Re-Purposing Purpose

A few months ago I sorted through my closet and cleared out a bunch of clothes I didn't wear/want anymore. I have to admit there were a few items that I knew I wouldn't wear but they were still in great condition making it difficult to toss them into the Goodwill pile. Well, just before dropping off a few bags of clothing and other "stuff" to Goodwill I decided to pull out two skirts that still had a lot of life left in them. I seemed like such a shame getting rid of them and I kept thinking there must be something I could do to salvage them. So there they sat on the floor of my closet waiting for me to come up with some great ideas. Ultimately the great idea I chose to try was to re purpose my old skirts into "new" skirts for my girls ! After several weeks the finished skirts were ready for the girls to wear! Here are a few pics of the skirts - Rian's is the jean skirt/white lace trim and Kami's is the cream color corduroy with flowers:

I saw a similar idea for the flowers on Kami's skirt posted on the website www.oneprettything.com and wanted to try it. All I did was cut out several circles in various shapes from the fabric and then zigzag stitched all around it. I want the material to fray a little to soften the look of the flowers however I do not want to end up with a big knotted mess after a few washes. I did the same for the leaves. Then I stacked a few of the circles on top of one another and stitched a bunch of zigzag stitches in the center. I set the sewing machine stitches to the lowest stitch length my machine has so that it created a flower center. Then I placed the flowers and leaves on the skirt, pinned them in place and stitched around the largest circles of the flower about 1/2 inch in from the outside of the flower petal perimeter. Again I'm hoping for some fraying and wrinkling after several washes which is why I didn't sew the flower onto the skirt right along the largest petals perimeter. Make sense? I took the same approach with the leaves. Overall I was very pleased with how both skirts turned out and have started seeing my old, never to be worn by me clothes, in a whole new light. (watch out Gary your side of the closet is next!!!)

Winter in Michigan

As most of you know the entire USA is experiencing a chilly blast of cold air, Michigan included! We decided to enjoy one of these cold days and head to the sledding hills. Even little Drew had a chance to sled down two of the hills with his daddy (if you look closely you can see Gary holding Drew as they whiz past the girls on the sled). It was the perfect day for sledding since the sun was out the wind was not blowing (hence no sub zero wind chill!) and fresh snow had fallen to give the hills some new natural grooming. Here are some pics of our little outing. Oh by the way we are sledding on the hills at the Walker Charter Academy School (also where we go to church on Sunday!).

Nap Time

This is what a semi-tired 3 year old does when she is supposed to be taking a nap!

I peeked in on Rian to see if she was sleeping and this is what I found......her stuffed animals were all wearing UNDERWEAR and her grey kitty cat was in a top and skirt! I couldn't help but laugh until tears were pouring out of my eyes at which point Rian said "mom don't cry they didn't have any "accidents" in my bed!".....this sent me into an even harder fit of laughter!! I love this little creative girl!

Christmas Cookies & Friends

The other night we spent a fun evening with the Knoll family! Our kids really enjoy playing with their three wonderful kids (Kelan, McKenzie & Gillian). After gobbling up pizza and bread sticks we got out the gingerbread and sugar cookies so they could all decorate cookies together. Here are some pics of the festivities!

Mrs. B

Congrats to Mike & Mari who were married on November 21 in St. Louis. The wedding was amazing! I was asked to give a little speech just before dinner and I thought I would share it with all of you.

(Irish Wedding Blessing)
May your mornings bring joy and your evenings bring peace.

May your troubles grow few as your blessings increase.

May the saddest day of your future be no worse than the happiest day of your past.

May your hands be forever clasped in friendship and your hearts joined forever in love.
Your lives are very special,God has touched you in many ways.

May his blessings rest upon you and fill all your coming days.

Dear God, thank you so much for bringing Mike and Mari together as a couple. We know that you have a plan and a purpose for their marriage, and we invite you to come into their lives and relationship and direct their steps from now on. Please give them the grace to put you and each other first every day. Make their relationship a blessing to others. But most of all; make it a blessing to you. Amen."

Kami"ism"

The girls think the word "butt" is hilarious so the other day when a commercial on TV about the new Sketchers brand tennis shoes came on and advertised how these shoes can make your butt better they erupted in laughter. After quieting down they asked how tennis shoes make your butt better (oh yeah a learning opportunity!). I explained that the muscles in your butt called "gluteus maximus" get a workout by wearing the shoes because of their design.......before I could finish the little educational and scientific lecture Kami says to Rian "hey Rian did you know that means you have glu in your butt" and the laughter once again erupted!! Silly little girls!

Pumpkin Carving & Halloween Party

Once again the kids had an absolute blast on Halloween! Kami dressed up as Minnie Mouse, Rian was a princess and Drew was a lion. The evening was filled with screams, howls and giggles in an ear drum shattering volume as our girls were joined by Snow White (aka Reese), a Witch (aka Lauryn) and a Fairy (aka Kate). The kids even got to spend some time with Papa Evans, Nana Evans, Maima (O'Brien) and Papa O'Brien (aka the Captain). The trick-or-treating started around 6:30 as we ventured across the street to the neighborhood houses. It was cold and windy but the kids didn't seem to notice -go figure! As the goody bags got heavier and the parents got colder we knew it was time to call it a night. We were all pretty worn out after this party - thank goodness for the time change! Too bad Drew didn't understand what it meant to "gain an hour".
Enjoy the pics!

Skeletons in the closet

Looking for a quick last minute Halloween decoration? How about a homemade skeleton. The girls and I put these together during Drew's nap the other day - don't they look cute!

To create one yourself you will need the following:

1 piece black paper
1 small piece of white paper cut into a "skull" shape

10-11 q-tips

scissors

glue

First cut out the skull shape from the white paper and glue it to the top of your black piece of paper. Then cut the cotton ends off of 4 of the q-tips. Glue these horizontally below the skull head to form the "ribs". Next cut off one end of the cotton on 6 of the q-tips. Glue two protruding out from the rib cage to look like arms. The remaining 4 will be for the legs. The legs have two q-tips glued side by side below the rib cage. Once you finish the legs take the cut-off cotton ends and glue them on as hands and feet. Decorate the skull face and add any other embellishments you want to get your skeleton ready for Halloween. The girls had a blast with glitter glue and markers.

Kindergarten

Kami started Kindergarten this year! She goes to Zinser Elementary School and gets to ride the school bus. The school is only a few blocks from our house so she has had plenty of opportunities throughout the summer to play on the playground. On her first day she came home super excited because the whole school has a "Disassembly"! She is struggling with a little separation anxiety in the mornings but after she gets to school she seems to really enjoy it and comes home excited to tell us about her day. Fortunately she goes part time (2 full days and 1 half day) per week so she is able to ease into this new experience.

Look Who is 4 Months Old!

Boy does time sure fly! Drew (a.k.a. "Drool") turned 4 months old the end of August. He is holding his head up fairly well when he is on his tummy and as you can see in the picture he continues to live up to his current nickname "Drool"! He has rolled over 3 times from tummy to back which I'm sure we will be seeing more of in the near future. At his 4 month doctor appointment the little guy weighted in at 16 1/2 lbs!