Katie's Hope Necklace

My husband Greg has a wonderful Aunt and Uncle. Uncle Eric and Aunt Susie helped us out when we first had Eli and moved to this town. Greg was just starting out in his job and they offered us their beautiful carriage house to live in practically rent free. We stayed there two years and got to know some of Susie's family as well.

Susie's sister Debbie is wonderful. She makes darling little houses with little lights in them...I could never resist them and have oh, four or five. I got to know Debbie through this and the craft fairs her and Susie would do together. Susie makes incredible jewelry and almost everything I wear is her creation.

Debbie and her husband Gene have one child. Her name is Katie and she is 21 years old. In January she started having unexplained seizures. They admitted her into the hospital on January 9th and put her in a medically induced coma to try and get the seizures under control. She is still in the hospital and just recently was brought out of her coma. As far as I know, the seizures are still a problem and her prognosis is uncertain. It is a terribly sad situation and they could use your prayers. Katie's medical bills growing by the day and are really large. I just received this email today and wanted to pass it on. If you want a beautiful necklace for yourself or for a gift this would be a great opportunity to help out a wonderful family in a terrible situation.

We have been enjoying some pretty spectacular weather around here. It was warm enough to celebrate a certain someone's 6th birthday outside on Saturday. We had a big dino themed birthday bash complete with oh about 12 kids plus parents. Fun was had by all, girls tackled the boys, kids hunted for dino eggs, a dino pinata was smashed (with much effort), sand was thrown, and many, many presents were opened! Two hours never felt so long before...

The kids have been spending a good part of their days doing this...

And this....

And even getting a little sun-kissed while they are at it...

And we are really enjoying what I thought was a ruined quilt...it works perfectly as a grass blankie - or bodie as Addison would say. Quinn got a lot of use out of it while he was getting over his fear of the grass. He wasn't so sure of it at first but now he crawls all over the place.

I've even gotten my hands (and feet) dirty planting some perrenials in the flower beds....I love this time of year...Greg says I can't resist spending...I really can't resist getting my hands on some flowers and digging in the dirt...and mulching - one of my other favorite spring time rituals.

Happy spring folks! Hope your day is filled with sunshine, laying on a blanket in the grass and picking mulch splinters out of your feet goodness!

A new room for a new three year old..

So after we had Eli and we went through the transition from crib to big boy bed at a very young two years old, we vowed to keep our next kid in a crib a little longer.....

Moving on to our second little bundle.....until last night she was in a crib. She turned three in February and a few months ago Daddy helpfully taught her how to climb in and out of her crib. Bring on super Grandma and potty training success a few weeks ago and the crib was looking like it was really, really on it's way out. Bring on a hot pink cast and a little girl with a fractured arm from climbing into her crib and you've got some motivated parents!
Here are some shots of the little darlings newly minted bedroom...full of Eastery colors too!
I was so excited when I found this old double bed on craigslist....for a measly $20! It just had a worn natural wood finish so I scooped up some Martha Stewart paint samples at Home Depot and it is transformed!
The quilt top is old and is a dresden plate pattern. I found this on ebay and am going to finish quilting it. I found some sweet white fabric with teeny tiny green polka dots to put on the back of the quilt. I also made the three pillow cases with vintage reproduction fabric that matches the era of the quilt fabric. The sheets were just basic white and I sewed on some little yellow ric rac.

I have to say I am a little infatuated with this sweet room...I'd kind of like to sleep there myself. It doesn't help that this is the only clean room in the house. We swapped our old room with Addison and moved upstairs to our former guest room. The house is in serious disarray and with an open house next Saturday I am more than a little bit freaking out. I'll just go in this room and peace out for a bit...

And a Happy Easter to you too!