STORY ONE: School Lunch Bag
Sunday night at bedtime, my first grader reminded me that she still did not have a lunch bag. What?! I panicked. I know that it was on my list of things she needs this year (since she will be at school all day for the first time). I know that we thought about it, talked about it, and planned on it. She was right, we had done all of that without actually procuring a bag for her. I took a deep, cleansing, keep your head together type of breath and said, "I will get right on that, Honey. What color of material do you want?" She picked a fun shade of turquoise and told me that she wanted it just like her two older sisters. I got all the kiddos in bed and headed downstairs to my workroom (which is what I call that mess of a room where I do all the creative stuff). I used older sister's bag for a pattern.
I figured I needed two sides, two liners, two handle liners, handle stabilizers, a zipper, and bias tape. (NOTE: If I had to do this again, at a time when I could think straight, I would have traced the bag on paper first and then created the pattern from there).
Here's a quick how-to on how I made the bias tape. I fold my fabric to create a right triangle like this:
Starting at the longest side I cut it into two-inch wide strips. This way you are cutting on the bias without all the measuring. You may be thinking that I am a lazy seamstress. You are right. Anyway, once you have all your strips cut, sew them together to form one long bias tape.
Then I sewed the zipper onto the handle lining.
Now it was just a matter of putting all the pieces together. I decided that I wanted the inside a little water resistant, so I added a lining of thin plastic sheeting (the kind you buy off the rolls at the fabric store). Anyway, at a time that I should have been safely in dreamland, I finished my sweet daughter's bag.
The next morning, she was so excited. I was happy that she had a bag like sisters' and could go off to school without the worry of what to put her lunch in! So, now you know that I am a little forgetful, a little lazy, and really I'd do anything for these kiddos.
STORY TWO--Assemble the lunches!
Do you ever let the sound of kid-play become white noise? IF no one is screaming, or hitting, or biting, and everything is just the soft sounds of contented play do you ever tune it out a little? I do. This morning as we were assembling items for school lunches, my baby was playing quietly on the table. He's almost two and he climbs everywhere, I meant that he was playing ON the table. I was listening to his playing noises without actually HEARING his playing noises. It wasn't until the spice cake pieces had all been split and reassembled and sent to the freezer that I realized that his playing noise sounded squishy, and sticky, and there was a funny empty-bottle-type-of sound in the mix. I turned around and really looked at him. This is what I saw:
That is an now-empty bottle of Maple syrup in is sweet, sticky little hands. Luckily for me, he has pretty good aim, and the majority ended up in the bowl. Unlucky for those peaches, however.
What could I do? I had just convinced my hubby last week that we don't need to buy syrup from Costco, we don't go through it fast enough. This bottle lasted three days.
That's me in two stories and a few words. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to stop by Costco.
