I'M BaaaaaaacCK!!!

So, I have not blogged in a long time, and by long time it feels like FOR-ev-ER!!!  I have missed this world so so SO much! I wouldn't even allow myself to read other blogs anymore because I missed it so much, and knew I just didn't have the time to participate right now.  I have continued to sew and create interesting things, and every time I did I thought "wow I need to take a picture of this and blog about it!".  My heart would jump with joy a little at the thought, and then I got completely stressed thinking about all the things I had ALREADY done, taken pictures of and NOT blogged about yet.  Ummmm, I have a LOT.  So in order to take the stress out, and put the joy back into this I'm starting fresh.  I will blog about anything and everything I want, when I want.  I was so worried about staying in my "niche" of sewing, crafts, and cooking, and staying on a posting schedule that I stopped enjoying it all. It became work to keep up with multiple posts a week.  I really felt I started to abandon my family a little in order to stay current on what was going on in "blog-land" and in the crafty department.  Making sure that if I posted something on here as my own idea it truly was an original idea, and not "inspired by others".  Now I have a new frame of mind... I'm going to blog what I do, and if I did find inspiration in something then hey I'll share my source.  But if I just came up with it I'm going to tell you that, and if you see it somewhere else, and they did it first OK.  The Bible tells us there is nothing new under the sun anyway so there!  lol

So, with all that said, this is going to be a catch up on my life post.  I am going to be brutally honest and tell you that this summer has been rough on me.  Please keep in mind that I get at least 20 hours a week at my part time (from home) job, am the full time Music Minister and Assistant Pastors wife at our church, and have three GORGEOUS children who light up my life as well as a husband who is a blessing, the love of my life, and perfect for me in every way, but is still a man who enjoys having a clean house, nice smelling laundry, and meals frequently put on the table.

Now for the hectic part of all this...while maintaining all those jobs, Ministries, and duties my summer went something like this.  I spent two weeks in Montgomery at Church Camp with my beautiful family, two weeks working in our fireworks stand full time (with the beginnings of a sinus/ear infection making my life miserable too I might add).

After fireworks we had a very FULL two weeks kicked off by my daughters luau themed joint birthday party the first week (there will be an entire post later on this one), then VBS and several family adventures the second (the ear infection had lessened but was lingering).  After that an extended weekend trip to Chattanooga Tennessee that was so much fun and the kids had a blast!

Well Kent had a mishap going down a slide that resulted in a black eye (only my son could accomplish something like that I do believe!).

Then back for a Momma-Daughter day with my Mom for her Birthday.  Which was exquisitely fun and full of relaxation.

Finally a week spent in bed fighting a phantom illness that knocked me on my tail.  I say phantom because I'm really not sure what I had.  All I know is that I could NOT keep my eyes open.  I am one of those people who sleep their way through sickness and the sleepier I am the sicker I am.  I spent three days sleeping.  I actually tried fighting the sleep the first day (not wanting to admit I was sick of course...who has time to be sick??? not me!!). I couldn't sit, stand, or lie down without my eyes closing and falling instantly asleep though.  I actually asked my husband if he had slipped me some kind of pill!!!  Yah right why would he want a wife who sleeps instead of cleaning and taking care of the kiddos in the summer break to boot!?!?!  He was a trooper though and stepped in to take care of it all and arranged for the kiddos to have some fun time with all their favorite relatives while I convalesced.  Now the sickness didn't have any other symptoms other than weakness dizziness and you guessed it, tiredness.  Finally after three days I started to feel somewhat normal, but it was truly another week before I felt completely like myself again.  Kent evidently caught whatever it was too, but being a kid with tons of energy he only slept most of the days away, not all of them like his Momma, and whined the rest of the time.  Then to wind up the summer in early August I went to a Music Conference with some of my music team to enrich my ministry, and allow me to be a better leader for my Church and Music Department. We had a wonderfully blessed time.

Now I am caught up to last week when my babies started school on a Thursday, and this is their first full week of school (I will be sharing a cute first day idea and their pics in my next post, so be on the lookout).  Finally, today I have been hit again with the same ear & sinus infection that has come and gone all summer long making me very uncomfortable.  I have spent ALL morning laying on the couch with my half my head throbbing, (and of course) sleeping.  After my antibiotics and steroid pack took affect (yes I finally got some) I was thinking about how much I miss blogging, and how even a few of my friends have mentioned that they have missed my creative posts and summarized family updates.  Taking into account my baby girls are back at school and our routines are starting to normalize, I have come to the decision that I can take this time back for myself again.  So, watch out Blog-land HERE I COME!!  I am going to be sharing over the next little while some of the activities, and craftiness that this summer has brought as well as projects I am working on currently.  I hope my followers are still out there and want to rejoin me on my journey of documenting all my insanity and crafty craziness and whatever else I decide to spill cause I'm going to just be relaxed and go with the flow from here on out.

I hope you enjoy going along for the ride as much as I enjoy taking it!

Have a great day and God Bless!!!!

Its a Giddy Day

I am feeling very giddy today.  I'm not completely sure why...hmmm  Mood swing?  Quiet house with the windows open while listening to the kids run and play on this gorgeous spring day?  clean house from the fruits of my days labor?? this wonderful Route 44 Strawberry Lemonade from Sonic's happy hour? The thrill of knowing a 4 day beach Vaca is only 5 days away?

YES!!!!  It must be all of that!!!!  I am just in a giddy happy mood and I thought I would share it with you all.  I feel like sunbeams are dancing in my heart!  I turned on my work computer to try to maybe accomplish something there and turned it right back off.  I cant work when I am this pumped up and ready to tackle the world.  Inspiration is hitting too but really the kind that say I am inspired to go outside and play with my kids on this gorgeous day.  So I think that's what I'm going to do.

Have a great day and I hope some giddiness finds itself into your heart.

Have a great day and God Bless

Easter was DE-licious!!! and a Jewel of a pin

Okay, as an update for the world: I am back on the eating healthy so I can become a healthier sized me bandwagon.  Actually, both my husband and I have jumped on together.  Which is making the journey so much more fun!  After a week of dieting I have lost 4 pounds and seven inches!!!  Goooooo Me!!! Either this week or the next I will be joining a local gym to work out with my cousin. who is already a member, and I just know the pounds are going to start melting away.  Anyway, I have been keeping a VERY close eye on my calorie intake this week with great success, and decided that since today is a holiday it would be what I call a "guilt free day".  I am allowed to eat whatever I want, in a very small portion, and I don't count any calories.  So I didn't go crazy, but I did enjoy some calorie rich foods that normally I would decline when on the weight loss track.  So, for me, while Easter was a lovely Spiritual day spent in worship, busy with the Drama our church put on, and a fun day spent with family it was also absolutely delicious!  I hope you had a wonderful day Celebrating the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

Now on the crafty side I was VERY busy this week!!  I made a dress for myself for Easter as well as two bolero style jackets to go over my daughters Easter sun dresses (I'm not a big fan of the sleeveless look, even on my little girls).  I used this pattern

I don't know about you , but once those patterns come out of the envelope there is NO getting them back in.  So they get folded and neatly stored inside a large gallon sized zip-lock baggie with the pattern picture facing out of one side so I can see exactly whats inside.  This is actually very handy as it makes it somewhat child and pet proof as well as easier to access.

Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised at how easy this was to sew as well as cutie patootie on the girls!

(Please forgive these HORRIBLE pictures!!)

Now my girls favorite part, and what I am DYING to tell you about, was the simple closure jewel that I used.  Now, if you are like me (a crafty item buying fanatic), you probably have little buttons, jewels, beads, whatever laying around all over your craft area and stuffed in your craft stash bins.  Well in the wee hours of the morning when I decided the jackets needed a little more oomph, and really wasn't looking forward to sewing two teeny hook and eye closures that probably weren't going to stay put with my two rowdy girls this jewel of an idea (ha ha) was born.  Now its not that biggie of a deal, but since it saved my creative hide, was a HUGE hit with the girls, and garnered MANY a compliment I thought I'd pass it along.  Its a jewel with a safety pin hot glued to the back...yah ... complicated right? 

Anyway I am sad to say that the jewel on the 5yr old's jacket only made it through half the day, and by the time the drama rolled around it had been pulled fallen off.  So when I got home I pulled out a little stronger adhesive, and snapped a few pics with my (vastly inferior to my real pride and joy which, at the moment, is inaccessible) camera in order to share my genius with you....for what its worth any way, which isn't much!

So there you have it.  My creative AHA moment of the week.  I would show you a picture of my dress, but I am no longer wearing it, and, trust me when I say, it just doesn't look that great off the body!

I cant wait to make SOOOO many more of these to match every Sunday Sundress that I plan for them to wear this little jacket with.  Oh and they loved the lightweight jacket as well and since it was a breeze to make (I took a few shortcuts, so I'm talking literally an hour from cutout to completion on each jacket!!) I will be churning out a few more of these PRONTO!

Next project while the sewing machine is out (and all my stuff is littering the area) two dresses for the girls, two skirts for the girls, several maxi skirts for myself and perhaps a convertible skirt/dress for me too.  Oh this is going to be a fun crafty week all gearing up for spring break the next week.  I cant wait!!!

I hope you enjoyed this, and I promise next time I will use my good camera.

Have a great day and God Bless!

Hunger isn't a Game!

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of The Walmart Foundation for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

There are people who are starving. Not just in Africa, but right here, in the United States.  Well, Walmart has decided to do something about it by partnering with the Feeding America Foundation April 9 through April 30th. They will be giving away 2 Million Dollars to communities with a high rate of unemployment.  And you get to help out too!!  

During those dates Walmart and the Feeding America group (ConAgra, General Mills, Kraft, and Kellogg's) will be hosting a Facebook campaign where you can go and vote on the community you would most like to receive money to feed the hungry.  There is a list of 200 communities total and out of those the 21 receiving the most votes will receive funding.  The first place will receive 1 Million Dollars and the 20 runners up will receive 50 thousand dollars each.

So please join me in voting by visiting their Facebook page April 9th - April 30th. I am torn between which City I will personally be voting for.  The Beaumont-Port Arthur TX area is where I was raised, but there are also several other locations including some in Alabama my current home state that I am fond of.  Click on the link below and just think how many hungry you will help feed in a community dear to you.

Vote to fight spring hunger with Walmart

 

 

Have a Great Day & God Bless!

A Neat idea for a Bloom

So there are these blooms at Walmart for cheap but they are in the little egg-crate planters all ready to be planted in your flower garden.  That doesn't help you too much for bringing them inside to decorate with though.  And since potting can get SOOOOO messy and cumbersome I came up with a cutie patootie idea.  Well actually it was a collaboration between an idea of my Mother In Laws (I have the BEST Mother in Law in the world for those of you who were wondering!!!) and the final product that I cam up with to showcase her awesome idea.

First you start by cutting apart the egg-crate container that the flowers cam in (not pictured..sorry)

Next you wrap a plastic sandwich bag around the individual, now cut apart, plant.

Next wrap either a piece of tissue paper or, like my MIL did, a paper napkin (shes a genius!). Use some string or a rubber band to make sure the tissue stays in place.

Finally pick up a cute container for a buck at Target or Dollar Tree and put the now prettily wrapped flower into it.  Oh did I mention that because of the plastic baggie you can now water the plant without fear of leaking???  Lu-AHH-Vv it!!!

Finally display your Spring handy work for your family and guests to enjoy.

Hopefully your shelf wont collect dust as quickly as mine does, the bane of having NO carpet in my home is constant dust.  I think I had dusted these shelves three days before this picture! Oh well you get what you get and you don't throw a fit (a rhyme I use on my kids when they don't think life is being fair). 

Oh and check out my little planter on the top shelf.  It was an old metal bucket I spray painted white.  Then I cut out the sweet "Simplify" on my cricket in the pretty bright yellow vinyl, applied to the front, and there I have a new spring planter that pops.

I hope you found some inspiration for simple and less messy plant potting to bring the outdoors inside your home.

Have a Great Day and God Bless