12-gore denim skirt

The other evening I drafted a pattern for a 12-gore skirt following the instructions found here.  The next day I cut gores from worn out pairs of jeans!  Now I have a gorgeous denim gored skirt.

I used 1 1/2-inch wide elastic in the waist and designed it to sit on my hips rather than my true waist.  I’m so short waisted that if I wore bottoms at my actual waist…well, it wouldn’t be pretty!  I plan to reuse some of the original belt loops so I can wear a belt with it…let’s just say that a toddler and an elastic-waist skirt are a recipe for disaster!

You can see a few places where I removed pockets before cutting my gores – adds character, don’t you think?  And a skirt without a pocket is simply ill-conceived, so I reused a pocket from one of Hubby’s pairs of jeans.  Now I can carry my cell phone when I run errands!

A New Member of the Family…sort of

Meet Santa Budurdo, the newest member of our family.  For some reason, Miss M and Little Guy have decided that a pair of nose glasses (usually combined with a brown curly wig) is the costume of “Santa Budurdo.”  The imagination and ingenuity of children will never cease to amaze me!

Queen-sized Country panel quilt

A few months ago I was given some quilting panels featuring country style scenes of houses, barns, churches, and schools.  We’ve been wishing for a large quilt to cuddle under on the couch, so I designed a quilt around the panels and set to work.

Now quilting is not my forte!  I got the thing assembled without too much trouble, but trying to quilt a queen-sized quilt on a regular sewing machine falls somewhere between insanity and a feat of strength!

I pieced the back as well since fabric doesn’t usually come in “queen size.”  I bought quilt binding to finish it off ‘cause by that time I was ready to be DONE!  I took tons of shortcuts and there are loads of imperfections, but at least now we have a usable quilt!

Voice Level Poster

My kids are at that age where they have not yet learned to regulate their volume on their own.  I ran across a volume level chart here and thought it was a wonderful idea for use at home!  Most of the time when my kids wear me out it’s because of their noise.  Sensory overload gives me a headache that can only be relieved by a nap!

I used the adorable critters from Walk in the Woods at The Lilypad to illustrate my poster.  I love all of Kate Hadfield’s designs!

So, I told Miss M if you’re screaming and shouting on a walk in the woods, all you’ll see are toadstools.  If you use a loud voice, you might scare the old hoot owl.  A level speaking voice may allow you to see a bullfrog sitting on a stump.  If you use a soft whispering voice, you might spot the neighborhood fox!  And if you’re absolutely silent, even the deer may come out to visit.

If you’d like to give it a try at your house, just click the image above to download the file in pdf format.

Meal Planning Monday: a beginning

Monday: Beef stir fry with radishes, fresh greens, bell peppers, onions and carrots (all from CSA)
Tuesday: Potato soup and fresh breadsticks
Wednesday: Baked chicken, green salad, rice
Thursday: Meatless spaghetti
Friday: Butternut squash parmesan
Saturday: Leftovers
Sunday: Chicken fried rice with more CSA veggies

 

Meal Planning Monday

Monday: Pork chops, fried eggs, green beans, rice
Tuesday: Baked chicken breast, baby butternut squash, rice
Wednesday: Potato soup
Thursday: Southwest chicken w/ homemade salsa, corn chips
Friday: Stuffed acorn squash
Saturday: Leftovers
Sunday: Bean burritos

Working through Mudworks: Oily Dough 1

My mom bought this book years and years ago, probably shortly after it was published in 1989.  I can’t remember not having it around!  Recently, she loaned me her copy and I thought it would be fun to work our way through the recipes.  I may not get to all of them because some are not appropriate for my kids ages yet, but we’ll do many.  It’ll be a great activity for cold winter days or wet, muddy ones!

Today we made Oily Dough 1 which says it is “easy, models well, keeps well” and is appropriate for ages 1 and up.  It only has flour, salt, oil and water.  My kids are happily exploring it!

Meal Planning Monday

I used part of this week’s grocery budget last week to buy scrumptious peaches and plums on sale ($0.99 per pound is probably the cheapest we’ll see till next year!) and put up 12 jars of sliced peaches, some peach jelly, and plum butter.  I also bought cantaloupes at $0.99 each that I sliced up and put in the freezer.  So my menu will be based on a slightly smaller budget this week.  About $55 instead of $75.

Monday: Runzas
Tuesday: Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green salad
Wednesday: Corned beef, fried eggs, Brussels sprouts, rice = Hubby’s favorite meal!
Thursday: Chickpea curry and rice
Friday: Black bean burgers with sweet corn
Saturday: Leftovers
Sunday: Ham and potato casserole

 

Calvert Week in Review

Miss M enjoyed science most this week.  From the very first day she opened our Calvert box, she wanted to use the “themodeder” and she finally had her chance this week.  (I don’t let her play with stuff ahead of time or she’ll have nothing left to look forward to, right?)  She also loved charting people’s favorite fruits! I queried my friends and family on Facebook so we’d have a nice list to work from.

For literature this week, Miss M was supposed to listen to “The Blue Jay’s Nest,” but I had her read it to me instead. She does very well!  But she was heartbroken about the eggs that fell from the nest and were broken.  Kids have such marvelous sensitive spirits!

In social studies she viewed photos and drawings and identified the difference between the two. At first I think she was a bit befuddled by the concept, not because she couldn’t tell the difference between the two images, but because who ever thought of comparing them?  But she quickly caught on.  Maps were always one of my favorite things (“were”…who am I kidding?), but Miss M seemed to be ambivalent about our mapping activities this week. Could have just been the mood she was in.

She is supposed to be using a number line to solve her math problems this week, but so far she’s just figuring in her head and finding answers that way. I encouraged her to use the number line anyway because it’s good to have tools to help us solve more difficult problems we may encounter in the future!

Little Guy was underfoot quite a bit this week. I had to be creative in ways to keep him entertained!  Clay did the trick several times, also dry beans and a muffin tin, and some counters and kitchen tongs!

Wednesday will be Miss M’s Lesson 20 Test!  She’s excited about it! Don’t you just love homeschooling!?

Meal Planning Monday

Monday: Asian corn cakes, sweet potato casserole, rice
Tuesday: Hot roast beef sandwiches
Wednesday: Pancakes for supper!
Thursday: Oriental chicken in the crockpot, broccoli, rice
Friday: Chili
Saturday: Leftovers
Sunday: Chicken curry, rice