Good Morning

Top O' the Morning to you!!! Ok so I'm not exactly that chipper at the moment but I'm feeling a bit ambitious so maybe I will be after I drink a cup o'coffee. Today starts my first full day of work in just over 3 months. For some reason I'm scared. Not necessarily of work, that's the easy part, but of juggling home, husband, and Gabbie. I know that everything will fall into a rhythm but right now its kinda scary. I am ready though and I know its in every one's best interest. Gabbie has gotten even more clingy than before with both The Man and I so she will be heading to her Grandma's everyday now. This will help with all that and get her on a schedule for when The Man goes back to work, which will hopefully happen soon. The Man will then have the free time to get some things done around the farm that he's been wanting to tackle.

I didn't get to make Gabbie's onesie for the big game because this fit her. Well it sorta fit her! But still.... isn't that much more fabulous than a onesie?!


Yesterday I went into work for a half day. Its going to be difficult learning all the legal language but I'm sure in a couple of weeks it will be second nature. In theory the job is pretty easy but when you add on learning the lingo it takes a bit more. Today is jam packed!! I will be handleing all of the real estate and have 2 closings today!! YIKES!!! Thank the Lord that her current assistant is still with us so she can show me how things work. I learned yesterday that I better catch on quick because I only have like 2.5 weeks before her current assistant is gone!! Yep, the stress is on! Like it ever left HA! It just switched forms.

Well I guess I should get ready for the day. Until next time!

Ask And Thou Shall Receive

Sorry I haven't posted. This time I do have an excuse. No Internet! Since we live in the boonies Internet service comes at a premium. We have ours through our cell provider and it is limited to 5GB a month. Well The Man lives on the Internet and since he doesn't have a bedtime....well you can guess what he's up all night doing. Needless to say our inter net ration was used up quickly which is ok because I didn't have much to report... until yesterday. Yesterday I finally got a job!!! Its with an attorney as her legal assistant. Not exactly in my field but still interesting. It will teach me new things, which is always a good thing, and who know, maybe it will lead to a career. Either way I'm excited. I start Monday so these are my last days to get everything together. It will be bittersweet. I've gotten used to spending all my time with Gabbie so it will take some getting used to but it's a good thing. She's gotten really clingy lately and that's never a good thing. Its not my style. So its a good thing for everyone. That and I'll be weaning her as well so its good for Mommie too!

We have a busy weekend ahead. Poppa and Step-Mommie are coming down for a visit. There are some major issues going on at Poppas work and he needs to blow off some steam. So they'll be heading down today so Poppa can shoot some guns and do some manual labor. We have wood that still needs to be split and a leaky roof. Once all the work is done there is a festival down town that Step-Daddy's band is playing in and then there is Sunday. Sunday is a HUGE day in our family; Bears vs. Packers!! We are GIANORMOUS Bears fans!! So we will be getting together at Gramie and Grampie's to watch the big game. I have to make Gabbie a football onsie to go with her Bears socks before then!! I'll make sure to post pics!!

As for me I have alot to get done between now and Monday. I need to get this house in shape and get everything and everyone back in some sort of routine. We're not too out of shape so it shouldn't take much but The Man is going to have to get to sleep at a decent time now! LOL!!! He's not going to like that!! I will be cleaning and putting out my autumn decorations today. I pray Gabbie takes several long naps so that I can get all this done. Well I suppose I should stop here and get going. I think I'll need another cup o'coffee though!!! Until next time!!!

PS I want to thank all of you for your support and prayers. We are so thankful for all of you. I pray that The Man has passed his test and that life goes back to normal soon. I know that it will and that all of you had a hand in it. Thanks again for everything.

Farm Animals, Tests, and a Break

Sorry I haven't posted lately. I don't really have a good reason, just haven't had much time to myself. Miss Gabbie is sleeping now so I have a moment to fill you in on the past week. Last weekend we went with Mother and Step-Daddy to the State Fair. We had a blast!! It was fun watching Gabbie experience new things. We witnessed 2 milestones; sharing food and a FEAR of all farm animals!! Yep, all of them, pigs, horses, cows, chickens, rabbits...all of them!! It all started with sheep! I thought she would be fine with them considering we have two rather large dogs. Not on your life!!! She let out a blood curdling scream that I had NEVER heard before!!! Needless to say we heard the same scream all day when we moved from livestock barn to livestock barn. The sharing of food was so cute and it made up for her newly discovered fear. She was gnawing on a pizza crust and offered some to her daddy. It was too cute! Then she offered some to her grandma. Now anything that she has in her mouth, food or otherwise, gets offered! She also had her first ride with Mother. They rode the carousel and it was so fun watching her. She really liked it!





The Man is studying for the Praxis again. He takes it on Saturday and I pray that he passes. We heard yesterday from a teacher that his former position will be open again next school year and the the principle wants him back ASAP; word is that there is a teacher going on maternity leave after Christmas. I pray that he can pass so he can get back to teaching. I know that not working has taken its toll on him. I'd be willing to bet that he is mildly depressed over all of this and I know that passing will help, even if he can't teach again til next year. I can't say I don't blame him. We are in 2 different situations when it comes to being unemployed. I was fired from a job that I wasn't passionate about so it wasn't a blow to me, just inconvenient. The Man, however, couldn't teach and that is his passion. He was meant to be a teacher and he is an amazing teacher. So for someone to say you can't do what you love and what you are called to do is extremely difficult. That combined with that whole "I am Man I must provide" mentality makes for an upset husband. I try to show him the bright side but he's one of those "half empty" people. Its an ongoing battle between us; some days he wins, some days I win. Either way I know that we will look back at this time, some day in the distant future, and be thankful for it. That is if I don't kill him first ;) LOL, just a joke!! I promise!

Mother is taking Gabbie over night so I will have some ME time!!! I've got a lot of things to get done but I'm contemplating spending my time doing fun things instead of the alternative. I know The Man will be studying the majority of the time so I should use my time wisely but I love the ideas of just sitting down with a good movie and crocheting. I'll weigh the odds.

Other than that there isn't much else going on. We are hanging in there and except for the obvious, are doing as well as we can. I will definitely post tomorrow morning since I will have it all to myself and I'll let you know what I did with my free time. Until then!!

Recovering

We had an amazing weekend! Filled with the typical, good food, family, guns, and of course, my beautiful daughter. All the women folk in our family took a stab at shooting skeet and let me tell you, it was fun!! Every one of us hit the clay at least once and the shot gun we were using wasn't made for women either. It was a blast. I was able to unload some built up stress by unloading several hundred rounds of hand gun ammo. Poppa, Step-Daddy, Mabel, and I had a great time with the hand guns. It was fun spending that kind of time with our fathers! Poppa is teaching all of us the details and concepts of using a hand gun for self protection. Regardless it was a blast and now, next time he is down, Poppa will be teaching several other family members the ropes as well.

Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures so there is nothing to post but I'm sure you can use your imaginations! The Man, his father, and Poppa also slipt a TON of fire wood. We will definitely NOT be cold this winter. I'm very thankful for The Man's father and Poppa for helping him. It would have taken The Man way too long to get all that work done himself, even though I know we would have done it.

I'm working on an afghan for Emily, my niece. The Man decided that he didn't want me to do the typical quilt for her. I found a very cute pattern of something I had never tried before and so far its working out great. The pattern isn't as big as I'd like so I'm going to adjust it a bit to make it larger. I'll let you take a peek when I'm finished.

Not much else to report. Gabbie is miserable with her teeth. She's up all night long, which means that I am as well. I'm giving her tylenol but its not helping her sleep much. I'm going to try the teething tabs, several of my mommie friends have recommended them. Hopefully it will work and she can get some sleep in. Maybe I can as well ;)

I guess I will leave you with that. Until next time!

Finished!!!

I can finally say that 95% of my projects are finished!!! YIPPY!!!! I shall now show you want I've been working on the past couple of weeks!

First are the bags for my sister and cousin-in-law. They are both young girls and LOVE their bags!! These are made from my diaper bag that I made last year. Needless to say they are HUGE; just big enough for the girls. They had a bit of fabric left over so I made them both a same zipper pouch and a roll up tote. I hadn't made the tote before and changed it a bit after making the first one. These are nice to have around and it fits in your had so you can throw them anywhere!!! I'll be making more of these!!






I hope the girls like them. I know they've been waiting and I'm so sorry that I haven't gotten them done sooner. In my defence I did warn them that it may take a bit considering I have a 7 month old to chase after!!

Next are two small projects. This is something that I found on one of the many craft sites I visit on a daily basis. Its simple. A painted frame wrapped in twin. Use small clothes pins to attach photos. Its so cute though!!




The next is too simple. We did these magnets as a family craft project several weekends ago. I had this metal tray laying around. I bought it at the Dollar Tree during Christmas. Simple add ribbon and viola! A cute magnet board. Insert you favorite picture, Mother and I cuddling when I was very little!! Too cute again and so simple!




I've also crocheted 2 beanies for The Man, which i didn't take any pictures of. Again I found a very simple pattern and made one in about a day.

You will probably notice that there's not anything for my niece. That's because The Man voiced his opinion and told me NOT to make her a quilt. He had something else in mind and we both agreed to go with his idea. So I'm starting over on her main gift but will continue with the little things I had planned. I will post them when they are finished and safely in the hands of my sister-in-law. I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise by posting them before she sees them!!!

I am child and husband-less today. The Man is off cutting wood and Gabbie is with her grandmother. I will be finishing up all my cleaning for the up coming weekend. my in-laws are coming in from NC, Poppa and Step-Mommie from Ohio, and Mabel from Bama. Yes another family weekend!!! Gotta love them. Hopefully I will get some baking done. The Man wants some cookies and I always bake for my father-in-law. Its tempting to sit and craft though. I'm gonna hurry and get it all done so maybe, just maybe, I'll have a bit of time to craft in peace.

Well, I'm off!! I'll see you after my weekend, hopefully I'll have some pictures to show off!! Until next time!!