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ten random thoughts on tuesday - this week from austin, tx!
one
Our hotel has sleep number beds. At first I thought it would be great to be able to try them.
I was wrong. They are like giant, expensive blow up mattresses. I'm not kidding.
When my husband gets up I sink a little. And when you adjust the "number" it sounds like a vaccum
cleaner! I am officially not a fan of sleep number beds.
two
We saw the bats a little bit last night. They didn't come out until moments before it got
dark and then they were on the other side of the bridge from where we were so they were
really just tiny little black dots in the dark.
three
But it was astonishing how many of them there were! (In truth it made me kinda *glad* they were on the other side of the bridge from us-don't tell the boys.) I think we're going to try and see them again tonight though so I may get up close and personal with one of the furry ones yet.
four
Our hotel has a coffee maker in the room which is nice for that first cup when you're not
ready to face the world. They have a little tray with coffee cups, packets of
coffee and packets with stirrers, napkins and what they consider coffee condiments.
five
One thing I've never understood about hotels who have these little packets is that inside the packet there is *one* package of sugar and *one* package of powdered *gag* creamer.
ONE.
Who uses *one* package of sugar and creamer??
They may as well just put a *picture* of sugar and creamer in that packet.
six
Speaking of gross packets of things (don't worry it's not as bad as it seems). We had supper at El Arroyos yesterday. I guess it's a "first-night-in-Austin" tradition
We sat on the patio and it was beautiful, but the birds were kind of maniacs. They kept flying in and landing on empty tables to scavenge what was there.
seven
One of them actually got a packet of sweet & low and *opened it* and ate it!! (Doesn't he know how bad that stuff is for you??) I have a photo, but I forgot to bring the card reader down here to the lobby with me. *ugh* I'll post it later.
eight
Little-O and Daddy-O went for a swim yesterday afternoon. Last night as we were getting
ready to go to bed (on our *awesome* sleep number pool floaties beds), Little-O tells us
he has an idea.
Little-O: "You know how we do story time and brush teeth time and snuggle time before sweep(sleep) time at home?"
Mama-O: Yes?
Little-O: Well I fought of anudder thing to do while we are here.
Mama-O: Oh? What is it?
Little-O: "Swim time! We can just go for a yittle swim before bed."
Mama *and* Daddy-O: Oh...Uh...um...
We stumbled around and came up with the fact that the pool was closed at night, "but great idea sweetie!"
nine
The April heART & Soul ezine is ready! Lots of fun birdie links and stuff. Plus a cool birdie, spiral mobile with pattern! I hope to get it uploaded tonight. Go sign up so you'll be the first to get it in your inbox!
ten
Here is a little sneak peek:
Click the button in the left sidebar that says "heART & soul ezine" to subscribe and get *free* paper goodness delivered to your email box (about) once a month!
Grace and Peace,
♥ M~
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"Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to Him than birds."
-Matthew 6:26
Hey Ya'll!
We're in Austin! Just got checked in and now I'm enjoying an extra-hot mocha in the hotel lobby listening to (of course) live music as I blog! (I am so hip.)
The band is playing a funky, acoustic guitar version of "'til there was you" right now and they are fantastic! Wish you could hear them with me.
Could it get any better?? (Having a Starbucks & live music just downstairs from your bedroom is sooooo cool!)
It'll probably be a little slow here this week, since we're out of town, although if I have time (and can figure out how to download them from my camera) I will post some photos!
{the band is now taking requests}
We're hoping to see some of these while we're here:
Bats over the Congress Ave Bridge!
This is pretty much the view from our hotel, so hopefully the creepy, little guys will make an appearance while we're here because my boys are going crazy wanting to see them!
And now for the big announcement that I know you're all waiting to hear!
The winner of my Bloggy Giveway drawing!
I used the Random Number Generator and got number 64!
And the winner is...
Naomi from superdumb supervillain! Woo-hoo!
Send me your snailmail address Naomi and your goodies will be on the way!
Little-O and his Daddy just joined me in the lobby and he's dancing around the whole lobby and making the band smile. (Little-O not his Daddy...heh-heh)
Gonna go have fun with my family now.
Grace & Peace,
♥ Melissa~
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“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid."
-John 14:27
So I thought I'd start giving you a list of fun places to visit on Fridays.
I might run out of links though and then will have to change it to Friday Fotos or something...heh-heh
These are some fun sites to make things for your bloggy:
Spell with Flickr - I love to make words with this. You can change the letters if you don't like the ones you get. Then just cut & paste the code into your post or sidebar.
Count Down to your Blogoversary! Let everyone know when your blogoversary is with this fun button. Mine is a little too far away to put up right now, but soon. :)
CoolText Make your own fun Buttons for your sidebar!
Fd's Flickr Toys This has lots of fun toys to use on your photos and you don't have to have a Flickr account to use them. You can upload your photos from your computer or online storage.
Visited Countries Make a map showing all the countries you visited! Here's mine: (I've only seen 3% of the world - I have so much traveling to do still!)
create your own visited countries map
Have a fun weekend!
Grace and Peace,
♥ M~
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"He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation."
Mark 16:15
We made oatmeal raisin cookies yesterday (and oatmeal chocolate chip too - yum!). The whole house smelled so delicious.
The last time I posted a recipe several people asked about my measuring cups. They (and my pretty red mixing bowls) are from Gooseberry Patch.
They don't seem to be available now, (I got them on clearance at the after-Christmas sale), but they do have some that are similar although *definitely* not on sale - eek!
I would really like to tell you that the recipe we used is a super duper secret family recipe, but the truth is it's just the recipe right off the lid of the oatmeal box. But it is yum-mum-meee!
I didn't even change anything except that for the Chocolate Chip version I replaced the 1 cup of raisins with 1 cup of chocolate chips.
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups of Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
1 cup of raisins (or chocolate chips)
(I love using my macro setting on cookies, look at all those delicious nooks & crannies!)
Directions:
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2.Beat together butter and sugars until creamy. (this usually takes me 3-5 minutes)
3.Add eggs and vanilla; beat well.
4.Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well.
5.Stir in oats and raisins; mix well.
6.Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls (I use a small cookie dough scoop) onto ungreased cookie sheet. (I use parchment paper)
7.Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.
8.Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet; remove to wire rack.
Makes about 4 dozen cookies
(as I was taking this picture I saw a little hand sneak into the viewfinder in the upper left corner -so cute )
The best part of the day for me was when Little-O took a bite out of his cookie and then said,
"Yook, Mama, a hawt. I'm savin' dis for brover 'cause I yuv him."
Sweet, sweet, sweet (brover didn't really want it though - "ew, he bit off it??").
I will be at the dentist the you-know-who when you read this.
See you tomorrow. maybe.
Grace and Peace,
♥ M~
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"How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in
unity!"
-Psalm 133:1
The boys had a blast cutting up giant cereal boxes (we have to buy cereal by the cubic ton) and making helmets out of them the other day. 
One of the millions of reasons that I am so appreciative of the ability to homeschool (no matter how I spell homeschool spell check doesn't like it??) our boys.
They would never get the opportunity to be so close if they were both in an institution all day. One would be in kindergarten and one would be in high school and they probably would never even see each other, never mind enjoy each other's company.
Teen-O is so sweet with his little brother and Little-O just adores him. It blesses me so much that the main role models in my little guy's life are his brother and dad, kind, loving, men of God.
I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the life God has given me on a day like this, watching them laugh and play and learn together. And I am humbled that God trusts me with this. deeply humbled and grateful.
Who knew cereal boxes could elicit such introspection?
♥ M~
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"I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength to do His work. He considered me trustworthy and appointed me to serve Him...Oh, how generous and gracious our Lord was! He filled me with the faith and love that come from Christ Jesus."
-1 Timothy 1:12 & 14
ten random thoughts on tuesday
one
Happy Earth Day!
Thank you Lord for this amazing place you created for us. Please help us to be better stewards of it while bringing glory to Your name. amen.
two
I realize you are all probably tired of hearing about the dentist (thank you so much for your well-wishes and commiserating by the way) but I have one more visit this week that will involve "a little pressure" as the dentist likes to call it and some more heavy medication. In the meantime I have a short:
Floss your teeth people. I'm just sayin'. Floss.
three
Remember this post about the artwork I experimented with by one of my favorite artists Claudine Hellmuth?
I really wanted to try and not be a big, gigantic goober about this, but it appears I have no control over that so I have to tell you that Claudine commented on my post!
Isn't that cool? (I really hope she doesn't read this and realize what a goober I am)
four
Yesterday when I got home from the dentist and was feeling really yucky I got the best package in the mail from one of my bloggy friends.
It just couldn't have come at a better time and it makes me smile how God uses people in your life to do small, sweet things for you.
The very generous package included a beautiful handmade card and was filled with goodies from another one of my all time favorite artists Jenni Bowlin.
What an incredible treat it was to open that package (which was wrapped in gingham ribbon!!) and see all those lovely, papery things. Thank you so much Tammy!
six
It's been forever since I've done any impulse art so I thought I'd try it this morning with my new goodies.
I just love the scripture in Hebrews 4:12 that says,
"For the Word of God is alive and active and sharper than a double-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, joint and marrow and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart."
seven
I am currently enamored with spelling numbers, graph paper, circus fonts, paper lanterns and of course flowers. You might notice some of those in my collage.
I really love the way numbers look when you spell them and it seems to help me memorize scripture references when I see the numbers spelled out.
eight
In case you were wondering I am still working on the April edition of the HeART & Soul ezine. It's a little delayed because of the visit to the you-know-who (trying not to mention it again) but it's going to be lots of fun, the theme is one of my favorites, Birdies!
nine
The you-know-who is getting blamed for this too. My lack of Fitness Friday fitness. *sigh* Oh well, try again next week I guess (I did do the stair stepper twice last week though and drank lots of water for what it's worth).
ten
My hubby brought me a big basket of red geraniums over the weekend. I just love red geraniums. Aren't they beautiful?
When I went to the quilt show I found this fantastic company, My Sampler, that sells embroidery kits that are so sweet.
They have one that I really want to do for my kitchen called, (what else?) Red Geraniums.
Actually, I want to do them all, especially the scripture ones, they are so cute!
Hey, that's ten already! Be sure and comment on my giveaway post for a chance to win some goodies!
♥ M~
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"...for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask Him!"
-Matthew 6:8
{This is still a sticky post for the Bloggy Giveaway week! Scroll down to read more good stuff! Tuesday Ten is posted - imagine that...on Tuesday even! And don't miss the adventures of the cereal box boys ...a yummy oatmeal cookie recipe and my Friday Faves!...scroooollllllllll dooowwwwnnnn!}
Hey! It's time for the Bloggy Giveaway again! I'm being a tiny bit lazy and giving away the same prize as last giveaway but really it's mostly because I will be at the dentist twice this week and on lots of heavy medication so...technically it's incoherency and not laziness.
Anyway before I show you the fabulous prize that you can win just for leaving me a sweet little comment, I wanted to tell you about something super exciting that I'm working on for May/June! 
I'm going to be posting 31 crafty, papery, fabricy, flowery things to make and do in 31 days! There will be lots of links to fabulous tutorials as well as original crafty projects designed by me!
I am so excited about it I can hardly stand it! So many pretty things to show you!
So be sure and check in with me all month to see the floral extravaganza ok? And if you have great flower ideas let me know about them so I can link you!
If you want to share the flower-y goodness on your blog here is the code for the button!!
And now for the fabulous prize! I am giving away a felt basket filled with paper goodies!
The felt basket is exactly the one in the pictures, but the goodies inside may vary a little bit.
It will be filled to the brim though with yummy stuff so be sure to leave a comment and be entered!
Here's a hint:
There will be paper, tickets, flowers, tags, ribbon and of course bakery twine! You will love it!
So leave me a comment by noon on Saturday, April 26th and I will draw a name and announce the winner on Monday, April 28th!
Everyone is welcome to participate including my international friends!
Don't forget to leave me an email or blog address so I can get in touch with you after the drawing.
Thanks so much for stopping by! See you tomorrow for ten on tuesday!
♥ M~
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"Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above..."
-James 1:17
just got back from the dentist.
mouth hurts.
on painkillers.
have to go two more times next week.
yippee.
♥ M~
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"All things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose."
-Romans 8:28
ten random thoughts on tuesday {hey, it's actually tuesday}
one
Apparently I don't know what it feels like to smile anymore.
The other day I looked over at hubby *thinking* I was smiling at him.
He looks back at me, raises his eyebrows and says, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," I say, "...just smiling at you"
"Oh...I think you forgot to smile while you were smiling at me."
Nice.
two
I leave toast in the toaster a lot. Does anyone else do that? In the morning sometimes I'll realize I haven't eaten anything and put some toast in the toaster and then go and try and get something done while it's toasting and *completely* forget about it.
three
Hours later I'll walk through the kitchen thinking, "Why am I so hungry, I *had* toast earlier", only to see the toast languishing away in the toaster, uneaten. (I really wanted to use the word "languish" there, could you tell?)
four
I recently read this quote by Charles Spurgeon and I just love it.
"You are as much serving God in looking after your own children, and training them up in God's fear, and minding the house, and making your household a church for God, as you would be if you had been called to lead an army to battle for the Lord of hosts."
five
The other day my blog kind of blew up. I don't know what happened. I had to re-do the sidebars and they still aren't exactly back to the way they were. I took the opportunity to change my profile picture a little bit (up there in the left corner).
six
The pictures are some self-portraits in the bathroom mirror that I did a year or so ago. In the spirit of "full disclosure" I have to say that I'm not nearly as cute and energetic looking as that in person. It's amazing what some colored filters and creative cropping can do. Suddenly you're ten years younger and thinner.
seven
Every first Wednesday of the month the tornado sirens go off for the monthly drill. This normally doesn't bother me all that much, but in April and May it is usually a stormy, cloudy day and then it scares me...just for a second I have flashbacks of being ten years old in the bathtub with a mattress over me (this happens to you as a child at least once every summer if you live in Texas). And then I remember it's the first Wednesday and I'm ok.
eight
I really should have some "extra" posts ready for when I'm not in the mood to post because there are some days when I am just not feeling it.
nine
One of the coolest things I've seen online is the website Color in Motion by Columbian designer, Claudia Cortes. I've had it in my bookmarks for at least a couple of years and it never fails to inspire me when I need a little boost. If you love color, or art, or you're teaching kids about color, or you feel creative or you don't feel creative, but you want to, then you should go and explore this site.
ten
Though I don't talk about it often I am a *huge* LOST fan. If you watch the show you know that the character Sawyer always has the funniest nicknames for people.
ABC now has a "nickname generator" on the site. You put in some info about yourself and the generator tells you what Sawyer would call you if you were on the island. Pretty funny. Mine was "Betty Lightbulb" which I think is quite fitting.
When I was looking for the link I found a widget, so you don't even have to leave my blog to find out what your Sawyer nickname would be! Yee-haw. Try it out and tell me in the comments what yours is!
♥ M~
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"Those who know your name trust in you, for you, O Lord, do not abandon those who search for you." -Psalm 9:10
What a fun, busy, semi-crafty weekend. How was yours?
Remember when I posted about one of my favorite artists being on Martha Stewart, Claudine Hellmuth?
Well we finally got around to working on the project she demonstrated on that show. Her little "sitting pretties". Only they were a little involved so we really just did more of a "flat stanley" version.
Little O thought it was pretty cool to cut his and his brother's and cousin's head out.
He wanted to color instead of use fabric or paper for the clothes. And he felt everyone needed an orange shirt and blue pants.
This is as far as he's gotten. He keeps coming back to it though, so I have hopes that he'll finish.
This is mama's version:
These were really fun to play with. I definitely want to do some more and try and get a little better at it. Really fun way to use your favorite scraps of paper too.
{I just realized I put "psalms" instead of "psalm". annoying.}
If you want to try these you can get Claudine's pattern and watch the video here.
See you tomorrow for ten on tuesday.
♥ M~
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"He fills my life with good things."
-Pslam 103:5
Hey, just a short post today. I am joining a meme called "Fitness on Friday" that I found through Jill's blog. It's kind of an accountability group with everyone posting about their fitness goals & progress on Fridays. It's at Bye Bye Fat Mom!
I have been trying to *make* myself make time for exercise for awhile and I just never seem to do it, so I thought maybe blogging about it (and the ensuing public humiliation accountability) would help me to stick to some kind of plan.
So lucky you! You get to help hold me accountable. Aren't you excited? I bet you can't wait for Fridays now!
I'm shooting for 15 minutes a day to start. That is pretty lame, however, if I say an hour a day I just won't do it and blame it on time, so, 15 minutes seems reasonable (and who doesn't have 15 minutes, right?).
Also I want to make sure I drink water every day. Can you believe I have to remind myself to drink water?
So, hopefully, next Friday I will be reporting to you lots of water drinking and exercising.
And if next Friday there is nothing here but a post about Fabric and/or the weather...um...hold me accountable, ok??
Have a fantastic weekend!
♥ M~
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"I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified."
-1 Cor 9:27
Today is the continuing story of my Bible Cover.
From yesterday:
Guess what I'm working on? My very own Bible Cover! I found the directions to make my own pattern and let me tell you that was *the* hardest part so far.
There was much "wailing and gnashing of teeth" if you know what I mean. I typically don't enjoy measuring and I have learned that sewing is *all about measuring*.
There are a lot of fractions. (1/4" seam anyone?)
There is measuring
There is actual math.
But I *still* love it!
Look how it looks so far!
Today:
I changed the pattern up a little because I wanted to use lots of little patches of my fabric (see I am actually using it and reading my own posts Amy...heh-heh)
After I sewed the patches together I knew I needed to do something with the seams, (thanks to my mama and my sweet sister-in-law who are coaching me) but I wasn't sure if I was supposed to press them flat open or to one side.
I put an emergency "seam pressing" call into my mom, but she wasn't home so I went online to try and figure it out.
Did you know there is actually *controversy* in the quilting world over which way to press a seam?
Well anyway I eventually decided to press the seam out flat, (which mom later confirmed) but you know, I had no idea how to do that (remember the "softie cellulite" problem?)
To give you an idea about how much ironing I do....when I went to get the ironing board out my *FIVE* year old son said, "What's that mama?"
oh the shame.
So back to doing research and guess what I found? A seam-pressing tutorial! Pretty neat. So I followed her directions exactly and I have to say that my seams are quite beautiful. Wanna see?
I don't mean to brag, but can you believe how flat they are?? My seam pressing teacher, Mrs. Debbie, said the seam should be so flat it becomes part of the fabric and guess what hubby said when I showed him?
"They're so flat they look like the same piece of fabric."
I was abnormally pleased with this.
I discovered two things when I was ironing those seams.
One is I really need a new ironing board cover if I'm going to keep sewing, because there is *a lot* of ironing involved and I have to look at that board for a looooonnnng time and the one I have is ug-a-leee.
Maybe I should sew some scripture patches on it so I can be hiding the word in my heart while I'm ironing?
The second thing I learned is that ironing is kind of relaxing. Isn't that crazy?
I guess part of it has to do with the fact that you're staring lovingly at some beautiful fabric and thinking about the neat project that you're going to make, but also there's just something about the repetitiveness of it that is soothing.
It reminds me of a quote that my mom sent me that I have just fallen in love with:
"It is a token of healthy and gentle characteristics when women of high thoughts and accomplishments love to sew; especially as they are never more at home with their own hearts than while so occupied."
-Nathaniel Hawthorne
Hope you're having a great day!
God's peace and sweet grace to you,
♥ Melissa~
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"She's skilled in the crafts of home and hearth, diligent in homemaking."
-Proverbs 31:19 (the message)
ten random thoughts on tuesday {wednesday is the new tuesday}
one
Guess what I'm working on? My very own Bible Cover! I found the directions to make my own pattern and let me tell you that was *the* hardest part so far.
There was much "wailing and gnashing of teeth" if you know what I mean. I typically don't enjoy measuring and I have learned that sewing is *all about measuring*.
There are a lot of fractions. (1/4" seam anyone?)
There is measuring
There is actual math.
But I *still* love it!
Look how it looks so far!
More about this tomorrow and what I learned about ironing.
two
O-man is going to Austin on business at the end of the month and we all get to go! Yippee! We went last year with him as well and had such a good time.
We ate lots of yummy mexican food (my favorite - I could eat it every day - forever - I can feel my yankee husband rolling his eyes right now).
They had the coolest lights & chandeliers at this restaurant. El Arroyo, in downtown Austin and the yummiest fajitas you've ever tasted!
We visited the capitol, which is always fun & interesting.
But this time there was a legislative session going on *and*...
...a protest! Woo-hoo, a homeschool mama & daddy's dream day!
We even chatted with one of the organizers of the protest afterward about their views and why they were protesting. She was very sweet and explained everything to Teen O (it was kinda over Little O's head) and then we had a family discussion about what we agreed and disagreed with. The best kind of learning day.
Some pretty flowering cactus (cacti?).
Looking so forward to going to some antique-y, artsy places downtown this year! Hope the weather is better!
three
Teen O came in this morning while I was looking at etsy and asked me if he could have a pet hedgehog. After talking to him about it for awhile, I turned back around to look at the screen and scrolled down and the next item was a painting of a hedgehog. Weird, huh?
four
We got some pretty big bottles of bubbles in our Easter baskets around here and the other night we decided try blowing "night bubbles"...So we turned the back porch light on and were surprised by how pretty they were.
These were taken with the flash and the porch light to illuminate them.
When I turned the flash off I got this cool result:
Great conversations about light and capturing it ensued. Gotta love impromptu homeschooling.
five
There was a very fun/funny game at Chuck E. Cheese the other day when we went for Little O's birthday. It was a Mario Racing game and it had a little camera on it that snapped the picture of the boys and put them in the characters faces. Look how cute:
six
I found a cool little tool to help me keep track of work time/computer time/school planning time etc. It's called "Instant Boss"
and you set up the time intervals that you want to work and take a
break and little boss comes and yells at you when it's time to get back
to work. It's pretty funny. It also tracks how much time you've spent
working which is nice on some days when you feel you haven't
accomplished much.
seven
Another great find is this meal planner from future girl. It's so cute the way it looks and it's set up *totally* the way I think. I really love it. Simple but exactly what I needed. Her blog is pretty cool too - lots of free patterns and tutorials. She is one talented, creative and crafty lady.
eight
Recently on twitter, I heard someone much younger than me call the Scooby-doo that I used to watch
as a kid "the old-awesome-vintage one". *sigh*
nine
In my quest for what to do with junk mail I found joon - she is a genius and I am so doing this. Yee-haw!
ten
Since I've been doing the "ten on tuesday" posts I have noticed that the weeks go by at lightening speed these days. How can it have been a week already??
♥ M~
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"For God says, 'At just the right time I heard you; on the day of salvation I helped you.' Indeed the "right time" is now. Today is the day of salvation."
-2 Corinthians 6:2
My new favorite thing to play with is Mixwit. So fun!
This is my new favorite song!
Loved, loved, loved The Clark Brothers on American Idol the other night. Weren't they fabulous?
This is the same song, but a little different version. If you want to get happy listen to this:
Or if you missed the AI performance and want to see it click play:
A photo from the Chuck E. Cheese photobooth:
We are one happy family. I am blessed.
Hope you're having a terrific weekend!
♥ M~
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Jesus said,
"You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept...Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven."
-Matthew 5:14 (the message)
As you know, I'm trying to learn how to sew. This little "bandanna birdie" is my first attempt at a "softie". I really like him although his shape did not turn out quite like I was anticipating.
He has kind of a weird knobby thing on his head that was..um...unintentional...
Also the orange button does not look nearly as cute as I thought it would...kinda beady actually.
And what's with the softie cellulite? You know the little ridges & bumps along the bottom? Does anyone know what causes this?
My blind stitching really needs work too....you know...since it's not...like..um...blind (which I understand is sort of the point of blind stitching.)
But it's really fun, and it certainly gives me even more respect, admiration and appreciation for women like these:
Sewing Stars
Wee Wonderfuls
So I'll keep working on it and hopefully get better! Notice I'm still using bandannas (like my gansta bunny named so by Amy - so funny) instead of nice fabric?
I actually thought the bandanna would be cute but I also didn't want to cut my fabric heh-heh, need to get over that.
My mom keeps sending me the *cutest* patterns from her stash. Can't wait to make the newest one she sent! (hint: it has to do with nests and birdies - eeep!)
Do any of you sew? Any tips for me? Especially about that "softie cellulite" problem?? Is that normal? Is it supposed to do that or am I sewing something incorrectly? (mom?)
Have a fabulous weekend everyone!
♥ M~
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"She does her own sewing..."
-Proverbs 31:22 (CEV)
New banner for Little O's birthday. It was really, really hard to make because I was *crying* the whole time...*ugh*...
I thought I'd re-run the Little O pregnancy story today for those who haven't heard it. We are off to do fun birthday things.
You might need some tissue for this. I'm just sayin'.
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Three of the most agonizing days of my life happened in
September of 2002.
O-man and I found out we were pregnant in early August of that year. I was so incredibly happy to be expecting
again.
I immediately started picking out sweet little baby outfits and looking through baby name books with hubby. We had to do so clandestinely because we hadn’t told anyone yet, not even Teen-O (who was then pre-teen-O). It was such a special time, I loved that we had this little secret treasure just between us.
Six weeks later we made the announcement to family and friends and had scheduled our first appointment with the doctor.
We arrived at the office early Monday morning on September 23rd. We were thrilled to find out that she would be doing a sonogram.
Human fetus at six weeks after conception.
While I knew not to expect more than a tiny blip on the screen, it still meant seeing the reality of the little life we’d already fallen head over heels in love with and just the thought of it gave me butterflies.
I remember lying on the table, hubby holding my hand and smiling down at me, the doctor adjusting the machine and making small talk…
And then the tone of her voice changed slightly, and she began to ask more pointed questions about how I had been feeling.
and then she was just quiet…studying the monitor…
and then she stopped,
and reached over
and turned the monitor off
and began to tell us
that we had lost our baby.
I don’t recall her exact words; it was all a blur of emotion…first absolute denial…
I told her she was wrong,
I had taken three pregnancy tests
I was having morning sickness
and every other symptom that comes with early pregnancy.
As I was explaining all this she reached into a drawer and pulled out a black & white pamphlet that had been photocopied so many times the text was starting to disintegrate. There was a sad couple on the front and a title that included the word “miscarriage”.
I felt my face get flush, hot tears stung my eyes and I heard the doctor’s voice as if she was at the end of a long tunnel…
telling me the symptoms were most likely from residual hormones
telling me it wasn’t my fault,
these things happen,
we could try again right away…
There are really no words to describe the next three days. The anguish of beginning to call friends and family to tell them we’d lost the baby. The devastation of packing away the tiny outfits we’d already purchased and the baby name books I’d circled names in. The grief and sorrow of losing someone we loved with all our hearts though we’d never even met.
On Wednesday morning the nurse called and said she wanted me to go to the hospital immediately. Based on some lab results they had reason to be concerned that instead of a miscarriage I may have had an Ectopic pregnancy. This is when the fertilized egg settles in the fallopian tube. There is no chance of survival for the baby in this situation and the possibility of hemorrhaging and death for the mother.
We arrived at the hospital, pre-teen O in tow and began filling out mountains of paperwork as we waited for the next available sonogram technician to call me in.
While we were waiting we received a phone call from a local florist letting us know that they had a flower delivery and asking when a convenient delivery time would be. My boss had sent a sympathy bouquet.
Finally my name was called. We had decided that since our little boy was with us, hubby would stay in the waiting room with him.
O-man squeezed my hand and gave me a sad but reassuring smile and I walked into the back room ready to hear the worst.
I lay on the table staring up at the ceiling while the technician began adjusting knobs and asking me questions. I was biting my tongue to try to keep myself from crying and wishing that my husband was in the room with me when suddenly she said,
“Ok, everything looks good here, your baby is about….
After the word baby I didn’t hear much. I think she was telling me how many centimeters he was or something…all I could hear was my heart pounding in my chest.
And then I began to sob, loud, guttural, elated sobbing…and somehow between the sobs I managed to say, “the baby?…there’s a baby?” and freaked the poor technician completely out.
She started saying, “Are you ok? I’m so sorry; I thought you knew you were pregnant. I’m so sorry.”
It took a few minutes for us both to calm down and me to explain the story to her, that I thought I’d lost my baby and that she had just told me the most wonderful, amazing news of my life.
She turned the screen toward me and let me see that glorious little blip.
Then we were both laughing and crying and she said, “Oh I should go get your husband and son!” She brought them in and slipped out of the room quietly while I told them the miraculous news.
I will never forget that moment, telling them I had seen the little blip we had so desperately wanted to see a few days earlier…crying and laughing and crying again.
Before we left the hospital, that sweet, sweet technician came back into the room and gave me what looked like a small x-ray. It was a copy of the sonogram.
They had run out of the paper that it was normally printed on, but she wanted me to have it so she printed it on x-ray film.
Here it is:
We found out that apparently no one had informed her why she was doing this sonogram; she wasn’t even looking for an ectopic pregnancy, just a healthy baby, and she found him.
She said given the baby’s position it would have been impossible for the doctor to see him with the equipment she had.
All the way home we were both on the cell phones calling those we had told the bad news that it was good news after all (and being so thankful that we hadn't even told everyone yet).
Shortly after we arrived there was a knock at the door; it was the florist with the bouquet from my boss.
I don’t know why, but that stands out so strongly in my memory. How those flowers were sent from sorrow, but arrived in joy.
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So that’s my pregnancy story with LittleO.
I’m sitting here crying again as I type this (even though this is the second posting of this story), just so thankful to the Lord for getting us through that. He is so faithful.
The rest of the pregnancy went pretty normally (if you don’t count Little O deciding to come a month early!).
And now my little blip is FIVE years old and learning to read and explaining to me exactly how legos work and talking and talking and talking and talking (he talks *a lot*).
And I love every minute of it.
♥ M~
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"No one's ever seen or heard anything like this, never so much as imagined anything quite like it— what God has arranged for those who love Him."
-1 Corinthians 2:9,10
ten random thoughts on tuesday
(on wednesday night again - maybe I should rename it "ten on wen"... you know that would rhyme if you said it with a Texas accent...really...try it...."tin on win"...see?)
one
It's cupcake week on Martha Stewart! Have you been watching? So much yummy fun. I think we should have cupcake week around here. Then I can make more of these.
two
My little guy is turning five tomorrow. This hurts. And also makes me feel a little crazy, because *yesterday* I was changing his diaper...yesterday people!
And I don't really want him to stop calling me mama and kissing me every time he walks through the room and saying "I yuv you" instead of "I love you".
But it will happen. I know.
So I'll just treasure every moment and take a million pictures and blog every cute thing he says and does (even if you guys get sick of it...heh-heh)...and then I'll remember...and then I'll start it all over again with grand-children! yippee!
Since his birthday always falls right around Easter we tend to combine the two and he actually *loves* having an egg hunt at his birthday party. He calls it his "easterbirthday". So sweet. So here's some snaps from the party we had on Sunday:
Little O and his great uncle (my uncle). So funny.
Chocolate cheesecake, yum (his request)! I'll post the recipe this week.
Little O attacking the pinata.
I *love* this one. My nephew's little feet as he runs for the pinata candy.
Nephew and Little O grabbing that pinata candy!
Egg hunting at the "easterbirthday"
Squirt gun fight broke out after present opening.
three
Remember the yummy salsa I told you about? The unusual ingredient is watermelon! I know it sounds gross, but I'm telling you it is soooooo good. You have to try it! The watermelon replaces the usual tomatoes. Most people don't even realize this until they taste it. Here is the recipe:
Watermelon Salsa
Ingredients:
3 cups chopped watermelon
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
3-5 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon chopped green onion
2 tablespoons chopped jalapeño pepper (this is spicy, cut it to one if you are chicken)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients in a large glass bowl and chill for at least an hour. The longer you let it sit in the fridge the yummier flavors taste together.
2. Serve in the hollowed shell of the watermelon to delight and confuse your guests!
A couple of hints:
-DO NOT rub your eyes after chopping up the jalepeno...you will be sorry if you do.
-You may want to put the chopped watermelon in a colander over a bowl for a half hour or so to let it drain a little bit because otherwise your salsa can be a little too "juicy".
four
I really don't like junk mail. It's like people mailing trash to my house that I have to then sort and make decisions about. Like I don't have enough to do. Junk mail...yuck. I am going to have to think of some crafty things to do with junk mail. Here are some ideas to start: Junk Mail Gems
five
We made a fun craft with our leftover easter egg shells today. Super easy too! Pictures & a tutorial in the next post. (right after this one or maybe before by the time you read this...heh-heh) EDITED: It's here!
six
I'm teaching myself embroidery! It's so fun and it seems to go along with my new love for fabric. I found a really fun link that has lots of free vintage embroidery patterns! So cool!
seven
Another fun link I wanted to share with you is this one-Free printables at Wondertime. Fantastic fun for homeschoolers or even just preschool moms or scrapbookers or babysitters...you get the idea.
eight
Did you see my new button about subscribing to my RSS feed (over there on the right)? I completely made that up. Just thought I should tell you.
I *do* think you'll feel more crafty after hanging out here though. And the best way to hang out here of course is to subscribe to my feed.
I know I've told you about bloglines before (so cool). But just in case some of you still aren't gettin' the whole RSS feed thing, I found a great video to help explain it. It's by the same guys who did the Twitter video I showed you earlier, Common Craft (they're geniuses).
nine
My friend Janice at Everyday Education, wrote a really wonderful article a couple of days ago. It's geared towards homeschooling parents, but really I think if you're a parent at all you will be blessed by this article.
The two lines that spoke to me the most were these:
"Remember that children don’t remember what you do; they remember how you made them feel."
"Understand that this season of life will be over before you know it. Don’t put off doing the fun things!"
Those two lines really speak to what I want this blog to be all about. I'm always striving to have fun with my kids, to soak up every minute of my time with them and make sweet memories with them that they can carry into adulthood and their own parenthood. I want to teach them how good God is and I want to share with you all the ways I figure out how to do this.
I'm actually working on a pretty big project related to this and in the mean time I hope that when you come and visit here you are inspired in some way to create things and have fun and celebrate with your children or even as a child yourself .
Go read the article, it will bless you.
ten
Thanks for my three volunteers who played tag with me! Here they are:
Quirky at Quirky is a Compliment
Alison at Barefoot in Boston
Erin at Fully Alive...Ready To Smile (Actually she hasn't done it yet, but said she would so I'm linking her in anticipation...heh-heh...)
Ok, now time to go put up the egg shell craft. Hope ya'll are havin' a great week.
♥ M~
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"Come, children, listen closely; I'll give you a lesson in God worship."
-Psalm 34:10
Okay, as promised here is the quick & easy egg shell craft. This is such a perfect thing to do with your leftover egg shells after Easter. Especially if you have sentimental little ones who can't stand to see their "work" thrown out!
What you'll need:
Colored Eggs
Liquid Adhesive (any crafters glue will do)
Old paintbrush
Cardstock
Design of your choice (download link below)
Baby wipes or damp paper towel (for sticky fingers)
Step One
Shell your eggs and make some yummy egg salad! (okay, you don't have to make egg salad) Be careful to remove the slimy film stuff on the back of the shell. It will prevent your adhesive from sticking.
Step 2
Choose a design to use as the base for your mosaic. You can download the spring shapes that I sketched out here or you can do a google search for any shape that you might want. Try looking for "coloring book pages" + butterfly etc. to find what you're looking for.
Step 3
Dab little dots of liquid adhesive onto your design (we used an old, cheapy paintbrush and crafters glue) and then crush pieces of shell into the glue. You'll hear a little cracking sound as you crush the shell. This is good, you want the shell to flatten out into the glue.
Work in small spaces and quickly so your glue doesn't dry out.
Caution: The egg shell pieces can be sharp so be careful. Mama may need to help little ones.
Step 4
That's it you're done! Now cut out your shapes if you like to create cards or framed artwork or to put in your scrapbook!
Have Fun!
♥ M~
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"My prayer is that light will flood your hearts and that you will understand the hope that was given to you when God chose you. Then you will discover the glorious blessings that will be yours together with all of God's people."
-Eph 1:18 (CEV)
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