Princesses & Tornadoes

How's that for a crazy title combo. I thought I'd check in after all the friends and relatives have called to check on us. The weather and tornadoes were crazy around here on Wednesday. Thankfully, we are all safe and sound. God certainly protected us. Without knowing what was going on around us, Avery and I headed out for our weekly trip to Memphis for bible study fellowship. The rain was heavy, and I nearly turned around twice. God's prompting must have kept us going, because 10 minutes later Todd was calling from a basement telling us about the tornadoes headed their way. We may have been on the road in some of the worst of it had we turned around. As I was about to leave Memphis for the return home, Todd called with warnings of round two. Thankfully, Avery and I were able to crash with our good friends in Memphis to wait it out. Avery was thrilled with the surprise chance to visit her friend Molly. It's incredible to see areas, like just down the street from Avery's school, where the trees were uprooted and power poles were snapped in half.

On a lighter note, this morning when we finally tuned in to the royal wedding, you could have heard the following conversation as we waited for the couple to display the royal kiss. Me, "Avery, why don't you go get your dress up box and put on your princess dress?" Avery, "I don't want to be the princess. I want to be Avery." Me, "Why don't you dress up as Avery the Princess?" Avery, "No, I just want to be Avery." Gotta love toddlers with strong opinions!!

Easter Wrap Up

We had a very relaxing Easter weekend. Avery has become quite the egg hunter. She had plenty of practice with four different egg hunts leading up to this one at church on Saturday.


As you can tell, we had a wonderful visit from Gogo and Gramps.



Sunday, our church held its service at The Grove on the Ole Miss campus.



Easter lunch was simple, but I did try to make the table festive with cake pops.



I hope your Easter was equally enjoyable with celebration.

Good Friday Thoughts

One thought has stayed with me throughout this week that I would love to share. On the first Palm Sunday as Jesus entered Jerusalem he was greeted with shouts and praises. When the Pharisees told Jesus to quiet his disciples for fear of retribution, Jesus replied, "I tell you, if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out." Luke 19:40. Our pastor put it this way, God had set the stage for what was happening. The whole world, including nature, was pointing to this main event. If the people didn't shout it out, then nature would take over. This was His time!

No one was shouting praises for Jesus by that first Good Friday, but now it is our turn. We live with the knowledge of the immeasurable love that was displayed for us by Jesus that first Easter. So, let's not let the stones do all the shouting. He is risen and we have much to celebrate!

Isaiah 53:4-5  Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities, the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

Planning Ahead

While I was at Warrenton feeling jealous that my friends were buying fabulous furniture while I was limited to what would fit in a suitcase, my wonderful husband was doing some shopping of his own. We have most of what we would need to furnish the new nursery, but we were lacking a dresser. Take a look at this beauty Todd found at a garage sale. I love all the drawers. I love the feet. I love the details. Guess what he paid?!? $40!!!!! I only read about those kinds of deals from other people. I need to send my guy out shopping more often.

Check out this one I found on pinterest for inspiration. I've got a feeling we can make it look this good too.

Source: houseofturquoise.com via Courtney on Pinterest

If you've read this far I'll let you in on a little secret. When I went to the doctor this morning, the doctor said, "That's a fast heartbeat like a girl." The next sono is scheduled for June 1st, so hopefully we'll know if he's right then.

The Solution

The solution to my dilemma about giving my friend the dress I loved was pretty easy to solve. I just needed to make another one I loved just as much if not more! This one has my favorite buttons from the vintage bag I scored at Warrenton, and I used some yellow tulle for the ruffle. It turned out bright, sweet, and totally girlie. This is probably going to be Avery's Easter dress this year.





I've had the Jennifer Paganelli Poodle fabric I used for the skirt for quite a while, but I was waiting for the perfect chance to use it. The bodice is by Paula Prass, summer soiree I think.

Test Run

I was able to do a little pattern testing for Joy of SnazzieDrawers yesterday. I am in love with this pattern! First off, Joy does a great job putting the pattern together. She has very detailed photos and tutorials for gathering and shirring built into the pattern, so you don't have to track down other techniques. Her photos and designs are drop dead gorgeous. I've used a few of her patterns, and this one is my favorite. I hope the photos do it justice.







I'm slightly torn on this dress, because I actually sewed it for a friend's daughter. It looks so sweet on Avery though. Well, I hope the friend likes it as much as I do! The bodice fabric is a vintage find in my stash, and the skirt is Jennifer Paganelli's Matt's Tux from the Flower Power Line.

Monkey Around

Avery's first nephew has a birthday party coming up soon, so Avery needed a party outfit. Brooke has been planning a sock monkey themed party, so when I came across this adorable fabric from Melly & Me I clicked away to purchase it. You know how I love to get behind a good theme!!

Sorry for the bad photos, but this one just didn't fit right on my dress form. Did you know Chelsea Anderson (a.k.a Pink Fig) designs patterns for McCall's? Well she does, and this top is the second one that has been released (M6313). The bodice has an elastic back, but beware that this fits super tight on Avery. You may need to lenghthen the elastic you use for a looser fit.



I paired the top with these cute cuffed shorts from the Bizzkids Summer '08 book. I love the way these look! The pattern actually has a waistband with beltloops and a working zipper fly. I simplified thing A LOT by sewing up a faux fly and elastic waistband perfect for a two year old. Can't wait for Avery to monkey around with all the other little monkeys when its party time!



The other fabrics are Sis Boom Flower Power Polly stripe and Barbara Jones Bubblegum Basics. BTW, McCall's patterns are 99 cents this week at Joann's, so there is really no excuse not to get a new pattern or two!!

A Happy Anniversary

As I pulled this photo up on the computer to write some sort of insightful anniversary post, Avery said, “I want to be married too.” It’s amazing how her sweet little mind works. I told her someday she will find a man as amazing as her dad and she will marry him. We have been blessed with 5 years of marriage, and look forward to so many more.

Pin It!

I'm a new fan of the fantastic site pinterest. You can visually display hundereds of websites/pictures to keep track of inspiration and ideas. It's like a "pin board" on the web. I get tired of adding bookmarks for tutorials I want to try or decorating ideas without the pictures to serve as a reminder. The greatest thing is that you add the "pin it" tab to your toolbar and any time you come across something you want to save you just hit the button. It's awesome!!

I'm currently addicted to nursery ideas. (Yep, it's already on the brain.) Here are a few pictures I've pinned to keep handy for later.

I'm loving these alphabet walls.

Source: danielleisnesting.blogspot.com via Courtney on Pinterest

Source: prettyspace.tumblr.com via Courtney on Pinterest

And check out this ribbon idea.

Source: ohdeedoh.com via Courtney on Pinterest

See what I mean, fun and addicting!

Warrenton with a Bit of Wacky

I absolutely love coming back to Texas for the Warrenton antique weekend. All the fabulous shopping aside, I get to meet up with my very favorite girls. I had a pretty low first trimester moment the first day, so these lovely ladies put up with a lot. Laredo ladies, you rock! They did some serious furniture shopping, so it was supper fun to tag along.



The next day I got to shop with my friends that first introduced me to the whole Warrenton adventure. Things always get a bit wacky with this group, but there is no shortage of wacky at Warrenton either.





My shopping was pretty limited this time around but I did score a few treasures. I'm super excited about an enormous bag of vintage buttons for $8. And, here's my first purchase for the future nursery.



I'm planning on painting everything and redoing the fabric on the chairs. Now, I just need to know if it should be pink or blue.