Pumpkin Pattern

I saw this adorable little pumpkin hat pattern, I definitely want to make one for our little fall "Punkin"! Isn't it cute? Even if we have a girl, can't you just see it with with a tiny green tutu?  It ALMOST makes me wish for Fall. Almost. Except that I am ready for cold weather to be over, not starting. (Will summer ever come???) 


I've been taking knitting lessons every week, I don't know if I will have the skills to make this by September or not, but I'm going to try! (I have yet to finish a decent washcloth, so we'll see, haha).



http://blog.innerchildcrochet.com/?p=411

The SugarBow Shoppe -- Making Life Sweet

Since I have my own blog, why not use it for free advertising right? ;)


If you are interested in sweet hair accessories for your little girls or even yourself, check out my Facebook page and become a fan! https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-SugarBow-Shoppe/166356459595 If that link doesn't work for you, just search SugarBow Shoppe in the FB search engine. There you can view my current listings and spread the word! 

I also have a domain at etsy.com, see link below, where my items are available for purchase at insanely competitive prices. (Hmmm, that sounds like a used car salesman, but I really do have good prices!) http://www.etsy.com/shop/SugarBowShoppe

Headbands, bows, rosettes, and hats are all available, and I take custom orders for people I know. I LOVE doing it, so look me up!

Thanks for your time!

Regarding The IFB Cult as seen on 20/20

 If you haven't watched or heard about the 20/20 episode last week "exposing" "THE IFB Cult" go to www.abc.com and watch it. Oh boy, I have soooo much I want to say about this subject. Actually, I have said a lot about it all over the web, haha. Some people make me so mad! But I'm just going to narrow it all down to one little statement:


Revenge-colored blinders do not allow truth to be seen. 


I'll be the first to admit that many  Baptist churches drop the ball on issues like the story Tina told. But not ALL of them, and probably not most of them either. And the group telling this particular story have an AGENDA folks. And it's not good! But regardless of whether the stories portrayed on the program have an element of truth to them or not, these people are on a witch hunt, and they don't care if they bring down innocent people so long as they get their revenge on the people who hurt them. And I'm guessing they probably don't appear on shows like 20/20 for free? 


I wouldn't trust Jocelyn Zichterman with a 10-mile pole. I don't know why, I'd never even heard of the woman before last week, but she has an agenda no doubt about that. She is not someone who has anyone's best interest at heart. 


After reading everything I can find on the subject, all I can see is that: 


1. This is a nationally known story; if Pastor Phelps really had obstructed justice by covering up a rape, why isn't HE in jail? Why isn't HE a person of interest in this case? Why would he make his paper-trail public if he had something like that to hide?


2.  There is no such thing as "The IFB Denomination". Independent Baptists are just that...independent. It's not "The Baptist Church" like there's "The Catholic Church" or "The Mormon Church". Each church is its own entity, and not every church agrees or shares the same standards as another church. 


3. If Baptist doctrines repress women, why are there more women than men in church? 


4. I would be the first to stand up and yell for Pastor Phelps or ANY pastor to resign, go to jail, apologize, if he really covered up sexual abuse in his church. It's a pet peeve of mine actually, churches brushing things under the rug to save their reputations. But looking at the evidence, it doesn't appear that he did that. 


5. Independent Fundamental Baptists defy any modern notion of a cult. Think about it. If a person decides they don't agree with the ideas of a particular cult, what happens? The cult leaders hold something over their heads, making them afraid to leave, something such as loss of salvation, loss of children, loss of life. But if I wanted to quit attending an Independent Baptist church right now, I could! Nobody is going to say I'm no longer saved, I won't go to Heaven, or even hint at it. I wouldn't fear for my life or my family's life. People would be disappointed. I might lose some friends. But that's about it. How does that in any way remotely resemble a cult? Absurd. 


I found these websites to be extremely informative:


http://dl.dropbox.com/u/5416470/Fallacies%20of%20Logic%20-%20An%20Analysis%20of%20ABC%E2%80%99s%20%E2%80%9C20-20%E2%80%9D%20View%20of%20IFB.pdf

and

http://www.drchuckphelps.com/

http://theologshmeolog.wordpress.com/2011/04/11/not-a-specific-statement-to-specific-ifb-cult-watchdogs-but-a-caution-for-all-of-us-as-we-battle-sin-in-our-local-churches/#respond

Woops, I wasn't going to rant, but I guess I did.

Happy Birthday Easter Lily

It's hard to believe that today is my oldest baby's 5th birthday! This birthday seems like such a big deal to me. This is the year she will no longer be called a "preschool age child", no longer fit in the clothes from the "little kid" section of the store, no longer have to take a daily nap (except on Sundays, because as we told her, even God took a nap on the seventh day!). She'll be starting Kindergarten!

And she has also announced that now that she is 5, she will NOT be scared of the McDonald's play-land with the shaky rope bridge. We'll see about that one. I told her we'd try it sometime, but I have squeezed and crawled through that ridiculous play-land filled with rude and unruly children on too many rescue missions to try it again anytime soon.

The five years since we brought her home from the hospital have gone by so fast. I remember looking down at her little round newborn face and being gripped with sudden and total panic at the thought of being responsible for this tiny life. What was I going to DO?! How was I going to keep this helpless little thing alive?!

But somehow, we have made it through five years already, and I am so thankful for the time that God has given us with our amazing, artistic, expressive, funny, beautiful daughter. Thank you God for each moment!

    Happy Birthday Lily, and may you have many, many, many more!