Tutus & Bracelets & Slings, Oh, My!

My shop 4 Princess Bows is now carrying tutus made by my friend, Dawn as well as some beautiful jewelry by my friend, Melissa. There are also babyslings by my neice, Staci. Come check it out as well as some gorgeous bows by....me!!!

I Feel Like Chicken Tonight

You know, I usually pride myself on being a pretty good cook (Melissa B. notice my use of myself.) So tonight I decided to roast a chicken. My friend, Erin, an amazing cook herself, gave me directions, and they were pretty close to what was on the bird itself. So, I followed them EXACTLY. When I went to cut it at dinner time, it was still bloody (yuck!) So I let it cook longer. Still not done. Then longer, still not done. But the time the thermometer read what it should in the middle, it was burnt on the outside. Now, I don't blame Miss Erin, as I said she is quite a cook!

We had quite a throw together dinner tonight of leftovers. I had corn and sweet potatoes. I don't think I'll roast any chickens in the near future........sigh....it smelled wonderful!!

My New Look

No, I'm not talking about my cute new sassy hair cut, I'm talking about my blog! Isn't it perfect for me?? My friend, Dawn, at Hummingbirds Don't Lie created this look for me using Kay Miller's Enchanted. I really like the colors and the fact that the text area is white. My pictures look better against white than the pink I had before.

And in case you are wondering, I did have 3 inches cut off of my hair yesterday.

Bloggy GiveAway!

Once again, Shannon, at Bloggy Giveaways is hosting a giveaway. I am giving away this adorable pigtail pair of chocolate and pink ribbon korkers. They are fixed on ponytail elastics. Just so sweet on pigtails!

Here's what you need to do to win. Leave a comment here. I will randomly select a winner this weekend. If you are the winner, I'll email you. That easy! I'll cover the shipping. That's it! Totally free.

Feel free to check out my other bows at 4 Princess Bows

Have fun and check out the other giveaways!

Blessings

Tonni

The Other Side of the World

I did this for church Sunday, from Kevin's Cuba pictures last week. God is good.

My friend, Yamy

Yamy made me a birthday cake! she is in Cuba and made me a birthday cake.....it was pretty messy in Kevin's suitcase, but....just kidding!!! Te amo, mi hermana y amiga!

She did send several bars of 'Cuban Candy' that will be available for your eating pleasure this Sunday in the lounge at church.

Monday

This has been a
LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG
day.....sigh....

Busy! Busy! Blessed! Blessed!

So much going on while Kevin is in Cuba. As you know, Linda was by on Thursday. Friday my awesome friend, Erin watched the kids while I ran a million errands. Here'sErin, sorry about the red eye!!









Today the girls and I have been "super cleaning" the house. It's getting there. Now just needs dusted and swept. It is amazing how many excuses my princesses can make to avoid cleaning.



I sold these on Etsy.com It is a great site with all sorts of handmade crafts.











Tonight my friend, Robin, and her girls are coming to hand out, order pizza, play games....should be a fun evening.....

Happiness is....

a friend stopping by with hot chocolate. Mmmmm chocolate! Adult conversation and chocolate. Proof of the existance of God! Thank you, Linda!!

Off to Cuba

Kevin is leaving in about 5 hours to go to Cuba for 5 days. He will be doing work with El Salvador church, our partner church. He will also see our dear, dear family, pictured above. I am very excited for him. But it makes me even more anxious for this summer when I get to return with him. We will be bring our oldest daughter with us also.

I'll be at home 5 days with all 5 kids. It will be interesting. I went to thelibrary to stock up on new videos. we'll play games and have a good time. And eventually, my stomach will start to settle down, right??

I have been chastised

I have been reminded that I haven't posted here about my LITTLE STEPS. I am continuing with last week's little steps....

drinking water
fruit
veggie at dinner
moving

Today I did this!

Which is why I am quite a bit of pain....exercise irritates the endometriosis....sigh.....

The Cutest Pictures

of Nathaniel are here

Did my dear husband...

really say that Napolean was "cool" in his sermon yesterday???

Balloons

Who would have know they would occupy three preschools for 2 straight days??? They bat them around, blow them up, let them go, of course fight over them. We have spit filled balloons everywhere! EWWWWW!!

What is your favorite idea for kids' play in the winter?

OKAY, FOR FURTHER THOUGHT, WHY DID WE JUST SPEND MONEY ON CHRISTMAS GIFTS? BROWN PAPER BAGS, BOXES, BALLOONS, SHAVING CREAM.......HMMMMM WHAT LESSON CAN BE LEARNED BY THIS?

We Got New Pictures from El Salvador

The front of the church has been repainted since August. It looks great!

The clown ministry outside of Jose and Yamy's house.

l to r Yamy's cousin, Yamy, Barbie, Mavisabel, Tonya

Jose and Yamy

I had to do it!!

"What are we going to do tonight, Hillary?"

"The same thing we do every night, Bill, TRY TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD!"

Wordless Wednesday

Our Toothless Wonder

Grace is so smart and so beautiful and soooo melodramatic! She has lost 2 teeth in the past couple of weeks. That's supposed to be fun right? Well for Grace, it is a rather stressful event. She cried when this tooth came out; I don't really know why. Then she walked around the house for ages with a tissue tucked in the hole, that wasn't bleeding. We had to convince her that loosing teeth is fun! She is so funny!

Little Steps 3

A successful week last week, overall.....lots of prayer, vitamins every day, water Friday and Saturday. Back to that today. No sweets. Weight loss: 1 pound.

Steps for this week. Add a vegetable at dinner every night. Water daily. I also went through my computer bookmarks and deleted a lot of them, hopefully causing me to spend less time on the computer and more time up moving around.

Successful little steps to you!
Tonni

Josiah: Mom, how do you spell PBS?

Ouch

My head hurts.....the next time I go to the head store, I am buying a new one....this model is obviously defective!

Winter Fun!!

Winter Fun

Little Steps part 2

Okay, so I have taken my vitamins several days in a row. And as I told my friend Tracy, they are HONKIN' big pills!!

No sweets, either....

Next step, adding some water. I am not a water drinker. In fact, all I drink is diet Pepsi. Sometimes (rarely, I might add) I drink the unleaded (caffeine-free variety.) Now, if I say I am going to start drinking 8 glasses a day, I am setting myself up for failure. So, for today, I am having water with my lunch. A LARGE glass.

I must mention, that prayer is a big part of restructuring my life. Ya might say I am addicted to prayer. I pretty much have a conversation with God going on in my head many times during the day. So, no, I am not talking to myself if you happen to catch me with my lips moving!

Because HE Lives
Tonni

Why Buy Toys?

Today, I emptied our dvd's into one folder. Much more space efficient! So, as I emptied them, I threw them down on the floor so I could throw them away when I was done. Well, now I don't have the heart to do it....maybe at nap time!! They are having way too much fun with them and NOT fighting!!

Don't you love Ella's hair? You'd think with all the hair bows around here, she'ld let me pull the bangs up! And the paci goes away when she turns three in March. That should be LOADS of fun! NOT!!

Why is it...

my day is calm until the big girls come home, and the bickering begins!!!????

LIttle steps

Goal #1 To get in shape (notice I didn't say to lose weight) I want to be healthy, Yes part of that is to lose weight, but it is more.

So, I am making small Life Style changes. The first is to make sure that I take my vitamins and calcium EVERYDAY as I have to take other medications this should be pretty easy. I'll just lay them out when I lay out my other meds. I need the extra calcium b/c the women on my dad's side of the family have extremely brittle bones. My grandmother could break a rib leaning over a chair back. I don't want that.

Vitamins, and I am not eating sweets unless it is a special occasion. They are no longer a major food group!!

New Year

Sound familiar? Every year, I make the same resolutions. Be in my Bible more, lose weight, get organized. Sound familiar? Have I EVER succeeded? Nope! So I stopped making resolutions. That's my story and I am sticking to it!

According to About.com, my resolutions are probably yours too! Check out the top 10 here.

So, why do we fail?? I searched Google and got 3, 850,000 results. As the mom of 5, I don't have time to read all of that! In fact, were it not for Bob the Builder, I wouldn't have a few minutes right now to type! Most (okay the 3 that I skimmed) suggest that a lack of plan is the biggest issue. Our resolutions are wishes, but we don't decide how to get there.

So, for this year, I plan to have a plan!

I need to get in shape, to get healthy for my kids and my husband. And my God. "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own" I Corinthians 6:19 So, I have to make a plan!

I need to get into my Bible regularly to nurture that relationship that God wants to have with me!! I need to make a plan!

So, my next few posts will be my plan. And I hope those of you who follow me on this journey will keep me accountable!!

Because He Lives
Tonni

Conversations with Josiah

Our electricity went out today, just as we were getting ready to eat dinner.

Josiah: why did the power go out?

Me: That just happens sometimes.

Josiah: If we turn on the tv it will light up the living room!

Happy New Year!

May God bless you by using you in His plans this new year!! Can anyone ask for more?

I spent my new year's eve lying in bed or on my couch....can you say monster migraine? It was brutal. The pain killers only took off the edge.

So Kevin went to Watch Night at the church and I got to spend the evening watching High School Musical 2 (again.) But it was good time with my big girls.