Growth in God

Words of Comfort

2012-01-27T09:36:00.000-06:00

It seems like lately I lean to words of comfort. There is so much going on in our lives, in the lives of our family, in the lives of our friends and in the lives of others that we know and don't know.

I find that life is so stressful lately.

It is rushed, chaotic, demanding.

Sometimes it is full of great anxiety and sorrow.

I sat back yesterday and watched my children,

how their emotions were so mixed up

and they were fighting because they didn't quite know how to deal with what they were feeling.

I understood this emotion.

How sometimes just the amount of stress in life

can allow you to react in a way that really was not intended,

you just burst at the seams,

like a teapot, that is nice and hot and ready to pour.

This all leads me to the word of God this morning

and some verses to share

in hopes that if you need some comfort or reassurance

you might find it in the Words of our Heavenly Father.

The Lord has heard my weeping. The Lord has heard my cry for mercy, the Lord accepts my prayer.

Psalm 6:8-9

In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From the depths of the grace I called for help, and you listened to my cry. Jonah 2:2

This is what the Lord says to you, Do not be afraid or discouraged.. For the battle is not yours, but God's.

2 Chronicles 20:18

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor; If they fall down, they can help each other up. But pity those who fall and have no one to help them up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm, But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves.

A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

I pray for you today. I pray that your needs be met, that your heart be lighter. I pray that you find the goodness in the midst of the storm. If you would like prayer directly please comment and I would be happy to lift up your requests.

Thankful Thursday

2012-01-26T19:34:00.000-06:00

Wow what a Thursday. First let me start off by asking prayers from all of you who read my blog for a family in our community. Their son lost his battle today. They made the tough decision to bless others by donating his organs, now others will live as he becomes an angel in heaven way to soon. Please pray for the family, the students of the school and the staff that have all been affected by this loss. I pray that Sunshine of Autumn Quilts and my family may find a way to provide some healing to them if this is what the Lord's plan is.

With this incredible loss in mind I think of my own children. I think back to before I got married and how they said I wouldn't have any due to a severe injury in college. I think back to my soon to be husband and the plans we had for opening up a Ranch to help children with differing disabilities. I had no idea the Lord had a different future in mind. I am so thankful we took this journey in faith together.

Soon after we were married I would find out that I was pregnant. I had gotten sick on the drive to Texas from CA and they gave me some steroid shots to help out as well as some other stuff, well guess what that got my ovaries in full gear and a couple months later we were pregnant with Jakob. I didn't know until we were 10 weeks along. I remember being very scared about the whole situation. I didn't have family here, we didn't have a job, we were living with Paul's mom. I took great comfort in her holding her hands over my stomach and praying for 30+ minutes. I could just feel a sensation over me that I had never in my life felt. He turned out to be extremely healthy.

I can honestly say growing up I really didn't think of children. I thought of working- being a counselor or a teacher, working with children but not having my own. I honestly did not feel I was cut out to be a mother. Kind of a funny statement if you have been around my children. For the most part I have done a great job with the guidance of our heavenly father and a very supportive husband 90% of the time.

I think back to the beginning times with the kids though. Jakob was easy. He slept right away, he loved to play, he ate frequently. It was just the two of us most of the time. Zekaryah's pregnancy was a pretty easy one. Jakob was over a year, I was ready for another one if the Lord was willing. His last few months though from 6 on were very difficult. I was constantly sick. I didn't feel him move very often. I was terrified. I had no idea we would have to part with a child that the doctor did not feel I was carrying. As Zekaryah gets closer to turning 14 I just feel so blessed that the Lord left me him and did not take them both. I have a healthy boy who fights every day to be a great child. He is a hard worker and determined. He can be lazy, especially if he is overwhelmed but I know he has a heart of gold. I can't imagine my life without him even though we have endured many trials together. Such as 7 months of colic, a reading disability that has led to more nights and days of crying over homework then any mother should have to endure. He is my adventurous child, always into something, creating problems really because of his intense curiosity in the outdoors and with science. Still through all the things I could list, I could list 100 more positive ones to counteract them.

As for Mekenzei the pregnancy with her was utter shock. I was still breast feeding Zekaryah so I had no idea I was pregnant until I was mowing the lawn and I started to miscarry her. I am so thankful to that Dr we saw, he truly is a blessing from the Lord because it saved her life. We have had some medical scares with her. When she was first born I remember holding her and the nurse coming in and telling me she needed a transfusion. She had the same blood issue the twin with Zekaryah had. I remember just sobbing. How could we loose another child. I remember telling the Lord, Look I have held this one. I had never wanted a girl. We didn't find out with her what we were having and my heart just melted away when we saw that she was indeed not a boy. Immediately I had her on every prayer chain I could. My parents were not there yet and my mom personally called TBN for a prayer request. In a few hours they said her blood was free, they thought maybe they had made a mistake, it wasn't a mistake it was the Lord. I am thankful she was an easy baby because I hit a depression like no other after having her.

She was born in May and I miscarried in December, at this point even though I wanted one more child I knew God was telling me it was enough. That they each had a purpose in my life. Today I am so incredibly thankful for each one. Sometimes the fighting can be overwhelming or the nagging to get them to do what I ask, or the fact that they don't clean up like they should and I do instead, it does upset me yet I would take a million more days of all those bad things to have them here with me. They mean everything in the world to my family. They each have their piece of the pie that makes us complete. I am so honored the Lord placed them in our trusting care until he has another purpose for them.

Time for another Tshirt Giveaway

2012-01-25T18:27:00.001-06:00

If you have been following me for a while you know that I love my Boys! I am always so proud of their hard work, their uniqueness and their loving spirits toward others.

To celebrate their upcoming birthdays, one will turn 14 the other 16. I am giving away a Tshirt Quilt. Granted you do have 5 mandatory entries that are needed in order to win, there are other optional entries so you can increase your chances. I settled on a date in between because if they had been born on the days they should have, there would have only been 4 days between their birthdays. The Lord knew that would be an impossible task in our household. I am thankful he had a better plan.

This quilt will be in gray fabric. It will contain 12 of your own shirts. Preferably adult size because it will give you a nice size lap throw. You will be responsible for mailing me your shirts at your cost.


It will have this exact soft cuddly gray on the back with a black handmade cotton binding.

I do these giveaways in hopes of the feedback and the sharing that will take place. I am allowing the Lord to run my business and in order to do that it is by your word of mouth that it will grow. In exodus it talks about some of the Lord's children being Artisan's. I am honored that the Lord gave me this talent and I pray that I will always be able to bless others through it. Thank you for entering and please share the news of this giveaway and my ETSY page, I would be grateful.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tackle it Tuesday

2012-01-25T15:12:00.000-06:00

I had hoped to get my quilt block done. I had hoped to get some of the house clean. I had hoped to work on a quilt since Friday.. I didn't get any of that done. I created a spreadsheet of all business conducted for Sunshine of Autumn Quilts for 2011. It took hours. I plugged in all our tax info into H and R Block online, which by the way I really love. I used Turbo Tax for years, then last year I got a free trial for HnR, they got me a little more back and so this year I didn't hesitate to use them again. I really like that they have some small business pop ups. I wasn't quite sure where all my information went on the deductions/income sections. Their software was great at helping me figure it all out- myself. I got up this morning, plugged in all my business info and now we are filed and await approval. I am so thankful it is all over.

I learned a ton. First off I need to do better at keeping every receipt. I forget sometimes to keep thread reciepts, or batting reciepts. I forget to break them down between orders when I buy in bulk. I lost out on a lot of write offs. I did not start keeping track of any giveaways or free quilting services until May- once again something I need to change. I did try to download quickbooks- the free version from Cnet, I must say it didn't want to install on my computer. I looked at purchasing it and could not justify the cost. I looked at purchasing quicken- which I used for years when we were first married- you used to get it free when you purchased Turbo Tax. I could not justify the $30 for me to be lazy about having to total my monthly sales. Maybe if I can sell a couple queen orders, right now money is so tight I don't know how we are buying food and paying for gas. In fact this week I could only get half the food we needed because I only had $25 for groceries.

I am thankful last night that a customer purchased the Baby Genius quilt, I had discounted it to $25, way lower than what I normally would charge but we were desperate. So now just one more premade one to sale at $20. I am praying that will happen for us too.. I hope today to get a quilt block done, start working on that quilt and get some of my very out of control house situated. All these boxes for the garage sale and buckets of my moms fabric are really adding some clutter to my already tight situation.

Hope you are having a great week

The Giveaway Quilt for January 2012

2012-01-23T14:55:00.000-06:00

Here is her quilt. I forgot to measure it and it is already boxed so I guess I won't have that info this time.

I saw this cute little tidbit at the bottom of a shirt and found a way to applique it on a bock, this helped me out too because the brown shirt was very narrow and I wanted to secure the corner where the sleeve was at the top.

Like advertised I used a comfy blue flannel for the back, and a black with green print for the binding

I did include 3 additional squares because the shirts were very small. I felt like if it was going to be her son's quilt I needed it to be a little longer. Not much I could do about making it a little wider. I sure hope he likes it, as well as her.

Menu Planning Monday

2012-01-23T11:19:00.000-06:00

Monday

Chili and Cornbread

Campbell's Chicken Soup- Kids

Tuesday

Spaghetti and Garlic Bread

Wednesday

French Toast and Bacon

Thursday

Veggie Plate Night- Mac n cheese, corn, broccoli and mashed potatoes w gravy

Friday

Zekaryah Celebration-

Hot Dogs and Smores on BonFire- Board game night, sundaes for dessert

Saturday

French Bread Pizza

Sunday

Zekaryah's Birthday Dinner

Homemade Chicken Tenders, Okra and French Fries

The Weekend What a Busy Time

2012-01-23T10:20:00.000-06:00

So to tell you how our weekend went. Friday started with moving boxes from a friends storage unit, of things her family did not want, that were her mother's, who passed away last year. She gave them to us in hopes we could make a little money doing a garage sale. Right now they sit in my den. It will be alot to go through. I am hopeful that it will all work out though. Then I dropped Paul off at his brother in laws for his weekend trip, which I told him over and over it was probably not the best timing.. Guess what it wasn't. Its funny how I am always right about these things. I just knew it was such a busy month and he really does a lot to help me with scheduling on our weekends. I depend on him.

On my way back home, after dropping my husband off I found out our daughter wanted to go to a friends after school, which sounded fine because at the time I wanted to work on a quilt to list on ETSY this week.

Well she ended up riding the bus home instead of going home with her friend, because she couldn't find her which pushed Jakob and I late to find a book or two for a report assigned Friday, research being due Monday. We met with the dad and her friend at the library, got into the library to find someone checked said book out 30 min prior to us being there. We jotted down some info from a reference book quickly as the library closes at 4 on Fridays. I really wish they stayed open until 5. It makes life difficult if children are assigned projects Friday during school, due Monday morning, or even Tuesday. We then rushed to a local bookstore- to find out they are closing. Everything is 60% off and nothing really left. That said book- sold 30 min before we got there. I am at a point of frustration now..

I rushed home, got online, reserved the book and another at Barnes and Nobel in a location that my husband nearly always drives through because I nearly always get lost. I printed maps, dropped Zek off at a friends for the night and we left in search of the bookstore. We got there searched a couple sections for more books on symbolism, to find there weren't any. I was thankful I had reserved my two. We went to pay for them, the one we really needed, that we hunted for twice already, they didn't have ready, nor did they have at the store like they said online. The one we paid for, not very useful, it is more a dream definition book. At this point I was wasting gas and we were starving so we stopped in at Denny's. I am thankful he is my practical child who ordered from the cheap menu. We still had to drop clothes off for Kenzei and finally got home near 10 pm. It was a long day!

Saturday started at 8. Waking Jakob up to write out his words, went to the college library in search of a reference book they were supposed to have on symbolism. We searched, finally asked for help for the reference librarian to be in utter confusion at the fact they didn't have the book. What is it with this book! We went to the regular section, her thinking that maybe it was re-shelved in the wrong place and it wasn't there either. I am so thankful that at this point we did find TWO other books, not online in the catalog section, that did work. We don't have a card for this library so we had to sit there and write all the words and info out, so he looked each up and dictated what should be written down because I had a feeling I would be typing it, and wanted to be able to read the writing. At least I could plan ahead for something...at this point I am thanking the Lord for answering some prayers, feeling guilty that I am not at SOS volunteering but thankful at the same time I was spending time with Jakob.

We left there still needing one more word, got lunch, went to the library in town wrote up everything else he needed from the book from Friday afternoon, that thankfully could not be checked out by anyone else since it was a reference book. I dropped him off at home, secured Zekaryah staying with another friend, Kenzei going to a birthday party with Friday's friend at another friends and went to SOS to work until 5:30. Got home made us some eggs and bacon to get a call from Kenzei that she needed clothes, she had not packed enough. I just wanted to lay in bed and watch a movie at this point. But duty calls. I text the mom where Zekaryah is because I was already headed out, and didn't want to do it again later that night..thankfully he is a boy he and didn't need anything- heck he probably didn't even shower.

Dropped off Kenzei's clothes, on the way home Jakob and I got sundaes at McDonald's. I ate my Sundae, decided to put in a movie, I really needed to de-stress. Then I get a call after the movie at 9:30 to find out that the approved party at the bowling alley was in fact not at the bowling alley, which was not her fault, they were under renovations. The mom dropped 5 12/13 year old girls off at a movie theater across town that is huge and has a bar! I did say dropped off as in no adult stayed. So needless to say my precious daughter never called to let me know of the change in plans, and should know better,I like to know where my children are. I am protective that way. So I called and told her to get her stuff together she was coming home. There went my evening. Her in the backseat, feeling I was out of line and she was very upset, not talking to me. I felt upset because she should have called to let me know they were going somewhere else, and I really am not comfortable with them being at a location like that alone.

I picked up Zek at 10 Sunday, finally kenzei was talking to me again so she went along. Came home and guess what? I decided to top off my emotional weekend by going through every one of mom's totes...

Oh wow, I am sad to say that the majority of it I can't use for quilting. Its more clothing material I am thinking. Some of it I don't even know what it is called. I sorted what I wanted, sorted what I knew I could sell online because it has a tag etc on it, to tell me what it is, and then the rest I stacked together in an area for now. I am praying someone will come along and tell me what it is, so I can sell it online or locally.

This is an example of a stack I will list on ETSY, it is very good fabric, just have to figure out how to do it all.

I finished my evening by tagging 11 buckets of clothing from SOS, which I will take back today, and picking up Paul. I tell you ...what a weekend, and he will be lucky if he gets to go again. I am sure I will come back to my senses, but it is hard to have him away like that with school in progress.

All I could think of when I woke up this morning is that, in my efforts to clean house Sunday, it looks worse and I have three boys coming over Friday night for Zekaryah's birthday- we are doing hot dogs and smores and playing board games. And guess what Paul has a side job early Saturday morning...hoping next weekend has better luck.

I am so thankful to our heavenly father that he watched over us the whole time. I may not have gotten the kitchen done, the house clean, my quilt made but I was able to find the bookstore with help from a friend. Three other friends helped me maneuver children this weekend. Just having Jakob made it easier. I can't imagine trying to find time to drive them to where they wanted to be too. I am also thankful that despite all the time that Jakob lost looking for the books for this paper for English, he was able to get all his other homework done on Sunday. I pray for him today as he goes into Spanish probably not as prepared as he would have liked, for his oral speech. I am also thankful he did his art portion of this project while I worked at SOS Saturday afternoon. It is simply amazing!

He had to choose 7 words from ideas of his personality. Then he looks them up finds their symbolic meaning and draws a picture to display that. It is a hand holding a pawn, that has a shadow, he also has fire in the picture with ash shooting across both sides the dark in black and gold and the lighter with white and blue.

He also has to write a 3 page paper. I admit outside of driving him around, I don't have to help much at all. Boy am I thankful for that.

It was an interesting weekend full of obstacles and time spent together somehow..

Praying for Blessing

2012-01-20T06:36:00.000-06:00

We sure have a lot going on financially lately. I just can't seem to stay on top. I got a call from a friend yesterday to see if I could help locate a pick up service for some things she was parting ways with. It ended up being a lot of things...Long story short she ended up deciding that we could have it all if we wanted.. we debated and decided we did. My husband took off work this morning so we can take the trailor to pick it all up. He has a trip later this afternoon and will be gone all weekend so it probably was a good idea to have the morning off anyway. I was going to put everything in the house but then with all the flooding issues we have lately we decided that won't work.

I am hoping to sell some of it on Craigslist or EBAY and then the rest in a Garage Sale. That could prove to be difficult. I don't see garage sales in our neighborhood. There is one family near the front that seems to do it, but I don't know how that will all work. I tried to enlist a friend to help me with it, I didn't get a reply. So I am praying for Blessing. I was overwhelmed at her kindness to think of us. I pray that these items that are treasured by someone will find new homes and that the money earned from it will get us afloat.

I am still not sure on Jakob's trip come March, it seems he is the only one interested so we are currently holding a blessing of $100 by check that we might be returning. In some ways that could be a blessing in of itself. I have been super stressed as to how we would come up with so much money in a little over a month, how I could justify us spending money on this trip when we have a house that leaks and is not heated, when I can barely put food on the table. I am searching the Lord's grace and mercy in it all. Praying to Him for answers and just a shimmer of light to let us know we will be eating daily.

Lady Bug Burp Rag Winner

2012-01-20T06:27:00.000-06:00

Congrats to Cindy Wheatley Holland for winning the Lady Bug Burp Rag Set.
Thank you to everyone that participated. I learned from the low entries to things- one the burp rags needed to be neutral and maybe something besides burp rags. I think this is the lowest entry level yet for me.
Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thankful Thursday

2012-01-19T11:05:00.000-06:00

Do you ever have trouble feeling thankful? I am struggling this morning, I must admit. I feel sometimes like we take 2 steps forward and 10 back. I think more than ever that is why these posts are so important. It keeps me focused on all those little things I am to be thankful for so that I don't drown in all the problems that arise that lead to doubt, worry and anxiety.

This week we had a holiday to start out our school week. I love those! I love the extra time I get with the kids and also the time they sometimes get spending away from us with their friends.

I am thankful for my dog who provides me with company all day and is quick to alert me of people at my door or in my yard.

I am thankful for my husband and children this week. I had a rough couple of days. I am thankful that I can be honest with them and let them know and that they try to make it a little better by various things like salmon dinner and brownies.

I am thankful we were able to move Zekaryah into an easier math class this nine weeks, I know that will really help him.

I am thankful for the interest in my quilts on ETSY, even if there aren't any new orders yet this month.

Lastly I am thankful we live in a country where we have freedom of speech, so that I can freely write and share anything on my heart without fear of censorship.

Tackle it Tuesday

2012-01-17T14:16:00.000-06:00

I was hoping to sub this morning, but that did not work out. This is the project I set aside for Tackle it Tuesday

Once again my friend sent me fabrics and asked me to create a quilt for her.

The quilts finished size is 70 by 70

I made up a nice quilt label instead of using my generic ones since she said she will be using it.

I am really hoping she likes it.

ABC Quilt Block Sampler Project Redone Block One

2012-01-17T13:20:00.000-06:00

Autumn Tints

This is my first block REDONE for my ABC Quilt Sampler using names of blocks alphabetically as my inspiration for the quilt. My friend Diana had this idea and I decided to participate and do one of my own. I did pick my own blocks

The block measures 14 inches. I decided I didn't like the first block I did, after I did the second one. I think maybe I am just going a different direction so that my blocks do contrast a little more. I like that you can see the colors a little more, compared to the first one where it blended. The first one was also a little smaller than 14 inches which ended up making a big difference once I finished the second block. I am still struggling a little when combining the pieces. They don't always line up the way they should and I don't always understand why the pattern of the block calls for a certain size cut when they don't line up and I have to trim so much off. It surely is a learning process.

I did decide for the third block the Country Crossroads is not one I can figure out, so now I am debating between the Cactus Flower, another pattern I found for the Country Crossroads and then the Chained 5 Patch

All three would work. I just need it to be 14 inches finished.

I actually am a bit discouraged now that I have the first two done. I think some of the patterns I picked might be to difficult because I can't seem to find really good instructions that explain how to create certain style blocks. Sure hope I can stick with this. I loved the blocks I had chosen

So what do you think?

ABC Quilt Block Sampler Project 2

2012-01-16T21:35:00.000-06:00

Bear Paw

This is my second block for my ABC Quilt Sampler using names of blocks alphabetically as my inspiration for the quilt. My friend Diana had this idea and I decided to participate and do one of my own. I did pick my own blocks

The block measures 14 inches. I really like this one. I did alter the design a little. It called for 2 1/2 blocks instead of strips for the center piecing. I liked the look from the first block Autumn Tints so I stayed with the same style. That is the nice thing about quilters prerogative. I love the colors of this block. I used the same tan color in the middle to tie in the first block- which used it as a background color. I am really enjoying this process and feel like I am learning a little bit about trimming, ironing and setting of block squares. It is a lot of work.

So what do you think?

Reminder on Burp Rag Giveaway

2012-01-16T12:18:00.000-06:00

Don't forget to enter my Burp Rag giveaway, entries are low so you have a good chance of winning.

Hope you are having a great start to your week!

Menu Planning Monday

2012-01-15T15:38:00.000-06:00


³¹ So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’..³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:31,33

Monday

Pork Roast with Veggies- Crockpot

Tuesday

Pancakes and Bacon

Wednesday

Chicken and Rice- Crockpot

Thursday

BLTS and Chef Salads

Friday

Baked Potatoes

Saturday

Fajitas

Sunday

Taco Salads

Fundraising online: Europe with EF Tours or Bust

2012-01-14T18:57:00.000-06:00

Fundraising online: Europe with EF Tours or Bust

Thankful Thursday

2012-01-12T09:54:00.000-06:00


Give Thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:18

I have much to be thankful for again this week.

The rain stopped and the water in the house did too.

I am thankful the cleanup wasn't too bad.

I am thankful we are almost through 9 weeks tests for the kids.

I am thankful for the two orders that were placed through my business, they are just for quilting services, fabrics are being sent to me, but it does provide grocery and gas money for next week.

I am thankful I am getting better at taking things one day at a time.

I am thankful our menu planning is still working out well and that it has even helped my husband do some of the cooking this week. It is nice to not have to always be the one to cook.

I am thankful I continue to tackle projects around the house from cleaning to just making life a little easier.

I am very thankful for electric blankets. Mine turned off before morning today and wow was I so cold!!

That leads me to my last thankfulness comment which is being thankful for electricity. I just can't imagine life without it.

Hope your week has been a blessed one.

New Purex Ultra Pack Laundry Review

2012-01-12T09:17:00.000-06:00

I love reviewing products. This is another one from Purex. It is the same product as in the Triple Action liquid detergent but it is in a pre-dosed square. Very similar in idea to Cascade and their dish washing soaps. This is a great idea for when my children do laundry. I can trust that they will get in the right amount of soap because it is all pre-measured. It is also great for times when we go camping because I do not have to pack an entire bottle of laundry soap, I can just stick this is a zip-lock and we are ready to go. It takes up less space and I do not have to worry about it leaking everywhere. It really did have the same exact cleaning capabilities. I was not disappointed at all. Once again I did opt to get the Free and Clear so that I didn't have to worry about what was washed in the soap. I really love that Purex supports us families that have allergies by always having Free of Dye and Perfume products available.

Here is some information about their new product.

Give it a try you will love it.

What are Purex® UltraPacks™?

• New Purex UltraPacks are convenient pre-dosed liquid

detergent packs that make doing laundry easier than ever.

• Purex UltraPacks manage to squeeze all the performance

of our new Triple Action liquid formula into just one

powerful pack.

• Finally…No more mess. No more spills. No more heavy

jugs. It’s Laundry Simplified.®

• Each Purex UltraPack contains powerful 2x concentrated

liquid detergent, giving each UltraPack double

the cleaning power in every drop*.

• Purex UltraPacks dissolve quickly once the washer is

started—even in cold water.

• Purex UltraPacks are formulated and safe for all

machines, including high-efficiency (HE).

For Best Results
• Dry your hands before handling the UltraPacks – water
dissolves the film.
• Put (1) pack in the washer before adding clothing
(the more time they spend in the water, the faster
they dissolve). For larger or heavily soiled loads, use
an additional pack.
• If you have a front loader, make sure to put the pack
directly into the drum, not in the drawer.

New Purex Triple Action Laundry Soap

2012-01-12T09:01:00.000-06:00

Thank you Purex for allowing me to Review your new Triple Action Laundry Soap

I love Purex. I had always been a fan of Tide and never used any other product. We have issues with allergies in our house and soaps can cause major breakouts for us, itchy skin and other issues. Purex offers a Free and Clear line and it is wonderful. Their new product is great. I love how white my towels are! I used this soap when I had an incident with a quilt. Red dye from the backing of a quilt bled onto the white shirts on the front. It left it stripped and a tie dye mess. Between the combination of this detergent and Shout Color Catchers the shirts became a light pink, and some of them were back to white. I am very thankful for the timing of the full size bottle for the review. I love this new product line. Here is some information about it from their website.

Purex is rolling out a new Triple Action formula across the entire liquid detergent line. This new and improved Triple Action formula delivers even better on Purex’s promise to leave your clothes bright, white, and clean, and as always, for half the price of the leading brand!

Same Great Value

Over the past year our R&D scientists have been working hard to create an even better Purex formula. And not just a better formula, but one that will continue to deliver the value that Purex stands for. We’re mindful of our consumers’ pocketbooks, and we’re committed to bringing them a great product at a great value. The new Purex Triple Action formula is just that. It’s an even better clean, for half the price of the leading brand.

Coming to a Store Near You

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Leadership MISD Committee recognized by trustees - Your Houston News: News

2012-01-11T22:57:00.000-06:00

Leadership MISD Committee recognized by trustees - Your Houston News: News:

Courtesy photo

Leadership MISD Committee recognized by trustees

The Magnolia ISD Board of Trustees recognized the Leadership MISD Committee at Monday’s board meeting. Pictured, from left, are Tammy Adams, Superintendent Todd Stephens, Chuck Adcox, Dan Burch, Joe Duncan, Marsha Foster, Maria Grancio, Cynetha Lee, Pam Rogers, Jenn Wells, Angela Wroten, Paula Weatherford and Board President Cecil Bell, Jr. Not pictured are Jay Faulkner, John Graziano, Petra Lopez and Lee Maney.

Posted: Tuesday, January 10, 2012 1:28 pm

Leadership MISD Committee recognized by trustees 0 comments

Leadership MISD is a new initiative which began in March 2011. Members are parents of students in the district which were given an opportunity to take part in an interactive, in-depth learning experience. The parents are nominated by campus personnel to be a part of this co-hort. The parents were able to go "behind the scenes" of Magnolia ISD, meet the people who are responsible for programs and services, and see first-hand how the district creates a climate of success for our growing student population.

ABC Quilt Block Sampler Project

2012-01-11T18:17:00.003-06:00

Autumn Tints

This is my first block for my ABC Quilt Sampler using names of blocks alphabetically as my inspiration for the quilt. My friend Diana had this idea and I decided to participate and do one of my own. I did pick my own blocks

The block measures 14 inches. It was interesting trying to decide what to sew together and when. It was pretty challenging. I learned it was very necessary to Iron as I created the block,and to trim a little. I am excited that I have the first one done. I will probably do one more this week since I missed one last week. I love the colors. I guess it does not contrast as well as someone elses block that they might create but I wanted a subtle looking quilt when it is finished.

So what do you think?

The Versatile Blog Award

2012-01-11T17:19:00.000-06:00

Today I received a message that Cynthia Anne at The Truth Blog was awarding with a Versatile Blog Award. That is really a great way to describe my Blog.

I went to her link to see what the rules are.. this is something commonly done among Bloggers..

The rules for this award are:

1. Thank the person that nominated you with a link back to them.Thanks Cynthia Anne!!!!!!

2. Tell 7 things about yourself. (see below)

3. Pass this award on to 15 newly discovered blogs and let them know that they’ve received an award.

So 7 Things about myself

1. I have a passion for Christ and love sharing that with others

2. I love being a wife and work hard to be a Proverbs 31 Woman

3. I have three amazing children and enjoy being able to be a Stay at Home Mom so that I have more time with them.

4. I love to quilt and enjoy trying to grow by business on Etsy and through Facebook

5. l love to read, when I have spare time. I am currently in the middle of Jennifer Chiaverini's Elm Creek Quilts series, I am currently reading the Christmas Quilt.

6. I love watching movies

7. I struggle to keep a clean house, that is probably my biggest fault in life, but I am working at getting better at that. I did great prior to having kids and a husband, esp the kids part. SO I truly know it is possible.

Thank you again for this award I hope to continue to be Versatile, I enjoy blogging about many topics, not just faith and quilting..

WordFilled Wednesday

2012-01-11T13:12:00.000-06:00


There will be a time for every activity, a time for every deed. Ecclesiastes 3:17

Today I wrote a list of things I wanted to accomplish today. Yesterday in my cleaning spree, I set up my new shelving system. On the top shelf I had repairs that needed to be done. Paul had three pairs of shorts that needed the button form the pocket to be relocated to the waist. On one the crotch area was completely split but needed to be stitched back together. On another pair there was an area around the pocket that was coming apart in two spots and then there was a rip in the leg portion across. The patching on that was not ideal but he wears these in a warehouse so I think it will work for their purpose. Now he has three more pair of shorts to put in the rotation of work clothes.

I also had two friends that gave me items, one a shirt to fix and the other her daughters purse we bought from my friend Des a while back. The pocket on the outside had come unattached. My daughter found two nights ago that one of the boys had ripped the tag out of her special pillow, and it left a HUGE hole at the corner, so now that is stitched and ready to be used again too. Its interesting that all these things which really don't take much time have sat for so long. It was nice to have them on my list today and get them off the list quickly. I also made a set of burp rags today for a giveaway

So now to the rest of my list for today. I have 7 items remaining.

Lady Bug Burp Rag Giveaway

2012-01-11T12:42:00.003-06:00

In honor of my mother in law Joyce, I am hosting a giveaway for these pretty Lady Bug Burp Rags. I have made a matching quilt on my ETSY page, it is listed for $45 plus shipping. It is Baby Genius Fabrics on the front and then this lovely Burp Rag Flannel on the back.

My mother in law would have had her birthday the 20th of the month, so the contest runs until then.

She loved Pink, it was her favorite color so this would have been something she would have liked for a baby girl. Please make sure you complete all five mandatory entries to win.

They will ship first class to the winner.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tackle it Tuesday

2012-01-10T20:49:00.001-06:00

But all things should be done decently and in order.

1 Corinthians 14:40

This is obviously pretty dirty. I had all these containers etc under the quilting tables. I have been so busy the last couple of month things just get piled and I move to the next order. The flooded floor was the Lord saying, "Jenn, enough is enough." Today I listened and cleaning was my Tackle it Tuesday

Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.

Luke 12:33

I will admit that in order to pull off some of this cleaning I really needed to go through my fabric and some clothing that was donated to Kenzei. I have a friend that quilts, and I will be mailing her three medium size boxes of mixed fabric. She is amazing at using scraps and creating something out of nothing. I am hoping some of what I send her can help her out too. Maybe give her some inspiration for a new quilt. Its fabric that has sat or maybe I had a plan that is no longer there, so it was nice to get rid of some of my storehousing..

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

James 1:2-4

Monday was a very trying day for me. I did not sleep well last night. I woke up this morning had an early meeting, had some trying school PTO stuff to handle, had to pay bills, saw the depleted money in the account and panicked a little. I knew I had some quilt orders in hold, two of which by the end of the day I had payment on but I was a tad panicked. I had a meeting tonight and knew I wanted to tackle something. I had planned to quilt but that did not happen since well the condition of my tables was unbearable. I am thankful the Lord helped guide me through my cleaning. I now have a more organized spot to work in. My friend Stef gave me this wood unit and I immediately thought of my quilting area. I can store fabric for current projects and repairs on the shelves and then batting scraps in a container underneath. I am hoping to add a peg board this weekend to the other wall so that I can hang my supplies, rulers, scissors etc. It will be nice to start 2012 off a little more organized. I like that I am making better use of my space too. The quilt money I made today pays for Paul to have gas in his truck and food on our table next week. For that I am very grateful. It has been a good Tackle it Tuesday.

“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”

Psalm 46:10

Thank you Rafflecopter Win an IPAD 2

2012-01-09T21:11:00.002-06:00

All you have to do is put my name as the referral person Jenn Wells, then you feel out the Rafflecopter. Nice and easy. Many thanks to Rafflecopter for such a great giveaway. Thank you for letting Growth in God be a part of it! I love Rafflecopter it makes my giveaways nice and easy!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Rain Rain and More Rain

2012-01-09T13:12:00.000-06:00

There is nothing quite like getting a call from your husband to let you know that Tornado Warnings were issued in your area at 6 am to stepping out of bed into lots of COLD standing water on your floor. Mind you my bed is at the other side of the room, so that my quilting area can be in our bedroom. That meant the entire floor is full of water. I walk through the water to find that half of my den is also covered in water. I tell my husband he better just turn back around because this was too much for one person to handle.

What a way to begin my day. I am thankful that we keep extra towels. I used EVERY SINGLE ONE. I got a Rubbermaid bucket and started twisting those babies out and putting them back down. Then my arms and hands got blistered and tired so I started using the spin cycle on the washer- that was a great idea, which led me to think of the shop vac- I admit that didn't work as well as I would have hoped so I grabbed a mop. Finally as I was nearly done getting all the containers from under my quilting tables up. Unplugging things so I don't electrocute myself..my husband pulls up. I admit his job was much worse then mine. He had to create some trenches in the yard.

Our little pond that has been dry for nearly two years was overflowing, you could not even tell it was a pond, the pool which lacked 2 ft of water was overflowing, he pulled the drain on the other side to let some water out and the slab on the backside of the house was covered and the water was two wood pieces high, thus why I had water in the house.

I can say a few things. That was a lot of water! Second I am so thankful to cell phones, can you imagine if I had not been woken up, we might have really Flooded the bedroom and den. Third we have got to figure out a way to get some drain system in the works on that side of the house and get the wall fixed that was behind that fireplace we pulled down.

This is where you come in. I need prayers, I need buckets of overflowing prayers. We need quilt orders, we need side jobs, we need some money to fix this. I am extremely worried about how much water is now on the interior wall because it was just pouring in the house where the top of that fireplace was. For now the rain has ceased for that I am extremely grateful because I have a headache the size of Texas..

Thoughts on Weekly and Monthly Planning

2012-01-08T20:43:00.000-06:00


The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirit. Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established. —Proverbs 16:1-3

New Beginnings for 2012 mean planning more. I also want to be a little "over" organized. This is an example. We have been freezing our salsa for a year now, it works out great. We have learned an important organization lesson besides putting the date on it, which we do- to tag it as great, decent, okay. That way I know to use certain batches for beans, or for regular eating. Good lesson to learn.

Another that we started this week is sorting out the meat as we buy it by not only the purchase date but the meal it is intended for and the date of it. That is where planning a little in advance really helps out. I love the idea of planning a month in advance because we can watch the sales a little more.

The heart of man plans his way,
but the Lord establishes his steps.

—Proverbs 16:9

I admit that last week the menu got used every night, we did swap meals twice, once out of time for people being home to eat it and the other due being busy. We did still eat every meal of the week though.

The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance,
but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.

—Proverbs 21:5

I love my new planning menus. They have a menu on one side and a grocery list on the other. I have learned I can write the two or three items I need for that night right next to it. This week I also added in the menu box if we had the particular meat, which freezer it was in etc. I even was able to list that we had frozen shredded cheese to the menu box, so that I would not purchase more this month.

Many are the plans in the mind of a man,
but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.

—Proverbs 19:21

I am praying as we continue to follow some biblical principles and grow more in our organizational methods that we will live a little easier and become more efficient with our finances.

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

—Jeremiah 29:11

Menu Planning Monday

2012-01-08T15:10:00.000-06:00

I tried real hard but we had no cash for this weeks menu. We had to put it on the credit card and the total was just under $50. I was able to buy a family size package of meat and that will last us through Feb 5th for all the nights I have hamburger in a meal.

That got us talking about trying to figure out how to eat a little cheaper, keeping meals at $3 a night or less. Will have to see if I can really work hard on that for February. For this week we split a few nights because not everyone will eat what I am cooking.

Monday

Cheese Enchiladas Kenzei and Zekaryah

Burritos everyone else

Tuesday

Mock Chicken Parmesan Mom and Dad

Fettuccine Alfredo Kenzei and Zekaryah

Spaghetti Jakob

Wednesday

Tacos and Refried Beans

Thursday

Chicken Pot Pie Kenzei, Mom and Dad

Cereal- for the boys

Friday

Hot Dogs or Frito Pies- Kids

Leftover Chicken Pot Pie- Mom and Dad

Saturday

Hamburgers- Mom and Dad

Hot Dogs- Kids

Sunday

Breakfast Tacos

Saturday Projects

2012-01-07T14:53:00.000-06:00

So this is what we have been up to project wise, I had showed the beginning of this project already but here it is full circle.

This is Kenzei's dogs - doghouse, he is an outside only dog so he needed something better than his broken igloo he was using.

Paul really took his time in making this. It really also made me truly believe he could BUILD me a quilting shop.

He even used a miter bit and did some rounding edges, very nice!

Comes complete with roofing and we put hay inside and a blanket he used so he will stay warmer, today we are painting it so it will help it last. This Project cost us $0, all supplies he got from work or had on hand from other projects. I love these kind of things!

Celebrating 17 Years

2012-01-06T10:51:00.000-06:00

Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. ...

17 Years ago we drove to Las Vegas and got married, just the two of us, we rented a trailer the next day, hauled it back to Irvine, California and loaded our things from two dorm rooms and moved to Texas. 17 Years ago today we became one another's helpers, we became one in flesh, we became on in God. I am so thankful the Lord decided I was to be his Helper in life.

This is how we started off 2010- as a family, we had a fried night and played games and it was very very cold! It is my favorite thing about our family- Our Close togetherness. As a family unit we really have had our fair share of obstacles to overcome but I believe they have made us all that much stronger, caring, and loving in life and towards others.

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” Ephesians 5:31

We had a few goals for 2011. We wanted to find a new church to call our home. We wanted to date more. We wanted to spend more quality time with our children. We wanted to put work into our home by putting in windows and doing some other necessary repairs. We wanted my quilting business to grow and for Paul to put in time with two side jobs he does. We wanted to continue to grow together in the Lord.

However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

Ephesians 5:33

I feel like we had a great start in 2010 with becoming more on track with the Lord's plan for our marriage and family life. We spent more time even with Paul's family and had an opportunity in 2011 to spend time with my cousin's family here in Texas and then with my grandmother. It was a nice year to celebrate one another's likenesses and differences. It was a nice year to compromise and not be divided.

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her

Ephesians 5:25

Our search for a church proved difficult this year. We knew that we needed to move on from a church home that we loved. There was is so much great about our old church that has been with us most of our marriage but we needed something that fit our needs more and was closer to home. We did try out a new church and enjoyed it, but it still was not enough of a perfect fit. The Lord did open the doors to a youth group for the younger two and this church has been in the process of building a new church building instead of a temporary meeting place. I am praying that this is our fit for 2012. I look forward to seeing the blessings the Lord has in store for us and it truly is close to home. I admit I had difficulty this year respecting the Lord's wishes on surrendering to my husband in regards to where we were going to worship. I am thankful though that the Lord constantly speaks to my heart and that I am learning more and more every day that submitting to my husband is submitting to the Lord's plan for us and that HE truly needs to be in the driver's seat of our lives, it makes for a much better marriage and family life.

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

Ephesians 5:22-24

Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.

1 Peter 3:7

I am truly thankful this year that the Lord felt it best suited for us for me to remain a stay at home mom. I am thankful for the job that my husband has that allows for many vacation days, time where he can leave early to be at our children's school functions and that we can talk throughout the day while he is at work. I am thankful that even though he does work some side jobs and that I do work from our home making quilts that we find time to connect as a family through dinners and other meals, that we have time to play games, watch tons of movies and shows and work together on our home to create a real family unit.I am thankful that our children are truly the most important aspect of our lives and that we are a united front always where they are concerned. I am ever so grateful that Paul has always been a wonderful dad, I realize how much I should treasure that!

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.

Psalm 127:3

I found in our years of marriage that the most important thing we can do for each other outside of praying for one another is to truly take time out to have some quality time together. Whether that is night's out, which we had a few or simply just plugging in a movie, making jam or salsa, doing some repairs. Its so important to touch base so that we do not grow apart. In our earlier years we focused so much on the children that we lost sight of dating.

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

We have also learned that even taking the kids along is not a bad thing, or having friends from work etc. I am so thankful for the many blessings the Lord has bestowed upon us this year. I am thankful that we are healthy, that we are more in love than ever, that we continue to grow in one another and that we continue to learn how to make one another happy. It truly is a growing process. As we spend years together it is so difficult to not get caught up in the world, in others and outside of one another. I truly look forward to 2012 and all that it will bring for us as a couple and parents.

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Jeremiah 29:11

So here we are in 2012, our first picture of the year. This is something new for us, we made sure there were many pictures of us in 2011. I found looking back at my parents photos and grandparents photos etc that was something they did not have, I do not want my children to have that same fate later in life, so this is a new tradition I am happy to have. I want to show that we celebrate one another, our love and our lives together. I hope you have been inspired in 2011 by what you have read. I hope there are days that the Lord speaks to your spirit, that it might at times pull you out of the merk and mire. I pray that I can always be an instrument He uses to reach others. I pray that our marriage, though we have had definite times of difficult, prove that with the Lord all things are possible and that prayer is the best answer for every situation.

I am excited to be celebrating 17 years with this wonderful man of mine, through his strengths and weaknesses, through his compassion and frustration, through his love and generosity.

And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Matthew 22:37-39

Thankful Thursday

2012-01-04T23:19:00.000-06:00

Give thanks to the God of gods. His faithful love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords. His faithful love endures forever.

Psalm 136:2-3

I am thankful for a New Year.

I am thankful for New Beginnings.

I am thankful for my family.

I am thankful for the Christmas Break we just had, it was so much fun to eat good food and play lots of games. It was fun to get a couple of things done too.

I am thankful that Paul got in a couple hours at a side job and has a promise of a few more hours this week.

I am thankful that while I cannot attend our daughter's basketball game tomorrow since I have an important meeting, that my husband can be there instead to support her, and maybe even her friend from PreK, who I invited.

I am thankful I completed the Elementary Quilt. I was very nervous over this order and it is nice to have it finished.

I am thankful for the inspiration of my niece in my new quilt this week for she was nicknamed ladybug a long time ago, it seemed like the perfect flannel for a new finished discovery quilt.

I am thankful for the time this week to relax a little, for the time i had to finish a book I had been reading for over a month and for some later morning sleep that has been needed more lately then ever.

I am thankful that my Tshirt giveaway idea is looking like a success, it is exciting to see that people truly are interested in the idea of a good quality giveaway.

I am also thankful and excited to have a new project to start on with my friends idea to do a ABC Quilt Block Quilt.

Lastly I am so THANKFUL that my anniversary is just a day away now. I treasure my husband. I love how supportive he is of me. I love how much we have learned from one another, that we continue to fight to have a good quality marriage, that we beat the odds and came back to one another after a very difficult road. I am thankful that we have Christ in our live who continues to make obstacles easier to manage and overcome. I am thankful that we have each other and look forward to many more years together. It is nice to be married to my Best Friend.

Hope you have much to be thankful for this week too.

Girl Baby Genius Lady Bug Quilt

2012-01-04T17:02:00.000-06:00

Quilt I finished today it measures 30 by 30 and has cute butterfly fabric on the back

WordFilled Wednesday

2012-01-04T11:34:00.000-06:00

Money and Becoming out of Debt is Our Goal for 2012

I keep hearing about Dave Ramsey's books. I have tried to win a couple but so far that had not been God's plan, so I put in a request at the library. I am not sure why I didn't think to do that months ago. I plan to make a better plan. I tracked our expenses bill wise on Excel all last year; that was a great start. I would like to track this year what we spend on extras when it is food, gas, the kids expenses. That takes dedication and planning. I like the idea of his Debt Snowball so that is where we are going to start, pay all the small stuff down, as we can, so we can tackle the bigger stuff, if not in 2012 then in 2013.

I will say we do not have car loans so that will make tackling everything a little easier.

Sometimes its about priorities, for example with our recent washer and dryer situation, we could have financed them, charged them on the credit card but I had the exact cash we needed saved, it meant that we would not do a couple things during Christmas Break and also our anniversary but I am thankful we chose that path. There is no stress over how to pay it back later.

I love how the Lord seemed to put his hand over the basic remodel we needed to do, it went pretty smoothly over all, is finished and it didn't cost us anything out of pocket. We were able to find things around the house/yard to finish the job and make the larger washing machine and dryer work for us.

I love this verse, I think of the simple yet very complex message it contains to all of us about how To plan, how to use, how to save...

For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he may have enough to finish it; lest perhaps, after he has laid the foundation and is not able to finish, all those seeing begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build and was not able to finish. Luke 14:28-30

So that is our plan for this coming year. To sit down and make a small plan. Last year we tried to tackle it all and I think became very overwhelmed and discouraged. This year I just want to tackle it in sessions so we are breaking the year down into three month segments. What we want to pay down every three months, what our plan is, how we can accomplish it. I also want to try out best to pay groceries and gas with cash from side jobs to avoid paying for them with credit cards since we already know our income will not cover it. Then I feel like we are using the Lord's Blessings in a better way. That will require me to continue to plan our menu a month at a time too, and then stick to it.

The bible also says this,

He who has no rule over his own spirit is like a broken down city without a wall.
Proverbs 25:28

This is huge in our lives here on earth. It is so easy to make excuses. We almost did it today. We have an opportunity for some side work tonight and then again Friday night, maybe some over the weekend. We really need the extra funds but we also have our anniversary Friday. After really thinking and praying I called my husband and said that we were not going to finance eating out, we were not using the cash he could get for a side job for it either, he was going to work the partial job tonight and then again on Friday and pick up what he could on Saturday evening, then leave Sunday for church and work around our won house. We have to think about sticking to our plan, making sacrifice and most importantly contentment.

For I have learned to be content, whatever the circumstances may be. I know now how to live when things are difficult and I know how to live when things are prosperous. In general and in particular I have learned the secret of eating well or going hungry of facing either plenty of poverty. I am ready for anything through the strength of the One who lives within me. Philippians 4:11-13

Let 2012 be a better financial year for you and your family.

Tackle it Tuesday

2012-01-03T21:02:00.002-06:00

My friend Diana had a great idea for 2012, she is going to make a quilt out of 26 blocks, one for each letter. So for example her first one will be Antique Tile while mine will be Autumn Tints. She will be doing a block a week. I have not decided how quickly I will do mine, whether one a day or one a week etc. Some weeks I know I can probably get 2 done. Some are more difficult then others for sure. So today i picked all 26 of my blocks. I also got that Elementary School Donation Quilt done, but I can't show it to you yet because some teachers might see it and I think it is supposed to be a surprise. It did come out nice though.

Here are my Blocks- they are not all the same size so I haven't figured out what I will do about that yet, some are 14, some are 12 and some are 10. This is subject to change, since I picked some hard ones once I get started I might decide a few easier ones are a better choice.

Autumn Tints

Bear Paw

Country Roads

Duck's Foot in the Mud

Easy Flower Block

Fancy Flowers

Granny's Flower Garden

Hen's and Chickens Variation

Interlocking Chain

Jacob's Ladder 2 * 12 in

Kansas Troubles Variation

Lincoln Platform

Maple Leaf 12 in

Nelson's Victory 12 in

Oh Susannah 12 in

Paws

Queen's Charlottes Crown 10 in

Bear Paw is for my dad, Wild Duck is for my mom

Road to California is for me

Dove in a Window is for Paul

Jacob's ladder for Jakob

Z Cross for Zekaryah

Queen Charlotte's Crown for MeKenzei

Then there are others in there because they are significant name wise or I like the design.

I think this will be a fun challenge. I am hoping it works out well, some cuts I don't exactly know how to do yet, so it will be a challenge for sure.

If you would like to join Dianna and I in our quilting challenge for 2012 feel free and link up to my post.

Happy Quilting,

Menu Planning Monday

2012-01-01T19:01:00.000-06:00

I am very excited for 2012. I think it will bring about some great things! For example we are changing some planning. We made a menu from Jan 1st - Feb 5th. I love the download that Organizing Junkie has on her site for Menu Planning. It allows you to fill in your menu on one side and list your groceries needed on the other. Its perfect for my Planning Board in the Kitchen.

Monday

Turkey Tacquitos with Homemade guacomole or Tostada

Tuesday

Waffles with Homemade Blueberry Syrup

Wednesday

Spaghetti with mushrooms and Spinach sauce and Garlic Bread

Thursday

Bean and Cheese Burritos- with tomatoes, guacomole etc for Paul and I

Friday

Make Your Own French Bread Pizza

Saturday

Faijitas- after helping Paul's sister move

Sundays

Taco Salads- use leftover fajita meat

New Year's Eve Wells Style

2012-01-01T12:28:00.000-06:00

New Year's Eve started with Kenzei giving Stout, her dog a bath. I came out to see she was using a lint brush to clean up extra hair off him. I just kind of had to laugh

Her and Stout enjoying each other while Daddy works on a new house for stout

While outside I noticed our GrapeFruit Tree has its first fruits. Sure hope it does not freeze again, it would be nice to have some grapefruit.

The beginning framing of Stout's house

Coming Along, he is really putting some time into this. I thought he would just throw it together.

Just need the roof and the front opening now

Stout getting on top of the house

New Year's Eve Tradition for us is to have a Fry night. We make Chicken Tenders, okra, mushrooms, fried pickles, zucchini, onion rings, french fries, shrimp. Lots of Yummy food. I am so thankful for the warmer weather. I was getting on to Paul for being bare foot, then I look down and see Jakob's feet in just socks..nice with the wet ground below him. We had a good night, we didn't get to play any games but they shot off a few fireworks and watched Kung Foo Panda 2. I only got half way through and turned it, it was 1:30.

Our first photo for 2012

The funniest photo. Paul and Pilsner yawning at the same time. Pilsner also wanted Jakob's Root Beer Float which you could not see in the photo. Hope you had a great night to wrap of 2011. Many Blessings for 2012. Happy New Year

Finishing the Remodel of Washing Area

2012-01-01T11:56:00.000-06:00

Doesn't this just look so nice? He did a great job. I stained it but he did all the woodworking parts.

It framed out very nice. Not quite a typical wall but it does the trick both the washer and dryer fit now and they got to remain inside. I like that alot.

There is even enough room I can put a bucket with my laundry soap etc on the top of the dryer till I move some of Kenzei's things around on the shelf and make myself a corner. I am very impressed at this functional idea

Thankful Thursday and Year Wrap Up

2011-12-30T01:04:00.003-06:00

It is hard to believe that today is the last Thursday of 2011. I have so much to be thankful for this year. We have had very little illness in our family. My depression has done pretty well at laying low. I have subbed some this year, made many quilts and enjoyed so many relationships with friends online through facebook and my Blog. I even got a sweet Christmas card from a customer this year. I made a quilt for her daughter out of marathon shirts. It meant so much to be on her Christmas List. Paul has had many side jobs that have helped us out. We have given of our time to Society of Samaritans this year, they in turn have helped us a couple of times when the kids went back to school and with Christmas. I am thankful for organizations like this that can help us in difficult times. They also helped connect us with someone at the end of the summer to install a 220 outlet so we will now have a better window unit to help in the summers for the main part of the house. I am thankful to a particular friend for helping out this year by purchasing me two quilting tables, it will really help with all the queen orders I am praying the Lord will be sending our way. Outside of just having wonderful friends and family I am so so thankful that my dad made it out for Thanksgiving. I miss family so much during the holidays. I have been in Texas 17 years in January and they have never spent a holiday here. It was a nice change for us. I am thankful for the growth of my blog, I am thankful to live in a country that allows freedom of speech and worship too.

This week I have much to be thankful as we just celebrated Christmas with family and friends. We have had much enjoyment playing games during this Christmas Break with the kids too. I think we have managed to do so nightly. It has created many memories I hope they treasure. I am thankful for the washer and dryer we were just able to purchase. I am thankful that our remodel to make them work is going smoothly and almost complete. I am thankful that my husband has several days off and we can spend some time together. I am thankful for all the food we have eaten, some of which was provided to us, that makes me all the more thankful, I love watching the Lord work in our lives.

Here are some pictures from this week to show the Thankfulness from the week and Lord's provision.

Sequence Night 3, it was rather fun because it was just Three of us playing.

Kenzei won, she loved that. We played for second place because we "roll" like that.

Day 2 of Remodel. I am so thankful Paul had the day off. It really helped us get so much done. He started by adding a sub floor to level everything out between the existing wall and the floor under the washer/dryer. Then he added a flat surface to the wall. Its kind of neat because this is a cut of wood left from Kenzei's desk.

We have an electrical cord to hide and he came up with this clever idea to run it in the middle of the end framing. Great thinking!

I am so excited it was coming together quickly. He even reused that baseboard we worked so hard on, its now the top piece to this wall.

I love how this is looking. It makes me excited to think how the rest of her room will look once we get the wall framing up and the ceiling redone.. In time right now we don't have the extra money for the nails we will need. I think we might have enough wood.

This week I am really thankful I turned a picture Paul took of the kids into a Free Canvas, we had a no gift policy for adults, rather hard this year but necessary. Since this was free it didn't count. I love the photo too!

Zekaryah and I went on a date last week, Mekenzei and I went on one this week, that left Jakob. It became a little more complicated when we discovered there weren't any movies he was interested in. (We have a local theater that is still $2.50, it isn't the best but for $5 we can have a nice date.) I had a gift card for a local restaurant. I had been saving it for our anniversary but we used it tonight to pull off Jakob's night out. Paul also tagged along, since he had the day off. We rented Rio, which the boys had not seen yet, so after a game of Monopoly we will watch our movie.

Family time at its finest

A game of Monopoly that has taken hours. I got so cold I folded out of the game early but it is now almost one and they are still playing!

I am truly blessed to have met a great man 17 years ago. I am excited to think that 17 years ago we had made the decision to get married. I was anxiously awaiting him arriving in Utah, so that we could find a local courthouse and get married on New Year's Eve. Of course my plans got changed when we couldn't pull that off, but we did get married the sixth of January in Vegas. Well worth the wait. I hope everyone has a very Blessed New Year and that you too are enjoying your family this Holiday season. That is what life is all about..the little things.
(thankful tonight to Jakob for taking this photo for us too)

Washer and Dryer Blessings

2011-12-28T23:26:00.000-06:00

Our old washer and dryer stopped working. I was very distressed over the idea that it cost $25 to do 9 loads of wash. That had me searching for great deals and then finally Craigslist. Where I found this set, which is now ours. It took an hour to go get it and an hour to get home, which required some gas money and then $300. The only mistake made was we didn't measure them. How much difference could they really be then our old set? 4 INCHES. That's it, but that is enough

So for the first few days my husband rigged a cord to another cord for the washing machine drain to have an extended amount. We tossed around two ideas, relocating them to a shed outside- thus dealing with weather, having to run hot water etc, quite a bit of work and cost to us money wise for supplies, or putting a hole in this wall- maybe better cost wise but could be a huge disaster this would be an act of faith!

Well from this picture you can tell we chose ACT OF FAITH. He first started with a fairly small hole. I was nervous the whole time!

That led to a cut down the wall, wow was the dust flying..

There goes our homemade baseboard. UGH..

Well we pulled the side of the wall out. Not too bad really. Took a puddy knife to the bottom so that we didn't accidentally cut into the wood floor. That was my idea :-)

I can't believe the size of the wood in this stud

There is wood siding in the closet. I am thankful for that because once we got the wall pulled away we realized that is all we needed. Looks like we can frame right on top of it.

So then there is this stud with the electrical line, that led to another difficult move. My idea a crowbar to pull the stud away so we could cut the nails that held it to the wood siding of the closet wall and then Paul cut a hole in the stud to allow the wire to slip out. Then we were able to remove the whole bottom half. Praise God.. This part went fairly well considering.

Him cutting his hole. I had a moment of faith since I had to hold this wire and trust him that he would not mess up here or at the top of the stud to get it out.

Jakob's contribution to our evening a pan of brownies. Much needed after so much stress. Now tomorrow we try to frame it and move them side by side. Please pray it will continue to go well. I would love to have time to make a dog house so the outside dog would be warmer. He refuses to not pee inside so I refuse to let him sleep in, even though its cold. It doesn't mean I don't feel bad though, I sure do. For now he has an igloo and hay, hopefully in a couple days he will have a new outside home.

Game Nights

2011-12-28T23:05:00.000-06:00

I really dislike when I eat food that bothers me, I get super sick. This is after opening Christmas Presents, and then most of the day. I almost did not think we would make it to Paul's sister's house for Christmas Dinner. I felt lousy. The dog enjoyed some sleeping time too.

Monday Paul had off so we enjoyed some games that evening after a great meal of sides. We had gone and picked up a washer and dryer that day, so I didnt' get a chance to put in a ham or a turkey so we could have some meat. Mekenzei got this cool game for Christmas. After playing for a while we discovered several cards were all misprinted. I hesitate to buy her one to replace it, I am not sure if it is the game in general or just the copy we got. We were sad to throw it out. She is our major animal lover, so this fit her perfectly!

We traded it up for Sequence. It was a lot of fun. Yes we wear lots of clothes in our house, it rarely gets above 60 probably more like 53 all winter long. Usually I am fully dressed with my robe and slippers too.


Zekaryah decided part way through that I needed to be in a picture too. It was our first night to play it, we did so again Tuesday night after dinner. I think it will be a new family favorite.

We followed Tue night with a game Jakob got called Topple. Its funny because Jakob decided he did not want to play. For once that worked out well because we couldn't all five play. We had that problem with Sequence only four of us could play or we need one more person. Kenzei and I won the Sequence round. Zekaryah wasn't too happy about that, but his turn came because at Topple he won with the most scored points. Paul lost in the negative because he caused it to Topple. It reminds me a little bit of Jenga, which I might just have to buy again now that the kids are older. I think they would really enjoy it. I love that game nights have been very frequent this holiday season in our home.

Christmas

2011-12-28T22:48:00.000-06:00

Stockings set out the night before. I am thankful I had thought to put these together Thur afternoon, we stayed a little late at our friends on Christmas Eve. I am also thankful I had a couple things for Kenzei that would not fit in hers, otherwise my stocking would have been empty.

Jakob, Paul and Pilsner were the first up. I think this is a great picture too!


We are all finally warm and ready to open stockings and gifts. I had eaten something at SOS Saturday afternoon that made me pretty sick, so all I wanted was to be warm, the dog agreed.

One of Kenzei's favorites from her stocking.

One of Zekaryah's favorites from his stocking- an Astro's watch

Pilsner feeling left out, but he's smart that is an electric blanket he is fully laying on!

Things they all really liked

The game Jakob went to Black Friday for. He is very thankful that my dad bought this for him! It was all that was on his wish list this year. Nice to have such a small wish list too.

Paul enjoying a game Jakob got for Christmas- called Bop It XL


The one thing Zekaryah wanted- and he got two of them this large one and a smaller one that had two guns. Perfect because all three kiddos can play.

We are very thankful for the extra that the Lord provided this season, esp the food box that included a turkey. We just enjoyed it tonight. We were thankful to his work for providing a small ham. It was big enough to provide us two meals.

Christmas Eve

2011-12-28T22:17:00.000-06:00

Christmas Eve has had many traditions for our family. We always get PJS, normally us adults do this year. I even saw a pair I wanted, they were fleece and Kermit the Frog- but we couldn't find the size I needed. I am thankful that we found them for the kids, they are who mattered most. I missed our all day snacking, and our game night that normally occurs. I had served all day at SOS. I am thankful for that because I saw so many families get a warm meal on a very cold rainy day and many kids who got presents and were able to meet Santa Claus, it was a great day to give of my time. Paul smoked a brisket all morning, that was what we were taking to his family for Christmas Day.

After we had a meal at our friends house we watched a movie with them called Abduction. I think their dog felt a little left out because he made his way to their lap. I think he was maybe more jealous that Zekaryah had a spot on the couch with them. It was fun family time with great friends.

Date Night out for Hubby's Work

2011-12-28T22:08:00.000-06:00

We rarely go out- esp just the two of us, normally if we do I try to work in a movie. Wednesday I had a date night with Zekaryah- we went and saw the third Alvin and the Chimpmunks movie. Thursday night was a date night with Paul, it was watching the Texans football game with the guys/spouses he works with.

Not really much of a date night but I did eat some yummy fried pickles, curly fries and chicken wings. I drank 8 glasses of iced tea while there and that made it where I could NOT Sleep. Lucky for me I had a book - the new Stephanie Plum book, so it came in handy.

The guys watching the game. We thought the Texans would win then the last four fouls just changed our winning streak and the other team won. It was interesting to see how mad/happy people became.

The girls having a good time. We only seem to see each other when there is a work function. I had made that girly Baby Genius quilt for Lorrie, to the right, she loved it. I was glad.

Lorrie and Joe as we were leaving. Looking back we should have had them get a picture of Paul and I too. It was a late night but overall a lot of fun. I was glad he had Friday off.

Catching up Another Week

2011-12-28T21:57:00.000-06:00

Seems like another busy week went by and I had good intentions to blog but Time escaped me. I just love spending time with the kids so much and being at the computer does not achieve that.

Dec 16th we went to a friends' house for a PJ game night Birthday party. It was a ton of fun!

We ate yummy faijitas, her cousin made the cake and we played some very fun games like Name Five, Apples to Apples JR, and Pictionary.

Mekenzei was very excited about the Jr Apple to Apple game, they were supposed to get it on Christmas Eve but I felt this was a great way to surprise them a little early.

Even the Dog wanted a turn

The PJ idea was so nice. It was great to be comfy and warm and comfortable, also great since we stayed late and could all just climb into bed once we got home.

Here is Zekaryah being silly- this is ALWAYS a possibility with him.

Paul had been up since 5:30 because he had worked so he crashed when we played the last game. The cat decided to join him.

Jakob was interested in playing so he crashed out too.

It was time to leave and kenzei questioned if we should just leave him there, he was so tired. We had a great night!

Tackle it Tuesday

2011-12-20T20:32:00.000-06:00

We decided adults were not getting Christmas this year. The kids were upset this weekend over it. So I posted this note on Saturday in hopes that they would understand getting me something for Christmas was possible through their actions. I really want a CLEAN HOUSE.

Despite Mekenzei not being here the boys pitched in. I helped for a few hours today instead of working on a quilt like I should have since all they did is FIGHT! I got tired of the bickering. Sometimes its not worth it.

It really does look a whole lot better. I can see the floor, table tops etc.

The boys were surprised at how quickly the house became clean. We wrote a two page list and crossed things off as we went. We did one room at a time and I showed them it really was not as big of a task as they thought.

I do still need to sweep and mop floors. They were swept once but once I get to it tomorrow they will need to be swept again. We had Nine loads of wash to do and Kenzei's room. I discovered doing laundry at home was not going to be an option. Kenzei's room will wait until tomorrow.

Both boys helped me load up the nine loads of wash and we set off for the Washateria. $30 later I have all the wash folded and put away. Paul came and got Zekaryah but Jakob stayed until the very end. I will admit it was nice getting all that done in two hours. It is nice being caught up too. Now if I could say that about the three quilt orders I still have left I would be in business. It was a great Tackle it Tuesday.

Menu Plan Monday

2011-12-20T17:00:00.000-06:00

Going up a little late, but here is this week's menu

Monday

Cold Cereal

Tuesday

Spaghetti

Wednesday

Tacos

Thursday

Baked Potatoes and Yams

Friday

Tostadas

Saturday

Hot Dogs

Sunday

Brisket, Charro Beans and Cornbread

I have been busy

2011-12-19T20:54:00.000-06:00

I have been super busy quilting. It didn't help that I had the flu for a week either. It has been hard to find time to fit blogging in lately. Here are pictures of some quilts I have finished and other things going on at our house

48 by 60 12 shirt quilt

90 by 108 queen quilt- 20 Waterpolo shirts

54 by 70 12 Texas shirts

Baby Genius Baby Sampler for Giveaway on Freebie Corner

Baby Genius Quilt order 30 by 35

Football 12 Shirt Quilt

Younger two and their first school dance. Paul and I chaperoned it and even danced the last dance.

Queen Quilt with Red Flannel Backing, it bled on the white shirts really bad, took six washings total and 20+ color Catchers and my new bottle of soap from Purex to get the shirts pink. Thankful the customer was okay with the mishap. It was a BEAUTIFUL quilt.

Choir Christmas Concert Formal Style

Choir Christmas Concert Fun Style

Lots of Basketball games and practices now that Kenzei's on B team


Getting down the court!! It was very exciting

We have had a great couple of weeks, its been swamped. Sorry for the lack of posts, thanks for stopping by!

Win Your Own Custom Made 12 Tee Shirt Quilt

2011-12-19T18:30:00.003-06:00

Please do not enter this contest if you cannot mail me your shirts at your own expense, or if you do not have 12 of YOUR OWN shirts to mail me.

Winner will get a quilt made by me using either blue or gray cotton fabric for the border. The quilt will have a matching gray or blue cotton flannel for the back and have handmade black cotton binding.

Please feel free to share this Giveaway. Contest will conclude on January 6, 2012 in honor of our 17th Wedding Anniversary.

Note on ETSY entry, simply favorite my shop and an item from it for your entry.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway Winner for Crockpot Giveaway

2011-12-12T15:31:00.001-06:00

Thank you to Frugal Navy Wife, Utah Coupon Deals, Full Cart Wallet, Adventures in Coupons, CEO of Me, Inc, and New Growth in God for sponsoring this giveaway!

We are excited to announce the winner of the giveaway is.... DAVIA BUAM!

Thank you to everyone for entering the giveaway! Please be sure to join our Slow Cooker Challenge Facebook Community Page for recipes, contests & more! Our next Monthly Slow Cooker Challenge will be Jan 2-6!

$100 VS Reward Card Giveaway

2011-12-11T10:44:00.000-06:00

I'm please to be teaming up with Freebie Corner to bring you this giveaway for a $100 Victoria's Secret Reward Card! Receive it in time to buy Christmas gifts or use it as a Christmas gift!!

PRIZE: $100 Victoria's Secret Reward Card. Winner will receive the card number and pin by email on 12/17/11. Card expires 12/21/11. (winner will have 4 days to use card either in store, online or buy phone)

FACEBOOK: To make it easier, listed below are all the Facebook pages. All you have to do is click on the "Like" button for each page.

TWITTER
Follow @freebiecorner1

Follow @Savingandmore

Follow @DealPeddlerNet

Follow @Gklippingkrazy

Follow @fullpriceNEVER

Follow @sidetrackedmom

Follow @LTBFrugal

Follow @simplisticsavin

Follow @anothercentsave

Follow @OMGhada

Follow @pawsitiveliving

Follow @Naddez

Follow @sweetpeasaving

Follow @mommieoftwo

Follow @ihgiveaways

Follow @thedealmatch

Follow @themommybunch

Follow @dirtcheapdiva1

GOOGLE +

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SUBSCRIBE VIA EMAIL:

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GOOGLE FRIEND CONNECT:

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Crockpot Charro Beans with Ham

2011-12-05T17:39:00.001-06:00

I set aside maybe 2 Cups of Pinto Beans (soak overnight and rinse, add new water)

This is made in a med size crockpot and cooked on low all day.

Add Ham at beginning if you want. We had some left from Thanksgiving. This would be perfect for a small ham bone, otherwise add some cooked bacon and drippings when you add the salsa during the last 30 min of cooking.

Add 1 cups of Paul’s Red Salsa 2 tbsp of cumin, and 1 tbsp salt

Stir cook an additional 30 min

If you don’t have salsa on hand- use the following

1 can of diced tomatoes or 1 cup of diced- fresh

1 small onion diced

¼ c of cilantro

2 jalapenos or one small can

1 tbsp garlic

2 tbsp cumin

1 tbsp salt

Menu Plan Monday

2011-12-05T00:00:00.003-06:00

I borrowed some ideas from the internet, although I will be altering some of the recipes, so even though I have provided you the recipes I found, or already have posted before. I will try to repost every day with the crockpot picture of our meal and the new recipe I came up with.

Monday

Charro Beans and Cornbread

Tuesday

Green Chile Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Wednesday

Rustic Chicken Stew

Thursday

Crockpot Chicken Parmigiana

Friday

Crockpot Jerk Chicken

Saturday

Crockpot Gumbo

Sunday

Queso, BBQ Sausages etc SNACK NIGHT

Slow Cooker Giveaway

2011-12-04T23:34:00.000-06:00

We are so excited to have teamed up with several other awesome blogs to bring you The Slow Cooker Challenge! The first Mon-Fri ...of each month we come together (along with our readers) to challenge and help each other use our slow cookers every day for those 5 days! You can join us on our Facebook Community Page to share your recipes and find tons of other great recipes too!

This month's challenge is taking place today Dec 5 through Friday Dec 9! Get your slow cookers and recipes ready & be sure to share them with us on The Slow Cooker Facebook Page! In addition to the challenge we are giving away a FREE Crock Pot brand 5 qt Stainless Steel Slow Cooker ($40 ARV) to one lucky winner this week!

To enter to win, just fill out the entries in the Rafflecopter form below. (refresh the page if it doesn't show up after a minute). Thank you & good luck!

P.S. Be sure to check out all the other blogs that are participating in this event at the linky list below the Rafflecopter!

My ETSY Make Over by Ordinary Inspirations

2011-12-04T23:22:00.000-06:00

Traci at Ordinary Inspirations has done it again! She made over my Banner and Avatar for my ETSY account. I love it! This is what I had before

I liked it. I created it myself. However, these quilts are all on my site so I wanted something a little more personal. Something colorful too. I love what she came up with.

This is my new banner


This is my new avatar

So what do you think?

If you are looking for a new Banner or Avatar makeover for ETSY, stop by and email her. Personally I love her work!

Winners from Shop From Your Seat Giveaway

2011-12-03T14:34:00.002-06:00

Thank you so much to all the sponsors for our Shop from Your Seat Giveaway and also all the other blogs that participated!!!

We are excited to announce the winners from the giveaway! All winners have been emailed and have 72 hours to reply to confirm / claim their prize!

...
Grand Prize Winner- $150+ Value Gifts for All Gift Pack (includes $60 gift certificate to YMI Denim.com, $40 Restaurant.com Gift Card, $25 Celebrating Home Gift Certificate, $10 Usborne Books Gift Card, Sweet Apple Sprinkle Seasoning from Pampered Chef $15 value - KIMBERLY WOOD

$40 Paypal to spend with 1 of our Sponsors (winners choice) - AMY ORVIN

$20 Paypal to spend with one of our sponsors (winner's choice) - PAMUELA HENSON

$15 Paypal to spend with one of our sponsors (winners choice) - SHAUNA TORRES

$5 Gift Card/Coupon to alex + von - NIKKI PEDERGNANA

$5 Gift Card/Coupon to AVON- LOUISE WAGENER

$5 Gift Card/Coupon to Beautiful Mess Designs - CRYSTAL LEE VINES

$5 Gift Card/Coupon to Celebrating Home - BIKI (no last name specified)

$5 Gift Card/Coupon to Close to My Heart - ANN HOAG

$5 Gift Card/Coupon to Discovery Toys - BRIANNE MACCUE

$5 Gift Card/Coupon to Dove Chocolate Discoveries - LISA WALKER

$5 Gift Card/Coupon to Gold Canyon Candles - NANCYE DAVIS

$5 Gift Card/Coupon to Herbalife - A Wellness Rounded Life- JAMES LANGHAM JR

$5 Gift Card/Coupon to Jordan Essentials - JAMIE POHFAL

$5 Gift Card/Coupon to Joyful Jars - AMY HOLLINGSWORTH

$5 Gift Card/Coupon to Lilla Rose - CONNIE GRUNIG

$5 Gift Card/Coupon to Lindt Chocolate RSVP - STACIE MAGERS

$5 Gift Card/Coupon to Mary Kay - AMANDA CASTELLANO

$5 Gift Card/Coupon to Pampered Chef- ALISON TOLAR

$5 Gift Card/Coupon to Park Lane Jewelry - TIFFANY HOYT

$5 Gift Card/Coupon to Scentsy- CINDY D.

$5 Gift Card/Coupon to Stella & Dot - TIA (no last name specified)

$5 Gift Card/Coupon to Sunshine of Autumn - TESA SHELTON

$5 Gift Card/Coupon to Thirty-One - TIA MOYER

$5 Gift Card/Coupon to Tupperware- KARI HOWELL

$5 Gift Card/Coupon to Usborne Books and More - JILL COLLINS

$5 Gift Card/Coupon to Wildtree- BRANDON REDDISH

$5 Gift Card/Coupon to Willow House- NAJAY GASKIN

Special shout out and thank you to the blogs who participated in this giveaway:

CEO of Me, Inc., Debt Free Spending, SAVING with a Working Mom, This N That with Olivia, Growth in God, Money Saving Parent, Mama Chocolate, The Shopping Duck, Krazy Clippers, The Deal Matchmaker, Sweeties Freebies, Look What I Got For Free, Utah Coupon Deals, Couponing In PA, Koupon Krazed, Valerie's Reviews, Pretty Pink Momma, MyCouportiera, Sunshine & Sippy Cups, Coping with Frugality, Planet Weidknecht, Teach Me 2 Save, Totally Temberton, Mom with a dot com, Crazy Coupon Train, Southern Swag: Georgia's Couponistas & The Tales of Bubba Mack

Thank you ALL for supporting small businesses! Please continue to choose small businesses for all your future purchases!

Small Business Saturday

2011-12-03T11:41:00.001-06:00

Small Business Saturday

I was part of a giveaway after Thanksgiving for Small businesses. It got me thinking that now a days with the internet, big stores like Walmart and Target its harder than ever for small businesses. This week I want to focus on one that helped me have a better Blog Design. Her name is Traci and she is with Ordinary Inspiration

I knew some basic elements of blogging. Like copying the HTML code from other sites like cutest blog on the block. However, I didn't know how to add tabs or come up with a great header that I would fall in love with. I sought out help from her to have a complete Blog Makeover.

I had talked about that before. I still very much love it! She was super easy to work with and the creation was not over until every aspect was what I wanted. She came up with a cute design for my name but I wanted a sunflower, after searching and working together I got exactly what I wanted. I highly recommend you checking out her site. Her prices are very reasonable and she offers simple services too like

Removing borders behind your headers
Centering buttons in your sidebar
Changing your 2 Column Blog into a "3 Column" format
CREATE A BUTTON FOR YOUR BLOG WITH CODE
CREATE A GRAPHIC BOX/COLLAGE FOR YOUR POST THEME:
and more...
To see more work by Traci Michelle see her web page

If you have a small business and would like to be featured please message me at sunshineofautumn at yahoo dot com and I will see what I can do.

Thankful Thursday

2011-12-03T11:22:00.000-06:00

I am very thankful for Relationships this week. I never realize how much I need a break from life at times. I enjoyed having my dad here for Thanksgiving. I needed that to help me get through my normal holiday blues. If it wasn't such a long drive and so expensive it would be a great normal holiday routine to have him drive out here every Thanksgiving. Of course this is the first year the kids had the entire week off. I loved it. I got to spend Wednesday with one friend this week, then Thursday another friend and I met at 10 am. We went shopping at the dollar store for some items for a Christmas Spirit Shop for our kids school. It was a great deal of fun. We had lunch, she took me by Hobby Lobby. I got more stabilizer for quilts. We ran some other errands, and she got me these two tables while we were out. They were on my Christmas Wish List. I say WISH with Exclamations. I was ready to stop taking all queen size Quilt orders. It is so hard to pin them using sawhorses in the middle. She respects my talent and encourages it, like no other. She is just amazed that I truly LOVE quilting. Now I can do it with a little more ease. What a great early gift since I have two more queen orders to get out before Christmas. Also the two tables I use in my room are not the same size, this will solve that problem too! I am very excited.

My husband added to that excitement with two new pieces of cardboard. The first set got damp months ago on his way home from work. I had been making due. What a pain that was since they were slightly warped. Now I have two new tables, two new pieces of cardboard and I had already bought a new box of pins when my dad was here. Its the little things in life that I am often so thankful for. Its amazing how the Lord took my very busy schedule this week and added a couple days of friendship into them. Really in the end it didn't put me behind too much. I was able to sub all day Friday, have a date night last night (at home) and today an event got canceled so I can work on the quilt order that I am a tad behind on - only because I had hoped to pin it last night. I have plenty of time to do that today now. I even got caught up on Blog posts. SO what a great extended Thankful Thursday post.

Tackle it Tuesday and Wednesday

2011-12-03T11:13:00.000-06:00

This is truly a one of a kind quilt made by me for a great customer. She wanted blue and gold. She wanted Broadcloth. I admit I said NO! She wanted Blue and Gold, I found this beautiful scroll print in coordinating fabric on Fabric.Com, I think she reluctantly said YES, but that's okay. She is loving it now. I am thankful for my quilters EYE, the one that tells me when fabrics are going to be perfect. That was without even seeing the shirts. It could not have been a more perfect match of color.

I admit that I had the quilt top to this one done before Thanksgiving. I had intended on sending it the Friday before Thanksgiving but I never could get the time to quilt it. I took on way too many subbing jobs. With all the many discounts I provided customers this holiday season I really didn't have a choice. I felt bad Tuesday when she asked me how the progress on the quilt was going. It didn't help that it had rained all Saturday and the winds were so bad Sunday. As soon as Jakob was home he helped me drag my tables out, sawhorses and cardboard so I could pin the quilt before dark. I was never so thankful for his help.

Tuesday Evening my husband helped me quilt it while we watched a movie he rented. I love all the little appliques from the shirts that I was able to add to the quilt. I wanted every saved memory that was possible to be included.

He had some great sports shirts, college shirts etc. I really loved the way it came together. The fabrics were incredible, even the backing is blue but a dusty blue and it all just worked.

So come Wednesday very early in the morning I did the trimming and binding of the quilt, I decided to use the same fabric I bordered the shirts with. I just felt it would accent it well. Then my dilemma was how to get it washed. My machine is not quite large enough. I contacted one friend she didn't get back to me, I then took money from my daughter, that I would get replaced after school, and set out to the washateria. Along the way I stopped to get change and thought of another friend. Let me just say it must have been a quiet Nudge from the Lord. I am so thankful she was home and for our visit.

She had some holiday blues. Its so hard as we get older, our kids get older, our lives get busier. I used to do a better job of getting together with this couple. They took on her cousin and are raising her the last two years she has of High School. I am so impressed by their courage and love. I love the life they are providing for her. One she has not had before. I also love that we can both be honest. I was able I think to provide friendship she needed that day in exchange for a washing machine/dryer. It was time well spent too.

My next effort was to get it in the mail. We had youth group that night, I was supposed to pick my daughter up from Drama Club, thank goodness I went home first. I found that it had been canceled. My younger two and I packed the quilt in a box and headed to the post office and then to drop them off at church. I discovered when getting there that the Post Office was not taking credit cards. Since I collect money via PayPal most of the time for orders that was problematic. I rarely have cash, except this day- remember that $20 I grabbed from my daughter to do laundry. Well I still had it. I ran back out to the truck and came back inside. I told her I had $20 and to see what we could do. I could get it mailed Parcel Post and put insurance on it for that $20, actually I still had $1 left on the order. Only the Lord knew this smallest detail I could not forsee. What a great blessing.

So remember how I said that I had contacted one friend and she didn't get back to me. Thursday we spent the day together. It was wonderful.. you'll have to read about it in the next post. Oh and the customer that ordered this quilt, she writes a blog and has offered to do a review on my item. You can follow her at Windy City Momma

I will let you know when her post goes up.

This week began with a Quilt

2011-12-03T10:45:00.000-06:00

Pilsner could not get over the fact that my dad left. My dad slept in Jakob's room while he was here, he would go in, sniff the blankets and lay his head on the pillow my dad used. He then got to where he would lay on top of the containers that he left, which we are storing behind the couch for now. He is literally laying on the back of the couch and those containers.

I started this week with a quilt part way done. I had finished the quilt top before my dad had gotten here. The plan was to quilt it that Saturday after Thanksgiving but it rained all day. Then the wind blew all Sunday so I had a change of plans and I finished this next quilt order- a Boyscout 15 Tshirt Quilt order.

I will be honest I am not sure if this quilt order was for the son or the dad but I think it turned out great. She wanted just black fabrics, but I did use a darker gray to bind it. Sometimes its harder to use two blacks on the front, they often clash.

She was the first customer to ask for a personalized quilt label on the front of the quilt. I figured it out though and I think it turned out wonderfully.

I was thankful the shirts, or at least most of them, had dates. I was able to the best of my ability put them in order. Two didn't have dates so I just fit them in the design.

Here you can almost see the scroll print on the black fabric.

I have not heard yet if she got her order, but I was able to sew the quilt top Monday, Finish the quilting that night, then bind it Tuesday and Get it washed and mailed out. I was so thankful to the Lord for helping me work so quickly so that I could get caught up. Monday was very stressful when I saw I had 10 quilts orders and otherwise that needed to be done.

Renaissance Festival

2011-12-03T10:43:00.000-06:00

Let me start by saying that I had no intention to go. Jakob sold Renaissance tickets for school, part of the Skills USA program he is in. A very kind lady at Paul's work bought them for us. I am not much for crowds and I had been to one in California when I was 18-19 and was just so embarrassed and uncomfortable. Let me now say that it was a lot of fun. Not sure I would go again with children but I might go again to go look through all the shops. Our friends Nikki and Tim had two children's tickets so outside of Jakob not going it was a free family day for us.

This is the group of us. Thank you to the kind man who took this photo. We are all at different parts in our lives but it is nice when our paths cross and we get to spend some time together. It is crazy how busy life gets.

Zekaryah and Mekenzei spotted this guy dressed up as a character from a game Jakob plays. It is a video game that you create the world yourself etc. So Mekenzei actually asked if I could get a picture of her with him. He kindly obliged.

These three kids sure do know how to have a fun time and it was so COLD! We were waiting for a bird show to begin. Let me tell you these stone seats were FREEZING!

This little one kept me warm often. I could not have been any more cold all day. The wind did not help either. She is super sweet, and sitting in my lap allowed her to see the horse show better too.

We bought a bag of kettle corn, otherwise outside of Zekaryah wanting to do this Trampoline thing we didn't spend money. I was very happy about that. He had never done this before. I was a little worried. I am thankful it was only $6 too, kind of hard to say no at that point. I got video of it once he started because every time he went up in the air and started to get down he screamed in a voice I have never heard WHOOOA! It was the funniest thing ever! What a great family day.

Lake Medina Thanksgiving Break Trip

2011-12-03T10:12:00.000-06:00

Many of you know my dad came out for Thanksgiving this year. I had not seen him since my mom's passing in June of 2010 so this was a very special time for me. The last time my parents had been to Texas was Mekenzei's birth in May of 1999. It had been a long time. I will say he enjoyed the weather a great deal compared to their last trip. They didn't care for the humidity and heat before. Can't say I blamed them.

We arrived the first night to lots of deer that wanted to welcome us. We took pictures but they didn't turn out so well. I planned a simple breakfast of Breakfast rolls, sausage and bacon for both mornings. I just loved the campground my dad had chosen. The kids had a blast climbing on some really old trees. You can tell from the picture above how nervous I was. Paul took all these wonderful pictures.

The deer would come right up to us and eat. At first Kenzei used a container but later they ate right out of their hands. Even the bucks were trusting. They very much were like pets, it was simply amazing.

I can only say that these were such beautiful trees. The pictures taken from them literally take my breath away. I have never seen the kids have so much fun. The weather was incredible and we didn't even go into San Antonio for shopping like we had planned because they wanted to take in all the camp had to offer.

This picture is so the characteristics of my children. Zekaryah is Huckleberry Finn, the jeans, tshirt and bare feet. He is a breath of fresh air and curiosity. Mekenzei is laid back, relaxed and ready to tackle anything, taking it all in. Jakob is cautious, hence him bracing himself, he is very adult but has a small kid cry inside still.

The closeup is perfection, but I miss the bare feet to be honest. We played some games at the rec center. My only downfall was not planning to eat dinner at the camp. We had to go to Chili's in town and that was terrible service. Next time we will just plan to stay in the whole time. We would have enjoyed that much better, besides we had started a Phase 10 card game the night before and never did finish it.

Paul had the time of his life with these deer. He has yet to take one this season yet they were within hands reach this day, simply amazing.

We took turns playing this game- its called Pickle Ball. It was a lot of fun. Mekenzei got her feelings hurt part way through so I joined in. We also played on the playground equipment too. It was so relaxing. Just what all of us needed.

Thanksgiving Break went by way to fast. My dad fixed three of my doors in the house. We had an experience on Thanksgiving Day when we were burning some old wood trash and taking down a tree. The tree which was tied off to both our vehicles decided it wanted its own way to fall. We had to go next door, meet our neighbor and have them move their old vehicles from the side of the fence. Thankfully they brought their very big truck over and helped us take it down. Only damage was to the chain fence, which didn't cost us much. I was thankful I put the Turkey in the oven the night before. I was able to come in that evening and still create a feast. We had our Ham the following night with another feast of side dishes. Eating was a great time of conversation, laughing and togetherness.

My dad even helped me get two push mowers fixed. He looked at both our riding lawn mowers, he said the engines needed repair so will have to wait on that I guess. One the flywheel needs to be fixed too. We did get the yard cleaned up some and all these containers of fabric and books etc out of his truck. My clean house didn't really appear clean anymore. I am looking forward to Christmas Break when I can change that.

We tackled many days of shopping. I had some quilting supplies to by. He loved our Hobby Lobby store and was able to buy some old looking Chevy/Gas station signs at 50% off. I was excited for him. He also found a hat he liked too. He even tackled Black Friday at Walmart later Thanksgiving Night with us. He helped me try to find this one game for Jakob- the only thing on his Christmas Wish List. I am thankful the Lord was with us that night as a couple got two allowing Jakob to have the game. It was a sweet story. I was super sad Sunday morning when my dad had to leave. It seemed like the trip wasn't long enough. I will always treasure the memories and pray that we can meet up again this summer. It was a wonderful relaxing break. I didn't even get any of my quilt orders done.

Crockpot Challenge is back

2011-12-03T09:43:00.000-06:00

I have been away from my computer quite a bit lately. I have had so many quilt orders to catch up on, we had my dad here from California during Thanksgiving and I did one day of subbing this past week, have at least one day for next week. Not to mention all the school events, meetings etc. It seems like life sweeps you buy from the end of Oct till New Year's Eve.

I am a little relieved that the crockpot challenge is up again this month. Its one week of the month. Its a time to use our crockpots, find new recipes, try them and share them. I admit I am using two of our favorites but the rest I found on the internet and we will see what we think. I am sure because they are new foods two of my children will eat cereal or sandwiches for dinner instead. I hope to catch up on some of my blogging this week too.

So if you want to join in the fun and use your slow cooker all week please feel free. I am pretty sure I heard something about a contest too. I will be posting my menu on Sunday and trying to give you a picture and recipe of each meal the morning after we have had it. Have a wonderful safe weekend.

Shop From Your Seat GiveAway

2011-11-22T13:51:00.000-06:00

We are excited to be teaming up with CEO of Me, Inc and over 25 other family friendly blogs to bring you the 2011 Shop from Your Seat Showcase and Giveaway November 21 - 30th! You have probably heard of Black Friday and maybe even Cyber Monday, but we want to help spread the movement of Small Business Saturday. On Saturday, November 26, Americans are being encouraged to shop with a small business!

We are showcasing 24 fabulous small businesses and small business owners that can provide great Christmas gifts for your friends & family! You can shop from your seat and not on your feet as you support a small business!

Something to keep in mind this holiday season is that YOU, the customer, are direct sales, handcrafted business and small business owners’ everything! Spending $100 at a BIG BOX store during the holidays won’t make a bit of difference to anyone. However, spending $100 through a home business owner for Christmas means their businesses can continue; it gives them their pay, provides for their families, helps them meet their personal goals, and helps them continue to do what they love without using harsh sales techniques. The big stores will not care about you the way they will! You mean the world to all of them so shop a home based, direct sales or hand crafted business for Christmas this year!

Our 24 sponsors are each offering some special sales and offers just for this giveaway! Be sure to click here to visit our Shop from you Seat Showcase & check out all the companies and their specials!

This is more than just a showcase, it is also a GIVEAWAY! We want to reward our readers for being so supportive of our blogs (which are also small businesses) and we want to help you with your Christmas shopping too! We have over $350 in cash & prizes we will be giving away including gift cards to all 24 companies that are sponsoring this event!

To enter to win, simply go through the Rafflecopter form below. There are numerous ways to earn entries and 28 total prizes you can win!

Thank you for supporting small businesses including this blog!

Tackle it Monday and Tuesday

2011-11-15T18:06:00.000-06:00

I have been working hard to get things finished up before my dad arrives. The project started months ago with painting, new windows etc. It is nice because really its just improvements to make the house become a home rather then just a roof over our heads. I love how it is coming along. This week I focused on the living room, den, dining room and back hallway

This was where all the painting began. I have had this room finished for a while but had not started to hang things on the walls yet. It really is starting to become very warm and inviting. Just need to finish framing the second windows, stain the wood on the inside and paint on the outside.

I love this hallway. No one else seems to like it because it made it rather dark. I can't wait till we can do all the trim work and add the baseboards. We are making it all ourselves. That is the best part because I LOVE staining wood.

This is my new favorite area. I use to have all these crosses on the back hallway wall off the den. I had two pictures here and it just never felt right. This wall goes up like this along the bar area and then over and across all the way the room. I can't wait to have so many crosses the whole thing is full. Better yet it means my husband can now start getting me crosses as gifts, he never knows what to get me. Problem solved.

This is part of our dining room. It is open to the living room, den and kitchen. This piano was on my living room wall before but I wanted our TV there. SO for now the piano is in our dining room. Eventually I would like cabinets here or something. The walls are very white in color and plain. I wanted something warm and cozy. We spend a lot of time in this room.

I love it! We are going to put our dart board to the left of the piano. I haven't decided if I want to put pictures on this wall of family or maybe something nice. If I ever get someone to take the piano off our hands, we might put a game table here. I still need to do the trim work, but need to buy white paint first.

We use this area a ton. That is because it leads to the outside yard area. I despise country blue. No offense but I grew up in it after the olive drab green/yellow phase. The previous owners had a duck trim motif and the country blue. I painted the walls white but decided it too needed something more. I never did get the door done when I did the walls and trim before because we were going to replace it. Four years later its still the same old blue door.


I came up with this. A pretty taupe color I used in the dining room and a Gray Pebble stone for the trim with a nice porcini mushroom brown for the door. It really made this area so much better. Now I would like to find some Texas wallpaper border for the top, since it was never textured.

This area had always been our living room because I quilted in the living room. This past year we turned it into an exercise area. I spend a lot of time here because the computer is just outside of this zone. I wanted to make this area warm too. I am so tired of WHITE WALLS. I loved the trim color it was called Trenchcoat Khaki. I didn't have enough to redo it, so had to choose another color. The Pebble Stone Gray is nice too. It has a brownish gray hue.

I chose a Barefoot Sand color, light taupe, for the walls. I have not painted the white wood behind the machines. I couldn't fit my step ladder there, so everything is done minus that and the trim along the bottom of the loft that goes across the top of this room.

I can't wait until the walls are dry so I can put all my stuff back up. I am saddened that the exterior of my fireplace is gone, so we will be unable to enjoy the warmth this room provided every winter. I am hoping when my dad is here he can help me figure out how to save the chimney part enough to at least use it as a candle holder for the appeal of the room. I didn't get the window trim work done- since I think we are replacing the wood. When the fireplace pulled away from the house it left huge cracks in all the inside framing of the windows. Figured best to wait and see before spending the time to paint it. It was a lot of work but I love how it is all coming together.

Thankful Day Twelve and Thirteen

2011-11-14T06:35:00.000-06:00

Thankfulness Day Twelve

I am posting these late as I was focused on many tasks this weekend and did not have time to blog.

I am thankful for great teachers. My middle son decided to not do homework all week last week for a particular class. I had noticed online that he had a poor grade in two classes. I wrote the teachers to find one fed up with him and who decided to give both my husband and I a call. I am thankful that this teacher recognized that this was out of character for him and that we needed to be contacted. My middle son does not like change. He rebels against it. He likes me to be home when he gets home. Me choosing to go back to work for US, affected his routine. I am thankful that the teacher is going to take him under her wing. He was supposed to be put into a mentoring program but slipped through the cracks and wasn't. I am thankful we can make up the work he missed and that he can rework some assignments he had a poor grade on. I am also thankful that she is giving him the benefit of the doubt and allowing him to still pass her class so that he can participate in choir.

I don't really understand why that hour makes such a difference to his life. I get off near 4, they don't get home until 3:30, so working really shouldn't be an issue. I am thankful we had a time to talk things through and that it will all have a positive outcome.

Thankfulness Day Thirteen

I am thankful that the house is really starting to become clean. Things are not just stashed somewhere, but they are sorted, containerized and have new homes. It will make my morning routine run smooth and help the house to stay clean through our very busy schedule as I try to juggle subbing, quilting and children. I am thankful that we can haul trash to Paul's work since we do not have trash service. I am thankful the children decided to take on their own rooms so that I would have less to do. I am thankful for the painted walls in the living room and then also the hallway as now that the pictures are all back up, and my crosses the house is really starting to resemble a home with warm and love. I am thankful I am learning to endure Football season, because it is hard to not be resentful that it takes a huge chunk of the day on Sunday, and less gets done due to my husband's inability to multitask. I am also thankful for the Girl's activity at church last night. I love watching the kids leave church so excited about spending time with one another and in God's word. Last I am super thankful that in a week my dad will be here. The last time I saw him was at my mom's funeral so it is very exciting that he is making his way this week to Texas, and he will be able to spend Thanksgiving with us as a family.

Menu Plan Monday

2011-11-14T06:18:00.000-06:00

This week's menu will focus on Breakfast

Monday

Pancakes and Bacon

Tuesday

French Toast and Fruit

Wednesday

Breakfast Tacos

Thursday

Waffles

Friday

Biscuits Gravy, Eggs, Bacon and Sausage

Saturday and Sunday-

My dad is here, no menu item planned yet.

Thankfulness Day Eleven

2011-11-11T06:09:00.001-06:00

Today I am thankful for all the Veterans. I am thankful that I still live in a school district that allows prayer. I am thankful I live in a district that allows Christian music and sentiment. I am thankful I live in a district that emphasizes family and community.

I am thankful for projects like we have in Houston that are turning old Mobile homes into apartments for Veterans. That are helping them get jobs, counseling and come back to live lifes that may be very different from before but that are full of hope after the service they gave our country. I pray that Houston will be an example to the rest of the world that it is right to take care of those that come back with PTSD after they have seen and possibly done things that none of us can really even grasp with our own minds.

I am thankful to all my family that has personally served. For those that have now departed us, you are missed.

Have a wonderful Veterans Day.

Thankful Thursday and Thankfulness Day Ten

2011-11-10T16:51:00.000-06:00

I am so thankful for this month. I started picking up sub jobs on November 2nd. I have either worked half or full days every day since then. I am very grateful that the Lord continues to provide us with these extra jobs. I am not complaining at all that Monday was only a half day. It allowed me to work the morning on a quilt order. Last night after work- since it was early release I got a little more done on it. I should be able to finish up the quilt this weekend and start on the next queen order.

Today I confirmed an order with our local Elementary school. I am so thankful that they are allowing me to do their 40th Birthday Quilt of the school. I am praying people come forward with some shirts so that I can add them to the quilt.

We have had such a great week. Finances are slowly turning around. We have a long way to go but I am praying every day that things continue to improve.

I am so thankful my children have really pitched in to help their now FULL TIME working mama. It takes all of us to really make this work.

Lastly today, I am so thankful my husband got home on time today. It is so nice that he is already home and it will be a nice quiet evening. (Minus Kenzei making fun of the dog and the two of them being out of control.)

Thankfulness Day Nine

2011-11-09T13:49:00.001-06:00

I love surprises! I like them even better when they are THINKING OF YOU surprises. I got one of those today. I was packing my lunch for subbing today and saw a bag in the fridge. I thought hmm, I wonder what that is. Inside I saw two 20 oz bottles of coke. Now that may seem silly to be thankful over, but that meant my husband, who worked a side job after his regular one last night and the night before, stopped on his way home and picked me up those two cokes. He did this after listening to me explain how the school I am working at this week does not offer faculty tea like other schools and they do not have a coke/water machine like others either. I went all day Tue with nothing because I forgot my water on my kitchen table. This class I have this week is very talkative and argumentative. Caffeine is a great solution! Wow what a considerate thing. It really made my morning!

I am also so thankful to my co teacher today. She ran off two pages of science for me so I would have extra work for the class to do. It really helped to have extra busy work to keep the talking down. Today was much better.

I am lastly thankful for the quilt order that I saw this morning on ETSY. Even though I know it is a little stressful to manage subbing and teaching I know its all going to be okay. The Lord never puts more on our plate then we can handle. Therefore I am excited that as I continue to try and teach (sub) full time more orders are still coming in. I am thankful that when I got home from teaching today the kids were pitching in by doing their small list of chores too. Last week we struggled with that, but I think they realize more this week that I truly am not home and they can do the one small thing I ask and it makes a HUGE difference!

Growth in God

Words of Comfort

Thankful Thursday

Time for another Tshirt Giveaway

Tackle it Tuesday

The Giveaway Quilt for January 2012

Menu Planning Monday

The Weekend What a Busy Time

Praying for Blessing

Lady Bug Burp Rag Winner

Thankful Thursday

Tackle it Tuesday

ABC Quilt Block Sampler Project Redone Block One

ABC Quilt Block Sampler Project 2

Reminder on Burp Rag Giveaway

Menu Planning Monday

Fundraising online: Europe with EF Tours or Bust

Thankful Thursday

New Purex Ultra Pack Laundry Review

New Purex Triple Action Laundry Soap

Same Great Value

Coming to a Store Near You

Same Great Value

Coming to a Store Near You

Leadership MISD Committee recognized by trustees - Your Houston News: News

Leadership MISD Committee recognized by trustees

ABC Quilt Block Sampler Project

The Versatile Blog Award

WordFilled Wednesday

Lady Bug Burp Rag Giveaway

Tackle it Tuesday

1 Corinthians 14:40

Luke 12:33

James 1:2-4

Psalm 46:10

Thank you Rafflecopter Win an IPAD 2

Rain Rain and More Rain

Thoughts on Weekly and Monthly Planning

Menu Planning Monday

Saturday Projects

Celebrating 17 Years

Ephesians 5:33

Ephesians 5:25

Ephesians 5:22-24

Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.

1 Peter 3:7

Psalm 127:3

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Jeremiah 29:11

I am excited to be celebrating 17 years with this wonderful man of mine, through his strengths and weaknesses, through his compassion and frustration, through his love and generosity.

And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Matthew 22:37-39

Thankful Thursday

Girl Baby Genius Lady Bug Quilt

WordFilled Wednesday

Tackle it Tuesday

Menu Planning Monday

New Year's Eve Wells Style

Finishing the Remodel of Washing Area

Thankful Thursday and Year Wrap Up

Washer and Dryer Blessings

Game Nights

Christmas

Christmas Eve

Date Night out for Hubby's Work

Catching up Another Week

Tackle it Tuesday

Menu Plan Monday

I have been busy

Win Your Own Custom Made 12 Tee Shirt Quilt

Giveaway Winner for Crockpot Giveaway

$100 VS Reward Card Giveaway

Crockpot Charro Beans with Ham

Menu Plan Monday

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Slow Cooker Giveaway

My ETSY Make Over by Ordinary Inspirations

Winners from Shop From Your Seat Giveaway

Small Business Saturday