Friday, October 28, 2011

Happy Sweet 16 Malissia

16 years ago I gave birth to my youngest daughter, Malissia.  After the most horrible pregnancy ever (for me, anyway), I had the worst ever labor (again, for me)!  I almost had a miscarriage at 11 weeks and had to go on bed rest for a couple of weeks.  God performed a miracle on the way to the hospital.  I had already had one miscarriage a year before and didn't think I had the strength to make it through another.  I asked God to give me strength to survive if I miscarried or to save the child.  I promised that I would raise him/her to live for Him if he spared the child's life.  He answered my prayers, but He did not give me an easy time.  I had indigestion for the rest of my pregnancy!  Not a big deal for some - but I've never had morning sickness or anything - so this was quite inconvenient for me!  Poor me!  Malissia would twist around in positions where I could not move - couldn't sit, couldn't stand - NOTHING!  She was horrible.  I knew I was in for it!  Then to top it all off - 13 HOURS of INTENSE labor pains!  It was awful.  Did I mention that she was 9 DAYS LATE?  AWFUL!

And then she was born!  She was beautiful!  7 lbs, 14 oz, a head full of blonde hair (enough for a tiny pony tail on the top of her head!), blue eyes that eventually turned green.  We named her after my great grandmother, Malissia Maxwell, and angel herself!  For all the trouble she was during pregnancy, she more than made up for it.  From the night she was born she slept from 7pm until 7am.  She always woke up and cooed and played until someone came in to check up on her.  She never cried unless she was sick.  AND - when she was sick - she had to have DADDY!  It was AWESOME, I tell you!  She loved her big sister and brother.  She loved EVERYBODY!  She was always good, smiling and well behaved.

I never had problems with her at church.  She would sit on the pew like a good little girl while her brother and sister tried to drive me insane!

She has come a long way - and she is far from perfect, but she is still my good little girl.  And so, her party is tonight and we are all excited about it.  I hope to have pics for you guys Monday or Tuesday.

I am proud of you, Malissia!  I love you bunches!  I hope you have the most wonderful birthday ever today!



K.  Bye, now!

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Eve of Sweet 16

OMW!  It's almost here!  The event of the year!  Well, for us anyway!  :)  I have been planning Malissia's Sweet 16 Birthday Party for more than a year and it's finally here.  Everything is under way and we are going to the church to begin decorating tonight!  WOO-HOO!  I can't contain my enthusiasm!  YIPEE! 

Cake is ordered, food is doled out, candy is taken care of, decorations and supplies are purchased and waiting to be put together, games are set.  I have to attach the skirt to the top on Kirstyn's Fiona costume, insert the zipper and hem the skirt and sleeves.  That'll get done tonight.  I'll hand sew the trim on tomorrow after lunch.  TA-DA!  Finis!

I can't think of anything else!  It's gonna be SO MUCH FUN!  I can't wait.  I hope you get to come.  I want EVERYONE to have fun!

K.  Can't blog - I'm too excited.  Bye, now!

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Things are starting to fall into place

Last night I paid for the birthday cake, brought the baker the rock candy crystals that will adorn the cake, and cut out Fiona's dress.  Now I need to ask 3 ladies to be judges, decorate Malissia's wooden letter M, find 20 picture frames, print out the questions for the game that will go in the frames, decorate and make the food.  Oh, and finish the Fiona dress!  Whew - not much, huh?  Hahaha.  It sounds worse than it is. 

I was really getting worried that I wouldn't get much done last night, I had a migraine coming on.  But 2 Excedrin Migraine's and I was all better!

I don't have any more to post today.  You guys have a great Tuesday, K?  Bye, now!

Monday, October 24, 2011

Cinderella Dress

I finished the dress!  I have pictures to post!  Woo-Hoo!  Tell me what you think!  Also, I have submitted these photos to the BurdaStyle.com BERNINA Halloween 2011 contest.  If you go to the website and click on projects, scroll through all the photos until you come to the Cinderella Ball Gown under StephanieB.  The front photo doesn't look like much (I didn't know how they would show up on the website) and the photos are all sideways (I did good just to get them on the site!), but they are there!  If you become a member (free), you can cast a vote between 10/25 and 10/30.  VOTE FOR ME!  Thank you for your support!  :)




The craft sale was a success from everything I could see.  We have such talented people.  Beautiful crafts galore!  And the food was delicious.  The baked goods were such a hit we had a hard time keeping the tables stocked.  Yesterday we had an afternoon service at church with a fish fry and auction afterwards.  We auction off the left over craft items to the church family.  I missed the whole day!  :(  Malissia woke up about 7:00am with diarrhea and vomiting!  Not a good Sunday at all!  She got better through the day, but is still weak and tired, but she made it to school.  Keep her in your prayers - she needs some strength.  She is playing the GAME ON diet with me this time!  If you see her, encourage her!  I know she can do this.

I've started the fourth round of GAME ON!  This round is gonna be better, I just know it.  Last round was not so good for me.  I haven't figured out why, but it doesn't matter any more.  I'm gonna shed those pounds and collect those points.  There's only one new member this time (Malissia), so there's some stiff competition out there.  We have 8 players this time.  It's gonna be a tough round, but we can do it. 

I'm going to start on the Fiona dress for Kirstyn tonight.  I've got the pattern cut out and ready to go.  I've read through the instructions and it seems to be pretty easy.  Here's hoping it is because I have too much to do on Thursday to still be sewing!  Wish me luck.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Updates

Sorry for the lack of posts lately.  I've been soooo busy.  The Cinderella dress is almost complete.  All that's left is to hand sew some trim work on the top and finish the petticoat.  Then I'll be taking pictures so I can submit it to the Burda Style contest and hopefully will be able to post them on this site. 

I'm finally finished sewing for all the weddings!  Yipee!  Craft sale is this Friday!  I ran out of time to sew, so I'm kinda sad about that.  I've decided to bake.  I know I want to make several pies and a few cakes.  Maybe some loaf cakes would be good.  Soooo, tonight my oven and I have a date.  We're gonna be out together all night!  ;)

I finished the Hunger Games books.  They are delightful.  I totally recommend them to kids and adults alike!  Go out and get 'em today!  Or download them on your Kindle!  Whatever rocks your boat.

In other very important news - MY TEAM WON THE GAME ON DIET!!!!!   WOO-HOO!!!!!  However, I must admit, it was no thanks to me!  Thank goodness for Rhonda and Tori.  We barely won - by 3 points!  I was ecstatic.  I had been so disappointed that I wasn't going to play the game again (at least not on a team where I could drag anyone down).  This has boosted me up and I'm already signed up to play the next round. 

Malissia's Sweet 16 Birthday party is next Friday, the 28th.  We're soooo excited!  The cake is ordered.  The candy and all the supplies have arrived.  I've got the helium tank taken care of.  I've started getting people to help with the food.  All that's left is to DECORATE - how fun is that?  Oh, and I have to make Kirstyn a Fiona dress.  I hope Colby gets to come - he's supposed to be Shrek.  Ryan is going to get to come - I'm so excited.  Hopefully he'll get to stay the whole weekend.  He'll probably come as Chick Bowdrie, the famous Louis L'Amour Cowboy.  I'm not dressing up because I don't have time to make me a costume.  Instead, I'll just sit back and watch them all have fun and take loads of pictures.

Hope to see you guys there!

Bye, now.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Yummy!

What you need to know is that me and the gals I work with are foodies!  FOOD FREAKS!  We are all about lunch.  Oh, we try to be good.  Bring a boxed lunch, sandwich supplies, left overs...but on Friday's - that's all out of the window.  And the one thing you don't mess with is our Friday lunches - which sometimes take place on Monday, or Wednesday, or whatever!  Trust me - if you mess with our lunch, we WILL talk about you behind your back.  And it WON'T be nice!  Grrr....

Aaaanyway - yesterday we went to this FABULOUS Thai restaurant in Beaumont.  Chaba.  'Nuff said.  You MUST go there.  3 of us split 2 dinners and it was plenty of food.  Delicious doesn't even begin to describe the wonderfulness that we devoured.  The delectable flavors, oh my!  OH MY!  Oh my!  Sigh...I'm afraid I'm already addicted.  Go there.  Try it out!  You will NOT be disappointed.  I promise.  Unless your wierd or something.

We frequent Cafe Del Rio, too - so much so that we call it "The Use" - short for usual.  The fajitas and fajita salad are exactly right.  Tender and delicious.  Drool now!  K.  Now clean yourself up.  Here's a napkin...go ahead, use it!  The chips are usually fresh and crisp, the salsa is yummilicious, and the grilled jalapenos are TO DIE for - no lie.  I don't lie.  Really! 

Oh, there are other places we like to go - Jason's Deli, Chili's, Olive Garden, but these places are really only for some variety. The foods good, atmosphere is fun, but we could live with 'em or without 'em.  Well, maybe not Jason's.  You get the picture.

Food.  Comfort food.  Soul food.  Fun food.  Ahhhh, that's it.  It's the fun.  And we do have fun at lunch.  You don't even want to know.  Because if you know, and if you know us, we're probably having fun about YOU!  Hahaha!  I know, I'm being facetious.  Look it up.

K.  I've babbled enough now.  Must be the hives.  Don't ask.  Bye, now!

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

That's what friends are for

You read a good book and you get blamed for all the frenzy!  So NOT fair!  Amber - this one's for you!  All I did was borrow some books from Jennifer and read them.  They are called "The Hunger Games".  They are written toward teenagers, but the books are SOOOO good!  There is a bit of voilence, but no details.  A bit of romance, but very understated.  I liked them so much (I am still reading the last book, Mockingjay) that I told Amber about them.  She is SUCH a book HOG she read them in 2 days!  All of them!  And now she is addicted to them.  And supposedly it's all my fault.  Humph. 

Actually, I'm teasing.  We have such a great comeraderie here at work.  It's so much fun sharing - thoughts, books, ideas, you name it.  I have the BEST co-worker/friends ever!!!

We go out for lunch regularly.  We send emails REGULARLY.  We share...angst, sadness, frustration, giggles, laughter, memories, and day to day dribble.  How many of you out there can say the same about you and your co-workers?  Probably not many.

I am very thankful for my job, but MOSTLY for these friends of mine who keep me on my toes.  LOVE YOU GUYS!

K.  Bye, now.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

A lil' sewing goin' on!

Good news!  I got the lining together and the boning in.  It was easier than I thought it would be.  Even better - it fits!  Yea!  Now to review the patterns and make sure I know where I'm going with this.

I'm still trying to find someone to make the cake for Malissia's party - it might be me!  I do know how to bake, and I've taken Wilton classes, and my grandmother was a MAGNIFICENT baker herself - maker of many beautiful wedding cakes - so I know I CAN do it - I just didn't want to!  Oh well.  We'll see.

Kirstyn started working on her crafts last night while my mom finished marking the rest of the pieces to the Cinderella dress.  I'm trying to find familiar quotes from books for a quiz/game for the party!  It's not as easy as it sounds! 

Maybe more later - bye, now.

Monday, October 10, 2011

One thing at a time

I had a very successful weekend.  I finished the baby gown for Zoe - it was so pretty.  I went to JoAnns and purchased fabric to make 2 more.  One in midnight blue and one in celadon green.  I'll put them in the Craft Sale!  I think I'll change the bottoms of the dresses, though.  Instead of making them hang straight down, maybe I'll balloon and twist the bottoms.  We'll see. 

Meantime, I've ironed on the interfacing for Cinderella and I've threaded the sewing machine and serger.  We are ready to begin.  I'm going to try to get this finished before the BurdaStyle deadline.  The rest of the candy has been ordered and all the paper goods from Party City have been ordered.  MUCH easier to order online (especially with free shipping) than to waste valuable time in the store getting frustrated because they don't have the colors I'm looking for or they don't have ENOUGH of the product I need. 

Now I need to find someone to make the cake for me.  Then rent the helium tank and purchase the food.  Whew.  Thank goodness this is the last 16th Birthday party I'll be giving!

Don't forget about Craft Sale.  It'll be here before we know it - 2 WEEKS!

Bye, now.

Friday, October 7, 2011

TGIF!

Well folks, it's Friday and I have absolutely NOTHING to write about.  I went to see the beautiful baby Zoe last night.  Sweet, tiny baby - ADORABLE. 

I'm on track with my bonus points for Game One week 3. 

I found out that Burda Style is having a Halloween Costume Contest and I think I want to enter it!  I'm gonna try and get Malissia's dress made so I can take pictures and submit it!  1st prize is $1000, 2nd prize is $300, but the BEST prize is the Sponsor Prize - a Bernina 350E sewing/quilting machine!  Woo-Hoo!  I'll let you guys know how to vote for me later if I get it done!

Anyhow, it is Friday and I'm thankful.  Craft sale will be here in 2 WEEKS and Malissia's birthday is in 3!  Lots to do.  I hope you all have a great weekend!  Get out and enjoy the sunshine - since there seems to be little to no chance of rain!  Find the silver lining!

K.  Bye, now.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away...

What a sad time of year this can be.  Yesterday my children lost a great-grandmother.  Today my boss's father passed away.  Then I get to work and hear that Steve Jobs has passed.  So much loss - so many hurting families.  I can only pray that they know Who the Comforter is.  I am so glad that I do.

Then there is a time of rejoicing.  Zoe Maxwell was born into this wonderful world yesterday.  Mom, Crystal, is doing well.  Hopefully I will go by and see them this afternoon.  I'm still working on the dress but hope to have it finished tonight.

I hope to have more to discuss tomorrow.  See you guys then.  Bye, now.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Feelin' better

I am headache free today!  Praise the Lord!  It is so nice to be able to think straight.  I'm not sure what was worse - the headache or the medicine I took to get rid of it!  Anyway, I'm better now and that's what counts.

Today is a very sad day.  My children's great-grandmother, Wilmont Shelton, has passed away at 95 years of age.  She will be missed!  Please keep the family in your prayers.  They will be bringing her body to SE TX for funeral arrangements later this week.

It's a beautiful, crisp Wednesday morning and I wish I worked at home so I could enjoy the beautiful weather we have been having.  The humidity is expected to increase over the weekend, but otherwise it's lovely.  I love fall weather.  It makes me long for more family time.  More time in the kitchen baking and cooking, sitting down in front of a fire and just talking - no reason.  There is no greater joy and happiness than that of a family that loves together. 

I hope you all have a lovely day today.  Get outside and enjoy the weather.  Talk to someone you love today.  Start making memories NOW!  While you still have time, take it.  Utilize every moment for a good purpose.  Don't forget to give HIM the glory for all of your blessings and your trials.  After all, it's the trial that make us appreciate the blessings so much more!

Happy Fall, Ya'll!  K.  Bye, now.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Blah day

This post will not be a long one - I have a headache that will NOT go away.  I went home from work with it, took it to bed with me, and woke up with it!  Grrrr....  I did not sew, did not exercise, and did not get all my water in yesterday - all because of this silly headache.  Humph!

So, I don't have anything to write about - and even if I did, I can't think straight enough to write it.  Hopefully tomorrow will be better.  K.  Bye, now.

Monday, October 3, 2011

It was a lovely weekend

The dresses were finished in time and fit just right.  The wedding was beautiful!  I hope to be able to post some pics in a few days.  It was simple, but elegant down to the last detail.  I think what I appreciated most about the wedding was they paid attention to everything that was important to them and did not go to any extremes to try to outdo other weddings.  They did not buy into the retail version of a wedding.  I loved it!  And the ice cream buffet was a hit!  Marble Slab Sweet Cream all the way!

I made my bonus points for the week and now we're beginning week 3.  I'm feeling positive about it!

Tonight my goal is to do a bit of laundry and sew up a pretty little dress for my cousin's daughter, Zoe, who is supposed to be born this Wednesday.  It's all cut out and ready to go.  Since I'm using a lace overlay on the top, I've brought it to work to hand sew the overlay to the crepe fabric so that I'll be able to use it as one piece.  It's simple enough that I hope to have it finished tonight.

My mom and step-dad came over Friday night and grilled pork chops and veggies for me so I didn't have to stop sewing to cook.  Then mom started marking all the pieces of Malissia's Cinderella gown.  Hopefully I'll get a good dent in it this weekend!

Macy's wedding shower is on the 15th.  The last shower of the year, except for her lingerie shower which I will host at my house.  I don't have a date yet. 

Craft sale is creeping up and will be here in a couple of weeks.  I've been thinking about making my pumpkin dolls, but if the baby dress goes well tonight, I might make a few of them in off white, lavender, yellow & green.  We'll see.  K.  Bye, now...