Strawberry Jam!

I made strawberry freezer jam today! I can't wait till tomorrow when we can try some! It will be so yummy!
Now I'm off to do the laundry. If you don't hear from me for awhile come looking for me under the mountain of clothes and towels!

Our Fun Summer (haha)

On Monday I decided we should pick some strawberries at Thistledown. The girls were all excited. We got there and picked for about 5 minutes. Ashley ate 1 or 2 strawberries, Alona ate about 5, and Natalie had 8. Then they were done. Another little girl had come to pick strawberries with her mother, but instead they all just wanted to play. So I picked strawberries by myself. Then we headed back to the barn(store) to find some more goodies. They had cherries that were so juicy. The girls tried one each (even Ashley). Needless to say, we bought some. Jeff, Alona, and Natalie sat outside and ate about 2/3 of them after he got home from work. We also got 4 peaches! They have the BEST peaches there. Alona ate one today. It was so juicy and smelled so sweet! We got a watermelon as well. I spent the afternoon making pie crusts.
Last night I tied Ashley's quilt. I needed to get it done as it takes up the entire dining room and blocked off the laundry room. Now I get to do lots of laundry! I will probably set up Alona's quilt on the frame Wednesday evening.
Tuesdays and Wednesdays there are 2 free movies at Regal Cinema. We usually go to at least one. Today we watched the Pirates Who Don't Do Anything (Veggie Tales). It was cute. Then we headed to the store to buy corn starch to make the pies. Today I made 2 strawberry pies and plan to make a small batch of jam as well.

This was my first time making a pie crust as well as this strawberry pie. It is so yummy!

The quilts

I started making quilts for the girls three years ago. Then I got pregnant with Natalie. Of course, being as sick as I am when pregnant, I was unable to finish them. Then I was too busy with a newborn to start on them again. Then came the move to the new house, and all the remodeling that came along with it. So now it has been about 9 months without any excuse not to finish them. I got a quilt frame from church and it has been sitting there for a couple weeks now. I finally got it set up! I can't believe I am actually making progress! I feel like I have finally broken free of the grey clouds and am living in sunshine again (literally and figuratively- I live in Oregon after all). So here it is. I used the PBKids Kasey quilt as a basis for this one. I think Ashley will be grateful to have a quilt (finally- in the middle of the summer)! Then I have to quilt the one for Alona. It is already put together and ready to go on the frame when this one is completed. It is the same pattern.

update on getting motivated

So in a previous post (titled getting motivated), I had a list of three things I needed to do. I haven't yet completed any of them!:) Oh well. Guess I've been a little busy. I did however, start organizing the sewing room. I got it cleaned up and got rid of the remaining kids toys. I even took some things to Goodwill (actually Jeff took them, but I put them in boxes and sent him on his way). I also washed my slipcover with the intention of working on it again, but got sidetracked with the wedding dress project. I got out the fabric for the curtains and looked at it. I need to get curtain rods for the curtains or I won't be able to hang them.
Plenty of good intentions here! Just not enough action! I did clean my kitchen and reorganize it and the laundry room/pantry. Got rid of some dishes as well! That is a project that I have been meaning to do since last fall. I can now find all my spices and seasonings!
And, I have added to my list of things to do!
1. finish putting sewing room together
2. sew curtains
3. finish slipcover
4. paint all the trim everywhere in the house (ugh)
5. clean Natalie's room (hahahahaha)
6. find somewhere to store all the ominous bins of girls clothes they will grow into some day, but can't wear yet so I have to find somewhere to put them........
7. RELAX (if I can find the time)

My sewing projects!

My latest sewing project was a wedding dress. It was already made, but it needed to be taken in and hemmed to be shorter. It is a strapless dress and has lace and beading. Not so easy. You have to take off the lace and beading to take it in. Oh, and the zipper too!. The hem was done with horsehair braid (not made with real horsehair in case you wanted to know) and sewn to the lining. Trying to figure out how to sew it together again was fun! I spent 13 hours straight working on it Thursday night/Friday morning (9pm-10am). The beadwork is tedious. I got it done and it looks beautiful. I will take some pictures at the wedding and post them.


Now that it has finally gotten warm, I need to make summer clothes for the girls! It finally got over 80˚yesterday! Of course it went from 72˚to 95˚and is supposed to go back to the lower 70s all in one week! I will take pictures and keep updating all the projects I do this summer.

I finished school!

For those of you who didn't know, I have been going to school to be a Nail Technician. I started the last weekend in October 2007. I finished on the 14th of June. Ashley and I got done with school in the same week. I went up to Salem to take the state test on Friday the 20th. I passed! Yay! I am now certified and can practice in Oregon. It was a lot of fun. Now I can do my own nails. On Tuesday, I did Ashley, Alona, and my toes. Then I did their fingernails too!

This is our fingers and toes! You can see the glitter better if you double click the picture! We did the gel overlay with glitter- so fun for summer and it usually lasts at least six weeks!

Natalie wanted a picture too! She can get hers done in a year or two!

It's been awhile!

I know its been too long between posts! I have just been so busy.
I have been going to cosmetology school to be a Nail Technician. It is only on Saturdays, but I go during the week when I can get Jeff to stay home. I am almost done! I can hardly wait.
In May, I started out by hosting a baby shower for a friend. Everything we did ended up taking more time than expected. We made the invitations. She likes monkeys and especially one that is on a rug at Target. So we printed out the picture from their online store and used it as a pattern for our monkey invitations. They looked so cute! But, oh, the hard work! Kristi loved them and that is what counts. We planned a brunch shower. We only got 3 RSVPs. We ended up having about 13 people attend. We had quite the spread of food. It was so good. Especially the crumb coffee cake. It is from the Martha Stewart Baking Handbook. I recommend it! It has about 5 sticks of butter, but it is so good! My friend Jenel made it because she offered to help and I was running out of time. I made scones and biscuits along with a sweet butter and strawberry butter. I made 2 omelet rolls (pampered chef recipe) and deviled eggs. We also had apples with a peanut butter caramel dip. My friend, Jessica, and I planned the shower together. We made homemade bath salts and put them in mason jars with fabric decor on the top. It was a lot of fun. The grapefruit salts smelled the best!
The following week was Jeff's vacation. He accrued so much vacation time that he wasn't earning any more. Of course, I spent the week going to school in the afternoons, sewing a prom dress for that Saturday, and getting strep throat! What a week! Friday night I stayed up working on the prom dress. I went to bed at 6:30 Saturday morning and then got up 2 hours later for school. I had appointments all morning. Then I had a break in the afternoon, so I went home and worked on the prom dress. I went back to school and finished my last pedicure, only to go home home and finish the prom dress. Her dad came and picked it up because we were leaving to buy a tent before the store closed. That night we went to see Prince Caspian at about 10:00. I finally got to bed around 1 am. The next morning I got up for church at 9. I was really tired, but I went anyway. Cassie wore the dress to church, so I got to see her wearing it. She looked beautiful in it! It was a vogue pattern that was rated average. Average for vogue is not the same as average for other pattern companies! If I had known that, I would not have committed to finishing it in a week when I had school! It turned out well, and the girl a made it for loved it.
We were supposed to go camping over Memorial Day weekend at the coast. But as the weekend got closer, the weather report got worse and worse. Saturday was a nice day, but then it rained that night. Sunday was rainy as well. Monday started out okay, but then got more and more overcast. We had a barbecue with the Daltons and the Bostocks. That was a lot of fun. We even had smores! We toasted the marshmallows over the grill! The kids loved it.
This week I am trying to finish all of my school work. That will leave the testing and the state boards.
I also plan to do the quilting on the quilts I started for Ashley and Alona 3 years ago! I borrowed a quilting frame from the church, and just need to set it up. That will clear a lot of room in my sewing room. Quilts take up a lot of space.
I will try to update my blog more often. It is a constant struggle!
Oh, I guess I should mention that I have lost 7 1/2 lbs so far this month. Watch out Ruth! I am working towards those clothes you promised!