After the picture was taken, I moved the red cord to be vertical. There is a larger empty space between the blue and red vertical cords now.

What I used:

thumbtacks (I had a box in my office supplies)
mini bungee cords – pack of 5 for $1 at the Dollar Tree
bulletin board – purchased by his Grandma, I’m sure it was part of a back to school sale.

This is such a simple way to make the bulletin board just a bit more fun looking!

My Dollar Store Bulletin Board is a post from: me being crafty

First off I emailed Sister Diane over at Crafty Pod, asking if she had any recommendations for where I could stop, what would be a “must see” while I was there. She sent me the links to four stores and Powell’s.

Sister Diane recommended Josephine’s Dry Goods, Button Emporium, Knit Purl, and the Museum of Craft. JW and I took the Amtrak down to Oregon but once we were in Portland we rented a car. I didn’t mention that I’d have a car, so she mentioned places that were close to the station.

I knew there was a google map of crafty stores in Portland, and after a quick google search I found it at DIYAlert, click on the “Google Map of Crafty Portland.” (Created by Sister Diane a few years ago!)

I wasn’t thinking clearly and ended up trying to stay in a small area of town. After finding out that a few stores were closed on Monday (Button Emporium!), I ended up stopping at one quilt shop (who had a HUGE selection of Japanese fabric), Pendleton and Powell’s.

Pendleton is awesome. I love the blankets, I’ve started buying one of the sets of dishes for myself and I really love the fabric selection they have. At this particular Pendleton’s, they have huge bins of scraps for sale very cheap. You can buy a HUGE bag of zippers for a dollar, bags of scraps for a few dollars or purchase fabric from huge rolls.

I spent a few minutes going through the scrap bin when one woman brought me a cart to stick JW in. He’s a happy guy so he was smiling and flirting with her. She threw a blanket down and put him in the cart, along with a hippo. He lasted in there for several minutes while I went through the bins a bit more and walked around looking at the fabric. Once he was done being in there, we finished up and went to the quilt shop.

Of course I would be somewhere with no way of getting large items back home. A block away from the quilt shop was an awesome looking thrift store with great furniture outside. I didn’t even stop as I didn’t want to be even more tempted!

The quilt shop had one o the largest selections of Japanese fabric I’ve seen in one space. Even on the shop hop we went on this summer, no store had that much. Japanese fabric can tend to be more expensive as well. And for the first time, probably ever!, I couldn’t think of a project I needed to get fabric for!

But Powell’s…was hands down THE best place ever. Ever. It is huge and wonderful and you could spend hours in there. I was in there for just under an hour and hadn’t even seen all that I felt I needed to see. I ended up looking in the children’s section for a few minutes then going to the quilting section. I was in the store for so long, I had to rush the rest of the time to get to the train station before the train left. JW and I lucked out, we were sitting in our seats a few minutes before it left. All sweaty and out of breath from running, but at least the train isn’t like the airplane, we showed up about 20 minutes before it was time to leave and were still allowed on.

I can’t wait to get back to Portland!

Crafty Portland is a post from: me being crafty

I used six colors, white on white and a print. The colors were either batiks or color on color as well. I used red, green striped, yellow polka dot and orange strips in the backing and also for the binding. (All you quilters – you use the Clover bias tape tool right? This is an awesome product!!!)

I also learned freezer paper applique for this quilt! It is a lot easier then I thought it would be. I’ve never done any applique before so learning this really put my mind at ease.

I did the freezer paper applique technique on the four anchors because she loves anchors. An anchor is her sorority’s symbol, then add to that her husband is in the Navy so it gave her even more reason to like anchors.

You can’t see too closely in the photo, but the four anchors are quilted by outlining each anchor and also outlining the block. The rest of the quilt has a meandering pattern.

Anchor Baby Quilt is a post from: me being crafty

Sea Sow USA is a new shop by my friend Angela! Her husband is also in the Navy and we met how lots of military friends meet – online.

If you are lucky enough to have an iPad, you definitely need a cover for it.

But I think my favorites are all of the adorable tot and kid messenger bags!!

She also has geedunk pouches! You know you want to know what those are so head on over and check our her etsy shop.

Sea Sow USA is a post from: me being crafty

Preparing stencil of spindlewhorl owl

My Mom asked Stan Green, a local artist who designed a spindlewhorl owl for the college’s use, if she and I could use the design in a quilt. He very generously said yes. Several steps went into creating the design for the quilt: getting a large print of the owl, copying it to freezer paper, ironed freezer paper to material and cut out pieces we were going to sew down. Once we got to sewing, we both had to work on just this piece over a few days. It took an hour just to go around the circle!

Before we did the center applique, we worked on the border blocks. You can’t tell in the final pictures, but the center of the blocks is made up of one inch squares – I sewed six strips of brown together, cut into 1 1/2 inch strips, then resewed them together. They ended up looking like a square of basket weaving.

One thing the pictures does not show are the stars we sewed in the center of the four green corner squares. All in all it took about 60-70 hours to complete, and went for $1000 at the live auction. We are very proud of the work that we did and were so happy it raised such a large amount of money for the college!

Finished quilt “The Grandfather”

Quilt for Auction is a post from: me being crafty

Scrabble is a post from: me being crafty

Anyone else want to crochet fruit trivets and potholders?

Nevermind that I have at least four makeup/travel bathroom bags, I still want to sew my own dopp.

I have a couple of hoodies that I love, but I don’t want to wear them anymore ~ with some patchwork, they’ll be like new!

Modge podge coasters! Who cares that I have awesome Coach coasters I got for my brithday and a set of perler bead Super Mario ones too.

Most importantly – how to find time to do all of this stuff.

A Collection of To-Do’s is a post from: me being crafty

I started him off with baby cereal and after a few weeks he started on baby food. He’s a hungry guy, just like Jake was when he was a baby.

Can you hurry up with this food stuff already?

Hhmm, this is what I wanted? I don’t know…

Oh I think I like this…!

I do! I love this! Thank you for feeding me!

Feeding A Baby is a post from: me being crafty

That’s him with the W on his hat…next time I’m going to bead his cap and gown, the other Native graduates all had simple beadwork on theirs!

He’s so happy.

Baby Brother, Graduate, Me

I bought him a golf club for graduation, just one.

I don’t know if it’s a middle child thing or just a my brother thing, but over the years, when I’ve been able to see the family while on vacation or something, I come home to a picture my brother took of himself.

I’m pretty sure that for Christmas he is getting a scrapbook with all the pictures he’s taken of himself over the years. I have probably six or seven, at least.

My Brother is a post from: me being crafty

In true teenager fashion, I moved out when I got mad. There was an argument about something, probably because my brothers got away with everything but as the oldest I didn’t, who knows (whoa, passive aggressive years later much?). So I grabbed the clothes from my closet, threw them in the trunk of my car and backed down the street (I remember doing this!). Obviously it wasn’t a huge family fight as my Mom didn’t stop me!

We got furniture on sale or clearance and picked up other things along the way. And my Grandma contributed to my house as well. One day when I stopped by she gave me a few things for the kitchen: a measuring cup, set of measuring spoons, an ice cream scoop and an egg slicer.

I’ve never used any of them. Once I got married, I started hanging them up in the kitchen wherever we lived. I like looking at them, they remind me that you don’t really need too many things to get started.

This is them hanging in the current house we are living in. The picture of the bridge is the Cooper River bridge in Charleston, SC. It’s a great picture because it’s the old bridge and the new one.

When I Moved Out is a post from: me being crafty

How has your summer been?

We went to Montana to see my brother graduate:

Then to Seattle where my Mom received an honorary PhD from Seattle U:

We went to a family reunion in Nevada:

And then JW turned 6 months old!

Lots of other stuff has being going on as well, but this is a nice start.

Summer Catch Up is a post from: me being crafty

Me, JW, Ree, Alice

I got to meet Ree Drummond, AKA the Pioneer Woman! I was reading what others experiences were on facebook, under PW’s fan page, about how they wanted to say something but when they finally got through the line all intelligent thought left their head. Well, the same thing happened to me.

All of us went, the three kids, Chris and myself, and the wait was LONG. We got to Third Place Books for her cookbook signing at about 3:30PM and didn’t get to Ree until 9pm! I knew it was going to be a popular signing, but honestly didn’t think it would be nearly as crowded. I got a ticket for the “F” line – and they started with A. Luckily for us (I mean Chris and the kids) there were five restaurants to pick from and a lot of tables for space. The bookstore was great, the kids area had a large chair that JW and I sat in while the kids read or played.

Jake on the maze mat showing me the route he would take, if he had thought to bring cars inside with him.

We read books, ate dinner and visited with others who were also there for the signing. I was sort of surprised at how many people were talking about their favorite recipes or how the cookbook stayed out all the time. I mean sure I’m a fan, I think Ree’s hilarious, but I don’t keep my cookbooks out on the counter (I don’t have much space) and I generally don’t use a cookbook unless I’m baking, otherwise I’ve memorized my favorites. Okay, I suppose these recipes are basically new to many, many people so of course they would be out. Maybe its that I was caught off guard by people asking what my favorite recipe was, they all knew what theirs was and what their kids liked, what others said was good, etc.

The long wait – totally worth it. I love author signings. Ree was nice, Alice and JW were the only ones with me because Chris went to buy our books so we could leave right after I was done (we did have a two hour drive to come home) and Jake went with him. Alice was eating an ice cream and asked what she should do with the very bottom part because we were next. I said just eat it – I didn’t mean immediately, I just meant don’t throw it away. But what does Alice do, she shoves the entire thing in her mouth. So she’s standing on the other side of Ree not talking because her mouth is full. Ree talked to JW, who just stared at her, admired Alice’s soccer jersey and asked how to say my name.

I wanted to take a few minutes and tell her how much I enjoy her writing, how funny she is, how I know so many people living her life but not writing about it. I grew up on the plains, surrounded by cowboys, heck I thought I’d marry a cowboy someday. I wanted to say more then how to say my name and where it comes from. But I didn’t.

I can’t imagine having conversations like that with everyone either. I was in “F”, 50 people were in each letter, and the last letter I knew someone was in was J. That’s 500 people! The signing was supposed to go til 9 and I’m not sure how long she stayed, but wow, that was a very long night for her. Oh and I saw her daughter walk by – I’m not sure how old she is but she was a good five or six inches taller then me! It’s not hard to be taller then me, but I was still surprised.

I loved seeing her daughter too, tall, hair in  ponytail, and she looked like a country girl. It’s something easy to describe but even easier if you just saw. She looks like some of the girls I grew up with.

The cookbook is great – its full of stories and pictures – and I made the cinnamon rolls. SO good! They were great. I made half a batch and ended up doing it a little wrong – I put them in a cake pan, spread apart like cookies, so they spread like cookies – but they still tasted delicious! I’m going to make another batch this weekend. I highly recommend her cookbook! I also grabbed a copy for my friend Holly, now if I can find my way to the post office sooner then later…

Pioneer Woman Book Signing is a post from: me being crafty

The best part of a library is that since you aren’t buying a book, you don’t have to debate do I get this book or that, you can just take as many as you want. This has saved a serious amount of money because I love craft books, and since living with my Mom, I really love quilting books and magazines. After just a quick glance through the table runner book, I knew I wanted to buy it. There are no less then five I want to make. I love these fabrics and had them saved for a fall table runner, and it took a bit to come together – mainly because I messed up the bear paw blocks the first time around. But look at how great it is! I really love this alot. On my schedule is to do a handful of table runners for each season.

Fall Table Runner is a post from: me being crafty

Sweet, sleeping baby

I should check twitter on tweetdeck – instead of my blackberry. I should play on facebook – instead of playing on my blackberry with limited access to everything on fb. I should check my email in a place I’m way more comfortable checking it (ie other then my blackberry). Don’t get me wrong, without my BB, I’d be LOST. I’d have nothing.

I’d have a phone sure, but the amount of time I’d have to stay in contact with the outside world would drop drastically. When JW is nursing, I’m on fb or texting or on twitter. And sure maybe I’m only there for five minutes of however long the nursing lasts, but at least I was there. I have way too many favorites saved on twitter – I’ve taken to saving them so I can look again later. Isn’t twitter supposed to be a now and in the moment thing? Not exactly for me.

Or I should do laundry or dishes or put clothes away from the laundry I already did.

So I rush around the house doing seventeen things at once. Luckily starting the laundry and dishes is super easy, so getting to my email is do-able. Blogging, fallen to the sidelines, revamping a few websites, not even close to having time for that.

I have no idea what I was thinking! My older kids are older – 8 and 6 years right now – and they basically take care of themselves. They are in school now so gone most of the day. They help clean up, have chores, have things to do, etc. But a newborn – they require you 24/7 – unless they are sleeping. And even when they are sleeping you are (more then likely) checking them every 15-20 minutes, unless they are right next to you, so you know they are still breathing. Even with my third baby, I’m still checking him when he naps.

He likes to visit with his friends, the butterfly, ladybug, and snail.

Oh and I haven’t mentioned that he’s a napper. So he usually sleeps for 15-20 minutes, while I run around doing whatever. Lately he’s a napper because he’s teething – not a surprise since Alice and Jake both got teeth early, a surprise because neither of them had teething issues. I just looked and all of a sudden they had teeth!

I should be lucky he likes the bouncy chair, and talking to his friends – as well as the sling I have for him and a bumbo chair a friend recently sent. I do get more time then, but it seems I enjoy just sitting on the couch. Yes, I’m also amazed at how tired I can be at the end of the day. I know, I know, quit being amazed with all of this right! Not like it should be new.

But I have a lot planned, I have been able to do a bit of sewing, and even made a rosary for my step-dad’s mom. Soccer season started and the weather is getting nicer every day. But blog posting, well I started this post yesterday at lunch time…so we can see how quick I’m able to be! Maybe I need to get back to just blurting things out.

Stealing Moments is a post from: me being crafty

Silky and the lines are shiny

A sort of Transformer?

Ocean waves

Varied design w/ Made in Japan on the salvage!

When he finally did send me fabric, he did a good job. I got a HUGE pile of batiks – that have already been stashed in the fat quarter box – as well as these ones pictured and a few others that have already been used. He sent the Transformer-like fabric for Jake, we haven’t used it yet, and Hello Kitty for Alice, designated for a new bag. The batiks are in our fat quarter box to be used whenever, same with these other cuts.

Except for the silks at the top. SO pretty! I’m saving them for the inside of a purse or bag, they aren’t very large pieces. We’ve been saving the salvages for ages now (it’s awesome how quickly these can add up!) and I’m excited to have a made in Japan one. Too cool.

Japanese Fabric is a post from: me being crafty

It’s been a while I know.

JW Conway

born Jan 18, 8 lbs 15 oz, 20 inches

On Jan 17 in the evening my contractions got regular and the dr told me take a  bath and see what happens. The bath didn’t speed anything up, and I managed to get some sleep. The contractions did wake me up at night, but it wasn’t anything really horrible. When I got up in the morning I told my Mom it was time, and we got to the hospital at about 9:30 or 10. When we got to the hospital, I told the nurse I was there to have my baby – she said “I never got a call about an induction for today, nothing is on the books.” I said “oh no, I mean I’m in labor now and am having him today.” She looked at me like I was crazy. Hahaha

I labored on my own for a handful of hours, until the nurse said we should do pitocin to get me over the hump, to get things kicked up a notch. Once I got the pit, things definitely moved along. I went from being dialated 2/3 to 5 really fast, then on to 9 shortly after that. He was born at 4:27PM, after just a few minutes of pushing. For some reason, I think the actual having him hurt more then with my other kids! I’m not sure why I feel that way.

JW – one month old

We had a rough start to having him here. He lost two pounds over two weeks due to my not producing enough milk, so we started supplementing with formula. He rebounded fast and at a month is almost at ten pounds. He’s doing good now and I’m finally moving on to trying different things to help with my milk. Nursing is important to me and while I still am, I’d like to not have to use formula.

With luck I’ll get better at updating here, this post took several hours due to a combination of my laptop not cooperating, the kids, JW, eating food, etc.

Oh Yeah That Baby is a post from: me being crafty

Last night she started quilting hers and I finished one set of three blocks for mine.

I made three of this block – I found the pattern on the Quilters Cache website, it is called Clay’s Choice. It called for three colors and I used four, but I really like how it turned out. And I’m quite proud that I can get the points in the middle to match up!

This morning I started this block! It’s not even sewn together yet. This one is also from the Quilters Cache – it is called Card Trick. But it looks totally different then the Card Trick! That’s because I used fat quarters, vs using something more like a half a yard. So we had to fudge and figure what would work with the fabric we had. And I like this! I like the blue marble and blue flower making diamonds and triangles, and I like how the dark brown airplane and paisley prints match up in the square in the middle. So it’s more like the Card Trick block was the inspiration vs the actual block. I like that block though so I’ll have to remember it for a later time.

I have two more of this one to make and then a third block. I’ll need to do sashing and a border, then finish. Luckily for me, Mom is way closer to having hers done so if the baby is waiting for a blanket, it won’t be too long.

Two Quilt Blocks is a post from: me being crafty

I woke up yesterday and proceeded to feel really tired despite getting a decent amount of sleep. Then I spent most of the day laying on the couch and drifting in and out of napping. My contractions were sort of regular – every half hour, with a few coming ten minutes after that (so 30, 10, 30, 10) but they never got regular. I wake up today thinking okay this could be it!

Only I’m still home and still pregnant. My 30 minute contractions quit this morning sometime – I slept from 8:30AM-10 and from 10-about 2 I only had five contractions. It was sort of disappointing really. I walked around the house for five minutes every half hour and that didn’t help move things along either. Mom and I went to the dr’s office this afternoon and he says “oh yeah, you are in early labor! It could be tomorrow…or it could be in two weeks.”

I figure maybe the baby is waiting for something – Mom and I both are making him blankets so maybe that’s it. I finished three blocks of the nine I need, and Mom is quilting her blanket now. So we could be done fairly quickly. Maybe once one of us is finished, he’ll decide to arrive!

I’ll be back tomorrow with pictures of all that I’ve finished – the three quilt blocks and four passport covers. Oh and Mom made a coupon organizer too! So we’ve been busy, despite staring at the clock.

Unexpectedly Absent is a post from: me being crafty

Or the weaving is going to win!

Mom wanted to make these pillows for a girlfriend of hers. It took us a few hours of cutting and weaving the ribbon, when we were done we ironed it to a piece of interfacing and sewed them shut around the pillow form. The ribbon and pillows were bought on sale so this is a great inexpensive project and gift.

We had to be very careful ironing though, one of the ribbons – just one! – was the type that melted even using the silcone iron protective sheet. We took it out and you couldn’t tell the difference, but for sure next time we won’t use the shiny ribbon – not glitters, but the slick shiny kind. We figured the protective sheet would work to protect against melting, but it didn’t.

Woven Ribbon Pillows is a post from: me being crafty

It’s been … well not a struggle, but we have had to figure out what works and what doesn’t in terms of storage. She has a hall closet that we use for fabric, supplies, etc., and we also have the bottom part of the kids closet as storage for fabric. She doesn’t do many other crafts such as making cards, scrapbooking, etc., so it’s mainly sewing in this house. I’ve managed to crochet a few things and we both do beadwork.

So we use the hall closet for storage – that stays fairly organized with bins and buckets. The space in the dining room surrounding the kitchen table though, that has been a lot harder for us to get under control. We’ve tried stacking fabric on a chair (yeah…that doesn’t work so well!), we’ve tried baskets, and then those end up stacked on top of each other, we tried putting things away and only getting it out when it was needed, that really doesn’t work well at all. Mom had the idea that she wanted a bookcase with cubbies in it for quite a while and we finally got one last week.

She wanted a mix of baskets and the fabric bins you can buy that fit the spaces, and ended up with six fabric bins because we had a hard time finding baskets that would fit. The one we used at the bottom sticks out a little, which isn’t too big of a deal since this sits in a corner and people don’t run into it. Now all we have is the basket to the left that holds the sewing machine quilt table attachment and the rulers. Everything else we are using and working on is in the bins!

So yay we are organized!

And the real benefit of being this organized – the little pile of fabric next to the sewing machine and red circle bobbin holder – Mom whipped out five matching needle holders and pin cushions.

As a sidenote, the green sewing machine up there is the Janome Hello Kitty. Alice got it for Christmas! She (and I) was SO excited! We got it out on Christmas day and set it up – only to have the thread tangle up if you even look at the machine funny. It’s a huge disappointment because she really enjoys sewing and I don’t want it to be a chore for her. It’s also annoying for us because we (Mom or I) have to quit what we are doing in order to try to fix it. I asked a friend who I know has the same machine only to be told that she had the same problem. So I am going to send it back and invest in a quality machine for Alice. Sure it won’t have Hello Kitty on it, and it won’t be pretty and green, but it’ll be a machine that works!

Kitchen Table As Sewing Table is a post from: me being crafty

See!

But oddly enough, I’ve technically only gained two pounds. That’s because of losing so much weight at the beginning and throughout. But he still grew and is doing great. He constantly moves and I’ve been having Braxton Hicks contractions forever now. A couple of weeks ago, for one day, they were every half hour, but I knew they were nothing. At my dr appointment last week, the dr estimated him to be seven to eight pounds – and said if I go to my due date, I’m looking at a nine pound baby. The kids were with me and I said oh Jake was almost nine pounds, and the dr said “well then!” So that’s a good thing?

I woke up today kind of feeling sick and wondering if that means labor is coming – but really it’s probably the cheese bread and pizza I had for dinner. Either way, today I’m going to pack a bag for the hospital, just to be prepared.

I had a moment the other day where I felt the NEED to clean up this pile of papers next to my laptop. Nesting!? I actually look forward to that. Mom suggested nesting and cleaning my room and closet would be a great nesting thing – too bad you don’t really control what it is you clean or organize. I remember with Jake I took all the plates, dishes, pantry items, etc., out of the cupboards and cleaned everything, then rearranged when I put them back.

I am interested in him hanging out until his due date though! I have a thing with numbers and his due date works. Hahaha

Baby Update is a post from: me being crafty

This is the first star that I made – I made it at home a couple of days before the class so I would know what to do. I ended up taking it out a lot (I can’t even remember how many times) and it is a little bit bumpy or something in the middle, where the points meet. However, this is the first one I made of this color, then I made the red below, then another of this purple one – and the second purple one, wow – it just about all matched up AND lays flat in the middle. I’m amazed I was able to do that because really, the pinning really threw me off. I’m not sure why it took as long to figure out or to catch on to either. This is the first time I’ve ever strip pieced though so I’m very happy.

Here’s the red (and purple I suppose) star – this one I don’t think I took out at all and it ended up with nearly every point meeting up and the middle lying flat. I have yet to add the white, but am going to get that done this week. During the quilt class Mom taught, one of my friends used this same material and also copied my pattern – so I figure I’ll finish this and give it to her so she can have a set. Mom already said I’m going to be the star quilt maker in the family since my stuff has matched up so easily and the center lies flat.

The book that Mom has that she uses is the Radiant Star Quilt by Eleanor Burns. We used the four color and just adjusted the size for a 18″ pillow vs a blanket.

Star Pillows is a post from: me being crafty

But for the first craft of the year – I made myself a crochet hook holder. I’ve been wanting one for quite a while and finally got around to it. We spent the night in Seattle when we dropped Chris off at the airport, and I came home and immediately cut the fabric for it. It took a few hours because I couldn’t grasp the idea of the instructions – and of course after I finished the project, the instructions are very easy to follow along with.

One mistake I made is putting the flap on the left side (as you can see) because in the instructions it says to put the flap in between the inside and outside fabric, on the top right side. Well they meant the top right side after you were finished – not the top right as it was laying on the table. So my flap ended up there. But it still worked just fine!  There are 12 pockets for hooks, as well as a larger pocket on the right side for scissors. The flap makes it so the hooks don’t fall out and it closes with a cute button.

The button I got from my Mom’s stash and was a quick add. This project is from the Sew Darn Cute book – there are several things in here we are going to be making over the next month or so. My Mom already made a handful of needle books from it, and Alice is going to make headbands for a few of her girlfriends.

So that was the first craft of the new year! Actually, the first after Christmas craft as this was done a few days after Christmas. I also embellished a crochet hook (need to get a picture of that, I thought I had one but guess not!) and worked on baby moccasins that day. Living with my Mom has really opened me up to being able to sew and be even more crafty then I used to be. It helps that I went back to school and the kids are in school. Before we would have full days and while my own schooling keeps me busy, I have lots of free time when everyone in the house is gone so I can get a lot done.

First Crafts of the Year is a post from: me being crafty

Last year my words were: Just Breathe. Be Strong. Be Generous.

I didn’t try to actively do any of these things, like doing something and then realize oh I should be generous. Instead I tried to just live my life that way. I tried to be strong because living at our last duty station was horrible, I tried to be generous when we moved and were on the road for so long, and in times of anger or sadness (or anything in between) I reminded myself to just breathe.

I want to pick new words for this year. I think these went along together nicely and maybe I’ll keep one or two of them. We are facing another year of challenges – a new baby, public school woes (there is a bully who just won’t leave my daughter alone!), sports, traveling, being apart from Chris, and I’m sure I’m forgetting a few things!

We’ve been in the military for 11 years now, married for 9 of those, and the past couple of years have been the hardest so far. I didn’t think it would get easier, I didn’t think that him going from enlisted to officer would mean it would be easier either, but I certainly didn’t think it would get this much harder. Somedays I just focus on taking care of the kids and myself, and just breathe and be strong to get through the day. Being separated by over 14 hours and who knows how many miles and hardly getting to see each other – it’s a test of a relationship for sure.

So the quest to find my 2010 words is on! I have several blank notebooks that I plan on journaling in this year and am thinking I’ll devote one to my words.

2010 Plans is a post from: me being crafty

I did good in my classes for the quarter – I did end up with a C in Algebra, which I was disappointed in. My teacher said if I got a C on the final, I’d end up with a B for a final grade – so after seeing the C, I figure I bombed the final. I knew I didn’t do that great, but I didn’t think I did that bad! But a C is passing and I got two A’s, so my GPA is good (not like that matters too much since I’m transferring the classes out anyway!). The next quarter starts in a couple of weeks and since the baby is going to be here shortly after that, I am taking two classes but they are art classes and will be easy to keep up with, or catch up with anyway. I’m taking the second beadwork class, with the same teacher from the first one, and then a drum making class. I’m excited about both! I am not sure what projects I want to work on for the beadwork class, but she said she lets us pick whatever we want since we know how to bead from the first class (or in my case, I’ve known since I was like 11 years old).

Chris is still gone – which is annoying but that’s how it goes I suppose – but he did get to come back for a few weeks at Christmas. He’ll actually be back in a few weeks because he gets baby leave. I just found a great ticket for him last night actually! He is going to fly into Vancouver vs Seattle – we are about 45 minutes from the Vancouver Int’l Airport, vs being two and a half hours away from Seattle. So I can just leave a little before his flight will be there to pick him up vs driving hours or having him ride the shuttle (so a small amount of savings) and then when he leaves we don’t have to stay overnight, we can just drive up, which saves on a hotel room. Oh and he doesn’t have to pay for a hotel over in Japan because of when his flight leaves. Even better, the price difference between the ticket to Seattle and to Vancouver is $130. Figuring in all the savings, it’s cheaper for him to fly there. How awesome is that!

Today we are not doing much, we all stayed up very late of course. I’ve been very crafty for the past few months and will start posting some pictures as an update. I hope your new years eve celebration was fun and all that you wanted it to be! Here’s to a fantastic 2010!

End of 2009 is a post from: me being crafty

It’s a good secret! It’s one that I didn’t want to share because I was scared. I was just scared out of sheer being scared. Nothing is wrong.

First – check out my kids on Halloween – Jake was a mouse and Alice was Fancy Nancy!

They got great reception from the houses we stopped at on Halloween. Jake’s class also had a party Friday afternoon and everyone loved his costume. I love that he picks outside the box costumes, remember the egg from last year?

I even dressed up for his party though I didn’t on Halloween. All I did was drive them around the neighborhood, I probably would have if I was walking.

Mom made me the M&M costume.

But it wasn’t really my costume.

It was the baby’s first Halloween costume.

See, I told you it was a good secret!

We are having a baby at the end of January. I’m feeling really good, I lost weight at first and have yet to gain it all back – but he’s growing, moving, kicking and doing back flips. I was worried at first, considering that George died that’s normal I suppose. Mom went with me to the big ultrasound, the one where the baby is checked out, measured, etc., and everything was/is fine. That was a big relief for me, though this time getting pregnant did not involve already being on birth control.

And yep, I said he. Another boy! With the babies my brothers have and my (now) two boys – we can have a football team. Amazing! Who would have thought my Mom would have that many grandkids.

I Haven’t Shared is a post from: me being crafty

We have gone the route of buying the various legos for the kids, especially last year at Christmas. We spent so much time putting together this set or that one – Alice got the pink legos that come with a girl and a horse, and Jake got a big Sponge Bob one – then what happened: they all got mixed up together. Ah well, at least we did them once to see what they looked like!

Fast forward to living with Mom and trying to think of what to bring with us. I didn’t plan very well when it came to that! I didn’t bring all of my clothes so don’t have any sweaters or winter jackets, and did bring some toys but it seems like I left the things they really wanted in storage.

We do have legos with us though. Hence the creation of a lego parts store:

From the top you can see there is a leg section, a hair section (the brown spot above the heads), a head section and then the body section. I’m not sure why the bodies have their arms up like they were first captured by the police, before going to the store. The ones laying down on the side are the ones just made.

Next up on my list – the Lego Advent Calendar!

I wanted one last year and never bought it because I wanted to make one for us to use. Well I feel the same way this year, I want to make one but I am also going to buy this one. It looks so fun.

I figure this will be the one that’s left out for the kids and the one I make will be full of treats for the grown ups – either candy or sewing/crafting supplies!

Lego Parts Store is a post from: me being crafty

Beading

Sewing

Crocheting

Soccer

Jake #22

Alice – the defender for the team

And in the midst of it all

Jake’s first lost tooth!

What I’ve Been Doing is a post from: me being crafty

We Can’t Afford To Wait is a post from: me being crafty

First Day of School!

Alice is in 3rd and Jake is in 1st grade.

We went yesterday to drop off their school supplies – Jake didn’t have too many but Alice, wow her backpack was heavy! – and luckily caught the teachers still there getting things ready. Today when we went they each knew where their desks were and were SO excited to go.

I made it a point to say (on facebook) that I didn’t cry when I left the schools – but I admit I got teary eyed because Jake hugged me twice and said bye. Alice on the other hand, she knew where her desk was and just walked over and sat down. She didn’t even say bye to me! I felt emotional so just walked out of the room, but had to go back to say where I would meet her after school.

Next week they probably will ride the bus. I’m nervous about that because it seems our neighbor kids are bullies. I don’t want my kids picked on the bus, I’m doing good keeping them apart the past few days. School for me starts in a couple of weeks so they will have to do some after school care, but I haven’t decided where yet.

Overall a completely fantastic first day for them. I am SO happy about that, and also amazed that I have an 8 and 6 year old now. Wow.

First Day of School is a post from: me being crafty