Reflections

My sewing reflects my life. When I was younger (a lot younger) my Mom would buy me fabric so that I could make my own clothes that fit in the style of the day, but fit me and my gangliness. As I took classes in high school and college, I sewed things that fit into the assignments and time alotted for sewing during the years of cramming of information into my brain. When I got married, I tried to sew for my husband... boys are so hard to sew for! And when the kids came, thus ended the era of sewing anything for myself! As the mirror shows, my life is not all about me right now, it's about my kids. Keeping them bright, shiny and happy is my life's goal. :D When I have time to sew, I sew for them. Like I said, my sewing reflects my life.

So, when I gave myself the challenge of sewing myself a 50s inpsired dress, I got really excited. It's been a coon's age since I've sewn anything for myself. Do you know how long a coon lives? Me neither! :D But I know that in order to be concious to put the oxygen mask onto my children, I need to put my own mask on first. Knowaddimean? So in small and meaningful ways, I'm trying not to forget myself.

As in times of yore when life was all about ME and my Mom was the one with the check book at the fabric store, one of the reasons I have chosen to sew me a dress rather than to buy one is fit. Store bought dresses of this variety hit me in that weird place that looks too long to be short and too short to be long. It's called the 'awkward length' and I excel at it! :D

So, I fell in love with this pattern:



I actually really love the featured pink dress, but I'm not too crazy about the colloar, so I think I'll end up going for the yellow one. Cute, no? To me, this is what my Grandmothers would have worn as more of a work dress... the kind you change into after Church on Sunday to shell peas in or something. The dress that stays under an apron much of the day as she whirls from task to task. I see myself wearing this dress on a hot day instead of shorts, on a date with my hubby, to a meeting at the school... somewhere between dressy and casual.

I have yet to find the perfect fabric for this project, but I'm having an awful lot of fun looking! Tell me what you think of the pattern and I would LOVE to hear your fabric suggestions, but remember that if you're reading this on Facebook, to click the link and leave the comment on my blog, pretty please! ;D

She's With Me

Love me some Collin Raye.

I heard him sing this song in person and I will NEVER forget the emotions I felt from him and the ones it creates in me every time I hear it.

I've been thinking of him (him the person, not the celebrity) since I heard that he lost his precious granddaughter. She had an undiagnosed neurologic condition that left her with deteriorating disabilities. No matter how many people know your name, you still feel pain and experience life even when the cameras aren't rolling. God bless Haley and may she be able to be her family's Guardian Angel.

I dare you to listen to this song and not cry. Double Dog Dare.

Charity

I am in awe of the word "Charity." Sometimes when I think about it too much, I enter the dark realm of "I'll never do enough" and I have to drag myself back up from the depths and try to be satisfied with what I can do. I don't think that is how Charity is supposed to feel. It is synonymous with our Savior and I KNOW He doesn't want me to feel that way when I think about Him. I know that He didn't do the wonderful, selfless things He did for us while He was here on the earth in order to make me feel guilty.

In one of the many lessons and talks I have heard on this subject, someone (I wish I could remember who!) presented Charity as a way of life. ...As a character trait that we can cultivate to become second nature. ...As everyday things that we do for others that make us who we are.

I love to do things for others. I love thinking about whomever I happen to be sewing for at the moment and how they'll (hopefully) enjoy what I'm making for them. I love picturing the things I sew being tattered and worn, having literally been loved to death. I love thinking about someone resting comfortably with a full tummy of food I made for them. I love smiles and hugs and even tears when I'm able to pull off something nice that someone wasn't expecting. Those are all things I love about living Charity rather than giving it grudgingly.

In no way do I profess to be perfect (or even consistent) in my Charity. All I'm saying is that when I am able to accomplish the things my heart feels for people, it makes me happy. I love sharing in the glow that both the giver and receiver get to have when kindness is shared. I like that feeling enough to keep on trying!



1 Timothy 1:5
Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:

Mosiah 18: 27 - 29
27 And again Alma commanded that the people of the church should impart of their substance, every one according to that which he had; if he have more abundantly he should impart more abundantly; and of him that had but little, but little should be required; and to him that had not should be given.
28 And thus they should impart of their substance of their own free will and good desires towards God, and to those priests that stood in need, yea, and to every needy, naked soul.
29 And this he said unto them, having been commanded of God; and they did walk uprightly before God, imparting to one another both temporally and spiritually according to their needs and their wants.

Make A Wish!

During a (Hammon) Family Reunion this summer, we enjoyed a tour of the Make A Wish Foundation in Salt Lake (You should go!). I, like so many others, assumed that wishes are for children with terminal illnesses; Otherwise normal kids who have a disease that will shorten their life. The woman giving us the tour was adamant that they don't use the word "terminal" anymore to describe their Wishers. Instead, they say they have "life threatening medical conditions." Many of the kids they grant wishes for get better in the long run. She also said that some of them later get jobs at Make A Wish and make a difference helping other kids.

I have very, very, VERY mixed feelings about granting a wish for Becca. No matter which way you look at it, it makes me feel like I have to admit that Becca will die early. She doesn't have a 'treatable' condition really. I know that the things that CMV has done to her body will never let her be completely healthy or whole. Her medical conditions certainly threaten her life if I don't stay completely on top of them and do everything I can and everything doctors recommend and even those things I feel inspired to do for her. BUT having someone gather and spend money on her because of this fact is impossible for me to get my head around.

There is also the issue of her not being able to communicate. How do I know what her truest wish would be? I like to think she is happy and content with how we do things. She rarely complains anyway. :) Anything that we did for her would be what WE want for her and not necessarily what SHE would want for her. This wouldn't seem like such a big deal if I didn't walk slowly around and read all the pictures on the walls of wishes kids made that meant so much to them. They had heart's desires that were fulfilled. I'm fairly certain most of Becca's heart's desires are to sit quietly with her family and 'hang out.' :) Besides, I'd probably want something boring like a ramp on the house or someone to invent a fuel efficient wheelchair adapted van. Wishes are supposed to be to meet someone famous or to be a superhero for the day or to go somewhere amazing. And, depending on the day, NONE of those things would get a reaction out of Becca.

At one point in the tour, they took us out to a cute little fountain with statues of children in it and gave us each a token with which to make our own wish and throw into the fountain if we wanted. I still have my token. I couldn't bring myself to make a wish.

Sister Love

Emily's asleep, so I can't really ask her permission, but since her co-author is sitting here next to me and he gave his okay, I'm going to share this. Emily, who is 8, gave a talk in Primary at Church today. The theme for her talk was Jesus Christ is the Son of God and He is a God of Miracles. She held this picture back to back with her talk as she read so that it was visible as she talked. I should also mention that Becca LOVED hearing her sister's voice over the microphone and smiled and kicked throughout. :)




Jesus Christ is the Son of God and He is a God of miracles. In our family we have been blessed with many miracles. One is named Rebecca. When she was born she had many problems and doctors weren't sure if she would even live. We are lucky to have her in our family. She is 10 years old now. She still has many disabilities, but has two important abilities. She has the ability to love those around her, and the ability to show that love in her own way. heavenly Father blesses our family with miracles to know what she wants, the miracle of a strong father and mother who can take care of her, brothers and sisters who love and help her, and the miracle of the little things she can do to show she loves us.

We all have many miracles happen to us every day, but most of the time, we don't pay attention. We have the miracle of the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price. We have the miracle of being able to talk to Heavenly Father whenever we want, through prayer. We have the miracle of being members of the true church of Jesus Christ. We have the miracle of a living prophet who guides us and tells us what Heavenly Father wants us to do.

Because of these miracles, we can return to live with Heavenly Father and Jesus after we die. I am grateful for the many miracles we have and say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Trifle

Remember that Friends episode where Rachel is making English Trifle, which is a dessert, and the page in the cookbook flips and she ends up putting some weird stuff in the layers? :D You know you wanna watch it... Friends; Rachel's Trifle

Wikipedia defines trifle as: A trifle is a dessert dish made from thick (or often solidified) custard, fruit, sponge cake, fruit juice or gelatin, and whipped cream. These ingredients are usually arranged in layers with fruit and sponge on the bottom, and custard and cream on top.

I define trifle as heavenly clouds with super yummy fruity creamy stuff in between. I'm a sucker for a really good trifle. Vanilla pudding... Cream cheese... cake- pound cake, angel food cake... strawberries, or even better- raspberries... YUM!

And so, Kelly, this post is for you! THANK YOU for the super yummy trifle! Have I told you you're my favorite Lee Sister-in-law? ;) You can make me trifle any ole time you want to!

Nifty 50s Style

Remember the 50s? The 1950s? During WWII, women's style skimped on everything because everything was going to the war effort. Skirts were pencil thin with no extra fullness and little detail. Then came the 50s! After scrimping for so long, skirts got really, really full. Often full circles in fact. Fun details. Bright fabrics. I love it! Love it! Love it!

Donna Reed, June Cleaver, Mrs. Cunningham... they knew where it was at. They were always there for their kids, teaching them what was right. Always cooking and baking and looking fabulous doing it! Now, I fully realize that my perception of this era truly does come primarily from these TV shows. I did not actually live during the 1950s. In fact, even my parents were babies during this era. But right now, I am really digging that full skirted, pearls and an apron style. :) Where's the rule book that says that just because I'm a Mom with young kids, I MUST wear jeans and a t-shirt every day?

Donna Reed
(Don't you just LOVE this picture? I'm going to start doing this every time I serve my family dinner... "TaaDaa!")

Barbara Billingsley

Marion Ross

My next experiment in fashion will be to make myself a "50s Housewife dress." Stay tuned!

My head is full. My heart is full. I have SO much to say that never every seems to get said. I literally compose blog posts as I clean my house, change diapers, wipe runny noses, fix dinner... but they never seem to make it into print.

I am an internal creative whirlwind. I have SO many ideas I want to create... with a sewing machine, with a computer, with scissors and glue, with hair elastics and ribbon. So, why do I get so clogged? Why don't I just do it? Well, not that I'm blaming her, but the most obvious reason is that as soon as I decide to do something, my cell phone alarm beeps reminding me to feed Becca so her special diet is perfectly spaced throughout the day. Or Buddy Boy needs to be fed and/or changed, Snaggletooth needs encouragement also known as a chill pill, Stinkerbell needs to be found and guided back to the right path or Lanny Man needs help in the bathroom even though he doesn't. I have to force myself to do the dishes and the laundry which explains why I always feel behind in those areas. *Sigh*

Welp, rather than whine and complain about never having time to do things I love, what is a good solution? I have been thinking about this a lot lately. I shouldn't feel guilty about doing those things I love. I should MAKE time for those 'mental health' things so I don't find myself on the other side of that line. You know how when our Grandmas were growing up, and maybe even our Moms, they had a day for baking and a day for laundry and things like that? I'm thinking that could work for me. Only I need to add blogging/journaling, digital scrapbooking, sewing and writing in there somewhere. :) Wish me luck!