Just a Few Things...

First, these are the fabrics my mom and I chose last weekend for Kelby's baby quilt (Kelby will be our new baby boy's name, if I have not mentioned that before.) Mom is going to make it for him, as she has made all my babies quilts so far. I love this free Zig-Zag pattern on The Purl Bee so much, I even ordered the zoo print online. I did decide to go with greens instead of oranges, though. Anyway, I can't wait to see the finished project!

Speaking of the baby, I had a doctor's appointment yesterday and once again, the size of the baby may a concern. Why do I have such big babies?? Layla was 9 lbs. 2 oz. and her shoulder got stuck. I have never been induced before and I have not had an epidural either. I'm afraid if I let them induce, it will be a snowball effect and I am scared of that. It's causing some anxiety, so your prayers would be appreciated. We'll have an ultrasound in eight weeks to check the size, so maybe it won't even be an issue, we'll see.

Lastly and very important, my hubby was cleaning out our VHS tapes the other day since we no longer have a VHS player and when he came to his not one, but TWO boxed sets of the original three Star Wars movies, he refused to get rid of either!!! Did I already say, we don't even have a VHS player??? SO, after we laughingly argued about this for awhile, he decided to put a poll up on his blog, asking whether or not he should ditch either or both. PLEASE go vote!! You will find the poll at the bottom of his left sidebar. Thanks :)

Quirky Boxes Finished!

Yay! I finished my Quirky Boxes Quilt and I'm thrilled with how it looks. I free-motioned a loopy design along the border (my first free-motion experience) and it looks so cute. Free motion is fun! the backing is out of a thrifted sheet and it must be high-quality because the fibers are so tight, I had a hard time getting a needle through it while hand sewing the binding. Speaking of getting needles through things, I actually sewed right through my finger while quilting this baby. I have never actually done that before, so I guess I was due. Oh, and speaking of quilting, I talked myself out of the hand quilting. I was afraid I would start and take a year to finish, which would have been a bummer. Maybe in a different stage of life, I will take up hand quilting and try out that big-stitch method.

Average?

Okay, I'm no expert on what average three-year-olds can do, since I have only ever had one of them thus far, but this picture Natalie drew on her Magna-Doodle yesterday seems slightly above average to me. I just had to share :)


This is a picture of Layla throwing rocks into our fountain (a battle I lost). It was taken shortly before she fell face-first into the fountain, almost causing my first heart-attack and dooming the fountain to remain off and waterless for the remainder of our years living here. It was a scary episode for me and made my heart break even more over this news and the Steven Curtis Chapman family. Please keep them in your prayers.

Lastly, remember these baby blankets I added to the shop awhile back? Well, the prices have been recently reduced, so get your hands on one while you still can!

Plushie This, Plushie That

Ever since I made Layla's Piggy, Natalie has been asking me to make her a kitty. So, I decided on this free pattern on Wee Wonderfuls and she turned out so super cute. I used a few different fabrics that I had on hand and it really gave this kitty lots of character and sass. There is lots of blanket stitching involved, which tends to take me a long time, so I considered leaving certain parts off, but I'm SO glad I didn't do that. Natalie absolutely loves her and that really makes me happy.
























AND, I made this little puppy for a special niece who's turning one soon. The instructions are in Fun Dolls, the same book with the piggy in it. I did add the skirt and the bow myself and I embroidered certain parts of the face instead of cutting them out of felt. I hope she loves it as much as Layla loves Piggy :)

New to the Shop!

I made this beauty for the shop recently. It should be listed in the next day or two so if you're interested before then, send me an email so I can make sure you get your hands on it!

I have some more softies to share, but Layla hid one and the other is not quite done so those will have to be for another post.

In the meantime, I finally finished The Hidden Art of Homemaking and just loved it through the very last page. Did you ever read a book that you were sorry to have finished because you will actually miss it? That was this book for me. Here's a final quote from the book to leave you with:

"...here in this life, a Christian should be an environment which is helpful to the people with whom he lives. This is not just a matter of dress and tidiness but also of character and spiritual life. It is worth considering what sort of an 'art form' we are. What sort of an environment do we drag in with us? How do we affect other people in their attitudes toward that which we are supposed to represent?"

Great words to ponder, for sure. Anyway, I've moved on the Elizabeth Elliot's Be Still my Soul and am really enjoying it just as much. There will surely be quotes to come :)

Have a wonderful weekend!

I'm a Hobbyist

Yesterday we were driving to church and I told Casey I'd love to go to an Archiver's crop to scrapbook in the next few weeks and he said, "Boy, you just switch from one craft to the next, all the time." To which I said, "I'm a hobbyist honey, I can't help it." So here are some pictures of what I've been "hobbying" away at :) Some tissue holders that hold little travel tissue packs. I made six, since they're just so handy to have around. One is for a certain sister of mine that lost the first one I made her. Surprise!

Also, as you can see, I have been on a bit of a knitted dish cloth kick. The first I made for a gift and the second I made just for me. I loved making this ballband pattern, it was quick and fun and I used Bernat Cotton Tots yarn because it's so soft and more fun to work with and I'm hoping it might fade less than the Peaches and Cream. (I took this pic when it was already wet, so it doesn't do it much justice.)



































And, finally, I couldn't help but share a few pics of the girls. Right after I made my last post, saying I couldn't seem to get a picture of Natalie wearing the Cinderella dress, Angela came over and managed to get a great one. Aren't my girlsies beautiful? And isn't Angela talented?














Just a few last tidbits to share. First, my lovely friend Becky has started a blog! It's called Hairspray Mama and she has some super-cute pics of her super-cute boys on there, so give her a visit if you want! ALSO, my wonderful hubby Casey started a blog last night called K.C.ritic, where he'll be critiquing movies he's seen. I felt so good about myself when he asked for my help with his html code. (Conquering technology always makes me feel empowered :) By the way, if you're planning on seeing 27 Dresses, don't waste your time. I like chick flicks, but this was total cheese whiz, if you know what I mean.

A Cinderella Day

For those of you following my potty training saga, I have great news! Natalie is officially potty-trained!!! I wish I could tell you how I did it, but really, I didn't do it. She did. It took very little effort on my part once she was ready. She has had no accidents for three days now and even woke up this morning with a dry diaper for the first time! I know this isn't prime blogging material to some, but I'm so happy!!!!!

















So, yesterday, we had our special trip to Target to pick out some new toys for her. She picked (surprise, surprise) a Cinderella play set and a Cinderella dress-up set. I would have loved to post a picture of her wearing the Cinderella outfit, but the rest of the day saw Natalie running around in a blue and silver blur with an, "I lost my glass slipper" here and an, "Oh, no, it's midnight!" there. (In case any of you are wondering what happened to the Cinderella movie, we watched that a long time ago when I had the flu and needed something new to keep them occupied. So we promised a new toy instead :)

Celebrations!

We had a lovely visit from Gramma and P-Pa this past weekend (Casey's parents). Becky's birthday is on the 6th and Casey had a chorale concert last night, so she wanted to go to that for her birthday. Since she was here and since I never pass up an opportunity to throw a party, we through her a little birthday bash. Natalie was thrilled, she just looooooves birthday parties and singing Happy Birthday to people. I made her this amazing cake that my sister recommended, called Holy Cow Cake, from The Cake Mix Doctor, a book I borrowed from Julie. (Thanks Julie!) Holy Cow! is all I can say, it was that good. I also knitted her a chenille face cloth for her gift and it turned out lovely. I would post a link to the book where you can find that pattern, but there's a little one sleeping in the room where I left it and I can't remember the title. Sorry!


























Here also are some pictures of the girls playing outside over the weekend. I'm just so happy it's Spring time! We had a couple of skinned knees, but no tears, so they must be happy too!

American Baby and More Hidden Art

We have had the pleasure of my good friend Jen visiting us this week along with her almost-2-year-old, Kayden Grace. We were bound and determined to do some scrapbooking together and so yesterday, we made it happen. I only got this one page done, but that's typical for me :) I love these pictures of my sweet Layla from last summer.

Also, I hope no one is getting sick of hearing about it :) but I've read some more great quotes in The Hidden Art of Homemaking. Here is my favorite: "The plea for women to have 'time to be themselves' or 'time for fulfilling careers' is overworked. All that happens is that the psychiastists get more patients than ever before. If people were less anxious to join a drama club or some other kind of 'fulfill yourself' activity and used their talents right in their homes, they would not only be more fulfilled when the children were two years old and they were capturing their attention with vivid and original ideas, but when the same children were eighteen years old they would not be wringing their hands so tragically at the complete lack of communication with them." (p. 153-4) Amen, sister! There is also a wonderful post on Femina that I've been meaning to share, called Wise-Hearted Crafting. Great stuff.