All sappy and mushy and gushy...

If you've read this blog for very long, you probably know that I stink at blog tags. Really, really stink!

I'm always completely flattered when someone gives me an award or tag, but I have a hard time finding making the time to return the favor.
Yes, I'm incredibly selfish.
That's also no big surprise.
Ugh.


So I'm finally catching up on these!

I received the Blog Love award from Michele at Sweet Irie. Michele is a great blogger, a fellow etsy seller, a loyal sponsor (see her ad over on the right?), and an all around nice gal.

I'm passing this award on to Nikki at Fashion is NOT a Luxury. She does a great job of sharing cute, affordable fashion for real women. She inspires me to get out of my sweats every day!

Next is the Lemonade Award from Yayas Funhouse. Why lemonade? I don't know, but I do love anything lemon so I'll take it! She has a hilarious avatar picture that makes me giggle every time she posts here. You should go check out her blog just to see that! She is a grandma with gorgeous twin grandbabies, and a wonderful lady.

The Lemonade Award is for sites that show gratitude and a wonderful attitude so I'm passing this one on to Sharon at Rose of Sharon. She is a super sweet lady, a devoted Christian, and her blog is always a little pick-me-up!

Finally I have the Say it Forward award from Linda at My Trendy Tykes. Oh, what can I say about Linda? I've known her for years, and she was the first person I "knew" in blogland. I was so excited when I stumbled across her blog for the first time and recognized her face! She "gets" me, and there aren't a lot of people out there who really get me. haha! I can be completely myself and throw the most snotty sarcastic comments at her and she tosses them right back. It's nice when you find someone who you can be so comfortable with, you know?

This award is to thank your loyal commenters on your blog. I have so many loyal commenters that I don't even know where to begin, honestly!
So I'm going to the post below this one and grabbing a name I recognize.
And I came up with Carol at RoseCreek Cottage! That's perfect!
Carol is a beautiful spirit, another fellow etsy seller, a devoted grandmother, she makes beautiful jewelry, and participates in Fingerprint Friday each week.

And there you have it! I think I got all of them!
If you've tagged me and I missed it, I'm terribly sorry!
I'm naturally blonde, naturally ditzy, and you'll need to talk to my parents about the genes I was given. I didn't pick them.

Now I'm off to enjoy a beautiful day, but here are a few more pictures from the park recently. Happy Weekend!

Fingerprint Friday

There is a song by Steven Curtis Chapman that says:
I can see the fingerprints of god
When I look at you
I can see the fingerprints of god
And I know its true
Youre a masterpiece
That all creation quietly applauds
And you're covered with the fingerprints of god
So look around you and see where YOU can see God's fingerprints. Is it in nature? Kids? Animals? Where do you see them? Here's how to join in.

1. Blog with your interpretation of God's fingerprints. Be sure to link back here so others can find the entire list of participants!
2. After you've posted your blog, sign the Mr. Linky below. Have fun exploring the other links as well! Please only sign in if you're participating and sharing pics. Hopefully this will make us look at things through fresh eyes throughout the week!
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I thought I could never do it - have kids a year and a half apart. That first few months of having a toddler and a newborn I thought I'd lose my mind. But then I got to watch them become best friends as they grew older. They absolutely adore each other and I'm so grateful God spaced them out the way He did. In case you didn't know, God really does know what he's doing. ;-) I have a tendency to question it, but He knows. He knows.

Please remember to keep praying for Cora. This is one case where I definitely don't understand God, but have to trust that He knows what He's doing.

My favorite side dish. Kind of.

I love carbs. Really really love them.

Who needs meat when you can have a plate of pasta, mashed potatoes, and garlic bread?

So this is one of my favorite side dishes. My family loves it too.
Grab a loaf of "french" bread at the store.
Slice it down the middle lengthwise. This loaf happened to have a big bubble in it.
But that just makes a nice pocket for the yumminess to collect.
Spread on a thin layer of butter.


Then drizzle on some olive oil. What? It's a healthy fat!


Spread the olive oil evenly with your knife.
Add a sprinkle of garlic.
And then a nice generous helping of Cavender's Greek Seasoning.
We are so addicted to this spice mix! Trust me, it's amazing on everything. Potatos, popcorn, pasta... There I go with the carbs again. Gee, I wonder why I need to lose 15 lbs?


Then sprinkle on parmesan cheese. I'll admit, I often use the stuff in the can. It's not so bad, sometimes. It doesn't taste like shredded parm, but it works.


Pop it under the broiler in your oven until it's nice and golden and the cheese is melted.


Serve it with your favorite carb pasta with meat sauce.



BUT WAIT!!! Right after I made this and took the photos, I came across Ree's Olive bread recipe.
So I combined her recipe and mine and made it for our bible study group.
It. Was. So. Good.
Seriously. Ridiculously good.
People went nuts over it.
The only thing I love more than carbs are salty carbs.
So make this but chop up a bunch of olives (green, black, kalamata) and put them on top of the bread before you sprinkle the cheese on.

And that's my new favorite side dish.

I promise you'll love it. If not, you can come back and make nasty comments about me. I'll delete them, but that's okay.

Click here to see what other people are "hooked on".

Waiting...

Waiting for sunshine.


A porch swing waiting to be used again.


Play equipment waiting to be used.


Waiting for flowers to bloom.


A lone red car waiting to be played with.


A picnic bench waiting for laughter and smoke from the grill.


Waiting is so hard!
But I know without it, we wouldn't appreciate Spring as much.
How's the waiting going for you?

(Don't forget about the jewelry giveaways.)

It's GIVEAWAY time, boys and girls!

YAY for free jewelry!
And cute high quality jewelry at that. ;-)

If you're visiting for the first time, welcome! After you enter the giveaway, I hope you stick around and check out the main blog page. (Click the big pink logo at the top to see all of it.)

So what are you playing for? This necklace.


BUT, (it's a big butt... no comments from the peanut gallery) you can get any word you want stamped on it!! Your necklace will be custom made for you!

To enter -
1. Click here.
2. Leave a comment on this post telling your favorite item from the shoppe.

Easy peasy!
To see the complete list of Bloggy Carnival Givaways, visit Bloggy Giveaways.com.

And just to prove that I've gone completely mad, click here to enter to win this Love Squared necklace!


Happy blog partying!

Prayers please.

Meet Jess. She was The Girl's teacher for 2 years. She was The Boy's teacher for 1 year.


We were so completely blessed to have her as our kids' teacher.
The Boy wanted to marry her because he "liked the look of her."
During her year teaching The Boy, I learned that she was pregnant.
She was supposed to have him in her class for an additional year, but as soon as I heard the news I knew she wouldn't be back after the baby was born.
I'll be honest, I was very sad.
As a parent, I was totally selfish and wanted the best possible teacher for my son and she was it.
But as a parent I also knew that her baby would be blessed beyond measure to be put in that family. She would be the perfect mom.
And she is.
Now meet Cora, her baby.



This gorgeous baby girl, born into such a wonderful family, was diagnosed with cancer Friday.
I can't say that I'm super close to the family as we've lost touch a bit with her not teaching any more.
But I can tell you that she had a HUGE impact on my kids' lives and I've spent the past few days in tears over this news.
No one should have to deal with this.
No one.

I know the power of prayer. I know this blog reaches a lot of people.
And I'm asking for you to pray for this young family and baby Cora. She's already had one surgery since the diagnosis and begins chemo this week.

I don't understand God, but I know that He is good. All the time.

For those who want to know more here are two links you can follow.
Jess's blog
Cora's site

I like wood.

I love the natural beauty.
I love the unique qualities of each piece.
I found Natural Selection Studio recently and after I drooled over each piece for a few minutes and imagined how they'd feel in my hands and look in my house, I decided to share them with you.

Greg Gallegos creates gorgeous sculptural pieces for the home or office.
A few of my favorites -

Red Cedar Pot


Red Cedar Goblet


Natural Edge Maple Bowl


Stunning, no? I LOVE it!

Fingerprint Friday

There is a song by Steven Curtis Chapman that says:
I can see the fingerprints of god
When I look at you
I can see the fingerprints of god
And I know its true
Youre a masterpiece
That all creation quietly applauds
And you're covered with the fingerprints of god
So look around you and see where YOU can see God's fingerprints. Is it in nature? Kids? Animals? Where do you see them? Here's how to join in.

1. Blog with your interpretation of God's fingerprints. Be sure to link back here so others can find the entire list of participants!
2. After you've posted your blog, sign the Mr. Linky below. Have fun exploring the other links as well! Please only sign in if you're participating and sharing pics. Hopefully this will make us look at things through fresh eyes throughout the week!
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This week I was reminded of just how blessed I am to be an American. Whether I agree or disagree with the political team now in office, it's a wonderful blessing to have the freedoms we have. It was really a reminder to me that God put me here in this spot, in this moment in time, for a purpose. And you too. You're alive today for a reason. You're reading this blog today for a reason! His fingerprints have intentional purpose. They don't occur randomly. What is your purpose today? What was His intention for your life this day?

This post links well with Melissa's A Beautiful Life. Feel free to explore the links there as well!

Imagination. And you told me so!

"Every child is born blessed with a vivid imagination. But just as a muscle grows flabby with disuse, so the bright imagination of a child pales in later years if he ceases to exercise it." - Walt Disney

I love Walt and his wisdom. Flex your creative muscle today. Imagine. Inspire. You're more capable than you may realize.

On a totally unrelated note, I had scores, tons, loads of emails about me putting on my make up in the car.

And you win. I opened my Bare Minerals the other day while driving and the stopper fell out.
Make up all over me! (my hands look much younger in person than in that picture. Hmmm...)


Fortunately I was just going to someone's house and I didn't mind them seeing me like that.
But I've learned my lesson.

I'll never do my makeup while driving again.

Okay, that's not true.

Go use your imagination and inspire someone today!

What day is it?

It's laundry day!
(pay no attention to my windows that desperately need cleaned.)
I have this pile plus 3 more loads to wash and fold. Yay.
How does laundry multiply on it's own?
And where do those missing socks go?


Being the blonde that I am, I nearly forgot to mention that I'm giving away this necklace!


Click here to enter.

And don't tell, but even if you don't win this one, I have a few more giveaways coming up soon. Shhhh...

Today.

God Bless America!

He's still here.

No, Bad Baby hasn't left. I've had several emails asking if he's turned into Good Baby. But no, he hasn't.



Have you ever wondered what you get when you mix BBQ sauce and Elmer's glue on your Bob The Builder plate? He has.


Have you ever wondered what would happen if you climbed on top of the stove and got the 10" serrated bread knife and tried to cut bread? He has.

Huge gash in his finger.

Have you ever wondered what it's like to climb on top of the back of the toilet and get into the medicine cabinet? There are lots of cool looking bottles and while some of the lids are tricky, they can still be opened.
One of them said "Stool Softener" on the front and although he doesn't read, that's the one that caught his eye to try.

Yeah.
He did.
I didn't even know I had them in there from after childbirth.


I immediately looked them up online to see if I needed to call poison control or something and found that they're really not dangerous. But they do have a horrible bitter taste.

He gagged and cried and slobbered for 30 minutes while scraping his tongue.
It must've been REALLY awful.

*sigh*

Fun times, fun times.

The winner of the Wrappuchino giveaway is Melanie of Whimsical Creations, according to the Random Number Generator. Congratulations!

Flip House pictures....

I mentioned a while back that we bought a new house to flip. We've been steadily working on it.

It was nasty. Really nasty.
Seriously, I gagged editing these pictures.
Disgusting.

If you're squeamish, don't look.

The front of the house.


Step in the front door and this was the view. That door on the end leads to the kitchen. I've already had that wall taken out to open it up more!


Standing in the kitching entry looking back toward the front door.


Standing in the kitchen entry looking into the kitchen. No wonder they kept it hidden behind that wall!


Pan down to the left a bit.


Fuzzy ceiling fan anyone?


Standing at the other end of the kitchen, looking back toward the entry. The door with the green curtain leads to the garage. Classy built in tv, huh? ;-)


Now we're back in the living room near the front door. If we'd gone to the right we'd go to the kitchen, which is what you just saw. But if you look straight ahead from the front door you see the bathroom and this little hallway.


In the bathroom.


The pedestal sink is the only thing we'll save in here.



There are three bedrooms which I won't show you today. But in the hallway there's a fabulous light fixture if anyone wants it. I'll cut you a great deal! ;-)


Outside, there's a patio with a fence that needs repaired.


And beyond that there is a really nice new workshop! Funny enough, this is spotlessly clean and beautiful!


So there it is, in all it's glory.
It's by far, the nastiest house we've flipped.
But I think it'll require less work than our previous ones too.
It just needed a MAJOR cleaning.

We've already demo'd the kitchen, removed all the cabinets, removed carpet throughout the house, torn down some walls. It already looks completely different than these photos.
I can't wait to show you the after pics though!
You're going to be blown away by the difference.

Update - What are some things you'd do to this house? I'd love to hear your opinions. Budget is very small, so high end things are not an option. (no granite, tile, hard wood, etc.)
We're hooked on flipping houses. You can share what you're hooked on over at Hooked on Houses.
Also click here to see the final pictures of our last flip house! I've had lots of people wanting to see it.