Yesterday's sewing project

Bethany in the jumper we made yesterday. This is actually the pinafore pattern from The King's Daughters. How I wish either my lovely mother or darling grandmother would make the DRESS for me from that site.. I have the pattern. (hint, hint). I used the simple jumper pattern (right) to sew the bodice and did an easy gathered skirt for the bottom. Bethany prefers the gathered skirts so she can *R*U*N*.



The spin test... it passed! She's sewing a kerchief out of the leftover fabric to match the jumper.

Pictures by Bethany.. and Charlotte

Bethany hard at work, voluntarily!, at Learn to Write the Novel Way.

Bethany took the pictures of Naomi, below, and Charlotte took the pictures of Noah. You know you're living a sheltered life when CHEERIOS are the hit of the week. We generally steer the children towards oatmeal or other stick-to-the-ribs breakfast stuff, but usually get one large box of cheerios per week. The day the box gets opened is a big deal. I'm starting to think we could buy cold cereal as Christmas presents.

Snoedels (the funny doll wiht the hat) are good for snuggling and for eating! :)

Bread

Man cannot live by bread alone, but this one sure goes nice with dinner! I made the European bread recipe in the Encyclopedia of Country Living. It turned out beautifully. It has a chewy/crunchy crust and a soft dense inside. It'd be perfect with lentil stew. Yum. The sour dough starter has been declared a flop, so we're starting it again. Trying another method.

Happy Monday!

Here is a group picture of the quilting bee blocks I have at my home. They're turning out very nice and look so bright and cheery!

This block has.. fabric from Anne's house.. two pieces of fabric from jumpers made for Charli.. and even a piece of fabric from Naomi's dress. Along with that are some 30s reproduction fabrics that I adore.
Another quilt square, complete with a piece of leftover fabric from Naomi's snoedel's hat (the bright orange flower). 7 blocks done, part of #8 is done. I'm not sure how the other ladies are doing.. we'll find out on Thursday.


James wanted in on the action when I was taking a picture of Naomi. She's in the bumbo chair in the middle of the dining room table. You can see my sewing machine over James's shoulder.

After her bath on Sunday the cutest little puff of hair stood up in the back. We're all so proud of her for growing hair. hehe. Below: picture by Charlotte. Naomi loves her snoedel with one hand and holds onto a white kerchief (it's a silky fabric) in the other. All of our quilting mess can be seen in the background. We keep baskets and bins to store it in for when we want to use the table for other purposes.. like dinner!

The quilt blocks are on the left.. sewing machine on the right.. and baby in the best seat! See the fingers? James again! :)
Noah with his glowing halo of pretty curls. As soon as he realized it was picture time he zipped down the hallway, followed by Charlotte. I think this is the only time he has sat still today!
Put a camera in front of a Joseph and who knows WHAT you get.. today.. this is what we got ;)

I hope everyone is having a great Monday. Ours is zipping along nicely.

The children are memorizing a verse this week for church (they do this weekly at the church we're visiting). It is from Psalm 119.

King James Version (KJV)
Public Domain
Psalm 119
1Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD.
2Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.
3They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways.
4Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently.
5O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!
6Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments.
7I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments.
8I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly.
9Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.
10With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.
11Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

Or (sometimes it is interesting to see the modern versions, but I admit I prefer the KJV or NASB).

Psalm 119
In Praise of the Law of the LORD 1Our LORD, you bless everyone
who lives right
and obeys your Law.
2You bless all of those
who follow your commands
from deep in their hearts
3and who never do wrong
or turn from you.
4You have ordered us always
to obey your teachings;
5I don't ever want to stray
from your laws.
6Thinking about your commands
will keep me from doing
some foolish thing.
7I will do right and praise you
by learning to respect
your perfect laws.
8I will obey all of them!
Don't turn your back on me.
9Young people can live
a clean life
by obeying your word.
10I worship you
with all my heart.
Don't let me walk away
from your commands.
11I treasure your word
above all else;
it keeps me from sinning
against you.

Church and more

The cat has great Christian wisdom - she knows she can't open the door herself. She doesn't have hands, or the know-how. She *does* know the door will be opened. It's her job to sit there, patiently, staring up, until -tada- the door is opened and out she goes. After a few minutes outside she then repeats the process on the OTHER side of the door. I wish I had Sugar's patience and faith when it comes to the doors in my life that God will open them - it's my job to pray and trust.

On our visiting churches quest we visited a smalltown church around 10 minutes away (taking 55mph back country roads, not another vehicle to be seen!). I found the church through http://www.founders.org/ and emailed briefly with the Pastor. We're in a strange spot for seeking a church. We want a conservative church that still encourages studies in Hebrew/Greek and not just the King James Version of the Bible. Plus, we want to be able to worship with our children. Many people say young kids can't sit for an hour or more in a service. Personally, I think that's selling ourselves short. Shouldn't parents be able to teach their children to sit for at least one hour per week? We've found the perfect arrangement for us is this:

Mommy with Naomi, James, Charlotte, Joseph, Bethany, Noah and Daddy.

Basically.. Parent,girl, boy, girl, boy, girl, boy, Parent. James is usually helpful near me with holding the hymnal or smiling at Naomi. The older girls are generally not a problem at all. Joseph and Noah need a sister between them or else they get the wiggles, pokes, and googly-eyed faces at each other. hehe. Noah fell asleep on Jim and Naomi slept through the service on me. She look so sweet in her frilly pink dress, shiny black church shoes, and frilly white bonnet. The original outfit I picked didn't pass Charlotte's inspection, so she changed her!

The sermon was wonderful. The Pastor was speaking from Judges and mentioned how one defeated 600 men with an ox-poke. He brought in a huge stick he had whittled sharp on one end to demonstrate. That caught the boys' attention. He also spoke of Daniel and later Goliath, two stories that James enjoys. A decent amount of history was added in, along with some examples of how the Hebrew was done (which is right up Jim's ally).

The church has a small congregation, but there were other families with their babies and little ones there. A lot of grandparents sitting with young families. It was really nice to see the diversity. Plus, it was nice to sit in an old-fashioned church, sing some hymns, and worship the Lord as a family. We hit a few roadblocks on the way up there.. mapquest's directions included, literally, a dead end. Not sure if that's where we were supposed to get out on foot and HIKE! I even used google maps and watched the roads go up.. Oh, well, we did make it even though we were a few minutes late.

They have a children's time during the service where kids are encouraged to do scripture memorization. James and Bethany are racing to memorize theirs.. hopefully Joseph will too!

Some things for this week..

Park day (at a small local park) on Monday.. Craft/Sewing time on Thursday.. Park day (at a large downtown park) on Friday. That'll be the end of our busy stuff til after vacation. Speaking of which, I made oodles of bags to use with the http://www.cornhole-game.org/ my Dad made :) THAT should be a lot of fun with all of the kiddoes.

If I get my camera battery charged I will take pictures of our quilts in progress. I have 7 of the Quilting Bee squares done. Bethany is making a 9-patch quilt and I think she has 3 done so far. Tomorrow will be a sewing day here as we try to get things done before vacation.

Talk I enjoyed this weekend: "Southern Baptists At Sardis" - its all about honesty in church membership, what a church SHOULD be about, and so on. Its on the right hand side of the page under Features.