Hooray for Hollywood ...

Okay, not exactly Hollywood. But Evan's school production is Thursday night. He got a plum role and I was thrilled to make the costume. A ladies' cropped jacket with 3/4 sleeves from the Goodwill was procured (and it fits perfectly LOL) and appliqued and sequined within an inch of its life. I sent it and the black jeans which were embellished to match to school this morning.

Photos Friday. He will be awesome.

Holiday recap

Right now I am at the computer, listening to Dan Fogelberg on the stereo (how sad I was when I heard he had died just before Christmas), drinking a Diet Coke from McDonald's (oh! the joy!), and looking at the pictures taken on my new camera (disclaimer: I do NOT know how to run the thing yet, so please forgive the blurry images). An update on the scrapbook later, but first, the holiday highlights:



This is Pippa meeting Scout, Evan's new pug Webkin. The kids each got one of these Webkinz and are now fighting regularly over who gets computer time first. A huge success. *Sigh*



Evan with his gift from Santa -- a digital camera. 5 megapixels! Garrett got one, too. Hence the need for Mommy's upgrade to 8 megapixels (from 3.2). Can't have the kids with more MP than Mom! I know this is blurry but you can see how excited he was.



My nieces got Rock Band for the PS3. This is Rachel playing guitar. Doesn't she remind you of the chicks in the Robert Palmer "Addicted to Love" video? ROFL



Garrett was the vocalist in the band. Imagine how proud I was when I heard him singing "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" by The Clash. hee hee



Garrett has enjoyed several needlework type projects in art the last couple of years so I suggested perhaps Grandma could teach him to knit. I just love this shot.



Here is the sweatshirt I made for JoAnn. It is a little off-kilter in the photo. I think it's because I tried to tack down the fabric panel on her right. She may have to rip out a few stitches and tack it again so it doesn't look wonky. Sorry, JoAnn.

And, the news you've been waiting for: yes, I finished it. Well, 49 of 50 pages. (Side note: how in the world can one LOSE photos of their child's first birthday? Seriously. Doesn't that automatically get you into hell or something? Anyway, I left a page blank in the fervent hope that I eventually find the photos. Argh.)

The following are pictures of my scrap room when I got done. It wasn't too bad and only took about half an hour to clean up. I do still have to add titles to some of the pages and journaling to most of the pages but they are in page protectors in an album and at school (though I did have to drop it off this afternoon because I was still putting page protectors on as Spencer's bus arrived).

Aren't they cute?

The finished robes. I am really happy with them and since I cut out cuffs but didn't have to use them I will be able to lengthen the sleeves and make them last longer. Go me.

To all of my friends in blog-land, Merry Christmas. I hope it's a magical one for you and yours.

DONE

All 3 robes are completed. Finished. In ONE day.

While I sewed today, Rob and his mom did some baking, hung out with the kids, cleaned and even did laundry. Have I mentioned that I LOVE my mother-in-law? It was so awesome to have the day to get the robes done. I am totally going back and crossing them off my to-do list from months ago. LOL

Tomorrow? Some more baking ... just some cut out sugar cookies for the boys and their cousins to decorate on Christmas day for fun. Maybe some thumbprint cookies just because I've never made them before and I have a ton of seedless raspberry jelly.

And I have to dig out my Christmas memories book and get started. Church at 4, Penne with Vodka Sauce after that (with salad and garlic toast), and then opening gifts, as Rob's family has always done. (We were always at my grandparents', so it was opening gifts at one set of grandparents' Christmas Eve and more on Christmas Day at the other grandparents' home. They lived less than a mile apart but the grandmothers couldn't manage to get along even one day a year. *Sigh*.)

Pictures tomorrow of the other 2 completed robes (oh, how good it feels to type that!). My neck has a crick in it and I am tired but it was well worth it. The boys are all so excited to have warm, cozy fleece robes. Nice.

Merry Christmas, indeed.

One down ...

Two to go.

Ta-Daaaa!

I am totally stoked about how this came out. The color IRL is a dusty rose, not so bright. It really looks nice, and I am getting it in the mail tonight or tomorrow morning. Woo hoo.

Crossing things off that list

My list is shrinking on one end but growing on the other. I got the recipes done and now am waiting for a sturdy 3 ring binder and some plastic sleeves to put it all together. Hoping for those for Christmas, maybe from the kids. Something pretty inexpensive, easy to find, and that will totally make me happy. Perfect. Now for the next thing: what is it about me that makes me jump from one thing to another without a break? Nancy's sweatshirt is almost done. The top photo is the quilting pattern. It is self-adhesive on the edges and you place it where you want it and stitch over the lines. The photo is when all lines had been stitched. The bottom photo is after I started tearing the paper off. It leaves all these little paper scraps but they mostly come out as you cut into the sweatshirt fabric to reveal the other fabric behind. I'll finish the cutting this week, I think, and get it in the washer soon. It looks good, though, and I hope she loves it.

And I got some cool stuff off Freecycle this week that I think I can turn into cool stuff for my nieces. Will see how far I get on that. I also did start on the teacher gifts and my prototypes worked great so I will update later with photos and a how-to on those.

Go me.

Yessss ....

More progress on the list. Got my mom's sweatshirt done and into the mail. Honestly, it was the buttonholes that were holding me back. I am afraid of buttonholes. Most of my sewing consists of straight seams. This is deliberate on my part; I don't venture too far into realms I am unfamiliar with in the sewing world.

Anyway, the buttonholes are done. Are they beautiful? Not so much. Functional? Possibly. But DONE they are. And really, my mom is highly unlikely to button the thing. She lives life in a perpetual state of "power surge." (Sorry, mom.)

Here is the sweatshirt just before it got put in the box. It really is pretty, I think. And my sis-in-law Nancy's is well on its way. I am just waiting for a border from the sewing store for the stained glass pattern. Next week, I think.



And I got the finials for the boys' curtain rod DONE. Evan sanded them this afternoon for me and I painted them tonight while catching up on Grey's Anatomy on abc.com. Can I just say that that is AWESOME? I watched all of this season's episodes and am caught up. Since we are out of town for MEA weekend I am unlikely to catch this week's episode but this was so convenient I may never watch it on TV again.

Here are the finials:




And I started a Yahoo group that will morph into a real live book group at some point. I think it will be a slow start, but I am being patient, because good things are worth waiting for and this group will be fab if we can get it together. With jobs and husbands and kids and volunteering and life in general it won't be fast, but with the women I've invited it will be interesting. That is a very good thing.

Last thing: my darling husband has been driving around in cars that sort of have had the "this will work for now" theme. Tonight he bought his dream car. He has wanted one since they came out and he is now the proud owner of a PT Cruiser. It's a 2002 but in beautiful shape and it has all the bells and whistles. He is so excited, and I am excited for him. The color is Taupe Frost Metallic. Very classy.

So ... life rolls merrily along, and it is good. Very good.

Hair

Well, I got my unruly mop cut yesterday. It's long toward the front, short in the back. Of course, it was all nice and straight and smooth yesterday but today, despite my best efforts with a straightening iron, it is .... NOT straight and smooth. Argh.

Yesterday it was a little Posh Spice-y. I can't stand her, but she does have a great hairstyle. Today it has its own wave and body and Jennifer-ness that is not making me happy. Oh well.

It IS red, though, and that always makes me happy. Garnier Nutrisse this time. I like it.

Tonight, dinner at my FAVORITE restaurant in the whole world, The Redwood Room. And I have almost finished a sweatshirt I am customizing for my mom (pix later), and my scrap room is looking cleaner than it has in months (although now I have to move all of the boxes of photos from my recent photo jackpot post back in so it won't be neat any more), and our family reunion trip to Ohio is almost completely planned, with stops in Chicago, Indianapolis, Cleveland, and Wisconsin Dells included. Woo hoo.

And so it goes. August first. Dang.