Happy Mother's Day to All!

Let me begin with a few pictures from the Mother's Day Tea at Faith's school this week. I had done a post with a picture of the precious little invitation here. She was so polite and sweet when I came up to the school I could have cried. It was a wonderful little bit of time that we got to spend together!

This was my plate that was waiting for me after Faith came out and got me to escort me to my seat.

Here she is singing a special song about all of the sweet things that mommies do.

Now before I go on to pictures from our Mother's Day Brunch that we had today, I'd like to share one of the sweetest pictures I have ever taken of my little loves. I try to wake up early in the morning so I have some quiet time to drink my coffee, do some yoga, and just enjoy the peacefulness. I find that if I do this, my days start SO much more cheerfully than if not. However, it just doesn't happen every day. Many times I am honestly too tired to drag myself out of bed and miss that last hour of sleep. When I don't wake up first, Faith comes into our room to awake me around seven. Her "Good morning" changes with the day. Sometimes she is sweet and loving, and she hugs me while softly saying, "Good morning, Mommy." Other days, she wakes up bursting with energy and I am awaken with yelling and jumping on the bed. The one thing about the morning that is fairly constant is Lily laying right next to me. She still sleeps with us *sigh*, and Faith wakes her up every morning as well. The other morning I woke up and noticed that Lily wasn't in our bed. Zach was in his usual spot, and the house was still quiet, but no Lily. I immediately got up, thinking to myself, "The kitchen is probably destroyed...I hope they haven't broken anything...". When I walked into the kitchen (which was totally in tact) I heard a little voice saying, "You see Lily, that's why we only feed the fish so much and no more." When I walked into Faith's room they were lying together in bed, cuddled up reading a book. These two girls hardly EVER cuddle anymore. When they are that close to each other it is usually to pull hair, pinch, or bite. That was one of the very BEST mornings I have had in a very long time. The moments like that are truly what make being a mom the greatest gift.

I made a few little things to accent our dining room and make our Mother's Day Brunch a little more festive this year. We hosted the brunch, for several different reasons. The main one is that going to a meal in public has become more of a hassle than anything...I will spare you the details (even though I'm sure several of you know).  I think I'll actually keep the decorations out for a while, they all came out perfect!
Here is a little bouquet of fabric roses that I made to use as a centerpiece.

Then I made a couple of new hand towels for my kitchen.

I made this table runner.

I also made this little banner inspired by one that I saw on Tatertots and Jello

Now for the good stuff, the food. I made a spinach quiche (my husband's favorite), an enormous fruit salad with every berry imaginable *in my first watermelon basket ever*, whole wheat banana and chocolate chip waffles, cranberry orange scones (these are actually them, not much work, but DELICIOUS), apple cider sausage from Samster Mommy's recipe, chocolate covered strawberries *made by Faith*, and ordered a delicious red velvet cake.

I've been wanting to make one of these watermelon baskets for the longest, and it wasn't quite as hard as I thought it would be...definitely messy, though.

The cake was to die for.

Happy Mothers Day! Everyone enjoy it.

Easter- We're Ready for YOU!

Here is the Easter decoration post I've been babbling about, and I think all of my little decorations turned out just lovely. My house definitely looks like spring now!

I'll go through my little projects piece by piece. First up, the Easter banner. I have made this banner several times and just love it. I got it at Embroitique. I actually have both, the Party banner and the Love banner. I wish the Love one could stay up all year round (don't tell anyone that I just took it down last week), but it was time for something more spring-ish!

Then here are the glittered eggs that Faith and I made with the help of a tutorial from Samster Mommy. They are our centerpiece for the breakfast table in our kitchen. I've decided a couple of days later that they might be a little too tempting to sit in the middle of the table we always eat at, but we'll see.

Then I made these little hand towels for our kitchen. The egg was a freebie from Lynnie Pinnie and I just sewed all the ruffles on to the others. I've used those same four fabrics for ALL of my Easter things. I love them all.

Lastly, here are the two place mats I made for Zach and my spots at the table. Why two, you ask? Well, if I made four, the other two would be completely unused, because Faith and Lily have to eat on the plastic ones...I'm sure you know why. I might pick them up two Easter ones to coordinate with ours.

That sums up my Easter decor! I'm working on completing an order for my cousin's little girl and finishing up Lily's Easter dress now. I finished these flower clips for my cousin, and am almost finished with her letters! Yay, on to her dress =). These satin clips were inspired by all of the little flowers that Jessica makes at Mia Joie, I love all of hers and the ones I see on Etsy. I think they are the perfect alternative to a bow!

Everyone have a blessed day!

Spring Cleaning!

As promised, here are a ton of pictures of my beautifully cleaned house. You can bet I took a few in each room...I know it won't stay like this long after the girls come home. I'm so proud. We are finishing up our bathroom (the rest is Zach's part), and I didn't want to take a picture of our room/bathroom until it is completely done. Also, I am making Easter decorations for my kitchen and dining room. When I have finished, there will be pictures.

This may be a total bore to many of you, but I have to show off my proud work. I know that some moms are able to keep their homes neat and tidy all the time. I, however, am not one of those. I have an extremely hard time balancing playing with the girls, sewing for them and my small business, and keeping up with my house. This summer I will be back in school full time and can only imagine then! But anyway, I know that my mother and grandmother will be EXTRA happy to see these lovely pictures of my home. Then I have a couple of decorations I made last night!

First up- My sewing room and the bathroom attached to it.

I took these depression glass wine goblets and filled them with bits of old lace trims left from my grandmother. Isn't that a cute idea? Also, I am going to sew some green ruffles onto those pink hand towels, just haven't gotten around to it yet...can you imagine that?

Now look at the playroom, see ALL of those cabinets? Imagine them completely organized and labeled, because they are...I just didn't open them all to take pictures.

Here is my living room

That last picture is just one of our new drapes...they won't stay pulled back all the time. I do like them that way, though.

Here is the "sunken in area" that I was speaking of. We didn't know what to do with it when we moved in, so we ended up putting Faith's desk and drawers there, and that is where she creates her masterpieces. See a couple of them framed on her desk?

Here is Faith's room. I hand painted that rainbow over her bed. That is something that I am just completely pleased with. She wanted a big mural so badly, and the woman that we had scheduled to paint it got in an awful accident the week she was going to come over. I took matters into my own hands, and I think it came out pretty great for my first time!

Here are a couple of Lily's sweet little room.

Now for the two projects I did last night. This first "Love" on is actually for on the wall in our bedroom, but will stay here until we hang it! These were some old frames that we already had, and I just spray painted them black.

You know those metal stars that everyone has hanging in or outside their house...well I got one. I saw one Tatertots and Jello that she had used Modge Podge on. Isn't this the BEST idea ever? Yes, it is.

Last night, I traced out the ENTIRE Feliz dress pattern in Faith's size and the Sienna dress pattern. That is what is on the menu today. I want to get her Easter dress done, a t shirt dress done, and get her a new apron made. Today is "Faith" day! Tomorrow I plan on working on little Lily.

I'm sorry if this post has typos, I want to put new pictures on the other blog...and really don't have time to go back and proofread right now.

New Dining Room Decor

Isn't this the greatest idea ever? I got it from...drum roll please...Tatertots and Jello. She did this for a Valentines decoration with the word love and red cardstock. I decided to do something that I could use for a longer period of time, and our dining room needed a splash of color. I LOVE the outcome. Tonight I have a lot of work to do. I got two AWESOME books in the mail yesterday. I also have birthday stuff to finish up for a party Saturday...so I have a picture and then am off to sew!

Zach just got done refinishing the bottom of our china cabinet, and I know it will be at least a month or so before the hutch that goes on top is done. I think I'll keep the "Family" frames out right here until then. After the hutch is finish they will go on the wall! Yay for new decorations, and not a whole lot of money spent =)

Valentines Day Pics and a Burlap Wreath

The husband and I are celebrating Valentines Day next weekend (due to babysitting, etc), so this weekend the girls and I made a trip to Austin. I snapped some pictures of the girls outside before church today. They looked adorable!

They are so gorgeous. I think we got more compliments today on their outfits at church, Chuys, and Costco than ever before *smile*. I was proud. I can't believe Lily actually kept her headband on too!

Usually when we come up here I pack my entire sewing room and tote it along. I can actually finish something start to finish here with the help of Nana and Granny. I get more accomplished in a day than in a week at my house! However, this time I decided I would take a break from it. I needed to finish two sets of letters, and I wanted to try this non-sewing wreath project that I found on Tatertots and Jello. Most importantly, just spend some good quality time with my family =). Anyway, this mommy is amazing. I can't wait to try so many more of her crafts. This Burlap Wreath Tutorial is just great! Here is my version, that I just LOVE. Tuesday it will be hanging on my door at home!

I had a lot of fun with this! I'm about to go get started on finishing Miss Chloe's letters. I do miss my machines though! It has been kind of weird not sewing/embroidering the past couple of days!