hair of the dog

We have this dog - his name is Louie. He's been ours for two-and-a-half years now. As far as dogs go he's a pretty good one. He's loyal, lets the kids climb all over him, stays out of the garbage, and cleans up after the baby or any other kid's food that falls from the dining room table.

He also eats any leftovers that we inadvertently leave on the counter, jumps on the futon the second my back is turned, and I'm pretty sure he sleeps on my bed when we're not home. He's smart enough to not get caught, but he leaves the comforter wrinkled and hairy.

And speaking of hair, brushing the dog is a family affair around here. For that matter, everything is a family affair. You can start out performing a task by yourself, and suddenly you have a kid pop up.

And another.

And another.

Pretty soon, the whole family is with you, like it or not.

Welcome to Dog Brushing 101.

make your own baby or child-sized chaps

Many years ago, I had the idea of dressing our then-only-child up as a cowboy. Ahhh, I have vague, happy  memories of life with just one kid. He was about 20 months old and we had quarter horses at the time, so this seemed like a natural theme. Not satisfied with the selection of reasonably priced kids' chaps (is there even such a thing?), I decided to make my own. After much consideration, I went with a soft, very lightweight microsuede and made a pattern along the lines of rodeo chaps, so there wasn't a lot of excess fabric behind an early walker's knee. I always got a lot of compliments on his outfit, and with our three-year-old daughter set to enter a western-themed pageant next month, I thought it would be fun to make a pair for her, too. She of course wants her chaps to be pink and sparkly. I wanted to share the step-by-step process with you here - if I can make these, anyone can! These are look-alike enough that you could use them in a leadline or pony class, but they only cost me $8 to make. I sewed these by hand in about four hours, but if you're unlike me and brave and competent with a sewing machine, you could make these in no time. 

Start by taking a few measurements. You'll need the child's outseam (waist to floor), inseam (crotch to floor), waist, and thigh circumference. Make sure you take measurements over boots and jeans, just like you would with real chaps. Figure out how much fabric you'll need - I got away with half a yard because I opted to make both ends of the back panels (the part that wraps around in back above the knee) snap on and off rather than leaving it as a solid piece. 

Mostly because I forgot about that part and bought fabric before I measured, and my fabric wasn't big enough to fit the back panels on in one big piece. Oops! Master seamstress I am not. Our fabric store had both pleather (leather-like vinyl) and microsuede - of course real leather would be wonderful but pleather is $8.99 a yard and you can actually sew through it with a regular needle. I also bought sew-on snaps (size 2) but velcro would be a good choice too. If you use snaps you'll need ten to sixteen snaps depending on how you add the back panels. Ignore my crazy notes on the right.

Cut out a piece of fabric large enough to fit one half of your chaps (one leg piece). You can choose to keep the inside (opposite the fringe) of the back panel attached to the chap leg if you have enough fabric - you'll save yourself having to sew on six snaps. And you'll thank me for that later. I didn't have enough but it was an easy fix making separate panels. Draw the shape of the chap leg onto the back side of your fabric - I used a stick of pastel chalk since I had it on hand. Remember to make your pattern a little larger than your measurements, because you'll be hemming the edges under around the chaps. Make sure you include the fringe - that starts out as part of the solid panel. (My photos don't include the back leg panel - the small, perpendicular piece in the sketch - but if you have the fabric for it, draw it right onto your main panel and hem it along with everything else.)

Cut out the basic shape, and then lay the chap leg right side up on your other piece of measured fabric. Trace around the cut out leg onto the back side of the fabric to replicate the shape in a mirror image. Cut out your second, reversed leg.

Pin back the outside edge along the back belt of the chap, and down the inside of the leg. Sew this in place, and then hem and sew the bottom of the chap up to the line of uncut fringe. And don't mind my ugly hemming job - I always figure no one's going to see the back side. Except now you have - just pretend that's nice and even, okay?

Cut off the small overhanging piece of uncut fringe on the bottom of the chap, then cut the fringe about 1/4 inch wide along the length of the chap. Repeat these steps with the other chap leg.

If you're doing the back leg panels separately, now's the time to make these. Cut out the size needed and hem the long ends. Then hem the short ends and sew three snaps on each of the ends (mine only show snaps on one end because I wanted to remeasure before I committed to a second set of snaps, but I added them right after). If the panels are already attached to your main chap leg, you were very smart. You only need to add a set of snaps to the one unattached end. I'm still lamenting my decisions a day later.

Go ahead and snap on the opposite sides of your snaps onto the snaps you already sewed on.

Make sense of that one, I dare you!

Basically, snap the two sides of your snaps together just like they'd be if both sides were sewn onto fabric. Then rub chalk over the protruding nubs of the backs of the snaps, and press them down onto your fabric where you'd like the back panels to sit. I found that placing the back panels about halfway between the child's knee and crotch is best, so as not to interfere with movement. An easy way to measure this height is to simply hold the chap panel up against the child's jean-clad legs and place a pin in the chaps at the appropriate height. Then you can sew the backs of your snaps onto both sides of the chap legs, snap the back panels in place, and you're finished!

Well, with that part anyway. But the end is near!

The final piece we need to make is the front belt. Take a strip of fabric about an inch and a half wide and  hem the long sides (or you can also fold it in thirds with a slight overlap along the center, and sew a line down the middle to save yourself a step. I was feeling lazy and went with this method.) Hem and sew the ends, and then sew a snap to both ends (note : these two snaps do not snap to each other, be sure to use two different sets of snaps!) Then add the other side of the snap to each of the chap legs up near the top curve of the chaps - you'll want this to sit a couple of inches lower than a belt would. I'm talking about the single snap along the upper left edge in the photo.

Finally, sew two snaps onto the back belts of the chaps so that they snap together to fit your child's waist. I had to fiddle with mine a bit to get a good fit - there's quite a bit of overlap so I added a second snap. Alternately you could add two snaps together at the end if your chaps fit more snugly.

Here is the finished product, unadorned. I actually went back and sewed in a second, tighter snap on the front belt because as you can see, these were a little large - my model was highly uncooperative during the measuring process. I had to bribe her with candy to take these photos. I am not above bribery. With the front belt adjusted, the gap at the top should be gone and the legs will face forward a bit more.

I'll be adding some suede flowers and silver beads to make these stand out - that post will come later! My fingers have taken enough needle stabbings for one day. I think these will be darling over a pair of pink jeans and with her soon-to-arrive pink belt and shirt. 

I'm going to have to stock up on candy before trying for those photos.

he's a Wrangler man

Next month, we will be participating in the fair. For ten days, we will be making the daily trek out to the fairgrounds to see our 4-H displays, show our animals, show off our little guys, eat ourselves sick on cotton candy and funnel cake, and bankrupt ourselves to the carnies. One of the highlights of this year is the so-called Baby Show, a long-standing tradition in our county. This will be our first year cajoling a one and three-year-old up on stage in western duds to be adorable amongst other young competitors ages one to three. I'm pretty sure every kid gets a prize; this is the county fair, after all.

Hobie is officially ready to go. He has his hat, his Wrangler shirt, his jeans, his boots, his big shiny belt buckle, his real spurs, and the chaps I made for Alexei eons ago.

I think he's pretty darned adorable. I love that he loves the hat at thirteen months old. I'm hoping this is the one who decides being a cowboy is the way to go. You can't tell me he doesn't look like a natural!

I'm working on Coral's chaps; this version is hot pink and I'm thinking of adding some cute suede flowers and rhinestones and such. We're also waiting on her shirt and belt to come in the mail, but I think that will complete her ensemble. I've been taking step-by-step photos as I make her chaps, and I will share that with you as soon as they're finished! It's an easy, inexpensive project that you could replicate for a leadline class, a Halloween costume, or just because. I can't wait for you to see!

snapshot Saturday

Because there's not much out there cuter than this.

couponing for the rest of us

This is what happens when it gets cold in Florida and you have time to spend indoors. And this is much, much different from all eight months of summer when it's 150 degrees outside and you're inside all day lounging in the a/c, because in the summer you want to be inside. Suddenly you realize it's freezing out, you don't have the clothing, the blood, or the desire to step foot outside, and your house starts feeling claustrophobic. Everyone goes a little crazy.

Hey, hold on a second. Do you think claustrophobic has the word "claus" in it for a reason? Like as in Santa Claus? Bringer of new, house-cluttering toys? That is a heavy, heavy thought. I'll give you a moment to ponder.

Now, where were we. Oh yes - so it's cold here, we're suffering through our three weeks of what we refer to as winter but northerners probably call "shorts weather," and I have been bitten by the let's save money bug.

There's a scary thing about having a bunch of kids : they eat a lot. I did the math. From just the kids alone, we burn through 120 breakfasts, 120 lunches, 120 dinner servings, and 240 snacks in a month. I don't know who coined the phrase, "having a baby is expensive," because babies are a drop in the bucket. Maybe it would be different if I didn't breastfeed and cloth diaper, but the baby is the least expensive member of our household by a mile. It's when they grow up and start eating everything in sight that the little buggers get expensive. Two hundred and forty snacks a month! That sounds like inventory at a daycare center. I challenged myself this month to only purchase snacks costing 25 cents or less per serving, and to track all of our food and household expenses to see exactly where our money is going. I think it may be surprising. Perhaps terrifying.

The tracking began yesterday, the day the new grocery sale ads hit the internet. I like coupons well enough and scope out the deals that pertain to us (I'll never be a let's-eat-what's-on-sale-this-week kind of shopper), but then I stumbled upon Southern Savers. And I bookmarked their site. And I liked their facebook page. And I signed up for their coupon alert e-mails. Today alone, I gleaned a $3 off Glad trash bags coupon and a $1 off Hillshire Farms meat coupon, both items listed on their facebook page and on my list of things I needed. If you haven't checked it out, it is a must!

I'm amazed at some of the deals out there - yes, I have friends who do all the "extreme couponing" and I think that's wonderful, but it's not really for me. Mostly because I'm just not a Walgreens shopper. I'm barely a shopper at all. If eating wasn't a function necessary for life, I'd likely never set foot in a store. But when I can go to the Mueller's website and print $1 off pasta coupons and then go to Winn Dixie where the Mueller's currently costs $1 a box, that's free pasta. FREE food. Now you have my attention! If I can get what I already need from a store I'm already going to, you've won me over.

Here were a few of my favorite deals this week that we personally purchased. All the coupons should be on Southern Savers or in the Sunday paper :

Quaker Oats, the big fat can with the happy guy on the front. I use these for baking - I rarely buy the big can because even at Wal-Mart, the stupid thing costs like $4.79. Winn-Dixie had these on sale for $2.50, and I had a $1 off any Quaker Oats coupon. Giant can of oats for $1.50. Heck yeah! We're eating oatmeal cookies for the next month. Gotta do something with all those raisins left over from that Christmas strudel.

Mueller's pasta, almost any of their regular varieties in the one pound box. I think we stocked up on spaghetti and linguine. Winn-Dixie had these at their "locked in low price" of $1 a box. The Mueller's website had $1 off one box of pasta, and if you're on a Mac you could theoretically print a few of these out *cough cough* Free food = good.

Yoplait Simply Gogurts. I caved and bought the Gogurts. This was a first for our family - you'd have thought we were bringing home a box of adorable puppies. It kills me to pay fifty to sixty cents a carton for Yoplait yogurt that the kids frequently let rot in the refrigerator. Gogurt was on sale at Winn-Dixie, two packs for $4. I also had a $1 off two packs coupon, so I spent $3. There are 16 tubes in the two boxes, so that's less than 19 cents a serving. For 19 cents, the kids can have their yogurt and drink it too.

Jell-O pudding cups, my own personal treat. The kids are not allowed - mommy needs her chocolate fix. (Well, except when Coral gives me the puppy face. That gets me every time). These are usually close to $3.50 for one 6-pack. Highway robbery. Publix had them on sale at $2, and I had a $1 off two 6-packs coupon. That made them $1.50, or 25 cents a cup. Twenty-five smooth, delicious, chocolaty cents a cup.

They're mine, go get your own!

I don't know what bit me

I have become the supercharged, money saving, coupon clipping, deal seeking, house organizing crazy lady this past week. I don't know what happened to me. I have to say it's a little scary - I've been going shopping and liking it. This weekend I'll have to share some of my deals with you. I know there are a million other blogs out there sharing deals and helping you organize your home, but they don't have my style and flair.

*Jazz hands*

I know you're impressed. I'd do a cartwheel right now if I knew how to do one. I failed that particular childhood right of passage.

But at least he's cute.

smells like a Thursday

You can tell it's Thursday because my posts always get a little excited. Thursday = homeschool PE = guaranteed mayhem. Something about one mom, five kids, a long drive, and physical activity. Today, it was certifiably chilly out. Not "Florida cold," but actual, honest cold. For the first time this winter we could see our breath pluming in the air. When I started the car up the thermometer read 36 degrees. Of course it also said "ICE" in big warning letters, and I'm pretty sure we were safe in that aspect. The kids were bundled in jackets, socks, and shoes, and we picked up my niece and headed off to PE.

Many miles and ten degrees later, we made it to the park. My kids had their fingers crossed in the hopes that PE would once again be moved indoors, in part to avoid the cold and in part to avoid running laps. As luck would have it, the activities were in fact moved inside. The big kids ran off into the building, and I reached in to unbuckle the baby. The suddenly very, very stinky baby. The baby who decided to forgo his typical first-thing-in-the-morning routine and instead relieve himself at a most inopportune moment.

We made the trudge of shame to the public restroom, Hobie on my hip and Coral dragging on my pant leg. Luckily the building had a changing station, and I quickly had the plastic contraption open and hogging up three-fourths of the small women's bathroom. Hobie had never before been changed in such a location (I usually take care of the dirty deed right on the front seat of the car), and he wasn't thrilled at the prospect of lying on his back like a wounded turtle on this giant hard table hanging from the wall. Can't say I blame him.

I unsnapped his Fuzzibunz and did a double take. I'm not one to be squeamish, but this was the diaper to end all diapers. This was by far the nastiest, smelliest, biggest poop he had ever had in his little life. Poop was spread from one corner of the diaper to the other, front to back. He may be thirteen months old, but he's also still mostly breastfed, so there wasn't a whole lot of form to his function, if you get my drift. That it was all contained instead of covering his clothes and car seat is a sheer testament to cloth diapers.

However, since it was a cloth diaper, there was no tossing it in the garbage can. I didn't have a wetbag or a grocery bag or a Ziploc bag or an anything with me. I could vividly picture where my stash of scented plastic baggies was sitting all cozy at home, but I had nowhere to put this oozing stink bomb. I pushed the diaper down the table by his feet, and tried vainly to keep his appendages out of the mess with one hand as the other was struggling to open a travel wipe case. After much tug of war the case popped open and baby wipes rained all over the baby and the bathroom floor. I grabbed for wipes with my two free fingers and scrubbed the mess from his behind as he did his best impression of an alligator death roll. In moments he was snapped into a new diaper and his clothes were readjusted. He sat up and sat still. Crisis averted.

But I still had the diaper to end all diapers in my hands, and stood for a moment, a deer in headlights. Did I walk back through the reception area and front desk of the building with my load? Did I cram it in the diaper bag along with all of the baby's snacks and hope for the best? I frantically riffled through the bag, praying for Ziploc. Surely something in the diaper bag was plastic and capable of containment. That's when my fingers settled on a bucket hat. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Someone else was opening the door into the bathroom, and I crammed the diaper into the hat and velcroed the chin strap right around its foul contents. Then we strolled casually out to the lobby, the parking lot, and the car, and deposited our camouflaged load onto the passenger seat. Take that, carjackers.

The rest of PE was a flurry of chasing a fresh-smelling baby around a small room as he explored every shiny silver electrical outlet, unidentified floor fodder, and anything else he wasn't supposed to have. The big kids did their thing, the hour was over, and after a brief and chilly foray onto the playground outside, it was time to head home.

That's when the screaming began. "Mommy! Mommmmm-mmeeeeee! What is this on my seat? WHAT is in this hat?! Is that what I think it is?!"