What we've been up to

Well, I have not touched the Cindy Lou Whoo costume since my last post. Really, I will get to it and get it done in plenty of time for all the Halloween festivities.

We have been busy doing other fun family things.

Such as:

Riding the Demo Cars ride at the County Fair.

Eating Ice Cream at the County Fair.

And going to the fair....again!

Nathan LOVED the big bumpy slide. He must have ridden it at least 6 times. That's hubby, Nathan and two of his friends having a ball on the slide!


Riding the BIG swings. These were not in the kiddie area. These are the swings that go way up. My little daredevil loved this ride too.

On the Ferris Wheel.

This weekend was National Alpaca Farm Days. On Saturday, we headed to an Alpaca ranch about an hour east of us. They had an open house with tours of the ranch and a spinning demonstration. I've seen Alpacas before, at petting zoos and such, but this was so much fun and so educational.

A group of mamas and babies.

I think this one was hubby's favorite. Something about that funny front tooth! You've just gotta love her.

This baby was only one day old.

Another beauty.

After the Alpaca ranch, we took a leisurely drive through the hills. Going through the wind farm was amazing. Those towers are HUGE!

And I've been baking. This morning I baked some Pumpkin Muffins and I made a Chicken and Mushroom Pie. Of course Nathan wanted to help with the pastry. I let him roll up some little pastry balls to decorate the crust. That was fun, but then he wanted to play with the scraps.....

I don't know if you can see the very generous amounts of flour covering the board, rolling pin and his tummy. Let's just say that clean up took a while.

So, that's what we've been up to. Tomorrow....back to sewing that costume.

Costume Progress Part 1

I finally cut into the taffeta and started on the Cindy Lou Whoo costume. Once I got started, it wasn't so bad. Of course, I had to cut the skirt pieces out twice because I didn't center the plaid properly the first time. But the zipper was much easier than I expected.


I've gotten as far as I can without doing a fitting. I still need to finish the waistband and attach a hook and eye. My friend wants a bib with straps to make the skirt into more of a jumper/pinafore. I'm going to make it and just pin it to the waistband for the time being.

The blouse is purchased. I'm going to add a "ribbon" of the plaid fabric to the cuff, with a bow. Then onto the lined cape with fur collar.

It looks a lot like a uniform right now. Hopefully that'll change. I'll be posting more as it goes along.

20 Questions

Once again, the Goodness Girls at Sweet Goodness Swaps have put together another fun filled swap. The Holiday Sister Swap is just starting and will be a little different than previous SG swaps. We'll be sending three smaller swap packages to our "Swap Sister" over the holidays and really getting to know each other. My swap sister is Cindy from Cindy Is Crafty. I've only had time to read a little of her blog and boy, she really is crafty!

To get us started, we've been given 20 questions to answer about ourselves.

Here goes:
1. Favorite Color? Pink, any shade.

2. Chocolate Lover? Milk, Dark, White, or none of the above? Yes, I like chocolate. Any kind.

3. What is your favorite craft hobby? Sewing/Quilting

4. What is a craft/art hobby that you would like to start? Oh, there are LOTS. I'd like to learn how to knit. I'd like to do more papercrafting (cards & gift tags) and be more creative at it. I'd like to be able to embroider some of my sewing projects, but my embroidery skills are seriously lacking. Maybe I should practice.

5. What craft do you NOT have an interest in or just not great in ( so your partner doesn’t send something you wouldn’t use)? Plastic canvas, cross stitch. Not good at drawing or painting.

6. Do you have any allergies? (we don’t want to send anything with peanuts if it’ll make you blow up like a balloon!) Allergic to housework. No food allergies though.

7.What’s your favorite part of Halloween? Decorating, candy eating, costumes, or something else? I love going on a train ride to the pumpkin patch, then having a family pumpkin carving night. I was really looking forward to making Nathan a super Halloween costume this year. Unfortunately, he wants to wear his Thomas the Tank Engine costume again. For the third year in a row. Oh well, at least I'm getting good value for my money with that costume.

8. Do you decorate for Thanksgiving/Fall? I’d like to, but don’t have many decorations.

9. December Holidays--what holiday do you celebrate? What type of decorations do you like to put up in your house for that holiday? We celebrate Christmas. All white icicle lights on the house and all white mini lights on the tree. My tree decorations range from a handmade felt bird that I made as a kid in 1972 to vintage Shiny Brites from the thrift shop. With a five year old "helping" to decorate, anything goes and it usually ALL goes on the tree! We also like to have Snowmen around the house at the holidays.

10. Do you have any children, if so what are their ages, boys/girls? Yes, a five year old son.

11. Do you have any pets, if so what kind? We have two indoor cats, two outdoor cats (that adopted us) and a goldfish.

12. Are you a reader? If so, what type of books do you like? Yes, I like to read. Lately, it’s been more magazines than books though. When I’m in the mood and have the time, I enjoy good, humorous chick lit, especially British chick lit. I do get some teasing from my friends who read “real” books, but hey, a girl’s gotta have some fun!

13. Are you celebrating a birthday or anniversary in October, November, or December? If so, what day and what is the occasion? No, ours are all earlier in the year.

14. Do you collect anything? If so what type of things do you collect? Other than dust bunnies and laundry?? Let’s see…..I have a crystal collection, mostly vases, which sadly lives in a box in the garage. I also collect things made in England (coffee cups, pottery, china). My hubby is English, so this collection makes me feel closer to his family.

15. What type of things do you like to cook? Are you an appetizer person, cookie maker, dessert freak or a take out type of person?? I like to cook/bake just about anything. Lately, I’ve been wanting slightly spicy foods like curries. I’m anxiously anticipating the cooler weather when I can have a big pot of soup simmering on the cooker with bread baking in the oven.

16. What is your favorite scent? Is there one that you can’t stand? I typically don't wear any perfume due to hubby's sensitivity to most of them. I do like scented lotions, shower gel, bubble bath and candles. My favorite scent depends on my mood. I like cucumber/melon, vanilla, musk and “beachy” scents (sandalwood?). I don’t care for strong, flowery or spicy scents.

17. What’s your favorite song? Just one song? I don't think I can name one favorite. I have pretty diverse taste in music. My most recent favorite CD is Celtic Woman: A New Journey. A peek into my CDs.....Dixie Chicks, Eagles, Anne Murray (Croonin'), Rod Stewart, Brad Paisley, George Michael, Vonda Shephard, Sinatra, Garth Brooks, Paul Simon and many more.

18. What’s the last movie you went to see at the movie theater? On a rare date night with hubby, we went to see The Bourne Ultimatum. It's a bit difficult for us to get a sitter, so we tend to rent DVDs rather than go to the movies.

19. What’s your favorite Candy? Hmmmm…..I like chewy candies. Red Vines. Salt Water Taffy. Rolos (chewy & chocolate!).

20. Tea or Coffee or other? We drink tea. More specifically, we drink British tea. PG Tips. Did I mention my husband is English? Yep, that's why we drink PG Tips in this house, with milk and sugar.

So, there it is. Probably more than you really wanted to know about me. : D

Images courtesy of Google image search.

Swamped

I'm still here, just busy, busy, busy. I keep thinking it's got to slow down, then something else comes up. Does this happen to anyone else?

The moms group I belong to just had it's annual fundraising yard sale. We did really well, actually the best we'ev ever done. But let me tell ya, it was a ton of work. Seems like we have more stuff donated every year.....bags of it, boxes of it, piles of it! I'm sure you don't want to hear all the details. It was a lot of work, a lot of fun and will help some local needy children.

Other things on my plate:

This lovely pile of fabrics. Sorry for the dark photo. The bottom piece is a red Christmasy plaid. The middle is red velvet (or velveteen, not sure). And the one on the top is a super soft, fuzzy something or other. It's nice, but it sheds. A lot.
These will eventually be a Halloween costume/Christmas outfit for a friend's daughter. She'll be Cindy Lou Whoo. My friend is very excited about it. I hope I can meet her expectations. She mentioned that it's cost more than she imagined and that they'll be saving the outfit to put in her daughter's hope chest. Great. Lovely. No pressure. Just something she'll be holding onto forever. Oh boy.

And have I mentioned that I'm Room Mom for Nathan's Kindergarten class? Well, I am. I've gotten two very different reactions when I tell people of my new title. One is the "Oh, it'll be so much fun" attitude. The other is more of a condolence with an "It's so much work" comment. I'm sure it'll be both. Tomorrow afternoon is the first activity that the teacher has asked me to help with. Of course, she only asked me yesterday, so I've been busy making phone calls and asking for help. It should be a fun time for the kids. I'll post photos if I remember my camera!

Back to the grindstone....I've got fabric calling me.

Jumpin' on the Name Game bandwagon....

Okay, I wasn't tagged, but I really want to play! I've seen the Name Game and Spelling with Flickr all over blogland, so here goes...



1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car)
Sandi Dodge (Might be a bit mellow for a Rock Star)

2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fav ice cream flavor, favorite cookie)
Spumoni Snickerdoodle (sounds like the leader of The Lollipop Guild!)

3. YOUR "FLY Guy/Girl" NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name) C-Hal

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal)
Pink Giraffe (Would you trust a detective with this name?)

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born)
Michele Fullerton

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first)
Hal-Ch

7. SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd favorite color, favorite drink put "The")
The Red Diet Coke

8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers)
Jesse Walter

9. STRIPPER NAME: (the name of your favorite perfume/cologne, favorite candy)
Happy Taffy

10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother's & father's middle names )
Lee John

11. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter)
Brown Boston

12. SPY NAME: (your favorite season/holiday, flower)
Autumn Daisy

13. CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + “ie” or “y”)
Raspberry Jammy

14. HIPPY NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree),
McGriddle Oak

15. YOUR ROCKSTAR TOUR NAME: (”The” + Your fave hobby/craft, fave weather element + “Tour")
The Sewing Drizzle Tour

A Lovely Evening

Last night, hubby was working late, so I decided to go on a date.

With this handsome little devil.
(Yes, he's laying on the floor, wagging his arms and legs in the air. And no, I don't know why.)

He was a bit hesitant about accepting my offer of Chicken Bites and a Churro, but eventually couldn't resist. Stepping outside the house was wonderful. It was a cool 77* and there was a lovely breeze. Could it be fall? Oh yes, it's on the way!

We went to one of my favorite casual Mexican restaurants. We dined al fresco, watching teenagers loiter around the patio. Nathan ate his dinner without me having to nag. He had a ball pulling faces at me with a big cinnamon-sugary smile.

Back home, the evenings entertainment was a rousing game of Red Caboose. I gave him a run for his money, but eventually he won.

There was something fun and special about having an evening out with my son. We rarely go out to dinner just the two of us. It was a lovely evening.

Nice Matters

A few days ago, I was nominated for a "Nice Matters" award by my friend Dinah. I am so touched that she thought of me! She said some nice things about me and even included my son, because she knows how important he is to me.

Now, I need to pass this award on to 5 other nice bloggers. Doesn't sound too difficult, but how, oh how, do I choose only 5? Guess I need to make a list and then narrow it down.

Okay, here goes...
(I've decided not to give descriptions of these blogs/bloggers. I'm hoping you'll visit each of them to find out why they deserve the Nice Matters Award. It'll be worth it!)

First, there are several bloggers on my list who have already been nominated for the Nice Matters Award. I think they deserve another mention:

Miss Bufforfington
Misadventures of Mama and Jack
Sweet Repeats
My Love
African Kelli
I have to say

Ladies, thank you for being so nice, creative and inspiring! Mwah!




Secondly, my 5 nominees:

Old Red Barn Co.
Jump Up and Down
Thrifty Goodness
Trail Mix Designs
Twiddletails

In thinking of how to describe these bloggers, I kept coming up with the same things. They are ALL creative, talented, inspiring, kind, caring, funny and nice. And Nice Matters! :) Thanks for adding so much to my blogging experience.
Mwah!

Now ladies, it's up to you to pass this award on to 5 other bloggers!

Soft and Cuddly

I am really trying to find my motivation and get some sewing/crafting done. I've got ideas, lots of them, and I've even got fabric to complete some of them. What I'm lacking seems to be time and motivation.

That expains why I was still in my PJs, finishing this little baby blanket, with less than an hour to go before the baby shower started! I had just enough time to run a brush through my hair, throw on some clothes, snap a photo, grab a card and wrapping essentials and head out the door. (And yes, that tree is one of my favorite current photo spots.)


I'm not entirely happy with how it turned out, but the mommy-to-be and the other guests ooohed and ahhhed over it. I got several, "You sew?" comments. Yes, I sew. The dark blue fabric is flannel and the white is Soft & Comfy (ribbed), both from Joann's. The light blue is Minky from my local quilt shop.

Onto other projects in the works.....another baby blanket (to go with the blocks from this post) and a set of napkins and napkin rings for a Christmas gift. I know it's only September, but if I start now, they might actually be done in time for Christmas THIS year!

What projects are you working on?

Moo!

I'm feeling a bit blah and unmotivated today. I've got nothing blogworthy to post about. There are a couple piles of fabric on the ironing board and I know what they're going to be made into. But today, they're just going to be piles of fabric.


So, a photo of my neighbors calf for a little chuckle and because I think he's cute. He looks a little fiest, but he's actually pretty friendly. All 300 pounds of him!

A little crafty

Yes, I finally managed to squeeze in a little craft time. Of course, I've had the idea and fabric for this apron for well over a month. And I left it until the last few days to put it all together.

I made this for a dear friend who is moving. She's not going far, only about 100 miles, but I wanted to make her a little something. She has read my blog and commented specifically about wanting an apron for herself and a crayon roll for her daughter. So, I obliged and presented her with both.

The apron is reversible, but I forgot to take a photo of the back. That's okay, the front is prettier anyway. It's an Alexander Henry fabric called Happy Kiku (I think). To make the pockets, I cut out two of the flowers and trimmed them with black bias tape. I'm very happy with how they turned out. The colors on the photo aren't quite right though. The red is actually more of a brick red, which makes the black trim blend a little more.

The crayon roll that I made for her daughter was very similar to the one in this post. I used the same fabrics, but put the rick rack across the middle rather than around the outside. I couldn't find my fusible fleece, so I put a layer of cotton batting in. I'm sure it would help me to find things if I didnt' have sewing/craft stuff in half a dozen different places! Oh well, I'll get organized someday.

Hope you're having a great holiday weekend! :)