jump up and down

hello again...new blog

Hi everyone!  I've started a new blog at jessijump.blogspot.com .  I'll soon be changing this blog to Typepad's free format.  Blogger seems to do everything that Typepad does and more, and in a more easy to use format now so it doesn't seem to be worth the cost.  There's a new post there and my plan is to get back to regular blogging.  Hope to see you there!

family photos from the fall

We had our family picture taken...in September.  I make no apologies for my tardiness in sharing these - we all still look about the same, so I'm considering them current.  The only significant change is that my hair is a bit longer, which I'm happy about.  Remind me that if I ever donate to Locks of Love again that I should cut off my own braid to make sure it doesn't get cut at the nape of my neck!

Anyhow, Missy did a fabulous job and we were so pleased with how they turned out.  The kids were a little tough to warm up, but Missy charmed them and there are dozens of great shots.  When Peter's school pictures came last week, I  thought, "No need to get any of those - Missy's are million times better!"  This is about the best I have ever seen us captured.  There is a very similar photo from our wedding where I am making some crazy face and Ryan is just chuckling inside.  

If you want to see more, see Missy's blog post here.  And if you want some great pics and you live or travel to the Wasatch Front, give Missy a call!  

what i've been reading: volume one

In the spirit of my blog title, reading is definitely one of the things making me "jump up and down" right now.  In fact, about a week ago, I cautiously let the word "bibliophile" escape my lips when describing myself and Ryan didn't argue.  So, I'm going to start sharing some book reviews.  I like to read all sorts of things, so I've decided that I will share one non-fiction, one fiction, and one children's book in each review.  If you want to keep up with everything I'm reading , feel free to friend me on Goodreads. 

HALF THE SKY: TURNING OPPRESSION INTO OPPORTUNITY FOR WOMEN WORLDWIDE

"In the nineteenth century, the central moral challenge was slavery. In the twentieth century, it was the battle against totalitarianism. We believe that in this century the paramount moral challenge will be the struggle for gender equality around the world." 

I feel like this book is a must read, especially for anyone who wants to make a difference in the lives of women on a global level.  I learned so much from the honest discussion of issues.  The authors, Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn are husband and wife journalists who compiled their collective experience and stories of women from many different countries in this book to demonstrate that there is still much to do to advance the equality of women worldwide.  The writing was superb - well researched statistics accompanied by inspiring stories of real-life women experiencing the reality of gender inequality.  I felt fully engaged in each story, but was most effected by the stories of women who spend days in labor without medical help because their husbands and families do not feel it is warranted.  If they do not die first, they develop fistulas that forever change their lives for the worse, isolating them from their families and taking away their future.  Other topics covered were sex trafficking, prostitution, rape, honor killings and the education of girls.  I loved that each chapter ends by suggesting what we can do to help - Kristof and WuDunn emphasize micro loans and financing girl's education on a grassroots level.  It inspired me to start donating via Kiva.  There were so many times while reading this book when I felt like I was being spoken to on and individual level.  Here are a few more quotes that opened my eyes:

 "More girls were killed in the last 50 years, precisely because they were girls, than men killed in all the wars in the 20th century. More girls are killed in this routine gendercide in any one decade than people were slaughtered in all the genocides of the 20th century. " 

"The equivalent of 5 jumbo jets worth of women die in labor each day... life time risk of maternal death is 1,000x higher in a poor country than in the west. That should be an international scandal."

"During World War I, more American women died in childbirth than American men died in war. ... When women could vote, suddenly their lives became more important, and enfranchising women ended up providing a huge and unanticipated boost to women's health"

POPE JOAN: A NOVEL

I am a huge historical fiction fan.  Pope Joan is definitely on my top ten list of best historical fiction novels.  This story is based on the legend of a girl, born in the ninth century, who as the daughter of a priest has some accidental exposure to reading and writing and lets that knowledge grow into a love of learning and logical thinking that defines her and drives the destiny of her life.  The title is a spoiler, so I will say that she makes her way to be Pope, but how she gets there in this fictional story is engaging and completely believable (a must for me to earn my stamp of approval when it comes to historical fiction).  I loved the references to common, yet erroneous, beliefs of the Dark Ages where Joan used her logic and scientific reasoning (although she didn't know that this was what she was doing) to figure out the truth.  There aren't many books that can keep me from falling asleep when I'm tired, but this one did.  

GOOD MASTERS! SWEET LADIES! VOICES FROM A MEDIEVAL VILLAGE

This was a book that I listened to - I've been listening to books while I do housework, sew, and drive the 40 miles to and from Peter's speech appointments to be able to fit in a few more.  Is that cheating?  I hope not.  I just load them on my phone and it's so easy.

Anyway, this was a delightful listen.  It's a few centuries behind Pope Joan,  and written for children, but still in the historical fiction genre.  It won the Newbery Award in 2008 and is a compilation of seventeen monologues from young people in an English village about 1255.  Laura Amy Schultz, a school librarian, wrote it to use as a class play.  She wanted something where each student had an equal part and opportunity to shine.  The rhythm of life in the village touches people of every class and Shultz educates and entertains.  Expect to hear about falconry, the three field system, anti-Semitism, poverty, child abuse, short life expectancy and much more, all in the skillfully crafted voices of endearing, true to life characters. I would love to see this performed. 

tutorial: simple nook sleeve

This post has been a long time coming.  It's been sitting, half composed, in my queue for two months!  I wish I didn't lose my blogging mojo when I get stressed out, but so it is.  Oh, and the pictures are from my phone, taken when the camera was still broken (it's still having some minor issues, but I'm hoping that it pulls through).  As a glass half full sort of view, I like to think of the pictures as being really great for coming from a phone, but if you have any questions because you can't quite see the details in the photo, feel free to ask!

So, here is how I made a super simple sleeve for my Nook:

What you will need:

13x9 piece of felt, fleece, or some other soft, but not too stretchy fabric

13x9 piece of wool or sturdy cotton 

2 snaps (optional)

13 inches pretty ribbon or other trim (optional)

1. Cut your fabrics pieces - each 13x9.  I left a raw edge on that plaid piece that then became the top.  It made a nice fringe. 

 2.  Place wrongs sides of the wool and felt together.  Sew a straight stitch along the top edge.  I used wool and left a raw edge which looked good.  If you don't want a raw edge, you will have to sew a seam at the top by matching right sides, turning, and pressing the seam out instead of  having wrong sides together - feel free to e-mail me for further explanation if you need it.

3.  Place trim/ribbon over the top stitch line on the outside of the cover and stitch in place.

 4.  Fold the fabric layers in half so that the outside fabric has right sides together.  Pin in place and stitch using a 1/2" seam.

5. Trim the seams.

6. Turn it inside out, press a bit if needed and slip your Nook inside.

Optional Step: Sew snaps, just on the inside under the ribbon.  You could also use velcro here.

Again, please feel free to e-mail me if you have questions!

quilts for the boys

Ta-dum!  They are finished!  When we got the boys bunk beds in the spring, I knew they would need new quilts.  Peter's previous quilt hung over the sides of his twin, almost to the floor on some sides, and didn't make an easy job of making the top bunk.  Ned's was a toddler bed size and barely fit over him.  I browsed Flickr and found this quilt  that I used as my inspiration.  I made these quilts for virtually nothing - I had all the fabrics on hand, mostly cuts from my collection of vintage sheets.  This is the advantage of starting projects on lazy afternoons in a small town 40 miles from anything - you learn to make do.  It helps that I have a lot with which to make do.  I think I only previewed these  once - maybe when I was still putting blocks together?  I started working on them in late summer.   I finished the tops before Thanksgiving.  My mother, grandmother, and I pinned them when I was visiting for Thanksgiving  and then I brought them home and they sat.  And they sat some more.  They sat until my Mom came for President's Day weekend and whipped through the quilting in a few hours and the binding in just a bit more.  Thanks Mom!

  And now we can actually make the boy's beds.  Hooray for that!

too funny

When we made Valentines for the kid's classmates, the boys wanted to make one for themselves too.  I told Peter he should put "Peter" as the person it was from.  He came up with his own idea - "From: ME".  And then Ned copied and added his own flair - "From: Me Ned"as if he might forget who "Me" was.   

Printable bag toppers here.

why I disappear

You should know by now that if I disappear from here for a while, we are waiting to hear back from a job.  And if it takes a really long time for me to come back, Ryan didn't get the job.  Ugh.  The one in the summer that we didn't get was disappointing, but things looked better for this one.  I feel like the countdown is really ticking now - ten more months, ten more months, ten more months.  Ten months might seem like a long time, but Ryan's been looking for a job for a year already.  I was hoping the job search would be easier this time around - we had a rough time the last time Ryan was looking for a job.  It's probably a pointless thought process, but I often find myself thinking, "Are we supposed to be learning something from this that we're just not getting? and if so, what is it?" or, "Is this just the consequence of  being highly educated and highly specialized in your field?"  Whatever it is, I'm remaining fairly hopeful for now, with occasional dips in my mood.  

If we have to be going through this trial again, this is a good place to do it.   I am grateful to be in a community where I have good friends, lots of things to be involved in (I'm helping out with costumes for the our community play this year), and my kids are loved and looked out for.   I'm substitute teaching a couple of days a week, which keeps my mind off things and brings in a few extra bucks which we will save for the possibility of the worst case scenario.  I'm reading a LOT, more than I have ever read before.  If you want to see what I'm reading, look for me on Goodreads.  I've thought about doing an occasional book review here to highlight my favorites...we'll see.  

The kids are doing well.   We just registered Ned for Kindergarten yesterday.  No, I didn't cry.  I just wondered how I got to the point of having a five year old (in a couple of months) as my youngest and if we would still be here in the fall.  Peter is doing great.  He finally seems to have had some sort of language burst in the last month or two - can that happen when your kid is six?  I guess so, because he is finally talking a lot, at least at home.  Between Ned, who has always talked a lot, and Peter now, there is rarely a quiet moment when they are home and not asleep.  Being in the school occasionally has helped me have a better idea of the teaching methods and a better relationship with Peter's teacher and we have been able to work on a couple of the language/reading issues he has been having a hard time with all year.  He finally got a good score on his reading test!  The kid can read - he's one of the best readers in his class.  The question is if he's understanding what he's reading, which we're working on.

Grandma is coming this weekend to help finish quilts for the boys.  They are so excited to see her and I'm so excited to have someone help me feed those quilts through the sewing machine!  Thanks Mom!

sick and a doll quilt

WARNING: If you do not like reading about sick people and puking, skip this post.

And I'm back!  Last week was bad.  Monday and Tuesday are always a blur because of Peter's therapy that we travel 40 miles one way to get to, after school, and run errands while we are in town.   And on Wednesday I got sick, really sick.  I almost had to call Ryan to go pick up Peter from school on Wednesday (and I probably should have) I was so sick.  And then later that night, I lost all of my cookies.  I hate throwing up!  I hate it so much and am so good at repressing it that I couldn't even remember the last time I had done it.  And I decided it might have been when I was pregnant with Ned.  Yes, I think I have gone five years without throwing up.  Hooray for me.  

I should have known it was coming.  Ned was sick (and threw up) on the Thursday after Christmas.  On the Wednesday after New Year's Day, Peter insisted that he was sick before school, just like he does about once a week when he just doesn't feel like going.  I made him go anyway and then got a call twenty minutes after school had started that he had thrown up.  Poor kid.  And then he threw up all day long.  So, of course, it was my turn last week.  And after it was over, I spent the next few days recovering.  I'm still not feeling quite 100%, but I'm getting there.  

Luckily, in between all that sickness, we managed to fit in a super fun birthday party of a friend of the boys - a sweet little girl turning 5 that has been one of their best buddies here.  We love going to the pool with them (she has a sister that is Peter's age) in the summer and will miss them lots if/when we leave.  The boys didn't have anything specific in mind that they wanted to give her, so I went searching around the web for something to make her.  I found this fun tutorial for one that uses scraps on Sew, Mama, Sew.  It was super easy and I loved using some of my scraps.  I have so many from all of the banners that I make for the shop.  I might be making a few more.  I have some baby gifts that are super overdue and I'm thinking a doll quilt will be perfect for the girls.  It won't matter that it comes late because they won't play with it until they are a little older, right?

I'll be back in a day or two with the Nook sleeve tutorial.  And my camera is fixed (thank you Ryan!), so no more of these phone pictures and I'll be getting on that flower belt tutorial too.  Stay healthy!  

the shop is open

I closed down the shop in late November for the entire holiday season.  It was wonderful and I was so happy for the break and to enjoy a fairly stress-free December and Christmas. 

I'm ready to get back into the swing of things, so I've re-opened.  I also set up a coupon code (I was so excited when I saw Etsy introduced this) - for the rest of the month, in honor of my birthday later this month, get 20% off any item, even sale items, with the coupon code BIRTHDAYGIRL.

 

nook love

Ryan was very good to me  and got me a Nook for Christmas.  The last few years it seems we have either not bought presents for each other or mutually agreed that some  needed household item we purchased around that time of year would be our Christmas present to each other.  Maybe, we're too practical, but it's just what seemed to be the best decision.  I'm not sure what next year will bring us, so it was a fun to have a year where we felt we could get each other a nice gift.  

I have been known to profess my love for a good old fashioned paper and ink book where you can smell it, feel it, and drink it in.  I've read lots of raving reviews for Kindles over the past few years and just didn't believe it was worth all of the hoopla.  And then, I saw one - my sister-in-law received a Kindle as a gift from work and had it the night of Ryan's birthday dinner - and I think I drooled a bit, or maybe that was because of the cupcake.  Either way, I was smitten - the accessibility, the beautiful e-ink screen, the versatility - I could see all of my reading dreams coming true in that simple device.  

In the end, I chose the Nook because it seems to be a little more versatile than the Kindle, and I'm so happy with it.  It can read books purchased elsewhere and library ebooks, which the Kindle doesn't do.  I love having all my books available to me at once.  I am usually reading three or four books at the same time and I seem to be plowing through them faster when I can switch so easily between them.  I spent almost all of last weekend reading - when I would get tired of one book, I would switch to another without having to get up and look for the other book.  Normally I would just read the one book, get tired of it and fall asleep or move on to something else.  My other favorite thing about it is that it's a lot easier to read while lying down than a paper book with its small size and weight and no pages to hold open (I've been re-reading Harry Potter #7, so that's a pretty significant difference).

I made this super simple sleeve for it out of some thrifted plaid wool and a felted sweater.  Initially this post was going to be a tutorial for it, but then I carried on so much about the Nook, that I decided I would leave the tutorial for the next post.