3 & 4 of 13 in 13 Challenge

Guess what?  I got to read.

I have been very focused recently on the kids.  I really wanted to say the business but at this time it has been the kids that have taken up the time and effort recently.  Sick kids take up a lot of time.  I had forgotten that this time of year usually means we will be sick in rotation.  Hopefully we will get over it fairly soon.

Anyway I got to read in fact I finished book 3 at the beginning of February but have kept forgetting to blog about it.  Book 4 was finished today and I decided I had to post it tonight to make sure I didn't forget this one as well.

Book 3 - 7 Habits for Highly Effective Families - Stephen Covey

I loved this book.  It is basically his 7 Habits for Highly Effective People that he has adapted specifically for families.  It is fantastic and very thought provoking.  It highlighted a number of areas that we can work on as a family and has prompted me to read the original 7 Habits book and I am really looking forward to that.  I forgot to take a photo of this one - whoops

It prompted me to pick up 7 Habits of Happy Kids for Jot (written by Sean Covey - Stephens son).  It contains 7 stories, 1 for each habit and they are really cool little stories which Jot loves.  OK I know this challenge isn't about kids books but I had to tell you about that one :)

Book 4 - The law of Nines - Terry Goodkind

Terry Goodkind is one of my all time favourite authors.  I have long since been deeply involved in his Sword of Truth Series (and was quite gutted when the final official book came out) and really wanted to read this when I saw it in the Library.  I am usually disappointed by the books not in the series that I love but this time I wasn't.  It is sent in our world rather than a fantasy one and is very well tied in to the Sword of Truth series but you do not need to have read the series as it stands very well on its own.  In fact I kinda liked it because it was only loosely linked.

There were some bits that I wish had been slightly better explained and I would love to hear the story from the other side.  Overall I really enjoyed this and in fact was late picking the kids up from childcare cause I wanted to get to the end.

Whats next?

I am reading Awaken the Giant within by Tony Robbins and I have managed to misplace it.  I am pretty sure I took it to the library the other day but now I can't find it :).  I am going to search for it properly this weekend as I will be mightily bummed if I have lost it as I had been highlighting and flagging bits in it.

I also bought Hot Confidence by Nadine Love the other day and was terribly excited when it arrived on my doorstep today.  I was just waiting for the kids to get into bed (and be asleep) before digging into it.  You can find more about it HERE.  I met Nadine at the Coaching Institute at the beginning of February and have been wanting her book since then.  I finally got off my procrastinating butt and bought it now it is here and it is calling my name so I am going to finish up here and get stuck into it.

See you later

I got to sew :)

I love it when a plan comes together :)

Jot was invited to a Superhero party this weekend and declared last weekend that she needed a superhero cape to go to the party.  So a quick trip to Spotlight on Wednesday netted me some plain homespun in teh specified colours and on Friday I got to play. 

I don't have a cape pattern or at least not one I liked and I wanted to make it a little bit girly so I grabbed a poncho pattern I have an extended it to cape length.  I then added stripes on the side and the obligatory super hero letter.  Finally I added a ribbon to the neckline.  It is a grossgrain ribbon which means that once it is done up it doesn't get progressively tighter (good idea for her).  She rocked it at the party but wouldn't stand still for a picture.  

On that same trip to Spotlight I stumbled on this gorgeous mermaid fabric.  Jot has been completely obsessed by mermaids recently even going to far as to ask if she could become one (Thanks Walt Disney) so I thought she would like a nightie for Easter.  I'm quite proud to say I got the mermaids the right way up this time :)

Today we had to go back to Spotlight to pick up some stuff to mend one of Jots necklaces and I thought I would see if there was anymore.  Couldn't find any in the pink but did find the green which you can see in the  corner of this next shot.  I got the remainder of the bolt which was only 2m so I am planning a pair of pjs and if there is enough left a small book sling.  I will keep my eye out for more to make a reasonable sized book sling for her cousin too.

Todays other purchase was the thread to hand quilt my Mondrian yes I know It is nearly two years since I got the blocks but I am determined that it will be finished in time for winter to hit.  I have been promising it to R for our sofa for a while.

I also have managed to cut out two pairs of pjs for Jot which I am hoping to be able to sew together over the next few days depending on the kids. 

Now though I am going to watch Indiana Jones and see if I can find something to eat :)

  

February Round up

I am going to use the excuse that February is a short month which is why I didn't get much sewing done BUT to be honest I was just caught up doing other things.  Mostly launching my new coaching business.  Pretty exciting times but I did get some things done.

Firstly I made myself a new peg bag (no pictures) which is a little too big but I am enjoying using it.

Next I made Jot a new dress.  Excuse the photos she was not in a good mood when she tried it on.  I adapted the Little Explorer pattern that I made up for CT in January (you can read more about it here).  I obviously wasn't concentrating too hard though as I seem to have an extra couple of inches in the waist which means it is rather baggy at the back.  She says she likes it but has yet to wear it so not sure on that one :).  I will make it again though but will have to work on some measurements first.

I also got the Swoon quilt back from the wonderful Anita who now does my quilting on her long arm machine.  I attached 8m of binding by hand in about 3 evenings which gave me time to wash and dry it before my parents arrived from the UK.  If you remember back to when I first started this quilt in way back in March last year it was always intended as a Ruby wedding anniversary gift for my parents.  I did get the year wrong though and their Ruby wedding was actually in 2010 but it is the thought that counts.

Anyway they arrived on 23 Feb and Jot was bursting to give them their gift.  They loved it and I was delighted to nip into their room on the Sunday to find it already in use.  I love seeing my quilts in action :)

Most of the end of February was spent dealing with a sick little boy.  We have had the dreaded Gastro in our house and on top of that he had Tonsilitis and 8 new teeth.  Yup you guessed it he has been one mighty unhappy little chap.

Thankfully he is well on the mend although some of the teeth aren't still completely through he is well enough to return to childcare and I got to return to my machine today for a secret squirrel project I am part of.  No photos of that :)

Now though I am back to work and designing business cards :)