Sewing hasn't happened real often these days. My three kids tend to fill up my days pretty quickly!  Not only that, but Vayah now shares a room with my sewing room.  So when she's napping and I SHOULD be able to work on projects, I can't go in there. Something might need to change with that!
Not too long ago though, I needed to make some hats for a coming baby, and got a little carried away! Made...several! :)

I actually think I missed taking pictures of a couple too, but you got the idea. Finally the weather is warming up enough to melt all the snow here in MN, so we wont' need hats much longer! Love it!
I think we'll be taking a walk to the park today... hope your day is lovely also!

Well this was a win/lose project!
We used a homemade finger paint recipe off of Pinterest. I had made the paints a few weeks before, waiting to pull them out on a day they needed something to do.  This must have been the day!

I pulled them out and they had gelled up so firmly, that it was basically just chunks. They still had some fun with it, but just smeared around the chunks, and couldn't really paint.  And of course, made a mess!

We ended up putting them in the bathtub WITH the paints (they were non-toxic) and let them finish off there!
I think I deleted the recipe I used, or I would share which one DOESN'T work! Unless of course you want your kids to just have fun making a gooey mess, in that case, this one is great!

Hoping your week goes well with lots of...
...patience
...wisdom
...understanding
...courage
...faith
...love
...and hope!

And less of...
...anger
...frustration
...controlling
...impatience
...discouragement

That is my hope for my week and yours!

I come from a small family. For 12.5 years I was an only child, and my greatest prayer was always simply to have a brother or sister.
Finally those prayers were answered and I was blessed with a little brother. Three years later, another one came along!  You can imagine how excited I was!  I was past the 'play together' stage at that point though, so I still missed out on having siblings around my age to have fun with growing up.
I LOVE watching my own three kids (all within just over three years)
play and interact. 

One thing that I consider a HUGE blessing that came with getting married is my husband's family. He is one of 12 kids. Right now there are 7 married and right around 25 grandkids. That's a pretty big crew...especially when I compare it to MY family! It was a bit overwhelming at first, but now I love it!  My in-laws are a huge bonus in that mass of craziness.  They have blessed our family in so many ways!

It is always a fun AND insane time when everyone gets together for a holiday...or hunting season! :) That's a holiday in itself around here!!
For Christmas, most of the family participates in drawing names, which I never was involved in with my family since we were so small.  It's always a fun challenge to come up with a gift for the lucky person you get.
This past year, I got one of the younger girls in the family and decided to mostly make her gift myself.  Thought I'd share a few of the things here, since I like to try and keep up with my crafting projects on here...thought haven't been real successful and staying on top of it!

Made a few headbands using the stretchy bands you can get at Target. They work GREAT for staying in, and even fit my 6 month old baby.  The top two flowers in the picture are on alligator clips, so they can be used with or without the band, or switched around.

I also made her a little messenger bag.  She is in college, so I thought it would be handy for carrying the little things she needs from her classes.

She seemed to love everything, so I marked it as a successful gift for that year.
I have a few more things still from Christmas that I haven't shared, so we'll see if I'm caught up by next Christmas!
Do you make homemade gifts for Christmas, or other occasions?
I'd love to see your ideas!

Hope you're household is staying healthier than we are! It seems we've caught almost every bug going around here (which have been plenty!). Specifically me.  Seems like it's usually the kids catching things, but this last year has been a bad one for me. I don't know if I've had such bad sicknesses OR so often! We must be just adjusting to the changes of a new place. Or at least I HOPE that's what it is!!! Praying this year is a better one in that department.

Lately I have been enjoying making blankets again. Thought I'd share a few of them with you here.

This monkey blanket was made for a good friend of mine who recently had a sweet little boy. I had a lot of fun making it!
It's an oversized blanket (around 45"x45") with two layers of simple cotton so works well for swaddling, nursing, throwing over a car seat, and so on. 

I do have more of the monkey print and the red dot fabric if anyone is interested.

My little Vayah is in the process of moving into her own bedroom. We finally got the crib set up and I have been having fun making a girly room all pretty :)  While I waited for the crib to be ready, I made a 'quilt' for her.

It's a fairly light weight blanket using only cotton fabric for the backing, middle layer, and quilted top. The ruffle was fun and made it more girlish.  And I love the cream print on the back embellished with flowers. 
The blanket fits perfectly in the crib, and will be nice if she uses it for a toddler bed too.  I also have used it some in the chilly winter here to cover the entire carseat and keep Vayah warm going outside.

----

This blanket is similar to the monkey one in size and style. I love the print and colors of this one. It could be used for either boy or girl. I am selling this blanket, so let me know if you would like more info.

Thanks for visiting my blog again!
Have a wonderful week!

I've always wanted a Nativity set to display at Christmas that was kid friendly.  That way we could learn the story, using the characters to make believe at the same time! Most of those type sets were more expensive than I wanted to spend, so I made my own using peg people.

Each day of the first part of December, my boys got to open a package from their Advent Countdown (which I'll tell you about sometime!) containing one of these characters.

Unfortunately, they got quite used (notice the scratches) BEFORE I realized that I should have used some sort of sealer on them. Might have to touch them up, or just keep them that way for memory's sake.

Nothing fancy, but it was fun, easy, and best of all CHEAP! I hope to create more Bible characters for my kids to play with and learn other stories from the Greatest Book ever written.
:)
Thanks for stopping! May you be blessed

Back in...oh...September or so, I helped my husbands family put on a baby shower for my sister in law. I got the fun job of doing decorations, which I thoroughly enjoyed! :) 
We did a vintage style children's book theme and I pretty much used everything I had at home, so very little expense on my part.

"Once Upon a Baby" banner made with book pages and lace

Centerpieces. Kids books held up with wooden blocks. We used the letter cards and had everyone write baby name idea starting with that letter, along with a piece of advice or favorite baby product.

The poster I made as a gift and part of the decor

Food table (minus most of the food!)  Each food item had a related 'book' made next to it. We did a brunch, so the muffins had 'If you Give a Moose a Muffin' and so on.

Gift Table...waiting to be filled!

It's nothing fancy, but I hope it inspires you to create fun decorations for a baby shower with the things you have on hand at home! Let me know if you want to know details of how anything was made.
Have a blessed day!

GUEST POST from Carissa

Mom. Mother. Mommy. Mama.

There are many different names and thoughts that come to mind when we think of what it means to be a mom.

No one can fully explain how amazing it is when you give birth & finally meet your first baby. It’s beyond words. Birth in and of itself is amazing! The more I learn about the birth process, the more I see how God is just a pure genius and so amazing.

There are no words to explain the deep, deep love you will feel for your child.

You never dreamed you would have so much fun watching him/her grow up & learn new things.

You can’t comprehend it when someone says that you will think it’s great or cute when your kid gets their first tooth, takes their first step or runs off bare nakey in the middle of a diaper change. I’m quite guilty of letting Bowin do that much too often because I get such a kick out of his expression when he hurriedly runs off in the nude. He thinks he is so fast & clever. One of these days I will have to put a stop to it, but for now, he is too cute to resist.

On the flip side, it’s one thing to know your kid is going to test & push you and cause you to react in ways you never thought you would do, & one thing to actually be there & experience it.

No one tells you that there will come a day when you breathe a sigh of relief when you get them down for naps.

Or that sometimes you want to run away for just a second to a land where you don’t have to worry about anyone else’s needs except yours.

When I had my first, it was amazing. I was in love with being a mommy & suddenly became so excited when others became pregnant because I knew how awesome being a mother was. It was so much fun!! I wanted more of these cuties!

Then I had my second and a 3 year old. This being a mommy thing became a whole new ball park. In the midst of cleaning house, wiping butts, tackling food battles & training little hearts, I started losing my joy. It was still there dimly lit in the recesses of my heart but it was brought down to just a tiny flame by reality. My joy was being choked out by the endless dishes, chasing after boys disobeying again, discipline hurdles and all the things that come with the territory, or rather the kids. Being a mommy is so much work and down right tiring & discouraging at times. Some days it’s really hard to work up the gumption to have the right perspective. For me personally, perspective is everything.

I love these excerpts from Beyond Bath Time by Erin Davis:

I find that so true! I didn’t quite realize how little patience I have or how short tempered I can be at times until having kids, or rather a toddler….x2! I often feel bad for my boys that they got me as a mom. Oh, I work on having patience, take a lot of deep breaths & say quick little prayers praying for strength & wisdom through out the day. But no matter how hard I try, I cannot escape the fact that I’m a fallen creature in desperate need of a Savior. And so are my boys. Not a good combination sometimes. Nothing has brought me to my knees & showed me how desperately I need Jesus like mothering. God is interested in molding & changing me for eternity. If life was easy & our kids always behaved, how would we grow?

So, instead of grumbling about how often I have to get after my boys to clean up their toys or for digging in something they aren't supposed to be in…again, I choose to “make the changes to live out God’s calling for mothers with greater joy, urgency and a sense of purpose instead of continuing to drown in the woes that come with my role.” (Beyond Bath Time) And you know what? When I chose to live that way & change my perspective and adjust my priorities to training my boys, I fall in love with being a mommy all over again. I enjoy my boys thoroughly. I laugh & smile with them. I want to shout to the world how awesome being a mommy is!!

Dear mommies, I want to encourage you. I know how hard being a mom is. I know how frustrating, aggravating, annoying…yet fulfilling, awesome, & rewarding it is. We are in this together. Let’s pray for each other & lift each other up on the hard days. Let’s share those funny quirks we love about our kids. The ones no one else understands unless they are mommies themselves. Let’s focus on the simple little joys. “Sure, there will be hard days and harder days, but focus on the simple, good things...Pretend you are a little girl, full of expectation and dreams of motherhood. Float with your babies around the room and zoom around the neighborhood with your real stroller. May we start to look at motherhood through the innocent, fresh eyes of a young girl playing house. Because to them motherhood is a joy. And, I think, that's just what our Heavenly Father wants motherhood to be."

My kids are getting old enough to not only enjoy doing projects, but to understand what they mean.  I wanted to do something for Thanksgiving to teach them what it means to be thankful.
Skyler is about the only one who really 'gets' it, but Mom and Dad are benefiting from it as well.
As a count down to Thanksgiving, starting the first of November, we've been writing something we're thankful for on our Thankfulness Wall in our kitchen. We typically say grace before supper and then write something we're thankful for.  The first time we did it and asked Skyler what he was thankful for, I think he was a bit confused and said something along the lines of "Pray", so day 1 says 'prayer', which I'd say is a pretty good thing to be thankful for!

Today we had a get together to craft with some of the local moms and preschoolers/toddlers from our church group.  The project for the day were Thankfulness Trees.  Since we have been doing the one on our wall, we decided to do a family tree (which could also be considered a thankfulness tree since we are thankful for each of them!).  We'll probably give it to grandma for fall.

What do you and your family do to recognize what it means to be thankful?

Will you be doing a Christmas countdown this year?
I'll try to remember to share ours (or did I last year?!)

Thanks for stopping by again!
May God bless your Thanksgiving

Well if you're here thinking I'm going to show you how I keep a perfect house, well...

I'm not even sure 'yesterday' qualifies in this house. Usually it's more like an hour or so! Though more often than not,
I feel like my house never actually gets CLEAN.
But if you're looking for tips, you may want to go check out some pasts posts about my bathroom here or here. Or for some organizing or decorating inspiration, you could look at the bedroom or pantry from my old house.  Or even just go on Pinerest and get some ideas from people who actually know what they're doing! :)

I usually have my quiet time late at night. When supper is cleaned up (at least mostly!), the kids are in bed, and the toys/blankets/pillows/books are picked up, I can breathe.  I usually do my devotions, computer time, or reading once I feel like things are 'clean'.  The other night I got up from the living room chair to head to bed and thought to myself 'oh this house feels SO clean right now, I love it!'...then I started to look around.  Ha!
See for yourself!

I had to snap some pictures, because it made me chuckle a bit that I felt like my house was CLEAN with all this going on! Yup, there's a stack of books on the side table, pillows and blankets thrown haphazardly across the couches, toys tucked under and behind the baby swing, socks (mine!) bunched up next to the chair, a book on the floor, a car under the cabinet, a pan soaking from supper, a bib hanging to dry on top the soap dispenser, a waterbottle under the other cabinet, odds and ends on the counter without a home, and kids' clothes on the stand in the bathroom! Yup...that's clean! And that's only in 3 rooms...good thing I didn't take my camera around to any other parts of the house!

Pretty much that's as far as it gets these days!
My standards used to be so much higher. Before I had kids, my house was not only picked up, but typically was CLEAN too!! Now with 3 kids age 3 and under...well...let's just say it's not so easy! And I'm not trying to justify it, just sharing with you, who may get discouraged about the appearance of your own home, that it really is OK!  I'm learning to let some of these things go; that it's not really as important as we sometimes think it is.

Ask my mom, I've never been OCD about having a clean house. It's always been acceptable, but not immaculate. Which is ok by me.  I'm the type that likes everything to have a place and be somewhat organized and picked up.  But when it comes to scrubbing, dusting, vacuuming, and so on, well...my standards come down much faster.  I don't even want to imagine trying to get pictures of the crumbs, dust, and smears around the house.

Maybe I wouldn't go quite so far as saying it's a wasted life, but really, it makes you think.  So often, when I'm trying to make sure my house IS perfectly clean and organized, I'm pushing my family aside so I can get it done, or getting upset with them when it comes 'undone'!  And THAT is a waste, because our family should be the true focus. Everything else CAN get pushed aside, to some extent, if we are keeping our priorities in line. Not to mention, it's more fun to read Little Golden Books to little boys than it is to scrub floors! 

This one may be more accurate though...

It's a funny quote, but even this should make us think. Are things like computers, tv, sewing, shopping, exercising, or any other 'thing' taking away from the things that TRULY matter? 

Take the time to look at how you SPEND your time. 
Refocus and set your priorities. 
Learn ways to make things happen.

I am a list person, so often having a list of things I want to get done during the day, from sweeping to reading to my kids, helps me to stay on task.  Staying organized and on top of things without letting it build up too bad makes it easier to keep up too. I'll be sharing my Home Management Binder system and cleaning schedule in a future post coming soon.  Not that I'm an expert or anything, but I do like to be organized, and I know I enjoy seeing how others run their homes to inspire me and give me new ideas.
If there's a specific area that you are trying to find a system for, let me know and I'll try to include what works for us in a post at some point (IF I've discovered what works for us that is!)
:)

Thanks for stopping in! Now to get off this computer and get something else (cleaning?!) done while my kids are having quiet time! 
Oh oops...one of them is bringing me a Little Golden Book as I type this!

Have a wonderful weekemd

Today I have another Pinterest idea for you.  In case you haven’t noticed, I decided to DO something about all my pinning and was pleased enough with the results that I’m sharing them with you.  This one I haven’t used much yet (no, not because my kids are good as gold, but because I forget about it too often!), but I think it is a neat idea.  Original Source

Similar to those old hourglass timers that come in board games, this is a glitter bottle for kids to watch during time outs. When the glitter settles to the bottom, they get to come out of their room (or off the chair, or whatever your method is).  The idea is that they think about what they did wrong while the watch, but does that really ever happen?  Most likely they are thinking about the next thing they’ll be doing once they get off that seat!

I haven’t completely figured out this whole discipline thing, (not sure if I ever will!) but I know timeouts don’t seem to have a whole lot of effect on my oldest son, Skyler.  Rystin is only 19 months old, but so far, I think he’s more the type this may work for.  I know every kid is different, so I guess you just learn as you go.  
I may have future posts on disciplining children, as it has been a big thing in this house lately, and I am trying to learn how to train my children according to God’s plan.  I’m not sure how well I’ve been applying what I’ve learned, but I know I am called to be an example and to train them in the ways they should go.  I’m starting to realize the huge, awesome responsibility this truly is! May God be with all of you mothers out there as you seek wisdom in training your own children.