Daddy's girl!!!

Faith's face painting, again!

Sent from my amazing toaster oven!

Double the Fun!

I am so excited about these two little party hats that were made especially for the twins of one of my closest friends growing up. Her girls, Garet and Kitt, were born last year VERY prematurely and so this first birthday milestone is particularly meaningful. SO many people have prayed for these two girls and they are growing up to be just so lovely!!!

To see the hats actually ON the girls during their first birthday party, visit their blog at http://kittandgaret.blogspot.com/

Sewage sink

Sent from my amazing toaster oven!

Chicken Chronicles (continued)

Just for those of you on pins and needles as to how our fine hens are faring these days, I snapped a few shots of the girls:

Above, you see Tammy/Tonya (they look too similar for me to tell them apart), Little Red, Bianca, Dottie (bottom right), Mavis, and Matilda.

And this is Dottie strutting her stuff for the camera, with Bianca in the background. Dottie is a Silver Laced Wyandotte (see how she got her name?) and I simply lurve her markings!

Faith & Daddy nailing together the cabinet

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Faith using her new toolbox, set up with stubby hammer, screwdrivers, & big nails

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Faith helping her daddy install the dishwasher!

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Hallelujah! Kevin's putting in a dishwasher!!!

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Another creative clothing choice by Faith

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Breakfast for Faith!

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Cupcake taste testing with Noni and Yogi! Yum!

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Sandbox, inside!

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Cat nap with a cat!

Faith went to take a nap and found Lewis the cat already in her bed! So, she snuggled down and slept next to him. He hasn't moved, even with covers thrown over his head. They make an adorable scene. :)
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

PVC Kidwash, made by my dad!

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Headless dinosaur sandwiches, ha!

Gramma Betty and Dad,
This reminds me of you both making sandwich sailboats to make lunch more fun!!! Now, they make cute sandwich cutters that cut them into dinosaurs or a pair of hearts! I have also been using small cookie cutters to make cheese in the shapes of fish, sharks, and dolphins. Fun! Thanks for being fun when I was growing up; it makes it easier to be fun with my kid now. :)

Love you both,
Amy
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

What Faith is wearing to the grocery store!

I love my girl's independent spirit, but really???

I will be found on a different aisle, thank you very much!

Red, White, & Blue, Happy 4th to You!

We enjoyed a night out on the town...watching fireworks, eating pizza and listening to live music at Barley's, and walking hand-in-hand together as a family in the cool mountain summer evening air. God bless America!!! What did you do this Independence Day?

Hip, Hip, Hooray for Party Hats!

So, this has been my latest craft/sewing obsession:

The fishy 3 hat on the left was made for Faith's Under The Sea birthday party last weekend. I machine embroidered the 3 around the edges in order to make it stand out. The K hat on the right was made for a sweet nurse whose birthday happened to be 2 days after Faith's! She wore it in the office the whole time we were there!

I hand embroidered the K on her hat and really liked the outcome MUCH more.

Well, tomorrow we are going to the birthday party of a friend of Faith's named Mitchell. You know I had to make a party hat for him! Faith went with me to pick out the fabric and we had a great time. She says she wants a bug hat too!

Again, I hand embroidered around the M and really like the results. Hope he likes it!!!

I would LOVE to sell these, as I am quickly running out of people whose birthdays are IMMEDIATELY approaching (I am a woman of creative action...and have to do things while the creative juices are flowing, if you will.) So, I have been considering opening a store on Etsy.com. Hmmm....

Love this quote:

"I never had any other desire so strong, and so like to covetousness, as that one which I have had always, that I might be master at last of a small house and a large Garden."
~Abraham Cowley,
The Garden, 1666

Little Jackie O!

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Marker cozy holds crayons and markers

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Marker cozy 2.0

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Summer fun, relaxing in the sun!

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Domino's grave

A Hot Mess!

So. today, I took a phone call from a prospective employer, but before answering the phone told Faith that it was a very important call and she needed to keep herself busy. Well, that she certainly did!

She got into the pantry and somehow reached the cinnamon, which she added to water to make herself some "hot cocoa"! It's more like she made a hot mess! The ENTIRE cinnamon container (and it started out pretty full, if I remember correctly) ended up mostly on the floor. Yikes! And once she actually tasted her concoction, she declared it was more like "Dragon Tea" instead of hot cocoa. Ha! This is one for the books!

Making got cocoa by herself 1

This moment...Fallen Crown

A Friday ritual. A single photo capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

face painted 2.jpg

I'm stickin' with you

Today is Hubby's 32nd Birthday!!! I am so blessed to have such a supportive spouse and partner in parenting. We had a lot of fun quietly and simply celebrating at home this evening. Faith really got into the giving of presents. Here is what she put together as a gift last minute for her daddy:

If you knew her personally, you would realize what a gift rocks are from that girl. She REALLY loves her rocks!

This is one of the best presents (well, in my humble opinion!) that he received:

I was inspired to make this after seeing Stephanie Congdon Barnes' version on her blog. After some serious marriage drama, I thought this would be just the way to say that I was willing to "stick it out" with him. The stick itself is constructed from a pair of great corduroy pants that I found at Goodwill but didn't quite fit Hubby (they must have been labeled very wrong, which is perhaps what landed them at the thrift store in the first place!). Then, Faith and I stuffed it with polyfil and I made the sawed ends with felt embroidered in a swirl pattern to show the wood grain. Then, I knit a leaf and backed it with green felt.

I love all the varied textures combined to make this!

It's hard to read, but amongst the veins on the leaf, I embroidered the words "I'm stickin' with you". I played the song by the same name for him while he was unwrapping it.

And, really, how could I not commit to a man with that great smile and those awesome dimples?!? :) Happy Birthday, Honey! xoxox

Festival Fun!

We went to the Montford Arts and Music Festival this weekend with my super sweet in-laws, which was so much fun! One of my favorite booths was selling seeds collected by children from a local elementary school. These were some of the AMAZING seed packets that the children made using watercolor pencils:

Faith was also brave enough to have her face painted! This was a first for her. She wanted a pink dragon with wings, and I think that's what she got:

/>

What a great day full of fun with people we love!

May Faire Fun!

Following are just a few photos from our lovely time at a May Faire this past weekend. First, we have my favorite girl climbing her first tree, trying to beat the heat in the shade of its foliage (I know, enough "F" alliteration already!):

Next, you can see her standing at the base of the May Pole in her yellow dress and pigtails, patiently waiting for her turn to hold and walk around with a ribbon.

And finally, she got her own turn to hold and weave a May Pole ribbon--and a purple one at that!

What a wonderful way to spend a Sunday afternoon!

Practicing for her birthday...in a month!

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Making a wish

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

This moment...

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

This moment...

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

My shoes all lined up!

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

This moment...

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.