Fast Forward....

I remember a beach day not that long ago.

A very sweet girl was anxious to meet her little man!!!

....and today that sweet little man had his first day at the beach!!!!

It was perfect....as all beach days are meant to be!!!!

Things that make me HAPPY!!!!

There was the cutest tutorial for a "Pleated Sun Dress" on a favorite blog...and I couldn't wait to try it. I made a matching diaper cover too.

The fabric was from my stash.....

...and the cute crochet flower was from a local shop. I made a covered button for the middle and I am SEW in love with this cute outfit for Clare!!!

My Mom had this old sewing machine table sitting in her garage for years.

I asked if I could have it and she said YES!!!

My neighbor was getting rid of a scrap of plywood, and I had some oilcloth in my stash of fabrics waiting for the perfect project.

I covered the plywood ( with the sweet help of my husband) and placed the table in our garden.

Now this will be my favorite place to rest in my garden.....a little more tea please and my favorite magazine for company.

I finished machine quilting a quilt for a darling young lady who joined the sweetest family. Don' t you just LOVE the name Amaya????

The final thing that makes me smile....going to Michaels and finding LOTS of cute things marked down to 50 cents!!!!

Loving that things are feeling more and more like summer!!!!

One Happy Oma....

....and one happy Donovan.

I have had the most joyous week. Meghan was selected to participate in developing curriculum for her district...and she asked if I would babysit our bitty man.

YES PLEASE!!!!

I did get a bit of down time...so off to the Carter Outlet Shop with coupon in hand. I found MUCH and spent LITTLE.

A very happy combination!!!

I think I surprised our little boy...and he really liked what I picked out for him.

It was mostly surfer cool!!!

I found cute things for our bitty miss too.

She is going on a business trip with Mommy and Daddy to DC.

I still remember from our years living there that it can be quite WARM!!!

I kind of went heavily into the ORANGE mode...because our sweet girl is getting lots of hair and it looks to be strawberry blonde!!!

Thanks for the continued prayers and support for our sweet Meghan.

She is doing so well...and is stronger each and every day. I think her little man ( and his sweet Daddy) are taking very good care of her.

I am back in the morning for more time with Donovan. I love the giggles and the wiggles....in fact I just love it all!!!!

Spending time with those I cherish.....

Sunday was a fun day to honor all the Dads.

My favorite people all gathered to make the day very special.

Clare helped Gramps to read his card...and signed it too!!!

The boys each got a photo journal to record the memories.....

....since babies grow so quickly and jotting down memories is a must!!!

Thanks Oma for providing us with such a lovely brunch in your always sweet home.

Clare loved picking flowers for Mommy and Daddy....

...and I have to close with this handsome photo of our sweet Donovan.

What a lovely day.....as all days are when we can spend them together.

Sew much looking forward to summer!!!!

I had some time to play in my sewing room....and the result was this cute bag for the beach!!!

Have you seen these in the $$$ Bins at Target????

I replaced the handles and the lining with some cute fabric from Amy Butler.

Added a ruffle and a cute flower from the scraps....now to fill it with a good book, some sunscreen and I am off to live at the beach for the summer!!!

While I was in the sewing mode I made this for my cute bitty miss.

She LOVES skirts and this tutorial is a take off on the burrito pillowcase instructions.

I call it the 15 minute skirt.....and you can bet I will be making lots!!!

Sew much to look forward to this summer!!!

Nothing like fun times in the garden....

Jonathan has always kept up with his High School friends. Life is hectic for all of them, so a reunion sounded like fun.

Unfortunately it was also Graduation weekend in these parts....so the restaurants were at capacity, so NO reservations could be found.

Jonathan had a great back up plan and asked us if they could "borrow" our garden.

I spent the next two days replanting pots and sewing new cushions and pillows.

It was kind of a nice and relaxing change from the past few weeks of worry.

The kids would provide the food....

Clare helped with the entertainment....

...and the garden provided fun places to sit and rest.

One of my favorite spots in the garden is my birdhouse bench....made by my sweet Uncle Arie. I would provide him of a picture of what I would want and he would make it.

I miss him terribly and cherish the things he had made for me.

Quilts were provided to help keep the evening chill away....

The flowers were blooming abundantly....

....and it made my heart soar that Jonathan wanted to come HOME to entertain his friends.

I think they all had a very nice time....I know I did.

I made them promise to come back soon.

Always so lovely to have all the kids come back to visit. Felt like the good old days!!!!

All is Well....

Grateful that things are going well. Meghan is feeling the relief AND the exhaustion of her surgery.

Keeping busy helping our sweet family....sleepovers too!!!

Time to make a few more meals and back to spend my time with Donovan.

Keep Meghan's healing in your prayers.

God Is Good....

In an attempt to keep my blog a happy and creative space, I try not to add to much HEAVY stuff.

But there has been much heaviness in my heart of late, and it is at times like these I rely even more heavily on my faith.

My daughter is the most incredible example of this. She had surgery today....necessary because of the damage done at Donovan's birth, and sadly because the medical system did not provide her the care that was needed afterwards.

By the time she had gone thru the referral system, the damage was immense. We all had great concern. She placed her worry on her Father's promise to watch over us....and He was faithful to His promise.

It helped too to have MANY friends who care for my sweet daughter. There were calls, emails, and gifts of love shown. One of the most significant was this Devotional.

My dear friend Shelby brought both Meghan and I a copy a few days ago. Shelby knows about worry....and placing it in God's hands. In the past year she has lost her husband and is now bravely facing cancer.

If Shelby said this book gave her strength, we were certain it would do the same for us. It spoke to Meghan and without a doubt I know it helped her bravely face today.

So thanks to all of you who knew what Meghan was facing....for your love and prayers for her sweet husband and baby boy. She is grateful for each positive thought.

And I too am grateful for ALL of you....and for a Father who listens to my heart.

A Time to Sew....

There have been some delightful pockets of time to sew lately....and I have been enjoying it SEW much!!!

Thanks to the four day QIAD retreat, I had a chance to finish this very summery looking quilt top.

I also found time to use my own pattern design "Twice as Nice", but this time used a honeybun instead.

Which means smaller blocks and perfect to put away for special babies when they are born.

It is never toooo early to think Christmas.....this quilt was SEW much fun to work on!!!

....and thanks to my twelve hour class this past Saturday, I completed the "present blocks" from this FREE Moda pattern.

There has been sewing for some of my favorite girls too. Meghan wanted a "Maxi Dress" ( didn't we wear those in the 70's).

The shop brought in all sorts of fabrics ( overstocks) and we got to pick and choose at $3 per yard. Not sure if everyone noticed how MUCH fabric is right now, so I said YES PLEASE and had some fun adding to the stash!!!

Recently I bought a collection of "onesies" for my favorite bitty girl. I am planning on making skirts to go with each one...and here is my start!!

I have also been making some dresses for that same bitty girl ( oh she is just cuter and cuter each time I see her). I forgot to take pics before I gave them away.

This was a PDF that I used to make her a bright red polka dot dress....which she grabbed off the hanger and clung too. That's my girl!!!

Then I made her this more dainty dress in a soft pink with bitty elephants all over it.

SEW sweet!!!

....and if you are thinking I have forgotten someone, no worries. I bought him some onesies too, and they are all going to sport a cute tie!!!

He wore this one to Church. Needless to say he was quite a big hit.

It is sew much fun to fit in a bit of sewing when I can. My life is more chaotic than ever, so the down time is appreciated and utilized.

Not complaining.....always feeling SEW BLESSED!!!!