Hannah's Winter Knitted Set!

I was pretty bored at my MIL's after the first week with all my crafty things in storage so when I got done making Hannah's little knit shrug from the handspun I'd done, I took what was left and I knitted her a little hat.

AND then I was still bored so I knitted little mittens. She LOVES her mittens! Actually, she loves all this stuff and tried to wear them, mismatched with tank tops and shorts, at random even though it has been being 95 degrees outside. I've only ever knitted one other pair of mittens before, my Bella cabled mittens from the Twilight movie (which I LOVE LOVE LOVE and can't wait for cold weather to wear them!!) so I was pretty excited that I was able to do such a little thumb.

After I was done with the mittens, I was still kind of bored and wanted to knit her some matching slipper socks. I had since run out of the handspun, and, since I was using a solid lavender acrylic yarn, I wanted to come up with some kind of pattern to make the slippers more interesting. Using just knit and pearl stitches I designed these, which look like Mary Jane slippers with bobbie-socks underneath! I took pictures and I'm going to try to write up the pattern and let Mom or Diantha list it in their etsy shops 'cause they're just so cute!


Hannah loves these too, and wore them all night Saturday night and then awoke Sunday to find that they are kind of slippery on our wooden floors! I will have to put some non-skid paint on the bottoms of them. All in all a pretty cute set I think!

Jeremiah's Flaming 'Edward Scissorhands/Frankenstein' Curtains from Hell

There has been too much going on in the last week and since I don't have internet access at my house anymore (gasp!) or cable for that matter (the Horrors! the Dark Ages!) I'm just going to comment on things one or two at a time instead of all at once.

First off we shall talk about Jeremiah's 'Edward Scissorhands/Frankenstein' Curtains from Hell. I priced curtains for Jeremiah's car-themed bedroom and they were going to run me about $80 for very simple black or navy curtains. I couldn't swing $80 so instead we decided I'd just make them. Off to JoAnn's for some black fabric that he said looked like tires and coincidentally I had used in the quilt for his bed 2 yrs ago. He wanted flames around the edges. Okay. It cost me $40 for fabric. Half the money saved!

We didn't actually measure the windows. Tony kinda held Jeremiah up to them and we guessed based on his height. Not a fool-proof plan for sure, but it looked like it would work. I thought I'd need 2, 2-yd x 44" wide panels per window. I held a 2yd piece up and it seemed to be a half yard too long. Easily remedied by hacking a half yard off and then cutting all the rest of the panels 1.5 yds. I cut strips of the flame fabric and began to sew.

I ran out of flame fabric. Ugh.

I also didn't have my ironing board so I was having to sew down seams to make them lay flat so I could do things like hem. I get the first panel almost done, held it up to the window and it was TOO SHORT. Aarrggh! So, sew a 5" wide strip to the top to turn back as the hanging sleeve and add a 7" wide panel across the middle somewhere and tada, it's long enough.

These curtains have seams everywhere (hence the Edward Scissorhands...which reminds me, remember when Edward was the man and we all had Edward tshirts but he wasn't a vampire? I digress...) They are not award winning by far but Jeremiah likes them and that makes me happy. Good 'nuff. I still have one more to make.

Everything else is getting a fresh coat of paint, including Jeremiah's dresser which used to have green stripes painted on the front to match his baby-animals nursery but now it getting painted the same dark blue as his trim. Since I took this picture I've painted the other door.


And Mom and I collaborated and painted this mural on one of his walls. He told us it needed 4 buildings. We added a train to surprise him!

Mom made one of the buildings, the house, look JUST like our house except for the hot pink front door. He said it needed a hot pink door. Oh, and that the car had to be PURPLE. Okay!

The little barn also looks just like Tony's little wooden outbuilding. The train depot says JWB Depot because thoses are Jeremiah's initials. So cool!

Ghost Writer Post 2 - House!

We had to paint the mint green living room and we used the very scientific method of dumping half a quart of deep tan paint my Mom found in her back porch into a bucket with a gallon of white paint and voila! close enough to the nice neutral-but-not-boring tan color we were shooting for. The color we ended up with is actually the EXACT color of a Wendy's original (chocolate) frosty. It makes me hungry.

Everything in my house is kinda jury-rigged or half done right now. The red curtains are hung but were too long so instead of cut them off and hem them, I pinned them. The blue curtains might not even be going in here (I'm going to try to get more red ones) but they are a stop gap measure. Tony bought me some curtain rods to hang them but I couldn't get the screws into the real-wood trim around the windows so I nailed the curtains to the wall. Sigh. The gap in the paint around the top of the room will be covered by white crown molding which hasn't been purchased yet.

Tony finished taking all the acoustic tiles off the ceiling to find that someone had PAINTED it charcoal gray. Hmm...maybe to cover up the fire? We'll get to that in a minute. We painted it bright white and it made the room look instantly better! Once we had the ceiling and walls painted we were able to tear up the nasty carpet. To find lovely hardwood floors underneath. That had 4,000 staples that had to be picked out with a small hammer, screw driver and pliers. Nothing like sliding around on your butt on the floor for 2 hrs in 20yrs worth of cat/dog pee dried into the pad, stuck to the floor.

The living room floor will have to be refinished which probably would have been more wise to do before we moved in but we just couldn't wait any longer to get into our own place and let my MIL back into hers. Under where we put our couch, under the nasty carpet, we discovered that once upon a time some original owner must have caught their Christmas tree on fire. There, in the floor, was a burn (in a couple little places deep enough that it will still be black even after we refinish it) that looks like the scene from Christmas vacation where they burned up the cat under the tree.



Probably it was a 5 or 6 legged Christmas tree stand but I like to think it was a cat.


The bathroom which was originally dark teal is now a nice white even though it still looks slightly mint with the lights off. We gave it 3 coats of white, including 1 of primer, and I ran out of patience with it so that's all it's getting.


Jeremiah's room you can see in the blog about his Curtains from Hell.


Hannah's room is a cute, cute light lavender with dark purple trim. We are using blue and green accents too just to shake things up. We got her furniture put in there but not any of her quilts or pictures hung up yet. It looks bare but I think because everything is just down low since she's a shorty.

We have done a TON of work in the last week since we moved in (and in the week before since we closed) but still lots of work left to do. The good news is, we have 30 yrs to do it!

The kids are really thrilled to be here (see?) and Tony says he loves it. I'm glad it's already starting to look and feel like home, even if it's still all a mess and boxes.

Jeremiah wanted to take a picture of me the other morning. He said for me to cheese really big, and then he cut my head off.

Guest Post - New House!

I am out of internet connection right now, so mom is graciously writing this for me in 1st person.

We closed on our house today! Tony was so excited last night he could barely sleep. I was so nervous, I thought I could throw up. Today I was telling Mom, "Well, we got married, and that was a grown-up and responsible thing to do. Then we had kids, and that entailed even more responsibility. Then we bought a car, and that was an obligation. But buying a house! You can't get any more committed than that. From now on, if the a/c breaks, there is no calling the maintenance man. The buck stops here, with us. And that makes me kind of nervous! You can't get any more independent than that!"

To which Mom replied, "Well, you could start your own business and then prosper or starve depending on your own efforts." Wow, that could be worse. And the thought was strangely comforting.

So anyway mom and 5 of the kids (my oldest brother still at home works full-time) packed up painting supplies, ladders, buckets of paint, primer, snacks, Mtn. Dew, and water and hauled up to our house.

Veronica, Diantha, Josiah, and I stripped wallpaper in Jeremiah's room completely, and in the living room. Still have to peel the base paper off there.











The bathrooom was deep turquoise. Hannah's room was tan.


Mom cut in around the bathroom and Hannah's room with primer.







Then Diantha rolled the walls with primer.


Meanwhile Tony and Artemas started in on the false, drop-ceiling in the Living Room. The original plan was to paint it. Nope.





Like the deconstruction crew boss said in the movie classic The Money Pit, "Those guys are ANIMALS, I tell ya!" We watched that movie a lot when I was younger, because my parents bought The Money Pit. Twice.




By late evening though, the ceiling panels were all down, the black aluminum supports down and carried out. Tony and Artemas went to the local WM to get Great Stuff to fill in the holes someone made in the ceiling plaster to put in the supports for the drop ceiling. The plan is that tomorrow Tony will spackle over them and then we will give the ceiling (which someone at sometimes painted dark gray) two coats of good ceiling paint. Lovely.

Meanwhile, while the primer dried in the bathroom and Hannah's room, mom mixed a lovely shade of lavender to paint it with. Then while Diantha started on the primer in Jeremiah's room, mom went for a gallon of white paint and some pizza.

Between Diantha, mom, and I (with some marginal help from an occasional munchkin wanting to try to paint), we managed to get Hannah's room walls finished completely, and her ceiling cut in around with a pale blue. I am going to sponge clouds on her ceiling and Jeremiah's. We also got the bathroom completely painted, in nice bright white. Our towels are all bright jewel-tones so we need a bright and neutral backdrop.





We also got the ceiling cut in around and painted completely in Jeremiah's room (Tony helped), the same light pretty blue.

While we were all painting and destroying things, Veronica, Josiah, Jeremiah, Beverly, and Hannah played, mostly running around upstairs in our huge empty bedroom.

It rained today (of course) so there was no going out into the nice backyard.

Veronica helped sweep up, Josiah picked up trash.

Even Hannah helped move paint buckets (repeatedly).

Unbelievably, we painted everything so far (and Jeremiah's walls tomorrow) with only purchasing ONE gallon of white paint.

My dad, a packrat of epic proportions, never throws anything away, even paint, so my parents had gallons and gallons of it, in almost exactly the colors we needed.




And I am BEAT!

A Shrug for Hannah

I really have not fallen off the face of the earth, it only just seems like it.
Originally we were supposed to close on the house on Tuesday the 21st but paperwork didn't come thru and we were told we'd close on Friday the 24th. Tony and I came down with the flu, along with half of my family so on Monday we just about killed ourselves moving boxes into a storage unit so we could be out of our apartment by Tuesday night. Tony had to work Monday so it was up to me, Mom, Dad and Artemas basically with the kids thrown in there for good measure. Tuesday Tony took half a day's vacation and he and Artemas moved the rest because I was too far flu-gone. We went to stay in my MIL's little 1 bedroom appartment, thinking it would be until this weekend or the middle of next weekend max. Noo.. noo no. FRIDAY, after we'd already left the house to do the final walkthru we found out we weren't closing because our mortgage broker got the date messed up. Okay, we all make mistakes, no biggie. Tony had taken the day off to move (or at least paint and start tearing down walls) so we drove around and priced things like dishwashers instead.

Made a side trip to a local hobby shop with a wooden Thomas the Tank Engine trainset/table where Jeremiah LOVES to go play and had been asking every day for several weeks. 5 minutes after arriving he wet his pants in the form of a HUGE puddle on the floor; ironically while Tony was in the bathroom. Tony, who did not hear me say there was a puddle, shooed us out of the building. We were then stuck in the middle of knoxville with a kid covered in pee and no change of clothes. So into Target (the nearest store) with Jeremiah riding in a card on a plastic bag to gather new shirt, shorts, underpants and shoes and then into the bathroom where I had to strip him down and wash him from the waist down with wet and soapy paper towels, rinse with wet towels and then dry enough to stick the new clothes on him. Then lift him up and wash his feet and hands in the sink so he could put the new shoes on. What an adventure. Combined with the stress of not knowing for sure until 4:30 that we weren't closing, it was a heck of a day. We were glad to finally get back to Cheryl's and lay on the couch in the A/C in front of the TV.

I find a have a lot of time on my hands the last couple days, which has been nice in a way. I've gotten to lay around and try to get over the flu. With all but a couple duffle bags of clothes packed in storage I've had more time to read and knit. In the last week I've read The Missing Ink, which is a tattoo-shop based murder mystery. Pretty good, nice easy read. I also read Don't Look Down which was by the same people who wrote Agnes and the Hitman. Agnes was FUNNY and Don't look Down was not, still good, but with a lot more sex. So not a kid book but good enough for a beach read.

I also took some merino that I dyed and handspun a couple months ago and I've knit Hannah a shrug for this winter. It's size 18-24 months. I used a lavender acrylic to do the ribbing around the opening since I figure it will get the most wear. I have enough left of the handspun to make her a matching hat and I think I can do the cuff on mittens and use the purple acrylic for the hand part of the mittens. She LOVES it! She kept trying to put it on while I was still knitting it and pulled it off the needles a couple times. Don't know what I'll knit next but since we're set to close in 2 days I probably won't have time anyway. : )

Moving Sucks

It's now Thursday and we're still not 100% sure we're actually closing on the house on Tuesday. I blurred the lines of comunication and scheduled an appointment to write our homeowner's insurance policy tomorrow, saying that Tuesday is the date we'll write for closing. All true, but not definite. I couldn't help it, I was being shaken down by my insurance agent. This waiting crap is starting to get on everyone's nerves. It's like, come on already! Let's sign papers, let's handover money, let's be done with this packing NONESENSE!

We have to be out on Tuesday too so we were planning on moving this weekend while Tony's off 'cause t made more sense than to move on a work day. I inlisted my family's help yesterday in packing almost everything, including any food that wasn't cold and wasn't being used in the next 2 days. Still have my bedroom and bathroom to do. I rearranged the livingroom this morning so I could clean toys out from under furniture. My brother Artemas spent the night so I made im help; he's also gonna make sloppy joes's for dinner and help with laundry. He just doesn't realize it yet! Snapped a couple pics last night of the mess we were making of the house and of Mom making brownies though she looks a little ticked off at the brownie batter. Yes, that must be it.

I just finished pieceing together a healing quilt top for a member of N2Quilting. Def. applying the gallopping horse principle to this one as some of the blocks were smaller than others. It's pretty cute I think!! Now I can pack up sewing stuff and not have to worry about the block layout getting messed up. I have the backing too so sometime in the next week or so, hopefully, I can get batting and get this quilted and on its way to its new owner!!

I meant to pack sewing stuff a couple days ago but just couldn't! I needed some sewing R&R the other night and threw together this awesome pizza themed small tote bag and this really feminine pink batik bag. Both are listed in my Etsy shop which BTW is having a FREE SHIPPING sale until 7/31!! And all recycled jeans purses have been marked down, top!

Also I just realized I never posted pics of my completed mini quilts! The first, Tulips, was for the mini quilt swap on N2Quilting. The second, Sunflower, was a gift for a friend. They would have looked SO cute hanging together though, don't you think??

Happy Birthday Jeremiah!

Today was my baby son (an oldest child's) 4th birthday. I can't believe he's 4 already, but then at the same time I can't believe it's only been 4 years. I love him so much and it's hard to imagine when he wasn't a part of my life. Being a good Mama to him (and now to Hannah, of course) is the thing I try to hardest to do everyday.

He is such a bright little boy, already figuring out solutions to problems in his head, learning to recite, recognize and write his ABCs and numbers.
He was a very happy calm baby and has continued on in this low-key, easy going personality.

He has always loved cars and trains and general boyish things that make noise. From the minute we told him he was going to be a big brother he accepted his baby sister with nothing but love and wonderment. He is still so nice and loving to her, I am blessed!

Everyday I am amazed by him and blown away by how beautiful he is, with gorgeous huge brown eyes. He adors his daddy and wants to be just like him. I can't wait to see how he "turns out!" He already loves to cook too, even if it's as simple as helping make a PB&J sandwhich. He loves to paint and draw. He says this year now that he's 4 he has to learn to say his "S"s correctly, LoL!

We had a Transformer's birthday today, and even with the very poor planning on my part it was a blast and the kids had a lot of fun! Next year though, we will have it indoors (like we always have) because an outdoor party in mid July is just a little warm for my tastes!!

Jeremiah already loves going to sunday school, singing the songs and learning about Jesus. We bought him a really nice picture Bible a year or so ago and he will bring it to me and ask me to read him stories. His favorite story is about Jonah. : ) I pray that he will continue to seek the Lord and have a heart for the things He loves. I pray that the Lord will bless him with a long life and prosper him as he walks with Him. I claimed the scripture in Psalms over him that says, "With long life will I satisfy him and show him MY salvation." I pray that this will come about in my little boy's life. He means the world to me!