Happiness is . . .

going to get the mail this time of the year!  I just love all of the Christmas cards with hand written messages.  And what fun to see the smiling faces of far away loved ones on photo cards.  It is just so much fun!

Happiness is also my boys reenacting the Christmas story.  Here they are the "3 wise men bearing gifts from afar."

Happiness is also them placing their crowns on "baby Jesus" and my youngest's desire to do it over and over again because it was so much fun. (I have guilt over not having the time to oblige him.)

Happiness is spools of new ribbon!  I just love these colors and it is pure eye candy for me (with zero calories I might add!)  Happiness is also my back-up Bernina machine (thanks Mom!) to use when my newer machine couldn't handle all of the sewing I was doing for Christmas gifts.  It was such a relief to have a working machine to keep plugging away at my gifts.  The cute Scottie dog also makes me very happy thanks to Jenny B Harris.  She was incredibly generous in releasing the pattern through a Creative Commons Attribution License.  See this.  I hope this inspires others to do the same.  Now, you can make these cute dogs, too.  She has a wonderful website full of inspiration if you have time to take a look.  She is so creative!  I love the colors she works with.  They are so cheery!

 I made these Scotties for some special people in my life who have been such a support to me and my business this year.  It has really been a sweet ending to 2010. 

Tomorrow begins our journey to Minnesota to spend Christmas with our families.  My prayer for you is to have a very joyful and peaceful Christmas celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. 

I am looking forward to what God has in store in 2011! 

Until next year!

Busy Hands

My hands have been busy sewing doll clothes for my nieces this Christmas and it has been a lot of fun picking out the different fabrics and seeing the tiny clothes come together.  These clothes will fit their American Dolls.  

A sweet flannel nightgown with cute dogs and blue bones!

A Christmas flannel nightgown.

Fun flannel pajamas with a cupcake applique.

Pink heart flannel pajamas with a heart applique.

A polka-dot party dress!

A sweet flannel  nightgown with dogs and pink bones.

Jeans and a knit t-shirt.  These jeans were a lot of fun to make with pink double stitching.

A fleece vest, scarf and hat.  Perfect for a Minnesota doll.

"All Dolled Up"

This is the pattern book I used for all of the clothes.  It is written by Joan Hinds and it was wonderful!  I can just imagine the hours of play my nieces will have dressing their dolls up. 

Blessings on your Christmas preparations today!

Christmas Pretties

After Thanksgiving it seems I have been busy nonstop.  Thus, the reason for not posting!! But, decorating the house for Christmas always follows Thanksgiving for me.  I especially had a lot of fun decorating my dining room.  This is only our 2nd Christmas in our new home so I did a fair amount of experimentation with the decorations until I got things just right.  I thought it would be fun to share some pictures with you.  I love my table because it combines things both sets of parents have given or made for me.  My dad made the advent wreath and my mother-in-law the table runner.  They both have this blueish green in them that looks perfect together.
 

I am really enjoying my "girlie" tree with pink tinsel.  Living in a house with all males I need my pink!

 I bought this stocking at a craft sale in St. Peters, Missouri.  The lady who made it had so many beautiful hand made items.  I envied her ability to crochet tiny doilies and lacework.  She shared with me how this stocking was made from old quilt scraps.  Isn't it lovely all dressed with pearl buttons  and trim?

Today will be another day full of sewing for me.  I will be sharing in the days to come, so stop on back!

Blessings!

George Washington's Thanksgiving Proclamation

 If you have a moment this is so worth reading and reflecting on . .

nationaldayofprayer.org/thanksgiving-proclamation/

Blessings in Him.

Getting Ready!

I am really looking forward to celebrating Thanksgiving with our parents in a couple of days.  We are so thankful they are coming and look forward to a wonderful time with them.  Along with doing the shopping and cleaning the past few days I fit in a little sewing out of necessity for my son.  He took a slide on our floors on Sunday and ripped a fairly large size hole in the knee of his pants! 

I had this cute construction truck fabric that was just perfect for covering up the hole. 

Just a little cutting, ironing and sewing solved the problem (at least until the next slide!)

There is so much to be thankful for in our lives and I love that we get to set aside this time of year just to focus on thankfulness.  I am so thankful for God's grace and His provision of salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ.  I am thankful for my family and friends, home, food and clothing.  God has richly blessed us in every way. 

I pray you all have a lovely Thanksgiving!
Blessings!

Sunday Scripture

Photo courtesy of snapdragonflorist

"You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over."

Psalm 23:5

Words to live by

Photo courtesy of bigphoto.com

"Rejoice always,

pray without ceasing,

in everything give thanks;

for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

(I Thessalonians 5:16)

So sweet

Super cute finds on etsy for baby:

Essiedesigns - Waterproof Wet Bag

ModTotSpot

SweetDiaperCakes

There is such an abundance of sweet baby items on etsy.  It is truly eye candy!

It's almost time!

I have been preparing all year for this Saturday's craft sale at our local high school. I have been sewing oodles and oodles of baby items!! A few months back I also published this!  With more product than space at my table I turned my thoughts to sewing an apron to store money (hopefully) or tissues if I don't sell anything!!! Just kidding, of course!!!

  Sorting through my fabric stash I gathered these items. . .

Yummy colors!

 I envisioned an apron with 3-pockets that tied at the waist.  As I began assembling it, I was struck with how these fabrics were meant to be together.  What surprised me the most was how they were purchased at different times and for different projects I had in mind.  Isn't that how God works in our lives? We set out to do something and then we go down side-roads, encounter exits and on-ramps and perhaps the worst . . . roadblocks or even road construction (can we say character development?)  But, God is so faithful to turn those things around for good, for he has good plans for us, a future and a hope.  He has an incredible way of taken our broken lives and making something beautiful out of them.  It feels sort of messy and out of control as we are in the midst of it.  But, He is faithful to complete the good work which he started in us, if we stay yoked to Jesus.

Finished apron.

Just like these scraps of fabric that had no purpose until I pulled them out and put them together to create something useful.  The apron reminds of chocolate and pink icing.  Wouldn't it be cute in a pastry or ice-cream shoppe?  What fun!!!!

I'd love to see you at the craft sale!!  Last year I walked away so inspired by the wonderful things people created (and a few treasures to take home!)  But, reading all of your blogs/websites does the same thing for me.  God bless!!

Sunday Scripture

"For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are My ways higher than your ways

and My thoughts than your thoughts."

Isaiah 55:9

A Happy Oven

I've been on a mission to clean out my oven this week.  I knew the residue left over from a leaking cheesecake pan wouldn't magically come off on the self-clean mode so I sprayed it down and waited and waited.  After wiping it out over and over I was rewarded with a shinier oven.  Whew!  What a job that was.  I hope to avoid any more spills so I won't have to repeat this task for a long time!   Well, one can hope can't she? 

Making lemon poppyseed muffins seemed just the thing to make me and my oven sing again. 

Yes, it certainly felt better pulling them out of my clean oven.  And my turkey will probably thank me in a couple of weeks, too!! 

Have a sweet weekend!

A Very Happy Day

Our youngest turned "5" this past week.  He picked out the police theme to celebrate his birthday.  He has been talking about his birthday to anyone and everyone that will listen for what seemed like over a month!  He had to wait SO LONG for this special day.  And it finally came!  He savored every minute of it!

This was my first attempt at piping a cake.  I found a picture on the internet that I used as a model.  Boy, did it take some time and some muscle!  My arm wasn't used to working that hard! But, it was worth it to see his reaction to it!

Blessings!

A Fall Get Away

We are loading up today for a mini-fall break.  Our boys are really excited!  Half of the males in my family will be doing some pheasant hunting and the rest of us will be spending time with family.  We are really looking forward to fun times.  Getting through the long drive is the most challenging!  I am hoping our faces will still be smiling when we get there!

Have a wonderful, safe weekend!

Some sewing for my boys . . .

There aren't many things I've found to sew for my boys.  So, when I have an opportunity I jump all over it!  Well, my youngest son has loved a little pillow his Grammie made him for years!  When he was old enough to sleep with it, it was right near his side.  But, since it has been loved SO MUCH it was looking a bit sad and need of a replacement.  I finally convinced him to come with me to the fabric store and he was sure Purdue fabric was just right.  I even tackled a knitted cap in the same colors.  It was a rewarding project as I've tried numerous knitted or crocheted projects before and gotten confused with the patterns and given up.  This cap was simply a stockinette stitch with no shaping. It will surely keep him warm on the preschool playground. 

My third oldest wasn't to be out done and wanted his own pillow.  And, this is the fabric he choose!

It was such fun to make these for them.   What do you like to make for boys?

A Thankful Heart

Hubby was away on business last evening which means mealtimes are a little (okay a lot ) more crazy.  Last night was no exception.  My second oldest was in a particularly "active" mood.  As a result there were many "lively" comments exchanged between the boys.  They generally get along but they have streaks of competitiveness that can quickly turn a bit negative.  Always wanting to correct or prove they are right wears on me after awhile.  It must have been the Lord who prompted me to have each of them say one nice thing about their brothers at the end of the meal.  So, one by one, they shared out loud straight from their hearts.  I wish I would have recorded it because it was priceless.  Themes of "he's always around to play" and "he's fun to be around" and "he understands me" and "he's good at helping me because he's so smart"  were spoken.  I took my turn complimenting each of them and it was so good for me as well to focus on their gifts because as a mom it's all to easy to find fault with them.  Then I congratulated them on stellar report cards.  Plans were quickly made to go the grocery store to pick out some donuts to celebrate.  They didn't seem to mind the meager selection at 7:30pm.  But, it was a sweet ending to a rather hairy evening.  It's always good to count my blessings! 

Sunday Scripture

Photo courtesy of panhala.net

"Stand fast therefore in the liberty
by which Christ has made us free,

and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage."

  Galations 5:1

A Full Weekend

 Last night marked the last baseball game for my boys this year.  It's a good thing since it was extremely cold cheering them on!  They enjoyed every minute of the season and really gave it their all.  It was wonderful to see them progress.

My boys have been invited to a number of birthday parties this month.  So often it's easy to put the gift in a bag but this time I pulled out the wrapping paper and it was fun to make them festive.

My youngest was invited to a Chuck E Cheese party.  He couldn't stop talking about this special party because it would be his first time going there.  Let's just say he'd go back every day if he could!  He just loved playing all of the games and the gratification of earning "tickets" was just the icing on the cake.  He couldn't wait to show his "loot" to his brothers when they came home from school. 

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend, too!

A Blaze of Glory

What a beautiful fall we are having!  The days have been saturated with sun and warmth and now the trees are showing off there beautiful colors. On my morning walks I have been so mesmerized by God's glorious palette of color and texture.  The morning I took these photos the sun was just making it's way over the horizon.

A wonderful blanket of leaves!

Meandering path.

I like to take a deep breath of the smell of the leaves in the air.  It's so calming!

Breathtaking beauty.

My youngest son and I have been spending nearly every day at the park soaking up the sunshine.  I only wish I knew how to bottle this spectacular weather for the upcoming winter season!  But, alas we have to live in the moment.

Enjoying the park.

And that is what we will do!

Blessings!

Oh, so modern mommy!

My very good friend from college just recently became an "auntie" again.  I was more than happy to make these gifts for her new nephew, Jackson. Since she is considered family to us my boys have called her "Auntie" from day 1!  She knows just how to keep them laughing and joins right in on their silly games (like jumping on the beds!)  She is an elementary school teacher who has such an awesome gift with children.  

Burp Cloth

The new mommy isn't into flowers so this modern print in aqua and brown will keep her looking chic!

Nursing Cover

Aren't new babies wonderful? Welcome, little Jackson!

Sunday Scripture

We spent the day yesterday sprucing up the house and baking a number of desserts.  This was all in preparation for today.   We have a life group meeting in our home following church and then a picnic to go to afterwards.  The weather is perfect:  beautiful sunshine!   We are looking forward to food, fellowship and a lot of fun!

"And also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor - it is the gift of God."
Ecclesiastes 3:13

  I pray you will enjoy God's gifts today, too!

Kids Workshop at Home Depot

I am always looking for something fun to do with my boys.  This is only the 2nd time we've taken the boys to Home Depot on a Saturday for their Kids Workshop, but I hope to do it more often.  They provide a kit (free of charge) with instructions to build a different project each month.

This month they made fireboats.  I helped my youngest (4) out quite a bit but the older boys could do it on their own.

They also had fire and police people with their rescue vehicles.  My youngest took quite an interest in this police man with his dog and very cool car.  He was able to go in the car and turn on the lights.  Now he says he wants to be a police officer.  I asked the police officer why he chose this as a career and he wisely said it's a career that chooses you.  He never outgrew his desire to be a policeman.  Time will tell what my little guy will be as well as my older boys.  It was definetely a great time.

Blessings on your day,