:: Yesterday ::

:: I missed posting yesterday, I was a goner! I was coordinator for a huge wedding at our church that took a lot longer than I thought, so that along with the heat just zapped me {Congrat's K+T}. Then I came home to two very happy but very tired little boys - Thanks Anna for taking such good care of them!. They needed naps but since it was late they ended up waking up after they usually are already in bed -- so then it was a challenge to get them back down again, and the heat, oh the heat! ::

:: I ran out last night and watered Grammie & Grampy's flowers and lawn as they are away right now. I also grabbed an Iced Americano on my way home from my favorite coffee shop ::

:: When I returned home I paid some bills {nothing like $44 gas bill for two months, gotta love the summer!}, chatted with Paul about our day, wrapped some gifts for today and then settled in to watch this movie - it's not new but it's quite cute ::

:: So today we have a ton on the go, we're heading first to a birthday pool party for a special 1 year old - it's the perfect day for a pool party ::

:: Then on to Princess Party for a beautiful 5 year old ::


:: Well lovelies --- I better go and get my biggest boy down for his rest before he's filled with chips, cake and chlorinated water! Have a fabulous day & stay cool! ::


:: Oh, and in case you read this and you live in my area and you watch the Bachelorette...YOU are invited to my place on Monday night to watch the finale --- If you don't know me well but would love to come, please do, I'd love to get to know you better! Just email me if you need my address {see the button on my sidebar}. Can't wait for Monday night, it's gonna be great! ::

:: The Bachelorette Episode No. 10 ::

:: Okay Lovelies - Sorry this is so late {both after the fact & in the day}, I really don't have much to say except this ::

:: REID is back?!?!? ::
:: Okay and this; so here's what I think. Reid was absent on the "Guys tell All" show. I think this is because he probably comes back and is ready to sell it all and be hers {well maybe not sell it all, but you know what I mean}. I so love love love Ed, but to support my bachelorette watching cohort I think that Reid might just have a really good chance at winning her back! ::


:: So who's ready for the finale and what do you think is going to happen? ::

:: Seriously ::

:: I was going to schedule this post for tomorrow but I couldn't wait for your responses...so here ya go, two posts in one day. I know, I'm living on the edge {again}! ::

:: Do you ever have those weeks where you are eating the right stuff, drinking tons of water and you still end up having a horrible zit and awful hair?!?! Well, this week has been one of those weeks, of course no one would say {at least I hope not!} that I look poorly or that I look "off", but I feel "off" this week ::

:: So I thought I would post this fancy little gadget I saw on t.v. a little while ago...Hysterical! I don't know if I would ever use one but maybe it would help me with my physical funk I'm in, at least it would be worth a try, no? ::


:: They are called "bumpits" and they do just that, you put them under a layer of your hair and they give your hair volume, when you don't have the time to back-comb it or don't have enough hair to give the proper volume ::

:: I would use one of these; well I may not really use it, but it would make life a whole lot easier - ha ha! ::

:: And you know what they say "the bigger the hair the closer to God" - okay, well maybe that's what they say in the South, but I've brought it out North and I apply that rule on almost a daily basis ;) ::

:: So, what do you do when you are in a funk? Give me cheap easy things I can do --- going out to buy a new outfit to make myself feel better is out of the question! ::

* * *

:: Sorry about the pink font, but I thought it was appropriate as we're talking girl talk around here today ::

:: Park Time ::

:: Sunday night we headed over to the other side of the river and visited Paul's Parents {known sweetly as Anna & Papa - Jacob decided that Nana was too easy to say! Ha!} ::

:: They have a neat little park by their house that we walked to - It looks like a fabby little park but it is not built for kids younger than 5 - yes, that's right, it's for kids over 5 {there is even a sign that states that if you are not in good physical shape you shouldn't use the equipment}! If you were there you would understand why, there are cobwebs of rope and a slide without edges to keep you on it! It's a great little park, but it's not the kind of park that you can just let your kids have at 'er - you have to follow along and watch their every move...well what good is that?!!? ::

:: Here is Cole running up to the park, and Jacob & Unkie J behind the picnic table ::

:: Here are my boys on the spinning thingy - so sweet! ::

:: Cole loved this disk swing, he just relaxed and enjoyed the ride, so cute! ::

:: There are beautiful gardens at the park so while the boys were well taken care of by Anna, Papa, Unkie J and Daddy, I headed over to take some shots of the foliage ::

:: I've got a busy busy day around here --- I'm going to re-organize my pantry, catch up on laundry and then I've got a meeting this afternoon, hopefully the boys cooperate with all that I have going on! ::

:: I'll leave you with this is a verse that I had in my devotions on Provision Sunday and I wanted to share it with you to encourage you today as it blessed me ::

| When I pray, you answer me, and encourage me by giving me the strength I need |
| Psalms 138:3 |

:: Have a wonderfully fabulous day lovelies, enjoy the heat {or try to at least} -- I don't know about you but my office {aka: My Home} is not air conditioned and oy, I'm feeling the heat - Especially when I have tons to complete on my to-do list! ::

:: Old House New Look ::The Other Side ::

:: So I told you I would show you what I did with the other side of the lovely amber glass beside our front door, so here you go! ::

:: Here is what it looked like prior to painting the exterior and interior of the window -- look at that cute row of kids lined up {Jacob, Emma, Madelyne, Cole} ::

:: Well originally I thought since the inside of our door is white that I would paint the window portion white too {just like the outside of the door but with white}. Well, since the window on the inside of the door is not textured like the outside, it didn't paint up well at all! ::

:: Then one afternoon after we had slept on it and thought about what we could do to fix it, Paul came up with the killer idea to paint that portion of the window with chalk board paint - what a great idea! ::

:: So on my next trip down to the US of A I picked up a small bucket of chalk board paint {it was only $8 down there vs. $20 here} and within a half hour of being home, the new chalk board was made ::



:: And I love love love it! ::

:: Have a great day lovelies, and don't despair on the 30 day challenge! I'm off to the US of A this morning as I'm low on the necessities -- I'll be back this afternoon to put everything away and lay the kids down for a rest, pray the heat stays outside the house not in! ::

:: Running out, but I'll be back ::

:: Morning Lovlies! Hope ya'll had a great weekend. Ours was full and eventful, but more on that later, for now I've got to run, we've got appointments for the dentist this morning and a few other errands to run ::

:: This is just to tell you that I'll be back later on with my "real" blog post {with substance} later on in the day ::

{Flowers I was blessed with from a friend on Friday morning, thank you CW!}

:: In the meantime, have a wonderful Monday morning and enjoy this beautiful sunshine ::

:: Provision Sunday ::

:: I don't usually post on Sunday's as it is supposed to be our "sabbath" {but sometimes it feels less like a sabbath more like a circus} --- anyway, Sunday is usually my day off from blog-land, running, deep cleaning {of the house} etc. But with this 30 day challenge I was thinking that I wanted to do something special for my Sunday posts so I've come up with "Provision Sunday" ::

:: This was a hard post to compose, not because I didn't have anything to post about but because provision in my life is SO prevalent. Let me write a side note to that statement; I am not worthy of this provision at all, in any way. But my Lord & Savior is my provider, for every need, want, desire He provides {not necessarily in my time, but provide He does!} ::

:: This particular provision, was not something that I had set out and asked for, nor thought that I wanted, it just kinda fell into my lap and voila - again He's covered my needs before I knew I had them! ::

:: Back about a month ago I was coming home from my run with my boys and I came across a dirty {but in perfect condition} micro fiber mop on my neighbours property. I picked it up and knocked on their door -- they weren't home, so I took it home so it would be safe until I saw them next. I saw them later that day and asked if it was theirs and they said no, and they didn't want it. So I took it home, washed the cloth and put it in my cleaning closet...not really sure how to use it {I'm a bucket and mop type girl oh, and a swiffer vac type girl} ::

:: Then about a week ago my parents were re-organizing their cleaning closet and came across a specialty wood/laminate floor cleaner that they had purchased but never used, nor would use it...so they asked if I would like it. I said that I wasn't sure if I would use it but would take it and pass it on to someone else if I don't use it ::


:: So that brings me to today when I was about to start cleaning my laminate floors, I pull down the Zep floor cleaner {all 4 litres of it} and my bucket, then I proceed to read the directions and I don't have to dilute the solution, I have to put it in a spray bottle and spray it on my floor and wipe with a dry {you guessed it} micro fiber mop ::

:: I was so shocked at the fact that not only did I get this huge bottle of cleaner for free, I also got the matching mop for free! I went and told Paul and he too couldn't believe it. But why should we be so shocked when God says that he will provide for all of our needs? I guess I take that literally -- I just need water and a cotton cloth to clean my floors, not a specialty micro fiber cloth and floor shine! But God wants to provide and bless us over and above, and let me tell you that if He wants to bless me with more than water to clean my floors, He wants to do SO much more in my life! ::

:: I hope you enjoyed this first "Provision Sunday" and if you have any stories of provision that you would like to share feel free to leave the story in my comments section or use my picture to have your own "Provision Sunday" on your blog. These are the types of things we need to speak about more often, it encourages our walks with Christ and reminds us that He truly wants to care for us, we just need to be ready to receive ::