pin it & do it....part 2

Pinterest pin it & do it segment 2.....free printable coupons for your kids!  Printed these bad boys last night......and.....

Put them in some cutsie little mailboxes off the $1 rack at Target....AND You've GOT mail!

Love mail that is.  Tee hee.

By far more sweet then any other cards I've received ever in my life were these two I was given this morning.  

Can you read what Jack wrote?  Let me quote it up for you...."Dear Mom and/or Dad  (I love the and/or part there) Thank you for giving me a good life and I don't have to worry about bad things. :) heart.  Love, Jack."  Complete with a pink and red keyboard.  Heart melting for that tender side of that strong headed boy <3 <3


 And just for a bonus since it is Valentines Day and all...I've included another Pinterest idea for ya all.  A quick and easy one if I do say myself.

Go get yourself some balloons from the $1 store, one for each year of marriage (in my case I did one balloon for each 2 years) and tie a card to the balloon remembering what stuck out to you in that year.  And have them floating above the bed when your hubby wakes up.  In my case when I got up for my nightly bathroom break and put them over our bed then.

Sweet, Easy, and Creative....Are you inspired?? I hope so all you love muffins!  Enjoy the one you love today.  XOXOXOXOXO    See you tomorrow.

pin it & do it....part 1

I've no idea where the last month has gone since I've blogged.  Seems there's so much to write about except for all my time is completely taken up with my new passion~obsession~ love......Pinterest.  I love what one pin says: 

 or this one:

Ha ha!!!  But I really love is when I actually take action on something I "pinned". 

Enter Exhibit A:

Using children's stencils to create a pillow cover.  Color in with sharpie.  Cut 2 squares and sew together. 

Wah lah:

 Now.......where to set the darling little thing?  I like it on my entryway bench...but it looks a little lonely. 

And I like it here on the dark chair but I have a feeling the children would not remember this is for "pretty" and not for their precious little heads. 


Stay tuned....each day this week I wanna show you what else I pinned and did.  :)  How about you??? Have you been to Pinterest?  Have you pinned?  Have you created?  I'd love to hear from you!

conflicting emotions

This past Friday we had a SNOW DAY!!!  No school Saturday and Sunday....followed by no school Monday because of Martin Luther King day.  WHOO HOO!!  For not having to set an alarm 4 days in a row.  When the kids were younger the thought of 4 days off & them all home kinda set me into a state of hives.  I love them...but trying to keep them all busy when it's so cold outside is hard.  Can I get an Amen?

But as they grow...I find this task easier and easier by the year.  Now I welcome Christmas break, for more than just not setting an alarm.  They are changing.  Or am I?

So Monday morning I got ambitious.  We got the house cleaned up and I decided rather than wait until they are at school...we were going for a grocery and Target run.  With all 4.  All but one of the kids were excited~I won't mention any names. 

They did so well in Target.  I'm entering a new phase where if they stick together in 2's I will let them be in the store a little without me right in the same isle.  The boys can go to the electronics & the girls find the book department or some other girly place to look.  It actually was an enjoyable trip.  Shocked and pleased.

So after that I decided we should grab some lunch before I spend another hour in a store.    

So we went to Wendy's.  When we pulled into the parking lot and actually parked, I got some pretty wrinkled eyebrows.  WHAT??? We're eating inside the restaurant????  Suzy said, "OH THANK YOU MOM!!!"  Oppsie.  I guess we're characterized by drive thru's.  Sad but true.

I felt like a super hero to be eating in and them excited about it.  AND I let them each get their own frosty!  Did I mention we splurged and shared a fry?

So we are sitting down with our food, and I notice a grandma with her granddaughter eating their lunch at a nearby table.  The little girl had a happy meal and the conversation was about her pre-school and how she likes it.  The grandma was really into her little granddaughter.

And then my eyes filled with water. 

I think part of it came from longing & some came from just attending my uncle's funeral the day before. 

Isabella was sitting across the table from me and said, "mom are your eyes really dry or are those tears?"

I told her, "It's so silly.  But I miss my mom~I miss her not knowing how cool you guys are." I thought to myself silly to me~because why have tears NOW in the middle of Wendy's when my heart is so full of these kids who are so fun to be with?  So blessed by a great day out on the town with them.  So happy to be their mama. How can it hit me like this....when it hasn't for months??  How can you be filled with such conflicting emotions?

And then Isabella's eyes filled and she told me, "Mom! That's not silly at all!"

Oh my goodness. Complete and utter compassion & empathy for my loss.  And then she did what any sweet 11 year old would do.  She handed me her frosty and offered me some. 

At this point all 4 kids were staring at me and I went on to explain to them how much Grandma Faye would've loved being them grandma.  I imagine she would've taken them to lunch all by themselves and treated them to some one on one time.   

And how much and completely she would've loved them.  And I told them that one day they will get to meet her in Heaven. 

And then Suzy says, "And what if you get there before I do~then I will see you too."  Her and her little 5 year old logic.

Jack pipes up and says, "SUZY!  That's saying that mom will die before you.~Don't make her feel worse." 

At this point the tears keep rolling with laughing and I desperately just want the tears to stop but they don't.  I love these kids.  They make me so full.  Even when my heart is a little sore.

our wedding

 14 years ago some friends helped us celebrate our Wedding day. 

Rebecca & Samantha were are program passer outers.

Joyce & Karen were the guest book attendants.

Kirsten & Karissa were our gift carrier girlies.

 

My sister Michele, my niece~Sierra, and 2 little friends (Nicholette & Dannette)  I used to babysit for were my little flower girls.  Brooke my niece was also a little flower girl for us...but she was feeling a little camera shy at the time of the above picture.

Donovan's parents, Glen & Elsie.  His brother, Jon.  And his brother Wes, with his wife Joann & their daughter Brooke.

The peeps we put in charge of the reception.  Uncle Dave & Aunt Gloria and Uncle Jerry & Aunt Ruby. 

The friends was asked to serve at the reception~ Chad, Jon, Merle, Jeff, Jeremy, Katie, Teresa, J.B., Carla, & Andrew.

My sisters~Holly, Melissa, & Michele.

Some pretty amazing & talented friends Angie & Lori that wrote a special song for my wedding & preformed it.  Along with singing & playing all other music at our candle lit wedding.

Our ushers~Steve, Aaron, Darrin, & Willie

And here we are.....We were 22 & 23 years old!  We had no idea everything that marriage meant back then.  It's full of ups & downs.  Thankfully the ups outway the downs. :)  And thankfully I have someone that is committed to God, me, and his children.  SO very blessed that I met and married this man. 

I was full of excitement that day of everything that was so new.  WOW!!  Being a wife was something I had been dreaming of since I was a little girl.  And along with that day came the white dress, flowers, honeymoon, *blank and blank* (tee hee), and being adopted into his family.  Donovan often accuses me of wanting to get married just to start having babies...but I WAS pretty stoked to be getting all the perks of being married to my love, my groom. 

It's unblievable to imagine that Jan 3, 1998 was an unseasonably warm day for Southern Michigan~ 45 degrees!!   We got married in Sturgis, Michigan (about 30 minutes from where we live now.)  It was an evening wedding that started at 6 p.m. and we had made these ice lanterns to line the drive of the church...and they were melting!!! In January!!  And now here we are 14 years later in the middle of a snow storm today!  With temps in the 20's. 

Here are our friends who stood up for us that day

Chris, Sheldon, Kevin, Wes & Jon

Tina, Bobbie, Sherri, Melissa, Michele

Nichollette, Michele, Dannette, & Sierra...Brooke (not pictured) ~who was camera shy again :( 

So special to have most of these people still in our lives. 

I'm livin the dream to be married to my love.  I can't imagine life without him~he makes a better person just by being him.  He is the very best friend I've ever had.

I love you my groom.

New Year's Eve

On New Years Eve we headed over to our friends' Jason & Rose's house....How fun to look forward to a party all week!  

So many lovely treats....

And a personal barista...making me a Pumpkin Spice Latte.

The house was decked out with some beautiful candles and treats.

Isabella with all the yummy food

All the cute children...can you believe we let them all stay up till 2 a.m.?

Isabella, Cassie, & Sophia

Suzy with her snacks. 

We taught our friends how to play "black 7"  ~

 

So fun to bring in 2012 with some of the people I admire, adore & love.

Hope your New Year is off to a great start....

red bows

 I'll start this post by saying....brand new cars DO NOT make sense to me.  Because as soon as you drive off the lot....your value decreases like by 30%.  Unless you can totally afford it....that is awesome.    I'm happy you've got lots of cash :) :)  And Donovan's company supplies him with a brand new van/car every 80,0000 miles.  For free.  We do not pay one cent...even though we are free to use it for personal as much as we need to.  It's one of the perks of his job.  + they pay for the gas + insurance + maintenance + car washes.  I'll stop there...you get the point.  

 But the only use that I have had for a vehicle for the past 10 years is the grocery store, Dr. office, taking the kids to school once & a while, and then repeat. For 10 years.  But that little van I've used has seen better days.  There's many things that need to be addressed and honestly we just don't want to put anymore money into it.  And because of this little 9 dot logo:   

We have the option to buy the van that Donovan has been driving for the last 1.5 years.  You see once his vehicle turns 80,000 we send it back to the leasing company or we have the option to buy it.  For a discounted price of wholesale.

So he picked out a new van and it came in yesterday.  We got to pick it up today, and then finished up some Christmas shopping, and I got to drive the new one home.  Yippee!!!!!  I love new car smell....and since the new one will be Donovan's to use for work....I won't get to use it that often.  So when I drove into the drive this is what I saw.....  



Awwwwwwww....All cleaned up and wrapped with a red bow.  His "old" van that is now my new one!!!yippee~!!!!!  Sliding doors that work !!!   I'm doing a dance over here!  Donovan bought some ribbon & uTubed "how to make a bow."  SO sweet that man.

So while all along I knew that we were buying it for me to use...the clean & swept out beautiful interior, clean sparkly tires, and bow on top was a quite a treat.  I think now I will go sit in it and sing Christmas carols. 

Merry Christmas Friends. 

Wanna buy a 2001 Town and Country??????   :)