New outfits!

Yesterday I finally started and completed an outfit I had been promising Elisa. She just loves zebra print and hot pink right now, so this is just perfect for her! She would blend in perfectly with her bedroom, lol. When it (finally) gets cooler we'll place black leggings under the skirt and black long sleeve shirt under the top....and add some pink converse...how cute will that be?!!? I made a matching bow, but of course she wouldnt wear it. What was I thinking, lol

Here is Audreys new outfit. I think this is one of my favorites by far. It coordinates with the dress I made Ava last week. Im in the process of making Elisa a matching tunic shirt to match with them as well. I saw the brown material and fell in love :)

I'll pray for you

I was talking to Derek the other night about that common phrase. "I'll pray for you", how often we say it and just go on with life never giving another thought to the issue of which we told the person we'd be praying for them. One day it hit me, how many times have I told someone I'd pray for them, and then never done it? I wasnt lieing, at the time I had full intention of praying for their issue, but life gets in the way and I would just forget. The Lord began to show me how Ive done this so many times and how my words need to hold more value then I was giving them. Its so important to the person asking for prayer that people are actually praying for them, so why do we (sometimes) give so little thought to speaking that phrase and then never giving their prayer request another thought??
I *mostly lurk* on some yahoo loops and other forums and daily there are threads asking for prayer on issues. Ive gotten in the habit now of not even opening the thread and reading it if I dont have full intention of stopping what Im doing right at that moment and taking the time to present my prayers before the Lord on behalf of that person. Its so nice knowing that I am not reading their prayer request in vain without any intention of praying for them. When the saints cry out to God it changes things. Our prayers are so powerful and we so often just loosly say "I'll pray for you" with no intentions of doing it.
So I guess I ask....how often do you tell someone you'll pray for them and then forget to present the request before the Lord on behalf of that person?

She speaks

Its finally the end of the week...yay! I love Fridays bc I have the excitement of having Derek home with us for the next 2 days. The girls love Fridays too, for the same reason. Its nice knowing I have the next 2 days of "help" and Derek has been taking the girls outside to play on Saturday mornings and letting me have some uninterupted time to read or sew (my new favorite pasttime).







Audrey said her 4th word. Yes, I know shes not even 11 months and already talking? If I didnt hear it myself I wouldnt believe it either. But its true. Her first word was hi. She said that very very young. If I told you how young, you wouldnt believe that either, lol. But we (read: our family) werent the only ones who heard her say that. Then she learned new skills and stopped saying that and moved onto new things. Next came dada. At first, like most babies, it wasnt just referring to Derek but instead just babbling. But now she says it towards him. If she sees him pull up through the window she gets really excited and says DADA! while bouncing herself up and down. (Shes our biggest daddies girls by far). Next came bye. She started saying that within the past few weeks. Of course she wont always do it on command (ever notice how babies wont perform) but she says it at the appropriate times. And last, and most excitingly she says Uh-Oh. Its soooo cute!! We thought she was saying that earlier in the week but I just dismissed it but then yesterday while we were out she dropped and toy from the basket and Elisa said Uh-oh and picked it up. The next thing we heard was Audrey saying UH-OH, as clear as day. So cute! So we kept saying it over and over just to make sure thats what she was really saying....and it was. A lady walked by and heard her and commented on how cute it was, so that confirmed it wasnt just us trying to hear something that wasnt there. Since then shes been saying it constantly and at the right times. I cant believe how much shes "talking". Our earliest by far. We were at Chick-fil-a after our homeschool co-op today and Audrey dropped a ketchup packet and said Uh-Oh and Ava (who was sitting by her) said "Good job Audrey! Now can you says ketchup?!" Me and Elisa just laughed and laughed!! Funny little Ava.










Ive also done a little more sewing lately. So, of course I have to post pictures. :) Unfortunately I think Ive let it get the best of me and my housework has started to suffer. So, I really shouldnt be online blogging but instead cleaning. I'll get right on that....as soon as this is posted.

Ava in a dress with leggings.

Looks like shes praising the Lord, hehe.

This was originally suppossed to be her birthday outfit, but I left the ruffles too long so I just kept it as a Fall dress. I want some little pumpkin robeez (actually knockoffs) to go with it. How cute would that be?!?!

BOWS BOWS BOWS

Ok moms.....Im not sure who or how many people read my blog but I need some input. I'm thinking of starting a home business of selling bows and outfits, (like ones I've posted). SO here is where your input comes in. As a mom, or aunt or friend of a little girl.... would you purchase bows or cute custom outfits online or at booths (such as at craft fairs or flea markets) for the little one in your life?? Just leave a comment to let me know :)THANKS

God is good!

The weekend is almost over and tomorrow will be the start to our 3rd week of school. I still need to do my weekly research and preparations but instead I sit here and blog. :) I finished a fall dress for Audrey (I'll post pics later when I can borrow my mother in laws camera again. Ours is still broke) today. Originally it was going to be a top for her birthday outfit but I left the ruffles too long. So, I just kept it as a dress. I was definately not going for Halloween (bc we dont really celebrate that) look so Im hoping it looks Fallish enough. I had wanted a orange and brown look but the material I found was a black background and so I went with that. Its cute though and Im sure she'll get lots of use out of it. I still need to make her a bow to match.
We have been praying for months now to find the place (read: church) where God wants us and where we can grow in our relationship with Him and with other believers. Today we tried out a church in Greenville for the second time. The first time we went we really liked it. A lady from our homeschool group told us about it. There are like 12 (or so) homeschooling families there, including the pastors family, so thats exciting for us. Its so great to find a church were there are lots of other families with the same views on education and spiritual training as us! The girls will also be able to get to know other kids from the homeschool group by going to church there. The praise band is GREAT (and by the looks of it have the same "style" as Derek) and the elder that spoke today was really really great too. His message was right in line with what Ive been feeling and thinking of lately. He refered to *probably my favorite* verse, Matthew 6:25-34.

25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life[b]?
28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Anyways, it was a really great message. Another thing we love about this church is all the younger families!!! It is soooooooooo awesome to have found a place with other couples our age who have kids...and lots of them!!! What a blessing it will be to get to know the families there and devolope friendships with people who are after Gods own heart! We are very excited God led us there. Thank you Lord! He is so good!

Employee of the month

I just had to say how proud I am of my hubby! He was awarded Employee of the Month today. He was chosen from everyone in the entire company! YAY Derek! Guess his hard work last month, with the company in Dublin, paid off.

Days of Creation

Our first week of school we reviewed the days of creation. We read Genesis 1 and then each girl drew a picture of what happened on each day. Today they finished their project by glueing them on a posterboard to display. They both did very well and got creative in their drawing. Elisa has always been a great artist but this project showed us just how well Ava can draw now too. They were both really proud of themselves. (And so are we).

Ava was our little Vanna (sp?) White. It looks like shes wearing a wig bc I had just taken her hair out of a ponytail.

This is Elisa's project

Ava's project

I LOVE this little outfit!

I made another outfit for Audrey today. I used the leftover fabric from Elisa and Ava's pillows in their new bedroom decor.

I also started her Christmas outfit. Yes I said Christmas :)

Heres the completed one though.

The Israelites cross the Red Sea

In our family devotional we read about Moses parting the Red Sea and the Israelites crossing. So here is our re-enactment. I tried to put the Jell-o on a cookie sheet but I couldnt get it to slide out of the casserole dish without breaking. Oh and the Littlest Pet Shop figures represent the Israelites. (had to get creative there)

(Elisa, lol) Parting the Red Sea

Crossing the Red Sea

Those poor Egyptians. Guess they shouldn't have messed with Gods chosen people!

My new creation.

I saw this material and fell in love with it. I originally bought it with the intention of making a dress. But since its already so close to fall I made this outfit. I'll place either a cream shirt or a pink shirt (if I can find a matching shade) under the top for cooler days. I know the bow doesnt match. I didnt realize how much it didnt match until I saw these pics :)

Summer is over. School has started.

Yesterday officially marked our last day of summer. Today officially marked our first day of our second year of homeschooling and our first year of homeschooling 2 at a time! It also is our first year using The Weaver, which is a Bible integrated unit studies cirriculum. This year we'll be weaving through Gensis. Im very excited about this and my excitment has boiled over into the girls! We are going to learn so much and dig so deep into scripture I know I'll be learning right along side the girls. Derek has decided he'll be teaching science when he gets home from work on our science days. The girls are also really excited about this too. This will allow him to be apart of our schooling experience and know exactly what theyre learning. Having him be involved is such a blessing...a total answer to prayer. I had been reading a book and it talked about the importance of having a dad involved in the homeschool experience rather then just a bystander looking in. I decided rather than nag or pressure him into getting involved I would just pray about it and let God take care of stirring his heart. I kid you not, I quietly sat on the couch, silently asking the Lord to put helping out with school on Dereks heart, one evening while Derek was talking to me. Within 2 mins, out of the blue, Derek says "I was thinking maybe I could teach the girls one subject when I get home from work". I got a big smile on my face and Derek asked why that was so funny. I then told him about how I JUST prayed God would put that on his heart! How cool is that?!?! I think it is so awesome when God instantly answers our prayers! So it was decided science will be his. We'll be doing science 2 days a week. The girls are really excited about getting to do experiments and projects at night when dad gets home. How blessed these girls are to have Derek as their dad!
Wow, I really went on a bunny trail there.

Well today we woke up to our new school routine. If you know me very well you know its very hard for me to be on a schedule. I just never can seem to get the hang of it. I cant imagine that having to do with the fact that I havent had a full nights sleep in the last 8 years though, lol. I went to bed around 10 last night with the intent of waking up at 6:30. I would get to spend some time with Derek before he left for work and get in some quiet time reading my Bible and praying. Well Audrey decided last night would be a great night to wake up every hour and a half. Oh the joys of having a nursing, co-sleeping baby. (And I wouldnt change it for the world!) Anyways between these 1 and half hour stints of sleep Ava woke up twice and came in our bed to snuggle. One time she said she had bad dreams that bugs were biting her in her room. Poor thing. Anyways, needless to say I got very very little sleep last night. BUT I was awake at 6:30 and we have had a wonderful day. Both girls woke up excited to start the first day of school. Ava was SUPER excited. Jumping up and down realizing she was going to be doing school (pre-k) with us. We ate, everyone showered and got dressed and had all morning chores done by 9 o'clock. (this is an amazing task in this household, lol). We had a wonderful morning starting review of last year for Elisa and going through the days of Creation with both girls. I'll post pics of the girls project theyre working when they complete it on Friday. I am just so blessed to be able to stay home with my kids and have the opportunity to teach them in the way they should go.