Friday: sewing machine

I bought a new sewing machine today. :)

I've been thinking about it for a little while.  My Singer has been really good to me, and I wanted to make sure that I really "needed" a new one.  Yesterday I went to the local dealer to take a look, and there was one in my price range that had a bunch of cool features.  I went home to check out the reviews on line.

There was nothing terrible about the machine, although there were several other brands that seem more highly recommended.  That being said, two things helped make the decision.  1) The dealer is local.  I don't really want to drive to Grand Rapids to drop off and then pick up the machine for any servicing.  And I like Field's Fabrics...they've been really good in the past.  2) Several reviews said it was quiet.  Ben is often talking with friends in the room that I'm sewing and the Singer is loud.  He's been really nice about it, but...

So I picked it up today.  I also grabbed a new 1/4" foot to go with it.  It has an automatic thread cutter, a knee bar, and a button can start/stop the sewing instead of a foot pedal.  I'm still trying to decide when and how to use these features, but they're definitely nice.  And it is very quiet.  Oh, and one of the main reasons...it is strong.  The feed dogs on the Singer either stopped working or I just realized that they don't work well when going over bulky seams.  It is something that could have maybe been repaired.  But I decided to upgrade instead.

I'm keeping the Singer around, because who knows when I might need another machine.  (But if Isaac gets interested in sewing he'll want the new one because he likes to push the buttons.  He was so disappointed today at the store when I said we weren't going to do that today.)

Thursday: try again

Today was much better.  I was in a better mood, Isaac was in a better mood, and Joshua was still his mostly happy self.

I pulled out those containers that have a lid that are supposed to help contain food while still letting the child reach it and Joshua played with that and a spoon for quite a bit.  I have spoons all over the house because I moved the kids' plates/bowls/spoons/cups to a low drawer and Joshua really likes to take out the silverware.

Wednesday: birthday

Today was my birthday!  While I received many "happy birthdays" from people, I'm going to admit, it was a hard day.  I was feeling a bit grumpy (seriously, can't I keep a semi-clean house?) and Isaac has a cold and was also grumpy.  Let's review the reasons he cried today, because some of them are rather funny.  I did get a lot of cuddles from him though, and that was super nice.

1. Joshua hit him with a toy.  This might have been a valid reason; I wasn't in the room.
2. I stopped reading my book.
3. I wouldn't let him have my brown pillow and Ben didn't have a brown pillow.
4. Joshua hit him in the face.  A valid reason, but just a causality of playing.
5. I got the mail without him.  (He had come outside with me and then turned around because it was too bright.)
6. I wouldn't let him take a nap at 5:30pm.
7. I went outside without him to hang up one piece of laundry.

Those are the only ones I remember.  I feel like there should be at least one about not taking toys away from Joshua.

Tuesday: smart kids and ducks

Joshua has started giving fives all the time.  If your hand is turned over he'll move it so that he can reach the palm of your hand.  He has also gotten more consistent at waving.

Isaac read the word "off" in the car.  It's a word we've talked about before and I don't think we've talked about it in the context that he read it in, but I'm not 100% sure.  Anyway, I'm calling it a reading win.

Isaac also discovered a law of physics tonight.  He had a ball on the ground and would drop a rock on it (and it always hit a side of the ball).  He then said, "They always go in opposite directions!"

Today's fun activity was to feed the ducks.  We made a last minute call to some friends and they were able to join us!  I had a lot of bread (remember a week or two ago when the bread went moldy really fast?) and so it lasted about forty-five minutes.  It was a lot of fun!

This is just a small number of the ducks/seagulls/geese/sparrows that showed up.  This bridge is really the best place for feeding ducks.  There's always a bunch.

Monday: activities

This week doesn't have much lined up.  A huge contrast from last week, where it felt like every morning was a "keep moving" morning.

So we stayed at home all day.  We did some work.  It was about 11:00 and Isaac decided, "We should do an activity!!!"  So we pulled out the jars...clean the doorknobs and (after a few tries) make cookies.  We did the door knobs first...Isaac would do one side and I'd do the other, so it kept his attention.  Then we made almond bars.  Joshua was being rather clingy at this point and I wondered what was going on only to remember that we missed his nap time. Oops.

Nothing all that exciting the rest of the day.  Everyone took a nap.  We worked on finishing up the library summer reading program.  No one liked the new recipe that I tried today, but we need to try new things sometimes.

Sunday: another surprise

I had a finger in Joshua's mouth the other day, trying to get something out of it, and discovered a molar!  Surprise!  He's had several rather clingy days lately, but I was expecting more front teeth and looking there.  I don't think there are any others through yet, but the other side might be close.

Also, Isaac was super teary today.  I felt like he cried more than not before church, although I know that's an exaggeration.  I'm not really even sure what he was crying about half the time.  And I didn't really care.  Maybe it's because I was tired, maybe because it was his fake cry.

Saturday: racquetball

We brought Isaac into the racquetball court for a few minutes this morning.  He seemed rather in awe of how high the ball went and loved watching us hit it.  He tried hitting it, but was surprisingly ineffective...I think he saw the ball start to drop, swung and missed, then saw the ball go by the racket, swung and missed because it was too late, etc.  He eventually got a few hits in though.