Happy Birthday Girl!!
Thank you for being the motivation to get my life turned in the right direction, at 19 that's hard to do sometimes.
I love you, and I'm not sure you'll ever understand how much you've helped me and changed me.
October 19, 2011
October 13, 2011
Just Make a Choice
This morning was a busy one for us, or me mostly. Of course, most days are pretty busy for a stay-at-home-mom of 4 kids with one on the way.
Anyway, I was at the grocery store in the checkout line. This was my last errand for the morning, and I was to the point where the thought of being at home was a very nice feeling. The lady at the checkout asked "how are you today?" (she's the lady I go to just about every single time I'm in this store).
I didn't know what to say. I was tired, stressed, and thinking about the list that is 9 miles long waiting for me to do, at the top being: clean the kitchen where pots have been accumulating for 2 days and laundry.
I looked at her and smiled. Then I said "I could complain, but not today."
You see, I'm really trying to be much more of a positive person when I get really tired & stressed.
She smiled and said "sometimes it feels better to vent". So, my response was "well, I am a little bummed that it's rainy and the leaves aren't crunchy today to go play in."
She laughed.
I'm not quite sure why this was so important for me to blog about, but it seemed to be a turning point for the day.
Putting 'the list' aside, and all the stress. I had a great morning!
I finished the bobble blanket I've been working on since late July of this summer. It's the one that my grandmother passed along to me, and I love how it turned out. I am usually a very colorful, random matching of things kind of crocheter for blankets that are done with squares, but the single color of this one works wonders.
My photo isn't so great, super overcast-y and drizzly day here so not really good light. Maybe once the sun shines again I can take it outside and get some good ones.
I also scored BIG at the farmer's market (Willey's in Townsend) this morning. They had local cauliflower that was huge and simply beautiful, 2 crowns for $6. Must have weighed at least 2 pounds each. The real reason I went was to get my supply of apple seconds:
50 pound bushel for $10. Last year I got about 16 quarts of applesauce and 8 pints of apple butter out of it (as well as eating just a few), and we just ran out of applesauce last month. I'm thinking of not making the apple butter this year though, no one here liked it. Maybe some apple pie filling is in order. Some smaller portions of applesauce would be a good idea too since we'll have a little one in need before this time next year. I have been thinking about getting another bushel, but I'll save the final call on that one for after this one has been taken care of.
My house smells so nice with the addition of this bushel of apples.
Did I mention that the gentleman who helped me take it to the car carried it on his shoulder like it was a beach towel? You should have seen me carrying it up the 6 steps to get it into my house, it was probably quite hilarious to any onlookers....
Besides, Thursdays in the fall can't be all that bad, Project Runway is on tonight!
Anyway, I was at the grocery store in the checkout line. This was my last errand for the morning, and I was to the point where the thought of being at home was a very nice feeling. The lady at the checkout asked "how are you today?" (she's the lady I go to just about every single time I'm in this store).
I didn't know what to say. I was tired, stressed, and thinking about the list that is 9 miles long waiting for me to do, at the top being: clean the kitchen where pots have been accumulating for 2 days and laundry.
I looked at her and smiled. Then I said "I could complain, but not today."
You see, I'm really trying to be much more of a positive person when I get really tired & stressed.
She smiled and said "sometimes it feels better to vent". So, my response was "well, I am a little bummed that it's rainy and the leaves aren't crunchy today to go play in."
She laughed.
I'm not quite sure why this was so important for me to blog about, but it seemed to be a turning point for the day.
Putting 'the list' aside, and all the stress. I had a great morning!
I finished the bobble blanket I've been working on since late July of this summer. It's the one that my grandmother passed along to me, and I love how it turned out. I am usually a very colorful, random matching of things kind of crocheter for blankets that are done with squares, but the single color of this one works wonders.
My photo isn't so great, super overcast-y and drizzly day here so not really good light. Maybe once the sun shines again I can take it outside and get some good ones.
I also scored BIG at the farmer's market (Willey's in Townsend) this morning. They had local cauliflower that was huge and simply beautiful, 2 crowns for $6. Must have weighed at least 2 pounds each. The real reason I went was to get my supply of apple seconds:
50 pound bushel for $10. Last year I got about 16 quarts of applesauce and 8 pints of apple butter out of it (as well as eating just a few), and we just ran out of applesauce last month. I'm thinking of not making the apple butter this year though, no one here liked it. Maybe some apple pie filling is in order. Some smaller portions of applesauce would be a good idea too since we'll have a little one in need before this time next year. I have been thinking about getting another bushel, but I'll save the final call on that one for after this one has been taken care of.
My house smells so nice with the addition of this bushel of apples.
Did I mention that the gentleman who helped me take it to the car carried it on his shoulder like it was a beach towel? You should have seen me carrying it up the 6 steps to get it into my house, it was probably quite hilarious to any onlookers....
Besides, Thursdays in the fall can't be all that bad, Project Runway is on tonight!
October 8, 2011
My First Pouch!
Yes, I am a little behind the wagon with cute stuff to make. And, I usually skip the easier things to make in the process of learning a new craft. For whatever reason, I go big or go home (not always intentionally).
Anyway, on to the pouch:
How cute is that??
It is a present for a very special 9 year old in our daughter's life (aka: her bestie from birth). I asked my daughter what her friend likes: nail polish.
Naturally we just had to make her a cute little pouch to carry these nail polishes in! I hope she loves it, and since she's not the 'everything must be pink' kind of girl I'm thinking these colors are right up her alley.
I used the zipper end cover that Florence at flossieteacakes did on her pouch tutorial (her pouch is adorable!).
I changed this up a bit, and squared off the bottoms so it would sit well with the nail polish in it. I wanted to quilt it, and I think I definitely need to use double batting, or quilt both the outside and the lining. Other than that, I am really excited about making some more!
Very happy with how it turned out.
Anyway, on to the pouch:
How cute is that??
It is a present for a very special 9 year old in our daughter's life (aka: her bestie from birth). I asked my daughter what her friend likes: nail polish.
Naturally we just had to make her a cute little pouch to carry these nail polishes in! I hope she loves it, and since she's not the 'everything must be pink' kind of girl I'm thinking these colors are right up her alley.
I used the zipper end cover that Florence at flossieteacakes did on her pouch tutorial (her pouch is adorable!).
I changed this up a bit, and squared off the bottoms so it would sit well with the nail polish in it. I wanted to quilt it, and I think I definitely need to use double batting, or quilt both the outside and the lining. Other than that, I am really excited about making some more!
Very happy with how it turned out.
October 3, 2011
October's Welcome Here
There are quite a lot of things that I love about October. I do live in Delaware so the colors can definitely be enough for me to be in heaven most days!
The 10 degree outside temperature drop is definitely a bonus this year with all the heat we had this summer!
October, for our family, always starts with Conference Weekend. The thought of being able to sit on my couch in yoga pants, a fire blazing, and plenty of snacks and watch church on TV most of the weekend is simply glorious! This years Conference was no different than all the others we've watched, there was a message for each of us that we needed to hear without even realizing it. There were moments of happy tears, and moment of reflective tears for me (always more tears when there's a bun in the oven).
Saturday morning before Conference, I took the kids over to my oldest son's elementary school for their Fall Festival. This is something that the school has been pushing pretty much since the school year started. I have to say, I was rather disappointed. I felt like it was a drive-by yard sale, you know the one that you see fliers for everywhere and even see in the paper then you get there and it isn't even worth getting out of the car... yea it was a lot like that. They did have a moon bounce, so the kids could've cared less about everything else (or the lack there of).
I did get a few good pictures tough.
This weekend I also got lots done in the kitchen, which felt so great! I feel like I got my umpf back, finally!! I baked 6 loaves of pumpkin swirl bread, ohh the house smelled so good. Of course, I gave away 5 of them (I don't need to gain that much weight before the holidays...). And I canned about 5 pounds of dried beans. I know, dried beans store for-e-ver, but I find I hardly ever ever use them when they're dried. If I'm making a huge batch of something then I might use a pound here or there, but I like to can them (it's super easy) and I use them up that way for sure. I found the 'recipe,' or instructions really, that I use online at a neat site called The Recipe Link, they have a whole section on canning & preserving. It's got tons and tons of stuff! I'm planning to do another batch of beans this week and hopefully go get my mass of apples to do applesauce too.
For some reason I woke up pretty early both days last weekend. So, Saturday became baking day and Sunday morning I started quilting the Pink n Green Quilt I'm working on for my Mom.
I was originally going to do straight-line quilting for two reasons: 1- it's much faster than any other type I do, and 2- I thought it would look really nice to echo the white squares that the corners of the snowball blocks made. Didn't like it. So, I'm going to stipple it, avoiding the white square all-together since only some of them were trimmed so there is 6 layers of fabric in their intersections (yikes).
I quite like how it looks, and of course my photos are horrible because my lighting in the basement is lousy (to put it nicely). I do have lights that focus on my sewing area, but that's all and it's just no good for photos.
Either way, it felt good to get started on quilting this monster. Honestly, I was avoiding it for a few weeks... I know, I know, I need to get cracking on holiday gifts. The thought of quilting another king just wasn't appealing... can you blame me?
The 10 degree outside temperature drop is definitely a bonus this year with all the heat we had this summer!
October, for our family, always starts with Conference Weekend. The thought of being able to sit on my couch in yoga pants, a fire blazing, and plenty of snacks and watch church on TV most of the weekend is simply glorious! This years Conference was no different than all the others we've watched, there was a message for each of us that we needed to hear without even realizing it. There were moments of happy tears, and moment of reflective tears for me (always more tears when there's a bun in the oven).
Saturday morning before Conference, I took the kids over to my oldest son's elementary school for their Fall Festival. This is something that the school has been pushing pretty much since the school year started. I have to say, I was rather disappointed. I felt like it was a drive-by yard sale, you know the one that you see fliers for everywhere and even see in the paper then you get there and it isn't even worth getting out of the car... yea it was a lot like that. They did have a moon bounce, so the kids could've cared less about everything else (or the lack there of).
I did get a few good pictures tough.
 |
| Dancing, she would NOT go on the moon bounce. |
This weekend I also got lots done in the kitchen, which felt so great! I feel like I got my umpf back, finally!! I baked 6 loaves of pumpkin swirl bread, ohh the house smelled so good. Of course, I gave away 5 of them (I don't need to gain that much weight before the holidays...). And I canned about 5 pounds of dried beans. I know, dried beans store for-e-ver, but I find I hardly ever ever use them when they're dried. If I'm making a huge batch of something then I might use a pound here or there, but I like to can them (it's super easy) and I use them up that way for sure. I found the 'recipe,' or instructions really, that I use online at a neat site called The Recipe Link, they have a whole section on canning & preserving. It's got tons and tons of stuff! I'm planning to do another batch of beans this week and hopefully go get my mass of apples to do applesauce too.
 |
| Clearly I need to work on taking photos indoors! |
For some reason I woke up pretty early both days last weekend. So, Saturday became baking day and Sunday morning I started quilting the Pink n Green Quilt I'm working on for my Mom.
I was originally going to do straight-line quilting for two reasons: 1- it's much faster than any other type I do, and 2- I thought it would look really nice to echo the white squares that the corners of the snowball blocks made. Didn't like it. So, I'm going to stipple it, avoiding the white square all-together since only some of them were trimmed so there is 6 layers of fabric in their intersections (yikes).
I quite like how it looks, and of course my photos are horrible because my lighting in the basement is lousy (to put it nicely). I do have lights that focus on my sewing area, but that's all and it's just no good for photos.
 |
| (This one shows the colors more true) |
 |
| (And this one shows the quilting better) |
Either way, it felt good to get started on quilting this monster. Honestly, I was avoiding it for a few weeks... I know, I know, I need to get cracking on holiday gifts. The thought of quilting another king just wasn't appealing... can you blame me?
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