Kill Da Wabbit!

Josh is quite the outdoorsman... he loves to imitate his brother shooting guns or bows. He also has Hud's cowboy boots on about 90% of the time. I still have yet to take a pic of him with nothing on but those huge boots. It's a pretty precious site!

The camo face is what happens when your sister gets a hold of you. At least it wasn't girl make-up! Notice the black ear!

Sewing Class...

For those of you who expressed interest in the sewing class, I haven't forgotten about it!!! I've just been a tad busy these days. I'm thinking an evening in June would be good. I'll let you know!!

Inspiration Overload!!!

A few of you have asked lately where I have been getting all my crafty ideas. Well I've been on inspiration overload from all kinds of great blogs!!! One of my favorites is www.tipjunkie.blogspot.com it features all kinds of peoples' blogs with great ideas and lots of tutorials. Another great site is www.craftgossip.com, and finally www.todayscreativeblog.blogspot.com. If you read any of these, you'll quickly find blogs that you'll add to your favorite list and have a continuous supply of ideas!
Happy creating!!

More Heaven from Han

Last night our area had some pretty severe storms come through.... a tornado touched down and the path was headed toward our city. The sirens were going off and we were all down in the basement eating dinner and listening to the storm chasers on the news. Naturally the kids were a little nervous. We prayed together and afterwards Hud said, "Mom, what could happen to us if a tornado came?" I said, "Well either God will protect us, or we'll go to heaven." At that Han piped up in a very excited tone of voice and said, "Tonight would be a gweat night to go to heaven!!!"
Leave it to Han to remind us that heaven is a very exciting option!!! The best, actually!!

Pizzookies!

For those of you who like pizzookies I found a great recipe!! These are generally a cookie baked in a deep dish pizza pan and topped with ice cream. You'll find them at a lot of pizza restaurants.

For this recipe you can use your small white ramekins. It said you could use a muffin tin if you don't have ramekins, but it sure was fun for each person to have their own little dish of goodness.

I made these tonight and they were definitely a hit. A simple, easy and fancy dessert.
I just used the store brand chocolate chip cookie dough. I think I put a little too much dough in so it took 3-4 minutes longer to bake. The first time I took them out they were way too gooey so I put them back in for a few more minutes. Don't be afraid to get the outside edges too brown. It made a good crunchy crust.

Try it out and tell me what you think!!

http://www.ourbestbites.com/2009/03/pizzookies.html

Hippity Hoppity

Easter's on it's way!! I've been doing some fun new Easter crafts.

I am very excited to have inherited this buffet from my parents! It has taken the place of a tall book shelf that was becoming a catch all for the kids and always looked like a mess. I plan to paint it soon and give it a whole new look.

Here's a mirror I found at Big Lots. The price tag said $30 which I thought was a great deal for a beveled mirror with nice frame. It had a few nicks and scratches on it so I asked for a discount. I got it for $24!! Hee Hee. I plan to paint it with the same paint I use on the buffet and of course I will hang it a little higher.

Don't you love the little blond girl holding an egg? She reminds me of my Han. I found the picture with the frame and everything for $22 at a cute little shabby store in Halstead. I already had the bird house and lamp. The bunny was half off at HobLob. I used my cake stand to put a nest on top. The blue eggs are plastic Easter eggs I painted.

I found this wire basket for $1.99 at Goodwill. I primed it and spray painted it this cute pink color called "Ballet Slipper." It is a real vintage shade of pink. More moss and eggs I painted in the nest.

I had this old grape vine wreath that I resurrected from my garage sale pile. Some more of that pink spray paint and it's a updated wreath!! I painted all the eggs (which are a bit time consuming) and still haven't managed to put some kind of bow on the top. I'm thinking I'll use burlap or a tan linen for the bow. Hopefully it will get a bow by Sunday!

To make your own eggs see this tutorial.

A Jewish heritage?

Yesterday Russ was walking around without a shirt and Han said, "Dad did you used to be an Israelite?"
Russ: "Well no Han."
Han: "Then what are those whip marks all over your back?"
Russ had just scratched his back and there were red streaks. Han was thinking maybe he had been a slave in Egypt and gotten beaten like she saw on her movie "Moses, Prince of Egypt."

More on heaven from Han....

This morning Han was snuggling with me and said, "When I'm dying and getting ready to go to heaven that will be so exciting!! Mom, when I die can I get buried instead of buhned up?"

Brown sugar body scrub

I saw this little recipe on a blog the other day and tried it out. It definitely has a brown sugar smell in the shower, but it really does make you feel like you've moisturized and exfoliated!!
Here's the recipe (if I had it to do over again I might have cut the recipe in 1/2):

1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup olive oil
2 Tablespoons honey

Happy scrubbing!
Let me know if you tried it and what you thought.

Wanna learn to sew?.......

A few weeks ago a couple of my girlfriends were talking about how they feel their generation was skipped when it came to learning how to sew.

Sew I was thinking (ha ha), maybe I could offer a little class one evening. I just saw this cute little tutorial about how to make a ruffled skirt for a little girl. You would learn how to cut out a pattern, sew on a machine, make ruffles, make a casing for an elastic waistband and hem.

There are a few details we'd need to figure out, like coming up with enough sewing machines.

Since I'm trying to use my crafty energies to raise money for my friend whose adopting from Ethiopia, I'd probably charge $15 for the evening. You would bring your own fabric and thread, but that cost would be minimal as you'd probably only need 1/4 yard each of two coordinating fabrics.

Sew, if you're interested, leave me a comment. I'd like to have 8-10 people for a class. If you in, maybe you could recruit a friend!

More on heaven from Han....

Yesterday Han asked me, "Mom, when I get to heaven will I get to see Jesus?"
Me: "Oh yes Han, you'll always be with Jesus in heaven!"
Han: "Whenever I do something fun in heaven I'm going to ask Jesus if he wants to do it with me!"

This morning Han and I were snuggling in my bed and she said, "Mom, does Jesus have a nickname?" I told her that Jesus has a lot of wonderful names and I started telling her some of them. "I know all those, Mom, but does he have a nickname?"
Then she said, "I wish I could be in heaven right now!! When I get to heaven I'm going to stand up and give Jesus a big hug!"

We have a winner!!!

I asked my husband to pick a number between 1 and 14 and he picked 5. Number 5 is my sweet friend Julie who just happens to be a teacher!!! She's not just any teacher either, she was an award winner before she even graduated.
Congrats on winning my first blog giveaway, Julie!! I'll have your gift card and let you pick out your cozy next time I see ya!

Thanks a Latte!!!

I've got all kinds of fun crafty things brewing around here... this is one of my latest, latte cozies. I've made them out of felted wool sweaters (which basically means that they were washed in hot water and dried to shrink them). A few of them are even made out of cashmere. They're so soft, fuzzy and cute! I think they will make perfect teacher gifts for next month's teacher appreciation week. I plan to put one on a Starbucks cup with a gift card inside for Joshua's speech therapist.

I also thought it would be fun to have my first blog giveaway!!! The lucky winner will get one of these cozies and a $5 Starbucks gift card. To enter please leave me a comment telling me how you found my blog and what keeps ya commin' back for more.

Oh, and if you don't turn out to be the winner but you'd like one of these for yourself or for someone you want to thank let me know. I've made some new ones in different colors and sell them for $10 each. A portion of the profits from everything I sell on my blog is going to help our good friends adopt from Ethiopia.

I'll leave this giveaway open until Wednesday night and announce the winner on Thursday. Good luck!!

Conversation between Grandpa and Hud....

This conversation was quite awhile ago... I was just deleting emails and found it from my mom.

As reported by Grandpa:
Hudson: "Grandma sure is pretty."
Grandpa: "Ya"
Hudson: "Did you marry her?"
Grandpa: "Ya"
Hudson: "Then you got old."

Still Sewing...

It's not too late to click HERE to order an adorable pinnafore.

Wedding Bells

Yesterday our friend and Rusty's co-worker got married. When Hud heard there was going to be a wedding he got this look of disappointment and said, "A WEDDING!? Are the boys going?"
Me: "Well, Daddy has to go because he's an usher but you don't have to go if you don't want to."
Hud: "Nah, I don't wanna go!"

Han immediately jumped into the conversation to try to convince him otherwise...
Han: "But Hud, if you go you might get to be the Ringmaster!!!"
Me: "What's the ringmaster, Han."
Han: "You know, when you walk down the isle with a fishing pole that has rings on the end. (She and Hud were the flower girl and ring bearer in an outdoor wedding and that's how Hud took the rings down.)

Moving on to her next line of argument...
Han: "And I'll bet there will be candy there."
Me: "There might not be candy, but they'll have cake."
Hud: "Well, I don't like cake." (It's true, there's hardly any sweets he likes. He'd rather just eat tomatoes or some kind of veggie.)

Han's final attempt at changing his mind....
Han: "Well Hud, there's going to be dancing and I think you'd make a willy gweat dance pahtnuh for me!"

No such luck. Boys just don't like weddings much.

Calling all woolies....

This is a random request, but I'd like to try my hand at felting which requires wool garments. I was wondering if any of you might have old sweaters or socks that you really need to part with because you never wear them. If you live nearby and would be willing to pass them on, the creative, crafty side of me that never quits would love to have them. Thanks!!!

Grandpa's Dog

Discussion between Han and Grandpa over the phone:

Han: "How is Sophie doing, Grandpa?"
G: "Oh she's pretty good except when it's cold, she gets real stiff in her joints and comes into the house at night. She likes to sleep on the red couch in Pat's room."
H: "Why doesn't she sleep in her dog house, Grandpa?"
G: "I don't know. I've put in a warm rug and straw but she likes to sleep on the red couch."
H: "Grandpa, then why don't you build her a dog house big enough for the red couch?"

From Big Brother to Little Brother

Hud: "Josh, someday you're going to be pretty cool just like me."

Questions from Han returns....

It's been awhile since I've posted any questions from Han. This is not because she isn't still asking them. She likes to start sentences with the phrase, "I'll tell you one thing....," and I usually think, "no, you'll tell me 20!"



Here are a few of the things she's asked lately:



1) "I was wondering. How do you make gum?"



2) "How do you build a parking lot?"



3) "How do you know if they're just practicing?"

Me: "What?"

Han repeats

Me: "Practicing what?"

Han: "The sirens. How do you know if they're just practicing?"

Me: "The tornado sirens?"

Han: "Yes."

I explained that on Mondays at noon they practice. Any other time they go off it's an emergency.

Han: "Mom, wemembuh when I was a little guhl and I used to be scared of the siwuns?"

Apparently she's not a little girl any more

4) She was learning the verse, "Lord, teach us to pray." I told her the story about how the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray. She said, "That's silly. Why would they ask him that when they were with God everyday?"

5) "Mom, how do you make water?"

6) "Mom, how do trees drink?"


7) "Mom, can we do miracles in heaven?"

Full of Joy!

He's got a thing for shoes...

Since the first morning we had him, Joshua has loved shoes. He can usually be seen running around the house in a pair of shoes that belong to some other member of the family. This is usually ok unless you try to go down the stairs in your big brother's cowboy boots.

(Oh yeah, and most of the time he doesn't keep his pants on either)

Herin lies the entire contents of....

Joshua's pockets!!! And let me tell you, his pockets are not very big! Since this picture was taken he has gotten even better at cramming stuff in. He probably could get a plastic cell phone, a few matchbox cars and some crayons in there with all this stuff now. I don't know what it is, but he really likes to have his pockets full, which doesn't help any with his problem with keeping his pants up. We now have frisk him before he leaves the nursery since last Sunday he came home with a ton of fat crayons!

Twin Footsies!

I loved catching a pic of this little public display of twin affection. They were watching a movie on their little DVD player and playing with each others' toes. I bet they didn't even realize it.

(Temporarily) Open for Business!!

I've been sewing these adorable pinafores and matching headbands for Han this past week. The first time she wore one out we ran into a friend who convinced me that I needed to sell some. She wanted to be my first customer and promptly ordered two matching ones for her girls.



They are fun shirts that crisscross in the back to be worn with jeans or shorts. You can wear them over a long shirt for colder weather, or alone in the summer when it's warm! They are also made with a fun coordinating fabric on the inside and are reversible. So you get two shirts in one!!

This is the "Black & White Pinnie."

Here's a view of the back of them.

This is the reverse side of the "Black & White Pinnie."

Here's the "Retro Flowers Pinnie."


I folded it back so that you could see the inside.


This is the "Paisley Pinnie." (heart applique not included unless you really beg hard!)


Reverse side of "Paisley Pinnie."

This is the "Filigree Pinnie." The colors didn't come through well. The dark is actually a deep purple/burgundy and the light is a cream.

Here is the reverse/backside of the "Filigree Pinnie."

So, here's what I'm thinking. I'd love to sew these for you my friends, family and strangers who somehow found my blog. I have a feeling that I'm not going to make a career out of this, so I'll keep making them until you stop buying or I start feeling like I've sewn my brains out (whichever comes first!)

I can make sizes 12 month trough 5T and will sell them for $25.

The headbands are $12.

(if you don't think your girl would wear a headband, I can put the flower on an alligator clip or a small clippie that would clip onto those elastic headbands that babies wear)

Shipping is extra (and I'm not sure how much but I bet it's about $6 per pinnie/headband).

If you'd like one, comment on my blog and be sure to leave an email address or phone number so that I can contact you for specifics!

A great commercial for Taco Bell......

Russ walked into the kids room early one morning to get them up.
Han says, "Josh is poopie. It smells like Taco Bell and it's making me hungry!!!"

It's a girl!!!!!

Last night I had the incredible privilege of helping my good friend, Amy give birth to her second baby girl!!! Her husband, Rick, is an orthopedic resident who is currently doing a six month rotation in St. Louis. With a six hour drive between them, the plan was for Rick to start speeding this way as soon as Amy went into labor. Amy asked me if I would be willing to stay with her until Rick arrived to take over. Of course I was thrilled and so honored!!! I actually expected that she would be induced and never need me at all. I was hoping to be involved, but induction would have allowed Rick to be there for everything.

Yesterday I got "the call" from Amy as I was getting ready to leave the house to take Han to urgent care (for bad ear pain... turns out it was very infected and her ear drum was "bulging"). Amy was having some weird tightening and wasn't sure if she was in labor. She was headed to the hospital to be checked. I got to her room just in time to hear the doctor say, "You're dilated to an eight! And your bag is bulging." (I guess "bulging" was the word of the day!) We were shocked and doubtful that dear Rick was going to make it in time. The nurses and doctors were doing everything they could to not progress things, which is basically nothing short of tying Amy's legs together, because birth is inevitable. Seeing that Rick would probably miss the excitement, we called another good friend, Jolyn, and asked her if she would come video from the north end! Within only a couple of hours Amy was needing to push. We called Rick one last time on the off chance that he had miraculously gotten within a few minutes of the hospital. He was still a long way off and baby was coming anyway. In three pushes Amy delivered the little sweetie. Amy was a rock. I was so impressed and proud of her. And doesn't she look amazing in the picture?!!

It was truly a gift to be a part of the miracle of this birth! What an honor!

Amazing how two blog posts back to back can be so different.... one with the sadness of loss and the next with the celebration of a precious new one. How sweet and compassionate of the Lord to give us moments to soar. He doesn't make us only live in the valley!

Getting to be with Jesus...

I've been praying for a young family with an 11-month-old baby girl who has cancer. Things haven't looked very good from the start, and I've been checking their blog regularly to see how she was doing.
Friday she had to have surgery to have some fluid drained off of her heart. She was second in line behind a 14-year-old boy also newly diagnosed with cancer who was having the same procedure. He didn't make it through the surgery. It seems like a million years ago that I used to work in that very same PICU. I couldn't do it now that I am a mom. I just can't imagine sending my baby off to undergo the same thing that a bigger, stronger boy didn't survive. She did make it through though, and had a pretty "good" day yesterday.
I learned this morning that last night this little sweetheart went to be with Jesus. I was stunned and so sad for her parents. I just can't imagine how painful it would be to lose your child.
Hannah saw me upset and wanted to know what was wrong. When I told her she looked at me puzzled and said, "Don't you unduhstand, Mom, she gets to live with Jesus!!! That's gweat!! She gets to live huh whole life with Jesus, evewy day and evewy night!" I tried to match her enthusiasm but said, "I'm just really sad for her mommy and daddy. They're really going to miss her. I would be really sad if you died." She said, "Mom wouldn't you be really excited if I went to live with Jesus?!"
How I wish I saw heaven how Han sees it. She longs for it, as we all should. This world has nothing we desire but You, Lord.

Here's my second hat...

O.K. I really do need to stop this. I must not start any more projects until my husband is wearing clean underwear again and my kids stop digging for scraps of food from the trash.... did I pay the bills last month?

So, here it is!! The only thing I have to show for myself today. (To my credit I am sick, and sitting and knitting helps me feel much better!!! Especially when I finish something this adorable!) This is a peachy/pink colored hat made out of a combination wool and cashmere yarn and embellished with fun ribbons!!

I have a problem....

I didn't know that you could knit cute stuff like this! I thought that knitters were only allowed to make scratchy socks, heinous scarves and hideous afghans. Actually I have two problems. The first one is that my creative self continually pulls me to learn new ways to express myself. My other problem is that I learned to knit last month and I am a bit addicted. I mean how cute is this little hat! It's made out of baby chenille and has the most adorable little poof of feathers on top. It was my first hat to make. It only took me one day.... I completely blocked out my family, house and to-do list to make it. That's were my problem comes in. I am almost finished with my second adorable hat (don't worry I'll post a pic) and all I want to do is knit. It's kind of like a really good book, once you're into it everything else in the world kind of disappears until the last page. I really hope this addiction doesn't require rehab!!

He might not win the spelling bee...

The other night Hud and Han were arguing over who was going to pick the movie to watch. Han was insisting on one of her girly princess movies and Hud said,
"Ohhhhhhhhh NO! T-O-Y, NO!"
Then he said, "T-O-Y, that spells NO!"
I sure hope kindergarten will get him on the right track!

Sword fighting Hud

These are a couple of really cute pics of Hud fighting with his Uncle Josh when we were out to visit him this summer.

They make great pics to go along with something funny Hud said to me the other morning.

Hud: "PERHAPS I have chosen the wrong pair of pants to wear today."

Me: "Oh really, why?

Hud: "Because there is no loop for my sword!!!"

Wrestle Mania!!!!

One thing that Russ and I discovered very soon after Hud learned to walk was that he needed regular wrestle matches with Daddy to release some of his pent up "boyness." In our home it's almost a daily occurrence with Hud, Han and Joshua against Daddy.
Recently Russ had to go on a ten day trip to South Africa so he asked his friend Stephen if he'd come over and wrestle the kids while he was gone.
Last week Stephen and his girlfriend, Holly volunteered to come over for the evening to watch the kids and give me a little break. I told the kids they were coming and that Mr. Stephen was going to wrestle them.
They had barely walked in the door, hadn't even taken off coats and scarfs when Han felt it was necessary to issue the following warning: "Mr. Stephen if you wrestle us you better be careful because one time Hud jumped right on Daddy's P-nis!!" Although embarrassed, I'm sure he appreciated the warning.
The one warning she failed to mention is that her daddy always makes her go potty before she wrestles as she's been known to pee her pants if she gets to laughing too hard.
You see where this one is going..... she was riding on Stephen's back pretending he was her horse. Apparently he was wildly funny because Han got to laughing and peed all over his back.
Guess I'll have to scratch him off the list of babysitters when Russ is gone.

Hosanna Hannah

I just love my daughter's heart for God! He's always a regular part of her conversation throughout the day. This morning when I was doing her hair she wanted me to put a little headband in. She's got the most angelic blond curls.

When I was finished she was admiring herself in the mirror and said, "You know what? I kinda look like a Hosanna!"

"A Hosanna? What does that mean," I asked.

"It means praise to God!"

"You're right, Hannah, you do look like a Hosanna!"

Then I asked, "Are you thinking you look like an angel with a halo on your head?"

"Yes. They sing holy, holy, holy."

My Handsome Boy!!!

I found Josh in the bathroom one day doing his hair. He was working so hard on it."Yeh, I look good!!"

Congratulations Russ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Russ with his dad.

Early in December we celebrated as Russ completed a six year project... his MBA!!! We both are so relieved to have this out of the way. He did an amazing job! On graduation day we went to two ceremonies. The first was a hooding ceremony where all the masters candidates had their hoods placed on them. Later that afternoon was the huge graduation ceremony with the undergraduates, masters and doctorate students. When is was all over, we had a little celebration with a few friends and Russ' dad, Jerry, and wife Doris.

Thanksgiving Redo

So it's been a busy past month and a half. I've got some catching up to do on my blog.....

We'll start with our Thanksgiving do-over. If you read previous posts you'll remember that we were all sick. By Saturday, however, we were feeling better and craving the traditional turkey dinner that we had missed.

I fixed the meal, and Han did the beautiful table arrangement. I actually was really impressed by her sense of space. I think she and I are going to have a lot of fun doing crafty things!!

Here's our entry....

This is for Abraham Piper's 22-word-kid-story contest....

Here's Han's theology question of the day, "Mom, why doesn't God just put the Devil in jail 'til he luhns his lesson!?"

Family Christmas Picture rejects

Here's a sneak peak at a few of the shots that won't make the Christmas card this year but are still cute.

All I ever needed to know about marriage....

I learned from Barbie Island Princess!

The other day Han and I were on the couch and she noticed a book that I had been reading. She said, "Mom, what's this book about?"
Me: "It's a book about marriage. How to be a good wife."
Han: "How do you be a good wife?"
Me: "Well, you love your husband, you serve him, you're kind to him, you take care of him."
Han: "What book does Daddy have?"
Me: "I don't know. You'll have to ask him."
Han: "Well, the two things I know about marriage are from the Island Princess (movie)... 'I want my heart to bleed red blood' (no clue what's she's talking about) and 'well I didn't love your father when I married him.' "
Me: "Hmmm... it's really important to love the person you marry!!"
After a pause for thinking...she started to lament that Daddy was already taken. I guess he's the only one she loves enough to marry at this point!!!

All these princess movies Han loves have had an influence on her dialect. I am always hearing things like, "Joshua, give that to me AT ONCE!!!"
Me: "Han can you wash off the table."
Han: "Yes, Mom. As you wish. And Mother, I think I'll have dessert as well."