Winter Days

Here in Columbus, we got about 6 inches of snow in the last few days. The kids have been busy shoveling drive ways for people and having fun playing in the snow. They cannot stay out too long because it is quite chilly as well. Last night, just as I was leaving to take Alex to her horse lessons, the snow turned to an icy mixture. Bill told me not to go and he headed out to help the village plow the streets (he loves driving the snow plow trucks!). But I went anyways and cut her lesson short and we made it there and back safely. This morning I woke to an icy wonderland! It brings me back to the days of being at Bowling Green State University. There were many days that we had ice storms and the whole campus would be frozen over! My friend and I would bundle up and walk around just looking at all the beautiful ice hanging off of the trees. Of course I have some bad memories of ice storms too. Living in Michigan we definitely had our share of ice! Our little house was surrounded by some BIG old trees and whenever we had an ice storm we would hold our breath and hope that none of the branches would come down and crush our house! Once we had one come down and land on our small unattached garage and Bill's car that was parked next to it. My car was in the garage and amazingly came out ok. So living here in Canal Winchester it is nice to be away from those BIG ice storms and just have these "freeze overs" now and then!

Bill came home from his spiritual retreat a new man! One of the things he was ready to face was the fact that he/we spend to much time in front of the television! So to help us break that habit I quickly declared a no TV week! The TV can only be turned on in the wee hours of the morning when the little ones get up too early for me to function yet. I have to get my first cup of coffee, check emails and try to get a devotion in! Other than that we are not to turn it on! I have wanted to do this for some time, but never had the support of my family, especially Bill. So far we have started to read a book out loud, "The Hittite Warrior," about the times of the judges in 1200BC. If you have never read Judges 3-4 you should, it is quite a interesting story, if not funny. Curtis said it was his favorite Bible story. When he told his dad his favorite story was of Ehud, Bill said, "Who?" When you read the story you will know why he likes it so much! Last night we played "Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader." Only Alex was, figures! I lost my $500,000 question - "Where was the first battle of the civil war?" Yes, I should of known this, especially since I just taught it to my kids last year! I knew it was in South Carolina and I can remember the details of the war, but could not remember the name of it! If you do not know then you will have to look it up! What is really sad is that Alex could not save me! She should of known the answer - did her teacher not teach her anything? Curt knew it, of course, anything having to do with fighting he can remember! SO goes the nights without TV! Tonight we will continue to read our book and probably play a few more games. Great quality family time!

Loose ends!

My sister in law, Jennifer, ordered a bag for her granddaughter, Lilly. She said she is all about Princesses and wanted something girly. Well that was 2 months ago and I finally got it done. It is a nice big bag, especially for a 4 y.o., but she wanted it for a over night bag. Maria really liked it, especially the way it "sparkles." So this bag is off to the post office today and on it way to Lilly!

Got the hooks up in the laundry room - the black accessories really make the color pop! I love the look and it is just what I wanted! Of course I did this all when Bill was away. So when he got home and saw my paint job and how I hung the hooks I could tell he was not impressed. BUT he did not say anything except, "It looks great!" Later he asked me if I screwed the hooks into studs..."no" or if I used anchors for them..."no." I knew I should of done either of those two things, but I knew I would never find the anchors and the studs were too far apart for the hooks. So I just chanced it! I warned the kids not to hang on the hooks ... just their coats. Bill laughed at that and said he would be surprised if they lasted. Oh well. It is done! That is a pretty good example of how I do things.. just get it done. Next I need to find some sort of message board (I am thinking of making one out of fabric to bring some more color into the room) and of course I am still on the hunt for a shoe rack to hold at least 15 pairs of shoes!

Work in Progress

Bill was gone for the weekend so I tackled the laundry room make over! Simple project... what could go wrong??? Well nothing is ever easy and with every step of this project I hit a road block. I persisted though and finally got the room painted!

Bill put this board with hooks up a week ago. I told him not to because I was planning on painting. Do they ever listen...? Well it would NOT come down. He screwed it into the wall and it would not budge! I had the kids pulling on it. I was twisting it around, but would not come down. NOT a good start to the project! I even took a hammer to the screw and it broke off in the board! Finally my twisting it paid off and I could yank it off the wall!

Then it was time to prep the walls. The spackling I found (let me just say that Bill is not the most organized person and it takes a while to find where he puts all the supplies) was dried up a little, but I decided to use it anyways. I was not looking for that perfect smooth wall, just wanted to fill the holes! It worked but it was a MESS!

Finally get it painted after 3 cut ins and 2 coats on the walls. The paint color was one I had picked out when we bought the house 3 years ago. It was in the same color family as my family room and kitchen color. Well, it was a little more orange than I expected. "It looks like pumpkin pie," Livy exclaimed! Notice she is doing the laundry! I actually like it. It goes with the Tuscan feel I am trying to capture in my house. Once I add the black gadgets and maybe some saying or pictures on the wall, I think I will have the look I was going after.

So now I have to accessorize the room. I will be putting hooks on the walls today - we require a lot of hooks for 7 peoples coats! I am still on the search for a shoe rack... I found one at IKEA so I may have to travel down there to get it, DARN! I am also searching for a message center of some sort. I am thinking black framed cork board - I will have to get out my Pottery Barn catalog and see what they have to offer. I am putting black handles on my cabinets and I am thinking of painting my cabinets! What color do you think I should go with? Bill will not be for it, but it is only 2 cabinets - how bad can it look? Leave me a comment and let me know what color I should go with! Maybe I should change that ugly florescent light too??? What do you think? This project could last forever!

SO STAY TUNE FOR THE FINISHING LOOK!

Friday Highlights - belated

All day yesterday I meant to post my "Friday Highlights" but never got around to it. So here is a belated post!

This Friday I wanted to Highlight one of my favorite blogs that I recently discovered thanks to my friend Tonya. This is a blog written by a wonderful Christian woman named Melissa Lester. I heard her speak a few years ago and she inspired me then just as much as she inspires me now through her blog! When you first read her blog you might think she is "over the top" or "can she be real?" but trust me she does everything with a lot of love behind it and the more you continue to read, the more that comes shining through. I say..."move over Martha Stewart, Melissa Lester is taking over!" (with a lot more class!) Enjoy!

Feathered Friends

Olivia asked for a bird feeder for Christmas. We hung it on our front tree right outside our picture window. We have had some beautiful birds come and enjoy a meal at it!
In this cold snowy weather there is not a seed left after a few days!

Long Snowy Weekend

The kids can't seem to get enough of the snow! Curt buried Anna in it on Friday and they were trying to build a mound of snow to sled down (no hills close by). All weekend I wanted to take them sledding, but it never happened. Maybe later this week when it gets warmer. I am tempted to take them over to the high school for a mid day break from schooling, but I am sure authorities would show up and wonder why they are not in school!

The little ones have been waiting to build a snowman, but the snow is not cooperating!

This was a weekend to get some projects done around the house. Bill has been working hard to finish the basement, a project that we started before we moved into this house 3 1/2 years ago! I wish I had taken a before picture of our steps. They were just a plain junky wood with dry-wall walls. It was lit by a bathroom lighting fixture?! So he spent the weekend finishing the half wall, installing a shelf, laying the carpet on the stairs, putting up all the trim, and finally putting another coat of paint on. It looks great! Some finishing touches need to be done, but I love it, especially the mix of wood and white trim. I am still looking for a light to replace the bathroom fixture one - actually we just have a light bulb hanging there. Anyone got any ideas, it is an odd place for a light!

This is the next project - for me. The laundry room make over! With 7 people in this family there is a lot of stuff to be put in this little space! I have a plan that I have had hanging on the wall for over a year now, just have not gotten to it! Bill will be gone this weekend so I am hoping to clear it out and at least get it painted! Then it will be off to the stores to find the hooks, shoe racks, cork board, etc.. Stay tuned to see the finishing picture (it may not be until next year!).

SNOW FUN!

Anna being the horse that pulls Maria around!

Olivia makes a snow angel!

Mercedes catching snowballs!

The snow makes Mercedes WILD!

This is the best picture! She will shove her nose down into the snow and come up eating it! She is so funny!

Mama's got the hot cocoa ready for the snowbunnies to warm up with!
They stayed outside for hours!

They even went out after dinner to shovel all the neighbors driveways!

Don't think we will play in the snow today... the temperature is suppose to stay in the single digits!

The Best Job In the World...

Know someone who is unemployed?

Know someone who loves the island life?

Know someone who is charismatic?

Know someone who likes to blog?

Then this job is just for them! I came across this when checking out the recent salmonella deaths on Fox News. If I did not have 5 kids to take care of and school, you bet I would be interviewing for this job! Hey I already have the blogging down!

SYDNEY — Position: Island caretaker. Duties: Lazing around Australia's Great Barrier Reef for six months. Salary: $105,000.

UPDATE: As of 11 a.m. EST, the Web site for job-seekers is down.
Unemployed, take heart — the aforementioned job ad is for real. Billing it the "Best Job in the World," the tourism department in Australia's Queensland state on Tuesday said it was seeking one lucky person to spend half a year relaxing on Hamilton Island, part of the country's Whitsunday Islands, while promoting the island on a blog.
The "island caretaker" will be expected to stroll the white sands, soak up the sun, snorkel the reef, "maybe clean the pool" — and report to a global audience via weekly blogs, photo diaries and video updates.
The winner, who will stay rent-free in a multimillion-dollar three-bedroom beach home complete with pool and golf cart, must be an excellent communicator and be able to speak and write in English.

You can check out the rest of the article at http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,479747,00.html

(I know this is where I should say that I have the best job in the world, being the mother and teacher of the most wonderful kids. But I must say it is tempting!!!!!)

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

Finally we got some snow. Only a few inches of the powdery type, but I'll take it! In celebration of this occasion I made snowman pancakes for my kid's breakfast. I stole this idea from Melissa Lester http://www.alittleloveliness.blogspot.com/ . Check out her blog for many creative ideas - she is the "hostess with the mostess"! I looked at her blog and thought "move over Martha Stewart!" Everything she does seems to scream LOVE! I have heard her speak and she has such a love of the Lord and it shows in everything she does! So my snowman were not an original idea, but that is what Melissa wants to accomplish, inspiring others. My snowman were original in one way... they were pumpkin flavored! Try making some yourself - I am sure your family will think they are fun and delicious as much as mine did.

I have to run and shovel snow with my son then get on with schooling. I will post my recipe for pumpkin pancakes tomorrow.

Sweet Victory

Friday's Highlights!

For those of you who do not follow football, Tim Tebow is the quarterback for the Florida Gators for two years. He won the Hiesman Trophy last year and just beat the Oklahoma Sooners to win the National Championship last night.

But more importantly he loves the Lord and takes every opportunity to express that love. Read this article to learn more: http://64.246.64.33/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=cfoot/news/news.aspx?id=4202308

A little known fact that I find amuzing: he was homeschooled! Ok that part is not amuzing but admirable. The part that is amuzing is the fact that he lived in Oklahoma and according to their laws he could not play high school sports in the public schools because he was not a full time student. (much like Ohio law) Therefore he ended up playing high school sports in Jacksonville Floriday because Florida law excepts homeschoolers into their extra curricular activities (24 states in all have this policy). So I bet Oklahoma is kicking themselves for not allowing him to play HS ball for their state and being able to recruit him! (although their quarterback won the Hiesman this year - but lost the BIG game!).

If you get some time read about Tim Tebow and his conviction to God. He was the youngest of 5 to be homeschooled and his father said that he would never put him in public schools just to play ball. Luckily for the Gators, they found away to do both.

Down Fall!

The Story of My "Down Fall" -

My oldest daughter, Alex, is obsessed with horses since as long as I can remember! This obsession has taken us on a journey into the "horse world". First it was just horse camps, then a FREE horse club where she got to ride 3 times a week, then there were lessons from a friend, which eventually led to us leasing that friends horse and of course there is our venture into 4H. We leased the horse for about 6 months and in that time I was in charge of "mucking" the stall! We recently ended the lease and signed up with our barn's trainer for Alex to get some lessons from her. This trainer will take her to shows and lease us a horse for her to show at fair.

SO on Tuesday night was to be her first lesson. I cannot express in words how excited she was. She started talking about it a week ahead and that morning she was bouncing off the walls waiting for us to go... at 4:30! Finally the time arrives for us to get ready to leave. I start the van (because it was frozen over!) then go to retrieve my muck boots in the garage. Normally this would be no big deal, except I stepped on the first step wrong and went air born. My hand broke my fall and my wrist took the weight of my body! If you know me you know that is a lot of weight! I screamed and yelled for help, knowing it was broke!

This is funny - Curt is the first to find me. He sees me on the ground crying and panics! He runs around the kitchen trying to find the phone, "where's the phone" is all I could hear over and over! (I had taken it upstairs earlier - he would never of found it) I yelled to him that I did not need the phone. There was no need to call 911!

Bill came home and accessed the damage and we knew we had to go to the urgent care to get it x-rayed. I was so upset for Alex. I think I cried more for her - that she had to miss her lesson. She of course was more concerned for me and understood.

So the outcome of my downfall was a sprained wrist - not broken. The doctor even looked at the x-rays twice because I told him he had to be wrong! I am glad it is not broken, especially since it is my right hand! I am surprised I an even typing today! My fingers are finally working!

Pictures of the day: My sisters in law modeling there reversible aprons I made for them as Christmas gifts! They put them on and started singing "I can bring home the bacon... fried up in a pan!" Quite comical! I also made an apron for Lin in Christmas colors and it was so cute! She does a lot of Christmas baking every year (no one makes better cookies) so I know she will get a lot of use out of it!

I'm back and ready to tackle 2009!

Hello all! Finally a minute to get back to my blog! I have so many pics I want to share since I last posted but it would become the world's biggest blog post! So I have narrowed it down to try to fill you in on what has been going on with Livy Marie, my family and myself. Warning this post will be long... so grab a cup of coffee, tea, cocoa or whatever your favorite beverage is and bare with me!

First, Livy Marie: I took a few orders before Christmas so that I could concentrate on sewing something for my girls. They always seem to get jipped because I sew so much for others that I never have time to make them something special. About a week before Christmas, I started on their projects. Anna's was already done, I knew she loved the disco dot purse that I had hanging on my display rack so that took care of her. Alex loved the swirled black and white fabric so I quickly made her a nice medium size tote (complete with her first pieces of make up on the inside! A little blush, mascara, foundation, and of course... zit cream!). Time was running out and I had to get Livy and Ria some jeans made. Maria loves the flare on her jeans and I knew Livy loved the red and black fabric, so I was frantically sewing ruffles on jeans a few days before Christmas. Just jeans? No way, I had to include a matching head band! No problem! That would only take a few minutes to hot glue them together... WRONG! For some reason I ran into all sorts of problems and they took forever! I ended up putting the final touches on their gifts with them standing right in the room. So much for surprises, but they were happy with them! With all that being said... Livy's jeans did not fit. Too tight in the butt. I might make her squeeze into them or wait until Maria gets to be her size and hope that she is skinnier (if that is even possible!).

I also finished up a weekender bag for a customer in the black damask that I love! I was suppose to get it out to her before she took off for the holidays, but time got away from me and I just missed her! I feel so bad, but with the holidays fast approaching and 5 kids to school and prep for Christmas my brain became MUSH! So her bag is going out in the mail and I hope she loves it as much as I do! Love the black fru-fru she added to the top! Another touch of flare!

Second, family: We had an extra special holiday this year. I think because it fell on a Thursday that it seemed extra long which was very nice! Bill's family came in for the traditional Christmas Eve celebration. This was my niece's first year with her new hubby so it was nice to have him join our festivities. We always have a wonderful dinner then sit around the table (all 15 of us) and play the question game/dinner conversations to go! We always learn so much about each other and have quite a few laughs in the process! We then enjoyed a great Christmas day as a family. My son has a habit of waking up extra early and getting us all out of bed - this year it was 5:30am! He said he was up since 4:30am! Yes, he is 12 and still gets extra excited on Christmas morning! The big gifts this year was a saddle for Alex (my biggest bargain of the shopping season!), wii games and a skate board for Curt, Anna got her poetry "published" in a photobook, and Olivia and Maria got all sorts of girl stuff (barbies, games, make up kit, etc). Bill and I both decided we would not exchange gifts this year, but we both got each other stockings full of small gifts! We think a like! With all that being said the best part of my Christmas was having my Aunt and my grandmother come and spend the night with us. My grandmother is 98 and I do not know how many more Christmas' we will get to spend with her, so it was extra special being with her. She is so cute, especially when she is sitting on my couch wrapped up in Maria's princess blanket watching the kids play Guitar Hero. I sure if she could see the screne she would not of approved and I am sure she turned down her hearing aide to block out the loud music!

Next, friends: What a better way to ring in the new year than by being with good friends. We took a trip up to Michigan and stayed two nights with our old friends, the Careys! I met my good friend Trish, when we both worked for Merillat in Adrian Michigan. It just so happened that we were getting married within a week of each other so we had a lot to talk about and our friendship blossomed from there! To strengthen it even more, we had our first babies within a few months of each other and practically lived at each others houses trying to figure out the "mom" thing! We only lived in Michigan for 5 years, but those were some of the best days of my life! It was nice to go back and visit and get caught up! Our kids all got a long so well - they instantly became a rock band and spent their time performing on Guitar Hero World Tour. I have it all on tape so we can laugh at it for years to come - musicians they are not! Us adults sat around and played games and had our own fun - just like old times! Trish and I always manage to escape the madhouse and get away for lunch, this time with my good friend Lisa! We had a nice time even though we discussed medical issues most of the time! Boy we are getting old! The Lord has blessed with some wonderful people in my life and the Carey's and Lisa are definitely part of that group!

Lastly, tackling 2009: (I told you this was going to be long!) I am not one to make New Years Resolutions, but this year I did. They are not written down, but they have been going around in my head for the last week, so hopefully they stick! I think overall we as humans should just start out every year with high expectations and every intention of meeting them! Who cares if we fail as long as we try to be better people to those around us! I just need to get my priorities straight, God, husband, kids, family, friends, others, myself! Then everything else will fall into it's place. So I will not ramble on about the details.

I will continue with Livy Marie, but I do not have any set goals for it. I will most likely make bags as people wish for them and as birthday gifts, but will not seek any large quantities of orders. This is somewhat discouraging because I really had every intention of creating a business and sticking with it - with the goal of making money. But God had told me in many ways that my family was suffering and my relationship with Him was also suffering! So I will narrow down the business, get back on track and see where He leads me! With that being said, if you would like a bag, put your order in anytime, I will still make one for you! (that is right after I finish up the 5 orders I have in the works!)

Keep checking back and feel free to leave a comment in the box! God bless you all!