Thinking about Becky today...

I can't really tell the whole story because of safety issues, but I can say that Becky and her fellow soldiers are, and have been in danger. Shell, Becky's mom, was over Thursday and told me what had just happened there and it made it so real to me. You know it's really easy to be patriotic and say we support our troops and to passively think of them once in a while; but to hear a mothers tale of her daughter being in danger can make the things our troops go through for our freedom really hit home. I sat here at my desk last night thinking of Becky, trying to write this post..... Becky, a real life, a human soul, a daughter, a sister, a dear friend.....I have a face to put with this war we are in...it's not passive, it's not safe, it's not fun, but they do it for us. They do what they do so that we can be free. I decided last night that from now on I will pray for Becky everyday like she is my daughter....Will you do the same? Can we commit to praying everyday for those who fight for us like they are our sons and daughters? Shell mentioned yesterday a story about Becky and my brother Simon....hearing that one story flooded my mind with memories of these two devoted little friends! When I wrote the post about Becky on her birthday I was remembering how she and Crys would spend the night with us and we would stay up and sing into my tape recorder! LOL! Crys and I would sing this one song (oh Crys! Remember that song?) and Rae and Becky would sing or cheer (they were in their cheer leading phase) and we would stay up giggling long after we should have been to sleep. But how could I forget Simon and Becky?? We would have them a pretend wedding like once a week! LOL! And how could I forget the day they decided to run away together! They got in Becky's dad's five speed car and tried to drive it away and ran into the carport! When our parents asked what their plans were, they said that they were going to get some money, buy Fruit Roll Ups, and eat them all day. If I'm not mistaken Shells carport still bears the scar of that little accident. I think they were around 6 or 7 years old when this happened! Can you imagine?

Becky, when times are tough I hope you will smile thinking of these little memories and I hope you will feel all of the love and prayers we are sending your way! We love you, and appreciate you far beyond what we can express in words! xoxo, Sam

Summer 2009

I've been sitting here at my desk tonight thinking of all the things I love about this Summer...all of the things that I hope I will never forget...all those little moments that I wish I could hold on to forever... I already miss them...I can feel them already starting to fade as new moments happen and the Summer starts to come to a close....These are the things I want to remember: New adventures. Going back to the basics....back in time. Learning new ways to live more simply and being ever mindful of that pull to "the slow way".

Swimming holes. Squeals. Splashes. Smores. Friends. Bare feet and dirty faces. Sticky hands. Extra children. The way they can always see something new in such a familiar place. How little they are. How big they are. This place, our very own "secret spot".

New projects. How I drag them out because I don't want to miss one second with my babies.

Hard work. The pleasure that he gets from working the land. The pride. The straw hat. Storing away for Winter. Fresh tomatoes, still warm from the Sun. The mistakes. The successes. Muddy clothes. Helpers. The way they all have a job, and the way they swell with pride when it is done well.

Lessons learned. The way He gives and takes away. The sorrow and blessings that have overwhelmed us. A path made just for us. Valleys. Wells. The touch of His hand. The changes He made. Learning to fall and then be picked up and held. Trust. Sacrifice. Submission. The anticipation. The excitement. The love. The new dream of the children that will be. Thinking of them and praying for them, even though we don't know them.

Amazement. That look in their eyes when they have discovered something new. The colors.

A new space. The hard work that made it happen. Planning. Dreaming. Enjoying.

New life. Pure joy. Close family. The smell. The sound. The moment that love takes hold of your heart and leaves you forever changed.

New stages. Those little bits of them that I can keep. The thoughts that are captured. Watching creativity take hold and grow. The songs they sing. The way they sing. The words they make up. A fridge full of those captured thoughts and ideas.

Trips. New friends. Riding bikes. New places. Fire-side conversations. Swimming in a creek. Learning to swim. Seeing my parents enjoy my children. That bond that forms more easily in these places. Bunk beds. The smell of a campfire on your clothes. Ice cream. Late night giggles.

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What do you want to remember?

Please join us...

in wishing a very dear childhood friend and soldier in the US Navy, Becky, a very Happy Birthday all the way in Iraq! Growing up Becky was like a little sister to me. You see we lived in this really close knit community where everybody knew everybody and our moms were best friends. Her big sis Crystal (AKA Crys) was my best friend in the whole world (Molly is named after her, Molly Crystal) and Becky and Rae (my little sis) were best friends. We lived in that kind of neighborhood where the kids could play long after dark in the street, where if you did something wrong the closest mom would give everyone a good swat on the behind and send you on your merry way! LOL! We were all so close, and it was just the perfect way to grow up! Becky reads here regularly and comments often about how my kids bring back memories of the way we grew up. Becky was always an incredible person, she always stood out. When she was a kid I always thought she would end up in the Olympics! That kid could flip down the street for two blocks without stopping! She could copy the gymnastics routines on TV step for step! Well, we all grew up and Becky surprised us all when she joined the Navy in 2006. Our little Becky, a US soldier, I always knew she would have to do something HUGE with her life! We are all so proud of her! This year Becky will be celebrating her birthday in Iraq, lets let her know that we appreciate her by wishing her a big "Happy Birthday"! I asked Shell, Becky's Mom, to give me the specifics about where she has been and what she has done over these last few years and she wrote this: "Becky joined the Navy in April of 2006. After boot camp she was assigned to the USNS San Jose, which is a supply ship for 1 year. While on ship she went to the philippines, a couple of different ports in Japan, and Australia. While in Australia she went to a koala sanctuary and actually got to hold a koala. After this tour of duty she was then assigned to Guam for 3 years. Guam is kind of like Japans Hawaii. Becky has an apartment 2 blocks from the beach and many good friends in Guam. . In 2008, Becky was was deployed to Kuwait where she spent 6 months. Becky is IT so she was a liaison between the Army and the Navy. She was deployed with the Naval Air Ambulance Division (NAAD) so she worked with them. In August 2008 Becky was chosen to play softball for the Navy in the Armed Forces Softball Tournament. It was played in Pensacola, FL so her family was able to go and watch some of the games. In April of this year Becky was again deployed to Iraq. The British troops had pulled out and left behind a base the U.S. decided to take over this base. When Becky got there, there were no computers. Once the computers came in Becky had to set up about 60 computers and other machines. She is supposed to stay at this base until October sometime. Becky would love to become an Air Force Personnel and Manpower Officer. She is currently trying to switch from the Navy to the Air Force and go into the Air Force as an officer there are 37 positions available for the job she wants and they are supposed to choose the candidates for the job around August 17th so pray that this will come through for her. Becky is currently a Petty Officer second class. She has also earned her Enlisted Service Warfare Specialist and her Enlisted Aviation Specialist qualifications. Becky hopes to be able to come home soon for a visit when she leaves Iraq." We love you Becky! and we hope you will be able to come home soon! Happy Birthday!!

(Sand storms must be the pits!)

I just can't stop drawing...and some shop news.

We now have a new header for the adoption blog too. Yay! It was really starting to bother me that the two sites looked so different. I didn't want them to match but I did want them to "feel" like the same family. The new header tells a little story of us. On the right is our home with us dreaming of more children and on the left is an orphanage with our children dreaming of a new family. There is a whole world between us, but there is a little broken and crooked path that connects us.

I seem to have most of the kinks worked out in the shop too (all but that pesky tutorial button! Why does that button have to be so rebellious?? It will only work on the Home page..that hateful button has been driving me nuts for days!). I would love to hear some feedback from a few Mac users. The new program promises to behave nicely with my Mac friends, we shall see about that. If some of you Mac-ers could look over it and drop me a line I would really appreciate it!

Now about Miss Iris! The pattern is now in the shop up for pre-order, and EVERYTHING will be 25% off for the next couple of days. The printer promised to have the pattern sheets at my door by the end of the week and then it will probably take me a day or so to package them, so I expect to be able to send out all of the pre-orders for the printed version sometime next week and I hope to have all of the PDF pre-orders sent out by the end of the week. After that I have a little embroidery pack to debut. That's what I was working on when I made these headers, so it will have that folksy feel to it. It will be a little "map" of our home, trails, creeks, and woods. I still haven't decided what to call it yet...I thought about something like "home and hearth" or "our little homestead" I need to work on that...Any ideas??

waduya think? **We have some winners!**

****Miss Molly picked some numbers for me and we have four winners of the Miss Iris pattern!***

The winners are: Patty, Mindy, Jenny, and Rhonda! Happy sewing ladies! ********************

I'm trying out some new banners and graphics (since I'm having to redo my website in a more Mac friendly program). I really want to do something different, more of a hand drawn approach. What do you think? The header is a little sketch of our house, the tree house. the canoe, and even the little chicken pen down the hill. Then there are all of the dress ideas coming from my little loft in the attic. The shop will be "under construction" for at least another day, but when it's back up and running Miss Iris will be up for pre-order (and on sale of course). In fact, lets make this fun.....hmm...oh! I got it! Leave me a comment on this post telling me what you think of the header and when I'm all done with the shop (I'm thinking Monday) I will draw names for a free Miss Iris pattern! If there are lots of comments I will draw 1 name for every 20 comments, that way you will have a good chance to win. Don't forget to give me your email address in the comment too so that I can get back to you if you win.

I have some exiting news!

As of yesterday, we are officially a waiting family! We turned in our application!!! We are "expecting"! I have a little more about this over on our adoption blog Our Handmade Family. And in case you are interested I have added a little story to our website's home page too.

Can you even believe this?!!! I'm going to have more children!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

God is so good!!!

The fruits (or veggies) of our labor...

Isn't it beautiful!!! This is what we get when we pick (about every other day) now. The garden is in full bloom! and I can honestly say I have enjoyed it more than ever this year! Our garden has tripled in size from last year so we have had enough to put away for Winter. I really thought that the putting away part would be very hard messy and time consuming, but I have been surprised at how easy it has been. I find that I do better by putting away small batches of veggies just before or after dinner every night, this way I'm already in the kitchen preparing for a meal anyhow and I already have a mess to clean up. All of the things I put away can be blanched, put in an ice bath, strained, put in freezer bags, and popped into the new fancy schmancy stand up freezer that my hunny got me. If you have never done this before and are afraid like I was, just do it! It's so easy! I promise it's not rocket science!

This is one of my favorite Summer salads. I'm sure a lot of you already know how to make this, but just in case....Just like any other salad, the amount of veggies you will need mostly depends on what you have. I try to have lots of cucumber and enough tomato to add a little color and flavor.

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Cucumber and Tomato Salad

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You will need:

Cucumbers

Tomatoes

Vinegar (doesn't really matter what kind..but I usually use white, and sometimes I will mix in some pickle juice)

Dill

Salt

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Peel and slice the cucumbers, cut the tomatoes into bite size chunks, and throw it all into a bowl. Add the vinegar, start with a small amount (think of it as salad dressing) and you can add more later if you like (I like lots of vinegar). Now sprinkle the mixture with salt and dill and stir well. I like to let it sit in the fridge for a couple of hours before I eat it, but sometimes I can't wait! It will last for a few days in the fridge in an airtight container.

There is a new post on our adoption blog!

God gave me a dream....you can read about it HERE.

Molly's New Dress

I'm a little hung up on this "big girl look" lately (I explained that here on this post), so I've been working on a new design for my Molly. I think this is Jane Austen meets American Girl. What do you think? Are you seeing it? Or maybe what I should ask is...What do you see? What was your first impression? I am considering drafting a pattern for this dress, and I really can't get past "Miss Jane". It just sounds so perfect!

This fabric is a voile type cotton that I bought on vacation two years ago, It's so thin and dainty and it flows so nicely, I really do love it. The bodice is gathered all the way across the front and back and the neckline is square-ish (Did that make any sense?). I used pearl buttons down the back to add a more heirloom look. I wish I had taken a picture of that, oh well, maybe later.....right now God is watering our garden so I won't be taking any pictures today. I'm not complaining either, our garden needed it! Speaking of the garden, oh my goodness! This morning I had an omelet with fresh tomato and bell pepper, and for lunch we will be having fresh green bean soup (including fresh dill and other spices) with homemade wheat rolls, and for our snack I made cucumber and tomato salad. Summer meals are the best!!!! There is nothing better than eating fresh out of the garden for every meal! We have already started to get enough veggies to put up for Winter too, and that makes me very happy. There is just something about cutting up those still warm veggies for the next meal that just makes everything taste so much better, ya know! I think there will be a post very soon about our Summer meals, maybe we could all exchange our favorite 'fresh from the garden' recipes! Look at me...I start the post out about sewing and a new dress and then I write more about food than the dress...I'm going to eat some of that green bean soup...

Our Handmade Family

Our Handmade Family is live! This will be the name of our new adoption website and blog. I have been working on getting our story started over there, boy that's a hard story to summarize!

I'm still working out the particulars on how I will organize information on these two blogs. I think that The Handmade Dress will remain, as always, my family and crafty blog and I will use Our Handmade Family as a place to only update our adoption process. I realize that some of the posts will be similar, but I haven't really thought of a better way yet. I really like having this blog as it is, a very general journal of our lives, whether it be crafty or otherwise. I also like the idea of having a blog dedicated to the process of adoption....What do you think??

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In the next week or so there will be some changes here as I move things around a bit to make both blogs and websites easier to navigate. I will also be sharing some of our fundraising ideas. I may need your help on that one...I think I may have thought myself into a box. I know there are lots of good ideas out there but I want to find one that will fit well with our family and talents.

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Our first fundraiser will be a raffle for a signature edition print donated by our friend Sid Christan. After that some of my ideas have been to auction off handmade goods (my dresses from market), have a huge yard sale at the church, offer my homeschool planner for small donations.....Any ideas??

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If you see any hiccups in the transitions between these blogs and websites let me know. I don't want it to be confusing for anyone...they are still very much "under construction".

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I will be back later to tell you all more but for now I better get going to my Mom's house! I love Fourth of July food and festivities! Happy Fourth Y'all!