Sewing with scraps

I have plenty of scraps and lots of fat quarters. I think I bought those once when I was thinking I would make lots of quilts or I thought they were pretty fabrics. Now is the time to use what the fabric that I have around.

A little friend was having a birthday and I decided that a doll quilt would be the pretty gift. This was so easy to make. I just sewed the stripes and then cut to the square and the pieced it. I did machine quilt it.

I have another one peiced for my neice's first birthday. Now I need to quilt it. I am going home in 2 weeks (thanks to frequent flyer tickets). I want to take it with me so I don't have to mail it so I better get busy.

Pearls for Valentine's Day

My husband gave me pearls for Valentine's Day. He knows that I love pearls especially the Godiva chocoiste with mint. Chocolate and mint is a good combination. Chocolate and peanut butter is a good combination as well but for some reason that combination is not seen overseas must be a very American thing. These pearls are savored just one or two at a time.
I did get him a gift. Something that he has been wanting -- a small Mag Light. His birthday is the same day. We decided that next year we are going to celebrate Valentine's Day at breakfast and his birthday at dinner that way we can celebrate both.

Correcting my Problems

I broke the first rule and the most important rule of buying clothing on the street. I didn't check the seams, zippers, buttons, snaps, etc. Rather what happened is I saw a pair of Osh Kosh overalls in Miss K's size and I grabbed then.

Later I discovered that the snaps didn't work. That is probably why there were on the street for sale. I tried to fix it by sewing snaps in there but the snaps didn't hold. They became a pair of overalls that she couldn't wear.

I decided to try something. I cut the legs off just above the snaps.And then I made a nice full, a bit too full, of a ruffle out of some fabric that I had. It was actually a fat quarter. I made a jumper for her. I feel better that I was able to make something that she will wear and something that she actually needs.
Ignore the head it always seems to be tilted in pictures. She doesn't go around with her head titled but does that just for pictures. Oh, ignore the tights as well. I wasn't going to take those off when she tried it on.

Happy Valentine's Day

I enjoy making cards, most of them are very basic compared to many of the things that I see but I have fun being creative and it does save money. I decided that I wanted to include pictures just so I remember the cards and maybe over time I will see trends or improvements in my card making.

Well, the card that you see here is not mine but Miss K's. She did "sign" her name inside.

Pray, pray

Miss K's pronunciation is not that clear - that is background information. The setting was her highchair and the leftover blueberries from breakfast while the noodles were cooking. I do usually pray with her before her meal so she is used to that. She was saying something which I could not understand but she kept repeating it then she grabbed my hand and held it just like we do at pray time. I got the message -- she wanted to pray for her blueberries.

Later, I served her the noodles and again we prayed for the noodles.

I keep telling myself that I am not always sure what is getting in her head because of her delay in verbal skills we know what all is in there but lunchtime was a reminder of what is going in and what she understands.

I am encouraged to keep putting information in her and know that someday it will come out.

Quote for the day

"Cleaning the house while the kids are still growing is like shoveling the walk while it's snowing." Phyllis Diller

I did clean today.

Quote for the day

"Stockpile Beautiful Memories"

That was what was written on the bookmark that I bought for a friend. In a way it is a funny saying but in another way it is a good reminder. It reminds me to enjoy the beautiful memories. I am realizing how many beautiful memories I do forget and so I need to work to remember them. I used to be very good at journaling but that was before I was married. I think it is time to pull out the journal and again write in it. I will tell you that reading those is fun. There are also parts that I think I was crazy and parts that I don't want anyone to read because they might think I really am crazy.

What beautiful memories have I created this week? A memory of bundling to stay warm as the temperatures dropped to what I think is record lows. Memories of Miss K asking for "school". Memories of laughing with a friend as we created our diaper cake. I have the memory of realizing that even though I have one child and am in the middle of adoption paperwork, infertility still hurts. I am going to work on stockpiling beautiful memories.

Diaper Cake

My friend had the idea of making a diaper cake for a baby shower. She said she had done it before about 8 years ago but that is more experience than I have in making one.

The diapers here have a bit more printing so it was not totally white. My friend had the job of getting the diapers and things to put on the cake while I went to buy the ribbon. Ribbon for the cake, ribbon for me, ribbon for me but this is about my ribbon but the cake.

We started rolling and putting the diapers in the rubber band and were feeling pretty good about how things looked. It was nice and tight on the bottom layer. Then all of a sudden the rubber band broke and diapers went flying all over the table. We got smart and used three rubber bands this time so if one broke we had two as backup.

It was simple and looked nice. We didn't make it too difficult because one of us was going to have to carry it on the bus and the train and a taxi.

The top was rolled socks that look like roses.

I looked at them online and just about fell over with the prices that they are charging -- $75 to $159. Ours didn't cost that much -- I just gave her $120 but that was not US$.

We decided this is our signature gift. We have diapers left over for the next shower and I think we will have plenty of opportunities to practice this as this seems to be the year of babies in mom's group.

Cognitive Evaluation

We had a heart check-up and then a PT evaluation last week. The PT wanted to do a cognitive evaluation as well. We were able to fit that into our schedule.

Her developmental age is 2 years 3 months. She is weak on logic, concepts, memory and thinking is weak.

1. Teach "same" and "different". Compare objects - Is it the same? Which one is different?

2. Match correct color and shape at the same time, not just one. Give her a lot of choices to choose from. Blue triangles, red circles, etc.

3. Let her match a lot of different shapes in a row; don't just do one and then quit.

4. Arrange something with blocks; let her copy the exact same construct with her blocks. This will teach spatial reasoning.

5. Memorize different combinations of numbers, for memory practice. Don't just say one number at a time. Like telephone numbers: "57134", say it.

6. Put several objects in front of her. Remove one and hide it. Aske her, "which one did I take away?" This will help her memory. Needs practice to pay attention to what is happening.

7. Show her a flashcard with one object. Then show her a flash card with a lot of objects, including the one she just saw. Ask her to find it.

8. Show her two objects that have logical relationship (i.e. hate and head, show and shock, etc.) Ask her to match them.

9. Draw lines between matching pictures.

10. Draw lines to trace a pathway through a a maze on paper. Help the dog to find the bone, etc.

11. Show different size drawings. Which is big? Which is small? Which is long? Which is short?

12. Don't always make the right answer the last one you ask. "Are you a girl or a boy? "

13. Give her several objects. Say, "give me one." or "give me two."

14. Teach concept in front of, behind, in back of, etc.

15. Don't just teach body parts, teach function. What do you hear with? What do you eat with?

K has some 4 year old skills, but still lacks 3 year old skills.

Wow! That is encourage and gives me a long list of things to work on. Any ideas on ways to teach these things.

We worked on same and different today. The work sheets out of a workbook where not getting. I pulled out the Memory cards and tried to work with those. We also tried to play a simple Memory with 4 cards -- "where is the ice cream?".

Please give me any and every idea that you might have.

Ready, set, sew

Miss K loves to sit at the sewing machine. I think it is the buttons that she enjoys. Maybe someday she will learn to sew. I remember learning to sew straight lines with notebook paper. My first skirt was a wrap-around skirt. Do you think they will come back in style by the time she is ready to learn to sew?

Paper and photos

two of my favourite things. I had fun this year using some of my photos and creating some notecards for gifts. These were special for my mom and grandmother. The flowers were all from my parent's yard.

I also just sat down with my computer and picked som Asia pictures and gave those to a friend here.

Another Bag

Here is another bag that I made for a friend's daughter's birthday. I enjoy making this pattern which is a good thing because I am going to make a bunch of them for a bazaar on campus.

Christmas for the office

We wanted to do something for the office staff where S spends part of his time each week. I needed things that were not too sweet and also would be something that S could easily carry to the office since he would have to carry it on the public transportation.

I made banana bread and pumpkin muffins. My banana bread is an old family recipe except I cut the sugar in half. That is such a good way to use up the old bananas that get thrown in the freezer. The pumpkin is from a can but when I open the can I put it in 1/2 cup containers and freeze it so I can make muffins or whatever.

I made some cute easy little cards for S to give to various staff.

It was a hit at the office. In fact, I was asked to give a price list for baked goods for staff meetings and other functions.

Gift Bags

Last week was the Mom's group Christmas tea. This event is the only time that we have a craft or activity for the mom's. I guess someone thought I was creative and so I was asked to come up with an idea.

I thought about a few things and even tried to make the folded star ball ornament but decided that was too labour intensive and had too much instructions. I asked for some suggestions on a forum and someone suggested gift bags.

I put a few samples together and then took supplies and everyone was very creative. It was fun to see what they put together.

I think it was a fun time and it did fulfill the desire for something easy, without lots of instructions, could be done in 30 minutes or so and something that everyone could use.

Now I have three gift bags. I need to find some gifts to put in the bags.

A new Giveaway

A fun giveaway. Oh, my does this look great.

My latest bag

If you know me, you know I love bags. I found these directions but just like I do with my cooking and changing recipes. I did that with the bag as well. Maybe the size given in the instructions works if you are putting the bag in your car but I don't do that and it was too long for me. Also I didn't have double sided fusible fleece so I used some quilting batting that I had and made my handles a different way.

I have not yet tried to make the little pouch that the bag can be stored in but want to try that.

Here is one of the bags that I made and I do think it is cute. Don't tell but the next time I am going to make the handles a bit further apart.

Ornament Exchange

Years ago I enjoyed being part of an ornament exchange. You would make the the same ornament for everyone in the group and then exchange. One of the forums had an exchange and I decided to join in the fun.

Well, the first thing in an ornament exchange is to figure out what to make. I wanted my ornament to reflect me. Plus it had to be something simple cause that is me and had to use things that I had because I was not spending a day to run to the craft store. Ribbon is easy to buy and I did purchase a yard of that.

I had some Chinese silk that I bought and decided to try something with that. You would not believe how difficult it is to find a free pattern online but I finally found one.

Here are my first attempts. I tried with the red fabric first. It is not as stiff as the teal. I didn't like the way they looked. I think some of those were with a modified try to make myself pattern. I thought maybe it was the thin fabric so I tried the stiff teal fabric. They look like field hockey sticks and not stockings.

I showed them to a friend for her opinion and she decided that the red were cute and I think they have a bit more of a Christmas spirit. So I opened the Christmas stocking factory in our house. I did not use any child labour in the production or assembly of these stockings. These do not contain lead but then again I didn't get them tested.

Here is the finished product. Of course, every stocking needs to be stuffed and so I stuffed these plus it makes them look a bit fuller.
I mailed them off and can't wait to see what I get.

Week in Review 11/30

This week's Memory Verse is F:

"For the wages of sin is death."

The book that we are using has short passages for 3 year olds and so we are doing that and then later we will go through and add the rest of the verse.

Colours - I got tired of the 4 colours (3 primary colours plus green) so I added orange. We made orange water and then spent some time matching orange things. She can't say orange but she can read it and put the orange things on that card.

Reading - We have been working with sight words but being able to read individual words is not reading so we made some sentences. Okay, my ESL teacher background comes out -- "Put the subject down, here is the verb, now the object." K drinks milk. and then we change the object K drinks water or we change the subject Daddy drinks milk. We don't bother with momma drinks milk because that is not true. When we started reading drinks K couldn't say the word but now she has something that sounds like drinks. This encourages me to keep going and to teach her new words.

Concepts - we have been working on big and small as well as circle - still need some work but that is okay.

Letters - we are continuing to review these since that is what we are to be doing in the lesson plans.

Montessori learning - I really like the practical life and sensory learning of Montessori. I have collected and made some things over the past few years. My favourite book is a very easy one to read Teaching Montessori in the Home The Preschool Years. We decided to add a few of those activities into our week. This week we worked on pouring rice. We still need to practice a bit more. It is a good activity because it requires careful movement in the pouring - we are learning to pour and not dump.

I don't think I have any pictures from this week. I will have to make sure that next week I get some pictures to include.

Not missing much

Yesterday daddy found Miss K's big ball and said "next time we will have to take this ball to the playground." Miss K replied, "way, way" and ran to get her Crocs which is what she usually wears to the playground.

She seems to have a radar that tells her if there is a playground within 50 feet. Yesterday walking through a park she said "way, way" and today following our weekly fellowship she saw the playground.

She knows that Maxim's sells Cheese breadsticks. Okay, she has not figured that there is more than one Maxim's in town. We won't tell her that. As we walk past the one that she does know she will whine which is she is not delayed in, and I will give her a $10 coin and she will pay for the breadsticks and then carry them to the train.

Week in Review - 11/23

The struggle of this week was our schedule. We didn't get as many days of school. I can't say it was because of the holiday since we don't celebrate Thanksgiving here.

Our verse was E - "Even a child is know by his doings."

Letters - I am having to adapt the learning because K can't quite do the worksheets and she knows most of her letters. I think we tested her the other day and the only ones she doesn't know are V, J, and L. I think her favourite letter is M.

Math - she is now counting 1 to 5. She can also tell you that she is three. We worked on circles.

We are still reviewing our words and beginning to make sentences -- K drinks milk. K drinks water. Daddy drinks milk. She can read mouth and face.

This week I pulled out some shape puzzle pieces and she spent some time working on this. She did this with just a bit of help from me.

I know her face is dirty. She had been painting with the watercolours and is not a neat artist.

I did find a sticker workbook and we are going to try that as it does not require writing. The first two she was able to do.