Mario room beginnings

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

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!

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

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!!

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!!!

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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!!

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?

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

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.

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

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!)