There Is A Thief Among Us!!!

If you made a mistake would you own up to it?

Trust me, I spend a significant portion of my time apologizing for the many goofs I create.

Everyone makes a mistake at least once in a while.

Yes, even you.
Especially me!

It is an inherit part of being human.

I get that.

However, if you do something wrong and then pretend it never happened, that makes you less than human.

Part of helping our children to be good, trustworthy, responsible, and respectable people is to teach them -- not only by what you say but also by what you do (or don't do).

Someone at our wonderful dance class "took" R's favorite pink fleece jacket

(see the previous entry for photos of said jacket).

If it had been accidental, all would be forgiven.

But this item was not taken in place of another.

There was no forgotten coat left behind in her jacket's place.

And if you "take" a child's coat, would it not occur to you that a child would then have no coat to wear home?!

Would it also not occur to you that the name inside the jacket was not your child's name?

And a week+ later, no sight of the beloved jacket.

If your child came home with someone else's anything, would you let her keep it?

If you made a mistake, would you try to make it right?

Do You Love Your Home?

I do.

I hear so many people talking about how they want to get away...

to see what else is out there...

that it must be better elsewhere.

Really?

When all this is just outside our doors.....

My Latest Etsy Additon

I am so glad I have a daughter.

Not just because I love her

(because I really do!).

But also because it is a good "cover" for my need to create little girly things.

Isn't it cute?

What little girl doesn't need a little purse?

Yes, I know she is way too old for this kind of thing

but at least I can say

"Oh, that's not mine."

Happy Birthday, Grampy!

We are so blessed here to have such a great grampy!

Just like our super nanny, Grampy makes us feel so happy.

 Even on the days when I'm sure he wants a few moments to himself, he always finds the time to include us....and for that we are so grateful.

Every year it's a challenge to figure out what Grampy might enjoy for his special day.

But really, how many tools, ties, etc. can one fella use?

So, from this year forward Grampy will have a sugar fix on his birthday.

Happy birthday, Grampy!

Dreams Can Come True

It's here!!!!

It's really here!!!

I dreamed!

I hoped!

And now, IT'S MINE!!!!!

No, I didn't win the lottery.  That is next on my list of accomplishments!

What??  Stop laughing .....  it could happen!

I have been searching for a copy of this book for a year.  It was published in 1982 and snagging a copy has been a challenge. There are a few on eBay but the asking price has been well out of my reach (over $30 in most instances).

And then there was Bev from Australia.

She had this wonderful, beautiful, almost new copy that she was selling on OZtion (it's like eBay but just in Australia as far as I can tell).

And how much, you ask.

$10 !!!!!

And those are Australian dollars -- even better as the Canadian dollar is worth a bit more.

It took two weeks to arrive and I swear I have been carrying it around like a kid who got the dolly she wanted for Christmas!!!

So far we have created these little goodies:

We put a brooch pin on the back of the bunny but I see all kinds of other options, too....

backpacks

keychains

magnets...

Oh, are you as excited as I am?

You can stop laughing at me now.

Welcome-to-the-World Gifts for Rebecca

My dear friend Julianne had a precious baby girl on January 29. 

She is a beautiful little miracle named Rebecca.

Baby gifts are always fun to buy but I made that handmade pledge to myself and have done pretty well so far sticking to it.

Also, Rebecca is baby no. 4 for this special family.  Really, what hasn't Julianne seen already?!

This is what Rachel and I thought might work.

It's a felt name banner that I suppose could hang on a door or on the wall in her room.

A little lamb made of terry cloth with no little parts.

Her face is hand-embroidered so no buttons or bits to worry about.

The pattern is from Bit of Whimsy.

Welcome to the world, Rebecca!

We love you already!

Recycling for Fashion

Do you ever regret teaching your kids something?

Once you tell them something, you can't "un-tell" it.

That's the lesson for today, Family

(and other readers -- are there really any readers out there in cyberland?).

My "pretty hoarding"  (see February 11  entry) and the lesson of the importance of recycling have come to haunt me.

Well, not haunt.  More like a project that didn't sound fun to me but was super-important to the princess-of-the-house (no, not Art, ha ha).

I couldn't part with the princess' tights from kindergarten and she felt great need to re-purpose them, so....

Can you guess what they became?

Isn't it obvious?

Kindergarten tights became preteen, fashion-savvy

ARM WARMERS!!!

version 1

version 2

Ta - da!