"As Thomas Edison says…"

Whenever I get frustrated at a failure of mine, (usually in cooking)

my dear, well-meaning husband says, 

"Eden, remember what Thomas Edison said when creating the lightbulb,

I haven't failed 10,000 times, I just found 10,000 ways it won't work.'"

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I'll try again.

---

So meet Happy, an rag doll that has been brewing in my head for 

quite some time, but I put off actually working on her till now.

Last week, while visiting family on spring break,

Little Pip and I had some one on one time,

so I took her to Hobby Lobby, where we searched and bargained 

for the materials I thought I would need to create this idea. 

Then we split a donut at a new little place in Joplin called Sweet Spot.

Their maple cake donut was delicious! Pip loved the red and white booths.

Back to doll, I decided this week to make this project a priority 

since the house was fairly clean and laundry was fairly caught up.

I made templates for the body, arms, and legs,

washed, iron, and cut the fabric.

Then I colored her hair, face, dress and shoes,

with these Pentel Pastel Dye Sticks. 

Her back was just a fun print fabric.

Today, I sewed and sewed, 

felt sweaty and teared up, 

sipped tea (to help me calm down)

sewed, and muttered, and sewed.

 I am pretty proud of this prototype.

Somethings didn't work out like I wanted,

somethings rubbed off, one leg is a bit longer than the other,

and her head is a little lumpy.

But as I showed her to my older daughters, they said,

"She's so beautiful!"

"Mom, you did a great job!"

"Can we play with her?"

And that felt great.

Then I remembered what my husband says that Edison said,

(good one hun!)

and I am super excited to get back to work, 

figure out the tweaks and changes I need to make 

so she can look better and be a little bit easier to sew.

I'll try again.

Our greatest weakness lies in giving up.

The most certain way to succeed

 is always to try just one more time.

--Thomas Edison 

(quote found here)

    

I won't eat any more chocolate...

Resolutions are fun!

Setting goals, working towards them,

and sometimes succeeding,

I get giddy just thinking about them.

that's me giddy, ha, actually it's me laughing at the Cord.
Back to resolutions.
While most of my goals aren't easily measured,

they revolve around being more intentional,

present, and focused on those I love and what I do,

I am pursuing a few measurable ones I think you will enjoy with me!
And the title of this post is merely a thought I had,
and quickly expelled because there is no way,
no way at all,
would I ever be able to not eat chocolate.
(but it caught your attention, right?)

---

1. Take a portrait of each of the girls,

every week for a year.

Another blog I enjoy perusing is 

Bleubird Blog,

and she completed the same challenge in 2013.

My girls are at such an age where change is constant

and fast, I am excited to document these changes,

and all the milestones reached this next year.

Also, my darling husband purchased a new Canon t1i for me, (birthday present!)

and I am looking forward to getting more practice,
using it to complete this goal.

2. practice sewing and piano more.
I have always felt more of a jack of all trades, master of none
kind of girl. This next year, I want to no longer spread myself so thin,
I want to pick skills I truly enjoy doing in my spare time,
and practice, and practice and practice.
Along the way, I will share sewing projects,
(I have one I am particularly excited about)
and songs learned.

3. Run a race with my husband.
We have tossed this idea around many different times,
and I feel like this is the perfect year to follow through!
We have absolutely no specifics yet,
10k, 5k, Half, Road, Trail, Warrior…??
It's going to be fun to decide that together,
 but most of all,
I am looking forward to hanging out with him more!

---

And this night, next year I hope that I look back at this post,
I can think back on the year with joy and thankfulness.
Then I will lean over and say to Levi,
 "This was so much fun. What are we going to do in 2015?!"


H A P P Y N E W Y E A R!


+pictures taken by Nora girl, she manages great captures with her i-don't-care-i-shoot-where-i-sit attitude.

she took this one too from her trike. love my girls!