a boost to my ego

NOT!

~

"So, what do they call you?"

he asked

as Lexi and I sat in his office.

I looked at him

blankly.

"Nana? Granny? Mimi?"

he offers.

I suddenly,

decrepit old thing that I am,

realized what he was saying.

"Momma."

I said with a smile as I smooched my daughter.

Then

to add insult to injury

he says,

"Really??"

twice.

Lexi and her old momma after a long hot day

I actually kinda like 'Mimi' though

Papa & Mimi ~ whatdya think?

how's that??

Thanks to Kung Fu Panda

and a tiny misunderstanding

Jeremiah and Josiah have taken to referring to their

er - privates

as 'tenders'

The other day

one of them asked what was for dinner.

I answered,

"____________ (I forget what it was) and chicken tenders."

Then we heard Josiah,

"You know. Chicken p*nises"

more on good tools

Tony came in the room with a big grin

bouncing up and down on his toes

like he does when he's excited.

"Can I cut the grass?"

~

a little note to any sewing friends:

save up $10 and go buy a rolled hem foot.

Really!

It is that helpful!

~

I wasn't even sure there was such a thing;

I know of serged 'rolled hems', but not sewn ones.

We'd actually gone to the sewing center yesterday

to buy an invisible zipper foot;

I can't seem to find 'my' (Briggs) capris anywhere,

and I really need another pair or two

so I've decided to take apart a pair and make some myself.

While there,

I figured, what the hey, I'll ask.

They do make a metallic primer, after all...

So I asked.

"Is there a foot that sort of folds the fabric for you

so you can do a narrow hem ?"

Not only is there one - there are several!

I only bought one.

But

she ended up giving me the wrong size,

so I'll need to go back and get the one I originally wanted.

oh

darn.

learn something new every day

Tyler took me to the sewing machine shop today.

"I'll just be a few minutes,"

I told him.

I really did intend to be just a few minutes....

But

the people in there are so helpful

and I have so much to learn

that I usually end up taking longer than I think I will.

Today

I learned that when you are working with a thin / soft fabric

if you spray it with starch and run the iron over it

you'll be able to handle it more easily.

That'll come in handy when I'm using my new

rolled hem foot

(thanks, Love!)

~

I also learned that they have a really nifty tool /toy

for the bargain price of $3,300

and I'd best start saving my pennies

just for fun

The girls and I were
more than a bit
crabby.
As much as I prefer to be home
I thought a change of scenery might do us some good.
I needed a few things for bow-making
and I was hoping a little shopping trip
would work as a 'reset' button for the girls.
It worked.
sort of.
They were good while we were gone.
It didn't hurt any
that they were so darn cute
the ladies were especially friendly to them.

(those greens are the same color in real life. hmm )

Anyways
since we were heading to town
I thought it'd be a perfect opportunity to finally go to the
Just For Fun fabric store.
Oh
my!
Such lovely fabrics!
They actually didn't have a ton
that called out to me to bring them home
(I didn't even buy anything
'course that's probably more

because everything was $8.50 - $10.00 per yard)
but the quality of the fabrics...
I just kept walking around feeling them.
And Lily was walking around
looking at the store - not the fabric.
Silly Lily.
She wandered back to an area where they do classes.
"Oh,"
her little eyes were squinty from her smile
and she leaned to one side like she does,
"Look at the iron. That is a nice iron."
"Oooh, look, scissors."
"Oh! Look at the beautiful ceiling"
It was ceiling tiles.
To each her own, I guess...
~
While we were there
a lady was in buying fabric for a quilt back.
It was a big quilt;
she needed 7 1/2 yards.
The lady at the store, Kim,
double checked the math for her
to see if she could get by with less.
She couldn't.
Can you imagine?
She spent at least $63.75
for the back of her quilt
~
I hope I don't become a fabric snob.....
I think I'm safe, though;
I bought some fun
but not nearly so soft
fabric at Hancock's
to make Lily & I matching summer purses.
Never mind that I don't carry a purse
and she just got one.

I so enjoy

making diapers!

I don't know why I often put it off

as if it's a dreaded chore;

I suppose it's because

the creating of diapers

creates

quite a bit of mess.

~

Poor Lexi has already worn more paper diapers

than Lily's worn in her whole life,

so my goal this week

besides keeping girls and animals fed and happy

was getting Lexi back in cloth.

I redid the elastic on Lily's old dypes

so

that

along with 6 new ones

ought to do it for awhile.

Next

I need to make Lily some pull-ups....

can't get enough

of these cheeks!!

I'm watchin' you, Wazowski

always

watching

you

my little sunburnt sweetie

Josiah

you make me smile a lot

~

Oh, I miss them!!

Is it really still only Monday?!?

~

you do realize what this means?

I

all by myself

without any help from my kids

figured out

how to get a picture

from my e-mail

onto

my blog

!

thanks, Papa for the picture

on the bookshelf

I thought I might like to look back sometime and see
what I was reading
had just read
and/or
was going to read soon
in early summer 2009

Umm
that wasn't very helpful.

Maybe I ought to straighten things a bit
on my shelf
next to my nursing chair

much better.

~

This selection is a pretty good picture
(oh, I am so punny)
of who I am right now
I think

~

my Bible, of course
a thinline NIV
although
I think I would really enjoy an ESV
~
there's an Above Rubies magazine
although, this particular issue didn't really speak to me...
~
my Beeyoutiful catalog
I want way too many things I can not afford to use regularly;
they make everything seem so necessary...
(but, I suppose, that is exactly the point of a catalog)
~
a couple of books on natural remedies
oh
so much to learn...
~
some books on nutrition
this one would have been much better
with fewer photos.
Ordinarily
I'd pass on a book with this cover
and I'm not into diets - but rather healthy living
(which really is what the book is about, in spite of its name)
but
it was only $1.36 with free shipping.
'nuff said.

I am really enjoying the Mother Food book
and highly recommend it.
~
besides
Foxe's Book of Martyrs
the rest are parenting / education books
I have several other early education books on a nearby shelf
that I will be re-reading soon
~

oh
there's also
There's a Sheep in my Bathtub.
Tyler rarely buys me books
(which, now that I think of it
is odd
because I love books
but, then
I already buy as many as we can safely afford...)
anyways
he bought me this one.
I think it was because of the Mongolian humor.
He has decided I must be part Mongolian.
He said the book was guaranteed to make me laugh
and cry
or he'd get his money back
so he figured - either way it'd be worth it.
I did both.
(but not 'til the second half...)

~

and last but not least

there's a piece of paper with verses

that I use when disciplining the children
~
so
there you have it
I'm a
God-loving
home-educating
Mongolian mission-minded
healthnut
without a sewing / quilting book

woohoo

Pre-pregnant weight!!

From Lexi

silly

not my original pre-pregnant weight;

I'll never see that again.....

Seeing as how I generally gain weight while breastfeeding

I'm pretty pleased.

Hungry

but pleased

:-)

(I gotta figure out how to put a smiley here! kids??)

busy beavers we are

When Lexi went down for her late morning nap

Lily and I got busy

nine pints

(plus a tiny bit for tasting)

of

scrumptious

strawberry jam

delicious!

~
total cost (tax included)
45 minutes of pleasant 'work' with my girl
and
$9.40

144 oz of our regular jelly
costs $34.13

there goes my everything

or

most of 'em anyways.

My guys are on their way to the family reunion

in Destin

(not exactly where I'd prefer my gentlemen to be in the summer....)

Too long of a trip for a nursing 4 month old

so the girls stayed home.

Lily

is not going to be happy

when she wakes up!

~

love you, my men

'specially you, my man

I hope you all have a wonderful time!

tools and toys

I was telling Tyler just the other day

that a good tool

also doubles

as

a toy

or was it

a good toy doubles as a tool?

I forget

I feel like I should give him my phone....

I needed a new phone;
mine up and died.
Tyler really didn't want to get me this one;
It's what I needed, but he didn't think it was girly enough for me.
For some reason
it doesn't come in pink...
It's a military phone.
I'm like
- hello -
it's basically indestructable
what could be more suitable for my job?!

plumb tuckered out

blueberries for breakfast

"Is it stupid to try

or

should I go?"

both!

It's blueberry season

and we try to go picking at least once a week

till they're gone.

doesn't always happen

~

Trying to get this gang ready for vacation is a huge chore

I'm so glad I'm not having to get ready to go, too!

Lexi

my angel-baby

hasn't been such an angel this week.

To add in a 2-3 hour early morning blueberry-picking trip

might be just the thing to put us all over the edge.

But

the only way to have berries in January

is

to pick them in June.

Josiah

was the Picker of the Week.

We actually had to remind him

to eat some blueberries!

Never had to do that before;

usually it's

"one in the bucket, then one in your mouth"

over and over

and

over.

~

Thanks, guys for all your diligent work

and

Thank-you, God

for giving us such delicious nutritious food

smoothie in a bag

The boy is just like his Papa!

"You know, Mom,

it'd be a lot easier to make smoothies

if we just froze everything together."

duh

why didn't I think of that?

so

Brandon

here ya go

smoothies in a bag.

Just add milk or yogurt

and

of course

fresh spinach

~

strawberries are $ .88 at Aldi this week

bananas $ .45/lb

it's a bargain

a real bargain

whew

6 sketchbooks

4 shirts

3 camis

and

1 dress

~

Tyler has grounded me from my sewing machine

until they leave

and

I don't even mind.

'reading the pattern'

takes on a whole new meaning

when you make your patterns

out of newspaper

somebody is getting too big

who?

me?!?
~

love those cheeks!

are they planning a coup?

I think they may be trying to takeover some of my jobs.

It seemed so innocent.

"How about you teach me how to hand sew the bindings?"

Brandon asked.

"But I like to do the bindings!"

I protested.

"But I have a lot more time than you

so I could do it for you."

He has a point.

So

we started with a pot holder

cut, quilted and bound

by Brandon!

(I helped just a bit by machine sewing the binding on the first side)

Of course

it would never do to have both sides the same.

~

Then

Jeremiah began telling me how easy it was to sew.

He'd watched me at naptime.

"All you do is move the needle in and out."

Um - there's a heck of a lot more to it than that...

He whipped out a make-up bag

as a graduation gift for someone special

so she can use it when she goes on vacation.

~

I drew a line on both sides of the fabric to show
where the needle should go.
I never thought to do this when the others
were learning to sew
but it sure was helpful!
We also made up a little ditty to help them remember
to not go around the fabric.
Up down up down
do not go a-round
up down up down
keep it on the line
(sad - I know..)

Not one to miss out on anything,

Josiah

decided to make a little wallet
because his stuff sack doesn't have any pockets.

That boy can sew pretty quickly!

Brandon helped him with the snaps.

We do love our snap press!

~
dishes

anyone??

anyone?

There's a whole counter full sitting here....

Anyone?

I guess they aren't going to take over entirely

rare gift

~

Our little Lexi is a night owl.

Currently

bedtime is around midnight

give or take an hour

but it wasn't long ago

that it was 2 am.

For about 3 weeks straight.

during that 3 week stretch

we visited with some friends who had just met Lexi.

We'd mentioned her keeping late hours....

One of my friends asked me, "Are you enjoying her?"

to which I, of course, responded, "Yep!" and smooched her neck

(Lexi's - not my friend's - gross)

and she added,

"Except at 2 in the morning..."

~
Lexi,

even at 2 in the morning

I have thoroughly enjoyed you!

Sometimes, especially at 2 in the morning.

~

I was laying on my bed just enjoying my girl this evening

and remembering a night

not terribly long ago

that Lana and I had talked until the wee hours of the morning

and then fell asleep holding hands

(Papa was in sleeping with the boys)

when I realized

what a truly rare gift I had been given.

Not many mommas have given away a daughter

and then birthed another.

Everyone says it, "They grow up so fast."

I have lived it.

I know.

~

Thank you, Lord

for all the hours I get to spend with this precious girl

and

all the hours I got to spend with her big sis.

basted and ready to go

After multiple trips to both Hobby Lobby

and Hancock

and redesigning Jeremiah's quilt

it's ready for the quilting.

He wants straight lines

so I'm just going to do a simple 'X' on each block.

Should go pretty quickly.

Should.

(colors aren't right at all in this picture)

~

I still don't have a good method for basting.

Well

the method is fine

I just don't have a good spot for it.

I can't make anything bigger than a throw size

while living here

'cause there is no floor space big enough to lay it out.

Tonight I tried the living room; I had to move the rocking recliner

but I had a bit more space than when I've used the kitchen.

Still

it's barely big enough to get around to pin it.

I only caught the carpet 7 times.

Definitely better than having to mop the kitchen :-)

~
Now

I have to decide

will I be good and go to bed?

or will I pull out the machine???

stuff sacks

Lots of creatin'

going on around here today.

We decorated the 'stuff sacks'

we bought a week or so ago when they were on sale for 1/2 off

Josiah was thrilled to find scraps leftover from his quilt to use.

Besides helping me with the little ones' bags,

Brandon did his

entirely

by himself!

(Ton' did his all by his-self, too :-)

Now we're ready for library days

vacation

and anything else we might need a bag for

~

I also made the first of Lana's four maternity shirts

that we bought fabric for.

When she plopped down all the fabric bolts,

I'd asked her,

"Are you sure you're going to want this many shirts

in the same style?"

She looked at me as if I'd lost my mind.

"Well, Momma. You are the one who taught me

when you find a shirt that fits right

you get one in every color that looks good on you."

hmm

so I did.

So

now we're making four shirts

and a dress

and she and Algie will look just lovely

in all of them!

I had to chuckle

when I went to grab the diapers off the line
and found this

that's my Brandon!

2 great giveaways

There are two giveaways going on

(that probably won't end up with a kajillion entries

so there's an actual chance of winning...)

I don't often enter giveaways

'cause I never win.

Now,

that's not entirely true.

One time I won.

It was in Germany;

the PX was giving away some Crayola art supplies.

Or maybe it was in Fayetteville and Wal-mart was giving away the goods

(?)

anyways
I got a call!

I had won a Crayola Carousel!

I was so excited

cause - you remember - I never win.

I rushed right over

to pick up my huge prize.

I was picturing the deluxe jobbie

with tons of markers, paints, and crayons.

Oh, the kids and I would have such fun!

I got a dinky red plastic round 'crayon holder'

and a box of 24 crayons.

wasn't even worth the gas to drive over and pick it up

~
The King's Missus is giving away a DVD of Dave Ramsey's

Town Hall for Hope meeting.

and

Smockity Frocks

is giving away a cute little purse.

~

I promise I won't be mad if I don't win.

pooh love

Lily loves Pooh

(Tigger & Piglet, too)

and Momma loves Lily
(and playing with 'frabric')

music to my ears

"Hey Mom, thanks for the job!"

(Jeremiah, after he put clothes in the dryer)

over and over

this song

keeps playing in my mind.

and

for some silly reason

I

cry.

are they all yours?

I actually don't get that question as often as you might think,

but when I do

I have a standard answer.

"Yes, they are all my

but they aren't all of mine."

(I've never gotten that question when we're all out together)

We were out today

buying Lexi a seat

(I would have gone with pink, but we didn't think

Lana would enjoy putting boys in a pink seat, so we stayed neutral...)

and

some fabric for Jeremiah;

he needs a quilt now, too.

anyway

not once

not twice

but three times today

we got the question.

And all three times

the 'askers' responded so sweetly!

They said how nice it was that we had so many children

and how well-behaved all the kids were.

Two of the ladies

made it a point to talk to each of the kids

which I found quite thoughtful.

~

thanks, kiddos

for being so good!

and in a fabric store - at that

I love you.

all

of you!

possible problem?

We may have a little problem on our hands;

she looks so innocent

but every day

we hear,

"I need to want a little bit of chocolate."

she drags out the first syllable "chaaaacklit"

and this one
looks like she's already had her chocolate

~

love my girls!