tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83706280372926137172024-02-20T20:25:42.083-08:00Less Reading, More DoingI have read every homemaking book in the library. Now I must actually start making a home for my family.Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06302762936883869228noreply@blogger.comBlogger51125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8370628037292613717.post-48795962578527844602014-03-26T14:25:00.001-07:002014-03-26T14:25:04.374-07:00Big HelperWhen my boys were little, I used to read about how to start your children early helping in the house, but I never had much luck. I now realize where I went wrong - they were boys, not girls! Three year old boys are pretty much an extension of the tornado that is the two year old boy. Three year old girls, however, are almost human. And at least mine seems to genuinely enjoy being helpful. Now don't get me wrong, I love my boys, and now that they are 7 and 6 they are genuinely sweet and helpful, but my daughter continues to amaze me. Case in point: I sat down to fold towels this afternoon and asked if she would like to help. "Of course, Mommy!", she tells me, and proceeds to do this.<div><br><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRqRZ5hx2t_8ytmROk7Xuh67EF3wphsw_lXSGlZSEvKO2JKsWEC-WK0GCgukhSFimg0D3muXKVAjv_ojSwwaDCrfQeW6BzOZSEvRb-bgWMtOIIa2e0YtMMNYyBThbnMpoOXhQoplwarhc/s640/blogger-image-426659335.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRqRZ5hx2t_8ytmROk7Xuh67EF3wphsw_lXSGlZSEvKO2JKsWEC-WK0GCgukhSFimg0D3muXKVAjv_ojSwwaDCrfQeW6BzOZSEvRb-bgWMtOIIa2e0YtMMNYyBThbnMpoOXhQoplwarhc/s640/blogger-image-426659335.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid3rYn8BQO5zDoCo5P0IMEbqRPBY3MqfOZhqzKIj0AGNtF_f3OaLn3f66vnwp83Ek5wiFZ38CYeD1zPFlBqzacorjNIY1aMQtHP5TCxn-XgZa8CkITTJCtfO11a5AK0cvX9bipTkC0swc/s640/blogger-image-607424968.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid3rYn8BQO5zDoCo5P0IMEbqRPBY3MqfOZhqzKIj0AGNtF_f3OaLn3f66vnwp83Ek5wiFZ38CYeD1zPFlBqzacorjNIY1aMQtHP5TCxn-XgZa8CkITTJCtfO11a5AK0cvX9bipTkC0swc/s640/blogger-image-607424968.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">She folded washcloths, dish rags, and burp cloths while I did the big stuff. She loves to match socks and unload the silverware, too, and I daresay she is better than some adults at separating the different sized forks and spoons :-). She also sat playing with Rachel this morning for a good half hour while I cleaned upstairs. Speaking of Rachel, what is it about these things that are so irresistible?!</span></div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNtK2l-uN8KjwvmGWmzrvGwhiEdUvIYkuqYKVJbMk5xojWF93TXneSKDS1L1GYZoTPoKjkOM1CLZsJP5fpt_0UjrTzPQS4tLcORc4YNHhF0XPYgx1XeDLYR9FVTYFMuVQ3O7M-jxuyJd4/s640/blogger-image-98269029.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNtK2l-uN8KjwvmGWmzrvGwhiEdUvIYkuqYKVJbMk5xojWF93TXneSKDS1L1GYZoTPoKjkOM1CLZsJP5fpt_0UjrTzPQS4tLcORc4YNHhF0XPYgx1XeDLYR9FVTYFMuVQ3O7M-jxuyJd4/s640/blogger-image-98269029.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">The baby is crawling...lock up the Legos and the doorstops.</span></div></div>Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06302762936883869228noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8370628037292613717.post-85420013346242713312014-03-11T12:16:00.001-07:002014-03-11T12:16:52.781-07:00Progress and Paper<div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">I have been trying hard all week to keep the house picked up and put forth some effort with dinner and I've seen some good results. Even with my husband gone for a birthday trip, I managed to get a good cleanup done. Then I woke up yesterday morning and realized it was the day for the bug guy to come. This dude is my worst enemy because although he is super nice, I have to have the whole house picked up AT THE SAME TIME so he can spray. For obvious reasons, he wont spray spots with clothes on the floor, etc. and I hate scorpions with a burning passion, so it is in my best interest to get as much picked up as possible. I did the downstairs pretty quickly and got the kids rooms picked up pretty well since I had cleaned them out last week. I got the trash out upstairs and even cleared our closet floor of laundry. It was as good as things have looked in a while. From this angle, the living room looks great.</span></div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmbger-EuFfMcg8haLqS5u_4N6fcbGLEWb1PI9fl6T_EH9jRCntlHiZNnavSyxc7ik_AwX-qQp8yYbaSEIzF0whHYEvsu-hIkTbn0pbZbbU7T3-o-e8M0iYA0oCGmOEkFzTYdT3zeTwk0/s640/blogger-image-231605671.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmbger-EuFfMcg8haLqS5u_4N6fcbGLEWb1PI9fl6T_EH9jRCntlHiZNnavSyxc7ik_AwX-qQp8yYbaSEIzF0whHYEvsu-hIkTbn0pbZbbU7T3-o-e8M0iYA0oCGmOEkFzTYdT3zeTwk0/s640/blogger-image-231605671.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Unfortunately, if you walk around the steps and look at it from the front door, this is what we (and everyone else) see when we open the front door.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeJJfzYAzQKFRegGoqFRBPFQ1EdLMESDUMpCXaJRRCkTltsw1OoT1fSTdzo2NJuR1GmzfRJO5r4I4NUXiTfotHjeUxZvL9xA1OgSf3gOTUkHSZ7CEcOBLB1y9egroIirChe1EhoUBWY-E/s640/blogger-image-1986260156.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeJJfzYAzQKFRegGoqFRBPFQ1EdLMESDUMpCXaJRRCkTltsw1OoT1fSTdzo2NJuR1GmzfRJO5r4I4NUXiTfotHjeUxZvL9xA1OgSf3gOTUkHSZ7CEcOBLB1y9egroIirChe1EhoUBWY-E/s640/blogger-image-1986260156.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Paper and junk all over the table. After it sits there for a while, I truly stop even noticing it. So, I walked around downstairs and gathered up all the visible papers to deal with this afternoon.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqzdl683FbfginGfKK5OVSthYs07W9Rfdj4e6fpRPoGBh_EzunNsOT2rG-pNYrreaGRj_rkx7oi_RQhPiQlKqLnQkdtiyeQqKHL7OHcwJ9N2DGXs-aKwY-35al99Lo0KYytoTvPEvg8lg/s640/blogger-image--83159785.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqzdl683FbfginGfKK5OVSthYs07W9Rfdj4e6fpRPoGBh_EzunNsOT2rG-pNYrreaGRj_rkx7oi_RQhPiQlKqLnQkdtiyeQqKHL7OHcwJ9N2DGXs-aKwY-35al99Lo0KYytoTvPEvg8lg/s640/blogger-image--83159785.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">If <span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">I don't resurface in a day or two, send a search party. Today the job is to sort this. Tomorrow I will tackle the receipts and papers in the closet.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div></div>Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06302762936883869228noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8370628037292613717.post-20879552094908214442014-03-04T18:30:00.001-08:002014-03-04T18:30:20.190-08:00Fasnachts!<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div>In my little corner of the world, the Shrove Tuesday pastry of choice is the Fasnacht. It's pretty much a doughnut with a varying degree of brickiness. Some of the makers seem to think it should remain in your stomach until Easter, when it may finally be done digesting. Since I can't exactly hop down to the market here in Tucson and get some, I decided this year to make them. It was better than yet again having to be grumpy that I wasn't noshing on at least one.<div><br></div><div>I used the recipe from my trusty Mennonite Community Cookbook. I did it just as is, but made only 1/3 batch (one egg worth) since I didn't want too many staring at me tomorrow.</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWB7UqwCO2ny1vfpTVcjNbcEM6t-6NKElskt3_PN2RO_84VDynFWOV1ebOjRklrJCwe53aD_Btf_zMMJyUJKJEYL00uADCDhF5ooAtDvuuOnJHPC5Ip9K03Qox6bhrwftOU9-dHbjDxzU/s640/blogger-image-1522269583.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWB7UqwCO2ny1vfpTVcjNbcEM6t-6NKElskt3_PN2RO_84VDynFWOV1ebOjRklrJCwe53aD_Btf_zMMJyUJKJEYL00uADCDhF5ooAtDvuuOnJHPC5Ip9K03Qox6bhrwftOU9-dHbjDxzU/s640/blogger-image-1522269583.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div>They turned out quite tasty. I tossed half in powdered sugar and the others in cinnamon sugar. I liked the cinnamon sugar better, but I'm a total sucker for cinnamon toast, so maybe that's it.</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj07pbAjMDtEa74iOx68NGkTYFS6ndwPQMixRSJNpZ1RibQ0b6iYOxLyPa0T8mQdgPe2uG7U5_s-By93QfD83MnBv7xWQ8KbA_XtA3ewrb5dd4Mh0usS-Q43nT7THfacOdAgzVSZSdtAV8/s640/blogger-image--1599890925.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj07pbAjMDtEa74iOx68NGkTYFS6ndwPQMixRSJNpZ1RibQ0b6iYOxLyPa0T8mQdgPe2uG7U5_s-By93QfD83MnBv7xWQ8KbA_XtA3ewrb5dd4Mh0usS-Q43nT7THfacOdAgzVSZSdtAV8/s640/blogger-image--1599890925.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div>I also managed to clean up, dust, and vacuum my family room and do a load of wash. Imagine how productive I will be tomorrow when I'm off the rest of the interwebz!</div>Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06302762936883869228noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8370628037292613717.post-70932634195721803662014-03-03T13:18:00.001-08:002014-03-03T13:18:27.978-08:00Living LentFor Lent this year, I'm giving up alcohol, which I've done before. I'm giving up Facebook and all but a few blogs, which I've done before. But I'm also going to try something new. I'm going to give up myself. I'm going to give up the part of me that says I need the approval of people on Facebook for how I live my life. I'm going to give up the part of me that feels like this life is beneath me because I used to get paid a lot for the work I did. Truthfully, if I approached my real job as halfheartedly as I've been approaching my work at home, I would have been fired. <div><br></div><div>Jesus spent 40 days fasting and praying to prepare Himself for the Passion. He was blameless and yet was persecuted and put to death for our sins, for my sins. And yet, if I'm not careful, I will spend this time of fasting and preparation feeling persecuted because I am asked to deal with never ending piles of laundry, little boys who couldn't hit the broad side of a barn, much less a toilet, and a baby who STILL won't take the bottle.</div><div><br></div><div>I'm going to try to document some of this, to remember a little joy and a little progress from each day. For now, I will start here, with a load of laundry to fold, a baby trying to chew a tooth through, and a floor that is at last Lego-free and safe for her to squirm on.</div><div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg37uAuSUzzp8o80JbBZyuUqMin4ydzmXUCqKr5DDHcbCgSc3x6vVNw5iVaPsNfSg8giq8aS0y9UTkS1ii8w0Vk_v-D-5FR22U6aiQQQg65PSM1_34GjlcZ-dS8M1fn-q4UdOQdco3nk7A/s640/blogger-image-711201747.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg37uAuSUzzp8o80JbBZyuUqMin4ydzmXUCqKr5DDHcbCgSc3x6vVNw5iVaPsNfSg8giq8aS0y9UTkS1ii8w0Vk_v-D-5FR22U6aiQQQg65PSM1_34GjlcZ-dS8M1fn-q4UdOQdco3nk7A/s640/blogger-image-711201747.jpg"></a></div></div>Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06302762936883869228noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8370628037292613717.post-67042661011960444882012-10-13T19:22:00.000-07:002012-10-13T19:30:10.392-07:00Organizing Uniforms Quick Fix<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
One consequence of not posting anything for two months is that I've actually accomplished a few things! </div>
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This is one easy fix I came up with to take care of Christopher's school clothes. He's lucky enough to have started a school where they wear uniforms, and I didn't want to fight with him every morning about why he couldn't wear his Ninjago shirt and elastic waist shorts from his drawer. One of those pocket organizers would've worked but I didn't have one. I did have clothespins and hangers, though, so this is what I came up with.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzgwAs01pphNQ-aVjul9UhY1rJR-6yjBjFWCs-KqfnJdk3PROgaWvaiB3zucSNB-3USVKj4a-6ngvu4_50YbfRNO67DnGTPbKDppbgeHDR3UjjEki-5YBaHjqmePiho2t50XwdpFYct0I/s1600/IMG_1224.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzgwAs01pphNQ-aVjul9UhY1rJR-6yjBjFWCs-KqfnJdk3PROgaWvaiB3zucSNB-3USVKj4a-6ngvu4_50YbfRNO67DnGTPbKDppbgeHDR3UjjEki-5YBaHjqmePiho2t50XwdpFYct0I/s320/IMG_1224.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Shorts and socks (with no logos or animals) get pinned to a hanger</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIL1KEyCvNovQtNPKOWeKkP5weYckPj-vH1NN9Fn9glMWIMVBuEQ021-nbg-159atSuq8ipkbfkikB9Ni2BfM6HlfrtR8qhotVY4Gs6HZwOBmWDjR21ntHY1EtKLCMbMQgkyieSCdPsiY/s1600/IMG_1225.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIL1KEyCvNovQtNPKOWeKkP5weYckPj-vH1NN9Fn9glMWIMVBuEQ021-nbg-159atSuq8ipkbfkikB9Ni2BfM6HlfrtR8qhotVY4Gs6HZwOBmWDjR21ntHY1EtKLCMbMQgkyieSCdPsiY/s320/IMG_1225.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Shirt goes on top and everything goes into the closet</div>
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Now it's easy to see if he has clean school clothes and he knows to just take out a hanger with his preferred shirt color and get dressed. This has also taken care of the navy shirt and navy shorts combo I see some kids wearing to school!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsrVAcboNYoi2t70rIZoceebagP5Apjxn4MYBGwuiLnunpxtDFvjH_vgLgfmjmYZ4yJCxTGugCEizDRvDftwNBasKJbcLosVlwvBWsNC_LgNtkI6lHlYmSn4r0_clmsrpvwjx26_8GhSQ/s1600/IMG_1196+(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsrVAcboNYoi2t70rIZoceebagP5Apjxn4MYBGwuiLnunpxtDFvjH_vgLgfmjmYZ4yJCxTGugCEizDRvDftwNBasKJbcLosVlwvBWsNC_LgNtkI6lHlYmSn4r0_clmsrpvwjx26_8GhSQ/s320/IMG_1196+(2).jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Shirts are sort of boring - here's a shameless cute kid shot of Christopher being a great big brother!</div>
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<br />Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06302762936883869228noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8370628037292613717.post-76461119411823938422012-10-12T15:30:00.003-07:002012-10-12T15:30:50.244-07:00Year of FaithTwo posts in one day, this is insanity! Just go with me here...<br />
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On the subject of new beginnings, Pope Benedict just kicked off the Year of Faith yesterday. The focus of the Church this year is to be helping its members grow in understanding of their faith. Along those lines, I decided to sign up for a wonderful Flocknotes group that aims to <a href="http://www.flocknote.com/list/54755">Read the Catechism in a Year</a>. Each morning they send an e-mail to your inbox with a few sections of the catechism. I'm a repeat Bible in a Year dropout, but I'm hoping to be more successful with this! I'd love to have you join me.Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06302762936883869228noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8370628037292613717.post-53595783080176855602012-10-12T15:25:00.002-07:002012-10-12T15:25:41.577-07:00Thank Goodness It's Spring, I Mean FallWow, I didn't realize it's been two months since I posted. I always struggle the last few weeks of summer, but it seemed worse this year. Summer for us in AZ is like winter everywhere else. The heat sucks the life out of you and makes you hide inside, running from air conditioned house to air conditioned car to air conditioned school/store/wherever. The downside of all this inside is that like winter in the north, I get a little stir crazy and very unmotivated until it's finally below about 90.<br />
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This week it has cooled down somewhat and in a fit of downright pleasantness the high today is below 80. Be still my beating heart. I took this opportunity to crack open our gardening in the desert books and decided to clean out the garden and the sad little rosebush in the back yard. Here our big vegetable growing season is winter, when the days are cool enough not to burn the plants, so I'm going to try carrots, broccoli, lettuce, and some herbs again. I don't have any seeds yet, though, so I contented myself with cleaning out the old stuff, breaking up the baked soil, spreading the compost bin over top and watering and raking it all together. Hopefully some of that compost goodness will leach into the surrounding soil before I get the seeds in a few days.<br />
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Here we have the before - with two helpful men adopting their best supervisory pose and a photobombing toddler trying to walk on the gravel without falling.</div>
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Our super-expensive compost setup. Actually we wanted it to be pretty incognito since I'm sure it's against HOA bylaws to be composting in your backyard. This bad boy was pretty much full.</div>
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The after, all cleaned up, composted, and watered. It looks like I missed a piece of paper when I was cleaning up the compost - there's always a bit that doesn't get broken down well.</div>
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I also pruned, cleaned up, and fertilized my little rose. I had put it under a tree next to the wall for the hottest part of summer when I saw it was burning badly. I think the lack of sun made it go a bit dormant, but hopefully a nice feed and some clean-up pruning will perk it up.</div>
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Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06302762936883869228noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8370628037292613717.post-88800676731953813942012-08-02T08:08:00.000-07:002012-08-02T08:13:19.124-07:00{pretty, happy, funny, real} - End of Summer EditionWe've been hanging out around home more than usual lately. While I was so excited (for me and them) for school to start, now that it's close, I think I'm going to miss them :-) The up side of all this homebodiness is that I've actually taken pictures!<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>{pretty}<span style="font-size: small;"></span></strong><span style="font-size: small;"></span></span></div>
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I cleaned the kitchen within an inch of its life yesterday. That makes it pretty, or at least a lot prettier than it was. Goo Gone is my friend. It took care of a lot of the greasy mess on the microwave underside.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>{happy}</strong></span></div>
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After the pantry cleaning last week, I got out the easel for a long overdue (read: it's been many months) painting session. Little E was not quite paint-eligible, but she was happy to color chalk on the other side.</div>
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">{funny}</span></strong></div>
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It's funny, and maybe a little sad, but my kids are such desert rats that one good afternoon of thunderstorms produced some awesome puddles worthy of about 45 minutes of running and jumping in.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>{real}</strong></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi295rWQthEpOV6NICDYig2bhAF0lE8JGOVbBMOR3FM1IamRaaNmbqAOGVicuPoA96-bcBYvnG6F4CRVSIwlsDEq2khFw43hjuJKQ1TKSusNG4H2x-Hyi8ZeQxx9C6Q7-ao3vJA5dO1MMQ/s1600/IMG_1192.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi295rWQthEpOV6NICDYig2bhAF0lE8JGOVbBMOR3FM1IamRaaNmbqAOGVicuPoA96-bcBYvnG6F4CRVSIwlsDEq2khFw43hjuJKQ1TKSusNG4H2x-Hyi8ZeQxx9C6Q7-ao3vJA5dO1MMQ/s320/IMG_1192.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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I suppose this is to be expected since she only has big brothers, but here is Elizabeth "peeing" in the potty. She picks up her shirt and pushes on her belly button and is SURE she's going just like the big boys! I've started putting her on the potty before bathtime in the hopes that we might not have too big a mess (or struggle to get her to sit down) when we actually start training her!<br />
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<a href="http://ourmothersdaughters.blogspot.com/search/label/%7Bphfr%7D" target="_blank" title="like Mother, Like Daughter: {pretty, happy, funny, real}"><img alt="round button chicken" height="200" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5308/5609751923_b38935def8_m.jpg" width="200" /></a></center>Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06302762936883869228noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8370628037292613717.post-88917035007636618462012-07-27T09:00:00.000-07:002012-07-27T09:00:12.530-07:00Quick Lego ManualWe have QUITE the collection of Legos since Christopher had his birthday a few weeks ago, and with all those legos comes a lot of little building manuals. Many of ours were in really bad shape, having been lovingly touched and taken in the car to "read" more times than I can count. So today I took an old binder and some page protectors that I was no longer using and made a little Lego manual. <br />
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I put a few booklets in each (after extensively taping some back together) grouping by category - Cars, Ninjago, Lego City, etc. <br />
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I think it will be much easier to handle and they'll stay in much better shape this way. And anything that means less Lego mess on Christopher's bedroom floor is a good thing!Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06302762936883869228noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8370628037292613717.post-76004305822621651962012-07-26T20:00:00.000-07:002012-07-26T20:00:02.082-07:00Simple WalletChristopher and Patrick have recently started doing "money jobs," which are little extra chores around the house to earn $0.50 or $1.00 depending on the job. Patrick has been asking for somewhere to put his vast stash of money, but I've been unable to find a small wallet at Target, etc. So the other day I decided we'd make him a little change purse-type pouch for his money. <br />
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He's one happy guy, always wanting to do work so he has money to add to his wallet. He looked through the fabric in the closet and homed in on a spaceship print...which is flannel. Yup, kid has a flannel wallet. Oh well, it makes him happy! <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOuxmV3imr25oB7s03cfKHRsFeFAqPk0AUWGlGKUqgOLrs0iGUID597NqaoZuMO0o_Py8Ce807YOoxcPddzWA7F9qxTB3wYE4Hq_PDHWlbSFuy3OZbm3iff_GHSvxqMwNewJLJ8SYhCnw/s1600/IMG_1149.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOuxmV3imr25oB7s03cfKHRsFeFAqPk0AUWGlGKUqgOLrs0iGUID597NqaoZuMO0o_Py8Ce807YOoxcPddzWA7F9qxTB3wYE4Hq_PDHWlbSFuy3OZbm3iff_GHSvxqMwNewJLJ8SYhCnw/s320/IMG_1149.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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I drew out a simple pattern and we cut and stitched it on the machine. He learned how to put in and take out pins, how to line up and sew the seams, and how to press VERY CAREFULLY with a grown-up. The only thing I did myself was putting in the lining and topstitching (with very bad tension, judging from the mess on the inside). Then, of course, the piece de resistance, he got to pound on the snap. Oh happy day! Couture it is not, but it serves its purpose and was a great little learning project.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjls7qWcflNLJFkeOv6TnHK9V2QahKiOIFmhJVlgxUqpqp6GaaLfS-x2AhPLIQRdfImbs45_83Zo8UIJGdMY8-5dNmE0Iyxy9JwZ0cvt0olPtkFBnn6HGqvwH0PiLfEtUQZknqdMGGn9U8/s1600/IMG_1152.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjls7qWcflNLJFkeOv6TnHK9V2QahKiOIFmhJVlgxUqpqp6GaaLfS-x2AhPLIQRdfImbs45_83Zo8UIJGdMY8-5dNmE0Iyxy9JwZ0cvt0olPtkFBnn6HGqvwH0PiLfEtUQZknqdMGGn9U8/s320/IMG_1152.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06302762936883869228noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8370628037292613717.post-4701808870723019062012-07-26T14:41:00.002-07:002012-07-26T14:41:52.695-07:00Pantry Cleanout - Round 2<div style="text-align: left;">
I finally got around to cleaning the other side of my pantry today after I saw the great job my little sis did on her big boys room. Maybe we can go back and forth, Cindy, and keep each other motivated? Anyway, this side was more of a hot mess, mostly owing to the fact that I just mash stuff in there to keep it away from little fingers. Here is the before, complete with toddler trying to get as much stuff as she can before I shoo her away:</div>
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Extra food at the top, on the fourth shelf, and on the floor. Art supplies on the 2nd and 5th shelves, of course?! The only thing that was working was the vase/casserole shelf. So I got to work and a two hours later, I had this.<br />
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Muuuch better. All the food together and off the floor and all the art stuff together and accessible again. The only area I didn't tackle is the coupon/office supply half of the fourth shelf (in the canning jar box), but I have big plans for that involving some scrap wood in the garage and my Kreg Jig, so watch this space :-) Down in one corner I found this little gem. <br />
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I think it is some sort of basket liner for food from back when Longaberger was the big thing (yes, I'm that old that I've been through housekeeping fads, yikes!), but it works great for markers and crayons.<br />
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Of course, it wouldn't be our house without a random box of unlabeled liquor :-) I set this aside on the floor for my husband to identify and disposition.<br />
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So there you have it - again it didn't take nearly as long to do as I took putting it off. Does anyone see a pattern forming here?Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06302762936883869228noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8370628037292613717.post-70367728666605782722012-07-19T16:26:00.000-07:002012-07-19T16:26:13.141-07:00Food Pantry CleanoutI started the great re-org of 2012 with a small project cleaning up the food side of my pantry. It's a big double closet and I use the side closest the kitchen for food and the other side for art supplies, extra pantry goods, vases, canning jars, etc. Here was the before:<br />
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It was in pretty good shape. I just regrouped like with like, cleaned everything off, and tossed a few really old things. I wiped the walls and shelves, pulling back the shelf liner and wiping both the underside and the shelf itself. If anyone knows how to get rid of petrified shelf liner, let me know. I hate the stuff, but the last owners had nasty blue liner on there from who knows when and I haven't been able to completely clean the shelves. Now it looks like this:<br />
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Like I said, not a big change. I had a pretty good system before and didn't need any new containers, although if you do, right now is a great time. Everyone has their back-to-college stuff out so there are cheap but sturdy plastic crates in all colors and sizes. Mine were from a few years ago and they do work better than old boxes for many things. They have a little ventilation and they're easier to wipe. Hopefully I'll get to the other side in a day or two, but for now I'll enjoy making dinner just a bit more!Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06302762936883869228noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8370628037292613717.post-13569805352210631232012-07-19T16:15:00.001-07:002012-07-19T16:15:30.621-07:00Still Here and Still SchemingHas it really been 6 weeks since I posted? Has anyone really noticed? Well, I'm now back from a 3 week trip to see my family and I'm all energized to reboot our house. I've got big plans, as usual, but we'll see what comes of them. My latest idea is to work on a reorganization of the house bit by bit. Many closets and shelves have not been touched since I got pregnant with the princess, who is now 17 months old. <br />
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I've become discouraged with the constant mess the kids leave behind, but in thinking about it, I came to the conclusion that I can't expect them to take care of and respect their things if their dad and I don't. Our office area looks like this right now. <br />
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So is it any wonder that the toy area looks like this (and it's actually pretty clean)?<br />
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I've come up with two concepts to focus on for the short term:<br />1. I need to respect and care for my things so they respect and care for theirs. That means doing dishes in a timely fashion and cleaning up and putting away books, magazines, projects, receipts, phones, etc. before I have to take them from little hands.<br />
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2. The floor is NOT a place for anything to be stored. Not trash in the office in need of a trash can, not graduation gear in the bedroom that no one is sure where to put, not books in the bedroom that I haven't gotten around to putting away.<br />
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We'll see what comes of this, but hopefully at least a few full garbage bins will give us some much-needed breathing room.Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06302762936883869228noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8370628037292613717.post-85461851618206169452012-05-30T17:08:00.004-07:002012-05-30T17:09:17.901-07:00Our New FriendWe have a new little buddy at our house. Almost every day at lunchtime, this guy makes his appearance to putter around the patio and eat bugs. <br />
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The kids think he's really cool. Today Christopher decided he was going to draw a picture of the lizard to show him. <br />
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Patrick, of course, had to follow suit, so here is his masterpiece.<br />
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Even Elizabeth got into the fun, banging on the window and pointing to the lizard for anyone who would pay attention to her.<br />
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This pretty much proves that boys + anything Mommy might find vaguely gross = good fun.</div>Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06302762936883869228noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8370628037292613717.post-17007083885661747282012-05-06T22:23:00.000-07:002012-05-06T22:23:28.844-07:00Great Sewing Room CleanupOK, maybe room is pretty generous for my little sewing space, perhaps corner would be better. Whatever it is, it got cleaned within an inch of its life this weekend. I was going crazy losing things under the piles of fabric and having everything tangled around random lengths of elastic. So, I spent an embarassingly short time (far shorter than the time I've spent putting it off) cleaning up and throwing out snibbles and threads, filing patterns, organizing notions, and folding fabric.<br />
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First, the before:<br />
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And behold, the after: <br />
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Complete with OCD-inspired labeled boxes: <br />
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OK, really I was trying to keep the kids out of Mike's hair so he could brew beer, and they LOVE to play with the label maker (are they my kids or what). As you can see, there may be no money for fancy organizers, but we have no shortage of kids shoe boxes. And now that I think of it, I'd rather have little feet growing out of shoes faster than I can buy them than enough money for fancy organizers. Although both wouldn't be too bad :-)Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06302762936883869228noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8370628037292613717.post-8426228896845429612012-05-02T22:37:00.001-07:002012-05-02T22:37:47.829-07:00Chair Cushions Finished!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR3qr5OACiTHM0v5TTeiib13Tthj8BDzNPhmTv6EfTzXb_OGWa8sugs7_PKWYOQ-7Sf9mFNkgC6vgkKiPq9AsCT3I34RG4CNaR75hNSIT9vSmWKidSXaLuu-goegNGkv7_xDI4uDZBpgI/s1600/IMG_0798.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR3qr5OACiTHM0v5TTeiib13Tthj8BDzNPhmTv6EfTzXb_OGWa8sugs7_PKWYOQ-7Sf9mFNkgC6vgkKiPq9AsCT3I34RG4CNaR75hNSIT9vSmWKidSXaLuu-goegNGkv7_xDI4uDZBpgI/s320/IMG_0798.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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I finally finished the new cushions for our patio chairs. It was pretty boring, easy sewing times 6, so I'm glad they're out the door, literally. They fit nicely and look much better than the old ones, which were literally crumbling to dust when people sat on them.<br />
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They are just plain box cushions with no welting, because as I said before they'll just get baked. The fabric is from Hancock's sun resistant line, which means they have a prayer of lasting a year. The ties are just brown twill tape also from Hancock's, which is a better color match in real life than it appears in the pictures.</div>
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Of course, since I was complaining about how easy the sewing was, I goofed. They always say "measure twice, cut once" when woodworking, but here it should be "read the notes you made and cut the pieces the right length." I inexplicably cut the edge bands two inches too short (despite having the right measurment calculated and written down), and had to go back and piece in a little bit at one corner. I had enough fabric left that I was able to match the pattern, so it's not really noticible, just annoying to me as I hate making mistakes, especially stupid mistakes.<br />
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I spent this evening working on my Vogue 8295 skirt, though I've taken it back to more like a 3/4 circle and reworked the yoke to be more of a wide waistband since I didn't like where it was hitting my hips. It should get a zipper tomorrow and hem soon after, so hopefully I'll have that up soon as well. Then it's on to some seersucker I got a few weeks ago that I need to find a pattern for.Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06302762936883869228noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8370628037292613717.post-17954313653069192132012-04-20T12:02:00.000-07:002012-04-20T12:02:04.955-07:00A Gypsy SkirtThis little skirt for Elizabeth is actually from a month or so ago, but I forgot to take pictures of it then, so when I put it on her today, I snapped a few pictures. The fabric is a linen blend I picked up at Hancock's at the end of last year. The pattern, as such, is the <a href="http://www.thehandmadedress.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=56&category_id=17&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=54">Gypsy Skirt</a> from The Handmade Dress. It's actually what she calls a sewing recipe. It's a collection of proportions and formulas to give you a garment of a certain shape. In this case, it's a seven gored skirt just right for a little girl who never met a meal she didn't like :-) And yes, every shot is an action shot with this girl - sorry! <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFqT69E8xmhm0payvdCiTuf-GR3XAkGxkW5Mi5kQzCLxnYkXM6p8fW8ZW6lkLzNI2ySKYXtl3HG9UGAZMccdQkAYHZ7lT3BYCwHVmXbJz9YdvTO-Xk6mqQ3EWNhXtTjsStISgC33S7hRs/s1600/IMG_0783_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFqT69E8xmhm0payvdCiTuf-GR3XAkGxkW5Mi5kQzCLxnYkXM6p8fW8ZW6lkLzNI2ySKYXtl3HG9UGAZMccdQkAYHZ7lT3BYCwHVmXbJz9YdvTO-Xk6mqQ3EWNhXtTjsStISgC33S7hRs/s320/IMG_0783_2.jpg" width="190" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtSIhP72isPe08C-pDMgECCwamiIXXhtbAPJ7mbBar21biS6XRKrB-3GBB1v56cri745THetbqnBa-P_gM8p9GQFgFPICq8fOLp088MOy4Cb3Xec1-j6FIbPfGp94WJ1UM6-L0o6o3dEY/s1600/IMG_0776.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtSIhP72isPe08C-pDMgECCwamiIXXhtbAPJ7mbBar21biS6XRKrB-3GBB1v56cri745THetbqnBa-P_gM8p9GQFgFPICq8fOLp088MOy4Cb3Xec1-j6FIbPfGp94WJ1UM6-L0o6o3dEY/s320/IMG_0776.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />On her, it's a really cute style and I like the extra fullness in the back to compensate for her diaper-clad bootie. <br />
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On her, it's a really cute style and I like the extra fullness in the back to compensate for her diaper-clad bootie. I also drafted it for myself, but after seeing hers, I think I'll make a few changes for mine. I'm going to take out the extra gore in the back (and adjust the other measurements accordingly) and maybe take a bit of the fullness out of the waist. I like the easy elastic waistband, but I don't want it so bunchy on me. Is it something I could've come up with myself, yes, but Sam's recipe gave me a great starting point and confidence in the outcome. Plus, she's a super-sweet mama of 4 with a really cute blog with great ideas - that's worth the $6 right there!<br />
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After I finish the chair cushions (more on that mess later!) and my little skirt, I think I'm going to do matching cousin dresses for Sarah and Elizabeth from her <a href="http://www.thehandmadedress.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=16&category_id=2&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=54">Miss Madeline</a> pattern, so look for more extreme cuteness coming soon!<br />
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Parting shot - here's my super reader who was very miffed I wasn't taking pictures of him!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsBIezVz86_oD68RVeQfx0jZ4O8-6oaT6stnt7jW3Tvkg0ec1d2T0YEm_qOIGgrWhwmHtrpOMmuTIJb1HQ7HESK63MJnaZ89BjPJI0jj_KZQ6tR7QezbMDIGVsTPU4x1GhB0X-CUmSVQQ/s1600/IMG_0779.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsBIezVz86_oD68RVeQfx0jZ4O8-6oaT6stnt7jW3Tvkg0ec1d2T0YEm_qOIGgrWhwmHtrpOMmuTIJb1HQ7HESK63MJnaZ89BjPJI0jj_KZQ6tR7QezbMDIGVsTPU4x1GhB0X-CUmSVQQ/s320/IMG_0779.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06302762936883869228noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8370628037292613717.post-24415141830433860312012-04-19T11:29:00.003-07:002012-04-19T11:29:50.356-07:00Home Dec Sewing - At Least It's EasyI have to say I can't get very excited about home dec sewing. I try, but mostly it just turns into me fighting with very large pieces of fabric and nothing ending up quite square. Which is why I was less than overjoyed when our patio chair cushions started to fall apart. After scouring every conceivable store for replacements under $15 each, I decided to bite the bullet and make new ones. By waiting for a sale at Hancock's I was able to get all the fabric for 6 cushions for about $40.<br />
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Last night in between putting a sleepy girl with a runny nose to sleep again, and again, and AGAIN, I finally cut out all the pieces. <br />
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They will be simple box cushions with no welting because welting would take just that much longer and this is Arizona after all. The sun will bake and fry these babies in a year or two anyway. And yes, I'm way too lazy to take them off and put them away after each use. Are you kidding me?! <br />
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Hopefully I will get these done or mostly done this weekend so I can get on to the skirt I want to make myself. I cut out and decided on alterations to the pattern the other night, but then decided I needed to hold it out there as a carrot or the cushions will never get done.<br />
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My photo assistant was helpful, as always. I think she wanted to make sure you had a sense of scale!<br />
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<br />Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06302762936883869228noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8370628037292613717.post-49274924872043339922012-04-15T17:42:00.002-07:002012-04-15T17:42:59.407-07:00VERY Low Budget Bedroom UpdateSometimes I find myself getting really tired of my things and rooms and brainstorming crazy makeover strategies a la Trading Spaces. Usually this is a sign that I need to spend some time in the offending room tossing out the trash, replacing the wayward Legos, and cleaning the dustbunnies. Case in point, my $0 bedroom makeover from Friday. It was my birthday, so I spent it cleaning my room, and now it is once again a little bit of calm in my chaos. I wiped the walls, put away the clutter, cleaned the baseboards, and vacuumed the dust bunnies out of every corner (seriously I filled my vacuum canister twice, it was so bad). Of course, I have no before pictures, because that's just the sort of lame blogger I am, but here is an after picture of my nice cleaned off, shined up, prettied up nightstand.<br />
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The Holy Family statue was left out after Christmas, but I decided what better reason to keep the nightstand clean than to keep Baby Jesus from getting crowded out by knitting. Not to mention, having Mary watch over Jesus and I can only help, right?<br />
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The roses are from my little backyard rosebush, which I still haven't managed to kill. Yay for me!Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06302762936883869228noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8370628037292613717.post-75620776455382590282012-04-12T11:07:00.001-07:002012-04-12T11:12:56.719-07:00{pretty, happy, funny, real} - Easter is Here!Hooray, we've made it through Lent and now we get to enjoy the Easter season, which actually lasts almost 6 weeks until Pentecost! Here are a few fun pictures from our Easter festivities.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">{pretty}</span></div>
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Pretty blessed is more like it. We have three (generally!) sweet, beautiful, healthy kids. No matter how difficult some days seem, life is really good!<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">{happy}</span></div>
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Mama got to make an Easter dress this year (more on that <a href="http://www.lessreadingmoredoing.blogspot.com/2012/04/easter-sewing.html">here</a>) and I'm really happy with how it turned out. Now if only <strike>the Energizer Bunny</strike> Elizabeth would've stood still for a whole 3 seconds, I could've gotten a clear picture.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">{funny}</span></div>
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Elizabeth found out about the wonder that is Easter candy this year. She approves wholeheartedly.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">{real}</span> </div>
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Patrick gets constant "coaching" from his big brother, Christopher. I'm sure my sisters will tell me that I drove them crazy doing the same thing, but I struggle to find a nice way to tell him, "Just let Patrick color his own darn eggs!" And yes, I took their shirts off because you know that egg dye will never come out of anything, and we're short on clothing that fits right now as it is!<br />
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Joined up at <a href="http://ourmothersdaughters.blogspot.com/">Like Mother, Like Daughter</a> - some great Easter fun had by all!Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06302762936883869228noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8370628037292613717.post-57670701969381959422012-04-12T10:54:00.005-07:002012-04-12T11:07:38.253-07:00Easter SewingI wanted to put up a pretty quick post on Elizabeth's Easter dress. I'm really happy with how it came out - its probably one of my favorite things I've made her so far. Excuse the wrinkly pictures - I didn't sew the buttons on until 11:00 Saturday evening, so I didn't get any pictures before she wore it. She also ran back and forth like the Energizer bunny, so I didn't get a clear picture of it on her.<br />
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The pattern was <a href="http://www.chadwickheirlooms.com/products/tuck-dress">The Tuck Dress</a> by Collars Etc. I made the size 1 dress. The fabric was satin batiste from <a href="http://www.chadwickheirlooms.com/">Chadwick Heirlooms</a>. The original dress was Bridget from the February 2007 issue of Creative Needle (sniff, I miss them). Bridget was made from Ulster linen, but that was really spendy and not at all in my budget, so the satin batiste seemed to be a good comprimise - a little nicer than regular batiste for a dress without much extra embellishment, but not $50 a yard. The lace was also from Chadwick Heirlooms, I believe from the Heavy Lace section. It is an insertion and edging stitched together to form a band with the feel of tatting, but not quite as heavy. <br />
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Close up of the collar with lace</div>
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Also put a band of lace down the sleeve</div>
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Check it out, I even matched the tucks at the shoulders :-)</div>
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From the back</div>
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The slip was from Simplicity 2900. It ended up being a bit long, so I cut off some length before attaching a 2" long ruffle. My mom had made Elizabeth a slip for a dress for her first Easter (back when she was still a baby :-( ) and it had a little ruffle on the bottom. I really liked the way the ruffle helped the a-line dress have a bit more body, especially made in such a soft fabric, so I added one this time. The neck and arms were finished with a shell stitch.<br />
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So there it is - an Easter dress fit for a princess!Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06302762936883869228noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8370628037292613717.post-30064527564489212282012-03-22T11:32:00.001-07:002012-03-22T14:51:05.205-07:00{pretty, happy, funny, real} - The Spring Edition<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I have a sick big boy at home, so this will be pretty short this week. I didn't want to completely disappear again, though.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">{pretty}</span></div>
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I love these pretty yellow flowers that popped out in my garden a few days ago.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">{happy}</span><br />
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Miss Elizabeth has made the developmental jump to walk-first, crawl-when-I-fall. It makes me happy because, at a year old it's time and means she's growing as she should. It makes me sad because she looks so darn big doing it - what happened to my baby?!</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">{funny}</span> </div>
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This is sad-funny. This is my sewing table right now. Apparently I thought that if I took my whiteboard and made a list of things I need to finish and mend, and then sat it by my machine, that would shame me into getting to things. Yeah, it's not really working.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">{real}</span></div>
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My pretty yellow flowers in the garden - they're on the broccoli. I have no idea what happened there. I planted about 30 broccoli seeds, and this is the only one that came up. It went from having a tiny head (maybe 5 florets) of broccoli to this in a few days. Clearly my gardening skills still need a lot of work. I'm thinking I'll just bring the stalks in and put them in a vase and enjoy them. I'm sure the broccoli is not edible now that it's shot to flower.</div>
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I have a bunch of other things to put up, but I have to go get Patrick from school and then we'll see how everyone's feeling. Hope everyone has a great weekend!</div>
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<center><a href="http://ourmothersdaughters.blogspot.com/search/label/%7Bphfr%7D" target="_blank" title="like Mother, Like Daughter: {pretty, happy, funny, real}"><img alt="round button chicken" height="200" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5308/5609751923_b38935def8_m.jpg" width="200" /></a></center>Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06302762936883869228noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8370628037292613717.post-48853580828741390342012-03-15T11:14:00.000-07:002012-03-15T11:27:21.214-07:00{pretty, happy, funny, real} - The Kitchen EditionIt's been a while since I linked <a href="http://ourmothersdaughters.blogspot.com/">here,</a> but since I've actually taken some pictures this week, I thought I'd jump in.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">{pretty}</span></div>
I scrubbed up my kitchen on Monday. It's needed it for WAY too long and it's amazing how much more counter space I have and how much easier dinner prep is now that I cleared up all the junk.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">{happy}</span></div>
We celebrated Pi Day yesterday (more on that <a href="http://www.lessreadingmoredoing.blogspot.com/2012/03/happy-pi-day.html">here</a>) with a very tasty chocolate cream pie. <br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">{funny}</span></div>
I made a salad on Sunday night with lettuce from our little garden. It's funny in that I'm waaay to proud of my 3 handfuls or so of lettuce. <br />
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Although if you consider that the view from my garden is this: <br />
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gravel and a 6 foot tall cactus, the fact that anything grows at all is really pretty amazing!<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">{real}</span></div>
I scrubbed up my kitchen in part because of this.<br />
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My toaster oven picked Monday morning while I was changing the Princess's dirty diaper to not shut off, catch fire, and scare me half to death. Thank God, the flames were contained within the toaster oven and I was able to unplug it and then throw some water on it. Scary, though, and a good moment to talk to the boys about what to do if they ever see that much smoke again.<br />
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We're enjoying our two weeks of spring here, with temperatures in the 70s and 80s, so maybe I'll get some outide pictures taken before it gets into the 90s and I can't bring myself to go outside much. I hope you are all having a great week!<br />
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<br /></div>Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06302762936883869228noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8370628037292613717.post-68689955381248475942012-03-14T16:07:00.000-07:002012-03-14T16:07:38.886-07:00Happy Pi Day!No, that is not a typo. Geeks everywhere (or at least in the US where we write our dates the right way around) celebrate March 14 as Pi Day, a celebration of all things Pi, circular, and tasty! What's better for Pi Day than pie in a Pi plate? Many thanks to my dad for this genius gift.<br />
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<br />We chose to celebrate the circle (which the ancients thought was the perfect shape) with chocolate (the perfect food) in the form of a chocolate cream pie. First, we mixed a simple graham cracker crust and my trusty sidekick, ChefPatrick, pressed it into the plate.<br />
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Then we took a break for strawberry milk with whipped cream. ChefPatrick had an accident last night while I was cooking dinner (I didn't see what happened) and has a big cut inside his lip/cheek and a little but deep cut outside, so Mama is sort of a softie today.<br />
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<br />After WordWorld, lunch, and putting the Princess down for a nap, we mixed up chocolate cream. In keeping with my plan to try more "heirloom" type recipes (more on that soon), I used a recipe from my <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Mennonite-Community-Cookbook-Mary-Showalter/dp/083613625X/ref=tmm_other_meta_binding_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1331766300&sr=8-1">Mennonite Community Cookbook</a>. Once the cream cools, we will top it with homemade whipped cream and our homage to all things pi/pie will be complete!<br />
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<br />Happy Pi Day everyone!Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06302762936883869228noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8370628037292613717.post-66899716373789797512012-03-09T08:34:00.001-08:002012-03-09T08:34:14.599-08:00Big KidsI'm on a roll (as in, I got back on the blog and posted something), so I'll put up another quick one unless Miss E throws a complete fit in the next five minutes.<br />
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As I said before, we've had quite a month here. My little (middle) boy turned 4 and Miss Elizabeth (who answers quite nicely to Princess) turned 1. They all look so different to me, even just since Christmas, so for those of you who don't see them often, here are a few pictures.<br />
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First, Christopher had silly hat day as part of his Dr Seuss birthday week at school. <br />
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He wore Daddy's hat from <a href="http://www.warriordash.com/">Warrior Dash</a> and thought he was super-cool (which he was). I had trouble getting him interested in a lot of the activities (silly shoe day, inside-out day, etc) but this one he was into.<br />
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Patrick turned 4 a few weeks ago, and now thinks he's really big stuff (which he is). <br />
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He had a party with Lightning McQueen invitations, Thomas plates, and a dinosaur cake. Ahh, the plight of the middle child, always thinking that whatever the oldest likes is cool. His big birthday present was a play kitchen, which he thinks is pretty much the coolest thing around. He also got some kids cooking things from my parents, which now means that I can't go into the kitchen to pour myself coffee without him telling me, "Mommy, I want to put on my ChefPatrick clothes and help you!" Hot mitts are a must for any activity - did you know that?<br />
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Last, but very certainly not least, Elizabeth turned 1 a few days after Patrick's birthday. <br />
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She still will not take more than 3 steps, finding it much quicker to crawl. She has slept all night four of the last five nights, so maybe, maybe there is light at the end of that tunnel that is not an onrushing freight train of exhaustion. She has a lot to say, but so far only "uh-oh" and "nanana (no)" are somewhat understandable. Given our family history, though, this is pretty awesome.<br />
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I made her birthday dress, which I'll show you next, after I get some better pictures of it on her!<br />
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Hope I haven't bored everyone completely - have a great day!Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06302762936883869228noreply@blogger.com0