Hectic Life

Argh! That is how I feel most days. I finished the Christmas pj's for the kids and got the legs of my husbands sewn. I did make a wallet, that looks horrible. I think I can make a few tweaks to the pattern and come up with something a little better. I am blaming this one on user error, I must not be doing something right.

I made a hoodie for Joshua that is almost finished and have the material cut for a hoodie for Matthew, just need to find the time to sew it up. I am also making a make-up bag for my teenager. She is the reason I say ARGH so much, but you gotta love her.

I had a sick baby on Monday. My Joshua threw up for the first time. It was so sad. He had never thrown up before and he had a look of "OH MY GOSH what is happening to me" on his little face. It was so sad. I felt so bad for the little guy. He was better after a bath and mommy rocking him to sleep. Of course then my three year old decided to walk around the house after that saying that's gross and pretending to throw up while grabbing his stomach bending over and sticking out his tongue. I got a laugh out of that, he was being so dramatic about it. (I hope this isn't too gross to talk about)

My husband is getting me knitting and crocheting classes for Christmas. I am super excited about this. I did a little crocheting in the past but nothing fancy or skilled. I have been wanting to improve and learn to knit.

I think I will start posting menu plans for the week. I need to stay on top of that and what better way than to post it on the internet for everyone to see.

I will post pictures of the family on Christmas in the pj's I made. I have so many plans. I hope I am not biting off more than I can chew. Sorry this post is so "patchy", lots of things on the brain right now and they are coming out in spurts instead of paragraphs.

First two projects

Well, I finished the pajama pants for the kids on Friday and then Saturday I decided to make myself a new purse. I sewed the button on too high but other than that I think it is pretty nice. I am proud of myself.


I am looking forward to finishing the Christmas pajamas for my husband and I this week.

Trying to be more frugal

I have to admit, I am not by nature frugal. I was raised by a mother that bought my brother and I everything we wanted. We did not do chores or even our own laundry and the most cooking I did at home was make macaroni and cheese out of a box. Please don't think I am "griping" about my mother. My mother is a wonderful woman and I am blessed to have her as my mother. She just wasn't raised to cook, clean or be frugal herself.

Fortunately, I did have some very different and wonderful female role models to learn from on my Dad's side of the family. My Aunts were so influential in my life and the only reason I can cook, clean, and even know how to use coupons is completely due to them and their wonderful direction.

They also gave me some basic instruction on crocheting and sewing. I have made a few things over the years; an afghan, dresses for my daughter when she was little, and curtains. Well... here we are now with me for the first time in my adult life not having a job. My husband and I did, however, decide mutually that I would stay home with our children. This has been so much harder and more rewarding than I could ever imagine, but that is for another post.

Back to the topic at hand, frugality. I was surfing the internet during the boys nap time and found several blog posts about re-purposing old clothes into children's clothes. This was awesome for me! I have been thinking about sewing some basic things for the family such as pajamas and lounge pants, but here is this large group of women/bloggers using old clothes into something new and very cute for themselves or their children. What better way to be frugal than to remake old clothes into new clothes.

Well, we just happen to have lots of old clothes we could re-purpose (I am still holding out slight hope I will fit into some of my old jeans again, not thinking this is likely right now though). So, I think I will attempt a new series on my very new blog about re-purposing our old clothes. I am very excited about this idea.

I have a few sewing projects on the agenda, but the first will be Christmas pajamas for the family. I will be starting on this today and will post pictures on my progress. But, stay tuned my first re-purposing project will start soon.

Budgeting Fun

So, my husband and I are going to try and be better fiscal stewards. We are definitely spending money needlessly right now. We haven't quite adjusted to just having one salary. So, beginning now, we are on a zero based/cash budget. Basically, every penny will be accounted for and we will use cash for most purchases. I have read a lot of blog posts about the envelope system. We think this would be good for us since we have a tendency to whip out the debit card on a whim. Now, once the cash is gone, the spending is done.

I am actually very excited about this. For one thing, it will hopefully reduce the amount of time I spend reconciling our bank account and hopefully make us more aware of our spending. After we get the hang of this our next goal is to start paying down our debt.