Spring Break

I am still trying to recover from spring break last week.  We had so much fun.  Monday was spent just running errands.  Tuesday, we went to the zoo in San  Antonio.  I think the entire city of San Antonio was there.  It was a mad house.  I thought we were going to have to park a  long ways away, but I lucked out and there was a special parking area for handicapped.  I guess MS has a few advantages (they aren't usually worth the disadvantages though).  At least when the zoo is busy you don't  have to stand in long lines to get on rides.   We were able to see all the animals we wanted to for the most part.  They have this new indoor area for the African section of the zoo.  The hippos are outside, but there is a big window so you can see them under water.  We couldn't get around to some of the windows to see some of the smaller African animals.  The big ones were outside though and they were the ones the kids wanted to see.  We took  lots of pictures of the snakes since Andrew and Jessica (my niece) are obsessed with snakes.  They both own Ball Pythons.  My favorite part of the zoo was the big cats, especially the tigers.  I was able to get a good photo of the sleeping tiger thanks to my 300mm lens.  The weather that day was wonderful.  It was a little cool and overcast at the beginning of the day, but it ended up really nice but not too hot.  After the zoo, we went to the temple to exchange Jeremy's scriptures.  We have had them for 4 months and a page came out.  Then we stopped at IHOP and they came home.  We were all pretty tired, but it was great fun. It would have been much better though if Stan could have gone with us.  There were already several people off at work so he couldn't get any time off during spring break.  Usually, since we homeschool, spring break doesn't matter much, but with Rachael taking classes at ACC, she has class every day except Friday and Jeremy has OT on Friday.

Wednesday we all slept in, then I did some sewing while the boys just watched TV.  Rachael took a master class from the modern teacher at Tapestry during  spring break, so she went to dance.  After I got some sewing done (I was hired to make some curtains and they were the BIGGEST pain in the world), then I took the boys bowling.  I watched them bowl.  I used to love to bowl, but since I have chronic back pain, I just can't handle bowling any more.  I tried with the cub scouts 2 years ago and I had to have one of the other moms take over for me after only 3 frames.  Anyway, Andrew got a gutter ball his first roll, so he asked to have the bumpers up.  He decided in the second game that he should probably man up and bowl like an adult.  Needless to say, Andrew won the first game and Jeremy won the second.  That's ok, because we had fun.  The kids had mutual on Wednesday evening, so I worked on the curtains some more.

Thursday was quiet around the house.  Andrew spent the night with Ryan and Rachael was at dance, so it was just Jeremy and I.  In the afternoon, we went to see Rachael dance showing off what she learned in her master class.  It was pretty cool, but kinda strange compared to what she usually does.  She loved the class though.  She hasn't been able to take the modern class because she teaches a little kids class during the modern class.  This teacher is doing her senior solo though, so she does get to learn from her and she loves her technique and her style.


Friday we had OT and spent the rest of the day cleaning so we could have Jeremy's birthday party on Saturday.  His birthday was actually in January, but he wanted to have a party that needed to be outdoors, so we had it in March.  We had a Nerf war in the back yard.  It was so much fun and it was so easy.  I put out a few snacks and we had lots of ammo and Nerf guns and it was a total free for all.  They played Nerf war for about 2 hours and then the Hess's stayed and played for a long time after.  I highly recommend this party for any little boys

Now life is back to normal.  The curtains are done, school is back in session and things are calm.  I have to say that I will never do curtains like that again and I now see why people charge so much for custom curtains.  These were curtains for an area that was 8 ft tall and 10 ft wide.  They fabric was very thick and heavy too.  I don't have a single flat area in my entire house, including floor space, to measure and cut curtains that big.  I am actually really surprised they turned out really well.  They are all even and they hang just the way they are suppose to.  Now I can get back to the things I like to make; bags and quilts.  I'm working on a new quilt right now.  I have no idea what I am going to do with this one.  I'm doing a 9 patch and I'm doing it only because I am teaching how to do this kind of quilt at our quilting club at church.  I took the easy way though though and I bought a jelly roll and a charm pack to make the squares of this quilt. I might sell it in my Etsy store, if I can get anything to sell.  I"ve been open 3 weeks and nothing so far.  I need to do something to get the word out and to get people to look at my store.  When I put things in the store, they are buried pages and pages back within 24 hours, so my bags are not the first things to come up when people look at bags.  I'll take any suggestions on getting my name out there if anyone has any.

Everyone have a great week.

My next set of bags

I just uploaded a few more bags to my Etsy store.  In addition to bags, I now have a few water bottle holders.  I love these water bottle holders.  It makes it so convenient to always have water with me.  They are especially nice when you are hiking or taking long walks.  I also plan on using mine when we go to Six Flags this summer and during girls camp.  Here are a few pictures of what I put in the store this weekend.  You can find the links to my store on the side bar.

In addition to making bags and water bottle holders, I have been busy with lots of other sewing projects.  I never thought I would do this much sewing in my life.  To think, I used to hate to sew.  It just goes to show you that you have to find the right thing.  I still wouldn't make a dress, but I've made Jeremy some shorts with matching do-rags.  For some reason, he is obsessed with these do-rags lately.  He has 3 pairs of shorts that have a matching do-rag.  I also made another quilt that has a roller derby theme.  I used the same fabrics I did for my nieces quilt, but used a different pattern so they are both unique.  Then lastly, I've made LOTS of curtains for Jeremy's occupational therapist.  I made 4 sets of curtains for her windows and I'm about to start on a large set of curtains that are going to be used as a partition in her small cabin that she shares with her daughter.  It will basically serve as a wall to give her daughter some privacy.

I've also been  having some fun playing around with Emily's sewing machine.  She let me borrow the embroidery/sewing machine she inherited when my mother-in-law (her mother) passed away.  It is so nice.  The entire thing is computerized.  It sews, has lots of decorative stitches, self threads plus does lots of different embroidery designs.  It has a bunch pre-loaded, but then you can hook it directly up to your computer and load lots of other patterns into it.  There are so many free patterns all over the web.  I've downloaded a bunch but haven't moved them over to the machine yet.  I haven't even had a chance to embroider with it yet.  I have to finish up these partition curtains this week, then I will have time to play with the embroidery machine.

This may be old news as I can't remember  if I posted this the last time, but I had to switch my MS medication.  I was on weekly shots of Avonex, but I have had 3 flares in the past 7 months so it doesn't appear to be working any more.  Now I am on Copaxone.  There are some pros and cons to this.  It doesn't have the really bad side effects that the Avonex does, but the shots are every day.  The only side effects I've found with these shots is that I get this intense stinging and redness at the injections  site starting 2 minutes after the injection.  I've been told it gets better and I hope it does.  I have to hold an ice pack on the site for about 30 minutes after the injection.  I really hope this works and I don't have any more flares.

This week starts spring break.  I'm planning on having a lot of fun with the kids this week.  We are going to the zoo in San Antonio on Tuesday.  The other days, we are just doing lots of fun things around town.  We are also going to be cleaning the house this week.  Jeremy is finally going to get to have his birthday party on Saturday.  His birthday was 2 1/2 months ago, but since he wanted to have a Nerf war in the back yard, I didn't think January would be a good month to have that kind of party.  A lot of the people we invited can't come because of spring break, but enough people are going to be there that it should be fun.  I feel sorry for any girls that show up though.  This is totally a boy party.

I hope everyone has a great week.  Please send prayers my way giving me enough energy to keep up with my kids this week.

Etsy

I have an Etsy store now.  I'm super excited about this.  I started making bags about 6 months ago and I've been hooked on it ever since.  I've made probably 30 bags since I've started.  I've given away lots as gifts.  I've had several people tell me I need to start selling them, so that is what I am doing.  Here is what I have in there right now, and  there are several more things I need to put in there soon.

 The top one is a purse with a magnetic snap and a pouch pocket inside.  The second 2 are little girl's dance bags.  These are the kind of bags Rachael would have loved when she was a little girl.  It's big enough to hold tap shoes and ballet shoes plus a few other small things.  The last one is the Schelpp bag.  I've made lots of these type bags.  Here is the link to my store-   http://www.etsy.com/shop/poppymomgifts?ref=pr_shop  .  My store is called Poppy Mom Gifts.  I do take requests, so feel free to contact me about making a bag.  I also make throw size quilts, but won't be selling those on Etsy.  I make those on an individual request, so if you want a quilt, contact me and we can discuss it.  Feel free to pass this along to all your friends.

Now that the business part of my post is done, onto life.  Life has actually been pretty stressful lately.  My health is just giving me lots of trouble.  In December, I had a really bad MS flare that left my right foot completely paralyzed and my right leg fairly weak.    I was just starting to feel like I had gotten my energy back when I was hit with some really bad migraines that started off with pain behind my right eye.  I dismissed them as just migraines, until my vision started getting blurry in my right eye.  After connecting the dots, I made an appointment with the ophthalmologist to have this evaluated.  I was correct in my assumption; I have optic neuritis.  It is a common problem in MS patients.  This is about the 5th time I have had it.  I elected not to treat this one though.  I saw the neuro the next week and we decided that my current MS management isn't working, so we are going to change things up a bit.  I'm going to stop my weekly Avonex injections and start daily Copaxone injections.  I'm actually looking forward to the change.  The Avonex makes me feel like I have the flu for 24 hours each week.  I won't have those side effects with the Copaxone.  I'm just hoping it works and continues to work for longer that the Avonex did.  There is a new oral medication out now, but I want it to be on the market for longer before I start taking it.  I want to see what kind of side effects show up in real life and if there are any problems with it.

This weekend, we had our packs Pinewood Derby and Blue and Gold banquet.  We had some trouble with Jeremy's car, but it still did well.  The wheels were having trouble staying on the day of the race, but he still got 2nd place over all.  His car looked really cool this year.  I have pictures on my camera, but I haven't downloaded them yet.  I"ll get that done soon.  Jeremy also got his Bear awarded this weekend.  Of my 5 Bears, all but one got his Bear.  The one that didn't started the year late because of sports.  We are working on getting his done by May.  I really have such a great group of Cub Scouts.  They have lots of energy, but I love them.  This coming weekend, a bunch of the scouts are going to the Cameron Park Zoo in Waco for a camp out.  Andrew is going to go with them this time.

If you are interested in seeing Rachael dance, and you live in the Austin area, this weekend is your chance.  Rachael has a preview dance show on Saturday at 6:30 at Tapestry.  Admission is free with donations accepted at the door.  There is also a silent auction, in which I have donated several bags, a quilt and Stan has made several wooden puzzles.  I love watching Rachael dance.  I can't believe this is her last year in VIR.  It's not her last year dancing by any means, but no more recitals for us after May.  She is going to be majoring in dance at Texas State, so there will be other shows in her future.  I'm just not ready to have an adult child.  I don't know that you are ever ready.

Everyone have a great weekend!