I ♥ Weddings!

Pictures from top to bottom: 1. My Hubby! ♥ 2. Boat w/ raw bar 3. Pastor Mark & Deb

My husband and I went to the MOST amazing wedding this weekend. It was in Cape Cod. It was very rainy but that did not put a damper on things at all! The message was great as always from Pastor Mark Yedinak. I think the 2 great places to speak to non-believers are Weddings and Funerals! What other time do you get the chance to speak to people who would not walk into a church on a regular Sunday. Our Pastor (Mark Yedinak) did my wedding for my husband and I and we got so many complements from our guests. And even there I saw people talking to him and his wife telling them how much they enjoyed his works. I just pray for all those people in hopes that they find a church so they can really be blessed with the word and a church family.

So after the vows and message where delivered the food did not stop! The first hour or two was open bar. They had a raw bar and a TON of appetizers. The main course was pork, turkey and roast beef. All done to perfection. The other side of the room had a huge table with pastas, stir fry and I have no idea what else because I was so stuffed from everything else I could not eat any more!

Ok so desserts where peti fours, cakes, chocolate mouse, strawberry mouse, and wedding cake (I didn't even have any room for any). I don't think I ever ate that much. Neither my husband or I ate any dinner that night.

They did the CUTEST thing to give away the bouquet! They had all the married couples go out on the dance floor and had them slow dance. The DJ would ask who has been marries for 4 or less years raise your hand. Couples would raise their hands and he would ask them to please go sit down. He kept narrowing down couples until he was down to 1 couple who where married over 40 years and the bride handed the bouquet to the wife and took a picture with them.

The last thing I have to tel you about are the wedding favors! They did the best thing ever. Instead of having favors for all of the guests they just make a cash donation to the Cancer Society. That was fantastic. It really was a time of giving and sharing with everyone. I really like how the wedding was more focused on couples and how special marriage is. It was so nice being able to spend the day with my husband without the children, it really gave us time together and with people who we love to be around.

New Braid!

I am so happy to have found BLOGGING! I found a blog to do my daughter's hair. My word have I been missing out. Here is the wonderful blog titled The Story of a Princess and her Hair. You have to check it out! It even has a video on making the braid I did for Baby Girl, the twist braid. Now I cannot wait for her to get home and try new hair-dos.

Can't Wait!

So! In 24 days Samuel will be 1! Here is the picture I am using for his invitations. Can you tell what the theme is going to be? Yup! Its a farm party! I bought 12 cowboy hats, 12 cow bells, Red and blue bandannas and so much more! I really love planning and throwing kids parties. I'm using MyPunchbowl.com to organize it and send out the invitations via email. It'll save on postage and that way people can forward it to others just encase I forget someone. So hopefully tonight all the nitty gritty details will be ironed out and I can send the invitations off.

My Stained Glass Life....

Last night I went to a womens fellowship function with my mother-in-law. I had such a great time and I was moved (I love that feeling).They served tacos, one woman never had a taco before that night! WOW I thought they where common, but then again my family is from San Antonio, Tx. It was so funny because so many of the women didn't know what refried beans where. They where pointing "what is that?". After dinner we sat in the front of the function hall and sang some songs. I started to shed some tears during praise and worship songs. At the time I hoped that no one could see me, there is just something so moving, touching and intimate about singing to and for the Lord. Then we watched to a small skit, Margie's very long yet very amusing introduction for the guest speaker and then Joanne spoke.

Her stories of people she has come across where amazing! Its interesting how much you can learn about people when you REALLY listen. One may was a missionary in Alaska, he really loved the Lord! He had heart surgery and ended up with a staph infection. But that was his way of being able to spread the good news to nurses and doctors. Then he was hit by a bus, yet another opportunity to reach more people with his message. From the accident he was left paralyzed and a prisoner to a wheel chair. He lived right by a hiking trail, so he took cold water and some tracks and perched himself at the trail so he could offer the hikers a cold drink and food (the Lord's word).That is the type of person I would love to be. Take any and every situation where any ordinary person would feel conquered by their situation instead of conquering their situation for the good of saving people. This man was clearly INlove with the Lord!

She also spoke of a book with the word Stained Glass in the title. But a quote from the book really stuck with me. "The Lord has taken all of the broken pieces in my life and made a stained glass window from them" How true is that. Its kind of like that Rascal Flats song "the broken road led me straight to you". My window may not be as intricate as others, but each piece means something. Some are dark and others as bright as can be. But what a beautiful picture they make. The broken road is not the easiest but it truly is the most blessed.

Before it was over Joann brought a gallon sized zip lock bag full of wooden crosses that one of her friend's made. He carved each and everyone and they where ALL different! After he heard that she was going to talk for a group of women he thought it would be nice to make one for each of us. They where all so beautiful. Here is a picture of mine. It has a nail carved in the middle. I picked this one because I knew it was what my husband would have picked.


Something to leave with: Remember when you feel down and broken. Walk that road with Jesus. At the end of that particular road you will find a gift and in time it will make the most beautiful stained glass window.

The Sick Tooth

Hannah had a tooth pulled today! She was such a trooper! The dentist was also amazing. They explained everything to her in just a way that she understood and was comfortable with (minus the part with the needle). They told her that her tooth had a "cavity bug " and that they needed to send it off the Tooth Fairy. She was fine with it. They even demonstrated the WHOLE procedure of the tooth sealant on her finger ahead of time. Here is a picture of the tooth that was infected and the little pink box they gave Hannah to put her tooth in for the Tooth Fairy. You can see the large brown spot that was eaten away by the cavity.

Every child walks out of the office with a balloon, stickers and a tattoo.

She used to be DEATHLY afraid of the dentist, now she told me that she only wants to go there and thats it. I really wish I found them in the first place. I recommend to everyone to take your child to a pediatric dentist and not a general dentist. They just have such a caring way about them and they make the children feel so comfortable.

YAY! Real Food!

Samuel had his first bowl of Cheerios today! Boy did he love it. I just made a small bowl for him using cold formula. I'm trying to get him accustomed to it being cold since he starts on Milk soon. We are on our last container of formula and thats it! I'm not buying anymore!

Financial Health Check Up!

Here are some links that have been very helpful to us! And some of the Dave Ramsey info as well.



First off every month should have a budget. Make budget planning a snap with this Microsoft Excel monthly budget sheet. Enter your planned and actual expenses and it will automatically calculate how well you're doing. From MomAdvice.com

Everyone should own the Dave Ramsey book "The Total Money Makeover, Revised and Updated", it has fantastic information and it very encouraging. Whenever you feel discouraged just pick up his book and read stories from real people who have overcome financial hardships. This would also be a great read for a young adult.

Here are the Baby Steps:

1. $1,000 to start an Emergency Fund: Any extra money goes to pay off Debts. For emergencies that cannot wait and to be payed back as you use it.

2. Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball: Pay smallest debt to larger Here is the link for the Debt Snowball

3. 3 to 6 months of expenses in savings: Just encase someone looses a job or a big emergency comes up. Pay it back as you use it.

4. Invest 15% of household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement

5. College funding for children / Retirement: Here is a good Retirement Calculator

6. Pay off home early. Here is the Mortgage Calculator to pay off your house earlier.

7. Build wealth and give! Invest in mutual funds and real estate.

Also a great website is RefundPlease There are a number of online retailers that offer to credit buyers back cash on past purchases. For instance, if the product you purchased at Amazon.com within the last 30 days has dropped in price they will credit you back the difference.

A good financial website it Kiplingers


Ok one more thing to add! Here is a good Retirement Calculator

Have fun playing around with things!

Wipe Cases

Here is another easy gift! Many people sell these so you really cannot find directions on how to make them, but I'll tell ya how I made mine!

You will need:
1-small wipe container (I used Huggies)
Some batting
Fabric
Ribbon if you want a bow on top
Rick rak type of material for the sides
Hot glue gun

Directions:
Cut the batting to fit in the top and bottom of the wipe container. You will cover the opening in the top. Hot glue them on. Cut the fabric to over-lap slightly on the sides. You are going to hot glue the fabric around the sides of the container, making sure you do not glue the container shut. Cover the top and bottom. At this time if you want a bow on the top glue a piece of ribbon on the top from side to side like in the pictures (just on the top). Then take the rick rak material and glue along the sides. It took me a bit of playing around with, the first one I made. Thats it your done!

Blanket

Ok this one is SUPER easy! I made the blanket with Fire Dogs for a friend's son when she adopted him and the striped one for my daughter. These blankets are soft and extremely warm. People in my house fight over them in the winter. They also make great gifts. Here is how I did it:

1 yard of 2 different print fleece
2. Cut a 4x4" square (or 5x5" square for a longer fringe) out of each corner (through both layers of fleece.
3. Depending on the size square you cut out is the size fringe you will make. So cut either 4-5" along each side of the fleeces (make sure you cut them together).
4. Tie the pieces together one top and one bottom that are together. I like to Double knot them and have the opposite fabric on each side like in the pictures.

Thats it! Its also a great project for school aged children.

Wedding Bells

So after being married for almost 3 years, I finally made my wedding shadowbox. I really love just looking at it and thinking of the day our two lives became one. It has been a wonderful journey with an amazing man. I truly thank God for putting us together, we are much better people together.

Pooh Diaper Wreath

Here is the diaper wreath that I made for my husband's cousin's baby shower. The theme is Pink Classic Pooh. I thought it came out really cute. I had size 1 diapers but they where too stiff, so I grabbed the boys size 3 diapers. Other people that I have made them for didn't want too take them apart for a while so it might be better off using larger diapers so when they are ready to disassemble it they will still be able to use the diapers. The only thing I was not happy with was getting the foam ring! Only Michael's carries them and they have gone up to about $6 each. If you know of any where to get cheaper ones please let me know. I am also interested in buying them in bulk since this is a gift that I make for all of the baby showers that I attend.

Woodstock Fair 2008

On Labor Day we went to the Woodstock Fair in CT. We had a lot of fun and ate a ton of great food. I usually am not a fan of fair food, but really it wasn't your typical spread. Greg had an amazing roast beef sandwich. They even cooked the beef on spits right there. Very cool!

Jake got kicked off the turtles.

Jacob went on his first carnival rides and was kicked off for standing up.

So Greg went on the Crazy Bus with him.

Here is a picture of all the kids in front of the sand sculpture.