Inspiration: What Is life about?

Courtesy of : http://www.coochicoos.com

Project: ragdoll

So I don't know exactly what put the bee in my bonnet to inspire me to start such a project... (maybe all the crafty mommies on my conscious parenting group?? IDK)... but I have decided to sew KB a rag doll. I found this adorable, simple pattern..





I am using an old shirt for the fabric ("dolly" is going to be blue and white striped... but oh well! :-P)... some left over stuffing I found in our spare closet [my mom left it]... and will probably even embroider her some eyes. (I considered button eyes, but am afraid KB will try to pull them off. lol). I am also thinking of making dolly a little skirt and bonnet out of the same material... (and maybe embroider a heart on the chest?)... but haven't decided yet. Overall, I plan on keeping it pretty simple... as I am doing all the sewing by hand... but there is definitely lots of possibility with the pattern, if I ever do get a machine!

At this point I have gotten two arms & part of a leg finished... so I am averaging about one piece per day. - slow but steady progress. I can't wait to finish, and see how KB likes her! Dolly is going to be simple, yet adorably lovable!

A snail steal

About a month ago, my dad called me up out of the blue, asking if he could take KB and I out to lunch. We ended up going to Olive Garden (Soup Salad & Bread sticks!), and then to one of my dad's all-time favorite shopping locations... Goodwill. In our attempts to steer away from as most toys that are battery operated, plastic, or "made in China.... I wasn't seeming to be finding much that even remotely seemed interesting. Suddenly, something promising catches my attention! I pull it out, and realize it's this adorable, colorful little [wooden] snail with a tiny nylon pull cord attached to it! As I turn it over in my hands... inspecting all sides... and become quite impressed by the solid structure & fine quality by which it seems to have been crafted. And the price??... only $.99! Wow! Any of you who have looked into or bought wooden toys of any kind, know that they are not cheap!!! I showed it to dad, and he decided to buy it for KB! Yay!

Now here I am... one month and many snail trips around the house later... I am sitting at the computer... notice the same little snail sitting in the middle of my family room floor... and decide to see if I can't figure out where it came from. After much searching (when in doubt Google it!!) I could only find it listed on one website, and discover it (much to my surprised and elation) is a high-quality German-made wooden toy (colored with non-toxic paints!).... which actually retails for $15+ brand new!!

Wow! Thanx dad! Once again... you found one *awesome* steal... you are the Goodwill king!!

Appreciation!

I have a chores schedule I try to stay on top of... so that ideally, things around the house never really have a chance to get noticeably dirty, before they're cleaned again. Unfortunately, this also means it's very easy to have said actions taken advantage of... as it's never not really obvious when I do do them... other than the fact they never get dirty. (Not that I expect trumpets & roses every time I do stuff around the house... I realize it's "my job", and that would be silly. - But it *is* nice to know you're appreciated, every *once* in a while.)

Well, the other day, I woke up to this on the bathroom mirror...

It *was* noticed & appreciated... ::warm fuzzies::

Another post blessing from "Generous Wife"...

(an issue I am seriously trying to work on!!)



When your husband says something that you disagree with, the immediate moment may not be the best time to contest what he says. Sometimes it's kinder and more respectful to deal with it later privately and sometimes it's really not all that important and can be passed over altogether.



See everything, overlook a great deal, correct a little. Pope John XXII

Amber teething necklaces...

I know lots of people who swear by them... so I decided to jump on the bandwagon, and try it too! One of the gals was selling them at babywearing the other day.... so I bought one for KB (birthday present). The first day she wore it, she took a *really* long nap through church. I thought it was because of babywearing, and then our trip to the fountains afterward.... but now that I think about it, maybe it was the necklace too... ? :-) ....and now, it seems to really be helping her cut her second top tooth!

Wearing Natural Baltic amber close to the skin is a natural & traditional European remedy for baby teething. Made from fossilized tree resin, genuine Baltic amber is the one of the oldest and most esteemed types of amber worldwide. Leave the teething necklace in the sun (or warm it yourself) to warm up and increase the natural analgesic power.

Our Conscious Parenting group, purchased our necklaces from the website, InspiredbyFinn..... but a friend of mine got her daughter a necklace, a maple teether and a wooden toy from http://www.novanatural.com/ and was really happy with the quality of her purchases!!

For those of you thinking about getting one.... remember, the lighter the color of amber the better! It has to do with the succinic acid... which is the most beneficial component of the amber. While very beautiful to look at, the darkest colored [cherry] amber generally contains two or three times LESS succinic acid... than the lighter Milk & Butter or Custard colored ones. Also, the more succinic acid the amber contains... the more cloudy or opaque amber it looks, and the nearer to white it becomes. ~ KB's necklace is the Honey colored one - which is not the very lightest, because it looked really bad next to her olive skin tone (lol!). I love it!

Recipe for KB's b-day cake....

After mentioning that my mom made KB's birthday cakes completely sugar-free (except for the icing on the one - that was sugar).... I have had a few people ask me for the recipe. So, here it is. It's called Honey Carrot Cake and it's sweetened with honey and pineapple (recipe found on Allrecipes.com). It was very moist & delicious - perfect for what we were looking for! Enjoy!!

Ingredients:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 1/2 cups honey
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil coconut oil!
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups finely grated carrot
• 1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger.
3. In a large bowl, stir together the honey, buttermilk, eggs, oil and 2 teaspoons of vanilla until well blended.
4. Add the flour mixture to the buttermilk mixture, and stir until all of the dry ingredients are absorbed.
5. Stir in the carrot, pineapple, and walnuts by hand. Pour into the prepared pan.
6. Bake for 50 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
7. Cool completely before frosting with cream cheese frosting.

• To make the Honey Cream Cheese Frosting... mix together 2 (8 ounce) packages of softened cream cheese, 1/3 cup of honey and 1 teaspoon of vanilla until smooth and well blended. Spread over the cooled cake.

Now I want to try experimenting with other natural sweeteners, as well as cocoa powder, etc... and see if I can't figure out a healthy/sugar-free chocolate cake for next year!

Happy Birthday KB!!

Exactly one year ago RIGHT NOW...

After 25 long hours of labor..... a little 8lb 7oz (20½in) bundle of pure joy joined our little family... forever changing our lives & hearts.

KB ~ born 11:36pm ~ at home, in the kitchen, into the loving arms of her daddy... just 24 minutes before his 24th birthday!











And a little while ago, I received my weekly BabyCenter email, and instead of saying "Your baby this week" it says "Your Toddler this week".... wow!

(can you tell I am a wee-bit nostalgic right now?!)

10 years ago...

Wow! That's hard to believe!Our carpool group for the 1998 Tampa Children's Institute.
(Bill G -- Jadon? -- Bill C. -- James -- Anna -- Me -- Carolyn)

We started out our little adventure, as hardly anything but acquaintances...
but after many long car rides, much silliness... and an interesting adventure on I-75...
life just hasn't been the same since!
(I mean, who would have thought I would now be married to one of those guys,
and another one, is now one of my best friends.... ? ~ Crazy!)

Inspiration: take time to perceive...

"What we forget is that God's love and beauty are all around us, every day, if only we would take the time to look up and see them."

-Matthias

How'd it get to be August already?! Crazy!! The good part about that is... only several more hours from seeing my Marmee & sisters! Hooray!!