Curtains

Praise the Lord.  The curtains are finally up!

If you remember a few months ago I shared with you all some fake curtains that I was working on with the assistance of my little helpers.  Well, they are finally up. . .took a while, I know




After I got the plain white curtains up I felt like the windows needed some more to tie in with the color of the fireplace bricks.  So I decided on a set of matchstick blinds. 
Kind of pulls it all together in a Pottery Barn kind of way.
Can you tell I didn't sew one stitch on the curtains? 
Can you see all the money I saved by doing them myself. 
Can you also tell that I am very please with the way they turned out?

Do you like them?  (Just tell me, yes!)

My little helpers were no where to be found when they were hung. 
They were outside with daddy.
Thank you daddy!
I had tried one afternoon to hang them with everyone awake and in the den with me. . .can you just imagine that scene?  Crazy! 
Anyway, I decided to wait patiently for my favorite helper of them all. . .daddy!
He took everyone outside and I got to work{quickly}.

Maybe next time my little helpers can be of some assistance! {Maybe}

Look Out.

We live in a small town in South Carolina. It is the town that Trip grew up in.

I have slowly grown to love this little town. 

There is only one thing I wish we had more of and that is organic and natural food. 
However I hit the jackpot the other day at our local WalMart. (I know!  WalMart?)

Now if you remember one of the most important things that I look for when buying packaged food for our family is for a short list of ingredients with words that I can pronounce.
I have found two new things and I am so excited.

These Cliff Crunch bars are so good.  The kids love them too, a big plus in my book! 
Trip loves the regular Cliff bars and takes them in the car with him a lot.  So, when I was doing some shopping at WalMart the other day I found these and thought we would try them out. 
What does Rachel Ray say?  Yumm-O.
And the best part is I could read the ingredient list!  It was a little longer than I like, but in a small town we sometimes have to take what we can get. 
Our bodies are made to process natural ingredients not processed ingredients and that is why it is so important that we give our bodies natural food that God made. 
The reason we have such a problem with obesity and diabetes and cancer here in America is because we are consuming too much of these foods that are unnatural and our bodies don't know what to do with these unnatural ingredients so people are getting fatter and sicker.
We have to be responsible with what we put in our bodies and our kids bodies!

Alright, off the soap box I come.

The other thing I have discovered right at the local WalMart is this new brand World Market.
( I believe it is a WalMart brand.)
The ingredient list on most (mind you I said most) of their snacks and chips is short, short, short! 

These chips are amazing and the only thing in the ingredient list is potatoes and salt and olive oil! 

So now, go to WalMart tomorrow. . .before 10AM. . .and get some yummy healthy snacks and then email me and let me know what you think. 

You will be healthier for it!

Laundry

Let me begin with a confession.

I DO NO LIKE LAUNDRY!

Hard to believe, I know.
Seems just up my ally, but no. . .it is the one chore I cannot stand.

Trip is usually the one that initiates the starting of it, yuck.

Here is usually how the conversation goes.

Trip: (standing in his last pair of clean boxers) Leigh I need to do some laundry!

Me: OK.

Trip: Could you help me?

Me: Ummm. Sure. . . {pause}. . .right now?

Trip: Yes!

Me: Well sure. Just let me ummm. . .{pause}. . . clean the baseboards. Yea. They are really dirty.

Really. I would rather do just about anything but laundry.
Needless to say I mostly do the laundry, in fact I am the only one who every puts any of it away.
And the kids and Trip always have clean stuff to wear. . .I just don't like doing laundry.
And that sweet patient man of mine never complains. . .he just reminds and begs heavily.

I have tried real hard not to let Kate and Mac learn any of my bad laundry behavior.
In fact Kate had a great time the other day actually doing her Elizabeth's (baby doll) laundry.

I quickly was able to gather up a few laundry supplies for her.

1 laundry basket (for dirty and clean clothes)
10 clothes pins
1 spray bottle with water in it (a.k.a stain spray)
1 make believe clothes line
1 small bucket (with water for hand washing)

She even had a little helper. . .man there are just helpers all over the place 'round here!

(WAIT!  Do you see my crazy Poinsettias back there?  Those are leftover from Christmas!  I cannot get them do die!  Seems silly to throw them out if they are still alive. . .I will let you know how long they last.)

Nothing better than clean laundry and a busy girl!

Now, maybe I can teacher her how to really do laundry. . .that would be wonderful!

Don't Forget.

I don't want to forget these little feet sticking out from under this little booster seat every morning. 

 I also don't want to forget that he was too little to sit in a regular highchair. . .at least for now.

 

 I don't want to forget that our sweet old dog Bailey sits under Ben's booster chair at every meal. 
Bailey is sometime one of my favorite helpers during the day because I do not have to sweep! 
Thanks Bailey.

I also don't want to forget that Ben loves to throw food to Bailey!

I most definitely also don't want to forget that one day Ben's little feet (and legs) will be sticking out from under my table like this. 

Without the painted toes of course!

Eight-Year-Old Boy.

Mac is our first child.  He is more like me than I want to believe.
He is the joy and love of our lives. . .but he is eight!
Do you know what eight-year-old boys are like?

They are very hard to take pictures of and they are smelly and busy, busy, busy.
But they are kind and gentle and patient like no grown up could ever be.

They are worrisome and annoying and wild.
But they are also handsome and smart and silly.

They like to be with their friends, but love to be with their family.
They don't like their sister. . . at least most of the time, but they love the Lord with all their heart all of the time

I won't go and say that this eight-year-old boy is precious like his brother, he wouldn't like that, but I will say that he is the love of my life (I know, I know, I have many)! 
Mac will always hold a special place in my heart because he was my first. 
He loved us even when we didn't have a clue what we were doing when he was a baby and even now that he is eight, we still don't have a clue what we are doing and this eight-year-old could care less, he still loves us for who we are.
He is an amazing young man and even though he is eight I love him!

(He won't stay eight forever, right?)