Child labor/batch cooking

One of my most dreaded parts of motherhood is making lunches.  I know, I know.  Its pretty easy.  I try to get my act together at night and have them all ready before I go to bed.  But, there are some nights when I just plain forget or I'm too tired.

I follow several couponing websites, and one mentioned batch cooking.  I have never really gotten into making 9 casseroles and sticking them into the freezer for later use.  Mainly because I get sick of eating that many of the same kind of casserole.  Of course, there's the fact that E considers that "leftovers" no matter if you're eating them for the first time around or not.

Someone on that batch cooking post, commented that she does something similar for lunches.  She makes several PB&Js, freezes them, then just pulls them out for lunches every day.

Coincidentaly, kids were hankering for something to do today.  They tried to go outside, but it was too wet.  They tried playing with play dough, but it was "too mixed up!"  This particular project was on my agenda for today, so I thought I might let the kids have a whirl at it.

It was the BEST idea I've had all day week. 

A sneak peak ((post I wrote before my announcement))

I went to Dr. H today to get more blood work done.  My HCG levels were 8477.  Since I have been having pain in my lower right side, the nurse decided I needed an ultrasound.

Of course, they didn't tell me that when I called.  I didn't find out until I was walking to the door to leave.  I had both boys, and very little in the way of snacks and entertainment.  Very little.

The nurse told me to go ahead and sit in the waiting room until a room was free.  Normally, they are pretty Johnny-on-the-spot in that office.  In fact, I brag constantly about how speedy they get me in and out.  The number one evidence of my confidence in them would be the fact that I took both boys with me. 

Of course, today had to be a day where everyone and their families were sitting in the waiting room.  I felt horribly bad, seeing as how most of the women there have been struggling with IF.  Very few women are  there for RPL.  So, here I am, blatantly waiving my fertility in their faces.  I felt compelled to explain to several of the women around me.  I know, I'm lame.

Moving along, the baby is in the uterus.  That is excellent news.  The nurse was worried that it might be an ectopic pregnancy that was causing my pain.  According to my last menstrual period, I am 6 weeks today (though, when I'm on an un-medicated cycle, my ovulation date is about 4 days later than "normal".)  The technician saw a gestational sac and a "hint" of a yolk sac that was developing.

She seemed very upbeat and positive, saying that everything is there that is "supposed" to be there.  I, naturally, can't help but freak out just a teeny-tiny-tad.  I go back in next week on Tuesday for another scan.  The baby should be able to be seen by then. 

Here's the baby.  Isn't he/she sweet?  That arrow is pointing at the "hint" of the yolk sac.

nothing to write home about

Or, obviously enough, nothing to blog about, either. 

I feel terrible.  This blog is sort of my "journal" of sorts.  my collection of thoughts to one day remind myself what it was like at this time in our lives.

Unfortunately, I've been so busy (okay, honestly, most of that is just me feeling busy and stressed) that I find it hard or unreasonable to sit down and blog.  Not to mention the fact that every time I do decide to blog, I find my mind completely blank. 

Which is how I find myself now.  Blank mind.

So, for now, I'll leave you with some pictures of the kids playing outside.  We've been having beautiful weather!  I love it!

From Boy's jeans to frilly skirt, in less than 1 hour

I've had this idea floating around in my head for a few weeks now.  Probably since A put the 4th hole in a pair of pants that I had patched 3 times.  Originally, i was just going to make it a denim skirt.  Sew the crotch areas together and be done.  But, the jeans kind of screamed "BOY!" so I needed a way to girl it up a bit.  Hence the need for frills.

The entire project, from start to modeling, took less than an episode of Grey's watched on my computer. (why yes, I do sew at my computer desk...  Its multi-purpose like that.) So, definitely less than an hour.

Boy's Jeans to Frilly Skirt

Materials:

1 pair of holey jeans

scissors

sewing machine

2 pieces of fabric, cut in a rectangle shape. (the width really depends on how many ruffles you want and how big your jeans are.)  Mine were about 12 inches tall and 4 ft wide.  I just used scraps from another project.

Start with your jeans.  Cut just below the back pocket.  Then cut out the inside seam apart. (I didn't photograph this.  Sorry!)

I missed a few steps with the camera here, too.  Take one of your fabric pieces and hem the bottom.  Then, sew a very loose stitch close to the top (opposite the hem) of the fabric.  Make sure to leave extra thread at the end (so don't clip your thread, yet!)  Take one piece of the thread and gently pull, pushing the fabric gently down the thread to create a gathered effect. 

It should look something like this:

Now, take the raw edges on the sides, and sew, right sides together, to make a circle of fabric. 

Slip the fabric over the jeans, face down, with the hem up.  Next, figure out where you want the first tier to start. sew, with right sides together, just above your gathering stitch (you don't want your gathering stitch to show.)

 

Flip it down to admire your work. 

Repeat the process with the second tier.  

Trim off extra denim underneath. Then flip your layers down and admire again.



Finally, get a super cute, almost 6 yr old, to model for you.  (okay, so maybe this step isn't necessary...)

Tada!  You made a frilly skirt from boy's jeans!