Helping hands in the kitchen

Everyday in our house, especially when I have a lot of computer work to do, we have a mini kid breakdown at about 10:30 am. I don't even need to look at the clock. I just know that when Claire is following me around, saying "UP!", and then she collapses in tears, IT MUST BE 10:30.

So today, I closed my laptop and took out the mixer. I found this amazing recipe for chocolate chip cookies that use applesauce and oatmeal, and the girls love them. I love them. I've eaten too many of them already, and, darn it, I made a double batch. Sophia was so happy that we were baking that she performed a bit of interpretive dance with my measuring cups. Claire wanted to touch everything in the mixer and is a pro at licking the bowl. Sophia asked is she could lick every spoon, spatula and whisk, and despite the apparently loud mixer, she was sold when I let her lick the beater.

While Claire napped, Sophia and I spent a good part of the day in the front yard. I worked on my computer while sitting at our revamped bistro set. Sophia blew bubbles, read books, and spent a lot of time looking at everything through a magnifying glass. By the time Claire woke up, Sophia was back inside, taking a pretend "bath" with a teddy bear. They were both sitting in a laundry basket.

This evening consisted of a trip to the library in pjs to watch their family films. Tonight's subject was dogs, and I thought Claire was going to pop. I know she can say the word "puppy" really well, and now so does the entire library staff. We drove home, and Sophia said, and I quote, "Mommy, my have lots and lots and lots of fun at the library with the lots and lots and lots of books!" Music to my ears.

HEALTHY OATMEAL CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

1/4 cup applesauce
2 Tbsp butter
1/3 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup quick-cooking oats
3/4 cup dark chocolate chips or crushed dark chocolate bar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat together applesauce, butter and sugars. Beat in egg and vanilla. In a separate mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Stir flour mixture in to first mixture and mix well. Then stir in oats, followed by the chocolate. Place rounded teaspoons-full 2 inches apart on a baking mat on a cookie sheet or directly on a cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Store in airtight container. Makes 18 cookies.

Hey, it's OK...September 27, 2010

The past month: quilt show and shop hopping, Little Gridiron, new gigs with big clients, surgery and Frankenstein stitches, a new gig for Brett, a new rendition of "Where is Thumbkin," new client/old friend meetings, and a freezing art fair. Sharing the love with these awesome ladies.

Hey, it's ok...

...to score an awesome repeat gig with a huge client but not have any motivation to do it because I'd really rather be behind my sewing machine.

...to yell on the sidelines of a Little Gridiron game. Yes, they are 3rd and 4th graders, but helmets and pads require screaming aunts on the sidelines.

...to be 100% composed and confident going in to Claire's surgery this past week, and then feel like the most awful parent in the world when they brought her back to us with this terrible head wrap and totally wacked out from the anesthesia. I've never had that moment with her when I couldn't comfort her. She just screamed for a good 15 minutes, and I could do nothing. Nothing. Mean, mean mommy. She was pretty much back to normal when we snapped her in her carseat upon leaving the hospital, so I didn't feel like a rotten parent then.

...to seriously think of dressing Claire as Frankenstein for Halloween specifically because of her head stitches.

...to be really proud that Brett was awarded a position on his company's new (and bigger) airplane, but really be dreading all the time that he will be away for training. Bye, honey. See you in a month.

...to not allow Sophia to sing "Where is Thumbkin" in public because her "th" sound comes out as an "f" sound, and she drops the middle "m" sound totally. Think about it. You'll figure it out. To top it off, "where" comes out as "we're" and she doesn't bother saying the "is" in between the two words.

...to be extremely thankful that Facebook allows me to keep in touch with old friends, who email me years after we last talked and ask me to do some work for them. Bethany, you are awesome. I would much rather be working on your project than this other big gig that I have going right now. It's nice that we can totally pick up where we left off though.

...to want to have unlimited funding to give to all of the artists at the Carmel International Art Festival from this past weekend. I was floored with all of the talent. People should know that they are surrounded by an immense wealth of local talent. I feel bad that they all had to sit in such cold weather though. Burrr...it probably didn't help their sales.

Claire is on the mend

I will forever be amazed with the resiliency of children. Other than the Frankstein-esque stitch scar across her head, you wouldn't know anything was wrong with Claire. When she's tired, her emotions are a little more extreme, but other than that, she's her normal self. She's been sleeping through the night like normal, eating the same as she was, and even talking more than before. (She can say Thank You as clear as day now.)

I'm a little more nervous letting her wander around the house like she did before. I feel like padding everything that is at head-level to her, ie. the kitchen table, the desks, doorways...you catch my drift. Sophia has been really gentle with her after we explained that Claire's going to have an "ouch" on her head for a long time. There haven't been any huge shoving matches over toys, and Sophia's been making sure that Claire doesn't climb on anything that she could fall off of and hit her head.

Claire's starting to finger her stitches a bit. I have a feeling that they are healing up and are starting to itch. She woke up this morning, and one of her stitches had come out, leaving her bed sheet a little stained from drainage. We called the doctor on call, and he said to just watch it and make sure the incision doesn't open up. So far so good. Every time we see Claire touch her head, we say no, and her little hand snaps down to her lap. She knows she's not supposed to touch it, but I don't think she realizes it, especially since she's the thumb-sucking/hair-twirling type.

All's well so far. We go back on October 11 for the first round of stitch removal. Hope everything keeps going this well until then.

Quilt show in Greenwood

First, a picture of Claire covered in tomato sauce. Who couldn't smile at this?

Last weekend, my mom, my Aunt, and I went to the Quilt Connection quilt show in Greenwood. It was a cute little show, and there were some nice quilts there. Most were traditional designs, and there were some that were a little more on the modern side. We had a good time looking at all the antique and new quilts. I took some pictures of the ones I liked the best.

After the show we were able to look at some of the vendor booths, and we hit one vendor that was selling ALL of her extra material. I think we hit the mother load. Four yards of red polka dot fabric for $2. REALLY? We all spent around $6 and walked out with bags full of fabric. Mom got a huge bag full of 2- and 2.5-inch, precut squares for $1. I liked my little find of this cute red fabric that still had the original receipt stapled to it from Zayres. Yowsa. This fabric is older than ME! It was originally $1/yard, and I got it for a quarter. Nice.

Our little patient

Claire is a trooper. We took her in to the Riley Outpatient Center to get this curious little patch removed from her scalp. She's had it since she was born. There's some big scientific name for it, but I can never remember how to pronounce it. Anyway, the dermatologist said that we should probably have it removed because studies show that it could be cancer-causing if left alone. So rather than wait until she's older, we decided to take care of it now, when she didn't really realize what was happening and definitely wouldn't remember it.

Claire did really well. The only part that she didn't like was when they forced her to wake up after the surgery. She just wanted to sleep! She let us all know how she felt about that. They wanted her to be able to drink something before she left, but we were denied every time we tried to give her some juice. They discharged us and, once we got to the car, Claire sucked down an entire cup's worth of juice. Apparently it was safer to drink in the car.

Thankfully, Claire is passed out now. It's been a really long day for her. And she's sleeping with her new little bumble bee that Grandma Musick and Sophia picked out for her while she was in surgery. So sweet. Thanks to all for the prayers!

Sophia's new shirt, and my first pattern

It's my first pattern! Sophia was given this cute little top that I just loved, so I decided to make a pattern from it. Patterns are trickier than I thought. The original shirt had short sleeves and was made of knit fabric. Since I DO NOT sew knit, I had to make a few alterations. I wanted her to be able to wear it through the winter over a long-sleeved shirt, so I decided to not make sleeve and make life a bit easier. I also added the key-hole opening in the back, which the original didn't have. I used the same little button that I used on these shoes. Not too bad overall. I think I have a little tweaking to do, but I still like the overall look. And I have to think of what to "name" the pattern. Any suggestions?

Apple picking at Stuckey's

It was a gorgeous day outside, so we packed the girls up and went off to Stuckey's in Sheridan for some apple-picking. We pulled in to the parking lot to see a whole slew of school buses. Ugh. Was this place going to be packed? Should we just turn around and go home? I was pleasantly surprised how uncrowded it was when we got in to the shop and how desolate it really felt when we were in the orchard. Plenty of breathing room! We picked a bag of Jonagold apples and headed home. It was a nice little outing, and best of all, we all came home and took naps. Ah...nothing like an afternoon nap to keep you going!

Potter's Bridge outing

The weather was amazing today, so the girls and I went to Potter's Bridge Park on the north side of Noblesville. It's a cute little park, with a small playground, the covered bridge, and a nice walking trail.

I took the girls over the bridge and back, and Sophia made me hold her hand the whole time because she thought she would fall through the bridge floor. Ok, so there were small cracks of light between the boards, so I get where she's getting that idea.

We went down the slides at the playground for a bit, and then I heard some other ladies talking about taking their kids to the water. Water! I knew there had to be a way to get to the river. Ended up, there was a nice clearing about a half mile down a walking trail. Sophia was excited during the entire walk there, she threw some rocks in the water, and then she hit a wall. There was a lot of, "Mommy, my TIRED..." on the walk back to the car. Granted, we walked almost a mile and a half, so she was very tired, but she sparked back to normal when we hit the car.

It was a nice day, and I got to take some good pictures. It's nice to make time to Photoshop pictures again.

Booties for baby Claire

Anne Neulieb was kind enough to test some baby bootie designs for me. Well, I guess it's her new baby, Claire, who is actually doing the testing! Claire was born back in June, and I'm grateful to be able to have a little one with adorned feet courtesy of my sewing!

My life on a kitchen table

They say you can get to know a lot about someone if you look at what's on their desk. Since my desk is a revolving space that is anywhere I happen to plop my laptop, I thought I'd record my life on a kitchen table for today.

On my table today:

My laptop, of course, which is open to freelance work, sewing blogs, Skype (we talked with Brett in State College, PA over breakfast), research on clothing tags, and a map to Potter's Bridge State Park, where I think we might venture this afternoon.

Lunch, which consisted of a salad for me and crackers, cheese, and grapes for the kiddos. Oh, and a can of Diet Coke to get me through the day.

My handy coupon filer. Can't live without it.

Library books from yesterday.

Varnish and paintbrushes leftover from painting the knobs for Sophia's dresser. I finished those last night. Pictures to come. I'm so proud of them!

A Handy Manny water paint book. Sophia wanted to paint with me yesterday. Then she ventured in to drawing with some markers on paper, so there's a nice doodle drawing on the table too.

Hotpads from breakfast. We made cinnamon rolls.

Too-small shoes for Claire that I STILL need to pack away. They keep popping up everywhere. I keep trying to put them away, and then I find them, carried by little hands to another part of the house.

The potty chair lid. Ugh. I want to potty train Sophia so badly, but after her little episode of falling in to the kiddie toilet at the mall, she won't get close to a bathroom.

An empty thread spool. I've gone through two spools of white thread in the past two days.

Hey, it's OK...September 14, 2010

The past month: air shows, company from Memphis, St. Louis trip during the heatwave, outdoor movies, mosquito bites galore, canoeing at the lake, plans for a new roof, a HUGE sale at the quilt shop followed by french onion soup, Avatar in 3D Imax, and lots of storytimes . Here's my shout out to these awesome ladies.

Hey, it's ok...

...to want to put your youngest to bed at 6 pm because the constant collapsing on the floor in tears is just not fun.

...to really regret dropping that cookie sheet on my big toe last May.

...to trust the doctors when they say we should get Claire's funky birthmark on her head removed. Yes, people, when I hear the phrase "cancer-causing," then I'm not bothering with a second opinion. She's getting it off, no matter how traumatizing it may be to her 1-year-old life.

...to think that Sophia is the world's best singer when it comes to "head, shoulders, knees and toes." She totally blows away the other 2- and 3-year-olds at the library storytime. Of course, I am only watching her, so I have no one to compare her to...

...to want to take a "day off" from normal life so I can finally USE the stack of awesome Anna Maria Horner fabric that is in my bedroom.

...to wander why everything in my life squeaks. It sounds like I drive a bus because my car brakes squeak terribly. NEVER go to Car X for brakes, by the way. I practically need to wear earplugs when I sew now. Despite all of the cleaning and oiling, I still can't find the squeaking spot on my sewing machine.

...to use my one morning to sleep in while Brett is home to look through all of my fun bookmarked blogs instead of actually sleeping.

...to wish I didn't need to sleep because I really really really want to be reading my friend's novel. Anybody know anyone in publishing? She needs an in.

...to be extremely thankful that my awesome husband lets me indulge in my creative side. Yes, we could have bought three dressers for the money that we have put in to refinishing the one in the garage. But, after stripping, sanding, buying a Dremel, getting cans upon cans of spraypaint, and purchasing new handles, this dresser and nightstand will look so good in Sophia's room.

...to wander why the people who had once owned the dresser mentioned previously would paint it with kelly green oil-based paint. It's like stripping off peppermint gum.

Future rock star

Claire's digging the microphone now. She's learned well from her big sister.

Toddling Claire

So it finally clicked. Claire figured out this whole walking thing. The world is a whole different place now! I like how she keeps saying, "Cheese!" in this video.

Yes, we're still here

Yes, it's been a long time since I've posted anything. It's been busy, as always. Here's pictures of what's been going on lately.

We went up to Marion over Labor Day for their annual Fly In/Cruise In. We took part in the pancake breakfast courtesy of the Marion High School marching band, and we got to see lots of classic cars and airplanes. I now know how to decipher between a Cesna, a Mooney, and a Cirrus. The weather was amazing, but boy was if cold compared to what we had the week before. After the show, we went over the Brett's grandfather's, and the girls got to visit with "Great Papaw," as Sophia calls him.






Random happenings around the house.


Claire, balancing on her head and saying, "CHEESE!"

Sophia couldn't decide between juice or milk, so she drank both.


Sophia looks like she has chicken pox, but she was just eaten alive by mosquitoes during the last summer outdoor movie.




Multitasking. We were on our way home from Claire's 1-year doctor appointment. She had dropped a whole pound since her 9-month checkup, so they ordered blood work for her, hence the green band around her arm from the blood draw. She didn't cry a bit. Now, the shots...that was a whole other story.




Over July 4th weekend, we went up to Battle Creek, MI for their air show. We had a good time, though it was pretty hot. We even went to this amazing park so the girls could play before heading home.