J's nightgown

As I mentioned in the previous post - I REALLY!! want to learn how to sew better. I am so eager to make things! With some extra fabric I had from pajama pants I made last year, I decided to make J a nightgown. (I just got the materials for making her an Easter dress and NEED to practice my skills before attempting her dress). It is not the cutest material (I LOATHE character stuff), but she thinks it is wonderful and I am pleased with progress.

This was taken from a pattern that was supposed to be used for a pillow case night gown. I got it here. I don't have any cute pillow cases so I made do with the Princess fabric.

Learning to Sew

I am eager to learn how to sew better. When I was a young girl, maybe 6, my mom would take me to sewing lessons. I learned on a machine pretty young. I didn't do it for very long and then never tried to pick it up again until a couple of years ago.

Sewing is also a skill I would love to be able to pass on to my little girl. Overly ambitious, I handed J a large needle, thread, a fold piece of fabric and gave her instruction. That was WAY too complicated for my poor girl. She was very frustrated and gave up. Not what I wanted. I want her to learn to love it the way I do. So a new approach was needed.

This time I started much simpler. I took foam board, cut it into a heart, and poked holes around it. I handed her yarn and showed her how to weave it in the front and bring it around from the back. She was THRILLED. She sat content on the sofa next me, in her dress up clothes and a huge grin on her face, working steadily. She kept repeating, "I can sew now!" and giggling. That was what I wanted.

I need to remind myself.. little steps, little hands, little hearts. I don't want to overwhelm and discourage. I want to guide and encourage.

Our Busy Weekend

This weekend was fun filled and action packed. On Friday night J had her birthday party. Yes - her birthday was a month ago, but we decided to wait until after the holidays to host her party. She had a sleep over, her first one!

It was really fun - and these are the cupcakes she picked out.

Then on Saturday L had his first basketball game. His brother and sister were so proud of him.

And Sunday was probably more exciting for my husband than the birth of his children.

That's right the PACKERS ARE GOING TO THE SUPER BOWL BABY!!! :)

Ready Me

"These have no root." Luke 8:13

My soul, examine yourself this morning by the light of this text. You have received the word with joy; your feelings have been stirred and a lively impression has been made; but, remember, that to receive the word in the ear is one thing, and to receive Jesus into your very soul is quite another; superficial feeling is often joined to inward hardness of heart, and a lively impression of the word is not always a lasting one. In the parable, the seed in one case fell upon ground having a rocky bottom, covered over with a thin layer of earth; when the seed began to take root, its downward growth was hindered by the hard stone and therefore it spent its strength in pushing its green shoot aloft as high as it could, but having no inward moisture derived from root nourishment, it withered away. Is this my case? Have I been making a fair show in the flesh without having a corresponding inner life? Good growth takes place upwards and downwards at the same time. Am I rooted in sincere fidelity and love to Jesus? If my heart remains unsoftened and unfertilized by grace, the good seed may germinate for a season, but it must ultimately wither, for it cannot flourish on a rocky, unbroken, unsanctified heart. Let me dread a godliness as rapid in growth and as wanting in endurance as Jonah’s gourd; let me count the cost of being a follower of Jesus, above all let me feel the energy of his Holy Spirit, and then I shall possess an abiding and enduring seed in my soul. If my mind remains as obdurate as it was by nature, the sun of trial will scorch, and my hard heart will help to cast the heat the more terribly upon the ill-covered seed, and my religion will soon die, and my despair will be terrible; therefore, O heavenly Sower, plough me first, and then cast the truth into me, and let me yield thee a bounteous harvest.

My emphasis added

From Morning and Evening: Daily Readings by Charles Spurgeon

Feeling Discouraged

... and then a friend shared this on her blog.

“The Lord knows those that are His.” You may be sighing and groaning because of inbred sin, and mourning over your darkness, yet the Lord sees “light” in your heart, for He has put it there, and all the cloudiness and gloom of your soul cannot conceal your light from His gracious eye. You may have sunk low in despondency, and even despair; but if your soul has any longing towards Christ, and if you are seeking to rest in His finished work, God sees the “light.” He not only sees it, but He also preserves it in you. “I, the Lord, do keep it.” This is a precious thought to those who, after anxious watching and guarding of themselves, feel their own powerlessness to do so. The light thus preserved by his grace, he will one day develop into the splendor of noonday, and the fullness of glory" (Jan 5)

Mornings and Evenings with Spurgeon by Charles Spurgeon

Playing in the Snow

After much badgering many polite requests,

we finally took the munchkins out to play in the snow.