Easter Weekend!

So this will be the first Easter for the twins, and I am excited! Unfortunately our older two will be with their mom most of Easter Sunday, but we'll have them in the morning for baskets which will be nice! And we'll probably get them for Easter next year. I'm still not sure what our Easter plans are, exactly, but they will probably involve going to either my mom's house or my grandma's (or both?). We've got baskets for everyone (even the babies, regardless of the fact that they don't get it and won't have a clue what's going on) and it's kind of funny to me the difference between the Easter baskets I used to get and the ones we made for the kids.

When I was younger I used to get ridiculously awesome amounts of candy (and I ate it too!) and usually an outfit and stuffed animal. Later the outfit and stuffed animal turned to a couple of CD's, but still lots of candy! The strange thing is this: our kids don't eat that much candy! It's probably because they're always limited, but they don't even expect to or ask to eat a whole lot of candy, and really we try to make sure it stays that way because it's much healthier for their teeth and general health probably if they don't eat 40 pieces of candy in a day. My mom must have just been used to us being hyper and wild, so maybe it didn't never phased her when we were loaded on sugar, but these kids go crazy if they have more than just a little! So, their baskets consist of just a couple of candies, will have a couple of jelly bean filled plastic eggs, and each kid is getting a DVD. I forgot what else. I think we got a stuffed animal for each twin and I know we got a magazine for Bethany. I'm not sure if we got something else for Chapin and if so what is is... Guess I better get them together tonight to make sure everything is even and we have what we need!

What are your Easter plans? Any long-standing traditions? What kind of baskets are your kids getting this year? Happy Easter, everyone!

These are some of the cutest and most elegant Easter eggs! Wonder if they're real? Found at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/butterflysha/129107480/

Roller Derby in Roseburg!

So, a roller derby team has been in the works here in our small town of Roseburg for quite some time. I'm pretty sure I was hearing about it at least a year ago, and that wasn't even the beginning of everything. They were having trouble getting a venue to skate, but apparently they finally got everything worked out, because last night our local derby team, The Umpqua Valley Roller Vixens, made their debut on a flat track at the county fairgrounds.

This was the first derby I have seen in real life, and only the second time I have seen a roller derby if you include watching the movie Whip It, and you probably shouldn't, haha! I had a great time! Before the derby I was explaining I could never be in a roller derby because I am too much of a whimp and was afraid of getting hurt. After watching, I realized it's not quite as brutal as I expected it to be and it's something I would actually consider doing if I had the time and finances to go that route. It was fun, it was active, it was different, and it was just agressive enough to be able to take out some anger and bottled up tension without being so agressive that people were getting skates in the teeth or something. My friends and I were instantly trying to think of awesome derby names, most of which I would decline to share with you out of respect for some of your innocent ears/eyes, and have a great time just talking about the possibility of joining.

What about you guys? Have you seen any roller derbys, thought about joining, played yourselves, or come up with fun derby names? Let's hear all about it!

Growing and Changing

I'd apologize for the lack of updates in the last week and a half, but I don't think I have anyone to apologize to, so I'm not sorry!

The 11th was my little brother's birthday. He is the youngest of my three siblings and he turned 14. I used to help change his diapers and babysit him, and it's truly strange to me that he has a teenager mustache and armpit hair, but for the most part he's a good kid, so I will take credit for being the most amazing and perfect role model of an older sister... As I roll my eyes at myself.

My brother is in the middle with his new XBOX360 Slim. My mom made the cake on the table.

 

you can't really see the cake well in the above picture, but my mom made a cake to look like his new XBox - She told him she couldn't get him a real one so she made the cake instead. He was excited when he found out she'd fooled him.

A better picture of the Xbox cake my mom made.

Then Monday (yesterday) I responded to an ad on Craigslist and got myself a job doing some in home babysitting full time. Outside of Etsy, this will be my first "job" since having the babies. I haven't worked outside my home for a year. The awesome part about this gig is I will be able to bring my babies with me and they will get to play with another 9 month old baby 5 days a week! I'm really excited and hopeful that this will be a good thing for me!

And speaking of my darling little babies, they turned 8 months old yesterday! Every month we take a new photo of them in the same glider-rocker so that we can compare and see how they've grown. They are so big compared to when they were just a month old. And my son, Owen, broke his first tooth yesterday as well! Well, it may have been before but I discovered it yesterday. It's amazing to see the world around me grow and change.

My sweet little twinlets at 8 months old!

I didn't get any replies here in regards to what cause or charity everyone would like to see me support in the month of May! I'm still taking ideas - I will make my final decision at the end of April! Until next time...

SewSpecialCrafts Would Like to GIVE!

For the rest of April, SewSpecialCrafts will be gearing up for a very giving month of May! First of all, I am planning to do at least one giveaway in the month of May. The giveaway will be held here on my blog, so make sure you bookmark me and stay tuned for the fun! I would like to do more than one, depending on the turnout, so when the time comes (or even now, in anticipation and preparation!) make sure to tell your friends about the giveaways I'll be holding!

The other exciting news from SewSpecialCrafts in the giving department is this: I have planned to use the entire month of May as a giving opportunity and donate to a special charity or cause! For every sale I make, I will donate 15% of the money to whichever charity/cause gets selected. Note: I am not talking about just 15% of my profits, but 15% of the sale itself - that means for every pair of booties I sell, I will be donating $1.50 to a special charity or cause! I am really excited to reach out and make a difference, and I hope to be very successful in this endeavor.

Here's where I need the help of my trusty readers! Please comment and let me know: What charity or cause would you like to see SewSpecialCrafts reach out to next month? Stories, reasons, information are all welcome and encouraged! Help my craft to be really "Sew Special"!

Some finished products!

I have been working on an order for a friend who has a couple friends having babies, so I thought I would post a picture of the newborn dress I made her for an upcoming little girl!

Tie straps and butterfly print!

Full view - it's not as wide as it looks!

I really wish there were a way to better photograph clothes when I don't have a model for them! They always end up looking very different or shaped strangely when I photograph them laid out flat! If anyone has any tips on how to take better pictures of things like this dress, let me know!!

The other thing I really wanted to show off is actually something I made months ago. I really liked how it turned out and I never posted it anywhere! Even my husband just saw a picture of the finished product just a couple hours ago for the first time! Another friend had ordered Oregon State Beavers booties and a car seat cover, and this is how they looked when I was finished:

 

I am personally a fan of this team, so I am biased about the turn-out!

That's it for today! We'll be off to get pictures of the twins here shortly, and then we're seeing a local community theatre production of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" which I am hearing is a really long show, but I've also heard is a really good show! I'll let you all know!

Friday Fave

This Friday I am featuring an Etsy seller who specializes in resin jewelry, most of which is displaying 80's and 90's pop culture images! I found her shop on the hunt for something specific, and while I happen to have my favorite, all of TrailerTrashTrinkets jewelry rocks!

Animal print has a special place in my heart right now, and we all know I like pink!

"I really need... To kill somebody." Gotta love Dexter!

And, well, my absolute favorite has to be the one and only... Captain James T. Kirk. Dreeeamy! Okay, so I may or may not be a bit of a Trekkie!

What a guy! I wouldn't mind wearing this necklace!

You can find the Etsy shop here: TrailerTrashTrinkets where she sells the above as well as many Nirvana, Hole, Wizard of Oz, classic monster movie, and other pop culture necklaces and earrings!