my blessed life

I'm loving my new luggage tags!! Hobby Lobby, you rock! The red ribbon ties really *pop* on my luggage. Now to get those suitcases packed for our trip...

New throw pillows for our master bed {my hubby is going to be just thrilled ...heehee} ! Yea! I've been wanting some for a while, but couldn't justify a frivolous purchase right now. But I got a gift card to Target for Christmas and when I saw this set for $8, I couldn't pass it up. They came tied together with that pretty ivory grosgrain ribbon. When I took them apart, I thought it would be fun to cut the ribbon in half and tie them back up~like a present. To me:)

I have been looking forward to this week ever since I knew that we were moving back to Arkansas this year. Its the week of the War Eagle Fair in NW Arkansas!! Before I moved to Alabama for three years, I went every year. And how I have missed it. I haven't found anything to compare. War Eagle is a tiny community near Fayetteville. You have to drive way off of the highway on this picturesque little road until you get to these huge cow pastures where you park:) There is an old grist mill there beside the river with an old bridge. It's gorgeous in the fall, with the leaves turning their many colors. my sister & me I have no idea how many vendors are at this fair each year, but there have to be hundreds. They have everything imaginable: decor, jewelry, pottery, antiques, gourmet foods (I think I hit every sample-heehee) ... Its just so much fun! It always gets me in the holiday spirit and I even got a small start on my shopping for this year. I took my mom, sister and aunt wit...

Yesterday I hosted a totally impromptu *blessing shower* for one of my best friends. She and her husband recently found out they are ~shockingly~ expecting #4. They were totally out of baby mode, she had even passed on all of her maternity clothes. They are a part of the small group that we host and several of the other girls (we're forever *girls* in the South) decided to go shopping for maternity clothes for her. I mean, shopping is great, but if you can actually do it with purpose it's even more fun! So after several days of gathering gently-used and clearanced maternity clothes, we decided to have a spur-of-the-moment *shower* for her. I tricked her into coming over for lunch and then while she was in the backyard with our kiddos I set up out the shower food and gifts and all of the other girls showed up. It was so fun seeing the expression on her face when she came in! I have always enjoyed hosting events like this, but I usually have plenty of advance notice. Yesterday...

For years now my mom, sister and I have been exchanging Christmas ornaments. We love to shop or create throughout the year and then we always exchange them on Thanksgiving day. This year was no exception. After everyone had slept off their turkey-induced comas out came the Christmas ornaments!! The kiddos made these (with a little help) for Nana, Papi and Aunt Kari: We bought the craft glass balls and acrylic paint tubes at Hobby Lobby. Then we took the tops off the balls, squirted in the paint and swirled it all around. It was a lot of fun, even if it did require a little more muscle than the kiddos had to get all that paint swirled around (that's where I came in). You just let them sit without the tops on for a few days until they are dry and ready to go! Very fun! Next are the ornaments that I gave my mom and sister: I got those little brown paper houses that Hobby Lobby sells and painted them with tempera paints. Then I spread glue ( Elmer's ) on the roof, chimney top ...

(Are you humming that Bruce Springsteen song yet? 'Cause I am!) Today my little sister and I got to head down to one of our favorite areas of our hometown: Downtown Van Buren, Arkansas . Years ago (I guess it was the 80's) when they made those tv mini-series called The Blue & The Gray , they shot the whole thing in the state of Arkansas and the city street scenes right here in our little town. The city/movie company remodeled the entire old part of Main Street to look like the shop fronts of the 1800's and even covered the sidewalks with boards and the street with dirt for the movie shoot. downtown Van Buren, AR (I apologize that these pictures aren't better--I was trying to dodge some traffic:) the old train station--still in use for an excursion train The street is filled with little cafes, antique shops, craft shops, lots of other unique little shops and mine and my sister's personal favorite: the used book shops! Our favorite is one called Coffee & A Goo...

This past weekend I took a little overnight trip to Memphis with four of the ladies who work with me in the youth department at church. It was strictly all play and no work! It's been a long time since I've done anything like that. Since none of us had ever really spent any time in Memphis before, we were totally the dorky tourists. It was quite funny! First off, we hit Beale Street which is famous for its jazz music. at Hard Rock Cafe on Beale Street (I'm in pink) We had fun checking out the rock star stuff at HRC and then strolling down the street a little. It was mostly just a lot of free-flowing beer (which is not my scene at all) and some trashy tourists shops. There was some great live music going in lots of little spots though and some cool music history. But when we saw the horse and carriage rides, we had to do that. It was so much fun! Our driver took us all over the downtown area for some great sights. Along with some awesome historical sights we even saw the bu...

Things are starting to get *back to normal* around here today. Since last Friday its been one busy moment after the other. I tend to get a little crazy as "activities coordinator"--in general, not just when we have company or are on a trip:) My parents and sister came in town Friday night. I had quite the day lined out for us on Saturday. Our city was having its annual arts & crafts festival so we all headed downtown for some shopping and, of course, *fair food*. I found some beautiful jewelry at The Charming Cherub booth. I checked her out last year, and have regretted it all year that I didn't buy some of her vintage postcard jewelry. Next time I want some of her broken china! Before we left we had to sample fudge, hand-shaken lemonade, funnel cakes and snow cones ! Delish ! After that it was back home for nap time ...Next on my " activities schedule" was a local park. So we took off for carousel rides, train rides and some neck-jarring fun on the kiddie...

I hope that all of you moms out there had a great Mother's day! I especially missed celebrating with my mom. Both my mom and Vince's mom live quite a ways away though and there was no way we could see them this weekend. So long-distance wishes and flowers had to do. My day was really wonderful!! My husband and kiddos made it very special. I always read (a little wistfully) those magazine articles about how to have a special Mother's day by sleeping in and having breakfast in bed, etc. Our Mother's days are usually a mad rush to make it to church on time and, oh yeah, don't forget to give mom her card before we leave. This has been my life on both ends of the spectrum as my dad is also a minister. Yesterday was no different: we currently have to all be at church by 8:15 am on Sundays (which is killer for me since I'm no morning person). However, my kiddos and my husband had their cards and gifts all ready for me first thing in the morning. The kiddos had made (w...

A few weeks ago I told you about those t-shirt bags I conned my sister into sewing up for me, right? Well, she got them finished and brought them to me while we were all in Kansas City last week. Here they are in all of their glory (all ten of them!): So today I got them ready and loaded them in the back of my car and headed to the store. Then I promptly forgot to take them inside with me . I decided that I would just tell the clerk to put my stuff back in my cart with no bags (like at Aldi's or Sam's) and then bag them in my own bags when I got to the car. I've never gotten such a funny look in all my life--apparently I'm the first person who's ever asked her to do that. I explained that I'd left my *new* reusable bags in the car and asked her if there was any special procedure for bringing those in with me. I wondered if she would think I was a total freak at that question, but she seemed quite familiar with that scenerio and told me all about how easy that w...