Lucky Duck Thursday

Sophie is the Lucky Duck in Kindergarten this week. Tuesday I read to her class and made cupcakes (with no eggs) for snack. Today Daddy went and read "Daddy is a Doodlebug" to her class. When he finished she asked if they could sing a song. He said, "I don't know pumpkin we wil have to ask your teacher." Teacher says,"Sure is it a chapel song that we all know and can sing along with?" Not so much. Sophie broke out into the Gilligan's Island Themesong. LOVE HER! Next year before she is the special kid in first grade I will have to teach her The Fresh Prince from Bel Aire themesong.

Baby come back!

Do you hear the Savior calling? If you can't hear His voice maybe there are too many others drowning Him out. My sister posted a song on her Facebook it came at a good time for me because I had forgotten all about it. I love the group Commissioned they were huge when I was a teenager. Their song When Love Calls You Home made me cry while driving every time I heard it on the radio. I also love Running Back To You by the same group. I thought I would post the lyrics today and wherever you are today in your walk I hope you always know that His arms are opened wide and you are truly not home unless you are in those arms.

He's calling why not answer...you have nothing to lose and everything to gain!

When Love Calls You Home

Verse 1
Waiting on the edge with your prodigal heart
Wanting for someone to save you from yourself
Out here on the ledge dangling somewhere in the dark
Doubting if anybody really cares
But when Love reaches through the shadows
Whispering your name
Nothing will ever be the same again

Chorus
For when love calls you home
Forgiveness embraces the past you once owned
And all the mistakes that carried your name are gone
That's what happens when love calls you home.

Verse 2
Cradled in the mercy that has no limits
I've finally found a place where I belong
Now I can't imagine a moment without you in it
It's hard to believe I tried to make it on my own
You picked me up from the ruins of my broken life
When every chance was spent you gave me one more try


Running Back To You

How can you forgive me when I've often gone astray
How can you think of me when I do things my way
Turning my back from you
The one who loved me first
Having my own desires
Renewing worldly thirst

You told me you loved me and I should make up my mind
You tell me come back now, but I keep wasting time
Feeling so very weak, You say I can be strong
I feel I've gone to far, You tell me to come home
You love me still, and I know this is real

Chorus
And I am running back to you
I see you standing there for me
Your arms are open wide
And I don't have to cry no more
Your standing there for me
And I am running back to you
Why do I go away when I know I am no good when I'm on my own

Verse 2
You told me you could keep me, but I've turned it away
I've failed you so much now I don't know what to say
Using the same excuse that I am just a man
You tell me you've been there and hold your nail scarred hands so I can see
Now I know I am free

Bridge
I have taken advantage of your love and grace forgive me Lord
and take me home, take me home
Chorus


So if you have been running, lost, slipped out, bitter, or are tired and weary come home to His arms. He is always there. I'm here to and you don't have to go alone.

Mmmmmm Lemony...Olfaction and Memory

Hello my name is Allison and I have been doing other things for the past 2 months. I have decided to take a break from the hurry scurry and write a little something. Just had a major memory come back to me from my childhood. I received this memory by way of a smell. Mixing up a batch of lemon jello just made me VERY happy. One of my favorite toys as a child was Strawberry Shortcake. I had a couple of her friends...Lemon Meringue and Angel Cake. Lemon Meringue was my favorite...my favorite color was yellow as a child...even though for all accounts and purposes it would seemed to have been pink. I had a pink canopy bed, pink walls...you get the picture, but whenever asked which crayon or construction paper color I would like I picked yellow. So I don't know if one has anything to do with the other but still as an adult some things yellow make me happy and all things lemony make me giddy. So I thought I would just jot this moment down before it become just a fleeting memory. I had a VERY happy childhood and anything that reminds me of it is a very good thing...I should make lemon jello more often:)

Whooooo Hoooo Harris Teeter Trip

I awoke this beautiful rainy Wednesday and found to my utter surprise that Harris Teeter was having triple coupons this week. My morning is already full on Wednesdays with work an ballet. So I went here and here and found out what the best deals were (a.k.a. FREE). I took just a minute to gather what coupons I had and printed the others that I could. Won't be buying groceries for a few more days so did not need to be out much money. So I just picked up the things that were free or pretty close. The above picture is what I bought. The picture below is what I spent.

$2.58 for 22 items! I think that was good I don't care who you are:). I saved $47.35. Not bad for 15 minutes in and out of a grocery store. I need to menu plan out the next couple of weeks and see just how great I can do with triple coupons and all of the other deals going on around town. Use coupons with sales items....it works!

TRIPLE COUPONS AT HARRIS TEETER 4/29-5/2

YIPPPPEEEE!

Last Monday's Boy Scout Meeting...week before mouth injury...little late posting this:)

This is my boy. He is a Wolf Cub in the Cub Scouts.

This is the rest of his den.

The meeting was to inspect uniforms and the theme was on dinosaurs. Here he is creating a dinosaur on a neckerchief. He came up with a Jadasops.

Then came time to pass out patches. He is always very excited to receive this little bag of goodies. He was especially excited when he spied one of his patches.

Not sure who he got this look from (ahem don't say it mother or sis). Can you just feel his excitement? This is the Polar Bear patch. A scout can receive this patch for camping when it is below freezing. During Spring Break he went camping with a few friends and their dads and it was well below freezing.

Here he is with one of his Polar Bear Patch camping friends. They are wearing those patches proudly! This has also been one of his best buddies since Kindergarten. The other two were off getting their pictures made by their moms I am sure.

Who knew patches could bring such joy? The Cub Scouts of America that's who.

I love this time of year!

We will have fresh lettuce for our salads SOON! Blueberries will be coming to fruition before long!
Looks like a bumper crop of Nectarines coming on.

These Irises surprise me every year:)

Not sure where they came from but I love them!

My shade garden.

Pretty butter yellow Columbine

Lots of blooms right now around the mailbox. I know the purple flowers are Homestead Verbena but for the life of me I can not remember what the pink flowers are. At 2 a.m. I will remember:)

What is blooming in your neck of the woods?

Table in progress

Started staining table last night and just got through putting another coat on. Not sure if it will need anymore. If not I will add poly coat and then go find a lamp to put on it! The discolorations in the picture are from glare:)

My poor baby

Unfortunately gravity always wins in the battle of boy versus bicycle accident. He was trying to turn and was not going quite fast enough. Poor thing...luckily all teeth are still intact. This picture really doesn't even show how swollen that lip actually is.

He wants a full motorcycle type helmet...think I will go check that out!

Yard sale finds!

I put some of these on another post but wanted to join a linky party here.

I paid $3.00 for this bookshelf. Not to bad in this condition just needed a few cobwebs knocked off of it.Had a gallon of white paint and I have to say I like it better like this.Perfect fit in my daughters closet. The hot pink cubes we already had could not have been better made for this shelf.Bought this table at the same yard sale for $5.00. I am in the process of sanding it right now. Will post again when it is refinished.Toile curtain $1.00. YAY...had a great curtain here already but this is more Spring/Summer appropriate. I did add the grosgrain ribbon it came down further than I liked.Footed bowl with Target tags still on it...I paid $1.00. Added some shells and a little ribbon and viola!
So for $10.00 I had a pretty good day!

Fly Lady babysteps day #13

Check your Morning Routine in your Control Journal
Check your Before Bed Routine in your Control Journal
Today I want you to find one of Kelly’s Missions and go and do it. They are fast and easy! This is going to introduce you to how we break our home into zones so that we never have to spring clean again.
http://flylady.net/pages/FlightPlan_Missions.asp
Here is what we are doing so far. We are practicing our Morning Routines, decluttering for 15 minutes a day and doing our Before Bed Routines.

Before and After Bookshelf

Looked okay before....

.....but I like it better now.

Here it is in it's new home:)

Signs of warm weather

Friday my friend and I went to a bunch of yard sales. We hit pay dirt a couple of times. We loaded up our vehicles and then at two separate sales we loaded up the home owners truck and they delivered. I love yard sale time of year...we did find that we were a little rusty at scouting them out. We did okay though:) After we returned home she gave our two little silent partners a treat and let them play in the pool.I should have taken a picture of this table before I started sanding it...wasn't to bad but needed a little TLC and for 5 bucks I will give it!This little bookshelf was only 3 bucks and I am blogging in between coats of paint. It is now a beautiful white.This picture is from today...it is HOT! I don't know what it is about drinking out of the sprinkler but I have this picture of my boy EVERY year. Baby girl has been talking about playing in the sprinkler all week...and yes she found mud too. She always does!
We are going to be working in the garden this afternoon. I need to go and put another coat of paint on my bookshelf and my sis and her crew are coming to spend the night. HAPPY SATURDAY!

fly lady babystep day 11

Morning Routine
- Get up and get dressed to lace up shoes; fixing your hair and face

- Looking at your posted reminders in the kitchen and bathroom

- Reading 2 minutes of reminders- Recognizing the negative voices and changing them; YOU ARE FLYing NOW!

- Put out your Hot Spots for 2 minutes

- 5 Minute Room Rescue (pick any room in the house) set your timer and go!

-15 Minutes Decluttering each day. You can’t Organize Clutter!

Before Bed Routine
- Keep your sink shining

- Lay out your clothes for tomorrow

- Put out your Hot Spot (I have to do this twice a day) It makes me smile in the morning!

Today we are going to add another page to our Control Journals. We are going to call this our Inspirational Page. On this page I want you to spend 15 minutes writing down some of your favorite inspirational phrases. Some of mine are; You can do anything for 15 minutes, Housework done incorrectly still blesses your family and You can’t organize clutter; you can only get rid of it. I know you have others that you love. Use this page as a place to write them down when you see something that touches your heart.

Frist kind of Monday

Had a great morning at The Frist Center of Visual Arts...Art Museum. Two of my friends along with their beautiful daughters joined Punkindoodle and I for a culture outing. We saw the Medieval Art Exhibit and then headed up to ArtQuest for a few hours of creative fun. So glad we turned this cool yucky Monday morning into something memorable...when we walked out the front doors the sky cleared and the sun shone brightly. YAY!

FlyLady Babysteps Day #10

Morning Routine
- Get up and get dressed to lace up shoes; fixing your hair and face
- Looking at your posted reminders in the kitchen and bathroom
- Reading 2 minutes of reminders
- Recognizing the negative voices and changing them; YOU ARE FLYing NOW!
- Put out your Hot Spots for 2 minutes- 5 Minute Room Rescue (pick any room in the house) set your timer and go!

Before Bed Routine
- Keep your sink shining
- Lay out your clothes for tomorrow
- Put out your Hot Spot (I have to do this twice a day) It makes me smile in the morning!

We have already been using our timers for 2 minutes and now 5 minutes. Today we are going to learn the power of just 15 minutes. You can do anything for 15 minutes. This is all about getting started and giving ourselves permission to stop when the timer goes off. You cannot restart the timer either. This is not a race to finish in 15 minutes either! The timer helps to keep us focused on what we are doing.

Now set your timer for 15 minutes and go gather up all the trash you can find to throw away and put it in the garbage can outside. Then set your timer for another 15 minutes and sit down and put your feet up and read a favorite magazine till the timer goes off.

FlyLady Babystep Day #9

Here is what we are already doing; Look in your Control Journal; leave the sticky notes up to help remind you. It takes us 28 days to develop a new habit. These are just BabySteps on our way to a new way of living.

Morning Routine
- Get up and get dressed to lace up shoes; fixing your hair and face
- Looking at your posted reminders in the kitchen and bathroom
- Reading 2 minutes of reminders
- Recognizing the negative voices and changing them; YOU ARE FLYing NOW!
- Put out your Hot Spots for 2 minutes

Before Bed Routine
- Keep your sink shining
- Lay out your clothes for tomorrow
- Put out your Hot Spot (I have to do this twice a day) It makes me smile in the morning!

Today we are going to learn how to declutter our homes a few minutes at a time with some fun tools that I know you have been wondering about from the reminders you have been reading in our emails. Making it fun will get the job done!
http://flylady.net/pages/FLYingLessons_Declutter.asp
Add a 5 minute room rescue to your Morning Routine.

The making of a tree house

My boy loves to be outside. Hubby had to go into town this morning for a media appearance and left him outside playing. I went to check on him a little while ago and called out to him. "Hey Buddy what are you doing?" He said, "Oh, just sitting here on a log." He then tells me about all the wonderful things he saw. A raccoon and a black cat. He loves the outdoors so much that his dad is building him a tree house. He started it last year and just when he was making progress a tree fell on top of it. Yesterday he rebuilt the floor and raised a few walls. Looking good. My boy is already enjoying it...he just ran through to get his BB gun and is sitting on it with legs dangling shooting into the woods. He is in little boy paradise!

Felt a little creative so went on a treasure hunt.

Found this gravy boat at Goodwill for $0.99 and the birds were in a pack at the Dollar Tree. Found these plates at the Goodwill bought 3. 2 were 1/2 off so I got them for $0.24, the other one was $0.49. Bought 2 stamps out of the $1.00 bin at Michaels and VIOLA! The other plate is already in my kitchen window next to the gravy boat...you can see it in the above picture.

One of the many blogs I have been following lately gave me the idea about stamping a plate. Most of my inspiration though came from this post...Went to 2 different Dollar Trees looking for the flour sack tea towels...no luck...then I saw that he went in October.