Thanks be to God!

The Thanksgiving holiday has been an annual tradition in the U.S. since 1863, as a day to give thanks to GOD! Here are some things that I am most grateful for that my God has blessed me with:

-I thank God for sending Jesus Christ to die on the cross for my sins

-I thank God for my husband, Shane, who is my best friend
-I thank God for my daughter, Emma, who brings me incredible joy everyday, but also has made me grow in so many ways
-I thank God for my mom and dad, who I love and miss dearly
-I thank God for my family and friends who I get to share life with
-I thank God for being debt free (besides the mortgage)
-I thank God for my church, where I can go and worship Him freely
-I thank God for my bible study groups and small group where I can fellowship with other Christians
-I thank God for my warm, cozy little house
-I thank God for an outlet for my creativeness
-I thank God of a husband who dreams with me, and allows me to pursue my dreams
-I thank God for a job for my husband, and the ability for me to stay at home with Emma
-I thank God for a furball named, Bella, that keeps the other side of me warm at night (Shane does the other side obviously)
-I thank God clean water and all the other conveniences and luxuries I take advantage of
-I thank God for our soldiers and their families, who make the ultimate sacrifice
-I thank God for high speed internet, so that I can feel closer to my family and friends that live so far away
-I thank God for the Harrisons', who always welcome us into their home on holidays that we don't make the trip home to Nebraska, and make us feel like family
-I thank God for the 2 weeks vacation over Christmas to go home and spend with our families

Well, that is just to name a few! Happy Thanksgiving!
Love, The Struckmans!

Where did the weekend go?

Wow, the weekend just flew by! It was a nice and relaxing one though! We stayed home all day on Saturday. Shane, of course, watched and listened to football (we didn't get the Huskers game). I tried my hand at making some fabric labels (which you will see pics of in future sewing projects). They are real simple, I didn't want anything real decorative, they just say 'kt designs' for now.

Today, we made a spur of the moment decision to go to Moline to Lowe's and Hancock Fabrics. I have been looking at patterns online to make Emma a Christmas dress after spotting this beautiful silk dupioni a few weeks ago and finally settled on one, so we went to see if I could find everything I needed for it today. It includes a dress and coat and I didn't know what I was gonna make the coat out of so on our drive their I prayed that God would have His hand in this sewing project (I am not very good, nor have much experience with garment construction) and that He would just make the decisions for me with picking out fabric. We get to Hancocks and I go over to the beautiful silk, picked it up and 2 seconds later this adorable older lady walked by and commented on how beautiful the fabric was, and that even at her age she still wears that bright color, she even took some of it and held it up and said "see it still looks good on me!". She was so sweet, we started talking and turns out she has been a seamstress and designer for the last 60 years (she was in her late 70's). She lived in Europe and studied under someone there, and spent some time in England as well, studying under someone else! I showed her the pattern I was making and that I didn't have any clue on what to use to make the coat, or use for lining, or what to use to layer with it to make the coat heavier (since the pattern didn't call for a lining)...so she said, well lets have a look! So off we go, walking thru the fabric and she pulls out a beautiful wool blend to use for the coat that goes beautifully with the silk for the dress, then we move on to finding a matching lining, then some fabric to layer with the coat! I didn't have to pick any of the fabric out! And during all this she told me that when she woke up today, she had prayed that she would be able to help one person out today, I then told her that I had prayed! How awesome is God! It was such a blessing just to meet this woman, named Elizabeth, and then to have God use her to pick out Emma's Christmas outfit! The coat also calls for buttons, and guessed who picked those out...Shane! I am really nervous about tackling this outfit, and not sure if it will be a success, but I figure if God answered those prayers, He will carry it on thru the rest of this project! (I will have to remember to tell myself that when I am pulling my hair out in the middle of it!) Whether it is a success or not, meeting Elizabeth was a blessing!
Below is the picture of the dress and coat fabric! Its not your traditional Christmas colors, but I wanted something fun!

Below are some fun pics of Emma from this weekend:

Emma's funny face...

more funny face...

and some more funny face!

Emma being silly!

Havin' some cheese and milk

Emma sitting in yet another tote

This was a first, Emma used her rocking chair to get into her grocery cart!

It will only hold her if it is pushed up against something so that it doesn't tip forward

Getting a little too big to squeeze into this!

I also learned this week that Emma is now tall enough to crawl into the bathtub while I am showering! This kid loves water! The second she hears the tub faucet, she is in the bathroom!
Well, its bed time! Have a good week, everyone!

A few pictures...

I have been bad about keeping up to date on my blog...sorry! But I know that nana and gramma need their Emma fix, so here are a few pictures from the last couple of days (I am also getting bad about taking pictures lately, it doesn't help that Emma won't sit or stand still for 2 seconds!)

Just playing!

Emma playing with a pacifier...she has never used one.

I caught her in the laundry basket...go figure!

My mom sent me this outfit...it was one of mine when I was little. She wanted to see Emma in it...so here you go mom...does it bring back any memories?

Emma being tickled by her daddy at lunch today...she loves her daddy and loves to be tickled, so its pure heaven for her!

Well, Emma is up from her nap, I better go rescue her from her crib!

Quick update before bed...

All is well at our house. Everyone is feeling good, so that is a huge blessing!
You won't find any halloween costume pics in this post, b/c Emma didn't dress up this year. She is really too young to partake in any fun events, and I quite frankly don't care much about halloween, so didn't even bother spending the money on a costume just for a photo-op (like I did last year)...sometimes I wonder about how cheap I am becoming! ha! I do enjoy making pumpkin seeds, but didn't do that either since pumpkins were $4.00 plus dollars! Crazy! We did however buy candy and answer the door for the trick-o-treaters in a tutu. Emma was rather fascinated with all the kids that came to our door. I think she was really confused as to why they didn't stay and play!
Sunday we went to church and small group, and then came home for a quick lunch and then headed to Coralville to the mall and Target, and Stuff, etc. I scored some great jeans for diaper bags, and at the mall did a little shopping for Emma and I. It was fun, amazing how uplifting a little shopping can be sometimes.
Emma is learning so much lately...the body parts she knows include: eyes, ears, nose, mouth, tongue, head, hair, hand, fingers, toes, belly button. She is also getting really good with animals and sounds they make, as well as food and other things. She now drags me to the frig anytime she wants something or to the cupboard for a snack. Anytime we say its time for a nap or bed she heads to the stairs and is ready to go up. We went thru a period last week when everything ended up in the trash can (I figured that showing her where to throw away trash would come to bite us in the butt) she seems to be doing much better now though. I also have her shaking her booty now on command! ha!
Well, thats all I can think of for right now! Enjoy the pics below!

Monday morning, Emma started early with dress up!

Emma spotted her tutu on the table and insisted on playing in it most of the morning!

Notice what Emma is looking at...we are starting her young on the Dave Ramsey plan!

Emma spends alot of her time in this tote!

Feeling better...

We survived the flu, at least Shane and Emma did. I still don't know for sure if I had it or not...from what I heard from other people, my symptoms suggest that I did, I just didn't get the fever or body aches that Shane and Emma experienced. We spent all weekend at home...even though we weren't feeling well, I still really enjoyed our 3 days of lounging and being together doing nothing!
Hard to believe our week is now half over. Emma and I have so much fun together, she is so entertaining! She is learning so many new things, is fun to teach her and see her grow! Here are a few pics of her playing!

Emma showing you where her belly button is...which she is obsessed with, along with everyone elses. And she has the cutest 'outie' belly button!

Emma being goofy! I took apart her activity jumper so I could put in a tote and store, she loved the seat and keyboard once I got it apart, so I left those out for now!

This kid has to sit in everything!

A quick Monday project...baby shoes! Emma is modeling them here! I used some scraps from my last diaper bag project, I just wanted to see if I could make them and I think they turned out cute!

Sick Day...

Its Friday and we are all home sick! Emma woke up with the flu on Wednesday and Shane woke up with it this morning. I have been fight sinus crap for almost 2 weeks and now I am pretty sure has turned into my annual sinus infection, and I have a cough and itchy throat to go along with it! We were suppose to go to Lincoln to spend the weekend with our friends, Heather and Jon, but had to cancel. Even my mom, sister and gramma were gonna come and see us on Saturday, so its disappointing. We won't get to see everyone until Christmas now.

Well, I don't have much to report, but here are some pictures.

Emma hanging out with daddy while watching the Huskers game last weekend

Right before this picture I told Emma to say 'cheese', which was the wrong thing to say, cuz then she said cheese and pointed towards the refrigerator, wanting some cheese! ha!

Emma playing

I finished up 2 diaper bags last weekend. I posted pictures of one of them on my website, so check it out, and the other one was purchased as a gift, so will post pics once it has been given.

Have a good and healthy weekend!

A quick Monday post...

Thought I would share a few pics of Emma being her funny self from this weekend! We had a good weekend, it was a good mix of being productive and relaxing. Shane was brave and had me cut his hair. He has been wanting me to try, so that he doesn't have to pay a barber. We kept meaning to do it shortly after he got a haircut so that I would have some line to follow, but of course we never got to it and he was in need of a haircut so I just gave it my best! You know it couldn't have turned out too bad since I let him out of the house this morning! Ha!
I forgot last post to tell you about my Monday night thing that I did decide to do...a belly dancing class! A friend of mine is doing it at her church and asked if I would be interested. Its free and great exercise, and fun and the ladies in the class are hilarious...lets just say that I am the youngest...by more than a decade!
Well, its off to bed for me! Enjoy the pics!

I was cleaning in the hall closet and Emma came across our safety glasses from our goodyear days, she thought they were very interesting!

Emma playing with a bra...silly girl!

I tried to tell her that is not how we wear them!

Me with my beautiful daughter!

This one is for Auntie Heather!

The following pictures are from today when Emma saw her daddy at the door at lunch time! She gets just so excited, it is so darn cute!

Clappin' cuz daddy is home!