This set is for my oldest daughter Madison. She is taking dance classes and absolutely loves it. We constantly have fights over what she wants to wear to class and this week was no exception. I sometimes have a hard time getting her to tell me what is really bothering her, but I finally got it out of her this week. After breaking into tears and refusing to wear pants even though it was freezing outside (well, Southern California cold...heehee) she finally blurted out..."I want to wear something pretty. All of the other girls get to wear pretty things to dance class." Oh, my heart just melted right then and there. I don't make her go to dance class in ugly things, I just feel the need to be practical with what we wear. I mean, c'mon she is only 3 1/2, we don't need to have professional dance outfits! Soooo.....since my mommy job is selling tutus and girlie things, I just had to make her a new tutu for dance class to wear when the next session starts after Christmas. The hat I just threw in hoping she would wear it. I sell all these adorable beanies and flower clips but can't even get my own daughter to wear them half the time. Ugghhhhh.

My only advice to mommies with little girls is to start early (yeah, think right outta the hospital) with the bows, hair clips, and hats. If you don't, they will never ever wear them!

My ingenious idea!

Hee hee hee....{Insert evil grin here}.

I just have to laugh about this. So, I went to the mall with my lovely SIL today and we both brought along the kidlets (2 each=4 total). We traded off watching them in 'Germ City' (AKA the play land) so the other could do a little shopping. I didn't know how much harder it is watching 4 kids as opposed to 2. Yikes, maybe we won't have baby #3! J/K. Anyway, I had a coupon from Victoria's Secret for $10 off any purchase. Being the total cheap-o that I am, I went in and found something for exactly $10. I originally went in wanting body wash but it was only $8.50 and I didn't want to spend any money there nor did I want to lose that extra $1.50 that they were giving me. So, I decided to get the body butter instead, which smells heavenly if I do say so myself. Of course the associate at the counter tried to hit me up for the 3 for $24 deal which I totally would have done in the past. Now with a family budget and my husband's hawk eyes on our finances, that's not going to be happening anytime soon. I also use their free panties coupon too and only get the free panties and nothing else. Yeah, the ladies at our VS love me!

So, on to my ingenious plan.......

I was emptying the car just now and throwing away the bags I didn't need and looked at my Victoria's Secret bag and thought, "Wow, how cute is that bag. It looks like it could be used for a present." Well, the logo on the front wouldn't really look that great, but hmmmmm........{insert a picture of my cheap-o crafty mind's wheels spinning!} AHHH HA! I've got it. I am going to put my husband's present in it for Christmas! I am making him a magnet for our dishwasher that tells him if our dishes are clean or dirty. I'm almost finished so check back for pics in a day or so. Yes, he has put dirty dishes away before and put dirty dishes in with the clean ones too. So, he really needs it and I had to make him something. He's actually mentioned it a couple of times that it would really help him out, so it will be a perfect gift for him. Won't he be thrilled on Christmas day to see a bag labeled for him and Victoria's Secret printed on the side! He will be shocked and probably embarrassed because of course it will be in front of either my family or his family when he opens it. He will be even more shocked when it's not sexy lingerie and it's a dishwasher magnet! LOL!

As a side note....my husband is known for wrapping up things I already own and gifting them to me. One Christmas it was a bag of tea light candles that I had purchased the week before. I'm sure there are more but they've slipped my mind at the moment. So, don't send me hate mail over this or think I'm mean and nasty. I love my husband very much but sometimes a girls gotta have a little fun! I've gotta be sure to post some pictures of his face too when he sees that present at Christmas. Hopefully my SIL can remind me!

Lastly, the picture is proof that I only bought (well it was actually free) the body butter lotion and not any sexy lingerie!

A is for Apple

This chef's hat and adorable apron are for my 2 year old niece Abby. Her mommy put an apron on her Christmas list because she knew I had a cute pattern for them. I just had to make her a matching chef's hat to make the outfit complete. I can just picture how adorable she will look cooking with her mommy in the kitchen!

Oh, as a side note.....if you noticed 2 spots on the band of the chef's hat, you weren't seeing things. Yes, that would be my blood. A battle wound from so much sewing and crafting! I pricked my finger, thought it was dry, and kept on sewing. Later on I noticed what I'd done. Oh well. I'm going to use my bleach stick and then wash it before I give it to her.

Lastly, I'm going to have her name embroidered on the band. I have a family friend who can do it for me for free. Free is always good. So, my cost on this present was about $3 total since I had the Apples and Pears fabric already as well as the green and white polka dot fabric. I did have to buy a little white twill fabric for the chef's hat. Of course, I used my coupon at JoAnn's for 50% off and bought some extra fabric to make my nephew's chef's hat and apron. The pom pom trim was $2.99 a yard and I got 2 yards (for other projects I'm planning) but the lady at JoAnn's only charged me for 1 yard. Woohoo! I think she was totally being nice since I waited 45 minutes in line for JUST the pom pom trim. I know, total waste of time and I'm crazy. But, I HAD to get this project finished and out of the way. Of course, I used my 50% off coupon on that to. I ended up getting 2 yards of pom pom trim for $1.49! That is a steal.

It's picture time! Finally....

I made these for my 2 little princesses who love to dress up and dance around. They were fun to make and I know will be a big hit.

Christmas came early...

I have been waiting impatiently for almost a week now to open my mailbox and find a little brown box inside. Well, today was the day. After rushing home with my treasure, I hastily tore the box open. Inside I found the book I had been pining for at the bookstore. I have to admit, I was a bit shocked by the cheesiness and the bright yellow color of the cover. But as the old saying goes......"You can't judge a book by it's cover." I read somewhere that this is supposed to be a great reference for all things sewing and it received great reviews at Amazon.com, so let's hope I'm right.

Oh, and I've gotta tell you that I didn't even spend one penny on it! I got free shipping since I bought something else totalling $25. Also, I have had these Amazon gift certificate codes in my e-mail box for months just wondering what I should use them on. (I was chosen to participate in an online forum only for women about HP products. Cool, huh? So, about once a quarter I get a $15 Amazon gift card and they have been piling up.) Anyway, the next book I'm drooling over is In Stitches by Amy Butler (a fabulous fabric and pattern designer) I hope I get that one for Christmas though. Hint, Hint!

So, now that I've finally got the book in my possession, I've just gotta find the time to read it!

The Circle of Life

Today I came to pick Maddie up from pre-school only to find that her teacher was not there. She had been there this morning when I dropped Maddie off though. We've only been going there to pre-school about 2 1/2 months, but Miss. D. has never not been there. Her teachers' aid was leading the class which surprised me. So, I asked one of the other teachers if she was okay only to find out that her father had passed away earlier that morning.

My heart just breaks for Miss D. and her family right now. I can't even begin to imagine how hard it would be to lose your father. I don't know details or any other information, I can only hope that he is now up in Heaven with his Father.

Miss D. is honestly the most genuinely happy person that I know. She enjoys her job and truly loves and cares for those little 3 year olds like no one else can. She is wonderful at what she does and we fell in love with her from the first day Maddie stepped foot in her class. She asks me every day how I am doing and waits intently for my reply. Today I had had a hard morning getting Maddie up and dressed (she did not want to wear the striped shirt! although she had a choice of 2 outfits). She whined all the way there that she didn't want to go, blah, blah, blah. I just tuned it out today. So, of course when Miss D. asked how I was doing I unloaded on her a bit about how much of a struggle I'm having with Maddie. In true Miss. D style she had a positive thing to say and told me what a good job I was doing. Some days I feel like she is my personal cheerleader, cheering me on to be the best mommy I can be. Not once did I detect anything was wrong with her nor did she unload any of her problems on me or the kids (Maddie had no clue why Miss. D went home early today). Now I'm feeling a bit guilty about not asking her how her day was going and not being able to give her a positive word when she could really use it.

So, I'm a bit down today thinking of the loved ones in my family that have already passed and the few others who are to follow. Makes me want to squeeze my girls a little harder today and shower them with extra kisses. Our lives are too short not to be happy and content with what God has given us. Not typically being an overly happy person myself, I think I will make it my goal throughout the Holidays and the coming year to work on that part of my life. I have so much to be thankful for and need to show it more to those around me.

If only there were more Miss. D's in the world.
We Love you Miss. D.!!!

Gobble, Gobble, Splat!

Sorry for the yucky title, but I thought it was quite fitting for out weekend. I'll give you a little run down on how it went but I'll spare you the nasty details.

Thanksgiving day we went over to my parent's house and had a HUGE Thanksgiving lunch with all of the family. Everything was delicious and the girls enjoyed playing with their cousins. We then went up to my husband's mom and step-dad's house to spend the long weekend. Well, everything was going great until about 1 am when my husband got incredibly sick with the flu. He was the sickest I have ever seen him since we met. He spent most of Friday in the bathroom, but I'll save you the graphic details. Then I got a touch of it on Saturday while I was in the middle of the Fashion District in Los Angeles. Not the place you want to get sick as there are practically no bathrooms there. Yeah, fun times!

So, our weekend plans to go to my husband's 10-year reunion Friday night and then spend the night in a hotel just the 2 of us were totally out of the question. I canceled the hotel and my husband e-mailed his reunion planner and they actually refunded our $120! Woo hooo! The girls got to spend tons of time with their grandparents which they absolutely loved, I got no crafting accomplished, and we ended up giving my mother-in-law the flu. Talk about feeling terrible. It's one thing to be sick at your in-law's house but to then get them sick as well is a whole different story. (If you're reading this Grandma and Silly Grandpa, the girls had a blast and are already asking when they can come back. Chris and I want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for taking care of us and for all you do for us. We love you!)

That about sums up our fun weekend! I had visions of cutting out aprons in preparation for this week's sewing, making a few hair bows, and completing my game plan. Unfortunately none of that happened. The one thing that I did do was to go to Barnes and Noble and look through tons of craft books. I had so many I could barely carry all of them. I found so many great ideas, and now have a more clear plan of what I'm going to make for the hard people on my list. Yeah!

Today was spent cleaning the house and unpacking, so tomorrow I have to start sewing! I've gotta get started or I'm gonna kill myself in the last few days like usual. I won't do that this year, I won't do that this year, I won't do that this year! Keep me to my word, okay?