Reduce and Re-use

Ok, so I was cleaning out our winter clothes and putting in our summer clothes...and today it is only in the 40's.  Oops.  But that is not the point of this post.  While I was going through our clothes, I found quite a few things to get rid of.  Yay for less clutter!  I don't know about you but most of the time when I designate something "to-be-gotten-rid-of" it somehow manages to sit around for months before I can decide what to do with it.  Do you just throw it in the garbage?  Do you bestow your once beautiful treasures on someone?  Do you give it Goodwill?  Do you keep it in case you can ever use it again?
I know that last one sounds silly.  After all, it is junk so why would you want to use again?  Well, I'm glad you asked cause that is the point of this post.
I like to re-use things as much as possible.  After all, a piece of artwork made out of free junk is...well, free! So here is my newest project:

In case you can't tell, it is a rug crocheted out of old shirts!  Obviously it needs some more shirts.  I have a few more to cut up and add to it.  If you have any that you want to donate, my rug would love you!  I'm looking for shirts made out knit materials.  I don't really care about the color as long as it isn't something crazy like hot pink or mustard yellow.  I'm also accepting used jeans donations as I someday hope to make a jean quilt like this one. 

Here is the accompanying tutorial. 

8 Months

My tiny little baby is 8 months old today!  Crazy! That is 2/3rds of a year.

She is so cute she can even make leg warmers look adorable. 

She loves to eat and she especially loves to feed herself.  The best part about sticky rice is that it is easy to pick up cause it sticks to your hand.  The worst part about sticky rice is that it sticks...to everything. 

She loves to play the piano.  She used to patiently sit on my lap while I practiced and then take a gentle turn when I finished a song.  Now she insists on playing violently the entire time I attempt to practice.  

Her talents include: 

• Clapping her hands
• Giving high-fives
• Fake laughing which she seems to believe is a form of communication
• Today she started to do the sign for "eat."  She can only do it about 1/2 but she's getting there!

She also shows no motivation to move at all.  She can sit up but if she falls over she doesn't even attempt to catch herself or right herself.  I think she may skip the whole crawling thing and go straight for the walking.  

My Workin' Man

There are a lot of things I love about my husband.  For starters, he thinks my blog is funny.  He is also super good at fixing things.  See here is proof:

He changed out the brake pads on my car free of charge.  If the women can't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy.
He also works super hard.  On Monday, he went into work 2 hours early only to discover that all employees had to work a mandatory extra 2 hours at the end of the day.  And somehow, at the end of a 12 hour workday, he came home cheerful though very tired.
One of my favorite things about our relationship is our inability to order food.  You see, we have this problem.  The other day I went to have lunch with him and told him that we needed to find some ice cream since it officially had turned spring.  When we got there, we had a dilemma:  what to order?  We had decided to split some ice cream dessert but we have differing views on the best form of dessert.  I'm all about the chocolate and he is all about the fruit.   After pouring over the menu, I fought back the urge to order a chocolate sundae and instead was leaning towards the strawberry shake because I knew my husband would like it best.  I was still fighting this internal battle when it came time for us to order.  I just told my husband to choose.  What did he choose?  The chocolate sundae, of course.  Just for me.  I think he likes me.

He is Risen!

Over the past few weeks, Aaron and I have been thinking about Easter traditions for our family.  Here are a few things we decided:

1. Easter lasts for more than Easter Sunday.  In fact, Easter season is supposed to last for 40 days until Ascension.
2. We need Easter decorations.

3.  We decided to do an Easter tree.  All I did was go outside and cut some branches of a green bush, stick them in a fabric covered coffee can and then add some decorations.  This ear I did a couple of bird ornaments and a couple of giant marbles that I had glued to sticks.  Next year we intend to fill some numbered plastic Easter eggs with Bible passages so that we can use them to lead our family devotions.  Of course, all the passages will be related to Christ's death and resurrection.  As of right now, we're planning on putting it up about a week before Easter and then continuing in the devotions for several days after Sunday.  

4.  Aaron is insisting that we sing a lot of Easter hymns any chance we get.  

5.  We plan on continuing to look for worthwhile Easter traditions because it is such an important holiday for both us. 

Any suggestions other than the obvious Easter baskets and egg hunt?