Hair Wars, Episode IV: A Lost Hope

Yes my friends, it's started again!! Melodie is resisting the hair brushing. This morning, I had to threaten to not only never turn the TV on again before they leave the house (which it usually isn't anyway), but to cancel the cable to get her to brush, and even then I had to finish it. I gave her til the end of the week, and if not, it's getting whacked again!

This is ADM week again, and we MUST NOT BE TARDY!! Or at least, so says the note they send home every quarter when they do this.

My new work schedule is going great. The house is coming into better shape, finally. And having 2 whole days off in a row....I can't even describe how wonderful that is to finally experience!!

My crafting is going pretty slow this month. I'm still working on my first Poke-critter for the Cup. I should hopefully have him done tomorrow. This is a 20" tall Ash Ketchum trainer ami. It's much more involved than I thought it would be! I'm a good 70% done, though. I've got him all together. I just need to embroider and attach the eyes, attach the hair I've got made and finish the last few spikes of that, and then do the hat, shirt, and pants. Hopefully it will go pretty quickly. Other than the pant legs, it should mostly be done flat, which I think goes much more quickly than in the round.

Well, my back is hurting and I've got a TON of work today, so I'll update more later!

Last Day of the Month

Well, the first month of the fall term of the Cup is officially ending today...and I completed all 6 classes!! yay! I've also joined a Quidditch team (to make stuff to send to my cousin in Afghanistan) and submitted for an OWL. (The toaster will be mine!!!)

I've completed my first filet bookmark for Transfiguration, the Crochet Counting Fish toy for Charms (which will be one of Charlie's X-mas presents), a Sheldon for DADA (Charlie gift #2), a golden snitch necklace for Ari (also X-mas present) for COMC, a soap saver pour moi for Herbology, and I can't for the life of me remember what Potions was...hmmm.....ahhh yes, Charlie's new Mittens. My OWL is going well. I've got the front of Ari's sweater almost done. I've got 1 sleeve done and 1 started for Melodie's sweater, and the bottom is done, though I think I may frog the last row and make it a bit longer because it looks like I'll have plenty of yarn. If anyone makes the Fresh-Picked sweater from Lion Brand, be forewarned the picture shown is of an oversized sweater, and the one the pattern is written for is, in fact, cropped as it says. The bit about the over-sized picture is in small print, and I'll be sending an email of complaint for a misleading picture. Why on earth would you put a picture up with a pattern of something that the pattern doesn't make!?!?!

Tomorrow, we get new homework for the Cup, and I'm looking forward to it. I'm hoping I can fit most of Melodie's b-day crafting in there. I'm planning on making her all the Poke-critters I can this month. And Charlie needs a Halloween goody bag.

I've also been sewing. I ♥ my new sewing machine!! :0) I've started cutting out a new jacket for Atley because his old one is getting small. Charlie will also be getting a jacket with matching pants that will double as his Halloween costume. Along with his Chunky Monkey hat.

Maters and House Cup and Children, Oh My!

We have a TON of ripe tomatoes! We'll be canning them this weekend. I'm hoping to have pics up early next week for all of you who commented on our organic tomatoes! We're thinking about just stewing these and not actually making sauce so we can use them in more things throughout the winter. I can't wait!

I've been making GREAT progress on my House Cup work! I've got 5 of 6 classes done. I've completed a pair of mittens for Charlie, Sheldon, a Crochet Counting Fish toy (both also for Charlie), a filet crochet bookmark for me (my first filet crochet!), and a teeny tiny golden snitch pendant to make a necklace for Ari for Yule! Just dyeing more yarn with walnuts and working up my Charlie's hat for his Halloween costume.

The kids are having a blast at school! Melodie seems to have really grown up the last few weeks. We're having a much easier time. Ari will be starting tutoring in the next week or so, so hopefully her spelling and sounds will get better. Her teacher said she'll be contacting speech, also, and voicing my concerns....again. Hopefully this time it will help, because the teacher agrees with me that she's having a hard time with spelling and phonetics because of the way she says things. Atley is just having the time of his life. He plays and is doing SO good! His art work has gotten better. His handwriting is better than Ari's (at least the letters that he does know and can write.) Charlie is still sad and lonely. :0( He's mommy's buddy. (yes Michelle Duggar, I'm quoting you!)

Oh, and I almost forgot....we've had our first tardy! It was really not due to not getting ready on time. I hurt my back yesterday morning. See, it was legitimate! Apparently, my back does not like to do laundry any more than the rest of me. I was lifting laundry out of the dryer, and oh the pain! It wasn't even like it was a heavy load of jeans or towels or a full laundry basket. It was just laundry, and the girls' tank tops and sundresses at that. It weighed all of 2 pounds.

Atley's First Day of School

I know, I'm a horrible mom. Mere hours after the girls bust open their shiny new pencils, I've blogged about their first day of school. My Atley, has yet to have his first day of school blog post. :0( So, without further ado.....Atley's First Day of School!!

He was SO excited to go to school!! Of course with our later start time this year (not one tardy yet, knock on wood!), we have plenty of time to get ready, and he had to wait awhile to leave, which he was very anxious about. He barely said goodbye when he jumped out of the car and ran to the school.
He has been very happy to go everyday now. He's doing pretty good, I think. He even did a good job on his first swimming lesson! (He was not the child who kicked and screamed and ran from the pool!! yay!!!) Luckily, he and Ari seem to have the same swim day, however hers seems to be after lunch, so I don't usually catch hers. :0(

In crafty news, the fall term of the House Cup is well underway! We're about halfway done with the first month. So far, I've completed a Sheldon for DADA, a lace bookmark for Transfiguration (which I still need to block so I can turn in), a pair of mittens for Charlie for Potions, and I'm over halfway done with a counting fish toy for Charlie for Charms. That will leave dyeing some more yarn with walnuts for Herbology, and I think I'm doing a snitch for CoMC. Plus, I've still got to submit for my OWL approval. (I will be doing Muggle Studies to get the toaster badge.) I'm going to knit Ari a Gryffindor House Sweater and Melodie a Fresh Picked Cardigan.

I've also started to fill my Etsy shop!! Yay!!

Oh, and of course we can't forget everyone's favorite recurring theme....Injury Of The Day!!!! Today's Injury of the Day goes to.....Arianna! (I know, a rarity!) Yesterday, we went to the fair. We were sitting on some nice, shady benches eating our yummy fair-food lunch, and Ari decided it was a good idea to stand between them and swing. She took a flying leap.........and cracked her jaw on one! We've got a nice bruise from that one. I swear, my kids. *sigh*

Awesome Hooked on Phonics Gr. 1 Giveaway!

My Organized Chaos (click post title for the link) is doing another SUPER GREAT giveaway....a complete Gr. 1 Hooked on Phonics program!! I so need this for Ari. She needs some help. She does okay reading, but mostly because she can remember everything she hears, so she wings it. Her spelling definitely needs some help, though. She got a 44% on her spelling worksheet last week. :0( I don't think I've ever felt more like I've failed as a mother than when I saw that paper. :0(

There are a bunch of other cool products on the Hooked on Phonics website, too. Check them out!

First Day of School Pt. 1

Well, it's official. Summer vacation is finally over. The girls went back to school today!!


They were SO excited. Melodie is in 4th grade this year, and it's her last year in grade school. She'll be a middle-schooler next fall! Ari is in 1st grade and very excited to see her friends again.

Lucky for us, all of the elementary schools are starting at 9:25 this year, so here's hoping no more tardies!! lol

This morning went very smoothly. It was a little surprising how smoothly it went, actually.

Atley goes for his KRA-L assessment test tomorrow. Then, his first day of school will be Thursday. I admit it, I'll probably cry when my sweet little baby boy goes to school. He is completely my little momma's boy, my little poppet, and I'll miss him horribly. Charlie and I are going to have fun together, though!

Yesterday, we canned for the first time! Dan had made some pasta sauce, so we decided to give it a try before our tomato crop comes in and we're swimming in tomatoes without a clue on how to can! It was a success, and we're very proud of ourselves! lol We got a half dozen pints. I think I'm going to need to get some more jars, though. We have ALOT of tomatoes that will be done. This batch was just from cans of tomatoes from the store. Our tomatoes are homegrown organic....I can't wait!

And, I finally finished Ari's snitch socks...better late than never! (ok, actually I finished them a few days ago, but here is the pic.)



I also finally fixed the neck band on Charlie's Imagine Peace Vest last night. I'm hoping to get some pics of him in it with my snowball bush this week.

My Organized Chaos: Dyson DC25 Vacuum ~ With Giveaway

I have been dying to have one of these vacuums ever since they came out! And now, the chance to win one!?!? I can't even imagine. These are so expensive, I've never even thought about actually being able to have one of my own. My old vacuum is less than perfect, and it's big and bulky. This one is small and light and works so well! I hope I win!

My Organized Chaos: Dyson DC25 Vacuum ~ With Giveaway