Beach Pictures

As soon as our suitcases were unpacked Friday afternoon, we headed to the beach to stick our toes in the sand.

Will has We have a "no bikini" rule, but I found the most adorable bathing suit pattern in a recent issue of Sew Beautiful Magazine and couldn't resist making a matching pair for the girls! I promised Will I would only use them for pictures and then they would be put up for the rest of the summer. He said they were ok because they didn't really look like bikinis. Whew! :) Anna Cate loves her bathing suit and calls it her green "teenie." Hilarious!

I wanted to get a picture of each girl as they walked onto the beach and felt the sand between their toes for the first time this summer.

Anna Cates was an old pro...

...but you can see how far Caroline got before she noticed something felt different.

She would take a couple of steps ...

...and then look down at her feet.

Question:

"Caroline, what do you think of the sand?"

Answer:

This look of mixed confusion and disgust.

She warmed up to the sand after a few minutes and then had no problem being covered in it for the rest of the week. And I do mean from head to toe and everything in between!

Anna Cate lived in her pink sunglasses all week and looked like a little diva walking around the pool with her shades on. There was a group of ladies who we'd see each morning at the pool who called her "Miss Hollywood."

Love this picture of Anna Cate holding Caroline's hand by the water.

Oh to have eyes so blue, cheeks so rosy, and lips so red. I know I'm biased because she is my baby girl, but she has the most beautiful coloring. Wonder if that hair is going to stay red?

And is this not the most hilarious look that Caroline is shooting the camera? It is a typical Caroline expression...priceless!!

I learned what a little dare devil we have on our hands. Caroline has absolutely no fear of the ocean. She loves to sit in the surf and let the waves wash onto her. She happened to get a little too brave one evening...

Before the wave:

And after:

We had a wonderful week away relaxing with family and playing in the sun and sand!

Sneak Peek

Of all the reasons to love going on vacation, my most favorite part is getting to come back home. We rolled in this afternoon and even though I have plenty of bags to unpack, loads of laundry to wash, and an empty fridge to fill, I couldn't help but download our beach pictures once the girls were in bed.

More to come tomorrow...

Summer Dates for Sewing Workshops

New dates are now open for summer sewing workshops. I've added two new classes for those who have attended the first workshop and are interested in learning some new techniques!

**FYI - there are no pictures of the projects because we are at the beach this week and I have no access to all of my photos. I'll update this post with pics once we are home!

Get Your Stitch On

Sewing Workshops

Where & When:

Lexington, SC

9:00 am - 2:00 pm

Available dates listed on sidebar

Workshops:

Beginner's Workshop

This is a beginner's level workshop, meaning if you are already sewing dresses, bags, pillows, etc. you probably won't benefit from the workshop. However, if you have never sewed a stitch before or if you have dabbled in it a bit, but would like to have a better overall foundation of sewing to follow patterns and tutorials, this would be a perfect fit for you!

We will begin with a general overview of sewing with a machine, including the different types of sewing techniques, stitch applications, and the best places to buy fabric and patterns.

We will then move onto several projects which incorporate all of the sewing techniques you will need to begin sewing on your own!

Projects Include:

-Ruffled Scarf

-Baby Bib

-Pillowcase Dress

Applique Workshop(Intermediate Level)

This workshop is for those who have a basic knowledge of sewing and feel comfortable using a sewing machine. In this workshop, we will focus on the applique techique and the construction of a skirt and pants/shorts. You will create a coordinating outfit to take home for your favorite little one (boy or girl)!

Projects include:

-Applique tee

-Twirly skirt

-Ruffled pants or boy shorts

Bags & Totes Workshop (Intermediate Level)

This workshop is for those who have a basic knowledge of sewing and feel comfortable using a sewing machine. In this workshop, we will learn to sew a zipper and also study the basic construction of bags.

Projects Include:

-Ruffled Zipped Pouch

-Market Tote Bag

-Floral Pin

Registration:

The cost is $50 per workshop. To register, just send me an e-mail to ourhappylittlenest@gmail.com with the date of the workshop you are interested in attending.You will recieve a confirmation e-mail with payment details to reserve your spot. Classes are limited to 6 people.

Once you are registered, you will receive further information including directions and the materials you will need to bring to the workshop.

Please let me know if you have any questions! :)

Garden Party

We celebrated Anna Cate's 3rd birthday this past Saturday with a garden party. Thank you to all of our family and friends who came over and endured the heat and humidity to celebrate with us! And a great BIG thank you to Lucas for offering to man the camera and take some wonderful photos of the party!! :)

Click on the link below to see the slideshow!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/43999019@N07/sets/72157624227257644/show/

Just Pictures...

Typical Summer Evening

Bow is discovered...

...and promptly removed.

Gee Mom, I can't believe you keep sticking this thing in my hair.

(This child refuses to wear bows in her hair or shoes on her feet.)

Thank you ThermaCELL! for another lovely evening outside!

*********

Dinner conversation:

Anna Cate: "Daddy, next year, when I am bigger, will you marry me?"

Me: "Anna Cate, if you marry daddy, what will I do?

long silent pause...

Anna Cate: "I know Mama, when Caroline gets bigger, she will turn into a boy and you can marry her!"

An Explanation

Yikes! I can not believe it has been almost two months since my last post. All I can say is that having two children changes things. You have twice the work to do in half the time. (Please try hard not to laugh if you have three or more). I look back at life when it was just Anna Cate and wonder how I got so much accomplished!

Remember the Friends episode of Pheobe and Rachel running in Central Park?

This is pretty much how I've felt the past few months. Like a totally out-of-control, spastic, crazy woman. And the harder I tried to get a handle on things, the faster they would unravel into a mess. I felt the Lord urging me to give up my busyness (blogging, sewing, crafting, decorating just to name a few) to focus more on my family, but I was so reluctant to do so. I'd find myself spouting off excuses to Him (and myself):

"If I just stay up later, then I can get more accomplished in the evenings."

or

"After I just finish up _________ (fill in the blank...this bathroom, this sewing class, the girls' summer dresses, etc) THEN I can focus on getting back on a schedule and the house back in order."

However, something else would always come up that I thought was just too important to pass up.

Then one night as I was browsing through the archives of one of my favorite blogs, Kisses from Katie, I stumbled upon this post. She is a 21 year old girl from Alabama who is living in Uganda with the girls she has adopted...all 14 of them. Can you even imagine? No husband or mother to call when she needs the help. No network of support or girlfriend to meet for coffee when she needs the support. Her blog is incredibly challenging to read and makes me embarrassed for all of the times I think that I've overwhelmed with my responsibilies in parenting.

But in this particular post she was describing how one of her daughters came to her. If you have the time, you should go and read the post because it is amazing, but to summarize, she wasn't interested in adopting anymore children, but felt the Lord telling her her next daughter's name would be Sarah. Several days later, a crippled 3 year- old was brought to her door. Her grandmother had carried her 7 miles to Katie's house and when Katie asked her name, the grandmother answered, "Sarah."

Chills.

And I as read her testimony, I was convicted of how I've never heard the Lord speak to me so clearly. And I realized it is because I stay so busy that I don't give Him the time in my day to show me what He would have me do. I come to Him in the morning with more of a laundry list of "needs" that I ask Him to supply me with to get me through the day.

But I was packing so much into my days that I left no room for anything the Lord had planned for me to do.

As Miss Lula would say I wasn't protecting my margins. I was filling up my pages from end to end and my family was suffering for it.

So what started out as what I had hoped to be a short blogging hiatus, turned into several months of silence. I've let waaaaaaay too much time go by without an update. I had no idea how much time blogging consumed until I let go of the expectations of posting. I've enjoyed this new found "free" time; however, I do regret that I haven't been documenting our family's life for the past few months. I was reading some of our old blog and really enjoyed being able to look back over Anna Cate's first year.

All that to say...I'm back.

I'll be better about updating, but it may just be pictures.

We'll see what happens!

Our computer has been sick and we just got it back. I haven't had time to wade through all of the photos I've been taking while it was away, but here are a few photos for all of the grandparents, aunts, uncles, and other family and friends who have been requesting updated photos of the girls!