some privacy around here

yep, finally got new curtains.  sorry for all the funny angles.  my camera would wig out when the light hit it straight on.  so i had to sneak up on them.  i found this fabric for $3 a yard at joanne’s.  i was so excited.  it is a little drab, but i am sure i will find a way to liven things up.

on the whole, they were very simple and easy.  i just sewed plain panels and hung them with clip on’s.  is that cheating?

i was able to get them done over thanksgiving break.  i think i will take projects with me every time we head on vacation.  shouldn’t let all that free baby sitting go to waste.

and don’t you love my mother-in-law’s table?  i understand that at a young age my husband told her that when she died he got her pewter.  now that’s thinking ahead.

i’m becoming a little horrified at the thought of having to do thanksgiving by myself.  i don’t know how she got all sixteen dishes warm and on the table at the same time with one oven.  now i know why people go to chuck-o-rama.  it’s making more sense all the time.

how to cut perfectly good fabric up into little squares and sew it back together.

it just felt wrong.  but at least i had my mom to help me piece it and my grandma to help me back it.  there is still one more to back, but thankfully both the tops are done.  they are going to be for the boys’ room downstairs (which is not even finished mind you).  but i will persevere.

sticking to the plan, i am going to paint jehu’s headboard blue and gideon’s goldenrod.  (this picture isn’t mine, but it pretty much sums it up color wise.)  also, i am going to get this print for jehu’s birthday.  i think it will work in nicely.

and yesterday i found a free dresser.  i will need to paint and add to the mix.  not quite sure what to do with it.  any ideas?  maybe laquer would be fun (or the opposite of fun).  and kandi is going to whip me up some kind of killer orca to take up most of one wall and make things more exciting.  but first, i need to weild a texture gun, click down some pergo and paint some trim.  what do i do all day?

some food

i’ve been trying some new recipes lately.  my husband likes to ask during dinner, “what made you think this recipe would be any good?”.  i know, sometimes i’m in too much of a hurry to read them.  until i’m cooking and i get to the part, “balsamic vinegar…cinnamon…cayenne pepper…” then i go, “what in sam hell?”  but there were a few worth recommending, like this chewy soup here.  curried lentil and red chard soup.  and lay on the lime and the jalapeno, by all means.

also, i relly enjoyed basmati rice with cashews, peas and fresh coriander.  served with this very best recipe for naan (indian flat bread loaded with garlic and brushed with butter).  and these baja black beans were spanky.  it was sort of like eating fresh salsa on rice (kind of strange, but still good).  and now that my husband has suffered through a pile of recipes you have at least three good ones to share with yours.  after you kill a cow to go with.  because, as we all know, it’s not really food until something dies.

baby and her minky

i finally sewed girl her baby blanky.  i had found it’s good intentions while sorting out my sewing drawer.  i must have bought the stuff over a year ago.  this one has a brocade front and some kind of minky fur back, bound with satin baby bias.  an evil combination if there ever was one.  slick as snot.

fortunately, i remembered someone’s advice from the last go round, and availed myself of my grandma’s pfaff (with the walking foot).  it took it in stride.  previously, i had to pin every inch and it still wadded up.  in other words, don’t try this at home unless you want to say bad words.

it’s weird, but i can tell baby girl already likes this blanky.  i give it to her for her naps and they cozy right up.  it’s also her “going out blanky.”  i made it a little on the small side to fit in her bucket (aka car seat).

something else i learned was to sew your bias on with a wide, decorative stitch.  with bias (as with ribbon) the rule of thumb is to stay as close to the edge as possible (while missing the edge entirely on the other side).  i edged girl’s with little pink hearts and you just can’t go wrong.

the pink shoes are courtesy of aunt becca.  she uses this pattern and claims it is amazingly easy, but i still haven’t tried it.

and the outfit is from aunt meggie who just made a trip to san fransisco.  (because she doesn’t have any kids and does whatever she wants.  i’ve tried to reason with her.)

some sewing

i buckled down and sewed this nursing cover for my friend kandi.  she is going to have a little boy.  “william augustus jamieson the fifth.”  (i’m still voting on the augustus bit anyways.)

i keep getting desperate emails for people looking for my old “hooter hider tutorial”.  i forgot to mention that the hooter hider mafia made me take that down for copyright infringement.  duh.  maybe in such desperate times the hooters should just run free.

in other lactive relevant news, baby girl weaned herself.  she’s 8 months now and moving onto better things.  like grilled cheese sandwhiches, smoked fish, croutons, tacos, waffles, indian food…whatever we eat she eats.  in fact, i haven’t found something that she won’t eat.  she just doesn’t like me, that’s all.

wee bling

i made this for my niece mallory, for her third birthday.  it’s a tiny, memory wire bracelet.  and very fun and easy to make, so i thought i would share.

the wire comes pre-coiled and cut.  you just string your beads on and twist a stop into the wire when you are done.  i hung some little dingle dangles on the end.  that is the best part, so don’t forget them.  and if you had a little girl i am sure she would have fun chasing down all the random beads.  you know, the best and exciting ones.  we found a lady bug, a sun, a “m” and a heart, of course.  but we did refrain from making it all pink.

later, we made a little trip to gymboree and scored an orange, courderoy jumper to go with.  they also gave me the best gift box ever, complete with ribbon, tissue and a cupcake sticker.  this might entice me to do all my birthday shopping there.  then i wouldn’t have to hunt around in the recycling and exercise creative genius.  a breeze.

for rainy days

this is ibarra, mexican, hot chocolate (from the mexican section).  it’s the best.  you make it with hot milk in the blender, so it gets all frothy.  also, it is made from straight cacao nibs, so it’s actually real chocolate.  not too sweet with a hint of cinnamon.  nestle is pond water by comparison.

girl approves.

but then again, she’d eat anything if it got in range.

la

i am just a little pleased with myself.  that is all.  i scored one of these babies on craigslist for $30.  “that’s nice miranda.  what is it?”

it’s my super duper diaper pail.  a compact, haier washer.  i was having problems with my dipers retaining smell.  so i broke down and bought the recommended soap.  there was still smell.  so i surfed around the internet, and much to my dismay, i was told i need to store my diapers wet.  and what was worse, i had to change this said, wet, poopy compound nightly.  horror.  fortunately, i stumbled upon this bit of profundity: just keep your diapers in your washing machine.  (under the presupposition that you don’t use it constantly, all day long.)  so i thought to myself, fine, i will get two washers.  nothing wrong with that, there are free washers on craigslist all the time.  genius.  then i stumbled on this baby.  i just throw my diapers in, soak them in a bit of oxi-clean free or baking soda, and spin and refresh every night – all with no touchy touchy.

i haven’t had any trouble since.  but whether you use a compact washer or a full size, i think it is the only way to fly.  there are no odors and no rinsing poop off into my toilet.  i have an official poop machine, just for poop.  hooray.

don’t you know?  this is america, you can have two washing machines if you want them (and can get your husband to haul it home and down a flight of stairs). 

she smells like glue

it is the most wonderful smell.  i can’t believe how much i love my baby girl.  i just want to eat her.  anyways, here she is this morning.  looking good, of course (with a little bit of clint eastwood on the side).

i spent yesterday at my grandma’s.  one of the projects was patching the holes on these jammies with her embroidering machine.  grandma and i have no end of fun cursing at the embroidery machine.

originally, the strawberries were supposed to cover everything.  they turned out too small, leaving two holes to go.  so we though we would put little hearts on the others, but the heart turned out huge.  finally we just threw a “j” on the last bit and voila.  thank you grandma.

“who eats chickens now!”

hubert was pretty stoked that it was his turn to be the lion.  he went around saying he was “terribly ferocious.”  no one believed him.  i’d hate to mention how many times he was called “cute.”

gideon, on the other hand, got stuck with being a skunk.

to top it off he had a big heart stamped on his rear that said “lil’ stinker.”  don’t worry, this is his last year of old navy costumes.  although seriously, i don’t know why they can’t make them to age nine.  what am i going to do now?

here they are at the church harvest party.  this was our favorite.

and gideon with our new pumpkins from our neighbors.

by the way, natalie discovered the only way to carve pumpkins is with a dremel.  this is her handiwork, modeled after gideon’s ugly doll.

the actual night of halloween it was so warm people were migrating to their porches.  it was so cozy.  i had tons of fun looking in everyone’s windows.

(that’s why i go, you know.  i use my kids as cover.  and then i eat their candy.)