Conversation with Cowboy

The Cowboy and I have great conversations on the way to school every morning. Here's a bit of one that took place the other day.

Cowboy: Hey, Mom, why don't buwds get wolectwocuted when they stand on the powuh lines?

Me: Why don't they get what?

Cowboy: Uuumm...Wolectwocuted. That's a weally hawd wuwd to say.

Conversation with Cowboy

Today Cowboy and Rockstar stayed home from school. They were sick over the weekend but went to school yesterday. Then this morning they both said their throats hurt so I let them stay home.

They should have gone to school.

But, they had fun together. Here's a bit of what I overheard...

Rockstar: Do you want to play house?

Cowboy: Yeah, let's pwetend we awe going to Chuck E. Cheese and we have coupons.

I'm rubbing off on him I guess.

Then later while I was sorting laundry...

Cowboy: Hey mom, we awe playing house and we awe in Connecticut and we awe dwiving and the woads awe icy so we awe dwiving cwazy.

Then I came inside from mowing the back yard. The bar stools were lined up in the middle of the kitchen floor and there were play-do creations arranged on each of them.

Me: What are you guys making?

Cowboy: We awe playing that show wewhe you make da food fowh da jugdes den dey tell you to pack yowh knives and go.

Ahh...Top Chef. Got it.

So yeah, they should have been at school. But it was fun having them home. Now, let's see if they're sick again when it's time to clean up all their messes.

A Tutorial

So, someone wanted to know how I made the appliqued pillows. So here's the tutorial. It will probably be long. And there is probably a better way to do them. But this how I did them. Oh, and I just need to say that I have been loving sewing lately. I've been getting a lot done too. I'll have to post some of my little projects soon. And now, lets make an appliqued pillow.


First choose what your going to put on your pillow. I love this fabric. It's so fun. It's from IKEA. On this pillow I am using the lion and the giraffe.





Cut out your shape. It helps to have really sharp scissors.



On the smaller details, like the giraffes tail and horns, I left some of the background fabric.



Next, you need to cut out your pillow. I used a pattern for mine but you don't really have to have one.



If you don't use a pattern you need to make sure that your corners curve in a bit. If you leave perfectly square corners your finished pillow will have pointy corners.



Once you have both sides of your pillow cut out, iron them and arrange your applique on the top piece.



Then you need to pull out your fusible web. I just had the kind that comes on a roll. But I have 5 kids, so it is not longer on the roll.



But it still works. I stretch the fusible web across the longest part of the applique.



Then I cut it (or tear it). Then I fold half of the appleque back, and put the piece of fusible web under it.



Then flip it back down and iron it. Then just keep ironing pieces between the fabric until it's all stuck down. (You can also buy fusible webbing in sheets and cut it to fit your shape. I was just using what I had.)



Then have your cute son hold it up to make sure it's all stuck down good.



Now it's time to sew. You need to set your machine on a small zig zag stitch.



Oh, and you might want to set your laptop behind your sewing machine and listen to your favorite Pandora station too.



I always start in a corner if I can.



You might want to go slow to make sure that you stiches are close together and nice and smooth. The straight parts are easy but eventually you'll have to go around a curve or turn a corner.



When I get to a corner, I lift the foot and turn the fabric. Just make sure you don't leave too much of a gap because it will make the fabric bunch up.



I just go really slow around curves guiding the fabric the direction it needs to go. This fabric is pretty thin and puckered quite a bit in some spots.



So you need to iron.



The iron will smooth it out a lot. I still had a lot a bunching around the curvy parts on this one. Once the pillow if stuffed you'll barely notice though.

Then if you're me, your baby will wake up and you'll have to take a break. You probably already know how, but I'll show you how to put the pillow together later.

5

Yesterday my Cowboy started school. And today he turned 5. I'm not ready for all this.



He has been on a Pre-K waiting list and I was content to wait. And he was too. He wanted to go to school but was fine staying home with me and the baby. But the last couple of weeks we've I've been noticing that he's getting kind of bored. There's no one his age to play with. So I asked him if he wanted to go to school. And he said yes. So I started calling around. Everyone had a waiting list. But I found him a spot. He was so excited yesterday. Couldn't wait to get there. The first thing he told me when I picked him up, "I don't like this school. Nap time is too long." But he liked everything else about it and was excited to go again today. Especially because it was his birthday and he got to take treats.



After dinner tonight, we had cupcakes and ice cream and he opened his presents.



Oh, and for the record, I miss this kid terribly while he's at school. And we're only two days into it. He is such a happy, good natured kid. And so funny. And loving. And helpful. And funny. And handsome. He's a great big brother and a great little brother and a great son. Happy Birthday my Cowboy. Mommy loves you!!!

Let's Share an Apple!

When we got home from the gym the other day Cowboy was hungry. So he grabbed a sour apple (his favorite kind) and sat on the couch to enjoy his snack. It didn't take long for the baby to climb up and partake of the apple as well.



After letting the baby have a bite, Cowboy had his turn. Apples taste better if you lick your hand before you bite.



Then let the baby have another.



Then baby played with his shoe while Cowboy took his turn.



They went back and forth like this until the apple was gone.



Cowboy.


Baby.


They loved it. Ate every bite. And looked really cute doing it!

Cowboy Hair Cut

Cowboy needed a hair cut. Usually Matt does it. Or me. But Matt always wants to give him a buzz. Me...not so much. For several reasons. One being that Cowboy looks just like his dad. And I've seen his dad with a buzz. And, well, it's not my favorite look for him. Another reason, I just don't really like buzzed heads on little boys. And I hope I don't offend anyone here. I mean, you can do whatever you want with your kid, my opinion doesn't (and shouldn't) matter. But when it comes to my boys, I don't like buzzed heads. Once they are older, I think it's fine. But my Cowboy, he's just four. And I want him to look like he's four. So I don't buzz his hair. So anyway, Cowboy needed a haircut and Matt was going to do it. And he wanted to give him a buzz. And I let him. Because really, it's just hair, and it will grow back.





Do you see the size of that kids melon?!? He loves his big ole head. He always talks about how big it is. He knows that having a big head means that you have a big brain. Matt thinks the hair makes it look bigger. I think you can blame the largeness on the hair and not the head so much. By the way, Matt's head is shaped EXACTLY the same.





But anyway, the size and shape of his head isn't the real issue here. Because let's face it, my Cowboy is seriously cute. It's just that now he look like a nine year old to me. And he's just four. And he'll look bigger for the rest of his life. And, well, right now, I just want him to look four. I can't wait for his big, crazy head of hair to grow back out!

For Amber

And her baby boy. This is the crib bedding I volunteered to make. The baby will be sharing a room with his older sister and I think Reed and Amber did a great job choosing something that will work for a boy and a girl. The pillows will go on Georgia's bed that has stripes like the bumper just in pink, red and orange. I can't wait to see it all put together. So Amber, here's your sneak peak.



The detail on the blanket:



And on the pillow:



I'm thinking about making a couple more pillows. A big one out of the big print with the red on the back and an appliqued one with the giraffe. The appliqued pillows are far from perfect but are really fun to make and I think they turned out pretty cute. Hope you like it Amber!