Googly Eyes = Awesome

I know that I'm a handmade mama & will jump right up on my soapbox & sing the praises of handmade at any given moment...but I just never feel it when it comes to valentines. And guess what, I don't feel guilty about it. The Princess & The Frog store bought valentines that Sadie excitedly picked out make her super happy. Also, it makes me happy that I don't have to put a lot of time & thought into making 30 handmade somethings that may not be appreciated much by the 5 & 6 year old crowd. Anyway, that's my excuse.

Well, while at Target, I asked Sadie if she'd like candy bracelets, suckers or heart shaped notebooks with googly eyes to give to her classmates along with her cards. I thought for sure she'd choose the candy bracelets, but as she stood there thinking over her decision, I could hear myself repeating in my mind "super cute googly eyed heart shaped notebooks please!". And then, what do you know!? She opted for the notebooks. She understands the awesomeness of googly eyes, I guess. And as corny as it sounds, at that moment, I felt like such a proud mama.

Sadie is an awesome girl.

Introvert...That'd Be Me!

Yes. I'm an introvert. This isn't news to me. I've been aware of this for quite some time. Recently I've become very tuned into the characteristics of introverts & the way that I behave when I don't get what I need as an introverted person.

The reason for my self examination as of late, is that I've come to see that my 2 year old daughter Claire is also an introvert. I can see that she is already being misunderstood because of her tendencies & as her mother (understanding completely what it feels like) I feel very protective of her & I want to make sure that I care for her properly in a world that will tell her there's something wrong with her.

Introverts are not shy. They simply process everything internally. Studies have shown that their brains actually operate differently than extroverts. Extroverts think things out by talking. Introverts gain energy from being alone. Extroverts gain energy from being with people. I enjoy social get togethers, but I can only take so much. After a certain amount of time, I'm done. It drains me & in order to get my energy back, I need some time alone. When we've scheduled too much time with friends & family and I haven't allowed for down time, I get super grouchy. When I haven't had time to recharge, I don't really want to be touched & I don't want my kids climbing all over me. Sometimes I feel like a mean, horrible person, but I can't help it. I need just a little bit of time to myself & I feel much more sane, much more energized & I'm ready to love & care for my family again.

I'm learning that being aware & attending to this aspect of my personality is really important. I don't have to be at every party or social outing. Even with family members, I don't have to go on every shopping trip or every vacation. Sometimes they just make me feel crazy & it has nothing to do with the company.

Likewise, I'm learning to understand extroverts better as well. They're not repeating themselves a million times just to annoy me. They're actually thinking out loud.

With Claire, I notice that some get upset that she doesn't want to give hugs or whenever an adult talks to her she withdraws a bit & hides behind my leg or climbs on my lap & puts her face in my shoulder. I feel strongly about not forcing her to do anything she doesn't want to. I'm sure that in the right situation & when pressure isn't placed on her, she'd more than happily engage in this type of socializing.

I remember reading about introvert & extrovert children in the book Raising Your Spirited Child, which I really need to own. Why do I not own that book? I think that scheduling either social time or alone time for your child on a daily basis is just as important as getting them fed & to bed on time. Also, I found these online articles interesting. Anyway, I love my family & I love my job as a mother & I want to do all I can to make sure our lives run smoothly & every person & personality trait is being cared for.

This post feels like it's all over the place. But I've been thinking so very much about this lately & I want to share & connect with any of you out there that go through the same things. I find that sewing really helps me to stay balanced in my life. I always thought that it was the creative process or working with my hands that was therapeutic. Perhaps it's the time that it allows me to be alone with my thoughts. Maybe it's a bit of both.

Any thoughts on this subject?

2010 Calendar Sale

I just marked down all 2010 calendars in the shop. Desk Calendars are only $6.00 & Printables are $3.00. A steal if you still need a little calendar somewhere around your office or home. :)

Pyrex Pretties

I have decided to start keeping the lovely pyrex dishes that I find while thrift shopping for myself. I had been listing them for sale in my etsy shop. I would get so excited to find them & then I'd let them go. Every time I'd think about how much I'd love to have an awesome vintage pyrex collection of my own. Well, the time is now. My collection is in the works.

I think about this one all the time. (See it there in the top left corner?) I was so close to keeping that one. The color! Oh my. In the end I let it go, but honestly I regret that decision. I was so happy to see a photo of it pop up in the Sparkle Power Pals flickr group. I can rest easy knowing that it has landed in a lovely spot. Doesn't it fit perfectly there?

February Focus: Exercise & Water

So it's February & I have some new goals to focus on. I will continue to eat very little meat like I did in January & hopefully that will continue on for a very long time. I hope to add some new goals each month, building on what I've previously been working on & hopefully I'll be a more awesome person in the end.

Because really, I just want to be awesome.

Well, this month I am going to exercise. Every week day. Weekends I can take off if I choose. I started yesterday with the 30 Day Shred & plan to workout to that dvd all month long. I got that dvd for free through swagbucks, which I posted about here. We've gotten a lot more free stuff through swagbucks....a computer mouse, this book & this book that I just ordered & a whole bunch of xbox stuff for Dylan. It's awesome. Sign up for Swagbucks here. Start searching , then get your friends to sign up under you & watch your points grow fast & cash them in for some awesome stuff.

Anyway....here's to sweaty mornings & a stronger body. Want to join in with me?

Also, I need to up my water intake. I'm really bad at drinking water. So, I'm going to pay more attention to that as well.

Happy February!

Going Meatless - Pizza

So we made our own pizza a lot this month. One time we even had friends over & we all put our own toppings on our own section of the pizza & it was fun & delicious. I have been using the pizza dough from fresh & easy & their refrigerated pizza sauce as well. We think that both are quite tasty. We love to add lots of toppings to our pizza. Green peppers, mushrooms, olives, pineapple, tomato slices & red onions.

The first time that we made the pizza minus pepperoni, Dylan wasn't all that in love with it. He missed the spiciness of the pepperoni. Next go around we added a little red onion & that seemed to make up for it. Pizza is definitely a favorite around here.

Here is a previously posted recipe for pizza dough.

So we made it through January without consuming much meat I think that I ate my first little bit of meat two weeks into the month & I didn't purchase any meat when shopping. We are happy with this arrangement. Meat no more than once or twice a week & even then only in very small amounts. We have found some recipes that we really like & will continue to search for more that our family loves. I think that we've found a setup that works really well for our family & we are all happy about it.

I will continue to share great recipes that we find & hope that you'll continue to share yours with me as well. I love finding them in my inbox, so keep 'em coming!

February brings a new month & new goals in addition to the ones I've been previously working on. I'll share more info on those soon.

Picnic Time?

I know that many of you are stuck in the dead of winter. I can't help thinking about spring. It will be here pretty soon. I hope the photos of this quilt bring you some bright, warm cheery thoughts. Added to the shop today. :)

Going Meatless - Hamburgers & Hot Dogs

We tried Smart Dogs this week. We were drawn to these because they are only 45 calories per dog & 0 grams of fat! We were super excited to hopefully find a healthy replacement for our favorite Hebrew National hot dogs, which are 140 calories & 14 grams of fat per dog.

Unfortunately we weren't thrilled with these. They were super soft, so there was no bite to them. We boiled them as suggested on the package. Perhaps a different cooking method would have helped? Are there any other really good vegetarian hot dogs out there that we should know about?

Either way, we didn't have to take a handful of tums after eating them & that continues to be one of my favorite things about the vegetarian diet. No indigestion!

We were not prepared for dinner one night & Dylan was craving a burger. We heard that Fatburger has veggieburgers on their menu. When we got there we found out that they were just boca burgers. But they were delicious & at only 70 calories & 0 grams of fat per burger, there's no reason to feel guilty about eating them! We're having them again tomorrow night. This time at home. We find the trick to a yummy, yummy boca burger is to load up the toppings.

More

More garlands. This sweet vintage scalloped one may be my favorite that I've ever made. If I had a baby in a crib right now, this would be hanging over it right at this very moment. I think it's perfect for a nursery.

By the way, I've been thinking about my next nursery. I think I want to paint the crib yellow. Awesome.

I could also see this garland in a sewing room or a kitchen/dining room. I just love it. I have 2 of them available in the shop.

Sending Me Back

I was folding the laundry this morning when the song that Dylan & I danced to at our wedding came on. Made me think of the early days of us. Feels like forever ago. Thought of where we are now. And who the heck knows where we're going or where we'll be 10 more years down the road when I'm once again folding the laundry & a song from our early days comes on.

I call that a good start to the week.

Oh yeah. This garland is also in the shop now. :)

Quilty Bits On The Wall

Currently making things & then taping them to the wall to see how well I like them.

Hope you are having a fun weekend as well! :)