Deep thoughts...

I guess I could have entitled this post "Random Thoughts" but I think I did that not too long ago. Gotta try something new.

• I've been mending my arse off lately. 3 pairs of jeans, a coat, a pair of tights, some socks plus some other things...finally I'm done.
• I think I messed up the timing on my serger, which stinks :( . I wish I could fix that myself. I think when I've got some time, I'll just re-thread it and hope that helps :( .
• Spring break starts at 3:10 today, woo hoo! Oh, forgot...we're still up to our asses in snow. And it snowed again as the kids were going to school this morning...will it ever end???
• So much PAC stuff lately!!! Right now I'm working on some sort of financial report that the Gaming Commission needs, and our casino is on Monday/Tuesday of spring break. This, in itself, is making it super hard to get volunteers because not only is it on weekdays when most people work, but their kids are out of school at the same time.
• Tonight we're having Meatball Subs , made with ground turkey and canned sauce because I'm lazy, but I really wish we were having Spacestitch's gyoza nabe . The only reason I'm certain I spelled that correctly was because I copied and pasted from her blog lol. Oh my gosh, that looks so good...
• I'm off to work tomorrow for my 4th shift. I really want this scrub top but I'll have to make do with my WalMart scrubs for now. When I finish those bean bag chairs for the kids, I'll go shopping for some fun fabric for work :)

Later, taters :)

Eek, I've been tagged!

THE RULES: Use Google image to search the answers to the questions below. You must choose a picture from the first page of the results. and post it as your answer.

My age on my next birthday:

Place I would like to travel to:

My favourite food:

My favourite place:

My nickname:

{and I totally wear a fur bikini when I polish my floors, just like in this picture. Please be aware of the fact that my husband is the only one in the entire world allowed to call me Suzy...if you call me Suzy to my face, I will pretend I didn't hear you and then secretly be really angry at you lol. Just so you kow ;) }

My favourite colour:

My college major:

Name of my love:

(hmm...I love watermelon, but I do love my Scotty...that's a tough one...)

My hobby:

My bad habit:

My wish list:

My day.

OK, I just read something that made me a little bit angry. So since Sam is in bed, I'm going to post what our day looks like.

7 am: Scott has already been awake for 15 minutes to shave, then he tries to pry me out of bed. I have to lay in bed for a while and think about it, with my eyes closed, of course...and then I get up.

715am: Big kids are fighting over the bathroom (oh, how I wish we had 2 bathrooms). Scott is getting Sam out of bed and I'm gulping down my coffee, because I know that Sam will be looking for me and 'the twins' lol. I need coffee first thing, she needs to nurse.

730am: Big kids are eating breakfast and Scott is off to work. Sam is still leisurely nursing while I referee yet another fight. "Stop chewing with your mouth open!" "Stop looking at me!" Yeesh!!!! I check the weather to see how cold it is going to be: if it's super-duper cold, I will drive the kids to school. If it's -10C or warmer, they can walk on their own. Big kids brush their teeth, pack their bags, and put their own dishes in the dishwasher. I clean up the table and find some clothes for myself.

815am: I am getting all 3 kids ready to go because it's -24C outside. The van is warmed up, I have to find mitts for Jake and boots for Sam. Run the kids to school, go in and check the Parent Council mailbox while balancing Sam on one hip, then run home.

845: Sam and I have breakfast. She is a jam-covered mess, so she needs a bath. She has a bit of a water phobia right now, so I try to get it done as quickly as I can while she screams her head off. Dress her, comb her hair (another battle) and then plop her in the play pen so that I can have a 2 minute shower myself. After my shower, I check email and the local forums while Sam watches Doodlebops.

945: Wash dishes while Sam putters around. But before I can wash dishes, I have to make sure that every bedroom/bathroom/closet door is shut so that she doesn't get into anything she shouldn't. Quick scan of the floor for choking hazards then off to clean the kitchen.

1030am: Off to the mall to find fabric for a bean bag chair that Kylie wants to make. I have the project specifications and a budget figured out, just need 5 minutes of peace and quiet to pick some fabric. Sam has other ideas in mind and screams as soon as we enter the store. I give her a few things out of my purse to appease her while I shop. Find the fabric and come in under budget (woohoo) and then we are off to another store to find hair accessories suitable for work. The goal is to get out of the mall before the high school kids get there, because they are rotten, horrible, potty-mouthed brats. We eat lunch in the food court quickly, because it's nearing nap-time and I don't think Sam can wait for me to make her lunch at home.

Noon: Home. Sam nurses, then putters around while I rinse the fabric and run it to the dryer. Then she's off to bed so that I can fold laundry, return phone calls and dust. If I have time, I'll mop floors.

3pm: Wake Sam, change her diaper then run to the school to pick up the big kids. Kylie has books on hold at the library, so we all head there...Jacob complains the whole time because he hates the library with a passion...I don't know how 2 kids can be so different.

345: Home, didn't have time to mop so take this opportunity to sweep and mop floors. Kylie is playing with Sam in her room. Do a quick scan of the 'possible meals' list and take something out for supper. Send the kids to put away their own laundry and give Sam a snack.

430: Do a quick scan of the main floor, tidying up where necessary. Pick up toys scattered about living room...I don't know why, Sam's just going to dump her toy box as soon as I pick it up. Call 2 pools to cancel swimming lessons and try to find another pool with better times. Jacob show me some pants that need to be mended so I add those to the mending pile.

500: Scott is home (some days he doesn't get home until after 7). He plays with the kids while I cook supper. We eat, clean the floor again because Sam is a thrower, then we sit down to watch the news. Big kids putter around with Sam.

630: I'm off to walk on the treadmill, my 'me time'. I demand to be left alone during this time, but almost always Jacob finds me and tells me about his day while I walk...sometimes he shows me a card trick or something. I lub that guy to pieces, so I can't tell him to go away lol. I just keep walking while he yaps at me :) .

700: Back upstairs, carrying a load of laundry...diapers that need to be folded. Fold those while I watch TV. Sam unfolds them as I fold and scatters them about the living room. Big kids do homework if there is any. Kylie almost always needs help with her math. I do any PAC stuff that needs to get done or work on something like our taxes. If there is absolutely nothing important that needs to get done, I sew in our bedroom. Sam checks out what I'm doing periodically, but spends most of the time in the living room with Scott and the big kids.

830: Sam is off to bed after nursing. Big kids read: Kylie reads to herself while Jacob reads out loud to either me or Scott. Sign school agendas, check on notes from the teachers, make tomorrow's lunches, baths if it's bath night, brush teeth and the big kids are off to bed by 9.

The next hour or so is spent cuddling with my husband or doing some crafts or mending while he putters around on the computer. If he's watching something on TV, then I'll check blogs. We always try to go to bed by 10 so that we can watch Family Guy in bed and cuddle before we fall asleep. Watching Family Guy helps me to believe that I'm a good parent lol.

Tomorrow is another day in paradise :) .

This. And that.

So, March is Mending Month over at
Craftzine.com and I haven't learned even one thing yet. Blah.

Kylie was very excited to be in her very first cheer leading competition at West Edmonton Mall . Our school was more of an exhibition act, actually, and they weren't judged for points...but it was still very exciting :D . The kids did a great job!

Jacob and I had to make a quick trip to the ER yesterday: he fell at recess and bonked his head on the cement legs of a park bench (at first he said it was a rock, and it took me forever to figure out where there was any big rocks on the playground!) . They checked his vital signs a few times over the course of a couple of hours and then sent us home. He has a big bump and cut on his forehead, but a bag of chips from the vending machine at the hospital seemed to make it all better.

I have a job! It's as a receptionist at a dr's office, and it's only Saturdays. I've only worked 1 - 1/2 shifts, but I really enjoy it. I get to wear scrubs, thank God, because if they told me that I needed to wear business attire I would have been lost!!! The dr seems really nice, as does the other lady that I work with. I'm really excited about this. It's not that we need the money, but it seems like my days are all starting to blend together...every. single. day. is the same lately and I was really craving something different. And I think this is it! Yay!

I haven't sewn much lately...I bought a bunch of nylon to make shopping bags but then I decided I needed a rolled-hem foot for my machine. And of course, my machine is 24 years old so I couldn't find anything to fit. But then Kylie was given an older Singer machine in a cabinet by one of Scott's friends, and I was able to buy a rolled-hem foot for that. Then I decided that I wanted to make the kids bean-bag chairs for Easter, so I got a bit sidetracked...

I think that's it! We are still up to our arses in snow...I've had about enough. I can't wait to take Sam for walks outside, it will be so much fun to look at every little rock and stick...every crack in the sidewalk lol. I love toddlers lol.

Random Stuff

Kylie's book stash for the week: 18 Fruit Basket books plus some others. When she saw them all at the library, in the hold section with her name on them, she giggled, jumped up and down and clapped lol. Silly kid. At school today, a Native Elder is coming to give a presentation on tradition...Kylie has informed me that she is angry that she is not Korean, Chinese or Japanese and will forever hold it against me. The kids were asked to wear traditional dress to school, if they had some...so Kylie wore her qipao as a form of protest. Again, it's all my fault so I guess she is protesting against me??? LOL.





Jacob, smelling the laundry. I bought a new fabric softener, just because Superstore was out of our regular stuff. I think it's too stinky, but Jacob really likes it.





My mom has this really great shopping bag that clips on to her purse and it opens up into a good-size shopping bag...but I just can't find the right fabric to copy it.





This nylon is just a touch thicker, so it doesn't fold down as small as I would like, but it's still an ok size. Still a work in progress! I will get it down smaller, I swear!

Ugh, I'm so tired...in January I went for a physical and blood work (just annual stuff) and just yesterday, the dr called me to tell me that I am really, really low in Vitamin D. Apparently, this can cause a person to feel exhausted, which would explain the need to nap every afternoon! I blame it on this extended winter we're having. The other day we woke up to -40C temps! Unreal!

Creating an Adjustable Waistband in Kid's Jeans

Tute, Tute!!! Chugga, chugga, chugga, chugga...lol...

I am a big believer in making due with what you have, and if that means that you have a stack of hand-me-down pants that are too big for your child, then you just have to fix them up so that they fit.

Jacob is a big jeans guy, but most of the jeans that I have for him don't have the fancy-pants adjustable elastic waistband that is just the bee's knees. My kids *hate* belts, and I don't blame them. Yuk, I don't like them either.

So this is the fixit I came up with. Enjoy :) .




Step one: assemble your sewing ingredients. You will need:

• one inch twill tape: I normally use black, but today we are using white so that you can make it out in the pictures.


• 3/4 inch buttonhole elastic


• two 1/2 inch buttons


• coordinating thread: I usually use specific denim thread in the bobbin, so it doesn't show, and black in the spool

I usually chop off the belt loops, as it is just makes it a little less bulky for my machine to sew through. You can leave them on, if you're confident your machine won't hate you for it. But you're going to sew through them, so they're basically useless. And for us...Jacob always wears big baggy t-shirts that cover the waistband anyway. Onward....

Measure from inside seam, across the back, to inside seam.

My measurement is 13 inches...so add one inch to that...and I will need 14" of twill tape.

Add two inches to that to figure out the elastic measurement...so I will need 15" of elastic.

Oh my gosh, what a horrible looking zigzag! I do apologize lol. You may want to use coordinating threads for this step, but I'm lazy and just use the black/denim combo that I listed earlier. Fold under approximately 3/8" on both ends of both the elastic and the twill tape and zig zag.

Now pin the twill tape to the jeans waistband, lining up the edge of the twill tape with the side seam. The raw edge of the twill tape is touching the wasteband, although it's hard to tell from this picture. Sew that puppy down. I use a long/narrow zigzag, just taking the smallest bites of the twill tape. Make sure to backstitch the ends like it's going out of style...those ends take a lot of stress. Thusly:

Next, sew the buttons at either end of the twill tape, about a quarter inch away. I use my button foot, you can do it by hand...whatevah.

The only thing left to do now is feed the elastic through, using a safety pin, and then button it down. Then bribe your boy to stand still long enough to try them on, so that you can adjust the elastic.

Elastic waistbands in the hiz-ouse!

This sucks.

Alright...I have to go grocery shopping today, and it's
-25C with the windchill right now...blowing snow with unreal winds...roads are awful, apparently...

Nice.

Can you believe I was driving through puddles yesterday due to all the melting snow? I really thought spring was coming!

Hi!

Hello! How are you?

Been too busy to scratch here, I'm cleaning up a PAC mess (haven't filed taxes in 7 years!!!) , Kylie and Scott have been sick, trying to get my own tax papers together, and all of this is seriously cutting into my sewing/crafting time.

Today, I'm cleaning floors, folding laundry, getting an oil change, sorting through PAC paperwork and compiling a financial statement for my company. Yay. I wish I could say that I keep on top of this tax stuff all year long so that it's not such a big job in March, but it doesn't work that way. Oh well...as long as it gets done, right?

And we are still up to our arses in snow. I'm looking at beautiful spring pictures on other blogs and wondering...will winter every go away? I'm really getting the bug to sew cute spring/summer clothes for Sam.

Later, tater :) .