Lissa's Fripperies

Valentines Shirt

2012-02-14T11:02:00.001-06:00

Well I look awful- no makeup, but I have a new red shirt! It used to be a plain tshirt but now it is special.

Rainy Season Days

2012-02-13T10:12:00.000-06:00

Family Fun

2012-01-26T21:37:00.001-06:00

Alien!

2012-01-09T15:38:00.001-06:00

Score

2012-01-08T22:20:00.000-06:00

Purple

2012-01-03T21:50:00.001-06:00

Pip got ahold of a purple self-inking stamp today. He looked like a violet vampire. So much better than yesterday when he got ahold of his own poopy diaper. Wow.
James was so helpful today since it was my day to be the Mothers Day Out Keeper. Tomorrow we start official homeschooling with our Morse Code, Telegraph Unit. I hope it goes well. We actually have a telegraph/rapper that my father in law used with his ham radio.
If any one has any ideas regarding things this could help teach, please comment!
All my bairns are clean and covered and sleeping. I think James is dreaming of talking though, because he's gesturing in his sleep. Peter's head isn't on a pillow because he has lined them up on either side of himself. He's sleeping in a trough. Pip, well he's a perfect cherub in his woodland animal Jammies under a warm crocheted blanket from Miss Margery.
So goodnight all. Sleep tight.

Lissa

Sleepy P Ranch

2011-12-29T10:47:00.000-06:00

Gingerbread Brothers

2011-12-23T22:54:00.000-06:00

Christmas Light

2011-12-17T08:20:00.000-06:00

Gingerbread Stocking Pt. 2

2011-12-06T21:25:00.001-06:00

Gingerbread Stockings Pt. 1

2011-12-05T15:36:00.000-06:00

The Little Prof

2011-11-24T10:56:00.000-06:00

That's the green sweater I knitted peeking out. Doesn't he look smart?

Win Win Win

2011-11-21T18:37:00.001-06:00

Sinus that's really a Pip

2011-11-05T10:09:00.000-05:00

Pip has nasal congestion poor guy. But he doesn't let that spoil his fun.

Hallowe'en

2011-11-03T23:03:00.000-05:00

We went trick or treating. It was so fun that I'm determined to do it in our apt. complex next year. It was such a positive way to connect with neighbors!

Woodplay

2011-10-30T23:47:00.000-05:00

I asked my mother to cut out four circus shapes I sent her- out of wood. She threw in Dumbo & his mother (technically Jumbo Jr. & Mrs. Jumbo) for "Free."
I just realized I didn't take a before of just the wood blank. Well I painted them on Saturday.
Pip will officially get them on his 1st birthday.
I can't decide if the Tiger or the Horse is my favorite!

A+B=C

2011-10-27T09:40:00.001-05:00

My haircutting setup.
Plus
One cute four year old
Equals
One pitiful 11 month old falling asleep in the exersaucer.

Stuff of Dreams

2011-10-26T15:44:00.001-05:00

Pretty Sail Pillow.
I just drew a line, then wrote my quote on it, then drew a little sailboat - all with my water-disappearing marker. Then I backstitched the whole thing.
The quote says: "a pilot steers the ship on which we sail. "

Project for Myself

2011-10-22T14:56:00.000-05:00

Little mama + Little girl

2011-10-20T17:35:00.000-05:00

These were made using the Wee Bunny pattern by Hilary Lang (its free!).

Peaceful Busy Day

2011-10-18T11:40:00.001-05:00

October Standings

2011-10-14T14:18:00.000-05:00

Adorable Bobbins from Wild Olive

2011-10-12T22:23:00.000-05:00

Sweet Tea Drinkin' FlipFlop Cowboy Boot-wearin' Boy!

2011-10-03T16:46:00.000-05:00

lissabeth shared an Instagram photo with you

2011-09-30T08:32:00.001-05:00

Hi there,

lissabeth just shared an Instagram photo with you:

view full image

"Tower"

Thanks,
The Instagram Team

Good: Morning

2011-09-29T08:16:00.000-05:00

New post on R2!

2011-09-24T19:02:00.001-05:00

I wrote a new post over on the writing & reviewing blog my sister & I share. We've been pretty busy reviewing (READING!) stuff as we try to break down this whole mysterious novel-writing thing.

Make sure you go here:

http://reformedromance.blogspot.com/

We have a dotcom also, and you can get to the blog from there, but I thought you might like to just go straight there.
Chin chin!
Lissa
Ps I hope that doesn't mean something bad. The movie I got it from was PG so I should be ok right?

BatmanCowboy & Alienbaby!

2011-09-23T08:24:00.001-05:00

Parks and Peaks

2011-09-19T14:03:00.001-05:00

Birthday Making!

2011-09-19T09:22:00.001-05:00

Cheap Snack

2011-09-12T10:29:00.001-05:00

Cause bananas & peanut butter are nice, but anything with SPRINKLES are COOL!

The Bread Pudding Anniversary

2011-09-03T20:07:00.001-05:00

lissabeth shared an Instagram photo with you

2011-08-31T23:59:00.001-05:00

Hi there,

lissabeth just shared an Instagram photo with you:

view full image

"Love my new Chucks!"

Thanks,
The Instagram Team

lissabeth shared an Instagram photo with you

2011-08-31T12:54:00.001-05:00

Hi there,

lissabeth just shared an Instagram photo with you:

view full image

"First Adventure in Stamp-making"

Thanks,
The Instagram Team

Got the Notion

2011-08-29T14:26:00.000-05:00

Photo shop app

2011-08-25T11:32:00.001-05:00

I've discovered Instagram (thanks Corrie!)

Homemade Lunchables!

2011-08-19T09:39:00.001-05:00

Phillip+Carrot Video!

2011-08-18T08:29:00.001-05:00

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSuF8LQFBYE&feature=youtube_gdata_player

SmileyYogurtFace

2011-08-17T08:54:00.001-05:00

Ritzy Scissors

2011-08-13T07:54:00.000-05:00

Cracker anyone?

Watermelon Cake Pops

2011-08-11T12:26:00.001-05:00

Baby proofing

2011-08-07T21:44:00.000-05:00

I have semi-baby-proofed the feeding area. I used contact paper (Target mops&brooms aisle) that looks a little like granite. Really it looks like Formica. I applied it directly to the wall and made it 42" high (3.5'). It's not sticking real well. We will see what happens.

New Necklace

2011-08-04T21:52:00.000-05:00

I got a necklace today! It came in the mail straight from beautiful Salado TX and the Big and Chunky Jewelry Co.
http://www.bigchunkyjewelryco.com/

Craft Party!

2011-08-02T15:37:00.001-05:00

You know those beautiful parties you see on line with every tiny thing decorated? I got to go to one! HA! And it was even more fun than you can see in the photos because these detail people, they are great at planning crafts for you.
Plus I finally conquered my fear of cutting out many small circles (minisphereaphobia).

Go see it:

http://caseybaudoin.blogspot.com/2011/08/craft-party.html

You'll see a lady cutting out a picture of a girl with a ponytail. I was sitting next to her!

Robot Song

2011-08-02T08:32:00.000-05:00

"I have on a shirt
That looks like
My
Bah
Dee. "

Spoonflower

2011-08-01T21:18:00.001-05:00

I finally decided to sit down and see what this "Spoonflower" thing was all about. Ok, it's amazing!
AH-MAZE-EEN!
It's fabric that anybody can make! You can make up any design! Anything. Now I know what you're thinking. I'm not really into designing my own fabric. I wouldn't know where to start. Ah but are you into photography? Scan in some family photos, doctor them a little and you could upload them to Spoonflower order the fabric and make family photo ties, totes, handbags! How about everyone gets a Stocking with their FACE on it! Or say you have a favorite toy (or you kids, or your husband) take a photo, make the pattern repeat (a function they have on their site) and next thing you know - a customized pillowcase.
One nice feature is you can make your design private, so if the picture is not one you want everyone to see you can control that.
Another cool thing is patterns! Type in skirt pattern or dress pattern into the search box and you'll get lots of preprinted patterns (cut it out sew it up!) For everything from the solar system to 18" doll clothes!
I am so excited about this. Hmmm, I'm already thinking how can this help me with my plot to take over the world?

Helping Dad

2011-07-30T22:59:00.001-05:00

James didn't care one way or the other about the vacuum. Peter is scared of it. Phillip seems to love it. He army-crawled across the living room to get to the vacuum. Mark is vacuuming under the highchair. Eew. I love him.

More preschool cooking!

2011-07-30T10:18:00.001-05:00

P and I love going through the recipes in "Pretend Soup."

Beach Trip 2011

2011-07-25T12:46:00.001-05:00

Good night, sleep tight

2011-07-24T21:57:00.001-05:00

Ala cakewrecks¿

2011-07-11T17:26:00.001-05:00

I found this in Hobby Lobby. I can just imagine the scenario.
"there ain't no V's Mabel"
"Agnes, this word clearly has a V"
"but we're fresh out Mabel"
"here use this maybe no one will notice. "

Warning

2011-07-06T13:54:00.001-05:00

How do I look?

2011-07-05T18:52:00.001-05:00

Happy Freedom Redux

2011-07-05T17:13:00.000-05:00

Galatians 5:1

"For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery."

Lissa

Ps I'm sorry for everyone who keeps getting this sent. I'm TRYING to get the picture to post when I send it through my phone. Ive been trying something new every time.

2011-06-06T08:00:00.001-05:00

Been doing a lot this week! I can't believe it's finally the last week of school. My mother's birthday was on Monday so I drew her a little cake on a card.

I also started making all these pillows. The Bethlehem Star pillow is for me. I made the star over a year ago just to see if I could. I had grand plans to make a picture entirely sewn out of fabric that would incorporate the star. Then I realized I wouldn't want to hang something like that on my wall! So finally, I have a completely normal, completely lovely accent pillow for my couch. And it has a little lace on the back. Just 'cause. The two pillows in the bottom picture are some I made for my mother's birthday. It's an amazing Schumacher fabric. It was so beautiful - it was quilted with tiny little diamonds, and over this beige background, was stitched a "center border" motif with loops and flowers. I placed the center of the motif more on the side on my pillows so you could see some flowers too. My sister gave me a great big sample rectangle and it all went on these pillows.

Here are some shots of the bulletin board I painted several weeks ago. It's very aqua. I'm still getting used to it. I gave myself a little pat on the back for choosing a reddish orange for the accent. It's just out of my comfort zone. I like that bit. I'm sorry the pictures are so small. When I shrink them and make a tiled arrangement it helps me upload them. I drew the stencil but ended up only cutting out a few bits. I stencilled the bits on, and then added the rest by hand, like all those tiny leaves. There's a little butter-moth in the corner that ended up being covered by the calendar. This is the only spot in the house I can really put the calendar and still write on it. I'm keeping lists and a couple of bible verses on there too.

I'm so excited! On Sunday after church we are going to Dallas-Fort Worth to visit my parents (Granny & Grandfather) and my mom's dad (Papa Pete!). Papa and my Mom have planted a large vegetable garden - something my kids don't have any experience with. I am super-excited!

To Do before I go:

Finish all projects for My and Rebecca's secret project.

Sew a dress out of white eyelet (this was supposed to be for Easter, and then Mother's Day. I am determined to wear it this summer. Determined.)

Make invitations for Peter's birthday out of origami paper, blank cards, and a photoshopped Team UmiZoomi picture.

Let the madness begin. (As in crazy, not angry - hopefully!)

A few little tips...

2011-05-30T07:00:00.001-05:00

I found a wonderful book at the library called:
"Pretend Soup"(and this link has lots of pictures!) It's a cookbook you can use with your toddlers. I let Peter pick out a recipe to make and he picked "Carrot Pennies." We made them a couple of times and gobbled them up. He's not really interested in making them any more, but when they show up at dinner he's thrilled to eat them. Maybe knowing how they're made (with butter and brown sugar) makes him feel like he made them every singe time. James likes them too and I think he helped make them once. There's at least one more cook book compiled by the same lady called "Salad People." I just can't say enough about this wonderful book. Peter wanted to read it before bedtime. Every recipe, and all the children's comments that are sprinkled throughout the book. Each recipe has simple pictures that represent each step. Things like "stir", "flip", "pour in." He wanted me to read every step of every recipe!

Tip #1 If your toddlers need some buildings to rampage through, house lego men, or use as target practice here is an easy recipe for a house made from a cereal box.

Cut where I've indicated. I cut the top and one side together. Then you can use the top and that side (brown side up this time) to draw the other side. You won't have to worry about drawing or cutting perfectly because that way, they'll match.

You should have the sides (the part with all the vitamin info) sticking up. Those fold down toward the slanted roof sides. Use big old masking tape (or something) to tape down.

If you want a prettier house (that doesn't say, for example, Raisin Bran Crunch across the front). I suggest you dismantle the box. Turn it inside out, then follow the instructions. Then you can paint it!
Tip #2 The pot rack makes an excellent drumset.

Tip #3 Quesadillas made from colby jack and apples (I think these are pink ladies) are actually quite delicious.

Tip #4 If you need to measure how long you want a skirt or dress to be, and there's no one around to help you. Draw a mark on your leg with a washable marker. Line up your measuring tape with the mark (I lined mine up with the 5" spot so I had to subtract 5" at the end). Tape it on your leg. Roll the tape up to your desired waist and read the number! Voila!

Here is the weekly schedule that Peter and I are doing for fun together, almost every day. Stars are for "Today" and anything that we think is extra special, like the Library. Or you can see on Monday there is No School! It's Memorial Day and also Granny's birthday.

Here's a close-up. Peter takes a nap nearly every day. All the nap post-it's are different colors so they look pretty all lined up. I try not to have any colors that are the same next to each other. Sometimes we have to move something to a different day and it happens. We don't worry about it. We talk about what today is, what tomorrow is, and what yesterday was (what day of the week). Then we sing the days of the week song to the tune of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star."

I think it helps Peter to know what to expect during the day. Sometimes there's a dinner menu post-it and sometimes there's not. I do think Mark and James like to know what dinner will be so I've tried to do it more often. The main thing is that there's something to look forward to almost every day, and that toddlers can learn that sometimes we have to be flexible and move something over to a different day. Peter quite likes moving things around actually. The fun of that helps him to be flexible. He really liked the lunch post-it (yellow, near right) and ended up moving it down several days and requesting pb&j and an apple for lunch so it could look like the picture (that's a fold-over sandwich). He was also much more excited about going to the Parcel Store to mail Granny's present because the post it showed it getting to her (light green next to the sandwich and apple). Peter likes to move the "Today is" star over to the next day (whenever we remember that is).

The whole thing is just a poster board and colorful Post-It notes. I drew a top "border", measured it, divided by 7 (roughly 4" a column), and divided it into seven sections. I wrote a day of the week in each section. I left the majority of the poster without any lines, and it helps us not worry if our post-its are crooked. I did spend the money on post-it's which went against the grain, but I decided to invest in it as a learning experience. Also the supplies are versatile and if it hadn't worked we could have used everything for something else!

A beautiful flower from mother's day. James pick them out - aren't they lovely?

And the winner is...

2011-05-26T08:53:00.005-05:00

Okay for my grand first give-away, I got a total of 2 comments! Bwahahaha! So here we go. Heads it's Micah, Tails it's Corrie. [flips coin]

And Micah it is! Which is great for me, because I can just give it to her at the party on Saturday! Hmmm that reminds me. Need to go get a present...but I'm thinking her soon-to-be 10 year old wouldn't like anything embroidered. No. Probably not. Here are some recent pictures for my dear family. Have a happy Memorial Weekend Everybody!

First time for everything...

2011-05-21T06:43:00.007-05:00

I'm doing a giveaway today, and I've never done this before. Not nearly as exciting as it sounds - for me anyway. Lot's more exciting to win. So I'm offereing for the giveaway a funky retro trim I found at our local Pennywise. I found it on some curtains. It's not all one piece unfortunately but there's rather a lot of it. I cut the faded red curtain fabric off - trust me, no loss. And there was very little fading on this trim! It's really wide. You wouldn't be getting it except it's just not in colors I use very much: red, orange, pink, green.

I love shopping at Pennywise because they sell people's old sewing patterns for a quarter and they usually have a fabric bin! Awesome! I've picked up, this year alone some red and white striped fabric (really really big stripes) that I may make piping out of because I loved the piping on ikatbag's shortall pattern. Another score (to me) was two cute polka dot cups. I also troll the sheets and pillowcases section for those bright retro florals that are getting so trendy. Which is where I found the faded red curtains that had this wonderful super-bright trim. I just can't describe how bright these colors are. There are two lengths of about 10' each. It would work beautifully on a dress (here's one to copy from Modcloth), or on a roman blind (Little Green Notebook has a neat tutorial on how to make a roman blind from a cheap mini-blind). Oh dear. Now I wish I was keeping it. (Sigh.)All you need to do to enter is leave a comment on my skirt tutorial from yesterday (USA residents only please). Be sure that I can click on your name to get back to you, or leave your address written out (for example: patthebunny(at)fictionalcharacter(d0t)com ). Then I'll randomly generate my number for whoever comments! Here's a tip. I usually average about 2 comments. So you have a much better chance of winning than usual! Please leave only one comment. I will close the give-away on Wednesday at 9pm (CST).

Bon Chance!

Breezy Braided Beach Skirt Tutorial

2011-05-20T05:00:00.000-05:00

Welcome everyone from Hideous Dreadful Stinky! I am so honored to be a guest blogger for the Summer of No Pants. Marigold writes one of my favorite blogs. As a mother of three boys her tough as Rubbermaid blog is a breath of fresh air for this mom.
Also tomorrow I'll be doing a giveaway. It was just too much with this very long post. Come back for that! So without further ado (well who are we kidding? There are at least 3 more pictures before the tute really starts, but this parenthetical isn't helping us get there eh?) the:

This is more than just your average drawstring skirt! Although I love a good adjustable drawstring skirt (one size fits all!) I hate having to adjust it every time I want to take it off. Also three boys have left me with not much waist and I find that a tight enough drawstring can cut into my tummy and be really uncomfortable. I have found a remedy for both problems so this will be a comfortable and adjustable option for your Summer of No Pants!

Tools:
Rotary Cutter
Ruler
Cutting Mat
Fabric Marker
Large safety pin
Sewing Machine

Supplies:
1 3/4 yard cotton knit
5/8" Elastic (something strong)
Matching Thread

1. Cutting the pieces
Fold the material in such a way that you are cutting all the way across the fabric selvage-to-selvage. All cuts will be made in this way. So they will all be approx. 45" by whatever-I-tell-you. (If you want to do 60" fabric you'll have to do the math yourself!)
Cut pieces that are:
26 1/4" (back)
25" (front)
3 1/4" (drawstring casing for front)
1"
1"
1"

2. Turning under
Turn under 1/4" and then 1/4" again to make a nice edge. Do this on the following (this is the boring part):
One long side of the 26 1/4" piece (the 45" side)

One long side of the 25" piece (the 45" side)

Of the 3 1/4" piece, first the long sides, the the short sides

Cut the 3 1/4" piece in half so you have two pieces that are 3 1/4" by approx. 22" and are finished on three sides.

3. Making casings

The Front: (if, like me, you've pinned nothing so far - this is where you should start pinning!)Pin the two 3 & 1/4" pieces so that they match up with the turned edge of the 25" piece. Put those raw unfinished edges on the selvage and leave a little 2" gap in the middle between those nice finished short ends.

This is going to be the casing that will hold the three drawstrings. I matched the casing edge to the line of the stitches so you can see the two layers a little bit.

Sew down the lower side of the casing the same way. Now you'll need to measure the previously 3 & 1/4" casing to see what it measures from stitches to stitches.

Remember those three 1" strips? Stretch those girlies all the way out till they curl up! Cut all three strips in half so you have six. Get that big safety pin and use it to thread one strip through each of those parallel casings you just sewed! Let them hang down long in the middle and knot them together just to be safe. On the unfinished side edges, have those three strips stick out a tiny bit. Pin them, and then sew them down. When you sew the side seams later just use a bigger seam allowance so that bit doesn't show.

The Back:

You are now going to make a casing for the elastic along the long nicely turned side of the 26 & 1/4" piece. Do that however you want. But on one side sew the elastic down and on the other side leave the casing open so you can adjust the elastic when we get to that part.

This is how I do it.
First put the safety pin on the end of the elastic.
Lay the elastic down along the turned edge on one side. Fold that baby over just as snug as you like with the elastic now inside the fold. There should be just enough looseness so you can pin along the edge of your folded-casing without catching the elastic in your pinning. Pin all the way down the elastic. When you get to the end of the elastic, slide it down further so you can use it to gauge your folds. Keep sliding and folding and pinning, sliding and folding and pinning until you get to the other side.

Let the elastic stick out a little. Sew down the elastic from the top of the fold to the pinned edge, then turn, sewing along where you pinned. Don't catch the elastic!

4. Construction

Sew the Side Seams Almost. Pin the front to the back, right sides together and...

a) On the side where the back elastic is sewn down - sew the side seam all the way top to bottom using a large enough seam allowance that all those other side seams don't show.

b) On the side where the elastic is loose sew from just UNDER the elastic casing all the way to the bottom.

Fitting the Waist and Pinning the Elastic Down:

Go lock yourself in your bathroom with your pincushion and make the gaping hole of a waistband fit around you. Pull the front drawstrings tight and tie them. Hold the "open" side together with one hand and pull the elastic out until the skirt fits you. Pin it and adjust the gathers. Adjusting the gathers may loosen the skirt. Pull the elastic out again, keep working it until it looks how you like and (this is rather important) doesn't fall off!

Before you go back to sew down the elastic where you pinned it, take the skirt off and put on some pants!

Sew the side seam the rest of the way up - sewing that pinned elastic down at the same time.

Hems: Many people leave the hem of a cotton knit skirt like this unfinished. That's what I've done here. If you don't like this you can turn the edge under a 1/4 of an inch twice as we did on the other nice edges, or you could do a more traditional hem by turning 1/4 of an inch once and sewing on the machine and then turning under one inch or more and hand-sewing a hemstitch.

Either way cotton knit skirts like this are not expected to be perfectly hemmed parallel to the ground. A little variation is normal in a store bought skirt so you can get away with it here.

Braid those drawstrings and tie them in a knot before you reach the end! Pretty pretty pretty!

Or don't braid them and leave them all stringy and Blue Lagooney! Whatever you want!

Now go to the beach with your kiddoes!

Come back tomorrow for the give away!

Hankies for Natalie

2011-05-09T10:37:00.007-05:00

I've been working on these for a friend who is getting married on Saturday. I'm pretty sure none of her bridesmaids read my blog so we're okay! I was so excited to get to do this for her because she is so special and friendly, and well to be honest I really like her so I'm trying ingratiate myself. Yep, once again, using handcrafts to manipulate people into being my friend. And if you gotten something embroidered from me, I feel that way about YOU too.
I'm also using this post to test the "small", "medium", and "large" settings on blogger.

This one was my favorite. I love how the little butterfly turned out.What I did to create the designs was very simple. I drew squares that were the size I wanted the letters to be. Using a pencil I wrote the letter in the square using pretty handwriting. If I didn't like it I erased the bit that needed help fixed it. In the end I went over it in pen. I put a paper over that and traced my letter adding flowers and clover and leaves. If I didn't like it, I just traced a new one. It really helped to have the template in pen under there ready to give me a fresh start. When I was satisfied I went over the new design in pen so I could trace that on fabric with a fabric marker. Here they are all stacked up and ready to go.I have to tell you all about my wonderful Mother's Day.

I got breakfast in Bed (James' idea) with a card from Mark and one card for all the three boys - they all wrote their names in it! Okay not Phillilp.

We went to church and heard a wonderful sermon on Hannah (from Samuel 1 & 2) and not idolizing motherhood (or anything else). We were also part of the baby dedication and Phillip was dedicated.

Afterwards we went for Chinese food. Yummy and not too pricey! It was not a buffet (we love chinese buffets too!) so the boys had a menu experience - it just all seemed a little fancier than we usually do. I don't know why we've been places with menus before...

When we came home we all put on flip flops and went to the beach for a photo shoot! You'll see those pictures soon on my "Breezy Braided Beach Skirt" Tutorial.

After the beach we stopped by LaKing's a candy and soda shop on The Strand in Galveston. (Granny's Treat). We headed home for toast and milk and showers. And THAT was my awesome Mother's Day.

Happy Mother's Day to me! Here I am with my three wonderful boys.Unseen is my wonderful awesome (sexy) husband taking the picture!

Space Craft and Milk Bag

2011-05-05T15:37:00.003-05:00

All kinds of fun going on here at my house. This craft for one. I wish wish wish I could post the link to the site where I first saw this. But I forgot it and can't find it anywhere. In my head it's associated with Celebrate the Boy but it doesn't seem to be one of their official links. Argh.James and I dismantled as many broken toys and stuff as we could find and kept all the outside plastic pieces. Then, we went to Home Depot and got some adhesive (and two cans of spray paint). We used an epoxy that came in two tubes that squirt as one. Pretty Cool. Thanks also to Robert for the advice on epoxy!
Then when his sleepover friend arrived - they played Wii. Finally I couldn't take it any more so I made them build space ships. Yes, I was more excited than they. But they were jazzed about the results.

I have also wanted to make this reusable grocery bag set. Especially the milk and meat ones. Here is my attempt. Note to self: actually follow directions next time instead of looking at the picture and thinking: "okay that looks pretty simple/easy/fun." I mean honestly how many times has that thought gotten me in to trouble? I'm pretty sure getting various body parts stuck in things, mangling clothes to make them "better" and at least one son - all had that in common.
But anyway, I'm happy with it.
I'll do better with the meat bag.
And I think it's super cool that I made the plastic fabric out of melted grocery bags!

Happy Cinco De Mayo Everyone! I have to go make a breezy beach skirt for the:

Summer of No Pants

at which I will be a guest blogger!

Fairest and Fair

2011-04-20T00:27:00.005-05:00

Here is our "Eastivity Scene!" Starting on Sunday, Jesus entered the city riding on a donkey. Our figurine wouldn't ride his donkey. The people laid down palms and their coats for Jesus. He went to the Temple. You can see the people ready to sell sheep and stuff. And he cleaned it out!
The next day he cursed the fruitless fig tree as a symbol of the Temple empty of prayer and praise. So the last picture is Jesus happy because we filled up the temple with fruit: things we praise God for! I didn't take pictures of it, but the boys also decorated the two greatest commandments (the Diamond Rule, and the Golden Rule) because Jesus quoted them during this visit to the Temple.

We took a sort of break on the Holy Week Activities on Tuesday because Jesus was teaching end-times things in the temple. Just a little over our heads this year. We will start back up
on Wednesday with Judas going to the Pharisees, and anything else that happened on Wednesday.

And finally, here are some pictures of the Boyscout Fair! You can see pictures of James learning to fold The Flag, crossing a log bridge, climbing a rockwall, making rope, and driving a Lego Robot. Peter got to twist James' rope a little, they ate lunch under a makeshift stroller/chair/blankey tent, got to shoot rubber band guns, and make a 2x4 trail through a "jungle." My Cub Scout had a great time, and Pete and Phillip did well too!

2011-03-28T15:50:00.005-05:00

Hello my nearly a dozen followers! I thought I'd post a picture of a quilt I'm "working" on for Phillip. By "working" I mean it's about half quilted and has been sitting in it's hoop under the table by my nursing chair for about two months. But now that I've made two shirts (almost) and two pairs of underwear and a skirt (still needs hemming) maybe I can get back in the mood to hand quilt.

The color of the green is really hard to capture. The embroidered square in the first photo can be seen in the upper RH corner of the second photo. It is of the same fabric I used for Phillip's little coming home pinafore - in the third photo (there's a tiny appliqued brown bear on that).

The blue in the quilt is really a tiny gingham, oh yes it was used as the edging for Rosie's dress which I just realized I never blogged! The darkest red is really a calico that I used on Mom's oven mitt for Christmas. The green baby-buggy fabric was a gift at my baby shower (where it was also the table cloth!). As you can see, there's not a single solid in there. Two kinds of polka dots, YES! No florals, three plaids, and my favorite, the circus fabric. I tried to fussy cut the circus fabric but it was just the wrong size square to look it's best that way. A little bigger, or a little smaller would've been better. The size of the square was decided by the smallest scrap that I really wanted to use and I hate sewing really tiny squares so - oh well. I love it. It came out looking way more sophisticated, random, and homey than my quilts seem to do.

So I really like it. Now to finish that hand-quilting!

Ice Cream and Dinosaurs

2011-03-25T11:05:00.008-05:00

Good morning friends!

I’ve been working on a shirt for Peter this week. Sewing on the sewing machine is so soothing to me. It helped me slide into this week. Last week I had so much fun with my sister and mom in town for Spring Break. We did so much! Monday however, I spent half the day in my pajamas working on this shirt for Peter.

I saw that I Am Momma was having a boy shirt contest but I thought I remembered it ending on Monday. So when I checked her site I was pleasantly surprised to see it didn’t end until Friday! So I gave it a shot.

I didn’t have anything very creative to do so I tried to just do my best on the quality and details.

I used Simplicity 7994.

Started with:

1 yard of fabric from Hobby Lobby ($3 a yard on sale!)

A brown thread that I already had and sort of coordinated

Bag of buttons from Wal-Mart ($1.50?)

And then at the end I decided to do a little hand embroidery for it – you’ll see!

I’m really proud of the sleeves this time around. I actually stitched the gathering inseam thread so I could ease it in. An elderly friend in Hillsboro had emphasized that this step keeps you from getting ugly little gathers in the sleeve or shirt body.

Dun TaDa DUN!

No ugly little gathers in anything!

And look at my cute buttons with three different color threads.

The next thing I’m rather pleased about is the button holes. My button holes always look like horrible gashes in the fabric of time. Well. Maybe that was a little dramatic, but they look bad.

But not this time!

I finally figured out the button hole feature on my machine. Woohoo!

I’m also really proud that I didn’t have to rip out a single seam. I wait for them on every project: the moment when I realize I sewed a wrong side to a right side (that’s a real duh moment too), the moment I break a needle, and the moment I realize my bobbin ran out of thread way at the beginning of the seam.

None of that happened this time!

HA!

Here’s Pete mugging for the camera. Isn’t he beautiful?

And here’s the baby I was holding in my lap while I took pictures. Not his best moment, but he was very good and happy the whole time.

Now as a reward, I'm going to go buy some BlueBell Homemade Vanilla!

P.S. See all the other great shirt entries at I Am Momma Hear Me Roar!

Happy St. Valentine's Day Matey!

2011-02-14T09:39:00.002-06:00

Well, here's what James and I did last night. Why didn't I get a picture of him doing it? Because I was cutting hearts and taping little black strips like a fiend.

It started out as a pirate flag valentine, but morphed into just a skull. My friend Micah H. assures me that it still says "pirate" not "creepy Satanic ritual."

What do pirates have to do with St. Valentine's Day? ...er...

(lightbulb!)

That's your discussion question for the day:

What do pirates have to do with St. Valentine's Day? (50 words or more)

Date Night Blouse

2011-01-25T11:27:00.005-06:00

I've hit my annual new year Sewing-Fever. So I went to my stash and found this great polka dot fabric. I always have turquoise/aqua on hand because it's my favorite color to wear. This is the 4th top I've made using my standby NewLook pattern, but its the first time I've done it without sleeves.Peter snuck in for the end of my photo shoot in the bathroom. So tried to take picture of him in his new haircut....there he goes!

So anyway, I barely had enough fabric for the thing so the yoke sags a little (no lining), and the inside has some rough edges.

But on the whole I'm pleased.

I like it best with the sweater.

After the "'shoot", Pete had an idea for a recipe. While I was downloading pics he got out the ingredients - scaring me to death...but the result was ok.

Ingredients:

popcorn

raisins

gummy snacks

baby carrots

He ate it all up!

More Christmas Stuff

2011-01-22T15:47:00.004-06:00

These are the felt cupcakes I made my nephew and niece for Christmas. There are about a billion cupcake tutorials out there, like here, and a really sophisticated one here and did I use any of them? No, I didn't because I don't have a printer to print up anything. So as a result they have sort of drunken sailor early in the morning look about them. The thing that I did that's new, that I haven't seen before is simple - I didn't! No I haven't just gone crazy...I DIDN'T do something that I've seen everyone else do as the finishing touch - sew on the decorations. I cut out circles, squares, stars, spirals and one "drizzle glaze" splotch, and then put them in a baggie. Now they can be rearranged in different combinations. As an added bonus, they can be scattered all over my sister's living room floor for a post-ticker-tape parade effect! Go check out these adorable sister and my so talented sister here!

Stitchin' Time

2011-01-19T12:11:00.005-06:00

This is an embroidery I made up to go with some chinese food I delivered to a friend with a new baby. I said that I was bringing egg rolls and we got to talking about chinese food we love. Then she mentioned that her husband loves crab rangoons. It was super easy to do, all backstitch with a couple of french knots. I did it on a flour-sack towel. I was inspired by the Pleasant Kitchen Towels on Posie Gets Cozy (they can be downloaded from a sidebar). I'm making those too! Here's Sunday:

We had a ton-ton of fun!

2011-01-17T09:31:00.003-06:00

Annoyingly I've just realized that I didn't take pictures of most of the things I made for Christmas! I'm going to have to get my sisters and mom to take pictures of themselves with their stuff so I can post it.
And post it I will because I'm superproud to have done all this AND given birth in 2010
Fortunately my absolute FAVORITE gift is the one I did take pictures of. The idea came from a conversation between myself, my dad, and my 8-yr old son about the amazing bantha craft and the adorable jawa doll softie.
We were trying to think of a worthy addition to the world of do-it-yourself geekery.
So without further ado....
Here are two of the ton-tons I made for my dad and two brothers-in-law. I'm planning on posting the ton-tons as either a downloadable pdf or maybe even a pattern you purchase on etsy as soon as I can. As you can see from the pictures, their guts are spilling out as they did in "Empire Strikes Back" when Han Solo cuts one open to save Luke from hypothermia. There is a pocket within the "guts" so you can hide Luke in there. Or if you can't find the right Luke, just hide candy! (That's what we did) The legs and tail are weighted so they can stand up next to your computer or your linux penquin or whatever.

A Special Treat

2010-12-10T10:07:00.003-06:00

Today Peter told me he wanted to make a "special treat" using the following ingredients:
a gummy worm
chocolate powder
some oil

So we did! There are our ingredients! (We did 3 squirts of spray oil)
We stirred them around.

The chocolate powder (we used Nestle's Quick) stuck to the oil, and the oil stuck to the gummy worm.

I took a bite. Peter took a bite. It wasn't that bad. Chocolatey, then fruity. I asked Peter what he thought it looked like. He said dirt. I think it looks like something unmentionable. I might have a lot of fun with this on April Fool's day. Hmmm....

2010-12-04T16:37:00.001-06:00

Phillip got his first bath this week! I think Peter thought he was going to get in there with him because I heard Mark turn and say "Peter why are you naked?"
So the five of us (three clothed) were crowded into the boys bathroom to watch Phillip get his bath.
He even looks like he's smiling in this picture!

Inspiration for the Unwieldy

2010-10-30T21:07:00.006-05:00

Here's what we've been up to.

(Note: It's really hard to see how photos are going to be displayed in blogger so you'll have to assign the appropriate caption to the appropriate picture)

First: There's James' completed tool box (I love that he attached a baseball picture of himself to the keychain. Cool handy key-chain-nail Granny!)

Second: Peter hammin it up on the back porch.

Third: (this was tonight) "No hitting, kicking and punching your brother Peter."

Fourth: James and his CubScout Den enjoying the Frankenkrispy treats that James helped make.

Fifth: What I've been working on today.

You might think I have too much time on my hands. I wouldn't say that. I still feel like Tweedle Dee trying to get around (anyone remember the clown pants with the hula hoop waistline?), and I still have to take it easy more than is good for my house or my toddler - but there is not NEARLY enough time before the baby to get all the christmas and baby sewing done! Argghh.

I can't believe Pip will be here in 19 days. I'm scheduled to c-sect at 12:30 on November 18th.

I loved the 1940's lipstick application tutorial that I found here. She has lots of inspiring looks. It's crazy - I had just been thinking today, "I wish I knew how to do vintage looking pin curls and styles." So then I find this blog! She mentions a new book that came out "Style Me Vintage." I think I'm gonna have to get myself that one for my birthday!

Christmas Making

2010-10-26T23:37:00.003-05:00

I love pictures of little children hands.
This is P. Note the fading baby wrinkle at the wrist. Fortunately I'm getting a new one in November. New fat wrists and ankles, and no ability to stave off kisses!

I've been Christmas sewing today. My house looks horrible, floors are visibly dirty and everything else is worse. The problem is not motivation.

In an occasion which should be historic, scientists actually named a chemical after the most notable result. The chemical "relaxin" is what causes your joints to stretch more than usual while you're pregnant. And since my body always seems to have trouble with dosage amounts (do you think she'll need some serotonin to go to sleep tonight? Nah. besides we made more than enough adrenalin today let's hit the sack ourselves), I think my body has made too much relaxin. It's as though I have communist bloc hormone glands. They always make too much of the wrong things.

So my house is dirty because it hurts to move. Each step is painful, just standing up is painful, bending over hurts in 5 different places that haven't hurt since I started taking horseback riding lessons!

So instead of cleaning the house I sat still. And laid still.

All day long.

I still really wanted to be productive though, so P and I played with construction paper and a single hole punch and glue, we "ate" cupcakes (they're made of felt), and I sewed little hand-sewing things. I can't say too much about it because the recipients all read my blog. But for a teaser, they were inspired by a cheap IKEA score + a favorite illustrator + this baby book interpretation (made by my favorite blogger), which was originally in this book. And that's all I'm gonna give ya!

I will take pictures and post them after Christmas, which is no help to the rest of you - but let's face it - I know that most of the people who read my blog are my friends and they HAVE my email address. If you need hand-sewy ideas for christmas, email me.

Love to everyone!

Lissa

Toolbox!

2010-10-18T23:18:00.004-05:00

Granny came to visit us this weekend!
I had asked her to help James complete one of the requirements for his Bear Cub Scout Badge, so she came prepared to help him build....

THE
TOOLBOX!

(I've just realized there's not a good "all finished pic" - but I have a headache and you can see it in the last picture - sort of)

He was super-proud to take it to his Den Meeting tonight. I was worried that the event would not meet up to the expectation. But all the boys were really impressed, and looked and looked at our pictures and the tools and asked questions. James got to do a little talk on what each tool was, and impressed them even more when he told them, they were all HIS!

Thank you so much Granny.
You are amazing.
You are super-cool.

Love you,
Lissa

Art and Ocean

2010-10-11T19:04:00.008-05:00

While we were at IKEA getting dining room chairs, I found little unstained picture frames for really cheap! I bought three bundles. For the longest time I couldn't decide what to put in them...
pretty scrapbook paper?

photos of my kids?

(my favorite and I WILL do it eventually)

pictures from old children's books

finally I settled on the DIY option:

tiny painted still-lifes.

(Are they still-life if there is just one

object in the picture?)
Peter helped me paint the frames in blue, pink, and very bright yellow (in other words, what I had in the bin below my bed).

Here is Peter with his favorite painting.

I was inspired by the art in Richard Scarry books - that is - the art that is hanging on the walls of the animals houses. It's nearly always vegetables or fruit. My favorite is a still life of five or six apples that hangs on the wall in Dr. Lion's clinic (Postman Pig and his Busy Neighbors).

When the husband gets them hung I will show you how they all look together!

I'm also working on refashioning some of my clothes to be nursing-friendly. I'm really in love with the t-shirt refashions from Tea Rose Home. One dress that was already nursing-friendly needs a little spiffing up so I've been working on that.

Today was Columbus Day and J had the day off from school (unfortunately the Husband didn't). P, J, and I all drove to Galveston this morning to play at the beach. It was really perfect weather. Warm but not sultry, with a light breeze. Best of all the tide had created a tide-pool and sand-bar which you don't usually get in Galveston. It was perfect for P who is still afraid of the waves. We had an exceptionally good time!

The Big Tummy

2010-09-29T14:34:00.002-05:00

Well, here it is folks: The big tummy! I am six weeks until my due date and I feel like I felt full term with the other two.

Cravings:
sparkling white grape juice
purple grape juice
steak
fish

There seems to be a protein trend in that list. I AM taking vitamins. This is a first for me. Luckily I found PreNatal Gummy Vitamins at Target otherwise I think I'd be awov (away with out vitamins). I saw a doctor yesterday at Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital, and today God arranged for me to meet a lady at the mall playground who had worked in the maternity ward there! I'm feeling positive about staying there even though it's about ten times larger than either of the hospitals I've delivered at before.

Okay.
Six Weeks.
We can do this!

Rural Community by James

2010-09-27T10:43:00.007-05:00

First is a lunch sack I made from a pattern I saw online somewhere (I think I started at Meet Me at Mikes and went from there - who knows?).

Then there's James working on his model of a rural community.

I helped him make buildings. Then he laid them out and traced them, painted the box. Here you can see him rolling out black clay to make roads. It was so great. When he was done the clay looked just like the patchy tarmac you see in small towns.

You can see the road layout, and then - TaDA! buildings and bushes and trees and crops!

This is my favorite view: the Feed Store nestled next to the Wal-Mart

The next day Peter wanted to make a model of his own.
More on that next time.

What the..?

2010-09-23T08:27:00.002-05:00

Every time I have moved, there has been a moment of Why? Not why am I moving (well that happens too but in this case - not). Let's just get to it.

Moving out of Cuero: Helper - Corrie (and by helper, I mean the person who made it happen) unearths my collection of styrofoam egg cartons hiding atop the refrigerator. I don't know why I kept them, they always seemed on the verge of being helpful. We didn't have internet at home back then or maybe they really could have been.

Moving out of Hillsboro: Among lots of Helpers - Holly asks "Why do you have four jars of peanut butter? And they've all been opened?" (The problem there was that I had a ridiculously skinny pantry that was really deep. I could barely touch the back with one arm stuck in and my head pressing against the jamb. They simply got lost in there.)

Moving in to Houston: (less embarassing this time, or maybe everyone was too nice to mention it) I find no less that three boxes of swiffer wet-jet pads. And yes they've all been opened. I don't know how I ended up with three! One of the boxes got smashed and hidden under the stroller in my trunk. The other two...just wanderers I guess.

Does anyone else have this problem? I don't know why this happens - but I think I'm getting a little better every time.

All things new

2010-09-19T14:43:00.005-05:00

Well, all things are not new, but here are all the things that are. New. Is that clear?

Exhibit A

The adorable red and white children fabric (it's actually more of an unbleached white than a bright white) came from the new quilt and smock store I found (with the help of my Aunt Denny) just north of here about 15 minutes. I'm pumped about this store. They sell really sweet quilt fabrics that you just don't see at JoAnn's AND they sell garments for children that are all ready to smock. They even had some little boy onesies. Now they cost an arm and a leg but at least if I want to give up an arm and a leg I know where to go.

So as I was looking for fabric for covering our new dining room chairs (Ingolf IKEA) I was concentrating on not getting sucked in to my usual lots of bright color vortex. I kept repeating "serene, neutral, serene, neutral" to myself. Serene and neutral are not my usual style.

I am trying something new because, you guessed it, I want to add more serenity (at least visually) to my life right now. Also neutrals make all the other brightly colored things I have look more like a plan and less like a catastrophe.

My living room right now is plain vanilla - but it has lots of light. I've decided to keep the vanilla and add strawberries, raspberries and cherries (translate: a discriminate but unpicky use of the color red). I already collect red glass, and have some fake red flowers here and about so that drove the purchase of a red and white fabric. I justified this fabric with my boy-laden family because of the five different children on it, four are boys.

Exhibit B

Then the polka dots were just too sweet without actually having flowers. I totally forgot to buy enough for the back of the cushion but when I got home I had some red corduroy in my edited stash so now my cushions are reversible. You can see the red in one of the pictures.

Smart moment:

I traced the template from the chair seat right BEFORE Mark assembled the chair!
I scalloped the edges because, well, it's awesome, I love scallops and it absolutely HAD to be that way.

I am so happy to be back online, I can tell that my personal editing function has fallen asleep. I have no way of holding back. It seems I'm going to bore everyone with all the details for a while because I CAN!

Exhibit C:

Other new things we have been totally blessed to be able to afford (in a large part because my parents paid for our moving costs):

A new recliner for Mark (slightly smaller, a non-broken lever, and no crumbs from previous owners way down in the crack)

new dining room chairs from IKEA (Ingolf - they don't pinch you in the shoulder blade when you lean back, and they actually slide under the table)

and

a new camera! With money from the piano I grew up playing I got the Olympus Stylus TOUGH. I got really close to getting a DSLR but then I thought wait, I have sons. This camera can go under water and is dust and snow resistant (so we can take it to the beach), it also withstands falls of about 5 ft, and 200 lbs of pressure!

It may sound like I'm bragging but what I really mean to do is say I'm so incredibly blessed to have these things. They are just things, but it is so nice to have them. They don't make life all that much easier they are just an extra blessing. I thank the Lord for these gifts, I thank my husband who works hard at his job everyday by God's grace, and I thank my parents who are full of generosity and thoughtfulness.

God bless you all and Happy Sunday

Lissa

Send me a kiss by Wireless

2010-09-18T22:35:00.002-05:00

I'm back! I'm back! I'm back!
It took about 5 minutes for Mark to get on the computer (btw my "C" key doesn't seem to want to work so look out for that), and then get customer service on the phone and get us our internet. It was supposed to be my job to do this all week, but calling computer help always intimidates me. Not as bad as talking to car mechanics though.
Talking to mechanics is the worst. I don't think it should be so hard for them to tell me the problem succinctly and then I can memorize what they said and repeat it back to my husband (a lot like the wife-bot in Serendipity). But no! First it's "do you know what a belt is?" and "you've got a timing problem..." All I have to say is just wait until they need someone to compose a two-part invention or a fugue - then the shoe will be on the other foot!
Speaking of wife-bots, Mark and I watched "Killers" last night. At one point Katherine Heigl plays the little-used and greatly under-appreciated I'm-just-a-dating-robot-trying-to-learn-your-ways ploy to cover a social embarassment.
I love this movie. Mark really enjoyed it too. And we each enjoyed it for completely different reasons. I loved how much the opening reminded me of "To catch a Thief" (Cary Grant and Grace Kelly), and then it morphs into a sort of James Bond + "Please don't eat the Daisies."
There was some language, and some innappropriate references to pornography (you didn't see any thing but they mention it), and of course as you may have guessed from the title, killing.
The killing was not gory though and I appreciate that. You see the car at the bottom of the cliff, you see the woman get shot, but no blood spurts or rearranged limbs.
What I MOST appreciate though was the marriage between these two people. Their love didn't evaporate when they were literally under fire. There was still humor, and logic, and reason. My absolute favorite moment (spoiler alert) is when the wife says:
Are we even married? I mean legally married, not like (extreme sarcasm) a 'marriage of the heart'.
I love this moment and now I'm going to over analyze it.
Hollywood tries and tries to say marriage doesn't really matter, commitment doesn't need a piece of paper etc. But over and over again, what they say is that this doesn't really ring true, and we all know that the true romantic comedy ends with a wedding or at least a diamond ring. It just doesn't ring true without it. Even in "He's Just Not That In To You" (which I enjoyed for how close it got to the truth albeit in a purely secular way) Anniston finally gives in and just wants her boyfriend Affleck back because he's better than all her sisters' husbands - then everyone breathes a sigh of relief because Anniston gets an engagement ring after all.
The message between the lines? Marriage really does matter.
And not just a "marriage of the heart."

IN other news, my favorite blogger has released her Christmas ornament kit. She does a new one every year and they are beautiful. I can't really afford it, but many can because they sell out every year. I think it's been out a week and I don't expect it to last long because it's really really cute. You can see it at her blog here.

Now I have to go figure out my new digital camera which will be one of the subjects of my next post, along with my new home-made seat cushions!
Ciao
Lissa

Cucumis Reservo Gratia

2010-08-29T21:43:00.002-05:00

I've reached my tipping point in this pregnancy. What that means for me is that I've reached the point where I start tipping over. Literally. Two days ago I turned my head and had to steady myself against the wall. I've suddenly started running into doors, and walls. It's not just a matter of mass, there's also density. This morning Peter bumped into the kitchen table, and ricocheted - his head bouncing off my stomach before he got clear. Needless to say I couldn't really prevent this - my arms don't really reach down there anymore. I am thankful that after tomorrow (Deo gratias) I will not be required to climb stairs to get home. Upon being required to climb stairs for any reason I plan to play the quite large pregancy card and request that the doctor's office, post office, bank, or whatever descend, quite literally, to my level. Not sure it'll work - but not for my not trying.
Small graces have been my joy lately - something I've begun to think of as "pickle grace" for the laity or Cucumis Reservo Gratia for those initiated into the mysteries of online translators. There is small grace of conversation with an adult at a playground, a cheerful waitress, the anticipation of being back in the operational zone of my favorite grocery store, future near proximity to the beach, and hairstyle-enhancing humidity (which is the only useful purpose of the humidity surrounding the sub-tropical zone known as "Houston"), the opportunity to grow tropical plants in pots on my apartment patio (okay - one more use of humidity), since the entire area code feels and smells like a greenhouse anyway.
Pickle grace originates with small postulants such as:
I am a sinner and I don't deserve more than four small pickles on my hamburger.
Jesus died for my sins, and clothed me in his righteousness.
Now I can not feel guilty about having six to eight pickles on my hamburger depending on the size of the hamburger (or the health of my cardio-system).
It is for pickles that Christ has set us free.
Those of you who know me really well, are thinking right now: "But Lissa, you don't even like pickles." This is, of course, true (sorry - I've been reading Bill Bryson and picked up his syntax and rhythm a little - and to friends of Doug Garrett - tell him "A Brief History of Nearly Everything" is at Clark Dunlap's house). I don't like pickles. But when God gives us the wherewithal to buy pecks of pickles, as Piper might say: God is most glorified in us when we glorify him for pickles and enjoy him and them forever.
There, I've worked pickles, peck, and Piper into one sentence that wasn't a tongue twister. I can die knowing I've done something of worth. Or failing that, I can look back one day and say
"Dang that move sure made me crazy!"

Poetry in Motion

2010-05-18T23:43:00.006-05:00

She did not live in Cornwall, in a white-washed cottage blasted by winds in the wintertime. She did not live in India in sugar-confection-like cottage like something she'd seen in an opera once. She did not even live in blinding bright and thirsty west Texas, where she might have seen the stars at night scattered across the black as though God had carelessly emptied his hole-puncher. She lived in Dallas. And there was nothing poetic about Dallas. Every now and then she and her husband were able to treat themselves to some event downtown and she hired a sitter, and found something to wear, hose with no holes and they would drive south toward the sparkly skyline with the famous glittering globe, with carseats in the back, empty.
It was all very sophisticated and exciting but, not poetic.
No there was nothing poetic about Dallas, unless it was the sort of poetry about ugliness which she didn't like anyway.

But, then again, she was surrounded by childhood and was lucky enough to have a tree outside her balcony, a constantly moving wallpaper inhabited by a squirrel her oldest had named George. Her youngest had learned about robins and their red tummies and would announce any arrivals at the top of his lungs. She was blessed enough to have a communal lawn (frequently a soccer or battle field) directly below and also beyond this the communal playground.

There is, she realized, everything poetic about childhood. Perhaps even thats where all poetry really comes from - from when we experience beauty without hint of anxiety or worry. When it's important to know who has the toughest feet, and the highlight of your sons day is being aloud to climb the chain link fence to get his brother's ball. There is the poetry of the playground surrounded by a black-painted metal fence which the little ones walk along with their feet between the bars, slowly, methodically circumnavigating the area. There is the poetry of the snow-cone vendor who has just opened his tiny shop for the summer. Since he is only a block away the whole family walks there on fine Friday evenings after dinner for exotic flavors. Her oldest son rides his bike. There is the poetry of fresh homemade popsicles melting down their hands and dripping onto their legs leaving purple stripes. Tomorrow, she decided we will have jello poetry, and make all the jiggly jello jokes.

And soon, in the fall there would be more poetry. Late night feeding poetry, the exhausting beauty of a new baby who wanted only her. Who smelled slightly of sour-milk, warm as mashed potatoes, lumpy as brown sugar.
No, Dallas might not be picturesque, but her life certainly was.

Bib Business

2010-04-02T00:24:00.003-05:00

Thank you everyone for your advice and encouragement after my last (rather emotional) blog. I really appreciate all three or so of you!

Today my mother came over and together, she and I sewed about a million bibs. I got them started and she did all the pretty finishing. I had the easy part. Okay we didn't really make a million. We made around 3 dozen, I know - splitting hairs there. What with each of us taking a trip to the fabric store (literally across the street!), one toddler, one laughable small dog in heat, and one second grader who got sick and had to come home early from school, it was a fun-filled day. One very bored Iowan who shall be nameless also called us once or twice (each).

My motivation for this business had been waning steadily, I kept thinking: "other people are going to do this better, why would anyone want to buy mine?" But having Mom here really pepped me up. Now I keep thinking...she always has these great ideas right before everyone else, maybe we can hit the wave as it's rising instead of falling. We'll give it a shot anyway.

Peter is learning the power of the Wheedle. He knows that a smile can get him 80% of what he wants, "pleeeeeeeease Mom?" adds on another 5%, and running to hug me right before he asks is a solid 10% odd's increase. We came home from Wally-world with crazy straws, and new markers for him for no good reason at all on Wednesday.

Now because this is my blog, and I am under no oblogation to be interesting, here is our dinner schedule as of late.

Wednesday: Tostadas with refried beans and cheese

Thursday: Little Caesars Pizza

Friday (tomorrow): Beef Fajitas

Saturday: Corrie's gluten-free chicken enchiladas which everyone except Peter absolutely loves.

Sunday: TBA (hopefully something Asian, because I think I'm all Mexicaned out)

Drumroll please......

Here are some pics of the new improved (sniff sniff sniff) Peter!

Elbows and Daisies

2010-03-29T16:04:00.006-05:00

I have been really busy lately. Several of my friends are pregnant so I have gotten on the ball and made a couple of gift sets, a couple more to go. Here's what I've got...

A matching quilt, pillow, and picture frame featuring the little engine that could.

It's for a baby whose gender will be unknown until birth. I thought it was good compromise, locomotives for boys, retro female heroine for a girl.

This started with the frame over a year ago - a way to salvage a book whose binding was falling a part. I cut out pictures and glued them to a craft-store cardboard picture frame.

A few months later I found the big fabric panel on the sale table at Hancocks. Cut in pieces it became the pillow (which I think looks BOUTIQUEFULLY AWESOME!), and the blanket. There were more squares of the story on the panel, but I didn't have enough of my red backing to accomodate it. The best part is that I didn't spend any MORE money on the little engine that could project. Even the batting is two large scraps from another baby quilt. I felt really proud to be so frugal.

And a hooded sweater and matching pink elephant for a baby girl that's due any day. In fact I wouldn't be surprised to drop by their house tomorrow and find a tiny new baby! The sweater was supposed to be newborn size, but my crocheting always comes out a little large. As you can see, Pinky enjoys hiding out in the hood. I love how the hood creates a wee bit of sailor collar in the front.

The pictures of Peter show his last curly-haired day.

We went home and I cut his hair.

It was awful. Peter did not want to be still, and I did not want to cut his hair.

Why, then did you cut it dear Liza dear Liza?

To get rid of the knots, and crying in the bathtub, and hotness dear Henry dear Henry.

At least, that all made sense 'til it was done.

Then I started crying. I cried on and off for the next eight hours. It was worst at night, and slightly better in the morning. Thankfully Peter still ACTS the same (don't laugh people, sometimes they DON'T act the same). I think I've gotten used to it after a week, but seeing these pictures still gives me a pang.

But Peter no longer screams in the bathtub while you pull at his tangles with a comb dear Liza dear Liza

Oh stuff it dear Henry dear Henry dear Henry

Peter gets lots of elbows. Sometimes he falls down and gets an elbow on his knee. Sometimes he and James play a little too roughly and he gets an elbow. Sometimes there is an elbow on his head. A few days ago he was really worried because I had an elbow on my head. It was just a little scab from a pimple, but he went on an on.

"Does your elbow hurt you mom?"

"No Pete, I'm okay."

"Your elbow is bleeding Mom?"

"No it's not."

and back to the beginning...

"Your elbow is hurting you Mom?"

Also there are a lot of oopey daisies. Any time Peter drops something it's "Oopey Daisy!"

If I drop something, "Oopey Daisy!"

If anyone drops anything (it's especially funny with Mark), we hear a tiny "oopey daisy!" issuing up from the floor.

I'm really struggling with James right now. He seems to be constantly arguing with me. Arguing is sort of a harsh term for what he does, but that's really what it boils down to. For everything I tell him, he has a reason why he should do it his way - so I explain why THAT reason won't work, then he has another reason, so I explain why THAT one won't work, and he'll have another reason. Usually by that point I explain why THAT one won't work in an angry voice and then raise my voice to get him to obey already.

That's on a good day. On a bad day I just get mad at the beginning and it saves time.

I hate being mad all the time.

James is also supersensitive and will burst into tears anytime I try to change anything. He was ready to fall apart over spelling homework today before he even started. On top of that he's really emotionally manipulative. I tried to patiently explain that with all his "reasoning" every time we asked him to do something, we were tired of listening to them - because it happens everytime! I tried to explain that if he would just go ahead and obey more often, then, when he had something he really really felt was important, then we could listen.

"You're never going to listen to me AGAIN!"

"No, no, it's just used up tonight, it will build back again - like health in a video game..." I wait for a minute for him to calm down.

"Do you understand James?"

"IT'S 'CAUSE I'M A BAD KID!"

That's when I got really angry. I was so tired I could hardly keep my eyes open. Obviously James was tired too, but we have told him again and again not to say that...

I mean what are we supposed to say back?

It immediately puts us in a position of wrongness...

"no no sweetie you're not a bad kid!"

I refuse to answer that sort of statement from him.

So I'm really sort of at a loss here. I feel like I have to walk on eggshells all the time around him (stop laughing Mom, I didn't think this would happen 'til he was a teenager), and I'm exhausted by his argueing.

So this blog isn't a complete downer, let me tell you about right now.

James has dutifully done spelling homework (tears averted), and is practicing the violin. He is a smart kid and he puts up with a lot from Peter.

I'm praying right now that God provides a way for James to have his own room. Sharing a room with a destructive two-year-old contributes a lot to his stress level. He has wonderful educational toys that he can never play with because there's no room for him to spread out with enough time to accomplish anything.

Now James has finished practicing violin, and Peter exclaims "Great Job James!" He's pretty cute even though he IS destructive.

That's all for now.

It sure is good to have our computer back.

Oh and pray for Mark, he has UIL band on Wednesday.

Fancy Skirt goes to a Jazz Concert!

2010-03-08T01:03:00.007-06:00

Fancy Skirt (along with her sidekicks: Vampira Pointy-Toes, and DahPlungah Tizzle) went to a Jazz Concert at the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. They noted other members of the Pointy-Toes family. It's a very old family, a member of Hertfordshire branch of Toes. So they felt right at home. Left Knee kept horning in on their fun giving them some trouble but they blew her off and ignored her despite her grumbling.

They were escorted by none other than the elusive and finicky Pin Stripe Suit,(they agree he is toothsome) and Blue Dress Shirt. He is an old friend they have not seen as much of as late and were delighted to greet.

Fancy Skirt recieved a compliment during a visit to the powder room, and was pleased to note that she was neither overdressed, nor underdressed, but like Goldilocks (without the breaking and entering) was "just right." DahPlungah Tizzle (the artist formerly known as My Really Really Low V-neck, but don't we all agree that's no fun at all?) was really the only friend that Fancy Skirt wanted to go with on account of fabric and proportion considerations.

Vampira wants it noted that she didn't stumble or trip ever. Not once. Visions of weak ankles had been keeping her up nights with dreams of broken legs and facial cuts and abrasions. But everything went smoothly despite I. M. Pei's obsession with white marble staircases.

A cameo appearance was made by Blackie the Beaded Clutch. She was not originally slated to be part of the evening. A certain Pearl Clutch from Iowa was on the call list, but couldn't make it out of the Apartment Offices in time. Blackie behaved herself very well, and did not forget herself on table, or under chair.

Everything came to a head for our intrepid girls when they arrived at the green room after the show. Standing around, trying not to embarass themselves with inane small talk, they followed the proverb and keeping silent "appeared wise." They were amply rewarded with a site, nay even a chat and hug from the great Wynton Marsalis himself! Pin Stripe and Blue were beside themselves with awe. They could hardly speak. Fancy Skirt rose to the occasion (but to nothing else) and made small talk mentioning Pin Stripe's profession, and giving the great Marsalis something to chat with them about. (Fancy skirt knows that is a dangling participle, but really dangling is all the fashion this season) Fancy Skirt is sure that Pin Strip will soon give an account of this on his blog here. So if you want to hear a more coherent, but less fashion-conscious account - keep an eye out.

Have a fancy day everyone!
With kisses,
Fancy Skirt

I Finished It!

2010-03-05T11:08:00.005-06:00

With great joy I finally finished it! I probably devoted way too much time to it, but time I had, and money I did not.

I did have to buy some fabric, but it was on sale, so I spent $4. I also bought a zipper. AND THAT WAS IT! Everything else I had.

I am not typing very much, since I need to go play with my two year old who has missed me. I look forward to wearing it to the Jazz Concert tomorrow night.

Fancy skirt update

2010-03-02T07:26:00.007-06:00

On Saturday I must finish making my fancy skirt, yea even by Friday it must be done.

Because I'm baby sitting on Saturday, and going to the concert Saturday night.

It's coming a long well. First I made myself a basic straight skirt from a pattern I had in my archives. I made it of a thick unbleached cotton, a kind of canvas. I fitted to me as exactly as I could myself (yearning for a dressmaker's model like Barbara), then put in a side seam zipper. I forgot to put in a pocket which I usually do even when there's no pocket in the pattern. I cut out 6.5" strips of unbleached muslin (I had a lot) and what I could find of bleached muslin (not so much) and ironed it into a 3.25" ruffle. I liked the length of the raw edge of the skirt so I lined the ruffles up with it (I will hem it under later and I won't have to worry about perfect evenness because it'll be hiding uder the ruffles) and hand pleated them in a random, organic fashion.

I was striving for an orderly randomness.

I got about halfway up before I ran out white.

A slit in the back gave me a little trouble, as it's "two ruffles tall." I didn't want it to be really noticeable. I ended up starting and stopping the ruffle at the very bottom, and at the top having a ruffle cover up the slit. So I now have a 5" slit that looks like a 2" slit.

Today I will be cutting out more white ruffles (and being very careful with my rotary cutter so as not to need to get more stitches) and ironing and pinning. I will be trying to get as much done today as possible because I also still need to make a waist band. Maybe I can work a cell-phone pocket into that?
Although the rest of the skirt is cotton muslin, and therefore, not shiny - I thought I'd make the waist band out of a bit of off-white satin that I have. I plan to make it at least 3" tall (maybe more) and incorporate two cloth-covered buttons of the muslin. Then, if I ever want to tuck in a shirt to be more fancy the satin will show.

I'm excited because I think I'm creating a skirt I can wear for Easter (to our very undressy church) as well as to an evening at the Meyerson Concert Hall in Dallas. No easy feat, it required several phone calls to my Cedar Rapids style pulse-keeper. She keeps me from getting to historical when I sew.I can easily slip into what was stylish in 1780. But when I show up somewhere with pannieres on I feel stupid. I have the heart of Tasha Tudor but not the stamina. Oh well. My man probably prefers it that way!

In other news, Corrie and I have added more content to our website! You can now read the first chapter of each of our novels. Also Corrie has written a tasty essay on humor! Come see us at: reformedromance.com !

Oh I almost forgot. I've looked all over McCall's, Butterick, Vogue, Burda (I'm heading for Simplicity next) because I want to make a shirt like this. Does anyone have any ideas where I should look? I have fabric that I haven't known what to do with and this would be perfect! The original blouse is from Modcloth.com but it's not in my size.

Things Around Here

2010-02-21T08:58:00.007-06:00

Lots of things have been happening around here. James had two birthdays on at Cici's Pizza on the actual day, for which I don't yet have pictures. Then we planned another for Friday, a sleepover. Unfortunately none of the three friends he invited came. James invited a different friend and I think he had a pretty good time. It wasn't all-singing all-dancing or anything but I think it was memorable.

It was supposed to be a robot-themed birthday party. For second graders I think most of the fun of the theme is picking it out and telling your friends "I'm having a robot birthday!" We sent out robot invitations (to the people who didn't come) and I made a robot cake. With, yes, gray icing. Plates and cups were silvery gray too. Then we went down to the city to see the buildings! They wouldn't let go up in Reunion Tower. The observation deck is closed for renovations. We saw a pretty fountain, and the boys ran down a hill. Simple joys.

I have a problem. Mark is taking me to an evening concert at the Meyerson, and I'm excited but I don't have any evening wear that fits me. I'm trying to find something simple to make.

I called Rebecca and she told me to play up my neck and my legs. I love sisters.

I'm leaning toward the skirt (I would make it longer) because I have a great blouse to go with it. The problem is, that I like sweet, romantic, antique, vintage but my figure (or lack of one) makes certain demands too.

Opinions? Anyone? Anyone?

And in other news, I found a new website called modcloth.com. Here are some favorites from there!

Valentines

2010-02-17T10:11:00.005-06:00

For Valentines Day James and I cut out pictures and glued them to cardboard hearts.

He made this one for his kindergarten teacher who likes frogs.

I can't remember to whom I gave the one on the top. I know the bottom heart with the hands and the blueberries was for Willow.

These two I made for my sister Becca (top) and our first cousin once removed, Hannah. Hannah's has a princess with a tiny bit of gold doily for a crown.

I forgot to take a picture of my mom's and my friend Holly's.

Happy late Valentine's Day everyone!

Lissa

Payday Thankful

2010-01-20T13:38:00.008-06:00

Today was payday in our family. Payday always reminds me of how hard my husband works for us. It reminds me that I am not jobless - on the contrary I have a very important job. It is: doing all the things in the home that need doing! Payday reminds me that one of my jobs is making my husband feel like all his hard work is worth it! Or to put it another way, I'm in charge of rewards!

Somehow it's hard to remember during the lean weeks at the end of the month that our home still needs to be rewarding. I want to go into housework hibernation and sleep 'til the next payday since I don't get to do any rewarding grocery shopping.

I'm so thankful today that we can afford to have TWO chickens boiling away in our stewpot. I'm so thankful that I could afford my favorite (purple) shampoo. I'm so thankful that I could afford to splurge a little and buy some beautiful purple flowers for our home. Of course best of all is that I get to do all this with our two year old!

Instead of a homily at this point. I'll leave you with an illustrated favorite quote from Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.

Frozen

2010-01-17T12:05:00.009-06:00

As all the kids and all the teachers went back to school, Dallas was still experiencing freezing temperatures. To the disappointment of the kids it was very dry so there was no snow, no ice (except on parts of the roads - boring), and no school delay.

But while collecting deadwood for our fireplace I found a phenomenon I'd never seen in Texas before. I'm sure it's happened before - I've just never seen it. For all of you that have experienced this sort of thing lots of times feel free to laugh at us. (We'll laugh back when ya'll have droughts) Here are the boys enjoying the frozen creek (ditch).

Other pictures are of the lake. The water lapped up onto the branches making giant tear-drop shapes and encasing twigs in a lacquer of ice. It reminds me of when the Pevensie children were visiting the Beaver's House in Narnia. Lewis said the water was frozen in fantastical shapes. Now I know he said it was frozen as if it froze all at once, and this is not what he meant - but I'm a Texan and frozen anything is rather exotic. James brought home a big piece frozen around a twig that was all spheres and roundedness.

The creek appeared to have frozen while it was full. Then the water drained away from under the ice leaving a glassy roof over the pebbly bottom. James had a lot of fun breaking that ice. He even walked across some of the ice that still had water underneath. Peter wanted to walk over all the ice everywhereWe were able to see the air bubbles floating around under there. No fish - it was just a ditch. !

Sunshine and Shadow

2010-01-14T16:10:00.007-06:00

Amish quilters have a pattern they call "Sunshine and Shadow." When you see the quilt it's an obvious name because it's made of lights and darks, yet the name has a deeper meaning. Everyone's life is made of sunshine and shadow, and as any quilter knows, without the darks, the lights aren't nearly as pretty. This pretty much sums up my week.
Sunshine: On Monday I woke up with lots energy for cleaning the house, and I did! I did five minute room rescues, I windexed, I vacuumed, I decluttered the kitchen a little, I even wiped down the toilet! Then Peter and I ran errands and visited friends. Incidentally, while we were visiting my friend Biak, she told someone I was her grandmother. A lovely woman named Nee, explained to me that in their culture the word grandmother means lovely, that Biak says I am her "lovely", her "grandmother." I still don't really get all this, but it's exciting to be a grandmother this young! Peter and I did all this AND got home in time to find:

More Sunshine: My mother unexpectedly visited bringing me firewood! Yay for Mom, yay for firewood! She hung around a little, and got to hear Peter talk a lot. Usually he's lost in James' chatter and everyone else's talking. She got to hear him say

"GRANNY!"

"I go potty a little tiny bit!",

and after she invited us to Chic-fil-A

"We go EAT! You come with us Granny?"

Shadow: James had gotten in a little trouble at school (I later decided - unfairly) and on the way home committed the unpardonable sin of asking if he could invite a friend over for his birthday - IN FRONT OF THE FRIEND! Mark had to stay late to get some work done -but those shadows were slight.

Sunshine: The next day - not so much get-up-and-clean energy, but still I "juned" around and we went to the library. Mark was home for dinner and all was well.

Shadow: The big one loomed on Wednesday - Peter woke up from his nap half-covered in throw up. This is the second grossest thing to have your child covered in. All the bedding went in the washer eventually (it took three loads), and he had a bath right then. But he threw up two more times. I don't mean to complain, especially in light of a little girl I know who has a fever, cough, earache, and won't drink any fluids - poor baby. The last shadow is that my sister Rebecca is moving away today - literally driving north as I type. And it's not even that I'm going to miss her - which I will - but that I'm jealous that she's getting to go live in a whole new place with snow! It's an adventure! But you know it all made me really grateful for Monday.

A little more Sunshine: Peter is doing much better today. Mark will be home soon hopefully. But the biggest beam of light is that this is a three-day weekend for him (Monday is off) and being together is always nice.

New Etsy Store!

2009-12-28T12:07:00.003-06:00

I have launched my new Etsy store with a grand total of ONE item!

Why Little Yellow Coat you say? Because I like stores that have three word titles, and because I've been hanging on to this adorable girl coat for years! I bought it at a garage sale and despite having two sons have kept it in my closet as an inspiration. I love the scallops on the yoke and on the bonnet (not pictured). The inside is meticulously lined, so you can't see any raw edges anywhere! It's a work of art in my opinion. Here is a pic of the items coming soon to Little Yellow Coat.

These are the "Beatrice" pillows. I have only put one of them in the store because I'm hoping to get into the "recent activity" sampler offered on the front page of the Etsy site - by putting in one of them at a time. Yes, I'm not only crafty, but I'm crafty too! You can go see my new store by clicking the picture of the little yellow corduroy coat in my sidebar.

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-16T08:07:00.017-06:00

This is my last blog for this year and to steal and idea from Lady Linguaphile it's only a picture blog! Merry Christmas Everyone!
Can you find:
2 scissors?
a giraffe?
gold beads?
where the time went?

How Pete brought me his apple:

Lots of Ruby Dolls from One Red Robin. I gave them to all the girls that would be here this christmas. I wonder if they'll name them?

I had an absolutely wonderful Christmas! It's amazing how we saw so many people and did so much but I don't feel totally stressed out. It's not over yet so it could happen but I'm going to have faith! Here are some pics of all we did!

From left to right: my homemade candies, our big family caroling, at the San Antonio Riverwalk...
There were also train rides, leaf-blowing, tree-house climbing, treasure-hunting, road-tripping, present wrapping, present tearing open willy nilly, xylophoning, movie seeing, and bread baking.
I'm so thankful for my wonderful Christmas.

Miscellany

2009-12-10T13:17:00.005-06:00

I've been slaving away this week on Christmas presents, mostly just for my adorable niece and nephew. While I sew Peter likes to bring me a "cup of tea". He's very careful and brings me the empty china cup: "Here go Mommy." I drink it and say thank you. "Want sommore? - Ohkay, I be wight back - ohkay Mommy?"
I've been thinking I should try to make my own boys something so they don't feel left out. Today I proudly butchered one of my older son's sweatshirts to make pants for my two year old from the tutorial I saw here.
I've been virtually nosing around Australia via the links on one of my favorite blogs: One Red Robin and Skip the Chips.

Can anyone tell I've just learned how to insert links into my text! HA! Unfortunately I can't find my camera at the moment or I'd put up pictures of the pants, and all the other things I've promised to put pictures up for.

Instead I'll just tell stories.
Building 4 is the apartment building where I go to visit Chin families. I look after all the families in building 4 - I try to visit them all once a week. The one I frequent most is: Biak & Sui Zam's apartment. (Biak and Sui Zam being the moms of the two families that live in that one 2 bedroom apartment) I was happy this week because Sui Zam was up while I was there. She's hardly ever been around since she got a job. Yeah for the job! Sad for me missing her because she's really awesome. I so wish we could communicate better because I know she's really funny - I've gotten good at reading faces - I know she'd be sarcastic a lot! Biak is full of sweetness and has a baby boy who is starting to smile. The highlight of the visit for Peter was when we showed off one of our mom-lays-on-the-ground-and-flips-him-over-with-her-legs-tricks. All the ladies exclaimed at that! We also showed a little girl (daughter of a friend of Biak's) the Very Hungry Caterpillar Book. She's 13 months old and all she really wanted (like all toddlers) was to just stick her diminutive finger in the holes. Eventually Peter got her to pretend to eat the strawberries.

Interesting note:
Words that are the same in most Chin dialects:
Strawberry
Banana
Mango
(lots of other fruits - you get the idea)
Merry Christmas
Bible
Jesus

I was chatting with a friend of James' who is from Chin State, Myanmar and he was telling me all about his families emigration to America. It was quite complicated. At one point he was living with his grandmother for several months while his parents (in Maylaysia at that time) worked to get him out. James told him that we pray for the Christians who are being tortured and killed there and he immediately responded "that's why we left!" I asked him if his family had been tortured, and he said "no - because they left" but he knew people who had been.
I am so thankful at this very moment that I do not have to flee the country, leaving my child behind because of torture and threat of death. Right now Peter has a fever, and I'm dissappointed that I probably won't be able to do the things I'd planned to do today, but I have medicine, we have clothes, we have heat, we have a home.
I am so so blessed.

Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas (that one was in Chin)

Lissa

All Hands On Deck The Halls

2009-11-30T12:41:00.005-06:00

I wonder how many artists dream in color? I wonder if dreaming in color is more common to certain groups of people? A random yoga website said that "scientists say" we dream in color 80% of the time. No idea where they got that number. WikiAnswers had man-off-the-street entries saying all manner of things. The hardest part seems to be remembering whether you dreamt in color or not.

I personally have really vivid dreams, with very romantic plots (surprising I know) with very detailed clothing. At least, I notice all the details in my dreams. For example once I dreamt of a woman in a silk stormy-gray-blue dress (long sleeves and hem), with an overdress of golden lace!

On the Tuesday before Thanksgiving (just under a week ago) I literally dreamed up a craft! I woke up knowing each of the steps, and just what materials I needed. I had been trying to think of a craft that could reflect each of the Waxler grandchildren, and be homemade, and small. I was trying to think of something I could do with hands - to show the kids handsizes at their respective ages. Well I woke up with a solution so I'm going to share it with ya'll!

Hand Christmas Ornament Tutorial

Merry Christmas!

Half Baked

2009-11-18T19:38:00.005-06:00

I've discovered that not only am I a compulsive baker, I am potentially a compulsively baking stalker. Seriously, whenever I become a fan of someone - really really a fan - I tend to contact them, encourage them (everybody gets discouraged sometimes), and offer them baked goods.

For example, I once wrote an encouraging letter to President Bush, and if I remember right I offered to bake him cookies if he was ever going through Hillsboro. So here's the list.

People I have offered baked goods to:

President George W. Bush,

Laura Bush (same letter)

The designer of a children's website (as a bribe to tell me how to find the "secret passageway")

Our pastor

The designer of the website, since he was in England, declined my offer of oatmeal cookies but was very helpful and told me the key to the secret passageway. I got a lovely form letter from our President with a charming gold seal upon it, and from my pastor (granted there are 7,000 in the congregation) I got a nice email too.

Here are some people I would like to personally deliver baked goods to:

Dick Francis, novelist, homemade bread

Anne McCaffrey, novelist, a bubbly pie

Nastia Liukin, olympic gold medalist, the buttery oatmeal cookies my mother makes

Gary Paulsen, novelist, Iditarod runner, Chocolate chip, chocolate cookies

Laura Bush, First Lady, homemade bread

Aung San Suu Kyi, homemade bread

I don't know exactly why my affection, or respect for writers, world leaders and athletes takes this form. I think it has something to do with the instinct to feed that which you love. If I'm proud of someone I want to feed them, cook them a dinner, bake them a pie. One part of the Bible that I always thought made perfect sense was Esther cooking two dinners for her husband. Teachers always tried to stress that she did this because he was the king, he could chop off her head, etc. But I always thought it made perfect sense! She probably cooked him chicken fried steak. And that widow that Elijah went to (or was it Elisha?) was making dumplings as a last dinner! Makes sense.

One of my favorite books as a child was little black Sambo. I hear it's been criticized as being racist. I've never understood that. You have a well-dressed little African boy. He is beset by tigers and intelligently, though sadly gives up his beautiful things. BUT! they get their just deserts and in a delicious turn (quite literally) of fate turn into - of all things - BUTTER! I mean how much better can it get? Ferocious man-eating felines or butter. Sambo gets all his stuff back (and in my book, all his things were these lovely saturated colors like hot pink and teal, and gold, and you get the idea), and when he goes home his mom makes him pancakes with the butter!

Another food story that I like was when Jesus cooked fish for all the disciples when he got back. I think everyone should throw a fish fry right after Easter in honor of that. In fact, I may start that tradition! I'll think about it while I go whip up some sugar cookies for my son's teachers.

RBG

2009-11-05T11:43:00.007-06:00

My brother in law recently informed me that all computer wires are in Red Blue and Green. Abbreviated RBG. It brought back to mind a museum exhibit I had seen once with the same title (to wit: Red Blue Green). They were all really simple lithographs with just the three colors. I remember thinking at the time...And they're exhibiting this? But maybe there was a point there somewhere.

Today I was taking pictures of Peter outside. He's so beautiful (empirically he is, there just no denying it) I do this a lot. So here is my version of RBG. I have to say, these are beautiful colors. Almost a recipe for photo success. Another photo taking tip: Dress your kid in a color that matches your playground (there are usually at least two to choose from), take them to the playground and snap away! Go for solids, and neutral. If your playground is all wooden, pick any solid color that your kids look good in! There's a video for you at the bottom. Time to give my model a nap.

Coming soon: Our worm ranch!

Have a good weekend everyone!

State Fair, Spelling and Silly 2 year olds!

2009-10-28T22:08:00.008-05:00

Cute little pigs at the Texas State Fair:
Creepy four-horned goats!
James and I had a great time at the biggest state fair in the USA! No really Oprah said it was!

And we were there on the same day as her! But we didn't see her. We did see a baby giraffe, alpacas, llamas, camels, baby ducks and petted most of them too!

It's amazingly expensive. We got $20 worth of tickets and it was only enough for about 2 "rides" for the two of us. I let James go through a fun house on his own. We went into a "Snake House" and saw all manner of really long, or really lethal snakes. It was cool. We even saw a spitting Cobra (I think I always thought those were a joke). I told him we would have to do free things to fill up our time, that we couldn't much more than one or two rides. I let him pick.

He picked the ride that spins you around like you're in a pie-dish and the panel you're leaning back against slides up and there you are stranded in mid air. I would've been sick anyway so the seizure-inducing strobes, deafening heavy metal, and drug induced cgi perks! James was really scared right before it started but I told him he would love it. He did.

We wanted to go on the big Ferris Wheel known as the "Texas Star", but it was being worked on when we went by. We thought it was out for the day so we used up our tickets, then it opened. Bummer. I got James a legitimate original "Fletcher's Corny Dog" on a stick. I tried a fried Reeses Peanut Butter Cup, and we brought Mark home a fried Honey Bun. All and sundry will be amazed that I did not try the much-touted fried butter. My legs were tired and the stand that had it was on the other side of the park.

The only thing I made James do that he didn't want to do was go to the quilt exhibit. It was great but they were all up so high you had to crane your neck to look at them. Probably so people wouldn't touch them. In the same building was the butter sculpture. James was impressed. In a very cold, office-sized room was a replica of an old-fashioned bar, with a bartender, lady, fighting duo, overturned chair,table and barstools. All life size and ALL out of butter. The fact that it was all pale yellow took some of the drama out of the subject matter.

We had a wonderful time and the next day my legs hurt from walking and my shoulders hurt from carrying our backpack. As it should be.

Now for your delectation and delight, some of James' school work:

James’ spelling word sentences (spelling word is underlined)
October 6, 2009
1. The bark of the tree is brown.
2. I lock my bicke evry day.
3. I like black dogs.
4. You go back to your room!!! (exclamation points are his)
5. I pick you.
6. The clock tels time.
7. A tack keeps things up.
8. The duck qaked.
9. I sat on a rock.
10. The spark brnd my morshmelowe.
11. I stuck sum gum to the wall.
12. I work at shcool.
13. I got a check from the bake.
14. My brothr is wacky.
15. I fownd a nickel.

And also…
How to Make a Peanut
butter and Jelly
Sadich
First, you need 1 peace of bred. Next, you need Jelly, peanut butter, a knife, and a plate. OK first, you need to spred the Jelly on 1 haf of the bred with a knife and the peanut butter on the athr haf then you fold the sandwich. and Finolly eat it!

Peter is lots of fun right now too! A few days ago I finished unloading the dishwasher and closed it up. Peter ran over to it and opened it up again. He pulled the top drawer out and grabbed an apple. He must've stashed it there when my back was turned.

Today he picked up an alligator-shaped chime set (yes I'm married to a band director) and said "I bring my iphone Mommy. I was so confused until I realized that he was referring to his XYlophone! I think of it as a keyboard!"

He has discovered "like", but not the first person pronoun "I". So it's"

Me like Elmo Mommy! Me like this. Me like you Mommy (my favorite), Me like James. Me like big red dog. Me like gummy fruits, and sometimes of course Me NO like this. But not as often as you might think.

I have really really missed the internet. Our modem has been broken and it took about two weeks for a new one to be delivered. I've like to gone crazy! So I'm back on now, and hopefully mostly sane.

I Ween!

2009-09-21T23:43:00.003-05:00

No, this blog has nothing to do with nursing (that would be I Wean!).

This blog is about (surprise surprise) Peter and James!
Peter's vocabulary is expanding like, well, something that expands really fast.
We are having to watch what we say more carefully for we never know when Peter will echo us:
"fat guy?"
"cut me off?"
"can't you drive?"
and of course the ever popular stereotypical...."why?"
My favorite is when he accomplishes anything he feels pleased about (a hop, finding a letter, ramming two cars together), he celebrates a victory by shouting: "I Ween!" often with both fists in the air and tiny index fingers pointing stubbily to the ceiling.
Corrie gave me what may have been a compliment her charming back handed way (back of the hand - like a slap eh?) "Peter is the most stereotypical two year old I've ever seen."
Thank you?
Maybe her spiritual gift isn't encouragement.

I'm just teasing Corrie. You didn't hurt my feelings, I thought it was really funny.

Last week, while I was in the bathroom (don't worry this won't be gross) - I had the door locked. Which may be why Peter doesn't know the word "door". He thinks the thing that swings closed on hinges is a "doorlock". Anyway I was in the bathroom and recieved indelible proof of the reader culture that Mark, James and I are demonstrating for Pete. He began to send me books under the crack of the door.
"Here you go Mommy!"
I recieved all seven of the Chronicles of Narnia, and a pamphlet by John Piper on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood.

Lest you think that I was in there for a long time (with the door locked and my 2 year old unattended)- they were all stacked next to the bathroom door, and were fired through there in a matter of minutes. It was rather exciting for me too.

I started cutting out fabric that Corrie brought me from L.A.'s fabric district. And in saying so I make this the 3rd blog (I think, unless I missed one by Barbara) about fabric bought on ONE TRIP! And I wasn't even there! I think that's cool. I decided to try and match the pattern across seam lines, so I had to cut the fabric all wonky, and not in an efficient space-saving method at all. Still, the skirt looks groovy so far.
However Peter decided that since his Mom was bent practically double on the ground doing tedious work with scissors, ruler, and pencil - this was a good time to go climb on her back! Poor kiddo. I didn't do much fun with him today. I plan to make it up to him tomorrow.

My fabric is a big bold black and white print, with funky modern flowers. It rocks! You picked really well Corrie. By the way Corrie, although you mentioned that you bought fabric, you didn't show us a lovely pic of what you got like Rachel. Tsk Tsk (I love pitting bloggers against each other!) Please remedy that!

Good night all
Lissa