Getting creative

This post is about what happens when McCalls emails you telling you that they are having a huge pattern sale. It was a great sale. All their patterns were $1.99. So I decided to browse the American Girl sized patterns and I bought them. Not all of them but quite a few.

A few of my goodies

 

More of them plus a Simplicity pattern I got somewhere

Unfortunately, my fabric stash is sorely lacking. I do have some nice hot pink corduroy I just picked up. I also picked up some teal knit and denim. I have a small stash of other fabrics mostly woven cotton and some flannel. Now I just need to figure out where to start. I want to start with all of it. I know that I will have to make most of the outfits for Bianca's three dolls. She thinks that they need lots of choices. I am thinking that some pjs, a pair or two of jeans, and some tops will be a good start. Of course, I also have to make Bianca a few summer skirts and may make them matching skirts.

I suck at blogging

I have come to the realization that I suck at blogging. The problem is I never remember to blog and when I do think about it, I never have anything interesting to write. I am going to work on this issue. I am also bad a tweeting for the same reason. I have had so much happen in the last several months. I started a new job, Jay started a new job, we moved, the kids started school again, Hurricane Irene took out our town, the transmission went in my van, and the holidays happened. That is the brief news cast. Now for more details...

Hurricane Irene, that is the big one. Luckily, the house we were living in was fine. Our driveway and part of the road but that was it. I ended up at the local emergency shelter with Jimmy and Bianca because I was trying to get to Dover to wait the storm out. We left about 30 minutes too late and were almost trapped. Luckily, God was with us and we were safe. We spent a day and a half at the shelter. I helped in the kitchen and then Jay came for us. He was at work during the storm and his hotel was used as an emergency shelter so he was working for most of the night. Downtown Wilmington was completely underwater. Many businesses and homes were destroyed. However, there was only one fatality. A young woman who could not swim got swept away and drowned. It has been months since the flood and the town is slowly being rebuilt. Many of the businesses have reopened. FEMA and the VT National Guard were amazing, as were the thousands of volunteers from all over.

Jay is working in bell/valet at a hotel at the local ski mountain. He likes it. He is a people person so this is great for him plus he got to meet Chris Rock. He is a huge Chris Rock fan. According to him Mr. Rock is very nice, down to earth, his wife is friendly, and his kids are adorable and well behaved. My new job is housekeeping at a local inn. It is remarkably similar to my old job of stay at home mom except I can clean without kids underfoot and I get paid. I love getting paid.

Now for the move. We moved about 1.5 miles up the road from our old house. We are the only house on an old dirt road. I love it.  The house has 3 bedrooms and is very old. It needs some work but luckily, Jay is handy. I am hoping we can eventually buy the house from our landlord. I could easily see us living here forever. Right now Jay's brother is living here too. He is moving out in a few months though so we are debating what to do with his room.

The kids are in school. Jimmy started 1st grade and Bianca started preschool. School is going fairly well. Jimmy has had some major behavior issues this year but has started to get better. Academically he is well advanced and I think boredom is part of the issue. His temper and impulse control are the rest of the issue. Bianca is doing very well in preschool. She has many friends and received a Shining Star award from the school. Her teacher nominated her because she always does what is asked with a smile and makes the classroom a positive place. I am very proud of her but wonder if they confused my kid with another.

As for my van and the holidays, it was hectic. Just a few days before Christmas the transmission went in my '04 Ford Freestar. Apparently, this is an extremely common problem. So common they recalled it about a week after we sold the van for $1000. Jay got me a Jeep Grand Cherokee though and I love it. I just wish it seated more than 5. It is a tight squeeze when my BIL rides with us which is often since he flipped his car. Jay got a Jeep Wrangler to replace his gas hog of a truck. For Christmas, the kids were completely spoiled. They got several ZhuZhu pet sets, Jimmy got a remote control helicopter, Bianca got a few American Girl dolls (one for her birthday and one for Christmas), and we got them a bunch of board games. I am in the process of creating an entire wardrobe for Bianca's dolls because they need to change clothes several times a day. Good thing I like to sew and knit, have a decent fabric and yarn stash, and there are tons of free patterns online or this could be expensive.