The Amazing Sara Trail

Today I want to introduce you to a very gifted and special young lady named Sara Trail.  I discovered her by picking up one of her books, "Sew with Sara," at the library.

While her sewing projects are adorable what struck me was how young she is.  At the time this book was published she was 13 years old!!  She has little journal entries next to her patterns that reveal her fun loving personality but also her passion for sewing.  She shares how her parents sometimes had to turn the power off to her room at night so she wouldn't get up during the night to sew!  Love it!

Since the publication of this book she has gone on to publish numerous other books and has designed patterns for Simplicity.  Her website can be found here.  But, what inspires me the most is her joy for Jesus. 

Her mom calls her a quilting artist.  I couldn't agree more!  Sara is now 17 years old and ready to start college.  Recently she has designed several lines of fabric that can be found in stores.  If that wasn't enough she teaches sewing lessons at her church.  She just inspires me so much.

Many blessings on your day!

GooGone to the Rescue

I accidentally dried a load of clothes with a tube of chapstick.  I was so horrified when I saw all of the stains on our clothes as I began to fold them.  There were dark grease spots splattered across many of our shirts and pants.  I tried multiple products, including "ZOUT" my favorite,  but none of them worked much to my frustration.

But, then I asked a friend of mine, and she suggested using Goo Gone.  At this point I was game to try anything because it looked like a loss as far as I was concerned.  I squirted it on every stain and let it sit for 5-10 minutes (found out it's best to do this in a well ventilated area because the smell is quite strong!)  Then, I washed the clothes with detergent just like I normally would.

Waalaah!  Clean clothes again!!!  Every spot came out!!  There is a faint smell left over on the clothes but it either evaporates out or is gone after multiple washings.

I have had my bottle of Goo Gone for years and years to get stickers off things but I never once tried it on clothes.  Now I know!

Have you ever had a dryer nightmare? 

May all your laundry days be blessed!

Passage of Time

If growing up too fast was a crime I would have reason to fine my boys, especially my oldest!  Seeing him  all dressed up for prom was quite an awakening of how fast the years have gone by. 

Dressing up in a black tuxedo has a way of transforming young boys into handsome (but still goofy) men.

While the young men were dashing the young ladies were breathtaking in their floor length elegant formals.

Aren't they beautiful?

 Seeing my son and his friends all dressed up and excited for a night of fun was pure delight. 

 There are so many rough spots with raising children but it's times like these that make it all so worthwhile!

Rejoice in the Lord always!!

My Flower Garden

On the way to my mailbox my clematis with it's first blooms of the season caught my eye.  What is it about flowers that delight me so? 

Perhaps it is their cheerful, colorful faces pointed heavenward. They are beautiful bursts of joy.   I am so glad God created the flowers!

Then, I peeked around the side of my house to see what was happening there.  To my surprise I saw my peonies are about ready to bloom.  Their buds are so large and tight, about the size of a ping pong ball.

I had my heart set on pink peonies while shopping at the nursery last year but there were slim pickings.  Apparently a lot of other people like pink peonies, too!  Imagine that!  Not one to wait my husband urged me to pick from what was there.

Whatever the color I am sure it will not disappoint!  Can't wait to see the layers and layers open up. 

Since our March weather was unseasonably warm we took a risk in putting in our tiny vegetable garden early.  Last week when the temperatures were foretasted to dip below freezing we covered up our starter vegetable plants.  Unfortunately,  many of our tomatoes and some of our peppers got too cold.  They look so pathetic all withered.  It was disappointing but I guess it was a lesson learned! 

I am enjoying watching our gardens this Spring, how is your garden growing? 

Blessings,

catching up

Forgive me for my blogging absence!  The days just fly by with good intentions of blogging but I just can't seem to make it happen lately.  What have I been up to?  Well, we have been blessed to have both sets of parents come to visit us the last few weeks - first for Spring Break and then for Easter.   Spending time with them is priceless, even more so since they live far from us.

Here is a photo from our Easter brunch . . .

We had a happy day together.  The day was nice enough that the boys were able to hunt for eggs outdoors.  My oldest has the job of hiding the eggs.  Since my boys are getting big he likes to give them a challenge (nothing is too high!)

My second oldest is shimmying (is that even a word?) along the edge to reach the egg above the vent (can you see it?)  There always seems to be a few eggs that can't be found.  Some bird will likely find it though!

During all of the fun and celebration we did have a few mishaps. 

First of all my oldest son got a case of very bad poison ivy.  Not just a little bit of a reaction but a VERY BAD one.  Most likely he got it retrieving a golf ball from the woods.  He's my golfer and sometimes those pesky little balls just don't go where they should.  Tsk, tsk, tsk . . .

Thankfully we found a product that works (a big thank you to the man at the pharmacy counter who recommended this.  He had a lot of credibility sine he said he gets poison ivy like 5x a year! ) 

It really worked to stop the oozing and begin the process of healing.  Just a tip if you or someone you know gets a bad case.  Thank God for modern medicine!

About that time our 3rd oldest son who plays baseball took a ball right about the eye. 

Unsure of whether he had a concussion my husband took him to the ER.  Thankfully, no broken bones and no bruising on the skin.  He's still taking pain medication days later but we are trusting all will be well with him. 
 
I hope you had a joyous Easter celebration.

"Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivers him out of them all."  Psalm 34:19

Many blessings to you my friends!

humor

Are you familiar with the scripture, "a cheerful heart is good medicine?"  And did you know God laughs?  The scripture says in Psalm 2:4, "the One enthroned in heaven laughs." Isn't it fun to be around people who laugh and smile and have a good time?  Isn't it also a blast to watch a funny show?  Laughing has a way of making us feel better and keeps us from worrying and stressing about the little and big stuff that only God can fix.

My oldest son made me laugh quite a bit yesterday as he pulled a few pranks on us, all in the name of April Fool's Day.

First thing in the morning instead of seeing the normal row of cereal boxes in the pantry I saw this note . . .

Ha ha!  The cereal thief took all our cereal!!  The shelf was completely empty!!  Even the cereal no one likes to eat was gone!!  And our cereal bowls were all upside down on the counter in the shape of a pyramid with an army guy flag on top. 

Time to search for cereal right?  I opened cupboard after cupboard to find our various cereals.

Some were easy, some not so easy.  I needed help to find the one in the freezer and on the top of our very, very tall cabinets! 

After I found my cereal I was getting hungrier and hungrier trying to locate the spoons since they weren't in their normal spot in the silverware tray.  Thankfully, another son gave me the tip to look in the butter compartment of our refrigerator.  Ooh, I never would of thought of that!

Everything was all topsy-turvy as the cereal bags were switched (corn flakes for frosted flakes, cinnamon life for regular life, etc. etc.)  Then he had switched the milk caps (so now the skim milk looked like 2%.)

I thought it was all too funny.  Although later at night I got a little freaked out when I opened the cover of my ipad and saw a cracked screen.  Could it really be cracked??  I was very relieved when I discovered he had changed my wallpaper from a pink rose to a cracked window!!  Oh my!!  He scared me!!

Did you have anyone play tricks on you on April Fool's Day?  If so, I hope it was all in good fun!!!

"A relaxed attitude lengthens a man’s life." Proverbs 14:30

Blessings my friends!