Happy Halloween!

I got the zipper in!  It was as horrible as I feared!  No actually it wasn't that bad, it was worse! Alright it wasn't really that bad but I thought I'd say that to explain why it took so long to get the silly dress done, but I really do dislike putting zippers in clothes.  They are just a pain in the neck, literally as I'm leaning over the sewing machine trying to get it to work.

I also made a matching head band but I don't know where it was when I took the picture.  My daughter has this weird habit of hiding things in her room that are important to her, usually in the back of her closet.

Have A Happy Halloween!

It's almost finished!

Look I'm almost done.   

It doesn't have it's zipper and I'm going to get some ribbon flowers for the neckline and at the top of each ruching!

Man did this dress use a lot of fabric, I bought 4 yards and I have about a 1/4 yard left.

I did it!

   I finally started Daph's Halloween costume.  Okay being really honest I cut out the pieces, I have the machine threaded with the right color thread, but I haven't sewn a single seam.  However I was laughing at myself when I realized that the whole dress really doesn't have very many pieces.  This should be pretty easy!  The only tricky part might be the ruching with the elastic.

   Now I'm actually excited to get started, I'll post a picture of the finished dress!

Sometimes I don't understand my husband!!

   I just don't understand my husband.  Tonight after we had put Daph to bed she came out telling us her legs hurt.  Andy was already in the kitchen so I had him double check that the nighttime cough and cold medicine didn't have ibuprofen in it already.  So he checks, says no, and then comes out, leaving me to go back in the kitchen and get the ibuprofen from right next to the other bottle of medicine.  I was ready to scream and he just looked at me like I was crazy.  He couldn't figure out why I was irritated.  In fact his comment was that I had just asked him to check the other medicine, and he had.

   Why as a Mom do we know that this would mean we than needed to get the other medicine, but it just doesn't even click with men?  How can they think so differently?

   I keep thinking we've been together long enough that he shouldn't surprise me with these differences but every once in a while he still does.  Do you think we'll ever just be able to go, oh well, without it driving us crazy?

Caving in to peer pressure

    Alright I finally did it, I caved in to peer pressure.  I know at my age you'd think I would be stronger.  But no I caved.  I finally read Twilight.  A friend made me borrow her copy and read it.  Okay that's to harsh, I really did intend to read it, I was just waiting for it to come out in mass market paperback.  I'm just too cheap to pay the big bucks for a book I wasn't really excited to read.

    So I got it Monday night, started reading after Daph went to bed and finished it the next day, but, I was able to put it down to go to bed, and I even put it down during the day to vacuum. 

    I really did enjoy it, it's a good story and I'm going to have to read the next couple books because you do get involved with the characters.  I'm also still going with a group of women to see the midnight showing of the movie when it comes out, that just sounds fun.

    However I have to say, I don't understand all these women  my age going into raptures over Edward.  Like I said, it was a really good book with good characters, but as I'm reading it I was still very aware that it was written for a younger target audience.  It was kind of like reading the first Harry Potter book.  You still got very into the characters and wanted to see what was going to happen, but it just felt younger.

    I'm glad I finally read it and I'm looking forward to getting book 2, so maybe I'm just jaded, since I'm a bit of a romance novel junkie.   

Take time to enjoy Fall!

This is the one tree in our yard that really changes colors in the fall, the rest just seem to dry up and loose their leaves.  I miss the colors.

Growing up in Minnesota, Fall was my favorite season.  I loved the crispness in the air, the leaves changing colors, the piles of leaves to jump in.  It just felt magical.  I still love Fall, but it just isn't the same in northern Nevada.  There isn't that abundance of trees changing colors.  We have the crispness in the air but it's only in the mornings and evenings instead of all day.  I'm actually tired of wearing short sleeves.  I want to be able to get out my long sleeves and sweaters.  At least today I'll be able to open the house up, and not mess with the air conditioning.

Even without all the things I miss, to me Fall is still my favorite season.  To me it has a feeling of hope and new beginning.  I know that's usually said about Spring, but for me it's Fall.  I think it has a lot to do with the start of the school year.  It was the excitement of the new school year, the new teacher, the new clothes not to mention having my birthday in the Fall.  It just feels like a beginning.  Like wiping the slate clean, and starting over.  Like moving on in life with a lightness, a freshness and crispness in your step.  So lets take some time to enjoy Fall and not rush into the Holiday seasons.

Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower. 

Albert Camus

My new guilty pleasure

I have a new guilty pleasure, I love the show Whatever Martha!  

If you haven't seen it on the Fine Living Network, you need to check your listing and watch it.  The whole premise of the show is Martha Stewart's daughter Alexis and her friend Jennifer watching footage of Martha's past shows and making fun of them. Sometimes they even try to do the projects along with the clip.  This show never fails to make me laugh.  They have great quirks in personality, and their friendship comes through.  Even my husband has to stop and listen when it's on.  It's just addictive!  They are so catty, yet it's exactly what we're all thinking while we watch it.

I really think I enjoy it so much because it reminds me of watching things with my oldest and closest friend.  You should have heard Janet and I watching shows like pageants or of course Martha.  People watching with us would just be staring at us.  We would get going and at a certain point we didn't even have to finish our sentences because the other just knew what we were thinking, while others were lost.  We also have the uncanny ability to just know where the others jump in logic is going and having it seem perfectly logical to both of us, while others are wondering how we got from A to M and back to B.  Actually we didn't have to be watching anything, we could just get going from whatever caught our attention or our sense of the ridiculous.  Even now Janet and I will call each other and say you have to see this, or have you heard of this.  I can't imagine not having this close friendship where we each know the other so well, foibles and all, and still love and respect each other like sisters.  Okay probably closer than a lot of siblings I know.  

So Janet, did you get the feeling that you just had to read my blog this morning?

Look what was hanging around our yard!

I just had to share this cool picture that I took from my screen door.

Every once in a while we get hawks hanging around in the yard, although I'm glad that this time it didn't find anything to eat.  A several years ago when a hawk was in our yard it caught a bird, and I never realized how big a mess they make as they eat.  I was also amazed at how little was left.  Really all that was left were a few bones and a mess of feathers.  Poor Daphne was so excited because she thought it had snowed and she wanted to go play in it!

We actually live in a great area for bird watching.   When we first bought our house it had a pond, but it had to be covered in chicken wire to keep the herons and hawks from eating the koi.  Between our town and shopping (about a twenty miles) we have counted 12 - 25 large hawks and eagles.  The best time however is during calving on the area ranches.  There are a couple areas where people pull over with binoculars, but most of the time you don't need them.  Most of the time just driving by you can see several bald eagles.  It really is cool.  As amazing as these are to see in zoos it's nothing to seeing them in nature.

Just an opinion question

Alright I have a question for you.  My daughter just got invited to her friends birthday party.  For the last several years they've asked that instead of presents "everyone please bring a filled shoebox or shoebox fillings to donate to those less fortunate through the Operation Christmas Child program", then they gave us a brochure on what can and can't be given.  Now I think that it's a great think that this 7 year old is willing to forgo her presents so that others can get some, however here's my problem.

To fill these shoeboxes it costs about $10 ( more if you want them really full), then in the enclosed brochure, my friend is highlighting the part about us also having to donate an additional $7 for the handling charges for each box.  So now we have a total of $20 that we are supposed to spend, and to top it all off this friend wants us to bring the stuff wrapped or in a gift bag for her daughter to open as gifts and then they'll be given to the charity.

I know this is for charity but this isn't the charity I really believe in.  Don't get me wrong, it's a good charity, but according to my friend these boxes go to children who are "Christian" and come to the missions, otherwise they wouldn't get them.  My other concern is that I think there are enough children in the US who are surrounded by the idea that if you're good Santa brings you gifts, but if you're not he doesn't.  So my preferred charity at this time of year is Toys for Tots, because my heart breaks for the children here who don't get a gift because his family can't afford it, and think it's because they were bad.  I actually shop clearance toys all year long so that I have a large stash of good toys to donate.

So is it wrong for me to feel a little railroaded into this?  This is my daughters good friend, we can't not go to the party.  We can't not bring something, so we have at least the $10.  Is it okay to just ignore the additional $7, since this was their idea to fill these boxes.  With my bargain shopping I find great gifts for way less than this.

Please let me know your opinion.

It's Snowing!!

I can't believe that it's been snowing almost all day so far. It started just before Daphne went out to catch the bus, and has been snowing off and on since. It did stop for a little while earlier, just long enough for the snow that had accumulated to melt, luckily.

When I helped a Daphne's school this morning and all the kids were so excited by the snow. I just don't understand it. I might have been like that as a kid but I don't remember. Maybe it's that I grew up in Minnesota and after the first couple days of snow it just looses it's charm, or at least it did for me.

In fact I think this is why I really dislike Halloween. In Minnesota it was usually so cold around Halloween that your costumes had to be worn over snowsuits, with mittens and hats.  I have to tell you, that just seemed to ruin some of the fun of dressing up for me.  I mean think, you were limited in what you could dress as by whether the costume would fit over the snow clothes.  I also hated having to wear boots and trudge through the snowbanks just to get candy.  I actually tried getting my parents to let me skip trick or treating but for some reason I was made to go.

I was probably just a weird child.  I really would have preferred to just stay home and read.  Even the candy wasn't an insensitive for me, almost every year I had Halloween candy left over that finally got thrown away right before Christmas.  

If anyone happens to read this who loved Halloween let me know why?  What about it did or do you enjoy?

At least we're supposed to get warmer again, and I hope it stays warmer till after Halloween.  Especially since Daph's costume is just a dress and I don't think it would (or will when I get it done) fit over warm clothes.

As a plus though I do have to say that the living not far from Lake Tahoe, the mountains do look pretty freshly covered in snow.  I'll take a picture and post it when the storm and clouds lift from the mountains.

I finished Andy's Ipod case!

Just a quick little post to show you the case I made for my husband's Ipod.  His even has a boxed bottom to fit his Ipod and headphones.  He really likes it and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

Haven't we all wished we could really do this?

Today Andy and I went out for lunch and I just loved the sign that they had over the register!

Unaccompanied children will be given espresso and a free puppy

Haven't we all wished we could really do this to those parents who just let their children do whatever they feel like in public.  Now don't get me wrong, I 'm not even remotely talking about normal childish antics.  I'm talking about those parents who seem to feel that if there are other people around then someone else must be watching their children so they don't have to.  

Okay, maybe I feel like this because of a friend that I have.  As soon as we agree to go shopping or out together it's like she shuts off her own parenting responsibilities and looks at me as her babysitter so she can get her shopping done.  I understand that she has two children where I only have one, and I'm more that happy to help, but if she really is looking for a babysitter instead of a friend to shop with, then I'd really rather stay home and babysit for her than watch all three kids in the store.   This got so bad that I haven't stayed to watch Daphne' s gymnastics class in about a month.  Her oldest is in the same class and she actually told me that she was glad they were so I could watch her 2 year old and she could watch her oldest in class.  I know, I know your thinking just don't, but that's a lot easier said than done when you see the 2 year old doing dangerous things or leaving and the Mom has no clue.  So my husband and I have started going Christmas shopping or out for coffee while Daphne is in Gymnastics.  Oh well we can't change others so I just have to decide what I'm going to do for myself.  But the sign is still so tempting!!

**I do have to admit to a bad mother moment, I'm really enjoying dropping Daphne of and having an hour out and about just with my husband.  This has been especially helpful since we can't spell this year to discuss Christmas gifts and plans.

I think my child might be spoiled!

When we started telling people that we were only having one child we got all the usual reason about why Daphne really needed siblings, but it seemed like most boiled down to the fact that if we didn't have another child Daphne would be spoiled rotten.  I have to say that we took those concerns seriously and have watched from (we hope) an unbiased viewpoint to make sure that we don't raise a selfish and spoiled child.  I thought we were doing pretty well.  I mean at the last company Easter egg hunt our Daughter was the only child putting things back on the ground when she found something she liked better.  She always thanks us when we buy her stuff and tells us how lucky she is.  Even this fall as she was making her Christmas list she would take things off the list as she found other things that she wanted, it took work to point out that she could leave things on as she found stuff and that she could have stuff that she wanted from us and both sets of Grandparents.

Now remember even my parents mentioned that we could end up with a spoiled child!

So the other day we were finally dividing up Daphne's Christmas list, she was really good with just a couple things on the list for my In-laws, and a couple on ours.  It wasn't till we got to Santa's list that things got a little funny, but it's not what your thinking.  Daphne has two things she really wants, one is a "Just like You" doll from American Girl, and the other is the carriage for Barbie from Barbie and the Diamond Castle.  I thought both of these were going on the list for Santa, but Daphne had other ideas.  She's pretty certain that Santa will bring her the doll that she wants, but she knows that if she put the carriage on the list for My Parents, she'll get it.

What does this say when my 6 year old if more certain of Grandma and Grandpa than Santa in the gift giving department.  So yes I think my child is spoiled, but it's kind of ironic that it's not us doing the spoiling! 

I spent time sewing today!

I actually spent time sewing today.  However not on Daphne's costume and not on the rest of my long list.  Instead I decided that I really needed a cozy for my Ipod.  Here's a couple pictures of the front and the back.  I'm love how it turned out.  In fact my husband now wants me to make him one, well not with flowers and he'd prefer I call it a case instead of a cozy!

Mine is based on the tutorial for an I pod cozy found here: http://craftydaisies.com/2007/01/15/ipod-cozy/

Have you ever had that project you were afraid to start?

I don't know what it is but I just can't seem to get started on Daphne's Halloween costume.  This year she wants to be Belle from Beauty and the Beast.  I've had the pattern and fabric for close to a month.  I've looked up how to ruche fabric and know I'm going to do this with elastic.  Daphne's getting really excited, but I just can't lay out the fabric and cut.  It's not that sewing is a new thing for me, I've made lots of dresses, skirts, jumpers and nightgowns.  I quilt and sew all the time.  I'm not even worried about making a costume.  The last costume I made was a huge hit, especially when it was almost identical to Cinderella's at the Princess Dinner at Disneyland California. 

The whole delaying thing is so bad that I was even relieved when I realized I had forgotten to get a zipper, which meant I had a couple more days till I could (had to) get started.  Oh well I'm going to have to get started this weekend.  Yes I really will, I think.  I just have way to many projects that I have to get going on to keep putting it off.

Although maybe questioning this here is just another delaying tactic too?  I'll post a picture when I get the dress done, because that gives me another reason to actually finish it soon, not too mention the coat I have to make, the corduroy jumper, all the other gifts I want to make, and the Christmas wall quilt that I promised Andy I'd get done this year.  Well I better get sewing!

Is it too early for Christmas music!

I was just wondering, is it too early to be listening to Christmas music?  

When my husband and I went to the bookstore the other day they had a new Christmas CD out that we wanted, so of course, we had to get it.  And of course we had to listen to it on the way home.  Which then lead to reloading my Ipod with our large assortment of Christmas music. 

I justified it at the time because I did NEED to redo my Ipod.   It got really messed up when we switched to the new laptop.   It also just seemed easier to put primarily Christmas on it now since I'll want it on shortly anyways.  

So now I'm finding my self reveling in the cooling fall temperatures and listening to Christmas music.  On the other hand it just seems wrong since I was actually offended that Target has Christmas stuff out with the Halloween.  Maybe I'm just a hypocrite?  I don't know, I can give all these reasons why it's okay for me to start listening to the music,

• It's like comfort food, and just makes me feel peaceful
  
• Most of my favorites are the hymns which just remind you again of the wonderful meaning and reason of Christmas - Love - both Gods for us and ours towards our fellow man
• As crafters we're surrounded by Christmas a lot earlier so that we can get started on projects
  
• And in that same theme, I'm actually thinking about and working on Christmas gifts already, so it follows that to really get in the mood the music is fitting

Maybe the difference is that I love the peace, joy and the happy memories that I get from listening to this music, especially the hymns.  Where seeing the Christmas stuff in the store just seems to hurry along the commercial aspect instead of enjoying the exciting build up to holidays.  I don't know, I guess it just gets me back to the original question.  Is it too early to be listening to Christmas music?