Fritter's Mon(Man?)ologue

Ladybug, when boys and dads go someplace, girls can't go.  But when girls and moms go someplace boys and dads do go.

Boys are not connected to moms.  But girls and moms are connected to boys and dads.

Because boys are silly and so girls don't go with them.  But girls are not silly and so boys DO go with them.

(silence from the back of the car)

Got it? .... Hmmm? .... Are you listening to me?

Ladybug: Mom when I get home I'm going to make a heart with a flower for Jesus and Mary.

Fritter: (slaps his forehead in disgust)

Maternity Shirt Sleeve Redo Plus A Bonus Belly Shot

Why do maternity clothes companies hate pregnant women so much?  Between the waistband of bottoms that never seem to stay put (and in later pregnancy even a Belly Band is not much help.  The constriction!) and the elastic banded shirt sleeves that seem to only be made to fit a four year old are pure torture.  I don't think I necessarily have unusually large arms, so I can't be the only one who has had to suffer from this.  For future reference, all you maternity clothing companies that read my blog, (yeah right!) no more elastic shirt sleeves!  We want style AND comfort and many times comfort trumps style, especially in the third trimester.

 

So I have had to take matters into my own hands.  Not wanting to buy still more maternity shirts for a mere three months left of pregnancy, and trying to use the policy of "make due with what you have", I sat down with my seam ripper and the full knowledge that I could be ruining three of my shirts.  But really, since I couldn't stand to wear them anyway because of the grooves in my arms created by those darned elastic bands, it didn't matter.

 

 

 

Here is a before picture of the only shirt I have left to fix.  I forgot to take before pictures of the other two, but they were all basically the same torturous sleeves.  Forgive the awful coloring in the picture.  Not sure what was going on there.

 



Seriously, this sleeve might comfortably fit my four year old.  Yeouch!

 

 

 

Here is an after of one of the fixed shirts.  Again, the color.  Even with a new camera, I can somehow manage to take very bad pictures.

 



 

The fixed sleeve.  You can see the the sleeve went from a sort of cap to more of a butterfly shape.  Ladies, we can have comfort and style together.  Sometimes we just have to do a little more work to achieve it.  

 

 

The second fixed shirt.  I was so glad I was able to fix this one, because other than the dreaded sleeve, it is a cute shirt.

This sleeve did not actually have elastic in the sleeves, but had a binding around it that made the sleeve runch at the top.  This one really hurt while wearing it, because no elastic meant even more of a squeeze on the arms.  So I ripped the binding out, ripped the runching out and folded the material over on itself (twice) and then sewed.

 

So want to see it on? 



 A front view so you can see how the sleeves fit after the fix.  My dear hubby is out of town and I did this while the kids were in bed.  So, sort of a cheesy self shot.  :)

 And a side view just so you can see the belly.

The moral of this story is: don't settle for uncomfortable sleeves four pregnancies in a row.  Really, I can't believe I've been torturing myself with these shirts for so long.  Make due!  Fix it!  And if you ruin it, you've at least stopped yourself from wearing something uncomfortable.

Scenes From Tuesday OR...

...You Made A Mess And Now You Have To Clean It Up

When last we spoke, we had a gaping hole in our backyard where our swimming pool once was.  That was Monday.  Monday, Monday.

Tuesday, being that it was Mardi Gras, we started the day off right.  Blueberry pancakes and sausage links.  I was informed by the resident boy child that he preferred sausage over pancakes, but that he would eat pancakes too.  Alrighty then.

 It wasn't long before our street was taken over by dump trucks and various other working vehicles.  I'm sure by this point our neighbors had a strong disliking for us.  Half of the street was covered with dirt.

 Soon after, to my great relief, the hole that was once a pool was being filled with dirt.  The work went so quickly at this point that by the time I got my camera out, much of the hole was already filled.

It didn't take long before it started to look like this.

 And then (after a burst sprinkler line and the loss of my telephone and internet service until just this morning) it was done.  The trucks were gone without even saying goodbye, and the kids were free to go outside and get dirty.

 This is basically what Fritter has been doing since Tuesday afternoon.  Well, this and running crazy circles all over where the pool used to be just because he could.

We still have a ton of work left to do.  Hopefully the new sprinkler system will be installed in the next couple of weekends, and then grass planted and hedges all along the back fence for privacy.  And then we might take a little break from backyard work to just enjoy it.  We'll see....  :)

Scenes From Today

Before destruction.

The big machines arrive.

Our very own live episode of Mighty Machines.

Let the jackhammering commence.

The first piece falls.

We no longer have a swimming pool.

How we've busied ourselves while watching the machines work.  Notice NONE of the laundry has been folded.  I can't take my eyes off of the destruction going on in my backyard.  I'm excited, and nervous, and ohmygoodnesswhatdidwedo?!

These beauties from my dear hubby are brightening up my day and giving me a little perspective.

Tomorrow, when the gaping hole in my backyard has been filled with dirt, I will have more for you to see.  Stay tuned!  We have a loooonnnnng yard project ahead of us.

A Sweet Quilt For A Sweet Baby Girl

My cousin recently had a baby girl, and I felt the need to make her precious bundle something cozy.  This is only the second quilt I've made, so I had to look up instructions on how to tie a quilt.  This quilt only took me a day to make (at the expensive of other non-important things like folding laundry) and was fairly easy.  Although, next time I make a quilt like this I'm going to need to look at using a different type of needle.  I used a small embroidery needle (it's what I had on hand) to pull the yarn through, and though it worked, it was a little...painful for my fingers.  I'm thinking a larger needle next time and maybe a few of those rubbery thimble things would be in order.  Suggestions?