What have I to fear?

 I am surrounded by super heroes!

Everyone needs a mug cozy...

So, I have this plan to use up some material I have in storage, and make some of the groovy projects I've pinned on my pinboard. I pinned this cute mug cozy ages ago, and thought "I might just have the stuff to make that". And so I did.

 I must say, felt is so easy to work with, particularly for kids, new sewers, or simply the time challenged. I fall into that last category at the moment, by the way.

There's little to do to make it neat and tidy, and since the edges don't fray, you don't need to spend a lot of time seaming and pressing and all that jazz. Just stitch the little triangles on in a fairly artful way, sew around the edges and add a button, and BOOM! You're stylin'. If you think that using a mug cozy is stylin', that is.

It does a reasonable job of keeping my beverages warm, which is nice, since it's so rare that I finish my tea or coffee while it's still hot. It's a good way to claim your mug, too - who else has such  groovy adornment? 

Maybe when folks start coveting one's mug cozy, it's a sign they need one of their own, perhaps with their own name emblazoned on the pennants for easy ID? Now there's a gift idea...

What a week!

It's been a full one, that's for sure, with plenty of chaos thrown in for good measure...

We were doing plenty of birthday prep early in the week, gathering the gifts and cards that had been arriving through the post. Inspiration for Dan's birthday cake struck on Tuesday night - boys like dirt. Hence, dirt cake, complete with worms...

Abi got her creative juices flowing and had to make herself a new pencil pouch, so out came the sewing machine and everything. Needing only a little help installing the zipper, she did a wonderful job, and I am so proud.

The main drama occurred on Saturday, when after a full day at the library and zoo, the kids and I stopped to order some burgers before heading home. Just as I was about to place my order at the drive through, I was interrupted by the unmistakable sound of Ellie, "tossing her cookies". It must have been rather amusing to any onlookers - this large, white van sits at the drive through, suddenly veers off into a parking space and a bunch of appalled children quickly spill out of the car, while the only adult in attendance looks rather frenzied and does a lot of head shaking. They must have thought, "I'll bet someone got sick in that car!". They would have been correct.

Ellie was fine by the day's end, by the way - we put it down to that helpful catch-all of kid illnesses, the "sour belly". And respect to Huggies wipes - they did a fabulous job of cleaning up the mess, since they were all I had. They've got a loyal customer here, that's for sure.

Our Little Dude

Tomorrow, Dan turns 4 years old. Some days, I can believe he's survived that long...

The boy is a riot. Seriously. The stuff he comes out with is typically ridiculous, bordering on the bizarre, so that we can't help but laugh. Fortunately, he always seems to know that we're laughing with him, rather than at him.

 

He's such a ball of energy: always talking, moving, playing; never, ever still...until he sleeps.

 

 

 He's so affectionate, snuggling on laps, giving hugs and kisses, interrupting Daddy's study time just to let him know how much he loves Daddy. And if anyone in this family would be considered the outgoing one, it's Dan. As soon as he meets someone, he introduces himself and makes sure that they know when his birthday is. So, everyone who knows Dan can celebrate his big day with him.

Happy birthday, little dude. You crack me up.

Happy March!

A while back, a friend asked for some pictures of our children, complete with the first letter of their names for a little project she wanted to make. This is what we came up with, shared for your pleasure:

 

 

 With a couple of cute baby photos thrown in, for good measure...

Respect for the Babysitters - Old and New

So, Abigail finished her Red Cross Babysitter Basics course, and passed with flying colors! She had to take a final exam, and they won't pass you unless you score an 80% or higher - she received 96%. I am so proud of her, not only that she passed so well, but that she worked diligently through the various lessons, and really took the whole thing rather seriously, rather than a glorified game.

She's now had several opportunities to serve some families at church as a Mother's Helper, going over for a few hours to play with kids and generally lend a hand in any way necessary so that Mom can get some things done. It's been wonderful - to see her serving in such a practical way, for gaining experience of looking after kiddos and how other families do things, and hearing the feedback of what a big help and great kid she is (I know this, of course, but it's so good to hear!).

If you're at all interested, I would highly recommend the Red Cross Online Babysitter Basics class. It's only $25, and since it's online, you can fit it in around your schedule. They also offer a group class, too, but it didn't seem necessary for us - most of what they would have you practice there (changing diapers, feeding little guys), she already has lots of opportunity to practice at home!

She's really looking forward to growing this new skill into a marketable business, but for now, she's content to take it all one step at a time, getting to know the ropes and working at being the best babysitter she can be. We have been so blessed to have so many wonderful babysitters over the years, she's had lots of models she can borrow from. The babysitters that have cared for and influenced my kids over the years now have the privilege of blessing others they will never even meet, simply because of how they have modeled what a great babysitter should be.

If you've ever watched my kids, thanks for the way you've cared for my family, and how you have influenced my kids to care for others.

A few things about cornhole

• Did you know there really is a game people actually play, called "cornhole"? The object of the game is to throw your corn-filled bags (your corn bags, if you will) through a hole cut into an inclined board. Corn. Hole. Corn Hole.
• Did you know that to be regulation weight, each corn bag must be one pound in weight?
• Did you know that when you've been using a corn hole bag over a number of years, the corn within begins to break down and turns to dust, which means your corn bag gets lighter and lighter?
• Did you know that when players are playing with bags that are not of equal weight, they will begin to fret, and even consider that they're not winning because there is something wrong with their bags?
• Did you know that when one man happens to mention that he'd be happy to bring the corn bags up to spec, the other players would get rather excited?
• Did you know that if you can run a sewing machine and mentioned that it should be no trouble to open a seem, refill the bags and close them up again, that you'd be doing that very thing within 48 hours (like, during the Super Bowl, for instance)?
• Did you know that once you began this little project, it would instantly become the most interesting thing your children have ever seen and they absolutely must help, until they've covered everything in corn dust?
• Did you know that when the job was done and the "one man" who began this project takes the corn hole bags back to the office, other men would drop everything (including a lesson, for instance) to come and try them out?
• Did you know that they would be so happy with their "new and improved" bags, it would be a little concerning?

These are just some of the things I've learned about corn hole. I can only assume more lessons will come in due time... 

Climbing back in the saddle

It was the first baby shower for the first baby of one of the couples here at the Pastor's College, and you know how us ladies like us a good baby shower!

It appears that I have earned myself something of a reputation - if Kelly's in attendance, people expect something handmade. I wouldn't dream of disappointing...

Pattern: Eyelet Yoke Baby Cardigan (aka Old Faithful)

Yarn: Cascade, some kind of baby yarn, maybe this?

There was also the very clever suggestion that everyone get at lease one onesie and decorate their with a month of the year so that mom and dad can dress the wee babe up in her "month's" onesie and snap a picture for posterity. Everyone did a wonderful job!

 Clearly, I had month number eight. I bought a pack of 4 onesies, and since I had nothing clever planned for the other three, I decided to decorate all of them. Besides, even gorgeous babies poop all over their clothes and will need a change...

 To make, I printed off the number 8 (font size 450, I believe), traced it onto some scrap material I've got, ironed on some interfacing and got to sewing. It was easy enough to do in an evening, though cutting out a "1" or a "7" would have been easier. Just sayin'.

 I'd seen this cute idea on Pinterest for rolling up some onesie's with a sock to make them look like cupcakes. My first attempt looked rather stupid, really - rather like a wad of cloth with a sock sticking out. Perseverance paid off, however - perhaps they didn't exactly look like cupcakes, but they did look cute, instead of dumb.

Sometimes, that's about the best standard I can live up to.



Ramble

At this moment, three children are running through the house, one is reading, one is out on an errand with the Daddy, and one is sitting on the dining table. This is how we roll.
Caleb is impossibly cute - I'm pretty sure he stole some other babies' cuteness somewhere down the line. Fortunately, this makes his life a little easier when he's been playing in the toilet, unrolling whole rolls of toilet paper, or upending everyone's cups all over the table. Last week, he swiped Abi's retainer after dinner and dropped it in the toilet...which hadn't been flushed. Ugh. She was a good sport about it, especially after we boil-cleaned it.
Dan's been loving "school" lately - it's so cute! At least one kid begins the day looking forward to school...He's got a little workbook that he's loving and after he's finished 5 or 6 pages each day, I have to make him stop. It almost makes up for the whining we are working through when it comes to waiting for food.
Ellie's starting to read! So cool. Every now and then she has a brain blank and forgets a letter (usually "e", interestingly enough), but then she'll read a whole paragraph without a hitch. Of course, she still has wild woman hair, but still - baby steps.
Noah's gotten to be pretty close buddies with one of the boys who live across the street, asking to go over his house almost every day. I'm not sure if their greatest shared interest is Lego or screen-based games, but I'm glad that he's got a friend.
One of Anna's great joys at the moment has been giving Dan and Caleb baths. She's pretty good at it, and it's obviously a big help to me. Such a blessing to see her tangibly serve others, and enjoy it.
Abi is almost finished an online Red Cross class in Babysitting Basics. She's really been enjoying it and doing well, and has big plans for serving some families as a mother's helper. Again, it's so nice to see my girls growing in maturity and work ethic.
Toby's breathing a little easier tonight - he's just finished his first major project, his Biblical Theology paper. It's due the end of this week, and he's been working so hard on it, but still being faithful to keep up on his other work (like Greek, ahem) and spend time with all of us. Yesterday we went to a local park for a wander around in the snow, and he delighted in pelting the kids (and being pelted by them) with snowballs. If it were up to me, I still would have been napping. That's why he's the fun parent.
As for me, I'd say I'm almost back to normal. I'm still loving early bedtimes and afternoon naps, but at least an "early" bed is 9:30, not 8pm, and a nap is 30 min, not 2 hours. It's all in the details, I think.
I must confess, though, I haven't been reading much, and I haven't knitted in months! I know, it's crazy - I'm starting to question my identity/sanity! I've been thinking about knitting quite a bit recently, though, so that's something. Gotta start somewhere, right?

When a change is as good as a rest, for the most part.

Many thanks to all and sundry for their kind and enthusiastic welcome of baby number 7. It's encouraging to know that even if our friends and family think we're nuts, they're kind enough to keep it to themselves. :)
As for our Christmas vacation, it was heavy on the "social" and light on the "rest". Driving through the night from KY to NJ was long - 15 hours with constant rain - but the kids were so good through the whole thing. They didn't sleep as much as we thought they would, but there was very little complaining, and the dreaded question "How many minutes until we're there?" didn't come up very much. It was great seeing family, being cooked for, and generally being spoiled for Christmas. Our trip down to MD for a weekend was a special joy, complete with more spoiling, visiting with excellent people and visiting our church family. Being in church was such a bittersweet time, as for the first time I realized just how much I miss "my people".
We headed back to NJ for a few more days and spent some time with my brother, sister, and assorted families. So much fun - I've got some great family. :) I'm not sure if the highlight was winning the soup cook-off with my corn chowder (redeeming myself from last year with a dismal loss in the chili cook-off), or playing trivia games while my brother does a frighteningly good job reading the questions in an effeminate voice - both were good moments!
We were supposed to head up to Boston to visit a church there, see some friends, and give Toby an opportunity to preach before we headed back to KY, but alas, it was not to be. There were some concerns about a winter storm getting in the way, and the airline called to cancel our first flight. We were able to reschedule for the next flight, but that was cancelled, too, with the added problem of all flights into Boston were being cancelled until Saturday night. That was going to be a little too tight and a little too difficult, so we decided to drive back a day early and travel during daylight hours - so much better! We are looking forward to scheduling another visit up/over to Boston another time, though - I've got some sightseeing to do!
We're now back into the thick of things - Toby's back to class, kids back to schoolwork, I'm back to...everything I do. I'm feeling fairly good, overall - not 100%, but almost woken up, so to speak. I'm looking forward to getting my brain and energy back - I've got stuff to do!