01.01. 2011

7. yes, she's 7. i closed my eyes, i blinked. and she did it again...

this was the first year i didn't cry on her birthday. i get teary, but no tears on her day. my heart is so full and heavy when it comes to loving her. i never knew your heart could hold so much love for someone. and it tends to grow every day. it's amazing really. one day you not a parent, and then one day you are and your whole life changes. but i think it's pretty magical. the way my whole world lights up when she enters the room. the way my heart bursts when she smiles. lately, she tells me all of the time that i am the best mommy in the whole world. and it slays me, in the most amazing way possible. this little girl, this huge gift that God gave to charlie b and me. and i love it all.

this year on her birthday, we took her goofy golfing again. she loved it. the weather wasn't as cold as last year. but we bundled up and had a great time. after golfing, we took her to the movies. we saw Puss in Boots. pretty cute. and she loved it because of all of the cats in it. she wants to buy it when it comes out on dvd. that is a pretty good sign that she likes a movie.

so happy birthday to my little girl. i love who you are and who you are becoming. you are beautiful on the inside and out. i love your smile, your laugh and the way you still like to hold my hand everywhere we go. (i love the way you hold my hand when you want to show me something in your room). you are so sweet and thoughtful. you have the biggest heart. i am so proud of the way you are learning at school and i love watching you learn to read. i love you more and more every day...

happy birthday zella!

i love you

mommy

11 29 2011

i have a lot to catch up on. seems like i have been missing for almost a year. so we had a lot of holidays, and get togethers. a birthday and a spring, summer, fall and winter. so i am just gonna jump in.
Zella wanted to be a pink kitty for Halloween this year. yes, she has been a kitty for the past 4 years. but this year i got her to change the color. she picked out her costume this year. we had pink kitty ears, but lost them the day before, and found them the day after... we went trick-or-treating in April's neighborhood. April is Charlie B.'s sister. she just bought her first house and we went over for a pot luck dinner and passing out candy. so Charlie b and i and Zella went around the block for some candy. we had a great time.
so i will try to keep this blog up a little better. so for a while, the posts might be a little out of order. i got a lot of memories to record.
jill b

02.02.2011

thank you kim! my wonderfully talented sister helped me make-over my blog.
i think she's pretty...
jill b

01.01.2011=6?

yes it is true!
without permission, Zella turned 6. i can't believe it and i didn't authorize it. we spent the whole day doing whatever she wanted. we took her goofy-golfing. we did this with her when she was 2. so this was really the first time she played.

she did a pretty good job. she even got a hole-in-one on. we were so proud.

she really loved the birthday outfit that i made for her. it is hard to see in the picture, but there is a matching 6 on her shirt. this was the first time for me to applique on a t-shirt. it is kinda messy, so don't look too carefully. she loved the twirly skirt and i made one to match for her favorite stuffed kitty.

i just love this little girl. i love who she is growing-up to be.

i love you baby,

mommy

jill b

ana-white.com

go to her site now!! she has tons of plans, not just doll beds. i love ana! she takes furniture and figures out how they are made and puts the design plans on her site for free! she even gives you a shopping list and a cut list. awsome.
so i saw this doll bed on her site the other day and fell in love. now my Zella doesn't like dolls. doesn't want to play with them at all. but, she loves her kitties. so i thought this would be perfect. i have a few projects going on right now, but this one i had to stop everything and make. i have never, never worked with wood and furniture making. so this was my very first project. i ran up to Lowe's with my shopping list and cut list. the guy at Lowe's cut everything for me for free. so when i got home, i arranged the pieces into the bed and started working. charlie b had to show me how to use the drill and then i was on my own.

here she is all ready to prime and paint.

here she is with her bedding. Zella and i went to JoAnns to get material and foam for the bed. they sell a 1inch thick foam pad that is about 15 x 18 inches. perfect. i made a envelope style sheet in cream, and made a rag quilt for the blanket. i also made two pillows for her.

here she is all finished! this was a really simple project. a great first project! if you have Lowe's cut your wood. make sure that they are the correct length before you start. mine were off a little so i used a power sander to make them the same.

not too bad for my first project?

she doesn't even wobble!!!

Zella loved it, she told me the bed was spectacular!

jill b

let the holidays begin...

i have seen these wreaths all over the blog-oh-sphere. and i love them. i think that Ballard designs has them for about 50 or 60 dollars. but mine cost way less. wanna make one? you only need two things. a giant letter, i got mine from Joann's, and Christmas garland. i ended up using 4 garlands. they are about 2.99 at Michael's this week. i can't remember how much the letter was. but i want to ballpark it about 8 or 9 dollars. i didn't use glue, the garland is on a wire, so i just kept bending it as i went around.

i started in the center and made my way around the two bumps.

and then, i just kept on going. all the way around. i just kept tucking the ends of the garland into the last section i worked on.

and then i added a ribbon. in hindsight, i would probably add my ribbon as i went around. but i just adjusted the branches over the ribbon and you can't see it.

there are many different tutorials on the Internet on how to do this. i used a combo of a few. i wanted mine to be "chunky" so i wrapped the garland all the way around the letter. but i saw that some women just cut off the branches and hot glued them to the letter. this method will give you a flat back instead of a puffy back that mine has.

easy peasy, so bring on the Christmas decorating. i love it

jill b

will this work