A Blankie!

Speaking of focusing on other sewing skills, I took a serger class! I had previously only mastered the straight stitch on it and was impressed with myself if I could thread the thing in under 20 minutes. Well now I have learned some new skills! I hope I don't forget them before I can use them all.

One of our class exercises was to make a blanket. It was pretty simple, but they taught us to cut a little rectangle in it where we start serging so that when we come back around to finish, it looks nice and professional instead of just serging off in a diagonal. I also used Woolly Nylon in the loopers so that the thread would fill in a little more and be softer than regular thread.

I chose to make a little blankie for my newest niece Gracie Jayne.

Here is the sweet little doll wrapped up cozy in it.

I think she likes it!

Pokemon and Barbie

It has been a while since I've shared any sewing so here are some pajamas I made for nephew and niece.

Pokemon jammies for Sam! I actually made these a couple months ago, or at least finished them then. This applique was a bear with all the little pieces, but I love the results!


Modeled picture!

Sam... I love you. Is it weird that I cannot see a picture of my nieces and nephews and not want to be right there in the same room playing with them?

And here are some Barbie jammies I made for Sarah:

She asked for some at Christmas and I did start back then - good thing I made them big enough to fit in the fall still! I sent them to her last month. The Barbie head and name on the shirt are from a pillowcase I got on ebay for a dollar. Sweet!!

It is funny. I have sewn some clothes for Sarah, and when I started to do that, I worried that the boys would feel left out, but I think it is hilarious that no, they were fine... Sarah actually felt left out and wanted more pajamas! haha! I think it is partly the personalization that goes into them with their favorite characters, etc. Their parents don't love characters on their regular clothes (neither do I) so it makes jammies extra special. I am getting a wee bit tired of pajamas, but it makes me SOOOOOO happy when they love them, that I will probably make them for as long as they want them. At least a couple a year. I think/hope. I do have fun figuring out what to do for the appliques, and getting creative there, even though sewing them can be super tedious. I just want to work on other sewing skills. I am working on some construction jammies for Andrew and will share soon!

Easter

I have been out of town so don't have much energy to post my own Easter thoughts, but was so touched (I bawled) by this. I appreciated her forewarning, so read that, and check it out.

Easter is by far my favorite holiday and message, even over the wondrous time of Christmas. It is not my favorite because they hung my Savior on a cross, but because He rose again. I hate that he had to suffer so much, more than any of us have in even our very darkest hours, but because He did, we can have our sins washed away and live eternally with Him and our loving Father in Heaven. That is a message of true HOPE.

Oh, sweet the joy this sentence gives: I know that my redeemer lives!

--LDS Hymn book p. 136

My Cousin Wrote a Book!!

My very talented cousin Braden Bell has written a book! It is called The Road Show and is an LDS fiction novel. You can join a giveaway here for his book - it ends in a couple days, so go now!

Braden is such a fantastic guy, an amazing dad and husband, writer, singer, etc! My first memories of him are when he would ask me the spanish words I knew that I was learning in pre-school. :) I don't know why that memory sticks in my brain, but it does, along with the words el gato and el perro.

There is a description of his book here: All About the Roadshow and you can find endorsements for it, and more about Braden here.

Dang, too bad I don't have a picture scanned into the computer of me as a green pepper in our road show one year, or I would have graced you with it.

Jamie Oliver Would Be Proud

I have mentioned briefly that although I have had some trouble losing weight, I have been able to lose some, which is beyond wonderful to me! Jake and I are very much enjoying the Jamie Oliver Food Revolution. I totally agree that there are just way too many processed, preservative-filled, unnatural foods being eaten in this country. I don't even think it is the fat causing the problem. I think it is all of the processing, additives, etc. that are causing us health issues. But these foods are easy and convenient, that's for sure.

This meal doesn't look that fabulous, but when I dished it up, I felt good about it and it tasted great!


My mom made Spaghetti Squash Primavera when she was doing a Fat Flush plan and was kind enough to share some with me. It was filled with veggies! She couldn't use many spices or salt, so I added a few and some garlic salt and it was delicious. I have a love affair with garlic salt. I adore it. The Simply Organic kind is WAY better than the others in my book. Good thing salt is recommended for me. The cauliflower doesn't look great since it has been sitting in the fridge for a few days, but trust me, it was delicious. I am learning that roasting vegetables = awesome. Here is the recipe I used - yum! I covered it for the first 25 minutes so that it wouldn't burn.

I have been on a grain-free and sugar free diet (almost completely) since last August. It is supposed to keep my blood sugar very even, which is important when you have adrenal insufficiency like I do. It has proven to be good for weight loss too so that is great. My biggest challenge is to get more veggies in. When dinner time comes around, I most often have all the energy of a slug, and sticking something in the microwave can take all my energy. And... I hate frozen veggies. So sometimes I will cook a big batch of stuff later at night and we'll eat it the next day, and then have leftovers. I can eat leftovers for days... I think I am just glad that there is food that is made already. Being chronically sick lowers your standards a little, but that's ok. Especially when the food is good to start with.

Recently I made the yummiest chicken!! If the spicy/sweet combination floats your boat, then you have to try Spicy Honey Chicken It is delicious!! I don't have a grill so I just baked it for an hour, and added the sauce in the last 10 minutes. I did both breasts and wings and she is right - the thighs were the best! The breasts were good too though. Try it!

April Fool's Day

Here are some great ideas for April Fool's Day!

These are from the family fun magazine. I love the grilled cheese and sushi ones!

Here is some really fun candy broccoli too.

Do you get in to April Fool's Day much? Jake loves the idea of it, but doesn't love being tricked much. He would probably love some of these!

This Too Shall Pass!

This video is amazing. I read that it took over 60 hours to make it because they had to do so many takes. I really like the lyrics. "You know you can't keep letting it get you down... And you can't keep dragging that dead weight around. Let it go. This too shall pass." Here is another version of it that I love, although nothing compares to this Rube Goldberg machine version.

The homemade video for OK Go's first single, "A Million Ways" became the most downloaded music video in history. And their dancing on treadmills video for the song "Here It Goes Again" was the top favorited music video of all time on YouTube, and won the YouTube Award in the Most Creative category in 2006. I hate it when songs swear though, and while the word in this song is more forgivable, the awesome treadmill video takes Christ's name in vein which I really hate. I love their creativity though! Here's a "behind the scenes" video of how they made it.

On a completely different note, if you want a chance to win a Janome sewing or embroidery machine, (I do!!!) check this out!