What Gunnar & I Did This Morning ... a.k.a. Why My Husband Should Ditch the Business Trip and Come Home Immediately!

So, here are a few shots of my morning with Gunnar. Evie is at school, so he and I finished up these little beauties...

Honestly, I'm not sure who is the most excited... me or Gunnar.

Oh, you wanted to see what we were making, right?
Take this...

Add a little (or a lot) of this...

Oh yeah, Baby.

Now enjoy!

Seriously, can anyone believe that my husband will do anything but come straight home and help me devour these cinnamon rolls? (Recipe: Pioneer Woman)

Gunnar declined to join me in the cinnamon roll consumption, but finally broke down and had a little bite. The next sound heard in my kitchen was the most heart-felt "mmmmmmmmmm" I think he has ever uttered. Ha! He licked his plate, hands, and face when he was finished.

So, Honey, what time shall I expect you home today?

What A Day

Words of wisdom from a 4 year old...

Today I took Evelyn for her pediatrician check-up. Part of this included what all women learn to do, although we still can't believe we have to do it. That's it... pee in a cup. I'm not sure what all they check for with a child that young, but it made for some great comedy. Evelyn had never been subjected to such insanity before, so when I explained to her that she was going to sit on the potty while I held this little cup for her to pee in, she was incredulous. She kept looking at me like she was waiting for me to tell her I was just kidding. Finally, she said, "Mommy, what happens if I pee on your hands?" I assured her that I would thoroughly wash my hands after the whole ordeal was over, and she settled back on the potty. Then she sat up again and said in the most stoic voice ever, "Mommy, this really doesn't sound like a very good idea." Ha! No kidding.

Let's just say things went downhill from there. She had to have the routine finger prick test, which turned out to be enormously upsetting to her. Honestly, it was total meltdown mode. When she found out that she was going to get four shots, it went from bad to worse. She totally freaked out. It took a while for the nurse to get back with the shots, because they hadn't actually planned on doing those shots until two more weeks when she turns five, but since we were there, we went ahead and got everything done. It took three grown women to hold her down for the shots. She was flailing around on the table, struggling and begging the nurse to stop. It was shocking. I have never seen her anywhere near that out of control. While I had the Mommy feelings of sympathy for her, I mostly just kept thinking how over the top her reaction was to what was happening. Nobody likes shots, but they aren't catastrophic attacks on a body.

Then I remembered being a very young child (probably her same age, since it was before I had my tonsils removed) and how it took several people to hold me down when I got shots at my doctor's office. I had forgotten about any of that, but today, holding Evelyn in my arms and trying to reassure her that she really was okay, I was taken right back to Dr. Cole's office in Newnan, Georgia and the horror of shots during my own childhood. Horror... how funny that it seemed like such a horrible thing when I was little. My poor Mama must have felt the same mix of emotions that I felt today. We want to protect our kids, which means we never want them to hurt, but at the same time, we want them to take the sometimes painful steps that lead to prevention of much more serious consequences. We want them to have a life that is happy and wonderful, but we know that discomfort is sometimes necessary and we want them to learn to be strong enough to handle the reality of life.

Tomorrow I will have some pictures to post... Evie's first day of school, maybe a couple of shots of Gunnar, and some quilts that I have completed. But for now, goodnight.

An Idea Is Brewing...

As my most recently-completed project is being quilted by my new best friend -- a local long arm quilter -- I find myself toying with ideas for another quilt. Oh, that doesn't mean that I don't have other quilts in progress or in planning. But my problem is that the more experience and practice I get quilting and sewing, the more challenging and creative projects I want to try. Today, I received an email about an embroidery contest from Sublime Stitching. The contest didn't really interest me, but as I was looking around at the patterns, an idea for a really cool quilt came to mind. My next project for myself will be a quilt that will be decorated with hand-embroidered pin-up girls on solid white blocks. Come on, that will be great, huh? I really like the old-school pin-ups, and the embroidery patterns that I have include space girls, cow girls, and old fashioned pin-up girls like you see in vintage posters and magazines. They are all modest, while still being edgy and fun. I will have to choose fabrics, and then maybe find a way to coordinate the embroidery floss colors to the fabrics, but that should be fairly easy. I think it will be a fun project, and at least in the case of the hand embroidery work, it will be something that I can carry around with me and work on even when I'm not sitting in front of my sewing machine.

So that's all for now. Just wanted to get that idea out there. I should jot it down in my craft journal, but this one was too good not to share. And who knows, maybe I'll get lucky and get a REAL embroidery machine for my 10th Wedding Anniversary / Birthday / Christmas later this year. But then again, the machine embroidery wouldn't really give my quilt the same feeling, so no use drooling over an embroidery machine quite yet. I still like the look of the hand work.

Hooray!

I know, it's a lot different than the title from my last post. Not only did I finish hand-stitching all of those origami stars, but I also finished the quilt top AND the backing. My Sweet Honey Hubby is en route as I type to deliver my quilt to my newly-found long arm quilter friend. Seriously, this lady is a trip, and I was so incredibly glad to find someone locally who would not only take my quilting work, but would also be another source of encouragement and guidance as I continue to learn and improve and try new things.

This quilt will be a birthday present for my niece, Mamie. I really should have taken a picture of the quilt top to post, but the lighting was horrible yesterday (storms all day) and then today I was in a hurry to get the quilt on over to the LAQ. So, no pictures yet. I'll definitely post one of the finished quilt. Maybe one before I put on the binding, but definitely after it's all completed.

Next up in the parade of quilts will be to sew my Shoo-Fly rows into the finished quilt top. I'm still not completely set on a border, or what kind, for it, but I talked to the LAQ today in the shop and she does pantograph quilting, so I'm even more excited to get this one finished up and quilted. I want either a butterfly motif or bumble-bees for this one. Julie may have another suggestion, which would be great too. It's so cool to find someone who can share their opinion and help guide me. I am so new to all of this that I don't really know what questions to ask or what to try or what works and doesn't work, but she was really great with me today, talking through lots of ideas.

Then I have Gunnar's I-Spy quilt, which is ready, other than the border, so I'll probably take that one and the Shoo-Fly to her at the same time.

After that, I have a baby quilt to make for one of the make-up women that has befriended Erick when he is on set. I already have the fabric for the top, and the pattern that I plan on using goes on sale in two days, so I'll be ready to get started on that one by the end of the week.

It's funny to think how much I've already learned. Even more amazing is to think that only four months ago, I didn't even know how to thread a machine. The quilting/sewing bug has definitely gotten hold of me. It's so thrilling to start with fabric from a huge bolt and see it become something beautiful under my hands. I have the same feeling when I'm knitting, except I still knit WAY slower than I can already sew. Obviously, that is probably always the case, but I get to see things taking shape almost immediately when I am sewing. I really enjoy the process, but I definitely get a kick out of seeing the thing through to the end.

That's it for now. I'll update with a picture when Mamie's quilt is finished.

Aargh

For the record, hand sewing is NOT my talent-gift. Ugh. Aargh. Ick. Harumph. 

I am working on a quilt for my niece's birthday, which was actually a couple of weeks ago. The quilt pattern looked deceptively simple. What I thought would be the hard part was the origami style folded stars on half of the blocks. Well, that went incredibly smoothly, but now I am at the point of hand-tacking the star shapes to their blocks so that they stay folded, and I am just beginning to get the hang of it. My first block looks fine out the outside, which is good, but the back side looks like a drunk woman did the sewing. Each block is getting easier, however, and I guess by the time I finish all ten star blocks, I might actually have a feel for what I'm doing. Ha! The tricky part is two-fold. One, the stitches actually have to be positioned so that they hold the stars in place. I mean, it's no good making a cool origami quilt, only to have the stars come unfolded at the first washing. Second, the stitches all have to be hidden. It's equally crummy to make a cool origami quilt and be able to see tacky stitches running around on the outside of the blocks. So it's just slow going for me -- one who is definitely NOT a seasoned hand-stitcher. 

Never fear, I'll get there eventually. The quilt construction is not complicated at all, and I've done all the rest of the cutting, so it should come together quickly... once the star blocks are all tacked down. Ugh.

And here is a weird question. How come I loved the hand-stitched binding that I did on my first quilt, but the hand sewing for these stars is such a pain in the butt? Seriously, it makes no sense at all. 

Back to it... ugh.

What We're Doing Right Now

So Erick is in Atlanta on set, and the kids and I needed something fun to occupy ourselves. Why not bake chocolate chip cookies with a new recipe I found today? Sure!

Before...

After...Yummy goodness...

While they are baking, Evie and Gunnar are playing with some extra chocolate chips and dough. They crack me up, but this was especially funny.

Don't tell Gunnar -- there isn't actually any dough in his bowl, but he doesn't know that.

Ahh, blissful ignorance.

Other projects that I've been needing to post include the blocks for Gunnar's I-Spy Quilt...

Today I got the final orange and blue pieces added around the empty side and short end, and hopefully I'll get this one put together (border) and quilted so that I can work on the binding while we are on vacation.

Evelyn's Lunch Tote for Art Camp ... she chose the Strawberry Shortcake fabric, and I supplemented from my scrap pile for a scrappy look.

Moving on to a new purse for me. This one is made from Amy Buther's Love line, which I LOVE. You know, I'm convinced that she named this line precisely because every time you look at it, you can't help but say, "I LOVE this fabric."

Close up of the main bag portion -- really came out cute!

That's it for now. Oh wait, let me go back and add the links for these things. Plus, one more little sewing project that I made for my kitchen. I found lots of inspiration from tutorials for drying mats, and ended up doing my own thing in a Quilt-As-You-Go fashion. It's Moda's Love U line. I bought a big pack of white hand towels on sale at Bed Beth and Beyond a couple weeks ago, and used a Jelly Roll of the Love U fabrics to sew strips down to the towel. The mat self-binds itself, using the premade binding already on the towel, as you can see below. This was an incredibly quick and easy project.

Well, I hear the timer going off again. Time to pull out another batch of cookies. Erick, I sure wish you were here to have some warm yummy goodness with us. We'll try to save a few crumbs for you!

Homecoming

The kitchen floor is mopped, the den is picked up, and I am ready for bed. My Honey Man comes home tomorrow morning. He has been out of town for four days, has two more days of travel coming up, but is flying home just so that he can spend one afternoon and night with me and the kids before heading back out early the following morning. Lordy, am I crazy about my man. When it all comes down to it, the one person who makes my life as a stay at home Mom possible is my husband. He works and works and works to provide for us. He fights battles that seem impossible to win, he slays dragons, and even when he sticks his foot in his mouth, he is still the one and only guy that I ever want.

Our family vacation is coming up, and he is taking official vacation days from all his jobs so that the four of us can have an entire week together. I am so ready for this time that I can hardly stand it. Evelyn is just as excited as I am. And Gunnar won't really know what is going on until we get there, but I can't wait to see him in the swimming pool. Mostly, I am just ready to have a whole week where there are no outside responsibilities ... no meetings ... no appointments ... no calls for Erick to rush to Atlanta or downtown or anywhere else, for that matter. Just the four of us, on our own time, to do whatever we want.

The more I learn, the more I realize that my real meaning, my focus, my joy while I find it, comes from the time and the pieces of myself that I choose to share with others. Next to the gift of Erick's love, the second greatest gift he has ever given me has been the opportunity to be with my children every day. There are days when I feel like I need a break, but even on those days, I still have the sense that my frustration is constructive, in the sense that it is being spent on something that is lasting. This time I have with my children can never be repeated or replaced. It is the most precious commodity that we can ever share. Realizing that this gift comes at the expense of my husband's hard work is sobering. It helps me to be reminded that my gift in return to him is to make the most of the time he has given me to be their Mom and to be his wife. Rather than losing myself in these roles, it turns out that I actually find myself in a more authentic way when I find myself in the eyes of the people I love.

So, for tonight, goodnight. Safe travels for My Honey. Church with the kids in the morning, as we thank God for His incredible blessings on our lives, and then home for an afternoon and evening of just being together.

Finally Watched "Julie and Julia"

Erick is out of town, so I had some quiet time and decided to finally watch the movie, "Julie and Julia." It was really sweet. I sort of sympathized with Julie's character, who was sort of fumbling around trying to figure out her life. How interesting that she discovered herself in the light of her husband's encouragement and support, and also in the food that she prepared for the two of them to share.

Since being at home full-time, I've sort of gone in cycles with doing what I consider a really great job of keeping house and cooking dinners for the family, and I've also done what I would consider a less than half-assed job sometimes. Trying to figure out how my role fits in with Erick's job has been a challenge. Honestly, we never know from one day to the next whether he will be at home on any given evening until mid-afternoon of said day. So while we are obviously grateful for this job and this opportunity for him, it makes it hard for me to mentally put myself into the mode of housewife, at least in terms of whether or not I am going to cook dinner. What I've discovered is probably not a mystery to anyone but me, but I can't wait until 2:00 p.m. or 3:00 p.m. on one day to find out whether or not I'm going to cook dinner that night.

So here's my plan, again. Get back on the bandwagon of doing a little housework every day. I really love the Fly Lady's website. You can check her out here. And it's also time to get back to my organized meal planning and shopping routine. I realize that my role as Mom and the responsibility to provide healthy meals and the stability of a regular dinner around the table for the kids trumps whether or not my husband is also at home to join us. There may be times when we go the cereal route, because frankly, the kids and I really do like cereal, but I need to have a "real" meal for them on most nights, and we will assume that Erick will be there with us except when he isn't.

And when he is, I want to be a better wife and Mom. I realize that it is my work that sets the tone for our home. If I keep it up and give it lots of care, then we all are relaxed and there is a sense of peace and serenity and our home becomes a sanctuary for us. When I let things slide, when we have take-out or fast food more than occasionally, then we just don't enjoy each other or our time together nearly as much. Maybe I'll never be June Cleaver (or Julia Child -- since I finally saw the movie) but I can be the best Christy that I can be, and that is a worthy goal. I want my husband to be excited to leave his office, come downstairs, and join his family after a day's work. I want the kids to grow up with the security and tradition of family dinner times. I want to be proud of myself because I can look around and see the fruits of my labors. I want to be better. Not perfect. But better. My best.

Here's another thing. Life has been tough these past 10 years, but there have been the most incredible and joyous blessings as well. I am a better version of myself, even when I'm not even trying, simply because of the love of my husband and now our children. They give me courage. They love me. There is one aspect of my "old" life (before I became what I now describe as a medical science project gone awry) that I have never been able to reclaim. I have not been an athlete for 10 years. I miss it. My body misses it. Granted, I was never a great athlete in any sense of the word, but I was strong, I knew my body, and my body trusted me enough to do what I wanted it to do. I could run, swim, bike, hike, climb, swing, balance, lift... you get the drift. Those things were taken from me, and every time I tried to take them back, it felt like they were snatched away again. So I had almost given up ever being able see myself in a way that integrated physical strength and agility ever again.

But that is over. Now, with only two sessions with a personal trainer under my belt, I already feel like I am on the way to being what I already was. The trainer put it this way. "Christy, that athlete is still there. She's still in there. I can hear her when you speak. We just have to help her get back out." That's what I am doing in more than just one part of my life. I am learning to let out the strength that was already there. I am learning to tap into a vein of courage and strength that has been hidden, and maybe even lost to me. It's not only in the realm of spirituality and faith, although I do feel like my faith continues to grow as I try to submit to God and try to remember that He is the one who is ultimately driving the ship. There are some things that are totally out of my control, and as much as I sometimes think that my way would be better, or that I could do a better job, God, in His infinite wisdom, did not put me in charge. So I am learning to look to Him but also to pick myself up, dust myself off, and do what has to be done to live life to its fullest right now. There is no second chance. I have one life. And if I choose to look at each medical speed-bump as a victory that has been overcome, then I clearly have more life to live and more of myself to give, and I had better get busy and quit moping around.

My goal in working out with the trainer is to ultimately be able to complete a triathlon. We are sort of dreaming about the possibility of doing one in October, but if not that soon, then I am focused on giving it a go next spring. I think crossing that finish line will be the ultimate vindication, the ultimate come-back, and the ultimate victory for me in terms of repairing the broken relationship between my body and my spirit. Honestly, the two have sort of had to part ways just to survive some of the time. And I realize that other people have been in literal fights for their lives while I've just hopped, skipped, and jumped through one surgery after another, but for me, this has still been a hard season. It was hard to go from "Most Athletic" to unable to lift a gallon jug of milk or to have to wake my husband during the night, because his then 26 year-old Amazon woman of a wife couldn't sit up or get out of bed to go to the bathroom without his help. He has been my strength, truly, when I had none.

We don't know what our lives will look like ahead of time. We don't know the duration of our days. I took the kids antique shopping yesterday, and as we walked around through rows and rows of things that had once belonged to someone else's life, things that had once had meaning for someone, things that had been common-place or maybe special to another family, I was reminded that there is nothing to do but to jump in and be a part of the ride. Evelyn splashed all around in an outdoor fountain, and I was just so grateful to be here with her, to just be alive to witness my daughter splashing, that the thought of telling her to stop getting wet seemed silly. Get hung up on wet shoes and a subsequent wet inside of my car, or laugh and say a quick prayer of thanksgiving that I am here another day to see my children play. And while I'm here, make the most of it. Whatever that means, I want to do it. No holding back. No fear. No second-guessing. No telling myself it's impossible. No more self-doubt. Just living... really living.

I guess that's all for now. It's time for bed, so that I can rest this body and have another day tomorrow. My husband comes home tomorrow, and I want him to find a lovely home and a lively wife when he walks through that door. I want him to be glad that he works so hard to provide for us and to be very glad to be home with us too.

Love to you all. Now go live.

Projects: Hedge Demolition and Sewing!

So, it's been a while since I've updated the blog, and I thought I would share a couple of recent projects. There are plenty more to photograph, but for tonight, I'll just show you what I've been saving on the old digital camera.

Our back yard has never really been totally landscaped. By "landscaped" I mean that there are parts of the back yard that I have just not been insane enough to tackle. The last real hold-out in the back yard was a hedge of azalea bushes that grows along the back out the house. They are absolutely the ugliest azalea bushes ever known to mankind. The bottom of each bush is nothing but scraggly woody twigs, and the outer branches were overgrown and unkempt. Here is a before shot, just in case you don't believe me. They were just hideous.

That's not all... there is another hedge of ugliness that runs down the lower part of the back of the house. Notice that you can't even walk down the brick stairs without having to duck and push the overgrown branches out of your way.

Enter one determined girl, armed only with a 20" electric hedge trimmer and a manual (woman-powered) long handled clipper, and voila! Here is the after...

Now I'm not saying that the "after" is necessarily pretty. But what I am saying is that the azaleas have one chance to prove to me that they can grow into strong, healthy, and beautiful azaleas. Otherwise, I will trade in the trimming tools for a shovel. The two high-school guys who help us with the yard came over and helped me drag out all the debris and limbs, because by the time I took down these bushes and the ones in front of the big window, I was exhausted. Miraculously, there is new growth at the very bottom of these bushes. I had no idea about that until I started trimming away the outer layer of leaves and branches.

That brings me to a rather philosophical point. We never really know what lies beneath the outer facade of another person or situation or relationship until the outer layers are removed and the inside is exposed. This has been a rough week for my family. We learned that hard way that you can't always trust what you see on the outside. And now that the inside is exposed, we will have to wait from a distance and see whether or not there will be little shoots of life to spring forth and blossom or if what remains will shrivel and decay. Only the Master Gardner knows, and the rest of us will just have to wait and see. Watch and pray. Hope for the best, but remain vigilant.

There will be more pictures in the next few days. I finished my first quilt, other than to make my label and sew it on, and I've finished a couple of tote bags -- one for Evelyn and one for me. Tonight I cut out the pieces for a lunch tote for Evie to take to Art Camp in a couple of weeks, and hopefully that will turn out well. In the background, I'm working on two quilts. One is a picnic quilt for our family, and the other is an eye-spy quilt for Gunnar. I also have two owl pillows to make and an appliqued owl quilt/throw for Evelyn's room that are in the line-up. And, of course, there are ideas of a hexagon project, since I keep wishing I had something else to sew by hand. All those tutorials for hexagon quilts, bags, placemats, and who knows what else are calling to me. But the hexagons will have to wait for now.

I suppose it's bedtime. Hope everyone has a restful night.

Here's the Photographic Evidence

As promised, here are some photos of my recent craftiness.

Homemade Bread

Mother's Day Tablerunners...

Mom's is already on her table. MIL's is on its way to her.

Mom's from Moda's Hunky Dorey

It really is a beautiful addition to her table.

Kathleen's is Moda's Make Life...

The Circle Quilt is trimmed and ready to bind. Update: I have to make 260 inches of binding!!!

Herbs, berries, okra, and jalapenos. All with signs.

And check out the tea cup bird feeder in the left background.

Vintage teacup birdfeeder.

Another one for the front yard. This one is my favorite.

Set of bags.

Business Card Holder (inside view)

Here are the links for these projects.

Multi Grain Honey Bread

Moda Tablerunners

Circle Quilt (with modifications)

Plant Tags (with modifications)

Teacup Bird Feeders

Weekender Tote

Zippered Pencil Pouch

Pleated Bag

Business Card Holder to hold my Mommy cards. (I added velcro to mine.)

That's about it. Oh, my I-Spy charms came today. Hopefully, I can get over to the quilt shop tomorrow and get some feedback on the pattern for Gunnar's quilt. I think I've marked off the idea of doing anything that involves more prints other than my large I-Spy blocks, but that still leaves me with a couple of options for the layout. I'm really leaning towards a random disappearing nine-patch pattern, but thinking that the only prints I'll use will be my I-Spy charms in the corners and maybe two different colors of solids for the small square and rectangle parts that get cut from the inside squares. 

Hope you enjoyed the pictures. It has been a lot of fun working on these projects.

What On Earth Have I Been Doing?

Sewing... gardening... browsing around on Etsy... crafting... it's been a very productive time. I've been trying to keep everything organized in my mind, and finally had to force myself to put down my craft journal last night because I kept thinking of more things I needed to jot down before going to sleep.

One problem. Erick is asleep in the same room as my camera, so there won't be any pictures of my progress until tomorrow. But here is a run-down of the projects:

vintage teacup bird feeders
two quilted table runners for Mother's Day (one for my Mom and one for Erick's Mom)
completed the quilting and trimming for my circle quilt
weekender tote bag (Okay, so I still have a tiny bit of work left on this one.)
pencil pouch to match the tote bag
pleated little zipper bag to match the tote bag
business card holder to match the tote bag (holds my Mommy cards)
painted plant signs to label all the herbs, berries, and veggies that I've planted
cut out fabrics for quilted placemats and cloth napkins to match my patio dishes

Wow. Now that I see it all written out, I actually HAVE accomplished quite a bit. There is a slight hitch with the cloth napkin fabric. It appears to have the absorbency capacity of a slab of stainless steel. What I'm saying is that this fabric sucks if you're planning on using it to wipe up any sort of liquid at all. Oh well. At least now I know what sort of print will look good with my dishes and placemats. I'll save it and use it for something down the road. But this means that I've got to find new fabric for the napkins. At least I hadn't started sewing them. That would have been really crummy. My Mom showed me how different napkins that she has are better or worse for napkins, but I felt like mine was going to work. Again, I'm glad I gave it an official absorption test before getting them to the sewing machine.

My next projects (meaning things I've already purchased) will be to finish the placemats (and hopefully some decent napkins) and then I want to make an I-Spy quilt for Gunnar. Rather than dedicating my life to amassing the necessary fussy cuts on my own, I went on Etsy and bought two sets of I-Spy charms. My plan is to use a disappearing nine-patch pattern for the quilt, but I'm still sort of stuck on how I'll arrange the blocks. One quilt that I saw arranged the blocks so that the cut squares looked like sashing, which was really pretty, but I love the idea of arranging the blocks so that no two seams ever meet. It gives the quilt a much more abstract feel, which is nice for an I-Spy quilt. Guess I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

I bought a pattern to make a lunchbox for Evelyn to take to Art Camp, so I'll have to get that put together in the next few weeks. Then there is a little purse-sized organizer/binder that I want to make for myself, to match the Weekender Tote Bag.

The Circle Quilt has been quilted and trimmed, so I need to measure it, make the binding, sew on the binding, and then I'll hand-stitch the back side binding. That will finish up my very first quilt. It was good that I had the chance to make the tablerunners, because it gave me some really good practice with binding. I had planned on using pre-made binding for the quilt, but found that I actually enjoyed the process of making my own for the tablerunners, and my hand stitching isn't nearly as horrible as I expected it to be, so I think I'm gonna go for it.

Okay, that's all for tonight. Oh. Wait. I forgot one other Etsy purchase. I bought a fat quarter pack of Barbara Jones' Simply Sweet. Oh my how cute. I think I'm going to use it to make a picnic quilt. The backing will either be laminated cotton or oilcloth, so that it will be waterproof. I want to do a little more research on that before buying the fabric, but I'm thinking it should be a really cute vintage red-check pattern. That would be perfect with the Simply Sweet line.

More tomorrow, including pictures...

A Night in the Life of a Newbie Stay-at-Home-Mommy

I say I'm still a Newbie stay-at-home Mommy, but really, is there ever a time that any of us thinks that we've got it all figured out? Do we really ever pass beyond the novice status? I guess that's what grandkids are for, but since I'm here in this season of life with young kids and still figuring out what life at home is going to look like for me, the Newbie label still applies.

When I was working full-time, there were days when the pace was nothing short of insane. Some days were fairly easy, but there were frenetic days when it seemed like I never even stopped to go to the bathroom. (Now, of course, when I do get a chance to go to the bathroom, I am accompanied by a four year old and a sixteen month old. But that's a whole different story, yes?) At home, it's different. While I am still busy and working hard, I have a different feeling about the work that I am doing. No matter how much I enjoyed and cared for the people in the office, they were not my flesh and blood, carried nine months inside my body, born out of the pains and struggles of labor, and whose souls and lives are one of my absolute top priorities. The work that I do at home is mostly done for my family ... my husband, myself, and our two children. I also enjoy baking meals and doing things for other people, but the everyday chores and tasks that keep me busy are focused on our family's sustainability and comfort. Even when I venture into the realm of hobby or personal interest, I find myself drawn into things that I believe will either enhance our lives or make our home more beautiful and homey. 

Sewing has become a great creative outlet for me. Baking and cooking have always been there, but now I find that I have the time to try things that I wouldn't have taken the time to try when I was working full time and trying to squeeze out some meager portion of time with the kids before we all fell into bed and started the race again the next morning. My newest foray into the realm of time-investment baking is bread making. I have two bread books, both of which are meant to take a total beginner all the way into the mathematics and art of baking lovely bread. Tonight, I am making my first attempt, but we won't know how it turns out until tomorrow morning. Because of time constraints (due to the fact that I forgot to knead my dough earlier in the process and had to go back, knead, and re-start the rising process) the final rising stage will be done in the fridge tonight and I'll bake the loaves in the morning. Hopefully, they will turn out well. One thing is for sure -- the dough smells wonderful, and it hasn't even been baked yet.

I'm baking this bread. No, it's not from either of my new books. I've started reading but am not yet to the point of actually making any of the formulas (recipes) from my book or this one that I bought as a back-up reference. 

What else is going on? The yard beautification continues, as does the planting. I'm working up a container garden on my back courtyard. And as it seems to happen lately, I have spent a couple of days trying to think of how I am going to make some little signs for my herbs, jalapenos, blueberries, and okra, and stumbled upon this tutorial. Yes, folks, I will be making my very own garden markers this week. 

The funny thing is that my multi-tasking hasn't stopped. Honestly, if anything, it has blossomed. While waiting for my dough to rise so that I could then form the two loaves, Evelyn and I went outside and planted nine okra plants, two jalapeno plants, a pot of mint, and two purple balloon flowers. The timer was going off to remind me to check the dough just as I was dropping the last two plants into their new pots. Pretty good time management, huh? 

I'll post pictures of the patio garden later this week. It was way too dark to take any pictures by the time I finished up outside, cleaned up, and got my bread dough into the fridge.

So that's it for tonight. It has been so rewarding to be able to apply myself and my abilities and see them benefitting my family. Every day I feel the honor of being the one whose responsibility it is to make our home a warm, inviting, and peaceful place so that my husband's hard work can be rewarded with a lovely place to relax and enjoy the kids when he unplugs. Evelyn and Gunnar notice the little things, and that just makes it all worth while. This has been a long time coming, and I wasn't totally sure that I would make a very good stay-at-home Mommy, but it's like I have fallen into the role I was meant to have all along. Even though I enjoyed working and felt great satisfaction in a job well done and in the collaboration with some of the greatest people I've even met, being the one who gets to take care of my children every day is an incredible privilege and a hysterically funny adventure. Now, I am the one who gets to see my toddler trying new things for the first time. I get to watch his face and see the wonder and amazement and joy when he figures out something new. What a blast...

Mommy & Daughter Baking Day

Before I get to today's events, let me give a small back-story. Evelyn and I really love baking and cooking together. My husband thinks it's amazing that I have the patience to give up some control over to a four year old and also allow her to try things that will either slow my progress or might not look quite as "perfect" as what I would attempt on my own. However, it is a good practice for me to have her work with me, mostly because I NEED a reason to slow down and enjoy the process and accept that it doesn't have to look perfect when we're done. Mommy could use a couple of notches knocked off the perfection meter, if you know what I mean...

Anyway, Evelyn was baking a cake with my Mom last weekend. It was a new recipe, and Mom decided to tweak the recipe as they went along. (Yes, I realize this is exactly the same thing I do. I learned from the best. We are usually pretty spot-on in our tweaks, I'll have you know.) But this one cake tweak didn't turn out exactly as planned. The cake layers didn't get quite as think as Mom had hoped, and she lamented that her cakes didn't rise while Evelyn was still nearby. Quick as you please, Evelyn looked right at her and asked, "Grandma, did you remember to put the baking soda and baking powder in the cake? You KNOW you have to put baking soda and baking powder in the cake so it will rise. Did you forget it?"

Yes, my sweet little baker's apprentice is four and a half years old. And yes, she knows that baking powder and baking soda are what go in cakes to make them rise. All this time, I've never really thought about how much she is learning when she bakes with me. I definitely underestimated how much she is listening and absorbing, despite her young age.

Okay, so on to today's fun. I found a new sugar cookie recipe while surfing blogs the other day. I mixed up the dough a couple of nights ago, but due to a horrendous migraine that lasted three days, I hadn't baked the cookies yet. When Gunnar went down for his nap this afternoon, I got the dough out of the fridge, ironed my rolling mat, and started baking. Evelyn waited as patiently as possible for her turn at the dough scraps, and here are the pictures of her rolling out her own dough.

So cute. This girl has mad cookie dough rolling skills!

Oh, and you wanna see the finished product? Oh my, they really are good. My husband needs to come home fast. Otherwise, I'm going to sit down in front of the table with the gallon jug of milk, and eat myself into oblivion. Folks, I have a new go-to sugar cookie recipe.

Aren't they pretty? I had never used this particular technique for frosting cookies, but it turned out quite well. The first step is to pipe a thicker version of the icing around the edge of each cookie. Then, you thin the icing with more milk and drizzle the icing to fill in the top of the cookie. Add sprinkles, just for an extra cute touch.

And they made plenty.

Did I say that they make plenty? Let me rephrase...

That's a whole lotta cookies!

They really are good. Nice, chewy, soft texture... wonderful flavor... sweet frosting with a touch of lemon juice... sooooo good.

What I really needed was a sew-along

I found a really cute tote bag pattern in a sewing magazine a couple of weeks ago, but the more I read and re-read the pattern, the less sense it made to me. I kept thinking how much better it would be if I could find an online tutorial that showed all the steps along the way, complete with pictures of each step. Low and behold, the Sew Spoiled Sew-Along. Now I can follow along and make this great tote bag. Wanna see the fabric I chose for it? This was another purchase from the Couture Sewing Center earlier today. 

The lighting wasn't absolutely great when I took this photo, so the colors are a little wonky. The two fabrics that look red are actually orange, but otherwise this is a pretty good representation of the prints. The big circle print will be the main outside fabric for the bag. The two orange prints will be the top border and handles. The green circle print on the left will be the inner part of the pleat and lining, and the small dot fabric will be one of the inner pockets. I will post pictures once I get started on the bag, but for the Sew Along, the current assignment was to choose and procure the fabrics, so this puts me right on schedule.

Okay, now it's definitely time to go to bed. No thanks to Katie's recommendation that I get the first season of White Collar to watch. I just finished Episodes 2 and 3. You are horrible to rope me into something like this. The only time I can watch is late at night and since the kids are asleep and the hubby is out of town, I figured I would splurge and watch two. I'm NOT going to watch another episode tonight. I'm NOT going to do it. Seriously. Not. Gonna. Happen.

My Very First Quilt Top

Drum roll, please. Here is the circle quilt top. It turned out pretty well, even if I do say so myself. Here is the picture, then I'll finish the story...

It's fine, right? Just ignore the little pieces of masking tape. Those are the row and column labels that I used to keep my blocks in order. Guess I could take those off now, huh?

I was so proud of it that I took it into the quilt shop to share my progress. But here's the thing. While I was in the shop looking at fabric for some future projects, one of the owners gave me some invaluable advice. She suggested that a border would really add some pizzaz to my quilt. She explained that the border is like the matte in a framed portrait. The binding is the frame, but you need something to separate the frame from the subject, or the quilt from the binding. Enter a border. Seriously, enter a border and see what happens. It's incredible.

Here's another shot.

Can you believe the difference? This just makes the quilt top look finished. Here is a close-up of the corner to show the detail in the border print.

Next, I will add a white second border, to outline the print border, and then the binding is solid yellow quilt binding. The border print will double as backing, with a strip made up of two of the quilted rows running about two-thirds of the way down the backing. 

What I learned today is that not only can simple things (like a border) really make a huge difference in a project, but also that if you ask questions, share your work, and seek out people who will help you, then you will learn things that you wouldn't have picked up on your own. And shopping in that little quilting shop means that I'm paying more for what I'm purchasing, but I'm also getting expert advice and encouragement that I can't get from a chain store. The ladies in the chain stores are definitely nice, but today, I had an owner and an additional quilter in the shop who devoted an hour just to showing me the ropes, explaining different ways to do what I was doing, and helping me select fabric for this and other projects. I would say that the small difference in price is definitely made up for by the quality of the fabric I was able to buy, but more importantly, in the one-on-one attention that I received. 

Various Updates

Okay, so there are lots of things to update. I will post pictures later, but suffice it to say that yes, I did get a new sewing machine, and no, my old machine is STILL not repaired. The new machine is a Singer Confidence, and this baby zings through fabric, backing, bias tape, and anything else like nobody's business. I'm serious. This thing flies.

Other updates: I've been working on the circle quilt, and hope to have the last of the circles appliqued to the blocks in the next day or so. Then I get to lay it out and start connecting the blocks into rows that will eventually be sewn together to make the quilt top. Now that I have my new machine, complete with walking foot and darning/free motion foot, I am ready for some serious quilting. Honestly, I can't wait to try quilting for the first time.

I've been working really hard around the house, and it's nice to finally be in a position (mostly related to not being in the 9-5 grind anymore) that I can make my home my own. It's like a surge of creativity has erupted and I see projects that will make a huge difference in how homey our house can feel. I started a plate wall in the kitchen this weekend, and am finished other than going back to get a couple more plate hangers for additional Depression glass that I want to hang. It really is beautiful, even though it's not complete. We did a lot of cleaning in the playroom, and I called a guy this morning who is going to come back tomorrow and clean out some junk from the backyard. There is an old refrigerator and some old furniture that he will haul away, and I swear, once that is gone, I'll be ready to make our back yard a warm, inviting place to be. My idea for the backyard includes a copper firepit, some vintage wrought iron chairs, and new hanging baskets for the eaves of the barn. We also want to get a nice swing set for the kids so that we can enjoy being outside with them.

I guess that's pretty much it. Like I said, I'll add some pictures soon.

Oh wait, while I'm thinking about it, I did make another art bag for a friend of Evie's. Here are a couple of pics of that. The recipient loves elephants, so I found a pattern online and appliqued this elephant for the front of the bag.

Here is a picture of the inside of the bag.

It wasn't perfect, but seeing the huge smiles that ensued when L. saw her new bag just made my heart so happy. All my perfectionism just melted away. It's so great to be able to make something for someone and see them take so much joy from it.

Okay, more later...

Okay, so enough is enough...

Having been without my sewing machine for two and a half weeks now, I have determined that it is time to buy a new machine that is capable not only of basic sewing, but also will have the capacity to do the free-motion quilting that I'm so excited to try. My White 1740, assuming it will eventually be back in working order, will become my back-up machine. It is great for traveling and would be easy to take back and forth to sewing classes, so I won't give up on it completely. But I have way too many projects waiting to be completed to keep waiting, and hey, if I'm going to do any of my own quilting, which I really want to do, then this purchase is imminent.

Hopefully, I will be able to find the perfect machine for me. I'm going over to the sewing shop later today and will post my results. In the meantime, here are the pictures I promised of the circles and squares that will make up the circle quilt. Don't ask me what on earth Evelyn is doing with her hands -- she made that same pose in every single pic.

Wait a minute... I just figured it out. She is clearly hoping to be the next Vanna White. Check out those hands. And she already knows her letters, so I think she is a shoe-in, don't you?

Let's not leave out my boy, Gunnar. He has had so much fun since figuring out that shoes are not his mortal enemy, after all. Check him out.

One more. I just can't help myself.

He swiped Grandma's water cup. I think he was so thrilled to have grabbed it that it didn't matter to him that he couldn't get anything out of the straw. He took off running and giggling after snagging this cup.

I'll sign off for now. Wish me sewing machine shopping luck. I sure hope I'll be posting a picture of my new machine soon! Seriously, I am trying not to get my hopes up that I'll find anything, but oh, can you imagine if they actually have a machine in the shop that is reasonably priced AND does what I want?

Still ... no sewing machine

I guess this is supposed to be one of those lessons in patience that I hate so much. Ugh. My sewing machine is still in the repair shop. It's funny that it took me so long to get up the courage to open up that sewing machine and get going with it, even with Mom's help, and then as soon as I discovered how much I enjoyed sewing and making things, the machine died and has been out of commission for almost two weeks.

However, I am still making progress towards my first quilt. Having chosen THIS circle quilt pattern, I purchased the fabrics for the circles, ironed on all the interfacing, traced my circles with a 5 inch template, and cut them all out two night ago. Tonight, I started cutting the squares that will be that background pieces for the circles. Maybe my machine will be ready by the weekend, and I can have some fun stitching up my blocks and seeing how far I get with the rows. I have a lot of excitement and anticipation built up for this project, so it would be nice to see it start coming together in more of a tangible way.

Just for kicks, I will show you the fabrics that I chose for the circles. My quilt will be 8 blocks by 8 blocks, so I had to find eight patterns with colors that coordinated. That was a lot harder than I expected, by the way!

Here we go...

The backing fabric is a cute dot print too, but I'll show that one later. Tomorrow I'll post pictures of the circles and squares --- I'm sure you'll be waiting on pins and needles, right?

Wednesday Morning Bible Study Group

I haven't mentioned my new Bible study group, but today was the fourth meeting. Our teacher is leading us through the book, Shepherding a Child's Heart, along with the Parent's Handbook. The basic premise of the study is that the only real authority or instruction manual for raising Godly children is the Scripture, and so you learn to use Scripture in the training, correction, encouragement, and discipline of your children. The memory verse regimen is pretty tough (assigned my our teacher -- not so much from the book) but I can already see that Evelyn is responding well to this approach. Even though Gunnar doesn't know what I'm saying, I still use the same language with him, because I figure while he is learning new words and language, why not teach him that he needs to have "self control" as opposed to simply telling him to lay still while I'm changing his diaper. "Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control." (Proverbs 25:28.) Having pointed out their action as a specific sin, you also use Scripture to instruct them in the response that you want them to use as a replacement (kindness, obedience, grace, etc) and you remind them that the action was a sin against God and that it needs to be confessed. Even though I grew up in the church, I never really thought about how my daily sins were a grievance to God. As I got older, I felt like God should cut me a break, since, after all, I hadn't done anything that bad, and I was really angry with Him when I felt like life was getting tough. If, on the other hand, you can train a child to acknowledge sin as sin, then not only do they learn to confess it, but they also realize their immense need for God's grace, mercy, and salvation. 

I admit that it is a foreign concept to me to tell my 4 year old or my 15 month old that their actions are sin and that at the core, the condition of their heart is the real problem. I just don't think of my children as sinners. In addition, I have to remind myself that I act as God's agent, to correct and discipline them in a consistent and Biblical way, as opposed to disciplining them because they are finally getting on my nerves or have pushed it too far this one time. This study leads you to discipline based on revealing their heart issue, as opposed to discipling them based on my own convenience or lack of patience at that particular moment. That is where I struggle. Evelyn is just not a bad kid. I don't have to discipline her often. But if I think about how consistent discipline will help point her to God for grace, then it becomes a matter on a whole different level of importance. 

It helps to have other girls in the group who are struggling with the same issues and thought patterns as I am. I only knew a couple of the girls on the first day of the study, but this incredible bond of trust has already begun to form between us, and the encouragement that we get from sharing with each other and learning together is incredible. This is just not something that you see being fleshed out on a daily basis, even in the church. As our teacher said today, "It's like we're expected to get this (parenting) by osmosis, because they certainly don't teach it to us in the church." 

And with that, I think it's time to call it a night.

Mommy & Daughter are Both Crafty

Okay, so don't think that it will be normal for there to be more than one post per day, but I have some super cute pics to share. While Erick was on set this evening, I took the kids to Michael's Craft Store. We bought a sand art kit for Evelyn, and I picked up the rest of the supplies I needed for a pincushion project. Gunnar didn't get to do any crafts, but rest assured that he had a blast riding in the buggy all over Michael's getting to flirt with every female in the entire store. I swear, I have no idea how he knows how to flirt, but watch out... he will flutter those long lashes, show those twinkly blue eyes, and flash that adorable smile, and every woman in a 10 mile radius goes to total mush.

Evelyn agreed to pose with her sand art collection, but insisted that Pink Bear and Strawberry Shortcake (blanket) got to pose with her. Here are her pics.

And now a sweet smile...

Now before I reveal my pin cushion extraordinaire, let me point you to this TUTORIAL that I found a couple of nights ago.

Here is my first attempt at a cake pincushion. I decided to use colors to match my craft closet, which worked out really well.

Here is a view from the top, which shows the flower detail. The pins are cute pearlized pins that I hope will be an inspiration for my continued sewing projects.

That's all for tonight. I did get the new part put on the dishwasher, but haven't quite gotten up the nerve to actually run a load of dishes. Yall say a few prayers, okay???

Goodnight!