Look Mom!

Here you have it, my very first sewing project as an adult woman! I must say, making these stockings was very fun and I think I'm hooked. They're not quite done yet. My next project will be cross-stitching our names into each one (don't worry, I've got extra fabric for at least two more:)).















My mom recently passed down her old Singer sewing machine to me. This thing has been around since I was little and probably longer, I'll have to ask my mom just how long. It's a little finicky, sometimes sluggish, a few loose wires, but with a little TLC, we have bonded over these four stockings and I may just name her by the next project. I think I'll be participating in BooMama's Christmas Home Tour, so I'll let you know when you can see them hanging on my mantel. One Christmas task down, many to go! But I'm smiling and loving every minute of it!

Insert Face in Dryer and...

Nothing like a dryer fiasco to start your Saturday morning. I had put a load of the girls lights in the dryer the night before. As I thoughtlessly began to empty the clothes into my basket, horror crept in as I realized there were dark purple spots and streaks on EVERYTHING! Upon further investigation I found the culprit, the broken off tip of a purple crayon, from one of Emma's pant pockets I gather. How something so small could reek such havoc I don't know, but the clothes were only the beginning. The full realization of the horror came when I saw the inside of the dryer! You guessed it, purple streaks COVERED the entire inside of the dryer! I started to panic, these are my brand new front loaders that Travis so generously gave me for a birthday a year and a half ago! But panic turned into my face glued to the computer screen as I searched for ways to remove melted crayon from clothes and my dryer. I'm still working on the clothes, I've had success with about half of them. I need to make a run to Walmart for a few more items to try with the clothes. But as for the dryer, I'm happy to report that I found a solution! After trying Softscrub with bleach, Oxyclean, Advantage, and all this with a Magic Eraser and minimal to NO success, I stumbled across a suggestion for glass-ceramic cook top cleaner. Luckily we have a bottle since we have a glass top range, and to my pure glee, it worked magically! Just squirt the cleaner on a dry paper towel, start scrubbing and voila! (Apparently plain white toothpaste works in the same way.) After the job was officially done, about an hour and a half later, I was exhausted and in desperate need of a shower. Having your face in a dryer full of fumes for that long can't be good for you. Lesson learned? ALWAYS check every pocket of your kid's clothes before washing them. I also encouraged Emma never to put crayons in her pockets again, but I think I'll still be checking every time. If any of you have suggestions for getting melted crayon stains out of clothes, PLEASE send along the advice. Ah, the stuff of motherhood. I'm sure broken T.V.'s and melted crayons in the dryer are just the beginning. We have to laugh or we'll cry right!

Accident or Divine Intervention?

The afternoon begins as any other. After a satisfying lunch, the girls and I spend the hour before nap time playing in Emma's room. 1:00pm rolls around, nap time in our house, but friskiness abounds so I'm guessing it will take some effort. Chloe is also battling a cold complete with cough and runny nose, which makes it harder for her to get settled down to sleep. I lay Chloe down, the coughing ensues, then the crying when she becomes frustrated that she can't suck her thumb with a plugged up nose. I let her work on it for awhile while I read Emma her nap time story. Emma is tucked in, eyes closed tightly in hopes that sleep will come easily. I sit down at my sewing machine to work on my Christmas stockings. Chloe goes in and out of fussing and almost falling asleep, we're almost there. Then Emma calls from her room, "Mommy!" I come in knowing what petition will come next, smile hiding behind my lips. "Emma's havin a rough time, I'm just not tired. See, I'm happy, I'm not grumpy! Can I have a quiet time, I don't need a nap today?" Chloe revs up the crying and I can tell she's given up trying to fall asleep as I can tell she's now standing up in the crib. I tell Emma she can watch her Little Bear movie while I check on Chloe and then have some quiet time of my own. She happily agrees, I set her up with the movie, then go in to rock with Chloe for a bit. "You're the end of the rainbow, my pot of gold, you're daddy's little girl, to have and to hold, a precious gem is what you are, you're mommy's bright and shining start..." CRASH! BOOM! A big noise comes from the living room! I jump up, my heart and I race into the living room hoping for the best. Low and behold, the T.V. is face down on the floor and Emma is on the couch looking like a deer in headlights. My own eyes bugging out, in a slow monotone grumble I ask, "WHAT. DID. YOU. DO?!?" Apparently, she had climbed up on the armoire and pulled the T.V. off it's shelf because she "didn't want to watch T.V. anymore". In dumbfounded awe I ask, "why didn't you just push the off button?" She's been forbidden to climb on the armoire before, so the appropriate consequences ensued, accompanied with a stern explanation of what could have happened to her and how sad mommy and daddy would be if she was really hurt and needed to go to the hospital. She was genuinely remorseful, poor thing, and scared by the whole thing, which hopefully made a lasting impression. Upon inspection of the T.V., I realized that the power cord was torn in half by the whole ordeal. So until we buy a new cord, and assuming there was no internal damage, we are without television. I must say, I'm not so sure I want it back. I'd like to see how our lives change without that black box tempting us with trance-like, imagineless, inactivity on a daily basis. I must admit, sometimes I put a movie in for Emma just so I can get some things done uninterrupted. But what am I depriving her imagination from in the process, how am I thwarting her creativity? Heaven forbid boredom set in, whatever would she do?! Do I so easily forget life is not about constant entertainment? That sometimes the greatest thoughts and bursts of creativity come from times of nothingness, times when we must invent our next thought our action. Don't worry, I'm not going to get on some anti-television rampage, but let's just say that my daughter literally tearing our T.V. from the wall gave me all kinds of inspiration to seriously limit our family's use of it. I'm going to think twice the next time I want the "easy way out". I think a few more trips to the library and a few less movies on during the day is in order. Accident or Divine intervention, I don't know, you be the judge. But I'm thinking perhaps a little bit of both!

Friends For Life!

Jenn from Munchkin Land has tagged me for the “Picture Me” meme. I’m supposed to post a picture of me, write about it, and tag three people.

Any guess who these two kids might be?

It's Jenn and I!

Yep, since the second grade, when our mothers introduced us and pretty much commanded us to be friends, we have been. We've had our ups and downs, drifted and rekindled, but as it stands now, there's no way in the world I will ever let this beautiful woman slip out of my life. She means too much to me, she is too much to me. God in his sovereignty brought us together as young girls, and my life is all the better for His profound blessing! Rock on tight-rolled pants!

I love you more than words Jenn!

Who am I tagging? Anyone who would like to participate!

The Stuff of Childhood

For some, October 31st is a day of rebelling against the evil that surfaces on this particular day of the year by not participating in an ounce of celebration. We understand why some feel this way, but our version of rebelling against evil looks a little different.

Romans 12:21 says, "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." We interpret this scripture to mean that we should reclaim a day that Satan thinks he owns by overcoming evil with good! After all, this is the day that the Lord has made! We will rejoice and be glad in it! So we will carve happy pumpkins, dress in fun, non-scary costumes, play games and win candy at church carnivals, laugh, play, love on our neighbor's, and relish in the joys of youth, riddled with imagination and wonder.

Here's a slide show of the past two days for your viewing pleasure. Since some of you have trouble viewing the fancy slide shows I create through slide.com, all the pictures are right here in the post this time.

Emma loved pulling out pumpkin goop and squishing seeds between her fingers!

Helping Papa with his pumpkin

Watching Grammy start to carve

Me getting ready to carve my silly-faced pumpkin

The final product. The cross is a little stubby, but you get the idea.

Who's this little ladybug on my porch?!

She's a keeper, be careful not to squash her! Is my Emma Grace not the most beautiful little Cinderella you've ever seen?!

(Mommy's have the right to blatantly gush right!)

Cinderella and the ladybug, getting ready to go to daddy's work for trick-or-treating.

Walking the cubicles at Daddy's work

Cinderella turned into Bugs Bunny! This is a costume we got for free from a friend and we thought it might be a bit warmer for night time trick-or-treating. Emma loved the chance to dress up twice. Here she is, ready to visit a few neighbor friends.

Yes, this is a four-wheelin wagon! Grammy finds the greatest stuff at garage sales!

Getting dark and getting cold!

Last stop, Uncle Tyler's house, where he and Kim made a nice warm fire and popped in Finding Nemo for Emma and Chloe. We'll do the church carnival next year when Chloe will be able to enjoy it too.

Tyler carving his masterpiece.

Plum tuckered!

What a fun and full day! Memories made, messes still abound. Tomorrow I'll be ready for a "normal" day of cleaning up house and playing with the girls. Hope your October 31st was a GOOD one!
In Him,
Sarah

I Must Be Crazy!

I know, I know, "do I hear CHRISTMAS MUSIC?!" you ask yourselves. The answer, yes. Is it just me, or is one month far to short to enjoy some of the best music ever created!? So for those of you who aren't ready to start your holiday season with me, simply go down to my playlist and press pause. But for the rest of you, HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Ten things I LOVE about you!

Ever just get overcome with all the things you appreciate about your mate? Well, humor me while I relish in the blessing that is being married to Travis.

1. He works SO hard to provide for our family, which allows me to be home fulltime with our girls. He also works hard around the house. He just finished doing our whole backyard sprinkler system on his own!

2. He is so wise and dilligent in leading us in the management of our money.

3. He gets up with me when the girls are sick and jumps right in to cleaning up the "mess".

4. He lets me sleep in when I really need a few extra z's.

5. He is an amazing, affectionate, humorous, compassionate, and engaged father to our girls.

6. He still persues me with simple acts of romance and selflessness.

7. He shares his heart with me, his struggles and dreams and feelings, on a regular basis.

8. He tells me how wonderful he thinks I am, gives me genuine and specific compliments often.

9. He desires to grow in his spiritual leadership of our family.

10. He LIKES me, he enjoys spending time with me, joking, laughing, flirting, just doing things together that we both like.

There are way more than ten things I love about you babe, but this is just my little way of saying, I'm one lucky girl! Thanks for being just who you are.

Love, Sarah