This is my one hundredth blog post!!!! Can ya believe it? It's been almost a year since I started this blog and I've grown very attached to it. I sometimes joke that in the event of a house fire, I'd grab my kids and my blog ;) I hope it has been a joy to some of you and hopefully you're inspired enough to start a blog of your own! Yay!
I made Natalie this dress this past week and she's been waiting and waiting for *church day* to come so she could wear it. It turned out too cute. That was her idea to cross her legs like that in the picture. Yes, she is quite the little girl these days :)
There's been lots going on in my *studio* this past week. Here are some crayon rolls I made for some special little ones for Christmas. These are so much fun, not to mention fast and inexpensive to make. (I stopped using the word cheap to describe my handmade things :) A third of a yard makes two rolls. You can find the tutorial here.I have made several other things this past week, but can't share now because many of them are Christmas gifts and I don't want to ruin any surprises! I can share this scrapbook page I made last night, though. I was going through some old pictures with Natalie yesterday and couldn't believe I hadn't scrapped this one! It is my favorite picture from last Christmas and I can't believe how much she has grown this past year. This year has absolutely flown by, it's amazing. Look how tiny her piggy tails were. Aww.On a side note, if you find yourself in a political mood, go read this post by the Rebellious Pastor's Wife. Right on! 
Okay, so these pictures are not so good, but really, in real life, the quilt looks AWESOME :) This is the first quilt I have ever actually completed and I am very proud. I will never look at it without smiling and even though it matches nothing in our house (except my personality maybe *wink*), I had tons of fun making it. Even the back looks cool. I pieced it out of flannel scraps and the quilting around the houses shows the house shapes on the back too. Aw, Casey's lying on the couch under it right now! 
So, I joined the ranks of the "upper twenties" this past weekend, or so I'm told. I had a fun-packed b-day weekend. Melissa and I went to Archiver's on Friday for their Scrap-Mania and here are the two pages I got done in 6 hours' time. (Yes, I'm one of those slow scrappers.) I don't plan on getting a lot done and them I'm never disappointed :) Casey got me a great cookbook for my b-day. It's my sister's church cookbook and it is NOT a typical church cookbook! The pastor wrote an essay in the back called A Culinary Argument for the Existence of God and I have to share this quote, as I have become quite the coffee drinker since having Layla:"Who was the first guy who figured out coffee beans? If we take these beans, cook them, grind them up, and then run really hot water through them, we get a comfort drink that tastes really nasty for the first six months. But if you persevere in the making and drinking of it, it gets to be really good. So God have us the great concept of the acquired taste--strong coffee and dark beer and black licorice."Ah, so true. I think I speak for tired mothers everywhere when I say, Thank You Lord for coffee :) By the way, has anyone else become smitten with Starbucks' new Toasted Marshmallow Mocha or is it just me???
Here are some pictures of my little moo-cow and ballerina from last night's Harvest Festival. If Layla is not the cutest thing you've ever seen in this costume, I don't know what is! I made it out of a white sweatshirt, the hat and ears are made from the sleeves. It came together pretty quick. I asked Natalie if she wanted to be a cow too and she said, "No, silly, Mommy. I'm gonna be a ballerina- princess-mermaid!" We settled for just a ballerina :) She really enjoyed herself at the party. Her favorite thing was the face-painting, by far. After she got both cheeks done, she asked for something on her nose, and then on both hands too. Then, she won a plate of cookies in the cake walk and played some other games for candy, balls, kazoos and some other tiny trinkets that may provide days of entertainment! 
...for Christmas time!!!! We decorated our house yesterday. Last year I weeded out my Christmas decorations and kept only what we loved and this year, I'm thrilled that I did that. We opted for a small table-top tree this year, since keeping Layla out of a big one would be so much trouble, and we chose our most special ornaments to put on it. Natalie and I made a ton of gingerbread ornaments yesterday, so everyone who comes by our house this season gets some. The stockings I made last year (still some of my favorite things I've made) are gracing our mantle and my beautiful nativity has some new pieces again this year (thanks Angela.) Ah, I LOVE Christmas time. I'm a good busy with making gifts and we're teaching Natalie what Christmas is all about. So far she has no interest or concept of Santa Claus, which doesn't bother me a bit. It's great. 
I made Natalie this dress this past week and she's been waiting and waiting for *church day* to come so she could wear it. It turned out too cute. That was her idea to cross her legs like that in the picture. Yes, she is quite the little girl these days :)
There's been lots going on in my *studio* this past week. Here are some crayon rolls I made for some special little ones for Christmas. These are so much fun, not to mention fast and inexpensive to make. (I stopped using the word cheap to describe my handmade things :) A third of a yard makes two rolls. You can find the tutorial here.
...from my lovey hubby. Thanks, Baby :) 
Okay, so these pictures are not so good, but really, in real life, the quilt looks AWESOME :) This is the first quilt I have ever actually completed and I am very proud. I will never look at it without smiling and even though it matches nothing in our house (except my personality maybe *wink*), I had tons of fun making it. Even the back looks cool. I pieced it out of flannel scraps and the quilting around the houses shows the house shapes on the back too. Aw, Casey's lying on the couch under it right now! 
So, I joined the ranks of the "upper twenties" this past weekend, or so I'm told. I had a fun-packed b-day weekend. Melissa and I went to Archiver's on Friday for their Scrap-Mania and here are the two pages I got done in 6 hours' time. (Yes, I'm one of those slow scrappers.) I don't plan on getting a lot done and them I'm never disappointed :) 
Here are some pictures of my little moo-cow and ballerina from last night's Harvest Festival. If Layla is not the cutest thing you've ever seen in this costume, I don't know what is! I made it out of a white sweatshirt, the hat and ears are made from the sleeves. It came together pretty quick. I asked Natalie if she wanted to be a cow too and she said, "No, silly, Mommy. I'm gonna be a ballerina- princess-mermaid!" We settled for just a ballerina :) She really enjoyed herself at the party. Her favorite thing was the face-painting, by far. After she got both cheeks done, she asked for something on her nose, and then on both hands too. Then, she won a plate of cookies in the cake walk and played some other games for candy, balls, kazoos and some other tiny trinkets that may provide days of entertainment! 
