One Year Ago Today

I can't believe that it's been a whole year since our sweet Bruce was taken from us. He's 2 now... almost 3. I can remember like it was yesterday the feeling I felt when I put him in the carseat one last time and told him goodbye with tears streaming down my face. I could tell by the look on his face that he didn't want to go. That made it even harder.
For days and weeks after, I couldn't say his name or recall a memory without breaking down in tears.
He was such a blessing to our family. We loved him so very much!
I pray all the time that he is happy, healthy and most of all LOVED very much!! We miss him all the time and can now look back with smiles on our faces and remember what wonderful times we had with him. We are so grateful that the Lord put him in our lives to love and take care of. I may not always understand why he had to go... but I try not to focus on that so much.... but more on the love that we had for him and the times we shared.
We love you Bruce and we always will!!

Bruce and Cherry Pie, Feb. 2009

Bruce and his Speghetti, Feb. 2009

Mmmmm Yogurt, Dec. 2008

I LOVE this sweet face! He loved making us laugh at the dinner table.

Bathroom Make Over!

*Note: My computer at home is not my friend! Example: the pictures are backwards and it wont let me move them around like I usually am able to! UGH

Moving on.

The kids bathroom has always been such a BLAH place. Painted with this grey that nothing goes with...it was just a boring place to be!

Before we start on our kitchen, I thought it would be good to get our "feet wet" with this bathroom upstairs.

Owl Fever!

I feel I'm slightly obsessed with owls. They are EVERYwhere now! Home decor, children's bedding, crafting, holiday decor....everywhere. AND I LURVE IT!!!! A few of my favs....My sweet feathery white owl that I got 1/2 off as Christmas decor. SUPER cute...and he will stay out year-round!
My ADorABLE owl place mats for V-day. I got these last year at Target. They were the template and inspiration behind my 2nd sewing project on my new machine....
This owl pillow. OH I COULD EAT HIM!! no, not really...to fuzzy!

First Creations

After I got my new machine I was just dying to sew! Of course I had to start with something hard...you know me! I got this really cute pattern for ruffled capris off of Etsy at "The Sweetest Patterns". It was an easy PDF pattern that you just cut out the pattern and tape it on the red dots. Simple enough.

So I went to work...

Gathered my fabric. Got this CUTE combo at "Quiltworks" in Nichols Hills! Love it!! I think the smaller one is Amy Butler, but can't remember who the flower print was by.

Cut and taped my pdf pattern together...that was easy, thank goodness!Before I dare cut...I consulted my "Complete Photo Guide to Sewing" book (aka my sewing bible right now). Then I did it... Wish I would've taken pictures of all my steps, but I think I was so focused on not messing anything up that I totally forgot to. Anyhow..... here's the end result! I was very proud of my first item of clothing EVER! They even fit...no, not me... little Caroline from across the street!

My New Baby! tee hee hee

No, dont freak out! It's "just" my new sewing machine...Ms. Bernina 1006! Isn't she lovely!? I was really fortunate to have found her on Craigslist for $50.... YES $50... dollars. After a quick tune-up she was ready to go. It has been so much fun having her in my craft room. She really sews with such ease. I'm sure I will log many'a stitch on this beaut!

BlaGH!ging

Yes...I'm putting the BLAH in blahging! For whatever reason I have been MIA from my blog. I'm not sure if it was my "homemade Christmas", or Oklahoma blizzard of '09, a house full of guests that are snowed in for days (with me), or my craft room trying to go up in smoke....that had ANYthing to do with it...wink wink! I feel like after Thanksgiving is just a BLUR to me. Christmas shopping, planning, wrapping, hosting, etc...

As I went through pictures to try and figure out what i did in December, I came across a few projects that I did.

First I started on my "homemade Christmas"... Neighbor gifts...

1. Make your own .29 cent coasters!!

So for this project you just need 4 tiles from the hardware store. I got mine from Lowes for around $.29 each. I experimented with the white ceramic tiles, but I feel they are much too big and I like the rounded edges on the others better.

Make sure you wipe them off. They sure seemed dusty! You want your mod-podge to stick good.

Next, choose your favorite tissue paper (Hob Lob) has cute paper, and I bet Hallmark does too. Cut out 4 squares the size of your coasters.

Now apply a nice, even coat of Mod Podge on your coaster (we are doing one at a time here). Lay your square of tissue paper on the coaster starting at one end and lightly pat it down (don't rub too much, your paper will rip). There will be some wrinkling, but that's OK..it adds character.

As you can see, mine hung over the side a bit...it's ok, you can lightly sand it off with a downward motion.

Next, you will want to put another coat of mod podge on.

Do this for all 4 coasters!

After the first coat has dried, put about 2 more coats on!! I'm so frustrated with myself that i didn't take a "finished" picture! I'm bad about that. Trust me they were cute!! So for $2.66 ($1.16 for the coasters and $1.50 for the tissue paper) I made a great neighbor gift...but you can use them for b-day, house-warming, "thank you" or any gift you want!!

I have a few more things that took up time over the holidays that I will post about soon.

Lots of Christmas posting to do!!!

Thanksgiving!

With Thanksgiving being tomorrow...I wanted to take a moment and count a few of my MANY blessings this year!!! I am so grateful for all the Lord has blessed my family with and I hope that I give Him glory every day...not just on Thanksgiving!!! Tomorrow we will celebrate the day with Clint's parents, his sister and her hubby... and our kids of course! I am looking forward to getting together with the family since it seems like it has been a long time! We will enjoy another feast on Sunday when we go to Aunt Carolyn's house!!
This year has been full of many, many wonderful blessings and a "few" hard times. God has seen us through it all and we are stronger for them!
We have many wonderful memories of a sweet, precious baby boy that graced our lives with his presence for 6 beautiful months. A sweet, tiny, innocent baby girl that melted our hearts and the hearts of everyone around her!
We sadly had to say "goodbye" to Ellis Homes and had to watch as my mother and father in-law had to move, move, and move again!! So very blessed to say that they are now in a warm home and are healthy and happy! We were very blessed to be able to purchase our house this September. What a wonderful gift that was!
Poor Laynie has had a few broken bones this year... first with her leg and then again with her nose! Bless her heart... she was such a good sport through it all. Always keeping a positive attitude, even when we had to wash her hair over the tub every night!!
Blake was truly blessed to come out of (what seemed like) year-round baseball with not ONE SINGLE injury! He is a funny, kind, gentle young man and we are so proud of the choices he has made thus far! Both of the kids are just a joy to be around and I really couldn't have asked for better "step-kids" then the two of them!
I'm grateful for the leaps and bounds that my relationship with their Mom has made this year. All I can say is that when you pray and pray.... God always listens.

Clint and I have been blessed with wonderful jobs that keep a roof over our heads, food on our table and clothes on our backs! Who could as for more in this rough economic time when there are so many others that are just barely making it by...and some that aren't even that lucky!
We love each other more now then the day we married and we are so happy that we have the love of Jesus Christ surrounding our marriage and our home!

We are so grateful for such loving, giving, precious friends!! We moved to the "sac" (cul-de-sac) with such heavy hearts... leaving behind our "dream house" and all that we thought we could ever want. Little did we know that moving to the "sac" was the best thing that could have happened to us and our family. Meeting our best friends, Jeff and Kerri Due... and their sweet children has truly been Gods hand at work!!!! Now, I don't look back and wish we were still on Native Dancer Dr., but I look just across the street and say, "Thank you God" for such a beautiful friendship!

For all of this we give God the glory! He has blessed our lives and continues to do so each and every day.

Happy Thanksgiving!