A thank you!

I knew a little package was on it's way, but I didn't expect all the extra sweetness. Like this fun message. I can just hear that sweet girl saying this in her southern drawal.



And the first thing that Sam announced when he saw his loot was "I got BOY lipstick!" He was super excited. :) Having older sisters will do that to a little guy. It was extra funny after I had just read Jessica's card to myself, explaining how her little guy loves his chapstick too...tee hee hee...

The girls are I are just tickled to have some of Jessica and Noonie's handiwork for our very own.

Thank you ladies, they are gorgeous!

The colors are perfect for our Matilda Jane.



And oh look! Our bunny tee from last year will be perfect with the pink floral pants. Yay!



Now the hard part will be deciding which outfit to wear on Easter Sunday.



And wouldn't ya know, this sweet box showed up on the perfect day. We had just gotten home from the dentist where this little girl had 3 cavities filled. Yikes! She wasn't in the mood for pictures, but I'm glad I got at least one today. We'll take proper spring pics outside next week.



Neither of them want to take these dresses off today.

They are both getting So big! I love and hate it all at the same time. *sigh*

This past Sunday, just 30 minutes before we needed to leave for church, I decided to fix that darn hole in the knee of our Lime Crush Big Ruffles. Sadly, there was a trip, a fall, a scraped knee and tears involved on the very first day these were worn. And that hole was just too big to do anything about. Other than make them capris, that is. Boy am I glad that I can sew!



After:


And since I kept the ruffle in tact (time crunch ya know), and the leg above the knee was wider than at the ankle, there's a little pucking on the backside. But they are still wearable and this is about as much time as I want to spend on these.

(backside, you can kind of see some puckering)

Next up is to finish the adorable little Easter dress and coat for my 8 month old niece. Her mom and I are working on this together as part of her first sewing lessons. Yes, it was completely an oversight on my part that this pattern uses a zipper. This will be my first zipper install, wish us luck! And please ignore the funky pattern repeat on the left seam. We only had one yard to work with. ;)

We are also gearing up to travel north this week-end for David's grandma Sophie's funeral. We take great comfort in knowing that she is free from pain and that we will see her again some day. When my sister-in-law was trying to say good-bye to her, Sophie said "We don't say good-bye, we say see you later." She was 93 when she succumbed to cancer, she raised four children on a farm and was a school teacher. He husband and 18 year old son left before her. She will be greatly missed by all who loved her.

God bless you and keep you Sophie.

So proud of these girls

They basically taught themselves to ride their bikes in 2 afternoons.

I had started by running along with them while holding on to the seat so they could get enough speed and then I could let go. Well, they were so afraid of falling, they would immediately put their feet down. I sure got a work-out, but they were no where near closer to learning to ride. So while I took a break, they came up with plan B on their own.

Our driveway is slightly sloped to the street. Not a ton, just enough to be able to coast and build up momentum.

Allison figure it out first. She learned to balance her bike as she coasted long enough to start pedaling. Emily got it figured out by the next day. One of the small tips I shared with them was how to start with one foot on the pedal in the low position and with the other foot to push off of the ground to start the bike rolling. Then just start pedaling. We had about an hour of figuring out how to coordinate that with the steering as well so the bike didn't veer to the right immediately. There were a lot of spills and frustration that first day.

It wasn't until today that they learned how to use the hand brakes in time to not have to jump off before crashing. We've got a scraped knee and gash in an elbow. But this was also a good lesson about perseverance and how to just get back up and keep trying. They really did a fantastic job with this.

Sam got a new bike this year and has loved showing me how he can do everything the girls do too.

They were excited to show Daddy all they could do when he got home tonight. They got a try their skills on the street and can't wait to go out again after dinner.

Turing is their latest trick. And I say latest as in just the last hour or so. They've only been on their bikes for all of 5 hours over the past two days. Love this weather!

We are going to have a very fun summer!

Oops, just realized he had traded in his helmet for his Spidey shades. How did we miss that?

Baby Doll Quilts

I finally made some progress on the girls' doll quilts. Aren't they fun?

I had these 200 squares cut out from my scraps, well before Christmas, but just never found time to sew them together. Yesterday I got both of these sewn up in just a couple of hours. I was surprised at how fast it went especially since I haven't sewn anything since November. It felt good.

Each top will measure 20"x20" when finished. There are 10 rows and 10 columns of 2" squares. That means that for each top I cut out 100 2.5" squares and used a 1/4" seam allowance.

Although I haven't decided on the binding yet, it will likely be 1/2" wide which means the quilt will actually measure 20.5" x 20.5" since the outside edge seam allowance will be inside the binding. I'm not crazy about the fact that those squares along the edges will be a different size than the inside squares. But, hey, it's just a doll quilt.

And seeing as how I've never actually finished a quilt before, I'll just be happy to get these done and usable. I plan to quilt this by machine in a random swirliness (is that a word?). I'll save the hand quilting for my Pop Garden quilt later.

Time to switch gears for a few days. My sister in law is coming this Thursday for the first of six sewing lessons (our Christmas gift to her). I love that she wants to learn and can't wait to give her the low-down on sewing for her little girl.

Hoppity

Allison was student of the week which meant brining home Hoppity and adding her adventures with him to the class book. She also got to fill out a poster about herself.

We read books to Hoppity.


Took him sledding.


Little did we know this would be our last chance.


Not that we were one bit sad. We all prefer puddle jumping weather.


In the very same week, we hit 60* and this Thursday should be 70*. Our snow is all gone and I'm dreaming of getting my hands dirty in the garden. What a strange winter this has been. March is usually our snowiest month, but we'll take it.






Their pants were all soaked, but Hoppity stayed dry under my watchful eye.


Hoppity came to dance and got to see one of their recital dresses too.


Try to ignore the black leotard. ;)


I love how seriously they are concentrating. Which isn't always the case. Miss Lindsay has the patience of a saint.






Thank you Hoppity for coming for a visit.

Answers

Test results showed that the tumors were benign.

Praise the Lord!

Instead of cancer, I have Hashimoto's Disease. Which basically means that my thyroid is attacking itself and will eventually stop working. I meet with an Endocrinologist in 4 weeks and we'll go from there.

I love how the Lord works. Yesterday morning sitting in lecture at BSF I felt like every word she said was meant just for me. With tears streaming down my face, I furiously took notes. I was convinced this message was preparing me to hear that I had cancer that afternoon.

from my notes...

~God puts strength in our hearts so we can triumph over trials

~God permits trials to come

~never think that trouble is an accident

~he is in control of all trials

~first he shows us how weak we are in ourselves

~when we feel strong enough, we fail miserably

~don't do "nothing" - pray, search scriptures, seek godly counsel

~God does not deliver us immediately (or even in this lifetime), or in the same way for everyone

~God is glorified through our trials

~one reason for our trials is that you and I would be channels of blessings to others (my favorite)

~no matter what the trial, God's grace is sufficient for you

~suffering can keep us transforming and perfect our character

~God has to work in us before he can work through us

~as suffering increases, God's grace increases equally

~if we could store up God's grace for emergency use we would tend to trust ourselves

~sanctification - being transformed into the likeness of Christ

~we are Jars of Clay - the cracks in the jar are what makes the treasure inside (Christ's Salvation) shine

~pride will cover up our cracks and prevent Christ from being honored

~God's competence is our confidence

~Love that leads to reconciliation produces joy that knows no bounds

For the past year, and 6 months in particular I have been overwhelmed with depression and anger. My own inner turmoil. Not a pretty site around here. To the point of seeking medical help soon, but still feeling like everything was circumstantial. I prayed that God would give me a desire for his word. And he did! In a way I never thought possible. I have been reading like there is no tomorrow and am in the middle of Job already (1/3 of the way through the Bible!). He has been changing and molding me and I feel very different. Than even just four weeks ago.

Thank you Lord for trials that bring us closer to you.

There is no where else I'd rather be.

And thank you to everyone that was praying for me. It means more than you'll know.