Life is Good

Life is Good**Simple as that**

Down by the Sea

Sometimes opportunities arise that are so amazing and unexpected that they can only be considered a gift from God.  It has been several years since I have gone on vacation--Oh I have been on overnight trips but not on an honest to goodness "real" vacation.  The kind where you sit by the shores edge and just let the world go by.  
When my very best friend, Heidi, suggested that I come along to the beach with her my first response was "oh that would be wonderful but I just can't"  Who would watch Drew, who would take care of the dogs, and truly it really was not in the budget right now.  She then explained to me that the beach house was already paid for and I would be coming along to keep her company.  I almost didn't know what to say --a week with my best friend at the beach just us girls was almost too good to be true.  All the little details were worked out so I will be headed to the Outer Banks Saturday morning.   

I am sure that I will have many stories and pictures to share upon my return. I am so thankful for this opportunity and can hardly wait to spend the week enjoying Gods creation and a very special friendship.

I Love You This Much

If this little doll could talk I think she would be saying "I love you this much!!"  Don't you think?  I named her Lucy and she is the latest doll that has been added to my etsy shop.  She was a fun doll to make as the finished size is 18 inches. 

Lucy's sweet feet are large enough to fit into socks made for a newborn baby so I just could not resist purchasing these "Mary Jane" socks to add to the charm of this baby doll.

Everybody needs a friend so meet Adeline......

Since this post is about Love I thought I would share a few fun pictures that I took this week of the Love at my house.

One last picture. I am definitely in LOVE with this little girl....

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend filled with LOVE.

xoxo

Mimi

The Newest Member of our Family

It was last December when we got the exciting news...my husband's brother, Stephen and his wife, Kim were expecting their first baby.  Kim's due date was August 24, 2011.  Oh that seemed an eternity to wait. August 24 came and went as we all waited just a little longer. It would be a surprise to everyone (even the new Daddy and Mommy) as to whether we would be adding a little boy or a little girl to our family.  I am so delighted to share that on August 28 at 9:08 pm we welcomed the newest member of our family into the world. 

She is amazing and I adore her already.

Of course every new little princess needs a pretty new dress to wear so first thing this morning I hurried off to my favorite baby boutique.  Usually I just do a little looking but today I was finally able to do a little buying :)

A girl can't have a new dress without a new bonnet to match......

When we got the word yesterday that Kim was on her way to the hospital, I sat down at the sewing machine and began creating a  doll just in case our new precious little one would happen to be a girl.  I am so glad that I did---I was able to give Emily this special gift from her Aunt Mimi.

My hope is that every time Emily hugs her she will be reminded just how much I love her....

Welcome to the world sweet Emily.You are a precious blessing to our family.

A Saturday in my Studio

Have you ever been afforded one of those days where their are no planned activities--- no schedules to keep?  It doesn't happen often in my house so it is a real treat to experience a day like today.  The perfect day to get caught up on some of my special orders.  In my pjs, coffee in hand I headed into my studio and got to work.  As I sit here tonight writing this post, I am still in my pjs, coffee in hand (decaf this time) but I now have the satisfaction of three completed projects. 

This sweet little doll will be a new friend for a precious little girl named Lilly Rose (Rosie). Rosie will be turning one soon and a friend of mine asked me to create a special doll for her with two requests....1.  her dress must have the color pink  2.  she needed to have a little headband with big flowers in her hair (just like Rosie always wears) This was such a fun doll to make--I hope she helps to make Rosie's day a special one.

A custom order little lamb to welcome a precious baby boy to the world.

I actually created this little bunny twice.  In April I received a custom order and completed this sweet little bunny.  I packaged him up and sent him off to a precious little boy named Sebastian.  Sebastian's mommy sent me a note along with a picture telling me just how much her little boy loved his new friend. About two weeks ago I received another note from Sebastian's mommy.  As it turns out Sebastian's daddy is in the military and  recently had been assigned to another location.  During the move, the little bunny was lost.  I quickly got to work and Sebastian will soon have his bunny friend once again.

On a personal note-----As I created today, safe and sound in my home, I have been glued to the weather channel watching the effects of hurricane Irene. This really is a frightening storm with so many people in harms way.  I pray tonight that God will protect all those in the way of this storm.

Summer Memories part two

As promised here are a few more of my favorite Summer memories.......

I am not sure if I have mentioned before what a talented artist my husband is.  When we were dating he would draw all the time and then for some reason--maybe life's busyness--he put his drawing aside.  This Summer he was asked to participate in a local art show called "Art all Night".  It was held in Pittsburgh at the former Iron City Beer Brewery.  With some encouragement I convinced him to give it a try.  He decided to draw one of our favorite pictures of his Grandfather as a young man.  Here is the original photo...

And here is the picture Alex drew...

I am so proud of the way it turned out.  He decided to give it to his Mom for mother's day.  Needless to say she was thrilled.  We had a great time at the art show.  I must admit that it was a little more culture than I am used to and some of the art pieces were---well let's just say they were interesting and leave it at that.   These next few pictures are of  pieces that I just loved.

Some other fun pictures from the evening....

This next memory has become a tradition in our family.  Every year, in late August, the church in Alex's childhood neighborhood holds a Summer festival.  There are games, rides, a petting zoo, yummy food, and the best part--a GIANT flea market that lasts the whole week of the festival.  When our son was a little boy, he could hardly wait until it was festival time.  Now that he is all grown up Alex and I  go to the festival together---it is like a date :)

If you look closely behind that giant root beer float that I am enjoying, you can see the "beautiful" red and silver necklaces that Alex won me.  I know you will all be very jealous :) There is nothing like festival jewelry.(hehehe)   This year we met Alex's brother Stephen and his wife Kim.  Kim is due to have their first baby any day now and they were hoping that the walk around the fair would encourage their little blessing to come out and greet the world----we are still waiting. (today is the official due date)

This last Summer memory is one that we just made last night.  Pittsburgh has had the new baseball park for several years now but Alex had never been inside to see a game.  My mom was offered tickets to last night's game and invited Alex and I to come along.  The game itself was terrible--our Pirates lost---but the park was beautiful, the weather perfect, and we had a great time enjoying each other's company and taking lots of pictures....

With today's chilly weather, it is a definitely a reminder that we only have a few more weeks to make Summer memories.  I hope you all were able to make special  Summer memories of your own.