Home again :)

Last Wednesday we headed out for a last camping trip before we started school for the year...it was great!  It was also nice because we went the week after the public schools started back, so we had the cream of the crop to choose from for camp sites. :)  One of the benefits of home-schooling...  We had the river just down some steps with a great spot for the kids to fish and swim.  We had Grandma along with the cousins and Aunt Dandi, we had a blast!  I think that one of the best family activities you can do is to go camping!  You work together setting up camp, then you play together enjoying the outdoors, cook together, sing together, and eat together!  Your husband gets up during the night to take the kids to the bathroom, sees skunks around the campsite, so you decide that you are NOT going to the bathroom during the night, no matter what! ;)  That would be one way to ruin a camping trip...  You get to see deer, pet deer, black squirrels, brown squirrels, skunks, armadillos, frogs, what fun!  You get to ride bikes, climb mountains (big hills in my opinion lol), swim the river, tube the river, swing off rope swings....lots to do together, we love it!  I don't get outside much at home, so camping for me is wonderful!  I miss being able to walk around the neighbourhood at night (due to lots of dogs on the loose) like we do a lot in Australia, also riding bikes is hard due to the same reason!  Although we have now invested in bottle clips for our bikes, and have started carrying wasp/hornet spray!  Not only does it kill wasps (which we found out the hard way that our son is allergic to...) it can also blind dogs or attackers from 20 feet away apparently, so maybe we can get out and about more now.

More mail!

Lookee!!!  See what I got?  Ain't it purty?   Here's some diaper fabric (PUL)...

And some oh-so-cute flannel/flannelette material!!!  I purchased it from Stephanie at IttybittyFabric on etsy.  I absolutely L-O-V-E-D it when I saw it!  :)  Not sure what I'll make from it, but am leaning towards maybe a little nightie/pj pant set for Ellie maybe?  Any ideas?  It is just sooooo stinkin' cute!

I absolutely loved doing business with Stephanie, she was so sweet and a lot of fun.  AND she's a mom to 9 kids!  So check her fabric store out, and while you're at it she also sells cloth diapers here, and here which is actually how I "found" her.  :)  Her diapers are so cute, and her prices are awesome.  So if you need any cloth diapers, and don't want to sew your own, send her your business....she's great to work with :)  If you go to her Facebook page, you can check out her fabrics.  I never liked minky till I saw hers...LOL...one day....

Back to School Soon!

Although all the public schools started back today, ours is scheduled to start back next Monday...I am looking forward to it.  Last year was hard....REALLY hard.  I changed curriculum with one daughter, and hated it.  Had issues with children that kept recurring, and having to be dealt with.  Was pregnant with baby #5... But if I am totally honest...I was sloppy, very sloppy.  I didn't keep a close tab like I should have, and we all paid for it, with much frustration, and many problems.  So this year, the goal is to knuckle down and make it an awesome year!  Please remind me of this daily...LOL ;)

I have changed my daughter's curriculum BACK to where we were, and where I should have stayed, and not strayed from...ACE school of tomorrow.  I will be homeschooling FOUR children this year.  Pray for me...  "Squirt" who just turned 4 is going to be doing Preschool, Jekkie (7) will be in first grade, Jorge (8) will be be in 4th, and Iddy (10) will be in 5th.  Crazy, huh?  I am going to be using Horizons Preschool with Squirt.  We have never used it before, but don't like ACE's preschool, as it is just WAY too much colouring.  My kids like to colour...but.... :)  I like what I see so far, and if needs be we can just do a light day with him.  I think though that it will be easier to have him occupied and learning, than pulling out toys all over the place, and creating yet MORE housework!  ...like I already don't have enough of that!

Ellie will be working on her colours, shapes, and learning the alphabet.  JUST KIDDING!!!!  I think I'll wait till she's 7 months old, at least.  Besides, don't they have to be potty-trained to go to preschool?  But hey, with cloth diapers, she have that down by 10 months right?  ;)

And last but not least, my dear, darling, awesome husband has finally, FINALLY agreed to let us have his office for a schoolroom!   Can I please have a round of applause for him?  YAY!!!!  In return, he gets the china cabinet/bookshelf for all his stuff.  (and a few reserved spots in the office are still his)  I am really hoping to try and cut down on the mess/housework, by having it contained in a room out of the way.  We always ended up in the living/lounge room, as I'm a wimp, and like a comfy seat which is not provided at the table...so school stuff would end up from one end of the house to the other. 

Also...must try to STOP MULTI-TASKING!!!!  Although moms are famous for it, I am starting to feel that I multitask so much, yet nothing is really done WELL.  I want to try to focus on SCHOOL, when the kids are schooling, HOUSEWORK before and after school...and try to do ONE thing well, at a time.  If it doesn't work, we'll just revert back.  :)

How about y'all?

A fitted diaper...

...is one that doesn't have the water-proof layer, and has to be used with a PUL cover.  I wanted to just make a quickie to practice making them.  This one is serged/overlocked instead of turning/topstitching.   It was easy enough.  I just used a navy t-shirt, and an old t-dress of Jek's for the outside, and a washcloth/flannel for the soaker pad inside.  It's not the cutest ;), but it is very trim.  It would be a NB/SM size.

And I figured out she can also wear it inside out...LOL

 

New Goal...

I have decided that I would like to try and see if I can start and complete a new creative project every week...Want to join in?  It doesn't matter if it's sewing, art, cross-stitch, embroidery, or whatever...I just find that if I don't "just do it", I never "find" the time.  I'd like to try for around an hour a day.  It just feels good to create/sew/make something. :)  Speaking of, I've already made 2 diapers this week...so I'm in the clear!  I've also cut out the fabric for a pair of soft shoes for Elli!  They are just out of scrap fabric, just a trial run to see if they fit and if I like the pattern, before I use good stuff.  I also want to start teaching the girls embroidery stitches.  What project do you want to make?

And yet another...

Just finished this afternoon :)

She'll be on all fours soon :)

See what I got in the mail?

Lots of FOE!!!  I LOVE all the colours :)  So much fun to get packages in the mail!  FOE starts out flat, like the monkey one, but you have to wash/dry it before you use it as it will shrink.  Some of these doubled over when washed, but they are all 1 inch wide.  Some I will use on diapers, but I also will use it for clothing...like around the edge of hoodies, sleeves, baby necklines etc.

Oh, and here's the other diaper cover I made...only I made the mistake of washing it with some pre-folds which made the FOE get fuzzy.  The foe seems to have faded in the last wash too...hope my new stuff holds it's colours...they are so bright and cheerful!  This cover looks sooooo cute on Elli...my favourite out of the two. 

Diaper covers/wraps

Sorry it's been so long here's a quick peek at a couple of waterproof covers I made...these you just pop an insert in...you don't have to use a full-blown diaper...good for the diaper bag as you can re-use the cover if it didn't get "dirty".  Sorry, only have pictures of one, I'll have to post the rest after I take some :)  this is a Small, and Elli is now growing out of it already!  Not going to last her much longer  :)  This one has FOE around the legs.  (fold over elastic = FOE)