Our Little Karate Girl

Zella recently decided to trade her Daisy Girl Scout vest in for a Karate Gi. Yes you read that right. Zella is officially a white belt in karate.

It all began when Zella viewed a you tube video of a little girl doing some intense karate moves. Zella just stared at this video and replayed it over and over again mesmerized. She said, "Mom, I didn't know I could take karate. I want to be in karate. Can I start tomorrow?"

We love supporting and encouraging our two girls in their interests so we began looking into karate studios, classes, and Dojos nearby that we could take Zella to. We found the perfect Dojo for her to begin classes nearby and after school one Wednesday we took her to visit.

She had a sparkle in her eye that I had never seen before when we walked into that Dojo. She was so excited and smiling ear to ear. She told us that she LOVED it and wanted to start right away. So we signed her up and that was that.


We had never seen her so intense and driven about something before which made us very excited for her.

She has found her true passion.

She Ran A Mile...She Can Do Anything!

Xiera's school was hosting a mile fun day race for all of the schools in our county to attend. It was not mandatory to run as it was all for fun. Everyone who would run in the race would receive a metal for participation. Xiera told me she wanted to run in the race because she was interested in possibly running for track in the next couple of years since it is not available yet for fifth graders. We of course encourage this interest she has as we are a very active family. Weeks before the race we practiced running together as a family every other evening. She would sometimes even pass me up and run an extra lap. We knew she was ready for this.
On the day of the race Xiera was VERY nervous. We told her to do the best that she could and that we knew she could do this because she had her heart and mind set on it. ANYTHING is possible when you believe in yourself. She found a few friends before the race which made her nervous butterflies calm down a bit.

Soon it was time to take their positions on the line.


Once they were on their mark it was time to get set, and GO!

We chanted "Go Xiera Go!" over and over again!


Finally she made it to the finish line, and they placed that medal over her head. She did not place but she had made it and she was proud and we were proud for her!


She did encounter quite an ordeal while running. They ran around the track into a wooded trail. While running on the wooded trail a hornet's nest fell right in front of her path. She couldn't go around it in time so she ran through it. Poor thing got stung 4 times on her back.

She didn't stop running even though she was in pain. She told me, "Mom, it hurt so bad but I didn't want to stop. I wanted to finish. I had to finish." And finish is exactly what she did. She said afterwards, "I feel like I can do anything!" She had made it...she had followed through. Anything is truly possible when you put your mind, body, heart, and soul into it.
*She is doing fine by the way. Her back swelled up a little bit but after applying ice to the stings, the swelling went down.*

School Spirit Bulldog Hat

My daughters' school mascot is the Bulldog. My oldest has been asking me for quite some time to create a bulldog hat for her to wear to school to show her school spirit. I finally had a little time to create this fun hat for her.


She HAD to wear her geeky school glasses in these pictures. They were the perfect prop she said.

I have to agree with her. :)

Rainbow Dash My Little Pony Hat

My dear cousin Mandy contacted me the other day. Her daughter Karlee is wanting to be the My Little Pony Rainbow Dash for Halloween this year. She wanted to know if I would be interested in creating a custom Rainbow Dash hat for Karlee. Well of course I would!! Here is the hat I created for little Miss Karlee. My dear daughter Zella is modeling the hat in the pictures. ;)


Karlee loves it and apparently so does Zella since she has asked me to make a Twilight Sparkle pony hat for her now.

Harvest Moon

This year's Harvest moon was BREATHTAKING! Hubby was able to get the tripod out and capture this AMAZING picture of it in all of it's glory!

Absolutely BEAUTIFUL!

Weekend Family Adventures

I just love weekends when the weather is nice. The girls are home from school and hubby and I can take a break from work to enjoy the great outdoors. The girls have found the most interesting critters around the house this past summer. From strange looking bugs missing a leg or two, to one eyed toads.



We also enjoyed a wonderful walk on the wooded trails at the park where we admired the tall trees and wild flowers all around us.


God is truly amazing in everything He creates.

A Minnie Mouse Hat for a Sweet Little Girl

My dear friend from high school, Emily had contacted me recently. She told me that her sweet little darling Gianna loved all things Minnie Mouse and was wondering if I could make her a cute custom Minnie Mouse hat. I most certainly could not say no to this fun request. Here is the hat I came up with.

Emily and Gianna both love it. :)

Back to School For These Two

We have a middle schooler and a 2nd grader! Xiera's started 5th grade and rides the school bus with the big middle and high schoolers. She was VERY excited while I was a bit nervous!

She wanted a spikey Mad Max book bag this year because she is a super cool middle schooler now.

Zella is a 2nd grader now and this is her first year riding the bus all by herself without her big sis. She was equally excited!

She didn't get her book bag and lunch box until the following week so she borrowed her sister's old beach bag for the first day which worked out good while waiting patiently for her brand new Frozen book bag with matching lunch box.

Now she is officially all set for this year.

Summer Fun With the Family

This summer has been lazy, crazy, and fun for us so far. Some of our lazy moments included me kicking back on the porch looking at my latest crochet magazine I received in the mail while daydreaming of what to crochet next.

Getting our nails done by my cousin Mandy.


Going outside to just fly a kite.

And picking mulberries off of our tree to make homemade mulberry pudding cake.


Our fun moments included going swimming,


putt putt golfing,

birthday parties with friends,

riding elephants and camels at Idle Hour Ranch,

and visiting King's Island on daddy's birthday.


And last, but certainly not least our crazy home improvement moments... staining the front porch...

painting...

installing new carpet...



And resealing the long driveway.

Every day is an adventure over here.