yikes

I'm going here this weekend. To quote one of the leaders of the weekend, "It's like 6 months of therapy in 3 days." I'm leaving in approximately 3 minutes. I'm terrified.

It would not be dramatic to say that I am facing my biggest fears this weekend. Those fears that have been with me my whole life, the ones I've come up against over and over again and never had the guts, the tools, the support, the whatever-it-is-I-need to look them straight in the eyes and say, "My God is bigger than you are. Get out of my way!"

I started this blog as one way of choosing to really embrace life, rather than just cope and get by. That was part of what my Jubilee Ruth experience was all about - her life and death was God's way of leading me into a new season, a fresh new start, just like the year of Jubilee was supposed to be for the Israelites. A season of redemption and healing. This weekend is a huge part of that.

I've been consciously putting off therapy for five years. I've put off healing and growing for five years. But this weekend is one big fat part of changing that. It's one way that God has shown me I need to CHOOSE life. Like the Israelites, I need to have the guts to go in and take over the land God has shown me and promised me, and trust Him that the enemies (fears, hurts) I am so sure will destroy me will actually be demolished. Here I go, to march around the city walls of these strongholds in my life and hope that when the 7th day comes and I blow that jubilee trumpet, they will all come tumbling down.

If you're a praying person, would you please pray for me this weekend? I would be incredibly grateful to have you walk that small part of my journey with me.

just this

I won!!!

I was so excited to find out this afternoon that I actually won a giveaway! When over 600 people enter, you don't actually expect to win. But I did! And Beth over at WeePereas, who hosted the giveaway, was kind enough to post a link to my blog on her page. (It's kind of exciting seeing my own picture on my blog list to the left!) I am feeling slightly shy yet excited about the idea of my little blog being viewed by bloggers at large. So, if you're one of those people who are new to my Jubilee Life, Welcome! It's good to have you. This is a little introduction to how and why this blog got started.

So, the giveaway I won was part of Celebrate The Boy, a month devoted to fabulous boy-related crafty projects put on by Dana at Made and Rae at Made-By-Rae. Check out the awesome prize I won from Beth's shop:

I get the PDF pattern to sew these adorable baby shoes, along with a DIY kit including pre-cut fabric and supplies to make four pairs! Being that it's a Celebrate The Boy giveaway, I get to choose from these wonderfully boyish patterns. I may not have a little boy (yet), but by next year at this time, who knows? The next little one to come along could be wearing these! (And if not, I know there will plenty of other little guys in my life who would love to have these. Plus, I get the pattern, so girly-shoes are always an option too!) I haven't chosen my four yet, but here are the patterns I've been eyeing:

LOVE!! This will definitely be one of my picks.
I could easily see a girl or boy sporting these.

Love the little retro astronauts juxtaposed
with the earthtone background! Awesome.

Wonderfully classic rocketships. The colors are fabulous.

Hippos. Enough said. (She has this fabric in pink too! Adorable.)

Thanks, Beth, for hosting this giveaway! I am so excited to make these shoes!

The best moment of our day...

...is peeking into Annabel's room to find this at 6:15 AM every morning:

*LOVE*

the crazy hair, the 3+ toys sleeping with her, the seemingly un-sleepable position, the two cups of water, the escape from her blankets, the insistence on sleeping in her dress (over her pj's), the refusal to sleep in socks, the reliable sleeping-in gene.

*LOVE!*

...This morning we're still at my parents', getting ready to leave for Chicago, so A-Love and I slept in until 9:30. A good 12 hours for both of us. I love these sleep-in mornings, and especially love that my daughter miraculously got that gene from me. (Maybe the #1 thing I hoped my kids would get from me, at least in terms of maintaining my parenting sanity.) But these lazy mornings also make me even fonder toward our normal 6-AM wake-up call during the week, because I get to look in on the above preciousness 5 days a week. And actually, an even better moment comes just after that, when we pick her up and she snuggles deliciously right into our arms. One of the only true snuggles we get all day. *lovelovelove!!*

sick and snowed in

Right about now, we were supposed to be cuddled inside our warm Chicago apartment, watching Bones to unwind from a long day of driving through the snow. But instead, we're sitting like vegetables in front of computers at my parents' house in Minnesota. I would post a picture but it's really too depressing to do that. The being with my parents part is great, but the missing out on Nate's day off tomorrow and my full schedule of clients is not. I think we're coping by drowning ourselves in mindless technological activities. Actually, this blog post will be the least mindless thing I've done all day.

Why are we stuck here? Check it out:

This is after 30 minutes of shoveling. For you Northerners, I know this is just par for the course. But for you Southerners, this is the kind of snow it takes to cancel a road trip. (Still not enough for anything to be shut down tomorrow, though, don't you worry.)

Another reason to cancel a road trip: an exciting case of the runs and a fever over 100. Yippee! No pictures of my sick self, though. Again, that would be too depressing. Kind of like my diet today: oatmeal, peach yogurt, 7-Up, and a 6-month-old portion of smooshy potatoes and carrots. Again, yippee!

I will say it is amazing having my parents here to take care of me, and Annabel, while I'm sick. My mom was not-so-secretly hoping that I would take tomorrow off, but I assured her that was not an option. There's just no way I'll cancel on my clients without having an actual urgent situation. Because it's not fair to them, and because I need the hours (bad). But blizzard + nausea + fever definitely equals a sick day. This morning when I woke up sick, my dad said to my mom, "Be careful what you wish for!" All in all, though, it could definitely be worse.

Favorite moment of my sick day: when Annabel asked me this morning what was wrong. (Even a 2-year-old can easily tell when I'm sick. I'm pretty much a baby.) I told her, "My tummy hurts." She gave an empathetic "Aww," and asked if she could kiss my tummy to make it feel better. *lovelovelove*

Annabel was asking all day to go out and play in the snow. Finally, Daddy obliged her. At first, she wasn't so sure about tromping through snow drifts that were [literally] taller than her.

I can't really blame her; that's about how I felt at the idea of going outside today. No thanks!

But, after some shoveling to clear a path, she was more amenable to the idea.

I love snow! Even if my hands are about to freeze off!

About to blow away! But at least I have some glove-like things and a HUGE scarf.

In case you were wondering, those pictures are only grainy because of the thick cotton-like flakes that are falling everywhere. It's the kind of snow that's so fluffy it looks fake, yet lovely.

Hopefully, tomorrow will see us off to Chicago on passably cleared roads. And me fever-free. All in all, though, it has been nice getting the extra day off, even if I have been limp on the couch all day like a floppy green bean in various states of over-cooked-ness. Now let's just pray that the rest of the family doesn't get this snow-day virus!

Sprinkles

Just a sweet-and-simple project post, with a bonus newborn picture at the end (cuz we all love those!).

I wanted to make a special onesie for a brand new little girl on the scene. This particular little lady has been affectionately called Sprinkle during her months in-utero. Hence my inspiration. Ten minutes of cutting and tracing later, I had my stencil, and 40 minutes of ironing, painting, and sewing later, I had this little ensemble:

Sprinkly onesie and babylegs!

And, what's cuter than a customized onesie and babylegs combo? An actual baby inside them (of course)! Here is miss Sprinkle herself:

Sweet Eva Grace Schneider, born February 2nd, 2011.

Welcome to the world, Sprinkle! Don't worry, you'll grow into your leggings in no time.

Happy Valentine's Day!

...A little late, I know. But when you leave the house at 6:45 AM and don't get home again until 6 PM, it's hard to say Valentine's Day promptly in the morning. Better late than never.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Some snapshots of our day:

Looking surprisingly happy and awake for 6:40 AM!

...Even happy and awake enough for an early morning dance party!

...And, 6:45. Five minutes is more than enough time with this barrette, Mom.

This is why I stopped making those darned cute clippies and cut her bangs. Oh well. At least I got a couple good pictures out of it.

Annabel's valentine for us, made with love (and a little help from her daycare mama, Auntie Laura):

The only thing missing here is a picture of our date-at-home-delicious Little Caesar's pizza. That and a couple episodes of Bones made this Valentine's Day complete.

Happy Lovin' y'all!

things I don't want to forget

So I don't remember whether my school actually did this, but I definitely remember the concept of Opposites Day - when you were supposed to do and say everything opposite, all day. You know, wearing socks on your hands and gloves on your feet, or saying No when you meant Yes, etc. I do distinctly remember one of my teachers wearing pants on top and a shirt on bottom, but I really have no idea if this was actually Opposites Day or just a questionable Halloween costume or what.

Anyway, life with Annabel right now is like one never-ending opposite day. The girl knows her vocabulary, but for some reason prefers to switch words and use their opposites. "Hot" becomes "cold" and "off" becomes "on." I'm not entirely sure how or why this got started, but it's been going for several months now. She doesn't even do it as a joke; it's just part of the way she talks. We'll be driving in the car and she'll say, "Can you turn the light off?" ...Situations like this are easy enough to discern - obviously the light is not already on in the car, so we know she's doing her opposites-game.

But this gets interesting because she does actually know the correct definitions of these words, so she only uses the opposites about half the time. Just the other day we were in the bath and I was pouring warm water on her, and she said, "Stop! Don't do that! It makes me warm!" ...Now, obviously, if "warm" is really what she meant, she wouldn't be complaining about it, right? So I'm left to wonder if she means that getting wet makes her cold, or if the water is too hot for her. All clarifying questions proved utterly useless. And so ultimately, after making sure the water wasn't dangerously hot or anything, I just had to ignore her complaining because the girl needed to get clean ("stinky butt!" -- another of her favorite sayings).

Another dilemma: bedtime. She has this fishy nightlight that she got for Christmas from Papa and Nini, and sometimes she likes to leave it on as a nightlight. So every night, we go through the routine: "Do you want to turn the fishies on or off?" And sometimes, she'll say what she means; but the other half of the time, she'll say the opposite. Kind of frustrating when you're trying to get your child settled for bed, and she tells you "I want it on," and so you oblige her, only to have her start yelling because she actually wanted it off. And then the next night, she says "I want it on, " so again you oblige her, and she's perfectly content.

For the most part, though, it's not frustrating, but just one of those quirky developmental cutenesses that I don't want to forget. Like how she all-the-time calls me "Honey" instead of Mommy - something (I assume) she picked up from how I get Nate's attention. She says it so often that I hardly even notice anymore, but I want to notice. These are things I don't want to just let slip away. What are some of your kids' quirky ways that you want to keep around to embarrass/fondly reminisce/compare notes with them when they're becoming parents themselves?

jersey bedsheets: reincarnated as toddler yoga skirt

So, remember these?

....Those free bedsheets I got a couple weeks ago? Well, they have officially begun their new, reincarnated life:

Behold the toddler yoga skirt! (Is she great at modeling poses or what?) This was the first project that I was immediately excited about making when I got those gray jersey sheets.

A blurry shot of her Anna-belly, so you can [kind of] see the cute folded-over waistband (just like the grown-up version of this skirt).

The ensemble is completed with her freshly made babylegs, repurposed from $2 Target knee socks. (I was introduced to these by Keight @ Put Up Your Dukes, who sells this exact pair in her Etsy shop, and who in turn was inspired by Raechel's tutorial.)

Seriously folks, this skirt took me about 30 minutes to whip together. And I am no expert sewer - I learned a year ago, but have only had my machine for a month. It was incredibly easy. I wish I could give you a tutorial, but the fact is, I didn't even need one to figure this out.

Admittedly it was made easier for me by the fact that Annabel already has a pink version of this skirt from American Apparel. I was able to use that skirt for measurements and as a template, which was great since I knew that it fit her just right. I also got some help from a sewing book I borrowed from my friend. But even if I hadn't had these helps, I could have easily figured this one out on my own. The whole skirt is basically two half-circles and a waistband. Check out Dana's circle skirt tutorial for the skirt part, but substitute jersey fabric, and make your own jersey waistband instead of using elastic. I only used straight stitches on this entire project. I didn't even bother zigzagging the raw edges, because with the way jersey rolls up, it just seemed unnecessary. (Besides, I...err...ummm...haven't learned how to do zigzag stitches yet. That's next on my sewing to-do list.)

Blue Steel. I told you she was good at modeling poses.

I know, I'm irresistible. You can kiss me now.

a little valentines love for my A-Love

So, there are many things that make me wish I had been in a more avid crafting-mode when Annabel was born. One of those things is the fact that I feel like I totally missed out on a ton of crafting potential from her middle name, Love.

Now, in general I am anti-words on baby clothes. I'm not judging anyone else, because everyone has their own preferences for what's cute, and that's as it should be. But when it comes to clothing my own kiddo, I'm pretty intensely anti-words. I intentionally stay [far] away from "Daddy's Little Princess" or "Cutie Pie" or even the much-lauded "Does this onesie make my butt look big?" ...Sorry, they just annoy me. A lot. Maybe it hearkens back to my high-school-era disdain for displaying any sort of brand label on my own clothes. I just think clothes should be clothes. No advertising or cheesy slogans required (unless you're talking about something genuinely clever or retro).

But, because of Annabel's name, and ONLY because of her name, I was excited to pick up a couple of clothing items with the single word "Love" on them. And, because of her family nickname Annabug, and my own nickname for her, Lovebug, I was also excited to get a onesie for her that said simply that - "Lovebug." Again, only because of her name.

...So you can see that, with Love as a middle name, there could have been so much potential for things to make her. Little unassuming, understated hearts. A tasteful "Love" appliqued here and there. Nothing too over the top; but still, crafting potential.

So today, I decided to stop regretting and start acting. She's still only 2 1/2 and only has about 50% say in what she wears, so it's not too late. Plus, the girl loves pink. She'll like just about anything I make if it's pink. And, I thought, what better time of year than Valentine's Day to give her a little crafting Love? Here's what I came up with.

First, I made a freezer paper stencil. I customized my letters on my computer, printed them out, traced them onto freezer paper, and cut them out. I didn't have the patience to photograph all the steps. See Cheri's great video tutorial for freezer paper stenciling if you're curious. The font is "Braggadocio."

Next, I ironed the stencil onto her shirt. I already had the shirt sitting around, and had intended to do some sort of stencil on it.

Then, I painted over the stencil with light pink fabric paint. I was a little nervous about pink-on-pink, but I hoped it would turn out with a cool, unique effect. I would have used white paint if I'd had it. (It actually would have been really cool to do the white square with the pink letters, like it looks with the stencil ironed on. Oh well.)

Then, I simply peeled the stencil off, and voila!

I like it. Totally unique, totally Valentine's Day, and totally A-Love. Here's hoping she'll be excited to wear it!

Girls-to-toddler 4th of July dress

...I know what you're thinking; it's February. Why am I posting about a 4th of July dress? But when you look at it, you'll understand. It's totally going to be her 4th of July dress.

So, this post would have been a lot better if I would have remembered to take a "Before" picture. And I did remember, but only after I'd cut up the girls' size 16 dress I got from Salvation Army to repurpose for Annabel. So...no before picture. It's still totally worth posting, though. Behold:

See? Fireworks! Totally the 4th. Couldn't resist the cute fabric on this dress. I knew I could fit it to Annabel with some simple alterations.

First, I had to shorten the hem by about 6 inches. The dress had two tiers of ruffles at the bottom (wish I had the before picture!), so this was simple enough. I simply cut it off to just below the first tier, and it fell at just the right length. I then re-hemmed it. Easy as pie.

Then, I had to take it in on both sides. I measured from another dress of hers, and then just laid the dress flat and took off one long strip from either side, cutting through both layers at once. The most important part was the ruched top, so I was very careful with those measurements. But for the rest of the skirt, I didn't work too hard at being overly precise because I knew it would just hang loosely. Then I sewed the two smaller pieces back together, with a simple straight seam up both the sides.

Next up, I had to shorten and reposition the straps. (Aren't those beads adorable?) I just cut the straps out of the front. It was really easy to move them in closer and re-sew them. This fabric is super forgiving in terms of not showing details, so there's no way you can see the stitching. (Though, to hide the stitches, I could have just used matching thread and stitched along the ruching lines. This is what I did with her pink and white dress.)

I was originally hoping not to have to move the straps in the back. But I also needed them several inches shorter, and I didn't want to mess up the beading. My solution was to add 4 extra knots to each strap, which shortened them just enough. You can see the knots in this picture. I like the effect a lot! ...Though in the end, I had to move the straps in the back anyway, because they were too far apart and made a big pucker in between them. So in theory I could have just cut the straps shorter. But I like my knots, so I have no regrets!

And there you have it! For $2 and an hour of labor, I created a dress that's perfect for:

twirling,

dancing,

running blindly,

and lounging!

...And the 4th of July. Major score!!