Sister Love...

I spent a lot of yesterday crafting, but have no finished projects to show. I will debut my little beauties later today when I finish them. This morning I wanted to post on my sis. I have been missing her lately. We live about 9 hours apart, and will probably always live that far apart seeing as how we both married good ole boys and moved to their hometowns. Anyway, back to the subject at hand, Wewe (that is what the boys call her) is the most genuine, generous, HILARIOUS, and spectacular person I know. She has really been having a hard time lately with her health, but what would keep most people down has just lit a fire in her to pull up those boot straps and get better. She has been working so hard to get healthy and beat these autoimmune disorders (I don't know how much she would feel comfortable with me saying). So to Wendi I say YOU GO GIRL! I am so proud of you for all the changes you have made in your life for your health and the ripple effect it is having on our whole family. I know you have inspired me to make some changes in the way I eat and think. I look so forward to spending my birthday weekend with you, so we can do some of this...

Laughing until we are in pain, while Richard acts like we are crazy.

Dressing fabulously, doing our hair alike, and sporting the newest fashions.

And last but not least, cheesing it up for the camera.

I left shopping out, but we do a lot of that too. We take our shopping too seriously to be taking pictures while we do it, it is a sport people. You don't see wide receivers taking their own pictures while they play do you? My point exactly!

Tutus...

Today I had to get started on some of my gifts for Christmas. We are going to Pigeon Forge, TN next weekend to see some friends and the kids are exchanging gifts. I decided to make the two little girls tutus. Christy, if you are reading this LOOK AWAY!! If you didn't look away you better not tell the girls! Not to toot my own horn (HONK HONK!), but I have never made one before and they turned out really cute. The only problem was that I needed to get some pictures of them to share on my blog, and with no little girls around I had to let Connor model them for me. His Dad was not too happy, but Connor LOVED them.

He will probably kill me for these picturs when he is running for President.

"So pretty" is what he said about it.

He automatically started twirling around.

This one was not quite finished in this picture, here it is again.

Well I better go. Time to try some I Spy Bags. I'll let you know how it goes, better yet I'll show you in the next couple of days!

Living a Dream I Don't Deserve...

So we just got back from a day at the river. We had a wonderful time, but it had started raining on us this evening and the boys were exceptionally tired from their fun day so we decided to come on home instead of staying all night. On my way home I was thinking of the way blogging has become something I love in a really short amount of time. One of my favorite bloggers, Edie always has such a way with words on her blog. (You should check out this post about why blogging is so special. Edie really nailed it). Her top caption reads, "Living a dream we don't deserve." Whew! Does that hit home to anyone else? I think about that statement often. So tonight while I am comfy and cozy in my warm house with my 2 precious boys and wonderful husband I am thinking a lot about the life I have and how blessed I am. A few of the things that come to mind...


The carefree laughter of my boys when they get tickled...



A husband that works really hard so I can work at home, and can do a "GGRRRR" face too!





An incredible brother, sister, and parents...


Golf cart rides with the wind in our hair...


The occasional nap Connor takes in my arms. (So rare I don't have a picture.)

Daily adventures with Connor, a.k.a Wild Man...




The perfect s'more and being able to teach Walker the art of making one!

Nemo underwear, chubby legs, and hightop Converse sneakers. What a combination.

Watching the little wheels turning in their heads...

Those faces that tell you everything you need to know...

Listening to the boys sing and watching them dance...

The insights of a 3 year old...

Last night snuggled up with my 2 boys on the sofa I said, " I'm the luckiest girl in the world." Walker responds, "No Mom. You're the luckiest LADY in the world." I could not have said it better myself.

Nana To The Rescue!

Sorry I have been gone for a couple days. I have had some HORRIBLE virus. This is the first time since I have had children that I have been just too sick to take care of them. I can handle getting sick now and then, but this was not the typical virus. Did I say it was HORRIBLE? This morning I went to the doctor and he gave me a shot that knocked me off my rocker, and since you can't really monitor 2 little ones from the bathroom, keeping them home was not an option. Luckily they have a wonderful Nana who stepped right in, and wrangled my monsters for 48 hours. She had to take them to work with her today. I am sure they have made lots of sales at her furniture store. Walker loves to greet the customers, in a stalker sort of way. He will hide behind furniture and watch them. Sometimes he speaks to them and will say, "Hello customer. My name is Walker." Good thing Nana runs the place.

Just wanted to share a couple things from the week since I did not post yesterday. I took the boys to Nana's farm on Tuesday evening, and let Walker help with his chicks (click here if you don't know the chicken story) and I got a few pictures while they played. They love the farm!

Connor and Speckles. One of Nana's sheep that she had to bottle feed.

Walker holding the brand new chick. So sweet!
Walker helping Nana round up the babies for the night.

Walker ringing Nana's bell.

Walker and Connor on the sheep steps. Walker is calling for them...

When Speckles actually starts to come Walker went nuts!

Con always has to drive the gator when we go to the farm.

I made another tassel yesterday morning before I got sick. I still have not made it to the store, so had to use my other funky candleholder and the ribbons in my stash, but I so enjoy making them. Maybe tomorrow I will feel like getting out and go buy some things to really make a good one.

This is my newest tassel...
Here she is with her sister...


For now she is gonna live in my entry way.

Well I guess that is all for now. I am beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel, so expect to get my little guys back just in time for Disney on Ice. Now if I can just sanitize the house so no one else gets this I will be doing good. Better get to sanitizing and rest some more. Amazing how tiring it is be sick, all that phenergan probably isn't helping either.

After last night's party at Just A Girl, I was feeling the creative juices flow today. I didn't have everything I needed, but thought I would try to make a tassel anyway. I started going through my craft caddy and found some odds and ends to work with.
As you can see, I took an old candle cup, put a cork in it, and twisted a little eyelit in the top of the cork. The wine cork was the only thing I could find that would fit in the hole (where a candle is supposed to go.) Normally you would have the candle cup upside down, and the hole would not need to be filled but this candle cup was weird and had a hole on both ends. I will have to go to the store and get some normal candle cups for the others I am gonna make.

Next I fired up the glue gun and went to work.
It started out looking kind of like a hula girl, but after I kept adding layers, the hula look vanished.
And this is what it looked like towards the end. Like I said it was my first try at tassel making, but all things considered, I liked the way she turned out. So there you have it... one down and thousands to go. I can see how this would get addictive. It goes pretty fast and the sky is the limit.
Go make some tassels, and then come back and tell me how much fun you had!

Party Hardy!!

I am a sucker for a good party, and one of my very favorite bloggers is having one today! Chris over at Just a Girl is having a great "I Can Make That" party where we can share our inspriation or ideas for a homemade Christmas. I am all about giving and receiving something homemade because I am just such a sentimental person. Anyway, back to the PARTY... since I had company this weekend I was not able to actually make anything, but I know what I am planning to make, so I am just gonna share some tutorials I have found and plan on using for Christmas gifts. This is my first blog party, so bear with me!

First off, I am gonna make most of the kids on my list one of these I Spy Bags. They are all over Etsy, and I figure if I can make them themed for the kids I am giving them to, they will go over well. (i.e. my son's friend is a sports fanatic, so I am gonna use some sport material and put all sport buttons inside.) I have had the most luck at Hobby Lobby and Wal-mart for buttons, and I found the best selection of fleece and flannel at Jo-Ann's. Rosie-Baby was nice enough to provide a tutorial, and she sells them too.

Here are some others I found on Etsy that were really cute...

talona had this one and several others.

LilyClaire had this one. I like how her tag is on the little ribbon. I could post 50 of these things, but I think you catch my drift. There are oodles of them on Etsy.

I love anything monogrammed so I plan on doing a couple of these framed monograms.







They are by Jack and Lulu but I figure I can make them easy enough with some scrapbook paper and vinyl letters or my printer.


I will also be making some tassels like these from Heather. This is one of her tassels that I love and she was even nice enough to give a tutorial.

Is this cute or what? I can just see this little bird on my sister's cabinet knob.

I could go on for days, but these are a few of my upcoming projects. I can't wait to see what everyone else is gonna be making so I can add to my list!

Bee City...

My parents came to visit this weekend, and we had a lot of fun. The visit seemed too short, as usual, but it was packed with activities. Saturday we checked out place called Bee City. Walker loves the Bee Movie, and so we thought this little place would interest him. When we got there we found out all the bees were at the fair, (no bees at Bee City?) but they had a petting zoo that turned out to be great. Who would have guessed that a little petting zoo in rural South Carolina would have animals we had never heard of? You could buy food to feed them, and there was a lot of room for the boys to roam. Connor especially loved carrying his own cup of food around. He would give the animals handfuls here and there. He got really generous once, and dumped his whole cup in the goat's bucket. He pitched a fit over all his food being gone, so we had to purchase a couple refills for him.
Here Connor is crying with his empty cup!

This alpaca absolutely cracked me up!

Connor and his little buddy.

Walker was most fascinated by these cats that looked like cheetahs, the deer, and the male genetalia on this crazy monkey. It was blue and he thought that was very interesting. The things we discuss with kids, CRAZY!

Walker talking to the deer. It went something like this, "My name is Walker. Don't be afraid. I won't hurt you. Come here to me deer." Etc. etc. The deer were completely uninterested in poor Walker and his food.

Con and the monkey (previously discussed.)

They also had a wooden train and some life size horse statues that the boys could climb on. We ate lunch at their cafe' and the food was wonderful. We all were glad we checked out this local attraction, and I have already promised the boys a return visit.

Connor at the wooden train. He loved this thing!

The boys on one of the horses.