Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Many hands make for light work and a delicious Thanksgiving meal!!

Here a few of the kids are peeling 20 pounds of potatoes but it will be worth it!



We have a huge table but seating all 16 of us does not leave a whole lot of elbow room.But we do this most meals so we are used to it.Actually this was Lily's first time eating at the actual table.She kept mistaking Josh's plate for a free-for-the-taking plate.



The serving line in the living room.




An AAAAA+ meal!!!

One Finished!

I finished one of the Doorway Puppet Theaters I was to make. I am about 70% done with the second one as well.I needed to clean up all my sewing mess to get ready for our Thanksgiving dinner so I will finish up tonight or tomorrow.I think it will only take me about 45 minutes to finish what is left.Of all the things I have made to sell these puppet theaters have sold the best.Well,not including my quilts.I'm talking about my many other odd and end type sewing things.I think that is very interesting.One of these two already sold.In all I sold 6 puppet theaters since mid August as a Buy It Now item on Ebay.

I have been thinking about writing down the directions for anyone interested in making one.It can be pretty inexpensive if you buy the supplies at Walmart or on sale at a fabric store.I have found Walmart is the cheapest though.The construction is very easy.

A few Random Pictures From Our Day

Elena took this picture of the purse Joyce made for Odell.Joyce is working on her hand sewing.She really is good.She usually uses a whip stitch but she used a straight stitch on this purse.Her straight stitches are very even and small.She even included some applique.Great job!She is pretty eager to sew with the sewing machine but I will let her continue hand sewing just a little longer.



Lily wearing her 'do-rag'.Is that how you spell it?Gotta keep that baby hair all neat and tidy!As you can see, Lily is not real fond of her new head attire.

How I Squeeze My Sewing In

Sometimes I get asked how do I get sewing done with 14 children.I do most of my sewing on Saturday and Sunday when Jeff is home or in the evenings.What a great patient husband Jeff is!My hobby can over run the house at times.I do try and squeeze some in while Jeff is at work especially if I am almost finished with a project.

Well,here is a little window into my afternoon today.I was working on making a few Doorway Puppet Theaters.As you view these pictures and look beyond the kids you will notice what I am not getting done around the house.Barb,this is why I do not do pick a piles on my blog...way to many!

Joel,Josh,Ekie,Anya,and Grace are making mosaic arts pictures at the table with me.Just in case you did not notice I am very messy when I sew.





Cyrus and Nolan are making photo copies of Cyrus's AWANA book.Nolan then copied his hand.



Joyce is braiding Naomi's hair. Odell is cutting yarn for Joyce.Joyce is weaving the yarn into Naomi's braids to hold pony beads.It is looking real cute!



Naomi relaxing as best she can as Joyce braids her hair.



Lily is taking a nap.
Elena is finishing up her math on my bed.
Grant and Alan are playing in their room.
Yes,and it is pretty quiet around here right now.
See it is not real hard to squeeze in a few sewing minutes here and there.
Now if I could only find the time to get rid of all the clutter! ;-)

My Rag Quilt

I set out to start my Christmas Sunbonnet Sue quilt tonight but realized I bought the wrong type of thermo-bond!I bought the strong stuff not the thermo-bond light.I thought maybe I could still use it but when I tested it I concluded my sweet Sunbonnet Sue appliques would feel too stiff.Not what I wanted.

I decided to try my hand at making a Rag Quilt instead.Has anyone ever tried making one?I heard it was easy but I personally thought it was rather hard.I was a little disappointed with how my rag quilt turned out.A few mistakes I did...not using a walking foot to sew the squares and not using a real small machine stitch.This will probably not be a quilt I try to make again.Some things I am driven to keep trying until I get it right but not this one.Maybe it is because I am not sure I care for the look.Of course,the kids like it but they are my greatest fans.Very loyal!

Now just because I thought this was a challenging quilt to make you might really enjoy it so here are the
Directions on how to make a rag quilt that I followed.The only change I made was that I used all large squares and not a mix of large and four patch squares.

Before I washed it.Every time I look at this particular picture I get a little dizzy!I took it at a very odd angle!



After I washed it.You can kind of see the ragged edges

Videos of the Week!

I have two cute videos this week.It's your lucky day!

Wasecian Cowgirl Lily

Lily is doing all that wild exersaucer rocking by herself. If this is a foreshadowing of her toddler years I will be very busy!



A quiet moment for Joel.He is singing to his new birthday bear he received from his grandparents. If you do not recognise the song he is singing it it My Father's House by Audio Adrenaline

Lily,Let's Sew!

What do I do with Lily when I sew?
Although it looks like she is enjoying herself she actually does not like sewing very much.I think she will learn to enjoy it...I hope...

Sewing Room Show and Tell

I did not get to my Sunbonnet Sue...sad...but I did get these done!

I also sold a Doorway Puppet Theater and my Hip To Be Square quilt!The quilt is going all the way to Australia!Very nice!I have been saving up my Etsy and Ebay sales to pay for a little extra fun thing for the boys which is a year long pass to the archery building at the fair grounds to practise their archery skills.The extra nice thing is they can use the archery club's equipment.I just about made it!Jeff did use a little of his pizza delivery tips to add the little extra I needed.The kids are very exited!

Grant's First Basketball Game

Grant had his first basketball game this afternoon.The game was in St. Peter.He was very nervouse but did well!Both the 8th grade A and B teams won.Great job Grant!

Happy 9th Birthday Nolan!

Joyce In The Kitchen

"Ma...I'm thinking I want to cook."

"What do you want to cook?"

"Something from Liberia"

"What is it?"

"Oh just a cake my Auntie makes."

"What does it have in it?"

"Hmmm...some flour,butter,baking powder,eggs..."

"Do you remember how much of each?"

"I don't know...12 eggs and I do not know the rest."

We decided on another cake recipe from one of our cookbooks and it tasted so good.Joyce is great in the kitchen.Now, this cake recipe is kind of a putzy one so I cheated and did not have Joyce follow the directions exactly.She could have done it all just fine but I was multi (more like quadruple) tasking and verbally guiding her from across the room.The cake was so good just the same and she was SO proud.

Hot Water Sponge Cake

4 eggs, separated
2 c. sugar, divided
1 c. hot water
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 c sifted flour (measure after sifting)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Beat egg whites by hand until stiff but not dry.Slowly stir in 1/4 c sugar. In separate bowl,beat egg yokes until light and lemon colored.Slowly add hot water and beat until mixture fills a large bowl.Gradually add in remaining sugar,lemon juice and vanilla.Sift together dry ingredients; stir into egg yoke mixture.Gently fold in the egg whites.Pour into ungreased tube cake pan.Start in cold oven and bake at 350 for about 1 hour or until lightly browned.

What do you think?

Well,I finished my handle bags.Pretty neat I think.They are actually reversible. I have enough extra of each fabric to make a little coin drawstring pouch out of each.I made one already.I am not a purse person but I love coordinating fabrics which makes this a fun project.It was tricky sewing around the handles and I broke one machine needle.I was pretty frustrated but after I changed the pattern a little the bags were very fast and easy to sew.



Here is another one of my brilliant crafty brainstorms.It is a little recycled lined sweater bag.It is the same pattern as the little drawstring pouch above but without the drawstring.Elena helped me make the pattern a while back.I have about a zillion more of this type waiting to be lined and finished.I went crazy cutting up sweaters and old jeans.One thing I learned by goofing up on the first few of these sweater bags was to add fusible interfacing to the wrong side of the sweater before you cut out the bag shape.



Now all I need to do is finish the little matching drawstring bags and I will start working on my Christmas Sunbonnet Sue.

Sunbonnet Sue

I forgot to tell you the reason I picked a cute Sunbonnet Sue as the picture on my previous post...My grandma Jean who lives down in Florida sent us up a bunch of fun material and lace.A few pieces are Christmas fabrics and it got me thinking about how cute it would be to make a Sunbonnet Sue Christmas style!Elena hunted through my quilt books and found my Sunbonnet Sue pattern.Oh, this will be fun.Now I am going to stay up late tonight and get a few odd and end projects finished up.I started working on four cute bamboo handle bags.I think I can get them done quick...Sunbonnet Sue you will be next!

I came to the conclusion that parenting is hard...really hard! I am sure those of you who are already parents are pretty shocked by the news...sorry to burst your bubble! I have narrowed down the things I think are the very hardest for me but I think my 'Number One' changes with each day.

Today I would say the very hardest thing about parenting are all those moment by moment judgement calls that come up.In my house there is rarely a moment when I do not have to make a decision on the fly.I make it...Mom decided.That is it.Final.The End... but little do the kids know on the inside I am shaking in my boots hoping the decision was right,fair,consistent,and all those other good parenting type words.Not one that would damage the child(ren) for life.It would be nice if there was some sort of computer program that I could use to punch in the problem or better yet the program would hear the problem as it is taking place and quick as a flash the perfect solution would come out.

Want to know today's issue...the main one anyway? The kids start getting ready for their Wednesday night AWANA on Tuesday.Rule..Each child is responsible to put ALL their own clothes,socks,shoes,books,etc out Tuesday ready to go for Wednesday.That means 11 piles lined up on our fireplace stone hearth.Fine and dandy.I do not like surprises like "mom ,I can not find any socks,or my AWANA vest is lost".I on the outside do not show much mercy.So when two children announced that they 'lost' their winter jackets five minutes before they were supposed to leave they stayed home and are as I write lying on their beds until everyone else is home.

On the outside I am unmovable but on the inside I feel SO bad...thoughts like maybe I should have let them go but endure the freezing weather without a jacket.Maybe I should have shown mercy and helped them look for their jackets.Maybe they will hate me forever.I bet their Liberian moms would have did this the right way.Maybe I should personally check all eleven piles to make sure everything is accounted for or at least verbally remind them. "Do you have this and this...double check and make sure.You do not want to miss AWANA".Isn't that what a loving mom would do and isn't it most important that they learn all they can about God by making it to church? See if Jeff was home he would have done something nice like bundle the children who lost their jackets in blankets or hunt for the mising items himself.Yes,he would have been extremely irritated just like I was but no one would have to miss AWANA.

Oh...this same type of thing comes up in different situations throughout each day.I pray a lot for God's wisdom but also ask for God to strengthen my feeble arms and weak knees so that I could run with perseverance the race marked out for me or in this case do my mom job the best I can. A mix of a few verses in Hebrews 12:1-13 Tina version but I think you get what I am trying to write.

My Sewing Room Show and Tell

Tonight I finished up the last three quilts from the pile of quilts I had waiting to add binding to.It is nice to have them done.I am very exited because I just found out that a woman bought three items from my Etsy shop tonight!One of the items she bought I just added yesterday.It is the red quilt in the first picture.So far I had six Etsy sales.It is real exiting.




After I finished binding the last three quilts I started on a few things I wanted to make for Nolan's birthday this week.Nolan really liked Joel's fleece blanket and asked if I could make him one for his birthday.He did not need to twist my arm!I tried to get a good picture of the blanket but did not have a whole lot of luck.The red looks pretty blah in the picture but it is very pretty in 'real life'.I used solid black fleece for the other side of the blanket.So cozy!




I also made Nolan a pair of drawstring pj bottoms.Nolan wants to be a cowboy when he grows up and I came across this real cute cowboy flannel material.The bottoms turned out very cute in a big nine year old boy way that is!Maybe I should have picked out a different color drawstring but I had a left over quilt binding strip just sitting there all lonely waiting for it's special purpose in life.No better purpose than being used in Nolan's pjs! I bought a blue sweatshirt to go with the pj bottoms.I think he will like his blanket and pj's.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

I am just worn out today!It has been a very long last few days.Jeff worked his extra job this past Thursday and Friday night which means he gets home very late so I was in charge of putting the kids to bed.It is usually Jeff's job but I do not mind because I get them to bed very fast...no books, no goofing around just off to bed.Jeff is much more fun when he puts the kids to bed.Anyway,Jeff had been having trouble with his little work car so he had to drive the big huge van all the way to Eagan both Thursday and Friday and that meant he also had to deliver pizzas at his second job with the big van.That must have been a sight.

I received a call late Friday night from Jeff and the bad news was now the big van had broken down and he was stuck up in Lakeville!I was just so beside myself,I even cried...I was selfishly looking forward to sleeping in Saturday morning and then having Jeff and the kids drive me to Mankato for a sale at the fabric store.I was kind of tired of kids and really needed a break...sigh...Jeff stayed in Lakeville overnight Friday to see if he could get the van fixed.When the repair guy looked at it Saturday morning he said it would cost about $500 to fix!Jeff took his chances and drove the van home unfixed.He made it home but our whole weekend plans changed,well really only my plans changed.Jeff did take the van out today with 7 of the kids to go to church.The van stalled once but he got it started.He had promised those 7 children they could spend their paper route money today after church.They were really looking forward to that.The van worked ok for their shopping trip to Owatonna.I was kind of feeling sorry for myself but got over it...well almost.I am not sure what Jeff will do about the van.He thinks he can find someone to fix it for less than $500.


A few neat things happened that I can mention...I sold one of my Christmas Fabric books.I was very exited about that.I also found a few minutes here and there to finish some of the pile of quilts that were waiting to be bound.I even listed them on Etsy.

Alan,Nolan, and I replaced the light switch in the girls' room.I was worried we would get electrocuted but we did not.Alan also got the ladder and replaced a few light bulbs that had been burned out for months.The boys' bedroom door broke off the hinges Friday night so I showed Cyrus how to hammer golf tees into the screw holes on the door frame and reattach the door hinges.Cyrus and Joyce thought that was a very neat trick.See when Jeff is gone the house seems to fall apart!I will mention the one thing I refused to do was unclog the clogged toilet.No way...that job waited until Jeff got home.He took care of it.

This afternoon the Moosehaufs (a local family with nine of their own children)brought us over the best dinner.Their church had leftovers from their afternoon meal.I still can not believe their thoughtfulness...Seventeen,yes seventeen stuffed pork chops,mashed potatoes,gravy,corn,and rolls.Jeff and the kids were SO glad.We ate more than our fill tonight!

I have a very busy week ahead of me.I have gotten pretty behind in schooling the kids and with cleaning.Lots of catching up this week.I am going to try to be very focused on getting a lot done before the holiday.Nolan's birthday is in a few days as well.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

I am very exited. because I received the bag that I traded a quilt for from Marcie Marie's Etsy shop today! Oh,Marcie Marie sure did a beautiful job! I am very pleased.

Alan was a little embarised because he was my bag model.I promised I would not show his face.He was a good sport!




Here is the quilt she traded for. I just hope she is as pleased with the quilt as I am with the bag!



Thank You Marcie Marie!