A Day in the Life of...ME

You know the deal about my taking some time off to keep Carsyn, right?

And you also know about my new sewing venture, right?

Are you're aware that I thought those two jobs might mesh? Ha!!

To be fair, they do sometimes...for a few minutes. I have learned to listen to her; if I ask if we can go sew and so vehemently says "Uh uh, uh uh, uh," well, we don't go. That's because I figured out a while ago that she MEANS it when she says "uh uh."

I have also learned that Mondays are readjustment days. She needs time to get acclimated to the "Mama and Daddy are at work and I'm staying somewhere else" schedule.

Some days are good, though...like today. She (surprisingly) said yes, we could go sew. Well, maybe she didn't say it, but she nodded really hard. Nodded up and down, not sideways. I took this as a good sign. As I always do, I asked what she wanted to take with her. That's where things got weird.

Carsyn wanted to take her little kitchen, a box full of play food and dishes, and a baby. I had to have my computer, some fabric and dresses I had bought, and, of course, Carsyn. It was quite the trick to get all of her toys, my supplies, and her somehow in my hands and head out.

Once we got there, she wanted the sewing machines rearranged. I had moved my small machines when one of the tables was needed elsewhere, but today she let me know that she wanted those back in the open living area of the Den of Stitches. That way she can play, I can sew, and we can see each other. You might wonder how she convinced me to do the moving. Maybe I should have taken a picture of the face-down position of the floor with both hands beating the ground. That would have explained. So I moved. We should be good, right? Right.

Until Bubble Puppy was turned into a frog by the witch. Another trauma.
And then the baby doll fell out of the chair. Horrors.
And the size 5 jeans she insisted on wearing wouldn't stay up. Terrible situation.

So we came back for nummy nummy. What? You don't know what nummy nummy is?

nummy nummy (noun) -- food, drink, or cup; may refer to a "real food" or a snack.
                           (adj)--the description of how said food, drink, cup, or snack tastes

Complete peace took over while she ate...for 8 minutes. As she threw her next hissy fit (and it was a doozie--you don't need the definition for that, do you?) I asked if she was ready to rock rock. And she said "Tease!!" That means "please" for those of you who have forgotten how to translate. So we did. And she was out in 3 minutes.

And these are the days of my life :)

Monthly Catch-up

You do NOT have to remind me that I was supposed to post more often.

I've been busy. Really busy. Super Really Busy.

We are doing Prep Op competions at the gym and have started a Level 1 group. We decided to let a few of them compete this spring (more for us than them--we needed to go and watch and evaluate).

Grace is competing this spring, and she and Claire went to Planet in Mobile with us. So sweet! So funny! So enlightening!!!

They had a blast!!

Emily, Anna, and Jami won the first place team award at the Planet meet. Sweet Hollan is their biggest cheerleader :)

Sydney and Mary Avery are competing at the Silver level...little gym monkeys :)

Faith is competing Level 3 and is doing an awesome job!

Ashley and Anna Blake did a great job too, but I didn't get a picture :( What was I thinking!

And I've been making these...

and these...

and birthday outfits,,,

I have no idea why this one is turned :(

 Carsyn got a pedicure...

Kaylee got a manicure...

the boys got dinosaur shirts...

and this cute little outfit is Grace's.

This is only a peek at what all has been going on here. And that's what has kept me from posting...just so you know!



The Paint Is On...

Back before Thanksgiving, we started renovations on Children's Church. Vicki offered to paint. This was supposed to be quick. Two weekends at most. Seriously.

Once we got into it we realized that some work that required carpentry skills far above our poor power. Mistake #1: We started this thing during deer season. What were we THINKING!! Then the holidays...Thanksgiving...Christmas...New Year's. Took forever to get everything done.

Since November, we have had Children's Church in Aunt Patsy's Sunday School room . She very graciously invited us to move in. But you know, we just all need a place to call our own, right?

So this weekend (a three-day weekend for Vicki), we started painting. Friday Robbie, Carsyn, and I went to get paint, rollers, drop cloths, brushes...all the "stuff" we would need. And Saturday morning I met Vicki there and we got our paint on. We got it on the walls. We got it on the floor. We got it on ourselves. And the place looks good!!! It looks even more amazing after we went this afternoon and put the second coat on. Who knew the second coat would go soooooo much faster!!

The painting marathon was not without excitement. I'll share a little:

There is a staircase going down to Children's Church that really needed some tender loving care. We decided to paint those walls. We didn't think about that the highest part of the ceiling would be at the lowest point on the stairs. We had one pole to extend the roller, but still we couldn't quite reach. So we used a little stool on the stairs. Hush. We know now that was stupid, but we were desperate. First I was on it and Vicki was below me on the stairs. I can honestly say that I only wanted to reach just one.more.inch. And WHOOP there it is!! The stool flew out from under me, my feet went flying, I don't know where the brush went, and Vicki put one hand out --not sure what she was doing but it was the thought that counted.

So Vicki decided to climb up. Judging from previous experience, I decided to stand behind her and hold on. Sure enough, here she went! But no worries--I had such a tight grip on her t shirt that she practically bungee jumped. You know, she just rebounded. I'm telling you, it was the one more inch thing both times!

We are both so glad Lauren wasn't there to witness either mishap. She would have had to go to the emergency room, and that would have prolonged this thing. Poor thing, Lauren just cannot handle seeing a fall. It just sends her into gales of laughter!

We are far from done, but let me tell you and the universe I AM HAVING CHILDREN'S CHURCH IN THAT ROOM NEXT SUNDAY.

Unless God has other plans, of course.

Which I will, of course, try to talk him out of.

Somehow.

The Pappy Is Gone...Now Here's How We Go to Sleep!

Carsyn has been devoted to her pappy. DEVOTED!! None of us were OCD about getting her off it at a particular moment in time, but we thought she would probably talk more if she didn't have it. We also thought (and prepared ourselves) that the experience would be ...ummm...traumatic. But lots of prayer and a reading of the Farmer's Almanac and some rather miraculous cooperation on Carsyn's part, and..........it's gone!

I'm not even going to try to convince anybody that she doesn't think about it. Occasionally she just has the sweetest look and points straight to her mouth. She'll even ask for it. In desperation, she even stuck a tiny, hard, baby doll pacifier in her mouth for a moment of relief. But even with all that sweetness, she has really done well giving it up -- COMPLETELY!

Now she's on to other means of satisfaction. This is her newest one:

Yes, the doll wears a size larger than Carsyn does. All I know is, she loves that doll.

In other news, Kaylee turned 4! She's such a pretty little girl, and she bosses those boys around like crazy! She had a Hello Kitty birthday party. Here's a candy bowl I made for her table:

AND... I got the Christmas tree down. You have no idea how hard that was (with baby help). Robbie even said, "You didn't have Carsyn today? You did? How did you get the tree down?" Ha! Never underestimate the determination of ZiZi!! I had lots of help, but she mostly wanted the tree back UP.

She worked sooooo hard to get those lights back on!

Finally, just because it is just beyond adorable, I want to show you  a precious birthday outfit. One etsy customer went out of her way to get her little girl a snowflake birthday suit. I found snowflake legwarmers, and Vicki and I put the tutu together while the machine hummed away.







And this outfit was born!!! How cute is that!

That is all. The End.

Is It 2012 Already??

Well, the Christmas holidays are over (I need to host the family for a meal again and let them take down the trees), and the New Year has arrived. I remember, when I was little, knowing for sure the world would not be here by the time we had to write 2000, and here it is 12 years later! Wow!

The year 2011 was such a huge variety of emotions and events:

• I decided to take some time off school to help with baby sitting and because I felt a need to be more available for Pam and Kenny.
• Kenny moved to the best of all places.
• Our gymnastics team (level 3) placed 1st in the state meet.
• My sewing business took off like CRAZY (thanks goodness).
• We were able to spend lots of time with all our babies (older and younger).
• Both sets of our parents had a wonderfully healthy year.
• All our children  and grands had a wonderfully healthy year.
• Santa Claus came even though I thought I was going to sew straight through Christmas.
• I found out that holidays are still hard (Every day is, actually. Miss my BoBo soooo much).
• We started some renovation work on Childen's Church (It's amazing how much I have missed that basement).
• We opened CHRISTMAS presents OUTSIDE on the arbor in 77 degree weather-- and the weather dropped to below freezing for the next two nights!
• I made Sugar Cookie Truffles and Lemon-Lime Sugar Cookie Truffles, Rolls, and Peanut Butter Bites BY MYSELF!!!

I can't possibly remember everything, but I AM making  some New Year's resolutions:

• Blog more often
• Shop earlier
• Get more organized
• Save more money
• Be healthier
• Clean more effectively (must be linked to Get More Organized)
• Go on more "dates" with Robbie
• Create something -- or some part of something-- every day
• Pray more
• Read more
• Be a positive influence
• Build a better relationship with my stove

Happy New Year!!!

**Additonal News and Resolutions:
1. I got the tree down--WITH Carsyn "helping" (putting the lights back on as fast as I could get them off).
2. I resolve to remember to hit the PUBLISH POST button (been several days since I wrote this post!)

Catching Up--The Holidays

Catching up…

I don't even know if I can call it that. I haven't blogged in FOREVER, and I love to blog. But my goodness! Time just runs out!

Not that I'm complaining. It's just that it's hard to even think about blogging when I have so much sewing to do. I have made so many zebra outfits that PETA may come check us out. Snowmen on t shirts, monograms on everything you can imagine, dresses and pants—my goodness at the pants—and a most adorablegorgeousoutofthisworldamazing minky dot romper for Grace to wear in the Christmas program.

Carsyn has not yet moved into the world of compatibility where sewing is concerned. Thank goodness for LOTS of help from others. Without Mama, Gabby, and Karissa, a lot of children would be naked at Christmas...or at least not as cute.

Anyway. On to the holidays. Wednesday night before Thanksgiving is our eat here and decorate our tree night. All the kids were here to help. Supper was wonderful, the kids were sweet and soooooo helpful. We have almost as many ornaments left as when we started the night J

Presents, however, are missing…still. Seriously. No presents wrapped yet. And that's a LOT of wrapping waiting for me. Oh well. Maybe tonight.

After the decoration success, we had Thanksgiving lunch with Robbie's parents on Thursday. And then, Thursday night, we went Black Friday shopping!!!!! No, it was not Black Friday yet. Let me just say that watching people like Lauren try to hold her eyes open was pretty hilarious. Vicki definitely won the prize for the most energy of the night. We had a blast and were happy Karissa and Kelly could go. Liz, Lauren's sister-in-law, went with us this year and we had such fun! Sunday Thanksgiving lunch at Mama and Daddy's was wonderful as always. And then, with almost no warning, it was DECEMBER!!

The big Christmas push was on—finish shopping (Every year I say I'm going to be DONE before December. I never am.) The problem this year has been finding time to go. What's that you say? You've heard that before? That's because it's TRUE!! I may not be making the trip to school every day, but I promise I'm busier than I have ever been in my life! I have one more trip to make. You know the one: everything's is counted and the numbers are not right; a bit more tape would be good; and what if I see something I just really like—for anyone J

Merry Christmas!

Chivalry Is NOT Dead...

Chivalry is a term that dates back to the Knights of the Round Table and King Arthur's time. It's the concept of doing what is right, helping those in need, being kind, being thoughtful, and, if needed, rescuing beautiful (or not) damsels from fire-breathing dragons :)  For as long as I have taught, my students in Arthurian Romance or English 9 have been assigned a paper on the topic of chivalry and whether it still exists.

Of course, I KNOW it does. I live with one of the few remaining knights :)

He is a gentleman through and through, and so are my boys.

But sometimes it's nice to see another example--one completely out of the family or my comfort zone (because we all see the best in our own people, right?)

This past week I had the pleasure of participating in the Holiday Bazaar hosted by Andalusia Manor in Andalusia, Alabama. Thanks SalLee Sasser Williams and Tamala Hutcheson for thinking of inviting me! It was my first experience at something like this, and I learned a lot. Mama went with me and the company was so welcome. She helped customers and was my biggest fan :) Many of the customers who came through were employees of the facility, and others who visited brought their family members who reside there to shop or look around. Some people from the general public came in, and everyone was sooooo nice. But then there was one who just stood out...

I was standing behind the table and noticed someone coming in the door. At first, I had to look twice because, as Grace would say, the boy coming in looked just like "Mac Attack." (I think she may have a life-long crush on my former student--probably because he always should such chivalry to her.)

This young man wasn't alone. He was an employee of Andalusia Manor and was pushing one on the residents in a wheel chair. She was much, much older than he and I did not get the impression that they were family at all. I watched him the entire time he was in the room, and I so wished I could show my students this real-life example of chivalry.

He was so kind, so gentle, and so patient. He took his charge to every table. There were tables of jewelry, makeup, children's clothes (me!!), monogrammed bags, cookware, toys, Thirty-one items, Christmas wreaths, and Holiday decorations for sale. It was obvious that few, if any, of these things would be of great interest, but no one would have known that by watching him.

Mr. Knight-in-Shining-Armor stopped at each table and explained what was being sold. He even held up jewelry to her neck and ears and told her how good it would look on her. They stopped at our rack and he talked about embroidery and how everything was personalized. He took her to the makeup table and talked about lipstick and perfume. At the table selling decorations he talked about stockings and wreaths and Christmas. He was never in a hurry and wasn't the least embarrassed to be doing his job--his calling. 

I wish I had gotten his name so that I could mention it on here, but I didn't :( 
He certainly deserves to be complimented.

Andalusia Manor is blessed to have such wonderful people working with their residents, and the residents are certainly blessed to have such kind, caring individuals as this young man. I can only hope we have raised our boys to be as kind!