Saturday, March 27, 2010

Latest Project...I mean obsession...

I love to sew, as those who know me well already know.  I mentioned the idea of making a quiet book a few weeks ago to my mom, and we both went crazy with ideas.  We talked about it a lot on the phone, and swapped email ideas, and googled blogs and did lots of research.  We really liked the idea of basing the pages around primary songs.  I've finally finished planning my perfect quiet book.  I'm really excited. And when I get more done I'll post about it on my sewing blog.  But in the meantime I have to share something that I think is amazing.  AMAZING! 
While my mom and I were chatting about all this, I thought it would be really cool to print the layouts on fabric, like they do at Spoonflower or FabricOnDemand.  It's just kind of pricey, and I don't have the software to really "design" it properly.  But I think the idea of being able to design and custom print your own fabric is really cool.  And then I stumbled across this idea and I was enamored.  You can print on fabric with your home printer! I'm not going to bother rehashing the steps, because the website does a great job.  I obviously wasn't interested in making beanbags (thought it's a cool idea), but in making quietbook pages.  And here is the result so far.  I didn't have white cotton, just some light khaki colored stuff, and I'm cheap so I used it instead, but I still love the result. 
(Please ignore the fact that it is a mirror image photo. Ben took the camera out so I had to take it with our webcam)
For the Popcorn Popping page I'll print little popcorn blossoms and attach velcro and a basket pocket they can be gathered into.  The page opposite is my "I Think the World is Glorious*" , or touch and feel nature page.  It's a picture from my mission in Alaska, and I'm in a field of fireweed (which grows EVERYWHERE up there).  I'm going to sew on cottony clouds and some 3-D silk flowers, maybe a furry animal.  Anyway, you get the idea.
I'm really stoked.  I can't get over that I can print my own pages.  To do the designing, I've just been using microsoft word and paint programs.  I've searched for public domain clipart and then used paint to make it just how I want it and then copied into word so I get it the right size (because I apparently can't do that in paint).  Plus I can add wordart in Word.
I think possibilities for printing your own fabric are incredible.  Granted, you can only print as big as your printer will take, but still!  OH, I'm so excited!
*Funny story about this song.  When I was a little girl I would tell my mom that this was the song I was going to sing on Resurrection morning, only I didn't really (and still don't) have the words for the verse down so I would improvise with "I sing and sing and sing and sing...and sing and sing and sing..." It never ended apparently.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

More Gems from Celeste

I love it when Ben comes home with good stories from school, like the following...

Student 1:  Mr. Lewis, have you ever gotten drunk?
Ben: No.
Student 1: Never?
Ben: Nope, never
Class: Whoa...
Student 2: Have you ever even had alcohol?
Ben: Nope
Student 2: Not ever a tiny sip?
Ben: Nope
Class: Whoa...
Student 3:  Have you ever smoked?
Ben:  No.
Student 3: Not even once?
Ben: Not ever.
Class: Whoa...
Student 4:  Mr. Lewis, I gotta question for you. 
Ben: Yes...
Student 4: Have you ever changed your oil?
Ben: No.  But I want to learn how.
Class: Whoa...

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Stuff We Do

We do lots of stuff at our house.  Here's a little bit of that.
We work on the computer a lot.  Ellie works on getting into and under stuff.  She's really good about it.

We hang out with our family! Aunt Pearl came to visit for a week and we had tons of fun hanging out with her and her wonderful dog Ruthie.
We play a lot!  Ellie had her first experience on the swing.  It was a joy!



Speaking of firsts, Ellie has had a lot lately.  She crawls for real now, and is into everything.  She also started eating foods she can pick up.  Crackers are awesome!

We celebrate Pi Day!  We made an awesome apple pie (click here for the recipe) to celebrate Mar. 14 (or 3.14).

I hope you are having as much as we are!

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Reasons to Love Texas

Every once in a while there are things I really miss about living in Utah (I can't really say too much about Nevada since I haven't actually lived there since graduating from high school in 2000).  Besides family and friends, I miss the Macey's grocery store, being able to walk to two large and wonderful libraries, mountains, and having just about everything within walking distance.  But I really do love living here in Melissa, Texas (google that, it's about as big as it sounds).  Ellie and I went grocery shopping the other day (couponing is a new favorite pasttime), and to do so requires visiting a few other towns since Melissa doesn't actually have a grocery store.  The trip prompted some thoughts about a few things I really enjoy about Texas.  So here is my list:
1.  Feeling like you're a foreigner living abroad.  Not because Texas is so different, or even because it thinks it's really big (hello Alaska!).  But because everyone has such wonderful Texan drawls in these small Texan towns.  As I was carrying Ellie in the carseat into the grocery store in Anna TX, one of the employees was pushing in a cart and offered it to me, saying(imagine the drawl), "Doya needa buggy?"  To which I replied, "What was that?"  "Doya needa buggy?" he said, pushing the cart towards me.  "Oh, yes, thank you."  Yeah, a cart is a buggy.  Love it.

2.  Everyone wants to be your friend.  Or at least they act like it because everyone waves when they drive by (on small streets, obviously not on the freeway or there would be significatly more accidents).  This fact is especially true when you have an adorable baby in tow. 

3.  Being polite is a way of life.  Yes, sir; yes, ma'am.  On this particular trip we went to two different grocery stores.  At both they didn't even bother to ask if I needed help with my bags to the car.  They just picked them up and followed me, chatting it up about my adorable baby (I was advised not to "go crazy" like one particular lady and have five.  I then informed her that I came from a family of seven, so five doesn't seem so crazy).  It was so nice because I really did need the help.  Previous to Ellie's birth, I always said I was fine with the groceries, even when I was 8 months pregnant, because I really felt that I was.  But it is rough going carrying a carseat with baby and transferring groceries and returning the cart and then putting the baby in the car...you get the idea

Those are my top three reasons to love Texas.  Number four is the generally nice weather.  I love the snow, but I'm kind of glad that winter is basically over here.

The only exception to these is something that Ben would like me to point out, and I tend to agree.  Numbers 2 and 3 are thrown out the window once they get behind the wheel of a car.  They do not care if you have right of way, or even if it's just polite to let someone on the freeway whose lane is ending, or if you are getting cut off by a semi.  It matters not to them whether your life is in peril or not.  They were there first (or so they believe), and their truck is probably bigger so you should get out of the way.  Because everything is bigger in Texas.  To which I reply, if Alaska was cut in half then Texas would have to settle with being the third largest state.  So HA!

And here is the obligatory cute picture of Ellie.  She's laughing.  She has a big mouth like her father and a loud, raucous sort of laugh like her mother.
And she's going here from down-dog to plank.  We do yoga in the morning.  Really she's trying to figure out crawling and thinks her toes ought to be involved.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

The Wiggle Dance

Ellie does this funny thing where if you wiggle your head, she'll copy you.  Usually she yells while doing this.  but she's a bit of a camera hog, so if she sees the camera she won't do it.  She'll only smile and talk and try to grab the camera.  So here's a sideways view.  Grandma and Grandpa Lewis are prompting her.  They are so awesome!