June's Date Day

Our continuing monthly date night adventures.

A little over a year ago, I had been trying to figure out what to give Tim for our seventh wedding anniversary. At the time, Tim was looking into purchasing a handgun and all of the necessary equipment (i.e. gun safe because we have curious children and an anxious wife) and training classes. I thought that he would love to have an afternoon of shooting at the local shooting range. However, I was pregnant with Isaac at the time and after talking with the shooting range manager and my obstetrician, I changed my mind and decided to put off the shooting range date until I was not pregnant with Isaac.

 Rabbit trail alert... Did you know that the sound waves from a gun shot could damage a baby's development? Neither did I until I researched it. 

Back to the date...I kept this idea in mind as I planned out the dates for the year and added it to the June date night.

As the date got closer, Tim and I were talking about it and decided that neither of us really wanted to spend about $100 at the shooting range (gun rentals plus bullet and target purchases really add up!). So, we decided to drop the boys off at their grandparents and spent the day working on some projects that we've been putting off. Be still my beating heart! Finishing projects without children interrupting us! How romantic!  I worked on finishing the second Real Hope quilt and making some bibs for my grandparents. 

Tim worked on setting up his Raspberry Pi to make some sort of *mumble mumble* insert computer speak *mumble mumble* way over my head description of what he is doing *mumble mumble*.

Even though I have no clue exactly what he is doing, I am thrilled to have a husband who deals with all of our techie problems.

Although we didn't do our planned date, we did spend time together shooting down our projects on our to do lists. (Eh, eh? How do you like that joke, Dear!)

Crafting Corner

A few months ago, my sister handed me a box of fleece material that she had on hand and asked if I would be willing to sew up some twin size blankets for the students of the Real Hope Center.  

What's the Real Hope Center you ask? I'm glad you asked.  Real Hope is a ministry that my sister and brother in law started in southern India.  They hike out to remote villages and provide some basic hygiene products and talk to the villagers about the love of Jesus. They saw a need for schooling for the children of the villages, but had no way to get the kids down the mountains to the school. Monsoon rains would wipe out the roads and herds of elephants would pose a threat to anyone who ventured too closely. Remember the scene in Dumbo where Mrs. Jumbo became enraged over some kids mocking Dumbo? Apparently, elephants rampage when humans get too close (although they don't use their trunks to spank bottoms). Who would've guessed that the sweet elephants at the zoo could be so vicious. 

Anyway, my sister and her husband purchased land and built a center where the villagers could send their children to live while they go to school. Until Real Hope gets enough donations to get real beds, the kids sleep on mats on the floors. These blankets are to warm them and make their beds a bit softer.

The material that my sister gave me had been sitting in my closet as I crafted Christmas gifts for my family, gave birth to Isaac, recovered from surgery, and through the first 4 months of Isaac's life.  Needless to say, it's time to get it out of my closet and back to my sister before they leave for India this June.  

I organized the fabric into color coordinating sections and started cutting and laying out the blanket.  Then Tim stepped in and made the blanket pattern so much better than my attempt.

It was then time to sew all of the squares together. Before I could I do that, my sewing machine broke. I don't mean a jumbled mass of thread break. I mean a 3 week stint in the repair shop break.  There wasn't enough time for me to finish the blanket before I went down to my parents house for a visit, so I brought it with me to work on down there.  Unfortunately, I became extremely ill and couldn't finish it. My aunt, however, finished the top of the quilt for me before she became ill with what I had.  Now, I am waiting for my mom to bring the quilt back up here so I can finish the back of the quilt. At some point, this blanket will get done!  Fortunately, for the kids in India, there was a huge donation of blankets that will get sent over for their use.

Tim picked up my sewing machine this week and I am itching to get back to sewing.

Crafting Closet Update

Originally, I had planned to make some elaborate blogposts about the different crafts that I have completed on my to do list.  Then I remembered that I had small children and just completing these projects was an achievement and there is no harm in a massive blogpost.

February's crafts to do were diaper boxes turned storage boxes, an infinity nursing scarf, and mending Tim's baby hat for Isaac to wear.

I made two storage boxes (one to hold scarves and winter items in the hall close and one to hold Elijah's pull-ups so he can easily get them himself). 

I really enjoyed making the infinity nursing scarf, but unfortunately it's not big enough to use for a nursing cover for my son.  Isaac is a squirmy eater which doesn't bode well for a modest feeding session during a mixed group Bible study.

 

Isaac's hat from his Daddy needed just a bit of mending to make it fit correctly on him.

March's crafts to do list wasn't that big, but I didn't get to work on it until last week.
For Christmas, my sister in law bought me some frames and miniature clothes pins so I could make a gallery to hang my sons' drawings.  Now, I don't have random drawings taped to the wall anymore!

I decided to add to my list some toy hammocks that I saw on Pinterest.

Finally this last Friday, I melted down all of my broken and wickless candles and made some emergency candles for when the power goes off.  I realized towards the end of the candle making experience that I really don't enjoy making candles.  I would rather scrub toilets then make more candles. So, from now on, I'll just leave the candle making to the experts and buy my candles.

My crafting closet is now a little bit more organized.
Next month's craft: Real Hope Blankets

My Crafting Corner

When we moved into our apartment, I had grand schemes of a beautifully organized craft storage area. My fabric would be stored in such a way that I would know at a glance what I had. My glue gun would be placed just so next to the bag of glue sticks. My scrapbook materials would be in easy reach (and my boys' baby scrapbooks would be up to date).  That didn't happen at all! The craft shelves became a catch all with random craft supplies that are on my to do list.  So, to help me organize my closet, I've decided to actually finish my crafts this year!  I'm putting this list up as a motivational/accountability factor.

Craft To Do List

February - Make Storage Boxes, Mend Tim's baby hat, Make Infinity Nursing Scarf
March - Make Emergency candles out of the old wax I have. Put up picture frames for the boys artwork.
April - Real Hope Blankets
May - Picnic quilt
June - Up date / Start Baby scrapbooks
July - Work on my quilt for Elijah
August - Make a braided Rug

Extras -
Learn to Crochet,
Fix my Yellow baby quilt,
Make a quilt for Evie out of the fabric she gave me for this project