Is That For Me?

Stella making sure there is nothing left in Aunt Joey's present.

Linked to Wordless Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Mom

What a Joy!

To hear your little one say "I read the Bible, Mommy. " And to walk into your living room to see this:


Yes, that is my two year old with an open Bible on her lap. There is nothing better in this world than that!

Playing in the leaves!

Stella Playing in the big pile of leaves in the side yard.

Linked up with 5 Minutes for Mom's Wordless Wednesday.

Ja Wepum

That's "you're welcome". so cute when she says it!

We went camping!

well, sort of camping. We went to a state park and rented what they call cottages. It is one room with 5 beds, a table and chairs, and heat and electricity. So it was cheater camping.

We still had to cook outside, and use the campground bath-house. But we did get to go walking thru the woods, and seeing wildlife, and getting out in the canoe (at least Sid did). We went with friends from church and had a great time. Stella loved getting to play with the other kids, and getting to be outside so much.

Sid had a great time being outside and teaching the boys how to chop wood and sharpen knives.



The cottages were right on the lake and we had gorgeous views from them. The trees were starting to turn, and I really don't know how people can spend time in the woods, or on a lake, and not believe that there is a Creator-God who loves beauty.

Pop-Pop and the Birthday Cake

Here's Pop-Pop eating birthday cake and wearing Stella's very pink bib.

Check out 5 Minutes for Mom for more Wordless Wenesday .

Two

This past Saturday, the 10th, was Stella's second birthday.





She is getting so big. She is starting to show signs of an imagination, trying to change baby dolls diapers, going shopping with her cart, and having tea parties where she brings everyone a cup or glass and "pours tea," which we all have to drink. It's so much fun to watch. She loves to take her purse when we go out (today it held 5 matchbox cars and a lollipop). She likes to play with mommy's "tam moo"(camera) and takes lots of pictures. She tells me what she is going to do, and what she isn't, which can get her in trouble. She has an infectious smile, and the cutest little giggles.

Stella is a mommy's girl, and loves to play with Daddy. She loves the phone and usually wants to talk to everyone I talk to. She loves apples, and apple juice, and Pizza. We can't eat too much pizza for Stella. She is starting to be much more free with Hugs and Kisses, though it's still fun to say no when I ask for a hug, well, it's fun to say no. At least she thinks so, Mommy and Daddy, not so much.

Stella loves to read. Always has, all books, all day. Her current favorites are Oooh Puppy (actually called Snuggle Puppy), Cows Dance (Barnyard Dance), and Hupo's (either The Belly Button Book or Hippos Go Berserk). She also loves Moon, Moon (Goodnight Moon).

She has a large and ever growing vocabulary. I love the way she pronounces things, Doggies has gone from Goeys to Doeys, Shirt still doesn't have an 'r' in it, Neither does anything else for that matter (think trucks, forks, etc.) She loves cars and buses, and being outside to watch them. She loves to stop and smell the roses, or any other flower available for smelling. She will pucker her lips and sniff and snort. Too cute!

Stella loves her PoPs, and Mom-Mom, and her Uncle Henry, and loves her Grandma and G.G.!
I love my Stella-Bella Gummy-Bear!

Good bye Jorge.

My car met his unfortunate fate this week. It was an accident. Jorge, my car, was sitting, parked, in front of my house (like he so patiently does when not in use) when he was violently attacked by a larger car. The driver fell asleep and swerved right into my car. Everyone is fine, but both vehicles were badly damaged. My little car is old and not worth very much according to Kelly (of blue book fame). So I fear the worst for poor Jorge. He will be totaled and I will need to find a new car. My friend said that you should be awarded emotional damages when your car gets totaled, because you can never find quite what you need with the amount that the insurance adjusters decide your car is worth. Jorge was old, and he had his moments, but he was a good little car. I'll miss you Jorge.

Friends!

Taylor trying to give Stella another kiss, The first one was well received, after that, not so much.

Stella and Taylor "sharing" Taylor's toy car.

Sew Busy

Check out 5 Minutes for Mom for more Wordless Wednesday.

Tackling my first wearable skirt!

Late last week I completed a tackle I'd been wanting to do for a while. I made a skirt. My grandmother gave me a lot of fabric when they moved this past spring. I had been wanting to turn this
beautiful black and white fabric into a skirt for myself, and I finally tackled it. It was not without its challenges. I didn't use a pattern, I just guessed at how it should work! Here are the pictures! The waist is slightly wonky but no one will really see it, so I don't mind.


And I used a hem facing for the first time. I am a big fan. The fabric frays very easily. I'm not really sure what kind of fabric it is, but this holds it all in place, and was easier than a rolled hem. Sorry about the poor picture quality.


I am one happy tackler, with a new skirt!
Ignore the date on the pictures, my camera reset itself when I replaced the batteries and it took me a few days to catch it!

Head on over to 5 Minutes for Mom, to see what others are tackling this week!

Dancing with her Daddy

Dancing with Daddy before work today!

Check out 5 Minutes for Mom for more Wordless Wednesday!

Tackling a baby quilt

This weekend my Husband and I were able to join my Parents, Brother, and some friends we hadn't seen in a while for dinner at my parents house. My parents invited us to let Stella spend the night at their house that night so that we could stay and enjoy our friends later than we would normally be able to. It was a wonderful little gift (Thanks, Mom!).

Stella has started sleeping with a blanket, and I had been slowly making one for her. I had the top all done and ready to go. I had the backing cut to size and ready to go.

I even had the batting! But I was procrastinating on the actual quilting of it. Knowing that she would want a blanket to sleep with at my parents was just the kick in the pants that I needed to get it done.

Instead of trying to hurry and bind it after I quilted it, I made my quilt sandwich inside out and sewed all my layers together around the outside, leaving a hole to flip it right side out. Then I quilted it very loosely with a few wide straight(ish) lines. I may still add a few, but she had a brand new quilt that was just the right size.

I think she likes it!

Head on over to 5 Minutes for Mom, to see what everyone else is Tackling this week!

Works for Me Wednesday

Today I am joining Works for me Wednesday, hosted by We Are THAT Family.

What works for me is walking with a friend. The friendship and exercise combination definitely works for me! I like to walk for exercise. It's way better than a video to me. Add in a friend to talk to and I'm a happy camper! I have a few friends that I walk with and also my Mom (hi Mom!). It works for me because I get to get out of the house, take Stella, and have a good adult conversation. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures, because I am too busy walking to take any.

So walking with a friend Works for me!

Head over to We are THAT Family to see what works for other people.

Mommy's Little Helper

Here's Stella "helping" me thread my sewing machine.

This post is linked to 5 minutes for mom Wordless Wednesday

We're Hooked on...

Veggie Tales. Yes the strange singing vegetables. I have one feature length movie, and one sing-along. Every day, multiple times a day Stella will look at the TV, point and ask for "tales." She will sit and watch and is even beginning to sing along (she knows when to say yeah in The Dance of the Cucumber).

This is what she looks like during the sing-along. She climbs up in the chair, and asks for a blanket. Every time. Even when it's 90 degrees out and we aren't using the AC. I try to limit the number of times per day that we watch 'tales' to one. But knowing that I can walk out of the room and not worry about what is going to be said, or done, in the videos is a great thing.

So in our house we are hooked on Veggie Tales!

Check out Hooked on Houses to see what other people are hooked on this week.

mispronunciation

Stella will be 2 in October. That is a very hard thing for me to grasp. How did my baby get to be a toddler already? She is growing so much and so is her vocabulary. This is the fun part. She has so many words that only I, or people close to her would know. My favorite is her word for dog. She doesn't say doggy, or even puppy, though she is starting to, she says Gooey! and always very excitedly. It is usually accompanied by shrieks of delight and some frantic pointing at the dog, real or stuffed! She also says shirt. Only she can't pronounce the 'R'. Go ahead. Say shirt but leave out the r.

It makes me laugh every time. Does that make me a bad person?

One of those days

Today was "one of those days" for me. I had a short list of things to get done, and they did, mostly, but with many stops to put the plastic food storage tubs back in the cabinet (again!), and to put the DVD's away (again!), and to wipe up a spill (again!). Then when you finally sit down to close your eyes and take a deep breath, or look over the mail the adorable child you would give your very life for puts her face right in yours so you can't see, and you want to scream, so you put her down and stand up only to realize you have to put the plastic tubs away, again, (sigh). What do you do? Pray for patience?, hand the kid over to your husband when he walks in and say you're going out, alone?, scream?, all of the above?

I feel better just getting it off my chest and knowing that tomorrow is a new day.

The RWR

This weekend I accompanied my Husband, and two other adults on a youth retreat. We took just over 20 teens on a weekend work retreat. We had so much fun, working in the dining hall, serving coffee and tea, and clearing plates and cleaning up. Working in the dish room, making sure all the dishes got cleaned up, and put away. And working in the snack shop serving ice cream and making milkshakes. I went to bed way too late both nights because I got the awesome opportunity to hang out with 13 teenage girls from our youth group, and slept in the same room as two of them. Too much fun. We played Dutch Blitz a lot and the girls froze Sid's hat while he was in the pool. I jumped/was thrown in the pool by a ninja (I took him in with me!) and hadn't yet taken my phone out of my pocket. It is mostly working right now. I have no pictures to show because I forgot to take my camera.

Stella had a wonderful time at Grandma and PoPs' house. Grandma got her new shoes, which she loves. She got to play at the pool too, with Grandma and Aunt Sue, whose name she can now say! She learned new words with Grandma and PoPs too, like Piglet, and mouse. I'm glad to have her back, but I thoroughly enjoyed my time away too.

Family Lovin'

I am headed out this afternoon to go on a retreat with our youth group! I am so looking forward to this, and have been all week. My wonderful parents are going to watch Stella for the weekend so I can go (Thanks, Mom and PoPs!). They will have almost as much fun as we will.
Having moved back to the area where I grew up, and where my family still is, has been such a blessing. Watching my daughter be loved by my parents, brother, cousins, aunts and uncles, has been an amazing thing. My mom and I were talking one day about how quickly kids understand the safety of Family. We watched as Stella, then only barely walking, went from one room to another, toddling fearlessly between people she barely knew.

But she was happy and safe, and knew almost by instinct, that she would be fine with these people. The same is true with Sid's family. Now, she isn't exactly a shy kid, which is good, but when we aren't with family, she likes to at least be able to see me or Sid.

I am constantly reminded that the love of our families is a finer thing!

This post is linked to Finer Things Friday at Amy's Finer Things

Hello World!

Hello, World, It's a brand new Blog!

I'm Annie, and this is my little piece of the blogging world. I am a wife to Sid, the Ninja, my wonderful Husband of three years and Mom to Stella, our Gummy Bear. I have the awesome privilege of staying at home with her. Isn't my family cute?

A little about me. I love to sew, and to spend time with my family. I like to bake, but I don't too often. I am not a fan of cleaning my house. I am learning every day how to be a better wife to my Ninja. I am trying to live a life that will please the Lord and raise my daughter to do the same!