SAHM -w- MOWB

Translation = Stay at home Mom -with- middle of winter blues!

Sometimes being stuck in the house begins to wear on me. This week has been one of the worst. Monday was mild and sunny, the girls actually played OUTSIDE for a few hours. But Tues, Wed and Thurs were pouring, freezing rain ALL day and night. Then today has been cold, wet snow all day. Not enough snow to make it fun to go play in, just constant, cold precipitation. The winter blues have officially set in around here. Yesterday we hit the height of frustration and we dealt with lots of grumpiness and boredom. Nothing I could suggest would interest one of my daughters - not even playdoh, which is something I rarely offer since it's so darn messy!

Today I declared we HAD to get out, no matter the weather. So we went to the library, then splurged on Panera for lunch - just us girls. Felt so good to get out a little!

Having said all that, there is joy in my life. There are certain things I take special appreciation to when I'm feeling like a stuck-in-the-house-stay-at-home-Mom. Some of these are:

1. those mornings when the sun shines brightly through the windows - makes any cold day more bearable

2. that first cup of coffee in the morning, so creamy and sweet and warms my bones

3. great books

4. daisies in a vase on my kitchen table - actually fresh flowers of ANY kind are a bonus - if you don't have any, get some on your next trip to the grocery store, I promise it will help brighten your day!

5. getting the mail - don't know why, but it always excites me - especially when there is REAL mail for me or a new magazine

6. quiet time - enough said!

7. a colorful tablecloth

8. baking. anything. {then trying to avoid eating all the good things I've made!}

9. snuggling on the couch with my girls and some books.

10. evenings with hubby, talking and watching TV together - especially Thursday nights watching Survivor together!

What brightens your life when you have the winter blues?

Disclaimer!

My new background says 'I'm so lucky' ... with a cute little crown and four leaf clover. Just wanted to clear things up - I do not believe in 'luck' per se ... more specifically I believe in the fact that God is in control of everything that happens not only in my little world, but the entire universe! However, I like the little crown and feel like it could represent the fact that I AM a daughter of the King of Kings - a princess you might say. And keeping that in mind, I AM lucky ... or a better word would be blessed ... and grateful ... and forever thankful! {... and I do have a little Irish in me so the clover works too!}

Have a blessed day friends!

A little early ...

I changed my layout and header again ... I know it's still a few days away from March but I was playing around with pics and headers and was anxious to get it up on the blog to see how it would look. So if you read this blog on a reader and want to come check it out I hope you like it! ;)

~~Kathy

Can you say ....

ADDICT???!!!

Coffee Mate flavored, liquid creamers are my absolute fave. I cannot drink my coffee without it! I love trying all their yummy flavors too.

One of our local grocery stores has had them on sale the past two weeks PLUS they also double coupons at that store and I've had some great 75 cents off coupons making all this coffee mate FREEEEEEEE ... well, except the large one that I already had ...

AND the best part, the store I went in today even had some Peppermint Mocha, one of my fave flavors that only comes out at Christmas and I could not even get my hands on at Christmas time. The expiration is not until July! wooohooooo!

1000 Gifts {123-149}

ugh! I've been slacking again! I keep thinking of all these wonderful blessings to add to my 1000 gifts list, but since I don't write them down right away I forget - I'm getting old!

Anyhow ... I'll just share what's on my mind for this morning ...

123. bright sunshine pouring through my windows in the morning

124. a sweet Valentine who bought me flowers

125. a very fun Valentine dinner with my hubby and girls

126. a sweet daughter turning 7

127. her thankful words and hugs after opening her gifts

128. family time with grandparents

129. and grandpa making legos with his granddaughter

130. sweet fellowship with our Bible study friends

131. many birthday parties to celebrate many precious children

132. gerbera daisies

133. confetti and streamers

134. nourishment

135. rocking a sweet baby

136. finding encouragement through the trials of others

137. decorative ribbon

138. many pregnant friends carrying the promise of new life

139. the joy of hobbies

140. sleepyheaded children

141. a snuggly old dog who warms my feet at night

142. coupons

143. comfy pj's

144. modern conveniences

145. smiles from so many people I know and love at church

146. fresh pineapple

147. brunch with some awesome ladies

148. my journal and pens

149. a new week, a fresh start, with new goals

And we have a winner!!!

Drum roll please!!! .............................................................................

And the winner of the scrapbooked 'Family' album is ..... CHARITY! I am so happy that Charity won! Charity and her husband Tony suffered a horrific loss just over a year ago when their full term baby died in utero. Charity and Tony's faith has been such a blessing to me and has encouraged me to see what a blessing my girls are. I have prayed over this sweet family many times in the past year and consider it a privilege to do so. If you'd like to follow their journey or pray for them also, please check out their blog at: Considering it all Joy

Charity, I will contact you for your mailing address. Congratulations and I will continue to pray for you and Tony. Thank you for the blessing you have been in my life!

Milestones and a giveaway!

My baby girl is 7 years old today! I can hardly believe it! Where oh where has 7 years gone? I still feel like I am the Mom of toddlers {not b/c they act like that, simply b/c I can't believe they are already past that age} .... and when I really sit and think about it, I'm in shock that we're not only past the baby stage, but also past the toddler stage, and past the preschool stage and are well into the school age! WOW! It sorta makes me feel old ... ;)


Here is our beautiful ray of sunshine! This girl loves to smile and has one of those infectious laughs that just gets everyone else laughing.
Some quick facts about her:
*She is in first grade.
*She is not only almost as tall as her big sis, but also has lost the same amount of teeth as her big sis.
*She loves her sister. She will do anything Hope will do, go anywhere Hope will go and rarely leaves Hope's side {which sometimes annoys Hope.}
*She is silly and playful - I call her my free spirit. She has a zest for life!
*She does not like mornings and does not like to get out of bed.
*She {still} loves her favorite stuffed animal and blanky. She still carries them with her when she gets out of bed every morning and usually all through breakfast and the morning routine until I tell her it's time to put them back on her bed.
*She's becoming a really good reader! {Currently loving the Junie B. Jones books}
*She loves to swim - we think she may be part fish!
*Her favorite color is purple.
*She loves to dance, sing and listen to music.
*She {still} loves to snuggle. I would definitely say without a doubt that her love language is physical touch - she loves to hug and kiss and snuggle and loves to receive those things too. {I'm pretty sure her fave stuffed animal has been almost kissed to death a time or two!}
*She is our baby ... and will forever be ... even when she's 17 and 27 and 37 ... and we are so blessed to have her in our lives!

This morning she woke up to this .... confetti on the table, a 'birthday queen' crown, her purple flowers ....
and streamers covering her door ....

Are you still reading? Still wondering about that giveaway I mentioned? Good ... read on ...
So the second part of my milestone announcement is that I hit 500 posts today! WOW! I had actually been planning to have a giveaway for my 500th post, but got so busy blogging and catching up today that I missed it! ha! So this is actually my 501st post - but it's still a good reason for a giveaway, don't you think?!

What I'm giving away is this {made by me} Scrapbooked 'FAMILY' chipboard album. The 'pages' form the letters for the word family and I've added the papers and ribbons and all you'll have to do is add some of your own photos and voila! It's so cute I was tempted to keep it for myself ... but I do love y'all an awful lot so I will give it away!

How can you win?

Two ways:

1. leave a comment telling me what your fave hobby is. If you leave a comment but don't mention your hobby it will NOT count. please play by the rules!

2. for extra entries you can blog {on your own blog} about my giveaway ... then come back here and comment again telling me that you did so and giving me your blog address.

Sound fair? A winner will be chosen at random on Sunday, Feb. 21st at 8pm EST.
Good luck!!!

A Special Valentines Dinner

Since I had to work so much last week for the Valentines day weekend, I wanted to have a nice dinner at home to celebrate instead of going out to a restaurant. So my hubby and I planned a fancy family dinner at home for Valentines night. He cooked us a wonderful lasagna with garlic bread and Caesar salad ... and I did a bunch of decorating and made a special dessert. We all got dressed up fancy and had a fabulous time! I think this might have to be a new family tradition!

I tied tulle bows to the backs of the chairs ...

Beautiful roses from my Valentine!

Flowers I designed for my girls at work ...

My honey and I! I am so in love with this man!

Chocolates for the girls ...

My two little sweethearts!

Daddy's girls!

We gave each other Valentine cards - mostly homemade ...

AND we had a very yummy, very special dessert!

It was simply LOVEly ... =)

Snow day!!!

We have had more snow days this winter than I can remember in a long time! The girls love the snow and I must admit ... it's much more fun to have snow than just to have the cold with bare ground and icy cold temps!

This week the girls enjoyed another fun snow day. Sledding and building a huge fort were their two favorite things to do outside. They spent two long afternoons making the fort - it was great packing snow so they used this large plastic bucket to make 'bricks', then put them all together to make a house. It turned out great! I love to see them working together with a common goal, and also playing together and having so much fun whizzing down the hill!

Happy Valentines Day!!!!