HaddyGraceDesigns

    Being a mom is an insecure Job.. Partly because Moms can be such TOUGH judges!! You walk into a room full of moms and all the 'My baby does this, and he eats this, she sleeps 10 hrs at night, And I would NEVER use pampers again, and teething is a breeze when you use....."  It's enough to send a new mom into a spiral of insecurities.. NONE of that matters!!! You do measure up!!!  You are the best Mom for your baby!   Just because you don't use cloth diapers doesn't mean you don't love your baby. Just because you don't make your own babyfood doesn't mean you love your baby any less than the mom who makes everything from scratch. Where your baby sleeps at night doesn't define how much you love that baby. Being a stay at home mom doesn't mean you love your baby more than the mom that works. Just because you homeschool doesn't mean that you love your children more than those parents who sent their children to s...

      I know it's only the first week of November... Please don't hate me for talking Christmas shopping... Ipods............................ According to my 12 year old Daughter she is the only 12 year old in the world that doesn't have one!!    Is this the Christmas she finally gets one??   My pros and cons list: ( please remember before you judge my pros and cons list that this is my first teenager!!!  LOL)   Pros:   If we do get her an Ipod for Christmas she will be OVER THE MOON happy!!!!  She might actually think I am a great mom (until she sees the parental contract that comes with it) She won't be the only kid in the middle school that doesn't have an Ipod. She will be able to listen to her own kind of music with out me telling her to please turn it down!   It'll be a privilege that I will be able to take away as punishment.   It will a way to introduce her to responsible ...

  What defines a great mom from a good mom??   It's the question that plagues us from the moment we become moms.. we all want to be "great moms".   We make decisions daily for our young children and all the while we are plagued by "what if that wasn't the ABSOLUTE best decision for my child??     After your first child hits about 10 yrs. old and you're making some of the same choices for their younger siblings and some new choices that work better.. And some decisions are coming naturally by now.. You suddenly realize HEY!!!  I am not too bad at this decision making..    This child is still alive!!! and her siblings too!!    But there is one decision that after 4 kids I am still not confident about!!!!! CANDY!!!!  I rarely buy it.. (if I do, I hide it from the kids or buy something natural, dye free, preservative free)   But, Halloween candy, Easter Candy, Christmas candy, ...

I don't especially enjoy the kitchen.. But I do it because it tells my family 'I LOVE YOU' like few other things.   And when I bake this cake... They Think I REALLY  put in a lot of effort for them! They feel loved and I get to go back to my sewing machine!!!!   When you grow up in a Mennonite home You learn to cook and bake at a very young age.. for a couple of reasons: There is no TV so you need something to do. When you are part of a family of 11 buying Tastee Cakes isn't an economical choice. Family meal time is/was the most important part of our day, therefore a LOT of emphasis are put on Food.   As the middle of 9 children and 3rd born daughter I remember plenty of times where I escaped to the barn to play with my Ponies in order to avoid the Kitchen, and obviously with 5 sisters, Mom never really realized that I wasn't hanging around for Dinner preparations.   Maybe that's why I had to go help Grandma once a week.. I rode my...

  Do you choose your dreams??? Do you hear about or see some one's dream that inspires a dream of your own??    Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning.   Do you feel like everyone else has a dream but you??   But there is One thing you do have.. It's Passion!!   It may be passion for parenting, a passion for kids, a passion for ministry, a passion for people in a 3rd world country. It may be something much smaller but no less important..   That passion is yours, and that passion is where your dreams come from! And from dreams come vision and then planning.. from planning comes action, and from action comes results!!   So take Heart!! You are a world Changer!!! If God has given you a passion for something be assured that within that passion lies his vision for your life!!   Dreams are hard to Share... It's hard to be vulne...

          Guilt.. It's the monster that I am trying hard to keep at bay lately!! It's the monster that will drain my energy, make me short and snappy with my loved ones, and keep me from enjoying the things that really do bring me joy!   So I am bringing to light some of the things that are feeding the guilt monster..   A fund raiser sheet for my Daughters'  American Heritage Girls troop  It hasn't got ONE SINGLE order on it.. Because Mom hasn't taken them door to door.. (here in rural NE Iowa it involves a bit more than walking around the block and knocking on a few neighbor's door)         My Kale... The same kale that I planted and lovingly nurtured this spring is now overgrown and forgotten.. (we did use lots of Kale in juicing and made kale chips a few times)         The tomatoes that never got picked..          Worms g...

3 years ago I opened my Etsy Shop 3 years have passed in a hurry and flurry... A flurry of bolts of fabric, spools of thread, patterns, social media, stretching my head around SEO, watching my Etsy shop stats, filling orders, and add to all that normal family life with 4 kids and here we are 3 years later.. Celebrating HaddyGrace's 3rd Birthday!  You will Want to be in on the Giveaway!!!!!   3 gifts for 3 years!!!!  go  HERE to claim yours!!!!   Gold Paten Leather Hair bows!! Go find out how to get yours!!!           Iowa has been having some Gorgeous weather this week!!! And on top of that my Mom is visiting this week, this definitely calls for an afternoon off of our regular routine to enjoy the outdoors..     ELEVEN bikes!!! one tow behind kiddy cart and 2 bicycle baby seats! And despite the fact that I took my SLR camera WITHOUT a CARD we had a great time!!!  (poor pho...

Mornings... Some of us love mornings, and we hit the ground running.. Some of us don't like morning as well.. We want to wake up leisurely, we don't want to have a conversation for at least the first hour... And no matter if you love or don't love mornings, as a mom, chances are you will have to learn to live with 'the other kind'. I love mornings... My husband doesn't.. 2 of my children love mornings and 2 wake up very slowly!!!! So mornings can sound pretty hairy in our home.. Add lunches and healthy breakfast and by the time everyone is safely delivered to school I feel like I've accomplished a full marathon!! Healthy breakfast... It doesn't have to be time consuming.. Here is our family's favorite: Baked Oatmeal: 1/2 cup butter 2 eggs 3/4 cup brown sugar   Whip butter, sugar and eggs with wire wisk in glass or microwavable bowl. Add:   1 tsp Vanilla 1.5 tsp baking soda 1 tsp salt 3 cups quick oa...

  Joining up with t he Nester   for 31 days of Blogging!!       Let me introduce you to the Family..  Elvin and RuthAnn Zimmerman, Kristina 12, Staci 10, Mitchell 5, Hadassah 3.   Ever have one of those morning where the minute your brain hits 40% function you come to the startling realization that if you don't hit the floor running you wont ever get everything done that's on your to do list for that day??  Well that was me this morning....  Mounds of laundry, 2 dresses and a pair of shoes to sew.. Lunch with my sisters and kids (my kids had no school today) Photo shoot for my Etsy shop . I missed my coffee all day!!!   Hadassah is feeling a little under the weather today, but true to her nature she only slowed down a TAD BIT. swinging at my sisters house.     Shingling our porch roof turns into a family affair before dinner..  And no it sure wasn't my idea that the kids all go u...

          Happy Sunday to all of you! The sounds of Fall are all around me, The leaves are rustling and cicadas are singing as a cool breeze gently floats through the house, As I sit here with my feet propped listening to my husband snore away his Sunday afternoon nap, I try hard not to feel guilty that I am not outside enjoying this beautiful Fall day..   Fall does that to me!! Every beautiful day we have that I don't spend outdoors makes me feel so guilty.. Guilty that I might be wasting the very last nice Sunday afternoon before winter sets in..          This is how the guilt will haunt me:  In a few weeks from now I'll be sitting here in exactly this spot with nasty weather howling outside and I'll say, "oh how I wish we could go outside."  And then a nagging little voice in my head will say. "you had your chance and you stayed on the couch."  And that's how fall ...