A Few of My Sewing Projects

I have been on a sewing/crafting kick lately.  And when I say kick, I really mean obsession.  When I was little I can remember sitting in the living room floor with my Nanny helping her piece a quilt, crochet a rag rug, watching her sew clothes for me or my dolls. She was always doing something crafty. I watched her a lot but don't remember really getting many "lessons" from her.  How I wish I had paid more attention. 

Mom and dad gave me a sewing machine several years ago for Christmas per my request.  After I received it I made a few pillows, some curtains and a few other things here and there. Last year I made my families Christmas stockings, which I wasn't really all that happy with but they worked.

 

I didn't know much about sewing/cutting around corners (our stockings have no toes!) and I didn't really know anything about how to do the hanging ribbons nor the top hems.  I want to make new ones this year since I halfway know what I'm doing. These were from some fabric I had on hand but this year I want to do some a little more season appropriate.  We'll see.
I've been working hard to teach myself how to use the machine and how to do different techniques.  Last week I made my daughter a slouchy tote bag from one of her old hoodies.

 

There are a few things (like the top hem) that I'm not pleased with but I should have done that before I sewed the hems up the side on this one to make it a little easier.  Sweatshirt material isn't really the easiest to work with.  Oh, well.  I'll get better the more I practice.  Today I made a couple things.  I attempted my first applique`, which wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be, but I will definitely need a LOT more practice!!!! This shirt looks neon green but it's actually about the same color yellow as the dots in the applique` fabric.  Darn crappy cell phone pictures ;)

 

Then I made a cute little pincushion to strap to my sewing machine, because I'm always afraid my tiny little pin case is going to spill when I'm pulling pins out of whatever it is I'm sewing and they are going to spill all over the floor!

 

This was just a little scrap of fabric I had left over from the stockings last year, and is tied on with a ribbon. I'm already loving it!!! So convenient. And then I made a grocery bag holder.  We always have them strung everywhere and I'm so tired of having them all over the place, stuffed here and there and usually getting in my way when I need something.  So, I finally made one! We had one at our house when I was younger and it was nice to just be able to go over grab one and go.  I think it turned out pretty darn good if I do say so myself! I'm going to be making a few more of these, so I might make a quick tutorial for you all.  It's so easy, it's ridiculous!

 

I've got a few more projects planned that I won't be able to post until after Christmas, just in case any of my family reads my ramblings, but there will be a few Christmas decorating projects that I'll be posting here and there! So watch out for those :)  Happy sewing!!!

Recipe: Creamy Burrito Casserole

I love Mexican food.  I don’t necessarily love the spice, but the great thing about me making it myself is I can control that part.  Charlie likes his super spicy and it took me a good year after we were married to convince him that not everyone in the world liked their food as spicy as he does his.  He usually doesn’t like mine as well because to him it is bland but for me and the kids it has just the perfect amount of spice.  He can add hot sauce, jalapenos, salsa afterwards if he is so inclined and then everyone is happy.

So, last week as I was preparing our weekly menu, I came across this pin.  It’s a creamy burrito casserole.  Now might be a good time to let you in on the fact that 1) I love creamy foods and 2) I am very fond of casseroles.  Especially when I am cooking.  I can throw everything in one dish, stick it in the oven and be done with it.  And a lot of the times we don’t even have any side dishes with casseroles. 

I saw this recipe and thought it sounded delicious so added it to our menu.  I really even didn’t have to pick up a lot of things from the store because we already had several of the items we needed.  Now when it comes to cooking, I generally use the recipes as guidelines and not an absolute.  That’s why I like it.  I can take something that someone else has done and make it my own.  I generally don’t have to follow the rules. J

And that’s just what I did with this one.  It layers a lot and frankly I don’t like to layer most of the time.  I know I’m lazy.  There I said it.  Now let’s move on.  It’s a great comfort food, and perfect for a chili fall evening.  Anyway, here’s what you’re reading for….the recipe.

  *Note* I doubled this because my kids like to eat but the recipe below is not doubled.

 **Also, the directions I give below are for how I made this but you can see the original directions at the link above.

1lb ground hamburger

1 can Cream of Mushroom soup

Shredded cheese *I used cheddar, you can use whatever you like.

½ onion

Cumin

Salt

Pepper

Garlic

Flour tortillas

1 can refried beans

4 oz sour cream

 

**Cook onions and hamburger add seasonings.  In a separate bowl, mix sour cream and soup.  Put ¾ of this mixture into the bottom of a 9x13 casserole dish.  Layer tortillas on top of this mixture.  I took the refried beans, and the rest of the sour cream/soup mixture and mixed with the cooked hamburger at this point.  Now pour your meat mixture over the tortillas. 

 

Layer with cheese, add another layer of tortillas and cover that with cheese. Also, I added a little bit of salsa on top of the picture here just to make it pretty ;)  (We like a lot of cheese in our house) Put it in the oven on 350 for about 15 minutes or until the cheese is really good and melted. 

 

Enjoy! Let me tell you, this is a very filling dish.  None of us could eat all we had even put on our plates and it really wasn't much.  So there was some for lunch the next day as well. 

 

Happy November

Hope you all had a Happy Halloween and are gearing up for a great Holiday season with your loved ones!

I'm in love with Pinterest!

Don't tell my husband though! I have been surfing Pinterest the last week or so while I've been laid up sick and have found so many amazing and easy projects.  I know this is not something surprising to most of you and I have done several Pinterest projects in the past but here lately the crafting bug has bit me and bit hard.

Yesterday I made a bib for a friend who will be having a baby soon (I can't wait to meet this little guy!!) It was my first time sewing sharp curves so it didn't come out exactly like I wanted but I have some time to work on this!  I had cut a pair of jeans off for Brooke and used the cut off part for the denim and the backing is from a receiving blanket that Brooke had when she was little.  This blanket has special meaning for me.  I found out I was pregnant in December of 2007 and had a few issues.  On Christmas Eve we got a phone call that everything was fine and my mom got me this blanket and a few other baby things for Christmas that year.  It was the very first thing she bought for Brooke.

My mom thought of my friend as her other daughter so I know she would be proud to see me making something for her baby boy that she had put thought into for her baby girl :)

Like I said there is still some practicing I need to do for this one but I think if I can bang out a few more then it'll be no problem. I used the pattern found here for this one.

I also made a pair of sleep shorts that was going to be for Brooke but I measured wrong so they were a wee bit small....but seriously the easiest way ever to make a pair of pants and I will definitely be making more! This tutorial is amazing!

This afternoon I made a short sleeve shirt into a long sleeved one.  I found this blog where she takes socks and makes them arm warmers, but I thought I would try sewing the socks onto the sleeves so she wouldn't lose them.  Because I know she would!!! It was so simple and took maybe 10 minutes just because I was going slow to keep my stitches straight and pinning the socks to the sleeves took a little bit, because I used a ton of pins to make sure they stayed put.  But Brooke loves her new-ish shirt!

Hopefully I can get her to take it off soon so she can wear it to school tomorrow!

What are some of your favorite Pinterest projects that you've done?

Peacetime

Yesterday I'm trying to take a nice, hot, relaxing bath.  Just sitting there soaking and listening to some relaxing music on my phone and someone gets a little jealous that mommy is getting alone time.  She starts yelling for me.  I tell her I'll be out shortly, she continues, Mommy I want to take a bath with you.  I tell her she can take one when I'm done. 

Then there's this...

But mommy, she says, I stink! Haha!

This kid will do anything to not let me have a single moment of peace.  But I did end up getting my bath to myself and she doesn't stink anymore as she got a bath as soon as mine was done! Happy Sunday y'all!

Interview B is so much fun!

1. What is something Mommy always says to you?
You’re a sweet princess.

2. What makes Mommy happy?
Me!

3. What makes Mommy sad?
Having to spank me.

4. How does Mommy make you laugh?
When you say I am a sweet princess it makes me laugh.

5. What was Mommy like as a child?
Me!

6. How old is Mommy?
Old!!! (I’m thinking I need to go over this with her again….Mommy will never be older than 25 J)

7. How tall is Mommy?
(holds her arm up) This tall

8. What is Mommy's favorite thing to do?
Eat ice cream (I have to say the kid is pretty close)

9. What does Mommy do when you're not around?
Text Sassy

10. If Mommy becomes famous, what will it be for?
Me! (She’s probably right)

11. What is Mommy really good at?
At being a mommy ;)  (I sure do love this kid)

12. What is Mommy not very good at?
Not very good at shooting people (I’m not sure where this came from, but I guess that’s a good thing right?)

13. What does Mommy do for her job?
Takes care of my house.

14. What is Mommy's favorite food?
Ice Cream!

15. What makes you proud of Mommy?
Papa told me too.

16. If Mommy were a cartoon character, who would she be?
A baby Bratz….(Hmmm..)
17. What do you and Mommy do together?
We watch TV together, and we make cookies.

18. How are you and Mommy the same?
We are both princesses.  (I’m loving this kid even more) J

19. How are you and Mommy different?
Our hair is different colors.

20. How do you know Mommy loves you?
Because you always tell me you love me cause I’m your sugarbutt.

21. Where is Mommy's favorite place to go?
Papa’s house J

Super Delicious Porkchops

C & I were perusing Pinterest this morning trying to figure out our weekly menu when we came across this pin talking about the best pork chops you will ever eat. We've been buying quite a bit of chicken lately so decided that we wanted to change it up a little and went with pork chops.  This sounded really good and the only ingredients we need to buy were the pork chops and Parmesan cheese.

The original pin had some weird link on it that took me to a beauty blog but the caption on the pin simply said "Pork chops ..dipped in ranch dressing and coated in Italian bread crumbs with Parmesan cheese and garlic".  Simple enough, I thought.  So, C went off to the store and got the few things we needed for this.  I made them tonight and I have to tell you, they pretty much live up to their name.  I'm not sure if they are THE BEST but they are certainly near the top of my list.  And I love something that is delicious and super easy!

I have fixed the link on the original pin after doing a quick Swag search, this had the original picture posted, so I linked this page to the pin.  I did do things a little differently than the original blogger did, mainly because I didn't find the page until after I had already eaten my chop :) But mine still turned out amazing!  So here's how I did mine:

You'll need:

5-6 medium/large boneless pork chops
2 cups Italian bread crumbs (*These are usually at Aldi's for about $.99)
1-2 cups of Ranch dressing (not the seasoning)
Grated Parmesan cheese ( I used an entire small block that I grated myself, we like a lot of cheese)

Preheat oven to 400 Fahrenheit.

Mix bread crumbs and cheese together and pour the ranch in another dish.  Dredge these just like you would if you were going to fry.  Ranch first then the bread crumb mixture.  Also, you want to shake off any extra ranch, you want just enough to have a thin layer for the bread crumbs to stick too.  This will help your chops to crisp up.

I put mine in a 9x13 glass baking dish.  However, after reading the original posting and some of the comments, next time I will use a darker pan with a rack in it to allow the air to circulate all around the chops.  Mine came out a bit soggy on the bottom, but were still yummy!

Next, place in your 400 degree oven and I cooked mine for 25 minutes, make sure to check for doneness before eating.  Raw pork is not something you want to consume.  Mine were perfectly cooked after 25 minutes so it will depend on your oven.  Some of the comments left on the original blog were cooking theirs upwards of an hour.  My chops were also only about 1/2 - 1 inch thick.

You can see here were some of the crumbs were still a bit soggy, but really I didn't mind that so much.  The crisp parts were delicious as well but either way it's totally going to be something that will be made again at this house!  My brother ate dinner with us tonight and he couldn't stop raving about them and about how this is the only way he is ever going to fix pork chops again! 

Enjoy!

Another conversation with B

Four year olds are funny creatures.  They come up with some of the most interesting things to say.  She keeps us entertained on a daily basis and can make even the absolute worst day seem not so bad. 

I decided since the last conversation I did with her was about me that we would do this one about daddy.  She loves doing these and having her "work" published.  She thinks it's super cool for mommy to show here where I put her words on the internet.  I sure do love that little girl.

My Daddy is 4 years old.

His hair is grey and his eyes are blue.

Daddy likes to wear clothes.

He loves to eat chicken.

He is smart because he knows I break things.

My daddy works hard at school.

Daddy always tells me he loves me.

It makes my daddy happy when I’m good.

If he could go on a trip, he would go to the park and he would take the computer.

I really love it when my Daddy is happy.

If I could give my daddy anything it would be a present.

My favorite thing about my daddy is when he takes a nap with me.

 

Love, Brookie

 

 

New Crockpot Family Favorite

A friend of mine sent me a list of crockpot meals last week that had some amazing recipes on it.  There were a couple that sounded exceptionally good and something I knew my family would eat.  I planned my menu out last week and found a great deal on skinless boneless chicken breasts.  There were 8 HUGE breasts in the package for right around $10 and I knew I could make that last for at least 2 meals. 

Today I threw 4 of them in the crockpot with a few things and made a new family favorite meal.  I had intended to make Creamy chicken chilli that was on the list my friend had sent me, but ended up with something just a touch different.  I didn't realize this meal would be bloggable so I didn't take any pictures but I'm going to be super nice and share my made up recipe with you all.

Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup

(Serves 5-6)

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: Crockpot 4 ½ hours on high

 

4 large boneless skinless chicken breast

1 can vegetarian beans
1 pkg cream cheese
1 medium onion (optional)
2 small cans Cream of Chicken soup
¼ carton chicken broth (equal to approximately 1 ½ cups)
Garlic powder
Cumin
Salt
Chilli powder

 

If you wish you can cube up the chicken before you put it in the crockpot, but I just left mine whole.  Put the chicken on the bottom them pour in the beans, cream cheese, onion, cream of chicken, and chicken broth.  I then stirred the mixture up and added the seasonings.  I added approximately 1 -2 teaspoons of each but it will depend on your family’s taste.  Mix all this together again.  I then let mine cook for 4 hours on high and then shredded the chicken, put the lid back on and let it cook for about another half hour on high.  My crockpot has a keep warm function so I turned that on until dinner time.  We served ours with yellow corn tortilla chips and it was amazing!

Seriously, my family could not stop raving about this meal.  My husband took one bite and said this was definitely something he wants to eat again. Let me know your thoughts and if you try this out I would love to hear how you liked it.

 

P.S. I will be doing the drawing for the giveaway tomorrow, so make sure you got your entry in!

Homemade hair detangler

B's hair is crazy curly and crazy tangled in the mornings.  She is also a wee bit tender headed.  M's hair is a super straight but super thick but her hair tangles extremely easy and she is one of the most tender headed people I have ever met.  So in order to keep my girls happy in the mornings I have to use a detangler.

I have been buying it at around $2-$4 a pop depending on which brand we bought.  I was testing a few different brands out to see which one worked better for them.  Well, none of them worked great and I was still having hurting girls.  So anyway, one morning I realized that we were out of detangler and with no time to rush to the store before school, threw a little concoction together.  They don't cry anymore!!! Best thing ever!

Basically all I did was take the top off the empty detangler bottle, fill it about 2/3 full of water, then dump in about 1/4 - 1/2 cup of regular conditioner.  Shake well and spray on.  My girls are much happier in the morning and I am much less stressed out from brushing hair.  This is a great leave in conditioner as well and their hair doesn't look greasy after it dries either. 

This nice little recipe only costs a few cents per bottle (we use Suave organics so I estimate our cost to be approximately .14 per bottle of detangler, price per bottle will vary depending on what kind of conditioner you normally use) compared to the 2-4 dollars we were spending every couple of weeks.

Conversation with a 4 year old

I asked my 4 year old daughter if I could ask her a few questions, to which she replied, "Why? What are you going to do with them?"  I told her I was going to put her answers on my blog.  She said, "Ok, I approve this message, lets get started." She's such a ham. 

An interview with mommy:

1. What is your name? Uhm...hmmm...Brookelyn.

2. How old are you? Uhm...hmmm...4!

3. What is your favorite color? Uhm...hmmm...PINK!

4. Who is your best friend? I have a very nice dog friend, and a Talyn friend, and a Sabra friend, and an Eddie friend, and a Tristan friend, and a Nicklaus friend, and an Eli friend.

5. What is your favorite animal?  Elephant

6.  What do you want to be when you grow up?  A ballerina

7.  What is your favorite movie?  Cinderella

8  What is your favorite book?  Cinderella

9.  What makes you happy?  You mommy!!!! :)

10. What makes you sad?  Spankings

11. What is your favorite food?  Eggs (I thought for sure the kid would say hot dogs)

12.  What is your favorite song?  Sunshine (You are my sunshine)

13.  What is your favorite game?  Girl games

More reasons I love my husband

I told you there would be more reasons that I love my husband. I didn't want you to have to spend hours on end reading one post about why I love him. So I'm breaking it up and plan on making it a series. If you missed the last post you can read it here. Here are just a few more reasons why I love the man I call my husband.

He downloads music he doesn't like just so I can have it. If you know my husband at all you know this is a huge deal. He is a huge music afficiando. There are several bands/musicians that I had never even heard of until he and I started dating. But, most of what I like he doesn't like (mainly country), however, over the last 8 years he has learned to appreciate my music as well. He made me a few mixed tapes (my car didn't have a cd player) while we were dating so I would have what he called great music to listen to. He also came up with the soundtrack that was played at our wedding (I approved of it first) :)

He tells me I'm beautiful nearly every day. He has always done this. It means more now to me over the last year than it ever has. Since I was diagnosed with Alopecia (read more about that here) he has been so supportive and makes sure to let me know that no matter what I look like he will always find me beautiful because it's what is on the inside that makes him love me.

He takes over.  When I'm overwhelmed or feeling defeated or whatever, he makes me stop, sit and fixes me a glass of ice cold water and tells me to just sit there for a while and not to worry about whatever is bothering me.  He then takes over whatever task had me feeling defeated and finishes it.  Maybe not always the way I would have done it but it gets done none the less and I am always grateful for that.

He never fails to make me laugh. I can be in the absolute worst mood and he will find some sort of way to make me smile and/or laugh.  But he also knows the times when I don't want to laugh and will just be there to comfort, console, listen, or whatever he knows I need at that time.



When he sings, he sounds like the lead singer from one of my favorite bands.  Poor guy (just like me) can't carry a tune otherwise but if he's singing along with Crash Test Dummies it's awesome!  And never fails to send chills down my spine and make me smile :)

About me!

 I enjoy getting to know people.  Their little quirks and idiosyncrasies.  These kind of things have always interested me. So today I give you some things about me that not everyone knows:

 

I have Alopecia Areata.  This is really hard for me to actually say (write) as there are only a few very close family/friends that I have been open about this with.  Alopecia is an autoimmune disease that causes hair to fall out prematurely.  Most cases are just on the head but there are cases that hair will fall out other places and some will lose all their hair (Alopecia Totalis).  I was diagnosed a year ago this November after finding a small bald patch on the back of my head.  For the most part as long as my hair is down you would never be able to notice it.  I have finally gotten to the stage that I am able to put my hair up in a ponytail and not really care what someone else thinks about me.  When I was first diagnosed I cried for a good solid week (probably more) and literally thought I would lose everyone that loved me because of the way I looked.  I look back now and see how foolish that was because the people that love me don't love me because of the way my hair looks.  (If they did, then I failed miserably because it was usually thrown up in a ponytail) :) Over the course of the last year, I have had several patches come and go and I have new growth coming in.  That is probably the most difficult issue I deal with at this point in time, just because I have little spiky pieces sticking up all over the place.  But those little spiky pieces sure are soft!  I have learned to try to look on the bright side of things since I have been dealing with this disease.  No sense in getting all gloomy over something that I have absolutely no control over, I just look and see what the good things about it are.  One that I have come up with is if I do ever get to the point I need to get a wig, I can have some serious fun with my hair, things that I probably would have never tried before!

 

My favorite color is pink.  But only certain shades.  Hot pink is my absolute favorite and pepto pink is my absolute least favorite. 

 

 

 I don't feel grown up at all.  I know I'm married and have kids and have had to go through some really adult things but sometimes I feel like I'm a child stuck in an adults body.  Probably because I really just want to go back to being a child and not have to worry about adult things.

 

 My absolute favorite TV shows are crime dramas.  C.S.I, Criminal Minds, NCIS, and the like.  Mom and I used to watch them all the time and sometimes I think that's why I watch them so incessantly now, to keep an attachment there.  But I could totally see myself being a detective or CSI or something of the like.

 

I can still remember what I was wearing when my baby brother was born.  I can't remember what I did yesterday but that day I had a royal blue shirt and stretch knit leggings that I was wearing.  We also thought he was going to be a girl and I didn't believe my grandma that he was a boy until I got to the hospital and saw for myself.

 

 



 Stay tuned for more later!

 

 

 

Free Christmas?!

Is it possible to have an entirely free Christmas? I'm thinking Yes! The hubs and I have been using Swagbucks for a couple years but have really got into it this year. We use it to get Amazon gift cards $5 at a time. This year there are a few apps we have found for our phones that we have been able to get a couple from as well, but I've not found them as easy or as quick to get the needed amount of points to cash out for the card.

With Swagbucks all you have to do is search. It's something we all do anyway but instead of Googling it in our house we Swag it. Sometimes we will complete a few of the free offers but not that often. They also offer codes randomly that you can get free codes (see- free money) and also if you do the NOSO (no obligation special offers) and click through them you will get 2 bucks per day, and the daily poll will give you 1 point per day.

The best and easiest way to get more Swagbucks is by getting referrals. Swagbucks provides all the tools needed in order for you to do this!

Once again, it is so easy and we are so close to earning a free Christmas that I'm so super excited about it this year and am feeling much less stress than I normally do around this time of year!

There is a widget at the bottom of my blog that has a button to check for codes and I use it quite frequently throughout the day to check if there is a free code out! If you would like to learn more or sign up you can use this link and feel free at any time to email me with any questions you may have. I will do my very best to answer. Have a wonderful day.

 

5 Reasons Why I Love My Husband

I really don't give my husband enough credit.  He is an amazing husband and treats me like a princess (and we all know that I am)! I have been thinking lately how blessed I am to have such an amazing husband and wanted to let him know how much I appreciate him.  Yes, I know a blog post is not the conventional way to do that, but I did cook dinner last night and tonight, so I know he seen that!!! ;)  So today, I give you 5 reasons why I love my husband.....

1.  He takes care of me.  And I'm not just talking about one specific area of my life.  He takes care of me when I'm sick, when I'm not sick, when I'm feeling blue, financially, spiritually, and in so many other ways.  When I'm sick this man waits on me hand and foot....and most of the time he does it when I'm not sick.  I don't ask him to wait on me, he just does.  Cause he rocks like that.

2. He loves our kids more than life itself.  He has 3 children from his first marriage that I love dearly and just as if they were mine and we have a daughter together.  These kids mean more to this man than anything.  He will do anything in his power to make them happy and not see them want for anything.  With the way our financial situation is right now, unfortunately we all want for things that we are unable to afford right now, but their needs are always taken care of.  He makes them mad quite often because he won't let them do things that we feel would be detrimental to their physical and spiritual well being.  That is a fight he is willing to face daily.

3. He cooks!  That's right ladies, my man loves to cook!  In our 5 1/2 years of marriage and 2 years of dating prior to, I have maybe cooked a dozen meals.  I don't mind cooking, but would be just as happy with a sandwich or a bowl of cereal for dinner just so I wouldn't have to cook.  He has been drop dead tired and still gone in the kitchen and fixed a wonderful meal.  And then will fix my plate and the kids plates and serve us. 

4.  He has a servants heart.  I can't tell you how many times I have asked him to help me or my family with something and he would be tired or not feel good and would jump right up and do whatever was needed of him, because that's just the kind of person he is.  He is reliable.  If you need his help, and he is available, he will be there.  Even if he doesn't know what he's doing :)

5. He cleans!!! The kids are old enough that they do chores but there are still some things that we parents take care of.  He doesn't mind helping me with those at all.  We usually try to tackle things as a team because we know we will get them done that much quicker and therefore have that much more family time together.

Don't worry folks, there are many more reasons I love my husband, and I will let you in on a few more of them in the future, but I didn't want to make this post 50 pages long ;)

Mom

I've never been very good with words and putting them down into thoughts so if there is a lot of rambling here I'm sorry.

I've been missing my momma a lot lately.  She always had the right words to say whenever I was upset, worried, stressed, freaking out or whatever.  Even in the last month of her life when I would talk about how worried or whatever I was about something, she would always say the right things to comfort me.  It didn't always work like I should have let it becuase I'm just a worry wart like that, but most of the time I would worry for a bit longer then sit and reflect on what she had said and things would be better.  This time they didn't get better though.

There was one day at the hospital, after she had been in for a couple weeks and we had just transferred her to a different hospital, that I actually felt like here was a chance we would get to bring her home.  She had these amazing moments of clarity that sometimes only I would get to see.  I was working evenings and she was about 30 miles away from home.  I normally wouldn't have time to stop by the hospital on my way to work but always made it a point to stop by on my way home if for nothing else just to check on her.  I wanted to see and talk to her so bad I would usually wake her up if she was napping. 

One particular day I stopped by and woke her up and she seemed so excited to see me there.  I had talked to her about 3-4 times on the phone that day but to actually see my face meant the world to her at that moment.  I believe she knew at that time that she didn't have much longer to be here with us and wanted every precious chance she could have.  We had the best conversation we had had in several months.  That is a day that I will remember forever. 

There are many, many, many memories that I will always remember but for right now this is one that sticks out the most. This is the one right now that means the most to me.  We had several more conversations throughout the next 2 weeks but most of them were clouded with her being in and out.  This was the last fully coherent conversation with her and she wanted me to make sure she knew just how much she loved me and how much I meant to her.  She meant so much to me too.  More than she will ever have known.  I would not be the person I am today without her and my dad being there to guide me every step of the way.  They are my heros. 

When momma got sick I really never thought that in just 8 short years she would be gone.  I always just kinda figured she would grow older but just be kinda like she was.  Always in pain and suffering.  I'm not glad that my momma is gone, but I thank God everyday that she is no longer suffering and in any pain.  She was to beautiful of a woman to have suffered the way she did.  I would not wish what she had to go through on my worst enemy. But she took it all in stride and showed more grace and faith in those 8 years than I had seen in my entire life. 

She showed me a warrior.  She eventually got tired and weary, but I don't think she ever gave up.  I think she knew she had raised some amazing children and had instilled in them God's love, grace, and mercy and showed us how to have faith even through our most trying times.  She knew she had finished the work that God had placed her here to do and she knew it was time to go home and be with her momma and daddy and many other family and friends that have gone on before her. 

Thankfully, because of my parents raising me the way that they did, I KNOW that I will get to see my momma again.  And when I do, she is going to be dancing and singing and playing softball, and running around playing.  Because that's what she loved to do. 

Ugh!!

So I have this brown strapless maxi dress that I love wearing around the house. But only problem is I don't feel it is very appropriate to wear outside of the house.
I have really been wanting to refashion it into a cute top like a couple tutorials I have seen floating around. Two problems:

1. I can't decide which tutorial I want to do (2 totally different designs)
and
2. I'm a big 'ol chicken!!!!
I'm not sure if I want to chop off half my super comfy dress. I think part of it is a fear of failing then I'm left with no dress and no shirt.

Help!!!! Motivation needed!

Have a fantastic day :)

Refashioning

I've been doing a lot of reading of refashioning blogs and it has inspired me to do a few of my own.

So far I have done a shirt that used to be my moms that had some ugly ruged sleeves and a weird collar. So I made a fee little changes to it and still need to do some more because I'm not happy with it.

Most recently I made my daughter a pullowcase dress. It was the first time I had really made something and I see a lot of problems with it but overall for an amateur feel it was pretty decent.

I can remember growing up watching my grandma make me lots of clothes and clothes for my barbies and dolls and helping her make quilts and all sorts of things. I really wish I would have spent more time learning from her. She has since passed and I would LOVE to find someone that would be able to teach  me the ins and outs of my sewing machine and actually using it correctly.

Pretty much everything I know has been self taught but I really would LOVE to be able to make something that would look presentable in public. I have made a few sets of curtains and patched up some jeans but honestly I really have no clue what I'm doing. I just kinda wing it. So if you see something that looks horrible I apologize in advance. ;-p

My baby is 4!! :'(

I can't believe how fast the time has flown. My precious little 6 lb 6 oz newborn has turned into a 4 year old that is getting ready to start school in a couple weeks.

She is smart, talented, entertaining, always has to be the center of attention, and is the most headstrong child I've ever met in my entire life. That doesn't always work out well for us now but I have no doubt in my mind this angel is going to do big things when she is older.

I love you my baby girl!!