A Random Knack

Ha!! I sewed!!

2009-10-08T15:27:00.002-04:00

And not only did I sew, I actually completed said item as well. I can't remember the last thing that I made that I finished. It's been that long.

In the process, I learned I really do like my coverhem machine, and wish I hadn't lost the foot for it (actually my friend's foot, but that's a long story). I had to hem with a twin needle, and I haven't had to do that in 3+ years. Ick. I has to restart 4 times on the bottom, and once on one of the sleeves. But it got done, which is the most important thing, right?

The completed item happens to be a maternity shirt. I need them desperately. I'm not big enough, nor do I particularly like, the "tent" style shirts. I like more fitted ones - ones that from the back I still look relatively like myself. I bought this pattern right before I got pregnant, and decided that it would make a good maternity top with a couple simple alterations. Here's a pic of the front pattern piece to show how I altered it. The only thing I did to the back was lengthen it so it was the same as the front sides.

I curved the front hem a bit too, so as I expand even more, hopefully it will keep my belly from hanging out.

So - in all my "I haven't left the house yet today, and therefore done anything with my hair" glory, the pictures.

It's about time

2009-06-22T20:50:00.002-04:00

I get a kick looking at how people find this blog. There are an abundance of stuck up people in the world apparently. And how being stuck up effects their life is a topic worth of the google. 34% of my blog hits have come from searching about stuck up people. I'm sure that will go up even more now! And the people that I wrote about - still stuck up. I'm starting to think that there really is no hope for a cure.

And ma'am - I'm sorry your son in Finland has a shoe fetish. Kian has outgrown his - well, at least his desire to eat them. He still likes to put on shoes that are too big, though that makes sense as they're easier for an 18 month old to do that by himself.

And I'm obviously not the only one with baby frogs in the house. Though since we've gotten rid of the garden pond, that's resolved itself. Nothing like waking up in the middle of the night and squishing the little buggers on the way to the bathroom. It's really sad actually, besides just disgusting. Though if frogs eat ants, I may want them back - as there seems to be a family of ants that has made residence in my house somewhere. I've got the right kind of yummy "food" for them now, just need to crawl up into the 200++ degree attic to serve it to them. Any volunteers?

I also have to suggest - buy a pettiskirt. Yes, I made one. Did I mention it took 7 hours?? I think I did. I never want to even think about gathering that much fabric again. If you're thinking about making a pettiskirt, please have your brain examined, and then cart yourself to Etsy, or join one of the many co-ops that wait 4 months for the fru fru-ey contraptions, and save $10ish bucks. You'll thank me later - I promise.

I know that there was some other search term/topic that brought people here in the past (besides people actually searching for me - awww) that I wanted to address, but I can't think of it now. I'll blame the tiny rice sized thing sucking my brains away on that.

Hopefully, I'll never see a google search for "stuck up son with shoe fetish wants pettiskirt made with baby frogs" leading here. THAT would be creepy!

What you've been waiting for!

2009-06-16T21:31:00.003-04:00

Well, not really, unless you read the blog this morning, and have been waiting on pins and needles since then (unlikely).

I decided to make a new blog, dedicated to my weekly posts. Go here and read :)

Hopefully the blogging bug will bite again, and I'll update here more frequently as well. I kind of miss writing more than a sentence or two at a time!

Facebook has killed my blog

2009-06-16T09:01:00.002-04:00

OK, poor excuse, I know! But since getting addicted, er... involved with facebook, the things I would write here end up in little tidbits over there. Not as much detail, but still takes away the need to blog.

I'm going to try a bit harder to at least get a post a week.

Why a post a week? You'll figure it out soon ;)

My final portfolio

2009-04-29T13:52:00.002-04:00

The digital part anyways. I've learned not to procrastinate. It's not worth it in the long run! Nothing like freaking out at 2am the morning your project is due because your printer is begging for more ink! And walmart doesn't sell it. And nothing else opens before your 8am class.

But it's done. I wasn't thrilled with the quality of some of the prints - they turned out a bit dark. But obviously not enough ink to reprint either. Besides, I needed a little bit of sleep - it was hard enough waking up 3.5 hours after I went to bed!

Photography Final

My favorites:

Decisions decisions, and school is almost DONE!

2009-04-26T23:23:00.003-04:00

I'm down to the last week, and I couldn't be happier! I'm very much looking forward to a more relaxed summer (school wise at least!).

I'm finishing up my photography final, and can't decide which 10 pictures to use, and if I should do black and white or color (and all 10 have to be the same). Some I adore in black and white, and some I adore in color.

I had a hard time shooting these. Eric and I drove 280 miles to get them. I had planned on using some I had taken earlier in the semester until I found out that it wouldn't be allowed, so I drug Eric out of work (he didn't complain!) Friday to go drive around all day.

We also took the kids out for a drive/hike today, and saw some amazing places! But my camera battery was dead. I about cried! It wasn't when I put it in the bag, so a button must have been pressed or something to completely drain it. Some of the places were an hour away, and with the project due Wednesday morning, I'm not going to be able to get back out there to shoot some more for it. But I'm definitely going again! And the kids were great. Even after some tummy issues this morning, they didn't complain about the long drive, and enjoyed the hike!

So, here they are. Want to help me to decide which are the 10 best? And color or black and white??

Happy Easter

2009-04-12T23:20:00.002-04:00

Went to Dad's house. Food was good, ate way too much of course, and brought a ton home. At least I don't have to cook tomorrow!! Kian was way too cute with his eggs. He's been playing with some the other kids have had the last few days, and he thought it was very cool to have his own.

I'm a sewing failure though! After completely rearranging bedrooms and my sewing space, I ran out of time and motivation. No one got even one handmade item for Easter. No clothes, no toys, nothing. But it's ok. I think they liked the abundance of candy more anyways :)

Click here to see the pics!

I'm going to write a book.

2009-03-30T23:41:00.004-04:00

OK, so write may be a strong word. But it's going to be a book.

One of my assignments in my photography course was to emulate another photographer. We had to find their work in a book, shoot similarly (style or subject) and share with the class. I searched and searched, and nothing was screaming out to me. I had one book set aside, but it was a last resort. After 2 hours of searching in the library, I went to go pick it back up and this caught my eye. I was hooked.

It spoke to me. Inspired me to do something I feel strongly about. And I absolutely loved it.

Trying the same thing in this area of Florida was a little difficult. Industry has never been huge here, and the revival of small historic downtowns is well underway - and thrilling to me. There are also a TON of new, crowded, cookie cutter subdivisions. And it makes me sad that houses like this are left to rot because no one wants them and their problems. Or their history. Or character. Things you can't find in a new house.

I want to preserve the old buildings and houses indefinitely. Unfortunately, unless some foreign king or such that is someone related to me (or finds this blog and is moved beyond words, lol) and finances such an endeavor, it will have to be on film (or in this case, digitally), and then to paper.

I didn't know I wanted to create a book, until the title started popping up in my head. At the most inappropriate times as well. And so the idea was born. It's changed a bit as I've driven around scouting out old, decrepit buildings, but the idea is still the same.

Discarded Florida

It has a certain draw to it, doesn't it?

Sometimes things just make you go hmmm...

2009-03-16T16:52:00.003-04:00

There are so many interesting creations out there, that there are blogs dedicated to them. And now I know why.

Who in their right mind would wear something like this - let alone PAY for it?? And good Lord, what was she thinking when she made it? Magic Dress.

Why aren't things ever as easy as you thought they would be?

2009-01-26T21:39:00.003-05:00

I figured this semester was going to a breeze. Photo class that will mostly be a repeat of last semester's, but going into a bit more detail. Online Spanish class. That's it. Easy - right?

Oh heck no!

Photo class - 5 rolls of film need to be shot per week. Yes, you read that right, per WEEK!. How the heck am I supposed to fill 5 rolls of film up without just shooting nonsense? The cheap side of me is protesting LOUDLY.

And my Spanish class. How hard could it be? I aced French in high school - and Spanish is a bit similar, right? Wrong. Add to the fact I've discovered I am NOT an auditory learner, and my teacher assigned a ton of work the very first week. It isn't going to be near as easy as I thought, and I'm very grateful that this is the only other class I'm taking.

So much for looking forward to a relaxing semester!

And so it starts again

2009-01-21T22:15:00.003-05:00

The craziness. And this time we're adding to it. School started this week. Chrissy went back yesterday, I did today. And Eric is now taking 3 classes online as well! I'm hoping our schedules will work to leave us enough down time. Last semester was a bit hectic. So far so good though! I even got to spend a little time in the studio playing with Aislinn.

You can see the rest of them in my flickr acct!

We didn't get as much done as we wanted while on break, but that seems to be the case most of the time. Never enough hours in the day! We've got a couple home improvement type things to finish up, as well as a couple that are in the plans for the next few months. We'll see how it goes!

Sometimes something stunning finds you unexpectedly.

2008-12-16T13:07:00.003-05:00

I've got a very bare dining room wall. It's actually got 3 small paintings on it now, but they get lost and blend into the wall color.

I've looked, and hemmed and hawed, and nothing has ever stuck me as "this would be perfect". I decided just recently to order a HUGE portrait of all the kids (once I get the perfect picture of course!), and hang it there. Maybe in a grouping with individual ones as well.

But then someone pointed me in the direction of this shop. And I'm awed. I tend to be a bit biased and spoiled by having artists in the family. I'm very picky with what I like, and maybe a it overly judgmental as well. But I LIKE these. This one is my favorite. From the colors, to the title, and everything in between.

September song is the essence of my mom. Born in September, with a beautiful voice. The bird is the color of her eyes, and the colors just so "her". I can't help but feel her when I look at it.

Me? Neglect my poor blog? NEVER!!

2008-12-09T14:28:00.002-05:00

Ok, so I've been a bit busy. A couple photo shoots, a couple final research papers, kids, holidays, and then everything else has kept me busier than usual.

School is almost done for this semester. I'm praying that I pass a couple classes, it's going to be close! Lack of organization bit me in the butt a couple times, and I missed assignments, or was trying to cram in a math test at 11:30pm while holding my eyelids open with toothpicks. I REALLY don't want to have to take English 1 and intermediate Algebra over again. Yes, it would have made sense to think of that at the beginning of the semester instead of the end!

The whole family has had to make a lot of adjustments the last few months. Not only with me (and Chrissy) being in school, but opening the studio and being gone more as well. It's slowly starting to fall into place. Hopefully even though I won't have classes for the next month, it won't be such a big adjustment in January when we start back up. Though Eric will be starting as well - so who knows!! Nothing like waiting until your an adult to do the things you should have done as a teenager. We like to do things a bit backwards.

I'm actually really looking forward to my classes next semester. Two long photography classes, and a half semester of Spanish. No, spanish is not what I'm looking forward to!

We're starting to gear up for Christmas. Taking the annual photos, bought the tree the other day (boy are they expensive!!), pulled all the decorations down. I have all these ideas of crafty things to do, but like most years, they probably won't get done! Time never stands still enough to do everything I want to do!

Go to my flickr page (click on the rotating ones in the upper right corner) and you can see some of the pictures of the kids I've done so far!

Want all the cuteness of a puppy - without the mess?

2008-11-12T11:40:00.003-05:00

It's hard to resist a cute puppy. They're just so... well, cute! Stumbled upon this today though. You get to ohhh and ahhh, and think about how cute and sweet they are, without actually having to own one!

Puppies

Hmm... Not sure that this is a good idea.

2008-11-08T07:56:00.002-05:00

http://ikeahacker.blogspot.com/

I've added that to my bookmarks.

I'd been an Ikea virgin until just a very short while ago, even though one had been open within driving distance for almost a year. I think a part of me knew exactly how much I was going to like it, and was avoiding the temptation.

I finally went when we opened the studio. We bought ALL our furniture there. And it all fit in the back of a Suburban, even the couch (which came in a box!). I was in organizational knick knack heaven. It was a little bit easier to resist spending a ton of money since we were buying stuff for the studio, and of course, I didn't have any anyways (stupid financial aid - but that's another day's rant!).

I then went with another friend while she was in town. Again - I didn't spend a penny. I was very proud of myself. But the urge to go back has been strong. I'm trying to justify going there (It's almost an hour away) just for wrapping paper. I'm nuts. Not quite certifiable, but close!

So, bookmarking a blog that shows you more really cool things to do with things you find at Ikea probably isn't the best idea. Especially since that money thing is still an issue.

I've given up.

2008-11-06T21:08:00.002-05:00

I can't make my baby stay a baby.

There. I've admitted it.

I've spent a long time trying to convince him to stay a baby, and it's just not going to work. He's going to be a toddler. In a little over a week. It's amazing just how quickly the time has gone, and it's sad knowing how quickly the time ahead of us is going to go too.

You would think after so many babies that I'd be used to this, but I'm not. I'm not sure exactly what it is I'm afraid of losing as they grow up, but there's something there. I want to hold them close to me forever! I know realistically that can't happen, but I can dream, can't I?

2 Days and Counting...

2008-10-22T08:38:00.003-04:00

I'm excited, nervous, and can't believe how quickly the last 3 weeks have gone, since we decided to open the studio! There's still so much to do, and things to get ready for our grand opening. It's going to be a busy couple of days. But it's going to be worth it!!

Women??? Seriously?

2008-10-18T22:15:00.003-04:00

So I take my oldest daughter out shopping today. She's been doing a ton of babysitting, and hasn't felt 100% health wise on top of it. I owe her - big time. We head to Goodwill to try to scrounge up some stuff for her Halloween costume. She's wanting to be a punk rocker (I'm thinking 80's, she's thinking 90'-now). I pull her over to some obnoxious belts, and her cart is taking up a bit of room, but not completely blocking things.

So this guy - older, not clean cut, but not grungy gross either - comes towards where we're standing. Doesn't pause, doesn't say excuse me, just wiggles his empty cart in between the rack and ours, bumping into it (repeatedly)and making a ton of noise. And as he walks by, he mutters "women". I did a double take, and had to think to make sure I had heard him correctly. A nice lady (who he also walked by) comes up to my stunned self and asks if we heard him. "Women? How about men?".

No, not men. RUDE men. And I wasn't quiet about it. I hope he heard me, is embarrassed, and thinks next time before he acts like an ass. But I doubt it. Rude men don't care about what others think.

Studio Grand Opening!!

2008-10-12T11:02:00.006-04:00

Karen Bove and Allison Streeter are proud and excited to announce the GRAND OPENING of our new studio!

OPEN HOUSE

110 W. Indiana Avenue, Deland

Friday, October 24, Noon to 8

Saturday, October 25, 9 to 4

Stop in to say hello, check out our beautiful new location and take advantage of our Grand Opening Specials.

time and music

2008-10-06T11:25:00.004-04:00

I heard this song this morning, one that I would belt out at as loud as I could driving down the road 15 years ago. It had a meaning to me then, and as I tried to sing along this morning, it still had meaning. The meaning has changed with time, more important, more scary, and not just about me anymore.

4 Non Blondes

What's Up Lyrics

Twenty - five years and my life is still
Trying to get up that great big hill of hope
For a destination
And I realized quickly when I knew I should
That the world was made up of this brotherhood of man
For whatever that means
And so I cry sometimes
When I'm lying in bed
Just to get it all out
What's in my head
And I am feeling a little peculiar
And so I wake in the morning
And I step outside
And I take a deep breath and I get real high
And I scream at the top of my lungs
What's going on?
And I say, hey hey hey hey
I said hey, what's going on?
Ooh, ooh ooh
And I try, oh my god do I try
I try all the time, in this institution
And I pray, oh my god do I pray
I pray every single day
For a revolution
And so I cry sometimes
When I'm lying in bed
Just to get it all out
What's in my head
And I am feeling a little peculiar
And so I wake in the morning
And I step outside
And I take a deep breath and I get real high
And I scream at the top of my lungs
What's going on?
And I say, hey hey hey hey
I said hey, what's going on?
Twenty - five years and my life is still
Trying to get up that great big hill of hope
For a destination

Newborns aren't supposed to stand by themselves

2008-10-03T07:07:00.002-04:00

Somebody want to explain to me why my baby is standing here next to me with 2 toys in his hands, and not holding on to anything? He's no where near old enough to be doing that, if you ask me!

Yes, I'm in extreme denial that my baby is growing up. A friend pointed out that in less than a month in a half, he'll be one. I'm no longer on speaking terms with her!

It hasn't been long enough. Wasn't it just yesterday that he was born? If he keeps going at this rate, he'll be driving in a few weeks! I'm just not ready. I never am. You'd think that after 7 kids, I'd have a way to make them stay little longer, but nothing I've tried works. I made Alannah promise to not grow up, and she lied to me. Can you believe that? I was shocked too.

Can someone please tell my baby to slow down?

Things I learned today

2008-10-02T07:50:00.002-04:00

1. It's stilll dark at 6:30am here.

2. The extra large soda drunk at 8pm to keep you awake to finish your math homework the night before is still in effect at 6:30am.

3. When you're tired from only 5 hours of sleep, all the things you have planned for the day seem impossible and daunting.

4. Kissing sweet fat baby necks first thing in the morning makes all bad things go away.

Politicians should take a Dave Ramsey course

2008-09-26T08:36:00.004-04:00

Why? This is why. I wonder if congressman, senators, and all those nice rule making people in Washington and running our states, had half the mind that he does for money, that we'd be in the economic mess we're in right now?

And people iron sheets why??

2008-09-22T22:46:00.004-04:00

I ironed my first sheet ever today. Actually I didn't even finish - just got maybe 1/8 of the way done. I don't understand WHY people would actually choose to do this chore. Doesn't make sense at all! I wasn't even doing it for my bed - that would make even less sense.

For my photography class, I need to take a roll of portraits. Figured I would practice on my kids, plus I was dying to try developing at home. Had all the chemicals and stuff mixed up and ready to go, and then realized I didn't have a can opener to open the film roll with. Ugh.

Where does the sheet come in? For a backdrop of course! We just put windows in our screen room (and A/C and heat!!) and the light in there is wonderful. So I figured I'd just hang a sheet from the curtain rod and have at it. Then I realized I can't photoshop all the wrinkles out in film. Oops. I ended up going with a velveteen fabric I had that wasn't as wide as I'd like, but didn't need the amount of ironing the sheet did.

I took 30 pictures of the kids, all except Chrissy. I grabbed these 2 with the digital to test it out before hand. Of course, the film is all in black and white. Hopefully I'll get it in the tank to develop sometime tomorrow, I'm very excited, and was mad I didn't have enough time after class this evening to do it!

I promise I do take pictures of the other kids, but the younger ones are so much more willing victims...

Energy

2008-09-21T16:15:00.002-04:00

Anyone know where to buy any? Appartley with the gas shortages some areas are dealing with, I'm dealing with energy shortages. I don't want to get up and do ANYTHING. Even my favorite pastime, sitting at the computer wasting time and people watching, is too much. Blah. That pretty much sums up how I feel.

I'm hoping, really really hoping, it's just because I'm not drinking any soda. I had 1 at the movies the other night (don't go see Stepbrothers, I promise you won't miss out on anything by not seeing it!), and that's it since last Wed. I'm shocked that besides being exhausted after doing nothing, I'm not in pain with a caffeine withdrawal headache. Shocked actually! I'll take exhaustion over pain, thank you.

If you go click on my flickr album over there ------> you'll see some pictures I've taken recently. Hopefully there will be a lot of new ones soon, I've got lots of pictures to take for school!

Speaking of school. It's going well. Math stinks - I barely (like a 66.7%) passed my first test, and now making sure I get a 100 on all the homework/classwork (it's all online) to try to bring that up a bit. Stupid mistakes. I will be using a calculator from now on. It's been pretty laid back and easy, but the next few weeks it will pick up drastically.

Just wanted to poke my head in and post a quick update. Before I go take another nap ;)

Photography class

2008-09-09T23:10:00.002-04:00

I'm working on my first assignment. I'm probably over thinking it, but it's got me stumped a bit. After my first class, when I realized how "easy" it was going to be, I told myself I would work above and beyond what was expected so it would be challenging to me, and help me learn and grow as a photographer more. Someone actually called me a photographer the other day, and it shocked me. I don't think I am - yet. Some day though! I have a LOT to learn.

So, our first assignment is to shoot a roll (yes, film!!! And only black and white at that!) with shadow and/or reflection as our subject. I could easily go shoot 36 pictures of just about anything, but I wouldn't be happy. I don't want to "waste" the film, and the time developing and processing, just to come away with something that I would never use.

This is what I came up with today. Getting Eric to sit was a pain in the butt. He's been sick, and whiny, and totally like a typical sick baby, er, guy. But since he loves me, and I threatened him a bit, he did what I wanted, and angled his head the way I told him so his precious motorcycle reflected in his glasses.

I'm cheating a little, and taking the pictures I want first with my digital, getting everything the way I want it, and then with the film camera. This was my first (and so far only) picture for shadow and reflection.

I wonder

2008-09-08T15:21:00.003-04:00

If as humans, there always has to be a disaster that we "look forward to". I ran across this site today, and it reminds me of all the Y2K hubbub.

Yes, things are changing as prices for things go up, and the value of our dollar goes down. Do I think there won't be groceries in the store tomorrow? No, not unless a category 4 hurricane is headed straight towards us, and then it will only be for a few days.

It makes me wonder if we have a ingrained tendency to over think, and over plan things. And it's not limited to just a few people, obviously it's more than just that or there wouldn't be websites devoted to preparing for it (or Y2K). There is some religious/cultural influences for some people as well, but I think that's a separate issue than "the world running out of food".

Even if we DO start having shortages of food, I don't think it's going to be an all at once thing. There will be slow changes, and people will adapt to those changes. Look how we've adapted to the HUGE price increase in gas! People drive less, use their car and run errands more efficiently. Gas consumption is DOWN. Yes, the prices hurt some people. There will always be people that can't afford things. It's just the way life is unfortunately, and sometimes I'm one of them!

So, I won't be digging a basement (that would flood anyways) to store all my cans of freeze dried food (where else would I put enough food for 9+ - no, not pregnant yet - people?), or figure out if where I'm living will sustain us completely and go off grid and become completely self dependent. People NEED other people. It's just the way life is. And if I do become self sustaining on our own property, it's going to because I think it would be cool, not because I think the world is coming to an end!

Kian's first tropical storm

2008-08-21T15:22:00.002-04:00

It feels like it's never going to stop raining. Thank goodness besides a few time where we've had flickering lights, we still have power. Hopefully it will stay that way.

To say we're bored would be an understatement. My kids have been stuck inside for the most part for 2 days now, and are getting restless and antsy. If it weren't so windy, I'd let them go play in the rain.

Kian got his first look at a tropical storm though. This was from when the winds first started picking up this morning. He thought the water blowing in on him was the coolest thing!

You'd think with an expensive camera

2008-08-20T22:02:00.002-04:00

that taking pictures of a couple things I had sewn would be easy, right? Not so much. Probably doesn't help that I've never cracked open the manual, and didn't even know where it was. I'll have to put that on my reading list now. Which is probably a good thing, but not something that's very entertaining.

So, what did I sew? Some things for my baby boy that doesn't want to stop growing. I'm shocked at how big he is, and how quickly he's outgrowing clothes!

I hope he likes giraffes, because I seem to be addicted to them. I have a whole wardrobe picked out and planned for him, and giraffes are going to be a big part! Here's a little peek at some of it

Kian really wasn't cooperating with getting his picture taken, so I eventually gave up and just laid everything out on the floor. My camera wasn't cooperating either (yes, it was user error, but still) which is why the same shirt looks to be a different color in each picture. I also realized I didn't upload one that showed the shorts well (that were supposed to be pants until I noticed a hole in the fabric - already cut out of course!), but since taking and uploading the pictures (flickr was giving me fits!) took longer than sewing the 3 things, you'll just have to use your imagination to figure out what they really look like!

Moe's - you know I love you? Right?

2008-08-08T14:03:00.004-04:00

There's nothing like Moe's. Nothing. It's wonderful, it's good, and it's helping me maintain my weight.

I eat there once a week with my friends for "mom's night out". I usually stop in at least one other time too. But I have a couple complaints. First - you changed your queso. It used to be one of the best parts (besides the guacamole) about eating there. Now it tastes like microwaved american cheese with jalapenos in it. Gross.

And while we're talking about jalapenos, I wish you would put them somewhere else besides next to the olives. While part of the appeal of Moe's is watching the workers grab handfuls of vegetables to put on my burrito (and then try to keep it all stuffed in when they roll it), this practice leads to some dropped food. And it mixes.

I almost died today. I took a nice big bit of my salad (well, streaker homewrecker if you want to be exact) and started chewing. Everything was going along fine until I bit into that stray jalapeno. Now, if I liked spicy foods, it probably wouldn't have been a big deal. But I don't, I'm a wimp when it comes to hot stuff like that! Now, why did I almost die? Because I didn't have a drink available, and I was choking, and crying, and looking aimlessly around for something to drink that wasn't empty (I knew I should have gotten a large drink!), and I had nothing. I had to try to put out the flames shooting out of my mouth with a bite of sour cream (ew).

So Moe's, please, can you find another place to put the jalapenos?

It only took four years

2008-08-05T15:28:00.003-04:00

I was taking my bath this morning, and had my usual bath time visitor. Not one of my kids, though it's rare that I get a uninterrupted bath from them anyways, but our cat, Dumb dumb... er Storm.

Storm has this thing about the freshness of his water. He runs towards the sound of running water, and will whine for fresh water if the water in his bowl is more than a couple minutes old. He came to us spoiled like that, and we haven't been able to break him of it!

So, when he hears the water run for my bath, he moseys in there to get a drink. He doesn't care that the water is hot, it's fresh (well, as fresh as it could be with me sitting in it!). He climbs on the edge of the tub, and sniffs a couple times to make sure it's palatable. Takes a quick sip, and then digs in.

Eric has threatened me numerous times to push him in the tub with me, but has been met with the "you'll be sleeping on the couch for a month" look. I've thought about pushing him in when I'm done, but he's never in there then. Guess soapy water isn't his thing.

Well, today it happened. He didn't get pushed. I had just cleaned the tub before getting in, and I guess the edge was still wet. I also guess he was super thirsty, as he came running in. Got the picture in your head yet? Running cat, wet slippery bathtub?

Let's just say I've never been more thankful my cat is front declawed then today. Yes, I know, it's inhumane, and cruel, and painful, and I lost crunchy points by having him declawed. I'm ok with it. And my stomach is more than ok with it today!

I'm not sure if he'll ever get over the humiliation of slipping, losing his balance, and getting soaked. As he walked out of the bathroom, shaking one paw at a time to get the water off, he turned and gave me a look of utter contempt, and I almost felt like it was my fault. That didn't take long to wear off, as the laughter took over.

Sorry cat.

I have crickets and baby frogs in my house

2008-07-29T08:26:00.003-04:00

Why? Because they're for a snake named Max. But Max won't be getting them, and I'm sure they'll die in a corner somewhere to be found later. Ick.

Max is Mikhail's friend's snake. The two of him caught them when we were over there a week or so ago, and I insisted that Max didn't want to live at my house. He's a tiny little thing, and actually pretty cute - for a snake, but I still don't want him at my house! Snakes dying in corners stink worse then crickets!

So my kids are thrilled with catching little things for Max to eat. They put them in containers, and bring them inside so they don't bake in the heat/sun while waiting for our next trip over there. Unfortunately, we've had a few "prison breaks". Nothing like hearing crickets chirp and frogs croak at night. Just wish they weren't in my bedroom! Maybe today (as the kids round up crickets outside) some will actually make it over to Max's house.

I almost feel sorry for the frogs. They're tiny little things. Just out of the pond (really - they were born in our pond) and starting on life. And then my kids get a hold of them - not even really understanding that Max is too small to eat them. Max's head is about the diameter of a pencil, so not up to much more than tiny crickets!

I'm hoping that Max will make an escape soon, and my house can be cricket and baby frog free for a bit!

Meet Max:

I know you've missed me - right?

2008-07-28T10:00:00.003-04:00

It's been a very busy past couple of weeks here! Registering for school, trying to get some sewing done, vacation bible school for the kids, and just life in general. I'm worn out!

Some highlights of the last week -

Eric built a solar hot water heater. It probably holds a little more than a gallon. Not much. Not sure how long, if ever, it will take to recoup the money spent on it! But he finished it - that's what matters. I don't have a half done project laying around my house waiting to be finished.

Of course, he's now thinking of ways to improve it, and change it. So I guess it will be never ending!

The kids had vacation Bible school every night last week. Sunday evening, they sang for the church, and had awards and stuff. I'll add the link to the video feed of the service as soon as it's up on the church's website!

I played some with my mom's old 35mm camera a bit. Trying to figure out what I need for school, and if I want to use that one (I don't!!). Going back to film after using digital is REALLY hard. I kept on trying to look at the picture on the LCD after I took it to make sure it came out all right. Though it did make me pay a lot more attention to the picture as I took it. I had fun, and quickly burned though the 24 exposures. Film is much more expensive than digital!! I figured it cost me about 55 cents per picture to take and develop (including the cd so I could edit and upload!). And if I decide to reprint the ones I edited, add another 20 cents to those. All the pics in this post were taken with it, and so were these.

And the biggest event of the week? Aislinn lost her very first tooth!! Excuse her face! The sun was in her eyes, and she was doing her best to show me her missing tooth!

I broke my serger

2008-07-20T17:57:00.002-04:00

Stupid piece of crap. Actually, it's a good serger. But I'm mad that it decided to get all messed up when I have a TON of stuff to do! Doesn't it know I'm on a deadline? And I have some pettiskirts to make when I'm all done with everything else. I promised myself I wouldn't touch them (as much as it's killing me not to!) until it was all done. I want them for pictures on Tuesday, but if I have to take the serger to the shop tomorrow, nothing is going to get done :(

If I could buy a decent one locally, and not have to wait for shipping, I think I would. It's lived a long, HARD life (6+ years), and I think it's wearing out. Poor serger

Gulp... Here goes!

2008-07-17T17:18:00.002-04:00

I got my acceptance letter today. Acceptance to what, you ask?

College.

Yes, you read that right. And if you know me, you know I also HATE school. But I decided to take a giant leap and do it. I'll be attending the community turned state college (and therefore no one quite knows what to call it anymore) hopefully to get a AA degree in photography (actually called technical photography I believe), and if it goes well and I actually like it, I may pursue a BA degree. Don't know in what though!

While I was sure I'd get accepted (I mean, really, it's a community college!) it still makes me feel a bit better with the actual letter in my hands. Amazing how such a simple thing can affect you so much.

Now I have to figure out how the heck I'm going to pay for it. Student loans, here I come!!

What do you want to be when you grow up?

2008-07-13T20:47:00.002-04:00

I should be asking my kids that, not myself. Yet, here I sit, asking myself that very question. I'm not sure I'm ready to decide. There seems like there's so much to do before hand. Like raise 7 kids and get them out of the house.

On the other hand, there's no time like the present either. I don't want to be old and gray, and look back on my life and wonder what I did with it. Raising kids IS an accomplishment, and it's something I hope I will do well. But it's not all I want to do either. When they're grown, I don't want to be searching for myself. I want to already know who I am, and what I do.

Of course, when I think about making a career out of any of the things I like to do, I want to run away as fast as I can. I like sewing. But if I have too much paid work to do, I end up resenting it. I like taking pictures. I've taken pictures of two friends' kids (for fun), and it's not something I really enjoyed beyond having someone new in front of the camera. I want to take pictures that make me happy, and not worry about them making someone else happy.

Maybe I never will "grow up", or actually have a career. I like my hobbies, and they're for the most part self supporting (doing some paid sewing pays for new camera stuff as well as new sewing stuff). And I'm fine with keeping them as hobbies. It's more fun that way.

I think I'll hold off on an answer for a bit longer.

Girls think my baby is cute...

2008-07-08T14:00:00.002-04:00

OK, so maybe at almost 13, he's not exactly a baby anymore. But I'm still unprepared for him to be in the "girl likes boy, boy likes girl" phase. And yes, I realize that he'll be in this phase for the rest of his life, but it really just hit me today. My oldest baby boy is growing up.

I had already accepted that Chrissy was growing up (she DRIVES!!), but I didn't even begin to think that it would hit me this soon with Mikhail. I still can feel his fuzzy little baby head when I think about it.

It's amazing how as young parents (not just in age, but the age of our children) we don't even put much thought into our soon to be teenagers, because it's so.far.away. And in reality, it's not, it sneaks up on us much faster than we realize. It's amazing how fast time flies when you have children, compared to when you were a child yourself. Similar to how a pregnancy tends to drag on, and the first few weeks/months of your baby's life are gone in a blink (another issue I'm dealing with at the moment!).

But what brought all this reflection on? Apparently there's a few girls at church that like my boy. They think he's sweet, and cute, and not in the way I think my 8 month old is sweet and cute. I feel a protectiveness coming on for him that wasn't there before. The same one I have with Chrissy. Someone please tell them they're not allowed to keep growing up? Well - he can grow up enough to get out of the attitude-y, know it all, stage he's in right now.

He makes my heart melt sometimes, and I should be the only girl who's heart is melting over him!!

Someone wants me to get nothing done today

2008-07-08T08:36:00.003-04:00

I find I'm distracted too easily by things like this. Of course, there's the part of me that has to "win" too, so I'll keep trying and trying until I get it! I'll see ya'll in a couple of days!

Happy Birthday America (and Fred)

2008-07-05T22:31:00.002-04:00

A day late. It was a busy day yesterday. I got a wild hair to move all the kids' bedrooms and my sewing room around. All I can say is, never again. That was pure torture, even though I got a room to completely call my own for sewing.

Besides that, we just did the regular 4th stuff. Hot dogs, ice cream, and fireworks. Had the pleasure of watching one go off under the chair of a man about 15 feet in front of us. Thank you FL for allowing us to shoot ones up into the air! Thankfully it was a smaller one, and he didn't get hurt at all. And even more thankfully, the people shooting them off stopped after that.

Here's some pictures from our evening last night.

Am I really asking too much?

2008-07-03T20:17:00.002-04:00

Where the heck did I go wrong, and how in the world do I fix it?

My kids are slobs. Bona fide slobs - and it's all my fault.

I grew up in a messy house. Clutter, and dirt, and more clutter on top of the dirt and mess. I don't want my kids to grow up that way. It's been a real challenge to overcome the slob in me, and it still peeks out more often than I'd like.

I taught my children to pick up after themselves. They don't. I'm sick of having to constantly be on them to clean because they don't. You'd think they'd get it, but again, they don't! Example - I picked up fast food for dinner because we're rearranging rooms and I didn't want to cook (nor do I ever want to cook). Not one kid threw their wrapper away. Of course, with getting ready for church, feeding the baby, and eating my own food, I didn't notice until they were gone. Is it really that hard to walk 10 feet to the garbage can and throw a little piece of paper away? I guess so.

I don't know how to fix the problem. It's beyond me. It's on a scale way bigger than food wrappers and not clearing places from the table. Them not cleaning up after themselves is the biggest "make mama mad" thing we have going on. It happens daily. I'm sick of yelling. I'm sick of reminding. I'm sick of having anything nice for them to ruin. Nothing I've done or tried has done any good, so why bother?

I know it's NOT because there's so many of them. I have friends with more kids than we have that don't have pig sty houses, and they don't spend all day cleaning like we sometimes do either. How do I get them to put things AWAY!?!? Everything does have a place, as I know that's the first thing to making sure putting things away is easy. But towels and dirty clothes, and toys, and shoes still end up under the bed, couch, in the closet, stuffed under the dresser.

Eric isn't much better. He cleans by moving things off the floor, and on to any available surface. It's almost as if it's too hard for them to try to think where something belongs, so they'll just put it anywhere. We don't even have that much stuff. Really, I promise! My 7 kids all together have less clothes and toys than individual kids I know (hmm hmm - Kim).

It's frustrating. It makes me want to farm them all out to military school. Of course, my luck would be that they would learn how to make perfect hospital corners on their beds, and how to fold their shirts into perfect 6" squares, and ignore it all to stuff things under the bed again.

Anyone got a bulldozer I can borrow?

Gross

2008-06-28T21:55:00.003-04:00

Eric and I went to see a movie tonight. It was his turn to pick, and he wanted to see "Wanted". Look at the preview, looks ok. Typical action/guy movie, but the actor looks cute, so do-able. In hindsight, I should have looked at the non-pg rated preview.

It has to be the most gory movie I've ever seen that wasn't a dedicated horror movie (which I don't like either). Blood and tissue splattering just doesn't do it for me. And there wasn't much acting to take note of. The special effects were pretty good, great if you like gore.

There are jobs that I wouldn't take or pursue (not that I'd really pursue any job!) because they involve blood and ick. So if I wouldn't deal with it while getting paid, why in the world did I just fork over $18 for two tickets to see it?

Eric's not allowed to pick movies anymore.

There really was an owl!

2008-06-26T08:37:00.002-04:00

Eric and I went out for dinner (love Logan's Steakhouse 2 for $15 on Mon and Tues!!) the other night and heard the mysterious owl when we came home. We grabbed the flashlights and proceeded to look for the real thing since it sounded pretty close.

It was close, and close enough that I could get a picture. Eric held one flashlight, Chrissy held the other, and I set the camera to auto and used the flash (no way was I trying to fool with it in pitch dark!).

And there he/she is. In all her weird for an owl sounding glory. She doesn't hoot - she kinda does a cross between a hoot and a screech, and it's very obnoxious actually.

So we look at her for a bit, and get ready to go inside, when Kivett points and yells (he has two volumes, loud and louder) - "Look - there's two!!". We all turn and look.

He's pointing at the plastic bag...

Morning at the beach, with a little history lesson thrown in

2008-06-23T15:24:00.006-04:00

Last year we went to the beach every week during the summer. Now I'm not sure if I want to spend the $25 dollars in gas to make the trip each week this year, but if we continue to carpool, it can be doable. It's that whole responsible adult thing again. The extra $100/mo on the credit card is more responsible then the beach. But I can't buy memories for my kids either...

Kian had his first taste of beach sand. Maybe the minerals in it make it nutritious and make it tase good?? I tried to sit my fat rear in a tube and float, but ended up flipping upside down and over. A little too top heavy I think!

We also went across the road to the intercoastal, and got to watch about 7 manatee play 5 feet away from us. The water was a bit muddy, so we couldn't see their bodies well. Since the rocks were 2 feet from where I was standing, I'm assuming the water gets deep pretty quickly right there. I could have reached out and touched them if I had wanted to. They were very curious, and after initially swimming off, came right back. The white line down this ones back is a huge scar. The waterways are a very dangerous place for these guys.

We showered, ate lunch and played on the playground a bit. Nice relaxing morning! On the way home we decided to stop at the sugar mill ruins in New Smyrna. I can't tell you how many times we've passed it, and have never stopped. It was pretty cool. So the kids got a mini history lesson as well.

We made one more stop on the way home. It was right off the highway. One of the people that I carpooled with is very involved in the Lake Helen community, so I though she might know what this place that I'd always been curious about was. She thought it may be an old community cemetery, but wasn't sure. So we made a quick little detour, and found out that it was indeed. But not just old - there were new graves there as well. It was very interesting, and could see the family tree spread out in front of you. There were quite a few of the founding families of the town buried there. It's really amazing what you can learn about a family just by visiting a cemetery.

This one made me sad. The one in the background appears to be mom. Her little brother (1899-1904) is next to her. It appears that mom/Queenie died bringing Elsie into the world. What appears to be Elsie's brother is to the right of her (not in the picture), so Queenie left behind a newborn and a 2 year old. So sad.

This one I thought was really unique. I've seen a lot of grave coverings at cemeteries in this area, but none quite like this. It's all brick, and old enough that the rains have worn some parts of the actual bricks down. The mortar must be made of something a little more resilient, since it wasn't affected as much.

If you want to take a peek at more of the pictures I took today - they're here

I get 11mpg in my van

2008-06-19T22:52:00.003-04:00

And with rising gas costs, it makes me want one of these. Is it not the coolest thing ever? Of course, I can't read the website because it's in Dutch??? I believe :) And there's even trailers you can buy to put on the back!!

Being able to walk or bike places is something we really can't do with where we live right now. Eric and I have discussed many times our "dream house". Acreage, with no neighbors. And I mean LOTS of acreage. Or the idea of living in a small town/city that we could walk or bike to stores, the library, post office, etc is also appealing. We actually live only 3 miles from our dentist (where we seem to spend a LOT of time), the grocery store, a couple department stores, etc. But there's a couple semi-busy roads with no sidewalks that we'd have to take to get there. And one major road crossing. I'm just not confident of my little ones biking capabilities to stay safe in that situation. Heck - even my 12 year old had to be told he couldn't ride in the middle of the street at a friends house! Living on a dead end of dirt road has a lot of advantages, but my kids do miss out on some learning experiences.

But think about all the gas I'd save, and all the weight I'd lose and muscle I'd build! I really like the idea of the kids being in front rather behind in a trailer. There must be some advantage, because all the Danish sites I've looked at have them in the front too.

So, who loves me enough to buy me 3 of those (For me, Eric, and Chrissy - someone needs to haul the groceries!), and import them?? This site is even in English!

Hmmm... I think we may be white trash.

2008-06-19T11:28:00.002-04:00

Our house is up for sale. So is the one at the end of the street. So occasionally we get people down our dead end street looking at them. Either that or they're lost.

The baby is taking a much needed nap, so I ~~lock the door~~ send the kids outside to play. I'm sitting on my butt as usual, in front of the window. We have ants in FL. Killer ants. No, really. OK, so they just hurt like nothing else when they bite. We try to keep them under control with ~~toxic chemicals~~ organic pesticides, but we've been lax lately, and we've had a few ant hills pop up.

So, Aislinn steps on one, and is screaming, turning the hose on to wash them off. Kivett (sweet big brother that he is) comes over to help. Alannah comes to watch. She's naked btw. Guess she won't have tan lines this summer either. She then steps into the same pile Aislinn just disturbed, and starts freaking out as well. This gets the 2 hound dogs that are tied to the tree in the front adding to the mix.

So picture it - Alannah naked, Aislinn taking her clothes off, Kivett spraying everyong with the hose, and the tied up hound dogs going nuts. And then a realtor drives by. I don't think they'll have much luck selling that house down the street.

The only thing that's missing is the toilet planter. I already have 3 cars parked in the yard, and bikes and toys all over. At least we don't have the chickens anymore!

I miss my kids

2008-06-18T23:02:00.003-04:00

Don't tell them!! OK, they actually know. I don't do letters, but I wish they could get email while they were at camp. By the time I wrote something, actually found a stamp to mail it, and remembered to stick it in the mailbox, they'd be home. So no point really.

And for those of you thinking that it's because of all the help they are - you're WRONG!!! :) Things are actually going really well (almost better really). There's no trying to drag teenagers out of the bed in the morning, all the other kids are up and ready to go at ungodly hours. And I actually like that. It feels like we have more time in the day now. So, unfortunately for Mikhail and Chrissy, we'll be continuing this trend when they get home. And I'll be dragging their butts out of bed by 7:30 with everyone else. Hey- I 'm being nice. The other kids wake up anywhere between 6:30 and 7, and I'm up at 6ish trying to convince Kian to stay asleep so I can. It usually works, but I have to hold him and bounce him a bit, so I end up wide awake anyways.

I miss conversations with Chrissy. She's starting to be close enough to an adult that they go pretty well. I miss seeing Mikhail play and snuggle the baby. I can't believe how much he's changed in the last 7 months. He's really starting to grow up. I miss the stupid things they do that make me roll my eyes and laugh.

Only 3 more days, and I get my kids back!!!

How to waste a day

2008-06-16T16:32:00.003-04:00

Ok, so I really didn't waste it, but I didn't get anything super productive done. I worked on a video/slideshow of the pictures from Kian's birth. For 4+ hours! No laundry done, kids fed themselves (except Kian of course), and who knows what my house looks like now. I'm scared to go look. Kiera made pumpkin muffins (which are now gone). And for a flashback of the last time we made them - a picture from the day Kian was born. Poor Alannah - she's not quite sure of everything that's going on.

I have to say, looking at fresh baby pictures doesn't do anything for baby lust. And then there's evil friends that shove even more in my face (you know who you are!). Of course, having the sweetest and cutest baby ever is a lot of incentive to do it all over again too. But enough on the baby talk. I've got time to kill while trying to upload an almost 500MB video - it's slow going.

Chrissy and Mikhail made it to camp today. I won't be able to talk to them again until Sat. They had a great time at my in-laws - grandma took them white water river rafting (and paranoid me had a heart attack!). I actually can't wait to see the pictures from that - they took a waterproof disposable camera with them, so it should be interesting. I hope Chrissy took the pictures, she's much better with a camera then Mikhail.

Blah - only 1/10 of the way there in uploading, and it's been going for 10 minutes already. I'm scared my laptop is going to start "hibernating" if I leave it! Which wouldn't be a big deal if I hadn't been sitting here for so long already. I have things to do!!!

I just tried to take a picture of a plastic bag

2008-06-13T21:41:00.002-04:00

Yes, I just spent 20 minutes outside, in mosquito infested FL (at prime biting time no less), trying to take a picture of a plastic bag.

In a tree.

No, I wasn't in the tree. The plastic bag was! And why did I want to take it's picture? I didn't actually.

When we got home from the store this evening, we and saw and heard a couple owls. I had to take the screaming baby in (he cut his first tooth today!!!!) and put him to bed. The kids stayed outside to look at the owl. After cranky was asleep, I grabbed the camera. Kivett points me to the owl. I can't find the quick mount thingy for my tripod, so I set up on top of a garbage can and a skateboard. I knew I couldn't even begin to hold still for the slow shutter speed the picture would take, and that's what was available at the moment. It was dark enough that my camera wouldn't even auto focus. So I take a couple pictures, and I'm disappointed that you can't even tell the blob is an owl.

So I figure, what the heck, I'll get closer and use the flash, and risk it flying away. Hmm, still not looking very owl-y. Get the camera off my face, and try to get a closer look. And, lo and behold, it's a plastic bag. One of my ~~bratty~~ sweet children must have thrown it up there. I'll have to thank them later. I'm thinking they can put itchy relief stuff (I'm being real technical with terms tonight!) on all the mosquito bites to make it up to me.

And no, I won't be posting any pictures of the plastic bag/owl for you to point and laugh at. I figure I'm giving you enough reason to do so with out them!

I said goodbye to 2 kids today

2008-06-11T20:51:00.003-04:00

For a week and a half. It's going to be a LONG week and a half, and I'm going to miss them terribly. They're such good kids, even though I often try to play down how great they are!

My oldest 2 got on a plane all by themselves today to go visit my in-laws in NC. Then the in-laws will be taking them to summer camp on Monday, and they drive home with the rest of the group on the 21st.

I wasn't allowed to go to the gate with them. They would only allow one adult, so I stayed with the rest of the kids, and Eric walked them through security. I'm really glad he stayed home from work, since I wouldn't have been able to take them to the gate with everyone tagging along.

My last view of them - going up the escalator. Mikhail was a bit nervous - this is his first plane ride that he'll remember. The real first was when he was 2 weeks old and I took both kids to NY by myself. Yes, I was young and crazy.

And if you ever wonder if you really need to get to the airport 2hrs ahead of time? Even in a dinky airport like the one they left from, this was what we were met with. I was able to drop them off with Eric, go get gas and breakfast, park and unload everyone, and they were still only half way through the line.

Stuck up people

2008-06-07T22:23:00.002-04:00

Do you think they know that they're stuck up? Do they care? Well, I've actually heard someone say before that they knew they were stuck up, but they didn't care what other people thought of them. Going to be hard to have no friends down the road with that attitude!

OK, so I know everyone's view of stuck up is different, and I'll even make the assumption that every person is self centered in one way or another (even me - gasp!!). But then there's those people whose world clearly revolves around themselves. I have to say that it's fun to watch them.

It's especially fun to watch them at gatherings with people that they know don't like them, or where things might be tense. It's actually sad in a way to see someone clearly have to make an effort to be nice. I wonder what goes through their head on a regular basis if they have to try that hard. And then still fail with little slips here and there that shows their true self.

Their attitude shows that they obviously think that they're better than others (everyone). I wonder if they realize that the people they think they're better than them don't share that opinion, and that their reaction is pity? Yes, I pity the person who is so full of themselves that they have no regard for the consequences of the harsh and uncaring things that spew out of their mouth. Because one day it's going to catch up with them. The evil twin side of me wants to be there to watch when it does! But I'll be good, and hope that their lives stay peaceful and happy. It's all about karma!

Being a Responsible Adult

2008-06-06T22:41:00.003-04:00

I hate it! There are days that I want to just go back to being a kid. No worries about the real issues in life.

Worrying about what I'm going to wear tomorrow to school to impress that guy wasn't as stressful as budgeting. Or what color to dye my hair, compared to getting kids ready for a 2 week trip (after doing said budgeting).

I was bad last month. I spent ALL my fun money. Which wouldn't be an issue, but I just spent all of June's too. Which makes June no fun. I want FUN! Sea World (planning on going Tues) isn't as fun when you either have to go around meal times, or take food. Shopping for clothes so your kids don't run out on a trip (only time a limited wardrobe is bad) when you have a strict budget isn't as fun.

I want to be irresponsible, and spend money I don't have. Or the bill money. I could do a lot of shopping and eating out with the money that goes to the mortgage company. But I think my husband and kids appreciate having a house. And food. And electricity. To keep myself in check, I already set up payments for all the bills. So I can't forget (conveniently or not!).

Really, sometimes being an adult sucks!

My kind of knitting project

2008-06-04T09:54:00.004-04:00

For those of you that don't know, I'm not very patient. I'll lose interest in things very quickly if they start taking too long. For that reason, I've only ever completed 1 knitted thing on my own. I've paid people to finish things for me! I also tend to not pick out things to sew that are so complicated that they take a long time either. They just end up in a bin to be finished later (usually never).

I started this last night. It's a sample for something I'm making for a friend. I've never used needles this big before (15mm) and with this chunky to thin yarn, I'm loving it (the texture is awesome). The yarn is from my stash. I'm not sure why I have a yarn stash, but I love to buy yarn. And yes, I'm using circular needles. I'm a klutz and constantly drop straights and have to put all the stitches back on!

I'm not a fast knitter by any means, and I've only got a little over an hour into this project, and I'm a third of the way done, if not more. This will be the perfect thing to take along to sit at the dentist waiting (with 7 kids, we spend a lot of time there). And it's almost like instant gratification! Which is so me :)

Breastfeeding doesn't cause saggy boobs

2008-06-03T12:31:00.003-04:00

It's six month olds that do it. And if you've ever nursed a 6 month old, you know what I'm talking about. I can tell a toddler if they're not still the milk goes away. Kian doesn't quite get that yet. And there's so much going on in the world around him, he can't be bothered to stop nursing to look at it all. Even if it's behind him.

He's actually trying to perfect the technique of looking around without loosing his latch. He doesn't got it quite down yet, and my poor chest gets to act like a rubber band. Soon it's going to stop going back. Doesn't he realize that they've already played this game 6 times?? They don't have much left in them!

Instead of asking my kids to help me in my old age, I'm going to ask for them to chip in for my boob job. There's no way these girls are going to look good when I'm done nursing. They're half saggy and deflated now, imagine when they're no longer producing? Scary...

There's never enough time in the day

2008-06-02T13:53:00.005-04:00

And yet, I waste so much of it. Boggles my mind really.

There's so much I want to do today, and here I sit, on the computer. I can pretend I'm doing something important by babbling here, but really - I need to get up and MOVE!

I have the blahs. I'm tired. I'm achy. My bones and muscles actually protest when I want them to move. Really! I can hear them scream! I really shouldn't give in to them, but I do.

I'm working on a new camera bag. I can't use my sling style one with Kian on my back (in the ergo carrier). I think I have it figured out, and I should be working on it, but here I sit. I'm excited about the fabrics I bought for it, and some others I had to have just because. They're wonderful - aren't they? And so me. I couldn't have designed something so suited to my style better myself. I just had to travel to Alabama to find them.

I love coffee. At least I love to smell it. I'm not too keen on the taste, though Starbucks and the little local coffee shop are doing a small part to change that. I still prefer my Chai Tea latte made with cream instead of milk and whipped cream on top. Nice and thick, and the whipped cream is divine dipped into the tea and eaten with a spoon. I just wish I wanted something hot to drink when it's close to 100 degrees outside. I'm sorry - the idea of iced coffee just icks me out. I'm not sure why - I actually like the Jamocha shakes from Arby's (slightly coffee flavored chocolate). These are the others I picked up. I saw them and about swooned. I'll be using the polka dots and swirly stripes for a new wallet and keychain. They'll make me think of my mama every time I use them. She loved coffee, and I think that's why the smell makes me so happy.

OK, I'm really getting up now. Actually, I have to go take the pictures of my fabric to put in this entry! Hear my legs screaming??

OK, done. Supposedly there's a way to get my pictures in here directly from flickr, but I haven't figured it out yet, and I'm not sure I want to give my brain that much of a work out to do it. So I'm doing it the regular way.

Sometimes I scare myself - maybe I am crazy

2008-05-31T21:19:00.002-04:00

Eric (my husband for those of you that don't know) and I were talking this evening as we sit on the computer and all the kids are in bed. I asked him what he was doing, he said checking the news (crap - we missed the shuttle launch!). I mentioned a motorcycle accident that I had heard about earlier today, and asked if he had heard about. I tend to be on the paranoid side, and he rides a motorcycle to and from work everyday. So hearing about accidents makes me a bit nervous. I also tend to obsess a bit. Just a bit.

So, we start discussing what the other would do if something happened to one of us. And it hits me, if something happened to him, we couldn't have any more babies. Getting pregnant again is something I'm really looking forward to in the next year. It's almost killing me to wait, but I need to for a couple reasons. Being able to nurse Kian for a full year at least is the biggest one.

So, we joke around saying I could use a sperm donor. But I like having his babies. Not some random guy's. I tell him that I'm going to keep him on life support until I can harvest his stuff - is he ok with that? He says sure. So, I'm playing my game online, thinking a bit, and have a great revelation. We should just collect and freeze his spermies for a later date now. And then I wouldn't have to worry about it!! He laughs. I laugh. And I think I'm half serious. I ask him if he knows this - and his reply?

"Yes, and that's what scares me".

So there you have it. I scare my husband.

And for disclaimer - no, we won't be doing any of the above. And if he dies before I'm done having kids, I'm just going to have to kill him!

New link on the side

2008-05-30T09:56:00.002-04:00

Over there -------> in my "places I like to visit". Only, this is a place I wish I didn't have to visit. Lifting up Serenity. An online friend I've "known" for quite a few years got news that most parents dread a few days ago. Their sweet baby girl has cancer. Their website has a blog to keep us updated on her journey.

The more people praying for and lifting up this little girl, the better. Cancer is such an evil thing, and the struggle this family is going to face over the next few months and years is going to be rough. And not just medically. So please, keep them in your thoughts and prayers!

These monkies won't be jumping on the bed

2008-05-28T09:05:00.006-04:00

I needed to make something cute for Kian's 6mo pictures (yes, I'm late!) and when Lisa told me that the quilt store near her house had the Moda Sock Monkey fabric, I knew what I needed to do. So we schlepped over there with both babies when I went to visit last weekend. Amazing quilt store. I wish I had thought to bring my camera - it really was worth taking pictures of! And the people working and shopping there were exactly what you think of when you think of southern women. They were so helpful, kind, and just full of joy at seeing two babies. Kian got fussy in the ergo, and I think three different ladies ended up holding him for me so we could shop. I have to say, I would never do that here. One more thing to confirm that central FL is NOT the south. I can't wait to go back again next time I visit. And I'll make sure I have more money then too!

So, after hours of cutting, ripping, sewing, and top stitching - I ended up with about a half yard of sock monkey patchwork fabric. I now know why pre-patched fabric is so stinking expensive! And mine is no where near perfect. But I'm in love. This ranks up there is one of my most favorite things I've sewn. And as tedious as it was, I believe I will be making some more.

I made some mistakes when cutting them out (and I tried SO hard not to since there wasn't much fabric), but we were able to salvage everything that I screwed up to get these bloomers for sweet Olivia, and shorts for Kian. Kian will be getting a matching bucket hat (not out of patchwork though) in the near future.

Kian was absolutely enthralled with Olivia. Now, we just need to teach him how to be gentle. It will be really fun watching these two grow up as friends!

We also had a mini photo shoot while I was there. These two are my favorites of Lisa's youngest girls. The one of Riley shows what she looked like before she got a hold of the scissors later that day. That is one three year old that makes me thankful for my screeching three year old! I'll take noise and burst ear drums over the trouble that little girl gets herself into.

I'm tempted to steal a baby

2008-05-23T19:46:00.013-04:00

I'm visiting a friend, and her new 4 week old baby girl. And she's gorgeous, and tiny, and I want to sneak her away back to my house. It's amazing how much bigger my baby looks now!

I'm having a ton of fun taking her picture too. She's not old enough to whine about it, and she doesn't move much.

There's just something about baby toes that does me in. I could sit here and look at them, smell them (no - I'm not weird!!!), and just snuggle baby feet all day. Is there anything else as perfect?

Taking a self portrait is HARD -aka new glasses :)

2008-05-20T15:39:00.006-04:00

I got my new glasses today. Yeah! I can see! Other people are safe on the road again! OK, so it really wasn't that bad, but I had an anti-glare thing put on, which is supposed to help keep the headaches away when I spend hours upon hours online, and help me see a bit better at night too. I hate driving at night because my distance perception is BAD.

So, I figured I'd take a self portrait so I could show everyone. I've discovered that it's very hard. Even using a tripod, getting the 12 year old to stand in your place so that you can get the exposure and focus right (and wearing your glasses with his eyes closed so you get figure out which angle is best for no glare), and a self timer. And then resorting to getting the kid to press the button for you because the focus is still off. I've decided I need a remote. Not that I take pictures of myself very often, but it sure would make the process a heck of a lot easier. And I would like better pictures when I'm showing off things I've made for myself.

So, I bring you my new glasses. They're light - much better then the plastic frames of my childhood. And I hope they make me look a tiny bit younger. Or maybe just not so blah. I've been feeling very blah lately.

Looking at pictures of myself recently has motivated more than anything else to start exercising. I was lifting my chin in this picture to try to get rid of the double one. It didn't work as much as I would have liked, but that's ok. Just means I need to spend more time running. I'll tell you about that later :)

And proof that I really did make Mikhail help me. He'll pretend that he hated every single torturous second of it, but he asked me when we were done if the glasses looked good on him! Besides, it got him out of his chores for about 10 minutes.

I'm always amazed at the things kids come up with

2008-05-18T22:40:00.002-04:00

To keep from going to bed.

As I sit here contemplating never moving again (exercise can do that to you I'm discovering), my oldest son gets out of the bed that he's been in for 2 hours, to tell me about something he saw at the store last week. Because you know it was just so important it couldn't wait until tomorrow. Or next week even. Granted, I'm semi thankful as it was something I've been window shopping for, comparing features and prices. But it's not like I'm going out tomorrow to get it.

And of course when he gets up, it's like everyone else automatically has permission to get up as well. One kid didn't get their good night hug and kiss. One needs to go to the bathroom again.

Someone is afraid of the dark tonight. Someone else can't sleep with the light, or even the hallway light on. Can't shut the door - that's too scary.

Mom - there's something making noise outside my window (putting a pond next to kids' bedroom windows will not be something I do again!). I can't sleep (because you've been reading a book with the night light). The oldest thinks she's exempt from bedtime, and is the worst to get into and stay into bed. She's also the hardest to get up in the morning.

Why does bedtime have to be such an ordeal? Why does it need to last 2-3 hours? Don't they understand that this is MY time? Some people (the ones that are getting OLD!!) have their "me" time in the morning. I only get up when I absolutely have to. And thanks to a nice squishy 6 month old, that's much to early to even comprehend that I'm having "me" time.

And my husband doesn't help. If by some miracle everyone is in bed (their OWN) and asleep before he's comatose, he's bugging me. Like right now. He's asked me at least 3 times if I'm coming to bed. In the last 5 minutes. It would serve him right if I dragged the laptop into bed with me and ignored him :)

I have a gripe

2008-05-17T21:57:00.002-04:00

This is aimed at parents of children that have big families.

1. Child #4,5,6,7...12 is just as special and important as child number 1. Go see them as a baby. Mom needs just as much love and support as the first time. Yes, she chose to have that baby, but that doesn't excuse you from having common decency. And buy/bring a gift, just like you did for the first one.

2. We don't have lots of kids to make you happy or unhappy. We do it because we love them. Any happiness that they bring you is a bonus. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't treasure them.

3. Yes, we know what causes it. That doesn't mean that it's any of your business how often we do that certain thing, and if we're trying to avoid a pregnancy.

4. Just because I don't feel good, doesn't mean I'm pregnant.

5. And the right response when you ask me the above question under those circumstances, and the answer is no, isn't "Thank God". Manners - remember your mom did her best to instill them in you?

6. We try out best to love you. But nothing discourages us showing that love more than you questioning and criticizing the size of my family.

7. Please don't complain how much my choice in family size costs you at Christmas. It's tacky. My kids don't care. Don't you think it's expensive for me too? Do what you can. It's ok.

8. When I tell you I'm pregnant, the correct response is Congratulations. If anything else comes out of your mouth, it should be all positive. If there's nothing positive for you to say, remember the manners your mother taught you. And then lie. It will do wonders for the relationship we have.

9. There's no rule that you have to spend time with all the kids at the same time. My kids DO notice when you spend time with their cousins, but not with them. If you can't handle all of them, that's fine, there's days I can't either. But take 1 or 2 at a time. Make that effort please. They'll notice, and so will I.

10. I'm not crazy. Please don't tell your friends, or strangers that I am. It makes you look bad. Remember - you raised me.

Sewing "just becase"

2008-05-17T10:45:00.003-04:00

Sometimes it's nice to sew just to sew. Not because somebody needs something, or for an order. But just because I want to. I haven't done that kind of sewing for my kids in a LONG time. But for once they have just about everything they need, and then some. My littler ones are easier to please, especially if they can't talk yet, so they tend to get most of my "creations".

I saw this outfit in the newest Ottobre, and fell in love. They did it in black on white linen, but there's no way that's reasonable for my 3 year old to wear! We just don't do white in this house! So I used this paisley fabric I found at my local quilt shop. The best part, besides falling in love with it when I saw it, was that it was on sale!! It was hard to photograph though. It wanted to look washed out. And while it's not a bright fabric, it's not dull either.

OK, enough babbling, and on to the pictures!! This is the "tie-back tunic". I think for this size (the smallest) the ties could have been longer. It was hard to get the bows. The pants are the "Daisy" pants.

Here's some close-ups of some of the details on the pants. The ties at the legs can either be pulled tight like they are here to make them look like long bloomers, or left loose so they look like wide legged capris. I didn't have any pink ribbon, so I used that yellow. I will be changing it! I love the little gathers and contrast on the pocket. It's too bad the tunic covers them. I'll have to make some matching tees for her to wear with them too so that they get to show occasionally.

See how short the ties are? And she did NOT want to hold still for me to tie all 3 of them perfectly!

I really do love this outfit on her. I hope she picks it out to wear often! If you want to see bigger pictures - you can look here.

Chocolate chip cookies are evil.

2008-05-16T15:30:00.003-04:00

I've been blessed with girls (and boys!) that love to cook and bake. Hopefully they'll continue to do so as I get to old age, and they move out, so I don't starve. I promise I would otherwise!

Today Kiera and Aislinn conquered chocolate chip cookies. I forgot to tell them to put walnuts in them, but they were better than any I've ever made. And rivaled many I've had before. It's amazing how something so simple can go so awry. And how it can be so divine as well.

I'm not going to even think about the amount of exercise I would have to do to even out the amount of cookies I ate. It would be way too much, and I wouldn't do it anyways. I'm not in the mood to feel guilt. Though maybe I should, since I was looking at pictures of me earlier today and thinking about how big I looked!

This is what's left. Makes you hungry, huh?

Happy Birthday sweet baby girl!

2008-05-13T16:19:00.002-04:00

My baby turns 3 today. No - she's not really the baby any more, but I consider my 15 year old my baby still too. So there you go!

From this little thing - just 6lbs 4oz of pure sweetness

To this sweet thing- though the percentage of sweetness is getting less - as the 3 year old mentality takes over. But she still loves to snuggle, and every night as she's laying in bed with me, going to sleep, she points at the baby pictures of her on the wall
and says "I was a baby". It used to be "I am a baby". My baby girl is growing up
:(

Double duty

2008-05-10T16:25:00.005-04:00

One of the things I love about my house is the sprinkler system. Easy to keep the lawn nice and pretty when you're trying to sell the house, and lots of fun for the kids. Plus a nice and easy way to cool off during 90 degree weather. No hose to drag out, or sprinkler to set up. Just press a little button, and it's ready to go!

She insisted that the romper was a "shirt". I wasn't up for arguing. Plus she's wearing her older sister's bathing suit, and it's a little, umm, saggy.

There's nothing like running through a COLD sprinkler on a hot day. For a kid anyways. I prefer heated pools - even on a hot day. Guess I really am getting old!

One of THOSE days.

2008-05-08T19:02:00.003-04:00

Everyone's had them, right? You know, the days when if it could happen, it will? And if I'm the only one, take pity on me, make me feel better, and nod your head yes anyways.

I had high expectations for this day. Nothing to do at all except go to the eye Dr. I was even a bit excited. New glasses, hopefully new contacts that don't make me want to claw my eyes out, and the Dr is pretty cute too, to top it off. The day is actually pretty uneventful up to this point, besides the time I waste with this time suck. But eh, that's normal.

Get there, fill out paperwork and in I go! I don't get handsome, but it's really ok. I'm being my charming, somewhat sarcastic self, and I guess the Dr in training though it would be a good idea to try to be funny seeing that I had a sense of humor and all. He notices that I have kids (I had my oldest and youngest boys with me) and mentions that I must have my hands full. Okaaayyyy. I realize not everyone has what it takes to have more than one kid, or even one kid. But when I only had 2 kids, NO ONE told me I had my hands full (except for a brief period when #2 was a newborn). So I casually mention that I have 7. SEVEN!!! The shock was quite apparent. Then he tries to be funny. "Well, we really need to make sure you can see well so you can keep an eye on them all!". Please.stop.you're.killing.me. And not with laughter. Yes, before I came to see you, they were all running wild, getting into all sorts of trouble, because I can only focus on things 3 feet in front of my face. Thank you for saving me and them.

OK, so we get past Mr. "doesn't have a clue how to be funny" and Mr handsome comes in. He even saves me money, so I'm in my happy place again. Then he puts the drops from hell in my eyes. Gives me a tissue - nice yellow drops they were! These drops are to keep your eyes from working correctly when insanely bright lights are shone into them. Something about eye diseases and stuff I guess - I'm not sure since my brain went on strike with the instant headache I got with the bright lights. And I can't even wear my new contacts now until tomorrow. Blah.

We're done. Oops!! Not yet, sigh. I hear my baby fussing in the waiting room (we've been there almost 2 hours now - I owe Mikhail BIG TIME). Instant wet shirt. Crap. So as I'm waiting for everyone to come back in the room to give me my contacts, solution, sign the waiver that doesn't hold them liable if I can't get my contacts out, I'm trying to rearrange my shirt so that the 3" wet spots right over my boobs isn't quite as noticeable. Not working well. But if I slouch down a bit, the big roll out in front makes creases in my shirt, and I can tuck the wet spots right in it. I'm sure it was attractive.

FINALLY!! Done. I get these really trendy sunglasses to wear since I forgot my clip-ons. Decide to feed the baby in the car, hoping the time out in the sun will dry my shirt before we go to the store. As we sit in the car, I discover that those lovely sunglasses don't do much when you're eyes are dilated to the size of quarters in the FL sun. But my shirt is drying. I feed the starving baby, and get on the road. We're good. Headache is getting worse, but still manageable. Plus I took a Tylenol I found in the bottom of my purse (yes, ick - and I really hope it was Tylenol!).

Get to the store, get everything I think we need. I know I'm forgetting something, but figure it must not be too important if I can't remember it, and I'm sure I will later. I have to run to the PO too, but I have to get home and get my clip-on sunglasses or I'm going to die.

Get home, grab glasses, dump boys off. Feels a bit warm in the house - figure someone's been playing with the AC. LONG LONG line at PO, but it's nice inside, and it's moving quickly. Get back home, and investigate why my house is so warm.

It's 86 freaking degrees in my house. I think it's cooler outside! Air's on. Well, at least the thermostat says the air is on. I don't hear anything running. Crap and double crap. Breakers are fine. The inside unit is running, but the fan outside isn't. And of course since I was in a hurry to get the the PO before it closed, and didn't check before, it's now after business hours so the best I can do is leave a message with the AC people. At least it's not August, when it only gets down to the high 70s at night, and my house will cool off a bit with all the windows open. I think it's supposed to be in the 60s (I really really hope). And there's a nice breeze. Did I say I have a headache yet? I'm really starting to doubt that pill was Tylenol.

Rush through dinner, scramble to get ready for church. Can't find Aislinn's other shoe. They were both RIGHT THERE five minutes ago. Car has a flat - hurry hook the air pump up. I pull the girls bed out to look for the shoe. It's a solid wood bunk bed. Heavy. Remembered what I forgot at the store. Ant baits and spray. Why did I remember? Because underneath the bed is swarming with ants. They're having a feast. A half eaten banana, some toast, something else unrecognizable. A dirty pull-up. I think I'm about to puke. And of course, now I'm all sweaty, I've got nastiness to clean up, and the AC doesn't work. Have I said I have a headache yet?

It HAS to get better right? Remember that breeze? Yeah - it's gone. So much for the house cooling off. It's down to 85. I want to take a bath. I'm not sure if it should be hot or cold, or both. I take a peek at myself in the mirror as I start the water. I've got nice YELLOW spots under my eyes. I guess I didn't wipe the extra crap off from the drops from hell.

But Eric took all the kids to church, and left me here to relax. And clean up from the rushed dinner, and put the bed back, and brave the nastiness of rotting food. Love ya too babe! I really don't think that was a Tylenol now.

Challenging myself

2008-05-07T14:31:00.002-04:00

Everyone needs a kick in the butt occasionally. Especially me. I can spend hours online, doing absolutely nothing productive. And I've found myself in that kind of rut. It's easier then real life. There's all kinds of weirdos that make me look normal, and lots of people with problems that make mine look like nothing. But I need to get back to MY life.

All that to say, I want to sew more. So I'm challenging myself to make 1 garmet/outfit/item a day. It's not unsurmountable, I can do that and more. I just need to get off my butt and DO IT. But I think I need something to hold myself accountable, so I'll upload pictures every day of what I make. I won't post a new blog entry for each thing I sew, just pictures here. And once I figure out how - I'll add the link in the little empty sidebar thingy you see over there <-------- I have thoughts of opening an online shop (rather then just doing custom orders), and this is a step in the right direction.

And if you're like me, and procrastinating things you should, or want to do - I challenge you to do 1 thing a day to work towards your goal :)

Conversation: oral communication between persons

2008-05-05T22:28:00.002-04:00

Yes, I had to look up the definition of conversation. Why? To show my dear husband.

We went on a "date" tonight, to go see a movie. He loves this type of date because he doesn't have to hold one of the aforementioned things. But we still have to drive there and back, so we either sit in silence for the 20 minutes it takes to get there, or I talk to myself.

I don't really talk to myself - at least he claims I don't. He listens (and selectively retains!), but I have to drag any type of response out of him. Unless of course I get lucky (not THAT type of lucky - get your mind out of the gutter!) and happen to broach a subject he has a keen interest in. Then he'll talk. But that doesn't happen often.

So tonight, we argued about the definition of conversation. He says we have one, because I'm talking. I say we don't, because there's no exchange of ideas or thoughts. So I promise to look it up when we get home. He was shocked that I did ( I don't know why, as I love to prove a point). He did like one of the definitions - if you want to know which one, go look here, and scroll down a bit. It won't take a rocket scientist to figure out which one he liked. He said we need to have more conversations. I wish he meant the definition in my title!

I wonder if it's a guy thing (like the inability for most men to multi-task), but then I think of the many men that can out talk most women. So nope, that's not an excuse. My husband is just an introvert, and it's something I must not of noticed when I married him. Either that or another attribute caused it to be overlooked...

My son really does own more than one shirt!

2008-05-05T15:03:00.003-04:00

For anyone that recently looked at pictures I uploaded for my family - you'll see a striking similarity in a lot of the pictures of Kivett. And I was just reminded of this when I was playing with one I just took of him. He's wearing the same shirt. And most of the time, the same pair of shorts. If it weren't for his lazy, er frugal?, mom not getting his hair cut often , you'd think that they were all on the same day.

Want examples? Sure! I don't need much motivation to share pictures of my kids!

In order of appearance: Kian's birth, Christmas morning, at the park in Jan, Easter, and the other day.

He's had this shirt for well over a year. And besides that fact that he's inherited his father's quite annoying habit of chewing on his neckline, it's in amazing condition. As the pictures prove, he obviously wears it often. It helps me completely justify any shopping I do at Gymboree! Seriously - how many shirts would hold up to the rigors of a boy wearing it at least once a week, and all the climbing, riding, and exploring said boy does? I am in awe.

And if you want to be nosy, and see all the pictures I uploaded for my family, click here. If you're family, and you didn't get the link, it means I don't love you. Actually it means the email I have for you didn't work, and it's your job to make sure I have the right one!

My baby has a shoe fetish.

2008-05-03T22:06:00.004-04:00

Oh the things you learn about on the internet! I don't think I'll ever be shocked again, after the education that I've received after nursing 4 babies while attached to my computer with nothing else to do but browse online.

So, there's people out there that have a shoe fetish thing going on. A little creepy, yes. But hey - whatever floats your boat. I won't judge. And there's even money to be made catering to these people that love feet and shoes so much. As long as you don't show a bare knee on Ebay (why that matters - who knows? I'm not in the shoe fetish business), you're good to go!

So, I'm worried about my baby. He's begun rolling around a bit on the floor, and seems to have this extreme interest to the shoes we wear that may get left on the floor. And he prefers crocs. I do too, but I like to put them on my feet, not in my mouth! And the sounds he makes if you reclaim your shoe? You would think his world was about to end!

I can't in good conscience let my baby chew on our shoes. It's gross. Beyond gross. I considered buying him a pair, just for him. But a $30 teething toy?? Come on. There's got to be something better and cheaper. Any ideas? I'm out. I've tried traditional ones, and it just isn't the same. It's something about the shoe I think. What kind of looks are we going to get from people when my baby is carting around a croc to chew on?

Hey crocs!?! I have a new marketing idea for you!

You never know what you find in your own back yard!

2008-05-02T16:35:00.004-04:00

I was procrastinating (hmmm... I sense a habit!) again, and decided to take my 8 year old over to the train tracks behind our house to take pictures rather than do the work I was supposed to. I also wanted to check out the paved road on the other side of them that the kids had told me about a few months ago (my excuse). I was thinking it would be a nice place to take the dogs for a walk and get some much needed exercise without having to go anywhere. I wanted to make sure we wouldn't be trespassing, etc, if we walked there, thinking it was maybe a access road for either the power lines or railroad.

So we played a bit on the tracks, taking pictures and looking for railroad spikes to add to Kivett's collection (we didn't find any this time). And then went a bit further to the paved road. I was surprised to see how nice it was. There was freshly laid sod on the sides, drainage, and wooden railings. It looked much more like some kind of trail than an access road - and none of the no trespassing signs I was expecting. So Kivett and I walked some, took some more pictures, and just explored a bit. A truck with some workers came along, and we got to ask them what the road was for. Find out that it's a new bike trail - to connect the springs in our area! You can read more about it here. It's a little outdated since this is supposed to open in about 2 weeks officially! If you click on the map - we're just North of Blue springs, on those roads that are right to the right of the path, to the left of the map key. It's maybe 200 ft from our house - but we have to cross the railroad tracks and go through a tiny bit of woods. But still MUCH easier then loading up a bunch of bikes and trailers to go anywhere else that we can ride. I'm very very excited!

My DITL in photos

2008-04-30T12:39:00.002-04:00

That's "day in the life".

A couple of online friends were doing it, so I had to as well (ever the sheeple!). Figured it would be nice to share it here also. I took over 300 pictures, but was able to weed it down a bit ;)

Allison's DITL

I have to say, I'm very impressed with Picasa's online photo system. I used 2 different cameras, and it was very easy to organize everything and put the pictures in order with it, rather than doing it on my computer.

Mixing hobbies

2008-04-27T17:16:00.005-04:00

I just bought a new lens for my camera. And new lens means I need a bigger bag. The one I had was just barely cutting it as it was. I looked online at quite a few places, and while I liked different things about different ones, it seemed most of them had one thing in common - if it looked like they would do a good job protecting my equipment, they were plain (UGLY!). And if they were "pretty", they looked rather flimsy. I have 7 kids, I need protective.

So after having a heart attack at the prices to begin with (mostly at the "pretty" ones - I'm willing to pay more for durability and great function) I thought to myself "I can do that". Plus, it gives me something to do rather than the things I was procrastinating (which I'll be working on now). Cost was pretty minimal. I had some of the fabric and the zippers. I think the total was around $25 out of pocket.

This is definitely a prototype. Lots of sloppy sewing, a couple mistakes, and lots of ideas I couldn't/wouldn't implement because I wasn't ripping stitches out!

I just laid my camera out on my pattern material, and drew around that and my lenses to get the shape. I also knew that I wanted a backpack/slingbag style. Lot of measuring and cutting later, and you get this:

It has one outside zippered pocket (one of the things that was an afterthought - I would have liked some on the sides). The piping has boning in it to make it more stable. That was a pain, and hurt my fingers, but I think it was worth it. There's half inch foam in all the sides. The brown fabric is the one I had, I bought the other (it was a remnant, and on sale, so it was CHEAP!!!).

The inside. It's cotton velveteen, and soooo soooo soft. It made up most of the cost of the bag, even though it was on sale as well. The dividers are made with 1" foam inside. Because it's a prototype, I didn't use anything to attach them to the sides or bottom, they're just safety pinned in. And I forgot the velcro for the pockets on the flap until it was too late too. It's got just enough space for my camera in the big empty spot (that's an extra divider in there), and even room for another lens or 2 if I wanted.

Overall, I really like the bag. There's a lot of changes I'd make if I get brave or desperate enough to make another one. I would make it less deep at the top then the bottom, make sure all the pockets I want are there before I sew the pieces up. I used 2 zippers (it's what I had) to get the length, but I'd prefer 1 heavier duty one with 2 zipper pulls. And it needs to be a little bit deeper overall. While it fits my current camera well, I think that when I upgrade, it will be a little tight. And I would skip the piping, but still use the boning in the seams. And I'd prefer a little bit darker fabric, something a little less conservative (but still having some brown of course!).

Even dumb dumb the cat gave his approval, and tried to claim it for a new bed while I was working on the dividers. Sorry for the blurry pic. I was trying to do it quickly before he got out!

Even my junk mail has it out for me!

2008-04-25T08:48:00.002-04:00

I out of shape - badly. I haven't exercised regularly in, oh, ever?? So it's been a frequent topic of conversation between a couple of friends and I. And where do such conversations lead us? To me still sitting on my butt! I've been slow to get up and get moving, compared to my friends.

You know how people make fun of women because they won't go to the bathroom alone? Well, I'm like that. I'm not unsocial, or extraordinarily shy. But I hate doing new things by myself. Even trying a new restaurant makes me a bit nervous if I'm not going with someone who's been there before. So my excuse to why I won't join the gym? I want someone to go with me!! And so far, I can't convince anyone to go when I can go. Something about being too early in the morning...

So, while I know my health is actually suffering a little because of my lack of exercising, I can't get past my inhibitions to just go do it. And I feel guilty (just a little!!). I KNOW I should just do it, I KNOW I'll feel better, and probably not need as much sleep even. But the inhibitions are there nonetheless.

All to explain why I think my email has it out for me. I don't look at exercise stuff online, don't sign up for anything, etc etc. Yet for the past week, I've had at least one, if not more, junk emails about exercising. And the latest one? Straight to the point - "Get to the Gym". I'm not sure I'll listen to my junk mail, but maybe the prodding coming from yet another source will eventually do the trick.

Why did I stay up so late?

2008-04-23T08:54:00.004-04:00

I'm not dumb, I KNOW how much sleep I need, and how I can't function as a normal human being without that amount. Unfortunately, it's not a little bit. So why did I sit at my computer until 2am? Can I blame it on the snugly babe that was in my arms most of the time? Probably not, since he would have slept just fine in bed too. I can't even remember what I was reading after I gave up searching for ideas/examples for nursing pictures. I wasted hours of precious sleep!

So here I sit, at 9am. I've been "awake" for an hour. Awake is a relative term, considering my brain isn't keeping up with my body. And I sit thinking of everything I'm supposed to be doing today. Including hunting down the idiot in my neighborhood that thought that target practice at 3am was a good idea. I had just fallen asleep. I know we live in the middle of nowhere (not really, but it can seam like it!) but still, do people really not think that shooting a gun at 3 am, repeatedly I might add, is a good idea?

So besides that, my house is a wreck. The kind of wreck that a house gets if kids are the only ones cleaning for a week. I hate cleaning. Despise it. But I promised myself that I would get it done today since I spent almost the whole day out yesterday and nothing got done. But I just want to crawl back in bed.

I also got fabric that I had ordered in the mail yesterday. It's for an order I need to finish up. So I have that to do as well. And I want to sew for me. I haven't touched the fabrics I bought for me since I photographed them, what, 2 weeks ago?

I should make a "to do" list. Maybe if I start crossing things off as I do them, I'll feel better? More motivated to get my rump out of this comfortable chair? Blah - it sounds like work and that it would require a functioning brain.

Did I say I want to crawl back into bed yet?? It's calling my name. I really should go in there and make it, and maybe even clean my room, since the kids don't clean in there...

I have a thing for babies

2008-04-20T16:07:00.007-04:00

I like babies. They're squishy, and squirmy, and just cute and lovely. I'm not sure I'd have 7 kids if I didn't like babies so much.

But I don't just like human babies. I seem to be drawn to all types of babies. Reptile babies, bird babies, not to mention the really cute kittens and puppies!! And I was really lucky that I had my camera in my car this afternoon when I came across this couple.

What's even more ironic is that they were at our church, where our pastor just mentioned this morning that they had only been seeing one crane recently to come eat, and were expecting to see a little fuzzy yellow chick (and what a BIG chick!!) soon. And there they were, later in the afternoon. I couldn't get enough of them, babies just amaze me. I watched it dig for it's own food, lay down to eat when it started getting tired, and even take some food from mom (or dad??) a couple of times.

Aren't babies awesome?
If you click on the pics, it will open it bigger so you can see it better :)

Sometimes I think my eyes are going to permamently stay at the back of my head

2008-04-19T09:48:00.002-04:00

They get there often with teenagers and preteens. As I'm procrastinating doing anything productive this morning, I overhear a conversation about razor burn between my 15 year old, 12.5 year old, and 10 year old. And since the 15 year old girl is the only one currently shaving, I'm thinking "what the heck?".

They're debating what razor burn is. Chrissy is adament that the little red bumps are just that. Mikhail says, no, they aren't. I'm trying to figure out why Mikhail would have any clue. He has a tiny tiny TINY bit of darker hair above his lip. Here, let me show you a picture.

There, do you see it?? Maybe you can zoom in. Because I can't!! And I couldn't in any of the other pictures I've taken of him recently either.

So, back to the story. Chrissy's yelling now, because Mikhail doesn't believe that little red bumps after you shave are razor burn. Finally Mikhail gets fustrated enough that he yells back - "then why does it itch??"

Gah - my baby boy is growing up, and attempted to shave for the first time without knowing what the heck he was doing. At least he waited longer than my girls. Both were under 10 the first time, and Kiera still bares the scar from her attempt!

And while I'm talking about kids growing up, and sharing pictures, look at my baby. Do you see what he's doing??? He's NOT OLD ENOUGH. He was just born - wasn't he?? (and you can oohh and ahhh over that nice bright outfit I made him too!! See?? I'm getting brave!)

Fabric addiction

2008-04-16T23:16:00.004-04:00

Yes, there is such a thing. Am I affected?? Depends on who you ask. I found out the other day that one of my favorite fabrics is going OOP (out of print for those of you who don't know fabric lingo). I have some. I think a yard and a half of each print.

So what did I spend an hour doing this morning? Finding the best price of all the coordinates, and ordering from 3 different online stores. And not just a bit. Between 15-20 yards. Yes, that's right, I'm not even sure how much I ordered total.

And my justification for it? It will make one beautiful quilt for the next baby. Yes, you read that right - the NEXT baby! You know, the one that I'm not even considering TTC yet (trying to conceive - for those of you not in the know of the online parenting lingo). And not even yet, but probably close to a year before I get serious (and you'll notice this because my husband will suddenly be a very happy man).

What does this fabric look like you ask? Well, ask, and you shall receive:

OK, so it's kinda hard to see in that picture, but the outfits are to die for, and it almost killed me to mail them to their new owner! But it's Heather Ross's lightening bug and other mysteries line. The little fishies (and the ones in the bags have NAMES!! How cute is that??) are just lovely. And if I decide to make actual clothing out of it, and not just hoard it and pet it, all the fabrics I bought (both fishies, the coordinating stripes, and the dots) match the bright orange shorts I made Kian. The polka dots on the pockets are from this line also (and I ordered more!)

How you know you have children

2008-04-15T14:34:00.004-04:00

You wake up with cramps in your back because you were squished in your king sized bed.

You sit on toothpaste on the toilet (someone isn't tall enough to reach the sink to spit)

You almost kill yourself getting into the shower because someone was playing with the conditioner.

Your hot water runs out really fast because your water heater is turned all the way down, and you like a HOT shower.

You have to hunt down your blow dryer because it was used as a laser gun last.

The nice lemon flavor of your toothpaste is overpowered by the taste of soap.

There's some rule that the cereal bowls belong in the cabinet with the pots and pans??

The soda (great breakfast!!) that you left on the counter with one sip taken out of it, is empty when you go back to it 5 minutes later.

There's folded clothes and socks in the DIRTY laundry - unless there's a compulsive person (besides ME!!) doing it?

The cat has a new hairdo (I really should lock those scissors up).

The peanut butter that you just bought, besides being almost gone, has a spoon in it still (midnight snack anyone??? eeewww)

This was my morning :)

_

Her new "do"

2008-04-10T16:10:00.002-04:00

Much better. I still miss her old hair - a lot actually, but my stylist did a wonderful job! I'm so glad it didn't have to be whacked off at her ears. She's now sporting a "Euro" look, though she has no idea what that means. Hopefully her bangs will fill in a bit more in a couple of weeks. She had only cut half of them, it was hard to get the other side to look the same!

It must be a girl thing

2008-04-10T11:08:00.002-04:00

I bring you Aislinn:

Isn't she pretty? These were taken on Tues at the park -which I was going to blog about, the alligator sighting, the vibrant green colors of spring, that sort of thing. But instead, you get to look at my pretty girl.

Well, she's still pretty. But her hair isn't at the moment.

She's gone back and forth about having long hair, so I hadn't cut it. I also LOVED it. I guess she finally made up her mind. It actually doesn't look too bad from the back, but the bangs and side were a little overkill . I really wish she would have just asked me rather than attempt it herself. I definitely could have done a better job, but it's beyond my skills to fix it. So, she has an appointment with my stylist this afternoon, and I'm even more tempted to get my grays covered now that I'm sure I have more of them! I will post after pictures :)

The answer to the most important question in life.

2008-04-08T08:48:00.002-04:00

Which came first?

I think that's a pretty good answer myself. And if you want one, go here. And they have lots of other interesting ones as well!!

Fastest way to lose 5 pounds?

2008-04-08T01:08:00.002-04:00

Get food poisoning. No, really, it works. Now, depending on how long you're living in the bathroom, you may lose more. I was fortunate (or un?) that it was only a couple of hours. I think about 4. It was 4 of the most miserable hours of my life, and to make it worse, I was NOT at home, but at my sisters after helping her move. And it was 1 o'clock in the morning when it happened. I think I finally fell asleep and stayed asleep by 5. And then I was up for the day at 7, which is NOT enough sleep for me, and I had to drive 2 hours home still. I got home and crashed and slept all the rest of the day and night. I love my husband - he kept 7 kids happy and quiet enough for me to sleep!

And then, just because I was curious (and not happy with where I am weight wise, but too lazy to do anything about it!) I stepped on the scale. Down 5 pounds. So at least something good came out of it, right??

Now I just have to decide if it was my favorite restaurant that did it (which is more than likely since I only got sick) or something else. I guess I'll lose more weight if I stop eating there so much...

Rule #1 - don't wait for 6 weeks to sew cut out things

2008-04-04T21:23:00.000-04:00

Especially if it's for a baby. I even cut them in the next size up. It wasn't big enough. 7 kids, and the last (not last as in no more for those of you hoping!! ) one needs to be different. 6 kids all grew the same way. I could predict what size they would be in for the next season, year, etc. Made it nice for sewing ahead, or even buying stuff on sale.

Not this kid. Like I said, he needs to be different. When I cut the outfits out, he was in a size 3-6mo (or 62 for Ottobre which is what the pattern was). He had JUST gone into this size. So I figure making him a 68 for summer would be fine. I didn't think he'd wear it all summer, but at least half - right? Nope. I've got 5 shirts and 2 rompers, some out of very hard to find or expensive fabric, that are too small, and half sewn. I'm hoping the shirts out of the stretchier fabric will fit for a little bit anyways.

I think I want to cry. My 4mo old baby is the size of most 9 month olds. I made him promise he wasn't going to grow up too fast, and not only is he doing that, but he's HUGE as well!!

Outside of my comfort zone

2008-04-03T09:16:00.000-04:00

I don't do bright colored clothes. If you look in my closet, you'll see shades of brown mostly, with a couple blues and greens mixed in. And nothing bright. I'm not exactly sure why that is, but I never think bright colors look good on me. And that tends to carry over to the things I buy or sew for my children as well. For Kian's 3mo pictures, I was told to have him wear bright things. I was screwed. If you take a gander over here and look in the baby gallery you'll see the "bright" I came up with. Kian is the cutest one in the green hat and pants. Those were the brightest things in his wardrobe.

I'm trying to change. Starting with Kian's summer wardrobe.

He needed a sunhat. Trying to find one that fit was just about impossible locally. Even the pattern I had was too big. So I drafted this one. I'm trying to figure out how to make it reversible and still put ties one (there aren't any now). Let me know if you have any ideas!! What was nice was that I could use just the scraps of my precious Munki fireflies, rather than yardage. The lining/reverse side is just muslin.

He desperately needed shorts as well. For this I used my trusty Kwik Sew for Babies. I hacked some off the bottom, and made them more straight legged rather than tapered. The orange fabric is a lovely hemp muslin. It has a unique texture that I really like. I begged this piece from a friend a couple months ago. The bias cut polka dots are also from Heather Ross, but from the Lightening bug and other mysteries line for Freespirit. But the colors go wonderfully with a few of the Munki fabrics as well.

A little big, but at least I won't have to hold him upside down to get them off like his current ones!

I even used my iron!!

Look at that cute baby butt!

And just because, a picture of his adorable fingers and toes. I loves me some baby feet!

Apparantly I'm old.

2008-04-02T10:24:00.000-04:00

Or at least I act older than I am. According to my oldest daughter. Why the opinion of a 15 year old means so much (never mind that the discussion came up while out to dinner with an older friend and her girls - and they all agreed), confuses me. Maybe it's just the "I don't want to look or act like an old lady" ego of a 30ish year old (for the record, I'm only just 31). I always said I would grow old gracefully. Wouldn't dye my gray, etc. Of course, I was in my early 20's, no gray, and I figured I would be in my 40's at least before I considered myself "old" (my apologies to all 40ish year olds!).

So while trying to figure out what exactly it is that makes me "act old", I start trying to discuss it with above mentioned 15 year old. I ask how. The response? Typical 15 year old. "you just do". Thanks. I think conversation skills may need to be addressed in the next homeschooling lesson.

I'm resisting the urge to call my stylist for an appt...

A new repair man

2008-03-29T11:36:00.001-04:00

When I first started REALLY sewing, I met and started using a long-time local repair shop for my many machine woes. The man that owned and ran it was Mr. Henderson. He taught me SO much. He would even help me diagnose and fix problems with my machines over the phone. A couple of years ago, we lost Mr Henderson to cancer. I miss my friend.

When my sewing machine started acting up the first time after he passed away, I bought a new one rather than trying to keep it going without him. A couple of weeks ago, my lovely daughter decided to make something for her by herself with my serger. Jammed it all up, broke needles, and messed up the timing. It IS something I can fix, but it takes me a long time, and can be quite frustrating. Thankfully my good friend had given me her old serger (Brother 1034D - same as the one I had) when she got a new one. So I pulled it out, dusted it off, and started sewing again.

Somehow the timing got off on that one the other day as I was trying to finish up 3 outfits for a boys' swap at sewingmamas. The left needle starting skipping all over the place. Grr... So I spent the better part of Thurs trying to get the timing right on both machines. And no luck. Did the same on Friday. Friday afternoon, I broke down, got the phone book out, and looked up another local repair shop.

I've made a new friend. I brought my serger to him around 12:30 ( he greeted me with "Are you my new love?" in response to me telling him I loved him over the phone when he told me he should have it done within 24 hrs). I left my beloved, dirty, never oiled serger with him thinking I'd have it back Monday, because surely he wouldn't get it done that day, and he was only open 4 hours on Sat. And he even gave me the staple looking thingy for my treadle singer's belt. But want to know what REALLY made him my new friend??

He called me a little after 5. When I saw the number on the caller ID, I was SURE something was seriously wrong with my "baby" and it needed parts. Nope. She was done. She was clean, and oiled, and working perfectly. Since I was getting ready to go scrapbooking with a friend (who happends to live around the corner from the repair shop) I had her pick it up for me. It was so pretty and clean, and I could smell the fresh oil. Nothing like clean sewing machine lust, huh?

So today I get to sew again! Here's a little peek at the fabrics I'm using for clothes for ME!!

The promised pictures

2008-03-24T11:22:00.000-04:00

Ok, so it's just of some sewing I did (as referenced yesterday of the shirt that was almost done).

I REALLY love this shirt. I normally don't even look at big3/4 patterns, but picked this up after someone on sewingmamas did a "sew and show" (SNS) with it. It went together pretty easily, and I was shocked that it fit right out of the envelope. I didn't need to make any modifications other than shortening the sleeves. It's butterick 5185 if you want to go snag it for yourself!

My coverhemmer was giving me fits though. This is what parts of the inside look like. Thankfully it's just for me, and I did get it figured out by the time I got to the sleeves. Which was another mistake. I had cut them out of a scrap, and didn't notice the grain/stretch was the wrong direction. They're full enough though that they're not too tight.

I love the way it fits my 4mo postpartum body. Nice and flowy at the bottom, with the twist placed perfectly to hide the little belly I still have. But fitted at the top so I don't feel frumpy. And I don't look like I'm ready to go teach school, but not trying to look like a 15 year old either. Which seems very hard to do these days as I've spent countless hours trying to shop for clothes for me!

If I didn't have objections to having a closet full of all the same shirt, this would be it. I WILL make at least 2 more though, one in a print, and the other with 3/4 length sleeves. I think I'll try to add about an inch to the length too.

Colors and more colors

2008-03-23T16:58:00.000-04:00

Lots and lots of eggs, all kinds of colors. Mostly obnoxious. We did an egg hunt after church this afternoon. I must do a better job of hiding than my sister does. We usually go to my Dad's for Easter, and he stuffs the eggs with money, and my sister hides them since she gets there before us. Needless to say, my kids weren't quite as happy with jelly beans instead of quarters! And they took a rather long time to find them all. I snapped some pics of them hunting and finding, hopefully a few came out good. I'm too tired to pull them off the camera, crop, edit, etc right now. Stayed up too late on the sugar rush from eating all the extra jelly beans! I also need to learn how to add them here, so maybe later (or even tomorrow).

And for other kinds of color. Fabric color (again, no pics yet!!) I needed to get interfacing from JoAnns last night, and wanted some linen for some wide legged pants for me. I was wanting a grayish color, but ended up with some very expensive brown. Potting soil brown, in fact. Though it doesn't look like potting soil to me, more like crayola brown. But I love it (and Eric picked it out!!), and I found 2 really nice wovens to make blouses with. Clothes for me, HERE I COME!! Can you tell I'm more than a little excited? I'll be using the newest issue of Ottobre for the pants, and a butterick pattern for one of the shirts. Not sure about the other yet. I also picked up this knit butterick pattern. It's actually almost done, but I have some seam ripping to do that I'm putting off until tomorrow. I'm making view D, but with short sleeves.

a

Beginning

2008-03-22T15:54:00.000-04:00

You would think that starting a blog, that I would have something to say. That would make sense at least. But how do you write about nothing? No subject? So, here I am, rambling about nothing. Which may actually occur more often than not.

I never thought I would have such a hard time finding a name to describe what I was going to blog about either. With the help of a friend, and lots of clicks on dictionary.com's thesaurus, here we are. Random - because who knows what will strike me as blog worthy. Knack - just because the word looks interesting to me. I had tried to use ramble in it, because I do tend to ramble on. But it just didn't seem to fit. Didn't roll off my tongue. And you know that's important.

I'm out of nothing to talk about. I hope anyone who reads this will enjoy listening to me talk to myself. Blogging is such a nice way for the crazy to look normal.