Praying For Olive Hope...

I have someone I'd like you to meet.

Meet Olive Hope:



Sweet Olive Hope was born at 28.5 weeks in Chiang Rai, Thailand where her missionary parents, Rusty and Lynette, are spreading the word of Christ Jesus. Rusty was one of my youth group leaders and our church supports Rusty and his wife, Lynette, as missionaries in Thailand. People around the world are praying for this little one as she fights to live.

Psalm 52:8-9 'But I am like an OLIVE tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God's unfailing love for ever and ever. I will praise you forever for what you have done; in your name I will HOPE, for your name is good. I will praise you in the presence of your saints.'

You can follow Rusty and Lynette's blog HERE as they chronicle Olive's struggle to live and the challenges they are all facing by being in such a far away country.

I ask that you join me in praying for little Olive Hope as she fights for her life. Grab the HTML code under the button and paste it into an "html code/javascript gadget on your sidebar to spread the news about this precious baby girl.

<a href="http://www.rustylynette.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img src=" http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt148/VintageDutchGirl/PrayingOlivecorrectsize.jpg" /></a>

Want to know more ways you can help?

An auction has been set up to help offset the enormous medical bills Rusty and Lynette are facing. You can:

- DONATE an item/service for the auction. What ever you have to give would be appreciated. What are you talents? Where has God blessed you abundantly? Be creative. Be generous. (information on how to donate on sidebar of link.)

- BID on an item/service from the auction. Bidding starts on November 22! That's in three days! Bidding will run until November 28th. To enter a bid, starting November 22 all you have to do is leave a comment with the amount of your bid. You'll have to check back to see if others have outbid you and submit another bid to win. ( * Hint, there may be a shirt refashion/sassification up for grabs * )

Need more ideas?

- You can make a DONATION to the Olive Hope Care Fund.

- You can leave a NOTE OF ENCOURAGEMENT and SUPPORT for Rusty and Lynette on their blog HERE.

- You can JOIN the Praying for Olive Hope group on Facebook. Updates on Olive's condition are often posted, allowing you to direct your prayers accordingly.

- Pray fervently. We serve an AWESOME and ALL-POWERFUL God who holds Olive Hope in His hand...

A

I Need a Vomit Roomba...

Yes, it IS disgusting.

No, you would never CHOOSE to be a vomit cleaner-upper.

However, if you are a mother, chances are at some point you WILL have to clean up vomit. (I've heard of Mom's who REFUSE to clean up vomit. UH, what do you do if they puke at 9 AM and you're the only one home for the rest of the day? Do you just LEAVE IT? Nasty!)

OR, you had SO MUCH practice cleaning up your own vomit while afflicted with morning sickness it doesn't even phase you. (*Or so I've heard, not learned through personal experience.*)

I hates me some vomit.

"BUT WAIT!?", you say. "AREN'T YOU A NURSE!?"

Um. Yep. An OB nurse.

And didja know? Blowing chunks is a GREAT sign of labor! Yippee!

So, aside from the food poisoning I had when one week postpartum with Lil Chick (and that is a JOY let me tell you), I haven't done much spewing myself.

Sunday night Bubbalu came down with some lovely croup. Bark bark bark! And while he is now much better, he still has a cough.

Today Bubbalu came sauntering down the stairs when he was supposed to be napping and said he needed to talk with me. ( Polite, no? )

Apparently he had coughed so hard he vomited.

How to clean up VOMIT:

1. Forget about trying to isolate the puke-pile to only things you can see are hit. Assume EVERYTHING is tainted.

2. Assume you will touch vomit. Right when you think you've got it all your hand will land in a huge slop o' puke.

3. Wash EVERYTHING. Throw all bedding, towels, clothing etc. into the washing machine.

4. Sanitize EVERYTHING. Those handy dandy sanitizing wipes containers? Keep one in the kids bathroom. Use to wipe down floor, toilet, sink, door handles, door (don't ask), stair railings, bed frame...um, I could go on but I think you get the general idea.

5. Give kid a shower and make em brush their teeth. I combined these today and he happily scrubbed his pearly whites in the shower for at least 15 minutes. If child is old enough, that gives you time to strip the bedroom. ( I'm now wondering if he used the bar soap as toothpaste to scrub other things. Mental note to self: sanitize or replace Bubbalu's toothbrush!)

6. Set kid up on the couch with a beverage and a movie.

7. Blog about it for therapy ;)

A

*** ALSO: Vintage Dutch Girl now has a fan page on Facebook. So, if you are on Facebook, do check it out HERE and make my day by becoming a fan.

Clearing Out The Draft Folder...

A smattering of often pointless but nevertheless hopefully entertaining shorts in the draft folder:

***

My almost 11 month old daughter gained four pounds in less than a month. This daughter, who is currently lying prostrate on the ground so as to teeth on the piano pedals, is a CARB-AHOLIC.

Wonder where she got THAT from?

***

Would you rather change EIGHT medium sized poopy diapers per day or ONE insanely impressive ginormo poopy diaper per day?

YES, you have to pick one.

We are currently on the EIGHT medium sized poopy diapers per day plan. And by "we" I do mean Lil Chick. She is going through more diapers now than when she was a newborn. If I had a nickel for every poopy diaper I've changed...well, I could buy these:



I'd call them my poop boots. Nice ring to it, no?

However I am now completely disgustipated. They are actually Girls boots, not Womens boots. What does it say about me that I prefer Girls boots over Womens? Is it just me or are those seriously cute? Please, someone justify my thought processes here.

***

And going WAY back to summer:

My take on the annual, held-in-my-small-town Fair:

I detest crowds. I get crabby at people who walk slowly and then stop in the middle of a walkway forcing everyone to walk around them. However, since I am now one of Those Mom's who push a gargantuan double-wide Bob stroller around I fully realize I am now part of the crowd problem. My penchant for speed walking and whipping around people with the double-wide Bob doesn't help. I'm pretty sure I startled eighteen or so peoples, whom surely though that there was an emergency or a Poffertjes stand that I was rushing towards.

(hint: it was the Poffertjes. Surprised? Didn't think so.)

***

ALSO: Vintage Dutch Girl now has a fan page on Facebook. So, if you are on Facebook, do check it out HERE and become a fan.

A

White Baby Doll T Shirt Gets Some Sass...

Yes, I do realize this t-shirt sassifying thingy is getting a tad monotonous. But guess what? I LURVE it.

So, here we go again.

My adorable cake-baking sister, Brown Eyed Girl, commissioned me to sassify a few of her blah shirts. She has a cutely cut, white baby doll t-shirt that needed some oomph and detail.

We decided tone on tone would look fab. Here's what happened, before and after:



Three separate flowers, frayed to perfection and stitched down to be machine washable and hang to dry.



Add some trim to the neckline and VOILA!

A basic, nothing special t shirt is now a signature piece.



Throw on some rockin' jeans, cute wintry boots with poms on the ends of the laces (am I the only one who thinks those are adorable?!) and this shirt, and you are good to go:



A

Flower Creatin' Obsession...

Uh, I've been kinda busy. And NO, not because my house is now all shiny and sparkly. I wish.

I may have a flower creatin' obsession. It's quite the invasive disease. Not that I'm looking for a cure. It's fun and I'm loving what I can come up with.

Brace yourself.

Flower overload heading your way if you scroll down. Just to break the trend is something a little different at the end. It has ruffles people. RUFFLES. Ruffles make me happy.

Everything (including MORE photos, if that's even possible) is now up for grabs in the Vintage Dutch Girl Etsy Shop:













PHEW! Still with me? I'm impressed!

OK, here you go, some happy smiley RUFFLES:



Need a closer shot? Mkay:



*(insert sigh of contentment)*

RUFFLE quota of the day has just been met...

A

The Sassifying Continues...

At the rate I'm going I soon won't have any normal shirts left:



I say that as if it's a BAD thing.



It's SO not a bad thing.

A

Ms. Boring Pink T Shirt Gets a SASSY Makeover...

Meet Ms. Boring Pink (used to be maternity, but isn't anymore thanks to my scissors and sewing maching) T shirt.

She's BORING. She's BLAH. She needs some OOMPH and some SASS:



Enter extra flower petals laying around, my sewing machine and a napping baby and SHAZAM!!!

She's no longer boring and blah:



DEFINITELY some SASS going on:



I'll admit it, I about peed my pants when I washed it ( inside out) and it turned out PERFECT. Phew! Because really now, what stay-at-home-Mama do YOU know that can walk around in a dry-clean only T shirt? Puh-lease. It needs to be 'baby spewed yams on me again' proof.

And guess what? IT IS! Of course, I don't dare put it in the dryer, so 'hang to dry' it will be.

And Ms. Sassy Pink T shirt makes me smile just looking at her:



Now that's a makeover if I ever saw one...

A

p.s. I'm thinking about starting a little T-shirt Sassification business...you send me a blah shirt and I make it all nice and sassy (ruffles, flowers, decorative trim, petals etc.) . I would love some feedback from you, my lovely readers! So, whatcha think? Spill it in the comments.

Flannel Burp Cloths...

New Flannel Burp cloths in the Vintage Dutch Girl ETSY shop:







A

Guaranteed Halloween Candy Snacking...

Well, this is ONE way of guaranteeing a significant amount of Halloween candy left over for your snacking needs:



You can't quite make it out? OK, here's the close-up:



My neighbor said it was hilarious to watch the oblivious trick-or-treaters saunter up the walkway anticipating candy then run away screaming, "Swine flu! Swine flu!".

I'm happy to provide entertainment for my neighbor and a smidgen of exercise for those candy-laden children.

And now I MUST be going. I have a huge orange pumpkin bowl of candy that I must eat. It DOES have an expiration date, didntcha know?

A

Nifty Lil Button...

For all two of my RSS and Reader subscribers, I wanted to give a heads up. We (*ahem* I) had a lovely streamlined site update and have added this nifty lil button! Feel free to grab (highlight, copy and paste) the html code and slap it onto your blog!

<a href="http://www.vintagedutchgirl.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt148/VintageDutchGirl/JustLivetile4quad2.jpg" /></a>

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Yes, That IS An Avocado Stain...

Public Service Announcement.

Yes, I AM going to the grocery store in my present state.

Yes, I WILL be wearing my UW Dental School white hooded sweatshirt with the big green and brown avocado stain on the front.

No, I WON'T be charming and friendly if I happen to run into you.(Not literally RUN into you, however, if I DO RAM your cart that is blocking my view of the assorted chocolate bar varieties, I'll apologize nicely.)

Yes, I AM feeling quite crabbified at this moment.

Yes, my immune system IS on an extended (read: semi-permanent) holiday.

Yes, I am feeling VERY thankful for a Gramma who lives in town.

YES, there is NO SOUP in my pantry.(No soup! No soup for you!)

Must remedy situation with the greatest possible speed and promptness. Grocery store here I come.

You've been warned...

A

*edited to add: Grocery store run has been completed, no cart-ramming to report*

Wordless Wednesday...Sorta...

As if any words are needed to describe my joy.

(whoops, that sentence slipped out. This from the girl who got "Talks Too Much In Class" on EVERY SINGLE report card Kindergarten through 12th Grade. I'm sure it would have been on my college reports except they didn't have spaces for professor comments!)

Happy seasonal coffee drinking, and a merry UNwordless Wednesday to you...

A

Project FAIL...

Project FAIL.

Most of my latest projects have FAILED. Either a project doesn't turn out the way I envisioned, I cut wrong (ARGH!!!) or it has irked me to the point that I ignore it and hope it miraculously gets completed without my assistance.

Hence the reason for lack of project posting the past few weeks.

It is so frustrating when I use up precious project/crafting time, which is painstakingly carved into the daily list of needed activities (such as FEEDING MY CHILDREN), and a project fails.

My Latest FAIL:

Problem: Two gorgeous chair revamps that have gone horribly wrong during the painting process. At this point I am considering changing from my original thought of 'sleek and classic black paint job' to 'distressed on purpose'. It's the only way to salvage them...unless I start over with sanding, cleaning, drying, priming and repainting. I'm WAY too impatient and lazy to restart BOTH of them.

Verdict: Distressed they will be to prevent more distressing of ME...

A

Jones Soda Winner Announced...

The winner of the Customizable Jones Soda has been chosen on the Vintage Dutch Girl Giveaway blog! Go on over and see if it is YOU!

Stay tuned, more giveaways coming up...

A

Newly Added Lovelies...

More lovelies newly added to the Etsy Shop:









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