4-H Fun

We signed up to participate in 4-H again this year.  

Rose and Anne signed up for Cooking, Sewing, Photography, Shooting Sports, Arts & Crafts, and Rabbits. Miss S signed up for Shooting Sports and Rabbits. I informed all three girls that Rabbits were out of the question this year. I will be student teaching in the spring and cannot be their chauffeur to all the rabbit events.

Joe and Prof. X signed up for Cloverbuds. This is the group for 4-H kids who are too young to compete. They have a new leader this year and she is turning out to be FANTASTIC! She wants the Cloverbuds to have a thorough 4-H experience so she has arranged for them to participate in a ton of different events. It is wonderful!

Here's what they've all done so far:

Cloverbuds

Joe & Prof. X toured a seed sprouting facility. We saw acres upon acres of baby plants: lettuce, cabbage, artichokes, celery, broccoli, and more! The place was a dream. The month before the boys (& Rose) painted pottery at a local studio. This was a combined activity with the Arts & Crafts group. The Cloverbud leader is also the Arts & Crafts leader! She has planned for the two groups to do an activity together once every other month. Very fun!

The most recent Cloverbud activity was a tour of a local bakery. I was informed halfway through the activity that is was also an Arts & Crafts activity, so Anne & Rose were invited. Tough luck for them. Fortunately, they were at other activities that Saturday so didn't feel bad about missing the bakery tour.

The boys in their baking aprons

Reading the recipe

Rolling out their dough. Prof. X chose that small pin. Goofy kid!

Joe decorating his cookie

Prof. X showing his decorated cookie.

Can you tell he's been taking bites of the frosting?

Shooting Sports

Miss S., Rose & Anne are working on perfecting their aim every other Saturday using air rifles and bows & arrows. No pictures.

Arts & Crafts

The arts & crafts leader is also the Cloverbud leader. She is lovely. On the Arts & Crafts side, she has arranged for 4-H members to paint pottery at a local studio which was then fired. Anne was sick for this activity. Rose painted a Halloween monster mug.

The other activity they had was to decorate t-shirts. They used iron-on pictures, puff paints, jewels, and more, to jazz up the plain white tees. The end results were crazy! 

Cooking

Rose & Anne have experimented with pancakes. Their leader had them try different kinds of flours and rising agents. They also made some sweet potato pancakes and vegan pancakes. Then they tasted all the varieties to see the differences. 

For their meeting just before Christmas, they baked all sorts of cookies. Their leader told them to pick out any recipe, but no chocolate chips allowed! She wanted them to try new things. Anne made sugar cookies and Rose made toffee bars. Rose's toffee bars were Excellent! She used the recipe that I used growing up and the bars turned out delicious.  Poor Anne's cookies were not so good. In all the excitement of baking, she forgot to add the baking soda, and the baking powder. It is amazing the difference that a teaspoon of each can make!

Sewing

Rose & Anne have done nothing. The youth sewing instructor they had last year did not return. The main sewing instructor, who took all the advanced sewers last year, flat out refused to take any new students. So the girls were left with no instructor. Except, I know a little about sewing and my leader status finally went through...  So I volunteered to be the sewing instructor for my girls and any other potential sewers/quilters. We haven't done anything yet. We will have our first meeting in January.

Photography

Rose & Anne have been meeting once or twice a month with the photography leader. She is helping them become familiar with the cameras, teaching them how to set up shots, and other photography related things. One of the things she has stressed is the need to Practice, Practice, Practice! 

Here is evidence of the girls' practicing:

Photos of Desert Flora at local park 

Photos at Wal-m's Garden Center

 I think they are off to a good start. :)

4-H Values

Our family joined 4-H this past year. It is a great organization and my kids are having a wonderful time.

One of the requirements for showing at Fair is attendance at Community Club meetings. At these meetings the business of the particular 4-H club is conducted. Reports are made on things like how much money has gone out of the club and how much money has come in, events that are coming up, service opportunities available, and so on.

Recently, they have started reporting our members' results at various animal shows. Attending these shows has been quite the eye-opener for me.  "How so?" you might ask.  Well, let me tell you...

When showing swine, beef, or lamb, you strut that animal all around a ring, showing off the animals to the judges and audience. The judges look at the size of the body. They watch how the animal carries itself, how it walks, how it stands. They judge their personality and demeanor.

The animals are then taken back out of the ring by their handlers. The judges then "call-back" the animals that they liked. Those animals walk the ring again while the judges scrutinize their every move. This process goes on and on until finally the judges declare a winner. A winning animal is worth a lot of money. That animal is quite a prize!

What's so astounding about this process...

It is just like the try-outs/auditions for actors, models, Miss America, and more! In particular, it reminded me of the musical "A Chorus Line".

Now, I feel that I must make a disclaimer. I am not trying to belittle anyone. I'm not bringing this up to bag on anyone or any organization. Frankly, I love watching the Miss America pageant every year. Mostly, I love see the gorgeous gowns and imagine how I could make them for myself but modest. Haha!

The reason I'm posting this is that I am amazed a the similarities between the two processes. Anyone who really knows me knows that I love to see how things are connected. To see how things have evolved over time. It seems to me that the one process evolved from the other. Can't you just picture the original casting directors--people who had maybe grown up attending Fair and seeing how the animals were judged--adjusting that type of judging to fit their own purposes? Because that's what I see!

I wonder if that's how it actually happened. So interesting!

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Another great thing from 4-H: it is teaching my kids wonderful values and skills.

For example, one girl proudly reporting how she did in a show said:

"Well, I showed my goat at XYZ Show. I didn't place. But I didn't get last place like last year either."

We all clapped and cheered for her. It was great! She might not have won, but she was getting better and that's what counted.

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Also, our family is getting ready for Fair. It is crazy! We aren't doing animals this year. Thank goodness! I don't think I could have handled all the time and effort required for an animal. I'm too busy with my dear children. :)

We do have projects that have to be finished though. Anne and Rose are sewing their hearts out to have their quilts ready. Joe and the girls are all testing recipes to see which will be best to enter. They have a pre-Fair contest coming up next week for cooking. Anne and Rose are in the same category, but they're being good sports about it. They are just hoping that one of them places and they don't care which one. Hooray for being good sports! And sweet Joe is in the non-judging category. 4-H doesn't let the little kids be judged. They feel that the little ones can't handle it. I completely agree. My little Joe would be quite discouraged if judges told him his entry was too dry or a bit under-cooked. The bigger kids, while not liking the criticisms, don't get discouraged...they take the criticism as advice and use the information to make their cooking/baking better the next time.

I'll post pictures and results after we finish the contest next week.

We are loving 4-H!!!

Random Update

I haven't updated for a while. I have put posts up, but they're mostly about Lost. And while my life does slightly revolve around that show, it mostly revolves around my darling children and dear husband. So...in no particular order and with absolutely no pictures, here is an update from the Blue Family:

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1) Spring Break was this past week. For my elementary kids it continues into this week. Miss Q, the lucky high schooler, goes back tomorrow. Wednesday she gets to take the Math AIMS test. Keep her in your prayers!

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2) This past week was also Fair Week. I was going to take the kids myself, but since I was rear-ended Hubby got to spend Wednesday with me instead of going to work. He was supposed to make sure that I took it easy. Poor guy. I drug his cute fanny to the Fair with the kids. Then I sauntered from exhibit to exhibit while he chased the little people around. It was very nice...For Me! ;)

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3) Miss Q entered a painting into the Fine Arts category. She won a third place ribbon. She was shocked. Somehow she didn't make the connection between entering a fair and being judged. She'd never won a ribbon before and was ecstatic!

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4) Rose entered a bag into the Home Economics category. She won a first place ribbon. I think it was the french seams, grommets, and sturdy handle that won the judges over. She made the bag herself, with me just giving the occasional instruction.

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5) Anne entered a skirt into the Home Economics category. She won a first place ribbon. She loves this skirt and wears it often. She was worried that the judges would realize she had worn it and that it wasn't new. Gasp!! I told her that if it was clean the judges would never know. She also worried that those judges would try to sell her skirt to someone else. (In Miss Q's category they sell their stuff.) The judges themselves assured her that the Home Ec category sells nothing. The exact quote: "We spend way too much time making these things to just sell them off like that." Anne is happy to have a blue ribbon and is greatly relieved to have her skirt back in her hands.

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6) I entered the Snow White costume I made last summer for Into the Woods. It won a first place ribbon. The fair judges don't give out just one First place, one Second place, and one Third place. They can give as many of each ribbon as they want. The places are determined by the quality of the work. I was quite pleased that my work earned a blue ribbon.

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7) I also entered a cross-stitch sampler I had made. I was confused when I first saw the ribbon on this one...it was purple. But it said "Outstanding" so I figured it was alright. Turns out, purple is better than blue. Who knew?! I won an award from the town's EGA chapter, Embroidery Guild of America. The award was Ten Dollars cash. How exciting!

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8) We had an earthquake on Easter Sunday. I was kind of ticked by it. I was having some pretty hard contractions that had started to get closer together. Then the ground started shaking and the contractions stopped. Oh well. The quake lasted about a minute or two. The epicenter was many mile away from us. No damage was done. There were several aftershocks during the remainder of the day.

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One of my neighbors wants to move out of here now. The quake really scared her. With what I know of tectonic plates and the earth's shifting movements, an earthquake could happen anywhere. I would much rather deal with a little shaking than some other natural disasters...

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9) I was officially cleared to have this baby any time last Monday. I had another appointment today. I am dilated to 2-3 cm. Which means NOTHING! I have been dilated to 3+ for weeks before I've given birth. I really wish there was an accurate indicator that would tell me when this babe is coming. It would be so much more convenient for me. Haha! Listen to me whine. Sorry about that. I have everything prepared for my kids and for the two Fosters. Babysitters in place, respite plans in place, bags packed. Now I just need some regular contractions 5 - 7 minutes apart or my water to break. ;)

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10) Conference freaked me out. The Saturday sessions were fine, but Sunday morning was NOT! We listened to conference over the internet and I didn't catch the name of the man who gave this particular talk, but...he really freaked me out! He gave a lovely talk about how we shouldn't take offense even when horrible things happen to us. I'm sure that in a few months I will look on this talk as one of my favorites. I have often talked about this very subject in lessons I have given in Sacrament.

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The problem I have with his talk is that he kept talking about women who died in childbirth!!! Aaaaahhh!!!! And the babies died too! After he started talking about the second woman dying, I screamed for Hubby to turn the blasted thing off!!! It was not a very good example to set for my kids, but COME ON! This whole pregnancy I have been extremely worried about either myself or my child dying. Hubby has done his best to reassure me that we'll be okay, but I'm still nervous about stuff.

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Luckily, the man's talk ended a few minutes after my outburst. I kind of zoned out after that, trying to get a grip on myself. I came back when the Prophet began to speak. Holy Guacamole!! That dear man, whom I love and sustain with all my heart, started talking about dying too! He spoke of how it was alright and how we would be together again someday. And I just couldn't take it. I don't want to be together someday with my family. I want to be together NOW. I do not want to die. I do not want my babe to die. Again, I'm sure I will look back on this talk in a few months and really appreciate his words. But as my dear Prophet was speaking, I was praying that his talk would end and end soon. Gah!

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The afternoon session was a bust for me because I just kept replaying the first speaker's and the Prophet's words about death and wondering if it was an omen...a warning to me to get myself ready. Hubby has done his best to tell me I'm crazy and am not going to die. I am trying really hard to believe him. Too bad my hormonal state with this pregnancy is a worried mess. Last pregnancy I was just grouchy about everything. Little things would irritate me greatly. I think I would rather be grouchy and irritable than paranoid and worried. :(

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11) I finally have some of my South African souvenirs out on display. They have been sitting in my memory box since my Grandparents returned from their mission back in 1987. Now they are on display in my kitchen. I will take pictures and post them at some point. Just not today.

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Well, that's all I can think of right now. All the Blue's are happy and healthy. We are just counting down to the baby's arrival. Tomorrow marks 15 days to Zero. Wish me luck...Oh! And if I do die, make sure to tell my kids how much I loved them. Hubby already knows how much I love him, but little kids tend to forget and my kids are just little enough that some of them might not remember at all.

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Did I mention that I am slightly paranoid and worried???

Forever Plaid

The official baby countdown today is 33 days until my due date and 12 days until I'm considered full-term. Yowser!

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I have quite a few projects left that I wanted to complete before the new baby boy arrives. One project is cleaning out my laundry/sewing supply room. As I was going through one of the boxes, I uncovered order forms from September and I realized...I never wrote about the costume work I did for my town's production of Forever Plaid!

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There were five men to costume. The Four Plaids and One accompanist. My costume responsibilities were:
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* White Tuxedo Jackets with Shawls and 1 button: 4 Plaids
* Plaid Tuxedo Jackets: 4 Plaids
* Black Tuxedo Pants: 4 Plaids, 1 Accompanist
* White Tuxedo Shirts with Wings: 4 Plaids, 1 Accompanist
* Black Tails Tuxedo Jacket: 1 Accompanist
* Plaid Suspenders: 4 Plaids
* Black Suspenders: 1 Accompanist
* Plaid Cumberbunds: 4 Plaids
* Black Cumberbund: 1 Accompanist
* Plaid Bow Ties: 4 Plaids
* Black Bow Tie: 1 Accompanist
* Black Tuxedo Shoes: 4 Plaids, 1 Accompanist
* Plaid Tartan Sash: 4 Plaids
* Plaid Pocket Handkerchief Square: 4 Plaids

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Did your jaw just drop? Mine did when I saw the list.
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I thought I was part of a costuming team, like I had been for Into the Woods. We had three ladies working on costumes with myself being responsible for just three. This time, however, the costuming team was split into 1) Costumer (me) and 2) Props (not me). It makes sense since there were only five guys to costume, but still! I was a bit overwhelmed as I contemplated the time and energy this project would require. Did I mention the costuming occurred during my first trimester? The trimester where I was super dizzy, nauseous, and tired?

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Fortunately for me, the producer had already arranged for her Mother to sew the Plaid Tuxedo Jackets. The dear director worried that I would be offended that I wouldn't be the one to make the Plaid Tuxedo Jackets. On the contrary, I was THRILLED! Hahaha! I've never sewn a Tuxedo Jacket before. Of course, I had never sewn any renaissance costumes either, but I did alright with those. It's a good thing that my own Dear Mother taught me how to read and follow a sewing pattern. But I was glad that I wouldn't have to sew those Plaid Jackets. Do you know how hard it is to work with plaids?? No?? Well, let me tell you...

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Working with Plaids is one of the most difficult, hair-pulling things to do in this world. Seriously! You have to be so careful when you cut out the pattern pieces, taking into account where each seam line will be, how the material will fold and hang. Matching up plaid pieces perfectly could be an Olympic Sport. And I am not exaggerating in the slightest. It really is that difficult. I knew that I could do it, but I also knew that by the end my eyes would probably have fallen out of my head. I was happy to let someone else do that nasty job.

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As for the other items, at first I was going to make the white tuxedo jackets, suspenders, cumberbunds, and bow ties. Luckily for me, before I had purchased the material or started sewing, I had stroke of brilliance...Check E-Bay! I am so, so glad that I did. I found a used tuxedo dealer in Florida. He was great to work with over the phone. He had a generous knowledge of tailoring and was familiar with the Forever Plaid costumes. The only draw back...he didn't write my order down correctly! Aargh! Fortunately, I had paid extra for two day delivery so I was able to sort out most of the problems. But even on the second order he sent me things that were incorrect. Sheesh!!! It's a good thing everything was so inexpensive. I offered to pay for the mistakes out of my own pocket. The producer told me not to worry. Her production company is just starting out. Their costumes at that point only consisted of things that were made for Into the Woods and Beauty and the Beast. She cheerfully told me she would just add the items to her costume stock for future productions.
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Can I just tell you what a pleasure it is to work with people who are optimists! People who take what could have been a lemon situation and see it as lemonade instead! I love working with those kinds of people. :)

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There were a a couple of changes to the original costume idea. Instead of black shoes, the Plaids wore white shoes. The white shoes were sent by mistake, but I loved how they looked! Instead of plaid suspenders, the guys wore white ones. That change was due to limited time and limited material.

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You might be wondering where my time went if I just ordered everything from the tuxedo dealer. Well, I'll tell you. First, not every item was ordered. Some things I still had to make. Second, the items that were ordered were used. They had buttons missing, zippers that didn't work, were too big, etc. I had to do some major tailoring to get those outfits to fit and function. Third, I live in a small town with only one material store. The plaid material had to be ordered online. It took a while to get here and when it did, the plaid jackets had to be cut out first. Remember how I said it took a lot of time and energy to make sure all the pattern pieces will line up perfectly...waiting for the material to arrive and then waiting for the jackets to be cut out took up quite a bit of time. My plaid items were cut from the jacket leftovers.

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And now, a list of all the things I did to costume those four Plaids and their accompanist:

1) Ordered a ton of stuff from the tuxedo dealer.

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2) Tailor five white tuxedo shirts. This included shortening the sleeves on two shirts and replacing buttons (an easy, but time-consuming job!).

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3) Tailor five white tuxedo jackets. Why five? I ordered an extra one. The jackets all had to be the same style, but the dealer didn't have the same style available in one guy's size. I ordered a smaller version to get the right lapel. Tailoring the jackets included swapping out the lapel (that was tricky work to make it look seamless and natural), removing one type of button, adding another type of button, reattaching the jacket lining in both the torso and sleeve portions, and cleaning up the jackets so they looked crisp and fresh.

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4) Tailor five pairs of black tuxedo pants. This included replacing zippers, hemming pant legs, taking in one pair of pants, letting out another pair, and a lecture to all the men about wearing the "right type of underwear" when wearing tuxedo pants. And yes! I seriously did look five grown men in the eyes and tell them to be sure and wear supportive undies because tuxedo pants show everything.

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5) Make four plaid bow ties. This was tough because my Simplicity pattern called for bow tie hardware, yet Simplicity doesn't sell that hardware anymore! Aargh! I only used Simplicity because I wanted to be sure I could get all the necessary pieces. I just used Velcro to hold the thing together in the back. How tacky! :(

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6) Make four plaid cumberbunds. I ordered four white cumberbunds from the dealer because it was cheaper than buying the hardware! All I had to do was add a plaid panel to the front portion. They looked great!

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7) Make four tartan sashes. Tartan means plaid. These were easy to make and didn't have to from the same plaid material as the other pieces. I used a plaid tablecloth, cut it into four long sections, and hemmed the two long sides, leaving the two short sides to fray beautifully. :)

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8) Make four plaid pocket handkerchief squares. I just cut out four squares and hemmed on all sides. Easy, breezy.

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9) Help make the plaid jackets. The producer's Mom works full-time and was making these jackets in between work and family obligations. Yikes! I went over one Saturday and spent the whole day just sewing with her. It was a blast! She was such a fun lady to spend time with. My job with her was all the hand sewing. She said that by the end of the work-day her eyes were shot, then having to look at those plaids...she just didn't have the eyesight or the patience to hand sew. Haha! So while she sat at the sewing machine, I made myself comfortable on her couch and stitched away. I also ironed and helped with whatever else she needed. It felt like being at home sewing with my Mom. It was a great feeling.

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It seems like I did some other stuff too, I just can't remember right now. Oh well. I am going to stop typing now and let you enjoy pictures of the final product.

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The Plaids getting ready to go on stage.

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The Plaids performing Lady of Spain. .

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Don't the Plaids look great in their white tuxedo jackets with the plaid bowties, cumberbunds, and pocket squares! The red rose boutonnieres just pop against the white. Very dapper! .
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See how well that jacket fits! .
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Close-up of another Plaid. Check out the lapels on that jacket! .

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Do you see what I mean about a ton of props? .

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A Plaid duet. .
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The quartet performing. On this night they forgot to put in their pocket squares.

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Wearing the tartan sash.

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Performing in the plaid jackets. Don't they hang beautifully!

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The venue was the garden area of a local restaurant. This production was a dinner theater. Such fun! It sold out both nights. The restaurant added a few tables to accommodate more people.

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The Plaids looking fine after the show. Do you see how well the plaids match up? That is professional quality right there!

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The cast and crew. This is the only picture I found of the accompanist. He looked quite nice in his black tuxedo tails sitting at the piano.

Quilting vs. Newborn Baby

I am on the e-mail list of a local quilt shop. A few days ago I received this notice:

"We are making arrangements for a quilting cruise for 7 days to the Mexican Riveria April 25 to May 2. We are working with Tour West Travel. The cost include cabin, taxes and port charges and range from $ 499 - $779 depending on the type of cabin you want. We will be sending out a flyer soon. We will be joining Memory Lane Quilt Shop for this cruise! We will not have any "famous" people on the cruise to teach classes but we will all be there to keep you busy and entertained!"

I've got to tell you, when I first read this I thought: "Surely the old quilting ladies wouldn't mind if a newborn attended the cruise. And I could totally sew with one hand and nurse with the other. I know all the grandmas would help me out if I needed a break. And I'm sure my doctor wouldn't mind inducing my a couple weeks early so I could be a far enough into the post-partum recovery to really enjoy the cruise and participate fully..."

Haha! Can you believe the craziness that is me! I sure can't. There is no way I can go on a cruise with a newborn. Especially not mere weeks after giving birth! I told Hubby about my crazy few minutes of considering this. He just laughed at me and said the hormones really must be messing with my brain. He's right! I'm usually a pretty rational gal. And taking a newborn on a cruise while still recovering from giving birth to said newborn is definately NOT rational thinking.

So I' m not going on the quilting cruise. Oh well.

But hey! Maybe the cruise will be such a great success they'll do it again next year. I mean, I could totally leave a one-year old in the care of his Dad for a few days. Really! Hubby could absolutely handle that! Don't you think??? ;)

In Which I Update...

The Mother-in-Law...

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Is recovering wonderfully. The surgeon removed most of the tumor in surgery and only had to remove a teeny bit of brain. There is a smidgen of the tumor left, but it will be wiped out with Chemo and radiation. The tumor was a very aggressive cancerous kind. My Mother-in-law is a champ. She had her surgery Friday and is already up and walking around. She is completely coherent and still has her memory in tact. She gets to go home tomorrow.

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While she was in the hospital, her hubby painted their room and put wood flooring throughout their house. Ha ha. That man kept himself busy so he wouldn't miss his wife so much. ;)

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I think I'm going to buy my Mother-in-law this pin. She'd get a big kick out of it.

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The Foster Child...

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Poor Miss Q. We are torturing her soundly. Since she has been with us she has visited an Endodontist for a root canal, an Orthodontist to get braces, and an Oral Surgeon to have three of her upper teeth removed. When she came to us she was on pain meds because her mouth hurt so much. Poor girl. We've been trying to get things better for her, but first we have to torture her. And the torture will continue next week.

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She is going back to the Oral Surgeon to have two more teeth removed. This time at a hospital.

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Here's the part where we feel sorry for me. The Oral Surgeon who will accept her insurance...he's a three hour drive away. Last time Hubby took two days off work and drove her down. This time it's my turn. I get to load up my other four kiddos and drive and drive. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but I'm pregnant. And the magic 12 week date has come and gone without me feeling much better. Oh well. That's why they invented saltine crackers. ;)

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This trip to the oral surgeon should be the last bit of torture. Then she just has to deal with braces for a couple of years. Fortunately, our Orthodontist is local.

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Costumes...

I am sewing costumes again. Nope, not for Halloween and not for my kids. I am helping with costumes for a local production of "Forever Plaid". I thought I would be one of many helpers. Nope. I am one of two. But I got the easy part...all be it time consuming. The other lady is sewing plaid jackets. Do you know what a bear it is to try and match plaid seams together?? It is horrid! I am responsible for white tuxedo jackets, white tuxedo shirts, black tuxedo pants, plaid bow ties, plaid cumberbunds, plaid suspenders, plaid pocket squares, white pocket squares, tartan sash, and shoes. I think that's it...

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Anyhoo, the directors wanted all those items MADE!!! Aaaaahhh!!! Luckily, I have a few brains left in my head. I started looking online and found a great dealer of cheap, used tuxes and accessories. I just had to make adjustments to the items. I shouldn't say just. I spent a full day fixing the tuxedo shirts and the white jackets so the matched. One jackets collar had to be completely reworked. Fortunately it was all handwork. Why fortunately? Well, because my prego body decided it wasn't enough to attack my stomach. My head needed some attention too. I did all the handwork laying flat on my back on the couch. I just held the jacket up over my belly and sewed away.

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I still have to get the pants hemmed. I just received them Saturday and have a fitting scheduled for tonight with the "Plaids". The bow-ties are sewn. All that is left are the other plaid items. But those have to wait until I get the scraps and leftovers from the plaid jackets.

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As for my own children, they will be wearing costumes from previous years. All except Joe. I don't have any boy costumes his size. With everything else we have going on, the Hubby and I will probably just don our matching Hawaiian outfits and call it a day.

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The Baby...

Can I just say that the number FIVE sounds so weird to me. I just keep saying it over and over in my head. Five. Five. Five. I can't seem to wrap my mind around the fact that I will be a mother to Five children.

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The baby is healthy. My doctor did an ultrasound at my last appointment. When I looked at the monitor I thought the doc's hand must be shaking because the image was so jumpy. But no. It was my baby. That kid was all over the place. The funniest thing was that the kid is using my uterus like a trampoline. The kid would bend his/her little legs then push off from the side. He/She would go sailing across the uterus, then settle back into place like a feather drifting down. It was funny to watch...for now. I sure hope that kid settles down before he/she gets much bigger. I've had jumpy, active babies in utero before. They are very uncomfortable to play host to...

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This is a picture of the babe getting ready to jump. I still can't decide if I think the babe is a boy or a girl. But since I usually get it wrong anyways, I guess my prediction doesn't matter much.
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Teaching

The November/December Class Schedules are now available at JoAnn's. Can I just say, it is so exciting to me to see my classes listed. I have had many jobs in my life. They have all been jobs of convenience and necessity. And many of those jobs, I did not like at all. Despite that, I plugged through and performed each job well.

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This is my first official job that I will not only love from the get go, but will also get to grow and expand my skills in. I am just so excited! And I have such a feeling of satisfaction and contentment. They are such nice feelings to have. :)

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These are the samples I made for a few of the classes I will teach. It's kind of funny, but a few of the items I will be teaching I would never have thought of making. They were such fun to complete though. And my kids absolutely love each item. I let them each pick out the fabric for one sample. After the sample comes down off the JoAnn wall, the child that picked the fabric will get to keep the sample item.

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Sewing 101

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Sewing 202: Fleece Robe

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Teen Sewing 101: Wristlet

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Quilting 201: Mini Quilt Coasters

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Other items I will be teaching, but don't have pictures of, include: Reusable Gift Bags, Fleece Vest, "Hole in the Barn Door" Quilt Block, "Steps Through My Garden" Quilt Top.

Ramblings and News

One of the bad things about moving is leaving all your good friends behind.

I left my friends a year ago. Then I spent several months in transition and most recently have been trying to get my own home decorated and in order. Basically, I haven't had much time for socializing. I've met many wonderful women, but I haven't made that "great" friend yet. Hold on. Let me rephrase that. I probably have met the great friend, I just haven't had time to develop a "great" friendship yet.

Alright, so what does this have to do with my blog? Well, since I don't yet have that great friend to share all my good news, funny stories, weird experiences, etc. with, I've decided to share them here. I've been brimming over with a few good news items and if I don't let them out soon, I am likely to explode and spill my guts to some random stranger in the grocery store who casually asks How I Am. So, to avoid the embarrassment and awkwardness that would surely follow such an explosion, I will instead spill my guts here, where I know a few of the friends I left behind still visit me.

Good News!

1. I earned my Teaching Certificate this summer! Yahoo! I am now certified to teach K - 12 Family and Consumer Sciences (FACS). For those who don't know, FACS covers eight areas:

a. Human Development

b. Family and Human Relations

c. Clothing, Textiles, and Fashion Merchandising

d. Nutrition and Food Preparation

e. Facility Management, Housing, and Interior Design

f. Consumer Economics, Family Resources, Personal Finance, and Family Financial Management

g. Food Production and Culinary Arts

h. Child Development

I could teach any of these subjects. It's very exciting. I was sorely tempted to apply for two open positions in our High School District. One was Culinary Arts and the other was Fashion Design. Fortunately, my good sense (Hubby) kicked in and reminded me that I had already committed to other projects that would interfere with a full-time teaching position. Whatever. I'm just super-excited that I finally have the certificate in my hands!

2. What commitments do I have? Children? A house to run? Psh. Those are easy! No, my commitment is to JoAnn's. I was hired on as an Independent Contractor to teach Sewing and Quilting Classes. Aaaaah!!! Can you believe it?!?! I'm going to be teaching sewing and quilting. And I'll get paid for it! I'm on their calendar starting November 1. In the meantime, I am working on sewing up samples for display in the store. I'm also trying to time myself-how long each step takes to complete, figure out the order I'll teach the sewing steps in, what items should be sent home as homework, and all that fun stuff.

Sewing Classes I will be teaching in November & December:

a. Kid's Sewing 101 - Pillow Case

b. Teen Sewing 101 - Wristlet (a little handbag)

c. Sewing 101 - Pillow Case

d. Sewing 102 - Reusable Gifts Bags

e. Sewing 201- Fleece Vest

f. Sewing 201 - Fleece Robe



Quilting Classes I will be teaching in November & December:

a. Quilting 101 - Hole in the Barn Door Block

b. Quilting 201 - Mini-Quilt Coaster Set

c. Quilting 202 - Steps Through My Garden Quilt

The January/February Calendar will include different items, sent down by the JoAnn bigwigs. In addition to whatever classes they want taught, I will be adding a Trend class of my own...A Stack-and-Slash Baby Quilt. Again, it's very exciting because I LOVE sewing and quilting.

If you live in my town and want to sign up for one of the classes I'll be teaching, call me up and I'll let you know which classes on the schedule are mine. :) OH! And once a month, at JoAnn's Open House, classes are Half-Price! Next open house is September 12.

3. Hubby and I are officially Licensed as Foster Parents. We finished all the paperwork and home inspections in June, by late July we were Licensed, and on Saturday, August 8 we welcomed a 16-year old girl into our home. That's Right! I am now the Mother of a Teenage Girl! Hahaha! Can you believe it?

Last week I went to her High School to meet with a few of her teachers. Funniest thing happened. As Miss Q (our new girl's pseudonym) introduced me as her Mom, one of the female teacher's eyes opened big as saucers and her jaw fell open. Awkward! Female teacher, trying to cover for herself, then said "It's just that you look so young to have a teenage daughter." Haha! I didn't tell her that Miss Q was our Foster Daughter because 1. It's none of her business (I'm not being rude, it's a matter of confidentiality) and 2. If Miss Q wants to introduce me as Mom, then that's who I am. I told Hubby about it later and we figured for us to biological parents to a 16-year old, he would have been 18 and I would have been 15 when that child was born. Yowser!

4. All the rooms in my home are painted, except the Master Bedroom, Master Bath, Hallway, and Laundry Room. The good news is that Hubby, now free from "Into the Woods", has agreed to paint them himself.

5. After much searching and long debates with myself, I have finally decided which quilt pattern to use for my Sister-In-Law's quilt. It's called "Making History". I found it in the Fall/Winter 2008 Quilt Sampler magazine. It uses a Martha Washington star block and a sawtooth star block. Of course, I have to finish my JoAnn samples before I can start on SIL's quilt. Oh, and I need to make Miss Q a quilt and finish BabyCakes quilt. But at least I have the pattern for SIL's quilt figured out. ;)

6. My Sister V came to visit me and she brought her fancy hair cutting scissors. V was nice enough to give myself and all five kids a nice haircut. Hooray!

Bad News

1. The summer heat has killed my apricot tree and white hibiscus plant. I tried to save them, but they just couldn't stand the heat. :( The other fruit trees, hibiscus, and citrus seem to be coping alright. They just have to last another month then the weather will start to cool off.

2. I have been fighting a seriously debilitating ear infection. It has made my whole face, head, and neck ache and pound. It has made me dizzy and nauseous. And it has thrown off my already-shaky balance. As a result, I have many bumps and bruises all over my body from running into walls, posts, doors, or just plain falling down. I see my ENT for an eval tomorrow. Hopefully, he can get everything figured out. :(

3. Can tops hate me. I have a heavy-duty can opener for my year supply. It is fantastic opening #10 cans. It is stinky at opening regular grocery sized cans. It always skips and leaves two spots unopened. In my attempt to open one such can, I sliced my right thumb top clean open. It was awful. It sliced down into my nail. The length of the cut was about 1 1/2 inches, the depth about 1/4 inch...thankfully. Any deeper and I would have needed some heavy stitching. Yuck! As it was, I just lost a lot of blood as the wound spurted all over my kitchen. Later I had a lovely gaping hole on the top of my thumb that stung like the dickens whenever air touched it. I procured this wound just in time to fill out all the registration papers for my kids to attend school. Yay!

The next can-hating incident occurred only a few days later. I was being extra careful, trying to avoid injuring myself again. Psh. Totally didn't work! This time I sliced my right palm directly under my index finger. The can lid sliced clear through the skin...in part. It was nasty and did cause me great pain. Hubby has volunteered to open all my cans from now on. That would be a nice offer, if he wasn't gone so much working. I can't wait for him to open cans for me. Joe said he would open them, but there is no way! I'm too paranoid now to let my sweet innocent five-year old son battle cans for me. I need to buy a different can opener, but that would involve driving and what with my dizziness from the ear infection, I am avoiding driving at all costs. :(

4. I did injure my tailbone...AGAIN!!! It's not the same bone I broke in December 2007. That bone was at the very end of the spine. No, this one is a few bones higher. I injured it while trying to distract BabyCakes during his haircut. Cakes was swinging his arms about and accidentally got my chin. Well, that was pretty funny, so he swung for me again. Ouch. My face must have been hilarious, because he decided to use both fists to get my chin again. I was sitting on a little stool at the time. I shoved the stool back and planned on plopping my buns onto it, out of Cakes' reach, but I slid the stool too far back. Instead of sitting, I slammed the top part of my bum down HARD onto the tile bathroom floor. It was awful!! The pain shot all the way down to my ankles and up to my neck. And not just pain. There were also weird tinglings and then a kind of numbness settled over my body, so that I was still in a ton of pain but completely unable to move any part of my body. That lasted for several minutes. Finally I was able to move, so I crawled out of the bathroom and tried to lay down. That hurt even worse.

I thought it would quit hurting after a day, but no. So I went to the ER to have it checked out. The ER wasn't super busy, but was still a long wait. I had to be at the bus stop by Noon to meet Joe and the treatment for a broken tailbone is the same for a bruised one...ice it and take some Tylenol. (There's really not much they can do when you're stupid enough to hurt your bum. :-( ) Anyhoo, since the treatment would be the same and I needed to get out of the ER pronto, I opted not to have the x-rays done. So I don't know the exact extent of the damage I caused nor the exact bone I injured. But after living with the pain and discomfort for the last week and a half, I'm pretty sure I broke it. Hmm. Maybe I can go to the local imaging place and have them take an x-ray. They're pretty quick...

Funny thing about the injured bum: We have a young gal called in our ward to play piano each Sunday. A couple hours before Church started the Sunday after my accident, she called to say she was sick and could I please fill in. I explained my predicament, she said "Ah" in understanding, then asked if I could still play. I guess I didn't explain well enough. Haha! I did play for her, but it was a killer getting up and down off that hard wooden bench.

Luckily for me, it was healed enough by this past Sunday that I could still do nursery all right. Although, there were a few times I thought about walking out and begging someone to take over for me. But I stuck to it and we all had fun.

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And that is the end of my news. Well, at least what I can remember. I was going to write about something weird that happened to me, but cannot remember what it was. Probably because I've been sitting down to long and can't concentrate when my bum is aching.

FYI I'm going to start posting my Good and Bad News occasionally. I need to get this stuff out so I don't explode to some random stranger and bore them with my life story. ;)

Simplicity Pattern # 5840

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Pattern # 5840 is described as "Unisex Hooded Capes and Men's Fantasy Costumes". I used View B to make one of the Witch's costumes for the Desert Pointe Production of Into the Woods. This costume is the Witch's Cloak. It is worn during the first act. The material was a black stretchy velvet. Beautiful, but a bit hard to work with. The first problem was that the right side of the fabric was so slippery that when I put the right sides together to cut out the pieces, the material kept shifting. The material also had a good bit of stretch to it, but didn't lay quite evenly. So each piece, although cut at the same time using the same pattern piece, was a slightly different size.

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The cutting problem was remedied by using silverware. Yep. You read that correctly. I dumped all of my knives and spoons onto the pattern top to keep the pattern piece in place while I was cutting. This technique worked marvelously!!! (thanks for the tip Mom!) The knives worked the best because they are flat and so hold things down evenly and firmly. But I didn't have enough knives to cover the entire pattern. Spoons were the next best thing. :)

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Once the pieces were cut I ran into the another problem with the material. It shed!! Fortunately, it only shed from the cut edges. I had little black fuzz all over my clothes and the stuff kept going up my nose and into my mouth when I breathed. Yuck! Fuzz in the airways is not a good thing for my allergy and asthmatic self.

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This costume was super-easy to make. The pattern was clear and easy to follow. There were only about eight pieces to work with. First, I attached the cloak front and back to a yoke at the shoulder seams. Second, I added the one-piece sleeves to either side. Third, I sewed the one side up from the cloak hem to the sleeve cuff. Fourth, I sewed up the other side. Fifth, I added the hood. At that point I could have hemmed the thing and been done. But since this is a fancy costume, I had a few more things to do...

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My sewing buddy. He sat in my lap during the entire process. It takes great skill to sew with a two-year-old on your lap. And I have great skill! Hahahaha! ;)

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Before I get into the extras, I need to clarify one of my sewing deviations. Head Honcho again brought me the pattern and material for this costume. I had a limited amount of fabric to work with. In order to get all the pieces cut from the black velvet, it was necessary to scale down the hood. I don't know if you can tell from the pattern picture, but their hood is quite pointy in the back. My hood has a smaller point and thus used less fabric. The hood is still large enough to cover the entire head and face when pulled down. Which is all I need the hood to do!

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First extra, embroidered ribbon. I lucked out when I found this ribbon. Silver and blue on a black background. Perfect for my witch's cloak. Subtle, yet beautiful. I used the ribbon to line the lower edges of the yoke in the front and back, the sleeve cuffs, and the hood's front edge. I used a small zigzag on top and bottom to attach the ribbon.

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After the ribbon was added, I hemmed all the raw edges. This material did not want to fold. Not at all! So I tossed the cloak into my sewing machine and rolled the raw edges to the inside as I went along, using a straight stitch. This technique worked fine.
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Second extra, snaps. Toward the end of Act One, the Witch changes from an ugly, old hag into a beautiful young woman. She will come onto stage wearing her beautiful red gown (under the cloak) and her ugly mask. The robe needed to completely conceal the gown until the change. Then it needed to come apart quickly for the big reveal. Snaps were the perfect solution. They are sturdy when snapped together, a small tug will pull them apart completely, and there are no loud sounds when they come apart.

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I used twelve black snaps, hand sewn in, down the entire length of the cloak's front. The first two are only an inch apart. The remaining ten are at five inch intervals. They are sewn in using a quadruple thickness of heavy duty polyester thread. Those babies aren't going anywhere!

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Close-up of the top snaps.

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A wider view of the snaps.
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The third, and final, extra was pockets. GIANT pockets. The Witch had pyrotechnics she had to carry. Plus an apple and a few other miscellaneous items. She needed wide, deep pockets. The funky texture of the black velvet came in very handy at this point. I stitched the pockets, made of a black cotton broadcloth, into the inside of the cloak. One of each side. The stitching did not show at all in the front! It just blended right in. Hooray!

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I used two straight lines to join the pockets to the cloak. To figure out the placement of each pocket, I put the cloak on myself and reached my arms into the opposite sides, gauging where it would be most comfortable and most easily accessible.

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Front View of the finished cloak.
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Back View of the finished cloak.
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Close-Up of hood and shoulders.
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I never got a picture of the Witch wearing this cloak. :( If you have one, please send it to me.

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I did get a picture of the costume waiting it's turn backstage. Can you see it peaking out?

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I needed a picture of someone wearing the costume, to show how it hangs. Rose volunteered to help. The sleeves and overall length of the cloak are intentionally too long. The length gives the garment a more mysterious feel and helps to hide more of the Witch's body.

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This costumes turned out so, SO well!!! It was a super-easy pattern and the result is perfect. I would definitely use this pattern again.

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When I saw the play and saw the Witch first come out wearing this cloak, the effect was magnificent. The Witch walked hunched over and this costume hung on her wonderfully! The black velvet gave a haggard appearance and the hang of the garment over her hunched form made her appear quite overweight. And then when she dropped the cloak and stood in her beautiful red gown, the difference was significant and breathtaking! It was complete WOW moment for the audience. I love WOW moments in plays. They make me happy! :)