A Reading List

Casey has been working nights at UPS for quite some time now and although I miss being able to turn in together every night, I have really come to cherish my five weekly "reading nights". I usually go to bed pretty early and then do quite a bit of reading before turning out the light. Here is a list of the books that have been enriching my life recently.

1. Passionate Housewives Desperate for God. I know I have mentioned this book before, but I just cannot express all the ways it has changed my life, attitude and perspective about being a stay-at-home-mom. I think this is a must-read for every Christian mother at home.
   
2. The Fruit of Her Hands. This book was written by my sister's former pastor's wife and she gave it to my before I married Casey. I have actually read this three or four times in our almost seven years of marriage and just finished it again. Every time, I am so blessed, challenged and encouraged. Just as I believe every Christian mommy should read the previous book, I think this ought to be read by every Christian wife.
   
3. Face to Face. This is another book from my sister and addresses hospitality and friendship in two parts. A great challenge to build Christian community.
   
4. The Hidden Art of Homemaking. I just started this book last night, but already I'm excited to keep reading. Here's a favorite quote so far: "Why does man have creativity? Why can man think of many things in his mind, and choose, and then bring forth something that other people can taste, smell, feel, hear and see? Because man was created in the image of a Creator. Man was created that he might create. It is not a waste of man's time to be creative. It is not a waste to pursue artistic or scientific pursuits in creativity, because this is what man was made to be able to do. he was made in the image of a Creator, and given the capacity to create." (p. 24)
5. Living Simply. I read this book some time ago now, but still think about it often. It's written by a young mother, so I found it easy to relate. She has some great ideas about simple living.
   

Also, something else I've been enjoying is a sermon series by Pastor Wilson (husband of The Fruit of Her Hands author) called Loving Little Ones. You can download the podcasts here or buy the series on CD here.

Yet Another Hat and Seam Ripper Stupidity

Yes, yes, it's another hat. They're just so fun and easy. This one is not for my kiddos, though, it's actually for my new shop, (Hopefully more big news on that tomorrow!) along with several other fabulous things I've been working on.

On to the seam ripper stupidity: The Purl Bee has this post on how to use a seam ripper. Now, I've been sewing for however many years (meaning I've ripped a LOT of seams) and can you believe, I have been using a seam ripper all wrong?!? Well, I was skeptical, but I had been fed up with the cheap dull seam rippers anyway, so I went out while JoAnne had notions half price and I finally bought a cute, purple, pricier, whiz-bang seam ripper! I got to work on this hat the next day and was almost excited to mess up so I could try this method. Of course, I did mess up ;) and let me tell, ya, the good seam ripper and the right way to use it made a HUGE difference. So, read the post and try it out, you won't be disappointed. The best part, is that my edges were completely intact, instead of stretched out and frayed, as they always ended up in the old days. Ah, I just love bloggers, I learn so much!

Little Miss Piggy

I made this little piggy for the shop originally, but before I could get it stowed away, Layla found it...and fell in love. She sleeps with her, she holds an ear and sucks her thumb, she even says, "piggy!" whenever she sees her. And so, since she did sacrifice one of her outgrown onesies for the piggy's shirt, I'm going to let her keep it :)
This was a very fun project to make. The pattern and instructions are in the book, Fun Dolls, and the whole book is just pure fun. All the dolls in the book are frowning, though and that just bugs me, so I literally turned this pig's frown upside down. Much better :)

What's Up with the Weather?

Before I get to these pictures, I have to say, even as a Coloradan who knows the weather here is unpredictable, this weather is just being weird. I am used to the weather changing drastically from day to day, but recently it seems to be changing from hour to hour. I woke up to rain in the middle of the night, Natalie played outside all morning in the sunshine and now it's SNOWING! God must want to keep us on our toes.

On to our day. I was invited to spend the morning scrap booking with a lovely lady from church, while her daughter and a friend played with the girls. I expected Layla to be super clingy, but she was wonderful and Natalie had a blast and I actually got a whole page done in just a few hours. (That's unusual for me.) This picture is much clearer in real life, but when taking a picture of a finished page, I find I have to choose either the setting that makes the picture clear OR everything else clear. Ah, well.

ALSO, this here is a picture of the heating pad cover I made my friend Jenn as a happy un-birthday gift :) She is the only person I know that uses her heating pad regularly and so when I saw the instructions in Denise Schmidt Quilts, she was the logical person to make it for. She received it in the mail last week and loved it, so I'm happy to have made her happy :)

















AND, totally off the subject, I have a potty-training dilemma and maybe some of you can help me out. Natalie is over 3 now and potty-training is just not happening. I am starting to wonder if she may have an issue where she literally can't feel when she needs to go. She NEVER has dry diapers over night and when I do decide not to put a diaper on her, she always seems surprised when she starts to pee-pee everywhere, as if she did not know it was coming. She is SO SMART in every other area, so I can't imagine her truly not understanding the concept. All this leads me to wonder if there is a problem here that she can't help and maybe I should take her to the doctor to find out. Any thoughts, advice or suggestions? Please leave me a comment and help me!!

Another Hat for Another Kid

As promised, here is a picture of the finished hat I knitted for our coming baby boy. Although I have knitted several things successfully now, I have not really considered myself *a knitter*. Can one just have too many hobbies? Should I enjoy so many different crafts? Well, I must admit, I did enjoy knitting this hat and am closer to considering myself an actual knitter. I think I like the term *fiber artist*, it seems pretty all-inclusive, don't ya think?? Although, it does leave out the scrap booking, doesn't it. Or is paper fiber too? At any rate, this is called an umbilical cord hat and the pattern can be found in this popular knitting book. (I just can't bring myself to cuss in print.)

One Can Never Have Too Many Hats

I made Natalie this hat. I'm in love with this fabric, but I only got just enough for the hat, so I just might have to get some more. Anyway, I've been surprised at the lack of summer hats for toddlers, while there are so many for smaller babies, and so I just made one. Hopefully I'll make some more for the shop soon. I have exciting shop news to share, but it will have to wait until some things are up and finalized. I've also started knitting a hat for the new baby, now that we know he's a little boy. I'll share a picture of that too when it's all done.

Baby News!

We are happy to announce, our new baby is a BOY!! Casey is especially thrilled :) Natalie came with us to the ultrasound, while Layla stayed with a friend and she was a little disappointed at having a baby brother instead of another baby sister. But, it didn't last long and she is now pretty excited, I think. We are off to some friends' for dinner, but I just had to share before we left!

A Long, Long, Twirly Dress

Okay, I'll get to the dress in a minute, but can I first acknowledge how beautiful she is???? Those eyes! Just gorgeous. Anyway, I made Natalie this dress today and she really loves it. I got this fabric some time ago for $2 a yard and a Butterick pattern for $1.99. Can't beat that, eh? Anyway, it came together really fast, despite poorly written instructions. I cut it out last night and sewed it today between an emergency trip to Target because we ran out of diapers and a major bubble bath catastrophe. The wet hair and red eyes are both due to the latter :)

On a side note, I came across a brand new blog dedicated to kids art and craft ideas. It's called The Crafty Crow, if you'd like to take a look.