~ Happy Harvest ~

 Rodeo Clown and Lion.

 Playing games at the Church Harvest Party...

 Little lion...



 William was growling, can ya tell? Hilarious!!

~ he loves me for me ~

enjoy the weekend...

 

~ a thoughtful friend & rearranging furniture ~

you know those days when you go to the door

to check the mail

and you realize...

it's PACKAGE DAY!

getting a package in the mail is lovely!

getting a package in the mail is heaven.

and when it is something as beautiful as this...

well... it makes me feel super loved.

Thank you, Carolyn.

I love it.

don't you love how it looks like that bow is coming off the back of my head.... Dorkgirl!

Okay! Onto moving around furniture.

Who doesn't love moving around furniture?

My friend actually said something funny the other day and that was when her son sees that she's been watching HGTV, he just knows he'll probably have to help her move furniture around.

I thought that was super funny and I can totally relate!

Don't you just love HGTV?

Anyhow, this is what my living room looked like

before:

don't you love the Daphnie pose.

and this is after:

so. the room totally seems more open and I love that!

and this room is totally a work in progress...

I still need to figure out a paint color for this room and paint it

the old stove pipe needs to be removed and patched, as well as the wall.

and the list goes on and on.

but!

I think it is crucial to be happy where your at in the process when you can't  afford to renovate your whole house the way you would like to

& signing up for those free HGTV homes just isn't working. =)

So here we are - we have lived in this house for about 5 years. We've got the weird stove pipe hanging out from the ceiling, hideous crown molding and a weird cream colored wall with dingy denim couches and don't forget the Disney Channel 24/7 and little boys who like to tear the pillows off couches and leave the sippy cups dripping on everything in sight. (complaining? whining? me? no. :)

but I'll tell ya - this room totally makes me smile every time I walk into it.

and that's what is important!

Do you like to rearrange your furniture?

~ sometimes ~

sometimes...

a girl

just needs a little extra

 * sparkle *

informal introduction

a couple of you already know...

this gal

she's truly a gem.

I can't honestly call this an informal introduction today because honestly,

 I've had a formal introduction with this gal.

many of them.

we actually grew up together.

she was a cheerleader, i was the sportygirl.

we were acquaintances - yes, i would say just acquaintances.

we didn't run the same "circles".

i had a circle of about 4 gals...

she had a a huge circle of boys and girls... lots of friends.

she was also in choir.

all i did was play sports... it kept me out of trouble.

i'm sure i made fun of her for being a cheerleader as i did all of them... i was just mean like that back then.

i was jealous of her confidence in knowing who she was and

i wished i had an ounce of as much spunk and energy as she did.

she'd do cartwheels and back handsprings down the court - cheering her little heart out...

i'm sure this is where i would roll my eyes again... it's one of the things i did best.

she was smart and driven.

i survived in school and kept my grades up just enough so i could get my weekly-review sheet signed off by teachers and continue playing sports...  

she ended up graduating a year early and going on to college.

i graduated a semester early and escaped as soon as i could to who knows where for who knows why...

dragging my feet the entire way.

years later -
we reconnected on face book.

then we started to read each other's blogs.

i go to her's
when i need a glimmer of nostalgia
or a funny story with
the silly things her adoreable children say.

she has deep thoughts and they challenge me to think again about something i might have already thought i had figured out.

she stops by here and leaves me super sweet comments and we tease back and forth about our decorating handicaps.

she is fun.

she is a blessing.

through the last couple years i've come to find out we had a lot more in common than i realized.

Now,

we were both stay-at-home mamas, wives and

women needing daily encouragement and inspiration.

so here we are today.

she's got two little angels

and i've got my two little rascals

we both strive daily to be

women of substance,

encourage our husbands,

and keep our homely abode picked up and ready to rock-n-roll.

Krista,
you've been such a blessing these past couple years since we've reconnected.

i'm so thankful to call you my friend.

and these.

are.

for.

you.

source

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts,
since as members of one body you were called to peace.
And be thankful.
Colossians 3:15

Have a Sun Shiny day!

~ a big boy bedroom in 10 min. ~

i started noticing that both of the boys were sleeping way better if they weren't sleeping in the same room, unfortunately. SO. last week one day after our naps, i grabbed a laundry basket, piled a bunch of Small Fry's stuff in it and we filed downstairs. now, Small Fry had no idea really what was going on... he knew he had been sleeping downstairs for the past week and i had been mentioning to him that downstairs was going to be his new bedroom but he had no clue it was going to happen "officially" right then.  the boys went into the family room, where all the toys are, and i worked my magic on this room.

now. i totally have a ways to go. this room, honestly, probably needs gutted, painted and trim put up and a half a million other things but it turned out pretty cute for now and i wanted to share. 

so this is how that room started out.

piled high with books. a pinned up curtain because the curtain rod had fell down.

and crap every. where.

so i pulled out all the books (well most the books), took down the curtain. wiped it all down.

changed the sheets and added a few odds and ends to make Small Fry feel comfy.

my hubster had old lacrosse... would I call them rackets? so i went and grabbed them from the storage room and i figured that the long one would work perfectly as a curtain rod.

i had some jute garland and so i made loops on either side of the window, stapled them up - put the racket through - strung the curtains on and then put the racket through the loop on the other side.

it worked like a charm and i think it turned out pretty darn cute.

these curtains are actually way too long but they work for a little privacy for now and i love that they are white so the sun light still filters through.

&

i love how the racket has the black athletic tape on it...

adds that special authentic touch. (rolling my eyes)

of course it was crucial Mr. Stickhorse tagged along and those special touches to

make it shine.

when I was little, my littlest sister would take huge tumble weeds, widdle them down to where the stems are super soft and she would tie them up with string and make these crosses. this is one she made me when i graduated from high school so it has tagged along with me for the last 11 years.  i love that i can hang it in my boys' rooms... it makes my heart happy.

i should really ask her to make me a few more... i adore.

this picture came from my nephew, who - when Pauly was born, took it off of his wall in his room and told his mama he wanted Pauly to have it.

(his mama is the one that nicknamed Pauly - Small Fry and William - Pop Tart)

super sweet.

i brought down this sweet little airplane shelf but as you can see I just hung it on the coat rack

hanging a shelf didn't fit into my 10 min. decor treatment :)

(i was in a rush to finish cleaning the rest of my house and get dinner on)

i bought this shelf at the thrift store for $6.

and of course Superman had to tag along.



so there you have it, a 10 min. decor job.  i have quite a few ideas on how i want to fix this room up
and lets be honest - it involves white paint on that hideous knotty pine BUT
all in good time my dears, all in good time.

till then, my little prince can feel nice and comfy in his new big boy bedroom
 and his dreams can be sprinkled with twinkle lights.



~ home is when I'm alone with you ~

~ playing fort ~

this might look like a regular dining set to some people with a blanket over it but to my boys -

it's

THE FORT!

several times a week I'm asked to set up

THE FORT.

I can remember when I was little, setting up forts under quilting parties, under tables, behind couches, on the bottom bunk, in horse trailers, under trampolines, on the haystacks, in the old cabins behind our home and so on and so on.

Forts are awesome!

Forts = memories.

My sisters and I would round up all the picnic supplies, baby dress-up clothes, baby kittens *wink and of course, that to-go lunch that mama would pack up. We'd find our "special location" picked from the list above and dress up kittens, play pretend school, cooking and so on all day long. 

I can remember mama's whistle when she was trying to call us in for dinner or

when she felt it was necessary to check-in -

I can imagine her standing outside our old home acting as if she wasn't sure where exactly we were -

even though now, as a mother, I'm sure she new exactly where we were and exactly what we were doing

at all times. and exactly what we thought we might do.

she was on it!

I'm sure it was fun for her to have that day to herself and I'm sure it was nice for her to know we were

keeping busy and playing our little hearts away all the live long day.

After hearing her calling for us, we would round up all the little details that we drug out to that

"special fort location"

and we would drag everything back into the house either by hand or with our little red wagon or if our old blue heeler dog "Barchone" was lucky that day he could get to wear a little pink backpack that may or may not had a sweet little kitten dressed up in it.

Whatever we drug out there or where ever the fort "location" was that day it didn't matter...

because

my sisters and I have those memories.

Wonderful, wonderful memories... together.

So tell me... do you have any wonderful fort memories?

But Mimi... what about me?

 Ummmm... Mimi - Daphnie wanted me to ask you - where are her jammies?

 and then William said, "Silly Dapher - dogs don't wear jammies."

 and then Daphnie tried to rub Pauly's off of him ... it didn't work for her.



Oh well Dapher-Doo, I guess you'll just have to wait till Christmas... maybe Santa will bring you some. *wink*



Do you know how to get the "latest version" of blogger?

To start.

As you can see - my little sweet blog has gone through many many little changes.

If you see anything that you want to know how i did. just ask. i would love to help you out.

now. how to get the latest version of blogger...

you might ask?

what does she mean - latest version? 

well... I just started a new blog (more info on that to come very soon) and I noticed this new blog has a lot of new editing options when I am writing up my first post.

So.

I, of course do what I always do when I have a question about anything -

and that is...

I GOOGLE IT!

and I found that it is way easy and I'm excited to share with you.

To get the latest version of blogger you simply go to your 

1. Dashboard

2. Settings

3. then page down to the bottom of the first tab in Settings

and click on Updated Version (recommended)

TADA!!!!

You did it!!!

Now, remember - if you have any questions about how to do anything about setting up your blog - I'd be glad to try and help.  I'm not saying I "know it all" about Blogger but I'd love to give it a go to help ya out with any problems ya got. *wink*

Happy Day,

love his rotten lil face.

 rrrrrrrrrrotten little face.

 rotten little messy monster.



more rottenness...

so. so. rotten...

Again, shredding toilet paper - more rrrrrrrotten...



rotten little boy clomping around with blocks in his hands while brother is trying to nap...
more rottenness...



::sigh::

okay, maybe not so rotten.
love him.

Happy Weekend, y'all!

the soup i dreamed up...

I don't know about you, but I

LOVE

LOVE

LOVE

sweet potatoes and yams.

They are on my menu all through the year -

baked,

roasted,

I make them into fries

and now...

soup.

Hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

First  - Bake 2 sweet potatoes and 2 yams at 350 for about an hour or until they are nice and soft.
Remove skin.

Next, slice them and set aside.

Dice 1 onion and soften in 1T of olive oil and 1T of butter - mince 3 heads of garlic and put in with the onion.

to your softened garlic and onion add 2t of cinnamon and 1t chili powder,

to that dump in your sliced (already baked) sweet potatoes and yams and smash it up,

then add in 4 cups of chicken stock and simmer until it all becomes melded beautifully together

(approx. 10-15 min.) -

Next take your delicious sweet potato concoction and put it through the blender... in batches if necessary.

Put soup back into your stock pot.

(Honestly, it works to just blend like 2/3 of it and then you can have it a little chunky but I blended all of it
as I love it smooooove)

It's important that you 1/2 c heavy cream. Very important. :)

Then you sneak quite a few bites just because it taste like dessert rather than dinner.

and then you call the family to bowl up...

and hoping you don't already have a belly-ache

 and enjoy!

Speaking of enjoy!!

We have been thoroughly enjoying our chickens and they just started to lay!!!

Find joy in each day,
praise His name,
and speak to others about His love and grace,
for “the joy of the Lord is MY strength”

Nehemiah 8:10