Funny Gracie moments

Gracie has been off the chain these days. Not sure why. She's been watching an InuYasha movie all the time. It's weird that she likes it so much. Scott and I do too and have for years.
Funny: Grace notices everything . . . and comments on it. She keeps commenting about me releasing my seatbelt before I turn the car off - or something similar. A few days ago she said she was proud of me for waiting to unbuckle my seat belt. I asked her why it bothered her and why she commented on it. She said it's because she wants me to be safe. So sweet. Ha! I told Scott that and he said he couldn't imagine where she got the "noticing everything" gene. I said it was from Nana. He said Nana wasn't the only Mooney-girl with it.
Funny 2: We were going to the grocery store and she wanted to know what I was wearing. I asked her if I could wear what I had on. She said people would laugh at my night-night pants. Hilarious!

She seems to be adapting well to kindergarten. She likes it and she hasn't had to move her feather at all. She's singing new songs and talking about her classmates and teacher. Scott walks her to school and goes to get her. That's a special time for them. She's been good at getting up early and playing at running with me, but she gets ready well and dressed.  

Our first days of school went well. Scott reported that he was able to bring Gracie to the cafeteria so she could eat breakfast. She seemed to have a good day. They read a story and did a craft with it. It seems like they made up their classroom rules. She got to play outside at recess and run in the gym. And she ate all of her hamburger at lunch and some of her other food. She was affectionate when I got home. She said she likes my awesome blossomness. I don't know where she gets this stuff. My day was good. I had 2 classes of good 1st day freshmen and 1 class of normal rowdy boys. I had a good lunch and my duty wasn't terrible. Tomorrow might be hard. I have 2 huge classes and 1 tiny one. The tiny one has 2 students I failed last year. Hopefully it will be great!  

1st day of school

School starts tomorrow. Yee Haw! Gracie has been driving me up the freaking wall. Some of it is that she is having some separation anxiety, but some of it is just her being dramatic. She wants to sit in my lap and breathe in my face and touch my face and wallow on my clothes and kiss me . . . it's just annoying.   And she asks a million questions. Questions that we've already answered, questions that I don't know the answer to, questions that there are no answers to, questions that are none of her business or things she already knows.  School starts. Yah! We met her teacher and she's the daughter of someone I work with, so that's nice. All of her stuff says Laura, but I think she'll change that. We put $ in her cafeteria account, so she's ready to go.

She picked this out herself for church.

It turns out that Gracie isn't great at soccer . . yet. I was surprised @ practice last Friday. She lagged behind in running, she wasn't good with the ball and she whined and got tired a lot. So she and I have been running to build up her stamina. Oh boy. I am not, nor have I ever been, a runner. My calves are killing me, but I know it will only be worse if I stop. So we get up early and run up and down our street. Once. And it kills us. But she is like me or has learned from me. I don't exercise. I don't complain like she does, but I don't like to be outside or sweat or or or. But I'll do it for her. We'll do it together. But every time I get up, I want to die.  She did better today (Monday), but we're still going to work. If it kills us ;)

Soccer player

Smores day

My baby and I can make smores like a champ. We made strawberry cupcakes and they were great. But it was smores day. And we didn't have any graham crackers. So we used strawberry cupcakes as our base and added marshmallows and chocolate chips.

Protein muffins

1 egg, beaten
3 TBSP milk
2 TBSP sugar free syrup
1 TBSP canola oil
3 TBSP Multigrain pancake mix
2 TBSP unsweetened cocoa powder
1 scoop chocolate protein powder
pinch of salt
Mix egg, milk, syrup and oil
In a separate bowl, mix pancake mix, cocoa, protein powder and salt.
Tip wet into dry and mix gently. Pour in a muffin tin or cupcake pan and bake at 350 for about 10 mins.

Again, lots of ways to personalize it.  

Update

Did I drop off the face of the earth? No, teachers are back in school. I've been busy. During the day. I've been taking it easy otherwise. I dropped a can of coke on my foot a few days ago and there's still a bump. The dog sliced her leg open somehow the other night and bled all over the place. She's better now, but she was hobgobbling around for a few days. School has been good. My grade level and subject will take an end-of-course test this year, which is a change. Much higher rigor. Kind of scary, but a good kind of scary. Bring it on.
We're broke. Not an unusual circumstance. Not a permanent circumstance, but there nonetheless. It's frustrating and embarrassing, but God has been putting that into perspective for me. It's temporary. Scott got paid this week, I get paid next week and Scott gets paid again the next, so things will improve, but we're both healthy and we have jobs, so we'll get through it. I'm bringing my lunch and making my own protein bars and snacks. And cooking on the cheap, which is healthier anyway. Here's the recipe for the protein bars:
3/4 cup quick oats
1/4 cup TVP (textured vegetable protein)
1/2 cup fiber twig cereal (Fiber One)
2 TBSP no sugar added applesauce
1/3 cup nonfat dry milk powder
4 scoops protein powder
2 egg whites
4 TBSP peanut butter
1/4 cup sugar-free syrup
1/4 cup splenda
3 shakes cinnamon

Heat oven to 350. Combine ingredients. Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray. Spread in pan evenly and bake for 20 mins.
I cut it into slices and freeze them. They aren't Adkins bars, but they're fine. Sometimes I put sugar free chocolate chips, but there are lots of ways to change it up.

I stole this from another blogger :)

According to NPR’s summer reader survey, these are the top 100 Sci-Fi/Fantasy novels.


Bold = ones I’ve completed
Italics = ones I’ve attempted/partially finished
** = ones I do plan to read in the future  (my own addition)
1. The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien
2. The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, by Douglas Adams
3. Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card
4. The Dune Chronicles, by Frank Herbert
5. A Song Of Ice And Fire Series, by George R. R. Martin
6. 1984, by George Orwell
7. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
8. The Foundation Trilogy, by Isaac Asimov
9. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
10. American Gods, by Neil Gaiman
11. The Princess Bride, by William Goldman
12. The Wheel Of Time Series, by Robert Jordan
13. Animal Farm, by George Orwell
14. Neuromancer, by William Gibson
15. Watchmen, by Alan Moore
16. I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov
17. Stranger In A Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein
18. The Kingkiller Chronicles, by Patrick Rothfuss
19. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
20. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley
21. Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick
22. The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood
23. The Dark Tower Series, by Stephen King
24. 2001: A Space Odyssey, by Arthur C. Clarke
25. The Stand, by Stephen King
26. Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson
27. The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury
28. Cat’s Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut
29. The Sandman Series, by Neil Gaiman
30. A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess
31. Starship Troopers, by Robert Heinlein
32. Watership Down, by Richard Adams
33. Dragonflight, by Anne McCaffrey
34. The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, by Robert Heinlein
35. A Canticle For Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller
36. The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells
37. 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, by Jules Verne
38. Flowers For Algernon, by Daniel Keys
39. The War Of The Worlds, by H.G. Wells
40. The Chronicles Of Amber, by Roger Zelazny
41. The Belgariad, by David Eddings
42. The Mists Of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley
43. The Mistborn Series, by Brandon Sanderson
44. Ringworld, by Larry Niven
45. The Left Hand Of Darkness, by Ursula K. LeGuin
46. The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien
47. The Once And Future King, by T.H. White
48. Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman
49. Childhood’s End, by Arthur C. Clarke
50. Contact, by Carl Sagan
51. The Hyperion Cantos, by Dan Simmons
52. Stardust, by Neil Gaiman
53. Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson
54. World War Z, by Max Brooks
55. The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle
56. The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman
57. Small Gods, by Terry Pratchett
58. The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever, by Stephen R. Donaldson
59. The Vorkosigan Saga, by Lois McMaster Bujold
60. Going Postal, by Terry Pratchett
61. The Mote In God’s Eye, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
62. The Sword Of Truth, by Terry Goodkind
63. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy
64. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke
65. I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson
66. The Riftwar Saga, by Raymond E. Feist
67. The Shannara Trilogy, by Terry Brooks
68. The Conan The Barbarian Series, by R.E. Howard
69. The Farseer Trilogy, by Robin Hobb
70. The Time Traveler’s Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger
71. The Way Of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson
72. A Journey To The Center Of The Earth, by Jules Verne
73. The Legend Of Drizzt Series, by R.A. Salvatore
74. Old Man’s War, by John Scalzi
75. The Diamond Age, by Neil Stephenson
76. Rendezvous With Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke
77. The Kushiel’s Legacy Series, by Jacqueline Carey
78. The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. LeGuin
79. Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury
80. Wicked, by Gregory Maguire
81. The Malazan Book Of The Fallen Series, by Steven Erikson
82. The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde
83. The Culture Series, by Iain M. Banks
84. The Crystal Cave, by Mary Stewart
85. Anathem, by Neal Stephenson
86. The Codex Alera Series, by Jim Butcher
87. The Book Of The New Sun, by Gene Wolfe
88. The Thrawn Trilogy, by Timothy Zahn
89. The Outlander Series, by Diana Gabaldan
90. The Elric Saga, by Michael Moorcock
91. The Illustrated Man, by Ray Bradbury
92. Sunshine, by Robin McKinley
93. A Fire Upon The Deep, by Vernor Vinge
94. The Caves Of Steel, by Isaac Asimov
95. The Mars Trilogy, by Kim Stanley Robinson
96. Lucifer’s Hammer, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
97. Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis
98. Perdido Street Station, by China Mieville
99. The Xanth Series, by Piers Anthony
100. The Space Trilogy, by C.S. Lewis

Bags.

I used this tutorial from Everyday Art to make a bag. I wasn't sure how it would be, but it turned out so well! I'm so pleased. I gave this one to Gracie for a trick-or-treat bag.  

This one I think I'm going to give to my cousin for a gift. It's just a little bag. Cute use for that last piece of remnant though. I have a matching tissue holder too, though that's a little "old lady" for an 11-year-old. Still everyone has a runny nose sometimes. I was also going to put a little cross stitch kit in it, with the offer of taking her out to get fabric to make a pillow with it if she finishes it. Cross stitch is something that can be simple or complex with lots of different styles. Something to grow in? Maybe. 

Hand sewing

I had some projects in my WIP box that I took out and finished.

These little owls just needed to be sewn up at the bottom. BUT I'm not good at that stitch. I need to find an alternative or figure out how to do it better. Gracie loves these little cuties, but I don't think they turned out well.




The rest are little patchwork pincushions finished with Christmas buttons. I got some buttons on sale @ Joanns, but I need some red or green ones to go on the bottom. I was able to completely finish 2 of them. Again, not so great at the invisible stitch. Fabric glue? It's possible.

These need buttons. And to be sewn up.

I also worked on a few clothes. I tacked up the neckline on a new shirt, then moved some buttons around on a few pairs of pants. They fit great, but were tight in the waist, so I moved the buttons in. 

 

Shoe shopper

She's a natural. We went to Target for some things but she still had some birthday gift cards. She insisted on a pair of Disney princess shoes and some leggings for school. She's such a hoot!  

We also played Rummikub, a game she got for her birthday.    

Closet clean out

Last summer, after I had already lost quite a bit of weight, my mother and I went though my entire closet and tried on EVERYTHING. There were piles everywhere. I had been the same size for a while and I loved clothes. But we ended up with lots of boxes -some to donate, some to my mother and some to consign.  I did the same thing today, only with Scott's help. I received several bags of clothes from my sister and mother-in-law, so those things had to be gone through,etc. The piles weren't so large now. There were some things that I had under grown but kept :just in case: And some that were a little big but would be ok for maternity (fingers crossed). So my closet is all organized. 

Tees, tanks and capris

Dresses, cardigans, sweaters, jackets, pants and skirts

Shirts

 That's it. Looks great,  huh? Like a dream closet. All those clothes, all organized and . . . don't look down.


Yeah, don't look down, let's go look at  . . .

Shoes. :(

Quilt in Use

I also had another homecoming gift for her. I finished her Christmas apron. It was easy to put together and very cute. 

 It got me thinking about maybe doing a craft show or fair. That will be a lot of work.  And I would almost certainly need a label. Like this one.