Silly Kangaroo, Acorns are for Squirrels

Keara and I ventured to the Gross Farms corn maze and pumpkin patch yesterday. Keara had a great time running around in the corn maze, shaking the stalks, and playing with the yellow tape. It was a really beautiful day. Blue skies and not a cloud in sight. The weather was just right, in the upper 60's which felt good with the sun. I put her in her kangaroo costume for part of the time. She would not stay away from the acorns. I had to watch her very closely because she kept sticking them in her mouth. She tries to eat any small round objects, like cat food. There is just some sort of gravitational attraction between the two.

If I do say so myself, she is the cutest kangaroo ever!!! She always gets attention, but even more so in this super adorable costume.

After the corn maze and the pumpkin patch we went on a hay ride. Playing in the hay is always fun. I think she enjoyed it, but she threw up a little right before it started, which almost made me throw up too. I think she has become allergic to milk. She has thrown up several times this past week after eating or drinking a dairy product. I have an appt with the doc to ask about it.

I just had to get a picture of her in front of the huge tractor tires. She looks so tiny in comparison.

Pumpkin Patch

We went to the Fayetteville Pumpkin Patch yesterday. Not anything like the one at Ludwigsburg Palace we went to last year, but Keara still had fun. They had a few animals out for kids to pet and look at. Keara was entranced by a pair of Fancy Chinese show chickens. They were very fluffy and all white. Every kid got to pick out a pumpkin to take home. We went on a train ride, but missed the hay ride because Keara was napping when we got there. We are going to a much bigger pumpkin patch next weekend and I think I will have Keara in her costume. She makes an adorable Kangaroo!!

Goose eggs and road rash

Keara has been walking for 4 1/2 months now, but she can still be clumsy on her feet. Poor baby took a spill in the drive way today and gave herself a goose egg on the forehead and road rash on her cheek and corner of her eye. The bump is in the same place she fell and bruised her head at the beginning of the week. Yesterday, she fell on the hardwood and gave herself a fat lip! She must have inherited it from me. If there is a door jam I will run into it, if there is nothing in my way I can still trip over it. My poor knees are more a shade of purple from all the scraped knees I had as a kid. Maybe I should enroll her in ballet classes and hope she can learn some graceful movements she won't learn from me.

New Projects

I have been a sewing maniac since I got my Bernina. Which is good. I tend to have crafting ADHD. I get started on a project, then before I finish it I get so excited about I new project that I move on before I finish the first project.

This little bag is an idea I got from Corinnea. It's a lunch bag gift bag. I am making them for family gifts for Christmas. I have a ton of Christmas fabric that has been sitting around feeling neglected that will finally get used. It is done except for the button, which I went to Joann to get, found one and thought I bought it and got home and it wasn't there. I hadn't paid for it either. It may have fell of the counter when I was checking out. I was kind of bummed because I really wanted it to be completely done. There's always another day...

This is my first wee bunny. It is made from scraps from Keara's corduroy dress and matching minky. I have named her Dotty and she is almost done. I need to figure out how to stitch the back closed and still look nice, and then give her a face. She already has a fan club. The fan club did enjoy trying to pull the stuffing out of Dotty, so maybe fan clubs aren't such a good idea. I think next time I will try some interfacing in the ears so they stick up instead of being so floppy. I would have attempted finishing her today, but I had a horrible migraine. I think brought on by watching the last Presidential Debate. When ever Obama opens his mouth my blood pressure rises to extremely high levels and I get the urge to vomit. Generally followed by a headache. I went to the chiropractor and got adjusted and the migraine was completely gone within 2 hours. That is such a miracle!! It normally takes medication and lying down in a cool dark room for several hours and then slowly recovering. Who has that time with a 13 month old running around?

Oktoberfest - kind of

On Monday, Keara my friend Crystal and I went to Ft. Bragg's Oktoberfest. It was okay. Very small and hard to appreciate after having been to many Stuttgart Fests. We did have fun though. Keara got to play her first fair game and won a blue whale. She also had her first ride, the Carousel. That was the only ride she could go on. Everything else she was too small or they didn't let parents ride with kids. I did get my first schnitzel since leaving Germany and it wasn't bad. My grandmother got me a monkey backpack leash for Keara and I used it. I have a feeling Keara will be a roller coaster rider. She kept running to the more wild rides and even tried going up the steps to one. It seems kind of mean to put a kid on a leash, but she doesn't mind and I don't have to worry about her running off from me so I can let her walk around. She really enjoyed getting out of the stroller and being in charge of where we were going. Next weekend we are off to a pumpkin patch and hayride.

The dress - Take 2

So here is the second try. Joann was having a really great Columbus Day sale and I got this oh-so cute corduroy at 1/2 off. I think it fits better than the other dress did, and who can go wrong with polka-dots? Tomorrow is the big day for attempting button holes.

I picked this book up today at Barnes and Noble. It is by Anna Maria Horner. It has some really good how-to instruction, plus up to date projects. I looked at a couple of other sewing books and they mostly had projects I would never make. I think my next project will be out of this book.

New Fabric + New Sewing Machine = New Dress For Keara

Here it is: my new Bernina Artista 170QPE. I never realized how spoiled I was to learn to sew on a Bernina until I tried using my Singer a couple of weeks ago. Talk about different. So, I got my Christmas present early and got a used Bernina. It is a quilters addition and it also has an embroidery module with it!!! My first project was to sew a dress for Keara. It is out of the new Heidi Grace fabric. Unfortunately, it is too big for Keara even if I hem it, but she will grow into it someday. I also need to teach myself how to do button holes on the sewing machine. It was a really simple pattern, but I think it turned out okay. After learning the buttonholes I will need to learn how to do zippers. If anyone knows of a really good beginning sewing book that explains terms and markings on patterns, as well as how to do things like buttons and zippers let me know.

Doesn't she look like she is dancing?
I think it will look nice with a brown top underneath and maybe brown tights. I really love the Heidi Grace fabrics, very cute!!

I've been tagged

I've been tagged by Jenny P
1. Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog - some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blog
.4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Well, there are definitely more than 7 weird things about me.....but here are 7.

1. I have an obsession with odd numbers. The volume on the TV has to be set at an odd number, the time the alarm is set for has to be odd, if possible I like to take an odd number of steps to get from point a to point b, preferring to start on my right foot and end on my right foot.
2. I have a scar on my lip where I was scratched by a cheetah. I was on a safari in Africa, well, not really, it was at a zoo.
3. My husband will tell you that I like to have the last word, or the last tag-back. We play a little smack the back of the hand game and I cannot rest if I was not the last one to get the other person.
4. I really never want to have a son. I only want daughters. I wouldn't know what to do with a boy. Plus, boy clothes just aren't as cute!
5. I eloped with Brandon, but had a church wedding for family 6 months later. We've been married just over 9 years!
6. The second toe on my left foot is a little bit shorter than the second toe on my right foot.
7. I still think about what I want to be when I grow up. It doesn't seem possible that 30 is right around the corner. Where did the time go??

There is only one blogger left that I read who hasn't been tagged.

1. Tiffany

Is there something in my teeth?????

Keara loves to have her picture taken and lately she loves to show off her teeth! She really reminds me of her dad when she smiles. They both squeeze their eyes almost closed and she likes to scrunch up her nose. She is such a happy baby. She smiles all the times and she likes everybody. She has learned throwing tantrums, usually revolving around having the cell phone or remote taken away. Thankfully there aren't many and don't last long. The main time she cries is if I walk out of the room or go through the baby gate. I can understand her being upset if she can't see me. Her dad left and hasn't come back and she probably realizes it. Unfortunately, you can't really explain to a one year old that he will be coming back. What I don't understand are the melt-downs when she can still see me, but I am on the other side of the baby gate. She never used to care when we had it were she was just in the living room. If she could see me she was fine. I guess now she has to be able to touch me. It kind of makes me wish I could read minds for a day and see what she is thinking as she does these things.

Keara's room

Jenny P. inspired me to work on Keara's room. I went to Michael's today and found these wall decals I have been looking at for 50% off. I really like how they turned out!! Keara helped me put them up. When she wasn't standing on the piece I needed, or running off with it, she helped to pull the backing off after I put it on the wall. They were just like rub-ons, and made of vinyl. They are repositional too. Tomorrow I am going to put up some embroidery hoops with fabric in them over her crib and a shelf.

To Spoon, or not to Spoon?

Keara is learning how to use a spoon to feed herself. She has pretty good aim getting it back into her mouth. She needs help with the scooping part still. But, when that gets old it is just easier to grab the bowl and eat straight from it.