Wednesday, January 18, 2012

My First Appliqued Pillow

How do you get the little accent over the "e" in applique? I don't know. But I don't have to have the accent there to tell you that I finally completed my Christmas pillow.

Yes, it is January. Mid- to late-January, to be specific. BUT done is better than perfect, and I'll throw it in a bin with all of the other decorations and it will be such a happy surprise next December!
 I used the tutorial from TaDa! Creations. It was very thorough and helpful, and if you ever need to applique something yourself, you should check it out.


Since my mom lives four hours away, I have no one to truly tell me what a great job I did.  Actually there are mistakes, but for a first go-round, I think it turned out fabulous. And I'm sure my mom would too.


I showed it to each of my kids and my husband, and they all said it looked good. Fluffy and soft, actually, was the prevailing sentiment.
I love the ball fringe too. It was my first time with it, and it is much more forgiving than twisted cord piping. And so much more fun! The retro print and the ball fringe give it a childhood vibe that I luuuuuuv.

OK, it's time to fix supper now. If you want, you can be a mom substitute and tell me how awesome my pillow creation is.  Apparently I need a LOT of affirmation. 


Don't you love it?

MLK day

Monday was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, so the kids were out of school.  We went to Charlotte to watch a Bobcats game.  I tried to take a picture of all of these little birds sitting on the barricades, but they flew away.

Sadly, none of my family wanted to stay outside in the cold and wait for the birds to come back for my picture.
Here is one little guy who stayed around. He was brave.
 
Here is a bobcat head getting ready to eat the children.  Emma is as tall as me now, but she's hunched over because she is cold. Jack is wearing my vest because he was cold. Will, surprisingly, was the only one with sense to wear the appropriate clothing.
  A glimpse of Charlotte.
 I have no pictures of the Bobcats game because it was dark and I didn't feel like wrestling my camera out of my bag. They lost. Thankfully, we are not die hard Bobcat fans, so it did not affect us too much. 


It was a fun day!






Tuesday, January 3, 2012

January 3

THAT is the world's worst chicken pot pie casserole. Not only did it taste horrible, it looked nasty and it took a long time to make. I boiled a whole chicken to get the meat, cut up tiny little pieces of carrots, onion and celery, made a homemade sauce. The only thing not time-consuming were the canned biscuits on top, and they were the only edible piece of the whole concoction.
While making some pineapple casserole to go with my nasty chicken pot pie (at the time it was in the oven, so I didn't know it was nasty yet), I hear Jack yell out, "Will's throwing up!". And indeed he was, puking and crying simultaneously. So sad, and yet my first thought was that I was glad he was on the wood floor and not the rug because it would make clean up much easier.



So this picture is of Will on his vinyl beanbag, which is on a huge beach blanket, watching t.v. With a trash can between his legs. Boudreaux is keeping him company.

I hope no one else gets it, but the beanbag and the blanket will stay out tonight just in case.

Monday, January 2, 2012

January 1

On the first day of 2012, my resolution is to pursue God.

I will not always do this very well, but this truth is what I will cling to:

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:6 ESV)

God began a good work in me when He first adopted me as his daughter, bought back from sin and death at a steep price.

It is easy to spend most of one's day only noticing the bad, the wrong, the inconvenient, the brokenness of our world. It is also easy to not notice anything at all, but just to go through our hours in a flurry of busy tasks, either completely on autopilot or too stressed to see people or beauty or anything besides the next task to be completed.

Instead, let's take to heart Phillipians 4:8...

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

And not only think about these things, but look for them as we go about our lives. Look for God entering into our daily business, see him responding to our praises and petitions. I would like to open my eyes in 2012 and see Jesus more clearly.
as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:18 ESV)