Family & Friends
An Organized Christmas
Yes, I know, it may be a little early to be thinking about Christmas, but pregnancy puts me in a cleaning and decluttering mode. I should take some pics of the stuff that we cleaned out of storage closet earlier this week for you. We’ve been in this house for less than three years, and I’m amazed at how much clutter has built up. I feel like I need to get a handle on it before it takes over!
An online friend mentioned The Organized Christmas Holiday Grand Plan to me, and I think it looks awesome. It gives you an area of your house to clean out and organize each week, along with plans to get Christmas gifts, food, etc. done in advance. Next week, August 30th to September 5th, is Front Porch and List Week.
I’ll blog about my progress, and would love to have others join me. Anyone else want to have a clean, clutter-free home by Thanksgiving?
And just to get you in the Christmas mood . . . a sweet picture of my children from last Christmas:
Aren’t they cute? (And, wow, Jamie’s hair was really long!)
My Favorite Superheroes!
What sewist has watched The Incredibles and not thought, “Edna Mode has the coolest job, dahling . . . “? Hee-hee! There’s nothing quite like sewing for superheroes, and I got to sew for my own two superheroes this week!
My middle two headed off to camp on Thursday morning where they’re having a superhero costume contest. They’ve been working on their costume designs for at least the last month. (Of course, mom waited until two days before camp to start sewing and was up at 5:00 a. m. Thursday morning finishing up the pants.) The outfits were totally designed by the superheroes themselves! I just did the sewing part, with plenty of consulting to make sure that I did them the right way.
First up is Star Streak. His outfit is mostly black and purple with “webbing” under the arms and a special pouch on his belt that holds stars that he apparently tosses out at . . . um . . . the bad guys, I think? He also has a cape despite Edna’s warnings. We’re pretty sure he won’t confront any jet engines at camp.
Next is Fireflight. Her outfit is lime green and black. (The top is a modified Miss Madeline). She really wanted wings, so my dear hubby, upon finding me on the verge of a nervous breakdown late Wednesday night, went online, figured out how to make her wings, took off to Walmart to buy the stuff and came up with perfect wings. The wings snap on and off of the back of the shirt. The pants that were supposed to be capris turned out a little long, but by the time I discovered it, I just didn’t have time to shorten them. Samantha . . . I mean Fireflight . . . doesn’t seem to mind.
My favorite superheroes ready to battle for truth, justice and plenty of fun at camp.
First Baby Pictures
We got to see our new little one this afternoon, and it was such a blessing. It’s so amazing that at just 12 weeks, she or he has arms, legs, fingers, toes . . .
Potty-Learning Time is Near!
Jamie’s been really interested in using the potty for awhile, but things have been crazy the past few months between travel and morning sickness. I was finally able to finish up a stash of trainers for him, though, and we’re ready to get started learning to use the potty.
Jamie was very excited about mama sewing him new undies. He helped pick out the fabrics, and he showed them off to the whole household as I finished each one.
All spread out:
Stacked up pretty:
And, um, modeled, sort of. Jamie says his new undies give him “superhero muscles!”
I used the pattern that I use for Fishsticks & Jam trainers for these, but it’s very similar to my Little Fishies Undies pattern.
Rainy Day Fun
What’s the best way to spend a rainy day?
An empty box can be lots of fun!
What’s an even better thing to do with the empty box when your big brother who’s been stuck inside with you all day just won’t stop bugging you?
Why put him in the box and ship him off somewhere, of course!
Quick, Mom! Call the mailman!
4th of July Fun and Allen’s Birthday!
I have fallen really behind on updating my blog. Morning (all-day) sickness has been controlling most everything around here. Just a few more weeks until it should be subsiding . . .
We had a wonderful 4th of July with over 100 people here for our third annual Fourth with the Fergusons Celebration.
It was a slightly warm day.
We played and ate and enjoyed some great fellowship.
We even got to sing Happy Birthday to Jamie’s friend, Emma!
The 5th is Allen’s birthday, and we enjoyed a quiet dinner with birthday cake for him. He’s been promised a Lego party with some of his friends when mama’s feeling a little better.
Toddler Clothing Swap
Remember these fabrics?
It was so much fun to take what would normally be considered a “boy” fabric and make it girly. Here’s the whole set:
The top is a modified version of the Itty Bitty Baby Dress from Made by Rae. I increased the size to 3T, shortened it to make it tunic length and added the ruffle at the bottom. The bottoms are my own AJ Bottoms Shorts lengthened slightly to fall just below the knee with the added ruffle.
I also heard that the little one I was sewing for is just starting to use the potty so I sewed up a few F&J Trainers for her, too.
Summer Support Trip 2009 – Home!
Thank you so much for all your prayers while we were traveling! We arrived home yesterday afternoon and are busy getting unpacked and settled back in.
Our second week in Melbourne was packed full. We were blessed to meet with multiple friends for meals and swimming and fellowship.
We have some exciting news to share. We found out on our trip that we are expecting a new little one early next year! We took all the kids out to dinner last night after we got home to share the news with them, and they are all so excited!
Summer Support Trip 2009 – CC Melbourne Week 1
Thank you so much for your prayers for Carri! I praise God that she is showing slow improvement. She remains in critical condition, however. Please continue to lift her up as she will likely have a very long recovery ahead of her.
Our first week in Melbourne has been busy with meetings, visits with friends and supporters, even a radio interview! It was such a joy to sit down with Patti Spangler of WRDJ and share about what we experienced when God called us to serve at GFA and about our work at the home office. The interview will be edited for time before being broacast, but I’ll be sure to post the link when it’s ready. We pray that it will touch someone’s heart and encourage listeners to follow where God is leading them.
We have quite a bit more on our schedule before we load up the Suburban and begin our drive towards home the end of this week. Thank you for lifting us up in your prayers!
Summer Support Trip 2009 – Waldo & St. Augustine
I’ve gotten a bit behind on updating the last few days. We spent a nice relaxing day at our hotel in tiny Waldo, Florida on Thursday. I drove out and picked up my baby sister, Cassie, and my three nieces, and we all hung out all the hotel pool for the afternoon (with permission from the hotel, of course).
Allie (my niece), Allen, Samantha, Kristen (my niece) and Cassie (my sister)–aren’t they a beautiful bunch?
I love this picture! I think it’s such a beautiful illustration of the pure trust that a little boy has in his daddy.
Ray spent much of his time launching Allen and Sean up out of the water so that they could do backflips.
After swimming, we all drove over to my mom’s house for dinner.
On Friday morning, we packed up the car again and headed east to St. Augustine Beach where we met with some friends for lunch and fun at Splash Park.
Saturday morning, we set off to our final destination for this trip: Melbourne, Florida. We’ll be visiting here with our home church, Calvary Chapel Melbourne, for about two weeks. It looks like it’ll be a busy time, and we’re really excited about all that we have planned!
