Sewing for Cherubs

Priceless

Dress, found on sale rack: $65
Hairstyle: $9.98 (curling iron purchased at Target on the day of the dance)
Mega-Pack of toilet paper: $8 (also purchased at Target on the day of the dance)

Forgetting to clean up the clutter on the stairs before posing for photos: Priceless.

(Oh well, thank goodness for photo cropping. I hope you had a fun weekend too!)

Nice Ride

There are those moments when you are reminded just how much your life has changed.

Recently, The Bossman and I took the plunge and replaced our ten-year-old car with a mini-van. With three kids who are growing at an alarming rate, it was just getting too difficult squeezing them and their car seats into the back seat. I have sworn, for many years, that I would NEVER BE ONE OF THOSE MOMS WHO DRIVE A MINI-VAN. But now I am, and I do, and I love it, and there you go.

A couple weeks ago, as I was leaving a school function and walking to my van in the parking lot, a nearby Mom approvingly eyed my new wheels and said, with complete and total sincerity, "Nice ride!"

As I drove home, I pondered the fact that (a) I now hang out with people who are able to say "Nice ride!" about a mini-van with sincerity, and that (b) this compliment absolutely made my day. Yep, life sure changes, and so do we.

Pitter Patter

I had a perfectly lovely experience this afternoon. With my father available for babysitting duty, I snuck out of the house to go and use a pedicure gift certificate given to me by my thoughtful husband. He gave it to me for my birthday, which was ... um, quite a while ago. Better late than never? Besides, these pampered tootsies are just in time for flip-flop season.

I can't imagine why I didn't use the gift certificate earlier. Perhaps it has something to do with these feet:

Pampered

A big day is coming up for us moms. Maybe you will get handmade cards or flowers or be taken out to dinner. And maybe, if you are really lucky like me, you will be treated to a ball-pit footbath and a wooden-cucumber eye treatment.

Gifts from the heart are the best, aren't they? Happy Mother's Day to you all!

Does Guilt Burn Calories?

So. I think I've mentioned here that I am trying to get back into the exercise habit this year. After being thwarted for a couple weeks by spring break and various illnesses (mine and the kids'), I rose early yesterday morning, laced up my shoes, left the still-sleeping kids in my husband's very capable hands, and walked the neighborhood. I felt great, I felt energized, I felt de-stressed.

And then I got home. And The Princess cheerfully informed me, "Superman was soooo sad when he woke up and you weren't here."

If guilt burns calories, I should be in great shape in no time.

Poster-ize Yourself!

In honor of the inaugural festivities today, here is some good, clean, non-partisan fun. At "Obamicon Me", you can upload a photo of yourself and create an Obama-esque poster of yourself. Show your pride, make it cute, make it snarky, it's totally up to you! Here is mine:

 

Regardless of your political leanings, I think we are fortunate to have the opportunity to witness history in the making today. Have a wonderful day!

I am a January Cliche.

It is said that regular gym-goers feel varying degrees of annoyance at this time of year because of the influx of "newbies" who have made that stereotypical New Year's Resolution: to get in shape.

And yeah, this year I'm one of those.

So on behalf of all of us newbies, I'd like to offer an apology for those extra-long waits for the treadmills these days.

And if, by some chance, your New Year's Resolution was to develop a creative hobby, I promise not to get annoyed if I have to wait in line behind you at the fabric cutting table.

The Year of More

I don't always make New Year's Resolutions. It depends on how ambitious I'm feeling. This year, though, with my youngest child rapidly leaving the baby stage (and I'm definitely NOT sure how I feel about that), I'm starting to think my life may be able to re-attain some sort of rhythm and organization. So it seems like a good time to make some resolutions.

So far I've got these:

Read more.

Exercise more.

Sew more (for my family and maybe even myself).

Sleep more.

Hmm, do you see a pattern developing here? I think I'm going to need MORE hours in the day.

Got My Hair Did

OK, I admit it. As a busy and tired mommy of three, I've let the ol' beauty routine slip. Makeup? Stylish matching clothes? What's that? It's not that I don't care what I look like, it's just that I hang out with my kids all day and they think I'm pretty anyway. And my ever-loving husband (God bless that man) chases me around the house incessantly no matter what I look like.

But there is something to be said for taking care of ourselves. Someone once put it this way: "How much do you love your children?" (A lot, obviously.) "Then don't you think it's important to take care of their mother?" Hm. When you think about it that way, it puts a new perspective on things. And so, in the spirit of taking better care of ourselves, I "got my hair did" today.

 

Now it's your turn! What will you do to take care of your children's mother today?

Pleased to Meet You

OK, so I've been pondering how to celebrate my 100th post. (Which is this one right here, yep.)

In the short time I've been blogging, I've been amazed at all the people showing up from all over the world, just to read what I have to say. Amazing! And I have had so much fun telling you about my adventures in sewing and sharing a little bit about me and my family.

It occurs to me that you might like to put a face with a blog, so to speak. So without further ado, I would like to introduce myself pictorially. (Hopefully this does not send all of you running for the hills.)

So. This is me, in the exact place I always sit when I am blogging.  Please excuse the cheesy self-portraiture, but if I'd had this done professionally I'd have no money left over to do a giveaway. Oh yeah, more about that in a minute.

Perhaps if I'd had a professional do this, we'd have a more artsy profile pose such as this.

So anyway, about that giveaway. Because I am all about dragging other people into my fabric addiction sharing the love of sewing, I would like to award someone a $10 gift certificate to one of my favorite online fabric stores, Sewzanne's.  To be entered in the giveaway, just leave a comment on this post and tell me something interesting about yourself. I will leave comments open on this post for one week, and then I will close it and have one of my kids do a random drawing for me. I will announce the winner next week and e-mail the gift certificate to the address you provide in your comment, so make sure it's correct.

OK, enough already! You've seen enough of me.

Now tell me about you!