My Monday Mind Dump...

1. I know I'm preaching to the choir, but WHY when I clean the glass doors does my son get all up in my business and put his hands, face, feet or any other body part, right smack dab in the middle of the doors before I'm even finished!? WHY!??

2. This past week we decided to test out Kidd-O's immune system and we went to every germ pool in the county: The mall play area, the middle school to visit old friends, story time at the community center, and our weekly playgroup...So far, no runny noses, but my throat is feeling quite scratchy today.
3. Speaking of play group, it's way more interesting when the kids get to pet a dog head and see the goats next door.4. Ya know those times when you need to vacuum the floor, but your kid won't let you? well, I just plopped him outside for just a minute (honest...it wasn't long) and after a slight protest......this is what happened...
5. Kidd-O is like me in MANY ways, but in one particular way he takes after his daddy. He is becoming a mini Mr. Clean and he insists on helping out with the car washing! I just hope he doesn't take after his daddy and become so detailed he starts to move slower than molasses in January for fear of missing anything!6. Well, Kidd-O is slowly adding clothes back into his life with this wretched change of seasons and now prefers to wear clothes that don't quite fit.7. Made a recipe last week that called for 6 (S.I.X) STICKS of butter and it was good.

Happy Monday. Happy Week.

That's Pinteresting!

Welcome to my new blog series: "That's Pinteresting!" I love Pinterest, but I feel like some of the things I "pin" are just too pretty or too amazing to recreate. They are just pipe dreams. But I'm on a quest to put my "pinning" into action AND try to make them look just as good as the original...or, wait for it...EVEN BETTER than the original! So here it goes...


Lemon Crinkles. That's what I decided to start with. Super simple recipe. I had the ingredients on hand. Sounded like a winner!

#1 rule for baking....read the directions. All of them. Twice and even thrice if needed!

I am notoriously poor at reading directions in general. I usually think my way is better. I could really write an entire post about this and turn it into The Gospel, but I won't--not today. Anyway, I hate directions of any kind, especially at Christmastime when certain toys need assembling. And more often than not, I go running to my mother-in-law for help, because she is GREAT at reading directions! I digress....

I started out really confident and thought I read all of the ingredients--no need to double check, because my way is best. I came to my last ingredient (sugar) dumped it in and remembered I had already added sugar, so something must not be right--and it wasn't. I was supposed to add POWDERED sugar...so, I threw out that batch...

Then, I started over. Still not learning my lesson, I skipped over the directions...again, because I'm a sinner and my way is still better, and I just fixed the ingredient problem. I made my cookie dough, popped 'em in the oven and did the next logical thing: read the directions after the fact. I learned that I was NOT supposed to add the powdered sugar to the mixture, but roll the dough in the powdered sugar instead...oops.

This is what I came out with...Actually, they were wonderful! They don't look exactly like the original,

(Picture Source)
but I think they taste pretty darn good. I lucked out this time!

My Monday Mind Dump...

1. Last week I was in kind of a fog...like, it was so foggy that I'm not quite sure what happened, where we went, what we did, or who we saw.2. Kidd-O is in desperate need of some hair maintenance, whether it be a cut or just a brush, but it's definitely time.

3. I do recall being in another hairshow last week with my sister. This time, instead of a funky style, I wound up with different colored eyebrows, and a hair color that perfectly matched my camel colored shoes, necklace and belt for church this Sunday...talk about accessorizing!
My sister :

4. Kidd-O, Granny (my momma) and I took a quick trek down to Kennesaw Mountain for their Field of Flags in honor of 9/11, and Kidd-O was under the impression that the other people that were trying to photograph the field were actually there to photograph him..I wonder why he thinks that?
5. This coming week marks the beginning of a new weekly blog series that I want to start... it will probably be dropped like a hot tamale in Texas in the next couple weeks, but I'm gonna give it a go any way! It's going to be called "That's Pinteresting". I've been "pinning" all of these amazingly beautiful foods and projects and I really find it hard to believe that the average person can actually do these things and make them just as beautiful. So, that's my mission, to see if I can make my stuff look as good as theirs...this could be quite funny, so be sure to check it out.

Like this

6. This past weekend was filled to the brim with rich fellowship, wonderful women, and much needed time in the Word! I am so grateful for our church's women's retreats and look forward to it every year! I love getting to relax and getting to know some amazing women that I don't normally get to talk to because Sunday's are just.so.crazy. I always come home spiritually renewed and a little less rested than when I arrived due to a long night of giggling like school girls and shoving our faces with chocolate deep into the night. My only complaint? It wasn't long enough!
7. This week will be dedicated to getting back to normal...whatever normal may be!

Happy Monday. Happy Week.

My Monday Mind Dump...Dead Man Walking.

Today I am tired. Slap wore out. Beat.

Last week was completely, 100%, dedicated to an event that my sister-in-law and I have been preparing for since the Spring. The event is a semi-formal dinner called the State of the School for around 200-250 parents, grandparents, and donors for the private school (Cherokee Christian) that my father-in-law is the superintendent of. It's a HUGE undertaking and when it's over I always wonder HOW THE HECK DID WE DO THAT?!?!

Last year was the first year that we were solely responsible for the event.

Last years Photo's by kyledettman.com

Last year I was a lactating new mom with a six week old, and woke up with mastitis and a 102.5 temp the day before we were to set up...so this year already had a leg up on last year! And I think it showed. Last year was beautiful...far exceeded my expectations...but this year? Man alive, it turned out PERFECTLY! I could not be happier and I couldn't have done it without my sister-in-law who makes my ideas come to life. If I want something hung from the ceiling, she can find someone to do it. She's the administrative brains behind our operation and I dream up the look and we make it all pretty. We are a great team.

Hours upon hours went into shopping for decor, finding caterers, renting linens, tables and chairs, ordering flowers, candles, coffee and dessert...on a tight budget. Begging, borrowing and begging some more. Crunching numbers, going to plan b because plan a just won't work. And that's just the prep.Then it's showtime! This year, set-up took me 16 hours straight (leaving for the night at 2 am). I cut over 1,000 stems of flowers, plus greenery and filler, and assembled 22 centerpieces. We had 20 hay bales brought in. We hung lattice from the ceiling and we had 6 wreathes made to hang from the lattice. We had 21 tables to set up, and 220 chairs and place settings, and 3 good friends who stayed til the end....and that's just the beginning.
After it was all set up, we went home and slept a bit, and then went back for another 10+ hours, closing up shop around 12:30am Sunday morning. Tired doesn't even BEGIN to describe how I felt yesterday. 26 hours of work in 2 days, and then it wasn't over. Yesterday I cleaned a few hundred forks and knives, as well scraping wax out of the candle holders.

Now I'm done. I'm tired.

I've been asked a lot why I do it and if I'll do it again. The answers are pretty simple. The Lord has been gracious to allow me to stay home and because I have been blessed in that way I want to serve Him and others in the ways that I can. I also do it because I love my in-laws and the jobs they are doing to serve the Lord and all those kiddo's. Yes, it's a LOT of work and no, I do not get paid for it. I'm glad to use the talents I have been given in this way, and yes, Lord willing I will do it again next year.

There ya have it! Now, I'm off to dreamland!
Keep an eye out for the pictures of the final product. I could not be more proud!

My Monday Mind Dump...On Tuesday!

1. Many of y'all know my love/hate relationship with Costco. Well, it's becoming even less fun with a toddler. I sure hope that vending machine isn't too messed up from Kidd-O shoving a plastic spoon in the change dispenser. I tried to get it out. Honest, I did!
2. How's my running going you ask? Not well. But I'll get back to it next week. Promise. This is the busiest, most important week of the year for me...more on that next week!
3. How's Gone With the Wind and my "Very Exclusive BFF Book Club" going you ask? Not well. The book club is down to one member because a certain BFF packed her book away when she moved and doesn't know where it is. That lasted all of a WEEK! But the book? Eh, it could be better. I always knew Scarlett was a terrible person, but she's even more wretched in the book. I'm hoping there will be some redeeming quality sometime soon....but if it's anything like the movie, it ain't gonna happen!

4. How's my "pinning" going you ask? It's going, now if I could actually "do" some of that stuff I've pinned it wouldn't be such a royal waste of time. And I am! I am making my second recipe from my pin board tonight.
5. We had a super fun weekend! It was one of those weekends you wish would never end. We started out at the zoo. Kidd-O had a great time and we got to see pretty much everything. It was a good day.
6. I find that the monkey folks have some serious attitude problems.7. Coolest zoo moment? Feeding the parakeets. That was really neat even though I was the person crouched on the ground in a fetal position screaming from time to time when these tiny birds would graze the top of my head...but it was still cool. 8. We ended our trip to the zoo with a not-so-private-paint-bucket-drum concert. Kidd-O loved it and even shook his groove thang in appreciation.9. DATE NIGHT, DATE NIGHT, DATE NIGHT! We had a DATE NIGHT....for the first time since Valentines Day. It was awesome. The in-law's watched Kidd-O and we hit the town! Good movie. Good dinner. Not so great service...that was a bummer. Part of me wanted to shake the lady and say "don't you know this is my first date in months?!?!?! Can't ya get your act together, girlfriend?!?!" But I didn't, I was just grateful to eat dinner with both butt cheeks on my chair, and not have to tear up food or pick it up off the floor or out of my hair. It was nice.
10. So, Labor Day came and went in the blink of an eye! Apparently, we had tornadoes ripping through these parts yesterday, but I had some things on my mind, so I wasn't too in tune to the fact that we should have probably taken cover, and yeah we heard the sirens, but it didn't really register. After the imminent threats were clear, we went puddle jumping which was the perfect end to a very exciting weekend...Don't worry people, we weren't out long, he's not gonna catch pneumonia.