A Pajama Mama

Our Rayray turned 12 yesterday. How did that happen? A dozen years....slipped by so fast. We barely blinked, it seems. Her daddy and I wanted to give her a very special and meaningful gift for her 12th bd. I found Lea on etsy.com who makes beautiful hand stamped jewelry. Together, we created a necklace for Rachel that signifies exactly what we want Rachel to always remember...that she is "loved beyond measure," not just by her mama and daddy but by her Heavenly Father. We included the scripture from Ephesians 3:14-19 on the necklace, which is one her daddy prays over her and her siblings. It turned out beautiful and truly touched Rayray's heart when we gave it to her and explained the meaning behind it. Fri night, we had a cook-out with her Mema, Papa and Aunt Ro. Breakfast in bed (which included ice cream) on Sat morning. She and I shopped half the day at the mall...in the junior dept for the first time, I might add.... and she now has her ears pierced and red shoes (se...

" Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Matthew 5:8" That's how the 1968 version of " The Little Drummer Boy" show ends. I'm sure you've heard the song....and you probably saw the tv show as a child. The storyline goes like this....a little orphaned drummer boy and his animal friends follow three kings and a really bright star across a desert. The Little Drummer Boy finds himself at a stable where a newborn baby has just been born and a crowd of shepherds have gathered, along with the three kings. Just as the Little Drummer Boy begins to make his way to the manger, a chariot runs over his little beloved lamb. With a huge tear in his eye, he approaches one of the Three Wise Men and asks him to save his dying lamb. This king told him the lamb was dying and he could do nothing for him.....but he knew a King among Kings who could. At that, he motioned towards the baby in the manger. The Little Drummer Boy said, "But I have no gift to ...

Rayray played several Christmas songs at the Presbyterian church this morning. FeO took a little video with our digi camera. She did a great job. They enjoyed her so much, they invited her to play for their special Christmas Eve service. Enjoy! If you'd like to see a short clip, click here. (The sound isn't that great and yes, that's me at the piano.)

I love our little homeschool co-op. There are huge co-ops up and down the road thirty minutes in each direction from us....but we like it small. We have around 10 families with 25 or so kids involved in our co op. The kids range from toddler aged to 18. We had our co-op Christmas party yesterday. We ate lunch together, played "that" game with Christmas ornaments. It was such beautiful weather here that all of the kids went outside to throw a football, visit, play. I thought I heard someone crying outside, peeked out the window, and what I saw really touched me. 21 kids, from preschoolers to 18 yr olds, were sitting in a huge circle together.....playing duck, duck, goose. No grown up made them do it. It just happened. They were laughing and having the best time! The number one question homeschoolers are asked has to do with "socializing." Many don't understand that the question is moot and invalid for today's homeschooler. What defines socialization, anyway? ...

I've been back from our awesome Girls Getaway Cruise to Cozumel on the Carnival Holiday for over a week and am still processing it all. Beachmama and I had such an incredible time on the ship and met some great people. We ate wonderful food...too much actually. The ship staff was friendly and took very good care of us. The ship rocked and rolled the entire time but it wasn't unbearable. I mentioned in another post some of the more well-known folks who'd be on the boat. Karen Kingsbury was by far the most gracious person we met. She let us know that she was on the boat to meet us. I know she was worn out! Meeting Karen was like seeing an old friend again. I felt like giving her a big hug and asking where Ashley was! She and Richie McDonald were on stage together. She and Richie (former Lonestar lead) have written songs together based on her books. Richie was on the boat with his wife and kids and he was friendly and very normal, easy going. He sang some of their most well k...

Have you ever wondered how old your body really is, if you factor in heredity, your current mental, emotional, physical health, etc? This Health Age Calculator is fun to do....fairly thorough in questions it asks. But in reality, no one knows the number of our days here on this earth except Father. Psalm 139:16 says, "All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." No, our days on this earth are not guaranteed and can't be predicted by a computerized health age calculator....but as Believers, Father guarantees us ETERNAL LIFE. "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life...." John 3:36. And if you're wondering, my health age is 20 and my life span is 94....(and I even admitted to only drinking coffee for breakfast!) And my heavenly life span? Eternal . Thank you Jesus. Thank you.

The Girl wanted a real hairstyle to mark the transition from 11 to 12. We decided to go ahead and get it now so she can enjoy it during the holidays, since her bday is after Christmas. Enjoy the before and after pictures. She's growing up, y'all. Sniff, sniff.

Yep, you read correctly. The Girl and I were rushing through The Mall after eating a nice mother/daughter lunch. We were headed to The Girl's hair appt. We literally bumped into Ben Roberts and his cameraman....Ben's the anchor at the local NBC affiliate here. Ben and I were at Georgia Southern University together and hung out some but I hadn't see him in years, except on the news. We chatted for a minute and I was about to rush off when Ben said, "Wanna be on tv?" After he told me about the story he's working on, I agreed to give it a try. Basically, he was looking for volunteers to call their credit card company.....on camera.....and ask for a lower interest rate. He read recently that interest rates are negotiable. Who knew?! He wants to make the general public aware of that fact. I was skeptical but sat down on a bench with Ben, my pink cell phone, and a lapel mike and called our one credit card company. I told them that I've had this account since co...

......ring, ting, tingling tooooo. Come on, it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you! Ok....I admit. At 70 degrees, it's not quite sleigh ride weather. But I couldn't help humming the tune while making these gorgeous soaps this weekend. These 4 ounce bars are full of shea butter. The scent is marvelous....Brambleberry calls it "Sleigh Ride." It wafts of "orange, followed by a middle note of green apple and winding down to peppermint and cloves." The only problem is that we only have 18 of these bars in the Sleigh Ride scent. When they are gone, they are gone . UPDATE: Guess what! The first 18 bars are gone like a freight train. But I made more this weekend....18 more. Just for YOU! (12/08/2007)

Today? I've made 200 of these sweet heart soaps and bagged them in organza bags. Why? FeO's niece is getting married in VA and as our gift to her, I am making the favors for the wedding guests. The theme of the wedding is Wine and Roses. I used BB merlot mica and BrambleBerry Wine fragrance oil. THAT'S what I've done today. ALL DAY LONG.

Rayray made up the most fun game for Family Night last night. She put 15-20 themes in a jar. While one of us was the "judge", the rest of us drew a theme and had 7 minutes to dress the part. It was HILARIOUS!!! The Hero had to be a BABY and a rock star. I had to be a ballerina and a super hero, among other things. We had an army man, a Star Wars girl, a western girl, a nerd, an old woman, a scary person, a sports fanatic, a chef, etc. There were 4 awards for each round so no one l ost. Appledoodle didn't understand the concept of "draw" a piece of paper from the jar. She said she wanted to draw a princess. She disappeared and returned a few minutes later with a beautiful picture of a princess that she had DRAWN on paper. Heehee. She spent the evening taking her "theme" and adapting it to her own ideas which incorporated princess items one way or another. After our fall-themed dinner of chili dog nachos, apple wedges and warm caramel dip, and mulled ap...

Aren't these lovely? They are gorgeous golden, honey-based star shaped soaps, scented with an exquisite fragrance - Brambleberry's frankincense and myrrh. The molds I used are beautiful vintage molds. You won't find these soaps just like this anywhere else but at Flint River Soap Factory! Gold, frankincense and myrrh were the gifts given Jesus as a child by the Three Wise Men (aka Magi.) Read more of the significance of the gifts here .

YES!!!! Your eyes are not deceiving you! I am going on a cruise...with BeachMama! Woohoo!!! It's the Girl's Get-A-Way Cruise . I'm so excited...my favorite author, Karen Kingsbury is going to be on the boat. Point of Grace. Lisa Whelchel. Totally COOL! I'm a little nervous...I've never been on a cruise nor out of the country. I asked BeachMama if she was sure she wanted to take me out in public. heehee. Don't worry....I'm sure we'll have more chats on this particular topic.

We celebrated my Hero's bd and the changing of the leaves last weekend in Hiawassee. We love it up there. Quite frankly, I'd love to live there. I have always thought that living on Lake Chatuge with a view of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the distance would be heaven on earth. But, Lake Chatuge is a sad little lake right now bc of the severe drought. Docks and boats are sitting on dry land, connecting waterways dried up. Sad, indeed. Anyway, we had a blast. The leaves were gorgeous...not peak yet but close. My almost 13 yo nephew Jojo spent most of the weekend with us. We did Fun World on Hero's bday...The kids had a blast riding go carts, climbing the rock wall, and playing all the games. I think Appledoodle slid down the huge blow up slide 867 times. Later, we went to the GA Mountain Fair. We went later so we could be there for the GA Fiddler's Competition. So....we were eating a snack of a turkey leg and funnel cakes and a yellow jacket decided to join the picnic. My ...

For all you coffee lovers!!! Here's another addition to our seasonal soap line-up....Caramel Latte Massage with shea butter and ground coffee as a natural exfoliate. Our soaps are all natural, glycerin soaps with no added alcohol, chemicals, wax fillers, etc.

Raybelle and her daddy took off to the other side of GA for a horse show today. The Girl brought home 2 blue ribbons out of 5 classes!!!!! Woohoo! You go girl! Riding horses is one of her passions. We're blessed that R's grandparents own a a beautiful stable and her Granny is highly respected for her work with students in English style of riding. The problem is that the stables are 3 1/2 hours away from us. We try to get her over there as often as we can, but it's not often enough for The Girl. Her passion, her desire to ride, and her love of nature makes us pine for a home with acres and acres in the country. I grew up in the country and FeO grew up at those very stables. It's in our kid's blood to love nature and outdoors....so almost doesn't seem fair to keep them hemmed in with a fenced in back yard. Hmmm. Much to ponder and pray over. Anyway, CONGRATULATIONS babygirl!! WOOHOO!

I'd like to introduce our newest addition...just in time for fall. Grandma's Apple Pie soap...made with honey and goat's milk. And you should smell it....Oh, my my my. Do you love the leaves in the picture? No, they aren't from our south Georgia yard, heehee. They're soap leaves. "Fall In Love" with our beautiful fall leaves, hand dipped in pecan pie-scented soap. Yum, Yum! Each leaf is good for one hand washing. The fragrance oils are from Brambleberry. Very nice! Stay tuned for more seasonal soap additions!

We finally completed our bathroom project! We love the aqua and lime green. I didn't have a good "before" picture....But the walls were floral Waverly wallpaper and had seen better days. The closet doors were louvre'd and impossible to clean. Thanks FeO...you did most of the work! (Like the chic scarf valance?? It's my fave silk scarf...pulling double duty until we find a suitable window treatment!)

So...Raybelle was warming her leftover Pizza Hut pizza in the microwave and the Butter asked if he could warm up his breadstick next. Then he said, "Nevermind....I'll warm it up myself." And he sat down at the kitchen table. Raybelle retrieved her pizza and joined him at the table. She looked at him quizzically as if saying," Where's your breadstick?" He answered her unspoken question with "I'm warming it with my Grand Bahookey!" Raybelle's eyes widened! Yes, he was SITTING ON THE BREADSTICK. He then said, "WHAT!?!?! That's how they did it in the 80's!!!!!!!!!!" I really don't have an explanation for that one.....Or a retort. Or a commentary. It just is what it is. Nothing I can say...... A Total Eclipse of the Heart . (Chris-10, 4u!)

FeO has the family hooked on Oatmeal Chewy ChipsAhoy cookies. He bought two packages last time, but the Butter didn't know that. He thought we had one almost-empty package when he grabbed one off the shelf. In actuality, he grabbed the unopened package and was quite surprised when he opened it. With eyes wide, he said, "Mama! Look what God did! He gave us more cookies!!!" Who needs fish and bread....? ;) Read more here . "Out of the Mouth of Babes" is a recurrent post where you will be amused to read the hilarious things that come out of our kids' mouths.

"The Good Wife's Guide" is the title of a very amusing article printed in May, 1955 in Housekeeping Monthly.....just a few short months before my very own parents were married. It includes tips on how a good wife welcomes her weary husband home from a long day of work. Daddy said he had Mama sign a pre-nupt based on these rules and has it hidden in an undisclosed location. Heehee. Probably locked up in that trunk in the attic with their love letters. Here are a few thought-provoking quotes from the article: "Minimize all noise....Try to encourage the children to be quiet." (Our kids are not normally loud, so this one is easy. But, we don't subscribe to the "kids should be seen and not heard" belief.) "Remember...his topics of conversation are more important than yours." (At first glance, Romans 12:10 comes to mind..."give preference to one another." Nothing wrong with that.) "Don't complain if he's home late for ...

" Mommy, I had a great idea! Since I can't use tape to put up my pretty ballerina picture on the wall, I just used GLUE! Come see!" Yes, Appledumplin' was SO proud of herself. I assumed wrongly that she had used a glue stick. Nope...I found the pretty ballerina picture that she so meticulously colored plastered with streams of dripping Elmer's glue flowing down my recently-painted Sahara Sunset wall. Thank goodness for De-Solv-it . We actually use Elmer's glue for all sorts of paper crafts, homeschool projects, repair jobs, etc. But our favorite use for Elmer's glue is Flubber . I buy tons of Elmer's just after the "back to school" rush when it's all on clearance for a quarter. It lasts us the whole year through. The kids get especially excited on Flubber making days. I keep it in a sealed container and it lasts through several rounds of play before it goes byebye. The Elmer's website is pretty cool..has lot of ideas for kid projects...

Butterbean handed me his completed handwriting paper. He had neatly copied sentences about sheep. One was 'Sheep eat grass.' He accidentally left out the 'gr' in grass. Have you ever laughed until you were crying...tears streaming? I did over that one.

WOOHOO! I won!!! Anne-Marie, the owner/ceo of my favorite soap supply company, Brambleberry , chose moi as the winner of her weekly blog comment prize!!! See it here . She even put our kitty's picture in her post! He's famous! I received my goodies today....a lotion bar and lip treat from Moon Valley and chocolate lip balm Anne-Marie made herself. It smells good enough to eat! If I still had some of Bella Lucce's Peruvian Chocolate Body Scrub left, I'd be chocolate-flavored from head to toe! It was a sweet touch for Anne-Marie to include a handwritten thank you card....letterpressed. Anne-Marie lives in the opposite corner of the country from here but it'd be so nice to meet her in person one fine day. Thank you, Anne-Marie! You're awesome.

She's near and dear to our hearts. She's like family. We love her to pieces. She's Chris-10. And today, she moved to Kansas. You can't see the tears in my eyes, but they are there. The story is pretty incredible, actually. And all God. We've been praying with C for sometime for Father to show her the next step of her journey with Him. We never dreamed He'd move her so far away! In August, friends felt impressed to pay for her to attend a conference at IHOP in Kansas City. Once there, C found herself gazing at a random bulletin board and a job posting jumped out at her. She called and forwarded her resume. Within 24 hours, C was interviewed and offered the job on the spot...after 20some-odd applicants had already been interviewed. She will be working as house parent at a ministry for troubled teen girls. Father impressed upon Chris-10 to sell everything. So, guess where her moving sale was??? Yep, here. We worked feverishly to get it ready for Saturday morning.....

Raybell took this hilarious pic of Chonji!! Leave a comment if you can think of a funny caption!

Today was the Appledumplin's very first ballet lesson. I stayed for her first class for moral support and watched from a distant spot, doubled over laughing at the little A trying so very hard to get "first position-plie'-point" just right. Wish I had my video camera. Anyway, Mrs. Ballet Teacher had the little ballerinas gathered around her while she encouraged them to work hard to be beautiful ballerinas. One little dancer interrupted, "My daddy is working hard to get enough $ to take us to Disney World!" Before Mrs. Ballet Teacher could refocus the girls' attention back to being beautiful ballerinas, another little dancerina piped in......."And my daddy is working really hard to get a baby !" "Out of the Mouth of Babes" is a recurrent post where you will be amused to read the hilarous things our kids....and other kids...say 'round here!

Two of my dearest and sweetest friends, who have never even met and are also approaching the big 4-0 like moi, have made life-changing announcements. I am so thrilled for them both. Their announcements are (drumroll, please) that they are both expecting !!! Same announcement....but very different. Tutu is my bff from high school. We met when we were in 5th grade and have been tight (almost) ever since. Since she lives in FL, we meet for coffee and IM daily, discussing everything from the mundane to the lifechanging. Tutu, who has two gorgeous girls, had a miscarriage last Thankgsiving. She was devastated and my heart broke for her. Then, SURPRISE, just before 4th of July, she found out she was expecting again. She kept it hushhush to everyone....except me. heehee. I believed God so hard for her to keep this baby. When she saw the little heartbeat at 12-13 wks, she finally felt free to tell friends and family. She's had a few scares, but I'm convinced Father is sending them the...

For my very first blog post, I'd like to tell you a very true and sad story about My Yellow Umbrellow. About 4 years ago, I received an unexpected birthday package in the mail from FeO's mama. She mailed me an awesome Vera Bradley bag....yellow with blue flowers and butterflies. I LOVED it...still do. Tucked inside the bag was a matching Vera Bradley yellow umbrella with blue flowers! FUN!! Now, FeO works very hard to keep me home with the kids. I don't have extra $ to go and buy Vera Bradley items to match every outfit...or to match any outfit, for that matter. So, my little bag and umbrella were special to me bc FeO's mom was such a doll to think of me like that....little joys of life. Well, the Yellow Umbrellow with blue flowers has had a permanent home in our car beside my seat for the last 4 years. When it's cloudy, I stick it in my bag. It's come in very handy and it's such a cheerful little umbrella...did I mention it was sunny yellow with sky blue fl...