Shh, or what I've been doing

Recently in RS, okay, back in September in RS, we were invited to participate in a Quiet Book making workshop. It was supposed to be 4 weeks and we would make 4 pages a week and then almost like magic, half the ward would have quieter children in Sacrament Meeting.

In reality, after the teacher of the workshops had a daughter get married, miscommunications with the RS, a change in Presidency, and the holidays, things got a little . . . delayed. After a few guilt-inducing conversations with said teacher in January, I got my butt in gear and finished this sucker. So here in all it's "I'm tired of constantly changing and rethreading my machine" glory is my version.

The cover: It says "Monkey See, Monkey Do"

The inside cover: Mine is the only one that zips, which is why it's a little skiwhampus when closed

There are five Xs and Os, those not featured are secured in the pouch.

Sometimes I'm WAY to OCD, like with this fruit. I actually sewed circles on the grapes. Time consuming and pointless, I know. Also, I machine quilted the teddy bear blanket above.

Notice the little hand start creeping in. Also, I was trying to point out in this picture that the top of the mitten is velvet and underneath is satin. Which is not enough of an inducement to get G to stick his hand in yet.

This was the first time G had seen what was lurking inside the "purse". There's a fake key in there, too.

This will remain empty until G can actually scribble, then we'll add a pad of paper and some sort of writing device.

Most people did the shapes underneath with the same felt as the top shapes, but I liked having some variety and pretty fabric underneath.

Sorry about the flash shine on the mirror.

This pouch is where all the loose parts can go, since I'm paranoid about losing something.

And now that it's all done, I can start on repairs since velcro is already coming loose and iron ons are not staying on. Some projects remain continuous though they are officially finished.

Duck Update

We here at Tara Paper are committed to bringing you the latest and greatest news. And the news this week is ducks, ducks, and more ducks. Yes, strange though it made seem, three duck stories have made their way onto the front page.

First, the votes are in and G's favorite toy is officially his rubber ducky. As you can see in the video, he may be temporarily distracted by other bath toys, but his rubber ducky must never be out of arms reach. I try to keep the ducky restrained to the bath area to maintain its novelty, and we've been mostly successful so far. It has come in handy those times when I really have to use the restroom and I don't want him playing with the toilet paper again.

Okay, the video's kind of lame and boring, but it's been awhile since I've posted one and grandparents are watching.

Second, we went jogging as a family yesterday and saw a crazy bird by the river bank.

Wait, stop the presses, Tara actually went jogging of her own volition and this story is about some bird? Well yes, there's a first time for everything it appears, Invisible Sidekick, including me focusing on non-vital parts of a story.

Anyway, there was a bird that kind of looked like this:

only it had the head of a duck.

So we tried to come up with names that would be appropriate. Drane is good, but kind of taken. So my vote is for cruck. You can vote in the comments.

Lastly, G likes one of his Christmas books that shows pictures of animals and says what sounds they make. I read it to him a lot because I'm pretty good at animal noises. (toot ta toot! That was me tooting my own horn.) The first page of this book asks: What does the fuzzy duck say?

I've been reading this book for awhile, but I finally realized the other day that this would not be a good page to have a case of spoonerism with. Now I try to be very careful, but just because it would be bad, I'm sure to do it some time.

Welcome to our House

I figured that since we know we will be moving this year, it was high time I give you a tour of our house. Sorry there are no G pictures, but he is in a few of these, so maybe you can think of it as a "Where's Waldo" situation.

Here's the view when you walk in the front door. The fabric hanging up is for my next sewing project.This is a view of my sewing room on the right of the staircase.


Here's the formal dining room/music room on the left of the stairs.
Then down a short hallway is the kitchen.
It's quite roomy, except the pantry.
And opens up into the family room.
We keep it quite bare in there now, and quite barricaded. It makes for much less chasing on my part.
There's a little corner door that leads to the garage and is next to this hallway. Don't worry, you won't ever have to see that room when you visit.
But in case you were wondering, that other door leads to this:
I normally don't like wallpaper, but the stuff in there is quite enjoyable. That's all for the main floor, so let's go upstairs. We just recently changed the layout of this living area to help with child containment.
Off to the left is the door which leads to your room. Don't worry, I'll move the laundry before you come.
It's really quite spacious, and I already turned down the bed. (read: was too lazy to make it)
This is the guest bathroom, which is directly behind the couch.
The shower curtain was a recent addition. Your welcome. I stood about where the toilet is to take this next picture.
This is G's room from the doorway.
Ignore the pink on the walls, he inherited this room from twin girls.
And the master bedroom, from the doorway.
And from where G was.
On my right from that last picture is the closet. Because I know some of you are curious.
And the other part. Complete heaven, as those of you who are familiar with our last closet situation will attest.
Here is the master bath, which was the closed door you could see from G's position in our bedroom. This is from the doorway.

And this is from the hand towel rack. The towels are on the tub because our hardware has recently started to come out of the walls. I guess there's always something to work on . . . Well, that's about it. Hope you enjoyed the tour. If you haven't scheduled one in person, you should do so soon because the clock is ticking on our stay in Dallas.

Peripheral Tricks

My eyes frequently play tricks on me. At least, my peripheral vision does. And I'm not talking oh-I-thought-that-coat-rack-was-a-person type tricks, I mean I see people walking by me when I'm all alone. It was not as freaky at work, but those who know me won't be surprised that it's freaked me out many another time.

But it's not always bad, sometimes it's funny, like the other day. We were driving to Target and along the road we past many day care centers. Then we past one that made me pause. It was the Tequila Day Care Center.

Okay, it was really Tequila Bar & Grill, but my eyes had seen so many that they just assumed . . . So now every time we drive by we like to point out our favorite "day care center". Wonder if I should market this . . .