A Crazy Busy Week and a Cute Little Ornament ~

For the past several weeks the kids have been working super hard getting ready for UIL contest. This whole UIL thing was new to me when 6 years ago R tried out and made the Story Telling Team. In 3rd grade he made the Music Memory team. This was our first experience with Music Memory and definitely his first time listening to and having to memorize classical pieces; all this at the ripe old age of 8. Pretty awesome. What is even more awesome is that he won that event two years in a row. This year he competed in Music Memory and Listening Skills. He didn't place in Music Memory, but I told him someday he's going to be able to impress a girl with his knowledge of classical music. This is where I got the eye roll and the "Whatever Mom,"  :) He placed 3rd in listening skills which makes me very happy to know he CAN hear.

K placed 6th in Music Memory and competed in Oral Reading for the third time in four years. She won her kinder year with "Our Mother's At A Meeting," a wonderful poem by Kenn Nesbitt. It was a really long poem for a 5 year old and she did a great job with it. Last year she got 2nd place with "Lemonade Stand" by Dave Crawley and on Thursday she won 1st place with "Princess Polly and the Pea" by Laurie Young. She read the poem in a British accent with several different voices throughout. It amazes me that she can stand in front of judges and do this; not only judges but the entire elementary school. The oral readers have been practicing in front of all the different classes for the last few weeks; needless to say she's sick of this poem. All the grandparents want to hear her read it...I'm thinking there's going to have to be money involved to get her to do it again. :)

So yesterday I attended a MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) meeting. Several weeks ago a friend of mine asked if I might be interested in being a mentor mom at their MOPS group. I was very honored to be asked and only for a second allowed this to make me feel old. I remember what it's like to have preschool age children. I remember thinking K would never start school now all of a sudden she's a 3rd grader. It's so hard to realize it when you're in the middle of messes and diapers and nap time, but time does fly by. I hope I can be there for a tired mommy, if just to listen and then pray.

We made a super cute craft yesterday. I'm sure this is one that has been floating around Pinterest for a while but it was totally new to me.

  

The mom in charge of getting all the supplies together for this precious ornament created the buttons, coal eyes and carrot noses out of Sculpey clay ahead of time. How cute is that teeny little carrot nose? You can't see it but the buttons actually have tiny little button holes. So cute! The snow is salt with a little sprinkle of glitter to add just the right amount of sparkle. The scarf is a little strip of felt. I love this and can't wait to get my tree up so I can place this little melted snowman in just the right spot. 

A little funny ~ the night before this meeting K touched my stomach and asked me if I could still have a baby if I wanted to. I told her I guess I could. She said she wanted me to have a baby (this is a recurring conversation btw) and then told me I could still have one because she was only 8 and she was still young enough to have a baby brother or sister. The next morning as I sat across the table from a mommy with a precious 7 week old baby boy. I felt that familiar tug at my heart. If you're a mom you know. That feeling of knowing what it is to hold a new life and also realizing that your turn is over and for a split second wondering if maybe, just maybe it isn't too late...

A Few Fun (and easy) Fall Crafts ~

I'm not sure any of you have noticed, but I did something I haven't done since I started my blog; I deleted a post. I've noticed over the last month or so my blog has taken on somewhat of a negative voice. This is unacceptable. Sure, I've always said I don't want everyone to think my life is perfect. If you know me, you know that is just not the case. However, I also do not want my corner of the world wide web to morph into a place where I just go to gripe. We all lead super busy lives and if you happen to take a few minutes out of your day to read my words, the last thing I want to be responsible for is leaving a sour taste in your mouth. You can just watch the news for that. Lol! Anyway, let's move on to something a little more fun...

A few weekends ago the boys went one way (to a pig sale) and us girls went in the opposite direction (a craft show.) It took a little convincing but once we got there K had a blast. Of course she wanted everything she saw and I got a few ideas for Christmas. The hit of the show was the lady selling her instant coffee mixes and fudge. We had so much fun tasting all the wonderful flavors. If there is one thing I've taught my kids it's to love the comfort of a hot beverage. :) I'm pretty sure K tasted the equivalent of a Starbuck's Venti and I ended up making a dent in my Christmas list. Yes, some of you may be getting flavored coffees for Christmas. :)

On our way home we decided we would get our fall decorations out...K thought we needed to purchase more (because more is always better right.) I decided what we have is perfect. Once we had the walls and tables adorned with pumpkins and the fall garland in it's place, we raided my scrapbook supplies and got crafty. K wanted to make some spiders and I decided we would make a candy corn garland.

Her spiders turned out super cute and are currently placed all over the house. The candy corn garland is hanging on the windows that separate the sun room and dining room. I decided to make them two sided since you would be able to see them from both rooms. I pin stitched around the edges with a Sharpie pen and then added the year to the first candy corn. K suggested this and I thought it was great idea; every year we hang the garland we can add the year to the next piece. The wood pieces were handcrafted by me, my dad, mom and sister the year before I was married. We had so much fun crafting that fall. Every year when I get these decorations out, I'm reminded of those special times. That's why I know my kids will remember the time spent together coloring, gluing, cutting and making messes.

So, if you haven't done so already, get your fall decorations out! If you don't have any, go buy a pumpkin or get out your scissors and make a candy corn garland. It really is alot of fun!

Happy Fall Y'all ~

Muffins, a Bird House and a Few Funny Stories ~

This is a much happier post if you consider the fact that I can't in good conscience make my children muffins with white flour anymore happy. :) So anyway, yesterday after school K wanted to bake something. She got down her Paula Dean Cooking with Kids cookbook and started searching for a recipe. Everything she wanted to make called for yeast. For one thing yeast freaks me out. You bread bakers out there will probably not understand this, but I have always had a fear of cooking with yeast. After nixing several recipes, I suggest we look online and find a muffin recipe made with almond flour. We had such success with these cookies that she was willing to give it a try. I did a search for almond flour muffins and found myself on a website that I'm pretty sure is going to change my gluten free life.

K helped with every step of the muffin making process. Her favorite part is cracking the eggs, but not only that, she likes to use her hands to mix the eggs...the messier the better. I find this just a little crazy that I let her do this; when R was little and wanted to help crack eggs I was like this psycho mom who would freak when he got raw egg on his hands. He would have to wash his hands immediately. I'm pretty sure I scarred him for life and he will never want to be in the kitchen as an adult. I'm pretty sure I just figured out why he's not a fan of eggs for breakfast...hmmm. I apologize in advance to his future wife. Moving on...

Before I show you the picture of "the muffin" I want you to know that almond flour cooks dark. This muffin is not burnt. Not only is it not burnt, it's probably one of the tastiest muffins I've ever eaten. This muffin is perfect, I promise.

Almond Flour Banana Blueberry Muffins

You can find the recipe for this tasty little treat right here. I did a few things different. I added about a teaspoon of heavy cream to the eggs after K had "mixed" them because a good portion of the eggs were stuck to her hands (I know yuck.) I also substituted the agave nectar with Xylitol. We don't use agave in our house. I've done some research and found that agave spikes your blood sugar and raises insulin...no thank you. Oh and I used a whole cup of blueberries instead of half. My philosophy is you can't have too many blueberries.  We had these for breakfast this morning with a little pat of real butter ~ yummy!

Funny story ~ while we were making the muffins I suggested K take a muffin to school to give to her "boyfriend who she is going to marry" because she told him the other day she would bring him a cupcake or cookies. She said, "What if he doesn't like it?" I said, "If he doesn't like it, then he's not the guy for you." She gave me the funniest look. It was hilarious. And no, she didn't take him a muffin.

R started a hot glue/popsicle stick project the other day. My counter has been covered with popsicle sticks and strings of hot glue for days.

It turned into a birdhouse complete with birdie bunk beds and a sky light...

He took his project out to the barn and caulked all the cracks with clear caulk. Pretty cool.
I have to add that his iPod has been lost for several weeks now and no, I didn't hide it; it really is lost this time. Is it coincidence that he is using his imagination now that he is not glued to his iPod? I think not.

Another funny story ~ So, while we were waiting for the muffins to bake, K told me for the millionth time that she wants a baby sister. She said she would take care of the baby, dress her for church, feed her and she could sleep in her bed. She asked me if I wanted another daughter. She said, "I want you to want to have another one because then you will have one." I told her I didn't think Daddy would go for that and she said, "So what, he's not the girl here." Lol!!

I hope this post has made you smile. Try the recipe it's fabulous and what the heck, bust out the glue gun and make something while you're at it. :)

What Makes Your Heart Sing ~

Lately I've really been trying to focus in and narrow down what makes me happy. This may sound a little self serving, but who doesn't desire to live a happy, fulfilled life. I have lived most of my life in hobby overload mode. The first craft I remember growing up was rug hooking. I think my mom still has that awful thing. As a family we crafted. I remember having a garage sale and my parents spent the money we made on a scroll saw. My dad cut the wood pieces and us girls painted. I still decorate with some of the Halloween pieces we made that Fall. I remember listening to a Focus on the Family episode before R and I got married that encouraged wives to have friends and hobbies outside of their relationship with their husband. The show reinforced the fact that a spouse, whether it's the husband or wife, cannot provide all the happiness for the other. I decided when we got married that I would not put that kind of pressure on my man. I soon became a scrapbooker and quilter. I took a tole painting class and became a painter. I still have the basket I made in a basket weaving class (I am not kidding.) I am a needle worker and let's not forget phone talker. :) I helped to start a scrapbook club that quickly grew to 50 members ~ bingo ~ friends with lots in common. These ladies were there for me through the loss of our first baby, many of which came to her graveside service. I met one of my dearest friends through selling rubber stamps and scrapbook supplies at home parties. As soon as R was born I took up photography and have since really established a passion for my Canon Rebel.

Over the years I have tried to narrow it down a bit. I still have my sewing machine and my little bag with an ongoing  redwork project, I've dabbled in soldering charms and painting Toms but my favorite right now is my camera, my trusty laptop and Photoshop software. Digi scrapping makes me happy and I love my blog. I think everyone should have a place to record their stories; even if you don't want to share them with the world, keep it private and go back to it someday and remember.

Yesterday I realized I didn't have all my photos backed up on both external hard drives, so I've been working on getting that done. It never fails when I do this maintenance stuff I get sidetracked and open files I haven't opened in a while...

Here they are ~ my little loves...5 and 2 lying on a rug in a house we don't live in anymore staring at our cat we don't have anymore. I love this picture. I love the memories it brings back. I miss the house, the cat and the little people who have been replaced by a 10 and 7 year old who most of the time are way too big for their britches. I could spend days going through old photos and old memories and someday I will, but for now I will try to keep up with the present and move forward in my storytelling and learning about all things digital. As long as my memories are backed up and I can revisit them from time to time, I'm good.

Back to being happy...do it! Go find something you enjoy and make time for it. Schedule it in on the calendar. And if you decide digital scrapbooking makes your heart sing, let me know. I would love to hang out and discuss all things digi. :)

A Crafty Little Project ~

So when I started seeing pictures popping up on Facebook of these super cute Toms that had been painted in school colors, the first thing I thought was, "I can do that!" I've been this way my entire life. Pretty sure I get it from my dad who is a big 'do it yourselfer.' I am a crafter's worst nightmare. Back when I used to go to craft shows, I would spend all my time saying, "I can do that," or, "I could make that myself." I usually left those shows empty handed but my mind was full of all sorts of ideas.

A few days before school started I ordered a plain pair of cream colored Toms for K and headed to town to load up on all the supplies I would need. I did a Google search on how to paint Toms and came up with a few sites, but none were all that helpful.

I have to admit I was a little nervous putting the paint brush to the shoes, but once I got going (with my music in the background) I felt like my old crafting self again. I have to admit I cheated a little and looked at a friend's Facebook page and got a few ideas of things to put on the shoes. I love it when I find out I have crafty friends and didn't even know it. :) If you're reading this you, you know who you are. Good luck with your new business and thanks for the inspiration!

Here they are ~ K loved them and was so proud to wear them Friday with her cheerleading suit.

July Wrap-up ~

Yes, I'm wrapping up the month of July in the middle of August. And Yes, I haven't blogged in almost a month. Everyday I feel a gravitational pull towards my laptop, but never seem to find the time to actually sit down. We've been busy over the last several weeks and now that the first day of school is breathing down my neck, I'm starting to feel that all familiar urgency/panic that I feel this time every year. Is it just me or can you literally feel a surge of energy or some kind of momentum pulling us into September. It almost feels like a snowball rolling down a hill and I'm stuck in the middle; you know like in those cartoons where all you can see are the arms and legs sticking out. Anyway, in an attempt to slow down a bit and savor every last morsel of summer I thought I would recap what we've been up to the last few weeks...

We've helped Daddy on the farm, watched the cotton grow and prayed for rain...

We spent a fabulous yet exhausting week at VBS (I was suffering from a sinus thing and thought about throwing in the towel many times during this week, but somehow I just couldn't not be there.)

We've played Play-Do. This is K's creation...

And R worked on this masterpiece.

We spent 5 glorious days at the lake. K learned to knee board and ski, R learned to ski and wakeboard; he even started jumping the wakes ~ pretty awesome! We also logged many boat hours pulling the tube around and around and around. K is one little dare devil and once we convinced her there were no sharks in the lake, she was unstoppable. :)

This is what we look like after a day on the water. I know ~ scary.

We came home from the lake on Christen's birthday, so we made our trip to the cemetery the next day. K went with me to buy flowers. She picked out some funky zebra striped daisies that I'm pretty sure her sister would think were totally cool.

So, that's it...July in a nutshell. 

I'm working on a blogging schedule. Still haven't put anything in writing yet, partially because I don't know if I want to limit myself to certain things I have to post on certain days. So far I like my "fly by the seat of my pants" kinda blog, but I feel like if I had a schedule more thoughts would get recorded. Anyway, just a thought. Hopefully you'll hear from me before the end of August. :)

Blessings ~

12 Random Things ~

For several months now I've been following this fun blog. She has lots of great ideas for those of us who love digi stuff. :) Right now she's in the middle of her "Summer Tour" where everyday she features a new site that she loves. Her "Tour" posts are not all about digital scrapbooking and I have loved learning about these fun sites. So, on the 12th of every month (but not this one because she's touring) she takes and posts 12 pictures she has taken that day. This challenge started a few years ago (not sure where;) the point is to take 12 photos on the 12th of each month and it just so happens to be 2012...pretty cool. I have not been doing this, but yesterday when I got my email photo prompt from Katrina Kennedy at Capture Your 365 I thought I might as well...12 pics of 12 things I love (not in any particular order.)

The first thing that popped into my head when I grabbed my camera was a dozen eggs. How appropriate ~ 12 eggs on the 12th day of 2012. Seriously, I love eggs! I eat 3 eggs in some way, shape or form every single morning. If I don't, I feel bad and my day is off. If you think this is too much of a good thing, I encourage you to dig in and do a little research on the health benefits of eggs. They are, in mine and many others' opinions, nature's perfect food. 

This picture is a two in one. :) I love my camera! This is my second Canon Rebel. My first was stolen out of my vehicle. It was horrible and I don't want to talk about it. What I will talk about is how much I love my camera and my new haircut. I feel like 10 lbs has been removed from my shoulders; literally. I have really thick hair. I'm really wondering why I ever let it get that long. Oh well, let's move on...

Not a morning goes by that I do not have a cup of this...with a little spoon of Xylitol, a Tbsp of coconut oil and a dash of almond milk. I really love half and half, but I've had to back off the cream because it makes me crave carbs later in the day. Yes, I know my body that well. Don't laugh.

Happiness is a few squares of this chocolate about 3 o'clock in the afternoon...just sayin'

This has been consuming my life for the past week. For the past 8 years I have led music for VBS. It's a lot of work learning the motions, but I love it! The kids and I still sing songs from past VBS's. I can still remember the words and motions to the very first year. It was called "Dig Deep," and I was an idiot because I didn't realize there was motions to the music. Imagine my horror when I got there the first night unprepared. It was horrifying, but I survived and here we are 8 years later, so I guess I survived. :) I pray that the music this year touches little hearts and opens their eyes to the wonders of God's creations!

No, my kids are not glued to this stuff all day, but I am glad that they are learning their way around the web and are able to enjoy the technology that is all around us. 

R has been working on a string art project. I finally remembered to buy him some more nails, so yesterday he sat down and hammered away at it. :) I will post the completed project one of these days. I love that my kids love to create. We haven't crafted this summer nearly as much as we did last year, but it seems we've been busier. R's been helping his daddy more, they've spent way more time with grandparents and add in the camps that K is finally old enough to attend and *poof* the time is gone.

There are few things I love as much as a good love note from my girl. This one about made me cry. It's posted on the fridge for all to be reminded of this simple truth.

I really should have posted this up by the tea pic. Oh well. I consume alot of this stuff. I promise you it's good for you. Again, research it. Not to get too off topic, but all through my twenties and most of my thirties I suffered from adult onset acne; or whatever you want to call it. I called it a major pain in the patootie!! It was only after I cut out grains and added coconut oil to my diet that my face cleared up. My skin has never looked better. Love love love coconut oil!

I love that the cotton is growing. It's crazy how after a good rain you just wake up one morning and the plants have almost doubled in size. The plants are happy, the farmer is happy, which in turns makes the family happy. Rain is a good thing!

And here it is ~ the embarrassing picture that my kids will kill me for posting. No, I didn't take this one yesterday, but I had to include this funny little story. Several weeks ago my dad and I were reminiscing about how my sister and I used to lock ourselves in the bathroom and stuff our back end with wash clothes and hand towels whenever Dad was after us with his belt. Gasp!! Yes, we were spanked as children. On this particular day, I had had enough! I marched to the closet to grab a belt and when I returned to the living room both kids were locked in the bathroom. I thought, "Good, as long as they're quiet and not killing each other." So I went about my business with the belt under my arm. The next thing I know they are locked in my bedroom...again, all is quiet all is good. Before long they started running up behind me trying to scare me, I would turn around and chase them with the belt. This went on for a while. I finally decided to hide in K's room and jump out and scare them when they came by. I wish I had thought to grab my video camera. The looks on their faces when they realized I was behind them (with the belt) was priceless. The look of shear terror was hilarious. The picture above shows what they were up to in my bedroom. R is wearing my favorite GAP t-shirt stretched out about 5 sizes with a twin size blanket stuffed in it. They had towel and pillows stuffed everywhere. On this day they learned to work together to avoid the wrath of the belt (which they rarely get btw) and I get a funny story to tell.

I hope you've enjoyed my "12 little pics" project. I encourage you to do it too. It's fun to capture the details of everyday life!

ps ~ thanks to spell check I will never have to learn to spell the words embarrassing and reminiscing. :)

Our Family 4th ~

This Fourth of July was only the second in 15 years that we haven't been at R's mom and dad's cooking, playing in the water and popping fireworks. The first was two years ago when it rained so much that the road to their house was impassable. Rain wasn't a problem this year, we just decided to have it at our place. R's mom and a few of our nieces helped set up the day before and when they left we had a little lull around here; you know, kinda like the calm before the storm. The kids were restless waiting for the party the next day. I had been battling my inner Walmart demons for a few days...on the one hand I knew I didn't have any 4th decorations and how lame is a party without decorations? On the other hand I didn't want to go spend a bunch of money on junkie stuff that's going to end up in the trash hole (country word for incinerator.) I decided we would drag out my paper scrapping supplies and make a few handmade decorations. I've held on to my paper crafting supplies thinking someday we would use them. Well, that someday finally came. Yea!

Ta da! We got the idea off the Family Fun site. It was the first craft we came to so we went with it. Our's didn't turn out exactly life the original, but that's the beauty in crafting right?

Ribs...yummm! We look forward to this meal all year. R is a whiz at the pit and this year the ribs were the best ever. I had ribs for dessert ~ that's how good they were. :)

This was little R's plate(s); ribs, mac and cheese and fruit; now that's Americana at it's finest.

We had our Ag teacher and his family over for the day. Isn't she the most precious thing you've ever seen? This little girl is the reason K wants a baby sister. :)

We set the water slide up and Bo (R's mom) supplied the kids with water artillery. Little R was very resourceful and kept a steady supply of ammo ready to fire. 

I have to talk a minute about the water slide. We decided about 6 years ago to all go in together and buy one of those blow up water slides. At the time all the kids were little and the slide was huge. Fast forward 6 years...the kids have grown and the slide has shrunk, but it's lasted and has been one of the best $150 investments ever. We've all definitely gotten our money's worth out of this fun toy! If you have small children and have toyed with the idea of getting one of these, go for it! It'll be the best money you'll ever spend.

 I'm pretty sure this was Big R's contribution...

Speaking of...isn't he handsome? I won't show you all the out takes, but it took a few different photographers and several shots to get this picture of us. First Little R took a few, but we (or should I say "I") were taking too much time away from his Ripstick, then I called K over to give it a try. She took a few ok shots, but then Papa asked for the camera. This was a first in family history. I don't think I've ever seen a camera in his hand. He's pretty good! He said something funny (that I won't repeat) and whalha! (How do you spell whalha?) Thanks Papa!

Ok, so I said I was not going to try to take  pics of the fireworks. Because all I usually end up with is alot of frustration, but when that big beautiful moon started rising I couldn't help it, I had to run in and get my camera. Our neighbors' fireworks looked so cool right next to the moon. The moon looks a little wonky (and kinda like the sun) thanks to my lack of expertise, but oh well...

This one is from our yard. Pretty cool.

Holy moly that's alot of sparks.

I'm already looking forward to next year! And whether we have it here at our place or at my in-laws, we will  be making memories surrounded by family and friends. 

Happy Birthday America!

A cute little gift ~

My friend Audrey and I decided we would get together and make these cute little Christmas gifts as a "Thank you" to all the teachers at our kids' schools. My mom is an avid collector of "things" because "you never know when you might need them." I'm so glad she decided to start collecting these cute little Starbucks jars. I've been on a recycling kick lately which drives my husband crazy, but it makes my heart sing to re-purpose what might end up in the land fill or at the bottom of our incinerator.

Can you imagine throwing all these cute little bottles in the trash? I can't!

Thanks Mom for saving these for us!

I'm sure there are recipes for Spiced Tea floating around all over the place,

but here's the recipe that's written down in my Gooseberry Patch "My Favorite Recipes" book:

2 Cups Tang

1 Cup Instant Tea

1 Cup Powdered Lemonade

1 1/2 Cup Sugar

1 tsp Ground Cloves

1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon

I'm telling you, if you haven't ever mixed up four batches of spiced tea, you should try it sometime. Everything in my kitchen was covered in a fine layer of spiced tea dust. The room smelled wonderful ~ that might have been the dust up my nose, but whatever, it sure smelled yummy and oh so Christmas~y. :)

Oh, and on a side note ~ I called Audrey to tell her it was going to cost a small fortune to fill all these jars and I didn't think I had bought enough ingredients to make all I needed and I wanted to make sure she had enough made up to fill all her jars. The first batch had only filled four jars; at this rate I would have to make about 8 batches just for my jars. So, we start comparing our recipes and half-way down the ingredient list I gasp...and she says, "You didn't put the sugar in did you." She knows me well ~ and let me tell you 1 1/2 cups of sugar makes a big difference in this recipe. I'm so glad we discovered my mess-up. How embarrassing would that have been!

Dun Da Da....and here's the finished product. I think they turned out really cute! It was totally a team effort and we had so much fun visiting and crafting. We put alot of love (and sugar) in these little jars ~ I hope the teachers know how much we appreciate all they do!