Rancid oil

Made a batch of Pumpkins Spice Latte cupcakes only to realize that the oil was rancid and the cupcakes were inedible.

Too late to make more.

Will try again tomorrow.

I also borrowed my friend's camera this week-yay!  It was a lot of fun, and I realized that I could really get into photography.  Especially with C.  good thing my birthday is coming up!

25 update

Here is my revised list!
1.  Pick fruit
2.  Go camping
3.  Organize my crafting/sewing supplies
4.  Set up a college fund for little Little C
5.  Make a will
6.  Do something with my wedding dress
7.  Take a class
8.  Can something for the winter
9.  Read a book
10.  Build something with my husband
11.  Go hiking
12.  Cook a new dish
13.  Plan a quilt
14.  Grow a giant pumpkin
15.  Make something with the tomatoes I grew
16.  Spend one day with no computer or TV and with my family
17.  Get feather hair extensions  like Ke$ha
18.  Do something with my sister, Maggie
19.  Drink with my little brother, Jeff
20.  Go wine tasting
21.  See the new Harry Potter movie
22.  Be in a wedding
23.  Get my guitar out again
24.  Run a race
25.  Donate to a good cause


So I've crossed quite a few things off my list.  


We picked apricots and blackberries and canned both of them, apricot preserves and blackberry jelly.  I've never made jelly before and I'm sure there's a better way to get the juice out than what I did, but it tastes good.  These will make excellent Christmas gifts.


I read a few books, but the one I liked best was Room.  I would definitely recommend it.


Right now, as I write this I have a pasta salad in my fridge with tomatoes that I grew.  I've actually made a few salads and wraps too and the plant just keeps on growing!


My brother, Jeff, came over on Tuesday.  Technically we shared some beer so I'm crossing it off.  He was on his way over to Seattle and stayed the night.  I want to spend more time with him, but he's a busy guy so I'll take what I can get.  Plus with the way he talks (super fast) a 12 hour visit can cover a lot of ground :)


We went wine tasting the last weekend in July.  Just a small one at a local gallery.  We are going next weekend for real in Leavenworth. 


And of course I was in a wedding.  Amanda is a Mrs. now.  


I'm enjoying a last quiet moment before this weekend gets rolling.  Yeehaw!

Fair and Rodeo (aka Beauty and the Beast)

I entered projects in the fair!  4 to be exact.  The diaper bag I made jsut before C was born, her baptism outfit, the hoodie, and I'm also working on 1 more top.  It's an Oliver + S pattern in beautiful red seersucker.

I hope I win something.

C is still a crawling machine.  She goes everywhere now.  And she pulls herself up on anything she can get a handle on.  It's like I don't have time to take pictures because she is already into the next mess.

I am going to make her one of these.  I think it will be a safe thing to pull up on.  My sister sent me some great fabric from Amsterdam for Caroline and I can't think of anything to make with it, maybe this would be appropriate.  It's not home dec fabric but I could just interface it, right?

We also got a bike trailer and hooked it up last night.  Our first family bike ride was fun, even though it got dark earlier than expected.  And today I took C all around town in the trailer.  If you see a lady in a neon pink helmet pulling a bike trailer with a purple bike (named Zeek, the bike, not the lady) it's probably me.  I'm going everywhere on that thing.

Rodeo is a crazy time in my town.  I'm bracing myself.  The pizza shop is swamped, and everywhere you go you are bumping into cowboys.  Real cowboys and wannabes.  Either way there are too many people in my town.  I don't like it.  And every year I end up going to Fred Meyer for some stupid thing and I just want to yell, "get out of my town!"  I think the solution is to do my grocery shopping early this year, and take a chill pill.  Or have a beer which wasn't an option last year.  I think I was just hot and cranky because I was 7 months pregnant.

Next weekend I am going dress shopping with my friend Hannah.  She's getting married next July and I am, drum roll, the maid of honor again.  Yay!  I feel more prepared this time, and ready for the challenge.

Sewing and Crawling

(I wrote this the first week of August and didn't post because I didn't have the right pictures.  I'm posting it now.  Still sans pics.)

C learned to crawl this week.  Thus the lack of posts.  It's like getting a new job.  There's a lot to learn and it's exhausting.  She is one heck of a boss.  She expects a lot.  Here she is.  And I love how she claps for herself at the end.  She does the same thing when she sees Elmo.

I did a few projects this week though:  I made the Sorbetto Top from Colette Patterns.
At first it was too short, and a little too tight.

So I figured out how to adjust the pattern for my bust size and voila!

I was inspired by "Make This Look" on Sew Weekly and then I saw that she was doing a 7 Days of Sorbetto series.  Yay!  I love the top I made and can't wait to do another one, maybe this time with sleeves.  I want ot make them as gifts, show other people how to make them, and then make some more.  That's how much I loved this pattern and the final product.


I also made a bubble romper for Little C using McCall's MP402 view C.  Instead of the pocket I added a flower.  What do babies need pockets for?  Apparently pacifiers.  Due to the bubble-ness of her outfit she lost all 3 pacifiers into her pants last night.  Maybe if she had a pocket to put them in that wouldn't have happened.

She's sleeping for now, but I still have to shower (I know, I'm being lazy) and pack for the weekend and finish writing my Maid of Honor speech (whoops!) for the wedding.  And baby bounce (the last one of the summer...wah, wah) is in 30 minutes.  If I get it all done, maybe I can whip up some baby legs this afternoon.

dresses!

I see beautiful dresses everywhere and I want one!
Some I could make for C:

http://fiveandcounting-motherof5.blogspot.com/2011/01/bubble-dress-finale.html
Some I just want for me:

http://www.bodenusa.com/en-US/Womens-Dresses/Above-Knee-Dresses/WH298-PRP/Womens-Purple-Fun-Dress.html?NavGroupID=4

http://grosgrainfabulous.blogspot.com/2011/02/best-medicine-frock-grosgrain-giveaway.html

And of course a couple from Shabby Apple.
http://www.shabbyapple.com/p-590-penelope-and-odysseus.aspx

http://www.shabbyapple.com/p-558-shakespeare-garden.aspx

I am going to learn to alter a pattern for a full bust.  Being that I'm breastfeeding still (and I'm naturally blessed), this will be a good thing to learn even if it is hard.

Also, I read a book.  2 actually.  So that is crossed off my list.  I read Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet and Never Let Me Go.  Both were just okay.  I hated the ending of the 1st one, and the second one was just weird, but both were written pretty well.  I'm taking C to the library for "baby bounce" today so I'm going to pick up another one.  I would also like to say that I read the second book in 24 hours, but also in that time span I baked a pie, made cookies, went grocery shopping, went to the phone company, took care of C and worked in the evening.  I also slept.  It is a fast read.

I picked up 2 patterns for 99cents each at JoAnn's last week.  Butterick 5489 and Butterick 5347, but the one I want to make 5489, I bought in the wrong size!  Gah! I might just use it to draft my own pattern though.  I'm not really sure how those cross over front dresses work, so I think it will still be worth something.

And I have the FREE pattern for the Collette swing top ready to go.  I just need to find some dreamy fabric to make it in.http://www.bodenusa.com/en-US/Womens-Dresses/Above-Knee-Dresses/WH298-PRP/Womens-Purple-Fun-Dress.html?NavGroupID=4

Baby hoodie

First tutorial here.  I tried to get pictures of everything so here we go!  

Step1:  Gather your fabric.  I've got a thinner sweatshirt material in grey and ribbing in purple.

Step 2:  Find a shirt or sweatshirt that is the right size.  It doesn't have to be hooded.  I grabbed a 2T sweatshirt because I didn't want to worry about seam allowances (I know, lazy).  If you are using a shirt that just fits make sure to add 1/2 inch on all sides for seam allowances.  Trace the shirt body first making sure to respect the different necklines in the front and back.

I wore this shirt when I was little!

See, different neck lines.

Draw a straight line from the armpit to the neckline.  We're making a raglan style sweatshirt.

Step 3:  Trace the sleeves.  There should be a corresponding straight line from the armpit of the sleeve to the shoulder.  I also added a notch 3 inches from the armpit so that I could match the sleeves with the body of the shirt a little better.

These are my 2 pattern pieces so far.

A zoom of the notch.  Professional huh?

Step 4:  Sew the body to the sleeves.  Match your notches and it should be a cinch.  Make sure to use a ZIG-ZAG stitch or it won't stretch with the comfy fabric you bought.  (or if you have a Serger and know how to use it, I guess you could do that.)  You will end up with something like this:

Next flip the right sides together and sew up the sides and on down the sleeves like this:

Step 5: Make the hood.  At first I drew a shape like this.  

Too small hood piece.

I didn't measure, and that was a mistake.  The hood was too small.  I ended up sewing it on because I didn't think to try just the hood on Little C....I sewed it to the pieces and got this:

I didn't know her cheeks could look any bigger.

It's okay Mom, try again!

Moral of the story, measure!  To cut the hood piece first measure the neckline.  Divide that number in half and that is how long the bottom line of your hood needs to be.  Little C's neckline was 16, so the bottom of the hood was 8 inches.  See?

Cut 4 pieces.  2 for the outside and 2 for the lining.  If you wanted to, you could line it with some cool crazy fabric, or flannel to make it warmer.  I just used the same knit.

I didn't take extensive pictures at this point.  I was excited to see if the hood was the right size and sewed it together too quick.  You should take the lining and the main pieces and sew around the curved edge, right sides together.  Then fit them inside one another and sew along the straight edge that will eventually frame the face.  Your measured neckline will be the only side open and it should look like this:

Try it on your little one at this point.  You will appreciate it later.  If it fits, baste the neckline and pin and sew it on the body of your sweatshirt.  Almost there!

Step 6:  Next measure for cuffs and the bottom ribbing.  cut blocks that are 1/2 to 1 inch smaller than the sleeves and 1 to 2 inches smaller than the bottom of the sweatshirt so it will fit snug.  Make sure to cut the fabric so it will stretch around their little wrists and keep the cold out.  The lines in the fabric will be parallel to their chubby little arms when they are wearing it. 

Sew up the side.

Fold it in half and slip it over the sleeve.  Sew around the edge and turn it right sides out.

Yay!  A sleeve!

Repeat this for the other sleeve and the bottom of the shirt.

Step 6:  Add a kangaroo pocket.  Every sweatshirt, no matter how small, needs pockets.  Where else would you put the extra pacifiers?  Cut a piece like this:

Fold over and sew alonf the diagonal sides.  This is where the little hands reach in.  Then pin it to your shirt front.  And sew along the top and bottom and you are finished!

Woooo!  Ready to hang out on the couch with dad and watch Barney!

If you have any questions please ask!  I would love to help.  

Camping!

We went camping with my family this weekend at Sun Lakes.  It was a beautiful place.  I love central Washington, not just because I hate rain, but because I love hills.  I like looking at the hills around my town, and around the other river valleys in this part of the state.  I have veered onto the rumble strip more than once because I'm too busy staring at the landscape to realize that I should actually be driving.

Little C in her cage playpen.

But it was hot too.  We got there before my parents and set up camp.  We were one of the only sites with good shade.

Yay! we're all set up!

 It was fun to spend some extended time with my family.  Especially my little brothers and sister.  They are 10 and 14 years younger than me, so they aren't to the age where we can have conversations on the phone and stay in touch very well.  I hear everything that they do from my parents, but they are starting to grow up, and I  like hanging out with them.  It is funny though, how much they remind me of my other siblings, Maggie and Jeff.

me and Little C early Saturday morning

Abby and Paul adore Caroline, Sam was probably following Nick around waiting for him to say a bad word.

My brothers love to talk to Nick.  They think every word out of his mouth is either jaw dropping, knee smacking hilarious, or very wise.  They especially like talking to him about sports.  Sam is like his shadow, quietly taking in everything that Nick does.

See, here's Sam sitting behind Nick.  He was reading a book (The Hunger Games!!), but he still wanted to be near him.

 We were about 100 yards from the lake.  It was a good thing too because at 90 degrees that's where I like to be.  Nick and Caroline too.

We think there was some kind of dead fish somewhere close.

That's better.

In 2 months C and I are going to take swimming lessons at the city pool.  That will be the "take a class" I cross off my list.  The girl loves water and I aim to keep it that way.  She loves to be on her tummy, kicking and paddling.  Even sticking her face in the water.  Blah, blah blah, I know.  My baby is the best, I know, you're sick of it.  My blog, so there.

Side note:  I try to get people to say C is "the best baby" whenever I take her places.  It has to be those exact words.  My record is 4 in one day.  If you have kids you should try it.  I swear it will make your day.  If you don't know where to start try the doctor's office or the bank.  Those guys and girls are suckers for a baby.

Isn't she great?

 

In conclusion, I love camping.  I love my family, and I can't wait to go again.  

no pics but...

take my word for it, everything was great.

The shower was beautiful, and the food was good.  I made pulled pork, cookies, and my mom made her delicious chinese chicken salad.  Everyone wants the recipe so I am gonna give it to ya:

Mom's Chinese Chicken Salad

Dressing:
1/2 cup oil
1/3 cup rice vinegar
3 T sugar
1 T soy sauce
1 1/2 t salt
3/4 t pepper
2 T sesame seeds
1/2 t minced garlic

Whisk all until sugar is dissolved.  Pour over salad parts and refrigerate.

Salad parts:
Broccoli slaw
snap peas
water chestnuts
cooked diced chicken
uncooked ramen noodles
carrots
cabbage

You name it and it would probably be good in this salad, but these are the things we use.  It is best the second day.

We did a great hike for the bachelorette party.  Here's a map
It was about 7 miles and I'd say a moderate hike.  Not too bad, but 7 miles is kind of long if you aren't really prepared.

Then we camped overnight.  It was a great preview for next weekend. I got to practice setting things up, so Friday will be a breeze.





I also got to check a few things off my list!

1.  Pick fruit
2.  Go camping
3.  Organize my crafting/sewing supplies
4.  Set up a college fund for little Little C
5.  Make a will
6.  Do something with my wedding dress
7.  Take a class
8.  Can something for the winter
9.  Read a book
10.  Build something with my husband
11.  Go hiking
12.  Cook a new dish
13.  Plan a quilt
14.  Grow a giant pumpkin
15.  Make something with the tomatoes I grew
16.  Spend one day with no computer or TV and with my family
17.  Get feather hair extensions  like Ke$ha
18.  Do something with my sister, Maggie
19.  Drink with my little brother, Jeff
20.  Go wine tasting
21.  See the new Harry Potter movie
22.  Be in a wedding
23.  Get my guitar out again
24.  Run a race
25.  Donate to a good cause


#2: Go Camping.  This wasn't really full on camping, but we did have a fire, sleep in a tent, and I got 2 mosquito bites.


#11:  Go hiking.  The hike counts.  My legs were sore the next day and I was semi out of breath at times.  The first 2 miles are to a cedar grove, then you go 1 more up to a 35 foot waterfall, and another 1/2 mile to a cabin.  After that it is flat for a while and then loops down to the beginning.  The trail on the way back was better than the part up to the waterfall, probably because people turn back there.  A family saw us looking at the map there and seemed very worried that 4 girls (we are all about 25) would even think about continuing on at 7pm.  I think we ended up beating them back. :)


Nick and I picked out a project to do too.  So #10 is in the head lights.

finishing touches

Finally!  I've been planning a wedding shower for my best friend Amanda for the past few weeks and it is going down TODAY.
I have decorations to hang, food to prepare and my brothers need to move all their bikes...ahem, excuse me, their "business" bikes.  Then the back yard will be ready and people can come over.

Side note:  everyone in my family has an entrepreneurial  instinct.  My sister and I sold everything we could think of.  We had dog watching business, babysitting business cards, you name it and we tried it.  Now my brothers (age 11, twins) have a bike business where they go to auctions and buy bikes to fix up.  There are about 14 bikes in the backyard.  They also gave some away to kids without bikes.  I admire that.

We're also going camping tonight for the bachelorette party.  I will be glad when this weekend is over.  I want things to be nice for Amanda, but this has taken a lot of preparation.

This is also the first time I am leaving C over night.  She'll be with her dad so it's not like I'm worried.  I'll just miss her.  And I'm dreading the pumping.  She still breastfeeds so I will have to pump.  But I forgot the handle so I have to grab this teeny tiny nob and hold a part together and push on one thing and pull on another....it's going to be a hassle.

Oh well, the party should be nice.  And I made a new-ish shirt to wear.  It's a refashion posted on Happy Together. 

Lots of pics on Monday.

25 before 25

I'm turning 25 in November.  This is some kind of milestone right?  So I'm going to treat it like one, not the kind that makes you feel really old (I feel like I'm too young to be doing most of the things I do every day), but as motivation to live intentionally.

1.  Pick fruit
2.  Go camping
3.  Organize my crafting/sewing supplies
4.  Set up a college fund for little Little C
5.  Make a will
6.  Do something with my wedding dress
7.  Take a class
8.  Can something for the winter
9.  Read a book
10.  Build something with my husband
11.  Go hiking
12.  Cook a new dish
13.  Plan a quilt
14.  Grow a giant pumpkin
15.  Make something with the tomatoes I grew
16.  Spend one day with no computer or TV and with my family
17.  Get feather hair extensions  like Ke$ha
18.  Do something with my sister, Maggie
19.  Drink with my little brother, Jeff
20.  Go wine tasting
21.  See the new Harry Potter movie
22.  Be in a wedding
23.  Get my guitar out again
24.  Run a race
25.  Donate to a good cause

I have 4 months and 5 days.  That means a little more than one a week.  Here we go.

pinterest=love

I have found a new way to waste time while little C sleeps:
Pinterest

I browse the DIY, hair, and style boards.  I have a few going myself.  I even have followers...creepy or flattering, I'm not sure yet.

During the day I am home mostly with just little C.  I go to work about the time Nick gets home.  My dog Heidi used to be my friend during the day, especially during nap time.  She's gone now, and I miss her so much, but I am trying to stay busy.

This is Heidi. 

I would like to better organize my crafting supplies.  Right now the fabric is folded shoved in a rubber maid container in C's closet (cause her closet is bigger that mine, and i have to share!) and everything that isn't fabric--buttons, ribbons, zippers, pins binding, needles, even a dang hot glue gun--is in a shoe box...kind of.  It doesn't all fit anymore.

I need some of these.
And maybe some of these.
Or basically just this.

Oh well, by this weekend a lot of stuff will be cleared out of our house.  I'm making shower decorations in the living room.  Our kitchen table is covered in sugar cookies.  The laundry room has a pile of things to bring with us too.

And I'll leave you with this:

Miley Cyrus is My Religion (clipped to polyvore.com)

when it rains...

it pours.

my dog died today.
my grandma died 2 weeks ago.
my husband's grandma had a stroke.
i'm trying to plan a wedding shower for this weekend.
our car needed major repairs.

it really piles on sometimes.

but in this time I have tried to remember what we do have instead of what we don't.  My immediate family is really lucky.  We're all healthy, happy and secure.  It's jsut everyone we love around us seems to be having a rough time.  Which means we are sad for them (and a little for us, I mean, my dog was part of our family.)

We have done some fun things in the last couple of months though

The Baptism

Camping

Walks in the Sun

Appreciating our Babysitter

Learning to say the word, "MOM"

I'm ready to get back to normal life.  Back to going to work and cooking dinners.  And having my head spin off with wedding details.  My 2 best friends are planning weddings.  One this summer and one next summer (H is very organized).  

Finally some good weather!

It was 70 degrees here.  Finally!
We usually ahve good weather early, but not this year.  My parents even got snow the day before yesterday, and they are only a couple of hours away.
Unfortunately I had to work all weekend.  I'm trying to put in some extra hours before Little C's baptism next weekend.  It's also my sister's birthday so we are going to spend some time together too.
But when I got home it was still warm so I put on some shorts and we played outside.

This is Little C in her darling sun hat.  I'm so glad she lets us put hats and bows on her.

I am working on her baptism dress using two different tutorials.
The Charlotte Dress
and
Blessing/Confirmation Dress
And I got the pattern for the sun bonnet from Made By Rae here.
She's gonna look good.
I see lots of bonnets in her future.

Easter

We went to the in-laws' for the weekend.  It was great weather the whole time and we got to spend a lot of time outside.  It made for some fun pictures.

Little C is the Easter Bunny!

This is the egg shirt from Positively Splendid.  Everyone thought it was adorable.

Heidi, our dog, loves going to Arlington because she can run all over their 11 acres.

Babies love babies.

This is not a great picture, but I wanted at least one of us in our easter dresses.  I also made that cardigan.

 Little C was glad to be home.

So was I.  It was a lot of driving and terrible traffic.  But it was a great Easter weekend spent with family, and reflecting on what Easter is all about:  Renewal, forgiveness, and love.