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I still haven’t finished those stuffed cotton balls I was making. I made a stuffed cube too. In the end, none of the points on the ball met up correctly and that totally took the wind out of my sails. Well, that and having to hand sew something. And Viva Piñata… Yes, Viva Piñata. My mom bought me a used copy of it and I’ve literally played two days straight - while not nursing, cooking, cleaning, Internetting, or keeping up with Declan, Rowan and Matt anyway.

Friday completed my first whole week of daycare and it was pleasant. Still work, but I had a good time as long as all the kids weren’t crying at once. I’m still trying to add more kids to the ranks because we need the money to squeak by, but all I get are people that need like 5 hours a week. Seriously. I thought we were weird jst needing three full days a week. So if you know anyone who needs childcare in the Northern part of Gilbert, please please please send them my way.

And here’s some cool stuff I’ve stumbled across lately to keep you busy:

• Quick and Simple Fabric Box
• SideSwipe KitchenAid Mixer Blade
• The Best Banana Bread Recipe
• Hardwood Trees that Soak Up Carbon
• Useful Things You Never Knew You Could Print Out
• 55 Best Photoshop Tutorials
• Display Your Kids Artwork on Clothing

Oh and I have a Photoshop goodie coming up soon. Stay Tuned!

Okay, my faithful blog readers, if there are any…

This is where I admit that I obviously don’t know how to use this particular sewing machine. The good news is it’s not broken!! I had decided that since were super low on money I would see if I could find a user’s guide for this machine. While browsing around I came across the Singer Operation Basics page and realized that not only was I winding this bobbin incorrectly, but I was also threading it wrong too. My first machine was a Brother and I guess there are some differences between machines. So if you’re having issues with a Singer definitely check out this page.

I’ll have some pictures up of my completed project soon. I’ve still got to stuff them and hand sew them shut. I came up with a new source of “recycled” stuffing too. Yay me!

Dinner tonight was an Irish Stew with a loaf of fresh Oat Bread. We also had some Chocolate Chip Cookie/Brownie bars.

I’m still upset over this stupid camera. I can’t determine what causes most pictures to be blurry and fuzzy, but others are okay. The picture above is after messing around with it in Krita, a Linux equivalent of Photoshop.

Anyway, both recipes were wonderful and I adapted both of them as usual, it seems I never have all the right ingredients. The stew was hearty and filling and the bread turned out fluffy with a crusty top.

Irish Beef Stew

Today was one of those days that are gone too fast, but when you look back you realize it’s been a long day indeed.

My little bro was here and made me/us breakfast. I’m trying to cut out all dairy because of Rowan’s colic and he made sure to ask what was okay. He’s a good kid. We demoed a few new games on the xBox 360 - Jericho looks pretty good.

Then I tried to sew up some quick cotton throwing balls for the boys. I had the great idea to use the stuffing out of some old stuffed animals since I didn’t have any on hand. Ya know, the whole “reuse, reduce, recycle” and be thrifty idea. All was well until my mom pointed out that it would be like gutting and killing them. Thanks mom. I didn’t have the heart. On top of that, the lower tension on my sewing machine is suddenly out of whack again, it’s much too loose. I have no idea how to fix it and have had to take it in to the shop for this before. I have no manual as it was a “gift” from a friend. He never used it and I was always borrowing it. So the sewing machine is dead and so is the camera; Great.

The grand finale of the evening was Declan dumping out the whole $16 bottle of Rowan’s Mylicon drops. When he has the time to do these things I don’t know. There were 4 adults in the house at the time. There are only 4 rooms he can access if he kitchen gate is up.

Le sigh. Time to try and get myself and Rowan to sleep. Wish me luck. And maybe I can find some batting for pictures on the balls tomorrow. Despite everything they’re pretty cute.