Sewing Projects

Since I had such a great time sewing Maddie's Easter dress, I've decided to make a few things for her summer wardrobe. This is the pattern I will be using - I will make the romper (I also plan on making a few jumpers using the pattern of her Easter dress).

I'm still searching for a nice summer skirt pattern for myself, as I also plan on making some nice summer skirts, and then buying some nice T-shirts to go with.

Another quick, not-much-sewing project that I'm going to do today is make a wrap for Maddie. I've always been a baby carrier, in that I usually just have them on my hip and do everything one handed! Ouch, my back hurts, especially with Maddie being about 27 pounds! So with a piece of ugly, cheap fabric, I tried this, and it is amazing. I wore Maddie for a while last night - my hands were totally free and it is so supportive! I looked on this website to see how much fabric and what type of fabric is necessary to make a GOOD wrap. Honestly, I've looked at the price of Ergos and other carriers, and that is just not in our budget! With this wrap, I think I could easily even give Collin a piggy-back with lots of support - hiking - here we come (we love hiking!). I plan on getting a light-weight, breathable cotton fabric so it won't be too hot when we go hiking and walking in warmer weather.

Jo-Ann Fabrics was having a great sale this week, so if time allows, I'm going to sneak over there today to peruse the fabrics for the clothes and wrap (tried to do so with my three blessings this week - although they were very good, it will be easier to look at and feel the fabrics all by myself ;) )

Stay tuned!

"Katchow!" He's Out!

It's a sleepy kind of afternoon in my corner of the world - the perfect one for an afternoon movie. Cars was the movie of choice. After playing outside this morning, the boys came in for a a nice hot lunch of grilled cheese and apples. They played for a bit after, and then around 1:15 or so, I made a bed on the family room floor and put the DVD on. I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story.

Okay, so only Owen is really sleeping - but that NEVER happens anymore! This is his 3rd nap this week! The other two afternoons I sent him up to his room for his quiet time, and he fell asleep. Today, I wasn't planning on doing anything other than a movie, and I guess he just couldn't take it anymore.

Collin is pretty convincing though, no?

BUMMER!

As you can see I changed the layout of my blog. Its still not entirely the look I'm going after - I may just have to pay someone to do it. But the BUMMER is I lost a bunch of stuff, because I decided NOT to save the other template. Grrrrr.....

The silliest thing of all was that I lost that map and stat counter. Getting a new map doesn't bother me, but when I get a new stat counter it will start all over again at 0. So for the record, so I can add it to the new total when I put a new stat counter - last I noticed I was at about 3,995 - granted, 3,990 are probably from the times I click on my own blog - but still, I liked seeing that number. I know, immature, but it is one of those little irritating things.

Keep it in perspective Jen!

EDITED: See, most times we get irritated, there is no reason to. When I went looking for stat counters, you can put in your own starting number. Hmmmmm, I should have started with 582,643 so it makes my blog look super popular :)

Hey Maddie, Whatcha Doin'?

"Huh?"

Me: "Whatcha Doin?"

"Playin' with 'good-girl peoples - see?"

Maddie can't get enough of Fisher Price's Little People figures a/k/a "Good-girl peoples". She always has one in her hand wherever we go. Today I found her paring every one she has as if there were hugging, kissing, dancing...I don't know, but it was too cute!

A Lovely Easter

Easter was lovely, despite having a few kids with boogery noses. After the kids quickly looked at their little gifts, we all got ready to leave by 7:30 a.m. Turns out we didn't need to leave so early as the 8:00 a.m. service wasn't all that crowded. The boys stayed in church with us, and I learned a valuable lesson. I thought they were being so antsy, and being that it was an Easter service, the Gospel was presented (actually, our Pastor presents the Gospel every week), I was heartbroken thinking that many would not be able to pay attention, and hear these life-saving words! I learned that it has nothing to do with me - when its God's time - its God's time, and 2 antsy boys won't stop Him! At least 5 people were saved just during this not-heavily-attended service. Praise the Lord!

We celebrated the resurrection of our Savior with our church family. Our Pastor spoke from Luke 18:31-34, where Jesus took his 12 disciples and explained that He would be mocked, spit upon, beaten, put to death and then rise again on the third day. But that (v. 34) they didn't get it - it went right over their head! These were Jesus' disciples who walked physically with Him and who knew about the Old Testament prophecies that said this would happen! Pastor asked us to think about those things which Jesus wants us to do, yet we don't get it. Boy, I can think of many things - its sobering. I'm convicted to pray and dig in the Word, and do what it takes to get it. He went on to say that after Jesus rose from the dead, and returned to His disciples - that they did get it, and many died martyrs' deaths because they would not keep silent about their Lord. Wow. They certainly did get it.

We then went to my parent's to celebrate our Savior's resurrection with them and my brother and his family. It was fun, and the food was delicious! We had ham, mashed potatoes, rolls, asparagus, baked brussel sprouts (yum!), followed by carrot cake. It was delicious, Mom! After dinner, we were all pretty tired, so we watched Polar Express - what you think that an odd movie for Easter? Well, its C's favorite movie, and that is just what we do when we go to Grammie and Grampie's! I tear up through the whole movie - because whenever C and I cuddle, he loves to hum the Josh Groban/Polar Express song to me.


Here's a few pictures of us - yup, the boys matched and so did M and I. I made M's dress, and used some of the fabric I had left to make a skirt for myself. It was fun to match with my daughter - the boys match nearly every Sunday - a little tradition Daddy and O started when O was about 2. I plan on making a bunch of jumpers for M for summer, and I think I'll get a nice skirt pattern and make a bunch of skirts with the same material from M's jumpers. Anyway, enough blabbing, here's the pictures:

Resurrection Rolls

You've all heard of the Resurrection Cookies, right? As I am not a baker (cook, yes - bake, no!), looking at that recipe scares me! Well, for the last few years, we've been doing something that is right up my alley! It is easy, little kids can participate, and it clearly tells the Easter story.

What you need:

Crescent or Grands Biscuit Dough (like Pillsbury)
Large Marshmallows
Melted Butter
Cinnamon/Sugar combined

Give each child a triangle section of crescent roll, or a Grands Biscuit split in half. This represents the tomb.

Give each child a marshmallow. This represents the body of Christ.

Have each child dip the marshmallow in the melted butter and then roll in the cinnamon/sugar mixture. This represents the oil and spices they used on Jesus' body to prepare Him for burial.

Place the marshmallow on the roll/biscuit and explain how the guards placed Jesus' body in the tomb. Then wrap the crescent roll over the marshmallow/put the other half of the biscuit dough on top of the marshmallow and give each child a fork to seal the dough. Check each child's piece, insuring it is sealed well so that no marshmallow leaks out. Explain that the guards also placed a seal on the tomb.

Bake according to the package directions. Let cool. Have each child break open their piece, and they will see that the marshmallow is no longer there! Explain that Jesus also was raised from the dead and is alive in Heaven. Rejoice!

I hope you have a wonderful Easter. I hope it is one that is centered on Christ and His resurrection!

He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!

A Schedule

For as long as I've been a Mom, I've been able to make it by "flying by the seat of my pants." Well it ain't working anymore. I don't think my personality is one that can fully do that anyway (in other words, I'm not very laid back!). I get these days where I'm zombie-like, and I've convinced myself that if I have a schedule, I can just look at it, and it can tell me what to do (I'm one of those that actually like to be told what to do!). If you're interested, here is a link to it:

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=df99smb_5fffzkxft

The thing I must realize about schedules is that I must hold on to them loosely. Children get sick; my husband may need encouragement; today may be sunny, the rest of the week rainy, so I may want to write off today and take advantage of the sun. I must remind myself daily that life is more important than my plans. So with that in the back of my mind, I will not freak out if everything doesn't go according to the schedule. I can't do that as it would be a sin.

There are a few things I plan to tweak. One is the amount of TV time. This winter was tough, and I slid into some pretty bad habits with the TV. Sadly, whats reflected on the schedule is an improvement. Also, come summer, I will switch the whole thing up as we plan on spending a good chunk of the day at the pool :)

Proverbs 16:3 and 9 - "Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed. In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps."

Dragging Today

So I never got the big deal about kids not being able to adjust to daylights savings time. Mine never had a problem. Well, until this year. You see this is the first year I had to get up with the rest of the world and not just sleep in to adjust.

So today, I'm dragging, and will likely do the same all week. But this is awesome that it is almost 5:00 p.m. and no sign of darkness anytime soon! Spring is around the corner!

Blog? Blog? What Blog?

Oh yeah, I have a blog (wink). Yeah, yeah, I know, I haven't kept up with this nearly like I thought I would. But you see, the weather has been a balmy 42 degrees (had to get outside!), some of us had the flu, my son O is skiing like a mad-man and I had to see it, and in the midst of all that, I turned a year older. So blogging was WAY down on my list of things to do :)

So, let me bring all my loyal readers up to date on the goings on in our home. I'll go youngest to oldest :)

M-she is a doll. Everyone needs a daughter :) I've witnessed my boys copying Daddy. Of course I thought it was adorable, but it never occurred to me that my little darling would start copying me! Awwwww! If I'm cleaning, she gets her little broom. If I'm cooking she cooks at her kitchen which is right in front of our counter in the kitchen with me. She's even started scolding the boys when they misbehave....okay, that I need to nip in the bud :) She is precious! We have another eye appointment on Tuesday as a follow-up. Although her wandering eye is all but gone (it is her weak spot though, as when she gets super overtired - which I try to avoid at all cost - or sick, her eye will occasionally wander), when she looks down, she closes the bad eye. I'm beginning to wonder if she's having troubles with depth perception. She has a hard time walking on new surfaces, and this was the sign to our neighbors that their daughter needed glasses.

C-he is definitely our clown. He can brighten up any room. He is graduating from speech therapy which is so great! A year ago, I, his mother, couldn't even understand him. Now, even strangers understand him most of the time! He continues until June, which will be great to just pound it home even more. Next time you see him ask him to say "Grand Central Station." It makes you giggle because it is so perfect! Speaking of Grand Central Station, that is a Geo-Trax piece that is his favorite (a special Christmas present from Grammie and Grumpy-Grampy). He plays with Geo-Trax CONTINUALLY. He is excellent at building tracks! Speaking of Grumpy-Grampy, last night I asked my kids who was their favorite Valentine and C said "Grumpy-Grampy."

O-he continues to do excellent at school! I love having him read to me and his brother and sister. He amazes me daily with what he can read! He's a wonderful writer as well, and does a great job sounding things out. As I said above, he's a skiing mad-man. If we skied more, he'd by-pass my level hands down (which isn't too hard to do!). Of course this makes Daddy beam. I think the most important thing to Daddy is that all his kids ski and bike :) He's my hard worker, and loves doing things to help us like getting the garbage can from the curb, getting the mail himself, or feeding the dog. He's a wonderful helper all around and will often lend a helping hand for his brother and sister (especially his sister who has him wrapped around her finger!)

J-I'm a year older. Can hardly believe it! Where is the time going? I had a wonderful birthday. Because we thought O was starting a bad cold, we stayed home from church, and had our own family worship time. That was fun. Then O's terrible runny nose and fever just disappeared, and we packed some food and went to our ski hill. This place is the best. It is a private hill, and as members we are taught to turn on the lift. It is small enough that you see your kids at all times. There is a little A-frame house with a wood stove set up high. So while Daddy and I took turns skiing with O, C played in the snow and M ate junk and danced for 2 hours! Whatever made her happy! Later, my awesome husband bought me a stand mixer. This will undoubtedly make my life easier! It already has - this week I've made my bread of course, rolls, and meatloaf, all with hardly a mess. After he bought that for me, I had a great dinner at my favorite restaurant with my parents. What fun and so delicious! Then because I'm officially an old lady (wink), I spent the rest of the evening, thinking I was dying of a heart attack. Literally I thought that. Thankfully my good friends who are missionaries in a land far far away broke up my worry with a surprise phone call! What great friends!

The next morning my heart continued to just skip all over the place, so after spending all afternoon and evening in the ER, I found out I have a premature heart beat (no heart attack - thank you Lord!). This is probably okay, but I do need to get a stress test and ECHO done with a cardiologist. It continues to bother me, especially at night, especially if I've had a more active day, so I look forward to finding out what's up. I've made sure to eliminate caffeine, and it continues to flutter and skip. It stinks getting old (wink).

O-Daddy continues to provide for us, for which I am eternally grateful. He's been taking a public speaking class to help with his job as he occasionally has to testify before town planning and zoning boards. This ski hill is the best answer to this man's prayers! For $100, our whole family is skiing all winter! I see a renewed energy when we go there. Unfortunately winter must end, but with that comes more biking :) That's equally as fun to him! He's officially joined me in becoming a cheapskate. Not that he was a frivolous spender before, but its so funny to see him look for the cheaper deal.

Okay, now you're all caught up. I'll try to post some pictures soon so you can see how cute my kids get by the day :)