Pink Paper Peppermints - Craft. Create. Celebrate.

cold night thankful {heARTs} and warm soup

brrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Wow.  It is really *ccccold* in Texas tonight!

thankful thursday

What a difference a week makes!  God is so good and my dad is doing so well.  My heart is overflowing with gratitude towards those who have been praying for us.  I really do feel your prayers and I count it an honor that you would take that time in your chatting with the Lord to mention me & my daddy. Really, I do.  It's humbling.

I'm thankful for so many things, but today I'm especially thankful for this box of bolts and fuses sitting next to me (hubby is correcting me somewhere in his head right now - fuses, bolts, circuits, whatever) that has allowed me to take a peek into some of your lives, pray for you, laugh with you, go on wild, rabbitty blog trails (spell check is outraged at the word rabbitty - ha!) with you, finding other amazing women who are just trying to be good moms and not throw the tv out the window (or some other mommy impulse) every day. 

I am really grateful that God is showing me that I'm right where I need to be, doing exactly what He wants me to be doing right now. 

That being a mother is valuable.  yep.  it is. 

That loving and nurturing these two little people (well one is *hardly* little anymore, but you know what I mean) is critical to the success of the mission.  I'm needed here right now.  And I'm so thankful that I'm finally getting that.

So thankful.

{heART}

Remember my e-zine from the other blog?  "The {heART} of the Matter"?  I'm gonna start that over here.  Soon.  I have lots of ideas and a whole new implementation concept (you know, like um...actually doing it).  Anyway...look out for a little sign up dealie in the sidebar and a little treat for those who sign up first!

and more {heART}


I am so ready for Valentine's Day!!  You may have guessed from the colors of my blog that I like pink & red. No. really.  I do.

As you can imagine Valentines is my funnest!

(heh-heh, kidding...I know that's not a sentence a grown up would say - it's just fun saying it...don't freak out writer types and grammar peoples...k?) 

So I am getting ready to make lots of pretties!  Look!

The fabric & ribbon is stuff I've had for awhile.

I just picked up the above today.  Pink legal pads...isn't that the greatest??  How inspired are my notes going to be now??

I'm actually going to be sewing some fabric instead of paper for a change so I needed some straight pins and a...pin...holder...thingie.  Now I know the tomato pin cushion (there it is - pin cushion) is sort of utilitarian and *not* handmade and I actually saw some sweet ones on Etsy that I loved, but when I saw the tomato today...well...it just reminded me of my mom and being a little girl

(who refused to learn how to sew, by the way, when she had a fabulously talented seamstress of a mom willing to teach her and whose grown up self does not now appreciate that she was so hard-headed about that!)

and I don't know...I felt sentimental about it...plus...you know it's red and look how cute it looks against that pink notepad!?

So I am hoping to get lots of craftiness done this weekend and have all kinds of good papery, fabric-y things to show you on Monday!

warm soup

And finally what we had for dinner tonight:

I typically don't do packaged stuff...yuk...but this is "all natural" and really it's just the dried beans and spices, which unless you're planning on growing and drying your own beans and spices....(I know there is someone reading this who probably *does* that!)....then I think it's ok.

Besides which, it has ribbon on the package and really...how bad can a food product be that comes with ribbon??

So here it is after just pouring it in to the water.  Doesn't it look pretty?

(Just FYI, if you are the "non-instruction-reading" type and go and just pour the beans into the pot...you may end up pouring the little seasoning packet into the pot too...and then have to fish it out...not that I did that or anything...'cause...you know...I *always* read the instructions....)

I added some sauteed onions, peppers and garlic as well as a little chopped smoked ham and it turned out pretty yummy.  I think next time I will add more veggies though, like celery, carrots and more peppers. 

Alright then...snuggle up with your families and friends or just a good book and hot mug of tea and keep warm tonight!

Don't forget to enter my bloggy giveaway  if you haven't....it's the last night before I pick a winner!

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"At that same time Jesus was filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit, and he said, “O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike. Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way."
-Luke 10:21

husband's rebuttal

Ok, I have waited too long to post today...so busy (entering giveaways) doing housework and stuff. And now my hubby is patiently waiting for me to come (watch the LOST recap) spend some time with him so I have to quickly tell you that after he read my tuesday ten yesterday he had some comments...*LOL*

So here they are.

on number two - the laundry

"The easier way is you get your husband to do it...isn't it?"

on number seven - the squirrels

"Do you know how much traffic we'd get on our roof if they built a Starbucks up there?

on number ten - not sayin'/just sayin'

 

hubby: I didn't make that up you know, it's from Mad About You.
me: well it's made up isn't it?
hubby: yeah, everything is.

So there you have it.  Isn't he clever?

Ok, gotta run (LOST is calling) and get some shut-eye.

Better post tomorrow, promise.
----------------------------------------------------
"when you lie down, you will not be afraid;
       when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet."
-Proverbs 3:24

ten on tuesday

I'm completely stealing the "ten on tuesday" that my friend Cathy does.  I think she may have stolen it from someone else, though, so this lessens my guilt...{heh-heh}

Hey, don't forget to enter my bloggy giveaway in the post below!  You have 'til Thursday at Midnight!

one

I have noticed that I am developing an unnatural dislike for drinking glasses.  (I know, you're thinking, "drinking glasses?" ...yes...that's the unnatural part.)  I don't know why, but when ever my son walks in the room with a glass of water with ice in it and I hear the ice rattling against the side I just get annoyed. Really, really annoyed.  Plastic cups, no problem...it's just the sound the ice makes in the glass.  Right.  I *did* say that it was unnatural.

two

There has to be an easier way to get the laundry from the dryer to the bed or the couch or wherever you're planning to leave fold it. Right?  I know, most of you probably use laundry baskets, but mine are currently all filled with other things...I'm organizing...really.  So in the situation where you have no laundry basket, there *must* be some way to get the laundry out of the dryer and to it's destination without socks and underwear trailing behind you on the floor.  Or maybe I should just clean out the laundry baskets.

three

My spell check and I do not get along *at all*.  It is constantly informing me that I am simply making up words or suggesting that I must've meant "gillian" instead of "kirigami".  And even though I love the color red, I do not like the red underlines it scatters all through out my writing, made up words or not.  hmmph.

four

I'm developing an unnatural affection for my bread machine.  I know this because yesterday when I plugged it in, instead of making the lovely little piercing beep that it usually does....nothing.  Lights didn't come on, no sound...I felt a momentary sense of panic....my homemade-bread-making-life flashed before my eyes...."ahh...bread machine...not working...store bought rolls...noooo.."  Turns out the little mini breaker on the plug had popped. I pushed the button and all was well.  Still...it's mildly disturbing that I felt the same sense of panic that I do in the grocery store when I turn around and don't immediately see my youngest child standing next to me. Well, not exactly the same...but it was close...and disturbing...

five

Bloglines makes my bloggy life sooooooo much easier.  If you do not have a bloglines account you must stop what you're doing and go here (open in a new window...please come back...you're only at number five of my scintillating ten thoughts you know) and sign up right now.  It's free and so wonderful! 

It creates a little button at the top and bottom of your screen.  Anytime you read a blog that you just fall in love with and want to know when the author updates you click on the top button and subscribe.

The button at the bottom of the screen is your "notifier".  Whenever any of your bloggies are updated a happy little orange dot appears and you click and read!  You don't even have to go directly to the blog,  you can read all your blogs in one place.  (Although you wouldn't want to miss the lovely...say...pink and red colors of your favorite blog which won't show up in the reader.)
   
six

The stats for my blog are very detailed.  It's a little creepy actually, I can see where visitors are from, what kind of computer they're using, their screen resolution etc.  Anyway, whenever I look at the details and see that one of my visitors is using a Mac I feel flattered for some reason.  I have this vision of them sitting cross-legged on the beautiful hardwood floor of some spacious loft apartment in New York, sipping a latte and thinking, "wow, she's kind of creative, she is worth reading on my über cool Mac."  I don't know why...Mac people...they are usually...all...hip and design-y and stuff.  So, you know, if you're reading this on a Mac...can I have your autograph?

seven

The squirrels that have been running around on my roof are making so much noise now that I think they *must* be building something.  I hope it's a Starbucks.

eight

It makes me so uncomfortable when the people on Amazing Race rip open their clues and then throw the paper strip on the ground. Every time they do it I just cringe.

Every. time. 

I mean, I know there are probably like a million crew members hanging around and picking up after them when they leave...it just bugs me. You are a *visitor* in a foreign country for goodness sakes!  Pick up your garbage!

I didn't realize how much it bothered me until this morning while watching Dora the Explorer with my little O.  Dora and Boots started pulling sticky tape off their shoes and I cringed thinking they were going to throw it on the ground and then go on with their adventure, but the wonderful artists had drawn a little green mesh trash can beside them and they threw the tape in it before moving on. Ahhhhhh...a sigh of relief.  Yes, that is what you are supposed to do with trash. 

I just don't like litter.

nine

Moonsand is magic. Really.  How does it stay wet like that when you leave it out all the time?

ten

My husband has this made up expression that he uses to get out of an awkward moment in a conversation.  It goes like this,

"I'm not sayin'...I'm just sayin'".   

It seems like it doesn't make sense and actually it really *doesn't* make sense, but it works surprisingly well.  Here's an example.

hubby: "So am I the only one actually putting the dishes *in* the dishwasher today?"

me: *raised eyebrow and awkward, annoyed silence*

hubby:  "I'm not sayin'...I'm just sayin'"

You see, you really can't come back from that.  What is the reply to that?  The conversation just sort of ends and he actually *has* said something that he said he didn't say.

I like it.  I've started using it on him. heh-heh

Well, that's it.  There's my first "ten on tuesday".  You know, to be honest, I did it because I thought it would be a quick way to do a short blog entry, but it really seems like I just wrote *ten short blog entries*. 

I really don't know if it's worth it.

I'm not sayin'...I'm just sayin'.

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  "How great is the goodness
      you have stored up for those who fear you.
   You lavish it on those who come to you for protection,
      blessing them before the watching world."
-Psalm 31:19 new living translation

bloggy giveaway - yay!

THE GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED - Winner is Announced on Video Here!!

I'm so excited to be participating in the bloggy giveaways carnival, hosted by Shannon at Rocks In My Dryer! 

Oh my goodness!  If you have not been there, you must go here, right now...there are (as of right now) over 500 blogs offering the chance to win some amazing goodies for nothing but a lil' ol' comment!! 

Wa-hoo!  Seriously, I have discovered some wonderful blogs already, not to mention how much fun if you win something??!!

Ok, so here is what I'm giving away:

A brand new 2008 Mary Engelbreit calendar!  (the open one is my personal one, I wouldn't give ya a used one!)

WAIT!  THERE'S MORE!

Some super cute valentine paper goodness ********

Look at all that delicious Red & Pink paper heaven!!  You can't really tell what's in there so here's a list:

* A chipboard wrapped heart with pink chenille, red & white bakers twine, white lace, pink satin ribbon and red ric rac!

* A red gingham library pocket!

* 3 red corrugated hearts!

* 3 red shipping tags!

* A little baggie of red, white & pink silk (well...fake silk..heh-heh) flowers!

* 2 pink star tickets!

* 4 key tags with bakers twine!

* 2 little glass bottles full of red & white mini beads!

* And a brand new package of collage paper (which you can't see that well but it's sitting next to the red bucket.)!

* Oh, and of course the lovely red bucket!!

Not too shabby eh??

Here's a close up:

NOW HOW MUCH WOULD YOU PAY??

Well, comment right now and all this could be yours for freeeeeeee!!!!

That's right!  All you have to do is leave me a comment* by Thursday January 31st and you are entered to win!!  I'll pick a random number and announce the winner on Friday!  Woo-hoo!

*Fine Print:

We're a one car family (plus I really, really *hate* going to the post office) so unfortunately I have to say I can only mail to commenters in the U.S.  Sorry. :(   

Be sure to leave me a blog address or an email so I can get in touch with you if you win, k?  Otherwise I'll have to pick another winner and that would be so sad for you! 

Just one entry per person too, okie dokie?



Hey!  If you have a blog why don't you join in the bloggy giveaway too???  Just click on the pretty, pink button up there and then tell me about it so I can enter *your* drawing!!

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! 

(it's late and I've been awake since....well...since my second child was born...so.....sorry for the punchy-ness...heh-heh)

THE GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED - Winner is Announced on Video Here!!
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"Every good and perfect gift is from above..."
-James 1:17

simple saturday - part two

Can you actually go deaf from silence?  I can't tell if I'm deaf or not right now.  There is no sound...no vroom-vroom sounds, no video game sounds...no, "give it back...or I'm telling!", sounds....oh wait... there's the squirrels again....whew...

Being alone....don't believe the hype.

{There is now a crow involved in the squirrel skirmish on the roof...I may have to break up a fight yet today...heh-heh}

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"I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.  I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength." -Philippians 4:11-13

quiet and peaceful

Today's simple saturday will be photo-less because the family is participating in a homeschool service project and the camera is here with me...alone...with a slightly soar throat and an overwhelming desire to sleep all day thanks to my friends at Nyquil.

In case you missed that first part.  I'm alone.  All day.

I'm not actually sure what to do because I don't think that's ever happened before.  I mean there was that one time, in my mother's womb....but other than that...

The first thing I did was use the bathroom with the door unlocked and nothing but silence knocking (not counting the sound of the squirrels running around on the roof which is actually kind of charming unless they lean in a window and ask me to settle whatever dispute they seem to be having).   It was magical.

Next I placed something on the kitchen table and came back later to find it still there....right on the table where I left it...astonishing...

I'll keep you updated, but it looks to be a pretty boring, quiet and fabulous day here.

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"They found lush pastures there, and the land was quiet and peaceful."
-1 Chronicles 4:40

overlooked mug - the page

The overlooked challenge has been so fun to work on.  I love just waiting to see what she tells us to do next and also seeing what everyone else is working on.

I wanted to do a mini-album to keep all these photos/pages in.  I decided just a plain manila file folder would be the perfect thing for looking "overlooked", but of course there is no way I am going to do a whole 81/2 x 11 page for these (I mean....I could *say* I would, but we all know they would end up in a folder marked "to do" for like the next 10 years or something...) so I used a mini file folder template from this  fabulous site  and just enlarged it to make the folder about 5x7.  I roughed up the folder with some sand paper and also added some smudges here and there.  Most file folders that I work with for any period of time end up looking like this naturally...*LOL*...

Part of our instructions were to use a coffee ring/stain somewhere on our project so I experimented with a plate full of coffee and my mug as well as my stamps and a quill pen.  Who knew it could be so fun to play with coffee stains?

So here is the cover:

I was trying to get the look of the bird and title just sort of forming from the coffee ring, but I don't think it quite made it...*LOL*...still...I really like how it turned out.  I don't think I'm finished with the cover.  I'll probably add some more things based on what our other assignments are.

For the pages I wanted something small and also something "overlooked" so I decided to use subscription cards and advertisement cards from magazines.  They are colorful, pretty sturdy and just the right size, so I think they are going to work well.

For the first page, our favorite mug, I used a Gevalia Coffee sign-up card as the base. I mounted my photo on an old Starbucks cup sleeve from a couple of Christmases ago that I have been saving for just the right project.  My journaling is tucked inside a glassine envelope that is peeking out from behind the cup sleeve. 

I'm not sure how I'm going to bind the pages into the folder/album just yet. Still deciding that.

I love the size of the mini file folder.  Wouldn't it be great if file folders (and all paper-y things) were really that size?  Just think how cute file cabinets would be?!

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"The one thing I ask of the Lord—
      the thing I seek most—
   is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
      delighting in the Lord’s perfections
      and meditating in his Temple.
 For he will conceal me there when troubles come;
      he will hide me in his sanctuary.
      He will place me out of reach on a high rock.
 Then I will hold my head high
      above my enemies who surround me.
   At his sanctuary I will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy,
      singing and praising the Lord with music."
-Psalm 27:4-6

 

 

thankful thursday

"There's more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we're hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we're never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can't round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit!"

-Romans 5:3-5

Today as we were driving home from the hospital I was feeling tired and a little complain-y.  I started to think, "I'll be glad when this is over, I wish this hadn't happened....why *did* this happen" and then I caught myself and actually changed my thought process to, "this is building faith, this is testing my endurance...this is where all the talk proves that it's not just talk....why would I wish this away?...I get to stand on what I believe and let my faith work itself out.  I can do this, it's not even a big deal."

That moment almost slipped by.  It happened so quickly I didn't even recognize it.  Only later when I read the scripture below (the same scripture in The Message is above) at the Thankful Thursday blog did I realize that I had embraced the troubles in that moment. 

“More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” ~ Romans 5:3-5 (ESV)

Sometimes, (okay a lot of times) I am sooooooo hard on myself.  And today I felt a little nudge from the Holy Spirit saying, "you are doing this, this is what it looks like, to stand in faith, to rejoice in troubles".

I guess I had a vision of trumpets playing and Super-Spiritual-Woman spinning into her costume and with hands on her hips and feet spread apart valiantly proclaiming to the sky....

"I AM REJOICING IN TROUBLES...troubles....troubles...troubles....."

That would be fun (and kinda funny, what would her costume look like??), but it's really not what happens.  It's just small moments of taking thoughts captive, of guarding my tongue, of walking in peace when it's stormy all around me.

So today I am thankful for:

* Troubles

*The Holy Spirit

*God's tender mercies that are new every morning

*Realizing that I'm doing this.  I can do this.

*and maybe picturing super-spiritual-woman's costume to make me laugh when I don't feel like laughing.

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"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you."
-John 14:26

overlooked

I'm participating in a group called "overlooked" that is about taking photos and journaling about the little things in life that so often go overlooked.  It's something nice to think about when I've had enough thinking about doctors and hospitals and risk management etc. 

The first assignment is to take a photo of your favorite mug so here it is:

I just love this little muggie. It was a Target find back in November when they first put out the Christmas stuff and it had all this beautifully wrapped red & white candy in it all tied up in cellophane with a big red ribbon (oh why didn't I take a picture of that??). There was no chance of me walking away from that cup (yay for birthday money!).  I didn't even unwrap it for about a week because it was so pretty to look at (er...at which to look...heh-heh).

I love the texture of it too.  All the little bumpy, retro-y snowflakes.

I'm pretty fickle about which mug is my favorite, but this one is hangin' in there. :)

More doctors tomorrow.  Say a prayer.
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"For I am the LORD, your God,
who takes hold of your right hand
and says to you, Do not fear;
I will help you."
-Isaiah 41:13 new international version

we're back

We're back home now after a long week's stay with my dad who had surgery last week.  Something shocking and horrific went wrong during the operation and it was truly one of the worst days of my life.  But God has been so faithful and my dad is better everyday.

I can't really go into details now, not sure when I can, but I wanted to say thank you so much to those of you who were praying and sent me such kind and supportive emails.  I will try and get back into the swing of things this week if I can crawl from beneath the pile of laundry that has mystically accumulated in our absence.

Please continue to pray for my dad and my family when you think of it. 

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"Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with."
-James 5:16 the message