Homeschool Activity Book

We're not actual homeschoolers.  We haven't registered with the state or anything like that, and I don't follow one specific curriculum  but I do try to be as purposeful with our days at home as possible.  One thing that has been awesome for us and fun for Rylea is the activity book I've made for her over the past year.

I got a regular 3-ring binder and filled it with sheet protectors like these:

 And then I got her some small dry erase markers like these:

Then I printed out a bunch of worksheets, letter tracing, coloring sheets, pattern worksheets, etc. from various sites around the internet and put those into the page protectors.  Now, Rylea can write and color on those with her markers and erase them and do it over and over again.  She has great control with her markers now and recognizes most letters.  I try and sit with her daily to do some writing and letter practice, but, some days it just doesn't happen at all and some days I let her get her book out on her own and do what she wants from it.

 The worksheet above is from Worksheet Works.  You can type in any word or letter or number or whatever you want and then it will creat a PDF worksheet for you to print out and let your kiddo practice on.  It's really awesome.  You can also choose print or cursive and there are a bunch of other options too.

This worksheet with the apples is from our A week.  (Don't mind the crazy hair, she slept with braids in and wouldn't let me take them out.)  It's part of an entire curriculum you can get from Confessions of a Homeschooler called Letter of the Week.  I highly recommend it if you have a preschooler.  When you buy the program you get everything in PDF format ready to print out.  She even sends lesson plans for the entire alphabet that corresponds to all of her worksheets.  So awesome!  

I also have a Homeschool Pinterest board that you can follow here to see other awesome websites and sources I've used  before.  Happy homeschooling!

Mama Got a New Camera

I finally did it.  After complaining all the time that my pictures stink and that they're grainy and they're not the quality I wanted, I just bit the bullet and bought a new (to me) camera.  It's a used one I got on Amazon.  The seller had 100% feedback and a return policy so I figured it was a low risk situation and I got it for more than $100 less than what I would have paid new.  It came quickly (within about 3 days), and was packed in the original packing with everything included.

I got a Nikon Coolpix L120.  My sister-in-law has the same camera, and I used it to take pics of my new spring collection.  You can see those pictures here.  It's so much better than the old $40 point and shoot I've been using, and I know I'm going to get a lot of use out of it between business and taking pictures of the kiddos.

I haven't read the manual yet, or figured out all the features, but I've already used it a couple of times and it's great!  If you're looking for a more sophisticated point and shoot (because you don't want to mortgage your house for a DSLR), then I'd really recommend this one.  Here's to better Sugarplum pictures!

Google Searches

If you know me personally you know I Google absolutely everything.  I have a question, Google.  I have a symptom, Google.  My kids are bleeding profusely, Google.  I feel like if you could go back and look at all my Google searches you could accurately describe the timeline of my life.  That's probably why investigators are always searching criminals's computers, so they can see what they've been up to via Google.

• When is constipation dangerous? (Isn't that lovely, just another awesome side effect of pregnancy).
• Nose spray addiction - There was a husband and wife debate that needed solving
• Flounce skirt tutorial
• Proverbs 15:1
• Blogger HTML - that one is a doozy, I was not cut out for computer code
• IRS Form 4852
• Eskimo - Rylea wanted to know what an Eskimo was so I googled some pictures for her to see
• How to add a paypal button to blogger

I honestly don't know what I would do without Google capabilities.  I might have to have a comprehensive set of encyclopedias at home to consult daily.  I taught myself how to sew and crochet (basic stuff) using Google, among a million other things.

What have you Googled lately??

SPC Limited Edition Spring 2013 Collection

The SPC Spring B Fly Collection is live!

Click here to start shopping.

You can get a dress:

Some leggings to match:

And a dolly dress to complete the whole outfit:

You can also click the "SHOP" button in my right sidebar to get back to the shopping page at anytime.  

I forgot to crop out my tabs at the top, but you can see I was fabric shopping.  What else is new? ;)

Thanks so much for all the love and support, I'm so grateful!

The Big Gender Reveal

Yesterday was my 18 week ultrasound and appointment for the month, and that means it was the doc appointment where we got to find out the sex of the baby too.

Since Mr. SPC is away right now and couldn't join in on the ultrasound festivities, I had the ultrasound tech let me know when she was going to check the area, and I looked away while she printed a picture and wrote the sex down.  Then, she put the picture in an envelope and sealed it up and I took it home with me.

I didn't want to find out what the baby was without the Mr. there, so I waited until he got off duty and we called him on Facetime and opened the envelope "together."  We found out at the same time and I'm pretty sure it was the next best thing to seeing it in person together.  Thank God for modern technology!

Can you guess what the baby is just by the look on my military man's face???  P.S. That's my sis in law Cali, and me in that little window down there (and the top of Dieter's head).

So, what's your guess?





Did you guess girl???






Well, you'd be dead wrong if you did.

That's right.  The girls are officially outnumbered here in Sugarplumland.  I see visions of more trains, more superheros, more cars, and more dirt in my near future.  We're praising God for our little bundle, and we're super excited to meet him and "show him the Hulk" as Dieter said.  Now, let the naming begin!

Top 10 Sewing Necessities

1. Cutting Mat - I use an Olfa brand cutting mat and mine is 24 x 36.  It's been the perfect size for me.  A cutting mat is for sure an essential tool when sewing as much as I do, and if you use a coupon at JoAnn then you can find a good deal.

2. Rotary Cutter - Goes hand in hand with a cutting mat.  There's no sense in trying to trace and cut straight lines with a pair of scissors when you can just line up your straight edge and run your blade across the fabric.  Done.  I use a Fiskars one with 45mm blades.

3. Measuring Tape - Sometimes I leave my house and the only accessory I'm wearing is my measuring tape.  No joke.  I wear it around my neck so I can constantly check and recheck my measurements when I'm sewing to make sure I haven't made an error, and sometimes we head out the door and I forget to leave my work behind.  Whatevs.  It's also a fun toy for kids.  Mine use it all the time to "measure" each other.  As in, "Dieter, you are 40 hundred."

4. Scissors - A no brainer.  I use a pair of Fiskers scissors called "razor sharp."  They're not kidding.  Make sure you're always keeping your fabric scissors and your paper scissors separate.  One trick I use is that I always buy blue paper scissors so my kids and husband know that the only scissors they can use are the blue ones.  Paper dulls scissors really fast and will ruin your nice fabric scissors in a jiff.

5. Pins - I pin my stuff on a daily basis.  It keeps my seams nice and even and straight and keeps my measurements accurate.

6. Serger - Ahh, my 3rd baby (for now).  I just love my serger.  You can read more about it in my FAQ post here.

7. Fabric - Hoards of fabric.  Stacks of fabric.  Fat stacks.  I kid, but really what are you doing sewing if you don't have any fabric.  Watch out though, it's about as addicting as buying upcycles.  Don't say I didn't warn you.

8. Poster Board - You might think this is a weird one, but I use poster board for all my pattern work.  Whether I'm drafting my own patterns or printing PDF ones (I avoid store bought patterns like the plague), I'm always tracing the final version on a piece of poster board.  I write right on it in a sharpie what size it is and what the final product is and then I punch a hole in it and hang it on a binder ring with the rest of its counterparts.  I'm a stickler for posterboard patterns.

9. Ruler/Yardstick - Used with #1 and #2, obviously you need a good, strong ruler with a straight edge to cut using your rotary cutter.  I use an acrylic one with quarter inch measurements, and I also use a metal yard stick.  My kids use them as swords when I'm not looking.

10. Dove Dark Chocolate - This one can be substituted for Diet Cherry Dr. Pepper, Coffee, those little pink candies that taste like pepto bismol, Reese Cups, Dark Chocolate Covered Almonds or Sour Patch Kids.  Take your pick, but I like to have junk food on hand at all times.  It helps me think...or something.

What essential tools do you keep in your sewing room?

Baby Shower Invites

My sister in law, Cali, has two kiddos.  Jaelynn is a year older than Rylea, and Ayden is 3 weeks older than Dieter.  It's so awesome that we live so close to them now because those 4 kids love to play together!

Left to Right: Ayden, Dieter, Rylea, Jaelynn

Cali brought her kiddos and her little sister, Kelsey, over last night for some dinner and some playtime, and Cali even helped me with some appliques.  It's always so eventful when we get together, and to top it off,  Kelsey is pregnant with her first baby!  Her little girly is on the way, and I offered to Google some stuff with them and maybe come up with something simple for her baby shower invitations.

Kelsey has a mild obsession with elephants and "tribal print" (which is Kelsey code for chevron), so this is what we all came up with in one big group effort.  I blocked out the phone number and address for privacy reasons.

I did her invites using a mixture of paint, iPiccy, and Picmonkey.  I outlined those programs here in this blog post if you want to know more.  Cali and Kelsey are going to upload these to snapfish and get them printed and pick up some cute green envelopes to match.  We're praying for Kelsey and the arrival of precious baby Sophie!!