My amazing son...

Today was the first day of my sons college. I am soo proud of him!!

He decided to go to a community college for his first two years, not that he couldn't of go to a bigger university. He had decided to take an advantage of Missouri's A+ program that offers kids scholarships if they attend a community college. He will walk out of two years with no expenses. They also offer a transfer program that ensure the students don't take classes that doesn't apply to their major. It was very important to Kyle to not be in debt when he walks out of school. I am very proud of him for that!!


While we out picking up last minute school supplies and having his computer repaired, we found a new guitar store. He fell in love with the place because it has new and vintage guitars.
This is a Takamine
It was one of his favorites.

Kyle has played guitar since he was 8 or 9. He then played cello through out middle school, junior high and high school. He can play both instruments beautifully.

Giving your child music lessons is such a gift. Music is such a part of his life I can't image him without it.

                                                                 So Proud!!

Busy week...

Last week was a super busy week for our family and it continued into the week end. My husband had an event at work which means he works a lot and not home much. He manage to continue some work on the front of the house. I have given him a deadline of the second week of October. He is a one man show so it is taking him longer that what he thought it would. He got the concrete piers dug and poured for the porch columns.

Don't you love his outfit? He usually wears suits to work so on the weekend he likes to have a change of pace. It cracks me up!!

 Saturday night we got to spend  time with some great friends and family at the Royals game. They even won that night.

These are my husbands cousins Rick and Ash. They are so much fun to hang out with!! We had some good laughs.

On Sunday we went to a good old fashioned church picnic. The weather was really nice that night.

My little angels!! This is when they were still clean and before they got in the water.

Potluck for dinner, my favorite!! I love getting to taste everyones food and get new recipes.

Lots of games. If you notice Aiden is holding a carton of eggs...yep, they are tossing eggs. They had to have a good bath when we got home.

And last but not least, Luke started Kindergarten. This is his first day waiting for the bus. He was sooo excited to ride. I wanted to take him, but he insisted he wanted to ride the bus.

Well, I think I am caught up. This week won't be any slower. Kyle, my oldest son starts college this week and Brandon has another event on Friday. Thats life!!

Just life...

It's funny how life  gets in the way of really getting anything done. We have been busy just doing day to day stuff . We did get a few things marked off our summer fun list.

We had a successful week at vacation bible school. I taught the craft section. The boys loved going every day and were sad when the week was over.

Miranda and I went to a award banquet for her job. She won the customer sevrice of the year. She was picked to be the best out of  all the employee in six stores. I was so proud, it made me tear up.

Miranda has been teaching Luke and Aiden swim lessons three times a week. This is the advantages of having older siblings that are certified swim instructors.

They love to swim and have learned very quickly.

We also took a trip to Crown Center with their cousins. We ate at Fritz's restaurant. It has trains that deliver the food. The boys thought this was amazing!!

We have also been getting ready to go back to school. Cleaning out closets and buying school supplies.

 I am stocking up on $ makers and .40 cent crayons at Wal-mart. I am going to save them to include in my Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes.

http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/OCC/index/

 I got this idea from Meg over at Whatever. She always has such great ideas!!

                             http://megduerksen.typepad.com/whatever/2011/08/monday-stuff.html

PLAYROOM letters and afternoon snack.

Playroom letters

Today the boys and I worked on painting letters that spell PLAY for their playroom. These things are huge...I think they measure two foot. I am going to put them on top of a large bookcase. I bought them at Joann's with a bunch of 40% of coupons. They came out to be about 6 bucks each, not to bad for a large piece of art.They also had Amsterdam acrylic paint on sale for .97 cents each. I bought several tubes of that brand and had to buy one tube of the basic brand, I needed one more color. I had intended to use scrapbook paper and mod podge, but the more I thought about it I wanted them to just be really bright since that room has very little natural light. I love how the colors turned out. We also painted some canvases and bird houses. I haven't figured out yet what I am going to do with those.

The acrylic paint turned out nice. I have only used craft paint before and it isn't as thick.

Luke and Aiden painting their canvases. They would paint something everyday if I let them.

     Of course we need a snack after all that painting, they love pink milk!!

Grandma Winzer's banana nut bread...YUM!! Find the recipe in my recipe section.

Banana nut bread and pink milk

This just made me laugh! He was looking at the nuts and said "Mommy, this bread has bugs in it!" So funny!

Have a Happy Day!  

My favorite candle store...

I want to share with my blog friends my favorite candle store. It is located in Weston Mo., a little town know for it's apple orchard, pumpkin patch, wineries and brewery...now that's a combination

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 5B & Co. candlemakers is a fun shop in the middle of downtown Weston.

http://www.5bandco.com/index.php

5B & Co. is owned and operated by my friend Marsha Martin. She and a handfull of employee's hand pore all the candles ranging in sizes from votive to pillars.

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This is Marsha, she will greet you with a smile and a quick lesson on candles when you walk in the door.

Marsha is very creative when it comes to both combining scents and coming up with unforgettable names. Some of my favorites are Cabana Boy, Clean Undies, Handyman, Monkey Burps, and The Bottom of Moms Purse. Now those are names you won't forget!!

I love all of her cute displays!!

 I love to just look around.

             Cinnamon/vanilla, orange/cloves and blackberry/musk are a few of the combination of scents that fill the air down town while the candles are being made.

A little info on how Marsha makes her candles...

This is quote from Marsha's website:

" Our candles are made with the finest wax available, blended with top quality oils, and poured around a cardboard cored wick. We have the best scent throw going and some of the most unique scents around. Our candles burn clean and last between 15-18 hours each. Two or three will fill your home with fragrance. Each of our candles are hand poured with love and never smell industrial or look mass produced (because they aren't)."

Chalk board with an inspirational quote

I love this one!!

The story of Floyd...

Let me tell you about Floyd's candles and how Marsha gives back.....

This again is from Marsha's website:

Floyd's Story

Floyd is a seven month old mostly black lab puppy that came into our lives via the Atchison Kansas Humane Society. It was love at first sight! We had Floyd for a couple of days when we noticed he was looking sick. After IV's, antibiotics, and lots and lots of prayer, Floyd pulled through. We jokingly call him our $800 “free” puppy.

He makes candles with us everyday! Our customers love to step over him while he is napping or hug and play with him while he's awake.

Why Floyd's Candles?

When you make candles there is always a little bit of wax left over. We began to save this wax and mix it all together to make unique 3" x 4" pillars. We aren’t sure what’s in them, and can never duplicate them again. Just like Floyd the puppy!  

Do They Smell Good?

In the process of mixing all these colors and scents we have found Floyd's to be among our top sellers. You would be surprised how strawberry vanilla with a hint of peppermint and cucumber really compliment each other! Every candle is different, we haven’t blended one we didn’t like yet!  

How You Can Help

We had the honor of partnering with No More Homeless Pets KC and wanted to lend a helping hand. With every Floyd pillar sold online, we are donating $5.00 per candle to No More Homeless Pets KC. After being blessed with Floyd, it’s the least we can do!

I love that Marsha is as passionate about giving back as she is about making candles. I know you would truly enjoy your visit to Weston and meeting Marsha in person, but if that is not an option click over and check out her website.

                                               http://www.5bandco.com/index.php

Have a happy day!!

Playing catch up....

Sometimes it just gets so hard to carve out time to post, so I'm doing a little catch up.

 I got to spend the day, last week with my husbands family at an antique show/craft fair. There was some really great stuff. I with I would of had a large truck to take stuff home in. The prices were amazing.

 

This piece was already sold when I got there. I would be beautiful for any room.

These are the girls in my family. My mother in-law, couisin, cousin, and sister-in-law

                                                            
                                          More beautiful stuff!!

                                          I also took a trip to Mirandas school to get my hair cut.

These are the heads they practice on, the little boys think the are so creepy!

                                          Miranda doing color on her head.

 

                                                          I also spent some craft time with my littles....