There are no words. Enjoy!

Why this?

"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11 (NKJV)

Yesterday a friend mailed me a link to the funniest blog. Check it out yourself: mom2my6pack.blogspot.com. After reading of the mothering adventures this mom faces, I told myself I wouldn't complain about my 2 in the grocery store ever again.

Perhaps it was seeing myself in a few of her stories, maybe I was just in a reflective mood after a week filled with firsts...either way, last night I found myself so grateful for the blessings in my life. After praising God for my children and my husband, I began to reflect on his recent turn of events. I've already expressed the evidence of God's design through that circumstance. Yet, standing back, looking over the past 10 years, I can see so clearly that not only are we destined to be here right now, but we've been placed here deliberately and with a purpose. What an overwhelming and humbling thought!

Well, we made it...

...both figuratively and literally!

Our Big Girl made it through her first day of Kindergarten. I think she had a blast, and she came home exhausted! Now, if I can just get her there on time for the rest of the year.

The green top is Simplicity 3830. I finished it late Sunday night before wearing it Monday, but that's the way these things go. As for the top, Step 6 in the pattern instructions is a little incomplete. I found I had to stop stitching at the side seams and reposition the fabric to avoid catching the "sleeve" portion of the wrap in the casing. The fabric was a silkie from Hancock's.

If I were to do it again, I would be careful to choose a fabric with that was woven more evely. With the one I used, my side fringe is much wispier than my bottom fringe. I won't be making it again, but it is a simple pattern that even a beginner could use. And, it adds a splash of color into my late-spring-summer-early fall "hot weather" wardrobe.

Putting the Tooth Fairy on Notice

Children grow up. I know that. The Little Man turned 2-1/2 last week. My Big Girl started Kindergarten this morning. Milestones happen all the time. If that's the case, then why did a loose tooth set me over the edge? Here's how it happened...

We were eating lunch yesterday. BG had requested grilled apples and corn on the cob with our hamburgers. While we were eating and discussing the first day of kindergarten (that's traumatic enough for a mom, isn't it), BG complains that her tooth hurts when she takes a bite of corn. Well, when her Daddy looks in her mouth, he didn't see anything. Then suddenly he says, "It's wiggling."

Now I am sitting there staring at him, mouth open, thinking "Wiggling? Hunh? Teeth don't wiggle. Great, how much is this going to cost me at the dentist? Wiggling? Hunh?" Suddenly BG jumps up and exclaims: "That means the tooth fairy is coming soon!" And I burst into tears.

On a side note, I didn't cry when I dropped BG off at her class this morning. She and I both did fine on this first day of kindergarten. (And since she must wear a uniform, we did the next best thing--she's wearing a monogrammed bow. Need one? Check out www.personalitychildrensclothes.com and "Contact Us" for more information.)

God knows what He's doing!

"Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him. 1 John 5:14-15 (NKJV)


For about 10 months, my husband and I have been asking for God's guidance and grace in our occupations. We discovered what we believed was His plan and took the next steps. Then, we waited and waited (mostly on the human side of things, believing that God would direct the situation within His plan). For the last 2 months, we have simply waited for an answer. And answer God did...with a resounding NO!!!!


How frustrating! We just knew that this was the plan, and then it wasn't. But God knows what he is doing...within 30 minutes of recieving our answer, He reaffirmed--in a big way. We are supposed to continue doing what we're doing; and we are supposed to continue trusting Him.

On the scale of "potty-trained-ness"...

We just bumped up one more huge step on the potty-training ladder: The Little Man was avoiding his nap today when I saw him rush into the bathroom. About 4 minutes later, I hear him running into the kitchen screaming "I poo-pooed, I poo-pooed". His pants were all pulled up (a bit crooked, but up) and he wanted his dad and I to come see.

This was a huge step for us, as in the past, we have read book after book waiting for LM to relax enough to go. This time, he went on his own. Being the proud parent, I only had one question--"Did you wipe?" His answer, "No." Oh well, maybe next time...

Changing the subject: I posted the August newsletter for PersonaliTy. You can check it out at: www.personalitychildrensclothes.com.

The reason chocolate was invented...

It's not very often that I will rip a recipe right out of a magazine, but when I saw the one for Mississippi Mud Cookies in the August issue of Southern Living, I knew I'd have to try it.

These are probably the best cookies I have ever tasted. The dough is plenty sticky, so the clean-up is tough, but so worth it. We substituted walnuts for pecans and tossed in a few extra chocolate chips and loved the cookies. If you don't get Southern Living, you can find the recipe here: http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1646479.

On a different note, the open house at our new kindergarten went well. Our Big Girl was a little disappointed that most of the children didn't respond when she introduced herself to them. I suppose she startled them by being so upfront. They'll just have to get used to that.

And just a little useless trivia (unless you have a 2 year-old, in which case it could be important)... After visiting Churck E. Cheese today--what fun--the
Little Man asked me the name of Chuck E.'s bird friend. After a little research, it's Helen Henny, just in case you ever wondered.

Kindergarten--here we come!

We're Going to Kindergarten!

Well, the time has come. I no longer have a preschooler. I'm not real sure were the last 5 1/2 years have gone. Now it's school lunches and reading and recess and carpool and PTA and all the other schedule busters that will come along.

Enough whining...we're off to Open House to meet our big girl's new teacher and her friends. This is one of those "just smile and like it" times, so off we go.

Let's give this a shot...

So, here's my first post on blogspot...don't expect much.

I'm a stay-at-home mom with a soon-to-be kindergardener and a 2-year-old. When I'm not doing the usual (dishes, laundry, dusting, picking up toys, laundry, chauffering children, volunteering at schools, laundry--I think you get the picture...), I spend my time sewing.

I started my sewing business (if you can actually call it that) about this time last year. I make personalized children's clothing. The basic idea is this: a mom can choose a style, like a jumper or jon-jon. Then she selects the fabric and the embroidery or applique design she likes. She can also choose from several cute trims. When she's made all her choices, I stitch up the outfit just for her child. I offer holiday clothes, monograms, and everyday designs, but my hottest sellers are the baby tiger cub outfits. We LSU cans can't have enough purple and gold. (I've also designed for Arkansas and Bama fans.) You can check out my website at: http://www.personalitychildrensclothes.com/.