sew geeky

I decided last night that I will no longer let my big Christmas gift from years ago go to waste. My mom bought me a nice {not TOO nice, though... sometimes I'd rather not have a piece of technology that thinks for me} sewing machine when I expressed interest in the hobby. Well, I tried last year to sew up some diapers for Benjamin when the elastic gave out, and that was the first time I used the machine. And today was the second.

Last night I cleared a place in the laundry room for my machine and today I dusted it off and began my first ever actual sewing {not repairing} project. We went out to town yesterday and I bought material from Hobby Lobby - 2 prints - with the intent of making a luggage tag. But I wanted to start off with something a little simpler, so I decided to make a camera strap slipcover for my camera, using this tutorial.

After tracing and cutting and folding and ironing, I found out that I couldn't thread my machine correctly, and then couldn't find the manual.

Two YouTube videos and 45 minutes {yes, I know. and no, I'm not exaggerating} later, I finally got things working and this is the product of my labor:




That was before I clipped some of the stray threads. So, what do you think? I think it looks pertay good for my first go.

Other than that, today I have cleaned a bit {not as much as yesterday by any means} and have food in the crock pot for Lost Night tonight. For all you Losties, here's a question. Do you have a Lost shirt? {Insert joke: I did but then I found it - ba da ting!} Hubby ordered one for me last night... I won't spoil the surprise but it's pretty awesome. And here I was raggin' on the old Hubs for being a massive geek and buying a Lost shirt...

So either he is normal or I'm also a massive geek. Which do you think?

Yeah, me too.

normal Massive Geek.

Out and About

First of all... I don't watch Dancing with the Stars, but... Kate Gosselin? Seriously? I mean, it isn't like she has 8 children to raise or anything.

{Anyway}

I just wanted to share with you a couple pictures from today. I don't post very many pictures of Benjamin and Mariah, but today was monumental because we went grocery shopping with the pair, and prior to that we stopped by Target. For the most part, they both behaved.


I think Benjamin was a bit confused as to why he was forced to be a gentleman. hehe!


Don't let the looks of embarrassment or despair fool you. They were being very sweet together!

That was our day! I hope yours was well!

BabySteals

Hello blog friends! I hope you all are having a blessed Sunday! Tonight is the SuperBowl and while my husband is not a football fan, I can't help but to be excited! I predict constant texting with my dad throughout the game and that is probably going to be the most fun. I know, sounds weird! We are going to our friends' house for the game, as we don't have cable, so that is just added fun. I am rooting for the Colts - what's your team?

I wanted to drop a couple words real quick about a website we found recently. I think I'm in love with it. If anyone knows about the website Woot, you know it's a pretty good place to get a good deal. This website is similar to that one. It's called:



There is one item a day up for sale and so far I have seen some pretty awesome sales. There are things for baby and also for expecting mothers. You can get it so that they e-mail you every day with the new steal of the day. There is only one item per day which either they run out of or they I guess cycle through another day if they can't get rid of all the products. Just recently we bought Benjamin's new gDiapers for 51% off which we felt was an awesome deal! Keep your eye on that site, I'm serious!

Oh, and I'm not being paid to say any of this. I doubt they will know I wrote this blog about them. But I still wanted to spread the word to all of you mommies and mommy-to-be's.

I hope everyone has a safe and fun night if you are celebrating a Colts victory with us! ha!

the Fluff is the Stuff

Don't you love getting mail? I love getting things that come in lovely packages that don't fit right in your mailbox (and some even that do). My husband is the one who really likes to get the mail. Mail-time, if you remember, is a big to-do in this family.

Today was a wonderful mail day! It was raining nearly all day long and the mail still managed to come and make my day! You see, earlier this week my husband had come across the website Baby Steals and they had a 51% off package deal of 6 gDiapers cloth diapers! We snagged those babies up quick! And today they came!



Beautiful orange and vanilla bean diapers came for Benjamin... oh it's been a while since we've gotten Fluffy mail, and oh man! It was good!



Don't you just love them all lined up? Don't get excited, Tennessee fans (Stephanie, you especially!) - we are still Georgia Bulldawgs. These were the only colors! But they are still beautiful!





The inside of the diaper. We didn't buy inserts or refills. We have a slew of inserts here so hopefully those will work with these diapers. If not, we will see about getting some.



First time trying on his new diapers! Doesn't he look handsome in orange? It's funny because in bible class and even at home he is usually always drawn to orange things. And tonight he was just carrying his orange diapers around the room everywhere!



Don't you just love a fluffy bum?? I love the way the velcro goes around the back instead of the front. That way he can't pull at it and try to pull his diaper off. Yes, friends, he has done this before. And it hasn't always ended up pretty...



Ahh, Fluffy mail. How I missed thee! And this is probably it for a while, I'm afraid! Unless someone wants to send us some more?

Tonight I am listening with one ear to Rush being played from my husband's laptop as he sits across the room on the couch, and in the other the soothing sounds of my dishwasher. You'd all be proud of how clean I have kept the kitchen this week. Actually, my mom would be proud. I give her kitchen a run for her money! Oh yeah, mom! Let's have a contest! (She looks at my blog, you see...)

I do have a confession to make...




... All week long. And that isn't the half of it. But you know what? I am proud of myself for what I do get done. And I am no longer ashamed that my house isn't tidy all the time. You know it is something I struggle with internally, and something I've recently been trying to come to terms with. So my downstairs and about half of the upstairs is a bit messy. It's something I am working on, but it isn't something I am stressing about. And I feel very liberated posting those pictures. Thank you, Miranda, for inspiring me with your post.

A quick note on the watermarks. Those are going to be from here on out. Not necessarily the design (I'm trying to work up something more attractive). And you might notice I didn't put them on the pictures of my messy house. I'm not so sure I want to claim those... haha!

I'll claim this though...

A Comment About Comments

EDIT: Hooray, your comments are back!

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If you've noticed that your comments have vanished, never fear! I am installing a Disqus commenting system to see how that works for me, as it is the only kind I can get to work on my 365-blog. I figured I'd try it over here. Anyway, I'm in the process of importing comments to Disqus. So it is coming (hopefully)!

Just wanted to let you know! And also, I really appreciate every comment that you guys leave for me. I may not always get back to you, but I want you to know that I read all of them and really appreciate them!

That's all for now! I should get a post up sometime later tonight unless I get too busy with Benjamin's birthday party stuff. His party is tomorrow at 2! Whew!

Pet Peeve.

I have a few pet peeves. I can't stand it when people enter through the doors marked "Exit", and exit through the doors marked "Enter". It drives me crazy when people drive in the rain with their lights off, or fail to use their blinkers while turning. I could name a few others, but none of them come close to annoying me quite as much as my #1 pet peeve: Unhappy Christians.

I can't begin to describe how irritated I feel when I see or hear a Christian going on and on about how terrible their life is. I'm not saying we can't get angry or we can't have bad days or even that we can't vent (this is a sort of vent really). But there is something very wrong when a Christian claims to hate their life. Maybe we need to reevaluate what truly makes us happy in life. Perhaps we should remember that Christians have been washed by the blood of Jesus Christ, and have hope of heaven. Shouldn't that daily make us happy? No matter what happens, we aren't living for this life, but the next - and knowing that we have this hope... shouldn't that make everything else minor? This life is SO temporary. We don't need to forget that as Christians, we have been blessed with all the spiritual blessings (Ephesians 1:3).

Christians should be happy. I suggest any unhappy Christians listen to the sermon "I'm Blessed, Are You?" by Eric Owens. Study your bible, pray when you have troubles, and thank God daily for everything He has blessed you with.

Fleeting

It just is not fair how big my little baby Benjamin is. I took this picture today and realized that Benjamin is not itty bitty anymore. He is getting so big. He's only 10 months old - it is so not fair for a mommy to see her baby looking this big already!



See what I mean? So, moms out there, how do I make him stop growing so fast, eh? I know, I know ... impossible. Well. I thought it was worth at least a shot!

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As Benjamin has been getting older, he has inevitably been getting hurt a lot more, especially recently! This poor child has gotten hurt so often this past week. Just today he was standing (naked - somehow wiggled out of his diaper) next to his walk n' ride toy, and suddenly fell down. I always give him a moment to see if he is going to roll with the punches or not, and today he shrieked. So I knew something was wrong. I especially knew something was wrong when blood poured out of his mouth. Poor thing had chomped down on his tongue! Hubby was just leaving but I banged on the window for him to come back inside just to make sure Ben was okay. I gave him one of those waterbottle frozen inserts to lick on, and he enjoyed that!





He has so many teeth now, he's gotta train that tongue to keep out of the way (and those wobbly legs to stop all that wobbling!)! Oh, and that mark beside his eye is from where he randomly slammed his head onto my desk and cut the corner of his eye with the edge of the wood. Poor thing!

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I have been holding off for a while now on getting Benjamin's hair cut. He was born with so much, lost it all, and got his shock of blonde hair back in abundance! It's getting long now, and I'm finally giving in. So, as long as they don't ask for $15 to do a snip, snip here and a snip, snip there, tomorrow is the day! I hope I don't cry (I will, however, take pictures and keep a lock of hair).

This childhood thing is kind of fleeting, and I'm not really sure if I like it or not. I guess I'll get used to it, but I feel like Karen in her latest post, where she, mother of nine, said,

"Oh! How I wish I could just prop my eyelids open with toothpicks and focus on being more thankful for the little things in my life!"

I know how you feel, at least a smidgen.

Ben's childhood is already fleeting. I'm going to try not to blink!

Another Blog Award!

One thing I absolutely love about blogging is not only being able to share my thoughts with everyone (however scary they may be from time to time), but all the wonderful people I have met through blogging. I would have never guessed there is such a wonderful network of women out here who can come together through blogs!

I've been awarded another Bloggy Award by sweet Kate over at Called Out One! Thanks so much, Kate!!



So here are the rules:
1-Thank the person who nominated you for this award.
2-Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
3-Link to the person who nominated you for this award.
4-Name 7 things about yourself that people may not know.
5-Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers.
6-Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.
7-Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they've been nominated.


Seven things about me that people may not know ... hrrmm.

1. It has always been my biggest dream to write a novel and have it published. When I was home schooled, I did take a creative writing course called "Learn To Write the Novel Way" during which I wrote a novel. At the end of it, though, my computer crashed and all I have now is a hard copy with all the red marks after my dad had finished going through and editing. I still have it somewhere and I doubt I will ever bring myself to type it all up again.

2. Connected to the above, I spent the majority of my education in public school. By the time I hit the second half of my Sophomore year, I had had enough and I was educated at home from then on. I do plan on educating my children at home, provided the Government allows me to ...

3. I am a sports fan, though I do not get to watch games as we do not have cable. I support the Atlanta Braves, the Atlanta Falcons, the Georgia Bulldogs, the Chicago Bears, and the New England Patriots.

4. I have an irrational fear of large birds ... Parrot-sized and up. I've been chased down by peacocks (they are so mean), bitten by ducks (and also chased), and I was attacked by a parrot in a pet shop. It drew blood through a thick sweater.

5. I own every season of I Love Lucy there is to own, and I have watched every episode. You can say I'm a pretty big fan.

6. I have an irrational fear of Mascots ... as in, people wearing huge over-sized Mascot suits. I had a nightmare when I was very young (the first nightmare I remember having) where I went to my friend's birthday party and the Georgia Bulldog mascot was there giving Autographs. I went up to get an autograph, and it ate me. I now go out of my way to avoid them.

7. My favorite place on earth is Walterboro, South Carolina. It is a small town outside of Charleston. If you are ever in the area and you haven't been to Walterboro, you should stop by and go to the Drug Store downtown for a milkshake or a fountain drink. They also have the best hotdogs! My grandparents live there and I am looking forward to a vacation there in December!


Whew. Didn't know it would be that hard to think up stuff. I'm a little embarrassed about spilling my irrational fears, but oh well! I'm glad it's out in the open!

And now for my nominees!

1. Annie @ Mama Dweeb - Annie is a fun mama - she is just like me in that we both cloth diaper but use disposable wipes at the same time!
2. Sabrina @ A Day in the Life of Madeline's Mommy - Sabrina is the mommy of Madeline, who was born the same day as Benjamin!
3. Micah @ Adventures of a Not-So-Desperate Housewife - Micah is a new mommy to a very beautiful little girl, and a fellow preacher's wife!
4. Melanie @ Random Redhead - Melanie is marrying my brother in December and she is one of THE best friends I have! I love her to death and am thrilled that she will soon be a fellow preacher's wife! (and she needs to update her blog, AHEM!)
5. Heather @ Honest to Blog - I love Heather. She is so sweet! I love her blog because she is just so honest with herself!
6. Stephanie @ From the Inside Out and So, I'm Fat ... Now What? - Stephanie is one of the most beautiful people I know - inside and out - and I miss the GUTS out of her.
7. Amanda @ Love Like the Dickens - I think I've only met Amanda in passing at church one time, but I love her blog!!


That's it! I hope you all are having a great weekend and Lord's Day! I will have to make a post about the Fish Fry we had at the church building yesterday! It was a lot of fun.

Till then!

"Trials and Tribulations of Cloth Diapering"

I read this really great blog post about cloth diapers. Anyone considering should check it out. It ain't a picnic all the time, but it is so worth it.

Check it out.