A bird-themed baby shower

Psalm 127:3
Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.


Babies make my heart melt.  They fill my arms and make the wonder of life rise up anew.  And new Mommies make me smile wistfully as I think of the new experiences and adventures that await them.


I have a good friend, Laura.  You can meet her here.  I had the honor of hosting her baby shower for our church ladies group.  I wanted to do it justice- her justice.  One should feel special at their first baby shower.  They should be surrounded by love, companionship, and support.

She has a unique nursery.  Completely her. Simply beautiful in the colors of autumn leaves and forest trees.  Warm colors.  Fitting colors for a little girl that will be surrounded by warmth and laughter. 
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 Somehow between her, yard sales, and good friends (another story for her to tell) her nursery has developed a theme- birds.  I ADORE themes.  They make me giddy.


So a shower developed with paper birds, wooden eggs made elegant with Hodge podge and origami paper, and pleated circle garlands to make it look festive and unique to Laura. . (Another post will give details on how-to's. Bear with me ;-)

Pleated circle garlands adorned with flowers and buttons

The smell of harvest filled the air.

And paper birds adorned mantles and chandeliers

 We played games both old and new.  We of course played the guess the candy bar in the diaper game.  It is a baby shower classic.  Props to all the adventurous souls who dared the "Pregnancy Dash" game.  They crammed down crackers, posed for a pic with a balloon under a maternity shirt, tried to tie their shoes with said balloon, then "delivered" the baby by popping the balloon without using their hands.  It was fun.  It allowed Laura to laugh.  It allowed all of us to giggle together.  Shared laughter makes for great memories.  Another friend brought a yummy cake and others bites of deliciousness from their kitchen's.  Our tummies were happy. 


 We all watched as Laura became a little more prepared for the arrival of her blessing with each gift, with each word of advice,  and with each smile, nod, or hug of encouragement from those who love her.

And each placed love upon some simple fabric by use of color, art, and words.   Each one to be appliqued with care on bibs sewn over the next few weeks.  And just maybe when the tears start to fall, the exhaustion creeps in, or the joy is overwhelming a bib will remind her that she is not alone.  She is surrounded by women who have gone before her- who KNOW!  And we are praying for her, thinking of her, and are always there.

And I give special thanks to Lindie, Sabrina, Eden, Julia, Margie, and Donna who came early and helped me get it just right.  And I could  not have done it without Keziah who was silly with me late into the night as we got it all ready.  I am blessed to call you all friend. 

A little girl dreams of

Being Jasmine with all the beautiful turquoise, shimmering fabric, and sparkly trim.  The reality- shoddy costumes and bare midriffs.  Another little girl's eyes shining as she says, "Belle!   Her dress is beautiful!!"   The reality- shoddy costumes and low necklines.   What is a mother to do? So started my latest sewing project.  And without further ado I present you-

                                                         My modest Jasmine! ;-)

Suitably shimmery and sparkly

You could hear her coming!

My version of Belle.

And no I did not teach either of my girls to pose like this.  I have no clue where they got it. 

A change of mind the day of by Cupcake meant a lot of thinking outside the Disney box to make the materials on hand work!

I was all trimmed out by the last stitch.

These pics are not the best, but the pictures I took pre and post where on my hubby's I-touch.  Which of course I can not get to hook up to the laptop.  Oh well.  These will do.

 All in all it was a lengthy but truly enjoyable sewing project.  While the results were quickly thrown together and not as finished as I would have preferred they made two little girls very, very happy.  What better reward for a mother's efforts than two bright smiles and bubbly laughter. 

Next up- an Arabian Extravaganza!!!

The beginning and the end!

The beginning of what you may say?  And what exactly would be ending?  Well I am hopeful that this is a beginning of an outlet for the never ending cycle of thoughts that take place with every second.  Alas in an effort to displace them allowing room for common sense to arise I often make these posts on FB that break the allowed word barrier.  Then begins another whole process of turning "and" into &'s, abbreviating every word possible, toning down the numerous adjectives.  Updates I am told (most of the time with a good natured smirk) are supposed to be one MAYBE two liners.  I however have refined the art of the fb status update paragraph.

Ahh! But yes I mentioned ending.  What I am hoping will end is this question-  Becca, do you have a blog?  Why not?  And the immediate feeling of total uncoolness that promptly follows.  

What should one expect from this blog, dear indulgent family member or friend?  Lots of rambling because that is what I am really adept at second only to laughing....... so expect long posts!  Poor writing with comma splices, run-ons, fragments, strange punctuations, capital letters where none should be and so on and so on.  I used to be embarrassed about this fact. Now I am just embarrassed that I am know longer embarrassed.   Especially when it comes to one's attention that I am a homeschool mom.  But lets clear up a misconception here (rabbit trail time I know, I know.)!  Just because one is a homeschool mom does not make it follow that she is excellent in grammar, could write a best seller, thinks calculus is a cinch, can fill the periodic table without a cheat sheet, and knows every history date you throw at her.  We just do our best, research constantly, and PRAY like there is no tomorrow.   This wisdom comes not from me rather stems from the many sighs I have heard and have made myself during homeschool discussions.   There that rabbit trial followed all the way to its conclusion.  Back to what you should expect.   I truly would like to assure you that this blog will give you wonderful words of wisdom,  words that speak like poetry, helpful little tips on being a wife, mother, homeschooler, decorater, a frugal woman.  Beautiful pictures of mantels, homemade crafts, yummy new recipes, and God's nature to enhance the words.  There is a big however here though!  I so admire those bloggers.  This sadly is not a blog of such caliber.   I will talk a LOT about my children and husband.  I am quite certain that I have the absolute best husband and children that ever were created!  Here it is, reader of one or two, my little tidbit of the day. ;-)  if you do not think your hubby and children are the best ones in this world I encourage you to take another look.  Notice I said think not that they are.  And not that you should be blind to imperfections.  Just that focusing on their amazing greatness will help you get through those days when it gets tough.   Focus on the bad the world turns dark quickly.  Focus on the good and things are so much better.   God gave us that hubby.  He allowed those children to grow in our bodies and hearts.  Sometimes in some blessed cases just the mothers heart.   So I shall talk often of  my Love and my Blessings. They are my best fit, and I am theirs.  How reassuring is that!!! There is such joy in this.  Do you feel it?  Does it not just lighten your heart?

And most certainly,   I will talk of a God who lives within me. He who is my everything.   He directs my steps.  He sent His only Son.  Can you fathom it?  Exodus 15:2 says "The Lord is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation: He is my God and I will prepare Him an habitation:my father's God, and I will exalt Him.