The Apron

Here I am wearing the apron.

You can barely see it, but there is a pocket right there. The print of the fabric is little strawberries with butterflies, birdies and worms. I thought it was real cute.

This is the top portion with a little bit of eyelet lace. You'll notice that I still need to do a lot of clipping of loose threads. The tie on top is just bias tape fastened with velcro. In the back, it is tied with some ribbon. I'm probably going to take that off and get some more bias tape to tie it. The ribbon is too big and bulky so it's hard to tie.

So for my first attempt at sewing an apron, I guess it's presentable.

Have a happy Saturday!

The Saga Continues

I just wanted to pop in and say that I haven't dropped off the face the earth. I haven't had much to say.

Just when I thought I had beat this virus, I'm back with a sore throat and my nose is getting stuffy again! But, I can't let this stop me anymore so I'm trudging along and taking care of my business.

On Monday, I dusted off my sewing machine and learned how to sew an apron. My friend's mother was anxious and willing to teach us how to make one and we both jumped at the chance. I was surprised that I was able to complete one in approximately three hours. And it actually looks like an apron! Of course things are a little crooked, the stitches are not straight, there are frayed edges, but who cares! I'm not too embarrassed to wear it. I will have some pictures to share, but not tonight. I tried to get some decent shots, but my batteries need to be recharged.

Oh yea, got my pink yarn untangled and am pretty much finished with the scarf. I just have to put the edging on it in a different color. I'll have Emily pose with it and post a picture.

Yesterday for Ash Wednesday, I went to the service at my kids school. The older students had a Mass, but I didn't attend that one. For the younger ones, there was a service with just the
liturgical readings of the day, then the distribution of ashes. The little ones were just so sweet. Father would ask them questions, and they were all just so eager to answer.

Today I took Kathryn to her dentist appointment. She has two loose molars. These are her last baby teeth - and she's only 11 years old! She had her first loose tooth when she was four years old and they've been falling out regularly since then. I'll be glad to see those last two go. She's always been very sensitive to the feeling of her teeth being loose and has refused to wiggle them out. She couldn't stand any of us to touch them (to pull them out). So they've been extracted. That's weird how she would rather have the dentist extract them, than wiggle them and get them out herself.

That's how my week has been. This weekend we will enjoy some time with my SIL/BIL who are visiting from Texas.

I hope to get pictures of my latest creative endeavors posted tomorrow.

A Post

I think I'm finally on the mend from this cold bug. It's taken a while for the cough to get better, but I think it's on the way out. I think! I woke up with a sore throat, but I don't have it right now. Who knows what tomorrow will bring. From what I hear, this virus that's going around is one that takes it's sweet time going away. As much as I like Winter and the rain, I'm looking forward to Spring.

My housework has gone to pot. It's been enough to get dishes washed and laundry taken care of. While I've slacked off on that, I've managed to do a little bit of reading. I'm reading Raymond Arroyo's book about Mother Angelica and a fiction book called, Quaker Summer. Oh, and that reminds me, I really do need to add my new list of books read and take off the old list.

I'm slowly making progress on my scarf project. I mentioned that the yarn got all tangled up. Well, I've slowly untangled it instead of buying a new skein, and the scarf is almost done.

YIKES! Here's what the messy skein looked like. It was worse than this, but this is bad enough.

So far, this is what the scarf looks like. It needs to be a little longer, so I'll probably end up buying another skein. You can bet this time, I won't be pulling the yarn out from the center. You never know what kind of knots are hidden in there!

Cough! Cough!

Well, this cold or whatever it is, is a whopper. It started out normal enough, but my stuffiness has lasted for about four days now, which is unusual. For two day now, I haven't been able to smell or taste. It's not fun to eat now. But one thing I've discovered is that snacking is not appealing when you can't taste! So many times I've wanted to munch on some chips or candy (my favorite Sweet Tarts - Valentine edition) but I've turned away as I remembered I wouldn't be able to taste them anyway.

I'm also coughing a lot now. Poor Steve, he has to hear me hacking upon sleeping and waking. I can't wait for this to all be over.

I've been able to get a lot of crocheting done. I'm working on a scarf for Emily. It's an easy pattern and would be going quickly but I was unlucky enough to find a huge tangle in the middle of the skein. What a mess! I was debating whether to attempt to untangle it or just buy a new one, but for some reason, I felt like I had to win the battle and I've persisted in trying to untangle it. So I untangle some, crochet a little, untangle some more, and so on. I'll have to take some pictures of my progress.

Emily had her Valentine's Day party at preschool today. She was so excited to get cards and candy from her classmates. She showed me everything she got and told me about all the food she ate. She's hoping when she goes to Kindergarten that it will be just as fun. I assured her that it would. Ryan and Kathryn have their class parties on Friday. Steve and I don't usually do anything for Valentine's Day, other than exchange cards and I'm so late with getting that. I know it's going to be slim pickings among the available cards, but you never know.

I think I'd better end now. I'm coughing too much and I need to rub some Vicks on my chest for the night. I think tomorrow will be a better day!

Saturday

I hope everyone is having a good start to their weekend! We are having some rainy weather, which I am enjoying. It's expected to last the whole weekend. The lawn and plants are loving the freshness that only the rain can bring. The air smells fresh, too!

Steve took the kids to do some grocery shopping. He is braver than I am. I wouldn't take all three kids to the store! Although Kathryn is no sweat, when Ryan and Emily are together, you never know how things will go! They always seem to find something to argue about, and then they get to yelling at each other. I am never at a loss for teachable moments. One of my daily prayers is to be able to reach them and teach them about how we are to act with each other. Sometimes it doesn't seem to be getting through, but I don't give up.

While Steve is out doing the hard work, I'm here blogging away! Actually, I stayed home to get a little rest. I seem to be getting the same cold that Steve had. My sore throat is gone, but now my nose is a little stuffy and my body just feels like it's battling a cold.

My plans for the rest of the weekend besides resting when I can:

Work on some crochet projects that I have lined up.
Catch up on laundry.
Make my menu plan for the week.

We'll also try to make it the open house at the kids school. This is mainly for new students, but since Emily will be starting Kindergarten in the fall, we thought she'd like to see what her class would look like. Kathryn and Ryan could also take a peek at next years classrooms, too.

Right now, I'm going to rest and watch the episode of Lost that I missed this week but recorded on the DVR.

Have a nice weekend!

Super Bowl Commercial

I know that the Super Bowl is history, but I wanted to share my favorite commercial for this year.






Then I wanted to share a funny one from the past. I'm not sure if this one was a Super Bowl commercial or not. Do you remember this one?

Super Bowl Sunday Ramblings

We are having a little informal party here for Super Bowl Sunday. I'm really not into football, but Steve and Ryan have a ball talking about the game. We have just finished our pizza and are awaiting the start of the game to begin indulging in our junk food snacks! So, I plan on eating, crocheting, and watching the commercials (that's about the only time I look forward to watching them)!

Yesterday, Kathryn had a basketball game and she got quite a bit of playing time. She hardly ever gets to play, so to see her out there hustling after the ball was fun. Her team lost but they did make a tremendous comeback after being behind by 20 or so points! I think they ended up losing by 9.

I also finally got around to cleaning out Ryan's closet. What a job that was! There were so many stuffed animals! Most of them were Emily's. I had to bag a lot of them and put them in the garage. If I had my druthers, I'd donate them to Goodwill or something. And that reminds me that I need to do that purging type cleaning when no one is home. All the kids want to know what I'm throwing in the trash, what's going in that bag, what am I doing with such and such.
Most of the stuff they don't play with anymore, but all of a sudden they see it and beg me to not get rid of it!

I don't want them to grow up being a pack rat. I've been like that and it's only within the last couple of years that I've learned to let go of so much. It is so easy for me to accumulate clutter. I used to save so much memorabilia type things, remembrances of this event or that one, but the thing is, it's just stuff that stays packed away. It's not like I have it sitting out to remember it. Just accumulated clutter. I have saved a few things, but I find it much more freeing to let go of a lot.

For me, letting go of clutter is like peeling an onion. I go through a lot of things, trash some, and save some. The next time I go through a box or something, I see the same item, then this time decide that it is something I can let go of. I try to also keep in mind that some things I think are worth saving will not be something my kids will want went I'm long gone. Maybe some things will have a memory associated with their past and they'll want to save, but most of it will be junk to them. I'll spare them the task of having to go through all my stuff.

I'm finally finishing up season two of The Waltons. I'm enjoying the episodes so much. The story lines are good and I just love watching Olivia and Grandma tending to their duties. And Olivia always shows such gracious hospitality. The family was in the midst of the Great Depression, yet they always welcomed the unexpected guest with an extra plate at the table or a place to stay for the night. They remind me of my mother. She's always tended to her duties without grumbling and showed gracious hospitality. They give me inspiration when I find myself grumbling and being a little lazy in my duties.

Before I start watching season three, I have to watch a few horror/suspense movies that are in my queue. I actually like these kind of movies, as long as they are not too bloody or violent. I like the psychological thrillers, especially any that have a telephone involved, like getting weird phone calls or something. No one else likes to watch these (meaning Steve since the kids can't watch), so I have to watch them at night - yikes- and Steve is not there to tell me what's happening while I have my eyes hidden behind my hands!

Enough ramblings for now. The party will be starting shortly!