A whole lot of catching up....

So it's been a looooooong time since I've posted any pictures.  I just didn't feel like breaking it up into a bunch of separate posts so hang on.....loads of pictures ahead!!! :)

My new favorite way to make shirts!  I been terrified of painting the shirts I sew.  Way too scared of ruining the fabric.  I couldn't believe how easy it was to stencil this on.  I printed out the Ben10 logo from a website online, traced it on to some freezer paper, cut it out, ironed it on the shirt front(before I sewed it up of course), and painted away.  I actually painted both shirts on a Sunday afternoon, while the boys were safely tucked away in their rooms.  I didn't want them to see one of their Christmas gifts!! :)

This one is for Simon....I tried it on just to see how it would look on and couldn't believe that it fit me!!!  There's just something disturbing about the fact that my 10 year old boy is almost as big as his mom!!!

 This one is Samuel's shirt.  We are VERY low-key with Christmas gift giving at our home.  Our children are blessed with so much throughout the year, that we decided many years ago to just give each child something made, a book(or something educational along that line) and one small toy item.  So, I have crossed off 2 homemade gifts for my kids this year.  I can't wait to see the look on their faces when they open them up!!!

 Both shirts hanging up....just turn yourself or your computer sideways!!! LOL  Still haven't figured out how/why Blogger rotates some of my pictures this way.....

 A couple close-ups of the painting job....

 Oh, and did I mention these shirts were made out of other older t-shirts we were getting rid of!!!  I love being able to turn something we were just going to give-away into some neat for my kids!!!

 I usually do NOT. EVER. SHOW. pictures like this.  This is what I've spent the last 3 weeks of my life doing.  Well, let's back up just a bit and give a little background......

Once upon a time there was a momma who had a really rough year.  It started with her oldest being in a sledding accident.  From there it just kinda snowballed.  She kept avoiding things.  Hiding away at home.  Wasting time doing meaningless things.  Randomly searching on the internet.  Sewing, sewing...and sewing MORE.  She did the barest of the bare necessity's to keep up her home.  On the outside her home looked fine, for a while.  Then all the sudden, all the things that had been stuffed away in every drawer, closet, cabinet, shelf, started having a mind of it's own and would stay hidden away.  The momma knew she needed to do something.  But what?  She started looking around online for ways to organize her home.  What she found sent her into further depression.  She saw beautiful pictures of other mom's homes with beautifully organized homes.  Every nook and cranny was PERFECT!!!  She realized she could NEVER, no matter how hard she tried, get her home looking like that.  That made her feel like even MORE of a failure!!!  You see....for YEARS she struggled with perfectionism.  She stressed about living up to expectations ona daily basis.  Now her home was a far cry from anything but perfect.  How in the world would she EVER begin?  She read something that made her stop and think....."When organizing an area of your home, you must get rid of things before you EVER can have it organized."  A light went on.....You see every time she would try to organize all the precious possessions junk stuffed in drawers, closets &; cabinets, it would be all be un-organized in just a day or two.  She realized that just pulling out everything and putting it back in a 'new' place was just not going to work again.  She set a goal.  To clean out one small area in the house each week day.  So one Monday, almost 4 weeks ago, she started out with this simple task.  She started with one dresser, then a closet, then some drawers.  Before she knew it, she was on a roll.  Each weekday, she would attack a small area, bag up all the things they just didn't need and give them away to others that could use them.  There's still lots more spaces to clean out in her home, but she's happy to know that a small step has been taken in the right direction.  She's letting go of things that have cluttered up her home  and life for far too long.  She's happier than she's been in months and it just started with one small space.
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So anyways....this was a bunch of stuff I pulled out of some drawers in my music studio.  I guess I should have taken some 'after' pictures.  :)  I have donated a BUNCH of fabric that I would never use.  Some decorations that haven't been used in YEARS.  Re-sorted all my patterns.  Got rid of the ones I'd never make again.  Threw out some other junk.  This was just one of the many projects I've tackled over the last 3 weeks.
 
Just an example of one of the 15 loads of stuff I've hauled away.  Can you believe I got rid of 8 bags of just MY CLOTHES!!!  It was shocking to see how many clothes I've just hung on to, thinking....oh one of these days I'll be able to wear that again!!!  I'm thinking I'd rather do a whole lot of other things with my time than all the exercise it would require for me to become a size 0 again!! :)

Our church had a Halloween Alternative one COLD night in October. 

Simon and his friend show off their face/hand painting they chose for the Halloween Alternative at church.

Thought you'd like to see what my sewing space looks like.  This sewing cabinet houses a vintage Singer machine(pictured at the top of my blog).  I LOVE to sew on this machine. 

My sewing wall.  I made covers to put over my serger, coverstitch maching & another sewing machine.  You see, this is along one of the walls in my dining room/living room.  It's one VERY LARGE multi-purpose room.  The covers made Duane happy.  He would haven't to stare at my large collection of machines when they weren't in use!!! :)  The baskets underneath the tables house serger thread, and other sewing accessories.  The oval wood bowl was a gift from my brother-in-law from the Philippines.  I have some old antique wooden thread spools in it now.

Can you guess what this is???????

It's DUST from inside my serger!!!!!  I thought it looked pretty neat though!! :)

We celebrated Duane's 38th. b-day on October 25th.  Callie was excited to carry in all Daddy's presents.

My good-lookin' husband posing with his cake!!!  Before you ask.....I am waaaaaaaaay younger than he is!! :) LOL

He requested a brownie and ice-cream cake.  I made it gluten-free so I could have some!!!  It turned out YUMMY and no-one could even tell it was gluten-free!!

We had a pounding for our Pastor.  Here is a re-usable fabric grocery bag I made with some of my favorite fabric I had been hoarding filled with food for them.

Seth had a school program.  He's really growing up!!!  He's the handsome boy without glasses!! ;)

He's playing his trumpet with the 5th. grade band.  I promise....he does have a trumpet behind that music stand!!

With his choir singing....

And if you've made it through all that.....bless your heart!!!! :)  Now to go play 'catch-up' on my house in the last hour before picking the kiddos up from school.