Are There NEAT Creative People Out There??

BUILD A VALENTINE WORKSHOP...AT THE KITCHEN TABLE.

Yep, had to stop in the madness to have some nourishment.

It can completely wear a person out using all their creative juices at one time!

That is glue from a paper doily heart...do you have a better way to glue the little buggers?

Pretty paper....

Here is the result of all that creative juice!

I even handmade the wittle envelopes!

While at Wal-Mart..gag...I found some Martha Stewart kits on clearance for $2.50.

I can't BELIEVE the original price was around $8.00...no WAY would I EVER pay $8.00 for that kit.

Anyhow, I like the little honeycomb fruits and used them and made my own cards.

Instead of making my own cards, I used her cards as a skeleton....
The PEACHY card is for Regan.

This one is Carly's....she's my vintage girl.
I used the vintage valentine paper....isn't it adorable?

Then I used the APPLE.....

Here is Sydni's card....She is our sweets freak.

She was at one time on a baking kick and wanted to start making cupcakes for everyone....yah, I think that last a whole 2 minutes.

So, needless to say...she got the CUPCAKE.

No, you aren't seeing double...I made a vintage one for my sweetie!!

I'm sure he wouldn't expect anything else....

He got the PEAR. Get it? Pear/pair? I know, I'm funny like that!!

Well, the Valentines are done....and now, I'm sure you are wondering about that mess I made.....

TA DAAAAA.....back to normal!!! It took me less than 15 min. to get it cleaned up.

I love my FLYLADY timer.....I could have easily looked at that mess and said, "Ewwww" and just left it. Instead, I got out the timer and got busy....

I hope you have a wonderful Valentine's Day....I am headed off to a secret cabin hideaway with my wonderful man!

Shameless Plug: Oklahoma Bloggers VOTE FOR ME

CLICK THE HERE TO BE TAKEN TO THE BALLOT INFORMATION
PLEASE READ THE DIRECTIONS CAREFULLY...you have to EMAIL your vote.

Since I am nominated in the THE MOST HUMOROUS category,

I decided to post links to some of my posts that are humor worthy.

OUR WHIRLWIND CHRISTMAS PARADE PROMOTING TOUR

MY SISTER MADE ME DO IT!

HOW TO SCARE THE BEJEEBIES OUT OF A TEENAGER

(Seriously, if you google bejeebies, you will pull up my blog in the top 3 spots)

ANYONE CAN SHOW YOU PICTURES OF A BALL GAME

THE GOAT WHISPERER, ER, UH CHASER (My personal favorite)

REASON #432 WHY I CAN'T HAVE THE PERFECT PORCH

So, I am not ashamed to promote....sheesh, I might just get famous or something....someone might just recognize me at Wal-Mart or something...and not because I have yellow smiley underwear on under a white dress!

Even if I don't win, I feel extremely HONORED to even be in the top 10...even if there might have been only 10 nominated...I don't know, I just know I feel 'pecial! The actual name of my blog is Living The Good Life!

Homemade Valentines (picture heavy)

I got to attend a Victorian Valentine Workshop this past weekend.

The art of making valentines for our loved ones has all but disappeared.

The first time I attended this workshop, we used wallpaper samples....that was looong before the scrapbooking craze took off.

The workshop is held in a home turned museum.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE HOME

Here is a pretty envelope I made myself....

This is what is INSIDE that pretty envelope.

This valentine was NOT my favorite and if you ever get one from me, know that you must be pretty darn special due to the difficulty level of this valentine!

Here I am working so hard for my loved ones!! My friend Stacey spent the day doing this also.

This is one of my favorites and quite easy to make.

I love the vintage pattern on the brown valentine....I know, not traditional colors.

If you know me at all, you know I am NOT traditional.

The floral one is more traditional w/ a lot of bang inside.

More of the brown one...

There is a pretty yellow one in the background in which was not a good valentine to show....I need to practice on that one some more...it was very easy though.

Take some time this week to make your loved ones special valentines!!!

Here is a great LINK to make homemade boxes from paper.

GOALS 2010 January Update

CLICK HERE to READ ORIGINAL GOALS

Well, has it already been one month since setting these goals?

I do think I did pretty good for this month...I certainly hope that it can continue.

• We collected boxes the first week of January and a few weeks into January. We will continue to collect them...just in case.
• We completed the mud porch on schedule. Boy, was that thing nasty!
• This is a bonus: I took pictures of the appliances and listed two items on craigslist yesterday and have already had 4 - 5 emails about them. Still not sold, but am very hopeful.
• We did NOT do anything to the old garage. The weather is not permitting that for us right now. We have until June 1st.
• We have NOT painted the master bath. We DID however get two new outlets installed, which something that needed to be done before the painting started. We have until August 1st to paint the bathroom.
• I did 24 of 31 days of Bible reading. I found that weekends were my weakest days. I do feel more calm and peaceful this month and I am sure it is because I have been spending time with my Lord.
• Flylady Zone: I am going to give myself a passing grade because I did manage to deep clean each zone. I still need work on doing the 15 min. in each zone on a daily basis.
• No progress on the water line. Deadline is September 1st.
• No progress on the culvert in the pasture. Deadline is July 1st.
• Getting change jars together to cash in in February.
• We DID get a good set of scales...yes, I GASPED when I got on them! I lost 7 lbs. in January!
• I am giving myself a passing grade on drinking 8 glasses of water a day. I didn't get them every day...but I also didn't have ANY pop in January!!!
• Eating out was a total BUST....hanging head in shame. I knew this would get us and it did. The next two months are busy stockshows for us and I know the eating out will get us again and that part was planned...just not the January one....still going to lessen it though. It isn't night meals that get us...it is the run through the drive-thru at lunch...for this, I need to plan better.

Overall, I think we did pretty good on the goals. We stayed focused and helped each other stay motivated. Now, on to February!!

GRADE: B

My $1.00 Winter Storm Fix

We were predicted to have a MAJOR ice storm in our area a few days ago...so, while out running amok trying to prepare for the blasted thing, my car violently turned right and parked itself in a thrift store parking lot.

I just sat there talking to "Lucy"...my car, "I can't go in here Lucy..don't you realize this rain is about to turn to ice...just look at your wipers....I see ice forming."

After about 5 minutes, I decided I could make a QUICK...very QUICK run through....

So glad I did, because I found this adorable lamp shade for $1.00! I can also say I am glad I did because I made it home before the ice came....otherwise, I probably wouldn't be posting this...LOL.

So, now I wait and wait for warmer temps so I can get out that spray paint and do a makeover of the lamp....are you with me? Can I get an AMEN?

Make sure you check back with me on February 1st for my 2010 Goals update....

More of the HOMESCHOOL Field Trip Experiments

Here are a few...ok, a lot of pics from our recent trip to the Air & Space Museum.

Mr. Pilot showed how air pressure works. He has a cup of water UPSIDE DOWN.

He put a piece of PAPER over the top of the cup before tipping the cup UPSIDE DOWN.
He then removes his hand and VOILA...the water is remaining in the cup. DO THIS EXPERIMENT OVER A SINK!
ALSO USE A SOLID CUP...THE WATER YOU SEE IS FROM HIM SQUEEZING THE CUP...

Of course, the kids wanted to make sure they could do it also...so, here they are.

This is room temperature red food coloring added to a tank of water.

On the right are ice cubes w/ blue food coloring.

This experiment shows how a cold front and a warm front meet and what happens....you can almost see the storms brewing, can't you?

Soooo, after the water in the cup experiment, Mr. Pilot wanted to see if it would stay in a cup if he REMOVED the piece of paper.....
Michael was more than willing to be a volunteer....after he got his arm twisted...JUST KIDDIN.

Here the cup WITH the paper is balancing on his head....

The paper is REMOVED....I think Michael is worried at this point.
THE WATER STAYED!!!

Mr. Pilot played a joke on us....he had gel beads in the cup when he poured in the water. The gel beads soaked up the water and made a solid!

You can find these gel beads in DIAPERS....cut a dry diaper open. Now you know the secret of DIAPERS!!!

A Joy in a Time of Sorrow....

Meet little Miss Emi.

Emi was born the week of Thanksgiving.

The Lord put Emi into this family's life at just the right moment.

Right before the holidays.

This allowed the family to focus on the joys of baby smiles, baby smells, and baby cuddling.

Babies have a way of turning sorrow into joy.

Babies have a way of carrying on legacy within a family.

Meet Emi.

Emi came to help this grieving family overcome the loss of dear sweet Justin, who in September, at the age of 26, was killed in a tragic accident. Emi knows that she will never replace her Uncle Justin.

She will however, help them remember her Uncle Justin.

Emi will certainly have some of the same qualities her Uncle Justin had while he walked this earth.

Tina, Randy, Amber and the rest of the family....may you see God working in this darkness and know that you have a new light.

We love you!!