I embellished these prefold diapers back in the spring to turn them into pretty burp-cloths, and I guess I wanted to show you!

 

 

I made them for my sister-in-law from new diapers and materials I had on hand.  They ended up taking me longer than I expected, but that's probably just because I was trying to do all five at once!

 

 

 

Source: petitelemon.com via Gretchen on Pinterest

This tutorial on pinterest was a big help, and the trim-only cloths were inspired by the Path Less Traveled Market blog, back before I knew about pinterest (probably before it existed, really).  :)

Fun?  I had 10 burp cloths for Gemma Grace, which was just about perfect, but I've since lost one of my favorites (the fluffy, diaper-like ones!) and a little someone likes to use the princess-y ones for dolly blankets, so I think I'll embellish a few more!

And sister-in-law likes them, too!

Upcycled Cardigan!

Autumn is coming, which means that it must be starting to feel cool somewhere.  :)  Anyway, even when it's super warm outside, I just stay in and make tea and pretend that it's cool.  :)

Soon, though, it truly will be sweater weather!  

I guess I actually did this little project back in March.  Hrmm.  But now that fall is nearing, I'm excited to wear it again!  

It started as a soft, comfortable pullover in a really fun shade of green, and it was actually a hand-me-down from my friend Jenni five years ago.  When I first saw all sorts of tutorials on pinterest for turning pullovers into cardigans, I was too afraid to cut into anything of my own.  But when I stopped and thought about it some more, I realized that a five-year-old hand-me-down probably needed some updating.  Thanks to breastfeeding and pregnancy, this sweater hadn't fit well as a pullover for a while, and at the time I was hoping that it wouldn't for a while more!  And it would be more versatile as a cardigan.  So.  

I ended up choosing this tutorial, found via pinterest.  It called for hem tape (which I had!), a little sewing, and it seemed very simple!  It was!  I'm so happy with the result . . . turning it into a cardigan even obscured the pick on the front which I'd been ignoring for at least a few of those five years.

Here's proof that I did this project back in the spring . . . I wore it with pink pants for my sister-in-law's baby shower!  Her twin girls have been good and born for almost two months now!

I also decided to finally use this cute little flower tutorial which I had pinned quite a while earlier.  (That's what happened to the sleeve on that tee-shirt of John's which I used for Gemma's bubble skirt!)  Instead of putting it on a headband, I glued it to a pin-back which I had leftover from a little corsage project last December.  Tee shirt, button, felt circle, pin back . . . yay for another free project!  Isn't it cute?

Now that it's (eventually) getting cool again, I have another black pullover from Jenni's sister, Gemma, which needs a makeover, I think.  ;)

A time for every purpose under heaven

I was just going to share my 24 week pregnancy photo with you all today, and tell you how well things are going (praise the Lord!).

 

 

Then, John got the call from his dad this morning that Maw had crossed the dark river . . .

 

Hopefully, now, her soul is with Grandpa Smith, and Uncle Steve, and John's other Grandmother, and with our friend Dan, and hopefully, hopefully, with our first little baby.

 

That is, we have hopes that she is now with Jesus.

 

They tell us that she went peacefully in her sleep.

 

 



"Abraham breathed his last and died in a ripe old age, an old man and satisfied with life; and he was gathered to his people."
(Genesis 25:8)


Now I further saw, that betwixt them and the gate was a river; but there was no bridge to go over, and the river was very deep. At the sight, therefore, of this river the pilgrims were much stunned; but the men that went with them said, You must go through, or you cannot come at the gate.

The pilgrims then began to inquire if there was no other way to the gate. To which they answered, Yes; but there hath not any, save two, to wit, Enoch and Elijah, been permitted to tread that path since the foundation of the world, nor shall until the last trumpet shall sound. The pilgrims then, especially Christian, began to despond in their mind, and looked this way and that, but no way could be found by them by which they might escape the river. Then they asked the men if the waters were all of a depth. They said, No; yet they could not help them in that case; for, said they, you shall find it deeper or shallower as you believe in the King of the place.

Then they addressed themselves to the water, and entering, Christian began to sink, and crying out to his good friend Hopeful, he said, I sink in deep waters; the billows go over my head; all his waves go over me. Selah.

Then said the other, Be of good cheer, my brother: I feel the bottom, and it is good.
(John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress)


" . . . a time to be born and a time to die . . . "
(Ecclesiastes 3:2)

Gemma's New Skirt

 

These were my favorite pajamas in college.  They are the softest, comfiest cotton, and in such a fun pink print!  I wore them until they ripped, then patched them (look closely!), and wore them until they ripped again . . .

 

Before getting married, my mother tried to make me throw them out, but I think John overheard the conversation and intervened.  :)  I did promise not to wear them as a married lady, but I wasn't ready to trash them yet.  And now I'm glad that I didn't! 

 

Source: every-little-day.blogspot.com via Gretchen on Pinterest

I've been thinking about making Gemma a skirt from it for about a year now, but it's really best that I waited until she was a walker!  After finding this fun pin on pinterest, I chose skirt tutorial #13 . . . the Layer Cake Skirt from Prudent Baby.  :)  It was easy and fun! 

 

I do like how the tutorial suggests using three different fabrics, but I only used the one this time.  And even though it says to cut 44" long strips of fabric, the pieces I got from the pajama pants were only 34" long, and they still made the skirt plenty full for a little girl Gemma's size!  It only cost me $.99 for the elastic waistband . . . and after I'd purchased that, I wondered if I could have just reused the elastic from the pajamas! 

 

So . . .

 

Isn't it sweet?

 

 

How do you get in?

 

 

We've had so much rain this summer that the grass has been surprisingly green.  :)

 

 

Need I even bother saying it?  The skirt is pink, so of course Gemma Grace loves it, too.  :)

 

 

 

Supper this week (and part of next!)

Well, yesterday I pulled some tortilla dough out of the freezer and cooked up enough for the three of us, then cooked up a chicken breast in homemade taco seasoning (recipe found via pinterest!).  We added lettuce, cheese, salsa and refried beans (canned this time) to our tacos, and they were yummy!

And today I roasted a chicken.  I haven't done that in a while.  :)  This time, I stuffed it with an onion and a  little bouquet garnier of rosemary and thyme (my remaining living herbs!).  I rubbed it down with some olive oil and sprinkled on dried parsley and sage. The potatoes and vegetables got drizzled with olive oil, herbs, salt and pepper, too.  It smelled so yummy cooking!  It's so much fun that fall is coming, and oven-season and chili and stew season is almost here!

So, the plan for the rest of the week is . . .

Wednesday:  {Thai}
Thursday:  Lasagna (with noodles and riccotta leftover from Sunday!)
Friday:  Salmon and Rice
Saturday:  Chicken pie?  Or something else with chicken leftover from today.
Sunday:  We're having company!  We've found that it's easy for John to grill chicken and have mashed potatoes, salad, probably carrots, and probably some sort of pie for dessert.
Monday:  Rachel Ray's pasta with bacon, tomatoes, and cheese (but I use red pepper instead of the tomatoes; just our personal preference)

I guess this week is a bit chicken-heavy!  But it is my sweetie's favorite meat . . . and it's cheaper than beef . . . and doesn't have pink slime in it . . .

I share my plans partly for accountability, and partly to share my ideas!  But I'm always interested in new ideas!  What are you making for dinner this week?

Maw's 101st Birthday

We now take a break from our regularly-schedule programming to finally share a post I was trying to write all last week!  But blogger was not loading any pictures for me, and pictures are quite important to this post, as you will soon see!

Somehow, it has been a whole year since John's last remaining grandparent, Maw, turned 100.  We all drove out to West Virginia two weekends ago to celebrate and spend some time with the branch of the family that we see once a year.

Maw herself, enjoying a birthday sweet roll, and Gemma enjoying her birthday balloon!

with Aunt Linda . . . 

 And Aunt Sue, the baby whisperer.  She's one of those people who can take a hesitant child and somehow quickly convince them that she's safe.   

Maw and her four children, in birth order

And the four-generations picture!

Of course, there was lots of fun to be had with the cousins, too, from paper crown-making to piano playing. It was sweet when Gemma plopped into her big cousin's lap all by herself.  

Fun at the piano . . . 

though Gemma soon got down and pulled her other cousin over so that they all three were included.  :)

Playing with the refrigerator magnets!

On the last evening there, we had something of a family reunion with Grandma's side of the family at the old farm house.  I wish I had some pictures from that evening!  It was special to sit around with our burgers and watermelon, to see the men playing horseshoes and the children running around the yard that their grandmother had been running around 50 or so years ago.  Now that my own grandmother has been made to move from her farmhouse, I realize how special these kinds of gatherings are.  

We actually took another spur of the moment trip to West Virginia this past weekend, because Maw's health is quickly failing.  She's now confined to bed and it is grieving to see her once-always-sharp mind muddying. We left on Saturday evening realizing that we'd probably celebrated her final birthday and were now saying our last farewells on this earth.  Praise the Father that there is a hope of meeting again once more!  But, even so, the prospect of death is heart-rending.