The Contract

In exchange for Elijah washing the pot that was

used to cook oatmeal on the thirtieth day of November, in the year two thousand and ten, Bridget will make Elijah's bed and clean his room on Wednesday the first of December, Thursday the second of December, and Friday the third of December.

X...................................

Bridget

X.................................

Elijah

X....................................

Molly (Witness)

Bridget was the mastermind, Elijah wanted to make sure it wasn't a consiracy (and no, I did not spell that wrong), and I just had to laugh.

Zoe,  responsible for breakfast dishes, left the pot and remained neutral throughout the negotiations. 

Monday Morning

The Monday after a holiday break.....need I say more?

I got up this morning determined to be on time and put together. I even pulled the sheets off my bed so I wouldn't get back into it.  Quentin sang to the kids to get them out of bed, and I  made them bacon and eggs for breakfast. Feeling rather proud of myself, I got on my exercise clothes and headed for the treadmill.

I got on, hooked myself up (so the machine would at least stop when my tired carcass fell off the back), picked my torture trail of the day, and went to press start. Lucky for me I looked down. Unfortunately, I also opened my mouth and said "Wow! I forgot to put my shoes on!"

Elijah was standing right there. In his best high squeaky mom voice he began to mock "Hey I'm a mom and I forgot my shoes..he,he,he,he..I have no shoes on ha, ha, ha, ha," I have to admit it was pretty funny. I unhooked myself and put my shoes on. If there had been any sheets on my bed I might have gotten back in it.

Thankful!

I am so thankful for all my past experiences good and bad!

It seems like a lifetime ago that I was manufacturing baby bedding.  I am very grateful for that time in my life. I learned so much, and met so many amazing people. I am also grateful that that chapter is closed. Owning your own business is not for the faint at heart. I don't miss the late nights trying to fill orders, the hours away from my family, and the hours on the phone doing sales. But, I see how God used all of it to make me into the person I am today.

I am now a pastor's wife, home-school mom, and custom order seamstress.  All of those roles require the skills I've learned along the way. And then there are times when it is best to  remember to never try that again!

Finished!

I finally got my own couch finished! 100% hemp fabric, washable, and perfect!

The hemp offers the slightly wrinkled texture of linen and looks like you crossed 

linen and burlap. I love it! And can I say washable again?!

How Do I Erase?

In the age were technology reigns supreme, it was fun to watch my children step back in time. The soothing click clack of the keys followed by the groan of realization that there is no back space or spell check. They spent the day clicking away like they had found the best toy ever. 

The best letter of the day.... " I love you mommy with all of my heart so I give you the piece of my heart that sounds like a fart." Elijah

(he is an 8 year old boy after all!)

Garage

We have an amazing detached garage. I love to look out the kitchen window and see it tucked in the trees just begging to be turned into something great! My idea of great? A guest house! Yes, a wonderful guest house with huge French doors. There really is a lot of potential. 
Right now however, we really just need to clean it out! When we moved we just sort of added our stuff to the church stuff with the intention of pulling it all out and organizing it as soon as we got settled. Well.... It still looks like this.

I am so ashamed!

Maybe I should start with cleaning out the garage before I dream of bigger things.

                                                        But just look at the potential.

I love the beams in the ceiling!

I may have forgotten to mention that the floor floods about 2-3" every time it rains.

Maybe I will just enjoy the view and the trees. For now anyway.......

Crazy Days

Things have been a bit busy lately! I always think I can add a little sewing job here and a little teaching co-op there. Before you know it I am totally crazy. When will I learn?!?


I am not a big religious-art-around-the-house person.  Usually I can't find anything I like, or if I do find something I like,  it is appropriate for one occasion but not really for all occasions. 
While working for a designer in Raleigh, I ran across a line of really cool accessories. One day, while dropping off an order in a flurry of bags and children, the owner quietly slipped into my bag a wooden letter B with the verse "Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10). I did not see it until I got home and was unloading. It was a great reminder! It has been in my house (all 4 of them) ever since.  
I guess I need to be reminded a lot!

Thanksgiving

I am very thankful for the little things! Quentin makes fun of me for my inability to have anything crooked or off-centered.

When we moved into the parsonage, I was overjoyed to find French doors centered on the living room wall leading into my bedroom. The back wall opposite the French doors was perfect for centering my bed, an old six paneled door turned on its side.

I can now sit on the couch, stair through perfectly centered doors and see a perfectly centered bed ! It's a good life. God is very good to give me even silly little things!

Thursdays!

Wednesdays are crazy for us. We have our home school co-op and then AWANA.  By the end of the day we are all mostly dead! So when Thursday morning rolls around, we are a pleasant bunch!

 This morning Elijah required a happy morning song on the harmonica just to get out of bed, Zoe had to be reminded that she could not eat her cereal in bed, and Bridget ,well, Bridget did pretty good this morning. We all had to be dressed (not matching)  and out the door to take Bridget to her English class by 8:45.  Yuck! By the time we got home we all had to eat breakfast again, followed by a snack. 


I just finished quizzing Bridget on 37 of her Biology vocabulary words. Do you remember what a phospholipid is? How about a leucoplast? Yeah, me neither. It has definitely been a refresher course for me!  I only fell asleep once. (Only because I have a cold!)

Well, I am going to feed the kids. Actually, they are feeding me lunch. What great kids.

Then I am taking a nap!

Have a great Thursday!

The Machines!

My sewing room needs help! 

This is the corner of our school/craft/sewing room.  I really want to add things to the walls,but I am stuck.  I can't seem to make up my mind. I think I like to many things.

Either that or I like to many expensive things. There is only so much you can do with these lovely machines. Don't get me wrong. I love them and they aren't going anywhere. I just wish I had some great creative ideas to finish the room. 

If you have any good ideas please share. 

Organize It.

Well, I was an absolute slug yesterday. It was wonderful. I really needed a day of rest.
Today I am very ready to tackle a project. Maybe the linen closet. 


Last week I did the pantry and kitchen counter tops. My kitchen counters were feeling a little bit cluttered and my pantry is rather small and hard to keep organized. Quentin is going to build me a shelf with old reclaimed wood and metal, but we have just not had the time for a large project like that.  So we decided to use what we already had for the time being.


The result:

Has Anyone Seen My Dryer?

There once was a girl who bought a washer and dryer

she got it from Craig's list for not to much hire

They worked rather well for a short little while 

then the dryer began to creak and not dry in it's normal style

She called the repair man and he gave her a new one

to use while he fixed her offending dryer that weighed a ton

the one that she now has is satisfactory

but it is not the original one from the factory

she has not heard from the repair man for quite a while 

I hate calling and complaining; it is not my style

maybe fixing the old one has become to much of a chore

but my washer just broke and I have no money to go to the store.

Why I love 3rd Graders

The other day in history we were reading about Ivan the Great. I was unsure how much Elijah was actually getting. He was drawing pictures of pillaging and plundering, but was he actually understanding what I was reading? 


Well, after coloring his picture he had to write a few sentences about what he had drawn. He told me he wanted to write that when Ivan married Sophia the leadership of the  Eastern Orthodox Church fell to Ivan. I was very impressed to say the least. I have a genius for a son! Not only was he listening, he understood and could repeated it back to me! Wow.  


I suggested he might also want to write something about  Ivan driving the Tatar Mongols out of Russia. He looked at me and started laughing! " Mom, they didn't have cars back then." 

Sock Season

It is that time of year again! The time when my children go through a pair of socks (or two or three) every day…..I hate socks.  Don’t get me wrong. I love warm feet; I just hate keeping up with them in the laundry.

I put in two matching socks and amazingly enough I get out 2 socks from two different pairs. It is a magical time warp. The kids promise they put the matching pair in the laundry! Sure, it’s always my fault for losing the mate somewhere between the washer and the dryer. Go figure.

Because of my magical time warp, I have a sock basket on top of the dryer. I put only mismatched socks  there, in hopes that the mate will show up in the next round of laundry. The problem?  My kids (mainly the little one)  go and get mismatched socks from the sock basket because they  don’t  want to look through their drawers for a pair of matched socks. So the end result is that I will never get all the socks matched! As a matter of fact, the problem only get worse.  I think I am going to just buy new socks, mix them all up and go with the flow. 

So this year, no more sock basket. All socks go in their drawers matched or not. They are on their own!

Panels

I love curtain panels! 

They are almost always the perfect window treatment. I usually add blackout lining to make them thicker and darker at night.

These are the Bridget panels (Yes they are named after my girl) from my girls room.

Bridget

Bridget panels

Portfolio

Here is some of the work I have done through the years.  Unfortunately I forget to take pictures most of the time.
I am determined to be better about that! Enjoy!