Pink Paper Peppermints - Craft. Create. Celebrate.

*ugh*

I cannot seem to get the ezine converted and sent out tonight guys.

evil technology.

*ugh*

*ugh* *ugh* *ugh*

Guess I will have to wait 'til we get home.

did I mention *ugh*?

♥ M~

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"Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”;  whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow.

For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.”
-James 4:13-15

ten on tuesday - austin edition

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

ten on tuesday - art and paper and the you-know-who

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

fun that is funny

Did you know March 2nd would have been the 104th birthday of Dr. Seuss (Theodore Geisel)?

I've always loved Dr. Seuss books.  I have a very distinct memory of my mom reading a giant version of  "If I Ran the Circus" to my brother and me when I was about 8 years old. 

It was a library book and I loved it so much. We were in the process of packing up and moving back to Dallas from Mississippi at the time and I guess in all the moving confusion the book somehow got packed in our moving boxes. 

When we were unpacking in my room and I found it, I was so thrilled and also guilt-ridden that we had kept it.  I thought we would have to drive back to Mississippi to return it and dreaded the long drive!

I don't actually remember what happened to that book.  I guess my mom probably mailed it back.  To be honest, I kinda wish we still had it  (which makes me feel a little guilty).

The very first book my oldest son ever read to me was "Green Eggs and Ham".  I will never forget that.  I was so enamored by how he emphasized the words, "I Do Not like them, Sam-I-Am!" as he was reading.  I remember thinking what a fabulous reader he was going to be.  And now at almost sixteen he reads books to his little brother with that same dramatic voice.
 

My all time favorite Dr. Seuss book is "Horton Hears a Who".  I see some distinct spiritual correlations there...which I know sounds crazy, but I do.  Maybe I'll blog about it sometime.   

I haven't seen the movie yet, I'm a little nervous that they've ruined a perfectly good story, but we'll see.

I love Dr. Seuss so much I actually taught a scrapbook class about how to add "Seuss" style to your layouts.  It was one of my favorite classes and I thought it would be a fun theme for the very first issue of my reborn e-zine "heART & Soul"!

I hope you are signed up for it!  The first issue goes out today (!) went out today and includes a printable pattern and tutorial for a mini book that could be used for scrapbooking, lapbooking, and homeschooling as well as links to great Dr. Seuss sites and a collection of my favorite Dr. Seuss quotes! (all for free -yippee!)

So what's your favorite Dr. Seuss story?  Do you have any special memories of his books as a child or maybe with your own children?  I'd love to hear them!  And if you're a homeschooler or lapbooker I'd *love* to hear about any fun Seuss projects you've done!

See you later today for Ten on Tuesday!

Blessings,

♥ Melissa~

P.S. I didn't know this when I first wrote this post, but Janice at Everyday Education is hosting the 115th Carnival of Homeschooling this week and guess what the theme is??  "Oh the Things That You'll Do"!  And she invited me to participate!  So head over there and check out some of the other great posts this week!
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"I'm thanking you, God, from a full heart, I'm writing the book on your wonders. I'm whistling, laughing, and jumping for joy; I'm singing your song, High God."
-Psalm 9:1 (the message)

tuesday ten - 4

ten random thoughts on tuesday

one

I heard birdies singing this morning...birdies I tell you!  I am so excited spring is coming soon!

two

You might've noticed there's been a slight name change in my ezine.  It is now "heART & Soul".  That's because there is another neat ezine named "The Heart of the Matter". 

So to avoid confusion I decided a name change was in order. I kinda like the new name even better because I think it describes what the zine will be all about (Heart, ART & Soul!).  If you haven't subscribed, head over there now! It's freeeeeeee!

three

I have recently become aware that there is a large, gaping chasm between what I *think* can be accomplished in a day and what can *actually* be accomplished in a day by a normal human woman.  This is only complicated by my apparent lack of any concept of time. 

Case in point.  I was just thinking I would like to have this posted by noon today so that I can finish up some other things.  I look down at my computer clock (yes...I have a clock *right on my computer*) and it is 2:00 pm.  This has the potential for causing some serious disappointment as you can imagine.  Something I need to work on.

four

I need to start cleaning up for the holidays, no not Easter...Christmas!  It's only 309 days away you know.

five

Did you see my 'Neat-O new thing' button?  I stole borrowed the idea from my friend Elizabeth. She has a "link of the week" in her sidebar and I love it.  I am alway running across neat, new things online(well new to me anyway) so I thought the button would be a great way to share it with you!

six

Little O has been cracking me up lately because he thinks the word for "dizzy" is "bizzy".  This makes for some very interesting conversations.  In the grocery store after seeing me rub my temples due to an impending headache..."Are you gettin' bizzy, mama?"  *weird look from the lady across the aisle*

seven

I found such a great, new place for homeschool moms!  It's called "The Homeschool Lounge" and it's kinda like facebook for homeschoolin' mamas.  It is soooo neat!  If you are a homeschooling mama you have to go sign up right now!  And come and find me if you do, I go by "OneHappyMama" there. 

There are all kinds of fun groups to join and you can post photos and videos and it's all private, member only and *freeeeeeeee*.  Also, if you sign up and like it, be sure to blog about it because they are having a giveaway for bloggers!

eight

I've had some inquiries about the buttons I make, so I thought I'd try something.  I'm going to be the "Button Girl"! (you know..."hey, who made your button?" "oh, I found this great button girl".)

So the first person to comment on this post gets a free one.  After that, I'm going to make them for a mere five buck-a-roonies ($5.00 ea) (evil spell check is fine with "buck-a" but "roonies" is freaking it out) There will be some limitations with that of course which we can discuss in email. 

We'll see how it goes, I might have to charge more later (or you know, pay *you* to take one).  But if you're one of the ones who wanted a button for your group or blog or whatever just send me an email with what you need/want and we'll go from there.  I'll take paypal and maybe I can figure out how to make a paypal button even!  {Oh...and I promise I won't actually turn you *into* a button.  heh-heh}

nine

Yesterday my Little O woke up earlier than usual and came in and climbed up in my lap while I was checking email.  This is what I saw when I looked down.

I never want to forget this. ever. 

You think if I just close my eyes real tight and pretend it's not happening I can keep him from growing up?  Naaah.  I guess I don't wanna do that anyway. (well, maybe a little)

ten

When I have to call someone and figure out why they are not doing something they are supposed to be doing, I make a quick list so I don't forget what to ask and if I'm *really* upset I scribble a reminder of how Jesus would like me to handle it at the top of the page.

If I don't do this...well..."Christ like" is  not a good description of my behavior. An example is below (it's in my messy *be angry but sin not* handwriting...heh-heh) from one of my many conversations with doctors and nurses over the fiasco with my dad's surgery.

One of the cool things about blogging is that I probably would've never even noticed this little habit of mine if I hadn't been looking for number ten.  :)

Grace and Peace friends,

M~
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"To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven;"
-Ecclesiastes 3:1

winner winner chicken dinner

Hey!

I bet you thought I forgot about the contest didn't you? Well, ha-ha, I did *not* forget!  (ok, I *almost* forgot)

But anyway...just gonna announce the winners real quick and then off to bed with my tired self.  I had a fight with google groups, yahoo groups and my new ezine today...they tag teamed me and it wasn't pretty, *however*  I did indeed kick some evil technology boo-tay and managed to get the ezine subscription up and running!  (take *that* evil technology!)

So hurry and sign up, it's gonna be cool! (just click on the little button on the left sidebar).

And now the moment you've all been waiting for......

The winners are:

Angela!!!
and
katemeri!!!

Congratulations ladies!!  (I'll email you for your details.)

Nightie-Nite all, have a blessed Sunday!

M~
{p.s. valentines photos coming Monday}
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"Reward her for all she has done.  Let her deeds publicly declare her praise."
-Proverbs 31:31