Pink Paper Peppermints Sweet ♥ Crafty ♥ Goodness

five happy things

ONE

My sweet husband just brought me orange juice in a pink glass. 

orange and pink, sweet husband, healthy drink.  happy.

TWO

I just took a photo of my pink glass of orange juice with my cell phone, sent it to twitpic and uploaded it here, all without getting out of my seat. 

happy.  (although my rear could use more getting out of my seat, not less..heh-heh)

THREE

I am finally getting back into the swing of things after a long, lovely summer. 

routine, cooler weather, school with my boys. happy.

 

FOUR

I discovered the 5 Minutes for Mom community.  

moms, blogs, chatting, twittering, sharing, laughing, praying. happy.

FIVE

I'm crocheting pink and orange granny squares.

crochet, pink, orange, granny squares. happy.

 

Five happy things.  Hope you have some happy things today.

Peace and Grace,

♥ Melissa~

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Day and night I'll stick with God.  I've got a good thing going and I'm not letting go.  I'm happy from the inside out-- and from the outside in, I'm firmly formed."

-Psalm 16:8-9 (msg)

mug heaven

I have no time to blog today* so instead you get to see a snap of my new favorite mug. 

Hubby bought it for me on our trip to Austin and I *love* *love* *love* it.

It is just the right size and heaviness and I adore the handmade shape with all the little crooked spots and dimples. 

The pink flower and "inspire" sentiment make me smile every morning...

And it's pink inside!

What more could you ask for in a mug?  Pink, flowers, inspiration, handmade...it's mug heaven!

Do you have a favorite mug?  I would love to see it!  Blog it and leave me a comment!

Hope that inspires you a little today.  See you tomorrow!

God's Grace and Peace,

♥ Melissa~

*interpreted: I wasted my blogging time today looking at crafty stuff on the internet.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Those who live at the ends of the earth stand in awe of Your wonders.  From where the sun rises to where it sets, You  inspire shouts of joy."
-Psalm 65:8

ode to a hubby

Today is O-man's birthday.  He is really and truly the most amazing person I've ever known. 

If you are married I am sorry, but you are married to the second-most wonderful man in the world because I got the first most wonderful man. heh-heh

Not a day goes by that he doesn't do or say something kind to/for me and his children.

He is funny beyond words.  (I often come close to spitting out various drinks in laughter - which sounds like a bad thing, but really it's not)

He has taught me about mercy and grace in a way only someone who truly practices it can. 

He loves God, he cherishes his children.  He understands sacrifice and lives it everyday. 

He will not say no to a "play with me" request no matter how tired he is.

He will wash dishes, fold laundry and cook dinner. 

He makes coffee most mornings and holds my hand every night until we fall asleep. 

He is what Paul meant when he said, "love your wife as Christ loves the church".

And I can't imagine what I did to deserve that, so I am just so thankful to the Lord for the grace He has poured into my life by giving me this man to love.

Happy Birthday Sweetheart.  I love you!

♥ M~

---------------------------------------------------------------
"Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her..."
-Ephesians 5:25

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~
------------------------------------------------
"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~

---------------------------------------------------
"...for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask Him!"
-Matthew 6:8

tuesday ten - well ain't she miss betty lightbulb?

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~
-----------------------------------------------------
"Those who know your name trust in you, for you, O Lord, do not abandon those who search for you." -Psalm 9:10

paper people poppets

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~
----------------------------------------------------------
"He fills my life with good things."
-Pslam 103:5

tuesday ten - mish mash

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~
---------------------------------------------------------
"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

taggity-tag-tag-tag

As I mentioned in this post, I have been multitudinously (yes, I made that up) tagged by lots of lovely people (however I am a dork and said it was Quirky, but it was actually Fizz who tagged me for one of them).

I was going to try and do them all in one post, but um, I can't.  So here is the first one:   

The five things tag from Marianna

The rules are:

1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

And here’s the meme:

What I was doing 10 years ago:

Ten years ago I was planning my wedding to the most wonderful man I had ever met.  The funny thing is I had *no* idea how happy I would be.  None.  I was kinda scared actually, but had really prayed about it and felt it was right  (and also the pretty dress and flowers and fun party helped to distract me...heh-heh).

Five things on my To Do List today:

1) Work on a puppet theater out of a cereal box idea with Little O
2) Call family about birthday plans for Little O
3) Look up chocolate cheesecake recipe which, yes, my four year old requested for his birthday
4) Post this tag post
5) Buy party stuff

Snacks I enjoy:

1) Fruit (really, I do)
2) Chips & Salsa  (I have a recipe for salsa that has a completely unexpected ingredient in it, but is *so* good - I'll share next week)
3) Chocolate (is that a snack really?  Little O is always asking me that, "Mama is cake healfy for you or a tweat?")

Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

This could be long.

Of course the usual answers, travel, help my family etc.

But the thing that would be the most fun is that every time I heard of a need I would do something about it. Sick children who need medical care, orphanages that need blankets and toys, single mamas that need help with Christmas money...you know the stuff you read about and pray about but usually can't do anything about yourself .

That's what I would spend all my time and money doing (anonymously too so I could stand around and watch their reactions without anyone knowing.)  

Can you imagine sitting in a little church somewhere that is having trouble making ends meet and putting say 150,000 dollars in the offering basket? 

Or buying a struggling family a new house and mailing them the keys and the deed.  Or paying for every hopeful adoptive parent you meet to adopt a child from Ukraine or China or Africa? 

I think if I was a billionaire I just wouldn't be one for long, because I would constantly be giving it away.

My accountant would hate me.

Three of my bad habits:

1) Interrupting people (go ahead try to say something...)
2) Procrastination
3) Is *not* exercising a habit?

Five places I have lived:

1) Texas of course
2) Oregon (loved it)
3) South Africa (one of the best times of my life)
4) Arkansas (don't remember it)
5) Mississippi (don't remember much except some kind of spelling/pee-pee joke that I thought was very funny:

1st Kid: Can you spell Mississippi? 
2nd Unsuspecting kid: M-i-s-s-i-p-p...
1st Kid: you pee pee?  wahhh-hhahaah-hahaa

...what? I was in second grade)

Five jobs I’ve had:

1) Preschool Teacher (fun)
2) Preschool Director (not fun)
3) Cake Decorator/Instructor (fun)
4) Wench at Medieval Times, yes that's right Wench (sooo not fun and an embarrassing costume)
5) Scrapbook Designer/Writer/Instructor (super duper fun)
6) Mama (really fun and the most rewarding thing I have ever done in my life)

And I really have to run now, busy, busy weekend, so could five of you volunteer to do this tag?? Please?  I really want to tag all of you so I can hear your answers!

Leave me a comment if you're going to do it and then I will post your links on Monday!

Have a fantastic weekend everyone!

♥ M~

--------------------------------------------------------------
"So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering."
-Romans 12:1

ten on tuesday - the fabric edition

ten random thoughts on tuesday (on wednesday night)

one

Easter was lovely and long.   We had quite a fun (which translates to exhausting for mama & daddy) three-day extravaganza.  I won't bore you with tons of photos, but I do have to show you this one:

I found these little plushie peeps and I cannot stop taking photos of them.  They are so cute!  I always buy peeps for the kids Easter baskets because...well..it's tradition...but you know...they taste ...um...  disgusting! 

And we almost always throw them out *unopened*.  *ugh*  I really don't like that, so when I found these little stuffed peeps this year I was so excited!  These will be the new tradition. Yay.

two

After the egg coloring was finished hubby was cleaning up for me (yes, that's right, I have *the* best husband in the world - see number 4 for more proof), and he asked,

"So can I throw this egg dye out?" 

I don't know why, but the words "can I throw this out?" just trigger something in me and my natural reaction is to say,

"No way I can make something with that!"

I got that *I can make something* gleam in my eye and Oman looked just slightly annoyed so I knew I better jump up and make something immediately to prove that I wasn't being the ultimate pack rat. 

The first thing I saw on my desk as I went into the kitchen was a little stack of manila tags...so into the dye they went!  And you can't believe how cute they turned out!

I also experimented with the little white wax crayon that came with the kit for the eggs and that looked even cuter!  See my little birdie?  (can you tell that Molly Chicken is influencing me?)

So now I have quite the collection of tags to use for projects.  I'm thinking of adding some stitching to them too.

If you like these and want to try it you should run to the grocery store right now and see if they have the egg dye kits on clearance.  I usually pick these up the week after Easter for less than 50 cents!

And if you *really* like them, but have no desire to make them yourself then check my etsy shop in a couple days because I'll have some listed there. :)

three

Things you hear frequently in a house of boys:
"Ha-ha...you will never defeat me!"
"Why can't I just wear *this*?"
"What? I don't smell anything."

Things you don't hear:

"Would you braid my hair?"
"I think we need more pink around here"
"Wanna play barbies with me?"

four

My husband can fix anything.  Really, he is a genius.  He has fixed everything that's ever broken in our house or figured out a way to replace it with almost no money. 

Last night the dryer made the most awful sound and it wouldn't stop.  This morning he opens it up, does some tool-y things to it and now it works better than before!  Really, it had gotten so loud and now you can barely hear it.  I {heart} my handy hubby.

(and also, tonight when I told him supper was ready he said "yay!" as if he was about to go on vacation...and that is even better than handiness to me.)

five

Let's talk about the quilt show some more shall we?  I didn't get to finish showing you everything anyway.

There was so, so much beautiful fabric.

Did I mention the fabric was beautiful??

Lollipops of bias tape.  yum!

Cutest pillow case kits *ever*.

six

Mom bought me this one for LittleO's room.  I'm going to be re-doing it this summer and I just fell in *love* with this!  It's so sweet and retro and I just love all the little sayings about the Lord.  I want to do a mural with those little birds and sun!  Can't wait.

seven

My mom bought me the pattern for this one too!!  I'm so excited, my first quilt!  Isn't it gorgeous?

It's called French Roses by Heather French.   I just love the way the flowers are all rustic looking and fuzzy around the edges.

I like the colors they've used here, but the fabric I want to use is the Ginger Blossom collection by Sandi Henderson. 

I am *so* in love with that fabric.  Gotta sell some stuff on etsy to raise the money to buy me a whole lot of Ginger Blossom! 

And then you will get to see the journey of a first time quilter which may or may not be pretty.  I don't know...*LOL*...

And here is all the beautiful fabric she bought me:

Notice a color trend at all?

I just love the birdy paint by number one...

eight

Can you guess what these are?

They are these:

Gorgeous quilted hearts cut from all sorts & styles of vintage quilts.  They are so beautiful. 

I'm making all kinds of wonderful things with them that hopefully will end up in my shop if I can manage to let them go!

Each one is so sweet and unique.  I just love them. I may put a few of them all on their own in the shop so you can play too!

nine

Here are some of  my first sew-y things.  I am trying not to be too pefectionistic about it, but I do see a lot of flaws when I look at these.  I still love them though and I'm falling more and more in love with fabric everyday!

The first one is this little bunny.  I made him from an old bandana because I wanted to practice on something besides my lovely fabric.

I found him at Crafty Carnival.  She has a wonderful tutorial for him and a little pillow to put him in as well!  You have to go see, they are so cute.

He didn't come out looking like the pillow type to me though.  He kinda looks like he has an attitude...you know?  Like he's saying..."you want somma this?" 

This is my angel baby:

She is from a pattern my mom gave me called "Small Snippets" from Mary's Patterns.  I have to say even with her imperfections I am really crazy about her.  I have never made anything like her before and I just can't stop picking her up and looking at her. It's so amazing to take little bits of thread and fabric and create a beautiful little thing.

She is *very* tiny.  I should have put a quarter in the pic with her to show you.  It would have taken
up her whole dress, that's how tiny she is. 

And I just love her.  Did I mention that?

I want to make lots more of these little snippets.  Oh if only there were 48 hours in day. (24 of them occurring after children went to sleep...wouldn't that be fabulous??  Oh...but then I would miss the children....a little...)

ten

Look what my library just got in!!!

I am so excited!!!

I must go fall asleep reading these now and dream sweet, fabric-y dreams...

Hope you're all having a fantastic week!

Grace and Peace,

♥ M~

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
"She shops around for the best yarns and cottons, and enjoys knitting and sewing."
-Proverbs 31:13 (the message)

ten on tuesday - 7

ten random thoughts on tuesday

one

The three questions my hubby asks me most often:

1.) How many pictures of that are you going to take?

2.) Did you take this out of the garbage??

3.) Without looking at the clock, what time do you think it is right now?

two

A conversation with Little O this morning:

littleO:  mama?  'scuse me, mama?

me:  yes?

littleO: is dis special to you? (holding up a scrap of fabric from my desk)

me: no, why?  do you want it?

littleO: well, no.  I just thought it was special to you and I think I sneezed on it.

three

Sometimes when I'm emailing someone in a rush and I'm typing super fast I will start to sign my name and type:

lovey  ou

instead of

love you

I kinda like it.

four

Have you ever been trying to take a photo of something in your home and you're zoomed in on it and then you tilt your camera down towards the carpet and it auto focuses and then you scream? 

Oh. 

No that's never happened to me either...I was just wondering...you know if it had ever happened to you.

five

The snow is all finally gone and I heard the squirrels again for the first time yesterday, scampering around on the roof. 

six

Snow you say? Yes, here is a look at our *one day* of snow in March. (You "zone 5 & unders don't hate me because I live in zone 8 - a little early gardening talk for ya there - heh-heh)

Teen O - he thinks this picture is pretty cool.

Caught him with the zoom trying to catch snowflakes on his tongue. He *does not* think this photo is cool.  And please don't tell him that I posted it 'cause I'll get in trouble. (heh-heh)

Snowball fight!

seven

This morning when I went in to make sure TeenO was awake (which of course he was not) I noticed he had retrieved an old pink & red flowered quilt from the closet (must've gotten cold last night). 

As soon as I saw it I thought it would be perfect for a spring tablecloth in the kitchen.  (I was just thinking of buying a new one - spring tablecloth, not kitchen)

I grabbed hold of the edge of the blanket and mostly talking to myself said out loud,

"hey, can I use *this* for the tablecloth?" 

Teen O mutters in his sleep, "yeah, but not right now, ok?" 

Oh that child knows me too well.

I'm washing it as I type.  Can't wait to see if it works!

eight

I am going to the quilt show with my mom this weekend!!!!

nine

Fabric, fabric, fabric.  I am *so* excited!  (you can't be jealous 'cause love is not jealous.  besides, I will bring you some back ok?)

ten

I woke up to a foggy, springy morning today.  And here is what I heard and saw (- more video - aren't I conquering technology?? - well, ok, after you see the video you won't think I'm conquering anything - sorry about my lame video skills - just close your eyes and listen if you have to.)

lovey  ou

M~

----------------------------------------------------------------
"You made me so happy, God I saw your work and I shouted for joy. How magnificent your work, God! How profound your thoughts!"
-Ps 92:4 (the message)

ten on tuesday - 6

ten random thoughts on tuesday

one

It's Daylight Savings Time again this Sunday.  I am not a fan.

two

I know that there are *thousands* of pencils in this house.  I would really like to know where they are.

When I need a pencil I look in the pencil drawer.

Empty.

Except one small chewed up one with no eraser which is only still there because no one wants to use it.

I look on our supply shelf in the hall where we keep all the school supplies. 

Empty. 

Except for a green one that is really a watercolor pencil from my scrapbook stuff. (so *that's* where that went) 

I decide to use it anyway and guess what?  No lead.

In desperation I go to the extra supply drawer with the bulk packages of items I get at the beginning of the school year when everything is on sale.

Empty.

Wha...?

Where are all the pencils???

really.  where are they?

Maybe this lady has them.

three

For those of you wondering what ever happened with the angry Fedex guys.  Um...nothing.  Can you believe it?  Hubby's coworker called and was transfered from department to department all denying knowledge of and/or responsibility for said Fedex guys,

{oh, that's not my department, let me transfer you}

until finally someone took his name and number and said they'd be sure to get back to him and guess what?

That's right. Nothin'.

So be careful if you're in Texas and see a Fedex truck because there are two very angry Fedex guys driving around who now know they can commit road rage without penalty.

four

I voted in the Texas primary today!  One of the requests I had on my last contest was that I would discuss my political views.  I might do that, but they may be a little controversial.  So I'm still thinking about it.

five

I really don't like it when I'm reading the comments on someone's blog and one of the commentors commenters people leaving a comment, says something really funny and clever and seems like such a neat person and I mouse over their name and *no blog*!  *Ugh*  If you are funny and clever you need to have a blog. I want to read more about you and remember? I want to see your living room!

six

Guess what I saw out my kitchen window last night?  Snow!!!

 

Already gone today though. *sigh*

seven

I saw Claudine Helmuth on Martha today and it was like one of my *friends* was on Martha! Isn't that silly?  I don't know her personally of course (although I think we might have taught at some of the same conventions) but I *love*love*love* her books and read her blog.  She showed Martha how to make her little "sitting pretty" dolls.  I can't wait to try this!

eight


I got this book from Paperback Swap yesterday!  (it's been on my list for two years!)  I love it so far! So full of fun stuff and creative ideas.

nine
I found this cool 'sound' dictionary.  You type in the word you want pronounced and it says it for you!  Love that.

ten

I am eating these right now.  Not really good for you.  Pretty much corn syrup and pepper.  I just get this weird craving for them sometimes.  And they are so cinnamon-y and spicy and sweet.  Is there a fruit that tastes like Hot Tamales?  Maybe I could munch on that instead.

Grace and Peace to you,

M~

-------------------------------------------------------------
"It happens so regularly that it's predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God's commands, but it's pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge."
-Romans 7:21-23 (the message)

science festivities

Took the kiddos to the Science Museum last Sunday for a "TechFest" event.  I'm not sure I understand the concept of "tech" and "fest" in the same sentence, but whatever.  The boys were excited (including the daddy).

I think the people at the museum maybe didn't understand the "fest" part of it either because I didn't find it very festive at all. 

But then again my idea of a "fest" includes music, ribbon and balloons and definitely some ice cream.

As you can imagine there was *none* of that.

There *were* a lot of robotic, electronic wire-y things.  It was a boy day.

The parking was a mess because apparently they didn't schedule the weekend very well at Fair Park and there was something going on at the Dallas Music Hall, plus the big science "festival", plus a giant antique show/garage sale *all at the same time*. 

I tried to talk the boys into going to the garage sale/antique show instead, and shockingly it was a no-go. 

"But guys," I said, "there'll be old photos and lace and neat books and antiques..."

{cricket noises}

"Yeah, ok, we'll go to the museum."

It's so hard to get good quickie photos in the museum because of the lighting but here are some snaps from the day:

electricity is cool.

air currents are cooler.

teeth are not that cool, but a giant mouth to walk into *is*.

      

weather is cool.  and pretending to be the weather man...well... it's kind of dorky if you're the daddy, but if you're four...so cool.

looking up is cool.

dallas skyline...pretty cool viewed from the top floor of the imax.

fair park....is really cool...even in the winter...

And God is pretty cool too....going to the museum always reminds me of just how amazing He is.

I am camping right now! (gotta love scheduled posts)

Tomorrow...Flea Market!!

Blessings,

♥ M~

--------------------------------------------------

"Can you direct the movement of the stars?...
        Can you direct the sequence of the seasons?...
    
Do you know the laws of the universe?
      Can you use them to regulate the earth?

Can you shout to the clouds
      and make it rain?

Can you make lightning appear
      and cause it to strike as you direct?

Who gives intuition to the heart
      and instinct to the mind?

Who is wise enough to count all the clouds?

      Who can tilt the water jars of heaven
when the parched ground is dry..."
-Job 38:31-38

heart day snaps

As promised here are the photos from our lovely Valentines Day celebrations.

The homeschool party was wonderful.  So well organized and a tiny room filled with dozens of sweet, well-behaved children.  It made a mama proud. I wish I could show you photos of all the cuties there, but of course I shouldn't without permission. (ooh, I'm tempted though...they were so cute!)

One of the older girls had this t-shirt on that *totally* cracked me up:

In case you can't read it, it says:

Satan is bad.
Jesus is good.
Be like Jesus!

So funny.  I want one.

------------------------------------

This was Little O's first experience with Valentines boxes & cards and he was *so* thrilled to pass out the valentines he'd made.  I just love this shot of the little tongues sticking out in concentration.

He was even *more* excited when he got to his box and saw that it was full.  "Mama!  Someone put valentines in my box too!"  Man, it was cute.  He had no idea he was *receiving* Valentines too.

I showed you the fronts of his little valentines in this post.  Here's what we put on the back:

He also signed his name and then I scanned it in and printed it so he could glue it on. (I'm a big fan of copywork, but I am not gonna make a 4 year old sign his name 50 times!)

They had crafts set up for each age group.  Little O finished his and then joined Teen O in the "teens" area.  They were supposed to be making these roses with pipe cleaners, but the glue wouldn't hold so Teen O started crafting a helicopter! 

It was actually pretty cool and he had quite the fan club of little boys standing around him whispering as if he were a master craftsman, "How's he doing that?" "Oh cool, look he's making blades"  One of them even asked him how long he had been "working with pipe cleaners". (! *LOL*)  Of course he didn't mind the attention with two cute homeschool *teen* girls sitting right across from him. (hee-hee, don't tell him I told you that or I'm in *big* trouble!)

After the party (and the requisite running around that comes with having the car for the day) we went home and had our little family party.

I was going to make home made chicken and shrimp lo mein.  I even had the meat marinating in the fridge all day,  but I was so tired by the time we got home from errands and picking up hubby at work that my fabulous husband suggested we order take out instead (I so love that man).  He was going to order pizza but, (and please don't laugh at me here) I had planned little "take out box" favors to go with the  lo mein I was going to make so I made him order chinese take out to stick with my theme. 

Here are my little favor boxes:

Found them at Target.  I plan to reuse them for all sorts of stuff. They are so cute!

This is the cake I made for dessert:

I would give you the recipe, but I tried a new one and let's just say it looks a lot yummier than it was.  I do like that pan though.  Isn't a heart shaped bundt cake the coolest thing?

By the way, I *have* a recipe for chocolate cake that is the most yummiest recipe *ever.*  My brother & sister-in-law demanded that I open a bakery when they tasted it.  It's very tender and moist though so I didn't think it would hold up to the bundt shape and I *really* wanted to use that pan!  I'll share that cake recipe one of these days.  remind me.

   

So this was my centerpiece.  I just stacked a bunch of cake plates and then sprinkled them with little paper hearts left over from making valentines.  I put a little heart basket with some tinsel that I've had *for years* on the top.

Ok, well, o-man is *literally* standing over me, waiting for me to come and spend a little time with him before we crash so I will see you all tomorrow.

Blessings,

M~
----------------------------------------------
"Still, if you set your heart on God and reach out to him, If you scrub your hands of sin and refuse to entertain evil in your home, You'll be able to face the world unashamed and keep a firm grip on life, guiltless and fearless. You'll forget your troubles; they'll be like old, faded photographs. Your world will be washed in sunshine, every shadow dispersed by dayspring. Full of hope, you'll relax, confident again; you'll look around, sit back, and take it easy."
-Job 11:12-13

ten on tuesday - 3

one

I'm so excited about this one!  Remember this post?  Well guess what I got in the mail from my mom???  These stencils from Designer Stencils! 

She sent them as a little valentines present after reading my blog!  Wasn't that so sweet?? (Thanks Mom!!)  They are so cool and I can't wait to try them out tomorrow! (Tomorrow is a Valentines baking day - yay!)

two

I just figured out that when you leave a comment on my posts and I get an email that tells me you commented,  I can actually hit reply and write you back!  It automatically goes to you.  I love that!

three

Speaking of commenting, I noticed something about myself the other day.  Sometimes when I'm commenting on a blog, I lose interest in my own comment half way through and want to quit writing it.  I then have to decide if I should quit or just try and finish half-heartedly and try to get it to make sense.  I'm really sorry if you get one of those half-hearted ones.

four

So far three things I've posted about in my ten on tuesday have been addressed or somehow solved by one of my readers!!  Okay, two of the "readers" were my mom and my hubby but still, how cool is that?  The first one of course were those awesome heart stencils that my mom sent me.  Then there were the extra laundry baskets hubby brought me and last week after I was bemoaning the fact that all my ideas came in the shower and I had no way to write them down, my friend Quirky gives me the great idea of putting a dry erase board in the shower!!  Isn't that brilliant?  I am so doing that! *And* I'm gonna decorate it all pretty and red & pinkish...heh-heh....hope the o-man doesn't mind. :)

five

When someone says they don't have a blog, I think, but where do you live?  You know, my blog is like my little online house where I keep all my stuff and where friends come to visit.  It seems funny to think there are people out there just reading email and blogs and *not* telling the whole world about their private lives.  C'mon...get a blog....everybody's doin' it...and I want see what your living room looks like...

six

Whenever an email subject starts with "The Truth About..." I delete. lightning speed.  So you know...don't ever use that subject line if you want me to read it, k? (even if it really *is* the shocking truth about something amazing...)

seven

Clear crinkly cellophane is just the best isn't it?  I mean really, you could wrap a stick of deodorant in it  and tie it up with ribbon and a tag and it would just seem like the most thoughtful gift ever.  I {heart} clear crinkly cellophane.

eight

I looked at my phone the other day and it appeared that I had missed a call from the o-man.  So I called him and it went like this:

o-man: hello?

me: hi. did you call me?

o-man:  um...yeah, a long time ago...and then we fell in love... and got married and had children...remember?

me: ho ho

(he is pretty funny though - and kinda cute - i think i'll keep him)

Okay so that was only eight, but I'm super tired and will be baking 50 cupcakes tomorrow so I'm gonna call it a night.

The next two days are going to be a whirlwind of red & pinky goodness so while I will try and get some posts in I may not be able to respond to everyone until this weekend.  So don't worry if you don't hear back from me I'm just buried in a mountain of luuuuuvvv.. :)

Happy Heart Day Eve Eve.

M~
---------------------------------------------------------------
"The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song."
-Psalm 28:7

ten on tuesday - 2

one

Garanimals are back!  Just saw them over the weekend. Isn't that funny?  For some strange reason I have fond memories of Garanimals.  I don't  have *any* idea why because look:

Yes, those are Purple, Bell Bottom, Corduroys!  *ewwwww*

But, hey, I matched...

*side note: Did you know there is a Garanimals font?? Look.

two

I have had some inquiries about the squirrels.  They are awfully quiet lately, but the weather has been weird (freezing cold one day and hot the next - rainy today) and they are usually more frisky in the nice weather.  It could also be the lack of a building permit.  You know how that squirrel bureaucracy can be.

three

Do you know where the most random thoughts for my blog come to me?  In the shower.  I don't know why, but if I don't write them down immediately I completely forget them, so now I try to dry one hand off and lean out of the shower and write them down, dripping all over my pad of paper.  Shouldn't someone invent a way to write ideas down in the shower?  You know like the astronaut pen...only...for wet stuff...instead of... space....?

four

Every time I make a peanut butter & honey sandwich for my little O, I use two knives. It's so annoying.  I spread the peanut butter on, put the knife in the dishwasher (*ugh*), squeeze some honey on, put the sandwich together and then realize that I need to cut the sandwich and the knife is in the dishwasher touching something gross, so I get out another knife.  I could just *wash* the knife in the dishwasher...but...well... I don't.

five

Did you know you can hit Ctrl + Z (Command + Z on the Mac, yes I *am* Mac savvy...ha-ha) and undo whatever you just did in most dialog boxes and text editors?.  And if your post suddenly disappears it will sometimes bring it back too. Ctrl + Y will redo (Command + Y on the Mac)

That's right. You're welcome.  (I like Starbucks gift cards and fine chocolates, but you know, you do whatever you think is right).

six

Remember last tuesday's ten....#two...the laundry....guess what hubby bought me this weekend?  Two new laundry baskets...*LOL*...think he's tryin' to tell me somethin'?  He made me promise not to put anything in them but laundry.   I like him.  He makes me laugh. (maybe I should blog about my lack of rubber stamps next...hmmmm)

seven

I would like to know why the magazines that I subscribe to put 7, 000 subscription cards in my magazines?  Hey, guys...you got me....I'm *SUBSCRIBED*....really...save some trees would ya? 

*side note:  I'm doing this with those extra cards now.

eight
Look at these gorgeous cookies!

They're made with these!  Isn't that cool? I really want to try them!

nine

The other day Teen-O was putting a box in the garage for me.  It looked like he was about to put it on my treadmill that is all set up and waiting for me.... and I said, "Don't put it on my treadmill, ok?"  and he laughed...out loud... I think he even snorted!  And then he choked out "Ok, mom".   

hmmph. 

What?  I'm gonna use it.

ten

These are some little birdie babies I'm working on for our Valentine Clothesline.  (more on that later.) 

Aren't they so beeeee-you-teeee-ful??  I just love birdies.

Hey that ten wasn't as hard as last time.  I think I'm gettin' the hang of this!

M~
-----------------------------------------------------
"Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them."
-Matthew 6:26

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