Because Hope is Worth it

You've gotta do this.
Seriously. If you've ever sewn a stitch in your life, please do this.
Scroll to Project 4 and read. Then, start to work on a sock monkey for these tiniest of burn victims, right here in the U.S. of A.

Because HOPE really is worth it, and being a part of the awesomeness that is Craft Hope is just completely amazing and bigger than yourself.

Ms. Jade Sims, Craft Hope creator and Queen, as I call her, has become my friend this year. She is about to have a sweet baby, all in the midst of finishing up her book details (way to go, Barnes & Noble, for publishing a Craft Hope book).

I had to send her some baby goodies to match her nursery:

And make a coordinating card, too. This one followed a sketch from Triple the Sketch.

Blessings to you, Craft Hope Queen, to your sweet baby, and to all you girls out there getting your craft on for this great organization!

Chocolate Cupcakes, Superfriends, 36"

Made those chocolate cupcakes to cheer up Emilia. (looks like Lilly was also uplifted)
Delivered them, along with the drawing of Gus in heaven with Jesus. Which led to this.


Funny thing is, these two ran in and suited up without mamas knowing. Hilarious when they burst out into the backyard in these get-ups.

Of course, Lilly is not easily outdone.

TigerLilly: "RRRAAAAAHHHH!!!"

We had a beautiful time at Silver Dollar City today. Loving 80 degree weather in August.
Like it that brother was showing sissy how to press the button to make the butterfly fly.

And want to remember (or forget, really) these signs:

For a 34"ish sized little gal, the summer of 36" rides has been tough. We dealt with it at the fair, and now Silver Dollar City. She waits in line, and, sometimes, an operator will look the other way, but other times, a tearful, very unhappy Lilly has to walk away, rideless. And no amount of "naaacks" can suffice.

But, isn't she beautiful?

And isn't he handsome?

Want to help yourself feel happier?
Start a blog.
Post all your happy photos and write about them.
And maybe, just MAYBE, all the bad stuff of the day that you did and said and felt and wallowed in will slink into the background of your thoughts, and you'll realize: I have a pretty stinkin' great life.
In that moment, there is happiness.

All Dogs go to Heaven

Jesus and Gus.
Doesn't get any sweeter than this . . . a picture Ian made today for his precious most awesome friend ever/neighbor Emilia. Gus went to doggy heaven today, and Ian wanted to make her feel better. My fave part? You guessed it--Jesus, all Ian's idea to add Him. We'll deliver the drawing tomorrow, with some homemade cupcakes -- chocolate with chocolate frosting, and sprinkles--LOTS, of course! Hopefully, Miss Emilia will smile.

Woe is me. No camera tonight at the Cards ballgame. It was Star Wars night and Ian went dressed as "Orange Luke," blue light saber at the hip.
He dueled with several boys who also had light sabers.
He white-knuckle gripped daddy's hand when a sandperson passed by.
He battled with mascot Louie.
And on the way out, he defeated Darth Vader who was guarding the exit. It was a light saber duel to go down in history [orrrr, the bottom of the fourth].

Photoshop Brushes, etc.

or, the extended title: Photoshop brushes/Keeping my Sanity/Bragging Rights/Things I Love/Mama Memories/Ian's Alphabet

1. Photoshop brushes
Wish I played more with brushes. Here, I played a little with some pictures from yesterday.


2. Keeping my Sanity
To my book club ladies:
Tonight.
So fun. So good to laugh. So not snooty. So much a favorite thing I do each month.
We should be a panel on Crossfire, what with all of our extremely different political views. But instead, we're a group of ladies who love and respect one another and appreciate our differences. Carol: thank you for putting such a wonderful group of ladies, now friends, together almost two (has it been 2 yet?) years ago.

3. Bragging rights
Check out this site Nathan designed and developed. Incredible!!! Went live tonight.

4. and 5. Things I love/Mama Memories:

• Coming home to a sweet honey who has the children in bed. Asleep.
• Going in to kiss my sweet Ian on the cheek. Love that last little sugar of the night. Such a warm, sweet cheek, your precious mind at rest for the day.
• Lilly waking up after a couple hours asleep, and, even though she loves her daddy so dearly, it's ME she wants. All mama. And when I come in to hold her, she is instantly comforted, and we sit in the dark and rock in the glider. As a bonus, she pats mama on the shoulder as she softly says, "Need drink (dink)." It's almost as if she knows I need this as much as she does.
• I say to myself, "Rebekah, remember this."

6. Ian's alphabet
For some reason, little 'a' often wants to go the direction of little 'n' in Ian's name. So, now, scandalously, little 'a' tries to kiss big 'I' every time Ian writes his name. So of course, she goes toward 'I' instead of away from it. Seems to be working.


Since the local school system uses D'Nealian handwriting, I was excited to find this site. For my in town friends, check it out if you have a child about to start kindergarten. Click on "First Alphabet" on the left side and it provides D'Nealian worksheets and letter practice ideas.

Speaking of, parents of preschoolers, check out this article. Let's make sure our kids still play, okay?

Working on an annual freelance editing project right now--takes up lots of my fun time. It will be over soon and I will start feeding Yeebird again, daily.

Happy day, everyone.

Material Girl

So much summer fun happening around here. Lots of playing with the neighbor children (Melissa--loved that you guys turned on Michael Jackson tunes for the dancing), turning our backyard slide into a water slide with the hose, swimming at the pool, and tonight, going to Caleb's 13th birthday party.

And, remember this post? (scroll to bottom of post) I've been sewing all week, getting my things finished for this secret project. I so wish I could reveal -- maybe soon.

Anyway . . . today (Saturday) is my debut at Triple the Sketch. For all who linked from that site, here are more photos of my mini-album, Material Girl. It's a collection of some of my favorite sewing projects, with some pages of InStyle mixed in for fun.

Enjoy the last of summer, everyone!

P.S. Did I mention I'm going to DISNEYWORLD?!!! More on that later!

Twitter-Nate

Thought I'd share Nathan with you all today. I so love his tweets. Here's a glimpse of my funny-honey:

My tooth thanks you, God, for enamel. My coffee cup does not.10:45 AM Jul 31st
Hot coffee, photo treatments for a friend, Prospekt's March in the 'phones. I win.8:10 PM Jul 28th
I'm soaked. But I have free Sbux.8:11 AM Jul 21st
T-shirt at church: "Video games ruined my life. Good thing I have two extra lives."6:15 PM Jul 19th
"Don't you PUT that evil on me, Ricky Bobby!!"8:30 PM Jul 17th
Romo and Simpson split! WE'RE GOIN' TO THE SUPER BOWL, 'BOYS!!5:49 PM Jul 13th
Let's not call today "Monday." Let's call it "BlisteringAssaultofaDay."10:19 AM Jul 13th
Big Web day ahead. Lots of video chats between here and Austin. Now, if only I could get my programmers out of bed...6:12 AM Jul 9th
When used to designing on a Mac, a PC makes design feel like someone's stomping on the brakes every couple of minutes...12:33 PM Jul 8th
Us: "Happy birthday to you, happy birthd--" // Lilly: "Doh-wannit!!"7:24 AM Jul 3rd
Boss just bought Andy's for everyone. I declined. I feel victorious. And terribly sad.2:09 PM Jul 2nd
HOLY COW. "Jaws" is playing all week at the Palace! I've NEVER seen this on the big screen. AWE. SOME. Bring on the shark!5:59 AM Jun 26th
Sporting a brand new car today! And by "car" I mean "flip-flops."10:03 AM Jun 25th
Hard morning's work. Home now with kiddos. Sprinkler is mos def part of the afternoon...come on home, sweetie!11:48 AM Jun 24th
Two things: 1) Ian jumped off the diving board for the first time; 2) I eliminated nigh unto thousands of Japanese Beetles. A good night.7:33 PM Jun 17th
Monday happened, like, all over the place today.2:17 PM Jun 15th
Yesterday, Ian learned to http://virb.com/nathanwilli...7:08 AM Jun 13th
Most jarring phrase heard today: "...robotic gynecological surgery..."11:20 AM Jun 11th
Tastes never to be combined: vinegar and coffee. Don't ask HOW I know; just accept THAT I know.10:57 AM Jun 3rd
:90 script clocks in at 3 min, 45 sec. Think anyone will notice?8:46 PM May 28th
Rebekah rocks. Just try to keep up, ladies: http://yeebird.blogspot.com/8:15 AM May 23rd

And my favorite:
Everything I say and do is being displayed on a huge monitor in a conference room...pretty sure I feel a booger.7:37 AM Jul 20th

Tweets from:
http://twitter.com/williams_n

DIY Puppet Stage

A Yeebird reader/family friend saved this for me (thanks, Jackie!!). I love the idea. The directions didn't scan well, so I've retyped them, below:

Any doorway becomes center stage with this playful project from Cool Spaces for Kids ($19.99; Hachette). Here's how to get the show on the road.
Step 1: Start with a curtain that's at least half an inch wider than the doorframe, and cut out an opening for the "stage" (this one measures 18 by 16 inches).
Step 2: To make the stage's "curtains," select a contrasting fabric, and cut out a square that's slightly larger than the opening. Snip that square in half, then pin both pieces to the back of the opening at the top.
Step 3: For an extra (optional) fillip, cut triangles from a third fabric and pin them to the front of the opening at the top.
Step 4: Pin two 12-inch ribbon "tiebacks" to each side of the opening's front.
Step 5: Frame the stage--and sew the curtains, triangles, and tiebacks in place--by stitching ribbon around the opening.
Step 6: Sew a loop of ribbon onto the curtain's top corners, then hang from nails on the doorframe.
--VALERIE RAINS
(countryliving.com June 2009)

Wouldn't this be perfect in an elementary classroom? Talk about easy set-up! Puppet shows are a fun and wonderful way to teach children story elements -- beginning, middle, end, characters, setting, plot).

I plan to make one for my kids. Yee-version: I might just use an old tablecloth and a LOT of stitch witchery. Puppet shows have been all the rage in our house this week for some reason (thanks, Mum and Papa, for the puppets you gave Ian his first Christmas).

If you decide to make this, I'd love to know how it turns out.