independent

When I was in the throes of my sinus infection, I would sometimes get strange dizzy/nausea/funny-feeling-in-my-nose spells and have to sit or lie down. At one of these times, Kevin decided to take matters into his own hands and make his own dinner. I was about to object, but then I realized that the worst that could happen would be that he got a little mustard on the floor, so I let Kevin make his favorite kind of sandwich--ketchup, mustard, and "manatees" (mayonnaise)--all by himself. He did a fine job, too.

birthday dress

I have been in a rut when it comes to sewing lately. I have a lot of fabric that my grandma sent home with me last summer when we visited, but I've been having a hard time getting started on anything. I have grand plans for what I want the clothes to look like when I sew them, but I'm scared to death that when I'm done they won't look as good as I imagined, which would be pretty depressing after spending all that time sewing. My other problem is that I bought some patterns a long time ago, and now the measurements are too small for the skirts I wanted to make for myself. Finally it occurred to me that I should just do some of the things I wanted to make for Heidi, because pretty much everything looks cute on her. So Heidi got a sweet new jumper.

Sorry the pictures don't have a glamorous background, but she was holding still, so I took the opportunity.

The pattern I used was Butterick B4718. It is a great pattern. There were a couple of parts of the instructions that weren't clear, but I was able to figure them out. I put a lot of effort into making this a good quality garment, and the work paid off. Often when I just follow a tutorial online I end up with something that looks pretty good, but I still feel dissatisfied because I know about the hidden flaws. I don't feel that way about this dress. I did all the extra steps that aren't necessary but make the garment look more polished, like the understitching, and it made a difference. I was so proud of myself for figuring out how to sew the zipper in. I remember having to have a lot of help from my grandma sewing zippers in when I was in 4-H, so I was nervous, but in the end the zipper looked really nice. Rather than cutting on the size lines, I folded the pattern at the size I was using so that I can unfold it and use it again for more dresses as Heidi gets older.

I did make one alteration. The skirt wasn't lined in the pattern, but I wanted it to be lined so that I won't necessarily have to worry about a slip, so I added a lining. After I had sewed in the zipper, I sewed the skirt lining in at the seam where the skirt and bodice were stitched together, stopping about an inch away from the zipper on both sides. Then I hand-stitched the skirt lining to the zipper on the inside. An added bonus that I hadn't thought about is that Heidi won't have the itchy end of the zipper poking her.

The one thing I'm a little sad about is that the bodice is a little bit too wide. I'm not surprised because Heidi's measurements were about an inch smaller than the smallest pattern size, so I expected it to be a little big. I might add a couple of little pleats in the front to make it fit better, but I do think it looks fine as it is.

This is the first time I've made anything with a purchased pattern since high school. Most of my sewing projects have been based on tutorials I find online because they're free (whereas patterns can be expensive), but I think I'm going to use patterns more often. As I was making this dress, I found that it was much more enjoyable to make it because everything fit together so well.

Want to know the total cost? The fabric was free, the zipper was $1.19 after my 40% off coupon, and the pattern was $1 (watch for pattern sales!). I don't remember what I paid for the thread, but it's probably negligible. So the total cost for me was about $2.20.

bread day/a very honest post/a teaching moment

Today was bread day. The kids always like to help me with the whole process of making bread, but normally it drives me nuts because it's always such a mess. I was pretty patient for a while and allowed Kevin to help put wheat in the Nutrimill and didn't get upset when Heidi kept dipping her finger in everything from the yeast mixture to the freshly ground flour and eating it. But at some point I just got sick of it and sent them to get Daddy to play duplos with them.

It seems like bread rises so fast when you mix it in a Bosch. I think it took around fifteen minutes for the dough to spill over the sides and start taking over the kitchen. I punched it down and decided to stick it in the fridge so we could go to the park instead of having to stay home babysitting bread.

When we got home, I opened the fridge and found that the dough had spilled over again and was taking over the fridge and drying out. It was no big deal because I just stuffed it all in again and had it mix for a while. It didn't take long before it was all smooth and moist again.

Kevin and Heidi really like touching bread dough and eating it (yuck!). I was tired from being at the park, and I was pretty annoyed when they tried to help with shaping the loaves. I don't really care what the bread looks like, but things got crazy and I was grumpy and didn't like having them in my personal space. I told them to just go play because I didn't want their help. But then I thought about the talk by Elder Perry (see last post) and realized this was actually a pretty good job for them and well within their abilities. So I said I had changed my mind and they could help me make loaves. They both got a loaf-sized ball and got to squish it and knead it while I made the other four loaves. I didn't even yell at Kevin when his dough fell on the floor. (I may or may not have baked that loaf anyway . . . ) Then I took Heidi's hands and helped her shape her dough into a loaf and put it in the pan while Kevin squished his dough into his bread pan. Kevin helped me cover the bread with towels to rise.

I was very glad that I stepped back and realized this was a good teaching moment instead of giving in to my instinctive response, which was to harshly tell them to go away. The spirit in the room completely changed. The kids were thrilled to get to help, and it was fun for all of us. I want to have a home where there is an expectation that everyone helps, so if we are going to have that, I have to start now with letting them help when they can, and also remember that they will not always do the job as well as I would like it at first since it takes practice.

L. Tom Perry: The Joy of Honest Labor

"Teaching children the joy of honest labor is one of the greatest of all gifts you can bestow upon them. I am convinced that one of the reasons for the breakup of so many couples today is the failure of parents to teach and train sons in their responsibility to provide and care for their families and to enjoy the challenge this responsibility brings. Many of us also have fallen short in instilling within our daughters the desire of bringing beauty and order into their homes through homemaking.

"Oh, how essential it is that children be taught early in life the joy that comes from starting and fashioning a job that is the workmanship of their own hands."

"I wonder what kind of signals we are sending to our children when we purchase homes that are status symbols. We waste space and resources when we buy a larger home than is needed, a larger home than is practical for us to afford. We encumber ourselves with mortgages so large that they require the income of both husband and wife to make payments. Then we build consumer debt to the point of absorbing completely all of our disposable income, leaving no margin of safety for the rainy days that come into everyone’s life. Do not such signals from heads of households only feed the philosophy of “I want it now” in the lives of our children? . . .

"As I remember events in my life, I do not believe there was any degree of difference in the happiness that I enjoyed when my two brothers and I shared a single bedroom than when we had a home large enough that each of us enjoyed a bedroom. Let us teach our children the art of conservation and the elimination of waste."

"Let us also teach our children to see that the work assigned is carried to its completion, to take pride in what they accomplish. There is a real satisfaction that comes from finishing a task, especially when it is the best work we know how to do."

"Should not all children receive such a blessing early in their lives?"

Elder L. Tom Perry: The Joy of Honest Labor, October 1986 LDS General Conference (emphasis mine)

This talk reminded me of a very interesting post I recently read on the blog Mormon Midrashim. http://mormonmidrashim.blogspot.com/2013/05/my-hobby.html

A portion of Elder Perry's talk was quoted in an article in the Ensign this month (the first paragraph I copied into this post). I read it and immediately thought, "Oh, boy, the feminists are going to be upset about that one." But I actually really liked it, especially the part about "instilling within our daughters the desire of bringing beauty and order into their homes through homemaking." I think sometimes these days the world gives us a perception that hard work is degrading, but I really like this different perspective you get from Elder Perry and Mormon Midrashim. Hard work is good for us, and it's important. It is not degrading; in fact, it increases our dignity. Putting forth effort to take care of your home has a big impact on the rest of your family, especially if everyone participates.

Reading Elder Perry's talk also helped me to realize that I am not doing my children a favor by procrastinating teaching them to work. I know there are things Kevin can do to help around the house (for example, he is actually quite good at vacuuming and mopping the floors, and enjoys those jobs too), but I tend to not let him help me because it makes more work for me. We are working on getting the kids to clean up their toys themselves more even though that actually is a lot harder than just doing it ourselves. This was a good reminder of how important it is to expect them to work.

lost and found, a.k.a. the worst experience I have ever had

My heart is full of gratitude to my Heavenly Father and to my friends Jamie and Emily for supporting and blessing me yesterday. While we were at the park Kevin disappeared and was lost for a very long time. The park is surrounded by woods, and we looked everywhere. I was sure he had drowned in the pond. Recently a man in NC died in a waterfall accident, and a family member's Facebook status said that he was "safe in the arms of our loving Heavenly Father." Now I felt sick at the thought of writing that about my own child. Emily insisted we would find him and wouldn't let me think of that possibility. Jamie offered to call the police, and I agreed it was time. When she told them it had been around 20 minutes since he disappeared I felt shocked that it had been so long and almost lost hope. (I later talked to her on the phone and she said she had been estimating pretty high because she wanted them to take her seriously and come right away, since in the past when she had to call them about foster children who ran away they would sometimes just tell her to call back in a few minutes.) We kept searching (Jamie stayed and watched all of our kids), and I was walking down a path sobbing, praying aloud, begging Kevin to come out or yell. I came back a little after the police arrived. Just as I had finished describing him to the police, Jamie said, "Oh, my goodness, there he is!" and Kevin came out of the woods from the path we had followed to get to the park from the car. He said he had been fixing the tire on the car. I couldn't believe it. I am so thankful that he came back and was safe. I kept thinking I didn't know how we could live without him.

When we went back to the car I found the left turn signal, the windshield wipers, and the lights on, and the seat was definitely adjusted, and the tire pressure gauge was sitting on the passenger seat, so he probably was playing in the van and at some point was "fixing" the tires. Emily had looked in the parking lot, so I'm guessing she couldn't see him because he was playing in the van. I know I locked the car, but I do remember thinking that I should check to make sure the sliding door on the other side had closed and dismissing the thought, so I'm guessing that's how he got in. But maybe it's a good thing he could get in so that he was safe in the van instead of wandering farther away. Emily invited us over to have lunch, which we did. I was so blessed to have my friends there to support me and be calm when I was falling apart. I can't describe to you how helpful they were for me. I am still working on getting over all the emotions. I prayed so many times for him to be returned to me, and I am grateful that Heavenly Father guided him back. Life would be so empty without Kevin. We are going to have to figure out a way to drill into this kid's head that he has to stay where he can see me.

sick and tired of being sick and tired

I have been sick about 65% of the time since my last final was over. I got a terrible sore throat during my second week of freedom, then I had a week that was better except that I had a really itchy throat from seasonal allergies, and now I have been sick with a runny nose, headaches, and some dizziness for a week and a half. I finally decided I had a sinus infection and went to my doctor today. (I was avoiding going because I didn't want to have them just say, "Yep, you have a cold.") His nurse practitioner agreed, and now I'm starting antibiotics (and wondering if it was really necessary for the pills to be such a bright blue and a bright purple). I am ready to feel like a normal human being again. After finishing my finals, I was looking forward to keeping the house a little cleaner, reading some books, and maybe sewing some skirts for summer, and instead I've had to do a lot of resting and napping to get over being sick. Overall, the kids have been pretty good about napping lately, so that's been helpful. The kids are mostly recovered from having coughs, but Ryan is sick now too. Hopefully soon we will all be better. It's been hard to be home sick so much when we've been having such wonderful weather lately. We'd rather be at the park or swimming or just going for walks.

spider in the window

We have been watching this little spider in our window with fascination for a few weeks. She made these two egg sacs, and now one has opened (the little puffs). Click Read more to see a picture (because I'm nice and thought some people might not appreciate a giant picture of a spider).