Can't you just see it?

A patchwork blanket for a boy coming right up!! (just as soon as I have a spare moment that is.)

He surprises me sometimes

this one does.

From day one, he's been glued to my side. At times it's quite maddening (especially when we're at someone's house and there are plenty of kids to play with) and others it's comforting. More often than not, he's too shy to say a boo to anyone so it always surprises me when he'll talk someone's ear off.

This morning after we had finished our grocery shopping and I was loading them into the back of the 'Burb, this man with a big white bushy beard walked by. This kid belts out at the top of his lungs, "Hi Santa!" The man, good naturally, replied, "Hello! Ho! Ho! Ho!", throwing this kid into a fit of giggles. I lost it...I could not stop laughing! It was so unlike him to do something like that. I asked him, "How to you know it was Santa?" His answer, "Cuz, he had a big mustache all over his face." (Like, duh Mom!)

As I continued loading groceries, my kindergartner asked, "What that inappropriate for him to call that guy Santa?" Whoa! Big word for a little kid! Obviously they must be learning about what's appropriate and inappropriate at school.

Brain Purge #2309480

Just because it's been a while...

• We've been invaded. By ants. Yuck. (Or have we invaded their "space"?) My kids have been gracious hosts for the invaders by leaving crumbs, cherrios and cantaloupe chunks on the floor for the ants to carry off. We've probably read them "The A Book" a few too many times. "Angry ants advance...". They're just trying to keep the peace in the house.
• JB and her family are making an appearance to our Humble Abode this weekend. Excitement fills the air! At least for me and the kids.
• All Hubby can think about is hunting, which opens on Saturday.
• There are perks to his one track mind....all our kids, right down to the baby, now know how to call in an elk, should the need ever arise. What? You mean, you don't need to call in elk on a regular basis?!? Yeah, our house sounds like a herd of cows being strangled.
• This is one of my favorite pictures of her so far. It totally captures her usual expression. I can't help but smile while looking at it.
• As real life is interfering with able mabel life, I'm starting to raid my Artfire shop to keep my Etsy shop stocked. Robbing the poor to feed the rich...
• I got my cart filled at fabric.com. I bought some chalk cloth to make chalkboards/bullentin boards for our church craft sale. I'm going to layer cork and batting (so I won't need such a thick layer of cork) and cover it with the chalk cloth. We'll see if that idea works...
• Speaking of the craft sale, I went over to a friend's house yesterday to work on some flower headbands and clips. We managed to get quite a few done despite all the toddlers at our toes. It's always fun to work with someone else! I realized as soon as the table was filled with wonderous color, that I forgot my camera at home. Shoot! (or I guess, I couldn't shoot.)

Let's see if

I can keep my eyeballs open long enough to toss up a blog post...It's been one of those days. Too much going on for the amount of hours allotted. But, I'm still of the living, so it's all good. This was my afternoon project. A order for a crib sized patchwork blanket for a customer. It took me a little longer than I had planned because my oh-so-sweet baby wasn't acting oh-so-sweet. It's about impossible to sew and bounce a baby at the same time. (Speaking of which, have you ever tried sewing while driving down a dirt road? I came pretty close to, what I can imagine it would be like, when I tried sewing on my card table. Whoa!! I quickly moved to more solid ground. Take my word for it...Don't try this at home folks!)

I had another customer want a blanket out a certain fabric, which I found on fabric.com. My cart is now $.66 away from the free shipping mark ($35) and I'm having the worst time trying to find something to add to it. I mean, as if. Usually, I'm painfully having to decide which fabrics I can live without at checkout because my total is so ridiculously high.

I must be tired....Maybe I'll have better luck shopping in the morning.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz............

The thing about

moving is having to find a new place to take pictures.

In our other house, I had this wall of windows in my breakfast nook that had the best lighting mid morning to early afternoon. It was a breeze snapping pictures there. I barely had to edit this one...

This one was taken in my little girls' bedroom. I thought it would be enough light, but I thought wrong. I guess I should say I was hoping it would be enough light since I was feeling lazy about dragging the whole shabang downstairs to the living room. (I'm lazy, but we've already established that!)

I think I'll try the covered front porch next. It might work for mid-morning shots. When my craft room (hubby promised me one in the basement and I'm holding him to it.) is done, I'd like to get a whole set up (lights, backdrops, etc) so I don't have to keep moving it from here to there. We'll see if that happens though...

You know you're sharing your house with

a two year old by the path of destruction they leave.



This morning after sending the kids off to school, I started in on a few piles in my bedroom. I had been waiting for them to disappear on their own, but alas they didn't. I was whistling Dixie while I was sorting thru piles of junk....er....stuff, quite pleased with my progress.

My baby was napping and the two toddlers were playing in the toy room. Ahhh. I was in the "zone".



The three year old wandered into my room to curl up on my bed and watch the piles disappear. I realized then that the singing I heard from the two year old was no longer upstairs but down. Oh no! I raced down to see what she was into.



This one is a digger, which I'm sure you've realized by now. The earlier she wakes up, the dingier she becomes. This morning it was rise and shine (well, cloud) at 7 am. Not a good sign. She had tunneled her way thru a pan of brownies, eating the tunnelings in the process.

She raided the pantry, snagging a cracker out of it's box, as she made her way to the living room. She paused to pick up a pen off the counter and used it to "recover" my chair in the living room. (You have to look closely at the picture above to see it. It's a black pen on a dark green chair.) Miraculously, she left the library book untouched.

As I was cleaning up her mess she disappeared again...

I busted her, standing on the very tips of her toes trying to reach into my tote of office supplies. Whew! One disaster averted! (and to think it's only 9:30 am. I won't even get into the items I've snagged out of her little fingers as I sit here typing.)

She does this all while humming sweetly to herself. Don't let her singing fool you. ;) (We adore this little monkey. She makes up for all her shenanigans in many other ways.)

Sorry, Hubby! Guess I can't do anymore cleaning or organizing until she napping!!

(Yes! I knew there was a way out of this dreadful chore!)

This box

has been taunting me for 6 whole days!

Today I couldn't bear it any longer, I thumbed my nose at the piles of stuff to still put away from the move and pulled this baby out.

It was soooo much fun!! The machine and I purred along together and I was perfectly content with only getting to sew for a little bit since I had so much other stuff to get done. I was able to get three blankets started before the Littles woke up from their naps. Sigh. Life is good.

Now it's back at those miles and miles of little piles...

For me

not the kids... They're not the only ones needing to get used to waking up at the crack of dawn now that school has started! I think I just might crawl back between the sheets as soon as I get my baby down for her afternoon snooze!

We don't make no sense

Both Hubby and I hate moving but this weekend what did we do? We moved. New house, new town, new school (which started yesterday).

We were counting last night how many times we've moved in the 11 years we've been married. I think we came up with 9 times. I told Hubs that I'm starting to feel like a family of gypsies! In defense of that high number...we built two houses in MN. Each time, we'd live in temporary housing (once with his mom and dad and once with my sister and her family) while the house was going up.

I wouldn't mind settling down into a house for more than three years but I'm not holding my breath! We seem to be gluttons for punishment!

Meanwhile, the fun of moving continues. I'm typing this post while reaching over a huge pile of misc junk on my desk. I can almost see the floor in my bedroom, which is an improvement. I can't wait to be all organized and cleaned up.

Thankfully we have an awesome group of family and friends here who helped us get moved in in no time! We would have been so lost without them, especially when Hubby went down sick on Saturday evening. (I claim he was just "sick of moving" and was looking for an excuse to get out of moving. I'm totally kidding. He was pretty bad off, I would have never traded spots with him.)

I promise I'll post pictures...as soon as I can find my camera...

I've been tagged!

Since I haven't done this in a long time, I'll cooperate this time. (I'm slurping up a reheated plate of spaghetti as I'm doing this.) I got tagged on this blog. My assignment is to tell 10 things about myself. Here's goes nothing...

1. I have a scar on my left wrist crease. It's from being stung by a bee while at the zoo for a birthday party. I was about 9 years old.
2. I have a scar on my right hand. My sister and I were sitting on the couch at our grandparents' house when the window fell in on us. I was about 5. I distinctly remember my grandpa pulling out the piece of glass.
3. I've been married to my wonderful husband for 11 years. He brought me flowers on Friday (one day early since we were headed out camping) and I was so confused as to why I'd be getting flowers. I had totally forgotten about our anniversary (for once! ;) ).
4. I've sold both Pampered Chef and Tupperware in my short lifetime. It was loads of fun and I got a ton of free stuff. Each time I quit I was newly pregnant and oh so lazy to continue, much to the disappointment of my managers!
5. I have a lovely habit of picking at my baby toe nails while reading books. More often than not, I have no baby toe nails. Is there a support group for that?
6. I still think my husband is pretty darn funny after all these years.
7. I will always be thankful I got braces as a teenager. It did heaps for my self confidence at the time. (Thanks Mom and Dad!)
8. I didn't know I needed glasses until 6th grade. I aced the right eye but when I went to do the left one, I couldn't see squat. Don't you dare call me four eyes...I'm only a three eyed gal. (I only wear a contact in my left eye not my right. Makes contacts half the price! Duh...)
9. More often that not, I'm an impulsive shopper and then have buyer's remorse. I think I return more than I keep. (But not as much as Jessica! Sorry, couldn't resist!) Anyone wanna go shopping? :)
10. I have 10 fingers and 10 toes. (Is that considered cheating!?!?)

Wordless Wednesday

one day late... (hee hee, at least I snuck it in!)

I'm craving

a day of uninterrupted able mabel time and it's not going to happen for a few weeks or so.

We got word yesterday morning that we're able to close on the house we're purchasing on Friday. It was a bit of a surprise that all the paperwork was done this early, we figured it would be next week at least before it was all done. We're hoping to move most of our stuff in on Saturday since school starts on Monday. The less I have to drive the kids to and fro to school, the better. Hopefully I won't have to drive them at all if we get everything moved this weekend. If I'm MIA for a few days, you'll know why.

In the meantime, I hosted craft night for our church craft sale last night, we have a showing today (I'll be cleaning like mad here shortly), open house for the kids at school tomorrow afternoon, trying to finish up an order tomorrow morning, cleaning the new house tonight and tomorrow night before the carpets get cleaned on Friday. (Is it naptime yet?!?)

I suppose packing up to move is going to optional. I'm seriously thinking that we'll just gather all the laundry baskets, empty boxes and garbage bags, toss it all in and move it like that. Sounds super disorganized but I don't really have time to pack everything up neatly.

Apparently I thrive on chaos...

When it rains, it pours

I feel like a dog chasing it's tail so I'm going to keep this posting brief.

Remember this shop?

Now you can win a $25 gift certificate to 1 crown 3 tiaras. Check it out on this blog.

Drool Factor

of 10.0!

I got an e-mail this morning from Athleta, a division of Gap. I knew that Gap had this shop but had never checked out. Remember that Tight Finn in me? It immediately clicked on the e-mail when I saw they were having an up to 70% off sale.

Oh boy! Talk about gorgeous prints, patterns and colors! Totally up my alley!
They have to-die-for bags,

Yummy printed tops and

Absolutely delicious swimsuits! Not to mention everything in between. (can you tell what color combo caught my eye today?)

I held myself in check and ended up ordering one top and a swimsuit. The print I ended up buying wasn't my favorite but I have a hard time splurging on swimsuits when I'm hardly ever the same size from summer to summer. The one I bought is cute but not as pretty as the one pictured. But I liked the price (darn Tight Finn!).

(Disclaimer: able mabel will not be held responsible for any shopping sprees resulting from this blog post. ;) )

I'm slurping up

a plate of reheated spaghetti while I watch the clock like a hawk. I'm feeling very scatterbrained today. Too much going on in the next week or so and not nearly enough time to do it.

I'm clock racing this morning only to have two hours of doing absolutely nothing while I wait for our appliances to be delivered this afternoon. They gave me a two hour window and I'm hoping it's closer to the first hour. This is where it would be handy to have a laptop. I feel like I have quite a few loose able mabel ends to tie up. Instead I'll bring along a pillow that needs to be hand sewn. Too bad I don't have a few more ready to go. After that is done, I'll just hurry up and wait.

Maybe I should bring paper and a pen and start making lists. It's amazing how less cluttered the brain feels when it's all written down a paper. I'm apt to have less "duh" moments.

Like this morning...I went to Wal Mart (I hate that store, have I told you that before? But I needed thread, batting, Diamond Glaze (which they were out of. shocking.) etc.), forgetting my list at home. I had the kids along so I was doing crowd control while racking my brain for what was on my list. I managed to remember it all, I thought. I got home and started making a birthday cake for our daughter who proudly turns 5 today. Oops, no flour. I checked my e-mail to see that I had an order waiting for me. Ooops, no packaging supplies left.

The more I sit here and whine the more I realize how great the list making idea sounds. Then I'll feel like I'm sort of in control...

I think I'll wash my floor before I dash out the door. It's makes me a bit more clear headed to at least have a clean floor.

It's the best

kind of patchwork blanket to make! Last night I got a request for a patchwork blanket for a baby girl. The requirements were easy...something girly and patchwork. That's it! Easy Peasy!

I love doing this random kind of patching. I never know what my design is going to be until I lay it all out.

So fun! So colorful! So cozy!

I almost felt like keeping it for myself but decided I better list it for the customer. ;)

Another blast

of weekend photos.

Some of my friends are trying to lose some weight, so they started a Biggest Loser contest amongst themselves. I'm not sure how it all works but I do know that two of them kicked off the contest by going on a hike on Saturday morning. Another friend and I joined them. We followed this Little Billy Goat up the trail, huffing and puffing behind her. My excuse was that I had brought Baby Doll along, who merrily slept in the backpack on the way up and fussed in my arms on the way down. :) Next time she stays home.We hiked up in the early morning, thru meadows of blooming wildflowers. The fresh morning mountain air was so wonderful!!Our destination was a couple of lakes a few miles down the trail. We rested at the top, eating our snacks and dipping our toes into one of nature's "spas". It's amazing how rejuvenating mountain lakes can be!!

I was quite impressed with my husband. I called him on my way home to see what he was up to and he was just on his way back down from a hike with all the rest of the kids. Quite ambitious!

Sunday dawned bright, sunny and hot. A perfect day for the beach. I pretty much had to drag the Husband there, but he was a good sport about it. He's just not a beachy type of person.This little girl spent way more time digging thru the food bag than she spent in the water. Next time we'll have to leave the snacks in the car or at home. She was in her glory though!I hung out with the two littlest girls in a shady grove of trees while we waited for our friends to show up. The older kids splashed in the water under the watchful eyes of Daddy.When she paused from perusing the "snack bar" she went into the water to splash for a bit, giggling with glee. Never mind, she didn't have suit on. Didn't bother her in the least.

As soon as we got to the beach, the weather turned cloudy and a bit windy. Perfect for us who didn't swim but a bit on the chilly side for the swimmers. The older kids smartened up and would run up a nearby hill, run down and go right into the water. It kept them busy for a good long while.

Side note: I learned the "true" meaning of being domesticated while sitting on the beach yesterday. According to my husband, you have to do three things to be considered domesticated.

1. Bake pies.
2. Bake bread.
3. Do any sort of canning. The more the better.

All the rest of baking and cooking is just a bonus. (he said this with a big cheese on his face.)

I just chuckled at him because it was just another subtle hint that he would love it if I did those three things for him. He's been after me for years to bake him bread and pies but it's just not my thing. My friend gave me a recipe yesterday for fresh peach and raspberry pie so I just might dust off the rolling pin and give it another shot.

As for the bread...ugh...I just don't have very good luck with it. I'll just have to brainstorm a way to get him to do it. He's way better at that type of thing than I am.

Now it's off to tackle the Monday Morning Mess.