I shed tears today...

After dropping the kids off at school, on my drive home this song came on the radio. I had never heard it before. Before the first stanza was over I was crying and by the end of the song I was weeping. As soon as I was home I looked it up and wanted to share it with you.

I hope you enjoy it...

Late Halloween Craft

Since I didn't have a camera, I almost forgot about this.

I don't normally decorate for Halloween, just fall. (That way it lasts a lot longer and I love fall - the colors, leaves, etc.) But, when I saw this, it was just too cute to resist.

This was on You Can Make This in their free section. Yes, you read it correctly. The pattern and instructions for this project were free. I already had the fabric (it's not that big, so a larger scrap piece will suffice), and the embroidery thread. I just had to purchase the black rhinestones (used 40% off coupon - it was more expensive than I expected it to be but not too bad with coupon), picture frame (Hobby Lobby $10 and then 1/2 off sale - $5) and the sheer ribbon (again 1/2 off at Hobby Lobby - don't remember the price). This project was really reasonable.

I could take it out of the frame and store with my fall stuff and use the picture frame all year (black frame goes with everything - especially black and white photos which I absolutely adore) or I could store it as is. Either way, I loved this project. It was quick and easy to make and it looked cute on the coffee table or book shelf.

You really need to check out You Can Make This. I love that website!!!!!!!!

Thank You, God, for Blessing Me - Book Review

I love reading and I love passing down that love for reading to my children. Thank You, God, for Blessing Me by Max Lucado is a great book for toddlers and pre-schoolers. I read it to my younger two boys and they liked it, but they are almost too old for it.

My boys are fans of Max Lucado's Hermie and Wormie and this book has a young Hermie as the main character. The story flows with an easy reading rhythm and with wonderful rhymes to catch and keep a little one's attention.

The artwork is colorful with lots to see, but not so detailed that a toddler might loose interest.

If you want to pass on your love of reading to your child and your love of God even more, I suggest you read this book to your toddler.

I highly recommend this book for toddlers and preschoolers. This would be an excellent book to read to a toddler class at church or preschool and even better for a mom to read to a child sitting in her lap.

I received this book for free from Book Sneeze for this review, but the review and opinions are my own.

Firewood Carrier

We have gas heat. When gas prices started to rise a few years ago we began to talk about a wood stove. Last year, someone in poor health gave us his wood stove. I love it! I can keep the house so much warmer than I would ever dream about with gas heat (I can't afford to keep it as warm as I would like with gas heat).

In the November 2011 Issue of Country Living Magazine (page 55), it showed how to make this cute firewood carrier. I just had to make it. Frank usually brings in a load of wood in a wheelbarrow for me, but sometimes (because I keep it so warm and toasty) I run out of wood before he gets home and can get another load in for me. I thought this would be perfect for me to carry just a small amount in to keep the fire good and warm until he gets home.

The directions called for faux bois oilcloth (Country Living Magazine said you could get it here). I used vinyl laminated cotton instead (for several reasons - it's really cute and there wasn't a big selection of oilcloth here and I wanted to make it now). I don't know if it will hold up as well as oilcloth (only time will tell).

Living in Love - Book Review

Living in Love by James & Betty Robison was a little bit of a let down. The book was not what I was expecting. While it had some valuable information in the book, I feel that it should have been titled Communication is the Key to Living in Love.

The majority of the book was about communication. I do feel that communication in a marriage relationship is important, however, there are other factors that can contribute to a successful marriage. Expecting the book to address several of those factors instead of just one should not be too much to ask.

Had they titled the book differently, I might feel more favorably toward the book, but I was not really wanting a book just about communication. Each chapter of the book attempted to address different factors that affect marriage, but ended up discussing communication.

Living in Love is a well written book. The book was written clearly and concisely and it gave equal time to both James and Betty's opinions, but by not covering a wide range of topics important in a marriage (I feel the Robisons made an attempt to do that, but fell short) it left me wanting more.

If you are wanting a book that deals with communication in marriage, this just might be the book for you. If you are wanting a book that deals with a variety of marriage topics, keep looking.

I received this book for free from Blogging for Books, but the review and opinions are my own.

Hello Again & Homemade Halloween Costumes

Sorry that I've been gone for so long, but my computer crashed and it took a little while to get it back (I lost EVERYTHING though). Then when I got it back, my camera died (and I think my blog is naked without pictures) and I just now got a new one. So, I have been crafting, but unable to take pictures of a lot/most of them (they were gifts and are now gone). The ones that I was able to hang on to, I will be posting about them later (if I don't forget).

I like to do homemade Halloween costumes. I think it is fun (since I like to make things), my kids have a-one-of-a-kind costume, and it is cost-effective (with 4 kids I need that badly).

Let's talk about cost-effectiveness for a minute. A cheap, purchased Halloween costume is easily $20 (or more if you purchase accessories to go with it) and I have 4 boys. Let's do the math $20 x 4 boys = $80. $80 / 2 hours of trick-or-treating = $40/hour. It would cost me roughly $40 per hour for my kids to wear their costumes. Not very cost effective. (I know, I could pass the costumes down to younger children. Let's look at this option: (1) cheap costumes will probably not last - had that experience before w/ just 2 children, (2) children have a mind of their own and will not want to wear their brother's costume from last year, they will want their own, different kids - different tastes. Again not very cost effective.) So we make our own (as inexpensively as possible). Plus, as a bonus - it's fun!

Champ (11) felt he was too old to dress up, so he is not in the pictures (no costume). Lee (12, soon to be 13 - not ready for a teenager just yet, but that's a whole other topic for another day) wanted to be the invisible man (got the idea from Martha Stewart Halloween Special Issue Magazine - the Vanishing Man page 48). Anthony (6) and Rance (5) were Angry Birds.

My idea was for all the boys to be a different Angry Bird and Frank & I would be the pigs carrying a bucket of eggs. That idea went out the door because my older boys have a mind of their own (can you believe that? - how dare they think on their own and not want to do what their mother wants them to do).


This is Lee as the invisible man.
Jacket, shirt & tie (already had items for church on Sun. mornings): cost $0
Hat (already had hat for family pix - hopefully to be made soon): cost $0 (originally $5, but no actual cost to the costume, b/c it was already purchased for another purpose)
Sunglasses : cost $6 (Dollar General)
Gauze: cost $2 (Dollar General $4 per package, only used 1/2)
Total cost: $8





Black Angry Bird
I purchased a black, knit hat from Wal-Mart ($2), this will also help keep his head warm in cool, Halloween weather w/o obstructing his view or putting something over his face (he would probably hate and not wear anyway after purchasing such mask had I done so). Felt squares 5 for $1 (yellow, tan, black, red, white), had enough to do 2 hats and plenty left over for another project someday. Then I just cut out and hot glued on. Total cost: less than $3. (Note: I put the beak up slightly too high, so when he wears it, the bird is looking up, but since he is a 5 year old little boys, adults and older children can still tell what it is - if I had to redo it, I would put the beak and face lower on the hat.)

I did purchase a black, fleece shirt to wear (to keep warm and match the black hat), cost was $8 from Wal-Mart (he can wear it all year long so that doesn't count toward costume only).






Red Angry Bird
I purchased a red fleece hat from Wal-Mart for $3 (used the felt mentioned in the Black Angry Bird hat - still plenty left over). Total Cost: less than $4

I purchased a red and black fleece shirt from Wal-Mart for $8. He can wear it all winter long.

Total Cost for 3 costumes (not including fleece shirts) was about $15 (if you include the 2 shirts at $8/ea. the total cost for 3 costumes = $31). I realize that I only had 3 dressing up instead of 4, but 3 kids @ $20/costume would still be around $60. I think I came out pretty good.



Here are all 3 of my Trick-or-Treaters.

Faux Purse Dress

I made this dress for my niece's 4th birthday. It is a size larger so that she can grow into it.

At Hancock Fabrics, I found some really cute corduroy fabric (perfect for fall) in a cute butterfly and floral print in brown and other fall colors. I made it reversible, the yellow 'lining' is the same print of the yellow butterflies in the brown print of the main fabric.



I made a faux purse (it is an actual pocket) on the side of the dress in the main fabric and used a coordinating color of rick-rack for the purse strap.





I used flower buttons at the shoulders and on the faux purse flap. On the purse flap, it is just for decoration, it does not actually button.







Rance's birthday is August 14 (he just turned 5) and my niece's birthday is August 8 (she just turned 4), so I asked Rance to try on the dress for the pocket placement and to see how it might fit. He reluctantly did it (he really love's his mother).





This dress would look so cute with a long sleeve tee or a long sleeve turtle neck under it and could be worn way into the fall.