The cleaner side of things...

So, now that you know what our house normally looks like, you may want to pop over to 'Life Made Lovely', and see what it looks like all purdy'd up in the 'Home Made Lovely' series Heather has put together.

I think you might like it better.  Or is that just me?  Maybe so.

Either way, hop on over and show Heather {and me, too} a little love. 

I have been {hearted}, and some BOO!

I'm guesting over at 'Joy's Hope' today.

{HOORAY!}  

Check it out here.

I hope your Halloween was

spooktacular!

If your little chickens had

half as much fun as mine,

I would say it was a success.

BOO!

The feelings inside...

This picture about sums it up.  I'm just holding on for this wild ride.  Laughing along the way.  Or, at the very least, trying to laugh.  It doesn't help that people who have survived a similar moving situation, say that a bagillion weeks later, it still sucks.

Fabulous.

Alright, enough complaining.  I'm going to brush off my terrible attitude and chug smoothies spiked with positive vibes, and happiness.  I'm going to ride this semi-renovation train, hold on, and smile.

Okay?

Good.

In other news, I was asked to guest blog on a blog that I adore by a blogger that ain't too shabby either.  I will not reveal where yet, but I've been working on the post already and it's completely ridiculous.  Just like I like it.

When it all goes down, I hope that you will agree that it's equal parts entertaining, insane, thoughtful, crazy, and 100% me.

Word to your mutha!

A bandwagon you'll want to be on.

Crystal over at 'Little Bit Funky' is doing great things!
But, you don't have to take my word for it {said in my best Levar Burton voice}.
Here is what she's up to, in her own words:

I am SO excited to be writing this post.  You really have no idea...I am almost day before Christmas excited...but not why you think.  Well maybe...if you know me...if you can beleive it...the finished quilt is not the most exciting part to me.  

It's the fulfillment of a promise that is making me all giddy with excitement.  

You see...a couple of months ago I felt the nudge to do more with my blog than just write and share...I felt like I was being led to use my blog as a catapult for showing God's love...

Honestly, I was like...ok...just what do you mean God?

And I waited...and prayed.  And then things started clicking...I found the quilt pattern over at Film in the Fridge. You can find it HERE.

"YES!" Is what I wanted to scream when I saw it...I knew what I was supposed to do...and how.

And quickly, because I am human and humans both chicken out AND forget easily what God tells them to do...I emailed a small group of women that I trust and love...some who I knew would kindly remind me of what I had shared with them that God told me to do. 

Basically, I told them..."God told me to do this...please call me out on it if I don't".

Then I contacted sweet Jody from Fabric Shoppe...and told her what I was on a mission to do...wouldn't you know it...she is a pastors wife and hopes to adopt from Africa one day.  She almost immediately offered to donate ALL of the fabric I would need to make the quilt.  

Thinking about it...that is a pretty crazy thing.  That is a LOT of fabric to just send to a stranger who promises to make a quilt to benefit a charity.  I cried in the parking lot after getting her email.
Then a good friend offered to pay for the batting and the shipping. 

God is SO good. 

God is responsible for all of this coming together.  God loves all people.  God loves Africa...and all those sweet people who are suffering from something that is SO easily helped...

To me...each piece of fabric in this quilt stands for a family or person...or BABY...that together we can help...and this may sound crazy...but if you are one of the many who have told me of plans to adopt from Africa...the net you buy just may save YOUR future baby.  Crazy cool, right?

Malaria kills over 1 MILLION precious people PER YEAR!!!

In fact, there are 10 new cases of malaria every second. 

Every 30 seconds, a child in Africa dies from a malaria infection.  A child that is no less precious or loved or held dear by his parents than our own children.

By buying ONE net a family of four can sleep under an insecticide-treated bed net, safe from malaria, for four to five years.

AND

The benefits of bed nets extend even further than protecting those sleeping underneath them. The insecticide woven into each net makes entire communities safer – killing and repelling mosquitoes so that they can’t go on to bite others who may not be protected by a net.

Although $10 for a bed net may not sound like much, the cost makes them out of reach for most people at risk of malaria, many of whom survive on less than $1 a day.

Just think...to us $10 is a couple of latte's...a movie...a shirt...a lunch out...a CD...a couple of magazines...any number of frivolous things that we all throw money at...can I challenge us all to give those up for a day...or a week or a month...and give a net or two or three instead?

Can you help me show God's love to people in Africa?  And wait with me for God to show up in a big way?  Each net you buy is ONE entry into the raffle to win this quilt!

It's a beauty...if I do say so myself...considering that I only started sewing a little over two years ago...I feel so BLESSED that God would use me in this way to do something big.

It is approx 51in by 73in.  It would be cute as a twin coverlet...or on a couch...or hanging on a wall.  

And fyi--my home is smoke and pet free. :)

And as a special little touch...to help you remember what this quilt represents...I added this cute little tag. :)

God IS SO GOOD!!!

And now for the begging...

PLEASE go buy a net...you can click HERE to go to our page.

If only each daily visitor to this blog bought ONE...we would more than double or triple our goal.  So YES...one net DOES make a difference!

PLEASE feel free to copy this ENTIRE post and repost it on your blog...you will probably have to check the links but feel free to post away....anyway you choose.  I would LOVE nothing more than to go through my reader and see this post over and over and over again!!

We will choose a winner NEXT FRIDAY the 23rd!!  So every net bought by Thursday the 22nd at midnight will count as ONE entry...and I have a totally unbiased judged in mind to do a VIDEO reveal of the winner!!!

 AND there will be other prizes as well.  If you would like to donate a prize PLEASE contact me...I already have several offers and I would like to extend the deadline to donate.

You guys are awesome.  And I love you...truly.  I can't wait to hit "publish" post...I feel like all of this before was like heading up to the highest point of a roller coaster and hitting "publish" will push it over the edge...

Now...pretty, pretty, PLEASE...go BUY A NET...and spread the word!!
GOD IS SO GOOD!

xo

a peek & a prize {for me}.

First, I just wanted to give a big thank you to the K family for being my first, official, EVER, photography clients.

I was so nervous.

I took 290 photos {100 of which were taken on the wrong ISO setting}.

It was so fun, my heart beat so fast the whole time. 

I'm sold.

Here's a sneaky-peeky just for them...

Aren't they so cute!

Becky is teacher at Betsy's school, and let me tell you, that staff has special hearts, doing what they do.

They deserve $248,873.42 a year.

Really.

So, I was happy to take photos of her and her family.

Secondly, I won something. 

That is now 2 things I've won since blogging {remember the first?}.

Anywho, I won an awesome new camera strap from a little giveaway at MCH Photography.

The strap is from Broward Patch.

Aren't they so cute?

Thank you to Christy for the giveaway, and to Jen for offering up the goods!

a few things.

First off, I cleaned out my closet this morning. 

Yikes!

Before:

After:

The bags:

The prize:

I found my sister's 'go to' black dress.  MIA for longer than we can remember.

I'm pretty sure this will officially get me off of her hit list.

And, no, I'm not kidding.  Lately, she wants to end me.

Secondly, I wish to tell you that I am a clean, clean person.

You could eat out of my toliets.  I mean if you're freaky like that.

Closets and junk drawers do not fall under my must-be-clean-at-all-times umbrella.

They did before kids, but now, it's just a losing battle.

Think Monica from friends. Remember her mysterious closet full of crap-o-la?

Anal-retentive/OCD, but with a twist.

My dirty little secret is starting to make me feel crazy.  Institutional crazy.

Something had to be done, and this is the start.  Thanks to this.

I hope it snowballs from here.

Finally, will someone puh-lease help me find this elusive 'spell check' in the new editor. 

Otherwise, I will resort to screen capturing my editor page and showing you all that it doesn't exist for me.

Does.  Not.

That, or I need glasses, or an entry level Computer class.

Both are probably completely & utterly true.

I know nothing about computers.  I had a party the day I learned how to enlarge my photos. 

Punch, cake, the whole she-bang.

Here's proof.

If you have a quick tip on the spelling situation shoot me an email or a comment.

And, as always, be patient with me...

I'm a constent work in progress.

Spell check lament.

Oh, spell check...

where have you gone?

How I miss you so.

I'm not really sure why the freaky web guys at Blogger got rid of you.

And, all for what?

To add a strike through key?

I, mean, don't get me wrong I love the strike through key, but that editing option didn't come cheap.

It cost a total of my blogging sanity.

Seriously, I'm about to call it quits.

No spell check means a total of 2.4789276 more minutes a day I spend on this contraption.

I'm about ready to quit this blog thing altogether. 

Did I already mention that?

Maybe that's what the Blogger people want.

To frustrate the living hell out of exactly 96% of bloggers who use Blogger. 

I think they're all up in their ivory towers, wearing Gucci suits, sipping exspensive French champagne, and having a hearty laugh at our expense.

Saying things like,

"Learn to spell you pasty white, mini-van driving, casserole making, Mid-Western, suburban housewife."

or

"Didn't they offer Spelling 101 in grad school, you big dumb-dumb?"

I think they're drunk with power. 

So, I say, whudeffer ewe Bluggre giyz!  I down't neid speel cheek!  Down't nied id I telll yuo!

Just wait until the angry mob of mommy bloggers show up at their pads with pitchforks & torches. 

We'll see who's laughing then.

Am I right, ladies?

Who's in?

Grrrrrrr.

I'm pissed off...

Yes. I just said that.

Yesterday, Pete started bleeding from the head.  Blood everywhere.  He was freaking out, Jake was crying because he was responsible.  It was a typical Grebe mess.  I asked what happened so I could get a handle on the situation and Jake said that he threw a chopstick at Pete. 

A chopstick?  Seriously?

Only in our house.

photo of the actual kind of chopstick which was thrown

which, if you're in the market for kids' chopsticks,  I highly recommend purchasing these

Then, to make matters worse, once things calmed down, naturally, I read an article the 'The New York Times' published about 'mommy bloggers' that made me want to spit nails.   Which I wish I could do but, alas, I can't, so I just cursed a lot using internal dialogue only.  Worse than a sailor.  Did you all know I have a muddy mouth?  Having kids made it real tough for me and my oral cavity.  It took a lot of cranial retraining.  But, I think I censor quite well now.  Anywho, while lately I've been struggling with what fuels my own blogging desires, I felt disappointed to read such chiding words. 

Blogging for my own self worth has never been a motivator for me.  I'm not a very insecure person.  Particularly in certain areas, and I certainly don't need people patting me on my back for painting a dresser with a faux finish or a posse telling me how incredible my homemade pillow cases are.  I was fine before I blogged in that department, and I'll survive the day after I decide to hang up my blogging hat. 

I don't ignore my kids (unless they're on my last ever loving nerve) or the housework (except when I'd rather eat chocolate and watch my stories) or the dog (except when he escapes out the front door and I wish he'd really just run away because he is so freaking high maintenance).  By the way, I'm totally kidding. I'm not sure how many times I have to say it, but it takes a max of 20 min. for me to post.  Apparently I can't say it enough.  In fact, since blogging I feel more motivated than ever to get my crap together.  To do more, create more, share more. 

funny, no?

I'm not trying to market myself or increase my search engine optimization.  I don't do it for freebies because, well, frankly I've never been offered any.  I don't do it becasue I think my kids are so cute the world would cease spinning on it's axis if they weren't shared or exploited.  I don't do it because I think my ideas are the best or my house the prettiest.  Believe you me...I know plenty of people in the blogosphere with far more outstanding ideas and much more stunning homes.

I mean, doesn't everyone that chooses to do certain things well or hone their particular craft do it to to get some sort of self-satisfaction.  Is that wrong?  We are all guilty of seeking the approval of others in some capactiy.  If that weren't the case, no one would strive to do anything to the best of their ability.  It seems like a debate that ends no better than a dog chasing his tail.  It could go on and on and on with no real winner.  Except let's face it...I think that tail outsmarts that dog any day.

I like to write and I like the resulting 'therapy' I seem to get from it, I like to make people laugh, or to inspire, or to get people think beyond what they're making for dinner or even to help them figure out what TO make for dinner.

Do I like to read blogs with meaty, sink-your-teeth-into-it, profound writing?  Yes.  Do I like to read blogs with tutorials on how to put pockets in dresses?  You bet'yer @$$.  Is one less important than the other?  Absolutely not. 

It really can't be explained.  Blogs/blogging...you either get it our you don't.  It's really that simple.

If you don't get it. I'm not sure why some of you continue to read or leave nasty comments or judge.  In that case, you're no better than what you seem to hate.  Munch on that.

So, if you know me personally in the UNvirtual world, you may want to turn right around and find something else to read (although, I wish you'd hang around with an open mind). I have a tendency to unintentionally blow the minds of those handful of people in the worst possible way.  I would suggest 'The NYT'  but, well ...

link love.

My camera is out of batteries.
Boo-hoo!

I am off to get some today for Valentine festivities.

Phew!
But, for now...
How about some of my current favs on the internest complete with links?

Enjoy!

My favorite children's room designer of the momemt: Nicole of Little Liberty Interior Design

 My dream weekend getaway with the man (located in the Smoky Mountains): Blackberry Farm

my two favorite wedding gowns from Kleinfeld

left & middle: Claire Pettibone

right: Michelle Roth

 I have lots of old windows and want to do this going down the basement stairs:

from The Pleated Poppy

Loving the top 100 list of names from Jolly Ole England via Nameberry

Even if you do not know someone with special needs,

it doesn't get much more inspirational than this:

5 Minutes for Special Needs

Great, fun, easy craft from Style Me Pretty

PDF instructions here

PB + J = helluva good cupcake!

I love peanut butter.

Fluffernutters with bananas are my favorite sandwich ever.

EVER.

However, I do love a PBJ in a pinch.

So, imagine my surprise when I saw this recipe over at Birthday Girl.

These babies are like a symphony in your mouth.

I left the center free of frosting and piped in the strawberry jam.

I wanted maximum PB&J flavor.

You could leave it out altogher if you wanted,

or use your favorite flavor jam, jelly, or preserve,

OR chocolate.

Next up...

I'm going to make a cake out of this fabulous peanut butter dream batter,

AND

 Frost. The. Entire. Thing. In. Nutella.

Admit it.

Your mouth is watering at the thought.

The narcissistic blogger...that's me!

I stumbled upon this book the other day.  I am thinking about ordering it. 

I've been thinking a lot about narcissism, lately.  I've been pondering the idea that blogging is quite a narcissistic act.  Thanks to the movie 'Julie & Julia', (the big arguement scene between Julie and her husband). 

Which led me to think about how narcissism isn't necessarily a BAD thing.  If exhibited in moderation. 

Shall I explain?

M'kay...

Yes, our society has definitely seen an unhealthy inflation of the self-image, even to the point of sinfull pride, destroying families and relationships.  The 'me, me, me' sydrome.  'I deserve it', 'I'm entitled to it', 'I work hard, so I should be able to get it'.  I've heard it all, I've seen it all. 

Mothers who put themselves and their own entertaining endeavors above everyone else, including their children, fathers who are more interested in feeding their already inflated egos rather than spending time with their families, people running amuck only worried about their own gratification and desires, never thinking about consequences. 

But, that's not me.

I blog.  I guess that makes me narcissistic...to a degree.  Actually, let's not beat around the bush.  It DOES make me narcissistic. 

One portion of my life is self-involved.  A tiny part.  It started as a means to get a grip on a life that I found to be suddenly very out of control.  To organize my thoughts, reach out to others like me.  NEVER to toot my own horn. 

Has it evolved into something else?

Abso-freakin'-lutely.

Should I feel ashamed?

No. 

Here's why...

For 10-20 minutes of my 24 hour day I think what I have to say, or share is pretty great.  Important, even.  A craft project, a political opinion, an accomplishment of my children, feeling sad or happy.  No one has to read it or like it or care.  But, I think it's pretty darn fabulous. 

I don't buy myself a lot of things, maybe a couple of shirts and a pair of jeans a year or a couple of pairs of shorts in the summer (the 75% off Target rack is my favorite resource), and only after the kids are outfitted.  I waited, patiently, for 5 years (until they could be reasonably paid for) for a laptop, cable TV, and a camera.  I don't drive a fancy car, just a van that's paid off.  I don't 'go out' a lot.  I don't get my hair or nails done.   I rarely go out to eat.  I never feel entitled to a vacation.  I don't take the easy way out.  And, I firmly believe that you should work your tail off for the life you want. 

In real life, I'm self-conscious of my height (but, I do stand up straight, always stand up straight).  I never thought I was super attractive or funny.  I'm shy.  Yes, I'm shy.  I think I'm an 'okay' mother, wife, and friend.  I could always do better and be better.  ALWAYS!  I'm a pretty terrible Catholic Christian woman.  I never seem to measure up in that department, no matter how hard I try.  I have a hard time keeping my mouth shut at times.  But, mostly, in REAL life, I don't think I'm super fantastic.  I hurt people's feelings sometimes, burn the pot roast occasionally, more than once have lost my patience with my kids, and love some harmless gossip over coffee.  Just a woman trying to make it in this sad, broken world.

But, under the blanket of the internet, I'm a bit more immodest.  Less insecure.  Sure, even here, like in real life, I make mistakes. Say or write things that, although I may stand behind 100%, in hindsight could have been articulated better.  I am only human, afterall.  But, in my blogging adventure, I have come to have a new appreciation for myself, and what I DO have to offer the world.   In my quest to become the person people perceive me to be on the blog, I have become a better mother, wife, and friend.  Even if it's just a little.  I bounce back quicker from sad or bad times.  I feel happier, and am more thankful than ever for everything gracious God has entrusted me with. 

If that makes me narcissistic,

well, then,

guilty as charged.

Are you doing YOUR best?

This was
quite inspiring,

and just what I needed today...

after feeling a bit sorry for myself for not being able to

sleep 'til

noon,
eleven,

ten,

nine,
eight
on this dreary Saturday.
***
Have I ever mentioned how much I {heart} sleep?
Who knew this self-professed sleep fiend would have 4 kids.
Ha!

Afterall,
day by day...
my goal is to
do right by those
4 darling faces up there.