So, now I knew I’d be sending them in the next Forex Box. Forex boxes are the big boxes we had just sent 3 of, they take about 6 weeks to get there; but there is a new project being prepared for and I knew there were another two, if not three, boxes headed over.

I started to write out the events of January, but I didn’t want to talk about it & you don’t want to read anymore on that…so I took it out. I’m just going to put it in a nutshell: I pray lots when I sew. I was in shock while sewing these – I messed up. A LOT.

So, I prayed lots. prayed for each of the kids. their life. their life in Christ. pleading & begging God for their safety. I exhausted myself in prayer. my arms, heart, & mind ached to hold each of them so much when I was done. ached as if I’d been holding them tight. but aching because it’s been a year since we’ve seen them. and I hadn’t actually been able to hold them. and I haven’t sewn since.

but I have prayed since. LOTS.

In the end – here are the three Bible covers. for “my” three {other} sweeties.

I wanted each to be unique for the child. This one is Tov’s. He is all boy. He is mechanically minded {think: doesn’t look at you when you are driving away – he’s watching the tires turn}. The men in our family live in Carhart’s. I have a stack of too small/blown out Carharts for all kinds of projects. So, of course, his is made from the leg/thigh of a pair of Carhart’s. The pocket is original, the fabric on top made me think of him using his Bible to keep his direction in this adventure called ‘Life’. I worked hard to get the compass on the front – it worked! The belt & buckle actually work. It’s also functional, so the Bible doesn’t flop open when using the hand handle on the side.

Since I’m so impressed/proud of Tovie’s I’m giving you more pictures of his. {I think Vince might have really liked it too… :-D.}

This next one is for the oldest, Miah, it is the most subdued. She is a thinker like her daddy, she looks like her daddy. It is painter’s cloth and the backing of her “Alaskan Hug”. {double meaning: her grandpa on her mommy’s side is a painter by trade.} It gives her some texture, without being too in your face. and it should be durable enough to hold up, she isn’t much into being a girly girl. The handle strap is long enough to easily carry on the arm, but not too long to be in the way. It was a really tight fit, but I did finally get it in. I cut the material the same size on all three, but in my messed up state of mind… each one ended up fitting differently. I originally sized it off the Carhart one – ya, notice it doesn’t have a seam on the bottom…duh!

This Bible cover is for sweet middle baby, Avery. She is all about girly girl and flowers. She & I share a love for crafts/sewing, flowers, and notebooks. :-D! After that, all her family similarities align with her mommy & mommy’s sisters. She looks JUST like her mommy & even more her auntie and has so many mannerisms of her auntie. It is so amazing to see these traits come out in children – even when they haven’t been around us most of their life. See the light pink? Ya, that’s ‘cuz when I got done. {totally done. sizing each step of the way} It was a 1/4″ too short to fit on the Bible. no matter what I did! So, I took a deep {deep} breath and my rotary. laid it down. lined up & cut it into two pieces, then worked the light pink in. On the inside it isn’t real pretty, but since you don’t see more than an inch or so. I chose to let it go. {my hand sewing abilities leave LOTS to be desired-I’m better than I was in 8th grade, but I’m a machine sewing girl.} Her handle is like Miah’s – carry over the arm, but not too much as to be in the way.

I have wanted to get these posted for a while now, but just haven’t. I had a mental block to re-live those couple days. I finally did it though! WHOOOHOOOO!!

I’m going to be linking up with Studio JRU and her weekly ‘in the studio’ link up. All through February she posted Love Stories Written By God, it really was amazing to read so many stories of how God orchestrates those He wants together. You really should go on over and read them. and see the beautiful prints she makes.

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Are you cleaning out closets but have some favorite clothes you don’t want to really get rid of? (I admit, I have piles of clothes that are just good material and pretty…for that perfect something, some day.)

Last fall while in the cleanout process of my son’s clothes I came across several t-shirts that were his favorite and he hadn’t wanted to tell me they were too small because he didn’t want me to get rid of them. When he finally decided to ‘fess up he said, “Can’t you make them into something to put on the blog?” I had to smile – he didn’t want them to go away and the most enticing thing he could think of was to associate it with the blog.

So, we came up with t-shirt pillows for his bed. He is a “nester” when he sleeps; he creates a nest of blankets and pillows every night before going to sleep :-).

All I did was sew across the bottom and the bottom of each sleeve*. Leave the neck open for stuffing. I had him use poly-fil stuffing and stuff them to the thickness he wanted; then I stitched the neck closed. *Because I had matching colors of thread for each shirt I did not turn them inside out to sew. I just did a stretch stitch at the bottom over the previous seam.

This was one of those projects that took so little time and effort (maybe two hours for all four?), yet made my boy so happy. It is several months later and he still has them on his bed :-). He often brings this project up to other people too, telling them what I did. How fun is that?! I scored as a mom!!! 🙂

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I have to say it was really strange to be in a bridal shop while my daughter tried on bridesmaid dresses.  In the end we found a dress that was a really pretty green and a style she liked that more or less fit on top.

As you can see it was rather long and “old” for an 11 year old.  {yes, you can also see my bedroom is painted dark – three dark brown walls, and one avocado green wall — I LOVE them.  I’ve lost track of how many years ago I painted them, it’s been at least three-possibly as many as five} So, we went to work with fixing it to be age appropriate.  She wanted the bottom to have pick ups – this was a perfect way to easily shorten the dress the foot+ that needed to come off.  😀  I just shorten the most interior liner layer to the correct length then I used big multi-colored button to pick up the other layers.  I sewed through all the layers to the lining.  I started at the bottom and work my way up not putting any on the bum so it didn’t look like there was a bustle.  Because the top is just spaghetti straps, mom took her on a different day and got a women’s 2x Nordstrom, dark brown, t-shirt and I made a bolo jacket she could wear over it.  She wouldn’t let me take pictures of her with it on, so you’ll have to trust me that it looked better on her than it does hanging on this hanger.

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Fall – one of many favorite times of year for me.
I am always ready for fall and the color changes…it also signals school supplies, books, and schedules (more favorites for me) :)!

A beautiful day on our local lake.
Bumpa with all his grand kids checking out how the boat rides.
Getting ready to head to Whittier. 4 of the 5 boys in our family went for a guy’s only trip with the boat to Whittier.

These were the two boys who couldn’t contain their grins, the big boys were excited too – they just didn’t show it quite as much. They had a beautiful day and a wonderful time was had by all. 

Vince created this ‘bread bowl’ for the campaign dinner mom & dad had last week. It is his cabbage leaves inside a birch basket. He really enjoys cooking and presenting food – this is a good thing :).Christine has started Rhythmic Gymnastics and is loving it! For several years she has wanted to do this, I’ve held off because I figured she was too young to really appreciate and practice what she learned. I think it worked – she is practicing all the time, she’s stretching further and further. She can hula hoop for a long time and controlled balance spin it on her hand too.

She has come so far in such a short time! Yes, she is hula hooping 2 hoops at the same time. That is a bridge on her toes!!!!

This was my creative outlet this weekend…3 pairs of jeans became 2 skirts for CJ.

To make a long skirt I had to use 2 pairs of jeans. Somewhere I saw this online, but I couldn’t find it again. Doesn’t matter, I probably wouldn’t have followed the directions anyway. 🙂 Christine loved that she got to pick the heart shaped stitching for the hem and the zig-zag is decorative.

This was a pair of Vince’s painter pants. I loved that I could keep the side pocket. The opposite leg had a hole split totally across the knee it was close, but I got it to work. The ruffle I had sitting done already, it was for a flower girl dress I didn’t make because we found one instead – and it was the perfect size! Vince isn’t real sure what he thinks of his jeans’ 2nd life. (I think he’s secretly pleased :)…shhhh!) He’s informed me I won’t disgrace his Carharts….we’ll see. 🙂 The other skirt was my favorite, until I made this one. 

There have been many changes for our little family of 3 this fall. I worked all but 2 days of the fair – wow! That was a really fun experience and I got to work with a wonderful team of people. Mom kept my kids, thanks Mom!! They were long days, but we all are able to now really appreciate I don’t have to work 10-12 hour days all the time for us just to live.

We are entering 6 weeks of school times 2. We are home schooling and enjoying life. In August I became a full-time student too, my classes are all online so I’m home with the kids and we do school together. I’ve also just started working a part-time job. It is a job the kids can come with me and so far they are enjoying working along side me. This is a new venture for us – for me to work outside our home, long-term, not just for a couple weeks. We are also working around 2 youth group schedules. My kids are Seniors this year and Vince is Middle School! Yes, I’m tired, but content and know these are all things that were waiting for the right timing. For whatever reason the right timing is now – all at once! The kids are old enough for this to work and we are happy. God is in control and He puts His plan in front of us. It is up to us what we choose to do with that direction.

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