Feature Me [Saturday]

My grand plans for the week at Amanda's went up in wispy plumes of smoke. I was hoping to come home with a bunch of projects done, including out stockings. We didn't even make it to the quilt shop for fabric until Tuesday! I had planned to arrive with everything cut out and ready to sew but nothing caught my eye at our local quilt shop. The first time we actually worked on sewing projects was Tuesday night once the kids went to bed. I can hardly say 'we,' I spent a looooong time cutting out all the pieces for our 3 stockings and Amanda very quickly cut out the quilted fabric she was using for 2 stockings and then got to work baking cookies for a party she was hosting. First off, let me just say, it is a very bad idea to start a project at 9:00 when you are already tired. I took forever cutting out my pieces, I'm slow at everything but that's fine because I love what I do. Wait, actually, i hate cutting out patterns, that is the worst part by far to sewing. Anyways, after an hour or so of placing, pinning, cutting, I started putting the pieces together to begin sewing. It didn't take long to realize that I had cut two of the same pieces for the outside of each stocking. I didn't get enough fabric so I had to cut everything out twice rather than fold the fabric in half. And I forgot to flip the pattern over. Luckily, I had just enough of each fabric left to get the right piece. Talk about frustrating! I'm not sure what I would have done if I didn't have enough fabric!


Earlier in the week, Emily had dropped her youngest off so she could run to the quilt shop. We were surprised to see her back in less than an hour. She said it was too overwhelming to try to pick something out in the amount of time she had (she had to get another kiddo off the bus shorty afterwards). She wasn't kidding either, I think we were there for a full hour before we finally decided what we wanted. Amanda took forever to find 2 different colors for her stocking cuffs and then got side-tracked by a cute baby blanket and spontaneously decided that her new baby needs one so she grabbed some fabric for that as well. I took so long to pick 6 different coordinating prints but I'm quite happy with what I chose. I asked Jeff if he liked them but he didn't seem to care. Apparently stockings aren't really his thing.


Oh man, it feels like I've been typing this post all day. I have to keep stopping to hold Adrian while he throws up and then clean up the mess...I think it's about time to call it quits. Maybe he'll be feeling well enough tomorrow for me to start pulling out my meager supply of Christmas decorations. I am certainly in the mood for some Christmas cheer!

just a quick 'hello!'

So you don't think I quit my blog or anything, I've been up north for the past week and gave myself a break from blogging. I have something to share for Feature Me Friday but I've been keeping busy today so I'll show you tomorrow! I made a list of things to get done this weekend and I'm on a roll. I made it pretty manageable so I would actually stick to it. The idea of making lists sounds fabulous but my follow through can be kind of pathetic. Check back tomorrow to see what I've been up to!

Friday Feature: Adrian

In the past few days, I finally became sick of Adrian's longish hair. I feel like I'm constantly snipping pieces because it's so long and I couldn't bear to go short. He still seems like a baby! Well, he is my baby! His hair is so super fine and poker straight that I've been afraid to cut it because I feel like I'll give him a horrible chop job and then I'd have to buzz it because I'm way too cheap to bring him somewhere to get it cut. Seriously, he's only a year old. Then a couple days ago, I said 'what the heck.' Well, I probably didn't literally say that, I just started cutting. Or chopping. I have to work fast with that boy, he's too busy to sit still for long. He would sit in his booster seat for a few minutes if I gave him something to play with. I didn't really know what I wanted to do at first, I just wanted his hair a lot shorter. And then, two days into the haircut, I finally thought, 'duh! I'll just cut it like I cut Jeff's hair but, slightly longer." So I did. Of course, once I decided that, I quickly chopped two or three little sections shorter in the back and then he was done. Oh well, we weren't going anywhere. That is, until about 15 minutes later when I realized I needed to get to the grocery store. I dropped Adrian off with Kate and told her about the haircut, 'don't worry I'm not done.' She said right away, 'It looks fine!' Ha. By the time I came to pick him up she was laughing at it. I think I finally finished today. For this week anyways.
My big boy:


Honestly, I touched it up once more after taking these pictures. Hopefully I can leave it alone for a few weeks now! (I don't know if you can even tell what it looks like in here, I was having a hard time getting a picture of the side of his head because he kept turning to look at me.)

Santa Claus is Coming to Town...But first, Tom Turkey!

I realized Thanksgiving is just over a week away so I guess that means it's time to put some Christmas music going! I am so not a music person (I think I'm the oddball in my family) but I really love Christmas music, it just puts me in the holiday spirit! Now that I hear jingle bells ringing I feel like I should be making Christmas gifts or decorations! Oh wait, I should be! Jeff is going hunting this weekend so I'll be spending a few days with my sister Amanda and we have plans to sew away the weekend! I'll be bringing my old reliable sewing machine, I can't wait! Adrian will have a cousin to play with so hopefully they are both good and we can crank out a few projects! My stocking pattern came in (and fabric.com never asked me to return the dress pattern!) so I need to run up to the quilt shop and grab some fabric and hopefully get all 3 done this weekend! Like it's that easy, this is Miss Wishy-Washy-can't-make-any-split-decisions. I'll be lucky if I walk out of the shop with fabric for one stocking. I had originally planned to make all of the stockings with various printed cream fabric but now I'm leaning more toward turquoise for the me and green for the boys. We'll see what I find!

it's good to be home (sort of)

I'm so glad to see Jeff again after being away all weekend (I mean really, he's vacuuming as I type, I love that guy) but it's such a letdown that we only had 1 full day out in Minnesota with my sisters and my Mom. My Mom drove up here and picked me up before heading out (she spent the night) so I actually got to spend the most time with her and my younger sisters. We were split between Sara's house and Jennifer's. My Mom, Amanda, Kendall, and Molly stayed with Sara while Emily, Kirsten, Keeks, Gretch, Jeanie, Adrian, and I stayed with Jen. We were visiting at Sara's on Saturday night and left at 10, I can't believe we left so early, I thought it was later than that until I saw the time in the car. Once the kiddos were settled into bed a few of us stayed up visiting until 3:30 or so (which is 4:30 our time). Adrian did not sleep well the entire trip which isn't unusual. I had to rock him to sleep both nights which is incredibly unusual. Besides the sleep he's was really good and had fun playing with all the kids. I was so glad to see little Orrin (Sara's) who was only about 3 months old last time I saw him, he is about 5 months older than Adrian. He was cruising all around and boy is he a cutie, I just wish he wasn't so shy for all of us! I bet if we were there for 1 more day he would have warmed up to us.
We keep calling this a "Sisters' Trip" since this is the first time all of the girls have gathered together in so long but I think it's agreed that the next "Sisters' Trip" should be without all the kids, it was a little loud and crazy! But, I'm glad the cousins had fun seeing one another! Or maybe the next time we all get together like that, the dads should be there too. Oh wait, that would be called a reunion.

There are more pictures on Jennifer's blog.

Feature Me Friday

This week I made two more toddler belts. That's it. I wish I could have at least made a few more belts if nothing else but it just didn't happen. I really need to figure out a better routine for sewing. The mornings are tricky because I know I should be outside with Adrian, and other times I'm working out with Kate which takes up most of the morning if we go to the dome. Then there's lunch and nap time. My sewing machine is in Adrian's room so I can't sew when he's sleeping. Once he wakes up, I'm usually starting to make supper, then it's eat and clean up and by then I don't feel like doing much at all. I've thought of taking my machine out of his room and sewing in the kitchen but then it will probably stay there forever. The only other space would be my bedroom but there is so much more space in Adrian's room. What to do, what to do. I'll probably end up moving it eventually just so I can feel like I have some quality uninterrupted sewing time. For now, I should actually go outside in the mornings instead of just thinking about it!


Have a good weekend! I know I will, I'll be spending it with my Mom and ALL {8} of my sisters!

Hiking up the Mountain

Jeff was off work on Monday (his usual 'weekend') so we made a plan to hike up Sugarloaf. It was an easy climb and it was a beautiful day. I seriously love it here, it's so easy to do active, physical outings when there are so many places to choose from! This 'hike' is a quick one if you want it to be, we didn't stay long at the top because it was pretty windy and we weren't dressed very warmly. We went after Adrian's nap and still had time to grocery shop before going home for supper!

living like no one else

Remember how I said we are working on getting out of debt so we can one day live debt-free? Well, when I got home on Sunday night we were discussing our financial plans and decided that we wanted to speed up our progress. Our car payment was the next debt to go. Jeff drives a truck with a stick which I don't know how to drive and that doesn't fit all of us very comfortably. Or, he did until several hours ago. I love craigslist. He listed the truck last night around supper and sold it before lunchtime today. He immediately went to the bank and paid a huge chunk of our car loan. We've been grinning all day. Well, almost. I'm sure it will sink in over the next few days that we are a one car family once again but for now it feels pretty darn good. I know it is all worth it in the end. We have to "live like no one else so later [we] can live like no one else." If purposely living with one car will get me there then I'll do it.


Once Jeff sold the car, I worked on some sewing projects. After Adrian's nap, we went to the Isle and walked through the woods. There were plenty of deer to be seen, It was so peaceful. I almost stayed home when Jeff offered to take Adrian with him either way, I thought it would be nice to sew without interruption. But then, Jeff reminded me that we won't have many more days like today to wander the outdoors. I'm so glad I went, he is absolutely right. Seriously, it snowed a few days ago. And that wasn't the first time.

To top it all off we had Chicken Paninis for supper. Yum! I just reread that post (from just over a year ago) and I can't believe I used boiled chicken. Yuck. It's amazing how much I've learned about cooking in a year, and I still have so much to learn. At the time, I had made soup and boiled the chicken to make the broth. I probably used a whole chicken and didn't need all of the meat so I saved it and didn't use it in another soup. I always, always buy bone-in, skin-on chicken. Waaay tastier. And I almost always bake it, even for soup, so the leftover meat actually has some flavor. I rub it with salt, freshly ground pepper, and garlic. Sometimes I brush it with bacon fat. It is so good, trust me, and don't think about how bad that is!

It's been a good day!

What a blast! I spent the weekend in Appleton Wisconsin (and Oshkosh, and Green Bay...) with these ladies. I didn't go for the shopping (and that's what the trip was for, I mean seriously) but I had so much fun! I haven't laughed that hard in way too long! These girls are some serious shoppers, we actually went to 3 different malls in 3 different cities one day. Yikes! Talk about shopping until you drop! For all the different shops and department stores we visited, I only bought from Once Upon a Child which is a consignment shop. Ironic isn't it? Adrian needed mittens and boots which I found there along with a beanie and a clip-on tie that I just couldn't pass up. I think most of the other girls bought enough to fill up their cars and had most, if not all, of their Christmas shopping done. That must feel good! I, on the other hand, have only just started.

This weekend was the first time I was away from Adrian overnight. Holy cow, that's crazy when I really stop and think about it. I acted like I was ready to run out the door but when it came right down to it, I was ready to bawl like a baby. Jeff said he did great all weekend, he didn't even ask for me. Way to break my heart! I'm glad he was good though. Jeff did say that one evening, our friend Paul came over and when he opened the door Adrian went flying over and seemed slightly disappointed when he saw who it was.

By the way, Jeff is basically the best husband ever. I came home to a clean house and Adrian was in bed (although honestly, I had to get him up to say hi). Then, today he washed dishes and did laundry. I was kind of like 'what the heck??' but believe me, I wasn't about to complain. It's been a good couple of days!

Feature Me Friday

I have been wanting a reminder like this to help kick my butt into gear. I love to make things (surprise!) but I too often find excuses not to. The bathroom needs to be cleaned, bread needs to be made, groceries need to be bought...I mean really, I need to do all of those things but they will get done sooner or later no matter what. If I don't make a point to sit down and create, it gets put off for days, or weeks, or months. Okay, probably not months, I don't think I would last that long!


(I don't think this really "goes" here but I wanted to put it up so here it sits for now.)

Remember that belt I made for Adrian? I have a confession to make. It doesn't really look like you think it does. It actually looks like this:


Yeah, I know. The image in your mind was way cuter. You see, I ordered striped fabric to make a few belts. I ordered a half yard of several different prints thinking that I could use the width of the fabric for each belt. It turns out the stripes actually go the opposite way that I had originally thought so my idea wouldn't work at all. Bummer dude. I emailed fabric.com and they are so fabulous that they told me to keep the fabric they had sent me and refunded me the amount as well. (I only like portions of the stripes, not the entire piece of fabric so I really have no use for the other two.) I happen to love the fabric I used for this belt although I'm not sure what I'll end up using it for. (I think it's Brady Bunch by Michael Miller.) Anyways, that's how I ended up making Adrian's belt even though I don't really like it. I do, however, love the two belts I just listed in the shop:




And with that, I'm off for the weekend! The ladies in the area are going on their annual weekend shopping trip and this will be the first time I'm leaving Adrian for the night. I think you will all agree that I'm long overdue!

Have a fabulous weekend!

Wait a minute...

I thought I ordered a pattern for a stocking...


Oh wait, yes I did...


I think this is one time I'm glad that I'm so indecisive. I don't have the fabric to make the stocking anyways so it's no big deal that my actual pattern will be delayed. Off to email fabric.com!

I Voted!

This week is flying by! Okay, so it's only Tuesday but I'm going out of town this weekend and I keep thinking that trip is weeks away rather than days away!

I went to "the Dome" this morning with Kate after walking over to the elementary school to vote. Did you vote yet?? I feel slightly ashamed that I didn't even know who I was voting for. I basically just voted straight party. I keep telling myself I need to research the candidates...next time though, for sure! It's kind of pathetic really, I mean seriously, these things are kind of important! There's a nice old man that lives across the hall from us that has been giving us his paper every day since we first moved in. I appreciate it so very much but I don't always read it. Then, on the days that I do (today was one of them, although it was yesterday's paper) I think to myself, why don't I read the paper more often? I'm so clueless about what is going on in my dinky little town (that I love).

Yesterday, I said I would share some pictures from downstate. If you haven't seen them on facebook yet, here they are:
From Three Cedars Farm:




Matt and Wade share an October birthday:



Carving (and eating?) pumpkins and hanging out with Jeff's family:




These two (that's Auntie Katie, Jeff's sister) adore each other, I wish I had gotten a better picture of the two of them!




I was slightly better about remembering to take pictures this time, but oddly enough I have way more from Jeff's family than the time with my own. Usually it's the other way around, so I guess it's time to balance it out! Also, the pictures from the cider mill were stolen. (Eek!) Various people from Jeff's family took those and I forgot to bring my camera that day so I swiped them from facebook. Thanks! ;)

Happy November!

Adrian wouldn't eat the leftover breakfast casserole that I tried to give him for lunch but he gobbled down the spaghetti I made for him. He was ready to lick the plate and I'm sure he would have had he thought of that!





I didn't mean to completely neglect my blog last week, it just sort of happened. We were out of town for the weekend and by the end of the week Adrian and I had nasty colds going on. In fact, I thought I had gotten the flu after I lost my breakfast on Saturday morning. Thankfully, I did not. I drank an (natural) energy drink to help with my cold but I chugged it down and immediately felt nauseous. I won't be doing that again. Still, it made me think of my mom. I don't remember her getting sick all that often but, then as a kid, I probably wouldn't have noticed unless she was in bed all day. The truth is, she probably did get sick but she still had to take care of all of us kids! I guess it takes being a parent to truly appreciate all my Mom has done!

Our weekend downstate was wonderful. It's awesome to be able to see both of our families in the same trip but on the other hand, I hate that we always have to divide our time. I think I'd have to be there for months in order for it to feel long enough. As it is, even a long weekend (nearly 5 days) felt super fast. I'll post pictures tomorrow. On a related note, we will be downstate for Christmas! Jeff has been telling me that there is a good chance that he'll be able to get a few days off but I didn't want to believe it until he knew for sure. He came home the other day with the great news! I'm already dreading all the running around but I know it will be worth it if we get to see our families for Christmas!

Speaking of Christmas, I've been saying for months that I want to have our Christmas shopping done by Thanksgiving and I finally ordered the first thing! I've seen tee pees a few times on various blogs and I remember my sister Jen talking about how cool it would be to make one for her kids. As I was browsing on Amazon for ideas for Adrian I saw a tee pee and flew over to fabric.com to see if they had any patterns. They do! The one I ordered says it's big enough for one kid and an adult. I'm so excited to make it and give it Adrian! He is always crawling into the tiniest spaces to play so I know he's going to love it!