A Place Where Friends and Family Can Be Updated

Hey All! I am back from Snowy MI. We had a blast and Brandon was able to get a lot of studying done. It was a nice pace between visiting friends and family. Sometimes we do not do a lot and others we are jam packed. This visit was a great pace. I even had time to visit with my Grandma for a day and sewed together a play dress and stinkin' cute pants. I am SO EXCITED to get started on other pants, outfits etc now that Grandma has given some direction. :). . . Lots of "oh, well, now THAT makes sense" to which my Grandma would lift an eyebrow and say "it's COMMON sense, Nicole". We're kindred spirits :)

My family is doing well in the Lord. My brother and sister have grown up while I've been away and it is strange to see them as almost-adults. My mom is struggling with getting over some health issues so I am glad I was there to lift some spirits (keep her in your prayers). My Dad finished his book and is looking to publish it soon. Arielle ADORED my family and her cousins. Elly opened up from all the "pass-the-baby" sessions. Getting close to crawling. Hmm, what else? I visited my Aunt's home that just passed away to take a few mementos. Going through the stuff I remembered from childhood really brought it all home. It was good, though. Arielle is speaking better, more often and in sentences. She responded to my sister's "How are you, Arielle" with "I'm fine, Auntie V. How are you?" or when she thought I had chocolate (instead of a carrot) and I told her I had none she said: "Yes, Momma. Chocolate. Chocolate right there in your mouth!" Her father's daughter hopeful for chocolate everywhere :)

Well, I'll write more another time. As it is I've spent a HUGE chunk of time compiling this video and updating picasa. Love to you all and I hope you had a great Thanksgiving!

Another Sabbath finds us happily relaxing on this mandatory you-will-rest day :). Brandon is off reading, the dogs are rough-housing, Arielle still has her sanity and the littlest is sleeping. We were able to relax in bed until close to 9 (a rarity in this house of 6:30 rising or so) and it so far has been a delightfully refreshing day. The simple sweet moments you treasure to remember at a later day when life gets difficult.

Not a whole heap to report. Brandon has been doing a bunch of non-flight work that is required. He was scheduled to fly yesterday but was cancelled. I cannot complain. The Lord continues to draw close as I draw nearer to Him. It is soul satisfying as only He can and I'm asking myself why I let life distract as much as it has. Which is probably why He has mandatory rest-in-Him days and feasts to reflect on your relationship with Him (kind of like a marriage retreat once a year, eh?). ANYWHO say all that to say I'm glad to see the changes in myself coming together. Arielle is doing TONS better. I still don't know what the insanity time-period was so we're chalking it up to that infamous "terrible two's". No matter how diligent and consistent in parenting you are it seems it is human nature to at least give an whole-hearted honest attempt around two years to see if the parents are serious. . . We were and are. Praise the Lord for teaching me patience through it (a continual struggle of mine). She still has her vim and vigor but over-all she is settling down. Desires to help her mommy and daddy still. I have to be ever-so-careful to never brush her attempts aside as it is easy to do. So what if unloading dishes takes a smidge longer - my daughter finds joy in putting the pans away to "Help Mumma". . .Ellia is doing great. Not much to report except her increased awareness of life and her ability to grab it away from you :) Although, I have to report an exciting part: Ellia understands "No" already. True to our parenting philosophy when a child is able to perform one action they are able to perform the opposite. Since Elly has started grabbing at the computer keyboard we've been consistent to squeeze her hand, say no and put it back in her lap. She is frustrated at being thwarted, as anyone would be, but is picking it up. She went to grab for Brandon's bowl of food and he said "no" to which she quickly drew her hands back and looked at him. Woo Hoo! I LOVE watching the growth and understanding develop in our children.

That's all. Enjoy the video.

Not too much to report. Or rather, not enough time to write about miscellaneous-everyday-things. So, nothing big. I did, however, make a video and add photos to picasa for those that were interested. Brandon's out sailing and I figured I would upload video.

Enjoy

Well it's been another weekend. Sometimes I feel like we have two Sabbaths on the weekend. One for God and the other for just plain ol' loafing. Which means not a lot of housework gets done. At least the family's happy, right? :)

Not too much to report, enjoy the short clip. . .

Well, it's been a fairly great week so far. The Lord has truly drawn near as we attempt to draw nearer to Him. . .Arielle still has her moments but I view them as the Lord giving me an opportunity to Bless Him and grow godliness and weed out the ugliness :). . Cheesy as that sounds. Arielle is getting so stinkin' big I cannot believe it. It is surreal to think she was ever Elly 's size. . .Elly can sit up without an assistance besides a blanket to catch her if she tips :). . . I know that just about everyone says that your second is nothing like the first. I cannot believe how true that is. I tickle Elly, Make faces at her and get a whopping nothing besides big, blue eyes and a thoughtful expression. If I did half of the antics to Arielle when she was her age she would've been gasping for breath laughing so hard. Not Elly, she's my peaceful, stoic one. . .On the flip side though she will be staring at something (dogs/arielle/us) and suddenly suck in a mouthful of air and LAUGH like she just witnessed the best played comedy EVER. Crazy kicking, wiggles and a few more laughter will happen and then it's back to the thoughtful expression. She cracks me up. Oh, yeah, and if you take notice of what made her laugh that time it WILL NOT work the next time - FYI. Maybe that'll be an advantage later and I won't have as many passionate ups and whining/depressed downs like I do with Arielle.



Well, not too much beyond that beyond my soap box rants that I am biting my tongue over regarding different situations I've been faced with lately. :)

Oh, Picasaweb was updated as well. .

Here's a Video - it's been awhile so I thought I'd throw a one together - nothing crazy this time.

First, let me say that my maternal grandmother is the best seamstress I know. I am not quite sure how I would even be able to convey the deep love, history and great expanse of knowledge this one women possesses in the field of sewing. That said, I am sure a good chunk of my artistic/creative skills come from her and that there is hope for my sewing skills if I have even an ounce of her genes. I would love to be able to make my own pattern for any ideas for clothes I might have. I KNOW that that will only come about through practicing, practicing and oh yeah - practicing. So, eager to see what my 'first attempts' beyond blankets comes out to be as well as to get beyond my first "Duh!" moments I set out last night to make my husband a pair of pajama pants. I hope you find the account amusing. . .

Grandma, if you're reading this, let me first say I thought of you when I was in "the zone" and finally thought to look up and ask what time it was. Found out I had worked well past the 9:30pm (2130) time when I usually wake/feed Elly. . matter of fact it was 10:20. I figured she was already asleep and I'll just keep going because I'm "so close" to being done. . .she finally woke up at 11:50 wondering where mommy was.

Ok, so this is what I learned from my first attempt:

1)The project always seems simpler than it is.
2)70's men (it was my grandma's old pattern) must be built differently.
3)Don't make your own changes to a pattern you've never tried before.
4)Even though it is a pattern I probably SHOULD measure my husband to see how it would fit on him
5)Never ever say "I'll be done soon" to the husband because it may soon become a "boy crying wolf" situation and he'll no longer believe you.
6)Only say "I'll be done soon" when you are on the last seam - only 4 more things can slow you down at that point - tops. okay, maybe more. . .
7)If the thought "Oh, I'll just make it work like this. . ." crosses your mind - that's great for experimentation but not for a professional look.
8)When making pants for Brandon to remember to account for his heritage evident in his "island man" rear. . . that's all I'm going to say about that . . . .

All in all, they are functional at the most and still super comfy soft BUT definitely do not fit the way my husband would like. Humorous lessons aside I did learn tricks/fine tuning through experimentation. Different ways to attack seaming, choosing different stitches, aligning the material, cutting the material, laying flat the seams and a few other things on when not to cut corners. Oh, this creative-free-thinking mind will have to make room for measurments, ironing and pins if I want it done right and be long lasting.

Thread: 5.00
Material: 4.50
Scissors: 20.00
The memory of my first attempt at sewing clothes: priceless

Next: A playdress for Arielle with matching leggings. I already learned a lesson with that one: Do NOT order the pattern for download online because it OBVIOUSLY (didn't think about this) will not have the tracing pattern with it. Which means, for those who "may" have thought the deal too good to pass up on downloading, that you have to look at the pattern explanation and pictures to try and figure out the tracings. . . .guess what I'll be doing this evening