My First Bloggy Giveaway!

Hooray! I am having my first bloggy giveaway. As I posted earlier, I love these little crayon keepers. How perfect with some children in school and others getting ready to start. So if you would like to enter my giveaway, all you have to do is leave a comment. I will draw a winner on Aug. 9th. We are going on vacation and I will have no computer access for 7 days! So this will give plenty of time for anyone who wants to leave me a comment. Spread the word and good luck!

Note* Crayons are not included since I'm afraid they will melt when shipping.*

Everyone Wins!

Lily from Lily's Life is Great, just had her birthday bash Giveaway. They had lots of great items you could bid on and the proceeds went to Jaxson and Parker. I won the T21 Traveling Afghan from Little Miss E's mom. We are so excited that we will be the proud owners of one of these special afghans! We are also excited for Jaxson and Parker because they are the real winners! Thanks Lily for giving so much on your very own birthday!

Sew Busy

Over the last 2 weeks I've been "sew" busy making some fun things. I love to sew and I would love to have a sewing room just for me. My mom has the best sewing room. I have to drag my stuff out every time I want to sew. We just don't have a lot of space unless I made my girls room together. I would like to keep my sanity so that will not happen. So anyway, I've taken over the dining room table. Every night I move all my stuff so that we can eat as a family. This will work for the summer but when we go back to school that will become our homework table. There won't be much time for sewing either...more reason why I'd love to have a room. SO what have I been making? Take a look.

This is a shopping cart cover. I bought the pattern when I was pregnant and finally made it. Now Mattie can stay germ free.

I love these little crayon holders! They roll up and tie keeping the crayons safe and snug. Caroline picked the fabric for this one.

This was my practice one.

I needed new chair pads badly. These really only cost me time since my mom already had the fabric. I recycled the stuffing from the last ones. I'm going to do the same for the pillows.

What is next? You'll see. I'm planning on doing a bloggy giveaway very soon! So be on the look out!

A Step in the Right Direction

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

O.K. it may be a small step but to us it is a HUGE step in the right direction! Mattie amazes us everyday with something new. The other day she finally started signing "more". We've been working on that one for a long time. To us, it doesn't matter that she isn't doing all the same things as her peers. She will learn at her own pace and we will be there to cheer her on each and every step of the way.

Wordless Wednesday/Special Exposure

Tanner

Be Careful What You Ask For.....

OK. so it has been awhile since I've posted and while there has been a lot going on, nothing to really post about right now. So I'm thinking what can I post about. Well, I went to a workshop last week so I'll post my thoughts on that. So that's what I started to do. That post will come later because after today, I have plenty to post about!



It started mid-morning, I'm working on laundry and I hear Mattie crying one of those "hurt cries". I go immediately to her and Caroline is trying to console her. Well, she was trying to fasten her into her chair and pinched her skin between the buckle and snap. It left a nice ouchie and Caroline felt awful. We did the "thank you for helping" and "Mattie still loves you" talk and everything was fine.



Soon after, I put Mattie down for her nap and hop in the shower. Next thing I know Caroline comes and peeks her head into the shower. She looked like she has seen a ghost. She says "Mommy I hurt my finger" and begins to show me. There is blood everywhere! Caroline has always been our accident prone child so I stay pretty calm. We wrap her finger applying pressure so I can get it to stop bleeding enough to assess the situation. She did quite a number, one of those do I take her to the doctor or not moments. Well, I call hubby and my mom, who happens to be a nurse, and after discussing the situation decide to wait a little longer. We've checked it several times and she seems to be ok.



We do lunch, more laundry, visit from Nana, and then nap time for Mattie again. So I decide to work on my post from this morning. I hear a noise from the kitchen. I go and see what it is.....my crazy cat has gotten on the counter. Yes that is gross! She has just started doing this and I'm trying to break her. I've tried the water spray.....oh no.....she loves water! What cat loves water? We've tried a little pat on the behind and out the door.....not working. So any ideas would be great! Anyhow... I had left a can of ravioli on the counter just because I didn't really feel like messing with it. So I walk into the eating area and there was the can of leftover ravioli on my carpeted floor.....yes we have carpet in our dining room which I can't stand. And my Crazy Cat with an orange head. She put her whole head in the ravioli can!! Ok. I just have to laugh! So I've just spent time with me and my best friend......the steam cleaner..... and thinking "You just gotta laugh!"

This picture does not do her justice but let me tell you...there was a mess all around her head and she was purring...loudly! Oh and if you look close enough that would be her tongue trying to get as much as she can.

That's what little girls are made of......

We've had extra girls over the last couple of days and it has been music, cell phones, hair, and make-up......oh yeah.....and talk of boys.

Mattie had been learning so much this past week so I just took some videos and blended them together. She can't help but learn these things first since she is surrounded by all girls....well except for the daddy. So what is she learning about?? Of course...... cell phones, hair, and baby dolls. Isn't that what little girls are made of??

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Spider Update

So I did some research and I found out what kind of creature was living on our porch. I say was because it looks like she's already moved on. It is called an Arrowshaped Micrathenang. They live in Eastern US west to Texas and Nebraska. They like woodland areas. That pretty much fits our area. We have lots of pines in our neighborhood and have lots of woods around us. They don't pose any dangers to humans so our crazy looking spider is harmless. In fact, I read on another site that they are only harmful to ants. Mystery solved!

Strange Spider

So we get up this morning and on our way out to church when we are greeted on our porch by this lovely creature. It is some kind of spider because it was spinning a web. I've never seen anything quite like this before. It is the strangest spider I've ever seen. I guess I'll go on the Internet in a bit and see if I can find out what kind it might be. Spiders really don't give me the creeps as long as they say outside and off of me. As long as we have that "personal space" distance then I'm cool with it. Any thoughts on what this might be?

Summer Reading

Anybody reading anything good?

I just finished reading True Believer by Nicholas Sparks. He is always a pretty easy read and he's from New Bern which isn't too far from me. A lot of his books take place in North Carolina so I'm very familiar with the settings.

I also read Angels and Demons by Dan Brown. I liked the suspense but it kind of creeped me out. I think I would of liked the movie much better if I had not read the book first.

I loved Marley and Me. I cried and cried and then cried some more! Then we got the movie and we all blubbered over the movie. We even had Mattie crying because we were crying so much!

So anyway.....I'm trying to read as much as I can this summer so if you've read anything good lately, let me know. I'm always looking for a good book!

New Haircut

No....we didn't cut Mattie's hair BUT we did get Caroline's cut today. She has been very wishy washy about deciding whether to cut or not. Well, I think she finally got tired of the tangles. After a year of growing it out, she decided to chop it off. She is very pleased with it!

BEFORE


AND.................



AFTER!!!

Fourth of July Pics

We had a nice and busy weekend. We went to a friends for the fourth and had a nice time visiting with all our friends. We were going to head back to town for the fireworks, but changed our minds. They set off quite a few fireworks off at the house and the kids seemed pretty content. It really worked out best since two of us had little ones that were scared of the noises. It was nice being able to take them inside away from the display.

One of our friends brought a silly red, white, and blue headband. I thought it was so cute! As you can see from the photos, Mattie didn't mind wearing them at all. In fact, everyone wanted to wear them.

Abby and Mattie

Caroline....posing with the headband.

Mattie with the headband again!

Mattie and her friend hiding inside away from the fireworks.

Happy Fourth of July

May you and your family have a safe and fun Fourth of July!

Crafty Time

Caroline joined the local reading program at our library. Their theme is creativity. She really has had a great time this year. Every week we go to the library for story hour and to check out more books. Each week they focus on a topic. They've had a magician, music, dance, and art. As she reads, she earns points. Then she turns those points in for prizes. Last week, she earned a blank mask. She had to use her imagination and decorate the mask. Then she took it back in to have her picture made. They will hang her picture up in the library with all the other kids and their masks. I think she did an awesome job on her mask!



I also have been wanting to start making bows for the baby. It is so hard to find bows that will stay in her hair. Plus they can get very expensive. So I decided to try my hand at it and found it quite fun. I can't wait to try different styles and ribbons. Here is my very first bow. I didn't think it turned out too bad.

Mattie sporting her new bow.

Giveaway

Do you want a chance to win some really neat prizes and help out two really great families at the same time? Head over to Lily's Life is Great for a chance to just do that!

Today's giveaway is a really cute frog towel and pool. You can also register to win some other cool prizes too! So head over today and take a look.

How giving these families have been even when enduring difficult times themselves.

Wordless Wednesday/Special Exposure