Tithing Sharing Time

So 2 years since I posted a blog..... All righty then.... I just wanted to put this out in internet land for anyone else that doesn't want to spend hours looking for a tithing sharing time/lesson/FHE.

9-11-11

I can't believe it's been 10 years since this happened.  I've heard people talk about where they were when we landed on the moon, or when Kennedy was shot, and 9-11 is like that in my memory.  But it was different for me this year.  I watched all that footage again.  And my heart broke all over again.  Especially since my husband could have been one of those men.  We have an amazing group of men, who watch over and protect our community at the expense of time with their own families.  Sacrificing so much time and energy.  I am proud, and grateful!

 

So I decided to enter sew dang cute's Crafting with the stars contest.  I'm not super duper crafty like these lady's.  But I wanted to enter anyway, since I'm in love with my most recent creation! Go check it out.  There are a LOT of super duper amazing crafters linked up!

Antique Crate???? No, but...

It is antique wood.  My great friend Staci tore down her old shed. (That was built by her husbands grandpa, I think) and since I was willing to help, they let me take what I wanted of the old barn wood! Be still my heart!

 Since today was the first day of my new life as a mom with all her kids in school, GASP, for the 2 1/2 hours that my baby is in preschool.  I decided to tackle my first barnwood project.  A crate.

 Simple enough... I cut my boards to length, then glued & air gun nailed the pieces together.

 Luckily for me... Grandpa Joe was a little bit of a hoarder, and had these AWESOME antique window pully's that I thought would make a terrific replacement for castors

 You need a closer look right??? I thought so!  Well my new screws look terrible! So....

 I pulled out some wood stain, and dabed at the screws with it, and it rustified them right up!

 I also snagged some OLD hardware supplies to be used for something cool somewhere.

 Now I thought it needed a place to have belonged, so I decided that this little baby should have come from the Steel City! (Just like my cute husband!) So, I cut a stencil out on the cricket, and spray painted it red. (The color of Heinz ketchup)

 Then peeled the stencil off, and.....

TADAAAAA!!! My first not really antique crate!

Magic!

I have been feeling really nostalgic lately. Like this is the end of my boys being little boys. So it almost brought tears to my eyes when I saw these pictures of Troy being a carefree little boy! I knew that everything would happen fast. Everyone kept telling me to enjoy them while they were little. But 27 THOUSAND diapers later.... I didn't really believe "them". Now I do.... The faster time goes, the faster time goes. And my little boys are growing up. I hope I can hang on to these last few magical moments of them being little!

Inspired apron

So I went to bunco the other night, and Nicole had SUPER fun prizes. I wanted ALL of them! Silly rules say you only get to pick one, well I was upset about it, cause they were all super cute! And so since frame making is not my specialty I got a beautiful frame as a prize and took home some inspiration from an apron that she had there. I have some beautiful, cute, fabric in my garage for just such a project, but when I got it out, I couldn't cut into it without a patern for fear that I would ruin EVERYTHING! So here's a funny quirk about me. I hate top sheets! Weird, I know. Who doesn't like top sheets? Well they are always so cold.... and when I jump into bed I like to be warm, and snuggly. So instead of being normal and teaching my children top sheet etiquete, I have a ton of top sheets laying around doing nothing. Well just this once I'm glad to be weird! I had this white sheet in the closet that cost around $4 from target. (and have already gotten my $4 worth out of the bottom sheet.) So I wasn't afraid to rip it apart and make this cute (if I do say so myself) peasant apron. Ta da! P.S. I only sew in straight lines. So ANYONE could make this baby!

I used an old plain apron as a pattern for the underneath part. I lined it up with the top of the sheet so it was finished nice on the top. The less sewing the better I always say! Then I cut 7 inch strips off the bottom of the sheet. I used the finished edge for the bottom layer, and left the other two ruffles edges frayed. (just cause I think it's cute) to make the ruffles you baste stitch an inch and a half from the top, and then gather to the right length. I used red string because I couldn't find white, and I thought it would be cute. Then I made a little bird out of some cute red fabric I had laying around. I added a ties, also not finished, just stagger stitched around the neck and at the sides. There, If I can do it, you can too!

Chubbly little bird! :0)

Merry Christmastime!

Ok, so it's not Christmas yet, but I'm so excited about the whole season this year. We are carrying on some fun family traditions that I would like to write down for posterities sake. We start off the season with the 12 days of Christmas. We have done it the last few years and the kids LOVE it more and more every year. They are prime for Christmas this year. Old enough to be really excited, and also old enough to understand that Christmas is a time of giving and thinking of Christ. Well they are starting to understand that part anyway..... Then Christmas Eve we will be off to my parents house for our Mexican fiesta!!! Hooray! I think my mom pulled this one out of the air but I think it is more fun than Christmas for me! We also decorate our mason jar instead of stockings. My dad is one of 10 kids, and I think his mom just got tired of trying to figure out stockings every year so she used mason jars instead. I loved that we were different from every other family, so we usually have jars at grandma's house, and stockings at ours, but this year, I'm going to embrace the jar idea. I hope Gabe will let me. Then Christmas morning growing up, we ALWAYS had mom's homemade cinnamon rolls, and I loved that!!! But.... Gabe has meshed his ginormous breakfast tradition into ours, and now Christmas breakfast is a feast to behold!!! Then the normal open presents, play with presents, eat a lot, and then after Christmas dinner an angel food cake as a birthday cake for baby Jesus. I love this time of year. It makes me so cheerful. I hope to be able to carry the joy throughout the coming year.

It's great to BEE 8!

So Kolby turned 8 last month. And of course it's great to BEE eight!!! I'm so proud that Kolby made the decision to be baptized. He is such a great little boy. I guess I shouldn't keep calling him little. He's getting so big. He is such a great example to his little brothers. He is a hard worker like his daddy, and one of my favorite things about him is how thoughtful he is. I couldn't be prouder of how smart he is, and that he enjoys learning to play the piano. He also loves gymnastics, and his teacher is always saying how strong he is, and how well he does. He is in a class where he is the newest student, but is trying hard to be just as good as the other boys in his class. I love him so much!!! I feel so grateful to have his little spirit in our home!