A boy and his robot

Quick! Before Jack wakes up. I made this robot for Jack a few weeks ago and it has stayed in his crib ever since. Thank god he doesn't care that mom messed up the arms. Sweet boy.

Saving Money

Wow. That's a generic title if I ever saw one.

Over here at Casa de Chapin we are trying to save money for a variety of reasons. The main reason we want to save cash is to pay extra on loans to get them over and done with in a reasonable time frame. Here's what I did today:

1. Loss leaders. You know those annoying ads you get in the mail from Save Mart and other grocery stores? Those "deals" they advertise are called loss leaders it's what they use to get you in the door. Once you're there you'll buy a bunch of overpriced stuff that will negate your savings, at least that's what they are hoping. Loss leaders only work if you stick to a list. I got my ad yesterday in the mail and this morning I spent about $28 and saved $20 and some change. Had I stuck to my list and not bought a bottle of extra virgin olive oil I would have saved more than I spent. Good stuff. Oh, and always remember that if it's a really good deal and can store well buy multiples. I bought five loaves of bread because they were around $2 off. They'll all go in the freezer until I need one.
2. Bibs. Back before I had a child (actually before I was even pregnant) I saw these spiffy bibs that pulled over the head instead of being velcroed (is that a word?) at the neck. Now that Jack is eating some food on his own I decided that I needed one. At Target they are $6.99 each. Ummmmm, no thanks. Instead I bought some shirts at Goodwill for a $2 each, cut the arms and back off and there you have it. Jack is wearing one in the picture above. If you want super absorbent bibs you could also sew old washcloths or a cut up old towel to the back. I didn't do that but it's an idea.

3. Repurposing. You know that suitcase full of old bedsheets, pillowcases and scraps that I buy at the thrift store? I actually use that stuff. I had made quite a few pull over bibs for Jack but I had nowhere convenient to store them so I made a simple bag that hangs off the back of the high chair. The straps velcro so if I ever need to take the bag off I can.
When I was done I still had a lot of fabric left over so I decided to make something I had seen a while back but never got around to. Obviously it's on the left since it matches the bag. It hangs on the inside of the pantry door and it's for storing plastic bags. Yes, we still get plastic bags every once and a while, I'm a slacker sometimes. Besides, what else am I gonna use to clean up cat and dog poo?

Anyway, it's a tube open on both ends. You shove bags in the top and pull bags out the bottom. Simple concept really. The multi colored thing next to it is a reasonably priced closet shoe rack (I didn't get the cheapest because it was flimsy plastic) and hung it on the back of my pantry door. From top to bottom we have: 1) bottle liners 2) bottles and straws (random) 3) nipples, rings, lids, pacifiers that my son never uses 4) long pasta (angel hair, ect), small and large Ziploc bags 5) aluminum foil, wax paper, stuff like that.

Done!

Finally, I have finished a quilt. I was on a serious quilting rut for quite some time. I though the "Giant Janell Project" was going to be my only successful project. Thankfully, I got a kick in the rear and plowed through this in a week. This was my first time machine quilting so the lines are a little wonky but the recipient is nice enough to say she doesn't care.

Lazy Summer

Summer here borders on dreadful. It's hot, hot, hot. I stay in most of the time only leaving my home in the early mornings or late evenings the only exception being swimming. While we've dedicated our back yard to a garden Travi's mom has a pool in hers. Thankfully she only lives few blocks from us so I try to get over there every other day with Jack just to cool off and do something other than sit in the house. Last weekend I had the day off so we made it a family swim day.
While staying inside does sound like a great reason to sew till my hearts content Jack's curiosity makes it hard. He's opening cabinets, trash cans and I'm pretty sure he's gonna figure out how to open the toilet lid soon. Also, like I've mentioned before, he likes to push on the foot pedal of my sewing machine when I'm sewing. It gets a little frustrating. There is crafting hope, The Bissat's and the Crum's are both due soon which means I need to kick it into high gear if they hope to ever get a gift. I'm not too sure what I'm making but I some fabric caught my eye and it sits on my table ready to spark my imagination. One more thing before I leave. Jack and the plum. Ignore the blurryness, Jack does not sit still.

Not much

So my crafting has come to a halt due to Jack wanting whatever mama has. Currently he's trying to grab the keyboard. He will grab skeins of yarn and pull away from me, he will push the foot pedal down while I'm sewing or he will shove things in his mouth that do not belong there. Oh well, I'll have more than enough time to craft later when he's a pre-teen/teen and wants nothing to do with me because I'm old and his mom.

I do want to mention that I got a Mac on Father's Day. I don't know how I managed to get a gift from Trav on Father's Day but I'm not complaining. No longer do I have to deal with my computer randomly switching over to all caps, opening a new window with every click or holding the power cord in just the right spot to keep it running. Yay!

He walks. A lot

So, Jack just decided to start walking and he hasn't stopped. Pretty steady but tends to look like a drunken sailor when trying to walk fast/run. He's more determined than ever to do what he wants. I think he has his momma's stubborn streak which may drive me insane just like I did to my mom. What goes around comes around I guess.Travis is at his new job. We love it. He says the hardest day at this job is still better than a regular day in the ED. Yay! He even has a lunch break that doesn't consist of him eating at the desk while charting on patients. At least once a week Jack and I meet dad in Exeter for lunch. The other day we walked in the grass while we waited for our food. My little hippie baby doesn't wear shoes, he doesn't like them. Oh well, I don't wear shoes when I don't have to either.

Quick update

So I spent two evening making this dress from Weekend Sewing. I was super excited. Great fabric (I love red with white polka dots!), great summer style. I put it on at 10PM the night before I had to work and wanted to cry. It's about two sizes too big for me. What.The.F***? I followed the directions exactly. I'm small but I'm not that small. Boooooooooooo.

Something that did work out for me was my baking. We had two giant zucchinis and some browning bananas so I made four loaves of bread and some banana chocolate chips muffins. Yum.

Jack is walking now, everyday he goes a little bit further. I'd take the time to post a picture but currently he is pulling on my shirt and screaming. Gotta go!

I can can.

For my first canning attempt ever I decided to water bath can some BBQ sauce. So I got my stuff together.

What exactly is "liquid smoke" anyone know? Do I want to know? How do you make smoke liquid? The science of liquid smoke wasn't the weird part for me. The weird part was pouring in the molasses. A few weekends back I was at work and helped a fellow RN give a warm milk and molasses enema. Pouring the molasses into the pot of tomato sauce was kinda unnerving.


After I made the sauce I kept it simmering while prepping the water, jars and lids. Everything has to be 180 degrees F to prevent thermal shock (AKA glass shattering due to rapid temp changes). When everything was ready I poured in the sauce put the lid and ring on and got to boiling water. Because I have a pressure canner I left the pressure control thing off so steam would just escape. Around 10 min later I shut it all off, removed the lid and let them cool for about five more minutes. As I was getting ready to transfer the jars to a wood cutting board with a towel (to prevent thermal shock) I heard the lids one by one POP. Success!
There they are five jars of home made BBQ sauce ready for the pantry.

Next up: Pressure canning when I have something to actually can.

Speaking of cans thanks Uncle Jason for being such a good example to my son.

It's here! It's here! My pressure cooker/canner is here! Just in time for a test run before we start harvesting and canning our excess. Yay! I'm totally terrified of the canner since I've heard lots of horror stories about pressure cookers. Eeep. The giant warning notes on the side and top are not helping. An All American 21 1/2 Quart pressure cooker/canner. Got it off of Amazon. This thing weighs a ton. There is no way I'm gonna be able to fill it at the sink and transfer to the stove.
Mom is happy and so is Jack because he got a new toy in the form of a box. Nice muscle tee dude.

My first attempt at canning will be BBQ sauce. I got a great recipe off of allrecipes.com that has been approved by Travis. I'll make a huge batch, can it and no longer have to buy pre-made sauce. No crazy ingredients I can't pronounce. No HFCS (happy Carolyn?) and no preservatives. I know I could just make the sauce everytime we grill but we grill a lot and I don't always have the time to make it. This way I'll take the time today and have it redily avaliable for months on end. Just reach in the pantry and grab a jar.

Since I have the time I'll update everyone on the garden. The weather has been a bit hot but so far the only thing that has suffered are the hydrangia.

I love colorful stuff.
Still getting artichokes. I will be attempting to can these soon. Beans. Yup, I'll can these. Can you see the wall o' floweres behind them? Love it. Don't know what this is but it's edible and it looks cool. Chances of canning this? Zero.Zuccini squash. Yellow squash. Corn! Lots and lots of corn. I will keep these in the chest freezer on the cob. These are our "volunteer" sunflowers. They are huge. Some are red, some yellow and some are a mix. Good stuff.Peas. This type is not the kind that are shelled so any excess will be frozen. I know we have the other type but I haven't seen any action from them.
Blueberries. These are along the path where the clothesline is. I will hang clothes, turn around and eat them. I think that's the coolest thing ever.
Of course tomatoes. We will make our own tomato sauce and spaghetti sauce to can for the winter with all our extras.
There is more stuff in the ground like watermelons and soy beans but they aren't showing much. When they do I'll promise to share.

The projects never stop

Thankfully I'm the type to actually finish projects. Last Friday, it was the master closet. Once again I forget "before" pictures but here's kinda what it looked like.


Imagine that black rack holding lots and lots of pants. I had hung closet shelving in the laundry room closet before back when I was pregnant so this was nothing new.

When I was a kid my not so handy step-dad would hang things up in the house with plastic drywall anchors. He never took the time to figure out what could and could not be hung with those anchors. I remember lots and lots of holes where drywall anchors used to be and things coming out of the wall with anchor still attached to the screw. Good times. Since I did not want this happening with my closet shelves I opted for this:
It's a toggle bolt, referred to as the "cadillac" of drywall anchors. More often than not the wall gives way before the bolt does. The nerve racking thing about these, if you've never seen them, is the size of the hole you have to drill in the wall to use it. That bolt above requires a hole this large:

The first time I used one I read the directions four times because I didn't think I was reading correctly. Nope, you need a hole that big to get the bolt in. Jack is also amazed at the size of the hole.So, you put the bolt on the screw leaving enough room for the bolt reach the back side of the drywall.
Then you just pop it it. Literally, you wait for the "pop" of the bolt opening up on the other side.

FYI, if you mess up in anyway after this point the bolt is long gone. Pulling the screw out isn't gonna happen and unscrewing it from the bold will result in the bolt falling down in between two sheets of drywall.


Install the shelves. Curse the guy at Lowe's for not cutting the shelves to the proper length resulting in a gouge in your wall. Then remember that spackle is your friend.

Admire your curious child and his giant cloth diaper butt.

Put everything back and jump with joy as your closet looks somewhat more organized.

Turn around and realize that your bathroom is now a disaster.