Just a short note to let those who read know that I accomplished two things this week. I've finished a wall hanging that will be a gift (pictures to follow!) and have a skirt that will be ready tomorrow. Yep, I've been bitten by the sewing bug as well!

Projects in the works include:
Afgahn for Christmas
Quilt — probably for Christmas
iPod Cover for Christmas
Dreaded Weasley sweater (grrrrr)
Costume for my sister's wedding
Choker for this month's exchange
Fingerless gloves — hopefully a Christmas gift

And then I need 100 embroidered bookmarks by March 2009 and I still want to do some soaping and candlemaking.... I need more time in the day!

I'll send pictures when I can!

One of the best things about homeschooling is getting to learn with your kids. A close second is seeing what they do with that information.

So the older daughter was getting a little frustrated with the younger one. (They are six years apart in age, so it's understandable.) But HOW does the older one deal with her sister? Simple. She has the young one put in the stocks.

The younger one is then placed on the stage with her "crime" for all the world to see -- being a "twit." (To those who know her in person, no, it didn't go over well at first!) The converstaion then went something like this:

Jailer: "You have been accused of a crime."

Jailer's Assistant: "A most obvious crime."

Jailer: "Yes. The obvious crime is you being a twit. Do you pled guilty or innocnet."

Silly daughter pled guilty.

Jailer: "Now, repeat after me: I am dumber than Jessica Simpson."

Daughter: "You're dumber than Jessica Simpson."

Assistant shakes head.

Jailer: "You aren't playing fair. Now I said repeat after me. Say I am dumber than Jessica Simpson."

Daughter (who is nothing if not consistant!): "You are dumber than Jessica Simpson."

Finally, the jailer decides to threaten the kid with water all over the pretty hair-do I wrote about earlier. It didn't stop her. She kept saying the jailer was dumber than Jessica Simpson, even after a mug of H2O down her back. (At least he did spare the hair!) Since not even the water would cause the kid to change her stance, he decided to go for another tactic.

Jailer: "This girl needs a boost of confidence."

Assistant nods.

Jailer: "What we need is 100 strapping young men to come up here and give her a kiss and she will be set free." Daughter blushes -- a lot!

Jailer: "How about 50? 10?"

At this point two little boys from the front row jump up to volunteer! It was very funny, but it did get my daughter out of the stocks!

Another fun thing about the Ren. Fest was the hair! I'm not sure that anyone actually *wore* their hair like this, but it sure looks good. Since it was only the girls who went to the event, we had to talk hair. And the younger one has a TON of it! Do you think that people in the medieval times *really* wore their hair this way? I'm sure the rich did, but the normal people? I'm not sure. In fact, I'm pretty sure they looked more like the washing well wenches that I'll talk about another day!

So, anyway, the younger one picked out a hair-do. Now, for those who may not know, this one is so NOT a "girlie-girl." Her idea of dressing up is a clean t-shirt and a skirt with leggings under it. Twice a year she'll dress up for Job's Daughters installations, but that's only because all her friends do, too!

And what does this little one pick? A fancy braid with little gray flowers in it! Complete with fairy dust (glitter) sprinkled in it. Go figure....

Anyway, the hair was done and looked beautiful. And she's pretty happy with it.

Another memory made!

Had a wonderful time at the Minnesota Ren-Fest this weekend. Honestly, I wish we lived closer and could be active in something like it, but a 9 hour drive isn't all that fun! Also got to see my step-daughter, who is living in the Twin Cities now.

We did help the Minnesota economy, though. Had a lot of fun shopping at the Mall of America Friday before going "back in time" on Saturday. The only thing I got for me was a new wok (we're having Chinese food this week! YEAH!!!) and some books at Barnes and Noble -- a shock to those who know me, I'm sure.

Will post more as I "unwind" from the trip!

Which Angel Virtue are you?

You are Wisdom! You remind us that wisdom is a virtue that is learned,and that as we grow we gain precious knowledge. Take this quiz! Quizilla | Join | Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab Code

Didn't do much knitting this week, but I did do some fashion design!
My daughter found a pattern at the fabric store that had "perfect sleeves" - unfortunately, it didn't have a perfect anything else! So, being the sewing hobbiest that I am, I created the shirt. I'm not real happy with the length of this one, but she likes it. And, as long as she wears a tank top under it (which she will have to because the fabric is a little sheer!), I think it will be OK.
The originial pattern had more ruffles and ties - kind of a princess bodice thing. It shocked me that she would pick this pattern, because she's not a "princess bodice" girl. But she loves the sleeves and that's why she wanted it.
Since I just prices plain long-sleeve tees at American Eagle this week, I know that making this shirt was a little cheeper. Especially if I can make her a second one with the same pattern!!!

HELP! A warrant for my arrest has been issued by the March of Dimes for aiding and abetting the fight against prematurity.

I have been found GUILTY of wanting every baby to be born full-term and healthy! To avoid doing hard time for my crimes I must raise my bail quickly. YOU CAN HELP bail me out – or contribute to my incarceration. Visit my cell online at www.marchofdimes.com/jailandbail/jenbin today.

To learn more about how your dollars are helping to fight prematurity and save babies’ lives visit the March of Dimes at www.marchofdimes.com.

If you or someone you know has had a child born prematurely or with birth defects, or who has lost a child, encourage them to visit a special site for families at www.shareyourstory.org.

Learned something about my daughter this week — she likes caves. I mean, she *really* likes them!

We went to Jewel Cave (http://www.nps.gov/jeca/) this week to visit some other homeschoolers and — thanks to road construction — arrived a lovely seven minutes late for the scenic tour. Now, please understand, this kid was whinning all week about going in a cave. So, we show up late for the 70 minute scenic tour of our Nation's second largest cave and I decide that instead of standing around looking dumb for 70 minutes, we could take the 20 minute discovery talk. Not as much fun, I'm sure, but she wouldn't be looking too terribly bored for the whole time. (And, honestly, I thought even if she did look bored, it would be dark in the cave and I wouldn't have to see it!)

So we go and she really had a good time. Asked some intelligent questions. Really paid attention to the guide. I was impressed!

When the tour was over, she kept talking about how cool it was. Outside the cave, we found this box that showed the smallest area a person squeezes through on the Spelunking tour and the kiddo asks if she can do that when she turns 16 (the park's minimum age for that one).

After lunch with the family we were supposed to meet, the kiddo asks "can we go back and do the scenic tour?"

"Gee, I thought caves were dumb," says I.

"I was just being a butt. I really wanna go back."

GRRRRR!!! Teenagers!!!!

Is this crazy or what??? Can you belive this candle? I'm not sure why it decided to curve this way. I swear I really did make the candle as a straight taper. Very odd.... Any candle-makers out there with some advice?

By the way, this candle is a strawberry and cream scent that is just YUMMY! This week I did some "jar candles" with a chocolate bliss scent. I think I gained weight just *making* them!

Got some great news today! I entered a writing contest -- well, the writing category at the local fair anyway -- and won first place! OK, so it's a fair, but FIRST PLACE! Hello! This is what I want to do. I want to be an author should I ever decide to grow up. Entering this short story really gave me some motivation to keep working on the novel I've been "plugging away at" since NaNoWriMo.

Back to work!

To me!

Just so no one thinks I have given up on knitting and crocheting, here's a frog. Yes, a frog. I know it's a bit hard to see in the picture, but the frog is knitted into the dishcloth and the edges are crocheted. One of my daughters friends really likes frogs, so I made this for her. Hope she likes it!

Not into angel candles? That's OK. How about some snowman soap? This one is baby-powder scented. Our next Worthy Matron is using snowmen as her fun symbol, so they might get these soaps (in different colors/scents, of course!) as gifts... Who knows. I do know that I'll be chaplain next term, but that's ALL I know!

I know I haven't posted much -- although, I think today will make up for that! -- but I have been busy! This candle is so pretty! It has a huckleberry scent to it. I'm actually thinking of using it for either Eastern Star gifts or Daughters of the Nile gifts come next installation. Isn't she pretty?

This is one reason I like to go geocaching! Custer, South Dakota, is filled with these decorated buffalo and I never would have seen them if I hadn't gone caching. (OK, there was a quilt show there, too, but I got a cache!!) Maybe I'll go back and get other pictures!

My husband was so sweet! He did all this canning.... BY HIMSELF!!! Gotta love it!

We are starting to get a harvest from our garden. This isn't the first (close, though) and there are some eggplant and zucchini not shown. Today my loving husband will be doing a lot of canning! Salsa and spaghetti sauce are high on the list. He's already tried pickling some hot peppers and I've had the food dehydrator out and running. It will be a nice winter when we can still eat from our garden. (I don't have pictures, but the corn is more than 6 feet tall!!! And we'll have pumpkins out the wazoo!)

I gained a new respect for "bikers" this week. I wiped out...twice.

I took - actually "tried to take" would be more accurate - a beginner's motorcycle class. This is the class that teaches you to turn on the bikes! For some reason, I can't get the throttle to do what I want it to. So I hit the pavement. Hurt my pride a lot, hurt my knee a little. Thank goodness I was using their bikes and not my husband's Harley!!!

By the way, I DO know that the wreck could have been a lot worse! I'm thankful that it's just some road rash!

It's hot. It's flippin' hot! In fact, hot doesn't even begin to describe it. So what am I doing? Yep. Making Christmas stuff! Here's the quilt I did. OK, it's really just a wall hanging, but it IS quilted!

So what am I going to do with this new knowledge? Why more wall hangings, of course!

This candle is something! It's a bell (as you can tell!) and smells like "twigs and berries." My hubby claims it's a "Manly Scent." I'm really thinking about a candle/soap booth at a craft fair. I'm not sure I have the experience, though... Who knows!