The Backstitch

I don't know about you, but can you believe it will be November 1st tomorrow? November 1st! This year has flown by for me, possibly due the fact I was pregnant the first nine months, but still it has been a quick 2009. It has been a fun 2009, though.

Onto less overwhelming things. I learned something new! I have learned how to do the backstitch. I am very excited about this. It looks like embroidery, but much easier and actually very cute. My guinea pigs were my nieces and I made them a shirt each. Then I made a pumpkin onesie for my little pumpkin, Kate. I found out about it on several blogs and then was given a tutorial at the www.purlbee.com. It actually has many how-to's and was quite easy to do. All I needed was DMC floss, an erasable pen (they sell them at Joanns, Wal-Mart, etc.) and a needle. I also bought a hoop to help keep the fabric taut. I will be doing more projects in the coming months, especially for my nieces and Kate and maybe all the little girls I know! Well, let's not get crazy.

Finally, I leave you with this. Imagine finding your 2-year old son splashing his hands in the toilet and stuffing the entire roll of toilet paper, cardboard included, into the toilet, repeatedly trying to flush it. That is what happened to me yesterday morning. The toilet survived. Praise the Lord.

Not So Halloween

If you know me, you know I am not a Halloween fan. I never celebrated it as a kid, never really like the day and I have personal/religious reasons for not celebrating it (if you care to know more about this, please comment on my post or call me)! Anyway, you can judge me, but that is the way I feel - so bam! And, don't come dressed to my house on Saturday night because I won't have candy. However, I do like pumpkins and so does Craig. He really wanted to carve a pumpkin with Jack. I can hear the jokes now - Jack-O-Lantern. Even though I have my convictions, I still like fall and fun stuff, so we thought Craig and Jack would carve a pumpkin as some father/son bonding time. There was a pumpkin involved, some power tools and lots of yuckiness. Jack seemed somewhat into it and really was mostly interested in using all necessary tools to get out the actual pumpkin gunk and seeds. They did a really great job and our one-toothed carved pumpkin has a redneck appeal to him. I then took the seeds and baked them in the oven. They pretty much taste like popcorn; a nice snack. Enjoy your Fall Festivities!

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I Love My Life (as my blog address states)

Jack was in time-out and Kate was getting some tips on

how to not be in time-out.

Rule 1 (and the only rule) - Listen to mommy and daddy!

More Inspiration

Yesterday I was feeding Kate and she had a bib on that was made of terrycloth and cotton. It is very absorbent and I thought, she needs some burp cloths made of similar material. I use and have used cloth diapers in the past and they work well, but we go through them like nobody's business. Kate spits up WAY LESS than Jack did, but all babies have it. Anyway, I decided to make some cute burp clothes. I went to the fabric store last night, borrowed the sewing machine from my mom and tackled another project. Again, I had no idea what I was doing, but how bad could it be, right? The first one was tricky, but they turned out pretty good. I bought terrycloth at the store and it wasn't very thick, so I used an older towel from home and it worked great. I cut it up into the size I needed. Basically, I created 5 burp clothes (3 different designs) for less than $5 - you can't buy them that cheap, especially since they are just spit-catchers! I also tried some new techniques with the zig-zag stitch. Unfortunately, on my last cloth, I broke the machine needle! I guess the fabric was too thick and it just broke off. I was quite disturbed. I called my mom immediately thinking I had just ruined her entire machine. Unbeknownst to me, they can be easily replaced for a few dollars.

Crisis averted.

Sewing Steal

My friend Lisa told me about a nursing cover that normally retails for $40 for the great price of $8.95. I was very excited. I wanted a nursing cover and a cute one at that. I ordered one and I loved it. However, I would seem to go places and forget it, so my mom had the great idea of making another one, using the template pattern of the one I purchased. So, I took myself down to the fabric store and picked out cute fabric, D-rings, thread and boning. The boning is so the top can curve and you can see your baby nursing, hands-free. I did the sewing and she showed me how to make the neck tie, put the D-rings on and put in the boning. Total, it cost me -$10 for fabric, $2 for thread, $2 for the D-rings (and I have an extra set) and $1.50 for the boning. So if you already had thread, it was $12.50 for the nursing cover. The best part is you can pick your own fabric! I chose the one below and here is the finished product:

The Cute Pattern (Up-Close)

Boning

D-Rings on Left and Neck Tie

Finished Product

Pumpkin Photo-Op

We took the kids to the Pumpkin Patch this weekend. We had great weather and really enjoyed our time out. Kids and pumpkins are funny together, but man they are a lot of work. We managed to get some great shots of the kids, which if you want to check out, see the kids' blog. But, here are some pictures from the patch of what else...pumpkins! I don't know why, but I think pumpkins are pretty cool.

Family of Four

Date Night!

Craig and I had a date night last night. It was fun. My parents kept Kate and Jack. I was nervous that I would miss them both a lot, but I was fine and Kate did great her first night away. I felt like we were in college again with dinner and a movie, but since we are old and married, we were home by 10:30 ; we are such crazy kids. We went to dinner, saw Couples Retreat and got Dairy Queen. Dinner was really good and we talked about all kinds of things, but a lot about how Jack makes us laugh. The movie was good too. I was a little skeptical because sometimes romantic comedies these days can be very vulgar (even PG and PG-13) and I had heard some bad reviews. We really liked the movie. There were some crude parts that I wish had been left out, but the message about couples staying together, even through the hard times, was the theme and it was great. It takes work being married and both sides have to give. It was like therapy, but with some comedy mixed in by Vince Vaughn. It was cool to see that God can even use a secular movie and make it applicable to my marriage and life. Craig liked it too and thought it had a good message. The night was topped off by some blizzards - mine was Heath and Craig had Caramel Apple Waffle Cone. We enjoyed spending time together and will do it again soon. We may skip the movie next time - it was $19 for both of us! I turned to Craig and said, "we really haven't been to movies in a while" because prices have gone WAY up. Oh, well.

"Sew" You Think You Know Me!

Welcome to my new space! My kids' blog is a little cramped with stuff about them, so I created a space about me and my thoughts. To kick things off, I wanted to share something new I tried...sewing. I asked my mom to help me, "get to know the machine". I had never touched a sewing machine in my life and was actually quite intimidated. She is a great teacher. She showed my simple stitching and the whip stitch. I really enjoyed it. So, I worked with her on some projects and then took off on my own. I first did three blankets. My mom had made one for Kate that was made from silk and chenille. I made one for my friend's new baby, Brian and two more for Kate. They turned out pretty good, but I learned for next time some changes to make. Then, I got crazy; I decided to make a jumper for Kate. On. My. Own. It took about 2 hours and I probably did it all the wrong ways, but it is functional and looks pretty cute. Craig said, "if you were one of those Chinese ladies, you would have had 30 jumpers done by now." I thought it was kind of funny. Here are my finished products with a cute baby model included:

Chenille/Silk Blankets

Fall Jumper

Baby Model in Jumper