W-I-Ps

Works In Progress… slowly but surely.

This…

This…

This

Oh, and this…

Just a couple more trips to a few more stores and my progress shall continue.

Back On the Weight Loss Wagon

Aaron has decided to get healthy. And I’ve been thinking about it too. The whole, 40’s not that far away, you need to drop about 10 - 12 pounds..blah, blah.. I’ve decided to try and will be using my side bar as a reminder to get off the computer, off my bottom, and on to something that requires a little more energy.  So my first day, yesterday, went something like this… at lunch I got on the treadmill. I ran for 5 minutes, because that’s all I’m capable of doing without flopping over and gasping for air, and then I walked as fast as I could for another 15. I was proud… and then I ate cookie dough for dinner… Seriously people, what’s wrong with me? As my sidebar shows, I’m gonna need some help. Pray for me!

Goosie’s Good Eatin’ Garden

We’ve been working out in the Garden lately.. Well, by working I mean picking a few tomatoes and some bell peppers. Our little garden isn’t much.. 6 tomato and 4 pepper plants is all you’ll find. It’s just a small strip of dirt that runs in between the sidewalk and the backside of our garage but, it supplies us with more than enough of these two veggies.

So, with the extra tomatoes I made a batch of salsa.

And here’s my small secret that really makes a big difference.. along with some onions, fresh chives, and a bunch of other stuff I threw in there, I also added a few dashes of Mrs. Dash Extra Spicy spice to give it that tail-end kick.

The Start of Second Grade

And she’s off… First offical day of second grade was yesterday.  She wore her hair as she wanted.  She picked out the outfit, the shoes, and the earrings.  She’s grown so much this summer.  This day she was excitied and scared at the same time.  Excitied to see her friends but scared because now she has to wait for class to start in the gym, something only the big kids get to do.  She’s big, but yet she still so little.  The Hello Kitty bandaid shows proof of a recent bike accident…something that happens when you’re little..but when her daddy said she was lucky she didn’t break something she told him, “There is no such thing as luck… God gives you everything you need.”  Such wise words for someone so small.  My baby is growing up.  I’m excited for her… and still a little sad for me and her daddy.

Messenger Bag

Goose wanted a new book bag for school.. not a backpack like she’s been carrying, but a messenger bag.. WooHoo! Opportunity to make something! So I found a terrific tutorial by Corinne at Heart of Mary (She has tons of awesome tutorials). Goose chose the fabric and I got to work. Of course I had to change Corinne’s tut just a bit.. can’t leave well enough alone.. I chose to use Pellon 72 as my stabilizer because I wanted to be sure it would hold its shape. This poor bag will be thrown around, pulled on, dumped on, and who knows what else. I asked the assistant at the fabric store for a little advice.. I should have known something was up the way she snickered at me. Pellon 72 is hard to manage. Finishing the edges was a nightmare.. my machine simply could not accommodate the thickness. I worked on this bag for over a week.. taking my time to pay special attention to detail. Today it is done and I have to say.. I’m pretty happy with it. Goose thinks her mama is a genius. I’ve gotten many kisses and have even heard her say that no one in the whole school will have one like hers. Good enough for me.

The Smile Award

Judy from Apron Strings has awarded me, little ol’ me, with The Smile Award.  This is my very first blogging award and I’m just so thrilled.

Characteristics for the Smile Award:

1. Must display a cheerful attitude. (not necessarily at all times - we are all human)
2. Must love one another
3. Must make mistakes
4. Must learn from others
5. Must be a positive contributor to blog world
6. Must love life
7. Must love kids
These are the rules:

1. The recipient must link back to the award’s creator (http://www.thebabblingsofmere.blogspot.com/)

2. You must post these rules if you receive the award.

3. You must choose 5 people to receive the award after receiving it yourself

4. You must fit the characteristics of the recipient of the award, as posted by Mere.

5. You must post the characteristics of a recipient.

6. You must create a post sharing your win with others.

7. You must thank your giver.

I’m passing this award along to:

Jessica at Jtriv Her thoughts always make me smile. I love the fact that she truly cares about the world and ALL of the people that live in it and that she wants to make a difference.

Mrs. Denton at A bookish Life She has such a variety of pretty things that she shares.. including the very gorgeous C.

Allison She works with her hands Allison is a breath of fresh air, such love for the Lord. Following her courting and recent engagement has been so sweet to read.

Autumn Creative Little Daisy Her honesty is a breath of fresh air..I feel like I know the whole family.. and to top it off, the girl can sew.

Laurie at Old School Acres http://oldschoolacres.typepad.com/
No one makes softies or baby shoes as cute as Laurie.. and she has a fantastic blog roll

I Hate It When This Happens

Goose has been complaining about a tooth hurting when she eats. It doesn’t hurt all the time.. but some of the time. Hmmmm. Let’s keep in mind that her dentist record has a few negative marks.. 3 cavities, 1 filling replacement, and a few very crooked teeth due to her small mouth… And getting her to brush her teeth everyday is like, well, pulling teeth (hee-hee). So, she says her tooth hurts I’m thinking CAVITY.. I call immediately for an appointment. School’s starting in a week and I’m not fooling with all that check in, check out, donate a pint of blood, leave your left shoe, red tape. We’re getting this taken care of NOW.
So we’re there.. she’s in the chair and the dentist is digging around..“Does this hurt?” NO.. “Does that hurt?” NO.. Hmmmm. The Hygienist takes an x-ray.. and NOTHING. He thinks it might be from the pressure of her 6 year molars that have yet to come in. (She’s 7 1/2 -A late bloomer, go figure)

“Oh, just give her some Tylenol,” he says.. “and by the way, your bill is $65.

Great! 10 minutes and $65 later, I’m feeling like an idiot.

Yes, I’m glad she doesn’t have a cavity.. Yes, I’m glad he doesn’t have to pull out 10 teeth to make room for her permanents.. But seriously people… Don’t you hate it when this happens? I think I’ll make her daddy take her next time. 

How Lil Miss Singer Got Her Way

A couple months ago I ran across someone blogging about sewing machine accessories, a subject I really know nothing about. So when I read that different machines required different bobbins I sat up and took note.

You mean to tell me that Lil Miss Singer might not have exactly what she needs? Well, this will never do.

So, of course, I jotted down her number type (Singer Adv. 7244) and shoved it in my purse so that the next time I was visiting Hancock Fabrics I could pick up what we needed.

Now keep in mind that Lil Miss Singer was not whining or crying out that she needed anything special. Oh, completely on the contrary..In fact, she was behaving quite nicely. But, you know, Lil Miss deserves the best..So, Mama’s gonna get her the best.

I found the selection of bobbins and sure enough there were several to choose from. I read the backs of all of them, making sure that Singer 7244 was listed.. Only one type included her name..So I grabbed them up with a smile on my face…strolled to the counter feeling quite proud of myself, I must say.

Got ‘em home, tried ‘em out, and wouldn’t you know… Lil Miss Singer hated them.   H-A-T-E-D   T-H-E-M!   Spit thread all over the place and screamed all kinds of nasty rattles.

Well, you can imagine my distress… Needless to say, Mama got busy. I messed with the tension for a while but.. Lil Miss wasn’t having it. (stubborn, finicky, spoiled rotten, hot head!)

In the end, Lil Miss Singer got her way…the new bobbins are gone and we’re back to whatever it is that we’ve been using thus far. Problem is, Mama really needs more bobbins…

A Side of This..A Side of That..

Currently, we have a side of beef sitting in our freezer. Aaron bought it because 1. it’s was cheaper than getting it from the grocery store, 2. it was farm raised with no steroid injections, and 3. it’s a way to support a local farmer. This is all very good in my book. But now I have all this beef that I need to do something with. So, I’m finding ways to cook cuts that I normally don’t buy.. like round steak. What do you do with round steak? Well, here’s something I put together that was really easy. After sampling a plate full we all decided it was “worthy”.

Easy Pepper Steak

Easy Pepper Steak
1 small can tomato soup
1/2 can water
1/8 c. flour/dash of salt & pepper (give or take, I just dumped a little in the bowl)
1/2 lb round steak, cut into serving portions
1 1/2 T. cooking oil
1 med. green pepper, cut into strips
1 med. onion, thinly sliced

In small bowl stir flour, salt & pepper. In large skillet heat oil, add meat, and pour flour mixture over meat. Stir to coat. Cook until just brown. Add soup and water. Simmer 15 minute stirring occassionally. Add pepper and onion and simmer another 15 minutes stirring occassionally. Serve over rice.

So easy..

Here’s a little note though.. it tasted really good the night I fixed it.. but left-overs the next day?? Not so go. Meat was tough.. probably because of microwaving.. and the rice flavor over-powered the tomato taste..not something I liked. Anyway, if you make it let me know what you think.

Fabric For Dummies

The key to beautiful creations is coordinating fabrics. It’s that simple. I recognize it when I see some of the amazing things people are making.. but I couldn’t do it, couldn’t get my fabrics to match up quite right. And now I feel so stupid. You see, I was trying to pick my fabrics from a huge store filled with thousands of fabrics that were grouped by fabric type, not by designers.

So Saturday Goosie and I loaded up in the car and headed to a quilting shop, a trip I’ve been wanting to take for weeks. I had it in my head that I wanted to see, and touch, some of Amy Butler’s line. The moment I opened the door to that shop I knew exactly why my fabrics weren’t working. I’d been missing something so essential, isles and isles of amazing collections by all the top designers..COLLECTIONS.. Ah, now I get it! So, at that moment my only question was how to pick just one? In the end it wasn’t Amy’s I went with, though I carried a charm pack around with me the whole time. I settled with Sandi’s Ginger Blossom. I have no idea what I’m going to do with it.. maybe just hold it and adore it once or twice a day. But I have it, it’s mine, and it makes me happy! I let Goose choose her favorites for her special project and she went with a few from  Michael Miller..Choc. Bubble Blast, Carnival Bloom, & Play Diamond… So lovely.

Now I know how to choose the perfect fabrics, go to the quilting shop. They have it all and so perfectly grouped. It’s so easy.. From now on I’m going to look so smart! Of course you could order online… but, for me, it’s not the same as feeling it and seeing it in natural light.

Find a good quilting shop and go… it’s worth it.