Just like Mary Poppins, I feel the wind changing and so I must change direction too.
My blog, this one right here, will be going through a redesign. A couple of years ago I thought it would be great to consolidate all of my thoughts and manage only one blog, rather than having two blogs with different topics. I have been posting personal update pieces and sewing tutorials and narratives of our outings and adventures all in this one space on the web.
I feel like this is just weird and convoluted having it all mumbled and jumbled up together. I guess I like things sorted, even my thoughts.
I am splitting my blog into three parts: Sewing, Disneyland, and personal. The personal posts will be the most updated and where anything that isn't sewing or Disneyland is posted.
The sewing blog will be just about my little sewing projects, some tutorials and probably some sales! It will be called "Mary Made It". Catchy, isn't it?
My Disneyland blog will be dedicated to telling the tales of our past Disneyland adventures. I'm always behind in my blog with getting in all of our Disneyland adventures. We no longer have passes to the Happiest Place on Earth, but I have lots of stories in my head that I need to write down and remember. It will be called "Tales of a Disneyland Stroller Pusher".
My personal blog, this one, might stay the same or get a new name. I haven't decided. I think I will rename it but I don't know what to call it. I feel like we've outgrown the stage of dressing our kids in outfits with ruffles on the butt. We are in more of a skinned knee and tooth fairy stage now; I'm thinking about incorporating something in the name of the blog to reflect what stage of parenting I'm in since that's mostly what I talk about.
Also, my personal blog will become private. If you want to read it, you'll need a password or an invite. So, if you want to continue to follow my parenting adventures please leave me a comment or let me know in some way, shape or form that you'll be following along. I'd love to have you aboard, it's just that I want more control over who is allowed to read about my family. The sewing and Disneyland blogs will remain open to public viewing.
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Whale Watching Field Trip
My kids go to the best school ever! The school hosts a number of field trips every year. All of them are fabulous!
The field trip protocol is this: You sign up, pay the fee (which is the school group price plus a few dollars more and the extra goes to a playground supply fund), you transport your children to and from the field trip, and you chaperon your children too. They also encourage you to bring friends, especially friends who might be good recruits. There are no buses, no asking parents to volunteer as chaperons, it's just set up so that if your child attends the field trip, so do you. Easy as that!
Since I'm a stay-at-home mom, this field trip thing totally works for me. And, I get in on the fun! Gotta love that!
Yesterday, we went on a Whale Watching Excursion with the school. We went in May also. It was fun then, and this trip was fun too!
I brought recruitable friends! My friend Kristin and her two little girls came with us, in fact, she drove. I guess that means I went with her. It was great to have our good friends along with us because the downside of these field trips is that each child is with their family and the families tend to stick together and not mingle much. I don't know very many of the students and families well. It was great to share this day with our awesome friends! The four girls really enjoyed their outing together. I think being with friends adds a lot of value to the experience. Libby's favorite Kindergarten friend went too. She had her family and they brought friends too. Of course, Gracie knew everyone on the boat by name. She probably knew the full price passengers too, she's overly social like that.
The boat ride was great! We left from the dock right on time and returned promptly too. Nobody puked! I consider that a great success!
We saw seals or sea lions, I'm not sure which even though the captain announced what we were viewing and what the differences are. I still forgot.
We saw a very large pod of common dolphins. That's actually the name of that kind of dolphin, "common dolphin". There were hundreds of them! The captain again made announcements and described life as a dolphin. There was a mother and baby pair that swam close to the boat. So cute! All of the dolphins were swimming and leaping in and out of the water, they were really neat to see! Especially such a large group of them.
No whales were sighted. I am glad. Sure, I like these whale watching trips, but I am secretly afraid of whales. They are huge! The boat we're in isn't huge. I'm terrified that the whales will bump the boat from the bottom and put all of the passengers out to sea. I'm pretty sure that I am very yummy.
We came upon another pod of dolphins and the captain slowed down the boat, he was very excited. Instead of his scripted announcement, his voice was exuberant. We saw Pacific White Sided Dolphins. The captain said it was a rare treat to see them.
After we docked, the kids were hungry and antsy. I'm not sure which was worse, but my friend and I decided to let them play on the beach before we fed them. That way, we can lure them off of the beach to eat, otherwise they'll want to play all day and the whining will be nonstop. It's a good trick, they'll leave playtime if you offer them food and they are hungry.
Once they were on the beach, they completely forgot about being hungry. They played for two hours! The same children who were freezing cold on the boat, they all wore two jackets each, and three of them wore winter hats, were now in swimsuits and dashing in and out of the waves. They built sandcastles, chased seagulls, looked for seashells and had a grand time.
The clouds were weird and strange and interesting and beautiful! There was a curved break in the clouds that looked like a tornado in the photos.
Finally, at 3pm they were ready for lunch. We walked down the end of the pier to Ruby's and we ate well. It was delicious! The kids ate plenty (except one kid). The portions were generous. My friend picked up the tab and the tip. She's an awesome friend! I'm keeping her!
We stopped in the beach bathroom before hitting the road for home. Gracie came out of the stall and said "Mom! Someone forgot their phone!" She was very concerned. We asked around a bit but nobody claimed it and then I looked and it had two missed calls in the last few minutes. I called that number back and said "We just found this phone" and the lady on the other end was very excited! She said to stay at the bathroom and she'd be right back. I told her we would be right next to the bathroom on the playground. We waited a while and just when we were starting to wonder how far away this lady had gotten, she showed up. She had already driven away. She was very happy to get her phone back, and she recognized Gracie from the excursion! Didn't I tell you Gracie knows everyone? She said her daughter goes to the same school. Then she handed Gracie a dollar bill and said she wanted to show her appreciation by giving her a reward and that's all that she had. We thanked her kindly, but Gracie was rewarded plenty just by seeing this lost phone returned and the lady was obviously happy to have it back in her hands. Gracie also didn't know anything about rewards for finding lost things. The lady hopped back in her vehicle and off she went.
Gracie looked at the folded dollar in her hand, unfolded it and found that there were two $20 bills. What!!! Whoa!
Gracie's little friend was jealous that Gracie got cash and she didn't, so Gracie gave her one. I thought that was just fine since it was an accidental finding and no matter which one of us had gone in the stall where the phone was, we would have still done our best to return it. Both of the girls understood that it was something very important to someone and it needed to be returned. They both have big hearts. So, sharing the reward was a good idea and I'm glad they thought of that on their own. I don't know if either one of them realizes that $20 is more than $1. Their mommies are credit card swipers.
We ended up leaving Newport Beach just at the right time to be part of the five o'clock traffic on the 91. It was slow going and my friend was driving, so I just relaxed and enjoyed the visit.
Could the day have been better? No. Not possible. It was so great! A day with my girls, friends, dolphins, beautiful weather, good food, a good deed, and I didn't have the stress of driving in heavy traffic! It was amazing!
The field trip protocol is this: You sign up, pay the fee (which is the school group price plus a few dollars more and the extra goes to a playground supply fund), you transport your children to and from the field trip, and you chaperon your children too. They also encourage you to bring friends, especially friends who might be good recruits. There are no buses, no asking parents to volunteer as chaperons, it's just set up so that if your child attends the field trip, so do you. Easy as that!
Since I'm a stay-at-home mom, this field trip thing totally works for me. And, I get in on the fun! Gotta love that!
Yesterday, we went on a Whale Watching Excursion with the school. We went in May also. It was fun then, and this trip was fun too!
I brought recruitable friends! My friend Kristin and her two little girls came with us, in fact, she drove. I guess that means I went with her. It was great to have our good friends along with us because the downside of these field trips is that each child is with their family and the families tend to stick together and not mingle much. I don't know very many of the students and families well. It was great to share this day with our awesome friends! The four girls really enjoyed their outing together. I think being with friends adds a lot of value to the experience. Libby's favorite Kindergarten friend went too. She had her family and they brought friends too. Of course, Gracie knew everyone on the boat by name. She probably knew the full price passengers too, she's overly social like that.
The boat ride was great! We left from the dock right on time and returned promptly too. Nobody puked! I consider that a great success!
We saw seals or sea lions, I'm not sure which even though the captain announced what we were viewing and what the differences are. I still forgot.
We saw a very large pod of common dolphins. That's actually the name of that kind of dolphin, "common dolphin". There were hundreds of them! The captain again made announcements and described life as a dolphin. There was a mother and baby pair that swam close to the boat. So cute! All of the dolphins were swimming and leaping in and out of the water, they were really neat to see! Especially such a large group of them.
No whales were sighted. I am glad. Sure, I like these whale watching trips, but I am secretly afraid of whales. They are huge! The boat we're in isn't huge. I'm terrified that the whales will bump the boat from the bottom and put all of the passengers out to sea. I'm pretty sure that I am very yummy.
We came upon another pod of dolphins and the captain slowed down the boat, he was very excited. Instead of his scripted announcement, his voice was exuberant. We saw Pacific White Sided Dolphins. The captain said it was a rare treat to see them.
After we docked, the kids were hungry and antsy. I'm not sure which was worse, but my friend and I decided to let them play on the beach before we fed them. That way, we can lure them off of the beach to eat, otherwise they'll want to play all day and the whining will be nonstop. It's a good trick, they'll leave playtime if you offer them food and they are hungry.
Once they were on the beach, they completely forgot about being hungry. They played for two hours! The same children who were freezing cold on the boat, they all wore two jackets each, and three of them wore winter hats, were now in swimsuits and dashing in and out of the waves. They built sandcastles, chased seagulls, looked for seashells and had a grand time.
The clouds were weird and strange and interesting and beautiful! There was a curved break in the clouds that looked like a tornado in the photos.
Finally, at 3pm they were ready for lunch. We walked down the end of the pier to Ruby's and we ate well. It was delicious! The kids ate plenty (except one kid). The portions were generous. My friend picked up the tab and the tip. She's an awesome friend! I'm keeping her!
We stopped in the beach bathroom before hitting the road for home. Gracie came out of the stall and said "Mom! Someone forgot their phone!" She was very concerned. We asked around a bit but nobody claimed it and then I looked and it had two missed calls in the last few minutes. I called that number back and said "We just found this phone" and the lady on the other end was very excited! She said to stay at the bathroom and she'd be right back. I told her we would be right next to the bathroom on the playground. We waited a while and just when we were starting to wonder how far away this lady had gotten, she showed up. She had already driven away. She was very happy to get her phone back, and she recognized Gracie from the excursion! Didn't I tell you Gracie knows everyone? She said her daughter goes to the same school. Then she handed Gracie a dollar bill and said she wanted to show her appreciation by giving her a reward and that's all that she had. We thanked her kindly, but Gracie was rewarded plenty just by seeing this lost phone returned and the lady was obviously happy to have it back in her hands. Gracie also didn't know anything about rewards for finding lost things. The lady hopped back in her vehicle and off she went.
Gracie looked at the folded dollar in her hand, unfolded it and found that there were two $20 bills. What!!! Whoa!
Gracie's little friend was jealous that Gracie got cash and she didn't, so Gracie gave her one. I thought that was just fine since it was an accidental finding and no matter which one of us had gone in the stall where the phone was, we would have still done our best to return it. Both of the girls understood that it was something very important to someone and it needed to be returned. They both have big hearts. So, sharing the reward was a good idea and I'm glad they thought of that on their own. I don't know if either one of them realizes that $20 is more than $1. Their mommies are credit card swipers.
We ended up leaving Newport Beach just at the right time to be part of the five o'clock traffic on the 91. It was slow going and my friend was driving, so I just relaxed and enjoyed the visit.
Could the day have been better? No. Not possible. It was so great! A day with my girls, friends, dolphins, beautiful weather, good food, a good deed, and I didn't have the stress of driving in heavy traffic! It was amazing!
Saturday, November 30, 2013
Just the Ten of Us
Happy Thanksgiving! We kept it low-key and casual. It was just the ten of us. We asked the kids what they were thankful for. Gracie just gave us big eyes and pretended to be shocked by the question and had no answer. My little drama queen, acting all of the time! We all laughed and moved on. We asked Charlie and he couldn't answer because his mouth was full. Libby's turn to answer. She said "My family" and we all said "Awwww!" Can't top that answer!
I am thankful for all of them, and for this opportunity to be together. I'm especially thankful that Andrew is home early from his deployment and can spend the holidays with his wife and children.
Alfred truly enjoyed his first Thanksgiving. He ate and ate and ate! When Katie didn't feed him fast enough, he threw his plate.
The food was super delicious! As always! My husband makes everything and he is the best holiday chef. He does all of the grocery shopping, all of the prep work and all of the cooking. He's amazing! I do the dishes.
After dinner, everyone was miserably happy and full. But, I whooshed them all outside for a quick and casual family snapshot before I would let anyone have any pie. They didn't want to, but they did it anyway. I really appreciate their cooperation! It was great to get a photo of all of us together! Nobody was ready, everyone whined, except Alfred, and they probably all hate me for making them do it. But they are the biggest bunch of whiners when it comes to pictures. My method of surprise attack seemed to work well. They are going to whine and be uncooperative whether they are ready for a photo or not, so I just sprung it on them and only had to listen to a few minutes of whining instead of a full day's worth.
The picture turned out fabulous! It's like we planned it or something! My husband, one of the most unwilling participants in the 5 minute photo shoot, had the photo as his facebook cover photo before everyone got back into the house. In one day, it has 99 likes! But most of all, I am so super happy to have it! They did it for me and that means the world to me! Love them all so much!
I don't understand why all families have beautiful family photos except us. All the hard work that I do for the family, all of the worrying and stress and sacrifices, and they never want to smile for a picture in appreciation. Pulling a fast one and withholding pie was out of necessity. Which is odd, because we really do have a wonderful time together and everyone is so happy to spend the holiday together. Every time I look at any of them, they are all happy enjoying time together. Also, they take pictures of themselves all the time! Why not together? I have no idea.
I finally understand my mother.
Time for pie!
I am thankful for all of them, and for this opportunity to be together. I'm especially thankful that Andrew is home early from his deployment and can spend the holidays with his wife and children.
Alfred truly enjoyed his first Thanksgiving. He ate and ate and ate! When Katie didn't feed him fast enough, he threw his plate.
The food was super delicious! As always! My husband makes everything and he is the best holiday chef. He does all of the grocery shopping, all of the prep work and all of the cooking. He's amazing! I do the dishes.
After dinner, everyone was miserably happy and full. But, I whooshed them all outside for a quick and casual family snapshot before I would let anyone have any pie. They didn't want to, but they did it anyway. I really appreciate their cooperation! It was great to get a photo of all of us together! Nobody was ready, everyone whined, except Alfred, and they probably all hate me for making them do it. But they are the biggest bunch of whiners when it comes to pictures. My method of surprise attack seemed to work well. They are going to whine and be uncooperative whether they are ready for a photo or not, so I just sprung it on them and only had to listen to a few minutes of whining instead of a full day's worth.
The picture turned out fabulous! It's like we planned it or something! My husband, one of the most unwilling participants in the 5 minute photo shoot, had the photo as his facebook cover photo before everyone got back into the house. In one day, it has 99 likes! But most of all, I am so super happy to have it! They did it for me and that means the world to me! Love them all so much!
I don't understand why all families have beautiful family photos except us. All the hard work that I do for the family, all of the worrying and stress and sacrifices, and they never want to smile for a picture in appreciation. Pulling a fast one and withholding pie was out of necessity. Which is odd, because we really do have a wonderful time together and everyone is so happy to spend the holiday together. Every time I look at any of them, they are all happy enjoying time together. Also, they take pictures of themselves all the time! Why not together? I have no idea.
I finally understand my mother.
Time for pie!
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Gobble! Gobble!
Happy Thanksgiving!
I haven't been posting what I am thankful for every day in November because it gets tedious to read all of those thankful posts and I just don't want to add to that. I'll make a quick list though.
I'm not going to state the obvious. I'm thankful for my family, immediate and extended, every single one of them, the crazy and the sane (not many of the latter types). I'm thankful for food and health and lack of natural catastrophe, etc. And of course, thankful for those serving in the military and those who served.
In no particular order, and probably will neglect to mention many things I'm thankful for, but here goes:
1. Thankful that my broken ankle healed up before my husband went crazy. Poor guy had to be nurse and Mr. Mom all summer and all of his off time in the fall too. I'm healed up now, and I know I wouldn't have healed so quickly and so well without his help. And I'm super glad he didn't end up in the looney bin.
2. Schumacher stuffing. Seriously, it's so good! I just had a bite. Nothing like it! I don't even remember the stuffing my dad made when I was a kid because this stuffing is so delicious that my tastebuds have forgotten all others. I love Thanksgiving! I remember as a child it was my favorite holiday because I was a big eater. I don't know how my mom kept me fed; I was a bottomless pit. She probably had to go to the grocery store every day and stock up. They must have thought she had ten kids. Anyway, my husband's stuffing is the best. I'm going to sneak another bite.
3. No school all week. In South Dakota and the midwestern states, they get Thurs and Friday off for Thanksgiving. That's it. I always thought that was plenty. I love having the whole week off! Californians know how to live it up for the holidays!
4. California Life. I love it here. It's sunny and we're surrounded by nice friendly people and fun places to go. I still don't take it for granted that we live in Southern California. It's like a vacation. Well, for me. Probably not for my husband who works two jobs.
5. Our lazy Elf on the Shelf. She doesn't do tricks or get into mischief or show up too early in the season. She's a good elf. Just sits around the house glaring at the children and reporting to Santa if they aren't behaving. She just moves from shelf to shelf, maybe puts a knee up. That's it. She's not all crazy and keeping me up at night with her shenanigans.
6. Facebook and Blogging. Without social media, I'd get way too lonely and detached from the world. I'm out of the loop now; I barely know what's going on outside of the mommy life. But I'm never feeling alone when I have my internet friends and family just a click away.
7. My Wednesday morning coffee friends. They are the best! I love having such good friends and they never seem to get tired of me. For that I am extra thankful! I am truly grateful to call Audrey and Kristin my best friends because they are such gems. I know I won the friend lottery.
8. My car. It's a year old on December 1st. I just love it! I was nervous to give up my mini-van life and squish into a little car, but it's been great. I don't miss the van at all. Sometimes I miss some of the van features, like the remote sliding doors (when they worked) or the stow and go storage, or putting my loudest child in the 3rd row instead of right behind my ear. The car is comfortable, looks great, rides nice, and gets great gas mileage. And I can stuff a ton of crap into the trunk. I love it!
9. Our exchange students. We hosted two, and they both left such a big impression on us. They were completely different experiences too. Love them both!
10. Online shopping. Let's face it. It's getting harder to shop for the kids gifts while I have them with me. They are getting wiser and much more observant. They also beg louder. It's just easier to shop online. I just bought myself a gift online and I can't wait to try it out! After I play with my new toy for a while, I'll box it back up and wrap it for Christmas. I just have to find time to be sneaky and find time to play with it.
Gobble! Gobble! Happy Thanksgiving!
I haven't been posting what I am thankful for every day in November because it gets tedious to read all of those thankful posts and I just don't want to add to that. I'll make a quick list though.
I'm not going to state the obvious. I'm thankful for my family, immediate and extended, every single one of them, the crazy and the sane (not many of the latter types). I'm thankful for food and health and lack of natural catastrophe, etc. And of course, thankful for those serving in the military and those who served.
In no particular order, and probably will neglect to mention many things I'm thankful for, but here goes:
1. Thankful that my broken ankle healed up before my husband went crazy. Poor guy had to be nurse and Mr. Mom all summer and all of his off time in the fall too. I'm healed up now, and I know I wouldn't have healed so quickly and so well without his help. And I'm super glad he didn't end up in the looney bin.
2. Schumacher stuffing. Seriously, it's so good! I just had a bite. Nothing like it! I don't even remember the stuffing my dad made when I was a kid because this stuffing is so delicious that my tastebuds have forgotten all others. I love Thanksgiving! I remember as a child it was my favorite holiday because I was a big eater. I don't know how my mom kept me fed; I was a bottomless pit. She probably had to go to the grocery store every day and stock up. They must have thought she had ten kids. Anyway, my husband's stuffing is the best. I'm going to sneak another bite.
3. No school all week. In South Dakota and the midwestern states, they get Thurs and Friday off for Thanksgiving. That's it. I always thought that was plenty. I love having the whole week off! Californians know how to live it up for the holidays!
4. California Life. I love it here. It's sunny and we're surrounded by nice friendly people and fun places to go. I still don't take it for granted that we live in Southern California. It's like a vacation. Well, for me. Probably not for my husband who works two jobs.
5. Our lazy Elf on the Shelf. She doesn't do tricks or get into mischief or show up too early in the season. She's a good elf. Just sits around the house glaring at the children and reporting to Santa if they aren't behaving. She just moves from shelf to shelf, maybe puts a knee up. That's it. She's not all crazy and keeping me up at night with her shenanigans.
6. Facebook and Blogging. Without social media, I'd get way too lonely and detached from the world. I'm out of the loop now; I barely know what's going on outside of the mommy life. But I'm never feeling alone when I have my internet friends and family just a click away.
7. My Wednesday morning coffee friends. They are the best! I love having such good friends and they never seem to get tired of me. For that I am extra thankful! I am truly grateful to call Audrey and Kristin my best friends because they are such gems. I know I won the friend lottery.
8. My car. It's a year old on December 1st. I just love it! I was nervous to give up my mini-van life and squish into a little car, but it's been great. I don't miss the van at all. Sometimes I miss some of the van features, like the remote sliding doors (when they worked) or the stow and go storage, or putting my loudest child in the 3rd row instead of right behind my ear. The car is comfortable, looks great, rides nice, and gets great gas mileage. And I can stuff a ton of crap into the trunk. I love it!
9. Our exchange students. We hosted two, and they both left such a big impression on us. They were completely different experiences too. Love them both!
10. Online shopping. Let's face it. It's getting harder to shop for the kids gifts while I have them with me. They are getting wiser and much more observant. They also beg louder. It's just easier to shop online. I just bought myself a gift online and I can't wait to try it out! After I play with my new toy for a while, I'll box it back up and wrap it for Christmas. I just have to find time to be sneaky and find time to play with it.
Gobble! Gobble! Happy Thanksgiving!
Monday, November 25, 2013
Zipper Purse - Sewing Tutorial
Is it a purse? Actually, more of a wristlet or coin purse. It's not an actual "purse" really; the way I think of that word when I hear it is a large tote bag with pockets. If you make one, you can call it anything you'd like. Zippy the Zipper wristlet? Fred? Sure, whatever. Give it a gender and a personality too! Go crazy! Or, not. It's your call.
Let's make this! Please forgive me for the lack of macro-photo skills. I'm better at sewing than I am at taking photos. If it's blurry, just squint. It won't help, but it'll make you think it's you and not me.
Choose two long zippers. The longer the zipper the larger the purse. The zippers do not have to be the same size or the same color, but they should be the same width and have a similar zip. I'm using two long red metal zippers that are nearly the same, although one is longer than the other.
Start by sewing the zipper butts together. Is that the technical term for the end of the zipper? Specifically, the butt end? It is? Great. I thought so too.
You can use a regular presser foot rather than a zipper foot for this project. Nice of me to mention that now after you just changed out the feet, right? The zipper foot isn't necessary because you'll be sewing on the very edge of the zipper and it is out of the way enough to use the regular foot. It shouldn't be an issue. If it is, then use your zipper foot, or use wider zippers.
Now, you have one really long zipper that has a head at each end and two butts in the middle. It will not unzip all the way from end to end but that's ok. Both zippers will unzip to the middle, which is cool.
Take one head and fold it down so the zipper is folded on top of itself. I didn't measure but folded about 3.5 - 4 inches. This is the width of your purse. Sew along the edge.
You will be sewing in a spiral fashion from one end to the other. Once you get that first section sewn, the hardest part of the project is next. Sewing around the first bend. You can do it!
For the first corner, I pin the two pieces of the top of the zipper to where it will be sewn because those little stumps want to slide away.
Important thing to remember before you get to the very end, let's just do it now, unzip it a bit. Sew the stumps down and continue to sew the edges along the other side.
Getting started is the hardest part and you are way past that now. Pat yourself on the back! Sew around another corner, it's awkward and funny, just do it.
Spiral around and around right to the end of the next head, and you should end up with a tube of zipper. If you did not, then you screwed up somewhere and you need to get your seam ripper out and go back to the top of this tutorial and try again. Stop cussing, it happens. And I don't know where you went wrong. For the rest of you, Yay! you are almost done!
Sew across the one edge that is still open at the top of the purse. One end or the other needs to be unzipped so you can flip it back around.
Oh, wait, we need a strap. Flip it around again and add a little ribbon or something to use as a strap. I sewed it to the stumps.
And then tacked it down so that it wouldn't pop up every time you unzip it for use.
Let's make this! Please forgive me for the lack of macro-photo skills. I'm better at sewing than I am at taking photos. If it's blurry, just squint. It won't help, but it'll make you think it's you and not me.
Choose two long zippers. The longer the zipper the larger the purse. The zippers do not have to be the same size or the same color, but they should be the same width and have a similar zip. I'm using two long red metal zippers that are nearly the same, although one is longer than the other.
Start by sewing the zipper butts together. Is that the technical term for the end of the zipper? Specifically, the butt end? It is? Great. I thought so too.
You can use a regular presser foot rather than a zipper foot for this project. Nice of me to mention that now after you just changed out the feet, right? The zipper foot isn't necessary because you'll be sewing on the very edge of the zipper and it is out of the way enough to use the regular foot. It shouldn't be an issue. If it is, then use your zipper foot, or use wider zippers.
Now, you have one really long zipper that has a head at each end and two butts in the middle. It will not unzip all the way from end to end but that's ok. Both zippers will unzip to the middle, which is cool.
Take one head and fold it down so the zipper is folded on top of itself. I didn't measure but folded about 3.5 - 4 inches. This is the width of your purse. Sew along the edge.
Now it looks like this:
You will be sewing in a spiral fashion from one end to the other. Once you get that first section sewn, the hardest part of the project is next. Sewing around the first bend. You can do it!
For the first corner, I pin the two pieces of the top of the zipper to where it will be sewn because those little stumps want to slide away.
Important thing to remember before you get to the very end, let's just do it now, unzip it a bit. Sew the stumps down and continue to sew the edges along the other side.
Getting started is the hardest part and you are way past that now. Pat yourself on the back! Sew around another corner, it's awkward and funny, just do it.
Spiral around and around right to the end of the next head, and you should end up with a tube of zipper. If you did not, then you screwed up somewhere and you need to get your seam ripper out and go back to the top of this tutorial and try again. Stop cussing, it happens. And I don't know where you went wrong. For the rest of you, Yay! you are almost done!
Flip it inside out and squish it flat.
Sew across the one edge that is still open at the top of the purse. One end or the other needs to be unzipped so you can flip it back around.
Sew the stumps down.
Ta Da!!! A zipper purse!
For real this time: Taaaa Daaaaa!!! A zipper purse!
Just for fun, unzip it!
Friday, November 15, 2013
8 Minutes
As a stay-at-home-mom, I don't have a work schedule like the guys in the movie "Office Space". No 15 minute coffee break twice a day. No slow commute to and from work by myself. No getting off work at 5pm and leaving it all behind in the office. That's not the reality of a mom.
My commute time is spent driving while playing "cash cab" to enrich our homeschool lessons, refereeing the "stop repeating me" feud and the "he's looking at me" situation and trying so hard not to lose my mind from the constant kicking of the back of my seat. No worries though, I still remember to stop for red lights and not cuss out loud at the idiots who don't.
My average day starts later than it used to, I'm peeling myself out of my bed at 6:30 or 7:00 if I'm lucky. And only because the kids are demanding that I get up and feed them, and greet the sun. There are no naps. They go to bed at 9pm and there are usually only one or two middle of the night requests for attention. It's not an eight to five job, but the hours have improved.
What's lacking is a little break. I would love to get a 15 minute break every single day! Two? Sure! But, one doesn't even sound realistic, two breaks would be a crazy little dream. Sometimes I can get someone to cover for me and I can get a little break. And once in a while, I can get a long enough break to do some sewing, but let's face it, I have to pay someone for that kind of relief.
Yesterday I got eight minutes. It was awesome! Nobody watched the kids, they were just behaving on their own and allowing me to have some time to myself. I think they smelled me and knew a break for me would be in everyone's best interests. I took a shower.
How fast can you shower? From fully clothed to fully clothed again? I beat'cha!
I didn't just jump into a cold shower (it takes way too long for our hot water to get from the tank to the shower) and do a five second rinse off; I actually took a shower. I used soap, shampoo and conditioner! I even slid the razor over my calves! Yeah, in eight minutes! I didn't waste time shutting the doors or any of that nonsense.
How nice! I got in and out of the shower and actually got clean! I could tell because I smelled much better. Most of the time I rush through so fast, the water doesn't even hit me. But today, wow! I got cleaned up! Sweet! Wish I could get an eight minute break a few more times a week.
The kids were fine. I normally hover over them like a very annoying helicopter. For eight minutes, I let them be and they didn't even notice. They usually can't last 8 seconds without intervention being necessary. I'm proud of them!
It's not a big long 15 minute break like a cashier gets, but the job isn't that glorious. I'm kind of proud of myself too. I took a full shower in 8 minutes. There was a time when shower-prep took five times that long!
My commute time is spent driving while playing "cash cab" to enrich our homeschool lessons, refereeing the "stop repeating me" feud and the "he's looking at me" situation and trying so hard not to lose my mind from the constant kicking of the back of my seat. No worries though, I still remember to stop for red lights and not cuss out loud at the idiots who don't.
My average day starts later than it used to, I'm peeling myself out of my bed at 6:30 or 7:00 if I'm lucky. And only because the kids are demanding that I get up and feed them, and greet the sun. There are no naps. They go to bed at 9pm and there are usually only one or two middle of the night requests for attention. It's not an eight to five job, but the hours have improved.
What's lacking is a little break. I would love to get a 15 minute break every single day! Two? Sure! But, one doesn't even sound realistic, two breaks would be a crazy little dream. Sometimes I can get someone to cover for me and I can get a little break. And once in a while, I can get a long enough break to do some sewing, but let's face it, I have to pay someone for that kind of relief.
Yesterday I got eight minutes. It was awesome! Nobody watched the kids, they were just behaving on their own and allowing me to have some time to myself. I think they smelled me and knew a break for me would be in everyone's best interests. I took a shower.
How fast can you shower? From fully clothed to fully clothed again? I beat'cha!
I didn't just jump into a cold shower (it takes way too long for our hot water to get from the tank to the shower) and do a five second rinse off; I actually took a shower. I used soap, shampoo and conditioner! I even slid the razor over my calves! Yeah, in eight minutes! I didn't waste time shutting the doors or any of that nonsense.
How nice! I got in and out of the shower and actually got clean! I could tell because I smelled much better. Most of the time I rush through so fast, the water doesn't even hit me. But today, wow! I got cleaned up! Sweet! Wish I could get an eight minute break a few more times a week.
The kids were fine. I normally hover over them like a very annoying helicopter. For eight minutes, I let them be and they didn't even notice. They usually can't last 8 seconds without intervention being necessary. I'm proud of them!
It's not a big long 15 minute break like a cashier gets, but the job isn't that glorious. I'm kind of proud of myself too. I took a full shower in 8 minutes. There was a time when shower-prep took five times that long!
Sunday, November 10, 2013
Disneyland x 24!
We went to Disneyland 24 times on our annual passes! Twenty-four! That's just amazing! Especially since the passes are limited, we are blocked out on holidays, weekends and all summer.
Each and every trip to Disneyland was a complete success. We had so much fun! That place is magical, I truly believe in the Disney magic. How can I doubt it when my kids have such magical experiences? Gracie got to sing with the Dapper Dans, Libby skipped with Merida, Gracie was chosen to be a Padowan in the Jedi Training show - twice!, Libby made Mulan light up with happiness, Gracie played with Pluto, Henry was amazed in Cars Land, Charlie snuggled with Pooh and Ariel, Gracie fired a canon and shot a hole in the clouds. I could go on and on. They had the times of their lives. Lucky lucky kids! And I'm so lucky to have been a witness and a part of the most magical memories of their childhoods.
Our passes this year were a wonderful gift from "The Grandmas"(my mom and her mom). The girls always knew that the grandmas gave us the tickets and I appreciate that they always gave the grandmas credit for our fun days at Disneyland. It makes me feel like my children are feeling a connection to their grandmas even though we only get to see them in person a couple of times each year.
To end our year of Disneyland, we went three times in our last week. Tuesday, I took all three kids: Gracie, Libby and Charlie. Thursday, I only took Gracie. And on Friday, I took Gracie and Libby. What a week! We did everything we love the most and found some new things in our last week. It was awesome!
After each day at Disneyland, I suffer from a Disney hangover. I always need a day to recover. It's so odd, but I feel run down and exhausted, and just yucky in general after a day at the Happiest Place on Earth. I really had to take it easy to recover from three days in one week, but it was totally worth the hangover to end our year with so much magic. It was nothing that lots of caffeine and advil couldn't cure. Luckily, the kids needed a day of rest so it was easy enough to declare a lazy day. Nobody argued.
The only thing we didn't do that we would have loved, was to stay late and see the night time shows. It is hard to stay late because, well, it's late. We never did get to see the World of Color water fountain show, but we did see Goofy's daytime fountain orchestra show, which was amazing with all of the fountains and water dancing. I'm sure the World of Color show is the same thing, with a light show on top. We only saw the fireworks once, but that was the day I lost my purse and validated the fact that I should leave before I'm too tired to remember to keep my purse with me. Goodness! We did well and we only missed a few things by not staying late.
I think we'll go again in another decade or so. When the girls are teenagers and they want to try all the big stuff and reminisce about their childhoods spent on the resort. Plus, by then we should be able to stay in a hotel on the resort and catch the night time shows.
I think if we do everything and see it all, we wouldn't leave anything to anticipate in their teen years. Some of the best moments are those "first" moments. I'm happy to leave some things undone so we can enjoy more firsts some other day.
Right now, we don't want to renew. Aside from the astronomical pass prices, it's just harder to get there and spend a good amount of time at Disneyland. With both girls in school now, we don't have as much time to play. Plus, that level of happiness is exhausting.
Now, I just need to organize all of my photos and figure out how to arrange them in photo books. Chronologically? By land? A book of character photos? Hmmm...
Each and every trip to Disneyland was a complete success. We had so much fun! That place is magical, I truly believe in the Disney magic. How can I doubt it when my kids have such magical experiences? Gracie got to sing with the Dapper Dans, Libby skipped with Merida, Gracie was chosen to be a Padowan in the Jedi Training show - twice!, Libby made Mulan light up with happiness, Gracie played with Pluto, Henry was amazed in Cars Land, Charlie snuggled with Pooh and Ariel, Gracie fired a canon and shot a hole in the clouds. I could go on and on. They had the times of their lives. Lucky lucky kids! And I'm so lucky to have been a witness and a part of the most magical memories of their childhoods.
Our passes this year were a wonderful gift from "The Grandmas"(my mom and her mom). The girls always knew that the grandmas gave us the tickets and I appreciate that they always gave the grandmas credit for our fun days at Disneyland. It makes me feel like my children are feeling a connection to their grandmas even though we only get to see them in person a couple of times each year.
To end our year of Disneyland, we went three times in our last week. Tuesday, I took all three kids: Gracie, Libby and Charlie. Thursday, I only took Gracie. And on Friday, I took Gracie and Libby. What a week! We did everything we love the most and found some new things in our last week. It was awesome!
After each day at Disneyland, I suffer from a Disney hangover. I always need a day to recover. It's so odd, but I feel run down and exhausted, and just yucky in general after a day at the Happiest Place on Earth. I really had to take it easy to recover from three days in one week, but it was totally worth the hangover to end our year with so much magic. It was nothing that lots of caffeine and advil couldn't cure. Luckily, the kids needed a day of rest so it was easy enough to declare a lazy day. Nobody argued.
The only thing we didn't do that we would have loved, was to stay late and see the night time shows. It is hard to stay late because, well, it's late. We never did get to see the World of Color water fountain show, but we did see Goofy's daytime fountain orchestra show, which was amazing with all of the fountains and water dancing. I'm sure the World of Color show is the same thing, with a light show on top. We only saw the fireworks once, but that was the day I lost my purse and validated the fact that I should leave before I'm too tired to remember to keep my purse with me. Goodness! We did well and we only missed a few things by not staying late.
I think we'll go again in another decade or so. When the girls are teenagers and they want to try all the big stuff and reminisce about their childhoods spent on the resort. Plus, by then we should be able to stay in a hotel on the resort and catch the night time shows.
I think if we do everything and see it all, we wouldn't leave anything to anticipate in their teen years. Some of the best moments are those "first" moments. I'm happy to leave some things undone so we can enjoy more firsts some other day.
Right now, we don't want to renew. Aside from the astronomical pass prices, it's just harder to get there and spend a good amount of time at Disneyland. With both girls in school now, we don't have as much time to play. Plus, that level of happiness is exhausting.
Now, I just need to organize all of my photos and figure out how to arrange them in photo books. Chronologically? By land? A book of character photos? Hmmm...
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Peacock Costume
Libby wanted to be a peacock, but not just any peacock, a pretty peacock! Although this meant she would end up being a boy peacock because girl peacocks are ugly.
The fabric was some really old heavy polyester that I inherited from a lady. I haven't really had a use for it, and I figured a Halloween costume that will be worn once would be a good way to use it. That saved me from spending too much at the fabric store! I had plenty of fabric in all the right peacocky colors. I did buy one yard of (itchy) shimmery blue stuff for the top layer of the dress to give it a nice peacock glow.
I decided to make a pretty little fairy dress as the peacock body and add the tail as an accessory. I used Simplicity Sew Easy 1991 for the body/dress. This dress looked very easy and I thought I could throw it together in one day, which equates to about an hour's worth of sewing for the normal sewing artist (i.e. one that does not have three kids running amuck). I was so wrong. It's actually harder than it looks; I would say it is an intermediate sewing project rather than an easy one. But it certainly isn't hard. It just has a lot of pieces and a lot of layers.
Once I finally finished the dress, I couldn't believe it. It's soooooo not cute. The finished dress is three times wider than any kid! The belt cinches it together, but without the belt, it's just wider than wide. I thought about pitching it and starting over, but I was pressed for time. I really only had $6.99 invested in it (the shimmery piece), but I also had three days of sewing invested in it. Ugh. I decided to remember that it's just a Halloween costume and it would do nicely. It doesn't have to win a contest or anything. I certainly won't use that pattern again without making some huge alterations to the bodice and skirt pieces. And I would never use a thick polyester. It just doesn't hang well. The photo on the pattern is of a fabric that drapes well when cinched and hung. 1970s polyester was probably never intended for its use.
Just now, as I am typing out this sewing tutorial, I see that I screwed up the skirt. It has all of the pointy parts of the skirt lined up. I alternated the hem points. Eh, whatever. The kid didn't notice.
On to the tail.
I used an old Halloween costume pattern, McCalls 2205 for the tail. I chose the piece for the daisy flower head and folded it in half using three pedals. I cut two of those and added peacock feather applique to one side of the tail/flower. I wish I would have done both sides, but one side seems to have been ok. I just winged it on the applique process. I didn't do much except to lay out the improvised peacock feather pieces and sew them down. No fusing or anything. They might be a bit crooked. After decided the dress was ok as it was, any further imperfections were easy to overlook. Besides, time was not on my side.
Once I had one side of the tail decorated, I grabbed up a piece of white posterboard (we all have that lying around, right?) and I cut out a piece of posterboard to the same size as the tail, with seam allowance. Now I had to decide if I would sew the seam to the inside and flip it all around for nice pretty seams, or just sew around the outer edge and let the seam stick out. Since I was on a roll with this whole "good enough" attitude, I sandwiched the poster in between the top and bottom tail pieces and sewed around the outer edge leaving the seam exposed. The posterboard is forever stuck inside the tail now. Sure hope I don't need to wash it for any reason!
I sewed the tail to the belt and the costume was done! With the tail attached to the belt, she could flip it up or lay it down. Just like a real peacock!
The fabric was some really old heavy polyester that I inherited from a lady. I haven't really had a use for it, and I figured a Halloween costume that will be worn once would be a good way to use it. That saved me from spending too much at the fabric store! I had plenty of fabric in all the right peacocky colors. I did buy one yard of (itchy) shimmery blue stuff for the top layer of the dress to give it a nice peacock glow.
I decided to make a pretty little fairy dress as the peacock body and add the tail as an accessory. I used Simplicity Sew Easy 1991 for the body/dress. This dress looked very easy and I thought I could throw it together in one day, which equates to about an hour's worth of sewing for the normal sewing artist (i.e. one that does not have three kids running amuck). I was so wrong. It's actually harder than it looks; I would say it is an intermediate sewing project rather than an easy one. But it certainly isn't hard. It just has a lot of pieces and a lot of layers.
Once I finally finished the dress, I couldn't believe it. It's soooooo not cute. The finished dress is three times wider than any kid! The belt cinches it together, but without the belt, it's just wider than wide. I thought about pitching it and starting over, but I was pressed for time. I really only had $6.99 invested in it (the shimmery piece), but I also had three days of sewing invested in it. Ugh. I decided to remember that it's just a Halloween costume and it would do nicely. It doesn't have to win a contest or anything. I certainly won't use that pattern again without making some huge alterations to the bodice and skirt pieces. And I would never use a thick polyester. It just doesn't hang well. The photo on the pattern is of a fabric that drapes well when cinched and hung. 1970s polyester was probably never intended for its use.
Just now, as I am typing out this sewing tutorial, I see that I screwed up the skirt. It has all of the pointy parts of the skirt lined up. I alternated the hem points. Eh, whatever. The kid didn't notice.
On to the tail.
I used an old Halloween costume pattern, McCalls 2205 for the tail. I chose the piece for the daisy flower head and folded it in half using three pedals. I cut two of those and added peacock feather applique to one side of the tail/flower. I wish I would have done both sides, but one side seems to have been ok. I just winged it on the applique process. I didn't do much except to lay out the improvised peacock feather pieces and sew them down. No fusing or anything. They might be a bit crooked. After decided the dress was ok as it was, any further imperfections were easy to overlook. Besides, time was not on my side.
Once I had one side of the tail decorated, I grabbed up a piece of white posterboard (we all have that lying around, right?) and I cut out a piece of posterboard to the same size as the tail, with seam allowance. Now I had to decide if I would sew the seam to the inside and flip it all around for nice pretty seams, or just sew around the outer edge and let the seam stick out. Since I was on a roll with this whole "good enough" attitude, I sandwiched the poster in between the top and bottom tail pieces and sewed around the outer edge leaving the seam exposed. The posterboard is forever stuck inside the tail now. Sure hope I don't need to wash it for any reason!
I sewed the tail to the belt and the costume was done! With the tail attached to the belt, she could flip it up or lay it down. Just like a real peacock!
Friday, November 1, 2013
Halloween 2013
Did it! Survived another Halloween! At the end of the night, I sighed with relief that the day went so well. Two awesome school parties, three adorable hand made costumes, trick or treating, a big pot of chili, fun with friends and neighbors, and tons of candy. And, my husband seemed to enjoy his birthday even though it was, as usual, a side-event after trick or treat.
It was a good one.
My kids go to an awesome Montessori school. They have a lot of kids from various walks of life and like most schools, they do not celebrate Halloween at school. I am glad about that. I like that the school respects those who do not do Halloween, and I like that my kids are learning to respect others in this way. But, they do something else that fits in with Halloween and the kids who do celebrate don't miss out on festivities with the alternative. This school is pretty cool!
Happy Non-offensive Fall!
The kindergarten kids study animals. Each student chooses an animal and does their own research and learning at home about that animal. On the last day of October, they dress up as the animal they chose to learn about and present what they learned. All of the kids wear their project costumes and the parents bring in treats for the autumn project party. At the party, the kids are encouraged to mingle and ask each other about their animal. Even the party is educational!
Libby chose to study a peacock. We read about peacocks, looked at pictures, looked online, and we went to a dairy farm where they have a couple of peacocks in a pen. Libby asked the farm hand what peacocks eat and he told her they feed them "mash" which is smashed corn. I made her a peacock costume and she made a poster for her presentation.
The lower elementary classes (grades 1,2 3) had a project called "Time Machine". Each student chose a culture and time from the past and studied it. They could choose anything they wanted. At the end of the month, each student dresses as a person from their chosen time and presents what they learned about the history of the culture.
Gracie chose Ancient Egypt. She watched a Brainpop video, read about it, and we went to the Museum of Man and explored the exhibit with the help of a docent. She learned a lot about ancient Egypt and the culture of the Egyptians. She designed her costume and I made it the way she instructed. As it turns out, Ancient Egypt was a popular place to go in the time machine! Several of her little classmates also studied the same topic. They had fun talking about what they learned and comparing. At their "party" the kids all gather together and the parents go around asking students about their chosen historical period. Then the kids mingle and are encouraged to ask each other about their character's life. It's really a cool project and the kids learn a lot from each other.
Charlie is only three years old, but he is a wise little boy. I repeatedly asked him what he wanted to be for Halloween hoping to hear pirate or superman or Winnie the pooh, or something easy and popular with the tots. He was consistant with his request: He wanted to be Sandy, our dog who passed away in July. He couldn't just be any puppy dog, he had to be Sandy. Luckily, I found some soft minky fabric in the right color for the costume. It had little swirls so it might look like a sheep, but it was soft and the right color and that was the best I could find, so I got it. He loved it! He kept hugging the fabric and thanking me before I even had the costume cut out!
Charlie has this whole "Gramma can make anything" thing figured out! He told me just how to make it with ears like this and a tail like this and paws, wait, no paws, yes, paws. He couldn't decided about the paws, so I attached paw mitts that had a hole for his hands to escape if he wanted them out. Happy Puppy! Guess it was a good thing I didn't talk him into another costume.
His Sandy costume turned out pretty good. A bit sheepish, but mostly dog. He woofed and panted and gave puppy kisses. Had the day been a bit cooler, he might have worn his puppy costume all day long. He wore it to the school parties and then donned it again for trick or treating.
Just like every year, our first trick or treat stop is next door. The neighbors spoil my kids! This year they gave the kids a candy necklace making kit. They're gonna love that! Keith took the first trick or treat shift and walked the kids up the street and back and they filled their bags. They took a break at home and shoved as much candy into their mouths as they could, then I took them out for round 2. I took them in the other direction. Once again, they filled their candy bags. Libby was exhausted by the time we got back home. They each ate a couple of handfuls of candy, and it was off to bed.
The kids had a blast! Keith enjoyed his pot of chili and cornbread. The neighbors brought him a growler of beer from a local brewery. He also got a card in the mail, and the only thing he had to say about that was "it's not from your mom? that's weird. She must be slacking!" We never did get around to eating his birthday pumpkin pie, but it was a school night and everyone was stuffed and tired so we'll do it later.
It was a good one.
My kids go to an awesome Montessori school. They have a lot of kids from various walks of life and like most schools, they do not celebrate Halloween at school. I am glad about that. I like that the school respects those who do not do Halloween, and I like that my kids are learning to respect others in this way. But, they do something else that fits in with Halloween and the kids who do celebrate don't miss out on festivities with the alternative. This school is pretty cool!
Happy Non-offensive Fall!
The kindergarten kids study animals. Each student chooses an animal and does their own research and learning at home about that animal. On the last day of October, they dress up as the animal they chose to learn about and present what they learned. All of the kids wear their project costumes and the parents bring in treats for the autumn project party. At the party, the kids are encouraged to mingle and ask each other about their animal. Even the party is educational!
Libby chose to study a peacock. We read about peacocks, looked at pictures, looked online, and we went to a dairy farm where they have a couple of peacocks in a pen. Libby asked the farm hand what peacocks eat and he told her they feed them "mash" which is smashed corn. I made her a peacock costume and she made a poster for her presentation.
The lower elementary classes (grades 1,2 3) had a project called "Time Machine". Each student chose a culture and time from the past and studied it. They could choose anything they wanted. At the end of the month, each student dresses as a person from their chosen time and presents what they learned about the history of the culture.
Gracie chose Ancient Egypt. She watched a Brainpop video, read about it, and we went to the Museum of Man and explored the exhibit with the help of a docent. She learned a lot about ancient Egypt and the culture of the Egyptians. She designed her costume and I made it the way she instructed. As it turns out, Ancient Egypt was a popular place to go in the time machine! Several of her little classmates also studied the same topic. They had fun talking about what they learned and comparing. At their "party" the kids all gather together and the parents go around asking students about their chosen historical period. Then the kids mingle and are encouraged to ask each other about their character's life. It's really a cool project and the kids learn a lot from each other.
Charlie is only three years old, but he is a wise little boy. I repeatedly asked him what he wanted to be for Halloween hoping to hear pirate or superman or Winnie the pooh, or something easy and popular with the tots. He was consistant with his request: He wanted to be Sandy, our dog who passed away in July. He couldn't just be any puppy dog, he had to be Sandy. Luckily, I found some soft minky fabric in the right color for the costume. It had little swirls so it might look like a sheep, but it was soft and the right color and that was the best I could find, so I got it. He loved it! He kept hugging the fabric and thanking me before I even had the costume cut out!
Charlie has this whole "Gramma can make anything" thing figured out! He told me just how to make it with ears like this and a tail like this and paws, wait, no paws, yes, paws. He couldn't decided about the paws, so I attached paw mitts that had a hole for his hands to escape if he wanted them out. Happy Puppy! Guess it was a good thing I didn't talk him into another costume.
His Sandy costume turned out pretty good. A bit sheepish, but mostly dog. He woofed and panted and gave puppy kisses. Had the day been a bit cooler, he might have worn his puppy costume all day long. He wore it to the school parties and then donned it again for trick or treating.
Just like every year, our first trick or treat stop is next door. The neighbors spoil my kids! This year they gave the kids a candy necklace making kit. They're gonna love that! Keith took the first trick or treat shift and walked the kids up the street and back and they filled their bags. They took a break at home and shoved as much candy into their mouths as they could, then I took them out for round 2. I took them in the other direction. Once again, they filled their candy bags. Libby was exhausted by the time we got back home. They each ate a couple of handfuls of candy, and it was off to bed.
The kids had a blast! Keith enjoyed his pot of chili and cornbread. The neighbors brought him a growler of beer from a local brewery. He also got a card in the mail, and the only thing he had to say about that was "it's not from your mom? that's weird. She must be slacking!" We never did get around to eating his birthday pumpkin pie, but it was a school night and everyone was stuffed and tired so we'll do it later.
Saturday, October 19, 2013
25 Years of Wedded Bliss
25 years ago, I put on a fancy white dress and my boyfriend put on a fancy white tux. By the end of the day, we were married and went off to live happily ever after.
That, we have done. And we have done it well! In the past 25 years, we had four daughters and three grandsons. We moved several times and helped each other finish college. We went through a few jobs too. We've seen each other through illnesses and injuries and through triumphs and successes.
One thing we've always done is remain a team. Whatever comes up, we are in it together and we support each other. Sure, we have disagreements, but not about anything big. We argue over what to pack for camping, not what to plan for our future. We work on the big picture together. I guess that's why we are still married. We made a promise to be a team and get through life together and we both meant it when we said we would. And we do.
Honestly, I think I just got lucky. I know a lot of people who didn't. My husband is an awesome guy! He's fun, responsible, hilarious, dependable and respected. And he's crazy enough to put up with me all of the time. Nobody can predict the future, but we have always stuck together and one day melted into the next and here we are: celebrating our 25th anniversary.
Seems weird to say it's been 25 years. Every time we go to a wedding, I think of our wedding day. It is fresh in my mind just as if it weren't so long ago. Saying it was a quarter of a century ago really sounds odd.
To celebrate, we both said "Happy Anniversary" on facebook and we each posted an old picture. That's it. We barely even saw each other! Our anniversary landed on a Tuesday. Eh, it was just another day of the week. Tuesdays aren't for celebrations. They are a work day. It was also the day after our daughter's 5th birthday, so it was easy to overlook.
We'll have a party for our 50th anniversary. Friday, October 1st, 2038. You're all invited. Bring presents!
That, we have done. And we have done it well! In the past 25 years, we had four daughters and three grandsons. We moved several times and helped each other finish college. We went through a few jobs too. We've seen each other through illnesses and injuries and through triumphs and successes.
One thing we've always done is remain a team. Whatever comes up, we are in it together and we support each other. Sure, we have disagreements, but not about anything big. We argue over what to pack for camping, not what to plan for our future. We work on the big picture together. I guess that's why we are still married. We made a promise to be a team and get through life together and we both meant it when we said we would. And we do.
Honestly, I think I just got lucky. I know a lot of people who didn't. My husband is an awesome guy! He's fun, responsible, hilarious, dependable and respected. And he's crazy enough to put up with me all of the time. Nobody can predict the future, but we have always stuck together and one day melted into the next and here we are: celebrating our 25th anniversary.
Seems weird to say it's been 25 years. Every time we go to a wedding, I think of our wedding day. It is fresh in my mind just as if it weren't so long ago. Saying it was a quarter of a century ago really sounds odd.
To celebrate, we both said "Happy Anniversary" on facebook and we each posted an old picture. That's it. We barely even saw each other! Our anniversary landed on a Tuesday. Eh, it was just another day of the week. Tuesdays aren't for celebrations. They are a work day. It was also the day after our daughter's 5th birthday, so it was easy to overlook.
We'll have a party for our 50th anniversary. Friday, October 1st, 2038. You're all invited. Bring presents!
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Princess Mulan's Matchmaker Hanfu
Made It!!!
The girls have been wishing for Princess Mulan dresses for quite some time. I finally found time to get to the fabric store and while I was there, I actually remembered to grab up some pretty blue fabric for the waist band. Really, that's what the big wait was all about. I've had the pink satin and the red trim for quite some time.
I only made one dress because my older girl is growing out of the dress up stage and she would rather wear something normal but themed. I haven't figured out what to do for her yet, but I did buy some Star Wars fabric for when I figure something out. In the meantime, only one hanfu is in order. Which works because Libby's 5th birthday was quickly approaching so the dress could be a gift.
It only took me a couple of days to make the dress, which would equate to a couple of hours in normal person time. It's been proven many times that I am not functioning in any level of normal, sewing or otherwise. But it should be noted that it was a quick project.
I used a normal looking dress pattern, mainly for the measurements of the shoulders and sleeves and bodice width. The hanfu does not at all resemble the pattern I used, but I am growing out of a need for much of a pattern; I just need the major cutting points and then I can wing the rest of it.
I made the hanfu just like a dress in that it has a top bodice section and a bottom skirt with a zipper up the back. I'm not so sure that is the proper way but I wanted it to have some flair at the bottom and I wasn't so sure a shift or A line cut would have the same effect. Besides, the gathered waistline would be covered by the waist band so it didn't really matter. I also made the skirt ankle length (or so I thought until my kid put it on and I discovered her legs are a lot longer than they used to be!)
I cut the sleeves the right length and then added "bat wings" to the wrist. I also made the tip of the wings longer than the top of the wrist so that it resembled Mulan's long sleeve tips without going overboard. Just a bit of effect for authenticity but not enough that it would be annoying to wear.
The bodice top gave me some pause. I had to think about how to make it overlap like a robe. I ended up cutting four bodice pieces and then folding them and ironing them down the way I wanted them, trimming off the unwanted half at the diagonal and stitching the two pieces of bodice together at the waist. It has a lining of the same satin, which is why I needed four pieces. Two outer and two for lining. There is probably a hundred easier and more conservative ways to cut the bodice out, but to keep it straight in my mind, that's how I did it. I will have to practice or draw up a little pattern piece.
I used some of the leftover cheap red stuff that I used for the Captain Hook Halloween costume last year to trim the bodice and make the red waist belt. The embroidered blue piece was easy to make into a waistband. I measure the child around the middle and made a rectangle to match. I sewed the red band to the middle of the blue rectangle and added apron ties.
Now I had the pink satin underdress with the red trim on the bodice and the separate blue and red waist band. Done!
There were just a couple of problems. I forgot the red upper skirt and the waist band slid straight down that satin covered kid. It wouldn't stay up.
I added a piece of gathered red to the bottom of the blue waist band and that fixed that issue. Then I tacked the waist band to the dress in the back, front and under the arms to keep it from sliding down. We don't need to spend all day yanking the waist piece up over and over again. Now, it's done!
Princess Mulan's pink hanfu was an awesome birthday gift for my little birthday girl! We hauled it around all day at Disneyland on her big day, but it was too hot to wear satin. Also, Mulan wasn't "home" when we went to the Princess Fantasy Faire. In the evening when it cooled down, she put her hanfu on over her clothes in lieu of a jacket. It was so cute! We sure heard a lot of compliments in the couple of hours that she wore it and her little friend instructed me to make one for her and her sister.
Happy Birthday to my little princess!
*** UPDATE ***
11/8/2013
My little Mulan met the real Mulan at Disneyland. Mulan saw her and gasped with excitement! She was like a little princess on Christmas morning when she saw Libby in her Mulan hanfu! Very exciting! Here are the princess twins together:
The girls have been wishing for Princess Mulan dresses for quite some time. I finally found time to get to the fabric store and while I was there, I actually remembered to grab up some pretty blue fabric for the waist band. Really, that's what the big wait was all about. I've had the pink satin and the red trim for quite some time.
I only made one dress because my older girl is growing out of the dress up stage and she would rather wear something normal but themed. I haven't figured out what to do for her yet, but I did buy some Star Wars fabric for when I figure something out. In the meantime, only one hanfu is in order. Which works because Libby's 5th birthday was quickly approaching so the dress could be a gift.
It only took me a couple of days to make the dress, which would equate to a couple of hours in normal person time. It's been proven many times that I am not functioning in any level of normal, sewing or otherwise. But it should be noted that it was a quick project.
I used a normal looking dress pattern, mainly for the measurements of the shoulders and sleeves and bodice width. The hanfu does not at all resemble the pattern I used, but I am growing out of a need for much of a pattern; I just need the major cutting points and then I can wing the rest of it.
I made the hanfu just like a dress in that it has a top bodice section and a bottom skirt with a zipper up the back. I'm not so sure that is the proper way but I wanted it to have some flair at the bottom and I wasn't so sure a shift or A line cut would have the same effect. Besides, the gathered waistline would be covered by the waist band so it didn't really matter. I also made the skirt ankle length (or so I thought until my kid put it on and I discovered her legs are a lot longer than they used to be!)
I cut the sleeves the right length and then added "bat wings" to the wrist. I also made the tip of the wings longer than the top of the wrist so that it resembled Mulan's long sleeve tips without going overboard. Just a bit of effect for authenticity but not enough that it would be annoying to wear.
The bodice top gave me some pause. I had to think about how to make it overlap like a robe. I ended up cutting four bodice pieces and then folding them and ironing them down the way I wanted them, trimming off the unwanted half at the diagonal and stitching the two pieces of bodice together at the waist. It has a lining of the same satin, which is why I needed four pieces. Two outer and two for lining. There is probably a hundred easier and more conservative ways to cut the bodice out, but to keep it straight in my mind, that's how I did it. I will have to practice or draw up a little pattern piece.
I used some of the leftover cheap red stuff that I used for the Captain Hook Halloween costume last year to trim the bodice and make the red waist belt. The embroidered blue piece was easy to make into a waistband. I measure the child around the middle and made a rectangle to match. I sewed the red band to the middle of the blue rectangle and added apron ties.
Now I had the pink satin underdress with the red trim on the bodice and the separate blue and red waist band. Done!
There were just a couple of problems. I forgot the red upper skirt and the waist band slid straight down that satin covered kid. It wouldn't stay up.
I added a piece of gathered red to the bottom of the blue waist band and that fixed that issue. Then I tacked the waist band to the dress in the back, front and under the arms to keep it from sliding down. We don't need to spend all day yanking the waist piece up over and over again. Now, it's done!
Princess Mulan's pink hanfu was an awesome birthday gift for my little birthday girl! We hauled it around all day at Disneyland on her big day, but it was too hot to wear satin. Also, Mulan wasn't "home" when we went to the Princess Fantasy Faire. In the evening when it cooled down, she put her hanfu on over her clothes in lieu of a jacket. It was so cute! We sure heard a lot of compliments in the couple of hours that she wore it and her little friend instructed me to make one for her and her sister.
Happy Birthday to my little princess!
*** UPDATE ***
11/8/2013
My little Mulan met the real Mulan at Disneyland. Mulan saw her and gasped with excitement! She was like a little princess on Christmas morning when she saw Libby in her Mulan hanfu! Very exciting! Here are the princess twins together:
Thursday, October 3, 2013
The Redondo Twirly Skirt -or- Spin till you are Dangerously Dizzy
The first time I saw this skirt, an adorable little girl in my daughter's kindergarten class was wearing it. The next time I saw her, she had another one on. Then another. Her mom sews! I got to know her mom a bit, but I forgot what she said her name was. That's ok, I just call her "The Redondo Mom" because of the skirt. Well, I don't call her that, I just refer to her silently in my mind as the Redondo Mom. Pretty sure she wouldn't answer me if I actually called her that out loud. Yeah, that might not be so cool.
That was 2 years ago. I've been thinking about that skirt ever since. It's that stinking cute!
Recently, Redondo mom shared the pattern with me. I was so excited! Like, Christmas morning (after coffee) excited! I traced the pattern, all sizes, then traced another one for a friend of mine who has two little twirly girls, and returned the pattern unharmed by my crazy children. They'd find it and spill something on it for sure.
I've been sewing for 21 years now. I've seen so many patterns and could most of the time put them together. This one had me completely baffled. The two skirt pieces look like partial snail shells. I held them and tried to figure out how on earth they make a skirt, and how they fit together, which way is up, which end goes where... yeah, I don't know.
I followed the instructions very carefully. Rechecking every time I put things together. It never made sense. I put the curves together even thought it felt like I was making mistakes. They didn't look like they wanted to line up. But, that's what it said to do.
First, I made five swirls, then put those curly panels together and you'll never guess what! It totally made the cute little skirt! Perfect!!! I'm not sure how that happened when it felt so weird. I really need to practice sewing things that have no straight lines. This was a step out of my comfort zone. Which made it especially satisfying!
Then I tried out the pattern on the largest size pattern. It was so sweet! But it turned out too long for my little spinner. Hmmmm.... Let's try again.
I now knew which end was up, so I shortened that end. I also cut the pieces a wee bit skinnier and made one more for six panels. Then I cut two types of fabric for the panels so they could alternate. Of course, I cut a couple of pieces backwards and had to recut them. I'm learning. I sewed them together and next thing you know, skirt #2 was done! Score! It looked a lot better than the first. In fact, it looked good enough to wear. We gave it to a little girl for her birthday.
Then, I made a third. This is fun! Skirt #3 turned out just as good as the second one and I love it! More than that, the girls love it! The largest size fits my smallest girl, so I'm going to have to figure out how to expand the pattern for my bigger girl. She likes to twirl too.
The skirt doesn't take long to sew. Maybe an hour or two at the most. Of course, it takes me longer because I have to keep three kids from taking all my pins out of my pin cushions, cutting up my fabric scraps, running hotwheels under my sewing table (over the pedals) and keeping the Barbies from climbing all over my ironing board. Slows down the sewing a bit.
I cannot wait to make more Redondo skirts! Thank you, Redondo Mom! or whatever your name is.
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
My Kid, The Writer
Translation for those of you who don't read seven year old handwriting: I had a good summer. I went to South Dakota. I split my chin again. I got five stitches. My mom broke her foot. I helped a lot. (doing chores) My dog, Sandy died.
There is only one statement in this entire essay that is a stretch of truth. The rest of it is completely true! Guess which one is a bit of a stretch..... Yup. The first line. "I had a good summer." Really? That was a good one? That was the worst summer this family has ever had!
I can only recall one other summer that sucked as bad as this one did. It was 1981 when I was 15; my older sister went away to boot camp and left me home to do all the chores and babysitting. Once I realized how much she did to help out the family and how lazy I was by comparison, my summer was doomed. I was no longer getting away with anything. Darn the luck! Plus, it was the 80s and my world revolved around my hair, which was never awesome enough to satisfy my egocentric adolescent attitude. In retrospect, that summer wasn't as bad as this one. The summer of 2013 wins the worst award.
I can't believe my daughter split her chin open again and had to get stitches again. Isn't that one of those once in a lifetime things? Twice is just not fair. When it happened, she was in South Dakota on her vacation with daddy. Just her and daddy, no mama there to comfort her and give her hugs. Her dad handled it just fine, in fact, he was great! But still... ouch!
The poor kid had to pitch in and do chores every day. She learned how to do dishes, load and run the dishwasher, and put them away. She took out the trash. She vacuumed and swept (although sweeping wasn't her best talent). She helped with laundry. She put groceries away after carrying them in from the car. And she even helped change the littler kids pajamas, shoes, and diapers. She helped the littler kids get into and out of the car and assisted with the seat belts, and she learned how to start the car to get the AC going too. She stepped up because she had to. I was broken all summer and couldn't do much except get in the way.
Our dog of 12 years died this summer too. It's been an adjustment for all of the kids to be without her; they've never known life without the dog.
Poor Gracie, she really did have a bad summer. We all did.
Sunday, September 22, 2013
Thursday, September 5, 2013
An ankle comparison: Broken vs Sprained
Unfortunately, I can compare a broken ankle to a sprained ankle.
Broken Left Ankle:
Sprained Right Ankle:
They look the same as far as the swollen deformity goes. But the difference lies in the PAIN! Lefty hurt a million times worse than Righty; although, for a moment, I wasn't sure if Righty was broken or not, but then the moment passed and I knew that one was ok. Sprain pain is not nearly as intense as breaking a bone pain. But, sprain pain isn't any cup of tea niether.
I could not put the tiniest bit of pressure on my foot when I broke my left ankle a couple of months ago. But the other day when I sprained my ankle, I was able to get up and limp along on it. That's when I really knew it wasn't broken.
The other difference is that when I fell and broke Lefty, I was all alone. I could cry and wince and wail all I wanted. I was free to express myself. When I fell and sprained Righty, I did it right in front of my whole family and another family. Had myself a good sized concerned crowd. I did the best I could to pretend that I didn't fall much, I was fine, nothing hurt much, and I just needed a minute and I'd get up. They weren't buying it, but I tried to sell my "I'm just fine" story.
I broke the left one killing a spider.
I injured the right one falling down one stair. I went down like an imploded stack of bricks. Or like a sinkhole opened up under a big brick building. Either way, I went down fast and hard, like bricks.
We were invited to our new friends' house. Such nice people, and they just moved to town . Keith and I went with three of our daughters and one grandson. We joked that we're an invasion, not a little visit. We stepped inside their house and said "Hi" and all of that small chatty greeting stuff. I took a few steps inside so they could shut the door and down I went. There was a step down from the entryway to the main room. I totally didn't see it!
I know it's there now. Not that they'll ever have my clumsiness over again.
There were 20 legs surrounding me all saying "Are you ok?" and lovely compassionate things like that and my husband saying "I can't believe you just did that". I know he wanted to laugh, and I wish he would have to lighten up the mood.
I sprained my ankle, hyper-extended my left wrist and got a big beautiful bruise on my right elbow. I really hit hard. Imagine what I could do with a whole flight of stairs!
Broken Left Ankle:
Sprained Right Ankle:
*Same feet, two months apart, different cameras, strangely different colored skin tone, but whatever.
They look the same as far as the swollen deformity goes. But the difference lies in the PAIN! Lefty hurt a million times worse than Righty; although, for a moment, I wasn't sure if Righty was broken or not, but then the moment passed and I knew that one was ok. Sprain pain is not nearly as intense as breaking a bone pain. But, sprain pain isn't any cup of tea niether.
I could not put the tiniest bit of pressure on my foot when I broke my left ankle a couple of months ago. But the other day when I sprained my ankle, I was able to get up and limp along on it. That's when I really knew it wasn't broken.
The other difference is that when I fell and broke Lefty, I was all alone. I could cry and wince and wail all I wanted. I was free to express myself. When I fell and sprained Righty, I did it right in front of my whole family and another family. Had myself a good sized concerned crowd. I did the best I could to pretend that I didn't fall much, I was fine, nothing hurt much, and I just needed a minute and I'd get up. They weren't buying it, but I tried to sell my "I'm just fine" story.
I broke the left one killing a spider.
I injured the right one falling down one stair. I went down like an imploded stack of bricks. Or like a sinkhole opened up under a big brick building. Either way, I went down fast and hard, like bricks.
We were invited to our new friends' house. Such nice people, and they just moved to town . Keith and I went with three of our daughters and one grandson. We joked that we're an invasion, not a little visit. We stepped inside their house and said "Hi" and all of that small chatty greeting stuff. I took a few steps inside so they could shut the door and down I went. There was a step down from the entryway to the main room. I totally didn't see it!
I know it's there now. Not that they'll ever have my clumsiness over again.
There were 20 legs surrounding me all saying "Are you ok?" and lovely compassionate things like that and my husband saying "I can't believe you just did that". I know he wanted to laugh, and I wish he would have to lighten up the mood.
I sprained my ankle, hyper-extended my left wrist and got a big beautiful bruise on my right elbow. I really hit hard. Imagine what I could do with a whole flight of stairs!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)