Wednesday, February 26, 2014

A quilt for 1 (or 2)


I had the need to do a smaller project. The cat quilt is big and fiddly, plus, its black and white. Its really boring doing just black and white. This is probably why I headed down the road of vibrant colour with this one.


I should really go measure it, I think its 55 x 63, but I cant remember. Its a nice size for one or two people to cuddle under on the couch. I really wanted this one finished before the snow melted. These colours really pop against the melty snow.


I went with the grey as a backing and a splash of red. I really like figuring out the backing of a quilt. Using up scraps and leftovers to make something a little random.


See, isn't she pretty on the snow?

Sunday, February 23, 2014

7/52



Surprisingly enough, we got some snow here. Its the second snowfall this year.

The kids have been loving it. Begging as soon as they get up to go out and play. We're inside now, scarfing down grapes and getting warm again.

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Loitering at mcdonalds


Recently, I've taken to loitering at the McDonalds near our place. I've found that the secret to Sadie napping is that she NEEDS to run off a ton of energy. If she doesn't get out all the energy, that means no nap, and then after 5 pm she turns into a "threenager" - see this is why my three year old still needs naps if you need any more proof.   I don't care if she's almost 4, this girl gets in a foul place without her naps, and without being able to be outside 24/7. So, the kids and I walk down to McDonalds, I buy my obligatory large double double, and then they play.

And play.

AND PLAY!!!!!!

Meanwhile, I can relax, sip coffee and browse the internet to pass the time. Its fantastic. I always go around the slowest time, 10 am -11:30 ish. Theres maybe one or two kids there max. Sadie and Lucas make friends, teach the other children how to scream all the way down the slide and have a wild time.

Oh, and this one time, I saw one ridiculous grandparent try and make a business call on his phone while sitting in the play place. Foolish man. Theres no way you'll hear anything when the children get to the slide. I was secretly laughing at him in my head. Usually I'll be on twitter, tweeting these types of things, so check that out if you want live entertainment. 

So, this is my secret to keeping my sanity. Only twice a week, but its better than nothing.



6/52


Late again. I'm still going to stick with it though. We were having a bad day, so I filled the sinks and threw towels on the floor to mop up the swamp. They had a grand time. It allowed for me to finish this blog post and get dinner going.

Oh the little things.

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

a jumble of things


More black and white ideas are whirling around in my head. Sadly, I've only done 3 rows of my cat quilt. Its not getting finished as quickly as I'd like, but I've got other things coming up.

My sister in law and her husband are moving to Saskatchewan in a couple weeks, and so we're having our last games night here. I'm trying to clean things up a bit more, and get stuff baked. I'm hoping to bake a chocolate cake with salted caramel filling inside and then some lemon macarons.

Today I need to bake the cake and throw it in the freezer, and then measure out the macaron components. I find I'm less freaked out about making macarons if I measure out the ingredients by weight the day before. Doing it by weight is better apparently, and since I've had such success, I'll stick with it. Maybe I'll do the caramel filling for the cake and pop it in the fridge. It all depends on if the kids play nice today, or have a decent nap.

I found out that cleaning ahead of time is futile. A couple days ago I mopped the bathroom floor so I wouldn't have to the day before the games night. Well, that evening Lucas had an accident and peed all over my beautifully clean floor. He then trucked it all over the bathroom in effort to try and make it to the toilet. So yay for more mopping and clorox wipes.

So thats that. I bet I'll do more cat quilt after the weekend.

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

This is why my three year old still needs naps

Two days ago, Sadie was getting put down for a nap. She overheard that I was going shopping while she would be napping. That did not sit well with her. She started to cry, and then freak out, and because I just put Lucas to bed and was terrified that he'd wake up too (and I'd totally miss out on hitting the thrift store), I gave in. Yup, the start of my downfall. 

Sadie was surprisingly well behaved for the thrift store up until the end. I understood, and we headed home. She never rested on the couch, and instead tormented her brother and sassed us with bad attitude all evening. I was so grateful for bedtime when it came. She threw fits, and didn't want to go to bed. She stalled for half an hour. Longest half an hour EVER. 

So, after a late bedtime, she woke up the next day as early as I allow, which is 7. I took the kids for a much needed grocery trip. Usually I take a kid in a cart, and the other gets to walk which is a nice privilege. 

Beth took her walking and I had Lucas. After 5 minutes, I see Beth practically dragging Sadie, who is trying to bolt. So we switch kids. This is when it hits. Sadie arches her back and screams LET ME OUT OF HERE!!! LET ME OUT NOWWWW!!!! and then just screams at me. You know what? I'm not about to leave without getting groceries. I'm not abandoning my cart. I've got things to do. So, I calmly go throughout the store picking up things while Sadie screams at me, kicks her feet and thrashes in the cart to try and knock stuff off the shelves. Worst tantrum I've ever seen from her. Ever. She calmed down after a while, but Beth could hear us across the walmart. It was quite a sight. Thankfully it was pretty dead at walmart, but regardless, I'm sure I got evil looks. I don't really pay attention to much else other than the task at hand when the kids freak out. 

So, that day, Sadie had a good nap, and slept well that night, and gave me no grief. So, don't let them fool you when they try and get out of naps. Crazy children. 

Also, without naps, I'd get no time away from them, and those precious 2 hours a day is enough to keep me sane. 

I also really like taking naps on those kinds of days. 

Sunday, February 09, 2014

5/52



Crafts for Valentines day. Glue sticks were the highlight that day. They were purple, so whats not to love?

Wednesday, February 05, 2014

Started this yesterday


I have been loving black and white quilts lately, and finally I took a step in making one. Tried out this cat block, and I really love it. Tony hates cats, so its not for me, but maybe I'll make a mini quilt for myself. 

I used scraps of white fabric for this block as my white sheet is getting washed. That means a couple hours before I can really get into cutting for this quilt. Le sigh. I'll go read and have some tea while its drying. 

Tuesday, February 04, 2014

Pretty things and projects



I've got a few projects in the works. Theres a certain yellow quilt that I am half way done hand quilting. I really have procrastinated on that one, but hopefully this week I'll get a chunk more done. I also wanted to do a twin sized quilt, and I've got 2 ideas for it. This is also very good because have 2 twin sized battings waiting to be used. Flying Geese quilt for one. It will drive me mad, but I'll love it. The other will be black and white. That I'll do first. Might start this in a couple weeks, I've got a party to plan soon, and the house needs a good clean. Like, really needs to be super cleaned. It also means I'll need to put away all my excess quilting stuff that takes over the dining room. There are many rubbermaid bins and batting that are stacked beside my shelves. It all needs to be hidden in my room next week. So, until then, you'll get pictures of the kids until I start doing the twin quilts.

Saturday, February 01, 2014

Valentines Day Crafts


I thought it would be raining today, but it was really beautiful outside. We did one of our Valentines day crafts anyways since I had prepped the hearts last night.


I cut hearts out of cereal boxes and cut out the middles. Then I used clear contact paper in the middle so they could stick tissue paper to it. Sealed it with more contact paper and then we hung them in the windows as sun catchers. They loved them.