J O Y

May you know the real JOY of the season this Christmas!!!!


Lee, Amber and Reese

Trip to the Apple Orchard

We went to our 2nd annual trip to the Apple Orchard with my MOPS group a few weeks ago.  This is always a favorite for us.  Miss Reese has grown so much since last year.  All the baby/toddler is gone. 

Here is a picture of Reese from our trip last year.  Makes my heart hurt a tad.

Of course we had to stop for a picture.

Then off for a tour of the sorting and packaging of the apples.

Look at all the yummy apples!!!



Dad was able to go with us this year.





I wanted to take a few of these home with me.  I am pretty sure someone would have noticed me sneaking them out, so I decided to leave them there.

Next up was a hayride through the orchard to see all the apple, peach and cherry trees. 

The littles were able to stop and pick out a pumpkin to take home during the hayride.

And of course, we enjoyed the beatiful scenery.  I love all the colors that come out in the fall.

Stoping for a little photo shoot along the way.

After all the group activities came to a close, we decided to stay and pick a few (read way too many) apples. 

Nothing like a little help from dad. 

Nothing like the taste of fresh picked apple!  YUMMY!!!

Summer Time....

Summer came and went much too fast.  It was a busy, busy summer.  I kept waiting for things to slow down....and it never happened.  It seemed like my blog was one of the few things that has been neglected.  Fall is going to be just as busy, but I am determined to not let things get so neglected!! 

Here is a glimpse into some of our summer fun:

Reese was able to experience sparklers for the first time this summer....They were a big hit!

Everyone eats marshmallows on the end of a plastic spoon....right?!?!

Lot's of fun times spent with Papa.....

and Mamaw....

 Reese's 1st trip to the beach.  I am pretty sure we will be making more trips back in the future.

Playing in the sand....

We spent a lot of time at the pool....including swim lessons in July.



So much FUN!!!

 Reese was finally old enough to attend VBS.  It was a Gold Rush theme, and the kids were asked to wear western themed clothes.  Is it a bad thing that Reese had a different western outfit for all 5 days.....wink.  She was chosen as the best outfit in her class on of the days.  She was able to go up on stage and pick a candy bar of her choice....she chose a Milky Way.  She beamed with pride as she told us all about it. 

Fun songs......

and even more fun motions.....

And what would  a summer be with out a little splashing in some water puddles!!!

We hope you had a great summer....we sure did!!! 

Now to get busy on the never ending to-do list.....lots and lots of painting in my future!!!

4th of July

Lee had to work all weekend, so our 4th of July celebrated was a little different then normal.  Since it was just Reese and I....and since none of our family decided to have a cook-out....we went to Amish Co. with my mom and dad.  It was a lot of fun, but I completely forgot to get my camera out and get a few pictures. 

After Lee got home, we loaded up (and bundled up thanks to the cool July evening weather...what was that all about!) and headed to Cedar Point-the local Amusement park.  We have passes, so we are able to avoid the $10 parking fee.  We always go and enjoy the fireworks from the parking lot since the park is usually packed.

Reese enjoying a marshmellow on the end of a plastic spoon????  Not sure what that was all about, but she was enjoying it.

First time around sparklers (she also had fun throwing Pop-its, but of course I didn't get a picture).  She was thrilled!

 Aunt Melissa and Reese's reaction to the first fireworks that was shot off.  Reese was so afraid of the noise last year, and we spent the whole show in our car.  So glad she enjoyed them so much this year.  Love watching life through her eyes!!!

 I hope you enjoyed your holiday weekend......and here's to hoping Lee gets to enjoy it with us next year!

Christmas Goodies....3 weeks late

Yes, I do realize that Christmas was over 3 weeks ago, but I still wanted to share a few Christmas goodies!!! I have been busy busy since Christmas (more on that later). Reese had such a fun time this year. She understood most of what was going on and knew that Santa was visiting us(and was sooo excited about it). The one thing she asked Santa to bring here over and over again was a Rapenzul dress. She LOVES Rapenzul and also loves to tell us about Rapenzul throwing her hair down daily.....I am loving this age!!! Don't worry, Santa pulled through!!! Reese ended up with tons of fun dress-up costumes!

Reese was so excited to leave cookies and milk for Santa. Of course, we had to leave a special treat for the reindeers as well. The excitement soon left after she realized the cookies weren't for her to enjoy...hehe

Christopher Pop-In-Kins is to thank for me being so busy. Christopher is Reese's elf who hid in a new place every night from the weekend after Thanksgiving until Christmas morning(his final hiding place....in the tree of course). Reese had so much fun finding Christopher's new hiding spot each morning. It was also nice for mom and dad since Christopher watched to make sure Reese was being good daily....and yes we did use this as leverage a few time. Christopher took all of Reese's daipers with him on Christmas night when he went back to the North Pole. So, as you can guess, we have been in full swing potty training mode since the day after Christmas(and it has been a loooonnnggg 2 1/2 weeks and we are still tackling the pooping part...sigh). Any suggestions are greatly appreciated :)

I shared a sneak peak a few days before Christmas of some the things I sewed. One of the projects I tackled a week before Christmas was bedding for a fun bunk bed for her dolls that Maga bought for Reese. Kerri from lovely little handmades and sew deerly loved put together a fun scrap pack(and boy was it full of some yummy fabric). I love how the bedding turned out. Here is Reese right after she opend it on Christmas Eve.

I like the quilts so much that for a minute I was tempted to keep them all to myself...until I realized they would be in my house for me to admire daily (but the next quilt I make will be all mine!!!).

I also made a mattress for each bed using a few layers of batting and some fleece I had in my stash. I sewed up a cover, slipped the "mattress" in the cover and stitched up the opening. Of course, every doll needs a fun little pillow... with a hedgehog patch!

I was hoping to give free motion quilting a try, but my machine decided to take a dump on me right before all of my Christmas sewing. My sister was so nice to let me barrow her machine. Since it was a different brand then mine, I didn't have the foot I needed for the quilting. I was also a little out of my comfort zone with a different machine, so I decided to let a local quilt shop do the quilting. My favorite is the coin quilt (the one on the left).

Santa (aka the hubby) also left me some yummy goodies as well. He left this adorable new camera strap cover from knittybitties in my stocking. It pays off to leave lots of hints I guess...hehe. I am also loving this strap (love her new hand embroidered patch option too) and also have been wanting to make a strap from this tutorial...I love Lindsay..such a sweet gal! There are so many options of camera straps. I think I could make one to use for each month of the year....hmmm...maybe this would be a good thing to add to an etsy shop when I ever get up enough nerve to open one!!!

Lee also suprised me with a new necklace. I love to get gifts that I didn't pick out but is so me. Didn't he do a great job!

AND....drum roll please....Santa (aka hubby, mom & MIL) really surprised me with....

A NEW SEWING MACHINE.....EEEEKKKK!!!!

Let me introduce Miss Jane........

We are still getting to know each other but I am so excited to start some new projects!!! More on the new projects in another post!!

Yes, Santa was so good to us this year!!!

Sneak Peak......

I feel like I have lived in my sewing room the past couple of weeks. I have been busy sewing some fun Christmas gifts for Reese from us and from Maga, as well as a few gifts for others. Here are a few sneak peaks into what Reese will be getting on Christmas morning. I had such a fun time sewing them. Hopefully Reese has even more fun playing with them!!!

I decided that Reese's dolls needed some new clothes. Some of the dresses coordinate with dresses I have made Reese. The others are just because. Don't they look so cute sitting there together :)


Of course, I couldn't just make one dress per doll.....



I also decided that each doll need a new diaper. I used a great tutorial from Lindsey over at The Cottage Mama. She is such a sweet person and another blogger I hope to have the privilege of meeting one day. I know that Reese and her daughter, Savannah, would get along so well! I also love all of her fun and timeless designs and her use of trims (especially piping)! Here is the tutorial I used. I am also hoping to try out her camera strap tutorial after the new year!


I just want to squeeze them :) Of course each doll needs more then one diaper!!!


I love that Reese will have a few new, home-made things to play with....even better, they were free since everything I used was from my scraps and sewing desk!!!

AND....a little sneak peak at the project that Maga asked me to make for Reese. I will have to wait and take picture after Christmas since I didn't have the entire gift here at my house. I can't wait to see what Reese thinks when she opens this gift :)

I am so relieved that I finished Reese's last princess upcycle dress this morning. I hurried up and wrapped them while she was napping and forgot to take any pictures. I love how they turned out!!! I will post pictures of them as well after Christmas!

Now to go relax and enjoy the last little bit of this Christmas season!!!

It's Chritmas Time.....

Christmas time this year has been so much fun. Reese is starting to understand what is going to take place Christmas morning. She has also been having so much fun finding out what Christopher Pop-In-Kins new hiding spot is each morning. She has also really enjoyed taking a star off of our Christmas tree calendar each morning. She takes one off and gets so excited....because she only has "____" number of days until she gets her Rapunzel dress (her number one request for Christmas this year). I also love listening to her sing all the fun Christmas songs. My favorite though is when she sings "Happy Birthday" to baby Jesus. Makes this Mama's heart melt!

We have been busy busy here at our house....well, I have been really busy! But, we have managed to have some fun during this busy season. We had so much fun getting together with some of my mom's family for a nice, casual Christmas get together. It was nothing fancy, but was so nice to relax, talk and especially to laugh with everyone!!! Here is Reese modeling the Christmas out fit I made for her.

And of course, we can't have a Christmas party without Santa. We are so lucky to have a Santa in our family...Uncle Darrell!!!

HoHoHo......

Reese made sure she let Santa know she is expecting a Rapunzel dress on Christmas morning. She has been obsessed with her ever since Maga & I took her to see Tangled a few weeks ago.

Someone please enlighten me on when we will be able to get a good family picture again!!! It is pretty much impossible these days!!

Thanks so much Uncle Darrell for going out of your comfort zone and giving the kids (big and small) so much enjoyment!!! I also let Uncle "Santa" know how special he is. Reese was not in the least bit afraid or cautious of him......The mall Santa was a completely different story. He was a little strange looking though

We also had so much fun taking Reese to see Disney On Ice. Reese talked about it for days and was so excited on the morning of the show. Some of the characters she was familiar with, but the ones she did know....she went nuts about. Of course Mickey and Minnie are always a hit with Reese.

BUT the one person she asked about over and over and over again.....The Little Mermaid. She was awe struck when Ariel made her appearance!

Of course, Rapunzel had to be in the picture too :)

Now onto wishing and dreaming about what Santa is going to bring us in THREE short days!!!

Hope everyone is enjoying this magical time of the year!!!