My New Pad

I am moving my blog. HERE. It's still under construction. The blog roll and meta thingies on the right haven't been used yet, so they're just place holders. Anyway... whatcha think of my new pad? Update your subscriptions. If you want.

Gun Slinging Haleys

Zack attended Camp Skeeter which is something his school does for all third graders at the end of every school year. The kids fabric paint a shirt with the logo of a bug and the camp title, make things to buy in the "depot" with bucks they earn during the year for being good, and this year they also made marshmallow guns. Zack came home with the prototype, Seth wanted one, and Daddy came through with a trip to Lowe's.

In fact, we all got one! We used a pipe cutter clamp thingy to cut the long piece of pvc pipe which Josh had already purchased for a previous manly project with our neighbor John. We cut our own (except Seth... he asked for help) pipe and then put our own gun together with fittings, following Zack's model. And then Josh got out the electrical tape to decorate his and the kids followed suit. I got out the scrapbook stickers to decorate mine and Seth followed my inspiration. Any project is made better with stickers, right? Unless you're going for the military-I'll-woop-you-don't-mess-with-me look.

Here are the measurements to ours and the pics (all except Zack's... maybe he took his back to school today) so you can go make your own. Make sure all the fittings are slip style and not threaded. Also, we bought all the fittings in bags of 10... it's cheaper... and we just need another pvc pipe to make one for Zoe when she gets bigger.

• 1 straight piece at 7.25 inches, pvc pipe 1/2 inch
• 6 straight pieces at 3.25 inches, pvc pipe 1/2 inch (or you can make one longer for your forward grip like I did... mine was the last one to be cut, so I just left the extra inch or so that was leftover)
• 2 caps, 1/2 inch slip
• 2 elbows, 1/2 inch slip
• 2 tees, 1/2 inch slip

If you live in my area, Kroger is having a sale on mini marshmallows which are needed for ammo. Marshmallows as ammo... talk about an oxymoron, but those soft and seemingly harmless pellets hurt when they're blown hard by these weapons. Oh, I forgot to say how to load ammo... put a mini marshmallow in the mouth piece and then blow. Simple, yeah? You would think that you need to plug the hole going back to the back grip, but you don't need to worry. The capped end provides the pressure needed to blow the ammo out the tube that doesn't have a cap.

Another tip... push the marshmallow in a little bit so that it doesn't touch your tongue before you blow. It keeps the marshmallows from getting sticky so you can use them again and it keeps you from inhaling them accidentally so you don't choke and die.

One more tip...play outside. I'm paranoid that we have forgotten mini marshmallows in our living room. When they're wet and somebody steps on them, they are hard to get out of the carpet.

On second thought... marshmallows are nasty little buggers.

My Favorite Drink

I poured my favorite drink today and then I thought I'd take a picture of it. So in case you want to try it, here's the recipe:

1 glass (or plastic cup impersonating a glass)
lots of ice
ibc cream soda (it's caffeine-free unlike A&W)
heavy cream (yup. that's right. not half and half)

Fill glass with ice, pour cream soda over that, then float heavy cream over that. The cream sits at the top, but will get mixed in with the soda eventually (but I try to prolong the separation for as long as I can by taking slow sips). When you take a sip there's the crispy sweet of the soda mixed with the mild, fattening goodness of cream.

What a great combination... you'll have a heart attack and a diabetic coma all at once. You're welcome.

More Onesies, Burp Cloths, Etc.

First, Zoe is all better. Thanks to all you well-wishers. And I scored some chocolate at the dollar store the other day, so I'm good. I mean, Zoe thanks you for helping her get better! Actually, I got sick too, and slept most of Memorial Day while Josh and the kids slaved away in the yard. Josh calls one of the sago palms "Cousin It" and they gave him a big time hair cut. He'll probably blog about it. Anyway, I'm all better, too. By the way, did you know that Twix Java is out? As if that candy bar needed any more incentive to eat it.

Second, Sarah and I are totally addicted to the Ting Tings lately (their song "Shut Up and Let Me Go" is in an ipod commercial). We did Gwen for a while, and we still go back to her in the car, but now when I walk by Sarah's room I can hear "Imagine all the girls... ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah" blaring. Josh knows what we like and turned us on to them. But it's a good thing Sarah has him to also expose her to a variety of really great music. She eats everything up that he teaches her. She has a drum pad that she practices on, she learned a song on the ukulele, and yesterday I heard her playing the electric bass. I gotta figure out how to do the hyper text (and be cool like Juli and Angry Asian and Homemade by Jill and Josh) to link to the video he posted. **I know how to use the link button now!! Check out my girl playing her grandpa's Kamaka. (Thanks papa'!)

Now for the crafty pics...

First set has really soft yellow felt with bunnies that a friend (M) gave me in a big bag of fabric scraps she didn't want anymore. I only had a little left and I really wanted to make something the baby could touch, so I made a soft toy. B is for baby, burp, bunny or Bailey (name of the baby that is coming in October... yeah, they already got her name). Then when you flip the burp cloth or the soft toy it's a D for Daddy. (Or a q or a p... you get the idea.) The socks will probably fall apart... I didn't stitch around the hearts because the fabric is stretchy and I'm just not savvy enough on the sewing machine to do stretchy. So it's just for looks.



The next set is more of the same with some extra touches. I sewed ribbon on one edge of the fabric on the burp cloth. I made a hair bow clip with the same ribbon. And then I got an original thought for the socks. I crocheted pieces of fabric to the edge. It's really easy to crochet the edge of socks and I've seen people do it with chain stitches and beads for little girls, but beads and babies don't mix (as if pieces of fabric can't get caught in a baby's airway). I have no idea if these fabric pieces are secure enough. Who knows what will happen when they get washed. So it seems that these socks are for looks, too. I predict that the baby I made this for will have an outfit for each day of every month and year and so will only need to wear the socks once anyway... heh heh. This set has one other piece coming so I'll post it when I'm done.




And that's all the pics I have for you today.

I want to thank Josh's Grandma for buying me this sewing machine years ago... without it I would not be able to escape into a craft world. And thanks to Josh's mom for taking the time to teach me how to sew... one thing I remember is that "spit" is one of the tools of the trade. And then the German lady I took a class from when I was pregnant with my first baby... she deserves my thanks, too. She helped me learn how to make stuff from a pattern... kind of.

Now that the kids are older, I am able to help them make little sewing projects, too. Sarah made a soft bookmark out of the fabric scraps after cutting out a pattern for a shirt we're making for her. (She said, "Now I just need a book to put it in.") Who knows if we'll be able to make it through this pattern and still be related to each other. We've already had little spats just cutting out the pieces. Uh, Mom... What? I don't know if this is the right line. Did you cut it already? Just a little. Why didn't you ask me before you cut it if you weren't sure?

Baby Onesie & Matching Burp Cloths

Before Zoe monopolized my day and night by being sick, I managed to make these less-than-perfect-but-still-cute baby gifts.

I used Wonder Under to get the fabric squares ironed to the front and back of the onesie. Then I zigzag stitched around the edges.


I like the banana-butt... inspired by the onesie I bought in a store for my nephew. (Front said "I heart Mommy" and back bottom said "Mommy hearts Me".) I got the onesies from Target, they are Circo brand... much nicer than the Gerber ones. I got the cloth diapers at Target, too, and these pics were taken before I ironed/stitched some squares to the opposite end of the fabric encased end. So... they got cuter, but you'll have to use your imagination.

I'm Sick, Send Gifts

Look at this sad picture of Zoe. Her first experience of a fever and she's only four months old. Makes you want to send chocolates, huh? Anything to ease the pain... well, she'll get some eventually! It'll just be processed through the mommy milk factory first. Purely for her benefit.

My first video post on youtube!

Zoe has been eyeballing her feet for weeks. Today she managed to reach them on her own. Here's proof!