We Made it!!

This is a picture of our booth at the festival this weekend. Did you see us there?

This is what Grammy and Evie did for a little while. The pictures were beautiful, of course!

Momma and Evie got to go for a ride on the train. Can you see us in the back? We're waving at you all!


All tuckered out. In spite of all the noise, the train and the people coming through, she couldn't resist a little afternoon siesta.

The Last Day!

Amanda's Hand Embroidered Dolls

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Our Wooden Toys

We have been busy, busy, busy. So busy, in fact, that I can hardly sit up straight. While Dad has cut out all the wooden toys, the girls have sanded and my mom and I have painted. Amanda has been embroidering faces, making clothes and designing hair.

On the side, I have also been working on these garlands.

I know they are hard to see, but there are five in this picture. If I don't sell them all at the show tomorrow, I will list them on Ebay next week and you'll get your chance at them. Or you can just come to the show! That way you'll get first pick!

Well, tiredness rules and there's still much to do.

Elizabeth

New Every Morning

From the reading this morning in Streams in the Desert:

"For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?" (Romans 3:3)

" I think I can trace every scrap of sorrow in my life to simple unbelief. How could I be anything but quite happy if I believed always that all the past is forgiven, and all the present furnished with power, and all the future bright with hope because of the same abiding facts which do not change with my mood, do not stumble because I totter and stagger at the promise through unbelief, but stand firm and clear with their peaks of pearl cleaving the air of Eternity, and the bases of their hills rooted unfathomably in the Rock of God. Mont Blanc does not become a phantom or a mist because a climber grows dizzy on its side." James Smetham.

Do you struggle with unbelief? I know I do. I wonder if He really hears me, if He is going to answer my prayer. The problem is not with God but with me. My own unbelief. Oh, God that you would teach me to believe!

Elizabeth

The Last Leg of the Journey

Well, here I am in all of my morning glory. My hair tied up in a knot, no makeup and I haven't brushed my teeth yet. Of course, you probably couldn't tell that. About my teeth, I mean.

At any rate, I am putting the final base coat of paint on our elephants. Those are navy blue wheels that will go on the elephants once they are finished. My mom will put the ears, eyes and tails on them later.

There used to be dining room here somewhere. The turtles in the back are only waiting for their wheels and pull strings. The ducks and cars in the box in the foreground are done. Only a few more days. I am hoping to work on a few more garlands today. I will try to post pictures of those for you as well.

Just wanted you to know where I am today.

Elizabeth

Kissin' Cousins!

My sister-in-law came by today with the two children and my little nephew here found the idea fascinating that Laura could be on one side of the glass and he on the other but he couldn't touch her. He was trying to kiss her but to no avail! Isn't it cute?

We have been incredibly busy trying to get ready for our show on Saturday. We have toy cars, toy wagons, toy ducks, toy turtles and toy elephants all made from wood then we also have all the fabric frou-frou's as well. We are still painting, tying, tagging, touching up and applying. It is taking all hands available to be ready. But we are excited and we are hopeful. Don't you wish you could be there?

I never know what a day will hold. Do you? Sometimes, you expect great things and you lay down at night exhausted from all the unpleasant surprises you weren't expecting. Then on days you expect to be difficult, God has some hidden blessing just waiting there to be discovered. I imagine that all days have those hidden blessings. I wonder how many I have missed today.

I tend to be self-centered. (I heard that *gasp*!!) But it is true, none-the-less. I tend to keep my eyes on myself, my feelings, my needs, my desires, my expectations. I imagine that if I would keep my eyes more on my Saviour, the less bumpy my life's road would be. In fact, a beloved friend said that to me today. She was reminding me that when we focus on the love Christ has for us, the blessings he intends for us, and the work he has already done for us, we get too busy to notice ourselves.

My prayer for myself (no pun intended) and for you this evening would be that we would become blinded to ourselves and that our eyes would be opened instead to that blessed Redeemer who gave His ALL for people like me.

Rejoicing in my King,

Elizabeth

Tightwad Tip

Okay, call me crazy. My kids did. Anyhow, at my youngun's birthday party this weekend, people with more money than me bought her gifts and put them into adorable, reusable gift bags. Not only that, they bought the tissue paper to match! Now, in the past, I have saved said tissue paper to reuse with the gift bag but have tended to be slightly annoyed at its "less than new" look. Today, I was contemplating that as I was carefully folding all that tissue paper into neat little squares when it occurred to me that I could possibly iron the tissue paper. I used low heat and no steam (for obvious reasons) and voila! Nearly new looking tissue paper.

I will warn you that people will think you are crazy. It is probably one of those things you should do in secret. I only say that because my daughters, who are young tightwads in training, came down this morning and looked at me as if they were slightly concerned about my mental health.

I will even admit that there are a few who are a little more than concerned, but that's another post. Suffice it to say, I was quite pleased with the outcome. I don't recommend that you devote an entire morning to ironing tissue paper, but it's a good idea in a pinch, don't you agree?

As promised, here are a few photos from our fun weekend.

The Whole Crew

Our Oldest Son and Our Oldest Daughter



Aren't they sweet? The gift was an UNO game.

A Lady Bug Party deserves a Lady Bug Cake!

And by the way, for all of you who got a certain email stating that "momma hasn't put my picture on the website yet", HERE SHE IS:

Isn't she great? And she SO enjoys having her picture taken, too.

Well, hope you enjoyed your weekend.

Elizabeth

No Time For Bloggin'!

Our boys have come in for the weekend and brought along our 5 yr old granddaughter! What fun it is to have TWO five year old girly girls in the house. I am hoping to get in some new pictures for you by the beginning of next week.



Meanwhile, we are still plugging away at our "work" to get ready for this next Craft Show. We are excited about the possibilities there. We will be in Fayetteville, WV which is purportedly one of the top ten Coolest Small Towns in the nation. What an honor for our little bitty West Virginia home.



Until next week, I leave you with this:

What girls I have!!

Elizabeth

Yes, Sir! That's My Baby!

Evie's 5th birthday was so much fun! It's a rite of passage, you know. She's ready to start school, ready to learn to read, why, she can even butter her own bread now! (Or, so she says!)

Having my youngest be such a lady now is hard! It wasn't too long ago that I was the mother of "all those little girls". Now, I am the mother of one little girl and five young women. Time flies.

I don't even know where all that time has gone. Maybe in the living, washing, feeding and caring. Maybe in the hours of "no sleep for momma". I don't know. I do know that my encouragement to other young momma's out there is to not wish them all grown up too quickly. Very soon they are. Then, you will sit and ponder about all that time you wish you could re-live.

By the way, Evie may be five, but she's "not too old for momma to still hold me!"

Aahh, how sweet that sounds.

Elizabeth

Sew Beautiful!

Here are my two daughters, oldest and youngest enjoying my mother's flower beds. My mom has the prettiest flower beds around and they are a joy to see.



So, I guess you're wondering why I posted this as "sew" beautiful? I wanted to show off one of my latest endeavors.

I have posted these adorable Fourth of July Hair Accessories in my Etsy Shop. You can see them at this link www.sewelizabethplumley.etsy.com I'll even make you a deal! If you buy all ten that I have listed there and let me know that you found them here at this webblog, I'll ship them to you for free. WOW! What a deal! You can't really refuse that, can you?

I hope you all have a wonderful day, keep your eyes on your Savior and Lord and continue in His grace,

Elizabeth

Well, after a few days, I am finally getting back to my mom's birthday. Here we all are right after our dinner of homemade pizza, just before cake and presents. Well, okay, obviously we are not all here. I am not in the picture since I am taking the picture and my dear handsome hubby was working. Oh, and my three oldest girls were still at camp. But you get the idea.

Well, I have been working on getting ready for a Fourth of July craft event that my dad and I are doing together. That's him on the far right. He is doing wood work and I am doing sewing, crafting, painting, crotcheting, etc. I am hoping to have pictures for you very soon of some of our work. I

Well, have you noticed as I have that the three paragraphs in this post all start with well? Well, did you? Well, I guess that is because I am doing well. You know, six months ago my life was so completely different, and yet God in His great mercy has changed me, moved me, and is re-arranging most everything for me. I had mentioned to my dad that my world had turned upside down. He noted that really, it is now down side up.

So, I close with that new perspective on things. My world is now down side up.

Elizabeth

Are you smarter than...?

My friends tell me that there is a show out there called "Are you smarter than a 5th grader?" While I have never watched the show, I can only imagine what happens.

Speaking of which, I am expecting family over today to get ready for my mom's "39th" birthday. Again. Anyhow, I decided a good cleaning of the coffee pot was in order. So, I took off the handle. I mean one little screw there, how hard can it be? When the screw finally let loose, there was this strange little "ping" sound. Ominous, almost. The handle came right off, as well as the decorative little metal band around the bottom. Thinking how clean my coffee pot will be, I went right to work scrubbing it. Got it clean, dry and now it is sitting on my counter waiting to be put back together. Because I can't. Not that I won't. No, I truly can't. No matter how many ways I turn the crazy thing, I cannot figure out how to put it back together.

So, the question of the day, am I smarter than the coffee pot? Apparently not....

Elizabeth

Errands Galore

So, this morning I will be off and running with thanks and the help of my dad. He decided to take me on these errands today so that I wouldn't have to drive handsome hubby to work to keep the truck.

Yes, we are a one-vehicle family. When our last car died, we decided that it was much more economical to have only the truck with one payment, one insurance, and one tank to fill. So, where do we put all of those girls? In the back. Yep, I said in the back. I mean, why live on curvey mountain roads if you can't ride in the back?

We hope to save up for a better family vehicle, but right now we don't want to rush into something and add to our list of bills. We are waiting for the Lord to provide just the right vehicle at just the right time.

One of my stops today will be to turn in the girls test scores and my letter of intent to homeschool again this fall. I realize that we just finished school, but I am already looking forward with eager anticipation to this next year. My oldest beautiful daughter will be finishing up school and my youngest will be starting. Isn't that a hoot?

I hope you all have a wonderful day and that you see the many blessings that surround you as you live for Him today!

Elizabeth

New Beginnings

It's been a long hot week already around here. We struggled for the first few days until we could get our air conditioning up and running again. It took calling a local company to get it started, but we were so thankful to feel that cool air.

My older girls are at camp this week. I am praying that this will be a time of renewal and dedication to Jesus Christ. My desire for this home is to be a "Place of Grace". The Lord has certainly given me a vision for that and I am waiting for Him to work in each heart around here in His own way and His own time.

I was finally able to post a few things on etsy today. You can see my newest items by checking out http://www.sewelizabethplumley.etsy.com/. I hope you will see something there that you like. I hope to be adding a few more things over the next few weeks.

The Lord is really teaching me about faith, about trusting in Him no matter how the circumstances may appear. So, before I rest my weary body this evening, I intend to offer up that sacrifice of praise for all that He is doing in my life. Will you join me?

Elizabeth