New Things

So I got a new computer- a Mac! I'm learning how to use it all, but feel like I should be doing more with it than just surfing the internet and organizing pictures. In due time I guess.

Something else new- my baby learned to army crawl. Now she can get around and into things she shouldn't. Time to re-baby-proof. My older daughter loves to lead her around and get her to crawl by dragging toys in front of the baby. She just thinks it's hilarious- "T crawling, ha, ha, ha".

I also tried Skype today for the first time. Always fun to try something new.

Now I started a to do list of things to try or do. Skype was one of them, some will take a while, others won't. I always want adventure and to learn new things, so now I'm doing them on a smaller scale because I have 2 small children at home so adventures are a little more difficult. So I'm going to try new things and have adventures close to home, where my heart (my daughters) are.

Cut Clutter, Clean, Calm

I am by no means a neat freak. However, I definitely feel calmer when my house is tidy. Just having the dishes put away, the counter wiped and the toys cleaned up makes me feel like I can relax for the night.
I also have this new mantra, that cleaning things makes them last longer and keep better. If you never clean your carpets, they get all matted and stained (mine are, and need to be steam cleaned). Even toys and appliances; if you clean them, they keep their newness longer. This mantra can get me into some pretty good cleaning modes some days. I also getting into cleaning when I pull out my KB WonderCloth and just start wiping. It's a cloth made from special fibres, that you don't need cleaners for. It's the same idea as ENJO, but it only costs $3 per cloth. These things do wonders on all kinds of surfaces, and then when I'm done I just throw it in the wash. It makes cleaning easier, because if I get out a bucket of water, my toddler cannot stay away and I end up with a lot of wet spots around the house!

Today

Today I learned that red potatoes mash differently than white or yellow. They get kind of gluey.

Verse of the day- "A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart." Luke 6:45 (NLT)

Thought of the day- "If someone paid you ten cents for every kind word you said about people, and then collected five cents for every unkind word, would you be rich or poor?"

The verse and thought are from my brother-in-laws blog. Both kind of struck me as something to think about every once in a while.

Ikea & Freebies

On Saturday my sister and I made the trek to Ikea. Our mom babysat our kids for the day and we made the 2.5 hour drive feel short by chatting the whole time. I went to get the Expedit Bookcase, the one with the cubes that I could put baskets in for some nicer toy storage. But, of course, they didn't have any of the baskets I wanted left. So I didn't get it because if I couldn't get all of it, I'll wait, or think of something else. I did get a new duvet, and a few little decor items. Then we went to HomeSense and Michaels, and I found a bunch of stuff there. I dropped off my sister and started the 2.5 hour solo trek home. On the way, I passed a wagon with a big FREE sign on it. I had to turn around. I picked up a few things that I thought I could use for future projects. Here is a sample, finished projects to follow (hopefully soon!)

Because Parents Love Homemade Cards!

It's my MIL's birthday soon, so I thought I would try making a fabric card, after seeing this tutorial on MADE. It was really easy and turned out super nice. And I know my MIL will love that I made it. Now I will be saving every little scrap of fabric because I can make these cards with those leftover little pieces!

Project Quilt- Complete!

So yesterday, yet another rainy day, I finished the quilt I was working on! My mom guided me through the whole process and I'm excited with how it turned out. Here's the story....

A while back I was discovering the amazing world of crafter's blogs. I stumbled upon a stitch in dye. She makes the most amazing quilts! I grew up close to some mennonite communities, and they make beautiful quilts, but they really aren't my style. A Stitch in Dye has amazing quilts, that are less traditional, with great fabric and bright colours. After looking at these quilts, I decided I wanted to learn how to make a quilt. I went to Walmart and bought a rotary cutter, cutting mat and square templates. Then I went to my mom's house to raid her fabric stash. She has a friend with a bridal store, and gets all the old sample dresses from her. I chose 5 colours and started cutting the 90 squares I thought would need for my quilt. I was making the quilt for my daughter, and wanted it to be bigger than a crib blanket, but a bit smaller than a twin comforter. After I cut all the squares, the project stalled out for a bit. Eventually I sewed all of the pieces into rows, then my mom came over and I ironed the rows and she pinned and sewed them together. I went to our local quilting store, and picked up some cotton batting and backing. Yesterday we pinned it all and I sewed until my shoulders were starting to hurt, then my mom sewed some too. Stitching in the ditch in very concentrated, intense sewing! Well, after a few hours of pinning and sewing, it is finished! It's the perfect size and weight for my 2 year old. Now she doesn't have to drown under her comforter anymore!

The Gifts of Autumn

Autumn came to visit me,
And as she hurried on,
She tripped and spilled her treasures
All over my front lawn.

Golden leaves and ruby ones
Of deepest jewel shades,
Gathered from her wanderings
Over valleys, hills, and glades.

When I saw Autumn's treasures there
In brilliant disarray,
I quickly stooped and picked them up
And cherished them all day.

by Catherine Donnelly in the Harvest Issue of Ideals (a magazine from 1961)

I liked this poem, because I want some fall on my lawn that I can go pick up and decorate with and "cherish" in my house!

Weather

It's amazing how the weather can affect my mood and motivation level. It has been rainy, cold and windy all week. I just want to stay indoors and drink tea! It is a big reminder that winter is on its way. I find myself preparing to hibernate. I'm cleaning up my craft area, and getting some more projects ready. I'm almost finished a project that became tedious and I got tired of. Thankfully my mom came to help me get it going again. I will blog about it when it is completely finished. I love reading other blogs for ideas and motivation. Hopefully one day I can motivate someone else! Well, I really want to do some fall decorating, but all the great stuff (leaves, sticks, corn stalks) are quite wet from all this rain. I'm excited for Thanksgiving next weekend and seeing all our family. That's why I love holidays!

Cute Cutlery

I was cleaning all the crumbs out of my cutlery tray the other day when I got a project idea. The tray is white, so it often looks a little dirty. I took some scrapbooking paper and mod podge and lined the bottom of the tray. It was more tedious than I expected, because it was really hard to get the shapes cut to fit. After a lot of trimming, I think it's really cute! I'm happy with how it came out, and now when I open the cutlery drawer, it looks kind of cute!

Singing in the Shower

I was doing a facebook survey today and it asked if you sing in the shower. I used to, but I don't anymore. I shower in the morning, so usually I'm too tired, and I have kids. The shower is my quiet time, my time to think. I think about what I'm going to do that day, what to have for supper, my future, the future of our business. Just stuff. I'm an adult now, I have things on my mind, so I don't sing in the shower anymore.
Maybe tomorrow I'll sing in the shower, just to feel young again!

Friday Garage Sales

I love going to garage sales on friday afternoons. Today I was bored, so I packed up the kids and went to the few garage sales that were on this afternoon. I did get a project, so hopefully I will do it sometime in the near future. I find so often at night though, when I have kid-free time, I end up hear. On the computer or watching TV (or both, since they are both in the same room). Soon all the new episodes of my favourite shows start too, so I'll be up here even more. Oh well, just enjoying life. Tonight I have a quiet night to myself. So what if I'm on the computer for most of it. As long as I'm having my own fun!

Garbage Satisfaction

As I threw a dirty diaper in the empty garbage pail, I felt satisfied. Satisfied? Yes. Because the can was empty. I had emptied it. I had done it, I had no longer procrastinated the stink bomb that would come with the job, and emptied it. I felt so good about it that I tidied up the rest of the house too! I like when things are tidy, but I'm not very consistent. A little OCD could be good for me. Well, I'm into kicking back and enjoying my day with my girls.
Now, well have to see how that spilled milk on the carpet turned out. I cleaned it, but it might need a steam clean, and I really shouldn't procrastinate that. Sour milk (I'm shuddering at the thought of the smell). Well, all in a mom's day's work!

Getting Back to 'Crafting'

I've been making some things again lately. I found instruction on a blog ( http://treyandlucy.blogspot.com/2009/03/easy-hair-clips.html ) for these cute barrettes. They're made from dollar store barrettes, with ribbons glued on top and scrapbook embellishments for the flowers & snowflakes. I think they're pretty cute. I didn't have a lot cute embellishments, but I might have to get some more so I can make some of these for Christmas gifts.

I'm hoping to make most of my Christmas gifts, but I realize I have to start planning them now!

I Love/Hate Books

Trying not to watch as much TV, I started doing some reading again. I read an entire novel in a 24 hour period. Guess how much other things I got done? I love reading, but I hate it when I get so into the book that I just have to finish it. Then I decided to read another book! I read Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers. It is based on the story of Hosea in the Bible. The book was really good, but the author's note in the back really struck me. I'm going to have to keep the book for a while longer so I can re-read the author's note a few more times.

I'm all into reading blogs online. I get so inspired by other people's ideas and projects. I saw on one blog the author had a post titled "This Week I Will..." I like the idea of setting a few goals for the week. I'm not going to do that today because it's the end of the week and we are going away, but could be a good challenge sometime.

I Need Me Some TV!

So the no TV thing didn't go to well. Might have been better if DH was on board too. I was exhausted after some busy weekends, and it was too hard to go and do something or read. I just wanted TV. So I did. And DH didn't want me obsessing about it (he knows me too well.) I will try to do stuff instead of watching TV here and there, but for now whatever.

Day 3

Today we were gone all day to a family picnic, so TV was easy to avoid. Now I am super tired, and would love to veg out infront of the TV. DH is watching TV, but I'm not. I did get the dishes done and switched the laundry, which I probably wouldn't have if I had just sat infront of the TV.

Day 2- We went to church and stuff, then visited my brother at night. Was only hard to stay away from the TV after my nap, when I felt like I was still waking up. Just have to develop new habits.

Fat-free, sugar-free, bpa-free, TV-free?

I am not doing all of these things, but for the month of August I am going TV-free! Yikes! I figure it shouldn't be that bad, especially because most shows are doing re-runs. I will miss the new episodes of John & Kate + 8, but that is probably the only show I will miss. I can still use the internet (lets not get too crazy people!) so I can catch up on some shows online. And I'm going to blog about the experience.

DAY 1:
We went garage saling in the morning which is always great entertainment. At night we went to a friend's house for a campfire. It was mostly just not turning on the TV randomly through the day when I'm feeding Tess or I'm a little tired and don't feel like doing anything. For some reason Hayley tried to turn the TV on, so I told her it was broken. (I had unplugged it so that I couldn't just turn it on. She doesn't usually try to turn it on, but that's probably because it is often on. When I was feeding Tess, I was reading a magazine and found a project idea in the magazine. No TV will definitely give me more time for projects.

Domestic Diva Day

Today I had a very domestic day. (I put in the diva part to take away from any boring housewife feelings). A neighbour gave us some beans and peas. It's great because I get the delicious homegrown veggies, without having to weed a garden. I cleaned them and put them in the freezer. Then I made some muffins too. I really like homemade stuff, but I don't always have the time or energy to make it. Today I did. I also took some pictures of the peas for photography practice. I kind of like the pictures, and lately I'm into green so it was a good subject to shoot.

Pointy Kitty

I finally finished this cat I was sewing. I am very proud that I made it from a pattern, all by myself. I just started making it one day, and then I was half done it in no time. It took a while to get the hair and eyes on, because it was all done by hand. I had some issues getting the head on good, and I still think it tilts down to much. But otherwise, not bad for my first try. I would stuff it fuller too because the one leg bends now because it's not stiff enough. I found the pattern on the site Wee Wonderfuls . I enjoy reading her blog, and get some good inspiration from it, and the pattern was free which is nice for just learning and trying new things.

"Crafting"

I've gotten into a crafty mood lately. Hayley will ask me if I'm "crafting". I made this neck accessory. I think it's pretty cool. I've been finding a lot of cool websites. I think they were just the inspiration I needed to get into designing and creating. Now I'm working on a few sewing projects. I'm really happy for myself, because I always wanted to learn to sew, and now I'm actually doing it! I just had to tell my sewing machine that I would beat it. I was always a little intimidated by having to thread it, or make a bobbin. Now I can almost thread it without looking at the diagram. I also realized that I do know quite a bit about sewing. I'm almost done one project that I made from a pattern, and just following the directions. Before I would wait to sew something until my mom could help me. Now I'm starting things and asking her for help when I actually get stuck, or need advice. Mom seems pretty pumped that I'm getting into the sewing too. I'm going to keep posting pics of things I've made, as I get them done.

from the book "Saint" by Ted Dekker

"Once born into childlike faith, brimming with belief, typical people begin to lose their faith. Society mocks them. Their friends smirk. They come to change the world, but over time the world changes them. Soon they forget who they were; they forget the faith they once had. Then one day someone tell them the truth, but they don't want to go back, because they're comfortable in their new skin. Being a stranger in this world is never easy."