My cousin Jake was just diagnosed with leukemia. He had just started a new job and they have no medical insurance. He will be in the hospital for at least a month undergoing chemotherapy, so he is not working at all right now. His wife Annette works part time as an apartment manager, but her hours were just cut, so their meager income has grown even smaller. They have two children, a 7-year-old girl and a baby boy. Annette was blessed with foresight and bought all their Christmas presents early this year, so they are ok for Christmas. But they could really use some financial help for food, bills, etc.
I have a friend who sells Scentsy and she has generously offered to donate 100% of her commission from a show to Jake and his family. If you or anyone you know would like to make a purchase, you can tell me what you want or go to https://csteggell.scentsy.us and click on the party called "Support Jake!" Anyone can collect orders, so if you want to spread the word around, that would be great. If the show reaches $2000, Cindy gets an extra 5% commission that she will also donate.
Alternatively, if you don't want any Scentsy but do want to help (or know anyone else who does), you can give a donation to me and I will give it to them.
Thanks in advance!!
November 12, 2009
November 3, 2009
Kitchen Before and After
I got the kitchen totally cleaned today, which almost never happens. I usually at least have a bunch of dishes to do, the floor is covered with food under the girls' high chairs, or the table is covered with mail, crayons, etc. Or sometimes all of the above. So while it was clean I quickly snapped a picture.
November 2, 2009
October 30, 2009
More Before and After
I've finally gotten around to taking a few more "after" pictures of our house. I haven't taken any of the kitchen or family room/toy room yet, because those rooms are always a mess!
So, what do you think? I think these rooms look a whole lot better!
Henry's room:
Before
After
Girls' room:
Before
After
Living room:
Before
After
Before
After
Before
After
Before
After
So, what do you think? I think these rooms look a whole lot better!
Henry's room:
Before
After
Girls' room:
Before
After
Living room:
Before
After
Before
After
Before
After
Before
After
September 9, 2009
Gwen's Birthday
Today is Gwen's birthday! She is two years old! I can hardly believe it. Her first two years have just flown by for me. She is such a cute, smart, loving little girl.
Gwen loves to laugh and will laugh just because someone else does, even if she has no idea what was funny. She loves to smile and be happy, but if she doesn't get her way she has a shriek that could make your eardrums burst! She loves to sing songs and will often sing "London Bridge" and "Mary Had a Little Lamb" while we are driving in the car. She also loves to dance whenever she hears any music. She's a very good talker, and is always using long sentences and surprising me with the things she says. She is also very opinionated and knows her own mind. She always has to choose her own clothes to wear. She'll always choose her pink Elmo sweatsuit if it's clean, even if it's 95 degrees outside. If the sweatsuit isn't in her drawer, she can come up with some pretty interesting combinations. Once she even insisted on wearing a pair of Henry's underpants over her pants!
We had Gwen's birthday party on Saturday. It was a pretty low-key celebration (that's how I like 'em!) with just a few family members. Gwen loved opening her presents, but she wasn't too interested in the cupcakes. She doesn't have much of a sweet tooth, but at this party we discovered her weakness: salt water taffy! She can't seem to get enough, which of course has led to some tantrums lately since I have to limit how much taffy she gets to eat!
When we lit the candles for Gwen to blow out it was pretty windy, so Ben was trying to shield the candles and I suddenly realized neither of us was taking pictures! So my sister Beth took some with her camera, but I don't have them yet, so I don't have a picture of her blowing out her candles. Here are some other pictures from the special day.
The Birthday Girl
Playing before the party (like our new grass?)
The food
Salt water taffy: her new favorite
Opening gifts
Playing
Happy Birthday, Gwenny!
You can see more pictures of the party here.
Gwen loves to laugh and will laugh just because someone else does, even if she has no idea what was funny. She loves to smile and be happy, but if she doesn't get her way she has a shriek that could make your eardrums burst! She loves to sing songs and will often sing "London Bridge" and "Mary Had a Little Lamb" while we are driving in the car. She also loves to dance whenever she hears any music. She's a very good talker, and is always using long sentences and surprising me with the things she says. She is also very opinionated and knows her own mind. She always has to choose her own clothes to wear. She'll always choose her pink Elmo sweatsuit if it's clean, even if it's 95 degrees outside. If the sweatsuit isn't in her drawer, she can come up with some pretty interesting combinations. Once she even insisted on wearing a pair of Henry's underpants over her pants!
We had Gwen's birthday party on Saturday. It was a pretty low-key celebration (that's how I like 'em!) with just a few family members. Gwen loved opening her presents, but she wasn't too interested in the cupcakes. She doesn't have much of a sweet tooth, but at this party we discovered her weakness: salt water taffy! She can't seem to get enough, which of course has led to some tantrums lately since I have to limit how much taffy she gets to eat!
When we lit the candles for Gwen to blow out it was pretty windy, so Ben was trying to shield the candles and I suddenly realized neither of us was taking pictures! So my sister Beth took some with her camera, but I don't have them yet, so I don't have a picture of her blowing out her candles. Here are some other pictures from the special day.
The Birthday Girl
Playing before the party (like our new grass?)
The food
Salt water taffy: her new favorite
Opening gifts
Playing
Happy Birthday, Gwenny!
You can see more pictures of the party here.
August 11, 2009
Picture Time!
Ahhhh, August. August is my favorite month of the summer because it means summer is almost over. I am not a summer kind of person. I am a spring/fall and a little bit of winter kind of person. So when August comes I'm happy because it means next month—next month!—is fall! Oh, I can't wait for that crisp, cool autumn air. To celebrate the approach of the approach of fall (no, that is not a typo) I'm sharing some photos of our lazy summer so far. Here's to the end of summer!
Gwen likes to swing in the baby swing. She is definitely too big for it.
Jane being ultra happy!
Here's the seat Gwen chose to watch Barney in.
We converted Gwen's crib to a toddler bed. She loves it!
Rub-a-dub-dub, three kids in a tub! (You can see in this picture why we are remodeling our bathroom! The hole in the wall is there because we had to replace some plumbing and couldn't access it from the other side. Hopefully this bathroom will be done soon and I will be posting before and after pictures!)
The kids show me what they painted. Gwen's creativity couldn't be confined to the paper.
Jane looking super cute in a hat.
Some pictures from our trip to Henrieville, where we visited Ben's parents and grandma.
Ben and Henry building . . . something.
4 generations of Roses. The kids loved meeting their great-grandma and they still remember who she is when they see the picture. Gwen calls her "Gate-Gamma!"
I had to get some pictures of the old barns on Great-Grandma's property.
Henry climbed Great-Grandma's tree! (Grandpa helped him.)
Henry playing in the dirt. He loved Henrieville. He calls it "My ville!"
Henry made a "tea party."
Gwen likes to swing in the baby swing. She is definitely too big for it.
Jane being ultra happy!
Here's the seat Gwen chose to watch Barney in.
We converted Gwen's crib to a toddler bed. She loves it!
Rub-a-dub-dub, three kids in a tub! (You can see in this picture why we are remodeling our bathroom! The hole in the wall is there because we had to replace some plumbing and couldn't access it from the other side. Hopefully this bathroom will be done soon and I will be posting before and after pictures!)
The kids show me what they painted. Gwen's creativity couldn't be confined to the paper.
Jane looking super cute in a hat.
Some pictures from our trip to Henrieville, where we visited Ben's parents and grandma.
Ben and Henry building . . . something.
4 generations of Roses. The kids loved meeting their great-grandma and they still remember who she is when they see the picture. Gwen calls her "Gate-Gamma!"
I had to get some pictures of the old barns on Great-Grandma's property.
Henry climbed Great-Grandma's tree! (Grandpa helped him.)
Henry playing in the dirt. He loved Henrieville. He calls it "My ville!"
Henry made a "tea party."
August 6, 2009
Look What I Made!
I am a beginning seamstress. About a week ago I made my first sewing project ever. I stitched together a simple blanket for Gwen. The seams looked pretty crooked, but she loved it and immediately dubbed it her "special blankie."
My next project was a pillowcase dress. I have an old set of matching pillowcases that I thought would make adorable dresses for my girls (hand-me-downs from my aunt Cyddie!). I scoured the web for directions and patterns and got to work. The dress was surprisingly easy to make and I think it looks just lovely on Gwen. And the seams even look straight-ish.
I used the pattern found here and kind of combined directions from here and here. I didn't have elastic or bias tape, so I used the ribbon casing method and folded the raw edges and sewed them. That last link shows how to make the same dress out of two pieces of fabric if you don't have a pillowcase to use. But using a pillowcase is much easier and quicker because most of the work is already done for you!
I love sewing and I am hooked! I'm going to be making Jane's dress tomorrow, so check back soon for a picture of the girls in their matching dresses!
My next project was a pillowcase dress. I have an old set of matching pillowcases that I thought would make adorable dresses for my girls (hand-me-downs from my aunt Cyddie!). I scoured the web for directions and patterns and got to work. The dress was surprisingly easy to make and I think it looks just lovely on Gwen. And the seams even look straight-ish.
I used the pattern found here and kind of combined directions from here and here. I didn't have elastic or bias tape, so I used the ribbon casing method and folded the raw edges and sewed them. That last link shows how to make the same dress out of two pieces of fabric if you don't have a pillowcase to use. But using a pillowcase is much easier and quicker because most of the work is already done for you!
I love sewing and I am hooked! I'm going to be making Jane's dress tomorrow, so check back soon for a picture of the girls in their matching dresses!
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