I just realized today that Halloween is next weekend, better get crackin' on costumes. I've been too busy sewing quilts and other items for the craft fair this coming weekend. I'm excited I hope I can clear out some old Etsy stuff and start some new projects.
The girls are going crazy with Halloween crafts! Lauren checked out a book at the library and they've made ghosts hanging throughout the house. The shrunken apple heads- we'll post an after picture later- and necklaces with more to come I'm afraid. I wanted to do a fun pumpkin display by the front door, but not being close to any stores has made me a bit lazy perhaps. It seems food, fabric, and other things take priority to spiderwebs and pumpkins. What a shame, try telling that to an 8 year old. Pumpkins are coming next week- I promise! Chloe is going to be a pirate and Lauren a hula/Hawaiian girl. The pirate costume is still in the works. Noah and Ivy are undecided for now. We'll just raid the dress-up.
Life is getting busier too. Lauren and Chloe are playing volleyball and I'm helping coach them. They are on a 3rd/4th grade team, it's pretty comical really- kids that age just don't quite have the timing down. But they are learning the basics of the game and having fun, which is all that really matters at this age anyway. I'd forgotten how much I liked playing volleyball, it's been fun to help out. Noah is going to preschool 2 afternoons a week. It's a great outing for him, he often wakes up and asks where we're going today, and most often the answer is "nowhere." He used to run errands and shop with me all the time. I think he now dreads the marathon shopping days, but he's a good sport. Ivy has taken just a couple steps and unless my memory is failing me (possible) she is by far the baby most into climbing. Stairs, small tables and chairs, into baskets and cupboards. She has three good babysitters though who don't let her get into too much trouble. I'll often hear "Ivy Robenia Hansen!"- that's Noah alerting me there's mischief...
Cody is nearing the end of football season, hoping for some state championship action. He's excited for basketball too, even it is is girls basketball. We had Pipsy spayed this week, which makes her officially ours I suppose. Not a moment too soon in my opinion, she has WAY too many visitors. I think there is a problem with cats in this town, too many without owners. Anyway, from our neck in the woods, things look a little rainy, but good. Hoping to meet a new niece or nephew this week!! Happy birthing Carrie!
spookiness...
before and after...
Oh, the beauties of having another older home, the fun little projects that come, just a little sarcasm intended. :) I do like the small projects.
After years of surviving the ugliness, but practicality of mini blinds I have to share this, what I wish I'd known about three homes ago. Some industrious chick- not me- figured out how to make Roman shades out of blinds. Pure genius I say, they still function perfectly, but without the dust and no style of mini blinds. Plus, I'd purchased a pattern to make Roman shades and it completely intimidated me with all the supplies I'd need. I think they're just about perfect in the kitchen. I'd never worked with the Fabritac glue she recommended, but it did give me some fits. I had to spread it very thin with a plastic spoon to avoid having it bleed through the fabric and show, but overall, it's an easy no-sew project.
Much better, don't you think! Check out her tutorial and dismantle your blinds, it's liberating!
KIVA...
This is a Afi Mawuli Sessi who opened a store for selling sewing supplies in her district of Avénou in Lomé. She got started in this commerce in 2008 because most tailors and seamstresses in the area were compelled to go far, all over the place at the Grand Market, in order to supply themselves. Right now, she's receiving orders from all the tailors, which therefore allows her to do a good business. Her work also enables her bring to her husband her financial share of educating their two children.
To renew her presently exhausted inventory, she's requesting a WAGES loan to order some overcasting thread, sewing machine thread, and some good-quality cloth and damask fabrics of different motifs.
uh oh...
I knew the day was coming, maybe hoping it wasn't quite so soon. How does a baby learn a spiral staircase? One with holes larger than her? Here's before and after shots, it's apparently lots of fun to climb, but we already knew that with the other three kids that play, do chin-ups, hang, and throw things off of it. :)
Pipsy...
Here we are, still getting pets. This little kitty, Pipsy, has a crazy story, as it seems all our furry friends do. Grandma brought her from an older lady in town who is recovering from surgery and wasn't able to care for her. After dropping her off, she promptly ran away and we didn't see her for about a week.
But surprising us all she returned and has claimed the huge tree in the backyard as her post. She was quite skittish and shy, but is now very friendly and playful. Noah affectionately calls her "my pet kitty." He loves that he can pick her up and she tolerates his small hands partially holding and squeezing the life out of her :) He's had some cats scratch him and a couple dogs nip him, so a gentle animal is just what he needs. She was previously an indoor cat and runs inside our home quite frequently. And of course, you know I'm getting badgered about just making her an indoor kitty again. My only (valid) excuse is that we are renting, and no landlords appreciate pets tearing things apart right?! I'll just do some shopping for a nice little heat pad for what I'm thinking might be a long winter ahead. Love you little Pips!
better than Christmas...
I really should have slowed down in the unpacking of the toy boxes. Every time we crack one open, it's instant fun for a little while at least. I finally cleared out three huge boxes of games and toys from the girls loft, hooray. It looks much cleaner.
Lauren and Chloe have started declaring random days, "Noah Day" "Ivy Day" or my personal fave "Mom Day." This means extra helping, kind words and deeds to make that person feel special. Today it was Noah's turn. I always thought puppet theaters were the coolest toys ever. I think I wanted it more than they did, but it got some good use this afternoon. Tell me Noah does not looked totally captivated by the saga of the fireman and the frog! What a good sport, he even gave up the good chairs to Zilly and Gumdrop.
It was fun to see the four of them playing so well together. I needed that mental image to buoy me up as we went to get potatoes, the park, and the grocery store later today. We (I) couldn't handle the library after the three previous stops. I think they will all gradually adjust. I have been hearing a lot of comments along the lines of "why does it take so long to get somewhere?" The short answer to that lies in the fact that we are so far from anywhere! Our family spoke last week in church and I joked that the only thing here was good people- it's true in all regards!
baby love...
I made soup today for the first time in a long while, it feels good to wake up to a fall chill in the air and brew some tea. Last week was the first football game of Cody's season, they did well, hung in there until the last quarter or so. I feel badly I know so little about football, maybe I'd enjoy it more. I think I needed to play it to really understand it, too late for that.
But I think I do have another new hobby which I find far more stimulating than football- quilting. I am a novice in every sense of the word, I think I actually prefer the simpler patterns even. I've been itching to make something with vintage bed linens for a long while now. Just had other things on my plate- moving, school starting, music lessons...but it is amazing what you can accomplish when you can't run out every other morning and "run errands." (I think that was actually a cover for "shopping!") I finished binding this sweet little baby quilt today. I think I may have to do a twin sized one with a sham when Ivy moves to a real bed. I'm most excited that its possible and completely doable to free motion quilt on the machine and get that timeless crinkley look that I love so much. It was fun to do and I'm afraid I might be addicted, but there could be worse addictions right?! Fabric has always been a weak point in general. I've got some fleece Christmas projects in the works too. So when the day is done you just may find me in the basement sewing with the spiders :) Happy weekend- ours starts tomorrow. I'm adjusting REALLY quickly to no school on Fridays!
Opinions? Do you think it needs more color? Solid strips of fabric between all the squares? It was mostly a trial run, so I wasn't too particular about what patterns went where.
