Evening the Odds...and a Few Glimpses of Life...

Well...we have known for about 7 weeks what this little wonder is going to be....

but because I was only 13 weeks along when they told us, I wanted to make sure before we shared...although it would have been a pretty funny story if they had been wrong. But we had another ultrasound confirming the first.

Here are a few pictures to lend a few clues...the lovely box was sent full of gifts for comfort by a precious friend when I was ill, and now it holds special little items intended to bring to the hospital....

It looks as though we are going to be evening the odds around here, giving us an equal 4 boys, 4 girls(that is including ma and pa-no, we are not having triplets!). This new littlest life is a wee boy, giving us three girls and three boys. Never in my wildest, did I expect those fun ratios especially when we had 3 girls following our oldest son!! It will be pretty fun to see Noah and this little man become buds. Weird to think that my last two kiddos at home will be young men! But we are of course very excited about this upcoming addition.

For the first time, we are really unsure of a name, we always had a name picked way before we knew the sex of the baby, but this time proves to be a first. Although, he is affectionately known as "fireblast" around here due to Noah being convinced that, that is in fact a name the baby would be proud of!! So fireblast it is until we have settled on the "real" name.

I had a check up yesterday in which the Dr said, well it only took 21 weeks for you to finally look pregnant. Isn't it funny, how it seems to all of the sudden creep up on you! And when it does, your reflection kind of takes you by surprise -"oh wow, I guess I do look pregnant" and your husband laughs at you because it is nothing new to him. So, here is the new look at just about 22 weeks. 18 more weeks at this rate seems a little scary, but, I am savoring this last time and keeping a good sense of humor.

I am doing much better now, almost as normal as I will get! Struggles with migraines, nausea, and stamina are starting to fade. I am getting out of the house more often for the kiddos birthdays, quick runs to the store with Matt's help, and even a movie!! Mornings are tough, so church has been difficult, especially after getting all of the kids ready for Matt to take. I usually end up sick and have to wave them off. But, even that will change soon enough. I am a bit anxious about this weekend, Madison has her Olympics and I do not have any idea how I will be able to sit on bleachers that long in a hot gym-but the idea of missing them bothers me even more. I am praying for an extra dose of the Lord's strength for it and no passing out(which unfortunately I have done more than I would like to admit)!

I have been able to work on the store quite a bit, sitting at the sewing machine is very good for me right now-my mind is completely working overtime, but my body is not as cooperative-so I compromise. I have also been able to finish some projects around the house needing my attention. Here is a peek at a few...

Joslyn has been wanting a Bible cover for some time, so I was able to make one for her birthday. I really loved how it turned out!! It was a fun project to design.

We have not had a rocking chairs for years now, so we have been looking for a new one, but the budget was not cooperating;). We stopped in at a new thrift shop after dinner with Matt's folks when they were visiting. We were blessed to find a beautiful glider and ottoman for only $20. It is in perfect condition and was even the color wood we had been looking for! I was able to recover it with fabric I already had waiting for the perfect use!!

I used the original covers for the pattern.

And it turned out wonderful!! I am so excited about it!

I have been thankful for projects like this one, that were designed and ready to be sewn. Since it is hard for me to be on my feet for very long. All this one needed was the quilting to be done-what a relaxing project!! And it feels really good to finish all my unfinished projects!!

I had 3 bunting sets ready to sew from years ago, and was finally able to get them accomplished as well! Vintage linens-nothing better!!

Lots of fun new napkin sets added to the shop. Made especially for school lunches.

And lots of unfinished hats have finally been finished and added to the store-maybe a bit late for this year, but good none the less, to have them ready for next winter!

We are almost through all of the birthdays until May and July. Cole turned 14, Joslyn turned 10, Bell turned 7, me 36, and Matt-37 this week. We also celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary and went away for a few days-time in a peaceful cabin in the middle of the snowy woods of Door County-HEAVEN on earth and the perfect pace for me right now! Busy months, but full of blessings!

Like our 3+7 on the cake-we aren't so great on having the right candles-but hey, we can improvise! Joslyn, the Lord's gift of laughter to our family.

Hard to believe Cole is already 14!!! But he is a true joy!

Bell turned 7-she loved getting her ears pierced and picking out her very own guinee pig to take care of!

Time at the cabin to just sit and read!!

And time to sew a few dolls for Bell's birthday...

Madison continues to bless me with sweet little notes and pictures of encouragement, a true gift she has of encouragement!!

Bell is always hard at work with her creativeness. She bought a paper dolls book with some birthday money and makes the most beautiful clothing for them!

On one of my first outing after being well enough to go out, I picked up 5 of these brown paper construction rolls at Menards. One for each of the kids. They act as a sort of art journal for each of them. They have always loved when I had big rolls of shipping paper they could roll out on the floor to make murals, so this seemed even more perfect, giving them their own to create with when inspiration struck. I look forward to the sotries they will tell over time!

Ohhhh! And I almost forgot!! I hit the 10,000 sales mark in my shop this weekend!! What a fabulous adventure this has been!! I am having a celebration sale right now. You can use this coupon code "CELEBRATION35" to receive 35 % off of your entire order!! Thank you to each of you who have made my work so blessed and who have continued to encourage and inspire me daily! May the Lord bless the work of your hands!!

Vintage Sheets Solution To Small Space Storage.....Hang In There... This is a Long Post...

Maybe you have been there too, wanting to pare down, wanting to get rid of excess, wanting to want less, need less, be content. For me, being the mom of 5, homeschooler, keeper of a small army of pets, creative recycler, and home- "cozy"-maker, means that that is an ongoing lesson with ever-changing perameters. I have found that even after being generous with the garbage can and donations, being careful with choosing what makes it through the front door, there is still a struggle to find storage in a small space. Every once in awhile, I have a success, and AHA! moment and I enjoy getting the chance to pass it on from one, mom -in -practice, to another. And maybe this is not even a solution that you may need but it may just evoke an AHA! moment of your own!

So, here is the back story to how this solution came about. We adopted our dog Ellie almost a year ago now. She was a true blessing from the Lord. It was amazing how she seemed to slip her way in without any upset, adjustment, or frustration. As a matter fact, you probably would have never known she came to us as a 6 year old mama dog, she just "FIT" us. But we think she had been custom made just for us-thank you Lord-your creation is always good! Anyways, Ellie is a big old mama lab, that has a real adoration for comfort, which always gives us something to laugh about. After being a dog free home for sometime, I thought I was going to be quite strict about letting her on furniture, in the bed, etc. But, here you go...

Yep, we have spoiled her a bit, but oh how cozy she makes this home feel! So now that you have veiwed our entire family album-haha-let me get to the point.

We have a small, 3 bedroom, house for seven of us, some of you know that from previous posts. And the reason I mention it(often) is to hopefully be an encouragement to those of you sharing small spaces as well, and be hopefully sharing some useful solutions for making it work comfortably. Hopefully these will provide a few ideas for multi-functional uses of everyday things-or, not-so-everyday things that are still important to keep around. So, I had one of those ideas today. I had a few goals needed to be reached before the winter shut in starts. The odds and ends in the garage from summer projects and events needed to be stored before it is too cold to work out there, I needed to make some kind of dog bed for Ellie, because even though she is too cute cuddled up in our furntiture, she is wearing them out faster than all five kiddos put together, and I am attempting to finish some of my "unfinished" projects. And guess what, I was able to combine all 3 of those odd goals into one solution!! Curious yet!?

I took an unfinished quilt(it just needed to be bound-for like 3 years now) and yes, it was made from vintage sheets, big surprise:) and decided to turn it into the casing for the dog bed. Then to fill it(and here was a budget saver-not to mention a "need less" situation I mentioned earlier). I have some old comforters and quilts that are not being used for beds anymore, but we have kept them for summertime picnics, forts outside, etc. They take up a lot of room and having them sitting in the garage collecting dust, hasn't worked so well-so I used them to fill the oversized case. This will keep them stored and clean(I have some soft plastic garment bags that they will stay in while inside the dog bed slip cover) . And here you go with a few pictures of the process....

..................Here is the unfinished quilt I used in the project.

......................I folded the quilt in half and sewed it up like a pillowcase.

.................I used velcro to make the closure. I prefer sew in velcro, it handles best in the wash-which this will get a lot of.

Here is my stack of comforters needing a storage solution. They have become my filling for the dog bed.

And here is a perfect picture of success....

And when Ellie is not enjoying it, someone else will. I knew this project would have no shortage of attention. How about an afternoon nap in the sunshine:)

What to do with Vintage Bed Linens...

It has probably been years since I did an official "what to do with vintage bed linens" so here is a new little project for those of you who love to sew with reclaimed linens and have wee little girlie girls in your life! A few weeks ago when Matt and Cole were away for a youth trip, I set a few days aside to get some serious sewing done for my own kiddos. It had been quite awhile since I had made new sleeping pants and loungy summer shorts for them, so I set aside a huge stack of linens for this project. But somewhere in the middle of cutting out shorts, I went even more simple and decided to do sew simple elastic skirts for the girls. I have since then, spent a few hours on 3 different days whipping these little cuties out and have even done a few for the store that I will be listing later today.

I will do my best to add a few pictures later today showing the simple sewing process for these skirts, but I know there are plenty of tutorials out in the blog world for skirts such as this.

Bell had fun this morning helping me get some pictures for the shop. I appreciate any excuse to just get outdoors! And Noah is enjoying our new clothesline just about as much as I am!

What We Have Been up To Around Here...

We had something monumental occur in our family this past month....for the first time in almost 13 years, we took down the crib and put it into storage. Sniff..sniff...it is quite bittersweet. It would be neat to say that all 5 kiddos slept in the same crib and now the grandkids will sleep in it too...but that just isn't the case here. Most of the time our kiddos ovelapped and we had two cribs up at once, and one of those original cribs didn't survive our Josie girl's trampoline routine in it! But none the less, taking down the crib was very strange! And yet the stage our family is in is exciting. Taking down the crib should be easy right? Take the crib down and put up a new bed, simple right?! Well, we like to do it the Looongggg way-let's play musical beds and see just how many changes we can make. But, in all honesty, we had held off on some projects until the crib came down so that we could address all of the issues in the bedrooms that the kids share all at once.

Our two boys share one bedroom that is approx 9x10 feet, and our 3 girls share a bedroom that is approx 10x12 feet. We really had to make a choice a long time ago to not be frustrated by the space issues, but take it as a challenge to be creative. I really prefer that they share and if given a chance to split them up, would not. But I honestly would not mind a bit more space to fit them;)- I know that most of the time bunk beds are the answer, and we have had one in the girls room, but I am no longer a fan of them and felt we needed to find another solution to the space crunch. It is really important to me to be able to tuck the kids in each night and bunk beds just do not allow that, so many important conversations happen at bedtime or through out the day simply by sitting down at the edge of a bed together-I just did not want to miss that anymore with the current resident of the "penthouse" in the girl's room.

So this is what we did in the great exchange.

First the crib came down with Cole's help as Matt and I worked on deconstructing the bunk bed in the girls' room.

We used the top bunk of the bunkbed for Noah's new bed. It works like a dream since it had the rails already on it. We did quite a bit of rearranging of dressers and shelves in here as well, but I will show that another time. We still need to do some painting since it hasn't been painted for 6 years-Cole now has some ideas of what he likes and i am looking forward to working on that for him.

We did not even keep the bottom of the bunk in the girls room because it is a full size bed and takes up too much space. So we moved that to the basement, got rid of the old couch down there and will now have a nice bed for guests to sleep in when visiting. I will be working on making that bed into more of a daybed style since it is functioning as the couch in our family room. Yet another post for another time;)

So now we are down to one twin bed for 3 girls, just kidding! Last week we purchased 2 new twin mattresses and the girls just slept on them on the floor until we could build the bases to their beds this weekend. Here are some pictures of our progress.

The girls have been wanting to do their room with vintage bed linens-I just can't imagine how they thought of that-haha. So as far as the bedding, and decorations, we just needed to do a little fabric shopping in the studio downstairs! So nice! Well, alright, maybe we did buy a few things from some of my favorite bed linen friends on etsy!

This picture is a bit dark, we still have lighting to deal with in there. But this gives the best shot of all three of the girls beds. We lofted Joslyn's and Bell's for storage(or more affectionately known as "fort" space). Madison's bed was given to us by my folks, it is from IKEA and has wonderful rolling drawers underneath which act as her dresser-LOVE! I am just giddy about how everything fit! It is like one big couch- and I think movie night needs to be in the girl's room from now on! The seven of us would fit better in there than in our living room! LOL.

These are one of the God sends. We had to find a better alternative to the dressers we had for the younger girls, they no longer fit in the room with the change. We had one wall spot that we had to reinvent for the both of them. When I was out hunting last week, I found these tall cabinets-2 of them for $9.00 a piece! They are over 6 feet tall and together they are just as wide as only one dresser! They had all of their shelves perfectly intact-and a lot of them at that!! An amazing blessing! They have this funky grated metal front to the doors, so each of the girls had fun picking out their favorite print to attach behind it for some color.

I still have curtains to make, furniture to paint, and minor changes to make in each of the rooms, but the crazy build and rearrange is done-whew!

It has been fun to do little touches like quilted throw pillows...

A framed map for Joslyn(she collects maps and loves to study them)

And yes, of course some fabric hoops! They are beginning to multiply in this house-yikes!!