A Birthday and A Recipe

Our oldest turned 9 (9!) a week or so ago.  Crazy how time goes by so quickly and just seems to speed up the older the kids get.  We had a family celebration with a friend over - sweet and simple.

 This year Gretchen wanted an ice cream cake.  I was able to find this recipe for OREO and Fudge Ice Cream Cake at Kraft and just substituted in Mint OREOs.  So simple to make and tasted great.

Our next birthday is in September and I've already had a request for one made with Snickers.  :)

Borrowing Ebooks

http://lendle.me

For those of you who don't know, Kevin got me a Kindle Fire for my birthday.  I honestly don't know who has enjoyed it more - Me, because I have multiple books in one easy device / Kevin, because he no longer has to 'sleep' with the bedside light glaring in his face at crazy hours.  His most recent comment: 'Best purchase I ever made!'.

I usually get books from the library.  I'm typically too cheap to purchase ebooks (or any book, for that matter).  I stumbled across Lendle and thought I would share, though.  There is a full disclosure on there site under FAQ.  There are a lot of books that are not available for borrow; but, obviously, they wouldn't have the site if none were available.  Free books are always good - well, at least in theory.

For those who don't have a Kindle , Amazon has apps that can be downloaded to a smartphone or computer.

My Current Reads:

Ebooks - Protector of the Small Quartet Series by Tamora Pierce (First Test , Page , Squire , Lady Knight)

Hard Copy - Divergent by Veronica Roth

Craft Room Tour

My life is full of clutter.  I HATE clutter.  No matter how much I dislike clutter, I can't seem to eliminate it from my life.  Anyone else have this problem?  Sure you do.  Very few people don't have issues with clutter in some part of their lives.

I've been ignoring living with the clutter in our home for the past couple of years.  I'd much rather do what has to be done, play with the kids and then curl up with a good (or even bad) book.  Much easier on me than trying to sort through all our stuff.  'Bout as helpful as an ostrich burying its head in the sand, right?

Okay.  No more excuses.

• I'm feeling better and getting my energy back.
• Neighborhood garage sale in T minus 19 days.
• Little Man has turned 2 and there no more little Wises coming along.
• My life will be much simpler and nicer once I do this.

My craft room seemed the perfect place to start - since my husband kept making not so subtle comments about how much better he thought all my stuff would be moved to the basement.  I can't really blame him with the room in a constant state of chaos.

So, here is where it all started.

Actually, I believe this is after I had already gotten started.  I didn't like this.

Configuration 2 didn't work much better.

I moved our dining room table into the room instead of having everything spread through 2 rooms.  The table is a great space for me to lay out material for pattern placement and cutting.  It was just too much visually right against the basement railing. 

Configuration 3 started the creative juices flowing and I was able to get everything functional and looking nice at the same time.

Having the dining room table in the room is amazing!

I 'needed' a space devoted to the actual sewing process in the room, too.

This desk is a relic left over from my husband's college days.  This picture was taken after I had moved our massive computer.  It's a large surface to work on: plenty of room for both machines to remain set up and a place to sit and work on my laptop.

Putting the shelf above the desk has allowed me to use some of the vertical space in the room.  Bobbins, my Sidewinder, a radio and some odds and ends are housed up there.

I moved the desk down the wall a few inches to make room for some storage.  The drawers are holding thread, scissors, pins, fabrics and the little bit of felt I have.  The little cubby on the desk has a plastic bin in it holding my patterns.

The bookshelves are now organized and de-cluttered, as well, holding sewing books, magazines, my tools and the rest of my fabric stash.

The last area is the first a person sees when walking in the front door.  It should work well for ironing, but I'm not sure if I'll keep it like this.  (Pay no attention to the mess in the background.)

I'm loving the new space!  It's organized.  It's inviting.  It's calling my name.  Best of all?  No one else has stuff in the room.  This space is mine all mine.  Now to get a project going.

Better!

I'm back and doing much better.  I have a ways to go to getting back to 'normal', but I'm well on the way. Now I just need to gain about 15 to 20 lbs.  (Yes, I'm sure some of you would love to give me some of your extra poundage.  My husband has offered several times, but we have yet to figure out a pain free way of doing this.)

Anyway.  Now that I'm feeling better, I felt the need to do something - anything - to keep from just sitting around.  So, much to my husband's delight, I decided to rearrange some furniture and switch up a couple of rooms on the main floor of our home.  Kevin does seem to really love me.  ;)

I'm hoping the way I feel will just continue to improve and our family will be able to have a fun and full summer.  I'll try to get the house settled back in to a livable format in the next week and share some pictures with you soon.

So glad to be back!!

Please Hold....

As you well know, it's been a while since I've posted.  Truth be told, it's been a while since I've done any sewing or crafting.  (I know - GASP!!)  I've been having a lot of fatigue and other symptoms lately and I just haven't felt like doing much.  I'm working with my doctor to try and get to the bottom of things.  Until then, crafts are on the back burner.

Please say a little prayer when you think of me and I hope to be back to 'normal' before too long!

W.I.P's

I've been busy, as I'm sure all of you have been.  I thought I would give you a little sneak peak at some of the craft projects I've been able to start on and one I've actually finished.  (I'll spare you the pictures of all the baskets of laundry and my beautiful vacuum that seem to be my constant companions.)

Finished Projects

Working on...

I'm hoping to have at least one of these projects done in the next week to share with you all.  A couple of prayers and fingers crossed that everyone stays well and I don't come across any good reads to distract me.

Have a great Monday!

Oh, The Things You'll Find

Isn't it funny what you will find in your home?  We have moved many times as a family in the almost 11 year we've been married.  Each and every time we were told asked to go to a new location, it was always a good time to purge all the extra things we had accumulated.  

We haven't had an opportunity to purge in a few years.  A huge blessing in my mind.  Since we haven't had to move, many things have been sneaking their way into our home and staying much longer than needed.  I shared with you in Domino Effect Projects post about our basement clean up.  We went through so many boxes that day!  I was on a mission those couple of days, though.

I don't usually have much trouble getting rid of things, but I was really surprised at some of the things we found.  One box was full of papers that just needed to be shredded.  Several other boxes were full of religious books, work book and note books full of sermon notes.  Another box was full of Lori Wick books my sister and I read during our high school years.  My doll collection is stored in another box awaiting the day we get the basement finished to bring them out for all to see.  Kevin and I each had a box filled with high school/college mementos - pictures, awards, shirts, tassels and such.  Pretty humorous!

We found one of our old license plates.  I believe the other Alberta plate was given to a friend who collects plates.

I also found an old pair of jeans of mine.  I have no idea how many hours I spent stitching the flowers, leaves and vines on this leg.  I do recall having a horrible stiff neck on several occasions after stitching sessions.

 I even filled in some of the flowers and leaves.

Many items were sorted and gone through and a lot of things were put aside for the spring yard sale, put to the side to donate or just thrown away.  

I did hold on to my senior sweatshirt, Alberta license plate and my jeans.  There are just some things that I can't seem to get rid of.