Thankfulness

I feel like I missed the window for a great Thanksgiving post, I know it was only a few days ago, but it's crazy how fast everything changes right over to Christmas. Since we're still in November, I figure I'm not too late to write a little bit about what I'm thankful for.

There are so many things to be thankful for and I tried to remember this as I was running around like crazy Thursday morning trying to find something that hadn't been boxed up to mix my 5 cup salad with before rushing off to my parents' for dinner. I make an effort to be thankful year round, but it's nice to have a holiday to direct our hearts and minds to slow down and count our blessings.

The year has had it's ups and downs for us and right now I feel like we're on an up. But I love that I can look back on the down times be thankful for those too. I know that in all these things, God is caring for us and doing things for our good and His glory. Much has changed this year and it's so good to see how we have been prepared for what God had for us. I am so thankful for the tough times we had and so thankful for our new house and Corey's new job. These blessings came out of nowhere (from our view). I'm so excited for this next phase in our lives.

I'm thankful for new found health! I have never felt better and I am so glad to be able to enjoy all these blessings because I feel good. I'm looking out in to the living room at all of the boxes to be unpacked and not feeling overwhelmed because I feel like I am well enough to tackle it. It's amazing to feel like I can keep up with life! Praise the Lord for good health :)

I am thankful for my husband who is always so patient and loving. I am thankful for my daughter who is a constant joy and challenge :) I am thankful for my family and the great help and support that they are to me. I am thankful for my church family and love that they really do feel like family.

Above all, I am thankful for Christ who gave His life as a ransom for ours. Thankful for complete forgiveness of sins and acceptance by God because of His great grace. Thankful that there is nothing I can do apart from Christ to earn myself favor with Him, because I'd always mess it up. I am thankful that in all things I can give thanks because I know that God is in control and I am not, and that is a very good thing.

Snow!

Sunday morning we woke up to snow! Normally we don't get snow in these parts until the first of the year, but this year and last year we've gotten it early. Just a little dusting this time, but Elora really enjoyed it...as a snack.

Now we're off to do some packing since our big move is this weekend. I'm really excited to set up my new sewing room and make some beautiful things to show off, I mean, share with you all :)

Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

PriceBlink

So, I wanted to tell you all about this fabulous thing called PriceBlink. Corey just installed it on our internet browser and I already love it. I love to shop online for the best prices and this thing makes it so much easier. Plus, it finds coupons for you!

So, say you're looking for the beautiful new fabrics from Amy Butler (I just happen to be eying them and trying to figure out what I want to order) so you head over to fabic.com and search around. Well, at the top of the page a little bar shows up that says "PriceBlink has found 3 coupons for this site!" Then there's a drop down menu with the coupons! Love it.

Or, if you're looking at an item on Amazon, or some other shopping site, the little PriceBlink bar will show up and tell if you you're looking at the lowest price on the web or if you can find it cheaper at another site. And it tells you how much you'll save by going with someone else. It's so handy and I love that you don't have to go looking for the best price, it just pops it right up!

So, check it out and save some money!

For the lazy/impatient knitter

A little over a year ago, I got the itch to try knitting. I bought a "teach yourself" book and got to it. I really liked it because I could do it while we were watching movies and it was perfect when I was 7, 8, 9+ months pregnant because I could hang out on the couch all day and knit little hats.

I got a pattern book, looked at patterns online, and had great aspirations of making all kinds of beautiful, cozy, hand knit items. But, I am really lazy and really impatient when it comes to things like this. As soon as I can make something with what I know, I give up on learning anything else. So, all I really know is how to knit, purl, decrease, and yarn over. It worked for baby hats and that's all I wanted to make, after all, I was about to have an October baby, she would definitely need a good selection of cozy hats.

Well, now I feel really lame because I've been knitting for over a year and still can't make anything fabulous. Until now. It seems the trend for this cold weather season, is simple cowl scarves. These cowls are either knit as a tube that slips over your head, or with a button closure. They can be so pretty, especially a big beautiful button. But they are so easy! I made this one by just knitting a rectangle, letting it curl up a bit, and securing it with a pretty pin.

I think I will put a button on it because I'm not really a sparkly dragonfly kind of girl (anymore). So, for all of you knitters out there like me, this is YOUR season! Make some of these and love them then give them to people you love. And for those of you who actually know how to knit, please don't mock my attempt at knitting something functional and pretty :)

The best laid plans...

We celebrated Elora's 1st birthday a little over a week ago and we had so much fun. All of my grand plans fell apart, but when you have a little girl who is loved by friends and family and they all gather to celebrate her first year of life in this world, a party can't help but be a great success :)

I was so afraid that we would have a disaster on our hands because Elora hadn't taken a good nap all day. I had planned the party around her nap schedule knowing that if all is well, she would be waking up from her 2nd nap right when the party needed to start. Unfortunately, I fear she could feel the tension of us rushing around to get things ready and she just couldn't sleep. But with all of the excitement at the party, she was a trooper and did amazingly well! The party went great and we had a lot of fun.

I had so many plans of amazing handmade decorations and favors and goodies, but I'm realizing that I am not so good at time management and those plans of craftiness fell apart. I did manage a few things. I made the bunting banner you see above as well as her party attire. I also made some cute little cupcake toppers for my sad cupcakes.

One thing that went perfectly as planned was the big moment I had been preparing her for, for months...blowing out her candle. We'd been practicing but I was afraid that with all those people looking at her she'd freeze up. But she did great. She got it on the first try and everyone cheered. That freaked her out a bit, but not too much as she proceeded to hand me the candle and dig in to her cupcake. She loved it.

All in all, it was a fun time and I just let go of all the things that didn't go as planned. We were so blessed by everyone who came and Elora is loving all of the goodies she received.

The Black Apple Doll

I love this little doll. So cute and so easy to customize.

I made this one for Elora's birthday.

I think she's very sweet. I made her to coordinate with Elora's party, but I forgot to bring her to the party. Oh well, she's still really cute and Elora likes her...well, she really likes the button in her hair. She got a real baby doll for her birthday and she's carrying that around all the time now.

So, check out the pattern and tutorial and make one of these cuties for your Pretty Bitty :)

(photos of said party will be appearing soon...as soon as I can sort through the hundreds that I have!)