Spooktacular...

Halloween is by far one of my favorites! I have boxes and boxes of decorations!! Not scary Halloween, just fun and fanciful pumpkins, witches, ghosts and a spider thrown in here and there!

Every year right before Halloween I hold a dinner party for some of my girlfriends...the theme being....a night among the moonlight as Witches. Now we are not "witches"...but we sure do love to dress up in fancy hats and long eyelashes...

The invitations are just the start for me! I went with a little "fancier" because I wanted to be fancy witches...if there is such a thing!?!? I chose glitter, roses...and skulls. Skulls are not my first choice normally but, for the invitation, I bent the rules! Skulls are a bit scary in my book....

I thought I'd share with you....

(My flash realllllly stinks....)

I bought paper skulls from Michael's, painted them with black spray paint, then hand painted them with a glossy black acrylic paint and sprinkled fine black glitter all over.

I bought a few bouquets of black roses and glittered them up....

The leaves were not safe...they were glittered too.....I am not a big fan of the glue that I used...I am sure you can tell from the color which "name brand" it is. It is WAY too clumpy!

I put a few gems around the eyes and used a sparkly spider on the head...almost like a bow on a few. I hand wrote the invitations on this really cool paper....it had great fibers through it and was really wispy. Loved it!


I rolled the invitations up and put them in the mouth with the rose. Then I packaged them in a brown paper bag with ribbon and sparkly leaves. I was behind the eight ball this year with getting the invitations out so I sent out a save the date ahead of time. I rolled down the tops and ran ribbons and string through the top so I could hang them on the door handles. Getting your invitation is like getting "ghosted"..... only when you open the door you get a fancy surprise!

I completed a BIG project the other night....

TOO BIG! I made my first attempt at a hat and it went fairly well...until I tried it on...then I realized that I needed a very large pile of dreads on my head to fill it out or a GINORMOUS HEAD. I can't even see the camera. The darn thing comes down like 4 inches over my face! Quite a silly look and not effective if I actually need to see something.

It was just madness....and now it is just another ball of yarn in my bag! I had to make like a frog and "rip it...rip it..."

Busy little Knitter

I have added to my Craft Craziness with a new habit. I have been learning to knit for the past couple of months with a knitting 101 class that we have been doing at the shop. It is really fun! More than just knitting - it is great girl time! It is really the only opportunity to hang out with any girlfriends that I get and I love it!



As with all new crafting there are accessories! I was getting frustrated with the needles falling out all the time so I started looking for something cute to put them in. I found some online and in a knitting store....not paying that much $$ for something I can make in no time....and without having to buy anything to make them. So I made everyone one! They were well received and I am glad that everyone liked them. I of course gave mine to my daughter so I need to make myself another......what is that saying about the cobblers child with no shoes??

I made them in a roll-up style. Super simple!!

This picture with no needles doesn't really "showcase" the case....but it is effective!

And this pretty little baby sat with me the entire time....I forgot how fun it was to sew with a small child on my lap. She has been sick again with the snotty crud so I made a little corner in our office - that connects to the craft room hoping that she would sit and read books, color, etc. I was dreaming.....

I am not sure why all the babies have to be naked, but they do....

A Project in Reflection

As we close out 2008 we are going to take some time together as a family to reflect on our year.... The Good, The Bad and the Ugly. We have had quite a bit of all three. We are going to start a few new traditions this year, one of which will be to make a list of our Top 10. Each person is going to write down their personal Top 10 and then we are going to put them in a family time capsule...basically our 2008 scrapbook...and then next year we can look back on it!

Mine are pretty simple:
The Good: Opening the Shop
The Bad: The Brawn's simple procedure that turned into a medical mistake
The Unbelievable: The boys and I all breaking a bone and being in casts one week apart!

And what holiday is complete around here without a project?? So, in an attempt to have my children remember their lives, I am going to have everyone write in a journal for 10-15 minutes before reading and going to bed at night. I don't care if they write a story, a poem, the weather forecast or really pour their hearts out. The Princess will draw a picture every night. She really loves to draw and color.

I took basic composition books, covered them in Kraft paper and am going to let the kids each personalize them tomorrow.

I will show you pictures of everyone when they are done.

I also picked up some foam hats the other day at Michael's that were left over from their Christmas stuff, I think they were supposed to be Elf hats but we are going to make them our New Years hats. We are a little late on decorating them...hopefully they will be dry!

Then we will pick out our outfits for our traditional New Year's Eve dinner. We stay in on N.Y.E and get dressed our finest threads, set the table super fancy and then eat a totally fun, non fancy dinner. Something like Tacos or Pizza....I am thinking Chinese this year. I have some awesome Chinese decorations I have been hanging on to. The kids and I will stay up and watch the ball drop while the hubby sleeps! He normally has to work on New Year's Eve and Day so he doesn't hang long with us. As with all our family dinners, I am sure that there will be many photo ops!

Wishing your family a Wonderful, SAFE and Healthy New Year!!

Love, Heather

Post Holiday Post..kinda long....

I am so happy to report a Wonderful holiday was had by all in our house!! There was a brief scare on Christmas Eve that the Princess and I would be spending Christmas in the hospital. Ironic that it is usually The Brawn and I in there together, I was soooo worried about him getting the darn stomach bug before Christmas, and who ended up getting it....The Princess!! My poor little Princess lost 4lbs, had two trips to the ER, then two trips to the Doctors, all during her 7 day bought with the stomach bug. After two hours in the Doctors on Christmas Eve, I was literally praying for one p-pee diaper and no throw up before 8 o'clock PM! The stress got to me a little and I had a meltdown that only George Bailey would be proud of and freaked out on my kids a bit.....I regretted it!! They understood.... The day was saved around 6:30 PM. Thank you! See, a Christmas Miracle comes in all forms...lol. After that we could all breath a little easier...she wasn't 100% but we knew we would be coming out of the woods very soon!

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve dinner....Cream of Crab Soup, Perogies (homemade...YUM! not by me, but by some cute little Ukrainian women who know what they are doing!) and Salad! All Delicious!

After dinner we had Cocoa, Popcorn and watched Fred Claus before bed.

Santa came....it was Grand....

As part of my "Handmade/Homemade Holiday"...I refused to buy any new wrapping paper, ribbon or tags. I used only things on hand...either new, recycled or re purposed. I was slightly shocked and scared at how much I had on hand! The kids also did the same for all of their wrapping.

Some of my supplies included:

For Inside the boxes: Newspaper, wax paper, paper bags, scrapbooking papers all shredded with my paper shredder. Shredded fabric also a great option...didn't use this one this year...maybe next!

Wrapping & Packaging:

* Lots of the same

* Chinese take-out boxes.

* Comics

* Toilet paper rolls, paper towel rolls

Decorating:

* Ribbon

* Yarn Pom-Poms

* Raffia & Twine

* Old Lace...this was especially pretty with a sparkly chipboard letter and some vintage buttons strung on a piece of sheer ribbon. I didn't get a chance to take a picture of it before giving it to my mom!

Wrapping is one of my favorite parts anyway so I could go on and on....! I even used a really pretty white milk glass dish that I had picked up at an antique store for Cookies to give to a friend.

This was one of my favorites...they were a set of Basketball tickets for my husband. He was completely surprised...it is a sold out game and he had no idea that I was trying to get them for him. I used the sports section, shredded some with my paper shredder, stuffed them underneath and wrapped them up inside the Sunday Sports section! The tissue paper underneath in this picture and the box I wrapped in....new, but unused as of yet. Apparently I like to save, not use.....

They exchanged their handmade gifts with each other at Christmas Dinner. That was a really special moment, to see them each give to one another truly from their heart. The Brain wrote poems for his brother and sisters, The Beauty made blankets, scarves and ditty bags for each of them, The Brawn made beaded bracelets and necklaces. We also allowed them to buy one thing for each sibling...it was sweet to see them pick something out for one another. I took them each shopping individually for those, so they even got some one on one time with Mom!!

Christmas dinner was excellent! Roast Beef, (or Beast as The Brain called it all day) Steamed Shrimp, Salad, Scalloped potatoes, Green Beans...

And for Dessert....Red Velvet cake with Cream Cheese Frosting and Coconut...YUM!!!

Now...I said it was an uneventful Christmas day, HOWEVER....see that lovely wreath with my yummy cake??? Well, it caught ON FIRE!!!! Yes, FLAMES....FLAMES SHOOTING UP FROM THE WREATH!!! I am not kidding. The only thing that saved us from the Fire Dept. was that The Brawn saw it as we were clearing the table. CRAZY!!!! All was fine after we put it out....my vintage table cloth....not so fine!

I woke up today after having a full nights sleep - I qualify a full nights sleep as being over four hours - and had so many ideas and thoughts going through my head that I didn't even need a cup of coffee to get me going today! I can't wait to share with you some of my upcoming projects!! I hope that you had a Wonderful Holiday ~ and that your New Year's is AWESOME!!!

Welcome to Whinerville

Welcome to Whinerville, where the residents all know you by name and frequently shout it out at you throughout the day. It is really lovely here, you can tell by the lack of room at the Inn. Always a warm meal to be had and plenty of activities to be done.

The Mayor of Whinerville has been on a true rampage today!! Please abide by all her two and three-quarter demands! The punishment for not following her directions is rather severe!

The Mayor posed momentarily for a picture before inspecting some fruit that was about to be recalled.

The Center for Disgusting Control has really been cracking down. Reports of Strep and The Stomach Bug abound! We say Bah-Humbug to them...please stay away!!

The towns maintenance crew is falling behind on the Holiday decorating! So much to be done before the Jolly Man's arrival, a bit overwhelming for the skeletal crew!

SEE....NO PICTURE!!!....

The Sassy Suds girl is rather overwhelmed...who needs clean panties to wear??

Amidst all the mess, the construction has not stopped. New Homes are still being built for the Happy Holiday around the corner!

Telecast is over, quick trip to the Tea Pot for an energy boost and a Nighty-Night Nap for The Mayor. We hope that you enjoyed your visit to Whinerville, please stop by for a visit anytime!

Tree Card

As promised, here is a card that I made a few years back and decided to try again. This wasn't an original idea, I picked it up at a card exchange. This makes a really nice touch to a gift. I do not recommend making these for your entire Christmas mailing list...unless of course you have loads of free time on your hands! This picture doesn't really do the card justice.

Simple materials, you probably already have them on hand..

1. Card Stock -You'll need a color for your card base, printed card stock for the front and white for inside the card and plenty of paper or scraps for your leaves.

2. Leaf hole punch. I have two different ones, either works great.

3. Rhinestones

4. Basic crafting tools!

*Cut your card bases.

*Punch your little leaves out until your hand hurts, and then punch a few more!!

*I found it easiest to adhere the printed cardstock to the card base before building my tree. *Then you start from the bottom and glue the leaves in a line. Then build another layer on top of that...all the way to the top.

* When you are done with all the leaves, apply a few rhinestones to the tree and the topper of your choice.

I am going to make a few of these in white and put little birds on the tree. I think that would be pretty cute!

I also purchased the Basic Grey's Wassil Christmas Card kit a couple weeks back. It was so simple! I love not thinking....here is a little peak at one of the cards. Plus a few little trees that I have picked up this Holiday season. I will tell you more about them tomorrow!




And this is just a Miscellaneous mess of other projects I am working on!!

Construction has begun...

On The Princesses doll house. We have been gathering our supplies, and have even gathered some supplies for the Boy House for her little cousin. I even bought him a set adorable little "boys" to go with it from this little shop.







All these little pieces that I found here are going to be turned into furniture and other household accessories.






I had done plenty of shopping around before I decided to paint and make our own furniture. Everything was "imported" and I just didn't want to deal with all of the issues that have come along with imported items recently. So I (and the crazy little voice in my head that tells me all of these ideas are fantastic!!) decided to do this. I did find this unfinished furniture at the little doll house shop in Annapolis, I snapped it up, it was the only set!!

We are trying to make (or buy handmade) as many of our gifts as possible. I have found SO MANY great things on Etsy that it is almost too easy. I would show you some of my other finds, but you never know who is reading!!!

I will show you more as I make progress....think, Pink....Green and Girly!! Would it be wrong to add sparkles to it??

Monday just makes you want to Barf...

Or at least it makes the Princess want to....!!! Yep..isn't that pleasant?!?! Was headed out to do a few errands...when I heard a strange little sound from the backseat, turned around to witness complete nastiness!! I could really go on and on with the details, but who needs that!

Needless to say, I headed home and spent the next 12 hours trying to accomplish the ittiest bittiest tasks!

I LOVE MONDAYS!!!

BUT.....on a completely different note! I started this today.....

Seriously....

Do you think anyone at the Board of Education actually has children? And on top of that, do you think that they have ever tried to work with their children?? Like actually "work" with them - by their side - you know take them to work??? OK, in case you haven't guessed, the kids were out of school today and it was a rough day of "work" with the kids! The concept that people come to the shop to relax and enjoy their coffee while they browse was CLEARLY missed by my children today!!! I actually called my husband and told him it was a matter of "National Security" for him to leave work! Apparently the people he works for don't get it either because they didn't let him off early to go rescue his wife from the kids at the Coffee Shop...or was it the other way around...rescue the kids from his wife?!?! OK, rant over..... But really, it was a tough day!! However, looking on the bright side....everyone is healthy and no injuries took place!

And then....because all Mama's need a night out, we had Knitting 101 at the Shop tonight. That was a lot of fun...NOOOO I didn't come home with a sweater, or a scarf, or even 10 complete stitches...wait are they called stitches?? Whatever - I will be starting over tomorrow, or maybe the next day! It was fun. I really enjoyed the company, there was some potty talk - but none of it really had to do with the potty! We will definitely be having Knitting 101 again. Nobody is really ready to advance to 102 yet!!

For the love of a Stranger...

Yesterday I was trying to rest my foot (broken foot - week 2 with a cast....I tell you about the rest of my cast wearing family members tomorrow) after my fun filled day at the coffee shop and I started surfing through some of my favorite blog ladies when I stumbled upon this story....you can read back through her sisters blog to get more information. I was unbelievably touched by this story - I read and read all about them. I can't get over how tragic and beautiful this is all at the same time. I am adding the donation button to my blog.
Go through and read about them, I know times are tight but if you can even donate a single dollar, please do it. We have medical bills because of my Superman, but they are nothing compared to the medical bills that this family is going to have! I pray that whatever the outcome is for this family that they have peace. I do believe that this families amazing Faith in God will carry them through. I can't even imagine the recovery process that they are going to have to go through. I burnt myself a few weeks ago on the espresso machine - scalding hot water and skin, bad combo - and the pain was horrible, and that was only my arm! I can not even imagine over 80% of my body! Modern medicine and her spiritual strength will need to come together here. Well, I am going to go cuddle with my children for a few minutes.....In other news....I actually went "into" my craft room today, shuffled a few things around and was very excited at the "thought" of being able to do a project. Completing a project might be a different story.....lol. I think I will start with something simple...like a bow or a bracelet!

Hey there stranger!

Oh...My....Goodness!!! It is now the 12th of September and I just realized that my last post was in April...exactly 2 days before we opened the doors to our very own Coffee Shop & "store"....it has been a complete roller coaster and seems like years since May 1st! Let me give you a brief re-cap!!
1. I haven't done one complete "craft" project since April!!
2. My daughter has 6 unfinished "spring" outfits....good thing that Fall is just beginning, guess I have a jump start on next spring!!
3. 3 - yes 3 members of my family have broken bones! All one week apart we have broken two left wrists, and one left foot. Thank you very much, I will be seeking damages from the moo-cows!
4. Our shop is super cute and growing every single day! We started off with the notion of having an antique consignment and vintage boutique "store" and have since decided to have a retail gift/home decor & accessories store. It is so much more fun!! We have several lines that are made right here in the U.S.A - Love that!!

5. The list goes on and on!! But, I am going to make sure that I keep up with my blog and my crafts. I hate that some days I am so tired my poor little brain can't be creative!!

I have once again discovered that the only form of sanity in a family with kids/school/jobs, etc is ORGANIZATION and PLANNING!! There is going to be time spent this weekend planning dinners & lunches for the next two weeks. The farmers market only has a few more weeks left so I need to stock up on all our fresh homegrown produce. The squash is starting to become more plentiful, apples are ready to be made into applesauce, and the potatoes are HUGE this year!! Because working 80+ hours a week is just not enough to keep me busy, I have it set in my mind to make applesauce and sweet potatoes to be canned and saved for Thanksgiving and other dinners this fall/winter.

OK, off to try and get some sleep - that darn coffee doesn't make itself!!

Ahhhh.....

That is the feeling I get when I do a little "creating" in my craft room - AKA Studio....Today was a slightly stressful day, that beautiful little guy of mine, my little "Superman", is having some troubles! Just to change it up some, his body has decided to take a new route, not the normal Endocrine, No..not the GI, No...not with the Lungs....today we are trying to figure out if he is passing a Kidney Stone or if he has a brewing Appendicitis??? After a trip to the Dr's, a trip to the Radiologist, a long talk with one of my FAVORITE doctors in Philadelphia, and then back home to firm up a few details before we do our final walk through tomorrow....it has been a LONG day!! In fact, I should be upstairs sleeping - but I got to playing around on my new machine and then wanted to try something on my old machine and then I decided to play with my fabric....and the list goes on!! But, the point of my story is this....it feels so good to "create" something! It is so relaxing!!! Especially if you just let your mind relax and work on a project without trying to make it perfect. That is when some of the best "stuff" is made!

Then I started reading blogs....and that is always the end of it for me because I could read blogs FOREVER!!! I love reading about people, their lives, their stuff.....etc.

OK, off to bed. I am too lazy to upload any pictures tonight of my recent crafty craziness.

Let's talk GREEN...

I have this REALLY exciting - REALLY fun - REALLY cool news!! Maybe you picked up on it in my post from yesterday???? We have a new business!!! We bought a coffee /Antique Consignment Shop! It is going to be more like a coffee lounge/Antique consignment/retail of handcrafted items shop by the time we get it open. I am so excited - I haven't been able to sleep in days....When I say "we" I am referring to my mom and I. We make a good team...she has a great eye for the antiques and merchandising, and I can do all the other stuff!

So, why green you say???? Well, did you know that coffee beans are actually GREEN before roasting??? If you did know, good for you! lol.. I didn't, I am certainly NOT a coffee expert, just your regular coffee, little splenda (or Agave) and a dash of milk kinda girl! I really don't like that "St**bk's" kinda coffee - too bitter, but I will drink it if the caffeine is necessary!! Anyway, back on track here....We went today and toured the Roaster, and sampled this great brand of coffee, Cafe Pronto, it is such a nice coffee. The people were awesome, and so supportive of our new venture - really exciting!!!

We also are being GREEN by bringing in local artists, recycled goods....aka Antique Consignments! The good stuff people, not the dusty crap we pull out of grammies attic! LOL. I have been on Etsy, shopping away...making wholesale arrangements, consignment arrangements for jewelry pieces and larger items. It is so much fun, I love it! We are going to bring in as much "talent" as possible. I love the idea that we can use handcrafted items to fill our shop! I could go on for hours about this, it is a concept that I really love! I have one girl who is making "shopping" bags out of old vintage/recycled linens! Talk about cool!!!!

Miss L is going to be the smallest Coffee chick ever!! I am going to try and get some aprons made before next week....o yeah, did I mention that we take over on May 1st???? Talk about being on the fast track! She is going to be part of the working class before she even gets to her first pre-school class! She can remind me of it daily when she gets older, the same way I remind my mother that she let me man a produce stand on a major roadway at the tender age of 10 - all by myself!!!! Hello People!!!! Although, I get much more mileage out of the "I fell out of the car and you kept driving...." reminder. No pun intended!

I am going to start a NEW blog for the shop - I will hopefully get it up and running by the weekend. Check it out at here.

What to do....the Potty Training Blues!

What do you do when your two year old has decided that she will no longer wear the diapers that have the little blue dog on them???? Or the magenta dog, or the green dog....It took me a few diaper changes to figure out what the problem was, but once I did I kept thinking I must be wrong - or at least crazy!!! Not only does she have NO interest in going "Potty" on the potty, but she refuses to wear the diapers that don't have the little purple kitty on them! I figure that with 34 diapers in each pack, 4 different characters to rotate through the odds are not in my favor! Yesterday, I changed her diaper and explained that we were going to sit on the potty and wear our big girl panties....she proceeded to have a major diva fit...stomp over the the diapers...whip through the stack until she found the kitty... lay down, and stomp her little foot at me! Not only does she stomp her foot, drop her shoulders and exclaim..."Gaaa" (which I am sure means God - thanks to the older siblings) but she stomps away and throws her arms up!

Seriously...when did come to live with us??

I started trying the "Potty" thing kind of early since the little darling is allergic to most, let me rephrase that, all commercial diapers, and now she doesn't want anything to do with it!! I bought the organic diapers for a while, then I was forced to purchase the "Luvs" one day because Whole Foods was out of her size again..they worked, and now...no kitty...no diaper!! YET, she doesn't want to use the potty!!! What am I going to do?? I thought that maybe I could go back to the organic diapers because they obviously don't have characters on them, and we can just stick "kitty" stickers on them!! Gotta be creative and a little crafty!! Then when she decides to move on from the kitties, we can choose a new sticker! LOL!!

OK...not your typical "crafty" project, but I will let you know if it works! I am off to find some potty training advice on the Internet! It seemed easier the first three times!!!

Ohhh, Ohhh, wait till you see my new finds!! I will take some pictures for you tomorrow!! AWESOME buttons, some great costume jewelry that I plan on turning into rings...and then more treasures from my grandmothers stash!! So exciting just thinking about it, my potty training blues have almost passed!!

Can you say Pack Rat?

Today I spent the better part of the day moving/emptying my mothers storage unit that she rented after we cleared out my grandmothers house...the other half of the day was spent putting things BACK in trash bags that my curious little trash picker daughter pulled out of the bags! She is a mess...it is truly an inherited trait! I go through and throw away and "someone" in the house will pull it out and act like it jumped out of the trash all by itself!! Crazy how this seems to happen! Anyway....moving all that stuff was a little like an adventure....stressful, fun and a little overwhelming! There were some great finds in there! Buttons, vintage notions, beautiful fabric, some fun retro/vintage fabric, UNBELIEVABLE/FABULOUS vintage patterns!!! She was a VERY talented seamstress!! Great silver pieces that I plan on using in my office and studio!! Old jewelry - looking to make more fun rings, tons and let me say again TONS of mason jars! They will come in handy for the big ol' garden we have started. Plus, the greatest selection of cookbooks....my grandmother wasn't a great cook, but my grandfather sure did buy her a lot of cookbooks! He was such a hopeful man!! LOL! I had almost forgotten about all the great "stuff" my grandmother had. I am going to work my way through a bag buttons I found and start sorting through the fabric to see what I am going to keep and what I am going to purge!

Look for pictures soon...gotta run!!

All the little PEEP's...

are tucked in and waiting for the morning egg hunt! Who doesn't love a big scavenger hunt first thing in the morning to get your day started off with a kick!! However....there might be a mist of disappointment in the air, cause Mama forgot to get "filler" candy! OOOOPS!!!! With the Sugar-ban in full effect, I forgot about filling the eggs! So with minimal coins lying around and a small bag of sugar free chocolate eggs and a few left over gold coins from the Lucky Leprechaun...we made do :)

My last post was a little "deep" compared to my normal posts, it must have been the full moon that made me so inclined to share.....

Today the house was FILLED with activities; egg dying, garden building, Babka bread making and furniture moving, and more cupcake experimenting!! It was busy and tons of fun!! + add one extra to the mix and we had a house full of "crazy" going on!! Here is a quick run-down of how "it" all worked out for us today!!

• Garden building....need more dirt, the girl shovels more than the boys...
• Furniture moving....went really well, and I am almost GIDDY about working in my new space!!
• Babka Bread...not so good, that was the husbands mission to bring his Ukrainian heritage to the table.....it was not a success! I am going to try and sneak a picture in when he isn't looking!
• Egg dying....was hysterical...we have never had so many smashed dyed eggs!! Miss L had a unique style, I will be posting on this soon - Quote of the evening; "MOMMMMMMM - there is an egg in the toilet!!!!"
• Cupcakes....success! Sugar-less to boot!!

And I signed up for this very cool "swap"...I love this concept, and I totally love the inspiration for the project from one of my favorites... Amy Karol!!

OK, that is it for tonight! Have a beautiful EASTER!!! ~ Heather

Good Friday!

This is my Happy Apple....I cut this apple for a cranky baby and there was a smile waiting for me inside!! At the time, I thought it was cute, but I didn't realize how it would coordinate with this post!!
Alright....I might ramble a little, but it is what is on my mind!! Today is Good Friday, and I think that we can all safely say that Good Friday was not such a great day for Jesus. He was betrayed, tried unfairly, and killed.....not a good day in anyone's book! After stalking/reading some of my favorite blogs tonight I found the notion of "Good Friday" very thought provoking. I also realized that Easter is in two days and while Easter is actually one of my favorite "holidays", I have hardly participated in any Easter traditions. While I pray, actually beg God everyday to keep my kids safe & healthy, to keep my husband safe at work and to make my little superman "better". I didn't actually give anything up for Lent, I usually give up Shopping, and I am sure that we have eaten meat on multiple Fridays during Lent! I know that God still loves me, but I do feel a little bad about it!

And I find myself totally bothered by the commercialism of the holiday now! We saw a commercial from one of our major retail chains where they talk about the favorite/best part of Easter being CANDY!! What??? Have we lost total sight of what Easter is??? After seeing it one time with my kids, I looked at them and promptly said..."you do realize that Easter isn't about Candy, right???"...they responded correctly and said "Yes!"....

Sometimes - most times we need to be reminded of all the good things we have going for us in life. Life has a tendency to take over and cloud our "visions" and cause us to miss what what is good and going well in life! And even though Jesus died on this so called "good" Friday, his death actually did bring us all Good. Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” 1 Peter 3:18, “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit.” So, for me Good Friday brought me an opportunity to reflect on the good in my life that is sometimes shoved under all the "stuff".


For me, today I had a little "clearer" vision of what is "good". You know nothing spectacular happened to me today, it was an average day...in fact I made a trip to the Doctor's with one of the little darlings because of an ear infection, but it still was a "GOOD" day. . It was one of those days where things just flowed really well. No, I didn't get my house scrubbed sparkling clean, I am sure that there is a dirty toilet somewhere, but I did get "stuff" done. I even got to talk to one of my favorite/best girlfriends of all time - for hours tonight, and I mean hours! It was great!! We realized that we hadn't actually "talked" in almost a year! We have had a few emails here and there, but not really talked!! Crazy!!! But, you know what....it added to the "GOOD" in my day! She is one of my FAVORITES, and has always been a very good thing in my life, you know the kind of girlfriend that you don't have to talk to every day but when you do, it is like you talked yesterday! We were laughing about how bad our memories are now that we are getting old, and I was telling her about having to go to the little local grocery three times today!! Now, normally that would irritate the daylights out of me, but today it just went with the flow.


As Martha would say.... a very good thing....the only way to have made today better was to have actually had some "Martha" moments and crafted some goodness!!

On another GOOD note!! I was working more on the craft studio-redo...yes, I am redoing it AGAIN! Remember we are calling it a Studio now because it sounds prettier than room! But, I am so excited about getting in there and actually working, creating! Always brings a big smile to my face - and relieves my brain of stress!!! It is almost done!! I am waiting for the cable guy to come tomorrow and move the cable lines....note to self, really look at where "lines" are before deciding to move computers! LOL!!



I will post pictures when it is done!

You thought I ran away didn't you???

....You thought I ran away??....I am sorry...as much as I would like to someday it just too crazy around here for that to happen!!

I have lots of catching up to do! I have been "making" all sorts of crafty creations recently, Nice change from the past month! Have you ever crafted out of desperation??? Any good crafter has! So here is my "desperation" craft AKA my brothers Birthday Gift! LOL. It was his 21st birthday (yes, there is a BIG age difference between us) and I am sure he would have loved some cold hard CASH, but so would I....so he is going to have to get a job, OOPS, I mean be happy with my craftiness!! This is not an original idea, I actually give him a picture of my kids for every holiday :) He loves his Nieces and Nephews so I am sure that he enjoys and appreciates it.

My craft desperation, I mean my lovely thoughtful gift, took about 30 minutes - yes I knew his birthday was coming...I was just procrastinating!! And I already had supplies on hand as any good hoarder, again I mean good crafter, does. I grabbed a few photos from my files, printed them in the 3x5 size, got a few pieces of paper, and a scrapbook size (12x12) frame that I actually had on hand. You could also do it with an 8x11. I didn't even have time to clear off my work desk, so I sat down on the ground and had a little "circle time" with my materials.

TA-DA!!!

I thought it turned out really cute!! Not a masterpiece, but for a 30 Minute project, not too shabby!

Then....on another crafty little adventure we decorated these cute little "Piggies" for our church. Our church is participating in the Heifer Project so the kiddies each decorated their very own piggie that we are planning on "fattening" up and then donating the money at the end of the Sunday School year. After the piggies are emptied, they are going to auction them to other church members, or if you can't bear to part with your piggie - take pictures of them to make into note cards also available for auction. I plan to get involved in the picture taking, can't you imagine how fun it would be to take the piggies "on location" and put them in a fun setting that matches their personality!! Fun, and charitable!! Love it!! I think they came out pretty cute! There are only 3 of them here, the other little piggie has gone missing! He is actually hiding from the big Big Bad Wolf...otherwise known as Miss Lil' who is in love with the Piggies! Oink, Oink...she loves to talk to them and oink at them. It is too cute! Anyway, I am rambling...

And on more for today's post...we made these yummy cupcakes last night...which you will be shocked to know are not only VERY YUMMY, but they contain a spinach/blueberry puree and are basically SUGAR FREE!! Which I PROMISE you - you can't even taste!! One of my guy's can't have sugar & carbs in the "simple" form so I am always looking for yummy treats that are sugar free or darn close. You can find the recipe for these little yummies here. My daughter made the cute little cupcake toppers and picked out the icing color.

There you have it...all the cards on the table! I am on a mission to finish the cutest little apron set for the me and the kids. I will show em' off as soon as they are done!

Extra day???

A WHOLE extra day...really??? What will I ever do with so much "extra" time on my hands?? I am sure that I will get soooo much done today with a WHOLE extra day....sense my sarcasm, won't you?!?!?! Did you do anything fun today??? I spent my "whole extra day" doing our taxes..NOTE TO SELF: put all the receipts away each and every month this year!!

Now during all of this fun tax prep time, I did "rediscover" a little tidbit of information that as a mom of four I can't believe had slipped out of the memory bank....When a small child is QUIET - it only means BAD THINGS!! So another NOTE TO SELF: Put the syrup on a higher shelf!! Yep, that is right...quiet two year old = syrup river in the hallway!! Thank You!!!

After being a little "taxed" today, I decided to take a break and stalk, ooops I meant READ some of my favorite blogs..I do love to visit my blog friends...they don't know it yet, but we are friends. LOL!!! So in an attempt to get a little computer time and keep an eye on the two year old, I am sitting here having lotion - that for some reason smells like beer and bbq sauce - slathered all over my legs!!! She has a new obsession with lotion! Where is the baby lotion when you need it..she found the lotion leftover from the recent hospital stay, yuck! The things we will do for a little time on the computer!! Geesh!!

Well, little L has run out of lotion which means I have run out of time! I hope that you find some FUN in your extra day...and thanks for checking in. I promise to have some cute little crafty creation to share with you soon. That darn hospital sucked the crafty right out of me, but I am getting back in the groove!!! I have found some BEA-U-TIFUL fabrics that I am drooling over! I can't wait to get my little hands on them!! OOHHH OOOHHH I also have some nifty new little finds to show you....went in search of some vintage fabrics....can't wait to turn them into something - and bonus, they were FREE!! And I have been storing away some new scrapbooking ideas to play with...had time to "dream" up some new album ideas while we were away.

OK...now I really have to go! She is starting to throw things at me :) Enjoy what is left of your extra day - Get an extra cuddle in with your loved ones- watch a movie - play a game - Be Creative and enjoy each other!!