Still playing

I really should go to bed. Or go watch TV with Dale.

Teacherly

Hugs,
Melinda

Thanks a lot Mama K.

Blame it all on the Okies..... Here I am trying to work and Mama K comes up with this......


Which led me to this.....

So instead of working like I'm supposed to, I'm playing. I did learn a valuable lesson. I use too many "..." in my posts.

Hugs,
Melinda

FYI -- Computer Trouble

The motherboard on our computer isn't playing nicely. If I disappear for a long time, it's because we are trying to save money to replace it.

Hugs,
Melinda

Interesting read

I wanted to direct you towards this link on how to help a family in ICU. I can tell you that I agree with almost all of it. You will never know how much it means to a family unless you have been there yourself. I will still remember the lady who brought us snacks when Daddy's kidneys failed and he was in ICU. I will never forget the sheer volume of people in the waiting room when Momma had her first surgery. It truly is the little things that people need to help them through.

Oh, and if you ask how you can help and the person says "I don't know," please have some concrete things you can suggest. They are in a state of shock, and really don't know how to even function or deal with life.

Hugs,
Melinda

Warning, vent ahead.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My 3 year old is driving me BATTY!

Okay, vent over. For now at least.

First day of school

You know, I never did get the obligatory first day of school picture posted.

Here are my girls. Sweet Pea is headed to her first day of fourth grade. Little Bit is going to the church pantry with Mom, thinking that is "school." She felt she needed a backpack, too.
I don't normally do matching shirts, because I remember how much I "loved" it as a girl, but this was too cute. :D
You know Little Bit missed her Sissy when she found my camera and said, "Take pictures please."
The thoughtful pose..........(notice the tounge)
And the.... "Okay, that's enough, I'm going to run away and pretend to hide from the camera" pose. And the reason all these pictures are blurry is not because I'm a BAD photographer, but because my subject is never still.

Well, here's hoping week 2 of school is a little easier than week 1.

Hugs,
Melinda

Notebook Experiments

HUGE WORD OF WARNING! PLEASE do not let a young child play with this unattended. I just found all the pieces all over the living room. I can only imagine what horror story this would be if she had swallowed a piece of magnet or a button. PLEASE learn from my mistake. Don't let a young child play with this alone.

Like I said last week, if you haven't seen Amy's Notebook Entries, you really ought to take a look. She has a lot of neat stuff posted there.


Today, I'm trying another Notebook Experiment.

It's taken from the 7.31.08 Notebook. This is Tic-Tac-Toe on the Go, originally taken from Scribbit's blog.


Well, the first problem I had was the fact that we don't eat Altoids. We do however eat Tootsie Rolls. And thankfully, Target usually has these "candies in a tin suitcase" in their dollar section.
I think the most fun for everyone was going through Mommy's HUGE button supply to find the right buttons.
I got these magnetic strips at Wal----- (Well, I don't go there very often, but JoAnn's was closed at 7:15 this morning. Regardless, I got these strips for $0.77. Very cost efficient in my mind, despite the fact that I can't stand that store and go there as little as possible.) And if you get these strips, make sure you don't use your good scissors to cut them. The magnets will dull the blade if you aren't careful.
Just a little white contact paper with the game board. And the buttons with the magnets on the back. Just an FYI: Make sure your buttons have one side that is reasonably flat and smooth for the magnets to stick on. And, it never hurts to let them pick their favorite colors for their buttons.
One more thing. I put the contact paper in the top, because this tin was a little deep to play the game in. However, make sure you take the buttons off of the top and put them in the box to store them. The lid won't shut otherwise.

And here's Little Bit playing with her new game. 3 year olds do not grasp the concept of tic tac toe, three in a row, so for her..... it's just magnets and buttons. When Sweet Pea comes home from school, I'm sure she and I will play a few (hundred) rounds.
Now, can someone explain to me why I can't even beat myself when I'm playing? I thought I even followed the rules.
Okay, I need to either go take a nap or get to work.

Hugs,
Melinda

Working on Hula Huts

Well, I've been working on my Hula Huts wallhanging. I tried to "tone down" the way too cloudy background, and I've added a bit of quilting to the sky.

Here's the overall picture.This shows some of my problems with it. I basically appliqued a new background on. I did my best, but I still messed up on cutting it too short.
Or I cut it too wide around the sun. But I like the sun rays.
This is probably the worst mess up on my cutting the background.
Yeah, this was fun. I like my clouds, but I'm really hoping this mistake is okay. I was distracted when I started cutting, and instead of cutting the house away from the background, I was cutting the background away from the house. I hope it looks okay.

Here's a different picture of the quilting. I don't know. It's supposed to be for the silent auction at the quilt show, but I'm tempted to keep it. Mainly because my "fix" didn't turn out too well. I don't know. I still have a month. Sort of.

Hugs,
Melinda

Which side do you use?

Brain Test

I don't even know where I got this link, now, but it sure is fun. You ought to try it and see which side of your brain you use more. I know that mine was not what I expected, but interesting all the same.

Your Brain Usage Profile:

Auditory : 41%
Visual : 58%
Left : 52%
Right : 47%

Melinda, you exhibit an even balance between left- and right- hemisphere dominance and a slight preference for visual over auditory processing. With a score this balanced, it is likely that you would have slightly different results each time you complete this self-assessment quiz.

You are a well-rounded person, distinctly individualistic and artistic, an active and multidimensional learner. At the same time, you are logical and disciplined, can operate well within an organization, and are sensitive towards others without losing objectivity. You are organized and goal-directed. Although a "thinking" individual, you "take in" entire situations readily and can act on intuition.

You sometimes tend to vacillate in your learning styles. Learning might take you longer than someone of equal intellect, but you will tend to be more thorough and retain the material longer than those other individuals. You will alternate between logic and impulse. This vacillation will not normally be intentional or deliberate, so you may experience anxiety in situations where you are not certain which aspect of yourself will be called on.

With a slight preference for visual processing, you tend to be encompassing in your perceptions, process along multidimensional paths and be active in your attacking of situations or learning.

Overall, you should feel content with your life and yourself. You are, perhaps, a little too critical of yourself -- and of others -- while maintaining an "openness" which tempers that tendency. Indecisiveness is a problem and your creativity may not be in keeping with your potential. Being a pragmatist, you downplay this aspect of yourself and focus on the more immediate, obvious and the more functional

Zebra Cake

I want to start this post by telling you about another wonderful resource I've found. Amy has a weekly feature called Amy's Notebook where she collects all the interesting articles and ideas she's found throughout the week (and probably month as well) and then posts links to them. I've found lots of great ideas this way. Our favorite so far has been Play Dough Cookies.

This past week, her notebook included a link to directions for a Zebra Cake. It sounded really interesting, so I checked it out. Especially considering the fact that I needed a cake for a church party we are headed to tonight. The following is my attempt at this looks hard but isn't cake. :D

First, gather everything you need. All of your ingredients......

You also need to gather all the utensils, measuring cups and spoons, bowls, and whatever other gear you need.
Don't forget your two eager helpers....... (Which is why you get everything together before hand. Trust me on this.)
It also helps if you measure as many of the ingredients before hand as possible. Then you can say, "Sweet Pea, pour this in."
And she does. While Little Bit sits and pretends to use the mixer.
Measuring ingredients over the bowl is not recommended. Neither is expecting the 3 year old to hold the measuring spoon still while you try to pour vanilla in it while also trying to take a picture of all this. Let's just say this is a very vanilla-y cake batter.
The directions read to whisk...... It wasn't working. We used the mixer. (Interesting side note: I don't know if you can see her tounge. It's sticking out just like I stick mine out when I'm involved in something.)
Still mixing the eggs and sugar together.
When you have your ingredients ready, even a 3 year old can pour them into a bowl.
And then she'll play in the flour while you are putting the measuring cup in the sink.
Okay, so we are ready to divide our batter in half. In this picture, you see Sweet Pea trying to add the cocoa to one half of the batter, and Little Bit STILL playing in the ingredients. Don't worry, she didn't make too big of a mess.
Gotta give Sissy a turn at the mixer. (Thank you to who ever added the self timer on the camera!)
When you are done, you will have two very very VERY runny batters.
You just alternate them. A spoonful of white, a spoonful of chocolate in the middle of that. You keep adding layers in a bulls eye pattern.
Then you slide it in the oven and cook it.
My "helpers" really like this job. According to my mother, it is "the most important job in the kitchen."


But really, they can have the beaters. That means I get to lick the bowl! :D

I can also tell you something else. Don't use a Pampered Chef pie plate for this recipe. I thought it would be a good idea, but the cake hasn't cooked correctly. I can also tell you that I probably understand why it wasn't such a good idea to use a mixer. I got WAY too much air in the cake.



I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to "fix" this, but I'll come up with something. And there you have it.... Zebra Cake. :D

Awesome

I simply have to pass on this link because it is so amazing.

Lightning in Slow Motion. Isn't God so cool?

Challenge Details

First, I would like to apologize for the blurriness. Sometimes I take a great picture, sometimes, I don't.

So....................................................................Have to have at least one unidentified flying object......Or maybe two........ (Don't look, this one is actually pieced from two different versions.)

How about a third UFO? Wait a minute, the UFO has a UFO! An UnFinished Object, that is. :DThe rules state you have to have a recognizable piece of the challenge fabric in your quilt. I think this counts. It's the inspiration for the whole piece in the first place.
But if that one doesn't work, then this out to be a pretty recognizable piece.

On to my aliens. Aren't they cute? This guy's block started as "Road to Paradise," but I couldn't figure out that small a measurement, so it became "Shoo Fly."
These guys are enjoying their vacation to the UFO capital of the world. (The road sign is actually a picture taken off the internet.)
This guy was working on a nine patch.
Poor alien kitty. He had way too many 4 patch blocks to choose from. He's contemplating taking a nap on all of them.
And this guy took the rules seriously. He has a miniature "Arkansas Crossroads" block.
Oh, I got it. This is the ULTIMATE Quilter's Retreat, right? :D

And if you live in my area, or are coming for a visit (Judy), please don't tell anyone you saw this. It's supposed to be a secret until the September 8th guild meeting. I'm just so excited, I can't keep it quiet. ROFLOL

Hugs,
Melinda