lysa terkeurst Jackson talk

Local ladies...consider going to this. Lysa is gifted & is so very honest. I've read 2 of her books & heard her speak in Hattiesburg. God uses her openness & humor for His purpose.

August 31, 2011
12:00 - 1:30
Lunch with Lysa (catered by chick-fil-a)
MS Ag Museum Sparkman Auditorium
Tickets are $12.50 & can be purchased at www.thesourceatpinelake.org. Seating is limited.

The night event is at 6:30 at the Pinelake Reservoir campus, admission is FREE, and childcare is provided!

if this isn't nice

recognize when you are happy! ruthie will sometimes pop out with "this is a good day"-meaning she is having fun at the moment. Because I like to recap our day at night time-saying "today was a good day-right?", talking about the high points (playing with friends, eating a doughnut, poo-poo'ing on the potty). sometimes i miss these happy moments because I think that happy is supposed to hit me over the head.

things that are making me happy:

-tim caving & letting us eat at the mexican restaurant last night (this typically is not enjoyable for him). i love people bringing me food while i sit.

-hearing henry & ruthie play together today in the mcdon's playland. henry singing to  ruthie "don't be scared, don't be scared", while Ruthie is screaming to me AYUDAME, AYUDAME (help me per Dora).

-the baby in my tummy, we are expecting #3!!! that should be at the top, i realize this. God has given us a surprise, answered the prayer I have whispered to Him. I feel blessed beyond what we should be allowed. I am due March 11. I needed to tell Tim in a creative way (note along with beer placed in the garage) so that he would not stroke out on me. He's a CPA, he thinks he's old, I can kinda gloss over the sleepless nights-they still haunt him. He's all on board now, looking for a bigger car and all.

-the caramel cake in my fridge (as shown below). i went straight to the piggly wiggly to purchase after watching The Help. It reminds me of Heloise, who made the BEST caramel cake evah. She surely helped us growing up-she was the best cook & kept mama sane. Mom with 4 girls and dad working alot. She is one of the first people I want to find in heaven, I will need to tell her a real thank-you. I took her for granted, she passed away when I was 16 before I fully realized all she did for us. Heloise's cousin-Christine owns Christine's Back Porch in Canton. And on Tuesdays she serves the best fried pork chops. Each day is great, but the pork chops are how Heloise used to cook hers too. Go try them.

-the boiled peanuts i made yesterday, the first time & they turned out perfecto (rare). i'm pretty sure ruthie & i ate the pound by ourselves.

-thinking about MadMen starting soon.

-the way tim made me a new egg-n-toast after this happened to mine. it was really nice of him. 

susan's painting

Making this for such a sweet woman did my heart good. Susan has had too much sadness this past year & a complete blessing and bright spot is a granddaughter on the way. This is a picture frame/canvas for Rae who is due soon.

bro/sis step stools

Thanks Emily for this order! Hope you are soaking up each moment with new baby girl.

triplet girl gift

Thanks, Lindsay! This is for a gift for her friend who is having TRIPLET GIRLS. Her blog is quite hilarious, especially this post. Worth the read.

5x7 watercolor/collage in an 8x10 matte. These are $30 each.

angel painting

A commission from a friend for a friend. I had fun with this one.

crafting weekend report

 mandy, sarah (rita) & baby wren, christy & me. we gathered in Starkville for a craft weekend & we hadn't all been there together in 11 years. it was a wonderful weekend. I would recommend this for your girlfriends. We didn't spend money shopping & we had more time to visit, sitting around the table together.

 I'll walk u thru the crafts we did:

CRAFT 1: paint sample book mark

above: paint sample bookmarks, a way better tutorial here. Very straightforward.

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PROJECT 2: drip paintings

Super smart Mandy, got us started by buying inexpensive thrift store paintings $3-5 each & she spray painted the frames to give us an easy start.

we painted our solid backgrounds and then started squirting the paint. Mandy had put paint in old-fashioned squirt bottle condiment containers to make for easy application.

 We'd paint a bit & then hold the painting upright to let it drip down. No real mess-ups with this one & it was the MOST FUN project. Wren is in the background overseeing our crafting.

 

Mandy's cross.

 

My cross.

 

christy's tree.

 

 Sarah Brashier's angels. It says, "my heart is full".

 My little wooden frames that needed some drip!

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PROJECT 3: flip-flop re-do

 

 These fabric flowers were Sarah/Rita's-so cute. But this was the end of the night & there was a little push-back and smack talk going around. We were pooped. You could put them on a headband, shirt or on your flip-flops. One way to make them is here.

So you start with a basic flip-flip & cut off the plastic straps & put in fabric T-shirt strips in. Again, a fab tutorial is here. This was a cute one, but my flip-flop did have a blow-out in the gas station on my way home from the craft weekend. I almost gagged because i had to walk out barefoot from the BP. Sad because no one was there to laugh with me. I think it was a matter of having my strap too tight, I'm sure this wouldn't happen to your flip-flops.

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PROJECT 4: origami lanterns

  This one was led by our craft minx: Christy. Mandy gave her that name, she slyly led a very cool craft & brought her ARTSY! They were origami balloon lanterns.

 

 

 

 

 A origami how-to is here.

whipped topping for our coffee-sarah b's touch.

baby wren and me when he got up from his nap. he gets the sweetest baby award. he totally was in the mix and was so easy going.

sista meg is 40

 

My older sista Meg holding Ruthie. This is one of my fave pics of her. Our big sisters are always good about grabbing our babies when we need a baby break.

I painted this for Meg's bday. She can handle funky-she likes color! And is a big U2 fan, in particular this song. I vividly remember her telling me that this song (it's a beautiful day) helped her in her postpartum funk. It was a serious funk. I remember feeling helpless when she had to go through this after her kids. She's an open book, she would tell you about it. And totally uses whatever she has gone through to help others.

Once you meet Meg, you know Meg-she's 100% herself. She's the one you want when you are in a crisis-she fixes things. She's not afraid to get in other people's messes & walk with them through it. She loves my kids just as I do. She gets Henry, she lets him play with her iphone. She is a great sister to me & picks up cute bargain finds for me just because.

wanna go back to camp desoto

 My niece Mary Margaret & sister Kathleen after MM's month at Camp DeSoto.

 Our crew that shortly got back in the blue van and road 6 hours home. There were some "pulling over the car" moments.

ruthie on the steps of MM's cabin-she said "this camp is cool"

Kristen Mullen of Crumb's fab cake that MM's mother-in-law ordered for her welcome back.

My sister, me, her 2 kids & my 2 kids went to pick up her 3rd kid at CAMP this past week. She has been at Camp DeSoto (in Mentone, AL) this past MONTH. Kathleen (sister) has written her everyday & Mary Margaret has been ever present in her mind. Special K chilled out once she got THE LETTER from MM, the one that said it was the happiest she had ever been! Wow. And that MM couldn't wait to get home to teach her family how to compost & to do stitchery.

I went to camp desoto as a camper & worked there one summer. It stirred up all sorts of memories being back there. I still have close friendships from camp. And got to see one of my fave people-Jennifer Miller. We lived together in Chattanooga & used to have the best laughing fits together. She went through treatment for Hodgkin's disease while we lived together, I still remember laughing with her in the middle of this tough season of her life. She's one of a kind. She works full time at this camp & is really using God's gifts & following his plan for her. It is neat to see people where they fit.

I have told Tim I want to set up a special bank account to save to send the kids to Camp Desoto for Ruthie & Alpine for Henry. He thinks I'm crazy.