'Ol Blue Eyes

I took some pictures of my little Jack to remember him at one year old.


ONE.

Almost taking steps.

Climbing up the stairs like it's nobody's business when mama isn't looking.


Loves to watch his big sister play.

And loves to play with the play kitchen. Or rather, just loves to throw all the kitchen stuff on the floor for his mama to pick up.


Yes, he does like to make a mess.

But really, who cares?

I think I could spend all day squeezing him and kissing his cheeks. And you know what? He wouldn't mind a bit.


From what I've heard, he looks exactly like his daddy. I have a hard time seeing it. But I think his daddy is quite handsome, so I'm happy!


His sister just had to get in on the action. She was my little helper - getting Jack to laugh by making faces and giving tickles.


I am so incredibly thankful for my little family. What more can I say?

Silhouette Pillow

Last week I made this fun little pillow for Avery's room. I've seen these silhouette pillows floating around blogland and decided to try to make one for my own.


I made a really basic pillow cover (I'm a newbie to this sewing thing, so it is really basic!).

To make the silhouette, I took a picture of Avery's profile, loaded it up to my photo program, and blackened her face.


I printed out a copy of her profile, then traced it onto the pillow cover with carbon paper and used fabric paint to fill it in.

If I did it again, I probably wouldn't use fabric paint, because it didn't get very even. I might try using an iron-on transfer instead.


Anyway, it was a fun little project!

Snow Day Ramblings

Once again we woke up to a delicious thick blanket of snow on the ground. It is so stinkin' pretty!!

Here is the house right across the street from us. I've always thought it was such a stately, beautiful house. It has a balcony above the entrance that I just love.

Isn't it pretty? You'll have to pardon the ugly power lines, but, unfortunately, I like my electricity, so I'm not going to cut them down just for the picture.



And here's another house across the street. I've always, always wanted a rounded cottage front door like this one has! It's adorable!


Ok, so remember this sign I made a while ago for our house?


Well, I got a request from my lovely (and super fun!) friend Kara to make a sign for her house.


And here's how it turned out...


(hanging in my dining room)...


So, I've decided to offer these custom-made signs for my friends out there in blogland.

If you interested in having a "family" sign made for your home, just send me an email to maweaver1@gmail.com. The cost is $50 and it will be custom-made to fit your style.


I'm off to bundle up the munchkins and do some shoveling/snowman making!

Happy snow day!

The {Unplanned} Haircut

As probably 95% of little girls have done, Avery gave herself a lovely little haircut this week, much to the dismay of her mama.

And when I say haircut, I mean she chopped off about 1/4 of her long curly hair, plus she gave herself a 1/4" bang smack in the middle of her forehead.

Nice.

So...it was hairdresser Salena to the rescue.

For your viewing pleasure, here is what it looked like before it was fixed (her bangs crack.me.up!)...



Cutting it ALL OFF (no, I didn't cry, but if my mom would have been there, she totally would've bawled)...



Avery was quite proud of her cut-off pony. We donated it to Locks of Love.


And here she is today. My little 3 year old looks years older!




She's wearing a headband I made for her out of scrap fabric. I cut the fabric in circles, then hand sewed the circles together with a button, and attached it to a head-band with hot glue. Super easy!
This short haircut will be so much easier to maintain (not nearly as much food in the hair!), but I must say, I will miss those curls!

Puttering

This is how I spend mornings when Jack is napping and Avery is watching a video.

I putter.

I'm a putterer.

And I have a thing for mirrors.

I also have a thing for little tables, fun dishes, cozy blankets, old books, and vintage aprons. But that's a whole 'nother thing.


I saw this mirror at Goodwill last weekend and kept going past it, saying no, and going past it again...and finally, I gave in.


And, really, for $3, it wasn't like it was going to break the bank. But I did have to paint it. It was an ugly brown veneer, so I gave it a quick painting and sanded the edges, and here you have it.

Sometimes there are no words

My heart is so heavy right now for my good friend Beth. She is 32 weeks pregnant and just went to the hospital to deliver her baby, who is not expected to survive.

Beth and her husband have two adorable kiddos and the last few weeks have been an absolute nightmare for them. You can read their story here.

I can't imagine what they are experiencing, but they are trusting that God has a plan for them, despite all they are going through. Beth, we are hurting for you and praying for a miracle!!

Updated: Beth had a little boy, Josiah, born this afternoon. He went to be with his Heavenly Father who is holding him in his arms and loving Him like no other. We are grieving for Curt & Beth - there really are no words to describe what they are going through.

~ ~ ~

Last Sunday night we had the opportunity to hear the unbelievable story of my blogger friend Mary June's sister's survival in the Haiti earthquake.

You can hear Rodney & Lillian's story here. It really is an amazing story and worth listening to!

Swap Par-tay!

So I held my first "Swap Party" last week, and it was so much fun!

I invited about 10 friends to come with up to 10 items each to swap. And the items could be anything. We had clothes, shoes, books, pictures, jewelry, vases, the list goes on and on.



I had clothes pins for everyone with their initials. They used these to clip onto the items they wanted to claim. If more than one person wanted the same item, we put the clothes pins in a basket and picked a winner.




I had tags available for people to write a description of their item (if they wanted) and attach it to the things they brought.


I definitely want to have another party again! It was a fun way of getting rid of things that I don't have room for and to get some fun things for myself. And the best part, it was all free!