wordless wednesday chevrons

wordless wednesday

wanna see what I've been up to lately?

this sister is beside herself.

Oh my goodness, I have terrifically exciting news. Well, it's exciting for me anyway. OK, actually TWO exciting things!

In 11 days my little sister is getting married! She is so beautiful and I can't wait to see her as a bride. She will really make me hate her with her gorgeousness. Of course, I could never hate her. She's my first little sister I ever got. And I begged and pleaded as a child. I finally got one. When I was 16. And she was the funniest looking baby I had ever seen. (Let's pause here and mention that she was the FIRST baby I had ever seen and no one had prepared me for the baby to come out looking all newborn-ish. Of course now, I totally see the beauty in a newborn. But not when I was 16. Oh no. Not when I was 16.) Still, I changed her diapers and fed her bottles. I rocked her and kissed her from head to toe. I loved that little baby girl and her precious smile. But now, oh yes, now she is a woman. Who's getting married. And making me feel kind of old. When I change her baby's diaper one day, life will have truly come full circle.

So that brings me to the other exciting news! My sister is coming! My sister is coming!! My BIG sister, that is. My older, wiser, bigger sister will be here for the wedding. She's bringing my gorgeous niece with her (one more person to hate for their beauty), and they are staying with US!! You have no idea how excited this makes me, people! Beth is my biffle (even more so than my jigsaw and sander, yes!). She's my bestest friend on the face of the planet and doing life with her makes me a better person. Our visits these days are so few and far between because she lives in Georgia. Thank you Jesus for FaceTime.

Beth is so sweet and supportive of me and my blog and my new business. So when I planned all my classes around her visit, she shocked me when she asked me to hold a class while she's here. The first night! She said it would be more fun to attend my class (for the experience of it) than to just make one together. So I have a new class listed online. On February 29th. We're making a birdie door hanger, as per her request. And if you come, you can meet my precious sister for yourself. Or catch up if you already know her! :)


SIGN UP HERE!


I can NOT wait to hug these sweet cheeks!!



yes, I am taller than her.

sleeping brings out my inner writer

I do my best thinking at night. Don't you? I mean, I can hash it all out there... the good, the bad, the ugly. The blog, my parenting, relational issues. You name it, I can solve it in my bed. But only as I'm on the verge of sleep. Only when I'm so close to sleep that rolling over to write something down is COMPLETELY not optional. I do some great writing during this time. And I can make a craft project, from scratch, right there in my bed.

But my biggest problem is that I can't remember any of it the next day. The craft projects stick, because my brain actually IS good that way. But all the words, the most important stuff of life, are lost. It's sad. And only when I am given a reminder by an interaction or a picture or a whisper in my mind, do I remember anything.

Yesterday, I had a reminder. I haven't told you about where we're at with my daughter. And I want to follow through because, HELLO, I asked you to pray for me. For us. For her. And you DID! And I neglected to tell you the answers we received. But last night, in my bed, I remembered at the edge of sleep.


2008

This precious girl, the one who lives life with this positive attitude every day, is good.

The doctor we met with, an orthopedic surgeon, is named as the best. In other words, we could not have gotten another doctor in our area who is more qualified at what he does. And one would naturally assume that when you go to see a surgeon, they will propose surgery as an answer to your problem. However, that is not what happened at all. When we met with Dr. P, he told us that after looking at our daughter's xrays, he felt like surgery would be unnecessary at this time. He said to come back in 6 months. And he said she probably won't need it then either, based on her growth.

A surgeon who doesn't want to do surgery?! That's the stuff answered prayers are made of, people!

Now, I should be honest. I left bewildered. I wondered at his opinion: "I'd almost be embarrased to do surgery for anything less than 50 degrees." Then WHY are there surgeons out there doing them at 35 degrees? 40 degrees? Either way, I was glad to know that she wouldn't be going under the knife anytime soon, if at all. But I was left to wonder: do we need a second opinion? And if we've come to the best doctor in OKC, then where would we even get that second opinion? Surely if we went looking, we could find someone who would do surgery, but isn't that what we were hoping to avoid?

And there you have it. Where our lives left off. Where Abby's story paused. We've decided that since she is not in pain, and this scoliosis is HARDLY slowing her down, we're going to wait and watch. And thank God that we found a surgeon who is conservative with surgery. Because if our sweet baby girl reaches her full height anytime soon, her scoliosis will also reach it's full growth. And if it's less than 50 degrees and she is still pain free, then we have done right by our precious child.

Thank you, from the bottom of my full heart, for praying for my daughter. It means everything to me.

sassy sawdust goes global

I am excited to announce some new additions to Sassy Sawdust, namely a new Facebook page! Be sure to check me out and "like" my page for all the latest classes!

I'll be teaching a few new classes this week:

A BIRDIE DOOR HANGER



A CHEVRON FRAME



And a basketball door hanger!

I'm excited about all the new things going on around here these days. Remember to like my facebook page for the latest news.

worry + wood = beauty

Today my kids went on lockdown at their schools. Some very strange and completely unrelated events took place in our happy little town. The first was a pair of convicts who were out on work release stole a truck and led police on a chase that ended right near my daughter's school. They caught one guy immediately, but the other remained at large for a great part of the day. And guess where he was all that time? Hiding under a mobile home in a trailer park about 2 short blocks from my daughter's school. Wow. As a precaution, Norman Public Schools locked down every school in town for a couple hours. Which turned out to be good, probably, since across town a man walked into a grocery store and robbed the bank inside around lunch time. He's still at large. And then there was the car wreck on I-35 which runs straight through our town. Someone died. :( Sad stuff, all of it. And strange, for our "small town." It may be a city of around 100,000 people, but trust me, this is a SMALL WORLD.

So while my kids were locked down today, I did what any mama in her jammies would do. I crafted. I locked my doors, prayed that the crazy man wouldn't end up in my neighborhood, finding refuge in my chicken coop, and got out my only weapon. My handy dandy saw. She not only kept me company, but also kept me safe. Cuz I don't have a gun. Although I'm thinking about it. But that's another blog post.

So I grabbed this old frame I had laying around, without a photo inside, and I cut a square of plywood. Then I got to work on my signature chevron. After it was dry, I sanded it down til it was worn out and I ripped the back off that little frame.

Then I laid the frame on top of the board.

And I ran into the office to print off a piece of scripture art from pinterest. Then I glued the frame down and voila!

And I put her in place on the wall, flanking her with some Italian trays my mom gave me a long time ago.

Not bad for a day of worrying and taking my frustrations out on wood.

Daddy Daughter Dance

Every year around Valentine's Day there is a special night. But it's not for the wives or the mothers. It's made just for the little princesses in this town who love their daddies. It's put on by the City of Norman and they do it at a nice hotel here in town. It's called the Daddy Daughter Dance. It lasts an hour and a half and they serve punch and cookies.
But, it's gotten so big that there are several time slots throughout the day and evening. Some people take this deal overboard with limo rides and professional hairdos. We haven't gone that far yet and I'm pretty sure we'll never make it that far, since the little girls are only eligible to go until they're 14. We're getting closer each year to the end and so far, no limo. HOWEVER, for full disclosure, last year they did rent a room in the hotel where the dance is held. And they spent the night after swimming in the pool. And little miss got to eat all the bacon her tummy could handle for breakfast the next morning before driving the mile home.
This year they ate at Olive Garden beforehand. And they went with their standing dates: Danny and Madi. It's been a tradition for many years now. And who doesn't love a tradition? Wanna see my precious girl? She looks a little more like a teenager than a little girl, but I think she's stunning.

Here she is with her daddy.

And with Madi:

And here's a little throwback to years gone by:

circa 2008

circa 2009

circa 2012

Meanwhile, back at the Frakes Family Farm, Gavin and I are eating Sonic and playing board games. Right after we wrangled Flo back into the yard. That's right, our chicken was wandering around in our front yard as we were driving away to get dinner. Ack! Grab the chicken! Get her in the coop! I'm pretty sure we looked like hot messes running around the front yard trying to herd her into the backyard, and hence, the coop. She made it there, but not before the neighbors thought we were crazy, I'm sure. Just another day in the life of an urban farming family.

wordless wednesday

banner of love

Have I told you that my little sister is getting married? She's 23. And she has her whole life ahead of her. And if you could hear their love story, you'd swoon. It's very sweet. And it all began in a dream. Literally.

But this post isn't about a dream, or a love story, but of course, a handmade craft. Cuz that's the part I do best. :)

I made the lovely bride a banner for a gift. She loves red and aqua so I threw in some wedding and burlap and voila! A banner fit for a newly married couple.

I love making banners. because although they are neither a quick and easy nor a cheap gift, they are full of love. Every time I make a banner for someone, it takes time, space, a minimum of $35 and a lot of thought. But I ALWAYS love how they turn out. And my recipient always loves it, too. I've made banners for holidays, babies, and weddings. And my heart gets filled up with so much love while I spend hours google eyed over their gift that by the time I am done, I'm usually about to explode with joy when I'm finished! You should try it sometime. All it takes is cardboard, different papers, lots of sticker embellishments, grommets, ribbons, flowers, and .... okay, get the point? Lots of effort, but TOTALLY worth it.

And while I'm here, I'll just give you a small glimpse into the craziness. I made my older, wiser sister a replica of my Christmas banner for her Christmas gift. Labor of love, I tell you. But using FaceTime to help her place it in her home? Priceless.

Crazy fun, right there. But trust me, you couldn't pay me enough to make one for you. The cost would be ridiculous. Just make your own! :)