Now that I am back...

We had a really rough time for the last month and I just couldn't bring myself to blog. I find that just about every single problem in my life has resulted from my own sin, and this was no exception. However, I am back and ready to move on. I am hopefully changing in such a way that my life will continue to go smoother from here on out.

I am hoping that through God's blessings, I can quit working in May altogether except my painting, bows, and crochet items I sell. Right now my only "jobs" are working in the church nursery one morning and two evenings a week, cleaning my mom's office once a week, and working nursery for a mom's group two mornings a month. I do all of this with my kids so I still consider myself a "sahm". I am also still subbing at preschool on the condition that my dds can stay in the room with me (regardless of what age I am put with). I do keep my nephew (and soon will be keeping #2 as well), but I don't count that as a job even though they pay me because I would do it for free and I give that money straight to dh (it goes in an emergency fund in case Harper breaks or damages something).

My plan involves my bills to be paid off in 3 months so I can concentrate totally on being a "keeper at home". I have been sorely tempted though. The director of the MDO quit and I would be hired to have her job (a HUGE boon in income) if I applied. I almost did and three hours before the interview I withdrew my application. I know I am capable and would do a fantastic job- all the parents want me to do it, but I can't do it without cost to my precious children and right now they need me 100%. This job would be very close to full time (it is 30 hours a week), but I think it would consume so much more from me. It is hard to walk away from an opportunity that I know I would excel at and which would pay my bills off in one month, so I am having angst. I know that just because I would do a fantastic job, doesn't mean that the job would do fantastic things for me. So I am trying very hard to let it go.

Anyhow, here are two finished objects. One is a scarf I made for my sister in law. It is unusual colors but I just liked them together. I finished it back in January but just never got around to posting it.

The other is a birthday banner ordered from a member of the multiples club for her niece. I finished this in January also.

Cute holiday ornaments...

http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=211860.0

I am thinking of how to fashion a crochet hook to make these crochet friendly...

Slow coming scarves...

I have even more done than is shown in the picture. I hope to see them all done soon as I have much more to accomplish before Christmas.

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.

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:

New addition to the family

We got a new puppy. She is a Yorkiepoo (a Yorkshire terrier/poodle mix). Hubby gave me half the money from his Christmas bonus which finally came through. He offered me that or a Zune (ipod like device which plays movies, videos, music, pictures, etc.). Being non-technological and desperately wanting a new baby to mother, I chose the puppy. Her name is Muffin. I was contemplating all sorts of names including Pupcake (which is what the girls call cupcakes), Muffin, and some other human sounding names, but while I was making up my mind, the kids decided she was Muffin. She is a huge pooper. I am the pooper cleaner upper since she is "my dog". Funny how she is only my dog when she goes potty or needs something that costs money.

I have finally completed some crochet. I made two sets of "shoelace keepers" for the girls to wear on their new tennis shoes to school. The pink ones are for Tabby and the purple ones are for Tristie (I only photographed one of each set). Their shoes kept coming untied and I felt bad for Ms. Aimee having to retie them.

I also made a bow holder based on something I saw on ebay. It wasn't hard, but I couldn't figure out how she got hers all the way around the hanger. Two people that saw it while I was working on it wanted one. I will for sure make one for Tiffany (for her dd Zoe), who works with me in the nursery, because she is a friend. I don't know about selling them though. It was very time consuming. I have already started on Tiffany's and then I will make one more for the girls (twins have a lot of bows!!).

Gotta go pick up the girls (I am off today and have been working on organizing the playroom- more on that later!).

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...