Jennifer's Sewing

Matt, Jenn and Landon came over for the day yesterday. Jennifer said "Let's sew something!" So I helped her a little and she made this cute outfit for Landon. He loves it, really he does. He's teething so he doesn't feel very good :( And then Jennifer wanted me to show her how to make a pillowcase style dress. She made this for her niece. Didn't she do a great job?!

The picture doesn't do it justice. It's a lovely warm pink color with brown ties.

Great job Jennifer! Anytime you want to sew... you know where I am!

My Turtley Ones

Aren't they cute!

Linkies for skirts

In the market for skirts? Check out these links!
http://www.denimskirts.com/ http://www.tznius.com/cgi-bin/group.pl?id=26 http://www.travelsmith.com/jump.jsp?itemID=525&itemType=CATEGORY&path=1%2C2%2C250%2C525 http://www.theskirtsite.com/alllongskirts.html http://www.devorafashions.com/womens.html http://www.christopherandbanks.com/family/index.jsp?cp=2958666&categoryId=2958727&view=all http://www.roamans.com/department.aspx?DeptId=15461&12PerPage=1 http://www.mydenimskirt.com/ http://www.mapleclothing.com/apparel/longskirts.asp?pn=1 http://www.justlongskirts.com/cgi-bin/index.pl

Dana's Sewing Frenzy ~ Day 1

It's Alexas's fault... really, it is. She said "Are you up for some little girl sewing?" An innocent enough question but my brain went "Ooohhhh little girl sewing...oooohhhhh" and I went straight to the fabric shelves and pulled out this fabric. I made a peasant dress (size 2-3ish). And I found a 360 skirt that I had cut out last year and never made -blush-

Here's the dress! Molly is trying to convince me that it needs a matching hairbow!

And here's the skirt. It's the same fabric as the sleeves on the dress.

See? It's is a 360 skirt.

My little boys are such sports. I couldn't remember what size I cut it out to be so they all tried it on for me. Don't tell them I told you. Anyway, it fits Joseph (3 yr), Isaac (5 yr) and Elijah (7 yr). Isn't it cute?

My Sweet Toothless Baby...

is toothless no longer.

MaryVance's new dress

When I saw these fabrics I just had to have them! They are loud and fun and very summery! I think I like them so much because they remind me of some of Eric Carle's artwork (and we love his books!)

I made 'John-John's (shortalls) for the two little boys and this dress for MaryVance. I'll take a group picture when I'm all done with Joseph's.

Fab Friday Foods (updated)

BREAKFAST: Luke made these lovely Quick Danishes this morning -- all by himself!

On the lunch menu:

Molly made homemade pizza

and for supper:

Caleb slow roasted a beef roast today and made oven roasted potatoes and broccoli with cheese sauce

Thursday's Eats (updated for supper)

MaryVance made breakfast. Cinnamon sugar breakfast cake and eggs, just imagine there are eggs there! LOL
And for lunch... Sam was our chef. He made homemade buns.

Aren't they pretty?

While the buns were rising he made Broccoli Salad.

mmmm....

And here are the Sloppy Joes!

The Finished Lunch

And on the menu for supper? Molly's making lasagna, homemade bread and salad (I think... hoping we have salad greens!) Stay tuned...

And now for supper:

Molly made some yummy homemade rolls...

Lasagna, salad and rolls.

Very extremely yummy!

So I had this bright idea last week...

when I was working on our menu for the next two weeks. Caleb and Molly (mostly Molly) have been making breakfasts for a long time. A few weeks ago I gave Luke and MaryVance each a day to make breakfast.

I decided that Caleb, Molly and Sam would get to make lunch M-S. Wasn't that sweet of me! And they each have one night a week to make supper. I'm so self-sacrificing, really. It's true.

Really. My intentions are good. I want them to have more experience in the kitchen. I love to cook and I want to share that with them. It's been a lot of fun. They made their own menus and everything!

I didn't think of this until a little while ago but I should have been blogging our cooking week. So I am starting today. Following this post I will begin blogging my children's daily fun in the kitchen.

Sam is making homemade buns for lunch. Yes, that's a teaser... stay tuned!

35 More Days....

Nehemiah's haircut... before and after...

Before,
Almost done,
And done! :-)

Today's sewing

I started this a long time ago... -blush- It's a baby gift and baby is due any day now. The new daddy loves airplanes and I looked and looked to find a knit with airplanes. Today I just had to do all the coverstitching (hemming and waistband).Then I cut out this adorable John-John for Nehemiah. It's all done except for hemming and the snaps in the crotch and shoulders. I have one cut out for Joseph too only his has two pockets on the sides. And I'll make MaryVance a peasant dress to match!

My friend Traci asked me if she could come over later this week so I could teach her to make a pillowcase dress. Nevermind I have never made one. So I made one today to practice. Can't teach what you don't know... LOL

That one is for Ruby. I had so much fun I made another one from fabric and cut it as an Aline. It's about a 6/8 (depending if it's a dress or a top) and it's for sale! LOL

Fun fun sewing day. Nevermind that I didn't even start what I was Supposed to be sewing. Oh well... tomorrow is a new day!

Welcome to Holland

A beautiful story I wanted to share...

Welcome to Holland
I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability – to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this…

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip – to Italy. You buy a bunch of guidebooks and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum, the Michelangelo David, the gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."

"Holland?!" you say. "What do you mean, Holland?" I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy.
But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to some horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.
So you must go out and buy a new guidebook. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around, and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills, Holland has tulips, Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy, and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life you will say, "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

The pain of that will never, ever, go away, because the loss of that dream is a very significant loss.

But if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things about Holland.
Written by Emily Perl Kingsley

Nehemiah is Nine Months Old

Where oh where has the time gone? Joseph will be three tomorrow. He was a "great big fire fighter twuck" Yep.

Stay tuned tomorrow for pictures.

I had coffee today. :)

A New Sweet Precious Baby!

Our dear friends, the V family, recently welcomed their eighth child. Her name is Lylah Kate. If you would like to see her and read about her life, please check out their blog at Down The Lane.

She's a beautiful little blessing and I wish I could hold her and snuggle her!!

Nehemiah's 8 month old pictures...

I really can't believe he is EIGHT months old already....

they grow up SO fast!
Ahh... relaxin' in style!
Sweet smiles....

I love this one! It looks like he is talking to his puppy...
so cute!
His eyes are... Big, Pretty, and VERY Blue!!

Sam was making growling nosies to make he laugh...

I love the look on his face in this one!

Nehemiah is such a delightful baby!! :-)

He's eating the puppy... again!

Nehemiah is such a delight to all of us, and we are

all so thankful for him!!!! :-)

~By Molly~

One Year Ago Today...

Our Father saved our son. It was nothing short of miraculous. I am still in awe of His goodness.

Sometimes
across the room
I just watch Luke.
He doesn't realize. He has no idea what a miracle he is.
He is a true, in the flesh, answer to many, many prayers.

I don't know why, I will never know why, the Lord chose to spare our son and return him to us. But I will forever be thankful, grateful and overwhelmed by His goodness.

the pure unadulterated laughter of a child...

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?filter=fl_79460819226#/video/video.php?v=95373144226&ref=nf

ETA: That link will only work if you have a facebook account. Mama, get a facebook account -grin- or get Beck to show you this when she comes over.

I'm working on putting it up on another place so you can see it easier!

ETA: If you don't have a facebook account, try this youtube link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xLpc_oT5vw

Life is full -- We are blessed

I was just thinking about the past week. My life is so blessed. Not only am I blessed with the husband and children the Lord has given to me I am also blessed with "adopted" family :)

Matt, Jenn and Landon came Friday and stayed through Monday afternoon. It was so nice having them 'back home'. They are a blessing to us in so many ways. I am very thankful to the Lord for putting them in our lives and allowing us to "adopt" them into our family!

Danny, Brandy and their children came Tuesday to spend the day. (The have a/c problems and it so hot at their house they came to our house for a cooling off break :) ) They ended up spending the night and the next day and that night and the next day! I just love it. They are so much a part of our family, it feels very natural (though a little loud! LOL) to have them here!

The Lord, in His infinite wisdom, chose to plant us in an area where we have no natural relatives. We may never know the reasons for this... but He has been very kind to us and given us 'new' relatives. We have parents in the Nissleys, siblings in the Hunters and children in the Bates.

You are so good, so kind, so loving -- Thank you Lord for filling our lives with such wonderful people!

We love you!

Latest update on Tony

He had a post-op appointment with the ENT doctor today. Doc is very pleased and expects the ear to heal well and to have improved hearing!! Yeah!

TONY!

Tony is doing great! Better even than the "best case scenario" we were expecting!

Thank you all So Much for praying!!

Update on Tony

I just talked to him. He's in recovery. They were able to do the surgery via his ear canal :yay: He sounds really groggy, said he feels like he has a fifty pound weight attached to his legs. He has a headache and his throat is dry. He should be home in three hours or so. Thank you all so much for praying!!

Please pray for Tony today... surgery

Today he is scheduled for a tympanoplasty with possible ossiculoplasty.

He's having his eardrum partially reconstructed (via a skin graft from the coating of the muscle near and below the temple) and his second ear bone will either be reconstructed or a prosthetic bone will be put there.

His ear drum ruptured twenty years ago. When it healed it healed with a dimple. The dimple has gotten deeper and traps ear wax, dead skins cells, etc... and that has caused it to lay back on the second bone which has caused deterioration of that bone. His ear is in pretty bad shape.

His hearing is moderately affected and his understanding and comprehension are even more affected.However the surgery is to repair the damage to his ear and not to improve his hearing -- it may be improved but that is not the reason for the surgery. He has a nearly constant noise going on all the time. It changes but is currently a plusating that corresponds with his pulse.

The doctor intends to do the surgery via the ear canal. However if he gets in there and can not perform the surgery that way he will have to cut along the back of the ear and flap the ear forward toward the cheek. This second method will (of course) require a longer healing time.Tony can't drive or go back to work until he's off the narcotics for pain.

We would really appreciate your prayers for wisdom for the doctor, no adverse reactions to the medications, and smooth healing for Tony. Thank you so much!