Milestones

No amount of preparation or forewarning can actually prepare you for when your oldest child starts making that passage into adulthood.  I thought that my child reaching the dreaded, even feared "teenager" milestone would be so hard for me but 13 came and went.  Even 14 came and went with no fanfare.  Now I know why... it was saving itself up for a time such as this.

I snapped this picture of my oldest child taking his driver's license written test.  Then I grabbed the hand of my little guy and ushered him out the door as quickly as I could but the tears were falling before I even reached the door.  I don't know why this was such an emotional time for me?!

Ryan found out immediately that he passed the test, only missed one.  I was quite shocked seeing as I paid $4.95 for a driver's education book that he didn't even crack open.  Guess he listened well in the driving school.

We immediately had to go to the Tag Agency to get the permit.  I pulled up to the door and just couldn't contain myself.  Ryan couldn't believe I was crying so much.  He told me that I couldn't come in unless I wore my sunglasses to hide my eyes, lol.  So I did.  I had him do all the paperwork and answer all the questions so he could get a feel for what it's like to be an adult.  Then she had him stand back and take his picture.  Again, the tears came.  But the toughest part out of all of this came when she handed him his learner's permit.  I took it in my hands and just lost it right there in the building with people starring at me, LOL!  It's a good thing it wasn't even the emotional time of the month... oh my what would I have done??  I'm wiping tears away right now as I type this.

Not even turning 40 years old compares to my oldest child learning to drive.

Although he is finally showing signs of becoming a responsible young man, I just can't even believe that the past 16 years have flown by as quickly as they have.  Shouldn't he still be in Kindergarten laying in bed, snuggling up with me as we read books?

Rich and I only have a few more years to impress upon his heart the ways and responsibilities of a God seeking, God fearing man that is to be the head of his home.  Wow, that is so overwhelming to even think as I read it once more.  That is why I am so truly thankful that God leads my husband and I as parents to the best of our ability.  We still screw up constantly, have good intentions, and get lost ourselves sometimes... but God is ever faithful.  The best comfort of all is in knowing that he, my first born son Ryan, is a child of our loving Savior.  Since Ryan (and my other children) was in the womb, before we even knew him, I prayed for him.  These past almost 17 years, I have been praying for the friends he keeps, any girlfriends he might acquire, but especially for the spouse he will one day marry.

It's not easy raising kids.  But knowing that they are truly God's kids and He is just loaning them out to us to raise up and teach sure brings about a peace that can only come from Him.

I am grateful that God saw fit for Rich and I to take Nathaniel Ryan from an infant to an almost 16 year old young man.  I am thankful for the years we've had with him, the joy, the laughter, and even the heartache he has brought to our lives.  For through it all, we learn to be better parents and trust that God has it all under control.

Waxing Icicles

Good afternoon prim friends!  If you've been following me this past year then you know that I have an addiction with wax.  I just can't help it!  It's so messy and so much fun to take something and transform it into a new look.  It honestly reminds me of back in the day when I would play in the mud and make mud pies, lol.  I think that's why I love it so.

Anyway, I could hardly wait to get the kids dropped off at school this morning so I could get home and wax some plastic icicle ornaments I bought after Christmas this past year.  They come in a box of 24 with a gold string.  I cut off the gold string and dipped them in the wax.  You can see the before pile in this picture, then the after with a wax dip and rolled in cinnamon.

If you want details on my waxing process, you can visit a past post I did here on grunging candles.  So after they are dipped in wax, rolled in cinnamon... I dip them in wax one more time and then give them a little cinnamon rub to look like this...

To keep the hanging hole clear of wax, I use this antique ice pick that I got from my great-uncle and aunt's home in Morton, IL.  You know it's old when the phone number is only 5 digits!  Around here, we have to use the area code even when we are calling someone down the street, the 10 digit number.  Funny how times change, huh?

Now is where I need your advice...

If you were to buy some icicles, how many would you want in a bundle?  3, 5, 6, or 7?

And then, what would you want your hanger to look like?

Do you like the red baker's twine?

Or maybe the brown baker's twine?

How about just plain twine?

Or maybe even red and green homespun?

I know we all have opinions, it's just that some of us are more vocal with them than others, lol.  But I would really love to have your honest opinion on what you think.

I like for my wax to cure for a few days, even up to a week.  I love the patina after a waxed piece has set up.  It's always a rich, beautiful deep brown color.  I'll be adding them to my Etsy next week.

Thanks so much in advance for your thoughts.  I trust you and treasure your advice which is why this post is here.  =]

Thanks truly dear friends.  Wishing you a grand weekend ahead~

What a crock!

One morning my friend Katie and I decided to go antiquing or garage saling, I'm really not sure what we were doing, lol.  But we came across an antique mall that was closing its doors and EVERYTHING in the store was on sale.  Yikes!  So I found this beauty at 40% off costing me only $16.00!!!

I quickly scoped the whole place when I first got there, then back through a second time slower.  I went straight to this piece first and took it to the counter right away.  Oh, I was so very excited to get it home!  It is in excellent shape with no cracks, chips, or hairlines anywhere.

Yes, it is my first big crock!  Even though I have been into antiques since I was in high school (a few years ago, haha), crocks have never been cheap around here.  I walk by it every single day and always have to glance its way.  I love it so.

I just wanted to show a full shot of my tall vintage ladder that I bought this summer.  It is about an inch short of being 8 feet.  I didn't know if it would fit in my home, but I didn't care it was coming home anyway!  I love how it has hooks at the top so I can hang a couple of aprons and potholder from it.  It's so tall that it's hard to get a picture of the whole thing, lol.

Sorry about the dark pictures.  I've changed it since I took this picture but here are a couple of my vintage linens.  I love the red & white piece in the middle which shows 3 men in the kitchen with aprons on, cooking up a storm... too funny.

Haven't taken my fall decorating pictures yet.  Oh my, how I have enjoyed looking at all of yours!  So much inspiration and pieces to drool over, lol.  Thank you all so much for sharing, I love this time of year the most... even more than Christmas!

I do have a picture of a little wreath that I bought last year after the holidays.  I don't ever buy wreaths, picks, swags, candle rings, or garland that have really fake leaves or pieces.  I strive for a more natural look.  Being a "berry" person, I couldn't pass up this little berry wreath but those leaves were just screaming at me. 

Much better now... don't you think?

Football Homecoming tonight!  My son plays on the JV team but gets to suit up for Varsity.  They cancelled our bonfire that we always have the night before the big game because we received (some very much needed) rain (thank you Lord!).  But the parade is still on.  We received our Homecoming shirts yesterday so we are ready!  YAY!  Go Catoosa Indians!  Saturday is a day filled with scrapbooking with one of my best friends.  Gonna be a great weekend.  Hope yours is grand~

Happy 1st day of fall!!  My very favorite time of the year!  I love this day more than my own birthday and Christmas!  If we weren't running around with Homecoming activities, we would be out apple pickin'.  Enjoy it to the fullest~

First day of a new school year

Once you reach middle school, the first day of school pictures aren't cool anymore so you ignore your mom... but she doesn't go away.  Amariah's first day of 7th grade.  I couldn't even get a first day picture of her cute outfit.  She has Athletics-basketball for first hour so she goes to school in practice clothes.  Then she has cheerleading practice after school 2 days a week and comes home in different practice clothes.  7:30 to 5:00 is a very long day for such a young lady but she has adjusted quite well.

By the time you begin your sophomore year, you realize that no matter what you say or do... your mom still doesn't go away and is gonna get that first day picture whether you like it or not.  Ryan's first day of 10th grade.  Goodness... two more years till his senior year, how can that be?!?!

When you're in elementary school, it's fun to have your picture taken.  You smile so big for mom, well... kinda big.  Robbie's first day of Kindergarten.

It's always fun to find your name in the hall on the big bulletin boards.

All settled in and ready for his big day ahead.  The first time for him to be in school all day instead of half-days.

I missed him SO much!  We always had the mornings just to ourselves... me and him.  We would color, play games, make things, hang outside, watch old school Scooby-Doo, go for walks.  But I know it's time for him to go on.  It made my heart feel good when he gave me a huge hug and told me how much he missed me after that first day of school.

It's been a little over a month now and everyone has adjusted quite well to their new sleeping schedules, even with full days and afternoons.  Football, basketball, and cheerleading practices are going well also.  I have to say that I'm actually quite surprised at this because the beginning of school has always been so hectic for us.  I'm pretty sure that it has to do with me being home for the first time ever in their school years.  Thanking the Lord for that!

One way that I have found to keep Scripture on their hearts and in their minds daily is by texting.  Reach them where they are, right?  In the morning I send a text to Rich, Ryan, and Amariah with a Bible verse and its reference.  I learned this from a friend and I'm so glad that God brought it to my attention.  I just love sending them.

I'm grateful for the awesome kids that God has placed in my care.  It's not always easy, but I'm so thankful that He is there to guide us!

Homecoming tomorrow!  We're all excited for it!  =]

Have a blessed weekend dear friends~ 

Jars and Twine

With our record setting 100+ degrees days this summer, we hardly had any yard sales going on.  I finally found one and bought 21 quart Ball jars w/lids (lids are in a box), wooden clothespins, and some nice smooth rocks... which my daughter took to look at and I haven't seen em since.  =]

The nice lady bundled it all up and quoted me $10.  Well I forgot that some kiddos had been in my wallet earlier and I only had $9.76 to give her, lol.  Thankfully, she took it.  I will use these mainly for craft supplies and for Christmas gifts.

I am fascinated with jars of all sizes, shapes, and colors!  Found these fun scrabble pieces at a yard sale for 25 cents.

I won a wonderful giveaway from my friend Linda at Parker's Paradise.  You all know sweet Linda... the giver of her heart to all people.  It seems like daily when I'm reading blogs she is blessing someone again with wonderful goodies!  She's been on a roll with her stitching and wanted to share.  Thankfully for me and some others, she did share!  I love everything about this piece!  She did such a great job picking out pieces for all the winners.

I also received this wonderful "Home Grown" towel.  It looks beautiful on my linen ladder that's in my Dining Room.  See the very pretty appliqued piece right under it... another precious piece from precious Linda at a different time.  I get SO many compliments on this piece Linda!

Thank you sweet Linda for your generosity.  You truly are one of a kind girl and we all love you so!!

If you haven't discovered Pinterest yet... DON'T!!  Lol, just kidding.  It can get very addicting once you get going and start using it.  If you're not sure what I'm talking about, check out the red box with a P on my sidebar.  Pinterest is a virtual bulletin board where you can pin almost anything you see on the internet.  Anyway, I came across this nifty idea for a twine holder and pinned it to a board.

One of my best friends is a Stampin' Up Demonstrator so I'm always ordering from her.  I recently bought their baker's twine and I love it! You get 25 yards for $2.95.

So of course, I had to have a nifty little holder for it once I had it tea dyed.  Dollar Tree has these awesome, heavy glass sugar shaker jars for one buck!  Perfect!

Cherry Cobbler...

Early Espresso...

I've been on a tag making kick for some reason.  Just listed a few more in my Etsy shop.  This baker's twine is gonna look great with some tags I'm in the process of making that are more prim.

If you are on Pinterest and I'm not following you yet, give me a shout... I would love to see what all you are pinning.  =]

Wishing you a grand week~

Cheeseboxes, strainers & sifters, and google reader

I've been told by my dear friend Linda over at Parker's Paradise that over 3 is a collection.  Well not really meaning to start a new collection, I bought the top 2 cheese boxes this summer.  They are newer but I couldn't pass 'em up at the great price they were going for, $2 and $1... especially the little one, isn't it so cute?  The bottom box I've had for a long time, it came from my great-aunt and uncle's home in Toulon, IL.  So my cheese boxes are not a collection yet until I buy one more, lol!  I bought the little child's apron for 25 cents at an antique store that was going out of business.  It was dirty white with stains.  A tea bath sure made it look a lot better.  This little display is sitting under my linen ladder in the dining room.

My strainers and sifters... another collection that was not intended to be but I just love old kitchen primitives and utensils.  When I am antiquing or thrifting, I am always drawn to kitchenware more than anything else (well besides my first love of jars, hehe).

Funny story on this particular sifter... We were at an antique mall in our little Amish community.  I had this sifter in our shopping cart.  A lady that works the mall (and also has booths there) comes by and tells us that we were looking in her booths and everything is at least half off or more.  She picked the sifter up out of the shopping cart and says "Like this.... it has a $6 price, I'll go $3 on it".  My friends and I look at each other and had a good laugh after she walked away.  I was willing to pay $6 since it was already in the cart, but hey if you wanna give it to me for $3, I'll take it.  Lol!

Also at this wonderful antique mall, I found this beautiful piece...

We were at the checkout waiting to be rung up so I walked around a bit more.  As I was walking back to the counter, I spotted something by this bowl that caught my eye so I stopped to look.  I put it back down and just leaned over to look inside this bowl.  My eyes could not even believe what the price was for this huge, heavy crock bowl... $5.00!!!  I was shocked!  I honestly have quit looking at the prices of these crock bowls because they are $28 and higher around here... never $5!  So I took it up to the front and asked her if maybe they forgot to put a number on the price because they are never 5 bucks.  She assured me that yes, it was the right price because it had a couple of cracks in it.  Yes, 2 small hairline cracks that are inside and can't even be seen from the outside. Woo Hoo!  It gladly became mine that day!  For now it holds my collecion of strainers and sifters.  Sorry for the blurriness (glad I'm not the only one with this picture-taking problem, haha)

The smallest sifter in the front that you can really only see the handle belonged to my grandma.  I thought the handmade linen on metal paddle strainer was a neat find for 2 bucks.  The strainer in the back I was going to make into a shoo-fly screen but I kept it intact.  I just adore the thriftiness that the owner of this piece showed by adding a little square of the mesh wire over a hole that had been made in the strainer.  That kind of thinking is just what my family does.  They throw nothing away and nothing new is bought until the piece can no longer be patched up.  Another good find for 2 bucks.

The nut grinder beside the bowl belonged to my step-FIL's mother.  When I took it from her home, there were still traces of nuts in the jar.  I just adore this little family heirloom.

It is finally fall-like weather here for us being down in the 70's and 80's... thanking God for this beautiful weather!

Friends, I'm so very excited!  I finally gave the Google Reader another chance and took some time to actually learn it.  I LOVE IT!  I knew my old way of reading and keeping up with blogs was not working out whatsoever and had to change!  Would you believe that I read and commented on every single post on every single blog that I followed?  Not really that I made myself, I'm just a talkative person when it comes to primitives and I always have lots to say, lol.  I would start at the end of my blogroll on my blog page and work my way up to the top.  Those of you that posted often stayed at the top so I never knew what you were up to because I was always so far down on my list.  So after basically taking the summer off I decided that just can't happen anymore because it put me months behind and became a chore to try and catch up.  That's just not right... blogging needs to be fun!  Now that I follow Google Reader, I can get a better picture of what's going on and it's so much easier to catch up!  Whew, who knew that it could be this easy?!  Hahaha!  Yeah, I know I'm a dork but glad you all love me any way.  =]

Have a blessed week dear friends~

A few spring and summer acquisitions

Hey girls!  Been missing you all!  We are 2.5 weeks into school now so it's catch-up time for me.  Yay!  Finally...

I bought this awesome hand-painted prim pear trio from Jody over at Primgal's Primitive Palette.  Jody does amazing work and I am so thrilled to finally own some of her pieces.  I bought these back in the spring and I love looking at them every single day in my dining room.  Thank you Jody!!  If you don't know Jody or haven't visited her yet, go see her... she is a real sweetheart and you will see all her talent in her blog posts.  I love them, thank you Jody!!  Aren't they lovely?

My dear, sweet friend Katie and I spent a lot of time antiquing this spring and summer.  She has been switching her home over to primitive this year and has down quite well, it is primtastic!  =]  I've been trying to get her to start blogging but not quite there yet.  Anyway, I had been eyeing this sweet little Amish family for a few weeks and my dear friend Katie bought them for me for my birthday!  I love them and love her too!  They look great sitting on my antique school desk.

Being an old cookie cutter lover, I was beyond thrilled when I came across this cutter in the shape of our great state of Oklahoma for only 80 cents!!

I had to put some fabric behind it for the picture so you could see its shape because here it is in my bowl of cutters... it kinda gets lost in there.

You know how sometimes you start a collection not really meaning to?  It just kinda happens??  Well that happened to me a lot this year, hehe!  A lot of collections got started.  I see graters every single time I go junking but I look for the ones that just jump out at me.  I picked up this one on top to buy it and two others came with it.  They each had a $2 price sticker on them but all three were wrapped with a price tag of $2 for all!  So they all had to come home with me.

Kinda dark, but here is my little collection of graters.

One of my favorite things I bought this summer came from Julie at Polka Dot Pig Primitives.  This link is to her blog which she hasn't updated in a few months... shame, shame girl!  Lol.  But she has been busy cranking out the dolls and all kinds of homemade goodness so you should check out her Facebook page instead: Polka Dot Pig Primitives.  Julie was at "An Affair of the Heart" in Tulsa in July so I finally got to meet her!!  It is in July and November every year at our fairgrounds.  I have been trying for the past year to get there and buy one of her precious Annie's!  I was so thrilled to make it this year and when I came around the corner, I knew immediately it was Julie's booth and I had never met her before.  There were more than just Annie's in the booth and I had such a very hard time deciding what to buy!  Julie is a very kind and beautiful person inside and out and how wonderful to finally meet a fellow blogger!  Especially an extremely talented one!  Annie is so adorable Julie, I love her so much!  Thank you!

I plan to go see her again in November.  Maybe a new tradition can be born... a new Annie from Julie every visit to AAOTH?  Hmm...

Okay, it's been fun to finally catch up a little but I have lots of totes in the attic of fall goodness that I can hear calling my name so I gots to get busy!  Thanks for coming by for a visit.  I sure do appreciate you and your sweet comments!  Now that all my kids are in school for full days, I will have time to finally catch up on blog reading and hopefully stay caught up this time.  There is just so much awesomeness out there in the prim blog community that I wish I had nothing else to do but sit and soak it all up, hahaha!

Have a delightful week my dear friends~

Our week at Falls Creek

This year's youth camp at Falls Creek in Davis, Oklahoma was another amazing year.  God was ever present!  In our cabin alone, there were 44 decisions made!!  One of them was my daughter rededicating her life.  Thank you Lord!


This is from the Falls Creek website:   Nestled in the heart of the Arbuckle Mountains of southern Oklahoma, Falls Creek has become the largest religious youth encampment in the world. More than 45,000 young people will attend its eight weeks of encampment every summer.


This year's theme was "Consumed" and a vintage theme at that so it was fun for me.

The theme was based on Psalm 103

The main lesson I learned from this week is that all my life, I thought I needed to be consumed of God but they put it another way that is so very true... "Not that I have more of Him, but He has more of me!"

A slightly blurry picture of our group before tabernacle time.  This gives you somewhat of an idea of how huge this place is.

Now just some fun pics of rec time.  My son Ryan playing the Human Foosball game with some friends.  He's the one in black on the right. I didn't stick around to see if they won, it was 100+ all week long.  A little rain came along and the kids had a great time playing outside.  A blurry picture of Ryan catching a football.

Every year we set Thursday evening aside as a time when the kids can dress up nice.  The boys escort the girls to the tables, they see what they want to eat and drink, they wait on them throughout their meal, and clean up after the girls are done.  Then the boys get to eat.  It is a fun time for all, even the boys and it helps to teach them respect and how to treat a lady.  I had to snap this pic of Ryan taking care of his friend... this doesn't happen much at home, lol.

A lot of team building happens at camp.  This is from one of Amariah's rec times.  They all had their eyes closed except the leader in front who guided them all to the challenge course.  Amariah's the last girl in the pic, right before the little boy (youth pastor's son). 

The rain was a sweet surprise to our extremely hot week!  The girls enjoyed the rain also... Amariah on the left.

This was Falls Creek's first year for human-sized games and they were received quite well by the campers and sponsors alike.

The girls enjoying a game of Connect 4.

My baby girl wasn't too fond of her Momma going the first year of her youth camp.  I had to let it be known to her that I am a sponsor and go every year, it wasn't just for her (but yes, I was gonna keep an eye on her or try anyway on the 300+ acre campground!).  By the middle of the week, I became her best friend.  While it was sweet and I was loving it, I had to push her to do things with her friends.  We enjoyed our time together swimming, hiking, swinging, relaxing.  By swinging, this is what I meant...

See the little red and blue dot up in the trees?  That's Amariah as we pulled her up high to let her go... swinging

Kickboxing as she's swinging...

Me on the other hand, yelling No, No, that's too high!  Lol

But God saw fit for me to survive the ordeal.  When my shaky body was on the ground, I would have knelt down to kiss it but there were too many people standing around.  Instead I thanked God for allowing me to still be alive and for not letting me vomit on the nice worker that brought me down as quick as he could.

Amariah enjoyed our time together so to me that's all I needed to make it worth it.  The things we do for our kids... geez!

We had a wonderful week and a very blessed week.  I go to mentor to our young girls but somehow they always manage to teach me also.  I was thrilled to have 2 of my kids there this week.  God is so very good!

I am grateful that we set aside a week out of our summer to go to a secluded place where yes, we have fun but more importantly we surround ourselves with sisters and brothers in Christ, dwell in His Word consistently through the week and just allow His anointing to pour all over us.  Thank you Lord for such a special time~