the sky is pink

Although I've wanted chickens forever, it was about a year ago that I became seriously interested in getting some and started a "chicken campaign" with Joe. On Saturday we had a few errands to run in town and I asked Joe if we could run into one of the local feed stores just to see what it would cost to get set up. Little did I know that once six little kids saw the baby chicks, we would not be able to leave without getting some. (Okay, it wasn't all them. It was a lot me , as well.) It really was not my intention to buy any that day. We were just looking. I guess that's how we ended up with eleven. But look at them. How can anyone resist? We bought four "Reds" (New Hampshire Reds? Rhode Island Reds?? not sure), two "Ambers" (have no clue on this one, even using Google), and five Araucanas . (And please don't ask me their names. I'm a terrible mom and cannot remember them all. And I cannot identify which chick belongs to what name....

It's official. I am running for Town Council. It's exciting and makes me terribly uncomfortable at the same time. I actually submitted my application about two hours before the deadline on Monday, April 13th. Luckily it was a short application, or I may have changed my mind. Again. I really thought it was a low-key election. However, there are signs going up for others and everyone is starting to ask who I am. Apparently, not many people know me in this town of 1,100 people. So, we've been hitting the "campaign trail." We are walking around town in the evenings meeting people and handing out a little bio that Joe typed. Joe designed the kids' shirts. We used regular old boys' white under shirts and iron-on transfers on both the front and the back. The front says, "Vote for my mom for (my town) Town Council." Joe even designed the logo on the back of their shirts. I had shirts made for Joe and myself. Joe's says "Elect (me) for ...

Yes, it's true. This skirt was once a shower curtain. And I think whoever made the shower curtain, made it from a vintage sheet. When I first found the shower curtain , I wasn't quite sure what it was I found. I thought it was a sheet. Then I saw weird hemmings and thought it was a curtain. And then I noticed all the buttonholes at the top. I didn't care what it was. I was in love with the shabby chic-ness of it and it was coming home with me. So this sheet has been repurposed twice now. The skirt is another Simplicity 7229 . So very simple. And my girl has requested a matching one "so we can be twins." So, what's the count? I think it's three new skirts so far this spring.

Happy Earth Day! Last year I made a bunch of cloth napkins using the rolled hem feature of my serger. And, while we used them a lot in the beginning, I kind of forgot about them and paper napkins crept back into our lives. (Although, I must admit that paper are better for cleaning up spilled lemonade and for packing in my boys' lunches. I'm afraid I'd never see them again if they were in a lunchbox.) I am trying to be more mindful of our waste. I find myself asking, "Can I reuse, reduce, recycle, or repurpose this?" about every thing. I recently discovered our town has a receptacle just for paper recycling. That makes me giddy. We get tons of papers from school, so now I can load it up and drop them off at town hall. So, in honor of Earth Day, I am giving away this set of six cloth napkins. They are made from thrifted, vintage (therefore repurposed) sheets that are leftovers from various projects. If you'd like a chance to win them, please leave a comment on ...

Last week a friend of mine, Kat , gave me a bag of tablecloths. One floral tablecloth she bought for herself, and then realized it would make a cute dress/skirt, so she gave it to me. You'll probably being seeing that one soon ... In the bag was this harvest gold tablecloth with a lace edge. As soon as I saw it, the wheels in my brain started turning. In the end, it became a skirt. Simplicity 5505, to be exact. The skirt, which says takes two hours, took 20-25 minutes, because I didn't have to hem it. It only required a quick sew up the side seams and a casing for the elastic waistband. Easy peasy. And, had I listened to the little voice inside my head that said, "Check the tension on the serger before you start, Lera" it may have taken less time. And, had I listened to that same little voice yesterday morning that said, "Turn the crock pot on high for now and then turn it back to low," my dinner may have been done at dinner time and not bedtime.

Earth Day is coming! Are you ready? I found some cute little Earth Day socks at the store a month or so ago and decided that Spenser just needed another reason ( or not ) to have some more legwarmers to add to her collection. This is one of two pairs that I made for her, although Sawyer is the one modeling them this time. With his cute little piggies and rolled-up camo pants. And in celebration of Earth Day, we have an extra pair to give away. Just leave a comment on this post today and I will pick a name Tuesday (Tuesday as in tomorrow ) morning. If you have anything earthy to say, or any tips on how to be kind to our earth, I would love to hear it, although it is not mandatory when commenting. Legs details: These are shorties compared to my usual legwarmers. They are not the knee-high socks I usually use, so they will fit a younger/smaller child. They are comparable to the ones she wore on St. Patrick's Day . I would guess that they would fit a child up to age six or so, depe...

I am repurposing one of Mom-Mom's dresses. The original project from this dress should be titled When Sewing Goes Bad because it is having some major issues of its own. Anyway, this is actually the secondary project coming from the repurpose. You'll have to wait until next week to see the first one. After I attempt to fix it. It's a small doll pillow made from the bodice of the dress. I kept the original buttons and buttonholes, sewed a small rectangle, and stuffed it with batting. I was hoping it would be large enough to be used as a decorative pillow for Spenser's bed, but the darn armholes were in the way. Quick and simple. My kind of project. Now I have to tackle the demon that is the first project. Ugh. Happy weekending to you.

I was busy sewing along on my serger when suddenly a section of already-serged fabric somehow popped over the cutter and bent the heck out of my needle. Can you see that? It was so loud and unexpected, it scared me to death. Thankfully, it was a quick remedy. Well, the replacing of the needle was quick. Having to re-thread and make sure everything else was okay took longer. Have you had any moments when sewing has gone bad?

Remember when I woke up itchy last week from my new laundry detergent ? Well, I'm so very sorry that I complained about that. Because, in perspective, that was nothing. At the time, it was a major ordeal. In retrospect, I'd love to have that itchy rash all over my body right about now. Last week, Joe was out of town. After giving the little ones baths on Tuesday night, I noticed a little something that was "off" in Spenser's freshly-washed hair. It looked like a fruit fly or a gnat. But upon further inspection, it appeared to be a tick ... or worse. Head lice. As I found a few of these bugs, full panic set in. This is our first case of lice. And there was some living in my girl's hair. I checked all the boys, and they seemed fine. Joe was out of town, and because I wanted to treat this sooner than ASAP, I called his mother to stay with the children so that I could drive 20 minutes into civilization to remedy this problem. $58 later, I was armed wit...

It's nice to be back in this space after a little break. The boys had off of school for a few days and it's been a wild and hairy ride. They are all heading back today and I'm looking forward to some peaceful moments with only two at home. About a week before Easter, it occurred to me that I had given no consideration to our Easter outfits. For the past two Easters I've made ties for all the boys in the family and dresses and skirts for the girls. I quickly whipped up two dresses (Simplicity 3835 and 4206) for me and the girl, but the ties, well ... they just didn't happen this year. Life got in the way and, sadly, my little Easter tradition did not make the cut. (Joe also informed me that he does not like to tie the cotton ties and that it was a pain in the butt to do so. Even for one day.) The dresses are made from a Shabby Chic sheet that Karyn spotted while thrifting in Maryland last summer . We split the set and I put it aside for Easter. And then forgot abo...

My mother and aunts have been cleaning out Mom-Mom's house, getting ready to put it on the market, and they came across the eyelet dust ruffle that used to be on her bed. They were about to throw it away (she had cut it to fit around her hospital bed), but my mother thought that I could re-purpose it somehow. And somehow I did. My first thought was a little petticoat for Spenser. It's for her dress-up drawer and will go perfectly with her bloomers , pinafore and mob cap . I {heart} dress-up clothes. I would totally wear this set if I could... The second idea I had was to make a skirt similar to what Miss Chris did . This skirt set is actually one piece. The petticoat is sewn into the top skirt. I wanted the skirt to be a little longer and prairie-like for Spenser. After I finished sewing it, it would appear that the petticoat hangs down a little longer than I like. I think I'll have to fix that before she wears it.

We had some nice springy weather this weekend. Saturday was windy. I think Sunday was perfect, but I never went outside. Springy weather means skirt weather. I'm kind of bored with all of my skirts, so I decided I'd make a few more for spring. This is the first of, hopefully, many to come. It's Simplicity 7229 made from some vintage fabric that was gifted to me a while back. This skirt is so very simple. I first made this skirt almost two years ago. It's been a love-hate, so I decided to try it again ... I think there will be more. * * * On Saturday morning I awoke with an itchy-burny rash all over my body. I only noticed the itchy arms at first, but after my shower I realized my whole front was covered in red welts. The only thing I can think of is the new "he" laundry detergent I had to buy recently for our new washer/dryer set. I religiously wash our bedsheets every Friday and this was the first time I used the new detergent to wash our sheets. I spent...

I tried to think of a fun April Fools' joke to play on you. But, I couldn't think of anything as good, and believable, as last year's . (If you weren't around for last year's joke, make sure you also read the followup to post here .) Oh, ha ha. The joke was kind of on me last year. Anyway, I had seen these funny mustache molds and thought they'd be hysterical to pack in the boys' lunches for today. I made them last night, while doing the dishes. And watching TV. And shooing the older two out of the kitchen. I asked my favorite girl to pose with one this morning, as soon as the big boys were off to school. If Spenser's and Sawyer's reactions are anything like what the boys' will be like, they're sure to be a hit. Do you have any jokes planned for today? * * * Random News: * * * Yesterday morning, around midnight, I awoke with horrible body aches and chills. It was a terrible night. My MIL came to get the boys ready for school. (Joe ha...

Thursday morning we awoke at 3:45 a.m.-ish to get ready for Sawyer's surgery. When I went to get him from his crib (4:45-ish), he became wide awake. He stayed awake for the entire hour's drive to the hospital in Baltimore. He didn't know where we were going. Or where we were. Or what we were doing there. But he knew he was ready to go home as soon as we got there. About ten minutes before the surgery, he put his coat on over his hospital gown and announced he wanted to go home. We calmed him down, and he fell asleep in my arms. Literally just minutes before I walked him into the operating room. It was so much easier to have him already asleep when they placed the gas mask on his face. And then I left the room. That's the story of Sawyer's surgery. Every thing went that well. Down to the very last detail. The surgery that was expected to last an hour and 15 minutes, lasted less than 45 minutes. (Within 45 minutes of leaving him in the operating room, both the surgeo...

Tomorrow my littlest man has to have surgery. It all started about last summer when I noticed some enlarged lymph nodes on his neck. (My father has non-Hodgkin lymphoma , so I am extremely paranoid cautious about this stuff.) I brought it to the attention of our doctor, but she said he had fluid in his ears and maybe it was just because he was getting sick and put him on antibiotics. But they were still there. Then I took him back in for something and mentioned it again. She looked in his ears and saw fluid in his ears again, so she put him back on antibiotics. But they were still there. Joe and I watched them for a few months, and when it was time for his well checkup, I informed her that they were still there and hadn't changed. I think it was at that time she noticed some in his groin, too. Anyway, she sent us to an Ear, Nose & Throat specialist. For some strange reason, the morning of Sawyer's first appointment, he awoke with these two large, walnut-sized glands un...

On Saturday morning, we ran the 5K. There were six of us in our group. While I had fun with the girls, I did not enjoy the run. Call me a wimp, or whatever you'd like, but I don't like extremes. Extreme cold? Blech. Extreme heat and humidity? I'll stay as close to the air conditioning as possible. I prefer the 60-80 degree days with no humidity. (Which are few are far between in Maryland.) Saturday morning is was cold. I mean cold . I can now say, from experience, that 28 degrees is too cold to run. It's best to just stay at home in your warm toasty bed. Okay, I thought. It's cold, but it's not that cold. (I was in complete and utter denial.) And then the race began. While there was a paved path along the route, most of the run was "cross country." Or, in other words: grass . Like in high school. Except, this wasn't the maintained, groomed fields of the school system. It was the uneven, "potholes," stuff-in-the-way kind of run. Like, du...

So I made a Miss Chris shirt for Spenser on Saturday. It was pretty simple, but the elastic casing for the sleeves made me want to say something bad. But I didn't. In my usual Lera way, I made it a teensy bit too big. I need to make the elastic in the neck shorter so it stays on her shoulders better. And it seems very wide. And short. At the same time. I think I might lengthen the next one I make (and do the sleeves differently, too). I used some multi-colored polka dot fabric. (I think it's Alexander Henry Pop Dots.) I've had it in my stash for a couple of years. I thought the fabric would be very versatile with all the different color dots. Now I'm thinking it looks like a clown's shirt. What do you think ... cute? or clownish? * * * Have a great weekend. I have my first 5K tomorrow morning! Yikes!

Yesterday I broke in our clothesline for the upcoming season. But not because I wanted to. On Monday night I discovered a load of wet laundry in our dryer. I thought, "I can't believe I forgot to turn the dryer on." The laundry was a little stinky by then, so I took out that wet laundry, stuck the laundry from the washing machine into the dryer and re-washed the first load. I made sure I turned on the dryer before I left and went to bed ... And it was still wet the next morning. There I was with two loads of wet laundry, and no dryer. Thankfully yesterday was a nice day and I was able to use our clothesline, but quickly ran out of room. Luckily my MIL lives a few miles away, so I took the rest to her house. We were going to try to repair it, but we bought it right after we were married when we bought our first home. It's almost 14 years old. And it has other problems that I've just lived with for several years. Appliance shopping is not one of my favorites, but it...

On Friday night, Taylor was invited to a birthday party. Well, he received a verbal invite earlier in the week with the promise of a written invite later in the week. When I asked Taylor for the details, he didn't know. So, not knowing the day or time, I kind of pushed it to the back of my mind and waited for the invitation. Then a phone call came with another verbal invite and an apology for not giving Taylor the written invite. The call came on Thursday evening. The party was for Friday evening. I had just been in town on Thursday for preschool and errands and did not plan to return again until Tuesday (before the broken-finger incident , which made me return to town both Friday and Monday). I tried to think of some clever way of giving this boy money. A boy who was turning thirteen on Friday the 13th. Then it hit me: I took a piece of cardstock and folded it in half. I made a pocket out of some scrapbook paper and used double-sided tape along both sides and the bottom. I taped ...

She's all ready for St. Patrick's Day. She's got her new green dress, her green vintage coat , and her new Shamrock Legs . No snakes are going to get her today! Thank you for the well-wishes yesterday . She's a trooper. She went to see the specialist yesterday and they removed the splint and just taped the two fingers together. He said that fingers tend to stiffen up when splinted, but when taped between the joint, they have better mobility. She's giddy to the point of giggling over this. So much better than having to wrap and re-wrap her hand in gauze several times a day. She'll go back in two weeks for another x-ray. She picked out green Jell-O yesterday, so we'll make that today. (I also picked up pistachio pudding, but I'm not quite sure the children will be brave enough to try it.) And, I guess tonight is our annual "green eggs and ham" dinner. What green do you have going on today?