Mommy, I'm Bored

Oh, how I hate these words, especially when I'm trying to recuperate from a nasty wisdom tooth extraction.  My brain cells are maxed out at the moment dealing with pain so I was not prepared when those infamous words came out of my five-year-old's mouth.  Honestly, I thought about crying.  But, then I remembered I have a little tub of small playdoh containers of various colors. 

I decided to completely abandon my usually strict rule of keeping all the colors separate and told the girls to see how many crazy colors they could come up with by mixing two to three colors together in varying amounts.  It worked.  I got some time to curl up on the couch and the girls were happily mixing colors.  Thank you playdoh.

Yvonne

List of Fun Activities

Some Fun Things We've Been Up to This Summer:

1.  Flying kites at the ocean, of course.
2.  Building sandcastles and knocking them down.
3.  Chasing the surf.
4.  Sidewalk chalk galore.
5.  Playdates.
6.  Swimming.
7.  Family Fun Center in Tukwila - Kidopolis (love it).
8.  Splashing in the river.
9.  Running through the sprinkler.
10.  Nights around the firepit making smores - Mmmmm.
11.  Family reunions.

I hope that you all have been having fun this summer too.  I've been reminded at least 20 times today that school is only 10 days away.  My oldest is starting Kindergarten and she is very excited to meet her teacher and find her desk.  I'm excited too, but for very different reasons.  One happens to be the reduction of fighting sessions between her and her two-year-old sister.  It has been very loud (screaming, crying, tattling, etc.) during the days when we're at home.  Oh my, some peace and quiet - that's one thing I'm definately looking forward to.  Yeah!  Kindergarten here we come!

I'll be posting a schoolwork memory box later on.  I've just bought the box itself and now have to figure out how I want to decorate it.  Stay tuned.

Yvonne

Sew a Gift Bag

I have a confession to make.  I have only used a sewing machine a couple of times and it was always with my aunt standing right next to me telling me what to do.  However, I was determined to sew a gift bag for a friend and my aunt wasn't available.  So, I grabbed the user manual for a Singer Quantum XL-100 that I was given to me by a lovely woman (who will go unnamed - but she knows who she is :). 

I spent about an hour setting the system up on my kitchen table, learning how to wind the bobbin, setting up my ironing board, and learning the basic information I needed to know to sew my project.  Then the work began.  I know that it took me about ten times longer to put this gift bag than it would have my aunt, but I think it turned out pretty good for my first solo project.

I apologize for the lack of fantastic photography (I'll have to develop that skill later).  However, I just LOVE this fabric and think the recipient will be please, even if there are a few not-so-straight stitched areas :).  I'm going to try another one now that I know the process and know how to do a better job on it.

If you would like to try your hand at this gift bag, you can find the pattern and tutorial at Sew4Home.

Happy Crafting,

Yvonne