A Hat that Fits

 

My fingers have been knitting and knitting for several days now, I'm SO slow!  I try to work on it in bed in the evenings and I caught myself working a little on Sunday between cleaning the floors and fixing dinner.

Here's a close up of the stitches...I'm still missing stitches and not realizing it until it's too late.  So, since I wanted to learn how to purl as well as knit, I alternated stitches in4's.  This hat had to be bigger than the last and since I was using the same yarn, it wasn't hard to make it bigger without measuring...here's the end result.My little Evan!  It's perfect for him...I wonder if I could convince him to wear it all the time?  I'd be so proud!

In case you are new to my blog...this is only the 4th thing I've made.  I just started about 3 weeks ago.  If I can do this anyone can.  I love www.knittinghelp.com

Look what I did...isn't this cool!

Not that I'm bored or anything, just thought this was Super cute, go check it out! : Celebrity Collage - Free genealogy - Black and white photographs



MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

Puppy Love

This my husband James and this is my favorite picture of him, ever. Something about being a new Daddy again, the tired in his eyes he won't own up to and the sense of pride in his easy smile. James and I have been in love since we were freshman in high school. I still love him with that puppy dog love that I felt when we were kids. I knew he was the one for me and I know people might think that's crazy but it's not. See, in middle school he beat up my boyfriend for hitting him in the back with an ice cream. James was tall in middle school and very broad. He had these very wide, mature shoulders and played football and I was best friends with his step sister. I always thought he was "cute" and "sweet" and he secretly liked me too. So, when I'd go to his sister's house we'd flirt and he and his friends would fight over my attention. It was charming! (roll of the eyes). Then our freshman year I was seeing this older guy and I was "in love" with him and he broke my heart and I acted really stupid about it. I tried to make that guy jealous and James knew I was hurt. The next thing I know we are in the bleachers, James and I, and I'm trying to make this other guy jealous by talking to James. and he's doing his best to keep me from acting stupid and all I wanted to do was make the guy jealous It didn't work! But the next day his sister and I were on the phone and she said "we just need to find you someone else" I said, "what about your brother." Well, she thought it was a good idea. "JAAAAMIIEE," she yelled, "will you go out with AAAAIMMMEEE??" He came into the room and said "sure". Just a quite sure and picked up the phone. We talked! The next Monday at school we were walking down a flight of steps and when we got to the bottom, he reached around me and opened the door.

That was the moment!

That was when I knew I would LOVE this guy!

all the while not knowing he'd always been secretly in love with me...

It wasn't just the fact he opened the door, he did it with reverence and respect and my mom always said, "You need to find a guy that respects you." It was like one of Oprah's "awe" moments. Also, I was his first kiss!

So, we stayed in LOVE through high school, through college, and all the way to today. Our love has changed I gues but the foundation of our love hasn't. He's my soul mate, truly. He's my touchstone. I miss him, when we don't spend much time together. I want him near me, I want him to be around. We've both changed through the years but we are in a good place! I love crawling in our big bed and knowing every night he's there. Most nights we are too tired to say good night but some nights we can talk, laugh, cry, hold each other, love each other. We have had 3 very beautiful children. The children we'd talked about for 10 years before we'd had them. The are perfect! They are part of my husband and part me. We've grown closer and there is a trust there that is amazing. We were each others firsts years ago. There was comfort in knowing that my husband was truly mine. And I'm not sure anyone experiences that anymore. I've had fights...big ones...sometime they'd go on for days. All in all, it's been a beautiful life with him. He's not a romantic, he doesn't bring me flowers or cards or talk sweet nothings, not as affectionate as some but affectionate when he needs to be and is good at it. when he is He's very serious, very realistic, the poor guy had been through alot growing up so I hope that I've made his life better, I think I have. He's made mine the most amazing life I could ask for. We don't have as much as some people but we have SO much more than most. I love this man, I love him, I love him, I love him! In loving him, I've learned to love.

Stirring Within...A Conversation with my Friends!

Time:
You know I have days that are long and calm and I have days that seem SO short and busy.  I know everyone does but why on days that are short and busy is that the day that you have to get so much done.  Why didn't I plan my Wednesday night lesson for church on a long, calm day or why couldn't I have had grocery money on Monday when I was out and had time to kill?  It just seems like everything comes at once.

God:
Today I have been very aware of God.  I don't know what the difference is, I feel like I am completely surrounded by Him at times.  I'll be thinking, praying, listening and feeling all at the same time.  For example, while listening to a beautiful song on the Christian radio I felt compelled to talk to God because I suddenly had the feeling that several things I have read or heard lately all connected.  Jesus told his disciples that they could move a mountain if they had Faith and we know that with God, we can do all things.  So I wondered...
Do I have enough Faith to move mountains???  Can I wilt the fig tree just by speaking words?  You and I would say "no", but would Jesus say yes?  Just think on that...that's a fraction of what's been stirring in me today.

Benevolence:

As a Christian should I welcome a single mom with a baby into my life?  I'm faced with that situation.  I have an extra room in my home and this girl is steps away from being homeless.  If I thought it was all her fault I may not be very willing but I KNOW that God is working on her.  She's lost everything and gained much more at the same time.  When my sister-in-law said I was crazy, I thought: Am I?  Maybe??  NO!  I'm not crazy!  I may make mistakes but I'm not crazy and who can say "NO".  I have so much to offer and so little to give at the same time.  .I just want her to be able to rest her head and not worry about where she's going to sleep, so that she can focus on getting a new job and starting a life for herself and her baby.  Is that wrong?

Eliminating CHAOS:

Yes, I'm going there!  You know, except for when I have company over, I've actually felt like I have eliminated CHAOS.  Some girlfriends came over yesterday and actually said "How do you keep your house so clean with 3 kids?  I just don't know how?"  Okay, my humble answer was "HAVE you seen my laundry?"  That did make me feel good but  you know what I had to do this week to get it right.  I had to spend time on Sunday while the kids played and the husband napped and just CLEAN. I like my closets organized so I've worked on that a little in the last week.  I've de-cluttered and it's all been a process but it works.  NOTHING complicated about it.  I think I was more blessed when I let my husband nap and enjoy his Sunday off instead of riding him and making him help.  It's not his place!!!  It's mine.  He works  60 plus hours a week...our home...is MY job!

Tearless

Why do I say tearless...I've cried them all out!  This week I have cried more over the loss and burdens of woman with sick, dying or passed children than I have ever.  It's like it came from all sides and I couldn't understand it and when I shared a video from "Bring the Rain" with a friend who has a baby...she said: I can't imagine, how could GOD do that?  I knew then that God was working on that girl...that she doesn't full understand His love for her and us and that she's got a long road ahead if she doesn't learn it soon.  I can say, I don't know how I'd feel.  I've never lost a child born or unborn.  I have had scares and sickness and many trips to a NICU when Cooper was born.  That I know!  So, when I say I'm tearless, it's because my well needs to be replenished!  Just so I can go again!

Now that I've been as transparent as I know to be...good or bad...I want to know what you think?  What has touched you, what do you ponder over, what do you pray for.  I'm SO interested in what you have to say!

Birthday Cakes

I like making cakes. I hate eating them, but I love making them. So, when someone wants a cake I'll always be glad to do one. I'm not proclaiming I'm good at them. I'm a perfectionist to the extreme and I'm NEVER happy with the end result of cakes. I think icing isn't as predictable as other artistic mediums. ; )

These little furry monsters are probably the hardest things I've ever done. I wanted to do special stitching on the color blocks to match the actual pictures but once I got to a certain point I decided I'd spent far too much time on them. I redid the eyes and the hair at least once. Even the little cookie is made of icing. It was all worth it for my little "Baby Jack"!

The little guy had to have his own cake too and his momma wanted to to be almost all blue. I tried to do a "cookie" in cookie monsters mouth but what you see is what you get. Now, since this was a double party for little brother and big brother, big brother had to have his own cake!

So Big Brother got the Spongebob Square Pants cake. It was a quick decorate, not like the other two. I don't particularly care for SpongeBob at all but he does make a cute cake I guess.

So, we have Sponge Bob, Cookie Monster, Elmo and Big Bird all at one party.

Yippee! Actually it makes me tired just thinking about it.

Forgiveness

Matthew 18:
21 Then Peter came to him and asked, "Lord, how often should I forgive someone [21] who sins against me? Seven times?"  22 "No, not seven times," Jesus replied, "but seventy times seven!

Memories

Ah Ha!  My auntie cissy tagged me in this photo.  O to be 12 years old again!

That's my cousing Kristi on the left and her friend Holly.  I didn't know Holly well but I always liked her.  She was one that seemed really sweet growing up but I went to a different school until 7th grade.  I don't remember her being in 7th grade with us when we all went to middle school together.  That's me on the right!  Don't you love the polka-dot bikini!  Is it possible to ever be the same size you were in middle school?

Check out those sholders on me!  That's from climbing trees and hanging on monkey bars...

Oh those were the days!

Thrifty Decor Chick: Wondering why.

Thrifty Decor Chick: Wondering why.

The Tooth Fairy has no reason to visit here!

My precious Cooper will be 7 in May and still does not have a wiggly tooth.

I don't mind!

I did find this and wanted to share it.  I think it would be SO neat to have this.

Apparently the Tooth Fairy lives in California too!  But I thought this kit was really awesome from http://www.officeofthetoothfairy.com/.  Also it's just $16 and you reuse it!  Honestly, I think it would be worth it for the memories.  Plus, I already have this and still haven't used it.

It's from Once Upon a Family.