A challenge

When Jason and I realized that we were moving to Dallas, we started doing a lot of research. Where were the grocery stores, where our favorite stores/restaurants are, etc.. But the hardest research was where to go to church. I always hated moving growing up, but what made it worse after I became a Christian was having to find a new church. It's such a tough process. You have to leave behind the people that you've formed a relationship with to find a bunch of new people to start over. Then there is the teaching, is it biblically sound, is it thought provoking, do you agree with it? And most importantly, is it where God wants you?

After visiting a couple great churches in the Dallas area, we landed at Lakeview Community Church in Cedar Hill. The church isn't as close as we would like (it's about a half hour drive) nor is it big and flashy. In fact, it's in the middle of a reboot with a new pastor. But the day we visited, it felt like home and Jason and I knew right away that we found our church. The pastor, Dan is a DTS grad and has the same sense of humor as Jason. Which works great for us and it's been a pleasure getting to know people in the church family. 

Dan is an Old Testament guy and even named his daughter Eden. So it was with lots of enthusiasm that he showed me a hat on Etsy. It was an Assyrian war helmet with beard.  He said that he'd been wanting it ever since he saw it but wouldn't spend the money to buy it. (It was kind of pricy). So I took it upon myself to try to figure it out. As I sat down to look at the picture and try to make a pattern for it, I actually found it online for free! SCORE! 

So I sat down with crochet hook in hand and started making it. I think an hour or so into it I was muttering that I realized why the lady charged so much. The pattern was definitely harder than what I was used to. Long story short, after lots of muttering I finished it and it was awesome!

Dan's look when he got it was like seeing a 5 year old get a new bike for Christmas. It was priceless. All that to say I'm glad we're done looking for churches.

Gifts

Now that the holidays are over, I can show you some pictures of the stuff I've been making. I took on a little too much this last year and have resolved to start presents much earlier this year.

I made the boys some messenger bags because they were getting upset that Audrey had purses. 

As you can tell, they also got guns and have been shooting everything around the house. Audrey got a new skirt. 

All three kids needed belts, so I whipped some up from ribbon and d-rings. The best thing about these belts is that they only took about 10 minutes to make.

What's with the looks?

And I went to a baby shower and made a little bear hat.

And lastly, I made matching scarves for the kids' owl hats but I forgot to take a picture! Maybe next time...

Projects

This Christmas, I've taken a lot of projects upon myself. I've made some owl hats for the kids.

And a new bubble skirt for Audrey.

But I still have to make matching scarves for all three kids, another skirt for Audrey and 2 new messenger bags for the boys. As well as some special surprises for other friends. I'll keep you updated on how the projects go!