Proverbs 24:3-4

By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches.

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

MFM (motivation for moms)

Show your children that you appreciate them by doing something special just for them, like making their favorite meal, or taking them out for an ice cream.

I was so disappointed that I went off and left my camera, thus missing this special day with the kids. Oh well, maybe next time. At least I'm taking the time to write about it, right?

Today was an on and off sunny day, a little chilly around 50 degrees, and somewhat disappointing after having several days of 75 degrees. The girls and I headed to town to pick up Luke at preschool and found the diggers working on the road just across the parking lot of the school. It took me twice as long to get the girls inside because Kayla was engrossed in the digger action. With all three buckled and back in the car, my little preschool reporter proceeded with his rendition of the day's activities. Mid story, he asked if we could have a picnic. My heart was heavy as I explained that it was too cold to have a picnic in the park. I wanted to go to the park too. Just then I recalled a chapter from a book we are reading in the mom's group entitled "Jump In". The chaptered challenged moms to find an activity to "jump in" with your kids. After a quick "thank you" to my heavenly Teacher, I turned the car around and headed towards McDonald's and proudly screamed out "CAR PICNIC" !!!!!
Much to my delight I head a "Yay" and a "WooHoo".
We picked up McDonald's and drove back to Luke's preschool. We parked on the edge of the parking lot and opened up the back. I spread out the picnic blanket and we piled into the back with our food to watch the digger. It was such a precious memory counting the many dump trucks that came and went, laughing at the silly way Krista ate her fries and just taking time to really ENJOY my kids. All the thoughts of spending $8 on lunch (when we had a full fridge and pantry at home), faded away with every point and wave at the machines and the workers. With one last little "ByeBye Digger" we ended our lunch and headed home.

It wasn't until later that afternoon that I truly took time to reflect.
With the time spent on our picnic I was behind on the daily chores. I piled two overflowing baskets of unfolded laundry on the bed. I was about half way through when a little princess head peaked around the mound of clothes. "Hi Mommy", and with that Kayla climbed up. She crushed my fears of "helping" and was content just to sit next to me while I folded and folded. With just two shirts left to fold I felt a little hand on my back, followed by a pat. I sat there as my two year old ran her hand sweetly up and down my back, all the while praising God for her. It is awesome how God gives the gift of affection to women and to see it displayed at such a young age moved me to tears.

These are the moments that make life worth living, and it is these precious moments that I need to seize and treasure, because they are just that- moments- that will pass if I don't.

How fitting the Motivation for Moms today.

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Friday Night Fever

So we canceled the male entertainment and opted for jewelry instead :-).



Here are my creations:


Anna's creations:


Kathryn's creations:


I thought this would be a fun comment challenge:
WHAT DOES OUR JEWELRY SAY ABOUT US?


Oh and I couldn't leave this picture out.
Miss Kathryn reading to the girls this morning.



Back in the sadle again




Inside of the bag:


Outside:


OOPS! Forgot the straps


This one turned out much better than the last one.
I couldn't wait to post this. After an evening with some favorite gals (thanks Kathryn & Anna) I laughed my way into confidence and knocked this out today during naptime.
I still have a long way to go. :-)

Here we go...

I almost forgot to post this fun little moment...



Krista Alaine, 7 months
Mobility

Friday, April 25, 2008

Cornerstones

It started out as an attempt to get a "Pretty" picture of my girls, but turned into something even more fun.


I took them outside hoping for one thing and ended up for so much more. Even if I didn't get the "pretty" picture of them I got "priceless" instead.
Praise God for their beauty and His way of teaching their Mommy what that is.

Try, Try Again

So I learned a little lesson about pride....
If you remember the post about the little apron I sewed, I was quite proud of myself. With my newfound confidence I decided to make Mother's Day gifts this year. I went to my favorite place for some inspiration, my artsy-crafty-babe friend Beki. She makes the most beautiful bags.
I got this material for just $1 a yard and was so in love with it. I immediately thought of my Mom in Texas. I knew it would be perfect! With grand ideas in my head of creating something I set to work.

(SIGH)
Today I completed my first ever, tote bag. I'm less than thrilled to say the least.




I have since learned a little lesson in humility. I have also gained a GREAT respect for Beki. Even if I never meet her, I consider myself blessed to have known her.

I've heard somewhere that if you fall of the horse you should get back on. So instead of feeling disappointed, (sigh), I'm going to pack up the sewing machine for today and look at this as a learning experience. I'm headed to Hobby Lobby tonight to find a pattern and I'll try again.
I'd like to make a church bag for my Mom for Mother's Day. (There goes the surprise). :-)

So for tonight I'll party like a rock-star (or at least pretend) with Kathryn and Anna, drown my disappointment in laughter and pick it up again tomorrow during naptime.

Oh, did I forget to mention I'm having a SLUMBER PARTY!!!!
Life should be fun and I plan on having lots of it!

Our Weekly Project

Mommy's got the Spring planting bug. It's too early to plant flowers or our garden.
I found this little wonder for just $6.
I thought this would be just the thing for the kids.










I'll keep you updated on our little strawberry project.

70 Degrees!

We have had a truly fabulously sunny week!
It's surprising how warm just 70 degrees can feel!
The kids were thrilled to get the little pool out!



Krista enjoyed the swing and spent the whole afternoon outside with us.



Poor little thing... she was so tuckered out from her big day outside she couldn't finish her after dinner crackers.
Oh yeah! She's toothless, but has tackled Saltines, French fries, Ritz Crakers, Cherios and Puffs.


Monday, April 21, 2008

Rainy Day

Since it was a RAINY DAY on Saturday and the kids were restless, I decided it was time to bring out the big guns!



I can't remember where I got this idea.
I got tired of having toys upon toys. I felt like I really couldn't get rid of them since our kids are all ages. Not to mention, they are all nice toys and fairly new.
So I packed up as many of the "noisy" toys that I could get in this box.
We get them out only on "Rainy Days".



The kids love this and spend quite a bit of time playing with the toys. It's fun for all!

Taking care of our feathered friends

Saturday was a cooler day and there wasn't much sunshine so the outdoor project had to be done indoors. However, the kids didn't seem to mind too much.
I attended my first craft night at our church on Friday, and what a blessing it was!
Eric was more than happy to watch the kids without complaint.
This craft night there was a swap. You bring your craft stuff that you haven't used/or won't use and trade it for tickets. Then all of the items were laid out on the tables and you shopped with your tickets. SUPER FUN!
Once our shopping was completed we just sat around working on whatever craft we brought.
I ended up across for an old friend. It was so much fun visiting with Carole, a more experienced mom from the Lafayette Church. We used to be in the same bible study and after spending time with her on Friday I didn't realize how much I missed seeing her. To be honest I hadn't thought much about her (out of sight out of mind kinda thing) and had, sadly, forgotten how much I enjoy her company.
ANYWAY,
I was able to get this bright yarn which is just perfect! It should be easy for us to spot in the nests this summer. With Spring here we decided to treat the birds and provide them with some yarn so "they could have nice soft nests for their babies."



We cut the yarn into smaller pieces and stuff it into an onion bag. I cut larger holes in the onion bag so the birds could easily pull out the yarn.



Luke was thrilled to do something for the birds. I let him pick out a small feeder at the store and we had birdseed left over from our last nature project.



We hung the feeder in place of our hummingbird feeder for now. Later I'll move it outside of Luke's window and we'll put out the hummingbird feeder.





UPDATE: The kids have really enjoyed watching the birds visit the feeder. It provides nonstop conversation at meal times. Especially since we have a picture perfect view from out kitchen window where our table is located.

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Look what I can do!

Our 10 year High School Reunion is fast approaching and with all the phone calls and planning I have buried myself in the office. Mom, very graciously, took all the kids on Friday so that I could finish the invitations. Krista did wonderfully, or so I was told. I'm sure Grandma slept good that night :-). I missed Krista dearly, but was thankful to finally get the last piece of the puzzle in place. :-)



Here's what I did:



With five inserts: dinner invite, family picnic, additional information, RSVP card and return envelope; I needed to come up with something creative.



When I tallied up the final cost was $1.02 per invitation including postage.
Can you believe it?????
Anyway, I'm pretty proud of myself, (pat on the back). I'm really surprised at how well they came out. Really I enjoyed doing it and tweaking it until it was just right.
My most treasured compliment came from Eric.
He was genuinely impressed, (which he doesn't often express), and he did so TWICE.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Show and Tell

Our craft project for this week was this t-shirt Luke and I made for Kayla.
I got the idea off of a website, Wondertime.
First, I bought just plain t-shirts at Walmart.
Then, I used a rubber bands to stretch the shirt around different sized shot glasses. Next, I placed a bottle cap in the middle of the circle (shirt over shot glass). Luke traced dots around the outside edge of the bottle cap. We then removed the bottle caps and squeezed 15-20 drops of rubbing alcohol (from a dropper) into the space where the bottle cap was.
As the cotton absorbs the alcohol the color runs. I'd love to get some fabric markers and try this.
I just stitched the around the neck, arms and hem with my machine, added black dots to the middle and drew on stems. Luke got bored after making the flowers because it took me forever to figure out how to stitch around the outside of the shirt. UGH! I really need to take a sewing class.
All in all we were both very pleased with ourselves and this gift we made for Kayla.





The color in these pictures are off somewhat since it was stormy and dark outside, which made the lightening hard to work with. Ugh, just ad photography to my list of classes that I need to take :-).

Our Week in Review

I couldn't resist posting this picture of my beautiful tulips.
Thank you Mom for thinking of me and brightening my day just when I needed it the most! They are still blooming beautifully and are so nice to wake up to in the morning.



On Wednesday they have Storytime at one of the local libraries. I will say this has been the highlight of our winter. I wish that I would have gone sooner in the year. Now I can hardly wait for next Wednesday. Last time we went we had a difficult time, but Mommy got some things figured out and this time was much better. We practiced all week the sign language song and I was beaming at this little wonder of God's little boy. I'm so glad I got it on video.



Usually on weekday mornings Eric gets up before the kids do. So naturally he feeds them breakfast as they arrive in the kitchen, but on this particular Friday morning they slept in.
Let me clarify: by sleeping in, I mean 7 am for Kayla and 7:20 am for Luke.
I thought I would do something special and make Cinnamon & Sugar Holes.







Monday, April 7, 2008

Tea for TWO in Tutu's

We celebrated Kayla Marie's 2nd birthday with plenty of pink, dress up, tea and tutu's!







We had 7 little girls (all friends from church), 1 big brother and 12 Mommy's, Daddy's, Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle Bobby and wonderful friends! Needless to say our home was filled with love for our Kayla!



Even Mommy got a tutu from Miss Anna!





Brother also played dress up, but it got to "girly" for him and he went to "blow things up" for a while.



Daddy!



"Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday Day to you"
...Mommy said "Take your thumb out"
"Happy Birth....."



"..day to Kayla! Happy..."



"...Birthday to you...."



Mommy was very sorry she told you to take your thumb out!
Good thing I make a good cake!



No more tears!



All the little girls.... except one



The excitement was a little much for Sis, Krista. She stayed in Grandma's arms the entire party. Thank goodness for Grandma!
After all the guests had gone and the Bibby Family had a nap (mom & dad too), I took a minute to give some love to my other precious girl.








What a tutu perfect day!



Happy 2nd Birthday Kayla Marie Bibby!

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