Friday Foto Friends

I have a hodge-podge of things to post with no related theme. First off, this popped up in my Facebook memories. About a year or two ago, Milky Way came out with this candy bar to try it out and see how it did. I fell in love with it. It wasn't really marshmallow tasting as it was about the marshmallow adding a lightness and airiness to Milky Ways.

Since I love Milky Ways I had to try it. I fell in love with it and claimed it to be my new favorite candy bar....until I went back to the gas station I bought it at and they no longer carried them and I've never seen them again. 

This also popped up in my memories and made me want to go back to Courthouse Donuts on my way to work for my favorite one. The ones at the bottom right corner are cake donuts dipped in chocolate frosting, then dipped in crunched up Butterfingers and then drizzled with caramel sauce. Oh, yes. I need to stop there today.

Over the years, I have sold and traded a lot of Pyrex. But I found this picture of one of my displays and regret some of the things I sold. I still have a lot of what is in this picture, but I regret getting rid of the things I no longer have.

Same thing with this one. I wish I had some of the ones on here I no longer have. Oh well, that's the price you pay for wheeling and dealing in Pyrex world.

Last Saturday I had to work and Old Navy was having their $1.00 flip flop sale. I love the old fashioned rubber flip flops for when I go down on the beach or work around out in the yard. So my daughter was kind enough to go to Old Navy and pic up two pair for me. I am so in love with both colors, but the pale pink are adorable. I am rethinking the whole wear them on the beach and in the yard thing because I don't want them to get dirty. Even though they are easy to clean.  

My son-in-law was in a dirt bike accident. Please keep him in your prayers. He broke his collarbone in four places and dislocated it on both ends. He had surgery Wednesday and came home yesterday. Lots of screws and metal to hold him together now. He also had four fractured ribs which they can't do anything for. He's in pain but got out of the hospital yesterday and is on the mend. Shelby stayed with me during the hospital stay and me and her Mamaw Sherrie went running around yesterday. Sherrie wanted a new Vera Bradley billfold so we headed to the outlet sale. Everything in the store was 50% off and then you took 20% off of that sale price. So Sherrie bought several items that total over around $140 and got them all for $58. Shelby found a new back pack she liked. I think her Mamaw Sherrie is going to go back and get it for her for her birthday which is coming up.

And last, is the cute sign on our church sign last week. As a matter of fact, a local weatherman for WVLT news 8 was driving by and saw the sign and actually posted it on the news Facebook page. It was pretty neat.

Have a great weekend and remember to pop over to Friday Foto Friends and visit Ms. Debbie.

Some things I've seen...

Friday Foto Friends

Hooking up with Ms. Debbie for Friday Foto Friends today.

My week has flown by. Between work, one day that I was sick and feverish and slept 15 hours and two days with three of my beautiful grandchildren, I have been busy. But I did manage to start some of the crafts for my new Children's Church room. I nixed the idea of the accordion fold rosettes for the fruits of the spirit display. I realized you need to fold 6 pieces of 12 x 12 paper to make one rosette...and I needed 9 so that means 54 times of folding sheets. No thank you. So I saw an alternative and tried one with that for a sample.

Not sure I like it so I'm still trying to figure what to do. So I took a deep breath and tried to concentrate on other options because I loved the accordion pleated style and it hit me...PARTY CITY! I bet they carry to kind that come like a fan and you fan them out and then clip the sides together. So I went on line and sure enough they have what I want so I will be heading there on my day off next week to get those. And they have tons of patterns or solids to choose from. So excited now.

But I was happy with how my prayer pail turned out. Even got the prayer sticks done so the kids can pick one out to pray.

And I am super excited about the class rules. I got two of them done last night before I had to cook supper and do dishes and fold laundry. But I am loving how they are turning out. These little people from the scrapbook store are addictive to craft with. I still have 6 more to do. I found the little conversation bubbles at the Dollar Tree.

I took my three youngest grandbabies to Splash Country all day Wednesday. We did make your own pizza night for supper and vegged out with popcorn and Hershey's bars for a snack while we watched Lego Batman (which was adorable) and Monster High Electrifying (which I am a sucker for any Monster High movie). Thursday we went to the movies and saw Cars 3. Best Cars movie yet. We somehow managed to get a selfie before going to the movies which is hard to do when they get the giggles and my arms are barely long enough to stretch out, but I couldn't have been happier with the results. A lot of love and a lot fun captured for eternity in one simple snap of the camera.

Afterwards, we went to Walmart and Alexis was looking at a board of magnets. I spotted this one and cracked up. They didn't get it at first until I said that sea shells are whole with two pieces but the tide ends up splitting them in two. So I said look again. And Alexis got it because she is a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle fan and sings the theme song when she watches it. One part says "heroes in a half shell. Turtle power." Needless to say that we became hysterical in Walmart over turtles in a half shell....right up until Colby & Shelby saw miniature Wonder Woman and Batman figurines. 

Last night, I had a Thirty-One party on Facebook. In looking for pics to put in the party, I found this adorable picture and fell in love with the whales on the bags and zipper pouch. I need a new beach bag before my next trip so I think this is what I'm going to get.  

I also thought this combo was really cute. 

Well, there you go my Friday Fotos. Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Plain, simple, delicious....

I have some favorite things I love to eat from some of the best places I've ever eaten. These are places that most people wouldn't think twice about eating there. They are not 5 star restaurants. There is no linen on the tables and no fancy waiters hovering near by to see to your every need. But they are the places that I crave a particular item. The first one is one that many of our locals will agree with me has the best food you will ever put in your mouth. Frank Allen's is a family owned grill inside a family owned gas station. 

But the burgers, hot dogs and fries are guaranteed to keep you coming back for more.

In Huntington, WV there is a hot dog stand that has been there since 1932. The building is the home of the best hot dogs you will ever put in your mouth. I crave these things so bad sometimes that me and Allen have actually made the 5 hour trip back home and planned the trip around when we could eat at Stewart's Hot Dogs.

 No dine in service and the hot dog sauce (chili) is made fresh daily. The root beer is always served in an ice cold frosted mug. You can purchase the Stewart's Root Beer in stores now but not the dogs.

The next place on my "I highly recommend" places is a small restaurant in Myrtle Beach, SC. It was called Ritzy's for many, many years and the owner closed it down and retired after having it for 17 years. In 2003, he reopened under a new name but with the same great food. He decided retirement wasn't for him. 

I go there every time I go to the beach...and sometimes twice just for the delicious cheeseburgers and the 1950's ambiance. 

The next one is one I saw on an Alton Brown show where he did road trips across the US finding the best places to eat. It is Jack's Cosmic Dogs in Mount Pleasant, SC right outside of Charleston. We took a day trip down that way one year when we went to Myrtle Beach and the hot dog was well worth the drive. The place looked like a little dive and we were a little leery to go eat there.

Until we went in. Oh my goodness, the sheer number of ways they could do a dog was unreal. Of course, me being me, I had the basic hot dog with chili and mustard and onion.

There are some places that the food is okay and they are a chain so you can get them anywhere. K & W Cafeteria in Myrtle Beach is one place that is on my "must do when I go back" places.

But not because of the food which was well, food. Nothing fabulous. Nothing I would give anything to have again....except the big slice of two layer coconut cake. I dream about this cake. I long for another piece of this cake. Sherrie and I ate their last year and oh my goodness this was a big ol' gooey slice of heaven. We are going back again this year. At K & W, you walk through cafeteria style and tell them what you want and only pay for the items you get, not a one-price for everything establishment. So we are going to go to Burky's for hamburgers for a late lunch and then heading down that evening to K & W to have dessert. Sounds crazy, but oh my goodness if you ever had this cake you would know it is so worth it.

The last place and my absolute favorite is locally owned Gino's Pizza of Barboursville, WV. I grew up with this pizza and it is still my favorite food on the planet. Sometimes when I go home to visit, I will have it two nights in a row. I can't get enough of Gino's when I go home. 

People back home know how much I crave it and will actually send me pics any time they have it for supper. Which makes me crave it even more. I have even bought it and wrapped it up and put it in a cooler on ice to have again when I get home from my trip. They keep growing and expanding and have many locations in West Virginia, but they have moved outside the state yet. I keep hoping and praying that "maybe someday".

Well, now I'm starving. I'm getting ready to make my Reese Peanut Butter Brownie Trifle to take to work today. It is always a huge hit with the crowd. Of course, with Reese cups, brownies, Cool Whip, peanut butter and vanilla pudding, what's not to love.

Have a great Tuesday!

Weekend wrap up

I did some shopping Saturday before work to pick up more supplies for decorating my Children's Church classroom. One thing I needed more of was the polka dot card stock. The five sheets from Friday I bought for .50 cents each. Once I realized that was going to be really expensive to get as much as I needed for the projects I am doing, I went price shopping. I found one booklet of 30 sheets at Hobby Lobby for $19.99 less 40% coupon made it .39 cents per sheet. Which is better than .50 cents each, but I still didn't want to pay that much. I journeyed on to Walmart and found exactly what I wanted (just like the one at Hobby Lobby) for just $5.00. That's only .16 cents each and I can definitely take a deal like that. 

I also needed skinny ribbon for one project. This exact ribbon was at Hobby Lobby for $1.99 each on sale at 50% off for .99 each. But I was pretty sure Walmart would be cheaper. And I was right. Each roll was .47 cents. Score one more for bargain shopping and comparing prices.

Now, I did get this one though at Hobby Lobby because I used the 40% off coupon and got it for $2.39. It was the exact color I was looking for and I had not seen it anywhere else so I got it while I could. 

Now, I'm ready to start crafting. I was going to make rosette medallions for one of the decorations until I realized I would need 54 sheets of paper to make the big medallions which means 54 times of folding to perfect symmetrical folds and then gluing 6 sheets together for 9 different medallions. So I am now looking for other bigger floral designs projects that would be easier. I did find this one, but not sure sure if that's what I want. Still checking Pinterest.

All that bargain shopping made me hungry so I stopped off at Shoney's while the breakfast bar was still out. My breakfast was delicious. 

Sunday, a friend of mine brought me this cookbook to borrow so I can copy some recipes. Everything in it is made with cake mix. Right up my alley. I can't wait to sit down tonight and go through it.

This same friend brought me a gift along with one of my other friends. It was a pair of Tommy Hilfiger flip flops I have been wanting, but hadn't found. I was so excited. I just absolutely love them. This is my favorite brand of flip flops and I wanted this pattern since I saw someone with a pair at VBS. 

It actually worked out good, but I just borrowed this Tommy Hilfiger purse from my daughter this past week because I was tired of all my purses. Very convenient that I picked this out of all her bazillion purses and then got a new pair of Tommy's on Sunday that goes with the purse. I love these little surprises that comes our way. 

I get to work the early shift today so I am going to start working on my decorations for my new church room tonight. I think instead of a cardboard tree on the wall for the fruits of the spirit, I will make a tree with pool noodles and brown paper bags. 

Have a great Monday.

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to my Daddy. He's been gone 18 years and I still miss him every day.

Happy Father's Day to my hubby. This will be his second Father's Day in heaven. 

Happy Father's Day to my son. I hope you have an amazing day.

Happy Father's Day to my son-in-law. I hope you have an amazing day as well.

Ideas for decorating Children's Church

For over 10 years, I have helped or been the leader over Children's Church at my church. Over a period of time, we have had to move our classes from one place to another. We have used the rooms of a Sunday School class, the GA's class, the Youth class, a Senior Adult Sunday School class and most recently the fellowship hall. Since we were always going wherever we could for however long we could, we never had our "stuff" in one place. I couldn't do anything on the walls because the other classes had their stuff on the walls. Well, I realized in VBS that we have a big empty room no one uses anymore. So I went to the preacher and we now have our very own Children's Church room! We are so excited. I went over to check it out and clean it up one day this past week.  I'm fixing it up in stages. This is the before picture of  Phase I.

I scrubbed and wiped and dusted. I cleaned out old craft bins and file cabinets and bookshelves. After a couple hours work, I got it organized as best I could that day. I did one end for the classroom and one end for the craft area. They are going to hang my chalkboard higher and put my bulletin board up on the wall. I need to get some new curtains for the windows. And we need to bring 10 more chairs in, which our youth pastor was going to have the youth do on Wednesday night. Still need to decorate the walls, but we are on a start.

With the paneled walls and the assorted mix matched seats, I want to incorporate some bright colors. I also want things on the wall that they can learn from. One of the favorite songs we sing sometimes is one that our preacher's daughter taught them and we can't ever remember the order of the Fruits of the Spirit when we sing it. So I was looking for ideas as a wall hanging and found this.

But I wanted something to take up more space, so I had the idea for pinwheels in bright colored scrapbook patterns and in the middle put a starburst of circle with one of the fruits of the spirit then hang all nine of them on a wall. Here's a bland example of what I am talking about, except instead of a number in the center, I will put a fruit of the spirit word. I'm going to Hobby Lobby today to look at scrapbook paper.

Another thing I saw on Pinterest that I want to put on the wall is our rules. They all know we have certain rules but it doesn't hurt to remind them what they are since sometimes they forget. So I really, really fell in love with this.

I have recent'y become obsessed with dotted scrapbook paper so I am keeping with the theme above. I stopped by our Scrapbook Super Store 1/2 off store yesterday and not only found the paper I wanted, but the little people to put on the signs. I got all this for $2.75.

They also had their 8 1/2 x 11 paper on sale. It was 25 sheets for .99 cents. But the way they do their 1/2 off is they ring everything up and take 50% off. So you actually get 25 sheets for .50 cents. I picked out some assorted even though I don't know what I am going to do with it, but it will come in handy for crafts. I plan to stop back in there today and get another 25 because they had holiday theme and I didn't think to get any for Christmas crafts.

I plan on doing several wall hanging on poster board or the thicker foam board. I like this one, but the color needs to pop a little more.

This is a cute idea to hang jute in one area and hang some photos of the kids. We have between 15 - 25 every Sunday with it mostly being over 20. So this would be fun for the kids. But since we are ever changing and I don't want anyone to feel left out, I think we will trace and cutout hand prints out of card stock. That way any visitors or new attendees can draw one on their first day and we can hang them on there as well. 

We have learned to pray as part of our bible studies. We did an entire series on The Lord's Prayer. But instead of just a standard or random prayer, I want to put this prayer pail in our room. We can pull out a stick each week and focus on praying for that one person, whether it be someone in the church or our parents, or our military. There are many, many prayers we can put on the sticks.

In September our current study ends. We have been focusing on the stories in the Old Testament and learning the history of everything that went on. Starting October 1st for our new year, we are going to focus on All About Jesus. I found an amazing study that ties in the Old Testament to Jesus. So I plan incorporating a lot of versus and a lot of the things Jesus does for us into my wall hangings as well. I love this one and it would be super simple to do.

One thing we also will be focusing on is the importance of the Golden Rule. So I want to use this board and let them pick a card out of an envelope and it will have something they can do that week to show kindness. I will make them simple, like holding the door open for someone, helping Mom clean off the table without being asked, carry in groceries for Mom, things like that. 

Our class loves Smarties so I thought I would do a bowl for Smarties and give them a bible verse each week and if they can memorize it, they get a pack of Smarties.

On any month that has five Sundays in it, we have some activity time. Our class room is in our old church building (we call it the educational building) and it is just us and a pre-K class that goes there for Children's Church. But we are the only ones in our hallway. I like the idea of this hopscotch to roll out but not sure how we would work it because too much hopping would tear paper. Maybe a long solid runner that I could paint some words on like each square could have some of John 3:16 on it and we could all repeat it as they jumped on each section. Still thinking this one through.

I did find where someone used carpet squares for hopscotch but not sure how long it would take to wear paint off.

Then it hit me, interlocking foam mats! I could write on them with Sharpie and if it started wearing off, just rewrite it. Yes, I think I will order some of those.

Sorry for such a long post, but I guess you can tell I am really excited about our changes in Children's Church.