The big monster is done...

 

I was asked after Ryguy was born to make a big afghan for my kid's Godfather, DJ. We are going to forget the fact now that he is 3 years old now. DJ had a few requirements: king sized, black and not holey. Well I don't know if you have crocheted ever however crochet is just that. holey. I used a K hook and several Caron 1lb balls. The ones holding it up are my teens with their arms stretched up. It is very heavy and warm. He does like it and hopefully will enjoy it on his bed. 

What have you been crafting lately?

 

It's been a productive few weeks...

Some time to reflect on the last few weeks and share some things that have made me grateful.

No time to be depressed when you are happy for what you have.

**************************

...children leading worship.

...getting a new mattress that's super comfortable.

... tax time bringing in some extra money which in turn means less stress for me.

...getting homework done before 1pm most days.

...Mark getting a new doll kit for his birthday.

...three successful egg hunts between work and church.

...having some good craft time.

...being finished with the quilt and giving it to Randy's grandmother.

...bringing Randy's motorcycle out of storage.

... a new dress sewn.

...some pictures finally of my littles and of my husband and I from Easter. Man do they clean up good!

I hope everyone had a fabulous Easer and what are you grateful for today?

Project bags

I am joining One Grey Elephant for her project bag swap. It is a mama swap with a project bag filled with all sorts of goodies. I finally have borrowed a sewing machine from my in-laws and was able to whip it up quickly now that I have a machine that actually works. I am still working on the hearts for Peyton's heart project as well and have a ton to go before Easter gets here.

What are you crafting this week?

Oats Cowl {KCCO}

So I have finally figured out knitting...well ish. I attempted the Tin Can Oats pattern and butchered the ribbing. Wrapped the yarn around the bottom for each of the stiches so it has a nice tight spiral bound edge. Pretty, however not even close to the idea of a rib. I gifted it to Nanners as she was excited to have something that Mama made.

I have begun again with my Ravelry notes to make a real one for myself. I am using this beautiful fallish colored yarn. It is one of my favorite color combinations. I have been trying to push myself in more colored accessories vs all black so I  felt it a was good start. My goal is it will be able to hide my TENS unit if i need to be a little more socially acceptable and not have to answer dumb questions about all the wires around my neck.

What are you working on today?

BTW Happy Ash Wednesday! I will have a nice update regarding our Lent goals in the next post.

Got the kids...and the dog!

Some time to reflect on the last few weeks and share some things that have made me grateful.

No time to be depressed when you are happy for what you have.

**************************

my car breaking down on payday and not before as we would have been too broke for tow...

a kind police officer that called another officer to bring me to IHOP vs sitting in the cold, and NOT giving me a ticket...

finally getting custody of Randy's old dog from his ex... now we have the kids and the dog!

yarn. all that's ever needed...

a kind friend reminding me this morning that its OK to ask for more than you ever think you are worth since more often than not you are selling yourself short....

the kids laughing about my lack of knowledge of newer social media and making me figure out how to use Instagram...


finally getting the strength to tell my one boss and her boss about some problems at work. I'm still nervous and waiting on resolution but it felt so good to stand up for myself and my team as we have had these problems for years...

finding out the growth on my ear is for sure a keloid. it will always look funny but won't kill me so we will take it!

 

a new TENS unit. great for pain relief with back and neck pain...

 

Giddy baby being a big boy and playing with play dough...

 

 

nature walks with the Magnar and the Gid.

 

what are you grateful for this week?

slowish weekend

 Some time to reflect on the last week and share some things that have made me grateful.

No time to be depressed when you are happy for what you have.
****************************

When baby boy falls asleep after fighting a nap for hours. You don't dare move but enjoy the cuddles...

An afternoon outing with the husband involving lunch, 2 libraries and a thrift store....

Finding the best pair of minnie mouse pjs for Koda...

family wrestling night with nachos- and the one night a month the kids can watch dinner with the tv...

bonus checks from work covering all the extra bills built up...

Mohawks for the boys...

photos of the Gid with oldish crochet hats making him look adorable...

New mittens {KCCO}

I decided to whip up some baby mittens for Gid since putting gloves on him is the biggest royal pain. I don't like the cheap nylon mittens from Wal-Mart for the kids as they get soaked easily in the snow.

I crocheted these up quickly in cascade wool and made my own pattern inspired by many others. There are only so many ways to make a simple tube with a thumb hole. I love this blue and I hope he likes them.

What are you crafting right now?

Yarn doll

Many times I am commissioned to crochet projects for a family friend.

I got a message from our friend and she asked  "Can you make this for me?"

I of course had no idea what it was. After some looking on the internet I have become knowledgeable about Enderman. He is a character from the Minecraft video game. He is a bad guy and destroys things.

 I looked for patterns around the internet and did not like any of them. Most of them had square bodies and round arms. In a pixelated world round arms don't work well.  I did sit and create my own pattern for him via the photos on Google and unfortunately it took  much longer than I anticipated

due to my arthritis.

 

Yay for Enderman!

Dying yarn

 As the deadline nears for my unicorn hats for my swap I realized I did not have the perfect yarn for the manes. I decided to dye my own using Kool-Aid and food coloring. It is not perfect by any means but since it will be cut up into fringe I feel it adds character. I am decently happy on how the striping turned out and hope to do it again soon with much more time and patience.

rainbow dyes

Pre-dye

 

All wrapped up

The final product!

 

Kcco: another crochet lesson

 As always I am working with a coworker to teach him to crochet. For awhile he has asked to make a beer koozie. I told him to hold tight and learn some stitches so he made his bunny from a square and a scarf for his girlfriend.  Finally I felt he was ready and we created this together on our slow day last week.

Update on our rainbow unicorn hats from Repeat Crafter Me. Got 1 base done and 5 more to go since Nanners wants one as well.

 

What are you crafting? 

Gratefulness

Sundays...

A time for reflection and gratitude. There is no way to be crabby and mean when you sit back and think of all you are grateful for this week.


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being 3 projects away from presenting a diploma...






a garden planted with cucumbers, eggplants and lettuce...

old tomato plants growing up from our previous garden...

some new fingerless gloves on and off  the hook...

a school year almost over for my step kids so we can enjoy summer vacation with them...

a set of donated bowling balls recovered...

specialists appointments in my future to finally have answers regarding my health...

a little boy enjoying his solids... 

a birthday present for friends in the making...

a cuddlebug for when I am hurting and need it... 

Linking up with Woolymossroots  

Mandala

The value of life does not depend upon the place we occupy.

It depends upon the way we occupy that place.

St. Therese de Lisieux

On our trays

Again behind. these have been out for a few days but never got the chance to put the post up. Last month I never took any pics so you will have to forgive me. This month though we did an Easter/spring theme.
We have:

matching sound eggs

matching color eggs

color grading (we still haven't got a hang of this)

and spooning.


Our sensory bin is full of eggs, Easter grass and this lightup fuzzy chick. Spring cookie cutters also are in our bin.

Moments to Remember

So Ive got behind on a few posts. I do apologize. Luckily the business has been growing the way i have needed it to so we were able to take some time to go to the zoo like we have been wanting to for awhile. we started a new custody agreement that allows us the kids on some weekends so we can take this time to enjoy them off of school. The kids saw plenty of animals but it seems like their favorite part was painting their face in the play zoo area. Nanners decided that she was a cat and Mark was a puppy. 

them working on makeup together

<a href=”http://1plus1plus1equals1.blogspot.com/search/label/Moments%20to%20Remember” target=”_blank”><img src=”http://i678.photobucket.com/albums/vv146/homeschoolcreations/MomentstoRemember125x125.jpg” title=”Moments to Remember” /></a>

DIY texture letters

Well I have wanted to get Nanners some sandpaper letters for awhile now. However being frugal (read: super poor) I decided to make some so she can use. I did not have sandpaper and I did not want to buy ANYTHING. I had seen some Chinese letters done in glitter glue before so I figured I could take the idea and morph it into my own.

 

 Our finished product. 

First I traced out our template.We used manilla folders cut into 8ths (4 from each side of the folder). I did not feel like buying cardstock. 

I got my outline for cursive letters from here. Find Cursive letter template I figured I would try cursive with her first as more and more I see children have an easier time with cursive than print. I did not bother printing these templates. I placed the manilla folder DIRECTLY on my laptop with the screen laying flat so I could trace it.

 

Then we colored everything in. Blue for the consonants and red for the vowels.  It matches the set of movable letters I have downloaded for when she is ready. (We have noncolor coded letters for her older brother to practice his reading/writing)

 

Then I took my hot glue gun and filled in all the letters. They are stringy and blobby which gives it a weird texture. You have to go over them slowly which makes more emphasis on the letter. 

And that's it! Simple as that! The other kids got to help me do all of the coloring and ironically our 9 year old, Beanie colored better than my 14 year old, Kota. Go figure. 

 

Plus a picture of Nanners and Beanie working together on our snaps electric board. We got it for free at the homeschool conference in Chicago and it gets used often. Nanners loves watching the older kids make fans and making things go flying! 

I am linking up to Montessori Monday!