Craft Day

While the guys watched hockey...

 My sister and I made crafts!
She brought over an origami kit and we tried our hand at the ancient art.

We made swans:

and then Samuri Hats:

and then turned the hats into fish...complete with googly eyes!

Next came the turtles:

We thought our pet turtle would like some friends. He was not interested.

And then came the real fun stuff!
Flower pins/hairclips.
We attempted to follow a tutorial on making fabric flowers, but we floundered a bit.
We glued a pin and a hairclip on the back to make them versatile.
Here is the result:

(sorry for the photo quality- I'm getting a new camera soon!)

Oh, and how could I forget the lovely origami pinwheels we made, which Brittney recommended I put in the "garden" on our windowsill.

Thanks for a fun day, Britt! Let's do it again sometime. :)

eBay Bliss

I love eBay.Maybe you didn't know this about me.

I've been an eBay fanatic since early high school.

I have had 253 positive transactions on the amazing auction site!

Recently (as in the past few years) eBay has not had such great deals...

It has become more of a place to buy things at full price and then pay shipping on top of that, instead of just going to the store and getting what you want/need.

However, once in awhile you can still find a gem...

especially if something is spelling wrong or called the wrong name. :)

Way back over winter break, Marcus and I took a gander through the Gurnee Antique Mall up in...well...obviously, Gurnee. It was full of overpriced lovely items.

My favorite was this old vintage Sunbeam Mixmaster mixer...in (of all colors!) turquoise - my favorite!!! I am slowly but surely working on collecting all things vintage and white-and-turquoise for our kitchen at the house.

This mixer was something I had to have.

But, with a $125 pricetag, it was something to which my dearest (and oh, so wise) hubby said, "You can save up for it."

So, darn it, that's exactly what I did! I pinched my pennies and saved my dollars and as of Friday, February 19, I had $110 saved up. (My dad taught me the little tip that antique stores will always take 10% off items over $50, so I didn't worry about saving the whole $125). 

Knowing there was a risk that two months later my little old mixer would have been sold,  we traversed up to Gurnee anyway. It was our belated Valentine's getaway. 

Indeed, it had been sold.

However, I got these darling napkin gems, which I can't wait to put on our dining room table at the house.

Aren't they cute!?

But, wait, there's more!

I came home and did a little eBay-licious research.

I found the Mixmaster on eBay...with all the parts (the Gurnee one was missing one of the two bowls) and it WORKS (I didn't know if the Gurnee one worked) AND because its official Sunbeam color is "aqua blue' and this one was titled "Turquoise"....no suspecting vintage collecting eBay-er had stumbled upon it! (The others listed on eBay were quite pricey and all being bid on rapid-fast).

But don't you worry. I was the only bidder on this dandy and it only cost me $45. (Well, plus the $20 shipping, but still, I had saved up $110, so we were in good shape.)

(sorry the picture is blurry- i took it straight from eBay)

Now if it would only come in the mail!

I'm so excited!

Second Annual Valentine's Party

My sister hosted her second annual Valentine's Party last week.
It was so fun!
I didn't many good pics, but here's a few I wanted to share...

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!
(my hubby and I have yet to formally celebrate)

We even had homemade parting gifts!!!

It's all worth it

After the Valentine's Party at school, while the kids were waiting for dismissal, I looked over at the board where they play Snowman (hangman) every day for a few minutes before their bus is called over the speaker.

We had such a fun party and it just tickled me to see the phrase they were guessing, one letter at a time.

How cute is he?!

I know I say it over and over, but I will say it again:
I LOVE these kids.
They are one of my greatest joys in life.

Love

Does your teacher love YOU this much?

Yeah, that's what I thought. :)

No Snow Day

Not sure how...or why...after 12 inches of snow...I still had school today!!
Sheez.

I do love snow.
I just wish I could have stayed home to play in it. :)

Onesies- Batch #2

Oh how I love it when my BFF gives me onesies to doll-up for baby Kennedi.

You can see my first batch of onesies I whipped up over winter break here.

She gave me some more and I've been having fun...
on almost all of them....
The one with the laundry hanging out to dry...not so fun.
I got in over my head on that one and it was a pain in the butt...AND I broke a needle on my sewing machine.

But, it sure looks cute!

I even made a matching headband to go with one of them.
The pink and green one had some design/phrase on them that Joni wanted covered up, so my ideas had to be spaced just right. :)

Enjoy!

Thanks, Joni, for letting me get all crafty on your baby's onesies!
I'm going to post a pic of Kennedi here that I stole from Joni's facebook (I do not take credit for the photography or for the cuteness of the babe!)

All Mississippi

Tonight was Marcus's last show with The Broken Bones.
Fun times.
Our long-time friend Phil informed the audience that we are moving to the Quad Cities
...out west...where it's

"Half Illinois, Half Iowa, All Mississippi."

Indeed.

(our lonesome wintry house in Moline)

Help Haiti with Compassion

The stories of the earthquake in Haiti on January 12 are slowly drifting out of the news and into the past.

But God has not forgotten.

Have you? 

Help Haiti with Compassion is one way to get involved in a way that will directly impact the lives of children.

Compassion International is an amazing organization in the top 1% of Christian organizations with integrity in their spending.

83% of the funds donated to Compassion's Disaster Relief Fund goes toward the affected areas and lives are touched.

Compassion has been working in Haiti for over 40 years. They will continue to bring the Good News of Jesus to the people of Haiti during this earthquake recovery and beyond.

Marcus and I sponsor a child through Compassion and have done so for years now. It is so exciting to see how God can use us in the life of a young girl so far away. Ruth Daniela is in Honduras, but many of Compassion's children are in Haiti.

The young boy my parents sponsor, Peterson, lives in Haiti. They have not yet heard if he has survived.

Will you pray for the people of Haiti?

Can you give to the people of Haiti?

Click on the link to the right to give to Haiti through Compassion International.
They need your help.