Knitting!

Why am I so drawn to yellow lately? I have been thinking (not really going to do it) of changing up the kitchen a bit. I would love a yellow kitchen with greens and browns, but then everything would have to change...and my husband keeps telling me I would get sick of those colors fast. I dont know.

Last night, my friend Devon came over and oh so patiently taught me to knit! For Christmas, I had received a whole roll up organizer of knitting needles passed down to me that my mother in law gave me that were her mom's. I have been wanting(and trying to learn) to knit since then, but kept getting so frustrated and giving up. I felt like crocheting was the only thing I could do with yarn, and kind of gave up.

Then this weekend, I picked them up and tried again. I was determined to learn.....but after a wasted evening of watching videos online, I gave it up again.

So Devon saw the frustration I was going through and generously offered her precious time to come over and help. And let me tell you, it was  a HUGE help!!

I think a lot of the problem was that I was trying to learn how to knit left handed (as I am left handed) but it just never felt right. After trying a couple of times last night, we decided that maybe I should just try to learn right handed. Definitely did the trick.

First I learned how to cast on.....and it was so much easier than how I was trying to learn online! After I did this for awhile, I then learned the knit stitch. Again, after a few stitches, it became pretty fun to do this one too! I worked on the kit stitch for awhile and then talked her into teaching me the purl stitch too! So I learned three steps of knitting last night! I practiced after she left and first thing this morning too, and am happy to say I remembered! (I was afraid I was going to get mixed up after I stopped for the night!)

Right now I am just practicing between the two stitches, but am excited to make something soon! Thanks again Devon! And check out her etsy store! Fun stuff!!

Don't worry!

What a beautiful day! Spring is in the air! We Arizonians are enjoying not having the heat just quite yet (although we were teased with some last week and I couldn't take it anymore and turned the ac on a couple of days in a row). 

One of the things I really struggle with is worrying. Ugh. Worry.  Money, family issues, health. And you turn on the news, and that never helps.

God is so good to us, though!

Matthew 6:25

 ²⁵"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? ²⁶Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

 ²⁸"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? ³¹So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' ³²For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

One of my favorite flowers are daffodils. There is just something so magical about them.

The other day, I bought two pitiful bunches of daffodils for 1.50 a piece. There were ten in each bunch. They were not stored in water or anything, just cut, bundled and laid in a pile. I thought, "why not." I never buy cut flowers because I prefer them in the pot so they grow grow grow but this was  just too hard to resist. I wanted to see what happened with this sad bunch of daffodils.

I got them home, cut the ends off and stuck them in water, and in just a few hours, they had bloomed. So beautiful!

It's so hard to not worry, because we want to be in control.  But knowing that my God can do something as simple as opening these flowers to show their beauty, I know that I am loved so much more than that. I need to give Him full control. He takes care of everything, even if its not in our time line, even if its not how we want it. He knows best.

Monogram home decor

I am so excited for an upcoming wall decor monogram project that I am doing in our living room. So much so, that I wanted to do a monogram nothing like the one that will be in the living room at the scrapbook store for my design team home decor project. 

Ok. Laugh it up.

Mr. T.

Ha. Ha. Ha.

Done?

Here's a close up. I had my camera phone with me, so this is what I got. 

Thanks for checkin it out! and getting a good laugh on our account.

I pity the fool who laughs at MR T.

New Laptop Cover

This one was made for a friend. It is so fun! The colors are fabulous.

I have made two baby blankets from this type of material in hot pink before (I LOOOOVE hot pink and black together. if we do ever have a girl, thats what I want her room to be..... and one of those blankets I made may or may not be something that I saved....that would be silly, right? .....but thats WAY off topic!).

So anyway, the material is a satiny type material with velvet detailing. Inside is black crepe-y type material.

My back has been hurting for about a week now. I learned what a back spasm was. NOT fun. Today is the first day since Wednesday that it hasnt bothered me too much. That is a praise!! So tonight, I am off to Devine Memories for awhile because spur of the moment text= fun evening!

Shirt and Tie

Playing around with applique. This shirt's tie will fray once it is washed. I figure it is for a messy little guy, so why not fray it up a bit? Going to be so cute with a blazer and cords.

And this is the other one I did...with finished edges. the tie is an old shirt of my husbands.

Mayci's Doll

She turned 1 last week but I couldn't post this until she got it :)(She is getting it today so hopefully Mommy doesnt see it for a couple of hours)

I made three before I liked how it turned out! Happy Birthday Mayci!

Shorts For My Short Guy

I was going to make some shorts for the boys to play in and hang out in around the house but wanted to see how easy it would be before I made a bunch. After a funny mistake of them going horribly wrong and I leaving it (thats what I get for trying to follow directions!), I went back to it and did my own thing. Here is the end result.

All I could think about was the Banana in Pajamas theme song when I made these:

Looking forward to making more! They would be great boxer shorts!

Pray for Baby Stellan

His story has touched me a few months ago before he was born. Please click on the button to read their blog. And pray for this miracle of God!

Dress+Scissors=Shirt!

This took me 20 minutes tops. I was going to get rid of this dress but decided to hack it up first and see what happened.

Before:


Into a fun summer shirt:





Couldnt get a picture of my back :) Its a little messy with the hem at the top because when I cut the top off, i cut it too close to the dress part that I was keeping, so I probably wouldnt wear it out because I would be paranoid, but it was fun to play around and it fits well for not measuring anything! And if I really wanted to save the material, I could make the top into a shrug!

Fun Pictures from Goldfield Mine

Took a little drive to Goldfield Mine today. The boys had never been, and I was hoping there would be a lot of wildflowers in bloom....there weren't, but we had a lot of fun hanging out!

Fun New Jewelry!

This week I got to go make a couple of new necklaces at my mother in law's. She has the ultimate bead collection. I could have sat there for days creating new stuff!

But all good things must come to an end....here is what I made:









Every once in awhile I make a necklace or a bracelet, (and I even wear them!) but she is the true pro. I definitely want to do more now. Thanks for sharing with me! These are definitely going to be worn a lot!

While I was focused on the obvious...

This week, I studied John 14-John 16 by a suggestion from my husband. The next day at Bible study, these passages were referenced. I thought to myself, "wow, thats wild!" and tried to dismiss it. Maybe not intentionally....maybe so. Later, when my husband wanted to talk about how Bible study dealt with feelings and thoughts I have had this week, I kind of swept it under the rug. The thoughts and feelings kept coming up, and I kept praying about it.

This afternoon after a long discussion brought about by God no doubt, (certainly not from my own doing) , I came home trying to wrap my mind and heart around everything. Everything I have been feeling, everything that was talked about, everything I am focusing on.

I went outside to think about things (which I don't do minus watching the boys and watering the garden). I went and sat down by my garden. I needed to get outside and away from the housework, the computer, the other stuff that was wanting my attention. I needed to pray.

I started thinking again about what it is I focus on, and what I want my focus to be on. I looked at the garden, and saw what has been growing from seeds. I saw how much they have sprouted just from attention that has been given to them. Then I looked over at my tomato plants. I have three. A very tall one, and two small ones. All this time, I have been focusing on the taller one. Its always had more height and flowers to it. I was told it would produce a lot of fruit. So I watched it, not paying much attention to the smaller plants.

While I was focusing on the tall and obvious one....the one that showed itself more, but yet started to wilt.... the less obvious surprised me with fruit. Three small, but healthy looking fruit.


It took me by surprise. God then guided me back to John 15. Wow.

John 15:2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.

What do I need to focus on? The answer is simple: God first, my husband and then my children. The rest will follow. I am one who can do 15 things at once. Micah laughs at me because I can sew and iron as the laundry is washing, cook while put dishes away, entertain the boys while sending a text and taking pictures of it all happening at once. I can get a lot done during the day. But I see my focus shifting. And while that might terrify me because of the changes at hand, I know that the less obvious will bear more fruit and become more obvious to me than before.

Happy 2nd Birthday Jackson!

Baby, two years ago today, you were born.

One year ago, I couldn't believe how big you had grown.

And today, you never cease to amaze me.

Thank you God for blessing us with our sweet Jackson. We love him so much and enjoy watching him grow each day! Just keep guiding us in raising him to love you, God. Thank you for his health, his intelligence, his sense of humor, his sensitivity and his love. Keep him safe and watch over him as he continues to grow up before our eyes! Thank you God for our family.

Alligator Party!

My little guy doesn't have a lot to say, but one thing he likes is alligators, and he lets us know! Its actually really cute how he says it, just dont ask him to say it...because he wont. It has to be on HIS terms.

So we decided to throw a little family party last night for his birthday tomorrow. The theme was...alligators!

I made this shirt with both applique and freezer paper stencil:

 Modelling it before the party started:

Then I did a bib. Chenille front, cordouroy back. 

Testing it out at dinner:

We didnt do all the decorations this time. I kept it simple with this banner I made and the fun part is, it can go in his room too!

The food was really good. My husband's hobby is smoking meat, so he took care of the big parts. He smoked pork for pulled pork sandwiches and did beans and coleslaw. I did mac and cheese from my friend's recipe who was super gracious enough to share it with me (and help me make it over the phone!) and we kept drinks simple with water, kool aid and sweet tea. My mother in law made a yummy  layer salad, some fruit kabobs with fruit snacks on the end which were a huge hit with the boys for sure, and an awesome alligator shaped dip. It tasted great and looked fun! She was such a huge help!

The most fun part of getting ready for our boys' birthdays is making the cake for it. Micah and I always do it together, and its always an adventure. Here is Jackson's cake.

This is what we started with:

a bundt cake, cupcakes, mini cupcakes and a sheet cake. Then we just started cutting until we got this shape:

And blowing out the candles....twice ya know, since he is turning two!

So thats about it! I will have more pictures from the party on our family blog soon. Thank you to our family for coming over and helping us celebrate the blessing that Jackson is in our lives! It means so much to us to know how much you love our little guy and he loves you all too!