Embellished Notebook

I love to see what other people/bloggers/crafters are making. While reading My Blessed Life one day I saw that she had a guest post for that day. Traci over at Beneath My Heart was showing how she made a DIY Embellished Notebook. So I thought that I would give it a try.


 I started out with this cute little notebook that I bought at Office Max and then I started adding ribbon to the spirals. I used three different colors of ribbon, light blue, peach, and a white organza ribbon. You can go HERE to see her notebook. This is what mine looked like when I got finished with it.

I love the way it turned out, and it was so easy to make.

Strawberry Pickin'

Last Thursday my mom and I went on a field trip with my nephews Waylon and Wyatt. Our destination was Rogers Farm to pick strawberries. Before we could pick the strawberries we watched a short movie about how the Rogers family prepare the fields for planting, the planting process and the picking of the strawberries. We were also taught the correct way to pick a strawberry. After watching the movie we went on a hay ride where  we saw fields planted in onions, squash, eggplant, okra and of course strawberries. When we were finished with our hay ride we had a picnic lunch and then there was time to play. Finally the time came to do some strawberry pickin'.









Waylon picking a strawberry.



Wyatt picking a strawberry.



My strawberry pickers.



Once we finished picking strawberries we went back to my house where they boys, my mom and I ate some of the strawberries we picked.

My New Ride

A couple of weeks ago my friend Carrie wrote about a bike that she had her eye on. Well  I have been wanting to get a bike for myself for some time now and had found one that I liked. Last week I was finally able to get it. The only thing it was missing was a basket for the front, (to hold my camera, phone, etc) so while I was getting the bike I told Kaelyn that all I needed now was a basket. Kaelyn found the baskets for bikes and picked one out for me, she also got one for her bike too.

I have had such a fun time going out on rides with my family, nothing like riding a bike and having the wind blow through your hair. Can't wait to see where our rides will take us, I have a feeling one place will be at the newly opened Sonic down the road. My kids have it all figured out how we can take our bikes out for a ride and make a stop at Sonic for a drink and then back on the bikes for the rest of our ride.

Carrie, hope you get your bike soon and are able to go on some adventures too.

House Party

This past Saturday I hosted my very first House Party. I had applied to be a hostess for the Philadelphia Cooking Crème and was chosen to host one of their parties.

We made Creamy Chicken Fajita’s using the Santa Fe Blend Cooking Crème and Baked Penne using the Italian Cheese and Herb Cooking Crème. Both were very good, but I liked the fajitas the best. For dessert I served angel food cake with fresh strawberries and cool whip.

My sister was the photographer for the day, but she didn’t get many pictures, the batteries in my camera died and I couldn’t find the spare ones. I wish that I would have had a picture of everyone who came. I had a total of seven guests show up and then with their kids, Kaelyn and myself there were fourteen in all. 

Then there were the “Goody Bags” that everyone got to take home.

In each of the bags was a Cooking Crème cookbook, a wooden spoon, notepad, magnet, coupon for the Cooking Crème, certificate to save $10 on a single-item purchase of $50 or more from HSN.

For hosting the part I received the same items listed above in addition to getting a skillet, cooking mitt and coupons for free Cooking Crème to purchase for the party.

I had a great time hosting this party and it seemed like everyone who came had a good time too.

Spring Turkey Season

On Friday night we met up with my sister Crystal and her sweet family at Sonny's for dinner. When we were finished eating and visiting with one another, Tyler went home with them for the night. On Saturday morning him and my brother-in-law Jesse got up early and headed out to the woods for some good ole' turkey hunting. Tyler called me at home on Saturday morning just before eleven to tell me that he had shot a turkey. He was so excited, this was his first turkey.

So on Saturday evening Tyler and his dad cooked up some turkey breast for our dinner, it was so good.

Family Rules

I have been eyeing a sign on Etsy at Barn Owl Primitives about family rules. This is one of them that I liked:

 {Picture taken from Barn Owl Primitives}

She hand paints the words  on a pine board (no vinyl). While I would love to have one that she has made, right now I just don’t have the extra money to purchase one. So I did the next best thing, I made my own.

I used a frame that I already painted white. I just switched out the wording from Valentine’s Day.

In Full Bloom

I was at my Mom's house for a little while on Sunday afternoon. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw how well all of her dogwoods were blooming.

They weren't the only things blooming either. Her wisteria was gorgeous with it's purple being  just  the right shade and the scent was the sweetest smell around.

The bridal wreath that is in her front yard had the most beautiful white blossoms growing too.  

A good reminder that spring is right  at our front door.

She's too young

When I picked Kaelyn up from school a few days ago, she informed me that a boy in her class had asked her out. Trying to stay as calm as I could with this news, I asked her where was he planning on taking her out too? Although inside I was screaming NOOOOOO!!!!! Kaelyn tells me, "I don't know because I told him no!" She said that he wanted to know why she wouldn't go out with him and her reply to him was this:
Kaelyn: First of all I am only 11.
Boy: So, I'm 11 too.
Kaelyn: If I go out with you I will be sinning.
Boy: What?
Kaelyn: If I go out with you I will be sinning, because I will be going against my parents rules and also against God because I would be disobeying my parents.

As you can imagine her answer to him just thrilled me. Yes she is way to young to be "going out" with some boy and we are not in any hurry for her to start getting interested in boys. I know it will come soon enough, and I am not looking forward to that at all.

Then the next day this boys sister tells Kaelyn, I'm going to tell my brother to ask you out again. Kaelyn kindly told her that she will keep telling him no, so he shouldn't even bother asking her.


She is still my baby!



$20 Target Gift Card

I was just visiting over at Savings & Stewardship and saw that if you join Plum District or are already a member and refer 4 people you can get a $20 gift card.

So I'm trying to earn a complimentary gift card for Plum Reward. I just need to refer four friends and I can get a $20 Target GiftCard® from Plum District, and I need your help to do it. Plum District is the leading deal site for savvy moms and their families to make their lives easier and more enjoyable. I thought you would be interested in it ... and about that help: if I get 4 people to sign up for Plum District today, I'll get my gift card. If you sign up, you may have a chance to earn a complimentary gift card, too! Just click HERE.

Don't Let Me Miss The Glory

A few weeks ago I had the "Woe Is Me" syndrome. It seemed as if everything was just falling apart around me. So I moped around for several days and just couldn't seem to get out of that mentality. One morning I was on Facebook and one of the people that I follow is Carl Cartee (my most favorite song writers/artist). Well he had posted about his little boy telling a joke and had a link to you tube so I clicked over to see his son telling this joke. After I watched that I was looking at the side bar of the screen and saw a song that Carl had written with someone else and there was a clip of the song. I clicked on the link and this is what I heard:

After listening to that I realized that I had been missing out on the glory of everything that was going on around me. I have since started saying "Don't let me miss the glory" when there are things that start to overwhelm me and  when I start getting that "Woe Is Me" attitude. That night I was telling Chuck about it, and I asked him if that was a new song? He said, "no, we actually have a cd that has that song on it." I found the cd and realized that I had listened to it a number of times before, but didn't recall hearing that song.

A couple of days after discovering this song, I had taken my kids out for a little afternoon get away. I had asked Tyler to do something for me and he didn't quite do what I asked. Yes I was a little irriated with him, but only for a moment. God reminded me that in a few years Tyler will be going off to college and I needed to cherish this time I was having with him, you got it, I was then saying to myself, "Don't let me miss the glory".

Isn't it amazing how God can use something like a song to teach you.

Don't Let Me Miss The Glory!