A hunting we will go

On Saturday we packed up the crew and headed into the mountains searching for treasure.

We searched high.

We searched low.

Until Mary forged ahead and announced “It’s a Morel Miracle!”.  She found a nice big patch of these-

 

Wild mushrooms! They can be tricky to find so instead of training truffle finding pigs we have 5 kids to do our dirty work.  They’re lower to the ground so they can snuff them out better than we can.

 

They aren’t afraid of ticks like their chicken mom who wears a hat, long sleeved slick jacket so they can’t stick, tip toes around brush, and avoids all tree limbs like the plague.  Ticks are real my friends and they are out to get me.  And you, just so you know.

 

It also helps to have a bear to ward them off.

It must have worked because we came home without a single unwelcome guest. This time last year Cody and the kids brought home 20 something ticks in one trip.  I about had a heart attack. I banned them from the forest for 10 years.  No one listens to me. I still feel like I have bugs all over me.  The woods do that to me every time.

 

Good thing I have this little face to make me forget about all the things in the forest that are out to get me.  I’m such a weeny!

I think I’m always busy and rarely leave the Baxter cave anymore so I love it when we carve a little time out of our lives to just be the little family that I love so much.  Nothing better in the world. Even if I’m surrounded by blood sucking parasites and fungus.

Have a great Tuesday!

Easter realization

I know Easter was a week ago but I’m still recovering so you’ll have to humor me. I swore to myself I wouldn’t dress the kids matchy matchy this Easter.  I tried but just couldn’t find the right fabrics in time.  Nothing spoke to me.

Even the fabric I bought to make their dresses (which I still have in a nice folded pile) is the same design in different color ways. I need to be honest with myself.  I have a matchy matchy problem.  More of an illness really.

It can’t be helped.

They’ll thank me someday.  For what I’m not sure.

Not for putting their silly mugs on the net that’s for sure ;o). I thought I dressed them differently at least once. Nope.

I’ve got more but they just get worse and worse. And Christmas… let’s not go there.

Tell me I’m not the only one with this disease.  I keep telling myself that but I can’t be trusted to tell myself the big bad pastel truth.

I did make all but 3 years of them out of 11 so I get brownies for that, and this year I put sleeves on Kennedy’s dress and made Jake’s blush (not pink) tie so that counts for something.

Next year I will make 4 different dresses and 2 different ties.  So let it be written, so let it be done. That or I need to start saving my pennies for lots and lots of therapy.

Hope you had a great Easter!

Watch your fields farmers.

I love babies.  Babies of all kinds can come to my house and I’ll love them and squeeze them and give them nicknames like Weeds or Major.  I’ll even love them when they aren’t babies anymore.  I know, that’s how bad it is.  I love baby animals almost as much.  It’s so hard for me to drive to town and not sneak a baby cow over the fence and into the back seat of the car and take it home.  Those knobby knees and big ears just beg to come live with me.  Can’t you just see it, a little Tommy boy ‘esque only cuter and a little illegal since I’m pretty sure theft is frowned upon.  They won’t miss one or two right?

Around Easter the baby chicks come in at the cowboy store.  Heaven help me.  Is there anything cuter than a grey fuzzy ping pong ball with legs? Say hi to Pidge.  She asked to live with me and wanted to bring 14 friends. Our 2 big hens are getting really lonely, I can see it in their eyes.

If I could I would carry her mini self in my purse like a wanna be celebrity circa 2008.  Start a mini chicken fad with designer chick carriers, wouldn’t that be cool?  I could switch them out whenever I have a wardrobe change and I could totally make my own carrier… hmm.

So as you probably guessed I have a pile of laundry, a pile of Easter sewing, and a pile of a million other things waiting on me.  Cute fuzzy procrastination at it’s best my friends.

Hope your projects are coming along better than mine!

Have a great almost Thursday.

April Showers

I love getting emails and love it even more when it’s a message from one of you with a picture attached.  It’s like getting a package in my email inbox.  Last week I got to see this wreath made by Christie-

The only thing better would be actually getting the wreath in the mail.  Seriously I need a cute wreath to replace the fall one still hanging up.  I’m not kidding- acorns and all.

It’s such a great idea.  She doesn’t have a blog (but should!) so I asked her if I could share it.  She used the Tattered Roses tutorial to make all the flowers.  Isn’t it awesome, I absolutely love it. Here’s a close up so you can see it in all it’s rolled amazingness.

Thank you so much Christie for letting me share this!

Baby blues

 

A little of this kind…

 

Oh what the heck, a little more of this kind…

And some retail therapy for the other kind.

 

Can’t seem to shake the blahs this month.  Stupid bad weather and cozy pajama pants.

30 is purdy

This beaut came to live with me today! Cody has good taste, not just in women ;o).  My birthday isn’t for another 2 weeks but I’ll tell you what, if turning 30 means your birthday/Christmas/labor day/groundhogs day wishes for the last 6 years come true then I think I’m going to be 30 every year for the next 10 at least. 

And before you think I’m a rotten spoiled brat this is what I’ve been dealing with until today-

See, my horrible pictures weren’t my fault.  Honest.  Now they will be.  I still think I did pretty darn good with a bazillion year old point and shoot that never came off auto. I’m so excited and really terrified all at the same time.

Have a great Monday!

Pants take 1.

Pants are really easy (super easy) so I thought I would whip up a pair of comfy pants for Jakey boy since he’s shot up and out of all his pants.  He’s a string bean that boy and he’s getting taller every day.  Not any bigger around though. Why don’t they make 3/6 months in slims?  I imagined sewing up a customized pair in 1/2 hour max.

This is week 3 you guys.  I’ve only had a few split seconds here and there to work on anything and it usually goes to foraging for food or trying to keep up with life in general.  So I thought hey, I haven’t blogged in forever so I might as well show you I’m not being lazy- just slow. Here’s try #1. The back turned out alright-

The cute bum panel kills me but I tried to sew it on my serger and I’m not happy with how choppy that little circle came out.  Little buddy has no backside so I gave it another pass and it looks better than the first time I did it but not great.  

The front is what’s giving me trouble.  I cut the legs way too far apart and realized after I tried sewing the bottom of the panel to the crotch that it looked gathered in the front. I had to cut a chunk out to make it look a little more normal and that made a seam in the middle and I hate it.  It went from sumo diaper middle to howdy pardner on me.  I want normal pants with a cute circular front, is that too much to ask?

There are other problems like rise issues, tight elastic, leg cuffs not matching… I’m no pro.  Back to the drawing board.  For now he has a cute pair of warm pants to wear around the house until I get it figured out.  That or he needs to gain about 5 lbs. real fast like in the gut region.  I wish I could loan him mine ;o).

My quilt is coming along great by the way.  Thanks for all the suggestions!  My goal all along was to make a disappearing nine patch, just super sized. I wanted a twin but it’s going to be at least a full.  Maybe a full and a half?  I’m getting excited though, it’s lookin good.  Haven’t touched it in weeks but from the corner of my eye while I type I see it and it looks great.

Have a fantastic Tuesday! 

My boys are growing up… and one needs a shave.

When I first saw this valentine I cracked up laughing. I love a man in a stash, even a little man.

I thought I would have to bribe Jeremy to do it for his class but the boy was game- perfect! I did a mad dash for stashes and found 36 of them for $6 so it didn’t cost an arm and a leg.  Score!

This is his “smolder” face. You should see his kissy face, I’m saving it for his wedding slide show.  He actually wanted to use it until I reminded him that he had to give them to the boys in his class.  Then he wanted to use the picture that looked like he was a Mr. Bean special op out to kill.  I have some great outtakes! 

We made 32 and I laughed putting the stashes on each and every one.  I wanted to put them on the front but to save some $$ I printed them 2 to a 4x6” which made them the perfect size for valentines but a little small to put the stashes on the front.  Still a winner though.  I see these making a come back in a few years.  The kids had a blast with the left over stashes and I got some cute pictures.  Well worth it!

 

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This is what I was up to until the wee hours Sunday night.  Finishing up 70 Valentines. Why I wait until the last minute I don’t know.   I have a procrastination problem.  Anyway, the girls wanted to do the maze valentines from How Does She?.  I made mine a bit differently but I used their idea.  It was so fun for my girls to pick their papers, count m&m’s, and clip strings for me.  Homemade valentines rock!

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And this little guy with the baby doll lips, he is 3 months old today.  Seriously!  I just started grocery shopping again.  I guess I spend too much time memorizing every last inch of him that I forget to do everything else, but I’m okay with that.  It won’t be long before he can get out of my coochy coochy clutches so I have to take advantage of his lack of mobility while I can.  I just can’t put him down.  Really, I don’t put him down.  Would you?  Did you see those lips?  Maybe I should see if he can roll one of these days.  He’ll be the only 34 year old who’s mom still rocks him to sleep and wants to cry tears of joy just looking at him.  Actually he has 5 other siblings that have to deal with me too.  

And on that note have a fantastic Tuesday!  

Why Fons and Porter? Why??

I’ve mentioned before that we don’t have paid t.v.  and normally I don’t miss it.  Sure I don’t get to watch Project Runway and my kids are deprived of un-educational cartoons but we still get 6 basic channels on the ol’ bunny ears and that’s just enough to catch a few of my fave shows while I eat ice cream fold laundry on weeknights.

On the weekends I miss it.  I miss it because there’s nothing to watch while I eat ice cream feed the baby but OPB shows.  How to crochet, how to cook, how to build an old house, how to turn your trash into a beautiful garden.  All of which are not my forte`.  Then there’s stinking Fons and Porter’s Love of Quilting.  They show me sewing machine tricks and new special products just for quilters.  They get me excited thinking quilting is so easy.  They show me all the tricks and tips to turn this-

Into a nice manageable lap quilt easy enough for someone that doesn’t quilt but really wants to have cute quilts around to make.  Here’s the problem Mrs. Fons and Mrs. Porter, some of us don’t need your encouragement.  Some of us need to have their rotary cutters and self healing mats revoked.  Some of us (okay maybe just me) get angry when things don’t work out like you say even if they tweaked the pattern so much there’s no possible way you could be to blame. 

Do you know what that is?  No, it’s not a quilt.  That my friends is a picture of the world’s largest quilt block.  One. Block.  I have 4 more just like her. Have I ever mentioned that I suck at math? I have no idea how I’m going to handle this beast once I get it all together.  That’s one chubby lap quilt.

I always have Bob Ross to make me feel better.  He always tells me "We don't have mistakes here, we just have happy accidents.".  One gigantic happy accident.  I think I’ll stick with Masterpiece Classics from now on.

Are you sure?

Hey Mary, did you get into the sixlets?

Hmm Hummum.

Can I see your hand?

WwHhy?

Cause it looks like you did.

Oh, you’re right! That’s funny right mom? I ate an apple before though.

Just a smidgen of my day.  In all seriousness I wasn’t mad.  We have a 25 lb. box of them and I’m using them as potty treats to train Kennedy.  No it doesn’t take 25 lbs. of waxy chocolate to train a toddler.  Just 15.  

Jake caught a bug this week so between a sick baby and Miss Tinkles she had a 95% chance of actually getting away with it.  Ah kids, gotta love ‘em or gotta lump ‘em.

If I get another call from the school about her or more girl trauma from my oldest I might take the latter.

Have a fantastic Tuesday.  I’m pulling out some Plume charm squares tonight… hopefully they turn into something and not just more dust catchers.