Better Late than Never

First things first, I will be making some confessions during this blog post.

1. The girls and I went to Dunkin' Donuts this morning in our Jammies. I was even wearing my Ugg houseshoes. We only went through the drive thru, but that is the first time we have done that. Ed is in Dallas, and the coffee I made just wasn't cuttin' it this morning. As much as I like coffee, I am hit or miss with it suiting my palate.

2. I really do want to be a good blogger, but there are some things standing in my way.
Our new computer likes to hide the pictures when I download them even after I have tagged them. It is like an Easter egg hunt to find said pictures to post them. I also find my thoughts are very random and not in any logical order to share with anyone. I can barely string them together these days- Perhaps it is because I am going through the grammar stage of learning again with the girls and am retraining my brain to memorize things such as the presidents of the US. I can now sing the presidents in order and skip count through the
12's. Here's the humbling part, Ava & Jenna can do it better than I can!

Now, on to the actual pics I have posted. I don't know what order the pics are in, so bear with me. The kids are my nieces and nephews in Louisville. While Ed was in Kenya, the girls and I took a trip to visit my sister, Stacey and brother in law, Chris, who have added a new baby (Max) to their family. Clay is now a big brother! Sorry I didn't get any pics of Max b/c I was too busy holding and feeding him. We also got to see my brother, Neil and his lovely wife, Patricia and their sweet girls Lily and Beth. It was a great time to reconnect with them. Ava & Jenna had so much fun with their new found cousins. My father and his wife, Brenda also made the trip to the big city to see everyone.

The photo of Ava in the skirt and top is of a skirt I have made for them for summer. I am making most of their summer clothes (for better or worse). This leads to my next and last confession for this post.

3. Compulsion is defined as an irresistible persistent impulse to perform an act. So here goes, I have a sewing compulsion. It goes like this: I have cute fabric, but I need the right pattern for it OR I have a really sweet pattern but need just the right fabrics to make it. This leads to getting more fabric and even more patterns, and it is a never ending cycle. (At least Ed is understanding because of his woodworking. I may be getting a serger this summer. I have some patterns I am saving to make with the serger because they will go so much faster. Okay, I may not be able to wait to make them, but we'll see, and I will keep you posted.

I am typed out, but feel I have mostly caught you up on things here at Little House in FA. P.S. Ed came home this week with the just hatched premiere edition of magazine by Hobby Farms.

Goals

While Ed is away, I have a few goals:

1. Sew A LOT. Or at least cut out a lot of my projects so I can simply go from project to project without stopping to cut out new patterns which is my least favorite part of sewing.

2. Do the bare minimum of cooking, cleaning and housework. I went to the grocery yesterday and purchased many many lean cuisine meals.

3. Spend some time with family in Kentucky..

So, that's it sweet and simple. So far, I have finished one and a half dresses and one and a half skirts for the girls. I must be developing some ADD b/c normally I would never dream of starting a new project before you finish a prior one, but once I got the pattern for the Handmade dress, I stopped cold in my tracks, pushed the second skirt aside (which only needs to be hemmed- I can do that anytime, right)and set to cutting out the dress. I finished it yesterday and have the second one halfway finished as of now. Maybe I'll finish it today? The girls and I are going to later church today, but I still better sign off for now. Hope everyone has a wonderful Lord's Day. P.S. Ed arrived safely in Kenya yesterday.

Something New

So, this weekend my husband cooked a wonderful meal from Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and we had some dear friends over to share in the bounty. I have had a desire for a while to try making homemade bread, but I had not purued this interest until recently. Why, you ask? I wasn't sure I wanted to buy a breadmaking machine mostly due to cost and space concerns in our kitchen. But, a friend from our homeschooling group shared her story about these 2 books: Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a Day & Healthy Bread in 5 minutes a day. I got them from Amazon along with the platic container(s) you see in the fridge. It really is simple. You mix up the ingredients- no kneading involved, tear off a portion of the dough, let it rise and bake it when you want fresh bread. I have only made a couple of the recipes, but it is tasty. My contribution to the weekend meal was a freshly baked French Boule of bread. Doing it this way is also economical- costing a fraction of what healthy bread costs in the store. I have made whole wheat sandwich bread as well.

The Tulips are included in the blog just because they are pretty in the dining room. The other pic is of my dear friends, Kristy and Debby. It's the only picture we took that night. I had intended to take more of the actual meal, but my camera batteries went dead.

So, what else is going on around here? Ed leaves for 16 days in Kenya on Friday. Please pray for the medical team as they travel and minister to the physical and spiritual needs of the children and their families in Kijabe. I am back to sewing smaller things for the girls, and I've just purchased some adorable new patterns from the Handmade Dress and landed some clearance boutique fabric from Chez Ami (some for only $3 per yard). I just couldn't resist. I hope to sew a lot while Ed is gone, and we plan to make a trip to Kentucky to see all our relatives there- which is including a trip to Louisville to see my brother and sister who live there. I have not been to Louisville in at least 10 years- maybe I've been once since finishing grad school at U of L. Anywho, Jenna is up now and ready to be "breakfast helper" so I need to go.

Ahh..I love a project once it's finished

Well, since I don't blog very regularly, no one will probably even see these, but I finished my drapes. They took about 5 or 6 weeks of sewing in my spare time. It was not difficult, but it was a LOT of fabric to deal with. They are triple pinch pleated and lined. I had to cut them out on my kitchen floor. Now, I am ready to sew simple little skirts and jumpers for the girls with no more than a couple yards of fabric per project. And, also I need a bedskirt for our bed because I keep stashing plastic packers/containers under it. It started out just being one and now maybe four or five so it's time to get on the custom bedskirt.

We just finished half of our Spring semester with Classical Conversations (our homeschooling group). The kids had a grand time playing fun games today. It's great to see all they have learned and very encouraging, too. We have company coming over the weekend and a fun dinner party planned for Saturday night. I hope to get some good pics to post later. Also, I've fallen in love with a new book. Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day! Simply wonderful bread. I'll post more on that later.

I've lost it!

I went to 9 hours of professional meetings at the end of last week. So, here is what I learned. I am just not that into audiology anymore. There I have said it, and I feel better. Actually, maybe it was just the particular topics of this meeting- Tele-Health and Ethics. I really was fighting the urge to play with my iphone for much of the meeting. I loved my patients when I was working, and my friends at work were some of the best I have ever had, and I still like to hear how things are going in the workplace for them. I think I could even jump back into work at my former place of employment and enjoy it, but this meeting just didn't ignite that particular interest in me.

Now, if this meeting had been a homeschooling conference, I could have listened attentively for hours on how to help emergent readers. We have a new schedule this semester for dance, choir and my cooking co-op. I like the new schedule because I am at home for longer periods of the day before we venture out for said events. This means I get more done at home- cha ching!! I have started working out to some videos (Chalean Extreme) at home, too. One of my friends recently said of me that she would not be surprised to hear me comment that I had re-worked the new schedule so we never have to leave the house. Is it that obvious that I struggle with how to balance things?

I just love having blocks of time to accomplish things. How can you get things done if you are constantly running around? I guess I am just not wired that way. Well, I have more to say, but I am out of time.

New Year, New Habits!

In an effort to be more organized, I spent last week decluttering and organizing as many rooms as I could reasonably tackle. I am also borrowing several ideas from FLYLady.net for the new year. I am going to try zone cleaning. Basically, you break up your home into zones and focus on one area each week. For example, zone 1 is the entrance/dining room/porch, zone 2 is the kitchen, and zone 3 is bathroom/children's rooms/spare room or office, etc. In the beginning, you set your timer for 15 minutes and declutter (or clean) if you have already decluttered for the alloted time in the zone for the week. You do this for the week, and then move on to the next zone. She says in several months, your house stays cleaner this way. Oh, you also do some basic daily cleaning in the kitchen and bathrooms plus schedluled pick up times for "hot" spots in the house. I'm going to try it!

Above is a shelf in our pantry all organized. The pantry was a mess before, but I am proud to report it is still nice and neat 2-3 weeks later. Also, I have switched to a new planner (Beautiful Life Management) that has helpful cleaning hints for each day (the lady who designed them was a former FLY-baby herself). So far so good, but it does take time to make changes and planning to be organized is much harder now than it was when I was single.

I have always been good with time management, but organizing stuff is another story. Last week, we threw away A LOT of unused or broken stuff- shhh- Ed doesn't know becasue our neighbor let me put the trash in her can! I am also going to more diligent in having the girls help me each day, and I'm working on a chore system for them.

Now, for fun, I am beginning to sew my living room drapes as soon as the buckram arrives. I am ready for that room to be finished- maybe even by my birthday! So, if you are reading this here's to you in 2010! P.S. Maybe I'll even be better about posting on my blog.

Merry Christmas! This photo was taken last week at Ed's office Christmas party. I spent many hours last week finishing up the dresses for Ava & Jenna. I started them in a sewing class in September, and finished them the night before the party.

We are a little behind in other areas of Christmas at the Woody house, but finally, we are caught up. Many of you know, the girls and I have spent a lot of time out of town over the past several months. Some of these travels were to help my sister (who is going through an unexpected divorce). The blessing in all this is that we are continually amazed at God's provision in what is a very difficult situation. If you have been praying for her, please continue!

At our house, we finally put up some acceptable decorations outside today. Last weekend (our first one at home since before Thanksgiving), I came down with a cold bug that zapped my energy so nothing happened at home. Now, we at least have a few presents under the tree, but more importantly, we are together and KNOW the real spirit of Christmas does not rest in decorations or the right tree, but in that Christ came into the world to save us. And, saving we need-Saving from our own devices, tendencies and all the world has to offer. I am giving great thanks for my family and friends. Many of whom are facing serious and varying trials. I am tremendously blessed and encouraged by all the friends God has placed in my life.
Here is wishing you all a blessed Christmas knowing that God is working his purposes for those who love Him!