Praises of a Wife and Mommy

This "I love you sew much" project is perfect for Valentines Day, Father's Day, or Birthday.   It was my daddy's birthday so we created this craft special just for him! To do this we needed: -2 sheets of construction paper- 2 different colors -glue -yarn -hole punch I drew a heart and punch some holes in it and had my daughter glue it on the construction paper.   Then I gave her some yarn and she had fun lacing the heart through.   My daughter traced over my letters and we added a few heart stickers.  :)  Daddy loved it and I am sure any grandparent, aunt, uncle, or teacher would appreciated this special gift.  

I have been so blessed to find so many good deals for fun stuff for my kids.  I got this toy 4-wheeler for $5 and it makes several different sounds that my lil guy loves.  :) There might be a little wear and tear on the tires but he has no clue and he loves it!   I got this deal on a facebook group called sell, swap, trade in the city I live in.  :)  I have been able to sell stuff buy stuff and overall it has been fun to meet some new people to.  :) You should check and see if your area has a group and if not maybe you could start one.  :)   

I know I have not been consistently doing this post every week...I must try harder to get this post  up each week.  I have so many things each day to be thankful for so I should be able to share a few each week.  :)  So here is what I am Praising HIM for this week: 1. God answered some prayers...not just a small one but some big ones.  :) HEALING! :) 2. Summer- this has been a very fun summer. 3. My husband, he had a birthday this week and I love to spoil him.  4. I might be watching a little boy my son's age which would bring in a little money and provide a playmate for my son while my daughter starts 4k.  :) 5. Air conditioning...it was another hot day.  6. The farmers market... I love the fresh yummy food. :)  7.  This blog- meeting lots of fun new people!  :) So encouraging! :)

Beads from: Strung Lanterns Beads are a little girls best friend not diamonds! :)  Can you picture the excitement my daughter had when she opened the cute little pink box filled with bright colorful beads of all shapes and sizes?    Strung Lanterns is a company based out of Canada.  They design and create brooches, semi-precious stone earrings and bracelets, children's DIY crafts, plushies, and other trinkets to brighten your life.  Strung Lanterns  has a philosophy of: exquisite craftsmanship, easy and friendly conversations, and treasures that you can be proud to give or keep.   Thank you to Strung Lanterns for sending me these beads to conduct my review.  I was not payed for this post and all opinions are 100% mine.  My Review: Immediately still in her PJ's my daughter had to make a necklace.  Before she started to string the beads on she started searching for her favorite beads ...

Here is a short clip to see what is included in this fun App!   What is inside: Engage in integrated activities and games as you journey into David's world. Help David fend off lions, select pebbles for his sling, and face Goliath and the Philistine army! Read or listen to a Biblically accurate account of David's growth from shepherd boy to fearless champion of God. Explore a colorful backdrop of illustrations and animations that bring a boy and a giant to life. Color your own picture of David and the lion (and take a picture to send to Grandma or post to Facebook for friends to see through the Parent Portal)! 4Soils gave me a promotional code to download this App to conduct my review.  I was not paid for my review, and all thoughts are 100% mine.   4Soils is a new company that wants to combine technology and faith!  I love the idea of having some Apps on my phone that correlate to some of the Bible Stories my daughter is learning.   So when I went throu...

I need to go check the stores to see if there is chalk clearanced off for the end of season because we have so much fun with chalk!  My daughter wanted to be a flower so we stared to draw a flower so she could lay in it and her head would be the center of it.  :)  Simple and she was able to help create it!  :) 

I have a feeling that my son is going to play the drums.  He gets so excited to bang on things.  He has a bucket outside that he pretends is a drum and when you put him in front of real drums you can see his face light up!   Look at him!  HE IS SO CUTE!  I am not sure how my ears will take that if we buy a drum set       but I guess we do have a garage.  

I had one of those Mama Bear moments.  You know the moment where you are being a good mom and then you listen to your voice-mail and the message says, "Hi, this is _____ from the school district and we just want to inform you of a change in your daughters school placement" and then all of a sudden panic sets in and there is steam coming from your head.  All these questions raced through my head such as: 1. I registered in Spring and went to the first open house at the school already, where we took a tour, met teachers, found classrooms... so why a change? 2. It is a week before school starts why a change so late? 3. How did they determine my daughter has to change schools when I registered her as soon as I could? 4. Why did I bother preparing her and taking her to what I thought would be her playground and school? 5. Lord, do you want me to keep her home? My husband is such a great man... a man of peace and a man who knows how to calm his wife.  He took...

The leaves may already be starting to turn but the ants are still coming out in full force.  I remember a couple weeks ago finding a whole trail of baby ants!  IT WAS GROSS, I followed the trail killing each one trying to locate the start.  Found them in my cupboard where I cleaned for the next half hour so there were ZERO ants in there. Now my house has the Combat Ant baits out around the house to protect long tern with continuous control.  I also now am stocked with the Combat ant gel to kill ants NOW! So what is the difference between the gel and the bait? Combat Source Kill Max Ant Gel : This product is formulated to effectively control ants.  That's because this product contains fipronil, a fast acting active ingredient.  Its speed is still slow enough,however for foraging ants to return to the colony and feed the bait to larvae and queens so that the entire colony is killed through the Domino Effect. -First specially...

What a powerful song!  I got some goosebumps when I listened!  "God Spinning, twirling, dancing, laughing over us"  HOW AWESOME! Hit play and start dancing to HIM!   You are the Lord of Dance 

Singing Happy Birthday to Daddy was fun for my kids.  They love their daddy so much and he loves them!  My daughter made an adorable card which I will blog about next to give you the step by step instructions.  :)   The kids and I went to JcPenny's for a free photo shoot a couple weeks ago.  I had them in superman and supergirl costumes.  :)  It was fun even if my son was not a fan and very crank during the photo shoot...he had to have his paci just so we could get a few shots in.   The framed worked looks great and it says "Daddy's Lil Superheroes"  I love it!  We also made daddy a chocolate cake and but chocolate covered raisins on it.  A bit different then your usual sprinkles but it was good.  :)   Here is to another great year for my husband!  :) 

Dear amazing husband of mine, I love you!  I love you more then when we were dating, I love you more then when we said "I Do."  I am so happy to be your wife, your soul mate, your one and only!   I pray that this is a year of blessing after blessing for you!  I know you are a faith leader and seeker in our family and I thank you for that.   So I hope today is a great day and this year is beyond good, great, fantastic!  God has his hand upon you and is going to continue to guide and direct you!   SO HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU... I will always love you!   We actually went out last night to celebrate his birthday.  We went shopping to try to find some new shoes for him but left empty handed.  Oh well!  Then we went and ate some dinner followed by some frozen yogurt down town.   It was an interesting evening down town.  As we were eating our treat we witnessed a young guy steal a pizza and tip jar from t...

 Time to think about personalizing your Child's room with an 8x10 name art print.   Henry James Paper Goods are beautifully created art that make a perfect baby shower gift, birthday gift, back to school gift, or congratulation gift for any mom, dad, and baby.   This artwork has been created by Henry James Paper Goods and made to order with your name of choice. Please note that if your requested name is longer or shorter than the name shown in the print, some of the elements of the picture may be revised to look aesthetically pleasing. She will send a proof by e-mail for approval before shipping the print at your request. This print is printed on heavy weight, archival, and acid free Epson Velvet fine art paper using an Epson R1900 printer. Epson UltraChrome pigment inks provide superior resistance to water, fading and smudging. Please note the colors on your monitor may differ from the printed art. Print is shipped in a clear sleeve backed with backing...

My husband has the best job ever!  Being a youth pastor allows us to "stay young" as I like to say it.  We get to have tons of fun!  :)   This last week we took the group camping!  I was blessed because the kids, my self, and all the girls got to sleep in  a cabin while the boys got tents.  :)  It is getting very cool at night so being inside was a bit warmer then the boys. We were able to go swimming, canoeing, paddle boating, and all the other campfire cooking fun.  The youth group went Kayaking but I stayed back with the kids.   My daughter was having so much fun that she was very sad we were not staying another night.  She wanted 3 nights not 2. On a different note she became so scared to use the outhouse after hearing about the "huge spider."  Partly my fault as I got scared when I saw it.  It was a huge wood spider and it was really big and scary.  I know I sound like a big baby but the thing was not...

PINKALICIOUS!!!  Some of you read that and have no idea what it means and others with young daughters are nodding your head because you have a Pinktastic fan in your house.   This mom is starting to plan my little girls 5th birthday party!  5...how did that happen???  Since she loves all the Pinkalicious books we are doing a Pinkalicous theme party.  I was very excited to meet Natasha from, Natasha Crafts . She sent me enough wands for each little girl who comes to my daughters party.    We are reviewing the Pinkalicious party wands.  The party has not happened but my daughter is so excited for each of her friends to get a wand.  :)  We have decided that we are going to do a glitter station and let each friend glitter their wand.  :)  The wands were packaged safely and they shipped extremely FAST!  It was so nice to receive them so quickly even though we are waiting for the party in September.  The ...

I opened my eyes this morning and was looking outside and even though it is pretty and I love fall colors I am really not ready for fall to come.  I still have a few more things on the bucket list for summer.  I feel like summer just got here...:(  I love summer so much! Are the leaves turning near you?  I also have to buy some rakes this year since we purchased a house and we have trees!  

About:   The sweetest things surround your little girl's life: hearts and flowers, kittens and puppies, umbrellas and tea parties, kisses and hugs. But the sweetest thing of all in her life is God's love. The Sweetest Story Bible includes forty carefully selected Bible stories that show how much God loves his people and your little girl. Sweet thoughts to think about and easy Scripture verses to remember are included with each story to connect a little girl's life to God's Word. This storybook Bible will help her see just how wonderful God's love really is. About the Author : Diane Stortz has been involved with publishing for many years as an editor, editorial director, and author. Her children's books include Jesus Loves You: A Read the Pictures Book, Let's Shine Jesus' Light on Halloween, Four Faithful Friends, and God's Boredom Buster Plan. She is cofounder of the National Network of Parents of Missionaries and coauthor of Parents of Missionari...

Most of you know or at least seen that in all the pictures of my daughter she is usually in a DRESS.  I have been preparing her to wear pants more since she will be going to 4k in September.  She is very excited but has always been a dress wearing girl.  I took her shopping and we finally agreed on some shirts and pants.  YAY!!! We get home and I told her to give daddy a fashion show of the new outfits.  I was excited and misty eyed because she is growing up so quickly. Then I panic a little bit... since she always wears dresses or leggings she struggled with her zipper and button.  OH NO!!!   I have visions of her at the bathroom at school frustrated and not able to get her pants down and wets her pants.  I know foolish right?!   Looks like this mom is going to be practicing for the next week straight to ensure she can do it!!  Also, she is so skinny she needs a belt... this is going to be so tricky!   

A couple weeks ago I took my daughter shopping to pick out some new underwear since hers were a bit snug.  She quickly picked out day's of the week underwear. Raise your hand if you had them when you were little, (HAND RAISED)!  I did not realized when I purchased the underwear how much learning took place with them. Now I explained to her that it would be OK to wear them on the wrong day but do you think she wants to do that??  NOPE!! Every morning this has been our routine... Selah- "Mom, what day is it?" After I respond she says, "hmmm what letter does that start with?" Then I say the word again and sound it out.  After she gets the sound and letter right she runs to her room and finds the right pair. So we have worked on letters and sounds and the order of days.  It is so easy to say "yesterday was _____, today is ______, and tomorrow is______.  Something that will become very familiar as she heads to 4K in a couple weeks. ...

I told him to lay down on his name and he listened!  It may have taken me a few times to get him on the letter T or even on his back.  He had fun being silly on it and that was the best part of the day.  I love his little sense of humor...except him thinking it is funny to jump off the couch.  I could do without the heart dropping as I see him jump off and land on his stomach.  Praise God he is tough and gets up and laughs and tries to do it again.  Mama's hair is going to turn grey with him...he keeps me on my toes.  One of his new favorite things to do is dance.  He does a bounce type dance that is very adorable.  He also does this superman pose where he puts his arms behind him like he is going to fly which melts my heart.  :) A not so cute thing is the early tempers that I have seen.  He stomps his feet when he gets upset and he knows how to scream.  Trying to nip these in the butt!  He is my lil boy whom is a perfect...

SILLY BOY! 

I shared this activity almost a year ago exactly but this time my boy got to have some fun with it too!  :) Go review what we did last year for bath tub painting.   Here is the quick to do list for doing this activity Grab the muffin tin  Squirt some shaving cream in each tin add a couple drops of food coloring Mix well Grab the paint brushes Put kids in tub and let them have fun If you are worried about food coloring I have not had any stains on my tub!  :) 

I had a fun time turning my princess into a butterfly.  She had fun coloring her butterfly.  I apologize for the strange shadows but the sun won the photo battle.   Now drawing a butterfly was not hard so now I am going to challenge myself and try to draw more animals since my daughter had so much fun.   The next day we went back outside and she saw her butterfly and laid right back down on it.  :)  Need more Chalk Ideas?  Sidewalk Chalk Ideas:  Evangelize with Chalk Messages Driving and Learning Signs Chalk Paint Color game

This was an awesome weekend!!  It has been a challenge to sit down and type this post with all the amazing and exciting things I want to share and tell you!  This might be a very long post but trust me if you hang in and read it all I believe God will touch you too!!!  :)  Lets start with Friday evening! The speaker was Lori Slaughter from  http://covenantfreedom.org .  The conference was called "Above All" and the scripture was Ester 2:17   " And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained favor and kindness in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti." The story of Ester has always been one of my favorites.  I love her bravery and  VULNERABILITY.  The word vulnerability was a big word for me that weekend.  It is a great word and I love how Lori gave this analogy.  "Lord, let me wear Suran Wrap so you can see through me bu...