My productive morning

I've accomplished a massive list of things this morning and I feel the need to brag about it to all of you so you can say, "She's super mom, I can only dream of being that motivated and productive." First, lets pretend two things...1. That my house was not a complete disaster during task accomplishment and that it is not still a disaster right now and 2. That Matea was not strapped into a car seat in the middle of the play area for much of the morning (her choice, Bella got a new car seat and they were playing "car").

So, here's my day and keep in mind, it's only noon:

1. Empty dishwasher and do dishes
2. Chop up ingredients for carne con chile dinner
3. Bake a pumpkin pie
4. Paint all trim work in hallway and bathroom
5. Pick up miscellaneous clothing items strewn about the house
6. Make a tomato and basil pasta for lunch
7. Pack a cool bento snack for school for Bella
8. Ship two packages
9. Vacuum
10. Bathe children
11. Get a snack cup stuck in the garbage disposal (not really a good thing but it did eat up a lot of time so I felt it should be included)
12. IM'd Crafty Papa most of the items on this list so he would pat me on the back and make me feel proud

Did I make you feel bad about your pathetically unproductive day? Don't feel bad, I can promise I won't do anything remotely productive for the rest of the week.

Question for moms of boys

Why do a lot of you feel like you can't carry a pink diaper bag if you have a boy? I mean, he's not wearing the bag or being carried in it. I can't tell you how many times I've heard, "Oh, I love that bag but I can't buy it because it's pink" or I get a custom order request that says "anything but pink or floral, I have a boy so no fun girlie stuff for me". I'm really baffled by the whole thing.

Anyway, part of why I ask is that a good friend's wife is having a baby shower next weekend and they don't know the sex of the baby. I wanted to send her a bag and checked out her registry to get a better idea of her taste. She registered for a lot of brown/blue and brown/green combos in mod patterns so I thought this bag would fit her taste...



















But, if she ends up having a boy, will she not want to use the bag because it's pink? Someone please explain this whole issue to me.

Anyway, if you've had your eye on the above bag, now may be your last chance to scoop it up. And I think it's time to give myself a new bag too so either one of these might be gone by Monday if you don't make a move before then.

Friday Favorites

1. My new pink pearl Electra beach cruiser! We had decided to get me a new bike for my upcoming birthday but Crafty Papa snuck behind my back, teamed up with my mom and grandma and got me this bike which is waaaaaay nicer than what we were planning to buy. He suggested we go into our local bike shop last night and see what they had. Turns out he had already gone in, test driven some bikes, and picked out and paid for this one. I love the bike but even more than that, I love that he put so much thought and effort into it.



















Matea just got this really cool Trek Trikester from my dad and stepmom for her birthday.














Now Bella's sad that she's the only one without a really nice pink bike so declared last night in Trinity Cyclery that this Electra bike should be hers. Unfortunately, she just got a bike for her birthday last January and this one is $190 so she's stuck with her teal metallic ride for a while.













2. Trader Joe's Peanut Butter Cups. Bought them last night, half the container is gone. Enough said.

























3. My neighbor, Sharon. I've mentioned her here before asking for thoughts and prayers for her after she suddenly lost her husband and mother in law earlier this year. Somehow, even after such terrible events, she's remained an amazingly selfless friend and neighbor. She's sort of become like my fill-in mom in between my mom's visits and calls. At least once a week, I go to her with, "look at this weird thing", "come over and smell this", "can I still eat this".

This morning, she called and said she was heading out of town to see her son and his family and had left some pizza on my porch and told me to go pick some tomatoes. My tomatoes are taking forever to ripen so I happily took advantage of her garden and came back with a huge bowl full. I think I'll use them to make carne con chile on Monday and invite her over for dinner.

Custom Order Craziness

I know I haven't been listing much in the last week and that's because I've been buried in custom orders. Two bags, two aprons, and 8 trick or treat bags. On top of that, I've been battling my usual "not feeling well" crap that seems to be hanging over me for the last 18 months. But, I think I finally have a diagnosis and treatment plan and there is an end in sight with the custom orders so I should be back to regular sewing soon.

Here are the two super fun custom bags I delivered yesterday. Really happy with how both of them turned out and I'm hoping to make another bag today in the same style as the rocket babies bag. And, in case you're wondering, I do have a small piece of each of these fabrics left so keep your radar on for some really cute rocket and frog bags.

Remember when...

That tree fell through my house last year and I bitched and whined for 5 freaking months about the whole terrible ordeal? And how I couldn't get over questioning why this freak thing happened to us? Well, it happened to a regular Crafty Mama reader/friend, Marie. And, I wouldn't be surprised if it happened to another good online friend, Kristi too. They're both in Texas and just survived Hurricane Ike. Marie's family is safe but after living through similar damage, I know they have a long road ahead of them. It's been a week tomorrow since anyone has heard from Kristi but I suspect she probably has lots of damage to her house too. I'm still really worried about Kristi and her family and thinking about them everyday. Please keep both of these families in your thoughts. Marie and Kristi are talented, creative women who are also wonderful mothers and wives and they'll be tested a lot in the coming weeks and months.

The End is Near

For the Babycenter Bargain Board. THE Bargain Board. I suspect a lot of people who read my blog probably lurk there too. Even though I rarely post there, I've been reading that board for over five years and can't believe that the idiot head honchos are really doing away with the current format even though a huge percentage of people have said they won't be part of the new board.

Anyway, the end of THE Bargain Board should free up lots of time for me to do other more important things like clean, care for the children, etc. I know it's probably a good thing but I have several unresolved issues such as:

-Will Wenders ever get baby Clarissa from China?
-Is 5Familypluskitty really as irritating as she seems online or does she know everyone makes fun of her and she likes the laughs?
-Will JordansKisses reach her goal weight and finally meet her match.com match (or wherever her personal ad is)?
-What happened to ChuckleHeads lady (Kiera? Kara? can't remember) and her estranged husband getting arrested?
-Will newmommyinvegas get her old landlord to pay her crazy utility bill?
-Is JoJoBob really another poster on the board with a separate identity or just some random person?
-Is WigglesandGumballs really as perfect as she seems? I swear, she has the right answer for everything and seems to communicate it in a really nice, effective way. I keep waiting for someone to bust her.

Yeah, none of the above has anything to do with bargains but it was still good times. I foresee some lost sleep in my future.

Those Freakin Trick or Treat Bags

Remember me going on and on last year about how I wasn't going to do these personalized trick or treat bags ever again? Well, here they are. Crafty Papa kept bugging me, asking if I was going to make them again this year. I'm not sure why he cares. Then a bunch of my mom friends who bought them for their older kid last year, had a new baby this year and of course, the new baby needs a matching bag. So, I'm offering them on a very limited basis, probably only about 10 of each fabric.

























I also made this cute (and neutral for you boring customers) birdie bag this afternoon. This line of fabric is called Cotton Blossom which makes me think of my grandpa whenever I look at it since he was a cotton farmer.