Feeling Blessed

Good afternoon dear friends.  I apologize for the lack of posts lately.  Things have been pretty quiet around here and I didn't want to bore you.  Ha!
This morning as I was getting ready to take Darbee to school, one of the last things we do is pick out earrings.  Today was a bid day for her at school.  It was her Easter party and egg hunt.  She was very excited and I was too. I got to spend the day with her at school.
As I looked for her Easter egg earrings to wear, I couldn't find them and became frustrated.  I told her we would have to find something else.  I looked thru her earrings and stumbled upon her crosses.  I got them and as I was putting them in her ears, I began to tell her what today was and how today was the day that Jesus died on the cross.  She was happy to wear those earrings.
I was happy to share the story with her.  I always enjoy teaching her about Jesus.

We went on to school and I enjoyed the day.  

I love watching her interact with her friends and see what they do during a school day.

Before they went out to hunt eggs, they got to dye two hard boiled ones.  

Ms. Shanna wrote their name on them with a "magic crayon" and once they were dyed, their names magically appeared!

They left the eggs to dye and headed outside to hunt candy eggs.

Do you think they were a little excited?  Ha!  

They are so silly.

They couldn't wait to take off!  

Ms. Shanna tricked them several times before she FINALLY said "GO!"

Then they were off and running.

Darbee Rae found a lot of eggs!

Each child could have 19, so they had to bring them to Ms. Shanna and count their own with her.

There were so many eggs!

Then it was time for food.

They sang their blessing and then ate their food.  

It warms my heart that she is at a school where it is okay to mention Jesus and it is okay to pray.

After school, I stayed to help clean up.  Darbee Rae and Mia compared eggs and found that they had some that matched!

This afternoon, Papa came by to work a bit on the playhouse.  It is coming along great.  Papa says just a few more afternoons and it will be done!  

I love the porch.  It was added yesterday.  Aunt Maudie and Leonard and Justin came over to bring Darbee her Easter basket from them.  Leonard got in on the working too!  

Thanks to Papa, Leonard and hubby, the porch was done last night.

What do you think so far? 

We still have to paint the trim.  I bought the paint for the door, so that can be done next week.  

The porch will be painted and a new door knob put on.  It is so close to being finished!

I am so excited.  I can't wait to decorate it with Darbee.

While I was outside with my daddy watching him work on the playhouse, I began to think about my life and my family and how blessed I am. I was walking around the yard and saw this in the edge of the woods behind the playhouse.

To many, it would just be useless branches that fell and needed to be discarded.

It was just as if God spoke to me and said, "You're welcome."

I sit here with tears in my eyes as I type.  I can't believe how truly blessed I am.  These last few weeks I have been feeling down.  Winter blues I guess.  But today it was as if God was just giving me a big hug.  A nice reminder of what he did for me.  No matter what we go thru here on earth or what seems so "bad," it can never compare to what he did for us.  

These simple branches made my day.  

The lesson I was teaching my little one today came back and spoke to me this afternoon and for that I am thankful.  Thank you Lord for loving me and for blessing me.

I hope all of you have a happy Easter weekend.

Until next time....

Spring Snacks

Good morning friends.  Happy first day of spring!  It does not really feel like spring here today.  It is quite cool outside and there are snow flurries in the forecast for the weekend.  What?  How crazy.  

I am up early this morning.  We are taking my aunt Kathy whom most of you have read about on my mom's blog to a different eye doctor.  She is legally blind but lately her vision has been getting progressively worse.  She is desperate to find a doctor who can tell her there is a little hope.  Please say a prayer that she will get a little good news.  

I am also up early so that I can prepare snack for Darbee's class.  This week is our week to provide snack. Their snacks must go along with the letter of the week.  What is this weeks letter?  U.  Yes.  U

What do you do for the letter U?  I turned to Pinterest immediately looking for help.  I found several cute ideas.  Today they are having an umbrella parade.  I had to find a cute snack to go along with umbrellas.  I am happy to say I did!

Look what I found.

The first is umbrella sandwiches.  They are so simple.  I purchased the Smucker's Uncrustable sandwiches.  I let them thaw just enough so that they were easy to cut in half.  Cut each sandwich in half.  Take a bendy straw and trim it to the length you want for a handle.  Insert into the sandwich.  Package as you choose!  Look how cute.

I packaged mine in clear gift sacks and tied with white curly ribbon.  I trimmed the bag so they weren't so long.  Aren't they adorable?

The next we are calling umbrella cups.

We made blue jello and poured into small clear cups.

We put them in the fridge and let them set.  Once the jello was ready, we took gummy Life Savers and inserted a teddy graham in the middle. A perfect swim ring huh?  I inserted a small paper umbrella and it's done!  I love how these turned out.  

Thanks Pinterest!

Hope these will add a spring touch to your fun foods for your kids or grands.  

Until next time....

I am linking up to Tammy's Pinned It Made It Monday!

Will you join me?

I have to say thanks to all of you for your sweet comments and prayers that were sent up for Darbee's kindergarten registration today.

I am happy to report...they worked..

She got in!!!

There were only 15 spots and she was #13 on the list.  Whew!  But...we are celebrating tonight and have such thankful hearts.  I am beyond thrilled.

Will you join me in the happy dance?

Wahoooo!!!!

Dreams do come true...

Good afternoon everyone.  It is a dark and rainy one here in the south.  A good afternoon for a nap.  I hope all of you had a good weekend.  It was very nice here and the temps got into the high 60's.  Papa had a great day to work all day on the playhouse and that he did.  The roof is on!  I even got out there and helped.  I learned to use the saw and helped to frame out the windows.  I will take pics. and post them soon.  The weather is supposed to be nice the rest of the week and Papa has big plans to try and get it pretty much done.  We can't wait!

There hasn't been too much going on here.  Just the normal stuff.  Sometimes that's good right?  

I think so.  Although I like to be busy and keep something going on, sometimes its nice to not have anything much to do. 

Every summer, we try and take a family vacation.  Last year, we visited Panama City.  It was a first for Darbee and I and we LOVED it.  We had so much fun.  This year, we discussed several places and decided finally on one.  

Every child dreams of going here and we couldn't be more excited.

We are going to DISNEY!!!!  

We booked the trip yesterday for the end of August.  

We are all so excited.  

I went as a small child and still remember bits and pieces. I was a little smaller than Darbee is now.   I can't wait to make these memories with Darbee.  

Needless to say, I have been obsessing with Disney websites, Pinterest boards and Facebook pages trying to plan.  Now that it is booked, I still have so much more to read and do and plan.  

I am making a cute Disney binder to organize everything.  I must keep it all together.  :)

So...have any of you been to Disney World?  I would love to hear from you.  Any tips, places to visit, must do activities, etc.  Remember, this is our FIRST trip and I have no idea where to start!

Also, I don't ask for prayer requests often and this may seem silly, but tomorrow is registration day at Darbee's school.  All of you know how much I love her school.  There is only one kindergarten class there with 15 spots.  I already know that more than 15 have expressed interest and the spots are limited and are on a first come first served basis.  I have been assured by her teacher that I don't have anything much to worry about, but I am such a worrier and will be crushed if she doesn't get in.  I know if she doesn't, God will have other plans but I so want her there.  

So...if you don't mind, will you send up an extra prayer that she gets in?  Thanks so much in advance.  

I will let you all know tomorrow!

That's about all of the news from me today.

I hope you all have a good afternoon!

Until next time.....

Playhouse update as my child turns 100....WHAT???

Hehe...good morning friends.  I start my blog with a chuckle this morning.  My day started early getting Miss Darbee ready for school.  Today was a special day for her and I will tell you about that in a minute.  I must share some playhouse updates first. 

This weekend here was bitter cold.  The temps were in the 30's all day on Saturday and we finally were able to see some snowflakes.  We had snow flurries all day off and on.  No, nothing stuck, but it was enough to get us excited anyway.  

Papa braved those cold temps and snow showers and worked all day on the playhouse.  That's one devoted Papa don't you think?  It is coming along and Papa thinks with one more good Saturday it will be nearly done.

The windows are in and the loft is almost done.  He also got a few of the rafters on for the roof.

It is going to be so cute!

While Papa worked, we cheered him on and sat by the fire.

I put my Christmas present to use for the first time and absolutely loved it.  

It was so nice.  Darbee enjoyed throwing sticks in and keeping the fire nice and toasty.

She also found time to help Papa a bit and see how the loft was up there.  Looks

like one proud Papa and one happy little girl doesn't it?

It was a fun day and we finished it off with mama's homemade BBQ and some brunswick stew from a roadside cafe nearby. It was delicious.

Now...this morning, I had one happy little excited girl  granny to wake up.

Today was Darbee's 100th day of school.  They were to dress as if they were 100 years old.

I laughed till I cried at this kid.  She played the part perfect.  

I bought some silver spray for her hair and added a little baby powder.

She wore her glasses down on her nose.

I found a perfect dress at Goodwill. 

Nana had a perfect shawl.

We added knee highs-one pulled up and one rolled down.

I let her wear my pearls.

We put big pink earrings in her ears.

Grandmother let her borrow her walking cane that was adjustable.  It went down to just the right size for her.

We added a black square purse full of kleenex.

We finished off the look with bright pink lipstick.

Meet my 100 year old daughter.

She even had the walk down.

She "waddled" and shook her cane when she walked.

It was absolutely hilarious.

She was adorable.  

I hope she had a super fun day at school.

I hope all of you have a good day too!

Until next time...

Kitchen Reveal

Good evening friends.  What a cold day it has been here in Georgia.  We even saw a few snowflakes!  Nothing to get too excited about, but at least we saw them this time.  Darbee Rae sure enjoyed seeing them.
The kitchen is done and I LOVE it!  I am so happy with the color I chose for my cabinets and the floor.  I love how it all came together.
Remember, it looked like this the last time we visited.  The cabinets were white and there was a big mess.

The floor looked like this:

When the work started, I was so excited.

The floor was first.

Then came the cabinets.

Many thought I was crazy, but I chose to paint my cabinets black.

I was a little nervous, but I was very excited and really thought they would look great.

Many thought I was crazy.  Maybe I am, but it's just paint right?  Ha!

As soon as the first coat was applied, I knew I was going to love it.

So...here is the finished product.

The floor:

Here is the same view above but now finished....

I love it.  I absolutely adore the cabinets.  

The curtains were custom made.  I found them at a yard sale.  They are perfect in there.

The new stove.

I know the stove board is too large, but it will have to do for now.  

Daddy will fix it but he is busy building a playhouse. :)

I tried the stove out today.  I baked chocolate chip cookies that were delicious and cooked fish sticks for Darbee.  It works great!  You have to remember my old one would only cook on 450. There was no changing the temp or it would take hours to cook.  It's amazing now to be able to actually set the temperature!  Ha!

Here's the top of the stoveboard.

I sat my toaster in an old wooden box.  Thanks mama for the idea!

I love my little t.v.  It is perfect for when I am in the kitchen cooking.  I even have cable in there!  :)

I made this little light in an old wooden bowl.  

I found this little shelf at the Salvation Army for less than $5.  I didn't even have to paint it.  

I know it's not time to decorate for the 4th of July, but I ordered this dishwasher magnet and it came the other day and I had to try it out.  I love it!

I love my new drawer handles too.  

A new microwave.

This sits on top of an island beside my refrigerator.  

I love how it all turned out.  It looks so fresh and clean.

What do you think?

Thanks for stopping by to visit!

Until next time...