Random

Saturday Morning

Do any of you have kids that wake up early? When do they start sleeping in? Mine routinely wake up around 6am.

It's Saturday!

Sleep in.

I'm going through my blog feeds and finding cool stuff to use in my classroom. The two-year-old is on the couch watching cartoons in the iPad. We don't have a T.V., so our iPad takes it's place. The baby is crawling around the kitchen probably eating stuff we've dropped on the floor.

But, me, I'm sitting enjoying a cup of coffee and actually looking at quilting blogs again. All 996 that are in my feed. Yeah for a couple minutes! We'll see how long it lasts.

Totally random post. I know. But, that's life right now.

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!

Summer’s almost over!

I feel like summer is over already. I know it's only the end of July, but in my mind I'm already having to let go of the "carelessness" of summer.

My schedule is packed over the next few weeks before I start work again, and it's packed with a lot of "work stuff."

I'm presenting three days next week and need to prep this weekend for the presentations. Two days are new and I haven't presented them before. One day I've done so many times I could do it blindfolded.

The following week, I have to get into my classroom, unpack boxes, and set it up because the week before school starts, we're in Tahoe for a week of family vacation. The family vacation will be nice, but I know I won't be able to fully relax because I'll be thinking about school/work and all that I still need to get done.

Ugh . . . life's getting stressful again. With littles at home, I never feel like I do a good job when I'm working. And, when I'm working, I feel like I can't do a good job at home. I can't give 100% to both work and home. I'd love to be able to stay home, but it's not an option right now.

However, I do have a pretty good job that allows me to be a part of my children's lives. I just wish my personality would let me let go of work and relax. But no, I need things to be organized and in place in order to relax. It's all about order. I can stand some chaos, but not too much!

Just as a side note . . . it's really hard to get clear pictures of two boys who don't stop moving! Well, the baby is easy. He doesn't move that much yet.

I know it’s been awhile

It's been awhile since I've blogged and I miss it. Somehow the fall is always so busy that time just gets away from me. I could fill the page with excuses, but what it really comes down to is time and energy, two things I don't seem to have these days for various reasons.

The next couple weeks should settle down for us a bit and I'm hoping to do some more crafting and get back into blogging again.

Some random updates:

:: I threw my back out on Friday. It happens 3-4 times a year and lays me up for 3-7 days at a time. Because I can't take ibuprofen right now, it's taking a bit longer to heal. I'd so planned to work on projects this long weekend, but now the weekend seems wasted.

:: We found out that the baby is another boy! This is good in that we already have almost everything we need and I feel way less pressure to get and make new things than I would if we were having a girl. I am planning on making him a new knitted and quilted blanket all his own.

And, just because I can't post without a picture, here's one of Liam finger painting. Although we've finger painted with him in the past, this is the first time he's really gotten the idea of it. Well, except for the fact that you shouldn't touch your face with your hands when they have paint all over them. We'll work on that one!

I've been so bad at blogging this summer. I thought I'd be better at it since I'd have more time, less stress, less work. Quite the opposite in fact. The business of work has slowed down, but business of home has sped up.

Chasing after a toddler who climbs in my lap any time I'm on my laptop, outings to keep him even busier, time with family, good meals. It seems that instead of just letting go of work things, I've acutally taken over things at home that I don't normally do during the school year. It's a nice change, but still difficult to balance with my desire to spend time doing my things.

As for crafting . . . there's a little bit here and there, but nowhere near the amoung that I'd planned for and anticipated. I'd had grand hopes to finish our bedroom quilt-as-you-go quilt, to finish the backs of several other quilts, to make a couple tops for myself, to make some shorts for Liam as well as some toy bags for him, along with other home improvement projects. It's all still possible, but the projects are in piles and seem less and less important. Although that new quilt for our bed is gaining in necessity as the days are warm and our duvet is falling apart!

For now, though, I work on bee blocks. You know, because those have a deadline and other people depending on me to finish them. As for Liam. He has enough shorts, right?

Sew Modern Quilt Bee – July

https://www.quiltknitshare.com/101/

Vacation!

Finally. Summer vacation. Is here.

Time to quilt, sew, knit. Do projects around the house (like finish our kitchen remodel!).

The above photo is squares for our bedroom quilt that I've been working on for the past year or so. I aim to finish it this summer, along with a few other things.

I'm looking forward to not really going anywhere. Last summer, with my mom's illness, we were back and forth to San Diego (about a 500 mile drive) six or seven times last summer. This summer, the only planned trip is to Tahoe with family. I love staying home, sometimes.

Time to go make some lists of all the things I want to do this summer. Let's see how much gets done!