Homecoming Dance

As you know, Miss B is a Freshman this year and tonight is her very first homecoming dance. She bought her own dress & shoes weeks ago and is meeting up with a group of friends. She's a whiz with nail polish but I treated her to a mani-pedi this afternoon. She wanted to wear her hair down and asked me to curl it. I know that I'm biased, but sometimes when I look at her, I can't believe this beautiful girl is my daughter! God certainly blessed me with her, and I am honored to be her Momma.

The very best part was when she walked over & stood next to her twin brother in her three inch heels and still didn't come close to his height! If you missed my Pink Saturday post, scroll down to see Miss B as a baby.

I love you my sweet girlie!

Pink Saturday

Another week has gone by and it's time for Pink Saturday again! Our wonderful host Beverly at How Sweet The Sound hosts this for us and it seems like we add more great blogs every week! Last week I visited Mimi at Our Family Attic for the first time and boy, did I find a kindred spirit! And, she visited in return and won my giveaway! Pink Saturday is all about meeting new blog friends and sharing our love of the color pink. Please take time to go see Beverly, scroll down the list of this week's participants and meet someone new yourself!

My pink this week is a photo I came across yesterday while searching for something else. Does that ever happen to you? If you've read my blog much in the past, you're sure to have seen pictures of Miss B and maybe even one or two of Charlie. Well, this picture is from Easter of 1995 when they were 6 months old. I still have both of their Easter outfits and they both got quite a laugh when I brought them out last night. I love the delicate smocking on Miss B's dress and her pink baby lips.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend and a happy Pink Saturday! Hugs, Leslie

A Quilter's Giveaway

Judi over at Green Fairy Quilts has a fantastic giveaway going on. It includes her new pattern, seen here, and the fabric needed to make it. You'll just have to supply your own background & binding. Head on over there to enter!

Hugs, Leslie

What Makes My Life Better/Giveaway Winner!

My Pink Saturday post this week was the question "What makes your life better?" and a giveaway of the pink pillow shown along with that post. A huge THANK YOU to everyone who took the time to comment and answer my question. Many of your answers listed the company of your husbands, children, grandchildren, extended family and friends. Some of you enjoy your pets (doggies & kitties) and/or your hobbies such as reading, listening to music, and creating homemade things. A few of you listed your home and it's location, your health and a good cuppa' of coffee. Some of you mentioned God and your relationship with Him. I want you to know that I read each of your responses thoroughly and I feel as though I know each of you a bit better!

As promised, now I'm going to tell you what makes my life better.

Nine years ago I was floundering. I was newly divorced with two elementary-aged children and I worked full-time for a funeral home. I'd been at my job for almost 15 years and for the most part it defined who I was. That's not to say that I didn't love my children; but my work was all-important.

I wanted my kids to get some moral teaching and it occurred to me to take them to church. I, myself, had been brought up attending Sunday School and church and even went to a Christian college. Even though I didn't agree with everything I'd learned, I remember being taught to be nice to everyone, not to steal, lie, etc...

I chose a church based on what I knew of their children's ministry and loaded up the kids on a Sunday morning. After taking them to their class, I sat myself down in the auditorim.
It was a bit strange to me. There were no hymnals anywhere and there was a giant screen at the back of the stage. The seats filled in and then some people gathered up on the stage and the singing began. Now, I'd been going to church my whole life and I knew every song in the book backwards & forwards. I knew all 10 stanzas, if there were that many, to all the songs. I knew the harmony parts too. But I didn't know the tune to any of the lyrics showing up on that big screen. I focused on the words...."I'm coming back to the heart of worship, and it's all about You, it's all about You Jesus".....and other similar thoughts.
Then, the pastor got up to give his sermon. I was used to a preacher who found some scripture in the Bible to back up his ideas and then ranted & raved for 45 minutes or so. This guy was different. He read from his Bible and then explained it's meaning as best he could from his own studies of the Greek & Hebrew languages and studies of the cultures at the time the Bible was written. Over the next few months, I continued to attend services there. Instead of being yelled at, I heard about God who loves me for who I am, Who made me the way I am, Who wants me to rely on Him for help. Who, if I'll just give up trying to control eveything myself, will make my life better.

I wrestled for quite a long time. I like to be in charge. I like to know how things are going to turn out. I like to make them turn out my way! I slowly began to pray, not even really knowing how to start. And I began reading my Bible, not understanding it all that much. My heart changed and as it did, I could see signs of becoming a better Mom. I stopped yelling at my kids and even began to have some patience with them! My priorities changed and with it my life became much more fulfilled. I discovered a purpose to all the motions I'd been going through.
My attitudes changed. Instead of living here on earth for myself and my own intentions, I began a relation with the Creator of this Universe. Not because He is going to zap me for my sin, but because He loves me in spite of my sin.

And that's it. I love my husband, my family, and my friends. I enjoy my home and the city where I reside. I love my kitty-girls and the laughter and comfort they provide. I enjoy reading and sewing and decorating my home and cooking (but NOT cleaning!) and listening to music. I appreciate my good health. All of these things add pleasure and meaning to my life. But, for me, I realize that all of these are blessings from God.

I hope you realize that I've written this with love to you, my dear blog readers. It is not my intent to preach to you. Just to share, as friends, a little conversation. Thank you again for letting me know what matters to you!

And now, back to the giveaway' I used this random number generator to determine my giveaway winner. So, without further ado, the winner of my Pink Saturday pillow is (horns blowing, drums beating)....Mimi! If you have time, go check out one of her 4 blogs....my favorite is this one. And Mimi, please be sure to contact me by email with your address so that I can send you your prize!

Grace & Peace,
Leslie

What Makes Your Life Better? and my First Giveaway!

Last week I visited several Pink Saturday posters that I'd never been to before. One I found that I really like is CollectIn Texas Gal. It was her first time to participate and she a four-generation story of sewing. She's in again this week & I've already peeked at her current Pink Saturday post. Get on over there, it's good!

To celebrate Pink Saturday this week, I'm offering you, my dear readers, the chance to tell me the things that make your life better. Current things, past things, things that cannot be touched and things that can. Whatever comes to your mind, leave me a comment & let me know! And because I just passed my 100th post, If you comment, I'll put your name in a drawing to win the pillow pictured here. And probably a little somethin' else too. If you're a follower of my blog, I'll add your name a second time. Not a follower already? Sign up! I plan to write a post on Monday, September 21st about the things that make my life better and I'll announce the winner at the end of the post. So the giveaway is open until Monday at 9:00 A.M. EST.

Love Pink? Gotta' have more of it? Go see Beverly at How Sweet the Sound. She organizes and hosts Pink Saturday every week for us all to enjoy. Thank you Beverly!!

Hugs, Leslie

You'll Get Your Quilt!

One Sunday after church, a Mother asked her very young daughter what the lesson was about. Her daughter answered, "Don't be scared, you'll get your quilt." Needless to say, the Mother was perplexed.
Later in the day, the pastor stopped by for tea and the Mother asked him what her daughter's Sunday school lesson was about. His answer: "'Be not afraid, thy Comforter is coming!"

DIY Thursday - sconce makeover

This is my first time to participate in DIY day at Kimba's A Soft Place to Land. I follow Kimba's blog and enjoy seeing what everyone does but I usually haven't taken pictures of my own projects to share.

I painted the sconces in my hallway. I forgot to take a before photo but you can see the gold (brass?) in this picture of the bracket & globe:

Here's how it looks now on the wall. I left off the nasty brackets. I think these were hanging facing down when Dr. Love took them off for me and I wasn't here when he put them back up last night. I was thinking to try them this way though, so I'm glad he faced them up--they provide much more light this way.

Here's the celiling light that's in proximity to the sconces. It's coming down tonight and getting the black treatment too. (yes, I'll clean off the cobwebs first)

Thank you Kimba for hosting DIY Thursday!

Hugs to you all, Leslie

Pay It Forward

Amy over at Obsessive Creative Disorder is hosting a Pay it Forward event. Following are the rules, copied straight from her blog:

"Who doesn't love new, beautiful, unique handmade items? How about if you could get that new, beautiful, unique handmade item for free? How about if you then shared your talents with others? Now I know that last one sometimes makes people nervous...but I know there are enough of you out there that are up to the challenge. So please, read on and leave a comment. For all bloggers who leave a comment with blog address or email on this post and commit to do the same pay-it-forward on their blogs I will do the following:
1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I send you. But you may be pleasantly surprised.
2. What I send will be made just for you, with love, by my own hands. You'd be surprised how much of our personalities come through online.
3. I will complete all gifts this year - 2009 (scary I know!).
4. I will not give you any clue what it’s going to be. It will be something made in the real world, that you can touch and feel, and not something cyber.
5. I reserve the right to do something strange. It may be weird or beautiful. Or it may be monstrous and annoying. If you find it truly horrendous, just let me know. Perhaps you'll send it forward to someone who will absolutely love it.
6. In return, all you need to do is post this text on your blog and make 5 things for the first 5 to respond to your blog post (one for each).
7. Send your mailing address - after I contact you to confirm. I am willing to post overseas (I am in the US)."

So that's it. Leave me a comment and, if you are one of the first five, I will send you a gift handmade by me just for you. In return, you must link to Amy's blog (and to mine), post the original rules, and agree to send a handmade gift to the first 5 people who comment on your post.

Sounds easy, doesn't it? And fun? My favorite rule is #5 which (paraphrased) says "If you don't like it, I'm okay with that. Give it to someone else who will either abhor it also or could very well have worse taste than you and absolutely love it!"

Game on!
Leslie

Pink Saturday

I was walking around the house with my camera in hand just a few minutes ago, looking for something pink to catch my eye for this post. Miss B stopped me to watch a video of a song that she really likes. I like it too so I decided to add it to this post and since I was able to add a pink border to it, I'm letting it stand on it's own. Please take three minutes and watch/listen to it--I promise it's worth your time! Before you play it, scroll down to the bottom of my page & pause my playlist.

Don't forget to go visit Beverly at How Sweet The Sound for the official list of all this week's Pink Saturday participants!

A Bracelet Giveaway

Marie at lemondropvintage is having a giveaway. She's made a wonderful charm bracelet full of vintagey things sprinkled in & among some newer things. Go ahead & check out her blog & enter to win...just don't get in my way because I really, really hope to win her giveaway! But if you win, I promise to be happy for you. As long as I get to borrow it sometimes!

I wear bracelets more often than I wear necklaces. I don't like matchy-matchy earrings & necklaces and I pick my earrings first. I don't have but a couple go-with-everything necklaces. I wear scarves much more frequently. I do like to add a bracelet or six though! Currently I'm wearing five stretchy beaded ones in reds & blues. I'd wear a dozen of these if I could sit still long enough to make that many. Usually I top out at three or four of one color and move on.

What jewelry do you wear most often? Why?

Vintage or Ugly?

What do you think of this sofa? A friend of mine who both blogs and frequents Craiglist posted it along with some commentary on how to preview pictures on Craiggy without having to click on the whole post. She titled this an ugly sofa.
I commented by wondering what it says about me that I like this sofa (but the orange carpeting has to go) and another friend commented back that she just knew I would and she called me a Vintage Vamp!
I kinda' like that (can you see me smiling?).

Friday Treasures

As I mentioned yesterday, Dr. Love has today off from work. We went together this morning to drop off Charlie at school and run some errands.

We started with breakfast at IHOP where I had the stuffed french toast with strawberry topping and I sneaked some of the Dr.'s hashbrowns to go with them. Yum!

Then we stopped to get the oil changed in the van, got the chemicals needed to close the pool for the winter, stopped at a few garage sales (bless his heart!), went by the library, stopped at Goodwill (isn't this a neat-o sewing/Christmas thingy?!), stopped at a few more garage sales (he has LOTS of gold stars today!), then finished by opening up a separate account for SmallPeoples House where I deposited my first paycheck. That was exciting!

The following goodies are from our stop at Goodwill:

an 8" Berenguer vinyl babydoll for 99 cents

2 vintage Playskool puzzles for $1.99.

Both of these items are for SmallPeoples House, of course!

Once again, enjoy Labor Day!

Leslie

My Week

Since tomorrow is a holiday for my dear Dr. Love, today is officially the end of my week! I was very busy...SmallPeoples House (my new in-home childcare business got off the ground, I did some sewing and I tried three new recipes (no, I haven't ironed anything this week).

Here's a picture of the flowers Dr. Love brought home to me. He knows that I looooooove tulips, and slightly used flowers (these were the centerpiece at a dinner he attended) don't bother me in the least (I worked for a funeral home & got "used" flowers all the time!). These white tulips are particularly beautiful to me, especially against my red wall.

Here's a couple of pictures of the new pillow slipcovers that I did (except for the crocheted-looking one):

I gave myself a pat on my back for thinking to remove the previous cover on that bolster, tear it apart and use it for a pattern!

And here are SmallPeoples House pictures:

My $15 Craigslist changing table with the new changing pad I purchased and a .99 cent Henry the Octopus toy from Goodwill.

The $1.00 garage sale high chair with the towel that I used for a bib. I need to sew ties onto it!

Two of four gates to limit access around the house. The wooden gate I purchased new to fit the wide entryway to the game room where there are numerous Legos and other assorted choking-sized toys. The plastic gate keeps my second story off-limits and was $1.00 at the same garage sale as the high chair.

Toys, all from Goodwill or Once Upon A Child. The basket has a bunch in it too.

Little Missy K's favorite toy (I like it, too!):

And, best of all, our napping chair!

Wishing you all a wonderful Labor Day Weekend!

Grace & Peace,

Leslie

SmallPeoples House

It's September 1st and the official opening day of SmallPeoples House! Today was a short & easy day: I had only Miss K and only for 31/2 hours. After her Mommy left, we played a bit, had a snack of strawberries, bananas, orange bell pepper & dry cereal. Then we had a little walk outside where we looked at some flowers and picked up a leaf. After a diaper change (every girl likes to be clean!) we read a book for a while and then Miss K fell asleep in my lap. She got in a good 1/2 hour before Mommy came to get her. Everything went well and now she officially my first "client!" I get to visit with her again on Thursday.

SmallPeoples House is my new childcare busi.ness, operating in my ho.me. In order for us to be able to send Charlie to a pr.ivate school, I need to ea.rn an inco.me too. I am excited about this new venture.....way better in my book than having to dress a certain way, be to work on time & take orders from someone else! I have another client lined up....he's a 1 1/2 week newborn and he'll start coming when his Momma goes back to work in November.

And now, I'm ready for my nap!
Leslie