Success! I have been trying endlessly to upload pictures to my blog and it just wouldn't let me. Apparently 5 pictures is too much for Blogger to handle at one time. Why don't kids come with upload options? My luck, all 5 of my kids would be allowed to be uploaded. No downgrading to only one child.

Earlier this summer, Zack was invited to participate in a soccer program for kids with various disabilities. The idea was that each special needs child would have a buddy for the evening to play soccer with them (and field exercises) and the parents could just relax on the sidelines. Since they were looking for buddies, and we would all be there each Friday, anyway, I recruited Rebecca and Elijah to be buddies. Here is Elijah with his little guy, Christopher. He was so cute...and a handful. The first night he required 3 full time buddies, but by the end of the program, he was in Elijah's capable hands. It was fun for me to get to know his mother a bit one night. Turns out she has been in Hobe Sound for quite a long time and knows the Vernons and Potters and other families too.

Giveaways! Free Stuff!

I love me some free stuff! Or should I say I love the IDEA of free stuff. I'm not one of those lucky people who win things by entering contests, but it doesn't stop me from trying! I found this adorable blog by an adorable lady and she is having a Giveaway Extravaganza! The fact that she is giving away 7 different things gives me hope! :-) Actually, I'm just happy to have been connected to her blog through another friend because her site looks informative, encouraging and fun to read. I can't wait to delve into her blog when I get the chance. In the meantime, go on over and see if you can win yourself a little something! Here's the LINK!

Wedding Bells

The new Mr. and Mrs. Habecker!


We were blessed to have a Habecker wedding right here in South Florida! As a child, I attended all my Habecker cousin's weddings in Pennsylvania and now their children are growing up and are of marrying age. Sheldon is a pastor in Salunga, Pennsylvania. The bride, Jennifer, is from Hobe Sound, Florida. The ceremony was beautiful and I loved the fact that they signed the wedding license during the ceremony. I have never seen that done before and was told it was a Canadian tradition. (Jennifer Shillington's Dad is from Canada)


This was James' and Nate's first wedding. James really didn't care one iota about the ceremony...


...while Nate was very attentive and observant. Here he is checking out the program.


Love these males!


Habeckers abound!


The reception was lovely as well. As were these two sweeties! Rebecca sure enjoyed going to the wedding with Taylor!


Warning: Pregnant woman needs food. Now.


James was disappointed in how his baby blue cookie tasted. ("poor" mom had to eat it for him)


Chocolate! A much better choice!


Monkeying around.


At this table we have my Uncle John and Aunt Shirley (grandparents of the groom), Bro. and Sis. Arnold (if I lived in Pennsylvania, I would definitely attend their church. LOVE them!), the Pierpoints (who married Rob and I almost 19 years ago) and another unidentified couple.


My cousins, Kevin and Noreen, with their son Dwight (back to the camera), his girlfriend to his left and Chris Shillington, cousin to the bride.


My cousins Crystal and Mike and two of their children.


Cutting the (yummy) cake.


Catching up with my cousin, Steve. It has been years since we have spent time together and it was so good to just sit and catch up on life. Steve is the father of the groom. (we also share a birthday!)


Ear-wax bird enjoying the reception. Don't ask.


Dwight caught the camo-garter belt and Ana Kline caught the bouquet! Dwight is finishing up nursing school. He's gonna be a GREAT nurse!!


Rev. Arnold chatting with Robert Booth. (brother-in-law to the bride) Oh yeah, and that's my super-duper-dad enjoying having his sister and all her children in town for the weekend!


Chad (youngest of the Habecker boys, holding his son) and his wife Paula. He and Paula are such good parents and we enjoyed hanging with them at the reception. Nathanael really attached himself to their daughter, Kiersten. (I think that's how it's spelled!)


With everyone going their own direction, we didn't get any other group pictures besides the one that Churchill's took, but here are Adela and I, and our two daughters, with Chad and his two children. Of all the Habecker boys, Chad was closest to our age and I remember playing with all his toys down in the basement of their lovely home in Pennsylvania when we were little.


Getting to know Paula better was an absolute joy! Rebecca and I attended Chad and Paula's wedding in Pennsylvania. I think Becca was about 4 years old at the time.


Congratulations to Sheldon and Jennifer Habecker! Jennifer, welcome to the family!

Let the Birthday's Begin!

Let the Martian's birthday season commence! We begin with Nathanael Levi! He likes to inform me that he was born on the floor in the middle of the living room. Simplified version, but true. What I CAN'T believe is that he is 5!! I love this original piece of work that God entrusted to Rob and I.

For his birthday, all he has talked about is wanting a monster truck. He got monster trucks! While Rob took him out for an errand run, Rebecca and I got the kitchen all set for his birthday. When he walked in and saw the transformation, he was beyond thrilled! I was getting over laryngitis, so the cousins and grandparents didn't come, but we had a great night anyway.


Because the sugar in the cake wasn't quite enough...


Because, "It's my birthday and I'll put-pencils-up-my-nose-if-I-want-to."


Is that not the look of a happy boy? (Thought about cropping the photo and decided to leave Rebecca just as she is. Snicker.)

Two of my lovies...





Monster gun...


Card from Papa and Grammie with a 5 spot in it.


Cool frogs...


And the MONSTER TRUCK!!


Happy Birthday, Nathanael! Daddy and Mommy adore you!

Cape Tutorial

Capes, I love. Tutorials, I love to read, but not make. Bear with me! There are several tutes out there including this one which is a super-hero cape, and this one, another super-hero cape including a mask. Then there is this pirate cape, which is adorable, but not quite what I was looking for. I wanted a full cape that didn't tie right under the chin to avoid finding my "littles" asphyxiated on the ground. I also wanted a collar. Never did find a tute that covered that, so I was on my own.

Materials I used:

twin flat sheet-red
twin flat sheet- black
thread
black 3/4 inch elastic
yarn and chalk for drawing arc

I folded each flat sheet in half and in half again. That's 4ths, right?? From the folded corners, draw an arc (using yarn and chalk-have someone hold the other end of the yarn while you draw. Or not, if you are that talented.) The length of the yarn should be equal to the length you want the cape, plus seam allowances for top and bottom. (In other words, measure from your child's base of neck to the length you want the cape. In our case, they went almost to the ground) Being a lined cape, I needed a black and red piece for each of my boys. Laying them out this way, you can cut 2 of each color at a time.


Here is where I get really vague. Sorry. Not a tute writer, remember? On to the collar. Before I cut out the capes, I cut the wide hem off the sheet and saved it for making collars. I wanted it to be stiff, so I used two lengths of the hem and sewed them together along the top edge. I left the length longer than the circle of the neck. Follow me? I pinned the hem in between the two neck pieces, with the collar now on the inside, hanging down, leaving the edges to be sewed together at the top. Remember I said that the length of the hem was left longer than I needed for the length of the neck area? Well, now is when I trimmed that off. Starting at the edge of the neck, I cut out and up so the collar would come to a point. I'm sorry I didn't take a photo of that. If this is too vague, you can skip the collar! When I finished sewing around the cape, leaving a hole for turning, I just sewed along the raw pointy edge of the collar with a zig-zag stitch.

Deep breath!


To help the cape stay on the shoulders and keep pressure off the windpipe (not to mention for the super-duper twirling affect) I sewed in a finger hole along the front edge using a small length of elastic. Repeat on other side.


No ties wanted. What to do, what to do? Ta-da! Elastic joins the cape at the front, across the chest. The little's heads fit through the hole quite nicely. (Notice the zig-zag stitch on collar?)


And, oh boy, do they ever twirl!!


Ready to avenge and defend the home front! Apparently, perching on a van bumper makes the whole world conquerable!