potato sack races

we have had an amazingly good day.  abby's behavior, although not perfect, was the best it has been--maybe ever.  she was a complete delight to be around.  and after 10 days of sick, whiny kids, it was positively refreshing.  in the midst of changing all the sheets in the house--goodbye germs!--abby decided to have a potato sack race, with pillowcases.  of course, julia wanted to join in the fun.  i didn't know how that was going to go as julia can't exactly jump, but they had a blast giggling and "jumping" through the house.  i'll have to file this away as a good way to get rid of some of that excess winter energy.

old pillows, new look

old pillow

new pillows! (front and back)

my amazingly talented big sis helped me pick some fabric a few months back for pillows in my living room.  i didn't get to make them then because life was consumed by lilburn daze...but at long last, the pillows got made this weekend.  i LOVE them.  and instead of buying stuffing for the pillows, i just used my old pillows.  use what you've got, right?

Six by the Blue Hutch

So, I've been tagged!  I've never been tagged.  I feel like I got asked to sit at the table with the cool kids.  The funny thing is that Becky thought I would already know my answers.  NOT.  I'm going to quit trying to plan out my best, most witty response and just go with what hits me now.  :)

Six Things I Value:

1.  my family.  can't imagine what my life would be like without them.  don't want to.

2.  the truth.

3.  bean dip and a good brainless tv show.

4.  a hot bath and a good book.

5.  friends who love me as i am and are willing to get in my stuff.

6.  Jesus.  not last, just all encompassing.

Six Things I don't Support:

1.  bad customer service.

2.  low rise jeans.  yes, i wear them, but isn't there some alternative between mommy jeans, me feeling fat in mid-rise jeans and being a plumber if i'm not careful.  good grief!

3.  people who don't listen well...which means, i don't support myself sometimes.

4.  santa.  i'm not against him, we just don't "do" santa.

5.  fits of all shapes and sizes thrown by my precious angels.  

6.  lying.  yeah, hate it.

Six people I tag (and give something else to put on their to-do list during this already full season--sorry!)

1.  Marci

2.  Sara

3.  Stacey

4.  Lisa

5.  Liz

6.  Leah

what do you value or not??

room time + scissors = bad hair day (or month!)

SandersDesigns

Just wanted to let you all know that Jon's Etsy Shop is up and running.  Tell your friends, your family, your co-workers...you could even tell your enemies-we don't care.  I just want to see his artwork going to make others homes happy!

So go check it out!

http://sandersdesigns.etsy.com

ge--we bring good things to light

after 2 hours on the phone today trying to track down lightbulbs for my kitchen (ge has decided to quit making them), i wound up talking to a guy right here in gwinnett at a warehouse not far my house.  well, in the midst of our conversation, abby came in prompting a "go back to your room, rest time is not over" comment from me.  at this point, he comments that i must be a stay at home mom.  why yes.  his next comment got me sassy, "that must be nice.  you don't have to do much, just cook and clean and stuff."  you can imagine the fire in my belly.  i reigned it in and replied with a mere, "you don't have children do you?"  and yes, the tone was sassy.  he didn't.  anyone surprised?  the conversation that followed shocked me though.  he said that he didn't want to bring children into a world like this.  i get that.  it's a crazy, psycho world.  i said that i would feel the same way if i didn't have hope.  

he asked me, what gave me hope.  no politically correct answer here.  

Jesus.  

what proceeded from there was quite an interesting conversation with a sales rep right around the corner from my house.  coincidence that none of the other people i called had what i needed?  i don't think so.  coincidence that i have been pondering john 16:33 lately.  nope.  and all to think this came about because they quit making my lightbulb...

our new thanksgiving tradition

is it just me or does thanksgiving seem to get blown by in the rush to get to christmas?  last year, as i was thinking about ways to create traditions for thanksgiving for our little family (since we never celebrate it at our house), i had this idea of making a thanksgiving tree.  it would be a big, fall tree that we could add leaves to each year.  well, it didn't happen.  but i was determined to do it this year.  so after much wailing and gnashing of teeth (on my part!), jon and i got our corduroy tree cut out and our leaves purchased from bed, bath and beyond (they are parchment paper).  the idea is that each year, we will each get a leaf to write our names, the year and what we are thankful for.  over the years, our tree will get fuller and we will have a living reminder of God's faithfulness to us in the past.  pretty fun!  gotta love it when the Lord gives you a good idea that works for your family.  it was great sitting and writing down what abby said she was thankful for--good to share too what we were thankful for.

turkey cookies!

yes, we're making cookies.  hope you are having as much fun...more, actually (as jon and i wound up finishing these up when abby burned out.)

happy thanksgiving from our family to yours!

melanie would be proud

tonight, i made biscuits.  from scratch.  without using bisquick.  and they were good.  very good.

yes, i had to google how to cut in butter (as i at least intuitively knew that didn't mean just literally cutting up butter and putting it the flour).  and yes, i used a potato masher to cut in the butter (because it was the closest thing i had to the tool that the they used).  yes, i used a glass for my rolling pin, and a smaller glass for my "2.5 inch biscuit cutter."  and yes, they still worked.  hip hip hooray.  i feel like a rock star...well, maybe that's not a good analogy.  now, if i can just learn how to make white gravy.

and mel, all i could think of was watching you make biscuits.  it didn't look nearly as messy, and you didn't seem nearly as stressed out as i felt!  one day, i will be as martha stewart as you are.  a girl can dream, can't she?

my heart is sad

i've been wanting to blog about wendjina, our compassion child.  she's five and from haiti.  abby loves writing her letters.  she loves getting letters from her too.  wendjina has helped ALL of us remember how much we have to be thankful for.

she entered our family this spring, after i saw a youtube video of people in haiti that were so starved for food that they were making cookies out of mud to at least fill their bellies.  it broke my heart.  i showed it to abby.  we decided that if we have money to go out to eat ever (and we do), then we needed to take action.  wendjina was the child we chose.  her picture captured me.

so today, we got a letter from her.  it was newsy at first, and then halfway through, i found myself sobbing as i read out loud to abby,

she tells you during the time of the hurricanes it was not good for the family at all because alot of damage were caused where she lives.  her parents lost all that they had.  now they are living in neighbor house.  she tells you the vacation did not bring joy to her.  she live a expensive life.  despite all God does not leave her.  she tells you she loves you....

they lost everything.  their meager bit is gone.  and i'm making christmas lists.  maybe the best thing we can do this year is give.  not more stuff to each other, but give things that will really make a difference...like food, water, malaria shots.  the list goes on and on.  one opportunity is to donate $5 to soles4soles.  for five bucks, you can provide two pairs of shoes to people who have never had shoes.  can you imagine never having shoes?  ever?  i'm going there now to donate.  and then calling compassion to see how we can help wendjina's family.  who needs another sweater for christmas?  i don't.

practicing for halloween

abby is in her room, practicing for tomorrow night.  to say that she is excited about trick o' treating would be an understatement.  it combines all of her favorite things--dress up, candy, people, family time, being outside and more people.  she is planning on being a ballerina.  who rides her bike from house to house.  nice.

well, today, to get a kick start on the main event, we got a phone call from our pharmacist.  the one we adore who we got to know so well during my years of migraines.  we haven't seen him in awhile, and he called to tell me that he had treat bags made for each of the girls.  and the bags were made with careful thought as to what julia could eat and what abby could eat.  okay, that is just flat precious.  makes me glad that we "do" halloween.  makes me thankful for community.  something about people loving my kids makes me dewy.  so here are the girls with their individual bags of loot.  not exactly sure how i feel about the stuffed ghost, but oh well!

abby and the ocean

my big girl loved the ocean (julia wanted nothing to do with the overwhelming ocean and freezing breeze.  within 10 seconds on the beach, she was "all done.  all done!")  

see her sprinting toward the water...fully clothed.

she's in.  and amazed.  delighted...

and freezing.

but there was no getting her out.  not with her daddy by her side.

she even got her nana and grammy to come out and build in the sand.

the next morning while i was packing, she and her daddy went out one last time....

early thrifty thursday--this is AMAZING!!

okay, this is an amazing deal.  you basically can get 12 burgers and any $12.99 item from OMAHA STEAKS for a mere $1.98.

link here for the details...

and if you would, on her step 2 link, could you replace it with this one instead so that i get the credit?  THANKS! 

oh, and it took me 6 hours to get my code from the first link.  just a heads up, but this does work!

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

i got this e-mail tonight...so, no combining deals

Dear AMY SANDERS

Thank you for shopping at Omaha Steaks! We appreciate your business and

are confident you will be delighted with your order.

We do show when placing this order, a special offer for a free item was

combined with the $25 reward card. As stated in all promotions for free

items, offers cannot be combined. Your order will ship without the free

item.

SORRY!!!

movies and games?

we are leaving for vacation on thursday...going with the girls, my parents and jon's parents to lovely hilton head.  i'm excited, ready for a getaway, but the endless details to get our family ready makes me remember why we don't travel more.  :)

anyway, i'm writing to see if you have any recommendations for GAMES or MOVIES.  i'm fresh out of ideas, and i would love some fun games to play with the adults after the kiddos go to bed.  a movie would be nice too.  so, ideas people...give me your ideas.  please!

join me in my one woman crusade

okay, has anyone noticed how horrifically frightening the halloween displays are this year at your local grocery stores, pharmacies and the likes?  it has gotten to be a bit over the top.  there was but one store in our errands that we ran today where abby didn't have to close her eyes.  i mean, good grief, last week, i had a nightmare.  i have gotten fed up.  i'm all for some good time celebrating, and please, feel free to decorate, but this is just downright frightening.  so, i'm on a one woman crusade.  every store that had yucky decor got a request for the manager from me today.  then, i just informed them of how frightening their ghouls and hellish skeletons are to my children AND me.  i then asked them if they could consider keeping it all on one aisle instead of making the local walgreens a frightfest!  and to the stores that did well, that tastefully kept their horror to one location making it easy to avoid and easy for my child to relax, i said thanks.  because i don't want to be ungrateful when stores do something well.

what about your area of the world?  is it as horrible there as it is in good ol' gwinnett?  and anyone want to join the crusade??

more pretty pendants...for the little ones!

y'all are the best!  thanks to you, i might not be stuck with millions of pendants with no home but abby's room.  here are what's left of the little girl pendants.  oh, and don't forget, you can choose a zipper pull or a ribbon to go with the pendant.  all for $3.  and we do paypal too!  feel free to spread the word...i think these would make a great stocking stuffer!

sandersdesigns@bellsouth (DOT) net

pretty scrabble tile pendants

ignore the messy desk which i just drew your attention to...ha!

so, here are the adult scrabble tile pendants i have left.  if you are interested and want an up close and personal look, let me know and i can e-mail you a picture of the individual one.  and each one of these is $4 (comes with your choice of a ribbon or zipper pull-aka key chain loop).  if i can get my wits about me, i'll get a picture of the children's ones tomorrow.

sandersdesigns@bellsouth (DOT) net

a sale!!

don't you love bargains?  i do.  so if you want a great deal, snatch up one (or more!) of these paintings before they go full price on etsy.  that's right, for the next two weeks, i'm going to let you faithful blog readers have a chance to order our craftiness for a discounted price!  don't forget, you can have any of these personalized for free!  so here's what's for sale...

Personalized Butterfly 12x16 $25

Personalized Butterfly 12x16 $25

"Once upon a time there lived a princess named..." 16x20 $45

2 Canvas Flower 2-11x14 $40

Up to Mars 16x20 $65

Personalized Flower 11x14 $25

Soccer Ball 18x18 $65

Baseball 18x18 $65

Retro Flower 20x20 $45

Elephant 12x12 $35

Lion 12x12 $35  

(there's also a monkey in this set that sold, but Jon can paint it again if you want a set of three)

Ambulance 12x16 $45

Mr. Turtle 11x14 $35

Worm and Apple 20x20 $60

and jon is now taking custom orders as well.  so shop away!!

i also have oodles of napkins and pendants left.  so, if you are interested, let me know.  napkins will be $4/set of children's ones and $6/set of adult.  i've still got lots of fun patterns left!  pendants will be $3/kids and $4/adults.  i'll try to get pictures of those soon.  

just e-mail me your order at sandersdesigns@bellsouth (DOT) net

wrapping it all up

i don't even know how to begin to sum up our experience at lilburn daze.  such a small event, but i feel like the Lord taught me alot through it.  everyone wants to know how we did financially-what's the bottom-line.  (and they probably want to know because i kept asking people to pray that things would sell!)  we definitely broke even.  jon sold 6 paintings there and 6 to his parents.  (got to love parental support.)  the pendants-which i did not enjoy making, were a smashing success.

the best part though was the shift in my heart a few days before.  i sensed the Lord reminding me that life isn't all about making money.  yeah, it's necessary, but not central.  so, my heart's desire shifted from selling to loving people.  and it was a great day.  we had a very angry woman in the booth next to ours.  listening to the way she talked to those working with her in the predawn morning made me yearn to be kinder to everyone--even when i'm stressed.  the wind was probably the most stressful aspect of the day.  the paintings kept flying off.  lovely.  "come to our booth where you'll get knocked in the head!"  nice.  jon came to the rescue with his drill and some zip strips and magically attached the paintings.  i was very thankful.

i think that about sums it up.  a good day with my hubby.  a good start to selling his paintings.  and an end to the making of napkins for me!  (i made 70 sets-sold 4!)  thank you all for your encouragement and prayers.

and we'll have more exciting news about jon's art soon....

and the winner is....

(chosen randomly of course)

becky kicklighter!!  congrats friend...just get in touch with me to pick your painting.

because i'm so thankful for everyone's help, i picked TWO MORE winners.  so melanie z.  and lubee (aka my lil' sis), you guys can choose a necklace or some napkins.

thank you all.  i'll post later today about the whole experience.

the big day

lilburn daze is, oh 11 hours or so away from starting.  we have to be there at 6:30am to set up...which should be totally illegal.  i think we've got most everything mapped out as far as the set-up goes.  and now, i'm tired and antsy.  it's the same feeling that i used to get the night before summer camp.  excited.  nervous.  anxious to know what was going to happen.  how was it all going to play out.

i want to thank all of you for giving us so much feedback and help in this little journey of ours.  if you get this tonight or on saturday, feel free to pray that we would be able to connect with people and love them well without selfish desire for our own gain.  that's where i want my heart to be.

i'm off to (hopefully) sleep!

rocket ships, lions and castles

here are some of the paintings my super talented hubby has prepared for lilburn daze...what do you think??

what would you pay-round two!

we are hitting the home stretch...it is like cramming for finals with kids in tow.  good grief!  lilburn daze is a week away.  and when it is done, i will blog about fun things again...like abby's first bike, the fair, jon and my trip to six flags.  the possibilities are endless.  but for now, i need your help again.

so, i've made scrabble tile pendant necklaces/bookmarks/zipper pulls...whatever you want to use them for.  i'm going to include a pendant and some pretty ribbon (for a necklace) OR a pendant and a dainty key ring circle so that you could attach it to a zipper pull.  my question for you is simple, what would you pay?  i'm just asking now about the kid themed necklaces...