Dad, mom, me and D.

This is for all of my fellow FCHS alumni. Click here. You are welcome for that bit of nostalgia.

I went back to that old tan brick structure yesterday for my mom's retirement party. She and Mr. Marsh are both going to retire this year. It was crazy to see some of my old teachers.

Even more crazy has the remodel they are doing. Most of A hall is gone and there are lockers up and down what is left of A and B hall. My mom's new and last German classroom is in what use to be the Jr. High Commons. There are several classrooms set up there. You know where we had all of our awkward Jr. High Dances. Weird. It will be cool to see it when it's done. Oh and the cafeteria still smells the same.

Anyway, back to my mom. I spoke spur of the moment about her as a teacher. I think I said a lot of nonsense but I tried to communicate that I know she is one of the best teachers out there. She is one of those teachers where you had to work hard from the beginning to the end of each class period. But, man you knew your German after that. Can I just boast more and tell you that my mom can speak German, French, Russian and a bit of Spanish! And she was a math teacher as well! She has taught 26 years and was a stay at home mom for 11. My dad, Mike, and I found a Seinfield term, really describes Sue Huff, "Unbridled Enthusiasm". If you ask her she will sing you just about any song in German, but her specialty is "Stop in the Name of Love". In addition to all that mom was a WHAS 11 ExCEL award winner and the Indiana German teacher of the year in 1994. That is amazing. HAPPY RETIREMENT MOM!

What I've been working on.

Here is another project I tried recently. I have a lot of t-shirts that are worn or have spots or holes in them. I have been saving them for sewing. I took a shirt from Old Navy. You know those great thick cotton shirts they use to sell before they stated all this "tissue weight" t-shirt nonsense where it is now essential to wear a shirt layered, never can you just wear it by itself. Sigh.

Anyway. I have seen around the web instructions on making kids pants with old t-shirts. I wanted to make a dress. So I traced a dress (the one that Miss Jennie V got her) that D has been wearing lately and added some length and seam allowances and made the bottom flair out. Mom coached me over the phone on how to sew jersey material. She said I had to use a ball-point needle and suggested a zig-zag stitch. I lined it up so the hem of the original shirt was now the hem of the dress. I left the neck and arms raw edges so they raveled kind of cool. I also added the ribbon across the waist. She (obviously) wore it over a white shirt and jeans in this picture.

We took several pictures of Dorothy in the dress and this was the only one that turned out! She kept lifting her feet and marching. Also keep in mind this is the end of a very busy day, so that explains the blur and the random spots on her new dress.

God, I am thankful for:Mike and Dorothy: baby dedication September 07
I heart them so much.

• Remembering our baby dedication last fall. It was a sweet day with family and friends.
  
• Spring weather
  
• Sewing and crafting
• Reconnecting with friends and family
  
• My church
  
• Getting to know people better over this "web" (this means you Ceece :)
• One of Dorothy's three emerging teeth popped through yesterday!

Praise God for all these things.

Since on my dearest friend Carrie's birthday this past year I had a 9 day old baby, I didn't get to make her the purse as I intended. Anyway the one I started once Dorothy was a little older was packed away during our move and is MIA, somewhere in the garage. She'll get it someday. In the meantime... I thrifted a belt that reminded me of Carrie AND it just happened to go with my leftover fabric from the bag from earlier this week. Soo here is her "in the meantime" purse. It is made with two coordinating decorator fabrics, interfacing, and a recycled belt! I am getting the hang of this sewing thing again. I was telling Carrie earlier, I think God is blessing me by helping me keep my sanity through these creative endeavors.

I can't believe that I haven't shared this with you. If you have a few moments go visit my dear friends at Winters Photography. Look under proofing, see Little ladies album and type in littleladies for the password. And there are the beautiful Huff grandkids! Enjoy!

During my quiet time today I read this. In Linda Dillow's book "Satisfy My Thirsty Soul" she quotes A. P. Gibb's from his book "Worship":

"In prayer we are occupied with our needs, in thanksgiving we are occupied with our blessings, but in worship we are totally occupied with God himself".

Let's all meditate on that.

What I've been working on.

I dusted off the sewing machine! My sister-in-law Melinda invited me to make a beach bag for her room in a decorator's show-house up in Indianapolis! I am so excited! As you may know she is an amazing custom painter, muralist and overall artist. Here is what I came up with...


So I am getting encouragement from those around me to sell these little projects. I am working on that. Pray that I would do God's will in this little business venture. I love sewing and creating but I don't want it to become a hindrance to loving my family the best that I can.

Besides sewing and raising up little Dorothy, loving Mike and all, I have been spring cleaning. Also rearranging the house to make it more functional, which reminds me... Look what my mom found and refinished for us. It was caked with layers of paint and look what she did! This is now in our bedroom as my dresser. I love it!

I Thank God For...

God, I thank you for...

my backyard

the yellow sparkles in my husband's and daughter's blue eyes

encouragement from my husband and parents when they see what I have sewed

that cutting out sugar from my diet seems to keep down RA flair ups, a bit

the book Philippians

Wendell Berry's writings

CSA starts soon

a dog who submits to a squealing, clawing 8 month old baby girl

a vacation with family

First Swim

Remember how Mike and I got those awful sunburned stripes? Well, that is what prompted Dorothy's first swim to be in a plastic box, in her Nana and Papa's backyard. It sounds a little funny but it was perfect. Here they are in order...

Yesterday, while restocking our groceries at Kroger, Dorothy sat upright in her shopping cart. She has done this many times, but this was the first time she did it sitting up well. Not once did I have to prop her back up. She had a hat on and she kept taking it off. It struck me how big she is! Two weeks ago she couldn't reach her hat, much less pull it off (over and over again:).

And here are some of my favorite vacation pictures...




There was a crowd around them looking at the chimps and they were just looking at each other.



Sitting in Papa's truck.



Chihuly glass at Fairchild Gardens
(we have seen his art in London, Indianapolis, and now Miami)

...with Nana on a tram ride.



...and my girl and I.

Good Morning Louisville.

Good morning Louisville. I have the song "Good Morning Baltimore" going through my head you know from Hairspray? Only I really missed my little big town (or would you call Louisville a big little town?) So I am humming "Good morning Louisville". One thing I learned on my trip is that my Father -in - law agree that the original Hairspray movie is the best of the two. I really like the new one one but I LOVED the the original. It might be because it is a childhood staple and therefore I owe it my loyalties. I'll have to watch both of them back to back and really decide.

We had a nice 15 day trip. I checked emails some and got a sitereader update while there and I just wanted to thank all of you who check this blog whether I write anything or not!

Anyway, we drove to Miami via Atlanta, where Mike's grandma and uncle's family met Miss D for the first time. A wonderful visit! Then we went to Miami. Total driving over two days was about 20 hours to and from. D did great on the way down, she slept about the same times that she would have during her naps and talked to us (babbled :) and sang along with Alison Krauss and Robert Plant. She prefers music much more than books on tape (we listened to two David Sedaris, a Dave Barry, and the original unedited manuscript of Karouac's "On the Road")

We did a lot of seeing, sunning, and resting. Pictures are coming.
A few favorite things were:

• taking D to Papa's work were she charmed the ladies at Miami International Airport.
• Our days at the beach though, Mike and I were both so thrilled to be there the first day we applied sunscreen (spf 45) quickly and became striped for the remainder of the trip. Seriously it was stripes of pale right next to stripes of blistered sunburn. This prompted us not to take D to the beach on this vacation because the Miami sun is so brutal, luckily Nana and Dorothy had several days playing and bonding together while M and I were off getting sunburns!
• We met Bert and Jessica and their girls for lunch and walk in the waves. It was great! (we love meeting friends when they are vacationing close to us- We missed you Noltemeyers).

On the way home we came through Gainsville and visited with Aunt Jean, Uncle Hubert, and Wayne's family. It was more sweet time with family as D met them for the first time. D had a harder time coming home but still was pretty entertained in the car. I will still take vacationing advice from anyone who has travelled with kids as we have Mike's sabbatical coming up (!!!). One thing that was essential was having a big container on the floor under her seat where we had diapers, food, wipes, and toys so that the items were easy to grab when we stopped for breaks on the road.

Sigh, so hello Louisville, green rocking chair, mom and dad, friends, my own bed, and of course Ginger-dog. I missed you all. Very much. Drop me a line. I want to catch up.