Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness!!

Today was wonderful! It was just one of those "everything is awesome" kind of days. You have to read my previous post to really understand today. Mabrey's facial party went so well! She was definitely surprised! My sis, Devan did a great job rounding up the troops and leading them to the door without Mabrey knowing that they were even here. I heard they even hid out in the camper until it was time to come in at 8:30 am this morning!

The hardest part was making sure that she was dressed with her teeth brushed and room clean. She usually does a lot of this after breakfast. Tricky people we are! Not normal at all for Mamma to have her jewelry and some makeup on before breakfast;).

SURPRISE!!!!

Prayer time with friends!

Mabrey is so blessed to have these buddies in her life!

Great breakfast and then devotion on Inner Beauty.

Here are my notes~~. (seriously go to that link, you'll have to type it in and watch it! So cool!!)

Time for our Facials! Mabrey gets to start wearing makeup today (light, very very light makeup)!!! Thanks so so much to Rebecca Easterwood who came and did their Mary Kay facials!!! She was FABULOUS!!!! Took so much time with each of the girls to get it just right!

I have been so nervous about when they could start wearing makeup and I just love for their natural beauty to show. I wasn't ready for much but today showed me that she can start wearing just a little and it's O.K. I was so impressed with what Rebecca taught us about skin care and little tricks for our faces. So awesome!!!

Super cool pic of Devin Morrison!!

Time for Momma's UGLY but oh so delicious cake!!

We even had time for some crafts. When girls get together, you just have to be ready to craft. That's just how we roll!

8:30-11:30 am

Such a sweet birthday party for a sweet girl! Even if we did plan it the day before!!!

I got this text later. Maybe I shouldn't dread them growing up so much. They seem to be doing it beautifully and turning out just fine!

Good night!

 

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Shhhhhh!!!!

 

 

It's 5:46 am and I'm so excited that I can't stand it!!!! Today is Mabrey's 12th birthday!! She has no idea that in three hours, our house will be packed with excitement!! Yep-- We're throwing her a small surprise breakfast birthday party!

Have I lost my mind???

Woo! Hoo! I love surprises! I love birthdays!

Just hope she does! She loves people but with her Meloncholic Phlegmatic personality, I know she'd want everything just soso for a big day as this and it's so not there with our house this morning;)! Oh I know she'll be pumped. Just hope she's not too suspicious when I have makeup and jewelry on at 8:00 am on our day off!

I made the breakfast casserole last night in the crockpot--Pinterest of course. I also made the yellow cake before an went to bed and this morning, homemade chocolate-peanut butter fudge icing! Oh My! I can't even take it! I'm about to make a cinnamon roll casserole (easy with canned cinnamon rolls) and Scott's making some breakfast burritos. --Mabrey's request.

I know you may be wondering, will she be suspicious with all this food. Nah!!!!! We love to cook, it's Christmas and the cake is hidden.

Here's the deal. There are NO decorations, no plates or napkins (Amber said she'd bring some from next door that are cute), no major cleaning job done (oh well) because I didn't want her to even start to guess.

We are surprising and eating at 8:30, our sweet friend, Rebecca Easterwood is coming to do facials at 9:00, nails with Ensley and Devin Morrison at 10:00, devotion and games at 10:30 and cake at 11:00! Easy peasy!!!

Just hope we can pull it off this morning!!! Pictures will come later today!

Please don't let me stick my finger in that cake before she wakes up. It looks too good!

 

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Trying so hard to be a good Keeper at Home.

So I've been reading this book, as you already know if you read my FB, called Created to be his Help Meet by Debi Pearl. It's totally kicking my b-u-t-t! But I have been trying out lots that I'm learning. Debi says that when our hubbies come home from work, we should pay very close attention to him and have a clean, happy, supper on the table type of atmosphere when he arrives. Tonight, I had supper ready, the house neat as a pin and when Scott came home and went to the door to greet him with a kiss. Get this ladies----IT WORKED!!! It made him feel so special, as he is! Thanks Debi for the great tips and I'll be reading more about what I need to do to be his help meet.

After supper, we wanted to watch The Nativity Story and tore our DVD stash apart looking for it. Add it to the list of things we've already moved to Hokes Bluff. Hope RedBox has it this year because we HAVE to watch it every year.

We settled on Christmas Vacation. Not exactly The Nativity Story but a funny classic. I forgot how many bad words were in that movie but thanks goodness Scott remembered so he could be handy dandy on that remote control. We laughed until our cheeks hurt.

Now is my favorite time. Girls are bedded down reading. It's quiet, it's clean. Candles are lit. Hot tea is poured. Scott and I have settled down to the kitchen table to relax. Well, he's studying his Sunday School lesson and I'm reading my favorite blogs.

Not exactly MORNING but my favorite cup from my sister, Holly. Makes me just happy!

I love to hear the quick typing of these keys as Scott works on his Sunday School lesson.

Check out this cinnamon candle to create a great Christmasy atmosphere. Yummy. Target I think.

There's just something about hard working looking hands studying that makes me so thankful!

Nothing better than a clean kitchen after dinner. (never mind the wax paper)

Debi Pearl has taught me so much this week. (I struggle daily with all of this). I truly want to be a good help meet and a good keeper at home. Its up to me to have a calm, orderly, haven for my family in the evenings. I want him to want to come home and enjoy our plot of earth. I want my kids to remember their home when they are all grown as a peaceful, beautiful, happy place with lots of laughter and where they look forward to bringing their families one day. Tonight was a good start and I hope to be more mindful of this on a daily basis.

Basketball tomorrow so I'm excited about that.

Toodles!!

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A day to hold my girls tight!!

I'm laying across the bed typing and listening to the sweetest sounds ever, my girls and their friends squealing, laughing and playing the piano without a care in the world. Music to my ears.

 

Today has been a day of tragedy. A crazy man walked into an elementary school today in Connecticut and killed many people, even children. I can't get it off my mind. If we had cable, I'd be glued to the TV right now. Its so devastating and what is breaking my heart is the phone calls that must have been made to the parents. What could anyone have said to these parents to let them know of the most horrible thing in the world?

Today is a day I'm very thankful to be a homeschool mom. I just held my girls all afternoon. We did math and reading on the bed cuddled up.

There was also news today of shootings in Gadsden and Homewood. I think we'll just stay in tonight and hold each other close.

My new place to shop that makes me happy!

I have never been a shopper. Most women love to shop but I seriously don't. I'm in the retail business so I think I'm supposed to like to shop but I don't. Especially for groceries. One of my favorite things about having our summer garden is that I won't have to go to the grocery store much.



Until, I discovered a gorgeous place called

Oh my goodness gracious!!!!! I LOVE me some Aldi!!!

We now have an Aldi in town. Well, we have for awhile but I have just started visiting in the past few months. It is fantastic. I look forward to going to this store every month. Their prices are so low, you can buy double!! My favorite part is the milk-- super cheap and the fruit. Ok, I love the cream cheese and the crescent rolls for $.99 too!

It's fun to grab my little quarter and get a buggy (we call them buggies here in Alabama). I time myself on how long it takes to get my whole shopping done. I can be in and out in less than 30 minutes with ALL of my freezer shopping club groceries and family groceries. Crazy!!!! So cute, so small!! I feel like I'm cruising through a little market.

Just a couple of tips for you though that want to try out my new shopping paradise--

1. You need cash or a debit card! (left an entire buggy our first time and had to run to the bank). This place is serious business about saving money and they do NOT take a check or credit card.

2. Bring your own bags. They don't waste money on bags to bag your groceries. I used to try to wing it but after a man giggled at me for opening my door and 10 cans rolling across the parking lot and I nearly got hit by a car chasing after them, I started bringing my own little bags to bag everything in. I got these little beauties at Hobby Lobby. Just unzip and you've got a big ole bag! I think they are cute zipped up and I leave them in my purse;). Anytime I need a bag-- POOF!! I have one!

3. Ok, there is this unspoken rule that is called one-way traffic at Aldi. It flows a certain way and is like swimming upstream to go against it. Get what you need when you are on that aisle. This is serious! You may or may not be able to turn around and find your treasure. Just go slow and find it when you hit the aisle.

4. Last thing, when you hit the check out lane, be ready to throw those babies up on the conveyor belt because that woman is quick with her scanning and doesn't want to wait on you at all. Get the whole family involved. She's probably quicker than you and your whole family so huddle up and try to beat her to it. It's kind of like a game.

Even my girls like Aldi! It's fun and when you think your bill will be $150 plus, you probably will only spend $70. How about that?

Oh, take that buggy back and you could to keep your quarter! Yeehaw!!

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12.12.12

I woke up yesterday morning feeling pretty froggy! I knew I wanted the day to be different. I had been sick for about a week. It was a special day.

It was 12.12.12!!!

December 12,2012!

We had to have a party so I jumped on the phone (a tad early) and called some friends up and planned a quick day of fun! My girls were thrilled because it only meant a half of day of school for them.

After a quick trip to Dollar General, Mabrey wiping down the sinks and Ensley sweeping the kitchen, we were ready.

Well, not really but if I waited until everything was perfectly clean at my house to have company, we'd never see anybody;)

It was time!!! We were having company and I didn't even have to cook lunch. Do-it-yourself pizzas is a great easy lunch for lots of youngins!!

 

The next activity was much more involved but oh so fun!!!

This was kinda what we were going for...

 

(not sure about the chair!)

Sugar high is coming. I can just tell!!

 

Not exactly like the model picture but oh so much better. I love when we can let our hair down, close the school books and just be creative!

We even had a shepherd and donkey!!

Fun day to celebrate 12.12.12!!!

I decided to have a little FB sale celebrating the day too and several ladies got some fabulous deals!!

 

Why not celebrate a day we'll never see again?

Wonderful day even though I relapsed and spent the remainder of the day in the bed.

So worth it!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Special Christmas Breakfast Braid

Many of you know how much I LOVE my freezer groups. They prove over and over week after week to bless our family so so much. With me working at nights, I'm not sure how I ever did make it without my freezer friends!  

Our last time to cook, my family made our special Christmas Breakfast Braid to share with everyone!   It's OK to eat it other times of the year, we just always eat it for Christmas.;) I thought they turned out beautiful!!

I'd love to say we got these done 2 weeks before they were due but it would be more accurate to say we barely got them done at all. They were still soft when we delivered them but we did get them done and got to our meeting place on time!!!;) 

(barely)

Mabrey was such a blessing to scramble 6 dozen eggs and not a single shell made it into those pans!!!;)

Ensley was a master at pressing the seams together on the crescent rolls!  I got a little tired of this after the first 8 so she jumped in and was so much better than me at it!

They were really coming together!  Our house smelled delicious!

Ham, then eggs, then cheese!!! We had just enough of everything!

Using scissors to cut the sides. (Like my super cute robe?)

This is just too much fun for me!! I love braiding hair, bread, ribbon, and really anything!!

Trying to get smart and use labels instead of writing with my yucky handwriting!  Turned out cute;)!

Finished product!  

We had one this morning and it turned out perfectly. Just completely defrost first and cook at 350 until not gooey-- around 30-40 minutes. Slice and enjoy!!!

I can't wait till next month when we meet again!