Is It Naptime Yet

So Glinda/ Dena was kind enough to take pictures of the two costumes I made for myself, while I wasn’t out on stage,  except I made 15 of the Winkie skirts and hats. The boots were made by a stage mom and my friend Anna made the vests.  (I would put a link to what the costume I was trying to recreate, but apparently the design has changed and you’ll just have to like what you see.)

We have cast pictures tomorrow night so I should have time to take some of Lilah. I’m just so busy curling my hair, which takes an hour, that I don’t see her at all during the night. She’s cute though, so cute.

Or however you say finish in Spanish.

I am finished with the Winkie costumes! It’s a good thing because I said I would be bringing them tonight, but I knew I’d be finished by tonight, so that’s why I said it!

I am so happy to be done with the 15 costumes! I had some frustrations and things took longer than planned, but they are done.

My mother-in-law asked me if I would do it again and I said yes, not because I like the hours of sewing and the neglecting of my house, or the stress of making sure things met the director’s approval, but because I want the play to look nice and costumes are a part of that.

Not all the costumes are being made under one person. In fact one thing I’ve learned is costumes can come out very different if two people are making them. People just interpret things differently.

Now I can relax and put the final touches on my Ozian Costume to help it look nice on stage.

I now need to take a shower and feed my children lunch.

Remember to go to the website to buy tickets, or you can purchase them that night with cash or check. Also kids who will sit on a lap are free!

www.rsaf.net

Since most of my time is spent sewing, keeping my house from becoming condemned, refereeing my girls and at times taking naps because I have a headache, not much has else happened. We did visit a friend this week and saw her chickens, and I didn’t sew anything on Tuesday due to whatever I did that day which was more important than sewing.  I thought I might get the Winkie skirts done by or on Saturday but I was proven very, very wrong. I have five finished total, not including the red and white pattern that will get done later. Plus we’re getting pictures done Tuesday for a newspaper, so I’ve put the Winkie costumes aside, since they wouldn’t have been complete anyways, and have been working on my costume so I can be in the picture and look cute. I’m selfish what can I say. Working on my costume has been a nice break from the stress of the Winkie’s. I know what I’m doing for the Winkie costumes, but everything is taking longer than planned and that is stressful. What I thought I could do one way and take 10 minutes, I couldn’t, so I had to do another way and take 30. Plus the elastic is a pain to pull through with a safety pin, it has taken about three tries on each skirt,  so I’m gonna go buy a little tool to make it easier, or borrow Anna’s. It just stinks. I’ve put in 85 hours making costumes for the play, mind you that includes Lilah’s and one other lullaby girl’s costume, and does not include mine, though I should tally that in there, so I’ve spent 90 hours on costumes. Some of it I love, other parts I don’t.

On a plus note, I should be done by the 28th and will be able to enjoy the Shark Reef on the 29th. Even if I’m not done, I’ll be enjoying the Shark Reef with my girls on the 29th as a be-lated birthday present. I turn 26 next week and I’ll be sewing that day and going to play practice that night. So fun. Practice really is fun, it’s the sewing that’s not.

Also, I finally have a teaching partner, though the person won’t be sustained till next week, so you didn’t hear it from me.

Monday watched Matilda. Did housework watched Dancing with the Stars.

Tuesday ran some errands. Found fabric for the Winkie vest very cheap, thanks Anna. Had lunch with Anna. Ran more errands came home. Did some more dishes. Had practice for the play and watched Dancing with the Stars, the results.

Wednesday. Sewed panels for the Winkie costume and ignored children. Anna and I are recreating a costume from on-line, but it’s gonna be slightly different and a lot cheaper, but only because our time is free.  My mom’s sewing machine started going a little crazy on me after I wound a bobbin. I got very frustrated when something that should only take eight minutes took thirty-five. I figured out the problem and for the most part fixed it. It still sometimes goes wonky and it still kills me.

Thursday. Sewed a little. Ignored children. Went to Home on the Range so I could have some down time.  Bought milk and elastic. Sewed and let children watch PBS. Made my skirt to show director. I didn’t like it but she was OK with it. (I just think I made the panels a little too narrow but they still work.) Had practice and learned that I can’t march and move my arms in a specific way at the same time. I’m so uncoordinated.

Friday dropped children off at Sam’s. Sewed from 10:30 to 1:45 with a few breaks to play scramble on facebook and eat lunch. Ran out of thread for gray panels. Figured out that I needed 3 times the amount of thread than what I bought. (Panels use a lot of thread.) Sewed on black panels till 1:45. Went to JoAnn’s for thread, picked up children. Read to children then let them watch PBS. Sewed more panels and then made dinner and relaxed for the night, even though I should have sewn. (It’s just hard when you sew at the table and have to clean off your sewing area every time. It makes the 30 minutes of sewing not worth it.

Today I had practice. I need to prepare my lesson and then take a shower. Jon and I have a hot date to see the new X-Men movie.

Tomorrow I will sew. I know it’s Sunday but this is service so I think it counts as a worthy Sunday activity.  My goal is to finish the skirts by Saturday. We’ll see if it happens. There are also now 15 Winkie’s, not just 14.

I think the hardest thing is the panels. I’m devoting so much time but it feels like I’m getting nothing done since I don’t have any skirts to show for it, except mine, which was the sample skirt. I actually have made two sample skirts but the first one didn’t work out and thus I needed to re due some things and I just wasn’t able to start again till this week.

I think once the panels are sewn things will come together quickly. I hope anyways.

So life is busy. I’m mostly very overwhelmed with all the things I’m suppose to do, have committed to do, and want to do.

I do dishes every day, maybe I skipped one last week, but my sink has not been empty in over a week. There are always more to do.

I try to be a good mom by feeding my children, cuddling with them, and trying to get them to be nice to one another. Home schooling is on the back burner since I have so much I have to do, but I do a little each week. My friend Beth is still helping me and I feel guilty that sometimes the only school time they get is when they’re there. We do other things, but not many sit down things . I just have so much to do.

My teaching partner for Gospel Principles moved to Utah recently. I’ve taught five out of the last six lessons. She did have one lesson covered by the Elders since I had taught three in a row and we did have General Conference in there but it’s been a lot for me since I’m stressing about costumes. Hopefully someone will be called next week and I can have a week or two without worrying about teaching. The Bishop said he was extending the call to someone on Sunday and I hope they accept. I really wish it had been done sooner, but I’ll be happy once I have someone to share the responsibility with.

I’m working on the Winkie Costumes and my Ozian costume, when I get tired of the Winkie’s I do things on mine. My friend Anna said she’ll help me, but she’s in school till the 16th and so she’ll be helping me design the top and hat, but I’m on my own till then when it comes to the bulk of the sewing. It’s OK and I’m grateful for her help, but it’s daunting trying to design and sew costumes for 14 people. That’s the majority of my stress right now. We’re shopping for fabric tomorrow and hopefully some of my stress will go down once we have a plan for the top. It’s not knowing that’s stressing me.

I’m excited for the play. I’ve enjoyed learning the Jitterbug dance sequence and I think I’m finally getting it, at least in my no dance experience way. We’ll be conditioning so we can dance and sing and I’m needing to get into gear at home. I know some people exercise to relieve stress, I have never been one of those people. I’m more a ‘sit on the couch and watch pointless TV and avoid what you need to do’ kind of person. At least I do it late at night so my girls aren’t sitting around with me just watching TV.

I want to do post about us releasing the ladybugs. One problem is Google stopped doing videos and YouTube is still a little too public for me. I liked Google because they had a no search thing. I also need to edit pictures and write about Jon’s birthday.

I really want to write about the fun stuff but I don’t have a lot of time right now, except to write about how little time I have. 😉

I suppose it’s because the stuff I’m stressing over is on my mind, not the fun stuff.

For my Ozian Costume I’m thinking of using one of the following patterns. So you know what want to do, I want my skirt a bright Emerald green with a gold lace or trim a few inches up from the hem, basically like the first simplicity pattern. The corset I’m thinking of making a darker contrasting green or possibly gold if I find a fabric I like. The corset would have gold ties, gold contrast and I would put the same gold trim on my apron, if I make one, though I think I will need to. I want my skirt fabric to be a satin or something shiny. The apron and shirt would be in a creme or off white color and my corset might be shiny or it might be more of a cotton fabric. I’m not sure yet.

Which pattern do you like best and remember I’m a worker not a princess.

#1

#2

#3

I’m leaning towards #3, only because I like the corsets and it has an apron.  I could use the apron pattern from Hannah’s pioneer costume if I wanted to. But I want my sleeves to be shorter and it’s a Butterick pattern and I’m not sure when those will be on sale and the other two patterns go on sale next week for only $0.99.

This week I was a part-time parent. I had the girls Tuesday and Thursday and The other “parent” had them Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Yeah, I was sewing or doing something sewing related on my Monday, Wednesday, and Friday so Beth and her daughters watched the girls.

Tuesday I babysat for Kristi and did other things. Thursday I watched Britta in the morning for Sam and then after lunch we went over there to let the kids play and to sew and serge the pajama pants. Serging them was so much easier than french seaming and I know if I ever decide to sew for money I will invest in a serger.

Beth had the girls from 9:30 am till 2:30 or 3 pm when they were over there. They were very well behaved and let me tell you always excited to go over. I packed school stuff to do, though on Monday they were so engaged in playing with the Lincoln Logs and animal toys that Beth didn’t want to stop and do school stuff with them. Beth is a firm believer in letting kids play and do things for as long as they are engaged, as to help with attention spans. The longer they can do things without being directed the better.

Beth is one of the few people I people I trust with having my girls for long periods. Her and her daughters are so good to my girls and they really take an active part, especially Hannah who probably played more than she should have, and should have done more school work, since the girls were there during school time.

I finished all the sewing Friday, and sewed the buttons on at Beth’s house since I was lonely and not feeling well on Friday. I thought it was due to not getting enough sleep and not eating as much as I should have. Jon and I went to the movies that night while my parents watched the girls. I had a sore neck the whole time because of the position of the chair.

With having sore muscles I borrowed a heating pad from my mom and used it Friday night. It helped but I woke up Saturday morning with a low fever, headache, a hurting stomach, and I felt nauseous whenever I stood for too long.

Jon took good care of me and the girls all day since I’m a baby when sick and couldn‘t do much. I  just laid or slept on the couch the whole day, taking breaks to go to the bathroom and to take a short nap with Eden in our bed.

Today since I am feeling mostly myself, I still get a little lightheaded when I stand for too long and tummy aches after eating, Jon is studying all day and has sequestered himself in our room. I’m in charge of the girls and I’m hoping to resort to a day of movie watching only if they start fighting a lot since I really don’t want to deal with fighting today.

I’m just grateful I was able to get all the sewing done before I got sick. I think my body may have known that my stress would be going away and it was OK to get sick, though it wasn’t an ideal time for Jon since he’s in school and needs regular studying time.

Life will be back to normal and, at least for a long time, I don’t see  myself being a part-time parent. It was lonely being by myself on the days Beth was watching my girls. I had no one to show me the cute things they were doing or to watch me as I sewed.

I like being a full-time parent.

1. Well behaved girls. People don’t mind watching them for hours on end because they’re so wonderful.
2. Patience for sewing. I was 12 when I first attempted sewing, but it was just a pillow, than 16 the second time and I swore off machines at that point. I’m grateful I started up again at 21 and had a mom who taught me/ still teaches me when I have a question. I’ve created many things since and have enjoyed most of the outcomes.
3. Naps. Today was a yoga day. I take a nap nearly every yoga day and I am thankful I can. It’s also fun to cuddle with Eden since we take our naps together.
4. A warm home. It might be a little drafty but I’m glad that we control the temperature and afford to keep it warm or cool during the hot summer months.
5. An education. Jon starts school today. I’m thankful he’s pursuing his higher education even farther for his Masters and I’m thankful that I was able to finish my Bachelors and I can’t  believe it’s been two years.

My friend Beth’s daughter, Hannah, is going to be in the play Aladdin for her acting class. She needs her costumes sewn, and Beth asked me and I said yes.

I thought it was a shirt and some pants, but it’s a shirt, pants, sash, long gown, like a Shepard, with a cover coat, also like a Shepard, it’s literally from a nativity pattern. (I don’t blame Beth though because she didn’t know how much had to be sewn until we looked at the web page.)

Oh, since we were both so busy with the Holidays I have a week, maybe a week and a half to sew them. The play is on the 23rd, but of course they have dress rehearsal earlier that week.

Beth and her daughters be watching the girls for me when they can so they’re not totally neglected and so Lilah will still get some school in.

I’ll be cutting out the patterns tomorrow and the fabric on Monday. Hopefully I can start sewing something Tuesday and be done by Friday.

Most of the things are relatively easy, the shirt will be the most difficult part.

I don’t know what we’ll be eating over the next week, so maybe I should go to Smith’s and stock up on Pizza’s, or have Beth pay me in dinners, though she doesn’t cook much so she’d be buying them and that would total more than I’d want to have her pay me. She’s wanting to pay me, but I’m not really wanting her to pay me, except it is a lot, but she does a lot for us.

I think I’m crazy.

On an up note I did sew yesterday and finish some gifts for my friend Sam. I’m giving them to her tomorrow so I’ll post pictures after I know they’re in her hands. It felt really good to sew and create something, since I was kinda avoiding my machine for some unknown reason during the holiday.

I think I now know why I was avoiding it.

Lilah had a stuffy nose last week that began on Monday night. Eden wasn’t getting it so we thought it was allergies or because of the temperature change we first experienced on Monday. Then Friday Eden got Lilah’s stuffy nose, or as Eden would say snuffy nose. (It was too cute and I had the hardest time not repeating it since we try not to baby talk to our girls.)

Since the girls were sick on Saturday we stayed home instead of doing some holiday festivities, like making cookies and going to a holiday dinner, we’ll I went to the holiday dinner since Jon was a sweet heart and stayed home with our girls.  Sunday Jon stayed home with the girls for two reasons. Eden still had a stuffy nose and he too was feeling sick.  I got some herbs from Sam and we made tea for him that afternoon and myself since I started to feel a little swollen in my throat. So much for Lilah not being contagious. ( I apologize to anyone who was exposed to our germs, it’s just hard to tell if something is a viruses or just due to freak weather like snow storms on Las Vegas. )

Jon’s taken the next two weeks off so Monday  we all went to the planetarium at CSN with our internet home school group. Jon and I felt OK, and the girls were both over their congestion problems. Then we went to Target for the girls to get gifts for one another.  Then since Smith’s was on the way home we stopped and I ran in to get sausage and cinnamon rolls for our Christmas breakfast, then to JoAnn’s because I needed some tear away to do the buttons for the girls pajamas.  (When I expressed we should stop at Smith’s and JoAnn’s after Target he was like, is this going to turn into a long morning of errands? )

That’s my final Christmas project. I’m making the girls matching pajamas.  I have buttons and buttons holes to put on both the girls tops and Lilah’s pajama bottoms to do. I waited till late, but I should get them finished and wrapped tonight so they can open them Christmas Eve. Even though they know they’re getting these pajama’s, I’m making them at night after they’re in bed and I’m hoping Lilah is somewhat surprised, I know Eden will be since she’s littler, but I’ve talked about them in front of them and Lilah remembers everything I say.

Anyways, Jon and I are both having some throat problems, but whatever we had didn’t get too bad and we seem to be on the mend. I’m just hoping it gets better and we can enjoy our Christmas without any illnesses.

Just one day till Christmas, or two depending on how you count.

I’m so excited.