Keeping Busy

So although I have not been posting much lately, I have been keeping myself kinda busy. Really, I've been baking, sewing & working....and of course, messing around on the computer. Thanks to my sister Shannon, I have found a whole world of crafty blogs. People who have kiddos who love to sew for them...people who love to cook...Anyways, I've gotten quite a few ideas from them lately so I've been trying my hand at it.

This is pumpkin bread with a cinnamon apple cider glaze. I made one loaf for Allen & I and one to be given away (and yes, it's already been given to it's intended recipient). Very, very delish bread. Moist & tasty!

The sewing projects were allllll birthday presents for the many, many, MANY people I know who celebrate their births in October. First, my nieces Chloe & Allie. I made them "twirly" skirts. Basically, they are circle skirts with wide elastic bands (I got the idea over at www.dana-made-it.com)

This is Allie's skirt.... And this is Chloe's skirt.

And according to Shannon - the girls loved 'em!!! :-)

Twirly, twirly -- spinny, spinny!

So there are a few of the things I've made. I made another twirly skirt for my niece Nina and a set of embroidered coasters for my mom. I didn't photograph the coasters but as soon as Nina gets her skirt, I will post a pic of her skirt too!

One of Douglas's little friends has a birthday party this weekend and I plan to make her a "twirly" skirt as well. I'm going off of no measurements for her though so I hope it'll fit her OK.

Coconut-Lime Banana Bread

This really should just be called "yummo". It's a coconut-banana bread with a lime glaze. DEEEE-LISH! It's taken me a lot of will-power not to scarf down the whole loaf today.

For the recipe, check out this link: www.dana-made-it.com/2008/07/recipe-coconut-lime-banana-bread.html

Little Miss Susie Homemaker

So I've taken a brief respite from sewing for the past week or so. Those pillowcases really wiped me out! In it's stead, I've actually been baking. I've never been a BIG baker...don't get me wrong, I can make cookies & brownies & cakes & things...as long as it comes from a box or something but lately I've had the urge to make things "from scratch". So today, I conquered two firsts for me.

1). I made waffles. I realized today that I have never actually MADE waffles of my own. I've assisted others & have eaten THOUSANDS of waffles in my life, but I never actually made them on my own. I can't exactly say that they were from scratch since I used a Bisquick mix but dang -- those were some light & fluffy & tasty waffles! Douglas even liked them! :-)

2). I made pizza. Not DiGiorno. Not frozen. NOT take-&-bake. A pizza from the bottom up. The dough, the sauce, the toppings....well, I purchased the toppings & cheese - I didn't actually make those...and the sauce was really just spaghetti sauce mixed with tomato paste...but the whole combination of things was delish. The pizza consisted of 2 cheese slices for Douglas & the rest was covered with Turkey Pepperoni, red & green bell peppers, black olives & mushrooms....yummo...

Of course, I realized after it was all said & done that I failed to photograph anything today so I have no pictures to share. Tomorrow, I have a plan to make some banana bread & some "sunbutter" cookies...I'll definitely snap a few photos & put them up here.

The Pillowcase Project

So I've mentioned a few times (here & on Facebook) that I've been doing quite a bit of sewing lately. Well, I took a break from my personally assigned projects to make pillowcases. My sister, Shannon, got me reading this gals blog (Dana Made It) and she put up a post about a charity called ConKerr Cancer. This charity collects homemade pillowcases & then donates them to pediatric cancer centers around the US. Their goal is to give a pillowcase to every sick child in the country by 2012. As Shannon would say, "A Noble Cause". As most of you also know, my nephews' cousin Anna has been battling a rare form of leukemia for the bulk of her life. She's currently getting treatment at a facility in Idaho. So it was with her in mind that I put aside all my other sewing projects and started making pillowcases. I was originally just going to make a few - but as I went through my fabric stash, I realized that I could actually make A LOT of pillowcases. They are quick, easy projects....the hardest part of which is just selecting the coordinating fabric pieces. In any case, I finally finished 20 pillowcases today. I wish I could have laid them all out so you could see what they all look like, but attaching 20 pictures to my blog would be just a tad much, don't you think??? In any case, these 20 pillowcases will be going to the local drop off center tomorrow. Can I just say that I wish I could be there when a kiddo gets one of them? I would love to see the look on their face!!! There were quite a few of these that I wish I could keep too. It's a good think that I've got a boatload of fabric so I can make more!!! I TOTALLY love the first 3 in this picture --^ but the bad news for me is that I don't have enough of those fabrics to make more....and those fabrics were clearanced!!! Oh well...it's for a good cause!

Douglas LOVES the 2nd one here --^...he kept trying to take it away from me! The good news is that I've got PLENTY of this fabric left over to make him a couple of cases! Also, I know that the "Dick & Jane" fabric is technically a book panel, but it looked REALLY cute as a pillowcase...and it'll give the kiddo who gets it something to read while they are in bed! :-)

The 2nd pillowcase is made from fabric that I got from mom - it's called "Honey Bear". She's had that fabric since I was a little girl. And she gave it to me so I could make a blanket or quilt out of it. But I had a feeling it was just going to sit in my stash for a loooooooong time. So this seemed like an excellent use for it. It's a very cute print! However, my fave from this set is #4...I bought that Hawaiian shirting to make myself a skirt....2 years ago. So I guess it's time I used the fabric, don't you?

And I just love all of these. #2 and #5 make me think of my sister (Shannon!)....and I actually got the blue/red/white heart fabric to make my niece, Nina, a skirt for 4th of July....it didn't happen so I put the fabric to a better use.

All 20 cases ... whew!!! Can I just say that I'm actually kinda tired after making all those? It took me almost 2 weeks (not sewing every day but just about!!!) but they are done. 20 kids will be getting new pillowcases and I can only hope that they will love 'em & that the pillowcase will help them to feel just a little better as they go through their tough ordeals.

My thoughts go out to you, Anna - come home soon!

Sewing my pants off lately

I made grocery bags!! I bought the fabric a few months ago - it came out for Earth Day - but I finally got around to making the bags. They are lined but since they are a light-weight cotton inside & out, I will probably just use them for light things (not carrying a couple gallons of milk or anything like that). I will say this though - I took all 4 of them with me to pick up our unsold clothes at the Weecycled Wardrobe consignment sale today and they hold A LOT!!!! :-)

YAY!!!

I've officially graduated from Parkland Community College! I turned my Petition to graduate in back in May....and they apparently lost it. So I had to send in another one...and then they FOUND my original Petition. It took another 2 weeks for them to officially graduate me but it's done & over with! I will receive my diploma sometime in September. YAY!! Now, on to completing the application to Mary Washington University and University of Richmond (the two schools I'd like to attend out here) to see who will accept me. I'd really, REALLY prefer Mary Washington University so I'd appreciate everyone's good thoughts/prayers/etc. for me to be accepted to that school.

Yep - it's only taken 13 years...but I'm 1/2 way done with my degree!

Sewing Projects 2010

So the past few weeks have been pretty busy for me as far as sewing goes. I've made the decision to finally start making things with all this fabric I have. My projects so far have been pretty simple but some of them have been sitting in the "to make" pile for a couple of years now. (Hello, sliding door curtains!) Anyhow - here are pics of 7most of the projects I've completed in the last few months. Hope you enjoy!

Sliding door curtains (to match the kitchen window curtains):
A baby gift for my friend Becky - consisting of a flannel blanket, two nursing sheets, two burp cloths & a Winnie the Pooh book:

A set of flannel pillowcases for our bed (don't mind the half-naked kiddo -- he just wanted to be a part of the photo shoot):

And I've made a bunch more of those flannel blankets (like I made for Becky) but these don't have intended recipients just yet. So if you know any one who is pregnant & want to give them a fantastic gift, well, just let me know!

I have several more projects waiting in the wings - tote bags, a purse, a shirt (FOR ME), some other curtains for the house - so there will be more photos to come! Stay tuned!

Frustration Level --- UP!

As you know, I recently finished my Associates Degree through the community college I've been attending in IL. I was told by one of the advisors at that community college that if I completed my Associates Degree, my credits would transfer to any 4-year university of my choosing. I made sure to ask, "Any 4-year university in ANY state?" and received the reply of YES - any university. So the next step for me is to figure out which 4-year university I would like to attend. Well, there is one college in particular that I would like to go to - the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, VA. It's not that far away from us and it's got an exceptional reputation....but my frustration is coming in the form of this...WHY is it so dang expensive to go to college? WHY? Not only do they charge you to take classes, they charge you for books and using their facilities (if you have to take a "lab" course), but they also charge you just to APPLY to their college. And it's NON-REFUNDABLE. Can someone explain that to me please? I mean, I understand - they have to pay people to look over my application and transcripts and all that, but in my opinion, if they accept me to the college, then they are going to be making a BOATLOAD of money off me so why do they need to keep my $50 application fee? Speaking of applications -- do I really need to write essays and have letters of recommendation to attend college? Won't my grades & class history & ACT scores be enough? I guess what I'm trying to get at is that I now understand why so many people DON'T attend college anymore. College's have really made themselves unreachable...unattendable....unaffordable. It's sad in my book. You go to school for a few years to get an education and then you end up paying for that education for the next 15 to 20 years or longer depending on how long you go to school for.

Sorry for the rant, but I'm just getting frustrated. I already knew that I had missed the cut off date in order to be accepted in to start this fall, but with the way things are progressing, I may not even be able to get everything pulled together so that I can start in the spring. Sigh. I guess this just means that I can take the next several months to write exceptional essays, find a bunch of people to write recommendations for me and hope that I qualify to be "accepted". And also hope that I can get enough funding lined up to be able to pay for school too. Good Grief, Charlie Brown.

Breakfast of Champions

Douglas wanted chocolate for breakfast....me, in my infinite wisdom said "not until you have some cereal". The goal was for him to have something in his stomach before he started snarking down the sugar.....so I gave him Cinnamon Toast Crunch followed by a Tootsie Roll. Oh yeah, that's not a potent sugar combo. And I wonder why he's got so much energy! :-)

Home Again, Home Again - Jiggedy Jig

As you may know, I recently spent 5 weeks in Illinois taking a most dreaded Speech class. I had been putting this class off for 13 years and since it was the LAST class I needed to take to finish my Associates Degree, well, the time had come to take it. I HATE giving speeches. HATE it. I get so nervous that I have panic attacks and can't remember what I'm trying to talk about. In any case, the class is over, I survived and even managed to pull an "A". I got online to check my grade this morning and discovered that I also made it on the Dean's List for Spring 2010 semester. Yay - go me!

But now we are home and trying to readjust to our previous schedule...except some things have changed quite a bit. Douglas no longer seems interested in any of the PBS shows we used to watch now that he's learned about "Mickey Mouse Club" and "Dora the Explorer" and "Go, Diego, Go". Not sure what I am going to do about that since we don't have cable or dish or anything...perhaps we will start spending more time at the library or mall....who knows.

Another change we are going to have to deal with is the cancellation of our weekly playgroup. I was really looking forward to this because it was an opportunity for Douglas to get out of the house each week & play with kids his own age, but now I'm not sure what we are going to do. I guess I will see if the library has reinstated storytime on Wednesday mornings (last time I checked, it too had been cancelled due to a lack of attendance).

In short, our "normal" schedule is no longer normal. I've been spending the past few days trying to get resituated into our house. I don't have any school work to do now so I think I will start sorting through all of our crap....I mean STUFF....to see what can be kept, sold, or tossed. Our house has too much stuff in it for the three of us to live/sleep/breathe comfortably. So, if any of you out there know anyone who needs baby boy stuff, let me know. I have a plethora of it and need to find it all a new home very soon.

That is the update on our lives out here. Hope all is well with you.

Outer Banks, NC

Just a few photos of our recent trip to the Outer Banks in North Carolina. I spent a good chunk of time in the water so I didn't take many pictures...sorry 'bout that!

Meg & Allen searching for shells:
Meg & Douglas spending some quality time together in the ocean:

Douglas & I sitting on the beach getting warmed back up after being in the cold, cold ocean:

Why is it...

I would like to know why it is that kids can spend an entire 24 hours with a fever of at least 100 degrees. During that 24 hours, they are completely lethargic wanting to do nothing more than curl up on their mom's lap. They eat nothing, they drink very little, they play with no toys and have no energy to do anything. At the end of that 24 hour period, just like magic, they are back to their usual selves. Energetic, curious about everything and wanting NOTHING to do with their mom. It amazes me and yet, I would LOVE an answer to the question - what could cause a "24 hour" illness? I remember having the 24 hour flu when I was a kid. For a day, it just wiped me out and the next day, I was fine. It's screwy if you ask me because as a parent, you feel so helpless. You can't do anything to fix your baby and the doctor's don't want you to bring your kid to see them unless they've had said fever for a few days. I suppose I could blame this on teething (since Douglas is getting in his 2 year molars on top) but that doesn't seem completely right. It takes the teeth more than 24 hours to come in, so why would he be sick for just 24 hours? Screwy, if you ask me....

Oh dear.

And here I am, thinking we had a few years at least before we had to worry about "stuff" like this! :-)

Just kidding!! Apparently, this is just a good way for him to hold his arm steady as he sleeps.

Spring may have sprung

I think that sprink has hit VA. The weather has been warm...well, warm for February by my standards. Most of the snow that we got at the beginning of the month has melted. And melting snow means MUD. We no longer have a driveway....it's now a "muck-way". Yuck. Oh well, I'm thankful that I was able to enjoy the winter that we had and now that spring has made a slight appearance, most of the people around me are quite happy too.

Hope life is treating you all very well!

Frustration

Have you ever been so frustrated with a certain situation that you feel the need to be totally alone for hours? Today feels like one of those days. And having the snow falling outside just makes me want to go out for a long walk, in complete solitude, in the snow. I don't care about the cold. I don't care about getting wet. I just want to be alone and living in a house with other people doesn't allow for that. NEVER allows for that. So, out of curiosity, what do YOU do for solitude?

Not Doing So Well On The Weekly Updates

Wellllll....as I said in the post about my New Year's Resolutions, I'm not so good at keeping them...as evidenced by my lack of posting on my blog. Anyhow, I have been enjoying the Virginia weather for the last week. We have SNOW. Last weekend, we got about a foot of snow - enough to close down the state for a day. Work closed, restaurants closed, schools closed. It has been FANTASTIC in my opinion. Douglas & I have spent plenty of time outside playing in the powdery white stuff too. He's been waking up in the morning, going to the back door, grabbing his boots & snowpants, and basically begging to go outside to play. I think he would do very well in the Midwest! On another great note, they are forecasting more snow for this weekend. I have heard varying reports - anywhere from an inch up to four feet. I HIGHLY doubt that we will get four feet but even just a few more inches will just add to my joy. I was telling my mom the other day that I believe I am a true snow-bunny. I may not go skiing or snow shoeing or ice fishing or even ice skating, but just seeing the snow and the world covered in white brings a smile to my face and a calmness to my heart that nothing else seems to be able to. I live for snow the way most other people I know live for the sun and/or the beach. The snow for me is tranquility!

Hope you all are doing well!

My snow angel. I taught Douglas how to make them but his didn't photograph very well....they just looked like someone rolled in the snow.....perhaps that's because that's really what happened.

Douglas really is all bundled up to play outside -- a t-shirt under a hooded sweatshirt under his jacket, pj pants under his jeans under his snowpants, 2 pairs of socks on his feet with his pants tucked in to them so they don't ride up, BOOTS (thanks mom!), a pair of socks on his hands under his mittens (because the mittens were kind of small), and a hat over the hood on his sweatshirt & under the hood on his coat. He is TOASTY warm!

The icicles hanging over our front porch. I have never seen icicles this big in Virginia before...made me want to snap one off and eat it. :-)

CRAP-tastic!

Crap-tastic happens to be one of my favorite words. It's worse than bad but not quite "down-right poopy". It just so happens to be how I feel about today. Today was just one of those days where no matter how hard I tried, I was just straight up aggitated all freaking day. Douglas was not helping either...he woke up early, refused to go down for a nap, chucked all of his toys around, played movie after movie after movie (mind you, each movie only lasted for about 2 minutes), screamed, hit, jumped on the furniture, begged for milk, threw all of his books around, tore his sheets & blankets off his bed.....need I go on? These are fairly normal behaviors for Douglas...and normally I can handle them but today was just such an off day for me that it drove me bonkers. I attempted to clean...didn't help. I attempted to do laundry...didn't help. I attempted to read, do homework, wash dishes, all kinds of things. I have been attempting lately to keep a positive attitude about life, about the choices I have made, about my family & where we are living....but today just, well, sucked. I can only hope that after a good night's sleep, tomorrow will be brighter & better!

Wildtree

Back in December, a gal I work with hosted a Wildtree tasting party. That may not make much sense if you don't know what Wildtree is so let me give you a tad bit of background. Wildtree is a food company that puts out healthy, natural, tasty food. Their products have no additives, preservatives or MSG. And in case you didn't catch it earlier, they are VERY tasty! Most of you know that I have issues getting Douglas to eat much of anything - especially fruits or veggies. He won't even eat banana bread! However, at this tasting party that we went to, he kept sneaking back into the kitchen to steal pumpkin pancakes & pumpkin cookies off the counter. I mean, he was SCARFING this stuff down! I couldn't believe it! I didn't have any extra money at that time to buy any of the kits, so I decided that if the opportunity arose to host my own party, I would. Well, the opportunity has arisen! I am hostessing a party on Wednesday, January 27th. I know you won't be able to attend since most to all of the people who read this blog live far, far away but if you are interested in learning more about Wildtree, and I highly recommend that you do, here is their website: www.wildtree.com

Also, if you do decide you would like to order anything, let me know & I will pass that along to my "sponsor"!

Nothing & Everything -- All Rolled Into One!

So I made some resolutions this New Year's Eve. Most people do. I however, usually give up on my resolutions faster than anyone else I know! One of my resolutions this year was to update my blog on a weekly basis....since today is the 12th and this is the first post I've made in a few months, well, you can see I'm not starting off on that resolution so well......

Anyhow, also on my list of resolutions for the year were the usual suspects - lose weight, get in shape, save money, declutter the house, etc. The difference between this year & other years is that I actually have plans to achieve all of those goals!

First - save money. I work part-time. VERY part-time but that's OK because I'm really only responsible for 2 bills - my phone (which is prepaid) and my credit card. All of my other money is mine to do with as I choose. However, I do most of the grocery/household shopping here too. I find that each time I go out to the store to buy the groceries, we end up with a bunch of stuff that wasn't on the list or stuff that ends up sitting in the cupboard for months & months & never gets used. For example, I found a recipe this past summer for tuna salad that called for pineapple. I like pineapple so I figured that instead of buying just one can of pineapple, I would buy a box of cans. Guess what? That box full of cans of pineapple is still sitting in the lazy susan...unopened. Yep, that's the kind of waste that I am talking about. My Aunt Cathy did this challenge called "30 Days of Nothing" back in November...basically (and I'm REALLLY summing it up here), she was able to go 30 Days without purchasing/buying/spending money on stuff that wasn't absolutely essential. Her 30 day journey really inspired me and I decided to try it this month. So far, I'm not doing so hot. I haven't exactly spent money.....but I've spent gift cards. Which to me is the same thing. I may still have the same amount of $$ in my bank account, but the consumerism is still there for me. Me thinks that I will give this challenge another shot starting in February. There is a lot that can be learned about what we find to be "essential" when we do without it.

Secondly - lose weight/get in shape. This has become a yearly challenge for me. It seems that I am one of those folks who are on the constant weight-coaster. I go up, I go down, I go farther up, I go not quite as far down....It's a very dangerous cycle to be on. Anyhow, the mom's group that I am a part of decided to do a "Biggest Loser" challenge this year and I am participating. I have reached my heaviest weight...even heavier than I was when I was full-term with Douglas! But instead of going "balls to the wall" and trying to tackle everything at once (drink water, eat healthy, exercise, etc., etc.), I decided to do things in phases. I have confidence that I will be able to handle things better if I do it one step at a time - thanks to Shannon for giving me that advice! In any case, the first step I decided on was to get in the habit of drinking water. Mostly, I drink coffee, soda, juice, soda, milk, soda....and NO water. So....for an entire week, I kept myself drinking one or two cups of coffee each morning and water for the rest of the day. And guess what happened! I lost 5 pounds! Just knowing that I made one little change and it caused the numbers on the scale to go down was quite encouraging for me! I also had an epiphany the other night. There was some commercial on - I forget now what it was for...maybe Activia yogurt or something - and the lady in the commercial made a comment along the lines of "I need to take care of myself." This of course got some thoughts running through my head that started with, "Well isn't THAT selfish!"....but as I thought on this line more & more, I came to a lightbulb moment. If I am unable to care for myself, then how on earth will I be able to care for my son or my husband? If I can't treat myself like I am a decent human being by eating right and using my body by exercising, then how can I expect that my son will grow up to be able to take care of himself? I know that I have been placed here to be an example & a leader & an instructor for Douglas. By taking care of myself - getting myself into shape, eating healthy foods, eating proper portion sizes - then I am being an excellent example for Douglas too. In years past, thoughts like this would have depressed me but when I was thinking on this the other night, I became very encouraged & excited! I realized that I can do this - I can take the time & put in the effort to take care of this body that I have and in doing so, I will be an better example for my son! Yippeeee!!! :-)

Thirdly - decluttering the house. Allen & I are young and we haven't been married all that long so you wouldn't think that we would have clutter....oh, but we do! Stuff seems to just pile up around here. Every room in this house - bathrooms included! - has amassed clutter. Stuff that just sits there for months & months & in some cases, YEARS, and we never use it, move it, touch it. So, I decided that this year, I am going to declutter this house. I don't want to end up on a show like "Hoarders" or "Clean House". I want to feel comfortable having people come to visit and not worry about how badly they are judging me for my messy house. So, I started in the kitchen. We got LOTS of new Rubbermaid storage containers for Christmas (THANK GOODNESS!) so I pulled out all of the old "tupperware" containers and put them in a box to donate to Goodwill. Then I realized that we have an extra set of silverware - the silverware that Allen had prior to us getting married. It has been in a plastic bag stuffed in a cupboard for almost 3 years now. I put IT in the box for Goodwill. Then I realized that we also have an extra set of pots & pans that we can no longer use. A little over a year ago, when we redid the kitchen, we got an induction cooktop which requires our pots & pans & anything we use on it to be magnetic. Well, the teflon pans are not magnetic....but they have been sitting in the cabinet taking up space. Sooooo....they got pulled out & will be donated too. Let me tell you, doing just that little bit in one room was quite liberating. It was like each item that I put into the donation box took a little bit of weight off my shoulders and made me feel just a little bit better about our house! Keep it up & soon enough, I will be hosting parties here! Well, probably not, but you see what I mean.

So that is my update for right now. The New Year has started and life is moving along with it. I'll keep you posted on how things progress!