Tis The Season...

So it's Christmas again, seems to me it should be a happy time of year but instead all I see are very unhappy people. I go to the store and no one smiles, say's excuse me, or is even polite anymore. It's like they only care about one thing.

Getting those presents for those people they really don't even care for. Going broke and wracking up a ton of debt just to get what they think is the best present for someone. I guess you could say that I hate Christmas but in all reality I love Christmas. I hate how Christmas changes people. It makes them like monsters right up till Christmas morning.

What ever happened to the season of good will toward men and all that jazz? What ever happened to being happy with just being with your family? Why all the stress?

I do understand if your a parent. As parents we want what is best for your children and if your like me you have mommy guilt for not being able to give your kids everything they ever wanted. This year we were really stressed about how our Christmas was going to turn out. We had no money for gifts for the kids or even a Christmas tree.

The stress was so heavy on our minds we, in a sense turned in to the kind of people I talked about but for a totally different reason. I just wanted for my children what every other child was going to get on Christmas morning. A hoard of presents waiting under a wonderfully decorated Christmas tree. The sent of pine in the air and wrapping paper all over the house. 

It dawned on me that everything about Christmas is about money, presents, the feast and even sitting on santa's lap. I mean when I was little you could go to the store and sit on santas lap for free. Your mom could take a picture and not get in trouble. Now to even get close to the big guy in red you have to pay then you have to pay for a photo. Nothing is free anymore. Why is that? Why are all these kids getting left behind cause their parents don't have means to pay for all the goodies?

To me that just sounds wrong so I will leave you with this, when your off at the store in the hustle and bustle stop and think about those that are less fortunate than you. Maybe throw a few extra toys or boxes of food in that cart and go donate it cause not everyone is gonna be as fortunate as you on Christmas morning. Be polite to your fellow shoppers and use your manners.

Our Big Move

Well folks, this Cali girl is moving on up, yep she is moving on up to Oregon!!!! 

I am a bit nervous but on Friday, September 16th we are gonna be in our apartment in Salem, Oregon. I am excited. I was born and raised in California. It's gonna be a big change for me but I think it will be a good one.

So far it has been hectic, tomorrow we are getting the moving truck and will start to load our stuff up. We have already packed the downstairs bathroom and part of the kitchen. We are doing a bunch of down sizing so that we are sure to make everything fit in our new place.

We went today and picked up the immunization records for the kids and got a certified copy of Mila's birth certificate so that we have one for each of us. I have gotten all my meds (still need to get the one's I need to pay out of pocket) and asked about Dr's up in Salem and how to get our records sent up when we finally get a Dr.

I think that this move will be good for us, we will be about 60 miles from the coast and the kids love the ocean so that is gonna be great. I love the snow and the cooler weather so that is good for me and Tyler loves that there are jobs up there for what he does. I love that it's a crunchy town and my tattooed, pierced and dready self will fit in there. 

I just can't wait, I can't believe we are leaving California though, I never thought I would leave here. I thought for sure I would be here forever but the heat has gotten to me so bad and with not being able to get jobs here we feel it is time to move on. 

So wish us luck in our venture and I will be sure to post an update when we get there and add some pictures of our journey and new place.

Learning To Make Dresses

So Mila's first Birthday is on the 7th and I needed something to get her. We are low on cash and trying to be the crafty mama I am I figured we could use a doll that was in the shed and give her some  new clothes. I was looking around online for an easy cheap doll dress when I came across this tutorial on how to make a bandanna dress.

Our Walmart has bandanna's for $1.00 so I figured why not, I can at least give it a try so I decided to make matching outfits for my daughter and her new baby doll. I spent $3.00 on the bandanna's and got some ribbon in the clearance section for $1.00. I started with my daughter's dress and all in all it took me about 20 minutes or so to finish. The doll dress was a little longer cause I had to cut the bandanna's down a bit because, let's face it, dolly's are not as wide as little girls LOL

So for a total of $3.20 or so with the ribbon that was used I have a brand new Birthday Dress and a little dress for my daughter's first dolly. I do have to say I am happy and that hopefully she loves her dolly as much as I use to love my dolly's. I will be sure to post some pictures of her in her dress on her birthday and some of her playing with her dolly.

This Crunchy Mama Is Going Dready

Yep, that be me...my hair that is. I have decided to do what I have wanted to do since I was 13 years old. I have decided to dread my hair. This has been something I have always wanted to do but in all reality I had no clue how to do it. I looked around the stores and even asked in salons but back then no one really had any advice.

I then met my ex and he was like "Oh hell no, those are dirty and nasty and your not doing that". Well now I can do what I want so I am going for it. I have met with some resistance though but I figured I would. I can not even begin to tell you how many people have told me they smell, they are dirty and you can't clean them. Well ya they may smell on some but if your taking care of your hair like a normal person and doing what you need then there should be no smell other than clean hair. They are not dirty cause let's face it, dirty hair does not dread well. It needs to be free of oils so that it can tighten up. 

I am using the Natural/Neglect method but neglect is not really the right word cause I am making sure they are doing what they need to be doing. I wash my hair about 4 times a week with a Baking Soda mixture then rinse it with Apple Cider Vinegar and it leaves it squeaky clean and smelling wonderful. I also have to make sure that any big matting is dealt with. You have to rip the mat's up in to the size of dread's you want so you don't get one huge mat in your hair.

I have so far ripped about 6 dreads under the back of my hair and I have placed wooden beads to keep them from joining together again. I have to say that I love how my hair looks right now, all wild and unkempt. It's a mess but I know it's a clean and orderly mess so it makes me happier. I can't wait to be able to update you that I have dreads locking up and getting tighter, I can't wait to be able to see some real progress.

Some New Projects

So as I posted about my clothes pin bag before I have some pictures for you all on what I did to remedy the problem, I made my own out of an old hand me down dress that was given to us for Mila. I would have never put it on her and was saving it for her to use for her dolly's when she get's older so I figured I may as well try my hand at the pattern I found on line.

I turned the dress inside out and sewed up the arm holes, I sewed up the bottom of the dress and I sewed a straight line in the back of the bib that goes around the neck of the dress. I also sewed the back of the dress together at the first button hole so that it stays permanently shut. Before I did this I put the hanger in cause it would not have fit after I sewed it up. I also just used an old dress hanger from one of Mila's dresses so that was free also. All in all this project took about 10 min's from start to finish and cost me nothing at all to make.

The front, you can see how I stuffed the cuffs of the arms in and sewed it and then the same with the ruffle on the bottom.

This is the back, you can see the stitch that I made on the bib around the neck and how the row of buttons being open on the back make a perfect pocket for you hand to reach in and grab out pins when you need.

I also made a Katrina Diaper Cover Soaker tonight, I was super surprised at how easy it was to make, here is the site for the pattern and the instructions if your interested in make it.

http://katrinassqs.blogspot.com/2007/10/free-soaker-pattern.html

 I don't sew, I have a machine and I can sew a straight line but I have never followed a pattern before and this was surprisingly easy. It was done up in about a half hour and I found the most time consuming part was cutting out the pattern, pinning it on the fabric and cutting the pieces out. 

I used some old fleece blankets that I had laying around that we were not using anymore. I think this one turned out good. It was easy to sew up and the instructions were really easy to follow. I will be making more of these in the next few days.

This is the front, I also added two extra layers for the wet zone so you can see the stitching there. I know the lines are not so perfect but I really don't mind, it's not like I am selling these or anything.

This is the back, I think that I may have messed up on the right leg cause for some reason it's got a pucker there. I am not sure what I did but it could have been easily messed up cause those legs were not to easy to sew on. Like I said I am new to this and I kept stabbing myself with the pins.

Never Thought It Would Be So Hard

To find a dang cloths pin bag. We have been everywhere looking for one but not one store in our town has one. So far I have tried Walmart, Target, Lowes, Homedepot, Bed Bath and Beyond, Pier One and Wallgreens. Sooo I am pretty sure we are not going to be finding one in our town. 

So do people not hang clothes out to dry anymore? Why not? I mean for us it saves us money, keeps our house cool in the summer cause the dryer is not going as much and it suns our diapers to keep the stains down and the bacteria out.

I have taken to hanging our clothes and all stuff out there to dry. I even bought more line to make more of my ghetto clothes line I had posted about before. I now have 5 lines strung all the way across and a half line strung between that I normally use for undies or diaper covers.

I do have to say that I hate hanging the clothes out on the line cause here in California it get's pretty hot out there on the concrete slab we have and there is no shade. I try to get out there either late at night or early morning but today I did get stuck out there at about noon time and it was hot.

So after much searching I found a pattern online to make my own clothes pin bag and I may try it. You use an old childs dress or button up shirt. You sew the bottom shut and then use a child's clothes hanger to use for the hanger. I know I have something hanging around here I could use so tomorrow the search will be on. 

I just hope I can find something cause I really am getting sick of bending over and trying to get pins when I am holding the clothes in place. It would be great to have the pins right at hand level so that I can get my job done faster so I can get back in the nice cool house.

I will try to get some pictures if I do succeed at my cloths pin bag and post the pattern also so that if any of you all are having issues finding your own clothes pin bag then you can stop the search and make your own.

It's Over, I Can't Believe It's Over

Harry Potter is over, how can that be? How can she have done this to us? I know I am a stupid, silly Harry Potter fan but I have watched every single one of these movies and loved every second of it. 

The happiness of hearing my kids remind me that it's coming out soon and I better get to the movie store before it opens just so I can grab a copy. Telling them they were all out only to pull it out of my bag and see the looks of excitement on their faces. Popping the pop corn and drinking soda. Getting all piled on the couch, turning off the lights and watching the movie.

I have watched the last 3 movies alone as the kids are with their dad but it is not really the same. Yes I get all hyped up but there is no pop corn and soda. No cuddles on the couch, just me and sometimes Tyler. He's not a good one to watch them with cause he's not to in to them LOL

I just watched the last movie tonight and I have to say I am sad, sad that in the future regardless of what happens there will be no more pop corn and soda. No more cuddles on the couch and no experiencing the movie for the first time together.

I am also devastated that it is over, Harry Potter is no more and that is sad to me. The movie became such a big part of my life and I am sad to see it end. I watched those kids grow up on the screen and grow as their characters and it's sad to know that it is no more.

I sat here crying as I watched the last movie, it was sad to me. All the death and pain that was emoted out on the screen. All the stuff that came together and fell in to place. It was like the last piece of the jig saw puzzle, everything is now understood and it all makes sense. 

I am sad to see it all go, I wanted it to last forever so that maybe, one day I could experience the pop corn, soda and cuddles from the kids again...