I'm so excited!

I am starting on Christmas gifts. I am making this scarf for every woman on my list. http://cache.lionbrand.com/patterns/70354AD.html
I just bought some of the yarn and already have four flowers finished. I am a fan of projects that don't require me to constantly check the pattern, so I can work in the car or while dh watches tv in the semidark.

Ds, dds and I all have the day off so we are going in search of the colors I couldn't find and to have a fun errand trip. We may head to the thrift store. It has been a while since I visited and there may be some cute new skirts for me or the girls (we need WARM skirts and leggings to wear under them), plus ds needs new jeans. No one can keep up with how fast he is growing. I can spend $20 there on what would easily cost me $100 in the cheapest store.

Some more outfits and projects

I figured I would finally upload the last pics I took of my outfits. I quit taking pictures because it is too much work. I have made quite a few finds at the thrift store and a few more expensive ones at Kohl's on sale. I was out of clean nightgowns the other night and had to wear pj pants to bed. It just felt weird. I feel better and am treated better now that I am dressing nicer.

This is a handmedown skirt from sil and a new top.

This is a thrift store skirt and a very old top (6-7 yrs)

Here is a banner I made for friends as a birthday gift:

Today

Well, I am so busy I don't have time to post pics today. I have lots more dress pictures to post. I even wore a long denim skirt with sneakers and a tee to the breast cancer walk this weekend. Out of the hundreds of people there (possibly thousands) I only saw two other women in skirts. I walked near them for awhile, but then they left me in the dust (I had to wait on Mom's frequent bathroom stops).

Why? and more dresses/skirts

Why do I feel jealous of people who have things I don't actually want or do things I don't really want to do? Two women at the church were getting ready to go set up a booth at a craft fair. I felt jealous. Why? I could get a booth to sell my paintings and other stuff at any craft fair I want, but I choose not to. Painting takes up so much of my time at home, and I have made a conscious decision to scale back the business. Doing only orders from word of mouth. But I still felt jealous. I don't get it.


Why do people who love me put me down? The people who love me the most (not dh) sometimes put me down when I better myself. Making fun of my efforts to be a better wife or person. I imagine it stems from insecurity and competitiveness on their part, but it is always hurtful when someone you trust makes fun of you for trying to be a better person.





Well, I figured out late Friday, most of my angst over the crisis was really due to a virus I was coming down with. I spent all day in bed with a fever and severe stomach cramps. It was better on Saturday, but didn't totally go away until Monday. So I never got a pic of Friday's outfit, it was off too fast. I will post Thursday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and today's outfits to round out my "week of dresses and skirts" even though I am well past a week. Dh is much happier to have me dressing so feminine, but I did change into pants the one time he asked me to (when we went to the county fair- because of the rides, he didn't want me "exposed").



Thursday's (preschool and housework)My black flats



Saturday's (soccer game and grocery shopping)



Sunday's (church and deep cleaning)



Monday's (preschool and housework)





Today's (preschool and housework)- sorry for the bad pic but I used the timer


Another bow holder made for my friend Tiffany's dd:

Today's skirt, a black eye, and prayer thoughts...

My beautiful girls today in their thrift store jumpers. I love love love the thrift store. I am planning a trip there Friday (I have to head that way to deposit my paycheck and go by the teacher store for some laminating I need done). I love to find jumpers for the girls, books for any of us, and skirts for me.



Don't they have the sweetest faces? I love it when they hug.

If you click this pic you can see her black eye. Taba ran into the counter yesterday and immediately it turned purple. It is fainter today though.
Today's outfit. Skirt and sweater from the Jaclyn Smith collection at Kmart, I think. I bought it 8-9 years ago and haven't been able to wear it for a long time since. Dh liked it today. I taught preschool and now just have to clean and cook.

I got a present today. Okay, it was from myself, but it is still exciting. I had to order some things from Amazon for dh and ds, so I ordered myself this book: Sew What Skirts! I have to resist the urge to go buy some fabric to start sewing them now.

When it is too dark to read or crochet, I pray when I am bored. Recently I started praying the alphabet, meaning I pray for someone whose name starts with A, then B, etc. I am stuck. I need a Q and a U. If anyone is out there with a name starting with those two letters, feel free to leave your name and prayer requests in the comments section. Any other letters also, because I do start over when I get to the end. I only have one Y and one X, and just two Z's. I shared this today with the Y I pray for and she told me she is having health problems, so I feel like it can really help people I wouldn't ordinarily think to pray for.

I also wanted to share some of my tricks for motivating myself to do housework. I am by nature a lazy person. I have to play games with myself. My favorite game is "do 5 things in each room". I do exactly 5 things in each room, going from room to room, then I start over until the whole house is done. It always ends up with my room and the girls rooms taking the longest to finish. I don't know why it helps with the monotony, but it does. I also have in my head that my primary jobs are trash, dishes, and laundry, so I check those at least 5 times a day- moving those along so they don't pile up. Trash used to be ds's chore, but I need the trash taken out when it is ready to go out and can't wait on him to get home from school.



Now I must get off the computer and get to work on my "5 things in each room". I suspect I will end up in the girls room for awhile, since I have been cleaning out the attic and their room has become a repository for all overflow.

Today's dress and yesterday's follies

From yesterday...

When you procrastinate in your duties (putting away clothes dh has lost too much weight to wear),...

the dog will take a nap on your neglected chore to remind you.
The girls making a game out of stuffed animals and empty shoe boxes ($8!! mary janes from Target - 1 black and 1brown for each girl):

From today:

My dress today is 10 years old! This is the first time I have been able to fit in it in at least 6 years. I'm wearing the same old brown flats (I am a creature of habit). Today I taught preschool and am just cleaning the house the rest of the day.
The girls looking oh so cute in their denim jumpers:

Dh wants the girls to go to public school next year. I don't know if I can handle it. I homeschooled my son until 7th grade and of course I made mistakes. I don't think I would make the same mistakes this time. I am just not ready for them to go off into the world without me there to supervise. In preschool I am right across the hall and my class does recess with their class, so I am able to see what they are doing at all times. I really have to pray about this. I don't know that I could change dh's mind, but I am torn about trying.

Dressing like a lady...

I have been making an effort to dress more femininely. Being a former "slob", this is a challenge. I know most modest dressers might object to knee length skirts. For me right now, I am ok with them, plus I find them easier to move around in when I am working with children or keeping house (I do wear bike shorts under them). I may change my mind about skirt length in the future.

Here is Friday's outfit- my favorite denim skirt and a floral top (with a tank underneath): We went shopping and to a movie. The shoes- red mary janes:
Saturday's outfit- my favorite skirt again and a white sweater with a tank underneath: We went to a soccer game and to stores to do returns. (Dd cut off my head)
The shoes- brown Mary Janes:

Sunday's outfit- floral skirt and cream crinkle shirt (with a tank underneath) plus same brown flats: We went to church and I cleaned a bit. I started off with my hair down, but this is after cleaning so I had it up in a ponytail. See the puppy?

Monday's outfit- brown plaid skirt, cream tee, brown cardigan, and same brown flats: I put together bookcases and cleaned the house a bit. I started the day with a ponytail. I knew I would be working in the attic and it gets hot there.

New blog

I cannot remember my password in xanga and since we changed email accounts, I am locked out. So here I am, some place new...

I hadn't blogged in a while because I had emergency surgery and we moved from the apartment to our new house. The house has needed so much work, it has stifled my creative energies. I haven't finished one crochet piece or sewing piece since the move. I have made some bows and paintings, but only for sale under immense pressure of deadlines.

I read about this in today's paper. http://thomaswhite.wordpress.com/2007/06/29/southwesterns-degree-in-homemaking-discussed-on-crosstalk/

I am excited to see homemaking skills being taught on the college level. I am a self taught cook, but I was lucky to have done work study in the costume shop of the theatre department my first two years of college. I learned so much even though we didn't follow patterns for the most part. We even made clothes for ourselves under Ms. Patti's direction when there wasn't a production to prepare for.

I also read on Anna's blog (of Lullabies and Lace Crochet) that there is a knit-a-long for Anne of Green Gables. I don't know how to knit, but that might be worth learning. I haven't read the books since college (slightly less than 20 years ago), so I am due for a reread. The girls and I have been reading Rebecca of Sunnybrooke Farm (the Great Illustrated Classics edition) and when we are done we need a new book to read together. They might be up for it. I love to read with them, especially when it is a book I actually enjoy. The link: http://anneknits.blogspot.com/

I am going to pick up the books today or tomorrow, and I'll start checking Crochetville for a CAL. If not, I may have to learn to knit. I keep meaning to, but I always have other projects that seem more pressing.

I saw these skirts today. http://madewithlovebyhannah.com/skirts1.html Aren't they beautiful? I especially love the schwarzwalder, the distlefink, the winter woods, and the tea towel. If only I had tons of extra money to toss around... I wish I could make something like that, but I don't think I could find fabric anything like that locally.

The girls' choir, Taylor's youth activities, and a women's Bible study on the Power of the Praying Wife starts tomorrow. I have to work nursery, but if no babies show up for the BS, I get to go. I started reading it today. I pray about hubby all the time (thanking God for him) and ask for him to have a good day or for his health to improve (new diabetic), but I need more direction on how to really pray for him.

The girls had their first Upward Soccer game today. They did great! They had a few meltdowns from being knocked down, but mostly I was impressed at their efforts. I had worried that they wouldn't have the skills that the other kids had (since every child I meet goes to soccer class regularly at Soccer Blast), but they seemed to be on the same level. I think this will be a positive activity for them.

I never did sports. I liked dance. I do want the girls to learn dance, because I think it teaches you grace, but I read that girls that do team sports are more likely to resist pressure to drink, smoke, use drugs and have premarital sex. That was enough to sell me on a team sport. Soccer seems the best choice for them. When soccer is over, I do want to try a dance class. I have been thinking about Irish dance because of our heritage, and also because it is supposed to be a very modest form of dance (moving only the legs, not the upper body). They aren't old enough for piano (not having broad enough hand width), but eventually they will take that along with Taylor. He has never been much into sports, but we decided he will try out for track this winter. We ran every night for most of the summer, but we have slacked off during the heat wave. We desperately need to get back into the routine. Maybe it will help me get past this plateau with my weight.

I recently lost almost 25 pounds, but I have hit a plateau. I cut back my exercising due to the heat and so much going on. I have such self-control issues when it comes to food. I know I could do better with that. I thought buying a scale would help, but I actually think it hinders me. I get depressed when I don't lose a pound every day when I have worked hard, so I slack off. I would like to lose 20 more pounds before I buy/make any new clothes. My clothes are loose now, but not falling off. I hate wasting money on clothes that fit if I am going to lose more weight soon. I would ideally like to lose 50 pounds more. I would be thrilled to lose just 40 pounds more (that was my lowest weight in the last 10 years). My doctor says my asthma and reflux should become asymptomatic if I lose enough weight.

Well, I hope to not forget the password to this blog and maybe I'll have some new FO to show off soon! The girls and I are sewing them snack sacks that I found here: http://www.sewnews.com/resources/library/0807lunch/ Of course, they picked princess fabric and they want dresses to match their sacks, so maybe I will have those done by next week. Time to dust off the old sewing machine...