Re-purposing: My new hobby

I've found a new hobby.  It involves turning old things into new things.  I especially like when I can find a new purpose for old clothing.  First, it saves something I would have otherwise donated.  Secondly, it reduces some of my sewing time.  For example, if I re-purpose a tee-shirt into a skirt, the hemming and seams are already done ... professionally!  How neat is that?!

My first attempt at re-purposing was over 4 years ago when I made a fitted cloth diaper for Veronica.  Remember?

(Veronica @ 3 mos)

Today I turned a tee shirt into a yoga skirt for Veronica.  Hey, same model!!

(Veronica @ 3 yo)

I bought a few more shirts at Salvation Army and plan on re-purposing them for Catherine and maybe even Sophia.


My inspiration?  This new favorite blog, Make It and Love It.  Here is how I turned a tee shirt into Veronica's new skirt.  I'm currently working on matching leggings made from the sleeves.  Neat, huh?!

Another re-purpose is the side of an old crib into a magazine holder.  I placed it in my guest bathroom and love it!!  I might paint it. Haven't decided yet.

(Added bonus ... you get to see my favorite magazines!!)

Well, gotta go re-purpose.  

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~

         Every Thursday, at Like Mother, Like Daughter!

                                                                         

                                

{pretty}

Craig has been growing hydroponic veggies since January.  Its his latest hobby. I love sending the kids out to pick me fresh tomatoes or peppers.  Earlier in the year we had spinach, broccoli, lettuce and squash.

Nothing is more pretty than seeing Grandbaby #8 with Grandma, who visits almost daily to see her brood.

                                                {happy}

Emma is ALWAYS happy (except when she's hungry, of course).  She's already 10 weeks old.

Catherine loves holding her baby sister!

Happiness is playing with the water hose at Grandma's.  No need for swim suits here.  They just use Grandpa's old tee shirts. 

{funny}

I was teasing Craig when I took this picture.  I told him that he's officially an old man.  Not because he turned 40 this past December, but because he was wearing a white undershirt all day.  Only old men wear white undershirts around the house.  Meanwhile, I've been running around in my Birkenstocks.  Does that make me his old lady??

Anna with her best friend on her birthday.  I know there's nothing funny about casts.  Thankfully its off.  The funny part is that it took us 3 days before taking her to the ER.  She didn't complain and said she was only sore.  Turns out her "sprain" was a small break.  

{real}

Summer time is when I move furniture around.  This summer I'm relocating our books and turning the school room into the boys' bedroom.  The six girls will be divided among the 3 bedrooms upstairs.  I'm starting to feel like the old woman in the shoe!

Kolbe reading to his brother Vincent.  Its ironic that Curious George is being read to Vincent as he's probably related to that troublesome monkey!!  I love that Kolbe doesn't realize he's practicing his reading when he reads to Vincent.  Life is busy and some days the only way I know Kolbe has practiced his reading and Vincent has been read to is by pairing them up.

To see some more {pretty, happy, funny, real} posts, visit Rosie at Like Mother, Like Daughter!!

Projects in Progress

Here's what I'm working on:

Skirt for Isabelle. Still needs one more layer added to make longer.

Elastic needs to be tightened.

Skirt for Sophia. Still needs hemming and elastic added to waist.

Skirt for Isabelle. Needs to be hemmed.

Blanket for baby. Need to crochet brown finishing edge to entire blanket.

Baby is perfectly and completely done. I had nothing to do with that! ;-)

I'm still here!!

I'm just so busy that I haven't had time to sit down and blog. This year's resolutions are just the two: (1) pray my Rosary first thing in the morning (before ANYTHING else) and (2) smiling more (St. Josemaria says sometimes smiling is the best mortification).

We're slowly adjusting to being back to school after the holidays. Baby Veronica is smiling and cooing and everyone takes turns holding her. I'm trying to smile more which means I have to go to bed earlier and try to stick to my schedule. LOL!!

Isabelle is REALLY thriving with our morning routine of waking up before the rest of the house. I'm still eating breakfast and tea with her while we go over her English, spelling, and memory work. She does better when its quiet and there are no distractions. I'm a happier homeschooler when she's happy! LOL!!

Tomorrow is the first day of co-op. The kids are SOOO excited!! We spent part of today shopping for school supplies (like drawing pads, sketching pencils and erasers, new backpacks, etc.).

The kids are really loving co-op. Isabelle sees it as her one day of going away to school. We start the day with morning mass at 8am. Classes start at 9am and are an hour each. They get a 30 minute recess after 2nd period and a 30 minute lunch after 3rd period.

Here's the schedule for this semester:

Isabelle
Period 1: Latin
Period 2: Theatre (A.D.)
Period 3: TX history
Period 4: Intro. to Interior Design (very excited about this class)

Anna
Period 1: US History
Period 2: Art
Period 3: Theatre (Abraham & Isaac)

Sophia
Period 1: US History
Period 2: Experience the Bible
Period 3: Theatre (Abraham & Isaac)

Kolbe
Period 1: Theatre (Noah's Ark)
Period 2: Pre-school
Period 3: Pre-school

*Yes, Kolbe is in kindergarten. But he's still not able to write or color very well. And he's fidgety. He fits in perfectly with the preschoolers!! LOL!! He might be the tallest but he's behaving and loving it. I'm still doing kindergarten at home with him but really wanted something that he would enjoy and wouldn't stress over.

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I can't believe how fast the kids are growing!! Can you believe that almost 11 years ago I was having my first baby. I was only 24 and felt so young and full of hope. I still feel young and full of hope. But, my definition of young has been bumped up to 35 and middle aged is now 50?!?

Tomorrow's my birthday and I'm going to go have breakfast with my mom-in-law (after I drop the kids off at co-op). Craig gets home Friday and then Isabelle has a Suzuki Piano Workshop this weekend.

I've also been VERY busy crocheting and sewing. Hobby Lobby had patterns on sale for $.99. I'm in the process of making 3 skirts, 1 baby blanket, and some tote bags. I think this month I replaced blogging with crafts. SORRY! ;-) I'll show some pictures of what I'm working on later.

Busy, busy, busy!! Happy, happy, happy!!

My new quote on the sidebar (for a while anyways) is:

From time to time I have wondered which kind of martyrdom is the greater: that of the person who receives death for the faith, at the hands of God 's enemies; or the martyrdom of someone who spends his years working with no other purpose than that of serving the Church and souls, and who grows old smiling, all the while passing unnoticed...For me, the unspectacular martyrdom is more heroic... That is your way.

-St JoseMaria Escriva, The Way of the Cross

Sewing Fitted Diapers

I'm so excited about the fitted diaper I just made Veronica!!! I found a pattern that seemed simple enough. The best part was that it called for used tee shirts as the material. So, after raiding Craig's drawers (thanks sweetie), I found myself a blue tee that has seen enough years.

Next time I'm making a size medium instead of a small. I don't think this diaper will last her more than 2 weeks. Also, I wish the Velcro didn't stand out so much. I thought about cutting its width, but thought it wouldn't work as well. Maybe I can find colored Velcro for the future.

I made the sewn-in soaker style. I might try the stuffable style next time. How exciting! I think I'm going to put my crocheting down in light of this new hobby!

*Note* The diaper looks like its made of denim but its actually a very soft blue tee shirt. Click on the pictures to see full screen images and you'll be able to see how soft it actually is.

Boys & Their Hobbies: Part II

A while back I posted my thoughts on the need men have for meaningful hobbies.

Craig has taken on a new one, thanks to a lovely family we know! ;-) Yesterday, he went paintball fighting with my dad and my cousins. Today, he spent some time in the back with the kids. Anyone who's been over to our home would know we DO NOT have acreage and that my backyard is NOT set up for this kind of recreation.

So, after an hour of shooting I had to put my foot down. After all, they had stained my fence and bird bath. Instead, I sent them packing over to my mom-in-laws. She has a wide field perfect for target practice

Thank you, dear S. family, for introducing us to this wonderful sport! LOL!

The Posse

I just couldn't resist!! I used to love shooting with my cousin.

Isabelle

Anna

Sophia

Kolbe

Catherine, shooting air!! LOL!!

Boys and their hobbies

Growing up I never remember my dad having a hobby. Other than playing raquetball (which he still does daily), I don't remember him tinkering with anything at home. And so in these twelve years of marriage I've learned alot about boys and their hobbies.

Even when we were dating, Craig ALWAYS had various hobbies. Playing chess used to be an obsession. He had books, stop-timer-clocks, had chess buddies, collected chess sets, etc. He tried to teach me but he would never let me talk to him during his turn (I was waiting for him to move so I wanted to talk). He also wouldn't let me talk during my turn. A game that requires silence is no game for me!! LOL!

I remember him playing against himself so he could practice moves. He would play his father weekly, too. And so I came to know and love his mom during these weekly games. After all, those games sometimes took up to 1 1/2 hours!

Besides chess, Craig loves to build things. He loves to be outside. On weekends he hardly steps foot in the house.

In addition to collecting power tools, his other obsession is remote control cars. As a little boy his father used to fly remote control planes. Craig remembers just watching. He could never fly them but he didn't mind. He said he knew he would own one when he grew up.

Forward a few decades to a young man racing a plane at the park and almost crashing into his children. He quickly discovered that flying planes didn't combine well with four kids who didn't sit quite as sedately as he did! LOL!

So he switched to RC cars.

Craig is the silent type. Unless he's talking about something he is passionate about (biochemistry, chess, woodwork, RC cars, etc.), he's not talking at all. He doesn't do small talk. And he doesn't listen to small talk, either. At least not for very long.

So for someone who can sometimes be so silent, I'm amazed at how he attracts boys with his RC cars. That probably didn't come out right so let me explain.

When we lived in our last home, Craig would race his RC cars up and down the street any chance he could. Soon, boys on bikes starting coming to our home. Anytime they heard the loud motor of these tiny cars, boys all over the neighborhood would hop on their bikes and race to our house. I got used to seeing dirt bikes strewn all over my yard.

What amazed me was that Craig didn't actually talk to the boys. He just raced and they just watched ..... for hours! And then when he was done they would just ride away.

I couldn't understand why he didn't engage them. Talk to them. Ask them about school. Find out about their families. Craig would just shrug and said he didn't want to talk and neither did they.

Well, this went on for weeks and FINALLY one boy spoke and broke the silence. He asked where he could buy a RC car and how much did they cost. Craig gave the poor boy sticker shock but then told him to come do yard work and he would give him a broken car.

And so Justin started hanging out and doing odd jobs. After a few weeks Craig gave him a broken car. I thought that was mean. I didn't understand. Craig said he would learn more about the car if he had to fix it.

Pretty soon Justin would show up at my door asking for "Him." He never called Craig by name. He would just ask, "Is He here?" I would send Justin to the garage where he would ask Craig about a part or how to fix something. Well, a month later Justin got his car working!!!

And soon Justin was coming over with his car to race Craig. This relationship went on for over 1 1/2 years. And we later came to know about Justin and his family and all the questions I had wanted to know on the first day. Turns out he didn't have a father in the picture. And soon his mom was coming over and asking Craig where she could buy parts for Justin.



It took me that long to realize that boys are so in need of hobbies and of father figures who have hobbies. It didn't bother me that my dad didn't have hobbies. But Craig did have a father who had LOTS of hobbies like bee keeping, photography, poetry, wood working, etc.

I know an amazing family with 11 children and that father also has lots of hobbies that he shares with his sons. No wonder Craig gets along with them so well. They get together and talk hobbies! LOL! And of course I get with the mom and girls and just talk, talk, talk, talk.

Men and women are so different.

Now that we've moved to this new neighborhood, Craig has already become a "Pied Piper" of boys with his RC cars. Already boys are hopping on their bikes whenever they hear the motors of his RC cars. A boy two houses down went and bought himself a RC car this week after picking Craig's brain. Ironically, he is home schooled and I've been unable to establish a connection with that family. For over a year we've been waving but not talking. And Craig has managed to connect with them by just pulling out his RC car. The father came down today and spoke with Craig for a long while.

Of course I wanted to know everything. What did they talk about? What do they do? What does he know about their family? Craig just shrugged. They only talked about RC cars. I guess I'll have to wait another 1 1/2 years to find out about this family, too.

Meanwhile, I'm glad my little boy has a father with hobbies. And I'm glad Craig has a world apart from mine. Boys need space, quiet, lots of outdoor time, and hobbies. And they need wives who understand.

If Kolbe should be called to marriage, I'll be sure that Kolbe plays weekly chess with his father so I can get to know his young lady. And I'll share all about Craig's and Kolbe's hobbies. And I'll pray that she isn't the clingy, needy type but rather a girl that understands a boy's need to have a hobby free from chattering.

As for my girls, they're learning a valuable lesson. They understand and have even entered Craig's world. On Saturday evenings all the kids go with Craig to the "race tracks" to watch him race. And I, the understanding wife, get a quiet house all to myself. Its a win-win situation! ;-)