tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67779362024-03-13T12:41:57.041-04:00Crafty Lil DevilMy blog about being a stay-at-home mom, a late-night crafter, a frugal shopper, a voracious reader and a wannabe chef.Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09332112931728812146noreply@blogger.comBlogger951125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6777936.post-78933311243724427272011-12-01T00:20:00.002-05:002011-12-01T00:23:17.587-05:00<div>If anybody still "follows" this blog, I've started a new blog over at</div><div><a href="http://studio456.blogspot.com/">http://studio456.blogspot.com/</a></div><div>Come check it out. It's still really new so there's not much content ... yet.</div><div> </div><div> </div><div><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com" target="_blank"><img style="border: 0px currentColor !important;" border="0" src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/85789/craftylildevil/9313007cbb6c7d7ac14d60daa40995d2.png" /></a></div>Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09332112931728812146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6777936.post-92008451359613744252010-11-20T22:41:00.003-05:002010-11-20T22:51:21.276-05:00Today I made 2 matching games for the kids. One for Thanksgiving and one for Christmas. I printed these images out onto Avery 8293 1.5 inch round labels and stuck them onto milk jug lids I've been saving up for just such a project. I am considering using about half of the Christmas ones to decorate a small tree that the kids can play with. Hopefully this will keep them from playing with the one in the living room! I can't take credit for the images. They all are from Microsoft Office. I hope to get a picture of the kids playing with these but right now the camera is out of batteries...again!<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nL8NFboBhgM/TOiWrSDItpI/AAAAAAAACD4/gm_z5uswPlk/s1600/Thanksgiving%2BMatching%2BGame.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 262px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541845011802928786" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nL8NFboBhgM/TOiWrSDItpI/AAAAAAAACD4/gm_z5uswPlk/s320/Thanksgiving%2BMatching%2BGame.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nL8NFboBhgM/TOiWsAB91yI/AAAAAAAACEA/QJs8w8S_02g/s1600/Christmas%2BMatching%2B2.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 262px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541845024146052898" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nL8NFboBhgM/TOiWsAB91yI/AAAAAAAACEA/QJs8w8S_02g/s320/Christmas%2BMatching%2B2.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nL8NFboBhgM/TOiWseYaZTI/AAAAAAAACEI/kvLAqEnFFEc/s1600/Christmas%2BMatching%2B1.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 262px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541845032293262642" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nL8NFboBhgM/TOiWseYaZTI/AAAAAAAACEI/kvLAqEnFFEc/s320/Christmas%2BMatching%2B1.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; BORDER-TOP: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT: 0px" border="0" src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/85789/craftylildevil/9313007cbb6c7d7ac14d60daa40995d2.png" /></a>Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09332112931728812146noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6777936.post-56530551761246731302010-11-20T22:27:00.008-05:002010-11-20T23:31:38.389-05:00<div align="center">Boy oh boy. Just reread that last post and sometimes I get a teensy bit cranky. :) I'm better now and have scanned some of the Wordles I made and am going to post them now. Hopefully tomorrow I can post a real, live, honest-to-goodness post. (Once again, if you're on Facebook you've already seen these.)<br /><br /></div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nL8NFboBhgM/TOiUP2Wro2I/AAAAAAAACDw/Ah6JJp7c_GU/s1600/ThanksgivingArt1.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 247px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541842341488993122" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nL8NFboBhgM/TOiUP2Wro2I/AAAAAAAACDw/Ah6JJp7c_GU/s320/ThanksgivingArt1.jpg" /> <p align="center"></a> Thanksgiving Word Art<br /></p><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nL8NFboBhgM/TOiUErHaLVI/AAAAAAAACDo/jwfkfnQDgqg/s1600/AudreyNicknamesArt1.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 247px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541842149493583186" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nL8NFboBhgM/TOiUErHaLVI/AAAAAAAACDo/jwfkfnQDgqg/s320/AudreyNicknamesArt1.jpg" /> <p align="center"></a>Audrey's Word Art<br /></p><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nL8NFboBhgM/TOiTzl5wWxI/AAAAAAAACDg/_90d2rBGo9c/s1600/ThanksgivingArt.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 247px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541841856036363026" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nL8NFboBhgM/TOiTzl5wWxI/AAAAAAAACDg/_90d2rBGo9c/s320/ThanksgivingArt.jpg" /> <p align="center"></a>Edgar Family Rules<br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nL8NFboBhgM/TOiTAdlCDII/AAAAAAAACDY/WY4QScVxeqo/s1600/EdgarFamilyRules.jpg"></a><br /></p><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nL8NFboBhgM/TOiS4UJDNAI/AAAAAAAACDQ/J_Oo3muqQM4/s1600/AudreyNicknamesArt.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 247px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541840837656392706" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nL8NFboBhgM/TOiS4UJDNAI/AAAAAAAACDQ/J_Oo3muqQM4/s320/AudreyNicknamesArt.jpg" /> <p align="center"></a>Easton's Word Art<br /><br /><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; BORDER-TOP: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT: 0px" border="0" src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/85789/craftylildevil/9313007cbb6c7d7ac14d60daa40995d2.png" /></a></p>Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09332112931728812146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6777936.post-43651854687309019022010-11-09T23:14:00.007-05:002010-11-09T23:26:24.177-05:00Just found a fun site called Wordle. It is super easy to use to create cool art. Just type in any text you want and it will randomly generate a "word cloud" for you. I made 5 different ones tonight. One for my kitchen with spices/herb names, one for my living room as a decoration for Thanksgiving (words like turkey, stuffing, family, gobble, thankful), one for each of my kids with their nicknames and date of birth and one for "family rules" (eat your vegetables, use your manners, count your blessings, use nice words). It is SO addicting!<br />Here's a link to my most boring one (the spices one). Didn't realize you could save them and link to them until I was doing the last one!<br />Have fun with it and be sure to let me know if you do one of these. Seriously, I played with this for hours after the kids were in bed!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; BORDER-TOP: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT: 0px" border="0" src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/85789/craftylildevil/9313007cbb6c7d7ac14d60daa40995d2.png" /></a><br /><br />P.S. GRRR!! NOTHING HAS GONE RIGHT TODAY! The first time I try to blog in forever and I can't get the stupid link to work. I am going to bed and hoping I have more patience to fix this soon. I am so mad! Whatever. I'll try to fix it soon.Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09332112931728812146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6777936.post-16880275153368585372010-10-10T23:46:00.011-04:002010-10-11T01:29:45.475-04:00<div align="left">Since finishing up with my last class, the Crafty Lil Devil is back in full swing. I've finished so many craft projects in the past week! Two paintings, party favors for E's big 3rd birthday party, two Halloween costumes (a ghost for Easton and a bat for Audrey) and a Halloween wreath. It's been really fun finally getting to do something <strong>I</strong> want to do for a change! These pics are from my phone. My camera has eally and truly bit the dust. Now my camera phone takes pretty good pictures for a camera phone but it can't really do justice to my two little sweeties or capture the colors in a painting, etc. But they'll have to do until we get a new camera. Maybe at Christmas. I don't even know what kind of camera to buy if we do get a new one. I'd like a big, fancy schmancy DSLR but that is REALLY not in our budget...even at Christmas time! Jason says his Canon at work is really good so we might look at those. There are so many choices! All I know is my little Kodak is history. I used it a lot and loved it (Thanks mom!) but now it's all beat up and the lens is stuck all wonky and can't be fixed.<br /></div><p align="center"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nL8NFboBhgM/TLKeB_YYYII/AAAAAAAACBw/d4rC4vCXlno/s1600/camera.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5526653449767772290" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nL8NFboBhgM/TLKeB_YYYII/AAAAAAAACBw/d4rC4vCXlno/s320/camera.jpg" /></a> wonky old camera</p><p align="center">Here are some pictures I took with my Blackberry. It is SUCH a pain to get pictures from my phone to my computer and then to Blogger!<br /><br />If you're on Facebook you have probably seen these already: </p><p align="center"><br /></p><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nL8NFboBhgM/TLKcDpiLuwI/AAAAAAAACBo/iERb1T-6mac/s1600/IMG00042-20101008-1214.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5526651279239789314" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nL8NFboBhgM/TLKcDpiLuwI/AAAAAAAACBo/iERb1T-6mac/s320/IMG00042-20101008-1214.jpg" /> <p align="center"></a>Oh happy day! </p><p align="center"><br /></p><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nL8NFboBhgM/TLKcDSSIiWI/AAAAAAAACBg/pZvBHsys3c4/s1600/IMG00038-20101008-1043.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5526651272998455650" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nL8NFboBhgM/TLKcDSSIiWI/AAAAAAAACBg/pZvBHsys3c4/s320/IMG00038-20101008-1043.jpg" /></a> Painting for my mom (sorry to ruin the surprise Mom! I'm no good at secrets!) <p align="center"><br /></p><p align="center"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nL8NFboBhgM/TLKY1-fdtNI/AAAAAAAACBA/kSuP6rFlE88/s1600/IMG00037-20101008-1020.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5526647745812477138" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nL8NFboBhgM/TLKY1-fdtNI/AAAAAAAACBA/kSuP6rFlE88/s320/IMG00037-20101008-1020.jpg" /></a> Audrey's bat girl costume</p><p align="center"><br /></p><p align="center"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nL8NFboBhgM/TLKY2IfuFgI/AAAAAAAACBI/UHm_4tUGVnw/s1600/IMG00054-20101010-1634.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5526647748497905154" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nL8NFboBhgM/TLKY2IfuFgI/AAAAAAAACBI/UHm_4tUGVnw/s320/IMG00054-20101010-1634.jpg" /></a> Spooky, spidery Halloween wreath</p><p><br /></p><p align="center"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nL8NFboBhgM/TLKbsuggDLI/AAAAAAAACBQ/qp8c875YijA/s1600/Easton+is+a+GHOST.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5526650885437918386" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nL8NFboBhgM/TLKbsuggDLI/AAAAAAAACBQ/qp8c875YijA/s320/Easton+is+a+GHOST.jpg" /></a> My precious little ghost boy. </p><p>Easton and Audrey like to go around the house saying "GHOST!" in their creepiest voice. It cracks them up and they laugh so hard they almost choke. Too funny!<br /></p><p>That's what I've been up to. Craft projects and dishes and laundry and all that good fun stuff. So happy to have more time for me now that I'm finished with school!<br /><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; BORDER-TOP: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT: 0px" border="0" src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/85789/craftylildevil/9313007cbb6c7d7ac14d60daa40995d2.png" /></a><br />P.S. Guess who got an A on that last final paper? Me! And that means I got an A for my overall grade in the class. And <em>that </em>means I have truly and properly earned the words "graduates with distinction". Oh yeah! SO glad to be done with homework for good! Or until I am crazy enough to go back to school to get my Master's degree when the kids are old enough to go to school. But until then, Crafty Lil Devil is back at it again!<br /></p>Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09332112931728812146noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6777936.post-16626412226479831742010-10-08T22:37:00.004-04:002010-10-08T22:48:06.466-04:00Man, I really needed that break! Things just got a little chaotic there for a while but have calmed down to a dull roar now so maybe I can manage this blog a little better. Too much has happened in the time off to completely catch everyone up to speed but let me just tell you the most important:<br /><br />I graduated from college! Finally, after all these years... I can proudly say that I am a college graduate. No more checking "some college" on surveys. Sorry to brag but holy cow I am proud! I made an A on my final paper, which earned me a grade of a 96% in the class. That means I graduated with distinction and will be on the dean's list. I am so proud! Two friends are planning a small graduation party for me and I am so happy. <br /><br />I've only been finished with school and homework for four days but I've already finished four craft projects. I will attempt to upload pics soon. They'll be kinda crummy camera phone pics because my regular camera is all but unusable. I have no idea what we'll do at Easton's birthday. Maybe I can borrow one from a friend. Katy? Amanda? Jessica? I'd really appreciate if I could borrow a camera from someone. Even if it's just for the day. Thanks!<br /><br />That's all for now. It's late and I've got a lot of crafting to do tomorrow. Hooray! Crafty Lil Devil is BACK! Pictures and how-to's coming up.<br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/85789/craftylildevil/9313007cbb6c7d7ac14d60daa40995d2.png" border="0" style="border: 0 !important; background: transparent;" /></a>Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09332112931728812146noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6777936.post-57481665863674385872010-09-09T14:47:00.002-04:002010-09-09T14:49:13.553-04:00Blog closed until further notice. Too much going on right now! I can be reached by email (sometimes not very speedily), on Facebook or on my cell or home phones. Thanks!<br /><br /><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; BORDER-TOP: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT: 0px" border="0" src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/85789/craftylildevil/9313007cbb6c7d7ac14d60daa40995d2.png" />Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09332112931728812146noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6777936.post-32549316309391301862010-09-05T13:25:00.002-04:002010-09-05T13:59:38.698-04:00Oh man am I ever sunburnt! We went to an air show here called "Thunder Over the Blue Ridge." It was so fun! Too bad my camera is on its very last leg or I'd post pictures. It does take pictures but they are so bad! The lens of my good ole point and shoot Kodak is really scratched up and crooked (won't retract back into the camera or straighten out either). It's bad. I definitely cannot do without a camera! My Blackberry takes alright pictures but my babies are far too cute not to have a real camera! I wonder if maybe I can get a fancy digital SLR as graduation present to myself? Ha! Yeah right. Those babies cost a fortune! But I can dream, can't I? Sigh. Maybe someday.<br /><br /><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; BORDER-TOP: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT: 0px" border="0" src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/85789/craftylildevil/9313007cbb6c7d7ac14d60daa40995d2.png" /><br /><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"></a>Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09332112931728812146noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6777936.post-64608131655343575272010-08-20T15:50:00.003-04:002010-08-20T16:11:20.738-04:00I last updated this blog 5 weeks ago. FIVE WEEKS! Holy cow, has it ever been a long five weeks. This is gonna be a long rambling post. <br /><br />We were in Oklahoma for 34 days and it seemed like it passed in a blur. We had such a good time getting to visit with family and friends and not feel like we had to rush to get to see everyone in a short time. Even though we were there for so long we STILL didn't get to see everyone. (Sorry if we missed you!) <br /><br />The kids were good but it was hard on them to be away from home for so long. Plus my grandma's house, while a wonderful place to visit, is not exactly babyproofed. When the kids got bored or tired they knew just where to go to get into trouble. I lost count of how many times Audrey cleaned off Grandma's table beside her chair and rearranged the candle holders in front of the fireplace. It was a fun but exhausting trip. <br /><br />Now we've been home for almost 2 weeks and are just settling back into our routine nicely. I was sad to leave Oklahoma but happy to get back to my own bed, my cat and West Virginia's cooler temperatures. Oh and Jason too! I did kind of miss him too. :) <br /><br />We came home to a burnt up garden. Oklahoma wasn't the only one having some hot temperatures during that time. All the hard work we put into our garden, plants and flowers and now they are almost all dead. I could have cried when I saw my herbs on the deck just dried up and way past saving! Oh well...there's always next year! Hopefully I'll get started earlier next year and we'll actually get some veggies from our garden. <br /><br />Last weekend we took the kids to Marker-Miller Orchard for their Peach Festival. It was nice weather for it. Warm but not too hot, cloudy with a cool breeze every once in a while. We picked a peck of peaches and both kids really enjoyed picking a peach right off the tree. They both came home covered in peach juice. I don't think I've ever tasted a better peach! We also got some zucchini, some amazing Ginger Gold apples, and some of their famous "apple cider doughnuts". Now let me tell you about these doughnuts. I lived here about 5 or 6 years and kept hearing about how good these doughnuts were. Even the 2 year olds at the daycare I worked for knew about apple doughnuts. Everyone here raves about them like they're the best thing you've ever put in your mouth. And they were mighty good, don't get me wrong. But with a name like Apple Cider Doughnuts, I was expecting them to taste...well, APPLE-y. Nope. For those of you who haven't tried an apple cider doughnut, think cake doughnut rolled in cinnamon and sugar. Now those of you who are locals reading this blog, don't get me wrong...they ARE delicious. But I think they need to change the name a little. When apple cider is the next to last ingredient on the list I don't think that is a very fitting name. <br /><br />Anyway, enough ranting about weather and wrongly named doughnuts. I can't believe it is August 20th today. Where did the summer go?! Now it's apple season and back to school time. And I cannot even believe it is time for me to start planning Easton's birthday party. He's turning THREE! Holy cow! I am excited about another Fall here and making apple butter but feel like summer sure did pass me by. How about you?<br /><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; BORDER-TOP: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT: 0px" border="0" src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/85789/craftylildevil/9313007cbb6c7d7ac14d60daa40995d2.png" /></a>Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09332112931728812146noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6777936.post-33129840613801843032010-07-13T09:56:00.003-04:002010-07-13T10:15:16.113-04:00We survived the plane trip! I can't believe how great the kids were on the plane. Of course it helped that I had a diaper bag packed with every distraction I could possibly think of and that I had a sweet lady sitting next to me who was a grandma and great grandma many times over. I think God put her on that plane just so she could help me. It turns out she lives in Grandfield and her daughter (in-law?) knows my mom. It's definitely a small world!<br /><br />Anyway, the kids did great and after only a short rain delay we arrived in OKC around 7:30. My mom picked us up at the airport and helped us get our baggage to the car. And boy what a lot of it we had! I tried to bring as little as possible but when you're gone from home for almost 6 weeks with two little ones you kinda have to take everything but the kitchen sink! We had 2 carseats, 3 suitcases, E's backpack, the diaper bag and my purse. Plus Audrey in her stroller and Easton. It was quite a scene. (If you're friends with me on Facebook, I posted pictures there. I'll add them here if I get a chance after I get back home.)<br /><br />We left the airport and stopped at Zio's on the way home for dinner. OH MY GOODNESS it was amazing! We had some hot, fresh bread and garlic/herb olive oil for dipping. I could make a meal on that stuff! I also had some awesome roasted vegetable lasagna which immediately made me close my eyes and groan with happiness and think of the "When Harry Met Sally" diner scene. Oh yeah. It was that good! :) <br /><br />We got to my grandma's house around 11pm that night and the kids had slept from OKC to Lawton and gone without a nap all day so they were WIRED when we got there. I think they finally fell asleep around 2:30am. <br /><br />Saturday and Sunday went by in a sleep-deprived blur. I do seem to remember some really good food and visiting with lots of my family which was exactly what I needed. I will definitely have to quit staying up so late talking and remember that I'll be here for a MONTH so there's plenty of time to visit during the day. <br /><br />I imagine the rest of the month will fly by in a blur of busy-ness (is that a word?), cooking, cleaning, visiting and running around town. And lots of trips to Wayne's for vanilla Cokes. If you're in Lawton I hope to see you while I'm here!<br /><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; BORDER-TOP: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT: 0px" border="0" src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/85789/craftylildevil/9313007cbb6c7d7ac14d60daa40995d2.png" /></a>Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09332112931728812146noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6777936.post-90279592535441630882010-07-08T15:15:00.003-04:002010-07-08T15:32:41.253-04:00<p>I have a mountain of stuff to do before our trip tomorrow. So what do I do? Of course I get on the computer. Ha ha! So this will have to be short so I can get busy but I wanted to update and post about my RAOK things I've done lately.<br /><br />I've found that people seem to be doing the nice things for me instead of the other way around. :) People see that I have 2 little kids and go out of their way to be nice to me which is SO appreciated! An older gentleman saw that I was pushing Audrey in the stroller and attempting to hold Easton's hand and carry 4 boxes to be mailed and my purse and kindly offered to carry my boxes for me. He opened the door for us, carried the boxes all the way inside and talked to each of my kids for a minute. SO nice! And what a life saver that was!<br /><br />So since people seem to be doing the nice things for me my list of things I've done isn't all that impressive. Or maybe it just feels weird talking about it. Like "Hey, look at this nice thing I did!" and I'm definitely not doing it for that. Just because it makes me feel good to do nice things.<br /><br />Other things I've done lately: </p><ul><li>gave out sparklers, glow worms, poppers and glow sticks at our neighborhood 4th of July get together.</li><li>mailed some goodies to 3 different places. (Can't tell more about that yet...not everyone has received their stuff yet.) </li><li>bought my kids "surprise ice cream" for my birthday. (Does this count if it's for my own kids and I got ice cream too? It WAS before dinner and not something I let them have very often.) </li><li>emailed case studies to several fellow classmates (which I'm not too sure is all that ethical now that I think of it. They were supposed to buy the cd and didn't. Oops!)</li><li>handed out Kohl's coupons and Kohl's cash to people waiting in line to check out at Kohl's. I won't be near a Kohl's to use them and why not help other people save money. I've been THRILLED when people do this for me! (50% off coupon when I left mine at home!)</li><li>held the door for people or let them into a long line of traffic at every chance I get.</li></ul><p>And that's all for now. I find myself thinking of things I'd like to do for people but am on a limited budget so I just do small stuff that doesn't cost much. But boy if I had more money I'd be sure to share the wealth! :) </p><p>Are you joining me? I'd love to hear about it! <br /><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; BORDER-TOP: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT: 0px" border="0" src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/85789/craftylildevil/9313007cbb6c7d7ac14d60daa40995d2.png" /></a></p>Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09332112931728812146noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6777936.post-91646683698326009402010-06-29T00:28:00.004-04:002010-06-29T16:02:49.707-04:00Oh, I almost forgot! Today I started my Random Acts of Kindness celebration for my birthday! I was so crazy busy that I didn't get as many things done as I would have liked but I definitely enjoyed what I did get to do!<br /><br />Today I:<br />*Used my change ($6) at Subway to buy a gift card for someone who needed it<br />*Dropped off a ginormous garbage bag full of stuffed animals to Healthy Families<br />*Way overtipped the guy who served us dinner tonight<br /><br />OK, so these things aren't gonna bring about world peace or anything like that but they were unexpected things and they made people feel good. Tomorrow should be less hectic here and I'm hoping to think of some better and more fun things to do.<br /><br />Are you joining me? I'm doing 32 random (or sorta random) acts of kindness to celebrate my 32nd birthday on July 7th. If you decide to join me, I'd love to hear about it! <br />P.S. I am totally bummed out that Jason will be out of town for my birthday. This is totally selfish of me I know but now who's gonna bring me my cake?! Ha ha Only kidding. Well, sorta. <br /><br />P.S.S. OK, I am aware that that last comment about how bummed I am that J won't be here for my birthday at the end of a post about doing good things for others seems a bit shallow and selfish. Don't judge. <br /><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/85789/craftylildevil/9313007cbb6c7d7ac14d60daa40995d2.png" border="0" style="border: 0 !important; background: transparent;" /></a>Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09332112931728812146noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6777936.post-23832437322391370502010-06-28T23:47:00.002-04:002010-06-29T00:04:05.438-04:00Whew! I am wiped out! I got more done today than I did all weekend long. Jason had to work on his truck Saturday and Sunday so I mostly stayed inside with the kids. It was so darned hot here! I am going to roast when we go to Oklahoma! I'm praying for some cool weather while I'm there so the kids and I can get outside a little but I'm not thinking it's really gonna happen. <br /><br />For anyone who doesn't know yet, YES we are FINALLY coming to Oklahoma! I'm going to miss Jason an awful lot and I know the kids will too but am very happy to have an extended time with my grandma. I've already got my recipes ready to go. She used to be the one cooking for me so now it's my time to return the favor. I sure hope she hasn't gotten rid of that exercise bike she used to have because I'm definitely gonna need it! <br /><br />Today the kids and I spent all day running errands. We took the cat to the vet for her yearly shots, dropped her back off at home to relax after her stressful car ride to the vet (she throws up EVERY time! Do they make kitty Valium?!) Then we loaded back up in the car and headed to Winchester for a day of checking things off my to-do list. We took my friend Liesl her birthday present, dropped off a huge bag full of stuffed animals to be given to little ones in a local Healthy Families program, met Jason for lunch, returned something at Walmart, dropped off a birthday present to our friend T and let the kids play for a while while I visited with T's mama Amanda. (Hi, Amanda!) Then we hopped back in the car and drove home. Wouldn't ya know it...Audrey fell asleep the minute we turned into our neighborhood. The kids and I waited in the car with it running and the air turned on to keep us cool til Jason got home. He joined us for some more errands. We returned a part to the parts store and then headed to Hagerstown to exchange some clothes Audrey got as a birthday gift. We got to the outlet mall just in time for dinner, ate some junky Chinese food, returned the clothes and then hit up Kohl's because both J and I needed new shorts. Holy cow I must have tried on every single pair of shorts in that store and only found ONE pair I liked. I bought them (in a much too big to be named size) and we headed home. FINALLY! By this time the kids were WAAAYYY cranky and deliriously tired. We got the kids in bed at ELEVEN o'clock tonight! BAD, bad, bad. I am dreading tomorrow. While Jason put the kids to bed (thank you, honey!), I finished up a short and sweet homework assignment and am finally done for the day. Why do I try to make up for days when I don't get much done by cramming as many things as I can possibly do into one day's worth of running around? Man, my kids are gonna be CRANKY tomorrow! I'm hoping I am very wrong about this. <br /><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/85789/craftylildevil/9313007cbb6c7d7ac14d60daa40995d2.png" border="0" style="border: 0 !important; background: transparent;" /></a>Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09332112931728812146noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6777936.post-87200869537881758892010-06-24T10:38:00.003-04:002010-06-24T10:52:25.798-04:00Wowee I am glad that is over! I don't know what the kids had but it was some awful stuff! Vomiting and diarrhea for DAYS! First Audrey had it for about five days, then we had a day or so break and then Easton got it. He actually went to the ER late one night because he couldn't keep any liquids down and I was afraid he was getting dehydrated. That virus was awful! After it was over I was so worn out I just honestly did not have anything nice to say for a while. It was bad! But now I'm back and hope to be blogging more over the next few days. I'm planning a trip to OK for a month to help out at my Grandma's house for a while. We probably will be there from the 1st part of July until some time in August. Hope to see you while we're there! <a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/85789/craftylildevil/9313007cbb6c7d7ac14d60daa40995d2.png" border="0" style="border: 0 !important; background: transparent;" /></a>Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09332112931728812146noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6777936.post-39318047906032502942010-06-06T20:39:00.003-04:002010-06-06T20:43:26.663-04:00Poop-a-thon still not over. I am still cranky. Less so than before but yes, still cranky. I miss blogging. I'm burnt out on school work. I still {heart} coffee. Sorry for no real post yet again. There is much laundry to be done. And yes, I hate this kind of non-post as much as you do. Sorry!Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09332112931728812146noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6777936.post-84018324229410350732010-05-31T15:11:00.003-04:002010-05-31T15:18:35.351-04:00It's been a poop-a-palooza at our house these last few days and it seems there is no end in sight. Audrey has some kind of a bug that I am PRAYING the people who came to her party this weekend do not get! Easton is potty traning. And not very successfully, I might add. Yes, he realizes the difference between wet and dry (which is a huge step in the right direction) but we have to physically put him on the potty every 30 minutes and he screams and cries and carries on until it sounds like we are torturing him. He usually manages to pee but I think this is more luck than anything. It's not been a good few days. I have a long post about our NY trip to see Katy about halfway done, a paper to write, several projects unfinished and zero pictures of Audrey's birthday party. Needless to say, I am very cranky. I think I should stay away until I have something nice to say. That would not be today.Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09332112931728812146noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6777936.post-19169737427746415922010-05-14T13:16:00.004-04:002010-05-14T13:21:26.212-04:00I just noticed that when I put in this fancy new photo header I accidentally erased my nav bar I worked so hard to create. It will be back just as soon as I find time to create it again. I also need to tweak the birthday banners for the kids so all of their info shows up. {sigh} One of these days I'll get this blog looking the way I want it. <br /><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/85789/craftylildevil/9313007cbb6c7d7ac14d60daa40995d2.png" border="0" style="border: 0 !important; background: transparent;" /></a>Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09332112931728812146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6777936.post-8709895423576380432010-05-14T00:56:00.002-04:002010-05-14T01:00:06.014-04:00Audrey,<br />How in the world is it possible that you are almost a year old? You are pulling up on everything (but mostly only to your knees), talking up a storm, pointing at things you're interested in and can crawl faster than I've ever seen a baby crawl in my life. You are my sweet, quirky, loud little sunshine girl and I'm really enjoying getting to see who you'll turn out to be.<br />I love you!<br />Love, <br />Mama<br />P.S. What's with the only one nap per day thing? Can't you give your tired mama a break for a little while longer? I know it's loud with your brother and me up playing while you're trying to rest but I sure would appreciate it if you'd take a 2nd nap every once in a while!Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09332112931728812146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6777936.post-33476704593694732522010-05-14T00:51:00.003-04:002010-05-14T01:00:55.417-04:00Easton,<br />Wow, we had a rough evening tonight! Everyone was a little fussy all day today but tonight was especially bad for some reason. Just now I went in to kiss you goodnight and cover you up and looking at your sweet face just broke my heart. I'm sorry for the way I lost my temper and yelled tonight. I apologized to you before you went to bed but I still feel bad. I'll try harder to remember that you're still little and that no naps make you a little wired sometimes but it's not really your fault. I'll also try to work on getting more sleep so I am less cranky with you and hopefully have more patience. I love you, my little sweetie. Thanks for loving me back "4, 5, 6" even on the tough days.<br />Love, <br />MamaAmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09332112931728812146noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6777936.post-86747457019427519672010-05-12T20:30:00.003-04:002010-05-14T00:49:40.665-04:00Taking a break from homework and housework to blog for a bit. I've been trying to be more "green" lately. We recycle just about everything we can possibly recycle and I've been making a conscious effort to use less harsh chemicals to clean. Today while I was putting off doing my homework I cleaned my bathroom with a mix of vinegar and water. That's it. A bottle of half vinegar and half water and a bunch of paper towels. OK, so the paper towels are not very "green" of me but at least I'm trying! :) <br /><br />Ew! Our bathroom was NAS-TY! I'd say when you can't remember the last time it was cleaned it has been way too long! I will NOT go that long between times again. Blech! But you know, the vinegar cleaned better than my usual cleaner. I didn't get to the tub and shower yet but did wipe down the counters, walls and floor with it. Now it's all sparkling clean but smells like sauerkraut. EWW! Oh well. It looks pretty anyway. Hopefully it will air out overnight and will just look pretty and not be stinky. Tomorrow I'll have to finish the rest. <br /><br />Now I've got a week's worth of homework to do in 2 days. Not from procrastinating, just poor planning on my part. I planned a mini-vacation to New York to see my friend Katy right during the busiest time of my class. Final paper week! So I've got to hustle to get it done early so I don't have to mess with it while we're away from home. <br /><br />I'm really looking forward to going to NY though. Katy lives in Brooklyn and we haven't seen her in way too long so we're going to drive about 4 hours (or 6 or 8 depending on how well the kids do in the car) to see her. We'll leave Saturday morning and come home on Tuesday. I've got a TON of stuff to do in the meantime so I'd better get busy! I hope to post about our trip when we get back. Check Facebook for pics and status updates from NYC. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/85789/craftylildevil/9313007cbb6c7d7ac14d60daa40995d2.png" border="0" style="border: 0 !important; background: transparent;" /></a>Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09332112931728812146noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6777936.post-91779995961456730932010-05-11T14:33:00.003-04:002010-05-11T14:54:37.021-04:00I need to go to the dentist. Like REALLY need to go to the dentist. I've had a tooth that's been bothering me off and on since February. I had my teeth cleaned in March and nothing showed up. No big deal. It really wasn't an all the time thing, just came and went every once in a while and that was something I could live with. I went to the oral surgeon because I thought it was my wisdom teeth. Nope. Thankfully, I just might skate by with not having to have my wisdom teeth out at al. Nice! But that tooth? Yeah...now it's really bothering me. Like all the time. I made a note to call my dentist on Monday (yesterday) and finally remembered at 4:45. I called and they were already closed for the day. Whoops! No big deal. I should have remembered to call earlier in the day. I called today at 8:30 when the office opened and they can see me today! Hooray! I was offered a choice of several times today and had to choose the latest one because I have no one to take care of the kids while I go. Jason will have to take off work early to meet me at the dentist. This is a really busy time for him right now because he'll be gone next week while we're on vacation. I am really wishing it wasn't so danged complicated just to get my sore tooth fixed! Now I am not at all complaining about my dentist. I love her, recommend her to people all the time and several members of her family read this blog. Heck, for all I know she might even read this blog. I don't think so but maybe. (Hi, Dr. Gibson.) I'm just griping because I'm frustrated that I have to be so far away from Oklahoma and all the people I know there who could watch my little ones in a case like this. Why does such a relatively simple thing like getting my tooth fixed have to be such a complicated ordeal? <br /><br />And today is my anniversary and I have a paper to start writing tonight, 2 homework assignments to start so I can complete them and turn them in before our vacation and corn to vacuum up off of the carpet. Again. <br /><br />You know, this whole post is just me venting about ridiculous stuff really. At least my house is safe and not flooded like those in Tennessee and hasn't been damaged by a tornado like those in Oklahoma. Really, what am I whining about after all? <br /><br />Looking forward to vacation this weekend and then my mom coming to visit very soon. Maybe then I'll be less gripe-y. I hope so! <br /><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; BORDER-TOP: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT: 0px" border="0" src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/85789/craftylildevil/9313007cbb6c7d7ac14d60daa40995d2.png" /></a>Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09332112931728812146noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6777936.post-28697757607877724232010-05-10T12:17:00.004-04:002010-05-11T14:15:25.431-04:00Lately I've been praying for some friends. Now that sounds really pathetic when I see it in print but it's true. I have met some wonderful friends since we've lived here but we're all just so busy with our kids, our jobs, school work, etc and I haven't really met anyone who lives close to me. Also, I'm sad to say that I don't really know very many of my neighbors all that well. Sure, I know a few of them well enough to speak to them casually at the mailbox and ask after their kids but that's about it. We've lived here for almost six years and I don't really know people on my street all that well. I'd love to know people in my neighborhood who have kids the same age as mine or interests in common with Jason and me. So, armed with my neighbor gifts and my sweet little blonde-haired boy I marched over to meet the neighbors who just moved in behind our house. And what do you know...they're newlyweds who look to be about our age (or a little younger). They invited us into their house to look around, gave me their phone number in case we needed to get ahold of them and I invited them to Audrey's birthday party later this month. Now I don't know if we'll have that much in common or be good friends or anything but it sure was nice to get to meet some new friends. Can't wait to get to hang out with our neighbors at Audrey's party on the 29th.<br /><br />Next, I'm going to make up some more neighbor gifts and take them to the neighbors I don't know. They only cost me about fifty cents to make because I used materials I had on hand or that were destined for the recycling bin. People are either going to think I'm totally weird fro bringing them flowers or they're really going to like it. There are a few families down the street that have young kids. I sure hope to make some friends and get some playdates for my little ones this way. I jokingly said that I was so desperate for friends when I first started staying at home that I was tempted to go door-to-door knocking til a grownup answered just so I could have an adult to talk to. Looks like that's what I'm going to have to resort to now! haha Talk about getting out of my comfort zone! But staying in that comfort zone sure hasn't made me very many friends in my neighborhood now has it?<br /><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; BORDER-TOP: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT: 0px" border="0" src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/85789/craftylildevil/9313007cbb6c7d7ac14d60daa40995d2.png" /></a>Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09332112931728812146noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6777936.post-52540372539890412072010-05-10T12:08:00.002-04:002010-05-10T12:15:07.599-04:00One of my New Year's resolutions this year was to write a children's book. Well it took me a while but I did it! It's just a basic, simple, silly story based on a game I play with my kids. I learned this from my parents and grandparents and now my own kids love it too. You probably even play a version of it with your little ones (or have in the past).<br />Here's my story:<br /><br /><blockquote><strong>I'm Gonna Getcha!</strong><br /><br />When I was little my grandma said to me<br />(slowly, slowly, slowly)<br />She said "I'm...gonna...getcha, getcha, getcha right there!"<br />And she'd tickle, tickle, tickle til I giggle, giggle, giggled.<br /><br />Now you're my little one and I love to say to you<br />(slowly, slowly, slowly)<br />I say "I'm…gonna…getcha, getcha, getcha right there!<br />And I tickle, tickle, tickle til you giggle, giggle, giggle.<br /><br />Now you've got a little sister and I love to say to her<br />(slowly, slowly, slowly)<br />I say " I'm…gonna…getcha, getcha, getcha right there!<br />And I tickle, tickle, tickle til she giggle, giggle, giggles.<br /><br />One day you'll have a little one all your own and you'll love to say to them<br />(slowly, slowly, slowly)<br />You'll say " I'm…gonna…getcha, getcha, getcha right there!<br />And you'll tickle, tickle, tickle til they giggle, giggle, giggle.</blockquote><br /><br />I just submitted it to Cheerios Spoonfuls of Stories contest. The winner gets $5,000 and their book will be published and inside Cheerio boxes in 2011. WOW! Wouldn't that be an honor! You can enter at <a href="http://promo.simonandschuster.com/spoonfulsofstories/">http://promo.simonandschuster.com/spoonfulsofstories/</a>. There's no limit to how many times you can enter so I'm definitely going to get busy writing and enter some more stories. This one was just hastily written in about 10 minutes while I was changing diapers this morning. Can't wait to get busy! You can enter until July 15th, 2010. Get busy writing! :)<br /><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; BORDER-TOP: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT: 0px" border="0" src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/85789/craftylildevil/9313007cbb6c7d7ac14d60daa40995d2.png" /></a>Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09332112931728812146noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6777936.post-7661209224018283512010-05-10T00:29:00.004-04:002010-05-10T12:08:33.435-04:00I found this a while back while reading one of my favorite blogs "Call Her Blessed". I loved it so much I copied it and saved it on my computer to read over and over agin. Daiquiri has such a way with words. Happy Mother's Day!<br /><br /><blockquote><strong>The Mommy Compromise</strong><br /><br />I will read you Goodnight Moon until I have dreams of a "great green room", and I'll keep reading it because I want you to love reading and using your imagination....and because I love to smell your hair while you sit on my lap during story time.<br /><br />I will deny you ice cream for dessert when you refuse to eat your vegetables. You will grow to have a healthy and strong body, and you'll learn that there are natural consequences associated with your choices.<br /><br />You will sometimes choose to be naughty. I will discipline you, and I will insist that you apologize to the offended party. You will learn humility and the peace and healing that is found in being forgiven.<br /><br />I will sometimes hurt your feelings or treat you unfairly. You will better understand why it's so important to treat people the way you'd like to be treated. And when I apologize, you will learn the peace and healing that can be found in forgiving someone.<br /><br />You might have to dig through the "to fold" laundry basket to find them, but you have clean underwear to wear.<br /><br />You can choose to dislike the name we gave you, but I will always love it because it reminds me of a time when you were a little bundle of sweet smells and sounds nestled safely in my arms.<br /><br />Your best friends might someday hurt you by calling you "out of touch", "closed minded", or a "prude". But I will teach you the truth of Jesus anyway. I pray you'll let Him be your true best friend.<br /><br />I understand that you really, really, really want that new toy. But you don't need another toy (and we don't always have extra money to spend). You'll learn that you're not entitled to everything you want right now.<br /><br />You might feel entitled to that toy anyway, and will decide to use your own money to buy it. You'll learn the value of a dollar, how hard it is to save, and that there's a difference between earning something and being entitled to it.<br /><br />You might not get a bath every other night, but you will have a clean face and hands, brushed hair and teeth, and clean clothes.<br /><br />Your Mommy might seem distracted sometimes by her 'to do' list, the book she's reading, or the phone call she's on...but you will learn that your Mommy is a person too, and that sometimes you have to wait patiently for her to finish what she's doing.<br /><br />I will make you pick up your toys, and you will learn the difficult but very real burden of responsibility.<br /><br />Sometimes, Mommy and Daddy will go do something fun without you. You'll learn that Mommy and Daddy are a team and that we enjoy each other's company. Hopefully, our relationship will be a strong enough example for you that you never settle for someone less than God's best for you because you're lonely. It's better to be alone with God than together with the wrong person.<br /><br />You will sometimes wonder why we ever had more children than one (you). The world would just be so much easier for you if you were our sole focus and you didn't have to share you toys or room with anyone. But someday Daddy and I will be in Heaven, and you'll be so glad to have someone to share with.<br /><br />I will make you say "please" and "thank you" and "excuse me" until we're all just plain sick of hearing me say the words "what do you say?", but you will learn manners because it's a way we communicate respect with the people in our lives.<br /><br />I will sometimes lose my temper. I will sometimes spill the milk. I will sometimes use a voice that is not loving or kind. You will be a bit shaken to see me stumble, but you'll learn that no one is perfect and that life goes on even when we make mistakes.<br /><br />Sometimes I'll pick up your toys when you really don't want to do it. Sometimes I'll let you have ice cream for dessert even when you don't finish your vegetables. Sometimes I'll buy you that new toy even though you don't need it (and we don't have a whole lot of extra money). And you'll learn that you're worth spoiling from time to time...and you'll learn that sometimes a Mommy just wants her kids to feel special and cherished no matter the cost.</blockquote>Oh my! Wasn't that just beautiful?! Head on over to<br /><a href="http://www.calledblessed.com/search?q=the+mommy+compromise">http://www.calledblessed.com/search?q=the+mommy+compromise</a> and leave her a comment if you loved this as much as I do.<br /><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; BORDER-TOP: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT: 0px" border="0" src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/85789/craftylildevil/9313007cbb6c7d7ac14d60daa40995d2.png" /></a>Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09332112931728812146noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6777936.post-58271097638543503392010-05-06T21:45:00.004-04:002010-05-06T23:09:54.902-04:00****Warning**** I've got homework due tonight and am frantic to finish but took a minute to write this post. I am not at all going to swear it will be gramatically correct, have the right punctuation, etc. because I'm just gonna type it up quickly and redo it later if necessary. Here we go!<br /><br />So much to talk about so little time! As always I've got homework due so the pressure is on to get it done by midnight. I ALWAYS wait til last minute no matter how much I swear I'm not going to. Whatever. It works for me. Most of the time. :)<br /><br />I have got some BIG plans for my birthday. It's not until July but man oh man I'm gonna have a great one! Now the explanation of how I stumbled upon this amazing idea is a long one. Here's the short version. While looking on one of my favorite craft sites (<a href="http://oneprettything.com/">One Pretty Thing</a>), I came across this: <a href="http://www.sowonderfulsomarvelous.com/2010/04/34-random-ish-acts-of-kindness-birthday.html">http://www.sowonderfulsomarvelous.com/2010/04/34-random-ish-acts-of-kindness-birthday.html</a>. It's an amazing and inspiring list of 34 "randomish" acts of kindess that Michelle did for her birthday. She was inspired by a post by Robyn over at Mix Mingle Glow <a href="http://mixmingleglow.com/blog/?p=1358">http://mixmingleglow.com/blog/?p=1358</a>. Go ahead and read some or all of these posts. I'll wait.<br /><br /><br /><br />SEE?!!! Aren't these amazing! I cried reading them and hearing other people's reactions to the kindness of strangers. I am definitely doing this on my birthday.<br />I've already started, though not with a stranger exactly. Yesterday I bought flowers for my new neighbors while buying plants for my garden. Today I decorated a flowerpot to put them in and am taking them over tomorrow to introduce myself. I mean they're practically in my backyard so I could at least go over and say hi, right? <br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nL8NFboBhgM/S-N2IZqqtxI/AAAAAAAAB80/N-ECkTxr3OQ/s1600/100_6116.jpg"><p><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468344259258791698" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nL8NFboBhgM/S-N2IZqqtxI/AAAAAAAAB80/N-ECkTxr3OQ/s320/100_6116.jpg" /></a><br />Oh yeah....where did I get the idea for this neighbor gift? From One Pretty Thing and JesseKate desings. (<a href="http://jessekatedesigns.blogspot.com/2009/05/teacher-gift-idea-with-applique.html">http://jessekatedesigns.blogspot.com/2009/05/teacher-gift-idea-with-applique.html</a>) And the cards in the flowers came from Amanda Joy at <a href="http://joyeverafter.squarespace.com/blog/2010/2/23/love-your-neighbor.html">http://joyeverafter.squarespace.com/blog/2010/2/23/love-your-neighbor.html</a>. Tired of all the links to other sites here? Sorry! Just want to share these great ideas with you! And no, I don't really spend all THAT much time on the computer. The fine folks over at One Pretty Thing do that for me. I just read that and man oh man do I find some amazing stuff!!!</p><p><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nL8NFboBhgM/S-N2H5ALKoI/AAAAAAAAB8s/EhJfOilB6-s/s1600/100_6117.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468344250490628738" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nL8NFboBhgM/S-N2H5ALKoI/AAAAAAAAB8s/EhJfOilB6-s/s320/100_6117.jpg" /></a> Sorry this last one is blurry! It was getting dark and I had to hustle. I had a sweet little boy who was WAAYY late getting to bed and was trying to help. :)</p><p>And I am posting this not to toot my own horn or say "oh, look at this nice thing I did" but because I want to see how many people will do this with me. I want everyone who reads this to just do one nice thing for someone you don't know. Then come tell me about it. Email me, leave a comment here, send me a text or a message on Facebook, whatever. Just please do. Consider it my birthday present this year. :) Let's see how many nice things we can do for someone else this year. <br /><br />Linking to Just for the JOY at Good, True and Beautiful.<br /><br />><a href="http://www.goodtrueandbeautiful.com/category/just-for-the-joy-of-it/" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="Good, True & Beautiful" src="http://i675.photobucket.com/albums/vv119/GTBSharon/Just%20for%20the%20Joy/JustfortheJoyofitcopy.gif"/></a><br /><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; BORDER-TOP: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT: 0px" border="0" src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/85789/craftylildevil/9313007cbb6c7d7ac14d60daa40995d2.png" /></a> </p>Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09332112931728812146noreply@blogger.com3