A Hiccup

We've had a bit of a hiccup in our schedule this week. Well, maybe a stomach bug isn't so much a hiccup as a monkey wrench. Of course, I just had to get it too! And all you mothers out there know that when mama gets sick the whole house practically stops working. I'm better now… thank goodness!

I've had several posts I wanted to write in the past couple days but I just didn't have the energy. So today I'll just do a little bit of randomness and then get back on track with things tomorrow!

TV

I'm still doing well with keeping my TV viewing time to about 2 hours a day (including while being sick and sitting in bed). Now that I feel better I'll probably be too busy to even watch that much. Jameson, however, has not been doing well. I've let him watch way more then 2 hours a day especially while I was sick. I'm trying to cut him back down again. Ian hasn't gotten sick (hope it stays that way!) & he's been too busy with school and other things to be watching TV.

Sewing Machine

I got a 'new-to-me' sewing machine awhile ago. It's a Husqvarna Viking. This belonged to my step-mother-in-law (SMIL) and my father-in-law (FIL) finally decided to let it go (to me). If you know my FIL, he hoards. Last year he cleaned out SMIL's fabric stash. Well, he basically just brought it all to me to deal with and I'm glad because much of it was still good to use but the place it was stored in would have deteriorated it within 6 months. Anyways, this machine is supposed to be a work horse and I'm glad he knew right where to find it. It also has a deep and thin throat which is ideal when sewing those little armholes. But I got this machine specifically to sew my jean diaper covers on. Lets hope it works… I still haven't had time to turn it on! And let's see this machine makes machine #8… I collect sewing machines apparently. ;D

Quilt

I've been busy piecing and appliquéing a new quilt. I'll just show you a sneak peak of the main block design. I've used all scraps from my past sewing projects which I can recognize and remember most of.

Ahhhh Hexi's!

My sister is starting a hexigon tutorial on her blog… hop on over and check it out! I'll be joining in. :)

Giveaway

Don't forget I still have a giveaway going on… hop on over to that post and add yourself to the comments. The giveaway closes tomorrow sometime (probably during nap time).

And lastly, let's hope for NO MORE monkey wrenches!!!

The TV Free Me

It's recently come to my attention that I'm watching entirely too much TV. It's on practically 24/7. Well, I was getting a little fed up with it so I decided to challenge myself (and my 2 kids) to cut down to 2 hours of TV a day. Depending on your perspective that can either seem like a lot or seem like you've just had the rug pulled out from under you! Well, we are in the later category in my house. My husband is not on board with this new challenge and that's OK, as long as he keeps his TV watching to when it doesn't interrupt our 2 hour minimum. So far so good. :)

So how do I keep track of how much TV we're watching? Well, I wrote it up on our dry-erase board. (But I'm thinking I'll make a simple word doc design, cover it in clear contact paper, and use velcro on the tokens). We each get 4- 30 minute tokens a day. I also made up a few simple rules to go with it. We only get 2 hours a day, once that's gone then it's gone for good, and you can lose TV viewing time with bad behavior but not earn it back. Easy Peasy.

One thing that is tough for Ian (almost 9) is the boredom syndrome. To combat that I made up an 'Idea Jar'. There are all kinds of ideas in the jar, from chores to games to craft and sewing ideas. I wrote some simple rules out for this too. We are headed into the winter and times will be hard to get outside so the first rule is to pick an idea that's weather appropriate (inside and outside have been written them). He is also not allowed to pick and idea, not like it & put it back, once the idea is picked he must go do it, and with out complaining. Lastly, he's to have fun!

So how are we doing so far? We started mid-week last week.

Jameson is doing pretty good. He is still asking to watch TV pretty regularly although he's not throwing a fit when he's told no. He's learning to use his imagination and reading a lot. He just turned 2 on Oct 1st, by the way. :)

Ian is also doing pretty good. He was sick and stayed home the 2nd day of our new TV rules and did really well. He pulled several ideas from the Idea Jar and spent a good amount of time with his nose stuck in a new book. He is almost 9, by the way. :)

I am doing excellently! I've gotten my TV viewing time down to about 30 minutes a day. My days are just too full to watch TV now. I've been reading and journaling more. I've been piecing a new quilt together, working on custom orders, and taking care of my business in general, and even took the TV out of my sewing room. I've also canned quite a bit of food recently and have been spending more time in the kitchen actually taking my time to cook a meal. I've done a million things here and there! I'm so glad I took this plunge!

Scrappy Fan Quilt

Home Canned Goods

TV removed from my sewing room!