Grands!

My mom now has 13 Great Grand Children, with three added in the last two years. The little one on the left, a real live girl with my maiden name as her last, the first female in 62 years after a LONG line of boys! My son did manage two daughters (with hubby's last name), but none of my four brothers, nor any of their sons produced girls until now. That is also the youngest great, but from her oldest grand son. Little tid bits of trivia. The little boys are gifts from mother's who cared enough about their boys to give them to families who had the resources to love, nurture and raise them in a safe environment with opportunities that they might not otherwise have. Astonishing! We are one lucky and blessed family.

This panel will be an addition to one I made back in 2008 when Baby D was just an infant. Heading to mom's soon and will attach this to the original wall hanging. If I ever find a picture I will come back and post it.

Baby eyes and kissy lips

This was written several years ago. Amazing to look back and remember, cry, and have hope for the future. I will never stop missing the sweet sweet little boy and the magical spirit behind those eyes. He changed me forever.


This was written in 2009.

Baby eyes!

My daughter and her husband are foster parents to a beautiful little boy. We are enjoying him and will as long as God keeps him in our arms. So hard to trust a higher power sometimes when you have fallen in love! But, we must. We have a new adopted grandson that is part of my son's family and I can now post pictures of him. I don't use names on this blog but do put pictures. Here is the little man when we first fell in love.



And here he is now with his Grandfather!

Kissy lips!

So, today, February 4, 2015, I reflect on the big and little people who have come and especially the ones who have gone, due to " the system" or miscarriage, or just "gone too soon". It seems as life goes along, death and loss is just a part of package. I will never "get over" these losses, but certainly have learned to live with them. I do occasionally remember sadly, but I am ever so grateful for knowing them and the hope that always goes along with new life. The biggest thing for those who have passed on is the joy of imaging them in the Saviors presence. God's presence is with each and every one of us, whether we acknowledge HIM or not. HE is so much bigger than we will every be able to understand, that gives me great comfort. 

So . . . to end on a high note. Since this post was originally written, we have had two more little boys come into our lives. When babies come into your life through foster/adoption there is a special blessing. Just pondering the  process of how a random child could end up in your life, and what had to happen to create that opportunity has both sadness and joy. But in the end, they are put in our families care and I take that VERY seriously. I can't imagine thinking this is just randomness. 

So here are two more little boys who have captured my hearts since this post was written (but not published)

The J-man, lover of life, happiness unbounded.

The G-man. The embodiment of preciousness, 

and undoubtedly the BIGGEST surprise of my life.

Shirts

Been making some shirts lately. The blue one is for my son's birthday. Lots of things to get right in a man's dress shirt. Love the challenge, and don't mind the time it takes to do all the bits and bobs required. Getting better and better. Not perfect yet, but it is a great shirt that will serve him well.  

After spending the time and concentration of making a dress shirt, it is fun to whip together an every day shirt for hubby. They only take a few hours start to finish and this one will get lots of use. A fabric he and his friend picked out a couple years ago. 

I also made one for his best buddy. We will take it with us when we visit later this year. This is the third shirt I will have made for his friend. This one might finally be just right. The last one was too short, as his buddy is a big guy. Can you tell? 

I do an extra step these days on the inside of the collar. Makes a difference in the finished product.

I not only tuck, I also stitch the fold down and hit it with that little hammer. The hammer, I believe, belonged to my mom's mom. It is a rather dainty little hammer, perfect for hitting a fold to really get it locked in. And it makes me happy to think of her. I still miss her and she has been gone over 30 years.

See how sharp?

Joshua 1:5

No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. Joshua 1:5

Shelby, Alabama

My family, oh, how I love them. 

We spent a week on a river in Alabama to celebrate our 40th anniversary. Swimming, kayaking, fishing, sunning, reading, watching The World Cup, cooking, cleaning, making origami boxes, stitching, talking, coloring, playing games, playing cards, eating, drinking, sleeping, playing, relaxing, sharing and enjoying our time together. At least, I sure did.

I love my family. 

Hat for bro

Towels and Bibs

More towels and bibs. Just can't have enough, eh? 

Jazzerbear

We have all heard of T-shirt Quilts, and I have made one and have two more in the works. But I had been thinking of what to do with t-shirts with a theme that weren't numerous enough to fill a full size quilt. This idea came out of the blue. I wanted to make something with my old outgrown/worn shirts for a friend who owns the local Jazzercise Franchise. A BEAR! 

First pic is the t-shirts cut up some with the tricot iron on backing. The tricot stabilizes the stretch and really makes for a great, workable piece of T. I really had to take time with this one. Preparing, ironing, then placing the pattern pieces so the bear made sense. 

The bears arm. 

The finished bear, super cute. I hope she loves it. 

I "signed" the bear by using my pilled up class manager shirt that she gave me years ago. I hope she enjoys this little bear, she is getting it for her birthday in April. Fun!

I have been going to Jazzercise for years, my first class was 27 years ago and still remember doing a routine to Barry Manilow. The class was huge. I also Jazzercised in Norway and found a class when we moved back. I have been fortunate to always have a class available in my area. 

Camo Fan

I have a little friend who is turning 8 today. I made him a shirt. I wanted Duck Dynasty, but I could only find flannel and it wasn't very attractive, so went with this instead. Pretty cool. 

The last two shirts

I have made seven of these shirts, and now the whole team at hubby's work is ready for their next conference. I was thinking that making the same shirt over and over was not the most fun I ever had. I think I like a challenge, like fitting someone to make the clothes look nice on their particular figure, or working with new fabrics, styles and patterns. 

The one thing I did enjoy was my old stand by . . . sewing and praying. I happen to know the women who will be wearing the last three shirts that I made. I know that they have each had some challenges in their lives over the past years, and I know that praying for them was easy to do. So maybe I wasn't challenged in the usual way, but it was still a pleasure to sew for them. 

Bake and Pray

This weekend was spent in the kitchen, baking and praying for some folks I love. I wanted to send cookies to my almost 10 year old grandson along with his mom, who celebrates her 34th the same day. Then my brother turns 62 the following day and SIL#1 turns 40 the day after that. I also made a second batch of Thank You cookies that I will take down to the medical center tomorrow to give to all those folks who are part of my care team.  They are the best! I have my check up and expect to hear GREAT news about my current cancer status. I know I am doing better as I can do some pretty serious weight training again, along with cardio, and I do just fine! Whoohooo, here's to good health again! Lovin' it. After being forced to be a couch potato for nearly 4 years, I don't ever want that again, it's GOOD to MOVE THAT BODY cause then you can have an occasional cookie!

The CAR shirt

This is a long promised shirt for Bro#3. It took me a while to get around to making it, but I finally did. He wanted a different fabric, but it is no longer available. I like this because it reminds me of him when he was little. He would sit in the car any time we went anywhere and announce each and every car that went by, saying the make, model and year! Annoying to a big sister, but I was also very impressed with his ability. He is still a pretty cool guy and I am glad to have him as one of my brothers. This one seemed particularly easy to line up the front closing and the pockets. Impressive! 

On the model! What a cool guy. 

The Blue Shirt

This shirt is for SIL#1's birthday coming up. He picked out the fabric earlier this year. At first I thought it was rather a heavy fabric and wasn't sure how it would turn out. Turned out nice and he is one of those who is always a tad cooler than the rest of the world, so the heavier fabric will suit him well. 

The Mustang Shirt

I have gotten better and faster at getting the shirt front and pockets to match up.  This one is for a brother who is soon to have a birthday. Still takes a bit of extra time and fabric, but makes for a really fine shirt, and I appreciate the details. We seem to share our creative gifts with one another. He does some mean woodworking. 

Baby dresses and such

It has been a while since I have made baby dresses. Our church is having it's annual auction coming up and I always try to donate a dress or two. Plenty of grandparents in our congregation and who can resist a cute little girl's dress. The fabric was given to me by a church member, she was clearing out and knows how much I sew. These two pieces were small bits, so I had to be a bit creative, but it worked out nice! I added some trim and buttons that I had in my stash of bits and pieces. I really love a simple little dress on a baby girl. 

I also "fixed" a jammie for my grand daughter. The pattern has a ridiculously large opening for the head and it falls off the shoulder. Next time I will adjust the neckline. I had to figure out what to do and came up with this idea. I placed a panel across the V neck opening. I just folded a piece in half, serged the edge and then sewed it in. Hope it works. Such a cute comfy jammie, too nice to not use. 

I am also working on shirts for me. I like a shirt over a T with a skirt, sort of my uniform. I am trying different styles and using "leftover" fabrics to try some styles. I won't use this pattern again, too short for my taste and although it is supposed to fit using the measurements, it's a bit big and boxy for my taste.  It will get used, but it certainly won't be a favorite. 

For a friend.

Shirts, pants, bags, and other stuff

For my mom. 

For hubby when he cooks. 

Bags for holiday treats.

I have been in the sewing room in fits and starts lately, and I have sure enjoyed it. I have quite a list to take care of in the next few weeks as we will be seeing the grands, a friend has a birthday that I am sewing a gift for, and there are a few other things to take care of. Most are fairly simple, as the above. I can whip these types of things out fairly efficiently if I have time in my little sanctuary filling my tank. Now that I have stepped back from some volunteer positions, and caught up on others, maybe, just maybe the posts on sewing will flow again! As a die hard introvert I need to keep that balance. On the other hand, I can't imagine my life without time with family and friends, that fills me in a different way. 

Is there such a thing as a socializing contemplative? That would be me.  

This weekend is rodeo, lunch with friends, probably a bit of shopping in town, maybe visiting family, the ballet and one hour less to do it all! Last weekend nearly 7 hours in the cold wind helping at the marathon and the weekend before that dinner with friends, rodeo parade, lots of walking/shopping and the ballet. Next weekend a brother and sister-in-law are in town for my big birthday bash. More fun!  

My son got Calvin and Hobbes books for gifts as he grew up. I was thinking about two titles that I remembered.  This is what I need.

This is what I get. 

It is FUN being me.   

BALANCE!