9.28.2011

Halloween Purses

Remember how I mentioned that I went a little crazy and bought way too much Halloween material? Remember how I created my own Holiday called Halloween in July instead of Christmas in July? Remember how I decided to make all my sisters, mom, and sister-in-laws purses since I had bought so much luxurious fabric?

I did it! I finally finished the last two bags! I had previously mailed out all the bags to everyone and now my littlest sister has finally got hers. Of course, I didn't take pictures of all the bags, I'm forgetful sometimes. But this is the front of my bag in that hideously wonderful Alexander Henry 'The Ghastlies' old lady fabric. I love the old ladies in this fabric. You can just feel them glaring disapprovingly at you whenever you look at them. No wonder I feel guilty all the time lately.


Even thought I bought yards and yards of many different, velvety soft, cotton fabrics I still had to piece the front of my bag together because I didn't have enough. I guess I should have bought just a little bit more.


Lesson learned for next year, 'When in Doubt, Buy More Fabric.' Thought I already knew that, but obviously I didn't. Next year I will be better prepared. Maybe you need to place your order now, then I'll have even more excuses to buy fabric!

9.25.2011

40's Pin Up Girls


We stopped at the Heber Fly In on our way camping on Labor Day Weekend. Guess who was there? A bunch of 40's dressed Women.


We had no problem getting Middle Child to pose with the girls.


But Baby was playing shy and we had to bribe him with Double Stuffed Oreos to get him anywhere near the girls. See their hands on his shoulders? They're holding him in place for a picture. But they sure loved him!

9.21.2011

Crafty Items

I'm thinking of turning this into a quilting blog. Hahahahaha! I don't sew near enough to do that. But I did finish a quilt I've been working on all year. Granted I took a Block of the Month club, so it was supposed to take a whole year!


But I'm very excited it's done! Well, almost. Now I have to get it quilted and then I still have to bind it! But I love how it turned out.

9.18.2011

Thanksgiving Decorations


Found this at a home decoration store. I love it. I may need to get it to grace my Thanksgiving table this year. Think of the conversations.

P.S. Does this count as "Put a Bird On It"?

9.14.2011

Missing Someone


Sometimes I just miss Calvin so much. I wonder what he would be doing now. Would he still be taunting Boomer the Basset Hound with the Antelope Head? Would he be driving Boomer the Basset Hound around town trying to pick up chicks? Would he be busy with school and getting great grades or would he still have a hard time turning things in on time? Would he be thinking about which college to go to and getting ready for a mission in just over two years? Would he have actually burnt something down? Would he be grounded from the car every other week?

This year I got the Halloween decorations out early. I decided I have to get the decorations out early if they're going to be put out. As it turns October it just gets too hard. I waited too long and didn't get them out last year. In 2008 when I put my Halloween decorations out life was wonderful and normal. When I put them away my life had changed horribly. I was still in shock. I just couldn't believe that my life had changed that much. Forever etched in my memory is the change that happened while the Halloween decorations were out. This year I put them out early, before October, so I can enjoy them awhile.

While the hurt is still there the rawness has dulled and the pain becomes something I live with everyday. I don't want to lose it because then I would feel as if I had forgotten. The pain is something I treasure and hold close because it tells me how much I love that crazy kid.

I just hope someone hid the matches in Heaven!

9.11.2011

Experiences in a Tire Shop

Several years ago I got new tires on the truck. I went into the store and got a decent deal. A few months later I went in to get them rotated. While they were rotating the tires they came in to tell me I needed quite a bit of work on the truck, about $600 worth to be exact. Did I want to complete this work right now, while they had it in the shop?

No, I told them, I'd talk to my husband. So they left it at that. As soon as I got home I called Olaf's step dad and asked him to make an appointment with our mechanic to get this work done. We couldn't get the truck in for a few days and I worried the whole time the truck was going to break down because of how urgent the shop had made it sound. Well, when we went to pick the truck up our mechanic told us that NONE of the work was needed. None of it at all!

A few months later I went back into the same shop to get my tires rotated again. Once again they hit me up on the "needed" repairs and added a few more so that the grand total was now $1000. Did I want to complete this work right now?

No, I'll talk to my husband.

Are you sure you don't want to call him right now and check?

That was the last time I stepped foot in that local tire shop.

Several years later I am getting new tires again, but for my car. I thought I had grown up enough that I could complete this task all by myself. Other people buy tires all the time, I should be able to also.

I stopped at a different local tire shop. The sales man checked what kind of tires I needed and proceeded to show me the best tires for my car. At $250 a tire. But he was gracious enough to knock $10 off and the store was running a promo that would take another $25 off each tire. By now I'm down to $215 a tire.

I asked what else they had available. For only $170 I could get an unknown brand tire that was only good for 50,000 miles. I almost ran out of the store.

So I came home and asked Olaf's step dad if he could help. Apparently I'm not old enough to buy tires by myself yet.

9.08.2011

Iowa in the Evening


Isn't it gorgeous? The view from Sister-in-Law Farmer's childhood home. Soon after this the fireflies came out. They were flitting around in the corn and the trees and the kids chased them till we dragged them home.

9.05.2011

The Beginning of School

Baby started 5th grade this year. Maybe one day he will demand a new name on this blog, but in the mean time he's my Baby and always will be.



The beginning of a new school year is always an adjustment. After a summer of sleeping in and few responsibilities the children always buck the change back to normalcy. Can't really blame them. Sometimes I think it would be nice to live in a never-ending summer state. But life always smacks us back to reality.

After school I talked to Baby and asked him how he liked his first day of 5th grade.

"I hate it! Our teacher is mean! We aren't allowed to talk in class!"

Olaf and I didn't see any problem with that since that has been his main infraction since kindergarten (other than the fighting with that kid in class last year).

Baby was cranky that whole evening. I could have sent him to bed at 6pm and it wouldn't have hurt anyone.

The next day I asked him how school had gone for the day.

"Our teacher told us that we're fifth graders. We're not little kids anymore. She's our teacher and not a babysitter. That's why we can't talk in class." He didn't seem quite as upset as the day before. Things were improving and he wasn't grouchy that evening.

After the third day of class I asked Baby how school had gone that day.

"Our teacher's mom was one of Walt Disney's first 25 employees and Walt Disney considered his employees family and they used to go for free at least six times a year!"

After the fourth day of class I asked Baby how school had gone that day also.

"Our teacher said that everybody has an inner voice that wants to sing. I'm trying to find my inner voice and let it sing. We sang in class today and it was fun!"

It's official. Baby's teacher can do no wrong. He's in love.