Another Giveaway!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this site by Lex; she is so creative and it inspires me tremendously. There are so many of her ideas that I am trying to do on my own. Right now she is doing a great giveaway and you can see it here: http://www.madebylex.com/

Gorgeous Quilt Giveaway!

Wow, this is a stunning quilt and it's being given away to a lucky winner and I really, really hope I win it :) I enter these blog giveaways and so far haven't been very lucky BUT maybe this time...

eden2.jpg

Check it out! The blog is amazing anyway, even without the giveaway...cute stuff!

http://lilatuellerdesigns.blogspot.com/2010/02/giveaway-contest-begins-today.html

Going Green Or Something Like That

Reconstructed? Recycled? Refurbished?

Looking for the right word here...somebody help me out! I'm using clothing and materials that we have; that are old, worn, etc. and restyling them into something else. I think some people would say it's a step toward 'going green' by not wasting stuff and not buying new things....sorry, I'm not as 'earthy' as some of my friends but I get the point of it all. I really like the idea of being creative with what I have and finding new purposes for old things. And I like that line so much I'm going to type it again just because it's my blog and I want to see that phrase again: Finding new purposes for old things. Don't you just love words?

Whatever it's called, it's really fun! Today I managed to complete two neat sewing projects and I can't wait to see what people say about them!

Here's the pair of used blue jeans that was the basis for my projects:

I've seen little jean purses made out of pants like this before, and since I wanted to practice sewing with denim I thought I'd give it a try and make a little purse. Here it is!

I lined it with patriotic-ish material just because I prefer the lined, finished look for this. I LOVE the little front pockets that will be great for cell phone, etc. It turned out to be a cute hobo-ish clutch size purse, I think! Here's the inside and back:

I thought about 'blinging' it up with studs or something, but on second thought I like it the way it is...so I'm leaving it.

And the next thing was based on the pistachio bag seen in the picture here:

We actually got a bag of pistachios for Christmas and I LOVED the narrow little linen? Cotton? bag that they came in and knew I wanted to save it for a project down the road. So back to the pair of used jeans...I cut up one of the legs and used it to make a great little shopping bag, with the inner seams as the handles:

Here's the back, with the "Nutritional Information" section that was the back of the bag. Both of these sections are pockets for the front and back of the bag.

Maybe I'll keep these and use them for myself. Maybe I'll give them away...hmmm...but anyway, it was fun, I got denim sewing practice, I recycled clothing instead of buying new material so my carbon footprint is smaller (or something like that)...and my husband thinks I'm awesome :)

One of these days I'll be awesome enough to do amazing window treatments like the curtains that my friend Janelle did...you've got to check them out; click on her blog on the right of my page here...."Us Four And No More".

How I Came To Live In Hawaii

How did I end up in Hawaii? I have a lot of friends who ask me that question.

After all, I started off in Middle-of-the-USA town; born in Springfield, Missouri. {That's where I get my stubbornness, love for banjo music, and why I think Shepherd of the Hills may be one of the greatest stories of all time.}

I grew up in the Deep South; the bayous and Bible-thumping, Saints-lovin' Louisiana, with a couple of years in North Carolina. {That's where I get my southern accent when I'm tired, a love for country music and crawfish, and why I think Gone With the Wind may be one of the greatest stories of all time.}

I went to college on the crazy West Coast in sunny California. {That's where I realized I am a hippie at heart, that I love '60's music, and that I should always live where the ocean is just a drive away.}

So...Hawaii? Oh yes...well, even though California is known for the warm sun, Stockton in the winter time is COLD and WET. Eww! In college I had 7 am classes, which meant getting up at 6-ish and walking out into cold fog so thick you couldn't see the other dorms. I'd cling to my thermos of hot coffee to make the shaking stop. OK, so it's not the snow drifts that I'm sure college students have to deal with back East. But it is still miserable to someone who dearly despises the cold!

My senior year, I had enough. My roommate (equally abhorrent of the cold) and I kept the heater in our room blasting non-stop from October to March. While this kept our room cozy, it made the Outside even worse! One particularly bad day turned out to be THE day; the day I made a desperate plea to God. I slogged my way through the cold pouring rain and glared at the miserably grey sky as I entered my room. The whole day had been freezing cold and wet, wet, wet. Terrible. I was soaked and cold. COLD! I stood inside my warm room and the first thing I saw was our dry-erase board that we used to leave each other messages. Still dripping from the Miserable Outside, I grabbed the marker and started drawing.

A palm tree gently waving in a warm breeze, on a small sunny patch of golden sand. Blue waves gently washing up on shore. A WARM and glowing sun shining down. With large black letters I wrote in the middle of this utopian scene: "GOD PLEASE SEND ME HERE!"

I didn't know where 'HERE' was, except that it was someplace permanently WARM! I meant that prayer, with all of my heart.

To make a long story short, as graduation approached I was in contact with a pastor here in Hawaii who invited me to move here for a few months to help out in the church. I had plans to go to graduate school in California, but figured 6 months in Hawaii would be great! My sister, Michelle, decided to move here with me. 6 months in Hawaii would be great, she also figured. We packed away our sweaters and came to Hawaii. We found jobs, a furnished apartment, and bought body boards that we used almost daily at the beach just a couple of blocks away. We helped at the church, fell in love with the local people, and embraced the delicious food. Michelle learned to play chess from an elderly man sitting on Waikiki beach. We hiked Diamond Head and ate fresh pineapple and coconut while watching surfing competitions on the North Shore.

6 months turned into a year. I had known Elton at college, but hadn't really considered him a close friend. But since he attended the church we were going to here in Hawaii, he and I started talking and getting to know each other better. He introduced me to Zippy's chili and the Pali Lookout. And after a year of dating, he took me to Waimea Bay and proposed. In April 2004 we got married.

So here it is, 8 years after I was shivering in a cold Stockton winter and begging God to send me to live someplace warm. See, God DOES answer prayer!

And that's how I ended up here in Hawaii. {Where I've learned to surf, appreciate ukulele music, adore Hawaiian and Korean and Chinese and Japanese and Thai food, and wonder how I ever lived without kona coffee.}

Olivia wanting to get into the water as soon as possible!

But look, warm sand. Waving palm trees in a clear sky underneath a shining sun...

Nice gentle blue waves being enjoyed by my son...

My handsome husband helping Liv swim.

WARM toesies in the WARM sand :)

Evy's Tree Giveaway & Valentine's Day

That's EV-EE'S (rhymes with Bevy's but not Stevey's) Tree :) Some people have trouble with how to say Evy. It's from Evelyn, one of the cutest babies in California...and I'm not biased a bit....ha...

Anyway, my looooong time and most awesomest friend has been making awesomely creative embellished hoodies and now has awesome little bags; and I happen to know she has more awesome things in mind for the future. Have I said 'awesome' too many times here? Well if you know Amy, you know there is no better word to describe her! Unless it's 'amazing'.

Her things are being sold on her etsy shop or though her blog. You can see them here: http://miraflorfamily.blogspot.com/2010/02/valentines-day-giveaway.html

She's giving away one of the cute bags this week in honor of Valentines' Day, so be sure and check it out!

Speaking of V-Day, I'm ready for it and so are the kids. A few weeks ago I bought a little Valentines' Day nightgown for Olivia from Carter's, but it's so cute I'm letting her wear it as a dress. The sleeves were too long though; she hates long sleeves, so it was another sewing project to do...yay! I cut off the sleeves and added a ribbon ruffles to them, and to the bottom. I hate the ruffles though; I think it looks like Yee-Haw Sally from a hill-billy show called Petticoat Junction or something! Totally a lapse in fashion sense due to my excitement about having another sewing project. But oh well, too late to take them off so she'll have to wear them. I used the sleeve remnants to make a rose brooch for the top of her dress, and I DO like the rose. Maybe it counteracts the ruffles?

And both kids prepared little goodie bags for the million other kids under 4 at church. We are equal-opportunity; they all get nice sugar cookies so that all kids will be equally hyper and therefore all the other mommies will be as busy as I usually am with my two kiddos...{evil laugh}. Well except for Truman; he's allergic to dairy so he gets veggie chips. Samuel and Olivia had fun decorating the cards with markers...what kids DON'T want to play with markers? Olivia carefully selected different colors and very seriously 'drew' pictures. Samuel proudly drew faces on most of them, and occasionally the letter "H"; his favorite letter to draw right now.

Hope everyone enjoys the Twenty-Ten V-Day and although I wish everyone good luck with the Evy's Tree drawing, I really hope I win it ;)

My Recent Miscarriage

My baby was supposed to be born around October 10, 2010. That’s a pretty cool due date: 10/10/10! We were surprised, thrilled, and excited. We decided we weren’t going to find out the sex until he/she was born. My family was excited and my mom was planning to come out here. I was already feeling the early pregnancy exhaustion and nausea, and had quit drinking Diet Dr. Pepper cold turkey. I downloaded a Baby Names app and had started a list of favorites for both sexes.

Then I woke up on Friday and I didn’t feel sick anymore. There were signs that I was losing my baby. I called the doctor and was told to lie down. That didn’t work. This past weekend, our baby left us.

To make myself feel a little better, I remind myself that he/she is with their grandpa; my Daddy. And he always loved kids and is taking good care of those already with him, in heaven. He’s got several now…those who went to heaven before being born on earth. Two of his own, and now three from three of his daughters. Hug them for me, Dad. Squeeze them tightly for us, for we miss them dearly.

When I was doing my doula training in Northern California in 2000, I went through a class about infant loss through miscarriage or being stillborn, etc. It was a tough class and plenty of tears were shed. They reviewed the medical facts and emotional truths. Why they are likely to happen and how the mother should allow herself to grieve over them. Medical reality and even spiritual beliefs. If you are pro-life and believe that life begins at conception, then of course you understand that even the earliest of miscarried babies is a soul, and will live forever.

Just like I could never really understand pregnancy and childbirth, no matter how many dozens of women I was a doula for, until I experienced my own pregnancies; so I have never understood the loss of a baby, until now.

It is my sincere hope that my friends will NEVER go through this themselves, but if they know someone who has, maybe reading this will help them understand their friends’ emotions. If you have experienced this, know that you are not alone.

Here are the lessons I’ve learned in the past week;

It wasn’t my fault and there was nothing I could do about it. Most early miscarriages are the result of your body recognizing a chromosomal anomaly in the fetus. My educated mind reminded me of this while my heart was saying; “Even if something had been ‘wrong’ with it, it was still my baby and I still wanted it!”

Even early miscarriages hurt the heart. I know that it must be excruciatingly painful to lose a baby in the later stages of pregnancy, or after it is born. But it’s important to recognize that a woman has already bonded with her baby in the early stages, and she has dreams for it that die when she loses the baby. If it’s a first pregnancy, she is crushed and terrified that she won’t be able to successfully have a baby, ever. If she’s already had healthy children, she understands the bond and love for her babies and she has already developed that love for her unborn baby.

Little reminders hurt, but don’t tip toe around me. I won’t shatter into a million pieces. When I returned to my doctors’ office yesterday, the crowd of happily pregnant women around me felt smothering. I held it together until going into the ultrasound room; the same room where I’ve watched my other two unborn children wave blurry hands at me as the machine recorded their perfect little pounding hearts. This time, the machine showed a big empty space…which was good because medically it showed I had successfully passed all the remnants of my failed pregnancy. I laid there and sobbed at the machine, but gathered myself by the time I had to walk back past the pregnant women complaining about their swollen ankles and aching backs. And yesterday I heard the joyous news of a long-time friend who is finally pregnant and expecting her baby in September. I know that these little reminders will keep happening, and I am truly very happy for others. If you tell me that you are pregnant, I will be so very excited for you! And I’ll hide my little aches because I don’t want to spoil your moment. But I’ll be OK, don’t worry.

I am so glad I have a faithful God who comforts His hurting children. Knowing that He has His perfect reasons is so soothing to my soul. I trust Him, no matter what. And that has been a phrase I’ve had to repeat many times in my life, and many times it has been absolutely true!

My doctor gave me the ‘go-ahead’ to try and have more children, and I really want to do so. I know that nothing will ever replace my little baby, but I long to be pregnant and have a safe delivery of a healthy baby once again. It is my most heartfelt prayer…I feel like it will be the best balm for a hurting heart right now.

So to my precious unborn baby; Mommy loves you very much. I wish I could have met you, but knowing that I will someday brings me great hope and a reason to look forward to heaven. I look forward to holding you.

I Want Your Opinions, Ladies!

I woke up this morning, bright and early, with so much on my mind.

Not an infrequent occurrence! Just a little annoying, knowing that I COULD sleep an additional hour since Olivia was still asleep and the bed was warm and comfortable. But you know how it is, once you are wide awake and your brain is in motion.

Besides all of the details and obligations of my daily life, there are two things I thought I'd discuss on my blog today. Mostly because I want input from my friends via my blog / Facebook page!

Idea #1) I have a lot of possible sewing projects in mind, mostly involving "recycling" current clothes. I really think it would be fun to redesign and embellish some of my closet items... things I'm tired of wearing or are minimally damaged in some way but still potentially useful. One of the things I'm hitting a creative wall with is my Old Navy jean jacket. It's a regular denim jacket that just seems boring to me right now, and I'd love to cut, sew, embellish, etc. to make it cute! NEED IDEAS with this! I've seen shabby chic designs with lace/fabric but I'm not a really lacy person. Should I add leather elements? Cut out a design like a flower or guitar and add to it? Sigh...here is a picture of the jacket. GIVE ME IDEAS PLEASE!

Idea #2) For years upon millions of years, I've wanted to write books and there are countless ideas of novels bouncing around in my brain. I have character names, plots, and outlines. One of these days, something is going to take shape enough to make it onto paper and into reality! Since my first pregnancy, I have devoured all the pregnancy books possible. Everything from sterile and somewhat boring medical books with interesting pictures of the developing fetus and not-so-interesting facts about the chemical content of amniotic fluid, to the books containing horrendous details about everything that could possibly go wrong during your pregnancy, to the books about experiencing a painless childbirth while gently breathing and delivering your baby in the calm water of a bathtub, to the light and funny book from a former Hollywood model who gives advice about shaving your legs while 9 months pregnant to how soon you can return to teetering on spike heels once you push the baby out.

All very interesting, but I've thought that it would be neat to write a book about pregnancy for Christian women. Something containing a little interesting medical fact, a little personal experience with a lot of great stories from friends, and then a weekly devotional corresponding to whatever stage of development the baby is experiencing.

Adding a Christian-focused book to the pile?

I don't know if there would be a market for this or not, but I think there may be; especially if the book was marketed toward Christians with the devotional, and instead of recommendations about how quickly a woman can return to consuming alcohol and clubbing, there would be advice about finding modest maternity clothes.

IF I decide to pursue this endeavor, it would crucial for me to have a network of my Mommy-Friends for me to use a a 'panel' for information, birth stories, hints and ideas, etc.

Thoughts? Opinions? Thanks for your input....!!!

God Lets Us Bump Our Head

Olivia slammed her fingers in a drawer today while 'helping' me put away Daddy's socks. She stood there with her fingers stuck, and those huge tears just flowed down her cheeks while she screamed. Of course I quickly removed her fingers and cuddled her, wiping away her tears and kissing the fingers to make them all better. My main thought was; "Well, hopefully she learned her lesson and it won't happen again!"

This is often my thought when my kids hurt themselves. Surprisingly, I've found myself to be the kind of Mom who lets things happen to them instead of trying to shelter them. We let Samuel bump his head on everything when he was learning to crawl. I mean, I keep an eye on the kids and we do our best to prevent major, emergency-room visit-type accidents from happening, but most of the time we let the bumps, bruises, and scrapes happen.

Do we like those things? Absolutely not! But we realize that while the kiddos would be safer in the crib, you can't leave them wrapped in blankets in the crib for their entire childhood. You gotta let them out sometime....and we realized that the more we let them get those bumps and bruises, the quicker they learn their lessons. Within a couple of days of bumping his head on the table, our little crawling Samuel learned to avoid all sharp edges of furniture and never bumped his head again.

And today Olivia, within 2 minutes of sobbing over the painful fingers, walked back to that mean old dresser drawer. I watched as she carefully opened the drawer and slammed it shut. And again, and again. Until she satisfied that inner need she must have had, to "defeat" that drawer. Basically she learned how to shut the drawer without slamming her fingers in it, and she was obviously thrilled to show it a thing or two. I was thrilled to see her determination and satisfaction!

It made me think, though, about our Heavenly Father. How many times does He allow us to fall and bump our heads, scrape our spirits, and even feel like we've drawn blood emotionally while we make mistakes? He is omnipotent and omniscient, and you'd think He loves us so much that He would kindly protect us from getting hurt. But oh no.....He loves us so much that He lets us mess up. Besides the fact that He made us with free will so, much like these rambunctious little kiddos who run around bumping their heads in our homes, we run around in our little lives and manage to collect our share of "oops" and "owies".

Wow, you may think sometimes....How can God let me make this mistake? Simple; He hopes we learn from our problems and next time, refrain from repeating the mistake again. He wants to see us quit bumping our heads but instead of holding us back, He lets us go....right into the edge of things. He is always there to comfort us; holding us close and soothing the owie away. But then He lets go, and hopefully this time, He watches us confront our past mistakes and like Olivia successfully shutting the drawer, the next time we move past our prior problem without messing up again.

He is so full of grace, that even if we keep stumbling over the same issue, He keeps loving us and encouraging us to keep going.

So maybe I'm being a better Mom than I realize sometimes, by letting my kids get bruised. I am watching them learn from them. And God is watching you and I get bruised....He loves us so much that He has faith in us, that we'll learn from our mistakes.