Amazing Grace

We had Charles Billingsly at our church last night  and wow, what a service. He sang lots of amazing songs that touched my heart, but when he started this sweet old song " Amazing Grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me" it hit me like a ton of bricks. That Grace , that sweet amazing Grace is what has forgiven me of my sins when I thought I had done something unforgivable. That amazing Grace took someone so unworthy and made me whole. Over the years I was Thinking back at all the times that his Amazing Grace has held me and protected me. When I was a child and  in and out of hospital because no one could figure out how to stop my seizures. When I thought my new address was going to be the Children Hospital of Atlanta. His grace was there. I heard it every night as my mom sang this to me till I fell asleep after every seizure. His Amazing Grace was there when the whole family had almost given up hope after three years on no answers. His Grace led us to a epileptic doctor that had never taken a child in his life, but for some reason saw fit to take us in as a patient.He was a christian and he said something just told him to take us. I know what that something was, do you ?That Amazing Grace  cleansed my soul at the age of 8,  when I asked Jesus into my heart.  That Amazing grace was there in my teenage years, when I was a  jerk to my parents, was doing things I shouldn't and not caring. when I got in a relationship with a guy that hit ,pinched , beat me and  did things to me I try to block from my memory. That Amazing Grace  was always there I just chose not to listen. It waited quietly till I hit rock bottom and cried out for help. It took me and all my brokenness and helped me stand again.That Amazing Grace sent me a Godly man that swept me off my feet and showed me what real love feels like and that love isn't angry that love is patient love is kind. That Amazing Grace held me through many tough losses throughout the years.That Amazing Grace was sung every night to my daughter Reagan , all 8 months of my pregnancy( she was early) and almost every night since. I remember all the times I held her as her severe reflux was acting up and she would cry .I remember tears running down my cheeks because I didnt know what to do. I remember those words from Amazing Grace leaving my lips , because without Gods Sweet amazing Grace where would I be?

Amazing Grace how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost but now I'm found
Was blind but now I see


T'was Grace that taught...
my heart to fear.
And Grace, my fears relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear...
the hour I first believed.


Through many dangers, toils and snares...
we have already come.
T'was Grace that brought us safe thus far...
and Grace will lead us home.


The Lord has promised good to me...
His word my hope secures.
He will my shield and portion be...
as long as life endures.

What Has Gods Amazing Grace done for you ? 

6 Years old

wow I never really believed people when they said treasure every moment time flies. Till it hit me. My baby I loved and talked to in my belly . My baby I prayed over and  spent many sleepless night with. My baby I fought with doctors to find a remedy for her reflux. My baby I watched crawl and walk and say her first words. My baby is no longer a baby. Shes 6 years old .Where did time go? I have so many fond memories that fill my head , but still I want more. She's grown into a beautiful smart little girl. Shes reading small 3 and four letter word sentences and talking about marrying her love Jackson. She's becoming a little creative artist and using her imagination more and more. She's deeply in love with dinosaurs  and animals. She's got a super kind heart and starting to ask biblical questions. She's my Joy in the morning and my Song that puts me to sleep at night.

 This Year for her 6th Birthday she asked for an Angelina Ballerina Birthday Party. As always I strive to make the perfect party on a non existent budget lol. Lots and lots of handmade items and all the food made myself. I found tutu's online for 2.50 a piece and got  my dear mother-in-law made capes for the boys. I hired a past pulse student of mine to come as Angelina and dance and entertain the kids . Best $40 bucks I've ever spent! She was a hit . She brought an Angellina Dance Game and taught them some moves and did a special dance. She even brought pointe toe shoes for the girls to try on. I hand painted mask for all the girls and boys to wear and take home too!!

On her actual Birthday every year we spend the whole day celebrating Her and she decides what we do. In years past it's been a wild animal safari,cabbage patch land,Monkey Joes etc. This year she wanted to go see Dinosaurs so off to the Ferbank Natural History Museum we go!!! We stopped before the Ferbank and had Lunch at Ihop were she was sang to and had a Birthday Pancake!!.She loved the dinosaurs especially the teranadon!! After the Meauseum we  went to Build a Bear and let herr use a certificate she got for her birthday and let her go to target to spend her giftcard  then we came home and watched movies together for the rest of the day!

Playing Her Leappad  we got her for her Birthday ready for her big day!!

Enjoying her Birthday panCAKE!!

Exploring the Fernbank playcenter

Reagan the mean T-Rex after Daddy!!

Family Shot!!

MY Cool Kat Diva!!

Giving her Build a bear (dog she named Brown Dog) a bath!

Her Goodies she got with her giftcard!!

I'm one blessed Momma!!!!

Toddler bed turned into chair and ottoman redo:)

(I think my dog and reagan were ripping something up in the corner as I was photographing this that shred wasnt there before I started taking pics )

Wow this project was so much more simple and cheaper in my head:) That being said I love the finished project and think the our Princess loves it equally so!! It all started when I was cleaning out our daughters playroom and rearanging toys .She has a whole corner devoted purely to a pretend house  (that's my mom playing house with her it was the only pic I could find of my bed in one piece sorry mom)

So I was looking at the bed and saw how much space it took up and the fact that she rarely ever played with it unless we have company. I'm a little sentimental  about getting rid of it because its her baby mattress and her toddler bed and well there's memories.I got rid of almost all her baby stuff recently and this I just couldnt let go of. So I saw potential and thought it might make a really cool chair slash footstool.I knew the perfect place for it.We reused almost every piece of it..Including the mattress .So needless to say this was a very interesting project

First thing first we took it apart I knew I wanted the chair to end at the arm rails and I had a good idea on how big I wanted the footstool to be to.

Notice two things I didn't get too detailed pictures of while making this see the footboard on the left laying on the floor right after taking this picture we cut the top of the footboard completely off just leaving the two legs and the rail that connects them (to make this the front of the chair) and notice the side rails . we chopped them off at the arm and then we took a piece that would leave atleast two support slats and chooped it down to size to be the sides of our ottoman.I know I should have taken pictures but we were working late at night after my hubby got home from work so my brain didnt even think about it.Here;s all the pieces to the chair layed out the top piece is the footboard we cut down to size.

We put the chair back together just like it was originally except the front piece( the footboard that had been

 cut down

;then we screwed the footboard into the front of the chair.I keep saying we, but really all the screwing and cutting was done by my amazing hubby. While we has screwing and cuttting , I decided to rip the matteress open and see what I could findlots of batting and and springs once we got the bed together I measured from the back of the chair to the front of the chair and started snipping the springs with wire cutters( it hung over just a tinch but that will be fine )

there is the chair and the spring cut down to size wheew what a relief it worked so far so good I spent 40.00 at home depot on some nails wood putty etc. 

Next I puttied the wholes to make for a smooth painting job

while I waited overnight for the putty to dry.I know it didnt take that long but I wanted to make sure it was good and dry. My hubby tackled the ottoman we had to slates for middle support and two sides cut down from the side rails.He cut a 1x4 pine board down to the size of the front and back.We also bout a thich post for the legs and cut them so they arte the same size as the chair legs.






I painted just the legs because the rest is going to be covered with material. I also cut the rest of the springs for the mattress down to fit inside the ottoman its a little smaller but we have plenty of batting left over to make it nice and puffy.

I applied to coats of rustoleum  flatback to the chair and let it dry

 Now for the cushions.For that I needed my amazing motherinlaws help. I'm clueless at a sewing machine.

We gathered up the batting and surrounded the cusion adding a little extra to the front where her knee will bend. Then we wrapped it in a t-shirt material scrap she had and she sewed her up

we layed the favric I had found at joannes (30.00 total ) to get an idea we wanted to make it a slipcover so I could take it off and wash it .

then she sewed it up and made it so that it had velcro closures so that I could wash it

add a couple pillows and  perfection....The heart pillow I got last year after valentines clearance :)NOw for the ottoman cover I was told it was a labor of love ( I dont sew but my dear mother in law does) Its removal so I can wash it also

Like my daughter and dog crouched in the corner :) Put it all together and oyu have one oober happy princess and one very relieved mommy and mimi that this project is over:)

I hope you liked my project!!!!!! I know my princess does!!!!!

SPRING BREAK kick-off

The Princess had her final performance as a preschooler.She danced and sang all while looking terrified.She definitely doesn't get that from me,her daddy gets major stage fright though.She made us some cute ) mothers,fathers day placemats.Robert's said I love my daddy cause he plays train tracks with me.Mine said I love my mommy because she gives me lots of kisses.Melt my Heart!!!!Allot of mom's got teary eyed, but I'm homeschooling her next year, and she's attending a classical academy of fridays for ballet/gymnastic/art/history so I know theres plenty of performances to come.

This was the kickoff to spring break!!! Yeay... While we don't hae any major plans we're going to my mom's this weekend and she's getting to go to a meusum saturday(she it's a suprise) She is huge into dinosoaurs right now.As for the rest of the week we'll see what we can get into.I forsee paint ,parks, and princess pampering.

Wow it's been a while!!

   So how have you been? I've been busier than ever!! I have changed m diet and lost almost 10 pounds...still have ten more to go ,but yeay me!!! I went from barely being a size 6 or 7 in juniors to needing a 4 or 5 in juniors....thats what i wore before Reagan.Now to loose that c-section saggy belly of mine... that means excercise blah. It's one thing to eat better ,but really ha ha. I know I know get up off my lazy but and just do it!

  My sister-in-law had an amazingly beautiful baby girl named Hannah Kate.I know it's a beautiful name fit for the beautiful Princess she is.Now I'm a proud aunt to a college student ,a junior in highschool,a sophmore in highschool,A Heaven born angel baby boy,and a beautiful baby named Hannah Kate. Being an Aunt is serious business. You have to stay top dog. I have competition and I must be the favorite.I use to make fun of my sister for sending Reagan my daughter random presents through the year and when she did see her having a bag full of goodies for her. I cannot laugh anymore.I'm just as bad.Shopping for a little girl is so fun. I already have a goody bag full of stuff and more in the closet  for later on. It was all on sale, and it all clearly said "Hannah Kate needs this, you must buy it for her so your her favorite Aunt" well maybe it didn't actually say that , but it sure did in my head.I love that girl more than I can express and I haven't even gotten to meet her yet!!



I've been slacking on my refinishing projects but I did accomplish to redo my bedroom. My bedroom before was (forgot to take pics) light blue bleach stained carpets with three baby blue walls and one dark chocolate brown wall. What was I thinking as if my master bedroom wasn't small enough to begin with. Don't even get me started on trying to find a comforter to match when my old one needed replacing.Needless to say if needed freshening up so. I first picked a comforter found a quilt on clearance for 20.00 at walmart and the shams were 6.00 a piece. then I went to my favortie store ross's and found a rug, curtains and a bedskirt..Curtains 12.00 a piece rug 6.99 and bedskirt 5.99. so now to buy paint and paint.Painting over colored walls is for the dog's 2 gallons later and 500 (o.k maybe not that many) hours later I go this!!!!

That dresser my t.v's on was another redo of mine it was chipped and had seen its better days I painted it and glazed it a couple new nows and its mine all mine. The sign is a stick picture of my husband peeing. My daughter has decided that the hall bathroom anyone can go in ,but our bedroom bathroom is for boys only and it needed a sign to say so. The things that goes on in that girls head lol.

Not the best pics but Im happy hardwoods floors are awesome no more stained carpet

The cross reads"holding you I hold everything"

      As for new products I have this old wheel bed I got from the consignment sale me and my mom-in-law(she's amazing) had ,and  I was gonna just turn it into a pirate themed bed but after seeing a post on this blog I have a new venture in refinishing I want to do

http://craftydonjen.blogspot.com/search/label/Pink

you need to check out this blog.This mom and daughter duo are some crafty diva's and I love it.If oyur not hands on like me, they make and sell items so you dont have to .I just happened upon it while sifting thru  www.remodelaholics.com and am now a huge fan.Anywho by now you can guess what I have in store for this ole bed of mine er' mattie.! Wow that was cheesy! I can't wait. Well I sorta have to wiat till my hubby can give me a power tools 101 course. After that I'm on it . I was asked recently to take a baking class over the summer with my friends and I said nah, wanna take a home depot how to course with me:) I have the remodel it, do it yourself fever and I don't think it's going away anytime soon.

wow that was a pretty long post for me...untill next time..ttfn!!!

couponing 101

Let me start of by saying I am  in no way am a pro at couponing, but I think of it like an adventure or a sport, and try to improve every time I go. I've had allot of friends ask how I get the deals I get so I thought I'd try to set down and take the time to explain.

Clothing
As for clothing there's really not allot of  money saving printable coupons etc.I'll give an example od my recent shopping trip for Reagan and explain how I did it. I went shopping in Chattanooga at Hamilton place and spent $166.49 and got  $483.14 worth of clothes. With that $166.49 I got 9 everyday outfits,2 bathing suits,6 pais of flipflops,3 Sunday dresses/1 shirt/2 skorts/ad two outfits for my neice. The trick is shop out of season as much as possible. I know you may say I'm not sure what size my child will be next winter etc. Guess if your child seems to grow allot go up a size or size and a half. My daughter doesnt seem to grow quickly so I go up a size every year but buy the same size for summer and winter. If your child can't wear everything you bought the season before sell it a a consignment sale.You get it so cheap shopping out of season you easily can resale it for the same price if not more. My rule of thumb is never spend more than 10.00 per outfit, no more than 15.00 for shoe, and no more than 10.00 on sunday clothes. I try to stay under 6.00 an outfit and most times do but  the 10.00 is my max I will spend. I always check the online the stores im going to visit for printable coupons and only look in the clearance section.


Food




Getting Coupons ready for shopping
There's no right or wrong way to organize your coupons as long as you can fid the coupon you need when you need it. Here's how  I do it. I have Two large three prong folders. The first one is full of clear protector sheets and I put the sunday coupon booklets in it( smartsource  P&G etc) I write the date of the sunday I got the coupons on the front of them and organize them by date.Placing each week in a different protector. The rule of thumb is buy 1 paper for every person in your household.I have three in mine but I usually just purchase a double paper .The Second folder is for all your printable and misc coupons. I fill that folder with clear collector card inserts.( got mine at staples) and you can organize them by categories (cleaning,drinks,etc) or by ABC whichever you  choose will be fine.The Beginning of every month the following websites loads new coupons. I suggest you check them at the beginning of the month ad print any coupons that look like anything you might use( they disapear quickly) If you print them and press the back button it should print anoter one. Mos coupon sites allow a max of two prints per computer. I print two from our computer than hook my laptop up to the printer and print two more :). Here's a few sites that you should check at the beginning of every month
Coupons.com
SmartSource
Redplum
coupon cabin
organic coupons
organic coupons 2


The following website has a database to search so before you go shopping go to this website and anything your going shopping for type the name in the database ( you search database by state) and this website will tell you if there is a coupon anywhere to match your item
coupon mom


Grocery stores rules
Publix
publix will double any coupon $.50 or under.
You can stack a publix coupon and a manufacturers coupon ( you can print publix coupons from the web or their saving booklets)
At my publix I can use a target coupon like and a manufacturers coupon because they consider them a competitor( ask the store manager of your publix who they consider competitors)
My publix even lets me stack a publix coupon a targt coupon and a manufactorers coupon
B1G1 deals  doesnt mean you have to buy two items you can bu one item and it rings up half off.
Always check there spinning racks as you go in the door if they have a coupon booklet grab atleast 2
Publix allows overage ..which means if you buy an item on sale for 1.50 and you have a manufacturers coupon for 1.00 off and a publix coupon for 1.00 of your saving 2.00 which is more than the items worth.They apply that extra  $.50 off to the total purchase making an item you dont have coupons for cheaper.( not many stores do this)

Kroger
I have to admit I don't really shop anywhere but publix but I really dont have a kroger near me
Kroger will double 3 coupons $.50 or less for every 10 you spend
Kroger tends not to take anyone elses coupons but there own
10 for 10 deals you can buy just one item and get it for a dollar

All other grocery stores you can look on the following website and she has a list of their store rules
Southern Savers

speaking of southern savers that is the website I use to prepare to go grocery shopping.This website has a link to about every store you can think of's weekly add ad matches up all the coupons to go along with the sells.The best part is its printable so your list with matching coupons is ready to go.

Here's a few other good  match up websites
Iheart publix
ihearttarget
they both post the adds extra early so you can get your coupons ready ahead of time

you may say it's going to take me forever to build up my stockpile of sunday papers. There are website that sale the sunday coupons. I suppest if your just starting by two of every weeks for the past month so if your starting today and its Feb 22 I say buy atleast back to jan 22nd and that should give you a good head start.
Heres the website where you can buy clipped coupons or whole coupon booklets
coupondede
there are others but shes the one I use .she has a 5.00 flat rate shipping for whole adds which is helpful.


The rule of thumb with grocerys is buy what you need not on sale.If its a good sale and you have coupons buy as many as possible.I have 8 bottles of dishwashing detergent I payed $.29 a piece for and  5 packets of dishwashing machine tablets I got for free setting in our hall closet. I also have free toothpaste,Excedrin,etc. You may think its obsessive but for the price an the fact you never know what tommorrow holds job wise its security .


I hope I haven't confused or overwhelmed you to much.Start small with small trips and small goals and work yourself up. Im a stay at home mom and my husbands a landscaper so with a tight budget its nice to have a closet full of clothes and fridge full of food. You can do it too!!

BoogaBooga Land review

I recently had the chance to review the kids dvd  Adventures in BoogaBooga Land  and have very mixed feeling about it. On one had My 5 year old loved it while I found it  choppy and at times a bit confusing.It starts of and the intro just makes me dizzy its a little overkill if you ask me. If you've ever seen Rocko's Modern life this dvd reminds me of that on Acid or Speed. It focuses on 3 parables the workers in the vineyard.the wise and the foolish builders, and the lamp under the bowl. I'll start with the first to demonstrate the workers in the vineyard  Marty and Gerard( the main charachters) get a job as a window washer and work hard all day long , as the day passes more workers come to help and when it comes pay time  the worker pays them all the same. they get upset because they worked longer then the rest , and he says did you not agree on this pay,is it wrong for me to be generous and pay you all the same. Let me stop here before I go on to say the voices in this is terrible its very bad acting but it's for kiddos so i tried my best to ignore it as annoying as it was. The second parable was the wise and the foolish and  Marty and  Gerrard go to school to learn construction. The teacher has an awful time with marty because hes constantly jumping ahead of his plan and trying to do things hes not learned yet. Eventually they graduate and Marty builds a house on the beach while gerrard builds his on the stone. A storm comes and marty wakes up in bed in the middle of the ocean while gerrard has to save him. It was a good way to get the lesson across I give him props for that. The last one was the parable of the  lamp under a bowl. Let me say Im a preachers kid I know almost all the parables of the bible and I hadn't ever heard of this one.  In this parable marty tried to build a lighthouse and the light keeps going out and a ship sinks this happens like 4 times and finally he fixes it. I had to go to the scripture they tie into this Matt 5:4-16 to get the point to this one and what it was really trying to get  across to the kids. Would I buy this in store ,no. Did my five year old love it,yes! That being said we watch movies together and with the bad voicing and the sparatic intro's this is bnot something i could watch over and over with her. I'd vote veggie tells or gigi over this anyday. Good intenetions bad followthrough!!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”