Not Sew Perfect

My first sewing machine was given to me by Santa and it was called "Sew Perfect". The machine did not live up to its name (imagine that), and my experiences with sewing my kitchen valances were remarkably similar.

Here is what I learned about sewing:

1. The first piece is always sewn wrong. There is no getting around a first-timers mistakes.
2. The worst part of the job is cutting everything out. Spend lots of time on this step so you don't regret the entire project - no mistakes can be made here.
3. Make your own decorative cording. I did, and I was successful at it. The premade stuff is horribly expensive.
4. If you have a weakness for fringe, like I do, remember that it is from the devil and will make you regret spending an arm and a leg on it. The fringe costs as much as all of your fabric and it contracts and expands at its own will, no matter how many pins you use.
5. I will never forgot or regret this experience because it made me appreciate my sweet momma that made all my dresses for me.

Pictures are coming, once I get the knobs drilled for the installation...

What Was I Thinking?

I have been diligently working on sewing my kitchen valances this week. I am not a seamstress, although I can relate to the spelling of that word - seam stress. There are mucho windows but one little old me and I am waning.

Pricing of valances was very scary. I would have needed $400-500 to get something up on them, if only there was something for me to choose from out there in the retail world. I have saved money with the sewing, but it is officially not worth it today. I'm tired and I need a genie to polish these off in the next two days so my kitchen doesn't rattle like a tin can when I have company on Sunday.

The Mountain Man

It's rainy here in Georgia (thank you Hurricane Fay) and pretty cool, which brings out the Montana in my husband. We have less than two weeks before the small group Bible study starts and we have a little landscaping to get done. We purchase a zip line for our backyard so the children can zip through the wood (approximately 100 feet of line will be laid) and Scott has worked two evenings, in the rain, chopping trees and clearing debris and running the zip line. I can't wait to take off on our new toy...

The Big Blue Eyes Just Got Bigger

Darby, the ten-ager, is now the proud owner and wearer of contacts. We had a special class on the care and keeping of contacts and she did really well. She puts them in and takes them out without my assistance. I watch her, but I am not allowed to do it because she is really owning these lenses. I am excited for her and she is over the moon with pride.

10 Pins, 10 Years

Darby had a 'girl's night out' for her 10th birthday, mostly because Dad had a meeting and we needed some fun ASAP. We had fun with Camille and glow-in-the-dark bowling, pizza and Slush Puppies, and lots of games and prizes. It seems to me that these family entertainment centers that are geared to kids in elementary and middle school must be like Vegas for kids. The games are looking like roulette wheels and slot machines. It was very fun and we all had a good time. Birthday #10 was a good one.

Small Groups - Not So Small

My family is starting a small group Bible study on Sunday evenings at our house. I am looking forward to this challenge and have REALLY missed being a part of a small group study. But for us, with no friends at church yet and no idea about where to start connecting, we decided to have an open sign-up for our small group.

It worked. They keep signing up. The fire marshall is going to need to inspect the house and give us a maximum occupancy limit. This is not exactly how I planned it, but we are hoping for the best. We are spending the next two weeks tightening up the place with cleaning, curtain making, landscaping, and praying that there will be much less than 50 people show up. I'll keep you posted on the progress...

Roxy's Art

Roxy learned about drawing different kinds of faces in art class yesterday. I feel sorry for the poor bald guy getting stung by a bee. Yet another piece where pain and/or suffering is present...