She's Crafty....

For the year of 2009, my goal is to become super crafty. By the end of the year, I want to be able to sew or otherwise make a good portion of the clothes the girls wear myself. I am happy to report that during the month of January, I have made progress.

1. I learned how to knit. I just got a book and started trying stuff. I am actually really glad that I started with knitting for reasons I will cover later in this post. This is one of my few completed knitting projects because it TAKES FOREVER for me to knit. This bun cover was relatively easy and only took me about 45 minutes to complete. Kate wore it to ballet class on Saturday and she said that it was a hit.

2. I learned how to crochet. I started with knitting because the word "knit" is less intimidating to me than the word "crochet". It is a good thing that I started with knitting because I am not sure that I would have practiced knitting as much as I did during the last couple of weeks had I known how much faster crocheting would be. I started to crochet yesterday and I have already made a bunch of stuff, including the above scarf and hat that George hates. He says that my hat looks like I have a fuzzy caterpillar on my head. I don't care, because I designed it and I made it and to me, that is the coolest thing ever. Hence, the sunglasses. :)

3. I learned how to operate my sewing machine. Yes, I purchased a sewing machine way back in 2001. I tried to use it once, but the thread kept snapping and I decided that I was not cut out for operating a sewing machine. I have spent the last 8 YEARS convinced that I am too lame to use it. I have also spent a little bit of time studying an assortment of mechanical objects (actually, a lot) so when I pulled the thing out (still threaded in the same BASS-ACKWARDS way I tried to do it way back when) I had it running seamlessly (no pun intended) in less that 2 minutes. All I can say is that I am glad that I did not wait any longer.

Locks of Love

Sarah has been growing out her hair for over a year so that she could donate a 10 inch ponytail to Locks of Love. This morning, we measured her ponytail and she reached her goal! When I asked her how she felt about it, here is what she said: "I feel really great about donating to Locks of Love and it is the best thing I have done in my entire life!"

Above is a pic of Sarah getting ready for me to chop her ponytail off and below are a couple of pics of her new hairdo.

In order to donate the hair, you have to cut it off as a ponytail. I knew that after I did that she would have layers, but she ended up with the back of her hair all choppy and uneven and I freaked out. I was able to even it up and she really likes her new haircut. I think it makes her look way too mature, but that is because I am her mother and am therefore obligated to feel that way. The important thing is that Sarah feels really good about her donation. She is such a great young lady!! (sniff sniff!!)

In other news, here is Juliette after she finished getting ready for church today-

And messing around while everyone else finished getting ready.

Kate posing for the camera.....

And looking a little surprised when someone decided to place their rear end right by the camera (and my face) and fart. I just had to post it because it is classic.

Happy New Year!!

We had a fun New Year's Eve Playing Guitar Hero World Tour with my Parents and Grandma Lena, Making chocolate dipped pretzels, peppermint sticks and strawberries and watching "Mama Mia!" until midnight. We went outside with hats and noise-makers to ring in the new year, but it seemed like we were the only ones. It was strange, there really was nobody else out there. Here is a pic of me with Sarah and Kate.

I think this was the result of having just watched "Mama Mia!" coinciding with the availability of cone-shaped party hats and lack of sleep.