What I have been Making Lately...

I can not believe that school is starting soon! I guess it is a mix of bitter & sweet... "bitter" because I will miss the fun time I had with my kids and "sweet" because they are really ready to go back to school, even though they don't think they are... seriously!

Near the end of summer vacation, we had and will have some things going on. I have been busy for that.
I will share a couple things I have made lately today.

Project #1 : Troop flag

This was a little less... well not at all feminine project. I made this troop flag for my boys' scout troop. It is a new troop and they didn't have their flag. To order one it takes 4 to 6 weeks to get it, but they were leaving for scout camp soon. I needed to come up with something in a couple days!

After the piecing and appliqueing I did some stenciling (Michel helped to cut the words to make the template, and he did such a nice job!) with fabric paint. The middle part is all free hand drawing with a sharpie. This was not a project I usually choose to do, but hey, it is for my boys and the other boys in the troop. A mom's gotta do what a mom's gotta do, right?

Project #2 : Bedding for Rachel's Doll Bed

I found this bunk bed at a thrift store (for $4!!) for Rachel's 18" dolls several months ago. I wanted to make the bedding with her during the summer. It was the perfect time to work on it while my boys were away for their scout camp for a week! It was one of our mother & daughter activities last week.

Here is Rachel working on a blanket...

After a while she wanted to go and play instead of sewing. I said OK. I don't want our sewing sessions to be torture. It would be wonderful if she has a good feeling about sewing and keeps coming back for more and more...

So, here is the end result:

Making those tiny pillows was so much fun. Coming up with combinations of fabric and trim for this doll bed was really a fun creative process.

I added the finishing touches to this small crochet bear I made years ago. Every girl needs a teddy bear on their bed right?

Oh! The squeal Rachel made when she saw the bed was priceless. She was SO happy and excited about it. That night, I noticed that Rachel tucked her dolls in their bed (with the teddy bear on their side) and then she went to bed. That put a huge grin on my face. I am planning to make a sleeping bag for her dolls next.


I think once we are mothers, we feel amazing joy when we can provide (whatever that is) for our children, wouldn't you agree? I am not the best mother or anything and I have my moments, but hopefully they will remember the little things I did for them and always know that I love them. :)

A boy is made out of......

Many interesting conversations happen during the drive to our house. This is one of those stories.

Few days ago, I picked the boys up from school. In the back seat Michael was making disturbing noise with the spit in his mouth (Sorry if you are turned off by this imagery. If you are ok, please keep on reading).

me: Michael, that's disgusting, stop doing that.
M: But, mom, I have venom in my spit.

I was cought off gard by this and though, "what!? This boy is always something to say... oh boy.."

me: What do you mean?
M: It's true, the other day, I killed an ant with my venom at grandma's house!
me: You spit on an ant?
M: uh-huh
me: Well, Michael, I don't think the ant died from your venom. He drowned.
After a moment of silence.
M: NO, really, I have venom!!
me: Oh, OK let's tell daddy later.

I was trying not to laugh so hard! I wonder for how long he is going to believe that he is a venom boy. He is stubbern, so no matter what I say, he won't change his mind. I will just let him be. It's harmless.

After that I remembered the saying "Snips and snails and puppy dog tails, that's what little boys are made out of." I think they forgot to add venom.

Help Wanted

A few days ago I told the boys to clean up their room. Usually Christopher will start cleaning right away and he will finish the job. But Michael is going through the phase where he will drag his feet for a long time and won't do what I ask him to do. A couple of times I went back to check on the boys and went downstairs to cook dinner.

They were supposed to have been cleaning for about an hour, when Michael came to me and said, "Mom, would you give Christopher $5.00 from my spending money?"

Puzzled, I asked, "Why?"

"Well, I made a deal that I would give him my $5.00 and he would clean my part of the room".

Christopher chimed in, "No we didn't!"

I was trying not to laugh and said sternly, "Michael! Keeping your room clean is one of the things you have to do. Do it yourself."

He whined and dragging his feet went back up the stairs. Over the next little while, while I was preparing dinner, I kept thinking to myself, "Boy, where did he come up with that?" He's only six and is already trying to use his resources to solve his problems. How inventive! This is one of those moments that is both frustrating and funny at the same time. Well I guess Michael's first attempt to hire someone failed.

Parenting is not easy. Should I have just let him buy Christpher's services, if Christopher was willing? It is his money and he's gotta learn that the supply is limited. At the same time, he has to learn to work and carry his own wieght around here. Which lesson do I teach? Any one answer is not always the correct answer. And not every situation gets the same lesson.

I sighed and decided to worry about getting dinner prepared for that night.