Finished....

I finally remembered to take a few snapshots of some finished projects this past month. The first is a Bible cover I made for Madi girl this Easter. Her Bible is about to fall apart, so this will help it keep it together a bit longer! And the second is a new bag for myself. I realized when making it that I have not made a new bag for myself since last Easter. I am enjoying the new fabrics in this one.

Works In Progress...

It has been a long week and a quiet weekend was very needed. I had gotten a bad cold over Easter weekend-sometimes I am still surprised at how bad a cold can actually feel. On Monday, I woke to contractions! I ignored them assuming it was just braxton hicks. But about three hours later they were coming every 10 minutes, so I called my Dr to see what she thought. Needless to say, I had to go in and be monitored . Fortunately, they were not progressing into labor. She felt it was brought on by the cold and being slightly dehydrated-so lots of fluid and rest and no more cold medicine! The contractions finally ceased about 5 that night-whew...

I have rested most of the week and really did not even need to be told to, I have felt so icky and unbelievably exhausted. Standing for more than five minutes even would take it out of me. I saved any ounce of energy I could muster, for my daughters track meet on Thursday. I was also very fortunate that my husband's work week was lighter. But he is gone this weekend with both youth groups, so the younger kiddos and I have had a quiet weekend.

I spent most of it putting some quilt tops together. I worked from my scrap basket this weekend. Here are some pics of the progress-I will probably not come up with the strength to actually quilt them this weekend, but at least they are there waiting!!

I hope you are all having a lovely weekend!!

Happy Easter-HE IS RISEN!!

Such a beautiful weekend to celebrate the risen Savior!!Maybe should not have had the sun blinding them-but what's a little humor for a family photo!
Nap time in the backyard
We hold our Easter service at one of the local high schools so that we can all be together for one service-I think we were near 3 thousand today. Such an amazing way to worship the risen Savior!! Love when we are all togehter!!
The little man actually loved his bow tie-what fun!
24 weeks now and loving every moment now!

Noah and Daddy building tents
We built each of the kiddos a tent as a springtime gift. It was a gorgeous afternoon to enjoy watching the kids play outside.

Finishing Up....

With my stamina not being normal right now, I have been happily working from my sewing basket full of unfinished projects. It has come as a blessing to have so many designed and planned out projects that do not require me on my feet for all of the prep work! One of the few times that I am actually happy for not having finished what I had started! After a very quiet and needed rest day-much of it spent in bed yesterday. I found that today I had a little bit of energy to sit at the sewing machine. The kids finished up school and are all happy for time to play together outside, so I have been finishing up some of these things this afternoon.

A fun infinity scarf made from vintage jersey knit-love the Charlie Brown stripes!

A new set of 4 cloth napkins made from 2 pillowcases.

A maternity dress I appliqued with birds-for the shop.

And some new patches made from scrap fabric.

Felt good to accomplish some more.

I was able to finish up a pair of sleeping pants for Joslyn as well-but forgot to get a picture of them;)

Life Is Moving....

There has been some wonderful new things happening around our home this week. It sure feels like we have every stage of life happening before our eyes. We have teenagers, grade schoolers, little ones, and a babe soon to make an addition to that fullness!

Both Madison and Cole are in sports this year for the first time. We are all pretty excited as we have waited years to be able to swing the added expenses. Cole has been in weight training for months now in prep for the upcoming high school football season. He is playing for the Christian Youth Center's homeschooling team in our area. I have truly enjoyed the positive experiences and growth it has brought with it! Cannot wait for the games in the fall. I am still in amazement that I will be sitting in the stands watching my first babe-soon to be in high school, while cuddling a newborn babe! WOW! LIFE IS INCREDIBLE!! The weight training for Cole has been so beneficial-and he has worked hard at learning all he can and reaching new goals. We now have quite the weight set-up in the garage that he has saved and worked hard to get. It has been a very positive building in Matt and Cole's relationship as well, since a lot of it has to be done in pairs. The Lord has blessed us with some wonderful friends from church as well that helped to get us started with the team. They have been faithful helpers in getting Cole to and from training sessions and practices-the blessing of help in this way has been beyond measure!!

Madison is in track and the season is in full swing!! Oh my, what an adjustment to this life! To go from never having sports practices and games, has been a bit of a shock to the groove of family life we were used to. But, the excitement has far outweighed that!! And the stretching and challenges for me have been positive as well! Madi is also on a team with the CYC. She has been practicing for a few weeks and last night was the first official meet-she did great-and I was just overjoyed to watch her run and run and run-she certainly was built for it!! We brought the younger kids with us and they had a good time watching all the chaos of the meet. But, within the 3 hours, the temp went from around 80 to around 50-burr-for all of us wearing shorts and t-shirts! Ahh, spring weather. By the end, we had found a spot to park the van facing the track so that I could keep the little ones warm and be able to hop out quickly and watch Madi run her events. She loved it-which made me so thankful!!

Cole also was able to have a bunch of his buddies over Friday night. it was the first time any of the kiddos have had friends stay over since I had gotten sick-so it was so fun to have all of this life buzzing in our home! He really has such a good group of guys. They had a great time-maybe no sleep-but fun none the less. And all you need for teenage boys....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~FOOD~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~SPORTS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~AND VIDEO GAMES~~~~~~~TWO GAME SYSTEMS HELP EVEN MORE;)

Many of you have followed along with me for some time now and are familiar with our tiny house. But I will recap for some of you just dropping in. We bought our little ranch a little over 7 years ago when we were expecting Bell, our fourth. It has 3 small bedrooms, one bathroom, no dining space, and a full unfinished basement which has been the saving grace for this family of 7! When we found out we were expecting our 6th little wonder, we were truly stumped as to how to fit this little one in-the bedrooms are completely full and that is with creative working of how to fit 3 girls in one and 2 boys in the smaller room. Instead of being brought down by this, Matt and I decided to just focus on the excitement and gift of this new little man who will make his arrival in about 4 months. I know that the Lord has a plan for this little life that is much bigger than where his crib will rest in our home!! We have always brainstormed about how to add space, whether it be building out in the garage or putting a room in downstairs, but all it could be was dreams which if met with reality, soon fell apart for one reason or another. The garage project meant loosing-well-a garage which for us is the only storage space for this little house and not only would bring the expense of remodeling, but the expense of where to store everything-cost of a new garage down the road or massive shed. Building a room in the basement seemed the best idea, but we were stumped as to how and where. I was also very against putting just one child off from the rest of us. But the Lord has been laying a foundation for the help we needed long before we knew of this little one's life. Some friends from church had been telling Matt that they would be willing to help us on projects in our home. He is a contractor and has experience that would greatly benefit helping us with our DO-IT-YOURSELF needs. Well, he came over Monday morning to take a look at the basement and draw up some plans, goals, etc that would give us direction and hope. Before he had come, Matt and I had finally come to a consensus that putting all 3 girls in the basement together would be the best. They are the ones struggling in their space the most, there is potential for a second bathroom downstairs right next to their future room as well, which seems to make the most sense with 3 teenage girls:). When our friend was here to measure the basement, he was in agreement-and everything fell into place. Even the issue of putting in a fire safe window for their room does not seem impossible anymore for us! I do not know when we will be able to take this on in reality, but there is finally hope and what a difference that has made-even excitement!! We will put the younger two boys together in the girls old room and Cole will stay where he is. We will lose our family room space downstairs, which has caused me to decide to give up my studio space. I obviously need to still have something since it is also my job, but Matt and I are working on how to rework the littler spaces in the basement for me. He helped me to restructure the closet under our stairway already to better accommodate supplies and storage. We will begin working on some very specific shelving projects to help as well. Bummer is, I most likely will lose my dreamy over sized studio table-but I am ready to make the adjustments for the gifts the Lord is giving us instead!! Sometimes we have to give up something good, to receive something better!!

As far as my pregnancy, I am still doing pretty well. Even my migraines are becoming less and less. And I am able to do without nausea meds quite often-Praise the Lord!! I have been a little discouraged this week, because in general, I have been feeling pretty icky. Some of it is allergies-yikes, they are bad this year! But Matt has a terrible cold/flu that has really taken him out and I have been wondering if maybe I am run down because my body is fighting that virus off-- at least, that is what I am hoping! I have been pretty limited though, even last night, we arrived home after Madison's meet, ate dinner that I had thankfully had cooking in the crockpot, and I went straight to bed, even before the kids. On one hand, I went to bed feeling accomplished, because I had made it to the track meet, and fed my family-which really is quite big still, but on the other hand, I felt as though there were so many other things needing attention and I just didn't have enough energy to do them. And I know Matt is sick because he is picking up so much extra for me. I just need to give those struggles over to the Lord though-He knows our needs before we do, and knows Matt needs healing too.

Today, is a day, for rest-for a normal routine. Just school-no practices. A chance to just do the simple things like chores maybe a little work in the shop and maybe even grabbing dinner out instead of wrestling with standing long enough to finish cooking a meal. I found yesterday, that I was even struggling with sitting on a stool while prepping dinner, so Cole graciously finished up for me. Thankfully today, there are now enough leftovers for lunch-it really is the simple things that make such a difference.:)

For those of you sewers out there-I have finally learned how to turn regular pants into maternity. Boy, I sure could have used this for the first 5!!! I had gotten rid of all of my maternity clothing-so I have started from scratch again. I wasn't too worried though because clothing today is so versatile and of course thrifting makes it super easy to put together a new wardrobe. But I do not always like the maternity clothing out there and wanted to figure out how to make my own. It really has been easy. I did a bit of studying online, and took some really good looks at what I already had and what I really liked. I found that I do not like the under the belly maternity pants, they always feel like they are falling off. I do not like the older style front maternity panel either. But I love the full belly panels that are a newer style(at least from 15 years ago when I was expecting our first). So, I have successfully combined 8 pairs of pants into 4 of which I love and feel very comfortable in-not to mention-I feel like myself. I found 4 maternity pants(that were not my style) in my size or close, with the full panels, and 4 pairs of non-maternity pants that I would really like to wear right now(some straight out of my closet) and combined them. I will try to put together a tutorial soon. It was as simple as cutting off about 1 1/2 inches of the waist band and sewing in the maternity panel. I think the full panel is probably the easiest to put in too.

And oh!! I found a new recipe that everyone loves-so i am going to pass it on!! Isn't it funny how a new recipe can measure right up there with a basement remodel! haha-and better yet-it is a crock pot recipe for those busy days!! I found it on Pinterest-which is my favorite place to find new recipes now. It is for a chicken ranch and bacon pasta. It is super yummy and quick to make.

WEEKEND SALE IS ON...

THERE IS A WEEKEND SALE GOING ON IN THE SHOP. ALL PURCHASES ARE 30% OFF WITH USE OF THE COUPON CODE. THE COUPON CODE IS "WEEKEND30". THERE WILL BE A COUPON CODE BOX TO ENTER THE CODE IN WHEN YOU ARE CHECKING OUT. IT WILL CALCULATE YOUR DISCOUNT FOR YOU. HAPPY SHOPPING!

A Wonderful Start to the Day....

It has been a good morning thus far and I thought I would share a few goodies before the day got away without me...

Woke up early to get some homemade whip cream made as a yummy treat for my husband this morning. It is his birthday and a bowl of strawberries and cream was the order.

After sending him off to work and getting the kiddos going on their school work, I was able to finish the first baby quilt for this little guy. Unfortunately I worked a little to late last night and ended up with some mistakes on the backing that couldn't be fixed without ruining the fabric. Such a discouragement, but the front turned out just as I hoped. Simple with two colors that I really love together and a few touches of personality.

I think we may have all come to an agreement on the little man's "real" name, but I will give it awhile before I start setting it in stone:).

I am enjoying the school time with Bell each day and thankful to be past the being too ill to teach! Spring has sure helped too!

I also thought I would quick share something exciting that I found while at a thrift store this past week. An absolutely beautiful antique feedsack quilt that was hand quilted!! And here is the crazy cherry on top~~it was only $5!!! The tag read, "as is." You want to know what the "as is" part was...MUD, that washed out!! Now, this kind of find does not happen very often, but when it does, I am left feeling amazed and encouraged to continue hunting. I just love running my hands over the quilt as I pass the table. And I find the kids, every once in awhile studying it too. I hope someday to be able to use it in a guest room, but it will be some time before that happens:). A treasure I am saying thank you to the Lord for!!

Some Late Night Quilting When Sleep Won't Come...

A long day, a good day, but now a night when sleep is so very needed but won't come.

The last few nights as I drifted off to sleep, I was envisioning a special little quilt, for a special little guy in our lives....

Here is a peek at it's beginnings...

Lots and lots of lines to stitch...but I love the effect! Maybe now, I can drift off to sleep...goodnight lovelies!!

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!!