A Happy Mother's Day

I'm reposting this from last year because...well, it is just too funny not to!!! LOL!! I don't know who to give the credit to for this story...I guess I can just say I'm glad it's not my own!

"So, we had this great 10 year old cat named Jack who just recently died. Jack was a great cat and the kids would carry him around and sit on him and nothing ever bothered him. He used to hang out and nap all day long on this mat in our bathroom.

Well, we have 3 kids and at the time of this story they were 4 years old, 3 years old and 1 year old. The middle one is Eli. Eli really loves chapstick. LOVES it. He kept asking to use my chapstick and then losing it. So finally one day I showed him where in the bathroom I keep my chapstick and how he could use it whenever he wanted to but he needed to put it right back in the drawer when he was done.

Last year on Mother's Day, we were having the typical rush around and try to get ready for Church with everyone crying and carrying on. My two boys are fighting over the toy in the cereal box. I am trying to nurse my little one at the same time I am putting on my make-up. Everything is a mess and everyone has long forgotten that this is a wonderful day to honor me and the amazing job that is motherhood.

We finally have the older one and the baby loaded in the car and I am looking for Eli. I have searched everywhere and I finally round the corner to go into the bathroom. And there was Eli. He was applying my chapstick very carefully to Jack's . . . rear end. Eli looked right into my eyes and said "chapped." Now if you have a cat, you know that he is right--their little butts do look pretty chapped. And, frankly, Jack didn’t seem to mind.And the only question to really ask at that point was whether it was the FIRST time Eli had done that to the cat's behind or the hundredth.

And THAT is my favorite Mother's Day moment ever because it reminds us that no matter how hard we try to civilize these glorious little creatures, there will always be that day when you realize they've been using your chapstick on the cat's butt."

I wish each of you great ladies a wonderful Mother's Day and a chapstick-free day too!

Bit by the sewing bug

I seem to go in phases with my crafts. When I first learned to knit - I was knitting in all my spare time. When I took the rug braiding class, I was braiding/lacing in all my spare time. It even happens with books - if I start a really good book, I'm reading it all.the.time!

Now? Yes, I'm sewing in all my spare time (and while the kids eat breakfast, lunch...) Perhaps an intervention is in order.

Please tell me you are the same...

Please tell me an intervention isn't necessary...

My latest projects?

This is a dress pattern I tested for Nanoo's Designs. It is the Emily dress and will be available on her site soon. I really like the dark inserts against the lighter main fabric!




The other week I needed to stop at the fabric store. I usually try to do things like that by myself, but this time I had the kids with me. I bribed them to behave with a 1/4 yard of fabric of their choice for a new pair of shorts!!

Elle picked this fun strawberry print. At first, I was in the store trying to think what she'd wear with it when I remembered this red shirt - perfect!! Quintin picked out a football fabric for himself and Colin - they are cut, but not sewn yet...Don't worry, I'll be sure to find the time to finish them soon. ;-)

PEPSI CHALLENGE - 84 hours without Pepsi! :-)

Wordless Wednesday

Success!!

**See update at bottom of post**

I did it!!

I did not think I could!!

But I did!!

An average of 1 oz an hour - a 24 oz bottle a day...and I did it!!

What you ask...

I haven't had a Pepsi!!

Who knew it could be done?!

Who knew it could be done by me?!

Who knew I could last so long?

But I did!!

And I haven't even had a sip of Pepsi in like....forever....it seems...

But I did it!!

And I've held out a whole lot longer than I thought I could!!

And ya know, it wasn't that hard!!

I will have to reflect on some other things I could give up (cleaning, laundry...oh wait, those are necessary, aren't they?)

Gee, I certainly hope its as easy the next few days as it was these last 24 hours!

;-D



**This wasn't something I had planned - I just decided I needed to try to snack a little healthier and decided pepsi was something to let go of - SO, we'll see how long it lasts!!**

Cherished Family Recipes

Most of our "comfort foods" involve chicken and gravy. A favorite of my husbands is chicken and crackers. Not only are the crackers yummy, there are parts to this recipe that make it enjoyable.

First, it is a recipe that belonged to my mother in law's grandmother. You've got to love a recipe passed on down through the generations. (Monica, I'm wondering if you make these?)

Secondly, this bowl below...belonged to my husband's grandmother. This is the bowl I'm sure my mother in law's mother made these same crackers in. Each time I pull it out to use it, I think of her (she passed away in 2005).














To get the recipe for these chicken crackers, you can click over to Momma Roar's Kitchen!

Design Inspiration

Mary is hosting the Design Inspiration Carnival today. I'm looking forward to this and the glimpses into people's home for some fresh decorating ideas. It doesn't have to be magazine-like ideas (because mine certainly aren't) but just a fun way to share things we like about our homes.

We built our home in 2005. We didn't want to try at that point to choose colors for every room, so we went with one basic color for the walls throughout the entire house. If we wanted to paint one room later, we could. But, after being here almost 3 years, I have grown fonder of my paint choice each day! We used Benjamin Moore's "blanched almond" for the walls and "timid white" for the woodwork and ceilings.

I like to use the color black as an accent, wrought iron being my favorite way to tie that in.

Here are 2 inexpensive and simple plate racks next to a wall hanging that my mom made. I chose 4 plates that matched it and I interchange them for a fresh look every few months. The other 2 plates are red and purple. I do green and red at Christmastime, purple and yellow and Easter, and so on. Gives the kitchen a nice new feel.

Hanging above my cook top are these wrought iron trivets. I didn't buy them to use them this way, but I just love how it fills in this gap. And, they weren't a real expensive way to decorate.

One of my favorite pieces of furniture is this wood rack in our laundry room that a good friend built for us. Our laundry room is directly across from the garage - its the first thing you see when you walk in from the garage. I wanted something to hang coats on as well as to be used for storage. This fits the bill! I got the idea from a Pottery Barn catalog and Duane did a wonderful job!

To give the kids' bedrooms a "personality" with the same brown walls, we picked carpet to match quilts my mom made them. Here is Quintin's room, before last week's spring cleaning.

And here is how it looks after we've moved his furniture. (I'm taking the below picture standing in the corner where the quilt hangs.)
Here is Elle's room (taken before she officially moved into this room. The bed had been against a wall, but I didn't have any good pictures of the room that way.)
And here is her room after changing it around last week.
Colin's room hasn't had much of a chance to develop its personality yet. We chose carpet colors before we were even expecting baby #3, so we went with a nice soft green. I plan to have my mom pair that green with cream and some dark browns for his quilt (No rush mom, you can relax!!)

Hanging in Colin's room right now is a wall hanging my mom did when I was pregnant with Quintin. I hope you've enjoyed this little peek into home and maybe you even got some new ideas. If you haven't posted anything for this carnival, I hope you'll think again about doing something - I'd love to see your ideas too!

Have a blessed weekend!

Going to the library...

In Style!!!

I made these quick and easy library tote bags this week with the help of this tutorial. They were made from dish towels purchased at the local hardware store!

They certainly made for a very exciting trip to the library this week!!

Can you tell I'm having just a wee bit of fun with my new sewing machine?

Wordless Wednesday

Tiny Talk Tuesday

The kids and I really enjoyed our Wednesday morning Bible studies. They looked forward to the craft part of it each week.

Which is why we chuckled the other night before T left for his evening men's Bible study, when the kids asked if Daddy will be doing a craft that night!!

To hear what other Tiny Ones are saying, visit Not Before 7.

Six-Word Memoir

I've seen this on a few different blogs and I've really enjoyed reading them. It has made me want to do one of my own. So, after thinking on it, and a little help from a friend, Momma Roar's six-word memoir is....drum roll please....

LIVING TO LEARN; LEARNING TO LIVE

Recognize it? ;-)

I chose this title for my blog because I felt it said exactly what I felt about home education and how I wanted our family to grow and to learn. I don't know how long we will homeschool (one more year or until Colin graduates) but I do know that I don't want there to be a distinction between home and school. School is not the only place a person can learn. Likewise, my children don't just learn in the playroom at our little table. I don't want there to be a line. The same can be said of our faith. Church is not the only place where I can talk to God and learn about Him.

We are living to learn and learning to live all at the same time. We are walking, talking, reading, training, praying, learning, exploring, instructing, growing...Living.

I'd be a total fool to say I can teach my children everything they need to know. But, I do know that I can give them one thing they need to learn - a positive learning attitude. A child with a positive learning attitude becomes a self-motivated learner, and will more quickly become a self-educating student. There will come a time when their schooling is complete, but they will never stop learning. What a more perfect place to instill a love of learning.

We are living, we are learning, we are loving and we are laughing - all under the guidance of our Heavenly Father. I realize home education is not for everyone, but it is working for us. It is working for us because "home education" isn't our ultimate goal, but home discipleship is. We are discipling our children to be useful to God's service, and part of that process is preparing them intellectually.

In "Educating a Whole-Hearted Child" the authors say it best,"Scripture allows for no other process for raising and training children - only the family. Your home is a dynamic living and learning environment designed by God for the very purpose of raising your children to become mature, useful disciples of Jesus."

We're

LIVING to LEARN

about Jesus and we're

LEARNING to LIVE

for Jesus.

At this point I'm supposed to tag five more people, but I won't. If you like the idea, please play along. And, if you do, here are the instructions:
1. Write your own six word memoir.
2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you want.
3. Link to the person that tagged you in your post and to the original post if possible so we can track it as it travels across the blogosphere.
4. Tag at least five more blogs with links.
5. Leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play.

Projects

What a full week! And a good week! It was a hard start at the beginning of the week: Sewing or Cleaning....which one to do???

Over the weekend, I got this fun pattern. Quintin has been wanting me to sew something for him and I didn't really know what I could make him. This week, well almost in a day really, I made some shorts for all the kids. I used a hunting camouflage fabric for the boys, leftover from this project. I had some Hello Kitty fabric that Elle really wanted me to make something with. But I didn't want to make her a dress/skirt...'cause then she'd want to wear it Sunday mornings. And I'm just not sure Sunday mornings are ready for Hello Kitty!! LOL!!! ;-)

These pictures make me smile- Elle and Quintin picked the poses themselves!!

While I did do some sewing...I knew I needed to clean too!

I spring-cleaned each of the kids bedrooms and their bath. And, we re-arranged the furniture in Elle and Quintin's rooms. They love how their rooms look now. Except, Elle was used to sleeping with one side of the bed against the wall...so far, she's only fallen out once! UGH!!

It feels so good to walk into their rooms now...not that they looked awful, but they just look more fresh and clean! Even the kids notice it!

I'm not going to post any pictures of their rooms today, I'll save them til next week, for Mary's Design Inspiration Carnival! You can find the link at the top of my left sidebar.

I'm taking "design liberties" and posting the graphic here! Can you see that white text at the bottom left of the paint brush graphic? That's me!! Wheee!!!!

So, that was my week. A few big projects tackled...a few more to go - but at least I could let go of some dust bunnies!

Have a great weekend!

Chew on this...

You Are Cinnamon Flavored Gum

You are daring, active, and a little outrageous. You crave adventure and novelty. You like to mix things up. Your personality is extra spicy and larger than life. You love to have fun, and you are passionate about everything you do. You're definitely a fiery person, and you don't back down from a fight. Most people love your fire - but you can be a bit too intense at times!

What Flavor Gum Are You?

Wordless Wednesday