Pettiskirt

Oh my, it's been a long time since I've updated this thing!!!  Sorry!

So this year for Easter I committed crazy.  That's correct...C.R.A.Z.Y.  I decided that I was going to make Hannah and Ava's(my niece) Easter dresses.  But they weren't going to be just any dress.  Oh no.  That just wouldn't do.  I decided to make pettiskirts.  Who can resist those big balls of soft ruffles?!  There were two blogs that got me through, Little bits of Bliss and Make It and Love It. Without these two blogs, I would have thrown my sewing machine and fabric out of the window.  I used Little bits of Bliss to help me figure out how much fabric to use and I used Make It and Love It for practically everything else.  The diagrams on Little bits of Bliss saved my life.  I know that sounds extreme, but unless you have ever made one of these suckers, you can't understand.  Also a huge help was borrowing my sis-in-law's ruffler foot.  I'm pretty sure that little contraption is worth it's weight in gold.  I worked on the skirts for about 2 full days and then pulled an all-nighter the Friday before Easter.  I was exhausted!  But every minute of lost sleep became worth it when I saw this...

And this....

And of course this...

It made it all worth it!!!

The True Meaning of Christmas

Please excuse me while I climb up on my soapbox.  I feel like I need to make a PSA.  The Christmas season has just started and I'm already annoyed by "the true meaning of Christmas".  It seems that everywhere I turn I am being bombarded by "the true meaning of Christmas".  You know what I'm talking about, loving, giving, being nice, family togetherness, sunshine, and rainbows.  *rolling eyes*  That is NOT the true meaning of Christmas!!!  The true meaning of Christmas is that God loved us so much, that He sent His only Son to Earth to be our Savior.(John 3:16)  He was sent to be our pure and spotless lamb, to die for our sins, and three days later to rise again.  Christmas is about celebrating our Father's love.  Don't get me wrong, all of the other stuff is great.  I love that at least a couple of months out of the year, we aren't as selfish as normal and help those who are in need, to take the time to love others, and to give gifts to those that we love.  I wish that we did that more often.  There's nothing wrong with all of that.  It's good, and it's important for us as Christians to do those things.  But please, don't call that other stuff "the true meaning of Christmas".  *Quietly stepping down from my soapbox*

4th of July

O! say can you see by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming.
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
O! say does that star-spangled banner yet wave,
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,

Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,

What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,

As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?

Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,

In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:

'Tis the star-spangled banner, O! long may it wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore

That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,

A home and a country should leave us no more!

Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.

No refuge could save the hireling and slave

From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:

And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand

Between their loved home and the war's desolation!

Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land

Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.

Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,

And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."

And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!^[12]

This is our friend David with my dad-in-law just after David's first flight in a small airplane. =)

^{What a fun holiday!  We went to James' parent's house (mom-in-law) for their annual party.  Fun was had by all.  Of course it wouldn't be a huge get together without it's difficulties (some more severe than others)...but all in all it was a good day.  I mean really, what could be better than a party with a whole lot of food?!  There were boat and plane rides, games, and fireworks.  Yes you read that right, plane rides.  For those of you that don't know us, my dad-in-law is a pilot.  My in-laws live on a private airstrip and he gave people rides for about 3 hours.
Our kids really enjoyed the fireworks!  We all loaded up on the back of trailers with blankets and chairs and went to the end of the runway to watch the show that shoots off over a local lake.}

Joseph and his best bud Samuel

Hannah's first 4th of July =)

James, Joseph, & Hannah behind her mosquito net

James & me being goofy

David, Amanda, Grace, & the silly one in the back is Molly

David & Amanda's youngest, Joshua

Our family and James' brother's family stayed the night with the in-laws and the following day ate some cinnamon rolls and overnight danish twists for breakfast and then everyone except Hannah and I went out on the lake for a fun day of boating.  The kids were exhausted!  We are so grateful to have such a fun family and friends to hang out with!

Happy Independence Day!!!