Easter week

Wow, what a great week!

First, there was Easter. We celebrated with my mom on Saturday. It was rainy, as it has been for the last 2 weeks straight, so we had an egg hunt inside.

This should be sent to awkwardfamilyphotos.com-

I'm always trying to get a good picture of the 3 of us- but again, we failed. We're all making stupid faces, but this was the best of 5.

We left Saturday afternoon to visit Chris's family. We were there for a few days, and got to spend some time with family. While we were there, we celebrated Granny & Poppy's wedding-

Ok-- side story about the cake- Doug (Poppy) raises chickens. Lots of them. So his daughter (who made the cake) made the bride & groom out of marshmallow chickens. And this girl must have a good sense of humor- just look at the hair on the groom chicken. Then look at the hair on the groom. :)

Thankfully, the weather in E.KY was so much better! We actually got to do an Easter egg hunt outside. Ava had such a good time!

By the way, do you recognize that dress?

Ava got to play with some cousins she didn't even know she had.

We went up on Chris's family's property and got up close and personal with some horses. Seriously, that was the friendliest animal I've ever met. He just followed us around and wanted to be petted (or is it pet?).

The view from atop the mountain was amazing.

Beautiful!!

I hope this week is a little slower. I really want to make something!!

on parenting....

I found this article on someone else's blog recently (I have no idea whose blog I stole it from, as I am addicted to blog reading and regularly read 20 or so blogs).


Can you read those tiny little words? I decided to post this today, after much thought about it, because every word of it is true. Especially the whole 'taking 45mins to do what would take the non-kid-havers 15 mins'. And I have the perfect scenario from this morning to back this up--


Usually, I can plop miss Ava down on my bed in front of Super Why and she will stay there and watch TV while I take a quick shower (no leg shaving here! I have to plan that crap now!). Although she usually stays on the bed, I lock the bedroom door and put a full laundry basket (because there's always one of those) in front of the door, just to keep her from wandering the whole house on her own (no telling what I would find her doing).


So, this morning, shortly after I get in the shower, I hear a big bang. I call for her, and she doesn't answer. So, I jump out of the shower, butt-ass nekked, conditioner still in my hair, and I find her standing on the outside of my bedroom door. When she sees me, she takes off running. Of course, I must chase her and return her to the safety of my room while I finish my shower at Mach speed. Of course, she thought it was hilarious. I, on the other hand, did not.


Why am I telling you this? Well, just to show how nothing goes as planned when you have a kid. That you really must do things the hard way, because sometimes that's the only way to do it. That more energy is used for the most mundane tasks, and a lot of times non-kid-havers just don't realize this.


I miss out on a lot with my friends. Sometimes it's because it's not a kid-friendly event, sometimes she's had a bad day and I can't even imagine taking her in public. Not that I don't like my friends, (I do, and I miss them) but sometimes I'd just rather be with my kid. And those of you that don't have kids just won't understand that.


My girl is 21 months and has yet to spend the night away from us. My co workers make fun of me for this. And I'm OK with that. Perhaps I am a little overboard with this, and it may be because I had to wait so long for her. Who knows.


The bottom line is- yes, I miss out on things now that I have a child. But this is NOTHING compared to what I was missing out on before I had a child, I just didn't know it yet. I had no idea how wonderful mommyhood was until I moved into the hood myself.


I love being a mom. I love being Ava's mom. And if that means missing out on other things, taking forever to do simple tasks, and rarely having the time to shave my legs, so be it. I hate shaving anyway.

March Goals

I started a list of goals for the year (a little late, but hey, at least I got a list together.) My goal for March was to decorate my kitchen walls. We've lived here for a long time, and it looks like we just moved in, because we barely have anything on the walls. Here is a picture of what the nook looked like before. And here's a now picture. Please act like you don't notice how terrible the lighting is in these pictures, ok? I bought the little flower plaques and the picture frames from a thrift store and spray painted them. (And, in the process, decided that I really like spray paint.) The pictures in the frames are of the daffodils in my yard, which are now dead because the weather here is crazy and they froze.

I made a new mirror for the dining room.

I used enough hot glue on this thing to secure a small village.

I really like the way it turned out!

Hopefully my goals for the rest of the year will be as successfully completed as my March goal was!!

Springtime- for a minute anyway...

My daffodils have sprung, which must mean it's Spring!

Well, it should, anyway. This picture was taken last week. Today, it was sleeting and.... well, I'm not sure what to call the other wintry precipitation we got today- it was too wet to be snow, but it was coming down in HUGE chunks.
Anyway, I'm sure that just killed my pretty flowers. Ah, spirngtime in the Ohio Valley. Never predictable, except that it's always unpredictable.

During the week of warm weather, Ava and I were outside everyday. And she LOVED it. We went to the park a couple of times, to the zoo with Kathy and Ellie, and to play outside at mamaw's.


This is the first year she actually knows what to do with bubbles.

Well, kinda.

You're not supposed to eat them silly girl!

Seeing how much fun she has outside really makes me hate my yard more and more each day. I regret buying a house and not having the forethought to consider a child running around the property. Oh, how we live and learn.

We did get estimates on a new deck though (yikes!). Hopefully we'll have it installed in time for our big girl's second birthday!

New dresses

Oh, how I love my little girl in a dress!! Isn't she just the cutest thing ever?? The dress is pretty cute too. I used the tutorial from Prudent Baby. This is actually the second of these dresses that I've made, but the other one is having issues- I used the snaps that the pattern called for, but I can't get the snaps on the front of the dress. UGH.

So instead of snaps, I made buttonholes (!) and used some buttons I already had.

Yes, this dress is a little short. No, she had better not even *think* about wearing something this short when she's a teen. You can't tell from these pictures, but I made a really cute little diaper cover out of the paisley fabric to match. That's the whole reason this dress is so short- so that while she's playing, you can see that cute little bum covered in paisley.

I've been thrifting a lot recently. I found a men's shirt that looked like it should have been a little girl's dress all along.

So I bought it, washed it, and started cutting...

and a few short hours later, I had this-

An awesome little shirtdress.

I used crossgrain ribbon for the waistband instead of contrasting fabric, mainly becuase the ribbon matched, and my spare fabric did not. However, I really like the way it turned out. The orange ribbon really pops.

After I had already sewn the placket shut, I decided to swap out the buttons from the plain white ones to these fun blue flowers I got from Chris's Grama's stash.

I am totally in love with this pattern. I think I'll make more.

the Circle Skirt

I *finally* made something for myself-
This Circle Skirt!
I can't tell you how EASY it was- it took me about 20 minutes to sew it up (well, it should have anyway- I readjusted the elastic waistband a couple {ok, 4} times).

So, like the name implies, it's a circle of fabric. More like a donut.
Which means there are NO SEAMS to sew! the only sewing involved is attatching the elastic for the waistband and the hemline, which I don't really like doing.
I made this one out of a bed sheet that I got at a thrift store.
I thought it was white with little grey polka dots, but upon further inspection, I decided the dots are actually purple. No matter.

It still needs the bottom hem. I think I'll just wait until I get my serger, then add a rolled hem. That will make this project the easiest skirt ever!

Oh, and guess what else I made?

Fresh, homemade buttah. Mmmmm.

Things to do:

I probably should have set goals for myself at the New Year like everyone else.
But I'm slow.

March- decorate kitchen walls


April- plant things in flower beds in back yard, tidy front yard


May- put together a recipe binder


June- make strawberry freezer jam


July- make felt food for my girl


August- read a classic


September- pick (and possibly can) apples


October- pick and carve a pumpkin


November- sew a tree skirt, or possibly an adorable Advent calendar


December- make homemade hot chocolate mix

Mom's Birthday

A few years ago, my mother and I kinda stopped giving each other birthday gifts. Neither of us ever know what gift to tell the other person to buy, so we just started buying each other a bouquet of flowers and having dinner together on our birthdays.
This year, I bought her a bouquet of red tulips. My girl was with me when I picked them out, and when she saw me put the flowers in our cart, she pointed to a pink bouquet and said "more." So we got Mom the pink ones too.

For dinner, I made Mom her favorite, my stuffed shells. It's like manicotti, only I find it too difficult to stuff those stupid shells without tearing them. I think the shells are just cuter anyway.

Want the recipe? It's-
1 jar pasta sauce
3/4 box jumbo shells, cooked
15 oz ricotta cheese
2 C. shredded mozzarella cheese
1 egg
1/2 C. Parmesan cheese
1 T Italian seasoning
1 T garlic powder (more or less to suit your taste)

Preheat your oven to 350 while you're mixing the ricotta, egg, Parmesan, seasonings, and nearly all of the mozzarella (I leave out about a handful to sprinkle on top right before it's done).
Pour about 1/2 cup sauce in the bottom of a 13X9 pan, just enough to cover the bottom.

Fill your shells.

Side note here- I absolutely lovelovelove my cookie scoop. I use it for just about everything but cookies. I've found that it's the perfect size for these shells. Filling the shells is super quick, and less messy than using a spoon.

Pour the rest of your sauce over the shells, cover with foil, and bake until bubbly (about 45 minutes). Remove from oven and sprinkle with remaining mozzarella.

Then eat way more shells than you had intended to just because this is a meal that is not often made at your house because your husband is the one person in the whole world that doesn't like ricotta cheese. ://cough cough//:

Anyhoo, I also baked her one of her favorite cakes. I have no idea what it's called- I just call it the Summer Cake because it reminds me of warm, sunny days.

It's full of yummy things, like mandarins, lemon, pineapple, and Cool Whip. Very summery, no?

I hope you had a great birthday, Mom.

Oven Mitt- FAIL

I really wanted to make an oven mitt.
I was hoping it would turn out well, because there is a girl at work getting married soon, and our coworkers made a cookbook for her, and I thought an oven mitt and a matching potholder would be a nice gift that would go right along with the cookbook (spoken in a whiny child's voice).
But nooooooo.
This project was a complete failure. Boo.
So the pattern was this one.
I had issues with this from the beginning- I should have known this project was doomed.
First off, as I was cutting the Insul-bright, I was getting all the fibers up my nose. I felt like I was breathing in some sort of toxic-to-your-lungs insulation or something. Then, the peices were too thick to run through my machine. I guess I need to get a walking foot for thicker pieces like this.
Anyway, I finally got the stupid thing together.
Not lookin' too bad here...
But you turn it right side out and you see where I had trouble sewing it together.

Oh, and the best part? This nice little hole at the top.

Ugh.

Buttercup bag

I decided to make something for myself, so I perused the web for a tutorial for an easy purse.
I found (and loved!!) the Buttercup bag from Made by Rae.
So I got out my fatquarter and started cutting.

I've never made a purse before, and I have no idea how to line things or attach buttons/snaps/closures of any sort. But Rae's tutorial was very clear, and I was able to follow it well.

Here's the finished product. I was a little disappointed in the size- the model has *way* skinnier arms than I do, thereby making her bag look larger. Ahem.

It is very difficult to photograph a purse that you're wearing, just so you know.

tool cup and paisley dress

I made a couple more things yesterday.

I decided that the kitchen table was NOT the best place for my sewing machine. It's just too hard to keep my toddler away from it. So, I made myself a little sewing area in our guest room.
I bought a small card table, which I think will actually help my sewing- you can't sew too fast or the whole table will bounce! This will keep my speed in check, which will in turn keep my seams a bit neater.

I needed a place to put my small tools, like my scissors, pens, and seam measure. I had just empltied this Vlassic jar, and decided to upcycle it into something useful.

It works beautifully!

Next, I made a pillowcase dress from fabric, not a pillowcase. I used the tutorial from Prudent Baby. Somehow, I messed up the top and the neck is waaaaaay smaller than it should be.

I think the problem came from the armholes- I cut them from the neckline. Oops.

Can you tell I made a mistake?

I had such a hard time keeping her still for these photos.

I love this dress. I think I'll make more. This time, I'll know how to do it correctly.

Next up, flannel lounge pants!