Hooray for a day off!

I had a couple days off last week and was inspired by Holly's crazy fabric store, and by Emily's conversation on cute children's clothing.  And I figured out that I have lots of fabric scraps that are perfect for Madeleine-sized bits of this and that.

This dress is from Simplicity 4711 (view A) and the bloomers are from some ancient pattern I've had since my own babies were that size.  I loved the fabric combos and started the whole project by making the hem of the skirt before I had any idea what the top was going to look like.

The overalls and hat are both from Simplicity 2905 from some free fabric scraps I picked up at church.  The stripes are seersucker and should be perfect when Maddy is a little bigger this summer.

The bonnet is a size 3-6 months from this site.  It's cute, and fits well and would be a great shower gift.  It was very easy to make and fits on a fat quarter, or, in this case, on a very small scrap from an apron project.

This week's update: January 24, 2015

1. I finished Nick's quilt.  FINISHED!  To celebrate, I brought it to Millie P's to an event they were sponsoring on Saturday - bring your finished quilts in for a picture and a chance to win a $100 gift card.  Whether I win or not, going to that store is always such a treat!  It's simply exploding with creativity and it's impossible to walk out of that store without getting ideas for my next 20 projects.
2. Not pictured, but on Tuesday Debra, Mary and I had our first monthly meeting of the "We Are Tired of Winter and Hate Television Club."  This month's meeting was dinner at San Jose with our husbands.  Next month: Fat Tuesday dinner at Q Fanatic.
3. Also on Tuesday, Nick started his 2nd semester at the U.  He was sleeping when we got home, although I think he woke up to start homework about the time we got home at 9:30 or so.  (so messed up!) ;-)
4. Saturday I left early, but not so early that it was still dark.  It's such a lovely milestone to leave in the daylight hours again and I think God was celebrating with me!
5. I was leaving to help with the support details of First Reconciliation Day.  It's such a great event!  I talked to one mom who went back to the sacrament for the first time in 30 years.  A catechist told me about one little boy in her class who was So. Nervous. while waiting his turn.  As soon as he was done, he gave a little fist-pump and an audible (happy) "I did it!"  Another mom was shocked to see her normally shy daughter position herself as first in line because she was so excited for the day.  One more mom told about a daughter who wanted something special to wear to the event - "Something white to match how my soul is going to be."  She was excited that the dress she found also had light blue stripes because, "blue is Mary's color and I know Mary is going to be there to help me do a good job."  
6. These people were there.  I never get tired of seeing them out and about, looking completely healthy.  Every step of his recovery is a little miraculous story of grace.  Pray for him as he starts back to work this week.
7. Saturday evening was ARCHES bingo.  This was my view for the first half until pizza sold out.

This Week's Update: January 16

1. I literally laughed out loud when uploading the Catechist Training video from yesterday and getting a thumbnail view of the year.  Yes, this is what I was wearing the past three months.  Laurie and Marissa suggested I get a purple one for the upcoming Lenten season. ;-)
2. After this posted on Monday, someone on our co-op chat loop sent out an email to anyone interested in trying it with our group.  Before committing to 40 of them (the target number), I thought I'd better try one to see if I was about to embarrass myself.  Using a woodburner and colored pencils, I created copied a pretty decent Immaculate Heart of Mary.  Guess I'm in.
3. When I got to work on Thursday, I found this surprise from Lisa at Highlight Printing.  Besides a little bundle of perfect chocolates, there's an invitation for the Family Formation team to go to lunch the restaurant of our choice.  It's worth noting that all three choices are well out of our collective regular restaurant price ranges, so we're looking forward to a treat with Lisa soon!
4. These guys who share a Baptism day week!
5. I finally got the finishing touch on my office with this set of Sacred/Immaculate Heart prints.  I've had them pinned for about a year, so it was nice to finally find a place for them!
6. Amusing, but only because this is the bathroom I do not typically use.  The two other adults who live here, both of whom are capable of manipulating a spring-loaded cylinder, are responsible for this room.  Yeah.

This Week's Update: January 9

I feel inspired.

Or perhaps the gauntlet has been thrown.  Either way, for at least a bit of time I'm hoping to blog more regularly and I'm starting with a simple system to do so thanks to PicMonkey and simple explanations.

1. Holiday events are over and it's really cold around here, so it's time to start working on Nick's quilt again.  After a marathon weekend quilting session, the hand quilting is done and the machine quilting is going to work really well with simple straight lines following the sashing.
2. The Epiphany Pageant is back at church.  This time though there are no rehearsals, no intimidating costumes, an insanely simple program, and everyone is involved.  It also helped that someone was motivated to handle all the details of this event from start to finish.  Jen, I could have saved the Star someone made for your Star Dance year, but it was huge and I wanted to clean the cabinet and I did not want to bring it home so ... let's just say that we'll have to rely on memories.
3. I've had a perfectly lovely time buying this and that for Baby Gerardi who's due in only 36 days.  36!  I don't know how I'm going to wait until mid-March to meet the little darling.
4. I'm reading the Secret Diary of Elisabeth Leseur for my Well-Read-Mom book club.  The book is interesting enough, but it was impossible to find a copy for loan or for sale so I ended up buying a Kindle version.  I'm glad it was an option, but I'm not much of a fan of the method.
5. Happy news of the day on Wednesday: the Archdiocesan Vocations Office likes Family Formation!
6. I was talking with someone at church about the general topic of nativity sets and ended up with her giving me a fairly extensive set with figures about 10 inches high.  It's set up in the bay window (a space big enough for all the livestock, the well, the feeding troth, etc.) with the Wise Guys peeking down from the corner of the bookshelf.
7. In Holly's "goals" post she mentioned her competitive tendencies being the motivation behind friending me in the FitBit app.  I'm glad to try to kick her butt in steps, but in all fairness I should probably tell her that my exercise plan involves drinking lots of water at my desk and taking the longer route to the bathroom.  Let's just say that there's not going to be a trophy for beating me.
8. A good, but mostly unremarkable Enchilada Soup recipe, except for one feature: one of the ingredients is chicken, but instead of cutting up raw chicken when I really wanted to get out the door, the whole breast is just dumped in the crock pot with the rest of the ingredients.  Before it's served, simply scoop out the whole thing, cut it cross grain in a few places, and it falls apart into a perfect soup meat.  It was a great method!

Chipping away at the garage

In the interest of actually being able to use some small portion of the garage for a project every now and then, I've decided to make a stab at claiming a bit of the little garage.  Some stuff is in the trash, some is in the jeep awaiting a Goodwill stop and the rest ended up on the new shelf.. Yes, a NEW SHELF!  (You're probably not as excited about that as I am.)  We went to Menards with the intention of buying lumber and brackets to match the shelf that all the outdoor toys are on, but came home with something entirely different.

This metal shelf system only cost a little more than the original plan and literally snapped together in about half an hour.  It holds a lot more weight than we're ever going to stack on it (see that generator on the top right shelf?) and should pretty much last forever.  No clean up, done the same day - about as painless as garage cleaning can get!

On the opposite wall, we installed the pegboard that used to be in the sewing room.  The stated intention is that it will be a good place to store woodworking tools.  The secret intention is that I might be able to find a hammer, screwdriver, pliers, and tape measure.  Seriously, we own a dozen tape measures, but I can never find one in the other garage!  [end rant]  The table is a great workbench and there is storage space on the side for a router, sanders, etc.

Office remake

I wish I'd taken a before picture; unfortunately, the office was so dark and gloomy it may have sucked all the light out of the photo.

With gloomy, gloomy winter coming up, I knew I had to do something to make it into a place I could work.  Fortunately, the building maintenance guy is merciful and made time to paint the room a nice, sunny yellow.

3/8 inch plywood, cheap batting, cotton fabric, staple gun

Adorable boys on the desktop background

From there, I added a wall of flowery message boards, got rid of two huge, window-blocking file cabinets, scrounged the building for a more user friendly storage system, and added a cute rug.

Rugs USA - highly recommended!
This is a small rug, but 100% wool and free shipping for $17.
Amazing prices and the two I've bought there are both great quality.

The primary goal is to not hate every minute I spend in that room (guessing that would affect productivity), and for people to actually come in, sit down and chat. (Thanks for the great example, Trudy!)  I still need to get some stuff on the walls, but it's pretty terrific so far!

Now all I need is a dress form ...

I'm always simultaneously attracted to and skeptical of Montessori methods. (It's so peaceful and orderly, but do real kids actually play that way without massive intervention from grown ups?  Also, all the Montessori-at-home blogs I've ever seen involve very small families - one, maybe two children tops.)  Anyway, it's indisputable that the materials are simply wonderful - beautiful, durable, practical - all so very attractive!

This is no exception and the directions are free online.  I can absolutely imagine Bean and Peanut and little Trailmix updating their little home altars with what Father will be wearing tomorrow. :)

Now all I need is a dress form that doesn't look like a Barbie doll.