What Are YOU Thankful For?

Being Monday and the week ahead of us, no matter what we face or have thrown at us, it's good to remember what we have and what we're grateful for. Here are some of mine:

Good cup of coffee - FAMILY
Colors in EVERYTHING - music

The ability to write whatever I want, whenever................

And Bill finding a hint of passion again for his own talent..........

...................... painting and the possibility of doing it again.

For all these, I am most grateful. What are some of yours?

Frog Princess

I found treasures when I moved the sewing room downstairs! I had this fabric tucked away (and even cut out) from last summer to sew for both Raegan and Abby - thought it would make a cute picture if I could ever get them to wear them at the same time. This one is Raegan's, Abby's is next and exactly the same. Aren't the FROGS on it absolutely adorable??????

Baby Layla

Mat (yep, Mat with one T) at our shop just had their new baby girl Layla last weekend. This green diaper bag is one I had Season make and it has the whole ball of wax to it, you just can't see it. There's a changing cloth and binky holder included. I made the fleece monkey blanket this morning and not liking the binding, but live and learn. Next fleece blanket will be done differently with self binding. He'll be back at work tomorrow, just wonder how awake he'll be? :)

Miss Raegan

Here is the final dress off this one pattern for Raegan. She was a little more posable this time, just needs her props I guess. :)

Here she is starting awfully early yakking on the phone to her cousin. Now what could a 5 and 6 year old have to talk about? Beats me!

Baby Steps

It's been a week since trying to eat better. I've dropped 3 pounds somewhere, not sure where it went. :) But it feels good to know I'm trying to eat better things. Shawna decided last night she will start eating better WITH me starting Monday. No more bringing fast food in the house! shame shame She also found an eliptical machine for fifty bucks we picked up yesterday and can't wait to use. So there is NO excuse for NOT walking EVER! (church garage sales are awesome places to pick up bargains) Onward and upward I guess.

Lady Bug Dress

OK, getting Raegan to pose last night without props was about impossible, so this is as good as it gets to see the turquoise lady bug dress. She didn't even comb her hair, this was all about Winnie.

One Model, One Dress

Raegan really hammed it up and took me all over the yard for pictures. Here is only a few of the MANY she wanted me to take of her in her pink John Deere (Bambi) dress! LOL Trust me there are 2 other dresses made from this same pattern. She preferred to be photographed in PINK! The camera and her are close friends as you can see.

(Goofy monster brother HAD to be included in at least one photo.)

Progress is a GOOD thing!

Made great progress on both the new diet and sewing Raegan's dresses over the weekend. Can't show you either though. You just have to trust me on the first one, proof will come after Tuesday on the second when we get our little model home from visiting her dad. I will definitely post some of the cutest little dresses I've seen that were home-made modeled by the most adorable 5 year old I know. Only three left to sew for her. What was fun in the process was keeping track of the time on the first one (3-1/2 hours total) to what the second and third one took. Remembering tricks learned eons ago cut my time on each of the other ones almost in HALF! Have to thank mom for being an awesome teacher, and knowing how to make things look good, even when they are home-made. And she was the queen, wasn't she!?!?! I'm anxious to show these to you all.

Forgot to post that I mailed off 3 sweaters last week to Guideposts "Knit for Kids" program. Don't forget to check out their website for different ways to contribute.

Lifestyle Changes

OK, enough was enough. Thought it was the old 'menopause' thing going on and was honestly hoping so. But doctor confirmed I'm not old in that way yet. :) All those issues are more than likely stress related. OK, I'll deal with it. Then she went on to say that my cholesterol and triglicerides were messed up, when just a year ago they were great for my life insurance physical. Weird. But okay. Onward and upward. I no longer will fall back on the "I'm a Smith girl" and will live to 90 years old. It's going to take a lot of work and a new mindset. And I don't see anyone else out there who will take care of me, but ME. I will go back and see the doc in 8 weeks, hopefully with better levels and a better lifestyle choice. She also said she'd prescribe something rather pricey if I can't quit smoking before I see her again, but I've given myself a 2 week plan in that area. So off I go to the internet, going to learn what I can about this stuff and try to get it right.

You'd all be proud of me tho, I used the treatmill last night and did a dance video (which I found I totally sucked at, crap). House was empty, kids at the park, so cranked the oldies rock station up and sewed one (patriotic one) of the 7 dresses for Raegan. Came out too big, but we'll downsize the rest of them. Hey, at least I didn't turn the TV on, right?

By the way......

This is really a photo of me just WATCHING a treadmill. Believe me?

Yep, more projects......

Yep, I've done it again. Butterick patterns were on sale for 99 cents so I picked this one up and some fabric to do a couple more like the lavender one down in the corner for Raegan. Got some pink John Deere, a red kerchief and gingham check and a jukebox border print. These are simple also. Paper parts are cut, now it's just doing the nasty part and that's cutting the actual fabric. Rather sew, not cut. No more shopping for me..... I'm full up.

A Moment in Time

Season, Shawna

Ruth, Abby, Karen

Raegan

June 2, 2007

Beacon Hills, Nebraska Room

Sourdough Bread

If any of you get a chance to visit the Farmer's Market in the Haymarket on Saturday mornings, you have to stop under the Mennonite umbrella for the BEST sourdough bread made in the world. We can't make it tomorrow, and we are all terribly bummed about it. Wish we knew their secret to making such incredible edibles!

New Project

Went to Wally World last night and got a few peices of fabric to make Raegan some sundresses off this pattern. She loves dresses and I need to keep my mind busy, so let's just load up on projects shall we? Probably not the best answer, but if I get these done she will have a couple new things to wear. Found some fabric to make a 4th of July sundress for her, too. Should be cute, if it gets done.

p.s - our 'ghetto' Walmart is NOT getting rid of their fabric!

Lily's 6 Month Birthday

Little Lily would have been 6 months old today. I just wanted us all to celebrate her life, she touched so many in such a short amount of time.

At Least I Did SOMETHING!

At least I can now say I DID something over the Memorial Day weekend. This very teenie project has been sitting in the closet for almost 3 years to do for the 2 sets of grandkids. At least now it's done, didn't do the best job on them but they are done. It's been so long since I've really sewn that I've forgotten a few tricks in binder covers, but it's nice to remember and that the skill is still there. ahhhhhhhhh Felt good, and they are cute! SLUG BUG PURPLE!!!!!

Side Note on Graduation

It finally hit me the morning after Abby's graduation that her 'Butterfly' program was the same one that Tyler had performed when he graduated kindergarten at Lincoln Christian School 20 years ago. That was back when they held classes at Temple Baptist Church. Just makes the memory all that much sweeter, doesn't it?

Birthdays at the Zoo

Where do I start? This was one of the most fabulous days we've all had together in ages. The Omaha Zoo was not packed too badly, just a few schools doing a last of the school year zoo run. The four little kids were terrific and we were there for over 6 hours! Think grandma and grandpa are the hurtin' ones this evening. :) There's a ton of pics, and I need to share so many, so here goes.......... Abby vs. gorilla

Raegan vs. gorilla

Hunter vs. Gorilla

Dylan vs. gorilla

Close cousins

A perfect quartet

Hard to keep everyone's attention :)

Serious giraffe and penguin watching

When will THIS happen again?

Abby hugging giraffe......

Raegan doing it BY HERSELF!

Hunter cracks me up :)

Dylan checking out the giraffe's mouth.......

And take a real close look at this one below. Do you see anything a bit odd?

Yep, you're right. There's a kid in the background that didn't belong to us. HA HA!

And I have to add one last photo, one of the calming parts of the exhibits...... ahhhhhhhh

Kindergarten Graduation

Abby is officially graduated from kindergarten! All the kids had speaking parts in the program and of course Abby did great. She spoke slow, loud and clear. Sat there busting my buttons on how well she did. It was a beautiful program telling the story of the butterfly that goes from a cocoon to a butterfly and how each child was put in their family by God on purpose because they are each special. Sometimes it's hard to watch the cycle of time, life, and experiences start over again, but then again it is very rewarding. Abby is a beautiful little girl. I had gotten her a music jewelry box (plays What A Friend We Have In Jesus) for graduation and Season noticed it had butterflies on it, which was more appropriate that I'd expected. And a bonus, something she didn't have yet.

But you know, there's always at least one kid on stage that will keep the audience entertained through the whole thing. Yep, that kid showed up last night and stood right next to Abby. Parents may have been horrified, but we just have to giggle, they are little.

Before going home I stopped over to their house quick after the ceremony which had to include a sword fight with Hunter. He won.

Yeah!!! What an evening. Congrats to Abby! Our little Graduate!

REAL Magnolias

Donna is so sweet to send me pictures of their magnolia trees. Isn't this absolutely gorgeous? Ahhh, makes me dream of past visits to their home and all the spectacular flowers in their yard.

*sigh*

Southern magnolias.......... the real kind.

A Heartfelt Welcome!

HELLO, RUTH!!!!!

Hope you can take a little time around here. Just remember, it's a 'G' rated blog, so keep those comments clean. :) We love you.

Remember this photo? It's pretty precious to me.