Prepping for Nate's Birthday Party

For Nate's Birthday in July, we scheduled a pool party. The day before the party the weather was really stormy, and the forecast said the next day was going to be the same. Well, needless to say, I panicked. I started desperately searching for some good backup indoor games. Nate was going to be the youngest there, as all of his guests were adults or aged 4-12. That created some problems in coming up with things they could all do.

I decided to do a bean bag toss, a marble race option, a treasure hunt dig, and a balloon pop. Here are the bean bags I made for the bean bag toss. I used rice, and each has an inner pouch and an outer pouch. These were made the day of the party. For the marble race option, I cut 2 pool noodles in half length wise. These ended up not being used for the party since the weather was nice and we were outside, but Nate has enjoyed playing with them since.

For the treasure hunt dig, I shredded paper and hid a bouncy ball, and a ring pop for each kid to find. I also had a batch of 40 army men for them to find for the birthday boy. The balloon pop was in place of a pinata. I put candy into balloons to have the kids pick from and pop before they left. I did enjoy popping the last of them after everyone left, since I had over-stressed myself that day.

All of these were things I had seen on Pinterest in some form or another. I don't know that I could have pulled these together on my own otherwise. Thank you Pinterest.

Nate the Great

Sorry, I  have been a little AWOL. Between having a two year old and being pregnant, I can't say I'm getting much done. I have been working on my Hexies mostly, since his favorite thing right now is "Monkies" as he calls Baby Einstein. I always thought it was silly that this had become a thing, until I started watching them with Nate. I must admit there are times when I can't pull myself away from it. He is starting to mimic some of the signs, sounds, and words that he hears on them. It is surprising how quickly he seems to be growing and learning.

This picture was taken in July, I believe. We had gotten him this truck for his first Christmas. He still loves it. I think he was trying to tell me that he wanted a ride on toy. He actually rides around on it like this a lot. It makes me smile. Now he has a real ride on toy, so maybe this one might still survive to see Baby #2.

It is a Sunday.

Howdy again. So it is a Sunday. And yes I am aware I missed a Sunday. I'm not sure where the last 2 weeks have gone. I can say that I have another couple of Hexy flowers done (finally watched my Netflix movies that have been sitting there for a week or 3). And I have some intense plans to get a border onto a quilt before Thursday (not that I have a deadline or anything :P).

Now though, I must say it is bedtime. A headache is forming, and Nate is asleep (after waking me up at 7:30 this morning). Good night all.

Actually Remembered on Time

Well, I can say I have successfully updated on time for the first time in quite awhile.

Lots has been going on here. Today my little boy turned 2. We had a party for him last night. I managed to somehow get the party ready in time. On Friday, we realized that the weather might not cooperate with our pool party/cookout plans, so I frantically gathered a few games that would suit a 2 year old and his guests (kids aged 4-11). Luckily, we didn't need those extra activities as the weather stayed clear until we were cleaning up. We still used a few of them though. I will try to get the pictures up of what I managed to make later (camera is upstairs and I am not).

With as much as I was able to get myself to do yesterday, it really should not have surprised me as much as it has that today I would not be able to hardly anything. I spent most of the day laying on the couch watching my son play with his new toys, and even crashed in bed for a 4 hour nap (and I'm just barely awake to try and get this done). Unfortunately, this means I had to miss church. I really even tried telling myself that I would feel better when I ate, but that was a lie, I couldn't eat much of anything today. By the time I realized I wouldn't be able to make it to teach my class, Church had already started. I felt bad about it, but was reassured when I talked with the one in charge of the teachers after I managed to wake back up. I guess I have to be a lot more careful not to overdo it when I feel good on a Saturday.

In other news, I had begun to smell something unpleasant downstairs. At first I thought it was something that was just a house smell and most the house had it (since I don't feel good most of the time for some odd reason :-). Well then I started to realize that it was localized downstairs. I was thinking that it had to do with the furnace being downstairs and all the intakes centralizing in that area (just the smells of a house, and a 2 year old). It was annoying because it was getting strong enough I would feel awful just walking from the bottom of the stairs to my craft room (about 8 feet distance) and then I would panic because I didn't have any locations for an upset stomach downstairs (downstairs bathroom is still unfinished). Well, we figured out what it was tonight. The window well in the playroom has been collecting too much water again, and it has leaked into the room (a quarter of the carpet is soaked). I'm gonna try and get in there tomorrow with the carpet cleaner and try to get more of the smell gone (or at least masked by the smell of cleaning chemical). I really hope that we can get it fixed back up soon. This poor tummy does not appreciate my current super-sniffer.

And, just so you don't think that crafting has no room in my life anymore, I should mention that I am trying very hard to make sure I get the next round robin done on time (Thank you Annette for being so understanding of my lateness last month). This round robin, however, is teaching me something. Despite all the fabric I have (and my hubby says there is too much), all my fabrics seem to be the wrong shades of everything for these quilts. I think I've found a few things that will work with this one. Guess if I don't, I get to go shopping again. :-)

Sorry for the length. I will try to get pictures up soon-ish.

Until next time.

Tuesday Musings

Well, I have a fairly good excuse for missing my Sunday goal this week. I got home from the Stirling Family Reunion (Husband's Grandmother) on Sunday. It was a great Reunion with lots of time spent with family.

As far as projects I've been working on...I'm nearly done with a round robin (that is late going out) that I believe will be finished with another hour or 2 tomorrow. I could have gotten more done today if my math hadn't been wrong (in a few places). Otherwise, I'm very pleased with how it is turning out.

I also managed to get a touch more Hexagon stitching done at the Payson Concert in the Park this Sunday. My husband is playing in the band this year, so Nate and I have been going. We sit with some friends from church and their 11 year old was kind enough to watch Nate on the playground to give me some time to enjoy the music.

2 weeks ago, we had the privilege of seeing Baby #2 in an ultrasound. The doctor said that it was measuring about a week older than we had originally thought, so the official estimated due date is now January 13th. He kept saying it was about the size of a cinnamon bear (and looked a bit like one too), so that is what I keep calling it in my head. I was very insistent with Nate that I would call him Baby until we knew if it was a boy or a girl and then by his (or her) name. I've always thought it slightly silly when people call the baby a bean, or a peanut, or some such things that only references really one early size of the baby, but this time it has taken over my mind. I guess that was bound to happen with more things going through my head, and less brain power. (Just seems simpler than trying to correct myself.)

Now this tired Momma needs to get to sleep. It is much later than I usually allow myself to stay up.

May Fortune Smile Upon You Until Next Time

Oops, Looks like Monday Again.

I really did plan on posting yesterday. I thought about it and planned on it, and even knew what I was gonna post about. Then it was nighttime, so I slept, without getting any of it ready to post. Guess I'll try again next Sunday.

I will post Sundays...

I promise to continue to post once a week (Sundays are my goal). Yesterday, happened to be a crazy Sunday, so I thought I'd drop a few lines today instead.

I got to visit with my best friend and much of her family yesterday, since it was the day they had their little girl blessed. It was a very spiritual day for me. I then went to my own church meetings and had the joy of teaching 11 eight and nine year-olds. While it can get loud in my class, I learn so much from them.

In other news, my first baby doctor appointment is tomorrow. I'm sure all will be well, but I am a tad nervous as this is my first time meeting with this doctor. That being said, I should probably get to bed since the appointment is first thing in the morning.

Until next time.

The Real Reason Behind Falling Behind

So I have a confession to make. I have not been getting much done on anything. I promise it is not because I'm just giving in to a lazy bug (though some may still insist that's it).

I still try to get a little of something done every day. Some days that something is just making sure I stay fed and hydrated.

The reason for this is that I am expecting Baby #2 in January.

I do plan to continue to update, and I may drop it down to just 1 or 2 times a week, but that decision has not fully been made yet. I do also plan on getting pictures from the local quilt show and doing a small series on all of the wonderful local talent. I just have to go and get the pictures first.

Well, Hope to see you all again soon.

More Hexagon Progress

Still chugging away on the Hexie quilt. Time seems to keep disappearing at the moment, but I'm hoping to get some free time this week/weekend to get something done that I can post about.

Happy Crafting.

Oops

Wow, this week disappeared fast. Not sure where it went either. I did get a lot more done on my Hexagon quilt. I've finally begun to add in the new green, so we'll see how it goes. It looks good so far.

But now I need to get myself to bed. I will certainly try and get some pictures up of the new green soon.

Gonna Tackle Some Hexies

Well, no pictures today. I got all set up to work on Hexies and realized I forgot the camera. It just means you don't get to see the mess that has become my bedroom.

I'm not feeling very good today, so I decided to stay home from church and just lay in bed. Then I realized I am not as tired as I feel, so I slowly gathered my laptop, the Netflix movies that were waiting to be watched and my Hexie basket to knock out a few movies and a few Hexie flowers. Maybe I'll post the finished ones next time.

Until next time.

Playroom

My son seems to have mistaken the hallway for the playroom. The playroom is very, very, very clean, but I am very likely to break something trying to get out of my craft room. If the gate is down, everything ends up in my craft room, but if it's up, most of it ends up just outside my craft room, with plenty of things thrown over the gate. I'm not sure how much longer the gate will work either. He fell over it the other day (stood on a bucket and leaned further than he thought), and today he pushed and pushed and pushed until it was no longer in the doorframe and he could crawl over it. Now how am I supposed to get things done during the day and yet keep him out of my craft room? Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Organization, Disorganization

No matter how nicely I get my room and my piles looking, I almost always have what I want/need to work on on the bottom of the tile. This results in my organization, becoming disorganization, very quickly. I can only blame my son for so much, the rest is all me. Oops.

Blanket for Terri's Baby

Another one of the baby blankets is coming along nicely. I'm well past halfway. Just have to decrease it back to a point. This is for a little girl (hence the black and pink) named Blaire, with wide eyes and long fingers and toes. Her daddy works with my Spencer.

Etsy Piles

Did I mention Piles? I've been working on more stuff  for my Etsy shop. Here are more Rat Hammocks waiting to be sewn. I have my original double sets ready, and soon to be added to my shop, I have small single hammocks. These will be the size of the top part of the double hammock, and can be used as replacements for top parts. Our rats can use the same hammock for months and months and then overnight, they chew through one of the parts (it varies which part), so I'm very glad I decided to make the parts detachable.

I also have been working on a few more of the edged fleece baby blankets. I have also decided to lower the pricing of these items in my shop, so be sure to check out the new pricing.

Christmas Piles

 Piles, piles, and more piles. That is how things end up in my room. At the moment, there are several piles of Christmas quilt makings. Maybe I should make myself focus on one until it is completed. But on the other hand, it is nice to look at the piles and know they are almost done. Then in my head, I also say, "Oh, one good day of sewing will finish X's quilt."

Elna is hard at work for sure. With all the fabric she's trying to work with, she keeps reminding me to regularly dust out her bobbin casing, so she can hum again. I love my Elna. Thanks, Mom.

Medallion Quilt

This is my finished center for my Medallion Round Robin. I EPPed (English Paper Piece) the hexagon butterfly, and then I hand-appliqued it to the background. I'm afraid the background has few warps in it now, since it was my first attempt at applique, but hopefully, the borders and quilting will work that back out. Sorry, Annette, for making this harder for you.

These are the inspiration fabrics that I am including in my bag for the ladies to use at will. I figured bright and happy fit me, and since I am in a house filled with boys (husband, son, 2 male rats, 2 male-named fish), I figured if I went with pink it would be less likely to be used by the others.

This is the final post I will do about this Medallion Round Robin until all of the quilts are finished. I will make sure to take pictures of the quilts as I get them and the borders that I do, so that I can do a short series when it's all over. While I would like to post as I finish them, I also know that a few of the ladies in the group follow my blog, so this way I have a guaranteed series later.

Until next time.

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Short Post, Laundry's Awaiting

Sorry I missed my post yesterday. I thought about it off and on all day, but never sat down to do it. Then I went to a friend's graduation celebration dinner, followed by her graduation, and just never remembered again until this morning.

Let's not forget the first setback of the morning. My computer harddrive (that houses windows) finally snapped. It is no more. I must wait for a new harddrive and hope I didn't have anything too serious on it.

When the thought of posting did finally arrive, it was after 3 separate meetings, all of which Nate would not sit still or listen to Mommy during, and just before I finally got Nate down for a nap (2 hours late). At that point, I was soo frazzled, nothing was going to get done.

Now I don't really have time to write much. I have several loads of laundry waiting to be folded, a counter covered in dishes (which my husband kindly pointed out when he got home from work), several movies from Netflix to watch, and not much to report anyway. So I shall humbly bow out for tonight and try again on Saturday night.

May fortune smile upon you.

Handwork

I like rules. And I like to give myself rules (and schedules, but I will save that for another time perhaps).

One of the rules that I have given myself for handwork, is that when I start a new thread I have to baste a hexagon for my 1-Inch Hexagon Quilt. Then if I have everything for the flower, I make the flower.

While this does extend the time it takes to bind or applique, it also insures that I am still working on the hexagons (my first quilt).