RAINY DAY OFF

Hey everyone!

Today is my day off. I have a lot to do today and I really hope to get it all accomplished! It is absolutely pouring down rain outside! I woke my sleepy children this morning and while they got ready for school I made them scrambled eggs and turkey bacon. They asked me to take them to school instead of riding the bus and I am happy to do that.

I am planning on meeting my friend Leesa for lunch today in Jasper. She and I have been trying to get together for a little while now but something always came up. We have lunch dates at Applebee's and I really love catching up with her!

Sometimes when I go to Jasper I end up doing a little thrift store shopping. There is a St. Vincent's thrift store I like to stop at in Loogootee and there is another one in Jasper that is nice. It's on the other side of town though so I won't be going there today. I usually stop by the Salvation Army in Jasper. They have a family store and the prices are very reasonable.

Well, it's time to get the kiddos off to school. Try to stay dry today!! Thanks for hanging out with me. Leave me a comment below and let me know what you are doing today.

Hugs,

Spring Mill Candlelight Tour 2014

Hey, everyone!

Yesterday, Saturday, September 20, 2014, my husband and I took our daughter and her friend to the annual Spring Mill State Park Candlelight Tour in Mitchell, Indiana. We had a lot of fun for the most part but we went earlier than we normally do and it just was not the same this year. It is nice when it's getting towards dark and the village is lit up with candlelight and the park is buzzing with energy as family and friends stroll along the historic village and step back into time to see it come alive in a very different way than we know today. We will definitely go back again next year, but maybe try to time it a little differently.

We took a few photographs and I will share those with you here now:

I made a list of vlogs I wanted to record this year and so I was definitely excited to get the opportunity to vlog this trip. There are some choppy scenes as I was moving along with the camera and trying to record as much as I could without being intrusive to other visitors at the park. I think it turned out fine and all in all it was a lot of fun. I will share that video with you here:

Thanks for hanging out with me today. I hope you enjoyed the videos and the vlog. If there is anything else you would like to see, please let me know and I will do my best to record it for you. I have several more videos lined up to show you and I hope to get some of those filmed this coming week and then I can upload them soon after. Thanks for watching! If you like what you see, be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel!

Hugs,

Sand Pudding and Picnic on Friday Finale

Hey everyone!!
As hard as it is to believe, it's already Friday!! And not just any Friday, but a Friday Finale! Woot! Woot!

Today was my daughter's grand finale for fifth grade! Boo Hoo! She had a wonderful fifth grade picnic with games, prizes, an obstacle course and many photo opportunities! I will share a few photos from the picnic at the end of this post.

I was in need of a quick dessert for sixty kids plus hungry parents and staff. Yikes! So, of course my sweet Cyber BFF Christina Wernstrum had just the solution...sand pudding! Oh my yum! Definitely a winner!! I found THIS RECIPE and it came out perfectly!

Look! No leftovers...and best of all I got a LOT of comments and delightful moans as the cups of sand pudding disappeared! Yay!! Score!

 

So, here's a couple of highlights from today:

Yep! That is a water balloon with a little boy just looking for a place to toss it!

I got this cute idea for an end of school year gift from HERE.

Prize patrol! Each child got a prize!

Doing the "army crawl" part of the course.

Javan managed to get ahold of one of the "big guns" to soak everyone as they went through the "car wash." Christie did an amazing job on this obstacle course.

Here is the cute t-shirt Christie and I designed for the kids. Isn't it fun? I love it!

Kadesia had her friends autograph her tshirt. What a great keepsake this will be.

And before you go, be sure to check out what is going on over at Christina's blog!! You don't want to miss this!! She is so creative!!

Hugs,

YOUR AGE BY CHOCOLATE MATH

Hey, everyone!

My dear friend, Jama, sent me this email and I just had to pass it on here!

Don't tell me your age; you'd probably lie anyway-but the Hershey Man will know!

YOUR AGE BY CHOCOLATE MATH

This is pretty neat.

DON'T CHEAT BY SCROLLING DOWN FIRST!

It takes less than a minute ...

Work this out as you read ...

Be sure you don't read the bottom until you've worked it out!

This is not one of those waste of time things, it's fun.

1. First of all, pick the number of times a week that you would like to have chocolate (more than one but less than 10)

2. Multiply this number by 2 (just to be bold)

3. Add 5

4. Multiply it by 50 -- I'll wait while you get the calculator.

5. If you have already had your birthday this year add 1760 ...If you haven't, add 1759.

6. Now subtract the four digit year that you were born.

You should have a three digit number

The first digit of this was your original number (i.e., how many times you want to have chocolate each week).

The next two numbers are

YOUR AGE!

(Oh YES, it is!!!!!)

THIS IS THE ONLY YEAR (2010) IT WILL EVER WORK, SO SPREAD IT AROUND WHILE IT LASTS.

Chocolate Calculator.

Enjoy! LOL

Come hang out with me again!

Angel Hugs,

Much to share...

Hey everyone!

In January, the Hostess Club members were supposed to make a birthday book, but I ran out of time for the project. I made a point, last month, to get it done! The books were a hit! I really love making books with my Bind-It-All. The book I made for myself is not going to be a birthday book, since I already have one. You can see it here. I think my book will be my new prayer journal.

The paper is the double-sided More Mimi designer paper from The Angel Company. I really love this paper, if you couldn't tell! LOL Even better, buy a pack of More Mimi and you get one free!!! Gotta love The Angel Company!
These self-adhesive pearls are so fun to accent the scalloped circle. I used my Cricut to make the "B" for the monogram. My husband covered 4 pieces of chipboard for me...he misunderstood what I meant so I just glued two pieces together and voila!... thicker covers! LOL There are no mistakes in paper crafting...only room for creativity! Right?
FINALLY! I got my 5 pound star! I joined Weight Watchers 8 weeks ago and Thursday I finally went over the 5 pound mark for weight loss! Not a lot, I know!!! I am very happy to have reached this goal, not as quickly as I wanted, but I have other benefits that are just as important. I am now eating more! Instead of once a day, I eat two or three meals a day. I drink my water. I have been taking my multi-vitamin and allergy pill regularly. I've been eating a lot more vegetables and increased my fresh fruit intake, as well. I have made better choices and it's sticking so I choose not to freak out over the scales, but days like Thursday: when I got the rewards, it sure is encouraging. My best friend, Heather, has really been such a supportive and encouraging friend. She is the first one to cheer me on, whether I lose ounces or pounds, and she is the first one to remind me that I can do this when I have a bad day...or week! LOL She is a wonderful friend, loving wife and awesome mother of 4! She has the same struggles as I do, in different ways, yet she is beating the scales each week and instead of being smug or judgmental because I am not, she is there to offer her hand to help me try again!! LOVE YOU, HEATHER!!! Oh and you MUST go see her blog. Check it out: here.

Angel Hugs,

DREAMS DO COME TRUE!!!!!!!!

Hey, everyone!

Wow! This project was a long-time coming! I am beyond thrilled to get MY completed CD for Christmas! It's AWESOME!!! I can't even tell you how excited I am to hear the songs I wrote so LONG ago and it's more amazing than I could imagine!!! I love writing songs and poems and stories. It's thrilling but the best pay off ever is to be singing a song I wrote in church and look over at someone who can totally relate to the song and a tear slides down their cheek or watch them come to the altar to pray! I love that!! I am so humbled that God would use me like that and I hope He will always be able to!

I was singing since I was 2 years old and I love, love, love singing but I am definitely rusty! I haven't sang in church in a long, long time... not like I used to anyway but when the opportunity to create this CD came my way, I jumped at it! My dad, brother, brother-in-law, and some friends of my dad's all came together to make this happen for me and I am beyond ecstatic! To think that someone would take all the time they did, use all the talent they have, and create this labor of love for me is beyond words!!

This insert says it all! If you can't read it, here is what it says:

DREAMS DO COME TRUE!

When the doctor said that I could never bare children, I was devastated to say the least. I told my dad who was the pastor of our church. We met at the church, and prayed about it, and now look at the two miracle children that the LORD has given to my husband and me. Dreams do come true!

This CD project has been a life long dream of mine. To be able to share the message in song that God has instilled in me is truly a blessing and a dream come true. I pray that all that hear this will be as blessed as I am!

Yours in Christ...Bridgett Owens

Thanks for letting me share my excitement with you!!!!!

Hugs,

Snow Much Fun!

Hey, everyone!

I woke up yesterday morning to this:

That caused a two hour delay for schools but it's our first snowfall of the season! I am actually excited about the snow and maybe even more so since it's gone now. Thankfully it didn't alter any of my plans! The cookie exchange brunch I had planned didn't have to be canceled so I am glad of that! Here's a look at what we had at the brunch:

This is Breakfast Casserole and oh so good! I have made it many, many times and it is definitely a keeper! It is so yummy!

Gotta eat our fruit! LOL

This is the recipe I used for the Peanut Butter Bars. Here's a look at how they turned out:


The cookies on the right are store bought. It was funny to see Javan and Riley licking all the sprinkles off their leaf cookies. LOL Monyca made these yummy cookies!

Oh yeah, I snagged some! LOL

The evening was complete once we watched my sweet baby girl perform in her Christmas program. Here she is in her new dress ready to go.
Not so much a baby anymore but she will always be my little angel girl!

Thanks for hanging out with me today! I'm working a day shift today! Woohoo! I am excited. Check back tomorrow because I have even more fun stuff to share!

Hugs,