Quilting...

So I LOVE Ebay!!!  It is the best website for finding cheap things!  I found a package of pre-cut 5" quilting fabric squares from Moda called Freebird.  They are a mildly retro print that has tons of colors and is basically gender neutral leaning towards girl because of some of the butterflies on a few of the squares.  I got 126 of these squares for $19.99 plus $3.99 shipping.  It took only 3 days to get them and that is pretty impressive!

So I got them and couldn't hold back, I had to start sewing them together.  I have very little sewing prowess and figured that I would just try to square them up and sew them together.  So I sat down and with the help of Abby we sewed them together.  I got half of this done and am going to JoAnn Fabrics tomorrow morning to try to find some backing material and batting.  I'm so excited to get this done!  But it's going to be a big let down once it is done as it will be over.  I will be super proud to have constructed this from my own two hands for my new little one but once it's done I wont have anything to work on.  It's like sex, you get excited to do it, get into the action and feelings and then you blow your wad and it's all over and all you have left is the clean up.  Satisfying but over too quickly!

 sorry fuzzy again...

So, I feel like I should limit myself and only work a little bit on it every day to make it last but I can't.  I'm like a 10 year old boy and that I should only eat 2 pcs of Halloween Candy every day to make it last but no, instead I gorge myself on it and feel sick all day just cause I ate it all in one day!

So I've been working on this blog for about a week now and I've realized that I must be a bit ADD because every day it's something different.  I have written about mud trucks, crocheting, quilting, grocery shopping, budgets, and family life.  I keep thinking that I should focus on one subject and keep each post about that topic but my life isn't focused on one topic.  I'm a mother of 2.53 girls, married to a great, however occasionally stubborn man, I like to create things in my free time and I can't keep my mind focused on just crocheting or just quilting or scrapbooking.  I think that I will continue to write about whatever is going on in my life at that moment and I hope that you all are enjoying my rambling and that you can at least find something that speaks to some aspect of your life.

Until the next crazy topic comes up...

Grocery Shopping on a Budget

OK, so today I'm in Walmart grocery shopping.  Which in case you haven't heard the process of which makes me sick to the point where if I don't get out of there within a reasonable amount of time I actually will get sick.  So I decide that since I'm trying to do this on a budget and I don't want to go over my budget I scoured the sale ads for the other local competitors and decided to compare walmarts prices.  So I have my handy notebook, highlighter, pen and calculator and am diligently walking down every aisle writing down all the items on my list and comparing Walmart's normal price with the sale prices from Dick's and Marketplace.  Well big surprise but every time I compared Walmart won, or at the very least was only $.01 or $.02 higher than the sale price.

Needless to say I got my shopping done and bought everything except some instant coffee and apple cider from Walmart.  I went to Dicks to get apple cider (126 oz for $1.88, is pretty hard to beat!) and found some decaf instant french vanilla coffee that walmart didn't have.  I HATE Walmart but in the interest of staying within my budget I had to shop there.  I also got cat food, diapers, shampoo and a coat for Abby while there.  Dick's and Marketplace can't compare when you do that kind of shopping. 

On another note when I do have to shop with my kids there is NO WAY I'm going to go to 10 different stores to get my eggs here, milk here, bread there.  Do you know how big of a pain in the butt it is to have to buckle and unbuckle the car seats at every stop?  If you don't have kids, don't scoff at me.  I'm not lazy, it's just a battle that if I can avoid then I'm going to avoid it at all costs.  My kids aren't old enough to buckle themselves in so I'm going to limit that wrestling match to the least amount of cases.

Well, the groceries are put away, I want to eat the entire package of lemon sandwich cookies that I bought before my family gets home so that I don't have to share but I will control the urge and only eat half of the package...  OK maybe 3/4. 

Directions, optional?

So I've decided that since I can't ever find what I want for what I want to pay for it I'm going to just start making things.  I need a new diaper bag for when this baby comes since the one we are using is WAY to small.  So I found a pattern of a bag that I liked and some material that I liked.  So today I sewed it together...  Well it's a about the same size as the one we are already using...



Well the picture is a little fuzzy but you can get the idea.  So I'm going to alter the pattern to make it the right size and with the right pockets and such. 

Directions for me are something that I always have a problem with.  I never seem to follow them in the right order or think that I understand them without actually reading all of them.  So I always seem to have to make a sample project then I can figure it out and make the one I really want to make.  Since this one is too small for what I want I'm going to have to completely rip apart the pattern to make it the right size and will fit my purpose!  I also want to add a flap to the top instead of a zipper so I guess I might actually have to make another sample. 

Etsy.com is a market place that people create 'stores' that they sell their handmade items.  I'm going crazy making things around here and have thought about setting up a store.  It seems pretty straight forward.  They charge $.20 for each 4 month listing and then 3.5% of the purchase price when you sell something.  Whoever thought about creating websites for people to sell things is insane.  They have got to be uber rich by now, I guess it is a million dollar idea that someone (who isn't me) thought of!  Where is my million dollar idea?  I want an idea that costs nothing for start up but makes me millions of dollars.  I'm not afraid of working for my money or anything I just want to find something that will MAKE me money!  Is that too much to ask? 

It sucks when you realize that you have X amount of money to go grocery shopping and trying to make sure that you can get all of your groceries and stay in your budget.  I only go to the store every other week, used to be once a month but I don't have that energy anymore!  So that helps to keep the costs down, I'm going to clip coupons and buy things that are on sale too.  I found that things like that will help to reduce your monthly grocery bill a ton if you do it right!  I might have to stop at 3 different stores but doing so will save me $20-$30 per month.  That's $20-$30 worth of craft supplies that I can buy! 

Speaking of craft supplies.  I don't know if I've ever told you but I LOVE ebay.com.  I found a lot of 126 5" squares of high quality quilting fabric for $20 today.  It should be the perfect amount to make a blanket for the new baby.  I'm super excited to get started on it and I'm hoping it comes in the mail quickly!  I've told myself that I can't start that blanket until I finish the one that I'm crocheting for Jeremy and Melissa's little Jacob.  I'm hoping we can go see him soon to give him his blanket and hat. 

Here's my theory on crafts.  As long as I make something that is useful (that we actually need) or that I can give as a gift then it's not a waste of money.  It accomplishes 2 things, creates something that doesn't go to waste and keeps my mind busy so that I don't go crazy.  What else could I ask for?  However I have my 2 nephews for Christmas and they aren't going to appreciate the crocheted hat and mittens that I'm thinking about making them...  oh well. Beggars can't be choosers!

Well I think that is enough for the day.  I've touched on enough subjects for the day...

So I survived the Mud Party

I was wondering how the afternoon was going to go and it was interesting.  For those of you who have never been to a mud party before here is what happens:  guys bring trucks, guys drive trucks through the mud, everyone stands around and drinks and watches the guys drive the trucks through the mud.  This is on a repeat loop until someone breaks down or gets stuck in the mud, then everyone stands around and watches a few of the guys work on getting them out of the mud so that the others can go back to driving through the mud.  While at times it can be comical watching the guys drive in circles through the mud.  When you are sober and not allowed to ride in said trucks it can be rather boring.  So I stayed inside and let the girls play with Riley's toys and stay warm.  Did I mention that it was in the 40's and raining most of the day.  Not a great day to play outside when you want to stay warm. 

  Here is a picture of the beast.  So lovingly named Calico at the moment...

Ok, so enough complaining about the mud party.  Needless to say I wont be attending all of the future installments...

Otherwise we got up this morning took Abby to Sunday School and then went to the Farm to carve pumpkins.  It was fun.  Abby had to tell us what kind of faces to carve on the pumpkins but we wouldn't carve them until she modeled what a happy face looked like.  It was pretty funny to watch her do sad and surprised. 



I think that they are the cutest kids in the world and once we have this third girl the world is going to end because of the trifecta of cuteness that you will be unable to resist.  They will be loved the world over!!!

Ok, so proud parent I am but still they are pretty cute!

Alright so enough ramblings for the day, we are too tired after the weekends activities to make dinner so we are arguing about who is going to call in the pizza order... typical evening, arguing over the most trivial of things.  Needless to say it will be me calling in the order as soon as this is done...

Suppose I should 'feed' my family...

Mud Party???

Ok, So I'm getting my children ready to head to Uncle Squirts house for his birthday party.  He is having a mud party.  Meaning that we are going to watch a bunch of semi drunk guys driving their beat up trucks into a big puddle.  Is this the adult version of puddle jumping that we loved so much as a child?  I guess I will find out.  I don't understand this mudding thing.  Every time they go they break their truck and this is considered fun?  I'd rather put on my rain boots (I would get to buy some, cheaper than truck parts though) and rain coat and go actually jump in the puddles.  I don't understand the macho need to see who can drive their truck the furthest through the the biggest mud puddle.  I guess I will have my eyes opened up to the wonder that is mudding... 

wish me luck...

First Post... hope you enjoy...

Ok, so here's my attempt at blogging.  Here's my story:  Married since 2005 to Jason.  Girls: Abigail (Abby) 4 years old, Kaitlyn (Kate) 2 years old.  Both a joy to have but can be trying at times as you will see.  I'm pregnant with Baby Girl #3 which is due February 21, 2010.  So with this pregnancy, like my other two I suffer from Hyperemesis, which is a nasty version of morning sickness in the extreme.  Don't say you understand if you just had morning sickness because it's nothing like morning sickness.  It's unrelenting and nasty.  Anyway off that soapbox for the day... LOL. 

So I'm home on disability from work and have a ton of free time.  I spend my days sitting at home doing a whole lot of nothing.  I've started crocheting things.  It keeps my hands busy and lets me create things so I don't go crazy.  I've so far made 2.5 blankets (working on the third one for a friends new baby right now) 4 hats and am thinking that I'm going to have to start on a new project soon.  I'm into making things for the tiny humans as they are just so cute.  I'm thinking also that if I have enough free time to make a ton of things I will have to look into creating an etsy.com store account to sell some of these things on.  Hmmm.... do I have that much free time on my hands?  I do have 2 tiny humans at home to keep from hurting each other...  So if you'd like anything made for a tiny human let me know! 

I've also started going to a book club that is once a month.  I figure that I deserve one night a month to go out with other women, some of which have children and some without, to enjoy the evening without my children or hubby.  I think that every woman deserves an evening to be surrounded by other women...  why we would want that I'm not always sure but I need to have an adult discussion without men in the room sometimes!

So I don't know how often I will actually blog about life but it might be a good way to get rid of some of the steam that life creates.  So hopefully you will enjoy listening to me ramble about why life can cause you such joy and why life can cause you such grief, all in the same day!

Let the estrogen free!