waaayyy too long

So, it's been over a month since the last post and that's mainly because I've been working out designs, specifically eye masks and hot/cold therapy packs. I have the basic shapes down that I want to do, but trying to get the sizes to where I want them is a bit more trying. I made the first mock up of the sleep masks last night - didn't get the layers of fabric in the right order, but at least I can see how large the finished product will be. I'm thinking that decreasing the seam allowance from 1/2" to 3/8", while small, might make it look a little better as well as fit better. So, since I have the figured out......

Not sure how I want to do the final therapy packs...with a removable cover?? With aromatherapy oils and such?? How large do I really want to make them??? I did decide to make some using the basic eye mask shape, for those people who suffer from both sinus headaches and migraines (like me!), so that's a start.

Aprons have been ignored, though the one I *did* manage to make got entered into the county fair and took 2nd place!! I just need to make the adult version of that apron then move on to the rest of the aprons...several different styles not to mention the crazy fabrics!!!

I have taken pictures of all the hair clippies and ponytail holders that I have made, but I need to upload all the pictures to Etsy. May make some more ponytail holders, but they aren't my favorite things to make....then again, I'm still playing with how to make them.

I did my first batch of recycled crayons and think they are kind of cute. Of course, the majority of the first batch is bagged and ready to go to DDs kindergarten class since it was her teacher that gave me all the old crayons to melt down. They are chunky, swirly crayons, made in muffin tins, but they are a good start. I may end up using cans and melting them by color, but for now, I need to find new molds.....need the money first.

I'm discontinuing the fleece sleeping bags, toddler bedding, and jewelry simply because there isn't as high a demand for them and it's time to revamp my inventory. Plus, the sleeping bags take up WAY too much room in my workspace.

Oh, almost forgot the flower pens...lol. Thanks to Amy and a tutorial that she pointed me to, I now have an entire flower basket full of everything from roses (including plain black and black with either purple or silver glitter) to mums, to daisies. Not sure how they will sell locally, but can give it a try.

Of course, the BooBoo Bunnies are back, this time with bunnies in different colors instead of just white. I think the colored ones are a bit cuter, but then again, I'm biased...lol. These will also be relisted with new pictures once I have the time to sit down and upload them.

Yes, it sounds like I've been busy, but some of these things don't take that much time to do, so when I have 30 minutes with nothing planned, I just dive in and make as many as I can.

Well, it's 730am on a Saturday, so I need to get dressed and get moving....have 2.5 hours until I have to leave for today's errand run.......

storm then calm...is another storm coming?

So..Monday and Tuesday, the children basically treated me like paid help, not anyone deserving of their respect...not even listening to me at all and yelling at both me and each other. Today is almost a complete turn-around. Was it because I explained how it made me feel or was it that dad refused to sign off on their allowance papers, therefore they have NO allowance for last week, nor do they have poker chips to exchange for computer time????

And....does today's good behavior mean that tomorrow will be good or do I need to prepare for another storm of crappy attitudes and behavior from them?? I know they are getting excited about our upcoming trip and I know they are getting stressed about the school year that will be starting soon, but c'mon...I didn't make the laws that said they HAD to go to school and I am the one that is helping them get ready...both in practicing their math and in the more mundane things like....making sure they have clothes that fit, all supplies ready to go, etc.

Because of the last 2 days, NOTHING has gotten done around here. I have to finish the 2nd wall in the garage before I can even think about getting my freezer, but I've already be researching various meals that can be made ahead and frozen, how to make freezer jam, and all kinds of cool things (yes, sometimes I get ahead of myself). Sewing is on hold because there is too much other stuff going on, and today, my back is all tight and uncooperative, even though I just saw the chiropractor yesterday morning!!

What the heck is going on and when can I get a dang break???!!????

And *THIS* is calm???!!????

So, the last post was about all the chaos that has been going on around here. I'm happy to report that everyone seems to be feeling better and relatively back to normal. So.....that means that I'm back to my hyper, WAY-to-many-activities-going-on self. Here is what has been accomplished....but to me it doesn't look like much:
-1 wall in garage sealed and primed
-1/4 of second wall sealed and primed
-6 loads of laundry washed and dried (will be folded today)
-freezer inventory taken, meals tentatively planned out for the next week
-main body of patchwork jacket finished (lining still needs to be dealt with)

Today is shaping up to be a not-so-great day since both children are "moods" and the dominant theme is "annoy each other and see how mad we can make Mom." Well, at least they have both taken their vitamins and medicines, sigh.

After several hours of research and exploration, I have come up with some new, inexpensive ideas for products that I think (hope) will appeal to the masses and actually sell. I ran the entire list past my accountant (my husband) and we narrowed it down to those that I could actually make using items that I already have stashed away (as opposed to purchasing more supplies). I've put out a plea to other mom-friends, so hopefully I will get some feedback and "donations" for one of the products.

I jokingly told hubby that I would call these new items the "'P31" line (as in Proverbs 31) since they seem to fit..at least some of the verses, not all of them....he was amused. The only thing is that if I get started with that, I will feel challenged to make products that can at least be linked to the numerous verses. How interesting that would be....an entire product line based on the Proverbs 31 woman....daunting, but not impossible.

Ok. Now that I have some direction with the business, I can "relax" a little more and get to work on the house...lol. I *need* to finish the second wall (it's the one that the new freezer will be going up against) and I need to clean a bit inside. I suppose that I could get the laundry and vacuuming finished today, but who really wants to do that kind of work when there are creative ideas just floating around all over the place???

Well, the children have 20 minutes before I drag them in to do their schoolwork (yeah yeah, bad mommy making them do summer school, but at least they will be prepared for the upcoming school year!), then we have to do the weekly dump run, take Bek to the doc (followup from the pneumonia), run to the grocery store, and back home. That makes today a fairly calm day all in all. Of course, then there's trying to get dinner put together and eaten in time to get Tom to karate class tonight.....argh.

And I wonder why I thought this was a calm, typical life.....I suppose, in hindsight, this IS calm when compared to the sick, sick, surgery, sick time period....I want a nice long massage and a nap....

sick, sick, surgery, sick

That pretty much wraps things up for the last 4 weeks. My son had pneumonia, then I had bronchitis, then my husband had shoulder surgery on Thursday, and now my daughter has pneumonia.

In the middle of all the chaos, there are swimming lessons, school lessons, housework, errands, and brainstorming to come up with new ideas for my Etsy shop. I'm more than likely going to be putting most of my things on sale in the near future because they aren't really selling. I'm going to try and come up with some more small and useful items instead of fancy things. The logic behind this is that, in the given economy, useful things, that are at least cute, would sell better than the rest of the items that I have made.

I don't know yet, what my new items are going to be, but I'm working on it. One thing that I might try are reversible over-all bibs. I may also make some flower pens that will be sold only at the local craft fairs...maybe with a journal or something. Another idea that I'm toying with are mother-daughter apron sets with either hot pads or dishcloths that coordinate...still toying wiht this thought right now.

And in the middle of all this, I'm working on clothing for the children and entries for the county fair.....like I actually have any free time to do this, but still......

tired, mindless ramblings

So, for a week DS has been sick, and yesterday, they finally said that he has walking pneumonia. Wow!! First, it was nothing but a virus and would go away in a week, and now it's pneumonia!! So, my 9yo is on zithromax, tussinex, and prednisone....wahoo! Needless to say, the past week has not seen much in the way of solid sleeping for me, hubby, or our son. His coughing has finally started calming down a little, so hopefully this stuff is on it's way out of here.

I was supposed to work on the garage again this week and I need to call the insurance company about hubby's surgery, we do schoolwork in the summer and are already behind because of DS being too sick to ge tout of bed. I have to figure out how to install a sheetrock ceiling most likely by myself, though I don't see how that is possible....have gotten word from the neighbor that he would help and a friend said she would help if needed....but don't even know when I'll actually get to it.

I'm supposed to be sewing clothing for myself but haven't been able to focus long enough to even get pattern pieces laid out correctly. I'm also supposed to be helping both children with entries for the county fair (DD has made a wodden frog model, a race car, and a decorated hat, DS has only made a race car, but he has been sick AND he's still deciding what else he wants to do), and I have made progress on that goal.....in fact, I will be helping DD build a birdhouse today.

I'm too dang tired to do any of this, but hey, it's what you do as a mom, right?? I started crying last night and hubby said that it would all be okay....I told him that it wasn't crying about our son (though I was extremely worried when he got to 104.8), but out of total exhaustion and the need for uninterrupted sleep and maybe even a vacation...because the next thing coming up is DHs surgery and I'm not prepared for that either.

Ah well, maybe today I'll actually get something constructive done around here

I'm In The Paper!!! Wahoo!!!!

http://www.newsleader.com/article/20090614/LIFESTYLE/906140302/1024/LIFESTYLE/Tips-on-Thriving

Yep, that's the article where you can learn how I've cut the family budget! Complete with picture of me right on the main page, and several smaller shots of clothing that I've made for the family.

It's interesting to see how the savings add up, but then you have to subtract our charitable donations, karate classes, gas for the cars, money we put into savings. Really, when you take all that into account, the savings diminish quite a bit. However, we continue to put money aside for the children's college as well as for our retirement. Right now we are saving for our vacation at the end of July, not to mention the work that we want to finish up on the house this year (would be nice to have the garage sealed and insulated and possibly a start on hubby's office now that he's chosen how he wants it done).

I think I can cut even more out, but I'm not sure where......might actually end up destashing a bunch of my craft supplies and fabric because I'm just not using them anymore and that would bring in more money to put towards savings and such.....who knows....but it will be interesting to give it a try!

Sheetrock dust, coughing, and 4 years going away

So, hubby is going to have surgery on July 2nd to (hopefully) repair his shoulder. His current status is that he can barely lift that arm, and definitely CAN'T do any work in finishing the garage. So.....

For the past few days, I've been pretty much covered in cobwebs, sheetrock dust, and spackling compund! I've moved around several piles to sort through and have actually managed to take a massive load to the dump - including 2 boxes of "stuff" that has been sitting untouched since we moved here back in 2005!!! There is still a lot to do, and an outsider would say that I was going about things sporadically, but there is a method to my madness!! See, when we moved in, the garage had no floor, just a too small dumping of gravel. SO we had the floor poured and then just piled things wherever. Now, it's time to kick it up and get things finished (I'm tired of having a building permit stuck to my garage door). Ok, so I started on the walls easily reached without having to move too much - some already have their second coat of spackling compund and just need to be sanded. Then, in the idst of clearing out boxes of "stuff" I thought that it would be best to get the corner area finished (spackling, primer, maybe even paint if I could be so lucky!) because that area will pretty much stay as the "Christmas storage area" and it makes no sense to me to stack the boxes there, then have to move them again to get the priming and painting done. I should have the second coat of compound up there today and possibly the primer done in that area....if I can get that far, I will go ahead and shove the boxes closer to the corner so that i can reach the other wall.

So...that kind of explains the 4 years going away...we haven't even looked inside some of the boxes shoved in the garage since we moved in! So WHY are we keeping them?? Granted, it IS a good thing I'm going through each one because I found an antique quilt from my Dad's family shoved in the bottom of one, not to mention my Barbie collection (getting passed to my daughter), but also the collection of International dolls that my uncle sent to me when he worked in the travel industry (he passed away in 1995). Outstanding!! I thought these were things that, lilke our large extension ladder, never made the move from NY to VA!!! It was a happy day for me yesterday...lol.

Of course, all this work is helping keep me distracted from the fact that my son has been coughing since Monday night. ALL the docs we've seen or talked to (4 so far, all at the same practice) have said it's nothing more than a virus and they've seen LOTS of children with the same symptoms: high fevers, cough, sore throat. Well, that doesn't actually reassure me, but thanks for the info! Yesterday I called the office and practically begged for something to help with his cough since he has had 15 minutes coughing jags, usually around 1am....he now has Tussinex to take at night, so hopefully we will ALL get some sleep. I suppose I should be happy that it isn't whooping cough or croup or pneumonia, or bronchitis......though they didn'g check for whooping cough or bronchitis...but according to the professionals. it's "just a virus".....if the tussinex doesn't help calm the cough down, he'll be back at the office...which kind of stinks since he's supposed to be in gifted/talented classes next week - Civil War history....perfect for where we live.

Ah well...maybe all this manual labor will help me keep dropping pounds....not as much lost as I would like, but sweating and lifting has GOT to be doing something!!