Sewing Day

Lately Tuesday has been sewing day. It is the only day of the week that I do not have anything to do so I sew. 

Today I hemmed up a dress that I got LAST SUMMER that was far too long. I made Hershey a Patriots shirt for the upcoming Super Bowl. I also turned a boring old gray t-shirt that I had lying around looking dull, into a cute little drape side shirt using a tutorial I found on Pinterest.

before

after

• In language lessons, Skittles answered some questions about a painting. Twizzler labeled singular and plural nouns. Hershey did some tracing pages. 
• In math Skittles is still working on his division. Twizzler is ACING his multiplication tables. Hershey colored some apples red and 
• In history we read a myth about King Minos and the Minotaur. 
• In science we looked up some trees in the field guide and wrote information about 2 of them in our journals. Twizzler chose the Live Oak and the Cabbage Palm, our state tree. 
• Twizzler read a story to me about a man who flew to Chad, Africa on a mission to deliver bibles and was almost killed. Skittles read about when Robin Hood fought a tanner and then the tanner joined the band of merry men. 
• Hershey has been wearing real undies all day and only had one accident. YAY! 

Pimp My Ride

Today I hung out by the sewing machine all day. I got some projects done that have been on my to-do list for a long time now like this steering wheel cover. I got the idea from Pinterest of course. I made mine a little different though. I was afraid that it would slip while steering so I got shelf liner from the Dollar Tree and sewed it on the inside of the material. 

I was blessed with a new-to-me car right before Christmas. I absolutely love my new ride. When I got it though, 3 of the 4 door panels had come off, I assume, from the Florida heat. So I got half a yard gray blizzard fleece and some spray adhesive. VOILA, new car interior in 10 minutes. 

School went so much better today. There was a lot less nagging from me and tears from the kids. 

• Twizzler copied a short poem in his Language Lessons. Skittles wrote an acrostic poem using his own name. 
• In math Twizzler learned about odd and even numbers. Skittles learned about thousands and thousandths. Both boys got a 91%. 
• The boys read some more about Samson from The Story. Each boy has their own copy that is suited to their age and reading abilities. Twizzler read from The Story for Children. Skittles read from The Story for Kids. Then they drew a picture of Samson and wrote about the time of the judges in their journals. 
• In science they did some research on diplodocus and recorded their findings in their journals. 
• Skittles read the chapter in Robin Hood when Robin fought Little John on the bridge. He did a great job with his oral narration but I could not help but laugh as I pictured the epic battle depicted in Robin Hood Men in Tights.  Twizzler read the second half of his story about Marta. Hershey and I read a book about animals. 

2 birds, 1 Stone

1. We started off the day by cleaning off the table, uh, I mean painting the table with shaving cream. It started off pretty tame with only Hershey and Twizzler drawing in their own small circles but then Skittles came in and squirted like the entire can of cream onto the table and chairs. My dining room furniture is nice and clean now and the kids had a blast. 
2. At lunch, Hershey managed to stick his bowl of chips onto the back door. LOL. Skittles was impressed that no chips had fallen out during the process.
   
3. This afternoon we went to the end of the year ceremony for Trail Life. Skittles received his Mountain Lion badge. Twizzler received his Hawk badge. Hershey just ran around the sanctuary and made a lot of noise. ugh. I went home with a headache. 
4. After a very brief rest, I got up and made dinner and sewed a diaper together for a friend of mine who had a baby girl yesterday. 
5. I made a salad and some spaghetti. The kids all voluntarily ate the salad first. It was pretty yummy. 
6. When bed time came around, I told the kids they had 10 minutes to get their bedrooms "inspection ready." They had been playing all day and I thought for sure there would be some kind of mess but even Hershey picked up his toys. When I came in to tuck them all in, both bedrooms looked just as great as they did on Friday night. 
7. So far the new sleeping arrangements are working out how I had hoped. Hershey now asks Twizzler to play with him. And before bed, Skittles and Twizzler hugged each other good night. 

Sew Much Fun

1. Twizzler got an A on his math. He was very proud of himself and announced his score with his hand in the air ready for a high five. 
2. Skittles started reading a new book. Henry and Ribsy by Beverly Cleary. I LOVE Bevelry Cleary books. When I was a kid, I read all of the Ramona series.
3. Hershey and I read a book about feelings a few times. By the third time through he was able to "read" it to me. 
4. In DC4K we learned about money. We learned about the difference between a want and a need. We talked about wasting money on things like leaving the light on when you are not in the room, buying junk food, and toys. Under needs, Twizzler wrote, "Mommy." That made my night. :D
5. Tonight when I told Hershey, "I love you." He replied, "I know." I said, "You know?" He said, "Uh huh, I make you happy." Then he gave me a big hug. 
6. Since I had the afternoon free, I was able to get some sewing done. Twizzler was watching me very intently so I asked him if he wanted to try. He jumped at the chance. 
   
7. Skittles has been asking to sew for about a year now. I have been starting him out with some hand stitching but today I let him try the machine. He sewed an entire soaker with just a little bit of help from me. He even pinned the material before stitching. 
   

When we were done I had 5 handmade soakers ready to go in the diapers I have been working on. 

        

Skittles asked me why I like sewing. I told him it is fun to me. It relaxes me and takes my mind off of the stress I am usually obsessing over. I love that when I am done, I have created something that is useful. It is special too because I made it myself. 

DIY Cloth Training Pants in 10 Steps

So here it is by popular demand.. ;) Okay my sister asked me to show her. LOL. Either way, if you want to see how I made Hershey's training pants, here ya go.

First, the tools you will need;

1. PUL fabric or fleece. I used PUL because it is more waterproof that way I can use these at night after he is day trained. You can get PUL from Joann's fabric. 
2. FOE elastic. You can get this at Joann's also. It is near the PUL. Babyville makes both. 
3.  A prefold. I used a REALLY thick Econobum prefold but you can use whatever you have on hand. 
4.  A rotary cutter and mat. You don't HAVE to have these. I mean, you can use a pair of scissors but I had to use a lot of pressure to cut through the prefold and I can't imagine having to do that with scissors. 
5. I also had a needle and thread, sewing machine, and lots of pins. 

Here we go.

Step 1: I cut my PUL so that it is just about 2 inches longer than my prefold but no wider.

Step 2: Then I cut out leg notches. You can probably eyeball it. I used a newborn diaper pattern as a template. I left 4 inches on the top and bottom. Be sure to leave it a bit wider in the back. 

Step 3: Then I cut out around the legs but I left about an inch around so that I could fold it over onto the diaper. 

Step 4: I cut the PUL halfway to the fabric in about 1-2 inch increments so that I could fold it over easily and pin it in place.

Step 5: I sewed everywhere that was pinned in a zig zag stitch. 

Step 6: I cut 2 pieces of FOE about 2/3 the width of the diaper. 

Step 7: I folded the FOE around the front and back. I stitched them on with the zigzag stitch as well, pulling as I sewed so that it stretched from end to end. 

Step 8: ( I didn't realize there were so many steps. LOL) I folded the ends together and stitched them. WARNING

I broke TWO needles on this part. I learned I needed a stronger needle to get through all this fabric. I suggest making sure you have a strong needle and/or just stitching from the elastic down. and then hand stitching the elastic. 

Step 9: I used my rotary cutter and trimmed off the excess fabric. 

Step 10: (because I like having a nice round number) Turn your training pants right side out and marvel at our craftiness. Revel in your crunchiness. Delight in your thriftiness. 

Homemade Cloth Training Pants

I make cloth diapers from time to time. I mostly make them for family and friends. Since Hershey has been showing interest in potty training, I decided to make him a pair of cloth training pants. I tried to get a picture of him wearing them but he is just too wiggly. Maybe one day I will share how I made them.. IF anyone is interested.

1. The big boys played outside most of the day. I love that my living room window and back door look directly out onto the playground. I am able to keep a close eye on them and give them a little bit of freedom as well. 
2. Hershey got an early birthday present from Grammy and Grampy. He got a scooter. Now he can follow his big brother's around when they are on their scooters. 

Day..... What day am I on???

We are still alive. We took the week off of school. Little Hershey caught a case of RSV. Twizzler and I got it soon after, well head colds anyway. It has been a rough week but I am happy to report that we are finally all on the mend. Skittles was spared the dreaded pestilence. He was bored to tears all week though. I am so thankful to our friends and family who helped keep him busy. Today he went on a hike through a swamp with our homeschool group thanks to a friend who offered to take him. He learned a lot and made some great observations. 

So since I have not blogged all week I will try to do a quick recap. 

1. Skittles was able to go to his first Trail Life meeting. He had such a great time. I heard all about it when he got home. 
2. The boys built a Lego city in their bedroom. It is pretty impressive in both size and detail. 
3. Hershey learned the hand movements to "Where is Thumbkin." 
4. A friend blessed us with a spaghetti dinner on the day I felt the worst. I had been dreading getting out of bed and cooking when she called and offered to bring me dinner. It was wonderful. 
5. I had time to make a new diaper for Hershey using some fabric left over from a pillow case I made for Twizzler and that super hero cape.  
6. The pediatrician saw the boys today for a follow-up and cleared them to go back out into the world. So tomorrow we can go to co-op. YAY!!! 

I made it through a week full of nebulizer treatments, lots of meds, and nearly no sleep but I made it. Hallelujah. 

Day 15 Captain Adorable

What a day!!!! This morning I had a bible study. This afternoon we had a birthday party. Tonight we went to Superhero Night at Chik-Fil-A. I bet you are wondering how I fit school into all this... Good question. After the birthday party I had about 2 1/2 hours to get the boys a bath, a snack, and get some school done. I put Hershey down for a nap and gave him a nebulizer treatment because he has been coughing today. While the baby slept, and the big boys did their English and math work, I threw together some superhero costumes. I cut out a mask and cape from some spare fleece material.  I paper clipped the cape to a romper that already had the words, "Captain Adorable" stamped onto the front. Voila! Free chicken dinner. 

1. Twizzler got 11 problems wrong in math today. When I went into the teacher page to see what happened, I realized he had skipped a whole lessons. OOPS!!! I think we will be going back and trying that again. 
2. In English the boys put more sentences together. Boring, I know but we are laying the groundwork for a lifetime of proper grammar. 
3. Twizzler's handwriting book FINALLY arrived!!! I have a confession. I thought I ordered it a few weeks ago. I waited the 10 days it said to expect for delivery and then I started to wonder where it was. I checked my bank account and the company had not taken money out. I called them up and found out that the order had never gone through in the first place. Oops! He did the first 2 pages tonight and he is very excited about it so far. 
4. I finally got around to the library to pick up Skittles new reading material. It is an adventure story about children in Norway who transported their town's gold down to ships on sleds right under the noses of German Nazis. It just so happens that Skittles is very interested in World War II. He could not wait to start reading.