Sewing Projects

I  got inspired to sew and made three dresses, finished up the latest tile scene, sewed a blouse for me, made a doll dress for Lily and made a casserole carrier in the last few weeks.

Mom Joyner gave me a cute and very useful casserole carrier, but I ruined it. I used it for a pattern and made another one.

Lily's new dress. The sash was from our wedding.

Lily got to wear her new dress that Sunday. Anna graduated to size three clothes and is wearing a dress I made for Lily last year.

I made a size three dress for Anna, but it fit Lily instead! I guess store-bought clothes and dress patterns are different sizes. So then I sewed a size two dress for Anna. That fits her better! They wore their new dresses last week to church.

Midweek the other week I got to watch Carlie while Vanessa went to a Doctor's appointment. Carlie loved the camp chair!

Baby John grew a pound in the week since his birth!

We had chocolate pudding the other Sunday for dessert. The girls really got into it!

Joanna played with Anna after church last week.

Bro. O'Malley and the life of sisters

Bro. John O'Malley preached revival services at TBC and since James had his two days off at a good time, we had Bro. O'Malley over for lunch. 

He read Winnie the Pooh to Lily and did a great job. After lunch, while the girls napped, we talked about WWNTBM changes, FFW, Apple computers (I found that my laptop is five operating systems behind), photo books, and recent family news. 

Just a random picture of Anna. 

Sister love (or smothering)

Anna's first pigtails

Lily's first french twist hairdo

One day at lunch Lily said, "Take a picture of me!" So I did. 

The girls enjoyed a blueberry snack sitting on the counter. 

Lily gave Daddy the big ones. 

So Anna did too. 

New Baby Cousin John

One random morning I took pictures of the girls while James worked on creating more blocks for his next huge embroidered tile scene. 

Baby John Bryan was born to John and Vanessa on July 9th at 7:23pm weighing 8lbs 15.6 oz. Vanessa did a great job with a successful VBAC. It was an answer to prayer that she didn't need another C-section and can now have normal births with almost no risk. We got to go see them in the hospital after church services that night. 

Carlie got to meet her baby brother, but she was more interested in playing with the camera. :-)

July 4th

James had to work the evening of July 4th, so we had steaks and corn on the cob for lunch before he had to leave. It was yummy!

That afternoon I took the girls to Bear Lake where Dad and Mom Bryan were camping. Almost all of the Bryan family ate supper together and went to the Jay fireworks afterwards. 

Right after this was taken, Anna burned Jason's leg by bringing the sparkler too close. Thankfully it wasn't bad, but no more sparklers for her!

I expected to be holding both girls during the noisy fireworks, but instead Anna stayed with Gramdma Bryan and watched quite peacefully from her lap. Lily sat on the blanket with the cousins, but she hid underneath a blanket the entire time!

A good time was had by all. Happy Birthday, America!

Atlanta Vacation Part 6 of 6

On Saturday morning we walked to the covered bridge and waded in the river. That afternoon we returned to the North Point Mall.

This was James' favorite doll outfit. The girls might be getting Bitty Baby and Bitty Twin dolls for Christmas and I can sew outfits for them!

Becca found the Build-A-Bear store and caved in to the overwhelming need to get one. She picked out the bear body and they used a really cool machine to stuff it super fast. They had a pipe that shot out stuffing to fill the bear in a couple of minutes. Becca brushed the lint off under a blast of air as you see pictured.

The turning point in her desire to get a bear was finding the "Brave" outfit.  She simply couldn't resist.

The Pottery Barn sold a loft bed that seems perfect for our needs. James took a picture to try to build one. The loft bed fits a twin mattress which we already have, and the lower area should easily hold the toddler bed that we already have. Later when Anna is ready for a twin bed it can be added below easily. The stairs are safer for a three-year-old to navigate than a classic ladder bunkbed.

On Sunday we attended Calvary Baptist Church in Smyrna, GA then Becca, James and I went to the Kennesaw National Battlefield's 150th anniversary. It was the site of a civil war battle fought with Sherman on his way to Atlanta.

The view from the top of Kennesaw Mountain

We got to watch a cannon firing demonstration

Mom and Dad Joyner and Becca left Sunday afternoon, but James and I stayed one more night. We packed up Monday morning and left Atlanta. We had one more CityPass ticket to use that day on our way out of town - the Zoo!

We met Tori Troester and her two boys there. They were able to use Becca's extra ticket. Here is a picture of Samuel Troester as he fed the birds at the zoo.

Anna enjoyed watching the birds and trying to get closer to them.

We got rained out at 1:30pm. It started to pour and all of the train rides and children's activities closed, so we decided to head out of town.

We got home at 6pm and unpacked and had Steve and Emily over to work on his resume.

Tuesday we went to Bear Lake to see Dad and Mom Bryan's campsite. We got there at about 10am and left at 9:30pm, but no pictures were taken. :-)