oh what a day!

Sunday mornings around our house have potential to be a little hectic! If I get my ducks in a row, I do a little prep work on Saturday nights to alleviate some confusion that comes in the morning.

I don't think, however, that any amount of prep work would've helped with the chaotic "fun" we had this past Sunday morning when our plumbing system took a leave of absence without proper notice. Without disclosing too many unnecessary details, here are a few things that took place before 9 am:

*Lee made not one, but two trips to the World de la Wally for toilet and shower unclogging stuff. (Not up-to-date on technical terms for these things.)

*I bathed my 4 YR OLD child in the kitchen sink. See, it just so happened that the night before our plumbing became possessed, we were celebrating our Mamaw's 95th birthday in Tennessee and got home too late for the girls' baths.

*While my hubby was dealing with bathroom issues, I thought I'd iron the clothes we were wearing to church. Of course you can guess what happened...the iron stopped working!

Eventually we made it to church! Our clothes may have been wrinkled and the girls may have had dirty feet, but we were there!

The morning did get better...

I was greeted by my sweet Sunday School co-teacher with an amazing gift!! Cortney (I wish I had a picture of her!!) saw this book...
...the day before and bought it for us. She gave me proper warning that the book may bring me to tears. And cry, I did!

It's a sweet children's story of a mama bear talking to her son that she adopted. The part that had me all choked up was when Barley, the baby bear, asked Mama if she ever wondered if her wish (to adopt a child) might not come true...

"Oh yes," said Mama. "I wished for you through many phone calls and through mountains of paperwork. I wished for you while I waited, and waited, and waited!"

"Sometimes, I didn't hear any news about you for weeks or months. But I held onto my wish tightly - like the string on a balloon."

"One day..." said Mama, brightening as she spoke, "One glorious, special, wonderful day, I found out my wish was coming true."

"What did you do?" asked Barley.

"I shouted for joy!" remembered Mama, laughing. "And cried happy tears."

We are praying that our glorious, special, wonderful day will come soon! We can mark one month of the 4-6 month wait off the list! We are now down to 3-5 months of waiting until we get our referral and get to see a picture of our son that God has picked out for our family!

Thank you, Cortney, for being such a wonderful friend and for completely turning my "poopy" morning around! :) I love you!

labor day, babies, and burp cloths!

The past few weeks seem to have flown by in a blur. I guess that's par for the course around here! However, I don't pretend to be the only mom that goes to bed at night exhausted from a hard day's work...I think that may be part of the job description! I admit that I love going, going, going, but some days I revel in simplicity, a slow pace and an extended time in PJ's!

Because of the busyness of life around here, last week my hubby and I decided to slow things down a bit and loaded the kiddos in the car for a relaxing labor day. We spent the day at a state park picnicing, hiking and enjoying the company of each other.



The next morning, Ellee and I settled in for a LONG drive as we tagged along with my parents and headed west! The great state of Texas was our destination so we could get our hands on this new guy...
...and enjoy some time with my big bro, my sis-in-law and the adorable new big brother! It was so great to see all of them and well worth the 18 hour drive and the slumber parties with a snoring bear (aka - my dad!)

I thought I'd share one of the baby gifts that traveled across the country with us because it's such an easy and inexpensive gift to make, yet still personal! Like many things I make, this is nothing new or original! These burp cloths are everywhere...

~You start with white cloth diapers and some really fun pieces of fabric.~

~Then you simply measure the fabric so that it fits down the center of the diaper and sew it into place! If you can sew a straight line then you can create these cuties!~


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I am definitely looking forward to the weeks to come! We are on the verge of my most favorite time of the year! There's a nip in the air and the yummiest seasonal drink has made its debut...Joe Muggs Caramel Apple Frappe! IT. IS. AMAZING.

for grins and giggles...

Yep, I've been MIA for a week or so.

I hope to post pictures of our expeditions that caused my "missing" status soon, but until then I wanted to share something that made me laugh! Hopefully, it'll bring a smile to your face, too. This is what I found Ellee playing with today...

~look closely - something's wrong with this picture~
If you know my Ellee girl, no explanation is needed! She's a curious girl and I'm sure that curiosity led to the destruction of these innocent dolls!

dry erase chore chart

This little project combined two of my most favorite things: craftiness and organization!!

Every night, the chatter around our house before bedtime is the same. It goes something like this...

Dad or Mom: Girls, have you picked up your stuff in the den?
Girls: Not yet.
Dad or Mom: Girls, have you taken your vitamins and brushed your teeth?
Girls: Do I need to?
Dad or Mom: Girls, did you put the toys in your room away?
Girls: Do you want me to?

On and on I could go! It doesn't matter how many times, night after night, they hear these questions, they always give us that "blank, deer in headlights" look as if they were hearing it for the first time. I'm sure many of you can relate.

Lee and I wanted to do what we could to minimize the nagging that seemed to be a part of our nightly routine, so that's how the chore chart came to be!

Lee and I made a list (yes, I'm a firm believer in lists!) of the things we expected them to have done before their sweet little heads hit the pillow. I printed the list of their "bedtime chores" on scrapbook paper - fully equipped with pictures for my Ellee girl who is not quite reading yet. Then I added a little decoration with more scrapbook paper and ribbon and put it all in a picture frame. Because of the glass, you instantly have a dry erase surface. I attached a dry erase marker with a ribbon and now they are able to cross the list off as they go! The following day, we're able to wipe it clean and begin again.


I hung this little project on their wall at a place that was convenient for them to reach. Now, all we have to say is, "girls, start doing your bedtime chores" and there is no confusion in what we mean! The girls think it's fun to cross things off the list, too. Hmm...wonder where they got that thrill from?!?