Adams Family

Fall 2011 Highlights

2012-03-10T21:09:00.004-06:00

{A few more highlights from 2011...}

Tanner started 1st grade in August. We prayed for a good teacher...and God gave him an awesome, Christian teacher that we all love! He is doing great and loves school.

Tanner tried a new sport this year and played little league fall ball. He loved it and we had fun watching him!

In October, Colten started walking. Tanner was 15 months when he started walking, and Colten was 13 months. Apparently I have slow walkers...and I can honestly say I am ok with that! Here are a few videos of Colten figuring it out:

On October 31, our church had their annual Chili Supper. We decided we would do Bible costumes this year and after much discussion, we landed on David and Goliath. It was almost impossible to get a good picture with the squirmy Colten!

We went to Colorado for Thanksgiving to visit Christian and Diane and the kids. Meme went with us and we were all really excited about the trip. As soon as we got there, a nasty stomach bug started going through the house and it went through all 9 of us! It was definitely a Thanksgiving to remember. We did manage to get out one day and go to the zoo there in Colorado Springs. It was a beautiful zoo right at the base of the mountains! Despite the less than ideal health conditions (LOL!), it was great to see family and hopefully we will have a sick-free visit next time!

Tanner gets baptized

2012-03-09T22:50:00.006-06:00

{September 18, 2011}

This had to be one of my proudest Mommy moments...watching Tanner get baptized in the river. It was back in March, March 5 to be exact, that Tanner asked Jesus into his heart. It was something he initiated and there was no doubt that he was ready and understood what he was doing. My precious little boy...I love his heart! Since then, he has been eager to get baptized and finally the opportunity came. Our church has several baptisms a year in one of our local rivers {which I love!}. The baptism was held on Sunday, September 18 after church. It was a beautiful day and my heart could not have been fuller. Tanner was so excited to make his public declaration of his love for Jesus!

Here is the video:

Colten Turns One!

2012-01-08T19:16:00.014-06:00

(still working on 2011 catch-up posts...)

Hard to believe that our baby is already one!
Colten turned one on August 30,
and we threw a Dr Seuss party for him on Sept 3.

I have been just a little obsessed with the turquoise
and red color combination lately,
so I had a lot of fun with this party!

(The Dr Seuss printables came from the Etsy shop Photo Designz)

I made some cat-in-the-hat cupcakes and
tried my hand at fondant for Colten's smash cake.
(I found a recipe for marshmallow fondant on Pinterest and
used that for the smash cake. It was a little messy to make,
but much cheaper than buying it and
I could make it any color I wanted.)

I made a photo banner with Colten's monthly pictures.
I used photoshop to convert the pictures to black and white and
just colored in the number on his onesies.
In fact, I loved it so much that it is now on display in his room!

I also made him a special hat and shirt.
I wasn't sure how Chris would react to the foo-foo hat but he obliged me!!

Big brother had to wear the hat too!

After some lunch and presents, it was time for cake!

Happy Birthday to our precious baby boy! We Love You!!

Tanner's 7th Birthday

2011-12-29T22:26:00.014-06:00

{Bear with me as I continue to play catch up on 2011 - this is from July 2011}

Every year we do a themed party for Tanner's birthday. This year he wanted an "army" party. So we pulled out the camo gear and GI Joe's and what a party it was!

Tanner dressed the part and eagerly awaited the arrival of his guests:

I borrowed some old army gear from my parents and used it on the food table, along with some vintage GI Joe's with their jeep.

When the boys arrived, we had them check-in and get their gear (an army hat, dog tags, and face paint). We then had a table set up for them to make cards for the troops. Tanner's uncle is currently serving in Afghanistan, so we sent him all the cards that the boys made.

Once the card making was finished, Boot Camp began. Chris and Darren had the boys running various drills and it was pretty entertaining to watch!!

After the drills, we had the land mine walk. We had water balloons on the path and they had to walk through them blind-folded. This was a big hit!

They then had a water balloon and water gun fight and it was total chaos...just the way boys love it!

We then ate lunch and had cake and ice cream. I made an army tank cake and Tanner loved it. When I was working on the camo effect the night before, I was a little concerned since it was looking more like smashed green bugs than camo. But in the end it was a recognizable army tank...success!!

The whole crew of army boys (and Lena Jane!):

Happy 7th Birthday Tanner! We love you!!

Spring/Summer 2011 Highlights

2011-11-18T21:29:00.000-06:00

This first highlight was actually winter, but it was too big of a deal for me to not include it! On February 4, 2011 (drum roll please) we had snow!! It actually barely covered the ground but it was exciting for us since we rarely see any snow. Everything shut down for the day and we enjoyed our little taste of the white stuff!

LOVE this picture of my boys!! (March 2011)

Easter - April 24, 2011:

Tanner & his cousin Keller (May 2011):

Memorial Day (May 2011) at the lake park across the street:

July 4th parade in Startzville:

Tanner lost his first tooth!! (July 18, 2011)

Catching up with Colten

2011-11-07T21:08:00.000-06:00

Time for another catch up post...or two or three! I will start with Colten since he has changed the most over the past 8 months. He is now 14 months and walking all over the place. He is such a happy baby and we couldn't imagine our life without him! I think the last monthly picture I posted was 4 months...so here are months 5-12:

I look at these pictures and still can't figure out where the time went. That baby stage sure flew by!

Here are a few videos of Colten.

Colten at 7 months:

Tanner making Colten laugh - 8 months:

Colten starting to scoot at 8 1/2 months:

In this one, Colten was 9.5 months (June) and I was feeding him. He did this adorable thing with his hands all the time that looked like he was revving a motorcycle so I was trying to get it on video:

Colten & Bryson at Grandma's house (June):

In this video (July), Papa is feeding Colten ice cream at his house (you can see Colten's hands going in this video too):

Here is another video from July where Colten was very animated during dinner...our little preacher! :)

A Month of Firsts

2011-02-05T00:56:00.010-06:00

The month of January was a month of several "firsts" for Colten. Ideally, I would have posted about these as they happened...but here it is February already, so thus the all-in-one post!!

On January 9, Colten tried rice cereal for the first time. And as we would expect, he was not sure what to think about it!

We are now in the first week of February, and he is just now starting to eat it pretty well!

Then the next day (Jan 10), Colten rolled over for the first time. He had been so close for about a week, and he finally made it all the way over that morning. Wouldn't you know that he decided to do it while I was taking Tanner to school and Daddy was watching him??!! I was so disappointed!! But the next day, I was able to get this video of him rolling over.

Colten's Dedication

2011-02-04T14:53:00.004-06:00

Colten was dedicated in church on December 26. Since most of our family was in town for Christmas, we figured this was the perfect time for his dedication. It meant a lot to have them all there for the special occasion!

I think we set a record for the number of family members on stage for a baby dedication!

My grandfather, Archie Lee Alderson, prayed over Colten and it was so powerful! Colten is named after him (Colten Lee) and it was an honor to have him be a part of the service.

I was reminded after the service, that it had been one year ago TO THE DAY that we found out we were pregnant. Colten is our special miracle from the Lord and we were delighted to dedicate him back to the Lord in the church that we love and surrounded by the family that we hold so dear!

Three and Four Months

2011-01-18T23:02:00.005-06:00

I'm a little behind...so this post will be Colten's three AND four months photos!

Here are the three month pics:

And then his four month photos:

At his four month appointment, he weighed 13 lbs 15 ounces and was 25.5 inches. He is such a happy baby - smiling and laughing all the time. What joy he brings to our house!

Two Months

2010-11-15T19:12:00.005-06:00

Colten was two months on October 30. The time is flying!! It almost seems like you can SEE him grow. Here are his two month pictures:

A few highlights from the month:

* He is smiling and cooing a lot. Melts my heart! Even when it is at 2 in the morning!

* He just discovered his hands and is fascinated when his fists cross his line of vision. It is so funny to see him just stare at them!

* He weighed 11 lbs 2 oz at his 2 month checkup and was 22 1/4 inches long.

* On Friday night (10/29), he slept from 10:30 pm to 6:00 am. I felt like a new woman!! I did have to get up a few times and give him his pacifier, but at least we didn't have that 2 am feeding. It was heavenly...sleep is a precious thing! Although we have had a few rough nights since then, he is sleeping pretty good for the most part.

* He has lost a lot of the dark hair he was born with but still has a ring of dark hair around the bottom of his head. We call it his old-man hair!

A few more pictures from the month of October:

Shutterfly Card Promotion

2010-11-14T21:39:00.004-06:00

I will admit it...I love Shutterfly. I have countless photobooks from them and have used them for Christmas cards for several years now. I love designing the photo cards each year - and they are easy to order and they look great! Besides, family and friends usually love to see updated pictures!

As usual, Shutterfly has some great card options this year. Here are a few of my favorites:

I like both of these...and you can change the titles to say "Merry Christmas" or whatever you want. Love that!

This one is just fun!

Another favorite!

Now we just need to get a good family picture! That usually means about 50 or so attempts - much to the delight of my husband.

So check out the new Shutterfly holiday cards - I know you will find something you like! They also have some some great gift ideas - like Christmas ornaments and wall calendars. I make calendars for the great grandparents every year - and they LOVE them!

If you are a blogger, you might be interested in the promo Shutterfly is currently offering. You can get 50 free photo cards just by blogging about this offer. You can't beat that!

So go get some good pictures...and if you are free, you are welcome to come over and take ours!

Deja Vu

2010-11-07T18:26:00.003-06:00

When I am holding Colten, I sometimes feel like I have been transported back 6 years to when Tanner was born. They are alike in so many ways. And then I pulled out some of Tanner's baby pictures. Oh yes...twins born 6 years apart!

One Month

2010-10-05T12:40:00.007-05:00

Colten turned one month old last week - and even though I am feeling very sleep deprived with a newborn in the house, it still makes me sad that he is growing so fast. Maybe it is because of our fertility struggle over the last several years. I can't help but wonder if this will be our last one and if it is, I want to savor every single second! Chris tells me that I am already spoiling him. Just because he cries in the middle of the night but then is happy as a lark when I pick him up and lay him in bed with me! I tell him that you can't spoil a newborn (or at least that is what I keep telling myself!).

But how am I supposed to resist this:

A friend of a friend makes these adorable iron-on "monthly" transfers. They are perfect for the monthly photo shoot. You can find them here. Here are a few more pictures from his "1 month" session:

A few highlights from Colten's first month:

He is VERY alert for a newborn. In fact, when he was born he was wide-eyed and alert for the first two hours or so. He studied the face of every family member holding him and would even turn his head to look for other voices that he heard. Everyone commented on how alert he was and even our nurse said she had never seen a newborn that alert. In fact, I think she used the word "trippy" to describe it...I wasn't so sure I wanted that word used in relation to my precious new baby boy, but it did make me laugh!

The smiles started early - around 2 weeks - and we get them regularly now (as seen in the pictures above).

We had a weight scare at his 2 week appointment. The doctor weighed him in at 6 lbs 10 oz - more than a pound under his birth weight of 7 lbs 12 oz. I took him in the next week to check it again and he weighed in at 6lb 8 oz. It didn't make any sense because he was eating well, had the right number of pee and poop diapers, and was a very content baby. But the doctor's scale said 6 lbs 8 oz - and scales don't lie right?? She told me to go see a lactation consultant and I made an appointment for the next day. When I took him in, he weighed in at 8 lbs 9 oz. I stood there in shock...knowing that he didn't gain a pound in 24 hours. She had 4 different scales in her office and we checked them all. Yep, my boy was a healthy 8 lbs all right! Turns out the doctor's scale was off!! I was dumbfounded and more than a little annoyed. All that stress and worry for nothing!

Tanner loves his little brother! He has to give him a kiss every morning on his way to school and wants to kiss on him and hold him when he gets home. I love it!!

Finally, here are a few more pics from the month. I also took weekly pictures this month because he was changing so fast!

Colten Lee Adams

2010-09-09T19:45:00.004-05:00

Colten Lee Adams made his arrival at 12:26 PM on Monday, August 30. He was only 4 days past his due date - which was better than his big brother who made me wait for 8 days after his due date!

We are so excited that he is finally here - and I must admit that I still have moments when I can't hardly believe that God has given us this miracle. After four years of longing for another baby and thinking it would never happen, I feel incredibly blessed that God has given me the desire of my heart!

And not only did He give me another baby, but He gave me an easygoing one at that! In fact, I remember my mom telling me after Tanner was born that I had not experienced a real baby because Tanner was so easy. Well, it looks like I still haven't experienced a "real" baby because at least so far, Colten has been very easy as well. God knows how much we can handle - and apparently He knows I need easy!!

Here are some pictures from the first 11 days of Colten's life:

Tanner's first soccer season

2010-06-05T10:02:00.000-05:00

This spring, Tanner had his first experience with organized sports. The two options were soccer and t-ball. After some discussion, we decided to go with soccer this year - mainly because we figured the constant running and activity would be best for Tanner at this age!

The season started in March and we had 10 games. Tanner loved it and it really was fun to go to the games and watch our little guy play. It is still hard to believe that he is already old enough for sports!

Here are some pictures from the season:

Etched Glasses

2010-05-27T15:51:00.008-05:00

Last month, we were able to get away for a long weekend at the beach. It was heavenly!! Lots of naps and relaxation and a chance to catch up on the stack of magazines that were gathering dust on my nightstand.

As I was reading the latest Southern Living (one of my favorite magazines!), I ran across an article on etching glass. This is not something I had ever thought of doing - but they made it look so easy...

...and they had this adorable idea! Don't you just love them??

These would be perfect for summer dinner parties - nobody would lose their glass! I fell in love with them as soon as I saw them and NEEDED a reason to make them. With Mother's Day only a few weeks away, I decided they would be the perfect gift for my mom. We have a large family, and every time we get together for dinner we pull out the faithful red plastic cups and everyone writes their name on a cup. It accomplishes the intended purpose...but THESE glasses would be SO MUCH CUTER!!

So, I picked up 16 glasses from Walmart:

And I set out with my trusty Southern Living magazine and the listed supplies. I used my Cricut to cut out the numbers directly on the clear contact paper. Then I simply put the contact paper on the glass, brushed the etching cream on, let it sit for 10 minutes, and then rinsed under running water. Take the contact paper off...and you have an etched number on your glass. Oh my goodness, this seriously could not be any easier. Truly!!

An inexpensive, easy, handmade gift - I love it!

My stencils weren't quite as fat and chunky as the numbers on the Southern Living glasses...so my glasses didn't look quite the same. But I still liked the way they turned out. I might play with some different fonts next time. The possibilities are really endless! I even thought about trying some with a monogram. They would make a unique wedding gift.

Which reminds me...I need to go get some glasses and make a set for me! If you want to try it out for yourself, the instructions are on the Southern Living website here.

The Gender Reveal Party

2010-05-25T21:00:00.001-05:00

About a month after we found out I was pregnant, I ran across the cutest idea for a fun twist on finding out what we were having. A friend from my college days was pregnant with her 4th, and she posted this idea with some pictures on her Facebook page. As soon as I saw it, I knew I wanted to do the same thing!

So here is how it goes:

On our sonogram day, we told the technician that we wanted her to write down the gender and put it in sealed envelope - without telling us the results! So she warned us when she got to that part of the ultrasound and we turned our heads. We left the doctor's office that day with a sealed envelope - the inside telling us whether the baby was a boy or girl. I will admit that it was difficult to not tear that envelope open - but I knew it would be worth it in the end to keep the secret! Of course, it was even more difficult since the sonogram was on Wednesday...and we weren't finding out the result until Saturday!

I then took the envelope to a friend that makes cakes. Her instructions were to make the cake either pink or blue on the inside, depending on the results inside the envelope - but to make the outside of the cake gender neutral so it wouldn't give anything away.

We picked up the cake on Saturday morning, and that afternoon we had a party with our family to find out the baby's gender. I decorated the dining room in both pink and blue...it was so fun!

We even had pink and blue fruit dip!

I sent Chris to pick up the cake that morning and it was SO CUTE! Far beyond what I had imagined! Of course, when he walked in and showed it to me, I was caught off guard because the outside was blue. But he told me that our friend said the outside in no way indicated what the inside would reveal. So that left me even more confused...was she giving a hint, or was it to throw us off because the inside would be pink?? Only time would tell!

Tanner had a soccer game later that morning, and then the whole family came over after the game for our "baby reveal" party. I had everyone guess what they thought we were having - by writing their name on either a pink or blue piece of paper. The overall result was 5 "boy" guesses and 7 "girl" guesses.

Chris, Tanner and I then cut open the cake for the big reveal.

It's A Boy!!!

We are very excited about having another boy in the family! There is nothing quite like the snuggles and kisses that a little boy gives his mommy!

Let's Try This Again!

2010-05-24T20:21:00.005-05:00

I can't believe it has been almost 10 months since I have posted on my blog! It seems like the more time that went by, the more pressure I felt to have something really great to post. Which made me procrastinate even more...and the vicious cycle kept repeating.

And some great stuff has happened in the past 10 months, so I'm not sure why I didn't post before now. But it is time to start fresh, and try once again to keep this blog updated on a somewhat regular basis. Or at least more than once every 10 months!!

So here goes...

For the biggest news in our world, we found out on December 26 that we are

HAVING ANOTHER BABY!!

To say that we were surprised would be an understatement. After trying for over 4 years for another baby, we didn't think it was going to happen. In fact, after much prayer and discussion, we had decided to adopt through the foster program here in Texas. We took our training classes in October and we were very excited about the direction God was leading us. Our home study was scheduled, and we were only a month away from being certified foster parents.

And then I took the pregnancy test...and got the big surprise. Actually, if the truth be told, I took 4 tests over the course of 2 days because I couldn't believe it!

So, the fostering/adoption plan has been put on hold...and we are now preparing for the arrival of the newest Adams family member at the end of August. We are very excited and feel so blessed that God has given us this gift. We know that His timing is always perfect!

In my next post, I will tell you how we found out what we are having - a boy or girl! I would include it in this post...but it is getting close to 9:00 and this pregnant mommy gets tired very early these days!!

Sports Party

2009-08-01T17:28:00.012-05:00

We had Tanner's 5th birthday party today. It was a "Sports Carnival" and the kids seemed to have a great time.

I had a lot of fun with all the little "details" for this party. About 3 weeks ago, I still hadn't decided on a theme for this year's party. And I am a big theme person!

Well, Target came to the rescue! I ran in one day to pick up a few things and of course I had to stop by the Dollar Section since it is right by the front doors and always calling my name. Lo and behold, they had a whole line of sports related party stuff. Even though it is the "Dollar" section, I am frugal. So, I probably would not have stopped except that it was all 50% off. Whohoo!! Even more exciting was when I checked out, it was actually 75% off!! Double Whohoo!! Of course, there were some things that I was waffling on at .50 but I had to go back and buy them since they were only a quarter!

And thus was born the sports party for Tanner's 5th birthday. Good thing the boy likes sports!

We started off with "craft" time. I love crafts and thus I often subject those around me to craft time! They made little sports flags with some VBS clearance items I found at Hobby Lobby. I made the flags from foam sheets and then the kids decorated them with the foam sports-related stickers. I punched holes in the sides of the flags for a dowel rod. Craft time only lasted about 10 minutes. I think I was hoping for longer...but these are 4 and 5 year olds so I should probably be happy with 10 minutes!

After they finished their flags, the carnival began. Every child was given a strip of tickets. They then went to each station, where they turned in their ticket for a chance to play. After playing at each station, they were able to pick out a prize for their goody bag.

We had four sports stations. Basketball - where they tried to get a basket in the hoop. Baseball - where they tried to hit a ball. Soccer - where they kicked the ball around some cones. And finally ladderball - throwing the balls onto the rungs. The last ticket was for popcorn - which was actually Cracker Jacks, even better!

Everyone had a lot of fun trying the different sports and thankfully I have a large family who was willing to help man the stations!

Once we finished that, we had cupcakes decorated like baseballs and basketballs. I saw these online and they were super easy to make. I usually enjoy doing fun cakes - but I went for something a little easier this year!

After cupcakes, we opened presents. This year was the year of Legos - I think he got 8 different sets! Yikes!! I think I have spent about 3 hours today helping him assemble the various sets. My ~~control-freak side~~ meticulous, organized side is starting to twitch at the idea of keeping them separated and not mixed up. We had a talk before opening them about the importance of only working on one set at a time and keeping them in their respective bags. We will see how long that lasts!

All in all, it was a fun party - from organizing and planning it to actually enjoying it with my sweet Tanner and his friends!

Here are a few more fun "details" from the party.

Every kid had their own water bottle labeled with their name. It was super easy to do . I just made them on the computer and added some sports clip art. I then attached them to the bottles with packing tape.

For their goody bags, I found some reusable lunch bags in the Target clearance bonanza - for only .25! They had sport themed bags which I picked up for the boys, and some pink ones for the girls. I then customized them with everyone's initial. For the boys bags, I used orange and brown felt and for the girls bags I used some fabric scraps. I sewed the initials to the larger squares, and then used spray fabric adhesive to attach them to the bags. It actually went pretty fast - and I was very pleased with how they turned out. For less than .50 a bag, I was happy!!

Before:

After:

Happy Birthday Tanner! Still can't believe my baby is 5!!

My Big Boy

2009-07-29T09:21:00.002-05:00

My dear Tanner,

It is hard to believe that you turned five today. I am misty-eyed just writing this letter, feeling like you have crossed some sort of imaginary line and entered boyhood. While I realize that you haven’t been a “baby” for several years, there is just something about turning five that makes it official for me.

I remember like it was just yesterday the day I found out I was pregnant with you. Your daddy and I were so excited to get that positive test result, after months and months of negative tests. I also clearly remember the day we found out you were going to be a boy. We were having our 13 week sonogram and the technician asked if we wanted to know what we were having. We were shocked because we never suspected that they would know that early! In fact, we hadn’t even decided at that point if we wanted to find out in advance or let it be a surprise. But there was just something about the simple fact that someone else knew what we were going to have, and all we had to do was ask and we could know. Well, it only took a little discussion to decide we couldn’t handle the suspense, and she told us we were having a boy!

I remember the first time I held you and fell so deeply in love with that precious little baby in my arms. You were truly a gift from God and our lives were changed forever the day you were born. I never realized how much I could love someone until that day!

Over the years, you have brought incredible happiness to your Daddy and me. Your love for life, beautiful smile, and sweet spirit bring us such joy. We feel blessed beyond what we deserve that God chose us to be your parents!

Our prayer for you is that you would follow the Lord all the days of your life and serve Him with all your heart. We realize that ultimately you belong to the Lord, and our desire is to raise you in such a way that you understand and value the importance of a personal, close relationship with Him. God has a unique and special design for your life, and there is nothing I desire more than to see you accomplish what He has planned!

I love you Tanner and I am so honored to be called your mother. And I will continue to enjoy and soak up those sweet little hugs and kisses for as long as you are willing to give them. I know the day will be here sooner than I like when you won’t be so free with them!

Loving my sweet, little 5-year-old!
Mommy

My little sister

2009-06-30T23:30:00.000-05:00

My youngest sister, Miranda, is currently in Kenya serving as a communication intern with World Concern for 6 weeks.

God miraculously provided for her and I am so excited about this great opportunity that she has!!

Miranda is such an awesome young lady that loves the Lord, and I am very proud of her.

Check out her blog here (or click the picture below) and you can follow her adventures over the next 6 weeks. It should be interesting - I hear they even have a curfew every night so they don't get crushed by stampeding elephants. Crazy!

The Holy Trinity

2009-06-29T22:10:00.005-05:00

Chris informed me the other day that he and Tanner had a long discussion about God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit as they were driving in the car.

The Holy Spirit?? Really??

Apparently Tanner brought it up and was very interested in the topic. Chris said he even informed him that "Jesus is the Word"...very matter of factly.

Deep stuff for a 4 year old! Sunday school must be working :)

That night, it was obviously still fresh in his mind as we sat next to his bed for our nightly prayer.

Part of Tanner's prayer went like this:

"God, please come inside me. And the Holy Christ come too."

I tried not to giggle as he continued with his prayer. I think it will be awhile before he fully understands the Holy Trinity...but he is working on it!!

New product line

2009-06-27T20:40:00.005-05:00

Wow...that title sounds like I have this huge, booming business!! LOL!

One can dream...

My etsy shop has undergone some product changes, due to patent infringement issues. I never in a million years would have guessed that there was a patent out there for household gloves trimmed with an oilcloth cuff.

But apparently there is...and I got the email notification two weeks ago that I had 10 days to remove my gloves.

I can't even begin to tell you how upset and disappointed I was. They were so fun, and I enjoyed making them. Who gets a patent for oilcloth gloves anyway???

My initial reaction was to just ignore the email...my rationale being that I wasn't a real threat to them. I mean really people, 11 gloves sold in 3 months IS NOT hurting your business. You think that argument would hold up??

But once I calmed down and stopped long enough to hear what God was trying to tell me, I knew that the right decision was to just move on and find something else to focus on.

I have had several ideas rattling around in my brain...and I just launched one of them today on my Etsy site.

Adorable, custom totes with an initial appliqued to the front. These are small, little-girl sized totes. If you click my Etsy shop banner in the top right corner, you will see more pictures of them in my shop.

I'm still not convinced that the price is worth the time I put into them, but I am going to try it and see.

I also got my stuff in one of the cute boutiques here in New Braunfels, which I am super excited about.

Now, if I could actually make some money from this endeavor!

4 year old theology

2009-06-18T21:33:00.003-05:00

Tanner was singing a new song the other day in the bathtub...

And I couldn't resist the urge to pull out the camera and video it.

Good thing he's not old enough to be embarrassed that his mommy is videoing him while in the tub!

I hope you enjoy Tanner's theology on God's love.

Creative uses of a dish towel

2009-05-08T20:31:00.004-05:00

One of my favorite blogs, Grace Violet. had a post several months ago about making little girl skirts from dish towels. Of course, she had found these ADORABLE dish towels at Target and despite my endless searching I was unable to get my hands on the same towels.

Mind you, I don't even have a little girl to make these for. But they were so cute, I wanted to try it anyway.

So, I was at Target last week and saw some new dishtowels and snagged them up. Still not quite as cute as the original towels, but they would work. So I have been busy sewing today, and made three skirts for my good friend's three little girls - ages 4, 2 and 6 months.

In my haste and excitement to make them, I didn't stop to take "before" pictures. And of course, I can't find them on the Target website. I might have to go to Target tomorrow and take some pictures so you can truly appreciate this post!!

But here are the finished products:

The only thing I added to the dishtowels was the pink ric-rac on two of the skirts. Other than that, I just cut the towels in half, trimmed a little off the sides, sewed the sides together, and made a hem at the waist for elastic. And voila!

So cute. So fun. And so easy!

That is my kind of project.

Three skirts for around $11 - not bad!!

If you want to try it yourself, check out the great tutorial here.