Kids Say the Darnedest Things: Part 2

I over heard this at work the other day. One kid asking another.
"Why are you licking yourself?"


Some of the deepest questions are asked by kids.
:)

103 Goals in 1001 Days

My 103 List

My deadline is May 27, 2014.

1. Go To The Dentist
2. Run 150 Miles
3. Run 200 Miles
4. Run 250 Miles
5. Run 300 Miles
6. Run 400 Miles
7. Run 500 Miles
8. Run a 10k
9. Run a 5k
10. Run 10 Miles Straight
11. Touch The Floor w/ Flat Hands
12. Lose 5 lbs
13. Lose 10 lbs
14. Lose 15 lbs
15. Lose 20 lbs
16. Do 1 Pull-up
17. Do 50 Push-ups in a Row
18. Do 50 Sit-Ups a Day for 50 Days
19. Organize Room of Requirements
20. Refinish Buffet
21. Build Couch
22. Make 20 New Foods (1/20)
23. Get Kitchen Aide Mixer Fixed
24. Build Shed
25. Install Horse Shoe Pit
26. Make Izzie Toys
27. Buy 2 Shelving Units for Basement
28. Finish Knitting Afghan
29. Seed Lawn
30. Install Bathroom Fan
31. Make a Hammock
32. Redo Ikea Lamp
33. Create Cookbook
34. Bake a Cake that Hubby Likes
35. Make Lemon Meringue Pie
36. Make Pasta from Scratch
37. Fall Cookout
38. Football Game Cookout
39. Winter Bonfire
40. Christmas Party
41. Four Game Nights
42. Host a Dinner Party
43. Have a Party with Real Invitations
44. Have a Sleepover with my Sister
45. Host Card Night
46. Make a Dress
47. Make a Skirt - Completed Labor Day weekend 2011
48. Write 8 Letters in One Month
49. Create Creation Book
50. Host A Holiday Meal
51. Finish 101 in 1001 List – 8/31/11
52. Read 30 Books (1/30)
53. Travel to Europe
54. Go One Week Without TV
55. HAVE A BABY!!
56. Keep Neon Clean for 60 Days
57. Keep House Clean for 60 Days
58. Donate Blood 5 Times
59. Read the New Testament
60. Make a New Friend
61. Go On a Road Trip
62. Spend a Day Watching Movies in My PJs
63. Start Friday Night Craft Night
64. Identify 100 Things that Make me Happy
65. Learn to Drive a Stick
66. Make an Address Book
67. Sell at a Craft Show
68. Tell Everyone We are Having Baby in Creative Way
69. Find a Mentor
70. Have Coffee with 8 People I've Never had Coffee with
71. Go Camping
72. Sleep Under the Stars
73. Go Camping by Myself
74. Build a Snow Fort
75. Ride a Horse
76. Go Skinny Dipping
77. Go to a MLB Game
78. Go to Grandma's Cabin in the U.P.
79. Go to the Zoo
80. Buy Zoom Lense
81. Take a Picture a Day for 50 Days
82. Have A Giveaway On The Blog
83. 100 Posts
84. 250 Posts
85. 500 Posts
86. Have 100 Followers
87. Have 200 Followers
88. Guest Post On Another Blog
89. Comment on 20+ Posts In One Day
90. Get Featured On a BIG Blog
91. Payoff House
92. Save 12 Months of Expenses
93. Sell Something on Craigslist
94. Create a Budget
95. Donate Hair
96. Clean Out Clothes Closet
97. Watch Moulin Rouge
98. Get Skype Account
99. Get Internet
100. Try 10 New Hairstyles
101. Leave an Inspirational Note in a Book for Someone to Find
102. Go Hunting with Leslie
103. Write About Me for Blogger

Pumpkins: How To

I love fall, but I have never been much of a decorator. That will all change this year. It is still August and I already have pumpkins  in our house. I was at Hobby Lobby yesterday just wandering, when I stumbled across some pumpkins made out of fabric. I thought, "That doesn't look too hard." So I bought my supplies and set to work. Here is how you do it. 

This was my favorite pumpkin.

This was pumpkin #3.


1. Start off by cutting a rectangle. Width should be twice the length.

2. Next, you fold it in half so good sides are facing each other and sew along the side.

3. Then you do a running stitch at one of the ends. A running stitch is a wide stitch where you just sew in and out so that when you pull the thread, it scrunches the fabric.

4. When you scrunch the fabric it should look like the picture below.

5. Then you pull it tight, like so and sew threw it to make it nice and sturdy. Cut and tie off your thread.

6. Then flip it inside out and fill with stuffing. Make sure it is filled to over flowing.

7. Do another running stitch around the top.

8. Push all the stuffing in and pull thread tight. Sew threw a couple times, cut and tie off.

9. Next, you will thread a needle and you'll want to double the thread for extra strength. You will push the needle threw one of the bottoms (use the longest needle you can find.) This is the tricky part. You push the needle threw, flip it over and have to get the needle out the other side. Try not to stab yourself.

10. Once the needle is threw, you will wrap the string half way around the pumpkin. If your thread came out the bottom, you will pull it around to the top. You will need to pull the thread tight to make a scrunched look like this. While holding the string tight, you will push the needle threw the top and out the bottom and repeat. I repeated five times, but you can very. Make sure your thread is tight every time you pull it threw so each one is scrunched. Then tie off and cut thread.

11. Last step is the stem. Find a small piece of fabric and fold it in half. This piece is 2"x3", but you could do smaller as I cut of all the extra. Sew two lines, angled out like below. Leave the bottom open for stuffing.

12. Cut off the fabric outside where you sewed, turn inside out, and fill with stuffing. Set it on your pumpkin to see how long you want your stem. You may need to remove stuffing or insert more stuffing depending on how long you want it. Cut off bottom of stem to length that you want. Then, fold opening of stem in and sew shut.

13. Sew stem on with 2 or 3 stitches and you are done!! This is the finished pumpkin. I used fabric that was just laying around for this one.

This was my favorite. I bought orange burlap at Hobby Lobby. 1 yard was only $3.99. I could probably make 10-15 pumpkins with one yard.

The pumpkin that I saw at Hobby Lobby was $8.99. This orange pumpkin cost me:

Stuffing:     $0.00 (I disassembled a sleeping bag that Izzie chewed, so I got lots of free stuffing. Thank you Izzie for your bad chewing habits)

Stem:         $0.05 (I found a remnant of brown fabric that was only $1.80 for a whole yard. I only used 2"x3" piece)

Burlap:       $0.40 ($3.99 for one yard divided by 10)

Thread:      $0.00 (I got lots of free thread from my Grandma :)

Total:         $0.45 

And the first pumpkin was free, since it was just remnants of old fabric :)

Hope you enjoy.

Nicole

Izzie and the Caterpillar

Izzie likes making new animal friends, but more often then not, they do not become friends. Not because she isn't nice, but because she is over friendly. Frogs, moths, fish, toads, and caterpillars don't stand a chance. She usually crushes, squeezes, steps on, or in some other way mortally injures her "friends". Here are some pictures of our dear Izzie making a Caterpillar friend.

"Hi, my name's Izzie. May I sniff your butt?"

"Sure. Why not. Just don't eat me."

"You smell lovely. I think we can be friends."

"Hey! Why are you running away? I thought we were friends." ..:Sigh:..

"Bye friend..."

The End

Running: Days 5,6,7

Day 5: Rested
Day 6: Rested


Don't worry, this constant resting ended today!


Day 7: Ran 2.4 miles



I went running this morning at 6am. I had to wear a long sleeve t-shirt do to the early morning chill. I left Izzie at home because I did not feel like be pulled for 2 miles. She is way too excited for me at 6am. Running in the morning is a battle. First, I have to drag myself out of bed. My mind tells me to get up, but my body just lays there. Nothing happens. Then something in me snaps and I sit up. Once in the upright position, it goes pretty smooth from there. I put on my shoes and head out the door. I ran to the cemetery (which is one of my favorite places), and just as I was getting there, the sun was rising up over the pine trees. The sky was lit with pink and there was a dampness in the air. My body was finally thanking my mind for getting out of bed :)  


Days Down: 7
Miles Down: 11.3
Days to go: 66
Miles to go: 128.7

Headers How To

So here are the two headers that I made this week. I will show you the basics, and then you can go from there. I will show you how to make the bottom one here with the circles.

You will need Microsoft Word. I have Word 2010, but I'm sure the other ones are similar.


1. Open a new document and change the orientation to Landscape.





2. Insert a shape. For this example, I will do circles. 

I inserted one circle and formatted it how I wanted it, then I copied and pasted the rest. These circles have no fill and a thick, blue outline.

3. Then you can add your Text Box. Make sure to select no fill and no outline if you do not want them showing. Then change the font and the size. I had to do a separate text box for each circle. 

5. Now you have to Group all the parts together. This is the tricky part. You will need to click on one part (circle or text box) then while holding the shift key, click on each of the other circles and text boxes without losing any of the ones you've already selected. Once they are all selected, continue to hold the shift key and right click, select Grouping, then select Group. Now you will Ctr + C or copy. Then when you paste, you will Paste Special, and you will paste it as an image. 

When I group, the first time I right click, I usually lose one of the text boxes or cirles, so I right click again and it is back.

6. After you've pasted it as a picture, you right click and SAVE AS PICTURE.

7. Once you've saved it, you can change your header in blogger.


*I tried it in Word 2007 and was having trouble. Not sure what 2003 is like. Haven't tried with Mac either.


Hope this helps. Have fun.

Running: Day 4

Day 4: I ran 2 miles

Izzie and I went running again. This 2 miles was way worse than the first 6 odd miles. My body was tired and did not want to go. I was so glad when it was over. On the run a random little girl asked if she could pet my dog. I looked at Izzie who was twitching with excitement. I practically had to hold her down. She wouldn't sit because her hips were shaking so much. When she is REALLY happy her butt moves back and forth at a very rapid pace. And all she wanted to do was jump on the girl and lick her to death and tell her how much she loved her. Izzie is a very passionate lover.

Days Down: 4
Miles Down: 8.9
Days to go: 69
Miles to go: 131.1

Running: Day 2 & 3

Day 2: I ran 3.5 miles

Izzie and I went running at 10pm. There is a private drive by our house that is decently lit and 0.5 miles around. It was perfect running weather. And Izzie probably ran 4.0 miles, and 3/4 of hers was at a dead sprint. She is quite the runner.

Day 3: I rested. My butt hurt.

Days Down: 3
Miles Down: 6.9
Days to go: 70
Miles to go: 133.1

Headers DIY

I've recently learned how to make my own headers in Word, and some of them look really cool. 


Here are a couple. I will post how to make them next.

LIVE LIFE

I learned the basics from MADE and then went to town.