Bubby Withdrawal & Annabelle Baskets

Today makes day 5 that Cole has been staying with my parents. I truly think we are starting to go through withdrawal. The absence of bickering is deafening. :) I love that little guy and have found it very hard not to be part of his daily life. I know he is having a great time and it actually means a lot to me. He is making memories with his grandparents and that is priceless. However, this momma needs more than talking on the phone to feel connected. Have I mentioned that I miss him?

We have called him everyday. We have interrupted him playing the wii, making up SpongeBob jokes and visiting with his cousins. We have begged relentlessly for him to come back and at least act like he misses us, but here I am again with a quiet house. I don’t know how I will ever be an empty nester. I’m pretty sure I’m going to be an annoying mom that calls my children everyday to ask them what they are doing. They’ve been forewarned!

This has definitely created some extra special bonding time for Audrey and me though and even allowed me some time with John to have meaningful conversations.

Audrey has been so cute when she talks to Cole each night. She always says she loves him and has the biggest smile on her face. It melts my heart that they have such a great connection.

Performing the Nutcracker Suite :) She loves doing “bullay” ballet.

This is her new thing. She constantly poses for pictures and she will pose herself and ask me to take a picture. I think I’ve created a monster!

Today is the day that my Etsy store was featured on Fabulous Friday Freebies.  Yea!!! Last week when I was approached by Mandy to have my store featured, I was asked to send free merchandise to compensate her for featuring my store. She briefly told me about her daughter having a successful heart surgery, but also mentioned a friend that went through the same experience, but her daughter didn’t make it. Mandy wanted me to send items that her friend, Rebecca, could place in Annabelle Baskets. They are gift baskets that are donated to heart babies undergoing open heart surgery to repair congenital heart defects.

After visiting the Annabelle Baskets blog, I wanted to donate something to go in the baskets in addition to what I already sent. I contacted Rebecca and she gave me an idea of what she already includes in the baskets.

I wish I could do much more. If you are inclined to make a donation or purchase things from the Annabelle Baskets registry at Toys ‘R Us, please visit the blog to see how you can help. They also accept monetary donations.I was very inspired by the fact that Rebecca turned something so tragic into a ministry to help others.

This is what I will be sending.

Here are some random pictures from this week that I haven’t had time to blog about.

We made strawberry milkshakes yesterday. She loves her Princess Aurora sunglasses.

We whipped up a lemon bar recipe from a cake mix cookbook.

This was suppose to be my job, but someone’s getting too smart!

The picture on the right is what ours was suppose to look like. Except Audrey didn’t like the leaves in the picture. She insisted that we not eat leaves because that’s, “Yucky!”

John brought home this beauty. I don’t know what someone was thinking when they wallpapered it, but I hope to upgrade it at least a little before bringing it into the house. I don’t know where I’m going to put it yet so it’s making it hard to decide what color to go with. I’m pretty sure there’s going to be a lot of sanding involved.

Tomorrow, Cole will be back and I am suppose to have a girl’s night with some friends from high school. Monday, I’m going to Arkansas with two friends to go to several flea markets. I’m secretly just happy to be getting to spend some time with the two of them. They are crazy, adorable & absolutely the most fun to be around! We are also going to take a mini vacation as a family next week. My van has been in the shop the last few days and we have to take it back Monday to get new struts put on it before we head too far.

I’ll be excited to post more soon!

Voting in small town America

FOREWARNING: This post has nothing to do with how I voted. 

I’m pretty sure that there should be a reality TV series about voting in our township. It would be called “If They Want me to Vote, Then Maybe the Polls Shouldn’t be in the Middle of Nowhere”. Well, maybe that’s a little extreme.

However, saying it is out of the way is an understatement. However, the scenery (if you choose to look at it through a glass half full perspective) is beautiful right now!

We had only two issues on the ballot today. A school bond issue and electing school board candidates. As a teacher and a parent, both of these affect me and my family significantly.

So, after school, I headed out to my polling place. It is such a remote location, that they have to place signs like this everywhere so people won’t miss the gravel road.
 
This is the gravel road to Bethel.

Bethel is a cute little Community Building that stills holds pews and a wood stove. There are only two booths/stands from which to vote. The overflow voters can stand and wait for an open booth or vote in the pews. I have been a pew voter before. ;)  We vote with pens on paper.  There are no computers. The building barely has electricity. There is a small, beautiful cemetery right next to the building. We are greeted by people we know and that know our story and our families. Sometimes there are cookies and gifts. In my mind, there are no glitches. This may seem primitive to many people, but it’s simple and amazing in my eyes. I love it!

Cole thinks I’m crazy for taking pictures, but I had to have something to prove I was there. :) Actually, I have taken pictures of him here several times in his life and even though he thinks I’m weird for taking them, I hope to instill in him that this is a valuable right that he will one day be thankful to have. 

On the way to and from voting, we travel over ‘Washboard Hills’ as the road is so affectionately referred to or in true Ozarks fashion, ‘Warshboard Hills’. It’s a series of several hills that pop up and down one right after the other like an old metal washboard. Sometimes, when John drives, I feel like I’m losing my tummy. It’s great!

If you go too fast, your vehicle bottoms out, as evidenced by the marks at the bottom of this hill.

Since it was so windy and we were still a long way from home, I decided to do a little hand surfing. (If you know me really well, you’d know how embarrassed I am that people do this in front of other people) and you would be really proud that I actually took a picture of myself doing it.

Secretly, I love doing it when I know no one is looking! There’s just something great about the wind hitting your hand and it popping it back up that reminds me of being a carefree little kid. But I digress…

Since the polls are in the middle of nowhere and our main road to get home was closed for repaving, we had to take the long way home. We saw some beautiful forsythia bushes. I love the vibrant yellow!

Near our house is a row of beautiful trees in full bloom right now. In the sunlight, they look magnificent. (Ann, this is your niece’s place.)

Regardless of how far we drive or the scenery in the path we choose or even the way we choose to vote, we are so very fortunate to live in a society that our opinion is valued. The fact that we have a voice is something that can be extremely taken for granted. We have rights that people are willing to die for and others, to kill for. Whether or not everyone chooses to vote is a personal decision, but for me, it’s a privilege and I’m proud to say, “I VOTED!”

Baking Day—Late…

Mmmmm, my house smelled soooo good while all of this was baking!

Last Saturday, I had lots of motivation to bake. I’m not really sure why, but I am attributing it trying to get warm. I also like the thought of Once a Month Cooking and the fact that Crystal at Money Saving Mom had multiple posts about what she does on her baking day. Also, I’m trying to be extremely frugal and enjoy more time at home rather than running around. Of course, that time seems few and far between. :)

My baking day would have actually only been considered baking hours though. It took me two hours and 15 minutes to bake 2 loaves of poppy seed bread, 2 loaves of banana bread, lemon cheesecake bars, 24 pumpkin chocolate chip muffins and a pan of 9 pumpkin chocolate chip squares. I have frozen almost all of it and we’re eating little bits of it at a time. It’s so nice to have it done and to be able to pull some out of the freezer and enjoy a little treat.

What is your favorite thing to bake?

Flexibility with grace

This is one of my favorite pictures from this summer. I don't know what it is that I like about it so much, but the youth of this giraffe and the amount of flexibility and grace it takes to do one of the most simple things, like eating, is inspiring to me. Yesterday was a lousy day. I won't go into details because none of it truly matters. However, it got me thinking about my own attitude and how much flexibility you have to have before you feel like others need to do some bending instead. Although I haven't come to a conclusion yet, I do know that I need to consider how far I'm willing to bend to make others happy without losing my balance and losing part of myself.

23 bows later--I'm finished!!!

I finally finished the bows from the ribbon I had requested and so graciously received from Sue in SE Texas! I ended up making 15 for the free store.

I made three for Audrey in the colors that I had requested and made eight more with ribbon I already had. Thanks again to Sue for making this possible. I can't wait to donate the bows!

P.S. Kim--the doily pictures are for you! Each Christmas, my great-grandma made doilies for all the ladies in our family for years. I was so glad to see you using one at your house. We may be the only two in the world!

The Kindness of a Stranger

A few weeks ago, I posted a message on a few of the bow making boards I subscribe to making a request to purchase a yard each of a few colors of polka dot ribbon I was needing for bows for Audrey. I was hoping to save money by not purchasing an entire roll (being the frugal mommy I am).

Sue from SE TX promptly e-mailed me and offered to send the ribbon I was requesting. To my surprise, not only did she send me what I wanted, she went above and beyond and sent several yards of each of the colors of polka dot ribbon AND coordinating solid ribbon in the same colors. What a sweet surprise!

I know I'm a sap, but I was completely touched by her generosity. She never once asked for anything in return and she even paid the shipping to send it to me. The kindness of a stranger is such a true blessing. Especially in this day and age when so many people seem to be focused solely on doing things for themselves. I find it refreshing that she was so sweet and so giving and that she expected nothing for her good deed.

The following verses seem to fit Sue's actions and I believe that she will somehow be blessed for her kindness.

Acts 20:35b - It is more blessed to give than to receive.

Hebrews 13:1-2 - Let love of the brethren continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.

Galatians 6:9a - Let us not lose heart in doing good.

So, somewhere in SE Texas, I hope that Sue will know that here I sit with a smile on my face and a warm heart knowing that not only is my daughter going to be even cuter with her new vibrant colored bows, but Sue has shown me I need to also pay it forward. I'm going to use the extra ribbon she sent to make bows for our local community free store run by an area church.

I included the before picture of the ribbon above and hopefully I'll be able to post an after picture of my creations soon. Thank you, Sue, for being so thoughtful!