Quilting

One of my favorite things to do is sit in front of my sewing machine and do applique quilts. I started this little hobby about 2 years ago and have really enjoyed finding new things to quilt. Here are some pictures of things I have finished. The picture on the left is a calender I made. The right is not applique but pieced fish bowls. Too bad you can't see all the cute fish fabric. Right now I am working on an ABC quilt for... no reason really. I have some other great things ready to start soon. I get to make my friend a really great quilt for her cabin. All the blocks are very "woodsy" and fun. I am really looking forward to that one. I did find myself with two sleeping children the other day, sat in front of the machine and tuned the radio to classical! I remember going to the basement to see my mom and her being totally engrossed in her sewing listening to classical music. I am turning into her...and that isn't a bad thing!!

Good Reminder

So, I just checked out some of my friends blogs...boy am I the loser mom. Jenn does "school" with her two kids a couple times a week...we're just lucky to drive past a school. Janna has her almost 3 year old, or she is 3, singing better than Eliza...obviously a lot of work and time went into teaching those songs! I'm totally impressed. I guess I need to set some goals and do them with my girls.
Here is the problem, right now my whole day is consumed by whether or not I can make it to the gym. As some of you know I am running in the SLC half marathon, with my friends Jenn and Kena and with my brother Bryce. I'm hoping just to finish the race at this point. The girls were both sick last week and yesterday was my first day back. That treadmill was HARD! I didn't make it my 4 miles. Hopefully I can do the four tomorrow! I really don't have too much on my plate right now but trying to juggle nap times and keeping them healthy is hard. Thanks for the reminder girls! I'll do something fun with the girls today!

Dirty Dishcloths

There are many out there, I have come to know, who have the same problem of having STINKY dishcloths. I really have tried everything. My sisters and sister-in-laws have had quite the discussions about these icky things. It seems no matter what we have tried the smell returns after one day of use. We tried using different soaps, running them through HOT water then ringing them out, running them through COLD water then ringing them out... I have found the best thing is to wash all my kitchen things separately in LOTS of bleach, no fabric softner or drier sheets and hope for the best. I usually switch out my rags daily anyway, but when I forget I have a new and improved solution:

This little hummer was a whopping $4.99 at Target and worth every penny after the first use. It is used to get rid of the onion and garlic smell on your hands so I decided to try it after about passing out from the stench of a wet dishcloth. I LOVE IT!!!!

On a totally unrelated note...here is Eliza and eating...well NOT eating her lunch today!

Oh, Eliza

I try to make sure my girls are presentable at least once a day. This is not always the case, but the hope. Today they were especially cute in these little outfits that my friend Darlene gave them. However, somewhere between dinner and the time we left the house Eliza turned into this...

She looks like one of those books that has three panels and you are supposed to make a coordinating picture out of and someone couldn't figure this one out! We took her shopping anyway. I just enjoy the fact that she can find and put on her own pants and shoes!

Baking

Do you know what this little machine is? Yup, its my way cute BOSCH. Don't you love the color? So, I went against all Hill tradition and decided this was a better machine than my Kitchen Aid. This little baby can pump out 6 loaves of whole wheat bread at one time. This cuts my baking time in half every month. Now I only have to make bread once a month! I love it. I also use it for many other things simply because I love to bake. This machine makes my happy just looking at it.

Let me tell you about the loss of my Kitchen Aid. I was given my Kitchen Aid around my 20th birthday, so that would make it a good 10 years old. I didn't really start using it until I was out on my own and married 5 years ago. This last Christmas I was busy gearing up for the holidays. I had the whole month planned out. I was making 5 different kinds of fudge - FULL batches. I also was making Christmas cookies, which are essentially really delicious sugar cookies. I decided to make some bread first and get it out of the way. As that bread spun around the motor slowed....slowed...slowed....then stopped. Poor little thing. I was desperate though. I had the butter on the table ready to make some cookies. So I put in the softened butter with sugar in hopes that it was just the volume of bread it couldn't handle. Nope, not so. It couldn't even handle the soft butter. So I had to put it out of its misery and put it in my garage. My dad has now taken it home and perhaps he can fix it. Just one more thing for him to work on. It has been replaced with this little red hot number that will be used and used and used! Bring on the cooking!!!!

Gift Giving

The other day Scott came home with this bag and an apologetic look. He came in and told me he had been wanting one of "these" for a long time and finally decided it was time to get one. Well, hip hip hurray, we now own a shower radio. I started to wonder for how long he has wanted one of these great things. I really could have used a little help at Christmas time! Here is the problem, and the reason why girls are easier to shop for than boys. Near Christmas our conversations go something like this..."what do you want for Christmas?" Me: "I could really use some shoes, kitchen stuff, always something from JoAnns...a pedicure...blah blah blah...." Take your pick I just gave 10 great ideas! "What do you want for Christmas?" Male: "Huh, is that coming up?" Truly that is the end of the conversation. On top of it there is daily conversation. "What did you do today?" Me: "I wanted to make some rolls but was missing this cool gadget, so decided to scapbook instead but was missing the right color paper and stencils, so I decided to sew but am missing the right color thread and I think I need a new cutting mat...." Each day men are given tons of gift ideas. They just have to sift through them a couple times a year and pull out their favorite.

So the real problem lies with the female to not only come up with an idea of something her husband may want (really who would have guessed a shower radio?) and then to drag "X" number of kids to and from stores to search for just the right gift. Needless to say the Valentine gift was not much of a gift. I'm still trying to recover from shopping with the kids during the holidays!

My Underwear are on FIRE!

I saw a quote a long time ago that went something like this..."I stopped exercising because it was bad for my health, my legs rubbed together so much my underwear caught on fire" I almost had that experience this last weenend, and sadly still feeling the effects today. For those of you who may not know I am running a half marathon in about 2 months with 2 friends and my brother. This requires me running quite a bit. I am usually at the gym doing this while the girls have some sort of supervision but on Saturdays I am excited to run outside! Since it is usually quite warm here and I can run in shorts, but for a few monts I use my favorite pair of pants. These running pants have been great! I've had them since college, used them on my mission and now here. Running pants do wear thin though and mine had definitely seen better days. After my run on Saturday I had to bid farewell to my favorite pants. Since I really only wear running pants a few months I'm not willing to reinvest the money into something nice thankfully I am left with a pair speedo pants to cover my sorrow. I think my legs will feel much better but the public may complain!

Wal-Mart - the great Equilizer

Some days are better than others but there is always one place you can go and feel good about yourself...Wal-Mart. My friend pointed out in a blog that no matter how you feel there will always be someone at Wal-Mart who is heavier, poorer or more tired than you are. I felt the effects of this last week when driving home from the gym Eliza told me she didn't want to go home. There we were in the car, me dripping sweat, in my shorts, face bright red trying to come up with some diversion for her. Hmm, I needed to go to Deseret Book - no I didn't have the right clothes on. Post Office - I'd be a little too cold from the sweat standing in line. Drop in on a friend? Little too stinky for that. Ah-hah! Wal-Mart! I could go to Wal-Mart and fit right in. No need to feel ashamed there!
I have another friend who years ago pointed out her annoyance by having to show her receipt at the door of Costco and Sams. I've never really thought about it...10 items, not bagged, give it a quick count and I am on my way. Sure its annoying, but whatever. Today however, I was stopped by a lady who barely spoke English at the door of WAL-MART!!! Hello! There are 18 bags, two kids and a purse and you want me to pull my receipt out so you can draw on it? Yup, that is all she did. I'm sure it made her feel important but I was deeply disturbed. Upon leaving Wal-Mart I felt better before getting to my car. There was an older gentleman walking into the store with his comb-over standing straight up in the wind. It made me smile inside and life is in order again. Thanks Wal-Mart!

Cats vs. Dogs

In my opinion most people can be divided into two categories...likes dogs or likes cats. For most of my childhood I had a great cat. I loved that furball. I thought she was quite an easy pet to have around. She did her duty outside, would sleep most of the day and wait by the refigerator when she was hungry. I'm sure more actually went into her well being than I know...thanks to mom. Scott...he grew up with a dog. A big dog. In our house there is no room for a dog but a cat would fit nicely. We compromised and got a dog that is smaller than a cat. Maggie is our little dog. She is quite a good dog, just stupid. I always think of Garfield shoving Odie off the couch and saying, "down dumb dog" every time I shove her off my lap. Anyway, she is great because she doesn't shed or bark. This morning around 5:30 I heard a weird noise. I was a little confused and worried that Jenna was having a problem. Then I heard it again. Not Jenna... that would be a "meow". Not one of those friendly, come and pet me meows, one of those low gurgling rumbles that only means trouble. I jumped out of bed and looked over the railing to see a tabby cat sitting on my stiars. In my meanest of whispers, trying to keep the girls asleep, I went chasing after the stupid animal. I got half way down the stairs as it ran out the doggie door. Guess where my dog was! Sitting on my lazy boy watching the whole thing like it was a show being put on just for her. Dumb dog. Seeing as how she doesn't bark and the cat was bigger than her I can't blame her but still...a totally useless animal! We still love Maggie though... I have actually become a dog liker.