Project #3 75%, Project #4 100%

I finished my snack packs for my lunch snacks, although I cut out a lot of extras that still need to be sewn.  I would like to have some in my diaper bag for snacks and also to carry tissues.  Here's a look at the way they turned out.  You can wipe them clean or throw them in the laundry.  The inside is lined with none other than a ziplock baggy which I'm told should launder just fine (I'm assuming this means in the washing machine only, not the dryer).

Then there is the crayon pouch.  SUPER EASY!  If you are a beginning sewer, this project is for you. I'm thinking about whipping up another for a Christmas present and then buying an activity book to go with it.  This costed me absolutely nothing as I had fabric scraps and ribbon already on hand.  Takes very little fabric.  Sorry the first pic isn't facing the right way.  For some reason it kept flipping the pic when I downloaded it.  Very frustrating.  Anyhoo....up next is my sandwhich wraps then perhaps a utensil holder. Currently, I'm compiling a list of fun, easy stuff to do for Christmas presents.

Just sharing.

I have been venturing into the wide world of craft blogs.  I know many of my readers (all 6 or 7 of you, but I like to pretend there are more:) love crafting.  This one I ran into, maybe you've seen it, I had to share. It has so many tutorials on making all kinds of crafty things and they are cute, cute, cute!  So if you are inspired, check it out.


http://www.makeit-loveit.com/

I wonder.

Sometimes I wonder what it will be like when the girls are older.  The responsibilities as a mother when they are so young at times can be overwhelming.  The CONSTANT picking up toys.  The CONSTANT cleaning up crumbs off the floor. The constant treating of carpets for spit up, mud from shoes, spills from sippies.  The CONSTANT making and cleaning up snacks.  The CONSTANT changing and washing diapers.  The CONSTANT laundry and stain treating of all those tiny clothes. Watching two other children day in and day out that are not my own only amplifies everything.

I wonder what my house will be like in the next season of life?  Right now it seems to be overtaken by all things baby: highchairs, toys, exersaucers, bottles (granted much of which I have to hang onto because of the daycare), diaper pails, sippies, bibs, wipes, etc. etc.  I think about how much space I will have without all this stuff here.  I am SOOOO thankful I have more storage this time around thanks to an unfinished basement.  And I sheepishly admit at times my mind wanders and thinks maybe this would be easier if I had a bigger house....but then I think that's NUTS!  I have enough to care for and take care of the way it is.  Sure I don't have a pantry and have to store all food in the laundry room.  I have no where to put my kitchen trash, so it also sits in the laundry room.  I do not have a linen closet, so all extra towels sit on a shelf in my clothes closet and all coats are hanging on the wall in the hall.  I digress.

In a sense I know it will be easier....and harder when they are older.  I don't look forward to the teenage hormones and arguments. I don't look forward to the attitudes and laziness that I know can come with a teenager.  BUT....they will be old enough to really help.  They won't be litering the house from one end to another with toys (perhaps socks and shoes).  I can sit down with them and have somewhat adult conversations and reason with them....gulp...I hope.  What an interesting change in life that will be.  I look forward to it even with all the new headaches that it may bring.

As I reflect on now I think that realize that it is all a bit tiresome and overwhelming, but the alternative, NO WAY.  I'll take all the endless diapers, laundry, cleaning, picking up toys anyday.  A life without my children, to me, wouldn't be a happy one.  I am so much more fulfilled.  So today as I step on crumbs that stick to my feet and think to myself, "Ugh!  I need to clean that up....AGAIN,"  I'm going to hold my head up high and remember that this is the life I chose and I would never wish it any differently.   My house is overtaken with children's stuff, the tubs and floors aren't as clean as I'd like for them to be, the cabinets and drawers aren't as organized as I'd like them to be, but none the less...our house is a happy house.  Dare I think I will actually miss these problems one day?  Not because I enjoyed the problems, but because of a happy time in my life that they represented.

Fun around the house

Bren LOVES books!  One day I happened to glance in her room and this is how she had perched herself.  Adorable!

Kadyn really enjoys that reading website.  She asks to play around on it often.  I don't mind it at all.  Anything educational is fine in my book.

These are pics of the girls during our frosty experience that I mentioned in my last post.  As you can see.  They don't mind much that our picnic was a bust as long as the day ended with a nice big cup of ice cream.

These last few pics happened last night.  Bren has really found her legs lately and has been trying her hand at running.  Daddy playing a good game of chase really inspired her to put the pedal to the metal.  I LOVE watching her try to run. It is soooo cute.  She still has the toddler waddle to her strides that kind of causes her to bee bop from side to side at times and almost bite the dust, but it is just so endearing to watch especially when she tries to book it.  This was right before bedtime. Thanks Daddy for getting them all riled up for me just before they should be falling asleep.  Oh well.  Good times anyways.

Picnic flop

I was soooo excited to break in our new lunch bags this weekend.  I originally planned to have lunch by the lake Saturday afternoon, but it was wretched hot and so I rescheduled to supper by the lake.  I had checked the forecast several days back and it was supposed to be clear (big mistake not to check the forecast the day of).  Anyhoo...I packed up my new beauties and we headed out.  It looked a little cloudy on the way there, but I thought perhaps it would just sprinkle a little.  I could handle sprinkles.

The plan was to hit this paved trail that goes alongside the lake and eventually goes by this wonderful picnic area (about a mile up) complete with picnic tables and shelter.  We got maybe a quarter of a mile in, and then the thunder started.  I wheeled the double stroller around and toodled back to the van as fast as my power walking legs could take me.  My thought was to hop in the van and drive down the road a ways to a picnic shelter and go ahead and have our picnic under the canopy of the shelter with a gentle rain falling all around us.  It could still be a nice picnic, right?

Jeff indulges me and my idea of a perfect picnic and does as I ask.  We drive up the road a ways and find that shelter I saw.  It has a sign saying it has been reserved all day, but no one is there.  I thought to myself that we wouldn't be long.  Besides it was raining, were the people really going to show up?  We all get out and get set up at a table under the shelter.  We dig into our PBJs and then a large gust of wind picks up our table cloth and blows it onto Kadyn's head.  My bag that held all the lunch sacks takes off towards the lake and Brennan gets scared and starts to cry.  I decided to give up and eat in the van.  Jeff says he's going to enjoy his picnic and refuses to come in the van. 

After I chase my bag down, I get the girls snapped back into their seats complete with sticky fingers and peanut butter faces.  We resume our eating in the van while Jeff decides maybe it is best to pack up and get back in the van.  Our air conditioning doesn't work right in the van and only one window rolls down, BUT seeing how it was a monsoon outside we could only crack it.  I had to crack my door as well because the heat in the van was UNBEARABLE (we needed circulation)!  So as the rain soaks the inside of of the door, I try to ignore our bad luck and just enjoy what semblance of a picnic we have left while we watch the people who had reserved the shelter show up and actually try to have a picnic in this chaos.

We finish our food.  Jeff decides he hasn't had his fill and wants this picnic to end on a better note so he drives us to the Wendy's drive through and orders himself a cheeseburger and the rest of us a frosty.  We take it home and decide to break out the lawn chairs on our front driveway (the rain had stopped by now).  I sit down and start shoveling bites into Bren's mouth and then....the thunder rolls again.  I look at the girls and declare, "I'm giving up....come on girls let's go inside."  

On a better note, our frosties sure were good from the comfort and shelter of what is called home.

So now that we've had the picnic from h*!*, maybe the rest of our picnics this summer will be peachy keen.  We can only hope!

The bead jar and the spanking debate

What you are looking at folks is an idea I stole from a m agazine.  It was my feeble attempt to put an end to bedtime battles in a positive manner.  Did it work?  The first night was great.  The second night not so much.  The third night, I threatened a spanken (I haven't spanked Kadyn in almost a year).  I was desperate.  I hate spanking.  I was almost angry that I used the threat, but I was at my witts end with her.  I think all the whining, complaining, lack of appreciation for me helping out (I had picked up 3/4 of the toys for her earlier in the night), the dilly dallying around and getting distracted from picking up her toys, and then outright lying to me just took me about as far as I was willing to go that night.  I had a firm talk with her, tears were shed, and we agreed that we would start fresh the next night.  I made her very aware of the firm consequence that awaited her if she made the same bad decisions she had made that awful night.  It worked.  Tonight was glorious.  No complaining, whining, a lot of "thankyous" for my help, and the room was picked up in decent time (granted she was distracted a few times).  I am soooo relieved tonight didn't end in a spanking.  Honestly, I would be a very happy woman if I never have to make that threat again.

I hesitate even making this post as I know there are many people out there that are adamently against spanking.  I do have a stance on it, but I won't get in to all of that.  For me, however, I will say I made a decision a year ago try to avoid doing it at all costs.  I'm a little disappointed in myself for letting last night get to that threat; I was angry and I was tired.  I'm glad it worked, but...I hope I don't have to do that again.  This past year I had made a decision that I was not going to spank anymore because I felt as though it was always a decision I made based on my emotions, rather than a learning experience for my child.  I didn't feel I was in the proper mind to use it, and therefore it wasn't as effective and not fair at all for my child.  I don't want my child to walk away from the experience thinking, "When Mommy is angry, she spanks."  Rather, if used properly, she should be walking away from the experience thinking, "I made a bad choice.  I do not want to do that again." 

Honestly, I'm surprised I've made it an entire year without using it.  I would be a happy woman if I never have to make that threat or spank ever again.  I just pray that I can control my emotions enough to stick to that commitment.  I think what it's going to take is a lot of prayers that I can will myself to keep my cool, that my child will make good choices, and be respectful of me.

Part of me wishes that threat wouldn't have worked.  Not so that I could have spanked her, for heaven's sake.  But rather so that I'm not tempted to make the threat again.  Ugh!


On a different note (in case you were wondering about that jar), basically Kadyn has a list of chores that she is expected to do everyday which consist of the following:

-brush your teeth and hair
-make your bed
-use the bathroom
-get dressed
-pick up your toys at the end of the night

Then she has a list of optional chores that she can do for extra credit:

-clear the table (basically put the dishes on the counter by the sink)
-help Mama with the babies

There is a value assigned to each chore.  They are all printed on a list with pictures to help her read them.  For example, picking up toys earns her 3 pretty beads.  If she behaves badly I have the right to take some beads from her jar.  When her jar is full, she gets to pick out a movie at the movie store or go get an ice cream cone with Mama and Dada.  She seems to like the idea and we are sticking to it.....just wish it was the magic cure I was hoping for to end the toy battle every night.  Oh well!  It was good in theory.

Being a parent can be really, really hard.  That's all I have to say!

Project #3 lunch sack....50%

Lunch bags have been made.  That is except one for Jeff.  He wasn't too excited about the fabric I had on hand and we already had one lunch bag that we had bought awhile back that he can use.  Now we all have one.  Let me say, this has been a learning experience.  I have never sewn with webbing before.  I made the mistake of buying a webbing that said "DO NOT SEW"  and not realizing it until after I finished the second bag.  I literally had to stop sewing about every 3 inches to take my needle out and clean off the gunk, otherwise it would get caught up.  It was a PAIN IN THE BUTT.  What should've taken me an hour to sew probably took 3 hours or more!  You would've thought I would catch on after the first bag.  I guess I can be pretty dense sometimes.  Anyhoo.....by the time I started the third bag, I decided to cut the webbing smaller than my pattern so that the needle wouldn't be going through it at all.  It worked like a charm.   The webbing didn't bind at all to the batting (another thing I've never worked with before), but it did give the bag a lot of structure so it held it's shape.

Sewing the corners on these was also very difficult, but by the third bag, I finally figured out to how clip it and pin it just right to make a fairly seamless corner.  Overall, I'm happy with the way these turned out.  I'm a little disappointed that I didn't have nylon on hand to make the liners, but I can throw them in the wash and if the stain doesn't come out.  At least it's the liner and not on the outside.  Kadyn picked out her patches, which don't show up all that well in the pic.  Both Bren and Kadyn's bags have patches on all 4 sides.  I couldn't find any that I liked so I stuck with a ribbon. 

Next on my list to finish this project is to make matching sandwhich wraps and snack packs.  I bought a table cloth yesterday for picnic tables and I am hinting to Jeff that I'd really like a picnic quilt for my birthday so we have the option of ground picnics as well.  I can't wait to start having picnics soon.