Sailor Girl Sweatshirt

Okay, Buddy Boy loved his sweatshirt and wanted to wear it ALL day, thankfully it was cool enough he could get away with it!

And after nap, he spotted Baby Girl's and got so excited... she was too excited and immediately asked to wear it.  What do you think?  Too much Navy, or just enough to be Patriotic :)

Spring Training Sweatshirt

Okay, so I originally got the stuff to make these months ago from I Am Momma - Hear Me Roar, but I finally bit the bullet and did my first ever refashion project.  There are a few things I would do different next time (like having thread that matches my zipper and a zipper foot too), but overall, I'm really happy with it.  This is the first time I have ever attempted something so complex...

I used 3 different spring training shirts from 5-6 years ago that were wearing out and a turtleneck shirt from the clearance rack, knit ribbing and an exposed zipper.

I lined the hood because the spring training shirts were thinner than the turtleneck and I wanted it to give him some warmth.

And I love that you can see most of the graphic on this side of the hood (had to cut from the middle of the shirt and then attach the hem to finish it off nice, but with lining it, I was able to hide all of that pretty well.

He hasn't seen the finished product, but after I put the ribbing on the bottom, I tried it on him and he didn't want to take it off...  Hopefully tomorrow he'll love it even more (especially since the graphics and the hood came from Grampa & Gramma).

Now off to bed and tomorrow maybe I'll get baby girl's done (with girly touches of course!).

Notes to ...

A friend's son recently left for a couple years and he told me that they are best friends.  I don't know about you, but I can't get through a day without calling mine at least 10 times :) sorry  mommy :).  So, I thought it would be nice for him to have some place small and simple to keep those little thoughts we want to share with our closest friend, but that might not come back to mind when we sit down to write a letter.  I didn't upload the finished product because it has a nice picture of them just before the son left but just add a picture in the middle of the white block and you've got the idea :).

I used stickers and then mod podged over them and the area I wanted to put the picture, placed the picture backing (seen below) down, and impatience won out - I didn't wait the 15 minutes I was supposed to, put another layer of mod podge down and put the picture in the center... didn't wait again, and mod podged over the whole thing to seal it.

The mod podge isn't all the way dry here, but you get the gist.

If I were sending this to a woman, I'd wrap it all pretty and put a bow on it, but since it's going to a man, I'm just going to wrap it in parchment paper when it dries and send it off that way.  Sometimes simple is best.

WE ARE GETTING A HOBBY LOBBY

I am so excited!  I have only ever been in one Hobby Lobby, but I fell in L.O.V.E!

Okay, so technically I'm not getting a Hobby Lobby, it's in Roseville :(, but its on the way to all our doctors :), so yes, I will claim this one as my own.  And besides, if I happen to be over there for doctors appointments (at least 4 times a year), then hey, why not stop in and browse right?  My husband just might kill me if I stretch my trips to Roseville any longer than I already do (leave the house between 6-7am and get back around 6pm - if I'm lucky), but come on, it's HOBBY LOBBY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Did I mention I'm excited?

Stay tuned, I've got quite the list of projects I'm going to be working on in the next couple of weeks :).

Daddy Dates by Greg Wright

I knew that "Daddy Dates" by Greg Wright would be a good book for my husband to read before I even opened the cover, but I never expected to grow as a mother so much from just one book.  I had so many ah-ha moments throughout the book, not only for dealing with both my son (2.5 years old) and my daughter (1.5 years old), but for my growing up years.  I found myself many times thinking, yeah, that's totally what I was needing then.  And also found myself seeing so many things through my own Daddy's eyes, and being even more appreciative of all our daddy-daughter trips and nights out growing up, and looking forward to more of my own Daddy’s dates.  This book really hit home for me and I can't wait to see my husband and daughter (and future daughters) enjoy the Daddy Dating process.  Mr. Wright might not be done raising his girls yet, but he has set the foundation for honesty and trust in him and themselves, which is so important for any woman, no matter her age.

I highly recommend this book to any parent, no matter the age of your daughter, 2 months or 20 years old, “Daddy Dates” brings home to the reader the importance of instilling self-worth in your daughters and teaching her what she should expect from men who pursue her… and that yes, she should expect men to pursue her (at least the ones worth her time).

*I received this book for free in exchange for my unbiased review through the Thomas Nelson BookSneeze Program.