Welcome Home Daddy!!

We're so happy to have Daddy home, just in time for Christmas! In fact, it was like Christmas this morning when Joshua woke up and saw Daddy at home. The smile on his face was better than all the Christmas presents in the world! Zoe wasn't too sure at first, but about 15 minutes was all it took for her to revert to 'Daddy's little girl' mode. As for me, I'm just happy to have my love back home and see our babies so happy to have Daddy here!

Keeping Christ in Christmas! - part 3

Since I last posted about this book, I was able to contact the authors, who commented on my last post about it. If you want a copy, you can contact them at: kids4ever@charter.net

Here are the hilights since my last post about this book -

Dec 8th: God calls us to pray for others - Eph 6:18a.

Mommy: "Joshua, who would you like to pray for today?"

Joshua: "um... how bout Buzz Yi-near (lightyear)?"

Mommy: "ok, what does Buzz need us to pray for?"

Joshua: "um... I think, cherries. Buzz would like some cherries"

...so that's what we prayed for.

Dec 9th: Jesus is the good shepherd - Luke 2:8, Jn 10:11, Ps 23:4b- Joshua was excited to hang a candycane on the tree, we talked about how it is the same shape as a shepherd's staff, and he knows what that is because Bo Peep has one on Toy Story

Dec 10th: Jesus came to serve others - Eph 6:7

Activity was to plan and carry out a way to serve others so I helped Joshua plan to help me clear the table after dinner. Yay!!!

Dec 11th: Joshua liked this one because it involved angels - Luke 2:10-11

Dec 13th: Mt 5:14-16 - Joshua lit our little battery operated tea lights

Pics from Joshua's Christmas program

Here are some pictures from Joshua's Christmas program (I posted the video 2 posts ago...) He was up there smiling like a little movie star on the red carpet, hilarious! He just saw all the people taking pictures and knew that was what he was supposed to do.

Zoe trying to get to the pots & pansMy favorite little snowman!
Joshua & Maddie
Joshua with his class
He just looked around and smiled. When he spotted me in the audience, his smile got even bigger - so sweet!

Sew & Tell - rice wrap

Happy Sew & Tell Friday!! I couldn't post my finish last week because I want it to be a surprise to my wonderful hubby - sorry I didn't get a chance to visit everyone and see your finishes!

I took a break from quilts last night and made this quick project. It only took me a little over an hour! I was only planning on starting it while the news was on, but was so close to finishing I just had to! Great instant gratification, and one less thing on my to do list for Saturday!!

Here's a little more detail on how I make them... mine weight 5 lbs, so that's how much rice to fill it with

Many thanks to my cute model. Maybe he thought it was a cape! See my cherry quilt there on the couch screaming "QUILT ME!!!" Audience participation please: I am working on getting the tension on my machine right first... yeah, that's my excuse... Anybody have any tension tips? I know every machine is different (I have a Kenmore 385.19233), but I'm sure yall can help me :) Also, anybody want to recommend their favorite gloves (or way to grip/maneuver the quilt).

Here's some good, thorough tension advice I found. It's not novice advice either, so unless you're a tension expert, you might benefit

Joshua's Christmas Program

Joshua had his Christmas program at school today. Unfortunately, during the performance portion (they sang two songs with hand motions and bells, & recited a verse!!) I thought I was pressing record but really pressed stop. I'm so sad!! Here's the cute video I got of Joshua hamming it up before his stage debut. He looks like a natural to me!!

ZoeTube

and Joshua too... here are a few cute videos of the recent festivities.

I have no idea why she was trying to lick the ornaments. But it sure was funny.

Tree decor & quilt back

Here's my cherry quilt for Zoe all spray basted & ready to quilt. I think I am just going to stipple with white thread. Thanks everyone for all your suggestions! If someone has a good picture of one quilted with wavy lines, please let me know because I don't think I've seen one.

Here's how the back turned out. I love it, but there is really NO room for error on the quilting because the top & back are almost exactly the same size. That's what I get for trying to make a cute pieced back I guess... (the white around the edges is the batting)
Here's the top.

Joshua has wanted a yellow star for the tree, and we wanted to make one to go along with our activity for Dec 5th (Matt 2:9b-10) so Joshua and I made a star for the tree. It's cardboar covered with tin foil, but Joshua was upset because he wanted it to be yellow so we made a little yellow outfit for him, and Joshua had me draw on a face before he started decorating.

Let me just say: He is NOT posing, he was in the middle of kicking his legs wildly.

Mr. Star and Joshua the work guy. He's been a 'work guy fighting bad guys' all day long. There was one 2 hour period today during which Joshua did not stop talking.

I handed Joshua ornaments and he hung them wherever he could reach. Mostly, as many as he could fit together on a branch.
Proud of his work! I hung the ones up top, of course. When Zoe got up from her nap, she tried to lick them.
Zoe loves to play in the tupperware drawer & sippy cup basket. And talk on her fake phone.

Keeping Christ in Christmas! - part 2

We've been having fun with our Keeping Christ in Christmas for Kids (click here to see the book) book by Donna & Nick Medendorp. Helps keep me accountable (and presents quite the easy, quick activities) for teaching the kids why we have Christmas, and keeps me focused on Jesus rather than getting caught up in stressful or commercialized holiday stuff that does not always encourage the Christian in me!

Dec 1, we made an advent calendar of sorts to keep track of the 25 days until Christmas. 25 hands making an 'evergreen' tree to teach how God has given us the ability to have everlasting life through Christ (John 6:47b, 1 Peter 2:24a & Jn 3:16)

Dec 2, we lit the tree to remind us that Jesus is the Light of the world. (John 8:12)

Dec 3, we wrote down our favorite thing that God has blessed us with (Joshua picked cherries)(Ezekiel 34:26b & Romans 10:12b)

Dec 4, pick one of our toys to donate (John 3:16a & IICor8:7b)

Dec 5, made a star ornament (Matthew 2:9b-10)

Dec 6, set up the nativity & discussed the verse (Luke 2:1-20)

Dec 7, discuss the names of Jesus & make/decorate name place cards for everyone in your family, and write qualities describing that person on the inside (Isaiah 9:6b)

Well, I don't want to break any copyright laws here so I'll stop, but I highly recommend this book - it's so fun! I'd write the activity out every day if I didn't feel like I was stealing these folks' hard work! I'll try to share our favorites with you.

***If you want to own your very own copy, please contact the authors at kids4ever@charter.net - see his comment below***

too many t-shirts?!

Here are two pictures of my tshirt blankets (they're not really quilts). I'm thinking about taking them back apart and quilting them, but they are well loved and we use them all the time. I used to run & do triathlons kind of a lot, and these are tshirts from races as well as my time in college & in the beloved US Army. The two in the middle of the larger quilt are from my first HS XC race. I have only great memories from all these tshirts, and I love having a practical way to keep them around.

About 7'x7', I made this one in 2003

About 4'x5', I finished this one about a week before Joshua was born 3 years ago. I've accumulated more tshirts since then, so when I get enough, I'll probably make another.

Sew & Tell - Tis the Season!

It's Sew & Tell Friday again!

It being the day after Thanksgiving and all, I figured it wasn't too early for Zoe to start wearing her cute new legwarmers. I cannot begin to express how cute these are!! And how easy they were to make. Just find some cute socks, cut the feet off, turn inside out, cuff twice, and stitch. I did a zigzag stitch over both layers, and my cuff was only about 1/4" I unintentionally stretched the fabric as I stitched which made them flare & ruffle at the bottom - SO ADORABLE!!! I have a few more pair of socks to 'convert' as well as an old sweater to try to make leg warmers out of. You won't catch me in a pair (not this year anyway) but for Zoe's sake, I'm so excited that leg warmers have made a comeback!!

Weekend at Rosemarie's OR How many 3 year olds does it take to build a gingerbread house?

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Here are our little firefighters, JMS & Joshua. These boys had a great time playing all weekend, unfortunately, Joshua got Joseph sick :(Zoe showing the boys how it's done. This girl will attempt to climb anything!
And for the child entertaining portion of the weekend, we built a gingerbread house. I got this (wilton kit) a few weeks ago & have been saving it for the boys to do. Joshua must have asked me at least once a day if it was time yet. So, as far as how many 3 year olds it takes... um... how about 3 x 30+ year olds, a couple 3 year olds and a 16 month old. OK, I can't say that I helped, but it took 2 adults to put the house together, the icing included was user un-friendly, to say the least, and we had to go get different icing to decorate with. Instead of an hour long project to entertain the kids, this turned into a weekend long project for everyone. It came home with us since Joshua coughed all over it while they were decorating.

look how interested he is... yes, that's right, his back is turned & he's watching football.
It did get a little more interesting when the candy & frosting came out.

Zoe's got her eye on the sprinkles
Playing animal Uno. The boys have lollipops for going potty.

Mommy & my little blondie. Her hair is getting super long!
Mommy & the birthday boy. This was after they had their cupcakes for Joshua's 3rd bday.
Speaking of Elmo, Zoe said "Elmo" this morning while she was reading her book. She also said "Eli" looking at a picture of her cousin, "Noah" playing with her Noah's ark in the bathtub, "pee pee" when I told Joshua to go to the bathroom, and "blueberry" "egg" and "cheese" at breakfast. That's 7 new words before 9am!!

Keeping Christ in Christmas!

I have this book called "Keeping Christ in Christmas for Kids." I got it before Joshua was even conceived... my receipt says 12/9/2005, almost a full year before he was born!!! It's kind of like an advent calendar (without the chocolate ;) Each day has a reflection & verse, and an activity (w/ materials list, most of which can be found around the house... my house, anyway) to go with it. There is also a place on the back of each day to write your thoughts for that day, that year. I am so excited to use this book this year! I had completely forgotten about it until I went to the bookshelf upstairs looking for something else. I remember feeling a little silly buying it, but I knew that I would be able to use it one day to teach our little blessings all about the real meaning of Christmas. I found it just in time to skim it, gather some, and get ready for our first activity on December 1st! I don't even know if they're still available, but I got it here

• Kids 4 Ever Books

• (616) 399-5404
• 463 Timberlake Dr W
• Holland, MI 49424

Well, I got it from a website, but apparently, they don't have one anymore.

I got off track with our weekend visit to Lexington & (3 of us) being sick, but I have lots of good stuff stockpiled on my camera so stay tuned!

Happy Birthday!!

Happy 3rd Birthday Joshua! I'm so thankful to God for this beautiful little boy! I love him so much my heart might explode, and he makes us all laugh, all the time. I'd do a better photo montage, but we don't have them all on the new computer yet, so here are just a few of his recent silly moments that I may not have posted yet.

Sew & Tell - Oh Cherry Oh quilt top

sew-n-tell and Fabric Friday

Here's the complete picture of my finish from last week, including the cute card w/ little pink feet stamped on it, and the little booties there all wrapped up, and the bib completely finished, snap and everything. This was all very fun to make! On the inside of the card is stamped in pink "God sends His love and joy to earth with every newborn baby's birth." Love that stamp!

Here is my finish for this week's sew & tell Friday (I'm also posting it for Fabric Friday over at Rosebud Quilting). This is a quilt top for Zoe, made w/ Oh Cherry Oh and (a version of... I used a jelly roll) the ORBC quilt a long. I sewed the 3rd strip from the left on upside down, so there are a few of the exact same blocks next to each other (see the 3 right behind Zoe's head, and the 2 in the center of the top row). After the hours and hours I spent laying the strips out in groups of 6 and then laying the blocks out, I was obviously a little upset when I figured this out. However, since I loved it until then and it took me 2 days to notice, with it hanging right in front of me in my kitchen, I decided not to undo & fix it. What would you do?
Zoe liked it. I gave her her bottle and she headed straight for this position.
To make the quilt top, I used one jelly roll, sewed 6 strips together, and then cut them into 3 each 12.5"x12.5" blocks, with about 5-6" left over at the end. I arranged them (almost :) as above, and sewed together.

I'm debating the back... the turquoise is the binding (trying to decide whether to cut 2.25" or 2.5" for binding... what size do you use?)

or this way (with cherries above & below the pieced part). Little boy not included. Only problem is that if I do this, there will be 2 more 1/4" seams and that might make it too short. I know, that's cutting it pretty close! I guess I could stick a milk jelly roll strip at the top or bottom. Input is welcome!!

I used almost all my scraps for the back. I sewed these strips together (the white is from a milk jelly roll) and they are 49.5" across. The middle ones are 6" wide and the outside two and the white are 2.5" wide. I think I have one 12.5" x 2.5" strip left over! Also, with the back like this, I will have just enough to make it 48" x 60" to match the top. I think. I hope.

Also, I have NO IDEA how I want to quilt this. If it was yours to quilt, what would you do??