In The Name Of Jesus
By: Henri Nouwen

We have been trying to talk Charis into a pillow for a good bit now. She has been very against this idea so I have decided to get creative! Of course it is not the end of the world if she decides she never ever wants to sleep with a pillow but we are trying to pump her up for the big switch-a-roo (crib to big girl bed) so I thought that it would be a great step to take. Alas Charis is pretty anti anything to do with moving to a big girl bed. Trying to one up Charis is like trying to one up myself as we are a lot alike but sometimes it helps as I can try and think like her. I pulled out the old trusty sewing machine the other night and whipped up a pillow case. Enticing isn’t it!!! Not just any ole’ pillow case though this is a pillow case that matches her beloved doggie blanket! Ha Ha! I am hoping that it will be irresistible! I will keep you updated!

Update: When she first saw the pillowcase she told me that she wanted a princess pillowcase (gee, silly me, what was I thinking). She did however keep showering the dogs on the pillowcase with kisses and pointing to their bones. Hmmm! She did not want the pillow anywhere near her bed but she has slept with it for two nights now and two naps (with a little persuading of course) so I am hoping that she is warming up to it. She seems like such a big girl with a big pillow in her bed. I still need to get fabric for the princess pillow case!

So Brad has been onto me for months and months to try the Google Reader. This will be a real technical explanation (Brad will cringe) but it is a place where you can plug in all the blogs that you visit so that you only have to go to one place to check the blogs that you visit. It automatically updates whenever there is a new post out there!!! It is a super time saver and I am a HUGE fan. Brad told me that I would love it but I just get a little shy with technical stuff but it was really easy to figure out and I did it all by myself. If there are lots of blogs out there that you constantly visit I cannot recommend Google Reader enough it is fabulous! One more techish thing is del.icio.us which is an online bookmark site. You can use it just like your bookmarks or favorites but it is online so you always have it with you. The neat thing for me is that you can tag each bookmark so that all your items are by categories. Here is a better explanation of del.icio.us from Brad’s website. Yes, Brad was right about this one as well. It is also easy as I figured it out by myself…If I can do these things anyone can! This is a tech as I get for now! Happy Teching!

Yep, already thinking about Christmas! I know I know it is a bit early but I am excited to decorate this year! Last year if you recall I did not decorate as I was pregnant and my grandmother had just passed away so it just felt a bit to much but not this year! This year there will be decorations galore and a tree! Brad is pretty excited about this! Anyways, I have been excited to find some new stockings as I would love us all to have at least the same shape stocking and I was hoping to find stockings that fit each of our personalities as well. That is a tall order to fill especially if Brad and I go look together we just tend to like different things. While searching around Google land today I came across a wonderful website with some GREAT stocking patterns! I just thought that I would share in case anyone else was out there searching for FREE stocking patterns. I am sure that you can buy some great patterns but I just needed something to get me started so that I could embellish along the way. I am not to great with freehand drawing so a pattern is super to go by for me. Enjoy!!

Tonight I finally finished my Mommy purse! I am really excited about it as it is big enough to carry all the kiddy essentials and yet cute and fun at the same time. I am not big on carrying a purse and a diaper bag (I do good to keep up with the kids) so this purse is handy as all the extras will fit. I really like the fact that this purse is reversible so it is very versatile. The pattern is from Grand Revival Designs and was fairly easy to sew. I had a little bit of a hard time with the corners but I caught on eventually. I also decided to make my own buttons to have the perfect match! I can be big on matchy matchy sometimes. I actually bought the pattern, which is called Flea Market Bag, from one of my favorite eBay stores with a few other patterns. I think that she is out of stock on the pattern right now but should get more in soon. Onto the next project!!!