dad's.

18. Do you prefer giving or receiving? I love giving to my kids, and who doesn't enjoy receiving?

19. Favorite Christmas song? "What Child is This"

20. Candy canes. Yum or yuck? I'll eat them, but they're not my favorite.

21. What do you want for Christmas? Can someone give the gift of sleep and/or more time?

22. Do you attend an annual Christmas party? No, seems a bit sad, but really, I'm probably glad.

23. Do you dress up for Christmas Eve or wear P.J.'s? We usually go to my mom's, but it's not dressy (but not pj casual either, I wish it was!)

24. Do you own a Santa hat? Yes, we wore them in parades when I was in band in high school. I wear it when I'm decorating the tree.

25. Who do you normally spend Christmas with? Christmas morning and lunch is reserved for just the four of us. Then, my mom and step-dad usually come over as well as my MIL later in the day.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

The Cards Have Been Sent

One thing down (Christmas cards mailed), what seems like a zillion to go... I am still here just trying to finish Christmas shopping. I don't think it's going to happen. Poor C may only get one gift this year. I don't have any great ideas for him, and it's really hard to get out to shop even though my poor mom has been coming over every afternoon to help. Thanks to everyone for their prayers and concern for W. He is doing well, although it seems that we all have a cold and of course, I am worried about infection in him as he just had surgery. We are going to be praying and hoping REALLY hard for a very healthy new year.

Back to the gifts, though, I have no ideas. We had planned to order family pictures, and I was hoping to give my mom one as part of her gift. We missed our appointment with the photographer due to our stay in the hospital! I feel so bad. How can I not have good ideas for people I see every day?!? My dad was so good about thinking of gift ideas or picking up on small things folks mentioned they'd like to have. Apparently, I didn't get that gene! I am very excited about the boys' gifts though and love seeing the packages arrive from good ole Amazon.com. I like to "try out" some of the little ones' toys, just to be sure they're safe and all :)

Thankful

Just wanted to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving and to say I am thankful for all my friends out here in the blogosphere. I have much to be thankful for, with faith, family, friends, and health topping the list.

I recently had a "restoring my faith in humanity" incident and thought it might be a good one to share this holiday. I inherited my father's house and sold it in the spring. When we closed on the house, the lawyer wasn't sure how to split the property taxes, so they were just split in half with the instructions to buyer and seller (me) to check our taxes and contact each other about any discrepancy. I was pretty sure I was over paying, but I was so happy to sell the house, I didn't want to bicker. A few weeks ago, one of the buyers contacted me to tell me she would be sending the check for what I overpaid. I knew they seemed like nice, honest people, and they really are. The wife called me and chatted with me about the changes taking place in that neighborhood and what changes they had made in the house. She invited me to call any time I am over that way and come by to see the house. I do hope to see it one day soon. Anyway, I love knowing there are "just good people" in the world. It's another reason to be thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Coming Attractions: Anastasia has tagged me, and I am challenging myself to think of seven things even Mel doesn't know about me! So check back for that ;)

Will I Ever...

1) stop talking about that birthday party? Well, maybe soon, but I did want to say that in my craftiness frenzy, I decided to make something for the birthday girl! A headband! I found a fairly simple, quick tutorial here. So, after a few issues with back-stitching that required the use of the seam ripper, I got it looking pretty good.

Good enough to consider making it a part of a gift! Then, I tried it on H's head. (Hey, I needed a toddler-sized head :) He said it was too tight. I got C to take a look, he agreed, too small. Aargh! I had cut the fabric length halfway between the toddler and child size measurements. I could have remedied this with a bigger hair elastic thing, but of course, I don't have any bigger ones on hand. I couldn't make another headband or go shop for a bigger hair elastic thing, because, I like to leave these things to the last minute, you know the morning before the party! Oh well, one of these days, (begin dream sequence music) we'll get invited to another little gal's party, and I'll be on the ball. I'll make a great headband. The little girl will pull out the headband, and say, "It's so pretty," and I'll smile and say, "I made it" while the other moms ooh and aah. Then, they'll tell all their friends, and I'll have an etsy store - huh? Oh where was I? Back to will I ever...

2) buy a new sewing machine? I'm one of those people who cannot make a decision without agonizing over it, rethinking it, changing my mind, bugging those close to me about their opinions, and the like. So after working on the headband, I realized that my aunt was probably correct when she said she'd never liked this old Kenmore because it never did what she wanted it to do. Well, it's not that bad, but I think there could be some feeding issues, particularly when I attempt to back-stitch. Sometimes, it just seems to sit there (i.e., not back up). I still worry some that it may be OE and would like to get my aunt over to check it out. Still, overall, it would probably be best to get a new machine. This one is about 35 years old, and after using a Bernina in sewing classes, I'm just spoiled. Maybe too spoiled to not have an electronic machine. My dilemma is whether to go whole hog and buy a pricey Bernina or get something less expensive until I see whether I really will stick with the sewing. If I do get something less expensive, which one? Trying to make that decision is enough to push me toward the Bernina. I saw one comment on a sewing forum that said "if you bought the Bernina 220 (the machine I used in class), you'd probably never have to buy another sewing machine." Decisions, decisions! I am so not good with decisions! At least, I know what I'll most likely be asking for at Christmas time :)

I put two pictures beside each other! Hooray!

Without Further Ado... Project Two Completed

My second completed project (I finally got the button on).

The handles...

This is a shot of the inside lining and pocket (I couldn't get a good shot of this without my hand

being in the picture, too).

I cropped that last photo in PhotoShop all on my own! C, now that you see the cropped version, are you still impressed?

I love the fabrics, but I think of something a bit larger when I hear "tote." I really would like to try to play with the dimensions and make it bigger. However, for me, it might be better to find a novice-level pattern. There are several more projects I want to get busy on, but I need to get to a sewing supply store before I can get very far with anything. I am considering packing the boys up in the car and going today or tomorrow. It's not so easy taking them to the sewing supply store, but maybe I can swing it. The weekend is getting quickly booked up with haircut trips, a birthday party, and the like, so I'm pretty sure today or tomorrow may be my best bet.

We loved watching It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. H laughed out loud at Linus struggling with the big pumpkin at the beginning. Our whole family was snuggled up on the couch watching together by the end of the show. Now that's a Halloween treat!

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

A few posts back, I mentioned that we read this book when Halloween is coming. I just saw that it's being shown on ABC Tuesday October 28 at 8:00 Eastern/7:00 Central. Charlie Brown is definitely not PC (there's a lot of blockheads, stupids, etc.), but we like it! So thought I'd put it up here in case anyone was interested in tuning in!

October = Halloween

I have one excited big brother on my hands this morning. We put out a few Halloween decorations we have including a plug-in pumpkin, Halloween-themed dish towels, and the like. H is really pumped about Halloween this year. He is going to be a dinosaur (a T-rex), and my little guy is going to be a lion (thank you to S of the three sons for the hand-me-down lion costume- it's new to us!) We'll go to the pumpkin patch in a few weeks for a pumpkin to carve and a couple of small pumpkins to decorate the table. We usually get some great pictures of the boys at the pumpkin patch. I can't wait to put them in jeans and Halloween shirts (that will just be a black shirt for H most likely). I am even thinking of trying to find some Halloween fabric to make a little something to hang on a door (I always have grand plans :)

Another treat that I am going to discuss with C is taking H and W to a local apple orchard for a festival they have in a few weeks. It has hayrides with tractors, and if it has tractors, H is in! The weather is so beautiful, but both H and I are plagued with seasonal allergies that seem to be bothering our eyes right now despite allergy medicines. Sometimes the best help for H's itchy eyes is a damp cloth. We are looking forward to some fun outdoor time now that it's starting to really feel like autumn.

I forgot to add that we just got out my old read-along-with-a-record (some of you youngsters may not know what these are) copy of It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown. H loves it, and we get to anticipate watching the original on the telly in a few weeks!