This is my latest design I did. It actually was on a yellow shirt. I had a lot of trouble with the little name on the bottom and I'm not sure what to do about that. Still working on it. But I plan on doing something similar for my Anna Banana Baby for her 2nd Birthday. With Caillou of course. :-)
For Christmas my super great husband gave me an embroidery machine. I LOVE doing cute Appliques on my babies clothes. I also LOVE putting cute Appliques on YOUR babies' clothes. Here are my prices:
Any Applique on a Long or Short sleeved t-shirt - $18
Recently I've been working with a friend doing a little brainstorming. What are we thinking about, you ask? Well, since you asked I will tell!! My child goes to Sheffield. I went to Sheffield. My whole family went to Sheffield. Now, I'm not blind and I'm not deaf. I know what people say about Sheffield and I know the perception people have. But i'm convinced that its just that...a perception. Now with that said I also realize that there are MANY at risk kids. What I mean by at risk is this. There are kids with no one that cares. There are kids that go home to an empty house and hang out with God knows what until they finally get tired enough to go home and go to bed. There are kids that fix their own meals and eat who knows what because there is no adult there to make sure they have decent food. There are kids that may or may not do their school work because not a soul cares if they even go to school the next day. This is not just in Sheffield. This is in every single school across America. The likelihood of this kid graduating high school is SLIM. Think of the motivation they must have to even get themselves out of bed and go to school.
NOW....picture what could happen if those kids had someone that started showing an interest in them. Someone that just picked them up and went and played basketball with them, or helped them a bit with their school work. Someone, who they could learn to trust, and who they could develop a friendship with. I believe it could change their world. Because thats really what we all want, right? To know someone cares.
I dont think this would take a huge amount of time. No more time than we all spend wasting away on Facebook each day! And a human life is VASTLY more important than a facebook status. I think one hour a week would be a good start. I think an hour a day would be ideal. If they want help with homework thats awesome. If they wanna tell you how crappy their day was thats great too. But the impact this could have on young people could be impressive if people made a commitment. I myself am having to really think this through because I have two kids and a husband that works A LOT. But something worth doing is worth a little inconvenience at first.
I've worked with needy people quite a bit over the past few years and here's what I've learned. You're gonna get tired of it some of the time. You're gonna get taken advantage of. You're gonna wanna strangle them and scream "Why do you make stupid decisions!?" But you know what? You're also gonna learn to love that person despite those stupid decisions. And maybe, just maybe those stupid decisions would become fewer and further between because they have you in their lives. And maybe they will learn to love you in a way that they would not want to take advantage of you. But above all else, even when you get tired of the time you are investing in this...the rewards you will receive from this relationship you will develop will be life changing for you as well. I think rather than changing their life, you'll find that they are changing yours.
Saturday is here again. It comes once a week and every single time it comes I am left with the same feeling of confusion. We do not attend church as a family. We haven't done so regularly in a couple of years now. The reasons are not something I care to go into because despite my personal issues with my church, I do LOVE First United Methodist in Sheffield. I love the people, I love the building, I love the familiarity of it all. I love the sense of family that I have there. And its also possible that I love it because its comfortable. The easy fix to all of this is to go find another church. That isn't so easy honestly. My 7 year old is 100% completely happy there. She has friends there. She loves her teachers. She looks forward to being there. So, we take her to every children's activity that we are able to take her to. So the dilemma is this...am I wrong to not go to church as a family. Is it wrong that I am more concerned about her soul, because I feel like my soul is just fine. My grandmother wants us to attend there as a family again. She says that whatever problems I have are not something that I should let keep me away. She says that I should be there even more because I have the issues. But i just can't do that. Its best if I keep my distance because it affects my spirit. I pray about this but I never feel like I get clarity on the issue. Sometimes I think that we should all just wake up one Sunday and randomly pick a church. But Sarah Grace is just so happy. I can't do that to her. So whats the answer to this? I will keep searching until I have peace with it. I know people say that church is not necessary to be a christian. And that is correct. But on the other hand, I do feel that it is soooo important when you have small children. So, until my vision is clear, I will pray.....
I LOVE my facebook. BUT, the problem I have with it is this. When I want to say a thought that pops into my head, I dont really always want to know what everyone thinks of that thought. So, now I shall Blog about it. I have tried Blogging many times, to end up bored with it. I think its because I thought blogging had to have a theme. What on earth makes me think I have to have a theme? Nothing in my life has a theme! SERIOUSLY. My very wonderful dear friend, Jae White calls me Hodge. Because I'm a hodgepodge of information, skills, and knowledge. Thats mostly because I'm a tight wad. I dont like to spend money on things so I learn how to do it myself. Thats where my hodgeness comes from. So I guess what I'll do is just Blog about whatever interesting thing that I do each day. If something pops into my head I will say it. If I create a nifty craft I will show it off. If i'm upset and mad I will tell about it. The funny things my kids do, you will all know about it!
Today We had a surprise Party for Sarah Grace's teacher. She's an awesome chick. I'm thankful that I got to spend an hour of her birthday celebration with her. She makes me smile. I made her a felt flower hairbow. She's the only adult I know that wears hairbows. I think my hairbow sorta looked like a child made it, but oh well. Maybe she liked it. :-)
These initials are necklaces. They are metal wire and then I hammer them. I sell them on my facebook. Also they are for sell at Franks Italian Restaurant. They are $12.
