Putting the Craft in Spacecraft

In case you haven't seen this, I just had to share. NASA and Etsy are partnering for a "space craft" contest: http://www.etsy.com/nasa. Through Nov 2 they are accepting entries of space-inspired items, and the winner will receive an Etsy shopping spree and a trip to one of the last space shuttle launches. I know you guys make the cutest stuff, and some of you recently bought a bunch of space-y fabric, so maybe you'll want to enter! I really enjoyed looking through some of the stuff people have already submitted, some people are just so creative!

In some non-craft related news, I recently started a rotation in the public affairs office here at Kennedy in a social media position. So if you're a fan of NASA Kennedy on facebook (or maybe I should say, if you were to become a fan, haha) most of the posting done on that page is now done by me! Crazy, right?!

Assuming I can get my act together, I'll post some pictures soon of what "crafty" things I've been up to lately.

I emailed Pioneer Woman

We have a launch scheduled for this Friday afternoon, and since she is in Florida this week, I figured, why not? I have a pass to bring people on center to watch, so I invited her and her family. I wonder if she even reads her emails. Eh, it was worth a try. Would any of you be interested in driving over here to see it?

Benefits of a Recipe War

Today, Jerry and I ate with my grandmother who is visiting from Germany at On The Border for lunch. If you're anything like we are, you can make a full meal out of the chips and salsa alone, much less the entree! Mmmmmmm.... But since we're speaking about entrees, let me tell you, we had good ones! Did you click on the "On The Border" link above? No! Well you really need to. Go ahead. Did you see the ad for the all new entree they are serving? That's right, Grilled Enchiladas. Are you drooling yet? We were - before we even got to the restaurant. That's because last week we saw a commercial for this new entree. Jerry was so excited, he actually rewound the TV to see it again. No joke. What can I say? We really like our Mexican food. Especially if it is TexMex. Especially if it is TexMex from On The Border. Anyway, I digress. Since we gorged ourselves, errr, I mean enjoyed a delightful amount of chips, salsa, and grilled enchiladas at lunch, neither of us was really hungry enough for a real dinner. So I heated up some leftover mac & cheese for the boys, and we scrounged the fridge for something to eat. ::here's the part that has to do with the recipe war:: Guess what I had for dinner? Leftover baked beans and corn casserole! Mmmmm.... And you thought that side dishes had to go on the side of something!

a little bit of news...

So, umm... how should I say this. Let's see, I guess there's no use in just beating around the bush, I might as well just get it out.... errrr.... well here goes.... I'm Engaged! Darren asked me to marry him this past weekend and I just couldn't be more happy! Wow. We've been talking about it for a while now, but I didn't really think it would happen until closer to summer, and I definitely didn't have any clue that he had been ring shopping.

He asked me Saturday afternoon at his house. First he said he wanted to play a song on the guitar he had written, which he has done before, so I still had no clue. It was a really sweet song, and then he started talking about what it meant, and then the next thing I knew he was on his knee pulling a box out of his pocket. I am just completely excited. It's going to be a lot to plan and get ready for, but he is amazing and I am just so blessed.

I just wanted to share my excitement with you all (especially since Meagan said she was going to spill the beans if I didn't first - ha!) Maybe this will generate some wedding related craftiness that I can share here too.

just another day at work...

The picture's not the best, but this was my view Tuesday morning. And when I say morning, I mean early morning! My alarm was set for midnight, in order to be at work by about 1:30am, to see the launch at 2:30am. Not something I could do very often, but it was totally worth it. We were about 3.5 miles away, they don't really let you get any closer than that. It lights up the entire sky like it's the middle of the day, and the sound is just amazing. my pant legs were definitely vibrating. After it was over I decided to just stay at work, so I put in my 8 hours between 3 am and 11 am haha. It was crazy, and I was pretty delirious by the end of the day. I know this doesn't have anything to do with crafting, but I just wanted to share. Have a good weekend ladies!

Of Fuzzi Bunz and Strange British Food

Johanna is right (isn't she always?), Tina rocks. I got a box, too. Tina has been promosing me this box for a few months now. She finally got off her lazy tuchus and mailed it to me. OK, I admit, its hard to call a mother with four children, living in a foreign country, who's kids have been deathly ill and in the hospital even, "lazy", but as I am quite a talented lady, you see I've managed to do that.

First, I am happy to announce that I am now the proud owner of bunches of cloth diapers. I have been wanting to foray in to the cloth diaper world but have been wary to invest the money in case I hated it and so Tina graciously bestowed her Fuzzi Bunz and Bumpkins on me. I've got Lily in one already so we'll see how this goes.

Second, let me just say that here in America, I know that we have some really dumb food, like Swiss Rolls for example. What a pointless, waste-of-calories food. But the British just have some downright wacky, strange and off-colour foods. I mean who ever would name a food Spotted Dick (I would have got a link for you there, but I'm not about to type that into a search engine)? Uh, not me. I would be pretty darn sure that they wouldn't sell. But I guess in the UK, they go for things like Spotted Dick. We all tried it and thought it was almost as good as carrot cake, only it had raisins in it. Why didn't they call it raisin cake and why is it a pudding? These are things I just don't understand.

She also sent CurlyWurly. Yummy. This tastes just like a Sugar Daddy (also a dangerous word to type into a search engine), only coated in chocolate. Ho-boy, you can't go wrong there.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Tina! I don't really think you're lazy, you know. I was just joking about that.

Mourn With Me

Today was a sad day in my house...my KitchenAid Mixer died.

I was making banana bread with Aaron this morning, and when I went to mix the ingredients, it made this horrible growling noise and acted like it was really struggling to mix. This was a wedding shower gift that was given to me by Jerry's family eleven years ago. It has mixed up so many things for me. I just don't know what to do! I know that once upon a time, these had a lifetime warranty, and I know I sent in my registration card. So I am going to call and see what can be done.

On top of having to mix my banana bread by hand (horror of all horrors!), I have strep throat. I went to the doctor last Tuesday because I knew I had some kind of infection, but the strep test came back negative. My doctor told me it was just irritation from allergies! This weekend, it got really bad, so back I go today. What do you know? The test is positive now! I get these infections 3-5 times a year. The doctor actually brought up the possibility of getting my tonsils out! Have you ever talked to an adult who has had this done? It takes 10-20 days to recover from this surgery! I have had a major organ removed and my recover was faster than that! But I finally have antibiotics and liquid lidocaine to numb up my mouth. You know, it works really well to numb my mouth, but the back of my throat, where all the blisters are, was unaffected! I cannot seem to gargle it past my gigantic tonsils!

Enough doom and gloom. The silver lining to this cloud is that I have gotten to watch lots of Food Network while laying on the couch moaning! I saw a couple episodes of Everyday Italian (don't you just love that show?) that were really good. One had this recipe for a Potato Crusted Tilapia that looks really good. I need new ways to cook fish. We don't eat it as often as we should. Then I saw a show all about using up leftovers. I am really excited about trying these Chicken Purses. I am not too sure about this soup designed to use up leftover salad, though. I know the times I have made taco salad and the lettuce starts to wilt under the hot ingredients, the lettuce can get a really strong and bitter flavor. Perhaps the other ingredients in this balance out the bitter flavor. If it is good, it would be good way to sneak in some leafy greens. Anyone brave enough to try it and let me know?

Fun With Kids, Part 2

Okay, so I wanted to put this with the last post, but Blogger decided I had uploaded enough pictures for one post - even after I deleted one so I could add another one. Apparently it doesn't work that way! I also wanted to post a bit of Aaron's art work that he has been created with the Little Artist Case that Joanna sent him for Christmas. He absolutely loves that thing and draws with it constantly. In fact, as I type this, it is sitting on the couch next to me because he was drawing with it just a minute ago. Anyway, his art work never ceases to amaze me. Here is a sample: a turtle he drew without a picture to copy, and a flower that if you'll notice he copied from the flower on the front of the pad of paper. I think it is a pretty close representation!

Fun With the Kids

So I've been largely absent here since the holidays. The problem is that I haven't really been crafting at all. I've had work to do, but I don't like posting my work that I get paid for, and I haven't touched my sewing machine other than to complete an order since Christmas! I think I am rebelling since I did so much just before Christmas - I wore myself out. What I have been thoroughly occupied with is my children. You know, potty training, correcting all out defiance, curbing temper tantrums...oh, and some playing! Today, I gave them each a pile of shaving cream on the table and just let them go to town! They are having so much fun with this! I took the pictures I have on here, but they are still playing and now it is pretty much everywhere. It will take a bit of clean up, but can't you tell they are having a blast?

A Change of Pace

In case you were wondering if I had totally switched gears and stopped sewing altogether, I didn't. When I cleaned up my room with my mom we made a list of things I should accomplish before I started any new sewing projects. The last thing on my list is to finish Sarah and Rachel's scrapbook of their first year. I have put my sewing machine aside and covered my sewing table with scrap paper, scissors, tape, stickers and various other scrapping tools. So far, I have scrapped 6 pages in the last two days. Today I'll start on 11 months for Sarah. What a relief it will be to have these finished. Then I can start on Lily's and try to not be behind.
I already have a list of sewing I want to do when this is over and it's a big motivation for me to finish the scrapbooks so I can satisfy the sewing itch. I have a skirt to sew for my mom, and one for me, a pair of pajama bottoms for each of the girls and some things I've been mulling over in my head that I might be able to sell in my etsy shop.

Christmas Loot

My secret santa was Johanna. She sewed up this totally cool crochet hook and knitting needle holder. I'm so thick-headed sometimes that I didn't see the note in the package and my family and I debated for a while about what it was. I thought to myself that it was for needles and hooks but didn't say anything. But my mom came up with, "It's a chopstick holder," and Del's contribution was, "Japanese tackle box." I actually called Johanna to confirm my suspisions and she said (in not quite these exact words) "Duh, Joanna, can't you read?!" Picture me with a sheepish grin. But, don't my crochet hooks and knitting needles look cozy in that lovely brocade and 100% silk? I'm telling you Johanna is quite a talented sewer. She hasn't been posting what she's been sewing. Stop being so modest Johanna. I won't even attempt to do justice to the elephants and bags she made the girls. My cheesy Little Artist Cases pale in comparison. You should have seen my grandma ooohhh and aaaahhhh over the elephants. OK, stop me now! Check out the fabric box that Johanna also made! I mean, holy shmolies, it's ssoooo beautiful. I really want to clear off my dresser and set this box on it. It's such a soothing color. Thank you so much for everything Johanna. Thank you for putting so much time and love into the gifts you sent me and my family, I feel so blessed and loved.

Beauty

My dad brought me two dozen roses Monday. Even though store bought roses rarely open up, this one did and I am struck by its awesome beauty. Isn't it lovely?

Forgive me

Hello all. I have not fallen into a cave I have just been busy working and trying to manage the holidays! I do love seeing all the projects you are working on and I am jealous. I just wish I had more time and energy to do it all. I took the day off to go to the eye doctor and it turns out I am now nearsighted and need glasses! What a pain that is! Gosh, I never even knew glasses were SO expensive! Then I found out one of my co-workers passed away this weekend, she was only 37 and had 2 kids aged 11 and 9. I just visited her on Friday night at work and we talked about our Thanksgivings and she passed away in her sleep Friday night. I am so sad. I belong to a union at my job and we found out that our contract may not go through and we may strike on December 6th, which means no paycheck! Meanwhile the new store I am supposed to go, well, the opening has gotten postponed. It may be 2 weeks or so till I get to go there! I tell you! Meanwhile I have to figure out how to get my new glasses and make it through Christmas with or without working. I hope the new year will be better, this is just a slump and it too will pass. I hope I didn't bum you all out too much! I just wanted to let you know I am still alive!

Table Skirt, Finally...

So I finally finished the pillows and table skirt I have been making for my bedroom. I've taken before and after photos for you all! We have been totally redoing our room. We have added crown moulding, wood blinds, drapes, wall color (blue), new bedding, a new ceiling fan, the chairs and table, and 25 brown wooden frames. The frames have mirrors in them now, but I am planning to replace the majority of the mirrors with sepia pictures of my kids. Anyway, I cannot wait to show you the whole transformation, but I have run into some problems with the bedding so I have more pillows to make first.

Anyway, here is the before:And here is the after:

It makes the room look really inviting. I am enjoying having a place to sit and relax. I can do reading here and my morning quiet time. It sure beats the exercise machine that never got used that used to be in this spot!!

I am hoping to have lots to post in the next few weeks. We got new couches for our living room so I am making draperies and pillows now. I am so excited because we currently have couches that don't match anything. I tried the whole slipcover thing, but they are so frustrating! They never stay put and lets face it - fabric with two young boys is just a bad call! The couches will be delivered sometime in the next two weeks - I can hardly wait!

On a family note, we have been having major attitude problems with Aaron lately. Jerry has really been having trouble remaing patient with him. This morning was particularly bad, and when Jerry was home for lunch he was really frustrated. He told me, "I really don't know how you do this all day every day!" I told him that it was because it isn't always that way. There are moments of pure bliss. Shortly after that, I put Ethan down for his nap, finished school with Aaron, and then put Aaron down for his nap. This is the scene that greeted me when I opened the door to the boy's room.

If seeing a totally peaceful, sleeping child doesn't make you glad to be a mom, nothing will!

Stuff 'n Fluff

I have been working on two projects that are very different for me. A lady I know bought one of those rocking chairs that sit outside of all Cracker Barrel restaurants and she bought seat and back cushions for it, but her husband was getting really uncomfortable in the chair because his arms are long enough that they were pushing hard on the arm rests. Anyway, he wanted a cushion for the arms of the chair, but they couldn't find any. She asked if I thought I could make some. I've never done anything like that before, but I thought I could try. I didn't find any type of pattern for it, so I just went and traced the chair arms at my local Cracker Barrel and made it all up as I went along. It's the wrong shape for my chair here in the picture, but you get the idea. I think it turned out pretty nicely. It will be comfy, too. In fact, I think I'll make some for my chair too!
I have another friend whose husband died a little over a year ago. She has a young daughter (7 or 8) and she wanted to make a doll out of one of her husband's shirts for her daughter. She cut it out and sewed it up on her machine, added painted lips and button eyes. But she wasn't happy with the sewing because it was uneven and the stuffing was lumpy. She asked if I could remake it for her and make a jumper for the doll out of a pair of her husband's jeans. So I took her doll apart and decided to sew it by hand to keep it more even. I re-stuffed it, using the great techniques that Jo taught me to keep the edges of the puzzle balls smooth! I had never made doll clothes either and it was a bit tricky to sew something so small, and it has been forever since I made a dress so I had to remember the order of doing things, but I think it is cute! I added a decorative stitch across the bottom too. I think it is really nice. I don't think I would have done fabric paint for the lips, but that was already done, and I wanted to do whatever I could to use the one she had already cut out so that she would have also "made" it for her daughter. I think that is such a good idea to make something for her out of the clothing. The daughter will probably treasure it for a long time to come. On a completely unrelated note, Ethan peed in the potty for the first time ever today!!! YEAH! We'll see if the trend continues, but usually he won't even sit on the potty and today he is willing. So we're going with it.

Who Says Boys Are Harder?

I'm cleaning up my sewing station when I hear this come out of Ella's mouth:

"Hey Sarah, I'll go get the other cart and then WE CAN CRASH!!!"

Yikes...

I should have taken a picture but I made this really yummy tomato soup tonight and I served it with grilled cheese sandwiches. The sandwiches were Asiago cheese and a really nice cheddar cheese. The good thing about the tomato soup is that it's so stinking easy.

Super Easy Tomato Soup

2 - 8oz cans of tomato sauce

1 - 14.5oz can of Italian flavored diced tomatoes

5 cups chicken or vegetable broth or stock

some basil, pepper and parsley, to taste

Put it all in a pot and simmer for 15 minutes minimum. I didn't think it needed any salt because the tomato sauce and diced tomatoes are already salted. Garnish with a sprig of fresh parsley and some parmesean cheese. I gave the kids some Goldfish crackers also. All the kids, even picky Sarah, ate two bowls of it.

Check out my pumpkin patch. I gave them all to my grandma to sell at her craft fair. They think they will get at least $50 for them all. Crazy, eh?

So then Ella tells me that she wants a "big girl" pillowcase because she's a big girl and her pillowcase is for little girls. I made her the top one and the bottom one was specifically requested by Sarah.

Not Much to Say

So my life has just been characterized by pain recently. I ruptured an ovarian cyst Monday. This has happened to me 4 times before, but the last time was 13 years ago, so I kind of forgot what it felt like. So, needless to say, there were some times on Monday that I was freaking out thinking of all the aweful things that could have been causing such severe abdominal pain! I almost called my doctor, but already had an appointment scheduled with my OB on Tuesday, so I didn't. It worked out well because my OB knew right away what was going on. Anyway, during all of that, I noticed that my throat hurt a bit, but with all the other pain, I didn't think about it much. By Wednesday, my other pain was gone and suddenly I realized that my throat really hurt. I got out the flashlight and took a look...so I was back at the doctor yesterday with a throat infection. Along with that, my washing machine broke. I called yesterday to make an appointment to get the Maytag man out here - he is apparently busier than the ads would have us think because he cannot get out any sooner than next Tuesday! What are we supposed to wear until then??? When it rains, it pours!

I have actually been a little bit crafty through it all. I made some towels for one of my cousins who is getting married this weekend. The waiters are going to drape these over their arms when they serve the wine.

I also finished the third hat for my friend's children. If you remember, I posted about the other two here. This one gave me fits! I used this wool blend yarn that isn't the same gage throughout so my hat kept taking on strange shapes! Of course I wasn't using a pattern, and I had never worked with this kind of yarn before, so it was a bunch of trial and error. I bought the yarn because the little girl wanted pink and orange for her hat, and it is really so pretty with a beautiful pink - not too hot pink - and a deep orange. It also had green and I thought the colors blended beautifully. That should teach me that picking a yarn for the color is not always the best idea!

I also made some gifts for a friend who just had a baby. I finally figured out how I want to package my security blankies when I made this one. I also really like the camo print on the burp cloth - very "boy."

The Beach in October

One of the advantages to living in Texas (and this goes for the Florida gals too) is that it is not too cold in October for a visit to the beach! I took the boys to my brother's house in Houston this past weekend and my sister-in-law and I took the four kids to the beach in Galveston on Friday. Although my kids have flown over the ocean, and Aaron has been in a cruise ship on the ocean, they have never just been to the beach. I am not too fond of the beach because I have very sensitive skin and it hurts to be in the water too much, but alas, for my children I braved the salt! They had an absolute blast!

The little girl with Aaron in the pictures is my niece Elise. Elise and Aaron are inseperable when they are together. It is so nice for them to have close age cousins to play with. Jonathan and I were so much older than all of our cousins that we really aren't close to them. Anyway, it was a great trip.

No crafting to report...I have some embroidery orders that I need to get busy on though!

A piece of this and a piece of that

Hello everyone, seems like a long time since I was here. I did some little cooking"crafting" projects this weekend. I finished my ball, but forgot to take a picture, but it looks pretty good for the first one. I also, made banana nut bread mini muffins pasta salad, and Derrek (yes, Derrek) made french dip sandwhiches. They were INCREDIBLE! YUMO! Anyways not much else. I found out on Friday at 4pm that I am getting transfered to another store starting Monday morning and now I have to commute 20 miles each way! I am kind of bummed, but I have heard nothing but good things about the store, and it also fills less prescriptions in a day, so I will be able to breath and relax more! I just hope it all works out, I still will be going to the new store I talked about a while back, but for now this is temporary too. I just hope the drive is not as bad as I've know it to be. Ok, so I rambled on enough about that. Pretty much else I've been trying to relax!!!!! I am now going to attempt to make the puzzle ball with all the triangles, with my sewing machine, haha, this could be really funny! Oh, my book, I forgot to mention this cool book I got at Barnes and Nobles! I think I might have to use a project in here for my secret santa, since I am also know in my family as Miss Procrasinator. Thats all for now... I hope you are all doing well and enjoying your families!

The Time of the Year

Well, I have now concluded two things. It is the time of year, from now till the end of the Christmas Holidays, in which no one seems to get much of anything done. At least not things that we can really show off as "Look see what I made!" I noticed it with our blog here (that is what you get with Homeschooling moms and full time professionals), but also with other craft blogs in general... crafting just isn't meant to be at this time of year. Hmm, if only I had done some of the Christmas presents earlier in the year. Oh well, I guess I will have the last minute crunch time again this year.

The other thing I noticed was that the only crafting that there is time for is baking or cooking or whatever category the daily meals fall into. Even then, it is mostly out of the box recipes that I end up baking. Like these. I admit it, they were out of a can. Which I guess requires little "craftiness" but hey, I gotta start somewhere.



I did find the recipe for making some homemade bread... I forget which kind. It was a recipe in the newspaper that required flour, yeast and water... maybe something else. I thought I would try it though cause it looked pretty simple. I'll let you know what happens. I have to find that active dry yeast stuff at the grocery store first.

Oh, I did get one more thing done. Yesterday I got a chance to use my sewing machine. I *almost* had to get out the dust rag (hehe) but here it is.




Now, here's the thing, I am not going to tell you what it is. You get to guess. When it is done, it may just end up on your doorstep, if you guess it right. Teehee, that IS fun. Little inspiration to get it done too!