Sewing for a good cause

Today we had a sewing party at my church to sew skirts, dresses, and shorts for children in the Philippines. My pastor, his wife, and a couple from my church are going to the Philippines in October and this was the perfect way to help meet a need the people have. My pastor has been to the Philippines many, many times to help start churches, do dental and medical clinics, support the missionaries living over there, and various other efforts. They recently got back from a trip and brought back photos of children in orphanages with sometimes nothing on their back. It was heartbreaking and one of the women who went on that trip decided to put together this sewing party and sew clothes for the kids. They are going to take them on their next trip in October.

We turned the foyer of the church into our sewing room. Now, remember that I just took my first sewing class about a month ago, so I needed lots of help. Thankfully, Linda was so patient with me and showed me step by step what to do. She showed me how to sew a casing to put the elastic in at the waist, how to read a pattern, how to cut out a pattern, and sewing seams. I sewed 2 skirts and all together we sewed 6 skirts and 2 shorts in just a few hours. We are planning on doing it again on another Saturday before they leave.

Rachel helping mom

Meredith starting her skirt

Sarah working on some boys shorts

Linda and Rachel picking out patterns

Me laying out a pattern for the first time

Sewing the seam on my skirt

My model wearing the first skirt I have ever sewn! It looked so cute on her and it brought tears to my eyes thinking about this skirt on a beautiful, little girl in the Philippines. Linda is going on the trip and she promised to take lots of pictures of the kids wearing the clothes.

Me holding my skirt and Elizabeth holding the one my mom sewed

I love this skirt that Melissa sewed....isn't the fabric too cute! We all had left over strips of fabric so Melissa had the idea to use it and make matching elastic headbands to go with the skirts. We are going to work on those next time.

Quick Update

I haven't written a post lately and I thought I would sit down and write a quick one to let you know what has been going on the past few weeks.

First, I have to say that I made it through the first 2 weeks of school!!! The first two weeks went really great and the kids in my room are really sweet.... so far :) Every year I am always surprised at how "little" the kids coming into fourth grade are. They really grow in fourth grade, not just in height but maturity.

Not only was last Monday the students first day of school, but it was also my first day of school at Lamar. I enrolled this semester and I am taking a class on Monday nights. This is my fourth class towards getting my Masters Degree in Administration. I started taking classes 3 years ago and haven't taken another one in two years. They only give you 6 years to finish so I finally made my decision to finish my degree and I am excited. I am really a big nerd about it. I went to Wal-Mart and got a new binder, notebook paper, pretty color pens to write with, and next Monday I am going to swing by the bookstore and get a Lamar t-shirt :) I am taking it slow, only 8 more classes after this one!!

Go Cardinals!!!

It has been a busy few weeks. Glenn came in last week. Stephanie and Ross drove in last weekend to see him and we had a big cookout with my aunts, uncles, and cousins. It was fun getting together with everyone. Glenn had to leave this past Monday to go to Houston to be in his best friends wedding. He called yesterday and said he was not feeling good and today he went to the doctor and found out that he has the flu. Please pray for him because he had to miss the rehearsal dinner tonight and the wedding is tomorrow! He is basically isolated from everyone because the groom understandably doesn't want to get sick on his wedding weekend.

Here is a picture I took over the weekend of Glenn with the one person in the family I think he misses the most :)

Getting Ready

I have been really busy this week getting my classroom ready for the first day of school on Monday. After about what seemed like a thousand trips to the dollar store, Wal-Mart, and Manning's school supply store I am proud to say I am finished. Next year we are moving into another building so they can begin tearing down and rebuilding our school. We are so excited about our new school! I brought my camera and took pictures this year so I would be able to remember how my classroom was set up when we move into another building. Here's a sneak peak at how it looks...

View when you walk in.....Yes, that is blue duct tape holding my carpet together. The good news is it really works. It holds all year and then I replace it.

My dad put these hooks and boards up for me this year and I am so thankful. Last year I had the hooks screwed into the paneling and they would fall out all the time. This year the hooks aren't going anywhere. No more hearing, "Where's my hook?"

Back of the classroom

The teacher who was in my room before me had her son make her these huge, wooden storage shelves. She said they were really hard to move so I could keep them. So, I found some fabric and mom sewed me these beautiful curtains to go over them. I love my curtains! When I get my new classroom I will hopefully be able to sew my own after taking a few more sewing classes :)

My desk area

This is what the kids will see on their desk Monday morning. It is a welcome packet for their parents with forms to take and fill out, a pencil that says "Fourth Graders are Fantastic," a book mark, name tag, and a new box of crayons to work on their packet with. Every year I pick a theme. This year the name tag and book mark have frogs on them...so cute! Now, all that is missing is the kids!

Sewing 101

My friend Katie and I took our first sewing lesson at Joann's today. She recently got a sewing machine and wanted to learn to sew. I thought it would be fun to learn too. We both have sewn before, but with the help of our moms giving us instructions. This class was for beginners and we learned the basics like how to thread the machine, the bobbin, and sewing seams. You could bring your own sewing machine so mom let me bring hers. I plan on buying my own after a few more lessons.

Here is Katie with her new, pretty sewing machine!

That's me, ready to get started!

We practiced sewing stitches on paper first (I didn't know you could do that) and I did pretty well. I know you can't really tell but my stitches were pretty much on the line :) We signed up for another class in September and we will get to make a pillow case in that one. We were a little disappointed that we didn't get to make anything today. It was fun and I look forward to one day making curtains, pillows, and maybe even clothes. Small steps first!

Soy Smoothies

I found this soy smoothie recipe in a magazine and I have been making these smoothies all summer long. I had never tried soy milk before and I really like this recipe. If you don't like soy milk you can use regular milk. The recipe makes 2 80z glasses.

1 cup of light vanilla soy milk
1/2 cup light vanilla yogurt
1 cup frozen blueberries
1 teaspoon raw sugar

You can use any frozen fruit of course. I also like to make a smoothie with strawberries and pineapple. The pineapple makes it naturally sweet and you don't need to add any sugar. Just wanted to share it, hope you enjoy!

Houston trip

I love spur of the moment trips. This past Sunday after church my mom, Grammy, and I decided to go shopping in Houston on Monday and get a hotel room and make it a one-night trip. It was fun to just get away for a night and have what I call a mini-vacation. We left Monday morning and arrived at my favorite restaurant, the Cheesecake Factory, for lunch.



I LOVE the Cheesecake Factory..notice the all caps! It is the best of both worlds...good food and the best desserts. I ordered my favorite meal, the crispy chicken costoletta, pictured below. It would be my request if I ever had to choose a last meal.

Just in case your curious and want to try it...they take the chicken breast and pound it until it's thin and it has this crispy breading and yummy lemon sauce covering it. Add the mash potatoes and asparagus..Mmmm.

We went shopping at the Galleria after lunch. The timing of the trip was perfect because I go back to work next Monday and I was able to find some things I needed. The mall was not crowded, I guess because it was Monday, and we had a great time shopping.

We shopped until dinner time and then we went back to take a guess..the Cheesecake Factory for supper and dessert! We split a dinner and then ordered cheesecake and coffee. It is always so hard for me to decide which cheesecake I want. I read the menu and then have to go look at the case with all the cheesecakes in it to make up my mind. I finally decided on the chocolate mouse cheesecake. It was so good. Mom got the same and Grammy ordered strawberry cheesecake. We were so full that we could only eat half of it and we took the rest to go to the hotel for later.

After supper we went to the hotel and got in the pool to burn off all the calories from the cheesecake :) Grammy use to take a water aerobics class at the Health and Wellness center, but she had to quit a few years ago. She loves to get in a pool whenever she gets the chance and teach us all the moves she learned in her aerobics classes. After all that exercising, we were a little hungry so we went back to the room and ate the rest of our cheesecake. Not a very smart idea..we were a little wired for a while, but eventually we went to sleep.

It was a fun trip. I fell so blessed to be able to spend time like that with my mom and 80 year old Grandmother. I have to add here that Grammy hung with us the whole day with out one single complaint. I pray that I got those genes! If you know Grammy though, you now how much she loves to shop. I have said for years now that she could out shop us any day and it is still true!

Close to Home

My brother called earlier tonight and told us that there had been a shooting at a gym in a town about 10 minutes from where he lives and that his roommate had been working out there at the time of the shooting. He said that his roommate was working out and went to get a drink of water at the water fountain when he heard what he thought was a racket ball hitting the glass. He then went in the locker room and a few minutes later someone came in saying that someone was shooting people in the gym. His roommate made it out safe and was in shock when he got home.

I turned on the t.v. and Fox News was just breaking the story. Here is the link: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,537004,00.html They said that at least four people were dead and the gunman killed himself. Several more people were injured. What a tragedy!! Why is is that some people decide to kill themselves and take innocent lives with them? I feel sick at the thought of these people going to the gym after work, working out and listening to their IPod's one minute and gone the next. Sadly, we hear stories of things like this happening all the time, but when you know someone that was there it really hits home. Glenn could have easily been there also had he gone to work out with his roommate.

After hearing this news it put a new fire in me to witness. I want to begin praying for more opportunities to witness and that God will lead me to the right people. I heard someone say that unsaved people are just one heartbeat away from hell...that puts it in perspective! Jesus commands us to go and preach the good news to all that will hear. Mark 16:15

I was thinking about the fact that I am not afraid of death because I know where I am going-to heaven! That gives me peace not only for myself, but for my family and friends who are saved. I know I will see them again. I don't know how people can go through something like this without God.

Please join me in praying for the friends and families of the people who were killed and injured tonight.