Thanksgiving, Gratitude and Giving

It is still Thanksgiving month right? Yeah, I thought so. I We have been busy this month. Well, actually the past couple of months. Traveling, volunteering, schooling, doctor's appointments, young families gathering and somewhere in there working! Breathe. It has been full of making memories or as my family calls it "makin' a memory." I think that is what I LOVE about November. In Texas it brings cold weather. No really cold weather below 60! YEE HAW! November offers so much of giving and gratitude. My son knows Christmas is coming but he is also aware that before new toys are to enter our home, old ones must go. We take the time in November to do this. Yes, he does it with me. We go through each section of his toys deciding which ones are worthy to enter the big brown box a.k.a the moving box. I was shocked when my son said "my trains can go in there." Really? Hummm, let me make sure he understands that THIS box is being donated to another child in need and not going in storage for a later play date. Sure enough he knew exactly what he was doing! I asked him why his favorite toys.

"Mom, didn't you say that this box will go to another little boy?"
"Yes, son I did."
"Mom, what if that little boy has never played with trains then he would never know the JOY that I have known. Plus, these are really cool trains."

tears, tears tears.....sniff sniff

I love the honesty and pure love that flows from a child. They get it. They get it more than we do. I am grateful he was(and is) so willing to give his best so that another can be blessed. Makes me reflect back to the Old Testament of when sacrifices were offered at the altar. You were to bring your best before the Lord. It was a time to focus on what HE has done for you. To worship. To honor. To THANK Him. In these precious moments with my child I do believe he is worshipping the Lord in a very tangible way that he knows how. I know in that moment the Lord was pleased and so was his momma ;0).

Today, GOD still calls for our best. For us to be living sacrifices for HIM. To ask HIM what do you want me to do today Lord? Where do you want my feet to go? What do you want my tongue to say? How do you what my hands to serve? What should my eyes see and my ears hear? So, Lord today is yours so have thine own way.


Romans 12:1 Brothers and sisters, God has shown you his mercy. So I am asking you to offer up your bodies to him while you are still alive. Your bodies are a holy sacrifice that is pleasing to God. When you offer your bodies to God, you are worshiping him.


I am so grateful for a son who in that moment had a heart of gratitude that led him to offer his best because he was so thankful for all his blessings. I hope your Thanksgiving was FULL of many wonderful memories.

Awe......

Well, we knew it was coming but we thought we had more time. This past Tuesday evening our washing machine and dryer decided to quit! We knew it was trouble when we saw rust and water leak from the washing machine. Then in the middle of a spin cycle we saw steam. Yeah, not good! Then the dryer decided not to dry even on the highest temp with the maximum time. Do the machines talk to each other or something? Seriously? Both at the same time. Nothing throws your day off then having one major appliance die on you then add 2! Eeeeekkkkkkk! Hubs and I quickly did the "now, what were we going to buy to replace them?" We thought we had 6 more months to finalize our decision. Oh well! Hubby ventured out to a few appliance stores to see if the washers and dryers we had on our short list measured up. We are so grateful that all the stores were having a sale! We narrowed it down to the top 2 and made out decision. So many dollars later we were committed and had a delivery date, Thursday! That is what I was doing most of my day, yesterday. Clearing out the laundry room, cleaning it, organizing it and making it beautiful.

warning: excuse the bad pics my camera and back up camera are on the fritz. ugh..;0(



From: eeeewwwww 

Very unorganized! I don't know why but this is the one place I allow some messiness. 

To:  awe........

Do you like the pretty containers? Me too!~ 

You thought I was a front load kinda of girl? You were wrong! 

She even sings to me when she is done! Beautiful music! 

Totally Pinterest! Shoe bag that hangs over the door used for cleaning products and such! 

When the delivery guys came they said "excellent purchase!" I admit it made me feel good. When the supervisor explained why it was a great purchase that just made me smile bigger. He told me of a few brands that he is always having to pick back up from the homes. They have a running bet between them as to how long it will be before they are back picking up the appliances to return to the store.  I know that sounds bad. Just goes to show you the people that delivery do know. The supervisor has been working for the company for over 10 years.  So if you have any questions about brand whether if it is front load or top load ask me! I am not an expert by any means. I(we) researched. I(we) asked friends, looked at consumer reports, read reviews and other sources to make the decision.

Now, laundry will be somewhat of pleasure. I admit not my favorite chore but the new look makes me want to get it done! Is that crazy that a few cute boxes & new machines appeal to my homemaker side? Am I the only one that gets excited about such stuff?

ARTist in the making

One of my son's most favorite activity is to just PAINT! He does not care if there is a specific art work in place for the day. He just LOVES to paint! So here HE is just being the little artist I know him to be. Enjoy as I have!

Yes, we use daddy's old shirts with a hair tie to make it fit properly!

See that? Two hands!

I just love his feet!

Even cars are used instead of paint brushes!

His idea of course!

My happy guy

As a side note WE DID NOT spend a lot of money on his easel. It is all wood, has two sides and cubby containers underneath for storage. It is one I found at Just Between Friends which is like a garage sale. Anyway, I bought it a long time ago and it was 1/3 of the price. To buy a storage/chalk board/dry erase board/art easel that holds paint and has a paper roll for a third of the price is so WORTH IT!!!! When we moved into this house we decided to put it to use! I am all about getting things at second hand when I can and when I know it is a good buy. The best part of this buy was the previous owner had only used it twice! Whaaaaatttt??? Yep, so I basically got it brand new! Don't ya LOVE finds like that?

PCP, Toddler Bed, Moms-n-Muffins

I thought I would play "catch up" since I am a bit behind on my posts. The week of Jan.4-9 was a tough week here at our house. First, we had to replace our plumbing system or should I say the entire P.C.P. piping line that runs from our house to where it connects to the city line. This was an unexpected cost but we made it through without putting us in debt. The company was here Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of that week. We thought at first it was just stomped up but we soon discovered through the miracle of a camera lens we had a much bigger problem. We had 3 breaks in our line and 2 spots where the piping was bowed in the ground.

.

Next ,our son decided to climb over his crib 3 times in one night. He is 3 ft. tall so all he has to do his swing his leg over and BOOM! Needless to say it scared us and we do not need a trip to the emergency room during this "lean time." Saturday we ran around town spending money on his bed rails to ensure his safety. Yep, we bit the bullet and decided to move him to a toddler bed W-a-Y before momma was ready! The first few nights were tough. We laid on the floor for about 30 mins. to make sure he was asleep. After, a few nights he did not need us to do that for him. We now read a book or two, say prayers, hugs, kisses, and say "night night." He falls asleep in his toddler bed on his own. Occasionally we have to walk back in there to lay him down again but it only takes a couple of times.

Then we had a wonderful event at our son's school. It is called Moms and Muffins! All the moms have breakfast with their children at school.  I have looked forward to moments such as these and I enjoy them so! Plus, we had a shirt that matched the event!

I have so much to share with you but I do not want to overload you! So, I will save the other happenings  for another post! God bless y'all and please continue to pray for us!

Flooring

Well, we decided to redo the laundry room. New paint, new shelves, and new flooring. We picked travertine for the flooring. It is easier(in my opinion) to lay down travertine than tile. You have to deal with spacers and start from the center of the room. Travertine it is like a puzzle piece that you put together and can cut as you go along to make things fit. No I did not use a wet saw but I did use mortar and help hubby finish off the flooring by doing the border around the flooring. I even did the grout. The travertine is all different patterns but in the same family so it looks more like stone when your done. I am very proud of myself! This is something that I thought I couldn't do but in the end found out I could and I loved it! My friend Mrs. TD is the most handy woman I have ever met. I think she would be proud of me!

Here are before and a few after...I have more after but have not downloaded them yet...

[caption id="attachment_568" align="alignleft" width="300" caption=" linoleum on top of linoleum was how the previous owner "fix it""][/caption]



[caption id="attachment_570" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="This picture is not the complete after shot. I will post that later!"][/caption]

Now, you can't tell but once you seal the flooring, it gets darker and the colors of each travertine piece come together. I promise it looks good! We had so much fun! Okay, maybe there were a few problems but we worked them out. Homeownership is an interesting journey!

Mommie's lil helper

I think he likes it!!!

Do you remember those old commercials "mikey likes it?" I think it was about the LIFE cereal. I am not sure. Anyway, I tried a new receipe called Taco Lasagna. I even saw a dinner kit  by Oretega for Taco Lasagna in the store the other day. Anyway, my son went nuts. It is basically a layered soft taco that you bake in a 9 inch pan. You obviously leave off the lettuce till the end if you even want it on there. You serve with a lil salsa and there ya go! Worth a repeat!    

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a roof roof here and a roof roof there, here a roof, there a roof....

Sorry for the silly title but that is what is in my head after talking to roofers off and on today! We have had one estimate for our roof so far. Only 4 more to go! Anyway, I am ready for our family to put Ike behind us. We are in need of a new roof, fence, and screens. We are actually in need of more than that but those things the insurance will "cover." It has been a hectic time around here trying to decide what to replace first. I know y'all are saying a roof! Yes, I agree. However, I share fence area with neighbors who need to get their property fixed just as much as we do. We did decide to move on with the roof first and get estimates from several different recommended roofers. That alone to set up appointments has been a 3 week process. Yuck! Obviously the cost of materials has gone up because of the demand. Which means to get a new roof cost a whole lot more. Can you say "cha ching!" We all know this thanks to our economics class. Just to give you an idea here are a few pics....

BEFORE





AFTER

 



this is a view from my kitchen window to my neighbor behind me =0)

 



this is a view into our neighbor next door to us and on down to the next neighbor

 





this is a view from my neighbors backyard to ours

 



the front of our house...bushes gone...

 

Anyway, we have work to do! Please pray for us! Thanks!

This side of Heaven

 

 

Dear Aunt Geraldine and Uncle Gene, 

 

You may be gone from this world but I know you are watching me from above. Mommy says that I would have loved your sense of humor Uncle Gene and your love for family Aunt Geraldine. She also says that you both loved the Holidays! Mommy loves the Holidays too. You can see from my picture above what a cute pumpkin I am gonna be for Halloween. Mommy talks about y'all all the time and occasionally will start to laugh out loud because of something she recalls from the past. My mommy likes to laugh! She is funny and makes me smile. Mommy also says that it is her job to teach me about Heaven! It sounds like an exciting place! Tomorrow we are suppose to say "goodbye" to you, Uncle Gene. They call it a celebration of life. Mommy says we have a lot to be grateful for because of all that you have taught her in her life. Thanks for teaching my mommy! Oh, Aunt Geraldine mommy says that you both are just alike so in a way I am getting to know you =0). Tell Jesus I said "hi." 

 

love Jonathan 

 

Just my curtains!

I am always inspired by different blogs to make my home a "home." It is the little things that make me happy. Like a good find! I have been looking for curtains to go in my kitchen window. I was more excited about the price! Yeah, I know it is nothing more than my silly curtains on my blog today. I just had to share!!! Thanks for looking!