“Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take.” -Proverbs 3:6

Monday, October 8, 2012

It's That Time Again!!!

Yes! Christmas card time! :) Y'all know I love me some Shutterfly Christmas Cards! Shutterfly is asking the bloggerworld to show their beautiful cards for the upcoming season. This year they have so many new cards to choose from! I usually can't pick one, so I order two or three different ones! I have been ordering from Shutterfly for about 4 years now and they NEVER disappoint! I always get compliments and have so much fun making my cards! I love looking at the new cards they put out each year. This year is going to be hard to choose!!! That is why I am getting started early, and you should too! 

Before I start a long list of the cards I won't be able to choose from... y'all be sure to check out Shutterfly's specials page! They are always having a sale or some kind of deal! Check out the special page here: http://www.shutterfly.com/special-offers.
Now... on to the showcase of cards! Opinions are welcome! :) 

I finally got it down to about 6 that I like a lot. I either want about 4 or 5 pictures, or just 1 of the kiddos. Haven't quite made up my mind yet!


I just LOVE this one! I like the "teacher" like feel (HAHA) and the simplicity of it. Perfect for two pictures of the kids alone and two of them together. This one is on my top 3 list, I think!

And I love the vintage look of this one! Very simple, yet to the point! Just have to have the perfect picture!

This one is so fun for the kids! Very cheery and colorful. And lots of choices for poses to put in, too! I may even get a whole family shot in there for this one! :)

This one is cheery and colorful, too! I like the black/white pictures with the colored words. Nice contrast!

This card just looks like it would cute with a black/white picture in it. Still debating on it, though!

I love the color scheme of this card. If only I had a beach picture...

And this one is just very traditional to me. I love the verse and the colors. A picture with some pretty black eyed-susans in the background would make this card so pretty! :)

You can see all of these cards and even more (over 500 actually) at their site!

Don't forget to check out the specials page that I linked to above! They have some awesome deals to snag just in time for gifts and such! 

Monday, July 16, 2012

Shutterfly's Long Live Summer Contest


Can you believe it's almost school time again! I have been busy busy working my classroom at CES (WHOO WHOO) everyday! I am almost finished, though.
Wanted to take a moment to mention Shutterfly's Long Live Summer Photo Contest on Facebook. It runs for 5 weeks, but started last week... so that means there are still 4 more weeks to participate!
All you have to do is upload a picture that goes along with the theme for the week and post it via facebook to Shutterfly! They are giving away prizes and a grand prize at the end of the 5 weeks. How fun and easy is that!!?

Here are the rules and general information about it. Check it out! Sounds fun to me! :) :)

Hope your summer is still going strong in this HEAT!


Long Live Summer – Facebook Photo Contest details - 7/9 – 8/12 Multi-week summer themed photo sweepstakes with instant win prizes. http://bit.ly/sweepS
Win a trip for four to The Bahamas and a professional photo shoot so you’ll remember your vacation forever.  All you need to do is upload your favorite photo and caption based on the theme of the week.  Get a gift from Shutterfly just for entering! You can enter at any point during the 5-week sweepstakes period.
PHOTO THEMES
•       Week 1(7/9): Americana
•       Week 2 (7/16): Great Outdoors
•       Week 3 (7/23): Water Fun
•       Week 4 (7/30): Sports & Activities
•       Week 5 (8/6): Parties & Celebrations
PRIZES
       Instant win prizes just for submitting a photo!
       Weekly prizes (contestants can enter one time/week)
       Weekly featured photos: up to 5 weekly entries will be selected from the gallery and featured on the Facebook fan page and awarded a $500 gift card on Shutterfly and a copy of the new Lonely Planet travel photography book.
       Grand prize: trip for 4 to Bahamas, 4 nights, family photo shoot

Sunday, July 1, 2012

WHOOOO Had a Birthday?!

This sweet little girl...





turned 2 years old today. Well, TECHNICALLY, she turned 2 on Thursday. Exactly 2 years ago. But today, July 1st, is her REAL birthday! :)




We did HOOT OWLS this year! It was so much fun to plan! I ended up making and creating a lot for this party, since you can't find a lot in stores. I did happen upon an owl table cloth and banner at Wal-Mart (they were putting them out when I found them and ran to grab one of each!)
I got different colored tablecloths and hung them up like curtains to cover up the white walls. I also hung up some burlap owls that The Cookie Mama, Shannon Willcutt, has at her house. I borrowed them for the party! She was SO sweet to let me! :) Thanks, Shannon! They looked SO cute hanging up everywhere. I also picked up some cute things from Hobby Lobby and Kirklands. I decided to do her room in owls, too... so all this stuff is for her room! It looks cute in there, now!


We had about 16 kids there and about 30 adults. It was a par-tay! :)


The food table (covered up until we ate): Cake, cookies (from the cookies mama of course :), brownies, ham and cheese rolls, sausage dip, salsa dip, chicken salad, fruit tray, vegetable tray. and you know what? I only brought one tray home of leftover veggies. Everything else was wiped out. Totally. Guess our guests were hungry!



Happy table: bags of gummi worms (because that's what owl's eat) coloring pages and crayons (with owls) and little bean bag owls (compliments of myself and MIL.)

Harper had such a fun party! She had a HOOT (lol) with all of her family and friends!



Craft table: I made owl masks and the kids got to color their own and decorate with stickers. We also had mini owl ornaments they made from sticky  back foam. We did fingerpaint owls, too! This table kept them SOSOSO busy.

We played "pin the beak on the owl" but I didn't get a picture of it! :( It was cute, though. The kids loved it! We played 2 rounds of that.

Little Miss got LOTS of goodies for her birthday! From Barbies to Babies to Fur-Real Pets to Dress up Sets to Colors and Markers.


The best we could do for a family pic of 4. Fun times.










Needless to say, birthday girl slept until after 9 this morning. 

We have had another celebratory day since it is her REAL birthday! After church, we headed to Logan's to eat (because we had a coupon, buy one entree get one free) then to Wal Mart. We ended our trip with a nice cool treat from Smackers. Harper knows that place by name, and requested it after lunch. She has been in her room all afternoon playing (strowing out every toy she has) since we got home. She is one happy birthday girl. And that makes for a happy rest of the family! :)

Happy Birthday, Harper Layne. We love you!


Momma, Daddy, and Kyler

Thursday, June 7, 2012

The smell of plastic

I know everyone knows this already.. but pinterest is the most genius thing. ever. Really. After being out of school for 2 weeks, (1 being on vacation) I am completely and totally bored. The kids and I have played every game, used up all the sidewalk chalk, and played outside in the water until we are immune to tanning now.
So to pinterest I went. I found some fun things to do, made me a list, and headed to Wal-Mart for supplies. I came home with plenty of stuff to keep up busy for the next few days. (I hope.)

Tonight, I made these:


take pony beads. lay them flat in a pan (no need to flour or butter)


bake at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes. yes, your house will smell
like burning plastic, but it's not as strong as you think.


after a few minutes, they started to look like Trix cereal!


Take them out after 10 minutes. It cools and hardens almost instantly.


Pop it out and viola! I put a washer in the top of mine
so it wouldn't melt so I could put some ribbon in it.


Ta da! How fun!


So then we made some little ones to give as happies or
use for birthday parties... I'm still deciding what to do with them.
These I didn't put any washers. I am going to drill tiny holes
in them and put ribbon in. 



This one was all sorts of beads and shapes. It has a lot of clear in it
so it catches light pretty!


I started doing color schemes to see what looked the best..
This one was pink and grey.


Blue and pink.


Orange and Green.


Pink and Grey/Blue.


Multi.


Up against the light!


I have one hanging outside already. I have to drill holes in all the others and then see what to do with them!

Right now... I'm baking. Oreo Poke Cake and these yummy things:


They smell SO good right now. There isn't a name for them yet.. Recipe to follow! :)

I'm off to finish baking and making pinterest projects! I plan on painting today and letting the kids paint outside. I bought these magnet ceramic paint things last night for them to do. We have a ballgame tonight, and then we have Life Group in Aberdeen. Happy Thursday!


Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Chattanooga Vaca

We left on the 31st for Chattanooga. All 8 of us. My family of 4, my brother in law and his fiance, BJ and a cousin, Jeremy. Don't worry, we took 2 cars. We got there around 11, ate lunch and then headed for the aquarium! That was the real reason for going so we could take the kids there. It is amazing! Harper and Kyler had the best time. Harper is just at the age where every animal is so interesting to her, so she had a blast!

I didn't take any pictures at the aquarium because I left my memory card in my laptop at the hotel. I didn't realize it until after we got downtown. :/ I did take some with my phone, though.


This was at the zoo. It is a nice and roomy, but not a lot of animals. There were about 5 or 6 exhibits. It was pretty and cool that day because it rained a little bit. 



In the front part of the zoo there are all these sculptures of monkeys and apes. Kind of reminds me of "Rise of the Planet of the Apes." Creepy almost. 




These beauties were just walking all over the zoo. They didn't have a specific place. I finally read where they are allowed to wander around because they think of the zoo as their home and they will never leave. Huh! They were so pretty and SO not shy. This one little guy walked beside us almost the entire time we were there. They make the loudest, most annoying noise, though. Very loud. And annoying.


I think this is my new favorite picture of these two. Harper was being so loving at the moment and Kyler was being extra cooperative. They are just so cute!


Then we went to the Creative Discovery Museum. Coolest. Place. Ever. I always thought the children's museum in Memphis was awesome, but this place is 10 times better. Everything you could imagine to make, build, destroy, cook, and think was there. Our favorite part was the rooftop play area. They had these seats where you sat down and had to pull yourself up on a pulley. It was so fun!



There was also a tower you walked up to see the downtown area. Very cool.


Self playing piano. But they didn't know that. :)


They found them a little seat!


Saturday we went to Lookout Mountain. Still pretty! It's been 4 years since we
went last and a lot has changed, but a lot has stayed the same as well. The view is 
still gorgeous!



Harper and I hung out and played while everyone else did Ruby Falls. I must have gotten more claustrophobic in the last 4 years because the thought of being 1200 feet underground under a mountain and not being able to get out until it was over was too much for me. I remember being down there last time, and it is VERY small and TIGHT down there. And I wasn't having it myself, let alone try and take little Miss down there. No way. So we enjoyed the outside view from ABOVE the mountain. :) 


We hit up the incline, too! Good times. At the bottom of the hill, we ate at his cute little place called Blacksmith's Bistro. Check it out here. Man, was it good. We sat outside (it was perfect weather) and enjoyed a delicious lunch! Good service and even better food. We gave it a 10. If you are traveling that direction, stop at St. Elmo Street and eat there. 


Beth (Chris's fiance) BJ, and me.



From the top of the incline! On our way down!


View from atop Lookout Mountain.


Harper by the prettiest flowers at Rock City! Love that place, but it is FOREVER long. We were there for 4 hours and we finally took the short cut at the end. We did get to see the Fairyland Caverns, though. All the gnomes and fairy tale stories in black lit rooms. Kind of reminded me of Gremlins. But it was pretty. Ha. Pretty Gremlins. 


Lover's Leap.


This is where you can see 7 states. Jeremy thought this was the coolest part of the trip. It is kind of neat to be able to see so much at one time! D and I took a pic here 4 years ago. 

Besides all the places we went sightseeing, the food was awesome, too! 
We went to:

Mellow Mushroom (good good pizzas)
Blacksmith's Bistro
Cracker Barrel (a vacation must anytime)
Gi Gi's Cupcakes 


Next stop, Orange Beach!