whatever

tornado alley

we are ok.
there were tornados in kansas this weekend....LOTS of tornados....but not at my house.
this was one about 8 or 10 miles away.
craig and scott saw this one on the video driving home from scotts game. (which i was not at because i was in the basement!)

they did not make this video...it was just someone driving in a severe weather watch...that seemed surprised that there was a tornado!  whatevs. 

crazy.

that's kansas though.
every year.

i was in the basement with my other kids...telling them it was fine....relax....it's going to be fine.
my little girls worry.
A LOT.
i try to just be very calm and hope for the best.
we were watching HOP and i didn't mention the sirens.
then Scott came running in and yelled "I SAW THE TORNADO!"  and they were done for....
they ended up sleeping in my bed.

thanks for ALL the emails asking if we were okay....so sweet.

i am so thankful that EVERYONE is ok.  

 

now...the winner for LuciusART's wood block City Print.

NYC is my favorite city in the US, so I would want that- but I live in Joplin, MO and I would love that too! Maybe I need two...

Posted by: Carrie | April 12, 2012 at 03:41 PM

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email me Carrie and i will hook you up with Kevin!!

thanks for entering everyone!!!

 

 

i am trying SO hard not to be nervous about the SNAP conference this week.
lots of prayer here.

i am going to be spending extra amounts of time with God the next few days getting a clear vision of what HE wants me to share in my session.  
i am on a panel with Jeannett and Ethan about "Using Your Blog for Good."

i know, i know, I KNOW that God is able to take away these fears and nervousness.
He can and He will.
because HE brought me to this....God gets all the glory....i have to share that.

so....here's the deal.
if YOU are going to SNAP and YOU see me...PLEASE say  hello.
i think i will know 3 people that i have met in real life.
out of 300+ people that makes me feel extra nervous.
it's hard to leave your kids, husband and home and go some place NEW with lots of people.
at least it is for me.

so i promise to wear a big friendly smile and fill your ear with lots of chit chat if you promise to say Hello.
ok?

:)

AND WHAT WILL I WEAR?!!!
so many decisions. 

i did get some new shoes....maybe too many shoes.

 
i WISH Payless Shoes would be sponsoring me...but they are not.....BUT THEY SHOULD!

i just always seem to find great shoes there all the time.
i did a little online BOGO shopping.
just for me.


i think the glitter flats are my favorite.
but it's a hard choice.
the red wedges are REALLY cute and comfy and come in several colors.
even yellow.
and i LOVE the little yellow flower sandals too.
shoes sure do make me happy.
i am a dork. 

 

ok....have a great monday!

i just got back from a run and i feel like today is going to be a good one.
THE SUN IS SHINING!
woo-hoo!

thank you God for that.

 

 

christmas craft #3

ok....

this craft is a bit more time consuming
BUT
all three kids said "that is AWESOME!" when i showed them. 
sean said "it's so creative!"  
:)

i saw one at the hallmark store that was similar but clearly mass produced & i thought "i bet i could make that"
so we did! 

you will need clear ornaments, foam balls that are smaller than the glass ornament, fake snow and scrap fabric. 
i found those all at hobby lobby. 

i did this step apart from when the kids were working.
i carved a hole in the foam that was exactly the size of the top of the ornament where it hangs from.
i used a screwdriver....? it was what i found in my drawer.
the foam is really soft and easy to work with.

it will look like that.


take the silver ornament hanger off the ornament.
make a cone with paper and fill your ornament with fake snow....as much or as little as you want.
this stuff goes everywhere so the cone was the least messy way we found to work.


add hot glue to the top of the ornament... around the top ring.


then you IMMEDIATELY push the foam ball that was hollowed out onto the ornament.
it should be tight... i had to help annie.

we made hats by cutting a circle of black paper for the brim and rolled paper to fit inside the silver ornament hanger.
and hot glued it all together.
there is a close up picture of the hats below.


cut a strip of fabric or felt for a scarf about 12" long.


tie it around the head in a knot.


we cut some "fringe" on the ends.


the faces are painted onto the head before the hats are glued on.
and buttons on their tummies.


and we added a little scrap of fabric or felt for the hat.
(p.s. mine is the one with the really wide set eyes...i like my snowmen that way.  :)


sean


for this hat we hot glued felt around the head and tied the top together.
then snipped the end into fringe.


annie


we watched frosty the snowman tonight on tv.
man....frosty returns was on afterwards....ummm....yuck.
how did that movie become a "classic?"
seriously.

we watched "it's a Wonderful Life" last night.
i cried from the start.
love that movie.
but i fell asleep at the last 10 minutes.
like...i was out cold...missed the best part.

 

DID YOU WATCH MY CRAZY VLOG???

the sound was nuts wasn't it?

DID YOU DONATE TO CHARITY: WATER??  

do it.

come on....join us!

it's $10 to change lives!

CHANGE LIVES!!!!

it's real.

BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE IN THE WORLD.

you make a difference.

your heart is big.

you matter.

HELP OTHERS.

:)


don't forget to enter my giveaway (and the others) if you donated!

 

 

he could quit his day job.....

let's just call him Magnum P.I. from now on.

he checked on my phone through t-mobile & got all the numbers that had been called since i'd lost it friday night.
i had lost my phone 30 minutes away from home.
he called them.
he got names and figured out who took it and was using it.
and then talked to the thief's neighbor!
she said "what?! that is terrible!  i will go and get it for you! that is AWFUL!"  
and she called back with my phone.
Magnum drove to her house and picked it up and surprised me with it.
we are sending the neighbor a thank you gift! 

he is awesome.

like....way awesome.
thanks MAG.

so yeah.......i googled magnum pi and there were over a million results for images.
a million!?!
that is pretty crazy.
and worthy of a picnik collage don't you think?? 

come on....you know you want THAT on your pinterest!

when i look at those pictures i feel like i am 6 years old.
my uncle had that mustache....my parent's friends had those....everyone!
can't you hear his voice in your head????  smoldery tom selleck.....mmmmm. 

but you can't stop there......i had to YOUTUBE him.

and then i found you can find full episodes on hulu from season one!

oh my.

 

how was that for a monday morning post???

there was NO WAY you saw that coming.

:)

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answers to the question on the photo collages above the summer list?

i posted about it here.
 

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chrissie grace has had a FABULOUS response to the fundraiser for Davis!
thank you so much for ordering from her shop so we can get Davis to his mommy!
amy was so surprised and happy.
she was crying and texting me.
loved that!
surprises are too much fun!


well......chrissie decided to be PURE awesome 

and give 25% from ANY sale in her entire shop in june to davis's adoption. 
what a beautiful heart chrissie has! 

she answered some questions you may have about the pillow order on her blog.

i think i may need this....


 
and these two are really cute.....
 

25% of chrissie's sales in june go toward Davis's adoption fees through resses's rainbow!

i cannot wait to see davis in amy's arms.

go shop!

 

 

the prom

lauren is going to prom today.

and there is a good chance i won't even see her all dolled up....she's going with a group...i don't have all the details.
bleh.

just in case i don't.... i have a couple pictures of her dress and shoes.
it may be the best i get.
i hope not...but i am keeping my expectations low so i don't cry all night about my baby being big & all that stuff.

she's going to look beautiful.  



 



did you go to prom?

i went all four years of high school.

and they were all FUN.

nothing crazy...nothing scandalous....just fun.

my freshman year i went with a foreign exchange student.....fernando.
a whole group of us together...two other foreign exchange students too.
(and kristi kita and lori claassen)  :)
we ate at a restaurant before & they almost didn't let us into prom because we arrived 15 minutes past the time.

but they did.  
yay.
i don't have a picture of the group and that is bummer.
but here is me and my friend tonya....from a different banquet that year....in the same dress.

1991


 "i like your sleeves....they're real big"  

nice braces. 

1992  
my sophomore year i went with craiggers.
score!
i thought i looked AWESOME.
my dad said "do you have a turle neck to wear with that?"


apparently  i was bow crazy.
 
love the gloves!   shiny satin always looks good....don't ever doubt that.

i think i cried while getting ready because my curls were getting out of control. 
thank goodness i made them fabulous by prom time.

ha.

is that the cutest couple you've ever seen?

the answer is yes.
 
i had this picture framed in my teenage bedroom for three more years.

that was the last time i wore electric blue heels....hmm i wonder why?....they are so versatile & go with everything!?
but also i haven't worn elbow length gloves with bows since that night either.
maybe i should bring it back.
the world needs more gloved occasions.

1993
my junior year i went with friends because my boyfriend (craig) was gone at college far away.
and since i had been twice already the usual dress was too boring.

and i cut off all my hair.

my shoes were from the theater department.
my dress was my friend roxi's moms....if i remember correctly.
my date was dan....my first friend i had in that town....my 6th grade boyfriend....my friend still to this day.
hi dan.
:)

jamie...where was your dress from?  we were groovy.
hi jamie.

brian....nice bow tie.  
hi brian.

i don't remember anything else about that night at all....and i don't think i did anything bad that i am trying to block out....but i cannot be sure about that. 

1994
and my senior year....craig was in college but closer than the year before....so he was my date.
i am sure he was thrilled about it.
not.

the decorations were crazy.
black plastic?  in front of wood gazebo?  wrapped in tulle?
i wish i could remember the theme!! 

sequins!!!
woo hoo.

 

did you watch parenthood two weeks ago?

was your prom good or bad?

let's hear it.....

 

i am constantly surprised.

it's ironic really.

that i would post about this today
since what i see out my window is blowing sideways snow everywhere.
another snow storm.

but....

i must share my big news with you!

Matthew Mead and Linda Mcdonald asked me to have a feature in their new magazine!

 

SUMMER

it's crazy.

me?

it's going to be kind of a day-in-the-life kind of story.

linda will write it....because they probably don't want to use the words

amazing
awesome
ginormous
!!!!!
super duper
really really
awesome
amazing

as much as i tend to.

it will be MY photos.

pictures of our home and our family will be in SUMMER magazine!

THIS IS CRAZINESS PEOPLE!

linda called me.....on the phone.....not an email.

and she gave me matthew mead's cell phone number!

what the what?

AMAZING.

i am excited.

i am happy.

i am thankful.

i think God is the coolest of the cool.

that HE would provide me with an opportunity that is so deep in the desire of my heart...
so deep and unspoken that i didn't even know it existed to be honest.

my whole life i have poured over magazines.
i love them.

and i always wanted to be a part of them.
but never would have thought it could be a reality.

i mean really.....i live in kansas.
i am not a designer.
i am not wealthy with high dollar furnishings.
i have a bunch of messy goofy kids.
i don't have famous friends or a fancy store or a line of home items or a book.

but yet they called.

God knows my heart.

God knows that it brings ME great joy to share HIS joy with you through this blog.

and now i will get to share my happy space from the internet with the publishing world.
 
i like to bring a smile to your morning.
i like to shout GOD IS AWESOME for all to hear.

i like to take pictures of all the goodness that HE pours out on me each day.

and i get to do that in this magazine.

THIS IS CRAZY.

but i am super duper excited about it.

:)

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
............you can read about it as it is being written and worked on at Matthew's blog...........
you can pre-order your own copy.
 it's only available through the website...not sold in stores.

 

 

hi

this is where i am sitting right now.....in bed.
because it's warm.

after i blog i am going to work on my bible study.
in bed.
cause it's WARM!

i am super talkative today. 
so much to tell ya....or not....just stuff i have in my mind.

we watched Secretariat this weekend.
i liked it.
who wouldn't?
and then i bought the song "Oh Happy Day" on itunes and i have listened to it 25 times since.
you should listen to it too....i am right now.

and then i bought "i'll take you there" by the staple singers.  :)
1972 and 1969.
making me happy this morning.

did you watch the super bowl?
it was on in our home and my men watched it.
i made cupcakes.....played games with the little girls....read books to them....and put them to bed.
then i hid in the craft room sewing.
i didn't see one second of the super bowl.
and that is just fine with me.
it was so loud...i just had to be far away.

how old am i????
buying gospel music from the 60's and saying the tv is too loud?!
i am my father.

lots and lots of bunting.

i am getting my etsy shop stocked up again.  woo-hoo!!
pom poms and polka dots and rainbows are all around me.
(my shop won't be open for weeks....i promise i will give you plenty of heads up....)



did you know.....that even with a lock on your door....it is difficult to "be romantic" in the daytime with 5 kids?

well it is!

every 30 seconds a different kid was knocking on our door yesterday!

"mom....mom....mom....are you in there?"

"MOM....can you help me?  i need my shoe tied.  MOM????"

"DAD?  where's MOM?"

knock knock knock "MOM? can i have some ice cream?"  

"mom....hey mom?  when are you coming out of your room?" 

"mom?  the computer keeps freezing. can you come fix it?  MOM....can you fix it NOW?"

and then a blastingly loud rendention of chopsticks on the piano in anger because i wasn't coming out of my room fast enough for their liking.


BUT....romance MUST BE MADE.
no matter what.
it's important.
they will survive without their incredibly important requests of snacks or more computer time or help with zippers met instantly.
mommy and daddy need the romance!

with five kids we have gotten pretty good at ignoring the distractions in exchange for "romance"
but yesterday was one for the record books.
 
t.m.i.

i know.


instead of knocking on my door non-stop they should have been folding the laundry!

 
the host for SNL was Dana Carvey.  
it made me happy....made me feel all nostalgic....thinking about high school.
wayne's world made me feel like i was 15.
how many times did we quote that in the 90's???


this skit was so dumb but funny. 

 

i apologize for that.


ok...i need to move on with my day.

and let you move on with yours!  :)

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the winner of the Jolly Goode poster is............

LOVE the poster! I have spots of red in my kitchen and this would be perfect. :) This weekend - Saturday is working on my new craft storage and Sunday is Super Bowl. GO PACKERS! :)

Posted by: Sarah | February 04, 2011 at 02:21 PM

sarah....email me your info ok?

thanks!

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