a moving intermission

*pushes boxes out of the way* Hey there friends, surprise, it's me!! When you read this we will be in full swing of moving...and hopefully almost done. Boxes are packed. Furniture is being moved. Toilets are being cleaned. Foreheads are being wiped. Eyi. eyi. eyi. moving is not fun! But the change will be good and we're so excited to finally have our own place to call home again. The kids are excited and we can't wait to show them the new house...that's right they haven't even seen the inside yet. But we've driven past the house a couple times a week since we put in our offer and they are super excited.

I don't have lots of time to chat and fill you in on everything that's been going on but I've got a few camera phone photos to share! It's been a WHIRLWIND, crazy month that I never want to relive...but GOD IS GOOD!

My little climber...nothing can stop her!






















This box packed itself! Better make sure it doesn't get lost in the move!

Naomi has been invited to a few birthday parties lately and I've made these little t-shirt capes for the little boys. They are easy to make and the boys LOVE them. This one was for Nash...now I need to work on Micah's since his birthday is on Monday and since he's asked me for one everytime he sees me make one I figured I better make him one!

And one for little John, one of Naomi's classmates.


My friend asked me to make some shirts for her twins first birthday!


This was a SUPER easy dress to make and I can't wait to make more. I bought the pattern here.

And I made two other ones in the same night...seriously the easiest dress I've ever made...and super cute!

Oh and our other piece of BIG NEWS! We're going to be adding a new little one to the family in early October! We are SOOOO excited and can't wait to meet this little blessing!!

Hopefully I'll be able to post more regularily again soon! I can't wait to show you the new house...but first gotta get things looking liveable!

art case birthday gift

Well hello there friends! It's been a while hey? Can't believe it is the second weekend in February already.

Well, since Valentine's Day is next week I probably should be showing you the really cool craft that Naomi made for her little classmates but it really didn't turn out that well. We punched hearts into paint sample strips and then she wrote their name on the front and on a piece of construction paper of the same size she wrote her name for the back. The problem came when I laminated the bookmarks...the lamination didn't really stick and they just look a little chintzy. But I don't think the 4 and 5 year olds will be too concerned...plus, I added in a pencil and a box of conversation hearts just to make sure Naomi wasn't pegged as "the girl who gave lame valentines" (like they do that in 4K anyway). I'm so self conscious even as a mother that I want to make sure my kid gives cool valentines. Yikes. Maybe I need some therapy!

Well, onto the real post! Naomi got invited to a birthday party on Super Bowl Sunday at the local bounce house place. This was a party for a little girl in her class that I'd never met. She was so excited and I was feeling well, strapped for cash, self-conscious (was I going to have to stay at the party and mingle with people I didn't even know?), and just plain intimidated. I decided that her little friend would get a handmade gift and I would quit making excuses. Because dangit, it was gonna be cute and functional.

I was browsing my saved tutorials on my hard drive when I came across this art case. I knew I didn't have the quilted fabric that it called for so I improvised and just used regular cotton with a little fusible interfacing to make it a little more sturdy. Other than that, the only thing I did differently was sew it right sides together and turn it out. I had a hard time with attaching the handles and sewing the sides shut because my machine only likes to stitch through two layers of fabric at a time but four needles later the job was finished. And I think it came out pretty good and I think Naomi's little friend was happy with the gift. Anyway, I think this will be a good go-to gift that I can easily (minus four needles) make that is a pretty neat and functional gift. Naomi kept telling her friend "You can even take it to church with you" -my little evangelist!

The party was great and yes I did mingle with some of the other mothers and actually had a good time. Little ol introvert, self-conscious me had a good time. yup!

And if you haven't checked out Carrie at This Mama Makes Stuff you REALLY need to. She has TONS of great tutorials and refashions and just great sewing advice and tips! Go check her blog out...and tell her I sent you!

head over to jtphoto.org to see what's new!

Yes, I know my blog needs some love. But....I've been busy. I've got a week worth of my Handmade Christmas projects lined up on my photography blog. Come on over and check them out!

I've got some more videos to add here, but I've got other more important things to do first, like sleep, clean, organize, play with kids, etc, etc, etc. But really, I will be updating my other blog lots this week!

baby steps

Greg and I sat down with Hannah last night and tried to get her to walk a little more and be brave. We got her taking a few more steps...then I grabbed the camera and was able to catch this little video of her walking to get something! So cute! So, I guess she'll do some more practicing and then she'll be on her own! Maybe even before Christmas!!!

Butt scootin boogie

I was talking to a friend at church on Wednesday night while Hannah scooted around in the background. She then asked me if I had any video of Hannah scooting around because when I'm 100 I'm going to want to remember that little scoot. I told her that I think I took video of the little scoot the other day but hadn't uploaded it to my computer yet. Well, I finally did upload the video to my computer and tried to get the video to load to facebook...but it wouldn't and that's okay. I think I'd rather have it here on my blog anyway. So, here's a little video of one of Hannah's favorite ways of getting around.

She's starting to get more brave and stands up in the middle of the room randomly now...but still no real walking. She's taking her sweet time...and I'm okay with that!!!

away in a manger

We have the coolest kids. Greg and I say that on a regular basis. But seriously they are pretty awesome. They're hilarious, caring, thoughtful, loud, mischevious, entertaining and just down right sweet. The other day Naomi and Micah were singing Away in a Manger and the first time Micah sang it like this "Olivia no crib for a bed. The stars in the sky. The little Lord Jesus shut the door." Crazy kid. Then I asked him to sing it again and he sang the first verse perfectly. I asked him if he knew any of the other verses and he just said, "nope, I only know one" He does know parts of the other verses but he just needs someone to sing with him. I cannot wait for the Christmas program on Sunday, should be good.

Here's Micah singing Away in a Manger!!

Naomi wanted in on the video action too so here she is singing Away in a Manger. I asked her what other songs she has to sing for the Christmas program and she told me "Silent Night" and "Joy to the World" I asked her if she wanted to practice with me and she said "No mom, that's why we have practice on Saturday"....so I guess I'll leave it to the professionals (aka, the sunday school teachers).

Gifts for yourself

Today is the last day of the 12 crafts for Christmas hosted by The Trendy Treehouse! Here's my last post!

We all know that Christmas is a time of giving. A time when we remember the greatest gift ever given, the gift of Jesus in flesh. The gift of salvation brought to life. We give gifts because we've already received the greatest gift ever to be given. We give gifts to everyone in our lives, kids, parents, teachers, postal workers, but is it wrong to give a gift to yourself? I don't think so. So often we as mothers give give and give some more that sometimes it's nice and actually IMPORTANT to give a little to ourselves.

Maybe your gift to yourself this year will be laying off the mommy guilt. Maybe you'll give yourself permission to fail, to not be the "perfect" wife, mom, etc because we all know that person doesn't exist. Maybe you'll give yourself 10 extra minutes of peace and quiet by setting the alarm. Maybe you're going to give yourself energy by exercising a little more regularly. Maybe you're going to give yourself time by setting a timer for "extra" things like tv shows or computer time so you don't get sucked ALL the way in, but then you'll have the time to do the things you want and need to do.  Maybe you'll give yourself time to craft things for YOU! I plan on doing ALL of these things.

Maybe your gift to yourself will be more a material object. Those are nice too. My husband and I do the St. Nicholas thing with our kids (but not Santa) since he was a real man who gave to the poor and needy. But who fills my stocking...me! So, this  year I didn't give myself anything. But that's becuse I didn't have any small gift that I really wanted...and I am still working on gifts for others so I haven't gotten around to my own crafting yet...but I will. I will make myself some pajama pants and I will make myself a clothespin people wall hanging.


What are you going to give to yourself?

If you're still looking for the perfect gift some someone on your list come on over to my etsy store and see what I've got that might help you check off another name!