Wednesday, September 07, 2011
Hayden's first day of kindergarten.
She's most excited to make new friends
and meet Tatum after school to walk to the car.
I DID cry.
But only after she didn't.
Brave little child.
Way to go Hayden!!!
We love you.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Tatum's first day of 1st grade.
She's most excited to see Taylor (BFF) every day
and to eat lunch at school.
I didn't cry.
She certainly didn't cry.
And I've only looked at the clock 10 times so far (it's 10am).
Man, she's growing up too fast.
We love you Tatum!!!
Monday, April 25, 2011
Sunday morning pictures
{making mom late for church, or course}
Finding hidden baskets
{thanks easter bunny!}
Egg hunt w/ the Lundes
Coloring easter eggs
'Nuff pictures for ya?
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Someday {soon, hopefully},
I'll feel up to posting about
all of the not-so-great happenings
of our family in the last month.
It's certainly been a month of trials;
trails of faith, hope, prayer and loss,
surrender and miracles, love
and struggles none of us were prepared for.
But if I've learned anything in the last four weeks,
it's been that if it weren't for my loved ones, I'd be lost.
I've seen family rally together {both near and far}
in ways I'd never imagined possible.
There is such amazing strength found in the simplicity of love.
And we, thanks to so many of you,
are blessed with love in abundance.
are blessed with love in abundance.
There are not adequate words of thanks to give.
The support and love we've felt
from so many of you can never be repaid.
from so many of you can never be repaid.
But know that we
{and I feel safe speaking for our entire family}
are overcome with gratitude.
On days that I feel like I'm being pulled in every direction
{emotionally, physically, spiritually - you name it}
or moments when I can't find the right words
to say to my grieving Beau,
to say to my grieving Beau,
I can always count my three angels to keep me grounded.
The sweetness they possess should be bottled and sold.
Although it might not feel like it every moment
of every day {especially now}, we are all extremely blessed.
And for that, I am exceedingly grateful.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Six years that I've been a mama.
Six years, people, that flew by.
On this very day in 2005,
we welcomed
{after an expired due date
and an unexpectedly intense/long labor & delivery}
our first child.
2.5 hours of pushing and without
the help of much epidural power {that's another story},
the room was silent.
Seriously?
I was panicked - something had to be wrong.
She didn't cry, no one spoke to me, shock filled the room.
Something wrong?
Please say something isn't wrong.
Not now.
And then a cry and laughter
and lots of 'I'm so sorry's from the doctor.
Had he known she was going to be 10 lbs 4 ounces,
he never would have made me push that long.
She was chunky and sweet and beautiful.
We survived and in the end brought home
{on Easter Sunday} a wonderful prize,
our sweet little Tater Tot.
She has been a joy and a blessing in our lives
and continues to surprise us every day.
She is ridiculously smart and funny,
a little on the sassy side {sometimes too much},
kind and tough and eager.
She's got these gorgeous blue eyes
that sparkle when she's happy
and could cut through you if she's mad.
She is a great big sister
{I find her 'teaching' the other kids
what she's learned in kindergarten all the time}.
She loves her dad and I often find her
calling him on my cell phone
that she's found laying around , just to say 'hi'.
I can't tell you how many times a day
she says 'I love you, mom'
without any reason other than just because.
And although we have our trials
{we're very much alike and butt heads often},
I know that as we grow together, we'll only grow closer.
I love you, Tatum,
Happy 6th Birthday!
Let's Party!
Friday, March 18, 2011
***UPDATED***
After a too-late night last night finishing these babies,
I'm really REALLY happy with how they turned out!
As part of our Easter Craft Exchange,
I made a bunch of three for each of the ladies participating.
And they were super easy!
Buy some orange fabric, cut it into a tall skinny triangle
(mine were about 18 inches tall and about 7 inches wide on the flat top of the fabric)
Sew a small casing at the flat top of the fabric
(wide enough for a thin piece of ribbon to close after stuffing)
by folding about 3/4 of an inch of the top
of the fabric over and sewing a straight line across.
This will leave room or a casing
for you to thread your ribbon through
to cinch the top of the carrot later.
Now fold longest part of the fabric in half
from top to bottom (right side in),
sew a straight line down the side
(being careful to leave the top casing open sides open;
start straight seam underneath open casings)
and turn right side out
Now all you have to do is stuff your carrot with pillow filler,
cinch the top with your ribbon,
cut off excess and hot glue in some greenery
(found mine in the floral section at Joann on sale)
You could mix it up with different patterned fabrics,
add embellishments (like my fabric strips),
hang them on your front door,
lay bunches around your house with your Easter decor
...there are so many options!
Monday, March 07, 2011
Three years ago I was given a gift;
a beautiful, chubby, sweet baby boy.
He didn't have a name for the first three days
of his life because Beau and I couldn't agree.
Dad had names & mom had names, but neither would budge.
So after a friendly 'intervention' {thanks Auntie Karnen},
we sat down together and found some common ground.
Layne Ray.
9 lbs 12 ounces and hooked up to machines.
To that date, leaving him at the hospital
while we drove home with an empty car seat
was the hardest thing I'd ever had to do.
But he was a rock star - the biggest baby
{by several pounds and inches}
to grace the NICU in some time.
He had visitors and love and prayers and blessings
and pages and pages colored from his sisters at home.
And we made it through.
He came home, he was healthy and he was ours.
And boy was he smothered by those girls {still is}.
And then, the real hardest thing I ever had to go through.
He was covered in the most severe rashes most of us had ever seen.
We tried every cream, ointment and medication we were asked to.
We went to specialists, dermatologists, hospitals.
We were told that he might die.
Biopsies taken and we waited a long week for results.
Family prayers, fasting, support and
love that I'd never experienced in my entire life
occurred that week.
And a miracle.
Negative results.
It went away.
Completely.
Without medical explanation.
And now, three years later the most beautiful
{really, he is} and special boy is with our family,
enjoying life with his sisters,
Thomas the Train, Toy Story 3 and corn dogs.
A mama's boy who loves to play and pretend
and snuggle and sleep with best friend Emmitt {our dog}.
Right where he belongs.
We love you Layne!
Happy Birthday
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Better late than never.
Here are 7 of the 8 crafts from our Valentine's exchange.
Unfortunately, one met a sad fate
at the hands of my girls.
Amy made an adorable paper candy dish
that my two thought was theirs for the playing.
One round of house in the play kitchen later, it's in bad shape.
I will get a picture of one that the
other girls have and add it ASAP.
But for now, here are the rest.
{easter crafts are in process right now...}
{teresa}
{shanna}
{kendra}
{sherral}
{karen}
{bree}
{evonne}
Thursday, February 10, 2011
So our Valentine's Day Craft Exchange
was such a success (love my crafts!)
that I'm putting together another for Easter.
Same as before: create a home decor craft,
make enough for each person to have one,
swap with everyone and leave with a great variety!
Deadline to sign up: February 18th
Deadline to deliver crafts: March 18th
Join us, won't you?
p.s. I'll be posting pics of all of the Valentine's Day crafts ASAP.
Thursday, February 03, 2011
$80.43 to be exact.
Why haven't I been doing this sooner?
$319.36 worth of groceries for $80.43.
My first time out. Alone.
Seriously folks, it's insane.
And seriously addictive...
...I can't wait to go again next week!
I'll be planning as many meals
around that week's deals as I can
and will be building up a pretty decent
food storage at the same time.
{hello, canned foods}
Please, if any of you are interested, let me know.
I can put you in touch with a super easy,
FREE!, quick {minutes, not hours}
and rewarding program that shows you how
to save tons of money on your groceries.
I'm a sucker for a deal.
p.s. Here's what I got:
5 - Arrowhead Water 24 Pack
6 - Ajax Cleaner
2 - Icy Hot Gel
2 - Neuragen Gel (normally 24.99 alone!)
2 - Advil Congestion
2 - Arnicare Pain Relief Gel
2 - Betty Crocker Mixes
4 - Vlasic Relish
4 - Vlasic Sandwich Stackers
1 - XL Jar of Kosher Dill Pickles
3 - Colgate Toothpaste
1 - Marie Calendar’s Frozen Dinner
11 - Campbell’s Chunky Soup
10 - Rotel Diced Tomatoes
10 - Hormel Chili
10 - Hormel Chili Masters
3 - Packages of Hot Dogs
2 - Medium Cheddar Cheese 2 lb
1 - Gallon Milk
12 - Valentine Tumblers (plastic cups)
1 - Kikkoman Soy Sauce
1 - Kikkoman Teriyaki Sauce
p.s. Here's what I got:
5 - Arrowhead Water 24 Pack
6 - Ajax Cleaner
2 - Icy Hot Gel
2 - Neuragen Gel (normally 24.99 alone!)
2 - Advil Congestion
2 - Arnicare Pain Relief Gel
2 - Betty Crocker Mixes
4 - Vlasic Relish
4 - Vlasic Sandwich Stackers
1 - XL Jar of Kosher Dill Pickles
3 - Colgate Toothpaste
1 - Marie Calendar’s Frozen Dinner
11 - Campbell’s Chunky Soup
10 - Rotel Diced Tomatoes
10 - Hormel Chili
10 - Hormel Chili Masters
3 - Packages of Hot Dogs
2 - Medium Cheddar Cheese 2 lb
1 - Gallon Milk
12 - Valentine Tumblers (plastic cups)
1 - Kikkoman Soy Sauce
1 - Kikkoman Teriyaki Sauce
Thursday, January 13, 2011
I'm feelin' the
Valentine's Day love.
And this is the first of many projects
I have in mind before the 14th.
p.s. There is still room for
Check it out and let me know if you are interested!
Wednesday, January 05, 2011
So I failed.
Although I had every intention,
there was no ornament exchange
organized at Christmas.
I wanted to.
I really wanted to.
And I know there were those of you that did, too.
Sorry.
But never fear, Valentine's Day is drawing near.
So...why don't we do a Valentine's Day craft exchange?
You know you wanna.
Here's what I'm thinking:
We find 10 {maybe more?}
fabulously crafty and lovely ladies.
Each of them make some kind of
Valentine's Day home craft
and mail {or hand deliver}
one to each of the other ladies playing.
In summary:
- mass production of crafty goodness
- mailing of packages to new {maybe old} friends
- receiving packages on your doorstep {always exciting}
- a home full of totally awesome Valentine's decor
And if we rellly like it,
maybe we should channel
the Easter Bunny next.
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