In Retrospect

Sometimes, it's only obvious that something is a bad idea after it's to late. Let me explain. Saturday night we went to a concert at KidsQuest. Tim Noah was performing. Now I LOVED Tim Noah as a kid and now that I'm older and have kids I still love him. His music is fantastic. It has all the right themes.

This was the only pic I could get from his website.
(He's won Emmy's! Impressive!)

His songs from my favorite CD In Search of the Wow Wow Wibble waggle wazzie Woodle Woo include:

Zoom
If I Only Knew
If I Was
The Monkey Song
Big Booger
Tears On My Toes
Little Miracles
Sunshiney Mornin’
Musty Moldy Melvin
Friends With A Song
Wow Wow Wibble Woggle Wazzie Woodle WOO
I Can Do Anything

When I was in first grade this CD came out and Tim Noah did a tour around our area. Now I thought that he was HUGE, a rock star. Just huge. I believe it was really the first concert I ever went to and it was great. I remember listening to my tape and jumping on my bed and singing, 

"Teacher, teacher, teacher can’t you see
That Big Booger’s pickin’ on me"

 

From his song Big Booger. I was picked on a lot when I was a kid so it really resonated with me. Now as an adult I listen to the lyrics from Sunshine Morning or If I Was and all I hear is positive reinforcement. The best one though is I Can Do Anything. I love it. I think it's so important for our kids and us to remember, we can do anything. 

 

We went to the concert and it was a great venu for it. KidsQuest is a children's museum that really appeals to toddlers. It has water tables, toys, sand boxes and a thing that swallows up scarves and blows them out again. I made sure Jason sat down in front and got us a good spot before the show. Tesla had about 15 minutes of playtime before the show and she was loving it. I kept telling her okay, see the guitar, Tim Noah is going to come out and sing to us, and we're going to sit and listen okay? And she'd say, "No, I want to play." Okay fine, but when he comes out we'll sit and listen. Okay??? OKAY?? Why oh why do I try to reason with a 2 year old. Two things I forgot to mention, one was that Tesla did not get a nap. She usually naps for 2-4 hours and that day she hadn't gotten one. She stayed in her room for quiet time, but didn't actually nap. The second thing was, that I was really excited about meeting Tim Noah and didn't know if we'd be able to or not, so I made Tesla a t-shirt to up our chances. I thought about having it say, "my imagination takes me high" which is a great lyric from his song Zoom. But then I thought that sounded a little drugy or anti-drugy, it was just confusing out of context. Instead I chose, "I Can Do Anything". 

 

 

 

This is where the in retrospect part comes into play. Tesla sure did prove that shirt. She was everywhere! EVERYWHERE. Now she's a super super friendly not shy kid as it is, so for her to talk to everyone and give them toys is not unusual, just with the shirt on it was pretty funny. At one point she is in a pit of stuffed animals and she is giving all the adults sitting around it a stuffed animal, and she fixates on this one guy, and keeps giving him stuff and touching his leg, and he's looking like, what does this kid want. She just wants to make friends and play. Several times people looked around for her parents. We were there just standing watching her, it's not like she was screaming on top of being friendly (which some kids were doing). Another time she was in the tree with a woman and her daughter and you could tell by her face that she was having a blast playing with them, and when she saw me she hid behind the mom, playing. It was pretty funny. Other kids were so shy they wouldn't look at Tim Noah or others if you looked at them they were terrified. But not T.  Perhaps her t-shirt, should have said, sometimes I can be timid. Just sometimes. Do you think putting the behavior you want on your kids t-shirt would do it?

So after the concert I wanted to get a picture of Tim Noah and Tesla together. This was the best that I could do.

Good shot, no? Well fine, how about me and Tim?

See that wasn't so bad.

We also bought his DVD, which is so good, and totally works today, even though it's over 20 years old. Jason and Tesla watched it yesterday while I sewed and he was really impressed. It's really a fun DVD and so cleverly done. Tim Noah also does a children's theater up in Snohomish, and I think we're going to have to go to it. It should be fun!

I've posted a bunch of links to Tim Noah's website. Just so you know, although I encourage you to get the CD and DVD for your kids, I have no vested interested in it, other than you also enjoying his music.

May Giveaway! Sew Mama Sew!

Hi Everyone, and welcome to Tesla's Mom! I'm super excited to be participating in my first giveaway and on top of it to be part of the May Giveaway Day hosted by Sew Mama Sew!I started this blog a few years ago to create a place for our friends and family to keep up to date with our lives. Back then we were living in New Hampshire which was quite a ways from Seattle where I am from and my family lives. In that time we've moved back to our house in Redmond, Washington and closer to my family. It's been great being close to them and they have been able to be a much bigger part of our lives. We still have family and friends on the East Coast though and so I continued with the blog. Well at some point I started reading a lot of sewing blogs. Being a sewer myself I found it wonderful to be able to read about people's sewing creations. Since my son was born just four and a half months ago, I have been reading more and more and have loved the community that is the quilting blog community, and I want part of it! The ladies and men for that matter are so creative, and supportive of each other, and I am learning so much from all of them and that's why I've decided to partake in today's giveaway.

For today's giveaway day I am giving a custom Cuddle Ribbon Blanket to one lucky reader. These blankets are fantastic. I've recently been making them for friends who have had babies. (I'm just at that age where everyone is having kids!) Each blanket measures approximately 10.5" by 10.5" with approximatly 1.5" of ribbon on each side. I will also embroider a name of choice on the lower right hand corner.Winner must be located in the US. I will not ship internationally.

Here are some pictures of my little guy enjoying his Cuddle Ribbon Blanket!

The giveaway will be open until May 25th at 5:00pm Pacific. To enter leave a comment, letting me know if you'd like a blanket for a girl or a boy. You can enter a second time if you become a follower, be sure to leave a second comment. I will let the random number generator choose a winner. Your prize will be mailed out by May 30th! Good luck and don't forget to visit the other participants of the May 23rd Giveaway Day!

Thrift Share Monday - Always Say Yes

Once again I'm able to participate in Thrift Share Monday hosted by Apron Thrift Girl. This past weekend I was not able to go garage sale shopping. After the week we had getting everyone healthy again after the crud hit our house, causing my 4 month old to be hospitalized, my 2 year old to get two ear infections and run a fever for what felt like forever, and my poor husband to be incapacitated by nausea, headaches and fevers I needed to run some serious errands. We didn't leave the house pretty much for one week, and although I don't really mind being a home body, I needed time away from my lovely family.

Despite everything that happened last week we did manage some crazy great thriftiness. First I got an email from a woman on Craigslist who had listed a playhouse and slide but hadn't listed a price. She said she was going to relist it but for some reason again didn't give any details and waited two more days to get back to me about what the price was. However she inspired me to look on Craigslist again for a playhouse, and managed to find one for $35.00 within 5 miles of our home that had just been listed. So we got it!

 My daughter loves the house. We set it up at a really perfect time. We'd been inside for what felt like forever. We have American flags near our front door and she decided that she needed one on the house. Not in front of her front door, but on the roof. I asked if it was so that everyone knew she was American, and she said "NO, no American." Hmmm must work on that patriotism.
 
Another thrifty thing we did was say yes. My MIL called a few weeks back and said that a friend of hers had some clothes for our son that are handme downs from her grandson. So I said sure if she wants to mail them to us, we'll take them. I learned awhile back to just take any handme downs people want to give us. We  have a lot of storage space and if there's something I don't like I'll just give it away, or if it's kooky and not my style keep it anyway for a laugh! Not a problem. Then another friend, Tracey, asked on facebook if anyone wanted hand me downs for girls size 4-8. I jumped on it immediately. Tesla may be 2 but she's wearing size 4 and we can store clothes that are to big for her, so why not? We sorted through all these clothes this weekend, and I can tell you with the exception of underwear and perhaps a few other essential items, we're not going to need to buy clothes for our kids for few years. Seriously. That's a pretty cool feeling to know you're set for clothes for awhile. So here are some pics of my cuties in clothes that were handed down to us and cost us nothing!

 Ben in a flannel/hoodie.

In his concert clothes... Wait I wasn't even alive. Do you think this may be Beattle related?

 Tesla lounging in a very cute red knit dress.

 Ben in some jammies.

 Okay this picture wasn't from this weekend's hand me downs but from some we got 2 years ago from a friend who said "here you want more kids, take these, you'll probably have a boy."

Nap time is apparently over.... Check out the other links on Apron Thrift Girls blog to see what other people have been thrifting this weekend.

Gnoma Claus by The Happy Zombie

Have I mentioned my love of the The Happy Zombie??? She's a rock star in the sewing world. Seriously. Everyone knows her. She's constantly mentioned in magazines and on other blogs. I learned about her in the fall, while reading a post by the Bolt Neighborhood Blog. I mentioned it back in October here. I love reading her blog. It's really inspiring. The colors are bright and cheery so I always feel uplifted and like I can do anything. Her favorite colors are Red and Aqua, which were my wedding colors. So I feel like we're kindred spirits. I imagine Martha, Monica and I one day chatting over coffee as we take a break from our sewing or crafting. I'm on a first name basis, with all the greats, don't you know? Another cool thing about Monica is that when you comment on a post on her The Happy Zombie blog, she actually writes back to you. Not just a standard, thanks for commenting, she actually writes back personally recalling things you wrote on your comment. Seriously, the first time she did that I just about pee'd my pants. Super excited, I felt so special. Now I kind of can't wait for her to write a new post just so I can comment. *he he he*

Okay so enough gushing.

Last year, The Happy Zombie came out with a really fun Holiday line that included the Gnoma Claus. Well I knew those would make great gifts for Christmas, so I immediately bought a few panels. I quickly did nothing with them. My dreams of completing a bunch of hand made holiday gifts last year were squashed by my pregnancy. I was just tired and uninterested in doing anything. But now I'm not pregnant and I decided to go ahead and start on THIS years holiday gifts!

This morning I made the first of many pot holders! I also want to make cute little pillows with this. I find the Gnoma Claus to be just adorable! Thanks Monica for creating something that is just well.... Happy!

Monica, along with the other rock stars are in Salt Lake City at Quilt Market. I am so looking forward to reading all the reports about it. You can see the button for the KPKM radio on the right side of my blog. That's Pam from Pam Kitty Morning who organizes all the reports and does fun videos at Quilt Market. She's another rock star. Both Monica and Pam have new lines of fabric out, you can check out their postings about them here and here. 

Well that's enough for me for one morning. I need to go eat breakfast before the rest of the house wakes up!

Thanks for reading along! Leave a comment and become a follower! You know it would make my day!!!


PS: Thanks Blogger for deleting my first posting and making me rewrite this. Thank goodness I subscribe to my own blog in google reader and could just copy and repost. 

May Giveaway Day Participation

I have decided to participate in the May Giveaway Day, hosted by Sew Mama Sew, on May 23rd! You can read all about it here.  I have been making super cute cuddle blankets for babies and think I'll make a customizable one to giveaway! So even if your baby is to big for it, you can add a friends babies name to it and it would make a wonderful gift. This is one of the first steps I'm taking to start my business by increasing readership! Please be sure to Follow my blog so that you'll be up to date with all the news!

Thrift Share Monday

Hi Everyone! I am participating in my first Thrift Share Monday hosted by the lovely Apron Thrift Girl. My thrifty finds lately have been really good. When I go to garage sales or estate sales I'm usually going Saturday morning after I take care of a couple of errands, which means they really need to be close by. I'm uninterested in leaving my husband at home with two kiddos for to long. He can handle it but he works hard all week, and deserves some me time too. Anyway, the sales need to be close by, I need to see the signs on my way home. Well the weekend before last I totally scored. You can read all about that at my previous posting Garage Sales.

So what am I really looking for? Outdoor toys. We have a large yard and our neighbors can't see us (read: we can junk it up) so I would like toys that can keep my kids and my friends kids entertained. I think I'm doing pretty good so far. Well on my way home from the grocery store I saw a sign for an estate sale. Since they had a fancy sign for it I decided to go for it. As soon as I drove up I got excited. I saw a playhouse and a picnic table. Now I only had $20 so I didn't bother to look at either of them but I figured where there is some kids stuff, there might be more! When I walked in the door the woman said "Everything is half off!" I was really hoping for some good finds.

I found these three books. The two sticker activity books haven't been used and look kind of fun. The third book is a Little Critter book, and I love those.

In the garage I found this Step 2 bench for our deck. It'll store some of the kids stuff, and be good to sit on or the dolls can walk on it. I got it for $7.50. Not bad.

When I was paying for these items I asked how much the picnic table was outside. We already have one for Tesla but I figured a second one would be nice to have if we have a big group of kids over doing an outdoor craft. The woman said it was $15.00, normally but half off today!

How stinking cool is that? So for $15.75, I got three books, a bench and a picnic table. YEAH! I'm still looking for a t-ball set and some other activity items like that for outside.

I've been reading Apron Thrift Girl for awhile now and I have to credit her for these great finds. If it wasn't for her I probably would rush straight home rather than hit these sales. But she finds some really great stuff and she inspired me! Thanks! Go check out her blog, and see what she found this weekend!

Thanks for reading! Leave a comment!

Spring Top Sewalong: A Completed Top!

Well I did it! I have to say I'm proud of myself every time I finish something. Usually I make things with no particular deadline, or perhaps a birthday or holiday deadline, but for the Spring Top Sewalong is different. Perhaps because I have been reading all about these amazing sewers and quilters for awhile now and they all seem to have this great community in which they share and create things together, and with the entry into this I'm joining in on the fun and not just sitting on the side lines. Or maybe because I am feeling like I am not getting anything done and to pick a pattern, buy the fabric and sew a top that looks pretty darn good on me within any given time crunch is, well, satisfying. The pattern I used is from NEWLOOK or Simplicity #6937. I used a Robert Kaufman Solid Plum for the yolk and unfortunately the patterned fabric name is not correct on the receipt.
Without further ado, here is my Spring Top for the Spring Top Sewalong hosted by Made by Rae.

I had all these grand ideas that I would do my hair and makeup before Nigel came over to take the picture. But then everyone in my family got sick with over 100 degree temperatures. So I ended up handing Ben to Nigel when he got here to hold while I changed, then coming back in and handing Ben to Jason who was about to throw up at any moment. Then ran outside took the pictures, ran back in changed back into sweats and grabbed Ben from Jason who just about fell over. So the fact that I'm laughing in this picture makes me smile.

I like this one, I'm striking a pose... Or showing off the cool sleeves. I really like the feel of them. They are very light and airy and cover my arms nicely.

This is the official entry photo. The entry is supposed to just show off the shirt. So the head and legs came off.
What do you think? Leave a comment!

Would you like to see the other tops entered?  Go ahead and check out the Flicker group, here.

I won a Giveaway!

A couple of weeks ago or month, not really sure, I won a giveaway because of one of the blogs I read! How cool is that?! The blog is Frogs and Snail. Cute name right? They were doing this whole month of the boy thing at the time. Anyway she did this post about a giveaway happening at Boysbecool. So I hopped on over there and entered myself. I had a choice of three different shirts from a company by the name of Fore! Axel and Rose. Obviously really beautiful high quality clothing. Then a week later I found I won! How cool is that! I LOVE LOVE LOVE winning stuff, I know everyone does, but some people have the gift to win stuff, others like me, really think they are going to win but rarely ever actually do.

The size is a 12-18 month. I had the choice to get something smaller but I thought if Ben is anything like Tesla he'll be wearing this early and hopefully for awhile. It's really pretty, er handsome.

New Posts

Everytime I go to write a post for the blog something happens to either the 2 year old or the 3 month old. So here I am promising that I will get back to posting again soon. I so enjoy reading all the blogs that I read that they inspire me! In the meantime this is who I have been busy with.

Gnomes? Seriously?

Okay so just as I am completing my second dress, and about to start on all of my holiday presents I discover the cutest fabric and craft in one. 

Gnomes for the holidays! I just love these and they remind me so much of the Gnome decorations that my mom puts out every year from the 70's. This project is on a panel of fabric. What does that mean? Well  when you buy the fabric you don't buy a yard of it you buy a panel and it usually has all of the directions and it has the pattern with cut out lines right on it. When I was at the fair earlier this year a woman was making Santa Clauses that were from a panel like this, and I have been looking for just such a project since then. (I really think if you are going to be demonstrating the craft that it should still be available, but it's not.)

So I emailed the blog/store and asked if I could mail order the panel. I don't think I have mentioned their blog yet. It's super cute. It's called Bolt Neighborhood and the store is located in Portland. It's only a few hours away (4 with my bathroom stops) but I just can't take that kind of drive right now. (Again not mentioned, but I have been getting super car sick when Jason or anyone else drives, so I would need to drive the whole way.) Anyway, they have some of the most beautiful fabric at this store, they are also the ones that turned me on to the Oliver + S patterns that I blogged about previously. It's so fun when you find a blog you love and it links you to a bunch of other blogs you love too. This Gnome fabric was made by a woman named Monica who also has a blog, and her blog is called Happy Zombie. Check out these trick or treat bags she made.

I guess the pattern is in the Fall issue of Quilts and More,  I have never bought a sewing magazine before but I am probably going to have to get it. I'm not going to make these bags this year but probably next year!

Oh and just in case you're keeping track of my goals. The dress is not done. It's almost done, but instead of making the dress this morning I chose to blog, and I am going to take a shower. I have a date with my husband today and think I'm going to break with my laziness (I was going to say tradition) and blow dry my hair. Yikes!

Hiatus

This past summer I have managed to not write a single blog post. I'd feel guilty about it, but the time that I haven't spent writing has been spent napping. What can I tell you, I'm pregnant. 25 weeks pregnant, and this pregnancy is knocking me down for the count, or perhaps it's my gorgeous toddler. 

Toddlers run around a lot. A lot, lot. Much more than I would like to at this stage in my pregnancy or in any part of my pregnancy but it's okay, she still naps, and while she's napping, so am I. Which means that I don't have time to get to my computer. See I have a desktop, so it's not as if I can use my computer, while she's playing or distracted, which is almost never, I need to use it while she's asleep or with Papa. Speaking of which right now she's taking a bath with Papa, so nice and occupied. The fact that my computer is also in my sewing room, also helps to make it not safe for little hands, because no matter how much you clean up everything there is always something dangerous within reach.

What have we been doing you ask? Well my mom's group has gotten pretty busy and Tesla is making good friends. The above picture is of Tesla and her friend Petra at the library during story time. She loves playing with Petra and Petra's mommy. Petra's mommy wears pretty jewelry and Tesla likes to wear it too. 

We've also been playing in the yard. Above is a pic of Tesla in her rain gear. She loves to walk around and play in puddles and this helps to mitigate damages. Recently on a trip to Molbak's she sat in a puddle and had the most fun. She was not wearing this at the time and we really wish she had been. 

Well folks that's all my time for now, Tesla's done in her bath and I need to go play with her!

Smart Mom Jewelry Giveaway

I have been reading a blog by the name of Crazy House. It's very cute. Anyway the blogger is hosting a giveaway for a very pretty piece of Jewelry and you get three entries if you blog about it. So here it is I'm blogging!

Smart Mom Jewelry is Jewelry that is safe for your kids to chew on. That's cool huh? There's a necklace that is part of the giveaway that is donut shaped pendant that is strung on a cord.

It's pretty cute! They have some super cute bangles too. I love bangles. I am sure that Tesla would still absolutely enjoy something like this on me. Don't you? She puts everything in her mouth. My real question is how do I stop this behavior?

Anyway check out the blog, and enter in the giveaway yourself or just enjoy the blog.

Anne likes Red. Red Red Red!

Green blog Anne? No, says Anne, red blog. Anne likes red. Red, red, red. Orange blog Anne? No says Anne, red blog. Anne likes red. Red, red, red.

Thanks to Blogger for finally allowing me to have a red blog! RED RED RED!

In case you don't know what I'm referring to. Buy the book Ann Likes Red, and get with it!!!

Start of Blog

My daughter Tesla is almost 9 months old. It's hard to believe so much time has gone by and how normal I feel now. When she was first born everything was so new, doing simple tasks was difficult. I remember when she was first born people would say it get's easier, don't worry it does and I would think, yeah right, when?! When is it going to get easier. But it has. We've settled into a nice little life and Tesla is such a delightful little girl.

I'm starting this blog to record some thoughts, and to allow my family that lives so far away to feel a bit more connected to our day to day lives. They would probably feel that way if they would just join facebook, geez! I would also like to have a little bit more record of this precious time in our lives. Jason, unfortunately is not working right now, but fortunately it means we get to spend a lot of time together. It's made us stronger as a couple and a family. I love that he's home to hang out with us. I love that he gets to spend so much time with our little girl, as stressful as not having a job is, it's really very special that he has been able to spend so much time with Tesla. Not all dad's get that pleasure.

Well Jason just got home from a fun night at Bill's so I'm gong to spend some time with him. Not a long post for now, but at least I got it started!