Home Court Advantage

We had Blinns at the house last weekend, which is always an adventure. You can tell when my family is coming to visit because I deep clean the carpets and put ALL the leaves in the table. The main attraction was my Easter Cantata, plus I really wanted Mom to see the Barbie exhibit at the Childrens' Museum before my membership runs out.

Here we are at the museum, goofing off:
Molly and Laura and I are a bunch of fruits.
And Molly with her namesake pteradactyl (in the background) and Porter doing a flip (foreground).
Mmm, steakburgers.
I don't know what it is about Molly, but she seems to be a kid magnet. Porter could not stop climbing on her (he also was using Graypa as a piece of playground equipment) and Amy warmed up to Molly before she would come near anyone else. I don't know what it is about Molly, but she is not a big fan of Blinns when they first arrive. But by the end of their visit she would go to Grammy or Graypa or Laura no problem, and I realized after she left that she had been calling them by name ("Gammy" and "Gramma," respectively).

Miles came over for a short visit one night, too (driven by Uncle Monkey, but only because Miles' legs are too short to reach the gas pedals). It's always a hoot when Miles comes over because he is fascinated by our toys (possibly because we have 90 times more at our house) and he was VERY appreciative of the cupcake I gave him.

The Easter Cantata was on Sunday night, and I was very pleased with how it went off. We seemed to be having some trouble with the microphones, so I played extra loud on my flute. My family was sitting in the way-back (we had to open up the overflow and the gym) and they said they could hear me just fine. I had a great time preparing for & participating in a major choral work for the first time in years and hope to do it again sometime. Also, my girls wore their new dresses and I forgot to take any pictures! D'oh!

I don't know if you noticed, but there's a little thing called 'March Madness' going on. I went to this little-known Midwestern university called Butler, and they are pretty good at getting the ball through the hoop. Now, while I totally forgot to fill out a bracket this year, if I'd remembered I would have put Butler into the Sweet Sixteen. It's something they've done a few times over the last few years (the first time ever was when Betsy was a baby) and it's largely considered to be a pretty darn good finish for a tiny school with an enrollment of less than 4,000. Of course, the Final Four is being hosted in Indy this year (as it is every couple of years... we really like basketball around here) but I didn't necessarily think Butler would end up playing at home. Sure, it would be nice, but kind of a stretch. On the other hand, I do think Stevens' Bulldogs are the best they've ever been. So anyway, just in case you have been living in a cave or something for the last few days...

Butler is in the Final Four!

Now, how much I actually watched the games varied a lot. The Murray State game actually had me pretty worried. It's hard to watch when I have any kind of expectations. I also had to be careful not to scream and yell too much so I wouldn't kill my voice for the Easter Cantata. At this point, I don't mind if they lose their next game... I feel like Butler making the Final Four is like a Big Ten school winning the whole thing. And I am definitely a winner anytime I don't have to explain to people where I went to college.

The media coverage has been really interesting, too. I've been having a fun time playing 'Sports Media Cliche' Bingo.' You get points anytime a writer uses the term 'Cinderella,' 'historic Hinkle Fieldhouse,' refers to the movie Hoosiers or describes Brad Stevens as 'baby-faced' or 'youthful.' The free space in the center of the board is 'The Butler Did It' or any variation thereof, because that one's just obvious. Actually, one article I read described Butler as 'blue-collar,' which really perplexed me... Butler is a lot of things (expensive; good at basketball) but blue-collar is most definitely not one of them.

Much as I would have loved to, I will not be watching any of the games in person. I would have had to pawn my firstborn for tickets, and I'm kind of attached (especially since she just lost one of her top front teeth and is now 33% adorabler). I am going to try to go down on Friday and watch a practice session at Lucas Oil Field, though. And you'd better believe I will be screaming myself hoarse come Saturday night.

Bleh.

It doesn't come as a shock to anyone who knows me that I am not really the biggest fan of winter. I even haven't updated my blog in ages because once Christmas is over, there's nothing interesting to say or do or look at for weeks at a time. It snows, it melts, it rains, it snows some more. Actually, today is one of those icy-sunny days, which I think I prefer over 30 degrees and overcast. So yay for the sun. Although, I'm probably not doing myself any favors dividing my time between the basement (for crafting) and the computer (for tutoring and, occasionally, updating the ol' blog.)

But we are just plugging along in this family. Matt goes to work, Betsy goes to first grade, Porter is in preschool in the afternoons and when Amy naps I have a little time to get things done. Matt took Porter to a Pacers game last week and they both had fun, although Porter was mainly interested in the water fountains at Conseco Fieldhouse. Betsy had the 100th day of school and glued 100 buttons to a T shirt - much to my surprise, they didn't all fall off. Amy's new words lately are "okay" and "mm-hmm" (both of which crack me up), she's doing better with two-word sentences, and she likes to blow raspberries on my cheeks. She's also obsessed with baby dolls but that's nothing new.

As I mentioned above, I've been doing a lot of crafting in the new year. Mainly sewing, so far. (I finally cracked and got a Slice - a digital cutter for scrapbooking - but it was dysfunctional and I had to send it back, so I really haven't scrapped that much yet.) I've been sewing a lot of doll clothes - something I really enjoy, although I think I need to take a break from it for a while. Last night I cut out the girls' Easter dresses, mainly as a way of looking forward to spring. They will both be vintage patterns (Amy's and Betsy's) made out of fabric with vintage patterns on it. Yes, there are times when I enjoy being the mother of daughters and this is definitely one of those times.

I was talking to a friend today and realized that while I've been sewing like crazy lately, I've barely sewn anything for myself. In the past year I've made me two dresses and a skirt. Sad. Now, one of my New Year's resolutions - pretty much the only one - is NO NEW FABRIC until at least June. It's fun to challenge myself to shop from my stash, and I've realized that I really need to make something for myself, because I've reached that inevitable point in the winter when I realize I hate all of my clothes. Anyway, I have lots of summer dresses, and lots of Sunday dresses, but what I really need is a winter weekday dress. Something that I can wear over thick cotton tights and some knee-high boots (from Goodwill, of course). So I went through my ever-growing pattern stash (the corollary to my rule above, by the way, is no new patterns, either) and I've definitely come up with some good options. I have lots of vintage patterns that are actually my size, so hopefully I will be able to get something whipped up by the end of next week.

The other thing that's been keeping me busy lately - no, it's not laundry - is the Easter Cantata. See, a lady in my ward decided it would be fun to put together a multi-ward choir (It really baffles me that some mothers - she has three small kids, even - can do stuff like this and I can't even get my laundry folded.) and put on a massive performance of one of Sally DeFord's easter cantatas. Matt was actually the one who saw the flyer first and told me about it - I've really missed being in a big choir since I left Rochester. Anyway, guess what this paricular choral work has?

Have you guessed yet?

FLUTE PARTS, and guess who plays the flute (although not so much in recent years), it's me. So I went ahead and volunteered my services, and surprisingly there are actually not a ton of flute players around here, so they were more than happy to have me. So I've had to practice a lot, although I have to say, it's all come back pretty easily. I loaded the music onto my new MP3 player (Thanks, Matt!) and listened to it over and over so that hopefully, when March 28th comes around, I won't totally embarrass myself.

Actually, now that I think about it, 2010 hasn't been so boring after all. We've been to the Children's Museum and saw the new Barbie exhibit (Mom - you HAVE to come see it) and we went to Conner Prarie, the local living-history place, on MLK Day when it was free. I actually liked it so much I think we might get a membership (it's only $65 a year, which is cheaper than any of our other memberships) and go back in the summer. Matt and I went out for our 9th anniversary (only a month or so late) and I wore this new outfit, courtesy of Goodwill. The Colts are going to the Super Bowl, and unlike certain brothers of mine, I am hoping they will win (although I wouldn't mind if a Super Bowl victory is not followed by a giant blizzard like it was the last time around). I've been watching Universal Sports Network a whole lot lately and getting excited for the Winter Olympics, which I always enjoy watching even though I'm not really a sports person. So it's been a decent year so far and there is still plenty to look forward to.

Living in flip-flops.

Ahh, summer. Once I finished all the laundry from our trip to Rochester (which took DAYS), I felt like we could really get into the swing of things. I found some various activities for the kids to do: sports camps for Betsy, summer school for Porter (two weeks through his preschool AND it's free AND they will bus him), and swimming lessons for the both of them (which will be its own separate blog post because there's a really long story behind that!) Matt and I felt like we were walking a fine line between overscheduling the kids and not doing anything productive with them, but I think we've hit the perfect balance. There actually isn't any overlap between the various activities, and everything was either free or really cheap. Betsy started softball camp yesterday, which is free and staffed with no small amount of enthusiasm by the girls on the high school team. But, we've also left plenty of time for riding bikes/swimming/going to the park/playing in the backyard. Our zoo membership is expired, so we won't be heading back there for a while, but we've still got the Childrens Museum. And the IMA has free admission every day, so I'm hoping we can make it down there as well.


Our garden is going crazy with all the rain we've had lately. Matt built a second garden bed this year so we have one for tomatoes/peppers/lettuce, and one for zucchini/squash/broccoli/cauliflower, plus the bean plants Porter brought home from school that I totally thought would die but didn't. We also have strawberry plants growing around the patio, which are in their third year and are producing really well, plus a bumper crop of various herbs. Betsy picked the first red tomato this morning. I can't wait! I've found that tomato plants seem to be ideally suited for the Indiana humidity so we usually have more than we can handle. Maybe I should make gazpacho...


And as for me, I've been getting up early and going walking before Matt leaves, which gives me more energy to face the day. I spend as much time in the basement as possible (and not just because it's cooler down there), pretty much alternating between paper crafting and sewing. My camera did turn up - it got left behind in Rochester - so as soon as I have that back, I will have tons of wedding pictures to scrap, which I'm really excited about. (In the meantime, why not peruse these?) I actually finished a dress for myself, and as I was thinking about it I realized it's been at least a year since the last Joni-dress. I made a couple of tops for me and FOUR dresses for Betsy, but that's it. Anyway, this was my first ever vintage project (sure, I've been collecting the old patterns, but not so much making them) using one of the patterns that Mom gave me while I was in Rochester.

I'm even using vintage buttons (I felt slightly guilty cutting them off of the lovely button card, but then I got over it)

Gorgeous, no? I think that the Butterick from the 1950s have the best pattern illustrations. Once I finish the belt (and have my camera back) I'll do a blog post about it. Sewing vintage was not nearly as intimidating as I thought it would be, and it turned out really nice.

As if that weren't enough, I will very soon have a new toy to play with:

Yes, finally. If you've been reading my blog for a while you've caught on to the fact that I've wanted a serger pretty much from the moment I started sewing but in the past, I've had to rely on my mother bringing hers every time she comes out. (Hey Mom, now that I have one of my own, you won't have to visit any more!) The combination of finally establishing a serger fund and finding a really good deal ($200 on AllBrands.com) have allowed for the fulfillment of a lifelong dream that I've had for the last three years or so. I've been trying to kill the time waiting (yes, even with 3-day shipping it's hard to be patient!) by haunting the thrift stores and such in search of yet more vintage patterns. I picked up a huge stack at a church sale last weekend for, I am not kidding you, a little over two cents apiece.

So, that's summer around here. What's everyone else's plans?

Ten items or less

1. Amanda Ripley, author of The Unthinkable, is going to be on 20/20 on Friday night. I've been recommending the book to everyone - it's one of the most interesting things I've ever read. (The title and cover makes it seem like it's a scary book, but for me at least, it had the opposite effect.) So if you don't have time to sit down and read a whole book, catch the TV version of it instead.



2. One of my very best friends just opened up this Etsy store. Cute!



3. How's this for cool: a craft-themed line of scrapbooking supplies (from, of course, American Crafts)!



4. Porter and I discovered Wubbcasts the other day (YouTube with Mom is an important part of his after-bath ritual) and I think I am addicted. Porter really likes the water fight; my favorite is the hopelessly-earwormy Don't Lie. You are powerless to resist its catchiness...



5. I've heard the same song on the radio on my drive into work every day for weeks. Is the universe trying to tell me something, or is it merely a case of diegogarcity?



6. Look look! Mother-daughter dresses! And mother-daughter shoes! Oh, the possibilities...



7. I am so glad that all of the drugstore-brand cosmetics manufacturers have jumped on the whole mineral-foundation bandwagon... because that means I can finally afford it. And it makes my skin look awesome.



8. So, Butler basketball is doing really awesome this year. But, is anyone really surprised by that? I mean, at some point doesn't the word 'Cinderella' no longer apply?



9. I analyzed batch # 24601 today. And no, I did not pile all the lab equipment into a barricade and climb on top of it waving a flag. I did hum a little to myself, though. (It was a 5W20 semi synthetic, in case you're wondering.)



10. My babysitter's kid is finally gaining weight, now that she's started him on solids. She's also been feeding him some of the extra milk from my freezer and the doctor told her not to because (and this is a direct quote) my milk is "not fatty enough." Gee, I guess that explains the appearance of Amy's thighs...

that new computer smell

So, right when I was getting ready to do a hard drive restore, our computer REALLY died. As in, it smelled like smoke and wouldn't turn on. Thank goodness I had just gotten done backing things up, or I would be really stressed right now. I saved everything - not just our budgets and tax information, but also the REALLY important stuff, like the 100 or so fonts I've downloaded and supply lists for all my scrapbook pages. You know, the truly vital things.

I spent yesterday shopping around and today we went to Circuit City - the salesguy was quite amused by my little notebook full of side-by-side comparisons of various models - and bought pretty much the EXACT same computer we had before, only for $200 less. (I love how technology keeps getting cheaper. Pretty soon they will be including a free desktop in every box of Cap'n Crunch.) Also, we can burn CDs now, which we couldn't before, so that's pretty cool. The only downside is that now I have to learn Windows Vista - and it's already driving me crazy. Oh well, progress marches on, and I don't want to get trampled.

Oh! Who watched the game last night? Butler was in the Sweet Sixteen for the second time in five years. Which hardly constitutes a powerhouse, but still I think it's pretty darn good for a tiny obscure school from the Midwest. And they didn't win, which I didn't expect them to - and it would have messed up my bracket if they had - but they put up a really good showing. It's a good year to be a Bulldog!

Super Bowl

Umm... so the Colts won.

There was actually a massive parade and pep rally downtown yesterday for our returning heroes. And I so would have gone, if it were maybe a teensy bit warmer than 2 degrees outside. As it was, the RCA Dome was filled to capacity and the streets were lined with yet more fans. THE COLTS WON THE SUPERBOWL!!!

Today it's warmed up a bit - just enough for the snow to start, actually. Yep, we're in the throes of a full fledged blizzard. And Matt - who had yesterday off, due to his generous bosses - is on his way home right now. I'm mainly typing this blog entry to take my mind off of my nervousness, actually.

I finished assembling my dress that I started on Sunday. Now I just have to pick out a lot of basting stitches and do the hem while I am watching NCIS. I'll post a picture in the next day or two - it's wicked cute.

Scrapping, sewing, stuff

Okay, first of all how cool is this. I'm going to the 2007 Scrap Etc. Event! Mo generously gave away 5 free spaces and I was lucky enough to be #4. Which not only means a weekend of fun, scrapping, and NO kids... it also means going to Alabama... in March! I've never been a fan of March weather (though it's better here than in NY) so that will be a nice break.

And... I mailed my HOF entry yesterday! I feel pretty good about it. I did my best, it's just up to the judges now (well, okay, and the U.S. Post Office, also).

Since my HOF entry is done and I'm out of photos to scrap anyway, I decided to dedicate a little time to sewing. I'm doing Simplicity 4072 and so far it has lived up to the name 'simplicity' - no buttons, no zippers, no set-in sleeves even (I'm doing the view with the kimono-style bodice). I hope to have it done in time to wear to church next Sunday. I have to say, the sewing is fun, but I REALLY hate cutting out all the pieces... especially those &^$@#%^ notches.

Betsy hasn't been feeling too well this weekend. She seems to have caught a gastrointestinal bug - though it seems to be running the 'intestinal' end of the spectrum. Boy howdy, there was one disappointed little girl in my house this morning when she realized that she wasn't going to Primary. However, I got her to eat some oatmeal by giving her leftover Christmas sprinkles to sprinkle over the top, and that cheered her up a bit. She's taking a nap now, which is a shame because KICKOFF IS IN TEN MINUTES!!!

Yeah, we're just a little excited about the Colts.

HECK YES!!!

The Colts are going to the Super Bowl!!!

I didn't watch most of the game because I knew it would stress me out too much. Matt insisted that I come down and see it when they were tied at 34. When there were 30 seconds left and the Patriots had the ball, Matt said "They need a sack" and I said "Or an interception, that would be good" and right that very moment Marlin Jackson caught an interception and basically ended the game. I can only imagine how insane it was downtown. I'd just assumed that Tom Brady and New England were unbeatable - and an 18-point lead sure did look insurmountable, didn't it? ;-) Now we have high hopes for what the newspapers have already dubbed "The I-65 Bowl" (even if I-65 really only gets you as far as all that stinkin' construction in Gary) but I think I will have to find some other project to distract me from the game.

Speaking of football, Matt and I watched 'Invincible' over the weekend. I was expecting to hate it (I hated 'The Rookie') but actually I think I got into it more than Matt did. He liked the football stuff, I liked the awesome soundtrack (the movie does take place in 1976 after all) and seeing J.D.'s pregnant urologist girlfriend from 'Scrubs.' Good date movie, I think.

We did get dumped with snow yesterday, for the first time all season really. It's already starting to melt, but it's wet and easy to pack so Matt took Betsy out this morning and they made a snowman together. We didn't have any regular size carrots, so he has a baby carrot for a nose.

random stuff...

We went to the State Museum on Monday (all the museums are free on MLK Day). They had a really gross exhibit about bugs and dead bodies. Fascinating, but gross.

I'm 97% done with my Hall of Fame entry. Still waiting for York Photo to send me my prints so I can finish up the Crafty Combo. Why do I keep ordering from York? They always take f o r e v e r to send me my pictures.

We're teaching Betsy how to write her name now. She's got the E and the T and more or less the Y (it looks a lot like the T, but I'm forgiving) and we're working on the B. S still has her completely stumped, however.

My voice is nearly hoars from rrawring with Porter.

The Colts are playing the Patriots in the conference championship this weekend. I hate to be a Negative Nellie, but aren't the Pats the ones who always knock the Colts out of the playoffs? Much like the Packers and the Dallas Cowboys. I don't, however, reserve the same level of hatred for the Patriots as I do for the Cowboys. Some teams are just pure evil.

Don't overcook angelhair pasta. Not a pretty sight.

Old Navy is having a massive clearance sale. No more 97-cent capris for me. But, I got Matt some work pants for $8 (good thing, they inevitably end up with ink on them) and a scarf for 75 cents. Now his neck will be warm when he's walking from the parking garage, because I am a good wife.

You actually haven't seen cute, until you've seen a 1-year-old do the motions to 'Popcorn Popping.'

More things to be thankful for...

In case leftover pie wasn't enough, Butler's basketball team won the NIT championship yesterday. In order to get there they had to defeat both Notre Dame (TAKE THAT KEVIN) and Indiana (NEENER NEENER MIKE). The best thing about it, for me? The fact that now, maybe people will actually have heard of the school I went to. ("Butler? You're going to school to learn how to open doors?")

Last night, we went downtown to see the Christmas decorations. I dressed Porter in a little fleece Santa suit (that I got at Target after Christmas last year for, like, three bucks). Matt teased me for dressing his son up but I'm glad I did - practically everyone who looked at Porter was smiling. You've got to admit, he is cute.

I started my Christmas baking yesterday also. I have four kinds of cookies in various stages of completion, and a pan of fudge which may or may not turn out. (I don't exactly have the best track record with fudge.) I've already made a double batch of chocolate cherries which is, um, rapidly disappearing.

My house smells awesome because my thoughtful husband gave me a Christmas-tree-smelling candle. This is something that's very important to me: the house has to smell like a Christmas tree, even though ours is fake. It's almost as important as listening to the Muppets (badum-pum-pum).

Also, BYU beat Utah State in the last 3 seconds. Awesome!