Catching Up

I've been avoiding my blog like I avoid my sewing areas after big projects!  :D  Seems like the weekly homeschool posts were too much for me to keep up with.  Since I keep up on my Homeschool Tracker software as well as a yearly binder, I just find it to be a lot to post about it too.  I may find another way come fall...maybe a highlights vs. a log.  We're about 1/2-3/4 done with the ITBS (our standardized testing) for the year- hoping to finish that up by Saturday.

Onto the pics!  Mostly some of my most recent projects.

This is a sketch of a chicken I made for Mother's Day for my mom.  The frame idea is from Pinterest.  If you are curious, I can dig up the pin and subsequent tutorial.  Otherwise, if you follow me on Pinterest, it'd be in the house and home section.  After J cut the frame, I taped to paint the inner border white, then painted the outer area black and the inner frame with the black boxes to make it checkered.  I sanded a bit to rough it up and then coated with a couple layers of sealer after modge-podging the sketch on (which I'd sealed prior to that as well so it wouldn't smudge).  I'm very pleased with the final result and now we have a way to frame our own artwork at home in a very cost-effective way!



J participated as a delegate at the GOP State Convention this year.  He got to meet Ron Paul- the reason he got so involved this time around.  Met up with some people he knew and was able to have some good conversations with new folks as well.  
 

I made a few things to welcome my new niece, Imogin, who was born the end of May.  I made her 2 outfits, then had to make big sister Romi matching pj's and a little doll outfit too.
Here's a pic of her in the hospital:
 
Ooga Booga monsters:

Little frogs:

Romi's pj's with her doll:

The doll outfit looks huge here, but Romi's doll is bigger than the ones we had here at home:


Following Imogin's arrival was Emily's 9th birthday!  My sister Cassie made an awesome Perry cake!:  


We had a nice birthday.  A family party at the farm, and a good time out with a friend at the Mega Mall- rides, treats, Build-a-Bear, and the Rainforest Cafe.  

I participated in a charity dress sewing group online in May/June.  I took some of the older girl sizes and sewed up these two dresses to send to Haiti with some missions groups that were going.  One of the groups left a little early, but we're hoping to catch another group the end of June.  Both dresses have ties a the shoulder so they're more adjustable.  The grey one has ties in the back as well, with a flower and hummingbird appliqued on each pocket, size 10.  The printed dress is a typical 'pillowcase' dress, with pockets, size 12.



Also participated in a doll clothes swap on my favorite sewing board.  Sent them in yesterday and will hopefully have outfits back in a couple weeks!  I made 2 ballerina outfits, plus one for E:

2 tunic/legging sets:

And my favorite- a woven wrap dress with a belt a matching headband.  I made 2, but we kept one of them.


Out at the farm this year, if you're lucky, you'll spot some really cool hummingbird moths!  We thought it was a regular hummingbird at first, then saw the antennae and proboscis.  He wasn't afraid at all...this is a cellphone pic- nothing fancy.  We were able to get really close and he kept coming back.


I turned 29 just a couple days ago, so it's my last year in my 20's!  J's started back at school and it's been a grueling month.  We're hoping July will be a little less so.  We're shooting to get all of his pre-requisites done by the end of fall so he can apply for a master's program in Jan that starts Fall 2013.  He's going for occupational therapy.  It's a pretty competitive program, so please keep us in your thoughts and prayers.  That field would be a dream for him- very fitting for his personality, skills, and work history.

Phew- hope I'm caught up now!  :)

Wall Street's New Job Market

Thought this was interesting...what do you think?

Top 10 Corporate PAC Contributors:

Obama:
Goldman Sachs $739,521

UBS AG $419,550

Lehman Brothers $391,774

Citigroup Inc $492,548

Morgan Stanley $341,380

Latham & Watkins $328,879

Google Inc $487,355

JPMorgan Chase & Co $475,112

Sidley Austin LLP $370,916

Skadden, Arps et al $360,409

McCain:
Merrill Lynch $349,170

Citigroup Inc $287,801

Morgan Stanley $249,377

Wachovia Corp $147,456

Goldman Sachs $220,045

Lehman Brothers $115,707

Bear Stearns $108,000

JPMorgan Chase & Co $206,392

Bank of America $133,975

Credit Suisse Group $175,503

~The Center for Responsive Politics


A bit of who owns whom? Tweedledee or Tweedledum?

I like what a guy said in the comments section of the blog that posted these numbers: "I miss the good old days when special interest groups secretly bribed candidates....now its public knowledge...."

The State of Things

Tees for J

Most of you will find these funny :) They were quick and easy and not meant to last more than, what...less than 2 mos. So they're quite juvie-looking, but that's ok with us :D

Shirt #1:



Shirt #2:

The front:

Shirt #3, our fav (yeah, J's being a goon in these pics :P):



Do you know how many people have no idea what lemmings are??? I thought it was common knowledge...like pacman, yk?
And lastly, a tee I whipped up the other night...the fabrics are from Target...most people shop there for clothes and other goods...I troll the bedding aisle for clearance fabric, lol. These are from those clearanced college 08 jersey sheet sets...lots and lots of fabric in those things! I need to add length to the sleeves on this pattern...and still debating if I'll add another inch to the shirt as well. Great pattern though otherwise...now I need to learn screenprinting...or silk screening-whatever it's called.

Fun, fun :) J's enjoying himself at work/school/the grocery store, etc. Lol

Not much wisdom left...

Teeth that is. In fact, they're all gone. The only trace left are huge crater-holes where they stood...like empty in-ground pools. Ugh- won't those be fun for a few months!

All went well, I came out of the surgery like a drunken sailor...I remember being put in a chair and trying to stay awake to hear them give instructions to J afterward...then being wobbled out to the car by the nurse. I slept quite a bit then...even my blogs and sewingmamas couldn't keep me awake! Shocking, I know. The bleeding took awhile to stop, presumably b/c I couldn't keep myself awake to chomp down on the guaze. But stop it did and I was able then to eat a bit of applesauce and take my meds. Hopefully I'll lose another few lbs though with my limited eating today and over the next few days :D There's a bright side to everything, isn't there?!

Emily was quite worried...you all know how she loves to fuss over people. Fixing blankets, petting and brushing and fluffing pillows and giving hugs that accidentally jar your mouth and knock your guaze around, lol! She did well though, was such a sweetie. Didn't like leaving Mama, but went with J and he was able to keep her occupied in the office 'til she went to Nana and Papa's for the evening. Lucky too, b/c I slept another couple of hours!

I was able to get the hood sewn onto one my shirts tonight...I'm hoping to get some elastic in the sleeves and start the binding for the necks...then it's hemming. I probably won't get all that done tonight though, but it's good to start and keep my mind off my teeth. Hoping I'll have those done tomorrow and will get some pics done Sun, including the fall cord. stuff of E's that people have been asking for. I'm coming, I'm coming! :)

On a totally different note, I wanted to respond to a posting I read not long ago from my good friend Thom:

There is a world of difference between antagonism and debate. Many an issue could have been solved in our political realm if men were given to good discourse and not partisan inflammatory posturing. Is sensationalism really comparable to debate? One is known for solving problems while the other is known to cause them.

Debate and problem solving takes time...could this be the reason why politicians are bogged down these days fighting themselves, opponents, the media sensationalism and the world with no progress to show for it? These principles are true in marriage and hold true in the political realm as well. Think of these tactics...how great would a union of two persons be if antagonism and sensationalism were the forces of debate? How much more is it then, in the larger sphere? Where you haven't the assurance of respect, where you haven't the assurance you're case will be tried?

The great debators and thinkers of our day are brushed away because they 'take too long' and we haven't the time in our 10min segments on television, or our 3 paragraphs in the newspapers for history lessons! (ex. Ron Paul at the debates this year, and interviewed on Bill O'Reilly (where O'Reilly actually says this!, among other shows). There's plenty of interest mind you...but just 'no time'.

Time is making fools of us again. ~J.K. Rowling

Isn't it though?