Summer Project

We went to Kenya this summer with Oasis for Orphans. We served on a teaching team & spent the week in the school there. I taught a couple of nutrition classes for the kids and did some teaching for the women. I loved being a part of this team.

One of the most special parts of the trip was getting to meet & spend the week with Mercy Napono. She is the lovely young lady we sponsor through the ministry. How amazing that God gave us the opportunity to travel to the other side the world & meet this precious girl. Both of her parents passed away and she was one of the first children to move into the home. She has 2 brothers, but they were not in a place to provide for her & give her the education opportunities she is getting with Oasis.

In thinking about what gifts I would like to give her many things came to mind. I love to give gifts! She had requested some basics, clothes, etc. I wanted to give her something she could keep forever to remember our trip by. My grandmother and great grandmother were quilters. Sewing is an art the has been passed down through several generations in my family. I'm certainly no seasoned seamstress but I can use a machine & sew in a straight line. So,I decided to try my hand at making a quilt for Mercy. I met with a friend who was gracious enough to set me up with a simple pattern & gave me some directions. I stayed up many nights in June & July after the kids went to bed. I finished it! I was really happy with how it turned out. Check out the pics below.

I just LOVE her smile!

She was so happy with the gift.

Now, I want to make one for myself :)

Again, we were so thankful to have the privilege of meeting our Mercy.

Off to Kindergarten!

Luke started kindergarten on August 25th. He goes to Big Hollow School. Doesn't that sound like the name of a school in TN? I like it :) He has 2 teachers, Mrs. Leginski and Mrs. Alberts. He seems to be doing very well & really likes going- so thankful for that! His teacher says he keeps them laughing with all the big words he uses. He's our very articulate one for sure, always has been.

Lining up to go into class. Look at all the boys! Glad there are 2 teachers & an aide in the class.

What have I been doing since May?

Yes, it has been about 4 months since I posted anything in blog world. It was a great summer. Busy,adventurous, FUN. Just did not lend itself to much computer time. That's ok. I think that's what winter is for around here :) Wanted to share a couple of snapshots...

Sunset at the beach in Holland, MI--awesome week camping!

Luke & Quinn couldn't get enough of the beach. Yes, it was sunny & cool enough for fleeces in early June.



Fun times riding the garage sale 4-wheeler Brent picked up. Best $20 spent all summer. You should see Quinn go on this thing!

I made a quilt- for real! It was for someone very special. More on that later. I gave up facebook to get this project done. Lots of midnight oil here.

Kenya!! 2 weeks, just me & Brent. Glorious.

Here we are just arrived on "the Hill" & met our Mercy. It was a sacred moment.

So, you have a glimpse of our amazing summer. More coming soon.

Easter

We had a great Easter this year. The services at church were amazing. My Mom was able to come up & celebrate with us. This was a huge blessing for me because for about 4 days that week Brent is doing services at church. In years past I have resisted the "Easter outfit" pressure. Our church is very casual & the dress up expectations are low so I usually put the boys in khaki's & a golf shirt & call it good. This year I decided we would do the traditional dress up. We went with argyle sweater vests with coordinating shirts. I admit, it was fun to pick them out. I thought the boys looked so adorable :)

Here are a few shots of them at an Easter egg hunt.

I found one!




Could they be any cuter?!

My friend Andrea prepared this spread for everyone. She does amazing things with dark chocolate!

Great memories with family and friends.

Another fun project

This past easter weekend my Mom was in town. Was so great for me & the boys because Daddy is really busy during the easter holiday. I decided to capitalize on Mom's sewing expertise & make a more complicated project (at least for me). She helped direct me some but I pretty much did this one on my own. My sewing friend told me about a really cool website with all sorts of fabric and patterns. Boy, things have changed since the day of going to Hancock fabrics & flipping through catalogs for ideas. The site is called Pink Chalk Fabrics & I love their products. The bag you see above is called the mail sack.

More pictures of our Easter holiday are coming soon....

My latest crafty bug

I recently went to a conference for Moms called Hearts at Home. Great conference btw! Of course there were tons of booths to shop. One of my favorite booths sold all sorts of handmade/sewn items. This is where I discovered Pillowcase Dresses. The ones I saw there were selling for $25+, I thought....I think I could make that. So, I came home and googled it & found an online tutorial on Youtube & I was off. Check out the tutorial here. Now, I'm not a seasoned seamstress. I can mend things, sew a straight line that's about it. Turns out thats all you need to know to make these cute dresses.


Yes, I realize I have boys. That's why these photos are dresses on hangers. I had no idea these were so popular. Now, I have a sweet gift to make for all the little girls in our life :) You can do it too!

This was the first one. Our friend Sammy was the recipient. She loved it.

For our cousin Maddy, I think it will be so cute on her.

This is my favorite one. I love the little birds & trees.

So, even if you don't really sew. Give this a try. It was really fun to make & looks like you did something fancy. Oh yea, bought all of my fabric on sale at Joann Fabrics. They always have a sale or great coupon out there.

Cuteness....

I came downstairs & found them all propped up on their elbows watching Curious George. Hands in their mouths and all. Cuteness...

Those blue eyes & dark eyelashes. Why is it boys always get the dark, long eyelashes? Love them :)

More Spring...On Crestwood Drive

When we were home we visited my dear friend Lisa Cooper. If you have been in our home she did the beautiful paintings in our dining room. She is SO talented. She not only paints, she sews, takes amazing photos. Basically all things creative she can do well. I love seeing what she's up to. This visit there was much talk about sewing, which is something I'm learning to do. More about that later though. Check out her blog http://hawkandmercy.blogspot.com/ It was a rainy day there but I slipped out to capture a few pics of the buds around her house. Below we have a tulip poplar (I think), dogwoods, red buds, & I'm not sure about the pretty purple ones. Ahh, so refreshing to me.

A Taste of Spring

Last week the boys & I made our first road trip to TN without Daddy. We did it! Can you tell I'm so proud of us? It was 11ish hours, but so worth the drive. This is post #1 of our taste of spring. Almost 2 years ago my parents had their 40th anniversary. My sister & I bought them this weeping cherry blossum in memory of this occasion. This was the first time I got to enjoy seeing it bloom. I think it's so pretty! Stay tuned for post #2 of our taste of spring.

My Tennessee Home

Those of you who know me well know that I love that I grew up in TN. I love the mountains, the mild seasons (except summer-too hot!), the heritage than runs so deep & appalachian culture. My Dad grew up on a farm in an area affectionately called "stinking creek", this is not a name that represents the beauty of this area. The address is actually Pioneer, TN which is much more fitting in my opinion.

I took these photos when I was home at christmas. We had our first real White Christmas in Tn since 1976 I think. It was really beautiful. We were actually snowed in for a couple of days because the area in pretty rural & it takes some time for the snow plows to make it make into the mountains.

View from the left side of the front porch.

Down the hill to the right you can see my Grandpa's old barn. Still standing.

A couple of apple trees.

View out the kitchen window up the the field. It's pretty common to see several deer or turkey wandering around up there. We also saw a bobcat this year when we were home.

Front porch center view...This is my favorite.

Now, do you see why I look forward to visiting my TN home? Wide open space with lots to explore.

Luke turned 5!!

Last month on January 13th our big boy turned 5 years old. I know, it's hard to believe. Something we have learned about Luke in the past couple of years is that he doesn't really liked crowds or lots of noise (kinda like his Momma). So we have opted to do smaller birthday gatherings for him & he really enjoys that. After Christmas we decided to do a little Build-A-Bear party with our TN cousins & then went to Chick-fil-a for dinner- YUM!

Luke getting his dog "Billy Blazes" stuffed. I don't know where he comes up with such names.

Quinn got a cute Monkey.

Here we have: Quinn, Luke, Elijah, Jackson, Maddy & Mason. I think a fun time was had by all.

Blizzard 2011

Well, believe it or not I'm back. What a better time to start posting again. This is for our friends & family who live down south. We have had some REAL snow this week. Luke has been out of school for the past 2 days, which rarely happens here. I just love all the snow though. I'm home anyway so it's a nice change of scenery for me. I did feel bad for all the commuters who were stuck on the roads for hours & hours. Brent was up & out early clearing our driveway early. A HUGE thanks to our former neighbors the Roberts for the awesome snow blower they blessed us with when they moved to NC. It would have been much harder to dig out without it.

Luke managed to trek across they street to the playground. He had a ball!

You can barely see him almost swimming through the snow behind the swing set.

Thumbs up!

This was what I found when I opened our front door.

So, because I don't have anywhere pressing to be. When the forecasters say snow...I say Bring it!! :)