Time Flies!

Where has time gone?  My baby boy is turning 2 tomorrow and my oldest will be 13 a few days later.  I still remember the night before she was born.  My hubby and I were at a comedy club with his work eating pepperoni pizza with spicy sauce...yum!  When we got back to our little apartment we watched the movie "As Good As It Gets" and then decided to clean the apartment.  We went to bed at about 2 a.m. and at about 5 my water broke.  Seven hours later, along came Emma Lauren Baller, weighing in at a whopping 6 pound 9 ounces and 19 inches long.

Here she is just 13 years later.

The night before Daxton was born was pretty similar.  We had just moved to town 2 days prior and needed a night out!  My in-laws offered to watch the kids to that hubby and I could go out for pizza and a movie.  Came home, did a little more unpacking and tidying up, went to bed late and whammo!  Went into labor at about 4 a.m.  Daxton Timothy Baller was born that afternoon, weighing in at 6 pounds 15 ounces and 19.5 inches long.  He had a rough start, spending 10 days in the NICU.

Now look at my big boy!!                  

Happy Birthday to the two of you!  One of you started our family and the other finished it out---Love you both so much!

Corker Bows

I finally bit the bullet and offered to take my bow making to the people, so to speak.  Breck's cheer team decided that it would be cute for the little girls to wear piggies and corker bows.  What is cuter than a bunch of 5-7 year olds in cheer outfits with piggies?  I have had a lot of people ask how they are made, so I decided to make a tutorial.

Here is what you will need:  several different ribbons (color coordinated), dowel rods, clothes pins, scissors, fabric stiffener, a spray bottle, tin foil and an oven.  Heat your oven to 275º F.

 Start by securing the end of one ribbon to the dowel rod using a clothes pin.  Start the ribbon at an angle, it will be easier to wrap it that way!

Continue wrapping the rod to the very end and secure it with another clothes pin.

You will have several of these, do as many as you can do at once--it will save time in the end.  I laid mine across a paper plate to be sprayed.  I used a mix of fabric stiffener and water in a solution of about 1 part stiffener to 5 parts water.  I used a craft spray bottle and just poured the stuff in and shook it up.  Then, I lightly spritzed the ribbons to help stiffen it.

Next, I placed all of my rods on a piece of tin foil in my warm oven and baked for 25 minutes.

When they are done, carefully remove them from the oven and let cool for a few minutes.  Carefully remove the clothes pins and gently ease the ribbons off from the rods.  If they get kinked, just straighten them and let them snap back.

You will be left with a big pile of these pretty curled ribbons.

I cut each ribbon in half, making sure to have all cuts at an angle to help prevent fraying.  Lay them in a pile so that they are pretty even on the sides.

I grabbed the center of mine with my hand, I know others out there are a little fancier with their techniques--sorry!

Pick them up in the middle and use some floral wire to secure them, temporarily.  Make sure that you tighten the wire as much as you can, it will help keep the ribbons together.

This is what my little bundles looked like with the wire around them.  I wrapped it a couple of times and then twisted the wires a couple of turns.

My husband came up with the plan to use zip ties--thanks!  If you aren't familiar with zip ties, they come in many colors and sizes.  We used pretty small, black ones.

Wrap the zip tie around the ribbons near where the wire is being careful to not completely cover the wire.  Before you hook the tie, be sure to add a hair band.  Stick the straight end of the tie into the part with a hole and pull until is will tighten no more.

Remove the wire and trim the excess of the zip tie.

I hope that I was clear enough in my instructions, if you have any questions, please ask.  I am hoping that I will be able to add some pictures of the ribbons on the cheerleaders soon.

You CAN do today!

I feel like it has been forever since I have written anything on this blog.  Well, it has!  Life has just been going, going, going.  And, to tell you the truth, I have not really felt terribly passionate about writing anything.  Until NOW!  Watch out :)

So, I should be working on the church service that I am in charge of on Sunday, or cleaning for our out of town guests coming in the morning, or doing one of 5 million loads of laundry piling up....but I am taking a breather.  Hard to believe that one is needed after only being up for 4 hours!!!  The morning was actually great.  Hubby didn't have to go in to work until a little later, so we could both take the kids to school.  We had NO screaming.  None.  At all.  Our neighbors probably thought that we were on vacation!  After I got everyone out of my house and the baby laid down and the dog in his kennel, I sat down at my computer to check, none other than, facebook.  I think that I am slightly addicted....but that is another post.

There were messages of prayer to a high school friend who just learned that he had contracted a rare illness while on a mission trip to Cambodia.  Lots of "thank goodness it is Friday"s and a couple of birthday wishes.  But, the thing that really stood out was a post from somebody that I don't even know to an old friend from high school.  My friend has a baby that has been sick with the flu and is finally recovering, another child on day 13 of his illness ready to go back to school and another who is just starting to get sick.  Most of us know exactly how she is feeling.  You hate when your kids are sick and it just drains you.  But, when you have serial sickness, one just getting better while another is just starting, you wonder how in the world you are going to get through it!

One simple post, which I wish everyone could read, gave my friend renewed strength.  It inspired me to work harder, work smarter, and to not get hung up on the big picture.  Pay attention to the here and now.  Enjoy what is happening NOW rather than fretting about what is happening THEN.  So what is this post that I have been talking about?  Well, here it is--I hope that it speaks to you the way it has spoken to me.

God gives you just enough strength to trust Him for one day at a time. you're not supposed to be able to handle it for multiple days in a row, b/c then, why would you need Him?! :) TODAY He's called you, and for TODAY He's equipped you! You CAN do today because He gives you strength- Philippians 4:13 :)

AAAHHHH

Well, the kids are back in school and I finally have my computer back!  I hope that you all had a wonderful  Christmas and New Year.  Through all of my fits over ungratefulness, our holidays went off without much of a hitch.  I think the kids were starting to get it...I hope.  We have been doing a lot of talking about our blessings.  We are so blessed, but it is so easy to forget it.  I admit, I am guilty of the same darn thing.  My cousin just got a Tassimo coffee maker, I had a pang of jealousy, even though I got a Keurig for Christmas!  How ridiculous is that?!?!?  I don't even drink espresso!

So, when I fall into those traps--how do I expect my kids to not.  I am not sure if there is a correct answer.  Everyone falls into the "grass is greener" mentality at some point in their lives, the key is to not buy property there.  Open your eyes.  Look around.  Find your blessings.  If they aren't evident, maybe you're not ready to find them.  Even the slightest thing can be a blessing when looked at it through the right lenses.  God has given us life, He has given us forgiveness through His Son, and we have a chance to return to our God when our lives here on Earth are over.  Everything else...well it's just icing on the cake of life.

Enjoy the new year....may it, and you, be blessed.

Merry Christmas!

My mother in law and I were in charge of the Christmas Eve service at our church.  We had a week to put it together.  Needless to say, with it being this time of year, we put everything together over the course of about 4 hours on Christmas Eve day!  The service turned out great, I think.  Some things could have gone a little smoother, but the Holy Spirit was with us last night.  One of the things that we played was this video that I want to share with you.  It just makes me smile.  So I am giving this to you all as a Christmas present.....Merry Christmas!

Christmas baking

I have been very busy the last couple of days baking.  Not Christmas baking, just baking.  Breck had a birthday 2 days ago and wanted a cake and cupcakes to take to school and cheer practice.  Then her coach asked me to make cupcakes for her husband's birthday.  I had a lot of people who wanted to see pics, so here goes.

This is Breck's birthday cake.  It was strawberry with buttercream frosting and covered in bright pink fondant with a black fondant ribbon and bow and fondant zebra stripes.  Picture is fuzzy, but cake looked great--first foray with fondant!

Basketball cupcakes for cheer coach's husband.  Pay no attention to the mini ice cream cones used as spacers--genius!!!

Cupcakes for cheer team to match the birthday cake and Breck's bedroom!  Sour cream almond cake with buttercream frosting.  Check out the zebra cupcake papers!

'Twas the night before Christmas!

So, this is the night, well morning, before Christmas and all through the house, all of the kids are still sleeping except for....ME!!!  How crazy is that?  It is not even 7:00 am and the kids don't have school and I really have no reason to be up.  However, I am in charge of making breakfast for my husband's work so, I am off to an early start.  That's OK though, it makes my Christmas Eve day that much longer--more for me to enjoy!!

I have to come clean and tell you that Christmas has not always been this enjoyable for me.  I fell into all of the same traps that a lot of other people traditionally do.  Too much baking, shopping, cleaning, partying, planning, etc. etc. etc.  But for some reason, this year I have let it all roll off my back.  I think that it has something to do with a friend of ours who is battling bone cancer.  He has been having trouble with his ankle for quite some time and finally had had enough.  So, this fall he had it checked out only to find out it was a rare form of bone cancer.  The following week he had his foot amputated.  In the following weeks he had a chemo port inserted, got a prosthetic leg, and started chemo.  Through all of this, he has continued to be an amazing family man, and doctor.  His attitude has been phenomenal and his family is doing so well--I can only imagine due to his and his wife's way of handling all of this.  The thing that topped it off for me?  We went caroling at the same hospital he was having his first round of chemo in.  We stopped in the hallway near his room to carol.  When we looked up, he was standing in the doorway on his 1 day old prosthetic let, hooked up to chemo singing with us!  He was in the middle of all of that junk, yet he sang with us.  It brought tears to my eyes, actually I kind of cried like a baby.

I realized, what in the heck do I have to be stressed about?  I have my health, my family, a roof over my head, a couple presents under the tree, and food in my cupboards.  Everything else is gravy.  My hope for you all this holiday season is that you seize the moment.  Enjoy where you are right now, you never know where you will be next Christmas.  Your kids will never be this age again--take pictures, slow down, spend time with them.  It's OK if your house is not pristine, if you have to skip a party, if you don't serve gourmet foods.  Christmas is still going to happen--with or without all of that.  And really, do you think that baby Jesus could care a bit about any of that?

Here is something a friend had posted on facebook.  Enjoy and have a blessed Christmas!

I Corinthians 13 (Christmas Version)

 If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows,

Strands of twinkling lights and shiny balls,

But do not show love to my family,

I’m just another decorator.

If I slave away in the kitchen,

Baking dozens of Christmas cookies,

Preparing gourmet meals

And arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime

But do not show love to my family,

I’m just another cook.

If I work at a soup kitchen

Carol in the nursing home,

And give all that I have to charity;

But do not show love to my family,

It profits me nothing.

If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels

And crocheted snowflakes,

Attend a myriad of holiday parties

And sing in the choir’s cantata

But do not focus on Christ,

I have missed the point.

Love stops the cooking to hug the child.

Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the spouse.

Love is kind, though harried and tired.

Love does not envy another’s home

That has coordinated Christmas china and table linens.

Love does not yell at the kids to get out of the way,

But is thankful they are there to be in the way.

Love does not give only to those who are able to give in return;  but

Rejoices in giving to those who cannot.

Love bears all things,

Believes in all things,

Hopes all things, and

Endures all things.

Love never fails.

Video games will break,

Pearl necklaces will be lost,

Golf clubs will rust;

But giving the gift of love will endure.

Author Unknown