TTT: Season 3, Episode 42

1. I'm burning the candle at both ends right now! We leave tomorrow around lunch time for Austin to attend my cousin Audry's wedding. As I mentioned last week, Rudy is going to be the ring bearer and he's so excited for his moment in the lime light! Just as how life typically behaves prior to any form of traveling, there's been a massive snowball effect taking place across all aspects of life around here. And though my mind has typed out my packing list, not a stitch has been pulled from the drawers. Heck, the suitcases aren't even out yet. Tomorrow morning promises to be a madhouse. But I have to say, I can't wait for the wedding! It's been a long time since I've seen my mom's side of the family all in one place. (I missed the huge family reunion the took place just days after Grant was born last summer.) Considering the family is so massive, there's never a dull moment and it's a blast getting to have fun and catch up with everyone. But back to Rudy....Be still, my heart!

Really!?! He's literally the cutest little man to ever wear a tux. And actually, I'm quite fond of knowing he's mine! (this adverb-happy caption is just for you, Mom and Dad! ;)

2. One huge component to the snowball effect taking place around here is definitely the whole sewing machine transition. In fact, I'd consider it to be the avalanche. Not sure if I've ever explained this on here before, but I run on a one week timeline for my shop. So if a customer places an order on Thursday, it will ship by the following Thursday. Usually, it's fairly easy for me to keep up with this schedule. But when you spend two full nap times shopping for a new sewing machine instead of filling orders...and this just days before leaving on a weekend trip...well, the rest is history. But alas, I do have an awesome new sewing and embroidery machine sitting up on my sewing table. I ended up spending way more than I imagined, but I think in the end I'm going to be glad that I did. And heck, she'll pay for herself quickly. I'd classify her as a dream machine. At least for what I'm needing right now. Just a few days in and I'm already in love!

The boys are fascinated by how the machine can sew "all by itself!"

3. Running errands with all three boys isn't easy. A four-year-old, a three-year-old, a one-year-old, a shopping cart, a list, a crowd. There are many, many variables. But lately, it has seemed like errand running with the monkeys hasn't been too bad. The older two have developed an understanding of how to act and how to help mom. But then there's Grant. He's certainly the most spirited of the bunch right now. We set out to run a bunch of errands yesterday beginning with Rudy's tux fitting. Since I knew I'd need both arms free to dress Rudy, I strapped him in the stroller. All was well for the first ten minutes. But not so much by minute forty-five when our salesman had wandered off to help another customer, Rudy and Kolbe were entertaining themselves in the mirror tunnel, and I was doing my best to avoid letting curse words slip from my mouth. Grant was in full on caged animal mode, and though I took him out of the stroller for a bit while we waited, his goal in life was to run wild in the Men's Wearhouse. I felt like I needed an alcoholic beverage by the time I left the place. Our next stop was Target. I convinced myself that maybe if I bought a pretzel to share with the boys, they'd be really well behaved while I raced through and grabbed what I needed for our trip. Luckily, this was true for the older two. But again, then there's Grant. He has figured out how to stand up in shopping carts. Even when strapped in. Why can't they make them with five point harnesses!?! So being the desperate mom that I was, I put him in the bin part of the shopping car and just decided to walk along side of it so I could hold on to him. Despite my efforts, he just had to have that last chunk of pretzel in Kolbe's hand. He went for a forward somersault move in an attempt to get it. Yes, with my ninja-like mom skills, I did catch him prior to hitting the ground. But not without incurring the wound below. And that's just half of it. The top of my foot has two similar gashes along with bruising. I'm going to go ahead and nominate myself for the first person to come out of her shoes on the dance floor at the wedding this weekend. And as for the errand trip...Grant went straight to nap time when we got home. It was for his own safety.

Part of Mama's boo-boos

Ahh. I nice, peaceful picture of the boys reading books with Dada. Wish the whole week had been this calm!

TTT: Season 3, Episode 41

1. I'll be the first to admit that one of my least favorite aspects of kiddie rearing is dental hygiene and care. My kids have never been fond of brushing their teeth. Except for Grant. Right now he thinks it's the coolest thing ever. But he seems to be the exception to many things, so Grant aside, it has always been a battle. And I'm always the bad guy forcing them to brush, "brushing too hard", "gagging them", etc. Ugh. But alas, it is a necessity. Beyond the fact that no one likes stinky breath, all kinds of problems can show up down the road when baby teeth aren't cared for properly. Plus, Kolbe has his own set of issues from his clefts. He's had an extra tooth behind his top front teeth that we've know would need to be pulled for a long time. Between Mark's job changes and changing insurance, we just haven't gotten around to doing it. About a month or so ago, Rudy fell while rough-housing in the family room and hit his mouth on the frame of our couch. His gums bled a little right after and the next day he said it hurt while brushing but then we never heard anything more from him. Sure enough, just recently we've started noticing that the tooth is turning gray. So between Kolbe's tooth and now Rudy's, we decided to head to the dentist this week. Despite the fact that they act like I'm brushing their teeth with a razor at home, they were perfect patients at the dentist's office. (Imagine that.) They each got a cleaning and x-rays done...and came home with plenty of goodies! Kolbe's tooth extraction is scheduled for two weeks from now. We've been discussing it with him for a long time so he knows it coming, but I'm sure it will still be tough. Keep the little fella in your prayers! He's been through a lot with his mouth and is always a trooper. As for Rudy, the dentist said there's no evidence of any damage or real problems so she thinks we should leave it and monitor it for the time being. He may develop more problems down the road and have to get it pulled, but it could also possibly lighten back up and be just fine. She said that since he's only three, it's better to leave it there for now and pull it down the road if it becomes more of a problem. That way he won't be missing a front tooth for roughly four years. Considering that Kolbe will be five in a few weeks and we've yet to have an ER visit, any broken bones/stitches/etc, and a "dead" tooth with Rudy is our first accident, I'd say we're doing pretty well!

In the waiting room at the dentist! Two brave boys!

2. Rudy's tooth is not the only thing that was confirmed dead this week. Sadly, my sewing machine, Number Two, was laid to rest as well. Number Two lived a short but very full life creating hundreds of items (actually, over one thousand!) for many customers. If you've been reading for a while, you're probably thinking that it hasn't even been a year since my first machine died. It's true. Number Two was purchased last December. Like I said...a short life. But she admittedly was a cheap, necessity-type buy in that my first one died, I had a huge stack of have-to-get-out-in-time-for-Christmas orders to sew and just needed something functional in a hurry. But considering the fabric that I sew with is thick and I'm sewing multiple layers of it...with thick elastic in the middle too!...it's hard for just about any machine to stand much of a chance. And I'll fess up...I'm definitely not the best caregiver. I'm usually in too much of a hurry to get one more order done or rushing off because babies are waking from naps and sure enough, the lint builds up until the machine jams and I have to take it apart. That being said, Number Two did really well considering her quality level and what I put her though. I did take her completely apart in hopes of resuscitating her little sewing machine heart, but to no avail. So this time around I'm going to make some changes. I still can't bring myself to drop roughly $2,000 on a dream machine, but I'm trying to take a little more of a get-what-you-pay-for approach along with adding embroidery since it's been something I've been needing to add to my shop options for a long time. Plus, I suppose I'll vow to provide better care and maintenance as well. I mean, it's not like a little spray down with some canned air takes more than five seconds! In the mean time, I'm working on the beauty below. She's my mom's sewing machine that's got to be a good thirty to forty years old. Sure, she's missing many, many, many of the common features of more modern machines (cough, cough- well placed thread cutter- cough, cough), but overall, she's a real work horse and is getting the job done just fine! There's something to be said for a solid metal machine that beats today's largely plastic-cased machines hands down. 

3. Time for some tidbits!

- Our colds that started last week still haven't gone away. No kidding, I woke up this morning feeling like I might have gotten a little bit worse instead of a little bit better. And I even went to bed early last night! Grant's nose is still running like a faucet and Rudy's voice still sounds like a boy going through puberty. Ten days is enough. Go away.

- I ordered, yes, ordered the boys' Halloween costumes this week. I cringe at the word only because their costumes have all been handmade in the past. But they're begging to be Hulk and Batman. Despite the fact that they've never seen a movie or show involving Hulk or Batman. And so it begins. I gave in, realizing I couldn't make their costumes for as cheap as I could buy them. Boo. Next year I will remember to plant my (much cuter!) ideas much earlier on!

- I'm looking really, really forward to next weekend. Headed to Austin for my cousin Audry's wedding where Rudy will serve as the ring bearer. Can't wait to see all of our family!

Little Rudy loves to take pictures. It's so fun to look through them and see what he sees.

I mentioned that we've developed somewhat of a war with Grant and eating. Namely, he likes to exert his power in the form of refusing to eat anything. A few days ago I was craving onion rings like crazy so Mark brought me some home. And while Grant wouldn't eat things that we know he loves, he sure did throw down on an onion ring!

A few weeks ago Mark took Kolbe on a little man trip and this week Rudy got his turn. They headed to Toys-r-us to walk the aisles and then, of course, off to get a dipped cone!

Kolbe had picture day at preschool this week and on the way out our front door  he blended in so well with our fall decorations that I had to get a pre-picture picture. He's just too cute!

Kolbe's number one fan at soccer!!!

TwoGirlsTurningThirty Interview

Once upon a time I lived in Mississippi for a good five or so years. During that time, I met a ton of wonderful people and was lucky enough to become friends with quite a few. Two such people are a pair of great girls that I went to high school with, Mary-Hall Johnson and Bethany Bordeaux. The talents, smarts, and wit they had as teenagers have only continued to grow over the years. They had the fun idea to start a blog together at the beginning of the year chronicling their adventures in achieving their before-turning-thirty goals. One of Mary-Hall's goals is to list something on etsy, so a few weeks ago she got in touch with me for a little Q and A about my shop.

Let's face it- we all know I didn't set out in life with high hopes of becoming a baby linen seamstress. It just sort of....happened. Want to know how it all got started? What I love/hate about it? What the future holds for my little shop? Check out the little interview HERE.

Halloween Costumes

We had such a fun Halloween this year! And while in the days leading up, Kolbe repeatedly asked me, "Mama, where's Halloween?" I think by last night he finally got it. At dinner time we practiced pretending like we were knocking on doors and then saying "Trick or Treat!" And sure enough, by the time we headed out to hit up our list of obligatory hot spots, he had it down. Rudy was, of course, just along for the ride. His greatest achievement was keeping on his hat when I asked him to.

I made both of the boys' costumes this year. Which isn't saying much when you see Rudy's. Like I mentioned before, I had big plans in my mind but it just didn't quite work out. His candy corn suit was a simple triangle cut of felt all sewn together. I measured the length from his neck to his ankles, divided it by three, cut pieces of felt this size, sewed them together, laid one of his summer tank tops on top, traced it, and from the arm pits down just made it flare out wider and wider. Really simple. No hems or anything since felt doesn't fray. And for the hat I just measured around his big dome, divided it by two, added a little for a seam allowance and made a triangle with an elastic band attached to each side.

Do you think I could get a picture of him facing forward? Of course not! But the back is the exact same as the front so you get the idea.

Kolbe's was a bit more complex. With very few pictures of St. Maximillian Kolbe available, I decided to base his outfit on a prayer card that we have with a picture of him on it. The circle rim glasses were a necessity, though when I took him up to the hospital on Friday to see his grandma, every single person that saw him said, "Look! Harry Potter!" At first I tried to explain but then just gave up and smiled and nodded...especially if it was just random strangers passing by. To make his outfit, I used McCalls 2340 pattern which is designed to create the outfits to use for a Christmas nativity play. It created the long "dress" type garment that I just tied with a white waist cord. It was super easy to follow and was completed in one nap time. The extra collar around the neck (I'm sure if a really Catholic-garment-savvy person reads this, they'll know the proper name for this collar/hood piece...sorry, I'm not that person.) was made by cutting a large circle and creating a hole for his head closer to the front than the back so it would hang down low on his back and lay flush with his neck in front. Not exactly like the real deal but close enough.

And of course the one good shot I get of Kolbe is blurry...

So till next year... hope you all had a Happy Halloween! Try to not imitate the sole female of this house and pig out on all the candy! Go throw the football in the great fall weather instead!



Sewing Room

At the fabric store a day or two ago a woman caught me looking at some lovely fabric and asked if I had ever used it before.

"No. Not yet. It's a bit out of my budget," I replied. "Have you?"

"Yes, actually. I used it to make the curtains in my sewing room. I love it."

"I do too! It's really pretty. You must love being in your sewing room."

"I do. But don't we all! Do you have a sewing room?"

I paused for a moment and probably flushed a bright shade of red. Wanting to defend my humble little dwelling, I simply replied with:

"No, not quite. But I've got room to sew."

Now it was her turn to blush a bit. "Well I guess that's all you need," she said with a smile and casually walked off.

No, I definitely don't have a sewing room in my house. Just a jack-of-all trades room that serves as a guest room, office, and sewing storage for me. I don't actually sew in there. There's no table where I could make that happen. All the sewing takes place in the kitchen...which is why it only takes place during nap time or after the kids have done to bed. Yes, it's annoying to have to set up and take down each day, but we're in the put up and shut up phase of life and I have no room to complain. Maybe someday I'll have that dream playroom I've imagined where I can corner off some space for permanent placement of my things. And maybe not. Only time will tell. But you know what? I have a feeling that I'm not alone in this. While there are certainly some very blessed women out there, such as the owner of this:

or this:

I'd say that most of us who like to sew, or scrapbook, or read, or... probably get along just fine without an entire space dedicated to our hobby. I mean, really...how many of you out there have a library in your home!?! So I thought instead of sharing my "sewing room" with you, I'd show you my "room to sew."

This is how I roll. Literally. This is my sewing cart. A random hand-me-down printer cart from my uncle. She lives in the guest/office/storage room, just inside the door. She gets rolled out to the kitchen each day that I sew. The machine stacked on top, thread just beneath, and works-in-progress on the bottom rack.

Across from her stands the guest bed/work station. Shamefully, it usually looks like this whenever it's not housing a guest. I know it annoys Mark to know end, but hey, no one else sees it! I realize it looks like a total mess...complete with confiscated Buzz Lightyear that was being mis-used....but I know where everything is and why it's there so I'm happy. Organized chaos.

Once the babes are resting, my cart makes the trek with me down the hall to the kitchen table. Where all my goodies spend an hour or two looking like this. Sewing cart: check. Machine set up: check. Large: Sonic drink: check (rare...just on lucky days!) Cell phone: check (you know...just in case the slight possibility of someone calling might occur)

I must admit that guest/office/storage room does live up to the last part of it's name in a great way. It has an expansive walk-in closet that houses my ever expanding storage of fabric, among other things. I know. I know. This also looks ridiculous. But really! Most of this yardage I got great deals on! Ok...ALL of it!

A Favorite Sewing Achievement

I think every sewist has certain pinnacles that he or she hopes to reach. For some, it might be designing and creating her very own garment. For others it may be as simple as putting in a zipper well.

Some prefer to sew clothing. Others prefer to quilt. Still more prefer to create other items for the home. Or costumes! To each, his own.

My mother has always been primarily a garment maker. She made many of my childhood dresses and ensembles. And even a few of my prom and formal dresses. Not to mention my gorgeous gown for homecoming court my senior year of high school. (Lets just say that in Mississippi, circa 1999, wedding dresses were appropriate for such an occasion.) However, I know of another sewist who makes the most beautiful quilts in the world. Intricate and detailed, they are the envy of any family home. But she doesn't do garments.

I, for some reason, have been unable to pin down exactly which sewing field I prefer. At first, I dabbled in simple sewing. You know, straight lines and the sort. Then I really started to push myself and endeavored into garments. Both for myself as well as the teeny tiny people of this world. My first being an Aladdin costume for my son. But I couldn't stop there. I had to try bags. Purses. Curtains. Backpacks. Accessosries! Leave no rock un-climbed!

But still, there was the ever elusive quilt.

Surely it couldn't be that hard. After all, it's just a bunch of straight lines, right? Technically, yes. It's just the time it requires to make it. And the details. And make sure it's all lined up. Precisely. And...and...and...

But I did it! And it's the crowning achievement of my sewing life thus far. And I did it for two of my favorite people.

My boys.

I followed a wonderful online tutorial found at Obsessively Stitching. Honestly, without Care's step-by-step instructions, I don't think I would have ever managed! And her I-spy obsession and swap opportunities were perfect for me, as I was hoping to make something functional for more than just keeping the little ones warm. Playing I-spy with the eighty-eight different novelty squares is so much fun!