It's going to be a great weekend!

Have a great weekend guys!

My plans this weekend include... 

a cute little kid's birthday party and...

a whole lotta time spent with my kids and hubby!

Because each day spend with them is so special!!

(Pictures taken by Crystal's Photography)

What are your plans?

My favorite things

Hey you!

Here are a few more of my favorite things...

(That makes me want to bust out in song from "The Sound of Music." Ha! I just did)

Coconut Oil

I just love coconut oil! I love the smell of it and the countless ways you can use it. I use it on my kiddos skin after a bath. It makes their skin super smooth, delicious smelling & oh so kissable! I also use it on my own skin. 

I've even made homemade baby wipes using some coconut oil (along with Castille soap, Viva paper towels and water). 

And check out "101 Uses for Coconut Oil" by the "Wellness Mama"

Pick some up, you'll love it! I promise :)!

 KTIS







98.5 KTIS is my favorite station! I love the encouragement and joy that I feel by listening to the station. There is a great variety of Christian artists. My favorites being: Jeremy Camp, Chris Tomlin, Jamie Grace, Hillsong, Toby Mac, Britt Nicole,  Matthew West and so many more. Check out the website here. 

And at the bottom of the website there's a link to "Prayer Works." It is amazing! You can submit a prayer and provide your cell phone number and when someone clicks on your prayer to pray for you, you can get a text message saying "Someone prayed for you." How sweet is that?! I've used it in the past months and I can tell you from experience that is sure is encouraging to know that there are people praying about your situation. Even though you are just a stranger to them. It just goes to show the love of Jesus Christ's people.  It can by anonymous, too. And if you don't have a prayer request, you could be that encouraging person praying for other's. Check it out here.

"Fully Alive: Lighten Up and Live -
 A Journey that Will Change Your Life" By: Ken Davis

This.
 Book.



Is.
Amazing.

My lovely friend, Crystal, got this book for me...autographed! We were at Women of Faith in October of 2012 when we got the honor of listening to Ken Davis speak. And boy is he funny and smart and sweet all wrapped together! I loved this book so much! And I think you would, too. And it really did change my life! I want to enjoy every precious day of my life.

Check out Ken Davis online.

His website is awesome!

And funny!




CARDS

I really love cards!! ( I love a lot of things..I know :) ) I love getting cards in the mail. Especially at Christmas time! It is exciting to open up a card and see the Christmas photo or read what your loved one has written especially for you. It makes my day week month!

But, as much as I love to GET cards...I love sending cards SO much more! 

I usually buy boxes of cards at Lifeway. I'm impressed by the DaySpring cards. The boxes are reasonably priced and so cute! There are Bible verses on each card which I find very lovely.










If you're having a hard day or feeling down, think of someone else by sending an encouraging and kind card. I know that your mood will flip from the excitement of knowing you will make someone's day more special because of your sweet card. An unexpected card in the mail means so much more than an email. I feel it has to do with the fact that sending a card in the mail takes more of an effort. It is just so  special. 

Jamie :)

MOPS/Moms Next

Have you heard of MOPS or MomsNext? 

MOPS stands for Mothers Of PreSchoolers, but is for Moms with kids from birth to kindergarten. And MomsNext is for Moms of school age children.

Last night I got to attend my MOPS/MomsNext meeting! We meet the 2nd Tuesday evening of every month. I really love this group of girls that I get to see. It is so much FUN!! We have a delicious supper, give away door prizes, listen to different speakers regarding a topic, pray, listen to a devotional and have table talk. 

Last night the topic was on self defense and CPR. And I think it was one of the best topics! It got us ladies all engaged. And we were laughing while doing the self defense moves on our friends. I told you...super fun!!

Click here: MOPS/MomsNext to find a group that meets nearby you. You won't regret it. It's awesome to do something for yourself with other Moms. Because Moms, you deserve it! :)

If you attend Mops/MomsNext, what has been one of your favorite topics?

Tuesday's Top Three favorite shopping websites

Hi friends!

Today 

I'm going to share with you 3 of my favorite shopping websites

1.) Snapfish

I love getting my photos developed from Snapfish. They have "penny print" sales frequently as well as other great sales such as "buy 1 photo book, get 2 free." Great deals, right? You do need to pay for shipping and handling but still, it ends up being a big savings. I usually get a couple months of pictures ordered at a time and when that box comes in the mail...I'm so excited! I just love photos. And I enjoy getting copies and passing them along to family and friends. That is special!

Their big sale right now....

FREE SHIPPING ON ORDERS $25+
Get free standard shipping on orders $25 or more with code SHIP0125 by January 31, 2014

2.) Gap

I really love Gap! It can be challenging some times to get shopping done. I've learned to love online shopping. There are great deals at Gap.com. Their clothing lasts and lasts and is beautiful.

Their sale right now...

Extra 50% off sale styles & 40% off regular price styles. 

Ends 1/15. Online only. Enter GAPSAVE at checkout.

3.) Amazon

I just love Amazon. They have EVERYTHING! And you can usually get free shipping on orders over $35. I usually buy my books there for me and the kids. And next year I will be doing more online Christmas shopping. This past Christmas...I did ALL of my shopping in one day 5 days before Christmas. It was a great feeling getting it all done in one day but "OH MY" was it a busy day. :)

Well that's it! Have a fantastic Tuesday!!

It's a bright new week!

It's a bright new Monday

But,

Where did the weekend go? 

It sure went fast! But it was fun! 

We got to spend time with my Sister and Brother in law and their 2 little ones yesterday. 

We had a great time! I love my family so much!!

This is my beautiful niece Taylor. This girl has my heart! She loves me to braid her hair and I LOVE to do it! It's fun! In this photo she wanted some pink lipstick on, too. She's a sweet little girly-girl! And yesterday I got to the honor of french braiding her Rapunzel doll. It turned out real cute, too. :)

 

And this picture is from 2010. My, has this little beautiful blue eyed baby girl grown up! 

I'm reminded to enjoy every single day. Have fun! It's the little things that mean THE most!! ;)

Blessings to you on your Monday!

How to paint meaningful words/verses/quotes onto wood

It's Friday!! 

I have a simple craft that I will leave you with today. Maybe you'll have time over the weekend to work on it. It's fun, easy and so versatile. 

Onto our D.I.Y. craft...

"How to paint meaningful words/verses/quotes onto wood"

Here are 2 that I've done.

This is one of my favorite Bible verses. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" ~Philippians 4:13. It is a constant reminder that we can do everything with God's strength. This is currently hanging in Austin's room. He can see it from his bed and when he learns to read, he will be able to set his eyes on the words every time he's in bed. He can read some sight words..so that's a start! :)

"Blessed" I love that word. It holds such great meaning in my life. I feel so blessed to have a wonderful husband who is a great provider and Daddy to our kiddos. I'm blessed by God each day, even though I am so underserving. I feel blessed to have a Savior-Jesus Christ who loves me with an everlasting love. I feel so blessed to have such loving children, an amazing family, fantastic friends, a Church family I adore, a home, a job...the list goes on and on. 

Let's get to it....

1.) These are the paints I used. I think I got them at Walmart, very inexpensive. They work perfect. And you'll need a paint brush.

                                       

2.) For the wood I used to paint on. To be completely honest, the wood pieces are from blinds I bought at Ikea years ago. They were so dusty and dirty that I was going to just throw them away. But, not this Mama. I found another way to recycle them. I broke them apart to make the perfect lengths I needed to do this project. And I'm so glad I did. However, the hubby threw away the rest of them (he doesn't like stuff sitting around) which I'm sad about. So next time I do another one of these I will purchase one of these from Joann Fabric and Craft Stores...

Super adorable, right? And all pretty inexpensive. But, maybe you have something lying around the house that you could re-use? 

3.) Next step,

Find a fitting word or Verse or quote you'd like to write on your wood. 

Here are a few options:

~Grateful

~Happy

~Family

~Thankful

~JOY

~Peace

"A cheerful heart fills the day with song." ~Proverbs 15:15 The Message

"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made." ~Psalm 139:14

The options are endless...

4.) Paint the background color on your wood. Let it dry. When it does dry, you could use sandpaper to scrape it a bit to make it look more rustic. That's what I did

5.) You're ready to beautifully write you words onto the wood. Choose a color that will stand out on your background color. 

6.) Let dry and Wa-La...you're done! Great job! To hang on your wall, I would highly recommend using Command Picture Hanging Strips. They work like a charm! I love them and use them all over my home. No nail holes!

Here's what they look like. 

And for your enjoyment...here are some fun photos of my Troy boy and me! Happy Friday everyone!!