$ 2.00 Wreath

Well my obsession with pinterest continues. I check it randomly throughout the day and I get a little upset if there are not any new pins on my page. I know people have lives but you could pin every once in a blue moon. Anyway, I see all of these wreaths and I really want one but there are so many things standing in my way. Like, justifing to myself spending the money on materials, going to a craft store to get the materials, and making myself spend the money on a wire frame. So today I was a little bored. I haven't sewn anything since my attempt at the bag and the bobbin issue (which I figured out why the bobbin was messed up-Aiden messed with the tension and I have yet to have time to fix it. ) And I really don't like any of the fabric that I have on hand and my next great sewing adventure will be Evan's Halloween costume which we are super excited about. Back to the boredom. I decided to try something. I grabbed a wire coat hanger, untwisted it, straightened it out by hand and with the pliers and then cut strips from two burlap sacks and tied them on. I didn't have much hopes for this when I started. It is a little smaller than I would like but it will do for now. Mike even complimented it and said it needs a bow-no ribbon on hand so no bow right now. Evan came home from school super excited that there was a wreath and I made it.

Anyway, here is the result of 1 wire coat hanger, 2 burlap bags, and about an hour during nap time-total cost $2.00.

The Learning Quilt

For some reason I decided to make a quilt. I think it was because I had birthday money left and thought I would buy fabric-that and Walmart now has precut fabric. So nice of them. I bought three pieces that I liked and then cut them using the folded marks on them because I don't like to measure so it seemed like the easiest thing to do and at first it worked. Well the first purchase did and I am sure the second would have had aiden not discovered what I was doing and needed to help me sort the squares from the rectangles. (Lately, we have made every project into a learning activity. Usually, she starts it and then I just go with it. She loves patterns and she then figured out I had a pattern going -well I did until the day before when she "helped" me by watching and I don't know what happened. Lesson learned-sewing is a one man sport in this house it does not need to be a team effort.) Anyway, the first 5 rows look good as far as alignment-stitching is a different story. The last two are all out of whack but I was tired of this project and ready to move on to my next one. Today I ran to Walmart in the rain with Aiden and the boys and picked up the backing and the batting. And tonight I put it all together. There are so many problems and errors with this that I could not list them all. My initial plan was to make something the boys could lay on and play in the living room because of the hardwoods. But in the last few weeks they have started scooting and are not staying on anything for long. So now it will become the blanket in the bottom of the pack n play. I know the backing is not a perfect color choice but I just grabbed something. I have some spots to fix on it in the morning. My sewing time is limited to when everyone is awake since I have to sew in the kitchen. Despite all the errors, I am sadly proud of this little quilt (can you call it a quilt if it is not quilted in the back? It will be tomorrow-maybe.) I wasn't trying to make it perfect. I was trying to teach myself to sew and to use the machine without wanting to kill it or break things (I only threatened it and called it stupid once.) I learned how to fix the machine problems-who knew there were different size bobbin spools...well I would have had I read the manual all the way through. Had I purchased all of my supplies prior to starting, I would not have taken too long to make it despite the day the bobbin fought back and the the upper thread coming unthreaded all the time. But I figured it all out.




Anyway, here is the Learning Quilt (the black dot is where Aiden laid her washable marker on it "accidentally"). Don't look at it too closely or it will scare you.

The misadventures with burlap

A few weeks ago while we were in Tractor Supply, I found burlap bags for a dollar each. I had been wanting to make the burlap cross for my front door and thanks to the most wonderful website in the world -Pinterest-I had many other ideas for burlap. I wanted a candycorn, a pumpkin, a Santa hat, etc. So I snuck in and started cutting out my first Candycorn. It was smaller than I needed but I was trying to conserve my burlap and it was a trial run. And then my helper found me. Which ended up turning into a lesson on mixing colors to get the right colors we needed...we needed orange and I had yellow and red. So she wanted to paint and I realized that I have never really crafted with Aiden. Evan has always hogged it and it became a fight or a bigger chore so our crafting was limited to whatever they do at church. So I let Aiden paint and paint she did. When she wasn't painting she informed me that she needed to be painting. So the first candy corn was small and I really didn't like my decorating. The second looked more like an egg-so I know what I am doing for Easter. Then I decided to tackle the cross. I learned that burlap is easier to cut in singles and not doubled up. It was hard to cut out and then I painted it red (because I had the most of that color) and put black dots on it. I couldn't decide if it reminded me of a ladybug or a watermelon. So I tossed all of those and cut out letters today for Aiden to have something to do. These are the results. I told her we would glue them together, glue some ribbon on and they will be Christmas ornaments. I still have some scraps and if I can get back to Tractor Supply and they have bags then I am going to get a few more. Aiden loved painting and her favorite thing was when I found clear glitter paint to cover the letters. Oh, I was a rock star for a few minutes. The girl loves her sparkles.

Here are her ornaments (she chose the colors and we need to trim up some strings that escaped when painting)

My Next 30 Years

Last Saturday I turned the Big 3 0. It was not as traumatic as I thought it would be-maybe since I was so tired and never thought about it until Mike reminded me or I had to console Aiden that I was not going to look like an old lady overnight. I woke up with heartburn and my back was so sore I could not move-four kids laying on me at various times. So I felt old Saturday and I was in a really foul mood. In the midst of all of the fighting I was breaking up (a typical Saturday around here now that that is the only time the girls are really together) I came up with my To Do list for my next 30 years. (This is not in the order of importance).

1.) learn to sew -I did this week. Not hard at all-I guess I was just not mature enough in my 20s.

2.) Eat at the Lady and Sons

3.) Cook with Paula Deen in her kitchen.

4.) Meet Ian Somerhalder-and not get arrested while doing so.

5.) Visit the Vampire Diaries set-it is so close. I am pretty sure I can be there and back before dinner.

6.) Go on a long road trip to Wyoming and Montana.

7.) Go back to Hilton Head Island. Quite possibly the most laid back place I have ever been.

8.) Master this gardening thing.

9.) Be crafty-I am trying but it just hasn't clicked yet.

10.) Break free of my jeans and t shirt/velour pants and jacket and tshirt look.

11.) Be brave enough to have red hair.

12.) Learn to ride a horse

13.) Wear really large hats in my late 50s.

14.) Wear linen with my really large hats.

15.) Set time out of my day for my Bible time-reading my Bible app at 6:30 every morning does not count.

16.) Have legs like Heidi Klum

I was hoping to come up with 30 things. One for each of my next 30 years but I went blank after 16. Maybe that is a good thing though. With that many I have enough time to focus on everything.

Hello Blog, I've missed you

I didn't look at my posting list but I think the last time I blogged has been several weeks. And oh there are some major milestones in the last few weeks. Evan started school and loves it. I completely lost it the day we took her to school. I had what I was going to say to her in my head and when the mom's took her and told her to tell me bye, I lost it. I gave her a hug, turned and made it to the door before I could not control the tears anymore. I even considered buying her a cell phone so she could call me at anytime-don't worry, I quickly let go of that idea because that would just be asking for trouble. I also considering sitting in the parking lot and waiting on her all day-a note in the code of conduct said I could not. So we got there at 1:30 and waited for her for an hour and a half. If I could have pushed those buses out of the way, I would have. She has done really well so far. Her goal is a smiley face everyday and I worry if she ever has a day when she does not get one if she will want to go back the next day. She has also stopped eating us out of house and home. I pack her a lunch fit for a small army and she barely eats half of it. She has never been a big breakfast person but she won't eat hardly anything in the mornings and I worry she will be starving but she seems to have it all handled. She has been tested on things and has done really well on each test-this really pleases me because I worried she didn't get enough prep last year in our halfway attempt at homeschooling.

This week-the third week of school-we get our first note home about the L bug being found on a kid. Let me just say this...I do not do bugs crawling on me so this has bothered me. Usually, I just ask Evan questions and then panic when she/they can not see me but today I panicked. Even though she was cleared I went to the store this afternoon and bought the three step process just in case. I checked her and she is clear and I checked Aiden. I, of course, feel bugs crawling all over me just thinking about it.

Now to the boys: they are trying to cut teeth and crawl. These teeth are about to drive us nuts. Us being me and the boys. The crawling is funny because for the most part they look like they are trying to swim but if you watch Easton, he will dig his toes in the carpet and then kick off in a scoot. Whatever works.

We signed both girls up for dance today. We will be there on two different nights (oh joy) but Aiden is so excited and so is Evan. Why do tap shoes make little girls so happy? The same reason they make the mama's ill-the noise?

I have been trying to organize the girls room and the playroom and really just trying to keep from repainting the playroom and our bathroom. I am trying to put it off but it will eventually happen thanks to pinterest.

So that's that.

Our last "Hoorah"

Thursday we left for a quick trip to the beach. The girls loved Orange Beach back in June but they wanted to go to their favorite places in PCB and kept telling us how much they needed to go back. Truth be told: Mike and I needed another trip and I am using my kids as an excuse. Unless we go out of town, we are never in the same place at the same time-even if he is off we are going in a million directions and rushing so this was a much needed trip. Paw, Karen, Erin, T and Unc Dave also made the trip which meant-much needed help for me. The girls were entertained and had lots of people to play with. They even got in the ocean which they had both declared would not happen after the huge waves knocked them down back in June. And while we are talking huge waves-Friday the waves were huge. I have never seen them that big before-thanks TS Don for that.

Anyway, I say this is our last Hoorah because in 15 days my baby girl starts school and we become slaves to the county school calendar. I am not happy about her starting school and I am not happy about a schedule. I haven't had an actual schedule since I quit working 6 years ago. Other than church, I have no where to be at any given time unless a doctors appt pops up. So getting up, getting Evan ready for school, getting 4 kids out the door is going to be a challenge because I hate to be late to anything. I have told Mike he needs to make arrangements to be home the morning of her first day because someone is going to have to make me leave the parking lot. I have "plans" of taking my lunch and a snack and just sitting there all day. I haven't figured out what to do with Aiden and the boys yet but I am sure it would come to me.

I am trying to get Evan on a schedule now. I make her lay down for anywhere from 30mins to an hour every day and tonight we are going to bed early. When she lays down she watches tv, which I know is not going to happen at school but if it keeps her laying down right now then tv she will watch.

I don't think Aiden is going to handle Evan going to school well. They play all day and she is going to be bored and my house is going to be quiet. I think. Lucas is trying to crawl now and I guess more chaos is coming. (Yes at 4 mths he is on his chest, holding his head up, and pushing his legs like a frog. Easton is rolling over now but he doesn't really seem to care if he does anything after that or not.)

I learned a few things from our last Hoorah. One, Lucas does not travel well unless you sit and talk to him. Two, getting two babies on the beach is A LOT of work. Three, all cars should come standard with a divider between the front and back and Four, I don't travel well on 4 hours of sleep. Oh and five, really big waves=the water coming up higher on the beach thus getting into your babies tent and trying to wash them out to sea. Lucas was sound asleep when the wave hit and tried to wash them out. They didn't move but he was not too happy getting wet. Easton was awake and he wasn't happy either.

Blueberry "surdup"

My original plan for last year's blueberries that were taking up space in the freezer was to make blueberry jelly. But here is the thing...I don't like blueberry jelly. I love fresh blueberries and it seems I now like the frozen again but that was about it. I don't think I have ever had a blueberry pie so I was trying to figure out another thing to do with the blueberries. So I googled (oh how I love google) "ways to preserve blueberries". Blueberry syrup came up. And that was my original recipe. So days later (this stayed on my computer for about a week because I was out of lids and big jars) I decide to make the syrup. But I wasn't too crazy about the recipe I had so I googled again. This one came from the pickyourown website...http://www.pickyourown.org/blueberrysyrup.htm. So far, the pick your own people have yet to let me down so this is what I went with. Oh my house smelled so good. I ended up with 2 1/2 quart jars and a half pint of "surdup" as Aiden calls it. I tasted it as I was canning because I needed to know, you know. Oh yum. This stuff is good. If I didn't have the crock pot going with chicken teryaki I would be making pancakes for dinner. Aiden even liked it and she is not a "surdup" fan. Tomorrow we will have pancakes for breakfast and I honestly can't wait.

I didn't take pictures because my hands were covered in blueberries and my camera had already had one close call this week (Evan brought it out on the deck dangling it by her fingers announcing she had taken it away from Aiden). I did not yield the amount of juice they said I would probably because I did not have a juicer and I was trying to calm Lucas down-the shots have made for some fussy boys today. I tried to squeeze as much juice out with my hands before boiling and then again with a glass once they had cooked. I ended up with 2 cups of juice. The recipe called for 7 cups of sugar for 4-5 cups of juice so I halfed it and used 2 cups juice and 3 1/2 cups of sugar. I think this would even be good on vanilla ice cream-might have to try it.


My little canning hobby could get expensive. Today I spent about 12 dollars on new jars and lids-if I had noticed before I left that I did not have any rings it would have cost more. My neighbor left cucumbers on my front porch so I may be making pickles again. I also have two quarts of last years blueberries left and I found another canning idea of the syrup and the whole berries for pies/cakes. And then the tomatoes. I bought a salsa packet today and maybe I will make it one day.

**Note**the syrup was by far the most involved and lengthy thing I have canned. A juicer or a food processor (which I have but didn't want to deal with) would probably have cut the time and effort in half. Blueberry syrup is not something that I normally buy-occasionally I buy strawberry but mostly maple but I had blueberries on hand and needed to do something with them to free up some freezer space and to not waste the berries.

I am also going to need another cabinet with all of my canning. I guess I could clean mine out but I would like to separate my canning from what I purchase-only because I keep snacks for the girls to grab if I can't get to it, in the same cabinet and I can just see jars of pickles or syrup getting broken and ending up in the kitchen floor.