Category Archive

Looks like life will change quite a bit around here, say, around March or April!

A gift from God that we are very thankful for, and of which we feel very undeserving.

I whipped this up last week, as a gift for a friend.

The pattern is McCall’s 5153, apparently out of print.  Note the “Easy” written in bright red, which you must ignore.  This was one of the most difficult patterns I have ever sewn.  However, the results were worth it:  pretty cute, don’t you think?  This was also the smallest size in the pattern, size newborn, so that probably didn’t help with the difficulty level.

And, don’t you love this pretty house?  One of my favorites…it’s near our house and it always looks so lovely and comfortable.

(it is hard to get a good picture from a moving car.  maybe someday I’ll stop in and meet the owners, and get a better picture…)

From Knowing God.

“…[W]e are able to apply to ourselves the promise that all things work together for good to them that love God and are called according to his purpose (Rom 8:28).  Not just some things, note, but all things!  Every single thing that happens to us expresses God’s love to us, and comes to us for the furthering of God’s purpose for us.

Thus, so far as we are concerned, God is love to us – holy, omnipotent, love – at every moment and in every event of every day’s life.  Even when we cannot see the why and the wherefore of God’s dealings, we know that there is love in and behind them, and so we can rejoice always, even when, humanly speaking, things are going wrong.  We know that the true story of our life, when known, will prove to be, as the hymn says, ‘mercy from first to last’ – and we are content.”

So, sometimes we have trips to the thrift store that are ho-hum.  You know:  a couple of paperback children’s books, and a pillowcase thrown in just to make it worth it.

But today.  Today was not one of those days.

Now, let me just type a little disclaimer here:  this does not happen to me very often.

I promise.

Love this book.  It’s oversized, and the illustrations are absolutely wonderful.

Check out this roller coaster!

Next thrift store visit, we’ll be scrounging around for children’s records.

Just some quiet pictures, for a look at what’s been goin’ on around here.

I took the girls to see a “Little House on the Prairie” musical a couple weeks ago…they put on their calico dresses, some dress-up jewelry, and we were off to the show.

We saw a dear friend get married.  Aren’t weddings so fun to attend?  It was a beautiful day for an outdoor wedding, too.

I’ve had a little time to keep up with some sewing projects.  Finally finished a couple of dresses for the girls…I loved the fabric I used, which made the actual sewing a lot more fun (and faster!).  Ivy’s was from a vintage pattern I found on Etsy, and I like the simplicity of it (especially the pleat in the front!), but the collar turned out a little wonky.  Maybe it’ll grow on me;  we’ll see.

Charlotte’s came from a pattern I’ve used many times before, and it was a breeze to sew.  I love this pattern and am so glad to use it often!

Don’t you love it when the perfect button fits just right with the fabric?  I’ve been waiting for several years for an opportunity to use this one:

And for the dessert of this blog post, here is a peek at a tiny baby girl who came to live forever with our good friends, Eli and Dawn, last fall.  I had the privilege of taking pictures of sweet baby Esther, and I just could not resist sharing one.  Isn’t she wonderful?

It’s tempting to share more pictures, but we’ll let her mommy look at them for awhile first. More to come…

Enjoy your weekend, everyone!

Asher got a “hairscut” from Daddy last night.  Here’s a before picture:

Here’s the done deal:

Every time Asher gets his picture taken now, he hollers “CHEESE!  CHOCOLATE!”  Without fail.  I swear I don’t have any idea where he gets the “chocolate” part from, other than that he is a boy after his mother’s own heart.

He sure was gettin’ the looks from the ladies today at the store.  Lots of people commented on how handsome he looked.  He just smiled at them and said, “See the back?”

Three of my loves:

The girls have been into making “hats” lately, for themselves and for Asher.  Lots of scotch tape, construction paper, and a flurry of scissors.  Ta-da!

“CHEESE!  CHOCOLATE!!”

Several days ago we had dinner with some good friends…and, this time, instead of shoving eight children into a small house on a hot day, we thought we’d meet at a park, eat take-out pizza on paper plates, and take a walk.

The kids all had such fun together, running way down the path, laughing, and carrying on with much silliness.

Spending an evening walking in the woods with good friends is just our cup of tea.

(The food was good, too…)

Spent the weekend at my parents’, just outside of Augusta, way down in Georgia.  What a beautiful town and area!  They have some great parks, on the Savannah River,

next to some gorgeous houses…

(my absolute favorite)

We had a good time, just hangin’ out,

picking blackberries,

ridin’ the tractor,

playing in the little kid pool,

sending Dad off to the Military Ball,

and some other fun stuff that I can’t remember right now.  The girls stayed down with Mom and Dad for a few days by themselves, for more hugs, kisses, and general silliness.  We miss them!

(most photo credits:  my Mom.  hi Mom!  great job with the pictures!)

He was the giggliest robot we’d ever seen.

And somehow books seem more delicious when they’re read on a quilt, outside, on a Sunday summer afternoon.

Hope everyone’s enjoying the beautiful weather this week!

They played with cousins, and swam like fish.  The mommies talked, walked, and tanned.  Crab legs, spending breakfast to dinner in a bathing suit, bare feet, freckles, pink shoulders, laughing.  It’s good to be with family.