Sunday, May 29, 2011

my mission.......a nook cover

Jason got his nook a while back, and he loves it, especially now that he has Angry Birds on it. Haha. He has been looking at the covers, and I knew I could make one if I just tried. People are selling them like crazy on Etsy, but I wanted to do it myself. I'm like that. So I took an old torn pair of Jason's ACU's and made this. YAY ME! Awesome huh? The velcro to hold it shut is from a sleeve of his uniform (yes, I'm serious, I'm that awesome). 
The back is a pocket from the pants (yeeeeeees! for real). 
And it's even functional. Go me, go me, go me. :) 
The inside is a felt material, but the hooks to hold in the nook are made from the hems on the uniform. And yes, Jaymee took that pic that is on there. One of our all-time faves!  
In between the layers is a plastic to keep water from getting into the cover, and a layer of batting for a little padding in case it's dropped. This has to be my greatest sewing masterpiece so far. It works GREAT. The hooks even hold in the nook like they should. *pat on my back* The best part, Jason loves it. Mission accomplished. 

Thursday, May 26, 2011

short trip

On Monday, we headed to Billings to visit and have the FABULOUS Jaymee Foster do a photo shoot for us before Jason leaves (more to come from that later). Erica made us a fabulous dinner, and all the kids got to eat and hangout together (kind of disappointed we didn't get a pic of them all). After dinner, Erica kept Raigan, and we went with Jaymee to our photo shoot. It was a blast! By the time we got back, it was bedtime for the kids and our bedtime was shortly there after.

Elliott and I got up with Carson and Erica before they headed to gymnastics. Elliott and Carson played for a bit in the fort. It was too cute.
After they got back, Carson got out his firefighter hat and boots, and Elliott promptly took them over. He was really excited about them.  
They all were hugging here. Elliott had the giggles.  
Carson tried to pretend he hated me and that he had no clue who I was. That's ok, I still got my hugs and kisses in. I tried to get a picture of him and me together, but he still wanted no part of it. Elliott, on the other hand, wanted to be in every picture with his big goofy grin and fireman hat. 
Erica finally bribed Carson to smile with a chocolate. YES! I did bribe a toddler to pretend he liked me while I snapped a picture for proof later. :)  
The boys had a crazy game of Connect 4. It was fun to watch them. 
Their favorite part was watching the pieces fall out.  
We had a really long trip home and it rained the entire way. It was miserable, but we still had smiling faces when we arrived. :) Gotta love these boys.  
Thank you SO much Erica for lending out your downstairs to us and always making us feel so comfortable and at home. And thanks to Jaymee for your time and talent. We love you both.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

just sew sew

Last week was my friend Andrea's birthday, and I made her a little ruffled zipper pouch. I didn't take any pictures of hers, but I loved the fabric and colors. It was so cute I wanted my own. :) My colors and fabric are totally different, but I love it. I was scared of the zipper, but now I'm a pro.
It even has credit card (or coffee punch card) pockets on the inside. Fancy Schmancy. 
I have been dying for a cute spring skirt. I don't know why, I rarely wear skirts and it's even more rare that I have a reason to. But with fabrics like this and the sun shining the past couple days, I couldn't wait any longer. I am SO happy with it. 
I repurposed a long sweater into a shrug. Not too bad for my first try.  
Jason wants a cover for his Nook, and I am supposed to be working on a quilt made from his cut up ACUs. Guess I better get back to it.

Happy Sunday.

Friday, May 20, 2011

window clings

I found this tutorial on this blog. She is doing a "Save Our Summer" theme, and I am LOVING it. There are so many great ideas to keep the boys busy this summer. This was fun, but more for Ethan than Elliott.

Instead of plastic shapes, I just had the boys pick out a page from a coloring book and put it under the plastic. It worked great because the pictures are just outlines, and very simple. We did them in the evening (hence the pajamas and terrible lighting).
Ethan felt so big getting to use puffy paint all by himself.  
This was my plastic mat. The big black spot in the right hand corner was Elliott's contribution to the project. He had fun with that. 
The next day, we peeled them off and hung them up. Cool huh? The names didn't work too well, next time I will put a shape around them so they don't stretch and break.  
We will definitely do this again. Maybe they could do this project when they stay at Grandma and Papa's this summer............ :)

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

spending time together

The weather was awesome the past couple days, Jason was home in the evenings and we took advantage.
It's so nice to be able to go to the park again. The boys have a great time. 

Elliott is getting so big, and my guess is that he will do the fire pole by himself by the end of summer. He's crazy like that.  
We are going to miss our Daddy and we are savoring every minute we have with him before he leaves.  

Monday, May 16, 2011

student of the month

Ethan's teacher nominated him for Student of the Month for April. :) When she told me that she had chosen him, she said, "Ethan has been working really hard in both reading and math, he is also a great leader and helper in the classroom. Ethan is one of those students that other kids enjoy being around and look up to. I am very proud of all his accomplishments this year!" Let me tell you that hearing this put a huge smile on my face for days. He truly is a special kid, and we could not be more proud of him.

So, on Friday afternoon, I went to the school to watch the Student of the Month Assembly. There were way too many kids in one place for me, but it was fun to see how excited they were for each other.

All the students came in and sat down, then the "Eye of the Tiger" song started blasting through the speakers and the kids who were student of the month came walking in with huge smiles on their faces, and waving while all the other students cheered and clapped. Too cool!
 This is Ethan's teacher. She's awesome! Can you pick out Ethan?? Haha.
As each kid was announced, they came from behind this wall and ran through the banner. It was fun to watch, and they loved it. I was waiting for Ethan, but wasn't sure if I would have time to grab the camera when his name was called. Luckily, I could see his hair over the wall.  
He ran out........through the streamers.......... 
Across the stage....... 
And I wasn't sure he would slow down enough to grab his certificate and treat. But he did. 
When he went back to sit down, his friends crowded around him to see what he got. I do enjoy watching him with his friends. He has lots of them.  
I really hope he never stops enjoying school and being good at it. He makes it so easy to be the mom of a 1st grade boy.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

making bags

Last night and today, I got the urge to do some sewing. I searched for tutorials, and read through several. I took the simple parts from a bunch of them, and made my own pattern. :) I love how they turned out.

I wish this one had an inside pocket, but I learned my lesson.
Love this fabric! 
And, the inside too. Would you believe me if I said I have already moved my stuff out of my photo purse and into this one? Crazy! But exciting for me.
I made this today. I only made one handle and just attached it on opposite sides. It turned out great, and I do like that it only has one handle.  
Not as bright and springy, but I like this fabric too. Best part? It's made out of dish towels. 
And I went all out and even remembered a pocket for the inside. The fabric for the pocket matches the handle.
Too bad I only need one bag at a time.

Sunday, May 8, 2011

mother's day 2011

Today was nothing very exciting. Jason and the boys bought my gift a few days ago. It was exactly what I asked for and we all went to the store to pick it out. It wasn't a surprise, but I also wasn't disappointed. It's a cutting mat, ruler/edge thing, and a roller fabric cutter (those are all technical terms).

Then Ethan made me this book and bought me a candle at the Dollar Store. The book is perfect. I love everything about it. It is supposed to be like a TIME Magazine interview with Ethan, about me. He did awesome.
The start of the story says, "Mrs. Guge (haha) is a good mom. Right now she is busy raising two children. She is cool. She is awesome and a fantastic mom."
Some of my favorite pages say:
Q: What do you like best about your mom?
A: She loves me and my brother.

Title: World Record Holder
Ethan: Mrs. Guge is a world record holder. She makes the best whoopie pies.

This book is something I will definitely hold onto. I can't wait until he's 16 and hates me and I get to pull it out and show him that he thought I was the best mom in the whole world. :)

This afternoon, we got to spend sitting outside in the wind and the rain watching Ethan's soccer game. This is pretty much how we all felt about it. He did have a goal though, and his team won, so he had a lot of fun during the game.  

Jason made dinner, and I made Whoopie Pies, and now we are all just hanging out and getting ready for bed. It was, all-in-all, a good day.

I also had to share this:

I totally stole this interview from a friend's blog who stole it from someone else's blog. :) I chose to not try to get Elliott to focus on answering these, and just stuck with Ethan for this year. He was not that impressed with it, but here are his answers.

1.What is something mom always says to you? go to bed

2. What makes mom happy?
doing what you tell me

3. What makes mom sad?
when a nail breaks (really? it doesn't make me sad, but it usually hurts and pisses me off)

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
hehe when you tell jokes

5. What was your mom like as a child?
that one's hard........how old? 7, 6, I don't know you were probably good

How old is your mom?
27, 28, yeah 28

7. How tall is your mom?
I don't know. I'm thinking 6 foot something. Are we done?

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
make beads (also known as making jewelry I'm sure)

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
go eat and go to the store like you did on your date night

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
making beads (again, I'm sure he meant jewelry)

11. What is your mom really good at?
making necklaces (closer), how many more questions?

12. What is your mom not very good at?
ummmmmmm ummmmmmmmm football?

13. What does your mom do for a job?
make beads (jewelry)

14.What is your mom's favorite food?
chili (this is his new favorite that I make)

15.What makes you proud of your mom?
when you make my favorite food

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
probably the princess from Princess and the Frog (crazy kid)

17. What do you and your mom do together?
homework, how many more do you have to ask?

18. How are you and your mom the same?
we both like hockey

19. How are you and your mom different?
shoes (not sure where he was going with this)

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
you take care of me

21. What does your mom like most about your dad?
he takes you out to eat and to the store (maybe he will be a good husband someday haha)

Hope you all had a great Mother's Day.


 

Monday, May 2, 2011

the weekend

I had a great weekend, and so did Ethan. I went to the State Volunteer Workshop, for the Family Readiness Group, and Ethan participated in the Youth Symposium for the military. Jason was off, and I am so grateful that he stayed home with Elliott.

Friday evening, I took the boys and went to an ice breaker event. We had snacks, played games, and just chatted it up with people we don't get to see often. It was a nice start to the weekend. Jason had to qualify with his weapons (in a snow storm) and missed out.

Saturday morning, bright and early, Ethan and I headed out for a full day of stuff. Ethan was with K-5th graders and they did all sorts of science experiments, and other fun kid things. He had a really great time. I enjoyed my time with the other FRG volunteers. We had great speakers, and tons of information given to us. I love seeing familiar faces and meeting new people. Everyone was so friendly and they are always willing to share their ideas and the best practices that they use. Not to mention, we have all been in the same situation concerning deployments. It's comforting.

After Ethan and I got home, we packed up the Portillo's we ordered in from Chicago for Jason and we all headed over to a friend's house for dinner. The kids all ran around and beat up on the Dads, and we all ate way too much Italian Beef. We also stayed up way too late, and it was not easy getting up to go back for more trainings on Sunday.

Ethan got to go out to the Fort to be with the older kids and they did things like learning self-defense and playing basketball. It sounded awesome. :) 

I went to a couple more trainings, and we had the best motivational speaker come. We laughed, we cried, and we all left with new friends. All-in-all, a great weekend.

***WARNING***
I'm about to talk about my feelings.

I didn't realize it until this weekend, but I am not emotionally prepared for this deployment. With Jason leaving in less than a month, I really need to get it together. Anytime something was mentioned about kids, relationships, friends, being proud, being strong, or pretty much ANYTHING, I would tear up. I can't help it. The people I have met here have been great, but nothing can compare to the support we had in Billings. I am worried about my kids, I am worried about my husband, I'm worried about making it for a whole year, on my own, again. I know........stay strong, hang in there, chin up, etc. It hasn't even started and I feel defeated. I don't normally feel like this, especially because I have seen first hand that I truly DO NOT have it bad, at all. But I am ready for it to be a year from now, when I can prepare for Jason to come home. So thank you now to everyone who will be supporting us between now and then, just in case I forget to say it later. We do appreciate all of you.