SEW Busy

Well, I have definitely been sewing up a storm. And I have to thank my friend, Eileen. My tooth has been driving me CRAZY but today I took her advice and got some Aleve.  My tooth has stopped hurting!! Praise the Lord!!! Thank you, Eileen!!! And yes, I know... I should have listened to you sooner... LOL

ANYWAY.... ;) I have been sewing like crazy! In the past few days I finished up the pattern testing, made something for a friend (SHHH), made little Liam's Day of the Dead pants, finished another bag for Bags of Hope and Love AND have another bag halfway finished.

I still have a couple more bags that I want to finish up this week and then I will be moving on to a couple more presents. After that I plan on diving into my pattern stash and sewing up some fall clothes! OH!! Wait!! Before I do that I will be making some Halloween skirts!! I can't wait! They are going to be sooooooooo cute!!! :) Well, at least I HOPE they will be. LOL

I have been commissioned by a friend to make her son's Halloween costume. It's going to be SNOOPY!!!! In case I haven't mentioned this before, I LOOOOOOOOOOVE Snoopy!!!!! I mean, not just a little bit.. A LOOOOT!! LOL And it goes way back! Check out this pic.





Can you see the Snoopy that I'm holding?? LOL I was such a dweeb last year when we went to King's Dominion! LOL I had my picture taken with SNOOPY!! AND I got a Snoopy cup to take home. I was more excited than a grown woman should be over seeing a fictional dog.... LOL

So, you can see why I am so excited about this!

Gosh, I miss my Grandma. She was SUCH a wonderful, caring, loving LADY. I was her little Stacy Annie. LOL My grandparents played an ENORMOUS part in my life, more so than most grandparents. I actually lived with them for years!! My grandparents were such special people. I can remember seeing them sitting on the couch together and Grandpa would be sweet talking Grandma. LOL Amazing love. Amazing people. I miss them both so much. My Grandpa showed me what a man was supposed to be like. How he should love and care for his family. My Grandma showed me how a true lady should be, always thinking of others, always caring about others. And love, always love from both of them. The world needs more people like them.



Here are a few more pics from today.







Bonnie sleeping on the fabric for the Bags of Hope and Love... I hope none of these kids have cat allergies... SIGH.. I could never get all the cat fur off! YILES!!!







5 Bags of Hope and Love ready to go!!! :)









A really cool spider web.

One day I would love to own a REAL camera. LOL I love take pictures but you just never know how they will turn out with a cell phone.



Another great sermon today at church. I just don't know what I will do if we have to move and leave this church behind. I know that God has plans that we can't see or even imagine, but ...... I love it here. And if we move, our oldest son is talking about not going with us. This breaks my heart. I can't imagine not being able to see him everyday. I know that this is something that I will have to get used to but it doesn't make the hurt any less. I am trying my best to bribe him into going with us. LOL So far it isn't working....



OH!! I have to share this with you!! A little bit ago I was complaining to Deanna that I wasn't able to write up my blog post because Jacob had my phone and I had forgotten to upload my pictures. She looks at me and says, "Umm, isn't that a first world problem??" Umm... yes.... Yes, it is... And I was definitely put in my place! LOL So glad that she is able to see those types of things for what they are! And may God help me to always put that kind of stuff into proper perspective. :) If we have a roof over our heads, clothes on our backs and food to eat, we are more blessed than SOOOO many others in this world.





Speaking of dirty dishes, Deanna somehow conned Cailey into doing the dishes this evening. I wonder how that came about!! LOL



We are taking next week off of homeschooling. Since The Hubby will be on nights my sleep schedule will be all out of whack again. I think that played a HUGE part in how cruddy I felt last week. Sooo.. we might do a few crafts here and there and maybe some science experiments, but other than that it will be a free week! OOOH!!! More time for SEWING!!! LOL I just thought of that!! No, really! I did!

OH!! And I wanted to put this out there, too. I received some more donations today for Bags of Hope and Love!! WOOOO HOOOO!!!! :)) AWESOME!! However, there are still quite a few things that are needed, in case anyone wants to help out in any way.

Needed-

Body wash/soap

Razors - boys

Journals

Shaving cream - boys

Snacks

Hair doodads

Books/magazines

Shampoo and conditioner

We have Bibles, combs, pens, toothbrushes and toothpaste covered for now. And I think we are good in the deodorant department as well.

Pattern Testing, Day of the Dead and AWESOME Readers!

LOL I love the long, crazy titles!!!!

I was offered a lovely opportunity to test a pattern for Squiggly Twigs Designs. I just finished testing the Simply Lovely Dress pattern and I LOOOOOOOOVE it!!!!! The instructions were very easy to follow and she adds in little helpful hints. AWESOME!! If you are a beginner, then I would definitely try this out!! If you aren't a beginner, I would STILL try this out! LOL ;)

Here are my pics!





Please excuse the wrinkles. I had it ALLLLL ironed out UNTIL Cailey put it on. LOL ;)

























Cailey is very excited about wearing this to church tomorrow!!! And I am wishing that I had bought enough fabric to make a matching skirt for ME! LOL



About a month ago I promised my cousin that I would make her SOOOOO STINKING CUTE son a pair of Day of the Dead shorts. Well.... It's taken me THIS long to get around to it so I made pants instead. LOL Here they are!















I have never made anything that small!! LOL I sure hope they fit! I added a cuff at the bottom so that hopefully they can grow with him. :)



Now, on to AWESOME READERS!!!!! I was soooo amazed to learn that I was nominated for the Good Neighbor Award over at Pillows A-La-Mode.  SOOOOOOO amazing!!!! This award is basically from the readers! You should go read the lovely things that were said about all the nominees. It made me tear up. LOL I am such a softy!! So I want to say a great big, GINORMOUS THANK YOU to any readers that may have nominated or voted for me. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't for the life of me figure out WHY... LOL ;)



I am feeling MUCH better today! YAY!!!! I got enough sleep and made myself eat. That seems to have done wonders! LOL The tooth is still there nagging me but it has gotten better! SHEW!!!! Thank you all SO much for the prayers!!! We all know how much help they are!! I think since The Hubby has night shift again next week that we will take the week off from school. I can't seem to deal well with only a few hours of sleep a day! LOL I was going to bed between 3:30 and 4:30 and getting up between 7:30 and 8:30. NOT good! Even with a nap here and there it just wasn't cutting it.

WOW!! I just can't believe this!! I am so humbled! Thank you SOOOOO MUCH!!!!

A Couple of Good Mail Days and Happy Birthday Jacob!

Wait until you see what I got in the mail yesterday and the day before!! SQUEEEE!!!!!







I LOVE THIS!!!! A little while ago I won a $50 GC to either Tupperware or Scentsy from Heather at Stringtown Home. I guess you can see what I picked! LOL It is so much bigger than I thought it would be! It's 6" high! For $50 I got the Whoot Owl full size warmer and 3 Scentsy bars. I got the cinnamon/vanilla. It smells SOOOOOO good!!!!! I love it soooooo much!! I highly recommend Scentsy. Now that I have the warmer it won't be much to keep the bars to go in it. MUCH cheaper than Yankee Candle! ;)



A few weeks ago I took part in a Facebook party for homeschooling and I won a $25 GC to Amazon! So, what did I buy??? Fabric! LOL







Go Mountaineers!!!!

I got 2 yards of WVU fleece!!! :)) Now I just have to decide what to do with it.... Either pjs or a blanket... Not sure yet...



I am feeling a little better today. I got a bit more sleep last night and that has helped. Still dealing with the tooth, though. GRRR!!! And I realized that part of my problem was low blood sugar.  But I am hoping to get back into sewing today or tomorrow.  I did finish a book yesterday, though, so that was good. "Secrets of a Summer Night (Wallflowers, Bk 1)" by Lisa Kleypas. It has been a while since I had read a historical romance. It was SOOOOOO good. Definitely sigh worthy! LOL It was not one of those that is filled with bitterness or ugliness. Those tend to get on my nerves after a while and I have a hard time finishing them. Thankfully I have the second in the series already! Now I just need 3, 4 and 5! LOL



OH!! And I wrote a post a while ago about being a Bzz Agent and the cool products I had received for free. I am still loving the CoverGirl and Olay make-up!! ;) But I wanted to give you an update on the Glade stuff I got. I received free coupons for the Glade Expressions Oil Diffuser and the Glade Expressions Fragrance Mist. On first glance I was highly unimpressed. LOL The oil diffuser looked like a piece of stiff paper that you insert into the oil thingy.... BUT it worked! LOL I was very surprised and I wasn't expecting much out of it. I was wrong. It made the whole kitchen smell lovely! And we have 2 litter boxes in the breakfast nook.... Now, the Fragrance Mist is more or less a spray bottle in a cute plastic case. It does look much better than a regular can sitting around. ;) And they have much different scents for these 2 products than they have for the regular sprays, candles, etc. You can find both products at the usual stores, Kroger, Walmart, etc.

<img src="https://img.bzzagent.com/image/gladeExpressions.jpg?Type=activity&Activity=9365102339&Campaign=5855213675&Uid=85143&token=24313cb6758d08a9c6c3728fe1c0a7db" alt=""/>



Today is my oldest son's 19th Birthday!!! WAH!!! He's getting too old!!!!

Happy Birthday, Jacob! I Love You!!









LOL He's just gonna LOVE me for these pics! ;) But, hey, I'm a mom, that's my job!

Living With Fibromyalgia

When I first started this blog I was unsure if I should even mention FMS. Then I decided that I would be doing a disservice to other sufferers and that I should at least get the word out about it. Now I find myself dealing with a string of bad days. I have always tried not to let FMS get in the way of certain things in my life even though there are other aspects that I can't control. I let a well tended house go down the drain. I have tried to make peace with that. I just simple cannot keep up with the housework anymore. Vacuuming alone can send me to the bed in agony.

When I started sewing it was definitely a sort of therapy for me. Here is something that I can do and feel as if I am actually accomplishing something! So, I decided to try my best not to let FMS come between me and my sewing.

Well, that was until this week, for the most part.

Sunday started with a migraine. I was able to get it under control until Sunday evening.

Monday started with a migraine.  Then shortly after noon it was added to by a toothache.

Same thing on Tuesday.

Here we are at Wednesday and I am still dealing with a toothache while playing tag with the migraines.

On top of all of that I have the "regular" pain of living every day with FMS. My neck, shoulders, back, hips... And that is as long as I don't aggravate some other part of my body! Then add in the bone weary fatigue.

So, I have gotten NOTHING accomplished this week. We are doing school but even there I am falling behind with what I WANT to do. We are getting the basics done, so that's good. But the fun stuff has been put to the side because I just don't have the strength and energy to deal with it while dealing with all this other crap.

I have so much that I want to do this week!! Lord, please give me the patience to deal with all of this. Help me to know that it's OK if I can't live up to my "time frame". The stuff that I want to do will still be there waiting when I feel better. It's OK to forgive myself if I don't accomplish everything I set out to do.

Here is my list:

Sewing-

More Bags of Hope and Love

Pattern testing

Shorts for Liam

Presents for friends

Items to sell

Homeschool-

Finish putting together the Rome lapbook

Start our new science projects

Start our art and music lessons

Start art and crafts

Housework-

TRY to shampoo the carpets - I used to shampoo my carpets every other week. I haven't been able to that since January. And since February they have only been shampooed 3 times. WOW, I hated admitting that! LOL But I have to keep it real! Carpets are the bane of my existence. LOL I HATE THEM!!! They are a light wheat color... in a house with 5 kids.... Yeah....

Plus, there has been another little added stress.... We are contemplating a BIG move. The Hubby has been offered an exceptional job in another state. While this is something that is MUCH needed I reallllllllly don't want to move! I LOVE it here!! I love my church! I love my church family! It has taken me my entire adult life to find a church that feels like "home". I feel just at home there as I always did at the church I grew up in. That means SO much to me. I can't imagine having to leave that. But it's all in God's hands. And I will pray for and follow His will. I have to remember that I can only see today. HE can see forever.

I promise, this is not a pity party. LOL I am not feeling sorry for myself, just aggravated that I can't seem to do all that I want to do.  I am aggravated that I just can't get up and kick FMS to the curb! LOL I want to be my old self in the sense that I could take care of and manage everything in my house. But sometimes I have to wonder if that is why I am where I am today. Maybe this is what happens if you push yourself too much for too long? I don't know.

I have to stop myself from getting angry about it. Not the "why me" angry, but the why can't I get past this angry. Why does this thing have so much control over what I can and can't do?? That's where the anger comes from. And I am just so tired of being tired.

Yesterday after taking The Hubby to work I took a pain pill and went to sleep for a few hours. Then I just sort of stayed in bed until I had to pick him up at 2am. Colin came in to keep me company from time to time. Unfortunately today is looking like it might be another one of those days. I have one pain pill left..... Praying that this toothache is over by tomorrow...... I hate feeling like entire days have gone to waist. But I can't seem to function properly under ALL of this crud.

SHEW! I have this migraine under control again. Now if only the tooth would behave.

So, this is why I have been quiet since the wee hours of Monday morning when I last posted.

Sorry this has been so depressing.

Here, hopefully this can lift all up! ;)





And since today is National Talk Like a Pirate Day!







All the photos above have the credits listed on them. ;)

Lions, Thailand and Matter! Oh, My!

LOL I love that title.

I am about to share with you how we do lapbooks. It's the "normal" way. ;) It just goes to show that there are sooooo many ways to homeschool even if you use some of the same methods. LOL

This post is going to be VERY picture heavy but I tried to tone it down a little. I had taken over 30 pictures... LOL

Here is some of how our lion lapbook looks like.







Some, but not all, of the lapbook components came from Homeschool Share, others came from DLTK Kids.



























If you are familiar with lapbooks then you have noticed that we do them differently than most. LOL We make a book from construction paper and staple it all together, making a book. If you are NOT familiar with them, here are a few pictures of how they are usually done.







This picture is from Hands of a Child. They have reallllly awesome lapbooks.

Most people use 2 or 3 folders and attach them to make a lapbook. You can find more pictures here from Successful Homeschooling.

I know others that use a piece of poster board for their lapbooks. ANY way works. Make it your own! :)



Here are the books we will be using for the lion lapbook.



















We will be doing 2 other lapbooks this week. One for Ancient Rome and one for Thailand. I have NOT put the Ancient Rome one together yet. The scissors make my hand hurt something terrible so I have to space them out and take my time. :/



Here are some shots from our Thailand lapbook. Once again, some of the components come from Homeschool Share and other come from all over! LOL Some are from Dover and Crayola.







That is the only book our library had on Thailand. :/ BUT Amazon had a great Kindle freebie a couple of days ago!!!! We will definitely be using that!



















I love to add in real pictures along side the coloring paged and mini books whenever I can.

We also have the Thailand Little Passports that we will be using.







OH!!! And I found some soap from World Market that was made in Thailand! LOL









I realllllly love using things from World Market with our country studies. Sometimes it can be hard to find something, though... That's why we only have the soap... LOL We were ALL set for China last year...





For science this week we will be using Young Scientist Club's Kit 5, states of matter.  We had signed up last year for the club and then realized that we could get them A LOT cheaper through Amazon. LOL There you get 3 kits in a set for about the same or a little more than one kit through the club. We paid $17/month for the subscription and got 1 kit per month. At Amazon right now set 2, which has three kits in it,  is $17.81. Yeah, I think that is where we will be getting them..... LOL  The great thing about these kits is that they come with everything you need. Well, except things like water! LOL The Magic School Bus science kits are great, too. I will have to dig up the pictures of the kits we did last year. The Cs LOOOOVED them!!



In sewing news, I will be sewing up bags to take to social services on Friday. I have 3 full right now and want to make 4 more. Then I will start on my first pattern testing for Squiggly Twigs Designs!! So excited about that. I printed it out today and I know exactly what fabric I will using. Look for something for fall. ;)

Bags of Hope and Love news-

I was greeted with more donations Sunday morning. God is really working here, y'all! It's just so amazing! We will be able to reach so many children! I am so thrilled!!!

Check out these pictures!





The bags and the box are filled with items that go in the bags. But don't worry! If you want to donate we still need more items!

Here is a list of what is needed the most right now:

Journals

Razors for guys

Shaving cream

Body wash or soap

Snacks

Socks

Blankets

We have Bibles covered. Our pastor ordered 50 New Testaments geared toward teens! They should arrive this week! That is SOOOOO exciting!!!

There is a lady in her 90s at church that has been crocheting mini blankets to go in the bags. She donated 5 Sunday!





Isn't it great???

Look at all the fabric that has been donated to make the bags!



As the pastor said last Sunday, give God what you have and see what HE can do with it. Jesus feed the multitudes with 5 loaves and 2 fish. What more could He do with what YOU have to give??? Let Him use you and find out!!! We all have SOMEthing we can give; time, talents, money, whatever.... God has given these things to you, now give them back to Him to use for His glory!!

I started an online Bible study this morning through Good Morning Girls. I signed up with a group on Facebook that will be going through it together. Anyway, this was the first morning and I read something that really struck me. Let me see if I can find it so I can share it with you.

Here you go-

There is no better evangelism in all the world than a church whose hope in God is so strong that they gladly deny themselves in order to meet the needs of others. - John Piper

Only one thing satisfies the heart whose treasure is in heaven: doing the works of heaven. And heaven is a world of love! It is not the cords of heaven that bind the hands of love. It is the love of money and leisure and comfort and praise -- these are the cords that bind the hands of love. And the power to sever these cords is Christian hope. - John Piper

God does not call us to sit around on our rumps. We are to get busy doing His work! Get out there and minister to the people. We are the light of the world. We are the salt of the earth. Spread the love! That is the true meaning of being a Christian. Spreading Christ's love.

I want to share with you 2 of my favorite Bible verses -

1 Corinthians 13

New International Version (NIV)

13 If I speak in the tongues^[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,^[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

⁸ Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part,¹⁰ but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. ¹¹ When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. ¹² For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.



Matthew 25: 34-46

(NIV)

³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

⁴¹ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fireprepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴² For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

⁴⁴ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

⁴⁵ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

⁴⁶ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Sorry I have been lax in posting the past couple of days. I have been dealing with major headaches. Hoping they are behind me now!! Just when I would think they were gone, back they would come again. SIGH.... Keep me in your prayers, please!!

My Homage to an Oscar Dress

Here is THE dress, not MY dress. The dress that inspired me. THE Valentino dress.





Now, here is MY dress!





























So, what do you think?? It turned out just the way I wanted it to!! So, this will be the first of my designs that I will sell! :) I am going to offer it in 3 different fabrics: cotton, crepe lined satin and velvet and they will be made to order. The white ribbon is satin but it wasn't as hard to work with as I thought it as going to be. It is fully lined so it took almost 3 whole yards to make! LOL And an entire spool of ribbon!

SHEW!! It feels good to get that design out of my head and out into the real world. LOL