Victoria Sewing

Victoria has been begging me to learn to sew and that she wanted to sew a blanket for her doll Emily. I cut the pieces out and she guided it through the machine. She tried the foot pedal and boy did I feel out of control. I was relieved that she would rather guide it and control the back stitching. She is a fearless child. All the kids have always been fascinated by the sewing machine and spent alot of time sitting in my lap as babies watching the needle. I taught them at a very early age that they can sit there but keep their hands down. They always did.

She is very proud of her blanket with a spaghetti face and missing teeth. She backed it with a pink striped fabric. I sewed a pillow and the snowman pillowcase. It turned out really cute. She has a spoiled dolly.

Pentecost Sunday

The dove was hoisted up 20 feet in the air. Phase 1 completed. The church has to rent a scissor lift to hang the water droplets that accompany the dove in a double helix. It took 3 hours to hang because one of the connections unraveled and the dove swung to one side. Luckily the ropes were still attached. All of our hearts were in our throats. It was our biggest fear. I kept envisioning the bird on "Bugs Life" that the ants built to scare away the grasshoppers. So we brought it down and with one trip home, and two to Home Depot, we managed to get it rehung securely. The men helping were extremely helpful, calm and very encouraging. It was a relief to have them working along side us. Today is Pentecost Sunday so they dedicated the dove in honor of Douglas Haug whose family is the donor family for this project. Everyone was very amazed and excited to finally have something added to the baptismal font. I think overall people had a good reaction. Kirk had a slide show that they played on the screens in the narthex to show the congregation what the finished piece will look like. The droplets go up in a couple weeks. Pictures coming soon.

Pouring the acrylic.

Ta Daaa!

Making the Mold.

Kirk sculpted the pieces out of styrofoam, textured it with plaster and coated it with this yellow rubber mold stuff that he ordered from Texas. He had to mix it up just right.

The really cool part is that it peeled off super easy. I helped peel here and there. It was pretty amazeing that it actually worked. Kirk felt pretty confident through the project. I was a little overwhelmed.

The Dove

Kirk has been commissioned to create "something" over the baptismal font at our church. This is the beginning of his idea that he constructed out of styrofoam to see how it would look in it's full form. He planned to sculpt a mold and pour acrylic. I never doubt his ability. Kirk is so capable he just enjoys doing things that he has never done before. And in a huge scale. Nothing is ever small. It makes me nervous because nothing ever fits in my box and I am stretched into supporting something that has to be completely dependent on faith. God has been testing us in this project. I feel honored to know that God was along side Kirk in this project the whole way.

HBC Bible Study

These wonderful women are a part of my small group at our Homemakers by Choice bible study. My best friend Kelly and I joined last September. We kind of laugh at the "Homemaker" part because both of us homeschool our kids and have almost no time to be a homemaker. But aside from that, this past year has been centered on fulfilling God's plan for us women as a mother, wife and organizing our homes. We had a pretty great group. I am glad that Kelly chose it because I wasn't willing to make the decision last Sept. We have all had our ups and downs this past year. It was something to look forward to and just for me. I know...sounds a little selfish...but what a great thing to be selfish about...a bible study group. The gal in the blue hat is a hoot! Robyn is an incredible woman who loves the Lord and wears a different hat every week along with color coordinated jewelry, clothing, bag... She talks really fast and also knows speaks sign language extremely well. So sometimes she will just start signing while she is talking. It makes me laugh. She has blessed us all so much with her wisdom and faith. Our group leader Laurie is a mom to an autistic boy of 15. She is incredible. When you think you have it hard just listen to her for a few minutes about communicating with a non-verbal child and you will think different about your circumstances. Victoria accompanied me every week to her little class that she absolutely loved. She became my driving force every week if I was having trouble fitting it in. I did it for her but benefited from it in a huge way.

This is my friend Kelly. She is awesome and deserves a much better friend than me. I think God has a reason for us being together these past 10 years. She is alot like Kirk and I am alot like her Mike. It is funny how we tolerate things in eachother that drive us nuts in our husbands. She has become my conscience. I hear her voice in my head sometimes when I am about to do something I shouldn't. She is a much nicer person than I am. I feel like she is my sister. I feel lucky.

19th Wedding Anniversary

I couldn't resist this picture of us when we were SO YOUNG!!! The first thing Jared noticed is how red his Dad's beard was. For the first time ever...since our honeymoon...Kirk and I ran away for the weekend up to cooler Prescott alone. We have never spent a weekend alone...without kiddos. We love them dearly but it was long overdue. We walked down town and browsed the Antique shops. We ate only when we felt like it. We didn't have anyone hanging on us nor did we have to carry anyone. It was amazeing...we actually had complete thoughts. It was really wierd to not have any interuptions. Needless to say we still really enjoy each others company. We are definately older and wiser. We have been around the block way too many times in our times together. We have learned alot and with God's wisdom we will grow even more. I can't imagine our lives together without our Heavenly Father as our leader. I love you Kirk. You're my best friend. And thanks for all you do. You have managed to provide for us all of these years even during the worst of times.

Sewing project

Daphne sewed the cute Kitty and I sewed another monkey for our violin teachers neice and nephew. They turned out really cute. About 5 years ago I was teaching Shari and her two daughters how to sew. She was such a crack up. So when Daphne showed her the kitty, Shari went berzerk about how cute it was. Violin lessons are very entertaining with Shari. It is really hard to explain, I would have to imitate her for you. It is just something you have to hear. We absolutely love her. Anyway, we were very happy to barter some time making these dolls in exchange for lessons. Daphne has pretty much become autonomous when it comes to sewing. I have loved watching her progress this past year. I feel like sewing is a dieing art. I am always amazed how well the kids do with their projects. My projects never really turned out. I had to teach myself how to sew and pick up what I could...I'm still learning ...I am determined to teach them what I know so they don't have quite as much trial and error. Shari was cleaning out her closet and pulled out a brand new sewing machine with about 80 some functions on it that has never been opened or turned on. She gave it to Daphne and I to get some use out of it. I could not believe it! I tried to tell her that I would teach her to use it and she didn't want it collecting dust anymore. It is an awesome machine. The best thing is it threads it's own needle. Daphne and I were practically jumping up and down over this feature. Both our eyes have gotton so bad that we can barely see what we are doing. Now we will probably be fighting over who gets to use the new machine! Hmmm I wonder if I can pull rank...