finished projects

Those of you who know me well, know that I am the queen of unfinished projects.  For instance, 14 years ago I started a cross-stitch wedding sampler for Frank and I.  It's still not done (though it's getting really close).  The sad thing, I can think of two unfinished projects I have that are older than that.  I couldn't even tell you how many unfinished projects I have.  But, in the last week, I have completed 5 of them.

Two weeks ago, I started this sweater for Shianne and finished it a week ago.  It is crochet and it was a super easy pattern.  I thought it turned out so cute that I'm working on altering the pattern to make myself one.

This summer, I saw this fabric and just loved it, so I decided to make Shianne a new bag for her scriptures.  I just finished it yesterday, but she came down with the flu and didn't get to go to church today.

I bought this jacket about a year ago, but the sleeves are just a little too short.  So the other day, I found a pattern I liked for crochet lace and made some cuffs for the sleeves.

We have lived in our house for ten years and the only room that has ever had curtains in all that time, has been Shianne's room (and those were only up for a year or two).  I've wanted to put curtains in the living room, but cost and not knowing what I wanted have kept me from doing it.  About six months ago, I found some really cute curtain rods on clearance really cheap and bought them.  Then, this summer, I found this fabric really cheap and bought enough to do curtains, but didn't sit down to make them until this week.  I really like how they turned out.

Last year during Fall Break, mom and I had a sewing day where we both made one of these quilts to hang on the wall.  We got the tops completely finished, but I have just now done the quilting and put the binding on.  It will have to wait to be hung up till tomorrow though, since the kids are in bed and I don't want to wake them up by hammering nails into the wall.

cheer

This week, Shianne did the little girl cheer clinic at school.  They practice for several hours three times during the week, and then do a cheer and a pom routine at halftime during the game on Friday.  It was a very hectic week, especially since she had cheer on the day of her play and they overlapped a little.  Friday was so cold, and we about froze at the game.  As soon as her performance was over, we went home and made hot chocolate.  Shianne is a little hard to see in the video.  She's all the way at the back in bright blue pants, but she is often behind on of the older girls.

We were getting Shianne all dressed up for the game, and Dylan insisted on having his cheeks painted too.  He is quite the little fan.  We've gone to two games this year and he wants to know what all the numbers on the scoreboard mean, and the things they use to show how far they have to go to get a first down.  He got irritated last time because he saw all the high school boys with their chests painted and I wouldn't let him do it.

music man

This past Tuesday, the 5th grade at Shianne's school put on a super shortened version of "The Music Man" (seriously short, only ten minutes).  Shianne got to be in one of the main groups for one of the songs, and she had two lines as a salesman (the video only shows one).  The video's not great, especially since the man in front of me kept moving, but she did a really great job.

We got here dress at Goodwill for $5.  They didn't have anything that fit the part in little girl sizes and almost none of the adult dresses we looked at had size tags on them (or they were so worn you couldn't read them), but I only had to do a little altering to make it fit her pretty well.  She decorated the hat herself, but then forgot to wear it during the play.

vowels

Dylan has been very tight-lipped about what he learns at school.  He will tell me about lunch, recess, music, and PE.  When I ask him about what he did in class, he will usually only tell me about centers (which his teacher says are only about 40 minutes of the day).  So, it's been a little hard to know just what he's learning since kindergartner's don't bring a lot of work home.  But the other day, I was watching wheel of fortune.  One of the contestants bought an o, and Dylan said "That's a vowel, and if you put a vowel between two consonents it makes a short sound, and if you put it between two cosonents with a vowel on the other end it makes a long sound."  I was amazed.

strange bedfellows

As you might expect, our cats do not really like our dogs, but the puppy is always trying to play with the cats.  However, two of our cats seem to have decided that William (the puppy) may not be as bad as they first thought.  A couple of times over the last two weeks, Natasha (our Siamese) has actually tried to play with William.  Usually by sitting in a chair, safely out of his reach, and playfully swatting at him as he walks by.  William thinks it's fun, but keeps trying to get her to come down on the floor and play.  Arthur (our big black cat), rarely runs from William anymore and has even kissed his nose a couple of times.  Then, the other day, Arthur was napping on a towel in the bathroom.  William came in and laid down really close to Arthur didn't do anything.  In fact, Arthur got up to get a drink about ten minutes later and then laid right back down in the same spot next to William.

shianne's poem

Shianne wrote this poem for school about a week ago. She did such a good job, I wanted to share it. She had to complete starter sentences about herself to create the poem.

Shianne Wolfe
Funny,
Friendly,
Cool,

Wishes to be able to swim underwater for a long time,
Dreams of becoming a vet someday,
Wants to do ballet on Pointe,
Who wonders how lollipops are made,
Who fears roller coasters and heights,
Who is afraid of creepy-crawlies,
Who likes swimming,
Who believes if you dance you live longer,
Who loves my brother,
Who loves my family,
Who loves chocolate,
Who loves dancing,
Who loves animals,
Who plans to be a good mother,
Who plans to live for a long time,
Who plans to do good next year,
Who will be remembered for my humor.

crazy morning

So, last night I had to work for back to school night. I guess it really got me out of my routine since I apparently forgot to turn my alarm on last night. Frank woke up, looked at the clock, and woke me up 5 minutes before I was supposed to leave. Aghhh!! Somehow, Shianne, Dylan, and I all managed to leave (looking presentable) 15 minutes later and they didn't even miss the bus, which they catch at my school.