2011 Resolutions

Our home is finally finding its way back into order after another great holiday season full of warm hearted doings and makings.  The holidays are fun, but so is our normal routine so we welcome 2011 with all that is to come of it.  

Looking forward Paul and I selected a scripture that would set a tone for growth in the new year and presented it to the children at last week's family night.

We encouraged them to think of ways they could improve themselves according to this scripture and perhaps incorporate them into their New Year's resolutions.  Each year we set 5 personal goals and record them on our traced hand (that was my sister Emily's brilliant idea).  I still had our 2010 hands up on the fridge until last week and it was with great pleasure we took them down and celebrated both the accomplishments and the obvious physical growth in the cut hands.  Some of them were torn though so I laminated the bunch for 2011, here they are:

George:

-Walk

-Sleep through the night

-Talk

-Not chew on things

-Eat more foods

Henry:

-Sleep in a big boy bed

-Play Thomas toys

-No screaming

-Pick up magnetic letters on the floor

-Draw pictures

Clara:

-Go to the zoo

-Do ballet

-Learn how to swim in big pools

-Color so good and pretty

-Find more beautiful dresses my size

Maryanna:

-Send lots of cards

-Do lots of cooking with mommy

-Make birthday presents for people

-Ride a horse

-Read

Peter:

-Play football everyday

-Learn cursive

-Read Book of Mormon

-Do my jobs without being asked

-Travel to at least 5 different States

William:

-Finish airplane models

-Get better at drawing

-Go to at least one air show

-Remember to say my prayers

-Run on the slide everyday to keep fit

James:

-Make new friends

-Do a blogpost once a week (http://allthethinkshethinks.blogspot.com/)

-Don't forget to brush teeth

-Say prayers morning and night

-Run a 5K

Mommy:

-Sew through half my fabric stash

-30 minutes of quiet time all by myself

-Walk a mile a day

-Plant a garden

-Let food not be wasted

So now we are already a week into 2011 and I can report that my resolutions are simply about intention and not so much about strict discipline.  You see last week I was so busy with number one (sewing through my stash) that I only found it in me to get out and walk 3x.  I did get some quiet reflective time to myself though, but I fell asleep just 2 minutes into it and what was supposed to be just a 30 minute mental break turned into a 2 hour nap, I suppose I just needed it. As for wasting food.......way back in the fridge I found a little pyrex full of the once delicious leftover baked mash potatoes that Nanny had given us on Christmas eve, I justified that the fuzzy mass was no longer food did not feel bad about the disposal.  

And that is what I really resolve to do this year..... not feel guilty about the things I should or should not have done - the greatest gain this year will be to simply enjoy 2011.   

Happy New Year!   

Homemade Christmas: Herbal RIce Packs

While the kids exchange homemade gifts amongst themselves Paul and I have made it a tradition to make something for each other every year as well.  This Christmas I almost forgot and had to whip something up quick on Christmas eve.  

This is basically a small rectangular pillow filled with rice and dried lavender and mint.  It is to be heated up in the microwave and used as a hot pack for sore muscles.  The kids were jealous of project so I gave them some fabric to make one for me, Nanny and a few of their aunts.  They did a fine job.

Here's the rice pack in action.  Did you know working on spreadsheets for hours on end can give you a sore neck?  As for the gift Paul made for me.....I was told it is not finished yet, maybe it is a spreadsheet?

Homemade Christmas: Etched Glass Mason Jar for Drinking

To:  James

made with love

From:  George

Actually you all know George did not do a thing to help on this project.  He simply stayed content wrapped on my back while I participated in this craft at a Relief Society activity.  

Some of the ladies questioned why I was etching James' name on a mason jar.....my answer was "so he'll know which one is his".  The next question was "for what"?  I suppose it may be strange that we all like to drink out of mason jars.  It is an easy way to keep track of our water consumption but not very easy to keep track of who's is who's when they are all lined up on the counter.  But now James does not have to worry mason jar mix up.

Glass etching is as quick and satisfying as freezer paper stencils.  The difference is you use contact paper and etching solution instead.  Paul's mom and I split a large container of etching solution and made a few pyrex dishes for our neighbors as well.

This was a great project but not as fun to play with as the other gifts so I thought I'd share what kept James entertained all day Christmas and hopefully through a long and cold Michigan winter.

Zometool!

Homemade Christmas: Fort Supplies

To:  William

made with love

From:  Henry

Forts are fun!  This is a kit stuffed in a back pack includes 4 tie dyed sheets and 4 wooden clips

Henry helped tie the sheets and watched me dye them.  The clips were purchased off etsy, I arranged the backpack and Henry painted the picture of William below his name..... it looks kind of like a spider.

When William opened it he said.... "this is great!  I've always wanted some privacy and it is so hard to find it in our home".  

Here he is enjoying his private spot.  This was fun and quick to make and also William's favorite gift.

Homemade Christmas: Football Field

To: Peter

made with love

From:  James

Peter loves football.  He is a tough kid and can take even his oldest brother's tackles.  James likes football also so this field and field goal post were fun to make.  I don't know when the idea came to us but it came so we went with it and you can see from the pictures how much Peter loves it.

The base is a flat twin sheet we picked up at the thrift store.  James stayed up late painting it with fabric paint and used blue painter's tape for the lines.  What you may not know from the photos is this project actually involved a lot of math.  James was careful to scale everything down to the correct proportions.

I was careful to make sure there would be appropriate storage so I sewed up the back pack to keep it all together.

In addition to the painted sheet the backpack stores a pile of cut pvc pipes for the field goal.

Here is the illustrated diagram James included:

Here it is going together:

And again in action:

Homemade Christmas: Felt Food

To:  Maryanna

made with love

From:  Peter

Who would have thought a 6 year old boy obsessed with football would also enjoy late night sewing with his mom.  Peter really took to this project and what started out as just a few pieces of food turned into a felt feast!  Below are a few of the more complex pieces.  The grapes took the most work with Peter patiently cutting out all 19 circles and stitching them by hand.  Some of the other pieces we were able to cheat and use the machine, for example bigger pieces like the watermelon.  The peeled banana is funny because you can actually pull out the inner white felt banana, but Peter said for some reason it didn't look appetizing out of the peel.

Here is the sandwich spread.  The ham and cheese are basically just two pieces of felt cut to the desired shape and finished by machine around the edges, Peter was very pleased to complete these entirely on his own.  I on the other hand started to get nervous as he pedaled my sewing machine like a race car.

If you look closely you will see the bread was constructed out of felt from Joann's whereas the rest of the food is out of finer Japanese felt that Marie' so kindly got me from Japan.  I think with the amount of work and the amount of play that goes into this food it is worth using the better quality felt.

Here is breakfast.  Most of the pieces we did were from the Japanese felt food book but the bacon we just made up on our own.  What is really cool about the bacon is there is elastic on the inside to give it an authentic crinkled look.

When I got tired of the felt food Peter was not through sewing and came up with the idea of a hot mitt.  He got one from the kitchen and stitched two pieces of fabric and batting together in a similar diagonal pattern then I helped him navigate the zig-zag and bias tape around.

When we were through Peter was very pleased and said...."now I know why you love sewing so much".

Here is the food in action.  Maryanna always likes to use her pretty table cloths as forts above.  

It was a sweet and lovely party until Daddy showed up with big cones from Baskin Robins.  Then the girls got hyper and messy......... and please note Clara is still wearing the gift that Peter made for Maryanna 2 years ago.

Homemade Christmas: Felt Deer

To:  Clara

made with love

From:  Maryanna

While searching for the backing fabric for George's quilt I came across this cute little felt kit and knew it would be perfect for Clara's personality.  What I didn't know was how difficult it would be for Maryanna to actually participate in the making.

The deer are not very big so the pre-cut of pieces of felt were tiny.  On more than one occasion Maryanna misplaced the little deer's eye lashes, we were both on our hands and knees sifting through the scraps on the carpet.  The determined little girl found them!  So she did help.

Actually she was quite good at stuffing and beading the little necklaces.  Other than that she painted a piece of doll furniture while I worked on the intricacies of these cute felt creatures.  I should have started with the "mama" because the "baby" was harder to stitch and it took a while to get even stitches.

Maryanna named them Cutie (the baby) and Bootie (the mommy).  Here are some more photos of them in action:

Cutie and Bootie have seen enough action since Christmas to make them fuzzy felt creatures.  Even the nice Japanese felt becomes fuzzy after too much handling.  Also, Bootie got her head detached yesterday.  Here is a tragic picture:

But she was easily fixed up during a tea party I shared with the girls.  I also touched up Cutie a bit because her head was starting to detattch as well.  Here they are again good as new sitting on the green blankets Maryanna cut out (I only had to square the corners and roll hem them on the serger).

They sure turned out cute!  Even Peter is hoping I make him a pair (only maize and blue and wearing winged helmets) for his upcoming birthday.

And here is the China cabinet that Maryanna painted all by herself for Clara while I worked on the Cutie and Bootie.