Friday, March 30, 2012

Recycled Jars & Tuna Cans

Can make for a pretty yet useful organizational tool in your craft area and/or kitchen, bath and just about anywhere you need. Here is what I used to get started:


And here is what I came up with:



 I also thought I would share something else I found for my next attempt to these jars:


Aren't these amazing?! I found the instructions for them here:



 
Blessings,

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

God's Word for Today

Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. http://bible.us/Matt3.8.NLT
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Monday, March 26, 2012

The Invasion of Ladybugs

Ladybugs visit us at the end of Winter to the beginning of Spring each year. They come in through the guest bedroom window and hang around it seems forever. But we love-love them and this year we are super excited to release them outside our back door because my favorite Gardenia Tree is in need of some help from our Ladybug friends. It is suffering from White Flies. I already lost one tree and I am in hope to save this one.


Here is a pic of Meg with our sick Tree


Here is a close-up of our Ladybug friends ~ hope they can help!

Meggie is excited to release her friends.


Potatoes in a Barrel

I have been searching for some ideas on how to grow potatoes and came across this idea and had to share:

 CHOOSE YOUR CONTAINER {I LIKE THE IDEA OF A BARREL}


CHOOSE YOUR VARIETY AND PLANT YOUR POTATOES


ADD MORE SOIL


HARVEST YOUR POTATOES


LOOK HOW PRETTY!

These look amazing and I really think we could do different types of potatoes in different barrels. It seems very effortless and almost care free and since we will be growing LOTS of other things I think this will be something that takes less effort but we gotta have our taters so GROWING POTATOES IN A BARREL we will do!

Here is the link with lots more info:



Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Free Easter Printables

I found the most precious free printables:


AND:
 FROM: Pizzazzerie

AND ~~~~~~~~~

FROM: Catch My Party

There are so many FREE printables out there. So much fun to choose from, no matter what crafting experience you have you can make it fun and educational.

Chicken Coop Plan

After lots of research {and mybe still more to come} I am pleasantly surprised to find these plans at Purina and think these  {with some modifications ~ we want a large pen attached for some free reign-happy chicks} may just be THE PLANS:

THANKS PURINA!

Resurrection Activity

Finding this idea brought tears to my eyes while I pictured doing this with Meggie and Gabe as a  part of our Easter celebration:



On Good Friday last year, Lydia and I took a round baking dish outside and filled it with dirt…we were making a mini-garden. Then we found rocks, sticks, plants, moss and leaves to cover and plant in our new garden. The final piece was a giant potato. Yup, like from Idaho. We chopped the bottom off and carved out a little hole in the middle. We placed it cut-end down and suddenly, it wasn’t any garden. It was the tomb and garden where Jesus was buried.
Lydia was so proud of our garden. I was impressed at how beautiful it was. A great reminder of what Jesus did for us–but also a pretty decoration for our Resurrection Sunday celebration. By Good Friday evening, the leaves started to look a little dingy. By Saturday night? They were looking downright pitiful. That night before Lydia went to bed we looked at our garden again and talked about how Jesus’ friends must have been feeling. Thinking back to when we made our garden–it seemed like a long time ago! This whole time Jesus had been dead and his friends were so sad–and scared and confused. After Lydia went to bed I did a little doctoring to our garden

 And when Lydia woke up she was shocked to see our garden alive with beautiful flowers and growth and LIFE! I loved seeing her little face staring at the flowers in amazement (instead of greedily looking through her Easter basket). I loved the waiting we did from Good Friday to Resurrection Sunday. I loved the gorgeous picture of LIFE and beauty the flowers gave us. I want my kids to know and understand what Jesus did for them on the cross. I want Easter to be as big and as exciting and (dare I say?) magical as Christmas. This is just one way we’ve decided to help impress the greatest gift and miracle onto our children.

{love this idea}

Monday, March 19, 2012

Garden Inspiration

While in search for  Chicken Coop plans for the garden I was pleasantly surprised to come across these and just had to share them:

This is so cozy!


I think I have seen this one somewhere else {maybe Pinterest} and could not forget it. It is very warm and inviting. I can picture myself sitting inside with a cup of tea during a Summer rain.
 

This one would be great to do with the kids. It would be so easy and yet we could make memories that will last a lifetime.

A good book would go well with this one.


This one is sheik and fun at the same time. It could be done anywhere really. That gives me a great idea for a photo shoot. Any colors could be used with any kind of backdrop. Oh, the possibilities.

 There were a few others but these were my favorites. You can see all of these wonderful ideas here:

Will it be Baby Ducks and Bunnies or Baby Chicks?










They are all so cute and this time of year I always contemplate buying some for photo shoot purposes and seem to talk myself out of it because of the care involved afterwards. However; I have recently begun research on fresh eggs from the chicks once they become adults and the health benefits from fresh eggs. Sooooooooooo, I believe ~ BABY CHICKS it will be! Updates later ~

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

The Story of St. Patrick

While searching for the meaning of St. Patrick's Day I was pleased to read this and share it with my 5 year old {she has unlimited questions daily}:


About Saint Patrick's Day

Saint Patrick’s Day is celebrated each year on March 17th.  In Ireland, Saint Patrick’s Day is both a holy day and a national holiday.  Saint Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland as he was the one who brought Christianity to the Irish. 
According to legend, Saint Patrick used a shamrock to explain about God.  The shamrock, which looks like clover, has three leaves on each stem.  Saint Patrick told the people that the shamrock was like the idea of the Trinity – that in the one God there are three divine beings:  the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  The shamrock was sacred to the Druids, so Saint Patrick’s use of it in explaining the trinity was very wise.
Although it began in Ireland, Saint Patrick’s Day is celebrated in countries around the world.  People with Irish heritage remind themselves of the beautiful green countryside of Ireland by wearing green and taking part in the festivities.
Saint Patrick’s Day is usually celebrated with a parade.  The one in Dublin, Ireland is known to some as the Irish Mardi Gras.  But the one in New York City is actually one of the biggest.  It lasts for hours.  Two Irish wolfhounds, the mascots of the New York National Guard infantry regiment the “Fighting 69th”, always lead the parade.  More than one hundred bands and a hundred thousand marchers follow the wolfhounds in the parade.

I found the link here:

And here are some fun crafts we will be doing together:
THESE ARE SHRINKY DINK TEMPLATES


And here is where we found the FREE link to them:

As well as:
Directions here:

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Outdoor DIY Spring Projects

I found the sofa ~ 

Here are the FREE plans: 

But not sure what style of cushions:

Love the colors! 

{FREE tutorial here}

Or This!

Love the style!

{FREE tutorial here} 

Now to figure out when to get started ~ gotta fit it in somewhere after Spring Break!


Friday, March 9, 2012

On The Road To

Grandpa's Recovery

Grandpa is 82 today and he has lots to celebrate!
God intervened when the doctors did not know quite what to do and to make a long story short here are the pics in sequence.....

We all waited patiently {Grandpa was in ICU} and the news was that he had stopped breathing while they tried to do a Heart Cath on him. But we had previously prayed for God's hand upon the doctor's hand during this procedure.

It took a few hours for Grandpa to wake but he was breathing on his own. They still did not know exactly what was wrong and/or how to deal with the problem.We found out later that that evening he had suffered a mild heart attack.  He was still having difficulty with his breathing which was why he was here to begin with. A few days had passed. We visited with cousins for family support.



Hung out at the hospital with Grandma and Grandpa too. He joked and laughed with us. We even snuck him some sweet treats.

He had some oxygen helping him to breathe. And he was really tired and not so hungry {not like Grandpa Petty} but the doctors said he was better. So we headed back to Tallahassee once we were certain of this. Only a few days had passed  when we got the call that Grandpa had to once again undergo a Heart Cath; since the doctors just did not know why he was still having trouble breathing. Grandpa Petty did not want another Heart Cath since the last one seemed to be so traumatic and we think may have even triggered the heart attack. But the doctors convinced him to do it this time through his arm and not his leg. They also told him he was a very sick man which was confusing since the last report was that he was doing better. We were packed and heading back to Jacksonville to be there with him through this time.


 While on the way to Jacksonville we booked a hotel through Hotels.com and though it was not what the website portrayed we made the best of it.

GROSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
But we were together (missing Gabe terribly~he stayed back in Tally for school) and we made the best of it.
And we were with Grandpa!


 And we were laughing and joking and smiling. In the above pic he was telling Meggie the story of how he would pull her daddy's loose teeth with a string when he was little ~ I don't think she liked the thought of this since she has two new loose teeth.

The new news:
The attempt to perform Grandpa's Heart Cath was not successful. (God knew what did/did not need to be) They could not get his arm straight enough nor could they get a vein. So it was back to the drawing board. What would they do? They did it in a less invasive way. Did you know that you can drink a liquid and they can bring a big machine into your room and take pictures of your heart and all of the valves??? Duh, really, why did they not do this to begin with??

The newer news:
Grandpa needed to have fluid removed from his lungs and a defibrillator put in to help in case of another heart attack. They removed almost a full liter of fluid and Grandpa was feeling so much better!! They never did the defibrillator and guess what????
Even better news:
Grandpa was getting released to go home!!
And we were able to stay with him and Grandma a few days to be sure he settled in and was comfy. He only needs oxygen sometimes (they told him he would need it the remainder of his life ~ every day ~ all day)

Meggie got to visit her friend that lives next door to Grandma and Grandpa; his name is Carl. I was so happy she could run and play and get some kiddo energy out. She told Grandma that she was missing things at home but that being with family was more important to her than anything else. (that's my girl)



Look how he is looking at her ~ sweet!

Fell asleep in Grandma's arms ~ Love


 Night was falling and it was time to turn it. We were planning to return to Tally in the morning BUT

YUP ~ NOT ONE BUT TWO FLATS on the new mini van! God must have wanted us to stay a while. 

It was Sunday and we were out in the middle of nowhere land (Florahome) bet you never heard of it. So, we waited until Monday morning and drove to the Kia dealership for a new tire.

They were great and got us on our way! 

That was Monday and today is Friday ~ Grandpa's 82nd birthday. We called him and sang to him. We are so thankful for him each day!! I thank God that HE was in control of it all. Grandpa's report was a good one today!! The doctor told him his heart was LOOKING GOOD!!

John 10:10
For I have come to give you life more abundantly.

Thank YOU Jesus!