Happy Birthday Dear Maggie!

Splashing into 14! Yeah Maggie! You are a delight to your father and me. We both love you so much. It is our joy to be your parents. Your tender heart and sweet spirit are such a blessing to everyone. As you are in these teenage years, our prayer for you is that you will continue to follow after God with your whole heart. We pray that you will walk closely with Him for that is where you will find true contentment. We love you! Happy 14th Birthday! Keep on making a splash where ever you are... You are so wonderful!

These Mitts

I worked up a pair of Leslie's: Those Mitts. They are going to be a Christmas gift for the girl's piano teacher. He, in addition to being a pianist, is an artist, a gardener and an avid hiker. I think these will come in very handy. I loved the pattern! Thanks for sharing, Leslie! It was easy to follow and the thumb opening is so effortless. No picking up or holding of stitches. I will be making some more of these.

Here's the nitty gritty:

Pattern: Those Mitts from A friend to knit with

Yarn: Lion Brand Wool Ease in Heather gray

Needles: DPN size 6

Size: I made them 5 1/2" before I worked the thumb opening.I had my guy try them on for a quick photo shoot before leaving for work...They fit great! (I know the neighbors have to be wondering why I'm always taking pictures of people and things outside at strange hours. Oh well, gotta make use of that natural light!)

These Hands

These hands are beautiful to me. They have loved me, wiped my tears, and held me when I was afraid. These hands have applauded my victories, cheered me from the sideline and folded in prayer on my behalf countless times. Because of these hands I have been pushed to become a better mom, wife and friend. These hands create wonderful gifts of love and write thoughtful notes of encouragement. They've checked homework and edited papers and wiped up messes that I made. These hands taught me how to cook, and sew and knit. These are the hands that have held mine when I needed holding and let go when it was time to walk on. My babies were loved by these hands. My children feel their sweet touch of love often. These beautiful hands are still serving and loving and giving. Because that is what makes them beautiful...all of the ways that they have loved and served and given. Happy Birthday mom! I love your hands...I love you.

My mom just got a laptop and is learning to use it...she's doing great...doesn't she look like a 'natural'?

Uno, Dos, Grace

John Samuel was counting to me in Spanish this morning and he said, "Uno, Dos, Grace." I barely heard it. He can always make me smile. His counting reminded me of something we've been learning in our Bible time.

We've been reading in the book of Acts during our morning Bible time and the other day we read Acts chapter 6. We got to the end of the chapter and there was a little verse that just jumped out at us. It was verse 8. It said that Stephen was a "man full of God's grace and power." As we talked it out, we realized that the combination of grace and power was just what we needed each day. Grace to forgive. Grace to allow the other person to go first. Grace to be kind. Power to forgive. Power to allow the other person to go first. Power to be kind. Sometimes I've got the grace and I need the power to put it into action. Some times I have the power but the grace allows what I do to be done in love. The next chapter of Acts sees Stephen getting stoned for his faith. He was able to forgive those who stoned him because of God's grace and power in his life. As he is being pummeled he says, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." Acts 7:60. Wow. That is real grace and power. So I've been asking God for His grace and power to help me with the things that hit me in life. Compared to Stephen they really are just pebbles, but I still need His grace and power.

Enjoy your day! May it be filled with grace and power.

The picture above is our yard early this morning...it was a gentle reminder to me to let God's grace and power shine into my life.

Give Away!

Cutie Pa Tuttie bag! There's a giveaway over at Just Another Hang Up! Check it out! Her bags are all so adorable!

Gathering Mums

I'm still trying to watchful for those things in my life that bring delight and joy. I'm finding that most of them are little, simple things. So today, as it is feeling more like fall, I stumbled upon several treasures as I went about my day. Being the seasonal freak that I am, I decided that today I was gathering mums...instead of roses.

Our new favorite breakfast: smoothies. I make them in our Magic Bullet and they are so delicious. I use a cup of yogart, some fruit (whatever is on hand; this one has mixed frozen berries), some 1% milk, a couple of ice cubes and I even throw in some wheat germ when no one is looking to make them even more nutricious. They bring a smile to everyone's face!

Can you see the smoothie mustache? too cute!

Watching this sweet girl eat her mini "ike creem code" at lunch today. She's only weeks away from being adopted by my dear friends. She is a treasure of exceptional proportions. Such an awesome gift sent straight from the Lord.

Getting eggs from my friend Sharon and visiting on a beautiful afternoon. She raises chickens and goats and is pretty much self sufficient. I asked her what she goes to the grocery store to buy and she said, "Sugar, toilet paper and paper towels!" Wow! (Although I did see a flat of water in the corner of her kitchen!) I took them out of the egg containers and put them in a bowl in the fridge. They make me happy everytime I open the refrigerator door.

Getting to enjoy the rare beauty of this passion flower. Isn't God's handiwork just matchless? You've heard the expression, "Take time to stop and smell the roses?" I'm so glad I took the time to notice this today. I snapped so many pictures to try to capture the exquiste beauty of this flower. I hope you'll stumble upon some mums as you go about your day. They seem to be in the least likely of places.

Happy Birthday John!

I love you so much and wish you double blessings on your double double birthday! Happy 44!I'm so thankful for the husband and father that you are. I'm looking forward to many more years of making and capturing memories together!

Evangeline

I've finished my Evangeline Mitts. These were a quick knit. I will definitely be knitting some more of these.
Here's the skinny:

Pattern: Evangeline
Mods: I knit 1 extra repeat after I finished the thumb opening.
Yarn: Cascade 220 Paints Londonberry, used just 1/2 of a skein.
Needles: size 7 double points
This is the palm side of them. The extra repeat made them just a little bit longer, covering up some more of my fingers.
My husband mentioned that he thought they were very nice. Always looking for a reason to knit...I asked him if he thought he might want a pair...not with cables of course...but you know I was fishing to see how much he liked them. I said, "If you want a pair you should say something and I'll knit you a pair, if not then I won't. I don't want to knit them if you really don't want them." So he said, "I'm not saying anything." Well. I guess that said it all. Anyways, I really like them. They make knitting outside in the cooler temps a possibility.

I went to my LYS to get some yarn for this. They had nothin'. The owner just recently had back surgery and hadn't wanted a huge order to come in while she was recovering. She said that her superwash order would be in mid-October. Bummer. So I did the next best thing, I came home and cast on for a pair of socks. I think I'll be ordering some yarn soon!

Looking for Roses...

I loved the quote on Kristyn's post the other day.

"One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon-instead of enjoying the roses blooming outside our windows today."
-Dale Carnegie

So today I asked the Lord to help me see hidden roses throughout my day. It was very enjoyable this rose hunt. I found myself aware of things that I normally would have bypassed in my daily routine.

All of our bags hanging by the front door ready for life. Seems like everytime we leave the house we have a tote of some kind in our hand. We are truly blessed to have some many opportunities and things in which to participate. (from left to right: Mckenzie's CBS tote, my knitting bag, my jean jacket, John Samuel's messenger bag, Mckenzie's piano bag, my cross stitch tote)

Flowers sent to me from John just to say he was thinking of me .... Just because.


Cereal bowls all lined up on the counter ready for a busy morning before heading out the door to class.

My kitchen window early this morning before the cereal bowls were filled and while the house was still quiet. The crickets chirping outside and fresh tomatoes on the window sill...summer is still lingering.

Brand new lessons to study for CBS. Today was our first day. On the left is my notebook and on the right is John Samuel's. He will have homework each week (just like his big sister) and he is so excited he can hardly wait.

Some crochet thread we wound into a ball for a friend who was going to Russia. It was one of several we got ready for her to take for the locals to use. She never made it by to pick it up in her last minute rush. I was going to put it away and then was reminded to pray for her...I decided to leave it out so that each time I see it sitting there I'll whisper a prayer for her protection and her safety.

Green Bean Thank You and WIPs

My friend Deb and her family live on a gorgeous farm that spans 142 acres. I can't even imagine. Their house is circa 1840's and it's been in the family for 5 generations. I wish I'd have taken a picture of their home...so beautiful. We spent Labor Day at their house visiting with friends and eating. At the end of the evening she asked if I wanted to take any green beans home. They were done picking and putting up all the green beans her family would eat for the winter but their plants were still producing tons of green beans. I picked a half bushel of green beans and ended up blanching them and freezing 10 quarts for the winter. On Saturday, she was in the area and brought me a bushel more and about 18 tomatoes. Wow! When all was said and done, I ended up with 30 quarts of green beans. They are all packed nicely in my freezer waiting for the winter. I'm planning to make some more salsa with the tomatoes. What a blessing. She wouldn't even let me give her any money for all the beans and time they spent picking them. So I thought I would give her one of my aprons as a thank you gift. I made several of these aprons at the beginning of summer. Many of them will become gifts for friends and family at Christmas. They are all reversible. This one has blue gingham on the front with a little tea motif and the back is a snowman print material. That way, she can enjoy it all year long. I made each apron different. Each one has a year long fabric for one side and a winter/Christmas print for the other side. The ties are made out of grossgrain ribbon. Some of them have pockets. My daughter's each wanted a turn to model the apron...so Mckenzie modeled the front and Maggie the reverse.

I've also been working on some other projects besides green beans and salsa. My current WIPs are the Evangeline mitts. Isn't that yarn gorgeous? It's Cascade 220 Paints. The picture doesn't do the colors justice.

I've gotten one done and am starting in on the second. My hands have been itchy lately...I'm so hoping it's not the wool. I never thought I'd be hoping for ragweed.

I've also been working on my cross stitch. It's my Epic project. I'm making progress though. It's my goal to have it done before Thanksgiving...we'll see. There is still one more square and then the border to finish. It's a Snapperville pattern from Bent Creek. (Beth Ann, how's yours coming?...you're probably done!)

No Lounging here...

It all started when Kristyn mentioned that she wanted a pair of Amy Butler lounge pants as seen here. She had a vintage sheet and she even had the pattern but the problem was, she couldn't sew (yet). I said, "I can sew. You send me the pattern and your sheet and I'll make them for you...I'll even make myself a pair and it will be a fair trade." Yeah for me! I had queued these up in mind to make for some time and now I was getting the pattern. Well I made K a pair. I made myself a pair and I was done. Hers were pink with rick rack at the bottom...so cute. I used the border from the top of my sheet for the bottom edge of the legs. They are so comfy.

Next thing you know, John Samuel, (my little guy) went and got his heavy fleece lounge pants that I had made him for Christmas last year and put them on. It was 95 degrees outside....not a good combination. I told him that he needed to wait and pull those out in the winter. "But mom, I want to wear my jammie pants like you.", he said. Oh. My. He has me wrapped around his little finger. The only problem was that I didn't have any old sheets lying around that would work for a little boy. Well wouldn't you know it, about 2 days later, my girlfriend gave me some sheets from her son's room that didn't fit his new double bed. They had baseballs on them. La La La Love when that happens! So I made John Samuel a pair, and while I was at it, I made some for Kristyn's boys to take to the beach.

Connor's (in the middle) are a bit long. Good thing he's still growing. His were actually made out of the pillow case. I put some elastic in the back section of their drawstrings so they wouldn't have to untie them when heading to the little boys' room. (I know how last minute that can be with little guys). I got all three of those out of one flat sheet and a pillow case. Isn't that amazing? Just when I thought I might be able to put away the sewing machine. My big guy says, "Do you think you have enough material left to make me a pair? They look so comfy." How did he know I had a whole fitted sheet left in the boy material? I didn't get his done in time to take with us to the beach, but I finished them this past week and he loves them. (His and the boys are not Amy's wide leg pattern, they are a combo of patterns that I had in my file) His are in the coordinating star fabric. Now, I'm just waiting for the girls to put in their request. My neighbor already has. She saw me out in my wide leg lounge pants walking the dog around the yard...I now have her sheet waiting on my cutting table.

Spa Day

Molly girl was so in need of a day at the spa. Yesterday, I called and got her an appointment with the groomer. This morning bright and early I took her for her day away. She was giddy with excitement. Until we got there..(it's really not a spa, it's the groomer at the vet!) As we waited for her turn, she sat between my feet and kept scooting back under the bench until she couldn't scoot any farther. Poor little thing was panting like a...dog. Peggy came and got her and I left to go home. She was quivering and whining...it was pitiful. Anyways it was all worth it. I picked her up this afternoon and she was so excited to see me. She looks (and smells) so much purtier! Mckenzie especially loved the pink bows and bandanna! Molly always does come back from her spa days just a little bit sassier. I guess it's the hair cut...does that to me sometimes too!