Jolly baby

Jared had this Monday and Tuesday off work because his aunt and uncle were in town. We spent wonderful time with them both days they were here. But mostly we stayed at the house and relaxed (as much as you can with tooth pain). 

 I am so thankful that Jared was home this weekend and Monday and Tuesday as I am battling an abscess tooth and the boys both have had digestive problems. When it rains it pours. I am so grateful for a husband that cheerfully handles whatever is thrown at him. It wasn't the best way to spend a vacation. :) 

This is a photo of the very moment that the lady at Chick-fil-A told us that, "she looks just like her older brother". 

I just love the baby's face in this one. 

We have ESL, a harvest party, helping someone move, and a baby shower in the near future. So, I won't be blogging much for the next two weeks. 

Sewing - nautical girls bibs

My sister had her first shower last night at church. I made two bibs and a teether doll (Both boys have loved munching on the legs of the one I made them). I didn't have time to quilt the bibs, so I embroidered some little details on them while Jared and I did devotions Tuesday evening. 

It is funny how the boat turned out to be the nose of the doll. 

It is so great to be sewing again! 

A prototype - shoe rack

I plan to make a less rustic one from dowels in the future. I have been planning to make one for 4 or 5 years now. 

I like it. It helps clean up the space. 

I left enough space under it for the boys' shoes or my flats. 

As you can see we had a lot of sticks in the backyard. They are all from one tree. All those games of playing "Indians" in the backyard as a child came in handy.  It was a beautiful day to be outside this afternoon. 

A new recipe

I don't often have recipe fails and often I can repair a mistake easily. Not this one. I failed in so many areas yesterday with this cake: it didn't rise, it stuck to the pan, it was crumbly, the icing melted, I got crumbs In the icing, and the cake tried to split and slide off the plate (since it was made from broken pieces). A complete disaster. But it was too late to make anything else, so I brought it to Sunday evening dinner.  

The chocolate flavor was amazing! 

This picture was taken after we came home because I was in such a rush leaving for church. Poor three layered chocolate cake. 

Two hundred and forty

I have so many thought rolling around my head that could be blog posts, but they require a real keyboard to type up. It just doesn't work on a phone. 

So, instead you get a sneak peak of my latest quilt. 

I have had to cut and draw lines on 240 of these little squares. It was a daunting project that I finally finished today. Now I just have to sew all 240 of those squares to bigger squares. :) 

Happy Friday! We have company coming this weekend. I have been de cluttering my sewing room. It feels so good to put stuff away or throw it away. I also listed 19 books on half.com that have been sitting in a pile for two years waiting to be sold. I am glad some of them were worth something. 

Swing

Dear children,

Aren't you glad your mom is an engineer? :) 

Love,

Mom

P. S. Maybe we'll build a tree fort next summer. After we finish the chicken coop in the shed. 

Random ramblings

I love days where we have nothing to do (nothing can include grocery shopping and cleaning). I guess I mean days where we don't have to see anyone or be anywhere at a certain time. If you had asked me several years ago if I enjoyed just hanging out at my house, the answer would have been, "no!" During college I loved going places and doing things. Not now. Give me a sewing project or a good book or a favorite recipe! However, on the other hand, too many day without people and I get antsy. But too many days with people and I am worn out. I am split, but not evenly. Maybe 70% introverted and 30% extroverted or maybe 80/20.  I feel like so much of my life doesn't fall evenly into a category. Does anyone? Or are we all odd mixes of a bit of this and that? 

Moving on. I am so thankful when we can have the windows open!

Martin is "cooking". As long as the food stays in the containers and he puts everything back I don't have a problem with that. 

We woke up early this morning, went to the grocery store, put away all the groceries, made chili, unloaded and loaded the dishwasher, made a lasagna as a meal for someone, vacuumed, cleaned the bathroom, and put away clothes so far. 

Still to do:

Make bread dough

Work on my newest quilt 

Go outside and play

Cook dinner 

Grade labs (that is probably overly ambitious).  

Bump

They were both looking out the back window so nicely when I left the room... I came back to find the youngest one being slowly squashed into the clothes bin. 

These two. They keep me on my toes. 

Tax dollars

Some days I use my city tax dollars to hire a road crew to cut a hole in my road and then immediately fill it with dirt and repave it. It is a good way to entertain a two-year old. 

It reminds me of how the city sends the street sweeper the same morning, but BEFORE the trash truck comes. It makes no sense!!! 

Busy week

It was a busy week last week. We have another one this week. Thankfully, things slow down after that. All this rushing around is exhausting. 

(Thanks to Caitlin for the hilarious picture of the baby falling asleep during eating) 

Lab meeting at school

Of course we stopped to look at the construction (and eat goldfish) after the boys sat through an hour meeting without too much disruption. They are pretty sweet most of the time. 

Bible Memory and a great article!

First, I want to thank my parents for making me go to Awana classes for so many years. There were many nights (when I was older) that I didn't want to go because the other children were not friendly (it was at another church). But I am so thankful that I have so many verses memorized. And I need to pick up my old books from your house so I can start with Martin. 

Thank you also for making me memorize the first chapter of Philippians. It made me realize I could do longer passages. In the future I want to memorize the rest of the book with my children. 

It is wonderful to have verses pop into my head when I need them. I highly recommend scripture memorization. I should do more of it, especially of longer passages. 

Second, I have been having trouble falling a asleep at night the past couple of weeks. It is not every day, but usually a few days before lab starts (even though love it) or a day here and there when I am busy with ESL events (which I also love).  Anyhow, I have this little trick I thought I would share that I use to fall asleep. I go through the alphabet and think up a verse (or several) that start with each letter of the alphabet. I fell asleep somewhere around R or S last night. 

Last, you should read this blog post:

http://loriharris.me/2015/09/22/what-if-i-get-contact-burns/

If you need convincing, here is a quote:

"make no mistake about it, if you choose to stand in the lowly places, with the people the world has deemed unlovely, you will get burned. 
do it anyway."

"Behave like a citizen of heaven and spend your life on behalf of the marginalize."

I struggle with balancing that with time with my children. I am still sorting all that out. It could be a blog post someday... If you want more inspiration read:

Radical by David Platt

When Helping Hurts by Corbett and Fikkert

Honestly, I just want to stay home and build cardboard airplanes all the time with my children, but I don't think that is all God has called me to do. As I said, I am still trying to figure all of that out. 

Sherlock Holmes

There are two things that I sort of follow or collect: ampersands and Sherlock Holmes. With both I am not a fanatic and don't gather as much themed stuff as they sell.  I have collected a few ampersands that I think are attractive and have a place for in my house. As for Sherlock, I have the books, a few trivia books, the old PBS series on DVD, and a Baker Steeet sign in my kitchen (from my sister from our trip to London). My littlest sister just added these to my collection:

Thanks, Hope. These make me smile. I wish I could have worn them under my dress pants when I worked as an engineer. Actually, they would probably be welcomed into the chemistry department where I teach part time. Ha ha. 

Speaking of my chemistry lab, which I have now taught for 7 years (how am I that old?), I just love it! I have had the blessing of two years in a row of good students.  I love being on campus. I love teaching students. I have grown to love my lab material. I am so thankful that God had blessed me with the opportunity to teach once a week. 

Style

When you are a baby you can get away with an outfit like this. Ha ha. 

Busy week

I can't believe it is Thursday. This week has flown by. My sister had her baby (we probably won't meet him until November, but much of Monday and Tuesday was spent waiting for info and pictures about him - so exciting!!!), we spent almost 3 hours at the zoo/park, We went grocery shopping, we babysat 3 of my friend's kids for a few hours, I taught my first lab, Jared traveled for work for two days, we went to SAMs club, we printed off lots of things for ESL, we visited the cranes and excavators, I worked on some things for my other sister's baby shower, we cleaned the house...

The baby chewed on corn cobs and happily carried them around the house. I haven't even stopped to take any photos this week. This was from last weekend. Hopefully, next week will be a bit slower. And I am so thankful the weather is starting, just a bit, to cool down. Fall is my favorite season. 

What is your favorite season? 

Sewing

While the boys watched the Georgia game I worked on some sewing. I made a chemo cap and a head scarf (forgot to take a picture, but it was just a hemmed piece of fabric) for one of our friends who is battling cancer. I went over to the college to specifically print off these two patterns that I wanted to make, but when I got home neither pattern was in my printed papers. So, I will be trying to make some more hat/bonnet/scarf things next week. The flower on the side is made from vintage sheets. I love it. It clips on. It can be removed. I also sewed a tie on a onsie for the baby. 

The tie should have been a bit bigger. 

Zoo

Spur-of-the-moment we stopped at the zoo and park with Aunt Anna. 

I think the baby has had a growth spurt. He has seemed especially heavy and long the last two days. 

He is showing off two of his three teeth. 

Look how big he is! Who does he look like?!?

Thanks to Aunt Anna for the pictures!! 

Desk and Shelves

Before

Our filing cabinet and chair just collected dust and junk. Jared suggested a desk so that I could work on ESL emails more comfortably. I saw shelves above a desk on Apartment Therapy (and as anyone who reads my blog knows, I have a deep love of shelves). 

After

I am still working on arranging the items on shelves and the paint wasn't quite dry on the desk. I quickly threw some things on shelves so I could capture an after picture. 

Thanks to my handy husband for finishing another project for me. Next on the list is shelves (surprise surprise) in the   kitchen (after the molasses and baking powder mess, I finally came around to Jared's idea of shelves in the kitchen) and a tree house. :) Both projects are long term goals. Maybe you will see them next year. 

Thanks also to my husband for cleaning out my car during his day off and helping me put on an ESL lunch at church**. He is the best. I love him. 

**Thanks also to our good friend Wendy for her help. I couldn't have done it without either of you. They cleaned up the whole kitchen while I was putting away books and material. What a blessing. 

Funny story: I told people to bring a side or dessert. I ended up with four bags of rolls and seven desserts. So Wendy ran out and quickly bought some sides. :) 

Georgia

My favorite people! 

Happy Holiday weekend. 

Sneak peak

Chalkboard paint!!! 

More pictures next week once it cures. 

And now this is where I also talk about how these two goobers played with the "cooking flour" (aka baking powder) while I was standing in the kitchen shredding 20 pounds of BBQ chicken about five feet away from them. They are sure quiet when they are sneaky.  

I am beginning to think the little one is egging on the big one. Alhought, the big one opened the bottles of molasses and left them close to the baby so he would knock them over today... So it goes both ways. Those boys! I love them. 

We sat on the porch swing at the church office for a while this morning after I finished some ESL stuff.