I know it’s easier on my eyes – just like he is …. now how cute is that, it even does emoticons!

Not to mention it’s my favorite shade of blue in the title bar! He’s so awesome! {{{{SLO}}}}

What do ya’ll think – Do you like the new design?

I’ve recategorized and tried to clean things up a bit so ya’ll can find what your looking for. If something’s missing – let me know.

The doctor was stunned!!! Uncle Brian, cried and told him he had golden hands! The Doctor just shook his head, held out his hands – and humbly said “NO – These are flesh and bones. What I saw was miraculous. If I hadn’t been the one to open her up and see that cancer the first time – I never would have believed it had even ever been there!” Aunt Charl even cried when she woke up and heard the news! And that is after two doctors from John Hopkin’s told Uncle Brian – Fill her morphine prescriptions and do your best to control her pain, but she should just go home, because there’s nothing else we can do! Thank God, her daughter and Brian researched and found Sloan Kettering! She has been undergoing chemo for 5 weeks at Sloan Kettering – other than hair loss – she has been up the entire time and has said all along – it isn’t as bad as she was expecting it to be!

Mom said – Vinnie THANK YOU FOR THE VOTIVE!!!

It’s not odd. It’s God… (okay – I know – cheesy – but what can you say????) I Believe In Miracles! There’s a whole clan that will go to bed tonight – Thanking God. AND on top of that, My Step-Dad got word that his sister’s own (stage 4) breast cancer was completely removed and she won’t even radiation or chemo!

I don’t know why some people are healed – and others aren’t – but you must keep the faith – if not the will. Often the miracles are happening all throughout the battle – even if the end result means dying. It is truly the journey of life that is the gift. Maybe it’s the one’s who survive who are the ones that still need to finish wrapping their presents before going to God.

Thank you for the rosebuds, St. Therese.

Aunt Charl is up to 135 lbs. (from 97) and the doctor called her last week and said she is good to go for surgery now, so tommorrow morning they will try the first operation since her diagnosis in May of this year of serous cancer. She has finished her first 5 weeks of chemo and they removed the tubes from her kidneys last month. They will be removing her ovaries and uterus and scraping out as much of the cancer as they can. Mom talked to her tonight and she said she was scared, but that she has been ‘up’ through all of this. When we first talked to her in May, they were about to lose their home, Charl had just found out about her cancer after putting off doing anything about a tumor on her ovary they had found the year before. She wasn’t sure how they’d pay for it – so she let it go. I don’t tell that because of being judgemental – I tell that to let everyone know – You must fight cancer or the possibility of it one step at a time. It’s a long battle and early detection is truly the biggest factor! Aunt Charl was most concerned because she had not talked to her youngest son in several years over a falling out they had had. Since then, they’re managing to hang on financially, friends and family have rallied the support they can, and she has had the reconciliation with her son that they both so desperately needed. It’s not all 100% – but you know – it doesn’t really need to be! It’s the individual contacts with people, it’s a look, or a kind word, or an offer of help (no matter how small) – the baby steps that motivate us to keep on trying – just as when a toddler takes his first steps and sees the outreached arms that he can fall into if he doesn’t quite succeed. That is what Life is all about. Living to Love and what makes us all Love Living, and when the time comes that we can’t take another step – our Father will be there to hold us in his warm embrace.

When I’ve had time to stop and take things in, once again avoiding a trap of sorrow or pity, I realize – if the devil is trying so hard to take something – it must be something really special!!! God, our Father, reassures and consoles with small acts of kindness and love that truly make one’s life meaningful. We glimpse an ounce of that feeling when we become parents, or siblings, godparents or friends.

Something that I wonder about alot is when Pope John Paul was dying, he said that there was joy in suffering. It gave him the gift of glimpsing God. St. Francis also said the same thing. I’m not sure I always understand it, but if it’s the coming closer to our Father through the acts of kindness of others, I can say with confidence – I’ve seen and tasted that – and it truly is real!!

Slobo may lose his job this week, family, friends, and others I’ve hardly known, have offered us so much help this week that it overwhelms the spirit. Kindness can overcome fear and replace it with strong reassurance that everything is going to not only work out – but it’s going to work out for the better as long as we value those friendships and acts of kindness, do our share to try hard, and pay it forward.

“Yes, life is a treasure. Each moment is…an eternity seeing God face to face, being one with him.”

“I will let fall a shower of roses.
I will spend my heaven, doing good on earth.”
St. Therese, The Little Flower

Please – I ask for your prayers for Aunt Charl. I’m sure our Father is listening, and don’t forget to talk with Mother Mary – I’m sure she is there with a comforting touch.

His list included things like overalls, voice recorder, watch, cookbook, a gift certificate for the friends of the library, a cuddle pillow, a lizard, cowboy shirt, wolf scout uniform, digital camera and any books! It is funny what they ask for. He got almost everything on his list except a lizard! Having just had the frog die, I wasn’t ready to feed a lizard! The cuddle pillow I made him is a ladybug with pipe cleaner antenna’s inserted into a cotton cording then sewn down. She came out cute. I made her wings so they were satin lined and sewn down at the top and bottom to create two pockets. He likes to stick his hands in the pocket when he hugs her.

Here are some pictures. Unfortunately, alot of the pictures he either wasn’t looking at the camera or had red-eye. These are pretty good tho!

Here he poses in his new cowboy shirt and overalls. Everytime we hear overalls, Slo and I laugh about a lady online he used to tease about living in Georgia. She responded in a thick southern drawl in IRC with a voice recording, “I-D-O-N-O-T-W-E-A-R-O-V-E-R-A-L-L-S!” Well now, SugaBaby, you don’t have to be ashamed to admit it now! We are wearin’ them now.

He wanted a blue cake again this year. Last year, if you remember, I mistakenly mixed blue food coloring with buttercream frosting and got Tiffany blue! This year, we was smert and ‘membered to get white icing! lol. It came cute. Chocolate cake, and X’s and O’s for decorations.

He loves to cook and totally worships Bobbie Flay. Last year he wanted a chef’s jacket like Bobby’s, and got it. Since he already bought himself most of his cookbooks, this time, we gave him the Joy of Cooking. It’s a great cookbook and this one is their 75th anniversary edition.

The baby of the family loves to give presents. The morning of Doc’s birthday, he went around his room and gathered everything he thought J2 would like and wrapped it up in pillowcases, blankets, whatever he had that was colorful. It was really sweet! and J2 loved every one of them!

As for canning – I’m down to one bushel of apples left and a 50lb. box of new potatoes to can… Then I’ll give the full report.

Wishing everyone a safe and happy fall!

J3 grew like a weed this summer. After cleaning out his dresser, I realized he was down to 3 pairs of PJ’s that actually fit him. So I made him some more (with room to grow through the winter). The flannel and fleece fabrics are from Walmart. The tops took 1 1/2 yd, fleece bottoms 1 yd. for size 10. The dk blue cotton knit is Carter’s 12″ tubular knit I bought from Fabric Club a couple of years ago. I still have 20 yards of the stuff and it doesn’t seem I’ll ever find the end of the roll. Sometimes it’s probably not a good idea to go overboard even if the fabric is really a great price! The other knits are cotton knits picked up when I can find them. For some odd reason, it’s really hard to find a cotton knit in Georgia. Remember when cotton was king? sorry . j/k.

Simplicity 9499 I use this one for the raglan t-shirts for the boys. The neck does tend to be a bit large. When I forget to cut it smaller, I use a wider knit neckband with lycra in it for memory retention. (The fabric – not me. lol)

There is another set of these with a lt. blue cotton knit top and cotton woven sleeping pants with a cowboy print. One thing to note is my boys are really rough on knit pj bottoms. When I do the flannels and Woven bottoms, if I add an extra layer of fabric to the inside at the knees. If I don’t, within 6 months the fabric will be worn and ripping there. I think if I add some fusi-knit to the knees of the knits, it might help wearability, but haven’t tried it yet.

McCalls M9206 – basic sleep / play pants and t-shirts pattern.

Puppy dogs and paw prints

Monkeys and cuddle pants

I’ve used this pattern since the boys were toddlers. I just change up pockets depending on what I’m making. Great basic pattern. The pockets on the fleece bottoms are lined with the matching flannel from the tops. I find they like lots of pockets, so I put two on the front of the tops and two on the legs – one on each side.

I often recycle knit neckbands and cuffs from old clothes. If you turn them inside out – as long as they have retained their shape, it works well – especially when you need just that perfect color – like pale yellow. It can be difficult to find pastel rib knits especially. I also save zippers, fun fasteners and appliques in freezer ziploc bags. Those items can really run up the price of making a garment and I don’t see any reason to not keep them if they are in good shape. All – in – all, J3′s PJ’s cost about 23.00 to make (5 pairs). He gets new warm PJ’s from fabric he picked and as he puts it – love sewn in the stitches! Anyway, I hope you found this useful in a sharing sort of way.

Now to tackle Doc’s birthday! He’s going to be 9 in 10 days Didn’t we just do this???

Before I took down our home school bulletin boards from last year, I thought I’d ‘pay it forward’ by sharing what we’ve done in the past.

Word Wall – Everyday, I gave them a handful of leaves and apples to write their vocabulary words on. They enjoyed standing on the desk to stick them up each morning. First I used zots, then tape. With the humidity in Georgia and a classroom with no heat and air, zots just don’t stay stuck! Leaves fell by spring. (Rather confusing for a 1st grader! j/k) The wall represents three grade levels: 1st, 3rd and 4th. 3 and 4 had to lookup definitions in the dictionary and the thesarus a few times. Within a few months, the tree was full. I had found the kids, wandering into the classroom on off days and reading the wall to eachother. They liked it alot. If I were to do it again, I’d have them use only large markers and bigger handwriting. It can be hard to see some of the words.

Detail:

This year, I’ve moved the tree to the other side of the room and it will be used for our Explorer / North American History themes. I’m debating actually hanging a swing in the doorway adjacent to the ‘tree’ wall for a “Swing Into History” theme. 3 boys tho – that might be dangerous, lol. Still – it would make a really fun place to read, don’t you think? In any case, I’m glad I spent the money last year for the tree. It’s proving to be pretty versatile and holds up really well. The pre-made leaves were a few dollars tho. When we ran out of those, we just used post-it notes shaped like leaves and apples. I was suprised that they stayed on the tree.

Giants:

Since alot of our study last year included BIG things (dinosaurs, David and Goliath, etc.), we went with a Giant theme above the chalkboards. I had a poster above it – not shown – of Jack and the Beanstalk with the words “This could be the start of something big…” It also helped to spawn discussion about the classifications of things.

The kids traced their hands and feet at the beginning of the year. This week, when I took them down, they re-traced their hands and feet on top of their previous ones. We were really shocked to discover how much more they had grown! It was fun and we’ve decided to do it each year until they are grown – if for nothing else – but Mommy’s baby books. In addition to hands and feet, we keep a marked wall with heights each year and weights.

Math Bath

This one was the first board I tried making a couple of years ago. We liked it so we have kept it. It is made mostly of scrapbooking papers. There are some borders missing because I was in the middle of taking it down to move when Slobo took a pic.

I found the idea online several years ago on a teacher’s website. The elephant is supposed to be stacked on blocks and acting as the shower for the kids in the tub.

The drawings are of the boys from a few years ago. I asked them if I should use them this year and they said they wanted to keep them. They liked the reminder of when they took baths together! The kid drawings are positioned within slits of the tub. I catch my 6 yr. old moving them around and making them talk to one another. lol. This board is now where the tree used to be. There is also a number line that goes above it with a rubber duck that slides along on a bar of soap. They don’t need the number lines anymore, but I thought the duck was too cute to pass up again this year. There are “bubbles”, made of blue laminated paper, velcroed on one side. The number line has a strip of the rougher velcro loops along it and the bubbles were used as manipulatives to position points along the line. The velcro idea might have worked on a stronger wall, but the dots would pull the number line off the wall because the velcro held on so tight. lol. My basement is just 2×4 framing, to which I stapled drapery lining. So I can only ‘attach’ things at studs. You might come up with a better idea for that.

When I told him I was going to post it on my website and call it “How to politely tell someone to go to h*ll”. He giggled emphatically, skipping away from me, proud of his accomplishments. (Thinks he cleverly disguised a way to say the word in no less than 3 ways while showing me his proud attempts at cursive handwriting and that he remembered his Bible Lesson).

See? The book Yardsticks IS helpful! I got a laugh that will stay with me all day – rather than more worry and bewilderment! His next lesson? How to use a dictionary (After all, how many of us learned to use it at the age when we loved to look up all the “bad” words). Second Lesson: Pride and where it’s helpful and where it hurts! LOL

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I ran into this book, Yardsticks: Children in the Classroom Ages 4-14 : A Resource for Parents and Teachers (Paperback), by Chip Wood sitting by itself on a clearance table. After perusing the 8 yr. old section, I figured it was cheap enough that it couldn’t hurt to buy it. Now, I would have paid twice the retail price! This book was NONE TOO SOON, I tell ya! Slobo and I have been at our wits end to figure out where these burgeoning personalities were headed off to this month! I’ve heard daily, for a month, Slobo’s frustrating “I Don’t Know What Else To DO!” plea!

How often do you hear: “Nobody wants to play with me” “I’m Bored” “He keeps teasing me!!!” Then suddenly “Come-on so-and-so, let’s go such-and-such.” Two seconds later, you hear giggling and plotting – Take a deep sigh – knowing that a second or two later, #3 with come out in tears. They found something to ease their boredom! Child 3 then gets deeply hurt, because the brother that loved him uncoditionally this morning now seems like his worst enemy! How do you explain that to him? Or reprimand the other two in a way that you get more than a quick “Okay – Sowwy”.

I used to think when children behaved this way, it was because they needed more attention from their parents or caregivers. After going under this theory for several months – I can easily state – It has nothing to do with it!!! When you hear, “It’s just their age” beleive it! That doesn’t mean you have to sit back and let nature take it’s course. But this book gave me several ideas for what path they came from and which one they are headed for. It helps you to lead them literally ‘out of temptation’! Just this week, I’ve been able to head all three off for the first time all year! If Chip Wood were here, I’d send him a lifetime supply of blackberry jam!

This book, tho small and concise, is bigger than the “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” series. Picking up where alot of that left off! I highly recommend this book!!!

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I believe 100% in the the Holy Trinity. They have come to my aid so often that it’s as if I carry them around in me all day and night, calling on them when needed and saying Thank You (though not as often as I should). I read somewhere where a lady used her laundry room as her altar place to talk to God as she washed clothes. That’s how I feel about him too. There are several wonderful moments during the day when I talk with him. One evening I was rocking in my chair, and I felt someone whisper deep down in my soul that Flash had the cancer so that Mom wouldn’t.

While I was at Mom’s helping out for the couple of weeks during her surgery, Flash became gravely sick. Slobo called me in tears, and we decided that we needed to let him go. Several times, I’ve tried to post about it, but couldn’t. Slobo did a very loving tribute to him that summed it up for all of us. We were talking just the other day in the car about how we still hear or feel Flash around. Slobo and our Middle Son have heard him sigh. We have all smelled him from time to time and I’ve felt him.

I had a really hard time accepting that it was okay to put Flash down and I’m not sure I’ve really accepted it. I’ve spent years fighting the notion of euthanasia, either for animals or humans. After having a sister like Pooh, who has been told she wouldn’t live so many times, and next year will turn 50, It’s not something that I felt people had control over. Either it’s time or it’s not and God decides that. Slobo and I took Flash to the vet while the children stayed at my parent’s house. We went in, sat on the floor with Flash and said our goodbyes and Thank You’s to him. He passed as if he fell asleep with his head in my lap. I didn’t even know he had gone. That was in March and it still feels like it was last week.

A couple of weeks ago, my mom called me in tears because her sister, my Aunt Charlotte, who is 52 was just diagnosed with stage 4 serous cancer (cancer is in the fluids of her stomach and started with ovarian cancer). At first we heard she had been bed ridden with the flu, then maybe was bleeding from some advil she had taken for a stomach ache, then a blockage, then a mass in her stomach that was causing her kidneys to shut down…. She weighed 90 lbs. when she went into the emergency room and when she was sent home last week, she weighed 75 lbs. She says they won’t perform any extraction surgeries because she weighs so little, they told her to gain weight and then they will do the surgery. We know when they opened her up, it was everywhere, they did a few biopsies, put in a large port in her back to drain each of her kidneys and closed her back up. Her daughter is talking of taking her to a Cancer Institute in PA. – in any case, she sees two doctors this morning to begin chemo. She is really looking forward to starting chemo and beginning her fight. I find it strange, from what I’ve read about this stage of cancer, that they did not go ahead and remove it, but I think they know something the rest of us are just guessing at. But who knows, as Mom says, Charlotte is stubborn and that may work in her favor, but she is having a tough time in her personal life anyway, so that will make it harder to fight. Their house has gone into foreclosure and I just pray they stay off an eviction until she gets through this – one way or the other.

Cancer deaths aren’t something new to me or my family. Several relatives have passed from it, some slow – some fast. My maternal grandmother passed just two weeks after the same type of diagnosis as my aunt. I wonder what makes us know when it’s time to let go, do we even have control over that? or does that Holy Trinity whisper to us that it’s time to let go because it’s going to happen whether we are ready or not? I can’t help but chuckle and wonder if it’s an eviction notice from God himself?

Springtime – New beginnings from a soil made up of the past – maybe that’s the recipe for peace. Heck, maybe that’s what Heaven’s garden soil is made of. Maybe our lives are just compost for Heaven? lol.

Please, just say your prayers for Aunt Charl. I know the keeper is listening. Maybe he just wants to know we are too.

In any case, think I’ll sit on the porch swing out at Fort Hoochenu today and knit a chemo cap or two for Aunt Charl while I consult with my three docs up in heaven today.

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Why go Puddle Jumping of course……….

…. and if you get stuck you just get a little help from your friend.

I don’t think Stitches knew what he was getting into when he joined this family, do you?

Schwinggggggg!

I wish you puddles to jump, too!

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How can one woman affect the lives of so many and raise 6 successful children? My mother taught me the secret to raising your children successfully. Give them a secure life:

Love them
Talk to them
Listen to them
but above all else – ADVOCATE for them.

Be quick to tell them when they are doing wrong and guide them in another direction, and fight for them when they are doing what’s right!

One thing none of us ever doubted, was if our mother would fight for us. We may not have always been right, but she gave us a security alot of children just don’t have.

My mother raised six children. The first five before Brandon came along. We have all been more successful than many of our friends. Do you see the picture in the upper left corner? That is Brandon’s birthday party at my house in 1993. The girl was his best friend. She became an unwed mother. The boy, Randy, was our nephew. A few years later, at the age of 10, he would be killed when his cousin shot him with a rifle at his father’s house. He did not want to go to his father’s house that summer, but because of divorce custody agreements, he was forced to go – he came back in a coffin. I only know of three friends who grew up to be successful. Over a dozen or more ended up unwed parents, drug abusers, alchoholics, etc. And that was from a middle class neighborhood of the 70′s. I am not saying we we’re perfect. Far from it. We did the usual bad teenage stuff, tested our limits, but my mother was always there to help us and set us straight, even when it took years. Sometimes hormones just take awhile to mellow out in some more than others. lol

When my mother started out with my real father she did not know he was a drug addict, alchoholic and wife abuser. They lived in the projects of Baltimore. She had five children by him, one severely retarded, my sister, Pooh. After he died (thank God!) my mother met and married my step-father. My step-father was not always demonstratively loving, but he was steady and took good care of us. He came home every night, paid the bills on time and I only got a spanking once (well-deserved!). They taught us to take pride in ourselves and to work hard if we wanted something bad enough. We were not rich, always slipping and sliding from poverty level to middle class, but my parents worked hard. My mother is still working full-time as a PBX Operator for the switchboard of a local hospital. They did all of this, working full-time, caring for Pooh Bear (who is almost 50), keeping a clean house and clean kids, and still had the time to listen to us. I’m sure my mother would have loved to have seen all of us graduate from college, but I know that she is satisfied that she has done her job well and now all of her children can live good, safe and happy lives.

So, Mom, if you’re listening now, you can retire….. It’s okay, there’s nothing else we need that you did not provide for. Brandon’s job at the CDC will pay his student loans now. lol

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Our Lil’ Entertainer wanted a ‘flag’ themed birthday. His two favorite images in life, the Cross and the American Flag. At first he wanted a Curious George / Construction theme and had his cake all figured out. We would do a triangle cake – one side Curious George, the other Construction workers with a pile of crackers to dig like last year. But when he got to Party City and saw the Red/White/Blue Uncle Sam sequins hat he completely changed his theme to a Flag Birthday party! (Thank goodness! lol). A flag cake is much easier to make.

His birthday wish list consisted of:

Anything Curious George
A worker man set with wrenches, screw drivers, etc.
A Flag pole – one that he can put in the yard and see from his bed
A jacket like that guy that danced on the cieling (Fred Astaire in Royal Wedding)
A black bowtie
manual typewriter
and Boxing Gloves.

Thanks to Grandma’s and Stimulus checks – he got everything on his list! lol

I made him a tuxedo with tails (Grandma bought him a boutonniere for it), curious george sleeping shorts and pants and a pig in a blanket. The blanket has a crocheted pig head, crocheted pig feet attached on either side of the head and at opposite corner of the blanket – and a really fun curly-q pig tail crocheted and sewn to the bottom corner. It has minky polka-dot fabric on one side and polka-dot cotton on the other. I made a matching round minky pillow to go with it (the belly).

He had a really great birthday and now Daddy just has to get a clear day to ‘plant’ the 20ft flagpole! lol

Here’s the images from his birthday with one of his baby pictures. Oh, I miss cuddling those sweet, drooling little babies. *sniff* Still, what wonderful young people they are to be with!

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He wanted a Dr. Gregory House birthday party.
Solution?

Little guests in “Doctor in Training” suits

rubber gloves as party bags filled with:
first aid items, hugs and kisses candy (because you know you need lots of those when your dealing with House)
tic-tac “Vicadin” (should have heard the kids wondering aloud what they would use for Vicadin at the local CVS – just a few eyebrows raised)
laser pens and blank notepads for writing prescriptions.

We forgot the squishy balls to throw against the wall (okay – Mommy just ‘conveniently’ forgot).

Here’s the table:

And the handsome attendings:

Stetson’s birthday wish list had:

A cane like House’s
A tiperiter
ponchin bag
cowboy shirt
and a jene jakit
and red suspenders.

He got everything on his list +some! The cane and typewriter are from our local antique store. I painted them with black testor paint. I painted the flame design on the end of the cane with red, yellow, and gold. The typewriter is a Royal manual typewriter in excellent condition. I made the cowboy shirt from cotton and embroidered the cowboy, feather, and spurs using free patterns from AnntheGran.com ‘s website. That was alot of fun. Slobo found pearl ‘snap looking’ buttons Thank Goodness! I couldn’t find pearl snaps anywhere and was really glad not to have to worry with putting real snaps on it. The shirt has a secret – I interfaced the white broadcloth with a white muslin iron-on interfacing and accidentally embroidered the interfacing side – Teach ME to use my glasses! LOL. He doesn’t know – and I’m not telling! It was the night before his birthday and I didn’t have enough white broadcloth to cut new pieces – soooooooooo If I couldn’t tell – he shouldn’t be able to. Oh well mom…..

Next birthday in two weeks – Little Dr. Chase turns 7!

*Sniff* they are growing up tooooooooo fast!

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I only had the money for the autumn leaves fabric on the back (lower right) and the bear – cabin in the woods 1/4 yd at the bottom and the cotton batting. So, the image itself is made up of left over blocks and scraps from previous quilts. There was also a time crunch to get it done in time for gift giving, so I did not take the time I should have on the tree and sunlight. I was happy with the deer, brook and crunchy leaves and I thought the dragonflies in the air above him was kind of fun.

The idea was to show the base of an old tree with a forest canopy above and dappled sunlight coming down onto the deer, sipping at the brook. Even tho it was clumsy, it still wasn’t half bad for a first attempt and lots of scrappy fabrics. Of course, Dad loved it anyway!

My dad has often woke up from his slumber in the deer stand only to see a deer watching him, lol. I wanted him to have a buck he could take home and look at too!

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Dorothy Moore’s Pattern Drafting and Dressmaking

First, I made the foundation top from his measurements, then drafted the overcoat pattern.

Here’s my cowboy complete with his herd dog Sylvester Squiggle Stitches

Materials:

• The fabric is a khaki (kind of) twill found at Walmart for 1.00/yd.
• I already had some cream sunline lining. Cost would have been abt. 4.00/yd.
• The buttons were the most expensive part. 2.50/pack of two for the larger buttons, 1.75/pack of three for the smaller buttons at Hobby Lobby. The pkg said genuine 24k gold, yet they have the weight of a plastic button and look a bit tarnished. Things you couldn’t really tell in their blister card packaging. Still, he wanted them because they are gold eagles and reminded him of his heroes, our soldiers.
• I used some crinoline (for lack of anything better on hand) as an interlining. The interfacing was pellon med. wt.which I used in the jacket from the shoulder, extended to the underarm and curving toward the front facing. There are shoulder pads along with sleeve headers of fuzzy white felt (leftover from Christmas stocking making).

Jacket Details:

• Fully lined with a cream lining.
• There is a ‘kick pleat’ (I know that’s a skirt term… what is it called on a man’s jacket?) in the center back. That was a new trick for me since the lining had to go around it.
• There are double welted pockets with flaps on the lower front
• Single welt pocket at the top
• Inside double welt pocket on the left. (That inside welt was supposed to go on the right, but alas, I got my left and right’s mixed up)

Searching for pictures of my last attempt at a jacket, I was suprised to find it was two years ago almost to the month. My mother needed a new suit to attend my brother’s graduation. Here it is two years later, the same brother is graduating with his Masters next month, and I’m making another jacket. Hmmm… Maybe my muse is graduation ceremonies.

The pros - it was fun to try drafting again. I’m anxious to try it again and since my 6 yr. old has requested a blazer like his brothers, I’ll get my chance again soon!

The cons - I had to take the jacket apart after having sewn TWO no less rows of stitching on all the lines, because I kept putting the sleeves in backwards – I’ve learned I need to really mark those fabrics – especially the ones that look the same on both sides – better!

I also realized why the sleeves were coming out so huge on previous attempts – Silly – I only needed to measure for “HALF” a sleeve when doing a two piece. lol.

My last problem to deal with is why the back came out so large. I suspect the book’s overcoat drafting instructions included a much larger easement than a child can use for a jacket – not to mention – that it was for an “OVERCOAT”! One day I’ll learn to take it a little slower and be more mindful of the “key” terms. lol.

Pattern Drafting is really fun – and I’m anxious to do it all over again! Hopefully with fewer mistakes this time.

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The kids comment on that?

7yr. old son: Awww, the beetle flew away with a friend…

9yr old son: That’s okay. He found a girl dung beetle to tell him how he looks from now on. He doesn’t need that mirror anymore!

Mom’s thought on that? A little girl would have probably said they married and lived happily ever after.

Each day I gain a little more insight into the male mind! Just remember, girls, always tell them how they look!

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If you read Slobo’s blog, you know that Flash, our 6 yr. old Golden has cancer. We will see a specialist on Tuesday morning to see if anything can be done.

When Pope John Paul passed away, there was so much talk about spiritual growth through suffering. Many of us don’t want to admit or think about it in those terms. Myself being one of them. Self-pity was something I abhorred. I used to get so angry when I heard a christian say, “It’s God’s Will”. No it’s not! God does not will suffering. God did not make it so my young nephew died. Or that my sister was born severely retarded. God DID give the devil reign of this earth. People do stupid things. They follow him. Simple fact. Bad things happen. But God, gives us open arms to fall into when bad things happen. God give us his grace and his love, especially in the ‘boos’ of life. There is a peace and love that comes from one person’s life as it passes through our own. We don’t have a choice when we are born and we don’t have a choice when we will die. We do make choices as we interact with eachother every day and that is where Simple Grace comes to fruition. We don’t have to stand by and accept things as God’s will. God gave us a will of our own. We should do with it what we can!

Slobo loves to refer to hilly roads in a car as taking a trip on the wee-boos….. The children laugh as the hilly weeeeee’s approach, get queasy with each boooo, then get giggly with anticipation as they round over the tops, so we must do with life’s curves, It’s not about rightness, wrongness, fairness or unjustness, it’s about the moments, the seperating of the sweet juice from the bitter rinds. Having the courage to hang in there knowing that your heart might get broken or you might be making a wrong decision – those moments when your heart sick over whether right decisions were made. I just fall into his arms and let him be my guide. Sometimes, I just can’t even think about it and he knows that. After all, he made me. He’ll help me and he’ll love me as long as I do what I can and know that I’ve done what I can.

If nothing else, I hope that our children learn to discern life’s sweet wee-boos with the innocence and courage that is theirs, for in it will be their serenity and the savory sweetness of thier lives.

And… in another of my selfish moments… I post this. lol. Just remember to kiss, hug and pet your loved ones today.

Reason #3: Will try to watch TV upside down while bent backwards over an ottoman (note to self – prepare for child with headache)

Reason #2: Will see if boy can melt deep enough into couch while watching tv and hanging on with a big toe. (note to self – kiss that big toe before it begins to stink!)

Reason #3: Doctor will cure thyself of a bad head cold by putting on all of his favorite shirts, his McGyver Jacket and Christmas Robe to sweat while crying to an episode of McGyver where the dog just died! (note to self – remind him 9 yrs. old still gives him Mommy Doc priviledges and a fresh box of Kleenex with Aloe, kiss him on the forehead and make a resolution to kiss those sweet boys every hour before they get too old to like it!)

I hear that Mars is in retrograde until Jan 30th, so hopefully Christmas will go well with alot of effort… and we can get back to normal Jan. 30th. lol.

Here’s to happy thoughts and warm wishes…. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all… Don’t forget to tell your loved ones they are loved and appreciated.