Show and Tell Friday...

Today is Show and tell at KELLI'S house.Yesterday we had a whole day of Home Economics. The kids and I baked Christmas cookies, read recipes, measured, sifted and chatted. By the end of the day we had over 70 sugar cookies and over 25 raspberry thumbprints (a family tradition AND favorite of daddy). They were troopers and even helped with the clean-up. We celebrated over hot chocolate and freshly baked goods. The mess was more than I expected but I know the memories will not be forgotten...

Some Junk In My Trunk...

"Joyful is a day at the flea market finding treasures and having a man by my side to carry them." ~ Maggie

This weekend im hoping to go "Junkin!" I can't wait!! What's Junkin you ask? Well its garage sale-in, flea marketing (the real flea markets...) antiquing ... do you get the picture? On the way home from work one day Jason came across this cool outdoor flea market and this weekend ... if its open... we are going. Yippie! Im looking for all sorts of cool old things I can restore and make into something beautiful.

Back in the 90's when we were living down south I went junking and found these beautiful old orange funky lamps and I just HAD to have them. I brought them home and showed Jason. He could not see the beauty in them but I did. 1 can of spray paint, some gold paint a little re-wiring and one ruined front porch...(long story) Voila! BEAUTIFUL bedside lamps with frilly new victorian shades. I still have those puppies and they remind me of my first junking project. Im not really looking to find furniture this weekend. Just pretty teacups and tea pots. I want to build up my collection. I have a few stored in the garage and Im slowly unpacking them. They are so dainty and cute. I need to find the perfect spot to display them!

Anyway, I will be sure to bring along my trusty camera and let you know what we find!

(Photos courtesy of one very pretty Lady who loves Polk-a-dots)

A Beach For Two....

Another week has begun in our home. Busy busy busy is all that comes to mind as I filled out my calendar for December. When did I get such a life??? I clearly can't remember but I have proof written in blue all over my pretty 30 days of December. Tonight is my only night to sit and relax... if you count writing out over 40 Christmas cards, pouring over cruise brochures and folding 2 loads of laundry relaxing. But a mommy's work is never done. I believe my mission was a success. I planted a seed of vacation in my hubbys head and the seed has SPROUTED!!! He ordered all sorts of packet info and spends his free time pouring thru all the colorful pages. Instead of saying " if"... he now says "when." How cool is that? Bahamas watch out.. the GapGirl is packin her favorite hat and Jackie-O sunglasses and is on her way. Whaaa Hoooo. I have been prepping HARD for this. I decided to join one of the Upstates BIGGEST consignment sales "switch-a-roos" and sell all my baby gear come february. This shop is closed!! Hey if I change my mind, I change my mind but for now Im good to go! The money I earn is going towards the cruise as is my extra money I get from Nursery and pet-sitting. My goal is to pay for the cruise myself so we have even more extra money to swim with the dolphins, buy pretty jewelry,snorkel, buy more pretty jewelry and one of those really big straw hats with even bigger sunglasses. Yes, thats the life.... oh and don't forget my fruity umbrella drink I will be sipping by the crystal clear ocean. Ahhh I can hear the seagulls already!

 Anywho, I still have months to go and need to survive the holiday rush first! Jason and I have 3 Christmas parties to go to, one woman's dinner,church activities, shopping... and our New Years Eve party invites have already started filling our inbox. Lots to do!

 Until the day my ship comes in...literally... I will bundle up, keep warm and dream...

KIDNAPPED!!!!

For above the cabinets

For Molly and Abby-girl's room

For the downstairs powder room

The downstairs powder room

It has finally happened. Jason has banned me from Hobby Lobby. I have become a regular... almost every day and always come out with my hands full and my wallet empty. I can't help myself... its a bad habit, an addiction, a must... and my home looks so wonderful because of it!!! Well, he usually does not ban me from much and the ban usually lasts just a few days... or until he forgets, opps I mean I forget and wander back in for more pretty must haves.

I was sad, heartbroken and lonely. Emma was in drama practice. The ONE night I get to go out by myself, without the kids, like a grown-up. Sigh, the night was cold as I wandered up and down the sidewalks. My head held low and I think I felt a tear fall down my cheek. All of a sudden a bright light shone in my face. My head quickly lifted up, I was blinded by the white pure light. I could not make out what I saw but I knew it was heavenly. All of a sudden doors swung open and I was magically drawn in. I heard an angelic voice welcome me through the gates. Sweet music sang from above my head... Thats all I remember. The rest was a blur. All I know was that I must have been in heaven. I was surrounded by sparkles and lace. The air smelled sweet , just like a garden on a spring day. I seemed to have lost all track of time as I floated around. My feet hardly touched the ground. Next thing I knew I was back out on the dark sidewalk. The air felt cold and cars whizzed past me. It took me a second to come to my senses. When I did, I noticed my hand contained packages... many packages. Pretty vases with chickens on them, Pink frilly jewelry holders and a soap dispenser. Hmmm how odd? I looked at the piece of paper that fell out of the bag... it said "Thank you for shopping at HomeGoods..."

Wow, HomeGoods? Jason said no Hobby Lobby but he said NOTHING about HomeGoods... Perfect! My home still is so bare and needs so much...Only 4 more days till Emma has drama practice again=)

Where Does The Time Go...

My Emma Paige went to her first Christmas Semi-Formal last night. She was so excited all week, she could hardly sleep. When the invitation came in the mail we immediately began shopping for a dress. Our journey ended at the first shop we went to... This is it mom!! AND Its half price!! She wore the dress all day and imagined how the night would be.

 All day yesterday she had a smile on her face and one eye on the clock. When it was time, she quickly got dressed and ran down the stairs so I could do her hair. She raided my jewelry draws and borrowed my earrings,hair pin and bracelet. I even let her pick one of my perfumes to wear.

 She was beautiful.

 "I have butterflies in my stomach Mom.." she said as we drove to the church. I didn't tell her but I had butterflies too. I was excited for her, nervous for her and a bit sad that I had to leave her all by herself... who would she sit with? will she have fun? Will she be lonely? Will she make new friends..." All those motherly worries poured through my head. It felt so wrong to just drop her off at the door for such an event without accompanying her.

 We pulled in and Emma could not stop smiling. The butterflies in my stomach got worse as we walked closer to the door. I had my arm around her, I wanted to see the room and make sure she walked in ok. I began to whisper in her ear when an earth shattering wind came. It screamed "EMMA" by 3 different voices... the glass doors flew open, hands grabbed her and before I could blink she was gone. The doors closed behind her and I stood there out in the cold looking in. My daughter was laughing and chatting away with her friends. Without even a glance back at me... she was gone.

 As silly as this sounds, I held back the tears as I climbed back in the van to go home. It seemed like yesterday I held her so tight wrapped up in a receiving blanket. All the baby books I have read through the years tells you to bond with your baby, hold your baby, rock your baby... none of the books tell you how to let go. How do you let go of someone you love so much?

 I know last night was just the beginning of many semi-formals, dress shopping, hair straightening and big nights! With 4 girls, I have endless nights of that ahead... But I will take it in stride. I will enjoy the moments I have with them now and pray that I get just a few moments more to hold her close.

Show And Tell

Today is show and tell at Kelli's house and I finally am able to participate!!! I wanted to share a very fun time at my home last night decorating our tree. All 5 kids participated with excitement and eagerness. Abby loved this the most as she thought each ball was her personal new play toy... she was in heaven!!! Enjoy the pictures and see you soon!!!

Abby in amazement

Making sure every special ornament has a spot

Molly loves to keep busy

Our special Angel. We take turns every year to see who gets to place her on the top.

Library...

Tuesday I packed up the kiddos and off to the library we traveled. We all love going to the library. The kids use the computers, browse all the wonderful unread books and the little ones head off to storytime where I sing and dance while they stare at me.(Yes, I said I sing and dance because they don't always participate... but I do. I sing along and dance along like a silly mommy. But the moment we get home the babies re-enact the entire storytime from start to finish)

 My library near me is small but we have about 5 others we frequent as well. The downtown library is awesome!! Its triple the size of the one closest to our home, has a coffee shop inside and also has a huge spinning globe of the world. Thats the kids favorite. They watch that thing spin round and round completely fascinated.

 We are starting to study colonial times, the 13 colonies and then leading up to the revolutionary war. How perfect!!! I have books to look up all the historical sites in South Carolina as well as books about Colonial life and famous Colonial women. I can't wait to pour through the pages and soak up all this knowledge.

 I also checked out a bunch of Christmas books for the little ones to enjoy and of coarse I picked up a few myself. A pretty Pink lady recommended some Miss Julia books and I have not been able to put them down.

  Libraries are so neat! Full of all sorts of secrets and knowledge just waiting to be picked up, snuggled with and read!!

Gordon Must DIIEEE!!!

The first picture is Gordon... and we have all decided that Gordon must die!!! 3 days ago daddy surprised us with coming home with more fishes for the tank, as per my previous posts, 2 out of the three fish died and poor baby Thomas was left all alone in a big big new world. Well monday afternoon that all changed. With excitement and plenty of squeals we followed daddy upstairs and watched as 2 new fish entered our world. Thomas was SOOO happy. He swam out of his place of hiding and greeted the other yellow tailed fish (newly named Elmo) with fish hugs and kisses. They became besties and swam all over together. The other larger fish was named Gordon and was beating up on elmo. We thought it was due to the stress of the new tank and being in a very small plastic bag for hours. Gordon even turned BLACK because he was so angry.

The tank turned ugly last night. We had all just come home from a night of fun! We went Christmas tree shopping, singing carols and were full of excitement. I ran upstairs to the hall to rummage thru the boxes of holiday decor to find the tree stand. A Mothers intuition told me to just peek into Noahs room and eye the fish. I was so glad I did. Gordon forgot his nice pill and was viciously attacking a dying Thomas. That little poor T hardly had any fight left. He just sank to the bottom of the tank. He would gather enough strength to slowly try and swim around but then Gordon would shoot across the tank and start attacking him again. Right before my eyes he was losing his fight. I felt so helpless. I started shouting profanities at that mean ogre. I called for Jason who ran upstairs, I didn't want the kids to see a half eaten fish. Jason said a few choice words himself and quickly shoved his hand in the tank and scooped poor Thomas away. He is now is Fish heaven with James and Percy where no Gordons are allowed to enter!!!

This morning Emma and I watched as Gordon systematically began picking on Elmo. I banged on the tank but calmly told Emma there is nothing I can do, I can't stay here all day banging on the glass everytime they swim too close. In this case nature has to take its course and we will take it from there. Its a tough lesson for my 5 babies who all have such soft hearts. I will keep you updated on our fish-conditions. In the meantime I have to go plan dinner... we are havin a southern fish fry...oopps, I mean chicken fry, yeah thats right... a "chicken" fry...

Merry Christmas!

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Ode To A Christmas Card...

Today before Home school started I decided to take our annual christmas card picture.Jason bought our beautiful cards 2 weeks ago at Family Christian stores and they are beautiful! Everyone was dressed in red,the fireplace was lit and the attempt was made. I have 50 more shots like this downloaded into my computer and I don't think I can use any of them. Crabby-Abby was put down for a nap, the little ones are resting on my bed watching tv and the older girls are at the table practicing their spelling. After full bellies and bribes I will take another 50 pictures in hopes to get that golden million dollar shot...then off to the mailbox they will go to your front door. Thats what I hope for but this is what happens when you have 5 kids and a dream...