Spring Break/Easter Celebration

Another no-pic entry, but I do have a good excuse. You see, I'm about two hours away from home in Wedowee, AL. Why would anyone want to go to some town where there isn't even one traffic light you ask? Well, for one thing, that's where my folks live. For another, there is a fantastic lake (huge, gorgeous and relatively deserted - hehe, except for my relatives that is) that is so beautiful to visit and to top it off, no awful Atlanta traffic! It's Spring break lumped together with Easter. I can't wait til school's back in! Then there would only be one offspring to keep up with.

That's the good news. You'll love the bad news that happened to me the night before we left town.

Okay, you already know from previous posts that we're pinching pennies, right? Normally I go to a fancy shmancy hair place to get my hair cut and colored. This place charges ungodly money for a cut ($55 big ones) and worse for color. I decided to save a buck or two and do it myself. I use to color my hair all the time, several years ago. So, off I went and bought a box of color. Revlon's ColorSilk in Ultra Light Ash Blonde. I'm a dirty dishwater blonde naturally. Huge mistake. From my ears down the hair was the right color, up top? Apricot. Lovely, absofrigginlutely lovely. TIP #3328: You should also never ever color your hair at night. The lighting makes things look better than they are in the day time. Needless to say, the next day I proceeded to go back to Target and, with my eyes pointed down so's not to make eye contact with anyone, went and got what I should've gotten in the first place, L'oreal hair color.

The color was great, the fried split ends, not so great. So, today I made a trip to a different hair dresser and had those trimmed. It's been a hell of a Spring Break for this mom. It's always something with me, ain't it?

While here in the huge metropolis of Wedowee, AL (population 102 or so), I found out my little nephew was in the hospital back in Hotlanta. He's home now and just fine. Then my eldest has a combination of cold/allergy and has coughed his head off for the past three days. Oh, and the littlest got a fat lip from falling down on some toys. I also caught him climbing the staircase at my folk's McMansion. He was halfway up and couldn't figure out how to get up or down. I don't recommend stair climbing as an Olympic sport when you're only 15 months old.

On an upbeat note, everyone still has all their teeth (huge plus in the deep south) and their health is getting better and my dh finally saw a little sunlight at the end of the long dark tunnel he's been working through lately.

The best thing though, the Easter Bunny comes tomorrow night. Yippee! Can't wait to see the kid's faces and to celebrate Christ's resurrection! Life is pretty good over all, especially now that my hair is back to normal. :)

Happy Easter Everyone!

WIPs, Pineapples and partners in crime

Here's my Snakes and Ladders WIP. Doesn't look like much yet, but it's coming along. I love the way the yarn is showing off the pattern. It's not nearly as day-glo-wy in person, much more muted. Gotta love dem digital cameras.


A couple of days ago, I was jonesing for some pineapple upside down cake. I got out the mix, the can of pineapple and the cookbook and then let it sit on the counter for a few days to stew in its own non-existent juices. Well, I finally decided that today was the day. The day I would conquer this cake. And here it is in all its glory. Hopefully I won't poison anyone. My eldest will be safe though. You can't get him to touch sweets, except for the occasional piece of chocolate. He's so weird.Now his brother on the other hand, makes a fine partner in crime. I know he'll be glad to help us get rid of this masterpiece.

They're so cute when they're asleep, aren't they?

Slow going around here. Nothing seems to be going my way.

Started my new knitting project, about 6 times. After the 5th time of frogging the single ply, lace-weight rayon yarn, I chunked it. Not the pattern, just switched to a new yarn. I'm working on the Snakes and Ladders Stole from Katie Knits. I'll go back to the original yarn after I've got a little more lace experience under my belt. maybe. So, on to a different set of needles and yarn!

I'm also a bit disappointed in the way my ebay store is going. Granted, I only have a few items as of yet up there and none are hand-crafted, but why is no-one going for my stuff already? I mean, one of these items is from Pottery Barn Kids. Who doesn't like their stuff? I'm actually asking a reasonable price for my items and not charging handling fees. I'd love some advice if anyone has any.

An occasional hello, shout-out or comment or two from some folks visiting here would be greatly appreciated as well! I'm feeling lonely in blogland! :)

Get the camera out of my face and my sunbeam. Like now or else.

See how I'm treated around here? Sunbeams and Blue's Clues (with the original Steve) are so much more important than Mom.

By the way, I got the part that I wanted in the Broadway show and it was great! I loved every second of it.

couple of FO's and a score!

Several things to mention today. I have a couple of FO's and a score!

First, the score:


I found a mink stole/capelet at an estate sale this weekend and got it for $14 bucks. It needs a little tlc, so I'll have to get it to someone who specializes in fur garments. Now, I wouldn't go out and buy a brand new fur and don't necessarily condone the killing of animals for the pelts, but I figure that it's already dead and sewn and for $14 bucks, I'm not passing it up.

Now, the FO's:



This knitted summer tank is now in the blocking stage. Yeah me! It's a bit tighter than I wanted it to be. We'll hope that it stretches since it's cotton. Big thanks to everyone at Crafster for holding my hand through this one. I've already got a new project planned, but I'll have to keep it under wraps for a while since it's to be a gift. Just pray it gets done in time.





Finished a sundress! This pic absolutely doesn't do it justice. I did discover during this process that I am a terrible seamstress. Patterns are not my friend. My mom got several long distance calls during this ordeal. Not that I won't sew again, but it was a frustrating process. I hate being shaped like a pear!


We could use a little prayer here for our family. My husband is having a difficult time with work (mortgage broker) and there's not a whole lot of money coming in and we have some big bills. We're about as stress as we can be at the moment and my husband is hurting in the self-confidence department. Any prayer is much appreciated!

Ebay, Sundresses and Widgets

Well, I started an Ebay store today. We'll see how things go. I've only got about 5 things listed so far and it's taken me all day to get that done. Who says that stay at home moms have tons of time on their hands? I named my store SasShea, just thought it'd be a fun play on my name and the word sashay. I'm such a dork.

I started on a new sundress last night. I desperately need some new clothes that can be worn to church and I have a tight budget. So, me and the cat started cutting up cloth last night. This took forever too. I'm not an experienced sewer and I ended up triple checking everthing I did. Not to mention the help that I had from the cat. Tissue paper and loose pins are very enticing, trust me on this. Tonight, if I can manage to get everyone in bed on time, I'll start sewing that puppy together.

Nothing gets done around here without Supervisor Widget being on top of things!

Recipe the Name of the Lord

Ok, this is a no picture post. I've been really busy lately and haven't had time to take any. That being said, I had a great time Sunday morning with the Cherub Choir (ages 4-6) that I help teach at our church. They had to sing in front of the congregation and had been practicing their song for several weeks. The song was "Blessed be the Name of the Lord." A mom came up later and told me that her son had been singing the song at home, but she couldn't understand why her son was singing "Recipe the Name of the Lord" until she actually heard us sing that morning. Kids crack me up, they really do. You never know what one is going to say or do. What did I do for entertainment before I had kids and started working with them?

I can die happy now

I can die happy now. Captain Kangaroo is on YouTube.

where's my other 5%?

Could someone please tell me where my other 5% went? A whole 5% of my speech pattern just went missing!

Your Linguistic Profile:

50% Dixie

45% General American English

0% Midwestern

0% Upper Midwestern

0% Yankee

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

wheels, detergent and broadway

Wanna see something cute? This past weekend was the World of Wheels in Atlanta. My older son is a Hot Wheels Acceleracers/World Race fanatic. The Deora II was there and he had to go see it, in his World Race Costume that Santa brought this past Christmas. The people walking around loved it and we got some cute pics of him in it in front of the car of his dreams.

World's best race car driver wannabe.

I promised to let you know how my laundry detergent turned out didn't I? It turned out super and it gelled perfectly. If you are looking for something that makes lots of suds, don't bother with this recipe. Nary a bubble here folks. Works great though. I haven't yet tried it with anything that is incredibly grimy.

Everybody keep their fingers crossed for me! I'm in a broadway medley production (very toned down and laid back, but still..) and I auditioned for a part that I want really bad. We'll see what happens.

Better life through crafting. i think.

My friends just think I'm a nut, my family knows it.

My husband called me a chemist today. I prefer to be called a crafter. See, a chemist knows what he is doing as he experiments. A crafter does the experiment and hopes for the best. What started this was that I decided to try and make my own laundry detergent today. I found this on a frugal site (can't remember which) and thought it looked like fun. Here's what I used: 1/6th of a bar of fels naptha soap, 1/4 cup washing (not baking) soda, 1/4 cup borax. You need to grate the fels naptha soap - it practically grates itself when you use a serrated edge knife. Then add this to 3 cups of water. Cook this on low heat (if it boils, you get soap suds. I know cause i did it. told you I was a crafter.) Once the soap is dissolved in the water, add the soda and borax. Stir until mix thickens. Remove from heat. In a 1/2 gallon container, put in 2 cups hot water and add mixture to it. Stir or shake (depends on your container) and mix well. Fill up rest of the container with hot water and re-mix. Put the container away for 24 hours or until thick. Use 1/2 cup of the mix in every wash load. Haven't tried it yet. Mines still in the 24 hour sitting stage, I'll give an update later.

kinda looks like cheese, don't it?

Ok, I'll admit it. I jumped onto the "no-knead bread" bandwagon. You know what? It came out beautiful and yummy, if a bit flat. Next time, I will make it in a smaller container so it'll be taller. I used less water and added more salt due to other posts that I've read on the net about this subject.

mmmmmmmmmm!

Here's my WIP: It's the ballet camisole from Magknits. It's about halfway finished. Yeah! It takes me forever to finish a project. I only get a few minutes to work on this each day and I'm a very sllllooooowwwww knitter. Course, it is only my 2nd sweater and third knitting project ever, so at least I have some excuse. (By the way, it's never good to argue with a 1 year old. You'd think that I'd learn. He saw the ball of yarn with this project and yelled out "Bah!". I told him, no, that's not a ball, it's yarn. His response? "Bah!" Then he got mad and demanded the "Bah!", which turned into a temper tantrum over the "Bah!". So, I had to put the whole thing away and out of his eyesight. It just doesn't pay to argue.)

Here's one of my other excuses, the other is at school:

Don't you wish you had hair this fabulous?

Lil' Lambs Closet Children's Consignment Sale

I urge every Mom in the Atlanta, GA area to come to the Lil' Lambs Closest Children's Consignment Sale. This is a wonderful sale that happens twice a year, in March and September. I know that I would not have been able to keep my children clothed as well as they are without it. There are tons of clothes, toys and all child related equipment up for grabs at amazing prices here. Everything is checked to make sure there are no stains or tears on the clothes and that all toys or equipment sold will work. And, to top it off, all of the proceeds goes to charity. Please check out their website for more details!

If you don't have a sale like this in your area, please contact the great people who work for this sale and find out how to start one. I can't rave enough about this sale.

Bummed

I'm a bit bummed. I have an audition tomorrow for a broadway type medley show and I've managed to catch a cold from my kids. So now I'm a major snot machine to go along with the other two snot machines roaming around the house. I'm going to shoot my husband if he doesn't catch it too. misery loves company.

I have a sore throat from the post nasal drip and I'm worried that I won't have a voice for the audition. The last few auditions that I've been too, I've either managed to catch a cold or I had allergies so bad that I ended up with the same problems.

I hate auditions. Put me in front of a crowd and I'm fine, I absolutely love the stage; but you put me in front of just a couple of people and I get incredibly nervous. Wish me luck tomorrow! I think I'm going to need it.

Simple easy nursery

I was discussing decorating nurseries with a friend recently and we were talking about how difficult it is to find accessories for themes that are not as "popular." For my second son's nursery, I wanted to go with a cowboy theme. Do you know how difficult it is to find cowboy stuff for a child's nursery?

This is how I solved my problems. Please remember that you can use these ideas for other themes besides cowboys.

First, the no-sew window treatments. I was incredibly short on a budget. So I went with bandanas. At places like HobbyLobby or Michaels or Joann's you can find a large selection of bandanas. Not just country themed ones either, you can find them with flames, patriotic flags, pink ones with dolls, the sky's the limit. Once you have the bandanas, just fold them over a simple, cheap curtain rod where the point hangs down. I had several to use and just overlapped them a little so that it brought more color and interest to my makeshift valance. I pinned the front and back of the points together towards the tip to keep them from waving around so much when the ceiling fan was on. Here's the result:

Next was artwork for above the crib: Draw/Paint/Sketch it yourself, or better yet, have another child do it. Whether you have another child already to draw it for you or cousins, nieces, nephews or even just a child down the street, your new baby will adore artwork created by these little artists. Have them do their artwork on and 8 x 10 piece of paper, mount it on construction paper (remember this is for those of us with no budget) or poster board and frame it. I put mine in the acrylic box type of frame and placed them right above the crib. You might want to move them up a bit higher than I've done mine since now my little guy keeps trying to play with them.

Next, you have the little accessories that make the room. Notice the comforter that is hanging over the crib rail? It's a simple quilt with different blue and white squares that leant itself very well to the cowboy them. Keeping your basics simple like this is both inexpensive and will put more emphasis on the accessories that you choose for your room. My oldest son already had a stick horse, so I hung this on the wall as well (with an accompanying cowboy hat of course).

I raided my older son's room once again for cowboy boots and hats to spread around the room. I already had a cactus (which will have to be removed soon I'm sure, though he hasn't noticed it yet) so that went into the room as well. At a flea market I found a horse shoe coat rack/hanger for a couple of dollars and on ebay for a mere $11 bucks I got a cute 1950s lamp. And the rocking horse that you see was found on sale for $20 marked down from $100.
Anyone can do something like this. Flea markets, thrift stores, antique stores or even an older child's bedroom can be searched for the perfect accouterments to your new baby's nursery. And the furniture doesn't have to be all baby stuff either. Notice the above furniture? That was my grandparents. It works great with the old west theme too although the above pic doesn't do it justice.

If you keep it simple, this will be a breeze. Pick your theme, a few simple colors, a few pieces of artwork and a simple but cute set of bedding and you will be good to go, I promise!

It's been a while...

Yes, it's been forever since I've posted anything. But, lest you think that I've been idle, here's a little of what I've been up to:

To combat being cold, I made a "Snuglet". It's a blanket that you wear over you that has sleeves in it so that you can be warm and still have your hands free. I used the leftover fleece to make draft stoppers for our doors. It's made a huge difference in the temperature of our house.

I also made a ton of reindeer ornaments. I would highly recommend these at Christmas if you work with preschoolers or early elementary age children. I had about 70 kids make these in an hour. It was pretty awesome and cheap too! I hit a thrift store, bought three puzzles (100 piece size) and spray painted them brown. The whole project, including the spray paint, tiny red pompoms, small googly eyes, yarn and puzzles was around seven dollars. I used the leftovers that I had and made about twenty more for my son's kindergarten class and still had more leftover. You can get about 100 ornaments made for around $7.00 or less. You can get the directions on how to make these here. Personally, these are cuter without the legs and much easier on everyone if you leave them off. If you're in a hurry and are using regular school glue, the pieces tend to slide off. If you add the legs to the ornament, that's just more pieces to have fall off and you'll end up with some really upset children.

We've dealt with a bout of the flu with our oldest child. He had to miss his class party, so I went for him and took the ornaments with me and got his goody bag and gifts from classmates.

During this time, I managed to finish my youngest son's sweater! The first sweater that I've ever knitted! Kinda proud of myself, since this is only my second ever knitting project. Here's a pic of the little guy modeling it:

We also made it through his first birthday party. He was born on New Year's Eve, so we held his party in the evening and combined it with a New Year's party. We called it "Reece's New Year Jammy Jam" and asked that everyone bring their children in their pjs so we could put the kids to bed and the adults could ring in the New Year. It was pretty fun. Here's the cake that I made (he's really into Blue's Clues) and a pic of him and his brother with the presents.

two simple rants

Today, I want to express my dissatisfaction with two simple rants.

First, Why the hell does Wal-Mart and Sam's Club have the idiots working the door check your grocery cart purchases as you are leaving? Is it truly productive to have said idiots to barely glance at your receipt, then barely glance at your cart, then mark the receipt with a highlighter? Do the companies really expect to catch someone stealing? How? Everything is bagged or boxed up and buried under all the other bags/boxes. I can understand having the people at the door to mark returns. That actually makes sense, but not to check your cart as you leave. Treating people as criminals as they leave from purchasing stuff at your store is really a slap in the face to your customers.

This leads me to my second rant. This one about the Methamphetamine Precursor Control Act. WTF was Congress thinking? This is not going to slow down the meth makers and dealers for one second. It is however, going to punish me and other law abiding citizens like me. I am now in a national database (which is scary in itself) and I am allowed to only buy a certain amount at a time. This is a huge inconvience and waiting in line to get my Claritin-D is a waste of time. I can't tell you how aggrevated I am by this. I have to buy for two people at a time, me and my husband, since I am the one that does all the shopping while he works. Now in order for us to both get the amount of medication that we need, we have to tag-team purchase the Claritin-D and he has to go out of his way for it. Also, if my two children have colds and I want to get effective medication for them, it is possible that I won't be able to get this due to my purchasing of the allergy medication due to it having the same ingredients. The meth. makers/dealers can make meth out of other things, not just the main ingredient in Claritin-D and Sudafed. Why are we being punished?

Well, I don't feel better, but it's now off my chest. I hope the idiots at Wal-Mart and the idiots in Washington D.C. read this.

face recognition software

Found a great site called My Heritage that has face recognition software. You upload a picture and they tell you who you most look like. I did this with a photo of my mom and these were the results:

While cruising around the craftster website, I found a great jewelry artist who has some fantastic stuff. I've already ordered two of her necklaces and my order more for Christmas gifts. I like the long bead ones. This chick is way talented and for the amount of time and effort she has to put into making these lovely pieces of glass, her prices are fairly reasonable.

Birthday Party Madness

Well, we survived my older son's 6th birthday party. It was pretty awesome actually. We went with a Rocket Ship theme. Most of the party was held in the backyard due to the activities. We had water bottle rockets, foot launched rockets and the galaxy foam gliders from Oriental Trading.

I made a Space Ship Cake from Familyfun.com also. One thing that I would recommend to all those folks who decide to make this and use real sparklers instead of sparkler candles is to light them outside. I managed to fill our house with smoke and our guests thought I was slightly crazy, but it made a cool looking cake!