Etsy Shop

I've been busy in my sewing room lately, but didn't seem to find the time to post any pictures on here. I have an Etsy shop (beachyblossom.etsy.com) with my cousin, Amanda, and since Christmas I've been making things for the shop. We've had the shop since last August, but neither of us have put many things up for sale. Regardless of sales, it's still fun to make this stuff.

So here are a few pictures of the things that I've made lately.

This marker roll

 

and here it is rolled up...

An apron

 

12-CD holder

This awesome hot/cold rice pack that you can wear.

I also made 2 Happy Birthday banner's, this one is for us to keep, and the other is to put on Etsy...which I will sometime! (And yes, I'll have to get a better picture before I put it on Etsy.)

And I made a banner for my niece that say's Grace's Room. My intent is to put this on Etsy and you could customize the fabric, colors, and words on it. Seems like a lot of unknowns, so we'll see if that happens!

 

Last summer I made the following that are also in the shop.

Anyway, just thought I'd share my recent projects.

For Taylor

Hey Taylor,

This one's for you, in case you needed a Jesse-fix.





What a cutie, right?!? :)

Party On

We had a birthday party on Sunday night to celebrate Grace's 12th birthday and Jesse's 3rd birthday.

Yes, this was the best picture I had of them together...and this was Jesse when I told him to smile...


As usual, I don't have a very good picture of Jesse smiling with his cake.


But I think this picture below makes up for not having one of his smiling with his cake! :)


And in case you're wondering about the cake, he asked for a green tractor cake. So he got a cake with green frosting and yellow cake inside.

Grace got to help Jesse get all his toys out of the boxes before she even opened one present (in spite of us telling her she didn't have to)...


...but judging from her reaction below, I'm thinking it was worth the wait!

In the world...

...but not of the world.

I've been thinking a lot about that phrase lately.

As I picked up Jesse from his babysitter on Thursday, I was reminded again of being in the world but not of the world. Because Jesse's babysitter is Amish. And this Thursday, his babysitter and her family were running errands in town and we met at his babysitter's mother-in-law's house to get Jesse. As Meredith and Jesse and I were driving out of the driveway, his sitter's family all rushed out to get in the buggy and head back to their home.

And as I drove away in my car...in the temperature controlled environment with warm and toasty seats...and a movie player in the back for the kids...on my way to meet Kent at a restaurant for supper, it made me ponder our two, very different lifestyles. They were presumably on their way home. Which would normally take me only a few minutes. But how long does it take them? And when they get home, how long does it take to make supper? Because there's no popping something in the microwave to heat up. Is their house cozy and warm, or do they have to fire up the wood stove to heat the house? And I won't even get started on lighting lamps instead of flipping a switch to light up a room.

On the other hand, what would my family life or my spiritual life look like if I didn't have a tv to watch. Or ballgames to go to. Or the Wii to play. Or blogs and facebook to read?

I know that at times it seems a bit ridiculous that Amish can have phone booths at the end of their country lanes, but can't have a phone in their house. But is that so bad? You get to decide when and how often to use the modern convenience of a phone. If you want to know how someone is doing, you go and visit them. Or you hand write a letter. Instead of texting. Or emailing. Or calling. You control the convenience instead of the other way around.

So is that what it looks like to not be of the world? Because I'm not Amish, nor will I ever become Amish. But what does it look like for me to be present in this world, but not ruled by what the world tells me is important, or right, or true?

What does it look like for you?

Happy Birthday Jesse

Jesse celebrated his 3rd birthday on January 19th.

And I can hardly believe that my baby is 3 years old. **sniff**

Here's a look back at the past 3 years...



Meredith was thrilled with her new baby brother.










Meredith didn't have school on Monday, so we celebrated Jesse's birthday a day early by going to a movie, playing on the toys in the mall, reading books at the bookstore, and going out to eat.


And here's the birthday boy eating his "pupcakes" (not to be confused with cupcakes) that we made.


Happy Birthday to my dear, sweet little boy!