In Stitches

I have a little thing I've been working on... my embroidery machine!

I received it as a birthday gift from my parents one year, and I've taken to tinkering with it recently...

It's fun to see how a computer graphic or professional embroidery design can become a tangible embellishment with relative ease.  I've resurrected the little "business" that I started back in Missouri with my friend Alisa, and now Little Lamm Designs is a little embroidery and gift boutique online via Facebook and the indie crafters marketplace Etsy.

If you're curious, here are some examples of designs I can sew:

You can find a pretty thorough catalog of my designs here, and there are a few products for sale here.  The coolest part is that I can digitize most computer graphics as well as add text and monograms on anything that can fit in my embroidery hoops.

On a side note, I'm looking into making embroidered patches as well! 

McFavorites

Scott always lovingly says that I'm a nerd (he's right), that I love to gather [useless] information, and that I like to be "in the know".

He's mostly right. I do love to gather information! I feel like passing it along might help someone, whether it's current events/issues, our faith, or just a dandy little product I've discovered that we love for its efficiency or quality.

So, here we go! I'm not advocating products on behalf of anyone, so if I mention a company/publisher/etc, they'll have no idea who I am.

Can I just say that I love quality kids music that teaches Biblical Truth?  We gave this to Anna for Christmas, and while its target audience is more kids Caleb's age and up, she is already learning some of the songs.  This album focuses on the "fruits" that living a Christ-centered life will produce:  Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.  Each "fruit" has a song, with a couple of others thrown in.  We. Love. This. Album!  Click the picture above to go to the Sovereign Grace Music site and listen to samples!

No similarity. None at all. Nope.

Caleb Snapshot

Here's a snapshot of your 6 year old life, sweet big boy!

Caleb, you awake most mornings with a smile, but you like to take your time getting going.  The exception to this is if you have awakened early on your own with the idea of sneaking into the living room to take part in your favorite pastime:  your Nintendo DS.  There have been many mornings that we've discovered you in your secret spot -- the nook between the big chair and the wall in the piano/book room.  You love to shimmy in there and play DS in the dark.  Sitting underneath tables is an alternative choice for your sneaky game playing.

You love to have a breakfast of Honey Nut Cheerios or DinoBites (knock-off of Fruity Pebbles). Then, it's off to school.  First grade has been a good experience so far, and you are thriving and working hard on your school work.  Your favorite class subject is computers.  You read well for your age, and some of your favorite reading material consists of Star Wars chapter books and any Oriental Trading Company catalog you can get your hands on.

Your classmates consider you to be friends with everyone.  They say you run fast and make good choices. When you enter a room or when you arrive at school, you observe/survey the situation before getting involved (or getting out of the car!), much like your mama always did. 

You love Love LOVE building with your Legos.  You've been able to follow those instruction books since you were 4, and you say you want to be an engineer when you grow up.  You like to know how things work, and you are enthralled by television infomercials, since those products are "new", "improved", and make things more efficient.  You also say you want to go to Texas A&M for college.  Mama and Daddy have no problem with that!

We are so proud as you are memorizing Bible verses for your Sunday Night lifegroup.  You are learning 1 Corinthians 13 so quickly!  You are pretty competitive.  You don't like to lose.  You have a great sense of humor, and you love puns, riddles, knock-knock jokes, and any type of puzzle. You have learned alot in your piano lessons over the last year and a half.  You can already sight-read some songs!  You are a good big brother and help Mama quite a bit with your sisters.

Soccer has been a great sport for you so far.  We've watched as you have progressed from on-the-field observer to more aggressive and strategy-savvy player.  We are excited to see how you do the same in Upward basketball this spring.

 Caleb, we're proud of you.  We pray for you, that you will become a man who loves God and glorifies Him with all you do.

0.333333333 Years Old

My dear sweet third child turned 1/3 year old on Christmas Eve!  Our first check-up of the new year showed her growth to be on track, but still in the upper percentiles for her age:

Sweet girl (or "chunkers", according to our nurse) is nearly 16 lbs, 26 inches at 4 months.  That's almost double her birth weight, and 6 inches taller than her birth height!  Way to grow!

Random thought:  Why is it that when you're pregnant/have a baby, you count by weeks, but if you switch to months, the count isn't consistent? 

Here's my point.  Abby at 4 months was already 17 1/2 weeks old.  It would be nice if 1 month = 4 weeks.  Full term pregnancy is 40 weeks (give or take), but we cling to 9 months, when it's actually closer to 10!

Moms out there:  When did you switch from telling people your child's week-age to month-age instead?

New Look!

I'm still teaching myself CSS and Html code, so I'm tinkering a bit with the layout.

That said, though, what do you think?

** I must add that I did not create the graphics or layout, but that I DID do some major tweaking last night to get everything to work right. **

We are the Aggies, The Aggies are We

By the beginning of December, Abby was only 3 months old and had already been to TWO Aggie football games! Such a trooper! Anna got to go to her first two games this year as well! Caleb was a pro by now.

Our first game was in October. I must say they all did well. While we were dubious as to whether we could handle all 3 at the game BY OURSELVES, the world didn't end, and the experience was surprisingly pleasant, all things considered.

We had begun the adventure by visiting some friends in Houston. THAT was a great experience until, as we were walking out the door, sweet Anna threw up all over the entryway of their house. Thank goodness for wood floors! Our gracious friends helped us clean her up and even sent us with towels and washcloths just in case it happened again. Sure enough, a little further down the road to the Lego store, she had a repeat episode. Imagine our dread at having potentially exposed friends and their kids to a virus, and trying to figure out what to do next on a trip that had just started! Much to our surprise, she had no further trouble from that point on! No one in our family got sick either! Phewww.

We spent the night in a hotel there that night and proceeded on to College Station the next morning. No trip to Aggieland would be complete without a few stops:




Caleb had his first Freebirds burrito -- the Hybird (formerly known as the half-bird). Way to go, big boy!






Anna is not quite ready. Quesadillas were the thing for her.








Abby could only dream of the day she could join in on the fun.








We even got to hook up with my cousin Gary, who lives there in town.

Then it was time to visit Kyle Field... Whoop!


We walked the tunnel to the stadium.


We took pictures in front of E King Gill's statue. He's the original 12th man. Click here to read about him.

Anna and Caleb posed with Daddy just before we walked the spiral ramps all the way up to the third deck where our seats would be. (The bottom of the third deck can be seen at the top of the picture, and you must walk the ramps to the very top to get to any of its seats! Huff...puff...)


The game went well (I missed all of the 2nd quarter and halftime trying to feed Abby...long story) Abby did great with the earplugs I found for her at the grocery store.


We even got to go on field after the game!





Gig 'em!!
We went again at Thanksgiving. I'd say it's worth it, and I'd do it all over again!

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner! aka Serious Underestimation

Serious Underestimation #1: I grossly underestimated (grossly as in greatly, not nastily, you guys - ha!) my time ability to post the winners yesterday. Close the giveaway? Check. Choose a winner randomly? Check, with pictures! Post the winners? No way, José. My sincere apologies!

I also seriously underestimated how excited and disappointed I'd be at the same time in declaring a winner! Excited, obviously, because I get to award a random reader with a super cute set of frames. However, I didn't realize how sad I'd be that the other participants couldn't receive one as well! :D Perhaps csnstores.com will permit another fun giveaway soon!

I let Anna randomly choose the winner Monday morning!

Yes, those are bath-time numbers...

Shake 'em up


Shake 'em again


Find my assistant


Try to take a picture with neither of us looking at what's being picked
looks like her feet were the only things in focus...

And the winner of the first ever McDonaldSpot Giveaway is...



Commenter #4

Betsy, I believe you were that commenter, so would you please email/comment to confirm your choice? I'll summarily submit your address to have your prize delivered!

To the rest of you, I was so sad that I couldn't include you as well! I am truly grateful for each of you. Keep your eyes peeled, for I may have another giveaway soon!

McDonaldSpot Giveaway! (now closed)

For some time I've been curious about how some established bloggers (like P Dub and McK) manage to do fun giveaways, from jewelry to kitchen gear to mailboxes and more. I'm sure there are multiple ways that these things come about, but I can now say with excitement that one of those ways found me. McDonaldSpot can now host a giveaway of our own!

I was contacted the other day by CSN stores. They offered me the chance to give away some absolutely FREE, absolutely CUTE picture frames to one of you. I don't receive anything tangible in return for this, except the chance to give a random winner a "Thank You for reading my blog" gift!

Would you like to see them?

These frames by Trend Lab each hold a 4x6 photo.

Tulip

Heirloom

Caterpillar

These might be just the thing for your own home or for a gift to give! Here's how to enter:

Decide what set you'd like to win, then leave a comment below telling me two things:
a) which design strikes your fancy
b) one person you're thankful for, and why. (No bonus points or extra chances of winning for mentioning me, by the way! Ha! This isn't me fishing for compliments -- Just giving us all a chance to exercise gratitude!)

One entry per person, please!

You have until 10 pm Central Time on Sunday to leave your entry comment. I will randomly select and announce the winner on Monday morning!


CSNStores will ship the gift to the winner for free and has assured me that they refuse to give out personal information (addresses, etc) to advertisers.

Are you reading?

I must confess I'm a few days behind on my readings for my Through-the-Bible reading plan. I think it'll be easy to catch back up, though. I love that the plan I use also offers the chance to receive the day's reading via email. It serves as a good reminder, and since I sometimes check email on the go with my cell phone, I can read my passage even if I don't have my Bible with me.

How are you doing? Don't let yourself feel guilty if you haven't started at all or if you have fallen behind! Just commit to read it through from now to a year from now!

2 Timothy 3:16-17 tells us that

"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work."

I'm confident that whether you read the Bible through daily in 2010 or into 2011, God will bless your commitment! What a great opportunity to see how God has woven His plan for redemption throughout His Word!

Let's get busy reading!

See Ya Lewter

I hate saying goodbye. So I don't.

Mostly, it's been me having to do the leaving, as God has shown us that our time in one place is up, and a new beginning awaits us elsewhere. Not this time.

We recently had to say See Ya Later to some new friends we met when we moved here. The Haiglers became great friends, and it was bittersweet to see them move to Shreveport to begin a ministry there. The Normans were also precious, and now that they're pursuing the call of the Lord on their lives away from here, I hope to keep in touch with them frequently!


But that's not what I'm posting about here.


Now we must say goodb See Ya Later to some dear friends that we didn't think we'd get to spend even this much time with. Brad and Kati became special to us when we lived in Springfield (back in tha day). They loved on Caleb with us. Scott and Brad hunted together. Kati and I chatted often and scrapbooked. We had Anna just a few months before Lana was born.

Unfortunately, we had to be the "leavers" for them when we moved to our current place of ministry. Much to our surprise, though, the Lord allowed our time with them to continue a little longer, as Brad came to be the Student Pastor at our church.

Since then, we've laughed, cried, worked together, and have gone through pregnancies together once again. Now, as many in ministry (and our friends in the military as well) experience, we're having to part ways as we continue to follow the Lord's plan for our lives.





Brad, Kati, Lana, and Layton, we pray that the Lord will bless this next segment of your lives, and we look forward to getting frequent updates and visiting you (and vice versa) whenever possible! May He enrich your marriage, your family, and your ministry as you put Him and His plans first in your lives.

So for now, it's see ya later!

Bumblebees everywhere

Anna is halfway through her "school" year at Parents Day Out. She may have been a "skunk" last year, but this year she's a "bumblebee".


We love our busy little bumblebee!

No, she's just 2 months old.

**This is a catch-up post from November**

I was in a children's clothing store yesterday, and a mom with a baby said, "Oh! She's so cute", referring to Abby, whom I was carrying in a sling. "How old is she?" I replied, almost 2 and a half months. She hesitated in surprise. "Wow, I thought she was nearly 8 months. You've practically got a toddler there!"

I laughed it off, and told her of our surprise as we have watched our sweet girl growing since birth. I gave her the statistical rundown that I'm about to share with you:

Sweet Abby Grace is almost 10 weeks old! She went to see our pediatrician for her two-month appointment and vaccinations last week. Our sweet nurse took one look at her and called her "Chunkers". :) Abby weighed in at 12lbs 10 oz (almost 2 lbs since the one-month appt) and measured 24 inches long (over 2 inches since that appt).

She is a cheerful girl who has just begun cooing and trying to interact with us. She holds her head up pretty well, LOVES bath time, and is no longer stationary. Yes, she is somewhat mobile! When I put her on her playmat, whether on her tummy or her back, she uses her legs/feet to scoot. Now, granted, this is not movement with a destination in mind, but it's movement, nonetheless! (Slow, gradual movement, of course)

There are periods of time that our precious girl does cry at the top of her lungs. This is either when we have to go somewhere and she's placed in her carseat just after feeding (I think she reserves a bubble or two in her tummy) or around 8pm some evenings (colic? but inconsistent if it is). The evening cries have become less frequent as she has grown.

Abby has made night time fairly easy for us (or for ME, since her sweet Daddy, though he wants to be helpful, sleeps deeply and can't really address her nighttime needs). Since about 8.5 weeks, she has begun stretching to 9 hrs between the two night feedings. Whoop! Yippee! Now if only I'd go to bed right when she does... but there's always something that needs to be done, or there's a show on our DVR, or something else that keeps me from taking advantage of the large quantity of sleep I could be getting.

This picture is from the week of Barron and Betsy's visit to our home!

To Do List, aka True Confessions

In some order, I hope to:

• Catch up on the McDonaldSpot
• Finish some embroidery items for sale
• Organize my craft room/Abby's room
• Put away kids' outgrown clothes
• Find clean my bedroom
• Catch up on Abby's baby book
• Make her footprints before her feet have grown another inch
• Put the Christmas tree and numerous Nativity sets away
• Snap my fingers to make the dirty laundry clean
• Organize my closet
• Help the kiddos to pare down their toys and give some away
• Trim the backyard tree and honeysuckle
  
• Begin quasi-homeschool with Anna
• Find my garage Get ready to have a garage sale
• Breathe? :)

Maybe it'll all be done some time in 2010. How about you?

Join me! It's not too late!

Scott and I are going to read a little each day and make it through the entire Bible during 2010. Will you join us?

I've found a nifty way to post it on my blog for you to click and read, but if you want to do it without visiting my blog each day, there are 6 nifty ways to follow the same reading plan we are:

The ESV Study Bible plan (you don't have to have the English Standard Version translation, nor the Study Bible variety, though) from Crossway Publishers

Web: Click here to find the web page that is updated daily to reflect the reading passages for the day.

RSS: This is the RSS feed that can be delivered directly to your Feed Reader (like Feed Burner, Google Reader, and some cell phone browsers) Incidentally, it's also how I power the widget on my blog (above).

Email: Click here to enter your email and receive the daily passages directly in your Inbox. You must respond to a simple confirmation email, then you might have to make sure that your Spam Filter doesn't relegate the first email to your spam box.

iCal: Have a Mac or other Apple product that uses iCal? Get your iCal file here.

Mobile: This is the link to the mobile-friendly website that posts each day's passages. Read from your cell phone on the go!

Print: Like having a hard copy of the plan but don't have the ESV Study Bible? Print out the PDF file by clicking here!


You're not starting too late!
All you have to do is start at Jan. 1st's passage. Read that day's passages plus one extra day's worth till you get caught up! No problem!

Please let me know in the comments below if you're joining us in our quest! That way I can pray for you and encourage you!

What does He uphold by the word of his power?

Hebrews 1:3
He [Jesus] is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high...



HT: Z via JT

Heard at the McDonaldSpot

I just read a funny post that reminded me of some things we've been hearing around the McDonaldSpot lately.

Daddy, let's play chest!
Sweet girl, it's not "chest", it's CHESS.
OK. Let's play chest together.
Can you say Chesssss?
Chesssst.
Not chest. Chessssssssssssss
Chesssssssssssssssss....t


Atchally, Mama, these are my wittle animals.

Mama, when (if) you were a wittle goor (girl), I could pat you and make you burp.

lots of "I knew that." in response to explanations to a certain 6 year old's questions, ranging from topics on magnetism, the way land-line phones work, NBA basketball, and more. We think he's just testing our own knowledge...

Mama, you know the other side of the Aggie stadium? I'm going to be over there some day.

Daddy, wook! These are the slobbering clothes baby Jesus was wrapped in!

Merry Christmas

Ok, so I know this is the day after Christmas, but seeing as this particular one has been particularly wonderful, I've been away from this particular mode of technological communication. :)

So, from our family to yours... Merry Christmas!

Well...

I'm still here! (but not here, as you can plainly see) I have several posts in the works, but am still 3 months behind. hmmm. What could have gotten me 3 months behind when I had almost caught up...

Anyway, please don't give up on me! I'm going to be back in the swing of things soon! gulp, I hope!

:)