All about my many adventures in motherhood and life
It’s Teacher Appreciation week at our school. The Parent Teacher Association planned a variety of fun breakfast, lunch and desserts. I was part of several but this was by far the silliest and most fun. Continue reading “Teacher Appreciation ” »
Wow, I can’t believe the change in weather lately! Yesterday morning was cold, rainy and nasty. Even at 2 pm driving over the Shawangunk Ridge, the weather was dreary and foggy. I had about a half hour to kill before my appointment with naturopath (the most amazing woman in the world!), Continue reading “Seed starting time!” »
Well, I finally chose the fabric for my first quilt! I am thrilled with the beautiful Jelly Roll. But before I go into detail, first, I want to share the amazing the selection of fabrics, sets and rolls available from Missouri Star Quilt Company.
Missouri Star Quilt Company has a huge selection of precut quilting fabrics (including jelly rolls and charm packs) and fabric by the yard from over 20 different brands! My favorite brand being Moda Fabrics with all of their fun and whimsical patterns. There are also amazing Daily Deals, a Sale Bin and Quilting Specials. I love beautiful fabric and a sale makes it even better! I want to buy absolutely everything they have!!
I chose a few different jelly rolls, batting and quilt back material. They were all a good price, I hit the free shipping threshold, I was able to get everything I needed and it arrived only a few short days later. Perfect!
After searching and pondering for hours, I finally decided on the Farm Fun pattern by Moda. It’s adorable with cute chickens, little farm house, and beehive patterns! Now that I had all the materials, ‘all’ I had to do was find a little free time to get sewing. Easier said than done! But I did manage an hour so while the little one was playing with her friend next door. I watched Missouri Star Quilt Company’s tutorials on YouTube before I got started. Honestly, I replayed the video many times before even while pulling out the sewing machine. Once I got started, it was a little tricky getting the strips sewn together and figuring out what to do with 1600 inches of fabric. I think I attached everything correctly but again, it took several viewings of the YouTube video.
I was able to get all the strips sewn together and compleye 4 rows before running out of time. This took much more than an hour even though the video says you can have the whole quilt top done in 45 minutes!! Not me, apparently. Oh well. Story of my life.
Maybe some day I’ll find another hour or two to keep plugging along. Good thing I have 18 months left before the quilt show. Wish me luck!
Do you sit on cold, hard bleachers at your child’s sporting events? Are you tired of a sore backside after every game?? I hate being cold and I hate sitting on freezing cold bleachers. Life as a hockey mom.
Until I remembered the warm cushions my father used to take on hunting trips. Anyone remember this roundish, bean-filled, camouflaged things? I didn’t want camo and I think I threw away those old seats anyway. I decided to make my own version of a hunting seat cushion to bring along to hockey games and practices.
So, here’s how I did it. As you can see, I’m not much for exact measurements. Also, feel free to adjust the size of the foam to meet your needs and budget.
1 piece upholstery foam 15″x17″X2″ from Joanns (purchased with a coupon, of course!)
2 pieces of fleece in any patter/color about 10 inches wider than the foam (I eyeballed it)
To make life easier, I purchased 1 yard of fleece and estimated all the measuremts and cutting. With the fabric folded in half and raw edges together, lay the foam on top of the fabric approximately 4-5 inches all the way around. Then cut the folded edge.
Leaving the foam in place, cut a 4″ by 4″ section out of each corner. 
Now, cut 1″ wide strips all the way around, stopping 1/2″ away from the foam. 
Make a sandwich out of the foam and fabric with once piece of fabric on the bottom, foam in the middle and second price of fabric on top, making sure the right sides are facing out. 
Finally, double knot the corresponding top and bottom strips all around. 
Voila!! A comfy, cozy stadium seat to keep your bottom warm and happy!
If the fabric on your stadium seat gets dirty, it’s easy to untie and throw in the washer.
The entire project cost about $10 and took about 30 minutes, including tying.
**note that fleece is not the best material to use if you anticipate using your stadium seat in wet or snowy weather. For me, it works excellent for the multitude of indoor hockey games and practices each week. And it will be great for softball season as well.
Let me know how yours turned out!!
Upstate New York has received nearly two feet of snow in the last 14 days. Lots of snow, lots of cold weather. Last Sunday when we got out of church, it was snowing like mad. The beginning of the week continued with a few snow flurries and seasonable temperatures.
Saturday the temperature was incredibly warm. At 9am, we grabbed our snow gear, sleds and snowshoes for some winter fun around our yard before the craziness of the day began. We showshoed around the yard for a bit, threw snowballs then went sledding down my moms hill. It was so warm, even I was sweating and had to take my coat off.
Since the weather was amazing and it’s a three-day weekend, I decided we needed to find a much bigger hill to sleigh ride down on Monday. The day before, the temperature reached a balmy 60 degrees! Crazy for February!
Again, we got all our snow stuff together and this time loaded it all into the car and headed for the big hill. Super excited, we pulled into the parking lot (the hill is actually a well known hiking spot) and…
Serious disappointment. There was barely any snow left. We almost didn’t even get out of the car. We sat and pondered the hill for a few minutes while eating the snack we brought.
Eventually the excitement from the last two days of anticipation got the better of us and we braved the muddy parking lot, icy path and climbed to the top. The first run down, we both got stuck on grassy patches and thought sleighriding was over.
Adjusting our path down the hill some, we managed to squeak in a piece just wide enough and steep enough to propel us over the grass and continue down the hill. This area was actually quite icy but that was perfect! We slid even further down on the grass and though it wasn’t a hill, it was still super fast and super fun.
Initially, this was a total mom fail. I’m glad we convinced ourselves to give the hill a try. We had a blast, giggled a lot and made some good mom-daughter memories.
I promised Adventures of a Real Mom wouldn’t be all big happy smiles and a clean house. That isn’t at all what my real life looks like. So I thought once a week I’d try to share something in my life or house that is far from perfect. (Trust me, I’ll never run out of material!!). I know this is long and may not seem like a fail at first, but stick with me and see if you find several Real Mom fails along the way.
Today, I’ll share the story of my foyer. My foyer has always been a pretty plain area. Nothing special. The front door is a big metal door original to the house from the early ’80s. I’ve struggled with this area since I bought the house. It’s so boring but I wasn’t interested in spending much money or time on this area because in my house, it’s a very little used space. Unless there is a rare guest, we all use the downstairs door that leads to the driveway and vehicles.
Now that my daughter is having friends over more often, that means the occasional parent coming to the door and inside the foyer to pick up their children. I figured it was time to tackle this little space. Last summer is started to slowly work on it.
First, there were two enormous boxes containing window treatments I had ordered a year before (yes, they say there for over a whole year). The guys graciously installed the blinds to get them out of the way. Second and completely unplanned, while at Walmart, I found a nice tall tapered planter and a few bunches of artificial bamboo and other plants. Off to a nice start, anyway, and I was happy enough with that for a few months.
The banister and stair rail are original and have certainly seen better days. I love Rustoleum Caninet Transformations and still had some leftover from another project. One rare Sunday, I knew everyone would be out of the house so I decided to tackle that. A few days before I stripped off the old paint. When the weekend arrived, I painstakingly painted everything trying desperately to get the little margin between the wood and carpet but not get any on the carpet. I was able to remove the stair rail and painted that up as well. Since there was nowhere to keep a wet painted tail and associated hardware, it sat on a shower curtain in the front lawn for a few days. I squeezed in a few minutes here and there to get a second coat and top coat on. I thought it would be a much quicker project but I always underestimate.
The one wall along the stairs going up had a nasty, greasy handprint on it which had also been around for a year or so. I had tried several cleaners to remove it but all I did was lighten it a little and start removing paint. One day I got ambitious and painted the wall. Again, leftover paint from something else and way more time than anticipated. But, I love the buttery look and it changed the whole feel of the space.
Yay! A mostly freshly painted area! And just in time for the holidays. I love a deviated banister for the holidays. I just feels so festive! We’ve been decorating ours for several years now but it’s always a pain. The greenery dies, looks ugly and there’s long white pine needles on the stairs. This year I found decent fake garland at Joann’s during their Black Friday sale. I also found an adorable light up Christmas sign. It took a little while and finagling but the banister, sign and new fake holiday stems look awesome! I was so proud I just wanted to stay in this tiny space forever! The only few square inches in my house that were not a disaster.
Minor fails along the way (huge boxes and greasy handprints for years…). But now let me share one little secret about myself. I love getting decorations put up around the house, especially Christmas decorations but I despite taking them down. The house looks so bare and sad once the Christmas tree is down, the lights are off and gifts are put away. This is where my real life and Mom fail really happens…today is February 23rd and still the same Christmas garland, Christmas sign and Christmas stems are in the foyer. I even decorated right over the Christmas garland with a Valentine’s string of hearts!!
Honestly, I’m a little afraid to take the decorations down. Winter is dark, cold, and dirty when the snow melts. There’s no green plants anywhere. It’s utterly depressing!! Maybe once the weather improves I’ll be able to force myself to take down the Christmas garland.
Jelly Roll, anyone??
No, I’m not hungry and I’m not even baking. I’ve decided to sew my first quilt! A Jelly Roll quilt, that is. Continue reading “Jelly Roll Quilt” »
My daughter loves looking at the stars, the moon, identifying planets and constellations. Recently, I came across a sweet book called Walk When the Moon is Full by Frances Hamerstrom. The book chronicles twelve adventures of a brave mama and her two children every full moon.
Ms. T and I decided to read the book each month on the full moon and then create our own adventures. Listen to all of the night sounds, witness the beauty of our surroundings bathed in moonlight.
Last month was our first full moon. It was quite chilly and either of us was super into freezing our tushes off so we sat in the front seat of the car reading the first chapter of Walk When the Moon is Full and checking out the trees and sky. Although it was not quite the same adventures had by the family in the story, it fit our mood at that moment. I had so wanted to wander the neighborhood that night but I was tired and cold and Ms. T was happy enough in the jeep. Sometimes as a busy mama, plans change and you roll with it. No looking back or regrets.
Tonight, I am hoping to bundle in our snow gear and spend at least 10 minutes outside under the moonlight. Probably with our little dog in tow.
In addition to it being the Full Snow Moon at 7:33 pm Eastern Time, there is a also penumbral eclipse at 5:34pm. I had no idea what this type of eclipse was but according to The Old Farmers Almanac, a penumbral eclipse is “a very subtle kind of eclipse which may appear darker than usual”.
On top of those two fun lunar events, tonight will be the closest pass of a comet to Earth since 1983. The Comet 459 will be visible in the eastern sky around 3 am Saturday. Look for a blue-green object with a tail. Although I would love to see a comet this close, I’,m not sure I’ll be getting up at 3 am. We’ll see.
For more information, check out the Old Farners Almanac Full Snow Moon.
You can order your own copy of Walk When the Moon is Full at Amazon.
Enjoy the full moon!
My small town has the most beautiful little white church at the end of Main Street. It is wonderful to see any day but covered in fresh snow and bathed in gorgeous sunlight, the church is truly impressive. 
(No filter needed!)
