Hand Sanitizer at Church

Funny stuff!

Happy Tofurky Day!

We give Thanks to God for His LOVE!!!




I had to post this picture. Isn't it CUTE!?

It's been over a year now that I decided to stop eating eggs, meat, chicken and turkey. I was vegan for about half of that but it is hard. And if I do some more researching I might just go back to that. But as of right now....I eat fish and some dairy. I have significantly reduced my dairy intake, though. I have never thought to myself if I made a mistake in not eating meat. I enjoy NOT eating it actually! I am SUCH an animal person, it's crazy. I will almost completely stop my car if I see any kind of animal crossing the road. This goes back to childhood. If I was in my mom's car and she was driving, I would scream if I saw an animal even close to the car. SO....this sort of diet fits me well!

Fish, on the other hand, I don't have a real attachment to them. Maybe I should, but I don't. I grew up mainly down in the Florida Keys and we had our own boat and fished every other weekend. We caught everything. So, maybe that is why I don't have a love for "Saving the Fish". (Dolphin are a different story.)

Anyway, so why am I writing this post? I got an email about Adopting a Turkey. This holiday season, Thanksgiving Day, pretty much makes me sick. A lot of focus is put on that poor turkey that is now hanging out on the table waiting to be eaten. Well, it's not waiting to be eaten but there is SO much focus on it. There is more to Thanksgiving than that little turkey! It's thanksgiving...there were Indians and pilgrims and thankfulness. It's not just about the turkey.


I'm probably not going to get a lot of love emails about this but this is my blog and I've been up since 3am trying to keep my husband from having a seizure due to his SUPER low blood sugar. And now I am wide awake thinking about Turkeys...oh well...


back to the story... so I clicked on the Adopt a Turkey link and then went to the main website. It's called Farm Sanctuary. And I think it should be looked at. You SHOULD know where your food is coming from. You SHOULD be aware of what happens at the farms. What the farmers do to their animals. I am totally NOT a fan of eating meat, but if you do, researching what you are eating and where it is coming from.

On this crazy note, I'm off to drink some coffee to stay awake for the rest of the morning....and off to make some jewelry. I am thankful for jewelry orders!!! And then off to Trader Joe's to pick up some food for Thanksgiving!

I love being with family! I get to be with my in-laws and my mom and her boyfriend at the SAME house!! Wooo hooo!!!

(If this post seems butchered (no pun intended)....it probably is. I'm not usually doing much at this time of day besides sleeping.)

Buy One Get One Free...STARBUCKS!!

Who can beat this great Stabucks deal!!

Giveaway WINNER!!!

True Random Number Generator
Min:1

Max: 31

Result: 18
Congratulations Chrissy!!

Chrissy said...

I love the Faith. Hope. Love Bracelet, but the Eternity Necklace is high up on the list too!

November 14, 2010 8:02 AM

Free 8x10 Canvas for your Print!

I just got word that the Canvas People are giving away a free 8x10 canvas print! You only pay for shipping. So hop on over there and get yours free!

Welcome Jayden

Jayden David Macfarlane
Born 11/08/2010.
7lb 2 oz. 20 in

(this makes me an aunt of 17 nieces and nephews!....craaaazzy!)

Fran, Johanna and baby Jayden

My dad & step-mom and Jayden.

My niece, Aaliayh and Jaden. She is a big sis now!

My Brother, Fran and his wife, Johanna, had their baby a week ago! Congratulations you two! He is beautiful and I can't wait to meet him. Unfortunately, they live in Miami, FL and I am not sure when we will get down there. Most likely next year...oooh, maybe during snow season here! They just grow so fast right now and change SO much in the next 3 months. Praying for much rest for the two of them right now!

A Giveaway from my Etsy Shop!

I have been thinking lately about having a giveaway from my Etsy shop, AW Jewelry Designs. I am not sure which one is the perfect one to give away so I am choosing this pair of brass earrings! They have great texture and the color combo of brass and silver are very pretty together.

These are my Circular Brass Earrings. They are circular brass discs that measure just about 1 inch round. I hammered them and then oxidized them to give it an antique look then hand-buffed it to bring out the texture in the earrings. I also added a hand forged sterling silver hook ear wire.

I will announce the winner of the giveaway on Wednesday, November 17th at 9pm. Just leave a separate comment for each thing you do.

1. Go to AW Jewelry Designs and let me know which piece you like best

2. Follow my blog

3. Announce the giveaway on YOUR blog/Facebook/Twitter

(Don't forget to leave your email on the comment!)

Reading a Book

Last night Hannah and I were reading books before bedtime. I read the first two books, Ballet Sisters and A Day with No Crayons. Both I had never read before and enjoyed a lot! Especially A Day with No Crayons. It talks about a little girl who wrote on the walls with her crayons because she used up all of her paper and coloring pages. Her mom came in and saw the damage that she did and took her crayons away. The little girl was sad but went outside to discover how she could use nature to produce beautiful art. A must read for any child who is creative or likes to color.

The next book we read was Ballet Sisters. This was good for Hannah because she LOVES to dance. And the book is about an older sister who takes her younger sister to her dance class, which she later signs up for dance class herself.

The best thing about reading last night....Hannah READ this book mostly by herself. There was a great interest in doing it too! I just went along with it. I have been talking to her about learning how to read but this was a non-structured, non-planned time of her reading. It was pretty cool! And I am very proud of her taking initiative in trying even though this is all new to her! Go Hannah!!

A Box Turned Into A Castle!

It looks like this could use a little something something. I will take ideas....please?

The HAPPY princess playing with her Pink Princess Castle! Who needs to spend money when you can make something for your child that they will equally like or maybe will like better?

This was came from one of my frequent thoughts, "I can't get rid of that, it could be used for something". Well, this was a box that I just cut apart and used all of the pieces until there were shredded scraps. How that single box on it's way out to the recycling container turned into a castle...I'm not sure how it happened. My ideas come on full force and I have to do it..right then...or else they go bye-byes from my mind forever.

Hannah loves it and that's what counts. She was playing with her little princess figures without a castle. And this was the missing piece. :-)

Have you done a project for you or your child with something that could have made it to the recycling? Do you have any pictures?

Thanksgiving Count Down Chain

First we cut up strips of fall-colored paper. They are about 12 inches.

Then we used pieces of tape to connect the ends together. I put a piece a tape on the end of the paper and then Hannah wrapped it around the rest of the link. She insisted on doing this part.

Keep linking until it's done.

Afterward, it was a great opportunity for her to work on writing her numbers. So, from 4 to 25 I wrote the number on the link and then she copied it until she felt comfortable enough to try writing the number on her own. This chain is kept by our calendar and at night before bed or in the morning she will make an "X" on the calendar and tear a link off to complete the previous day.

A Baby Shower for Gabriel! (...and the cookies)

This post is dedicated to my Sister-In-Law, Jessica and her husband, Kevin, and the celebration of the adoption of their son, Gabriel!!

This is Kevin and Jessica and Keeper.

They are actually on their way, RIGHT NOW, to go pick up their son! It's a funny thing about adoption as in Kevin and Jessica's story. They had been trying and trying to have a child of their own and to no avail they decided to go down the very long route of adoption. I'm not sure about every story but the ones that I heard of, the road is long and can be painful.

It seems like you are supposed to hurry up and get everything together to then wait....and wait. And then hurry up and get some more legal things done and then....wait...and wait. And it goes on like this until the day that there is a child ready for you to take home. Then you have to wait. Jessica and Kevin's story involved them going to Ethiopia, Africa a couple of weeks ago and meeting their son, Gabriel. They spent a week there and while they were there they went to the courts and Gabriel was legally theirs.

So....then they had to leave their precious little child and go home and....wait....until they were allowed to come back to pick the little guy up. Well, with their story it wouldn't be a surprise that they were to wait a lot longer. But they didn't have to. It seems like they had been back 2 or so weeks when they found out they could go back and pick him up.

So, here they are today on a plane to Ethiopia to pick Gabriel up and bring him home for an awesome homecoming welcoming party by his family next Sunday! We are all so excited!

...............................................................................................

The cookies..

I used a vegan sugar cookie recipe that I used back in February during the snow storm and for Hannah's birthday cookies in April. The two hearts signified Jessica and Kevin and the one green heart signified Gabriel.

I printed off a template of Africa and cut it out to size, then just drew a pencil line around Africa on cool African paper (then cute it) that I got from Michael's Craft Store. I then wrote a sweet little message to people who came. So, over 60 cookies!! Phew!

A part of the beautiful spread of food!

The woman with the pink-ish scarf gave a talk on her experience in adoption.

The group of women who attended Jessica's baby shower!

A sweet hug!

Does she look beautiful with her sweet face, her pink sweater and the lovely white cake!?

Jessica and Anne Marie cuddling.

Monica, Jessica, Suzanne & Mary

Monica, Jessica, Grace, Suzanne & Mary.
(These are all of my husband's sisters and mom!)

Pinned ya!

We cracked up this morning when Hannah and I saw this picture of a dog being pinned by another at a daycare! Cute, huh? I got this from a Facebook post by our dog's vet's Facebook page. It was about "Doggie Daycare...Is it right for every dog?". I didn't read the whole article because I don't think doggie daycare is right for our dog but this picture is adorable!

Month of November Activities

I NEED to have purpose in my home. Especially when I am a stay-at-home mom. Hannah isn't a little toddler anymore. She is a growing 4.5 year old who is taking in so much of her environment right now and really wants to learn. I have recently made THE decision to home school her next year for Kindergarten and she seems to really like the idea of it. Soooo....I want to get into the groove of teaching her. Although, I do teach her now, it is usually very sporadic.

I have her involved in a Preschool Co-op currently at our church that I helped to start last year and continued with it this year. It's really working out great! The moms take turns teaching and assisting. We really only have two moms at a time. The month before we have a meeting and plan each day of school. Each mom, when they are the lead teacher, will plan everything for that day with the assistants help. It seems to be working out great!

Well, now for some activities that I have found pertaining to November/Thanksgiving/Fall.

-Thanksgiving Count Down Chain -Need to ASAP!!

-Make homemade Thanksgiving cards (I have ALL of the material already...go me!!)

-Bible Lesson: King David constantly was giving thanks to the Lord in the book of Psalm (Psalm 107:1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever)

Mayflower Boat Craft

Thanksgiving Ice Cream "Cornucopia"

Hand Painted Turkey (Although I won't be eating a turkey it's hard to get away from "it"...so I am working with "it". Plus these are so cute!)

Hide play food around the house and let little squanto (Hannah) "hunt for the food".

Chocolate Covered Pilgrim Hats
Teach Hannah about giving. Have the family give away something of their own to give to less fortunate.

Bubble Wrap Indian Corn

5 Little Pumpkins....a different video

5 Little Pumpkins Sitting on a Gate.....Video

5 Little Pumpkins Sitting on a Gate

I am the teacher at Hannah's Pre-K tomorrow and we are focusing on Pumpkins and the letter "E". For Pumpkins, I am going to sing this song with them at circle time and do a felt board story with a bigger version of the picture above. (More visuals). Then they will make this project pictured.

-I have a large hole puncher (1 inch circle). I hole punch the amount of pumpkins that I needed and then cut off a little off the top and bottom to make it look more like a pumpkin.

-Used black paper for the eyes (triangles) nose (small hole punch), mouth (I used the big hole puncher and just cut little pieces off to make them look like mouths.

- Used green paper to make stems

-Popsicle sticks for the fence. I glued the top and the bottom first and then made the vertical pickets.

5 Little Pumpkins Sitting on a Gate

Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate;
The first one said, "Oh my it's getting late."
The second one said, "There are leaves in the air."
The third one said, "But we don't care."
The fourth one said, "I'm ready for some fun!"
The fifth one said, "Let's run and run and run."
"Wooooooo" went the wind,
And out went the lights.
And the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight.

(I switched witches for leaves because I am
not a fan of witches or teaching about witches)

For snack we will have:
5 candy pumpkins (each child)
Skinny pretzel sticks
Peanut butter to "glue" the sticks together to make a fence

Halloween and the Fairies!

Our neighborhood has their community events down at the playground. For halloween the kids compete in different age brackets. They compete for the "best of".... Hannah was a finalist for the most creative costume! Woo hoo!

Hannah's friend, Victoria, came along with us for this event and she dressed up as Rosetta, one of the Tinkerbell fairies. They were both waiting in a line to be judged here:

One pose before we were off to participate in this crazy event.

Hannah and Victoria we perfect Trick or treators together! They ran from house to house getting as much candy as they could! "Just one picture, please"!

The crew! Juanita, Victoria, Hannah and hubby....Minus me.

We also got a visit from another couple, Margarita & Paul and their little dinosaur, Leo! Scary, huh?

Yummers! Taking a candy break!

I went to bed EARLY!! 8:30pm! I was tired! But it was a lot of fun and so glad that our friends could come out and enjoy the festivities!