how my mom made me a thread snob

Every year, 

I get some money tucked in a sweet card (that sometimes makes me cry) 

from my mom for my birthday.

Every year, I think long and hard about what I'm going to spend that money on;

I have to make it count, ya know?

Since my birthday (in September)

I've found quite a few things I could spend my b-day money on,

but none of them seemed quite right.

Until I started seeing 'aurifil thread' all over the place online.

Aurifil thread is not cheap - in price or quality,

but after some more intensive research, I found numerous quilters who say that 

aurifil is the only thread they'll use.

I thought I might like to try this thread.

It might take things up a notch for me.

And you know I'm always lookin' to move up a notch...

I also thought, if I ended up really liking this aurifil stuff, I might like need to have the overpriced thread chart.

Color shopping on the computer doesn't always work so well....

So, I ordered white thread, 

a brown that I thought would be good for T's quilt (but wasn't. too dark. shoulda waited on the chart...)

and the color chart made of real thread.

Happy Birthday :-)

Oh my! The internet people were right. 

This thread is sooo nice and silky.

It truly does disappear in a seam, and yet it's strong!

Even more importantly, my Juki seems to really like aurifil.

And the over priced color chart? I love it! It's so pretty!

(I think I need a Kona color chart now, too)

And as an added bonus, there are charts online that list matching colors for lots of thread brands, 

my favorite dmc perle floss, included. 

So I can find the correct color on my aurifil card, and check the online chart for the corresponding thread

and order with confidence.

This chart's gonna save me money!

(and make me famous ;-)

So.

That 

is how my mom

turned me into a (aurifil)  thread snob.

Thanks, Mom & Bill :-)

bits and pieces

Let's see.

Instead of the cast we thought Lexi was going to get,

the Dr decided to just put a brace on her.

I'm happy for Lex' that she doesn't have to deal with the discomfort,

but I think I would have preferred a cast for my peace of mind.

I never realized quite how active the child is.

~

Lily turns 6 on Saturday.

She is over the moon excited about graduating out of her car seat.

She has no idea she'll no longer be able to see out the window.

~

Our church had a skating party Sunday night.

It was the first time the 4 younger kids have ever been to a roller rink.

Lexi did not skate...

~

What is with this weather?!

I've been chilled to the bone lately.

~

The McCs decided to take all of the kids home with them on Sunday,

since we'd all be back together for skating in the evening.

At different times,

every single kid told me about the delicious pie they had.

I requested the recipe, but Lily is doubtful I can make it as good.

2 - 8 oz cartons strawberry yogurt

8 oz coolwhip

mix together and put in graham cracker crust and freeze

If I can't handle that, there's something bad wrong with me ;-)

~

Tyler and I play backgammon fairly often.

The wins used to be divided pretty much 50/50.

Lately,

it's been more like 80/20.

Pisses me off!

(did I just say that?!)

(oops)

~

We didn't plan on taking off last week for Spring Break,

but we ended up taking 2 days off

when cousins came to visit.

I love that the kids are big enough that I don't have to watch them every second.

My neighbor came over one morning 

and we got to visit for two hours uninterrupted while kids ran in and out.

I do believe that is a first!

~

A good friend is moving away in a few months.

I'm pretty bummed about it.

I'm not sure I let her know how valuable she is to me;

I guess I expected her to always be around,

and when kids got bigger

and it was more convenient,

then we'd get together...

~

We're screen-free this week.

I was anticipating today being kinda tricksy

but happily, it was just fine.

(blogging doesn't count as screen time)
~
While watering today, I discovered whiteflies on my carefully tended pointsettia.
After a quick google search, I gave it a bubble bath.
(approved research is acceptable while screen free. Fortunately, I am the approver)
I do not have time to give plants bubble baths!
Perhaps that is why I've never done well with them?
~
I'm tired.
I started the day out getting beat at Backgammon
and I've been going and going ever since.
And now,
I'm going
to
bed.

kids in the kitchen

I know.

As a homeschooling mom, it's practically sacrilege,

but here goes:

I really don't enjoy cooking with kids as a general rule.

I've read all the books.

About how great it is having your kids in the kitchen.

How they can cook 5 course meals by themselves when they are 6,

if only you'll let them help when they are 2.

Train your children, they say,

and you'll be out of a job in no time.

The fact is - it takes a lot longer to cook with 'help'.

And it makes a lot more mess.

Yes. I know; they, themselves can just clean this mess up.

But have you seen how much mess they can make cleaning up??

Now, I do enjoy having kids peel carrots

(except for the peels all over the floor, wall, and outside of the trash can. 

even after I've called them back 3 times to pick them up)

And I really like having a 'runner' to root around in the fridge and grab things from the pantry.

If I'm not in a hurry, I don't even mind letting them cut mushrooms.

(although, I can't watch. and I call out every minute or so, "keep your fingers away from the knife!")

The thing is - I'm not so sure that all this 'help' when they are so young

really translates into real help any sooner 

than if I'd just kick them out of the kitchen 'til they are 5 or 6.

~

Lexi, the one-handed wonder, 'helped' me make muffins this morning ~ bet you couldn't guess that ;-)

two by two

Out of eight kids,

unless you count Lana's head being cracked open with a rake,

(which I don't, because that is in a category all to itself, I think)

only the oldest

- and now the youngest -

have ever broken any bones.

Interestingly, they both broke the same bones - the distal radius and ulna.

They also both had to wait 'til the day after the breakage occurred

 for their mother to realize that they did, indeed, need medical attention.

My poor kids.

Right now, Lex' just has a splint;

we go next week for a cast.

She's a tough little cookie, our girl is.

ticketed

(to the tune of 'we just got a letter' - just in case it wasn't obvious)

I just bought a ticket.

I just bought a ticket.

I just bought a ticket

for my son

to

fly

home!

And also three for Tyler, Brandon, and Kacy to go San Diego for his graduation.

But I'm not nearly as excited about those....

Lexi's big problem

So.

Lex' comes out of the bedroom,

crying and struggling to put this bolero on.

She'd been outside, and decided it was cold, after all.

I untangled her hair from the button, (behind her head)

unfastened the button

and started to re-button it properly, in front.

Still upset, she wailed, "I can't even find a whole sweater!" 

Maybe you had to be there, but Bran and I laughed and laughed

(and then he went to find her a whole sweater ;-)

everything begins with a butt

Back in December, when I went to the bookstore,

I found a kid's drawing book with the above title.

Or maybe that was the subtitle, because I can't seem to find a book by that name now...

The theory is - you can draw all sorts of pictures,

but they all begin with a butt.

I didn't buy the book, but I thought Jeremiah would really get a kick out of it if I had.

One recent Saturday

he drew a stick person with a huge butt in the dirt on the back of the Excursion window.

We forgot to wash the window.

He rode home in Tyler's car with me that day (we take 2 vehicles to church)

and when we were close enough to the Excursion that he could see his artwork,

he just laughed and laughed.

So Thursday, when I was grocery shopping and found this jicama, I had to bring it home with me,

knowing the joy it would bring to my son.

I left it on the dryer (jicamas keep best at room temperature 'til you cut into them) and waited.

The next day I was rinsing out my coffee cup, getting ready to fix my afternoon cup-o-joe, 

when I saw him pick up the jicama out of the corner of my eye.

I heard his huge belly laugh a second later.

Dinner tonight - taco salad,

will begin

with

a butt.

A big ol' jicama butt.

(Amazon always shows my browsing history (which isn't very convenient when gift shopping)

the last book I looked at, before searching for butt books, was Holiness for Mothers.

I just found that kinda funny ;-)

with needle and thREAD, the in-progress edition

Slowly but surely,

the design that I shared with you Friday

I know, again with the blurry in-progress phone photo...

is turning into

this:

There is some trial and error involved, but I think it's turning out well.

And T is happy with it - which, really, is all that matters.

I probably should have taken the time to figure out templates and such before I started.

What I did, though (and, for the most part, it's working okay) 

is figure out how big of a square I could get from my fabric, without any waste width-wise.

(14 1/2 inches)

From there, I am sub-cutting smaller squares (the 14 1/2 in square cut in half, and in half again)

and triangles (again - square cut in half - on the diagonal, and sometimes, in half again).

Each seam reduces the size of the resulting square.

So, after making the 4 corner blocks (being easy ones ;-)

I made one of the blocks with the most seams, which then told me what size my finished blocks could be.

(13 inches)

I've run into a smidge of a problem with my rectangle blocks being a bit off, but I think I've figured out the fix.

I'm kinda torn on the batting.

I think this quilt wants to be fluffier than what I normally make; 

the huge blocks kinda call for a more comforter-ish feel.

I'm still trying to talk myself into using what I have.

(which would probably be easier to quilt...)

We'll see who wins - me, or the quilt...

~

In the reading department:

I checked out another Kate Morton book. 

I'm not terribly far in, but I think it will be better than Riverton House, 

but not as good as The Forgotten Garden (which was really good ;-)

Which, I suppose makes sense; an author should get better with each book...

I'm also s l o w l y plodding through the habit book - only because it came so highly recommended,

and I still have The Everlasting Meal for another week and a half, so I will try to get something valuable out of it, 

as it, too,  seems to be well liked by people who eat similarly to our family.

I am finding (which I already knew) that I am not like the masses.

Also in the reading department,

we were able to snag a few of our favorite picture books:

Duck on a Bike, Daisy and the Beastie, Farmer Brown Shears his Sheep,

and a new-to-us book that I (although I'm not sure about the kids) fell in love with, There is a Place.

Once again, I'm linking with Elizabeth's.

Something I didn't tell ya'll last week... those jammies that I sewed up for a friend?

Elizabeth was the friend.

I hesitated posting about it here - I'm not one to toot my own horn.

Well.

That's not entirely true;

I love to toot and tell ya'll about my sewing adventures,

but when it comes to my being nice and all, I usually keep quiet about it.

(I know. You're thinking 'when?!?' ~ what can I say, I do a lot of nice things ;-) 

Anyways. 

If you want to read my (hastily and poorly written) guest post last week, and see the nice things people said, you'll need to go to this post. 

And if you want to see the girls in their nightgowns (and you should; they are so sweet and happy!) visit this one.

Tony, USMC recruit

Lots of people have been asking about Tony, so I thought I'd go ahead and fill everyone in all at once.

He's 1/3 of the way through Basic Training.

Physically, it's not very hard. Easier than he anticipated, even.

He actually wishes it were a bit tougher;

he's having trouble falling asleep and if his body was as exhausted as his mind was,

maybe sleep would come faster?

That should be changing as we speak - he is at Camp Penddleton for a few weeks for the real physical training...

Mentally, it's much worse than he expected.

And then he lost his dog.

He started a prayer group with 2 other guys and it's grown to 10 now.

He said guys notice he's different and ask about it, so he is encouraged about that.

Growing up, when the kids had an occasion to be 'out in the world',

rather than just tell them, "Be good." - we would tell them to "Be salt and light."

He said he remembers that all of the time,

and his goal, every day, is to be

salt and light.

Kacy told me yesterday that he now gets 10 minutes to shower and such.

Previously, they had 30 seconds.

Thirty seconds!

I can't even get my hair all wet in 30 seconds.

~

Pray for him.

He does miss everyone very much! And he's more homesick than he thought he'd be.

Also, I'm sure Satan's not real thrilled with the prayer-group increasing

and his 'salt and light' goal.

If you want to write him (no promises as to his writing back...)

the address is:

Recruit L(fill in his last name)

1st Bn. Bravo Co. Platoon 1027

39001 Midway Ave.

MCRD San Diego, CA 92140-1027

devil's den, a quick day trip

Yesterday, although nobody was feeling real super,

Tyler wanted to be a good papa, so he took the kids on a little explore to Devil's Den.

Most photos were taken by Brandon.

A few were taken by Tyler.
I'll let you guess which ones ;-)

several quick takes

It's been so long since I've done a 'quick takes', I can't even remember how many takes there are supposed to be.

I'll just see how many I've got. How 'bout that?

1.

I was writing a letter to Ton' shortly after it started snowing yesterday.

In it, I told him about how the kids were premature in asking me to set out some carrots for snowmen noses.

Said that I doubted we'd get enough snow for that...

Guess what my next letter will say?

2.

Whenever Lexi has a headache, she says, "My head-fore hurts."

I can't bear to correct her, it's so sweet;

and what's more, I reinforce her mispronunciation by asking about her head-fore later.

3.

Shopping at Sam's the other day, Lily pointed to the three-pound container of Daisy sour cream,

"Oooh," she squealed, "It's so cute!"

We buy the five-pounder ;-)

4.

So far, all of my sewing, with the exception of some mending, this year has been for others.

First a happy colorful quilt. 

do you see that thread? drives me bonkers. 

(for which Nancy generously paid me, despite my not charging her for my stitching services. 

All my blathering on about 'nobody can afford what my time is worth',

and now I'm not sure she got her money's worth....

So now, I'm humbled. 

And I'm deciding what to do with it...;-)

Then I took in (took up?) a bridesmaid's dress for a young friend.

(a task I cheerfully did out of love, but was reluctant to take on, for fear I'd ruin it. and thus, ruin her friend's entire wedding)

After that, I helped another friend with some sewing;

she just recently taught herself (and her daughters) to sew using this book,

and thought she'd gotten in over her head with her latest project.

Turns out, the directions were just really confusing,

and I'm confident that with proper directions, she could have tackled the job beautifully.

I was quite happy to help out anyways ~ the fabric was so soft and pretty,

and I added to my ever-growing arsenal of sewing knowledge in the process.

I also realized, sewing up 3 of the same pattern,

that it is best to start with the littlest size first.

The larger sizes will be passed down, and therefore worn (and looked at) much longer.

So it's best to work out any kinks (and there are usually kinks...) on the clothes that will be receiving the least wear.

I, of course, did not do this.

5.

I am remedying the above only-sewing-for-non-family issue

with a not-at-all-secret, very-likely-won't-be-finished-on-time quilt for TJ, for his birthday.

As much as I love surprising people,

I think it's actually going to be more fun this way.

Now I can pester delight both Lynnet and T with pictures of my progress :-)

You, too, can get crappy in-progress photos texted to your number. 

Just let me know... I'll be happy to add you to the list ;-)

I've also been collecting fabric for a quilt for Tyler,

since he's claimed my red and aqua quilt 

and will only relinquish it when he receives a similar quilt (in different colors. and a bit bigger...)

He was whining muttering something the other day about having to buy his own quilt on e-bay. psh.

I'm working on it...

6.

Remember when I snuck in that little brag about my poinsettia?

She was just a pitiful looking 7(ish) leaf $.99 Black Friday special, but look at her  now:

I realize that, for most people, this is, like, normal,

but I have never been very good with growing anything except kids, cucumbers, and cats,

so I'm quite tickled with myself.

7.

Lily and Lexi were snotty and stuffed up last night;

(weird how you can be both...)

they slept horribly.

Consequently, so did I.

It wasn't all that long ago, that getting up a kazillion times a night was normal.

I'm grateful there's a new normal.

(which still consists of getting woke up during the night - but not every single night, every few hours...)

8.

Tomorrow, our neighbor is coming over for dinner and games.

I should probably figure out what to fix, huh?

snow day

Photos by Brandon (and Kacy)