I'm a Winner!

Hello Friends!
Did you have a good Thanksgiving?  Mine was very relaxing.  It was so amazing to get to spend five uninterrupted days with my family. I slept until 7:30am and felt so rested!!!  I managed to get the house decorated and so far Noodlebug hasn't ripped any ornaments off the tree. And....I finished sewing all my Christmas presents! I can't show you photos yet because there may be a few surprises coming in the mail for some of you. This Wednesday,  I'll be hosting a mini-wreath making party with my mom.  I'm looking forward to a little crafty girl time.

To make my holiday kickoff even better, I won a giveaway from Dana at Dana Made It.  I won two of her homemade grocery bags. I got to choose which ones I wanted so I chose "Greens" and "Bread" because I probably shouldn't be having ice cream.  Aren't they cute?! I hope Dana will stock them in her store because I'd love to buy the "milk" version. What a great way to start the holiday season!!!

Kicking Off the Holidays

We just had a lovely visit from my friend Gary who came to visit us all the way from Denver.  Noodlebug and I took him to the Academy of Sciences on Friday. Here we are looking at the large aquarium.  Noodlebug likes to walk around sucking on one index finger with the other index finger in his belly button. It is charming right now but I hope he will give it up before he is a teenager.

 Then we headed to the coast on Saturday where Noodlebug proceeded to drag large pieces of kelp around the beach.  He didn't seem to mind the cold!

We then headed downtown for the big treelighting.  Noodlebug was picked out of the crowd and won a gift certificate to the movie theater and local candy store.  He didn't know quite what to make of it.

Here is a photo of me and Noodlebug and Grandma in front of the tree.  (sorry---didn't have time to fix Noodlebug's red eyes) We had a great time and it felt like a good kickoff to the holiday season.

I am taking Wednesday off so I will have a nice break to be home with my family.  It will just be the four of us.  (me, hubby, Noodlebug and Grandma)  By the way, Noodlebug calls Grandma "Tutu" which is Hawaiian for "Grandmother." My parents lived in Hawaii in the '60s and my mother still has a fondness for it.

I am so looking forward to uninterrupted time with my family. I am determined to finish my sewing projects and maybe we'll go see a movie or two. Noodlebug has a free ticket!!!

I may not post during the holiday so I wanted to take a moment to send many blessings to you and your loved ones. There is so much to be thankful for.  I want to thank you all for your blogs and comments and how much they enrich my life. 

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Baby Food Jar Candles

You know I love a good tutorial and I just found this one for candles made out of baby food jars. I still have a bag full of baby food jars and I have been wondering what to do with them. This could be a good holiday activity for me when I have my job furlough.  (I will be off from December 21-January 3.)  The other good part of finding this tutorial is that it introduced me to a new blog!  Prudent Baby looks like it is going to be a new favorite!!!

(photo borrowed from and owned by Prudent Baby)

Look What I Got!!!

I have been a fan of Beth Quinn's jewelry for awhile and I own several pieces.  Lately, she has been creating these lovely cuffs. They keep selling out before I can get one, though. Well, I finally managed to get one!!! If you like it, you'll have to try and snag the peach one because I already grabbed the brown one. I think it will add the perfect amount of bling to my Thanksgiving attire!

By the way, the song you are listening to is the lullaby I sing to Noodlebug every night. 

(photo borrowed from and owned by Beth Quinn Designs)

Making a List, Checking it Twice

My husband has been bugging me for holiday gift ideas so I have been updating my Amazon and Wishpot lists. Truthfully, I don't care much about getting gifts. Although I LOVE handmade gifts and surprises. I would much rather have an unexpected treat on a non-holiday rather than a bunch of gifts at Christmas.  Since I had to make a list, I added this gem to it.  I love and collect children's books and Rosemary Wells is one of my favorites.  This giclee print reminds me of my little family.

My favorite part of Christmas? Giving gifts. I absolutely LOVE shopping for other people.  Sometimes, I secretly wish I could be a professional gift shopper.  My hallway closet is currently filled with Christmas gifts. It is getting to the point where I am afraid to open the closet door because everything will pop out!!!

So here is my current Wishpot list. I keep finding Etsy items to add to it.

What is on your list for Santa?

I'd love to hear all about it!

(photo borrowed from and owned by Picture Book Originals)

Baby's First Haircut

Well, there were not tears at the big haircut last Friday. Noodlebug was his usual happy self and I was too distracted to shed any tears.  It was really just a trim. We're keeping it long. I asked for a shag.  No mullet!!!  I think it turned out pretty well. I think Noodlebug was most excited about the Elmo sticker they gave him after it was all over.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Even though we only took off a little bit, he seems like such a big boy now!  Noodlebug turns 18 months on Wednesday.

My husband says he looks like a blonde version of the lead singer of Herman's Hermits:

I think he looks more like a blonde Beatle!!!

First haircut.....mission accomplished!

Little Bit Funky Giveaway---Week Two

I dearly love the musician Keb' Mo'.  If you haven't heard of him, he is a blues artist whose music is filled with spirituality.  One of my favorite songs of his that always makes me smile is "God Tryin' to Get Your Attention." After seeing this giveaway today, I think I'm getting the message loud and clear.  Look at this wonderful piece:

It is a piece from the faith-inspired art collection by Red Letter Words.  I can just see it in Noodlebug's room.  It is Hannah's prayer from 1 Samuel 1:20. There are so many other wonderful things in this Etsy shop that I am on the verge of breaking my Etsy hiatus vow right now. But I will wait and see if I win Little Bit Funky's giveaway first.

By the way, my personal favorite scripture verse?  John 1:5.

"The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it."


(photo borrowed from and owned by Red Letter Words)

Sewing and the Holidays

Well, I got three pillows done yesterday. I haven't sewed in so long that it took me awhile to find my rhythm.  And then I made lots of mistakes.  But I think I have it down now.  Three more pillows to go and I may even make a few more!  Photos forthcoming.

I am looking forward to the holidays this year because I will have a lot of uninterrupted time with my family due to furloughs at work. (this is the silver lining of furloughs)  I am so looking forward to it!  Some of you long-time readers know that I am an only child and I am adopted. I was adopted when I was three months old.  I cannot remember a time when I didn't know I was adopted and I have never had any issues with it nor have I ever had any real desire to find my birth parents. I am curious about what they look like but that is about it.  I already have parents.  There have been many times in my life, however, that I have longed for a big family. My mother is also an only child so I grew up with only five cousins on my dad's side. I have always longed for the large rambunctious families gathering for the holidays that I see in movies and Folgers commercials.  I had hoped to find that when I married. Well.....my husband has three brothers and I have learned that any children in this family will have to come from my womb. So, Noodlebug will have no cousins. And he has only one living grandparent.  It looks like I won't ever fufill my dream of having a large family Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I have never longed for wealth or fame or anything like that. But I have really longed for family. I have spent my whole life gathering close friends who have become my extended family.  But most of them are far away.  I hope someday to fill my house with loved ones at the holidays. I become wistful when I read others' blogs about holiday plans involving noisy crowded houses. But I am grateful for what I have.  It looks like Noodlebug may be the only baby I ever get. But God sure blessed me with a good one!!!

Gulp!

Here is a photo of Noodlebug's Halloween costume. He wasn't really in the mood to get his picture taken bu you get the idea.  I have scheduled his first haircut for this Friday afternoon.  Gulp! I have been putting it off as long as I could but his hair is getting really long. I figure I'll let them take off just enough to clean it up a bit but try to keep it long-ish.  I just don't want to cut off those baby curls!!!

When I was pregnant, I stocked up on all sorts of baby scrapbooking materials (that I STILL haven't used!) such as stickers that say "Baby's First Bath" and "Baby's First Steps." It was so hard to imagine there would ever be a time when those events would happen. I even have a personalized sign in his room that says "Dreamland Tours Every Night at 8:00pm" and I can remember looking at it during those long nights of nursing and think, "Do people really have kids that go to bed at 8pm?"  It seemed as if we would never get to that point.  Now, my baby will be turning 18 months on November 18.  I feel my chest tightening up as I write that. I will try not to have a panic attack while blogging! The haircut that I thought would never occur will actually happen and I don't think I will be able to leave a single lock of hair behind. But maybe I will finally get to use those "Baby's First Haircut" stickers.

Little Bit Funky Favorite Things Giveaway

The ever-fabulous Little Bit Funky is hosting a weekly Favorite Things Giveaway! Today is the first giveaway and boy is it a good one!!! Free holiday card design with 100 printed cards! I could really use this!  To join in the fun, go to Little Bit Funky every Friday to find the latest giveaway. And cross your fingers!!!

(image borrowed from and owned by Little Bit Funky)

Veterans Day = Sewing Day!!!

I get Veterans' Day off this year but it falls in the middle of the week on a Wednesday.  While I am tempted to run off with Noodlebug somewhere, I think I'm going to let him go to daycare and spend the day with my mom making Christmas gifts on the sewing machine. I would love love love to give ONLY handmade gifts but time is against me.  So, some of my handmade gifts will be coming from Etsy.  On Veterans' Day, I will be making these.  I already have the fabric bought and I'm hoping I won't make too much of a mess of it. I'm making them for all the kids I know. If it goes well, I may even make them for a few adults as well!

In other news, I received my first package from the Art Exchange swap. Many of you may be taking part in this chain e-mail swap.  I am running late as usual but I'm sure my swapee will understand since she has a toddler of her own.  I will post photos and details on the booty I received soon.  It's pretty great!!!

Etsy Find of the Day

I swore up and down that I would go on an Etsy hiatus before my holiday spending got out of control but.... 

I just cannot resist Crystal's adorable creations. Plus, I am supporting a creative stay-at-home mom so it's a win-win, right?  Not only does Crystal have a great blog but her Etsy shop is filled with the cutest stuff!!! Can't wait to put this on Noodlebug! 

Hope you all had a fun-filled Halloween! (can you believe that it is already November?!!!)

(photo borrowed from and owned by Little Bit Funky)