All Things Sewn

I proudly present to you the reason I have not been blogging, cooking or food shopping....

I have been making skirts..not just one but a grand total of 6 skirts.

I am just now celebrating the one week anniversary since the completion of my very first skirt...it is mine and not pictured above because nobody can take my picture right now to show you.  I am sure I can model it for you soon.

I got a simple Simplity pattern and quickly whipped up my first skirt skipping the first 9 steps where they direct you to make pockets.  It looked a little trickey so I skipped it.  I did not want the pockets to get in the way of me wearing a skirt I made myself to Mass last Sunday.  I am so glad I skipped that step and jumped right into the skirt.  Since last Saturday I have added little tricks to spice up the simple pattern.  In Molly's skirt I used rick-rack when joining the panels and I also used 2 different fabrics to see what that would look like.  I loved it.

I also made skirt for Lucy with a ribbon hem.  So fun and somewhat addicting.

Now my book shelves will be filling up with fun sewing books as I begin to immerse myself in all things sewn. 

Off to finish my first skirt with pockets.  The pockets turned out to be pretty simple but I am glad I waited to get some basic things figured out before I jumed into pockets.  What is next??  Button holes and eventually a zipper.  Tonight I may try a ruffle.  To think all this fun is brought to me by a needle and thread.

Anyone sew and have any good books to recommend or web sites to visit PLEASE let me know.

p.s a little note to my knitting projects...

I still love you and I will be back.  It's just that I have 4 little girls and me and we all LOVE wearing skirts.  Please be patient.  I will always love knitting!!

Bows, Bows and More Bows

Did I mention my mom is here ....

And she just taught herself to make bows out of ribbons and flowers out of ribbons....

So in all of our spare time we have been ribbon shopping and bow making...

And I have figured out that I can put a bow on almost anything and it will look cute...

It is so funny how making things is so simple once someone shows you how to do it...and to think of all the bow money I have spent in the past and I could have easily made them myself.

So far I have learned knitting, basic sewing, and now bow making.

Pretty cool!!

Little House of Grace

I have know for awhile that you can not freeze time.  You can not stop the clock from ticking ahead.  And some days waiting for what comes next is the only thing that keeps me going.

But Holy Thursday was a day that I wish I could freeze and replay over and over.  My Molly made her First Holy Communion and it was such a special day.  I keep wishing I could go back to that day just to feel that pure joy again for just a moment.

All First Communions are special.  Most kids are thrilled to finally be able to receive Christ like their parents.  Two years ago when Emily had her special day we enjoyed every moment.  Our life was a little upside down during that time, but we made it special for her.  But I have to admit that with Emily I was not sure how to prepare her for this big day.  We read all the things we were supposed to.  I had been taking her to daily mass on and off for 7 years by then. 

I did the best I could to prepare her but I was new at the whole thing so there were some holes.  Emily was amazing and she received her communion despite my failings. 

But Emily did more than just receive her communion 2 years ago, she also received the gift of leading her sister to the Eucharist.  She became everything Molly wanted to be.  Since the day Emily received Molly became hungry to be like Emily and "get communion".  She had such a strong desire to be close to Jesus and she stayed that hungry for the past 2 years.

After Emily made her communion Molly begged me to find a priest that would let her receive early.  There was  no way she could wait 2 years!!!

But wait she did, and during that time her sister continued to lead her. 

And finally on Holy Thursday we all watched Molly's dream come true.  It was so special to all of us and I soaked in the love those 2 girls have for each other.

You would have thought it was Emily's big day.  She knew how much this meant to Molly and she celebrated each moment with her.

To watch Molly that day you knew the Holy Spirit was with her.  She was ready, she was willing and so open to all the grace God had saved for her.  She was well prepared and I can say for sure that I was not the only one that prepared her for that day.

God touched her a long time ago with a special heart that is filled with love for Him.

And now Molly gets to celebrate recieving her communion any time she wants....

And I pray that each time she recieves she will remember the feeling of gratitude and love she felt that night.

We all felt it...she glowed..she warmed the room and I know it was one of the most amazing nights of my life.  I just felt so close to God and so happy to be in the moment.  I wish I could bottle that feeling.  I wish I could recall it any time...it was that good!!

We enjoyed a great dinner afterward with several friends and by the end of the night my face hurt from smiling and I did not want the night to end.

And in typical Lisa fashion I did not get several pictures that I wanted to get.  It is so hard to be in the moment watching it all happen and also take the right pictures.  I wanted a picture with Molly.  I wanted to remember my smile on that night because I know it was big.  It will always be in my heart.  I loved that night.  I love that Molly and I love being Catholic!!

A New Family Milestone

I am proud to say that I have reached a point in my parenting career that I no longer have to vacuum after EVERY single meal.  It just dawned on me that I have made, served and eaten several meals and did not have to pull out my Hoover.  It really is the little things.

Things I Hate

I try and be positive on this blog.  I know life is not always full of sunshine and lolly pops, at least mine isn't.  I try and focus on the good in life and get the most out of every situation..but I am human and there are things that make my life difficult or just plain annoy me.  I thought I would share them with you tonight.  I have been away from blogging the last few days and some of these things just build up while I am away....so in no particular order here are a few things I just HATE!!

1. Waiting

2. Running out of time

3. Forgetting

4. Never being early at things because my children will either get completely filthy while waiting or have a melt down before the event gets started.

5. Sad boy eyes that can't start to feel better because he keeps getting ear infections.

6. Little girls who get hair cuts that do not suit them and me hating to wait for it to grow out.

7.  Driving to Florida and seeing major tax dollars wasted on ridiculously expensive electronic  road signs that say things like, "Exit 2A 6 minutes ahead". Just in case I missed the really cheap green non-electric sign that said "Exit 2A 4 miles ahead".  The money that went into that sign calculating the minutes it will take me to drive 4 miles is the most annoying thing I have ever seen on a highway in the middle of NOWHERE.

8. Having conversations with good public school teachers who truly want to teach children how to think and learn and the state cripples them with focusing 3/4 of the year on standardized testing.  Not all schools, not all states and not all districts are the same.  But this style of education is becoming more and more the norm...annoying!!

9. Probably the most annoying, taking 500 pictures of Priscilla and mostly getting the back of her head or a blur of her body.  Yes, this is just as annoying as wasted tax dollars and poor education practices.

10. And for #10 both sad and annoying...

Us NOT living near family and only getting to "visit" these people who we love and miss all the time.

 I also wanted to beg you all to go and read my friend Kathy's blog.  While I was out of town this weekend she wrote a post about me and I can't tell you how her words made me smile....you see I am always amazed when someone actually likes me.

Thank you Kathy for those kind words and more importantly for liking me and letting me be your friend.  God gives us who we need when we need them..and He knew I needed you