Christmas Crafting

Now that Christmas is over, I can share the things I made:




I made this Amy Butler short pleated apron for my MIL. Originally I wanted to have the floral and stripe reversed, but I was about 2" short on the floral, and didn't want to shorten it. I'm still happy with how it turned out.











These are lounge pants for my BIL, an Arizona Cardinals fan. I used Butterick 4358.















Another Amy Butler apron, this one for my SIL, Julie.










Pyjama pants for Julie, made from flannel (isn't this a great print?). I used McCalls 3019, and shortened the crotch 2" after comparing the pattern to a pair of RTW jammie bottoms I already have. I gave her a RTW black long sleeve tee to match.









I added the mock fly by extending the CF about 1.5", and eyeballing a fly shape. :) real technical, I know.









Lastly, a cross stitch embroidery from the book Subversive Cross Stitch. When I saw this in the book I knew I had to stitch this for my friend Beth. It was very fast to do, and later this week we'll go and get it framed.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Some More Birthday Wishes

Happy Birthday Mom!

Pulled Tooth!

Calvin lost a tooth yesterday morning!
Yesterday morning during breakfast he asked for soft foods. I asked him if he wanted me to pull it. He asked how I would do that and I said, "I'll grab it with my fingers and yank it". Ok, he tells me. I was in the middle of putting bread in the breadmaker, so I said to hold on a bit. Then I hear him say "Wow, that was easy", and he's holding his tooth!

The other top front tooth is loose too, but I think we have a while for it yet. Now I need to go over to the bank to get some golden dollars. Calvin informed me I need to get 3 because I still owe him from the previous two lost teeth. Bad mama. :)

Plugging Away

Not much to post, since I can't really talk about the holiday sewing or post pictures because people will see! After Christmas, I promise.

I did get most of the presents wrapped yesterday. It's raining here again too.

Sleepy Baby

Connor has been starting to drop his naps. I thought Saturday was going to be a no-nap day, but after a full meal of roast chicken, mashed potatoes/gravy, and green beans, he just couldn't stay awake:

He missed the apple pie for dessert.

The Inner Life of a Cell

I don't watch the news, but I guess on ABC last night or the night before they had this segment on a video made for biology lectures at Harvard. Dr. Lue, the Director of Life Sciences Education felt it would be a good way for undergrads to see how a cell works. It was so neat to watch, so we searched (love that Google!), and found a nice high res 3 minute version. Now, I had no idea just what I was watching (though it is really really cool), so I did some more searching and found this blog post with a quick play-by-play of what's shown. Granted, I'm still a bit lost with all the terminology, but it's still really cool. :D According to the company that created the video, this is the first in a planned series. I sure hope they make a 'for the masses' version -- I'd love to see more! (the music is good too -- reminds me of Rob D's Clubbed to Death Kurayamino Remix from The Matrix soundtrack. that sample doesn't give you much. the piano at the end is what i'm talking about.)

My lucky duck husband also got to see a bit of the northern lights last night! I guess there was a huge solar flare yesterday, and our neighbor came over and told him that he had to go down to the lake and see the lights. David bundled up Connor and went down and said it was really cool. I had already taken the older two boys to Cub Scouts. When we got home he told us about it and we all went to see, but they were gone. :( I would so dearly love to see the northern lights (those and the Southern -- as in hemisphere -- night sky). We did get to see Orion and Ursa Major very clearly, which was neat.

I hope to try again tonight.

Decking the Halls

We started decorating for Christmas this weekend. I love my nativity -- I think partly because Mary is holding baby Jesus, just like a new mama would.

On Friday Caleb and I put up the garland on the bookshelf in the living room, and we also put up the tree (fake. I'd prefer real, but David likes fake, and when I found this tree at a rummage sale for $10 a few years ago, well, how could I pass it up?). Then, on Saturday, I put the lights on the tree, the boys started putting the LEGO train track around it, bumped it all over, loosened it in the stand, so I took all the lights off, took the tree apart, and put it up again, making sure it was STUCK HARD in the stand. ~sigh~ Then I put the lights back on. Sunday afternoon we put the ornaments on. About half of them stayed in the boxes, as I don't want them broken. There are now clumps of ornaments on the tree, and bare spots with no ornaments. I guess that's one of the side benefits of decorating with kids. :) I'll take some of my pretty hand blown glass ornaments and hang them from the dining room chandelier. I also need two more extension cords for the garlands on the dining room mirror and stair railing.

The boys spent last evening putting together the LEGO train for under the tree. If you are LEGO nuts like us, you might like to click over to Peeron.com, and create an account (it's free). You can inventory all your LEGO sets, and also get lists of what is needed for a specific LEGO set. This makes it so much easier to find pieces ahead of time (we sort and store our pieces by color in drawers). We got the engine and passenger car built last night, plus they created some other things for the track. The Advent calendar is all airport stuff, which works well with the train. I'm sure things will change daily under the tree!

Champion!

Calvin had his first gymnastics meet last night, and he won FOUR medals! He was in the 7 and under category. I wish I would have gotten some video of when they called his name the first time. He had this look on his face like "hey, there's someone else named Calvin? Wait a minute! That's me!!". It was especially funny because he is the only boy. He was so giggly by the third time. Anyone who knows him can just imagine his face and his hand on his forehead, "I can't believe this!".

He placed first in Vault (9.3), Beam (8.45 I think), and Floor (8.8). Here is his floor exercise:


He placed second All Around (I don't remember his score). Afterwards, we went to Culver's to celebrate. :D We had such a good time, and he was so proud of himself. Gymnastics has been so good for him. Monday is his last class, and he's extra excited for it to start up again in January. He wanted to call a bunch of people last night, but then was too tired.

Way to go Calvin, I'm so proud of you!

When Fabric Speaks

I bought this fabric to make an apron for myself, but as I was preparing it, it kept whispering "I don't belong with you, I belong in Nashville. I belong with Rowena". When fabric speaks I've learned to listen. (Fabric does speak, you know. Sometimes it's a whisper, sometimes a shout) If you don't listen, it doesn't shut up. Trust me, I know. :) This is the short pleated apron from Amy Butler's book In Stitches (apron reviewed here).

So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROWENA!!! I hope you enjoy using this as much as I enjoyed making it for you.

A Very Productive Weekend

It was a long one too! Friday started out with a blizzard, and no school for Caleb (which we found out when we got there! I gotta remember to start checking that sort of thing). Our official snowfall total was 11 inches. So, the boys spent most of the day in and out of the snow, playing here, playing there, having a great time. I had a fire going for most of the day, and after getting the snow cleared, I got some sewing done. A friend came for a sleepover, we roasted marshmallows in the fireplace, and stayed warm.

Saturday was more playing in the snow and sewing/cutting for me! My holiday sewing has started with a bang! The boys went with a friend to get her Christmas tree, then we all had supper and played a rousing game of Sorry!.

Sunday was church and relaxing. Yes, even more sewing for me. :D Calvin and I made an apple pie (yum) and he and Connor made pie crust pizza with the scraps. An excellent ending to a long weekend.

David, unfortunately, spent most of the weekend sleeping, fighting off a cold, but he seems better today and made it in to work.

Canvasbacks Sale

If you are in the area, Canvasbacks is having one of their sales starting today. It goes through Saturday. I can't remember the hours, but it's something like 10-4 today and tomorrow, and 9-12 Saturday. Fabric is upstairs on the third (or fourth?) floor. I won't be going (I have enough stuff!), but great fabrics are to be had. One year I bought a bunch of lovely rayon knits for $4/yard. Prices will range from $2-$20/yard.

Canvasbacks
224 W. Washington St.
Milwaukee, WI 53204

Have fun!

Comic Top

for 7 years old, Calvin isn't a bad photographer

I made another top for myself on Monday, and hemmed it yesterday. This is Simplicity 4076 again (also View D), but with long sleeves. I had to shorten them 2 inches. I bought this fabric from Ressy's co-op a few years ago. Isn't it cool? I love comic books (oops, I'm sorry, "graphic novels"). My original plan was to make tops for my boys, but when the fabric came and I saw it was all sparkly and mostly a girl on it, I figured it was for ME. Caleb likes the silver sparkles, but he agrees, he wouldn't wear a shirt with girls all over it. This took 1.75 yards, so I have 2.25 yards left. Any ideas as to what I should do with the extra? I was toying with doing a DVF style wrap dress, finished off with black FOE.

30 yards

Thirty yards of 118" wide fabric for sheers arrived on Monday (yep, a big jump in the $ spent and yardage in stats). I have my big project for the next few weekends! This will be for the living room (2 88" wide windows, 2 45" windows) and the dining room (1 96" window). Now I have to get some rods for the wide windows.

My friend Alysia works at Calico Corners, and she helped me figure the yardage and how to pleat them up. Making curtains is fairly easy, but I find it boring. Lots of long, straight cuts and stitching. Once I get them up, then I'll figure out the outer curtains. At least I'll have something up, I'm beginning to feel like I'm in a fishbowl when I sit in the living room!

Six New Covers

I finished Connor's diaper covers yesterday (reviewed over a year ago here). Six brand new covers -- sorely needed! I ran out of white capped snaps, so only 3 are functional right now. After setting 63 snaps and changing a diaper, I found out I put them on backwards (meaning I put the sockets where the studs should go, and vice versa). ~SIGH~ I probably wouldn't have had enough sockets anyway. If he takes after his brothers, he'll be out of diapers in July. These should last that long.

After the covers were done, I also did some cutting, adding 4 yards to my "out" stat. I plan to do some more cutting today, and then on to more sewing!

Off to get that cranberry coffee cake made. Yum yum!

Thanksgiving Aftermath

We had a lovely Thanksgiving:


The brined turkey was fabulous (oh did it make the most delicious gravy). Turkey paninis were had yesterday, and I now have five pints of stock in my freezer, with one more in the fridge for either soup or pot pie. A cranberry coffee cake will be made tomorrow, and there is one more helping of mashed potatoes left.

Now to get in the sewing room and spend some time on myself!

Thankfulness

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!
I am grateful for:

- my wonderful husband who works hard so that I can be home to raise our boys.

- our wonderful children who make me laugh, smile, and aggravated every day. I wouldn't trade it for anything.

- family, both near and far.

- friends (online and IRL) that I can go to for anything and support me.

- that we have enough, and can share and help others.

Off to get started on breakfast, then on to fixing Thanksgiving dinner!

Rowr!

We saw Casino Royale last night. Daniel Craig is absolutely yummy as Bond. The man has a fabulous body, but there's just something more about a delicious man in an impeccably tailored tuxedo (sans jacket), sitting in a shower. :)

btw -- if you haven't seen it yet, rent L4yer Cake for more Daniel Craig.

Assembly Line Sewing

I don't like assembly line sewing. It's boring and tedious. It always reminds me of the few months I worked in a patio furniture factory, sewing cushions and umbrellas. BORING! I got to where I could stitch together a patio umbrella in under an hour, and I was one of the slow ones. To this day I cannot sit under one without looking up to see how it's put together.

However, Connor really needs new diaper covers. These were cut out a few weeks (months?) ago, and I'm now getting them put together. Next I'll do something fun and pretty.

Painted Kitchen

"I paint too, Mama!" You can see we had some excellent help in getting the kitchen painted. :D

When the boys and I got home on Saturday night, from Chicago, we found that David had painted all the trim! Hooray! Less painting for me! This meant we could start right away on painting the walls. Sunday morning I started the cut-in work. I prefer to freehand the edges instead of taping; in the few places I taped, it doesn't look as nice. After I had gotten about 3/4 of the way done with the cut work, David came down and started rolling. Once we got the first coat of paint on, we left for the hardware store and mall (I needed to pick up some outlet covers and switchplates, plus we needed to get a birthday present). When we got home, I started the second coat, with more cut-in work. Monday afternoon I finished the second coat on the walls. There are a few little touch ups to do on the trim but ....

.... it's done! :D We are thinking about stamping a fleur de lis design on the walls in silver, and then roughing or wiping it off so it looks worn.

Now on to window treatments (ugh!).

The Windy (and very rainy) City

On Friday the boys and I went down to Chicago to visit with Peter and Julie. We got there mid-afternoon, and it started raining a bit later. You need to have a parking sticker/permit in order to park after 6 pm, so we walked over (in the rain) to the alderman's office to get one. It was closed! Luckily it was still early enough that I easily found parking on a non-permit street.

For supper, we went for pizza at Giordano's. YUMMY! Again, we walked (it's only 2 blocks or so), and it was kinda funny: two mamas, a baby, a toddler who insisted on holding his own umbrella that was bigger than he is, and two older boys. It was so windy our umbrellas kept blowing inside out! Then the puddles! oy vey! :D We did have a fun time and a delicious meal.

Saturday we went to see the Day of the Dead exhibit at the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum. Families had come in and made ofredas to the deceased. We saw altars to people of all ages: a singer, a radio personality, a police officer, and more. One could look upon their whole life history in the altar. There was an area that we could leave ofredas of our own, and both Caleb and Calvin left a note for my dad. We also browsed the little gift shop, along with 2 other exhibits.




Otherwise, we spent the time just hanging out and playing with Cuzzy. Calvin read stories to him, Connor read stories to himself. They wrestled and roughhoused, and pouted and cried. Laughed and played, watched TV and ate lots of treats.