: D

So, where have I been and what have I been doing? Well, actually not much more than laying around only doing what I absolutely must! LOL You see, I am expecting a new little one and he or she has been making me quite nauseous and tired! I have been dying to share my good news, but I was waiting until my first u/s to make sure everything looked good. This is quite an accomplishment for me because I am usually the one shouting it from the rooftops the minute that positive test turns pink LOL I am still announcing my pregnancy a lot earlier than most women do, but I just can't keep it in anymore! My little bean looked perfect on the u/s yesterday with a strong and steady heartbeat. I am due September 14 or sometime after that (I have never
delivered before my due date). The children are beyond excited as are Chad and I. Yes, this was planned, we have actually been trying for about a year. So far, I can't sew or knit, it makes me nauseous. I have been trying for a couple of weeks to finish the handsewing on the binding of my quilt, but can only do a little bit at a time. I can't lie, I really don't enjoy the beginning of pregnancy, feeling sick 24 hours a day is no fun, especially with other children and a house to take care of. But, I know it will get better around 11 or 12 weeks and then I will love being pregnant : )

Tine interviews me

Sorry guys, I have been horrible with my blogging and everything really. I have a really good excuse, I promise! I can't share that excuse just yet ; ) A few weeks ago, Tine was interviewed on her blog, and I thought it was so interesting that I asked her to interview me : ) She sent me the questions over a week ago, sorry for just getting to them, Tine : )

1: You have a 7 kids....did you grow up in a large family?

Actually, no, I only have one brother that is 4 1/2 years younger than me. I really don't know why I wanted such a large family. When I was a teenager I didn't even want kids, how crazy is that? Funny thing, my brother has 5 children. Maybe having a small family makes people want bigger families LOL

2: I know your children love the beautiful clothes you sew. They pick out patterns and fabrics, how did you teach them to do that?

I really didn't teach them, they do watch me and all 3 girls love fashion, probably more than me. I guess it is just something innately in them. We love to watch Project Runway together, and my oldest, Sydney, seems to really have a talent for clothing design.

3: You have so many responsibilities...what would be a typical day's routine?

Hmmm, LOL I will give you a typical weekday routine including homeschooling.
I wake up around 6:30 with my dh and we drink coffee and watch the beginning of Good Morning America, I love our mornings together. He goes to work and I get on the computer and eat breakfast. After my breakfast, I wake the kids up and take my shower while the kids eat. Then we all do chores together and start school. Each child takes a turn with me to go over that days lessons and so I can explain anything they don't understand. Of course, there are lots of interruptions from Samuel and Ava during this time. I really wish this would go more smoothly than it does, but such is life with 7 kids! LOL Nothing ever really goes smoothly. We eat lunch around 12:30 and the kids are supposed to be finished with their schoolwork by 2pm. That isn't always the case : / After this, every day is different. All 3 girls are in ballet, and Savannah takes a sewing class on Thursdays. Austin plays golf and works at the golf course, and no I havn't let him get his driver's license yet lol Wednesday is my only day that I don't have to run someone somewhere. Dh is home by 3:00 a couple of days a week, but the other days he works with his brother in his plumbing business. We usually cook dinner together on the days he is home by 3. The other days we have leftovers. I really don't have much of a routine for the evenings, it just isn't possible with the kids extracurricular activities. I am usually in bed by 10:30 or 11. If I do get to sew on any particular day, it usually happens in the afternoons or in the evenings before bed.

4: Do you have an all-time favourite movie or book? If so which one?

Well, everyone on here knows how much I love the Twilight Series! LOL I would say my favorite all time movie would be Legends of the Fall. It is such a tragic and sad movie, but I still watch it over and over again. I adore Brad Pitt : ) That is a beautiful man, inside and out! I also love Steel Magnolia's and can't even count how many times I have watched it. It was filmed in Natchitoches, Louisiana, which is only a couple of hours away from where I live. Just a great story, of course it is a sad one too. I tend to like sad movies, what does that say about me?

5: What makes you happy?

My family makes me happy, of course. I also enjoy my time alone with my husband. Sewing and creating is right up there, as well. It really relaxes me and makes me feel like I have accomplished something. I love to look at beautiful things in nature and art. Seeing anything beautiful immediately lifts my spirits.

Great questions, Tine! I hope I adequately answered them : ) Just wanted to add what a lovely person Tine is. She makes beautiful quilts and other lovely things as well : ) Most of all, her genuine kindness shows through in her blog. I really really wish you didn't live so far away in Denmark, Tine. You are someone I would just love to meet in real life : )

Want to be part of it? Follow these instructions:

1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

A little knitting.....

While I was having my sewing funk, I did get a little bit of knitting done. I had this 100 Pure Wool that was supposed to be a diaper cover, but I don't cloth diaper anymore, so I figured I would make a scarf. I picked the Brioche stitch. An easy repeatable stitch, but a little more interesting than plain knitting. It was an enjoyable project and the scarf is nice and warm.



I enjoyed knitting my scarf so much, I decided to knit another one. We have a brand new yarn store here in Lafayette called the Vermillion Yarn Company (I am pretty sure that is the name lol). Dh and I had a lunch date Friday and afterwards we went check out the new yarn shop. It has a male owner and he has beautiful yarn. The other yarn store here in town sold more of the novelty yarns (not my taste), so I usually bought online. I am so excited that I can see my yarn before I buy it now! He has mostly natural fibers, which is what I prefer. I bought some beautiful dark gray Merino wool by Debbie Bliss. It was 30% off too : )

I know these pictures aren't great, I had a heck of a time getting a good shot, even outside in beautiful light. If you click on the picture you can see it better.


Here is the Brioche stitch pattern if anyone is interested : )

Cast on an even number of stitches

Foundation row *Yo, sl 1 wyib, k1; repeat from * to end
Row 1 *Yo, sl1 wyib, k2tog (sl st and yo of previous row); repeat
from * to end.
Repeat row 1.

I just kept repeating this until my scarf was long enough. VERY easy!

I won something and new shelves

I can't believe I am just now posting this, I woke up in the middle of the night last night and remembered I hadn't thanked Jana of Lola.....Again for the lovely gift I won. This is my first ever blog giveaway to win! Isn't this bag adorable?! Isabella thought it was so adorable, she stole it from me and is using it as her ballet bag! She claims until I make her one, she gets to keep this one LOL Jana is hilarious, if you haven't checked out her blog yet, I recommend you do now. Thank you Jana : D

I am finally sewing again! I have been in a creative funk since before Christmas. Friday night, I finally felt like cutting out the fabric for my Mom's new quilt. This is even though I havn't finished my quilt yet lol I am using several fabrics from the Ava Rose line by Tanya Whelan. I bought all of my fabric from Jona at Fabritopia. She carries the whole line. While I think these fabrics are beautiful, they are not something I would normally choose for myself. So, I am really enjoying working with new prints and colors, it is always fun to change things up. My Mom picked this fabric line herself, she loved it! I still need to buy 3 or 4 coordinating solids from my local quilt shop and then I can start assembling the quilt top.


I also got my quilt out and am trying to finish up the quilting. I am *almost* done! Can you say slooooowpoooooke! LOL Some of you ladies have started and finished 3 quilts since I started this one! Do you see that kitty looking out the window? The little turd almost threw up on my quilt last night! Thank God I had thrown a pair of shorts on top of it that needed mending before going to bed last night. The shorts caught all the puke! I never leave things out like that usually, now I know why.


I also spent yesterday cleaning up my sewing space. My mom gave me two shelves that she had replaced, so I moved a lot of the junk that was on top of my cutting table to the shelving. What an improvement! I can use my cutting table now, and everything looks much neater on the shelves. I should have taken a before picture of the cutting table, so you could fully appreciate what a mess it was.



Now, I just need to refold all of my fabric and stack it neatly. I have kinda just been throwing things up there, as you can see lol

Last week

Well, I think I am back. I really want to get back on track with the blog, but things have been busy. We just got back from a week in Houston where we had a fantastic time with great friends. These friends are really more like family. We didn't do anything really special. Just hung out and cooked and ate and cleaned, stayed up late and then woke up the next morning to do it all again lol The kids had a blast. Most times there were at least 16 kids in or around the house. My 7, 5 of Melinda's 7, Austin's girlfriend and her brother and sister and the little boy from across the street LOL The older ones spent most of their time playing airsoft gun wars. I know, that sounds kind of violent, but they really had a great time and it kept them outside and getting exercise. The little ones pretty much stayed on the trampoline. They even played with Playdoh while on the trampoline. I think the Meyers will have Playdoh stuck in their grass well into the summer. We had a big get together with 3 other families for New Years Eve. Our friend Thomas made a fabulous Creole Gumbo, plus pototo salad, guacomole, and lots of dessert. There was a bon fire and fireworks and everyone stayed up WAY too late. Melinda, John and the kids even dissected a bobcat! Poor thing was hit by the gates before you enter their neighborhood. They froze it and saved it for when we came lol I couldn't stomach it, but it was a great biology lesson for the kids. I will spare y'all the pictures ; ) We even celebrated Ava's 3rd birthday while we were there. I cannot believe my baby is already 3!

I took LOTS of pictures, here are a few.

Samuel, Ava and Abby jumping on the trampoline.

Austin and Alexa shooting at each other LOL




Chad and I making the potato salad for the Gumbo New Year's Eve. Of course, Chad is making a funny face lol

Charlee, Ava and Sam with the neighbor's cat hanging out by the fire ring.

Abby, Samuel, Charlee and Ava posing for me on the trampoline.

Singing Happy Birthday to Ava

Melinda, John, Chad and me before going on a date to the movies. We saw The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Great movie, even though it made me cry. I couldn't STOP crying, even after the movie was over lol I don't usually get that emotional, but that movie was really moving. Oh, and Brad Pitt was gorgeous, of course ; )

Chad and John decided to build a deck over John's pond. Here they are working hard lol The deck came out great. John stocked the pond a year ago, so the men and kids have a great time fishing.

Austin and his first girlfriend, Amanda. Amanda is best friends with John and Melinda's daughter, Alexa. They have known each other for years, but something clicked the last time we were in Houston. You can see by the look on Austin's face how smitten he is LOL Oh my, they grow up SO FAST!

Sorry I bombarded y'all with a weeks worth of posts in one, but I wanted to catch up LOL