blogging

Time!

Where has it gone? I have been super busy with work and can't seem to balance life enough to find time to craft. When I have the moment in the evenings, I sit on the couch with a T.V. show and knit. It's somewhat mindless, more so that quilting is.

This little guy has been keeping me busy.

He turned six-months on Thursday. He has two teeth and is {painfully} working on his upper teeth. He can crawl across a room, slithering like a snake. His favorite place seems to be the bathroom. It may be the cool tile floor. But, our bathroom isn't entirely the cleanest place for him to crawl! Overall he's a great baby, but we really need to get him on a sleep schedule. Liam was a much better sleeper. This little guy, not so much.

Here's Liam:

who can ride a bike almost like a big kid. He is so grown up! He can balance on two wheels and we're just introducing him to pedaling. Soon, he'll be able to ride with Jordan and me and we'll be able to put Ollie in the baby seat! Anyone have any suggestions on how to get him to sleep before 9pm? Seriously, we put him down around 7 or 7:30, but he's up {destroying his room} until 9 or 9:30 pm.

On another note, my husband and I have begun a sort of side business. I know, like we have the time, right? But this is somewhat easy.

There's a web site called, Teachers Pay Teachers, where teachers create and sell things, mainly activities and curriculum. We've decided to make products out of some of the things I use in my classroom and "cutify" them to sell. We just started on Monday and have been able to put up three things this week, with plans for much more. Nothing has sold yet, but we're hopeful.

We've heard some great stories about how teachers have made some substantial money from the web site and look forward to seeing where this new journey will take us.

Social marketing is a bit component of it, and luckily, I already know how to do that through my quilting blog. I did start a teaching blog, and will be blogging there fairly regularly. It's called: What I have learned. I'm able to tell about what I do everyday, so there's a bit more content to tell about.

If you're a teacher or know someone who is, pass along the information about Teachers Pay Teachers. It's a wonderful resource and has transformed my teaching this year!

I’m back! Kinda

I know it’s been awhile since I frequented this here blog. Work (teaching) has been kicking my butt the past month. We’re starting to get into a predictable routine, which means less stress and a bit more free time. Of course, that free time is in snippets here and there and amounts to not much quilting time!

What prompted me to blog today was that I received a couple emails and comments from people who had downloaded / seen my Inverted Star Tutorial on Craftsy. I’d uploaded it to Craftsy in the Spring and since then, have seen an upward tick in my blog traffic, even when I’ve taken a month off from blogging!

The tutorial has been downloaded 5571 times. That just blows my mind away! There’s that many people out there that quilt, let alone like the tutorial enought to download it.

My husband said, “You should write more patterns.” My response was, “With what time?” I would love to craft more and write more patterns and just work with fabric much more than I do. But, as the main income source in our family, providing a roof over our heads has to come first.

That’s not to say I haven’t been doing a bit of crafting the past few weeks. I think I sewed two seams in the past month. But, hey, it’s something!

My goal is to start working on things again, slowly, as work calms down and we begin to get into a routine at home. We’ll see how it goes. I’ll try to get into a blogging routine, but no promises. Now, to go put the toddler to bed and hope the baby sleeps well tonight.

MIA for awhile

I've been MIA for awhile and probably will continue to be, as far as crafting is concerned.

Last week, I spent a most days in my classroom unpacking boxes, organizing, and planning for the coming year.

This week, we're on a family vacation in Tahoe.

Next week, we start school, with two teacher days and students coming on Wednesday.

Most of my free time has been spent taking care of little ones or planning for my classroom. I'm expecting that things won't settle down for about a month or so, until I get into a routine of home, work, play. The play part tends to come in last!

What blogging platform do you use?

And, why do you use it? I’m debating switching. Currently, I use Typepad, but I pay for the flexibility. Being able to design it simply is a perk and the photo tools are great. But, I’m starting to wonder whether it’s worth the cost.

I have a Blogger blog that I set up the same time I set up the Typepad one (and the iWeb blog that no longer exists!) back in 2006. I’ve redesigned the Blogger blog to look similar to the Typepad one and will be cross-posting a few posts to see how I like it. If it’s “good” enough for me, I may make the switch.

Which blogging platform do you use? What do you like about it? What drives you nuts about it?

For now, here’s a picture of cuteness to entice you to leave comments helping me decide what to do.

Which blogging platform do you use?

And, why do you use it? I'm debating switching. Currently, I use Typepad, but I pay for the flexibility. Being able to design it simply is a perk and the photo tools are great. But, I'm starting to wonder whether it's worth the cost.

I have a Blogger blog that I set up the same time I set up the Typepad one (and the iWeb blog that no longer exists!) back in 2006. I've redesigned the Blogger blog to look similar to the Typepad one and will be cross-posting a few posts to see how I like it. If it's "good" enough for me, I may make the switch.

Which blogging platform do you use? What do you like about it? What drives you nuts about it?

For now, here's a picture of cuteness to entice you to leave comments helping me decide what to do.

ETA: Click here for the Blogger blog.

In the past two weeks . . . .

I went back to work after two months of maternity leave.

The day I went back, I found out that I am switching grade levels next year, from Kindergarten to a 1/2 combo, two grades that I've never taught and at the same time.

My stress level skyrocketed.

I threw out my back packing boxes at school (it's a chronic condition, but untimely).

I "decided" to switch classrooms, in addition to switching grade levels.

I scratched my cornea and had to wear an eye-patch for a day.

Liam got the flu.

I got the flu and missed the last two days of school, including Kindergarten promotion with my students.

Jordan now has the flu.

I still have to finish packing my room (hopefully tomorrow)

Needless to say, I've been a bit absent on this here blog.

I'm starting to get my mind wrapped around school next year, so my stress about the grade levels is coming down, but it will require planning this summer. Much more than than I'd anticipated doing with two babes of my own at home. In the end, it may be a good thing . . . the students are farther away from Liam's age, so I may have a bit more energy for him than I do now when I get home from work.

It's going to take a couple more days for me to recover (from the flu) and also from the business of the past few weeks. I won't return to regular blogging until probably late next week. By then, the crafty juices should be flowing again!

What’s for dinner? – Recipe Blog Hop

We've been earnestly trying to plan meals in order to save money.

If I'm able to plan what we have for dinner, I can substantially cut our grocery bill and we don't end up eating out because we're too tired to make dinner. Plus, with a toddler, I'm starting to think it's easier to eat at home!

But I've run into a problem. I'm getting bored with our normal selection of meals. I have a list of dinner ideas that I draw from. Occasionally, I'll consult one of our cookbooks to get some new ideas – tried two this week. Sometimes they get added to the list, sometimes they don't.

The question is: What do you eat for dinner?

Is anyone interested in doing a Recipe Blog Hop?

Here's how it will work:

Once a week, one of you will feature a recipe on your blog, with photos and directions on how to cook it. I'll keep a list of all the participants here (which you can duplicate on your blog). Then, we can get a plethora of recipes to try out ourselves. (Don't you love the word plethora. It got way overused in high school as one of those SAT words you had to know. And, then, I don't even remember it being on the SAT!).

The rules (subject to change as people ask questions!):

The recipe must be a main meal (lunch or dinner). It doesn't have to include the sides, or you can feature a couple recipes to make a full meal.

The recipe must be family friendly (i.e.: no obscure ingredients that you can't find at a local grocery store). I'd say it has to be kid friendly, but kids are all picky eaters!

If you don't have a blog, you can still participate. You can email me the recipe with photos and I'll post it here during your week. We'll determine how many weeks the Recipe Blog Hop will be depending on how many people participate; the more people the more weeks!

So, are you interested?

If so, leave a comment. You don't have to include the recipe or week, yet.

Just for good measure, a button:

2011 Finished Projects

A list of projects completed this past year. It’s been a busy year. In some ways I feel like I did a lot, in others not so much. Having a toddler means I have to make find creative times to sew and knit.

Our Kitchen Remodel