I {Heart} my Lightscoop ~

My hubby got me this wonderful "TOY" for christmas. If you want to read about it go here. Last night i was going through my pictures for a friend and i came upon my test photos. When i saw them i thought i would do another post on the GREATNESS of the Lightscoop. :o)

This first picture is without the lightscoop. As you can see the flash washed out the baby's skin and looks very UNnatural. How many pictures do you have that look like this??

The next picture is with the lightscoop. WOW...what a difference! Can you see it? This looks totally natural. Not overexposed or washed out. This little product makes my life so much easier. :o)

I love it.

Update:
My M-I-L is going to meet the doctor that will be performing the chemo procedure that she chose next month. Hopefully we will get a date of when she will start chemo. She is doing well after the big surgery she had a few weeks ago. The treatment that she chose is still pretty new but has the best result for her type of cancer.

Later this week i will have a few more pics of the Kitchen Remodel to share.

Happy Wednesday to YA!!

Momma...Can you make me a dress ~

I receive a few children's clothing catalogs. And for the first time my daughter has been very interested in looking through them. Such a girly girl! But she melted my heart when she said {several times} Momma, can you make me this dress? She didn't ask me to BUY her a dress...she wanted me to MAKE her a dress. I told her to show me the one she liked the best and i would try to sew her one as soon as i got some "FREE" time. Well last week she out of no where said....Momma is it time to make me a dress yet? Truthfully....no i didn't have time but i stopped what i was doing {sewing is more important than washing dishes right?} and took her down to my fabric stash and told her to pick out something she liked. She picked out a vintage blue toile fabric...and then i measured her. I said ok...now when you and brother go down for your nap today i will make you a dress. She gave me a smile i will never forget. :o) After they went down i went straight to the sewing room... grabbed the material and got to work. I didn't have time to cut out from a pattern...i didn't have time to pin so i got creative and i whipped up a dress that took maybe 10 minutes. I wanted something that i could let her wear now with something under it but also be able to wear it this summer since it is quickly approaching. Now it isn't fancy...but she sure thinks it is. :o) And that means the world to me. She wanted to put it on as soon as i showed it to her. She screamed with joy and wrapped her arms around me. I really could have cried it made me so happy. I really gotta carve out some more time to make her a few things. Anyway...here it is......


She wore it Sunday to church with this under it.

Please excuse the wrinkles and possible mac n cheese. I just grabbed it from the laundry pile which looks like this right now....OVERFLOWING!


But as for the dress itself....Sweetly southern and just the way i love to see my little southern darling! It was so easy...i'm thinking i may have to do a quick tutorial one day to show you just how easy it was to make.

Just a REMINDER ~

I'm feeling the urge to do another BABY week. But it may be some baby gift idea posts here and there....not sure if i will have time to do a full week. Why? Well i happen to know several ladies out there that are expecting their little bundles of joy in the next few months. :o) Boys and Girls. And while i have been busy with EVERY thing else...my mind still starts to wander to what i would like to make for them. Well today what i'm going to share is something that can not only be a great Baby gift...but it can also be used for something else.

I nursed my babies. And i had a little thing called Itzbeen. It helped remind me when my brain was to frazzled to remember. I loved it! But here is another great idea. It is called a Nursing Reminder Bracelet. The bracelet is like a clock....has numbers on it....1 to 12. In between the numbers are 3 beads. They represent minutes {15, 30 and 45}. Then there is a charm that clips where you need it. Just move the charm to the last time you fed baby. Switch to left or right arm to remind you of the last side you fed on. SO CUTE! Tons of charms to choose from. Baby type charms and my favorite....Initials! BUT the best part is that these can be used to remind you of medications. Say for instance....your baby is sick and you have to remember to give it every 4 hours. I know i have forgot a time or two just when i gave my kids their medications. To me it just is a cute handy helpful reminder "clock" around my wrist. :o)

I'm making a few of these for gifts this time around. I'm also selling these and I have tons of colors to choose from and my price is $20. These would be a GREAT unique gift idea for a mommy to be! ;o)

No Going Back ~

Update on Kitchen RENOVATION!

We finally did it....we finally GUTTED the kitchen. We have been planning for this kitchen demo FO-EVAAAA!! We finally decided what color cabinets to go with. Where to buy the cabinets. What flooring we want and the big one....where the pantry should go. So here it is. The kitchen Before:


Folks it ain't pretty! And it wasn't that functional either!

This is the view to the eat in breakfast "Nook".

Good BYE....way to much red dinning room!

Good BYE.....nasty tile counter tops.........Good BYE....awful shade of yellow walls and brown trim paint......

The wood floors are outahere! You may ask yourself why are they getting rid of the wood flooring. Well they are water damaged....and with 2 kiddos wood floors are NOT what we need in the kitchen.

Doesn't this light look like it was stolen straight out of Applebees??? HAHA!

We started the demo off with a little celebration. Confetti Poppers!!

The kiddlings {mostly big sister} started the demo weeks ago.....thankfully that wall is not staying!

We started by taking the top cabinets out first. I will be saving the for a future project. :o)

And guess what we found???? Wallpaper. Oh my...... ;-(

And it's gone...there is no going back now. This pic was taking awhile ago. See the wall with the small door? That wall is now gone. Tile....gone. Drywall....gone. The sink is still there. Not removing it till the very last minute. THANKFULLY!!! It has been a life saver.

You may be asking yourself....what are they doing for a kitchen? Well...the small stuff is in the guest bathroom.

And our fridge and table, large toaster oven and microwave are in the front room {library}. I am so thankful for this space. It helps out alot to make things somewhat easier.

Please don't look to hard. This pic was took right after we moved it in there and after dinner. So i'm pretty sure there is food particles everywhere. :-0 !!
The rethinking what i can make for dinner is driving me nuts....i miss my stove very much!
Anybody have any great toaster oven meals they would like to share???

It is coming along .....slowly. But one day i will have a most Divine kitchen that i'm proud of. Not one that makes me cringe everytime i walk into it. :P

Deals ~

I stumbled upon a few good deals this week and would like to share. I wear eyeglasses....more now than ever. I do wear contacts but since my babies my eyes are dryer than they used to be and since i'm home more than in public i just stick to wearing my glasses. About 2 years ago i found my perfect pair. I LOVE them. So much so that i haven't went back to get my eyes checked in 2 years...eeeks! I would love to find another pair that i love. And yes i know that i can use the same frames for as long as i want but i would also like to find another pair to give me an option. I keep seeing this commercial on t.v. from America's Best they have a great deal on 2 PAIR of glasses. Just $69.99 and the eye exam is free. I also found this other place online called Zenni Optical that has GREAT deals on eyeglasses. You have to already have a current prescription but they have glasses as low as $8.00! Great idea if you have a young child that wears glasses and your afraid to pay big money for frames. Or if you would like to try a fun new pair.

Now the other deal i wanted to mention is something that i have mentioned before. Who wants a FREE canvas? Over at Canvas People they are doing it again. Hurry on over and get your free 8x10 Canvas!

Consignment Time ~

First a small update on my husbands mother. As of last night she has decided what chemo treatment and where she will be being treated. They contacted the surgeon who performed the surgery and told him so that he can start getting the paperwork needed to have her go. We are not sure at this time how long the wait will be but we are just praying it will be in the next month or so. Thank you for all your prayers and cards....it means the WORLD to us.

Well it is that time of year again....CONSIGNMENT TIME. You know i get excited about these sales. And take them very seriously. I have my money {cash only} in my pocket, laundry basket and my strategy is fast and furious....start at one end and skim the racks. If is see something that i like i quickly put it in my basket and keep moving. I don't take time to look the item over or check the price...that can be done later. First I look for the "High End" items that can cost in the hundreds {ie...smocked dresses and boutique items}. After i have reached the end with my stash i go thru and start looking for anything stained or worn. Then i go thru and check prices. I have a set price in my head of what i'm willing to pay for a certain item. Once i have gone thru all my items and picked out what i want i go back and skim the racks again to make sure i have seen everything and see if anyone has put something back that i may like. Then i move on to shoes. When it comes to shoes....smaller sizes are your best bet. Older kids ruin shoes so i didn't even look at the girls shoes this time. Then i browse the DVD's and books. I didn't find any DVD's this sale.
But here is what i did find. :)
Please excuse the wrinkles....i haven't washed yet.

This outfit is more for this fall. The green is corduroy but i thought it was to cute to pass up for $15.
Ooh LA LA!!! I can't wait to monogram this cute pink dress. I love the Paris scene around the bottom....
I saw this dress at Strasburg last year with a price tag of $149.00! I loved it when i saw it and thought that it would make a gorgeous portrait but well....i'm not paying that price. I picked it up last night for $15.00! :o)

This dress is so sweetly southern! I love it. It is mint green with pink in the smocking. When little girl saw it she immediately wanted it on!

Here is a close up on the smocking.

And lastly for my sweet girl i found this CA-ute outfit with poodles and ruffles! She really liked seeing this outfit too.

Here are 3 jon jon's i found for my little man. The Madeiras plaid is reversible and is yellow on the other side. The blue is monogrammable and the smocked green and blue plaid is a perfect match to one of big sisters dresses i found for her last year that will fit her this year. :o) I love it when that happens.


Ok, ok....i know. This little jacket and shorts outfit looks straight out of the Hampton's right?? HAHA! I couldn't help myself. I just thought it was toooooooo cute to pass up for $5. I'm a sucker for seersucker.

I lucked out and found 2 smocked short sets.
Nothing says little boy like space ships and rockets!
And a "Chopper Chopper". :o)

I also found little man 2 pair of new shoes.

Please excuse the horrible lighting and pictures. I didn't feel like being much of a photographer today.

I have 2 more sales to hit up in the next few weeks. I hope i can find a few more things for my little boy. I'm really hoping to score matching Easter outfits again this year.

Are you a consignment shopper? IF you have never been or don't know of any consignment sales are in your area just google Kids Consignment Sales for whatever area you are in and see if there are any close by.

Philippians 4:13

"I Can Do All Things Through Christ Who Strengthens Me" !!!!

This verse has been going thru my mind for weeks now! It is not a boast of self: "I can do all things." It is, I can do all things through Christ! There is a huge difference.

We got our news last friday. It wasn't what we were hoping for. It is cancer. Chemo is top on the list for the next step. But there are a few options that are being closely considered right now.

I will no doubt be M.I.A. these next few months here and there cause since the kiddos and I don't have a set schedule {another blessing from God that i'm able to be a stay at home mom} we are able to go with her and stay with her throughout her chemo so that my husbands father can continue to work.

Just asking everyone to keep her in your prayers and I will continue to update as much as i can.