book page wreath.

one of my new favorite {new to me} design blogs is jones design company.
i love her style. love. it.
it's simple and beautiful.

anyhow, she has a bunch of great tutorials...one of which is this book page wreath that i'd been wanting to make.

i took all the supplies with me when we went to kansas over thanksgiving.
i knew i would have plenty of relaxing time and craft projects are my kind of therapy.

i followed her tutorial step by step.
she has tons of pictures to follow which i love.
this was really easy and fun.
and it really didn't take long at all....maybe an hour or an hour and a half?

i rolled/folded a bunch of the pages at a time so that i could just glue them on one right after the other.

i love it.
it's big and poofy and wonderful.
{i used a 12" foam wreath}

and now it's hanging in my new kitchen window.

i get to enjoy it every day. :)

and here's a little peak at the kitchen....

feeling more at home and settled every day.
thank you for all your lovely well wishes.

let me know if you make this wreath, i'd love to see your pictures! Pin It

ho! ho! ho!

have you ordered your christmas cards yet?
it's not too late.
heck, we have almost 2 weeks until Christmas....plenty of time.
last year was the first year in over a decade that i didn't send out christmas cards.


thanks to shutterfly, this year, it's gonna happen.
i love christmas cards.
it makes checking the mail so fun.
i love the bright glossy cards with photos of our friends and family.
i hang them on my fridge every year and only take them down when the next batch of christmas cards roll in.

if you haven't done your cards yet....head over to shutterfly,  pick out a snazzy design, throw a cute pic of your kids or even better your whole fam in, and you're done. 
should take you minutes.

there are hundreds of designs to choose from.
here are some of my faves....

here's a cool idea....

while you're at it, you can throw in some coordinating thank you cards or create your own photo gift.

 so, mayhaps you should just grab a cup of coffee, turn on your favorite pandora christmas station, {i'm currently listening to third day holiday} and find you some cute cards & gifts. :)


good things:
* if you're new to shutterfly you can get 50 free 4X6 prints.
*cards are 20% off right now
*free shipping when you spend $50+
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friday.

no time for pictures today.
i'll be back to posting regularly and keeping you all thoroughly entertained in a jiffy. :)

we're getting a little more settled each day.
finding a place for everything.

even doing a little christmas decorating. :)

this is a great house.

lots of space, a bright, cheery, big kitchen.
i like it.

i haven't done any christmas shopping.

it's supposed to snow next week.

i bought an orange old navy puffy vest at a fleatique for 2 bucks.
blam.
i have been thrift storing like a mad woman for the past month.
i'll show you my finds soon.

next week is our 10th anniversary. :)
we are getting lovey dovey pictures done tomorrow.
kind of like engagement pictures except minus the denimn button down shirt.
and plus 10 more years of loving under our belts.

i like having 2 floors.

happy friday friends!! have a lovely weekend. :) Pin It

!deacamp orphan care.

i am very excited about this.
did you notice my button on the right?

!deacamp in northwest arkansas in february.

conversations about orphan care and the church.

"Join us for a meaningful conversation about a collaborative movement to bring hope to the orphan."

i love how the church is seeing the oprhan.

and by church, i don't mean a specefic religion.

i mean the body of Christ as a whole.  

have you noticed it?

it seems as though we're finally getting it that we can do something.

we can open our eyes to those sweet hurting babies all over the world and do something.

 i believe that God has a specefic way for each of us to love the orphans and widows. 

have you asked Jesus what He wants you to do?

it's probably more than you think.

and it very well may not be what your friend next to you is doing. 

so looking forward to learning and allowing God to open my eyes even more. 

won't you join us?

!ideacamp * february 25-26 * 2011* northwest arkansas.

 

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i'm a sentimental girl.

this is now.
why do we have so much stuff??
 and why do i have 912 boxes of decorative items?

well moving day was a busy, crazy blur.
we were up at 6am.
worked like crazy all day and fell into bed exhausted at 9.

we were so blessed by amazing friends, they are family really, who gave up an entire saturday to serve us.
it was very humbling, actually.
i don't like to ask for help.
i hate to bother anyone.
but we needed them.
and they worked hard all day to help us get moved.

and they put up with my husband's crazy antics.

yes, aj drove beverly-hillbillies-style down the road with our entire swing set and anything else he could tie down on the trailer.
no, he could not be bothered to take the swing set apart.
 yes, there is a stroller hanging off the back.

i really thought i was pretty good at throwing stuff away.
on saturday i felt like a big ol' hoarder.
my friends erin & ashley kept telling  asking me if i really needed to keep certain things.

if i think i can spray paint it or make a craft out of it, i will keep it.
i realize i  have a problem where decorative items are concerned.
i now have a giganto pile for our next yard sale in the spring.
so yay me.

on sunday night we took the boys to say goodbye to our house.

it was sad.
that feels like home to us.
the new house still doesn't feel like home.
and none of us are good at change.

well, sawyer was fine, he was just happy to have an empty house to run around in.
but the rest of us were crying.
we walked through each room and talked about memories we'd made there.


so now i'm trying desperately to get settled and make this place feel like ours.
we have what seems like a never-ending list of projects to get this place functioning for us.
it's going to be a good house and i know before long it will be home.

and p.s. i don't ever want to move again.
that is all. Pin It

home.

we are moving tomorrow.
it's hard to wrap my mind around those words.
but honestly i'm ready to get it over with already.
today will be more packing, packing, packing.
hopefully while listening to Christmas music & drinking peppermint mocha coffee.

i am a pretty sentinmental gal, so there are some things i am going to miss about this sweet house we've lived in for five years...

i'm going to miss our sweet faux wood floors that we laid ourselves with our (and dave & zach's) own blood, sweat & tears.

i am going to miss my giant chalkboard that aj and i made.
it has been awesome.
we've used it every day.
see how we made it here.

i will miss my 7 dollar chandy.

i will miss the boys' freshly painted bathroom, the plethora of closets, the fenced back yard,  my huge bathroom....

however, mostly i am thinking about all of the wonderful memories we have made here.

we brought fin home from the hospital.

and sawyer.

 i have spent my days here with these sweet boys.
what a gift.

my boys (all 4 of them) are my home.
wherever we are, as long as we're all together, that's home. Pin It

that's it.

i am old.

growing up, i always looked about 3 years younger than i was.
 remember this hot pic from the 6th grade??

in high school i got carded to go into the weight room that had an age limit of 14.

in college i got carded to see an R rated movie.
also in college, while on a date, i was given a kid's menu.
yeah.  that felt awesome.

once when i was pregnant with avery, aj's family and I went out to eat.
the hostess looked at our group and said, "5 adults, 1 child...."(then she looked down at my huge belly) and said, "oh, you are with child."

a child's menu is for TWELVE AND UNDER. 

nothing makes you feel hot like getting a child's menu.

oh, and once i opened my door with a baby on my hip and the door-to-door sales lady asked me if my mommy was home. ha ha ha ha ha!!!

anyhooooooooo.....the point is.....

i've always looked young...but lately..... i'm feeling old.
i've got bags under my eyes and the smile lines are starting to appear.
sigh.
and to top it all off.....
last night at walmart i found out that if you buy spray paint the computer beeps at the checker and they have to verify that you're 18.
i buy spray paint all. the. time. 
and i have never been carded.
so that's it,  it's official. i now look old.

however i am holding on to hope because the receptionist at the dentist office today told me that i look just like Juno.

not sure if i should take that as a compliment or not...... Pin It