Kid's Stitchery Quilt

I finished the kids' project last week and I couldn't be happier.  Well, there's a few things I would do differently, but it has nothing to do with their part and all to do with mine.  I bought some really cool (and super duper expensive) variegated rayon thread and I'm in love.  It worked great to do the writing on the quilt.  I would LOVE to do a whole quilt with nothing but quilted words.

I Want a Gerbil...Says Jaelyn

Jaelyn has been begging to have a nasty little rodent in her room for years, and for years, I've been saying "no" and Dan's been saying "when you can behave with no explosions."  We are quickly approaching the no explosions clause.  She is still up and down like a yo-yo and can be a little toot, but she is controlling herself when it comes to the really out of control behavior.  We haven't had a major screaming fit in a while.  Once she finished her horse and sloth research, she moved on to gerbils.  Are they rodents?  I don't know, but they look like little rats.  Yuck.  She's learned all about them.  She can quote you types of hay and why one brand is better than another.  She has researched prices of cages and accessories to know what she wants.  She knows the type of gerbil and colors that she wants.  We've added "a savings of one year worth of gerbil expenses" to her "behaving" requirement because I'm not paying for it.  Tonight she gave us a presentation with a homemade poster with all sorts of facts and a powerpoint presentation that she put together.  I must say, I'm a little impressed.  If she continues to hold it together and saves about $100 (her estimation), then I think Jaelyn will be the proud momma of two nasty little rodents just as soon as we move this summer.  Of course, the day she forgets to feed them or asks me to clean out their cage will be the day they find a new owner because I'm not being responsible.  Cats and dogs are my limit!

I'll have to get Dan to help me upload her presentation.  I haven't figured moviemaker out yet on the new computer :).

Self Motivated Learning

A Little Bit of Sewing

I needed a present for a little girl's birthday so I thought I'd try something I'd seen on Pinterest. This was only a Pinterest semi-success. I used a pair of Caden's old jeans and turned them into a ruffley girlie purse. Just FYI, rivets and sewing machine needles don't play well together.

Allie was off yesterday; so I decided to spend some extra time with her today. As the typical middle child who is fine spending hours by herself playing with her dolls, she gets over looked a lot. Definitely something I need to pay more attention to. Anyway, she's still asking to sew. I showed her how I made the material for the cat in her quilt and taught her how to do a very basic appliqué. Her cat turned out so well that I decided to do the same project with Caden and asked Jaelyn to make it on her own. Caden loved the project. I'm going to turn their little quilts into a wall hanging for me. We'll call it an early Mother's Day present.

A Little Bit of Snow

So we got a little bit of snow last week....about a foot to be precise. The kids had a 5 day weekend with Presidents' Day today. No one, including me, is ready for school next week.

I finished Caden's quilt.  He loves it which makes me love it even more.

If you look at the stitching on the bear and then this corner you can see how much I improved over the course of the quilt.  I wish I had quilted each section with color that matched the section, even if it had been very time consuming.

I think it looks great hanging in his room.

Do You Want To Build a Snowman?

I think we got the 7-12" of snow the meteorologists were predicting and we aren't done yet.  We woke up to a winter wonderland this morning.  Thankfully, it's nice and toasty warm in our house.  Sleet and/or ice are heading our way soon, followed by more snow, so hopefully the electricity continues to stay on.

Gracie was not thrilled that she had to hop through the snow like a jackrabbit to potty this morning.  Her knee didn't like it.

The snow did something weird on the partially frozen lake.  Those are some crazy ducks and geese!

Jaelyn's New Shadow Box

Jaelyn chipped in and helped buy a printer's drawer off Ebay to turn into a shadow Box.  She was so excited the day it came in the mail.  It was filthy, dirty.  Step one was cleaning.

We decided to paint it white and back each hole with a different color paint chip.  The kids got a little out of control the day I turned them loose at Lowes.

Jaelyn learned how to spray paint and distress wood.

It's going to take her years to find the perfect memory for each little hole.  This dragon came from our last Thanksgiving at Medieval Times.

We found these sweet knobs to go on the bottom for ribbons and awards.  As soon as the snow clears and I can get to Lowe's for shorter screws, we'll get them attached. :)

Allie's Getting Crafty

Allie tends to be like a bull in a china shop for many activities. Teaching her to ride a bike made me swear I would not teach her to drive. While Jaelyn showed interest in sewing, Allie never has. She never had until recently, that is. With a lot of trepidation over breaking my recently repaired sewing machine, I helped her make a bag today. I was happily surprised at how focused she was. She listened and watched while I demonstrated. It was impressive, especially since it was late afternoon when her medicine had worn off. She made a very basic grocery sack style bag. I'd say she did 95% of the sewing.

As if sewing wasn't enough, I also let Allie wield a can of spray paint today. That's seriously scary. My mother in law gave me a mirror that used to hang over Dan's Grandpa's dresser. It's beautiful, solid wood, and heavy. Can you believe we spray painted it? I'm nuts, but Allie wanted a mirror for her room and Joan said I could take it and paint it. It turned out really well and I imagine she'll spend hours primping in front of it in the years to come.

Finished

I have close up pictures that I'll pull off my good camera later, but for now I wanted to share Caden's quilt all hung up. There are some things that I should have done differently with the quilting thread color, but overall, I'm really happy with it. I love how the blocks bleed into each other rather than being rows of blocks lined up (as my inspiration quilt was). I also tried a new rectangular stitch that I really like for a boy instead of a curvy, girly stipple. Caden's favorite parts are the pockets I added at the end. They make it special and personal since he loves to carry around his treasures in his pockets.

The Big Ninety

I just realized today is a big day and then I jumped up and down and squealed while Dan and Jaelyn looked at me like I was crazy (well, let's be honest, I probably am a tad bit crazy).  When we started school in September, I never thought I'd make it a month.  There was a day I literally got in the car and drove away sobbing to get space between me and Jae.  She's driven me absolutely batty, but it's also been a joy to watch her grow and learn and want to learn more.  Yesterday afternoon, when she could have been doing anything she wanted, she brought me the chapter book we've been reading and asked if I'd read with her.  This is a girl who HATES to read.  Anyway, back to the title.  Kids go to school 180 days a year.  Today is Jaelyn's 90th day of school - hump day for the school year - and I have no doubt we'll make it to the end.  I think we might deserve a ride on a camel or at least a visit to the cupcakery to celebrate!

T-shirt Yarn Love

Jaelyn needed a new bag to carry her piano books and I had a bag of T-shirt yarn I'd made from the girls' outgrown summer shirts. Three hours later and I might just keep it for myself because it's so cute.

Allie's "Why You Should Go to College" Writing Assignment

So apparently, Allie isn't getting much help in the writing department in school.  Her story made me laugh, but where was her teacher in helping at the editing stage?  Another reason to home school everyone next year.

College!  Why go to college?  Is college the best idea for me?  Here are some amazing facts that tell you why you should go to college.  If you don't go, you will be non-smart which is not good. 

First thing is that you get a lot of money.  It is not all about the money, money, money.  But money is important.  Without money, you can't afford an amazing life, and give to the poor. 

Secondly is that you have more opportunities in life.  You can get a life helping job, money, and you are helping the world.  You also can make friends. 

Third thing is having a stupendous, healthy life. You will be surprised with life, healthy by learning what is good and bad for you.  Your life will be friendly, warm inside if you go to college. 

College is a fantastic place.  It makes you smarter too.  I hope you understand me about going to college is the best thing and not the worst thing.  Send you child to college!

She got a C+.  Hmmmmm.  Wouldn't want to be non-smart and not be able to give to the poor.  Definitely go to college, kids!

Caden's Quilt

Caden has been asking me to make him a quilt since I made Allie's last March. I started it a few weeks ago and it came together really fast. Caden helped me pick the words. I love how the different colored blocks turned out. I still have a few surprises to add once it's been quilted, which I'm excited to do because I'm trying out a new stitch instead of stippling. My favorite part is the bear in the corner for my Cade-bear!

Good Homeschooling Moment

Jaelyn was done with school and her quieting reading today. She had an hour to do whatever she wanted. I'm proud to say she chose to research Sloths and then started making a display poster with the information she learned. I love seeing her seeking out learning on her own. It's not what she'd be doing in school, but this is better because she learning because she wants to learn, not because she's being forced to learn.

Brrrrr

I'm pretty sure winter is never going to end. It is so cold outside. Our lake is frozen and is now covered in an inch of snow. It's really pretty especially now that the rest of the snow on the ground has melted leaving the lake looking like a snowy meadow all by itself. I'm sharing one more picture for us to remember that it'll be hot again one day.

Up For Sale

I'm going into the quilt selling business, but only for friends that I like really well.  There's too much time involved to make it worth selling personalized quilts on Etsy.  Here's the first one I've sold.  Leisa had me poll her friends and family to get her words, plus I added a few of my own.  Leisa wanted a cream background to match her room, but I didn't want to do solid cream.  I chose 5-6 different cream fabrics to give the background some depth.  This method takes a lot of extra time over filling in with long strips.  I probably won't be doing it again unless I charge a little extra.

Leisa has collected pigs since high school; so when I ended up with space at the bottom, I knew I had to embroider a row of pigs.  Their tails are my favorite.

Leisa told me she loves flip flops.  I couldn't find any flip flop material that I loved or matched so I made my own flip flops.  It took three tries to get them right, but I love how they finally turned out.

I spent 30 minutes wandering the racks at Joann's looking for the perfect backing fabric.  Leisa always looks great and loves cute shoes and purses so this boutique fabric was perfect.

And my finished quilt with my helper who likes to push my presser foot every now and then to keep me on my toes.

Caden is 9

Caden turned 9 on January 7th.  Hard to believe.  We celebrated early with lunch out with Baba and Grandpa at Longhorns.  It was yummy.  On his actual birthday, we made a lemon pound cake and I cooked him his favorite chicken nuggets.  Next month, we are spending a weekend at Great Wolf Lodge to finish celebrating his birthday.

It's kind of dark, but I love his expression in this picture.  And of course, he is wearing the mandatory birthday hat.  

This last candle would not blow out (and it wasn't a trick candle like Gramps did to Allie on her) so funny.