Time Flies...

I haven't posted in a while due to... being lazy :)

With the end of school wrapping up, Emma being her crawling/standing/semi-walking self, and getting things ready for summer, I just couldn't bring myself to come over here and post (however, I always found time to FB).

To catch up, as I have said, Emma is crawling.  She walks along the edges of things, and has taken very, very, very small steps without holding on to things.  Which, as her mother, I think this is super advanced for a 10 month old baby.  She also eats more foods she has to "chew".  Cheerios and bananas are a favorite, along with olives for some odd reason.  I've been starting to plan for her 1st Birthday Party, and I've made 2 trial run cakes.  I'll post pictures in my next post, but because I am a truly horrible cake decorator, I think the cakes rock.

On to the meaty part of the post!  My stitches!  I've stitched my heart away while not posting on here.  I finished the bookmark (no pic), both of my SpriteStitch squares,

and I started on Servotron's Mario Thru the Ages.

Not sure why this one is sideways...

I've spent a month on the Mario piece, and am still shooting to have it done by August (hahaha!!!).  It is 23,000+ stitches, and I still haven't got the biggest part, the sky, finished.  I'll keep posting pics here, and hopefully find some time for more blogging!

Late Birthday to Myself

A bit behind on posting.  I have completed my bookmark and will update pictures soon.  Just didn't want the blogosphere to forget I exist.

On a funnier note, I had a pretty good student quote last week.  Kids were giving presentations on a variety of topics about the Civil Rights Movement- people, places, events.  I had given the students instructions to try to use more compelling adjectives and adverbs in their PowerPoints.  Everyone gets tired of seeing very, great, wonderful, etc.  I got my wish.  When discussing someone who a student would have normally as "very" educated, they instead had this:  "He was a severely educated man."  I burst out laughing, and had to stop the presenter and have them explain the word severely.  They then sheepishly told me they didn't have a real reason for using it, only that it was listed in the thesaurus .  I applauded their use of the thesaurus, and gently reminded them to be sure it makes sense in the context they use it.

New Stand

I've finally figured out why I've been so tired/cranky.  My one and only wisdom tooth has decided to make its entrance into this world and has been bearing down on my other teeth.  Thus the constant headaches I've been having.  The dentist, after laughing for a good 5 minutes at the fact that my daughter and I were teething at the same time, referred me to an oral surgeon.  I apparently I have to go in for a consultation before they just rip the dang thing outta my head.  I feel my paycheck getting lighter and lighter.

On a happier note, I received an early birthday present.  I put it together last night and have been enjoying it.

What I like the most about this design is that I can clamp in any type of hoop.  However, I have seemed to misplaced my largest size hoop.  I originally put it away because it was so awkward for me to hold, but I like stitching in it because it allowed me to view my entire piece.  Now I can use it!

The piece in it is my Earthbound square.  Not much more done on it.  I'm through with about half of the colors, but most of the colors I've stitched haven't had large sections of color on it.

More Emma Food

Emma is able to have a lot more on her plate now-a-days.  We've added sweet potatoes, carrots, peas, cinnamon (mixed in bananas or rice), mangos and prunes.  She'll eat anything, but tends to make disgusting faces when prunes are put on her tongue.

I bought A LOT of mangos when they were on sale at the local supermarket for $.77 each.  What a deal!  That is, until I began peeling the devil fruit.

I looked up how to do it, and it looked easy.  HA!  It's not.  Mangos are super sticky, and it was hard for me to maneuver around their oddly shaped seed.  Lucky for me, Emma loves mangos, so plenty of practice is my future.

The other "fun" I've been having cooking Emma's food are the prunes.  We decided to try them when we noticed Emma was... ah... straining a bit more than usual (hopefully that euphemism is not lost on you- I don't want to have to go into more detail than possible).  Natural laxative, and on her list of approved food for this time frame. Perfect!  Until we cooked them by boiling them in some water.

Let's just say that the appearance of cooked prunes is very similar to Emma's "problem".  It only got worse as I put them in my Ninja and began to process them.  I'll leave out pictures and just let your mind do that for you.  Eww.

le Sigh

I feel like I have been so busy lately... and I have gotten NOTHING accomplished.  Not too much more done on the Earthbound square.  I haven't worked on my Zelda one at all.  I did get started on a bookmark collection for four girls who will be seniors next year.  I've chosen a quote that I think represents each of them.  Sadly, only one girl is in to retro gaming, so I started her project first.  She enjoys Rubix cubes as well, so I thought it would be clever to have Mario hit a Rubix instead of a ? box.

I hope to have some more updates soon, but I've just been fragmented between Emma and the start of the new trimester at school.

Earthbound Square

Just a quick WIP post- nothing too lengthy.

My Earthbound quilt square.  I tried to make this design a bit busier so I wouldn't get too bogged down with the grass like I did on my Zelda square, however, can't decide if I'm pleased with the overall composition or not.

I'm also working on creating a banner for my blog.  Look back for an update soon!

Ninja-ed

I love my Ninja.  The food processor- not the karate expert I keep in my closet.  If you want to make baby food, guacamole, salsa, or smoothies, you must own one.

Emma has a pretty colorful palate so far.  Avacados, bananas, apples, and rice cereal were her fare for the past week.  All are A+ worthy in her book.  This coming week, green beans, acorn squash, butternut squash, pear, and sweet potato are on the menu.

Green beans.  Simply steamed, added water, and ninja-ed.

Baked the squash, meat side turned down in a baking dish with 1/2 inch of water for 40 minutes.  Carved out meat.

Added some water, ninja-ed, and BAM!  Baby squash.

I highly recommend the ice cube tray for freezing.  Then just pop out, put into freezer bags, and you're good to go.  And the Press'n Seal is amazing!