Show and Tell Friday.................

Thanks Kelli for hosting Show and Tell Fridays.........it is so fun to click around and see what everyone is sharing!

My show and tell this week SIGNS! Not sure what direction your headed in? Well look for a sign........Here are some from around my house!



















SIGN ~ Definition:
1something that indicates a fact, quality etc;token.
2a gesture that conveys information.
3a mark or symbol having a specific meaning.
4a placard bearing information.
5any trace or indication.

The Word sign appears 76 times in the bible

Deuteronomy 6:5-9
And thou shall love the LORD thy GOD with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
And these words I command thee this day shall be in thine heart.
And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk to them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou rises up.
And thou Shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets betweeen thine eyes.
And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house and on thy gates.

Pets In a Jar ..........and a new Wrap!

The children have been collecting Lizards for their pets in a jar this week. I was extremely happy to see that they did not just go out and collect 10 of the same Lizard but I can see how much they have grown in their studies because they only collected different specimens. I am very impressed. They are also learning which lizards bite the hardest hehehe! All this Lizard hunting has inspired some new journal entries as well.

Here is a poem from a young man from Pennsylvania it says that Nathan Messner is in Kindergarten!
Not Green Geckos

I have two lizards who are not green
The boy is fat the girl is lean
The boy is Barnes and the girl is Jackie
The don't make noise, so they don't go quacky!

My gecko's aren't the same color at all.
The girl is short the boys is tall.

All over his body the boy has black spots.
The kind of look like squashed up dots.

The girl has dots on her head and tail.
Sometimes in the tank they look kind of frail.
Crickets and meal worms are their favorite food.
They're never in a grumpy mood.

I love my geckos who are lizards.
In all kinds of Weather even blizzards.
I'm the oldest kid in my family
And that's why I have my gecko's, you see!


I have begun toying around with some patterns for the fall. I tried out a new one today that was a modern sort of wrap blouse. I of course put my own spin on it and made it more like a modern sort of wrap vest. I love to layer my clothes...dresses with pants....tshirts with my dresses or something over it I have no idea why I like to do this I guess it is just something special about me lol! Probably not the most exciting fact to know about this Heather! But I put it out there anyways hehehe!! This vest will be great to wear with short sleeve tshirts or when it is cool a long sleeve tshirt. I especially like how it is so different from anything else in my closet right now. I used a steel blue linen like fabric but now that I am feeling confident with this pattern I will probably bust out a fabric that is a little more bold.





Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, If anything is excellent or praise worthy- think about such things. And the God of peace will be with you.Philippians4:8-9

Starting Over.............

We have had a busy summer and unfortunately I have been getting very lazy with our food choices and have allowed way to much garbage into our home. It is always frustrating to erase years of good habits in a matter of days. But sticking to a restricted diet is not easy and sometimes out of frustration you can try to pretend you don't have allergies and ingnore the symptoms until you can't ignore them anymore. So we are welcoming Monday a little more prepared for our week ahead so that we can be purposeful in our food choices and hopefully start feeling better soon.

In our family we are extremely sensitive to latex, certain plastics, chemicals, nitrates, msg, gluten, white sugar, white flour, artificial sweetener(splenda) and we have a list of combined allergies that would probably leave you speechless lol! and some of them are even life threatening.

Well I knew that we were not being careful with our choices recently because everyone is complaining of joint pain, exhaustion, allergies, asthma, headaches, chronic coughing, sore throat, itchy skin, hives......and the list does go on. And the biggest indicator the tylenol bottle is empty.

So are you wondering how we handle all these allergies? Well we certainly do not go to the doctor anymore for them. After years and years of testing, perscriptions and all sorts of specialists we found out very quickly that they either had no answers, or many different answers. One would tell us we were allergic to everything another would say we have no allergies at all. We also experienced much illness from shots and medications that did not leave us feeling better as well as a large amount of antibiotics that sometimes could go on for months. So out of frustration and through alot of prayer(God brings wisdom of course!)reading and testing with elimination diets and simple eating and the removing of alot of chemicals and cleaning supplies around our home we have found what things we can tolerate and what we can not.

So our fruits and veggies are all washed and ready for us to eat in the fridge, there is no bread in our house this week, and everything is set up so we can grab something fresh and raw whenever we are hungry. And after just 2 days of cleaning up our diet I am not surprised that my menses have returned after a 3 month absence.
And hopefully by next week we will have detoxed some and be feeling better with less headaches, less joint pain, clearer skin, be able to take nice deep breaths, and renewed energy! So here we are starting over again.

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me.
Psalm 51:10-12

Anna Turns 8!!

This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24
Happy Birthday Anna!!

The Clothespin Fairy

Anna and I decided to make some Clothes pin Fairies. If you would like to make one the supply list is.
Clothes pins( the kind you need for this we only found at Micheal's craft store)
Sparkle paper or tissue paper
Paint
Pipe cleaners
Yarn
Fine tip Marker
Glue/ Glue gun.( We found that the glue gun is the best way to assure that the fairy does not lose her lovely accessories, regular white glue just does not hold up as well.)
Fake Flowers ( Dollar store is a great place to get these!)



We dumped out all our supplies on the table. Anna thinks the bigger the mess the better the fairy you will end up with. I think this may be some sort of folkish saying or old wives tale for the clothes pin fairy.



Next you paint the clothes pin however you would like. Blue shoes, pink top, orange pants what ever suits your fancy.

The Next step is to take yarn or pipe cleaners and make some arms and then also wrap it around the body for a top.




You can then cut the center out of your flower and pull it onto the clothes pin and glue into place and she has a fabulous skirt!

Now you choose the hair and glue that on and draw a beautiful fairy face.



The last part is the most important the fairy wings. Take a rectangular piece of tissue and squish it right in the center. Anna and I like to make a knot in the center so it stays in place and the wings flair out.
And then glue this onto the back of the fairy.



Find somewhere very special to put your fairies so that you can surprise anyone who may come across them rather unexpectedly. Then you enjoy all the smiles it brings.



For you make me glad by your deeds, O LORD; I sing for joy at the works of your hands. Psalm 92:4

Lazy Summer Days...

We had a rather lazy day yesterday and just stayed home. We took the kids out to the lake on the property to do some fishing but that only lasted for a few minutes since it appeared that they were spraying pesticides on the banks of the lake and my children are very sensitive to chemicals. I literaly grabbed them and ran since our past experiences with lawn chemicals ended up in months of illness, and endless doctor appointments. We thought about doing all sorts of things but we were all very tired and decided to just rest, Liam is recovering from a cold and has a deep cough and Anna the last 2 days has a very sore neck so we curled up on the couch and watched some movies.



We have had many visits in our tree out front from a local Blue Jay so he was our next subject in our nature journal.


Anna's Nature Journal


Liam's Nature Journal


Noah's Nature Journal


Heather's Nature Journal

I also tried out a new teddy bear pattern that is in a craft book Adrian got for me. I think I will enlarge this pattern and sew it again in felt. I was thinking of making it the size of an American Girl doll so Anna could put clothes on it. I think this looks like a great bear to join in on a doll tea party. Anna named him Desperaux since he is gray and I made his ears to big he looks a little mousey lol!
Back to the drawing board with this one.



May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD, even as we put our hope in you.
Psalm 33:22

Enjoying Vacation

We are enjoying our vacation time with Adrian off for a week. Thanks for all the well wishes for our family. We have been taking lots of day trips around town exploring, hiking, snorkeling, and yes still catching things to look at and let go in those silly jars we have. We still have a few days left in vacation so who knows what else we will be able to squeeze into those jars to study!

The children caught lots of interesting fish at the Atoll pool the other day. They enjoyed taking their nets and chasing after all sorts of wonderful underwater creatures. Although my boys seem to not take notice to the size of what they are catching or if it has sharp teeth or thorns. And now I am having to ask them will that fit in the Jar??


I Am Sitting Here and Fishing
By Jack Pretlusky

I am sitting here and fishing
with my trusty rod and reel,
though I'd like to catch a snapper,
I would not refuse an eel,
and a pike would be delightful,
and a cod would be okay,
and a bass would be fantastic,
and a dace would make my day.



I am hoping for a haddock
I am eager for a bream,
and a perch would be perfection,
and a pompano supreme,
I'd be grateful for a grunion,
I would find a flounder fine,
I'd be tickled with a pickerel
or a mackerel on my line.



But I've yet to get a nibble
at this little fishing hole,
I've not seen a single salmon
or a solitary sole,
not a minature minnow,
not the sorriest sardine.....
when your fishing in the desert,
fish are few and far between....



Matthew 4:19 And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

See Ya Soon!

Do Ants Float?

Well I woke up feeling a little defeated, shortly after lunch yesterday I had the pleasant surprise of a debilitating Migraine which was not a welcome visitor and left me running for my bed with the covers pulled over my head. I greeted the morning with a smile happy that the pain was gone looking forward to that first cup of morning joe. Only to discover that the sugar ants have found my coffee maker turning my smile upside down into a frown.

I currently have a Keurig coffee maker which involves the pod that makes a single cup, and the ants decided the water tank would make a great watering hole for their colony. Is nothing sacred to these foul pests? Well after many hours this morning in my bible and with Christian radio flowing through my home, I am feeling much encouraged and ready for battle. Ever have a week like this? What can you really do when it seems that nothing is working out quite right. Nothing in particular is to terribly wrong of course my children aren't seriously ill. My husband has a job, we have a home and our needs provided for but things just seem off? Well what else can you do but spend time in the word. Just as only God can bring healing, only God can change our hearts..... and sometimes it just so happens our hearts need changing.

So I am now feeling thankful for the time spent in my bible this morning and for the praise music flowing through my house. And for a change in my heart. And as I look for ants floating in my coffee, I can't help but smile and feel good knowing that the smile I wear today is a gift from God!

Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. – Psalm 42:5-6a

Shhhhhhh......Sneak Peak at some of what I have been sewing for Anna!
3 nightgowns ~2 with seersucker rosebud fabric Walmart 2.54 a yard and 1 yellow one that is made from a free vintage bed sheet I got from the recycling center. I also found her a very nice pair of pink slippers from Lands End 4.99 free shipping ;-)I was going to make her slippers but when I found that pair on sale I thought they would hold up better than fabric slippers.






vintage bedsheet

Pinafore Dress White cotton 1.97 yrd. and 2 Aprons to go over top Fabric from Walmart 2.44yrd.





Pleat front dress Japanese Fabric a gift from Adrian when he went to Japan.


I just need to figure out what would be good for everday wear maybe jumpers? since the pinafore dress is more like a Sunday best outfit. I am also not sure if we will be visiting up North this winter so I am thinking a jumper dress that can be worn with a T shirt and socks when warm or turtleneck and tights when it is cold. If you have any suggestions I would love to hear from you, this will be our first winter pant free lol! and I am still not totally sure how to prepare for that yet or what that looks like for us?

From Our Family to Yours we Hope you have a wonderful weekend of Independence filled with abundant blessing, hope, laughter, family, sun, good food, and definitly no sugar ants floating in your coffee! ~Love The Watts Family

Wash Day!

Well I am not sure what happened to my summer days I somehow lost track of the date and have thrown the calender out the window. Only to realize Anna's birthday is a few days away. My plan for her birthday was to get her a base wardrobe sewn for the fall. With her leaping growth spurts she has no p.j.'s and is lacking in a few other areas. I would still like to try to sew her clothing, with no thrift stores nearby, and her now being in a larger size I am really unhappy with what the local stores have to offer. I am actually a little shocked by what the store suggests she should wear. The good news is Anna has old fashioned taste she enjoys old fashioned things just like her Mama. So I am pulling out some patterns and getting to work on some clothing that has a cute old fashioned look but in a balanced way so as not look to old fashioned so that it seems as if she is wearing a costume.

The only problem is I have never really sewed on a deadline and finding it to be rather comical in our house. Yesterday I experienced many disruptions. I sent the children upstairs and the boys were supposed to keep Anna busy so she would be uninterested in what I am doing. Well every 2 minutes there was a new crisis hehehehe!! Mom the toilet is overflowing!! Mom there are sugar ants everywhere!! Mom the dog is throwing up lol!!! Oh dear, may the Good Lord give me strength to accomplish this task I have set forth to do.

It is forcing us in the Watts home to think of creative ways to keep Anna occupied. The Other day we set up a pretend wash station for Anna's Dolls and this worked very well to keep her busy for quite some time. Anna wanted to share some pictures from the fun she had on Wash Day!!


The Dolls were all very Helpful!


Pressing the Clothes!


Hanging the Laundry!


Watch out Anna the baby is trying to escape again!


Even butterflies have to do there laundry!

Soon to come a sneak peak at what I have been sewing! We hope your having a blessed week filled with much Love, strong Faith, warm Sun, and overflowing Joy!

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me
Philippians 4:13