It's about time...

For a new diaper bag! For a while all we have put in the diaper bag are diapers (duh;) and wipes. So hauling around a large bag was getting pretty annyoing, and it had put in it's time, it was getting pretty ratty. So I took Jack to the fabric store and let him pick what he liked. He chose 'car momie' with 'lighting mi-teen'. I have some fabric left over so I think I am going to make him a backpack to put some toys in. He probably wont understand it, but I like to sew, so there!

I had a rough time with this pattern, the tutorial was not so much on the clear side, but I am fairly happy with the way it turned out. I am going to make a few modifications and make one for me;)

I wanted to give a diaper clutch a try and for now we still need them... hopefully not for too much longer!

Impatiently waiting...

While I am waiting for my serger to come I have tried to make things that don't really need it... until today, I just couldn't resist making a summer skirt! I haven't sewn with this kind of material before and it took some getting used to. I think I am going to shorten it a bit because it ended up pretty long, and I didn't finish off the elastic waist band because... I have lost 12 pounds in the last few months and I am planning on losing more, this way I can take in the seam on the sides a little and cinch up the elastic and it will last longer! hooray!


Yeah, looking at this picture it looks way too long...

This is what the pattern actually looks like... the camera had a hard time capturing it

No, sadly I don't have any announcements to make... I just saw this bib and LOVED it!! it was sooo easy to make, I plan on doing some more... maybe start up a stash of go-to baby shower gifts, not that I go to very many, but hey, it seems like a good excuse to me

The garden side of things...

So I am now OBSESSED with felt!! It is so cute when it is all made up and my kids absolutely love it! Oh, I decided to show them now because I wanted to sew more than one hour a night after they go to sleep;) It has been so much fun planning it out, it is pretty much all I think about ;) I started with the garden side of the playhouse and so here is what I have so far:

The corn can be removed from the husks, the bird and lettuce are attached to velcro so they are also removeable. The carrots are "planted" in the soil, and I am trying to decide what else to make, there are lots more plots to sow! that weird looking plant at the bottom right isn't a weed, it is a strawberry plant, I just haven't had time to make the strawberries yet. And I cant decide what to put on the sign... any cute ideas?? Well, off to sew some more!!

The perfect kind of day

I just love this kid!! He has become a pretzel MONSTER the last few days! He has devoured half a bag in two days... hmmm, thinking back that may be a little too much salt for him... anyways, he was so cute this morning with his milk and pretzels yelling at Dora;)


I have been blogstalking some crafty websites and kept seeing felt food come up, so of course I decided I must make it! So I started googling patterns and saw this adorable felt playhouse... so yeah, I am totally making my kids one! I wanted to do it for Abby's birthday, but I may not be able to keep it a secret for that long;) anyways, I started last night on making some stuff for the outside, I am going to make a vegetable garden on one side so I started with a few of those...

Some lettuce and carrots, and a cute little squirrel to scamper in the tree I am planning for another side of it... It is soooo addicting! I am going to try and do it only when the kids are asleep so it will be somewhat of a surprise, I may make it for Jack's birthday in a few weeks, I could probably keep it a secret until then;)

If you want to see my inspiration... check out this site : http://homemadebyjill.blogspot.com/2009/10/felt-playhouse.html

This one is for you Sydney...

This is a tutorial for a checkbook cover... super easy! In fact, I made dinner and this tutorial in about an hour! Can't get better than that;)

I don't know how to re-order the pictures after they are loaded... so we will start with the two I already made;) The inside of this one is lime green...

The inside of this one is that pink on the flower petals




First things first, gather your supplies
1/4 yard main fabric
1/4 yard lining
1/4 yard medium weight interfacing
and all the other typical sewing supplies





Cut all three layers 7x13
so, 1/4 yard will make two with some left over... great gift idea... mother's day and such... hint hint;)

If you are using fusible interfacing, attatch it according to directions on the package

Then pin your main fabric and lining right sides facing together

Ignoring my random projects behind the machine... Sew with a 1/4 inch seam, leaving an opening for turning. Backstitch at the opening

Trim all four corners

Dont mind the ironing board cover either... I am recovering that tonight... ;) Turn right side out and press

Topstitch all the way around, backstitch in the begining and when you get back around to the start

Just in case you don't know what a topstitch looks like;)

Fold the ends up at 2 3/4 inches and pin

On both sides

Sew down one side, getting as close to your original seam as possible. Then repeat on the other side

Fold in half and iron. voila! you are finished! Embelish as desired.

Not to toot my own horn...

Okay, well maybe just a few toots... like two or three;) I LOVE the way this dress turned out!!!

fabric up close

This picture really doesn't do the dress justice... it looks sooo cute in action!!

Dad's rig

Ben had to go out of town last week for work, and since this blog isn't private I decided not to post anything about it until he got back. Before he left he brought his rig home and let the kids play in it. They loved it!!

Not only is it a cool big truck (Ben even has to climb up stairs to get into it) it also has a cool driver seat that goes up and down with the push of a button... yeah, they played with that for probably thirty minutes! Then Ben kicked them out because they were using all the air (to make the chair work)... Honestly, what did he expect when he showed them that cool trick;)

Ew! They got a bath right after;)

Just to prove he exists... he always says I only take pictures of the kids, so here you go!

Four temper tantrums later...

Just in case I havent told you yet, Jack is VERY stubborn! The kids were outside a few mornings back and I heard crying... It looked like Jack had fallen off the swing. I helped him up and started to walk away when he threw himself on the rocks and began crying even louder... I helped him up and he did it again (seriously child?? What the heck?!) So I took him in the house, he went back outside and did it again!!! No joke! So I thought fine, he will figure out it hurts and eventually not do it anymore... kinda mean, but I was getting frustrated... He did stop and got some nasty cuts from it. He got a giant bruise on his noggin, and a cut above his eye that you can't really see in this picture and this nasty thing on his cheek.

Just because I thought it was cute;) I have been trying to capture this face for weeks! The camera comes out and he immediately stops doing it!

One success, and one failure... sort of;)

I have found this crazy good sewing/crafting website that I am now obsessed with and must make one of everything on their site! So I started off with this... not too hard, I had made a dress similar to it, but this is a shirt! And didn't use ribbon before, so this was a fun change. Abby loves it! But it was too late when I finished it, so she didn't model for me;)

So easy! definitely going to make a few more!
This was my 'failure' It was a new pattern, and something I have never tried-sleeves! It went together pretty well considering it was my first time! I tried it on Abby and it was too tight, yes I could have forced her to wear it because I loved it, but instead it is going to my friends daughter, Rylie- you totally owe me a pic of her in it! It isn't hemmed yet, and the elastic in the sleeves and neck are just a guess... waiting for Jack to wake up so I can guesstimate on him;) I will be trying this one again, just bigger around this time! And the pattern is actually for a man's button down shirt... meaning you cut up the shirt and turn it into a dress... good thing I tried on scrap material first!


if you are interested to see what the heck I am talking about... www.dana-made-it.com/2008/07/tutorial-shirt-dress.html

I must have taken my crazy pill this morning...

I took Abby, Jack and a baby I sit to the Boulevard Home Furnishing today... not to look around... but to see Dora, Boots and Spongebob! Yeah, I am pretty much crazy! I thought the characters would be walking around... nope! you had to stand in a 30 minute line... for each character!!!! That is why we only saw Dora... I am a mean mom... We got in line for Dora, and she left!! So mad! I guess they take a break every ten minutes because the costume is hot, toughen up! (just kidding... I probably would want a break that often too, maybe even sooner;) so after what felt like an eternity, she finally showed up!

Yep, this is the best on I got... between Olivia crying (the stroller stopped moving;) and trying to hurry so the other kids could have a chance, I didn't have a lot of time, or patience by then. I got Jack to look at me once, and his eyes were shut! oh well, this proves he was there. I was trying to get them to not spend too much time because the line was so long behind us, and this mom two people in front of us took like 3 or 4 minutes, making her kids pose in different ways and checking her pictures on the camera to make sure she got a good shot. yeah, I was pretty mad by the time she got done, there were probably 30 kids behind us and Dora was getting ready to leave again!
This clown made Abby a poodle and Jack a sword (out of balloons, silly;). Jack didn't have any interest and Abby's came apart within 10 minutes, that was a major trauma.

Sew therapeutic

Sewing is my therapy... my release... the time when I can leave my troubles behind and let my creative juices flow... Let's just say that I have been needing it the last few days. I went to Joann's and they had a KILLER sale!! (runnning through Saturday if anyone needs to stock up;) I made this skirt for Abs for $3!!! I also got fabric to make a blanket for Jack's birthday, which is coming up in just over a month. Sad, my baby is growing up! Anywho, I threw this little number together last night and headed back this morning for some more fun, so I will post some more when I get there! And on a side note, I accidentally bought more than I needed so I am going to attempt a headband and a bag. She is such a diva, and I am making her that way... oh well!!

Kindergarten... already??

Is it really that time already? How time flies! Abby will be starting kindergarten in the fall... boy is she ready! She has an amazing vocabulary and her favorite books in the library are non-fiction ones, mostly about dinosaurs or pets but lately about the solar system. She is always so ready to learn and has a long attention span! She is learning 'sight words' in preschool (words she should know by sight, and not have to sound out), and we are teaching her to read at home. She just shocked me by bringing me a book and reading it to me by herself, granted there was only one line on each page, but wow! She has been going to 'kindergarten bootcamp' at Washington Elementary this week to get the kids ready for school...

Sooo sweet!
This is Abby and her friend from preschool, Lacey

No Jack Ulawd!

Abby was mad at Jack the other day for 'messing up her clean room!'. So she wrote him a little note... At first she put 'No Jack Ulawd. Fmv Abby Tot Jack' (For some reason when she writes from she always puts fmv) I told her that wasn't nice and he just wanted to play with her, she said she was just kidding and she forgot to finish the sign. She came back a few minutes later and had added 'In Frij'. I love how she always writes her 'j' backwards... I should probably be correcting that... And I think it is cute she tried to spell out the words on her own;)

Easter

The kids woke up to baskets full of candy and prizes. Abby got a new dress and a princess Tiana doll, Jack got a new church outfit and a really annoying ambulance... I know, I bought it... I shouldn't buy toys that make a lot of noise, but he picked it out. And since he probably didn't remember buying it, and doesn't understand the concept of Easter bunny, I got away with letting him get something he actually wanted. Usually I buy him something and he would rather be playing with Abby's stuff;)

He was so excited to open these up, but he hated the taste of them!

Jack's spiffy new outfit

Abby's pretty dress

Easter part one... Saturday!

Saturday was full of fun! In the morning we went to our traditional egg hunt, in Santa Clara. Then I went off to work while Ben entertained the kids, and we met back up for a bbq and egg hunt with the extended family. The kids loved it and were on a sugar high pretty much all day long! And probably will be again tomorrow...

Notice the cute little kid standing behind Abby? This is minutes after Abby stole a prize egg literally from his reach. At the hunt, they had plastic eggs that you turn in for a prize. She was so excited she ran around like crazy trying to get one... Well so did all the other kids! She saw one this kid was bending down to get, and well, she took it right before he picked it up! Yeah I was mortified! (Dont worry, he ended up getting a plastic egg, too. or I would have made Abby give it to him;) He ended up throwing a fit and not wanting to hunt anymore... Yeah my kid is a bully;)
He picked up this egg, probably because we brainwashed him to get it... It was a prize one! While we were waiting we kept telling him, "see that egg?" or "get the egg!" Well, it worked and he ran straight for it.... Stood there and looked at it, and eventually picked it up. Lucky for him, it was the 0-2 age group, so no Abby size kids to steal it from him. He picked that up and was pretty much done... not interested in the candy, until he opened it and realized how yummy it was;)

He loves uncle 'Jake' yeah, everyone uncle is Jake to him... sorry Nate

Caught in the act! This is after I told him 'no'

Notice the pile of eggs behind them?? Jack and Miles were staring each other down, ignoring the eggs!