My latest creation.

Last year my sister in law announced the pending birth of my first nephew. We were all so excited to have another baby join our family. And I was even more excited to finally be an Aunt.
I decided to do something special for Nathan and I set out to make a blanket for him. It went surprisingly well and I really enjoyed the project.
Before you get all impressed know that I ended up finding a quilting kit at AC Moore. It made everything so simple. When I was done it wasn't perfect but it was something personally to give to my sister for the baby.
I went on to make two more blankets for my dear friend who was due with twins.
The first blanket I made was a bold mix of bright greens and yellows. For my second set I did a traditional baby pink and baby blue.
Well now I have two more cousins due with babies right around the same time. Yesterday I completed the blanket for the girl.

Here's the first row complete.

Here is the completed project.

This time I added batting to it to make it thicker and warmer. I also added edging and the quilting stitch. The kits directions are so basic, but as I do more of them I get better and feel more confident in my abilities. 

I can't wait to get started on the next one.

Like it?

love it. hate it. cleaning.

Cleaning my kitchen floor has always been one of my least favorite chores. Problem is it has to be done. At least once a week. Problem is I procrastinate. So at my worst it goes three weeks. This time around it's been about 3 weeks since a true scrub. So I broke out the big gun. The steam cleaner. So this was a christmas gift from my mother-in-law. She got sucked into the whole infomercial hype and bought me one with all the attachments.
I let it sit in my basement for a year before I pulled it out to try it. Until then I only used my swiffer. I finally pulled the thing out hooked it up and went to town.
My official review of the monster steam, is that it works great but is a pain to use. The bad: It's bulky. I have to fill the thing with water and then wait for it to heat. The pad doesn't sit on the mop properly. The good: I don't need soap. It cleans everything so quickly. And the floor dries quickly with no stickiness left behind.
I still use the swiffer on a regular basis but I am falling out of love with it. Though it's wasteful to use the wet-jet pads (versus the washable cloth on the steamer) it sure is super convenient. The floor gets done in half the time then it does with the steamer. One of my biggest pet-peaves of cleaning is that I have to clean up after I've cleaned. With the steamer I have to wait for the thing to cool then dump the left over water and then I can put it away. With the swiffer I tear off the used pad throw it away and I am done.
I am no longer a big fan of the swiffer because I don't think it works as well as it used to. I go through two pads (when the box claims I should be able to do two rooms with one pad) in my kitchen. And it leaves behind a little bit of stickiness sometimes.
So when my floor gets really bad I pull out my monster steam cleaner and get the job done. But for the quick cleans my swiffer does the job.

testing 1.2.3.

This post is mainly a test to see how the Amazon associates thing works. 

I have decided I need a  Bread Box. We store our bread on top of the microwave, which turns out to be a bad idea. The bread goes stale much too quickly. Also, we have mice. And mice like bread.

I got an exterminator yesterday. So hopefully the mice will be gone soon. 

I still want a bread box. 

By the way, this mice thing is driving me crazy. I keep finding spots where they have been and I have been cleaning like a madwomen. 

I have washed the floors and scrubbed counters twice. Just this morning I found another spot that I now I have to strip down and clean. It's the shelf where we keep all of our serving dishes and place mats. So now I have to wash all the place mats and scrub serving dishes we rarely use. 

Stupid mice. 

My yearly panic.

Paul leaves tomorrow for four days and I am in a panic about it. Don't worry, I know how pathetic this is. I have several friends who's husbands travel weekly for their jobs. Mine doesn't.
He comes home every night at 4pm. He helps make dinner (correction: he makes dinner). He helps with clean-up after dinner. Paul helps supervise the kids as they get dressed for bed, he brushes teeth while I do stories.
He's there. Every night. Way back in the day in the early weeks of having 4 kids under the age of 3 my survival was rooted in Paul's consistent work schedule. I didn't have a whole lot of help at home. I did most of it on my own. At least until 4pm. I can recall the days of living hour to hour. Knowing that if I could make it till 4pm everything would be fine.
So there it is. Even now, I live for 4pm. I look forward to Paul's entry everyday. Knowing that if I am having a bad day it will somehow get better then. Or if it's a good day I can share it with him.
My kids don't nap, they haven't in over two years now. By mid-afternoon they are tired, and getting restless. It's nice to have that reinforcement right when I need it most. When they were babies, Paul would be coming home just as they were waking up from the afternoon nap. That afternoon was always the longest stretch of awake time before bed. I rely on that break. I am no longer alone. Now that they are older  I need that help more than ever. He comes home and I am trying to organize their school papers. Catherine is doing homework, Stephen is on the edge because he's tired from a long day of school. David and Joshua are on the hunt for trouble because they have been home all day waiting for their brother to get home.
Mornings are easy. Afternoons are not.
So there you have it. Starting tomorrow and lasting until Saturday, my reinforcement will not be here. I won't have a break until the kids are in bed at 7. I will have to cook dinner. I will have to clean up from dinner. I will have to supervise clean-up. I will have to get kids showered and dressed for bed. I will have to brush teeth and do stories. All without my normal help.
It's truly a cause for panic because it is not my normal. I like my normal. I like consistency and I do not like this annual break from it.
Like I said, I know that this is pathetic. I know most moms cook and clean up without help nightly. I get it, that this is not supposed to be a big deal. But for me it is.
I have been blessed with a husband who does these things for me. And I thank God everyday for it. I have been blessed with a husband who has a job with such a family friendly schedule. And for that I thank God.
I am thankful for the blessings I have. I do not dare take them for granted. In the end, I know that I will be fine this week. Every year I worry. And every year I get through it just fine. That's faith in action.
I will always remember when Paul went back to work after the twins were born. It was a monday morning and he kissed me goodbye. I sat there and thought, can I really do this? And before I gave it another thought Paul was walking through the door  (with Catherine in tow) to find Stephen playing on the floor, David propped on the pillow next to me and Joshua nursing in my arms. He dropped his bags sat down and picked up David to finish feeding him. It took me a good three months to wake up and realize that not only could I do it, but I was doing it.
So I panic today. And I'll kiss Paul good bye thinking to myself, can I do this? And the next time I think of it will be when he walks through the door on Saturday.

1 Cor 10: 12-13

My little bookworm.

I saw an article the other day about the rising number of young bloggers and how they can impact readers, and how it gives them a head start in understanding technology and the workings of the internet. I thought about my 7 year old, what would she write about if I let her blog?
I think I am going to let her try it. She reads. A lot. Sometimes a book a day sometimes even more than that.
My mom, who is a librarian, got her a book journal. In this journal she can mark the book she has read who wrote it, and she gets to rate the book. I am going to have her translate this into a paragraph or two and post it in a blog.
In a few days I will update with a link to her blog. It will be under my control until she is old enough to maintain it herself. For now it will be fairly public (but anonymous in that her name and no pictures will be on it), but as I relinquish control then it will become far more private (readers will be required to register and seek permission to gain access).

Stay tuned for words from my little bookworm.