Decorating for Christmas

This evening we put on Christmas pajamas and started decorating for Christmas. Our trees and stockings are up! It's a start. Hopefully tomorrow I can decorate the mantles and place a few items around the house. I'll post pics of the decor later.




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Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you were able to spend the day with some very special family. We hosted the Thanksgiving meal this year.  We had a total of 13 people....not too big....not too small.  It was great to be with loved ones. I wanted to take a moment and mention a few people/things that I am thankful for...

My Heavenly Father & my salvation
My husband & kids
My parents, in-laws, grandparents and extended family
I get to be a stay-at-home mom for my two healthy, wonderful, beautiful children
My husband's job
My health
Freedom

I am thankful for so much more, but this list would never end if I tried to name everything.

Pants for Girls & Boys

I am so excited that I now have a pattern for pants for boys & girls. Actually, I took a pattern I had for girls' pants with ruffles and created my own pattern for boys.  I simply added enough length to replace the ruffle and create a hem. It is as simple as that! Here are some recent ones that I have made.  I apologize that my full length pic of the boy's pants is blurry.  I didn't realize, and I have already given them away so I can't take another pic.

I already did a post of the little girl wearing the outift, but I wanted to give some close-ups.

Girl's pants & shirt:

FYI: The frayed edges are intentional! :)

Boy's pants:

No, you are not going cross-eyed.  The pic is blurry!

My Family

We took a trip this past weekend to visit Joshua's brother and his family.  Their daughter, Quinn, was being christened at church. After church on Sunday, we all went to their neighborhood festival.  What a huge festival!!! I think I counted 9 spacewalks.  Plus, there was all the free food you could want...hamburgers, hotdogs, grilled chicken, cotton candy, snowcones, desserts, etc.  Plus, they had balloon artists and face painting. I wish we had had more time there. Madison was enjoying it!

Cookie (the clown) & Madison

Madison

Brantley

Mimi, Brantley, Jason & Quinn

Jason, Quinn & Carissa

Grandmother & DanDan

My family & me

Here is a pic from the christening:

Polka Dots Anyone?

I love, love, love polka dots. I am attracted to polka dots like a magnet. Anything and everything with polka dots catches my eye. Sooooo, when Madison was invited to a friend's birthday party, we decided I should make her an outfit. This friend's momma paints adorable paintings for us, and I sew for her. It is a great trade off!
I went to my favorite fabric store and was drawn to some black and white polka dot fabric like a moth to a flame (Ok, ok, you get it! I really like polka dots!)
Her mom sent me this pic of AK wearing the outfit I made for her.

Isn't she adorable?! Don't ya just love the polka dots?!
Toodles for now! I'll be back to show you more clothes I have been sewing lately!


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Fall treats and Madison's class party

Last Thursday was Madison's Fall Party at school.  I wanted her to give something to all of her friends, and I didn't want to give a bunch of candy.  Sooooo, We bought the 6 pack of caramel dipping cups and Granny Smith apples.  I packaged them up with some cellophane wrap and cute ribbon.  The teacher got a large tub of caramel and several apples.  What do ya think? I think I will use this idea again!

For her friends:

For her teacher:

They had fun at their party.  We had Chick-fil-a nuggets, chips, cookies and juice.  Then, I read them a cute book about picking your favorite pumpkin and carving it, just as God picked us and made us perfect. Then, we did a simple craft.  They each got a foam pumpkin and a set of foam eyes, nose & mouth to decorate it.

Madison's class (minus 1):

Did you notice Madison's orange pants in the pic above?  I made those! That is going to be another post as soon as I can locate the pics on this computer. I am not sure what happened to them after I put them in iphoto.  They seem to have disappeared. My husband says they are probably on the external hard drive.

Check out the pumpkin that Madison and I carved.  Daddy was out of town on business, so we had to do it alone! Daddy would have done something much more elaborate, but we were proud of our creation!

Dedication to the Lord

My son, Brantley is 2 months old. We dedicated him to the Lord at church yesterday. What an awesome and powerful day. We just made a huge commitment to raise him in a Christian home. It is our job to be Godly parents and to raise Brantley to love the Lord. We made this same commitment when our daughter, Madison, was about 4 months old.

When my daughter was dedicated, I asked my grandmother and mother to sew a dress for her.  It was beautiful. I wanted Brantley to have a handmade outfit as well, but I didn't want to ask them to sew it since I didn't decide to do it until 2 weeks ago.  So, I chose a simple  dedication bubble.  I used the Creations by Michie pattern #126.

I learned a lot while making this bubble. I had never before sewn tucks or a Madeira trim.  The placket was new, as well as hand embroidery. The cross is hand embroidered using a padded satin stitch.  The small dots are called French knots.  This bubble definitely contains its fair share of flaws, but I am proud of it anyway.

Following church, our family went to lunch. There we were able to meet our niece who was born on the same day as Brantley.

Check out my husband's haircut....I did that!  He trusted ME to cut his hair.  I thought it turned out pretty good!

Happy Birthday, Madison

Happy birthday to my beautiful, sweet daughter, Madison. I love you so much....more than you will understand until you have your own children. Thank you for three fun filled years! I can't wait to see what the next 60 years will bring us.

Sorry for the dark pic. We are at Chick-fil-a and she was too busy to pose in a good spot for lighting.

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Circus

We took our 2 (almost 3) year old to the circus for the first time last night. We didn't attempt to take Brantley.  Madison loved it!  I'll have to admit, we enjoyed it too.  She even rode a pony.  I couldn't believe it.  We can't even get her to ride a pony on the carousel at the mall. She always chooses to ride in the carriage....but, hey, the princess belongs in the carriage anyway.  :) When you look at the pic of her on the pony you will see that she wasn't in her comfort zone.

My brother, Josh, and my niece, Sophia, joined us.  Actually, we joined them. It was their idea!  Thanks for the invite.  My sister-in-law, Elizabeth, wasn't able to join us.  We missed you!

The pony ride!

They had so much fun!  I enjoyed watching them watch the performers and the animals.

What am I reading?

I am finally reading, The Power of a Praying Parent by Stormie Omartian. My mother-in-law loaned this book to me YEARS ago (sorry, Ms. Sandra-I will return it soon!). My BF, Kelli, recently reminded me that Omartian's books regarding the power of praying were great books. So, I am finally reading them, starting with The Power of a Praying Parent. I have only read the first chapter at this point, but I have already gotten several valuable reminders. My favorite so far is, "Prayer is much more than just giving a list of desires to God, as if He were the great Sugar Daddy/Santa Claus in the sky...It's seeking the presence of God and releasing the power of God which gives us the means to overcome any problem." I already knew this, but sometimes it is good to be reminded.

Next, I plan to read to read The Power of a Praying Wife.

Have a blessed week!
Caz


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