My very favorite before and after!!

I learned something this past week. I sometimes have brilliant, genius ideas….in the middle of the night;) It’s often my favorite time to think or write because I am more relaxed, I guess, or something. One night last week I was up because Samuel was up in the night feeling very sick (he got a little overheated from spending too much time outside in the hot sun) and while I was up off and on checking on him and wondering if this warranted a middle of the night urgent care visit, I had an idea. An awfully, brilliant idea!

 

And then I forgot about it. Until I remembered to tell Ben about it a day later and was surprised when even he agreed it was great! Ready to see it??

 

 

So this was our entertainment center. We bought it off of some friends probably about 8 years ago when they were moving away from Chicago. It was absolutely perfect for our 17×20 ft living room! And for all these years, it has served us well as a tv stand, book holder, dvd and cd collector and toy storage.

 

Until we moved into our current place which has a very small, narrow living room. Suddenly our perfect entertainment center became not so perfect anymore. In fact, it totally dwarfed the room! It took a week or so to get Ben to agree to try to sell it and I had 2 very interested buyers but for some reason both of them (despite at least 5 exchanges with each) couldn’t commit to actually coming to get it!

 

So it went in the garage sale. And the price got marked down until we were practically desperate! And people touched it, looked in the doors, admired it….and no one bought it. So it was one of the items left behind after our 2nd attempted garage sale day. We even put a free sign on it! But at the last minute, I had my brilliantly brilliant idea…..

 

What if….we used the top of it and turned it into a sewing table for me? I was told we could buy legs and attach them easily. But after taking it all apart, I couldn’t part with the two side pieces and one good idea led to another until….

 

 

 

Ta Da!! My stepdad and Ben were my willing partners in this adventure! This table took just under 4 hours from start to finish and was entirely FREE!!

 

 

We cut down the 2 side panels to make the sides of the table. They already had legs attached so they were perfect! Plus they are beautiful wood:)

We made shelves!! My stepdad was a genius in helping us put this together (he works with wood and had all the tools needed!) so everything is very sturdy and built to last.

Gleaming in the sunshine!!

Now in its new home! We built it Saturday afternoon but couldn’t pick it up until yesterday because we had the wrong car with us. And let’s just say, for the record, that Ben and I absolutely should never move furniture together. Every marriage has its limits and that’s ours! Somehow, by the grace of God, we got it up the stairs and while dinner was cooking in the oven, I happily arranged my sewing supplies!

I have a small bookshelf also to the left with all of my fabric and patterns, since it doesn’t all fit in the shelves. But oh, I am thrilled to pieces over this! Can I just tell you that this is the first time I will be able to sew with my legs under the table?? I was using a piece of furniture that is not meant for sewing so I would sit sideways to sew! Reeeeaaaally comfortable;)

It’s hard to describe how I feel about my new space but suffice it to say, I am really really happy! And feeling the creative juices flowing. Yea to furniture repurposing!!!

Fullness!

Guess I have some catching up to do! Last Monday, Zakkai had his first belt-testing in Tae Kwon Do! It was very cool to watch! He did a great job and is now a very proud orange belt!

 

 

He even got to break a board at the end! I will keep working on uploading the video. I’ve watched it about 10 times and it makes me so happy!

 

 

And I snuck back in after he fell asleep that night to get a picture of him sleeping with his broken board and TKD belts under his bed:) So cute!

 

The only thing I asked for on Mother’s Day (not that I would ask for anything anyways!) was a picture. My standard request:) Can’t believe how big my babies are getting! Yeah, yeah, I know they aren’t babies but I tell them they will always be my babies!

Pretty Little Miss!

I just love this picture of E and her grandma-great!! They are good buddies;)

We were trying to take pictures outside of the 4 generations but it was SO windy and none of us were happy for various reasons with the pictures. Our hair was blowing, it made our dresses blow up and made us look pregnant, etc:) Still, a memory to treasure!

Eliana had her preschool graduation last week, too! The other teacher and I worked with both classes to teach them some songs to sing. Eliana did great during the rehearsals and after one song during the program, totally froze:( She was so upset and if I made any eye contact with her, she got really sad! It broke my heart! She felt much better when she went to sit with her Mugga and Grandma and opened her graduation gift of a Frozen t-shirt! Elsa makes everything better:)

We found a cute local restaurant to eat lunch after church on Sunday! Besides it being a beautiful afternoon to sit on the patio and hanging out as a family, it was awesome because the kids ate free! Now that’s our kind of meal:) Love this princess!

My handsome pre-teen:)

My partner in crime!

Mr Blue Eyes!

I made a dress last week (in between all that craziness!) and was SO excited to wear it on Sunday! I just love how it turned out!

The back.

Fancy details!

Me modeling it;)

 Samuel (and Ben) had a game bright and early Saturday morning and won! Samuel even got to pitch for a bit and struck out two kids! He got two hits and was proud to show off a slight bruise from being hit with the baseball. A badge of honor, I guess:)

All in all, except for feeling under the weather for a few days, it was a very good, albeit busy week and weekend! Life is full these days:)

Sickness, Sewing and Birthday!

 The cold germs continue. They consumed Eliana as of last night. She was suspiciously sneezing yesterday afternoon but the cold consensus was confirmed by the continual crying through the night and appearance of the dreaded runny nose.

Today she had “sick eyes” and I had constant nose-wiping duty. I just re-use the burp clothes I made when she was born for nose cloths because they are so soft on a runny nose! I hoping that she will be a wee bit less cranky tomorrow….:)

Here she is yesterday afternoon, tucking her baby and elephant into Baby C’s bouncy seat:)

She sure loves her babies!!

Samuel reading a little “Chronicles of Narnia” to Daddy:) Samuel is just soaking up any and all time he can get with Ben right now. Playing catch, doing homework, reading books, hugs…

I made a purse! I have a bag-fettish and cannot have enough bags/purses. I absolutely love Vera Bradley because there are so many different styles and fabrics (some cute and fun, some ugly:) but they are super expensive and I can only get them once in a blue moon when I get my birthday discount plus a good sale.

So, I thought I would make one! It took about 3 days because the beginning stages of cutting out all the pieces and applying the interfacing takes a really long time. I added 3 extra pockets because I love pockets! There is one on the outside (you can barely see it) and one big/2 smaller ones on the inside. I thought the blue would be good for fall. Now, I will not show you any close-ups so you cannot see the mistake I made in lining up the exterior and lining of the purse:)

I have had to force myself not to pick up any books this week, just so I would work on my projects. If I have a good book, I can’t put it down and focus on anything else. And I’ve read a LOT of books this summer so it’s been good for me to focus on something else:)

I want to wish a very Happy Birthday to my sweet Grandma! You are such a gift to me, FULL of love, wisdom, kindness and care for your family. I pray this is a special year, full of blessings!

Mommy-duty calls; I hear a sad little girl waking up crying…..

Fashion Show

 On Sunday, Eliana wore a skirt that my sister made for her. It’s an adorable reversible skirt, which I told my sister is just perfect for a clothes-picky toddler! She started to throw a fit over the outfit I picked out for church but I quickly thwarted her by asking which side she wanted to wear. Tantrum averted and she wore what I picked out! hahaha~sneaky mama:)

My sister asked me to take some pics so she could use them online for her etsy shop. Hence Missy’s fashion show….

There’s only so much you can do with a 2 1/2 year old! 🙂

My crew!

Tonight I went to Samuel’s open house to meet his teacher and see his classroom. His teacher, Mrs. D., is VERY nice and he just loves her already! She gives him lots of hugs, doesn’t like loud noises (they bonded immediately on that one:), and has been teaching 3rd grade at his school for 8 years! He will definitely learn a lot this year. I had this moment when I was listening to his teacher describe their school day when it hit me, “THIRD grade!!” Wow, where does the time go?

I’m getting my crafty bug back! It’s been seriously lacking over the last several months but finally I am feeling my creative juices flowing again:) I don’t have much time to craft these days, as life is very busy but I hope to keep it up as much as possible. I need to have a little “me-time” to refresh myself. I bought a little diaper/wipe cloth case back before Eliana was born and I now use it to carry an extra outfit and panties (woo-hoo~no diapers!!). It was getting really limp and had weird stains all over it so I decided to create my own. Isn’t it pretty?!

There are two pockets inside to hold the diapers/wipes or extra clothes. I gave the old one to Eliana to use for Baby Anna and she LOVES it! She put Baby Anna’s dress, a diaper and some other random treasures in it and she carries it around with her:)

She rarely allows Baby Anna to wear her dress but she was feeling generous yesterday:)

Her imaginative play is really developing right now! It is SO fun to listen to her make her dolls talk (or bathtoys or cars, etc). She has been into these two little dolls I got her for Christmas. They are miniature cabbage patch dolls (about 6 inches high) dressed like Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf. She has been dressing and undressing them, giving them baths in her dollhouse bathtub and carrying them around everywhere. She is such a fun little girl!

I also wanted to take the time to share a story and a link with you! My cousin, Charity, and her husband, Scott, are adopting a baby boy this fall, after a long journey with infertility and fostering. Scott started a blog a few months ago about life as a foster parent and now as a soon-to-be adoptive parent. He really has a gift with writing about all that God has taught them through these experiences. What started out to be an extremely painful situation, has opened their hearts and doors to bigger things than they ever imagined.

If you have some time, please consider praying for and/or donating to their adoption fund. They have stepped out in faith, trusting that God will provide all that they need and so far have been blown away by the support from family and friends all around the country!  They even have a sponsor, willing to match their first $5,000, which they are really close to reaching! Please feel free to pass on their story and link to anyone you know that may be able to help. Their blog is: http://yoderlife.tumblr.com and their fundraiser page is: http://www.gofundme.com/YoderFamilyAdoption

Have a good night!

A New Season!

 Is it Monday already? I had no idea so many days went by without blogging! Last week was absolutely exhausting. There was so much going on and I was completely wiped out by Friday night. I am like my Grandma now, falling asleep halfway through a movie;) (Love you, Gma!)

On Saturday I got to sneak out of the house for a good chunk of time to go to a baby shower for our good friend, who flew back from CO! I finished up a little sewing Saturday morning before I left, while Ben had the boys practice some math and then act out “Peter and The Wolf.” He found this music online and it is very cool! I will have to copy the link so you can listen to it. It was so cute to watch them act it out and then, of course, Missy had to join in:)

Here is one of the things I made for my friend’s soon-to-arrive baby girl! I thought she might like a pretty dress to wear for her first Christmas!

I was pretty happy with how it turned out:)

I also put together this cute little kit for Eliana, to keep her busy. I saw this on pinterest awhile back and finally got around to making it. I bought a pencil box for her when we went school supply shopping, for less than a dollar and then found a pack of colored popsicle sticks and Velcro dots. I cut the Velcro dots in half and put a half on each end of the sticks, both sides.

She seriously played with these ALL day! Making shapes and letters and all sorts of things. Very easy and fun!

Just doing a little light reading:) Some of Eliana’s favorite books to get from the library are Beatrix Potter books. They are about animals and they are perfectly sized for little hands to hold!

Silly girl:)

Zakkai already has his first cold of the season:( I am hoping that with some extra rest and good hand washing, it will pass quickly. He was a bit on the cranky side tonight!

Samuel brought home the first homework of the year already:) Thankfully, it was very easy and there was no arguing! I need to work hard on creating good afternoon routines because it can get very stressful between the after school hours and bedtime, with the boys coming home emptying book bags of papers, begging for snacks, helping with homework, neighborhood kids knocking at the door, preparing dinner, bedtime routines and beginning to get ready for the next day. Makes me tired just to type it!

I do love a new season though, with the hope of creating fresh, new routines. Always the chance to do it even better than before! And fall is my very favorite season!

My New Friend

I have a new friend! She and I have spent the evening together getting aquainted.

You know, figuring each other out, learning what we’re both about, seeing if this friendship will turn out to be a good thing.

I’m pretty sure it will. I’ve been waiting, praying and hoping for a friend like this for a long time. She’s really quiet and gentle and has lots of skills which I’m hoping to learn from.

She even agreed to let me take her picture to post here! Wasn’t that nice of her?

Isn’t she pretty?

This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.