Assless chaps for toddlers

It's a New Year folks and I don't know about you, but one of my resolutions this year was to let my toddler run around with a naked bottom while we are at home...

What?  He likes it! 

Okay, I am just messing with you, well kind of.  The real story is that Trent and I opted to stay home for New Years this year and enjoy a quiet long weekend together as a family.  Of course, as you might have guessed, I am not one for being able to partake in too much down time and therefore I hatched a plan to potty train Chephren while I had the 'man advantage'.  Since the Internet seems to know just about everything, I turned to my computer as my primary advice-giver on the matter (followed somewhat distantly by my mom).  I had previously decided on the three-day potty training method and after reading this article, we were on our way!  (There is also a booklet on the subject that you can download for a fee, but we're trying to live with less remember?)

Now, I will spare you all of the grody details about the whole process (if you wanted to know more about this stuff you would have your own kid right?) but I did want to share my latest sewing project: warm fuzzy pants with no bottoms (ahem, 'assless chaps' if you will...)  Being that we live in such a cold climate, letting Chephren run around with no pants on seemed somehow irresponsible as a parent, no matter how much he loves it.  After experimenting with several varieties: his commercially made Baby Legs from when he was a baby (pretty small on him now) and a handmade pair of leg warmers that I knit (they don't stay up), I finally crafted a pair of fleece 'pants' that are super comfy and cozy and are held up by elastics at the top.  Even Trent was impressed that I came up with these things... and it only took me about 30 minutes to make them!

The most important part?  Chephren loves them too, and we are on Day 5 of the potty training and it is going very, very well!  I haven't declared a total victory yet (we still have to figure out how to leave the house), but I can feel good knowing that this new toddler fashion statement is keeping diapers out of the landfills.

Happy New Year!

Marebare xoxo

One project done and another begun

Well, I finished my first sewing project - a set of 6 placemats.  And, considering the EPIC amount of errors that I made while making them, they actually look half decent, as long as you don't look at them too closely.  Trent is actually in absolute awe that I was able to complete this project at all - considering that I completed half of the project WHILE SEWING WITH THE FOOT OF THE MACHINE UP!!!  (How was I supposed to know that you were supposed to put it down?)  Anyway, he figures that I must have mad skills just given the fact that I was able to sew anything like that at all.  Luckily, he came home before the final step was done and was able to save me from screwing up the project all together. 
On a totally different topic, I wrote a funny little poem today - mostly for kids, but I promised my mom that I would post it on here so that she could share it with her friends.  I was inspired by the guest author that I met last week - Lori Nunn of Canmore, so I finally put pen to paper today and wrote this little number:

What's for Dinner?

My tummy is rumbling, I can't wait to get home
My bus driver's so slow, it's making me moan
We finally arrive at my stop, I'm elated
I near pass out in my driveway, but soon I'll be sated

I stumble in through the door and into the hall
I'm seeing stars on the ceiling, the stairs and the wall
I drag myself to the kitchen for a most tasty dish
But instead I am greeted with a plate full of fish!

I put my hand to my mouth, I think I might retch
I ran for the sink, which made a quick catch 
The problem is this, I don't like things new
I just like what I like, and lately that's stew

Bubbling and yummy and filled with good stuff
When stew's on the table I just can't get enough
My mom, she knows this, but she's giving me a 'look'
The one that means this: 'I'm no short order cook'

'But mom' I cry out, I'm starting to bawl
'You know that the stew makes me grow big and tall!
For the last time I ate it I grew a whole inch!'
(If you're short, you should try it, it was really a cinch)

So tonight I'll go hungry, at least 'till I check
Just what good this fish does, (what a pain in the neck)
With a growl in my tummy and a scowl on my face
I trudge up to my bedroom, my own special place

I turn on the computer and the screen comes aglow
And I click onto google, for they always know
I type in the word 'fish' and get 9 million hits
My mom's dinner plans are giving me fits!

I begin to click onto page after page
Pickeral, trout and red herrings are making me rage!
Salmon and scallops, well they start with 'S'
Doesn't make them worth eating, that is my guess

I keep on clicking and clicking until I suddenly stop
I don't even know which fish we have got!
'Mom' I yell down the stairs with a whine
'That gross fish that you're serving, do you know what kind?'

'Tuna!' she bellows, I can tell she's annoyed
'Well you should've served stew, which you know I enjoy!'
Still hungry as ever I returned to my work
My search was near over, I thought with a smirk

Aha! I did find it, the answer I sought
I found out exactly what's in that fish that we've got
'Oh wow!' I cried, 'Oh my, and Oh Gee!'
Did you know that tuna have high Vitamin B?

Now that I know this, I guess I can eat
I sure hope that this fish tastes better than feet
I sit down at the table, under mom's watchful gaze
My stubbornness no doubt, never ceasing to amaze

I took my first bite and I started to grin
After all, tunafish tastes kind of like chicken!
And chicken goes in stew, but I guess you knew that
So with glee I finished up, in no time flat

After the dishes, I headed on up to bed
With visions of tunafish, swimming in my head
The next day I awoke to a day that was sunny
But I noticed right away, that I felt a bit funny

My day was sure busy, which was just as well
I did great in math class and man could I spell!
I got all the answers right on a geography test
Which I usually don't, even when trying my best

I thought to myself, could it be, is it fact?
Can tunafish make you smarter like that?
If this is the case that I must not delay
I will trade in my stew for tuna today!

I got onto the bus, hungry as usual
I am dreaming of tunafish, starting to drool
At long last I am home, I leap like a frog!
But when I rushed through the door I found a.... hot dog?


Now, I know that this poem is slightly off topic - but I thought that I would share it anyway, hope you enjoyed it!

Marebear :P

So, you want to learn to sew do you?

Those of you who know me well (and even some strangers on the street) have probably heard me brag about my husband's sewing ability.  He has got some absolutely MAD skills in this department.  In the past, he has sewn me a duvet covers, pillowcases, curtains for our VW van and of course, repaired every single thing of mine that has ever needed mending.  How could such a thing happen you might wonder?  Well, my husband took home economics throughout Junior High, and not because of his love for home-making activities, oh no.  It was more about the anticipated ratio between girls and boys in the class.  Pretty clever hey? That is my Trentie - he is no dummy!  Alas, I was not one of the gals in those classes, hence, he is the sewing master while I am sadly and ridiculously unskilled in this area.

Given that it is apparently going to be a year of new challenges to be undertaken, I have decided that I am going to try to learn to sew.  Also, given the fact that I am trying to save money, I will be attempting to do so mostly on my own, (likely with Trent's help of course).  I started today in fact.  I actually sewed buttons (yes, buttons) onto the end of our duvet cover (which was cheap and poorly made to begin with, but oh-so-pretty!).  So, after months of it driving me bonkers, I finally did something about it.  Plus, get this - I didn't even have all of the correct buttons to sew back on, so (gasp!) I had to use some extra buttons that I have been especially saving for just such an occasion.  I can't even tell you the kind of satisfaction that I got from such a ridiculously juvenile task.  And no, they don't look that great even, BUT, my quilt will now have to refrain from falling out the bottom of the cover and onto the floor during the night, and this gives me great joy!

I will keep you posted on the remainder of my sewing adventures as they arise, and should you be the (un)lucky recipient of a hand-made gift that I may sew for you in the next year, I hereby apologize in advance!

“One has to look out for engineers they begin with sewing machines and end up with the atomic bomb” - Marcel Pagnol

Happy sewing!
Marebear :)