For some reason

I haven't been in the blogging mood for a while.  Probably one of the casualties of having too much going on in life and getting overwhelmed.  I'm saving money for a netbook and think having portability will greatly increase my desire to blog again, something about being able to blog anywhere, anytime.  Its hard being tied to a desktop computer when so much is going on.  I'm also spending lots of time working on crochet projects and such in preparation for the holidays coming up.  Not to mention some projects for some friends before then.  Anyway, thought I should at least say something :)

What I've been up to

Wow, I haven't posted in a while.  Life has been so busy lately and I've only really had time online to read messages.  No time to reply much either.

Some highlights since my last post:

• dance class
• AWANA
• walking everywhere (my attempt to not gain weight this holiday season and save gas money)
• coffee with a friend
• parties
  
• our church's live nativity went really well and we had a larger cast this year, and therefore more costumes to be made, plus more sets along the drive-thru
• Christmas projects with family and friends (decorating, cards, gifts, baking, etc.)
• practice so we have singers for our Christmas eve service
• caroling with our homeschool co-op
• everyday things (library trips, grocery trips, trips to piano lessons, laundry, dishes, cooking, etc.)
• educational pursuits (helping the kids with these)
• planning for a New Year's Eve get together at church
  
• sadness over situations within my family (please pray)

And now, I really should go to bed because I have more to do tomorrow...

Live Nativity

Our church is putting on its second live nativity (December 4 & 5) and I'm the costume coordinator again.  A group of us work on the costumes and those days have been teasingly dubbed the Grace Fellowship sweat shop ;-)

(You can see a hint of the costumes to the left but that's only about 1/4 of them)

There are 80 volunteers involved this year and they aren't just from our church.  Wow!

Its fun and exhausting but so worth every minute of it.  Especially when you hear how much it blesses people and reminds them why they celebrate Christmas to begin with.

To all the volunteers..........THANK YOU!!!

What characters are my family this year?  Noelle is Mary, Kyle is a shepherd, Kirk is a wise man, and I'm a villager (so I can help where needed and take pictures :-)  Hopefully, I'll get us together (in costume) for our family Christmas photo.  Some of the families did this last year and the pictures were great!

I am taking off today through Saturday to focus on Thanksgiving and enjoying my family.  I just wanted to share while I had a few minutes.

Randomness

Our favorite "room" and impatiens.




Some things Noelle has identified.
Owen's new kennel pad, with a zip-off cover I made from an old flannel sheet.

My Busy Day

Its been a busy day here. Kyle, Noelle, and I rode our bikes to a couple yard sales. I found a basically brand new coffee thermos carafe for $2, a little vase for all the flowers Noelle is always picking for me (she's such a sweetie), and some trims for crazy quilting. We got home from doing that and I decided to clear off the deck and sweep it. Got interrupted before cleaning the deck furniture to walk Noelle to the Y for homeschool gym (got over there and found out it had been canceled), went to the dollar store for a few things, then to Save-A-Lot for some more things, then walked home. Found out I needed to make a real grocery shopping trip in the van, so I made a list and off I went. I also bought some Impatiens to plant in a planters on the deck. The kids put the groceries away while I went and finally got the deck furniture hosed down and scrubbed. Came back in and made dinner. Ate, went back outside to put the cushions on the furniture while the kids cleaned up from dinner, then Kyle came outside and helped me haul all the furniture back up onto the deck. Planted my flowers, talked to the neighbors for a few minutes, then came inside and got on the computer. You know what? I'm tired.

On another note -- Kirk's mom called this morning and was talking to the machine, waiting for me to pick up. She wanted to do something special for his 50th birthday. Well, Kirk came home very early from work (not feeling well) and sitting on the computer, heard her message. I started laughing as I picked up the phone and informed her he had heard the whole thing. He said something to the effect of, "Over my dead body." Lol. Kevin's (Kirk's brother) girlfriend surprised him with a 50th birthday party last year and I was told that I better not do something similar.

More About CQing

Here's an update on my CQ square.
I still have a lot more embellishing to do.

The day before Mother's Day I bought a bunch of different colored costume satins out of the bargain bin at Walmart (Who can pass up $2/yard?) and some trims.

Another great resource for fabrics and trims are yard sales. Especially little girl dresses. I found this one on Friday for $1 I have accumulated a lot of buttons, threads, fabrics, trims, batting, needles, ribbons, beads, etc. over the years this way.

Another weekend...

Friday -- walked around town going to yard sales, payed bills, perused some stores, road our bikes to the library, walked to the store for a rotisserie chicken and some Italian bread for dinner, watched The Andy Griffith Show on DVD from Netflix

Saturday -- did laundry, dishes, played on the internet, worked on my CQ square, found some cross stitch projects I started years ago and did some work on one (the bee sampler to go on a pillow for Noelle), made a pasta salad for dinner, Kirk and Noelle went to Walmart for a giant sub for dinner and to get Noelle some shorts, watched The Andy Griffith Show on DVD (another one)

Sunday -- Kirk had to work today, kids and I went to church without him, I had power point today and recorded the sermon from our guest speaker Ed Black (a missionary to Croatia), took Noelle to Walmart to exchange her shorts (dad let her buy a size too small), got home and did dishes, walked to the store, made coleslaw and chicken drumsticks for dinner, did dishes, relaxed for a while, then wrote on this blog :)

Off to bed now, night all!

Thinking Ahead

The Weekend

On Friday Kirk and I looked at washing machines (decided against the used one) and bought a Maytag. Here's one of those purchases that I would love to have been American made but those were a couple hundred dollars more than we could afford. Lately, it seems as though everything we own is wearing out.

Noelle and I attended our church's mother/daughter brunch Saturday morning and had a really good time.
After we got home I spent most of the afternoon learning needlework stitches and working on my CQ square. Later in the evening we watched the movie Faith Like Potatoes.


Everyone else went to bed and I stayed up late mixing together the dry ingredients for the scones I was baking in the morning. I promised Ermagene I would make her two dozen and planned on giving the rest for cafe.

Breakfast Scones

2 cups unbleached white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon powdered cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup sour milk

Mix dry ingredients together well. Cut in butter. Add milk. Kneed dough on a floured surface a couple times then form into a log and cut in half. Pat each half of dough into an 8 inch circle and cut into 8 wedges. Separate wedges and place on a cookie sheet. Bake in a pre-heated, 400 degree oven for about 12 minutes. Makes 16 scones.

Kirk stayed home sick from church so the kids and I went without him. The rest of the day everyone lazed around and I practiced more stitches for my CQ. Dinner was a simple affair of ham, eggs, and waffles. Kyle got invited to go listen to Eric Hovind speak at a nearby high school and even spoke with him personally afterwards. He got home about 9:50 p.m. and really enjoyed himself.

Yesterday

Owen is now 4 years old. Isn't he handsome? We think so. We could have done something special for him but I don't think he noticed :-)
I carved out a corner in our multipurpose room for my sewing space. Its nice to have a place all set up and ready to go. I got the table at a yard sale last year.
In a post last March I said we were going to make this room into our bedroom but it just never happened. We need a new bed and it has to be taken through the window to get it down stairs, so we're waiting until we get a new bed. Hopefully that will be soon as it really is shot and it doesn't help with Kirk's back and neck problems. He gets up and goes to work everyday even though he's usually in a great deal of pain. Prayers for him would be appreciated.

I finally finished the sewing portion of my first CQ block.
Now I need to do the embroidery over the seams and any embellishment I want. You can see a finished example here. I joined an online group called CQembellishers because that's the part I'm looking forward to the most. They refer to it as eye candy. I use to cross stitch before the kids were born and when they were little. I always meant to learn other embroidery stitches and they are what you use in CQs.

For dinner I made what we call Breakfast Pizza. Its really simple but good!

Breakfast Pizza

1 tube crescent rolls
1 pound sausage, cooked and drained
4 eggs
2 tablespoons milk
3/4 cup shredded cheddar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Press crescent rolls into the bottom and slightly up the sides of a 9 x 13 inch pan. Spread sausage over crust. Whisk eggs and milk together, pour over sausage. Sprinkle with cheese and bake for about 15 minutes.

I actually did a variation on this yesterday. I used bacon, cooked and crumbled, in place of the sausage and used shredded swiss cheese instead of the cheddar. It was really good but I think I may have to increase the amount of eggs to 6 or decrease the amount of bacon to half. I served it with fruit and yogurt.

Tidbits of Life

The kids and I have been on a Doctor Who kick. Some of the episodes we were able to watch instantly on Netflix and others we had to get in the mail. I love the imagination and quirkiness of the show!

I also found a new website, Kids in Mind, to help us know more about movies we are considering watching. Although we are discontinuing Netflix at the end of April. Its time for more outdoor pursuits with the coming warmer weather.

We are also looking into buying another vehicle. The van is really nice but with all the gadgets, the insurance is too high. Ever since I saw one on a car lot last summer, I have really wanted a Ford Taurus X, so that is what we are looking for now. A Ford dealership is going to a Ford auction this week and will look for one for us.

I still haven't started my crazy quilt project but did check out Stitch Sampler from the library to help learn some new stitches. Noelle confiscated my one prom gown for dress up and now I don't have the cream satin material I needed. Hopefully yard sales will start back up soon and I'll find what I need there.

We're going to my Aunt Patty's house for Resurrection Sunday and it looks like the weather will be fairly decent. We have snow on the ground now but its supposed to be better by Sunday. I sure pray so!

Awana had crazy hat night Sunday and I'll leave you with what Noelle came up with.

Spring?

Yesterday, the last day of Winter, was partly sunny and in the 50s. Today, the first day of Spring, we woke up to snow on the ground. Hhmm....

I guess it would be a good time to start my next craft project. I've been learning about crazy quilting and plan on recycling some old prom/brides maid dresses for that. I also have some books waiting for me. Of course, there's always movies, the internet, and hanging with the kids. So many choices =D

Let the scrapbooking begin

I finally got the rest of the supplies I needed today. Bought a trimmer (mine's black), a pen for journaling, and some double sided tape. I have a nice blue 12" x 12" expandable scrapbook with side loading protectors (got is many years ago and can't even find any like it now but the top loadable ones will fit in it). It also came with some solid and patterned papers, stencils, photo tabs, and decorative edge scissors.

I have a dear friend who has made many scrapbooks in regular photo albums (and does a really nice job) who wants to do this with me. We're going to get together one night a week to do it. What a great motivator for a new hobby, adult girl time!

I do still have a lot of photo organizing to do when at home, as well as removing photos from old magnetic photo albums that the majority of my pictures are stored in. Please say a little prayer that none of my pictures get ruined while being removed.

Learning to Knit

I tried to get Noelle interested in knitting a year or so ago but she got too frustrated....

Over the holiday break while having fun at a friends house, she realized that a couple of her friends knew how to knit. When we were at the library a couple days later, she found a book called Kids Knitting and checked it out. When we got home she asked me if she could have some yarn and needles to learn to knit. After several attempts to follow the book she asked for my help. We snuggled up in a big chair together and struggled through some intense moments (she's working on her patience ;) I decided to "start" the scarf she wanted to knit for her American Girl doll so we could concentrate on just the stitches themselves. She stayed up knitting in her bed and now loves it!

She started this project herself and I caught her in the act this morning.

Betsy McCall

I was surfing the internet looking for paper dolls to print for Noelle and stumbled upon her.

http://www.thebleudoor.com/betsymccallhome.htm

Betsy McCall was introduced in 1951 and has many looks through the years of McCall magazine.

Too cute!

Fairie House

Finally got around to constructing it although its not finished yet. Let me know what you think.

We obviously need a front but then I couldn't take pictures.

Here is the inside without the roof on.

Its located at the base of a tree that leans toward the Northeast. After our first try at building at this site, a thunderstorm with heavy rain and large gusts of wind blew through and we thought it was ruined. Nope. Completely intact and only one side was a little damp.

Bargains for Scrapbooking

I read through those scrapbooking books from the library and one of them had an interesting idea for paper storage. I didn't think much more about it after that. Well, I was yard saling during our community yard sales and ended up finding the materials I needed, as well as a brand new scrapbook for $5. Seems like someone is trying to tell me something ;)

I've decided it will take me a while to gather all the supplies needed for scrapbooking so I will be waiting until winter to start. Unless it snows and I can go cross country skiing what else am I going to do?!

Here's a picture of my new scrap booking storage unit.

Did I mention that I got all the materials except the cable ties ($1) for free?

There are more wire squares and I only have 3 connectors left but I found the connectors online for $0.20 a piece.

I'm going to make some storage units for the kids because they really need them, there are no closets in their rooms. I really scored with this find as the wire cube units (6 cubes) sell for $35 a set.

Clay Camp 2

Well, clay camp is officially over. So what does the inkpot look like? I will never know. All the kids' pottery from the pottery wheel shattered into many many pieces during firing. Oh, well.

Here's a couple more things she made over the two weeks:

The windchimes will hang in dd's room.

I think the King Cobra is my favorite.

Her favorite new toy.


She's getting better at it all the time.

Clay Camp

Noelle is into week 2 of clay camp at the park. She loves to work with clay and is having a blast. I thought I'd share some of her work.

The top one is a coil pot and the lower one is a pinch pot. These had to be fired in a kiln before painting.

This rainbow was made from a self drying clay.

She also had the opportunity to use a potter's wheel and got clay all over herself which she thought was fun. However, she was not happy with the results (I haven't seen the ink pot yet) because she was trying to make a vase for me (such a sweet daughter).

Amigurumi

This little elephant is so cute and one of many free Amigurumi crochet patterns here. Noelle is in love with them and I guess I know what my next few projects will be :)

I also like these ones:

Here are some more patterns for amigurumi. I guess this little guy is my first project for my little dog lover.