Did I Mention??

Did I mention that i have a new niece? I do. And she is P.R.E.C.I.O.U.S! Did you expect any less?

Little Sara Beth was born on 9/11/10 and is such a pretty little thing! We are all enthralled with her.... The kids are excited to have a new cousin....

And let me take this opportunity to say, there is just something your insides do that you can't explain when you see your man holding a newborn baby. It doesn't have to be YOUR newborn. It just happens... (And it helps that he is just a natural with babies....)

Here she is at 6 days old....

And here she is at 2.5 weeks old... I could eat her right up!And here, she had come over for a little visit. And we chatted (well.. i chatted... she listened....)

Cool Laptop Sleeve

Maybe i should have titled this post: Mount Everest. Because this project was most definitely my Mount Everest. I wanted to make it for awhile, & have had it bookmarked HERE since the middle of the summer. But I was super intimidated. It was a very long zipper & i had only placed one zipper before (which didn't turn out too pretty, i might add). But the measuring of the laptop, and making sure i had done my math right, etc etc just had me nervous. And i will also say that the old saying "measure twice, cut once" rang true for me this time. Good thing i had a little extra fabric... but barely! I actually made this in one afternoon though & even though i think it could be prettier & a LOT neater in terms of the actual stitching & so forth, it turned out decent enough & will most definitely get the job done for hauling my laptop around.

Lessons i learned from this tutorial?
1- Again, measure twice, cut once.
2- zippers are tricky. Practice must make perfect, so i have ordered 10 zippers off etsy!
3-gathering stitches are easy... but the gathering part is for the birds.
4- almost throwing the machine through the window won't make the gathering any easier.
5- your bobbin thread is what you have to pull to make a gather, not the top thread. Even so, if you pull too hard, it WILL break. many. times....
6- fusible fleece is quirky & only fuses if you hold your tongue a certain way!
7- the project doesn't have to be perfect to make me PROUD of myself!

Silly Bandz

Oh, Silly Bandz, how i love to hate you. What should be a cool little way to trade with friends has turned into a full blown phenomenon at our house. And by the way, why couldn't i come up with something like this? (Because if i had, it would have NEVER been a craze, it wouldn't have even sold the first package!)

Anyway, Jackson has become obsessed. So obsessed that he will sneak into Eli's room & take his. If he finds one laying around the house, it's automatically his. Do you think that is fun when Eli decides he wants to wear his? He can't find any & THAT begins a whole meltdown. He doesn't understand the whole trading concept just yet, so he wears one while, then lays it down, & then big brother scarfs it up.

I have had to put some limits on the silly bands & even had the opportunity to take them away as punishment (which worked rather well, i might add). But the one day i realized i had to take a picture of the craziness was the day that my child categorized them. Seriously, maybe he does get a little more than just me temper. Maybe he does have a little of my sense of order?!

He put them together by color which looked rather cool, if do say so......

These are the things that he will look back on in 20 years & say, "Do you remember those crazy bracelets i used to wear?" in the same manner that i remember garbage pail kids & converse sneakers. (however, i hope that the Silly Bandz don't come back in style like the converse have!)

whoa! Twice in the same week!

With all the fighting, bickering, whining, punching, kicking, mouthing off, etc (you get the picture) between my two boys, i sometimes wonder if they will EVER grow up to be as close as brothers should be. I always tell them, "You two need to be nice to each other. God gave you each other as brothers for a reason. You are the only brothers each other has. And one day you two will be as close as Daddy & Uncle Jeremy." Well this past week, i was in the garage working on a project (surprised?) and Jackson was sitting on the top step just outside the doorway. Eli came out, sat next to him, wrapped his arm through Jackson's, leaned his head over & said, "You my best buddy, Jackson."

Jaw. Hit. The. Floor.

I almost cried. I held back the tears & said, "Now THAT is how brothers are supposed to act. That was very sweet!"

A few days later, I was in the kitchen preparing dinner & i heard Jackson say to Eli behind me, "I love you, Eli." It was just as out of the blue & sincere as ever. I could hardly believe my ears.

Maybe there is hope.... one day the fighting will cease, right?! Oh, the joys of brothers!

A few more projects....

Need a quick project? Here is a one that i did a few weeks back that was super easy & fun! They are "boo boo bags"(can't find my photo at the moment) that you fill with rice & keep in the freezer for boo boos. Or you can warm them to keep your kiddos hands warm in the winter. I will certainly be making more of these. I basically used this tutorial and tweaked it a bit to fit my needs (mainly just top stitched around the whole thing and added a star to the front). You can also use this same idea to make bean bags for kids - just make it a little smaller, say a 3" square rather than a 5" square.

A few days after completing that project, I moved onto something i needed for myself- a trash bag for my car. The boys leave all kinds of trash laying around in the car & i have actually witnessed them just tossing it on the floor. Grrr. Enter: the Auto Trash Bag Tutorial. It was a cinch & this was my first chance to make a pleat & to make a casing. This particular casing holds boning to keep the bag open & ready for any trash. I chose to use some kid friendly fabric that was a hand-me-down from a huge box of fabric my mom gave me when she was cleaning out her fabric bin (score!). I figured I had a better chance of trash making it into the bag from the kiddos hands if it was pleasing to THEIR eyes! Ha!

Zack is 10 Months Old!

My dog is 10 months old. I seriously can't believe it has been that long already! I can't believe i have survived his puppyhood that long!
I am constantly having to remind myself that Zack is still a puppy. And for a Boxer, that means I will be saying that for YEARS. Some days it's a lot of fun and if i am honest, some days it is more work than it is worth. But i have to say, the love that he gives us is totally unconditional & he is the most devoted dog i have ever owned. He guards this house better than any alarm ever could! He even raises all kinds of cain when there is an unfamiliar car in a neighbors driveway (even 4 houses down!) So he definitely makes me feel safe & secure. He LOVES the kids (because he is one, no doubt!) and is perceptive enough to "tone down" his strength when playing with them. He stays right near me anytime i am cooking, just in case any crumbs might hit the floor & if you mention the word "oops" or "biscuit", you have his undivided attention! He is a big boy though & i am starting to worry over just how big he is going to be. He is already over 60lbs & is solid muscle. But he is such a pretty boy!He loves a rawhide!He is persistent too. He wants to be friends with Lola soooo bad. She has become extremely tolerant of him given the circumstances. When he sits still, she will actually come over & rub against him & meow. But when she is lounging & he wants to play, well... that's another story all together. This is a nightly ritual at our house when Randy & I get into bed (with both our computers- we are dorks, we know).... (& excuse the mound of laundry that I needed to fold....)

New Phone, New possibilities?

About a month ago, i bit the bullet & got a new phone. A smart phone. The company that i work part time for had been paying for my previous cell phone but it was a dinosaur. I was only able to text with the number keys (no keypad) & it was just getting to be a pain. They offered to pay a (low) stipend on a phone in exchange for me having my own cell plan, so i decided that it would be worth it to have a phone with a lot more possibilites & efficiency. And boy was I right! I got this beauty- a Droid Incredible:Within a day or so, i quickly realized how addictive it could be to have this kind of technology at my fingertips. I have a list program that i can keep an ongoing "to do" list with me, a "grocery list", and even my google calendar will sync to the phone so i can get rid of all my other calendars for work, etc. It has a GPS that is awesome for work when i go meet new clients too. Of course, the Jewels & Boggle game are convenient in carpool too. However, after having this nice little device for approximately 10 days, i dropped it & now it looks like this:

Of all the luck! Only i would do this, right? Bummer! But, it at least still works until i can get the screen replaced. And it hasn't stopped me from using it to take lots of pictures & videos that i have been uploading to facebook! I have found that i am taking more photos just because i have it with me most of the time! I have been able to capture some fun things around the house. Here's a few pictures i got of the "sounds of my life"....


And here is a video i took with my phone of Zack trying to figure out where a sound was in the house. (He is so gullible when it comes to sounds... All you have to say is "What's that?" and he is up & barking!)

And one more video i took with the phone on Leah's birthday. We were at McDonalds & of course my musical husband was playing on the keyboard too in the kids play area.....


I love that i can upload videos so easily & quickly now. So be expecting much more in the near future!

Sewing frenzy

Since my mom got me my sewing machine, i have crafted a few things, i am happy to report! My favorite so far is the mail organizer for my kitchen. I followed a tutorial HERE & even though it was almost a no sew project (only required a few straight lines), i would have never even considered it 3 months ago! So i must be building up some confidence! Here is the final product: After this project, I took a little break. But it hasn't actually stopped me from buying fabric. It is a compulsion! I have already bought the fabric for several possible future projects that i have in mind (One of which means placing a zipper for the first time, and the other is a purse... YIKES!). I now look at every article of clothing from a different perspective, too.... I have cut up old button down shirts of Randy's for projects and if i am honest, even a pair of boxer shorts that shrunk. So, when i was cleaning out the storage section of the garage and came across old crib sheets, i initially threw them in the goodwill pile. Then i had a moment of clarity & dug them right back out! That is perfectly good fabric that i can certainly use for SOMETHING, right? (Ahh, my Memaw would be proud right now!) I sat right down & cut the elastic out of every one of those sheets! And then about an hour later, i had already made something out of two of them.... A new dog bed for Zack!Oh, it was so cozy! And he lounged on it for days! And then three days later, he got bored apparently, because it looked like this when we let him out of the crate one morning....I totally should have known better. And believe it or not, i wasn't even that mad at him. The only reason i even had the batting for the inside was because he destroyed his first bed. But he at least slept on that one for about 4 months before shredding the thing. I had saved the batting so i could make him another for "free" out of scrap fabric, but i'd hoped it would last longer than 3 days. Oh, well! You live, you learn. And i am learning to go to the Goodwill for an old comforter next time he needs a soft place to sleep.
And he was sorry.... Can't you tell? How could i resist such a face??

Birthday in the Park...

Because we had a lot of variables to work with (like a possible Hurricane bringing rain our way, and Aunt Becca's impending delivery at any moment), we weren't sure what we were going to do about Eli's Birthday. He wanted a bike (& from a previous post, you saw that he got one!), & I thought going to the park for a little party could be fun. We did this when Jackson turned 4 & got a bike & it was great fun. So we decided we would do it! We called our local friends & family & asked them last minute to come join us at the park, bringing their bikes & helmets with them to the party. I spent the day leading up to the party making these super cute goodies....
You just take pretzel rods, break them in half, & dip the ends in colored chocolate.....
Then you wrap the crayon labels around them (i found them online in lots of places.....) & tape them to secure. Then i placed them in a cellophane bag & added a cute little topper that i printed myself... and Voila! You have party favors!
Anyway...back to the actual party! We had little ones....
and older ones..... and some in between....

but together they made Eli's day special!
We got some pizzas & brought some cupcakes & called it a day!Eli got to open his presents which were all a huge hit!

And then they all got on their bikes & made a trip out in the walking/riding trail.Thanks to everyone for making it out last minute! And thanks to Hurricane Earl for skipping us all together. And thanks to Sara Beth for delaying her entrance to this world another day or so (Sorry, Becca!!) We love you all!

Who's Four??

Eli's Four! Can you believe it? I certainly can't! My baby boy is getting older & it is some ways it is so sad to me. In other ways, it's so fun to watch him grow, change, & become more independent. I guess every age is a trade off of some sort.

As usual, his birthday came right after school started, so we sent in cupcakes to the classroom. There was a little bit of batter left over, so i made a tiny little cake for us all to have one slice on his actual birthday. We also took him to McDonald's for his special dinner. Here he is being sung to, and then blowing out the candles....We took him to the store to pick out his own birthday present since he wanted a bike. We needed to make sure he could ride it well enough & to decide on the proper sized bike. We did this weeks ago, but when i went back to get the bike, they were out. Oh, no! I did this on the one day i had some time to myself with out him in tow (his first day of school). So after school, we had to go to a different store to see if they had one. Luckily they had ONE, so i let him ride it to the checkout & then carefully ride it to the car. He was so excited! So he got his present a day early! Oh, well! That night, Daddy took him out in the driveway to give him lessons on braking. Much needed lessons, because our drive has a slight slant to it, & he almost ran into the garage door at full speed!Happy Birthday, Sweet Eli! You bring such love & laughter to our world!