Black Friday, Sewing in my sleep,& The McDreamy trifecta

Huh, You say?
Let's start with Black Friday. I have not ventured out with the crazies in YEARS. I'm not sure what came over me this year but I decided that me, the Bumble, and my neice Katie should go shopping at 5:30 am and leave the kids with my mom. For some reason we decided that we would speak with french accents and end every sentence with the word "no". Like this:
"We should go to...how you say...Deeek's Sporting Goods next, no?"
We laughed so hard all morning that our sides hurt more than our feet.
I was also testing good Karma buy donating a dollar here and there and directing people to shorter lines and it paid off big time, I scored the very last of a certain kid's game thing that we waited in line for. Karma, she works, no? OK, I need to stop.
The last store we stopped in was Joann Fabric. They had flannel for 99 cents a yard, I was late getting there but they still had some:

This brings us to sewing in my sleep, which I will get to after I explain The McDreamy Trifecta. I had mommy guilt after shopping half the day so I thought a matinee was in order. "Enchanted" it was!

It was a cute movie, I recommend it. We came home and I hit the couch with the Tivo remote and watched a recorded Martha Stewart...with Patrick Dempsey and after the kids went to bed we watched Tivo'd Grey's Anatomy from the night before...with Patrick Dempsey...hence the McDreamy Trifecta!
After all that McDreamy I go to sleep and start sewing flannel in my dreams. I have problems, no? I had flannel blankets in mind when I purchased it but I couldn't get the thought of this one and how it would match with Julia's coat out of my head.

I was right, It matches perfectly.

I whipped up a set including a scarf, mittens and earwarmer headband yesterday morning.

They are all fleece lined and reversible!

The Holiday

When we say "The Holiday" in my family we are referring to a room, this room...

and not an actual holiday at all. This room is the basement floor of my parent's house and the pictures were taken by Sammy at their request(these were the least blurry and I wish she shut the furnace room door). It is a very cool space and you almost feel as if you are in a ship. It has a small kitchen, a sitting room and a dining room. We have all of our holidays here and that's how it got it's name from my oldest daughter (Sammy) when she was around 3. This can be very confusing to newcomers and teachers. When Sammy was in first grade they had to write about ways they help people. She wrote in her very best printing "I help my Grandma dust the holiday". Mrs. Conte corrected her paper in red pen and said something to the effect "You help your grandma dust for the holidays". Well, Sammy was furious when she got that paper back and I had to write a note explaining "The Holiday" to Mrs. Conte. She called me laughing and apologized to Sammy. So there is the story of "The Holiday".
How was your holiday?
I love, love, love, love, love, love, love Thanksgiving! This one was very nice except for missing my sister and brother-in-law. Look at how sweet my little helper looked

We even went out shopping with all of the crazies yesterday morning. More about that tomorrow.
Enjoy the long weekend everyone!

Where do I start?

Last Sunday night my sewing machine broke.
I KNOW!!! The feed dog plate had been dropping a lot and I was able to deal with that but then I went to reverse stitches and the lever snapped off. I FREAKED! The bumble, who is very handy, looked at it and determined that I should just get a new machine. Again, I FREAKED! "OMGOMGOMGwedon'thavethemoneywhatarewegoingtodoOMGOMGOMG"

I calmed down enough the next night and I got a new machine! I would have never splurged on one like this if he weren't with me. I have the best husband ever. I haven't even begun to figure out all the things this baby can do (the machine...not the husband)but I got some straight stitching done.

Apron gifts for my mom and mother-in-law. My mom gets the tan one for Thanksgiving because she gets very messy when she cooks. I will make her a pretty one for Christmas.
It even sews nicely on oilcloth (this is crucial!)

I'm sure you've all gotten this one..."You sew????" "Can you sew_________for me?" Enter 4 cheerleading skirts, 2 loose emblems and 2 too-big tops.

How do you say no?
Moving on.
I've told you how amazingly talented Gabby (12) is but just look at the stuff she does while watching TV and reading magazines.

I used to make these origami boxes about 5 years ago to hold 3 marble magnets. Gabby was 7 at the time and would sit and watch me fold the paper for hours and then she became the master. We haven't made these in forever and I'm not sure if I could pick it right up again. 2 nights ago she was sitting on the couch curled up under a quilt, she emerged hours later with these teeeeny little boxes made from thick cardstock fall-out cards. I have no idea how she got them so small. That little one can hold a piece of rice or two. Makes my fingers hurt just thinking about it!

the blog suffers...

...when life gets too busy.
I finished these

to go along with the lunch bags I made last week for this birthday party

The kids had a blast at this place. Whoever thought up that idea was a genius and is now a billionaire, no doubt.
I spent yesterday sewing.

This is all I have a picture of right now because of the damn daylight savings time and it gets dark at 4:30! Ugh, I wish they would leave the clocks alone, it really screws up my inner clock too. I have been waking up at 3:30-4:00am every morning because I am a robot. Fall back, my ass. It makes for a long day Ben Franklin!!! Um, it was Ben Franklin that invented DST, right?
On the home front-
High school has been much better for eldest daughter since report card day. You see, she has been moaning about how hard it is (it is, it's college prep) and that she feels dumb now and she wants to go to regular high school (our public high schools are awful and have rankings to prove it). Anyhoo, report card was great- 3 A's, 2 B's and 1 C... not too bad Ms. Drama Queen. She's all better now, confidence has been restored.
12 year old daughter has a social life now. WAH! Movies, bowling, hanging out with friends....half are boys WAH! Looks like the taxi will be working overtime.
Poor little daughter is sick. Fever, sniffles, cough. Poor baby. At least she got to go rock climbing.
My machines await me, have a fabulous Sunday.

Trying something new

Have you ever done this-
You spend the entire day sewing and at night you hit the bed hard and you are still sewing "mentally"? I did this on Saturday night.

I was thinking about gifts I was going to make on Sunday and I was matching, measuring, and cutting fabric "mentally" until I finally fell asleep exhausted. Somebody else has done this, right? It's not just me.


OK, How about this one, has anyone else done this-
You decide you are going to make something very simple...so simple that it doesn't need a pattern which is a good thing because you don't follow patterns very well anyway...and you use your good fabric and you make a BIG mistake that can't be undone?
I guess that's why you shouldn't sew in your sleep! Yep, I wasted a good amount of Heather Ross fabric that I bought specifically for one of our twin friends gift. Some of you will remember the twin horse quilts from last year- http://workinprogress-wip.blogspot.com/2006/11/three-days-to-spare.html These girls are turning 9 this week and I am making much simpler gifts this time around. Both girls still love horses but one has a thing for bugs and frogs and such.
OK, back to the lunch bags. They are fun! I love the way Heather Ross fabric feels too. Is it brushed cotton? Whatever, but it is SOFT! I'm sure there is an easy pattern out there for making paperbag style lunch bags but once I learned from my mistakes the first time around (grrrr, I should know better) I got it down. Beware, I think I might make 100 of them.
My Bumble was off from work last week and spent a lot of time cleaning up some trouble areas in the house for me, What a guy! Here is a picture of my little pantry (sink and counters circa 1959)that he reorganized for me. I figured I'd better take a picture before it gets a mess again

Halloween Recap

Hello friends! It's been a crazy but fun week around here. I hope you all had a fun Halloween.

I've mentioned before that our community does an awesome parade at our seawall. The children line up by grade, march down the street and stop at the grandstand where their costumes are judged. The winners are almost always wearing a one of a kind or homemade costume and people get really creative. *cough cough my kids are 5 time winners cough cough*

Miss Julia took 3rd place as Orphan Annie in the 3rd grade category

My nephew Jacob was very cute as a police officer. My older girls were pretty lame; one was a football fan and the other was a mess.
Check out one of the nuns at Sammy's school. She dressed up as a biker. She is so much fun, really she is...the girls love her.

I wanted to show you what I made for Julia's class but Sammy stole my camera before I could snap a picture. I made these goodie bags ala Martha Stewart. They were super easy and very cute!


And lastly, look at my friends house all decorated for Halloween. I love the cat eyes in the window!


Time to hit the sewing machine, have a great weekend!