The Threadery

As further proof that I am embracing my crafty side, I give you The Threadery!

I am so excited.  After years of trying to convince my mom that she has a God given talent that she should shared with more than just her kids, grandchildren and their friends, she has finally realized this and agreed to be a vendor at a handmade, vintage market.  The catch was that I had to do it with her.  This posed a slight problem as I didn't know what sort of a craft I could come up with.  Well what will I be selling you ask...coasters!  I made a bunch of cute little coasters that I am sure everyone will need for their home.  Oh and I also helped mom come up with her both design.  My mom is selling all sorts of her beautiful sew goods (mostly baby and children's items).  I am not so good at the sewing yet.  Although I have sewn two things with my new, vintage sewing machine.  I guess I should blog about those soon.  I need more time! 

Back to The Threadery, it is in the north orange county area and we will be selling as Bethadee Zoo.  If you live in the area, or you just want to come on down, please come check it out.  There is going to be some great vendors there.  Hope to see you this Saturday! 

Laundry Detergent

I have recently become addicted to pinterest.  It is a wonderful virtual corkboard where I have found lots of wonderful craft ideas.  My mother tried for 18 years to open up my crafty side and I resisted, a whole 30 years.  Well now I am all about it. 

One day while looking around pinterest I found a do-it-yourself laundry detergent.  After a few days of thinking about it I decided to do it.  I have a couple people in my family with VERY sensitive skin and laundry detergent is expensive.  So I decided to do it, even though some members of my family thought it was a bit odd.    

The ingredients can all be found at you local Walmart in the laundry aisle.  All together it was about $8 for all the ingredients, but the Borax and the Baking and Washing Soda would make way more batches.  I am estimating that this the Borax, Baking and Washing soda containers I bought will last me a year.  That is a huge savings over a $15 bottle of tide, plus it doesn't have all those additives! 

1 bar Fels-Naptha bar soap
1 cup Borax
1 cup Washing Soda
1/4 cup Baking Soda

 Grate the Fels-Naptha Bar.  I used a cheese grated, but you can use a food processor or a Magic bullet. 

 Add all the ingredients and stir. 

 Then find a cute glass jar (okay any container really) and put it in the laundry room (please ignore my dinged up Dryer in the photo, it was a craigslist purchase). 

You only need about 2 tablespoons for a load of laundry.  So although this doesn't look like a ton, it will last a long time.  It smells good too.  It has a really clean, slight hint of lemon to it.  And it was super easy to make.  It only took about 10 minutes and that was only because I kept getting distracted by the kids. 

I have made a few other projects I have gotten from pinterest.  But more on that later. 

A Parent's Love

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As I sat at the red light waiting for it to turn green, he asked me why he was going with me to his sister’s doctors appointment. I reminded him that he had a hurt arm and that we had to go to his doctor too. He immediately knew what that meant and as I turned around to look him straight in the eyes he had tears in his eyes and told me he didn't want to go to get pokie's (shots). My eyes started to tear up as I told him how sorry I was, but that this was what was best for him. A single tear ran down my cheek and I told him it would be okay that he would get his shot of medicine and then his arm would be better and we go about our day as normal.

This wasn't the first time he needed to get meds, no there have been many other times before. This wasn't the first time I teared up about having to have my son get shots to treat the hemophilia, no there were many other times before. But this was the first time I cried in front of him. I am always careful not to get emotional about his "ouchies." I don't want him to freak out; I have always waited until after the treatment is over and he has gone to bed to cry. He is looking to me, to see my reaction. At his age, my reaction will dictate how he will react. He is looking to me to keep him safe. He is looking to me for love and to make him feel secure in every situation that we face. It is my job.

As I went about the rest of the day, I couldn't help but think about God and how hard it must be for Him to love us so much that He has to put us through the refiners fire to make us whole and pure in Him. That pure perfect love, when you don't just stand there watching someone do something you know is not good for them, but instead you gently tell them what they need to hear. Maybe they need to know how their actions will impact their life, or how their actions impact others life's. All to often I think we are too quick to nod our head and smile, instead of offering instruction and guidance, true love.

Our son trusts his daddy and I to protect him and take care of him. Unfortunately it sometimes mean we have to restrict him, or we have to take him to get pokies because his body needs the medicine. He doesn't like it, it makes him sad. But maybe he occasionally needs to see that mommy and daddy are just as sad about his ouchies as he is. I trust God has the best for me and sometimes it is good to be reminded that He sheds tears for me.

Jumperoo

Kinlee at four months of age enjoying her jumperoo for the first time.


Ethan at 5 months enjoying his jumperoo at for the first time.
They are both so cute and I think they look so much alike and yet so totally different. How is that? Amazing! Oh and if you can't quite tell from these photos, she has is about five pounds more than he was at the same age. She is growing so fast! Well Ethan also grew pretty slow and still grows slow. Maybe because he doesn't eat much. hum.....

Kinlee-3 months

Wow three months has gone by incredible fast. On one hand it seems like you have always been here with our family and on the hand it seems like just yesterday me and daddy were bringing you home.

But so much has changed. You made our family go from three to four. You are the perfect addition to our little family, God knew just who we needed. You are such a laid back little girl. You don't seem to mind when your big brother runs up to you and kiss you over and over again. He loves to get right up in your face. And in his world you are "MY baby," as he often calls you. I can't wait to watch you grown up and run around with your brother in the backyard.

You have grown so much since you were born. You went from being at the 5% percentile for weight to the 88% in weight and now the 95% in height. You are almost 14 pounds and are 24 inches long (at your 2 month appointment). I love your rolls that you have on your little arms and legs. Too cute for words!

You are sleeping well. AS long as you are swaddled we can put you down in your crib and you will go right to sleep on your own. You sleep from about 9pm to 5 or 6 am. You love to suck your hand or finger and you sort of like your paci. You love to give out smiles and you are trying to laugh. You have the most beautiful smile and it melts your daddy's heart. You don't like tummy time and you will tolerate laying on your back for about 5-10 minutes. You don't roll over yet, but you are getting close. You rolled over on our bed today, but you had a little help since it was on a bed.

You are a very happy baby and you almost never cry, except when you are hot, you despise being hot! One a trip to orange county last weekend we had to move you to Poppi and Meemaw's car because the air conditioning vents in their car were right above your car seat. You went from screaming in mommy and daddy's car to sleeping calmly within 5 minutes. You hate the HEAT! Since we don't have air conditioning in the house you often take your naps in your swing or in your pack n play. Your favorite place to be is in your swing. You much rather be at home in your little routine swinging in your swing than you would going out and bough (total opposite of your brother, he always did better outside).

You are a beautiful little creation of God's. We all love you so much and can't wait to see how God continues to grow you and mold you and our family. Happy 3 months Kinlee Joy.

Three

Ethan is three years old and Kinlee is 3 months. I thought it would be fun to lay them side by side and get a photo. They weren't so much digging the idea of a photo. Ethan wanted to continue running around outside (notice his scrapped up face due to a fall earlier in the week), and Kinlee doesn't much like laying flat out on her back or stomach (notice the pouty bottom lip).

This photo was taken right after the last one. Kinlee is full on crying and Ethan was yawning he was bored. These two make me laugh. Love my munchkins!

Pieces of K

I love babies and I must say Kinlee is the sweetest! Well maybe I am biased, but who cares.
I love how tiny babies are and how cute all the little pieces of them are.


I mean what's not to love! Looking at these tiny pieces I can't help but be reminded of how amazing God is! God created these little pieces that make up this tiny little being.

And this tiny little being will one day grow up into a full grown adult. It boggles my mind. My God is GREAT!