22 Days Of Thanksgiving

A trend started in Facebook to post daily 1 thing you are thankful for up until Thanksgiving... I like that. Helps to specifically think of all the blessings God has provided in my life. I thought it would be good to post them here so I can go back and look at them in the years to come

DAY 1: I am thankful for a Savior who loves me in spite of all my faults. If it were according to how 'good' I could be, I would be eternally lost

DAY 2: I am thankful for my husband of 28 years (31yrs of 'dating') He is exactly who I needed. He is a great example of what a Godly man should look like. Makes me want to be a better person. I love our "Fun Fridays With Fred"

DAY 3: I am thankful for friends, near and far. The friendships from Florida that took years to develop into the kind of friends you could call at the last minute for a favor and they wouldn't hesitate a second. And for the ones He has given me here to help me feel 'at home', and look forward to nurturing those friendships into strong bonds

DAY 4: I am thankful that I have the privilege to teach 2-3 yr olds for Sunday School. Each one of them is a sweetie and has stolen my heart! so Thank you Lord for Emily, Ben,Bralyn,Elizabeth, Bella,Bradon,Daxton

DAY 5: I am thankful that the opportunity came for my youngest to come live with us for a while and the opportunity to renew our relationship with him again. God knows my heart's desire and was gracious in giving this to me

DAY 6: I am thankful for a job that I actually miss when I am not there. the schedule is perfect so that I have flexibility to take care of mom. It has given me the fellowship of some amazing ladies, and I get to love on some of the cutest babies in town! I am grateful for Max,Kenley,KT,Allie,Hunter,Noah,Annie,Murphy Kate, and our newest but just as cute, Joe Morris! :)

DAY 7: I am thankful that God is in control, not man. Our hope is in God, not man. I don't know what is going to happen, I have concerns. But I am reminded that is not my job. My job is to share the News that Jesus is The Way, The Truth and The Life. May I be faithful

DAY 8: 1 month from today my baby girl is going to be 26. I am thankful for my beautiful daughter. We have 'knocked' heads, especially during the wonderful teen years. But I love how I can say now she is one of my closest friends. I cannot imagine what my life would be without her in it

DAY9: I am thankful that the Lord saw fit to send us all the way to the little town of Mt Pleasant. We really didn't understand why He would take us away from all we knew, a home and friends we loved, and even our 2 kids. Following God's lead means not always understanding. We are still working on that, but have a peace that this is where we are supposed to be. AND I love this time of year here. So many fun, quaint events happen here that makes for great memories of the holidays!

Day 10:  I am thankful for my other 2 kids, Steven and Savanna. They make it so fun to be a "Titi". I am getting to watch them grow up, no longer little kids, and it fills me with mixed emotions, sad but yet proud and excited to see what God has planned for their lives. 
Yep, they are making me go through parenting all over again, thanks! ;)

DAY 11: I am thankful for the "Other Nassars"... one of the main incentives to move here was to be closer to Tom, Rachel and Grace. So glad to have been given the opportunity to be closer to our family!

DAY 12: I am grateful for our 1st born. We married young and had no clue as to what we were doing! His personality is JUST like his daddy's. He has always been the one who makes me laugh. I love to hear his stories and try to explain to me all the 'techie' stuff he does. He beat us to Texas chasing his dream job, and has made us very proud of how he has taken care of himself. Love my 27 yr old baby boy!

DAY 13: last night was the 2nd night or NO sleep for me, I got hit with a nasty head cold, so honestly, I was struggling with thinking of something to be thankful for. Ok, I had my venting/pity party. I am thankful for my health. I know that I could be SO much worse. Sleep will come, the head cold will go away. Lord willing, these are the worst things I have to deal with.

DAY 14: I am thankful for Tylenol PM !!!!

DAY 15: I am grateful for our wonderful Sparks leaders. for the ones who will bail me out at the last minute, to the ones that keep me on task with awards, for ALL of them who love our Sparks and encourage them to 'hide His words in their hearts'. thank you from the bottom of my heart!

DAY 16: I am thankful for the organization Titus County Cares. they are an amazing NONprofit organization here in town that works very hard to help those in need. Fred and I will be helping today for the last day to sign up for Empty Stocking, the program that will be giving toys to kids next month. I encourage you to look them up and see how YOU can help our community :)

DAY 17: I am thankful for the home God has given us, as I look outside and see how 'frosty' it is! :)

DAY 18: I am thankful for my 2 kitties. Kaya was a gift from Steph almost 10 yrs ago, and Baby is 2, got her shortly after we moved here. They have been enjoying the nice weather out in the backyard, and it's so relaxing just watching them. they bring me joy!

DAY 19: I am thankful for my church and the wonderful worship ministry. I am always touched by the songs, especially yesterday. This is the song, I think it is becoming my life anthem!
http://youtu.be/hN7L3m9jIcc

DAY 20: I am thankful for Almond Joy coffee creamer. It is very yummy!

DAY 21: I am thankful for the seasons here in NE Texas... I love the different colors on the trees, the crispness in the air..it's nice :)

Thanksgiving Day: I am thankful to get to spend this day with Andy, Fred, Mom and Steve and kids... gonna miss Freddy and Steph, Sara, and the other Nassars, but will have them in my heart today! :)

Turkey Shirts

I highly desire to be 'crafty', but I have a long way to go!  hehe

This year, my class at KidFirst has a younger group of kids than last year. Some aren't even walking yet... So, doing crafts for the holidays with them is a little limited... Handprints are always a  cool thing to do since they won't stay little for long.

We traced the handprint to cardstock and cut out copies out of fabric. I don't do much sewing, so I found the stuff called "heat bond". It is supposed to work really good, but I had some issues with it sticking. We had to do a bit of sewing. Oh, WE means me and my great coworker, Ashlee Green. Honestly, she pushed the project forward. I waited to get started on them and was short on time. She persevered and helped us to finish them!

I think I would like to do them again next year, but I will start earlier and actually sew the materials.  But, all in all, they turned out cute, and if they make it just through Thanksgiving Day, I will be happy!

more fence boards crafts

Wow, I can't believe how long it's been since I posted here... I have gotten lazy, plus it's so much easier to post on FB, my other home!  lol

But I wanted to blog about my latest fence board activity.  The hall bathroom has 1 towel rack. Normally, that is plenty, since it's just me and Fred, it hardly gets used...

But when we have my other kids (Steven and Savanna) visit for a few days, they need more places to hang towels, and they go through a lot!  hehe

I intended to have these made before they came to visit us this summer, but didn't. Well, better late than ever, I guess!

First thing, I had Fred cut me 2 pieces from the top part of the board. 

I did the crackle treatment on it like I did the shelves. 

Fred thought it would be best to screw them straight to the wall, making them more stable.

Then he screwed in the hooks. I bought these at Lowes for under $2. 

That is pretty much it!  Simple project that solves a towel problem. 

And now that Andy is moving here, this will be his bathroom. And he likes to go through towels himself, so hopefully, this will keep them off the floor!  :)

The finished shelves

here they are! 

I think they are pretty funky!

My sister in law, Rachel, introduced me to an artist named Jim Shore. He makes all sorts of figurines, and he has a group called 'minis'. I bought a mini bluejay at Hallmark a few months ago. 

 I think I will start getting a few more of the bird minis to keep my little bluejay company. 

Overall, I am pretty pleased with my guest room. Who wants to come visit?? 

Fence Post Shelves

I had some leftover fence boards and right away pictured 2 shelves for the guest room to go with the new headboard.  Here are the steps I took to make them....

This is how much we had left, so Fred cut the boards about 13in. 

Then, he cut the fence in half. I also took an extra board and cut the 'shelf' part from it. 

This time, I thought I would reverse the colors. I painted white on first. 

Then I applied the crackle... then painted the black.

After the black dried, I wasn't sure I liked it. 

I guess it was such a drastic difference than when the white is on top... 

So I decided to leave the 'shelf' part white to break up the black a little.

Once it was all dry, I put on the back the hanger 'thingys'... 

don't know what the real term is for them! haha

Now, I need to get Fred to help me hang them before he leaves town for a week! 

The boards on the shelves aren't exactly even, but through the whole process, I kept reminding myself that it's imperfections is part of the 'charm'.  :)

God is IN the small stuff

I have had a very busy weekend. My mom has been living in a very tiny apt. since last year. The complex she is in let her apply for a bigger apartment, and 3 weeks ago, we were told there was one available. We got the call last Thursday that is was ready, so let the moving begin!

Mom is not very healthy, so I need to do most/all of the work. (with her SUPERVISING, of course! haha)
Anyway, we got the keys to the new place Friday morning and I started moving some small stuff right away. On Saturday, Fred used his handy-dandy trailer, and with the help of a wonderful couple from church, Michael & Jennifer Tosh, we moved the rest of mom's things. I tell you, I am SO grateful for their help, because Fred and I aren't as young as we used to be! And mom has a motorized bed that is a BEAR to move!

After getting all the stuff in, I worked on getting mom's kitchen organized, and her bed made. That way, she can be settled somewhat until we tackle the rest of the boxes. So, Saturday was a full day. Today, I needed to go clean her OLD apartment. I got all my supplies ready last night, but when I got to the apt., I realized I forgot my mop and bucket. That was annoying!  Oh well, I started on the cleaning.

After getting the kitchen done, I tackled the bathroom. When I went to her bedroom, I happened to look out the back porch door, and saw a bucket! I said 'cool!' and opened the door to get it. Then I saw the mop hanging on the fence!  I actually left it back there a couple of months ago when we were dealing with a busted pipe. I guess I never brought it in.  But I gave it all to the Lord!  I thanked him for the mop and bucket so my job would be easier and I could do it all today!

I have been really tired, and with that comes moments of 'pity party'.  But it was that mop and bucket that reminded me God is always looking out for me. I don't need to worry about whether life is fair or not. I just need to be faithful to what I am supposed to do, and He will take care of the details, like getting me the mop and bucket when I needed it! :)

Headboard Project part 2

I started to work on the fence part of the headboard, and Fred's sander broke! We knew it was on its last leg, I was just hoping it would last till I finished! haha

No biggie, Fred wanted to get a new one,  and we resumed work! 

 So, I started with this....

It was too tall, so we cut 13in from the bottom, and 1in from the board on both sides

Then, I painted it black, let it dry overnight. 

I had to get more black, and I believe it was just a shade different. 

No biggie, since it's the under color.

This morning, I put on the crackle solution, waited 3 hours, then painted it white.

Again, the crackle started showing right away. I have learned I need to be quick with the painting. If I try to go over an area a 2nd time, I loose the crackle effect and instead get a kind of 'smear' look.

But, for the most part, it came out really good!

Now, once it was completely dry, it was time to put it together!

When we cut the 1in from each side, we left the support beam alone. 

There, Fred was able to screw the posts to the fence. 

(Ingenious idea, if I say so myself!)

Baby was keeping an eye on our work!

Here, the left post top is not on, we had to get a screw to put it on...

Next, we (really, Fred) connected the headboard to the bed frame.

And.... ta da!!!! 

We have a beautiful headboard!

This was such a neat experience!  I absolutely love it! 

Fred is pretty happy with it too. Of course, he is now saying, 

"you could make a bunch of these and sell them at craft shows". haha

Don't know about that, but I am extremely pleased the project. 

Now.... we have the left over fence that is going to make 2 great shelves!  

Will keep you posted!  :)