Jeremiah takes a walk with momma's camera

(all pictures are SOOC (straight out of the camera) in the order taken)

kid speak

Lexi told me this morning that she'd cleaned the toilet.

(And decorated it.)

She'd also wiped off the mirrors and the counter.

"I hope you cleaned the toilet last?" I said it as a question.

The look on her face answered for her loud and clear,

but she quickly recovered with,

"I didn't know I needed to. But I used soap!"

So we had a little lesson.

And I praised her efforts and initiative (before I re-cleaned the mirror and the counter)

(she didn't clean IN the toilet. just to clarify.)

~

Lily was bit by something several days ago.

Her shoulder/arm swelled up horribly and has been quite painful.

We've been putting a 'drawing paste' on it several times a day to help draw out the poison/venom/whatever you want to call it

and it's doing much better.

Brandon asked her this morning, "On a scale of 1-10 (with 1 being only hurts a little bit)

how does your shoulder feel?"

(we've asked this a lot the past few days.)

She answered, "Zero point 8."

*pause*

"So long as that is less than 1."

~

Yesterday,

Jeremiah got into some trouble and Momma was dealing very sternly with him.

(It was one of those infractions that we have absolute no tolerance for.)

Tyler's brother was coming to FSM

and we assumed he'd come to the house at some point,

but since I wasn't positive that he would, I didn't want the kids disappointed if he didn't,

so said, 

"It's possible he might not even be coming here."

When somebody asked what time Uncle Mitch would arrive.

Lexi immediately got concerned.

 "Coming where?" she asked.

"Here. Our house." Brandon told her.

Then she really got upset.

She thought I was talking about Jeremiah, not Uncle Mitch.

She thought it was possible that Jeremiah wouldn't be living here with us any more.

~

Lily took a pretend picture of me with her tiny lego camera.

"Don't worry, Mom; I didn't get your double chin in it."

~

(To be fair, she also tells me she can really tell all that working out is working.)

~

Lexi said she likes sleeping in my bed, because it 'smells like momma'.

"It smells nice?" I asked.

"No. 

It smells like you."

(She said if very affectionately though ;-)

baby chicks for mother's day

Again.

:-)

Only,

this time,

we didn't get them from Atwoods.

This is ever so much more exciting!!

wardrobe update needed?

I have worn my Old Navy stretchy pants

pretty much every day

since Novemberish - just like I told you I would.

My topside has varied from tank-tops to multiple long sleeved shirts,

depending on the weather, or how recently I exercised,

but the bottom half has pretty consistently been

black stretchy bottoms

(not that my actual bottom is stretchy... or black...
Oh never mind.)

Yesterday, 

when I woke up, 

I pulled on a skirt.

Not a nice skirt, mind you, a blue skirt I whipped up in about 20 minutes and it is so crappy,

(and not flattering!) that I never mentioned it here.

(I'm not sure if I've ever even worn it)

On my top half was a jammie top.

Not to be confused with my tank top - long sleeve shirt I often sleep in,

an actual purchased-in-the-pajama-department-from-target-before-we-went-on-vacation-two-years-ago

black and white jammie shirt. 

When Lexi saw me she said,

"Mom! You look so cute! Where are you going?"

I'm thinking that perhaps my wardrobe needs a little work.

More than one way to ride a zip line

So.

Last Wednesday,

when I was heading out to go to NWA to do some shopping and visit my Gramma,

I stuck the keys to the Previa on the desk.

Brandon doesn't have his license yet, but I figured, in the event of an emergency, he could drive to the hospital...

The kids were all playing outside, 

so I walked to the LEM, to holler that bit of news to him out the window.

When I got the the window,

I saw the kids all gathered around the zipline,

Brandon with a huge grin on his face

and a bicycle attached to the zipline.

I ran for the camera

but when I got back,

all that was left on the zipline - was the seat.

They were all still smiling, so I just watched.

Next, they attached a trash can

and put Josiah in it.

I snapped a picture

and hollered out,

"Um. I'm leaving. Keys to the Previa are on the desk,

you know,

in the event of an emergency..."

~

(no keys were needed.)

new project (with a bonus speedy marking tip)

I started ironing the fabrics the very day I finished the last quilt.

Everyone asks, "Who is this one for?"

Which, I suppose is a very valid question ;-)

but I don't know the answer yet.

Sometimes quilts just need to be made.

This one jumped in my head and obnoxiously stole all of the attention from all of the other quilts percolating there,

so I figured it was best to just get on with it.

Oh, how I suffer ;-)

This quilt will be made entirely of half-square triangles; 16 per block.

I am using this method, with 7 inch squares,

which requires that diagonal lines be marked from corner to corner, so 2 lines each, on every square.

I sat down yesterday with a ruler and pencil to mark my fabric for sewing,

and quickly realized 

this was going to take a dang long time!

I had 120 'white' fabrics to mark.

I am just tickled with what I came up with.

It was genius

 if I do say so myself!

Instead of individually marking all. those. squares. 

I stacked up 6-8, carefully matching up the corners

- with 1 marked fabric on top -

and ran them through my sewing machine without thread (with a size 14 needle)
(which made a nice little 'perforated' line where it was needle-pierced)

and was able,

in one hour's time,

to mark all 120 pieces!

And now, I can get on with the sewing...

linking up with Lee again :-)

camping

We up and decided Wednesday night

that we were going camping for the weekend.

And we were going to leave Thursday afternoon.

(I must admit - I wasn't overly agreeable to this plan. I wasn't sure we could pull it off.

We did, but it was pretty stressful.
But, come Friday morning, when we were already relaxing, I decided it was a good idea after all ;-)

Since we don't have any baby chicks at the moment,

and I am not currently dealing with any major pains - the kids were thrilled that I was able to go along, too.

(I was too, except for the sleeping part. That part sucks.)

We went to Springhill, since we needed to be close enough that I could come back home to take care of the animals twice a day.

We didn't get a real great spot Thursday night,

but they called us Friday morning and said a spot had opened up in the 'A' campground, right on the water,

and we were able to move to just about the exact spot that Tyler had wanted!

So we had a gorgeous view, and we could fish and kayak right there in our back yard.

(I kayaked for the first time. I wasn't impressed. The second time I went out I relaxed a little and it was much more enjoyable.)

Everyone (except me - I do not ride!) brought their bikes and did lots of riding.

(well, if you want to get technical - Tyler brought his unicycle, not his bike)

We bought Josiah a bike for his birthday, since his was constantly needing to be fixed, 

and we gave it to him before we left so he could bring it along.

He was pretty pleased with it. Said it was everything he wanted in a bike :-)

And my girls! They can ride so well!!

They really enjoyed having those smooth roads to ride on!

Brandon took along Ton's unicycle also, and  taught himself to ride it in record time.

Tyler's camping rule is that the kids can't ever be hungry.

And he likes to have all sorts of treats for them to choose from to keep their bellies full.

I did the shopping, 

and Tyler said he thought I bought more crap than even he would have.

I was just trying to keep the troops happy....

(but I'm about sick of my kids eating junk!  That's all I'm going to say about that.)

The daytime weather was absolutely perfect, but the nights could have been a little warmer.

All in all, it was a great camping trip,

probably the best we've ever had.

poetry in fabric

Just in time for his 46th birthday,

I finished My Love's quilt!!

For starters, I pulled all of my California Dreamin' fabrics that weren't pink.

I looked at every piece of fabric I have, and added any that coordinated to my stack.

Then I cut a little piece of 

and carried it with me everywhere I went for a few months 

and added fabric to my stack every time I found a piece that went with it.

My logic was - if it goes with Jenean Morrison's "Santa Barbara", it goes with the quilt.

When my fabric stack was tall enough, I had Tyler inspect it to make sure I didn't put anything too girly in it. 

I started cutting into my fabrics June 26th, just a few days after I finished the lightning fast Purple Posies.

It took me just one day shy of 10 months to sew my final stitch.

I did spend some time on T's quilt and other small projects during that time, 

oh, and Claire's quilt (which is basted and awaiting her mom to work some quilting magic on it :-) 

but the bulk of my sewing time has gone to this.

I totally lost track a few months ago, and can't even begin to guess how many hours I have in this quilt.

I just know it's a lot.

Tyler says it's completely appropriate that I would spend the longest on his quilt

and that it be my masterpiece ;-)

The star block is called a lone starburst. 

I think a lot of people just make one 'lone' block, and make a pillow out of it.

Which I think is a really good idea ;-)

It turns out that I'm not a big fan of foundation paper piecing.

I soldiered on, because it was all supposed to be so perfect.

This quilt is so not perfect.

But it is perfectly lovely anyways, I think.

I sent out an SOS back in January, because when I started putting the stars and the border together on my makeshift design wall,

I thought it was awful.

When Tyler came home and saw it, though, he really liked it.

In fact, the border was his favorite part of the quilt!

I about hit him.

I mean - the stars are the quilt.

I could have already made him 2 whole patchwork quilts in the time I'd spent on those stars alone!

(to be fair - this was his favorite quilt so far - so I shouldn't have even been surprised.)

I still wasn't crazy about the patchwork border - I thought the blocks were too big,

but since Tyler liked it, and it was, after all, for him,

I began sewing everything together, starting with the center stars.

When Tyler saw the squares that were created from the star points,

he said it was poetry in fabric.

And he finally fell in love with his quilt.

(he was getting a little nervous that he might not like it)

(I was a little nervous he might not like it, too ;-)

I was so glad that I'd decided to add the patchwork centers to the squares after sewing them together,

because I am telling you - those blocks did not line up properly, 

and if I'd have added the triangles during the paper piecing stage (like I did with the small diamonds) as I'd originally planned,

 I'd have ruined the quilt!

Tyler doesn't care much for FMQ (free motion quilting) and he likes machine quilting to just kind of blend in.

He likes hand-quilting, though, to be very visible.

So, I machine quilted diagonal lines in the patchwork square border, around the patchwork square centers (once outside, twice inside)
and around each star in 3 spots.
That was a lot of turning, let me tell you!
Then I hand quilted stars in the white and green & yellow borders, in the squares and diamonds and rectangles that the star points created,
and in the centers of all 24 stars.

(Joining hand and machine quilting isn't new for me; I've done it on the peace quilt, Lily's, Connie's, Penny's, and  TJ's.

I have plans to mix the two in my next quilt, too)

It seemed fitting to use the Santa Barbara print as the binding,

so I did :-)

I also pieced in a some solid orange,

which was a good move, 'cause when I showed Tyler I'd sewn the binding on,

he went around the quilt 'til he found it,

and smiled,

"I figured you'd do a little 'pop'."

I was about to toss it in the wash late Friday morning, when my friend asked if I'd made a label for it.

I hadn't, but I knew I really should, this being my masterpiece and all ;-)

so I whipped one up with scraps.

It was pretty much the only surprise

when he unwrapped the quilt for his birthday.

~

the stats:

"Poetry in Fabric"

Made June 26 2013 - April 25 21014

My own design, using the lone starburst block.

Quilt measures 78x90 after shrinkage.

Fabrics (40ish) are a hodgepodge of designer and not designer fabrics, purchased from several shops, both locally and online.

Thrifted vintage sheet backing, with 3 rows of patchwork squares pieced in.

Pieced and machine quilted with white and pale yellow 50 wt. Aurifil thread.

 Hand quilted with 4 colors of size 8 perle cotton,  and for the star centers, DMC embroidery floss.

Machine attached, hand-sewn-on-the-back binding.

Made with love.

Chicken approved.

~
I had a super hard time getting decent photos of this quilt,
and I still haven't managed to get a full shot of the front or back yet.
After 4 days of trying, I just decided to pass off my lame attempts, and keep the rest of my hair.
~

Linking up with Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story.
Amanda Jean :-)
And even though it is no longer a work in progress, I'm linking up with Lee anyways ~ I figure ya'll won't mind;
so many of you have kindly been cheering me on throughout the past 10 months.... (thank-you!!)

it's a good life

It's not perfect, but it's good.

I was sick over the weekend, and still not quite up to par today,

but I knew I could handle ironing fabric.

I decided I'd take everything outside, and soak up some sun

and enjoy the breeze

while I was at it.

Jeremiah and Josiah were busy in the Study Shack.

(which hasn't been a 'study shack' in years, but a storage shed...)

"A little spring cleaning"

Josiah had told me.

But I figured there was more to it than that.

What kids decide to 'spring clean' a storage shed for no good reason?

It turned out 

they needed a clubhouse

and thought the SS would do nicely.

It will.

So I sprayed, and ironed, and sipped at my tea.

Texted my friend pictures when I came upon a fabric I especially loved.

And listened to my boys work well together - not a single cross word!

They unearthed a small doll house I'd set aside to sell at the Growing Kids Sale,

only I could never quite jump through all the hoops to partcipate.

So the girls laid out a checkered cloth on the front porch

and played

together

with their 'new' toy.

I am grateful for this quite life I lead.

Thankful that my husband works hard, and earns enough money that I can stay home.

It's not a ton,

but it's enough.

I'm thankful for days moments when there is no bickering,

only the sound of happy chatter,

diligent work,

chickens,

and the wind in the trees.

Yes.

It's a good life.

bacon bean bundles (only - NOT) for big families

Most of the kids just up and decided they no longer liked my green beans several months ago.

When I'd include 'green beans' in the reply

when I answered the dreaded "What's for dinner?" question,

they'd asked hopefully, "Canned??"

Um. No.

So I wanted to find a way to serve green beans that everyone would enjoy.

Which led me to those cute little green bean bundles.

But really.

Who has time to tie their green beans into bundles?

And who only eats 6-10 green beans?

So I came up with a bundle-less batch of green beans.

They get a thumbs up from everyone but Lexi - she thinks they are too sweet.

(They are pretty sweet, and I'll write the recipe as I made them, but I'll probably reduce the sweetener next time)

Pre-heat your oven to 400.

Snap the ends and any bad spots off of 1 1/2 - 2 lbs of fresh green beans (or use frozen - the skinny ones are yummiest)

then partially cook them by any method you prefer (steam, microwave, pressure cook...)

While your beans are (par)cooking,

put 1/2 a stick of butter into a 9x13 baking dish, cut it up so it'll melt quickly, and stick it in your pre-heating oven.

Grab a pound of bacon and cut the whole package in half.

Save one half for another batch of beans. Or maybe some bacon wrapped dates. Or cheesy jalapenos.Yum.

The other half (using the little plastic thing that is under the bacon as your cutting board) slice through all the bacon strips at once - and cut the bacon into 1/2 - 3/4 inch pieces.

Throw away your 'cutting board'  and wash your knife.

While your butter is melting, gather up the following ingredients, and when the butter is melted (mostly melted is okay, too) add:

2 Tbs braggs liquid aminos (or soy sauce)

3 Tbs xylitol

1/2 Tbs molasses

(If you are not a nutjob like me, and use sugar - just use 3 Tbs brown sugar in place of the xylitol and molasses)

Give it all a stir.

By now, your beans should be partially cooked, but kinda crunchy still 

(softer is okay. They just might fall apart. They'll still taste good though; no worries)

so remove them from the heat, drain them, and toss them onto the sauce in the 9x13 pan.

Give it all another stir and spread the beans out evenly(ish).

Now take your (raw) bacon pieces and layer them (touching) over the beans

and stick the pan, uncovered, in the oven 'til the bacon is mostly crispy - about 45 minutes or so.

Tell everyone they have to eat the beans under the bacon

 - they can't just eat the bacon - 

and enjoy!

going the wrong way

We're going screen-free tomorrow and Saturday,

so I'm posting my 4 wk progress report a day early.

(I know - the blog is usually exempt from screen time decrees, but I figured - it's only 2 days...)

~

The title may have given you a clue;

I'm up 2.2 lbs.

I quit taking my measurements after the first 3 I took 

showed (not insignificant) increases.

I can not express how discouraged I am.

I want to cry.

And EAT ALL THE THINGS.

I want to say screw exercising.

But I'm tired of being fat, 

so I won't do that.

Well, I will cry.... 

~

It clearly doesn't matter, 

but I didn't miss a single workout the past 4 weeks,

even though some days I really had to talk myself into exercising.

I ate well 90% of the time, and even when I 'cheated' I didn't go hog wild

and I drank plenty of water.

I (mostly) took my supplements - which aren't specifically for weight loss, but are supposed to be helping me be healthier over-all.

I get plenty of sleep.

I don't know what else to do.

(And I know it isn't all about the scale

or the measurements

but still - it feels like I got a big fat F on a test I worked really hard to prepare for)

eating my words

I knew.

I knew it when the words came out of my mouth.

(or rather off my fingertips...)

Tyler is always (there I go again ;-) telling me not to use absolutes.

When I typed those words "I never prewash my quilting fabrics"

I immediately thought (and almost typed, in parenthesis, of course)

'Just watch! Now I'm going to have to pre-wash at some point.'

For 3 or 4 weeks now, I've had a red and white quilt in my head.

After I'd amassed a nice little pile

(don't worry - it will grow to be a bigger pile ;-)

I thought,

'That is a lot of red. Red is one of the most likely to bleed colors, especially if it is not designer fabric.

Most of this is not designer fabric.

I should probably prewash. That would be smart of me.'

'Dangit!

That was quick.'

If I have to eat my words - there are much worse words to eat.