Happy Reformation week to all of you!  

I thought I'd share a fun crafty felt book that I made for James for his baptismal birthday.  I wanted to make him something special that he could use to help him participate in church.  I looked all over for something similar, but couldn't find one, so I made my own.

I don't have a good gauge of how long this would take since I did it super slowly over about 9 months when I felt like it.  The longest part was hand-embroidering the letters and cutting out all the shapes from felt.  But here's what it ended up looking like: 
I have already been asked to make several for other people, but I just don't have the time it would take to do it, so I decided to include my patterns so you can make one of your own!  Trust me, it takes very little skill, but lots of patience.  

I used regular craft felt- the kind that costs about ten cents a sheet, some grommets to make the pages reinforced, and some embroidery thread for the words.  I did use a special gold stretchy fabric (think superhero outfit or gymnast attire) for certain things so they would pop out, but it would be far easier to use a gold-colored felt.  I just liked the texture better.  

Here's the general directions for the book:

1.  Cut out all your felt shapes.  I decided against using other embellishments because my son eats everything, and the last thing we need during church is him choking on a button.
2.  Lay out your designs on each page.  I used an 8 1/2" x 11" sheet of white felt and folded it in half, then put a separate page on each side so the stitching on the inside of each page would be touching when the book was finished.
3.  Hot glue the pieces together with a small amount of glue- just enough to hold them together and tack them to the page so they don't fall off.  Be careful not to get it around the edges you'll be sewing- sewing needles and sticky glue don't go well together.  Learned that one the hard way after breaking 2 needles.
4.  Sew and/0r hand-embroider all the shapes onto the pages.  Make sure to leave enough room for the words.
5.  Hand-embroider lettering on each page.
6.  Sew around the perimeter of each page.
7.  Cut small holes in each page and secure with grommets to reinforce the pages.
8.  String all the pages through a ribbon, and there you have it!   Your very own felt book for church.  

I love it because it's something my little guy can use for years to come, even after he can talk.  If you do this project, send me pictures!  I'd love to see how you change it to make it your own!
lsb_pattern.pdf
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P.S.  Just promise me you won't count the number of fingers on the praying  hands.  :)
 
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This is about a month late, but I didn't want to miss the opportunity to wish my only son a happy first birthday.  

James, you have completely changed our lives.  Parenthood is nothing like we thought it would be... it's so much better. 

I fell in love with you the second I heard your sweet cry and your Daddy told me that you were a boy!  We never imagined how much we could love someone so small.  Only a sweet baby could be motivation enough to stay awake through an entire night and still get up the next day and be happy about it.  

You are such an entertainer already.  You love people and you love making everyone laugh.  There isn't a shy bone in that little body, and you are definitely ALL boy.

We thank God every day for the blessing of your life.  You are an amazing gift.  



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Your first "cupcake" was actually a sweet potato muffin.  

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I could hardly get a picture before you shoved the whole thing in your mouth.

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Wondering if we will give you another one.

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Nobody needed to show you how to open presents.  

Happy birthday, sweet James Andrew.  We love you more than words can say.
 
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To most of you, this might sound crazy, but this little eraser has opened up a whole new world of organizational possibilities for me.  I am practically giddy every time I use it.  Let me explain.

For years (seriously, years) I have been trying to find THE perfect planner where I can write down everything I need to remember.  I think I had more qualifications for the perfect planner than I did for the perfect husband.  (Just kidding, honey.)  I went through many planners, and never found a single one that worked for me.  I finally decided to design my own planner pages.  I bought a mini three-ring binder and made a very cute zebra-print cover for it.  (It has 6 pockets.  It is awesome.)  This system was great, until I had to keep buying paper and ink to keep my planner updated.  This cost infinitely more than it was worth to have a personalized planner that wasn't even that great.  I thought if I could somehow make the pages re-usable, that would be the best solution.  

Luckily, I stumbled upon these great erasable labels.  I thought, "Problem solved!"  I painstakingly put teeny labels onto 50 planner pages that were designed flawlessly.  They ended up being crooked, which ticked me off, but I thought I could live with it.  Then came the day which we don't talk about at this house.  The man-child had a horrible night of sleeping (read: no sleep.), and I was exhausted when he woke up at 5:30 that next morning.  I decided to call it a new day and make a giant pot of delicious coffee.  I had him in the high chair, I had a steaming bowl of oatmeal, and a very large mug of perfectly mixed coffee with just the right amount of milk and sugar.  Then it happened.  I backhanded that mug onto the table.  I mean ALL over the table.  And guess what was sitting on the table?  That's right: my fancy, perfectly designed planner.  My life in paper.  Never mind the computer or other important mail and documents.  I was devastated about this stupid planner.  I had literally poured my soul into it.  And now, its coffee-stained pages were taunting me, reminding me that my planner was not invincible as I had once thought.  

This meant war.  

After re-designing my planner pages and doing a little testing, I decided to laminate each page.  There were about 25 in all.  I refuse to use Vis-a-vis (or however you spell those stupid French markers) on anything because they just get my hands inked up and they smudge on everything.  They suck.  I discovered that I could use fine-tip felt markers (in many and various beautiful colors, might I add) and ERASE the writing with the above eraser.  No worries about getting the pages wet.  They're laminated.  They have permanent marker writing.  It does not smudge or stain.  It is beautiful.  

Just pray to God that I don't lose it.  

 
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We love us some awesome Redbox movie renting, mostly because it's a cheap date and we have a small child.  Going to a movie is something we haven't done for... well, over a year.  I'm not that sad about it- we save a ton of money just getting movies from the local library or from Redbox.  Provided we don't turn them in late.  But that's another story. 

Two movies that we have rented recently were good enough for me to recommend.  I have super high standards for movies, so for me to tell someone else to rent it, it has to be really great.  I'm sure most of the world has already seen these, since they came out last year, but if you have not done so, I highly encourage you to enjoy these (I'm not sure if any kind of spoiler alert needs to happen here, but just in case...):
I'm ashamed to say I have never read either of these books (they're on my list!), but I really enjoyed the movies.  So if you have read the books and hated the movies because they were different... sorry.  This is as close as I get to being cultured these days.  

Les Miserables was a great movie for many reasons.  I was very impressed by the singing of all the actors and actresses.  Anything with both Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe can't be bad anyway, but the casting of the main characters was spot on.  I was moved to tears on several occasions, which means it is good.   My husband was passing the Kleenex box before Anne Hathaway could even start to sing, "I Dreamed a Dream."  The raw emotion of the whole plot really pulled me in, and I thought it was just well done overall.

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Anna Karenina was also wonderfully cast.  Jude Law is actually one of my favorite actors.  I don't particularly like or dislike Keira Knightley (wasn't she just in Pirates of the Caribbean?), but she did a great job in this movie.  The costumes were fantastic- the ball gowns were amazing.  And the entire way the movie was filmed was very creative.  I won't spoil it for you, but it took us a while to get used to it.  Once we figured out the implications of the filming style and how the directors chose to weave it into the story itself, we were really impressed.  

My favorite thing about both these classic stories is their representation of forgiveness.  There are a lot of uncomfortable situations and circumstances in both movies.  Many of the characters have grievous and serious sins (as if all sin isn't serious), but the ways in which they are forgiven are really beautiful.  If you're looking for happy endings with puppies and flowers, don't look here.  These movies show the true nature of human depravity and the consequences of sin and fallen man.  

Did you see these movies?  What did you think?  

 
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Working out can be such a drag.  Especially after having a baby.  

I was in a serious slump after the tyke was born.  It didn't help that the weather was getting colder and we had just moved to a new state.  I didn't know anyone, and we weren't paying for a gym membership because I know I would have used it maybe a handful of times.  I was super emotional and needed an outlet.  I was in love with the idea of working out, but I hated doing it.  
  
Enter Jessica Smith.  I don't really know her, but she has been my online personal trainer since January.  She has over 100 *free* workout videos on YouTube.  And they're not just your average lame-o workouts.  I just did one yesterday called, "Dance Party".  She has ballet workouts, yoga, pilates, kickboxing, toning, cardio, body weight only, low-impact, power walking, super challenging workouts... you name it!  And they're not overly long or crazy, and she gives modifications for almost every exercise.  I started using her videos and was so excited to find something that was free that only required a few light dumbbells that I could do on my time without leaving the baby.  Did I mention it was FREE?  

She reads the comments she gets on Facebook and on YouTube and answers them all.  I just thought I would inform all of you about this amazing resource.  I find that I look forward to working out with Jessica almost every day, and I haven't worked out six days a week since before my wedding.  She is awesome.  You should check her out.  And by check her out, I mean her videos.  Well, you could probably check her out, too.

 
I would like to say Happy Mother's Day to all of my family members and friends who have been given the blessing of children.  This day is my first Mother's Day with a child outside the womb.  It's a lovely day, and it's nice that so many people stop to wish me a happy Mother's Day.  For the first time in four years, I had the blessing of being with my own mother for a few hours on this day.  

Today, I can't help but think of all of my friends for whom this day is more painful than joyful.  I have so many friends who have lost children or desire to have children and yet cannot.  My heart aches for these women.  I can't fully understand your pain because I have not experienced such grief.  I can't pretend to know how deeply you long to hold your children in your arms.  I can't understand why God has allowed this pain in your life.  I won't try to explain it away with nice fluffy phrases.  

I also have many friends whose children have been stricken by awful diseases, ailments, and sicknesses.  These women tirelessly and lovingly tend to their families with little time left to care for themselves.  They pour their very souls into caring for their little ones, and their hearts break to see their sweet children in such pain.  

Others of my friends have physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual burdens themselves, sometimes directly related to having children.  Severe morning sickness, post-partum depression, various pregnancy-related issues, severe sleep deprivation.... the list goes on and on.  Every day presents new challenges and there is little reprieve from the symptoms of these maladies.   

All of you are heavy on my heart this day.  I wish I could fix your situation and make it better.  I wish I could be with all of you, hold your hand, listen to you, cry with you, talk with you, and show you how much I care.  I want to help you bear your burden.  Distance separates us right now, but I can give you something that will mean more than a Hallmark card or a cup of Starbucks.  

Whatever you are facing in life right now is not a surprise to God.  I will not tell you to hold on to Him, because when we are so weakened by our circumstances in life, it is hard to do even that.  He, too, knows what it is like to see a child suffer.  Take heart, dear sisters:  he holds you tenderly and tightly to Himself.  You may struggle to feel like it most days, but the beauty of Christ's promise does not depend on your ability to feel His presence.  He is with you.  He will not leave you.  You can put your hope in this promise.  Return to it daily.  Hourly.  Minute-by-minute.  Cry out to Him in your distress.  He hears you.  

I pray for you especially today.  God be with you.

"He has made my teeth grind on gravel,
    and made me cower in ashes;
my soul is bereft of peace;
    I have forgotten what happiness is;
so I say, “My endurance has perished;
    so has my hope from the Lord.”

Remember my affliction and my wanderings,
    the wormwood and the gall!
My soul continually remembers it
    and is bowed down within me.
But this I call to mind,
    and therefore I have hope:

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
    his mercies never come to an end;
 they are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.
“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
    “therefore I will hope in him.”"
-Lamentations 3:19-24
 
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This is really one of the best ideas ever.  Every Lutheran should know about this.  I never had to memorize the Small Catechism since I was confirmed as an adult, so I don't know what it was like for you.  Memorization for me is awful.  I think I just have a mental block.  

Someone else must have shared my dilemma, and decided to set the Small Catechism to music. Genius.  For seven measly dollars, you too can own this awesome resource.  (No, CPH is not paying me to say this.)  Whenever we are in the car, I pop this bad boy in and, BAM!  Catechism!  I ripped it onto my laptop (after buying it, of course), and we use it for morning devotions sometimes.  I know more catechism than I ever have before.  

Turns out they also sell the song book, but I don't have that.  I just kind of hum along until I know the words and music well enough to sing with it.  The great part is that I don't intently listen to it ever.  I have it on in the background sometimes, and it just plants itself in my head.  

Now, if you asked me to recite the explanation to the third article of the Apostle's Creed, I'd have to sing it back to you.  But I could do it, and that's what's important.  

P.S.  Don't get me wrong- we listen to other stuff too.  Like the Book of Concord on tape.  Just kidding. 

 
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Navigating the craziness of this world as a young Lutheran family can be a challenge.  To us, teaching our children the joys of the faith and showing them how it is essential to our very lives is our most important job as parents.  We don't want to leave their catechesis up to strangers or reserve it only for Sunday mornings.  After all, there are six other days of the week wherein we have trials and temptations.  It is also important to us that we cultivate a Lutheran identity in this family.  We love our confession of faith, and we are proud of our Lutheran heritage.  We want to raise our children distinctly Lutheran... intentionally!  Accidental parenting is not an option where teaching the faith is concerned.  And we start them young.  Super young.  Teach a child the way he should go, right?  I have scoured the internet for good resources, as to prevent myself from reinventing the wheel, but have been coming up with very little.  Maybe my Google skills are lacking, but it seems to me that there is not much out there.  I'm certain there are many faithful parents out there who are doing a bang-up job of home catechesis, and just not posting it on the internet for me to borrow.  I will be adding some resources as I come up with them later.  So now's your chance!  Share what you do as a family, or just with the kids.  How do you teach them the faith?   

 
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Once upon a time I started a blog.  I posted about cutesy things I did and made, and felt very proud of myself for being so awesome.  Then my life changed.  A lot.  I had a kid.  I stopped working outside the home.  I moved to a different state.  So mostly my days are full of diapers, laundry, cooking, baby food making, breastfeeding, and more diapers.  (The kid just started eating solid food, so you know.  Lots of diapers.)  Anyway, now that I don't have an 8-5 office job, I get asked a lot of questions about how I spend my day. I used to resent it, but now I can understand.  I had wayyyyyy different ideas about how this would go before Junior got here.  The transition has been extremely difficult and very rewarding.  So I will share some tidbits that help me get through those days where you can't see past the mountain of laundry/dishes/diapers.  Or I might just use this as an outlet to whine, too.  You've been warned.

 
This is my attempt to provide a voice, some encouragement, and a laugh or two for those of us who live the day-to-day lives as women, wives, and mothers.  Nothing glamorous, and sometimes mundane, but always full of love in our intentions to fulfill our various vocations.