The last couple of days have been rough for my family. We had a significant loss in the family, and everyone is grieving. I had planned on doing some early spring cleaning this week, and when I'm upset I often want to do hard cleaning. So, the spring cleaning has commenced.

How in the world can I be content in all circumstances? I really don't believe I can, but I'll try. I'll throw my heart into it and ask the LORD for His help. Hardships, losses, inconveniences, interruptions, relinquishments -- I could name twenty things I have to work at to find contentment. Maybe it won't happen in some areas. I don't know. I do know one thing: If I don't want it, it will never come.

-Luci Swindoll

I made an old fashioned rag doll to add to my collection. She's a bit rough because I was trying out a bunch of new things, but I really like how she turned out.

I've decided to try something a little bit different, and make a doll for myself. For those of you who don't know, I have a small collection of dollies. They are kind of old fashioned type rag dolls, and they seem easy enough to make. So today I decided I'd try to make one on my own...

This is my week to tie up loose ends. I have a lot of projects that I want to have done and in the mail by Saturday. So expect more posts than usual this week.

My first project was to make something fabulous from an old DCU shirt. A friend asked me to do this forever ago, and so it was past due.

(Lots of pictures after the jump....)

This Easter project was kind of a learning experience for me. I haven't done much with appliqué in the past, and obviously this project has 6 of them. I also learned a lot about what my sewing machine can do (such as the blanket stitch I used around the shapes).

Today is Megan's 2nd birthday!

She had a fun day, and enjoyed her small family party tonight. Instead of birthday hats, we bought her a princess set. She loved all the jewelry, and wore it all until she had to get dressed for bed.

Megan needed a birthday dress, so I decided that instead of going and buying a cheap but overpriced one from the store, I would just make one myself (we won't talk about costs of fabric...).

So, I (Laura) kind of hate Dr. Seuss. The rhyming, the weird people/animals...I don't know. The books just kind of freak me out. AJ, however, has decided that Hop on Pop is his favorite book right now. This particular book has a lot of simple words in it, so he is able to read it without too much frustration. Click through for a video...