Waving Goodbye...FIRE HAZARD!

TO 38... YES PEOPLE, I am now 39-just one year left until THE BIG ONE! Why do I feel 29?

I had planned on writing a deep EMO post about my birth, birth mother, birth family, my adoption, adoptive parents aka "real parents" and the entire personal journey of my adoption for my birthday post but I'm just not ready yet! Maybe when I'm 40.

The Captain was away for my birthday on the 26th. He got home last night. He is always SO thoughtful. He got each little their own gift to give me. Which included chapstick, flip flops, a loofah, gum, mints & a praise and worship CD.
Then he took us all out to SONIC for some yummy fattening burgers, onion rings and my fave DIET CRANBERRY LIMEADE! Me & the six littles at SONIC!

GUESS WHERE THIS BIG POOF of smoke came from???The Captain insists on putting the actual number of candles in my cake every year. I prefer a big 3 and a big 9. I made a GREAT WISH! The cheesecake was YUMMY!After the cake, it was time to check out the wheat to see if it's ready for harvest. So, The Captain has the kids do the "wheat gum chew test" (YES, he made it up)First you crush your wheat up gently and separate the kernels from the "trash". Then you chew it. If the kernels are soft and mushy-it is NOT time to harvest. If they are crunchy.....

IT'S HARVEST TIME!

ALL tractors, combine, truck and farm machinery is out and rolling!
SO, as I unexcitedly welcome 39, I decided a change was in order..
ALL women over 30 have short hair right? Well for sure all women over 40 do and since I'm knocking on 40's door...

I thought 39 was a great age to have short hair for the first time since I was 4 or 5!
I'm glad I did!
I really like it!

Nothing like a good haircut and color to make a girls day!

Thank you Lord for blessing me with another year of life!

MASTER BEDROOM-I'm Late!

I'm LATE in joining Kelly on Friday but OH WELL. We've had the sickies here. Go check out her site to see more Master Bedrooms-its a great way to get ideas!Here is a picture from taken from my chaise lounge. To the right is the closet and the door on the left is the master bath. My camera has been putting these weird white circles in all my pictures? Anyone know what that is?

This picture is taken from the master bath. Our room is red with one wall and the ceiling covered in pine car siding-I LOVE IT! We have a door to the outside (on the right) where The Captain is in the process of building us a little deck. To go out and read my Bible or just chill in the morning. Our room is on the OPPOSITE side of the house from all kids bedrooms :) I designed it that way! The door on the left leads to the great room.Our bed, not quite big enough BUT in our old house, a KING BED would not have fit in our bedroom so we are stuck with this queen.

It does NOT WORK when little ones trickle in during the night. YES-WE MAKE OUR BED EVERY DAY-can't stand not to!

Our 2 bedside tables were made by my FIL and his brother when they took wood shop in school-they are very special!

The lamp is made out of a twisted rusty iron-a FAB find at Gordmans!

Goes with my rustic decor perfectly! This is where I sit and do my devotions every night. I LOVE this chaise-as I've said before... The Captain hates it! But loves me enough to let it be in our room!

I am looking for a great lamp and table to go beside it-haven't found the perfect items yet!This is the view from my bedroom out into our great room.

NO KIDS ALLOWED IN OUR BEDROOM EVER unless they are nursing!This is the view out my bedroom window.

BEAUTIFUL HUH?

The Captain will soon be on the combine cutting this golden wheat!Hope you enjoyed the tour!

Don't forget to enter my BURTS BEES GIVEAWAY that ends tonight at midnight!

UPS delivers fireworks...GIVEAWAY!!!

OKAY, he really didn't deliver fireworks but when the 4 littles jumped on this giant bubble wrap, my head started throbbing and it sounded like fireworks!I've kind of got a sinus infection funk, fever going on and have now completely lost my voice..YES the kids are thrilled. "WHAT, WE CAN'T HEAR YOU MOMMY?"What was wrapped in the bubble wrap you ask......I got a phone call a couple weeks ago from NY, NY.
It was a lady telling me that out of thousands of entries-I was one of 25 runners up in SELF Magazines "WOMEN DOING GOOD" Contest!

The 25 runner-up entries may also be featured as “Women Doing Good” on BurtsBees.com and SELFConnected.com from the month of June 2009 to June 2010. What A GREAT WAY to get our message out! God is awesome about opening the doors of opportunity to get our cause "out there."

I didn't even know I entered. WHY? My sweet cousin Beth, entered me.

She is such a huge lover of our family, our children and our cause for adoption & Drug Endangered Children.This is what I got... A gift basket with 13 FABULOUS ITEMS From Burt's Bees! Burt's chose the 25 runners up! My favorites are these: I CAN'T WAIT TO TRY THEM!

I CANNOT WAIT to see what Miracle the Miracle Salve performs on me, how the Ageless Skin Firming Night Creme will firm me up and how the ROYAL JELLY Eye creme will decrease my creases!
The Captain will be thrilled with this Poison Ivy Soap.Since I won, I thought YOU SHOULD TOO! I will be giving away a Burt's Bees gift set (NO, NOT MINE) to one of you beautiful people!

All you have to do is leave a comment and if you are a follower, leave a second comment telling me so!

Our NEWEST Family Member!

THOUGHT IT WAS A BABY DIDN'T YOU??? HA...FOOLED YOU!

Meet our new son-in-law aka SIL :)It was a simple ceremony at the court house...It came on very quickly.

They are young & in love.

Our new SIL leaves for Iraq in September & I think this played a large part in the urgency to commit their love.He was a trooper today!

Less than 24 hours after the I DO's

He not only met my entire side of the family....

But also got broke in by my mom on one of the family traditions-

THE GAME OF FARKLE !

Here is OUR NEW FAMILY of 10!

The Oldest-my first born had this memorized as a very young child and tonight I pray this over "my baby" and her new husband.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails.

But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.

When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child.

When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.

Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face.

Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.

But the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13

Lord we thank you for our new SIL. We pray that you will remain at the center of this marriage ALWAYS and that you will bless their union. We pray that they will turn to you and back to this verse when there are any signs of trouble. Marriage is hard. The only way through it is with YOU at the center. We pray that they live their lives to please you.

MUDROOM & Toy Room

JOINING Kelly In SHOW US WHERE YOU LIVE FRIDAY! Mudroom & Toy room!

THIS is WHY we have a mud room!!

I know.. The Captain even looks good dirty!I made the coat rack myself!

My sign says "THE MUD STOPS HERE!"NEVER enough room for our shoes!

I got these stackable shoe racks on line from SHELF EXPRESSIONS and there were NO tools & NO ASSEMBLY REQUIRED-perfect for me!

We have a LOT of work to do in here. Our washer and dryer are in this room too!

I am so thankful we have a toy room although it is ENTIRELY too small for 6 kids.

The 4 littles alphabet art work from pre-school last year!

You can tell their teacher is a real "SLACKER" as we only got to the letter "J"

Go by Kelly's and check out some more rooms!

Fathers Day Crafting!

I got my inspiration for The Captain's Father's Day present from my friend BEKI.

We got all our supplies from Wal-Mart.

1 hour pictures-$1

Frame-$19

Pack of Scrapbook paper $8

I let go of my "anal retentiveness" for a moment and tried not to stress as I let each of the 6 littles cut and glue-this is a HUGE step for me. I put it together but did not alter even ONE of their creations-I'm proud of me for that!

There was only one hole cut in one pair of pants-pretty good for this tribe.And this is the finished product! I think it turned out FANTASTIC!

We made letters with their home made play dough & then took the pics!

The Good News is, you still have time to make one for your dad!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY-U DA BEST!

Frosty's :)

Saturday, June 20 – Sunday, June 21 (Father’s Day Weekend),

Bring the Family to Wendy’s for a Frosty and Together We Can Help Foster Children Find Loving Homes.

This Father’s Day -treat dad to a Frosty at Wendy’s and $.50 for every Frosty sold will be donated to the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption (DTFA).

The DTFA is dedicated to finding permanent, loving homes for 150,000 children waiting in Foster Care.

There are two other ways you can support this cause.

1. Create a unique Father’s Day card on this site and $.25 will be donated to the DTFA.


2. You can also buy a Frosty Pinup for $1 at your local Wendy’s to be hung on the wall.

100% of Frosty Pinup Sales will benefit the DTFA.So…Give Dad a treat he’ll love, spend some time with the family and help children in North America’s foster care system this Father’s Day!Father’s Day fun and giving back – that’s what Wendy’s Father’s Day Frosty Weekend is all about.

Happy Father’s Day!

Now GO GET YOUR FROSTY ON!

Tour MY 2 favorite BATHROOMS!

I'm joining KELLY this week at SHOW US WHERE YOU LIVE FRIDAY!

This week, is a tour of bathrooms. I picked my 2 new bathrooms in our house to show you! I LOVE THEM. Is it possible to love a bathroom? Well... I DO! I didn't clean before I took these pics..SORRY!

This is our guest bathroom. It is a full bathroom. It is rusty orange and black-coincidentally HARLEY COLORS!

I love the sink and mirror! The floor is tile-like linoleum-easy to clean! Shower curtain-TARGET!
When you walk in.. to the left is the door. These 2 Bible verse pictures hang behind the door.Its a tight space. This is where I have potty trained all the kids! Right outside the door are double doors leading outside! Cute bathroom huh?
Now on to the MASTER BATH. When we designed our bathroom, I wanted a "TRUE SPA FEEL." WELCOME.... Entering through the door. It is peach in color with REAL tile.To the right as you come in is our double vanity with SWIRLY light fixture-LOVE IT! A towel holder for each of us & on the floor on my side-my much hated item...THE SCALE! To the left as you walk in is my little dressing table. I LOVE THIS SPACE! Another squiggly light fixture over my mirror and a $29 DARLING chair from TJMAXX!

On either side of the table are large frosted windows. I LOVE these-they let all the light in but no peepers can see in!

Just across from my table is THE CAPTAINS PERSONAL OFFICE. To respect his privacy, I will not be showing it.Over the tub is a sign that says

"RELAX..IT DOESN'T GET MUCH BETTER THAN THIS!"

I know it looks like a very "ADULT FRIENDLY" with the jets and heater and all.

But the sad truth is..... These guys have used it about 100 times more than me. I know there will soon be a day when I can bathe ALONE and I will miss this very much!And these are camouflaged on the inside of the tub :)Around the corner across from the tub is the entrance to our walk-in shower. The Captain saw one like it in a hotel in Vegas and it is AWESOME!! 2 shower heads for when the 6 littles join me.A seat for sitting down, shaving legs or JUMPING OFF OF!Now get a towel and dry off! This is the view as you leave the bathroom.This is "MOONY" the bird. T and I got him and the cage on our shopping trip a while back. The kids ALL talk to him-very bizarre.
I am so thankful that God chose to bless us with such a beautiful home-it's all HIS you know? I'm also thankful that God blessed The Captain with the talents to do almost all the work on our home himself (with the help of a flighty assistant.)

I hope you enjoyed my bathroom tour and just remember what this sign says...

CHERISH Yesterday, DREAM tomorrow and LIVE today!

PS-I need a new daily devotional-any suggestions??