And at the end of a Perfect Day

Bliss.

Get up. Drink the required 3 cups of coffee to be 'happy' mommy.

Take kiddo to preschool, where she excitedly chirps 'Byyyeee Buddy!!!' at her brother. Pull away being SO grateful for my easy going, cherub. Look at the cherub in the back seat eagerly sucking down his second milk of the day.

Ahhhh...

Go across the street to the thrift store to hunt down some needed items for crafting. Successfully find lots of little jean jumpers to add ruffles to.

Onto the next store, can't find what I'm looking for but WOW! Yellow cork wedge heels from American Eagle for $4. They are mine!!! Along with two pairs of winter jammies for Trent at $1 a piece and a $3 Aurora costume for Nora. I'll convince her later that Aurora is all the rage for Halloween this year.

Back in the car, up to the landscaper's shop I got. Good, he's not here this makes for a faster drop off. Slip those through the mail slot and high tail it south.

Cherub is now starting to grow devilish horns in the back seat due to being in car for way longer than mommy said.

Stop by Goodwill....still looking for hat stands to use as display pieces at the craft fair. No luck.....errrrr.

Pick up kiddo from preschool. Lunch. Movie for the oldest, naptime for the youngest. This equals me sitting my butt in a sewing chair and becoming a schnitzel monster on the floor of the sewing room.

Kiddo wakes up...outside time! Somewhere in there laundry got started and caramel corn was made.

Sitting on the back patio with my laptop and WHOA!!!!! Rich is home at 5pm! Today is just getting better and better.

Over dinner we discuss the weird rotten funk smell that permeated the house earlier in the day....and is still lingering despite excessive candle usage. Family dinner over, I chase Trent into Rich's office.

OMG! Nooooooooo!

But yes, my oldest did. She brought her 10 lb pumpkin into the house to 'show' daddy this weekend.

The problem, it didn't get put back outside.

There it sat on Rich's hardwood desk. Exploded. Oozing. Putrid smell emitting. Dripping into the carpet. Sludge across the desk absorbing into paperwork.

Sighhhhh. And Rich was complaining about the diaper he just had to change. I'll trade ya hon!

Get the largest mixing bowl. Get the largest spatula. Get the biggest gulp of fresh air I can. Scoop! RUN......to the back door.

At least this will be good compost for the garden.

Eeeeeeee, Bracing for a Sew-A-Thon

Holy moly...can't believe I did this!

First off, thanks for all the support from my online and IRL friends! I think you all gave me the courage to put my neck out there. Face one more fear.

I hate rejection and this craft fair stuff has you set up from the beginning. Here in the south, all the fairs are juried. As Rich likes to describe it, a bunch of sorority sisters sit around and decide if you are 'cool' enough to join the show.

Considering most of them happen at churches, that whole idea of judgement seems a little back asswards. But whatever.

Submit the application and wait. I thought the selection date had already passed so it hit me out of now where today when I got the acceptance email.

Guess I'll be seeing a lot more of my sewing machine in the next 16 days.

And then standing in front of my booth, crossing my fingers that people like my designs. It's all a popularity contest that makes me uncomfortable. But I have to do this, gotta have some guts in life.

Rah Rah Ruffles

The girly girl in this tomboy has found an outlet. So I've started making Rah Rah Ruffle pants and skirts for my Etsy shop. The ruffles on the pants are meant to coordinate with your teams colors, easily match it with a school t-shirt.

Here are the ones I have so far! If you happen upon this post in the wide searching web, email me if you want something custom.

Nora's Georgia Tech(Black and Gold) Rah Rah pants


Nora modeling Virginia Tech Rah Rah's (look it's a picture of my kiddo!)


My niece, Callie's Red Raider Texas Tech Rah Rah's - The cuteness of 12 mth size just kills me!


The original prototype - University of Georgia Rah Rahs


The original prototype of a Rah Rah Ruffles Skirt - Red and White

Trent's Happenings

The little dude is on the go! Mommy is definitely getting re-educated in the ways of boys versus girls.

He likes to climb, if it has an edge he is there.

He runs so fast that when he falls down, his arms catch his body but the noggin still hits the concrete. It is a horrific noise. (shudder) This maneuver has resulted in constant scabs on his forehead. Even cuter, he will go 'talk' to the spot after he recovers from the fall. I'm sure the concrete takes his finger pointing and jabbering to heart.

Screaming. Save me now. Boys like to scream all. the. time. His sister is a great cohort for this game.

Throwing things. All balls, blocks, or sand must be thrown multiple times with shrieking.(see above)

Cars are awesome! If they make noise, it's even better.

The attention span is limited....maybe 5 minutes per toy. AND if you don't show us another one we will walk around aimlessly and obliviously to the overflowing buckets.

Cuddles. Cuddles are our favorite thing. Every morning he must have 10 minutes of cuddles before playing starts. I can't complain about this one.

Anything with an electrical current will be investigated. The gadgets are HIS, do not argue.

He's obsessed with shoes. He knows when shoes are put on we are going ''Byyyyyyye!''

I'd love to post more, but Trent just walked out of the bathroom with the toilet brush for the 10 time this morning!

Randomness from Nora

***There is no indigo in the rainbows, because the angels ate it.

***''mommy don't worry you be ok, you only stay up late'' - Nora's response to me having to finish a birthday party present after a hard day

***''I had a dream that ants where coming out of Aiden's eyes and then he turned into a monkey''....describing the scary dream she had that had her in our bed at 6am.

***''When I get big. I will have a big voice, not a little voice.''

***''Mommy tears were falling when they made me nap. I was sad you were not there.'' Telling me that she cried during naptime at drop-in daycare. Successfully crushed mommy's heart!

Hairbands!

This one all started because Nora received one as a gift over a year ago. LOVE them!

"http://www.etsy.com/listing/81717604/yellow-poppy-hair-band-with-clip?ref=pr_shop"

"http://www.etsy.com/listing/81718002/red-chrysanthemum-headband-with-clip?ref=pr_shop"

Skirts on Etsy!!!

LOVING this! Here's just a sampling of all the little skirts I've made and placed in my Etsy Shop.....http://www.etsy.com/people/TheSnuggledStitch?ref=si_pr






Oh....coming soon! Harry Potter Hooded Sorting Hat Towels! (The drawings are on my work table now.)

Desperate Housewife Confessional

Guilty! So darn guilty of cutting corners!

My list of offenses is long.

Give kiddos afternoon snack of pretzels and cheez-Its on area rug...YES, ON the rug. Trent is sure to dump the bowl out anyway. I just give it a quick vacuum later.

Run the dishwasher half full because washing sippy cups by hand is not happening.

I use a toilet bowl brush to clean my tile grout, because it's faster. This brush is ONLY used in the shower.

Vacuum off the top of the stove and kitchen table with an attachment. Don't judge! The vacuum was there and I thought, what the heck!

Piled all the shoes into a laundry basket to make the downstairs seem more organized.

Did the same thing with stacks of bills, now have a whole tupperware bin of 4 mths of paperwork....at least it's no longer scattered.

Handed the 4 yr old a rag and the Pledge...have fun honey!

Sofa Shopping

We hate shopping.

Both of us.

Which makes the idea of sofa shopping, together and ON a holiday weekend almost unbearable.

It was just time to pull the trigger on this and put a swift death to the Salvation Army couch in the den. I've owned it for 10 yrs and at $300 it was my first independent, large furniture purchase. You might be asking why a Salvation Army couch was $300....because it is/was an Ethan Allen couch! No longer in perfect condition thanks to Phebs using the corners as a scratching post. Reason #4 or #5 the cat had to go.

Back to the post....

So the pain began. In a store, walk around, walk around. Out of store. Next store....thankfully, they are all in a row or across the street from one another over on Barrett Parkway. It kept us from getting into the car and saying 'I quit.' So easy to do after being verbally molested by a dozen salesmen in every store. They were almost leaping from behind furniture screaming '''Ooo oooo pick me, pick me!'' like Donkey.

There were a few guidelines we set for our adventure into Furnitureland.

No one wants to ride 'b****' on a sofa. There will be three cushions or the couch is immediately eliminated.

Oversize furniture is out, we are not giants and neither are the people we know.

Loose back cushions are out. Kids only throw them off the sofa and play trampoline on them, thus wearing them out LONG before they should be.

Deep sofas are a no. I'm not a midget but I'm pretty sure my femur is not 3' long.

Lastly, there will be no tufting that looks like a nipple on the arm, back or seat of the couch.

The good news is, we found a couch and two chairs that meet this crazy criteria.

AND

we got an exercise in marital communication and negotiation at the same time. Thankful to report both parties survived emotionally and physically unscathed until the next challenge.

My First Garage Sale

Embarrassing to admit, but I've never garage saled. LOVE the thrift stores and consignment places, fear someone's driveway. So, as I hosted my first EVER garage sale yesterday I contemplated the why of this.

One, the idea of driving around endlessly looking for an item, not my idea of fun. Odds that the three thrift stores within a mile of each other having what I want is almost 100% chance. The cost of gas these days is just not worth the adventure.

Two, haggling. My none confrontational personality did NOT like negotiating with people over price. I priced everything fairly, no more or even less than thrift store prices.

Three, lying. I REALLY don't think you just came to this country if you drive up in your Cadillac and speak perfect English. If you want everything for $5, just tell me.

But, despite the things I don't like...there were some great moment too.

Trent was my helper most of the morning. He acted as garage sale greeter and entertainment. Toddling out to the end of the driveway to say 'hi' to anyone who pulled up. Then, following them around babbling like a little salesman. It was awesome.

Rich went off to play tennis and took Nora with him. They returned an hour later with Andrew. The two amigos played in the sprinkler or slip and slide for the next three hours.

And for all this effort we did make over $200, much more than the pessimistic husband expected. HA!

Now for us to enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Rapunzel Towel!

Color me CREATIVE! Loving it! And so is Nora.



You can find these in my Etsy Shoppe. Here: http://www.etsy.com/people/TheSnuggledStitch?ref=si_pr

I will make them to order. The colors may vary a little depending on the towels available.

All in a Name

This is just irony for ya. Schneider -The Schneider surname was generally adopted by one who made outer garments; a tailor. From the the German verb schneiden, meaning "to cut." And in my maiden names meaning, I have found my happiness. The sewing room calls to me during naptime. Ideas reel through my mind laying awake at night. The crazy irony just makes me laugh, who would have thought!