No words...

Well, ok, obviously I have some words, because I'm typing this. BUT....they are not adequate words. You've been warned.

Today, I was baptized. Today, I gave my life back to God and acknowledged that Jesus Christ is my Savior. There are no words to describe the joy, fear, awe, and amazement that I felt during my baptism. But I am so happy!

Thank you to all who helped me reach this point in my life. They know who they are. :) I love you all.

The Good Book Tote

Hey everyone! Hope you have had a great Mother's Day, however you celebrated (or didn't.) I had a great day and treated myself to some sewing. I've really been wanting a bag for my Bible, so I took a few hours today to make one.

Supplies Needed:

2 denim pant legs (from making cutoffs for the kids)
1 fat quarter in your choice of fabric
coordinating thread
denim needle for your sewing machine

I've never put a tutorial together before, but I've read a lot of them! If you have any questions, let me know.

First, cut out a piece of denim that covers your Bible (or other book) with about two inches to spare and square it up. 

 Then cut a piece from your fat quarter that is the same size plus about 1/2 an inch.(You'll iron yours. I did iron, but after I took the picture for some reason.)

If you'd like to add a pocket, cut an additional piece of fabric that is the same width. How tall is up to you, but remember you'll be folding it in half.

Fold the fabric right sides together and sew all three sides. Leave a space so you can turn it back right-side out. Turn it right-side out and press.

If you are adding a pocket, sew the pocket piece to one half (right side) of your fabric piece. I recommend folding the fabric like it will be as the lining, and then choosing where to place it. I put mine toward the top since I'm always losing my phone and keys (and mind), and I wanted easy access.

Fold your denim and fabric in half, long sides and right side of fabric together. Sew the short sides together and turn it back right side out. Press.

Now we are going to make straps. I tried just making denim straps, but I had a terrible time trying to turn them. So I decided to make binding out of my fat quarter fabric instead. I didn't bother with cutting on the bias. I'm lazy that way.

From your other denim leg, cut two straps that are the length you would like. Remember, your width will be folded in half. Stitch the long sides together wrong sides together. See that ugly seam? We're going to cover that.

To make your binding, cut a strip of your fat quarter fabric that is a little longer than your denim strap. I recommend making yours a bit fatter than mine.

Iron the strip in half, long sides together, wrong sides touching.

Open it up, and fold the top half of the half (fun, right?) into the middle. Press that seam.

Do the same thing with the bottom half. The picture is just the beginning done so I could get the picture and then get to work!

 Do this again for the other strap.

Now we are going to use the binding on the ugly seam of the straps. Stick the ugly seam into the pocket made by the binding. No ugly edges. Then stitch, making sure the binding and the denim are included in the stitch. Take your time!

Almost done! Now it's time to make the sandwich that is The Good Book Tote.

Take your denim bag with the right side facing in.

If you made a pocket in your lining, and it's toward the top, fold the top part of the pocket down and pin it so you don't accidentally sew the pocket shut when you sew the bag together. Put the fabric bag in to the denim bag. Right sides of each should be touching. Take a handle and place the two ends on one side of the tote BETWEEN the lining and denim. Pin the handle ends in place, and push the handle down in between the layers. Do the same on the other side.

To sum up:

You should have the following layers working from the inside out:

Wrong side of lining should be showing

Handle should be inside the lining and denim

Wrong side of denim should be showing.

Here's a lousy picture of what I'm trying to explain followed by an equally lousy picture:

 Now, carefully sew the layers together, making sure to leave an opening to turn this beast right side out! This is why you need to make sure you use a denim needle. Take your time, making sure to catch all the layers of fabric. I use a pretty loose stitch for this, because if I make a mistake, I want to be able to fix it easily. Plus, we will topstitch this next.

Carefully turn the bag right side out. Remember, there might be pins in there!

Check along the top to make sure the only opening is the one you left deliberately. Once you are sure it's all sewn up, then fold in the opening and topstitch around the top of the bag. Again, take your time.

This is how mine turned out:

I love it! It is just the right size to carry my Bible, study books, pen, keys and phone.

Happy Mother's Day to me!!

Fixing Breakfast

Don't get me wrong, I love a good Eggo as much as anyone. They're convenient, tasty, and a decent buy when they are on sale.

But I LOVE homemade waffles. This is the recipe I use, which is from www.food.com. I typically double it, since I freeze them for fast weekday breakfasts. I also substitute vegetable oil for the butter most of the time. I'm lazy. Whole wheat flour can be substituted for some or all of the flour.

2 cups flour

1 1/2 cups milk

2 eggs (separated)

2 tablespoons sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons butter (melted)

Sift flour, sugar, salt and baking powder into mixing bowl.

Beat egg yolks well and add milk, continue beating slowly adding the sifted flour mixture, beating until completely smooth.

Mix in melted butter.

Beat egg whites until stiff and gently fold into batter.

Cook in preheated waffle maker. I usually use 1/4 cup per side of my waffle maker.

About the "burned" parts: My youngest son likes his brown, so I accommodate him. I'm a good mom that way.

I felt it important to show my really cool retro 1980's plates. I love them.

These could not be any easier!

We top ours with strawberries and Cool Whip. Yep, I said it. Cool Whip! If you are a purist, you can use real whipped cream. I go to the effort to make homemade waffles. I'm not going all crazy with real whipped cream, ok? Be grateful!

Let me know how you like this recipe!

I kind of love New Blogger

At first, I had some issues with new blogger. I had to use another browser to create a new blog, and it was kind of a pain.

But then....I started playing around with it. The stats tracker is AWESOME! I was surprised to see which blog posts were most popular. Turns out, it's the Dragonflies and Damselflies post. So maybe I should offer more like that?

Let me know what you think.

Hey, everyone!

Just wanted to let you know I've started another blog called Kind of a Hippie Homeschooler. As you can probably guess, it's about homeschooling! I would love to see you there.

Thanks!

We have a serious problem

It's true. We DO have a serious problem. It's about my kids. My sweet, wonderful, amazing babies are addicted.....


TO JELL-O!

I don't know how it happened. What started out as a way to get them to quit whining for dessert has become a nightly routine. When they get off the school bus, it's "Mom, did you make our Jell-o?" I shudder to think what might happen if the answer is no.

"What kind did you make? Did you get whipped cream for it?"

I actually thought not buying whipped cream would put a damper on their enthusiasm. No such luck.

"Is it time for Jell-o?"

Maybe if I make them eat their green beans it will kill the cravings...

"I like green beans. I ate them all. Is it time for Jell-o now?

Maybe I can make this Jell-o addiction work for me. I can see it now...No Jell-o unless they clean their room. No Jell-o unless they put away their laundry. No Jell-o if they whine about doing homework.

Just how far can I push this thing, I wonder?

Demon Bird

Ever been attacked by a nest-protecting male Canada goose? Lucky you!

Not that I was attacked. But it was close, let me tell you. This vicious beast decided that I must be out to hurt his eggs. I get that. And probably my dog didn't help either.

Wait, let me back up.

Probably you should know that I am terrified of geese. I love to look at them. I think they are so pretty. But somewhere in my youth, I was traumatized or something because I am scared to death of them. I don't know why. Maybe I saw them beat someone up or something. Regardless, I am S-C-A-R-E-D of them.

Yesterday the hubs and I decided to take our pet beasts (dogs) out for a walk at Drake's Creek park. There's a nice walking path, and the dogs love it. So off we go, blissfully unaware that danger was lurking around the curves and turns of peaceful Drake's Creek.

So here we are, walking along, minding our own beeswax when we see Daddy Goose #1 blocking the path. The hubs abandons me, just leaving me defenseless, to walk past this crazy bird. It's hissing and flapping and whatnot, but Mr.Big Stuff Husband just ambles on by. I proceed to inform him I will NOT be passing the bird and turn around. In his infinite wisdom, Mr. Man decides to tell me God put this bird in my path to face my fears. I don't know how true that was, but since my guy was willing to walk with me and past the demon bird...I put on my brave pants and walked by.

Off we go, back to reveling in our marital bliss, until we see Daddy Goose #2. Now, Daddy Goose #1 was plenty frightening. But he had NOTHING on Daddy Goose #2. Daddy Goose #1 was like Christopher Walken, a little scary, but not truly terrifying. Daddy Goose #2 was like Sylvester Stallone, complete with guns and scary face paint, on steroids. Daddy Goose #2 didn't just hiss, he hissed, flapped and came at us.

Of course, the hubs abandoned me again. He narrowly escaped disaster (well, he walked by, but it seemed like disaster was imminent). A group of people walk by, and I politely let them pass the Demon Bird from Below. They made it by ok. So then, everyone starts watching me to see if I will make it past this evil animal.

I looked at the bird. He looked at me, his beady red eyes glinting as the foam dripped from his beak. (On a side note, did you know geese have tongues? I do now.) I walked up to him, my idiot dog lunging at Demon Bird. Demon Bird lunges back at me. I squeal and back up. The husband shouts encouragement like, "He won't get you. Be brave. Man up. Oh my goodness honey, just GO!" He then helpfully points out that I can't turn around. There's another goose down the path.

The group from before is watching. I'm sure they were enjoying the drama. I tried to tell the goose I wasn't afraid of it. Demon Bird laughed at me, and I knew he was not convinced. After about six attempts at passing; an explanation to the group behind me, who I must confess were quite openly enjoying my shame; and the total loss of all my dignity, a man from the group walked behind me ready to run bird interference if needed.

I would love to say that I walked calmly and sedately past Demon Bird, but alas, I ran. With no thought to the shreds of dignity I still possessed, I ran. I shouted a thank you to the nice man who rescued me...and ran on for a good twenty feet. When I stopped, the nice fisherman who had also been watching me consoled me, saying they were scary birds when they had a nest.

Guess where we won't be walking any time soon?

Later that day, we took the boys fishing on the other side of the park. We saw some super cute baby ducks. Of course, I needed a picture. I would like to add that these are NOT demon birds.

Just ponder that cuteness for a few minutes.