Ok ok, I'm a cat lady. I'll probably fill our house with cats when our kids move out, too. We have been having so much fun with our new kitty, Smudge. God sure works in mysterious ways. I was sure God was torturing me when my cats disappeared, and now I think it was a blessing in disguise. Those cats, although MY faithful friends, would just run away from the boys. Not Smudge! He loves them! It brings me such joy to see them being able to pet the cat, play with him, feed him, and he actually greets them in their beds in the morning.
We love that Smudge demands attention. We have all day to spoil him!
Yesterday, Smudge noticed someone.
His tail was waving back and force fiercely. Look at our Chippy, so sweet!♥ Chippy was more than happy to make his acquaintance.
He even stepped in for a closer look. Forget the peanuts, who is this new cat? Little did he know that Smudge wanted to "play".
The stare down continued for a while. All of the while, I was telling Smudge that he has to love chippy. No eat.
I am sure Chippy is looking at me for reassurance. I feel like his mommy. I sure wish I could snuggle him! I know that people have kept squirrels inside as pets. I won't go that far.
Hey! Where did it go?
One whole hour later.. still waiting. ♥ Happy Monday!♥♥♥
Song for today is one that reminds me of my childhood. Everything that was played during my childhood was played LOUD, and this one must be played loud. "Lift Me Up" by Yes. ♫♪
I woke up at 5:15 this morning. I know it's because I knew I needed to be up half an hour earlier for a drop off, but my mind was wide awake the minute I awoke. Sometimes I think that is Gods doing, waking me up and having a discussion with me. I've been grumbly lately. Not for any reason in particular. I suppose I just feel so busy I don't even know what is happening in each whirlwind of a day. Time for a God smack. Did any of you ever go to childrens church or Sunday school as a child? I didn't. Well, maybe a couple of times I remember, but I grew up in Utah where the mormon church is dominant. My mom has always been a Christ follower and was diligent about making us know about Jesus, with the occasional drive in search of a Christian church. It's funny what really made me start to remember and apply this information in my own life. It wasn't until I was 26 years old and my husband and I started to help with the AWANA program at church. (AWANA stands for Approved Workman Are Not Ashamed) It's a program that teaches kids about God and they work hard memorizing verses. It was during this time that I began learning, too. That, by the way, is so God. God knows that I need instructions in the simplest form. Suddenly the Bible started to actually make sense to me. Here I am rambling and I suppose I will get to the point.. when I woke up the thought that was immediate to me is that God is my light. The photo above is on the front of a card that my handsome hubby gave me a while back. He knows how much I love sunshine! I thought about that card- it sits in my kitchen window, I must look at it 30 times each day. That sunshine symbolizes God to me. Who cares how busy I am- I am just going to sit back and let God do his stuff with my life. Adam and I are finishing up our last year of AWANA. We are moving on to helping out with the youth group. We are so excited for this change and feel it is where we are being led. I think because we both felt so strongly about it that it must be some of Gods "sunshine" for us. That thought alone brightens my day! What brightens yours? ♥♥♥ Matthew 6:34 "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of it's own."
Song for today is Supermassive Black Hole by Muse. ♫♪
I saw this great idea on Pinterest and had to try it. I love Pinterest, more helpful ideas right at my fingertips!
We used up the rest of our paper heart cut outs on the heart hats. Glue and stick. Glue and stick. ♥ ♥♥ ♥
Somebody wanted me to take her photo.
These could be worn as he wore it.. and I want you to know that he LOVED his hat! I did not force him to wear it. ♥
It can also be worn like this..
Now it's a porthole..
Anyway, they loved the heart hats! Easy squeezy- all made out of a simple paper plate. ♥ Happy Thursday!♥♥♥
Song for today is Safe And Sound by Taylor Swift featuring The Civil Wars. (Whom I love.) I think I read somewhere that this song was written for The Hunger Games movie. I still need to borrow Stephanies book and read it. ♫♪
It all started when I decided to replace these canisters that sit on the kitchen counter. Now the ball is rolling in my mind about "fixing" our kitchen.
I popped over to a favorite shop of mine Ruffles & Rust Square in Snohomish on 1st Street.
Look what I found? I love these. What I do NOT love, however, is that ugly wallpaper border and hideous backsplash thing behind them. These canisters do not look pretty in front of those ugly colors. I can't take it anymore. We have lived here for four years, and I still haven't ripped that stuff down. (It has been one room at a time, though..)
Then I started to look at the big picture. Counter tops, cabinet doors and drawer fronts, new hardware, painting over that dark green...
THIS drives me crazy. The cabinets get dirty, I scrub them, then the paint just chips off.. Grrrr...
AND the hinges are all ugly and on the outside. It is time to show this kitchen some love. I really love the layout of this kitchen and also love the huge cabinets. I have expressed my interest to my cabinet maker hubby in keeping the enormous cabinets and replacing the doors. He agreed!
I would like to hang an industrial light over the sink.
I would like to rip this stuff off and cover it with white bead board to create a country kitchen look.
I would like to replace this green with something lighter and ....
Extend this OUT to create a breakfast bar. That project may have to wait until I do not run a childcare center. But we are thinking about it! See what happens when we replace canisters? LOL Happy Wednesday!♥♥♥
Song for today All Souls Night by Loreena Mckennitt. ♥♥♥ I think all of her songs are even more beautiful played live. ♫
Happy Valentines Day! These "Hogs And Kisses" Valentines are for our sweets. I'm feeling extra proud of them this week after receiving exceptional report cards for all three of them! I'm so amazed to see that Stephanie has Aced MATH! (And all of her other classes, too.) When I was her age, I never brought home an A in math. Nice job, Steph. Your hard work paid off. Ethan recently brought home a "Good Ideas Award"! Apparently he always has great ideas to execute in class. He is soaring in Math, also! Aidens teacher said that he always greets her with "Good morning Mrs. Adams", he brought home a "Kindness Award" last week. Mrs. Adams said that Aiden sticks up for his friends and is kind to everyone. How awesome is that? Thank you God for blessing me with these kids. My true Valentines. ♥♥♥
I found this idea on Pinterest. Yep- Pinterest has sucked me in and I can't focus when I get logged on. So many things to look at, so many ideas...
Meet Smudge! He knows a great piece of furniture when he sees one! Smudge is a great cat, today is his fourth day here and he already brightens our day. He greets us in the morning and when I call out "Smudgie kitty" he always responds. His head will pop out of a bedroom or he will come running. He loves the garage and learned how to use the cat door relatively fast. He knows where we keep the cat treats and is so fun to cuddle. He slept on my lap yesterday at nap time. He LOVES the attention he is getting from the kids, and this is new for us because our previous cats would have nothing to do with them. We are falling in love. ♥
Lenny the guinea pig took a ride in Stephs robe hood. He was so happy in it, he was squeaking his happy noise the whole time. He like to snuggle in Stephanie's hair and just kept going this time until he plopped into her hood. Guinea pigs are great pets, we sure love ours. Happy Tuesday! I have one little guy this morning and we are taking a trip to the library. ♥♥♥
Song for today is All Of My Love by Led Zeppelin. ♫♪♫♪
Tissue paper squares are so great to have around! We use them for so many different things, and stained glass art is one of my favorite uses for them. We don't really use glass.
We use clear contact paper. For this project, you will need two heart cut outs of the same size for each child. This is a good project for the kids who can use scissors. Just fold a piece in half and draw the half heart shape for them so they can follow along the line.
Next, remove the paper on one heart, and place it on the table sticky side up. Let the kids create a color collage using tissue paper. (Or anything, really..) Tissue paper is so thin that it mimics stained glass very well when placed in a window. We used Valentine colors.
Stick..stick.. stick. . . . Encourage them to fill up the WHOLE heart.
Meanwhile, I cut out some heart shape frames that would cover the edges of our contact paper hearts upon completion. When the kids fill up their sticky heart completely, slap the other contact paper heart over the top of the tissue paper to secure it further. Then glue the heart frame on.
Hang up in the window to see the stained glass effect! Aren't they pretty? ♥ Happy Monday!
Song for today is Tempo Bledsoe by Smile Smile. This is my song for the handsome hubby. He's so wonderful!♫♪
We are still using the vitamin D we received when the sun was shining for several days in a row last week! Here in Washington I do not kid you when I say that if it comes out, it is important to get out in it. We go for days without it.
We got out some sidewalk chalk. The girls were happy to get right to work creating some chalk flowers. It felt like spring as far as we were concerned.
I thought it was funny that the princess gloves had been set aside for something as important as chalk art.
Our chalk garden was complete with a sunshine! ☼
It felt great to play outside without getting rained on. We were all exceptionally happy. ☺
Meanwhile, this is a new favorite toy for the youngest in the house. Isn't that the way it is? We spend money on bright and noisy toys only to find that the kids just want a pan and a spoon? Whatever works, count me in. I am so happy to announce that we are going to be receiving a new kitty tonight! His name is Smudge, and he will be coming to us from Adams cousin. I am so excited to have a cat to love again. I still dream about my Niko coming home, almost every night now. Sigh.. He was the BEST cat. I miss him terribly. This new kitty has BIG paws to fill.. ♥ Happy Friday! Sending prayers up for all of you for a restful weekend. ♥♥♥
Song for today is Over The Hills And Far Away by Nightwish. I sure miss Tarja as their lead vocalist. :( Glad I caught them in concert before she was gone. I needed a good head bang this morning. ♫♪
