What happened last Wednesday through Friday

It began Wednesday the 26th at 5:15 am. 


No, Miss Sofi Bug did not wakeup sick again. No hair holding! Thankfully!


Miss Emma Bean and I were getting ready to meet the rest of her 5th grade class at the school for a 3 day, 2 night field trip to Deep Portage. Deep Portage is an amazing environmental learning center in Hackensack Minnesota.


The students at our elementary school look forward to this annual, 5th grade trip with great anticipation! The last day of their 4th grade year instead of hearing children say, "Hurray for summer" they exclaim, "We get to go to Deep Portage next year!"


So it was that Miss Emma Bean and I were up at 5:15 so we could be at her school by 6:20, packed with 74 other students and 16 adult chaperones and teachers onto two charter buses, and on our way to adventure!


Our days were filled with canoeing on a beautiful little pond.

And hiking!

We climbed the indoor climbing wall.

At first Miss Emma Bean was not at all sure about trying it out! A little encouragement from her friends and the staff at Deep Portage changed her mind. She decided to give it a go! I was so proud!


I really appreciated that the staff encouraged the kids to try each activity, but were completely understanding if a child was not comfortable participating! They were fantastic!


And then we went on a late night wolf howling hike!


And Thursday morning we went on an early morning hike!

The mist rising off of Big Deep Lake was beautiful!


We learned to shoot with a bow and arrow! There were several children who shot a bullseye. I was very impressed with my little group!

The children were divided into groups of about 12 students with two adult chaperones. The teachers floated between the different groups of students. It worked out very well!


From archery we moved on to do some team building activities. One of the most incredible things the kids take away from the trip to Deep Portage is a greater understanding of how to work well with others.


One team building activity had the children swing, one at a time, across the "lava" to land on a small platform. In other words feet must land on the small platform! No touching the ground! The students had to help hold each other on the small platform as it filled with students leaving little extra space as each child was added.

It was wonderful to witness kids helping each other and speaking words of encouragement to each other!


And then we went on an animal sighting hike.

Our Deep Portage leader taught the students to be more aware of their surroundings and search for evidence of animals living in the area. We looked for scat (animal poop). The kids thought it was great!


And then we hiked to the top of the observation tower!

What a breathtaking view!

Once we caught our breath, we moved on to a survival skills class. Our Deep Portage leader explained how to build a shelter and start a fire.


And then we hiked to a place in the woods to practice what we had just learned!

Without question the kids worked hard, hiked a ton and were Tired with a capital T by the end of each day. The thing that kept them going was the food!


The meals at Deep Portage are fabulous! The food is made fresh by an amazing cook staff! You can taste the love! Though the kids talked about the tasty desserts, it was the homemade bread that everyone raved about. It is spectacular! I asked for the recipe! The recipe makes 24 loaves of bread! I will find a way to break it down so that I can make bread for the Family!


Holy moly this is a long blog post! Are you still with me? Hang in there! I'm almost finished!


Friday morning, our last day of adventure, everyone woke early to pack their things before our activities began.


And then we hiked out to the place where the Pioneer Olympics would be held!

My friends my hiking shoes are worn out!


The kids played cat and mouse, an old logging camp game.

Oh how they laughed as they played this game of tug of war.


They worked together to saw through a small log with a two man saw.

That was a lesson on the need to work well together!


Then came the tomahawk throw!

We finished the morning with learning to use flint and steel,

throwing the atlatl dart,

and rabbit sticks!

The kids had an adventure they will never forget and they learned so much about teamwork, wildlife, and conservation.


Deep Portage makes great efforts in conservation.


They use solar power to heat their water,

and provide power to the building.

They also use a process called wood gasification for their heat.

100 cords of wood, chopped and ready to go!


We arrived home exhausted but awed by all we had just experienced!


Deep Portage was a good thing!


Christine


P.S. When I stepped off of the bus at home the Husband was waiting for me with Starbucks mocha in hand! Oh how I love that man!

Halloween adds up to trouble

Jack-o-lanterns carved and aglow plus...

one Miss Monstrous...

add in one Galaxy Girl... (Thank you Martha Stewart for the costume ideas!)

toss in one bounty hunter for good measure...

multiply by perfect trick or treating weather and one neighbor who goes all out on Halloween...

and you get a pile of candy that would make any dentist cringe!

Subtract the 25 pieces that we allow the girls to keep. Yep, we only allow them to keep 25 pieces each...

(By Christmas I will have to toss out the 6 or 7 pieces of candy they never finished from the 25!)


And I am left with a pile of TEMPTATION!!

 YIKES!!


Christine


P.S. Next time I will tell you what happened last Wednesday through Friday!

I still blog!

A whole week and not one blog post!


I missed blogging!


However it could not be helped.


Here's what happened.


It all began late into the night last Sunday the 23rd.

See the Big Dipper in this photo? I'm quite sure it was feeling very badly for us that night!

Miss Sofi Bug...

my baby...

said she wasn't feeling well.


Oh man was she not feeling well!


I'll suffice it to say there was very little sleep, many trips to the bathroom, the need to have a bucket on hand and lots of hair holding!


It was a horrible, no good, very bad night!


Maybe it was something she ate.

No it definitely wasn't what she ate.


I think she got a double nasty stomach virus.


I spent Monday and Tuesday caring for my poor sick girl and napping any chance I could.


I made her chicken soup. It's always good for what ails you!


I wrapped her in a snuggly blanket and watched or I should say slept through a video with her.


I often rested my cheek on her forehead to check her temperature which reached 100.2˚. That's right a Mom's cheek can read a sick child's temp accurately!


I kissed her forehead frequently! I don't get to do that as often as I once did now that she is taller than I am and her forehead is not as easy to reach as it once was! Without question this was my favorite part of caring for Miss Sofi Bug while she was sick!


I also told my girl that I was praying she would get better soon.


Miss Sofi Bug said that she had prayed all night Sunday night that she would be better and then angrily pointed out the fact that she was not better.


I understood her anger.


Life has not been easy for our family and loved ones lately. There are struggles with finances, illness and loss. Life just isn't what I think it should be lately. I don't always understand why God allows some of these things to happen. It can be very easy to get angry like Miss Sofi Bug did.


However, in this situation I could see what Miss Sofi Bug could not.


I shared with Miss Sofi Bug that if she had not gotten sick or if God had healed her in the night, which He very well could have done, I would not have gotten the opportunity to wrap my girl in a snuggly blanket. I would not have gotten to make her soup. I would not have gotten to rest my cheek on her forehead and plant dozens of kisses on it.


I explained that I was getting to take care of her in a very special way! A way that happens only when children are sick.


Miss Sofi Bug acknowledged that she really liked being taken care of when she was sick.


What I didn't tell her but I know in my heart is that Miss Sofi Bug was also learning an important lesson about compassion and caring for others. A lesson that can't be learned just by being told. It's a lesson that one learns best through experience.


One day my girl might have children of her own. Children who, when they get sick, will be wrapped in a snuggly blanket, fed some warm chicken soup, it's good for what ails you, and get dozens of kisses on their foreheads. Miss Sofi Bug will remember that her Mommy did the same for her and it taught her to care for others and it made her feel good.


Hopefully Miss Sofi Bug is also learning to offer the same care and compassion to others around her who need someone to care for them. 


Who knows maybe one day far into the future Miss Sofi Bug will wrap her Mommy in a snuggly blanket and kiss her Mommy's forehead and her Mommy will think, I taught her well.


We may not understand why God allows certain things in our lives. I believe He does have a good purpose and He will use all things for the good of those who trust in Him. A lesson God reminded me of as I cared for my sick Baby.


Christine


P.S. That explains the lack of posting for Monday and Tuesday. To be continued for Wednesday through Friday's explanation.

Overnight

Yesterday, they were this big!

Now all of a sudden they're this big!

How does that happen!?


Don't explain. I know how it happens. But why does is have to happen so fast? sniff


Christine

Drawstring bags

Oh my word! I meant to get this blog post out earlier, but I decided to help the girls clean out their closets first. 


What was I thinking? 


I guess I was thinking closet cleaning would only take a half hour or so.


Two and a half hours later...ugh!


Finally! Here we go. Let's make some drawstring bags!!


They're really easy to make!

No, really! I promise!!


You will need a few supplies:


1. A sewing machine...if you are interested in learning to sew but don't have a sewing machine and you do not want to purchase one only to learn that you do not enjoy sewing, do some checking in your area for craft stores or fabric stores that teach sewing classes. Some shops in our area allow people to use their machines to work on projects, for a small fee, during down times.


2. 2 pieces of fabric that compliment each other. I like that you can use a wide variety of fabrics for this project. I mostly use a nice cotton fabric. You could even use old fabric...old t-shirts, old sheets. Miss Sofi Bug has a pair of old flannel pajama pants that she has grown out of. I plan to use them next time.


This time I'm using a patterned cotton with a solid cotton for the lining.

Pretty!


3. Ribbon, bias tape, or enough extra matching fabric to make your own drawstring ties.


4. Thread that compliments your fabric. 


Finally you'll need a few general sewing supplies...fabric shears, pins, seam ripper...in case you like me occasionally have to remove a seam because somehow, very probably a lack of my explaining the directions very well...it won't be your fault...like I'm sure my error wasn't my fault...it must have been lack of proper directions...that's my story and I'm stickin' to it!


Anyway...


Cut out a 9x17 inch pattern. I used a piece of tracing paper. If you prefer you can draw out a 9x17 rectangle directly on your fabric with tailor's chalk. I made a pattern because I have made several bags and it's easier to use a pattern over and over instead of drawing it out every time.


Using pattern, cut out a rectangle from each of your fabrics.

Once you have your rectangles, pin them together right sides facing.

Sew with a 1/2 inch seam allowance along the long sides. Leave short sides open.


Turn fabric right side out and iron seams.

Fold open ends over 1/2 inch. Iron. Keeping first fold intact, fold over again 1 inch. Iron and pin in place.

Still with me?


Now is when it gets fun!


Sew along the folded over edge about 1/8 inch from edge creating a channel. To be clear, looking at the above picture, the yellow pinhead side of the fold! We don't want to have to rip out any seams here!

Once your channels are sewn, fold the bag in half with outside fabric facing. The patterned fabric is going to be the outside of my bag, the purple is the lining.

Pin sides and sew with a 1/4 inch seam allowance. Stop 1/2 inch from the channel seam. As I get close to the point where I want my seam to end, I curve the seam toward the outside edge of the bag. I think it looks nice.


Turn the bag right side out.


For this bag I used 1/2 inch black ribbon for the drawstrings.


You will need 2 pieces of ribbon, twice the length of the top of the bag plus 6 inches. My ribbons were 20 inches long each.


Attach a safety pin to the end of a ribbon and pull it through one channel and then through the other. Both ends will hang to one side of bag. One end from each channel. Again using the safety pin, pull the second ribbon through channels, starting from the opposite side of the bag that the first ribbon is hanging from.


Make sense?


I will admit that it took me a minute to puzzle out how to run the strings so that they would pull the bag closed. I must have been really tired the first time I tried it. Yep, that's my story!


And Voila!

Fabulous!


Leave a comment if you make one of these little drawstring bags or if you have any questions!


I think you'll like them as much as I do!


Christine

A few of my favorite things

I've been sewing a lot of these little drawstring jewelry bags.

I'm keeping this one for myself!


It has become home to some of my favorite pieces of jewelry. Pieces that I don't wear anymore but have special memories attached to them.


Like these earrings.

I wore them when the Husband and I got married. They weren't fancy or expensive but I thought they were perfect! 


I also liked the noise they made when they clacked together. Every time I pull them out to look at them that clacking sound reminds me of that special day.

I keep this antique brooch in my little jewelry bag too.

My Uncle gave it to me when I was in high school. I think it's lovely. I couldn't find a picture of me wearing it which is too bad! You would have laughed! Imagine...huge 80s hair...white dress shirt, collar up and pinned together in the front with this brooch. And don't forget the white eyeshadow!! Oh yeah baby, that was hot stuff in the 80s! Please feel free, take a moment to laugh at that mental picture.


All done? 


Shall we move on?


I also keep this bracelet in my bag.

I got this charm bracelet of Disney characters when I was in 2nd grade.


My Mom won, that's right when I was in 2nd grade she won a trip to Walt Disney World! Fabulous!! 


It was the first of several trips my family would take to the happiest place on earth!

That's me with my little sister and Tigger totally experiencing the happy! Holding that charm bracelet definitely brings back happy memories from our first Disney trip!


There you have it, that's what I keep in my little jewelry bag.


Just a quick heads up for my friends who do not sew, do not want to sew, or breakout in hives when I mention sewing, take an antihistamine tomorrow before reading the blog. For those who love to sew, tomorrow I will show you how to make these great little bags so you can make one too!


Christine