I have a 16 year old!

My oldest baby turned 16 at 12:01pm today! I really can't even begin to wrap my head around this, it just seems like yesterday when he was born. He was a big baby, weighing 9 lbs. 4 oz., which shocked all of us because I was pretty tiny and never thought I would have a baby so large. Hmph, I went on to give birth to a 10 pounder LOL He was so fat and chubby and had a permanent little scowl on his face until he was 6 months old : ) However, when he decided to start smiling, he never stopped. He has always been very attached to his Daddy, he used to point to everything and say "dat's daddy's" . It didn't matter what it was, it could be my mascara, he would say, "dat's daddy's" LOL He is still a Daddy's boy, if he could, he would be with him 24/7. He has always been very friendly and very confident. The confidence is usually a good thing, he never bows to peer pressure just because everyone else is doing something. Sometimes though, he can be a little annoying. Of course, I am never sure if that is his personality or maybe just the fact that he is a teenager LOL He is my first one, so I am still not super sure of how this parenting a teen thing goes. He is a wonderful big brother, especially to the little ones. Ava absolutely adores him and follows him around like a little puppy. He never minds and will sit with her in his lap for hours while watching the golf channel. I think she is as attached to him as she is to me, and that is saying alot LOL When Samuel and Ava were newborns, he would often offer to rock them in the middle of the night when they were fussy, so that I could get some sleep. He could usually calm them down better than me or Chad. He is a big reason that it was so easy having my last two children, he was a HUGE help. And he helped with a wonderful attitude, he truly wanted to take care of the babies. Even now, he will take Samuel to the golf course with him, just because Samuel enjoys it.

He is huge now, towering over me with his 6' 1" self. It is a wierd thing to have to look way up to your own child, especially when you feel like they were a tiny baby only a little while ago.

For his birthday, he wanted just he and I to go eat out together. We had sushi and then saw a movie after. It was really nice to sit and talk to him, even though most of the conversation was about golf ; ) lol Did I mention that he loves golf? LOL He is actually very good and we, especially his Dad, are very proud of him. He is growing up and I am very, very proud of him! I can't wait to see what kind of man he turns out to be. I know this, he will make some young lady a wonderful husband and he will be a great father!

I love you, Austin! Happy Birthday!

edited to add: I wrote this yesterday and forgot to publish it. Also, the above picture is from the proofs of the professional pictures my good friend Jessica Thomas took of us. That is why it has proof across it LOL If anyone lives in the Acadiana area of South Louisiana, her and her husband Beau do a wonderful job. Here is their website, JLang Photography. If anyone would like to see the rest of the pictures, just register for your own accountfor free and then go to client proofing and look at the Richard family photos. You can't miss it, my dh is the front picture hamming it up LOL the password is *richfam*. Some of the pictures are very interesting, Ava and Samuel weren't in the best mood, so several of them are of both of them freaking out. These are actually some of my favorite ones. Very real life! ; D

We're going to Greece (well in cyberspace ; )

I am joining Holly from Mommy Holly and Heidi Ann from Foxgloves Fabric and Folly and going on a virtual vacation! Like this mother and daughter, we can't afford a real vacation this year because of skyrocketing gas and food prices, so we are gonna have a little fun and plan a dream vacation anyway LOL

We usually go to the Alabama coast for our annual vacation. We are beach people and there is nothing better than renting a condo on the beach and spending our days relaxing by the water. It is so soothing to just lay on the beach while the kids play in the water, I adore the sound of waves breaking on the shore.

So, I thought we would do what we love, just in a much more exotic location : D Also, instead of staying for our usual week, we will be staying for a month!



We will be traveling to Corfu, Greece!!!!!!

One of the Ionian Islands, northwestern Greece. With adjacent small islands, it forms the Corfu department (pop., 1995 est.: 108,000) of Greece; the town of Corfu (pop., 1995 est.: 36,000) is the departmental capital. Corfu occupies 229 sq mi (593 sq km). It was settled by the Corinthians c. 734 BC. Off its coast the first naval battle in Greek history was fought, between Corfu and Corinth c. 664 BC. About 435 BC it sought the aid of Athens against Corinth, precipitating the Peloponnesian War. A Roman possession in 229 BC, it later passed to the Byzantines, then to the Normans. It was ruled by Venice from 1386 to 1797 and was under British administration from 1815 until it was ceded to Greece in 1864. Germans and Italians occupied it during World War II. It is now a popular tourist destination and produces olive oil, figs, oranges, lemons, and wine.



I have ALWAYS dreamed of going to Greece. It looks like an amazingly beautiful place and my favorite cuisine is Greek.

First I had to find a place for my large family to stay. I figured a beautiful villa would fit the bill. This is a dream vacation, right? LOL This beautiful piece of real estate was perfect : D

This dramatic and sophisticated house is set directly on the sea amidst flower- filled gardens in Kommeno, the most exclusive area of Corfu. With state-of–the-art technology, it offers the comforts of a modern year-round home in the relaxing surroundings of this beautiful Greek Island.

A gracious laurel-limed driveway leads from the stone entry gates through over 11,000 square meters of professionally landscaped grounds to the main residence. In front of the house a traditional entry courtyard with fountain welcomes visitors.

It has five bedrooms, so plenty of room for all of my children. Plus look at this master bedroom!

Plus a gorgeous bathroom with a HUGE tub to relax in after a day at the beach. There is even room for dh to join me ; ) Oh, I forgot to mention that we are also bringing a nanny to help with the children, so we can go out to dinner and have some alone time : D




Dh loves to cook, so a huge gourmet kitchen was a must.


We also need lots of living space for our large family.

And a nice romantic spot for sitting in the evening.



A private pool with a spectacular view of the Aegean Sea is nice as well : )



We really love to just relax on our vacations, we aren't big into going alot. Which is why a beautiful place to stay is so important. This is where we would spend most of our time. Of course, you can't be in Greece and not go see some of the beautiful sites and do some shopping!








I hope y'all enjoyed coming with us on our Greek vacation : )

Can't wait to see where everyone else is going! Here is a list of everyone else going on vacation, check them out!


1. Heidi from Foxgloves, Fabric & Folly
2. Alicia from Butterfly*Gems
3. Cecilia from Nifty
4. Madrin Designs
5. Tonya from PuddinPop
6. Mallory from Mallory D. and her Big Bodacious Blooms
7. Rachel from Cherry Tree Lane
8. BJ from Sweet Nothings
9. Jeanne from Backyard Neighbor
10. Mya from Creative Musings
11. Vintage Girl at Heart
12. Diane at A Picture is Worth 1000 Words
13. BrainMosaic
14. Cole from My Menagerie
15. Kari and Kijsa from Ask Kari and Kijsa
16. Beverly from How Sweet the Sound
17. Molly from Molly B.'s
18. Rhonda from Scooterblu's Whimsy
19. Shaybert from thirtyandholding
20. Joanna at Sweet Finds
21. Brittainy at The Litany of Brittainy
22. Melissa at The Inspired Room
23. Shirl at Shirl's Rose Cottage
24. Jan and Tom's Place
25. Jill at Bailiwick Designs
26. Schotzy at Wings of Eagles

I am so Honored!

Choose 5 blogs that you consider deserving of this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also contribute to the blogging community


Michelle at Eat Sleep Create has honored me with the Arte Y Pico Award again, I feel so special to have received this award for the second time. Michelle is a sweetheart, she has 2 beautiful children and she has been a foster mom to dozens of beautiful little babies. Her giving heart comes through in her blog and she also shares lots of beautiful sewing projects : )

Also, it gives me the chance to award some more of my favorite blogs!!!!

Trish from Briar and Thistle is a homeschooling mom of 3 little boys. She sews and knits and always has great ideas for things to do with your children.

Lisa and Sarah from A Spoonful of Sugar are a mother and daughter blogging team. They live in Australia and always have beautiful projects and ideas to share : )

Kelci from Crafty Mama Creations is one talented girl! She lives in California and has 2 gorgeous little girls, she also owns her own Etsy shop and makes beautiful bags, children's clothes and dolls to sell. She has a great, blunt sense of humor. I always end up LOL when I read her posts. She is having a sale right now, go check it out!

Murali from Miscellany of Me is a Yankee, living in Sydney, Australia. She always has the most beautiful pictures posted. Hey, my second blog from Australia! Love you ladies down under : ) Her posts are usually funny whether she intends them to be or not. Can y'all tell I love funny people : D

And last but not least is Cassie from You Go Girl, don't you love the name of her blog ?! Get this, she is the mom of 5 girls, the last 3 a set of triplets!!!! What a woman! LOL She does the most beautiful embroidery, check her out right now, she is having a giveaway of the most beautiful embroidered pincushion. I know I just decreased my chances of winning, but I am the sharing sort ; )


Go check out these blogs, I promise, you won't regret it!

I'm still alive (the kids didn't do me in LOL)

I don't know what my deal was this past week, everytime I would think of sitting down at the computer, I would find something else to do. This is highly unusual for me, I am usually somewhat addicted to this machine lol Also, I needed to take pictures and was very lazy about taking them. I have just been basically lazy lately.

I have been sewing, but I can't show y'all most of it because it is for a swap with Kelci over at Crafty Mama Creations. I got Kelci, and I cannot tell you how nervous I am about this! She is such an expert sewer and I don't want her to be disappointed with what I made her. Jona was a doll and helped me pick out material that she would like : ) I will post her gifts after she receives them this week.

My mom and I went antiquing last Thursday and I found the cutest little red gingham apron. I especially love the feather stitch around the bottom and on the pocket. I never find cute textiles around here, so I was really excited when I saw this!



I also found a vintage pattern and a wall plaque with two little girls sewing. I am going to put it on the wall by my sewing table.





I finished this Simplicity pattern last weekend, but didn't have a zipper for it. I finished it today and like how it came out. I thought I had picked out a pretty drapey fabric that wouldn't be difficult, but I was wrong. This stuff raveled like crazy! I used French seams and it came out fine. I love the finished project, but like I have said before, this kind of fabric is just not fun to sew with. It has a belt that goes with it, but I think I like it loose and flowy. This way I don't have to suck in ; ) Please excuse the bra straps, I think I may have to get a strapless bra for this dress. Ava wanted to be in the picture with me : )





I am so excited! My Mom finally wants me to teach her how to sew!!! I have been trying to get her to learn for years, but she had no interest. We went to JoAnns to get my zipper and some thread and she ended up buying 7 different prints and 3 patterns to make some dresses for herself. I told her I would just sew them for her, but she really wants to learn. She was having a blast picking out fabric, just wait until I introduce her to buying the really cute stuff online lol

Quick post

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone for the encouraging comments : ) I loved Lola's recommendation of chocolate and the closet, I am still LOL about that one! I came really close to trying the closet! Everything was fine the minute dh walked in the door, the kids have been their *normal* wild selves since then, not their *abnormal* wild selves they were this weekend. I made it through and no one died : )

I was even starting to think we had turned a corner with the oldest two boys. Parker made a cake and was serving everyone a piece, including Austin. That alone was a miracle, but then he brought Austin a big glass of cold milk. I was stunned, I seriously almost teared up at the sweetness of this gesture because these two do NOT get along! Well, I shouldn't have been so touched. He comes in a little while later and tells his brother that he had spit in the milk................ Austin actually thought it was funny and drank the milk anyway ::::gag:::: Of course, now he will have to get Parker back. Please God, let it be when dh is home from work?!

Motherhood is so *interesting* some days LOLOL

Sharing some link love and a little whining (sorry)

I have been finding some great inspiration all over the internet lately, thought I would share some with y'all : )

First off, Jona has officiallly opened her Fabritopia online fabric and pattern shop! I just received my first order from her, she was SOOOO helpful and you just can't beat great customer service : ) Plus, she seems to carry all of the fabrics that I love! Go check it out!

I really love the Oliver + S patterns from Liesl over at disdressed. I own 2 of the patterns and plan on collecting the others. I have made this one, and it came out great! Well, she is coming out with a fall line of patterns, and they are SO cute! She even has 2 patterns for boys. I always have trouble finding cute patterns for fall and winter, and now I have several to choose from! Samuel is going to be so excited that mama has some patterns to make just for him : ) Oh, and FYI, Jona carries the spring line of Oliver + S over at Fabritopia : )


I found this tutorial at Jona's blog from Melly and Me, I tell you this woman is a wealth of inspiration!LOL I have a huge laundry basket full of fabric scraps and now I know what to do with them. This also helps out with my wanting to learn how to quilt.

Oh, and Happy Father's Day to all of your dh's!

I have had a rough weekend, my dh took his annual Father's Day golf weekend with his best buddy. So, I have been alone with the kids since Friday morning. I don't much like being a single mommy. Plus, the two little ones have been EXTREMELY whiny for some reason ::::sigh:::: I am close to pulling my hair out, and am trying to not be all grouchy when he gets home tonight. He deserves this time away, I just wish it wasn't so hard on me. It doesn't help that the past week was crazier than usual. We had Vacation Bible School and my oldest son, Austin, had 2 golf tournaments over 3 days. He won both of them! However, dh goes with him, so they weren't home all week and I had the other 6 by myself, which is what made this weekend even harder.

Sorry for the whine, but I had to get it out before losing it with the kids, my nerves are shot!!! I didn't even plan on writing any of this, but I guess I needed to vent more than I realized. I feel a little better, I will feel alot better tonight when dh gets home LOL

Randomness

I just have some random things I wanted to share.

Here is the little dress I made for my friend. I hope it fits her little girl. I made a size 4T. She is 4, but on the bigger size of 4. I am gonna be really sad if it doesn't. Usually these patterns run a little big though, I know I still make a 2T for Ava because a 3T would be way too big. I think the godets are so cute, and for some reason I found them alot of fun to sew lol They make the skirt nice and twirly, which is very important when you are 4!


I also picked up my knitting again. I want to learn how to knit socks, so I got some cotton sock yarn and size 3 dpn's and started the Yarn Harlot's sock recipe. So far, so good! Of course, I am still just doing the leg, I havn't gotten to the heel yet lol Oh, and I am not showing you where I joined in the round, not very pretty! I should have started over, but I figure these are my first pair, I will probably mess something else up as well. I don't know why I want to knit socks, I NEVER wear socks, but there just seems to be something soothing about knitting socks, like I am doing something necessary and important(yeah right, maybe 100 years ago lol). So, my sock wearing friends will be receiving socks for gifts soon : D


Dh cut all of my baby boy's curls off yesterday : ( I love his big, crazy hair and get so sad everytime we cut it. He was complaining about how hot it was, though and it was getting bozo big, so it was time. Of course, I had to take pictures! LOL

Please ignore the fact that my husband is wearing his boxer shorts : ] At least he still has his shirt on! LOL The short hair makes him look so much older and taller for some reason.

I'm in a funk! and need advice on quilting : )

The last couple of weeks I have been in a creative funk. I have several things that I want to do, but when it comes time to pick a project for the day, I can't decide. So, I end up doing nothing, or piddling, but not really accomplishing much. This is really annoying because I have more time than usual right now to sew. I feel like I am wasting precious time! I did finally finish the dress for my friend's little girl. It has been pretty much finished for a week now, I just needed to insert the zipper and hem it, but I kept putting if off. Yesterday, I finally made myself do it. I think maybe I am burnt out on garment sewing?

I have really been wanting to try quilting, but am having trouble deciding on exactly what I want to do. You know how it is, when you are starting something new, easy things can seem overwhelming. Once you finally do it, you realize you were making a big deal out of nothing lol First, I have to actually pick a quilt pattern and fabric. I tend to want to make something that I know is too difficult for a first project, like this. I want to enjoy this new sewing adventure, not get so frustrated that I never want to do it again! Any recommendations from you quilting veterans out there?

I am thinking of this or this or this. Or even this.
I would also love to do a Dresden Plate quilt, but I think I should probably try something simpler first.

edited to add: Hey, do y'all like my new blog template?! Here is where I got it. Lena is incredibly talented and has lots of beautiful templates to choose from. I found her from a post over on Magnolias and Sunshine, thanks Holly : ) I think they only work if you have blogger, though. Anyway, go over and take a look, Marie mentioned she was going to ; )

Family Weekend

My brother, his wife and their 5 children came in this past weekend. They live in Mississippi and we havn't seen them since Thanksgiving. My children were excited to see their cousins and we enjoyed visiting as well. They stay at my parent's house, but we do everything over here because of the pool. My brother is in the Air Force, so we are really blessed that they are living close enough to easily visit right now. Before Mississippi, they were in Germany! We didn't see them for 3 years! When they left they had 3 children, and when they came back, they had 5 LOL I also gave birth to 2 more children while they were gone : ) Actually, Samuel and Kelsey are 3 1/2 months apart in age and Ava and Quentin are only a week and a half apart. Quentin was born on Christmas Eve and Ava was born January 2. They both missed a major holiday by a day lolol

I find it interesting that my mother and father only had 2 children, but they have 12 grandchildren! They love it, they are wonderful grandparents and are both very involved and proud of their 12 grandchildren. My mother would have actually loved to have had more children, but both my brother and I are basically miracles and she is lucky she was able to have us(especially me lol *just kidding*). It is also interesting that my mother was the baby of 10 and my father was an only child LOL

These pictures are from Saturday. Chad pot roasted 3 big rump roasts(have I said how great it is to have a dh that likes to cook?!) and I made 15 pounds of mashed potatoes, plus field peas, cucumbers, grape tomatoes and bell peppers. We also had watermelon for dessert. This family puts down a whole lot of food! The kids swam and played and had a great time. We watched the Belmont Stakes, Kent Desormeaux (the jockey for Big Brown) is from around here, so we were really hoping for the Triple Crown. Unfortunately, that didn't happen : (

They swam, there sure are a lot of kids in that pool lol

Two of my nieces, Kelsey and Ainsley

My other niece, Ramsey


The little ones had their own pools, the frog one cracks me up lol



Maw maw bought everyone new goggles lol The last two pictures are of my nephew, Quentin.


They played on the swingset and hung upside down like monkeys


They looked for frogs and bugs, this is my nephew, Keegan, holding a cicada.


This picture is just because it was so cute! I wish they got along like this all the time

Creativity

Kelci, at Crafty Mama Creations, did a craft swap recently that I am taking part in. Well, I was surprised to get my gift in the mail yesterday! Heather made a beautiful apron for me, I adore the fabric!!!! Seriously, I have somehow missed these prints, but they are so perfect for me! Thank you Heather so so much! Can y'all believe that she hasn't sewn in 10 years?! She did a fantastic job, look how cute the big brown ric rac is! My 3 older girls are in love with it, they made sure I wore it while cooking dinner tonight : )





I snuck some pictures of my girls today. I love when I see them doing things like reading or sewing instead of watching tv, it makes me happy. Don't get me wrong, they do their share of watching tv and playing computer games LOL



Sydney has been designing dresses for her American Girl doll, I am truly amazed at how good these dresses came out. No pattern at all, just her imagination. Here is the one she made yesterday. This design is so cute, I may have her help me make one up for her and the other girls.



Isabella decided to try making a nightgown for Ava : )
When she says *cheese* she sticks her tongue out lol

Look how much my green beans grew in one day! Seriously, this is one day's growth, I took the first picture yesterday morning and the second one this morning. Amazing!