summer is on it's way!

I always love the first use of the clothes line of the season. It means summer is on it's way. I don't set up the clothes line until we actually start getting nice weather. Since I don't have diapers to wash anymore, it's going to be hard to use it 100% in the summer. When I did have diapers to wash, hanging them on the clothes line was the best. The stains would come right out and since I had to wash them every other day I felt good about drying them outside instead of using so much electricity with the dryer (especially since they took forever to dry). In an odd way, I miss having diapers to wash and line dry. Here is an old post that I talked about using the line the whole summer with pictures.

Look what I made! Dan helped me... a lot. It's for our little chickies (more like teenager chickies now). We are going to move them outside and put them in with the adult hens and this will be a place they can hide if the big chickens are picking on them.

Here they are. I had to corner them to get a picture. They wouldn't listen when I told them to sit and stay in front of their new house.

ABC's

Thank you so much Aunt Jane for the ABC letters! They are so neat!

Here are two video's of Jackson saying the ABC's.

I love them, they look great in Jackson's room!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

We did some Thanksgiving crafts earlier this week.

easy decorations

I cut eight of these from black cardstock today and taped them on the window. I traced them from a bat I found online somewhere, had to make it a little bigger. Then at night, with the inside lights on, you'll see a bat sillhouette. Right now these are our only Halloween decorations, besides some pumpkins inside. I still want to tie some corn stalks (that we grew in the backyard) to the front post and that will be it for the decorations. Good enough for me.

Birthday Party!

We celebrated Jackson turning one this last weekend. Here is the invitation I had made.

It was a wii bowling birthday party, including tournament and bowling alley food!

Here is the shirt Jackson wore. I made the graphics in photoshop and printed them on iron-on paper and ironed them on a white t-shirt.

I made carrot and chocolate cupcakes for the party. I gave Jackson a carrot cupcake to eat. It took him a bit, but he did dig into it. I didn't get a real clear shot of it, but I also made his bib. It has a big 1 on the front using fabric with bowling pins/balls on it. I also made some other bibs using the bowling fabric for the other little kids that came too.

We then went to Pappy's Pizza for more celebration! It was a fun and long day. Jackson did great through it all!

book for Jackson

I made a quick board book for Jackson today. I'm sure it won't last long, especially since it's not water (drool/snot/etc) proof, but it was quick and I thought he would enjoy it.

I made six pictures to be 3x3 inches in photoshop and printed them at home on photo paper. Cut them out. From some old scrapbooking chip board I have, I cut three squares that are 3x3 inches using an exacto knife and ruler. Glued them on. Sanded down the edges. Glued a heart on. Punched holes in them and put a ring through.

Lots 'O pics: Book, Coop & Jackson and Wyatt

I did some scrapbooking! I made a mini book. It's 3x3 inches. The pictures didn't turn out super great, so I think it's cuter in person.

Dan has been working hard on finishing up the chicken coop! A friend and him got some old siding for free from a local preschool that is remodeling. I think it looks so neat!

Dan took this picture of me wearing Jackson in the moby wrap. Jackson really likes it a lot. He liked it early on, but he didn't like his head being covered until after he was asleep. Now he doesn't mind his head being covered when he's tired and getting ready to fall asleep. I think he had to get used to that part a little. I usually wear him in this at least a couple hours a day, some days longer. Some days when I take him out of it, I'll leave the wrap on and then it's ready for him to go back in when I'm ready. It works really good.

I finally got a picture of Jackson and Wyatt together! I've started watching Wyatt again three days a week now for one more month until school is out. I get Wyatt in the early morning when he still has his pajamas on, so they both have their pajamas on for the pic. Future best buds.

Mr. Monkey

I made a sock monkey! This is another project from Amy Karol's "bend-the-rules sewing." It was fun and pretty easy. I'm amazed I actually made it. I didn't use buttons for the eyes or nose since I knew I'd be giving it to Kaeli. And she obviously knew it was hers as you can see below. Sadly, I knew it would happen, Mr. Monkey already has a wound on his cheek with stuffing coming out. I need to sew it up today. Kaeli isn't the gentlest with her toys.



Here is a picture of Wyatt taken while I watched him this week. The picture is a little blurry, but I love the drool. Oh and the baby items I've sewed work great! The next bib I sew I might either do velcro instead or do two snaps on each end to make it somewhat adjustable.

green polka dots!

I did more sewing! I got this fun cotton fleece the other day at the fabric store. From the left is a burp cloth, bib, wipe, changing pad, and a wee wee teepee.

Here are my hollyhocks. I love that they are doing so well and that the deer stopped eating them.

more sewing!

Once I get started on a fun new thing, I just can't stop till I get sick of it. So here are some more sewing projects I have done. I have gotten a ton of inspiration from Etsy.com and flickr groups. This is a soft cube with ribbon tags for a baby to play with. The corners aren't perfect, but it was my first try. I also made a bib with this fabric too, they all match Kaeli's collar now :-)

I went and picked up some new fabric yesterday to make more things with. I made a bib and matching changing pad. I used a hand towel (that just sits in the cupboard and never gets used, so it's practically new) for the changing pad and added SU! chocolate chip grosgrain ribbon to tie it together. I think I need some practice on how to get the towel and fabric to be smooth together, but it still looks good and will work!

Here are some of my vegetables! I think I might pick the zucchini today to eat.

Sewing

I got a cool book at the library and made two things from it today. I just used scrap fabric I already had. This is the book, Bend-the-rules sewing, by Amy Karol.

The first project I did was a dog collar. I'm anxious to go find some cool fabric at a store to make another! It was super easy. The book said you could buy the clasp at a fabric store. I have kept a couple old collars just in case I would need an extra, so I took the most worn one and cut it apart to use the pieces.

This bib was also quick to make. Soon, I'm going to be watching my friend's baby, Wyatt, part time while she goes back to work. So I thought it would be fun to make a bib for him, especially since he's starting on rice cereal. Hopefully it fits, I just followed the pattern. If it doesn't, then I might just have to make another.


Here are some pictures from my backyard.