What I've been doing this week ...

well, this is at least half of what I've been working on ...
Anyway, these are gerber cloth diapers that I added a bit of jazz to. Lest you think I was actually smart or creative enough to create this project on my own, I did not. I saw it over at A Chelsea Morning a while ago. And knew I had to make them sometime!
So the stack of all blues is going to a mom-to-be at her shower on Sunday. And the stack of mostly green/yellow (actually they are all john deere print!) is going to my friend who just had a baby! They will be given to her from granny.
They were fun to make, but for some reason I thought I could whip them out much faster than I actually did. But it took time to cut, fold, iron, pin, then sew, and sew, and sew, and sew! But I like them.
::sigh:: wish I could make a set for myself but since there will be no more babies here, I'll have to make them for others!

Some good reads

I read some more books.
2 were by Joanne Fluke. I love her books. Nice, quick reads, perfect for when at the park with the kids or sitting outside with them or before bed when I don't want to think!
This time I started from the beginning and read The Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder and then the Strawberry Shortcake Murder. (I'm hoping to get to the library tonight to get the next 2-3 books in the series). As with the other book I read, they were great reads. Cute and funny - not heavy at all.

The other book I read was Jamestown, the Buried Truth by William M. Kelso. It was an okay read. Interesting for sure but, I don't know, I wanted more from the book. Never the less, it wasn't a bad read I didn't ditch it halfway through either. Anyway, if anthropology/history are up your alley, this would be a good read for you.

Surprise!

Brace yourself. There has been some knitting/sewing going on around this house. It has felt good to be doing stuff again. However, I have pulled a couple of too late nights to accomplish this!

Dress I'm making for Miss M. They will look like the orange one pictured on the pattern. I love the fabric I'm using though. I can't wait to finish them! I will probably be more excited about them then her. Although, she is excited to get some new dresses, because as far as she is concerned, dresses should be worn all the time!





Scarf in progress ... hopefully it will be finished by the release of the next HP book! It is for Miss A. We are going to go to a Harry Potter Party. Which might seem a bit weird since she isn't even allowed read the books. But she likes the hype AND she really likes to be able to stay up late. She came with me last time and we did have a fun time. =)

Making Little Man a nice little coat for the fall time (at least, it better fit him then)

Last but not least, an order I filled. Granted it was for my mom, and I won't charge her, but hey, it was another order and that's exciting!

Books, and more books!

I have some reading to report on ... not much else really to talk about. Frankly no one around the house has given me time to work on much else. The reading I can fit in quite easily while out and about and playing outside with the kids and a bit before bed - can't quite do that with the sewing/embroidery machine though! Dh is planning a day trip out with the kids to kind of give me some time to just work on whatever I want - woo-hoo!

In the meantime, I'll talk books.
I finished The Nazi Officer's Wife. Really, what can I say? I can't imagine going through that and having to live such a lie. I think I would have cracked under the pressure and not have survived. God bless her for surviving and being so strong. I did read it and think my problems aren't nearly that big and if she can survive that, well, I can survive crabby kids, not enough sleep, too many piles of laundry, etc. Definitely a great book to read.

Also read The Faith Club: A Muslim, A Christian, A Jew-- Three Women Search for Understanding. Another book I highly recommend. Definitely made me think, definitely made me wonder and challenged me in some ways. Very interesting to see how they came together, what issues were the hardest for them to work out, and how they overcame those differences and became really great friends. Nice. Made me really wish I had people to talk to like that frankly! LOL!

And I finished Key Lime Pie Murder (Hannah Swensen Mysteries). I have not yet read any of the Hannah Swensen mysteries and although this is the newest release, it was my first read. I'm not sure if I was more tempted to finish the book or go and bake some of the recipes in the book! I have not yet cooked anything in it though. I have decided that I will photocopy all the recipes before returning this book to the library though =)

That's it from here. Hopefully sometime this week I will have some non-reading posts to share!

Reading!

I have two finished to report.
First of all, I finished 1000 White Women by Jim Fergus.
Let me say, great book. I thoroughly enjoyed it! I actually picked this book up some time ago, and couldn't even stand it to finish the first chapter! I am so glad I picked it up again. So many interesting things in the book and perspectives. I highly recommend it!

My second finish, and people this is big: The Bible. I did it in 88 days! If you remember, my goal was to finish it in 90 days. And I did it! I actually did it! It was interesting ... much I've never read before and I've never done it from start to end. (I have attempted it previously but never made it out of the OT). I'm not sure what all to say about it - I could say lots. Reading it this way left me with a lot of aha! moments - seeing how things all related to each other. It also left me with a lot of questions and of course made me feel less faithful than I felt when I picked it up. It did explain a lot to me and most of what I read I think backed what I already felt about a lot of current issues. Which is funny because people feel opposite will say the same thing (which also leads to so many of the questions I have). I do think though, reading through it, cemented a lot of what I already believed in my heart. And well, a few issues, I might have to rethink. But I suppose that might be expected. Anyway, all that said - 88 days of a majority of my reading time - I'm glad I did it. And I will probably want to repeat it in a few years.

And now, I'm off to look at the stack of all the books I have been patiently waiting to read in the meantime. The first one up is The Nazi Officer's Wife, which I have been wanting to read for quite sometime now!

Shopping!

First of all, I will probably be doing a lot of baking soon. Why you wonder? Well, the Wilton Company is not all that far from my house. And right now they are having their annual tent sale. And I was able to go with a friend of mine. And we had fun. And I brought home lots of things! Although, going with a friend did cause me to save money (well, at least that is what I tell my dh HA!). But no really, there were quite a few pans we both wanted, so we took them and split them up with the knowledge that we can borrow them from each other any time. And since our children are born in completely different months and they were not holiday pans, I don't foresee that being a problem really. So that was nice. I ended up with: a 3-D duck pan, a butterfly pan, half a ball pan, a race car pan and a firetruck pan! I also got a cupcake stand, a product called silly feet - which I'm dying to use and show you pictures of soon! I also bought 24 silicone cupcake holders (which I think is part of my heading towards being green because we won't need paper for cupcakes anymore and they are reusable), a flower cookie-on-a-stick mold, candy flower mold, a nesting star cookie cutter set and also a flower set (yes, I bought a lot of flower thingies - I'm already planning a flower/butterfly party in my head LOL!), and a few other misc. items. Of course the best part was that everything was very inexpensive - most items were at least 50% off. I did buy probably more than I should have, but yet, there was a lot I wanted but passed up!

We also bought Popsicle molds. Each one makes 8 Popsicles and they were 2.00 each! Better than the dixie cup/popsicle stick method I think. We are planning on filling them here in a bit and the kids are excited. I think we are going to do a few juice pops, pudding pops and yogurt pops! Should be interesting to see what they think.

All that said, that should really be all the shopping I do for a while. Although I have said it before, things are tight. And I was basically told if I want extras for about a year, I have to earn the money to buy it. And although that kind of sucks, the truth is, I do love my house and don't want to have to lose it because of buying more craft supplies! But I am trying to work out something with my sister (who is 14) to come over one day a week to watch the kids so I can get some items in my etsy store! The truth is that I have a hard time not buying craft supplies - it really is my escape in life. However, I will try hard to use as much as the stash as possible. And I will not spend the mortgage money LOL!!