The Word is Good

"Satisfy us in the morning with Your steadfast love,

that we may rejoice and be glad all our days."

Psalm 90:14

Maybe I've lived in the south too long...

I completed my second sewing project last night (while watching LOST-- holy cow, can that show get any more confusing?!!?). I have been wanting to make a "pillowcase dress" for AB for a while now-- and have to ask my Midwest people: if this is what I like to dress my little girl in, have I lived in Georgia too long?!!? Seriously, I'm not to the point of putting Joshua in saddle shoes and rompers, but I know that my style has changed since living here. I love the sweet little dresses, big hair bows, and even monogramming. Anyways- I looked at a couple of instructional websites and called mom to talk me through some of the details. It really is a very easy dress to make. There are just a few simple steps, and because it's loose fitting and the ties bunch it as much as needed, you don't have to worry about getting it exactly right measurement wise. So here it is, folks- Belly in a pillowcase (yeah...she'll definitely give me a hard time for this one when she's older:))

Thank You, Dear Husband!

Growing up, I have vivid memories of my mom sewing. She would stay up all night making me and my sisters' Easter, Christmas, and First Day of School dresses. I wish that I had pictures here of some of these outfits; some were quite "impressive". We're talking Christmas dresses with lacey placemats as the collars. We even had designated colors; my dresses were often times country blue (can we say 80's!!!) Laura's colors was mauve, and Becca was cranberry. This was a childhood nightmare for the tomboy girl that I once was. I wasn't a fan of dresses to begin with, let alone those with lace and smocking on them! (At least my color was blue, right?!) Well, anyway- my mom is a really gifted seamstress. She can make just about anything. She even made Anna Bell's crib bedding. As I was growing up, I had absolutely no interest in learning how to sew. It wasn't at all my thing. However, now that I'm wife/mom/homemaker with a daughter (that I want to put in pillowcase dresses-- for which she'll someday make fun of me for), I want to learn to sew. My sweet, thoughtful husband surprised me on Sunday with this super-cool sewing machine!

I was so incredibly excited! I pulled out the manual (and I'm not really a manual type of person, but I was so determined to figure the thing out.) I learned how to thread the bobbin and the needle and practiced some of the stitching options. Then I finished my very first sewing project:

I wish that my mom wasn't hundreds of miles away and we could sit down and she could teach me. We intend to do those sort of things when we visit, but the days are so jam-packed that we never get around to it. However, she's coming next month, so I have every intention of planning a big sewing party while she's here!

Cabinets Shnabinets

So I just searched through old files and found some before/during pictures of our kitchen cabinets. ...And then I spent way too much time looking at old pictures of our precious growing babies. Holy Moly, they grow up too fast! Check out a few of my favorites that I came across....

Precious, sleeping, less than 2 weeks old Caleb.

Sweetness.

(I'm gonna develop this one and hang it in this bathroom:)

Our little faux hawk man.

Who cares about cabinets with priceless pictures like these?

(Almost) Finished!

These pictures are a little fuzzy for some reason, but here are our "new" cabinets!!! I'm going to have to look through pictures on our old computer and find some before pics- but I love the difference. It's amazing what $40 of gel stain and $75 of new hardware will do! I still need to touch up a couple of places and add a coat or two of polyurethane (sp?). Does anyone have any experience with that? The stuff seems so runny- I'm afraid I'm gonna mess them up by leaving drips all over the place. I'd love some tips, if you have em!

Recent Conversations

Some sweet/funny recent conversations in the Broome house:

**AB has had some behavior issues at school lately...ugh- you wouldn't think that a 23 pound three year old would take it upon herself to be the class bully, but I guess she has. We're working on it. (Any godly advice would be appreciated.)

Me (on the way home from school): Anna Bell, did you have a good day at school?

Anna Bell: yes mommy.

Me: Did you obey your teachers and were you kind to your friends?

Anna Bell: ummmm....no- i went to time out.

Me: And why did you have to go to timeout today?

Anna Bell: I took toys from Sarah and pushed her. (*Sarah is one of her dearest friends...and thankfully Sarah's mommy is one of my dearest friends who understands and loves my little darling AB)

Joshua (has been listening intently up to this point, but now decides to chime in with a stern voice): Anna Bell! That is NOT good and that does NOT honor God!

...oh boy.


**Anna Bell is seriously the BEST daddy greeter in the world! I mean, we're talkin no matter where that child is in the house or what she is busy doing, when she hears her daddy walk through the door, it's over. She RUNS and yells "DAAAADDYYYYYYYY!!!!!" until she sees him and then proceeds to leap into his arms. It's great. I love that she adores her daddy like that. Lately, after the initial greeting, while softly patting Fred's face, she then says things like:

"So. How was your day at work, dad?"

Or, while laying her head on his chest, closing her eyes, and sighing:

"I sure love you daddy."

She may be a bully at school, but she sure knows how to sweet talk her daddy.



**Last night, as Fred was talking with Joshua before bedtime.

Joshua: Daddy, I don't want to get any bigger.

Fred: Why not buddy?

Joshua: Because I DO NOT want to start loosing all my teeth!

(This was after we stopped by our 5 year old neighbor's house who had just lost her first tooth. This was very disturbing to Joshua...I guess we've never explained that process to him!)