Chugga Chugga

Choo choo!

Big flower quilt

When Sammi started sleeping with a piece of that mermaid yardage I knew it was meant to be a new quilt for her. My original plan was just a super simple square pattern. But as I was trolling pinterest I came across a flower sketch that I liked.  I think it was probably meant to be for small blocks, but I really wanted to feature that mermaid fabric.

 

I started by printing out the flower on a regular sheet of copy paper. Then I colored it again and again until I got the color placement I wanted for the petals.

 

Dave helped me set up a projector so I could trace the picture onto a roll of butcher paper to make my "Oh my word these are huge!"

pattern pieces.

 

 Then I went to town appliqueing them on.

 I had no quilting in plan in mind for the white space and was really bummed when Joann was out of warm and natural batting (which allows me to quilt 10 inches apart.) I had to buy some rose something other which says you need to quilt it 6 inches apart.

 To fix that problem I made three lines following the shape of the petal on each petal.

Then I just did some loosey goosey free motion quilting in the white space following the edges of the petals. (My first time for that kind of quilting!)

The binding was the last big challenge. It was the day we were snowed in and there was no way I could get to Joann for more fabric. I didn't like any of the other fabrics I used in the quilt on the edge and Dave suggested a solid teal, which I don't have in the stash. So I just went with the mermaids. They were the reason for the quilt, might as well use more of them.

It was the right choice. I love them on the edge.

Actually, I love the whole quilt. It is very different from anything else I have made, and so much more modern than what I would usually do, but it definitely has won me over.

Now to let Sammi actually touch it so it can be loved!

Grant month 5

5 months!  Nearly to the halfway point of the first year my sweet boy.

 Yesterday you fell asleep on the play gym for a few minutes. That's nearly a miracle for you - sleeping while  lying flat and not moving.

 I felt brave and gave you a quick tub yesterday. By this morning your darn cheek rash is back again. I cannot believe how long this is taking to sort out. I suspect the aquaphor since it was the only thing that was the same as the last bath that brought it back.

I will confess to being a little bit scared of feeding you food. If all this hypoallergenic stuff makes your skin break out like this how are you going to handle food?  Or sunscreen?

At 5 months you are:
*still not napping on any kind of schedule, no matter what I do
*still sleeping in your swing
*still nursing (and given your allergy problems we might very well go longer than 6 months)
*still sporting blue eyes
*getting cuter and cuter every day
*playing with toys
*my sweet littlest boy.

Love you baby.

Snow Day

Last week we had our first big snow since Sammi was born two years ago.  And there were two snow days.

The forecast for tomorrow seems up in the air - we may get another biggish snow or we may get nothing.

It's nice to finally have some winter.

Sammi and Grant and I have our first playdate on the schedule for tomorrow.  We have had to cancel twice already, so I am hoping we are able to make it. It was part of my new year's resolve to find other moms with kids close to my little kid's ages.  I am definitely feeling the gap in the lack of girlfriends with a bunch of tinies underfoot right now.

The other thing I am working on this year is being a blessing to others. Sounds corny (and indeed it is something I decided on after listening to too much Duggar tv), but I find myself eternally frustrated with Jack's criticism and in an effort to right that ship with him I am going to redirect my own ship as an example.

This week also holds more doctor appointments (Sammi still has ear infection troubles, the tubes did nothing) and a computer that promises to die any given moment. If I go quiet it's the computer. In theory I can blog from the iPad, but eh, that's not really my speed. (Although I do live the iPad for oh so many things, those things are AMAZING.)

So, Happy Monday to you!

Softie made by Jack

 Before Valentine's Day I picked up a $4 felt raccoon softie kit at Target for Jack to make. There was one failed attempt on his own (knotted string), but with me sitting next to him he was able to finish it.

Except that in between "the failed attempt and mommy getting 20 minutes* to sit down with me and do this thing" we lost an eye. Ooops.

I still have one more Valentine project we need to get finished before I pack all that stuff away and start thinking of Easter. (REALLY? Oy.)

*Dave is working a lot right now. Which leaves me juggling every last thing.

We three loons

I feel torn about days off from school right now. On the one hand - so much less stress and rushing and busyness. On the other hand - so much arguing! fighting! moaning!

 

This morning the kids were all quiet until nearly 8 am. I'll take that any day I suppose.

 Jack is very much teetering on the edge of goofy little boy and growing up kid these days. I try and really enjoy any moment when he decides to be a goofy little boy.

Sammi is starting to get into the terrible twos I suppose. Screaming and yelling and demanding and hitting and throwing. It's awfully hard to resist her charms though when she is asking to wear her vintage "buflies" or asking for "juhbeans".

We had a new family portrait taken over the weekend. Getting all five of us looking okay was quite the experience. At least I went in with low expectations this time!

 

I was reading something today where people were confessing what made them feel like a bad parent - not keeping baby books, not taking pictures, letting the kids watch tv, etc.  Not to be a snob, but eh, I wanted to say "hey, do you what you can, don't worry about perfection and don't sweat the rest."  The blog is the baby book for all the kids (Jack's baby book does have stuff in it, pre-blog), I do take pictures (not always perfect, but there they are), we took our family portraits with my hair in ponytails because it WOULD NOT cooperate that morning, and I don't feel bad about forcing the kids to entertain themselves for bits of time so I can cook or clean. And yes, I let them watch them television. It seems to me that we have developed completely unrealistic expectations of ourselves somewhere along the line. I am SURE my grandmother never thought for a minute it was her job to entertain her children all the live long day.

 

I do, however, still wish for 15 minutes to myself once in a little while.

 

Ugh.

Flea market Sunday

Oh man, Grant has been up since 5 30 in the darn AM with NO NAP. What a day this has been.

 

Junked up this week:

 

 Vintage fisher price furniture (have two houses but not a lot of furniture. My dad thought he kept all my stuff at my grandma's house, but when she died it was no where to be found.)

 Lots of sweet doll clothes.

 And a dolly sleeping bag. Sammi likes playing with her dolls and blankets, or "dins" as she calls them.

 A Marx tin log cabin for the dollhouse collection.

 Blogger uploading photos in whatever order they choose again.

 Two not so old German Easter eggs.

 These pictures go with a set of blocks below.

 One of the block sets is all fairy tales.

 Hansel and Gretel.

They are six sided puzzle blocks.

Super cute.

And a quilt. (Of course.) This one is NOT well executed, but the pattern is unusual.

In my sewing stuff I have a set of waterlilies cut out for a quilt that someone never made much progress on.

The cattails are what sold me, Jack and I love cattails.

Alrighty then, Grant crying again and Jackson having yet another tantrum. UGH.

My three little loves

 (Jack's class valentines this year, from pinterest. I thought he could manage the braiding, but sadly he could not. So I spend one day this week braiding, braiding, braiding.)

Happy Valentine's Day to you and yours!

made and thrifted

Jack is finally using those legos to make something, this is a self portrait.

Yesterday Dave worked until 9 pm. I knew that if I did not get the littlest people and myself out of the house for a little bit in the morning I would be insane by 9 pm. (Not that it mattered, I was insane by 9 pm anyway. I pretty much never stop cooking, cleaning and caring for children right now and something has to give here soon.)

ANYWAY. I picked up some old teaching materials.

Because the graphics inside are super fun.

I can see them in frames.

Or in use for the holidays.

If I can keep Sammi and the crayons away from them. (Must make some copies for her.)

As soon as I saw these witches I knew I should just buy the whole stack instead of standing there debating.

There's a lot of goodness in that pile!

Now I get to go tell Jackson to get dressed for the 147th time this morning, clean up more food off the floor, wash yet another load of laundry, change diaper number 4 of the morning and curse my husband who SWORE he had cleaned up this mess before I went to bed. Ahem.

Grant 4 months (and a little)

Well, I am only two weeks late with Grant's 4 month post. LOL

 

At four months you are:
*still sleeping through the night (hurray!)
*17+ lbs
*wearing 12 month clothing
*still sporting blue eyes, maybe you aren't going to be another brown eyed boy?
*grabbing objects and bringing them to your mouth
*rolling front to back
*still sleeping in the swing. Always.
*chubby cheeked
*still nursing (hurray!)
*a crappy napper
*moving yourself all around your playmat - in a full circle even
*a finger sucker
*in L O V E with your siblings
*giggly
*sitting up supported
*easily scared (even by a sneeze!)
*staying awake when we are out and about - way too much to see to fall asleep! (much like your older brother)

And so much more.

Love you my littlest dude.