I am excited to share a FREE crochet pattern for an adorable lettuce, tomato and cheese sandwich that my friend, Elisa, over at Made From Scratch sent over for her guest post. This girl is always whipping out projects and she has FINALLY decided to blog about it! Go check her out, she is also a crochet wizard so I'm sure the occasional pattern will make an appearance! I hope you enjoy this adorable handmade crochet toy! Read on to see her pattern below.
Crochet Sandwich Pattern
The sandwich is made up of 2 slices of bread, a slice of
cheese, tomato and lettuce. My husband keeps telling me to add some meat but
for now i'm happy with this simple lay out.
Want to make one? It's pretty easy ....
hook size 5.mm
Bread (make 4 to get
2 slices of bread)
- Chain 19
- Hdc in second chain from hook & each remaining chain
- chain 1 & turn
- *Hdc in each stitch across chain 1 & turn*
- repeat from * to * until you have 11 rows
- tie off & weave in ends
To assemble place 2 brown bread squares together and
single crochet around the edge.
Cheese slice
- chain 14
- Hdc in second chain from hook & each remaining chain
- chain 1 & turn
- *Hdc in each stitch across chain 1 & turn*
- repeat from * to * until you have 9 rows
- single crochet around the edge
- tie off & weave in ends
Tomato
- Magic loop
- 8 Hdc in loop join with slip stitch
- chain 1 2Hdc in each stitch around join with slip
stitch
- chain 2
- Dc in same space as the chain chain 2
- *skip one 2Dc in same space, chain 2*
- repeat from * to * around
- join with slip stitch tie off & weave in ends
Lettuce
I found the lettuce pattern here, this was the only one i didn't come
up with myself.
Alright, over time you might begin to notice all the free things we watch online. This is because it is FREE. And it is also, a good winter activity and a good single-parent-trying-to-do-homework but you-are-not-napping activity. I feel guilty about this because I had aspirations to raise my children without TV. However, even though we do not have cable (or "tv"), we work internet streaming like nobodies.
As a result, I try to at least pick the good stuff, or the better options. Often we go vintage. Luckily, my son and I (fingers crossed on this lasting) like a LOT of the same things. Our current favorite... The Brady Bunch! Oh yes, my child LOVES the Brady Bunch. He does know all of their names. He does call bunk beds "bunch beds". He also now wants "I have some bunch beds, pleeease mama!" and also brothers and sisters. Yikes! Although, I may be able to manage the beds at some point...
Without further ado, you can watch The Brady Bunch Online for Free, Here. I recommend choosing the Xfinity option (as opposed to tv.com) because they will automatically play the next chronological show available. TV.com plays the last show from the 5th (and last) season next, bummer. I always choose "full episodes" then the season I want to watch on the side navigation bar.
I wish I had more time to post about the amazing women behind this video but I this has to be a quick one! My awesome friend, Amber, who is a song writer (I posted her first video here) and my other friend, Wendy, who runs an amazing website called Bedheadmom.com collaborated to make this beautiful Mother's Day video! I LOVE IT!!!
I saw this video and cried my eyes out. Each of us have such a unique journey, I couldn't help but to think of the life purposes of Christian, and also his mama. If there is one thing I've learned it's that even the most difficult things you experience in life has a beautiful healing side. I think so often we focus on what will be so bad or difficult in life, assuming somehow that is the only side to it. This video reminds me about learning how to lean into that beautiful side of a trial and really allow life to be beautiful in spite of it. I love this.
Note: You WILL cry. And you will have to click through on youtube to watch it... but please do it! It's worth it. Here are a few other links to it here and here.
I am so excited to bring you something inspiring, original and something you probably haven't seen before. A good friend of mine, Amber Gurr, wrote a Christian song and sang it with her husband, Justin, in this song, The Return. Amber is working on 3 more songs and hoping to work towards an album. They just barely set up a blog as a place to keep people updated on the process! Bookmark it so you can check back and see how they are doing!
Please watch and support them, remember to share this link on your Facebook page or with people you think will enjoy the video. I would love to boost their youtube views! I am so excited for them. I think they are incredibly talented and I'm happy they want to share Lord's message with the world in such a beautiful way!
Here is what Amber had to say about this song and song writing.
This is my second song to record. My husband Justin is on lead and I am playing piano and singing harmonies. This is actually the FIRST song that I've written in this phase of my life. They are kind of flooding in at this point, and in general coming easier than this song came.
The thoughts and feelings expressed in this song were the ones that first came to mind when I sat down and decided I wanted to write Christian music. I've been through a lot in my life and I have found so much more joy in following the Lord's way. Of course that joy is now all I want for everyone. Even when you go through hard things, when you do it with Christ, you can carry His peace with you through it. That is why, like Paul says "all things are possible through Christ which strengtheneth me."
If you (or your toddler) have ever accidentally turned on Apple's "Voice Over" and can't figure out how to turn it off, I sympathize. I am sure it is awesome and extremely useful for those who need it. That aside, it is obnoxious.
Note: I could not find a way to get out of it by going into Voice Over Utility. Grrrr.
By pushing random buttons while my computer kept telling me what I was doing, I found out how to solve the problem.
Without further ado:
Press Command and F5 at the same time.
Seriously. That's it. And... you're welcome. Actually, I am not sure if this will ever be useful to anyone other than myself but at least I have a place to find the solution again, should the need ever arise...
I hope your enjoyed my guest post for The Daily Chronicle, just in time for St. Patty's day. I think it would be a fun family activity, or a great way to acknowledge one of your children for a job well done! I think I'll make a batch of these over the years!
My dear friend, Sarah (pictured to the right), is a talented massage therapist who specializes in revitalizing woman! Not only is she incredibly skilled at what she does but she is a beautiful and delightful woman, inside and out. I am truly blessed to know her!
She has a deal going on right now where you can get TWO free 60 minute massages!
Who would not want a free massage? I know I would not miss the chance! Currently I am doing a special deal that when you purchase and watch a very important new documentary that is out you get free massages! I believe that this documentary is so vital and important to get out into each American citizen's hands that I want to do this special to encourage and motivate people to take the time to watch it. Here is how it works. You order the documentary online then let me know you did so and you get your first free massage. Then after you get your documentary in the mail and watch it let me know you watched it and you get your 2nd free massage. Sound fair? :) Here is the trailer and information:
Just to be clear, the dvd costs $18 and with shipping it will be $21 and something cents. So, the cost involved still makes it around $11 dollars for each 60 minute massage! Oh and they take Paypal, which makes it easier!
1. Buy the video - tell Sarah, schedule your first free massage
2. Watch the video - tell Sarah, schedule your second free massage
1. I am all about healthy food and this is a great little demonstration. The message is easy to understand and enlightening.
2. I love that this little girl is spreading the message. I think children can be our best humanitarians!
3. My 2 yr old son loved this video and wants to do the project too, exact quote.. "Mommy let's sprout too!" So watching this video is leading us to ACTION.
*I wanted to remind you all to sign up for this giveaway if you haven't already, so I'm reposting this post! Tomorrow is the last day so you will want to hustle over there asap and check it out!! *
Alrighty, folks. This giveaway is the real deal. The prizes are fantastic. I, personally, really love Simply The Sweet Life Magazine!
The photography is breathtaking and the content is refreshing and delightful! And it's FREE! Yep, a free digital magazine for your viewing pleasure! I'm so excited for their next issue, coming soon, which is a kids and teens issue. Hurray! Of course, I love all things kid :o)
So about the giveaway...
To enter, you need to head on over to their Facebook page and follow the instructions there!
Prizes include the following:
A trip to New York City from CityPass & Simply the Sweet Life & $1000 visa gift card
A home automation system from Vivint
iPhone 4s from Vivint
Straub Cherry Round French Oven from Orson Gygi
Crafters Dream Bundle, including The Original Scrabox Craftbox
1 year supply of cake bites from Sweet Tooth Fairy
Amano Artesian Chocolate
10 piece jewelry set from Dawn Stark Designs
His and Her fitness set
Top 10 things for spring break clothing items from DownEast Outfitter
This giveaway is really no-joke! I am in particular need for that NYC trip - my bestie lives there, plus I want to go to BlogHer in August :o)
*I wanted to remind you all to sign up for this giveaway if you haven't already, so I'm reposting this post and again on every Tuesday until the end of the month! Hustle over there asap and check it out!!*
Alrighty, folks. This giveaway is the real deal. The prizes are fantastic. I, personally, really love Simply The Sweet Life Magazine!
The photography is breathtaking and the content is refreshing and delightful! And it's FREE! Yep, a free digital magazine for your viewing pleasure! I'm so excited for their next issue, coming soon, which is a kids and teens issue. Hurray! Of course, I love all things kid :o)
So about the giveaway...
To enter, you need to head on over to their Facebook page and follow the instructions there!
Prizes include the following:
A trip to New York City from CityPass & Simply the Sweet Life & $1000 visa gift card
A home automation system from Vivint
iPhone 4s from Vivint
Straub Cherry Round French Oven from Orson Gygi
Crafters Dream Bundle, including The Original Scrabox Craftbox
1 year supply of cake bites from Sweet Tooth Fairy
Amano Artesian Chocolate
10 piece jewelry set from Dawn Stark Designs
His and Her fitness set
Top 10 things for spring break clothing items from DownEast Outfitter
This giveaway is really no-joke! I am in particular need for that NYC trip - my bestie lives there, plus I want to go to BlogHer in August :o)
The title of this post is pretty self explanatory, I really do love birth. For those of you who don't know, I am a birth professional. I am a doula. I am also a mother. I had a beautiful, peaceful home birth. Birth is a topic that will be very present on my blog. In the past two days I have come across some birth videos that have just made my heart about burst wide open. Be warned, I can't stop using the word, "beautiful"all over this post. It's just such a great word for it!
I am going to share just one of those today. It's really short and just beautiful. I love this video for many reasons, including:
1. Their three older children are at the birth. One of the older boys is shown rubbing his mama's back in labor <3
2. It shows the peacefulness and beauty of a home birth
3. It is emotional and I think, sacred... especially just after the baby is born. It reminds me of what that first moment of meeting your baby is like.
4. The Father is strong, supportive and involved. Beautiful teamwork.
5. Affirmation in the room! "Believe All Things Are Possible With Christ"
6. The peak into home birth, although short, is very accurate and like the ones I've attended and the one I had.
7. The video is very artfully made. The filming is fantastic and the music is beautiful and inspiring. It adds a lot to the tone of what a home birth is like.
8. The mother labors peacefully, which I have found is usually the case, ESPECIALLY in hypnobirths.
9. All support people; doula, midwife, grandparents, kids, etc. are being peaceful and supporting the mother in what she wants for her birth experience. There is no one biting their nails anxiously in the corner, fretting every detail that is different from their own experience or in a frenzy tying to "get their work done". It is not an emergency atmosphere, because most births are not emergencies.
10. That last scene that shows the lusciousness of being in bed with your family and new baby in a way you can only do at a home birth. I love the older brother holding and kissing his new baby brother. The coziness of their home surrounded by the people who matter most. Uplifting and beautiful!
P.S. I think they disabled the embedding so you may have to go directly to Youtube. Don't let that discourage you from watching!!!
P.P.S. I know there are some who don't feel comfortable watching someone else's birth video due to the nudity involved. This video shows her belly but none of the "private parts". It is safe to watch. In fact, I showed it to my two year old and he loved it and asked to watch it a few more times. If you want your kids to attend your next birth perhaps this video would be a good one to show them in preparation.
*I wanted to remind you all to sign up for this giveaway if you haven't already, so I'm reposting this post from about a week ago and every Tuesday until the end of the month! Today is Valentine's Day a great time to remember this LOVEly giveaway so you will want to hustle over there asap and check it out!! *
Alrighty, folks. This giveaway is the real deal. The prizes are fantastic. I, personally, really love Simply The Sweet Life Magazine!
The photography is breathtaking and the content is refreshing and delightful! And it's FREE! Yep, a free digital magazine for your viewing pleasure! I'm so excited for their next issue, coming soon, which is a kids and teens issue. Hurray! Of course, I love all things kid :o)
So about the giveaway...
To enter, you need to head on over to their Facebook page and follow the instructions there!
Prizes include the following:
A trip to New York City from CityPass & Simply the Sweet Life & $1000 visa gift card
A home automation system from Vivint
iPhone 4s from Vivint
Straub Cherry Round French Oven from Orson Gygi
Crafters Dream Bundle, including The Original Scrabox Craftbox
1 year supply of cake bites from Sweet Tooth Fairy
Amano Artesian Chocolate
10 piece jewelry set from Dawn Stark Designs
His and Her fitness set
Top 10 things for spring break clothing items from DownEast Outfitter
This giveaway is really no-joke! I am in particular need for that NYC trip - my bestie lives there, plus I want to go to BlogHer in August :o)
This year's Valentine's Day has me thinking about a different kind of love. At least, different from romantic love. It's a vital kind of love, it's self love. I've also been thinking about parent-child love, but more on that later.
I think that self love is a foundational love and that with it you can have better and more successful and healthy loving relationships, of all kinds. Another foundational love I believe in is love for God. I know there are people who do not believe in God, or in Him the way that I do, I am not threatened or bothered by that. I am just expressing what I believe in. We all have to (and have the right to) "speak our truth".
I believe that God made us, after his own image. I believe that if we love ourselves we are also loving God and appreciating and believing in His creation. I believe that God wants us to love and appreciate ourselves, and that he finds joy in our individual discovery of our self worth.
This concept of self love has been on my mind a lot as I try to rediscover it in a healthy and balanced way. I've been through an extremely difficult time/trial that has me really evaluating myself, life and God in a whole new fundamental way. This has been hard for me but it is a healing process.
In the video I posted below, there is a woman, Stephanie Nielson of Nie Nie Dialogs, who I admire greatly. I feel like she is a breathtaking example of someone who has learned self-love after what seems like an impossibly difficult trial. Her idea of self love starts where I think it should begin, with "I am a child of God". This will be a very worthwhile 8 minutes and 21 seconds of your day.
Alrighty, folks. This giveaway is the real deal. The prizes are fantastic. I, personally, really love Simply The Sweet Life Magazine!
The photography is breathtaking and the content is refreshing and delightful! And it's FREE! Yep, a free digital magazine for your viewing pleasure! I'm so excited for their next issue, coming soon, which is a kids and teens issue. Hurray! Of course, I love all things kid :o)
So about the giveaway...
To enter, you need to head on over to their Facebook page and follow the instructions there!
Prizes include the following:
A trip to New York City from CityPass & Simply the Sweet Life & $1000 visa gift card
A home automation system from Vivint
iPhone 4s from Vivint
Straub Cherry Round French Oven from Orson Gygi
Crafters Dream Bundle, including The Original Scrabox Craftbox
1 year supply of cake bites from Sweet Tooth Fairy
Amano Artesian Chocolate
10 piece jewelry set from Dawn Stark Designs
His and Her fitness set
Top 10 things for spring break clothing items from DownEast Outfitter
This giveaway is really no-joke! I am in particular need for that NYC trip - my bestie lives there, plus I want to go to BlogHer in August :o)
I saw this video about a month ago and it really touched my heart. What a beautiful way to show someone you love them! I feel so glad for his wife that he left this legacy of his love for her before he left this life. Here is the description of the video (I cut and pasted it directly from Godvine.com)
Kristian Anderson sadly died about 2 weeks ago, but this is the video birthday wish he left for his wife. It's very touching, and it even includes an intro by the New Zealand prime minister and Hugh Jackman. God bless him and keep his family in your prayers.
When I saw this recipe for heart shaped Roasted Potatoes on the blog Haniela's Food & Photography, I thought it was so enchanting! I've been making plans for heart shaped food for this month, especially the first two weeks of it, and almost everything I've seen in dessert (or pancakes).
Roasted Potatoes also happen to be one of my favorite things on this earth. Head on over to Haniela's for the recipe and check her out, the blog is awesome!
The other night while my son and I were cuddling when he asked me to sing him songs. We started with the classic, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star (we LOVE this version) and moved through some other well-knowns and ended on a rousing rendition of Old McDonald, my son supplying the animals. When the song was overwe had a conversation that went like this:
"Now do an apple song!"
Uhh..."Well little, I'm not sure if I know any apple sons"
"Mommy, I love apple songs!"
"Then there is only one thing to do, my son, let us consult Youtube!"
A google later and we found this little gem, The Apple Song by Plank Road Publishing. My son loved it and provided very active dancing arms. After I tucked him in I could hear him whisper-singing "I love applllesss".
P.S. The website for Plank Road Publishing seems like a pretty amazing kid song resource. I will be checking it out more later...
Couldn't figure out how to black out my page tomorrow so I'm posting a link! There is so much more to this legislation than meets the eye! Protect your freedom, protest and contact your reps. This site makes that easy to do!
I have some exciting news! For me anyway... I am hoping to "officially" launch the blog on February 1st. Now the design has been in progress for over 6 months now... and I am sort of hoping that I can make it happen by then. I decided to go "official" whether it's done or not.
Anyway, since I have a lot of work to do to prepare for that day, I will keep the blog on vacation until then. I still might post, however, and I really appreciate those of you who are coming back. My stats aren't so heartbreaking that way. I'm afraid to loose my audience before I really begin! Silly, but true!
.jpg)
