Trusting God

WOOT!

2012-02-13T21:25:00.000-06:00

The computer is back up and running!

Fast!

No freezing up!

No bogging down!

Just perfect, like new, superb performance! I'm so happy :-)

Only setback was the disc Hubby put my audio books I have bought over the last 2 yrs has gone missing. Sorta bugs me but since I haven't been able to access the side of the computer they were on since they were installed I guess it isn't such a loss. If I was going to listen to them at all I would have long before now, right?
If the disc turns up it was meant to be.

I've got my Swagucks toolbar installed. Added my Pinterest Pin It button to the favorties bar. Now to add Picasa back on and sort through all the double pics from failed uploads.

And because he is a super cool dad... Hubby upgraded both school computers to use with our flat screen TVs. Wireless mouse and keyboards will make doing school easier (and with way more parental supervision!) Thanks to the computer issues we are about 2 months behind schedule but the beauty of being married to the Principle is this teacher had the school year reset. Now we are right on time and moving ahead. :)

Be Blessed!

you don't get what you pay for anymore

2012-02-13T11:34:00.000-06:00

Our home laptop decided to start throwing viruses and slowly quit working. Hubby did what he could but it just got worse. We finally knew it was more than we could fix so we hauled it to our once favorite computer repair guy. A $100 and several days later the virus was declared fixed and we were informed our barely 2 yr old computer's hard drive might need replaced. We took it home and the next day booted it up for some homeschooling. It worked great for about 45 minutes and then all the issues from the viruses started back up. We called the repair guy and he argued that WE MUST BE DOING IT WRONG because he had fixed it. Day 2 same issues. Day 3 I hauled it back to town for them to look at again. Several more days and repair guy announced that indeed there were still viruses on the computer, the hard drive really needs replaced, and we should get a new OS. WHAT?! The computer came home again with the explanation it was finally fixed but may run slow because of the hard drive. Can you guess where this is going?! I bet you can! We booted up for school and EVERYTHING crashed. Hubby was barely able to get the pictures and school work off of it as it constantly locked up. Really?! I paid to have it fixed and yet here we are weeks later, money spent, and nothing working. Think they will return the money since it is not repaired? I don't think so.

Last night Hubby bought a new OS (same as on the computer but we didn't get the OS disc when we bought it) and began wiping out everything. We weren't able to finish it because of how long it took to upload the pics to photobucket (OVER 2 hrs!!! because of slow running/freezing up). He should have it fixed tonight and hopefully we won't need a new hard drive.

Until then I am on Hubby's school laptop. Got to get my Pinterest and Blog addictions in :-)

hot water!

2012-02-07T15:29:00.000-06:00

50 lovely gallons of it streaming into my shower! As a family of 5 we no longer have to stagger showers over the course of a day or two and pray we get more than 2 minutes of luke warm water before the heat is gone. I tested out the shower Sunday morning before church...showered, filled the tub to shave and showered off again and never had the gas kick in to heat the tank. I don't normally use that much water but I figured that equalled me and the kids all bathing in rapid succession. Just Heavenly!

Now our washing machine and dish washer are also working so much better. The mystery smell in the front loader has disappeared.

We borrowed some Shaklee Basic G from a friend to kill the mold on a small patch of dry wall. Seems to have worked. We hauled off about 10 50 gal trash bags of nasty drywall and sub flooring. A metal collector took the old heater for scrap. Hubby has framed the doorway and hung the door back. There is still drywall to repair, door casings to replace and the steam overflow release line to run. Maybe next weekend we will get that done.

I'm very proud of my Hubby for getting it all cleaned up and replaced in one evening. He is an electrician by trade and this was his first big experience with plumbing and gas lines. Not to mention he saved us several hundred dollars by doing lots of research and price matching keeping the dent to our budget manageable.

thank God for budgets!

2012-02-05T17:39:00.001-06:00

We thank God we are trying hard to stick to a budget this year! With "unexpected bills" of braces, hospitals, doctors, broken laptops and now a new water heater having some savings has been a huge help!

2 days ago Bub heard something as he went to bed. The girls followed but heard nothing. From my comfy bed at nearly midnight I hear him call "MOM! THERE IS WATER SPRAYING EVERYWHERE!" That got me moving! I saw the soaked floor, door and a heavy mist flowing from the small closet and knew it wasn't good. Hubby was roused and he found both water lines cracked and spewing forth. We shut the water off and went to bed.

Yesterday Hubby bought parts to fix the lines and we noticed the tank leaning backwards. We figured the floor was ruined so we drained the tank and pulled it out. Yep, the floor is toast. So are the walls. MOLD everywhere. The water heater has been acting funny lately by not providing but a couple minute hot shower and we know why. The whole back part of the tank's bottom was rusted out and GONE. Its been pouring through the floor for who knows how long.

What was a simple fix is now a full gut of that closet, the hall and possibly of our oldest's room too.

whew glad that is over!

2012-02-04T17:39:00.000-06:00

In the span of 2 weeks my girls both got braces and one of them visited the ER twice in 2 days. My oldest started the braces trend and was in so much pain little sister almost didn't want to get her's done. A few days later we headed back to the orthodontist for spacers on 4 of Princess' molars to prep for her dental work. 8 days later she has more gear in her mouth than big sister but not as much pain. Go figure!

The braces pain caused oldest to not eat as much for that first week and she started feeling run down. Then this week she started passing out and complaing of rapid heart beat and chest pains. I witnessed one black out but blew it off as we were all tired from our predawn trip to the city for Princess' braces. A few hrs later when I needed to run errands and oldest would not wake easy I knew something was up.

Jumped in the truck to run to town and she just could not stay awake. I called her doctor and they agreed she needed to be seen by a cardiologist and would set it up. During that 20 minute drive she woke a few times with lots of complaints of pain and heart racing and passed out several times. More calls to the doctor and off to the ER we went.

The ER rushed her in to CT Scan on her head, chest x-ray, blood work and EKG. Her Bp hovered at 99/46 and her heart rate jumped wildly if she moved from the 60s to over 120. Many hours later and no Rx but a "clear bill of health" from a pedi cardiologist at the local children's hospital we went home. The ER doctor was willing to keep her if we wanted but we declined. We barely left the parking lot before she was complaining of a new pain in her chest. Hubby was out of town so we spent a restless night piled in my bed waiting on dawn and friends who could child sit.

The next morning (Wednesday) we headed to the ER of the children's hospital as per the last ER doctor's instructions. 3 hours in triage sitting next to kids with obvious Whooping Cough was NOT fun. Once we finally were seen the doctor really just blew us off and told us she was "just dehydrated because all teenagers don't drink enough fluids". I argued that MY daughter does but the doctor wasn't hearing it. They hydrated her and sent us home.

Thursday morning she passed out a few more times and I thanked God we had an appointment with a pedi cardiologist on Friday. Turns out that doctor saw my younger daughter for her hole in her heart and did the genetic testing on all 3 kids for clotting disorders a few years ago! We saw him for 3 hours and she was given a u/s of her heart and another EKG.

Finally an Rx!! Extremely low Bp. We now have a plan of action and she is feeling better.
Praise God for putting us with a doctor who knew us and would listen!!

"Boundaries"

2012-01-24T15:48:00.000-06:00

I'm working through the book "Boundaries". Right now I'm listening to chapter 3 on audiobook and really enjoying it. I searched several bookstores yesterday for a hard copy but everywhere I went they were sold out. I looked at FamilyChristian.com and was told they don't carry it anymore even though they list it online. Amazon has it but I didn't want to wait for shipping so Audibles.com it is. A friend found me a copy of the book for $1.50! I can't wait to read and listen at the same time. I also bought the sequal "Beyond Boundaries". This is going to be a year of changes.

Anyone else read the books? What did you think?

not compensated for any part of this post

2 years now

2012-01-22T20:54:00.000-06:00

Not sure anyone but me cares anymore but this is the 2 year anniversary of finding out we were expecting our reversal baby. We had 2 weeks of enjoying that baby before we found out the baby was in my left tube and it was rupturing requiring surgery in Feb. My heart hurts still. I look around and think about the little 15 month old that should be toddling around my house getting into trouble with the other kids. I've been crying a bunch this week. No one really understans why I still mourn especially for such an early loss. I've watched my reversal sisters that shared my EDD go on to have their precious bundles and a few have another on the way. And I still have empty arms.

The younger kids still pray at times for another baby during bedtime prayers. My oldest doesn't think prayer works anymore. She has prayed for the 3 yrs since my reversal for a baby and since I haven't managed to get pregnant or keep a pregnancy she thinks God doesn't care or hear her. Her faith is shaking. THAT breaks my heart. We have talked to her that God DOES hear but His plans might not include a new baby here on earth. She quotes scriptures to us about "ask and it will be given" and "babies are a blessing" so she feels we are not blessed or in His will. God that hurts to hear her say that! I don't know what to say.

I'm crying again. I've cried so much today I have a massive headache.
If anyone hears and cares I would love you to lift us up in prayers. Lord knows I need them.

Someone forgot to...

2012-01-21T23:21:00.000-06:00

inform North Texas that this is JANUARY and not May!
It was 80 degrees yesterday and I was outside in shorts mowing the yard. Sweating. In JANUARY. sigh. The yard is full of horrid green weeds and stickers. The fireants are out in force and I swear I saw mosquitos near the drainage ditches.

The temps are swinging wildly every week and sometimes daily a good 30-40 degrees for daytime highs. I am afraid we will get a freeze soon and it will kill my pear tree that is fully loaded with buds. :(

Going to be a long hot summer if things don't change soon.

still working

2012-01-18T21:48:00.000-06:00

What started as a room clean up turned into a painting party for me and the oldest. I was sick of looking at the crayon drawing covered dirty butter colored walls that didn't go with anything she had. Inspired by one of our favorite shows Dirty Jobs I decided to use what I had and make it myself. I had 2 cans of semi gloss white paint and a 1/4 gal of left over gray from the boy's room. I mixed that mess together and came up with a beautiful silvery gray blue white. It looks awesome! Changes colors based on time of day and colors added to the room. We made it through the whole room with the gallon I mixed up but we could see spots of yellow so a quick trip to the big box store and a very confused paint clerk (she couldn't understand why I was matching "white" even though I promised her it wasn't WHITE at all)...
I can't wait to show pics!

I used the left overs from the gal I got color matched at to do my laundry room. It was country blue floor to ceiling and bleck. I ran out 3/4 the way through the first coat so I'll have to get another gallon.

My son came down with a nasty case of broncitis which stopped my progress.Snuggle time is way more important than getting rooms done. :)

We also signed up for private in home puppy training with www.barkbusters.com and the change in the pups that first session on Friday was AMAZING! 3 hours of work and my danes are not hyper, fighting, counter cruising or knocking us down to get to the food as we make it. That makes for a happier home and we are excited to keep the training going.

Oldest child ~~who doesn't want to be called Peanut anymore and I need to come up with a new nickname for~~ also got braces today and went to our new church's youth group for the first time. She enjoyed doing both which is a pleasant surprise. She just got home and hasn't stopped chattering about it since! Woot! Princess will be getting braces too next week. She has to start with spacers and in a week get her full braces.

Bedtime. Sitting in the ortho clinic for 3 hours and running into the city and home (almost an hour each way) twice today wore me out. But the dogs were glad to see us and get a potty break between our adventures today. I took a nap when we got home but that didn't help.

What I've been up to...

2012-01-11T21:33:00.000-06:00

Remember THIS?

The oldest and I have been working hard

2nd coat of paint on the walls, new color for the doors

and a few coats on the new trim,

a few accessories

and we can check this room off

unexpected remodel

2011-12-31T00:39:00.001-06:00

2 weeks ago our master bathroom flooded. AGAIN. This time running water poured under the walls and over 5 ft into our bedroom. Sigh

Of course it was after normal business hours and Hubby was at his teaching job an hour away and couldn't come home. No flash light in the house meant we couldn't find all the parts to the shop vac out in the storage. I was on the phone with a plumber trying to find out how to stop the flood as the kids bailed water. Thankfully friends drove the almost hour round trip to bring us their shop vac and we cleaned up best we could. Plumbers came the next day and snaked the drain and I started on the washing of every towel in the house that was used in the clean up.

Demo begins!

removing the debris

this used to be a bookcase in Bub's room

view from our bathroom into Bub's room
through his bookcase/window the old owners just drywalled over on our side

ripping out nasty peel-n-stick floor tiles
(same wall as above before we ripped out the drywall and framing)

almost done!

BEFORE- badly built bookcase where a window once was

AFTER- bookcase removed. new framing and drywall

We had planned to do our bathroom sometime in the not too near future. Then we flooded again on Monday. UGH!!!! The plumbers came out and this time could not snake the drain. In looking down a vent pipe in the ground they dropped their flash light. When they dug down to what they thought was the sewer line to retrieve the light they found more issues. Our kitchen sink lines were never tied into the main sewer and were just dumping water and gook into the ground! This made the dirt around our concrete sewer line erode away and the main line shifted busting open spilling sewage into the ground and causing the pipes to back up. Also our main line runs up hill not a good thing for flow. They were able to patch everything into proper working order after 5 hrs of work.

If the plumbers hadn't dropped their light in the line where they did the break nor kitchen sink issues would never have been found. We know God was directing everything that day! No coincidences with Him :)

We have reframed, insullated, sound proofed and drywalled the wall between us and Bub's room. I don't have a pic of that. But it is WARM and QUIET in our bathroom now. We still have 3 walls open for future work. We have to run new shower lines, new electrical wiring/plugs/lighting and install a pocket door. I haven't been able to decide on tile, shower size, faucet placement, vanity style or the hundreds of other things that come with starting from scratch. BUT that is for next year!

Hanukkah night 3 - the kids entertaining us

2011-12-22T20:47:00.000-06:00

Candlelight! First night of Hanukkah!

2011-12-20T18:57:00.003-06:00

bad bad bad

2011-12-19T19:39:00.000-06:00

I have so many things to blog and yet ....

NADA

do you hear the crickets chirping too?

We are down to my daughter's computer that I can load my pics on and she is so behind in school that I am never on it. I'm on Hubby's school computer now while he is sleeping.... shhhhh

I know I could use it when she is finished when her daily school but I'm forgetful or maybe lazy is more like it. Whatever. Ahem. I'm sticking with the "I'm just too busy to blog" story. Mostly true ;)

14 yrs

2011-12-12T15:40:00.000-06:00

Today my Love and I are celebrating 14 yrs of marraige!

Honestly we never thought we would make it this far. We have had more than our share of experiences that had friends and family telling us to just give up and move on. We thought about calling it quits but we are just too stubborn to walk away. :) I'm glad we didn't.

I hope all of our ups and downs show our children that marriage is worth staying in. Even when it hurts and it gets hard...not IF it does but WHEN. God doesn't promise us a life free of troubles and heart ache. We have to lean on Him at all times!

does it ever end?!

2011-11-25T19:53:00.000-06:00

Decluttering?
House training TWO puppies?
The tummy flu doing its second trip through our home?
The tummy flu that one of the pups got as well!?

Oh Lord I hope so! I am very THANKFUL that we have not redone our floors as I had planned this fall. And I guess another bright side of house training the puppies is I will be getting all new towels because some smells just linger. UGH! And having GIGANTOR pups rampaging through the house, chewing everything under 4 ft tall, knocking over and breaking things with their whip like tails means the house is staying cleaner. Today they learned if they stand on hind legs they can eat from the dishes in the sink means that room will now ALWAYS be clean or at least it BETTER BE :-/

The house purging marathon ground to a haul because of all the above and the Thanksgiving Holiday. I managed to fill another car truck with clothes to donate! I really want to get to the attic soon. It is so stuffed we can't get to the blower to change the filter and that ain't good.

I will be working on things slowly until the end of the year so we can start the New year CLUTTER FREE! I have been knocking out a few projects late at night when things settle down and I can't wait to post them! Soon.... I hope :)

We are blessed to have my mother-in-law in town for 12 days visiting! We only get to see her maybe once a year and this makes her second trip down this year :) The kids have lots planned for her stay. I bet she goes home ready for a vacation! LOL

We have a mix of sadness and joy in the family. My great uncle passed away 2 days ago and his funeral is next week. He was my Grampa's brother-in-law and loved to tell me about Grampa and his early days of mischief and horseback adventures. It feels like loosing Grampa again to not have Uncle JB here to tell me about him since I barely remember Grampa with his passing 20 yrs ago. We also lost my cousins' grandmother on Wednesday. She was the sweetest most godly woman I know. The mother/grandmother we all dream of having...even my mom said that when she called to tell me how the funeral went today. She was well loved by her little town and church and will be sorely missed.

My mother-in-law leaves next week as well. Then we will travel up for Cast Removal Day for Princess on the 5th (woot woot!), 14th wedding anniversary *HUBBA HUBBA*, Hanukkah and having Hubby home for company shut down Dec 24-Jan 1! We don't know what to do with him here so long.... but vacation sounds N-I-C-E! This will be his first time off work in over 2 yrs and boy does he need it!!!

until then...
moving forward even a bit IS progress

just keep cleaning

2011-11-17T20:10:00.000-06:00

Been busy cleaning and de-junking the house and storages. Again.
I have been ruthless! A friend was raising money for her marathon with a garage sale so I called her up asking if she needed donations. Of course she could take it... and should she bring a trailer? OH YEAH! BRING A TRAILER!!! We filled her van and trailer right on up. It felt so GOOD! I had more but she didn't have room :)

Yesterday I cleaned my son's room and I tackled his toy ~~hoard~~ box. Out with the broken and missing part toys. We started with a giant rubbermaid container and a medium size one. Once he got the idea that toys were going to those less fortunate he was VERY willing to help! I'm very very very proud to say we are down to ONLY the medium size box of toys/matchbox cars/toy guns and his train table I made him for under his bed! WOOT!

I then hit the girls' rooms for out grown summer clothes. That resulted in another medium size box overflowing in clothes from just my younger daughter! We were even able to sort winter clothes and get them put her room. HAPPY DANCE! I still need to go through oldest daughter's room for stuff to purge. I just sorted some of her's things as they came out of the laundry.

I am trying to balance my new found love of de-junking with my "what if we need this again?!" and "we've had that forever but never used it and what if the giver of it shows up and asks about it?" fears. I also don't want the house to look sterile or leave nothing sentimental for the kids to enjoy. That is a bit hard for me as I'm not sentimental about things. Yes, it reminds me of that person/time in life but it is either useful or not... and if NOT then it is taking up space and time to clean. And I hate cleaning!

loving this pallet wall make over!

2011-11-07T15:49:00.002-06:00

http://realhousewivesofbc.blogspot.com/2011/10/pallet-possibilities-pallet-wall.html

Thankful hearts

2011-11-03T20:15:00.003-05:00

Nov 1- I'm thankful for my God who LOVES me so much He sent His Son to die for me so that I can praise Him FOREVER!

Nov 2- I'm thankful to live in a country where I can worship and have many choices in how to worship

Nov 3- I'm thankful for His renewed mercies. Daily. Free! Don't even have to ask. How awesome is that!?

Nov 4- thankful for all the provision God has given us! through His bounty I am able to bless others and I know if we are ever in need God will return the blessing

Nov 5- thankful for my children and the challenges and blessings they bring me

Nov 6- thankful He is God and I am not

Nov 7- thankful for 2nd, 3rd and 1,000,000th chances

new members of the family

2011-11-01T05:32:00.001-05:00

We have wanted a Great Dane pup forever! Well I have at least but after our first Dane was put down 13 yrs ago due to kidney failure Hubby wasn't sure he could love another gentle giant. We've talked to breeders and it just never fell into place. I gave up.

A few weeks ago I mentioned on Facebook that we were trying ~~again~~ to work with a breeder but the chances were low that the mating would take. It didn't. We were sad. A friend read my post and said she would keep her ears open as she is in the puppy rescue circles.

Last night I got an urgent FB message that pups had been found! A friend of a friend's knew someone yada yada yada... some Craigslist photos... some story changing... from "free" to "rehoming fee"...

We ran over this morning and picked up the 2 females from the litter.

Justice

Patriot

born on the 10th of July

season ending injury

2011-10-31T17:13:00.000-05:00

My soccer playing baby broke her wrist last Tuesday during soccer practice. She was jogging backwards when she hit an uneven spot and fell trying to catch herself with her hands behind her. She snapped her radious and pulled the ulna growth plate apart.

She is currently in a long cast up past her elbow for 2 weeks then we'll have her rechecked and x-rayed. IF she is healing the ortho will remove the long cast and put on a short cast. If she is not healing she'll stay in the long cast.

Waiting to be cast.

40 hrs post break

Sadly she is missing the last 4 games of her first soccer season. She was team captain for last week so she attended the game and cheered the team on from the bench. It is so hard on her to not be out there playing and helping her teammates. :(

chair reveal!

2011-10-31T17:01:00.000-05:00

a sneak peak of sorts

2011-10-18T22:24:00.004-05:00

Remember THIS?

I had dug her out of an closing down upholstery store's trash pile.

The owner didn't want to spend the $$$ to get it fixed up.

At first I was all "I can do this!"

I even bought a staple gun and borrowed an air compressor.

UH NO.

Way way way over my head.

And so she sat in the corner piled deep in all that gathers in my bedroom.

Then my birthday came and Hubby said to get it done professionally!

GLEE!

I love that man!

I grabbed some stain and did the prettied wood up real nice

(hey it was another $200 saved DIY'ing it!)

3 months later she still sat in the corner.

Neglected.

Sad.

WELL NO MORE!

No one puts Baby in the corner!

She got a little structural reconstruction to stablize her back

some charcoal suede fabric

satin poly on the wood

She is still at the "spa" getting made over.

We are waiting on her BLING to come in and be installed...

PEWTER NAILHEAD TRIM!

POW!

She'll come home Friday or Saturday!

I've linked to some parties I'm sharing this make over with over there----->

Texas State Fair

2011-10-18T22:04:00.000-05:00

My girls surprised me with being Thrill Riders!

If they could have had enough tokens to ride all the rides (minus the bungee ones)they would have!

My Love road his first ride and had some sort of episode.

SCARED me to death!

He came off the ride dizzy, ice cold and sweating buckets.

He recovered thanks to advice from my midwife but he was left wiped out.

It took him 3 days to get over the headache and tiredness.

uh MOM this is NOT near the train set

Crystal flower light tree

Bub is bouncing up and down over the model trains in the arboritum

Hubby took the girls on the Texas Star.

Tallest ferris wheel in the western hemisphere!

Bub and I stayed on the ground and had cotton candy ;)

View from the top

With Hubby down for the count for the most part this was the only ride Bub got to be on

besides the carousel

The FLASH of Hubby and Bub was all I could get as the zoomed past!

This was our FIRST state fair.

We liked it.

Wished we could have seen more.

REALLY WISH Hubby had felt better and had been able to enjoy the day :(

Next time we are getting the "homeschool tickets" to save money.

$17 per person just to get in hurts a wee bit

and

then you add the rides at $5 (in tokens) per person per ride

DOUBLE OUCH

We've decided to just save up and go to Six Flags if we want to ride rides.

Bit more for tickets but the rides are all free and more little boy friendly.

I'm a soccer mom :)

2011-10-10T16:46:00.000-05:00

Princess joined the local soccer league this year. It is her first time to play a team sport and she really likes it. Finding team sports that let home schoolers in has been difficult. We can do "Upwards" sports until she is out of 6th grade (next year) but she isn't interested in basketball, volleyball or touch football. Since Texas doesn't offer soccer as a public school sport she can stay with her team until she graduates high school. Happy happy joy joy!

Warning tons of craptastic Iphone pics from a few of her games ahead! Enjoy :)

Lady Indians #15!

GO BIG PURPLE!

junkin' with my baby girl

2011-10-09T16:28:00.000-05:00

Last month local counties had a massive junk/yard sale. My oldest and youngest were off visiting my mom in Oklahoma so I grabbed my baby girl and headed out for a few hours of treasure hunting.

sporting her new glasses isn't she CUTE!

lovely old milk jars and galvanized holder

it was more than I wanted to spend that day

this beat up vanity/desk had great bones and just

needed some loving.

but I am grounded from bringing home more projects

until I finish the ones I have started

sigh

lurve

I could see these stacked in my living room as a side table.

Again the price wasn't what I would pay

this was just the start of 12 miles of sales

I was good though!

All I bought was an antique minnow bucket that I made into a planter

and

chocolate whoopie pies

no pics cause they didn't last that long

Now I have until next spring to clean out space and finish up my projects so I can bring home more unique treasures to make this house a more RELAXED home.

13

2011-10-07T21:32:00.091-05:00

October 7th, 1998

Seattle, WA

37.6 weeks pregnant

preterm labor since 32 weeks

HAPPY to make it this far!

6am-- waiting for induction
and enjoying our last nap ;)

2pm-- 4 cm and 100% effaced.
still having preterm contractions every 5-10 minutes
time to get things going!

7:56 pm PST
6.13 lbs and 20 inches long

under 3 hours from water breaking to birth
labor was hard and fast!

first pictures and video taken by a proud new Daddy

Her pediatrician says she is "PERFECT"
very healthy and a great nurser for being early

sweet love!

HAPPY 13th BIRTHDAY!

interesting cloud formation

2011-10-06T16:15:00.001-05:00

Saw this driving home from Oklahoma last month. It was an almost perfect heart shape.

GOD LOVES YOU!

let the kitchen updates begin!

2011-10-05T16:27:00.000-05:00

After MANY MONTHS of no oven and only 2 burners working on the top of my stove

Hubby bought me this!

SQUEAL!

We got such a great deal from Sears that we also picked up a new dishwasher!

Our old dishwasher sounded like it was grinding rocks and not cleaning well at all.

Now my dishes are clean and the machine is nice and quiet :)

I can't wait to use those massive burners to can and cook up yummy soups this winter :)

Oh and bake! I can bake bread again!

I better start working out ;)

Happy 6th Birthday Bub!

2011-10-05T12:15:00.023-05:00

We were having so much fun doing his birthday yesterday that I didn't get this post up. Bad mommy blogger :(

showing off another baby tooth lost
growing up so fast!

We did presents first.

My mom came down from Oklahoma and made his cake. We bought a train cake pan years ago and never used it. This year he insisted! We did chocolate devil's food and home made buttercream icing. YUM.

We headed to the local Midway for National Night Out sponsored by our local Police and Fire Depts.

Care Flight and Crew

Care Flight coming in to land

Presenting the Colors

3 hours of bounce houses, hot dogs and pop corn, meeting Police, Fire and Rescue, ATF, Border Patrol, Care Flight crew (and other local charities and family services) then going through the Fire Dept's "Smoke Filled House" experience we were ready to head home for cake and ice cream!

The two TALLEST in my family!
That's right my oldest has out grown me.
Her- 5'10 and 3/4
Me- 5'10
weird looking up to my child

I have another pic that looks like she is cuffed and sitting there.

Sitting in our town's new Hummer for high water resque
We think we might need something this sturdy for her to learn to drive in...
in 2 YEARS!

Care Flight crew

Bub about to jump from top ledge in bounce house

When the medic jumped into the picture Bub took off running!
He was afraid of everyone in uniform for some reason.

I hope this is the ONLY time she is in a Police Tahoe!

sitting in the helicopter

The "Smoke Filled House" demonstration.

Can you see the stove?

How about the Fire Fighter standing to the left?

SCARY STUFF!

my friend's video is VIRAL!

2011-09-30T16:05:00.009-05:00

I bawl each time I watch it! God is so good!

In the time I have been trying to post this video (an hr thanks to IE...so I switched to Google Chrome) she is up to 264,000+ hits!

so excited!

2011-09-29T19:14:00.000-05:00

I dropped my antique chair off at the upholstery guy's house this morning! I then headed to the fabric store and picked out a nice charcoal faux suede material and "antique pewter" nail head trim to finish it off. Sadly it will take up to 3-4 weeks to get it home again because the upholsterer is swamped. :(

BUT...

I am in the beginning of recovering my french chair and ottoman. I found some nice neutral fabric on sale today that kind of reminds me of grain sack. I gave the chair a new coat of creamy paint to cover my "aged look" since it looked so horrid with my new rug. My mom is in town and she is doing the sewing on the cushions for me. I have borrowed an air compressor, my stapler came in and I found a local place that sells the 22 gauge staples I need so I am good to go!

I am happy to be knocking these projects off my list.
It is a good day :)

giddy moment!

2011-09-18T20:01:00.000-05:00

Oh happy dance!

THIS will be there in just a few days!

MY very first power tool!

All MINE! :-)

Porter-Cable US58 1/4-Inch to 5/8-Inch 22-Gauge C-Crown Upholstery Stapler

Isn't it dreamy?! Course now I must buy an air compressor ;-)

and ALL for a total of UNDER $8.00! That's right! Thank you Swag Bucks! I could have got it totally free but I didn't want to wait for my Amazon Gifts Card to clear... I have projects to do!

WHY aren't YOU earning Swag Bucks

AND getting cool FREE stuff

with me!?

have you seen Steampunk style?

2011-09-16T18:35:00.001-05:00

I am so digging this style! Not everyone's cup of tea I know. Not something I could pull off in my house as Bub would want it all to WORK and to be allowed to take it all APART... I'm still searching for parts to my coffee table he "fixed" for me!

This Steampunk home is for sale.

Check out the kitchen especially the stove!

Reminds me of the home in the movie Casper with all the neat gadgets and gizmos.
Click the link for more delicious Steampunk pics!

fall dreaming

2011-09-15T12:25:00.000-05:00

I'm dreaming of Fall. A real New England or Pac Northwest glorious colorful crisp night air FALL.

Source: redbubble.com via Moma on Pinterest

With apple and pumpkin festivals. Steaming mugs of hot chocolate and apple cider. Snuggling in with a good book before a roaring fire.

Source: itsakeeper.tumblr.com via Moma on Pinterest

Source: potterybarn.com via Heidi on Pinterest

Cozy warm layered tops, flowing long skirts with tall leather boots

Source: polyvore.com via Samantha on Pinterest

Source: clubmonaco.com via Melissa on Pinterest

instead of breezy dresses

Source: thegloss.com via Renee on Pinterest

and endless days of

Source: withamymac.com via Corey on Pinterest

I'll just have to keep dreaming as this Texas summer is fighting hard to stick around. We broke heat records this week when once again the temps climbed to 108. My yard looks like it is changing seasons but it is really just dead and my trees dropped their leaves months ago because of the severe drought. I sure do miss the Autumns I experienced in Seattle. All the lovely reds, golds, oranges covering Mt Rainer in spectacular display. Sigh.

Today though we are blessed with a break in the sweltering temps. I have my windows open! My A/C bill is thankful! There is a small promise of rain for the next days. I pray it happens! My water bill would be most happy.

funny

2011-09-15T11:55:00.000-05:00

how I never knew how much I want to get out and go places until we became a one car family and I can't. I'm a homebody normally. I hate driving in traffic or fighting crowds at the stores. But now that Hubby is using my car while we wait to get another one I am thinking of a gazillion things I want to do.
People I want to visit. Projects I want to finish but I *need* to get things to do them. Places I want to go shop like the huge sale this weekend. Soccer practice. That pesky craving for Starbucks Java Chip Frap. And on and on and on.

Not complaining at all. Just thinking this is hilarious because as soon as I have my truck back I'll want to stay home and hermit once my errands are done.

Do you do this too?

like a chicken...

2011-09-08T17:23:00.000-05:00

You know the rest of that phrase ;)

Busy busy busy!

We are back into school as of 2 weeks ago and instead of just having the girls do their assigned work for the day we are schooling from about 9/10am to around 3pm. Which means they are booking through the year! Princess is already nearing the end of September and Oldest (who doesn't want me calling her "Peanut" anymore even though it IS her nickname since we were expecting her) is nearly a weeka head. Both are making high B's and A's. Bub is reluctantly learning sight words and math facts. He really doesn't think he needs to learn more than he knows because some kid called him a "genius" and that means he is already smart. LOL boys!

Princess started playing soccer this season and is loving it! It is her first time to play sports and we have a great coach. Practice 2-3 times a week plus games keeps us hopping. Thankfully the field is only a couple minutes away so drive time is not bad.

After a very stressful year since Hubby's boss was tragically killed he has decided it was time to move on. It was a painful decision for him to leave the company. He is currently looking for work and finally starting to relax. He will still be helping the company and we wish them success.

He returns to teaching tonight at the electrical school. I can't remember if he teaches 3rd or 4th yr but I know he is teaching "control" work and in a few weeks will add lab work to his schedule on Tuesdays. He loves teaching and is good at it. yes, I know shameless bragging :)

I am headed back to the thyroid doctor on Monday for an ultrasound. Praying that the lumps are shrinking or even better GONE. No clue when I will hear the results. Not too worried.

I am in a dejunking mania again since some cooler weather blew in and I don't break out sweating trying to clean up even with the A/C on. I have sold a few things. Given away lots more. Doesn't look like it but does it ever?! I am trying to have it all done by winter. Major purging will be needed! I am so TIRED. OF. STUFF. EVERYWHERE. Hubby is fully onboard which makes it work even better!

I am also thinking of starting a home business of refreshing furniture and possibly sewing pillows. I have several projects I need to get done but I have been too distracted to get the finish supplies I need. Hubby can't wait for me to clear out some of this stuff or at least finish it. He is ready to USE the pieces I am working on instead of seeing all the debris of my crafting endevors ;)

And since all that isn't enough I am adding in 2 book studies at the end of the month. One is "Captivating" and the other is "The Excellant Wife". Should be interesting! I'll study Captivating with my local friends and the other is a FB group.

Much more is happening but my Love has called and I am talking to him on the phone.

field trip to the Tx Civil War Museum

2011-09-04T23:16:00.001-05:00

A fun trip up to the Texas Civil War Museum near Ft Worth.

All the kids did a scavenger hunt to answer about 20 something questions.

Their prize for getting it all right was old fashion candy sticks which they loved :)

The girls had to find specific items from clues hinting to exhibits.

Hubby and Bub worked on the kindergartener page and had to find things that started with the letters of the alphabet. The "Z" was nearly impossible to find... it wasn't a "thing" but a "name"

I've got a crush

2011-09-01T07:46:00.001-05:00

On a room redo posted over on DIY Show Off....

What is not to love?!
Did I mention I recently picked up my very own red chandy for FREE??
Soon we will have lovely floors like that and I hope to talk the big guy into letting me repaint. I am so over pumpkin butter. 5 yrs that color has served me well but I am starting to feel like I live in a cave and I want LIGHT! Our furniture is dark and heavy and staying. In the meantime I will just stick with my new crush and dream :-)

grain sack pillows

2011-08-31T18:56:00.000-05:00

I picked up this beautiful blue/gray grain sack on eBay last week. I was very surprised to find it soft as velvet and nearly mint condition. The only "flaw" is the white band actually has the word "alfalfa" printed in cream but it is so faint most people don't see it.

eBay seller's pic

After being terrified of my sewing machine I bucked up and just did it. I was shaking so bad cutting the grain sack in half and praying this isn't some rare collector's type thing I was ripping up.

my craptastic low light Iphone pics.
get used to 'em ;)

They aren't lumpy IRL.

My family fights over who gets one to lay on the couch with.

The Hubs is proud I am finally using my sewing machine.... he only bought it for me 6+ yrs ago!

why the rapture is pre-trib video part 2

2011-08-22T18:28:00.002-05:00

Bub's new fish

2011-08-22T15:35:00.002-05:00

Fireball, the crown tail beta

He was so proud to purchase the fish with his own money :)

locks of love donation

2011-08-21T15:26:00.000-05:00

My oldest donated her hair last month

in the chair waiting...

AFTER!

Three 11 inch pony tails and a 6 inch one

I'm so proud!

I do miss all her lovely long hair but she doesn't!

In this recording breaking summer heat she likes not having all that weight

sitting on her neck and the daily dealing with ponytails

dresser redo

2011-08-20T21:22:00.000-05:00

used to be blue

then Bub colored it with markers

3 coats of red later...

and probably 3 more coats to go!

people get ready!

2011-08-20T17:55:00.002-05:00

I am a Christian. I am PRE-Tribulation in my "End Times" beliefs. I believe SOON very very SOON our Messiah Yahshua (Jesus) will be returning for His bride. Things are coming up in politics, signs in the heavens, and foreign countries that point to this Rapture happening in the near future. I will be posting videos over the next few weeks that I think explain how and why I believe this.

this one explains WHY the Rapture must be PRE-Trib.

(part 1) I'll add the parts 2-7 as they are made available

I am not debating this.
I am open to talking about it if you have serious honest questions. I will try to explain the best I can my beliefs (but I warn you now I stink at explaining myself in type... I can talk all day long but writing it out bogs my brain down)

Are YOU ready for Him to come back?
Am *I*?

french chair make over

2011-08-20T13:36:00.000-05:00

Snagged this chair and ottoman for $45 at a garage sale across the street last week.

Stripped it of its horrid 1980s floral fabric

and cat peed on goose down cushions

Slapped some primer on

Added a coat of creamy colored paint

and followed up with

coffee brown antiqueing

(sorry no pics of that)

then last night I killed my hands nerve endings stapling

on my drop cloth

BUT

the foam pulled too hard on the staples and they began popping out

On to plan B which involves me buying a air powered staple gun

sewing cushions.

This may take a while.

I did find a staple gun on Amazon.com that should work.

HELLO! Swagbuck's Amazon Gift Cards gonna buy me some tools!

wanna earn FREE stuff too? click the link!

I will have to take the chair to Hubby's to use the compressor.

and my Mom may or may not have to come to my house and help me sew...

depends on how brave I am

Stolen truck!

2011-08-13T13:56:00.001-05:00

putting this out there for the DFW area

Hubby's work truck was stolen this morning in Irving, TX from the Walnut Hill Lane area. Praying it is found. Police say it will turn up in 24 hrs stripped because of the rims and tires. We just lost all of his work tools and parts. They say we won't get those back either. :(

Sad day.

UPDATE--
a week later and we still have no word on our truck. the police say IF it is still in one piece it is probably somewhere south of us sporting false tags and stripped of anything we put on it that would make it stand out. most likely though it is not in one piece and it will never be seen again.

we have filed lots of papers with the insurances trying to get everything accounted for so maybe we can be reimbursed for it. sick of papers!

i never knew what it meant to feel so helpless and out of control of my own life. poor hubby can't even work until we can purchase tools which thankfully we have been able to start doing. but it will take a long time to replace 15 yrs worth of tools

Southern Gal Biscuits

2011-08-09T21:47:00.002-05:00

Southern Gal Biscuits

T. Miller

Mix dry ingredients:

2 c. flour

2 Tbsp. white sugar

½ tsp. salt

4 tsp. Baking Powder

½ tsp. Cream of Tartar

*********************************************************************

Stir with fork- ½ c. shortening into flour mixture until

crumbly.

*********************************************************************

Add and stir together with a spoon until all ingredients are

mixed in.

1 egg

2/3 c. milk

*********************************************************************

Drop onto baking sheet by large spoonfuls.

Bake 450* for 8-10 minutes.

*********************************************************************

To make a cut out biscuit- reduce milk to 1/3.

Stir until a stiff dough.

Knead by hand 5 times.

Roll out to 1/2” thick on a floured cupboard top.

Cut into shapes and bake as above.

Chicken Pot Pie

2011-08-09T21:46:00.000-05:00

Chicken Pot Pie

T. Miller

2 c. chicken, cooked, cubed

2 ½ c. potatoes, diced

½ c. carrots, diced small

1 c. peas

¼ onion, minced

½ c. celery, chopped

2 ½ c. chicken broth

salt and pepper to taste

Cook vegetables until tender in broth.

Add chicken.

*********************************************************************

Mix and add to chicken and vegetable mixture to thicken:

3 Tbsp. Flour

½ c. cold water

Place in a 9 X 13 baking pan.

Drop biscuit dough over top and bake at 400* about 15 –

20 minutes.

***********************************************************************

I sometimes will double the broth so it has more of a gravy

consistency. Then bake my biscuits like regular. To serve-

I crumble a biscuit on a plate and put a dipper full of

Chicken Pot pie stuff on top!

Chicken and Rice

2011-08-09T21:43:00.000-05:00

Chicken and Rice

T. Miller

Combine and heat in saucepan. Do not boil.

1 can mushroom soup

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 can cream of celery soup

1 ½ c. milk

Place 6 chicken breasts in casserole dish.

Scatter 1 c. uncooked rice over top.

Then pour soup mixture on top of chicken and rice.

Bake 325* for 2 hours.

Broccoli Salad

2011-08-09T21:42:00.000-05:00

Broccoli Salad

C. Merritt

2-3 heads of broccoli

4 slices of bacon, fried

1/4 of a red onion (or a little less if you prefer)

4-6 Tbsp. mayonnaise

1- 8 oz. can mandarin oranges

Three handfuls of raisins

1/4 cup chopped cashews

A couple of tsp. of white sugar (if you desire a sweeter

salad)

Chop broccoli. Crumble bacon. Finely chop onion. Mix all

ingredients together. Serve and enjoy.

*********************************************************************

Banana Nut Bread

2011-08-09T21:40:00.000-05:00

Banana Nut Bread

T. Miller

Cream sugar and margarine, add eggs. Beat well.

1 c. sugar

½ c. margarine

2 eggs

*********************************************************************

Add bananas. Mix well.

3 bananas, mashed

*********************************************************************

Add. Mix well.

2 c. flour

1 tsp. baking soda

pinch of salt

½. chopped nuts (optional)

********************************************************************

Pour in 2 loaf pans.

Bake 350* for 30 minutes.

Check with toothpick...when it comes out clean it's done.

Slice and spread with butter or marshmallow cream!

Baked Beans

2011-08-09T21:39:00.000-05:00

Baked Beans

T. Miller

Soak 2 c. dried navy beans overnight in cold water.

Drain in the morning, add 2 qt. water and 1 tsp. salt.

Cook slowly until skins burst.

Fry bacon until crisp.

Add bacon and drippings to beans in a baking dish.

*********************************************************************

Add:

1/2 c. ketchup

1/3 c. brown sugar

1/2 onion, diced

1 c. tomato juice

4 Tbsp. molasses

a pinch of ground ginger

2 tsp. salt

**********************************************************************

Bake at 325* for 3 hours.

Keep beans covered with liquid while they cook.

Add more water as needed.

Apple Dapple Cake

2011-08-09T21:28:00.002-05:00

Apple Dapple Cake

3 eggs Beat well.

*************************************************************************************************************

1 ¼ c. oil

2 tsp. vanilla Add, beating well.

2 c. sugar

************************************************************************************************************

2 ¾ c. white flour Sift together and add.

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. Salt

1 tsp. Ground cinnamon

¼ tsp. Nutmeg

***********************************************************************************************************

¼ c. white flour Mix together, then fold in.

3 c. apples, diced

1 c. nuts, chopped

1 c. coconut (optional)

**********************************************************************************************************

Pour into a greased 9” tube pan or bundt pan.

Bake at 350* for approximately 70 minutes.

*********************************************************************************************************

Topping: Mix in saucepan and boil for 2-3 minutes.

1/3 c. margarine Pour hot toppings over cake about 5 minutes after removing

cake

1 c. brown sugar from oven.

¼ c. milk

1 tsp. Vanilla

**********************************************************************************************************

If sheet cake is desired, I usually bake it for around 40-45 minutes in a 11 X 15 pan (or

can do a 9 X 13 pan and a 9 X 5 loaf pan.) Then for a sheet cake I usually double the

topping!

**********************************************************************************************************

Optional Topping: Mix 1 cup powdered sugar and 2 Tbsp. milk, and spread as a glaze

over top of hot cake.

Salted Caramel No Bake Cookies

2011-08-04T18:14:00.000-05:00

Salted Caramel No Bake Cookies

www.biblicalhomemaking.com

1 stick butter (*if unsalted, add additional 1/8 teaspoon salt)

1 cup white sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup milk

3 1/4 cups oatmeal

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Kosher Salt (optional)

Stir butter and sugars together in a saucepan over medium heat until gooey. Add milk, stir and bring to a boil, occasionally stirring for 4 minutes after boiling has been reached. Turn off heat. Add vanilla, baking soda and stir. Add oatmeal and stir. Drop rounded spoonfuls onto parchment paper, and sprinkle with salt if desired. Let sit at room temperature or in the refrigerator until hardened.

day dreaming

2011-08-02T23:04:00.000-05:00

source -Sproost

sigh.

dreamy space

I took the Sproost "design style" quiz and the results are right on!

Your specific style combines two more general styles:

80%Traditional Country

20%Rustic Revival

Traditional Country

Even if your backyard isn't acres of farmland and you don't actually have a chicken coop, your house sure brings you back to a time when that was the case. You love spaces that feel casual and lived in. Furniture is practical and comfortable, and yet at the same time its very stylish. The best part of country style is how much it highlights collection and found objects. Antiques here, garage sale finds there and Aunt Milly's hand-me-downs throughout. Unique items that used to serve very practical purposes are now on display, and their history seems to permeate the home. Each space in the home seems to invite friends and family to come in and stay a while. There is a true sense of home felt throughout.

Materials

When it comes to materials in Traditional Country homes, think rustic, warm and comfortable. Wood or natural tile floors, natural or painted wood tables and chairs, and natural materials on the soft furnishings. Stripes, plaids and florals are popular and often all are mixed in one room. Soft vintage leather and suede are common and wrought and rusty iron also reinforce the rustic nature of the rooms. Large wood pieces of furniture are very common, and help manage storage throughout the home. Wallpaper is very popular and most often highlights floral patterns. For traditional country, the concept of minimalism is avoided at all cost. It's the collections that give the space character and reinforce the lived-in nature of the spaces.

Colors

For color, spaces can go either bright and airy or soft and muted. Think of the countryside in spring and summer with yellows, bright greens and blues. Or you can go for more of a fall country day, and go a bit darker but still stay in the earth tones. Dark browns, reds and greens. Either direction you go in, be it light or dark, the key is warmth. Traditional country rooms rarely, if ever, feel cold.

Rustic Revival

source- Sproost

mmmm yes, please!

Rustic Revival
You can take kid out of the country but you can't take the country out of the kid... or is your theme "you can take the kid out of the city, but you can't take the city out of the kid?" Either way you play it, you are one of the unique individuals who loves a mix of modern and country. The clean lines of the modern softened by rustic /vintage elements is the perfect mix in your mind. And can we blame you? You've taken the best aspects of two popular designs and mixed them in a manner that appeals young and old alike. A subtle background of white or light colors provides a nice canvas for all the wonderful flea market, eBay or garage sale finds as well as the classic modern pieces that you love.

Materials
The material palette for urban country runs the gamut because of the two extremes being mixed. On the countryside you see a lot of wood, woven rope, canvas and linen, rustic metals and wrought iron, cowhide and vintage leather. On the more modern side, you see acrylic, satin and polished nickel and chrome, glass, faux fur, refined leather, fiberglass and sleek woods. It's the mixing of these elements that makes the style work so well. Seagrass and other natural woven materials are often used for floor coverings. Concrete and natural wood floors are very popular, and work really well together.

Colors
When it comes to color, think light, casual and airy. White, pale gray or beige, khaki and sage; all of these colors make nice, subtle backdrops for Urban Country style. Think of the colors of natural linen, concrete, and if you'd like to go dark, use the dark brownish-black of iron or the deep burnt orange of rust. The key is to keep the spaces feeling open (go modern!) and yet warm (yay for rustic!), and by going light on the walls and major pieces and more color on the accents and accessories you can achieve this mix really well.

if it ain't broke

2011-08-02T00:55:00.000-05:00

do NOT let me touch it!

I helped out the other night and installed all the virus/spam/malware/spybot gadgets my friends said would fix up the bugs in the family computer. It ran great for the first 12 hrs and then as my love and I sat at the table eating we heard it reboot. and reboot. and reboot. SIGH

lovely little message that an install was "successful" but it couldn't read the drive... the HARD DRIVE which my love says is no beuno. It won't boot so he get get into "safe mode" it is stuck at 20 seconds or so into booting up.

I am banned from helping anymore with computers.
All my saved files. Internet favorites. Ebooks I downloaded. GONE
thankfully I used Picasa and didn't lose my pics this time!

So now I am on my oldest daughter's laptop at least until she needs to do school...which I haven't bought... she really doesn't need to go through 7th grade does she? I'm not old enough to have a middle schooler yet! *cough* ahem

crashed and didn't burn

2011-07-26T15:07:00.000-05:00

Seems either I got the "blue screen of death" or a nice malware/virus going on the main computer in the house. I tried to fix it because ALL my pics I want to post are on it but no luck. Hubby got it running again v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y so we asked on Facebook for favorite virus protection because McAfee obviously does NOT work.

I tried to install the virus protection today and CRASHED the internet on that computer! ugh
Whatever is on the computer stopped the download at 43% and just killed it. Hoping my love can fix it when he gets home.

I did a little project to let off steam from computer issues and did NOT BURN myself with the hot glue for once! I hope to get pics up soon *fingers crossed*

UPDATE to "chair help"
I searched everywhere to find out what type of chair I had. I finally took pics and went to my favorite fabric store in the city. They had no idea and it wasn't in their "big book of chairs" they have for figuring up yardage needed to upholster. They told me to call a reupholstery guy they use so I did and he wanted me to text him pics. My phone didn't even say it was finished "sending" when he was calling me back! He was so excited and talking fast! He said my chair is over 100 years old and is called a "channelback chair". He said they are very rare and he couldn't believe I dumpster dived it. :-)

Once I get the $$$ I will be having him fix it up for me.

free chair and a call for HELP!

2011-07-10T21:25:00.000-05:00

back story-
A local library furniture builder/upholstery shop in my area is moving so I stopped by to ask if I could collect scrap wood and pallets. As the owner and I talked a man drove up and took all the scrap wood I wanted. I was assured there will be more soon and then we toured the shop. They had auctioned off everything the day before and I am very sad I missed it! Antique furniture movers the kind going for $$$$$ online stacked all over... big steel wheels and perfect chippy paint.... sigh

Anyways, my eye was caught by a chair sitting in the corner. I commented on it and the owner said the chair was brought in to be redone but when the owner heard the amount of work to be done and cost they said to keep it. It was destined for the dumpster!

So I snagged it!

It is solid wood with metal seat springs that are hand tied. Most of the sanding is already done and the bare wood is beautiful!

Once again I am in over my head! Another project to do and the other ones not finished. Hubby is thrilled ;-)

Can ANYONE tell me how to upholstery this beauty? Do I need to add a "back" to support the material? How do I cover the seat? I would like to do something in dropcloth like Miss Mustard Seed's French chairs. I wish I could find grain sacks like those! WOW!

day trip to Duncan, OK and the 905

2011-07-07T19:43:00.001-05:00

he was so excited when he saw we were stopping

the 905 was built in 1910 and ran til 1953

the 905 Rock Island Steam Locomotive
in the process of being restored over the next
2 yrs.

this kept our visit VERY short

inside the engine cab. the museum plans to pull the cab this
fall/winter to send out for restoration

the wheels and axles have been repaired to make the train more mobile (it can be pushed/pulled)

the caboose is nearly fully restored

Happy 235th Birthday America!

2011-07-04T15:57:00.000-05:00

I wonder

do they still sing these songs

in schools like we did growing up?

canning time

2011-06-30T10:40:00.002-05:00

chunky apple/pear sauce

(pears are not from my tree)

sugar and additional pectin free

cinnamon flavored

well under 18 combined apples/pears yielded 9 pints
canned 8 pints and left one open to eat now

the crazy cycle

2011-06-29T14:35:00.000-05:00

I saw this as a post on Rural Revolution today and had to pass it on.

This comic was printed in the Chicago Tribune in 1934 and here we are almost a century later taking that same crazy ride. SAD.

Make sure you click on over to Rural Revolution as Patrice has terrific blog posts on becoming self sufficiant, beautiful pics of her farm ~~that I covet~~, writes for WND, and just had her first book published which I hope to get for an up coming birthday hint hint Hubby

a weekend away

2011-06-29T10:32:00.000-05:00

in San Antonio

just the two of us

:-)

Locks of Love donation

2011-06-22T18:52:00.000-05:00

This week my baby girl decided to shed her long locks for a good cause! She has been growing out her hair from a chin length bob for about 3 yrs just getting small trims about twice a year or so.

BEFORE---

AFTER!

She cut off 4 pony tails of about 11 inches each! She loves her hair cut and can't wait to grow it back out and donate again in a few years :-)

Hubby's mission trip

2011-06-16T01:07:00.003-05:00

Joplin, MO

2 weeks after the tornado

38 men, ladies and youth from our old church packed up and headed north on a 4 day mission trip.

This is what they saw as they drove into town...

this is what is left of one of 3 homes his crew worked on.

this family survived praise God!

this semi came from the hospital parking lot in the back ground

and wrapped around this tree

its rear tires and front tires now touch

praise God no one was in it when this happened!

volunteers signed this flag that will be donated to the city of Joplin

Hubby was heart broke as he toured the town and worked with home owners. He saw houses spray painted "STILL MISSING" because the owners are not accounted for. He said the mess of death and decay was overwhelming. Total descruction just feet from untouched structures. He compared it to a bulldozer scraping away a mile wide path right through the town.
He saw God working all around in those he spoke to. He said the people of Joplin were so grateful and hospitable to all the crews that were helping. They had nothing left but FAITH and FAMILY ... they were happy. He went to help the people of Joplin and it turned out they helped him! God shifted his priorites back to what is really important. FAITH and FAMILY.

We will be going back as a family to help rebuild later this year.

God bless the people and city of Joplin, MO!

stuck

2011-06-15T13:07:00.000-05:00

Woke up to a banging and clanging rucus the other morning way before dawn. I knew something was after the trash cans so I flipped on the outside lights and yelled out the door. Silence. Nothing moved. Back to bed I went and the noise continued... until NOON.

Leaving to pick up the kiddos from VBS I decided to stop and see just what was in an empty trash that made the night critters so interested.

I found this-

a baby possum

barely bigger than the DQ banana split bowl it was after

poor thing had been in there no telling how long

it was weak and panting

I don't blame it when the was the temp that day!

a vent

2011-06-10T17:23:00.001-05:00

I saw my OBGYN last week for a follow up of round 4 of clomid. He had increased it this month to 100 (from 50) because I didn't have any ov symptoms last cycle. I reacted again to the clomid! First time since the first month I took it. He said it is too dangerous to try using it again and he has nothing left to offer me. I was dimissed as a patient (minus female well care which my mw does) He told me to find an RE and do daily hormone testing to see just where my hormones are each day and get treated that way. He thought it could be my thyroid and to ask my Endocrine Dr about it since I had an appt with him later that day. I asked the other dr and he said his tests "all came back normal and there is nothing to be done" though he did admit my thyroid levels are "a bit on the adjustable side" (?) and if I agree to biopsy the lumps in my neck (which I heard can spread cancer if that is what it is) he might think about putting me on thyroid meds. oh and my OBGYN gave us the odds of having more babies as "slim to none" but he added he said that before and ladies came back pg so don't listen to him.

UH HELLO! that is a hurtful painful thing to say and then blow off!

I called around for an RE and can't get in to talk *TALK!* to one for under $400! And thatt is just a 15-30 minute visit. I asked about the cost of cycle monitoring and it STARTS at $800 and if we want that they ONLY do it for IVF/IUI patients. The nurse said my OBGYN took me as far as I can go if I am not wanting "medical intervention".

I called around to get another Endo dr and they cost about as much as the RE and will not take my tests/labs my dr did because they are 8 mo old and they won't accept over 6 mo old.

I am so sad. I barely sleep. I can't loose weight, My neck hurts. My hair is falling out. I know something is wrong but drs say I am ok because my labs are "normal" and "everyone gets lumps on their thyroid and most are not cancer" so hurry up and wait and see

and to make things worse clomid raised my progesterone to high pg #s and so I *FEEL* pg but the test says "NO"

I have lost so many friends because we want me healthy and more babies.

I am tired of being told I am not good enough, don't have enough faith, just get dh and I drunk and it will happen, forget it and I will get well/pg, I'm almost 35 and God is "sparing me from a deformed baby", or just accept that I did this to myself (TL) and I must pay the Piper for messing with my body. They add the thyroid issue to the TL because it is all hormone related in their minds.

sorry for the vent

Memorial Day

2011-05-30T21:00:00.000-05:00

remembering my late father-in-law

tire swing

2011-05-29T20:43:00.000-05:00

Hubby and Bub building it in the cool of the evening... 10pm!

FINISHED!

making adjustments in the daylight

happy girls :-)

Princess flying over my head

swings are for Mom too! ;-)

Bub flew over my chair... bit close for comfort!

Family swing

and my oldest monkeying around

the President does NOT speak for me!

2011-05-24T12:10:00.000-05:00

Mr Obama, if Israel needs to give up land gained in war then the USA needs to have a talk with England, Spain, Mexico and France... just saying

Those Who Bless Israel Will Be Blessed

and Those Who Curse Israel Will Be Cursed

King James Bible

And I will bless them that bless thee,

and curse him that curseth thee:

and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

12:1-3 God made choice of Abram, and singled him out from among his fellow-idolaters, that he might reserve a people for himself, among whom his true worship might be maintained till the coming of Christ. From henceforward Abram and his seed are almost the only subject of the history in the Bible. Abram was tried whether he loved God better than all, and whether he could willingly leave all to go with God. His kindred and his father's house were a constant temptation to him, he could not continue among them without danger of being infected by them. Those who leave their sins, and turn to God, will be unspeakable gainers by the change. The command God gave to Abram, is much the same with the gospel call, for natural affection must give way to Divine grace. Sin, and all the occasions of it, must be forsaken; particularly bad company. Here are many great and precious promises. All God's precepts are attended with promises to the obedient. 1. I will make of thee a great nation. When God took Abram from his own people, he promised to make him the head of another people. 2. I will bless thee. Obedient believers shall be sure to inherit the blessing. 3. I will make thy name great. The name of obedient believers shall certainly be made great. 4. Thou shalt be a blessing. Good men are the blessings of their country. 5. I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee. God will take care that none are losers, by any service done for his people. 6. In thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Jesus Christ is the great blessing of the world, the greatest that ever the world possessed. All the true blessedness the world is now, or ever shall be possessed of, is owing to Abram and his posterity. Through them we have a Bible, a Saviour, and a gospel. They are the stock on which the Christian church is grafted.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Acts 3:25 And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers. He said to Abraham, 'Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.'

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Galatians 3:8 The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: "All nations will be blessed through you."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Genesis 18:18 Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him.

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Genesis 18:19 For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Genesis 22:18 and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."

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Genesis 24:35 The LORD has blessed my master abundantly, and he has become wealthy. He has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, menservants and maidservants, and camels and donkeys.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Genesis 25:11 After Abraham's death, God blessed his son Isaac, who then lived near Beer Lahai Roi.

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Genesis 26:4 I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed,

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Genesis 27:29 May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Genesis 28:14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Exodus 23:22 If you listen carefully to what he says and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Psalm 72:17 May his name endure forever; may it continue as long as the sun. All nations will be blessed through him, and they will call him blessed.

STANDING WITH ISRAEL!

been neglectful

2011-05-23T17:16:00.000-05:00

I had not been blogging lately.

Tons of ~~excuses~~ things going on...

we are finishing up school! my oldest is now a 7th grader and my middle is finishing up 3/4th grades. my kindergartner is not "officially" schooling yet just working through "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Lessons". I have never taught my kids to read (the girls were in public school from pre-k to kinder and 2nd grade) so this is scary and exciting for me!
had company for 10 days
had storms that damaged our roof and sheds so dealing with insurance
STILL having storms and praying the roof holds
washer broke and leaked all over the laundry room... future make-over?!?!
the oven died and leaves me scrambling to find another one
continuing to purge the house of clutter
finally got curtains for my room but still shopping for rods
enjoying my garden that is already giving us samples of yummy things
planting, moving, and purging flowers from my flower beds
I won't get into the fact our masterbath claw foot tub now leaks if used for a bath and the toilet lid shattered during another plumbing leak! *silent scream!*
blah blah blah.... rinse lather repeat

I am also trying to get my mind off the doctors appointments in a week. I will find out The Plan about my thyroid and its lumps. See the dentist for the first time in YEARS...ugh. And see my PCP about the blood clot in my legs and enlarged vein issues. Also Princess will get tested for glasses. All in THREE days. Yep I am insane for making all appointments for the same time but it gets it over with quicker right?!

Sept 30

2011-05-12T10:48:00.000-05:00

From the makers of "Fireproof" comes "Courageous" the story of 4 men and their families.

I can't wait!

Happy Mother's Day!

2011-05-08T10:50:00.002-05:00

adjusted?

2011-05-05T14:21:00.000-05:00

I am on round 3 of my Clomid for my hormone imbalance. This is the FIRST month that I have no side effects! I didn't temp or OPK this month to confirm changes with ovulation but I know it happened. I think.

I am just enjoying the fact I feel NORMAL!
I am sleeping again. Face breakouts are less. NO bloating and looking 12 months pregnant. No severe tummy pains after ovulation to menstruation. NORMAL.

And even though I have no lost any weight by the scale I have dropped a few skirt sizes :)
JOY!

enigmas, wrapped in riddles, shrouded in mysteries

2011-05-02T22:22:00.000-05:00

My good friend Heather has some THOUGHTS TO PONDER on just who IS Mr Barack H. Obama?

Head on over and read up on some enigmas, wrapped in riddles, shrouded in mysteries.

after the lastest headlines---

2011-05-01T23:40:00.000-05:00

Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth,

and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth:

Lest the LORD see it, and it displease him,

and he turn away his wrath from him.

Fret not thyself because of evil men,

neither be thou envious at the wicked:

For there shall be no reward to the evil man;

the candle of the wicked shall be put out.

~Proverbs 24:17-20

how does my garden grow?

2011-05-01T17:08:00.000-05:00

very well considering I kill everything green in my yard but weeds!

sugar snap peas

tomatoes and corn

summer squash

bush beans

all veggies are ORGANIC, NON GMO, HEIRLOOM seed started transplants growing in a square foot garden 4x8 of organic compost

PEACE

2011-04-30T11:57:00.001-05:00

Abortion kills PEOPLE not tissue. WARNING GRAPHIC IMAGES

2011-04-27T17:04:00.001-05:00

Early this morning, Live Action Investigator and sidewalk counselor Gaby Federico discovered a dead, dismembered baby in the parking lot of Hilltop Family Planning Clinic, an abortion clinic in El Paso, TX. The Hilltop clinic advertises abortions up to 15 weeks.

Federico and a fellow pro-life sidewalk counselor at the clinic were alerted to the find by a man who lives next door to the clinic. He said the night before, his dog had been sniffing around the parking lot and found the baby’s body parts lying on the ground. The man placed the body parts in a plastic bag next to the clinic and alerted Federico this morning. At approximately 9:15 AM, Federico and others found disarticulated tissue, two bloody legs with feet, and a severed hand in the bag.

Police arrived at the clinic around 11:30 AM and are investigating and interviewing clinic staff. Abortion clinic staff have claimed the body is not “theirs” and that they “dispose of bodies properly.” The Bishop of El Paso, Armando Achoa, is also at the clinic and has asked for the body to for a funeral and burial.

Upon viewing photographs of the body parts, former Planned Parenthood director Abby Johnson said they were remarkably well-developed. “The findings are consistent with the remains of an abortion procedure,” confirmed Johnson, who at Planned Parenthood worked for years as a “products of conception technician,” the abortion industry’s term for someone who reassembles baby body parts after an abortion. “Based on the development of the foot and the formation of the leg, and what appears to be a tear at the top of the leg, this looks like an abortion done through vacuum aspiration on a child at 12 to 14 weeks LMP.”

Federico spoke to police this morning, who began an investigation at the clinic. The clinic denies responsibility and reportedly told police they “dispose of everything properly.” The Bishop of El Paso, Armando Ochoa, has requested permission to bury the remains.

“This is horrible to know that these children are killed daily here in El Paso, not only without a burial, but to be disposed of in such an inhuman way. It’s not fair,” expressed Federico. “This shouldn’t ever happen, in El Paso or anywhere. The world needs to see what abortion clinics do to children. When dead babies start turning up in the clinic parking lot, no further proof is needed of what abortion is. These clinics need to be shut down.”

Lila Rose, president of Live Action, called the find was shocking and sobering. “On Good Friday, millions of Americans contemplate the mystery of the suffering and death of Jesus Christ. It is a fitting time to remember that thousands of children every day suffer the violent death of abortion, while too many stand by out of indifference or ignorance.”

WARNING GRAPHIC IMAGES BELOW-

Anyone who can look at these pictures of perfectly formed tiny legs and feet and hands and say "abortion just removes a clump of tissue" is BLIND.

May YWHW God have mercy on us!

31 Days to Clean

2011-04-27T12:20:00.000-05:00

Today I found a give-away over at Raisng Homemakers Face Book page for a free copy of "31 Days to Clean- Having a Martha House the Mary Way". The rules are that whoever tweets w/ hashtag #31DaysToClean & links: http://bit.ly/kKdcVi OR blogs about it gets a FREE copy of 31 Days to Clean!

I have been cleaning and purging the house this last month. I have already sent many trash bags FULL of junk to the curb and the back end of my Durango was packed full of the still good stuff for donations...and I am NO WHERE NEAR DONE!

I am so excited to read this book!
I hope you can get in on this TODAY ONLY special!!

FINALLY!

2011-04-25T19:23:00.000-05:00

I just got home from the Doctor's again. BUT this time is different! THIS time the doctor told ME what was wrong with me instead of me telling him! He took a nerve scan and x-rays of my back and it shows severe nerve damage in my neck and lower back. What exactly do those damaged nerves control???

Besides the things I know about (hangman's fracture at top of neck, healed broken ribs, double S curve between the shoulders) got to love car wrecks and growing 6 inches in one summer!

Oh just my thyroid, adrenals, bladder/kidneys, reproductive organs/hormones and the nerves that go down my legs, and neck (no curve left), HMMM sound familiar with my "issues" the drs claim I do NOT have because my blood work is 'normal'?!!!

I am so happy to have a doctor confirm I am not losing my mind!

I go back to see him tomorrow. He will begin treatments of chiropractic adjusts, herbs/food changes and other things. With the hangman's fracture (my C1 is barely a hair width off my spinal cord) hemust do something else to treat it so I do not end up like Christopher Reeves (he had a true complete fracture)

PRAISE GOD! I am on the road to health and no more medical drugs making me nuts!

2011-04-24T12:26:00.002-05:00

“For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.” - 1 Peter 1:18-19

Texas is BURNING

2011-04-18T21:10:00.001-05:00

Over 1,000,000 acres burned so far in west Texas
ONE MILLION ACRES!

The fires are still a few hours west of us but we are getting the smoke and dust stirred up from them here at our little house. You can read up on them here. There are also fires to our south in Austin that claimed 10 homes. I can't imagine losing everything like that!

Our thoughts and prayers are with those in the paths of the fires and those brave men and women risking their lives to fight them!

The flags at my local firehouse are at half staff now for fire fighters that have fallen battling the Texas blaze.

sour cream chocolate chip coffee cake

2011-04-15T11:44:00.000-05:00

Ingredients

1 c sugar

2 c flour

2 sticks of butter

2 eggs

1 TBSP baking soda

1 TBSP baking powder

8 oz sour cream

12 oz semi sweet chocolate chips

1 TBSP vanilla extract

extra sugar

cinnamon

cooking spray

Instructions

preheat oven to 350. spray pan with cooking spray. melt your butter on stove and beat eggs in small bowl

pour sugar, flour, baking soda, baking powder and sour cream in big bowl. add in butter and eggs and stir DO NOT USE MIXER. add vanilla

take half the batter and spread evenly in the cake pan then add half the bag of chocolate chips evenly on top. add rest of batter and cover evenly with chocolate chips. sprinkle sugar and cinnamon on top

bake for 35-40 minutes
check with toothpick to make sure it is done

Above Rubies Retreat 2011!

2011-04-14T09:33:00.001-05:00

Brownwood Texas!

that actually reads 103! in April!

Nancy was wonderful as always!

Serene and Pearl sang songs that touched the heart.

and my oldest made new friends

they really enjoyed writing on my truck

she wrote "Far above rubies Prov 31"

more hair style fun

2011-04-13T21:33:00.002-05:00

cornrows-

a special THANK YOU to my friend Heather who patiently braided the girls hair for HOURS!

while I pet her loving pit bull pup and then had a night out with my main squeeze ;)

these survived a 3 day weekend of camping, biking, swimming and showers

see what she is writing?
it is a hint to where I spent my weekend!

she didn't leave them in but 2 days.

she loved the curls that came from letting her hair down

sadly in the 103 degree heat and humid windy air the curls quickly became

a sweaty frizzy mess :(

hair style fun

2011-04-10T10:41:00.001-05:00

My girls have thick HEAVY hair that hits around middle back. The lady that trims their hair every few months said if we did a donation to Locks of Love each girl would have enough for 2-3 wigs!

With summer upon us I am trying to find hair styles that will stay in.

So far I have...

double french braids tied in a knot in back.

then the 2 ends into a ponytail and bobby pinned up

double french braids

crossed in back and bobby pinned/hair clippy in place

french braid of the bangs into a single braid

then a ponytail

HAPPY 10th BIRTHDAY PRINCESS!

2011-04-09T10:50:00.001-05:00

You are such a treasure! God has blessed us abundantly by giving us you :) I hope your camping trip with Daddy makes for a happy and fun birthday weekend!

Family Fun Fair

2011-04-07T10:39:00.000-05:00

A fun fair at a church friend's orthodontic clinic

bounce house

Dad left holding everyone things while they bounce.
Looks soo happy :-/

Face painting

Spiderman!

Butterfly

Diva Butterfly

Hubby enjoying a snow cone

Taking a break inside

On way to get pizza!

Hubby modeling the girls' balloon hats

Pizza and tired kiddos

What Guys Think About Modesty

2011-04-02T20:37:00.002-05:00

update to the blood clot

2011-04-01T16:12:00.000-05:00

2 wks out tomorrow from the bike falling on my leg causing a large blood clot. I took this pic last night to show how things are healing up. You can still clearly see and feel the clot (darker area under the healed scab/scar) in the middle. The only pain is if hard pressure is applied to the clot site but the bruised area is pain free! Hubby says there is some heat to the clot area but I can't tell as my temp is running high from the clomid.

People were giving me very strange looks if I wore a skirt that didn't full cover the bruise or flowed up and showed it. The would give Hubby even weirder dirty looks if he was walking with me. I guess people can't think fo a reason for a large nasty looking bruise besides abuse.

I am so ready to be out biking again!

bikes, bruises and blood clots

2011-03-28T14:07:00.000-05:00

When we were shopping for bikes for the family last weekend I had a bike fall on the back of my right calf.

Severe pain, bit of bleeding and instant bruising with hard lump resulted

the day I hurt it.
doesn't look THAT bad!

But that didn't stop us from doing a 6 mile ride that day even with my calf muscle screaming in pain.

Or stop another couple mile ride two days later.

By the time we got back to the house I could barely walk.

My leg hurt so bad that I took Ibuprofen 800 and went to bed.

Last Thursday I drove to up Oklahoma for my OBGYN follow up to last month's HSG and round 2 of clomid. I thought since I was at a hospital and the bruise was getting bigger I would have them check it out.

The ER doctor came in and flipped out. The bruise measured 8cm across and was rock solid.

I found out that the lump in my leg was actually a huge blood clot!

I got my tetanus shot (haven't had one since 1989!), a huge dose of blood thinner injected into my gut (PAIN!) and had blood work drawn to see if the cut had given me an infection (thanfully no infections!).

12 hrs after blood thinner.
bruise is now yellowing from center out which pleased the ER Dr's

The next morning I was back in the ER for follow up care.

The doctor measured the clot now at 6cm! Going down yeah!

The doctor then sent me to radiology for an ultrasound of my right leg for free clots.

Praise GOD there were no clots found in my veins!

The only issue is my veins are dilated and so my valves don't shut all the way.

Which explains the leg swelling I have as the day wears on.

Once my leg is healed I will get back on my bike which should help reverse the vein issues.

I will see my PCP about it on April 14.

For now I get to rest and take baby asprin.

pic from yesterday. the blot clot can now be seen
as an oval lump under the scab middle of the bruise
FINALLY PAIN FREE

I never would have thought to have "just a bruise" looked at by a doctor. Blood clots never entered my mind! It scares me to think that I let 5 days go by with something that could have killed me in my leg.

Now I know 'just a bruise" is ok.

BUT a bruise with a lump that grows and becomes MORE PAINFUL needs attention!

And because my body hates everything considered "good for me" I had a reaction to the tetanus vax.

My lymphs under my arms swoll up 2 days after the shot

and I can barely move my arms.

A OBGYN from church said it means my immune system is working REALLY WELL and corralling the tetanus vax into the lymphs and to treat the pain with massage and pain med. Great...

So I am doing lymph massages and starting a detox to help clean out my system.

you don't hear straight talk like this anymore

2011-03-23T23:12:00.004-05:00

how we spent the first days of spring- part 2

2011-03-22T08:29:00.001-05:00

state park field trip

learning about TX animals

learning to ride a two-wheeler

going on bike trails

celebrating early for 10th birthday :)

chalkboard coffee table

2011-03-21T21:03:00.003-05:00

BEFORE-

cherry stained wood

caning insert

black metal legs

yes, in TX we were shorts with our boots and hat
at Christmas :)

AFTER-

distressed french gray paint

black glazing

white metal legs with black antiquing

and

CHALKBOARD PAINT!

ran out of chalk to write on it with!

I am linking up to-

The Nester's party

how we spent the first days of spring

2011-03-21T17:13:00.000-05:00

my Blessings Unlimited pillow!

2011-03-15T15:20:00.001-05:00

I love it! The perfect smokey blue gray, teal, chocolate and steal gray accents matches my house wonderfully!

The front reads "walk in grace"
The back says "You are God my Savior, my hope is in You all day long" Psalm 22:5 NIV

I hope I am feeling up to a run to Hobby Lobby for a pillow form in the next few days!
I highly recommend Unlimited Blessings!

I won!!

2011-03-07T09:11:00.000-06:00

I entered a drawing over at The Nesting Place for one of these beautiful pillows by Blessings Unlimited! My email has been down ever since but last night I got it up and running and what do my eyes see....

an email telling me

I WON!

Bird Watching Pillow Cover Winners

We have 12 Blessings Unlimited pillow cover winners! {Forgive the small print, I did email each winner this morning so check your email!}

See me there? 4 comment up from the bottom!

Oh happy day!

Thanks Nester and Blessings Unlimited!!

Texas sunsets

2011-03-06T19:24:00.000-06:00