Last Post

It is obvious to me now that keeping up with this blog isn't something I am able to do so this will be my last blog post.  Thank you to those of you who followed, read and commented since I started this blog.  It's time to put it to rest and focus on other things in my life.
Blessings!
~ Bev

No More Putting Off Planning

Once again I have taken quite a pause in posting to the blog.  The viruses that have been such an epidemic the last few months have hit our household and I have been sick a majority of the time.  And now I have managed to do something to my wrist that prevents me from doing much in the way of sewing, crocheting or any other crafting I like to do.
Our church's community ladies bible study started back up recently and I've really been enjoying the book we are working on.  It's Pilgrim's Progress in modern English.  I had read it when I was in 7th grade and really enjoyed it then but had forgotten most of the story.  It's nice to refresh my memory of the story now but also to do a more thorough study of it.
I've also been trying (that's the key word here) to get more organized.  It's been a two steps forward and at least one step back process though with being sick but I am making some progress.  I'm trying to work on some weak areas of mine as far as home management and have gotten a lot of ideas on Pinterest that I'm trying to implement into my routine.  Planning meals is not a strong point for me but it's very important to my husband and sons that I have meals planned ahead of time rather than winging it.  We eat healthier when meals are planned so I need to work harder on planning menus for the week or more.  I've tried a lot of different planning techniques but so far nothing has really stuck.  We have dietary needs to consider as well as particular pallets so that makes meal planning more challenging for me.  So I'm hoping this latest idea of mine will work on simplifying the whole planning process.  What is your planning method?

My Very Long Hiatus

It's been three months exactly since my last blog post!  Yikes!  But things have been busy, busy, busy and I just haven't had much time for blogging.  Besides, most of the things I've been up to couldn't be written about because they were gifts/surprises for some of my (very few) readers!

So this is going to be kind of a catch up on the last 3 months.

We celebrated my oldest son's 16th birthday by going to a motorcycle museum.  My son requested Grammy's bread pudding as his birthday treat.  He's not keen on sweets anymore and it'd been a long time since I'd made the bread pudding. 

 

I was attending Every Woman's Grace bible study and had signed up to bring a bread to share.  I tried a new recipe for pumpkin scones and they looked delicious.  However, they were quite dry and heavy but my hubby really liked them.  IF I use the recipe again I will tweek it.

 

My older sister and honorary mother-in-law (my youngest sister's actual mother-in-law) worked together to give my younger sister a surprise baby shower the weekend after Thanksgiving.  My sister and her family live out of state and wouldn't make it back for our Christmas get together since she's due right around that time so we wanted to make the most of the time that they were here for Thanksgiving.  We had a preChristmas celebration as well as the surprise baby shower.  After our meal my two sisters went for a quick walk and that's when MIL L and I quickly set up the shower decorations and such.

These are just some of the receiving blankets, bibs and wash cloths that I made for my new baby niece.

These are the cute little Ugg-like boots that I crocheted for her.

I put together a cute little cardboard oven for the shower.

 The refreshment table at the shower.

 All the gifts for baby niece.

 Not a great picture but these are the tissue pompoms I made for decoration.

 MIL made the cutest pennant banners for the shower.

 This, if you hadn't already guessed, was our theme for the shower!

And this is li'l sis L with her bun in the oven and her now middle daughter miss T.

 

Our church has an annual event for the ladies every December called the Candlelight Christmas Coffee where we decorate 35 tables, all differently, and get served coffee, tea and cider by some of the men in the church and listen to a special speaker and special music.  It's a wonderful evening of fellowship and spiritual encouragement.  This year I co-hosted a table with my friend C.  The theme of the evening was Celebrating Hope and featured Linesa Keith and the International Princess Project.

 Our Christmas Coffee table.

 We celebrate hope in knowing that God is Sovereign and He holds tomorrow!

My co-host and I.

 The decorations were amazing for the event!

 Our pastor's wife Kris Goertzen shared her testimony and Linesa shared music from her album Greatest Mystery as well as some of her life story and how the International Princess Project began.

 The women in India who have been rescued from sex slavery are taught a trade in sewing and they make the most beautiful "punjammies".

 

There's been a lot more than this going on but it would take too long to write about it and I didn't take pictures of the various things I did during these last three months.  That's been my blunder but I've been so blessed during these busy months!

Pocket Garage

A very special little boy recently had a birthday and I wanted to give him something that I thought he would love.  This little boy loves cars and trucks!  I remembered that I had seen a tutorial on Pinterest for a cloth car caddy and so I decided I would make that for this special guy.  The car caddy from the tutorial used velcro but I wanted this one to be able to go to places that he needed to be quiet too so I scrounged around in my bits and pieces drawer of my craft dresser to see what I could come up with.  I found some red elastic cord (probably from a gift box or pair of shoes that don't come in a box) and a button from some old fatigues that my husband used to wear to work when we were first married.  Do I keep too much stuff?  Um, yes, probably!  But sometimes it comes in handy.
I used an old pair of my husband's work jeans that were in the scraps pile and cut out the pieces I needed from it.  I found a piece of canvas drop cloth I had used for outdoor curtains and cut out the pieces I needed from it.  Following the tutorial I sewed the pieces together and sewed the elastic to it all.  It didn't look very neat so I cut out a small piece of striped material from the scraps pile and appliqued it over the stitching for the cord.  I need to work on my applique stitching.  But it did look better than just the plain stitching.  The tutorial called for felt but I just used more denim and yellow thread to make the road.  And then, of course, I couldn't give it to him empty!  I filled it with 6 cool cars and trucks!  With the heavy duty material used for this it should last quite a while.  And I've been told that he loves it which was my goal! 

 

The Blessing of Routine.

Today both my boys are back to school! They aren't too thrilled but I'm happy to have them doing something other than watching tv, goofing off or swimming. Even though it's early mornings for us all, I'm so glad to be back on school schedules! The oldest is driving himself for the first time (mom is dealing with anxiety over this!) and the youngest is riding the bus for the first time (nice to not have to drive so much this year!). Both are in sports this fall so I'm still driving a lot to practices and eventually games/meets. And now my nephew is staying with us while he finds a job and saves for his own place. I'm enjoying the time with him, getting to know him better and feeding him (he's so thin!)!
I finished the ball gown for my little niece who turned 5 earlier this month and my sister has sent pictures of the beautiful birthday princess wearing her gown.

Little niecey with gown, fingerless gloves, headband and choker on.

Niece added a tiara and sis put a tutu under the skirt to fill it out more.

Lord, help me!

It's a blunder kind of day, or week really.  So many things have been going on to make me feel down.  I've been reading verses about God's promises, grace and mercy and that helps for a while but I find myself thinking about all the negative things going on.  I've been attacked in so many ways lately that I just feel like I almost can't catch my breath.  I'm needing lots of prayer right now for strength and wisedom to keep my mouth shut.  I won't stop speaking the truth but I need to know when to keep my thoughts to myself.  The bible says in Proverbs 20:3 "Keeping away from strife is an honor for a man, but any fool will quarrel." and Provers 26:4 says "Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will also be like him.  Proverbs 29:11 says "A fool always loses his temper, but a wise man holds it back."  I want to be a wise person not a fool!  State the truth once and if it is not received don't keep saying the same thing over and over.  I struggle with knowing whether I am feeling righteous anger or prideful anger in these situations and have to take a moment to evaluate the situation.  If I'm mad because my character is being attacked that is prideful but if I'm mad because they are twisting God's word to say what they want it to say that is righteous anger.  I don't want my pride to be a stumbling block to anyone knowing the love of Christ!  And I want to continue loving them despite their negative treatment of me because that is what Christ commands me to do.  But I am a sinner and my flesh wants to hate them.  Thank you, Jesus, for paying for my sins and giving me the strength to overcome my fleshly desires!

Royal Treatment

One of my niece's birthday is coming up and she will be turning 5.  I recently got a new sewing machine and wanted to make something pretty for her.  She and her big sister love to wear dresses and since I have two boys I don't have many opportunities to make dresses.  I found a tutorial here to follow easy to understand instructions for a beginner sewer like me.  First I hit the thrift store for fabric.  I found a white sheet, a light blue sheet and a pair of light blue knit pants.  I cut the pants along the seams for the bodice pieces.  The pants also had a tulle material overlay that I used for the center of the bodice.  I used some lace trim I already had in my crafting supplies for the bodice as well. 

Then I cut out the material for the skirt from the white and blue sheets.  I started with the white puffs on either side of the dress.  Then I stitched on the blue skirt and hemmed it up.

A Cinderella dressup ball gown for my princess of a niece!  It doesn't look as nice as the one from the tutorial and it didn't turn out as nice as I had hoped but I am a perfectionist with less than perfect sewing skills.