midweek sewing project

The summer before the last... back when little Ethan was actually a little baby, I went to the Parker County Peach Festival with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law... and five purchases were made {that I can remember...}

1. my mother-in-law bought a cool hat from one of those guys that dip in in water, you pick out the brim, etc., etc.   I thought it was cool but would have looked goofy on me... You know the kind of hats I am talking about??
2. sausages that were super yummy...
3. a pickled squash relish that I thought was the most delightful creation to ever be canned...
4. an overpriced oilcloth bib that was different than any I had ever seen...
5. peaches

Now, as delightful as that pickled squash relish was, I am not blogging about it today.  {although...hmm...maybe I should learn to make something similar...}

I am blogging about the bib.  It was $20ish {uh... too much for a bib!!} and adorable... Grammy got it for her house... which was great, because prior to the bib, Ethan was coming home from there quite stained up.  But if it were me buying the bib... I just didn't think I could do it... because it was oilcloth.  And when food hits an oilcloth bib... it just slides down...  this is something no one clued me in on before motherhood.  Oilcloth bib = clean shirt, stained pants

So later on, I borrowed the bib, and took it to my mother, because I wanted her to make me a bunch of them... with cotton and terry cloth.  I loved the design... wide shoulders and a snap!  And long!  So she made me a few, and then she made me some for gifts...

And then today, I decided... I can figure out this bib thing.  So I did.  And here it is.   A gift for a friend's sip and see this weekend.  It was really easy!  And fun!  And I made a matching burp cloth.  And I love-love-love these little cowpokes...





I think I know a little bundle of joy arriving soon in the Houston area that will need one of these... even though it will be a while until he is enjoying baby food!

new rug and other randomness

Last week my sweet husband bought me a new rug:

In this particular photo... it needs to be vacuumed :)



But doesn't it dress things up a bit more than this one did? {please excuse the adorable toddler having a major meltdown}



Sooo... the rug has inspired more vacuuming.  more cleaning over all really.  Isn't it funny that when you get something you really like it can kick you into gear to get things done??  Like, finishing polishing my silver.  And hanging cork board on the inside of my cabinets to streamline the junkiness of the fridge door... And I am curious - what do your fridge doors look like??  I feel like there must be a middle ground between stark nothing and total junk hodge podge {what we used to have}  You want to leave me a comment and let me know??

I am also attempting to sew new elastic in Ethan's FuzziBunz.  He has been in the same diaper size since he was 4 months old.  That is 20 months.  The elastic is not so, um, well... elastic.  And I am a newby seamstress.  And the step by step photo instructions on random blogs really aren't doing it for me.  I need HAND HOLDING.

I am telling myself that if I finish this project, I can then start my bag that I have the pattern + fabric for... I just can't start it with a good conscience until this project is done.  Because, right now we are using disposables and I feel incredibly guilty with each diaper change.  {If you are using disposables, I am in no way passing judgment on you... this is purely my hang up... I ALWAYS use disposables when going out because, really, isn't changing a diaper in a public place gross enough not to have to lug some nasty diaper home too??}

One more thing... I have a doctor's appointment in the morning, so, could everyone just cross your fingers that I pass the glucose test tomorrow??  I am 25 weeks...  And while you are crossing your fingers for me to pass my glucose test, could you also add that I not get scolded too harshly for my weight gain?  The Pioneer Woman cookbook is doing me no favors in the weight gain department.  Have you gotten yourself a copy of this wonderful book?  You should.  And then you should exercise.  Because it isn't low fat... 

Goodnight!  I think I will snuggle up with my seam ripper and work on a diaper repair for a little while...

GITDOWN!

So, after breakfast this morning I checked my email really quickly, and then made my to-do list... first on that list was laundry.  So I said to Mr. JuiceHead, "Ethan, do you want Mommy to turn on the t.v. while I start a load of laundry?" and then, I flipped on the tube, and Ethan was playing around with his favorite truck.  Still in pj's... 

So I gathered laundry and then started the load.  I was out of the room maybe 5 minutes - tops.  And then I turned the corner to see that my son had indeed decided that watching t.v. was just fine.  Except he wanted a better view.  A view from the coffee table.  So I had to grab my camera.  Snap a few photos, and then tell him to get down.



See, the thing is, he KNOWS that he is supposed to stay firmly planted on the floor, and that it is inappropriate to get on the coffee table.  We have even had a few instances lately where he halfway climbs up, and then screams at the top of his lungs {which, I promise, I never do!!} GET DOWN!!! Except it is more like one word, and "get" is definitely pronounced "git"

Thus, GITDOWN!!

So in this photo... he was telling me that he knew, he needed to get down.



And then, I made him get down.  Which prompted a meltdown.  It took him about a minute and a half to make a full recovery.  Silly boy.

baked ziti

I am in love with homemade pasta.  In love.  This handy pasta attachment for my KitchenAid mixer is divine.  The texture of homemade pasta...the way it absorbs the flavors of the dish... mmmm....  and it is like playing with the play doh toys of my childhood.  And even cooler - it says in the manual to clean it up the next day.  Seriously.

I would have taken pictures of the process... because it really is so cool... {and remarkably quick and easy} but it goes so dang fast.  Like, i-wish-i-had-a-third-hand fast. 



And you wouldn't believe this recipe.  This is all that was left after only 3 people ate.  This was it.  I really think that this would be a good recipe with regular, store bought pasta... but if you could have homemade, I really think it made this dish extra wonderful...

To get the recipe, go here.  But I used regular black olives, and of course, I used homemade pasta {probably more than the amount it called for...in fact, I used the whole batch from the basic egg noodle recipe in the instruction manual}... and I mixed up the tomatoes with the pasta before I added the pasta mixture to the onions... and then I added a 14 oz. can of petite diced tomatoes {but you might not need to if you don't use homemade pasta}... and I transferred it to a 9 x 13 dish.  It really was delightful.

And a special thank-you to my mother-in-law who helped prep and then even did the dishes.  And was the one who gave me the fabulous pasta maker.  I am spoiled.