craft and burn

let me start by saying...woah long time no blog. i would say not a lot has gone down since my last blog, but a new nephew, an el salvador, TWO pair of glasses might disagree. oh well, thats where fb, and girls nights comes in handy.

to the point...

im not sure how i consider myself in the crafty/creative department. i like to think of myself as a little of both, but usually both come from inspiration. once i see something i like, i can usually visualize doing it myself, and putting my own twist or taste on it. so why dont i have a house full of my "work?" one problem is definitely my lack of artistic..ness (?). then there's the -never actually starting- department. (and of course the -never putting the finishing touches- flaw...thats usually where the "burn" comes in) i think my biggest problem is fear. fear of wasting time (and $) on something thats a totally flop. fear of  it looking homemade. then theres the big one, indecisiveness! no one here knows about that :-) this usually stops me from ever starting an in my head project simply because i cant decide exactly which approach to take. anywhoo, ive been feeling the craft bug lately. as a part of my crafty burst, i made these: yay america!

 ive been googling different things for a project i plan on starting tomorrow. google always gets my crafty juices flowing. it never fails that when i start googling for one thing, i find at least one other project that get put on the to-do list (hence the creativity stemming from others' ideas). what DID we do before internet?!

so, since i know the handful of you reading this, i happen to know that ALL who will read this are highly creative and crafty. yall survive on it (literally, mentally... both) point is, yall are all crafty, so feel free to share tips or what motivates you and such!

side note: ive been fairly consistent with sewing, and while this satisfies my need to create to a certain degree, it doesnt quite fill the craft craving as much. different are of the brain i guess ...but it IS getting to be so much fun (the better i get) watching her wear her dresses!

the great outdoors!

so, ive given you a couple of non kid posts to read about...that was just to keep you coming. now i think its time they make their debut into the blogmasphere.
its spring, and as we all know, spring around these parts means about 3 weeks of absolutely beautiful days. and ive been trying to take advantage of these spring days with some outdoors! of course by outdoors i mean out-side-of-my-doors. we rarely go beyond the drive way during the day but we've been thoroughly enjoying it! here are a few good reasons to why ive been appreciating our time outside...
well, its no secret, im not a fan of living in the cro, but ive come to realize that when we do move (one day) im really going to miss our little house on the cul-de-sac (not to be confused with COOL-de-sac). its really a blessing to me to be able to hear the roosters crowing right next door and to watch the horses chase each other around their little pin. everytime i hear the loud "cock-a-doodle-do" (go ahead and imagine me making the sound) it takes me to my grandparents house where i spent lots of time in the summer when i was young. and since the passing of my granny last summer, the sound of a rooster never sounded so sweet... so, while im not a fan that ive taken up the term "going to town", i really enjoy the country aspect, especially since i get to enjoy it from an actual neighborhood! im now realizing that i could probably do a whole post on the cro, ill save that for later...so this image makes spending time outside a little more enjoyable and im very appreciative of the empty lots...thanks recession :-)

another good reason to hang outside lately is my to enjoy to house's mini-makeover, well, more of a sprucing...a spring sprucing, if you will :-) ok i dont go outside to just stare at my house, but it does help. thanks to the hard work of my hubby and the help of mr. shane caskey our landscape got a much needed de-weeding and re-mulching etc... and also, we painted our shutters, which were stained and fading from the sun. mr. caskey had a hand in that as well. holla t-shane. this is where my mini panic attack came in when at the last minute we decided to paint instead of re-stain said shutters. i believe the exact words addison used were "mattie, what do you think about painting them instead? run to lowes and get some paint" ...begin heavy breathing and blurred vision...i am the worst at decisions and a paint color might just be THE hardest decision for me to make, its such a commitment!! anyhoo, here are the results!

...you may not really notice, but it made a big difference!

now, for my 3rd reason on why i go outside, lets play a little game! what do these things have in common?

  if you guessed WHITE, you are right! and white, is what i am...so i like to enjoy the opportunity in the sun to de-paste myself...i have yet to make much progress...

ok so onto the real fun, if i havent bored anyone away yet...

why wouldnt i wanna spend time out side when THIS is what i REALLY get to enjoy...this is why spring time is so fun! yes, for the rest of this post im just showing off pictures of my kids...ill try to limit the number of pictures in this section, thats whats facebook is for right? 

she enjoys her front stoop ^

weeeeeee....this was the swing that the youth all pitched in money for while we were in guatemala. i was pregnant for corynn while we were there and they thought she needed something to remember her first mission trip...it was so sweet (i cried)...shes finally big enough to enjoy it!

Something to Celebrate

WARNING:  ushy gushy contents a possibility, do not read if easily nauseated 

If I hadn't said it enough already here's one more time-I could not be more proud of addison and his impressive time at last weekends rock and roll marathon, ok I'd be just as proud if it had taken him 3 hours longer. I told him a couple days before the run that it was a huge accomplishment just getting his body ready to run 26.2 miles. He began his training in June, which included waking up many mornings before 6, leaving the house after 8 -once the kids were on bed, or taking his "lunch hour" to get a run in, Each week adding more miles to the routine, becoming more and more dedicated. After all of this, what's so complicated about spending one morning running 26.2 consecutive miles in the beautiful city of New Orleans...ha! (kidding of course, i get cranky just spending too much time walking in the french quarter..or, in the rain :-) ) Watching him run across the finish line, accomplishing such a significant goal was quite a way to celebrate our anniversary...it may have even made "celebrating" said anniversary with my in-laws worth it! (disclaimer: I love my in-law, but, well, ya know ...) on that subject, while the new orleans anniversary plans didn't work out the way we expected, we did get a dinner re-do when we got back! overall if was definitely a weekend of connecting and hanging out without too much distraction. the weather could not have been better, and the kids had a blast at the zoo...oh and the margaritas we snuck (? whats the past tense of sneak??) away to get weren't bad either...and in keeping with any other marg ive had in nola, it only took about 5 sips to decide we better order some chips and dip to go with that...

band-wagon'ing

so i know what your thinking, she's jumping on the band wagon of blogging...and, yes, i am. everyones doing it, and well, i want in! ive been inspired by my friends with blogs, i enjoy reading about them, er, yall... i enjoy reading about life lately, goals, i even enjoy the occasional "i love my dog" post :-) at first, i thought i dont have enough interesting things to write about to have a blog, and while im still not convinced, i have decided to give it a go. so here it is...

as this year began, i felt an unusual desire for change (not quite the kind obama is offering :-O ). not even big change, im very happy with the life im living right now, i have many moments where i just sit back and think how truly blessed i am. but, i was looking for little changes, something out of the ordinary for me, it started with the resolution-ie types of changes, like tackling laundry before it tackled me, and waking up before the kids to enjoy some me time. those were easy enough, and are getting me out of the rut that being a stay-at-home mom can bring. however, anything more than that kinda of scares me...because it makes me (cue dramatic "tie in the title" music)  -uncomfortable-. . so when the lists of womens bible studies were put in my hand, my first reaction is to, once again, stay under the radar. the thought of showing up to a bible study, not knowing who will even be there, make me very uncomfortable- but i signed up anyway, with the desire to grow closer to God. while i am a bit nervous about the initial "hopefully someone sits next to me" fears, i am excited, and i know ultimately its the relationship with me and J-dog (Jesus) that will benefit. even as i write this, i feel a little uneasy. from the worries of misspelling 100 words- or using them incorrectly  (no, not me), to the fear of being exposed (*cringe*). but as i thought about writing a blog, i realized id have to be thinking a lot about ME (hey, something else i dont like to do), which led to a lot of reflecting about ME, which as it turns out, is very uplifting! so thanks for making some room on the band-wagon for me. i do not promise not to disappoint, or to be consistent with my posts...but here's to stepping out of my comfort zone!!!