Baptism Blanket

This last weekend Middle chose to be baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This is a very special event, and our family came together to celebrate. Our family has a couple of traditions on the day of a baptism. We of course have friends and family come. We hold a little luncheon. We give him his own set of scriptures.

I also make them a blanket to help remind them of the Holy Ghost. One of the roles of the Holy Ghost in our lives is to provide comfort. So when Oldest was baptized years ago, I decided that I would make them a "comforter" to remind them of the comfort they receive from the Holy Ghost.

I made a very simple blanket, I loosely call it a quilt.

I found a micro fleece in a print of his favorite football team. I got two coordinating colors of cotton for the front. I cut the cotton into 12" strips the width of the the fleece. I sewed them together and then I bound the striped cotton front to the fleece back with premade biased tape.

Since I made a very simple blanket, I added some hand embroidery to the front. First I added a "hand-written" note. I traced on the note, and then I embroidered over it.

I also added in some coordinating hand stitching on each blue stripe.

While it was a pretty simple blanket, hence why I really can't call it a quilt, it conveyed the message we hoped, made a memory for our baptized boy, and has been wrapped around him almost none stop since.

I love family traditions. I love making memories. This Baptism Blanket will definitely be a memory  for Middle of his special day.

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Our Christmas Fancies and Merry Christmas

We had a lovely Christmas full of family, childlike excitement, love, giggles, and quiet moments of reflection on the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

I had planned to wish you a Merry Christmas a little sooner than December 30th, but we were happily wrapped up in Christmas festivities (Not to mention not-so-happily experiencing momentary illness...which by the way, did it seem like almost everyone you knew had some form of illness around Christmas?).

So here it is several days after and I am hoping you all had a very Merry Christmas.

One of my favorite days leading up to Christmas is Christmas Sunday, i.e. the Sunday just before Christmas. The absolute best is when Christmas falls on a Sunday. I love celebrating the birth of Christ through sacred hymns and inspirational messages of His birth and life. I love that we dress up just a tad bit fancier than normal. I love that the congregation is busting with visiting family and friends, even if they aren't ours.

I just love it all.

This year, I didn't really get the boys anything new to wear to church, specific for Christmas anyway. I pulled together a few things we already had that looked fancy and "Christmasy".

My wardrobe rummaging explains how this precious little Christmas lumberjack look came to be.

My blue-eyed handsome boy is still just a tad too small for a suit. However, he happily wore this black and red flannel with a black paisley tie I made for the boys two Christmases ago.

The other boys all wore their normal Sunday suits, spruced up with a bit of red in their ties.

It is killing me with how old Oldest is starting to look!

Middle, my stoic handsome one as always.

Then there is Little, always photogenic and always too cute for his own good.

We didn't have mistletoe, but that didn't keep us from smooching it up in front of the Christmas tree. Oldest got it all on camera.

This particular Christmas Sunday, we were miraculously ready quite a bit early for church. So that means I got to snap a lot of pictures...okay, as many as my rowdy boys would allow.

A Christmas hug for dad.

A cute little Christmas "cheese".

A little extra pose, which he came up with all by himself.

I really feel blessed to have this family of boys. I am lucky to be the lone lady amongst all these gentlemen.

I hope you had a warm and wonderful holiday season, and that you continue to feel that warmth into the New Year.

We Have a Nine-Year-Old

I am feeling sentimental. Who can blame me really?

My very first born; the Little Man that made me a Momma; the sweet, cautious, and serious little spirit that has paved the way for the others, he turned nine.

It is beyond cliche and cheesy to say, "Where has the time gone?" or "Time flies."

I find myself unable to express it any other way. The cliche is truth. I really do wonder where the time has gone. There is truth in the saying that days go by slow and years go by fast.

I can't believe that it was nine years ago that I was a fresh 24 year-old Momma (I also can't believe that I am on the doorstep of 33 years-old).

I was cuddling and sniffing my very own newborn baby. A baby that Hubby and I had patiently waited for through heartbreak and trial. Our forever family began with him.

This sweet Little Man.

As my oldest, he will always hold a special place in my heart. He started this whole circus. He is very happily the ring leader and conductor of mischief. He influences and molds. He is our test monkey. He patiently allows us our parent foibles (most of the time). For the most part, he is the first everything. Our first experiences of parenthood are through him.

We learned as much from him as he has from us.

I am so thankful he is our first. I am thankful that he was sent to lead the way for our other boys. I am grateful that he is a good kid, genuinely and deep down to his core. I am grateful his brothers have him to learn the serious to the silly.

Being an oldest myself, I know what it is to be an oldest.

Heavenly Father knew this Little Man was wired to be an oldest. Our Oldest.

Oldest,

We are thankful everyday you joined our family. We are thankful you want to be good so badly. We are thankful for your laughter, your strong-will, your sensitivity, and your influence in our home. We love you and want only the very best things for you. We hope you always feel loved, supported and encouraged.

Remember who you are!

Love,

Mom and Dad

Come by tomorrow for a special Birthday Giveaway

in celebration of this old lady turning twenty-thirteen (aka 33).

Have a great Monday!

In a Nutshell: My Boys

I am feeling a bit hormonal sappy this week.

Sometimes in the midst of check-lists, obligations, appointments, errands, menu-making, projects and such I forget to stop and notice the really important going-ons around me.

I forget, if you will, to take out my mental camera and capture the precious moments.

My precious moments involving four Little Men gifted to me by a very, very generous Heavenly Father.

Part of this week was spent with Hubby out of town. While there is a bit of hanging on by my teeth and just waiting for him to come home, I have tried to cherish the just Mom and boys time. Besides a few moments of utter chaos and pure desperation, we have had a good time.

I have four delight boys that are delightfully different. I am proud to be their Momma. I am beyond grateful.

Allow me to further the sappiness by sharing pictures I have taken of each of them recently. None of them for project, blog, or portrait purposes.

I took them as a Mom wanting to keep a memory.

Oldest:

I was actually taking pictures for a food post coming soon.

As I was putting my camera away, he said I should take a picture of him

taking a bite of a muffin.

I love that I captured his one dimple.

I love that I know he was making a thumbs up indicating "yum good".

I love that he came up with the idea.

I love that this was his little way of supporting all my blog craziness.

I am glad I let dinner get just that much colder so I could snap his picture too.

Middle:

He is all about being a football player.

His favorite thing to do is put on his Ohio State jersey...

(Yup he is still an Ohio State fan even in Idaho)

and his football shorts.

(That is what he calls his pj shorts)

He sleeps in this outfit.

He wants to wear it all day.

He wants me to sew foam into it so he can be a real player with pads.

I even let him wear this to the store.

Someday the football won't look so giant in his hands. 

Little:

Gah, I LOVE that face.

His little squinty-eyed grin.

I love that you can tell he is saying "cheese".

We were off to preschool again.

This day I was in love with his rockin' outfit and just had

to snap a picture.

He has been so excited to be in preschool.

Every day he asks if he gets to go to school.

All of his new pants he calls his "preschool pants". 

Bean:

Oh that face. 

Can anyone get enough of that face.

I haven't made it a secret to anyone that Bean was a surprise to our family.

What a wonderful, utterly fantastic surprise!

I snapped this picture of him hanging out while I was doing something or other...like I feel I always am.

He sits there content most of the time. I wanted to capture how he puts up with me leaving him in his chair.

Instead I captured this. This is the face he makes when I or anyone else he loves comes near.

Immediate grin.

Which produces more immediate grins from anyone close by.

Can you see those teeny tiny adorable teeth?

Thanks for letting me go on about my love for these boys.

I am a normal Momma and not every second of every day is sunshine and roses. There are days when I am simply commanding the somewhat insolent troops through the trenches.

But they are my troops and I wouldn't trade them for anything.

Thanks again for letting me indulge in the sappiness.

Have you indulged lately in what makes you sappy?

I highly recommend it. It will be good for you heart.