Our Week With a Spot of Sewing

Hey look!  I sewed!  And it's NOT A MASK!  

I bought several bee themed fabrics when Zach and Heather announced that Kasen was going to be a boy.  And they've been holding down my sewing room table ever since.  But having met the little sweetheart, and seeing his grinning face every time I open my phone, I finally got inspired to make a little something for him.  Just a taggie, so far, but maybe it will be the start of more sewing.  Yellow side is minkee, which is super soft, white side is flannel.  I'm all out of velvet ribbon, so the tags are a mix of satin and grosgrain ribbons.  And I put one of Grumman's rattles* in before I sewed it shut.  

*Grumman has favorite mice.  And they have rattles in them.  Only he's chewed the mice open and the rattles have fallen out.  So, sucker that I am, I bought a bag of 30 replacement rattles so we could hand sew his ridiculous little mice back together with rattles.  Because he won't chase a silent mouse.  So, just to be clear, this is a NEW, non-catified, rattle inside Kasen's taggie.  

Speaking of Grumman, he so often doesn't act like a typical cat that it sometimes surprises us when Fiona does.  She likes bags and boxes.  

Quick stop at the library while the girls and I were out.  First time they've been able to select books from the city library shelves (as opposed to our computer) for a while.  

So, I saw this idea online.  And I thought I'd be a cool mom for a moment.  Only our store didn't have Green Hawaiian Punch, so I substituted limeade.  

I did the thing.  (Which is big, since sometimes I manage to buy the stuff, but I don't manage to do the thing.)  Unfortunately, nobody liked it.  Ah well.  I tried.  

Pandemic greeting cards are a thing.  Life is weird.  

This weeks treasure dredged up from the boxes.  I'm still plowing away at the boxes and boxes of unprocessed books in the library.  This was an interesting find.  

I've settled into the routine of usually having a coloring page that goes with the story I read to the Preschool, Kinder, 1st, and 2nd grade classes.  The preschoolers are busy, so they take their coloring pages to go, but the older kids usually color during library time.  This was a fun one, as they designed their own gingerbread person.  

I'll have to get a picture of the finished project.  I found the book Merry Christmas Rainbow Fish for $5 bucks at Kohl's (love their Kohl's Cares program!  Cheap books and kid lit stuffies!) then I bought mermaid scrapbook paper and fired up Crikey to cut fish bodies and fish heads and starfish.  I pulled out some construction paper, and some craft sand, and did a whole ocean scene thing.  

Some weeks, it's a coloring page, some weeks, it's a craft.  

Our one book picked up from the city library that day.  Katie enjoyed this one.  

I still haven't put ribbons on them yet, but I did Crikey up the year and glue those on.  I'm using one of the camo print ones as the gift tag on Miss Adorable's present this year (Eli's girlfriend).  

Grumman has a shoe fetish.  I caught him with his whole head in there.  

Little weirdo.

Sam did a thing, and it earned him a new stick on on my frame.  

I hadn't shared much about Sam since he completed his enlistment in the Marines.  He tried civilian life for a few months and decided there was a lot of adulting involved.  In August, he went off to Army training.  

And now, this amazing creature is an Army corporal.  I'm crazy proud of him.  

You know how some schools have required community service?  We have required crafting around here.  Katie's glitter toothpick star.  

Katie's frozen experiment.

"Hey mom, I need a Bible character costume for AWANA Wednesday."  I fired up the sewing machine again--and discovered my serger is not working, boo hiss.  We're not done yet.  There's a crown & a scroll coming, but it's a start.  

Nativity scene craft.

It must be cold.  Grumman invited himself onto my lap, which is not like him.  

We had a big storm here, and school was dismissed early when the power to the elementary (and the well pump) went out and stayed out.  I was thrilled, because it flickered off 4 times while I had the middle schoolers in the library, and that was... noisy.  So, we came home, ate, and took naps.  I knew I was going to nap.  I did not know that Katie would also be napping.  But this is what I found when I went to check on her.  

I think our next cat should be transparent.  So I can see through him when he gets between me and the computer screen.  

One more work day for me, 3 more school days for the kids, and then it's Christmas break!