"I kid you NOT..."

Today.. my little A-man woke with with a very suspicious "croupy" cough! So I did what any mother would do... and sacrificed my usual Monday routine of laundry & housework to snuggle with him {I know I'm the BEST- ha ha ha}. Then I got a call that someone wanted to come & see the house today @ 5:30- okay talk about insane switch of gears!! I am still in the crazy have to get all of the laundry out of the laundry room, bleach the drains, wash ALL the windows, & make sure the fruit bowl is well stocked with "pleasing to the eye" fruit- exhausting I assure you!!! Anyway I killed myself {and for those of you that know me well... I'm NOT kidding}! Then I booked it to the pediatrician's office to get the A-man checked out- YES he has the croup & will be doing a lot of this {see above photo} for the next few days... But don't get too worried- he has ordered "pasgetti" for dinner & I hear that his daddy is bringing home a new little car for him too... And guess what else??? I just got off the phone with our agent- she canceled!!!! YES canceled! She said, "that the couple who was suppose to come was the sister of the couple that came Saturday & her sister begged her NOT to come because she knew that the other sister would love it & buy it before her". Did you follow that? In other words- YES my house is staged & ready, NO the couple isn't coming tonight, & YES the couple that begged the other couple NOT to come has to sell their house first- YUCK!!!! I'm really starting to opposite of love this "selling my house thing"!!!

but I did stumble upon this little treasure on the way home...

and I felt a little guilty for asking her if she would take $5.00 {I am morphing into Cooner almost daily}, but smiled when she said "YES"!!!! Now I'll have something to busy myself with while A-man is down this week! Now I'm off to find our humidifier for you-know-who....

"just so you know..."

I do NOT always have it together {hence the fact that I'm just now getting to my blog this week}!! The week has flown by & I have nothing clever or impressive to share with ya'll. I can however tell you how: Priss started ballet this week & I took her to the wrong class=horrible momma for making her stay... but her teacher did say "she was a natural & that she could hold her own with the 10 yr olds"- this didn't make Priss any happier... Then I picked up A-man from his 2nd day of pre-school- his teacher said "we really reached a mile stone today... he smiled ONCE!"... I think that pretty much tells you the condition of my heart.. only wait only yesterday I flew into the market to grab some milk before picking A-man up from his 3rd day of pre-school. I found out that it was show-n-tell {of which I had forgotten}.. so I plundered through my purse {AKA the Mary Poppin's bag- per my girlfriends} & found a car- whew!!! I asked A-man "what did you say @ show-n-tell?" "Uhhmm... I say this is my car." "Did you share your car with anybody?" I asked. "YES.. 1 body"- so seriously all the while clutching his little car for dear life!!! Then I frantically got in the door with just enough time to make a quick lunch for us & get A-man into bed for his nap before we had to get back in the car & get Priss... when I realized my milk had leaked out ALL over the trunk......

but then I found the new AG catalog & saw all of the tiny little tabs on pages that Priss had marked- I {heart} her... and suddenly I felt really blessed all over again!!!

p.s. the girls & I have started back with a new Beth Moore series about David called:

"A heart Like His"
{hopefully this will make my Tuesdays a little brighter while the A-man is away...}

"school days then & now..."

so... I we made it through the 1st day of 3yr old pre-school {thanks for your prayers & well wishes}!!! Ashton had an amazing time & couldn't stop talking about it up until bedtime. He just kept on with the "why don't I get to stay as long as Priss" & "why can't I eat lunch there?" "Because God only gives you what you can handle." I replied {knowing that my heart couldn't handle more than this at this moment!!!}! He did tell me that he loved me @ least 20 times in our 25 min drive home.... I think that too was heaven sent- just for me & my foolish pride... Anyway here are some 1st day pics & some pics of my darling Priss on her 1st day of 3yr old pre-school {I must really love that style of backpack - ha ha ha}!!!

{the A-man on his 1st day}



{Prissy on her 1st day}



{A-man after he persuaded me for 2 pumps of hair gel- I think I'll rethink that decision come Tues.}



{Prissy with her little spiral piggy's- her signature hair style back then...}



{Prissy & Joey- I was in NO shape for pics that day}



{A-man playing- I don't think Joey or I were in ANY shape for pics yesterday morning...}



{Priss told me just before we drove up to school "Momma don't even worry about brother- I asked Mrs. Stone yesterday & she said I could go & check on him during snack time today!" I couldn't even answer her.... I just pulled a "Jackie O" & wore my sunglasses ALL morning!}

"Today I..."

~ Woke up smack-dab in the middle of a sad dream that lingered through lunch.

~ Walked Ashton Honor into pre-school & held his clammy hand, hoping to pulse courage through osmosis. {ohh my heart....}

~ Brushed through hair.. that didn't get conditioner the night before...

~ Ironed 2 outfits for school... and one a little more carefully cause it seems so little- too little to be going..

~ Was sassed by a Little stranger too big for her five-year old britches in the parking lot.

~ Waffled between the white shirt and the grey.

~ Contemplated my new found free-time on Tues & Thurs.... all the while knowing I would give it up in a heartbeat for more time with the A-man...

~ Sheared my little lamb- so he looks a little more up to par- it grows so darned fast these days! {you're welcome Cooner...}

~ Lamented Summer's end & shorter days.

~ Daydreamed Cooner's peach cobbler.

~ Packed 3 lunches.... not 1, not 2, but 3.....

~ Ate breakfast at Granny's doughnuts {cause that's what you do on your 1st day of school around here- at least that's what A-man thinks....}.

~ Imagined the future.

~ Searched feverishly on-line for the perfect fall coats for the kiddos.

~ Remembered a movie that Priss & I watched last weekend... and cried all over again {Letters to God- good gracious that's a tear jerker.. why in the world did I do that to myself I'll never know?}!

~ Washed a bucket full of cars that were "accidentally" dropped in the toilet.

~ Looked forward to tomorrow & the day after that.

"ahhh where has the time gone?"

tonight.... i'm taking this little sweaty {what is it with little boys that sweat through their heads?} monkey to meet his teacher & see his classroom @ his pre-school back-to-school night... i can't believe that it's time for this already.... he is ready- i'm getting there! this afternoon i made some little hair clips for the fall "A" line & because i have zero shame... i made one for his teacher's little girl too...

i mean really... this little clip couldn't hurt his chances of becoming her favorite.... right????
{shameless i know... it's who i am- blame cooner!!!}

"flowers = lip gloss"

hello sweet friends!!!! I had to take a little spell off from blog-world to collect myself from ALL of the sadness, but mostly to hold my little darlings more & kiss their cheeks off.... {I hope ya'll understand...} Today the A-man & I are off running errands {which will most definitely include going to one a few junk stores!!! I'm ready to tweak my decor a smidge without breaking the bank... I'll let ya know what I find. Until then I wanted to show you a little flower pin that I've been working on {flowers are to me what lip gloss is to Priss... now do you get my sickness?}:

here is what ya need:

:: poly/silk fabric
:: candle lighter
:: scissors
:: fun beads or a pin
:: needle & thread
:: ruler if your OCD
{I happen to be, but I didn't use it- ha ha}



next: cut out squares descending in size
{I used 6, but you can make it as big or small as you like}



then:: round off the corners & ruffle the edges with the lighter...
{and if you don't love it- cut if off & try it again!}



next:: stack them together & see how they look
FABULOUS!!!



finally:: sew them together & add some beads to finish them off!!!



I LOVE this little pin for many MANY reasons... like the fact that she can be worn on a head band, a hair clip, a purse strap, a bag handle, on a belt {and YES you will see her this FALL on mine}, but for now I love her on a pillow on my sofa.....

p.s. NOW is the time to clip your hydrangeas off and dry them for the fall/winter! My sweet friend Jodi let me clip these last Friday & they're dried already- no more watering or tending to do- they will look gorgeous ALL winter long!!!!

"some news..."

Today I'm making.....


this-

this-

& this-
....but I've cried over my mixer the entire time {and much of the night for that matter}. Yesterday my sweet neighbor Brenda {the young mother that I told ya'll about before} lost her battle with breast cancer.... Joey questions my almost neurotic baking saying "I'm sure that food is the last thing on their minds right now?" YES this I know, but I feel so incredibly helpless that this is all I know to do.... NEVER again will I see Brenda @ the pool with the boys, NEVER again will she call me about a potential deadly spider bite or broken bone that Trevor may or may not have gotten, NEVER again will I make her a bow for her Easter wreath, NEVER again will Mike come home to have dinner ready & her waiting for him on the porch.... These things make my heart cry not for her & the fact that in Heaven there is NO cancer & she is NO longer in pain... but because she cannot hold her babies & tell them everything is going to be okay or that she is going to win this battle & be @ the ball field next summer...... PLEASE keep Mike & the children in your prayers...... and pray that I can start to have peace enough to share the love of Jesus with them!

"HELP!"

"Some blessings come soon, some come late, & some don’t come until heaven; but for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come."

-Jeffrey R. Holland

I need some BIG prayers for one of my childhood friends {Kristin} just diagnosed with Leukemia. She is precious, pregnant, but most importantly she knows the Lord!!! I'm asking ya'll to stop what you're doing RIGHT now & pray for her. She needs to feel the peace that only God can give in these times. Pray for skilled physicians to treat this both swiftly & carefully {it being more difficult because of the pregnancy}. Pray for comfort to her family as their world is turned completely upside down. And pray that, as always, people draw near to the Author of hope & that they will be able to give Him the glory when He does a mighty miracle in her life!!!!

{p.s. she is having her bone scan this morning @ 10:00}

THANK YOU my sweet friends!!!!!
~Have a great weekend~

"little chic shack..."

today I stumbled upon this beauty!!! I {since forever I guess} have wanted a little get-away just for me... AHHH how I would LOVE this little one!!!!

{click on the pics to see the details...}

This amazing woman took a 9ft x 14 ft shack that started like this...

And with hard work, salvaged materials, thrift store finds and only $3,000...yes I said only three-thousand-dollars, she created a magnificent retreat in the mountains of New York.

And the best part??

She did it all.by.herself.

Ok, no more words. The photos will speak for themselves.

Wasn't that fantastic???
{this is SO going to be a dream of mine}

If you want to read the story behind Ms. Foster and her little cottage, click here.

And what I am loving the most...she has a blog! Check it out...My Shabby Streamside Studio

"back to school..."

well... we are back to school & the summer flew by us without us even noticing!!!! Priss said, in her words, "2nd grade is totally great... you get 2 snacks... I guess it's because you are so much smarter & need more food to help you think?" - I just died laughing @ her all the way home {she had a VERY captive audience with her brother & I}. A-man was pretty pitiful most of the morning... I hope today is easier {for both of us}... It always amazes me how {o-kay} the other moms seem to be @ drop-off- I thought by year, {I don't know 5 including pre-school}, I would have my tears under control.. NO not yet! Heaven help me in 2 weeks when A-man starts......

Priss putting her things away on the 1st day!!!
{notice anything new??? She has asked to wear "hair ribbons" for awhile instead of "hair bows"- she thinks it looks a little more "2nd grade"- here we go!!!!!!}

p.s. and back to school means homework & spelling tests... 2 of her words this week= chrysanthemum & petunias- YIKES!!!!!! {I must admit that I had NO idea how to spell them.. until last night!}

"FYI"

hey just wanted to pass on that TJ Maxx has the cutest little thermal lunch totes {up near the check-out @ our store}. They have several different styles including Zebra- which we are now the proud owners of- for $6.00.

I wanted to get it monogrammed for Priss, but decided to try some "permanent texture paint" that I found @ Michaels {for $1.00}.

I think it turned out super cute!!!

Now ya'll run out & get one too!!!!

{I swear TJ Maxx ought to be giving me a discount for ALL the business I send them- ha ha ha}