My talent on display

I had the talent for FHE tonight and realized it this morning as we were getting ready for school.  So before we left, I chose a project and spent the morning working on it.  I plan on making a small quilt for a teacher at school and she loves owls, so this is "two birds" with one stone.

But the point of this post isn't to brag, rather to laugh.  I was nearing completion of the block and sewed on the beak of one of two owls.  Here it is.

And then I noticed that I didn't see the 2nd block I was working on.  Oh, here it is!  I sewed it behind the first one...right at the beak!  Duh.  I didn't want to spend so much time unpicking on this project!  But what a talent!  LOL.

Before and After

We scored some chairs from Chad's aunt, via his parents who were trying their hardest to get rid of them.

When I saw the chairs, I knew they would be perfect for the desks in the kids' rooms. I thought I might be able to recover them for personality. :)

I finally got around to my project yesterday and just finished up today.

Here was what each chair looked liked:


Here was my first chair, for the boys:


Here is the 2nd chair, for the girls:


I'm just so proud of myself (so you don't need to be) that I actually finished this project! That's what my self-esteem needed...a little success.

The fabric was less than $2 each chair (clearance at Hancock Fabrics). The only other materials I consumed were heavy duty staples and threads from the serger and sewing machine. Plus, I got to use a stitch on my machine that I'd never paid attention to before. It's a stitch that is like sewing 3 seams very close together...but all in one pass.

My time was less than 3 hours total (there was a bit of a learning experience with the first chair).

And now I can go back to being lazy and unproductive.

Matchy-matchy

I was cleaning up my bedroom/sewing room and came across some large scraps of fabric that seemed perfect for making skirts for the girls. It took me two days, but I came up with some skirts that the girls now like to twirl around in.

Well, the twirling WAS fun, until Sarah twirled herself right into a kitchen cupboard. Oops!

Here are the skirts. I love when I can makes something start to finish with materials I have on hand.

The girls were excited to wear them to school, but our morning was less than happy, so our pictures reflect some individuality. For instance...Sarah didn't even want to be in a picture.

But we did get her to turn around for a second. And Leah had been throwing a fit about her footwear. So she was emotionally unable to smile for the picture. But Rebekah was feeling fine. :)

Don't you love the white socks? We really know how to make a statement. Good thing we live in a small town. The folks around here like us anyway...I think.

Ahh...The PRESSURE!!

Rebekah says to me this morning (before I've even wiped the crusties from my eyes), "There are only 3 days left until Christmas. You'd better hurry and sew our pajamas!"

Thanks for that.

Blog ReDo

I finally got rid of that awful yellow blog background. I apologize for that...I was not willing to sit through the process again, but I have also been looking forward to November just to get rid of it!

I hope this one is more pleasant to look at. I struggled with the text color and font. I hope it's readable. I increased the font size for you, in hopes that the white on orange will be easier to read.

I have been suffering through the germs my littlest ones shared with me. I finally got some Sudafed today and have been blowing my nose less, but walking around in a drug-induced buzz.

The weather has been beautiful lately. It makes me wonder what Mother Nature has up her sleeves for winter. She's probably lulling us into a sense of comfort before she buries us in a blizzard of snow and sleet!

I have been trying to find my sewing table yesterday and today. I finished up the matching pj's I made for the girls (Christmas presents) and cut out & sewed a dress for Rebekah from some corduroy I picked up almost a year ago. I bought some fabric at the store this morning to make some festive placemats (reversible for Nov and Dec). I have 5 yards of denim to use to make the girls some school pants and 10? yards of Christmas fabric that I bought after the new year, last year, to make this year's Christmas pj's for the kids.

Joseph is doing better, but I'm not completely sure he can hear me 100%. If he doesn't respond better after the antibiotics are done, I'll take him back to have his ears checked. Can you have permanent hearing loss from an ear infection?

Chad has been working on the house, under and in, trying to get things in good condition. He discovered a long-term leak at the water spigot that has blacked the wood in the crawl space and soaked the insulation along the walls. Plus, our bathroom has seen little improvement in the past weeks and the project need a jump start. Not to mention a little funding.

The general condition of the housekeeping has suffered since I've been sick. My sinuses are so affected, that it gives me a tooth ache to lean down and pick something up! That's crazy, but true. Who knew I was so fragile?

Our stake has declared this week temple week and we are supposed to do something temple related each day. I haven't been very good at even remembering to keep up. But last night we had FHE on the temple. It was Nathan's turn to do the lesson, so he pulled out a few pictures of temples/tabernacles to quiz us on. Is there anyone in the church that doesn't recognize the Salt Lake Temple? Nathan apparently thought that one was going to stump us. Our treat was a pan of brownies. We kept it in the oven twice as long as intended because Chad turned the oven off near the beginning of the bake. We like to do things the hard way around here.

Today was Election Day. Did you remember to vote? I was voter #33 this morning. I now look forward to seeing all those campaign signs taken down. Isn't there a way to make those things a little prettier? Maybe more informative in the very least?

Now that I've rambled on and on...I have to go take care of some R.S. stuff. I've put it off long enough. I wonder if I can find a channel that isn't covering the election while I work?

A few pictures and words.

It has finally warmed up enough around here to get the pool out. The kids have used up a lot of water in their quest to keep cool this year. Too bad they end up in the mud by the time they are done. I would feel better thinking that at least they were getting some kind of a bath!

Our little momma cat has done it again...become a momma. This time, she had 6 kittens in her litter and has managed to keep all of them alive; they are now 9 days old. Their eyes opened on Monday. We have two boys and 4 girls. They were initially outside in this dog carrier. When the temp started rising last week, the kittens started roasting. The momma cat was trying to make a spot for them in our closet, so Daniel and I hauled this thing into the laundry room. It took a while for it to stop radiating heat! Eventually, momma cat decided that the straw den was not acceptable for her babies.

She moved them to this space between the wall and the washer. Looks comfy, doesn't it? They are laying on a Wal-Mart bag. I had to put that little cardboard back there to keep them from wandering behind the machines. I found one dusty kitten about 8 feet away from everyone the first day. The other night, I put an old towel in a big laundry basket, moved the growing kittens from the cramped and hard bed they were in, filled that space with other things and waited for the momma to accept her new spot. She wasn't happy, but really didn't have any other choices.

Leah prays for the kittens every day and for the momma to be a good momma. I'm just looking forward to kittens old enough to go back outside and find some shade of their own to keep cool in.

The transfer of girls and sewing room is finally finished. Here is my new sewing room (before I organized anything)...right next to my bed. Does that mean we sleep in the sewing room? I'd probably have to do more sewing first to be able to say that. The blessing gown is nearly done (seen draped over the mess) and I've started sewing the slip to go underneath.

OK. That's enough blogging for me. I mopped the kitchen earlier. I wonder if the floor is dry? I feel like it's snack time.

Sew Frustrating

Yesterday, I worked on the baby's blessing gown. I did not work alone. That was part of my stress-filled day yesterday. I got the bodice and skirt sewn together and to each other.

This morning I continued sewing. After I got the back button facings done and the collar on, I took another look at the skirt. Despite all my double checking and rechecking yesterday, I still sewed the front panel on with the wrong side of the fabric out. Not only that, it was gathered and serged. ahhhh!!!

I considered just leaving it, but I knew that it would drive me crazy every time I looked at it. I then spent the next hour unpicking, pulling off tiny threads and re-gathering, re-sewing and re-serging the darn thing (only now I'm sewing with frayed fabric and 1/4" seam allowance). I just removed the front skirt piece and eased it back into the dress. I wish it was as simple as it sounded. I had to banish the kids from the room. The stress from yesterday is back.

But the dress is repaired and it's nearly impossible to tell the difference (you have to know what to look for). So now I'm behind on my other project I'd hoped to start this morning...4th of July shorts for the kids. At least the weather is cooler today. I may be hot under the collar, but not under the waistband!

How are you feeling?

I get that question a lot lately. I think (hope) it's because people really want to know and not because I LOOK like I'm feeling miserable.

Truthfully, I'm not miserable. Any misery I'm currently experiencing comes from the kids that are already born, not the one yet to come. (I think Daniel and Leah must have some kind of magical pull toward each other. Too bad it's such an explosion of feelings when they get too close!) But I am getting more and more tired. I've stopped being able to sleep really well at night. It's a combination of heat, stuffy nose, dry throat, bathroom trips, barking dogs and a sort of "beached whale" phenomenon. The baby doesn't move enough to keep me awake, yet. Last night was actually better, but I was so tired, I don't think I could have stayed awake if I'd tried.

The only discomfort during the pregnancy (beside the pregnancy itself and the morning sickness the first 1/2) is a ligament at the front of my belly, just to the side of my naval. When this little part of me gets over-used, it feels like it's on fire and hurts like a bugger. If I try to hold it or rub it, etc., it hurts worse. Only rest and inactivity helps. I first felt this pain when I was healing from having Joseph. So I guess it can be a "coming and going" sort of deal. I expect to feel it as I heal from the delivery this time, too. And then I hope it's gone forever!

I do look forward to the end of my dry, itchy scalp. I've been suffering with that for several months. It's a miracle I haven't made myself bald. I even switched to Head and Shoulders sensitive formula. It didn't help. That's not the only itchy spot, but it's one of the worst. And I'll be glad when I only pee once each time I go to the bathroom. Currently, it's once when I'm meaning to, and once more when I stand up. Sorry for too much info. Pregnancy is not pretty.

I finally cut the baby's blessing gown out this morning. I didn't get too far into my project before the kids found me. Leah looked at the length of the dress and wanted to know just how big this baby was going to be! I had to explain to her that blessing dresses are extra long and showed here where the baby's feet would probably be inside the dress. That made more sense to her, but I think the big dress thing was still kind of weird in her mind.

I had the TV on while I was working. At that point, the only thing I could stand to hear was an old episode of "Friends." Some of you may recall the episode where "Ross" gets too hot in his leather pants and pulls them down to cool off, but then can't get them back on. Then he tries a bunch of stuff to get them to slide back up and ends up quite messy. I looked up at Nathan's face during this part and saw an expression there that I've never seen before. It was something of a bewildered, shocked and unbelieving look. Right on Nathan, I've felt that way about this and many other TV shows...MANY times!

I did get Rebekah's quilt binding sewn on last week. I only have to trim the yarn ties and it's done. I still have to tie the baby's crib blanket. I got a few sets of clothes sorted (thanks for the distraction, Kelli!) and need to get those bins finished up and into the garage. I still have the task of turning the sewing room into a bedroom looming in my mind. But that's months away, so I should just relax and worry about something more imminent!

Our ward choir had a summer picnic this Saturday. We'd originally planned to hold it the 13th, but were rained out and after postponing it twice, we succeeded in having a really good time. The choir is full of AWESOME people. I think it's the best group I've ever experienced in a ward choir. We all get along, we laugh at our mistakes, we welcome new members (and wish we'd get more...are there ever too many tenors and bases?), and just have a really good time together. These are humble, hard working people. I know some of them have joined the choir because they like to sing, but no one has joined thinking they are just what their section needs. And then there are those who don't feel very secure in their ability to sing well, but keep coming anyway. (I think those are my favorites.)

As for our summer, things are pretty much par for the course. We are still reading and doing worksheets, but the furor has died down a bit (thankfully). We haven't had any serious illnesses, but a seemingly disproportionate amount of skinned knees, legs, tummies, arms, hands, heads...considering it's still June. Daniel has been complaining of a sore cheek/ear/jaw since Sat. morning. It's a flighty little pain and has reduced him to tears at least twice. Of course, that is only at bed time and so we've just given him pain killers and sent him to bed. He's getting a tooth pulled next Monday. Can we make him suffer that long? And what if it doesn't even have anything to do with dental issues? I'm pretty sure Joseph had Roseola the first week of June. It took another baby in the ward to clue me in. And here I thought it was all ear infection! Apparently, kids can be cranky about more than one thing at a time. Who knew?

I've got some pictures of the girls on horses for you. Some very nice (and now favorite) people in the ward let them ride them at the end of the picnic Saturday. Somehow, Leah has developed a LOVE for horses. You may be able to see the sheer joy on her face in the photo. She and Rebekah have not stopped talking about the event. It's only the best thing to happen to them this year!

Ho Hum

I feel like I'm supposed to blog and be witty, entertaining, insightful and purposeful at the same time. I think I'm going to miss on almost all points (except for the blogging part).

Don't think that I've snuck away for a chance to do this. I have all 3 little ones in the room with me. The girls keep asking me, "What does this say?" And I'm sure Joseph is aspiring to be a printer repairman. He just has to have a broken printer first, so that is what he's trying to achieve. Heck, maybe I should let him break it and then I can get a nicer printer to print up my scrapbook pages. Maybe I can hold him off until next year's tax refund comes so that I can actually buy a new printer.

We've got a wet, gloomy day outside today. October was beautiful (despite the freak snow on occasion), but November is slipping into a sort of depression. The least it could do is snow so that things could look cleaner and brighter!

I've recently taken on a task to sew, sew, sew and crochet. I'm trying to make up some things to hopefully make a little money. With Christmas in the air (or at least in the stores), I'm aiming for the gift-buyers. So between dish cloths, pillows (some in high school colors), aprons, and whatever else I can make quickly, I don't have much time for daydreaming. I'm hoping to find a craft fair soon or else I'll come up with some other way to get them out there.

Chad's mom came out on Wednesday afternoon to watch the kids for us while we went to a Stk. temple meeting and session. We hadn't been to the temple together since before Joseph was born. It was nice to get a chance to go back. We really appreciated her willingness to come for the night and the kids had fun with her!

We are currently down to 12 chickens. Both roosters have been butchered and slow cooked on Sunday afternoons. Thank goodness. I was tired of carrying a stick out to the coop to gather eggs. The last rooster was probably tired of my stick! Let this be a lesson for you all: I eat my enemies!

*In response to comment #2: I personally did not butcher the roosters. Chad has decided that warmer weather is better for cleaning out chickens.

Sweat Shop

For the past 3 days I've been trying to sew up some 4th of July shorts for the kids. It's something I work on when I can sneak away. As of right now, I have to sew Joseph's pants and hem everything. So I'm almost done. I've run out of thread though. I need to pick up some more navy blue thread.

I'm glad for a reason to stop anyway. It's almost 5 PM and it's 86 degrees in my sewing room! I'll have to finish everything up in the morning...when it's only 70.

One More "Kitten" or is it two?

This is a little song by Janeen Brady. It's called "I Thought It Was a Kitten." I didn't get copyright permission to share it, so I hope she won't mind a bizarre form of appreciation.

"Well I thought it was a kitten with a stripe down it's back.
And it looked so pretty sittin', shiny white, shiny black.
Thought that it might like to play, so I grabbed it by the tail.
I think that I've been skunked. Can you tell?"

I learned this song as a kid and every once in a while it pops into my head. It's been running on a constant cycle lately. Here's why:




Yep! This little fellow has been letting us share a yard with it. We've been grateful that it's been so kind. It first showed up on Tuesday afternoon last week. It was still here when we got back from Sun Valley last Saturday. We saw it daily. After reading this on the Colorado State University's Extension website, I hardly wanted to let the kids outside!
Skunks are nocturnal and reclusive. Use extra caution if you encounter a skunk during the day or one that is extremely aggressive. This abnormal behavior may indicate that the animal is rabid. The occurrence of rabid skunks appears highest from February to May, when they breed and give birth to their young.

On Tuesday, Chad's business partner lent him a .22 rifle. They came in the morning when I told them I saw it out front, but gave up after about 10 minutes of searching. I called Chad around 4:30 that afternoon and told him I could currently see it. I stood outside in the hot sun and kept my eyes trained on the tall weeds where the skunk foraged. We flushed it out and Chad got 2 practice shots at it before we lost it in the pasture. We tried to get Chocolate in on the fun. (See how we're willing to sacrifice the dog?) We gave up after 20 minutes of skunk huntin'. We saw it in the backyard that evening but by the time Chad got the rifle ready, it had given us the slip again! Close to 20 minutes later, I saw it in the front yard. (By now it's 9:30 PM.) Chad took several more practice shots, convinced the skunk to fill the air with a nice perfume and eventually hit it. He buried it in the pasture.

I was so relieved! And then I was disappointed the next morning when I saw a skunk leaving the garden area and head into the tall grass. I even called Chad to confirm that he actually buried the pest! So we have more than one skunk.

I had just bought a BB/Pellet gun at Wal-Mart that day, but by the time I opened it up, got the lock off and figured the whole thing out, the stinker was gone (pun intended). Then Nathan saw it again just as we were finishing up dinner. I grabbed the gun and loaded the pellets. I, too, took some practice shots. It seemed that my last pellet hit the creature, but it was in tall grass and I wasn't sure. It kept getting up and down. Then it really decided to get up. But I was out of pellets and by the time Chad could bring me more, it was under the lilac bush. I was in the sprinklers trying to see it! And that is where the story ends.

We had to load up into the van to get to Pack Meeting (Daniel's first cub scout meeting). We haven't seen the skunk since. I wonder if I really did hit it? I keep trying to get Chad to get under the lilac bush and see, but he's not very obedient!

It's just another exciting adventure in country living!

Totally switching gears with no segue at all...I did finish those long ago mentioned curtains for the dining room. I hung them the night before Daniel's baptism (two weeks ago). Here they are. I have plans to paint the walls there a coordinating/light green. It hasn't happened yet, as you can see. They look mostly how I planned. This is an afternoon shot, so everything is really bright.

I apologize

I need to start with some apologies.

First, sorry that I have been absent for a bit. My internet connection has been nearly impossible. DigitalBridge took over the company we were using and things have rapidly gone from "not great" to "really bad." There are some days I can't even log on until the afternoon and then it's hit and miss. I usually can't load more than 5 pages at a time before it's down again. Today, we've not had any trouble. We'll see how it goes.

Second, sorry that there are going to be an unfair amount of pictures. I've been saving some things up and due to actually having a life and/or no internet service, I haven't been able to share them. Now you get a bunch at once. But a picture is worth a thousand words, so this should classify as an epic tale.

Third, sorry about the comments that my brother-in-law-in-law (Chad's sister's husband) leaves for all of you to enjoy. He likes to be colorful and shocking, though he CAN be pleasant company. He was obviously on his best behavior when he was dating Chad's sister. He once taught the boys how to flip peas with a spoon at a wedding reception. It took several years for us to recover from that!

Now to get down to business. I've been handicapped, so typing is neither fun nor easy. I've had a little semi-squishy, movable bump on my left pinky at the middle knuckle for some time. I had it checked out yesterday and the doctor put in a big needle to drain it. It was a tiny lump of partially calcified blood. It may have been caused by a burn I got there many, many weeks ago. So now my pinky is throbbing and useless. And I keep bumping it on things since I can't bend it. Yes, please feel sorry for me; it may speed up the healing process.

We've recently adopted 3 cats. It was supposed to be 2, but one disappeared so we went looking for another and then the other suspiciously reappeared. So now we have 3, but only 2 are working cats. We got the first two,

Fair - 6 years and

Tabby - 2 years on Monday last week. Fair had some bad luck a couple of years ago and lost a leg. We adopted her out of kindness since she came with Tabby who is a very good mouser. Both cats are very sweet, but still getting used to being in our busy house.

We just got Trouble - 7 months, on Monday this week (because we thought Tabby had escaped and wasn't coming back). He is the odd man out as the two other cats are slow to accept a boy cat into their lives. Trouble is a very unique cat and makes very strange cat calls. Last night we thought he was saying "hello" because it sounded just like it. I'm not sure why he doesn't just meow like a normal kitty. We'll see if he does once he settles in a bit more.

Joseph turned 5 months earlier this month and we decided to try him out on the rice cereal. Here he is with his first taste of semi-solid food (if you don't count the banana he licked or the tiny drop of melted ice cream we poked his pacifier into). He didn't have any problems eating it. I'm not too sure he actually liked it.

And here is a picture of Joseph a little over a month ago. He was so cute in his seat. It will be an adorable scrapbook page some day. This shot makes me think of a gopher peeking up out of his hole.

This is shot I captured one Sunday afternoon. I walked into the room, saw this and walked back out for the camera.

Here is a promising picture. Joseph can already multi-task! Now if only I could figure out how to sleep and do something else at the same time. The world truly would be a better place.


Here is what happens when the kids get a turn with the digital camera. I've been very selective with the pictures I'm sharing. No one needs to see me from the rear - especially an upward view.

I finally finished that little quilt I was working on. Here it is with the binding. Sorry for the dark picture.

The girls recently became ladybugs, due mostly to the costume craft I got from Oriental Trading Company. I've been wondering how Leah knows to tilt her head for a picture.

And here is a little preview of my dining room curtains. (Another reason why I haven't been on the computer as much.) The actual fabric is a bit brighter than the picture shows. I'm going for a patchwork feel, if you can't tell. :)

And while I could continue to ramble on, I really need to go make lunch before the natives eat me alive!

Up to no good

I've been trying to keep out of trouble lately. Here's a little of the past week or so.

A small quilt top


We made strawberry syrup and strawberry jam from a flat of strawberries. Chad is using the Squeezo. I love that thing! It gets out the juice and separates it from the pulp and seeds. Not so fun to wash it though.
A whole flat of strawberries and this is all we get??




I made a batch of bread yesterday. This time, it did not cave in and make itself into a bread bowl loaf. However, I am having a problem with the tops of my loaves sinking a bit and leaving me with a wrinkled crust. Anyone have any suggestions? Share them in the comments!

I mopped the floor tonight. I realize that some of you will not think this is anything worth mentioning. If that is the case for you, let me introduce myself. Hi. I'm Arlyn. I don't often mop my floor. When you come for a visit, please don't take your shoes off.

I also cleaned up the laundry room which had been terrorized by muddy boots all winter. It was an all day effort, but it looks so much nicer!

I bought 12 yards of fabric this afternoon to make dining room curtains. It cost me just under $50. That is my motivation to actually make the curtains! When you come for a visit, please mention how cute they are! (But give me a couple of weeks to make them.)

Nathan and Joseph got shots yesterday. Nathan got his last chicken pox shot and Joseph just about got everything. Poor kid. He woke up with a little fever this morning, but slept for a good chunk of the night! Rebekah and Joseph are on the down side of ear infections.

Daniel signed up for pee wee baseball tonight. It's more like a clinic, I think. It's only about a month long. Perfect!!! He still gets a T-shirt out of it, so he'll have something to brag about until he outgrows it (in two years at the rate he's growing). Anyway, he's quite excited about it. I said I'd only sign him up if he would quit complaining about going to TaVaci for the rest of the season. He starts to get TaVaci burn out near the end of each semester. I'm not a pushy mom, though! I don't make him sign up...I just make him finish. He gets a trophy when they graduate the kids in 6th grade. Part of him wants the trophy...part of him doesn't (the vocal part).

And for those who would like to and are able to, the Spring TaVaci concert is May 10th. That's a Saturday. It would be over about 7 pm, I'm guessing. It's free and you can watch Daniel and Leah on stage. You can also watch Nathan in the seats. He gets restless about 3/4 the way through and starts asking when it's over.

I have been doing a lot of laundry lately as Rebekah is timing her bathroom trips poorly. The boys just chose to wet their pants. Leah never did. But it seems like Rebekah is creating more laundry than any of the others ever did. It's been interesting. The little spot of linoleum by the toilet gets cleaned almost daily. And you should know that goes against my cleaning nature!

Other than that, I haven't been doing much. And my house shows it. On a happier note, I have been more patient and slower to anger with the kids. We're having nicer days all around. (I still want them to leave me alone while I eat my breakfast!)