Helpful Driving Tip

Do NOT, I repeat, DO NOT, get a speeding ticket in South Carolina. Particularly Rock Hill.

Thankful for Friends

My mom's best friend is just an amazing woman. I've known her since I was 2, and I couldn't be more grateful for her.

Her son was born with club feet and required a lot of braces and such to correct the problem. He also has several congenital health problems with his joints and bones, as does his mom. Her dad passed a few years ago from brain cancer. And yet, through everything, she has remained a rock for everyone around her. I remember getting myself into a sticky situation where the job I was working was with a company that was unable to pay promised paychecks. Susan was working for an attorney in an area of law I'd never had experience with. She convinced the attorney that I was the perfect fit for his need of an assistant. Problem solved WITH a raise and better benefits. While there, she spent every Saturday morning at her church helping with the food pantry. She borrowed her dad's truck to drive an hour into the country to bring food and warm clothing to a family that was in dire need of the help - she and her family stayed for nearly 5 hours helping around the house.

Lately, her health has been deteriorating along with her son's, making it impossible to maintain her job. I don't have a lot to spare, but I know that we've had a few random days smattered through that have been pretty chilly. So I decided to cheer her up with a new hat and a couple of scarves. See them below, and enjoy!

My FIRST Tutorial!

I'm a trainer. At...well, just about all but one of my jobs EVER I've trained people. There was one where I trained people in Turkey (I wasn't lucky enough to go there, but I did get my passport out of the deal). I like to think I'm good at what I do, and that I teach well. That said, if this makes no sense, feel free to ask questions. Oh, and I'll blame the quickly changing weather and the necessary drugs, too. :D

The kids have a new baby brother. Nope, not Baby D...he's old hat now. Their mom had Baby J back in August and things have been a little difficult. I remember the first 10 months of D's life when..well, no, I don't really remember them. I know I was so wrapped up in D that life was a fog. The kids suffered, though T was there with them the whole way. Finally, though, the fog lifted and I started focusing on the big kids more AND got crafty. That's where this (belated) Turkey Day tutorial comes in. This is more work for you, mom, than the kids, but if they're like mine, they'll love knowing that it's THEIR hands that are the reason and base for these shirts.

Start with a plain tshirt. This one came from the sale rack at Michael's.

 Using fabric paint, press your child's hands onto the shirt to make the bodies for turkeys. I used a spray fabric paint kit from Walmart. Then I used a new Sharpie Fabric Pen to write the message.

 Using a small angled brush with firm bristles, paint the legs and beaks in orange. This is also when I used the Sharpie to make a small eye on each bird, and the paintbrush to do the wattle (the hangdown piece on the beak) in red.

 Finally, I used the paints to do multi colored feathers, using the fingers as a guide. On these, you can still see the fingers showing through, especially on the right pinky finger. I think it looks cute that way!

Don't forget to heat set the paints with an iron and then let your kids enjoy the shirts! And check out the headdress B and I made for his celebration!

Friday Five

Whew! I seem to have missed last Friday's questions. It has been pretty darn busy around here. My mom moved to Mississippi a month ago to take a contract position. Other than missing the kids, she's...well, let's put it this way: She lives 10 blocks from the beach on the Gulf and she has a job, two things that seem essential to her well-being. So she was heading home, here, this past Tuesday, and the house was a DIS-AS-TER. Pile on a little last minute Thanksgiving at home projects for two kids which included sewing an Indian headress and making handprint turkey Thanksgiving shirts. Throw in a dash of 14 month old sprouting 2 teeth with more making their move. Sprinkle a little broken toilet, microwave, and refrigerator on top and you have my life for the past month.

Thankfully (get it? Thanksgiving? Thankfully?) I finished the shirts and the headress with only one tiny hole in my forehead from a broken machine needle (stupid feathers!) and even managed to find an awesomesauce fridge on Craigslist! New microwave and the only thing left is now getting the toilet fixed once and for all! Whoo!

On to today. Here's the get to know me!

2 names you go by: Scootie, Wormbreath (this one goes back to my days of worming under my parents blanket in the mornings and breathing awful kid breath to wake them up)
2 things you are wearing right now: A wink and a smile? Ha! I'm a horrible winker...No, really...a blue hunting brand tshirt of T's and a pair of chinese doll bermuda pajama shorts.
2 things you want right now: A quiet and sleeping babe, unchapped lips :(
2 things you did last night: Enjoy the Thanksgiving dinner I prepared (my first! And it was delicious AND on time!), delivered the bigs to their mom for the rest of the weekend
2 things you ate today: Cajun Filet biscuit from Bojangle's (nope, I don't live in the South. Nope, nuh uh), blueberry muffintop cereal shared with Baby D
2 favorite drinks: Cherry Coke with an extra shot of cherry, Waffle House Coffee