Happy blocks

I've had this picture on my desktop for months now.

I found it on some linky party and have wanted to make it ever since. (sorry, I can't find the link to the source though!)

My biggest obstacle? I don't have a saw to cut the wood. Yes, I have a fabulous sister who would let me cut any old time at her house, but that required to have enough motivation to actually go get the wood and figure out sizes and such.

Last month our church did a craft night. We made these beautiful temple blocks with pictures of our local temple.  When I took mine home, I realized I had just enough blocks to make the saying. I'm a fan of double duty crafts (less to store!), so I flipped those blocks over, modge podged some scrapbook paper (I also inked the edges), and slapped on some vinyl cut with my Silhouette.

Swoon! I adore the way it turned out. Now, obviously, I didn't do it exactly like the inspiration picture. But I had just the right about of room, and I'm very happy with the results!

(and since I know someone will want to see the temple side too)

Linking up here

*in case you're wondering, the paper came from Michaels and Hobby Lobby. The fonts for the vinyl are Pea Aimee, Century (the &), and Bookman Old Style (the love).

Preponderance on Paper

Growing up, my sisters and I knew my Mom was somewhat of a toilet paper snob. Not that she'd ever call herself such, but she was very picky about her TP.

We even had discussions on toilet paper. Not frequently, but we had them.

With that history, I find myself aware of the selection in other bathrooms. I notice textures, thickness, how well it holds up.

I lean towards the brand I knew as a child.  But I am not exclusive in my paper purchases. I've dabbled with other thicknesses, other textures (but never other colors. Really, matching your tp color is just going a bit to far!).  I recently discovered a store brand that exactly mimics my favorite childhood brand and have felt much happier about the current price point of my tissue.

It's just so annoying to be doing your business and discover you are out of the precious stuff.  And on my quest to raise my children to be self-sufficient, I have become uber conscious of the level remaining on every roll. I change every single roll myself.  I check the level of supplies in each bathroom. I do NOT want my children to be without (they are still grasping the whole cleanliness thing anyway - I've got to make it as easy as possible on them!)

But  . . . I just realized I'm taking something away from them too.  My kids don't know HOW to change a roll of TP.  That's not being self sufficient. So, today, as I notice the almost empty roll, I pledge to change my ways. Today I will teach Buddy this all important task. I will make him in charge of changing every empty roll he sees.

And someday, his wife will be grateful that her husband is so thoughtful.

Ok, so I'm sure most mothers have attempted to teach their sons this. And I know that in all likely hood, he won't do it at all once he's a teenager. But for today, I'm going to go with my lofty dreams and be at peace!

Summer Sewing

I've never done a ton of sewing for my kids. I like making dresses the most, but currently both of my daughters have 6 EACH. Not exactly something they need!

The biggest problem with sewing clothes, is by the time you pay for the pattern, the material, and all the notions, you can usually buy it cheaper.

But if you find a free pattern on line . . . it changes everything!

I've been following Sewing in No Man's Land for several months now. When she posted this pattern,  I knew I had to try it!

One note on her patterns: they are NOT super accurate. She talks about that on her patterns page. She doesn't have any fancy program or anything, so you need to do a bit of "intelligent sewing". Just go with your gut for how things should go.

So here was my first attempt:

This one turned out to be free: I bought the fabric like 7 years ago when I was pregnant with Girly-Lou. The white was leftover from my maniac sewing back in November, and I already had the Velcro too.

I love it . . . except for the sleeves.  They stick up so high I feel like they are trying to eat her ears!  But it's still awesome.  I also really changed the pants. My first attempt looked like clown pants instead of shorts.  So I cut off several inches on all the pattern pieces - both length and width.  They were MUCH better the second attempt!

So I thought I'd try to change the sleeves so they stuck down more.

I first tried shirring the hem. It helped, but they still went weird. I finally ended up sewing in a 1/4 inch elastic strip and tucking the sides of the sleeves back into the bodice to help them stay down.

This one is not my favorite, but she sure is cute!

It's also a freebie (I already had the fabric and everything)

But #3 was the charm.

I did buy the fabric this time, but since it only took a yard (with a 40% coupon), that only set me back $2.

 


For the sleeves, I took a 7 inch strip of 3 inch eyelet  and just attached it to the the shirt bands.  It's my favorite by far!  The eyelet was on clearance for $2 each, and it took two spools for it all.  So total this one was about $6.

To make it sound even better, let's combine all of them. So I can say I made 3 full outfits for $6.  Not bad at all! 

*no children were hurt in the staging of this post. Although many bribes were used, the author is not liable for the aggravation of trying to pose 17 month old adorable girls!

Today

Today I learned that it IS physically possible to get 5 individuals (two adults, 3 children) awake, clean, fed, dressed, and out the door to church in 40 minuets.

It just takes a LOT of cooperation on every one's part!

And next week, I'm setting my alarm. It was not a morning I'd like to repeat any time soon.

Every Girl Needs a Tea Party

 At least Girly-Lou is sure of that.  For her 6th birthday, she got this cute porcelain tea set.  And she's been bugging me for real napkins for it.  I finally got around to sewing some.  That same day, she made personalized invitations for Happy Mom and her two girls.  She even started making goodie bags.

Since she was going all out, I decided to join her.  After all, if something is worth doing, it's worth doing right!

So, to complement her mini tea set, we had mini everything.  I baked mini muffins:

I made pb &j's, and cut  them out with mini cookie cutters.

I even mini-fied some homemade cookies with the help of an empty spice jar.

Girly-Lou was in heaven getting everything ready - complete with a seating chart.

I don't own  a cute tray. But I fake DIY'd one. It's only fake 'cause its all just sitting there, not actually attached. But it worked for today.

Everyone was asked to dress in "nice clothes" which meant something different for everyone.

 
Girly-lou went all out.  Buddy felt that a regular shirt and shorts would be best.

All in all, I think it was a successful venture today!

Taste testing, family style

This year was the first year we've tried a summer bucket list. I've seen dozens of these in blog land over the last few years, but this summer was the first time I've been organized enough to jump in!


On our list was to make homemade ice cream.  And since I needed to make some ice cream toppings (for the Sadie Hoffmiller test kitchen - we're working on book 7 people!), I thought we'd have some fun with this!


First of all: our homemade ice cream was a flop. I'm not sure what was wrong with it. But for some reason, all we made was chilled cream soup. Maybe my bowl wasn't frozen enough?  Oh well!

I divided the "soup" into 5 different bowls - one for each of us. One stayed plain. One had chocolate chips mixed in. One had pineapple topping. One had homemade caramel topping. And the last one had homemade chocolate sauce.


The rules: you got one spoonful of the bowl in front of you. Then you had to vote for how many smiley faces that flavor got. After a sip of water, we passed the bowls around and tried the next flavor!

The kids thought it was such a cool night!  Even 'Lil was happy with this arrangement.

The results:

I was shocked that I liked the pineapple one, but the caramel was my fave. Buddy loved all of them. Girly-Lou was a bit pickier, and didn't care for the chocolate chip. Hubby was the most picky of all, and really only liked the chocolate sauce.

All in all, it was a successful (if messy) family night!

Book Review: Breath of Angel

Ok, guys. I'm bugged about this review. See, I was one of the first people to get this book. And I read it really fast. And, while it had some great things in it, there were things that bothered me. Things that could have been fixed if I would have reviewed it quickly.

But I wanted to think about the book for a few days.  And then I lost it.  And I've read a dozen other books since then. And now, here I am 3 months later, finally re-reading it and reviewing.  Way too close to publication for any good to come of it. GRRRR!!

So with that beginning, here we go!

First off: from the back of the book: "

Melaia, a young priestess, witnesses the gruesome murder of an emaciated stranger in the temple courtyard. Just after she discovers wings on the stranger, the murderer enters the temple, and what Melaia has known only through song and story suddenly takes on flesh. Angels and shape-shifters were myths and stories . . . until now.

Melaia finds herself in the middle of a blood feud between two immortal brothers who destroyed the stairway to heaven, stranding angels in the earthly realm.  When the feud turns violent and Melaia becomes a target, she finds refuge with a band of wandering angels attempting to restore the stairway. But the restoration is impossible without the repayment of an ancient debt, the “breath of angel, blood of man,” a payment that involves Melaia’s heart, soul, and destiny."

Angels, magic, and myths? Right up my alley!  I liked this book. The plot is complicated enough to keep my interest, but not too much that I couldn't follow it.  The book unfortunately has that slightly unpolished book newer authors typically have. Nothing horrible, but just the occasional awkward phrase.

More than anything, this book NEEDS a glossary. I think almost any book involving more than 5 main characters could use one, but especially if they all have names like Pym and Paullus and Peron.  It could also really use a map.  The directions may seem clear in the author's head, but not in mine!

There were also several plot points that needed more explaining.  For example, what was with all the Comain's disappearing? Where are they going/why is this included?  Why/how/what about the trees echoing Melaia's thoughts? Can they actually speak to her or not?  How did Trevan know who Melaia's father was?  Or Livia for that matter!  

I hope most of these points will be cleared up in future books (this is planned to be part of a trilogy.) But in all, it was an intriguing premise, and I enjoyed it both times I read this!

*I received an advanced reading copy of this book from WaterBrook Press