Sewing...and being Slovenly

OH, how I hate deadlines. I admit that they help me accomplish things, but I still really detest them. Thanks to a very exciting and fun Halloween Party coming up, Sofia and I are sewing like crazy, at the cost of all else, to finish a couple costumes in time - Annika'a and Sofia's.


It's a good thing my husband is such a tolerant person. He didn't even seem to notice that our bedroom looks like this...


Beth, these are my curtain ideas. What do you think?

What Blogging Looks Like At My House

Work = Money

That was the title at the top of the paper before I used it to blot a stamp on. Can you see why I need helpers? ...just a little bit busy and distracted.

Anyhow, work = money is a concept we've been trying to instill in our kids for years. However, instilling it is usually a lot of work (that doesn't pay very well...ok - it's just massive delayed gratification).

We tried paying them per chore that they completed during each pay period. There were spread sheets and weekly paydays that required exact change. It was complicated and nightmarish.

I love the new system (based very loosely on Cheaper by the Dozen). On the clipboard, I have a list of jobs that I'm willing to pay people for in October, along with the going rate.

Play with the baby while I sew or cook $2.00

Clean the upstairs bathroom $5.00

Wash and dry all of the downstairs baseboards $3.00

When the children sign up for a job, they've committed to completing it. After it's passed inspection, I initial it, and they are paid at the end of the month.

This list serves two purposes. First: it saves me from the constant "what can I do to earn money" question. Second: even if they don't do everything on the list, it helps me remember what I need to get done if the kids are feeling lazy and not particularly motivated by cash.

Proof: the bathroom my 8-year-old cleaned today.


Easy Cheesy - Mac and Peasy.

(...and no, we don't know what that means, but we say it all of the time anyhow.)

Finally

I know I got started late putting those children to bed, but STILL! You'd think two hours was plenty of time to fall asleep in.

I separated James and Jonny. Jon fell asleep almost instantly, but then James wouldn't stay in bed. At about 11:30, I gave up.

Me: James, do you want to go for a drive with Mommy?
BooBoo: Yea, yea, let's go to the car!
Me: Ok! Put your shoes on!

Me: James, do want a snack at McDonalds (so I can get my Diet Coke)?
BooBoo: French fries!

Me: James, should we go to the grocery store too?
BooBoo: Zzzzzz.

The best part - I got to eat his fries.

A Quilt Update

I think I'm at fiftyish 9-patches....but I'm considering doing 2 of these quilts - which means I need 140. The pink and green one is my new favorite.


I finally got my zig-zag sewn together. ...and just in time, because ten minutes later, James was doing this...


I decided to do it at a diagonal (thanks to the brilliance of my niece, Autumn), but Jonny informed me that it's not a zig-zag anymore. He says those are obviously stairs. Now it's my Jonny Staircase Quilt.



Meanwhile, my Alpha quilt is still sitting in a hamper, waiting for additional quilting, mending, and blind-stitching.

A Healthy Cup of Poison Death

This is Jonny's "Cup of Poison Death". Anything you put in it becomes deadly poison - that Jonny is immune to.

James keeps trying to steal it, so I think we'll have to make another trip to the dollar store.

The Opposite of Glamour Shots

Ok. These are definitely NOT glamorous, since I took them of myself, in the eyeliner I wore to bed last night.

Now you know how truly slovenly I am, but - hey - that's just another testment to it's staying power, right?