Tea Towel Apron Tutorial

I've had people interested in making the tea towel aprons, so I figured I'd share. :) Step 1:

Take your open tea towel,upside-down, and put the two top corners together. (I tack them together, so they don't flop around.)

Step 2:

Find the middle of the towel, and measure down four fingers and pin the apron. (If you want the top smaller, that's fine too, but this makes a good average sized top.)

Step 3:
Depending on the size of ribbon you have for your tea towel, you will need to make two pockets down the sides of the pinned towel. Back-stitch at the beginning and the end.

Step 4:

Thread ribbon, enough to go around your neck and to tie in the back, through the newly-sewn pockets. (A good average length for the ribbon is 9 feet.)

Optional:

I have sewn the ribbon at the top, enough room for my neck, so that it doesn't slip too much.

Simple and easy. If I can do it, you can too! :)

Hooked on Relief Society Worked For Me

Last night we had a Relief Society meeting that focused on simple sewing. I'm all over anything that touts "simple"!

I signed up to make tea-towel aprons. I was SO happy to see how easy and CUTE they were. I ended up making FIVE of them. (And I'm going to go to the craft store again and get MORE!)

I love feeling crafty!

Learning About the Birds and the Bees

Please don't throw tomatoes, but I haven't educated Cameron (who is 9, but mentally is about 5) about sex. He knows that everyone has private parts that shouldn't be touched or looked at, but he's never had any interest in knowing where babies come from, not even when I was pregnant with Jake.

On Sunday I came home from my parents' house, and turned on my favorite channel, TLC. They were showing a program called "Strange Sex." If I had KNOWN what it was called before I started watching it, I would have stopped watching it while my boys were sitting there with me.

They were showing a woman who was talking about how she was allergic to her husband's sperm, and how they REALLY wanted to have a baby, but it was difficult. Cameron, being the sensitive kid that he is, asked me, "Mom, why can't that lady have a baby?"

This seemed like a good opportunity to share with him the truth about where babies come from, and let him know that I realize that he's growing up and that he deserves to know the truth. So I told him that she was allergic to her husband's sperm, and that when babies are made a daddy gives sperm and mommies have eggs.

He stopped for a second and then he said, "MOM! Chickens make eggs....mommies don't!"

I told him that even though it sounds funny, it's true. Then he said, "Eggs are BIG and HARD!"

Yeah, I probably should have been informing this child a little earlier! ;)

Wordless Wednesday

Just a few random pictures because I want to blog, but don't know what to say. Enjoy! :)

I'm NO Maid...

For a VERY long time, I've wanted my house to be cleaner, but I am NOT, in any way, shape or form, a good housekeeper. My house has always been a little dirtier than I would like, and dishes and bathrooms were the BANE of my existence. I had just resigned myself to always having a messy house.

Then I heard about FlyLady, and I decided to give it a go, especially after one of my friends told me that after a week of trying this method she had a BUNCH of kids over to play and wasn't worried about cleaning or how her house looked. I WANTED that. I figured that if it didn't work, then I'd have at least tried.

So I went to the website and signed up. I have been trying this for about a month now, and even though my house isn't EXACTLY how I wanted, it is SO much cleaner than I had ever hoped.

Not only that, but I'm happier. I get up every day and get dressed (to the shoes, or slippers...I guess I'm not QUITE flying yet...) and I'm ready. Who knew that just a few simple things would make me happier.

My sink is shiny (a BIG thing for me) my counters in my kitchen are clutter and even DISH free. It feels GREAT to go in there and make dinner (which I have always dreaded...) or to do dishes. My bed is made and makes my room look WAY cleaner than it really is. I've even felt inspired to beautify my surroundings, even though I'm only renting. I've hung curtains on EVERY window in our apartment, and it feels more homey. I still have a long way to go until I'm completely flying, but for now, I'm doing VERY well, and I'm happy. Baby steps work! And I can DO anything!

Boys' Valentines' Bouquet

I ordered a balloon bouquet for the boys earlier this week. I asked that they be delivered after 3:00 on Friday, so Cam would be home, but I guess they decided to deliver them early. (In fact, Jake was napping, and Cam was at school, so I was the only one who enjoyed the delivery part of the balloons anyway.) So I quickly woke Jake up (he DID need a bath anyway...) and kept playing up the fact that Mommy and Daddy had a gift for him downstairs. The poor boy's been SO miserable, he just wanted to nap, but I convinced him to get cleaned up.I raced him down the stairs, and grabbed the camera....All he could say when he saw them was, "Boons!" Then I pulled them down for him to enjoy, he brought them to me, and said, "Fix it!" Meaning, he wants me to pull a balloon off so he can play. When Cam got home, I told him to wait in the hallway while I grabbed the camera. He was intrigued, but did as he was told. Then he came around the corner and just stared. Then I told him to check out the card on the balloons. After he opened it, and *tried* to get Jake to see it too, he asked, "Can I play the Wii now?"

Nice! :P

Magic Words

Tonight, while driving home, we heard some obnoxious boy noises from the backseat. (A.K.A. Someone burped.) Steve tried to tease the boys and said, "I heard that!"

Of course, living in a house of boys, there was much snickering heard from the backseat.

Then Steve said, "What do you say?"

A small voice in the back called out, "PLEASE!"

My Baby's Getting SO Big!

During lunch the other day, when I was half-way through my sandwich, and Jake was nearly done eating his "o-gut" he stopped and looked at me and said, "MAMA!! Prayer!"

I said, "Oh, you want to say a prayer?" He bobbed his head and instantly folded his arms.

So I quickly said a little prayer, then began eating the rest of my lunch.

A few seconds later, "MAMA!! Prayer!"

"Again? Do you want to say it this time?" He said a quick "YEAH!" and then he proceeded to bless things (I believe "Tameron" was blessed multiple times.)

After he was done, I began to eat again. Not long after that, "MAMA!! PRAYER!" (This was said with a HUGE grin.)

After a few more rounds of prayers, he gave up.

How cute is he though? Reminding ME to pray?

I Could NEVER Be Miss America

Well, aside from the OBVIOUS reasons (I'm not a "Miss" anymore, I don't have the beauty pageant looks, I'm WAY too old....) I realized that I could NEVER be Miss America.

Over the weekend, while watching the show (LOVE the show...it's just so fun to watch...) I was getting caught up in the excitement. Rooting for the one I felt most represented me. During the question and answer portion (which is a WHOPPING 30% of the total score, the announcers remind us...) I was fascinated with how the girls changed around any uncomfortable questions, and turned them back to, "If you make me Miss America, then I would...." I believe world peace was up for grabs....

One of the questions was SO odd to me, that it was THEN that I truly realized I could NOT be Miss America, who is full of grace and tact....

This year's questions came from the public. No doctored questions from high falutin' judges, the PEOPLE on the street, or the strip, as they were in Vegas asked the questions...

The question that got me? "The United States of America is the fore-runner among the countries of the world for donating money and resources to the victims of the Haiti earthquake. Do you think it's a good thing to be doing in this economy?"

*waiting for the stunned silence*

The contestant who had that question again, did the Miss America thing. She kept the answer "status quo" and didn't make waves.

My immediate thought, "ARE YOU FREAKIN' KIDDING ME!? Why WOULDN'T our country give to those who are suffering and IN need. Just because you live in one of the richest countries in the world, you have a home and food, boo hoo, you have to use welfare, but hey, you HAVE welfare available to you....why CAN'T we help? You know, if you think they're ROLLING in the money and donations so much, why don't you go live there?!"

Yeah, see, I'd lose.

Pillow Talk

Steve's been working late nights this weekend. I've been sick all weekend. It was kind of a rough weekend for my poor little boys. I decided on Saturday, after a miserable day, that I wasn't going to go to church. Cameron, once he heard the news said, "MOM!! That's two days in a ROW!!"

I giggled and said, "No, actually that's two weeks in a row. Good try though."

Can I just say that I'm VERY happy that Cam wants to go to church. I find that a HUGE accomplishment.

Anyway, Steve came to bed at 5:00 Sunday morning. I wasn't expecting him home until 6:30 or 7:00...he was working graveyard, so I knew that he was home early. I asked him why he was home. (I know, nice, right?) He told me that someone came in early so that he could get a little bit of sleep so that he could go to church. I was excited for Cameron to go to church.

We fell asleep.

My internal alarm clock woke me up around 7:00 am. I asked Steve what time it was and he got a little miffed and said, "White milk!"

Um, try that again...

"Steve, look at your alarm clock. What time does it say?"

After rolling back from his alarm clock, he said "White milk oh four!"

After that sweet conversation, I KNEW that man needed more sleep, so I didn't push the fact that I wanted him to take Cameron to church.

Cameron's First Pinewood Derby

For WEEKS we've worked on the design. I let Cameron pick whatever his heart desired, and he wanted a truck. We got it cut, sanded and painted. We waited until the last possible day to put the wheels on, because we knew that little boys would just LOVE to play with them.

Tonight we showed up, and found out that the car was WAY too light. We ended up with 12 or 13 pennies glued to the back....just to make weight.

It was a TON of fun. Cameron lost both of his races, but very much enjoyed watching the races.The boy who won had THE skinniest car....the second place, was a fat wedge. It just goes to show you, not EVERYTHING you hear is true.

Fun night, even Jake got a car.

The stage was THE place to play....until the leaders told the kids to get off.

In the end Cameron's car won the Muscle Car award, and he had a blast.

Now to convince someone to do a race among the adults. Now THAT would be a BLAST! :)

Mr. Independent

All morning, Jake has been BEGGING for "o-gut, mama!" I pulled out a container of yogurt, and tried to feed him....but he wouldn't have it. He wanted to feed himself. So after much struggle, I strapped him into his high chair (which is now a booster seat....again, sign that he's growing up and wants to be independent) gave him the spoon and yogurt and let him go.

This is what I came back to. (He'd thrown the "o-gut" on the floor....and wanted more....)

I'm pleased to report that after this, he was MUCH happier.

First LONG Sentence

Jake has been talking for QUITE a while now. He will babble until I think I'm going to go crazy. Mostly his babbles consist of people's names: "Tameron, Mama, Dada, Gampa, 'Mama, Tameron..." Mostly in THAT order too. He'll sometimes throw in small words like "tucky (truck)" or "milky!" But for the most part, his sentences are "Tameron?" "Milky, milky....PLEASE!" "Come on!" "'O-gut?" "Want Tackers (crackers)!"

Today, I made the boy lunch after his nap. I was cleaning up my mess and he said to me, "Mama? Tameron on bus, bye-bye?" (Rough translation: "Mama, Did Cameron go bye-bye on the bus?") I didn't over-react, but I did say, "Yes, Cameron went to school on the bus."

He seemed happy with that answer, and ate more of his lunch. Then he asked, "Bus come?"

I told him that no, the bus wasn't going to bring Cameron home, we were going to pick him up in the van. He looked at me and said, "Oh."

That was it, nothing HUGE, but for me, it's a new experience to have him SO vocal. Cameron was NOWHERE near this verbal until he was 3. Shows me more and more every day that my boys are SO different!

Here's A Little Tip...

....never leave your ranch dip in an open container and at such a level where short people can reach while you're distracted.He definitely LOVES his ranch dip.

Trying To be Positive, But....

...sometimes it's SO hard.

Cameron has been doing different doses of his meds lately, because we're trying to see if he actually NEEDS more or if he's okay on a lower dosage. (Personally, I saw a HUGE difference once we bumped up the dose.) Bumping up the dosage, though, causes HUGE problems with Medicaid.

I don't know if it's bad that I fully admit that Cameron is on Medicaid, but truthfully, if he wasn't on it, we would NOT be able to afford his many therapies or doctor appointments. It's a necessary evil.

Anyway, every time we tweak his doses, the doctor's office needs to contact Medicaid and get a "prior authorization," or in other words, get permission to raise the medication. The thing is, Medicaid only distributes ONE month's worth of meds at a time. So, if he's taking one pill a day, they'll only authorize the pharmacy to give him 30 pills per refill. Well, right before Christmas, we were waiting for prior authorization for doubling his dose (60 pills per month...) and got a HUGE surprise when we found out that even after being approved for the medication, we still had to wait 24 hours for it to get into the system. (I had gone TO the pharmacy, all prepared to get the meds, and was denied once again, and I literally was in TEARS. Cameron had run out of meds THAT day and with vacation I KNEW I was going to go crazy with an unmedicated child. Seriously, TEARS!) Thankfully, after learning the 24 hour rule, we got the medicine quickly. I think Cameron was unmedicated for a whole 3 hours that he's normally medicated.

Things are a lot different this time.

Cam was going to be out of medicine on Monday, so I called for a refill on Friday. The nurse called me back to tell me that the doctor wanted to raise the dosage, yet again, to THREE pills per day. I didn't think to make sure she'd get the prior authorization done (mostly because I was overwhelmed with my kids at the time...) and went to pick up the prescription on Monday. Now, remember, Monday we were OUT of pills....no more, nada, ALL GONE! I took the prescription to the pharmacy, and the tech looked a little confused. I asked him if Medicaid was having issues with the prior authorization again, and he said that was what it looked like. He said that lately, even on GOOD days, it takes about 3 days for the prior auth to go through. I was frustrated, and told him so, but I left trying to keep my spirits up. It helped that my sweet Cameron was in the back seat of the van consoling me, "Mama, that man was just doing his job. It's going to be okay..."

I quickly called the doctor's office to find out what was going on with the meds, and found out that the nurse had left for the day. *Great!* I left her a message, and told her that we were literally OUT of meds, and I was worried about sending him to school without any medication, and then I waited.

Tuesday, I wrote Cameron's teacher a note, explaining what was going on, and just as a warning that he wouldn't be his *usual* self. That morning I took what little of the quick acting, short-lasting, miniature dosage pills that I had left-over and tried to dose up the kid, knowing it wouldn't last.

At the end of the school day, I asked his teachers how it went and they said that because they knew what was going on, they understood, and noticed, but gave him a little bit of wiggle room. For the most part he was good, but did have his completly distracted moments.

I had called the doctor's office again that day and asked if we could possibly get a smaller prescription written to cover the few days that we'd have to wait for Medicaid, but my begging was only heard by the voice-mail, yet again.

Today, I called the doctor's office, yet again, and actually talked to a FEW people before getting to talk to the nurse I've been leaving messages with. She said that on Friday, when she'd written the prescription, she'd called Medicaid to get the prior authorization going. But because Monday was a holiday, she didn't expect to hear anything from them until at LEAST today. (*grumble grumble*) She said that, actually, she'd have a few minutes right then and she'd call to get things moving a little more quickly.

I've heard nothing.

Cameron is still on the itty-bitty pills, and they're not QUITE cutting it, but they're better than nothing. He's very confused about why he's had to take SO many pills and I told him that they help him so that he can concentrate when he goes to school and therapy. He seemed to understand that.

There are times I am SO grateful for Medicaid, but when I'm getting the "prior authorization" run-around, I don't love them so much.

Just so you don't think I truly have a hate/hate relationship with Medicaid, I will share one more recent Cameron/Medicaid story.

Sunday night, Cameron was arguing with his dad. (This happens a LOT. They're too much alike...) Because he was angry, he went up to his room, stomped around for a while, and then he "squeezed" his glasses. He must have REALLY been mad, because he BROKE his frames. (We've had this particular pair of glasses for ALMOST 2 months....) He came downstairs and immediately apologized and cried. I consoled him, and told him that we'd take care of it later.

Monday, the same day I tried to get the meds, we took the broken glasses to the eye doctor. They looked at them, said, "Oh, we can't fix these" (DUH!!) and then said, "Medicaid will replace this frame, easy."

Oh, what a weight was lifted (just before another was dropped...)

Being the mom to this boy is quite a job. Who knew I'd be so elated one minute and so bummed the next? BUT, after everything, it is DEFINITELY worth it. The fact that he tried to help me from getting VERY upset and crying again shows me that I'm doing a good job raising a concerned child! I can do this, but I will get frustrated from time to time...

Not So Innocent

Jake has been saying a little phrase over and over for months. He KNOWS what it means....and has learned to use this to his advantage.

Whenever an accident happens, the boy says "Oops!" (Almost sounds like he's saying "Iips," but still cute.) He drops a toy, "Oops!" He can't find his boots, "Oops!"

It's a very commonly used phrase.

Today, I've learned something that his little mind has figured out LONG ago. If he says the beloved phrase, he gets a free-pass.

Let me explain: Today we were waiting for Cameron at one of his therapies. This particular facility has a mini play-room and it is one of Jake's FAVORITE places to go. There's a little table and chairs and books and even colored pencils and a coloring book. He LOVES it.

One of the mini chairs was being used to hold open the door and Jake decided that he NEEDED that chair to sit on. He pulled it away from the door, causing the opened door to slam shut. "Oops." I grinned at him and said, "Yes, that was an accident."

Then he purposefully pushed the chair end over end so that it was upside-down on the floor. "Oops!"

"Oops," my butt!! You did that on purpose you little fink!! But you knew if you said "Oops" that I would grin and let you get away with it, right?

Soon after the chair, he was ripping pages from the coloring book. I kept telling him, "That's enough, no more ripping the pages out!"

After 5 pages, and 5 exclamations of "oops" I took the book away and said, "Pick up the ripped papers, we make a mess, we clean it up!" He looked at me, and then he looked at the pile of papers and began doing his typical Mexican hat dance on the pages. That's when the mommy voice came out. "JAKE! Pick UP the papers, NOW!"

He picked them up and as I held out my hand for him to put the papers in he threw the paper (again, totally ON purpose) over my hand. "OOPS!"

I guess the cute-ness is wearing thin. The kid's true colors are showing through.

New Dilemma

Both boys are fine. There is nothing "new" with either of them...the new problem lies with me.

It doesn't matter what time of day or night, if I sit still for more than 5 minutes, I will fall asleep. This is more than just exhaustion too. It's beginning to be a problem. I will literally sit in a comfortable chair/couch not do anything, and within MINUTES I'm asleep and possibly snoring. I've been missing a lot of the funny parts or interesting parts to shows or movies because of this.

But more than just missing out on my shows or movies....it IS a problem. One I THOUGHT I could fix on my own. I've tried taking iron, thinking maybe I was anemic, but it's NOT helping.

I have a feeling that I need to go in to a doctor, but right now I can't afford it. I guess I'll be sleeping through the next month or so. This is NOT fun. :(

*snicker*

My boys make me laugh, and usually I forget what they've said and don't share, but I should share the few things they've said lately.

The other day I turned on Jake's favorite show. Yes, I let my 19 month old child watch TV.... Anyway, he usually calls out the name of it "Fesh Beat!" (It's called the Fresh Beat Band...cute show, even I can tolerate it!) Anyway, the other day I turned it on and asked him, "Jake, look what's on!?" He promptly responded "'NANA!" (They sing a song about bananas...even to the point of spelling it...he's OBVIOUSLY paying attention to their songs! If you go to that link, click on the Fresh Beat girl, then the song is #6.)

Jake has also gotten verbal in his demands for food. I got him a kids' meal from Wendy's the other day and the whole car ride he insisted on his "chips." When I told him that it was "french fries" he changed his tune and began chanting, "FENCH FIES!! FENCH FIES!!!" Oh, and if you really want to see cute, ask him what he's supposed to say when he wants something. You will get the HIGHEST pitched "PWEASE!" SO fast!

We have a new Wendy's restaurant in town. I happened to drive past it yesterday with Cameron in the car. The dang restaurant went up SO fast I didn't notice it was even THERE until last week sometime. So I pointed it out to Mr. Cameron. He said, "Mom, you know what?"

I asked, "No, what?"

"Just LOOKING at that Wendy's is making my tummy growl."

Good try, son, but you're NOT getting Wendy's!

And just for good measure, Cameron has gotten sneaky in his old age. A few weeks ago, he woke up early, and finding nothing better to do (since we hide all the goodies and hide the remote control and turn on a password on the computer...yeah, we make it HARD to entertain yourself before we're awake...) he took some random pictures of himself. I wondered why the new batteries in my camera were dead after 2 days. NOW I know. Funny boys!

Musings....

Lately, I've been thinking about another baby. Not that I'm announcing anything...heck, I am NOT announcing anything. I've been thinking about how I would love to try for a little girl, but every time I think of another baby in my family, it's a boy (in my mind.) I would love love LOVE to get pregnant again soon, but at the same time, I'm wondering if I should just be done with the whole thing.

Here's my thoughts. I'm very happy and content with the two boys I have. I have been blessed beyond measure to have been able to be the mommy to these little guys. I realize that there are MANY who wish for the things I have, I KNOW beyond anything that I am SO SO blessed. The main thing is that I am very happy with my boys. They make me happy (most of the time) and I am pleased that they love each other and get along fairly well. The age gap is something I have to explain a lot, but it's getting better. I find that Cameron is a LOT of work, and Jake is a ball of energy. They keep me very busy and I am VERY exhausted most days.

When I think about them as teens, I realize that with my big age-gap, I will be going through those rough teen years for a VERY VERY long time. I'm not sure that I really want to throw another child in the mix to make those teen years even longer.

I'm also feeling my age a bit more these days, yes, I am not *old* but I am not quite as young as I feel like I should be either. I know I shouldn't do this, but I find myself comparing my life with my mom's. By the time she was my age, she was done having kids and had SIX of us to boot. I always imagined that by the time I was 30 I would be done having babies.

My main argument for not having more kids is the fact that I feel very blessed and I don't want to push my luck. I am content with the kids I have and I am VERY happy.

This is not to say that if I DO happen to get pregnant that I would be UNhappy....but I just don't feel the constant need to try for another child right now. Well, I lied, I don't PHYSICALLY feel the need to try for another baby, but mentally and SPIRITUALLY I feel something different.

Since Jake was a baby...I'm talking less than a month old, I've had a little spirit nag at me that they need to be a part of my family. I was really thrown when Jake was just weeks old and I was sitting by myself, counting my kids and found myself looking for the third child. That feeling has NOT gone away with time, in fact, it seems to get bigger and more prominent the further along I get.

Like I said though, I'm not sure I should press my luck, but if there IS another child (and I feel there is) then he/she better find a way to sneak in....trying to conceive is just TOO hard and TOO much work.

Goin' For a Ride?

Last week, when it snowed REALLY hard, my brother used his 4-wheeler to shovel the drive way and sidewalk. He parked it for a while, to shovel what he couldn't get with the machine, and Jake INSTANTLY called out "UP! UP!!" He did NOT want to get off.

Oh, dear, what are we in for?

Not Feeling Motivated to Blog...

For the last few weeks I've had NO ONE comment on my posts, so I'm slowly losing interest in blogging. Maybe this year I'll quit all together. *shrug*