For the Gran

Today is Suzanne's birthday. We were all together for a fun night of celebrating. Yesterday, with the help of Julie and Ryan being silly in the background, we got this picture. There are more than a few 'bloopers' so I was very thankful to get this great shot.

A little more sewing

I made this skirt this week and love it! I just used the same idea as the bottom of the dress from a couple of weeks ago and did a single seam up the back. I then made a casing for the elastic waistband and slid that in. I plan to make a few more as soon as I find a cheaper place to buy the fabric. :)

Gracie update

Last week Gracie had a nasty fever virus. It started early Monday morning and lasted until late Thursday. She stayed home all week from school. I am so thankful that Jason's work is flexible so that he can work from home. He stayed with Gracie four of the days and my Mom stayed with her one day (very thankful for her too). She would be totally fine, but then when her temp would spike she was just pitiful! She didn't eat much at all last week and took naps...very different from her norm. Gracie was so thrilled to go back to school today and said her friends were equally excited to see her. One day last week Gracie made a card for her teacher that said "I love Mrs. Cannon" and at the bottom she wrote "I love subtraction"...she was really missing school!

Now that Gracie is all better, James is running a low fever. Lots of prayers that his is a quick virus and that he wakes up 100% better in the morning.

By the way, I just added blogger to my phone :)

Grandparents Day

James celebrated grandparents day at school last week. He got to have a special picnic with Ma and even did a little dancing with Mommy. He made a sweet card for Ma, but was a little attached to it and didn't want to give it away. Thanks Ma for coming!

Easter Sunday

Today has been a great day. One of my favorite points from Dr. Fenton's sermon today was that Easter is about transformation, not inspiration. God wants to transform us through the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus. Jesus died so that we can live and he rose so that we can have eternal life. I want to be transformed daily to be more like Christ. I am so thankful for God and his sacrifice and love for us.

We spent a wonderful afternoon with Jason's family and then the evening with my family. The kids had a great time hunting eggs and then hiding them for us to find. We even got a new family photo that I love. Here are some pictures from our afternoon (I forgot to take pictures with my family).

Mary Katherine helping James find an egg.

James hiding the eggs for us.

Someone was a little tired.

Not sure what she was doing, but this is a great shot.

To get a picture like this...

You have to take a pirate picture and

a silly face picture.

He is Risen!

On Friday my class made Resurrection Rolls. I can't wait to make these with Gracie and James tomorrow. The process of making the rolls is so meaningful, easy and tangible for kids (and adults too). Friday was my first time making this type and I was so excited to see that it really was empty when you opened the "tomb". What a wonderful thing we celebrate tomorrow. 

"On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away form the tomb, but when they entered they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 'The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.'" Then they remembered his words.

Luke 24:1-8

Sewing

I love Pinterest. I've never pinned something that was original, I just re-pin what someone else has already pinned. I saw this dress a week or so ago and decided I needed to make it.  Click here for the tutorial from the original blog. I already had the fabric I just needed a tank top. I'm not real big on taking pictures by myself, so my little assistant hopped right on in with me...not real sure what that face is about, but it sure made me laugh. 

It has a cute little belt that ties in the back. I made the dress Thursday and then wore it to work on Friday with a cute red jacket. I don't think I'm very stylish, but I think this dress is perfect.

I had this fabric also (clearance at Hobby Lobby) and decided to make another dress out of it. I made the dress today with a tank top I already had that I didn't wear anymore because it was too short. Perfect for this pattern because you chop the bottom of the shirt off. I did mess up on the belt so it's not as wide as I would like, but it still works. I have a great khaki jacket that I think I'll wear with it tomorrow. 

I'm on the hunt for more dress patterns and cheap fabric!

Random photos

Last Saturday Lorelle and I ran the Rumpshaker 5K. This is a wonderful race that benefits colon cancer awareness. A dear friend and her family started this race after their Mom died from colon cancer. 

I think I've said this before, but if not, James LOVES Star Wars. Gracie had to take a tie to school for an art project. She originally picked this tie, but Jason said she couldn't take this one. James decided it was his new favorite and he either wore it or carried it around for about three days. 

So this is not a great picture of Gracie, but she loves her hair to be braided these days. I'm not very good at it and tend to just do a small braid when we have time. She did tell me that she wore her hair braided every day when we were in NO. Thanks Ma for fixing her hair. 

New Orleans

A few weeks ago Jason and I got to go to New Orleans for the weekend. He had a conference with ERA that he got to attend while I got to enjoy the sights of the city. My Mom came and stayed with the kids so we could go child-free and that was wonderful! 

We didn't really stay on Bourbon Street too long. Just kind of walked to the corner, looked around, and then walked away. I felt confident that I had seen all I needed to see.

I could have eaten here three times a day I think!

I did enjoy watching the street performers and I think James would have loved this one.

This was the view from our room.

A Spring project

I've always wanted to take something old and make it into something beautiful, but had never actually done that until now. Bill has been cleaning out his attic and came across an old desk that I knew I wanted for Gracie's room. Here's the before:

It had a mirror that went with it, but I chose to not keep that part. I envision Gracie using this for years as her homework desk and there really isn't a need for a mirror for that. I did a little sanding (should have done more, but this was my first project so I didn't know) and a little painting (and had great helpers). I actually used paint we already had, so this was a cheap project. I thought I would buy new hardware, but quickly decided against that and just used some spray paint to freshen up the existing stuff. Here's the finished product in her room:

I still need to look for a chair. Right now Gracie just moves the chair from the office into her room when she's ready to work. I also have a mirror from her nursery that I have plans for using above the desk, but that project hasn't been started. Gracie loves the desk and that makes my heart happy.

Peace out facebook

Today starts the season of Lent on the church calendar. According to Wikipedia (yes, that's where I got my info from tonight), "The traditional purpose of Lent is the penitential preparation of the believer—through prayer, penance, repentance, almsgiving, and self-denial". Our church in NC had an Ash Wednesday service and I loved that. I will always remember Jason putting ashes on Gracie's forehead when she was just a small baby. It was such a neat way to experience the beginning of the season. In past years we have practiced "giving up" things and also "taking on" things. One year I gave up listening to the radio (this was pre kids and I actually listened to the radio) and spent my commute praying. That was a great experience. Another year I took on reading my Bible (more consistently)...this also was a great experience. For some time now I have wanted to get off of Facebook, but just not had the motivation to actually stop getting on there every day. Last night after seeing a couple of friends post about giving up Facebook for Lent I felt convicted about my time on there and decided that that's what I wanted to get out of my life for the next 40 days (maybe and hopefully longer). I don't feel like I spend a lot of time on there, but I am sure I spend more time than I realize. After I made the decision last night to get off of facebook I deleted the app off my phone and I'm very thankful that I did. One time today I tried to click where the app used to be, although it's now Skype, and just had to laugh at how I had tried to get on facebook without even thinking about it. I stopped and prayed for a minute and then went on. My plan is to pray more, read my Bible more and focus on my family and not all my facebook "friends". I read my Bible early this morning instead of checking facebook. What a wonderful way to start my day. I am thankful that God gives us convictions about areas in our lives that need change. I want to prepare my heart and mind for what God is doing and how I can be a part of His work.

What a Wicked week

Last week was my birthday week and we celebrated with great style and fun! On Valentine's Day we went to Chick-fil-A with my mom and Janelle and her boys (Preston was out of the country). We had a little bit of an adventure with a woman who overreacted about a situation in the play area. You can visit Jason's blog for his side of the story: erajason.wordpress.com. We ate a yummy dinner and my Mom made a delicious cake for me. Gracie loved putting all the candles on the cake...I didn't count to make sure she had the right amount, but it looked about right. One of the sweet workers at Chick-fil-A brought me a little free ice cream and the kids and I loved sharing that!

On Thursday night my Mom watched the kids while Jason and I went to dinner and then to see Wicked. It was wonderful! Neither of us had seen the show before and were only familiar with a few of the songs, but it was still so enjoyable. We've been singing the songs all week and Gracie loves the song "Popular". We finally used a gift card that Jason had gotten for his birthday to Flemings. It was delicious! They knew it was my birthday and they gave us a couple of special treats for being there. They gave me a box with four truffles and a $25 gift card to use next time we came. $25 won't buy much there, but I figured we could go for dessert one night. It was fun to get dressed up (for me) and spend the evening together. Thanks Jason for a wonderful birthday!