Really good questions

this entire post is being typed w/ 1 hand... {in other words: we've got a fussin' baby, folks}

1st) why did I eat this?

2nd) why are my neighbors watering their yard when it's raining outside and a cat 4 hurricane is headed to our general vicinity?

3rd) why didn't I put on my "happy shirt" this morning?

Today has been long {w/inclement weather on the horizon Justin had to take to the fields again today after church}.... but yesterday was good and my "real life" friend, Lindsey, came to my rescue. We went to the park & she selflessly came back here to swim with the girls {hers included} while I attempted to get JM down, which never really happened yesterday and still hasn't happened today. Surely a newborn baby needs "consecutive" hours of sleep, right? The all-nighter he pulled last week was a cruel joke. Anyway, it was a blessing to have her company!

Much to my dismay, my weekend project hasn't started yet... perhaps tomorrow. In other news, Erika has safely landed in Boston to meet another random internet friend. From our conversations thus far, Annmarie is NORMAL, although Erika may think otherwise after 5 days with a mother of 4!

Ok, Paige is gnawing on a bar of soap...

Reader Readers to the Rescue...

I should have known that you all would come to my rescue... my deleted blog post from yesterday showed up {about 5 or 6 times} in my inbox. And didn't I say I needed to hear read it over & over ? Thank you to all you kind "reader" readers. If you don't use Google reader might I suggest you give it a try? It's the best way to read blogs. Especially if you have a lot you like to read. You can find out more about it here. When the 'delete forever' error occured I was attempting to delete the "happy shirt" picture for fear that it was too boobiefied. But with my husband's approval I'll put it back on, only because so many of you liked it and because 99.9% of you are females. It's not as though I was in a bikini... which would be frightening and scare 1/2 of you away because my naval resembles a hurricane on the doppler radar. Maybe I should affectionately call my naval "Gustav"... no, I like "Hanna" better.

So far the weekend has been great!!

Yesterday's post...

"I long to accomplish a great and noble task; but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble." Helen Keller

When I rolled out of bed this morning I wasn't too happy of a camper. I kept thinking about how I wish we had plans for the long weekend, something more than me staying at home with the children once again while Justin works all day Saturday & Monday. I was longing for my parents to live closer than 12 hours or my grandmother or someone* who wouldn't mind if I called and honestly asked, "Would you like to join me and my three kids at our house for the long weekend? They're all really needy and only one is potty trained & she occasionally will wet her bed. They like to argue with one another and they're not very obedient. They rarely use their manners without me reminding them. My house is messy and I have stacks of laundry everywhere. Now, don't you all raise your hands at once!!" I was wishing my sister wasn't boarding a plane and off on another adventure and that my brother in law wasn't also hopping on a plane to spend the long weekend with my parents. I was down and out. Rethinking it now to put it in this blog almost brings tears to my eyes.

So, I put on my "happy shirt" {to pretend like I was} and black yoga pants {no, I don't actually do yoga I just had a baby and well, don't all moms wear sweatpants?}. This shirt isn't typically my style but when you have kids things change. I didn't buy this shirt for myself but rather for them. They absolutely LOVE it when I wear it. I poured a cup of coffee, wallowed in my circumstances, wished for older children and someone to help me and the Lord brought me this. I don't know Natalie, but apparently she knows me. {please read that link!} I've heard it before and eventually I'll learn {maybe not this side of eternity} that the Lord can be glorified in changing poopy diapers, breastfeeding a child, making eggs, folding laundry, and wiping faces, counters & bottoms. He changed my heart and my attitude. I put on my big girl panties, unloaded the dishes, loaded the dishes, wiped 3 poopy bottoms, made eggs, cleaned up eggs and decided we needed to get out of here. I loaded all 3 in the car and took them to the park. We had a great time. I tend to get caught up with myself & my measly tasks honorable motherly duties that I often forget to treat my girls to fun outside of our home. The girls played on the playground and we walked the nature trail and I ended up pushing the stroller and carrying Paige {I'm sure it was amusing to the other walkers}. I didn't mind. I was just glad to be out of the house with my 3 most precious little ones.

How did Helen Keller know so much for someone who could see and hear nothing? Maybe it was better that way {and of course I don't really mean that} we live in a deceptive world that often makes me think that the things I do in this home have no nobility or honor, as though I have little to contribute to our society; don't I need to be on some board, volunteer to do something, lead a Bible study, teach Sunday school?? Between Helen Keller and Natalie, and ultimately God, my head is held high, I'm encouraged and thankful for my "season of life" & motherly duties... even if I do have to go at them alone on a long weekend. If I knew how to program the computer to show me this blog post every morning I would, because like the Gospel, this is a message I need to preach to myself every morning, presumably tomorrow morning when I take a Saturday on alone.

*Now, I don't want any of you nice people to volunteer to accompany me this weekend... I know y'all and that's why I have to put this disclaimer... I'm likely to get a few emails from very nice & selfless people saying they'll come be with me this weekend.

Delete & Delete Forever

Apparently when I deleted my last post {to edit it later} I didn't think it would delete forever... but it appears as though it's gone. Erika and I must be twins. Hmm... well, in a really big nutshell it said,

"I long to accomplish a great and noble task; but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble." Helen Keller

And now it's Friday night and I want to hang out with my children & husband. I hope that you all have splendid weekends. I have some things up my sleeve for the holiday weekend!

**T-Shirt Reminder** & Teddy Grahams

Kids crack me up. According to Morgan pictured above from TOP to BOTTOM are: Justin, Darby, Morgan, Paige, & John Martin. Neal, Tami (w/Mary Grace in her tummy), & Judson. You'll even notice the Sticklers are accompanied by the "circle" pretzels and the Stanfords are surrounded by the "square" pretzels. It took a little coercing to get her to eat these once they were all personified. I was unaware that the Teddy Grahams even came w/"adult" bears & "kid" bears... see how educational motherhood can be!

Morning Friends... {my little man slept all night & I'm a happy camper!}

Just a reminder that if you'd like to order a t-shirt go ahead and do so... because I'm placing the order tomorrow morning!

Appliques 101 {without an embroidery machine}

My fancy little embroidery machine can do some pretty smooth appliques. But this RAINY weekend and week I decided to be creative & try my hand at my own little creations on my new sewing machine. If you are a perfectionist this style may not suit you. It's not going to look like a "machine applique" but it will be cute and won't require an expensive machine to accomplish.

Here's what you'll need:

• Wonder Under or a comparable product like Heat 'n Bond LITE both can be found at Hancocks or JoAnns and both are an adhesive webbing {think giant sheets of Stitch Witch} with paper on one side that peels off. Both can be bought by the yard. 1/2 a yard will get you A LOT of appliques!
• A tearaway stabilizer like Tear-Easy which can also be found at JoAnns or Hancocks and is probably right by the Wonder Under... this will go under your shirt to stabilize your zig-zag stitches. It might be a little pricey, if you can find a tear-away stabilizer on a bolt w/ the Wonder Under it's a LOT cheaper by the yard. It's also great to have around... I stabilize all my button holes with it! Just make sure it's a "tear away".
• Thread in coordinating colors of your fabric scraps
• Buttons will make great wheels or eyes! {SOMEONE please do an OWL and show me!}
• fabric scraps
• iron
• sewing machine with a zigzag stitch--- I'm not sure there's such thing as a sewing machine without zig zag so if you have a sewing machine you're in business!

First make sure you wash and dry your shirt, blanket, towel, or whatever you are appliqueing. The cute little kimono shirt JM had on with the train came in a 2 pack from Target {Circo brand with all the onesies {of course I can't find it online} they were 2 for $7.99}. Thanks, cousin Melissa... we used our gift card to secure these little precious numbers!

While you're washing & drying your garment, I recommend you browse through clip art for images. The train I made up in my mind, the camper I found here and thought of MommaSissy & Courtney and their wild RV adventure! Here's my "inspiration" for the RV!

Next, you'll want to cut out your design on paper and make a stencil/template of it. You will want to keep in mind that your design will be "mirror imaged" when you iron it on your garment. Also keep the scale in mind... the long sleeve tee is a 3t and the design is about 3.5" x 3.5". The train below is closer to 2" x 1.5"!

Iron the Wonder Under to the wrong side of your scraps. Leaving the paper on one side. You will peel the paper off and iron the cut out shapes to your shirt when you're ready. Once your scraps are all "secured" with the Wonder Under trace your designs onto the paper backing of the Wonder Under on your scraps. Like this {sorry, poor pict quality}...

And then cut out all your shapes. In my case I cut out the RV body, the windows, door, bumper & hitch.

And then peel away the paper backing and iron them on your shirt. The Wonder Under is an important step because it will prevent your fabric from fraying & it holds it in perfect position while you zigzag... no pins needed here!!

Cut a square of your tear-away stabilizer and put it under your shirt where you've ironed your applique on. Before you start your zig zag stitches be sure to practice & stabilize your practice stitches too! **If you're really new to sewing or new to your machine you may want to practice your entire applique on a scrap before trying it on your shirt! I don't want anyone cussing me!**

My machine is computerized and I set my width on 1.8 and my length on .5. You'll also want to double check and make sure you've pulled the shirt completely away under your design. You'd be really sad if you sewed your shirt shut. Be sure your zig zag goes through your applique fabric and over the edge of your fabric into your t-shirt when you zig & zag. This will keep it from fraying. You can do it tight or loose... which ever you prefer. The train {pictured below} I did looser {longer stitches} than on the camper.

You'll see in this picture where I started & stopped w/ the door...

You can tie a knot here and trim away threads. Or if your machine has a locking stitch... lock the end and cut without knotting... make sense?

Corners are hard to turn. You'll see on the windows I did the panes first then the sides and then the tops. I didn't attempt to turn those tiny corners. Rounded corners {like the top of the camper} are easier to turn if you don't go super slow... so move at a steady pace as you feed it through your machine! You can see mine are less than perfect! I always love it when y'all show me what you do... so if you try this please email me or comment and add a link if you post pictures on your blog!!! Happy appliqueing!! Now I'm going to sleep on this, make sure I didn't forget anything & post in the morning!

Have I mentioned we have a new son?

We have 1,654,987 pictures of Morgan.
We have 346,852 pictures of Paige.
and we have 4 pictures of John Martin. They're not even in focus, but they do prove 4 points...

• he's loved
• he's fat
• he's happy
• he looks like BOTH of his sisters

Once again {I sound like a broken record} thanks for all your encouragement yesterday! It's always nice to know I'm not alone! I made his little "train" shirt and I'm working on the directions so you can make one too! It was very easy and took all of 15 minutes.

Diet Coke or Jesus...

If the truth be told, which is what I strive for around here, this past summer has probably been the hardest one I've ever faced in my short life on this planet. And the reason I suspect it's been so hard {physically, emotionally, maritally} is because I've been living on Diet Coke and not Jesus. I'm sure there will be a handful of you who will stop reading here because you'll think, "She's lost her mind and is a religious freak" and that's ok if you think that but like I said, I strive to tell the truth around here and so I will. We're in a "hard season" {as Justin likes to say}... 3 kids... 2 toddlers... and one newborn. We don't sleep. I yell at my precious children. My husband has 2 businesses that are rather slow. If there was anything I needed this summer it was Jesus and not Diet Coke. But guess what I chose? Diet Coke. Yes, full of caffeine to make me think I was doing ok and ZERO calories which left me feeling very empty by the end of the summer.

Without accountability of some sort I am a total slacker. So, with all of this said... I am absolutely delighted that SUMMER is OVER and FALL is HERE because I'm back into Bible study and I KNOW from past experience that if Jesus will replace the Diet Coke things will be looking up around here in no time, and if they don't "look" up... at least I know where my strength will come from and it will certainly have more than ZERO calories.

I tell you this to encourage you, because if you are a "slacker like me" {which from past confessions, I imagine some of y'all are in the same boat} if you'll find someone or a study to hold you accountable it's alot easier to give up the Diet Coke*.

*I am speaking figuratively here. By no means do I intend to give up Diet Coke {at least not now} but I guarantee it won't be my life support, but merely a supplement!

Because 'play clothes' can be cute too...

Many of you have expressed interest in buying embroidered & appliqued t-shirts for your children. I've seriously contemplated putting these in my etsy shop but with 3 small children there aren't enough hours in the day for me to take it on. But here's what I've come up with instead...

For over a year now I've wanted to embark on this endeavor and life has simply interrupted me. A house renovation, a pregnancy, and a new baby have all prevented me from moving forward. Well... now I'm ready! I've designed several toddler t-shirts and I'm going to start with these 2 designs and see what happens. There is nothing fancy about them and that is what makes them special. Most {but not all} of the designs have a clip art picture with a Bible verse below. I hope that they will not only encourage your young children but also help them to learn scriptures and Bible stories.

The designs will be screen printed on a short-sleeved t-shirt made by Rabbit Skins. It is a 5.5 ounce, 100% cotton t-shirt and has a more "tailored" look than other "boxy/beefy" type t-shirts. This shirt is very flattering on both boys & girls {and is the actual shirt pictured below}. It tends to run a little on the small side and if in doubt order up a size. They come in 2T, 3T, & 4T. I will be taking orders by email {darby613@gmail.com} for a week {please don't order in the comments section}, when the shirts are in I will email you an invoice and you can pay me through Paypal or personal check. The shirts will be mailed Priority Mail {$4.80 and I will combine shipping for no add'l charge} and will hopefully arrive to your door in 3 weeks. The shirts will cost no more than $16 a piece. The more I print the cheaper they get and of course I will pass the savings on to you!

Now, in my best "used car salesman" voice, if you put a link to this blog post on your blog and advertise for me your name will go in a hat and you will receive a FREE shirt of your choosing! Email me or post your link in the comments!

Here are your two choices and if all goes well... I hope to have more for the fall & Christmas holidays!! And I apologize the pictures aren't any bigger.

1) Selfishly, I have designed a CUTE Auburn t-shirt. It has a "vintage, Aubie-looking" tiger on it and reads "War Eagle!" It will be printed in orange.

2) This t-shirt has a very simple whale and reads "From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. -Jonah 2:1". It will be printed in navy blue.

Ok, I think that's it! For now at least!

Weekend Recap!

Is Monday already almost over? How can it be? Justin and I just returned from Preschool Orientation. I can't believe I'm a parent, let alone the parent of a child that actually is getting ready to go to "school". We met Morgan's teacher tonight and tomorrow she goes for her big first day! She's snug in her bed, her clothes are picked out, and her "school bag" is hanging from the post of her 4-poster bed. Little Raiger thinks she's going too... it will be a rude awakening when she realizes she's not 3 yet, sad thing is, I'll be doing the same thing for her next year this time. Where does the time go?

We had a busy but delightful weekend...

• I had dinner with my husband and John Martin Friday night! Buffalo wings & salad... YUM!
• While dining I got to run to the parking lot and hug the neck of my most precious friend that I don't get to see very often as she drove through town! What a treat!
• John Martin & I took a trip to see the pediatrician Saturday morning
• The little man has a plugged & infected tear duct
• We ate dinner here at the house with friends Saturday night and watched the Olympics! Once again I could be found jumping up and down in front of the tv! Go USA!
• The little man also came down with nasty nasal congestion Saturday night
• He sounds like he's breathing through a coffee stirrer {it will nearly break your heart and keep you up all night long at the same time}
• Justin mowed the grass and swam with the girls
• I made an craft apron for a young man named Clark
• I got to worship with my family on Sunday morning. It takes an act of Congress to get all of us dressed {of which I'm the hardest to dress-- I think I tried on 12 different things before finally finding something that would accommodate the mammary glands me} and out the door but we made it, the Lord was there and I'm so glad I was too!
• I also got to run to Target by myself on Sunday afternoon
• We celebrated Justin's dad's birthday with his family on Sunday night
• I didn't sleep last night because I was listening to my poor child try to breathe
• If you think about it, would you please pray for his little, teeny, tiny sinuses that are congested?

Ok, now I'm ready to fold that last load of laundry and hop in bed! Hope you all had simply delightful & refreshing weekends!!

Proud to be an American

Auburn football and USA swimming {especially Michael Phelps mad skills} are the only two sporting events that make me jump up and down in front of the tv screen like an absolute mad woman! I really think my children {who were still awake last night} thought I had lost my mind!

Please tell me you all saw it!?

Way to go USA!

Congealed Salads & Strollers

If that title doesn't make you wonder I'm not sure anything will. The fact of the matter is these 2 things just so happen to be on my mind lately.

I'll start with the Congealed Salads.

I'm an anti-texture person {as in, I have an aversion to textures in foods that I think would be better smooth}. I like my yogurt creamy without "fruit on the bottom" or anywhere for that matter. I like my oatmeal cookies without the raisins. I like my chocolate chip cookies & brownies without the nuts. You get the picture. So, you can also imagine that "Congealed Salads" are probably pretty far from my radar screen. It tends to be the one dish I usually avoid at Thanksgiving and those "Quarterly Church-wide Covered Dish" meals. Well, I'm proud to announce that I'm growing up and I have potentially turned into Aunt Bethany {you know, from Christmas Vacation-- where she brings a jello mold clad with cat food}.

While I was recovering from the birth of the last child, my friend Tami brought us a delicious dinner and with it was a congealed salad. Living in the deep south, I imagine a meal is often thought incomplete without a congealed salad or white acre peas. Being a "transplant" I've become aware of these type things. Anyway, the salad was orange in nature and looked fairly harmless, I didn't see too many "chunks" and I thought I might try it... so I did. And it was absolutely delicious. And guess what? The girls loved it too. So the other day I went searching for the recipe, I knew it had pineapple, orange jello & cool whip but I couldn't remember the rest. I found it. The pineapple in the salad was "crushed" and had it been "chunked" I may have wimped out. Anyway, when I was searching for the "Orange Buttermilk Salad" I came across a recipe for a "Strawberry Pretzel Salad" I'm sure I'm the last person on earth to try this delectable, but just in case I'm not have you ever heard of such a concoction? You must try it. It's not nearly as gross as it sounds, in fact it's delicious. The crushed pretzels and butter make a salty yummy crust which is topped with a sweetened cream cheese layer, and it's all topped with the "congealed" strawberries! Mmmm! The only thing I would do differently is go for fresh strawberries rather than the frozen sliced ones. They were in syrup and that combined with the jello was too sweet. Y'all try it!

***

The next topic that has been on my mind lately is STROLLERS. Well, actually leaving the house has been on my mind lately and with three very little ones in order to accomplish "leaving the house" a stroller is necessary. I'm not talking about leaving the house to go shopping or anything that would require taking all 3 in public just yet. I'm talking about taking my 3 children out of the house to go for a walk. Morgan starts preschool next week, but will only go 2 days a week, which leaves 3 more weekdays at home with mommy. I'm sure the time I'm allowed on my own with the baby the 2 days she's at school will be used for more urgent needs {like grocery shopping} rather than walking. So, I started to look online for a stroller that would accommodate 3 children. I could use my sling & a double stroller but I after just a couple uses I've been made aware it's not intended for exercise use.

I've come to the conclusion that in order for me to leave I will have to...

a) find a stroller that all 3 can ride in

or

b) find someone who will walk with me and push a stroller with one child while I push a stroller with 2

In my search this is what I found...

Seriously, how hard would you laugh if you saw me pushing this thing down the street? It really looks like I could fit three 7-year olds in it. Not to mention the fact that I think the children would need some counseling if I made them ride in it. And it would only look more "normal" if I wore a helmet while pushing it.

Then there's this one...

Which isn't really that bad, but... we'd have to draw straws before the walk to determine which of the 3 would get to ride shotgun hood ornament. And from the looks of it, it'd have to be the Raiger and it'd take a handful of pacis to get her in there.

Maybe I'll just TRY to get up early and walk by myself. That sounds much more enjoyable at this stage of my life... and it's certainly a lot cheaper... those strollers cost $785 and $700 respectively. Yeah, I'll just walk by myself. It'd probably be better for my mental health anyway!

"the old has gone, the new has come"

For those of you who have been around know that I thoroughly enjoy things that are old, especially if they can be made new. If you haven't been around long you can read more about this here. One thing that has always tickled my fancy is vintage fabric. Unfortunately it is fairly hard to come by if you want pieces that are decent in size, in good shape & unstained. You can find loads of it online but because I can't feel it, smell it, or see ALL of it, I tend to be hesitant to purchase.

While we were away on our adventure Erika and I hit up the "Vintage Collection" which she has featured {w/pictures} here. I was smitten with all the tea towels and tablecloths and managed to come across the little gem pictured above {for less than $3}. Isn't she so pretty? I could buy a kitchen hand towel at Target or Kmart for the same price {or less} but it certainly wouldn't be this pretty or have any "history". She hangs on my dishwasher handle and brightens my kitchen.


This fabric has been in my mother's sewing closet for probably 30+ years. And thankfully it has been traveling with me for the last 6+ years. They don't make fabric like this anymore, or if they do, I haven't seen it. I've always wanted to do "something" with it but haven't come across the right project. Well, yesterday in my computer's absence I sat down during nap time and did a little something just for me.

For those of you who are interested in sewing but are just getting started or for those of you who love to sew and have been doing it for many years, I recommend you check out Sew Mama, Sew! and their BLOG. It's in my "reader" and I always love to see what's up next. They are chocked full of free tutorials. I read about this "tote tutorial" shortly after John Martin was born, printed it off, and have been wanting to try it. I'm starting a Bible study next week and couldn't think of a better reason to create a new bag to tote my books & Bible in! Irene knows what she's talking about and has created a very easy to follow tutorial. I followed it to a "T" {well, I did pin my long straps before I sewed them shut because they didn't want to feed through the machine together} and I'm beyond thrilled with the result! I had never used my "triple stitch" and realized what a fantastic stitch it is for items like bags. I also like the "aesthetic" effect of a "thick" looking stitch.


The bag's gussets make it a great bag for hauling anything from books, to toys, to groceries. It was very easy to make and I highly recommend this tote-torial! {Ok, that was cheesy!} Please share pictures if you give this one a try!

Road trip recap & pictures...

I absolutely love to go home.

I don't do it near as often as I would like.

Being a mother of 3 little ones probably plays a factor in not making it there as often.

And the fact that it's 12 hours away.


I've been wanting to post this post "a trip recap" since last Tuesday night but life has been lived & the blog has sat still. My apologies! I wanted to be creative and clever in my post about the trip. I wanted to let y'all know that I had so much fun, that the trip was long, that the children {all of them} were well behaved, and that I didn't want to come home when it was time to leave. I also wanted to tell you that my parents have hummingbirds like south Alabama has gnats. That I have a wonderful mother who is a "good woman" like the plaque above her kitchen sink reads. And that the farm is truly one of my most favorite places on earth. But I've been so tired lately and when I've had a chance to blog... it's been late and all I can really think about doing is getting in bed.


I also wanted to tell you that the most memorable part of the road trip took place at none other than my favorite eating establishment: the DQ. We were in the heart of Amish country when we see a young man pull up in his tractor {thankfully I had my camera handy}. What I thought was just a young Amish gentleman rolling up to the DQ for a snack ended up being much more. Look at the pictures and see what else he had in "tow". I love the Amish for so many reasons: their faith, their talents, their convictions, their simple lives... but I'm still smiling about this one.

I loved seeing my family and it's always such a treat to see aunts, uncles, grand parents and cousins. We enjoyed family around delicious meals and my mouth is already watering to go back soon!

Once again, I'm ready for bed... so here's a link to our pictures from the weekend!

Farm Road trip

If you haven't read/seen Erika's recap: HERE IT IS!

For all you stalkers...

WHAT DOESN'T KILL US, MAKES US STRONGER!

We made it home late Tuesday night and I'm still recovering. It took us 12 hours on the dot to get there and thankfully only 11 & 1/2 hours to get home. Justin's taking the computer for the day so I thought I'd just post a quick one and tell you we made it out alive. The stay itself was very relaxing and extremely enjoyable. The trip wasn't horrible... just long and tiring. Before I went I thought a Suburban was a big vehicle, after cramming 7 people, 2 dogs, luggage and a big cooler in it felt more like a mini Cooper. Nonetheless, fabulous memories were made and lots of laughs along the way. Here are just a couple pics and I'll try to get the rest on Picasa and post more specifics soon! I'm still up to my eyeballs in laundry and luggage... oh, and poopy diapers from a young man who has decided that he's going to be a "cryer"... Lord, please help me! :)

I didn't get too many fabulous pictures but this is pretty much what Erika did this weekend. I know if no one but Marla appreciates it it's worth posting because it absolutely cracks me up! :) Her camera is AWESOME and I tried to figure out how to steal it, but considering it never left her face, the most creative plans were never acted on!

Looking forward to recapping the whole weekend soon!