my favorite christmas present

it's the real thing. an original elsie painting. michael is the best:)

more creations and some holiday love

i made this little owl pillow... i painted the owl onto canvas and then stitched the details. 

this little sticky was waiting for me this morning. i'm so blessed to have michael as my husband. he's the sweetest:)

speaking of sweet... isaiah made this gingerbread house at school. he's quite the artist. i think he even has that "artist" look on his face (making such art is serious business).

and michael brought home some sweet treats from his "secret santa" at work. we have enough hot cocoa mix to last us through may. maybe.

and a little glimpse of our christmas decor. it won't be long and all this will be packed away. hmmm. christmas is approaching way too fast.

and another owl stamp that i carved...

i hope you are embracing each moment of the season... it will all pass by way too quickly. 

lovelovelove, e

in love

isn't this beautiful? i found it today... as well as this incredible site. inspiration city.

there are fun things going on in my world...

geoff & ashley are getting married! we had ashley's lingerie shower at my house and then went out for her bachelorette party. i think she looks especially beautiful wearing pink feathers;) btw emily, we missed you!!

excuse me, ma'am... is that felt??

yes, folks i've been felt-crazy as of late. i've made little felt pendants, pouches, animals. i can't stop. there are many more felt projects up my sleeve, just wait and see.

and here are some naked clay sculptures isaiah and i made. (we'll paint them later) he did the snowman and some other tiny creatures not pictured. and then there is a branch and an owl (laying on it's side) i'll be painting them and gluing them together. and then on the right is pingu. my children are big fans.

and i've discovered a love for buttons. this is my starter collection. it's so full of possibilities!

and i've been spreading christmas cheer all over the house.

a little glimpse of our tree this year. it's magical.

and my kitchy garland!! this is one of my class projects. it's gaudy and messy and random and i love it;)

we sure had fun over the thanksgiving holiday. isaiah and sarah adore their cousins, wyatt and amelia. lots and lots of laughter and giggles from these four.

and we went on the polar express! it was an actual train ride... and so magical!

these two have such a sweet moments together.

isaiah and wyatt with the bells they got from santa when he boarded the polar express!

**i've seriously been crafting nonstop lately. i really want to make all my christmas gifts this year... my mind is racing with ideas. i love it! and i love that everywhere i go there is christmas music playing. and today it snowed in lubbock. sarah and i watched it for a while. she kept asking to go outside so she could eat it. she said "you can eat white snow but you can't eat yellow snow. can i go outside and eat that white snow?"

until next time... :) evan

it's here!!!

the Christmas season is upon us. today we put our tree up and decked our house with all our favorite decorations... we even listened to BEAUTIFUL Christmas music. magical.

isaiah took the baby jesus out of his manger and placed him in mary's arms. it was sweet:)

i hope you're as inspired as i am... and that this season is one of family, friends, and love.

i'll post pictures soon!!

things i'm thankful for:

getting to kiss my michael. every. day.

hearing my sweet sarah say "mommy i love you".

imagining all the amazing moments i'll get to have with my kids as they grow.

ps. sarah is officially potty trained! she's done it mostly by herself, so easy!!! yay!

having lots of family come in town for thanksgiving. i LOVE the holidays.

getting inspiration from elsie. i've had some time to actually make some of the things she's teaching in the class, and here are some pictures of elsie-inspired craftiness:

these dolls are made from felt. the one on the left is "straight out of the box". it's basically exactly like the one she made with exception of the colors. the giraffe was my own variation of the project. i think they turned out pretty cute!

this is a journal i've had for a very long time. i think my dad gave it to me and i've never written in it. part of the class is journaling, and so i got this journal out and altered it a bit to make it a little more modern. i used burlap, handmade paper, scrapbook paper, and a love, elsie rub-on.

and a bit of personality on the inside. the owl is a stamp i made a while back. for a stamp-making tutorial, visit leigh ann.

and i also got a journal for sketching out ideas and designs. this was altered a bit using paper, a couple of stickers, and a love, elsie rub-on. inside are pockets, so i can stash magazine tear-outs.

i'll have crafts coming out my ears in the next few weeks, so stay tuned! if i don't get a chance to post before, then HAPPY TURKEY DAY!!! lots and lots of love to you.

our howaween

the first thing that was said in our house on the morning of halloween was spoken by sarah: she announced "happy howaweeeeen!!!" i'm NOT a morning person and little sarah wakes up happy as can be every morning. i love it:)

and so here come the pictures...

sarah the spider! (the first picture was taken last week right after we bought her costume... she wanted to put it on, so i got her picture. she was proud!)

isaiah, aka: anakin skywalker

"trick-or-treat!"

perusing the loot...

it was a fun night for the kids. we trick-or-treated with some dear friends who are about to move to dallas. this is the 3rd year we've done halloween with them, so we're very sad that next year they won't be around to trick-or-treat with.

tonight texas tech plays ut. a big game to begin with, but add on the fact that both teams are 8-0, and espn practically moved to lubbock for the weekend (and have been broadcasting all day from the stadium). so much attention is being put on this game. it's really amazing that we're getting so much attention. the student section is filled as "first-come-first-serve" and so all week the students have been lining up in order to get in to the game, thus creating "raiderville", a tent city. the population grew to over 2000 students. crazy!!

happy halloween.

i just discovered an artist... so i thought i'd share. stash it in your pumpkin with all the candy and enjoy. i'm so inspired by this girl's work!

have a fun and safe halloween!

my last word on the subject

i'm really tired of hearing people say things about barack obama that just simply are not true. people have formed opinions based on misinformation and it is driving me nuts. people are most definitely entitled to their opinion, but lets base those opinions on truth.

i'm still here:)

sorry i've been m i a lately. part of the reason is that our router went out and i couldn't get my laptop online. the other part of the reason is that i've been a bit under the weather, and super busy all at the same time.

but things are beginning to slow down just a tad. i'm super excited because i just joined an online class by the oh-so-talented elsie. i'll have lots of new things to share along the way and i'm really looking forward to that!!

i've been creating lots of things lately, and haven't gotten any pictures of any of it. sorry for that! i think this class i've signed up for will force me to document my creations a little more diligently. my creative chops ARE still in tact, and as time allows i'll make the effort to get pictures taken of things i've made:)

halloween this year will be so much fun... isaiah chose to be anakin skywalker this year, which works out really well for him because he looks a bit like anakin. sarah mentioned a while back that she wants to be a spider for halloween. so we found a great spider costume for her, and she loves it! i've already got a few pictures of her in her costume, and i'll share them with you later.

hope your last week of october is fantastic!!

lovelove, e

i feel the need to share

this video:


if you don't already know who he is, this is a guy by the name of donald miller. he's written several books, two of which are searching for god knows what and blue like jazz. both books i have read and completely shook me up... revolutionized and strengthened my faith. i also had the privelege of seeing him speak at a conference at willow creek. he's the real deal if you haven't read his books, start with blue like jazz. it's truly amazing.

anyway, donald miller gave the convocation at the democratic national convention. a seemingly bold move. i was really encouraged to hear that he's "there". and to find this video and hear his statements on why he's supporting obama. not completely surprised though. from the beginning i've really liked barack obama. i like his style. yes, he's a good speaker. he's also a good leader. and his wife, michelle... she seems to be amazing.

but i'm surrounded by people who support mccain. in a town like lubbock, tx if you claim to be a christian you're expected to vote republican. period. but i've chosen to go to the "dark side".

recently i found a website called votesmart.org. this website is a comprehensive record of all candidates. you can go through lists of how those candidates have voted on issues, statements they've made... etc. it's a great research tool. i encourage you to do what i did... instead of blindly supporting a candidate (which i was), do your research. know why your supporting a candidate. i did that and i feel even stronger that barack obama should be our next president.

i married a rock star

michael's band cyrus will be opening up for the toadies next week! the show is thursday at 7 at the lonestar amphitheater. you can get your tickets here.

have a fabulous weekend! e

this is funny

a while back michael came home from work with one of those laser pens. as sarah was finishing her dinner, he hid behind her and made the light dance all around her. the first time he did it she didn't know quite how to react... she kept calling it a ladybug ("laggy bug") and proceeded with lots of giggles and "awww's". then we decided to get her reaction on video. the first reaction was a bit more dramatic, but it's funny to see isaiah get in on the fun...

birthday weekend and other fun stuff

my sweet michael took me to dallas for my birthday:) he surprised me with shopping money, so we spent the better part of our labor day weekend in the happy shopping town of frisco:) yesterday on the way back home, we stopped by the ft worth botanical gardens...


and lookie what i picked up at ikea... i adore them.

sunday night we went to see a movie at the angelika film center, a super cool cinema. we saw henry poole is here. a fantastic movie... we loved it! go see it.

a few weeks ago i spent lots and lots of time working on these burp cloths for "olive & everette"... if you have a baby gift to get, go by kk's craft mall and pick one up. we're booth #t8;)

i finished making my freckled nest notebook last week. here's a snap. i'm proud of it:)
i hope my 31st year of life is as good as my 30th one was. right now, it's looking pretty darn good:)
lovelovelove, e

this little guy...

started kindergarten today. wow. time has flown by. i wasn't sad at all though. i was really proud of him. he was very brave and though he was a little scared this morning, he didn't cry... didn't hang on to my leg or anything. and at the end of the day he's so proud of himself. he's been telling me bits and pieces of the day... showing songs he learned... talked about a game he played in "computers" and about seeing the Tech band play for the whole school. he went through the lunch line by himself (ordering salad, fries, and apples) and saw a kid sitting alone and crying because he couldn't find his class. but he said he didn't cry... he just kept looking and eventually he found his class!

i'm really proud of him today. not sad at all... just proud.

big announcement!

announcing my new little project! my friend allison moore and i have combined forces and opened up a booth at KK's craft mall. we're selling baby stuff... right now we've got my hand stitched burp rags and her fabulous diaper cakes. and we'll be adding more and more baby things soon:) go check it out... look for the brown and green booth in isle T.

6:30... 6:30!

oh sure, yeah they're cute. they have to be. wanna know why? this morning at 6:30 michael and i were awakened by the sounds of giggles coming from the smallest two people that live in our house. yes... isaiah and sarah were up. not only were they awake, they were in the kitchen eating ice cream sandwiches while enjoying a movie on our "little DVD player". they have to be cute...

sarah has been getting up early and getting in bed with us. sometimes she falls back asleep and sometimes she stays awake. but at least we can still doze a little while longer. apparently this morning instead of coming to cuddle with mommy and daddy, sarah decided she'd go directly to the one who will get her the breakfast she's been craving. the ice cream sandwiches tend to be messy. so even when isaiah tries to get rid of the evidence, this wise momma knows better.

hopefully this means it won't be a big shock when isaiah starts kindergarten in a few weeks. we'll be leaving the house at 7:30am every day.

on to more exciting things... my friend allison and i are starting our own business!! we're renting a booth at kk's craft mall and will be selling baby-related items. i'll get some pictures of our booth and announce our name sometime next week... stay tuned!

happy weekend:)

evan

this is us...

yesterday melanie did some family pictures of us. i think they are fantastic so i had to share some of them with you...

that white loveseat was my grandmother's. it was passed down to me after she died. i remember her letting us sit in it when we were kids... but only if we were in our "sunday best". we define sunday best a little different than she did:)
i also want to brag on melanie. she's so great with kids! she's started her own photography business, melanie pittman photography... go check her out!

happy monday, evan