It's Great to be 8!

I can't believe my eyes! This handsome young man is turning 8!! It seems like yesterday that I was handed a precious little 6 pound 5 ounce little guy born 4 weeks early and tried to decide if the name was going to fit. And just so in awe of how tiny and how perfect my little son truly was.

He has grown up so much and has become such a wonderful young man and an irreplaceable part of this family. R is so kind and sweet and intelligent. He is quick to smile and give hugs. He loves to run and jump and play games!

Baby O had a hard time letting R open his presents by himself. R has a tender heart and wanted Baby O to help with every part of the present opening. R indulged the baby and let him help with everything.

Talk about excitement!!

R is such a great big brother! He always has time to spend with Baby O, whether that be in the middle of the night when he wakes up crying or right after school when Baby O has been home and lonely all day. R is always there is play. These boys are lucky to have each other.

A quick look back at the growing up days of R.

Here he is at birth. All that hair! It never fell out and has just always been this wonderful and crazy!

Look as those cheeks!! R was always such a happy boy! And that hair!!

I remember this day so well. Coby and I took the kids to a fountain in town and let them put their hands in the water. R was so exited he wanted to climb right in the water. He has such a zest for life! It makes me smile just watching the fun he has with everything he does.

R in overalls. This was the beginning of his blond year.

Here is my blond boy! He was such a ham! Who would have guessed that the blond hair and the posing for picture would stick so well! Oh how I miss this little kid!!

Oh, that precious little angel face with the big brown eyes. I can't believe that baby is now 8!

This last one is for fun! R has so much Gardner in him that it isn't even funny! You can see it in the first photo and here is more proof. See that crazy bed hair? Yeah, that's a Gardner trait. And I love it!

It has been an amazing 8 years with this little man. I can't believe my tiny baby is getting so grown up, but I have so enjoyed watching him grow and become such a special young man. Our family wouldn't function correctly without him. We are so thankful!!  We love you, R!

Merry Christmas!! 2017

Merry Christmas!!

It looks like Santa has arrived!! Look at all the goodies he delivered!!

My favorite part of Christmas is getting to see how excited my children are by all their surprises. Which is why that one Christmas that they woke up early and opened EVERYTHING without me was such a bummer of a year, but that's another story.

Look at Baby O's face!! He was so excited to see that giant triceratops!! When we pulled it out he climbed on and took a ride. I think he kind of likes the big fuzzy guy.

For R's 7th birthday he got a Nintendo DS2 or some such thing. All I know is that my kids yell at me every time I call it a "Game Boy" which I may or may not do on purpose now that I know how much it irritates them. This awesome find of Skylanders Giants for the DS made R super excited. Though, I'm pretty sure he is faking his excitement for this picture, not that he doesn't constantly play his DS and loves the Skylander games more then any other game, EVER. He was pretty excited to get this game and others, but I think he likes posing for pictures even more.

Somehow we missed getting pictures of Miss K opening up her MP3 player, alarm clock, or any of her many other gifts. I'm not sure if she just wasn't jumping for joy excited about things this year or if the boys were just more showy with their excitement. But Coby did manage to catch this sweet moment between Miss K and Baby O comparing their crochet kitties from Grandma Red. All three got one, and I got the cutest cow!

All in all I think we had a pretty awesome Christmas! We played games, ate left over ham and rolls and enjoyed Mammie and Papa when they stopped by to play. This Christmas was definitely one to remember!

Merry Christmas!!

From our family to yours!

Merry Christmas Projects

Every Christmas since Miss K was born I stay up late many many nights drafting, sewing and creating matching (or at least coordinating) family pajamas. I rarely get enough sleep and am lucky if I get jammies completed before bedtime Christmas Eve. And this year was different. 

Instead of drafting my own jammie patterns (you know, kids grown every year and I had to redraft EVERY year) I decided to save a ton of time and just use a pattern. Well, back in early October Patterns for Pirates rolled out a FREE pattern for pajama pants for the whole family. I was lucky enough to take part in their giant Next Top Tester competition and test these pjs out before they were available to the general public. It was so much fun! But I was absolutely not even close to being competition for these amazing women. It was a great experience! Anyway, I used the Walk the Plank PJ Bottoms-Adult Unisex and Walk the Plank PJ Bottoms-Youth Unisex for our Christmas jammies. The pattern is simple and the instructions are easy to understand and have great pictures to help with the construction. I will totally be using this pattern ALL THE TIME, especially when Christmas comes around. My life was made so much easier!! 

I don't know about you, but plaid, fleece and jammies are all must haves for Christmas. This adorable red plaid anti-pill fleece from Joann's was so perfect! These WTP Pj's are drafted for a woven fabric, so these jammies are super extra comfy having being made from a knit. 

The kids are all wearing Jolly Roger Raglans, also from Patterns for Pirates with their sleeves lengthened so I could hem instead of adding cuffs.

I am wearing a Patterns for Pirates' Slim Fit Raglan graded out for my mama tummy. I forgot to add length to my sleeves. I didn't think I would need it. I'm so short I kind of figured they would be a tad long even with the hem. I was wrong and am kicking myself for it, but the shirt is still super comfy!

Coby is wearing a Cole's Creations Jerry's Raglan and I couldn't be more pleased with the fit! I did need to grade out one size for his daddy's gut, but it was easy to do and looks so good.

Ho! Ho! Ho! Don't forget the belly shake that goes with the giggle! My big kids were proudly teaching Baby O all about this classic Santa gesture while feeling up their super soft shirts! This fabric was my first purchase of DBP or double-brushed poly from So Sew English Fabrics, and we were so pleased with it. I have had several requests for more of these super soft shirts! I guess we will see what the future brings!

I sure hope your family has a beautiful Christmas and gets to enjoy some of the wonderful traditions that come along with the holiday and the celebration of the birth of Christ.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good and snuggle-y night!

Happy Halloween!!

Happy Halloween!!

We sure hope that you are yours have a safe and fun Halloween!

And the ADVENTURE continues with K. R. O.