Deck The Halls

Sneak Peek!

I wanted to give a preview of some of the items I will have up for sale in the Cambria craft fair - Dec. 12th, Cambria Community Center (old grade school building) from 8-6. Anyone need some Christmas gifts?????????????????

Giving Thanks

I have so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. My life has been blessed so abundantly. I am so thankful for God's love and grace in my life. I am overwhelmed every day when I see His love for me in these eyes....

I couldn't have imagined just how wonderful my life would be with these boys in it! They are far more wonderful than I ever imagined! And my life would not be complete or nearly as blessed without my wonderful husband - the love of my life. I love him more today than ever before - I'm so proud to be his wife of almost 14 years! (we will be married 14 years on Dec. 8th)

I'm thankful for my family - my brother, Derek, who is a such a great Uncle to my boys. My father who adores my boys, and they adore him as well. My grandmother who will turn 90 years old on Thanksgiving day. My mother and father in law, who are wonderful grandparents to my boys. They love their MaMa and PaPa Robinson so much. And my wonderful extended family.

There is a huge hole in my heart which is reserved for my Mother. I lost her over 8 years ago and that hole will always be there - I miss her so much. I was so incredibly blessed to have her as my Mom for 25 years. Corley was blessed to know his MaMa Corley for the first 2 years of his life. There will never be another Karen Corley - she left an impression on all who knew her. Her legacy of kindness and friendliness is something that makes me so proud to be her daughter on a daily basis. She was loved by so many. I miss her so much and I hate that she was called home so soon, way too soon, but I will always be so thankful for the love that she left behind.

Random Family Moments

This is my super cute (great) Aunt Peggy - my grandma's sister - from Memphis, TN. She came up to visit my grandma a couple of months ago and we were able to spend some time with her. She is great - every sentence starts with "Now Donna" (sounding like "Dawwwwwwna" in her southern drawl). She is crazy about my boys, all of them - especially PJ. She calls him "cutie pie". :) My boys love her like crazy, too! I hope we can make it down to Memphis to visit her sometime soon.

This is my mother-in-law's brother, Eddie and his wife Kim. They stopped by to say hello as they were passing thru when Brandt was still itty bitty. They are so sweet - Kim is from Korea and she makes the most delicious, spicy Korean food! We love to visit them - my boys have so much fun and they make everyone feel so welcome in their home. They have gobs of fruit trees in their back yard and Dallon has such a ball "working" in the yard with Uncle Eddie - he could literally pick up apples and wheel them here and there with the wheelbarrow all day long! And Corley loooooves Aunt Kim's spicy food!

One of the many reasons I wanted to move back home....so my boys could dye Easter eggs with G.G. (aka great-grandma) One of the fondest memories I have from my childhood was going to my grandma's house to dye Easter eggs. Not so much that I just loved to dye eggs, but I knew how much it meant to her and that made it very fun and meaningful. This picture means alot to me. My grandmother will turn 90 years old on Thanksgiving day and her hearing and eyesight are all but gone, but she still had a great time with these boys on this day. I will always cherish that.

1st Attempt

Okay, it's not perfect by any means - but it's a start... Here's my first attempt at a sweater to capelet refashion. There will be more to come because I stocked up on sweaters today! This capelet was made from the sleeveless sweater vest thingy (ugly!) that I picked up at a yard sale yesterday for $1!

FUN FRIDAY!

Here are my yummy finds from my "Fun Friday" w/ Lory (BFF since 3rd grade). We rummage & thrift for delicious treasures every Friday - so, so fun!!!

Today's finds:

1. super cute kelly green Old Navy sweater - $3

2. AWESOME set of 4 square aqua plates (Target brand) - $.99/ea.

3. 2 crystal candlestick holders - $.25/ea.

4. dainty little white plate - $.25

5. beautiful chocolate brown/aqua/white fabric pillowcase - $2.99

6. fun little octopus for Brandt - $2

7. black/green Old Navy drawstring sweatpants for Brandt - $.99

8. cute little wintery bucket hat for me - I looooove hats! - $3.

9. aqua knit sweater vest thingy for this project - $1

and last, but not least

10. deep red knit sweater for some other project, don't know which yet - $3

Grand Total: $21.66

(I was a bit of a big spender today!)

ROCK OUT!

Brandt loves a lil' Bon Jovi first thing in the morning....naturally. He is his Momma's boy! :)

Happy Birthday to me!

I had the best dates for my birthday dinner!

these boys & Red Lobster - yum, yum, yummmm

Halloween Festivities

We had a great time trick or treating w/ The Wrights on our 2nd Annual Halloween Hayride! I'm so mad at myself for not taking any pictures of the hayride, but here are the boys in their Halloween costumes...

Shrek

Gangstas

Ring Slings!

Something I have been making for a few months now....Ring Slings! I got a ring sling while I was still pregnant with Brandt and after he was born, I loooooooooooooooved (and still do) carrying him in my sling! He loves it, too! So, I decided that I wanted more....lots.....one in every color, to match everything.....so I made myself a couple more. Well! I would get stopped every time I was out with him in his sling - "where did you get that??? where can I get one???", etc., etc. So I decided to start making them for other people and now I have a little business!

I am having so much fun making slings for people - I get so excited to see them use it and love it!

The pattern block is over!

I'm currently working on a sweet little outfit for Brandt's baby dedication coming up next Sunday - I was at JoAnn's the other day picking up some transfer paper for an order of onesies I was working on and completely on a whim I decided to grab a pattern for something to make for Brandt to wear for his dedication. And much to my delight, all of JoAnn's clearance fabric was an additional 50% off! I found some really nice, dressy, satiny (so not a word!) navy material that was something like $1.62/yard after the discount! Yaaayyy! (I love, love, love a good bargain!)
I've never been a fan of patterns - I'm more of a "wing it and hope for the best" kind of seamstress, but I decided to just buckle down and figure it out...and it worked!!! I have finished the outfit and now I am having his monogram embroidered on the front - so I will post pics once I have it back. I'm so excited for him to wear it! I hope he doesn't puke on it!

Mommy's Little Man

This project was so exciting to me! You see.....I have always had a sewing maching (my Mom and Dad purchased for me shortly after I got married in '95) and I've done a few things through the years - made Corley's crib bedding, made some skirts, made some curtains, etc., etc. - but I've always thought to myself "when I have a little girl someday, that's when I'll get really serious about sewing!"...you know, because little girls are so much fun to dress up and make frilly little things for. So....since I keep having boys (ha!), I had to come up with something I could make for my boys! I was tired of waiting on that little girl! :)

I love, love, love hats (especially on my boys) and I have always wanted to learn how to make a hat! I finally decided I would just take apart a little hat of Brandt's and see how it was made!

It worked!

Yay!

:)

A New Passion

I've always known that I enjoy being "crafty" with this and that, scrapbooking, etc. - but lately I've discovered that I really have a passion for sewing! I'm having so much fun making things! I've decided I will cronicle my sewing journey here - may just be for my own journaling purposes, but if I happen to pick up a few "window shoppers" along the way, that would be awesome too! So............here goes...............

I'm kicking myself that I didn't grab a before picture - these little shoes were made from a shirt I picked up at the Goodwill for $1! I love the way they turned out!

A Day Out With Thomas

Here are some pics from our trip back in October - Dallon was so excited to see Thomas and ride him!!! We had a great time visiting PJ's family & taking the boys to St. Louis to see Thomas. We had taken Corley when he was 4 and he loved it then, too.