{Notice anything missing?}

Lagan officially has a lisp and a whistle when she talks! :) She lost both of her front teeth last week and raked in $11 bucks for it! I guess the tooth fairy didn't realize we are in a recession! lol

{Seven}

Lagan, today you turn 7 years old. I cant even believe I am saying that. We have had quite a life together already. A life that I did not think would ever happen, but has been the most wonderful blessing God could ever give me.

I remember the night you were born. I had been in labor almost 14 hours. It was cold and rainy. I knew that you would always be a girl who knew how to make an entrance! We were all so captivated by your beauty. And now, I am captivated by your love. Your sweet soul and fun loving spirit are what keep me going through my day.

Your hugs are warm and comforting when I most need them. Nothing makes me happier when you never want to let go!

So here's to you baby girl. I can wait to see what the next 7 years will be like! I love ya boo!!

Love, Mommy

(Here is a journey through the last few years. Thanks for letting me share such a special day with you all!)
Lagan still in my tummy! :)

{Im trying...}

I am trying to get all caught up on my life and this poor blog has been neglected for a few days! But no fear my faithful blog friends, both of you will be hearing from me soon! :) hehe
No, I'm just kidding. I have some amazing readers, and I love all of you!!!!
I haven't been around because Lagan has been very sick. She was diagnosed with Asthma when she was 2, but it hasn't acted up in 3 years! So this past week she was having severe attacks of dry coughs and she couldn't breath. So I took her to the doctor and got her a new inhaler and some new nebulizer meds, and now she is taking it slow, but is doing much better. But, as fate would have it, its getting colder in the morning, then it's blazing hot later in the day, then freezing all night, so its not doing much to help her! I pray over her every night and I know that God will bring her through this so she can return to her normal life and not have to be on these treatments 24/7!

So as soon as life slows down, hopefully in a couple of days, I will be back with some AWESOME projects I have been working on, a couple of tutorials and lots of holiday decorating DEALS!!!!
Until then, oh faithful readers of mine, enjoy a photo of poor sick Lagan doing her "bweeving tweetment" as she used to call them!

Milking it for all it's worth.....

{Thats a Deal Thursday, Baking, Baking Baking}

Baking, Baking, Baking!....Baking, Baking, Baking! (I'm singing in my best conga line voice)
So many of you know that I am always on the hunt for a good bargain, and lately that bargain hunting has transferred to the grocery store. I have been trying to find more ways to stretch my hard earned dollars and still feed my family what they like.
This can prove to be some what of a challenge, but most of the time it's really fun!

One of the ways I have learned to save money is by making things in LARGE batches. Like soup, I made 5 gallon sized Ziploc bags of baked potato soup the other day for the freezer. I also made three bags of homemade pasta sauce, and this weekend I will be making chicken stock. But the one meal I always have trouble with is breakfast! I despise having to get up at 6:00am and not only make Lagan's breakfast and lunch, but then make breakfast for everyone else and I haven't even worked out yet! So my breakfast is always cold and gross and I'm the one that made it! (Can you see my frustration here?)
So I read on several blogs about baking, and freezing, muffins.

Brilliant Idea! Cheap and easy muffins that last for months! So Mom and I put on our aprons, rolled up our sleeves, and baked FIVE different kinds of muffins all on one day! And ended up freezing over 30 muffins for future use!!

Here is a glimpse into our "Baking Day"...



We ended up making banana nut, zucchini and nut, pumpkin chocolate chip, apple spice, and blueberry muffins! YUMMMM.....



So what's a girl to do with 1/2 a can of leftover pumpkin? Well, make pumpkin pancakes...duh!


All in all, I had a great time spending the day with mom and baking! We will defiantly be doing this a lot! And since this was a "That's a deal Thursday" I will let you know that the supplies to bake over 7 dozen muffins cost about $10.00!! Now, I defiantly think that's a deal!

{Pumpkin Patching}

Can I just say that class field trips are so much fun? I'm not even joking, I really had a good time. But there is something totally bazaar about me going on field trips. No matter what, I sign up and I feel great, I can't wait to go! Field trip day comes, I am totally sick! Last year, I had the flu. I had had the flu for 4 weeks, then I got better, then I lapsed and got it again for 2 more weeks. Needless to say, I thought I might die! Then this year, I got a really bad cold/sinus infection, but I went anyway because I told Lagan I would be there! (I know tons of moms are out there saying, "OMG! I can't believe you went on field trips with a cold or the flu!" But in my defence, both times I was totally hopped up on meds and when I had the flu I got the green light from my doc to go! hehe)

Anyway, back to what I was actually posting about! So this week, Lagan's class got to go to the Pumpkin patch and pick a pumpkin, plus learn all about different kinds of pumpkins and how to carve them and eat them! VERY cool! I even learned a few things!
It was a great time had by all and an awesome reminder that Fall is here, even if you can't tell in the 90 degree weather! :)
So I thought I would share a few photos from the day! Lagan was so proud to have her mommy there taking pictures, she told her teacher "She's taking them for her Blog"........do you think that's bad? lol
**Oh, and I do have that tutorial coming, Im just a little behind on posting!! hehe











Here is Lagan picking her pumpkin. The kiddo's got to pick a pie pumpkin and bring it home to decorate it for a class project, then we will get to make a pie! YUM!


there were sooooooo many pumpkins!


Lagan had a blast!

{I have fallen ill...}

Yep, that's me! Sick as a dog! See, My mom and I have started walking to go pick up Lagan from school in the afternoons, its about a mile walk, and yesterday it started POURING down rain! So we had to walk in the rain that was like a white sheet! As soon as we got home we all stripped down and got into dry clothes. My mom dried Lagan's hair while I was changing, and it didn't occur to me to dry my hair. Well, I sat around in wet hair all afternoon in the air conditioning and under ceiling fans. So needless to say, today I have a cold!

So I might not be around to post much in the next few days while I try to recover. While I was walking to pick up Lagan today, it was cool and windy (NOT good on my swollen throat!) and all I could do is have a conversation with God. I just asked Him to heal my body. I have Bible study tomorrow night, so I hope I am better by then, or at least I can have everyone there pray that I get better. I can't really afford to get sick!

So let's make a deal...You pray for me to get better, and I will pray for you. No matter what you need prayer for, I will pray. You can send me an email or leave it in the comments, but no matter what, I will faithfully pray! :) Love you all!

{Charting your Chores...}

Hey Everyone!! I am so excited to share this post with you, but first I wanted to say thank you to everyone who wrote me about the book review. I was ecstatic to see some of you go check it out or buy it just based on my recommendation! :) I'm totally flattered!!

Ok, on with the post at hand! :)
Keeping a house clean while your trying to sell can be quite a chore all on its own. But when your doing it by yourself, it is a nightmare! So I was surfing the web the other day and came across this post...but I thought "I can do that for really cheap!" So I did! One trip to hobby lobby and about 3 hours in between working, and I had a really cool chore chart.

And I wanted to share it with you all, so I took pictures along the way! I hope you enjoy doing this project as much as I did!

You want to start with:
-an unfinished wooden shelf
-1 piece scrapbook paper
-craft paint in choice of color
-2 yards of coordinating ribbon
-1 sponge paint brush
-1 set alphabet stickers
-1 picture hanging kit (only if your shelf doesn't already have this.)
(a hole punch and tape are also needed)


Next you want to wriggle the pegs out of their spots from the shelf

Now lightly sand the entire surface until smooth.
(I used a 220 grit sandpaper) and wipe down with a dry cloth.

Paint the sides and slightly up the top of the shelf, also paint the pegs.

Cut the scrap booking paper to fit on the top portion.
Mine is long so I had to cut two pieces to match the length.

Using Modge Podge (or glue medium a.k.a Elmer's school glue with a little water added)
paint on the paper to cover the top. Allow to dry for about 2 hours.

After glue dries, use a small knife to cut an "X" into the paper where
the peg holes are, then push the paper down into the hole.

Fit the peg in the hole just to make sure the paper is cut enough.

Now, if you were to just use this as a shelf, you could add wood glue to the peg holes and allow to dry.

Remove the pegs and use your stickers to write out your families names under each peg hole.

On my computer I designed these tags just using 3 different fonts.
Once printed, I used a pencil and a ruler to measure around them so I know where to cut.

Once you cut along the lines, you will want to cut out the sides around the { }

and this is what that should look like.
Now you want to punch 2 holes into the sides at the top of the cards...

Next you will want to measure your ribbon. I used 2 yards for 4 tags.
For each tag, I cut the 2 yards into 4 pieces (18 in.ea.)
then I cut each of those into 2 pieces (9 in.ea.)
I now thread the ribbon just through the hole and tape to the back of the card.

This is how it looks with the ribbon taped to the back.

I then hammered on the photo hanger to the back of the shelf.

Now you can tie your chores onto each person's name, and rotate them throughout the week! :)


And now for the price breakdown:
Wood Shelf $3.99 plus 30%off sale: $2.79
Alpha Stickers $2.99 plus 40% off coupon: $1.79
Ribbon $0.50/yd X 2yds plus 30%off sale: $0.70
Scrapbook paper $.50/sheet plus 50%off sale: $0.25
Picture hanging kit $0.99
Craft Paint $0.69
and I already had glue, sponge brush, tape, and hole punch
Project Total: $7.21
w/out coupons or sale: $10.16