When it rains it pours....

Seriously, my family must be on a streak of bad things happening - this truly must be it for a while, right????? All went well on Thanksgiving. We had a lovely dinner, but then about 9pm that night Andy threw up all over the floor. At first we thought it was a fluke, that maybe he just had a full tummy and went to burp and instead had a little "accident". Well definitely not an accident. We had a few more episodes and he finally fell asleep about 11pm. So by this point, Chuck & I are panicking a bit because we've been to this movie a time or two. It always starts with Andy and then 2ish days later the whole rest of us have it. Well low and behold, yesterday it started with Will, then on to Jack, and then on to Hattie. Thank the good Lord, Chuck and I don't have it yet, but I'm not sure we're out of the woods. I've been Lysoling everything they touch and washing my hands to death, but either I'm going to get it or I won't. I'm full on in the middle of this so the chances are good I'm next.

I'm not sure how the kids (or rather Andy) acquired this lovely bug, but it was either one of two ways. On Wednesday Hattie was complaining of an ear ache, so I made an appointment to get her in for a check at the pediatric office. She had an ear infection and since we were already there I figured I'd be wise to get them the flu vaccine. So either A) Andy touched something at the doctor's office on Wednesday (but we were one of the first appointments of the day and were in the waiting room for maybe two minutes) and that is where he got this gunk or B) it's a reaction from the vaccine. Now I know they say you don't react like this to the vaccine, but it seems all too weird they'd suddenly come down with this and it makes sense to me that Andy might get it first because he is smaller than the others. It's just my wishful thinking that it's the vaccine so I'll be free and clear from the gunk, but it's probably a bug he picked up there. I just pray that Chuck & I will be spared the misery of puking our guts out in the next day or so.

I surely have paid my dues with bad things happening lately so this really MUST be the last thing right???? And I'm having major withdrawls from not sewing for so long. I'm not sure what I'll get done this week because the kids have early release due to conferences on Tues-Fri and tomorrow they probably won't be going to school at all. I feel like I'm here waiting for a death sentence, I just want to get this over with if it's going to happen - ugg, being sick just plain sucks! :-(

Happy Thanksgiving!

May you all be surrounded by good food and good family and/or friends on this special day. I am so thankful for all the blessings I have in my life and know you are too. Have a wonderful & safe Thanksgiving day! :-)

And all is well with the world!

My sister and brother-in-law came and got the boys a little bit ago and all is well. They felt so bad that we had to deal with the finger incident, but of course were not mad (actually they kept laughing about the whole thing and saying accidents happen). And they were reassured all was okay when they saw "A" perfectly happy and no worse for the wear. He was excited to show them his "big finger" and he new pink medicine (antibiotic prescription). My sister did say she was happy I didn't tell her on the phone because she would have wanted to come back. So it turned out I did the right thing by not telling them and all is fine. I knew it would be, but since her kids are younger than mine, she hasn't experienced as many bumps and bruises as we have (or even stitches yet), so I just wasn't quite sure how she'd take her baby being hurt (well not the technical "baby", but one of her babies). So atlas I can sleep peacefully tonight knowing my sister knows and also for the fact I won't have a stuffy baby down that hall who can't breathe and keeps thrashing around in his playpen because he's can't breathe well. In other words, I'm going to sleep like a rock tonight. :-)

P.S. Thank you ladies for your sweet words yesterday, I appreciate your kindness while I was freaking out! ((hugs))

No good deed ever goes unpunished...

that is how the saying goes and I believe it's true. A few weeks ago my brother-in-law emailed me asking if I would please watch my two nephews for two nights so he could surprise my sister with a little getaway to their favorite spot. It's been over four years since they have went away alone and have never left their boys overnight with anyone. Knowing how important it is to nurture your marriage and feeling so grateful I have in-laws that LOVE having our kids come over for sleepovers, I thought what the heck they need a break and this will be good for them to have some alone time.

Fast forward to yesterday, they dropped the boys (ages 1 and 3) off about 11am and set off for their fun vacation. All went well until 5pm when my oldest nephew got his finger shut in the door!!!! With all the kids screaming and blood dripping everywhere, we peeked at it and it was cut pretty bad. He was crying that it hurt and we just de the executive decision to take him to the emergency room just to make sure he didn't need stitches. Well after a few hours in the emergency room and one brave boy, we found out "A" had a broken finger tip and they were going to close his wound with Steri-Strips. Of course I'm a freaking out a little bit the entire time and questioning DH why is this happening??????? I try to laugh it off because my brother-in-law said he hoped my boys put him through the paces because of the things he does to his little brother, but seriously, this is just not fair (and I'm sure my BIL was not thinking along the lines of the emergency room)! Here I willingly take care of my precious nephews and one gets hurt in the first 6 hours of staying with me - simply not fair! So of course my sister calls last night to see how everything is going. I am still freaking out that this happened, but decided there is nothing she can do about it, so why ruin her trip. He's fine and happy now, his finger is all wrapped up with a splint on the end of it, so what is the point of making her worry and want to come home early? Then she calls again this morning - ugg, stop calling me sis! She only asked me how they slept last night, which is all I told her. Hey I haven't lied to her, I just didn't disclose the entire truth, just answering what she asked. She never asked me if "A" went to the emergency room, got hurt, etc., so hopefully when she calls again later today, she'll ask easy questions. My only question is, is she going to come unglued and be mad at me for not telling her? What do you think? Please say some prayers for me she's not mad, but in my defense, my in-laws, my parents, and my friend all agree that it's best to wait until she returns. She'll see "A" is fine and that he's no worse for the wear (I hope she sees it that way). I'm just thankful it wasn't worse and we didn't actually have to have stitches put in his finger.

So there you go, remember no good deed ever goes unpunished! Have I learned my lesson? I doubt it, I will still do good deeds, but next time I'll pray for angels to surround us and keep us safe.

Sew Yummy!

Well this isn't a sewing post today, but instead a *Susie Homemaker* post. This morning the cookie jar was empty; not something anyone in my family likes much. So what cookies to make today - a decision that is getting tougher for me lately because I feel like I make the same thing over and over again. I have a few basic recipes that I jump back and forth between. They are tried & true favorites in my house and I can bake up a batch almost with my eyes closed.

So out of boredom, today I decided I'd make something different. Usually I flip through my recipe file, but today I reached for a cook book my mom gave me for Christmas a few years ago. It's a really neat cook book, but I honestly think I've only baked a thing or two out of it (shame on me, but I do honestly get in a rut of baking the same few cookies). The cook book is called Better Homes and Gardens Biggest Book of Cookies ~ it has 5 stars on Amazon.com so I really need to snuggle up with this cook book one evening and mark a few more to try. It has 475 cookie recipes, so it's really the only cookie cook book you'd ever need plus it has lots of color pictures (something I really like in a cook book). I'm not sure how the cookies will go over with the kids, my youngest loves them, but the others can be picky so I'll know after school. I had one and I really loved it! So without further ado, here is the recipe (not word for word from the cook book for the directions, my cooking slang instead):

Cranberry Jumbles

1/2 cup shortening

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 egg

2 Tbs orange or cranberry juice (I used orange)

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 cup all purpose flour

1/3 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup slivered almonds

Using electric mixer, in large bowl cream together shortening and brown sugar, beat in egg and orange juice. Add baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and flours and mix until combined. Stir in cranberries and almonds. Drop teaspoonfuls onto cookie sheet (recipe says ungreased, but I always spray mine with Pam). Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned. Cool on wire rack, then drizzle with orange frosting (see recipe below). Makes 32 cookies according to the recipe, but for me it only made 21.

Orange Frosting

1 cup sifted powdered sugar

1/2 tsp finely shredded orange peel

about 3-4 Tbs orange juice (enough to make it drizzling consistency)

Mix all ingredients together then drizzle over cooled cookies.

Enjoy!

On the sewing front I got NOTHING done over the weekend. I didn't sew a stitch. I feel like it's a tradgey too because my hubby took the two older boys to a NASCAR race in Phoenix so I only had two of the kids for 1.5 days. Instead we had a belated birthday slumber party for my daughter with a few of her friends, then the two kids and I went on some errands the next day after the guests left, so I was busy doing things, just not sewing. Oh well, tis the way it goes sometimes. And now I'm off to fold a mountain of laundry that has appeared on the kitchen table - oh joy!

P.S. Check out my new side bar, it shows my five most current reviews on Pattern Review - pretty cool new feature on PR!!!

A little Burda Sewing

I love Burda WOF. Why I don't sew more out of the issues I have (the past three years worth), I honestly don't know. That is actually part of my New Year's Resolution (well I don't really make resolutions, but something I'd like to work on doing) ~ sewing at least one garment from each issue. It seems pointless to subscribe to the magazine ($80ish/yr) if I'm not sewing from them. I think most of the issue at hand is the I sew for both myself and the kids and I just don't have enough hours in the day to do it all. I really enjoy sewing for the kids and I want to continue doing so as long as I can, but with the four to one ratio, it seems I'm always the one left out. I know there is going to come a time when they aren't going to want anything to do with my sewing, so I have to take advantage of it while it lasts.

Anyway, a few weeks ago I was reading fellow PR member Christina Sonja's Assorted Notions blog and saw her adorable rendition of a top from the 10-2005 issue of WOF. I honestly hadn't looked twice at the pattern (I think I need to dig out all my back issues and give them a good look through) and just loved hers. I knew I needed one, so that moved up to the top of the list and I got to make it yesterday. It was so quick to make and I love how it turned out. The fabric is a sweater knit I picked up at Joann's or Wal-Mart a long time ago. It was a clearance or bargain fabric and at the time I had no idea what to do with it, but thought it was worth the few bucks I'd pay for it to be able to experiment with a sweater knit fabric. Well much to my surprise it was very easy to sew, so now I'm on the hunt for a few more. Got any good sources? Please let me know! I posted a review of my shirt on PR if you'd like to read more about it.

I'm not sure what is up next. I was working on the stylish short jacket from Simplicity ~ pattern 3631 this week (casual in a nice dark denim), but I am not 100% sure I'm in love with it or if it's really my style. I cut a 10 (my usual size) and it's really pretty big through the chest plus the sleeves are definitely ultra wide. Maybe it's just that I'm not used to the style. I did some very nice topstitching using Jeans Stitch thread, but unfortunately I can't get the bobbin thread to look very nice (it's crooked no mater what I do) so I am going to have to rip out all the topstitching and redo it with some regular thread (maybe two threads in the needle). I just was uninspired, so I set it aside for now. I would like to finish it up soon tho as I hate to have UFO's hanging around.

Ta-Da!

I finished my McCall's 5471 blouse yesterday. Overall I've very pleased with how it came out. I had a little trouble with the collar and stand, but it was actually my first time making a collar & stand (all the others have had a collar only) so really I can't expect perfection (tho I always want it!). The directions for the blouse were very well written, so no problems there, just my novice-ness getting in the way and possibly the fact I was trying to work on it while a bored preschooler was being a twit! ;-) I also liked that the pattern had separate cup sizes - A/B, C, & D (it's McCall's Make For You line). It does confuse me a bit that there aren't separate ones for both A & B since there is a big difference between an A & B cup (ask me how I know!). So I had to alter the bust area a bit to accommodate me, but it really went together very smoothly. I posted a review on Pattern Review.

Also, I made two aprons last Friday for my mom & sister's upcoming birthdays. I entered them in the Pattern Review Holiday/Gift sewing contest. A new apron is always a welcome gift and since my mom and sister haven't received one in a long time, I figured it would be much appreciated. I used my TNT apron pattern that is my late grandma's. I posted a review last year on PR, so if you'd like to read it, here it is ~ apron review.

I'm not sure what is next up. I have a few things I'm toying with and Jack is in desperate need of pants again. Suddenly he only has two pairs in his closet, ugg! So the good mommy would sewing him at least one pair of pants first, right????

A Blouse & Christmas Sewing Ideas

I had a fairly productive weekend. We went no where (which was fine by me, I'm happy staying home), so I worked on something for *me*! I have wanted/needed a white blouse or two in my wardrobe for ages (tho I might regret white since I have four messmakers that live with me - five if you count daddy). I recently picked up McCalls 5471 because it's a great blouse (pieces for A/B, C, & D cup sizes) and lots of great variations for the sleeves. I made view B with the puffed sleeves and it's turning out lovely. I have to finish the collar and then add the buttons so I'm on the downhill slide. Maybe it will get finished today after I get my housework done.


The countdown is on for Christmas and it's time to start sewing for your friends & loved ones. For the month of November, Sew Mama Sew will post a new gift sewing idea each day (30 in all ~ 5 have already been posted). So pop on over and check it out, there are some great ideas and tutorials available!

Also, I'd like to bring your attention to a podcast I recently found and absolutely love. It's called Sew Forth Now. A fellow PR member (LoriV) hosts this podcast and each show has a wealth of information for sewing fanatics like myself. You can visit the Sew Forth Now blog to read the show notes for each episode as well as download prior episodes and sign up to have the upcoming shows downloaded when they are available - all for free of course! Her most recent show was also on Christmas sewing so there are lots of good ideas there too that you'll want to check out too.

Finally some pictures!

Yesterday I tried to upload some pictures, but had a heck of a time so I decided to try again today. Halloween was a blast for the kids and they got their fair share of candy while Trick or Treating. Below you can see them all dresses up (click the picture to enlarge it)!

Next up is a snuggle soft velour sweater I made. It turned out so well and the embroidery was all done with a satin stitch on my sewing machine. Please read the review to learn more about this project.


And the last one for now is just a simple long sleeve raglan I made. I didn't write a review for this one (wrote one for it last fall - super easy & have made it a few times) ~ it's 1-2003-27 from Ottobre.

Today I'm working on a few aprons for upcoming gifts and will post them in the Holiday Sewing Contest on PR. Gotta love the motivation to get things out of the way that need to be done.