Another swap

Remember when I said I was about swapped out for awhile? Well I had forgotten that I signed up for an ornament swap a long time ago. In fact, I have 3 more swaps to do before Thanksgiving. Then I'll really, really lay off of them ... at least for a couple of weeks. So here is the ornament I made for my partner. It the first beadwork I've done in my knitting - and I like how it turned out, do you?



I got this pattern from a booklet called 12 Exquisite Beaded Ornaments to Knit . It was super quick and easy, but I did leave bars where my double pointed needles joined.

I can't wait to see what kind of ornament I'm getting!

Rainy Day Fun

See all those little legs hiding from under a tent we made? Take a look inside it .... how sweet is that?

She's Electric

Why I had kids

Awwww, his first time cutting the grass. He was proud; and the grass looks good! I would look out the window every once in a while to check on him, and spied him singing. He reminded me of ME! Singing on the lawn mower is better than in the shower any day in my book.

Tag, I'm it

Can you believe how much this little one has grown? Does everyone remember how thin her hair was on top? It finally started coming in good and thick; and her older brother decided to cut her hair! Do you remember the Tinkerbelle cut? Oh the fun we have with hair around here.




Nikki tagged me with a really fun game! What you do is this: go to your pictures, click on the 4th folder, then the 4th picture, post about it on your blog, then TAG 4 people.

I am tagging ...
FeFe
Nicole
Nancy
TJ (do you and Nicole use different computers?)
And I'm adding one more for good measure, KT

Marie-Therese Gown GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

Marie-Therese Gown GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

People, you won't even believe the dress she is giving away this week! You HAVE to go check it out!

Thank the Lord for my Mommy!

I know ... I would be crying too if I had my hair cut like that. Actually, she LOVED her haircut, but alas, I, her Mommy did not. She wanted to get her hair cut like "Carlie's" - her favorite brother. The lady cut her some bangs and they were so precious, until she rounded it and added layers. Here she reminds me David Cassidy during his Partridge Family years.




My Mom took a 30 minute drive over to save the day. Of course, little bit wouldn't cooperate since it was 8:30 and she hadn't even had a nap all day yesterday.



In the end, I love this haircut so much more - it fits a little girl a little more. Can you believe how much rounder her face is? I could really just eat it up! What do you all think of it? I'll try to post better pics later.

We the People Swap 2

I made this little bucket organizer thing for my swap partner in the We The People Swap. it's got lots of pockets all around the outside, so hopefully she can puts lots of good sewing stuff in it. It's a Simplicity pattern and frankly, no fun to sew. I'm not sure I'll ever make another.



I messed up, but didn't even fix it. Can you tell a difference between the above and below photo? Well, one of the pieces of vinyl is on the wrong way. The black trim going down the middle of the pocket in the one below is on the inside instead of out. I didn't think it was worth undoing all my work.



And here is my organizer that the lovely Sarah made for me. Isn't in neat? It sets across the seat of a chair and has two rows of pockets on both sides.


I love the fabric combo she used, here's a close up:

Thank you, Sarah - I love it!

pizza

We have made a month long committment to NO EATING OUT this month. You know, I don't even think we've gone a whole week in our marriage without eating out. It's sad, yes? We could probably have our morgtage paid off with all the money we've wasted paying for someone else to cook our food and do our dishes. We've (Derek and I, not the kids) have actually enjoyed eating at home; and I'm hoping to lose a little weight. Saturday night we had pizzas and we let the kids make their own. I just had to post a picture of the girl's creations. They were stuffing more cheese and pepperoni in their mouths than on their pizzas. It was cute. (Notice the bite out of Red's pizza crust in the above picture? She also opted for a sauceless pizza - yuck.)

Ornaments!

The kids are out of school today for Columbus Day so we decided to do something crafty. We made these snazzy beaded ornaments. Mine is the pink one in the background, Nate's is the colorful one, and Matt's is the green one. Here is John's ....




Not quite a star but he was proud nonetheless. I think he was purposefully making a "Y" for yippee - Christmas time!

Shenandoah Costume GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

Shenandoah Costume GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

This one is my favorite so far, wouldn't little red in the head look sweet in this?

New jackets for the girls

My Mom and I made jackets for the girls last night. I ordered Girly Style Wardrobe from Japan a couple of weeks ago and I love it! The only problem is I don't read Japanese, but luckily it has some pretty good diagrams in it. I had the pink in my stash, and we decided to put a liner in the hood - and Mom had the perfect white with pink polka dots fabric. Red was very proud as you can see in the pictures. I can't wait to make more projects out of this book!

Check out my new quilt

Joanna is going to be holding auctions over the next several weeks to raise money for a friend with cancer. I won her first auction, this cute little lap quilt. Don't you love the fabric? It's so bright and cheery. I love the pink polka dots on the back, and I know my girls will, too.


Here's a close up of some of the fabric. Thanks, Joanna, and also for the little extra gift you gave me. It was very thoughtful and I think I will make everyone a matching scarf!

Java apron

A warning - you'll be seeing a lot more aprons on my blog since it's Christmas giving season. I got the java fabric from Hobby Lobby and the fabric on the bottom and waist I found on the clearance table - doesn't it match perfectly?