Getting Crafty

This morning the weather was abysmal. After running to the commissary which had to be done, I decided we were going to hunker in where it was warm and dry.
To pass the time I pulled up pinterest and my little professor and I did two fun crafts that I had "pinned" in his folder.
The first was a fall tree using his hands as the leaves and branches, (I really love hand and footprint crafts). He added his own touch by putting thumbprints on the ground to show the fallen leaves.

After the picture was done he and I worked together to make a jack-o-lantern garland, meaning I did the cutting, he did the designing. We hung it on two hooks that we use to hang garland on for Christmas. It provides a nice splash of color to our large wall in our living room.

After watching the rain turn to snow I figure we should do all of our fall crafts this week, while it is still fall weather!!!

Tradtions

As I have gotten older I am more thankful for traditions. This time of the year makes me think through them. In my family growing up, every Christmas Eve we went down to Union Station in DC to look at the Christmas decorations and then after dinner would drive around and look at lights. And then because of allergies we had a "fake" tree, and it was always fun trying to figure out the branches!
I have enjoyed starting traditions with my family as well. Being military, you move around alot, and last year I loved being able to take our kids to get a Christmas tree at the same place we did the year before. It is a nice luxury to go back to the familiar.
Last year my friends and I discovered the most awesome pumpkin patch! We spend the whole day there and wore all the kids out.

This is a picture of my kiddos last year at the patch

This is a picture of them this year....lots of changes!!! (including being alot harder to pose this year as they are both so mobile!)
We added a few new friends this year. One thing about being in the military is that your "family" is always flexible. Some years we may have 5 families going, the next year 15.
I love traditions. They are so special. I am treasuring these times with my kids because I know before long they are going to be grown up and making traditions of their own.

Time Behind My Camera

I really enjoy getting behind the lens of my camera. Today I got to take some pictures for a new friend of mine. You couldn't have asked for a better day...it was a wonderfully warm fall day. They graciously allowed me to try some new ideas and poses I have come across recently and I am really pleased with how they turned out. I am still editing some of them, but wanted to share a few of my favorites!!!

We all know that I love taking pictures of little girls in tutu's!!

Such a sweet moment!

One of the new ideas I wanted to try!!!

Struggles

Usually when I sit down to write a blog post I have it all neatly organized in my head. I know the direction and the purpose for writing. This time is a bit different, I am just hoping that this writing serves a purpose.
I feel like I have spent the majority of this year in tears and fear. My little girl has had multiple seizures. The one that happened on May 9th was extremely scary, and caused her to be intubated and sedated. It seems like in many ways I can't get passed that day. Whenever she starts acting the way she did that day, it is like I am physically transported back there. The terror, uncertainty and all around panic flood my body and mind.
Being a Christian, I know that we are not supposed to live in fear. I can quote multiple Bible verses that deal with the fact that God is in control, nothing happens to us unless it is ordained by Him, and that He is the Father of peace. I know these things....but at this point I feel like my fear is bigger than the promises.
It is not like I am rebelling against God. I am searching for Him and crying out to Him with all of my heart, I know that He is the only way I am going to break through these chains of fear. I feel like He is near, yet so far away.
I was doing better, she hadn't had a seizure in five months, and then this past week she had two. We still don't have answers, and in alot of ways I feel like I am fighting an unknown enemy who could strike at anytime. It is very exhausting. I feel like it is easy for the doctors to say, "well, this looks like it will just be a part of your day to day life now", they don't have to live it! It isn't their child, who looks so little, lying there seizing, staring at them, but not recognizing them.
I want to come out of this a stronger person, I want to come out of this, just a little more like Christ, I want the way I handle all of this to be a shining light of God's love and protectiveness, but I am just not there yet.

Tu-Tu Much Fun!

I have been wanting to work on my daughters Halloween costume for awhile now, and today I finally got to.
She is going to be a black cat....today I made her little black tu-tu to go with her costume!

Using a crocheted hairband I got at JoAnn Fabrics I tied on the tulle to make a very easy no-sew part of her costume.

While I was contemplating making her black tu-tu the other day I thought how cute it would be to make her a "candy corn" tutu to wear when we got pumpkin picking. Using the same method I made her a really cute tu-tu! It may be a bit long for trudging through the pumpkin patch, but I will bring it along for some photos!

I was really pleased on how they turned out. It was very simple and a wonderful way to spend an afternoon naptme!

Taking Time to THINK!

I came across this acronym last week:

T: Is it true?
H: Is it helpful?
I: Is it inspiring?
N: It it necessary?
K: Is it kind?

I really liked it, and thought it would be a great reminder to hang on our wall. I need to take a moment and think before I speak.
This afternoon I took a canvas from a botched art project, painted over it with a few colors, added the acronym and a few paper flowers for embellishment.

Now it is hanging on our play area wall as a constant reminder to tame our tongues.

Ephesians 4:29
"Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear."

Let the Fun Begin!

My dear daughter started toddling at 9 months, so child-proofing started early in our house. However in the past week I have had to become inventive, since she can now climb up on our bar chairs and open doors.
The doors are pretty easy to take care of thanks to child-proof knobs and locks, but here climbing habits were a bit harder. She loves to sit up at the counter and try to "help" me with whatever I might be doing at the time.
After a frustrating day yesterday I came up with a plan. I had made my son a "bored box", why not do something like that for her? I took a small metal tin that I picked up at Hobby Lobby. I put a magnet or two on the outside, since she loves playing with those. Inside I put stickers, crayons, paper and a pen. It kept her busy this morning so I could get things done. She seemed really excited to have her own "work" to do!

Enjoying her work station.....and Mommy kept her sanity this morning!!!!

Stretching Myself

While I love being crafty, I have never really gotten in the groove of sewing. It has been something I have always wanted to learn, but always gotten frustrated before the task was completed.
Awhile ago I saw a great idea for using baby blankets to cover pillows. There are two of my daughters blankets that I haven't been able to part with so I decided to try....I mean how hard could it be?
A friend of mine came over today and set up my sewing machine. I sat down after I put my daughter down for a nap and attempted to use the machine. After three broken needed I decided that I should abandon the machine, since I only had two more needles left. I picked up a needle and thread and whipped stitched the blanket. I added some ribbon detail to the end to make it washable, pulled on it a couple of times to make sure it wouldn't fall apart, and now I have a cute lounging pillow for my daughter.
Hopefully the next one will be a bit easier....I think I need stronger needles!!!

My starting materials

The ribbon detailing I added to make it washable...figured that would be a good idea!

The finished product!

A Bit of Decorating

On Friday I had a TON to do. My dear husband and I were getting ready to go out of town, the young ones were going to spend the weekend at the in-laws, we had doctors appointments in the afternoon, and I was being overtaken by laundry!
However, I did need to do some cleaning, so I combined it with some re-arranging of some fall decorations. I also added to the collection by decorating the pumpkin that my little guy brought home from a field trip. It was a tad small to carve, so using some festive fall ribbon I created a cute addition to my decorations.

The pumpkin with the ribbon accent....I really love how it turned out!

It made a nice addition to the shelf on the entertainment center!

I added some pumpkin ribbon to our magazine basket so it was ready for the fall!

My fall table. I think an apple VBS project gave it a nice touch!

Above the table I hung the candy corn wreath I made last year. I was excited to get it out again!

All you need is some ribbon, a styrofoam wreath, candy corn and a glue gun.

While I didn't get everything on my "to do" list done, I sure enjoyed taking a break to decorate!!

Trial and Sweet Error!

On Sunday my dear husband and I attempted homemade orange marmalade. After watching the "Barefoot Contessa" make it on her show we have wanted to try making it. I mean if they eat it in the Hamptons it has to be good. I had inadvertently read "4 oranges" and "5 lbs of oranges". So we doubled the batch. Keep in mind we had never attempted jams or jellies or any such thing before.
In doubling the recipe we didn't consider adjusting the cooking time. There was a lot of "this isn't jelling fast enough", "I think I burned it", and "this just doesn't look right". However, we gamely trudged ahead with it, putting it in jars and telling ourselves "all will be better when it cools."
By Tuesday it had cooled down enough to jell, and although looking a bit darker than most marmalade looked like it had potential.
I didn't try it until this morning after baking some cranberry scones. Keep in mind, I have never had orange marmalade before, but I thought it was simply yummy! It was a nice mid-morning snack.

Now I feel comfortable sharing the marmalade with friends since I know it actually tastes good.

Both the marmalade recipe and the scone recipe are Ina Gartens and can be found on foodnetwork.com

In One of "Those" Times...

Lately the time after my son gets home from school has been extremely stressful. My imaginative boy can't seem to come up with anything to do that is productive. The words, "I'm bored" are common to hear around our house. He has tons of ideas to torment his sister, get into mischief and such, but I would like to stop this cycle.
Last night was extremely difficult and I turned into "yelly" mommy, which I don't like. So after giving it some thought I put together "Cameron's Bored Box". I simply took an empty Rubbermaid container I had around and decorated it. In it I put some productive activities that he could do. Some fun workbooks, some basic art supplies, dominos, stickers and such. I plan to rotate the items so that there are new things. Hopefully this will help keep the time before dinner a little calmer.

What's for Breakfast?

Now that Cameron is in school I have been working to try to find healthy, filling breakfast choices. I found a couple of ideas that I have enjoyed.

Today I made some homemade granola bars I used Ina Garten's recipe. I did change some of the fruit, using apricots, dried cherries and craisins. It was a beautiful array of fall colors! I left out the coconut on part of it, since I am allergic. I love the way they came out. The have such pretty fall colors and I can't wait for my son to try them, and I plan on sending them with my hubby to work!!!

Homemade Granola Bars

Ingredients

2 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
1 cup sliced almonds
1 cup shredded coconut, loosely packed
1/2 cup toasted wheat germ
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2/3 cup honey
1/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup chopped pitted dates
1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
1/2 cup dried cranberries

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8 by 12-inch baking dish and line it with parchment paper.

Toss the oatmeal, almonds, and coconut together on a sheet pan and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned. Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl and stir in the wheat germ.

Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees F.

Place the butter, honey, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook and stir for a minute, then pour over the toasted oatmeal mixture. Add the dates, apricots, and cranberries and stir well.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Wet your fingers and lightly press the mixture evenly into the pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until light golden brown. Cool for at least 2 to 3 hours before cutting into squares. Serve at room temperature.

A Tale From Mommyland

This year has stretched me alot! I had previously thought that I had a pretty decent handle on "mommyhood". I mean, really, how hard could it be?
Then God gave me my little Roo. I love her to pieces, but this little girl is constantly teaching me that I need more patience, more wisdom and more creativity when it comes to being a mommy.

My son was a pretty easy going baby and toddler. He had his moments as all little ones do, but overall was pretty easy.
My biggest struggle with Roo comes from her health problems earlier in the years. She has had multiple seizures and most of them came right after I disciplined her. The doctors have assured me that one didn't have anything to do with the other, but it has still kept me from disciplining her as I should. When she acts up I flash back to that horrible day when I thought I was going to loose her. I see her hooked up to all the machines and watching a machine breathe for my little girl. It still terrifies me.
She is now about 19 months old and has figured out how to manipulate me. She acts out because she knows that I will comfort and try to calm her down instead of disciplining her. This has made for a stressful home, which I don't like.
After alot of praying this morning God told me that it is my responsibility to train her, the rest is in His hands. She was His child before He gave her to me. He can keep her safer than I ever could. He was there when she was sick and He was holding her in the palm of His hand. Nothing happens to her that He doesn't know about.
So we are trying some new things. She is at the age where she is very easily distracted. I made a "time out" jar for her this morning.

With some glitter glue, food coloring, hot water and some loose glitter, I made a jar that I plan to shake when she starts getting ready to throw one of her temper tantrums. I am hoping that watching the glitter fall will distract her and calm her down, I think it might help me too. I also need to be more consistent with discipline. I wouldn't have allowed my son to act the way I let her act, so I can't let this behavior go on.
So if you think about it, please pray for me in this. Pray that God will give me the strength and wisdom to train her to be a godly woman.