Santa's Criminal Record.....

On the way to work this week we saw a sign up on the corner.

You know those signs, the ones advertising help for hire, electricians, work at home and make $XXX,XXX.......

This particular sign was unique.

It really seems like a good way to find people to rob make some easy money.

I think my kids would really enjoy it.

I've certainly never heard of it around here before.

It said:

Santa visits at your home

555-1234

But, I wonder if there's a way to do a background check on Santa?

Maybe I'm to cynical.

I just don't think I want some random stranger dressed up in a costume coming over to my house to case the joint visit my kids.

Who knew.....

I would turn into a sewing freak? I think maybe it's genetic. My Grandma Helen was a quilter. She made other things, but the thing I remember most is her quilts. I have some baby quilts that she made in my cedar chest. I also have one she made for me when I was still in school that was perfect for my twin bed. She's 94 (I'm pretty sure) and has had a rough year. She finally quit sewing a couple of years ago, I swear the woman is an angel. I always remember her saying she had bad eyes and I just can't understand how someone with bad eyes can make such beautiful things. I also have several other family members who have made some pretty amazing things. You all ROCK!

(Rylie's quilt that I finally finished)

I bought my first sewing machine around 6 years ago I think. Just a cheap singer from WalMart. Nothing fancy. I don't remember what made me buy it in the first place, maybe I saw something in a magazine I wanted to make. Actually, I think the very first thing I ever made was a pillow that I gave to my mom. (She has many things I've made, from the clay dragon I made in highs school art class to the wooden scrapbooks I've made.)

I have never had the time to take a sewing class, I've pretty much learned everything I know (which still isn't much) from books, magazines and trial and error. I do know that if I ever get good enough to feel like I am as good as my grandma and my aunt then I'll be doing ok.

I don't know what possessed me to buy an embroidery machine. Maybe because I've been talking to her about the one she has, and all her plans. I know a lady who has one (the one who did the names for my quilts) and I've seen all of the really cool things she's done. I started thinking of all of the things I could do with one. Then I was at Joann's one day and saw some. I decided they were way out of my price range for something that's just a hobby. Then I went to look for some fabric last week and wandered my way into the section with the machines again. They were having a big sale. Not big enough, but I started talking to the ladies and they said right now was a great time to look at used machines because they had a huge sale after Thanksgiving, so a lot of people brought their older machines in so they could trade up. I bought the one they said was by far the best deal. It wasn't one of the newer ones, so I did have to give up a couple of things, but all in all I got a great machine for a great price. I even checked out eBay to see how much they were asking for this exact machine and I probably got it for at least $500 less than what they were going for on there.

If you're in the market or even just dreaming about it, do some research and look them up. I bought a Husqvarna Designer 1 and because I bought it at JoAnn's, I get free classes, and 1 year of parts and service warranty. They also give you 12 months to trade up and you get the full value of what you paid for your machine. I figured that if I don't use it that much then I can still sell it for close to what I paid. If I like it and use it a lot I can go back and check it out next year to see what I could trade up to. Either way sounded like a good deal for me.

Did I ramble enough for you? Here are some pictures of Hunter's jacket that I "made". I bought the hoodie at Target, and then I put his name on it, and put a spiderweb on the back for my Spidey lover.

Am I a lucky woman or what?

Can you believe I was lucky enough to marry a guy who can make something so beautiful?

Updates...

If you wonder where I've been....well....I've been busy, but haven't you all as well?

Last Friday was Seth's 30th birthday.

He took the day off and went golfing.

After I got off work we went and picked up my new toy.

(Oh, don't worry, he got an exciting new tool for his birthday, and since everyone celebrates my birthday I thought I would just do the same on his, sort of...).

I bought myself an embroidery machine!

I'm so excited!

I think Seth is too.

He's got his plans for the things he wants me to make him.

I've got big plans to finish all of these Christmas gifts I'm making and maybe even personalize some of them.

I have lots to do still.

And I just realized this morning how extremly fast the time is going.

You probably won't see much out of me for the next week or so, but I may have a guest poster if she chooses to highjack my blog for me......

So, until next time....

P.S. I could really use a full time babysitter for the next couple of weeks if anyone wants to volunteer. I can't promise you good weather, unfortunately it's supposed to be rainy and around 55 degrees the entire week.

Nearly Wordless Wednesday

I had to blog this. I'm a terrible mother, but, I must do my duty because I'm sure one day I will completely forget about this happening and now I have the memory forever.

We've been having issues with little miss Houdini taking her diapers off, wet or dry, even if we put them on backwards.

It also doesn't matter if we use cloth or disposable.

What's a mom to do?

I went to check on her last night and this is what I found.

And no, we don't let her go bar hopping.......

Holiday Fusion.....

...or confusion?

Maybe they are trying to multitask.

Maybe they're so confused by the stores putting out their Christmas stuff in August that they didn't know which holiday to decorate for.

What do you think is the explination?

Dear Target.....

I really, really hate to say this, but I think I'm not in love with you anymore.

It all started with the fact that I hate to shop, and all of your stores are out of my reasonable range for running to the store. When I say I hate to shop, it really means that I hate spending the time away from my nice comfy couch family, so the farther I have to drive to your store the less time I have to spend blogging, eating, and watching tv, sewing, playing with my kids and cooking healthy dinners.

There's also the matter of you never having the thing I want when I want it. Every time I find the perfect thing I'll check online, and then drive to the store, only to be told that it's out of stock (even though your website said it was available). I can't recall how many times it's happened to me, but it's been enough times that I have stopped looking online all together.

Then you got me all excited when we moved to our new house (3 years ago) by putting up a sign to show your plans to build a brand new SuperTarget just 1/2 mile from my house. This would put you even closer than the new Wal-Mart that went in last year, and I would have a really good reason to shop in your stores as opposed to Wal-Mart (saving on gas you know).

Alas, your store has still not been built. You keep pushing it back. You say it's the economy. I say not. People (especially all of the mommy bloggers) LOVE Target. You teased us by starting the groundwork. I started to get excited when the street was under major construction because surely that meant it was getting closer. This was 5 months ago at least. Still, no sign of a building.

I also heard from a source who has family on the inside. They say you are probably not going to be opening the store in the next year. At the rate you're going it will be 2. I will probably have moved by then.

I'm just getting the cold shoulder feeling from you, and so I'm going to give it right back. Until you open your store by me that is. Then I'll warm up again.

Airing the Dirty Laundry (plug your nose)

My mom came for a visit a few weeks ago. It was a nice relaxing visit, we made a few million trips to some store or another. On one of these trips we had the kids with us and Hunter noticed some Spiderman pajamas and decided that he must have them. Well......first he decided he just had to have the Ironman ones that light up and everything. We talked him out of those and I stupidly thought for some reason that 2 pairs of Spiderman pajamas (one black and one red/blue) would be better than one pair of Ironman ones.

We got home and the minute we walked in the door he was stripping down.

He had to wear those pj's.

And not just one pair, he wanted both on at the same time.

He's since become quite fond of the red and blue pair.

He has worn them to daycare even though it's NOT pajama day.

He's worn them out in the yard to play with the neighbor kid.

He's worn them to sleep every night.

He's worn them back to Wal-Mart.

He's taken them in the car with us when he couldn't wear them.

He's put them in the washer when I said they needed to be washed.

He's pulled them out of the washer and exclaimed that they're clean- 20 minutes after putting them in and not starting the wash cycle.

It's just another reason why we're THAT family!

Arizona's Stupid Motorist Law should cover these people....

Snowbird - Informal. a person who vacations in or moves to a warmer climate during cold weather.

Also known as Q-tips. (We didn't make that one up, one of them told us that.)

Also the reason (OK, I'm 90% sure this is true) our car insurance rates are so high.

Don't believe me? You think it's because there are so many uninsured drivers out there? Well, I can prove it.

I'll give you a couple of examples.

You know it's snowbird season out here when you start seeing people making left turns without moving into the center turning lane.

On the flip side of that is the ones who just drive in the turning lane, because they have no clue.

They're also the ones who drive about 15 mph less than the speed limit and almost come to a complete stop while making a right turn.

They stop in the middle of the street when they get lost, which causes a traffic jam.

I once had a lady pull up behind me while I was delivering the mail (outside of my vehicle), and as she went to get out of the car her "accelerator stuck" and the car came up over the curb and ran into the corner of the building that was next to the mailboxes. If she had straightened out her wheels she would have probably ran me over.

Seth had a lady run into him in his mail truck, in a parking lot!

And the icing on the cake.....

They don't understand traffic lights! It's not uncommon at all to see a car stopped in the middle of an intersection because the light that is on the median turned red before the light on the far side of the intersection and they didn't want to run the light. It may not make a whole lot of sense, so I drew you a diagram). Unfortunately we never seem to be in the right circumstance to take a picture of one of these people, but I just saw one yesterday, and I'm sure it's just the beginning........







(we're not sure who the genius at ADOT was that decided there should be 2 sets of stoplights for one intersection, but we all think it would save some trouble if they just took out the one in the median)

More updates

I have to apologize for the lack of substance in my blogging lately. I promise, stay with me and I will eventually get back to the good stuff. In fact, I have a post in the works for tomorrow already. You'll like it I promise.

On to the updates. Here's the cedar chest.....

It just needs a lid, a hinge, a good vaccuuming, sanding, and varnishing.

And here's my latest tiny project. I needed to prove to myself that I could actually make something besides blankets, and JoAnn's had all of their fleece on sale this last weekend so I bought some and made this in about five hours an hour. (The time spent chasing the kids and re-setting all of my stuff from the damage done by them, right?)

I haven't gotten a really good picture of it because she was too tired to sit still for me. She does like it though, she wore it to school today. I have some for sale in my store also. I promise this is not taking away from my quilt making time....only my kids do that.

Trying something new.....

I decided to open up a shop on Etsy.com to hopefully make life easier for everyone. In case you don't know what Etsy is, it's an online mall sort of thing for all things that are handmade. You can find almost anything you're looking for there. If you've never been there, check it out. My store is under construction and pretty generic right now, but hopefully I'll have some time to make the layout a little more inviting.

So if you'd like to see what I have listed so far, here's the link to Cuddlebug Babies.

Project Updates

Seth has made some progress on his cedar chest. He got the cedar lined on the inside. He has a little more to do and then he'll be ready to put the lid on.

I found another blanket I had forgotten about. Actually I had the front panel all done, and it just needed a back. So I decided to go ahead and finish it with some flannel I had. I made a few of these blankets for some friends who had babies and most of them have said their kids still have them and sleep with them (and they are all around 6 or 7 by now).

I've also decided to sell it. So, it's up for grabs, anyone who wants it, it's yours for the bargain price of $30, payable through paypal. Just send me an e-mail and it's yours!

Day #.......oh, who's even keeping track anymore?

I got Hunter's quilt done today.

The backing fabric that I'm using is really a love/hate kind of thing. I love that it's really forgiving so you can't see a lot of the stitching, but I hate that it's so stretchy, it makes it hard to keep everything lined up perfectly. Oh well, it's handmade right?

He woke me up this morning at 3 am. Said his stomach hurt. I'm such a good mom that I told him to go to the bathroom, and rolled over to go back to sleep. A few minutes later I heard him throwing up....right next to me on the bed. Good thing he hit it ALL on the pillow (and a spare one at that).

We decided to just stay home instead of going to the family dinner. There are other little kids and I didn't want to expose everyone to our germfest. I still had to cook some stuff to take over (since we live around the corner anyway), so I scrubbed my hands raw everytime I had to touch anything. A few years ago there were a bunch of us in the family that got sick the day after Christmas. I don't want a repeat of that year for sure.

It's not ALL about me....

So I realized that lately I've been blogging about all of the really cool things that I've been making and I have left out how awesomely talented my husband is.

He's decided to make each of the kids a cedar chest for Christmas. (We are not at all competetive, so it's not like we're trying to out do each other.....plus, they're going to need someplace to keep all of their things that I'll be making them).

He finally got the materials on Monday for one of them, so here's his project progress.....

Day one.....materials.

Day 2....some major progress

So maybe he will be able to get 2 done by Christmas.....

Wordless Wednesday

I'm so not ever buying a Dell.....

Please go here http://lovingoursimplelife.blogspot.com/2008/11/i-am-living-nightmare.html to read all about my friend Kristen's issues with Dell, and leave her a lovley comment of support. I can not imagine.

I'll beg if I have to.....

Ok, so I really need some help from my friends. I need to get people to my Mary Kay site to get some orders by Friday. I will be able to get everything out in plenty of time for Christmas, but I need your help getting people to my blog. So here's the deal...post about my sale on your blog, then come and let me know about it, and even if you didn't buy anything I will still send you one of the gift with purchase sets- for free!!!!

Here's the website Sensational Skincare Shop
Thanks in advance.

Day 9...slight change of plans

I finished one of the quilts today. It has a name on it, but it's purposely hidden to help keep it a secret (in case anyone is checking in on here who shouldn't know.)I haven't had much of a chance to work on them this week, but I did get most of the fabric cut for the rest of the quilts. I have decided that the two jungle quilts will be okay in size, but the ones I'm making for the older kids should probably be a little bigger. Therefore I may not be able to make all 8 quilts. I'm hoping that I can get Joann's website to cooperate and sign up for their mailing list. If I can get some coupons, or just find some good sales, then I may be able to get some more fabric. I also have the option of finishing a couple of blankets that I had already started. I also found a baby quilt that I had finished (just needs to be tied) made with Debbie Mumm's Noah's Ark fabric. I think I may sell that one. It's a little wrinkled from being folded up in the cedar chest, but here's what that one looks like.

I used to make photo albums out of wood and paint them, and then I would decoupage things on them and people can use them for scrapbooks (12x12 and 8 1/2 x 11). I even made some small 6x6 ones for recipes also. I will have to see if I can find some pictures of those. I made a couple that were decorated to match the Noah's Ark quilt, but I sold both of those.

I also decided that I'm going to have a huge Pre-Thanksgiving Sale over on my other blog. I've been neglecting it because I just haven't really had the time. So if you are interested in getting a lot of stuff for close to half price (or getting some great Christmas gifts for people), hop on over. I will be doing a giveaway on the final day of the sale. It's starting tomorrow and you have to order and pay by midnight Thanksgiving night.

My first scrapblog

Day 6

I took the kids to the park for a little while to play with my new camera. It was an early Christmas present (so I can practice and maybe take some card-worthy pictures).

The quilts are slowly starting to come along. I have almost all of the squares cut for all 8 quilts. I took the squares that are getting names to the girl I know with the machine, so as soon as I get them back I can really start moving along. I think I'm taking a break until Saturday afternoon. It's pretty difficult to stay on top of everything.