A new skirt for me! Yipee!

I rarely take time to make anything for myself. I usually sew for Emelie (because she always needs clothes) or the little girls (because I love sewing little girl clothes). But when I saw this fabric at the store, I had to have it for myself. I love it so much, I've also used it in my latest baby carrier creation.

I had intended to use it in a wrap skirt. Unfortunately, I hadn't read the pattern directions closely. One-way directional prints were not an option.

A friend at church had given me two boxes of old patterns and this vintage dress caught my eye. I knew I didn't want a dress, but loved the look of the skirt.

I modified the pattern, cut it out, and then it sat in the craft room for about two months. Last week I decided it had marinated long enough. I sewed the bulk of it in one night, put in the zipper and waistband the next night, and hemmed it Saturday morning before the picnic.

Voila! A new favorite!

Menu Plan Monday - August 31, 2009

What?! Did I just type August 31? I really don't understand how that is possible! To say this year has gone by in a blink is understating things.

And now we're heading into September. This week I'll celebrate my last birthday as a thirtysomething. Bryan and I will have our anniversary on the eighth anniversary of 9/11. The whole Stumpf crew will head down to Florida for the week (a first for all the children). Then we'll return to "Boy Birthday Week." My littlest baby will turn 1, Jacob - 6, and Caleb - 8. Whew! I guess September will probably fly by, too!

This weekend we enjoyed a picnic with Bryan's Rotary Club. Sunday, Bryan and Jamers' husband attended the Moto GP at the Indianapolis Speedway. Unfortunately, Jamers was sick and she and the girls couldn't come up to spend the day with us.

Tomorrow we begin our only full week of school until late September. AWANA starts this week. Why do I feel like I need a nap?

Here's what we will be enjoying this week:

Monday - Baked Potato Salad

Tuesday (Homeschool Mom's Meeting) - Bean Burritos, Homemade Tortillas, Corn

Wednesday (AWANA) - Chicken Patty Sandwiches, Popcorn

Thursday - Hashbrown Casserole, Peach Cobbler, Eggs

Friday - My Birthday so I won't be cooking!!!

Saturday - BBQ Pork Sandwiches

What's on your menu? Find more menus at orgjunkie.com.

Another shameless boast

Earlier this week we picked up the children's exhibits that made it to the Indiana State Fair. All 5 (3 for Emelie, 1 each for Meg and Teddy) earned blue ribbons. We are so proud of the children and all their hard work!

Our Six Flags Adventure

Now that we're back in the swing of school, I thought we'd look back on the day we spent at Six Flags Great America north of Chicago at the beginning of August. (To be perfectly honest, I'm just now pulling the photos of Emelie's camera.)

Through a reading program, we all had free tickets (which made the crowds, lines, and heat easier to bear). As always, the best part was spending the day with our favorite family of 11!

No photos of Emelie since she was usually off riding a roller coaster with one or both dads. And special commendation and thanks to Grandma Nan who stayed home with BOTH 11-month-old baby boys!

Overheard

While spending some time in the mall this past weekend, we wandered into the Disney Store. Brigitta was thoroughly enjoying looking at everything princess. There was a young mother there with her 4ish-year-old daughter, and the little girl was picking out a toy.

She was indecisive and mom was trying to hurry her up. After she made her selection, they walked in front of me and I heard the mother say to her daughter. "We need to hurry since we fibbed to Daddy about where we were going."

Now I'm pretty sure that the pink princess purse and makeup set was not a surprise birthday gift for Dad. I was stunned thinking of all the possible repercussions that lying to the husband/father could have.

1. Mom lies to Dad. That's what married people do.
2. Little girl knows about the lie. Since Mom said it, lying is OK, little girl will definitely lie to her parents as she gets older. Very handy as a teenager.
3. There's a difference in the severity of untruthfulness and so long as no one gets hurt (or finds out). It's OK to tell "white lies."

I hope I'm completely off base on what I heard and that there's a very good explanation for it. It just seems to be another glimpse of the deterioration of the line between right and wrong in society.

You shall not give false testimony...Exodus 20:16

The LORD detests lying lips, but he delights in men who are truthful. Proverbs 12:22

WFMW - Dirty Rag Game Part 2

As I alluded to a few weeks ago in my Dirty Rag Game Part 1 post, when the children grew older and greater in number, cleaning the floors became a competitive sport in our home.

Handing each child a cleaning rag and a spray bottle of water or diluted cleaner (depending on their age), I told them they had three minutes to get their white rag as disgusting as possible. I learned to tell them the boundaries of where they could wipe (Teddy figured out early on that the rag would get extremely disgusting by running along the track of the sliding glass door). Then I would stand back and watch them squirt and wipe their hearts out.

The best part would be when they would squeal with glee at finding a particularly disgusting glob on the floor (this is revealing way to much info about the state of my home!).

When the timer sounded, they would lay out their filthy rags for inspection. The winner would receive 5 M&Ms or marshmallows, while everyone else would get 3 for effort. If the floor needed more work, we'd set the timer again. Fun, laughter and a floor cleaned in minutes!

Sears Laundry Soap

As a frugal venture I have made my own laundry soap in the past. Not a success. Our clothes were dingy and gummy. Husband asked me to please stop. However, after Lisa's recent effort, I might be persuaded to make a go of it again.

In the meantime, we buy our soap from the local Sears store. The prices beat name brand soap (especially he soap for front loaders) by a long-shot. We by the super-stain-removing type (I wonder why?) and it does a great job. Since we have soft water, I only use 3/4 of the little cupful for each load.

It frequently goes on sale, too. I recently bought enough to do 240 loads for 12.99. That's $.05 per load, and it will last us about 4 months!