The List

I'm just sitting here, wasting time, so I thought I'd post a list of things I'd like to accomplish someday.

1. Become conversational in Japanese, if not fluent.
2. Become a published author, even if it's only one thing.
3. Lose 50 pounds/make exercise a part of my daily life.
4. Live in a house in the country, but not too far in the country.
5. Have at least one more kid (at most two more).
6. Record some songs, mostly for my mom, but also because I think it would be fun.
7. Be able to stay at home with my kids, so I can do crazy things like try and teach them a second language (current project) and sew them awesome clothes.

So, there you go.  That's all I can think of for now.  What's on your list?

Costumes 2010

 Chaela was a "scary witch" this year.  Unfortunately, she's sitting, so you can't see the amazingness that is her cloak (my favorite part).  However, you can see the striped tights and utterly sweet boots, so it's ok.  On this costume, I made the cloak and dress; everything else (hat, undershirt, boots, and tights) I bought.  I really love the purple and black!

 Joci was a black cat to go along with Chaela's witch.  My favorite part of this?  The feet.  Joci's costume was completely handmade from a plush-ish fleece, so it was soft and warm.  Funny story: I had to shrink the pattern because even a size 1/2 (the smallest size) was too big, but I accidentally shrank it too much, so I had to cut the entire costume in half and sew a band around the stomach area.  I also had to cut down the middle of the hood and add a triangle of fabric there for her enormously round head.  Turned out ok in the end, though.  You can't tell from this picture, but Joci carries on the purple and black theme with a purple "collar" around the neck of her costume (just a ribbon I sewed on).  It's hard to see her tail in this, but it's in her hand.

Here are my girls together!  I really wanted a picture of Chaela standing so you get the full effect of the cloak's awesomeness.  Possibly I will make her put on the cloak tomorrow.  Questionable as to whether those pictures will make it on here even if I do take them.

As for actual trick-or-treating last night (Thursday... Ohio is lame and doesn't do it on Halloween, I don't know why), it went well.

But it was really, really cold.

Our church's trunk-or-treat tonight was still chilly, but not as bad.  No good pictures from that, but Chaela was really excited to go around and collect candy a second time.

Next year's idea: pirates, unless Chaela is old enough to realize she can pick her own, then we'll see.  I'm not going to tell her.

Kids make the holidays fun!

Today I forced the rest of my family to carve pumpkins with me (because it's FUN dangit!!).  Will and Chaela did one "together," which resulted in the following conversation:

Will: "Chaela, come over here!  Come help me get the insides out of the pumpkin!"

*Chaela wanders away, we yell for her to come back, she comes back and peers into the pumpkin.*

Will: "Ok, stick your hand in there and pull out the seeds!"  *Will demonstrates by pulling out a handful of pumpkin guts.*

Chaela: "No way."  *runs away*

--A few minutes later--

Chaela: *wanders by again.*  "I don't like pumpkins.  Pumpkins stink... EW!  Disgusting!"

__________________________

I do have to say, though, it is more fun the older she gets.  This year she tells everyone we see (like randomly, in the grocery store) that she's going to be a witch for "Ha-yo-ween."  She keeps changing her mind, though, about if she's going to be a "scary witch" or "just a witch."  I love their costumes!  I finally finished Joci's over the weekend (she's a black cat) and I can't wait to post pictures on here!

The Potty War

I'm not sure how many of you know this, but potty training Chaela has been a several-months-long war.  We've almost made it to victory, but it's a two forward, one back thing.  Here's the latest.

Just a few minutes ago she was yelling in her room (she was supposed to be asleep).  I went in to see her.

"Hi mommy.  My legs are wet."
"What?  Why are you legs wet, honey?  Did you potty in your room?"
"Yes.  I potty on the floor."
"Do you need new panties?"
"No, my panties are dry."

And they were.  But there's a large wet spot on her bedroom floor.  So, the best I can figure, she took off her panties, peed on the floor, then put them back on.

*forehead smack*

The Purpose

I think I must experience religion differently than most people.

I watched "Glee" tonight, like pretty much everyone else in the country.  I've debated in the past if I wanted to continue watching it or not.  I'm still not sure.  It's funny, and I love that it's a musical show, but it's getting much too political for me.  Why can't it just be for fun instead of pushing whatever agenda is trendy these days?

However, I digress.  Like I said, I think I must experience religion differently than most people.  Comments made on "Glee" tonight and at other times on TV have me wondering: how do most people think religion works?

One thing I've heard nonreligious people (or those having a crisis of faith) ask is, "How could a loving God let such bad things happen in the world?" and cite bad things happening to good people as evidence against His existence. 

Let me tell you what I believe.  I believe that there is a God, but He's not there to make sure life is easy, or happy all the time, or fair.  That's not the purpose of our time here.  The purpose of our time is to be tested, to go through hard things, and grow. 

I believe we are His children, and He will give what we need, and not what we want.  Sometimes people say that unanswered prayers are their reason for losing faith.  My almost-three-year-old asks me nightly if she can have candy for dinner.  Every night she asks, she says please, and sometimes she throws a fit.  I know she wants it more than she wants anything else in the world in that moment.  However, I am not about to give her candy for dinner, because, as someone with more knowledge and experience, I know that if she eats candy for dinner, she'll feel sick later because she's eaten too much junk.  Not only that, but if I did let her eat candy instead of an actual, healthy meal each night, she would grow up with weight problems, which could lead to self-esteem problems.  Her body would become too weak to run, dance, and play the way she loves; not to mention dental issues.  I know all of this without even really thinking about it, and she doesn't have a clue.  All she knows is that she really, really wants candy, and I could give it to her if I wanted, but I don't.

This is how most people seem to me, like three-year-olds throwing a tantrum because they don't understand the reasons for the things that happen to them.  Yes, much of the time these things are tragic, horrible, or at the very least grossly unfair.  But could it be that Heavenly Father allows them to happen because He understands things that we don't have the capacity to comprehend?  That's what I believe.

And I said unto him: I know that he loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things.

1 Nephi 11:17

Blogging Bum

Ok, obviously I've been a blogging bum lately.  I think it started when Joci was born.  That's when I let my "Gamerwife" blog go (I've posted once on there since she's been born... it was about how I hadn't posted).  This one was doing ok, however, until I started working.

Have I written about that?

I've started a temporary full-time job as an OGT (Ohio Graduation Test) tutor at the local high school.  It's pretty cool.  I like the kids, and over where we are, the administrators have been very helpful.  I'm starting to get nervous, though, because the OGT starts on October 25th.  I've put quite a bit of time and effort into this whole tutoring thing, and what if, when the scores come back, I find out I'm an awful teacher and all my kids failed?!

If that happens, I can tell you what the problem is: my control freakiness.  I just have a problem waiting for kids to get the answer, so I explain the question in an extremely leading manner so that 99% of the time they come up with the right answer.  This past week, the biggest thing I've done is try to let go of my craziness and have the kids answer questions on their own.  Like I said, the test doesn't start until the 25th, and the science portion (which is the subject I'm tutoring in) isn't until the 29th, but please, all you readers, pray for my kids, keep them in your thoughts, and wish them luck!

*

As for other goings on, Chaela continues to say crazy things. 

My current favorite, which has been going on for a while, is the song, "Jesus Wants Me for a Sun Bean" (supposed to be "sunbeam") which she sings several times every day. 

At the doctor's office she looked the doctor square in the eye and said, "I can't get a shot today, you don't give me a shot," which is an example of how bossy she is.  Luckily, she didn't need one.  This time.

I've noticed she doesn't name her toys like other kids do.  Thinking maybe I just hadn't noticed, tonight I asked her what her doggies' names were that she takes to bed with her. 
"This is my pumpkin doggie."
"Oh, is your doggie's name Pumpkin?"
"No."
"It's name isn't Pumpkin?"
"No. This is a pumpkin doggie.  And this is my 'nother pumpkin doggie.  These are my one, two pumpkin doggies."
"..."

*

Joci is getting bigger, even though she's not the chunk I thought she'd be.  In fact, sometimes she looks downright small to me.  I don't know if that's because I've got her on one hand and Chaela on the other, but I suppose she is starting to fit into her six month stuff just about on time, so it's probably just me.

Speaking of which, she'll be six months on the 20th of October!  A half a year.  I can't believe it!  She's rolling like a pro, but she hasn't started sitting up on her own yet.  I imagine it will be before the end of the month, though, she's definitely getting closer.

I think of all of us, she's had the hardest time with me working.  Not surprising, right?  She's a breastfed baby, and she likes it that way.  Thankfully, I've discovered that she also likes carrots and peaches, so Will has something to give her, and because of the way I set up my schedule, I'm only missing one feeding. 

The problem is that she's a huge mommy's girl, so from the time I get home until the next morning, when I leave for work again, she freaks out if I'm not holding her or she can't see me.  Even at night, and I'm not huge on co-sleeping, because I just can't sleep as well if there are kids in my bed.  This begets a vicious cycle whose main result is me not getting enough sleep during the week EVER.  So, whenever I can, I turn the weekend into one long nap.

Ha ha!  Just kidding!  I have two children.  But wouldn't it be nice?

*

Well, I suppose that's enough blogging for now.  It's long, but I guess after such a long time I had a lot to say.  I'm hoping I'll start doing this more often, but I'll be honest, most of the time I'm too tired to do anything but watch TV.  Good thing there's plenty in the fall lineup this year to keep me occupied.

Which reminds me, everyone, if you haven't seen The Big Bang Theory on CBS, definitely give it a try.  It's pretty much the best comedy show ever.  My only problem with it is that CBS is run by stupidheads who, for some reason, won't put full episodes on hulu.com or their own website.  Oh, well.  Check out some clips on the Hulu link, and if you like them, TBBT is on Thursdays at 8pm (Eastern) on CBS, which means you'll have to record it and watch it after Bones, the current best crime show (Bones only gets preference because it's an hour long and TBBT is a half an hour... otherwise they are equally awesome).

Conversations with Chaela (Part II)

The scene: Dinner.  The Elders are over, and Chaela has climbed on the bench to sit between them.  It's the clean-up moment between the meal and the pumpkin pie.

Chaela: UUUUUUUUUUURRRGH (extremely loud grunt)!!!  Oh!  My panties are stuck in my bum! 

Incredulous silence.  Outburst of laughter.

Chaela:  Hey!  That's NOT FUNNY!

My apologies, Elders.

Picture Quilt

Maya asked me to be a part of her Winter Crafts Blog Carnival, and I'll be honest, I haven't had much time for crafting lately, so the craft I'm posting about is the only one I already have a lot of pictures of.  This blog kind of presupposes general knowledge of sewing/putting together quilts and blankets.  I did this for my husband's "big present" for Christmas last year, because it took a while and did take some money, mostly because of printer ink and transfer paper.

If you like this idea but it looks complicated, just adapt it!  You don't have to be crazy like me... I did 20 large pictures and a dozen or so smaller ones. 

Will's Halo quilt.

Of course, you don't have to make a Halo quilt (unless your "giftee" is a big fan and you know how to get their screenshots on your computer).  You can use whatever pictures you want: family pictures, wedding pictures, nature shots, etc.

Before you get your materials, determine how many pictures you want to use.  This quilt has 20 screen shots and various other smaller images.  I made sure all of my pictures were horizontal, because that was the look I wanted.  I don't remember my exact measurements, so once you come up with a design, you'll need to calculate your own.

Materials:

Pictures (mine are 8x10)

Iron on transfer paper (enough for all of your pictures)

Iron/hard flat surface

Pillow case

white cotton fabric to iron the pictures onto

one or two border fabrics

fabric for sashing (i.e., the fabric bordering the picture squares)

fabric for backing

quilt binding (your own or premade)

pearl thread or yarn for tying

thread

printer ink

PREWASH ALL FABRIC

Ok, I'll be honest, there may be a much more efficient/cheap way to do this that I don't know about.  This how I did it.

The very first thing is obviously to come up with a design and measurements.  When sewing, you always need to make room for seam allowances.  On quilts I only use a 1/4 inch seam allowance, so I cut all of my pieces 1/2 inch wider and longer than I want my finished piece to measure.  So if I want a 2 inch sashing on my finished quilt, I'm going to cut my fabric 2 and 1/2 inches wide.

Once you know all of your measurements, cut out your fabric pieces using a rotary cutter and being as precise as possible.  For the picture squares, I highly recommend white fabric.  Why?  Because the "light fabric" iron-on transfers work a million times better than the "dark fabric" ones, which I had to go back and sew on because they didn't stick.  If you don't like the white border, transfer your pictures first and then cut your fabric with only the seam allowance.  You can always add a top and bottom border to make them square (or just leave them rectangular if they're all the same size, which mine were not).

Next, I compiled a file of the pictures I wanted to use, made sure I had extra ink cartridges, and went to town printing out 8x10's.  NOTE: Even though I selected "Iron-on transfer" from my printer options, the printer didn't print the pictures as a mirror-image, which is what it's supposed to do, so you need to make sure you use a photo-editing program to "flip horizontally" before you print, and then do a test run on regular paper.

Next, take your squares of white fabric and follow the package directions to transfer the pictures, making sure your picture is centered.  The ones I used required you to place a pillow case on top of the transfer while you ironed to avoid melting the picture.  I'd use an old one; my pillow case ended up a little scorched after 20+ pictures.  I also did the transfers on my counter top instead of my ironing board, because the surface is supposed to be very solid and perfectly flat, which our ironing board is not.  If you have a ridiculous number of transfers, like I did, this part takes forever.  Do it in a well-ventilated area, because that many iron-ons start to let off some fumes after a while.  (I didn't do the "dark fabric" transfers in the sashing intersections until the quilt top was sewn together, but it's the same process.)

Once all of your pictures are transferred, lay out all of your fabric pieces to make sure you like the look of your quilt.  Do this before you sew anything together so you can rearrange if you need to.

Sew your quilt top together.

Lay out your backing (right side down), then your batting, and finally your finished quilt top on top.  Trim the batting (your quilt top and backing are supposed to be the same size, though this rarely works out for me).  Use pearl thread or yarn to tie your quilt, or, if you're ambitious, actually quilt it (I'd recommend not sewing on the actual transfers if you do).  Sew on your binding.  You're done!

This is hands down the best-received gift I have ever, ever, ever given anyone in my life.  I've washed it once and the transfers handled it just fine, but I'm going to try and wash it as little as possible so that it lasts as long as it can, because my husband loves it!

Like I said, this blog presupposes a lot of sewing knowledge.  If you have more detailed questions, leave a comment and I'll try to answer them.  This was mostly just to show the idea of doing a quilt with pictures.

I am alive.

Just in case you were wondering.  However, it's 10, and I have to get up at 6, so I am going to bed.  Hopefully I'll blog soon.

Never too old!

Now that I have kids myself, I'm reminded of a whole host of things I used to do... and still don't feel too old for. 

1. Play in the sprinklers.  I know exactly why I haven't done this recently... it has something to do with what my body looks like after having two kids. 

2. Color in coloring books.  I've been doing a lot more of this lately, thanks to Chaela.  I've also noticed in places like church that half the time it's parents coloring in coloring books, not kids.  Kids are just an excuse.

3. Play with blocks or play dough.  My dad, Jordan, and Will are also guilty of this.  We always start out playing with Chaela, but at some point she wanders on to the next thing... and sometimes we don't.

4. Catching crawdads in a creek.  We don't have one, and haven't since we moved to Ohio, but if we did, you can bet some of my "mommy time" would be spent wading barefoot through the water, pants rolled up, a bucket in one hand and a stick in the other, because that's what I used.  We didn't have fancy things like nets when I was a kid.

5. Playing on a playground.  Hey, some of the stuff they have these days is just cool, like the new playground at Victory Park.  I don't have any pictures, but trust me, it's not the same stuff we had when we were kids.  It's the "big kid" side, though, so I have to wait until Chaela's a little older to have an excuse to climb on it...

I'll never be too old for some things.

So what kids of things did you do as a kid that you'd still do, given the chance?