Halloween is right around the corner!

The holidays are coming and it is such an exciting time of year. I am not fond of cold weather but since I cannot change that I make the most out of what is coming. Right now I see people putting up their Halloween and fall decorations so we are jumping on board this year too.

Emma asked me if she could be Hello Kitty for Halloween and of course I said YES!!!! It is pretty much all girls in this house accept for my husband who is so good with all the girl stuff. (he was meant to have girls for sure) Anyway I am going to make an attempt to put together both girls costumes. NO sewing on my part. I am NOT a fan of that. At least not yet. As for now I am making the ears and bow and some appliques for the girls shirts. Hello Kitty always has a theme. Whether she is at the beach in a bathing suit or girl scout uniform. We have come up with a ice cream parlor girl for Emma and Rock star for Abbie. We will see how this new adventure turns out. At least they are at an age where they just want to dress up and do not really care how great it is. LOL If they turn out bad I will blame Party City for the tacky costumes. HA!

Last year we were in one of my favorite places in Florida for Halloween. St. Augustine had a costume contest and all the kids and their parents paraded our kiddos on the old streets in the historical area. It was the best Halloween we have ever had. Although we did not win my girls and I we super excited to be a part of it.

This year will be on a family trip before Halloween so we will be in town on Halloween and have decided to participate in our churches Trunk or Treat. When we were there a few years ago they also had a Halloween costume contest so it will be fun. It you are in the area come join us for the fall festival at Orchard Hills! We would love to have you. Even Cinny and Ampa are getting into the groove this year by decorating the bed of their truck and giving away candy! Hmmmm wondering if I can get them to dress up too. LOL

My baby song bird turns 6!

Between swimming lessons, starting home school, and celebrating two very special birthdays it has been a crazy busy life! I wouldn't trade one moment for anyone else's! So my posts are sometimes few and far between.

On August 18th 2005 at 11:45pm my life changed forever. It was the best change I could ever ask for and I am completely in love from the bottom of her toes to the top of her sweet little head. What an amazing gift God has given me. I learn so much from her every day. Her heart is so uplifting. Her prayers to Jesus, her giggles at silly things and her moments when she is upset remind me of how precious life is.

We have gotten to celebrate ALL week because so many people love my little bird so they have joined us in celebrating. On Monday a close friend and her husband who have been a part of our lives since I was pregnant came and picked Emma up and took her to "Build A Bear" workshop. Guess what she picked out? Yep, Hello Kitty and nope not by my persuasion cause I wasn't there. However my girlfriend called me and handed the phone to Emma and she was telling me all about what she was going to get with such excitement. What can I say, the girls just got taste.

Last week I picked up one of Emma's BFF's and took them to see "Smurfs".  It was an absolute joy to hear their sweet giggles and oh how proud I was to be able to walk them in and be a part of their day. We ate lots of popcorn and each of us had our own Cherry coke. Afterwards I took them to our house and they played dress up till time to go home.

Every third Thursday of the month our church has a stitches class. We each come together to sew, paint, crochet, etc and just socialize. This past Thursday I brought a cake to celebrate with some of my closest friends. I was overwhelmed by the turn out.... and of course the cake was Hello Kitty. Each person surprised her with a gift and she was so excited. It was a wonderful day and I am so thankful  for my friends who are more life family to us!

What a special little girl Emma is to be so loved by so many!

Thanks,





Emma just a few days old.





Emma at 1 years old




Emma at 3 yrs old.



Emma at 3 yrs old in Myrtle Beach Hotel.





Me and my dad and Emma Blue in California visiting my family.





Emma at 4 yrs old with her Jewels Doll. You can find her



Emma at 5 yrs old and now a BIG sister. She is not the fondest of it either.



Princess Emma in 2010 was in complete awe of a real princess. So sweet and we are so excited we are going again this year.

A new project

We do not have a large house so storage is a challenge around here. Although someday we plan to sell and buy a bigger home (because let's face it I have girls and we need room) we can't, due to the economy so we do with what we got and don't complain. We just make it work! Anywho, we had a yard sale with my parents in the spring and got rid of lots of junk. However my parents had a bookshelf that didn't sell. It was not something that would go with our decor so I didn't think about taking it home with me.

 I started talking to my dad about buying an armoire. Since we can't put the house on the market and we need extra storage he came up with the idea to turn the old bookshelf into an armoire. So it was decided that he had a new project to do. Although my dad stays really busy with his work, he loves projects and I love when he makes something special for me or my children. 

Although I can't find a good picture of what it looked like before I wanted to give you an idea. It looked kinda like oak. LOL Not sure what to call that. This is a picture with the primer. The cat in the photo is Jelly Bean and she decided to make her presence known. : )

Because it is going in between a closet door and my bedroom door it just seemed like white was getting lost in the room. So I decided on a color to match our comforter and some of the accents in our room.

 

The color I chose is called Galactica by Olympic.

My hang up is I am not sure if I should paint the doors all blue or keep the frame white.....got any thoughts??? Not saying I will take your advice but I sure could use a little input! LOL

Emma Blue's new chore chart

I am so excited about this new school year beggining. I don't want it to come too soon but we are getting our plans and ideas together to begin homeschooling Emma Blue. So to help get things started I decided to order her chore chart. I started researching on the internet and came across a ladies design on etsy.com that I really liked. I showed it to Emma and she got so excited. This is the link to where you can purchase your own chore chart. http://www.etsy.com/shop/AbbiesHouse?ref=ss_profile

Faith, Hope, Love

I recently did a show in Chattanooga called WHOfest. It is my favorite show every year and I so look forward to seeing my friends and being around those I admire most. This year I definetly met some very interesting people. One that sticks out happens to be a potential buyer. Although for obvious reasons (which I am about to get to) not a potential buyer of mine. I don't know exactly where he was from but I know not an original Tennesse kinda guy. He stood for several minutes looking over my work. My girlfriend was there sitting with me annoyed that he lingered but didn't say a word. Finally she spoke up and said something to the effect of him purchasing an original piece of her friends work...meaning me. He seemed lost for words and then he said it!!!! Yep a total no, no!!! He called my work "painfully optimistic". Can you imagine???? Now what in the world was I supposed to say to that? I am so glad my girl was there because I think I must have looked dumbstruck. He then explained how he sees no hope in the way things are right now in our world. He wasn't interested in hearing the positive. In fact he said his peace and moved on quickly.

I did a lot of thinking since then about my experience. He made me feel like my work was silly, emotionless, and shallow. Although it did not destroy me or make me want to give up, I needed to process that. I realized and happily say that I see the good in life. I have been through pain and how dare him or anyone judge me because of what they see in my work now. You see I am on the other side of the darkness. If he took a look at my sketch books he would see my journal through my pain, my recovery, and where I found my hope. I am no longer a wounded bird but free to fly! I may have scars that I will always carry but they will not define me. I have to paint what is inside and that is my Faith, Hope, and Love.

Crystal

The simple things

Steve took the girls to the local book/movie store here in Newnan that is going out of business. They all come bopping in yesterday afternoon with smiles and giggles...Emma says "mama, we got you a surprise!" I get so excited to see what my sweet bunch brings me. The best part is seeing the looks on all their faces (including Steve's) because they are just as excited as I am.

So this is what I got...Keroppi Breath Mints!!!

It is official

I am  now a blogger! Not so hard...now to get started with my first entry and figure out all the hoopla! Got any advice????