Sunday Snapshots {5}

When I was little I had night terrors pretty often.

There were several recurring dreams that just haunted me with spiders, skeletons, and this one scary looking lady.

This scary lady would follow me and chase me and I felt like I could never run fast enough to get away from her.

I remember wanting to go get in my parents bed but I was too afraid to run across the dark hallway because I thought there was a goblin standing in the kitchen waiting for me.

I was scared of a lot of things as a little kid, but I will never forget those awful nightmares.

Well, I think Ande has started having a recurring nightmare.

Want to know what his nightmare is about?

Of course you do...

BLANKIE.

It has happened a few times now. He wakes up screaming,

"I want my blankie back!!! I want my blankie back!!!"

I run into his room thinking he dropped his blankie on the floor or something, but there it is right in his hand.

He has tears in his eyes, but he is basically still asleep.

I put his blanket back over him and he is fast asleep, not a peep the rest of the night.

I realized that he didn't actually lose his blankie, but that it must be a dream/

For Ande, a dream about someone taking his Blankie away must be the worst kind of nightmare there is!

I hate to see him scared like that, but if that is the scariest thing his little brain can imagine, then I am okay with that.

Alright, on to a snapshot of our week.

I am making a little sign to go outside by our front door (which I'll probably post about later this week) and I had to get out the paint for it. I thought it would be fun for Ande to join in the fun. This was his first experience with paint and he loved it. I told him to draw a picture of me, and this ^ is what he came up with. See the likeness?

Make sure you come back tomorrow for a Guest Post from a good friend of mine, Marisha.

She blogs over at Frugally Marisha where she has loads of great couponing/money saving tips every day!

Tomorrow she will be sharing some great tips on how to save money on groceries the easy way, for those of us not quite ready to be extreme couponers. It is going to be great!

Friday Finds...on Saturday

I know...

You are probably just so upset with me for not doing my usual Friday Finds post yesterday.

Ok, ok, it is more likely that you didn't even notice, but I forgive you.

I actually have a really great excuse for slacking off a little on my posting.

My best friend is going on a mission for church and had enlisted me to help her make all of the skirts that she will be bringing with her to wear. We bought the fabric long ago, but haven't even touched it since. Well, we finally realized that she's leaving in like 11 days, so we decided we better get to work!!! Yesterday, we decided on a couple great skirt making tutorials and cut out our patterns. 

For today's "Friday (uh hummm Saturday) Finds" I'll share with you the 2 awesome skirt patterns that we are going to use. Both tutorials are absolutely fabulous and easy to follow, in case you have some fabric laying around that is just begging to be made into a skirt!

The Circle Skirt by Made

I love this style skirt. It makes me think... 1950's, vintage, twirly, and fun.

I have actually already used this tutorial once for a Christmas present and it was so easy to follow.

This is a skirt that you could make in a day, easily.

Paper Bag Skirt by Make It and Love It

Yet another ridiculously easy skirt to make.

Isn't it just adorable with the huge bow belt?

For my friend's purposes, we are adapting the pattern just a tad. 

We've got to add a little length so that it is just below her knees, and we are going to skip over the pleats and simply make the entire waist band elastic instead.

When fall comes around and I am not pregnant, and I can finally wear real clothes again, I want to make some of these skirts for myself! But for now, I have a lot of work to do this weekend to get these skirts done in time!

What will you be sewing this weekend?

Get Hooked! {4} The Crochet Chain Necklace

This is probably the easiest crochet project that I've ever worked on.

It literally only takes 10 minutes to work up, and voila, you are finished!

I created this pattern myself and I am loving it so far.

The first prototype I made is the teal necklace shown in some of the pictures.

I really like it, but I thought it needed a little length and more space between the strands.

The pattern that I have for you today is my second prototype, which turned out much better.

What I love about this necklace is how versatile it is.

You can wear it simply as it is.

You could add some sort of flower embellishment to it.

And you could even play around with the size by adding or subtracting chains to make it a longer necklace, or even a bracelet!

I plan on making several necklaces and bracelets in a variety of colors. I think that it would look so cute to pair several, brightly colored bracelets together!

How would you wear it?

Here is the link to the FREE pattern in a pdf file.

{Crochet Chain Necklace}

Enjoy!

Next week's tutorial will be for the pretty little flower embellishment you see here in the pictures.

Next on get hooked!

Stop by tomorrow for another great Get Hooked! crochet tutorial and free pattern.

This week you can learn how to make a little somethin' - somethin' for yourself!

{The Crochet Chain Necklace}

Sunday Snapshots {4}

First of all, Happy Easter!

I hope everyone is enjoying this special day of remembrance.

Second of all, whew!

This has been an eventful week, so that means a lot of pictures for you!

We took a random, middle-of-the-week, day trip to the beach.

It was warm, breezy, and sunny.

It was heaven.

We also made a quick stop at the Aquarium for a little fishy learning experience.

I can't believe I am posting pictures of myself, in a bathing suit, considering how large and in charge I feel these days (I am 24 weeks along!).

I actually wasn't even wearing a real bathing suit since none of mine even fit at the moment!

Ande waited timidly for the water to come up to his toes.

And when the water finally reached him, the shock of the cold send him flying off his feet!

"I don't like the cold Momma!" said the boy with the shelly belly.

Our neighbors/friends from church stopped by one afternoon and I just had to snap some photo's of their awesome "Gator."

I mostly wanted to capture this moment because Ande looked like such a hill billy without a shirt on!

Our Saturday morning ritual - German Pancakes!

We found Curtis' old apron and it fits Ande perfectly!

What a good little helper.

After breakfast we had a little Easter fun around town.

Ande met the Easter Bunny and wasn't afraid, which is great considering his reaction to Santa Clause this past Christmas.

 He got to participate in an Easter egg hunt.

The grass was long, the kids were many, and so Ande only got 2 eggs. 

Luckily there was a toy airplane in one of his eggs, so he was satisfied.

 Most of all, he enjoyed the big blow up slide. 

I was pretty proud to find he could climb up those steep stairs by himself!

We topped off the weekend with a trip to the local strawberry patch.

This was our first time going as a family.

It was so much fun.

Every time I handed Ande a strawberry to put in the bucket, he would eat it instead.

 There's nothing like ending the day with pink fingers, pink cheeks, and a bucket full of strawberries!

Friday Finds: Easter Mommy School Packet

The blog, Oopsey Daisy, has several of these great "Mommy School" packets.

I don't know how she does it, because it must take her forever to put these together.

I love all of the ideas for games, songs, activities, and learning worksheets.

She has a toddler herself, so most of the information is perfect for a toddler/preschool age child.

I have been wanting to get to work on these with Ande for a while now, so I finally got Curtis to print out her {E is for Easter} packet for me.

These are some great activities for this long Easter weekend!

The download is free.

Here is the link to the blog post.

Enjoy!

Sea Breeze...

 (photo)

I've got beach on the brain.

We took a day trip yesterday and enjoyed some beautiful breezy weather.

I can't wait to go back.

I need to go back. Soon.

Get Hooked #3 - How to crochet a butterfly

Today's crochet how-to is so easy and so fun to find creative uses for!

I love finding new ways to use crochet, other than just making hats and blankets.

I also love anything that relates to "Spring" like flowers, birds, and butterflies!

So, I thought this would be the perfect crochet tutorial for you.

You can use these little flying appliquéd beauties in so many ways. 

They would make lovely hair accessories whether glued to a clip, or a headband.

You could use your butterflies to accent a scrapbook or even a card.

Using these to embellish a bag, blanket, or onesie is probably my favorite way.

This is how I have used the Crochet Butterfly in the past:

As a way to keep things looking nice and neat, I have written out today's pattern/tutorial in pdf format instead of uploading all the directions and pictures directly to this post.

It is still FREE, all you have to do is click the link to download the pdf file.

So here is your link:

{How to crochet a butterfly}

This tutorial includes a pattern for the butterfly in 3 different sizes, small, medium, and large.

The medium butterfly pattern is detailed with photographs.

With this pattern you will even get to learn a new stitch, the Triple Crochet.

(Well, new for any folks following along with my "Get Hooked" series)

The large butterfly pattern includes a new step as well, the Double Triple Crochet, however there is not a detailed description of this stitch included in this tutorial. We will work on that one a little more later!

Now, get to work! Create some fabulous girlie accessories for me, and don't forget to let me know how it goes!

Want to see more "Get Hooked" crochet tutorials/patterns?

#1 The Crochet Bow Tie

#2 Crochet Coasters

I'll be linking to these link parties:
We Did It! Wednesdays

 Whatever Goes Wednesdays

Get Your Brag On

Show Off Your Stuff Party

Tomorrow - new "Get Hooked!"

Tomorrow I will be posting another great crochet tutorial on how to make crochet butterflies!




I will be posting instructions for 3 different sizes.
These little cuties are perfect for dressing up a headband or hair clip.
They also look great when appliquéd on a little shirt or onesie.

Make sure you come back and check it out!

Two...

See ya later, baby...

Welcome to the toddler years!

Anderson Carter Haynie

15 April 2009

 I am still having a hard time wrapping my brain around the fact that this tiny little human being is the same child that is sleeping in the other room right now.

It was hard enough when I realized he was this big:

(Anderson, 1 year)

But now, he is even bigger.

I still think he is the cutest baby in town, but of course I do, I'm his Momma!

I was actually starting to get a little depressed thinking about my baby Ande growing up too fast.

There are moments when I wish I could just pause time and keep him exactly the way he is forever.

It wasn't until I heard another mom talking about this very thing at the park, that I gained a little perspective. She said, "So far, I have loved every stage that my daughter has gone through. What makes me think I won't love this next stage of her life just as much as the last?"

Wise words from a woman I don't even know.

I loved Ande as a newborn.

I loved when he learned how to laugh, crawl, and walk.

I now love his sense of humor, and having conversations with him, and learning about what goes on in that little mind of his!

He loves when his Daddy comes home to play with him.

I'm pretty sure that this is just the beginning of his cars/trucks/"cycer-mo" addiction.



 He definitely loves his family (each and every one of you!).

We have experienced a little bit of the "terrible two's," but for the most part Ande is one sweet, caring, happy, silly guy.

He had a fabulous birthday with not one, but two new bicycles to cruise around in!

(His big Cuz, Brittany, is a pretty awesome gift giver)

We went to the gym, one of his favorite things to do, and they even sang "Happy Birthday" to him!

After that, we went to a park that we haven't been to in a while, so it was extra exciting.

He even found time to get creative with his new bike by turning it into a "lawn mower."

And best of all, were all the cupcakes he was allowed to consume over the course of the weekend.

We started things off with ice cream cupcakes because this boy loves his ice cream!

He had a little trouble figuring out how to eat it...



Yiiiiikkkkeeeees! That is one cold cupcake!

Yummmmmyyyyy.

On Saturday, we had even more cupcakes, and a very blustery birthday party at the park.

We were lucky that the bad weather held off for the party.

Ande had a great time, he loved his presents, and he loved being with everyone.

Try to figure out who's having more fun in this picture, the babes or the dads?

It turns out that a devastating tornado blew into our little town just a couple hours after Ande's party.

It even hit the very same park that we were at in the morning, along with numerous neighborhoods and homes that within blocks of our house.

We are so blessed and grateful to be untouched from the awful storm. We simply watched it move past from our front porch. We are also so blessed and grateful to have Anderson in our life, he really brings a lot of joy and spice to this family.

We love you Ande!