My oldest was in the local paper!

Covington gets virtual classrooms

... and there's a picture of the back of his little blondie head!
eeee!!

It's the little things in life!

School projects..

Alright, so if you're a friend of mine on FB, you already know that school projects & I don't get along too well..

Not because of the 'project' part of it, per-se... more like what's expected of the student, the materials needed, etc.
for example...

Jacob had to do a state project on Maine.
He was to find all the basics of Maine... size of it, capital, state flag, state seal, state bird, flower, etc....
ok. easy enough.

Then he had to get a POSTCARD from the state, a BROCHURE from the state, copies of historical documents, PICTURES of famous people from Maine & EXPLAIN WHY they're important....
SO many technical things that, to me, weren't really necessary for this project.

... for a 5th grader.
sheesh. really?

I mean, I'm sure Maine has a lot of wonderful features, lots of beautiful sights, etc... but what awesome, super-duper, fantabulous, jaw-dropping things have happened in MAINE to research that this kid could write in his OWN words??
Hawaii...? c'mon! Pearl Harbor!!!!
Give the kid Hawaii!!!
nooo... that awesome place was givien to a rotten girl that didn't even WANT Hawaii... the land of sunshine & aloha! what--?!?
sigh.
JT learned disappointment yet again.
BUT, we moved on, did the project the best we could & got thru it...

...and did it all in a CLEAR $4 folder that was REQUIRED, or he was docked 8 points. ... because you know, the FOLDER was the most important part.
eyeroll.

BUUUTTT, all my complaining about it lead to one good thing.
I had to make a 'treat' from that state & share with the class! ooohhh, heyyyy!
Google was my friend.
Google & I found an awesome recipe for Maine Pumpkin bread.

helllooooo, love.

So, I got the ingredients together, found it was a LOT of batter. Um, this recipe makes THREE loaves of bread!!
o, thats ok. me likey 'punkin bread.

SO, I have decided to share my found recipe with you.
please-i beg you- TRY this.
It is SO moist, and SO yummy!

I brought 2 of the loaves to the class thinking we wouldn't really eat it here, but I'm kinda regretting that bad, bad thought.

Jacob said EVERYONE loved the bread, the teacher asked for a copy of the recipe & kids were crowding him at lunch for MORE!!!
ok, so if a bunch of rotten elementary school kids were begging for MORE, this must be good!
...and kids can be picky about pumpkin!

Here it is. I know. You're excited like I am, right?
Maine Pumpkin Bread

You'll be thanking me. I know it.

My first tutorial! Pajama pants... the EASY way!!

So, I've been making these pants for the kids a while now. They LOVE them! AND, if you do it right you can get all the fabric you need on black Friday, regular sale coupons, deals, discounts, etc... these really won't cost you much to make!!
My kids tend to wear them til they just can't anymore! They hold up SOOO well, and they're so comfy!!

I make these when it starts to get chilly outside, and I make them with flannel fabric.
I'm sure you could use anything really. My kids just prefer flannel... and really, who doesn't?

I've seen other tutorials where you have to cut out two seperate pieces of fabric for each leg, etc.
NO. Not this.
you'll only cut the fabric ONCE, and you'll have all the pieces you'll need for them!
It's really simple, folks.
trust me.

I am a completely novice sewer... (sewer? eww. seam-maker?) you know what I mean.
I will not tackle anything complicated when it comes to sewing. I have 4 kids, a dog, husband, big house, laundry, etc. I dont have time for complicated, and I would not even THINK of showing you if it were!!

OK... on to the project.
I can make these in about 20 minutes. HONESTLY!

These I'm showing you were for my twin boys, in a size 7-8'ish. I used about 2 yards of fabric. Bigger kids will need more, smaller kids less...obviously.
Although, if it helps you, I also made some for my 9yo daughter last night, and I used 2 yards for hers as well.
My oldest son is almost 11, and I used 2 1/2 yards of fabric for his.

Elastic.
that's based solely on what YOU want to use, and the size of the waists. I use 3/4" elastic. Thick, but not too thick & holds up the pants on my 'next to no waists' kids. 

Here's what you'll need...

Flannel in your choice of pattern, the (inside out) jeans you'll be using as a 'pattern', and a very sharp scissors.

A card... and *gasp* no challenge to enter it in?!

I *must* be crazy then!!

I did a little shopping the other day in Fayetteville. (honestly. that's no small feat as it's 45 minutes away, and the people... well... I needed an excedrine migraine after that!)
...
and went to Joanns.
All their Cricut carts are on sale this week for $29... and SOMEHOW I managed to walk out with just ONE new cart.
really? I'm so disappointed in myself.

Anyway, I picked up 'Winter Woodland', and I have to say that I am SOOO in love with it.
My mind has gone NUTS thinking about all the cutesy, yummy things I could make, that I'm having sensory overload, and already feeling over-whelmed!

Since I'm done with Halloween teacher gifts, I figured I'd move on to some winter-y, Christmas-y, gift-y, CRAFTY things now.

I love Christmas.
I love the first snowfall, winter-y colors, wrapping gifts, the cold nights where you MUST snuggle... oooh, how I love it!

I'm not terribly big on the traditional red & greens of Christmas, but I still enjoy it!
Actually, I love the teals, pinks, whites, blues & SNOWMEN!
Since we have SOOO many rooms in our house, I am able to decorate each room as *I* want to! The main living room, we do in our traditional red, green, 'old' Christmas decor, and my dining room is blue & white, so that's the 'Winter' room...
Anyway, here is my card from the Winter Woodland Cartridge.

*swoon*

A few challenges, one card!

SO....
I'm starting to find myself challenged on a few different levels.
First off, I love to create, try new techniques, etc... but participating in challenges *IS* a challenge for me.
Kinda like when someone says 'pee in this cup'... well, of COURSE you can't pee in the cup! Cause someone TOLD you to... right?
Yea, that's me and the challenges I do. I love seeing the inspiration projects, or cards that others do, and getting idea from those, but for someone to just say 'do anything with the colors....blah, blah....'
I. FREEZE.
Why do I do that?

Either way, I do enjoy a challenge, and even though I have some sort of 'mental block' over instructions, I still make every point to participate in them cause I like to get the creative ideas flowing, and that gets the kids involved on some levels as well....

This card is going into these challenges:::
Fab 'n' Funky Challenge #95 -- torn/distressed
KB Cute Monday Challenge #31 -- anything goes

I'm battling a bit of carpal tunnel this weekend, and trying hard to work through it..
But here's my card!!
I hope you like it!

...wonder who I could send it to?