What has that woman been up to?

or sew sane II. I have been pretty quiet this week. So, I thought I would share some of what I have been doing - you know other than the normal mom stuff. And this week the kids have given me just a bit more mom stuff to do. Wednesday morning started off with one child throwing up in bed at 4:45 am, Thursday a different child was sick and Friday yet another child was down. Luckily, I only had one mess to clean up and as far as messes go, it was a small one. :)

So, I am still trying to exercise regularly, I wasn't as good this week. I think I missed the 'mill three out of 7 days -- but on one of those days I walked for around 3 hours total and another day I swam with the kids for about 2 hours. Anyway - on to the fun stuff!

As I mentioned in the above post, my sister not only motivated me to start taking better care of myself, she motivated me to dust off my sewing machines. I did eventually find some of the print she really liked and shipped off a big ole box of napkins to her. :) Ok, not that big of a box but I think it held something like 40-50 napkins.

While the machines were out and dusted off, I looked at the January preschool calender and realized that Merce had a pj day coming up at school. Merce didn't have any jammies suitable for preschool, so I pulled out my fabric stash and came across some cute penguins on sea foam green. I made her some pjs.

Which started the great pj month. I realized that Josh needed more pjs. He got a pair of camo flannel jammies. Steve has been wanting flannel pjs all winter. I wasn't successful at finding his size in stores, so I made him some pj pants out of some football flannel I had laying around... yep, that is jammies for three Wills, out straight out of my stash box! Then Jes said she wanted some with this cheetah fabric she saw in my box.

You see where this is going right? I have now made pjs for 1/2 my kids... Yep. Brandy was next. We picked out some fabric that I had, but she didn't seem excited about it and I had already decided to make some napkins for another friend, who happens to like Tweety. So, I had her look on the site I was going to buy Tweety from and she picked some cute pandas on blue flannel. I came next as I discovered that the elastic band of my Cookie Monster pj pants was wearing out. I made me some Dr. Seuss Thing One and Thing Two pants! FUN! And still from my fabric stash. Then Rita with some surfin' monkeys on blue (stash) and Bekki with adorable hearts on light blue (stash) - but I didn't have enough of that fabric so I ended up making her pants from a tye-dye look purple flannel (had to buy that one... darn, I had to go into a fabric store... mmmm, fabric)

So, now I am done with pjs, for now. I have made pjs for 8 people in about 6 weeks. I do know that come summer I have at least one more pair to make as my nephew was sent a pair of pjs that Josh outgrew and he told his mom he wished she could make pjs like Aunt Barb. I told sis to let him know that when we see him this summer that he and I could pick out fabric and I would make some for him. :)

I haven't even gotten started telling you about all the napkins I made... but we'll save that for another day. I'm just thrilled to be behind my machines again. And my stash box is a whole lot lighter for it. LOL.

I admit it - I'm uber excited

My oldest is a really girly-girl. I am not. She loves to shop and get dolled up, I do not.

She wrote out her birthday list a few weeks ago, and the thing she wanted most was a day with mom. "Shopping or something." I talked to Steve about it, as he would need to watch the other kids. I told him I was thinking about taking her to a spa and getting a manicure/pedicure or something. He suggested we get a hotel and make it a weekend thing. Cool. So, I told Brandy about my plans, hotel, manicure, shopping, etc. She was way excited.

While most of this is not stuff I would choose do do myself, seeing how excited my nearly 11 year old daughter is to spend time doing this with me, got me excited. :) I mean, how many daughters WANT to spend time with their mom? I know I did not! I booked the hotel yesterday and scheduled our pedicures and she is also going to get makeup applied. I figured, I don't know squat about makeup, maybe if someone else does it and I watch we can figure out how she should be doing it. LOL.

So, I think we will spend Friday afternoon at the mall, check into the hotel, swim, eat dinner, maybe catch a movie, then Saturday morning we go to the spa and get our toes done. (I picked pedicures because I hear they come with great leg and foot massages!) Then I think I will take her to Picture People and get her picture taken all dolled up. Either Friday evening or Saturday lunch we will eat at Cheesecake Factory - YUM! I'll share a meal (they are huge) but she's gotta get her own dessert. LOL.

I better be making sure I am REALLY good about working out for the next 6 weeks or so - don't want that cheesecake to hurt me too much. ;-) And I'm kind of hoping that I can make similar plans (all day together doing fun, for my child) for each of my children's eleventh birthdays! How wonderful would it be if all my children still want to spend time with me when they are eleven!

What happens to those old soda bottles?

My daughter is in need of a new lanyard for her school USB drive. I looked a little locally but didn't find anything that I really liked so I started looking online a bit. I still haven't bought one for her yet, but I did find these and these! How exciting! Lanyards made from recycled soda bottles!!! And who better to promote them than one of the main soda manufacturers? I would buy them right now, except my daughter doesn't really drink soda at all and I am a Dew drinker. Now if these were green with white words and just said "I used to be a soda bottle." I love being able to buy things that are made from reused or recycled products! :)

Vindication!

Earlier this week I posted about excitement in my world. I expressed some disappointment that my husband didn't "get it." But...

A day or so ago he came out of the bathroom and he says "Those toilet roll holders are awesome. There shouldn't be any other styles out there." UM, YEAH! I told you. I guess it takes the first time you change a roll to get the awesome-ness of that product.

But we are not done, oh no, not done at all. He vindicates me yet again with Burt's Bees. You see, he has spent much of the winter joking about how his lips go numb when he kisses me because of my Burt's Bees. I know this is the best stuff I've ever used, so whatevs. LOL. Thursday night (really Friday morning) he comes to bed and says "Will you make fun of me if I tell you I used your lip stuff?" I smile smugly and go back to sleep. Friday evening, I find him opening a new package of Bees that he has gone out and purchased for himself. Uh huh. Trust in your wife, she will not steer you wrong - unless you ask her about left and right. ;-)

N E E D more water!

As I probably have mentioned, I have joined my sister in the goal of becoming healthier in 2010. This involves eating better for me foods, proper portion sizes, exercising more and... drinking more water.

I have known for a long time that water consumption is one of my biggest failure points when it comes to my health. But, I hate water. There is no flavor, no fizz, all blah. I have noticed that when I have a bottle of water I will drink the whole bottle, but if I fill a glass it sits half full.

So I began a search for a "good" water bottle. My definition of good may very well be different than most people. For me a reusable water bottle MUST 1) be dishwasher safe 2) not have a metallic taste 3) look and feel like my soda bottle. Bonus points if it has colors or cool designs. This means at least half of the aluminum and stainless steel models were immediately discarded. Nearly all of them have a much wider mouth than a soda bottle. Sigg might be the right size opening, but a)they recommend against dishwashing b) I admit being a bit turned off by the price ($22 locally) and c) I knew that I would find that type of screw top annoying - it needs to have the soda bottle feel. LOL. Ok. Off to google searches on the internet...

I came across this baby. Hey, it looks like a soda bottle, it has fun colors, it opens the way I would like, it is dishwasher safe... LOOKING GOOD. OH! The price!

After looking around for other bottles that had the look I wanted and failing. And looking for other sites that might sell good life cheaper - and failing. I went ahead and ordered two. "Two?" you say. Yes, two. I know that I am more likely to grab a full bottle than to fill a bottle, and I need to wash them sometime, so enough for a rotation is good. Besides, shipping was the same for one or two bottles.

I received these bottles earlier this week. At first I was a little disappointed in its size. It was much bigger than I was expecting. As you can see from the picture though that the outside dimensions are only slightly bigger than the 24oz sodas that I regularly drink. The mouth is only very slightly larger than a plastic bottle. Ok. I washed them up (note that the lids are not dishwasher safe, only the bottles) and tried them out. I love them!

My water intake has at least doubled since buying these bottles. I have left a bottle on the counter over night and the next morning the water was still quite cool. I have left a bottle in the fridge for 24hours, no metal taste. Yep. These are a win. Well worth the price.

I do have to say though for a company that claims (and I quote) "...By purchasing this Good Life bottle, you have already pitched in against destroying our eco-system. 38 million un-recycled plastic bottles are carelessly tossed into America's landfills each year. Keep doing your part so we can all live the Good Life." They sure don't life up to their claims when it comes to packaging the product for shipping: Yes, those really are styrofoam packing peanuts.
UPDATE!
I emailed my concerns regarding packaging to goodlifebottles. I have already received feedback! "Thank you for the positive review regarding our bottles on your blog. I personally addressed the packaging comment with the president of the company & we are now using organic, biodegradable peanuts for packing =) & recycled cardboard." WHOO HOO HOO! A company that listens to the concerns of it's customers AND responds - quite promptly, I might add!

Exciting things

The things that excite me - the person I have become - really crack me up sometimes. Take this toilet paper holder - my parents have one in their home. They have had it for close to 20yrs. I LOVE the thing. So much better than those d@mn spring loaded things, or even the open style (which tends to fall off into the toilet). I had looked at several local stores and couldn't find them. I began plans for a covert operation to steal Jerry's...

Finally I found them (fwiw, I found them cheaper than amazon sells them for and with cheaper shipping - but amazon has a better picture on their site) and I was super excited! I immediately ordered 3 and ecstatically emailed my husband with the link and told him I ordered 3! He doesn't share my excitement.

I figure "He'll get it when they come in. He'll see how awesome they are then." We get them, I install them and am all about them when he comes home. He says "Yeah, they're nice." Nice? Hello! Did you not just see what I showed you? These are AWESOME! I will say, that his brother "got it" and ordered himself one for each of their bathrooms. Maybe to get the awesome-ness of this product you need to be the one who fishes the paper out of the drink?

Happy Valentine's Day!

My day has been wonderful so far! My oldest made us all breakfast - scrambled eggs with ham and peppers. Then the Brandy and Josh started the next load of laundry while Bek and Jes did the dishes. My hubby bought me a scented candle, my oldest bought me a blow horn, awesome! And I have even had a couple pieces of chocolate, which I will have to run off later. ;) But a very nice start to one of the most hated holidays. :) And while I don't normally give gifts for V-day, I did this year and the kids seemed to really appreciate what I got them. A new wallet with a zipper compartment for Brandy and Josh, fish hook earrings for Jes, books for Bek, hot wheel cars for Merce, and a teddy bear for Rita.

Hope you day is at least half as wonderful as mine is!

"There's been a bad accident..."

These words will make your heart stop when they are said to you by the school transportation! Luckily, she immediately said "Let me start over. There is a bad accident on 46 and the bus can't get to your stop." Ok, I like that better. I look outside as we are figuring out where to meet the bus to get our kids. My lane is blocked with completely stopped traffic going west but nothing is heading east, NOTHING. The highway was completely closed due to the accident.

This accident happened just two houses down the road from us. As soon as I got on the highway and headed toward Menard's, where I would be meeting the bus. I called Will. We always get together with their family on Fridays. I let him know that we would be over early today. I knew there was no way I was going to get home anytime soon.

Brandy had a concert last night and we drove by the scene about 3 hours after the accident, there were still two police cars and 2 news crews out there! I don't think any news crews were able to get anything but still pictures from this accident as there was no way video crews could get there.

Our deepest sympathies to the families of the victims.

The Birds!

So, I have told you about our cardinal. He has extended his domain. He now tries to fly into our bedroom window as well. And an added bonus, he sits outside the office window and stares in.

So, this gets me giggling and thinking about my dad. You see, there has long been family teasing about how he and his brother watched the A. Hitchcock movie The Birds and it totally freaked Jerry out. To this day he will tell you "It was a scary movie." Maybe - I don't know, haven't seen it. But I might be living The Bird. This cardinal seems to be stalking us.

Fast forward to today. I'm enjoying a little tv time while my children nap. My hubby is working from home and I hear him say "Barb! (unintelligible garble)!" I go to see what he wanted, usually it is help finding a misplaced item or such. He says "THERE'S A BIRD IN HERE!" What? "A BIRD!" (as it buzzes my head on the way to the living room. Yep, that's a bird! WTF?!? (disclaimer: this was NOT our cardinal, this was a wren)

So, I am laughing. I mean, who else would somehow get birds in their house? We have had mice (not unusual for country homes), chipmunks (their not as cute up close and in the house!), a snake (need I say more on this one?!?) and now a bird! Really?!?

My first real response, after laughing, is "Where is that d@mn cat?" and then "Where'd the bird go?" Both questions were answered rather quickly as I saw a black and white streak of fur fly by on the way to the kitchen. She went a little nutty and knocked a few things down, but the kitty got her man, er, um, bird. Then I promptly set them both outside! We don't need any decapitations happening on my kitchen (or any other room) floor! Kitty set birdy down to play with the birdy - as is a cats way. Have you ever seen one of these tortured devices at work? They catch their prey, then let it go and let it think it is getting away and then POUNCE! Anyway, this birdy actually did fly away. Kitty is walking around a little pissed right now.

And that folks, is my big entertainment for the afternoon. "And to think that I saw it all on Mulberry Street." Except, mine is factual... this bird story, is my horse and buggy. LOL.

I love technology!

My phone buzzed with a text message at 6:00 am this morning. It was the school's automated system telling me that school was on a two hour delay. It buzzed again around 6:30 telling me that the school status had changed to cancelled.

I love that our school district started this automated system! I don't have to get up and check the computer to see what the status is. And I have finally gotten smart and didn't set the kids alarms last night! I figured if school was a go, I would just wake 'em up myself.

This system allowed me at least an extra hour of sleep this morning. Technology is BEAUTIFUL! :) Now if we could just convince the district to build in more than just 2 snow days in a school year. We are already at 4 and I expect that we will be out tomorrow as well. Though, IMHO, it should not have been called last Friday! I think they were a little trigger happy in the Super's office. Admittedly, it might be due to the bus that flipped in the ditch a couple weeks ago. -- Yes, one of our district buses, in fact one that goes to my kids school, the one they rode last year even. Luckily, no one was seriously injured. One gal had a suspected broken arm and one boy had a nasty looking scrape - otherwise everyone was fine.

Didn't we have alternate routes when we were kids? Couldn't we do something like that here? And what happened to 1 hour delays? Our district jumps right to 2 hr delays. I know, I know, I have so many complaints maybe I should join the board... maybe I should. LOL.

Only one thing to say

GO COLTS!

The weekend of the headache -

Friday hubby got a migraine. He was able to function through the beginning of it. It kicked into high gear about dinner time. By bedtime he was moaning in bed. This is not unusual for his migraines (ok, the functioning in the beginning is unusual). I attempted to go to bed and was contemplating moving to the couch if I could figure out where enough blankets were without waking kids. As I am considering this he is doubled over on the floor, reaching across the bed clutching me. Are you wondering why I was considering the couch? And he says "I think I need to go to the hospital."

OMG! Are you serious?!? He has had some doozies where he actually feels better literally bopping his head on the wall, this is the first time he has ever said anything about seeing a doctor while he is in the throes of a migraine. (He has seen doctors about migraines and does have a prescription for them.)

Um, ok, this one must be REALLY bad if he is telling me that he wants to go to the hospital at 10:30! Wow, ok. So now what? Do we wake the kids and drag them out of bed. Not only is it the middle of the night but we are in the middle of a snow storm. Visibility is nill. Hubby says we can call an ambulance or maybe try his brother. I try his brother.

Bro says he will come over to watch the kiddos. I go out to start the car and scrape 4ish inches off of the thing. When his brother arrives he says the roads are bad and he will just take hubby in. I go to bed. :-O Some supportive wife I am, eh?

Hub gets a shot of Demerol and comes home. He still has a headache but it is much more dull and he can sleep. He wakes up, still has a migraine but not too bad. By 9am he is writhing again. We do a hurry up and get him into the doctor office walk in hours. Thank goodness we live on a main road! He gets two more shots and a heartier prescription.

That darned thing finally gave up about 8pm Saturday night! My poor hubby is about wiped out. And so am I. I wish we could figure out his triggers and get rid of these stupid things!

Reincarnation?

The other day Steve told me that his brain turned off somewhere between Merce telling him that "If you die you get to start all over" and "You can be a boy or a girl if you have surgery." We're just gonna leave that second one alone for now... but I can tell ya who to thank... that "guy" that had a kid last year.

I posted the quotes on my facebook page because Merce is such a riot I really can't keep her to myself - I got share the fun. :) After reading the quotes my brother texted me and asked if we were a "reincarnation household."

I don't make any claims either way. Children make a compelling argument for reincarnation though. Especially my Brandy. My mother in law (a ELCA pastor) has always said that Brandy has an "old soul." But more compelling than her maturity is her "memories." I first witnessed her memories of things that had never happened to her when she was just 2 yrs old. At the time we did not have a tv, we were not in college and we didn't know anyone who was in college. Brandy came out of her bedroom crying. I asked her what was wrong and she told me that her kids had gone off to college and she missed them. She had very clear and vivid details about her son and daughter leaving in a red car together for college. More recently she was sure that she had sat on our couch watching tv with some woman who spent her life watching tv and smoking. She was dead sure that some woman sat on our couch smoking with Brandy right next to her. I can assure you that no one has smoked in our home for longer than we have had children.

So, I'm curious, what are your thoughts on reincarnation? Possible, probable or completely impossible?

Today's project

We are rearranging our office so that it will be easier for Steve to work from home. Because of construction at work he will need to have a good working environment here. As part of this task we have ordered a couple tables to replace the desks we currently have. The were scheduled to arrive at 11:00 am. It is now 2:26pm. I guess my time is some how less valuable then the delivery drivers? A phone call is difficult? I did have a heads up about this as I called my husband at 11:30. He called the company and was told that they were short a driver and that our tables had not yet left. So...

I started the strawberry jam that I was going to make after the tables arrived. I cooked the jam, I added the pectin, I boiled it some more. I poured it in clean jars, put lids and rings on the jars. Put them in the water bath to boil. Read a book to my 3 and 2 yr olds. Took the jars out after 12 minutes in the bath. Heard the beautiful popping sound of nine jars sealing. Watched my soap opera and yet I wait for this truck.

The upside is that the jam smelled delish! And tested as good as it smelled. I can't wait to pop open a jar tomorrow and make some pb&j's!

Um, patience is not my long suit, can you tell? LOL