I know...bad blogger

I know I've been a bad blogger. I've been on a summer hiatus with the kiddos. They started school last week and are loving it. Kindergarten and T-1 are going to be good years for us I feel like. I'll post summer pics and 1st day of school pics after I get these orders out. I'm making up new baby gifts, sister gifts and working on more cheer bows and more bows and more bows. Do you see where I'm going with this? Once I'm done, I'll post pics and YES I'm truly going to have the website up this week!!! Woohoo!! I think I have all the kinks worked out that I've always had trouble with so leave me some love if there is something you want to see. I love getting all your sweet emails to but some loving on here would be great too. Hope everyone is having a great week so far...

Fried pickles

I love to cook but don't always do too much of it you know? The boys just hit me at the right moment yesterday when they were dreaming of fried pickles. Don't say yuck until you try them. I'm not a big dill pickle person and I love these! I didn't take pics but I will later today when I make them some more to go with the fried sqaush and onions my sweet Father-in-law left on my porch this morning.

I just winged this concoction from a few of the recipes I saw and the suggestions I was getting from the boys.

Fried Pickles
Dill pickle slices
1-1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup corn meal
salt & pepper, to taste
Morton's Hot Salt, to taste. This stuff rocks my world! I would have used a lot more of this but I didn't want to scar my sweet little man.
Buttermilk. OK if you just cannot do this you can beat a few eggs or regular milk to dip the pickles in but I had buttermilk and like the way things fry up with it.
Oil for frying

The oil needs to be medium hot. Lay pickles out onto paper towels and pat dry. I dredge (or dip, whatever you want to call it) the sliced pickles in the buttermilk and then into the flour/cornmeal mixture. You can repeat this if you like the crust to be thicker. I do but my boys do not, so I will move on. Deep fry in oil until golden and crisp. Drain well on paper towels. Salt to taste and eat up! We dip ours in Ranch dressing.

Let me know what you think or what you do different. I would love to know who tries this. I never understood how my Mom & Aunt Francis could give me a recipe with "to taste" or "a pinch of this" but now that is all that I know. Does that mean I'm really growing up? I still feel like I'm 30 but better. Enjoy my friends..

Must have for that "beautimous" hair girl

These things rock my hair world. I have always had a love/hate relationship with my hair. I think we all want what we don't have whether it be our hair, eye color, height or whatever else there is to have. ;-) I know the Lord tells us not to want for what our neighbor has and be content with what he has given us. I struggle with this and am constantly working on this, so please know that while I give you this rocking hair stuff this helps keep my envy in check. My hair is curly. Now not curly enough to have those beautiful ringlets that Kerri Russell has, but it is curly enough that I don't DARE straighten my hair if rain is within 2 days on the radar. Can you say Roseanne Roseannadanna? Remember her? If not... But, if I'm able to straighten my hair these are the things I cannot do without.
This is best to straigten those curls out before the dryer even hits my hair with the round brush.

Then I have to have these rollers once I dry my hair. Anyone who knows me well enough has seen me in these in the last 15 years and I'm telling you they have definite sex appeal but I try to leave this look at home.
I found this super cool "how-to" on velcro rollers at www.teamsugar.com

This stuff is the best thing since sliced bread. It says that it gives you 17% more volume and I would say that and then some. Now don't get crazy with this stuff. You just LIGHTLY sprinkle it where you want the volume, tossle that hair and instant pouf! Go getcha some at www.aveda.com How awesome is that and you didn't even have to get one of those pouf combs. heehee Lord knows if I used one of those that I'd lose the dumb thing or it would boomerang and hit someone in the eye. I think I'll just stick to my sexy rollers and be fine with it.
What is your beauty routine like? Leave me some love and tell me. I love to know what everyone else does too. Show me some love girls...

Prayers for Cade...still

The answers they were hoping for were not to be found. Little Man Cade is starting down a hard road now. Cade, his Mommy and his Daddy are needing our prayers. The easy path is not always the one we are led to and surely wasn't for this sweet family. We are not to question what he is storing us up for but sometimes it is too easy to question "why" things happen to some people. Days like this just make me get on my knees to help me get back on track to see the "long term" that I know he has for all of us. I saw this scripture on another blog today and thought it was fitting as I find myself at a loss for what I should be praying for at times.

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. Romans 8:26

Hoping you all have a blessed day.

Prayers for Cade

I'm such a sucker for anyone who needs a prayer and especially when it's one for our little ones. One of my friends from my Tulsa days has a nephew who needs some knee time from us. Little man Cade, who is 6, is going in for surgery tomorrow in OKC. They are hoping to find a small problem, that is only one of several scenarios, that can be easily fixed through surgery. Cade also has Downs Syndrome. His troubles have nothing to do with his DS but he gets so anxious around the doctors that this is also something his Mom & Dad are anxious about calming his fears. As someone who has been around DS my whole life, anyone with DS is MUCH more intelligent than most give them credit for, but they're just not sure how much little Cade understands right now. This was in the email from Cade's Dad and just goes to show you how special this family is:

Please pray for His hand to be at work in every aspect of this. Please pray for His favor on Cade, the health care professionals and our family. In Philippians 4: 6-7 Paul writes "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." -- I claim that peace now. If it were me with the "ailment" I don't think I would be worried at all, but when it's your innocent child, it is so difficult not to worry - so please be in prayer for that as well.

So please keep them in your prayers and I'll keep you updated. You guys are the best!

Here it is Uncle Benjy...pics of kiddos

Uncle Benjy was wanting to see some current pics of the kiddos, so here are some. Love you!

How precious is this?

OK...this picture was taken by my Mom or sister Carrie a few years ago and is one of my all time faves of them. How precious are they? This was taken at the traveling carnival that goes to every little small town in America. Just goes to show you that it doesn't take much or have to be big and require a lot of money to make em happy. Something that we are taking to heart very much so these days. Kids just want your time and your love. Sure the Wii and the big toys are nice, but they NEED your love and time. We are working on that more and more these days.

Winged shirts are coming back

I'm bringing back the winged shirts. For those of you that have been asking, you win! I'll have them up by tomorrow. The kids have dentist appointments this afternoon or I'd have them finished today. For those of you that don't know what we're talking about, this rockin Rhonna Farrer design looks like the inspiration I used 2 years ago when I started making tees.
She is a phenomenal designer that adds just enough edge to her designs that I love nearly every single thing she has done. Scratch that...I love EVERYTHING she has done but I can only afford a portion of it. Her designs are the reason that I have finally gotten into scrapbooking since Diana has been talking to me about it for uh...7 years?? LOL

The trinity shirts are coming back too. We're going to be kicking it all these days. Pics are going to start coming tonight so keep checking back!!! Hope you all have a great day!

I'm back!

Well, I'm back to the land of the living and NO MORE neglecting this poor blog. I've got some designing going on and am trying to finish a few projects to take some website pics. I'll get a few teaser pics up in the next few days.



Thank the Lord for Red Bull. I don't know what I'd do without it. My ADD kicks into overdrive when I start designing without it and my "to do" lists. If I don't have my timer, tunes, "to-do" lists and a little Red Bull, then I don't stay on track. So, pray for me that I find the right track and stay on it!! LOL

Love this girl...

These pictures say it all about how the kiddos feel about our sweet babysitter. Super babysitter has been watching the kids for 3 years now and she is more of a family member (like the daughter I had when I was 10. Yea right, more like 17)than a sitter. She came by the house last night and told us she was engaged. Made me get all nostalgic about how much we've grown to love her and sad (for us) but super excited for her. This sweet girl is wise beyond her years and has the most special relationship with The Lord. We have been so blessed to have her be the one responsible for the kiddos when we couldn't be the last 3 years. She is back off to college now and we'll just pray for a bit more time before she becomes Mrs. Colt. Love you girl!!

Lake pics

I did not post a single picture of us at my Mom & Dad's place at the lake from this summer. We spent so much time there with my sister, her husband and two boys, Mom & Dad and our cousins and friends. It is a fun place to be and SO relaxing. I have been so busy raising the kids that I've just now gotten a good camera this year. They are 5 & 4 now, but they are only 15 months apart, so this is really the 1st year we've been able to have a ton of fun without all the worrying. They are the best buds and play so well together. My sister's 2 boys are like brothers to mine and it is so fun to watch them have those bonds and love for each other. We are so blessed to have such close families.

Here is some of the fun that we have at the lake. Victor & Kristy, friends from the dock, have a gate on their upstairs deck that the kids can jump from. We told my fearless man boy that he couldn't jump until he was 5. We only picked 5 because it was more than what he was last year and didn't think for a SECOND that he would remember this a whole 365 days later. WRONG!!! The first day we are at the lake this summer he reminds me of above mentioned conversation. {Note to self...man boy has memory of an elephant!! Watch what you say....} Well he tells me that maybe he'll wait until he's like 6...7...8 maybe?? Wooohooo! I'm just revelling in that my sweet boy is afraid of anything. Short lived...this is him at the end of the summer...



Now this little boy is fearless and he's learning all kinds of stunts and "cool" things from his friends and cousins. Here is a few of G and J showing their stuff...


We couldn't leave without showing the little princess strutting her stuff too...

Gotta love my girly girl...girl after my own heart. G was making fun of her for not jumping off the top deck and she didn't care. "Whatever! I am not jumping off there!" she says.

It's my shop now...

I've been so busy doing other things and have really been letting this blog go by the wayside. I'm trying to get all of my design setup out in the building and out of our bedroom. *sigh* Sweet hubby is so good about a lot of things, but he's starting to make comments. Not nice ones either. He's hired me someone to come clean the house and it is HIGHLY underrated to have someone come do this. Can you say...fabulous! I'll let you know how the moving is going later this week...

I was trying to think about how I could make the "shop" up to be more of a creative place for me and not so much of a shop. I thought Sweet hubby understood this when he said I could use the "shop" for my sewing and designing. I'm thinking he didn't grasp my whole concept because when I asked him about painting or staining the concrete floor (the plain old concrete floor is TOTALLY not motivating to my creative brain!) he responded with "it's a shop!" and I rebutted with "well it's MY shop now and I'm going to have my stuff in there now. I need to fix it up some." He just walked off. We'll have to talk about that later I suppose. hehe

How stinkin cute is she?? This is Emma Nicole, my youngest niece. She is my sister Carrie's little girl and is this happy all the time! I just had to share this sweet chunky monkey of ours. :-)

Hi friends

Hi friends. I think I'm ready for the blogging world now. I just hope Mrs. Ferguson (my Senior English teacher) and my sister in-laws aren't appalled at my grammer. My sister in-laws are English teachers and are ON TOP of the grammer game, so I may need to run this by them first. *wink* Here are the girls and my sweet hubby.

Yes, he is the BABY of the family with 3 sisters. YES, he is spoiled beyond belief but I wouldn't have him any other way. He is a great husband and a wonderful Daddy so a little spoiling doesn't hurt? Does it?

I've put off starting this blog because of a fear of putting myself out there for everyone to see. I think it is going to be a bit therapeutic for me so I'm in because I haven't had near enough YaYa nights (huh girls?!). I miss so many of you that maybe this will bring on some conversation. I have a few blogs that I check daily and I feel like I know those girls. I can't wait to see what is going on in their lives and how crazy their schedules are too. It is just crazy how we all have so much in common and would realize it if we just had the time to talk to each other between school, work, games, church and just life things. Hopefully this will spur on some girl talks!!

Well Shorty McSquatsalot and Princess Poopypants


just left with Super Babysitter to go play at the splash pad so I'd better get some work done. Can't wait to hear from you guys. Until next time...

Our sticker family

Create your own family sticker graphic at pYzam.com

I love this cute little sticker. Well, other than the fact that I'm lacking in HTML knowledge and could not figure out how to keep our 4-legged friend Bella's body in the margins...