Too F-U-N-N-Y!!!

Just in case all yall who know me as the sweet, gentle adult Amanda................read the following conversation between a man who is a couple years younger than me and who grew up in the same neighborhood as me:

Michael David:

I told a story the other day about y'all being the "enforcers" on the school bus. It made me laugh.

Me:

y'all who?? I want to hear the story about the school bus.

Michael David:

I was telling a story about you and the other Amanda being the "heavy's" on the bus. Nothing happened on that bus without yall knowing about it. I remember ya'll threatening to beat up boys ALL the time. That, and the time ya'll saved my butt from that Cole kid. All the bad kids were scared of ya'll, and the little kids would threaten to tell "the amanda's" if a big kid started picking on them. hehehehe, good stuff.

Me:

Uh, UH!!!??? I had NO idea! That's funny, because really, I was afraid of everyone else.........you had to ACT tough so no one would mess with you!!

Go Check It Out!

Hey, family and friends! I have recently started a new faith based blog called Fixing Our Eyes on Jesus. Ryan has encouraged this and is trying to get others to do the same. Check out his ideas about faith based blogs at Church Blog Theory.

Hobby or Obsession?

Okay.....so periodically I get distracted from my daily duties thinking about bags..........I think about fabric, patterns, pockets......sigh.

Thankfully I live in a time where I can get on the internet and find free patterns, tutorials, fabric...........life is good!

So, here is a small bag I made last night from two free online tutorials (one for the bag and one for the zippered pocket) and fabric given to me from Carolyn's (Ryan's mom) stash. I think this fabric is over 20 years old and I love it! Vintage.


This morning I spent some time with the graph paper drafting a pattern for this bag I found on the internet..........I did not sew the bag in the picture. I am going to try to make one similar to it. Stay tuned to see how it turns out!

Fall Fun!

What a fun October! A few weeks ago, Ryan, Jacob, and I went camping at Heber Springs Lake. We fished, roasted marshmallows, and Jacob threw almost every rock there into the lake! It was cold, but Ryan and I snuggled under the electric blanket and Jacob was cozy under his sleeping bag on his cot!

We also visited a pumpkin patch with some other moms and children from our church, Cloverdale Church of Christ. There were lots of cute sets to take photos, a corn maze, a hay maze, a sunflower field, animals, a hayride, and each child got to take home a pumpkin. It was a blast! Jacob wore his overalls............although he was embarassed at first and insisted wearing having his jacket zipped all the way up!

Last weekend was Harding's Homecoming and Bison Days where high school students can come check out the college. A group came from Pearland, and we were so happy that YaYa and Mrs. Donna stayed at our house! For Jacob, it was like Christmas because they came bearing gifts: animal crackers and a set of Geo Tracks trains from Yaya and gum and Tick Tacks from Mrs. Donna. They also brought gifts for Ryan and I (they shouldn't have because they already do SO much for our family); lots of Starbuck's coffee from Yaya and a Mexican Train domino game from Mrs. Donna. It's just too bad I had to beat Yaya and Donna on my first game ever to play with them...........sigh. We stayed up late every night and enjoyed lots of visiting and laughing. We love both those ladies sooooo much!

As a part of the Homecoming festivities, we went to a children's theater show, rode ponies, fed animals at the petting zoo, jumped on moonwalks, and saw the Homecoming Musical, Oklahoma!

Lastly, today Jacob got to dress up for school. He dressed up like a scary dragaon, and as you can see from the pic above, was scaring all the pretty princesses at school as soon as I dropped him off..........I hope he doesn't get into too much trouble! They are also going on a hayride around the school and will get to bring home a pumpkin............Good Times!

Oh, yea, on Saturday, our church is having a Fall Festival........so pics from that later!

Love you all!

Oh where, oh where, has Amanda been?

Greetings, and all that good stuff!

I know it has been a MONTH since my last post, but at least I will have lots to tell ya, right??!!!

I can honestly say that we are settled into a good routine here in Searcy, and things are just rockin' along. Jacob is loving going to Carpenter's Kids on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, and I am enjoying the time to get things done around the house, sew, go to MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers), and spend time with new friends. Ryan is enjoying school and is really excited about the things he is learning.

So, the rest of this update will be in the form of a list:

1. Sewing

I taught my friend AnnMarie how to sew a purse (Donna and Julie - can you imagine ME the sewing teacher????!!!)

I made a purse from a pattern and fabric kit Donna gave to me as a going-away-gift.........isn't it cute!!!??

2. MOPS & BUNCO

I have attended my first two Mothers of Preschoolers meetings........the topics have been so encouraging and relevant and I love the time in my small group where we share and pray and get GREAT advice from our mentor mom.

I also have attended my first 2 Bunco nights hosted by two women of my congregation who want to minister to young mothers and give us a night of no cooking and FUN! They also have time where they present some information to help us in our mothering and being good wives....this week it was about being hospitable on a budget. It is a GREAT time where I have met several wonderful Christian women.

3. Family

I will let Ryan update you about him no his blogS.......

Jacob is growing so much! He is learning his letters and their sounds. He loves to be read to, ride his bike, and play in the back yard. He has made new friends at church and school and with children of other CAMT students. He still LOVES the Wiggles and was surprised today when Grammy (my sweet mommy) sent him a NEW red Wiggles T-shirt. Thank you, Grammy! His yellow Wiggles shirt has gotten so little on him, and he wanted to wear it several times a week........I had told him that we were going to have to stop wearing it, but that I would turn it into a pillow for him. So, today when he opened and saw his NEW red Wiggle shirt, he went to his drawer and brought me his old yellow shirt, and told me I could make it into a pillow now. And, that is exactly what I did! He is SUPPOSED to be sleeping on it right now!


And here are some more family pictures.......Enjoy!

September 9th, 2008

Yesterday was a BIG day around here.........not only was it my 32nd birthday (really, NOT a reason to celebrate), but it was Jacob's first day of preschool. For starters, Jacob and Ryan sang Happy Birthday to me and presented me with a sewing book as I got ready for the day.

I dropped Jacob off at 8:30 with his Show-n-tell item......his Animal Atlas book because he had to bring something that started with the letter A. We kissed goodbye and I left without any fussing (from him). I cried in the car on the way home, but after getting myself together, I went home and ..................cleaned. Yes, you can get A LOT more done when your 3 year old isn't yelling, "Anthony (that's my Wiggle name), lets go get into the Big Red Car (the couch)!" So, the shower doors got a good scubbin' yesterday! Then, after doing some other chores and maybe after a little FACEBOOKING (I got so many nice birthday wishes on Facebook), I headed off to Sonic for my fix (cherry-vanilla-diet-coke, large) and then to Hancock's (ALL BY MYSELF) to buy fabric for some purses I am making.

When I went to pick up Jacob, he was playing sweetly in his classroom. His teacher's told me he was the ONLY one in his class to know the number zero. I am still puffed up with pride! He talked my ear off the whole way home......he told me about the girl who tried to take his Animal Atlas away, but reassured me that he "jerked it away from her!" He watched a puppet show, sang songs, learned the letter A, played outside with sidewalk chalk, and the girl sitting next to him at lunch was eating..............a LUNCHABLE!!! Oh, and his teachers told him NOT to jump in a water puddle outside. He is so excited to go back tomorrow and I am happy that he had such a great day!

I had 2 deliveries; a care package from my mom with a skirt and blouse for me and other goodies for the boys, and Laura sent me a beautiful bouquet of flowers.

So, in the afternoon, I tutored a 15 y.o. girl in Algebra, and after Ryan made it back from, ahem, LOOKING AT MOTORCYCLES, we went to Chili's (Searcy has a Chili's now!!!) for dinner. We shared a chocolate cake for dessert and Jacob chanted, "Happy Birthday to my Momma" the whole time.

It was a wonderful day.....each part of it! Thanks to all who made it special.

Broken Fashion Rule & Playing Church

I have two things I'd like to share this Saturday morning while my husband is at a............MOTORCYCLE SAFETY SCHOOL!!! And no, this is NOT a part of the ministry training program. I am NOT happy about this.

Moving on............

I am breaking a fashion rule this morning (I probably break these rules on a regular basis without realizing it). I am proudly wearing WHITE shorts this morning. I feel like such a rebel.

Second, and way more interesting than the shorts is Jacob playing church this morning. He stands on the laundry basket with his Bible in hand, and says, "Hallelujah message! In Jesus name, Amen." All the while following me around the house while I do some chores....in the kitchen, "There's a message true and glad for the sinful and the sad, RING IT OUT.......(all the way through the first verse). Papa (my daddy) would be SO proud!