we've been dave-less for too long...

Dave was gone for 6 days!!!!!!!!!! I cannot wait to see his face. I am waking the kids up in a few minutes to go get him at the airport. They are so excited. The little one said, "you mean we get to go in the car in our pajamas and see the stars and moon in the sky?!"

The balloon and whoppers and cards are all ready for daddy! DON'T EVER LEAVE ME FOR THAT LONG AGAIN, DARLIN!!!
I am glad he got to go, really I am. He had a concert in Nebraska and really enjoyed his time there with a friend who is also a musician. From what I hear they had a lot of fun.


Meanwhile back here at the home front.....we had a lot of dress-up, lots of cartoon DVD's, lots of missing Daddy...
This little doggie just warms my heart! She got to sleep with me this week- usually she sleeps in her kennel. The kids took turns sleeping with me too. It was mostly good except that each night she would wake up a few times and lick our faces and then clean herself very loudly :) Back to the kennel for you, miss Sadie!!

We got lots of school work done...


more pictures for Daddy...


..the boys got haircuts....


When the children get rowdy...just kidding! She went in there of her own free will- honest! Sadie wasn't sure what to do about this.



And now for my surprise for Dave! He is always encouraging me to get the book done. I have wanted to write and illustrate a children's book forever! This year I said was going to be the year- but had gotten NOTHING done on it. I decided I would work like crazy and get it done while he was gone. I got a lot done- but now it looks to me like it needs a few more pages....but he will be happy.Just a sneak peek.....


So goodnight, friends! Next time I see you, hopefully we will all be wearing Nebraska t-shirts :)

Wake Up Call

Have you ever had one of those days where you were complaining and grumbling inside your head to yourself- and also complaining out loud???! I had one of those days yesterday. God always knows just what we need! I took the kids to the park to eat a picnic lunch and when we sat down to eat one of our friends and her little boy showed up to eat a picnic lunch too! What an encouragement to be able to have adult conversation with a friend while the kids played.

An then I read this today: (Philippians 2:14-15)

Do all things without complaining and disputing (in the margin of my Bible it said that complaining can mean grumbling and disputing can mean arguing). Even tho this is a huge rebuke to me- I take it as a positive thing- God saw what was happening and He wanted to help- He directed me to the right scripture that I needed!...then the verses go on to say.....that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation among whom you shine as lights in the world!

That is what I want to be - a light!!! But lately I feel I have been a very dingy light bulb....the glass has been half empty and I have been complaining about things.

Lord, forgive me! Help me to shine brightly for you! I have so much to be thankful for- why do I struggle in my mind and invent trouble for myself. Have you ever done that?? Think up scenarios in your head that are completely untrue? Like- that person has it out for me because they looked at me a certain way- CRAZY- I need to meditate on Phil 4:8- thinking on what it true!! What is true? God loves me! God forgives me! Hope you have a happy day - a day where GOD'S light shines brightly through YOU!

fallish

Found this newspaper leaf garland idea at Life with Little ones. The kids enjoyed making it, I enjoyed hanging it.

Do you notice anything different about the mantle? The chalkboard paint, perhaps? When it dries I can write on it! (yes, I know I am addicted to chalkboard paint....)


Pumpkin Cake
2 c. flour
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 t. baking pwdr
2 t. cinnamon
1 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
4 beaten eggs
1 16.oz can pumpkin
1 c. oil

mix dry ingr. together- then add the rest...bake at 350 for 25 min. in a 9x13 ungreased pan.
Comfort food!

a bunch of stuff....[books, letters,Q&A...]

We walked downtown and got a lot of the alphabet letters that we were looking for on our ABC scavenger hunt. We didn't find them all yet- but we got all of the letters for l-o-v-e {that's all we need}! It was very interesting and made us look at things in a new way and in more detail.

Now to answer some questions that some of you have asked:
Q Do people give you ideas about what they want when they order a painting- or do you just do your own thing?

A It depends. Sometimes they say they want certain colors, but that I can just do my thing. Other times they pick a painting that I have done before and want theirs similar. Some people have let me borrow purses or fabric swatches to use as inspiration.

I love all of these scenarios. Each time I get to custom paint something, a new design comes out- a new color combo that I would not have thought of, or I get to paint a new quote that inspires me as much as it inspires who I am painting for.

Q Do you use a marker or a paint pen for the words?

A On most paintings I use marker (I love Sharpies). On the nursery wall when I wrote the verses, I used paint and a very small brush. You said that your hand shakes if you try to do this- mine did too when I first started painting- practice! It gets better each and every time you try it.

One day a few weeks ago when I was painting a verse on the nursery wall, my hand shook for a few seconds and a letter got messed up. In that moment it was all very clear to me- God is the one who allows us anything that we do. In that split second God showed me that any ability that I have in these hands is from Him and how thankful I am that He allows me to paint!
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Inspired by a new favorite homeschool blog; here are some of our favorite books:
Book & book on cd- Epossumondas saves the day






Favorite kids author/illustrator- Eric Carle, Lois Ehlert, Caroline Haywood, Simms Taback...and many more that I cannot think of right now...

Hope your weekend has been fabulous! I had something fun happen when we were at the library the other day. Someone recognized me from my blog! It was nice to meet a reader- and we laughed about how small the world has become because of the Internet! (of course the kids had dressed themselves that day and we forgot to comb our hair...so she may be a former reader because she knows the full story now....:)

Anyway- it got me thinking how fun it would be if you guys left comments telling me where you live. {are you my neighbor?!} Or just the basic area if you want to keep that secret- which I totally understand since I am not saying exactly where I am except to say that I live in the south/east of the USA. So if you tell me where you are from I promise not to tell anyone ;) :)

::trees::&::birds::

We love how Dave's office is turning out (well I do anyway--and it is becoming just as colorful as the rest of the house- I could not keep my original plan and make it sparse!!)

Look! A tree grows in Dave's office! (but don't look too closely- it's not done yet...). And don't make fun of our pink chair- it is very comfy :)

Look what came in the mail today!!!!! My "fly" stone from KadyHope!!!! Check out her etsy shop. Her stuff is so fun.


A few of my favorite things....the stone from Jes, the green pitcher from Val, the egg from Lydia- purchased in the Ukraine, a plate and cup that I played with as a child, a button magnet from Knack, A ME cup, the red tin cup, red & white plates from Goodwill.......

interview at Faith Folk Cafe!

The blogworld is a wonderful thing. You meet people and become good friends, even though you have never met in real life- because of your common goals, faith, and interests. I feel this way about Pam at Faith Folk Cafe & Pam Warden Art. She is a great artist who paints the cutest folk art ladies with quotes. She has a feature and interview with/about Dave & I over at Faith Folk. Go check it out and enter her giveaway for Dave's Christmas CD and a pack of my Christmas cards.

Thanks, Pam!

Joy

We have had some really great messages at our church lately! Wow- God is good to us, He packs the Bible with scripture after scripture to teach us, encourage us, remind us, show us His love, and so much more- it is all there..all the answers to life's questions are there. Why do we mope around in a joyless state?!?!?

2 weeks ago Pastor preached on Colossians 3:11....Christ is ALL and in ALL. Is Christ all to you??? When you think of it that way- it sure makes our worries and petty arguments fade away. Christ died for us- He is preparing a place in heaven for us! All other things will fade way....

This last Sunday, Chad preached on Philippians 1:3-11
How to have jOy
1. think about what God has done for you!- vr 3
2. pray for others- vr 4---this is huge! When we pray for, and really love others- we will have true joy. This works for me every time. If I am sad and down in the dumps- usually thinking of me, me, me.....then do something for someone else- pray for those much more needy than you.
3. participation with other Christians...my notes get a little fuzzy on this one- I think the gist of it is that when you have fellowship with other Christians and want to help them and participate in their lives and struggles- this will bring you (and them) joy.
4. OUR HOPE (in God, and in our future) should give us huge amounts of joy.

Wonderful stuff here in the scriptures.

Then today I read these verses: Philippians 4:6-7

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

And what is awesome to me is that God brings these verses to us when we need them the most!

button candy wrecks

We got the button mold in the mail and as quick as could be made some candy. It is going to take a little practice. We need to learn how to fill each little mold with just enough or you can see the mess that happens.....
They are going to be so cute once we get it figured out- and the kids loved the samples.


Speaking of buttons- here she is miss cute as a button herself!!! We love our doggie :) :) And isn't she just in the lap of luxury?!?! She finds the coziest spots.

Hope you had a good first day of faLL!!

apples to caramel-ice apples

Rita's Italian Ice with my sweet friend, Jenny. And my new favorite flavor- Caramel Apple Cream Ice! (that flavor successfully combines summer and fall)

Have you ever played Apples to Apples? So fun! Dave even liked it- and that is saying something for this Monopoly and Scrabble boy.

What is your favorite game? Played any new ones lately?

good food & cute food

I made this last night and it was so good warm out of the oven with vanilla ice cream:

Cherry Cobbler

1 stick butter, melted
2 (21 oz.) cans cherry pie filling
1 yellow cake mix

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 13 x 9 inch baking dish. Melt butter in large bowl in micro. Add cake mix to butter, mix until well blended. Pour cherries into baking dish. Pour cake and butter mixture over cherries. Bake for 45 minutes-1 hour.

For Apple Cobbler: Substitute 2 cans apple filling and 1 spice cake mix.

Look how cute!!!- monsters on a stick- seen at Little Nummies

Easy & Fun Fall Batik for Kids

I saw this idea in the Family Fun magazine- which you know I love. I did not see it on the website- but here is the fall crafts page.

Batik- a technique of hand-dyeing fabrics by using wax as a dye repellent to cover parts of a design, dyeing the uncovered fabric with a color or colors, and dissolving the wax in boiling water. (in our case we are using glue in the place of wax)


Here's what we did-
1-we ripped some white muslin so that everyone had a strip of it.
2- draw leaf shapes on the muslin with glue (we used Elmer's washable school glue)- let this dry overnight
3- water down some acrylic paint - we used fall colors.
4- wet the fabric with a wet brush
5- paint the leaves and then the background with the watered down paint. The colors will run a little.
6- leave until dry
7- soak in warm water for about an hour- and then gently scrape the glue off- it came off easily after it has soaked for awhile.
8- dry, iron, and hang up! We taped ours to the kitchen windows

I especially loved this craft b/c it was good for my 8 year old all the way down to the 3 year old- and the finished product is so pretty.