Friday, December 4, 2009

Ella Beth's Birthday

Ella Beth will soon be 5 1/2, so I thought it was time to let everyone know about her birthday party. ***Smiles***

Ella Beth had a build-a-bear party at Wacky Bear this year.

They played some games...


ate cake...


opened presents...


and made a bear.


Ella Beth had a blast!!!!

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Coming Soon!!

Here's sneak peak at future post topics:



Thursday, September 24, 2009

little mushroom

I imagine little fairies dancing around this mushroom!

That's Cool

Ella Beth is really enjoying kindergarten and learning a lot. Her teacher is having us make flash cards to help with learning how to read. She has letter cards, word cards, and picture cards with words at the bottom. Every day when she comes in from school she will tell us that if we don't do her flash cards Mrs. Taylor will be mad at us. So we try to do them each night.

Tonight while we read them she said something that I got a kick out of. One of the picture cards is of a necktie. She looked at the picture for a minute. Then, with her head cocked to the side and a grin on her face she said, "tie, I have a friend in my class named Ty." And then she snickered.

I think it is really cool that she is beginning to connect letters with words and words with things.

Monday, August 31, 2009

Calender

I have been getting more and more things on my schedule, so I needed a calender for my purse. I looked at target and the cute ones cost more than I wanted to spend, so I thought I could make one.
Today I ventured into the task of making a book style calender . I went to publisher and came up with a personalized style. Printed it out and then made a cover for it at my sewing machine. Here are the results:


Now to fill all these pages with my commitments. That may take a while :-)

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Back 2 School

The kids have been back in school for about three weeks now. They have all been blessed with good teachers this year. I am very thankful!

Ella Beth is really enjoying going to school. The first day I drove her and walked her to class. She really wanted to ride the bus with the boys, but I wasn't quite brave enough for that. I did let her ride home on the bus. She felt so big! Every afternoon she is very tired and grumpy. It is starting to get a little better, but I am ready for the grumpies to end!

Will and Jack have jumped right back into the school routine. They haven't had quite as much homework so far this year, for that we are all grateful. Will has finished reading his first book for AR points this year. This is a great accomplishment for him (getting one read so quickly), so we are really proud. Jack is finishing some of his homework at school. We are excited that he is using his time wisely!I am thrilled that we are off to a great start! I hope you are too.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

More photoshop

Just a quick before and after of Ella Beth from her recital.



Maybe still a little bright. Oh well, I'll figure it out one day.

Friday, August 14, 2009

playing with photoshop

One of the great benefits of creating the yearbook for Will's school is getting photoshop for free. I decided to take a few minutes to play with it this morning. I took a picture of Ella Beth that a took right after getting my new camera and clicked on several buttons - not really knowing what any of them mean. Here's my before:
And here is my after:
A little better, but I still have more playing to do!

Friday, July 17, 2009

Painting and Pink

My mother has graciously taken all three kids to her house for this week. During this time my plan was to paint all the rooms upstairs but the bathroom. Well the game room/guest room (g-room for short) is really big. When we first moved in, it was my daughter's room and bright pink. Now, it is painted "nap sack", a pleasant khaki-green. The boys will be glad the pink is gone from the g-room! The first day, I got it cut in. I hate that part so a break was needed when I was done. The second day I got both coats put on the wall. It is so much more peaceful.

Day three I finished my daughter's new room. It is now pink and teal. I had gotten the teal painted one night while she and the boys were camped out in the g-room, so thankfully one wall was already complete. However, pink is a very hard color to paint. I wouldn't think that is true other than I have now painted three rooms pink. It always takes 3 coats, even if you prime! Three coats is a lot of paint and a lot of pink. I would never like to admit it, but yesterday I was really tired of pink!

I have two more rooms to paint. The kids come back tomorrow. I don't think they will get done this week.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Beach Fun!

Here is a little slide show of our beach vacation. We had a fun trip.
Click to play this Smilebox scrapbook: Summer Vacation 2009
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Monday, June 22, 2009

Painting




I have a new favorite painting in my house. It's this one:
My sister painted it. I really like it on the orange wall. You can see more of her artwork here: http://zinnartstudio.blogspot.com/
Hope you enjoy it; I do.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Swim Team

We have been having a busy summer, mostly at the pool. The boys are both on the summer swim team at the YMCA. They are enjoying it and learning a lot.






Ella Beth also likes the time she is able to spend playing in the pool. And I am excited to say that for the first time ever I am a little tanner than Lee. I know it won't last long though.




Jack got to race against his good friend, Stroud. Jack swam hard, but was defeated in the end. Stroud has been swimming competitively longer. They enjoyed the friendly competition.


Moms from both teams are ask to be the timers for the races. Not a difficult job if your timer works - mine didn't. I missed a race or two, then got a new timer. I was much relieved that the problem was the timer and not the person working it!


Swim team will end in mid-July, but I'm sure we will still be swimming until the summer ends.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Granny Allday



We recently took a trip home to see the family. My grandmother was so thrilled that we came. She always enjoys seeing and spending time with the kids.

I remember spending a week every summer at Granny's house. I had so much fun. There was always kittens, puppies, or baby chicks. We would swing on the porch swing, dig in the dirt with teaspoons, play with animals, gather the eggs, work in the garden, and cook in the kitchen. She also had a big bag of scrap fabric in an old trunk. I would get some of it and she would help me make baby or Barbie clothes with it. She was a hands on kind of grandmother. I am so thankful for her.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Re - dress

I made a new dress for Ella Beth last week. Over spring break, my sister gave me a shirt that just wasn't right for her anymore. She thought it would turn into a great dress for Ella Beth. I think she was right! I took in the side seams, made the shoulder straps, and added the ruffle. It took about 2 hours. (I am a bit of perfectionist when I sew. I finish inseams with a zig-zag stitch. It takes a little more time, but I think it is worth it.) Here is the result:

Sunday, May 17, 2009

A Psalm

I just thought I would share a psalm with you today that Jack wrote earlier this year. Our kids our truly blessed to have great teachers at our wonderful church!

A Psalm of Jack

I praise the Lord, oh my soul!

You gave me life, hope, mind, and strength.
You gave me to the world.
You let me live.

You are like a daisy moving in the wind.

You gave your Son to the world.
You let Him die for us
And that is all that matters.

Praise the Lord, oh my soul!

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Ella Beth's Recital


Ella Beth and I experienced our first dance recital a few weeks ago. And it was very much an experience! I told Lee that I felt like a crazy pageant mom getting ready for the event (no offense to any pageant moms). I'll start at the beginning....

At 9:45 the morning of May 2, Ella Beth had an on stage rehearsal. She bravely went into a strange building, sat next to strange little girls, and waited for her dance teacher, Miss Debbie. While she practiced in a closed rehearsal, I met with a very stressed but organized helper of Miss Debbie's. She showed all of the moms where the dressing rooms where and answered many questions. We were told to have our girls dressed and ready to dance at 6:15. We were also told to label all items and put them in a box so they would not get lost. When our meeting was over, Ella Beth and I were off to Wal-Mart to purchase the box and aqua net (another suggestion from the organized but stressed helper). We arrived home, some time later, with a box, aqua net, and lip stick! While Ella Beth took a nap, I labeled every item and placed them in the box. Here's a list of the items in our box:
costumes - 3 with matching hair accessories
2 pair of tights
hair pins

brush
aqua net
scissors

safety pins
hair nets to help secure the bun
pony tail holders
wet wipes
make-up which included lip stick, blush, mascara, eye shadow, and brown eyeliner to be used to make her face dirty for the final performance.
The list might explain a small amount of how I felt.

At 4:00, I began getting Ella Beth ready for her big event. We started with fresh nail polish. Then, we put up her hair, did her makeup, and put on the costume for her first performance. She was a beautiful little princess!
At 5:00, Ella Beth, Will, and I left so that we could get pictures made and save some seat. I'm sure you are wondering why Will would come with us. Well, on this same night at about the same time, Jack was awarded his webalos badge for boy scouts. (I'll post pictures of that later). Because Lee had to be with Jack, I took Will to save our seats. His job was to tell everyone that these seats were taken and patiently wait for me to get Ella Beth settled backstage. He did an outstanding job! By the end of the evening, Will had sat waiting and watching the performance for 4 hours. All I can say is wow!

Ella Beth had 3 dance routines. Each time, I had to go back and get her ready for the next performance. It was crazy backstage, lots of little girls and lots of moms. Ella Beth did a great job of staying with her group and getting ready for each performance. Here are some pictures of each routine and how she occupied herself backstage. We had a great evening, even though it was long, and look forward to doing it again.

Thursday, April 30, 2009

New Blog

I have found a new blog that I love to read. It is "made". A lady from California talks and shares pictures of things that she has made, mostly sewn. I love all her ideas. She often makes new items from stuff that most people give to a thrift store or throw away (like old pillow cases, sheets, mens shirts, etc.) These items may have seen better days for what they were first made to do, but usually there is enough fabric in them to refashion for children's clothing. Now after seeing all the cute things that she has done, I have to go out to my trunk and open my thrift store bags. There maybe some good stuff in there. I just have to get my creative juices flowing! Here's the link if you are interested: http://dana-made-it.blogspot.com/
Careful, you may get hooked like me :)

Dana, I hope you don't mind me sharing. I had to let others know of your great ideas. Thanks for sharing them.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Mother's Day Giveaway

I found some good giveaways. Leave a comment for your chance to win.

http://www.5minutesformom.com/6032/mothers-day-giveaway-2009/

Aprons

I have been sewing a good bit lately. I've made Ella Beth a skirt, curtains for my bedroom, and 6 aprons. The aprons were for our ladies' retreat at church. Our theme for this year was "back to the basics." When the planning committee started talking about basics I thought of kitchen basics. That is where the aprons came in. We used them for center pieces on the tables topped with jars full of wooden spoons that had recipes attached.
I think they all turned out real cute. At the end of the retreat, the spoons and aprons were door prises for attending. Everyone got a spoon, but only a lucky 6 received an apron. I was one of the lucky six!!!My sister and I are talking about opening an etsy shop. If we do, aprons like these will go on sale. If you could buy one, which one would it be?

Here are some pictures of the detail stitching around the waist band.