 I came across "like a warm cup of coffee" blog today. I think she is doing something terrific. She is starting a Modesty Fashion Show. There are more details on her blog for you to read. It's a great cause! I'm looking forward to seeing other women in their modest clothes. What to wear, what to wear???? hmmmmmmmm Plus there is a give away to a lucky reader!!! Go check it out, tell me what you think or tell me if you signed up too!!! 
 I know it's way before Valentine's Day, but I saw this idea from another blogger (sorry I can't remember who) and wanted to implement this to our family. I bought the mail boxes at Target for $1 a piece. They have them at Michael's too for $2.99. I stuck a sticker to the front of the mailbox starting with the first letter of our names. Flags are up when nothing is in them, in the morning flags are down and we get to see what's in our mailbox until Valentine's.  Here are some things I picked up at Micheal's in the clearance section. I thought these things were cute to put in their mailbox through out the month. It doesn't have to be gifts. I'm not going to do gifts everyday. This morning they opened them and found a note that said I love you. I'm going to put candies, more love notes, and change to put in their piggy bank. You can get creative with this. I'm hoping that my kids will learn to love one another and know who much we love them. They were so excited last night that they drew pictures for the mailboxes. I thought they would put it in each other's but they put the pictures in their own mailbox. It's the first day. We have a while before they get it. Do you have any Valentine's traditions?
Just another Manic Monday........whoa, whoa, that's not fun day........................ that's the song that was in my head all day. It felt like I was on a roller coaster. Have you ridden one lately? This morning started out great. Gibson went back to school, the morning routine was down I have new followers on my blog, wonderful, and I won an letter initial from Karol's blog and got some awesome coupons in the mail along with a ziploc vacuum thingy with some bags for free!!!! I had to make a call to a woman we were supposed to visit teach through our church. I'm not good at this but thought I'd give it a try. She politly said, "take me off the list, you people keep calling me." I"m not a scary person, really. Then I was all geeked to go to the local grocery store to take advantage of their $1.77 deals on Cheerios and Total brand cereals. I spent the previous night on the computer printing coupons for these deals to get even a better steal!! I like to be frugal with my food. I'd rather spend my money else where!! Any hoo, I take the kids with me and we get the deals I had planned out to get. I"m ready to pay and hand the cashier the coupons and he drops the bomb: I'm sorry Mam, we don't take internet coupons. What??? The crazy thing was, I was just there a couple of weeks ago using internet coupons and he said that the no internet coupon policy has been there for a long time. So with two squirmy kids and three people behind me I decide to pay for it anyway. It still was a good deal but I could have saved another $10. Aghhhhhhhhhhhh!! And those dang cookies kept calling me back to the jar, "Come on Kasey, one more ain't going to hurt ya!" I think cookies are the devil. I wouldn't make them except for my husband loves them and requests them all of the time so if all it takes is cookies to make him happy, I'm in!!! He tried to hide them but somebody found them! Hmmmmmm, who could that be???? After eating the cookie, the voice inside my head says, "Today on the lips, and tomorrow on the hips." Shut up. I know, I know what you're thinking, will power. Sorry to disappoint ya but, I'm lacking in that as of now. We were getting into the car and Stella fell on her back and head on our driveway. She slipped on ice. Scary, but she's okay. Fed up with my eating habbits we went to a YMCA to check it out and see if it is a good fit for our family. I"ll show those cookies who's boss. I think we'll join. It's a good investment for our health, physically and mentally. I don't think I get out of the house enough so this is a good way to do that!! Afterwards we went to Walgreens to get more deals. I like to go alone shopping because with all these coupons I use now, I need focus and concentration. Shopping with coupons isn't as easy as it looks, especially if you shop at Walgreens. You can use two coupons for one item. Gets tricky. To end my rollercoaster ride I got 2 pints of Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream for free with my coupons!!! Don't worry, they are Q's. He knows he has a time limit to eat those goodies before someone else gets their hands on it!!! I remember my word for New Year's: Attitude. My attitude is fine. Tomorrow's another day, a new day, a better day. Chin up!! My son likes cereal!! It is is favorite. You probably want to know why he's eating it off the floor. Well, he brought the box to me and asked for it. I said sure and he got so excited he lifted the box over his head and the top was open and it all came out!! He learned to eat like that from his Papa. Papa eats popcorn very similar. I got the urge to paint Friday night. I was sick of our white walls in our bedroom with brown curtains. Didn't go good. And the walls still had the anchors in from the previous owners wall hangings. It's been over a year in our house, it was about time I did something with it. Our bed spread is green and brown with a little yellow and tan. I really like the green and thought I was going to go with that color for the walls and then Q brought it to my attention that I shouldn't do that, b/c then we'll have a mint chocolate chip room. I agreed. I chose a soft yellow. It is more challenging to paint in this house because our walls are textured plaster with half circle shapes. I even bought one coat paint thinking that'll do the trick. Wrong!! Two coats later it's finished.  This picture really doesn't capture the real color of it. This chair is my Great Grandmother's. My Mom gave it to me. Every time I sit on it I think of them. I loves pieces of history.
I've been reading several blogs the past two days about making New Year's resolutions or setting new goals for the years. I prefer goals over resolutions. I've also read blogs where they do the top 10 photos of 2008. I may do that later. It was cute. I really liked Table Scraps blog today. She chose one word to focus on for the new year. She chose HOME. I like the idea of simplifying a goal or theme for the year into one word. My one word for the year is ATTITUDE. The reason I chose this word is because I struggle with it.
I need to have a better attitude about myself. I am my own worst enemy. I am worth a pedicure, massage, or shopping trip occasionally! I need to take better care of myself. I will lose the weight this year, I will follow my sister's example and exercise on a regular basis. When I do that then it makes for a happier home. 'Cause when Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy!!! (Is that how the saying goes?) My hubby says that my mood determines the tone of the house. I need to have a better attitude when my kids are screaming and I'm about ready to lose it. I need to have a better attitude towards my husband and realize that he doesn't think the same like me, therefore, I need patience too, lots of it!!! ( love ya honey!!) I need to have a better attitude towards the trials that are happening in this world. I need to have faith and find the positive things in life. I need to have a better attitude and put a smile on my face so I can be a good example to my children. I need to have a better attitude because it's healthy and smiling looks a whole lot better than a frown!! Turn that frown upside down. Put on a happy face. Blue skies are going to clear up! If you could sum up your one focus word for the year, what would it be?  We've enjoyed watching Gibson reading the name tags this year. He was so excited to find a present with his name on it. G-I-B-S-O-N, that spells Gibson Mom!!  Stella and her new princess barbies. She loves, loves these.  We had a make it yourself theme Christmas this year with my family. My dad made this sign for Quentin. To the left of him in the background is something my Uncle made for us. It is to be put by our pool. Now I just need to paint on the buoy (sp?) and we'll be all set for next summer.  In our family, we always tease that my sister Krisann is my Mom's favorite. So this year had these tee shirts made for us. They read: Mom Likes Me Best!! I guess we are all her favorites after all! lol.  My sister made these aprons for us. The kids got cookie mixes and wooden spoons with their names painted on them. They were so excited to bake. Underneath Gibson had his favorite p.j.'s on. They are superman and the "S" lights up in the middle. He didn't want to take them off. He had to shut off all of the lights in the house b/c he was the light and he said we could see with Superman!! So cute. We had a very good Christmas. We are so blessed to have such loving families We are looking forward to the new year and the things it will bring us.
 Ornaments for Grandma and Grandpa of the kids. Took a picture for the kids, cut out the face, took a black sharpie and filled it in. A little modge podge and some paint and your have yourself an ornament!!  I bought a set of words in the scrapbook section, and glued some magnets to it. I'm sorry about the lighting, they really look better in person!  Here is the three magnet boards I made for my family. I also bought little decals for .25 cents each and glued a magnet on each of them.
You'll just have to look at the picture in my header of my blog. It's our new family pic and I laugh every time I look at it. We are already embarrassing our children and they are only 4 and 2!! It cracks me up.  The Hubby and I.  Little Miss Pout!!  I thought this was a really good one of capturing their personalities.  I just love her eyes.  Choice #1.  Choice #2. Here are our family pics of 2008! We thought they turned our really good! We love our photographer and think he does a really good job showing the true personality of a person.
 This is our new tree. I bought a pre lit tree. I love it. My new additions to the tree are my cardinals.  Some ornaments on the down stairs tree. I printed Peace on Earth and put it in the photo frame.  All of these houses my Mom hand painted. They are very special to me.  My Mom also cross stitched my stocking. It makes me feel so good to know that she spent that much time on something for me. So much detail went in to it.  Kissing penguins.  My first nativity scene.  Upstairs mantel.  This is my garage sale wreath. Not bad for $5.00!!! These are a few of my favorite things. I've enjoyed looking at your Christmas decor. It's such a fun time. I feel really close to my family and can feel the spirit as I focus on the true meaning of Christmas.
Last night my husband and I were able to go to a boys basketball game opener between two local teams. They are class B and C schools. When we entered in the gym I noticed that the seats were not filled as I had thought a game opener would be. In fact you could probably have put both sides of the teams on one side of the bleachers. And then I got looking around and there were no cheerleaders. What????? And then there was no band! Are you kidding me???????? The student section for the home team stood the whole game but not once shouted out a cheer, or yelled in excitement. They looked like statues placed to fill a gap. I was so disappointed with the the school spirit. When I was in high school games were the thing to go to, especially boys basketball. The band was there, the cheerleaders were cheering getting the crowd involved. We wore our school colors and sometimes wore face paint. We were proud of our school and proud to show spirit. I was so sad by the lack of community. What has happened to high school athletics? I almost wanted to go down to the floor and start my own cheer, but then I remembered I'm not in high school anymore!! Instead, I sat through the game in disbelief. I did notice one thing, I knew who the parents were because they were the only ones who cheered when the teams made a bucket. I hope that these teams and communities prove me wrong in the coming season. If and when my kids are involved in sports you better believe there will be school spirit and community support, or else!!!!!! Or else, I'm going to have to put on my spirit fingers, and bring back cake raffles!!!  Our ward had a Christmas party last weekend. The kids had a lot of fun. It was South of the Border theme. They had a woman their who did face painting for the kids. Gibson wanted an elephant.  Stella had fun playing with the tortilla disks.
I came across a set of papers that gave advice on how to build strong families. I thought this was appropriate to share considering it's Christmas. Christmas time is shared with family and friends. I enjoy reading on ways to strengthen relationships and I hope you do to. ACCCTS stands for: Appreciation, Commitment, Creative coping and Problem Solving, Communication, Time Together, and Spiritual Wellness.Appreciation:Write down ten things you like about your spouse. Be specific. Set a goal to give one compliment a day to your spouse and children and carry it out. Look for special ways to be appreciative and make them your trademark. Commitment:Have a family council periodically to determine what's going well, what needs to be changed, and family goals. Renew marriage vows on a wedding anniversary and have a simple ceremony. Designate a wall or room in the house for family mementos such as pictures and souvenirs of trips. Creative Coping and Problem Solving:Find out how much stress is on you by taking a stress test. Commit yourself to an exercise program. Cultivate a sense of humor and use it. Communication:Set aside some time each day when you can be alone together, to talk with your spouse. Take an objective look at your communication habits. Work on just one bad communication habit for one month. Next month work on another. Rituals and traditions offer family members a chance tos tay in contact with each other (e.g., dinner or breakfast). Keep the mood pleasant and avoid disciplining or negative remarks at this time. Time TogetherThink back to any happy childhood memories. Could you recreate some similar experiences for your family? Let the children help with household chores, but work together. Have a "date" with just you and your spouse on a weekly, biweekly, or monthly basis. Try new things, be creative, have fun. Keep it simple and inexpensive or as extravagant as you wish. Just being together is the important thing. Spiritual Wellness:Set aside 15-30 minutes each day for meditation, prayer, or contemplation. Take a walk and enjoy the beauty of nature. Examine your own values and philosophy of life. Try keeping a journal of your thoughts and impressions. Help your children clarify their values. Hlep them gain perspective by understaning what is most important to them in their lives. *Source: Adapted from Stinnet N., & DeFrain, J. (1985) Secrets of Strong Families. Tonight as we were playing cards with my in laws we were discussing the kids bedtime routine with me. I want to share what I do with each of my children before they go to bed and see if I'm way too nice or a big push over or just being a good Mom. For Stella: I give her a hug and a kiss, and then she wants me to bounce her unto her bed, then I say prayer, she says her prayer and then she'll want a drink. After I shut the door, she says, good night, I say good night, then she'll say sleep tight, I'll say sleep tight, and then she'll say I love you so much, and I reply I love you so much. And that's it. I don't here another peep out of her the rest of the night. Unless of course, she sings herself to sleep. For Gibson: Tuck him in, I say prayers, he says his prayers. I give his a kiss, hug, whisper and a tickle and then I have to tickle him with two hands. After that he'll want a drink and chap stick. After I shut the door, he say Good night Mama, I'll say good night. He'll say I love you Mama, and I'll say I love you too. And that's it, he's out for the rest of the night. Here are my reasons for doing this with them each night. It's something special that's between us, I feel that a routine calms them down and gets them ready for bed, and I love to hear them pray and they make me feel wanted and loved. They don't do this with Dad. It's something that I do with them. My question to you is, what do you do for your kids bed time routines? Am I the only Mom who does this? I've been blessed with kids who have never given me a hard time going to sleep. I think that our routine has something to do with this. I really want to hear what you have to say. Can you relate, or are you totally opposite?  Wednesday night we went Wassailing downtown with friends. The kids were able to do crafts, have juice and cookies, listen to the band, see Santa, horse drawn carriages, a trolley, etc. Despite the rain the kids did very well. Adults we able to enter various drawings at the local business. I was the winner for a $50 gas card!! Yippy! I never win in drawings so I was so excited to get the call this morning!!  Stella was so excited to see the camel and goats.  This is the camel and Shepards. It was cool to see a live nativity scene with all of the animals.
 They are so cute together. Best of friends.  Our princesses.  Here are the wands we made for the girls today. I bought the stars at Hobby Lobby for $1.00 a piece. We did heart wands as well. We used scrapbook paper, ribbon, glitter, and a sticker. So simple and easy. The girls love them .
Sunday's lesson at church was about angels. What there purpose was, who they spoke to and visited in the scriptures. To sum it up angels in the scriptures warned, rejoiced, taught, gave advice, counsel, and safety. Then we talked about our earthly angels. I was fortunate enough to have one of my earthly angels sitting next to me Sunday, Quentin's Grandmother. She is has such a kind heart and is always happy and I never hear her complain. She's 92 and is as full of life as I am at 27. She is such a good example to me. She helps me think positive about the long term perspective. I realized Sunday what a privilege and blessing it is to have her in my life. It made me miss my other Grandmother's who have passed on and all of the special qualities that they possessed. Grandma's memory is sharp. She loves to tell stories of growing up and I love listening and looking at family photos. Stella loves her Grandma Grape too. Who are your earthly angels? This is my sweet toothed Stella under her brother's bed yesterday. She is in love with ice cream and asks for it all of the time. I was busy with laundry and I noticed the freezer door was open and the silverware drawer was open. Hmmmmmmmm, where could she be? I couldn't get upset with her. She was just too cute. I also took a video of her that I'll post later.
 Liza and I put together this garland on Saturday afternoon. We went to Michael's earlier and picked up some shinny glittery things to add to it. I used to garlands together, a couple of clamps and some fake flowers that were in our bedroom collecting dust. I used those for fillers. I think it turned out really cute. I used Nester's idea for the feathers. I think they are a nice touch.  What do you think??
 Thanksgiving was such a nice day. Dad, Mom and Kait getting ready to walk with us.  Cool guy in the background!!  This is much better.  Stretching before the big walk.  Family. The best thing to have. We missed my sister Krisann as she was with her bf's family.
  Proud Mommy's Daily Drama and Great Dealsawarded me these to awards. Lucky me. Thank you so much. It has been such much fun to connect with other bloggers and to get ideas on how to make my house a home and much more.
 I found this picture on my sister's facebook. Some say we look alike some say we don't. What do you think?
This was my weekend project. I saw this magnet board and photo frame in a Country Sampler magazine and thought , I can make that. It was fun and these will make great Christmas gifts. I'm excited to make these with my girlfriends soon.
 The magnet board only cost $4 for materials. I bought a sheet of Waynes coating and cut it to size. I used left over paint from my house and a couple of flowers from my scrapbook collection. I bought an 12x24 sheet of aluminum and cut it with steel scissors. That was the toughest part. Very hard. I also had the ribbon in my collection that I used. I would recommend a somewhat stiffer solid color of ribbon to work with. This ribbon is patterned and too soft but it matched!  Close up.  Here is the 5x7 frame. This one was a little tricky too. I had to score the plastic sheet to a 6x8 so a 5x7 would fit. I just used a 4x6 for this photo. They are simple and it's great because you can use whatever you have around the house to accent your piece. I had fun making these. If you have more questions I'd love to answer them.  I've been having some really interesting conversations with Stella lately and so has Gibson. On our way home from bargain shopping at Hobby Lobby (Thanksgiving Decor 80% off) I looked in the rear view mirror and said this to Stella: Are you bored Stella? What? Are you bored Stella? No, Mom I'm a witch!! ( I bought her a witch costume Tuesday and so she tells me at least 5 times a day since that she's a witch!) Gibson was in Stella's way and she clearly said, "Excuse me sir, I have a message for you: Move out of the way, thank you." Oh, how I love my Stella. |
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