Faery Daydreams

Farewell

2007-06-19T14:22:00.000-05:00

I haven't posted on here for quite a while. I won't be anymore either, I've outgrown this. If you would care to see my new blog please go here.

Meet The Greens

2007-03-19T13:12:00.001-05:00

I stumbled on this. I think it's got great potential. I like to spread the word. Hopefully it's good and lasts!

This is a little something it said on their website to explain them;

"THE GREENS: a cool kids' site about looking after the planet @ MeetTheGreens.org
THE GREENS: a cool kids' site about looking after the planet. MeetTheGreens.org is produced by the award-winning kids team at WGBH Interactive in Boston.
MeetTheGreens.org is a new kids' guide to looking after the planet. Kids can watch THE GREENS' cartoon adventures and discover related green games, news, downloads, a blog, action tips, links, and much more. This innovative, Web-only project comes from WGBH in Boston, the producer of shows like ZOOM, ARTHUR, Frontline & NOVA."

New Camera YIPEE!!

2007-03-19T13:12:00.000-05:00

I got a new camera (thank god for tax returns!) I love it! I am still learning all of the fun stuff. I didn't get to take any fabulous shots yet. I only got it last night. Here is really the only one I have so far, but I'm quite sure there are many more to come as I start to learn all the bells and whistles!

I give you....

TIM!

He's so cute with his hair way too long and his facial hair,( which I dispise!)
He wants me to cut his hair so badly, but I think it's cute all curly so I've been putting it off. Now that it's getting warmer he'll make me do it. Anyway, this is my muffin!

Craftsters are the best people in the world!

2007-03-14T15:54:00.000-05:00

I was having a really really bad day today. I have been dealing with a lot of junk since my sister passed away, and it's been coming to a boiling point the last few days. Today I broke down and started crying at work. Now for some that's ok, but I don't like to cry in front of people. It really bothers me, I don't know why. Well, I did break down at work, and then I broke down at home. I have just been having a really really terrible day. We have an appointment tonight with a psychiatrist for Jorden tonight, and I'm really not looking forward to it. Well, my sons came home from school and my middle one Liam said, "mom, there's a box out here for you." I haven't ordered anything in awhile, my swaps aren't sending out or anything yet, I have no idea what it could be.
I look at the box and immediately recognize the name and address is from one of the women I have swapped with a few times. I had no idea what could be in it.

I open it up and there is a lot of fabric with ribbons around it. And on the top is a note from Cheryl (zenochka on craftster.) In the note she explains that many of the ladies in the Fat Quarter Swap that I had recently organized got together and made me a fabric care package to cheer me up. Now I know you can't see this, but I am having a hard time not crying my eyes out now, can you imagine what I was like when I opened it. I honestly really haven't had a chance to do any crafting since my sister died (minus painting Jorden's room.) The fabrics are lovely and I can tell that a lot of thought was put into them, because they are perfect for me.

Here I organized the swap, and these wonderful (which I can't think of a big enough word to describe how fabulous they are,) women organized this. I can't possibly thank them enough. This has warmed my heart and helped me so far on my darkest day.

Thank you zenochka, BlondGirl, nixkisses, iheartsushi, igobylorib, stacysews, & moilulu

Craftsters really are the best people in the world! Thank you all so much. Now I had better go before my tears short out the keyboard.

My Camera is Toast

2007-03-13T18:09:00.000-05:00

I am so upset, my lovely, darling, children have in fact broken my digital camera. Funds do not allow me to get a new one. So unless we get a lot more sun so that I can use my son's flashless camera there will be few pictures for a bit.

However, everyone around us has gotten the flu and we seem to have been missed. So we have our health!

Fun, Fun, Fun

2007-03-08T13:39:00.000-06:00

We recently took the kids away for a bit, and I thought I'd share some pics. We went to a local year long indoor funpark thing.

Here's a group shot, goofy guys, they can never take a decent photo together.

Here's Jorden dancing. She's singing along too, but you can't obviously hear her.

Here Jorden & Tim are playing a ball tossing game together.

Liam is deep in concentration, trying to get a ball through a moving target.

Here you can see Lore in the bumper cars and Liam in the background.

Not a great picture of Levi on the bumper cars, but he seemed to be avoiding my camera that day.

Bedroom makings!

2007-02-27T12:31:00.001-06:00

Well, I'm still working hard on trying to get Jorden's new bedroom cleaned out. It has really dingy white walls, so I think I must paint. I'm not sure what my gut says brown and pink and orange.... but this will be the boys playroom too, so I must pull that urge back a bit. I have kicked around tangerine orange, robins egg blue, or lime green. It's a small room, but it needs color! I think any of these would look nice with dark brown. I think I will have to keep the trim white, but the door panels and such can be brown.

Please don't mind the mess, like I said I'm still trying to clear it out. There are 2 doors one to the living room, and one to the basement (VERY well locked!) There is one window and a small "closet" cabinet with shelves.

I really want to do something fun and funky in there. I'd love to use some found or recycled materials. I think I'm still too overwhelmed to have any creative juices for the moment. The paint will need to be done soon, the other stuff I can do a bit at a time. (Oh it's really ugly brown carpet, but it will have to stay for a while.) Any help would be great! Thanks

Funday Monday!!

2007-02-27T12:31:00.000-06:00

Monday was a pretty good day! Jorden and I made a snow man
Jorden with our snowman.

Jo and the boys posing after school with the snowman

It was beautiful with the fresh falling snow. We're working on cleaning out my craftroom, so she can have a bedroom. The contracts came and it looks like she will be living here nearly full time for 8 months. Her dad will gradually get more visitation so they can get to know each other. Once she does go to her dad's full time (next fall) she will be coming here for daycare when her dad and step mom are working. So at least I will get to see her. We are busy trying to make her a more permanent spot, a place of her own. My craft room/storage room will move upstairs and her bedroom will go in there. After she moves out it will turn into more of a playroom for her and the boys.

Here's where she's been staying until we had a more permanent place. Plus she was close to the bathroom and VERY close to us so if she needed us we could be there. Obviously it's not ideal, so we need to remedy it.

Swap Goodies!!!

2007-02-21T08:27:00.000-06:00

I organized a fat quarter swap, which I have been horribly neglecting because of recent happenings. They have all been wonderful and patient! I received what was supposed to be 6 fat quarters yesterday, and it was SOOO much more!
Here is a group shot of all the wonderful goodies she sent! You see the 6 Moda!!! fat quarters in the middle. A gorgeous nest pin on the left. 2 sets of handpainted candles! A very touching card. And that cute pink purse on the right is for my niece Jorden!

As you can see Jorden loves it! She slept with it last night, she keeps her treasures in there, and has a picture of her sisters and mommy in there. The girl loves to accessorize! Thank you so much sewinglori!!!

Too much

2007-02-20T05:42:00.000-06:00

Ugh, we had to get away this weekend, it was just too much. Too many people stopping by with food. Too many people calling with condolences. Too many cards.

Obviously the out pour of support is amazing! I don't mean to minimize it at all. We really appreciate all of it. We just needed to breathe. We disapeared this weekend. We have some amazing friends who let us stay at their house while we just breathed for awhile.

Now we are back at home. Life is beginning to get back to normal. Today would have been my sister's birthday. It will be a hard day.

Sick Kids

2007-02-11T21:43:00.001-06:00

Well, after the funeral, everyone got sick. Alia & her step brother Austin have strep throat. Alyssa has an infection, my niece Ambrosia has pneumonia, and so does Alia and Alyssa's Step-mother Tiffany. Lore has diarrhea. I don't know what Jorden has but she has been sleeping alot today and she's had loose poops and just not herself. I really hope that she'll be feeling better soon. She was supposed to have a visit with her dad tonight, and I feel really bad that she won't be able to go. She's very confused, and misses her mommy very much. I'm very glad that she has been able to come stay with us. She lived here for awhile and is quite comfortable with our family and our house. She thinks of the boys as brothers (almost.) I love to see how happy she is when she's here. She's been a little apprehensive everywhere else. There have been so many people at the funeral home and the church for the funeral, it is really great to just see her smile when she feels safe and comfortable here.

My little sister passed away yesterday.

2007-02-11T21:43:00.000-06:00

Candace, age 26, died yesterday. She fell in the bathroom and broke her neck. It shouldn't have happened, however, it did. She has 3 young daughters. 2 will be living with their father and his wife, both wonderful people. The other used to live with me for awhile, and hopefully will again. She hardly knows her father. There is a lot of other stuff surrounding her placement, I expect it to get quite messy and ugly. Can't really think about it yet, still thinking about the funeral and other stuff. One of the girls is staying with us tonight. It's surreal. We really never got along, but the last few months were good ones. She was trying so hard to get her life together. The last thing I told her, the last time I spoke to her, was that I was proud of her.....

Edited to add: the coroner's report says she did not break her neck. She has had epilepsy for some time and had landed in a coma about 2 years ago. We didn't think there was any way for her to survive that. She did though, but her body never fully recovered. We believe that she had another huge seizure and passed away because of her body being unable to take it.

Alyssa's Birthday

2007-02-07T17:46:00.001-06:00

Well, I don't know how happy I am with what I'm doing for Alyssa's birthday gift, but the boys helped me decide. And I realized that if they would like them, then the girls might too. So they talked me into a birthday crown with her name on it. We bought her a jewelry making kit (that I hope she will be able to make.) I'd like to make her something else too, but I'm not quite sure what.

I love my boys, but.....

2007-02-07T17:46:00.000-06:00

I've about had enough! It has been bitterly cold here. Crazy cold, so cold that school has been canceled because of the cold. Monday it was 35-40 degrees below zero, Tuesday was the same. Today was also cold. These kids haven't been able to play outside for over a week. Even at school during recess it's indoors. The kids are getting cranky and on each other's nerves, and to be completely honest, they are absolutely on my nerves!
Now they have a half day of school tomorrow and off on Friday and it is still supposed to be super cold. Not only can they not go outside, but they are cooped up in the house. My house has gotten quite messy, just from being around. I am going stir crazy and they are too. I think Friday we are going to just have a crafty crazy day. We'll get our Valentine's done and maybe some decorations and maybe even some baking too.

I'm a terrible aunty!

2007-02-05T16:14:00.000-06:00

My niece Alyssa is turning 7 in just one week. Somehow with being sick and the cold, and DI, and other things, this had simply left my mind. Now I'm in a mad hurry to craft something for her, and I am having crafters block!!! I have no idea what to make for her. She's wonderful and spunky and likes red, and I still have nothing!

I considered either a pillow or a reading pillow (with straps to hold down a book.) But they don't seem right. I'm super stuck. Anyone out there in blogger land have any ideas I would be so grateful to hear them!

BRRRRRRRR it's cold

2007-02-05T11:35:00.000-06:00

Well, school was cancelled today. It is -35 degrees farenheit. So we are still hibernating in the house. I think we are all getting a little pent up. The kids are getting on each other's nerves, and mine too. The cold is also making us all feel lazy too. They don't want to bake or craft or anything. It's supposed to be this cold all week and into next week. I hope "they" are wrong!

Ugh, I'm back

2007-02-02T08:20:00.000-06:00

Well, it seems the entire world got really sick around my birthday, and I haven't had much time to do anything. Well, so far everyone seems back to their old selves, and the weather has turned bitterly cold. So, you'll probably see me making up for lost time as we snuggle in at home.

My birthday was wonderful, I did nothing which was the goal. Tim's mom took the boys (they had off of school, and she had off of work, everyone was happy!) I watched some soaps (believe it or not, I totally caught up.) I took a long bath, painted my toenails, drank tea, watched the snow fall, read a bit from a book I enjoy, Tim brought home some Chinese (my fav, he hates,) and we did absolutely nothing! It was so nice!

I received some wonderful gifts from a craftster birthday swap. I got a neat crocheted fairy.

I received a whole package full of crafting goodies!

Also, I received my One Tiny Thing Swap item. It is a beautiful knitted wristlet. I know I need to get better at my picture taking techniques. I'd love to blame my old camera, but I really think itis more user error. Here it is and the picture doesn't do it any justice.

Well, that's fairly caught up.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

2007-01-18T16:32:00.000-06:00

Well, today is my father's birthday! We'll be singing the birthday song by the beatles to him later tonight. And we'll be taking him out for brunch on Sunday. But until then

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!!!!

Scrabble Scrabble

2007-01-16T21:32:00.001-06:00

Tim and I have always loved Scrabble. I never played it when I was a kid. It was something we sort of picked up together a short time after we met. I had a dream that I painted a room like a scrabble board. I don't know if I have the patience to do that, but it would be really neat! Anyway, boredom and avoiding doing my homework I found this.

Pholph's Scrabble Generator

My Scrabble© Score is: 12.
What is your score? Get it here.

Pholph's Scrabble Generator

My Scrabble© Score is: 15.
What is your score? Get it here.

Yep, Tim's name is worth more points than mine!

My first birthday present!

2007-01-16T21:32:00.000-06:00

Well, my birthday is coming up on Friday. I turn 29 this year. (Or 29 for the first time, depending on how I feel next year.) I was very excited to get my first birthday present today. When actually I have received a few now! My first one came this morning, a friend of mine has been busy writing a crochet book, and I have been helping her out by proofing her work. Well, she sent me a gift this morning. It's all wrapped up in pretty paper, and I am refusing to open it until my birthday (we'll see how that goes.) Then, this afternoon, I received a package from a craftster birthday swap! I know it is a tote to carry my crochet projects in, but I'm also going to wait to open it until my birthday. Lore painted me a picture for my birthday, which I may have framed it's so cute. My mother-in-law is taking the boys on Friday so I can have a day to myself! (Excellent gift, since they have off on Friday!)

I sat down and just thought today about where I thought I'd be at this age, and surprisingly, I'm NO where near it. However, I am really happy, which I don't know if I ever really thought I would be at this age. So many people go through life getting through it, and I think at the ripe old age I am, I have finally realized that looking around is so much better than coasting through. I am so blessed! So I guess if this is what getting older is, just appreciating everything more, then I guess.... BRING IT ON!!

Rainbow Notebook Cover

2007-01-15T09:08:00.000-06:00

I watched the color craft-a-long last year, and hoped to participate this year. Then I saw the quilt challenge this month (both on craftster.) And had a thought. I always use tons of different notebooks to make tons of lists. It's a horrible habit of mine. I then almost always lose the particular notebook or list before I really need it. So I bought myself a 5 subject notebook, thinking that I would have one subject for different aspects of my life. Meal planning, crochet, quilting, gift doodles, other.... you know what I mean. Anyway, the cover was so ucky and looked just like any other notebook. I figured even though it's bigger, I'd still find a way of losing it. So I again remembered the challenge and craft-a-long, and came up with a quilted notebook cover in rainbow (which was January's color.) So here it is. I love it, and haven't lost it yet, but I don't think I will!

Here's the outside cover. You can see I used a wide piece of elastic to hold the cover closed.

Here's a shot of the inside cover. I can keep my pens and pencils in there. (At the bottom you can see that the elastic is tucked on the front of the cover because it is open.)

Here's a not very good closeup shot of the quilting.

Tree Of Life Pendant

2007-01-08T12:58:00.000-06:00

I am not a jewelry maker. I've dabbled in throwing some beads on a string and making book thongs, I've made a few row counter bracelets for friends, but never actually making jewelry. Well, I saw a pendant similar to this the other day on craftster, and I just had to make one. I did my best, and these are my results.

I am really quite proud of it, and would like to wear it, however, I can't figure out what to wear it on. I know in the picture it looks like copper wire, but it's really more of a brown. I have tried it on gold, silver, and copper chains. I didn't like any of these. I tried it on 2 different sueded leather cords and didn't like those. I have it on a black cord right now, and it's ok, but not really as attractive as I think it could be. Does anyone have any suggestions?

No matter what I am extremely proud of it, and I think I may make more of them possibly for Christmas ornaments next year.

Christmas Gifts

2007-01-03T16:53:00.001-06:00

I didn't do the greatest at taking pictures of the gifts I made for everyone this year. However, I did manage a few shots, so here they are.

This is an Amish puzzle ball that I made for my new baby nephew Evan. He's only about 2 months old, so he didn't care a whole lot. It has flannel dinosaur fabric on the outside and red on the inside.

For my 2 youngest nieces I made monkey finger puppets. So they could act out the 5 little monkeys jumping on the bed. Here they are all together.

Here is Jorden posing with 2 of her monkeys. She didn't really care for her picture being taken.

Here is Ambrosia with her favorite monkey. Her favorite color is orange, so her favorite monkey was the one with the orange bow in her hair. They played with them all night together, it was really cute!

Ambrosia's mom, Terri, is my sister-in-law. I made her this scarf. I caught a quick picture of it right before I wrapped it. It is rolled up tight around some wool socks, some iron-close teabags, and some fabulous lipchap! She loved it. It looks similar to Neapolitan Ice cream.

These next 2 I didn't make, but I had creative packaging, so I thought I should share. My mom's boyfriend asks for beer every year, so that's what he gets, but since it's the same thing, I feel I have to be creative with the wrapping. It's 2 of Santa's toy bags in the sleigh, which are being pulled by 8 tiny ReinBeer. It took about 15 minutes before we went to my mom's house.

A close up of the ReinBeer Antlers

The last picture I remembered to grab was a scarf for my grandpa. He wanted a scarf for dress, and church, so I came up with this one. This is rolled up around Old Spice (His choice not mine,) some lottery tickets, lip chap and some grenadiers (cigars that he likes.)

Merry New Year!

2007-01-03T16:53:00.000-06:00

Oh, I have been having some difficulties getting into blogger, but I think I may have figured it out, so I'm back now.

I had a wonderful holiday season! I hope everyone else did too.

I was wonderfully lucky to have Tim off of work the whole time that the boys and I were off of school! We got to spend a nice week together. Much of the time was spent with extended family, but lots was just the 5 of us having fun together. We played lots of games, and just got to know each other again, it was fabulous!

We went to a hotel one night, that had a bit of a water park, so the kids could just have fun. Here are a few pictures from then. (Unfortunately they are a tad dark, sorry.)

A picture of my hubby on a little water slide. He's such a dork!

Here's a picture of Liam on the same waterslide.

Levi just finishing the waterslide.

Levi again, looking a tad creepy!

And one last pic of all the boys right before going to the room for supper.

Christmas Program

2006-12-21T21:54:00.000-06:00

We had our Christmas program for the preschoolers today. It was amazing. My husband and I laugh at our boys' programs, because their music director keeps explaining that simple concepts (like tapping rhythm sticks in time with singing) is a REALLY DIFFICULT concept. Well, if it is than my preschoolers kick butt!

They were all dressed in their most special clothes. They sang their hearts out! It was wonderful! They began the night with a boisterous version of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, second they recited a poem with actions called "I am a Christmas Tree," then I led them in the Mele Kalikimaka (sung better than most adults by the way!) After that they recited another poem with actions called " Gingerbread boy/girl." This was followed by the song "Ring the bells" which they played music too, and for the finale they sang the most rousing version of We Wish You a Merry Christmas I have ever heard!

I had plans on getting pictures, but I was far too busy, and my hubby didn't think of it, so it is again a picture-less post, but it was a fabulous night! I am so proud of them!

My ball has arrived!

2006-12-20T13:30:00.000-06:00

My swap partner has received her ball. I'm very glad it got there safe and sound.

I made a felted bag, with the broach on it. I made a kleenex holder, and I made a mini journal.

I also made an amish puzzle ball pincushion

Here's the rest of the things I included

4 balls of super soft yarn

2 darning needles,

4 mini cookie cutters,

sourpatch kids,

sweet tarts,

burt's bees lip chap

mini purple scissors,

post it notes,

striped knee high socks,

mini sharpie,

polka dot pencil,

2 bags of organic pepermint tea,

a fimo covered crochet hook,

some special edition hershey kisses, lindor truffles, and christmas nougat

I think that's everything.

And here it all is rolled up and ready to send. She said she liked it, and is crocheting it out right now!

This was such a fun swap!

S'more Swaps

2006-12-11T11:03:00.000-06:00

Well, I had 2 swaps, and both are sent out. Both are out of the country, so I don't know when they will arrive. Hopefully they don't read here, or I may spill the beans just a little.

The first one was an unconditional swap. She requested a circle scarf that looked like this one. Not my personal favorite scarf, but if everyone liked the same thing, the world would be pretty darn boring. So this is what I made for her.

It took longer than I had anticipated, but I think it looks similar to her wish.

The next swap is a magic yarn ball swap. There are tons of these around. I am in one that is through craftster.org. If you don't know what a magic yarn ball is, basicly it's when someone has a ball of yarn that the other person would like, then they re-roll the yarn adding gifts inside the ball. Then as the recipient you get all of these wonderful, hidden, surprises as you unroll your ball. I won't show all of the things I included yet, but I will show you the whole thing rolled up.

If you look carefully you could probably pick out a few things, maybe not. After she receives I'll post everything that I put into the ball.

Naughty Blogger!

2006-11-29T13:59:00.000-06:00

Well, I'm a pretty crappy blogger. I haven't been on much. For that I am sorry. Here is a big update on pretty much everything I can think of.

Well, my dad had surgery.... it got infected.... he got better. Now he's fine!

Levi's teacher gave him 2 weeknights to do an assignment that is crazy. He has to make a 3D model of the skeletal and muscle systems. He has to show on it the 3 major types of muscles, cartilage, ligaments/tendons, and the 3 major types of joints and how they work. You can not purchase a model, it all has to be from scratch. She assigned this on Tuesday, it's due Thursday. We have church practice tonight, and she doesn't want too much help from the parents!
WHAT?
Ooooh, she's beginning to drive me insane.

Liam is doing really well, he's been reading a lot, which has never been his strong suit.

Lore is fine, a happy little pain in the butt sometimes, but other than that he's great!

Tim has been working away a lot more, which is hard. But he was gone for over 3 months last year.... I can't complain about a week here or there this year.

I am fine, busy with work, and our upcoming programs. We have one this weekend, and we have another one on Thursday, December 21st. I am teaching all of them how to sing Mele Kalikimaka, which is really fun. We're going to make grass skirts out of crepe paper and flower leis too!

Thanksgiving was great, we spent some time with Tim's mom for the meal, then we went over to her sister's house. We had about 20 different types of desserts there, and then we went home too full to move!

Tim finally talked me into buying a fake Christmas tree.... This is really a long story, so I'll try to post about that tomorrow.

I finished a swap scarf that has taken me far longer than I wanted it too. It was what she asked for, not really my thing, but it's what she wanted. I'll have to post pics on that tomorrow too.

We have the Hanging of the Greens program at our church this weekend, so we are busy practicing for that. It's our church's annual big thing. The kids decorate the sanctuary and explain what the different decorations mean, and where they come from. It's neat to learn the different origins.

That's about it for now. I'll try to be a better blogger!

Babies Babies Babies!

2006-11-14T13:36:00.000-06:00

I can't believe how many people are having babies right now. There are at least 3 women pregnant at the day care, (the ones who work there, not just general moms.) 3 more for sure are trying. (We only have about 12 women total, and 2 of us are for sure not trying or getting pregnant again, and 2 are in highschool, so I really hope they aren't.)

My husband's step-sister and her husband just had the most adorable little boy. His name is Evan Michael. I meant to get a picture of him with the boys this weekend, but he was too cute and I was too busy holding him to remember to bring out my camera.
We also found out that my husband's cousin who just got married, is also having a baby in July.
My neighbor is pregnant.

I really need to get to work on baby gifts as soon as the christmas stuff is all finished.

My 2 youngest nieces just had birthdays this last week, I made Ambrosia the cutest ball, I am hoping to get a picture of it and post it. If not I'll be making more because it is a great gift for babies and younger kids.

And finally my baby, Lore, is turning 6 years old today. I can't believe how big he is getting. I am making a cake right now, and it should be all ready after he gets done with school. What a great happy celebration of life and health!

Halloween Came and Went

2006-11-02T15:06:00.001-06:00

Well, Halloween at our house is HUGE. There is no bigger holiday for us. Tim & my anniversary is on October 31st. We were married 9 years this year.

We didn't get nearly the decorations out that we wanted to, but we worked really hard to get some things out. Including a new crypt we had built to house our FCG (flying crank ghost,) named Moana. Well, it was heavy and wonderful and we were so excited. We set it up on Saturday, so a few people had mentioned how great it was already.... well, we had TERRIBLE winds on Monday night until Tuesday. And at about 7:00am Tuesday morning, as we were getting ready for work and school (running a bit behind already.) We heard a huge BOOM and looked outside to see what hit the house. Our big, heavy, wooden crypt smashed against our house and nearly hit the neighbor's house. So Tim and I had to quickly move it so it didn't blow into their house. The blacklight we had mounted inside blew up, so there was glass everywhere. And a big hunk of siding fell off our house also. We quickly picked all of that up. Got our costumes and stuff on and headed off for work/school. Sad in the knowledge that we were definitely not outdoing ourselves this year. (This has happened before 2 years ago our things got hit by a tornado, and last year we had 50 mile per hour winds with bigger gusts.)

We still had a great year. We had nearly 450 trick or treaters even though it was very cold out. (Not bad seeing as our population is only about 900.)

I started off my preschool where we had a great little party. The kids were so cute, and they had a great time bobbing for apples, playing pin the nose on the jack-o-lantern, frosting and decorating pumpkin cookies, and such. We then went for a walk to all the local businesses. It was an adorable parade where we got quite a bit of candy, and tons of "oohs and aaahs". After that I scooted home to meet Tim for lunch and then we went to the boys' school where they were having their parade. We watched the whole school walk around the gym. We quick ran to a nearby town and grabbed some supper, and dashed back just in time for Trick or treaters to arrive. My wonderful step-mother took the boys trick or treating so my husband and I could spend some time together handing out glow bracelets to the kids. We had so much fun! Here are a few pictures of my costume, and the boys' costumes. Tim and I also had different costumes for a party we went to, but I don't have those pictures back yet.

Here's a group picture of the boys. I was holding them back for a picture. They wanted to get trick or treating.

Levi was Luigi from Mario brothers. He didn't care for the mustache, but I think he was pretty recognizable anyway.

Liam was a "Men in Black". Obviously he just ran after some aliens because he is a bit disheveled. And he's about to use his flashy thing on us.

\

At school the party was way more important then the makeup, but Lore is Fester Addams. He has a magic light bulb that lights up, but you don't see it in the picture. (none of the kids in his class knew who he was, but parents and teachers did!)

Here is a less than attractive picture of me, but you can see the whole costume here. I made everything except the white shirt, simply because I ran out of time.
Here's a close up of my face. The twins in my preschool class did not like the facial hair! They were a bit freaked out by it. None of the adults in the school knew who I was until I spoke, so I would say the costume was a success. I made the wig out of yarn, beads, and panty hose. The scarf I bought also on sale for $.75!

Last but not least are my boot-shoe covers. I had to do a lot of walking in the parades and stuff, and couldn't find comfortable boots, so I made these covers for the illusion of boots. I pinned the top to my pants, and there was elastic on the bottom to hold them down. They were wonderful! I've had to make quite a few of these in the past, but I'm beginning to get the hang of it. All in all it was a great year. The kids are already talking of next years costumes, and Tim is trying to talk me into letting him put concrete in the front yard for anchoring down props. (That won't happen)

Room Pics.... Where are they?

2006-11-02T15:06:00.000-06:00

Ok, so I am a totally terrible person. I never get the pics up when I mean to.

Here are a couple of pictures of the room before hand.

Here is a progress pic. We couldn't go with black for the walls, as it's a really tiny and fairly dark room, so we opted for grey. It is a gorgeous shade of grey, far better than this picture is leading it to be.

Really the room is still quite a bit like this. Not much has been done since. We had a bit of family stuff come up, but I will be adding more pictures as it gets finished more. I am hoping to work on it some more tomorrow on my day off. (My dad had surgery today, so if he needs me I'll go by him, if not I will work on the room some more.)

Mario room beginnings

2006-10-26T11:05:00.000-05:00

Well, today is Levi's 10th birthday, and for his birthday he wanted his bedroom decorated. The boy has been obsessed with Mario Brothers since birth I swear! Well, when he was thinking of a theme he didn't have to go far. He wanted Mario.
So last night we took everything out of his room. This morning so far I have washed down all the walls. Now, I am taking a small break to let things dry, and then I will start taping. His room was originally 2 rooms, but before we bought the place it was converted into one, it's a small room, and sort of weird shaped, and a sort of cruddy "closet" in there, but he likes it as is, and the paint alone was quite expensive, so we are just painting and ignoring the weirdness, hoping that it will add to the mario cuteness! After my little break, I will go up and take some before pictures. Then on my next break I will try to post them. It's been a while since I've painted a room, I'm excited, but already exhausted!

Not a happy post

2006-10-18T12:04:00.000-05:00

Sorry, this isn't a happy post again. I haven't been on in quite awhile. My sister has gone into the hospital again. She has epilepsy and has for quite a few years. Now a little background, my sister and I have never had a good relationship, for many many reasons. Last year I had one of her daughters living with us (for almost a year.) The other 2 girls have a different father, this one's father is a terrible man, so she wasn't going to stay with him, and my sister was choosing to not take her medication, so she would keep having seizures. Not a safe place for a 1-2 year old! Anyway, she was finally taking her meds, getting her life back the way it should be. Then last week, she had 4 grand mal (spelling is probably off, but basically really bad seizures!) in about a 2 hour span. She went to the hospital and the did some tests, her levels were good (meaning she's been taking her medication!) but she has huge lesions on her brain. (NOT GOOD!) The doctor's first thought was that she has Multiple Sclerosis (MS), but it could be other things. So we are waiting on that. She is now finally out of the hospital, with no idea why she had the seizures, and no idea what the lesions are from. All we can do now is wait. So I have been very busy trying to help with anything I can. I have also been extremely busy at work, and trying to get my swap package out [LATE! =( ]
So that's about all I have to say. And I feel terrible because I was working so hard to get my swap out, that I didn't get a picture of the apron or the dishcloths or the pot holder or anything.

I am hoping that the next post will be much more fun and happy.....

Yippee my machine is back, and I'm so far behind!

2006-10-09T17:57:00.001-05:00

I am glad to have my machine back. I got him back Friday night, unfortunately I was gone all weekend, and I have SOOO many projects that were already supposed to be out. I feel terrible! My swap package was supposed to be out over a week ago, and I'm not totally done with it. My niece's birthday presents aren't finished yet. I have 2 orders on different bags, that aren't complete yet. My kids put off deciding on their costumes, but FINALLY have, so now I have those to make. I am working all day at the preschool, I have to work after that for a few hours at the other school. When will I get everything done??

Ok, vent is done!

Liam had his soccer tournaments this weekend. That's where we were. It was GORGEOUS weather. Last year it was windy and snow, so I won't complain about low 70s and sun! He won his league in first place. He won his tournaments in first place. So he got 2 medals and a cute trophy, (which he forgot at grandmas's) so I'll post pictures of him with his stuff after he gets them back!

Crocheted Soccer Hat

2006-09-30T09:16:00.000-05:00

My son wanted a soccer hat to wear at his chillier games. (Of which we have had many lately.) His soccer shirt is gold and black, so I tried to stick with that color theme. I can't seem to find a decent picture, however, I have been feeling sort of bad about not posting my own projects as frequently as I really would like to. So here is a not so great shot of my son's hat.... I'll try to get better ones later, but for now it will have to do. My youngest son wants a football hat, I haven't quite figured that one out yet. He may just get Green and Gold, for school colors, as foot ball is only for 2 more weeks. And I don't know if he'll be in it again next year.

I got a bag!!

2006-09-26T12:39:00.000-05:00

I asked for a tote bag to bring to preschool as one of my wishes on the Unconditional Swap. And thumbkin answered my wish and then some! I have an amazing bag!

Here it is in my bike basket! Doesn't it fit wonderfully!?!

Here you can see the whole thing.

Here is a shot of the inside. It is fairly full, but I took a few things out of my bag to take the pictures!

And here is a close up of the amazing fabric she used. It is perfect!
Thank you so much Thumbkin!

My poor baby!!!

2006-09-25T16:59:00.000-05:00

My poor baby is sick. I don't know what is wrong with him. He's sluggish, and loose, and makes a clunky sound. My sewing machine is at the doctor right now. I have a swap in the waiting, that I am desperately trying to get finished, but there is no way I can with out my machine. I am hoping I can get him back tomorrow. We'll see.

Aaahhh, Payday!

2006-09-21T15:11:00.000-05:00

I haven't had an actual payday of my own in so long. It is a nice feeling!

Now, if only I could go blow my first check on something fun........

Well, no, I am saving up to get a nice bike for myself. I haven't gotten a new bike since I was about 8. It's time! So now I have to look and find one I love, because it will probably have to last me forever!

I will probably get a few craft supplies. I am working feverishly every extra second I have (which isn't many) on my suzy homemaker swap. I am way too far behind! I never found the "perfect fabric" so I had to settle. I hope it will still all be nice. I'll post pics as soon as I'm done with that.

Lunch Lady Tab

2006-09-14T15:37:00.000-05:00

Have you ever heard Adam Sandler's Lunch Lady Land? Well, as of Wednesday, I am helping out in the daycare's lunch room... ok, I'm there lunch lady now. So Tim, has started singing this lovely song except instead of "Lunch Lady Land" it's "Lunch Lady Tab". It was cute and funny, we all had a little chuckle. Well, now the song is totally stuck in my head. Tim said that I was humming it in my sleep. Do you ever get a song so stuck in your head like that. I do for weeks sometimes. Anyway, I guess there could be far worse songs stuck in my head right!?!

Well, I FINALLY got my yarn order in, so I can begin making some things for my Suzy Homemaker swap on craftster.org. I have been waiting and waiting for it. It was back ordered. I just hope I can get everything made by sendout date!
I also can't find any fabric that I like for this swap. I found some, and ordered it, but then they told me it was discontinued, and they forgot to remove it from their site. GRRR. Anyway, so I am sort of still looking. I found something that would probably work, but it's not exactly what I had hoped for.

I made a soccer hat for Liam, since it is starting to get colder. He'll probably wear it tonight. He has another game. It is sunny and nice, but a little chilly. Anyway, that's it for now. I get to do a hearing test at school tomorrow, so another "day off" gone =) The things we do for our kids!

Boo Hoo Canceled Game

2006-09-12T16:13:00.000-05:00

Ok, they canceled my son's game last night, so I didn't get to go. It's still raining. It's really feeling like fall. I love the crisp cool weather. The damp can get annoying, but it's still nice. Well, since I don't have anything else really special to post today, I thought I'd throw in another pic of my baby looking like a real soccer player!

Here's Liam.

And for equal fairness.... my other babies playing baseball

Here's Lore looking all serious.

And here's Levi on their final day with their medals.

Thank you for indulging my mommy pride.

Soccer in the rain

2006-09-11T15:04:00.000-05:00

I love watching my son play soccer. He's average at playing, but loves it. This is his first year, and he looks like a pro some times.

We have a game again tonight, and it's raining! I love the rain, and watching my baby kick the ball and get down and dirty, is so much fun. Plus all the woosy mom & dads sit in their SUVs. So all us serious soccer parents can really enjoy the game a bit more.

Back to work tomorrow. So I won't probably post much til friday.

I'm a working girl

2006-09-07T14:30:00.000-05:00

Well, I have finished my first official week of work. It was ok. I am not home nearly as much as I'd like, and I really hope no one gets sick. But other than that it was really nice. There are some great kids in my preschool class. Some are a bit young for the program, but most are opening up nicely. There are only really 2 boys that I'm not sure about. The say they like it by the end of the day, but they spend the rest of the time crying.
There seem to have been a lot of deaths in the town lately, because yesterday, our second day of preschool 2 teachers were gone from school for different funerals. I ended up staying late and doing a lot of things I haven't had training for. Yesterday was really crazy.
I do like the other teachers though alot.

Today I got to spend the afternoon after work with Lore's class. We went to computer lab, and the teacher needed a parent helper, so I volunteered. It was lots of fun, Mrs. Grade is wonderful with the kids, and she has a great sense of humor. And way more patience than I could ever imagine. It was fun to see some of these kids going online for the first time. They had so much power and they knew it!

So far the boys all seem to really be enjoying school. Levi really hasn't had any homework yet, so we'll see how much he loves it when the 2 hours of homework kick in. Liam is in a split 2nd & 3rd grade class. He's with Mrs. Trew. I know a lot of people don't really care for her, but I like her. I think she's good with the children, and focuses on the importance of reading and getting down basic facts.

Our camping trip went well, we didn't take a single picture. Too much fun, and I didn't really want to take out any electrical type devises, which a digital camera is. So I'll have the kids set up the tent and take some pictures and fake it for you all =) It was perfect weather, the kids were great and all getting along. Couldn't ask for more!

Harry Potter Kids Swap What We Sent

2006-08-31T22:38:00.000-05:00

Well, our partner received their goodies, so we can now post the items we made. The boys worked very hard, and we are glad they like the stuff we sent.
Here's the group shot. The "H" Crest is a drawstring bag for the tic tac toe. There is a red & yellow swirl hat, gryffindor stencil shirt, and potter puff pillow & activity books. I made all of that. The boys made hemp/bead bracelets, bead rings, zipper pouches, "lightning bolt coins," and a dementor shrinky keychain, and another shrinky dink key chain. (I forgot to take pics of those.)

Here's a closer look at the Voldemort VS Harry potter tic tac toe. The blue thing is a drawstring bag for the marbles/pieces.
We had so much fun making all this stuff. It was really a great swap!

Camping Preparedness

2006-08-31T08:14:00.000-05:00

We are going camping over Labor Day weekend. Now, I love camping, we used to go all the time when I was a kid. My husband on the other hand has NEVER been camping. Now I have always wanted to take our kids camping, but I wasn't so sure about doing it with little kids, fire, and a hubby who hasn't got a clue (as far as camping is concerned.) So we've been waiting until they got bigger. Well, they have finally gotten bigger, so we are going this weekend.
This will really be my first trip as an adult. I've been the kid, where someone else does most of the set up, cleaning, planning, cooking, frustrating, etc... but never the one in charge. In fact, my dad was always the single guy when we went camping, so he never even dealt with the food, all the other families did, and we brought all the wood. So this has been quite an experience. I was hoping that we would have been able to go earlier this summer, but Tim's work schedule has been nuts, so we haven't. Now our first time camping, is going to be with friends of ours whose priorities and camping ideals are certainly different than ours. The meals are far more extravagant than I would have chosen. The disposable dishes that they are bringing and exclusively using are definitely not my idea of camping. Things like that. Plus, they have now told us that we are bringing one of their kids with us... well that's ok since we do have a van, but we were hoping to take out the front 2 seats so we could move up the back bench and have lots of room for taking our stuff, well with one of the front seats still in, we have a very tiny "trunk" area. I have no idea how we are going to get everything there. Ugh, these posts are getting more and more venty aren't they. Sorry about that. I'm just worried about it. I'm also really excited too. The boys in the fresh air running around, exploring. NO TV! It's heavenly.

HP for our kids swap

2006-08-29T13:01:00.001-05:00

I received a wonderful package for my boys today. It is from ScrapperCL on Craftster.org the boys were giddy with the contents.

(They were playing in the backyard and didn't want to stand still for the picture, so that's why they all have goofy faces.) She made them each a shirt, the detail is amazing! Lore's is Harry Potter, Liam's is a Hippogriff, and Levi's is Dumbledore. Her eldest daughter (14) knit them each a Dobby Hat! Which the boys won't take off! Her other 2 daughters (9 & 7) made the boys each a monster notebook and a quill pen. The boys have been drawing and writting about the magical creatures they are finding in the yard. She also made them the Hogwarts Library Bag! It's amazing, here's a closer pic of the hogwarts symbol.

I will try to get a better pic of the shirts when they take them off. This swap was so great! I hope they like the stuff that we sent them. I will post those pics when she receives so she doesn't see it before hand.

Girls Visit!

2006-08-29T13:01:00.000-05:00

Here are a couple of pictures from when the girls visited.
Here they are in the backyard. Alia is the taller one, she's just turned 9. Alyssa is the one with pigtails, she is almost 7.

Here is the bunny in a hole that Alyssa embroidered! Didn't she do a GREAT job. It is a picture from Shel Silverstein's Runny Babbit book. She did it on and off in about 3 hours. We made it into a little round cushion pillow. The other side is embroidered with her name and year. She was so proud, and she should be. Alia did a turtle from the same book. I haven't gotten her picture taken yet, since we haven't finished the pillow yet. She just finished the embroidery when it was time to leave, so I have to finish the pillow and get it to her at one of the soccer games.

Girls Girls Girls!!

2006-08-25T11:54:00.000-05:00

Well, 2 of my cousins have now had baby girls in the last few days, and our best friends also had another girl! It's just baby girls everywhere!

Also, 2 of my wonderful nieces are visiting us today, they stayed over last night and enjoyed a heck of a storm. Now they are playing outside with my boys. The youngest one, Alyssa, has asked to learn to embroider, so that is probably what we will do later on, since it is supposed to storm this afternoon too. I will try to post pictures of their creations either tonight or tomorrow.

I got a job?

2006-08-23T18:49:00.000-05:00

Well, the plan was, that now since the boys are all in school full time, I would have a chance to get a lot of work done around the house. We aren't unpacked totally, there is a lot of clutter, rooms need rearranging, etc... this was the plan. However, a friend of mine runs the local daycare. She called me up the other day and asked if I would be an assistant for their new preschool program. It's 3 days a week, from 8-11 am. I thought this sounded perfect, a little extra cash, and it's hours worked well. So I said yes.
Then the boys' school called, and they called asking if I could help out on Fridays, I thought about it, sure it's only one day a week, no problem. Well, that is for the office at school, that's not helping out in the kids' individual rooms. I haven't signed up for that yet. Which with 3 kids will probably take my Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday afternoons after work. This leaves me Mondays... that is generally try to catch up after letting things go over the weekend day. So, wait a minute, where is my time at home to try and make things to sell, or clean and organize my house.... oh, wait, did I mention that I am coaching a DI (Destination Imagination) team again this year? When will I find the time for that, and making meals, and ugh! So I have a little part time job, and I will still have no time at home =(

I really am excited, and I hope this will work out wonderfully, and be lots of fun, but I am really going to miss having this time that I was making plans for all summer. I will HAVE to find more time somewhere for crafting though!

Swaps Made, Destroyed, & Made Again

2006-08-18T09:07:00.000-05:00

Well, I promised this post would be more upbeat, but I have a mini vent first.... stick with me I PROMISE this will be a positive post.... and if you're good, I'll even flash a picture!

So I was in a wishlist swap, and I claimed someone to make her a sleep mask. I had it all planned out. I got pink satin, pink flannel, black elastic, etc... . I painted the satin using some lace as the negative parts, (really neat, I don't think I'm explaining it well, basicly I tacked the lace down then painted with black over the lace, then I removed the lace and it was a great lace look painted onto the pink fabric,)
I assembled the sleep mask, loving it really. Planning on making myself one. Laid it all out went to get my camera, when I heard "Mom, Levi won't let me pour my own Pomegranite juice, he thinks I'm a baby!"
"No I don't, I just don't want you to spill... hey, get the juice out of the living room. Gimme That!"
"No, Mom will let me pour!"

[Quiet pause]

"You're going to be in SOOOOOOO much trouble!

Moaaaaaaaaaaahm, Lore spilled Pomegranite juice on the chaaaaaair!"

To this I said, "Please tell me it isn't the chair that my swap stuff is on...?"

To this Levi replied "Oh, you know it is!"
At this point I didn't even care about the chair, I ran into the bathroom and rinsed and rinsed the juice out of the mask, but I stained, immediently! I can't get it out, I have tried EVERYTHING! So I was supposed to send out the next day. I have a stained mask and a REALLY stained chair and carpet. (And 2 children who for awhile I kept seeing a bullseye on their butts [I'm not saying I spank them or ever would, but the fact that they were fighting over juice in the living room where they weren't supposed to be with the juice at all.... well, I was fuming to say the least!])
I remaid the mask, the lace didn't happen the second time, since I didn't have time to let it dry properly and send nearly on time.

But my WONDERFUL husband, took my kids to work with him for awhile, ( not an easy task for him either,) then dropped them off at the bus for swimming lessons for me. And I was able to embroider a "Do Not Disturb" on the front and make a new eyemask with out much interuption, ( ok, the phone was a bit annoying, but other than that,) So I don't love this one as much as the last one, but I'm still really happy with it. I added some shrinky dink papers and some Amy Butler Fat Quarters too. I hope she really likes it!
Here's a picture of the front of the mask

Here's a picture of the group I sent her.

AND
my baby Lore, the evil spiller child, has been asking to start embroidering. Now I realize you can't see what he's embroidered so far on this picture, but he was REALLY proud. He's half way done with the outside of the bat, from the batman logo. It's his first project. So here he is with his embroidery.

So it started out not great, but it definitly ended wonderfully!

Busy busy busy, really a vent.

2006-08-14T09:22:00.000-05:00

Ugh, summer is too busy! now my oldest is in Peer Mediation training. Great to be in, but that is all morning, I have to pull him out a bit early so that he can QUICK eat something and be on the bus for swimming lessons. We have soccer 3-4 times a week, dance is probably not going to happen this year, since they changed EVERYTHING about it. I'm trying to get things ready to do Destination Imagination this year. It just seems like run, run, run.

We looked at a few campsites this weekend. We're hoping to go camping at least once before Labor Day, and at least 2 more times in september. We'll see if that happens.

This has left me little to no time for crafting. I have swap stuff I need to make, but my mind has sort of turned to mush, and I'm stuck on what to make them. I have tons of ideas, but we're a bit short on cash right now (all the above has fees!) So I would like it to be with things in my house. Which I have TONS of supplies, just nothing is jumping out at me. Anyway, so that's my vent. Sorry, next post will be more upbeat I promise!

Alto Fair! Yippee

2006-08-11T16:08:00.001-05:00

Ok, the biggest little fair.... or so it's called.... The Alto Fair!

Well, my little demons were in the fair. Pulled in a wagon by my father in law. He sells old tractors on the side. My step-mother-in-law sells crap too, it changes all the time. So they are in the fair hockin their wares. Here's some pictures.

Hubby and boys

And hubby's aunt Carol (she's the greatest!)

My sewing machine hates me!

2006-08-11T16:08:00.000-05:00

I don't know what happened, I love my machine. Sure, he can be tempermental, but who doesn't get a bit cranky every now and then? I did some applique using wonder under, and it gunked up my needle, and made me skip stitches, and was darn right a mess. So I muttled through it not really loving it, but it did give the bag a charm. I cleaned up my machine, changed my needle, started sewing again, and it still isn't working. I've adjusted my tension, etc.. nothing seems to be helping. It is sewing lines, but the stitches are looking loose on top. Like the bottom thread is coming up through the top. I don't know what to do. Sometimes when I leave him alone he behaves better in the morning. I sure hope so. Anyway, this is the bag I made for a swap on Craftster.org. It's a grocery tote. It's nice and big. I want to make some for myself.

Here's the whole bag

Here's a close up of the veggies. We've got a tomato (ok, yes EVERYONE knows it's a fruit, yet know one cares!) an ear of corn, a baby brussel sprout, (there is a reason for this I'll share later,) a carrot, and a celery. used fabrics for all the pieces except the corn tassel and the carrot greens. The faces I like some more than others.

Ok, brussel sprout story, I hate brussel sprouts not so much the taste, but the smell. I can't eat something that smells like feet. Anyway, since I don't like them I don't make them, since I don't make them my kids had never had them either. Well, one day we were leaving school, and my youngest son, Lore, says to me, "Why don't you ever let us have brussel sprouts?" To this I sort of chuckled, and looked around seeing all of the weird looks on people's faces. I explained to him " I don't really like them, so I never make them" Then he starts to whine a bit (very uncharacteristic of him,) and says, "THAT'S NOT FAIR, I WANT BRUSSEL SPROUTS! PLEASE make me brussel sprouts!!!!" Now I had people looking at me with such confusion. NO child ever BEGS for brussel sprouts.
Well we went to the store and all 3 of the were giddy with their bag of brussel sprouts. We got home and they had to try them right away!!! They took one bite and looked at each other and said... "wow they taste ok, but they smell horrible!" And now they won't eat them. I find it really funny..... maybe I'm the only one.

Craft Room Clean Up

2006-08-06T14:43:00.000-05:00

Inspired by the "Share Your Mess... Then let's clean it up" post on craftster.org. I have decided to post pictures of my horribly messy craft space. I'll be honest, I'm really embarrassed to be posting this, as it is filthy!

Here is my craft room, you can see tons of Halloween storage, fabric, gifts, boxes of costumes, yarn, etc...

Here is the closet in my craftroom, filled with school supplies, teacher thank you gifts, alginate & plasters for mask making (along with my husband's plaster head) And tons of miscellaneous. I am truly hoping to work on this and get myself more organized! Tips are welcome!

We're having a rainbow heat~wave

2006-08-01T15:11:00.000-05:00

Oh my, it's hot in here! Most people who don't live in Wisconsin seem to think that it's always cold here. Really that isn't true. I mean it's no tropical paradise, but still. Right now it is 103F on the thermometer across the street. That is before you consider the grotesque humidity that is here right now. We have heat warnings right now, so honestly the kids and I are locked up tight in our air conditioned downstairs. So I've been trying to get some sewing done, I got a bit further on my square quilt. I have given in to using same fabrics more than once, but I'm still only using swap fabrics, so I am further than I could have been. I still desperately need more squares, especially purple, red, yellow, and orange! (If interested please pm me on craftster.org my username is Ezri_B)
Also, I did find my camera, so yippee I have pictures!!! Well, ok, A picture, of my one nearly finished panel of quilt....

It's between 5.5 & 6 feet long right now. I have a little more to go on this one, then I can begin the next one.
I'm so excited about this. This is really the first thing I've made for me, that I didn't NEED. Plus it is so neat getting all these wonderful fabrics from all these amazing crafters all over the world! It's this awesome friendship quilt from people I've never even met. What an amazing concept! I am going to love having this bright, beautiful quilt on my bed (my bed has never seen a quilt, I've never made a quilt that has stayed in my house, they've always been for gifts!)

Stuff N More Stuff

2006-07-25T13:06:00.000-05:00

Ok, so for some reason my camera seems to be missing. I'm not exactly sure where or when I lost it but I did. I unfortunately have been putting off posting because I wanted to post pictures. But since I can't find it I will have to just post words (boring I know.)
Baseball has finished for the boys. I'm really quite glad of that. They both did really well, and I think they had fun, so that's what's important. I don't know if Levi will want to play next year. The age group he is in now is really quite competative, and he's really into it more for the friends and fun. Lore wants to be in it again next year, but the Squirt league that they had this year was really a joke, (they don't call any kids out, even if they are out they still run. Everyone scores, etc...) so if they make changes we'll let him be in it.
Liam's soccer starts up soon, so he's excited about that. I don't think he understands how much running is involved, but he's excited none the less.
Dance sign ups should be soon, but our dance teacher had to quite and get a full time job since her husband's job (teacher) was severly cut along with all of his benefits. So we're not sure if we'll have a dance instructor or not. I really hope so. We have the fairs, and swimming lessons coming up. Then back to school. No rest this summer I guess.

As far as crafting goes. I have a nice strip of my little postage stamp squares. I am really excited about this quilt, but I need more squares! Whenever someone is sweet enough to send me squares and I receive them in the mail, my husband announces. "You got more crack in the mail" because I just get excited and drop what ever I'm doing to sort through them and put them in their color catagory. It's like crack to me. Plus, every extra time I have I'm cutting all my scraps into little 1.5 inch squares. I am really trying to limit quilt to 1-2 squares of the same fabric, but I may have to break that if I don't start getting more fabric. We'll see.

I have been waiting for my next swap to begin. I'm very excited, and now there is only one day left to sign up, which means that the Harry Potter for our Kids, swap will be starting soon. I can't wait to get crafting! Craftster only seems to have specialized harry swap going on right now, so this one is a little more general which I like.

Well, that's about it for now. Wish me luck on finding my camera so you can see pics of my quilt and such.

Where has the summer gone?

2006-07-19T18:40:00.000-05:00

You know that summer has flown by when we haven't gone camping at all, none of my major summer projects have even been started, and the summer library program is ALREADY DONE!
Where went the summer?
School supply sales are already on, we have had the lists for quite some time (we get them before school lets out,) but we were sent a second copy already. UGH, I'm not ready for fall, I have too much to do!

Though I much prefer the crisp fall nights to the steamy summer ones. And Halloween is coming, and the kids will all be in school all day, so I should have more time for getting things done during the day. So I guess I can't complain too much, but I only get my babies home for a few months, I'm going to miss them.

CrispyTabberTots

2006-07-18T14:30:00.000-05:00

Well, we went to the Dells this weekend with some of my in-laws. We had a pretty good time, but we did get a bit sunburned. My dad has always called me TabberTot, so he thinks it's hilarious to call me Bunt TabberTots. It irks me that I NEVER used to burn when I was a kid, then I went to California for the summer and I got quite severely burned, and now I'm white (I was always very dark skinned,) and I burn. It sucks. We put sunscreen on all the time, but yet I still got burned.

Crafting wise I didn't get much done, I did make a decision though. I changed my mind a little bit on the postage square quilt. Not a lot, still rainbow in effect, just instead of wider diagonal strips, I'm going to do a bit narrower diamonds. So I ripped up all my finished squares. And now after I move my living room around (I got bored with it,) I will start sewing that together again. I'll post pictures soon. That's about it.

Liam HP Card Monster

2006-07-10T13:03:00.001-05:00

Well, my middle son Liam and I were home alone on Saturday. This is a rare event. And he kept showing me his Harry Potter cards, but as he pulled them out of his pocket, they sort of flew around all over the place. So I suggested a case to put them in. I told him we could make it. He responded by telling me no, only if a cool monster could hold them, would he want a case. Well, the boy asks and the boy receives! So this is what he and I put together on Saturday. He did most of the sewing, while I did most of the cutting.
He calls him Super Blue, and you can't see it, but he has a clip on the back that can attatch to Liam's belt loops. He loves him

Here's an open shot with the cards in.

Postage Stamp Quilt Beginnings

2006-07-10T13:03:00.000-05:00

Well, I've begun piecing my squares together as I receive them from the craftster swap. I thought I'd show you what I've been doing. I'm going for a rainbow type pattern. My sons have been helping me, so I know there's one for sure I will have to repiece, it's seams are too narrow, but the rest they've been doing pretty well. I do need to trim them a bit though.

A group shot of my pieced pieces.

A little closer

And the others closer.
Now this isn't how I'm going to really place the, I just wanted them together for the shot. I need LOTS more to even get the pieces set up right. But I love the look so far!

Crochet Swap Squares

2006-07-07T13:51:00.000-05:00

Well, I finished my squares for my Blankie Square Swap on Craftster.org. I like them a lot, I hope she does too. She asked for 9X9" squares, she said she really likes sheep in squares, she really didn't care about color, just no neons. And she wanted a picot edging around. So these are the squares I came up with.

Here's a picture of the collection. These are all pre-blocked.

Here's the lamb square. I just sort of winged it while in the van on the way to Ironstock. I used a light blue for the background. Black for the head and legs, and a boucle in white for the wool.

This is called the Fisherman's Ring. I made it in a soft acrylic in Dark blue

This is a knot type square that I made up. I was inspired by a friendship ring square I had seen and made for a different swap. The colors are the same blue I used in the fisherman's ring square above, a soft grey color, and a deep red/Burgundy color which on here looks sort of orange, but it's not. I REALLY love this square!

So that's what I've been up to. I hope you like it. It's been a long time since I've posted pictures and for that I am sorry. Enjoy!

Swim Suit Annoyance

2006-07-05T13:05:00.000-05:00

Well, with the long holiday weekend here, we've been swimming a lot. I hate my swimsuit (as many people do). I hate shopping for the darn things too (as I think everyone does,) so I've decided I want a swim suit that I love. Now there is nothing I can do to hide, or cover all the areas of my body that I am a bit self-concious about, but I think I can make something that is cute and fun and will make me feel ok about swimming, plus it WILL fit! So that is why I haven't been posting lately I am drafting a pattern, and figuring out what I need/want, etc... I started on it already. They didn't have the fabric that I wanted, but I found a cute pink fabric with black dots (I was hoping for brown bottom that match something with brown on top, but didn't happen) So I am making black bottoms with pink and black top. My machine died for a bit but I got it running again. And I am hoping to finish soon. This is all very new to me. I don't really make much as far as clothing (besides costumes which don't have to be perfect, or baby clothes which are way smaller!) or stretchy fabric. So wish me luck. I will probably not post a pic of me in it, but you may see me post a pic of it itself.

Other than that I have been making a scarf for my mother-in-law, which I showed her, and she decided she wanted the whole thing wider. So now I have to frog it all, (pain in the butt because it's a weird yarn that she picked.) And I have been cutting tons of 1.5" squares out of cotton fabric, I want to desperately make a postage stamp quilt, but I would rather not repeat fabrics if possible. So I need TONS of different fabric squares. I joined a craftster.org swap, so that will help. If any of you would care to swap or simply send me small scraps, I'd love you forever!!!

Home From Ironstock

2006-06-28T12:53:00.000-05:00

Well, we are back in Wisconsin. We had a wonderful weekend. Already booking our hotel room for next year. Ironstock is a Haunt Expo/Convention/really big party, put on in Tell City Indiana the last weekend in June every year. This event is put on by the Iron Kingdom and friends. The most wonderful group of people you could ever meet.

We arrived Thursday evening. Levi was pretty pooped, so we really didn't do much that night. We did run into a few other early arrivers though.

Friday we went swimming and then enjoyed the meet and greet put on in our hotel lobby, by Wormy T, Evilizabeth, and CandyMom (along with others.) There was a bbq fountain (like a chocolate fountain, but with bbq sauce in it. Meetballs, smokies, and brisket to dip in the fountain. There were wonderful candies made by CandyMom which included brains, fingers, and other assorted body parts, all different flavors. We brought a taco dip, and many others brought munchies too. So many wonderful people to meet.

Saturday morning we got to the grounds by 8:45, and stood in line to register for probably 15 minutes! It was fine though, it was a great time to meet more people. The weather was gorgeous. Low 80s and sunny (compared to years before where it is always in the upper 90s and terribly humid.) We registered, bought our raffle tickets, bought a tshirt, and headed back to the rapid remains game. Levi didn't want to watch or be a part of it, so him and I walked around a bit. Tim enjoyed it though, and his team won!

We enjoyed many wonderful demos. Levi hung out with the kids a bit, but also enjoyed some of the demos. We watched the coffin races, and participated in the tshirt toss, none of us got any though, we're not quite as aggressive as lots of them are. Still fun though! We then went back to our hotel room to eat and get ready for the Weasel Ball, costume dance.

This year's costumes didn't quite get done, so you will see those probably around Halloween, then we'll wear them for next year's Weasel Ball. We quickly threw together scrabble pieces for our costumes this year. They didn't have the bang that last year's TitHead and Hershey's Kiss of Death did, but they were cute. This year there was a wedding at the Weasel Ball, which was pretty great! We aren't late night party people, so we left a little while after the centerpiece judging. (We really need to do that next year!) And a few more songs. Then we got Levi from the babysitters and went back to the room.

Sunday morning, about 9:30 we got back to the fair grounds and enjoyed another demo, they picked some raffle tickets (Tim one some sensors donated by Nez.) The number 2 before us won the pirate... ARRRR! Said our good byes, and went back to our hotel. Tim and Levi swam a bit, then we went upstairs and turned in early since we had about a 12 hour ride home the next day.

It was a great weekend. I didn't take very many pictures. (I know I'm terrible!) I'm going to list some of the pictures that other people post if you are interested.

Bob-O Candid Video (some coffin races, tshirt toss, & others)

Wormy-Ts Pics
Thursday Pics

Friday Meet & Greet

Vampire Damien's
http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j227/haunterds/IronStock2006/

I'm in Indiana

2006-06-23T11:52:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm in Indiana right now. It's the day of the meet & greet. The main festivities begin tomorrow. I'm really too warm to crochet much, but I'm trying. It is a lot cooler than last year, but there is also more rain. We had some room issues already, and they gave us a different room. I just hope that it doesn't screw up someone else's plans. We were in a room with a single king bed (Levi brought his sleeping bag,) because it was the only room left when we made our reservations, but right now we are in a double-double room. So I hope no one is really pissed that they don't have 2 beds when they had probably reserved and were planning on 2 beds. But the desk said that this is right, and we need to be here, so who are we to complain. Anyway, I should get back, just thought I'd check in.

Finishing my crochet, costumes, and top

2006-06-20T17:27:00.000-05:00

Well, we are leaving for Ironstock Thursday morning. So the countdown has begun. We had certain costume plans, but we just completely ran out of time. So we went with plan B.... well, actually plan "A" and "T". We are scrabble pieces. Quick and cute, and Tim and I love to play scrabble, so it's sort of fitting. Plus they are a fairly universal costume, that anyone even our kids can borrow and wear again. So those are 100% finished! Yippee!!! I will post pics soon, but it may not be until we return from Indiana.

I am working on some crochet squares for a blankie square swap I am in. I am working on making a sheep in the middle. So far, I'm still unsure. I'll keep you updated!

I am also making a shirred top that I was hoping to be able to wear this weekend. I found this amazing Alexander Henry fabric in JoAnns the other day, and I had to buy it, and I want a cute little top to wear, since Ironstock it is about 100 degrees. I just need to make it so it will cover my bra straps. I'm not a tiny woman, and no one wants my breasts popping out of my top! Ok, hubby wouldn't mind, but this is a fairly family oriented event!
I have the whole top done except the straps and the hem. So hopefully by tonight.

I am bringing some projects along, I really hope that I can get quite a bit accomplished in the 10 hour drive. Hopefully I will have a few finished projects to post when I get back, not to mention just general Ironstock pics!

Unconditional Swapping Goodness!

2006-06-19T14:55:00.000-05:00

I received from Writer78 last night. I got the greatest swap stuff. She really must have paid attention, because everything she gave me was perfect!
Here is a picture of the front of an altoids tin that she altered for me. It has coats of arms and the really neat stone looking paper. Also the little card she sent me.

Here are all my inside goodies. A beaded necklace, 2 pairs of earrings, a cute drawstring bag to keep them in. Some Happy Halloween ribbon. And LOTS OF KEYS!!! I love keys so much!

I was so excited I teared up a bit when I opened it!

Lucky Lucky Me!

I sent some supplies to dontlookback, and she received them. I hope she's as happy as I am. I have 2 other packages out right now, but those were going out of the country, so I don't know how long they will take to get there.

Wistlists..... Who wists me?

2006-06-14T11:57:00.001-05:00

Have you ever made something that you thought was really great, but you don't get any replies on it? Then you figure, no one else likes it. Well, that happened to me. I made a purse for a swap that I thought was great, sent it off, received a nice thank you. Then posted about it on craftster and really got very few responses. I thought, maybe it wasn't as great as I thought it was.

Well, the other day I was browsing people's wist lists and found that a whole lot of people put that bag on their wistlist! I knew nothing. I wish there was a way you could find out who has wisted you.

I got my bobbies!

2006-06-14T11:57:00.000-05:00

I received some wonderful swap goodies in the mail last night. I got some of the neatest bobby pins for my new short hair.

I know another horrible sideways picture. Plus my hair is still wet, and I have no makeup or anything on.... but come on, I actually took a picture!

To see more pictures of them up close you can go to the unconditional june swap gallery page. They are at the bottom of the page. The ones in the pic above are silver sort of filigree style with little pink jewels. Another pair are fimo snail beads, and last, but certainly not least are a pair of gryffindor ones! Thanks so much zenochka!

posting problems

2006-06-09T09:28:00.000-05:00

Well, I had a few different posts done, they were wonderful, articulate, witty, you name it.... however, either blogger hates me, or it's my computer. All of the updates I did (and there were quite a few) have been lost into the abyss.

So, the REALLY shortened version of updates from the past week;

School ended last week. So my kids were home.... [insert antics]

Tim's family came up. Enjoyed each other.... fun was had

A family friend died, so we had to help clean out her house. I got a whole bunch of craft stuff. (Didn't really ask for it, but got it, so need to find something to do with it.)

Worked in garden,

Found out we need an assesment, which sucks because we finally moved things around to start remodeling, and now have to move these things back. GRRR

Went to the park many times

Baseball, baseball, baseball..... Squirt league is a joke. They let the kids run the bases even when they are out, all kids bat every inning. All kids field every inning. There is no score..... How are you teaching them anything, and how the heck are they going to do tournaments if you can't eliminate them. There is no score.

Kids started summer school up on Thursday. They love it!

My hair won't take dye very well unless I lighten it, that sucks.

I REALLY need to work on the costumes for Weasel Ball or they won't be done.

NEARLY finished with the gifts for the showers.

I think that is it for now.

A No Crafting Weekend

2006-06-02T14:04:00.001-05:00

Well, I had a very busy weekend. Tim's family came up. We only get to see some of them about once a year, and usually not all of them. We haven't seen some of them for years. So it was nice. All of the kids got along great which is nice.

Unfortunately with the beautiful weather and Tim's family around I wasn't able to get any crafting done. And now that school's out for awhile. I probably won't have a chance to do any crocheting or anything during the day. Levi's baseball game is tonight, but I have been designated score keeper, so that counts that out. I might have a chance on Thursday, when the boys start summer school. But they aren't gone very long.
So unfortunately it looks as though my summer updates could be quite low in project posts =( We'll see!

Hair cuts!

2006-06-02T14:04:00.000-05:00

Ok, I am terrible at getting pictures taken when it's important. I'm honestly always terrible at taking pictures when I want them. And yes, I forgot to take a picture of before I got my hair cut..... so I only have an after shot or two.
Here's a horrible sideways one of my new hair. And bonus... my messy kitchen!

Here is a picture of me outside taken by my five year old, of me holding my hair to donate. I wasn't sure I'd have enough to donate, and here I measured it and I had over 15 inches! (thankfully you get to pull curls straight!)

I really don't love it yet. I like the back quite a bit, but the front I can't quite figure it out. Also I HATE the color. This is my natural color, (minus a few grey spots that I cover with a black sharpie)
I have never liked my natural color. So much so that no one has seen my natural color since I was 12. I was planning on coloring it purple, but the purple isn't showing up with my dark black hair, so I'm going to have to lighten it first, then dye it purple. I'll keep you all updated!

This is Lore, he's my 5 year old. He was sweating so badly after the park yesterday that he asked me to shave his head "bald". Well, it was so long I had to go skim it down a bit. After I got it all skimmed down, he decided he wanted a "zigzag mohawk" so this is what he got. He loved showing it off today on their last day of school!

I did however, forget that my husband's family is coming this weekend from all over the country, so ooops! Many of them haven't met Lore yet, so it may not quite be the cute little respectable boy that they were expecting, but oh well, he loves it!

Swaps Received and Haircut Tomorrow

2006-05-30T21:18:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm glad to say that the two swap packages that I sent recently have been received. They both said that they love them. The both posted pictures. So now I am swap free for a while. I am trying really hard not to swap for awhile, at least until I can catch up on some of the things I NEED to finish. And get a little house work done, and save up a bit more money (we're a little broke right now.) So I need to try to resist temptation (like this one swap on craftster.... oh it is a scavenger hunt one.... oh I want to so bad.... no, I can't! BUT I WANNA!)

I am getting my hair cut tomorrow. I am a bit nervous. I have pretty much always had really long hair. About the shortest I have really gone is to my shoulders because everytime I go into the hairstylist they always talk me out of cutting it really short. I see so many really cute styles on other people that are really short and I want to try it. Not to mention I HATE doing my hair, 90% of the time it just ends up in some sort of ponytail. So this time I am doing it. I can donate it to Locks-of-Love again (I try to every year.) if I get it REALLY short. I do have a fuller face (I'm a bit on the heavier side too) but I don't care. I want it short!!! So this is what I'm thinking.

Isn't she cute I have no idea who she is, but a friend of mine sent it to me thinking it would be cute on me.
So I'll try to post pictures tomorrow of my before and after.

Shame On Me!

2006-05-29T09:52:00.000-05:00

I can't believe I haven't posted in a week. I guess my allergies have made me a touch less productive. And the fact that we got all hot and humid here all of a sudden. One night we had frost advisories, the next day it got to 90 and was humid! Crazy I know, but this is Wisconsin weather for ya!

I have been finishing up my flower baby afghan (yes, it is to the part where I start getting bored and I want to move on to something else.) Which is slower work right now.

We are also working on our end-of-the-school-year-thank-you-teacher-gifts.
My youngest son, Lore (5) has 3 teachers. So he wants to make lined zipper pouches, (he loves to sew on the machine!) Then fill it with a sharpie and some post-it notes. We have the materials cut so far,
but haven't started sewing. That is planned for today.

My middle son, Liam (7) has just one teacher. He wanted to paint her a treasure box and fill it with a wooden gold coin (also painted.) And the sharpies and post-its. He has the box, and he's painted it gold. And right now he is drawing on it with markers.

My oldest, Levi (9), well, he thinks he's pretty darn cool. He has 2 teachers and he really loves them. They all have a lot of fun in class and joke around and such. So his big idea is, he wants to make record bowls. Then he wants to then make circles for the label spot of the record bowls with decorated pics of his teachers. We have no problem with the one teacher, but the other one we're not quite sure since we don't have a pic of her to start off of. So we'll see. Right now, Levi has finished molding the bowls with hot water, and we took the original labels off.

So I will have to post more pics of this when they are finished.

Also I had problems with my order from Fire Mountain (normally I don't have any problems with them.) and things were back ordered, and I didn't get them in time to make my nursing necklace for a swap, so I had to work with what I had. Unfortunately I'm not terribly pleased with it, but I did the best I could with what I had. And I was late the way it is.

horrible pic, but you get the idea, it's amethyst and white catseye with flourite (or something like that, ) pendant.

Striped Rainbow Baby Hat

2006-05-22T15:16:00.000-05:00

I finished this and sent it off. I made it for the craftster May unconditional Swap. I really hope she likes it. She asked for a hat like this or this. I dyed all of the yarn myself (except the black.) It is made according to her size specifications, so I hope it fits him! It's all Wool, I believe I used Patons, but don't quote me on it. I have lots of leftover balls of natural colored yarn in my stash, I just looked for balls that had the same thickness and color so it would dye evenly. Took forever to dye it all. I had a few shades that didn't turn out very well.

In the flowers

My gnome was the closest thing to a head that would fit this hat, so he was the happy model.

The profile of the hat.

ALERGIES SUCK

2006-05-20T11:33:00.000-05:00

Well, I see I haven't posted much in a bit, so I thought I should just quick throw something out here. I have been slammed by allergies, like I do every year. I really can't complain, since as far as we can tell I'm only allergic to lilacs, but it is 2-3 weeks of hell. Nothing seems to work. All the horrible meds that doctors try to put me on. All of the natural stuff, nothing helps. So I haven't been terribly productive. Also I'm waiting for a delivery to make one item from a swap I'm in. which the send date is already past. It's never taken this long to get items from this store, but oh well. I'll get it out as soon as it arrives. I did finish the baby hat for another swap. I'll post pics of that soon. That's about all for now.

Crazy Harry Potter Obsession

2006-05-15T11:37:00.000-05:00

What is it with this darn series of books? I am a grown adult, I am not supposed to be obsessing over things like this anymore. Ok, I'm an adult by age at least. JK just did too darn good of a job sucking all of us in I guess. Even though I swore off swaps, and my hubby is getting a bit cranky with me since we are a bit low in funds right now, and trying to save for some desperately needed house remodeling. And my complete lack of time. I signed up for the Fav. Character swap on Craftster.org. I am so ashamed, yet SO EXCITED!

Now we had to whittle our favorites down to ONLY 2 characters. However, lucky for me, they were counting Fred & George together as one character. How dare they, but they did!
So my 2 favs of the moment are Fred & George, and my longtime, never wavering favorite of Dobby the house elf.

It seems that most people's favorites (at least of the vocal ones on Craftster) seem to be Snape, Draco, & Cedric. So I'm sort of trying to pre-plan a bit by thinking of different projects for the different characters. Oooh, so much fun, but lots of stress for me too, as I always worry my stuff isn't good enough and such. Oh, well, we don't need me sharing all of my neurosis. So I guess stay tuned to see what types of things I make and receive!

Swap Lovin'

2006-05-12T16:31:00.000-05:00

I posted some wishes on the April Unconditional Swap on Craftster.org and I was lucky enough to be picked! I just received my goodies.
The wish she chose to fullfill was crochet stitch markers, but she sent not only some of the most beautiful stitch markers known to humankind, but also a duct tape pouch and some really neat soap. So I thought I needed to post my goodies!

(I do need to appologize, the weather has been HORRIBLE, and I can't take a decent picture in it.)

Here's the soap she sent me. Do you see all the beatiful swirls of white soap in it? If you can't read it says Sunset.

The duct tape pouch, I never really cared for duct tape things, but this is making me reconsider my position. It has a little pocket in the back too that I didn't get a chance to photograph.

Here's the inside of the pouch, you can see the velcro closure, the stitch markers are inside.

And now, what everyone's been waiting for...... the STITCH MARKERS!!!!!!

This horrible picture really doesn't do it any justice at all. They are gorgeous! There are 10 of them, way, way, WAY!!! better than my bobby pins and safety pins I've been using!

THANK YOU SO MUCH Liebschien!

I Burned Yarn!

2006-05-08T18:07:00.003-05:00

I was dying my yarn today for a hat that I am making for a swap. I am dying a whole bunch of small pieces a whole bunch of colors. So I don't need a lot of water/dye, and I was keeping a really good eye on everything, until my older boys came home. Now, Wednesdays are really busy at my house, we have to quick get homework done, then rush over to dance class. In between one dance class and another we have 45 minutes to quick get some supper. Not enough time to get home and eat either btw.
Anyway, I was helping with homework, and totally forgot to keep an eye on my simmering yarn, when all of a sudden I smelled something horrible. I look into the kitchen to see that my kitchen is full of smoke......

So long story-short. My house smells like burning wool! It's just horrible. Not to mention I feel really stupid. I never burn things like that.
But I did learn my lesson, so I won't dye anything with out me staying in the room with it!

Rain Rain Go Away!

2006-05-08T18:07:00.002-05:00

I do love rain. Really I do. But a cloudy rainy day just isn't very good for taking pictures. I have a few items I was hoping to take pics of, and I know that many of my pictures aren't that great, but if it is sunny they look so much better! So I know the rain needs to flow, otherwise I won't get my yummy produce or pretty flowers, but I am ready for the sunshine anytime now.

Bulk Garbage Day

2006-05-08T18:07:00.001-05:00

Have you ever seen the cartoon movie of Charlotte's Web? I recomend it if you haven't, it's cute. The reason I bring it up is when Templeton (the rat) doesn't want to go the fair, the goose talks him into it by singing a song, that he also sings when he goes into the fair and he sees all the different snacks and treats, he sort of goes crazy and there's this song. Well, it really reminds me of Bulk Garbage Day in my town. I know a lot of towns have this, and it's probably the same everywhere, but I love walking through town seeing everyone scatter from one lawn to the next, looking at everyone's garbage. Thinking to themselves;
"wow, I could use that"
"why would someone get rid of that?"
"I can't believe they have one of these!"
or whatever. But you see people hopping from cars and trucks gathering other people's garbage. A crazed look in their eye!

I was good this year. I got rid of many things (all were thankfully taken, so the garbage truck didn't get anything from us.) I also didn't pick anything up. Lots of people would think that isn't the best, because I didn't find a FABULOUS find. But honestly I need to de-clutter my house more than anything, and I just can't be taking in more things or projects until I do that. So for me it was a very good year. Now I'll just have to wait again til next year to see the same excitement, however, I will have that song stuck in my head for a really long time!

"A fair is a veritable smorgasbord orgasbord orgasbord.
After the crowds have ceased.
Each night when the lights go out.
It can be found on the ground all around
Oh, what a ratly feast!
Melon rinds and bits of hotdogs
Cookie crumbs and rotton cotton candy
Melted ice cream, mustard dripplings
Moldy goodies everywhere
Lots of popcorn, apple cores
Bananna peels and soggy sadwiches
And gobs of gorgeous gook to gobble at the fair

A fair is a veritable smorgasbord orgasbord orgasbord
After the gates are shut
Each night when the lights go out
It can be found on the ground all around
That's where a rat can glut, glut, glut, glut!"

Crochet Baby Blanket in Purple Continues

2006-05-08T18:07:00.000-05:00

Well, I thought I would just update to show how far I am on the blanket. I love how it is coming along. I do however, really dispise single crochets! They are tedius! But it is beautiful and I get compliments on it everywhere when I'm crocheting, even from fellow crocheters who haven't heard of the puff stitch. So anyway here it is.

ZYX Crochet!

2006-05-05T11:01:00.000-05:00

I know, I know, I should finish one thing before I start another. My husband swears I have crafting ADD. I have to have like 10 things going at once and keep flipping through them. Yes, it takes me that much longer to finish a project, but that way I don't get bored with anything. Unfortunately this does sometimes mean that I cast aside ones that I really am bored by. But it hasn't happened much lately. And I swear (hand on heart) as soon as ALL of these baby gifts (just found out about 2 more babies being expected!) I will work on some of my UFO's (un-finished objects) that have been cast off.

Anyway, I have started one of the baby blankets for one of my cousins. She thinks she's having a girl. So it is purple it is an old free pattern from Caron it used to be on the inside of their yarn papers. Here is a site with the pattern on. I of course adjusted it quite a bit, but the graph I am using as a guide.
Here's what I have so far. It took quite awhile. I am using a fairly small hook.

Here's a close up of the z

Now on to W V U T S !!

Swap Items Received

2006-05-02T15:08:00.001-05:00

I received all of my swap items. I got a really nice bag from Crafterbynite on craftster.org in the Spring bag swap. The other stuff I'll have to post later I don't have the pics taken of it, batteries died. But here's the bag I got.

Modeled by a cute, but not terribly happy Lore.

Here's the inside of the bag with a few of my things thrown in. Pink polka dots!

Guacamole Bear Complete

2006-05-02T15:08:00.000-05:00

Well, I've finally finished my bear. He's very cute. He's jointed and the color of guacamole. I think he still needs a bow or something around his neck, but I love him!

yes look at my lovely tulips and my gorgeous dandelions.... we don't have grass, just dandelions! They are only weeds if you want them to be right.

Swap Woes

2006-04-27T12:58:00.002-05:00

I want to be a patient person, I really do. And honestly I love hearing that people like what I gave them for swaps. But after I hear that they liked theirs..... well, then I want mine!

I know, I know, people have lives. I have one too, and I certainly have been guilty of swapping late myself, but I REALLY want my Spring Bag, before it's summer. She said she sent it, and that she'd send me the DC# and I'm sure she did send it, but I haven't gotten the DC# yet. I don't want to be rude, but I WANT MY BAG!!! ok, I've ranted and gotten it off of my chest. So I'm good now for a few more days =) I feel better.

Lore-Jack-o-lantern bars

2006-04-27T12:58:00.001-05:00

My youngest and I are busy making what he has renamed Lore's-Jack'olantern-bars. We got the basics of the recipe here. But honestly we're changing it quite a bit. We'll see how they turn out. We have to make bars/cookies for his grandparents' day at school. They let us know that we had to bring in a dozen today, they are due tomorrow. Thanks for the notice huh?

Anyway, he's excited. I'm not much of a baker, so I hope they turn out or hubby will have to pick up a dozen cookies on his way home from work!

Square Dancin'

2006-04-27T12:58:00.000-05:00

Well, blogger has been a bit cranky about me posting pics, so we'll try this again!

I have many squares done for the baby blanket I'm making. I just have no idea how to join them together.

This way has a pink border between each piece.

OR

This way, which I'm pretty sure is a more normal way to join. I'm not quite sure which to do. And I don't really want to spend too much time joining one way to then decide I don't like it and want it a different way. Anyone have thoughts?

I'm not as evil as I thought!?!

2006-04-26T10:09:00.001-05:00

You Are 54% Evil

You are evil, but you haven't yet mastered the dark side.Fear not though - you are on your way to world domination.

How Evil Are You

Baby It's Cold In Here!

2006-04-26T10:09:00.000-05:00

Well, yesterday we hit a bit of a cold snap. The high was in the upper 40s, but with the wind it was really quite cold. Well, it's nearly May damn it, and I refuse to turn on my heat. So yesterday it was bearable in the house (it took a while for the built up warm to go away,) but today it is frickn chilly. I can't wait til the sun comes up a bit more so I can open the windows, then it will be nice.

I have been trying to keep all of my flower squares together so that I can actually finish an afghan made from squares (not ever to be accomplished by me so far in my life.) I'm getting close. I realized I made the squares using a larger hook than I should have, so it is a bit holier (that's not a word) than I had hoped, but it is turning out quite lovely regardless. I also found out that the fabric I wanted to use to make a matching changing pad, I won't have enough and the store doesn't have anymore. I should have bought the whole bolt when I found it, but I was afraid the hubby would kill me. Now I'm kicking myself.

I am hoping to post a pic of the afghan progress later today. So I guess.... stay tuned!

Swaps Received!

2006-04-21T10:10:00.001-05:00

I'm so excited, both of the swaps I sent out recently, (the cloche hat, and the turqoise-ish crocheted bag,) were received. They both really liked them. Or at least they told me they did. I always worry so much when I am in a swap that my stuff is sub-par. I know it's a terrible insecurity that I have, but I still can't help it. So to see the lovely recipeints you can go to the Spring bag swap and the unconditional swap, and scroll down a bit, (my username on there is Ezri_B.)

When To Name A Baby

2006-04-21T10:10:00.000-05:00

Now, as I've mentioned on my blog I have a lot of friends and family having babies. Some are choosing to find out the gender by an early ultrasound, others must have amniocentesis where the gender is guaranteed, others still are choosing not to find out. Having 3 kids of my own, I know what a big deal it is to name a person. This is a name they will live with most likely their entire life, (or at least probably til adulthood.) I know my husband and I picked out names before our children were born. With my middle son I changed my mind in the last 2 weeks. Also even though we were told with 2 of my boys (the 3rd was a stinker and even though I had many ultrasounds he wouldn't show gender,) that we were supposed to have boys (by ultrasound) we always had a girl back up name just in case. When I was pregnant with my first son there were 10 of us in my parenting class, all of us were told we were having boys (according to the ultrasounds,) I was the only one to actually have a boy! All of the rest were girls.

Ok, now that I've given you a bit of background, one of my cousins is having a girl (according to a 20 week along ultrasound,) she has bought nothing but pink, and has even named her Olivia. They printed the name of this baby-to-be on the baby shower invitation. She's not due until August! Does anyone else find this a bit early to be publishing the name of this baby when there is no 100% guarantee she is really having a girl? Am I the only one who finds this extremely odd? Is this a common practice that I have just been out of the loop in the last 5 years since my last son was born?
Ok, sorry for the rant, I just really had to get this off my chest. Back to crafting!

Spring Bag Swap

2006-04-18T15:37:00.000-05:00

Well, I finished my bag for the spring bag swap on craftster.org. It isn't exactly what she was asking for, but it sort of combined some of the bags she was asking for. I really hope she likes it.

My son didn't really want to pose for this picture, but he did. And it was funny, while we were out taking this picture, a group of 4 women went by. I hadn't even seen them, as I was trying to make sure Lore (my son) wasn't dragging the bag, but she screamed, ran up to him, and begged me to make her one. I have no idea what to charge her. Anyway, I told her it wouldn't be done until July, and she said that would be fine, so I'll have enough time.

I got sick after my kids got better this weekend. So I didn't have much progress on anything, and my house is pretty much a mess. But I have all my swaps fulfilled which is a good feeling. Tim, (my hubby,) has hit his first slow down in over 6 years at work, so we have little extra money coming in. So I have to stay away from the swaps for awhile. UGGHH!

The weather has been wonderful though, so I certainly can't complain about that. Baseball practice has begun, so I spend most of my evening watching the boys practice. It is supposed to rain a bit the end of this week, but I hope it is only a little, since I'm chaperoning a field trip to the zoo.

My Little Sicko-s

2006-04-13T15:52:00.000-05:00

Well, I had all these plans for yesterday to get almost all of my started projects done. My kids were going to friends' houses after school, so I was going to have ALL day. Then today and tomorrow (Easter break from school,) were supposed to be only for having fun. Unfortunately the sickness that was spreading through the school last week, has finally hit my family. Over the holiday weekend too. My youngest came home at a bit before 9am. And my oldest came home sick at noon. My middle son said he was fine at school, but on his way home he started not feeling well. UGGGHHH! I know they're sick and I feel really bad for them and all, but they expect me to do EVERYTHING for them, and then they think they can play XBOX and everything else. I haven't gotten anything done. I have swap packages that need to get out, and I must stick to a schedule to get everything done for June.....

Ok, I got that off of my chest. Even though they have been annoying the crap out of me (I do really love them!) I have made one tiny newborn hat for one of my cousin's baby showers. She found out she is having a girl, so luckily I can adjust my crafting to the girl instead of a question mark. I also started on a baby blanket for her.

The little hat fits perfectly on an orange. The flower didn't show up very well on the pic, but it's adorable. It won't be worn long because it's so small, but it will be adorable while she does. I may make her another one the same, but a bit bigger, so she can wear it longer.

I love the flower. I was sort of tinkering around and came up with this. I love it! I usually lose squares when I attempt to make a blanket from them, but this time I'm going to be more careful, I hope.

Going To Ironstock

2006-04-11T11:59:00.000-05:00

Well, even though we can't afford it, and we have roughly a million other things we're supposed to be doing, we are going to Ironstock. Ironstock is a Haunters Gathering located in Tell City, Indiana. We went last year and had a ball. This year the oldest boy wants to come too. So that's the plan. Now we have to make costumes and Tim (hubby,) wants to make a centerpiece this year. So we have all of this to do. We also have tons of baby and bridal showers, and weddings. Oh, did I mention that WE'RE BROKE! Tim's job has cut back hours, first time in 6 years, so no extra money coming in, (in fact less money!) and lots more going out. AHHHHH. But I am really excited. So stay tuned for updates on our costumes (sure to be scary, creepy, or really neat.) and possibly our centerpiece.

It's A Cloche One

2006-04-10T10:44:00.000-05:00

I made a cloche hat for a swap on craftster.org that I'm in. The pattern came from here. It turned out much better than the last time I attempted this pattern. I stopped the main body a few rows short, and I think that helped. I made it in Bone Caron So-Soft Yarn. I really need to get a mannequin head, since I don't want to put it on my head for pics but I only have a skull or a real human. And it just doesn't seem sanitary to put my creation for someone else on my own head. So here is a pic without a head, only my hand.

You can also see that the snow over the weekend has gone away. That was a crazy storm!

Where is Spring?

2006-04-07T15:06:00.000-05:00

Well, it is supposed to be spring, however today, it snowed, iced, and rained like crazy! I do realize this is Wisconsin, but come on! This pic is about 15 minutes after the snow began. We ended up losing power for about an hour, and we got much more snow than this! I was hoping for a sunny day to take some decent pictures, but that didn't happen. So I'm sorry these are so dark.

I have my felted bear finished, I just have to attatch the arms and legs.

My purple felted bag is felted, but not lined yet, and I don't know if I'm happy with the dye job, so I may have to re-dye that.

I have started lining my skull purse, but I'm not exactly sure how to do it. So I'm still figuring it out.

I'm beginning a halter top for a friend of mine's daughter, it is so cute. She wanted bright red, and she's telling me how to do it. I told her I'll make her first one for free, but after that she's going to have to let me teach her how to make one herself. She seems to like that idea. She's 9.

So I guess that's about it for now, I hope this snow doesn't last long. I want spring so desperately!

Simple Starts

2006-04-03T09:02:00.000-05:00

I have decided that this is the best place to blog. I have tried many others, and either lost interest, or couldn't totally figure it out. I am hoping that I can keep this one up to date! I have many projects in the works, so I'll be posting new pics as soon as I can. Can't wait to get some pics up here.