Stupid Sewing Machine

So, the new fabric was finally the push I needed to start up the sewing machine. I got started on Melodie's sun dress from my stash last night. I've had the fabric for like 2 years. I had cut it out about a week ago. So, last night I start. And.......something went wrong. I think it might be my bobbin tension, which I messed with and didn't get help from. Any sewing gurus out there that can give me some input on what would cause the bobbin thread to loop 600 times and bunch on the bottom of the fabric, get stuck in the sewing machine, and repeat every 2 inches? :0( I so need a new machine! I'm going to hint around for my birthday, rather strongly, that I need a new machine.

We went to the park yesterday with my grandparents. The kids had a blast! The creek was almost dried up, so they went down in the creekbed looking for rocks. We went walking along it to the little pools where there was still water to find minnows. While Atley and Melodie were looking for rocks, he started happily shrieking...."Mommy, I found a snake, and I touched it!" OMG! I couldn't believe he touched it. He's usually skittish about stuff like that. I was very proud of him. I did also have a little talk with him about not touching snakes unless a grown up tells him it's okay, because some snakes are poisonous and all snakes bite!

Oh, on a funny note, Atley just walked in wearing one of Charlie's shirts....size 12 months! That's my scrawny boy! lol

Injury of the Day: This one, for a change, goes to Ari! She was going into the bathroom at the park to rinse out her cup to get some water, and she ran the door into her toe and busted it open. Thank goodness for being prepared for Melodie's injuries of the day, I had my first aid kit in the truck and very easily scrubbed, disinfected, and bandaged the bloodied toe.

My Organized Chaos: PerryWinkles Kids ~ With Giveaway

My Organized Chaos: PerryWinkles Kids ~ With Giveaway

OMG, these are so adorable! I ♥ smocked dresses! I've been wanting to make one for Ari, but the smocked material at Joann's is so expensive (why I tried to get that remnant that was too small), and I'm a little leery of trying to do it myself! How perfect would this be! These dresses are too cute, and she saw them and loved them!

Fabric Pictures!

Ok, I know I've been saying this for weeks. Jaydee, just for you, here are fabric pictures! ;0)

These are from Joann's a few weeks ago. The one on the right is to make Ari a dress. (and enough for at least a doll dress and maybe one for Melodie too. But hey, it was $1.99 a yard!) The one in the middle is to make the boys some summer pajama shorts/pants. The one on the left was a remnant of the smocked sundress material I had hoped would fit Ari, but unfortunately it didn't, so I'll be making a baby sundress to put in my Etsy shop. And, as you can see, Charlie had to sneak in because he has decided he is quite a ham in front of the camera now!

Ok, this picture turned out pretty dark. On the right, you can barely see the gray fabric with pink butterflies I got to make the girls winter skirts for school. I'm thinking of going pleated, and I'll probably have to make some matching pink sweaters! The one in the middle is Shrek fabric. 99 cents a yard! I got 3 or 4 yards I think, I can't remember right now. I'm going to make the baby a shirt out of it, and then make some stuff for my Etsy shop. The fat quarters in the front are for bib backing for bibs for my Etsy shop. The blue on the left is to make Melodie a dress. Isn't that beautiful fabric!?! It was only $3.74 a yard because I got the last of a bolt, and they take 25 cents off a yard if you buy a whole new bolt or finish one off. So, about $4 for that beautiful embroidered dress...can't beat it!


And, here is Charlie in his new sweater with the neverending sleeves. I still need to get him some buttons, but I haven't been to Joann's for awhile. He was happy to see his picture, and went and got his sweater and handed it to me. He's such a smart baby!! (If I do say so myself, which I do.) ;0)

And we're walking, we're walking.....

Finally! Charlie is officially a walker! He went the whole way across the living room last night! All for a piece of pizza. (That's my little chunky monkey!) He has also discovered with his new found walking abilities, he can just about climb into Atley's pedal car, and if he's put in it, he can push it around with his feet. Dan was so proud. Luckily, he was home to see it! Charlie can also say "car."

I finished my partial chunk of roving last night! I think I'm going to wind it up and do the hot water thingy and whack it tonight, and then start over with an empty spindle for the next ounce of fiber. I don't want to overload my spindle. I don't think I'll be able to fit the whole second ounce on there, so I'll make 2 hanks out of it. Then, I can attempt my cotton ball spinning for the Cup.

That was the only fibery thing I had time for last night.

Been Caught Stealin'

So, yesterday morning, we do our normal weekly shopping trip. I take my own reusable bags, so we went through the self checkout, as usual. Atley got a piece of candy because he had written his name all by himself the night before, and he had to get his K shots yesterday. We get out to the car, and someone was parked close next to us, so I was watching the girls get in so they didn't ding the doors. I saw Melodie toss something on the seat. I knew she hadn't taken anything in the store with her. I went to see what it was, and saw a jumbo pack of Juicy-Fruit on the seat!

I was furious! I still am. And disappointed. I marched her right back in to the store and made her give it back and apologize to the manager, who talked to her. (although, not nearly as sternly as I had hoped.) I'm going to have my uncle (a detective with the Highway Patrol) have a talk with her, too. After the boys had their shots, we went to Twistee Freeze for ice cream, and she had to sit and watch. (Dan says I'm messed up.) She also will not be participating in cake and ice cream, goody bags, or party games at my cousin's son's b-day party this weekend. Dan says I was being too harsh to keep her home completely. (Which really surprises me, because he's usually slightly stricter than me. I figured he'd say I wasn't doing enough! go figure!)

Today, poor Charlie seems pretty miserable. They wanted to give him 5 shots. One of them, we're deferring, but I still didn't want him to have 4, so we split them up. Thank goodness! I can't imagine how miserable he'd be if he'd had 2 more! Atley is fine. Now that the shots are over. My goodness, I didn't know the little weasel was that strong! It took me and the 2 nurses to contain him enough to get the shots. He still squirmed a little much, and they had a hard time getting 2 of them to stop bleeding. He has made a full recovery and shows no ill effects, though! :0)

I know, I still need to get those fabric pics up. I am battling this sweater. I've got about 1-2 more rows of ribbing, BO, and seam! Then, I can put pics of everything up!

Headache

So, today I have a headache. My mom gets migraines, really bad. I'm lucky and only get them very occasionally. I think from Charlie's stint of not sleeping, and my staying up too late this weekend, plus the muggy change in the atmosphere, I got one today. :0( I really am lucky, though. I only get one maybe 3 times a year. My mom gets that many a week. I don't know how she functions.

Well, against my better judgment, I let the kids play in the back. I figured taking the chance of a repeat of the other day was worth it to my poor, throbbing head to have some slight quiet (if you can count Charlie growling quiet...silly baby.) Oh, he's making "car noises" for a wagon. Anyway, I took a nap earlier (with the kids safely inside) and feel slightly better now. I can work, which is always good. I need to go down to the dollar store and get some Gatorade. It probably wouldn't have gotten as bad as it did if I could have gone down earlier, but when it started coming on, Charlie was napping. I ended up taking a bit of a nap with him until Atley came in and woke him up, but it was enough to at least take the edge off...yay!

My fabric trip was a nice surprise! I got some GREAT finds! I'll try to get some pics up later. I started cutting out some stuff last night from my stash. If I've said my yarn stash is bad....it's NOTHING compared to the fabric stash. Hopefully, Melodie will have a new dress tonight! Then, I just need to find my pajama patterns. I had gotten them out to lend to a friend a few months ago, and now I have no clue where I put them. *sigh* Well, if nothing else, Joann's is having a $1.99 pattern sale this week, I think.

I should be finally finishing Charlie's sweater for my OWL tonight. I finished the front last night. I just need to do the edging and seams! I have to look over button holes, because I've only done them once, and I want it to button, not snap.

First Steps!

Charlie took his first steps last night! There were only about 2-3 of them, and he only went about 4 inches, but he took steps without holding on to anything! Hopefully he'll be full-fledged walking very soon! :0)

I'm working on a new sweater for him right now. It's for my Transfiguration OWL for the Cup. I've had the yarn for it since last fall. My OWL requires me to use at least 750 yds of my stash. I don't mind seaming. I don't know if it's because I like to sew or what, but it just doesn't bother me. I'd much rather seam in sleeves than do them in 1 piece. Dear lord, I never thought I was going to finish the sleeves on that thing! Thankfully last night, I had to break for the front, and I'm now happily doing short rows of st st. (which I also don't mind, but for pete's sake, 132 sts in each row was a bit much!

Oh, we're going to Amish Country in 2 days to check out that fabric store! I can't wait! (and, I think we're even going to get some lunch at Der Dutchman...yummy!)

Summer vacation is in full swing....70 days left! Yesterday, I let the kids play in the backyard by themselves. Normally, they're not allowed back there if no one is out with them. Well, I figured almost 9, 6, and 5 year olds should be able to play by themselves in the backyard......um, no. They were "washing" their bikes with dirty leaves, so I gave them rags to use. Then, Atley came in and asked for a bucket of water. "Sure, just make sure you turn the hose off." About an hour later, I went to check on them because they were quiet......and the entire backyard was a mud pit, children looked like drowned rats, and my nice, clean, previously dry laundry that was hanging on the line was dripping. Needless to say, it will be some time before the kids are allowed to play in the backyard unattended again.

A Giveaway Addicted Mommy: Soft Landing - Go BPA Free Advanced Feeding Kit Giveaway

A Giveaway Addicted Mommy: Soft Landing - Go BPA Free Advanced Feeding Kit Giveaway

Another great giveaway to win a product from the Soft Landing! I'm still drooling over the Kids Konserve lunch kit from a few months ago. My mom and I are going to check out a fabric store in Amish Country Saturday morning, and I'm planning on getting some fabric there to make the kids some reusable sandwich and snack bags for next year. With Atley starting school in the fall, I can't even comprehend the carbon footprint we would have with 3 kids' worth of baggies every day!

Anyway, Charlie is doing finger foods himself, so this would be great for him to venture into eating messy stuff, too. (even though, I'm hoping to start designing some fabric bibs to put in my now empty Etsy shop, too! Which I will be keeping an eye out for the fabric Saturday. Stay tuned for hopefully some awesome fabric pics next week!)

Anyway, check out The Soft Landing for all your green kid (and adult!) feeding needs!

Baby Legs Giveaway!!

I have been dying to get a pair of these for Charlie!! Since my chunky monkey is still not walking (though, I think we're finally getting pretty close...he's standing by himself now!!) his poor little knees are looking pretty rough, especially since he's now wearing shorts and rompers all the time! These would be so awesome for him! You can check them out at Baby Legs and you can enter the contest by clicking on the title link, which will take you to The Shopping Mama. If I don't win these, I will definitely be knitting him a pair, though!

Two of a kind, working on a full house: Help Your Skin With Corrective Skin Care Giveaway

Two of a kind, working on a full house: Help Your Skin With Corrective Skin Care Giveaway

Yet another great giveaway! This is for a Tea Tree Oil exfoliating scrub from Corrective Skin Care! It looks like a great product! I know my funky eczema dry itchy sensitive skin could use it!

Crazy Baby Clothing Giveaway!!!

OMG, I SO want to win this for Charlie! They are baby clothes, fit for rock stars! (and those named after them) ;0)

Click on the title of the post to go to Crazy Baby Clothing to enter!

You can win a onesie, bib, blankie, 2 binkies, and a baby cap!

Progress

Well, I've been knitting and crocheting up a storm lately! For the Cup last month, I finished the Wizard of Oz finger puppets; the lion binky holder and Charlie's Gryffindor House Hat for Quidditch; Melodie's Pokeball water bottle cozy, a crocheted hip sling, and a baby mandrake!

I did a Calorimetry for Ari's teacher last night. Very, VERY quick knit! She is just a sub, so she won't be there next year (one of the K teachers was on maternity leave, has quit, but our district isn't hiring right now, so she can't stay.) I wanted to thank her for all she's done to help Ari come out of her shell and learn this past year.
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Charlie had his 1 year check up. He only weighs 20 pounds! We're pretty sure he may have lost a little weight, since he's been so mobile lately, though. He is crawling all over everywhere and everything! His favorite things to climb are over the big kids when they're laying on the floor and to sit on top of Atley's train box! (a plastic sweater storage box.) Right now, he's standing at my desk, clicking the mouse, so if this post looks wacky, it's Charlie's fault! He can say "dog" and he says dada and mama. He waves hello and good bye. I sewed him a sock monkey, which I'm trying to make his "lovie." Mr. Charlie has decided it's not fun to sleep anymore, and he'd rather be awake all night and cry in his crib. So, he's been spending a few nights sleeping in the living room in his play pen. Atley could sleep through a tornado!

Funny story about that, though. This morning, I groggily drug myself out of bed to go check on Charlie (sleeping peacefully in the play pen) and went to go get ready for the day. I walked past Atley's room, and his bed was empty! I went to check the girls' room, and he wasn't there. I asked Dan if he was laying on his side of the bed, nope. I went back and checked his bed, and it was empty. I checked the couch, no Atley. My heart dropped. I ran screaming into our room that Atley was gone! We started running frantically. I went back into the living room to check the front door, and I noticed a big pile of blanket on the floor. Here, Atley had heard me put Charlie in the living room. (last night, he turned the hall light on because he was scared, he said, and that's what woke Charlie up, the one night he actually was sleeping pretty good.) He said he didn't want Charlie to be alone, so he went in to sleep with him. I had forgotten I changed his sheets the other day, and his blue blanket (which I was looking for) was in the wash. I'm used to seeing blankets piled on the floor in the living room, so when I didn't see the blue one, in my half-asleep state, I think I just subconsciously overlooked his other blanket. But, Atley is safe and sound.

Well, that's about all that's going on here! Tomorrow is the last day of school, and although I will have to put up with the insanity of having all 4 kids at home full time for 3 months, I will hopefully get to sleep in some!

(oh, and for anyone who misses it, I've got 2 "injuries of the day" from last week I never posted about.) Last Friday, the kids were playing outside after school. I've told them millions of times not to spin on the swings. (Ari's gotten kicked in the face before.) Well, of course they didn't listen, and Melodie comes in screaming about her finger. She got it pinched in the chains. Any harder, and she probably would have lost a chunk of finger. It was darn near devitalized. Then Saturday, we went to the park, and she ran up ahead of us up the steps that go into the woods, and came running back down crying. Here, she fell through a weak part of the step and scratched her leg all up. My wonderfully clutzy Melodie. We don't leave home without at least 1 first aid kit!