Mommie Marzie

We’ve been having crazy weather. Yesterday the rain started aroun 4:30 PM. We had rain off and on all night. It’s good because we don’t have to water the lawn. Not that we’ve been good at it (yeah, you can tell in the picture). It’d be so much easier if we had underground sprinklers.

Today it has been hot and humid. YUCK! We took a trip to Redmond for groceries and Wal-Mart. Thank goodness for air conditioning in the truck! While at Wal-Mart the boys found this Transformers print. So after it gets prewashed it’s going to be made into PJs.

At the grocery store the cashier was almost done scanning all my items when the power went out. I just started laughing thinking that we’d have to start all over. Luckily Safeway hooks up their cash registers to backup generators so he could just keep on scanning. 

I need advice here. My oldest, Sai, has had a tough couple of days. I’m not sure what to do with him. Yesterday I was gone most of the day so Joe stayed home with the boys. I think he found out how hard it really is to be home alone with them all day. (Confession time: I am just starting a part-time job to help us get more stable after Joe’s heart attack and bypass surgery. So I was gone all day attending orientation. My regular work hours will be evenings after Joe gets home and weekends.) Joe said that they had quite the blow-up that morning which ended up with Sai on his bed for an hour. And even after I got home he was pushing all the wrong buttons. He got punished with not TV and no movies. Today hasn’t been much better. He was OK while we were in Wal-Mart but at the grocery store I was almost ready to leave my full cart of food and haul the boys out to the truck to go home. And even now that we are home he’s being a pain. Mostly he’s not listening and throwing tantrums when I tell him no. Joe thinks it could be him trying to deal with me going back to work. I think it could be that he’s more than ready to go back to school. I’m just a little frustrated and not sure what to do with him. What do I do with him?!!

And now Jay is being like Sai. I tell him no and he whines/cries “I want to!” ARGH! I’m going crazy with these two! Calgon Take Me Away!!!

Growing up the “F” word in our house was fart. We were not allowed to say it. Instead, we said “fluffer”. And I know I have at least one brother-in-law who purposefully taught his kids to say fart just to bug my mom. I never consciously made a decision either way. So yesterday morning Sai says to me something like “That was a stinky fart!” And what do I say back to him? “We don’t say ‘fart’, we say ‘toot’.” AHHHHH!!!! I’m turning into my mom!

I told Joe about this incident and he says that I better stop because he married me, not my mom. And then he kept saying “fart” just to tease me. It’s kind of weird how many things I do that I realize are like my mom. I love my mom a lot so it’s not a bad thing to be like my mom, but it just startles me when I realize that I’ve done something my mom would. Like, I’m starting to really like sewing and quilting. And when I cough I think I sound just like my mom. And my feet are looking more and more like my mom’s. See, I’m turning into my mom.

Well, getting up is getting easier for us. The boys woke up promptly at 7:30 this morning. And our routine took about a half hour. So things are looking good. It’s amazing how much we can get done by 10:00 when we wake up early! I just like sleeping in, though.

And yesterday I tried out my new sewing machine feet. I was nearly giggling out loud because I had so much fun! I made a little Nemo tote for Jay. I did some free-form quilting. It didn’t look great but it was fun! Then I used the walking foot to do the strap and then add the strap to the tote. I’m going to have SEW much fun!

Yesterday I was all-consumed with my sewing machine. I spent about 5 hours sewing. I let the boys watch movies while I sewed. (I’m feeling like a bad mom now though.) So what consumed me so? This table runner.

I was inspired by the Tumbling Leaves pattern in the latest Quilts and More magazine. But I didn’t want a wall hanging that I would never hang up. So I figured out what I would need to make a table runner. And I wanted it to look like the color of falling leaves so I used reds, oranges and yellows.

I had a lot of fun putting it together. I even put together bias binding (man, I still need my mom’s help figuring that out because I know I did it wrong) and the back. I just need to machine quilt it.

And now I can because my new sewing machine attachments finally arrived last night–after I put the sewing machine away for the day. So I didn’t get to play with them. I’m planning on playing with them today to figure it all out before I machine quilt the table runner. YAY! So excited!! (Thanks for the b-day present, Nann!!!)

I talked to Sai’s Kindergarten teacher today, Mrs. Strong. We are meeting with her next Tuesday. The meeting is for them to officially meet–he’s met her before because she is his best bud’s aunt. And also so Sai can see the classroom and get acquainted with the school. We’ll also be dropping off his school supplies. YAY!!! He’ll start school on the 10th.

I hope Jay will be OK once Sai goes back to school. It will be so much different since Sai will be gone from 8 to 3. He’s so used to following Sai around all day and playing with his big brother. But I’m sure we will have fun together, just the two of us. We’ll start going to story time again to help us fill out our week. And we’ll go grocery shopping which will be awesome for me since I won’t be dragging two kids around the store.

Oh, and we’ve been practicing getting up and getting ready. Oh My! Yesterday, I didn’t hear the alarm so we woke up at 8:30. This morning I hit snooze once and got up at 7:40. It took about 15 minutes to get both of the boys out of bed! If things don’t get easier I’m going to have to get up before 7 to get Sai to school by 8. AH! It shouldn’t take that long. All he has to do is eat breakfast, brush teeth, wash face, make bed, get dressed. We’ll see how the rest of the week goes.

Sai also got his soccer uniform. It’s so sweet. His colors are maroon and gold. With black shorts and maroon socks. He’s going to look so cool!! We haven’t tried it on yet. I’m saving it for his first game on the 8th.

Hey all you Etsy lovers! My friend Mindy has opened an Etsy shop called Velours Rouge. It’s awesome. She makes jewelry. She uses a lot of cool stones and other interesting elements. My favorite piece is this one.

And I love Mindy’s descriptions. Like the one for this piece says “This necklace is fun to wear. It is casual and cool. The pendant is carved wood with a flower motif. The turquoise is delicate and light weight. Looks great with a shirt and jeans.“

This morning the boys and I have been busy. We’ve been making a checklist for getting ready in the morning. I asked Sai what things we should do in the morning to get ready for school. We wrote them down, with lots of suggestions from me like brushing teeth, and we took pictures of him doing it. I had to take pictures of Jay, too, because he’ll want one too. Then I made a check list in Word and inserted the pictures. I printed it out and put it in a page protector so he can use a dry erase marker to make checks when he is done with each task in the morning. We are going to practice the checklist next week. I can’t believe school is going to start so soon!

The new Better Homes and Garden’s Quilts and More was supposed to be on newsstands two days ago and I’ve seen it on someones blog. 

I. Can’t. Find. It. Grrrrr…

I’ve been to Safeway, Bi-Mart, Walgreens and RiteAid. And RiteAid usually carries it and I can’t imagine that they would sell out of it in two days. I guess I’m going to have to talk Joe into going into Bend this weekend so I can visit Barnes and Noble to see if they have it. I wish they would just let you subscribe to this one! I’d pay for the subscription!

And I’m impatiently waiting for UPS to deliver the additional feet for my sewing machine that my sister got me for my birthday. I check the tracking every day and it hasn’t changed! The last entry on the tracking was on the 17th and it says that it is scheduled to be delivered tomorrow. I really hope so because I’m so excited to try them out!

We have had the best weather since Saturday. It started getting really cool on Saturday. Sunday and Monday we had rain. And then it has only gotten as high as the 80s the last few days. It’s been so nice! I haven’t turned the AC on, well, I’ve turned fans on, but not the AC. I’m so hoping that it doesn’t get any hotter before the summer is over because this is just perfect weather!

Have you had a day like my day today? I started this morning and did the dishes, dusted, swept, mopped, vacuumed, picked up toys and shoes, did laundry, etc. And now. It doesn’t look like I did anything! *sigh* And speaking of vacuuming, I can plug my vacuum in by the front door and vacuum the WHOLE house without having to unplug it. Seriously. All carpeted surfaces can be reached from one outlet. It’s not a huge house, obviously, but just the right size for us.

And the guy we would buy Mexican bread from opened a bakery in our little town. YUM! We can get bread (conchitas are my favorite) any day of the week. We don’t have to buy enough to last a whole week when he would come around our neighborhood on Thursdays. Of course, door-to-door delivery is all gone now that he has opened his bakery.

My friend Mindy told me about this author, Stephenie Meyer. She has written the Twilight series for young adults that includes Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse. I’ve read the first two books and loved them! Unfortunately my local library did not buy book three that just came out. So now I want to buy all three books! 

Joe heard this song by Flight of the Conchords on the radio and had me find it on YouTube. If you’ve been in a long-term relationship you will probably find it very funny. I laughed nearly the whole time I watched. It’s not the video that is so funny, it’s the lyrics (although the video makes me laugh, too).

Here’s another little purse. This one of my own design. There are a few kinks I need to work out and then I’ll be happy with it. Once I work out the kinks I’m sure it won’t take me long to make. This one took about 3 hours from the time I cut it out until the time I finished it. If I make a few adjustments I think it will take about half the time.

I think we are finally ready for Kindergarten. YAY! Over the weekend Sai got a package from Grandma Marzan with long sleeve shirts–I haven’t been able to find any around here. And we got a package from Aunt Nanna with school supplies. And I finally found 5 oz cups. Every where I’d gone previously was sold out.

Today we went by Sai’s school and checked out the class list. His teacher is Mrs. Strong. So far there are only 14 students in his class, 9 males and 5 females and I didn’t recognize any of the other kids. But there is open registration this week for kids who moved in over the summer. So his class may get bigger.

On the sewing side of life I’ve been working on hand quilting a baby blanket. So not my thing. It’s taking me forever! And I just got some stretcher bars from my mom which will totally help out because this hoop just isn’t all that great. I’m using this awesome variegated thread that is pink and green like the fabric. At least that part will be cute.

What does that look like? Could it be the Pacific Ocean on my toes???

I’ve been wanting to go to the coast before Sai starts school. And we finally got our chance. It was very last minute, spur of the moment. We left on Thursday and got home yesterday afternoon.

Last time we went to Newport Sai was 3 and Jay was 10 months. This time they were 5 and 2. And the weather was perfect. I’ve never experienced such wonderful weather on the coast before.

I wanted to go to the Northern Oregon Coast but couldn’t get cheap accommodations on such a short notice. So we went to the Central Oregon Coast. We stayed in Newport. We went as far south as Florence and as far north as Lincoln City.

You can see the rest of the pictures here.

I started working on this little purse last night. I got all the pieces cut out and ready to sew. So this morning after breakfast I sewed it up. I thought it would be really quick but I had issues! The gussed that forms the sides and bottom was too short. Even with lots of pining and seam ripping it wasn’t perfect. But I think it turned out pretty cute any way. It’s pretty small but perfect for a little girl or for just your cell phone and small wallet.