winner and nostalgia

my view this summer has been of this. (and yes i've purposely cropped my legs so they look like they last forever and are not short tater tot looking legs.)

and other pools in the area, and the parks, and behind the wheel driving to and from camps and what not.
i don't think i've stopped in the house for too long, except to do our morning routines.
sounds about right for this family. that's the way i like it. busy but not over scheduled, just simple, boring, busy.
i really love summers.
like
a
lot.
last summer i didn't get to really fully enjoy "our summer" because of all the moves and selling of houses, and trying to figure out where we were going to live, and then stressing over the move across country when we did decide where we were going to live, and then having to say goodbye to everything we ever knew...but...
...BUT...
whenever you go through something really hard, and trial-some, it gives you a new sense of happiness, and peace when you leave unrest, and rocky waters behind.
i have been feeling immensely blessed, can you tell?
i feel like i need to keep knocking on wood.
we are approaching our first anniversary living here in iowa, and aside from the weird garage sales starting on wednesdays instead of friday or saturday, and well some driving things (did you know they still have 55 mph here on the freeway?!) i can't complain.
i got a mild first winter.
i've re-found my love of hats again so my hair doesn't look like a cotton ball on my head with the humidity, and i've learned of mineral based powder and makeup...when i wear it in the humidity so i don't look like alice cooper anymore.

life.
is.
beautiful.
and i love my boring summer of wondering if we should grill once or twice or every night. and i love that my children have friends, they bug me to call to see if they can come to the pool with us, and i love that my husband loves his job, that his practice is doing well, and that i get to enjoy my very normal boring life.
i get to wake up.
we get to do our chore routine.
then i get to go somewhere with the kids to waste a few hours.
so that when we get home it doesn't feel like forever before dad gets home for dinner.
yes, i love my normal boring life.
i'm in a blissful happy place.
oh we miss our old happy place, that small middle of nowhere town that i still can imagine living in, but we are very happy that our new happy place will be a good place to be as well.
and hey, that little town and the people in it is one the ONLY reasons i keep my Facebook account open, so that i can feel like i still live on my little road, just around the corner from the first house we owned (with the cows those stupid swear word goats) and just a few blocks from everyone we knew.
yeah, i miss you little of nowhere town, please know you will never be forgotten, but that we're doing okay. :) till we meet again right? ;)

now for a winner of that book i was talking about last week:

winner of the more take 5 book is:

~ Julie ~ said...

My plans for the fall are to make my neighborhood Christmas gifts! I just know I'll be on top of things this year and get everything for Christmas done early so I can enjoy the holidays without the pressure of last-minute gifts! (Yeah, right!) I have some snowman fabric already bought to make some cute mug rugs for everyone's hot chocolate mugs! Thanks for the opportunity to win such a great book! :)

thank you all for playing.

i'm sorry its been a little on the quiet side on the project front, but i'm really enjoying living life outside and with my family. i'll be throwing in a project or two perhaps if i so fancy. the girl noisemaker is starting to bug me to do more sewing, so perhaps we will...or maybe we'll paint. we shall see how it goes.

all i know is that this is a wonderful time in my life, and i can do a lot of working when all 4 of the kiddos are in school this fall. (ahhhhh! the day has come when i have no kids home during the day? what?!)
so for now, perhaps i'll babble of silly things. like how ridiculously happy i am with boring, and normal. :D

V and Co: book giveaway: more take 5 quilts

good morning friends! today i am popping in really quickly to talk about a fabulous book. if you've heard of take 5 quilts by the every talented kathy brown, then you are probably just as excited to hear theres MORE take 5 quilts now available! whoot!
come and read more about this book and enter to win a copy! 

once again...target...thank you

 for seriously once again, making my money fly out of my pocket faster than i can make it.

 these adorable decorative tapes come in a variety of colors and is available at your local target.
 and once again i will say it...

target i love you but you are freaking me out with how evil you are.
stop it. this relationship is becoming quite unhealthy.
can't wait to see what you throw at me next.

V and Co: how to: hexagon appliqued bag

 this last week i was able to play with some of lotta's fabric called bella. (i added a couple of mine into there as well as some solid fabrics to give it a fun mix)
hexagons are really cool, i love hexagons. i've shown my love of them with a few pics throughout the years like here. and here.
i have been working on a few hexagon ideas, and am still working on them throughout this summer, but here's a fun little project (and fast!) involving appliqueing hexagons onto a canvas bag.

my way of appliqueing is super fast and makes it so it looks like you have totally slaved away doing needle turn when in fact you are sewing your hexagons onto pellon interfacing and creating the illusion of english paper or needle turn applique.
are you ready for it?
okay.
what you'll need:

 -1canvas bag found at walmart in the craft section. (i got mine in a pack of three)
- a variety of 5" squares (i used 9 squares, but take in mind if you make smaller hexes, you can get more from one block, if you make larger hexes you will need larger pieces of fabric)
- a Hexagon Ruler to create a 4.5" hexagon template
-Quilter's Plastic Template 12x12" 3/Pkg
-pellon 804 fusible light weight interfacing (it's dryer sheet weight) i found mine at hancocks, and i bought the bolt :)
-washable pen, iron
-thread in the color of your blocks for applique part of the project (close to the color of your blocks, it doesn't have to be exact match)

okay after you have created your hexagon template,  we are going to use our template and draw our hexagons on each of our 5" blocks.  i drew mine on the right side of the fabric.

next i cut out 5" x 5" blocks of the fusible webbing.
1. and placed it on top of my drawn side of the fabric
2. then i sewed on my drawn hexagon line.
3. and then i cut out my hexagons leaving around 1/8" to 1/4" seam allowance.
do this for all your hexagons.

-next i wanted to make a slit in my webbing in the middle, so i gently pulled the webbing away from the fabric, did a slit down the middle around 1" to 1 1/2" slit.
-gently pull through the fabric through your slit in the webbing.
-once you have turned it inside out, gently push out the corners making sure you don't break the webbing.

do this for all your hexagons.

now the fun part!
play around with your hexagons, make whatever design you want. really there is no limit, you don't need to worry about them all touching because you will be ironing them on and then appliqueing them...so do what you want!

i kind of wanted the tetris feel sooo i decided to have a few of them grouped together one almost locking in place and one falling down...

once i figured out where i wanted them, i ironed them down.
see how cool this is...
now you just have to get your matching thread and seal the deal by placing a few good applique stitches around each of the hexagons.
i show you how to applique here in this hand bag i showed you a little while ago. (scroll down to the applique section) :)

now you are pretty much ready to hit the beach, pool, park, or whatever scene with this totally cool tote.

i have to say i kind of like it. like a lot.

i have more fun summer ideas. just kids in the way of making them happen...and i'm really okay with that. ;) but i'll try.
we'll talk soon. :)

V and Co: garage sale season is upon us

 last year i scored big time at the end of the season with my awesome hexy table for $3. so this year of course i'm on a mission to find garage sale finds that i'm so excited about and will help me continue the decorating of this house.
sad to report that this year i've come up short thus far on furniture but have scored big time on some cute toys for the kids.

 first and foremost i found for $1 hungry hippos.
i totally remember playing this as a kid with my cousins and LOVING it. good times.

 as an adult i look at this game as the LOUDEST game i have ever seen. holy hannah, that's a lot of noise. and the kids' volume seems to need to get just as loud if not louder to hear each other or in the V and Co. kids just plain ol having LOUD fun. sheesh.
warning letting the kids play hungry hippo before 9 am will just make for a loud morning, and will set the tone for the rest of the day. i would save this for a time where the kids are lethargic, and if they aren't i suggest to do it outside, so you can hose them down with cold water from the hose. but that might get the neighbors looking at you strangely.

 while im in the living room i wanted to show you my very bland but closer to what i want mantel display, it's not made too many leaps and bounds but we're getting closer to a more decorated house.
still hate the paint (which you can't really see the color in this picture). it looks peach in our house. so i'm saving money AGAIN to paint it AGAIN.
this has caused a rift in the husband and my relationship because he just wont do what i tell him to and to basically drop everything and paint the whole house... AGAIN.
kidding. no rift, but the man keeps saying he can't see past the crazy that we just painted it less than 6 months ago...just to paint it again, a different shade, that i might just hate as well.
he's being difficult i know. >:P
maybe i'll get it done soon maybe i'll just deal with it for a while longer.

 okay so lets just say that my garage sale finds have mainly been geared girly things. i have not had very much success in the boy department. but we will continue to try to find things that my boys just have to have. but honestly...don't know what it is till i see it so we will continue the hunt.

okay, so first up we have barbie's car.
katie is all girl, but she freaking loooooooooooooves cars.
she likes polly pockets but wants the car that goes with the polly pocket.
she loves strawberry shorcake, lalaloopsy, and hello kitty.
and by george did you know they all have freaking cars? they do.

 

so when i saw this at the garage sale for $2 it was a no brain-er. bought. and loved

barbie likes to cruise around with her shoes and handbag in the trunk and with her second hand ken in tow as well. makes for great summer fun. :)

 okay now i have to let you in a little secret. i absolutely have a thing for all miniature toys. make it girly and you will get a squeal from me.
shut up that's why i kept trying for a girl so i could buy this crap and not have it look weird. okay? okay.
anywho, first up has got to by one of my favorite thing. my next door neighbor new that we katie liked hello kitty. so when she was getting ready for her garage sale she brought over this adorable little vintage hello kitty family set.
i started bouncing up and down, and speaking in a high pitch voice at the neighbor, to which she said "um it's for katie...okay?" yeah whatever.
katie loves the family, but i think i love it more.

 these little fisher price houses were actually found before we moved to iowa, but i had to include them. they were $1.50 each at a second hand store called deseret industries. if you are ever in utah, they are all over and they are a great place to find second hand stuff. :)

 oh look the hello kitty mommy is just the right size for the cute little houses.

 and once you open them up you see that there is a living room, dining room and a couple of bedrooms one being a nursery. sigh. i love it.
ahem, so does katie, she plays with it practically every day.

 okay and last but not least i had to show you these adorable little hello kitty "eggs"

 when you push the little button: the lids open up and you have a uber super mini hello kitty and friend doing fun and adorable cute things on tiny furniture and accessories.
yes, i know, i have an illness, the husband tells me every time i see a garage sale sign.

but whatever the case, for less than a bundle of money, joy is brought to both the person who likes to hunt the perfect finds, and the kids that like to play really noisy finds.
happy garage sale season.
i'm so not done yet. much to the husbands delight. haha. :)

V and Co: what our summer looks like

please excuse the fact that real life paper does not have spell check and i spelled vacuum wrong :)

last year our summer was all kinds of crazy and no schedule was had. i hated it. i am reminded that work well with schedules, and the best way for me and my children to keep to a schedule is to write it down and have it up and accessible for all to see and to be reminded.

so this summer we are incorporating what we've done summers past:

a pretty scheduled summer.

oh now don't roll your eyes at me and say "yeah, well, what if you can't stick to a super tight underwear up in a bunch kind of a schedule? i mean life happens!"

yes, i am the first to say " i KNOW life happens." oh man does it. like at least once a day if not once an hour life happens.

so here's the secret to my success:
i only stick to a super tight (well sort of tight but not really) schedule everyday, monday through saturday UNTIL 11 AM.
yup, after that its pretty much free for all.

but i try to be smart about it.
after our chores we have lunch...and then  because after lunch i kind of want to keep all the work we just totally did for the day still reasonably done longer than say .5 seconds after i say we are done, i pick one thing that we will do for a few hours away from home.
 like for example i buy a summer pool pass, make sure i stake out all parks (maybe even take a bike ride to the closer ones), and check out the free things going on during the summer that happen AFTER 11 AM.
oh and of course
and i threaten my children that if the chores on the schedule aren't done...no free time later on. oh and they know i will make up "crap work" just to keep going, that only had to happen one time for them to know i was serious. it.sucked.royally. (for all of us!) for a whole day. 

most of my kids are still in the age that i can totally rule over them (ie. none of them can drive and if they want anything i still am the ruler of their world muwahahaha.) and because they are all reasonably young (12 and younger) they totally still are excited to go places, like parks, and pools, and places with friends. normally i have just one that likes to throw a hissy (the oldest one, but he's been like that since birth, and pretty sure he'll be like that for the long haul) so i'll keep this going and adjust it as they get older.
but that's how i do it.
that's like the #1 thing i get asked: how do you schedule your summers?
then the second one is: how can you eat so much chocolate?  the answer to that one is a mystery. i just really like chocolate, and the darker the better. hmm. maybe i should get some right now. :)
happy sigh.
i do in fact have plans to sew. maybe today. but first we need to get past our chores, then go to the pool (YAY ITS OPEN!) then, maybe i'll get some sewing done when we get home and all the noisemakers are tired.

so? you think you can follow a schedule like mine? i swear it works for us. but maybe you have something that works better for you? please share. i'm always open for more ideas.
k. we'll talk soon. :)