You Gotta Help Me

I really don't consider myself a pack rat. I am really OK, normally, with throwing things away. However, I think greeting cards are just beautiful. I hate to throw them away. Look at all of these that I have... AND this does not include what I have in boxes in the attic.

Can you think of anything creative I can do with these?
If I did a collage of them in a big frame by color would it look like an art piece?
Could I scrapbook them? Ugggggg! I just see time and money leaving me with that idea.
Can I reuse them somehow?
I really don't want to throw them away but I don't want boxes of junk either.

Am I going too far? Am I asking too much?

Help Me!

New Book

Late Bloomer was great! I am so glad I kept with it. It is about a tragic accident that causes memory loss and then the trials of trying to get back the memory of that tragedy. This was different than some of the other Fern Michaels books I have read but I really liked it. There was a couple of parts with some foul language so if you are reading it be prepared.

My Grandmom gave me 6 Love Inspired books that she has read. These included two that are a part of a 3 book series. Grandmom has not quite gotten to the 3rd book yet. SO, I decided to start that series by reading The Best Gift by Irene Hannon. As always, I look forward to the Love Inspired books. They are such easy reading and feel good, I just love 'em.

As always, I will let you know how it is.
(I am so bummed I could not find a bigger picture of the book.)

Frito Salad

I wanted to try something new but not too complicated. I found this recipe from, I think, a recipe swap with some of the girls at church. I can't even remember who I got it from.

It was good and simple. We had Hotdogs and Frito Salad one night for supper and even Hannah ate it up (most of it - she picks the fritos out and eats those).

FRITO SALAD
Ingredients:
2 cans of whole kernel corn, drained
1 medium onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
6 oz shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup mayonnaise
10 oz bag of chili cheese fritos
Directions:
Mix and serve immediately

How can you go wrong with chili cheese fritos?? You can't!!

Here are my suggestions.
First, I could only find a 9 3/4 oz bag of chili cheese fritos and that worked fine
Second, this makes a lot and it is not that great the next day because the fritos are not crunchy anymore. If you have a small family then you may want to half the recipe. OR fix it when you are having friends over or going to a covered dish lunch after worship.
Third, I used my Chop Wizard for the pepper and onion and it made it a very quick recipe!

This is Yummy!! AND Easy!!! If you try it, let me know what you think.

123s, ABCs, Tinkle Tinkle

Hannah does lots of her counting and singing in the morning, especially on our way to school. I have been mentioning that I need to record it for some time. Well, Friday we had everything packed up in the car for Atlanta that morning, including the camera.... Here is the result!

Our Sunday Pictures

We were able to worship with the Stokes on Sunday which was a real blessing. Even though we were not at either one of our home congregations there is still something so special about worshiping God with the people you love.

Here are some pictures of the kids before we left for the church building.

OH, I am wrong. These pictures are after worship while they were all waiting on us to pack up. I can tell by all the stickers on Chloe's arm. The girls played with stickers during worship!! (I was thinking Hannah's hair looked a little more frazzeled than it should just before worship!!)

Weekend In Atlanta

This past weekend we took a little-get-a-way trip to Atlanta with some of our wonderful friends the Stokes. (Maybe, hint hint, we can see some more pictures of the weekend at their blog!) We went to the World of Coca-Cola, The Varsity, and a Braves Game. We had SO much fun I think we might make this a tradition!!

This is a family picture at the World of Coca Cola.

This is a family picture of us on the way to the Braves Game.
Showing off some of our favorite players:
Chipper Jones, Jeff Francoeur, and John Smoltz!

Hannah thought the bottling of the Coke was really neat!

Hannah and Chloe quickly became inseparable.
It was so cute. We dressed them alike all day on Saturday.
SOME PEOPLE (I won't name names) thought it was silly but they attracted the cameras at the game and it was funny how many people asked if they were twins. When they were sitting down and you would not really tell their height they really did favor. Both Elizabeth and I were a little surprised how close their hair color really was and with their blue eyes... they really did seem to go together. They thought it was great too!

Hannah has asked about Chloe every day that we have been back wondering when she will see her again... Hopefully Soon!!

My New Plan

Our Wednesday Picture

I was a little disappointed that we were not able to get a "traditional" Sunday picture of Hannah. (I don't ever expect her to be sick on a Sunday again!! he he!) But I realized that the Wednesday before (one week ago) I was able to put her in one of the outfits I got for her from the consignment sale and it was so cute we took pictures.

SO, of course, I knew you would all love to see them so I am sharing!

20 Weeks Pregnant

I feel much bigger than this picture makes me look!!

Hannah giving her baby brother a kiss!

Our Sunday Pictures

Hannah developed a fever Saturday night. She is fine now but, of course, could not go to worship on Sunday so our Sunday pictures are not quite the norm....


In the first one she said cheese and stuck out those bottom teeth.





In the second one I told her not to say cheese and just smile.





In the third one she went to the fireplace, and told us she was ready for us to take the picture and posed all on her own.

What a ham!!

Our Weekend

Maw Maw and Papa Bob came to see us this weekend. It was nice since we have not seen then since Christmas. Hannah had a great time showing them her new play room and everything thing else she can do now.

They couldn't stay until Sunday so here are our Saturday Pictures....

My Life Change

Well, here is how my bookcase has ended up. I did the color thing for most of it. I decided to disregard height for this and I think it ended up looking pretty neat. Chris even had his doubts but really likes it. Chris and I have both agreed, also, to a new rule in the house that Hannah (or Justus when the time comes) will not be allowed to play with the books on the bookshelf. Hopefully that rule will keep it looking the way it does.

Now, there are a few book that I wanted to keep together like my Nicholas Sparks books and a couple of series of books I hope to read in the future so at the end of the colors I put those and stacked some of them.

At the very bottom of the last shelf we put pictures, so it looks a little different too. Overall, I am very pleased and (even though this was small) it was a first step to getting things looking organized.

I also found a place to put everything I want to get rid of. That is nice. Until I actually get rid of it all, it will be a little cluttered but knowing there is a goal for later this year I think I can handle it.

My next goal has to be pushed to the top of the priority list. That is Hannah's new "big girl" room. This needs to get done quickly so she can be totally use to it before Justus gets here. I don't want her to resent him. SO, I am including (the last one) a picture of the current room.

Yes, it is a little embarrassing so I have to add a little commentary to it. We have not made it up since the last time someone visited which was January. Now, think about that, someone was actually able to stay in this room last January so that means this room has not always looked like this. We have things that we need to put in the attic here, things that we have to decide where they are going to go for Justus, and some things that we just haven't moved back into the bonus room since they put in the new carpet. We really want to make this room special for Hannah which is going to mean some painting and some new furniture. If anyone can help us with that it would be really great since I can't be as much help in those areas as I want to be. We will see how it turns out...... Stay tuned.

The Ticker

I had to change our ticker to look a little more like a boy and to show off his name so we can all stop calling him "the baby." It is funny how it seems so natural to say "The Baby." We ask Hannah what her brother's name is and she usually says "boy" or "baby." We are working on that!!

His name is Justus Robert!!
(we will call him Justus - Robert is just his middle name)

We have fallen in love with this name and are so excited. We found this name in Acts 1:23, 18:7, and Colossians 4:11. I think our favorite story about Justus is that in Acts 18 we can see that he must have been one of Paul's friends. Paul stayed in Justus' home in his travels and the New American Standard Version states that Justus was "a worshiper of God."

This is So Cute - He is 3!!

Here is some of what I read about this video.

Starting at the end of 2005, Hero began to sing by himself and now he can sing about 40 of The Beatles songs and forty other old pop songs.
Hero has not been trained in English or Music and has yet to live in or even visit any English-speaking countries. He just learned the songs by ear by himself and for his own amusement and after two months he finally managed to sing all 27 songs on The Beatles "1", though his pronunciation as a non-English speaker is a bit poor!!!

Hero has been dying to learn the guitar, but regretfully, he is too short and weak to get a tight grip on it with his fingers since he was only 90cm in 2007, last year and is still only 100cm now.


Don't tell me this doesn't at least make you smile, if not giggle out loud!!

50% of you were Right!!

It is a BOY!!!
It took us a whole 24 hours to find a scanner but we finally got them.

Yipppeeeeee!!
He is so beautiful.

We are not quite sure on the name yet but we will let you know when we are!!

Women

There is this blog.... that is written by this girl.... that I don't know!!
OK there I said it!
Don't act like you all don't do it.
I know you read blogs of people you don't know.
I mean, after all, they are on the Internet!!! For everyone!!!

Anyway, she shared this "Love Letter" for Mother's Day and I thought it was great and so I want to share it with you.

This is not just a message for mothers – how dare you think that!
This is a message for WOMEN.
Sunday is women’s day.
It’s not just for those who have delivered a child.
It’s for everyone who has ever held a child,
smelt a child, changed a diaper in the church nursery, or stopped a running kid in the church hallway and said
“you want me to tell your mama?”
It’s for those of you who have done laundry, paid bills, burnt chicken and hosted Thanksgiving in your little bitty kitchen.
It’s for the woman who said “yes” when asked to work VBS, who spent three days last week with a sick child,
or spent 40 hours at a job you hate so that you can afford summer camp and dance lessons for someone you love.
Sunday is for every daughter and sister and aunt and grandmother who has worn a pink ribbon and a stiff upper lip.
It’s for the woman who cashes my paycheck, scans my groceries and puts this fabulous color on my hair (thank God for you!)
It’s also for any woman who held hands with the one she loves and then buried them.
It's for the one who has volunteered to work in a church nursery - just out of the pure desire to be around that which she may be unable to ever have herself.
It’s for the young woman who sits alone on a Friday night and wonders when she won’t.
Honey, you are beautiful.
Stunning.
You couldn’t look better if you tried.
There’s only one who is really concerned with what you are wearing.
So wear Him well.

2 Products....

..... that You Need!!

(or at least I need them and so I thought I would share it with you!)

#1
The Chop Wizard
It really works and it saves me lots of time. The only thing about it that is different from TV is that if you want to chop in the smallest size blocks it is not quite as easy to do as the commercial. However, it is SO worth the little extra push and the pop sound it makes to get everything chopped up. I have chopped onions, tomatoes, celery, and other things and it has done wonderful!!

#2
The AquaDoodle
My Aunt and Uncle got Hannah one for Christmas (or birthday?) last year and she loves it. We have the travel one and we can use it in the car, during worship, or at a restaurant. It is great and you don't have to worry about a mess.

If you don't have these products I highly recommend you get them!!

(( BY THE WAY, this is the last day to vote!! If you haven't voted yet telling me if you think I am going to have a boy or girl, you only have a few hours left!!! ))

Our Sunday Pictures

This was the dress that Chris and I originally got for Easter before I found the one she wore at the consignment sale. I think it is really pretty. The first picture is of Hannah helping Daddy get ready. She was helping by tying his shoe. She is so cute!

Happy Mother's Day to all my favorite mothers.

Especially to Grandmom, Nannah, and Maw Maw!
I got a wonderful surprise this morning. I now have a new spoon holder and salt and pepper shakers painted by the one and only Hannah Bear!! I just love them!! Aren't they cute? I do need some help on them though. Is the one with the most holes in it always salt??

This was my wonderful surprise on Friday. This is my Mother's Day gift that Hannah made for me at school. I just can't get over the wonderful gifts I received this year!!

The Bookshelf

I have been looking on line for some pictures of some bookshelves. Here are a couple that I found.

This one is pretty cool. I got this when I googled vertical and horizontal books on bookshelf. I would love to have a wall like this one day but I am definitely looking for something that won't cut into our pockets too awfully much.

I really liked this one. Great suggestion, Wendy!! I think it looks pretty. (Kelli, you could even do it the color of the rainbow like your closet!!)

I found one that showed someone who put wallpaper on each shelf and then had some hanging down a little and cut scallops on the ends. It was neat but for some reason I could not get the picture on here. (I probably did something wrong.)

I am doing pretty good working on mine but all the pictures are the problem. What pictures have you all saved? Are their pictures that you have gotten rid of since you have had kids? Some pictures from middle school or high school that I have seem so .... so.... not needed. What do you think?

New Book

I have finished Love's Healing Touch. As promised by Love Inspired books they are great, feel-good, light books. I enjoyed this one. It even had a small "twist" near the end that made me take it with me on the way to work and read it in the car to finish it because I really wanted to see how it ended.

We have joined a new local County Rec Center. I have gone a couple of times and walked on the tread mill. The first time I did it, I looked at my time and I thought I was going to have to stop after 10 minutes. I made it to the 30 minute mark which was my goal but it seemed like forever. Well, Thursday night when I went I decided that I would take a book that would make the time go by faster. (I didn't even look at my time until I had walked for 23 minutes - much better!) I had to pick a book that, at the beginning, would hold open semi well. This is how I picked the next book I was going to read. What would stay open the best on it's own at the beginning of the book. What a way to decide - huh?

SO, here we go with another Fern Michaels book. I am now going to read Late Bloomer. Let me tell you, in the preface I almost quit reading it. It was a little dramatic for my taste. A little "scary," for lack of a better word. However, it stopped with the details at just the right time and I am now moving on and enjoying it a lot so far.

As always, I will let you know.

My Life Change

So here it is. I told you a few days ago I needed to make some changes and they needed to be priority and so I think I have started to set some goals and some time frames.

You all are going to get to go thru this with me. No matter how embarrassing!!

The BIG MAIN goal is that I want to go thru this house and simplify and organize. I am not going to keep anything out just because I don't want to make someone else feel bad. I am going to completely simplify and organize. Every Room!!

The first goal to get here is that I want to hire someone to deep clean my home. SO, I need to make my home able to be cleaned by strangers. Right now, it is NOT that way. At all. Also I would like for this to happen before the baby is born.

SO my first goal is to find a spot to store all yard sale/ebay/donation stuff as I am cleaning.

My second goal is to organize the book shelves that people see when they first come into my home. Here is the picture of what it looks like now. Any suggestions on how to make book shelves with books in them pretty? Do they need anything in front of them or do you think the books are fine by themselves? In my defense I did not make the mess, however, I have been too lazy for too long to clean it up and get it organized!!

I will keep you updated on my life change and hopefully get some advice from you on it too.

Thank you for letting me vent and share with you my changes. It may take me a while but it will happen!! It will!!

Sowing Seeds of Kindness.

Galatians 6:9-10 (New American Standard)
And let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary. So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.

Ephesians 4:32 (New American Standard)
And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

We had such a fun Ladies Retreat last weekend. We talked about Kindness. We had lots of activities to put into practice the act of kindness. We had 2 wonderful speakers. We had great fellowship and, of course, really good snacks!!

Thank you to everyone who helped put it together and make it so special for us.

A Hannah Funny

This morning before I went in to get Hannah, I heard her talking (almost mumbling).

When I finished dressing and I went into her room she was lying down but her eyes were open.

She pointed to me, and looked up at the ceiling and said "Look, Look, Fan, Look!! It's Mommy!"

I suppose she was having a great conversation with her ceiling fan this morning. I am so glad she can entertain herself.

God Must Be Busy

This song has brought tears to my eyes more than once.
I think it is suppose to be a kind of love song but that is really not what I hear - I think you will understand.

Let me preface the lyrics by saying 2 things:
#1 I believe God looks out for ALL of his children!
#2 I believe God can answers prayers by saying "yes" or "no" to your request.

God Must Be Busy
Brooks and Dunn

That anchor man
says the fight began
somewhere in the Middle East.
The world prays for peace.
There's a single mom
just got laid off when she lost a job
to some foreign hands
in some faraway land.
Last night in Oklahoma
some twister took thirteen
and they're praying that they find
the missing three.
God must be busy.

That highway sign
went from slow ahead
to traffic's dead.
Thought it couldn't get worse
than that Amber Alert.
They say she's 4,
Colorado plates, headed out-of-state
in a Chevy van.
It's hard to understand.
You can see it in the faces
of all those highway strangers,
they're praying that God
keeps that girl from danger.
God must be busy.

And I know in the big picture
I'm just a speck of sand
and God's got better things to do
than look out for one man.
I know he's heard my prayers
cause he hears everything,
he just ain't answered back
or he'd bring you back to me.
God must be busy.

That evening news,
Ain't much changed
pretty much the same
since I left home.
Yeah that war's still on.
They found that little girl.
She was soaking wet,
half scared to death
on the side of some road.
Them prayers work, you know.
And the Bloods and Cripps are at it,
and theres a killer drought down south,
and old folks can't afford the drugs
they can't live with out.
God must be busy.

And I know in the big picture
I'm just a speck of sand
and God's got better things to do
than look out for one man.
I know he's heard my prayers
cause he hears everything,
he just ain't answered back
or he'd bring you back to me.
God must be busy.

That anchorman,
says the fightings worse,
cities burn in the Middle East.
[The] world prays for peace

Our Sunday Pictures

Another Consignment sale buy!!
Yipppeeeeeeeeeeee!!

Where Have I Been??

I have been going thru withdrawal. It has been a crazy week. I am sure none of you understand this phenomenon of random crazy weeks. We had something every night (I think this was the second week in a row!)

Monday - I had a girl's night
Tuesday - Chris umpired
Wednesday - Worship
Thursday - Chris had softball games
Friday - I went out of town

And work was crazy!! Whew!!

The additional thing that happened to us this week is that we had to take Hannah to the doctor. A little boy in her class was running with a toy phone and the phone ran right into Hannah's eye. I have some pictures here to try to show you what it looked like but I feel like they don't really show it.

The bad thing is that the next day she was complaining about it so we went to the doctor just to be certain she was OK, and sure enough... It had scratched her retina. (I think retina is the right word - definitely NOT cornea!!) The doctor said it would heal quickly but it was painful so she numbed her eye up and told us to put drops in it for 5 days.

Hannah is much much better now but it was kind of a weird thing. If you have never seen how they look to find a scratch on someone's eye before - - - it is an experience, especially with a hysterical child!!

(These pictures are from the day it happened!)
(I don't know why her teeth look funny in the last picture?!)




(PS - Elizabeth, Hannah is wearing the pants that were Chloe's that you could not find anything to go with and they still had the tags on them. I have this ONE shirt that works pretty well and we love the pants - - Thank You Thank You!! Sorry I didn't get a better picture of the outfit to show you. I thought of it too late! Have I ever mentioned that I love hand-me-downs?)