i would like to publicly apologize for photobombing this beautiful picture of my sister-in-law with her now husband and his mom & sister.

i am sorry for the gaping-mouthed ridiculousness in the background.

please forgive me.

dearest friend,

we’ve had a beautiful relationship. really, we have, but it’s time to go our separate ways. it’s not you, it’s me. well, that’s not entirely true. it’s not even remotely true. it’s you. there, i said it. i want to break up with you. it’s been long enough & our codependent relationship is doing me no good.

sure, i devoted my entire 8th grade science fair project to you. i painstakingly melted paraffin, dyed it & molded it in your honor. i spent many night researching your existence. i wanted to know more about you and when i was made fun of because i chose to study you, i held my head high because i was proud of all i had learned.

you never left my side in high school. popping up here and there. i took you to parties, dances, movies, camp. we had fun, no?

you’ve been there with me through 3 pregnancies. oh, man, were you there for me when i was pregnant with the girls. you were a constant companion, but i really didn’t need you hanging around anymore.

i cherish those memories. i truly do, but it’s time we parted. see, i’m an adult now and i don’t need you anymore. hell, i really never needed you, but there wasn’t much i could do about that, now was there? and i’ll remember you forever. the fact that i no longer have the porcelain skin of my childhood will remind me of our life together.

so please, zit-on-my-chin-that-keeps-coming-back-every-month-since-7th-grade, go away. i just can’t take it anymore. i don’t ever want to see you again. if you chose to never come back i’d be okay with that. we’ll always have the memories.

k?

hugs and kisses,

jenny

here’s an exercise in how much writing i can get done in 5 minutes:

i have already:
-eaten breakfast (leftover dutch baby pancake)
-had one cup of coffee
-one for a walk/run
-reorganized the 2 shoes bins in the garage
-cleaned up from the reorganization of shoe bins (that’s for you, daddyjay)
-put the baby down for a nap
-sat down to write

i still have to:
-take a shower
-clean the floors
-figure out how the baby locked my washing machine & get it unlocked so i can do laundry
-sew some quilt squares for my quilting bee
-sew some quilt squares for christmas presents
-feed the three of us who are at home
-make my bed
-empty the dishwasher
-go see pioneer woman at changing hands bookstore tonight with sarah

…times up. off to shower. not bad for someone who never took a typing class and has to hunt & peck.

update: i did almost everything on my list. just didn’t get to the bee block. good thing i have the whole month.

i’ve up and joined my third quilting bee. i haven’t figured out the badge yet, but it’s over here. we even have someone joining us from new zealand. quite exciting.

i had enough fabric in my stash to get us started for october & i sent out a variety of different brightly colored fabrics to everyone else in order to make a quilt for the baby. the other 2 bees were for the three big kids, so i thought she should get one, too.

so far, i have 14 blocks (mine included) the rest are on their way. i’m really impressed and inspired with all of the creativity i’ve seen in these blocks.

an adorable bird on a box by karissa

i really freaked beth out with this one. she embroidered jamison’s first name, but saw that i blurred it and called her jamison. she thought she screwed up when i should have originally told them all that i didn’t use first names.

i love the addition of lace on this block. very sweet.

that’s a door! on a house! with a little lass inside! swoon! (no blog to link for kathy)

if you remember, jamison’s hebrew name is malcha, which means queen. megan made this crown for our queen. i really am quite touched with the sentiment in this one.

and holy-smokes! this looks like it’s own little mini quilt! fabulous! thanks, jessica!

and here’s one of mine. the multi-talented, incomparable cathy sent me the adorable bear piece when i won a tote in a giveaway she had last year, so i used it as the anchor & built around it. i don’t use a pattern, unless someone asks me to, so it’s just all smacked together. i really like how it turned out. the other one i made is just as cute, i just didn’t have it finished before i uploaded pictures.

this is going to be one fabulous quilt, don’t you think?

i decided to try my hand at the dare to design is contest at shabby apple. i’ve actually been interested in designing this exact dress for myself for a while & whether i win or not, i’ll make it.

i regularly drool over the shabby apple dresses. they are cute, tasteful & reasonably priced. there are tons of styles, so anyone can find at least 1 (or12) dresses that they like.

my design:

the inspiration for this dress comes from an old olga nightgown of my mom’s that i have. it is still in great shape & i’ve been wearing it a lot lately (no, you will not see that picture.) to make sure that it’s wearable as a dress, i’ve had to modify the neckline a bit and removed some of the lace, but it stays true to the overall design of the ankle-length nightgown.

the sleeves are not fitted, but more of a truncated kimono sleeve that covers the shoulder. there is room without needing a camisole underneath. the 2 front panels are gathered at the top and bottom, just slightly to allow for room in the chest if someone is ample-chested, but it also looks good on those of you who, like me, lack in that department. there is also a slight gather at the top of the neck in the back to allow for room. the dress ends just below the knee, which is exactly where i like it. it stays on with a side zipper.

the fabrics are from a new line that i’m really excited about from anna maria horner called “little folks.” there are a few solids, including the cotton voile in water that would be perfect for the main fabric on the dress. the waist panel and shoulder panel (it goes across the back of the neck) also come from this line in the baby bouquet in dusk. i’ve also added a cream-colored lace panel at the chest and as an edge on the waist for a sweet touch.

i think it’s pretty cute.

i forgot that yesterday was the mark of my blogging start. (i hate the term blogiversary, don’t ask me why.)

i started blogging as a means of community. i found blogs when i started sewing again & discovered a world of crafting i never knew existed. i created an online persona to talk with those on the other ends of the wires. i ended up writing as well, beginning with nablopomo 2007. i kept clicking and clicking and clicking and clicking and fell down the rabbit hole of the many great and varied blogs from design, to parenting, to sewing, to writing & more.

i guess the best part of all of this is that in the last 2 years i’ve made friends. some people still don’t get how i can be friends with people i’ve never met, but it works. i stay home with my kids & i have many people to call on to ask for advice, become inspired by, support & cry with.

not to mention the three quilting bees i’ve been involved in this last year. in the end (hopefully by christmas) i will have made 4 quilts with the help of 37 people i’d have never met otherwise.

i blog to make connections. simple as that. and my connections are varied. i read crafty blogs, sewing blogs, mommy blogs, daddy blogs, funny blogs, sad blogs, and even a-couple-of-people-i-already-knew blogs.

i hope to put flesh to the faces i see, someday. until then, i’ll just stick it out here at mommymae, but you can call me jenny.

my name is jenny, and i like you.

and now for something completely different.

this week, for new music monday, i’ll give you some of the baby doll’s newest words. i was recording a song when she came to me & wanted to watch herself on the computer. we made a little video in which she says a few words, smiles at herself & me, and grabs my boobs.

enjoy!

i love it when she looks at the bananas, but doesn’t say it, mouths uh-oh, & gives me the cheesy grin.

a successful all hallows eve.

mr. orange-bones jones even made his comeback.

we met a witch

some ghoulies

even i dressed up, a bit

along with my pegacorn

mermaid

lego king

and adorable baby who gets a mulligan for the year (they all do their second halloween)

all in all we had a good time

we have a few halloween decorations. not a lot, but enough to make us festive. some of it is inside, just for us: homemade pumpkins & harvest bottles, bowls & baskets. that kind of stuff. nothing terribly exciting. i have templates made for gravestones with limericks about all of us, but they’re made of cardboard, so i’ve never used them. hopefully, i can get some plywood for next year and paint them.

and then, there’s mr. orange-bones jones.

he’s our skeleton that we put up for the first time, last halloween. we put him up a week & a half ago & will stuff his rib cage with orange lights & park him in front of the window.

problem is, we can’t find our halloween box.

it’s in the garage.

that’s half-full of an unpacked basement.

so this year, the boy has decided that he’s just bones.

until i get my tail to target & remedy the situation with a $2 string of orange lights.

’cause one can only take so much of a 3 year old yelling at them to stop singing this:

(of course, he usurped my song this morning with his own ditty. and don’t i look hot in my workout tee? if i don’t do it now, it won’t happen so love on that hawtness. now to write some more verses for this one…)

after being talked down from being centaurs for halloween this year, scout & jillianne are going to be a unicorn & mermaid, respectively.

the boy, on the other hand, changed his mind every five minutes. today it’s a king. yesterday, a knight. here’s the list of all ideas he’s had so far:

speed racer
the mach 5
the number 5
mater
lightning mcqueen
frank, the combine, from “cars”
a helicopter
an airplane
a playing card
i don’t know
a knight
a king

once the big girls’ costumes are done this weekend, he’s got to do some serious thinking because i only have 8 days. eek!

the baby will be done last & i’ll come up with something, i’m sure. i really would like for justice to be a gnome & jamison to be a toadstool, but i don’t think he’s having it.

we’ll see.