Teacher Appreciation Week

Bella has had 4 TOP RATE teachers this year. Mrs Scott, Ms McDonald, Mrs Abel and Mrs Williams. I have enjoyed finding and making some little treats for them as a very SMALL thank you to everything these 4 amazing women have done for my daughter.

I still have 2 more to make and I will add them when I get them done! I think they turned out cute and I hope the teachers know how much we love them.

Craft time~!

I do love a good craft. What do I love more than that? A good Pinterest Craft. and even more than that? when I click on my Pinterest craft pin and it links me to etsy instead of directions and I see the price and know that I paid FAR less for the supplies for 3 of them than people are paying for 1!

Today's TAKE THAT ETSY SELLER Pinterest craft is the Terrycloth Toothbrush and Paste Travel Pouch... that sells on ETSY for 9.00! this is what we made...

So we started with a set of 2 wash clothes from Dollar tree, my sewing machine and some ribbon from our craft bin.

Step1... open 1 washcloth with "wrong" side facing up. I just used the side with the tag as the wrong size.

Step 2... fold the washcloth from the bottom up about 2/3's of the way forming a pocket.

Step 3. pin sides together just 1 pin will do just making it stay folded

Step 4... Measure 3 inch spaces to form 4 pockets on a standard 12 inch wide washcloth

Step 5...cut a piece of ribbon 30 inches then cut that piece in half so you have 2 15 inch pieces.

Step 6... place the ribbon on top of each other then insert the 2 pieces into one end of the washcloth between the 2 layers about 1/2 an inch and pin that side closed over the ribbon.

Step 7... starting at the end without the ribbon sew up the side to the top of the fold.

you will sew up from the bottom to the top of the fold at each 3 inch mark to form your pockets.

Step 8... sew the final side shut with the ribbon in there, sewing over the ribbon to lock it in.

thats it. Put your toothbrush, toothpaste, hair brush or comb whatever you need to take with you, roll up and tie shut.

Now what the $9 etsy one doesn't have is a matching washcloth to wash your face with! SUPER simple... take the same ribbon, pick a spot on the washcloth(the 2nd one from your $1.00 set of 2) and sew up one end, across the top and down the other side leaving the bottom unsewn to make it "ruffle".

Done. For $1 worth of wash clothes and whatever ribbon you have in your craft box.

Springtime??? Yes please

Normally February is a very cold, gray, dark, icey, snowy time here in the bluegrass. Not this year. This year we are teased weekly of spring. Wake up one morning and its sunny and 65*. We run and play outside, bask in the sun feeling happy and knowing that spring will soon be here. The next morning wake up with snow flurries and 29* outside. BOO HISS. I for one can deal with winter. I like cold and snow for a little while. What I cannot deal with is warm/cold/warm/cold. It makes me crazy. However we do take great advantage of this warm breaks we are getting.

And the award for Mother of the Year goes to........

ME!!!!!!!

When you have preemies, every now and then the doctor wants to check their weight to make sure they are growing the way they should be. So that's how Shayne and I spent a good chunk of our Valentines Day, hanging out at the doctors with 2 wild toddlers. So after checking their weight and ears and lungs and all was great Dr says do you have any other questions.... Why yes yes I do.

Why do the backs of my kids ears look like the skin of an alligator?

I have been so worried it was something like eczema caused by a food allergy and that my poor babies would have to go through testing and elimination diets etc....

So Dr Hawse looks and both of them and giggles. Yep you read that right.... GIGGLES.

"that's eczema alright. caused by dried shampoo."

See's it all the time apparently. So I guess the moral of this story that your mom was being serious all those times she said to wash behind your ears... or in our case RINSE.

Happy Valentines Day!

February 14th is a day of love and hearts and flowers and chocolate and in our case RAIN. I know for a lot of people its a day of pressure. Pressure to plan the right date out, buy the right gift, buy the right card, buy the right flowers, buy the right candy, have the right date. Pressure on boyfriends and husbands to create this romantic atmosphere for their girlfriends or wives. To live up to this notion that a lot of women have made up in their heads(or that they think the women have made up). But I saw this one day and it rang so true in my heart.

Now I ask you... which would YOU rather have this Valentines Day? Flowers that will wilt and die, chocolate that will be eaten and disappear, dinner at an overpriced restaurant, jewelry that will tarnish OR the love of a Father that will thrive forever, will never vanish, is FREE to you because of a price paid long ago and will shine brighter than the most precious jewels on earth?

Think about it.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

Lets NOT rock this look.

I know you think.. " man I am cool."

I ROCKED slouch socks in every color

I pegged my jeans....

My hair was the highest....

I was the COOLEST!

So now what? Now we are moms. We are still trying to be cool. We wear the latest fashions(or try to at least) the hair is smaller, so are the socks and the jeans don't risk causing such a loss of blood supply that we can no longer feel our feet. But when in our years of striving to be cool and be the one people wanted to look like did we find this......

acceptable? Grown ups, in cutesy colorful pj pants IN PUBLIC? I will admit I rocked my Old Navy (not plus size) pj pants to the Mum's pajama day meeting... Then I drove straight home and GOT DRESSED. What does wearing your pj pants in public tell people about you???? "Why yes I have given up" That's what it says. In a world of super cute stylish and more practical casual wear PUT THE PJ'S IN THE DRAWER after DAWN and leave them there until after you are in for the night... if comfort is what you seek for a quick run to the store for that gallon of milk you forgot there are these great things called pants. Throw on some yoga pants and a shirt. At least then when people see you they will no longer think "that poor woman." they will think" man I wish I had time to workout, she is so lucky"

So to recap..... say it with me fellow mommas (and apparently some dads, which I have to admit is even sadder than the mom's) ....

PJ pants GOOD INSIDE.....

PJ pants BAD OUTSIDE.....

the one and ONLY exception is when you 15 year old daughter has smart mouthed you for the last time. Then you throw on the pj pants and pick her up at school, standing BESIDE your van and waving like a lunatic and screaming "HERE I AM HONEY!!!!!!!! MOMMAS HERE TO PICK YOU UP.... I LOVE YOU SO MUCH"  and feel free to follow that with "oh he IS CUTE!" and point to some boy.



Its a double blog entry sort of day!

This one is short and much less deep than the one before but still need to share...

Jessie Green, one of the sweetest funniest friends I have, and a fellow momma of 3 and of twins! We have a bond through that (even if she doesn't know it lol) She shared with us all one day the name of a book. The Jesus Storybook Bible.

My mom went out the next day and picked it up for us. Now as some of you know Bella asked back before Christmas when she could be baptatised(yep super serious when you add the extra ta) and I asked her what she thought that meant and she said that it was what you did when Jesus came to live in your heart. Needless to say momma bawled.

Each night she and I snuggle in my bed and read this new bible. The look in her eyes as I read these stories about Joseph and Moses, Jonah and Naaman, a young slave girl who loved God even though she had been through such tragedy. These people and stories are coming to life for her.

2 days ago she begged me to hurry up and read so we could get to the good part. When I asked her what the "good part" was she said in her most "you are the dumbest person in the world voice" she sighed and said "JESUS". I love that the "good part" of the book we are sharing together in her eyes is Jesus. Makes me a very proud momma.

So all of this to say GO RUN RIGHT NOW BUY THIS BOOK! It is a gift to yourself and your family.

How is He working in your life?

That is the question for the day. How is He working in your life? Through you? For others?

Romans 8:28 tells us : And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

God calls us to go out into the world and be his hands and feet. To spread his word and be his voice. Show not just speak. How are you showing the world you are His child?

I think about this a lot in the moves that I make daily. Am I being a shining example of a daughter of The King or am I hiding the most precious part of who I am? When I speak and others listen what do they hear? Do they hear words of encouragement and praise or do they hear negativity and doubt? When I do things through out the day are they actions of a faithful child or a selfish one?

How many times a day do I think of what I can do to help myself or do I think of how I can help others?

I am not perfect. Not by a long shot. I have my why me moments and my pity parties. But each day I wake up with the hope that just through my words and my actions someones life will be touched. I can make someones day a little better and by doing that I can glorify the Lord.

Proverbs 3:6 says Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take.

Do I do that? Do I think of His will before I do something? Not always. The path I have taken in my life more often than not was MY path and not HIS. It was not until I started to seek His will that my life took a turn onto a new path. A path where sun shines through the tree's, the sounds are happy and sweet instead of scary, the trials are there but they are ones I can overcome through Him.

I love my God moments. I honestly feel I get more out of them than the person I am serving through Him. Simple things like seeing a new baby, talking to a stranger and hearing her story of how her husband passed away 5 1/2 months ago and he never got to see his grandson. Hearing His voice in my ear telling me that this sweet woman's husband DID see his grandson and held him before his birth and to share that message with this woman who was in the in between of grief and celebration. Seeing her tears at this message and giving her a hug as she smiles at me and through the window at this perfect little being. Walking away feeling such a feeling of peace and blessings.

How is He working in your life? Are you letting Him work through you or as you walk down YOUR path are you fighting him without out knowing it?

Each day that I let His light show through my actions is a good day. And who couldn't use a few more good days.

Why yes I would love to write a book.....

Hey Ladies, from the moment I learned how sick Maddi really was I began to pray. For alot of different things, alot of it just Maddi related but other things as well. I prayer for guidance and knowledge and reason. One of the answers to a prayer has come in the form of a book. I have started to write the book I have always wanted to write just didn't know what it would be about. I know now. I want to write a book about those moments in our lives that change us forever.
So that's where some of you may come in. So many of us have had that moment in our lives where our worlds are rocked to their cores, the walls crumble around us and we are in the dark. A moment when we throw up our hands, curse the Father and we walk away. What I want to write about are these stories. From the start to the moment you turn back and find the truth and the Father again and how you are changed by what has happened and the journey back.
This does not have to be a story related to a child although I am sure for alot of us it would be, it could be a death of a parent, a spouse, it could be a divorce, a rape, an assault, an injury whatever YOUR moment was.
My promise to anyone who chooses to share their story with me is that it will be treated with respect and privacy. If you choose I will change the names of places and people to keep your privacy. In fact this will be done unless I am told otherwise. 
The only 2 people who will know your stories will be me and my husband who will serve as my editor until the time it is published (if that happens.)
If you choose to share your story please email me at tinkerbellamom@yahoo.com subject line should be MY STORY. you do not need to go into great detail of the trauma if you can't talk about it that way, this book is more about that moment that changed you, the dark place you went and mostly how you found your way back and how it changed you for the better in the end.

Heaven has a new angel....

I feel like when you have faith in the Lord there are few things in this life that are truly scary.

Then I became the mom to preemies.

No matter how big they are or how small

How well you are told they are doing

Or how many times you are told it doesn't look good

It all begins to roll together into one prayer

Lord PLEASE protect my child.

In April 2009 Shayne and I were expecting a precious long prayed for gift.

Identical twins.

We had celebrated, told the WORLD, made plans, fallen in love.

Then on a normal Tuesday, sun shining, people going about their lives, working in their yards, walking their dogs, pushing their kids on swings we sat in a dark room staring at a tv screen in disbelief as they searched and hunted for 2 tiny flickers. 2 tiny heartbeats that were there 4 days before beating strong and yet today they were not. Our babies had been taken from us. I have never felt that sort of pain and anger and sadness. We had waited so long and prayed SO hard. the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away... that didn't help. Grief seems to small a word. I was destroyed. A bomb had just been dropped into my happy world. I couldn't move, couldn't speak couldn't breathe.



Months went by and the world around me moved on as if nothing had changed. but my world was forever changed. I now knew the heartache of loosing a child. For the longest time I felt guilty thinking that way. After all I had not given birth to these girls, I had not looked in their eyes or held them in my arms so who was I to feel this way?

Then one day I was told by someone that no one loss is greater or less than another and when you loose a child or in my case children no matter when it happens if it is 12 weeks into a pregnancy, 12 minutes, hours days, months or years after birth the pain is real and it is ok to feel it. A life was there one moment and not the next. You loved that baby just as much in that moment as you would the day you were taken home to be with the Lord.

That was a dark day but nothing prepared me for the fear that came with becoming a mom of preemies. There is a special bond we all share, the knowledge of how quickly things can go from not only good to better to great but from bad to worse to hopeless. We come together to share our lives and support each other, we go from newbie shaken and new to this world of NICU's and medical terms and wires and tubes and beeps and alarms to being veterans who if you are lucky sit and support while watching your preemie run around acting crazy and being so happy. Then something happens and your world is shaken again. Someone who may live in the same city or the same state or may be 100's or 1000's of miles away or even in a different part of the world has to say goodbye. Your heart breaks in ways you never thought possible. You ask how can I help what can I do? You pray for strength and for peace on your heart and you pray for comfort for your friend. It doesn't seem like enough but it is all you have.

Isaiah 40:31 tells us "But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint."

How amazing is that. Through our pain and grief we will rise up on wings like eagles. The Lord renews us and restores our strength... just when we feel like we cannot cry one more tear, take one more step the Lord lifts us up, he dries our tears, he carries us until we can stand again. Peace is restored.

Yesterday heaven got a new angel. Madilynn Lee was welcomed into the Kingdom by her new friends Lucy Ann and Juliet who left me April 27th 2009 and have been resting in the Fathers arms waiting for me to join them. The tears on earth have fallen from so many while in heaven the songs of praise and thanksgiving rang out. Our children are whole, they are safe, they are healthy. There is no sadness and no pain. Only Peace.

My prayer this morning and every morning to come is that the members of this club, the ones who have said goodbye when they wanted to hold on so much longer, 1 more minute, 1 more hour, 1 more day, 1 more year, 1 lifetime it would never be enough, feel the love of their friends and family and most of all their Father. It takes time to heal and love and trust but He is going no where. He will be there to pick us up and carry us when the road is to long, to hard, to broken. One day their hearts will know peace.

My Pinterest Obsession GROWS

So I think we have all said the same thing....

You mean we are actually supposed to MAKE these things we PIN?

WHAT?

Is that like a RULE?

soooo... I have made a few things mostly recipes. Most of them have been a great success. But today I made my favorite craft to date....



The kids hospital hats and bracelets

I love the way it turned out. I will be hanging them tomorrow along with a lot of other photos...


SOOOOO EXCITED!

Here's Wyatt's up close

Maybe I will make more little projects later.

Oh and the 2nd best part of this project is the cost. $4.00 EACH! Yep that's all. Found the shadow boxes at Michaels last night and they were on sale for $4.00 so unless you count the cost of the kid that the hat was on it was a $4.00 project ($12 for all 3) If you do count the cost of the kid then you can't afford to do this project. TRUST ME.



OK thats NOT a toy....

So when its noon on a Wednesday and you say lets go take a bath and your kids squeal and RUN to the bathroom its a good day. Why noon on a Wednesday you ask? Well Willa Grace was having a bad hair day due to the amount of grape jelly in her hair from the pb and j sammies she had for lunch or rather she rubbed in her hair for lunch...

anywho.... So they are bathing and playing and loving the bubbles and this lasts almost an hour. Then they start with the signs that they are ready to get out, standing up, throwing toys out of the tub etc. So... I say

"Lets clean up our toys" and get the mesh bath toy bag out.

"Clean up Clean Up everybody everywhere. Clean Up Clean Up everybody do your share" we sing as they splash me with water and look at me like I am crazy help. As I reach for that last toy that is sitting on the bottom of the tub that is when I learn......


THIS IS NOT A TOY!

Yep that's how my day goes.

Hope you have a GREAT DAY!

Heartbreak and sadness

Today I lost my best furry friend. Miss Sassy Pants was layed to rest today. She was the best cat. Sassy started out life no bigger than your hand. We had just recently lost our dog of 11 years Snowball and I was engaged to Shayne and the wedding was fast approaching. My mom and sister decided they wanted another pet but didn't have the time to devote to a dog so they decided on a cat. Miss Sassy Pants was the 2nd one they got. A friend of my mothers had a cat who had just had kittens and she brought this ball of gray fur to school and there Miss Pants slept in the pocket of my mom's shirt. Fast forward a few years and we have moved home and are sharing a house with mom while I am pregnant with Isabella. Miss Pants one day crawled up onto my ever expanding bella(y) and stretched and layed down and that is where she stayed for the remainder of my pregnancy. The 2nd day Bella was home from the hospital as she lay sleeping in her bassinet I found Miss Pants also asleep at Bella's feet. My 2 girls. For months I would find Sassy in the bassinet with Bella and then in the crib with her. She would do this low growl and slap at anyone or any pet who came near her baby. Thus Miss Sassy Pants stopped being my moms cat and adopted me.When we moved to our own house Miss Sassy Pants came right along with us as loving but as grumpy as ever. She would lay in the hall and when one of the dogs would walk by her she would swat at them and slap their noses. She was a funny cat. I have always said I am NOT a cat person. Never really liked cats all that much. My dad had a cat who was MEAN and turned me off cats. But the thing was Miss Pants was not just a cat. She was more crazy old lady than cat. She came when called but on her terms. If I would say Sassy she would ignore me. If I called out Miss Pants! Here she came running. She was the same with cuddling. It was always on her terms. But when she was ready to cuddle she snuggled right into you and licked your hand or chin or forehead with her sandpaper kisses.

When I lost my twin girls I layed in bed for weeks just crying and unable to get up. Miss Pants slept right there beside me. When I would cry she would climb up on my pillow and lick my cheeks. She knew something was wrong and would climb on my belly and always had this look on her face like she didn't know what was wrong but knew something was. With the twins she was just like with Bella. The day we came home without them she walked around and couldn't figure it out. The day they came home from the NICU she was so excited. I layed them in their pack n play at the foot of my bed and she jumped on the bed and ran to the end to look at them. I got a good swat from her for trying to stop her from sleeping with them. She was a great cat. I cannot believe that she is gone and that I will not hear that soft purr anymore but I am better for having had her adopt me.

She was an avid reader :)

Skin care was important to her

loved her pillows

loved being in the grass even with a leash on

Our last picture together taken a short 12 hours before she left us.

$8.00 necklace holder!

This Christmas I received some wonderful necklaces from my mom and I had some from years past sitting in a box getting tangled. So I decided to make a necklace hanger for my room. I looked around online and never found what I really wanted and the prices were CRAZY. Sooo...

I had a light bulb moment. In my closet I had a picture frame I had picked up at Goodwill for $3.00.  I had a friend cut out a "b" and some polka dots out of black vinyl for $5.00. I had left over black ribbon from another project "FREE" and cup hooks were already on it because it was our stocking holder this year.

I added my ribbon and my vinyl and hung it on my wall. LOVE IT!

Healthy Eating

In the quest to make 2011 my last FAT year and make 2012 the year we turn all our eatting habits around I have been cooking alot of new recipes. Tonights