7 Random Tidbits to Start the Weekend

1)  Today, I picked up the 24 pounds of canning peaches that I ordered last month through our local grocer.  Do I have a single solid plan of what to do with them?  Nope.  I plan to...can them..., in some way, shape, or form.

2)  We were generously given some peafowl last week.  One peacock(who seems to have vacated the premises) and a peahen with a few peachicks.  I like them.  A lot.

3)  The weather here has been very fall-ish and lovely.  Cool rainy days that smell sooo good and lovely crisp sunny days, too.

4)  I love closing up my chicken coop after dark when it's rainy because the night crawlers are all out doing their night crawler thing.  I just walk around pointing my flashlight at the ground and watching them vwoop back into their holes. 

5)  My sweet Mattie dog was bitten by a rattlesnake last weekend.  She was very swollen and sad, but is much improved now, thank heavens.

6)  I am ready for some football!

7)  Campfires are good for the soul.  A few s'mores don't hurt, either.

top: me, A, and C ~ the fire pit builders!

bottom: Mr. M, my sis Jen, C, me, and A

Motivation Monday

This weekend, I worked on cleaning out my craft room so I could actually, well, craft in it a little.  It seems that we've been so busy lately.  It's calving season, the kids have all been sick a few times, especially Baby T, who's getting over a sinus infection.  Our town's Youth Center just had a big fundraiser to benefit the community swimming pool and I was on one of the planning committees.  My mother-in-law has been out of town, meaning that all trips out of the house are with 3 little ones in tow.  Oh boy, am I missing her!  It is such a luxury to have her nearby to watch a child or two when I need to run errands or just get some things done. 

Anyway, we've been so busy that I've gotten into a bit of a rut.  I talked to all of my sisters this weekend and I think I used the word "weary" to describe myself, oh, about 8 times.  Yikes.  It's time for an action plan!  Remember, I'm a list lover, so I'm going to make myself a few lists and check back in every Monday to update you all on the progress.

This is my fabric stash at this moment.  I finally pressed and folded some fabrics that I had bought and washed a at least a month ago.  Relief!  Now, I need to turn these beautiful, tidy little rectangles into things that make me happy.

I also cut out the ivory squares yesterday to use with the floral charm pack in my very first quilt.  I'm excited for this one.

In my never ending attempt to improve my photo skills I drug out our much beleaguered tripod.  Someone (me) let one or more of our children play with it at one(some) point(s) and now it needs a little tlc, or at least a couple screws.

Unassuming pieces of red and black fabric awaiting their transformation into a cape for a dashing little superhero. 

A whole pile of burp rags just begging for a little top-stitching.

And, a pile of knee socks needs to turn into a pile of legwarmers for my wearer of the dresses.

So, now you at least have an idea of the sewing projects.  I'll share more details as I complete them.  Here are the lists.  I have so many more project lists floating around more in my head, but they haven't solidified into anything I'm capable of typing out yet, so I'll share them as they evolve.

Works In Progress(WIP) in random order

birthday gift for my baby sister

leg warmers

burp rags

superhero cape

quilt

checkbook covers and pouches

baby shoe patterns

mending pile

drawstring bags for helmets

Home Decor

do something about the soffit over the kitchen sink

paint the living room trim

paint the porch/laundry room

paint the upstairs hallway

finish the photo collage frames and hang

paint the dresser in the living room

refinish our bedside tables

hang up the headboard

Things I Need to do to Make Life Easier (not a very short and catchy title, but at least it's vague;))

work with Baby T for an earlier bedtime

wake up before the rest of the family

eat healthy, regular meals

exercise

meal plan

Ok, so I'm off to work on these things.  I'll check back in and re-visit the lists on Mondays.  And probably add to them.  But, I'll also check things off, and that's what this is all about.

Weekend Plans

Ten things I'm doing this weekend, in no particular order:

1. Sewing.  I have a few fun projects waiting to be done.
2. Mopping.  I actually like to mop, it's just hard to find time.
3. Playing with my kids.  On the floor.  None of that "in a minute" baloney, either.
4. Blowing a bunch of eggs.
5. Preparing to dye eggs.  We're using homemade dyes this year and I'm gonna need to either prep before involving the kids or break out the booze, so I'll prep.
6. Playing Super Mario Bros. on the Wii.  That was my birthday gift from the kids and it's a lot of fun to play together.  Might be doing a lot of this since the Mr. has a badly sprained ankle and is camped on the couch.
7. Probably absorbing some basketball via osmosis.
8. Soaking up the sun.
9. Reviving my neglected sourdough starter so I can do some baking.
10. Battering and freezing a batch of chicken fried steaks.  Yum.

I'll be doing a lot of reveling in this, too.  Smushing and squeezing and kissing.

A Surprise Birthday Tea Party

Sounds fancy, huh?

Our now 4 year old has a bit of an obsession with tea parties.  Every time we come home from somewhere she asks, "Is that the tea party?" about our house.  Then, when we go inside, I'm supposed to say, "Oh, thank you for coming to my tea party, I'm so glad you could make it!"  So, as her birthday approached it was obvious that she needed a tea party.  And, since we've been playing a lot of "you jump out, then I'll jump out, and you yell SURPRISE!" lately, it clearly needed to be a surprise tea party.

I found these darling invitations online, but, to tell ya the truth, didn't order them in time.  When I invited everyone I suggested little-girl-tea party-fashions and my very obliging guests didn't disappoint.

photo borrowed from my older sister, Jennifer

After the big surprise, I took the birthday girl up to her room to change into a party dress and hat.  She was a little shell-shocked, so that also let her decompress a little and get into a party mood.

My sisters were generous enough to pick up some teacup and saucer sets from thrift stores and I put out the fancy serving dishes and silver.  I have a set of demitasse cups and saucers from a garage sale that the kids used.  I loved the shabby-fancy look of all the mismatched sets.  And, I've really been enjoying drinking my coffee out of a different pretty cup every day.  I placed paper doilies on the saucers to make it a little fancier, too.

Our menu was:

• assorted teas (of course!) with lemon, milk, and sugar cubes
• strawberry lemonade and coffee
• chicken salad tea sandwiches
• cream puffs
• fresh fruit
• relish tray
• strawberry shortcake for the cake

Other tea party standbys that I considered were: scones, crumpets, assorted cookies, cheese and crackers, and soup.  I also considered different varieties of tea sandwiches like flavored cream cheese, egg salad, and cucumber.  And, wouldn't it be fun to use pb&j's or fluffernutters cut up all fancy-like?

The next day, my big girl told me it was a good tea party and asked if we could do it again.  I declare that success!

Ski Trip!

This is a picture of the first time we took our big girl skiing two years ago.  We all love to ski.  When she got the winning side of the wishbone on Thanksgiving her wish was to go skiing.  We went a few weeks ago, and again on Wednesday.  But I forgot my camera, hence the old pic!

For the first time we got her a lesson.  And, after a one hour lesson, our not quite four year old skied completely on her own for the first time.  Not just the bunny hill, either, but the actual ski runs.  It was awesome and the best time I have ever had skiing.

We took our big guy, too, and he loves it.  And, we took my awesome mother-in-law who kindly held the baby in the lodge so we could all ski.  I am so looking forward to the day when Hubby and I are skiing down the slopes surrounded by a swarm of our skiing children. 

I'm sharing this with you for two reasons.  The first is that I'm super proud, of course, and skiing is one of our favorite family activities. 

The other is that I've been meaning to share another quickie project with you, but the whole packing and unpacking that is a part of taking a 3 year old, 2 year old, and 5 month old out for the day, not to mention all the necessities needed for a day of skiing, has thrown my schedule off.  So, don't worry (I know you were distraught!), I'll be showing you something later today or tomorrow.

For now, though, what are your favorite family activities?