This and That . . .

My sewing machine and I have been very close lately. Between getting ready for a show, personal projects, projects for friends, and gifts there has been no shortage of quality time spent down in my craft area. Thankfully, the girls are at a good age for allowing me chunks of time to get things accomplished. That's not to say that I am not refereeing arguments  finding toys, and getting snack, but they do allow me to get things accomplished.

I have also been super motivated lately. That helps a ton. It is really amazing what you can all get done in the day if you just keep doing. As a stay at home parent it is easy to just get the basics done and not do anything else in the day. And some days that is what you need to do, but other days it is fun to see how many little items you can get checked off of those many to-do lists.

Peachy is so good at amusing herself. She is always creating and coming up with imaginative play. It is fun to see where that play takes her. She has had some really good sayings lately as well. The other day we were talking about when you get married and why. I of course told her you get married when you are a grown up and love someone so much you want to spend the rest of your lives together. She accepted that, but then countered with, "Or you can get married to get your kids." The other day while we were diving there was a school bus stopped in front of us. She wanted to know why we were stopped and I explained that it is the law to keep kids safe. We talked about how we wouldn't want to hit anyone with our van. "Well, they can always go to the doctor, though mom." Cause, you know, that would make it all better.

As for Cream, she is turning more into Cream everyday. Her favorite word is no. She will say it and say it and say it. I am sure it is because she hears it and hears it and hears it. She has been showing some interest in using the toilet lately. So far she just likes to sit on the special chair in the bathroom that she usually isn't allowed to play with. The other day though, I caught her in time to make her poop on the potty. One less diaper for me to change! She also found a pair of Cream's underwear sitting around recently. (Don't ask. It happens.) She actually got them on part way and really thought she was big stuff running around the house with them over her pants. This morning she was bound and determined to get her own pants on. She had the concept down, but just didn't quite have the coordination. If I so much as pulled them up an inch, she would yank them off and start all over all the while saying, "No. No. No." I think we are in big trouble with that one.

We had a couple of nice days at the beginning of the week. (Remember that nice for us means above zero!) It was calm and we got some fresh snow. Peachy loves playing out in the snow, but Cream not so much. Cream does enjoy being pulled around in the sled. And it is a good thing that she has a nice big sister that is willing to do that for a bit while momma shovels.

If You Give a Mommy the Weekend Off . . .

If you give a mommy the weekend off, chances are that she will wave goodbye from the door with a smile on her face.
And after she waves goodbye she will just sit and enjoy the quiet for a little while.
When she has had enough quiet, she may venture to her favorite stores all by herself and buy things all for herself.

She will enjoy watching movies that her children and husband would not enjoy and eating treats whenever she feels like it without hiding behind the cupboards in the kitchen.
Hours will be spent doing what she loves without having to worry about changing a diaper or breaking up a fight.

And even though there is no one else home to keep her up, she may have a hard time sleeping at night and probably won't be able to sleep in long in the morning either.
Soon it will be time for her family to return and she will be waiting by the door waving hello with a smile on her face.

Foodie Friday: Cranberry Chocolate Chip Cookies

It was one of those afternoons where I felt like baking. I didn't really plan on it, the mood just hit. I thought of some ingredients that I had in the cupboard and a quick Google search led me to this recipe at the Prepared Pantry. I had one problem. I only had one egg and the recipe called for two. Google search to the rescue again and I found out that half of a banana mashed in addition to 1 teaspoon of baking powder can be substituted for an egg. A little mixing, a little baking, and a while later I had these,  a tasty little concoction whipped up with items I already had.

If you would like to make some of your own just follow the recipe at Prepared Pantry, but substitute a half a mashed banana and 1 teaspoon baking powder for one of the eggs. :o)

What Peachy Wore Wednesday (IV)

Another week and another great dress-up outfit from our Peachster!

This picture was actually taken at Mr. Cherry's recommendation. And the pose is all Peachy. :o)
And after removing the tights from her legs, a head covering is born.

And now for the full body shot.

Fabric Letters

As I was planning for Christmas, I was a bit stumped as to what to get for Cream. She is young enough that she wouldn't even notice whether she got anything big from us, but as a mom, her mom, I wanted to give her something special. With an older sister she doesn't really need any new toys, either. I ended up going with some new Melissa and Dough wooden puzzles. (Thanks Amazon daily deals.) I also gave her the typical of pajama, a tooth brush, and some books. Still nothing that special.

I finally came up with the idea of giving her a homemade fabric alphabet set. I had pinned this idea from the blog Happy Together. I used the pattern for the letters that Jessica has there, but I made the letters a little differently. (Sorry that I don't have any pictures. I need to get better at documenting projects as I do them.) I printed off the patterns for all of the letters and cut the letters out of from the printed paper. I looked through my scraps to find fabric pieces large enough for the project. (But not too large, I hate to use big pieces of fabric on little projects.) I traced each letter onto a pieces of fabric with a disappearing fabric marker. (I just did one at a time so that I could get it sewn before the marker disappeared. You could always use a water soluble marker and do more tracing at a time.) I then sandwiched a piece of batting between the traced letter and another piece of fabric that was large enough to cover the back of the letter. After a little pinning I used my machine to sew on the traced line. After sewing all 2 letters this way I took my pinking sheers and cut around each letter fairly close to the stitching. If there was a spot that I couldn't easily get into with my sheers, like the inside of the letter O, I just used regular scissors to trim that section.

And now Miss Cream has a happy little fabric alphabet set that she shares with her sister who like them as well.