Scrappy Stripes

Some of you may remember a while ago when I was deliberating about patterns to use for a scrap quilt.  Well I finally settled on this one as inspiration and got started. 

My first craft project in our new house and in my new craft corner in my bedroom.  YEAH! 

And I've got this little helper, helping me choose fabric from my stash.

Some of you might also remember the hand print quilt I  helped my daughter's kindergarten class put together last year for a histiocytosis fundraiser.  This year I'm making a quilt that will be raffled off for the same fundraiser.  I needed something quick to put together because it needs to be done in just a couple weeks.

I just love seeing bright quilt fabrics coming together to make a quilt.

So even though I'm not posting much...I am busy.

Nuclear Physicist - Radioactive Baby Nerdy Outfit

Okay...so neither the baby nor the outfit are actually radioactive...although he does radiate some cuteness.

Before Anson was born I got on a roll and made a whole bunch of nerdy baby outfits.  (Like the Little Pi Guy and Fresh Baked Pi onesies.) When Anson was wearing his Nuclear Physicist outfit...

...complete with a radioactive bum...

... and matching radioactive bum pants, I snapped a few pictures to share.

Repost: Other Mothers

With the move and the new baby, I've been a major slacker this year for Mothers' Day.  I haven't gotten anything ready for my kids' birthmoms...or for my mom (who's also celebrating her birthday today) or my mother-in-law...or any of the other wonderful mom figures in my life.

And I also don't have an inspiring Mothers' Day post either...so I thought I'd go ahead and repost the one I did for last year, because even though I've been a mom for the past 7 Mothers' Days I remember how hard Mothers' Day was when we didn't have our kids yet...

So here's to all you amazing Other Mothers...

...I'm thinking of you.

Especially my kids' birthmoms...who gave me the ultimate gift...their most precious treasure...

I'm so glad they're a part of my life and my kids' lives.

I'm thinking of all you other birthmoms out there who get to see or hear from your child...

And I'm thinking of you birthmoms who wonder...where they are and who they've become...

I'm thinking of you who considered adoption and chose to single parent.  And I wonder how that little baby is...

I'm thinking of all you foster moms...

And single moms...

And moms who have angel babies waiting for you in Heaven...

And all you who desperately want to be moms, but aren't yet...

And all you moms who love your children who struggle...

Mother's Day used to be hard for me.  Not just because I didn't have kids...but because I didn't know if I would ever have kids. 

Seven Eight years ago for Mother's Day, Eric and I told our parents that we had started paperwork to become approved for adoption.  Six Seven years ago, I celebrated my first Mother's Day as a mom.

I.   AM.   SO.   BLESSED. 

If Mother's Day is hard for you...I'm sending a hug...and thinking of you. 

Teacher Appreciation Gifts

Teacher Appreciation Week totally snuck up on me this year.  Last year I relied on the blogging world to remind me it was coming up, but I haven't been keeping up on reading blogs much lately.  I'm not sure what I'll do this year...probably have Katie write her teachers a note of her own and help her bake some cookies or a loaf of bread to deliver along with it.

I thought I'd link to some of my favorite teacher gifts from last year.  You can see all my teacher gift ideas here (scroll down to get past the Christmas ones).

I think the all-time BEST teacher gift is a heart felt letter.  You can see my tips for one here.

My daughter's teachers also loved the signed mat art we made last year.  You could put anything inside from a class picture to a nice quote or student artwork as well.  I arranged with the computer teacher to go in during computers and have all the students in the class sign the mat.

I recently did a guest post for Or So She Says on the topic of teacher gifts...and was so busy with the move that I forgot to post about it here.  If you'd like to see that post you can go here.

Smiles and Visitors

We just got the internet up and running a couple days ago after being without it for over a week.  It's nice to have it back...and it was also nice to have a break from it.

We've still got quite a few boxes around the house and are still in the process of getting shelves built in all the closets and nooks...but we've made more progress than I thought we would have by now.  I'm hoping to have pictures taken soon, but for now you'll have to be happy with this little guy.
My craft area is mostly set up, and I'm starting to get an itch to sew something again. 

Anson is hanging out next to me while I'm writing this and starting smiling, so I grabbed the camera.

We also had our first house guests...Josiah (Seth's birthdad) and his family came for a visit.  It was great to see them since it had been a long time.  Seth LOVED playing with his half-brother...wrestling, playing in the dirt...you know boy stuff.  And we have plenty of dirt in our yard to play with.

Anyway, I'm hoping to be posting more often soon...about the house as well as all the projects I did before Anson was born.