Work in Progress

I finally got some new yarn last month! When the box came, there was much squealing and jumping. :) Right now I am working on a baby blanket for an expectant momma at my church. It is a little different as far as baby blankets go, but what do you think?

It seems as if it will be a little bigger than a regular baby blanket too, but I think that is okay, easier to snuggle with and use when they are older too! I really love this Bernat Softee baby yarn. Not many baby yarns come in such nontraditional baby colors!

AND, I also got some yarn to make a blanket for Madelynn! Figured it is about time I made my kids blankets. Ha! These are the colors I picked for Madelynn's blanket. I'm trying to decide if I should throw some light blue in there too, suggestions?

I still don't know what to do for a pattern yet. I have been trying to decide between the african flowers, granny squares, ripples, granny stripes or granny ripple. I haven't a clue what I am going to do yet!

Chai Recipe and a Mug Cozy

I make some pretty good chai tea. Tim and I love having a cup together and I thought I would share how I make it so you all can enjoy a nice cup of chai! :) I also thought I'd share my super simple version on the mug cozies I have been seeing popping up on Pinterest. This is a super easy beginner project and can be made out of a small amount of yarn. The one I have pictured is my first attempt at one and I think it turned out rather cute!

Chai

Cover a chai tea bag with a little more than a cup of water in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
Cover and boil for 5 minutes.
Add about one and a third cups of milk and bring to a simmer, stir and simmer for 1 minute.
Remove from heat.
Stir in about 1/6 cup of sugar. (I know this is an odd measurement, I just fill it to the halfway line in my 1/3 measuring cup).
Pour into two mugs, top with some homemade sweetened whip cream and sprinkle with cinnamon.
To make enough whipped cream to top the two cups of tea, just use about 2 teaspoons of sugar and 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream. Pour it into a bowl that you have chilled in the freezer and use a hand mixer to whip it until there are stiff peaks. Super easy peasy!
If you are doubling the recipe for 4 servings, just be sure you add another tea bag in addition to doubling the other ingredients.

Mug Cozy

Make a chain for as tall as you would like your cozy to be, do one more chain and then single crochet in the second chain from hook and in each chain to the end. Chain one, turn and single crochet in each sc to the end. Repeat until it is long enough to go around your mug from one side of the handle to the other. Fasten off.
Join yarn with a single crochet or slip stitch along side of  work in the middle and single crochet around, when you get to the end of the piece, make a couple of chains and then resume single crocheting along the edge until you reach where you started, join and fasten off. Make sure the cozy will slide up over your handle and fit snugly, then repeat on the bottom. If you have a mug that is wider at the top like the one pictured, you may want to do a chain more on the top than the bottom when you are doing the edging.

Christmas and Crafting

So, my parents got me a kindle for Christmas. I really thought I never would go to a kindle because I am such a book person...love the feel of books in my hands, the smell of books, finding old books at resale stores, I just really love books. BUT, books take up space and can be pricey and in being consistent in wanting to de-clutter our home a bit, more books isn't really keeping along with that theme. Quite honestly, we have enough books since we homeschool. So, I started thinking a kindle would be a neat idea and I am so excited to have one. I have already downloaded lots of free books. I searched pinterest for the perfect kindle sleeve and found this tutorial. I liked it because it used a few different fabrics and I had a fat quarter stack I picked up on clearance at Joann's that I have been wanting to make something for myself with because I so loved it. :) Elizabeth was kind enough to give me some hints on adjusting the size for my smaller kindle and it worked out perfectly! So, here are a few pictures!
This is the front.

 And here is the back! :)

 Another present I received from my sweet daughter, were these Doodle Stitching books! I am so super excited about these and am looking forward to learning embroidery!

 Here is a sample of the outline stitches that I learned last night (using up random bits of embroidery floss, hence all the colors), it was so fun! :)

So, that is what I have been working on. The next thing on my to-do list is to make a bag for Madelynn's leapster that she got for Christmas.

Thankful

I just got my camera back from my parents' house and had to post this picture from Thanksgiving. I am so very thankful for my family. We don't get to be all together often, but I sure do love it when we are! We were all together again for Christmas yesterday, minus my Grandma, she is back in Mississippi. We had a great time watching videos of my nephews wrestling, opening presents and playing cards (with lots of laughs) with the girls while the men tended the kids. :) I love the dynamic my family has when we are together!

AND, I am super excited because my parents got me a kindle! :) I think I've found the perfect kindle case tutorial! I'll have to post pictures after I make it.

(Does anyone notice my little girl in green spoiling our nice picture with her goofy self? Haha!)

Needlebooks With the Bitty

Madelynn has lost SO many needles. She has one left out of all the needles I have bought her. I decided to do a search on pinterest for needlebooks to solve her problem and found one that I thought she could do with just a little help from me. I also found one that I would like to make. Since I am new to sewing myself, I thought it would be fun to do this needlebook that was like a teeny tiny quilt. Today, while the boys (except Logan) were out shooting Carson's birthday present, the Bitty and I made our needlebooks! So, we are both so proud of ourselves and I wanted to post the pictures of them. :)

 Madelynn did a great job! I cut out the felt for her, she sewed the petals on, sewed on the button, backstitched the stem and leaves, sewed the felt button flap and pocket on the inside and then blanket stitched the entire thing! Wow! Not bad for a four year old, huh? :)

 Here is mine! This is the embellished inside which looks so cute thanks to kind of copying how she did it on the tutorial. I'm so glad that other people share their creativity! :) My needles are on the pages behind these.

 Tim's Nana gave me 2 yards of old Holly Hobbie fabric with different pictures on it. I thought this was perfect for a little needlebook! My edges are a bit sloppy, I think if I make another one, I will cut the cover bigger to make sure it gets stitched down.

 The pieced and quilted back. My first time doing that, it was super fun! I got a fat quarter bundle on clearance at Joann's for five bucks and it matched the Holly Hobbie fabric nicely. :) I even used the ribbon that the fat quarters were tied together with for the ribbon ties. Ha!

Small House & Camping

I have been feeling bummed for awhile about still being in a two bedroom house with three kids and no prospective buyers. The other day, the kids and I did a little rearranging in their bedroom to get Logan's toy box in there. It has been taking up space in my laundry room and the toys have been in baskets in my living room. So, it gave me back a lot of space in the house and really didn't take up too much in the kids' bedroom. In fact, they were pretty excited about it and we snapped a picture to send to daddy so he could see how our morning project turned out.

Last night, after we put the kids to bed, I had to smile. Carson was telling Madelynn a story. They lay in there laughing and being goofy and enjoying one another and I had to see how I was blessed by our small home. If we had an extra bedroom, they would never had shared a room and while it may have cut down on a lot of fighting, it has allowed them an opportunity to bond in a way they wouldn't have been able to otherwise. So, I am really feeling happy about our situation right now, even though the logical side of me thinks it is absurd to have three children in one bedroom. Until we are able to add on or buy a new house, I am going to continue focusing on being content with where we are.

Also, we returned from our fall camp trip yesterday! The weekend went by all too quickly and I think we are considering an extra day next year. I enjoyed the peace and quiet and time with my family. I was able to enjoy a quiet time reading while Tim and Carson were out on the canoe, Madelynn was otherwise occupied and Logan was napping.

We are starting this 31 seek series at church. Kind of nice to read about creation while sitting out by the woods and next to the lake. Sigh.... A few more pictures from our fall camping trip for all my family members who look at my blog and enjoy such things. :)

The annual picture on the stump...with a new kid this year! :)

 Our campsite, taken from the popup.

 Taking a walk in the woods with the kids.

 A canoe ride with Daddy...

 ...while Mommy hangs with Logan. :)

 I'm not sure why this picture came up sideways, it was not like that when I loaded it and I can't fix it. Oh well, turn your head and see how cute he is. ;)

 Daddy with his boys.

 Daddy and his kids. :)

 I love this picture. :)

 Now here they are, all in the 'attic' (as Madelynn calls it) and being very goofy.

Co-op & Crochet

Our homeschool group's co-op started last month. I had been preparing Madelynn for it for like two months. She was determined that she would not go and would not like it. I was pretty stressed about it. I was able to take her to her class and stay for a few minutes and she did fine! So, we are halfway through and she really does like it! Whew! I have noticed a lot of changes in her lately. She is definitely starting to be more obedient and is a lot more pleasant to be around! It was funny, after the first day of co-op, her behavior was so much better and I commented on it. She said, "I learned about obeying at co-op." I'm thinking, you have got to be kidding me! I'm sure she never learned anything about obedience at home. ;) Haha! I'm thinking that she was very stressed about co-op and was very happy that it wasn't as bad as she thought it would be.

That is from the first day of co-op. Carson is taking gym, geology and medieval times. He is really enjoying all of his classes and has a ton of things to tell me about on the way home. I'm helping out in the nursery this time around since I have my little guy with me. This year of homeschooling so far has been going great, with the exception of our sick week last week. I think that the difference is that I am not an exhausted pregnant lady this year. Haha!

I started this owl bag for Madelynn before co-op last year and finished the whole thing with the exception of sewing the felt on and putting it all together. So, it kinda sat around as a ufo for a year and I pulled it out and finished it before her first day this time. It is from the Crochet Today magazine, which I really love.

I will have to post again soon about Madelynn's sewing progress. That little girl is doing great, I'm so proud of her!