A New Look for the New Year

When I started this blog, I didn't know if I would really enjoy it, and I didn't put much thought into the title or layout or anything. It was kinda like a test run. But I've discovered that I enjoy recording moments of my life in this fashion. I wish I had time to post more, but I'm taking the advice of a fellow friend and blogger by just posting whenever I can, refusing to allow this creative outlet to add stress to my life. 

The more I've gotten into blogging, the more I began thinking about re-naming my blog. I've "sat on it" and "slept on it," and decided on a new header and look after a month or so of tweaking. I chose the word snippets because it reminded me of cutting stuff with scissors, fitting the crafting side of this blog, and it really is just a cool word to say. lol And in regards to "crafting" I wish I could've thought of a synonymous word that started with "F" to match "Family" and "Faith," but nope. :( 

My sister-in-law and niece sat next to me tonight and suggested various options:

Family, Faith, and Fashioning

Children, Christ, and Crafting

Family, Faith, and Felting

Family, Faith, and Fearless (or Fabulous) Crafting

Family, Faith, and Farming (um.... what?!! - we were getting tired!)

... so unless some wonderful reader leaves me a comment with an inspiring option that tickles my fancy, I think I'll keep it Snippets of my Family, Faith, and Crafting. It sounds nice in my head at least.

That's it for now! We've been having so much fun at Scott's parents home this week, getting the chance to relax from the pressures of life. There have been many fun moments (like our first snow!) that may warrant a blog post or two in the near future, so stay tuned. :)

December.... so far

YAY! Christmas break has officially begun! Scott and Brooklyn are both home from school this morning, so Daddy was awakened by three little girls who wanted to make sure he didn't sleep in and miss the FUN of being home!!!

Our December has been crazy busy so far, and we haven't even hit the major events yet!

The girls have gotten colds and we've been trying to lay low (haha -- is that even remotely possible?!!) the last two weeks so they can be in full health to travel to all our Christmas celebrations. And on top of it all, our dear Nay-Nay got a horrible diaper rash. If you would've stopped by, you might have stumbled upon this babe "airing out" on a pad of towels! That seems to have done the trick... and thankfully we didn't encounter any messes utilizing this method! :-)

Also, the youth group went out on our annual progressive "Sing for Your Supper" activity, and we had a blast as always. This year we only went to three houses to give us more time, and we incorporated some Minute-To-Win-It games. Those games were so fun, we might have to bring a bunch of supplies along to play at all our family Christmas gatherings! Watch out, ya'll! :-) We are very thankful for the church families who opened up their homes to our crazy crew of teens, and fed us such yummy food. Each home was a delightful experience!

Singing for their suppers

Minute-to-Win-It Challenge!

Do these goons really lead this youth group?!!

Our family also had the opportunity to get a little taste of Christmas last Sunday as we celebrated with my sister Melissa and her husband since they will be visiting his family on the actual day of Christmas this year. Melissa had decorated her apartment so beautifully, and she had a splendid spread of delicious food... guacamole, tortilla soup, and a beautiful pomegranate and lime punch! 

And we also celebrated my brother Tony's birthday. Woot Woot! He's a big 27 now! Glad it's not just me whose getting older. :) 

The kids got to open presents from Uncle Aaron and Aunt Mimi, and those who either had Melissa and Aaron's names, or were their names exchanged gifts.

Dora...

.... and Boots! ;-)

Melissa gave my dad the drink coasters we made at craft night. He didn't know what they were, and he tried to pick the felt off the bottom. We laughed so hard! Oh well...

Selah's first Christmas present!

And then came BIG REVEALING.....

A few months ago, my sister showed my dad this link on her pinterest account for an old dresser that someone had converted into a bench. The link with the picture, unfortunately, was a dead end and didn't come with any instructions. BUT, my dad is creative like that, so he found an old oak dresser they were getting rid of at the retirement home where he works, and he brought it home to make a bench for Melissa and Aaron for Christmas. Melissa had NO IDEA! My dad took off the top of the dresser and took out the top two drawers, leaving in the bottom drawer. He then added paneling to the inside, recut the top so it fit as a seat on top of the bottom drawer, and painted the whole thing black. Then he asked me to make a cushion and two matching pillows for it. The cushion scared me, since I'm relatively new to sewing, but my mom and I worked together. I don't think it turned out too shabby.... and I'm definitely not going to be pointing out any flaws to Melissa! ;) The ruffle pillows turned out adorable, adding the final touch.

SOOOOO, after all the gifts were opened, my dad made Melissa and Aaron sit on the couch and wait for him to bring out the gift. While they waited, they practiced their "surprised" faces. lol

When Tony and my dad lifted the sheet, they were absolutely stunned! Success! All those hours my dad put into the bench (and the aching, late night efforts that were put into sewing the cushion and pillows) was worth it! Here are their real surprised looks:

I feel horrible that I didn't get a good picture of it completed, but here is one of them sitting together on the bench. You'll just have to take my word for it that it is beautiful! Aren't those knobs just perfect? They make the whole thing look very classy.

Well, now the real Christmas is just around the corner, and I have lots to do and a few last minute gifts I need to whip up for the girls. I can't post about them because Scott told me that while Selah was LEARNING TO CRAWL and SAY "MA-MA" today, Brooklyn read the book Go Dog Go, sounding it out ALL BY HERSELF this afternoon. Who knows, maybe she'll start blog-reading next, and I don't want to ruin any Christmas surprises.

Hope your holiday preparations are coming along nicely! I'm striving to not let the feelings of stress take over, and just to rest in the wonderful joy of knowing the reason we are celebrating this season.

Christ came. I am His child. All is well.

Finally Sleeping...

Just had to post this....

I've been working on updating my blog tonight (can't you tell?). There have been quite a few events and "moments" lately that I want to document, but I've had so little time as of late. So, anyway, tonight was the only night I've had down time this week, so I've been on the couch organizing pictures and typing away. Scott was exhausted so he laid down next to me on the couch and fell asleep. Brooklyn and Selah have been sleeping for awhile, but Cassidy is our stubborn night owl. It doesn't help that she is a good napper, and often sleeps 2+ hours in the afternoon! She's been in and out of bed for the last couple hours, and I finally got tired of being interrupted to fight with her. This last time she came out, I ignored her, and she crawled on the couch by Scott. I just looked up and found this:

Looks like she's made herself comfortable!

sorry the angle is weird... it's an odd picture to try to take! lol

At least she's asleep!!!

G'night, friends! :-) 

Maybe I'll sneak off to bed and see how long they sleep like this....

Brooklyn Turns FIVE

Happy Birthday, to my oldest girl. You think you are so big - and you are!

....but you are still my baby. 

You are a big helper by dressing yourself every morning, but you still let me pick out your outfit on school days.

so proud you can tie your own scarf  :)

You are eager to learn how to read and write so you can be a big kid, but you still want us to read books to you so you can know EXACTLY what the right words are. 

You are learning to pour your own drinks and get your own snacks (when given permission!), but you still like your glass of milk warmed up before bed each night.

You take good care of Selah by getting her new toys when she gets bored, but you still need me to remind you to not pick her up or drag her across the floor!

You walk bravely into school every morning without a backward glance at your mom, yet you give me a huge smile and tight squeeze as you jump off the bus at noon and hold my hand while we walk up the driveway.

You love to write and try to sound out words you see, but you get frustrated if you don't get it perfect (though you say you don't let anyone see your "whiney self" when you're at school!).

I laughed because she was so cute, and she embarrassed started to cry...

You play independently with all your friends, interacting so well, but you get giddy with excitement when I get to be the "mother's helper" at school or when it is your dad and my turn to teach your Sunday School class.

You enjoy riding your big-girl bike and your Tinker Bell scooter, but you still need training wheels.... until next summer (you keep saying!).

Cassidy is your best friend and play-mate, but you still need me to remind you to be kind and not be bossy (you take after me as an oldest, I'm afraid).

You use such big words and grown-up hand motions when you talk, but your voice is still delightfully young and innocent.

You are fascinated by new experiences, but you are still willing to slip your small hand in mine so we can go on adventures together.

You love to visit friends and go to school, but you still need hugs, kisses and cuddles from your mom and dad every day.

I love you, Brooklyn Kay. You are growing up too fast for my liking.... each day dissolving into another faster than I can blink. I'm so very proud of who you are becoming, but I refuse to rush you through these precious days of little girlhood. 

Keep playing with your dolls, keep twirling in your princess dresses, keep watching Barney and Blue's Clues.... 

You have plenty of time to grow up.

Later.

Love,

Mommy

~ Selah's Half Birthday ~

How is it possible that my baby girl is 6 months old already? She is growing so quickly. The feelings of nausea, hugeness, and the pangs of discomfort from legs in my ribs are still so easy to recollect... it seems like I was heading to the hospital to have this little girl just a few weeks ago. And yet, here she is... six months old, growing bigger and learning new things every day!

Since Selah Renee' turned 6 months old on November 25th, we were able to "celebrate" the milestone with Scott's family in Michigan. Although we didn't do anything really unique, we all enjoyed singing "Happy Birthday" to Selah two or three times as a family. She loves hearing people sing to her! And the best part of the day was that she got to be held by her Grandma Jex a lot. 

Since we were out of town, we borrowed Grandma's rocking chair for her monthly pictures:

So that I remember all the stats for the baby book, at her 6 month check-up Selah Renee' weighed a couple ounces shy of 15 lbs. and she was 26.5 inches long. She was in the 15 - 20th percentile for weight, the 70th percentile for height, and the 25th percentile for head circumference. Hopefully that doesn't mean she has a tiny pea-brain! The doctor was impressed that she's been sitting on her own for over a month now, but he gave me a lecture about not feeding her 3 meals a day of solids. sigh... i know, i know.... but it's such a hard habit to get into. But I made a bunch of pureed peas the other day (three ice-cube trays full, to be exact) and she HATES them. She decorated my new sweatshirt with pea-spit. Who knew this little girl could be so stubborn?!! Selah likes diced carrots, though. :) We'll just keep working on the peas.

One other neat fact to note.... Selah is my first child to really enjoy toys at this age! I'm finally getting good use out of all those baby toys we've accumulated. Brooklyn liked to play with things that weren't toys (like rubber dumb bells, the remote, the cell phone, pots and pans...etc.) and Cassidy was too afraid she'd miss something interesting that Brooklyn was doing if she'd take her eyes off of Brooklyn for one second to play with a toy! Selah likes to study and "taste" every toy, curiously looking at every angle to determine how each part "works." Maybe she'll be an engineering teacher like her Grandpa and Daddy. :-)

Praising God today for a wonderful six months with my baby girl. She's a precious gift, and I treasure each day! Now if only she'd sleep through the night....