And....We're Off!

Had to share Jim Nabors singing, "Back Home Again in Indiana" - I'm not exactly an Indy 500 fan, but you have to love Jim Nabors (Gomer Pyle!).

I'm leaving in the morning with my kids to visit grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends in Indiana.

My internet access will be extremely limited, so I'm suspecting that I won't post again until we get back.

I've loaded up my carry-on bags with Dum Dum's, fruit chews, Teddy Grahams, gold fish, new book, new movie, crayons, coloring book, diapers, sippy cups, wipees, band-aids, binkies, stuffed blue puppy, pink teddy bear, favorite blanket and Advil for me baby!

And, just because I absolutely love John Denver.........Back Home Again.

It'll feel good to get back home again to Indiana, and I know it'll feel good to get back home again to Texas! See y'all!

Sewing for My Boy - Jon Jon's

I love little boys in Jon Jon's. I made several pairs for my boy last summer, when he was just turning 1. I figure I've got one more year for him to wear them before my husband starts putting his foot down and saying that they aren't appropriate anymore.

So, I made this pair this past week. Thought they turned out cute. Would be perfect for the 4th festivities - nice and cool too. But - seems my boy has an opinion of his own. He pitched a huge fit over them. It took two of us to get him in them - but we succeeded at last. This was the best picture I could get because he was so upset. They're in the wash now - not sure if I'll ever get them on his body again.

I used McCall's 2033 pattern http://http//www.mccallpattern.com/item/M2033.htm - SUPER EASY!

Aprons for Birthday Gifts

We recently attended a little girl's 6th birthday party. My daughter decided the day before that she'd like to give her friend an apron for a gift. This is what I came up with the night before - we gave it with a package of sugar cookie dough - it really did make a cute gift if I may say so myself!

Old Linens become Adorable Baby Gifts

Just wanted to share this idea for using your old linens. Remember to look for linens that have holes or stains. You can usually buy them for quite a bit less, and you don't have the guilt factor of cutting up something that is perfectly usable on it's own. Just cut around the hole or stain. I also have a fabulous "recipe" for getting ugly stuff out of linens. If you're interested, just let me know and I'll post it sometime. Of course, good old Texas sunshine does a wonderful job getting yellow spots out any time.
I created these for a customer of mine on Etsy - a little taggie blanket and a burp clothe and/or changing pad. I love using bits and pieces of chenille for baby items because they are so soft.

Happy Little T-shirts for Boys

We attended an adorable little 2 year old birthday party Sunday evening. My kids indulged in plenty of chips, hot dogs, (not potato salad because it had a small snippit of green from the pickle relish visible underneath all of the mayonaise and mustard- horror of all horrors!), candy from the donkey pinata (that's what we do in Texas), all the juice boxes a little child could want, and of course cake and ice cream (Blue Belle homemade vanilla, of course). I wanted to share with you all these t-shirts that I made as gifts. You too can do this!
One of these days I'll do a tutorial to take you through step by step, but in this case I had to hurry to get them done. Gee, so hard to believe that I was rushing at the last minute, huh????

Basically, you just draw the image you want onto Wonder Under. Then cut out the shapes, iron them onto your fabric, then iron onto your t-shirt. I also stitich around each shape and then embellish with other things like ribbon or buttons.

I'll take the credit for the monkey design, but I can't take the credit for the monster. I saw him on a site on Etsy (http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=36690 ) and decided that I could make one of my own. I'm planning to do another monkey for my little primate. I'm also going to make him a Choo Choo train for his birthday coming up soon.

Hard to believe that boy will be 2 soon. He's such a mess. Today he was playing "hop hop" while sitting on my lap and "Hop Hopped" up on my chin with his hard head. Yes, I bit my tonque in the process. The taste of blood in your mouth is ever so nice first thing in the morning with my coffee.

Headed to the Great LaPorte County Fair! and some great apron tutorials

I'm taking the kiddos to Indiana for 2 1/2 weeks in July. This is where I grew up and visiting during the county fair is the best way to see the most amount of people in such a short time. My summers revolved around 4-H projects, riding my horse, and getting ready for the fair. I'm excited to share this with my kids, and also to show them off a bit!

The downside to all of this, is that I'll have to endure the 2.5 hour flight with my almost 2 year old. "Lord, please bless the poor souls sitting next to me on that flight. Please give them (as well as myself) all the patience you can muster. Amen"

Every girl that goes to the fair needs a new pair of boots. So we drove out to the largest western store I've ever been to and bought her some. I told her that I wanted her to wear them until they had holes in the bottom (little kids boots aren't cheap!). I feel guilty for spending that on myself. Oh well, I'll wear my $5 flip flops while my girl looks adorable in her new pink boots. That's the way it should be.

So here's a picture of my little gypsy girl (the hair was braided for church - but as you can see, that quickly came out the second we walked in the door).

I wish I could give her a pony to ride like I had when I was little. But, ponies require more than a subdivision lot. Guess I have a lot more appreciation for what my parents gave me, now that I have children of my own. Guess that's the way it's supposed to be. "Thank you Lord for giving me the blessing of children. Amen"

Oh! and I am happy to see that my tutorial was placed on this list: http://http//tipnut.com/free-apron-patterns-tutorials/It a GREAT list of free apron patterns as well as other stuff. I haven't had a chance to check it out completely yet, but sure looks like fun.I'm happy to say that my inspiration apron will be going to a new home - to Jan in Michigan. Thanks Jan!

We also celebrated hubby's 35th birthday on Tuesday. Happy Birthday Honey - you're a great Dad and wonderful husband.

Little Bird Houses and Challenges Raising Kids

We had our craft club night last week and Susan found the cutest project. We took these wooden bird houses and covered them in pretty paper, applied ribbon, other buttons, etc and the cutest little birds. My boy saw mine sitting on the counter next morning and kept saying "quack, quack"!. Guess mine resembles a duck. We had lots of fun though - I got home at midnight! Wow - when I called my hubby on the way home, I thought it was 10:30, not 11:30pm! Gotta love girlfriends, wine, fun giggles, and oh yes, crafts :)

Not much blogging lately - we've been so busy this week with vacation bible school. I'm volunteering this year and both kiddos have a class. Little boy is loving it, since this is his first time in a really structured classroom for any length of time. They are both whipped in the afternoons, which I thought would be a good thing (think, looonnnggg naps!) But..

Both of them have been sooooo whiney and crabby. Little boy is into "MINE", for EVERYTHING. It's driving me crazy. When my girl was little we didn't deal with that so much because she was it, she didn't have to share with anyone. Also, her personality didn't really lend itself to that problem. She's much more passive, especially in social situations.

Now, when it's just us at home - she gives us a run for our money. I'm thinking kindergarten next year will bring it's own trials and tribulations. Influence from other kids will be interesting. We've already had it out this morning over her hairdo and outfit.

Well, gotta run and corral 23 kindergarteners this morning! (with the help of 2 friends, thankfully!)