House Update

There is no longer a tree on my house!!!

The contractor was at our house with a crew today working on the roof. They decided to go ahead and start before moving our stuff out because the ceiling in Chloe Jo's room came down between yesterday afternoon and today. Her stuff was covered with dry wall and insulation. Russ, Chloe Jo and I went over this afternoon and packed up most of the stuff to put in a storage room while everything gets fixed. Our landlord has been really nice about everything. He bought the U-Haul to take our stuff to the storage room and he brought us boxes and blankets to protect our furniture. Russ is going to go back over in the morning and finished getting the stuff to storage. I'm going to stay with Chloe Jo. She didn't do so well with all the activity. She kept saying "they're taking our stuff. They're taking our stuff." She is also upset that it is such a mess. She kept saying "It's a mess. It's a mess." over and over, too. The contractor did say it will take 2 to 3 weeks. I'm hoping for 3, but I know things like this can turn into months very easily. Hopefully, it won't. I'm ready to get new carpet and tile! Plus, our landlord (who is usually horrible!) said that he will have the painters paint Chloe Jo's room pink if we will paint it back to a neutral color when we move out! We briefly looked for a new place to move to, but there just aren't many rentals in our little town. There were 3 that we did find. One was on a busy highway and I refuse to move there with Chloe Jo. The other two were in a rough part of town so they were a no-go for me, also.

As far as our furniture and things being damaged goes, I think most everything is okay. I think we will have to get rid of the toy box my Dad made for me when I was little and maybe the crib. There are a few other pieces that got a little damage, but not much. There were several little things that I just went ahead and threw out like some stuffed animals and art supplies that were in Chloe Jo's closet. I also think my wedding dress is ruined, but it was ruined before. I never bothered to get it cleaned after our wedding and it has a 7 year old while grape juice stain. I'm going to call around to cleaners here and see what they think about water damage and 7 year old stains. I don't think my chances are great! Oh well.

I'm so thankful that we were not home when all this happened. I know that it probably wouldn't have flooded if we had been there to turn off the water, but I think Chloe Jo and I would have freaked completely out! So much so that I wouldn't have been able to think coherently. This was proven when I freaked when I saw how much water was in the house. My Dad can testify to the fact that I was sobbing uncontrollably. It was very ugly. Anyway, this is all the update for now. After Russ gets everything moved to storage, it will truly be a waiting game.

There is a tree on our house.

No, really. A real tree. Pine. Huge.

Saturday evening, we went with some friends to a fish restaurant about an hour from where we live. On the way back we got a call from our landlord saying that our neighbor said a tree fell on our house. Um, yikes!?! When we got back home, there indeed was a tree on our house. Apparently, while we were gone, a tornado went through our little town. There were trees down and branches down all over the place! The tree that fell on our house also hit a water line and busted it which in turn flooded our place. There was an inch to 2 inches of standing water throughout. We were able to get our wood furniture up off the ground and onto 2 by 4's so they will hopefully be okay. We are staying with friends for the time being. We can't do anything until our landlord hears from the insurance and talks to a contractor. Since today is a holiday neither are going to happen until tomorrow at the earliest. I have some pictures, but I'm not on my computer so I can't upload them right now. We've done what we can do for now and we are just waiting to hear what our next steps need to be. Hopefully this will get resolved soon and we can move back home!

Looking on the bright side, we are totally getting new carpet! YAY!

Russ' 7 Day Challenge: Day 7

I love this outfit, too! Who knew that Russ would do such a good job picking out my outfits all week (with the exception of the plaid)? I sure didn't have that much faith in his choosing. I may even let him pick out my clothes some in the future. I think I'll stick to choosing my jewelry, though!

Russ' 7 Day Challenge: Day 6

Again, the only thing I would change is the jewelry. Bold print plus a bold necklace is a no go for me. Other than that, I love this outfit.

Mini Slurp Maker

Chloe Jo and I had a big day on Wednesday. We were busy all day! I sewed quite a bit while she played by herself. Then in the afternoon she helped me make slurp to share with our friends!

First, I cut up the strawberries. After that was finished Chloe Jo helped me mash them up!

Then we had to stir it a little to make sure the strawberries were mashed enough for the jam.

We then added the sugar. I'm not even going to say how much sugar is in this stuff. It really surprised me when I made it the first time.

After we added the sugar and stirred it up, we set the strawberries aside and moved on to the stove. We put the sure-jell in the pan and added water.

And then I let Chloe Jo stir that up before I turned the stove on. She was very upset with me when I wouldn't let her stir it while the stove was on. There was no way that was going to happen, though!

After the sure-jell and water boiled for a minute I dumped it into the strawberries and Chloe Jo helped me stir it all up.

I stirred the hot sure-jell in it first so she didn't burn herself. She thought it was great getting to stir everything!

I poured the slurp into jars and Chloe Jo helped me put the lids on them.

She is so proud of her finished slurp!

Russ' 7 Day Challenge: Day 5

I think Russ did really good again today! I have to say that I'm impressed. He has done tons better than I imagined him doing. I was picturing myself in pink flowered skirts with red striped tops! The only thing I would probably change about this outfit is the set of earrings. I think they are a bit bold to go with the bold necklace. I usually try to only do one bold piece so I don't look overwhelming. Other than that, it's perfect!

The Josephina 2-Piece Outfit Tutorial

I decided I needed to start naming my creations. I'm thinking about putting one or two of these little outfits on Etsy just to see if I can sell them. What would you pay for one of these?

They aren't expensive to make and I love that I make the hair bows to match the outfit. I haven't decided if I'm going to definitely do this or not. If I do, it will only be a couple of outfits at first so that I'm not out a bunch of money if it doesn't go well. And for those of you who would rather make one yourself, here is the tutorial!

Supplies:

A piece of fabric. I buy 1/2 yard and that is enough for Chloe Jo. If your child is smaller, you won't need as much. If she is bigger, you will need more.

A blank T-Shirt

Elastic

Thread

Wonder-Under. You can find this in the fabric section. It is sold by the yard. Here is a close-up of the directions sheet. If you can't find it, ask the person working there and they will be able to tell you where it is.

First, you will need to decide what you want on the shirt. I chose a sassy high heel because it coordinated with the sassy pink and red zebra stripe fabric. Cut the shape out of a piece of paper and lay aside.

Cut off a piece of wonder-under, big enough to trace your shape on. Follow the directions to iron it to the underside of your fabric.

You can cut the shape out of the wonder-under first, but I think it is easier to cut the shape out after the wonder-under and fabric are fused together.

Trace your shape onto the wonder-under. I drew a purse since I had some space on the wonder-under, but ended up nixing it.

Cut the shape out and take the backing off of the wonder-under. Lay the shape on the t-shirt where you want it and follow the directions to iron it on to the shirt.

Now you will need to zig-zag around the edge of your shape so it won't come off. You can also use puff-paint to seal the edges. My sewing machine has several stitches. The zig-zag stitch is #10.

Make sure your machine is on the right stitch before you start sewing! It is ever so annoying to have to rip out stitches because your machine was on the wrong setting. Yes, I know from experience.

Zig-Zag around the shape. This takes some practice. I have to go pretty slowly to get the zig-zag right on the edge.

Since the t-shirt fabric is stretchy, the edges will ruffle as you sew. Just iron the shape and the ruffles will go away.

Now, for the skirt. You will need two pieces of rectangular fabric. I usually use a skirt of Chloe Jo's to go by, but if you don't have one, you will need to know how long you want the skirt and the waist measurement of the child you are making this for. Take the length measurement and add a few inches for hems and the waistband. That will be how wide your fabric will need to be. The length of the fabric depends on how full you want the skirt to be. I usually double the waist length so the skirt will have some fullness, but not a lot. Lay the fabric on top of each other with the right sides together.

Pin the edges.

Sew the edges.

Iron the seams flat.

For the waistband, first fold the top over about 1/2 inch and iron.

Fold it over again (I do it twice so there won't be any raw edges to unravel), enough to accommodate the elastic.

Pin.

Sew the waistband close to the edge. Make sure you leave a space so you can get your elastic in there. Pull the elastic through and stitch together. Stitch the hole where the elastic was inserted.

Hem the bottom and you are done with the skirt!

I went ahead and made matching bows for this outfit. If you want to know how to make these bows, just leave a comment and I'll put up a tutorial for them. They are my favorite right now.

Here is the finished product.

And here is my little sweetie in The Joshephina!

Russ' 7 Day Challenge: Day 4

I love this outfit. This is something I would pick for myself so Russ did great! Chloe Jo, once again, decided she needed to be in the picture. I love it!

I do have to say that after looking at the pictures from the past 4 days, I need to get back on the weight loss wagon. Remember how I lost 11 pounds back in March? Yeah, I gained it back. After Chloe Jo's birthday parties and my parents being here I never did get back with it and I'm paying for it now. Oh, and about the running...apparently my knees say they don't want to run. I did almost 3 weeks of 5K training. My right knee started hurting the first week. I ran through the pain because I figured it just needed a little time to get used to it. I also tried using icy-hot which made my skin break out really bad and a knee brace. Neither worked which totally depressed me and is another excuse for why I've let myself go again. I've got to get back with it or nothing in my closet is going to fit anymore!

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

Link up here!

I'm loving that tonight is singing night at church service! I love to sing and it also means that I don't need to prepare a lesson for class. It is nice to have a break from teaching every once in a while.

I'm loving the book "Jane Eyre." I have read it several times and it is one of my favorites!

I'm loving pineapples! They are so sweet and yummy right now.

I'm loving that I have several projects in line for the next few months. I'm hoping to finish crocheting a blanket, embroidery 2 tea towels and maybe finish a cross-stitch. We'll see how it goes!

I'm loving that we got to meet Chris (my sister's hubby) in Columbia yesterday to eat and hang out for a couple of hours! My sister and her family live in Oklahoma, but he travels some for work out here to the east coast so we have been able to see him a few times since we moved here!

Chloe Jo was very excited to see him. She just kept saying his name over and over. We ate at Carrabbas and then decided to go get some ice cream at Zestos. She called "Chris! Chris!" over and over and was very sad that he wasn't in our car!

I'm loving that I bought more canning jars and strawberries yesterday so I can make slurp again today to share with our friends!

I'm loving this fabric I bought on Monday!

I'm loving that my family in Oklahoma and Missouri are all safe! I hope the families who have been devastated by tornadoes this year can find peace.

What are you loving today?

Russ' 7 Day Challenge: Day 3

Russ has done well so far, but this just isn't the best outfit. I think it is unflattering to me and I ended up changing the shoes. It's not bad, but it isn't my favorite. We'll see what he has in store for me today.