Weekend Wrap Up

Monday's are just so rough. I hate having to try to get back into focus. But on the bright side, just 5 days till the weekend again. This past weekend was pretty quiet. Garret, Alexis and Colby came over and stayed with me some on Friday night for a little while, but didn't get any pictures. I have got to get a camera. By the time I click the sleep button on my phone and slide the lock button on the screen, click on camera and click on flash, my Kodak moments are already just a memory. 

I went shopping with my daughter and Shelby and Caleb on Saturday. My daughter has a warped sense of humor and I never know what she is going to say. (And she wonders where her children get it from). Anyway, we stopped at Wendy's for lunch and Caleb who is 9 was picking on his sister Shelby who is 4. Shelby got mad and punched him in the arm. Diana, being a good mommy, said "Shelby, don't hit your brother like that." Then she ruined it by adding "Use your right hand. You are right handed so you can hit harder that way."

Once I came home, it was time to bake some goodies for our Valentine's party at church today. I love to bake and volunteer to do it any chance I can. 

I especially love it when I get to use an assortment of my vintage Pyrex in the process. 

I made brownie cookies. The recipe is on the side of the box of Duncan Hine Chewy Fudge brownie mix. To make them festive, I stuck a conversation heart in each one when they were done. 

I hate making sugar cookies, but I do it anyway because you can put sprinkles on. I mixed the white and red sprinkles together in a sugar shaker and it made them less messy to sprinkle on. 

By the way, have you seen the new Oreo Mega Stuf's. Wow. 

Remember the old commercial "The kid'll eat the middle of an Oreo first and save the chocolate cookie outside for last." Well, trust me there is plenty of middle to eat on these new Oreo's. They were delicious. (They were also my breakfast Sunday morning, but don't tell anybody.) 

I fixed up some Valentine cards for the Pre-K class. Been a long time since I did that!

Megan, a little girl in our class, asked if we could have a picnic. So we had our Valentine party on the floor picnic style. I packed the cookies and a tablecloth in my favorite bag from Thirty-One. It's the Organizing Utility Tote and I use it so much. I need to get a new one in a spring pattern. 

I also carried my new Inside Out bag this weekend. Wasn't sure if I was going to like it, but once I got my stuff in it and carried it, I fell in love with it. It is so light weight that I couldn't believe it. 

I got some cool Valentine's and can't wait to eat my Whitman's chocolates. 

The kids took some Valentine's around to the Senior men's and women's classes and the Ladies Class. Everybody was tickled pink at getting little Valentine's from our class.

We started practicing our Easter music at choir practice last night. It is going to be an easy one to learn. It ends with one of my favorite songs. Well, off to get started on my week. Hope everybody has an easy Monday. 

Sunday Morning

There is a teen in our church that has recorded this song and she is totally awesome. This is my go to song when life comes at me from all directions. Here is The Crabb Family featuring Jason Crabb singing Through The Fire.

Here are some inspirations signs I saw on Pinterest this week that I really loved. 

Some highlights from this week....

My cousin has been going through some old pictures and posted this on Facebook for me. It's my twins when they were just a year old. Oh this takes me back in time and brings back many, many memories. 

She also posted this one that was taken when they were two years old. Totally precious. Sometimes I long for those days when my babies were still little.

Speaking of children, I saw this idea on Pinterest. It suggests you cut out paper hearts and write things about your child and stick a new one on their door every day leading up to Valentine's day. 

I also saw this beautiful wreath on either Facebook or Pinterest, I can't recall which. But isn't it pretty. I have got to learn how to make these. 

I know we aren't even past Valentine's yet but the beauty of working with Pre-K crafts for Sunday School is that I get to plan ahead. This is a wreath I made last Easter for my door. It was so much fun and so easy that I think we will let the kids make smaller ones for one of our Easter crafts. Just buy the eggs with the holes in both ends and run floral wire through the holes and tie it off. Add a bow and ribbon and you are good to go. It was so much fun that I'm going to make more this year.

I love this idea for "deviled eggs". Use your deviled egg tray and fill it with Jello. When it sets up add a dollop of whipped cream. Cute idea for dessert for Easter. 

How much fun would this be to make. I have got to do this. The grandkids might like to help with this. Of course, with five sets of hands helping I had better get an extra bag of M & M's. I think more will get eaten than end up on the cake. 

For all my blogging buddies that love animals, thought of you when I saw this. Isn't it adorable. 

I had an exciting week from Thirty-One. On Thursday, I got a package. Check out my Double Pinch Coin Purse. I am just loving it. I adore the red and white polka dots inside. 

They call it double pinch because it has a smaller section inside for coins. 

It is perfect for your cards, some cash and some coins. It even has that little pocket inside to keep your cards and cash separated. 

And it matches my key fob. 

And then on Friday, UPS came again with my Thirty-One Inside Out Bag in the new Black Floral Brushstrokes. I earned this for free in one of there incentive programs. That is why I love Thirty-One. There are always chances to earn free stuff.

The beauty of this bag is if I get tired of all the black and white in the spring, I can simply turn it inside out and carry it as the new Pink Cross Pop pattern.

Two bags in one. How cool is that?

Friday's Faves

It is that time of year when I start looking forward to spring yard sales. Those wonderful days when everybody does their spring cleaning and bargains are so good to find. Last year was an awesome experience. It seemed like every weekend there were lots of good sales to visit. I got a lot of bargains and almost everything I purchased was $1.00 or less. I got a lot of great items for .25 and .50. Hope this year brings as many good bargains. I thought I would share a few of my favorite finds from last year. 

Since I am Aunt B and Mamaw B and simply B to a lot of my family and friends, I fell in love with this little bee. At another sale I found the little tea for one. I couldn't pass it up. 

This wasn't a yard sale find, but it was a great bargain for $3.00 at an antique store. I had been looking for one for over a year so I snatched it up when I found it. 

It was an awesome year for Pyrex. I found a lot of items at yard sales and some good deals when antiquing. I also have a friend who gifted me some cool pieces and my Facebook group helped with some trades. My favorite of it all was my Colonial Mist Cinderellas set. I ended up with all four pieces and none of them cost me a cent. Some of the cookbooks were yard sale finds as well. And I am still in love with my white Hamilton Beach Pyrex mixing bowl. I find myself making lots of cakes just so I can use the bowl. 

I loved my Pyrex restaurant dishes. The plate and little bowl get used quite a bit around here. 

And Mom gave me this gorgeous Corelle platter. I use it to put my bacon and sausage on when I fix a big breakfast or breakfast for supper. 

This chip and dip set for $2.00 was a bargain. It is Vintage Indiana Glass and hard to find all three pieces together. It was on Ebay one time for about $30 so you can't beat $2.00. 

I also wanted to find a Corelle plate in this pattern. I blogged I wanted to find one and then the next weekend found an antique store that has tons of stuff in this pattern. Only paid $1.50 for the plate. 

And I remember how excited I was to find these vintage looking potholders for .25 each. 

But was even more excited when I found this Nantucket style basket for just .25 to keep them in. 

I had looked and looked for good deals on a sugar and cream set in cut glass. Found this one for just a couple of bucks for the set at a yard sale. Found the little platter at another one for a quarter and the little tooth pick holder for .10 cents. Love it.

Was thrilled to find the snowflake Pyrex with stand. I use this casserole dish a lot. It makes a great blackberry cobbler. Still looking for a lid to fit it. Maybe this year. 

Two little cups I stumbled on at different times. They are Hazel Atlas which is rare to find around here. And I found one for .75 cents at a flea market and one for about $3 or $4 at an antique store. I will always snatch up Hazel Atlas cups. 

These are one my rare finds that I ordered from E-bay. I bid on them and won them for just $4 plus $5 shipping. So for nine bucks I now own a vintage set of Holt Howard kitty salt and pepper shakers. I love these. They were close to $40 bucks at a local antique store. 

Found this cup and saucer and was beyond thrilled. Mom had some of these when we were growing up. They were free in Mother's Oats. 

One of the bargains that thrilled me the most was the set of Swanky Swigs glasses that I found at a yard sale. Twelve to the set and the cost was just $4.00 What a bargain!

Some of my treasures are used for reasons other than what they were made for. Like this little teapot that is in my master bath. It sets by the corner tub and contains bath salts. I just pour them in when I'm going to take a bubble bath and soak. 

This little candy dish became a soap dish in the bathroom. 

And one of my most brilliant ideas if I say so myself was using this tea for one in my master bath. The top holds Q-tips and the bottom holds cotton balls. And I might add this was around a buck at a yard sale. 

I also love my little wooden shelf that holds recipes in the drawers. It was just $1.00. 

I love big cups for my hot chocolate and marshmallows. These are two of my favorites. 

I just hope this years finds are a great as last years were.