Another Date

I spent the day with my sweetheart yesterday.....the second 'date' we've had within the same month. Wow! This time we were shopping for clothes for the Frito Lay banquet coming up this weekend. Like I mentioned before....he was looking for a sport coat & I just needed a pair of shoes to go with the outfit I got.

 

First off, he took me to lunch at Hibachi Grill. This was the first time either of us had been there & we REALLY enjoyed it!
Next, we headed over to the mall. It was such a nasty, cold & rainy day.....but we really had a fun time together. He didn't find the sport coat he was looking for, but we did get a couple of golf shirts for the boys & I found a pair of shoes.

After our shopping, we were cold & decided a nice hot McD's coffee was in order. We also got a cup for Ashley & dropped by to visit with her for a little bit. I had some paints that I was needing to take her for an art project that she was working  on. I love being close enough by to see my girly each week.
 



 

Clothes Shopping & the Circus Train

I went shopping today......for myself. Have I ever mentioned how much I despise clothes shopping for myself. Ok, it's more like I hate HAVING to shop.....it's different when I can plunder along through Good Will & run across a great bargain. I LOVE that. But Clay signed us up to go to the Frito Lay Ownership Banquet this Saturday night at the Hotel Roanoke & I NEEDED something wear.

 

Thank goodness I had helped Clay shop week before last for his New Orlean's trip.....he is basically good to go except for the fact that he says he'd like to try & find a sport coat to go with what he has. But anyway.....I knew they were having some super good sales at the mall. I never go to the mall, but that's where I headed today. Long story short....I found a really nice dressy pair of black pants with a really pretty top. The pants were $8 & the top was $10. I can handle that & best of all, it's not super formal (I am so NOT a formal girl!!!) & I can wear it to church when all is said & done. I'm really looking forward to going to the banquet & I think Clay is toying with the idea of staying overnight there as our anniversary celebration. Nothing will ever top our trip to NY last year, but I'm excited about the thought of a night away with my hubby. We stayed overnight here about 8 years ago, I think......the last time Frito Lay had their banquet there.

 

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So, I was outside grilling some hamburgers this evening when I heard a train coming. No big deal.....trains go by out here all day long & we never pay attention. But I noticed the cars were different.....the first few were just BIG ole plain silver/gray cars, but after that, I noticed what was painted on the sides......

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey

Now, these are obviously googled pictures that I snagged, but aren't they cool?! To think of those big ole ginormous elephants inside those train cars. Here is a cool link to some nifty train facts if anyone is interested.

Art Supplies

Was playing around this afternoon with new art goodies. I have been wanting to get some water color crayons for a good while now & I finally broke down & got some on Friday. I LOVE the way they work. You just color/scribble with them & then take a paint brush to them. So cool & the colors are so vibrant!

 

The black paint was already there.....some acrylic that I had leftover & just sponged on these pages so I didn't waste it. So, I took my watercolor crayons (the darker blue on one page & lighter bluish/green on the other side) & scribbled around the edges & in the white spaces & then painted over it all with water. After that dried, I scribbled some circles in reds & then painted over that. Just FUN!

This was just a fun little Valentine page I did with the note I got from Kaye & the Snoopy sticker I saved from the back of the envelope.

'One Sparrow shall not fall on the ground without your Father.' --Matt. 10:29

Michael had done a scribble drawing late one night & I thought is was cool.....so I saved it & cut the circles out to make flowers. 'The Quieter you become the more you can hear.' QUIET is my word for this year & I'm TRYING really hard to practice being quiet. It's so hard when you come from a LOUD family like ours.

Frito Lay trip to New Orleans

Thought I'd share some pictures from Clay's recent trip to New Orleans. This was a Frito Lay award's trip. He got the Frontline Leadership award. I'm so proud of him!! He flew out of Lynchburg this past Tuesday morning & came home Thursday evening.

 

Here he is the first night there meeting football great, Joe Theisman.

The Superdome as seen from his hotel....that's how close they were.

Not sure what this is, but it was taken from the Steamboat Natchez....

They got to go on a cruise up the Mississippi River on Wednesday.

These next few pictures were taken Wednesday as they walked back to their hotel from the Riverboat....

Jackson Square

Rev. Zombie's Voodoo Shop

New  Orleans Musical Legends Park.....with Fats Domino

Clay just HAD to get some raw oysters while he was down there. He said they really were the best he's ever eaten!

 

Bourbon Street

Words can Captivate Your Man

“A wife of noble character, who can find? She is worth far more than rubies,” (Proverbs 31:10NIV).

Dear LORD, thank you for giving me the gift of my husband. Help me to never forget that one of the greatest places of ministry is in the home, and that You are well pleased when I love my husband well. Help me to love my husband with my words and my actions today.

In Jesus’ Name,

Amen.

 

 

**from Girlfriends in God

Happy 'Love' Day

We had a super fun time at Maw's house this afternoon. Our usual craziness & fellowship...........fellowship like only we can do! I'm sitting here thinking how QUIET my house is.......Alli went home to spend the night with Cori....Clay & Jon are at the Lady Flames basketball game and Chris & Michael are upstairs.....so it's just me sitting here listening to Justin Kintzel...'There Is No One Like You'.

 

My college Girly is enjoying her very first Valentine's Day with a special someone. It was such a gorgeous afternoon that they decided to hike up to the LU Monogram. I was given permission to share a couple of pictures here since they are already on Facebook.

Ashley & Brendan

Aren't they just the cutest?!

 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Tuesday's Unschooling Lessons

Yesterday was quite a day. Clay was off & I knew he & the boys had planned to go get a couple loads of firewood, but I didn't know that he wanted me to go with him to town to shop for his upcoming trip after the wood-cutting. So, I kind of had to reprogram my brain....change up what I was going to fix for supper......decided that I'd run out to Food Lion & get a can of cream of chicken soup & throw some chicken & rice in the crock pot. That way supper would be ready when we got home & all I'd need to do would be to steam some broccoli & make some corn muffins. So......while they went to get their first load of wood, I ran out to Food Lion...got my stuff & was ready to leave. When I went to back up out of the parking spot, I heard this noise.....now I don't know how to describe or do the sound effects like a man can, but anyway....the car wouldn't go.....so I put it into 'drive' & tried to get back into the parking spot....but the car didn't want to do that either. I was kind of freaking out thinking WHAT IN THE WORLD had I done to the car. I got it to go forward just enough so that I wasn't blocking everything & then I called Clay. Long story short & two hours later.......the tire rod came undone & needs to be fixed. I can only praise Jesus that it all happened the way it did......actually right here at home.....in the Food Lion parking lot & not out on the highway somewhere....Clay was off & at home & could come rescue me.....plus Chris was at work inside Food Lion. So, like I said Clay & Jon came & got it so they could drive it home. Then he took a quick shower & we headed to town to shop. I prayed the whole way there that we could just let the stress of all this fall away.....trust God & enjoy our time together. And ya know what......we did. We had fun shopping, found some really good sales at the mall, saw Ashley for a minute & even had an early 'Valentine's' dinner at Taco Bell. Just praying that they can get this fixed today because we are supposed to be having a Valentine party at Maw's tomorrow.

 

**I can't help it, because my brain is still very much in 'Unschooling' mode & I seem to be taking note of EVERY.LITTLE.THING that we do that can be considered a learning experience........but that's what I was thinking yesterday as I sat in the Food Lion parking lot watching Jon & Clay work on the car. I'm really amazed at Jon's mechanical skills. He even spent quite a bit of time online last night reseraching how to fix the tire rod & told Clay what parts/tools he needed to get at Advance Auto so we could fix it. He's got printed out step-by-step instructions & feels confident that it won't be too hard to fix. ** And when we got home at 9pm last night, Alli was in the kitchen drying & putting away the last of the dishes. She had washed them & cleaned up the kitchen & even made tea. I do believe that she IS growing up just a tad. ;-)

 

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And now, after reading my novel......for your viewing pleasure.......the rest of my art journal pages.

 

Another 'fancy' edged page.

This one started off as a journal entry one day when I was rather pa-tooed. After spilling my guts, I painted over top of it all, did some scribbles in the wet paint & then splattered green paint & finally added the colorful border.....

Both of these were done one night when we had lost our power. I had been wanting to do a 'face' page like I've seen others do, so with nothing else to do that night, I plunged right in & had a fun time just playing. Down the side, it says 'Art By Lamplight'.

I always hate tossing out my greeting cards, but really....where/how do you store/save them all. So, since I've started art journaling, I've been cutting out any designs that I like & also the greetings/notes that folks write to you in the cards. This one is a BD card from my Aunt Linda. I loved the little vase of flowers & on the top of the opposite page, you can see the note that she wrote. Also, another something new is my very first ever hand carved eraser stamp. I carved that fence stamp out of a regular old pink eraser. Not bad for my first try if I do say so myself.

In these last two photos, I was playing with some new art supplies that I got for my birthday. The top right hand journal page was just me trying out some new pens that I got from Michaels last Friday. I labeled them for future reference. The other red & turquoise pages (I'm loving that color combo right now) were mainly just me playing with some new stencils that I happened upon accidentally in the craft aisle of Walmart......several different designs in one package for a little over $2. I kow I'll get a ton of use out of those!!

Monday-ness

I know I posted the other day about Jon & Chris changing the oil/filter in Chris' car.....but they realized that he had gotten the wrong size filter & ended up not being able to do it that day. Had to wait for Clay get the right one. Anyway, this is the picture I snapped yesterday afternoon of the guys working on the car.

 

Sorry for the wonky screen effect/dirty windows......I was on the back porch when I snapped this.

I love happy surprises, dont' you? I got this adorable little hand-made Valentine from Kaye yesterday afternoon. She's so thoughtful....always thinking of others. This is hanging in my kitchen window now.....such a sweet touch in my country kitchen!

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I haven't shared any art journaling pagess in a long time & so yesterday afternoon I went outside....the light is so much better out there & took some pictures of my favorite pages. I'm almost done with this journal & I can't wait to get started in a brand new one!!

This was one of Clay's BD cards & I just loved those little cupcakes & thought they would make the cutest border. So I glued them to the page & then trimmed around them. Made for a cool edge to my page.

Just another cool border/edge idea. I was looking at the tea bags one day & thought they would make a fun border....so there ya go. I love the different page edges/sizes of the pages.....adds a nice variety to my journal.

The flip-side of the above page....

Christmas Eve.....I used part of a doily that I had used previously for masking...thought it was pretty.

Just a fun, funky New Year's Eve page....I used the Dec. page of one of those little bitty desk calendars & circled the date on it. Then across the top, I noted that it was Anna's 11th Birthday.

Lots of paint, stamping, some magazine cut-outs, washi tape & some left-over letter stickers that I found which I used for the date.

 

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So, there ya go.....a few of my favorite jouranl pages. I have another batch that I will post later today & then I'll pretty much be caught up.

The Cross Wasn't Pretty

Just taking a few minutes this morning to high-light our last couple of days.

 

~Thursday, Jon & Michael went over to Mason's to sahrpen our chainsaw chains. So thankful for mentors like Mason in my boys' lives. That are willing & actually enjoy spending time with them & teaching them these everyday skills that will really benefit them in their lives. Not to mention the stories & rich history they impart from their lifetime  experiences. Such a treasure!

 

~Saturday was such a beautiful Pre-Spring day. Jon set up this make-shift pen....put together of two different pieces of chicken wire & some pitiful little split pieces of wood...which, in Jon's words, looked like some 'wicked torture pen'. LOL! This allowed a safe space to get Jonsie out & let Jon clip his nails. While he enjoyed his new little 'play pen', Alli cleaned out his hutch & replaced all the straw with some fresh new hay from the barn. I think he really enjoyed his little adventure today.

~Sunday--Check out that expression! Charlie looks like, 'What the heck? Did I really lay that egg?!'

Jon had come up from the chicken pen with a pail of fresh eggs & well, just being Jon.....he came in here & tucked an egg right in the crook of Charlie's tail. It was so funny. He kept turning around & sniffing at it.....trying to figure it out.

~And lastly.....remember my post from the other day where the boys were making their twisty candles. This was Jon's masterpiece.....made out of 4 separate candles. It actually was the 'ickiest-looking' of them all...simply for the fact that he had to actually use a match & melt them together....thus all the melty blackness. Well, I was getting ready to toss the candles out & Jon said I couldn't toss this one. I MUST save it.....and save it, I will now......after my child's reasoning. When I said it was kind of black & icky-looking he said to me, 'Well, the cross wasn't pretty, was it?'  Wow! Shut my mouth! How's THAT for an unschooling moment?!