A Package for Luke

Oh what an exciting day it was for Luke when our mail lady left a package at the front door for him! He knew that a package was on its way, so he was waiting.

Recently, we entered Joy G.'s (Miracles, Markers, and Me) contest for adoptive parents. We joined her for “Thursday Tea”. The contest question for her giveaway was to tell your child’s favorite book(s) after bringing him/her home. Her two sweet daughters and the third grade class would be choosing winners based on the answers. Well, imagine our surprise when Joy G. left me a comment letting me know that Luke was one of the winners! The winners were to receive a pair of pajamas and a book.

Luke’s favorite book when he came home (and one which he still loves) was (and is) Caps for Sale. He loves the silliness of it, and of course we have to put a lot of drama into it as we read it, which has always made him cackle. And it has a lot of repetitiveness to it, which I think helped him learn his English as well.

Another favorite was (and is) The Little Fur Family. All of my children have loved that book. It tells the sweet story of the love of a family portrayed through little “fur people”. This story just has an air of coziness, sweetness, love, and the security of a family and home. Plus it has a song at the end in which I made up a tune when Colt was little. I have continued to sing it to each of my children.

And as of lately, a favorite book of his has been Green Eggs and Ham. He loves quoting that book. And of course, it helped when we made him his green eggs and ham which I posted about here.

So fast forward………the third grade class made Luke one of the winners……….and his package arrived Saturday! Luke was SO excited!

And wow! How generous they were! Joy G. knew Luke loved cars (and any type of vehicle), so it also included a Cars book and stamp set.

And going with the theme of Caps for Sale with the monkeys and all…………an album of Curious George stories! Luke loves these! 

They included a special (very sweet) inscription inside:

He's had the whole family reading it to him. Joy received the first honor:

And a sneak peek of something else “monkey”…….

Aren’t these pajamas (which can also double as a costume) the most adorable thing you’ve ever seen? Oh my goodness!

And since he plans on wearing it to our Harvest party the first week of November, I’ll save a photo of him as a little sock monkey to share for then!

Thank you so much Ms. Joy G, Olivia, Lian, and the third grade class for picking us! Luke thanks you and he thinks you girls rock too!

Tag, Awards, Boo, More Giveaways & a "Rare" Photo!

Okay, I know that's quite a collection of things to post about, but I wanted to "catch" up today on a few things on my list!



About a week or so ago, I was tagged by Mandie to tell seven random things about myself. So here goes!

1) I can't chew gum (at least not for long) because it gives me a headache every time!

2) I rarely go anywhere without my camera. And I'm much more comfortable on the taking-pictures-side-of-the-camera!

3) In'm a night owl - not so much a morning person at all - at least I tend to get more accomplished at night anyway!

4) I'be been playing the piano since I was 10 years old. I started playing in church when I was 14 years old.

5) I love log cabins and the whole pioneer era of history.

6) I love teaching kids and have taught kids in some way or the other beginning at church as a teenager. Kids just love you know matter what! I just love kids, period.

7) And should I tell this one? Okay...I hug a pillow when I sleep at night (and of course my hubby too).

Sorry it took so long, Mandie! And the rules say to tag more people, but if you want to play along and tell seven random things about yourself, I'd love to hear them! Consider yourself tagged! Oh, here are the "official rules" though.

1. Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blog. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

And Wendy actually offered this award to anyone that hadn't received it. Now I wouldn't have just posted it like that probably, but I thought it was so pretty and when she left a comment telling me she would like for me to take it, she twisted my arm! :) I really appreciate it, Wendy, and I'm honored to display it, as fall is my favorite season! Thank you so much! And Happy Birthday to you today too!



And just today, sweet Karen of Homespun Simplicity awarded me with this blog award! I am very honored, Karen, and will proudly display it on my blog! Karen only started her blog in October, and I think she's doing great! She's on my blogroll and I love visiting her blog! If you haven't visited her yet, stop by for a visit! Thanks SO much, Karen! Now, I'm supposed to pass it on to 15 blogs, however, as you know Karen, it's hard to do! :) I'm going to take the easy way out, but it is my most sincere way too, and honor every blog on my blogroll with it. If you're on my blogroll, I visit your blog because I enjoy it and find it interesting and crafty. Please grab this award for yourself and display it on your blog! Really, I want you to! I'll be looking to see if you grabbed it! :)



And just today, Stephanie booed me! So if you haven't been booed, consider yourself booed too (in the nicesty way of course) and display this on your blog too!



And alot of you have probably already seen these, but there are two more giveaways I'd like to show you.

Angie from Simple Thyme Primitives is giving away THIS in honor of her birthday! Isn't it nice of her to give something away for HER birthday? Thanks, Angie! I think Olde Frosty is just adorable and doesn't he look like he wants to come home with me? :) But I guess in all fairness, I should tell you to click over there and sign up before November 3rd! :) Happy Birthday, Angie!




And another great giveaway going on is over at Simple Needs. Kim is giving away all these great Christmas goodies in honor of her 100th post! I love Christmas so much...I think these want to come home with me too! :) Congratulations, Kim, on your 100th post!



And last of all, but definitely not least, I'd like to share a picture with you taken this past weekend. You see alot of our daughter, Joy, because she's home with me all the time and a willing subject for the camera. Rarely do you see Colt on here because between college, work, a girlfriend, and friends, he just passes through here from time to time and when he is here, he's doing schoolwork and laundry (remember he's our laundry guy!) :) However, this past Sunday, we went to Alabama just for the day so his girlfriend, Amber, could go with us and meet some of our family there. We had a great day and lots of fun, although it was a quick trip. I took this picture of them. He always tells Amber that I take my camera everywhere with me, but she understands because she loves photography too!



Until next time, ya'll have a great day! I hope you get lots of projects accomplished and work completed! It seems like EVERYONE is busy these days! :)

And the Winner is.............

First of all, let me say that I'm so sorry to keep any of you waiting! It certainly wasn't supposed to be that way! We had circumstances not expected, so the drawing of a name was a little different than what I anticipated.

It was supposed to be a typical Thursday around here (that's why I chose this time). We would take a break from school to draw out the winner. But instead we were at the Dr.'s office in town. My hubby, Jason, has been off work sick since Tuesday with bronchitis and a bursted blood vessel causing much pain in his leg....and the cure ended up being worse than the sickness...bless his heart! He had an allergic reaction to one of his medicines (which one we don't know) and he's just been miserable....no sleep for him (or me for that matter). Good news was that he did not have a blood clot in his leg though! So long story shorter, we were back in the Dr.'s office this morning at 9:30 a.m., but we did take the laptop along with us so we could check for last minute comments before the drawing and add them to the bucket and choose a winner.

Here's the bucket of entries. We really did need the bucket (for room to mix them), as we actually had 181 entries total. Jason mixed them up really well numerous times!



Of course, Joy "had" to be the one to pull out a winner....so with eyes closed, she reached in.......and pulled out a winner!



Would you like to know who it was? hee! hee!

Okay, well it was..............



AnnaSam (It's Harvest Time)! Congratulations! I hope you love your goodies! I was looking on your blog and everything looks so fall festive at your house! I'm so glad these goodies are going to a great home! :) Email me from my profile with your shipping address and I'll do my best to get this out to you tomorrow!

Thanks to everyone that left such helpful ideas for us and especially for your kind comments! I appreciate each and every one! Thank you to all the faithful blog readers as well as those that just found me! Now I hope to catch up on blog reading and visit all of your blogs.....after a very unusual week! I'm having computer...blog and forum...withdrawal! lol! We're supposed to be visiting our friends, Betty and Richard, this weekend in the Ozarks, so we're looking forward to fellowship and relaxation! (And did I mention that she has super fast internet connection...it's like computer heaven there!)

So "talk" to you all real soon! Thanks again and I hope you all have a wonderful day and upcoming weekend! I hope to be back posting again tomorrow!

Hugs,
Tammy

Lessons from Nature & More Giveaways!

Sometimes the best lessons come from nature. Now I promise you that even if nature gave me a lesson that involved a snake, the only way you'd see a picture of it on here is if it was dead.....because I wouldn't be close enough to get a picture of it....! lol! But some folks could feel that way about spiders, and I hope I don't gross you out here, but we have a couple that have made their home right outside ours. It made us dig a little deeper and see what kind of spider we had and read up on them a little bit!

First of all, meet Charlotte (named by Joy). She lives right off our carport (way up high).


She is a Black and Yellow Argiope (so says our pocket guide). She wears these colors to confuse predators into thinking she could possibly be a stinging yellow jacket! She actually has a beautifully woven web. She will kind of bounce up and down when we walk by sometimes. We read that they do this as a defense mechanism counting on the fact that most people are scared of spiders, especially with her bold yellow color and the fact that she is pretty big! She doesn't want anyone walking into her web and ruining all of her hard work of many hours! (And not to worry, I'd rather her warn me because I wouldn't WANT to walk into it!)


Here she is a little closer (and don't worry...I used my super duper lens to get close....I wouldn't be that close to a spider even if I was studying it!)


And now this is the same type of spider, named Spidey (by Joy also), that lives on the back side of our house near the outside water faucet.


She makes it very difficult to get to the water hose. Joy won't go anywhere near there and I have to admit....I'm a little skiddish! But this is what she does when you go near....she doesn't bother bobbing up and down....she takes off and runs down her web to the side of the house and turns upside down and hangs there until you go away and leave her alone!


She normally sits right in the middle of the web. I've noticed their webs always have this zig zag pattern in the very center:


We read that the female will have a large sac of eggs somewhere near the edge of the web. Now we couldn't find any in Charlotte's web, but we found this huge sac (probably 1" across) to the edge of Spidey's web.


We also read that often there is a male that lives in a smaller web at the edge of the female's! We kind of laughed at the fact that the male gets a small apartment to the side, while she gets the beautifully decorated mansion of a web! lol! But...unfortunately, we couldn't find anything resembling a side web with a male spider living there! (Maybe she ran him off already???) :)

And on a better and not so gross side of nature, we have our black swallowtail caterpillar given to us last Tuesday by a fellow homeschooling mom. She managed to obtain quite a few of these and offered them to homes willing to take them! Through the years with Colt and then later with Joy, we were able to watch Monarch caterpillars transform into beautiful butterflies. It was and is the most awesome thing to witness. If you happen to be there the moment that they come out of their chrysalis and go from crumpled wings to pumping them into large beautiful wings....you witness a miracle! We were fortunate enough to be able to take them out and release them! It was really something to witness! So...we were very excited to obtain this black swallowtail caterpillar. Our caterpillar's name is Herbie Lace (named by guess who again).


Herbie Lace ate and ate and ate for days......lots and lots of parsley. We watched Herbie go from a smaller caterpillar to a quite fat one! Then on Saturday, Herbie climbed up on the stem and hung in this hook position. From our experience with caterpillars before, I knew Herbie was preparing for the next stage....chrysalis!


And after church on Sunday, we came in and found Herbie in chrysalis form. You could actually see part of the skin that was shed at the bottom of the jar. Joy actually noticed it first. I also didn't expect the chrysalis it to be so green.....kind of blends in with the parsley!


Notice how the chrysalis looks like it has little ears at the top and if you look closely, you can see the sticky silky strings attaching it to the stem! It looks so delicate, but yet so firm!


And just think one day, we'll have a black swallowtail butterly! I don't really know how long it will take for the butterfly to emerge....but I hope we're here when it happens. So far we've been blessed to either see the others right when the chrysalis started moving and the butterfly started breaking through or when it had just come out. It's absolutely awesome! And to think God made them and designed them to do just that.....is just amazing to me! (When we have a butterfly, I will share pictures....if all goes well). And we'll find out hopefully if we have a "mother" butterfly or the mate by the color markings.

And that is your lesson from nature for today (thanks for hanging in there with me). We kind of get excited about this kind of stuff! I love it when we get little extras like that! I consider it a blessing! I want my kids to see the little things God took the time to create and the details involved!

And on another note......More Giveaways!

First of all Cozy Coops is having a wonderful fall giveaway...and a very generous one! Be sure to click on over and sign up!


And..The Noble Wife is having a wonderful Christmas giveaway! I love anything to do with Christmas, so this was exciting too! Hop on over and sign up for this generous one too!

Unfinished Shutters Added to Our Etsy & Jo-Anne's Giveaway

After a recent request for a custom order that involved unfinished shutters, we decided that just might be something that my prim friends and fellow prim decorators might be interested in......unfinished primitive shutters. I've learned through painting on my own and most recently our kitchen remodeling, that color shades can vary even just the slightest bit! There are so many burgundy red shades, as well as mustards, and so on. By adding this option to our Etsy store, hopefully it opens up more options for the customer.



We've just added the unfinished primitive shutters to our Etsy store. This set shown is 7" wide by 36" long. They were purposely left unfinished so that they can be customized to the decorator's liking....favorite paint or stain, and even distressed as much or little as desired. I'd love for you to stop in our Etsy store and check them out! If another width or length is needed.....that's not a problem either! Just contact us and we'll work with you to get the size needed!

And speaking of Etsy stores, Jo-Anne of The Carter Clan, just opened her very own Etsy store and is hosting a wonderful giveaway in honor of her store opening. Hop on over there and check it out!

Goodies in the Mail, Two Giveaways & An Award

Saturday evening, we had to make yet another run to Lowe's for paint adjustments (that's another post), but when we pulled in the driveway, I noticed a package on the front porch rocker! I could hardly wait to get to it and see what it was! I was expecting either a Mary Kay order or my goodies from Wendy (The Cozy Yellow House). I was hoping it was my goodies from Wendy! She told me to be looking for them on Monday, but this was Saturday.....but maybe! And lo and behold, it was! I was so excited! I brought it in and opened the box! I forgot to get a picture of the box before (everyone else THINKS of this!) :) Even at that Jason and Joy were laughing at me getting a picture of every step, instead of just tearing right into it (like I wanted to do)!

So when I opened it up...it looked SO pretty wrapped in the homespun bow and the prim tag attached:



Then I got past the very nicely wrapped bubble wrap to find the sweetest note in there too on sunflower stationary!



And then I finally got to hold that beautiful redware platter in my hands! It's just so pretty! Also in there were the bay leaves bag and the great prim note pads! I plan to add a magnet to the back of those and attach them to my refrigerator...dual purpose....a little prim decor on my black refrigerator and practical notepads at hand.....and then as an added bonus, she included some good ole Vermont maple candy! I shared it with Jason and Colt (Joy doesn't like any kind of candy except sour). Colt thought it tasted alot like maple syrup candy that we made one year when we were reading the Little House on the Prairie books. We made the old fashioned kind with molasses, but this candy was WAY better than that! I just ate the last piece as I wrote this! Thanks Wendy for that little surprise! Thank you for ALL of it! I love it and was so excited as this was my first win! I can't wait to find a place for my platter and bag! (I'm thinking kitchen here when it's done). And Wendy, I thank you for your friendship! I love reading your blog too and seeing what you and Steve are up to!



And speaking of winning a giveaway, here are two more giveaways that you'll want to be sure and enter!

The first one will be drawn on my birthday....I think it would make a great birthday present! :) It is in celebration of Rondell of Tomatoe Creek Prims' 100th post! She worked hard on these stitcheries....one for all the upcoming seasons! They are adorable! If you want to enter (if you don't that just gives me more of a chance) lol!, click on over to Rondell's blog and leave her a comment. She'll draw out a lucky winner on August 28th!



And second of all (but definitely not least...hers is just being drawn later), here's another giveaway offered by Tammy from The Olde Hollow Crow & Easy Livin'. She has a great prairie doll and prairie doll ornies to give away! She's drawing out a lucky winner on August 30th (and I believe that is Kindra's birthday)! Be sure and hop over there and check it out....leave her a comment!





And I have another award to announce....this is the sweetest award too! This one came from my friend, Angie, over at Sandals and Daisies. She presented me with this Perfect Blend of Friendship Award. I feel the same way about Angie....you can tell she is just the sweetest, down to earth, fun loving, creative, thrifty and likeable lady! I love her style of writing and she always amazes me with what she comes up with! You can tell she loves her family! We've decided we should live next door to each other.......or at least the same town!




There were no rules attached to this except to answer the following questions and to pass it on.

~I have to answer the following questions about myself.~

1. Do you have the same friends since childhood? I have a few of those (I don't get to see alot of them very often) and more new ones along the way!

2. Things you value most about your friends? Their values, integrity, down-to-earth(iness), faithfulness.

3. Are your friends sounding boards? Of course....but not everything....that's only for my hubby!

4. What is your favorite activity to share with friends? Different things for different ones......phone conversations, outings with the kids, shopping, blogging, crafting, homeschooling activities....

Now to pass this award on:

Honestly, I don't think I could single out a few folks for this award.....as I have found so many blogging and forum friends that have different personalities and styles, but that's why I like each one! They all have those qualities....all people I love getting to know! I hope I'm not breaking any rules here, but if you're on my blogroll, on the Country Sampler forum, or friends reading this....this award is FOR YOU.....my friend....display it on your blog...print it out on stationary....whatever you like! Just pass it along however you wish! If you display it on your blog...I'd love to see you answer the questions too!)

Thanks for your friendship....it really is the perfect blend!

Giveaway and More Awards

I recently just discovered Scoti and her blog, Red Cinnamon Prims, and on top of that I also discovered that she is having a giveaway! Sometimes I wonder how many more great blogs are out there that I'm missing! Sigh! There's only so much time in a day! I sure wish I had time to visit them all! People are so interesting to me and I've "met" so many new friends through my favorite forum and blog land!



But back to the giveaway, if you haven't check it out....hop on over there and take a look. Leave a comment to be entered for her drawing that will take place on Sunday evening at 11:00 p.m.

And last, but definitely not least, I'm overwhelmed by the kindness of my fellow blogging friends that have yet awarded me with the smile award again (I just love this award....just typing it makes me smile)! My friends, Farmchick, Jenn of Bittersweet Prims and Rosemary from Prim Thymes have been so sweet to think of me with this award! Thank you so much! I look forward to seeing a new post on my blogroll from each of you! And since I just gave out this award and posted it a couple of days ago, I'll not to that again, but I do appreciate each and every person that visits and that I get to visit! You all make me smile!

I sometimes get upset knowing I don't have time to "make my rounds", but if you don't see me right away, I'll eventually get there! We're starting our homeschooling schedule at a laid back schedule this week and then full force the day after Labor Day, so I'll have to find a routine schedule that works to check out my blogging and forum friends! Thank you all so much for all the comments that you have left and continue to leave. Your support, encouragement, and input in all the areas I post about mean alot and brighten my day!

Pre-Company Dancers, A Giveaway, & Awards

Last night we began our routine of going to dance class again....twice a week! The exciting part for Joy and her best friend, Katie Beth, is the fact that they are in Pre-Company with the Dance School. They will now be cast in the ballet play that takes place at recital every year. This year's play will be Sleeping Beauty. They are SO excited! Last year's play was Peter Pan...and it was fantastic! They have ballet technique class on Tuesdays and jazz/tap on Thursdays. Here's a picture of them on their first night back (last night) in front of the school.



They are also excited because when dance starts back, they see each other four days a week....those two nights at dance, Wednesday night church and Sunday at church!

And most of you probably know already, but Kindra has been celebrating her 30th birthday that will take place the end of this month with pictures of her childhood and bits and pieces of "history" from the year she was born. It's been fun to read. And now it's HER birthday, and she's giving away this!



Be sure and stop in and leave a comment for a chance to win this beautiful gameboard painted by Kindra! The drawing takes place on Friday, so be sure and visit before it ends!

And last but not least, I have been so kindly awarded the I Love Your Blog award by four of my great blogging friends! I am very honored and I thank you very much for being so sweet and generous to think of me! I have met so many kind people and I look forward to reading all your blogs! It keeps me very busy and you all have the best ideas to share...I love your creativity! Thanks to Lisa of Black Sheep Prims, Mary of Gettysburg Homestead, Carolyn of Cranberry Crossings, and Rondell of Tomatoe Creek Prims!



The rules are to pick seven and post also leave a comment telling them of the award then post the award pic on your blog.

I know that many have received this award and many are deserving! If you haven't received it yet and you're on my blogroll...well...now you have! I truly enjoy visiting all the blogs on my blogroll! I'm never content unless I've been able to stop in and visit them all! So grab your award and proudly display it on your blog!

And Colleen of And Baby Makes Five, has given me the sweetest award...The Smile Award. Just her thinking of me for this award made me smile! Thanks so much, Colleen! I'm so glad I've "met" you through blog land! Your blog always lifts me up!



The Rules for the Smile Award are as follows:

1. The recipient must link back to the awards creator (it's right on the award)
2. You must post these rules if you receive the award.
3. You must choose 5 people to receive the award after receiving it yourself.
4. You must fit the characteristics of the recipient of the award (see below.)
5. You must post the characteristics of a recipient.
6. You must create a post sharing your win with others.
7. You must thank your giver. (s)

Characteristics for the Smile Award:

1. Must display a cheerful attitude. (not necessarily at all times--we are all human.).
2. Must love one another.
3. Must make mistakes.
4. Must learn from others.
5. Must be a positive contributor to blog world.
6. Must love life.
7. Must love kids.

Okay, here's my five on this one. I think this one hasn't been distributed as much, so I'm going to choose five (which is VERY hard)...you all make me smile!

1. Lea of Farmhouse Blessings - Lea has the sweetest spirit about her. She adores her kids and her husband. She loves being a wife and mother and her blog always lifts me up!

2. Mandie of Life in the Craft Lane with Mandie - Mandie is a very generous person. Out of the kindess of her heart, she gives free graphics for us all to enjoy and she even performs random acts of kindess, of which I was a recipient (with my new header). She always makes me smile!

3. Paula of The Fraker Farm, always makes me smile and sometimes just outright laugh! She is always upbeat and she turns every adventure on her farm into a positive one! I always leave her blog with a smile on my face!

4. Deb of Deb's Country Kisses, is a very wise, cheerful, and fun blogger! She is very inspiring and adores her family and her kindness shines through her blog and comments!

5. Rondell of Tomatoe Creek Prims, is a friend of mine from the CS forum. She helped me when I began my blog. She has a kind heart, is a great mom, wife, and grandma. Her comments and friendship always puts a smile on my face!

Thanks to all my blogging friends for your visits, your comments, and for sharing your creativity and lives with me! I feel like I have so many friends on here! Thanks a bunch!

Have a great day! :)

A Couple of Giveaways

My friend, Linda, over at Behind My Red Door, is having a "Fall is Almost Here Giveaway". If you haven't checked it out yet, you don't know what you're missing! She thought of everything you need for fall and then some! She sure knew how to get me excited and ready for fall....just need the cool weather now! Hurry over and check out here giveaway because she's drawing out a lucky winner on Monday, August 18th at 7:00 p.m. Leave her a comment and tell her I sent you!

Linda's Fall Giveaway


My friend, Angie, over at Sandals and Daisies, is also having a giveaway of her own! Now she is having a "Choose Curtain #1 or Curtain #2" for her country or cottage/shabby chic friends. You tell her which one you want to be entered in and your name goes in that pot. Angie's two children are drawing out a lucky winner for each category on Friday, August 22nd! Hop on over and let Angie know I sent ya!

Angie's Curtain #1 - Pink Giveaway


Angie's Curtain #2 - "Thank God I'm a Country Girl" Giveaway


Okay, girls, now I have to say.....that I think it's MY turn to win! :)