Hello again!

Hi there!  Bad blogger!  I've taken my "time-out" in the corner and seemed to have fallen asleep there, since it's been quite some time since I've last written.  What's changed?
Let me give you the Reader's Digest version.  First and foremost, I've been walking my path with the Lord and am in awe of His awesome love and power.
I've started work, did I tell you that?  A full time job out of the home, which has proved to be a bit difficult for me to leave my son.  Oi!  How I miss my daddy-o during the the days.  But praise be to the Lord, we do have health insurance now and that's a good thing.
I've also just (?) realized we have been living in our home for over 2 years and we STILL have not decorated properly.  What is wrong with this picture, or lack of pictures as our case may be.  So, look forward to some of my decorating ideas and I'm sure mishaps coming your way.
The crafts have taken a backseat to everyday life, but I haven't given up completely on them.  My fellow crafters out there know it seems to run through your veins and you can't ever completely flush that out.
OK, enough rambling...just wanted you to know I'm here and sending virtual hugs to ya'!

God is good!

Bad Christian?

I've been struggling with alot lately... and alot has been on my mind and in my prayers. There are so many things I want to become. Closer to our Lord, a better mom, a better wife, a better housekeeper, and always...thinner.

But what has hit me most is the jealousy factor. I should be happy, estatic and celebrating with my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ when the Lord blesses them with something wonderful and instead some of these siblings make me ache a little inside when I see their blessings. I try to remind myself that this is their plan, not mine. And our plans cannot be the same - but oh, how some of them ache.

It can be a ridiculous thing they gain, a new car, or new job, or something heavier like a new baby. And I have to keep praying that God take these wants and horrid feelings from me.

Praying for forgiveness because my initial reaction wasn't happiness and joy for my fellow Christian. What kind of person am I? I claim to know the Lord and yet, harbor these "it's not fair, Daddy!" feelings inside. I hear myself saying that He has plans for me, one of my favorite verses is Jeremiah 29:11 " For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." I tell myself to cling close to Him during these times because only through trials can we grow. But I'm lying if I say it doesn't leave that sick heart burn ache in my chest some days...

I shout for the Enemy to leave me - take the depressions, the woeful words and attitude, because my God is stronger.

Anyone know what I'm talking about?

Cheap Transfer Technique

A couple of posts ago I shared with you some of my embroidery projects. One was a Hello Kitty pillowcase that I got a few comments about. Not on here though
So, here's a little tutorial of how I transferred the image in order to embroider it.
Coloring books offer some great adorable and clean line images that you can use for this technique.Here's the supplies you'll need. Coloring page or print out of the design, tape, pencil, the fabric you're going to embroider on (here I have a white dish towel, but you'll see in the following pages I switched to a pastel colored fabric swatch), and a warm iron to take any wrinkles out of the fabric if necessary.
Tape up the picture to your window, if you have a light box you can use that also. I don't so I like to keep my neighbors up to date with my newest embroidering pics - hee hee!
Then tape over that your fabric. Remember to position the fabric so the design is where you want it to placed and the wrong side of the fabric is to the design, you want to be drawing on the right side of the fabric.
Take your sharpened pencil and trace the design onto the fabric. Be careful not to lift your pencil too many times. You want to have a consistent line - as much as possible.

Here's my penciled outline!
Hoop it up and begin embroidering your happy lil heart out!

Mommy Monday

Happy Monday Everyone!

Is that too much of an oxymoron for you? Happy and Monday? Anyhoo, here's another little lunch for the picky eaters in your life.

I have a difficult time getting my little daddy-o to eat any protein. He's a total carb-loader and cheese is great...but meat, chicken, or fish..no way. He does however love shapes! And since he's in preschool we're exploring lots of different shapes. Today I went with hearts.
I took a small heart shaped cookie cutter and cut out pieces from sliced cheese, deli meat and the bread.
Sandwiches are WAY too boring for my boy, but he does adore eating snacks on toothpicks! As we discovered a couple of weekends ago. I had small cocktail weenies on a toothpick and my son about peed his pants with the fun of it all!
Of course, we're out of toothpicks but I think this solution actually worked out a little better - no sharp edges.
Just cut to the desired length, about 1/2" and stack the cheese and deli slices onto the bread shapes. Ta-dah!
And if you're like me, you don't wanna waste the leftovers, so you can make lunch for you with a mommy leftover sandwich

Friday Treasures!

It's a beautiful day in Etsy land today and what better way to celebrate a Friday than to do some "window" shopping and maybe even real shopping on Etsy!

For those that aren't familiar with Etsy, it's an online mall of sorts, where you can set up your own store to sell items or just shop around. But here's the best part (I think) - all items are handmade! So, you know it will be very original and made with love. Of course, I couldn't let this post go by without sharing my own little Etsy store on there, if you'd like to visit my store click here.

And enjoy the treasury I created for you!

Click Here

A little about me ... part 2

When we left off (here) I was feeling down and out missing my boy like crazy! I continued to work a few days a week taking the bus to the office. Some days were definitely harder than others, but I'm proud to say I got through it with God's strength. He put some very fun people in the office I was working at, and they did help lighten the load. I was still praying for my old job to call me and let me know what was going to happen...if I was going to return to work, be permanently out of work, or be in this "hold" period for alot longer. I was also praying for my little family. Praying God gave me help, healed us, and helped us to be the people He designed us to be.

I received a call in March 2010, come back to work! I was elated! Full time work again, an extra (company) vehicle, health benefits! I thanked God and was in awe of His Mercy.
Things were starting to look better in our marriage as well. My hubby and I were talking more to one another, and trying to view things from the other's side. We were happy and grateful to be able to pay our bills timely. We had dissolved our savings and needed to have me working again.

And then in July, 4 short months later, work told me AGAIN - no work, no benefits, no paycheck, in no uncertain time amount.
I couldn't believe it! Anger, confusion, heartache - it all came pouring down on me at once. Why, why, why!? I was praying, I was talking with God, I was thankful when He allowed me to return to work. What had happened? I had to leave the part time office job in March when I found that I was going to be able to work full time again in my original job. I had no job, no income, and was losing faith.

I tried to take it with grace. Knowing that the Lord had a plan for me and obviously, this job wasn't in it anymore. I told myself I would find another "filler" job or God would lead me to the place He needed me to be. There would be another door and it would open to something so much more, and so much better.

And when I was finally officially let go of in October, I told myself the same things. I even went to my church and spoke with a pastor. I was afraid, I told him, I had not been able to find another "filler" job yet, I wasn't having any luck getting any income. I was scared and more so, I was very, very angry. And I didn't like that feeling. We prayed, we spoke, we read from the Bible. I walked out not having the answers of what to do next, but knowing there would be a next. My story wasn't done yet.

Mommy Monday

Is it Monday, already? Weekends sure do seem to fly by, right?

Today I thought I would share a quick, simple dinner that I make for my very picky eater. My boy is very particular about what he wants to eat and when he wants to eat it. Unless it's cupcakes or cookies - he's up for those any time of day or night!

But here's a dish that he's been eating lately.

Chicken and Stars soup - as you can see I just went with the store brand. as you can imagine there's not much nutrition in it, but he adores that there's stars in his soup! I add veggies to it, tonight we have carrots, and cut them into very small bite sizes. It's got to be able to just slip onto his spoon and allow a couple of stars on there as well.

And of course I add some chicken. I understand this doesn't look too tasty right now but it will.
If this were TV, I would just reach take the lid off the other pot and there would be our finished project. But this is just as good because....TA-DAH! There it is! a soup with some protein and veggie that my picky little man will eat up.


Have any children friendly recipes you wanna share? Please do! Post below and let us all know some of your great Mommy recipes.