"Sugar and Spice" and "Snakes and Snails"

Do you see it? Look closer....... now? It is the difference between boys and girls. Look at Molly with a sweet bouquet of flowers gently cradled in her arm with that lovely smile on her face; then Maddie, only 22mo old, working so intently arranging her flowers; then there's Timothy holding a sprawling handful of flowers with roots attached, littering my porch with clumps of dirt, and a huge smile on his dirty little face. Isn't it beautiful. I can't even begin to explain how that sprawling, dirty, bouquet is just as beautiful as the dainty, carefully arranged one. This is my favorite part of my job, these daily glimpses into "the heart of a child", it is truly amazing! The day after our trip to the emergency room Ben took Tim on his very first all night hiking trip. The trip had been planned for so long they decided to go broken arm and all! Timothy carried his own pack in on the 2 mile hike to camp, I am so proud of my little man! They had a wonderful time and came home tired and hungry the next day. I keep forgetting to post this bubble I made for a friend of my moms. I used linen, light blue bias binding, and I appliqued a little owl on the front. The mama who was to receive this wanted something plain and boyish, I hope this fits the bill!

*Boy* have I been busy!

Yep, it's broke! He was wrestling with his little cousins and his arm ended up on bottom. He is so proud of his blue cast, he thinks it is so tough! How tiny is that cast! We knew it would happen one day, I'm surprised- as rough as he is - that it has been this long. This happened last night but he did not act like it hurt too bad, so we let it go. Then around 1am he woke crying, by then he was hurting. This morning we went to the emergency room (our family doc can't cast or X-ray in the office) where they said his arm was broke, put him in a splint, and sent us to the orthopedic doc for a bright blue cast.

Emily and Elizabeth

On to more girlie things.... I made Molly and Madeline dolls with the pattern from Wee Wonderfuls. I was wondering how the girls would warm up to the dolls, kinda worried they would not care too much for them, but I think I'm safe! I gave them the dolls on Sunday morning and Maddie fell asleep in church with hers. YAY! They passed the test, I am so excited!

So here is my pattern review:

The dolls were very easy to make if you follow the instructions carefully. I would recommend that if you make this doll you spring for the wool felt. I do not have access to wool felt where I live, so I just bought some of the cheap felt. The cheap felt has already started to get those little, fury, balls all over. I am going to make Lily and Iris dolls next week so I need to order some wool felt. Does anyone know an online source for wool felt? I would love to hear where you get yours. You can find the pattern by clicking ~here~.

I know it has been a while.

I am not able to upload pictures right now. Blogger says they know about the problem and they are working on it. I know it is possible to post without pictures, but it just hurts my feelings! I love to share the pics of my projects. I have some good pictures to share too, and an announcement to make. Our babies are home!!!! Lily and Iris are happily sleeping in their own lil cradle tonight! Rae and Jake are so happy to have them home, they are WONDERFUL parents. I am so proud of my baby sister, she is such a natural mother. I can't wait to be a real aunt, the kind that Rae has been these past 6 years! I will give them candy, let them stay up late, make them dresses, buy them ridiculous toys, and wake them up from naps to hold them! I am so excited! I will try to post with pictures tomorrow.

Picture Day!

I have so many silly pictures of my kids, but I can never find the right place to put them in this blog! I have decided that I will have "Picture Day" so that I will be able to share all my goofy pics! My kids are gunna love this.

First up is my little mama, Madeline, I love this picture of her nursing her baby. She is such a good mama!

Then there is one of our zoo trips ( we have year long passes) . This bird really liked Molly! After seeing what the bird had done to Molly, Maddie made it clear up front, there would be none of that business near her! You can just see her mouth saying "NO NO BIRD!" and that little finger, how funny! Then there was the monkey show OUTSIDE the monkey cage! LOL These kids are a trip! We had people stopping to see the kids instead of the poor monkeys! When they were thirsty Ben bought a soda out of the machine, MOUTIAN DEW! What were we thinking! Caffeine was not the answer! Yes! This is a cows butt. When my kids walked in and saw this huge rear they requested to have their picture made in front of it. They share their mothers sense of humor! This is my "Crazy Eyed Cowboy", he is such a ham!

Ben came home from the fire station with 3 foot long gummy snakes! Have you ever seen anything like this? They were so funny when they locked eyes with these gummies! Hope you all enjoy my silly kids! They love to see themselves on the computer they think they are famous! I always read the kids all the comments about them and THEY LOVE IT! So please leave them a comment on their very first Picture Day.

Fall Dresses and Itty Bittys

Saturday I was finally able to sew! My girls needed a fall dress. I adore this fabric I bought at Elizabeth Annes, it was perfect for this project. I love the feeling of Fall, I am such a Fall/Winter kinda girl. I love the colors, smells, weather, our wood burning stove, coffee and hot chocolate, quilts, crochet, holidays mmm........ I love it all! It all makes me so happy. In my life it seems like so many good things have happened this time of year, I just get excited! Ben loves it too, we got married and had all our babies this time of year, it is so special to us. Now if our weather would just cooperate (still in the upper 80's here!) we could really get in the Fall mood.

My birthday was yesterday and this was my favorite gift, a picture of Lily and Iris and the news that they are expected to come home in the next few days! I can't wait! I want to touch them and hold them sooooo bad! This is the best gift ever! I have never seen something so sweet in my life! Iris holding her Lily! Absolute angels! I love being their aunt.

They Love Me!!!

This is what Iris thinks of her "Aunt Manta", as I spoke to her last night the smiles just got bigger and bigger, she loves me! Miss Lily was a sleepy head! She did not want to talk, but she still loves me!

Lily and Mama

This picture was taken today, aren't they beautiful. Now that you've seen Lily you have seen Iris! You can tell how small she is (aprox. 3 lbs) compared to Rae's hand. The girls are still doing great, but Rae and Jake are exhausted. Please continue to pray for them.

Lily and Iris

Daddy's girls.

YAY!!!!! Our babies are off all oxygen!! they only have IV's now! Both are feeding well, and Rae and Jake get to hold them a couple of times a day. These baby girls have been amazing, I am so proud! I never knew how this would feel, being an aunt, I LOVE IT! I can barely look at them and I have tears streaming down my face, they are so perfect and beautiful! If I skip a day going to see them I can't stand it, I just miss them so bad. I will have pics in the next couple of days of their faces. Rea and Jake are tired but they are doing great.

On another note:

My birthday is Sunday and my Anniversary was last week, Ben came home last night with

one of these!!! I got an iPhone! I am such a nerd, I love this thing!