sewing class

I mentioned briefly the other day that I've been teaching some classes at our local fabric shop. I haven't really said anything about it on here since I don't know really what I can share from the classes. I'm sure all the patterns and plans are copyrighted and such. Plus, I don't know the people taking the classes so it's weird for me to take pictures during class. Sometimes they are children's classes and then I feel funny about publishing kids pictures if I don't know them. (I do know these kids.)


It's a large chain fabric store (perhaps you recognize the color scheme). I figure that if I don't say the name of the store maybe....? It probably doesn't matter. I don't actually work for the store, I am an outside instructor. So anyway with that being said... I taught two classes this past week and we made three fun projects.

We made pillows,

lamp shades,

and memo boards.

I am really enjoying teaching here. I have liked all the sewing classes and kids craft classes. The only one I didn't care for as much was teaching knitting. One of my student's struggled so much I thought she was going to get up and walk out. Two and a half hours is a long time to sit and show someone the knit stitch. Over and over and over. She didn't walk out and I didn't have to cry.

Another awesome thing about teaching these classes is that I can take other classes for free. Cake decorating here I come!

Now Hiring

How Hiring- all positions

Green bean canning work to be done. Must work for low pay, specifically looking for those willing to be paid in green beans. Must be completed this weekend. Candidates should have nimble finger for snapping and willing to work with the scary pressure canner.

oh my goodness

"Oh My Goodness," that's all I could say. I taught two classes yesterday at our local fabric store (which is what I had planned to write about today- perhaps tomorrow) and when I got home, I found this:

Oh, my goodness.


In grandma and grandpa's defense, I think a good part of the mess was made just prior to my leaving the house. This is different than our normal 'the entire polly pocket tub was dumped on the floor' mess.


This was the contents of all three bins that she puts randomness in, plus the toys of that days fun. You can see the upturned bins on the bed and floor. She was looking for something. She found it. Then she lost it in the mess.

This explains my untimely post today. I spent about an hour in here cleaning up. This was beyond her cleaning abilities. Plus, it gave me a chance to 'tidy,' leaving with an entire bag of trash.

Good view

Pretty sure this is why God gave us window sills. Hubby would be embarrassed of the full compost bowl on the right.

While I'm talking about produce. Here's a canning question I hope to get answered: What do you do wtih the jars that get only partially filled? There's all that head space? Can I still process it and store it? Does it just need to go in the fridge? hmmm.

This applesauce got eaten right away, but I often end up with partial jars at the end.

toddler belt

I've been pondering this silly issue. Lou is a skinny fella. It is not an uncommon predicament. He needs a smaller size for his waist. He's not tall, but needs a larger size for his height. That size is too big for his little waist. The poor boy can't keep his pants up. We solved that last year with a belt. This fall, he needs to be able to pull his pants up and down on his own to use the potty at preschool. So, that's where my pondering has been. A belt that a 3 year old can manage... Hmm.

He selected some dinosaur fabric. I just folded in in on itself and sewed, like making a strap for a bag. This belt for a 3T is 23 inches long. I tried it on Bee too, and I think I'll make her (4-5T) 25 inches long.

With some added velcro for the closure, there it was.

I added an extra long piece of velcro on one end to allow for growth. I considered adding a layer of felt in the middle to stiffen it up a bit, but I don't think it was needed.


How I didn't think of this myself, I don't know. I didn't though. I saw it here, at "What I Live For" where she shares how she made a toddler belt. If you've got a skinny mini kid who needs a bigger size pants for length, you'll need one of these too.

just school stuff

Just more school stuff. I'm crazy into school stuff right now. I don't think I've written it here, but I'm going to be teaching preschool next year. I'm pretty excited. It's the school where Bee went last year and Lou will be going next year. I'm only working a few hours each week, but it's really the perfect set up. I've loved the ladies Bee had and feel so blessed to get to teach with them now.

Crazy enough, school starts in like three weeks. So, we're in full school mode right now. We're still doing school at home, Bee is in reading camp, and I'm really into working on plans for preschool.

On a similar note, I found these letter tiles at a garage sale (in the fruit zipper bags) for so cheap. These are the letters from just one bag! Here, the two youngest girls are playing a game where one spells a word and the other copies. Then it's the other persons turn to go first. The next day, I had all three girls spell a few of their grade level sight words out using the letter tiles.

I'm stumbling on so many great ideas for preschool. Here's a fun one. Sharpie is used to draw little circle on a sheet of wax paper forming letters. A water dropper is then used to fill in the little dots. Lou and Bee both spent a good while on it this morning.

I'm also spending way too much time on the preschool resource sites listed here as well as some new ones. A new favorite is this one. oh boy!

math baseball and football

Oh, this game has been used so many times. Math baseball and math football were favorites when I taught 2nd and 3rd grade and became an obsession for my students when I taught 6th grade. I pulled it out for my kids last week and quickly found it to be a hit here at our house as well. It's nice because it can be played with different ability levels at one time.

Here's how I played it with my little people:
I drew a baseball diamond on a large piece of paper. There is a spinner in the middle that has 1, 2, 3, 4 (meaning 1 base, 2 bases, 3 bases, and 4= home run) and two very small sections drawn on that mean "out." I printed out a skill sheet for each child at the appropriate level. The colored baseball players seen in the picture just represent the different teams. I also have a whole bunch of baseball cutouts that we use to keep score. You could certainly use dashes on a paper, or whatever. We use the baseball hat cutouts to be the players on the bases. You could use any colored markers.

I had each child work one problem on their page. The kids were divided into two teams. Then we went around in a circle and I checked each persons work. If they got it right (I was pretty leniant with making corrections) they got a spin. They could then move one of the hats to that base. Both teams can be on the bases at the same time. Lets say the red team had a player on third base and the next person on their team got a 2, they could either take the existing player home and then start another guy on 1st, or start a second player and put him on 2nd.

Here's a game I used in in the classroom: All my pieces are laminated and have magnets on the back. I always played on the chalkboard. I had all the kids work a problem that I wrote on the board or overhead. All kids worked the problem on their individual dry boards. After a minute or so, I asked someone what their answer was. If they got it correct, they got to spin the spinner and move a piece on the bases. If they got it wrong, I asked someone from the other team. We just kept going back and forth answering questions. I always solved (or had them) the problems on the overhead so everyone could see how it was worked properly. Occasionally, I had two or more levels of work going, using different colored papers. I used this most chapters to study before the test.

Math football: This is played very similarly to baseball. When the problems are answered correctly, the team spins. The 1 means 10 yards, 2- 20 yards, etc. One of the small sections on the spinner says 50. The football is started in the middle of a drawn football field. The lines are all drawn on for each 10 yards. The teams work moving the football back and forth until someone scores a touchdown.

The kids now want a soccer game. I think we can do that!

vegetarians beware

We are loving our meat CSA. I think we all agree that the meat is delicious. It's grass fed, local and lovingly raised by a sweet family that we've gotten to know. It's also processed locally. It's so fresh. Once, one of the chicken we got had been processed literally the day before! We buy a weight, not the individual cuts, so we never know what we are getting. This month, we ended up with some of these Breakfast sausage links. How cute are those, all linked together.

The eggs are fun. They are all differnt colors and shapes. I've never had such delicious eggs. I just love that the family literally went out and gathered them up in the days just before I pick them up.

One interesting item this month (which was not counted towards or monthly weight) was these beef neck bones. I've never cooked them before and don't even know what they look like. I'm looking for a good recipe.

Google leads me to possible recipes for making beef stock and possibly preparing them like ribs. If I make up stock, can I can it? I'm really loving canning. Maybe I'll just have to freeze it. Any beef neck bone lovers out there?