5/30/16
5/29/16
Sunday's song...
What better song to feature today than a song about Sunday's from a great Southern Gal. Here is our very own local recording artist, Kelsey Cate, singing her latest hit Sunday's in the South.
5/28/16
I am in VBS mode.....
I have all my vacation stuff washed up and put away. Got all my bags unpacked and stored till next trip. Now to enjoy a wonderful 3 day weekend. Our VBS starts next Sunday which means I will be decorating this week. I am going to have the kids in Children's Church and Ms. Missy's class work on some projects for our sea themed VBS that we can use to decorate the craft room with for VBS. That is if Ms. Missy doesn't have other plans for the kids tomorrow.
I think the fish in this picture would be great for them to make and then next week we could do some twisty streams for the sea weed.
And for Children's Church, we can color paper plate sea shells. These look painted, but I believe we will just use sea shells. Ask anybody who knows me, we don't paint and we don't do glitter. I like them both but trying to do that when you only have four tables and about 27 kids, it becomes a nightmare. We drew on black construction paper last week with chalk. What a nightmare. We had to borrow a box of wipees from the nursery to clean everybody up. Who knew chalk was so messy.
In addition to decorating for VBS, I am doing crafts for the 3, 4 and 5 year olds that are pre-K. I get to do them in 3 different groups and there are plenty of helpers. So I have been doing my Pinterest homework. Haven't decided on every night yet, but we are SO doing this one. It is too cute and they can use it in the pool or bathtub. It is sail boats made from pool noodles.
Sometimes it is as much fun to plan VBS as it is to attend it. I would be interested to know how many of my readers work in or attend their VBS. It's not just for the kids. I get a big blessing in being around them and watching them learn. And the program at the end of the week where they have learned the songs and get to perform them is always so entertaining.
5/27/16
Friday Foto Friends
On the night of May 21st, at the beach, we got to see the most beautiful scenery ever. The moon rising from the sea. We kept seeing a red dot to the right of it so I went to my trusty friend Google Search and found this:
May 21 Blue Moon will be near red Mars. This full Blue Moon and the red planet Mars will shine together all night long, from dusk May 21 until dawn May 22. Of course, the moon will be blue in name only. But red Mars will really be noticeably reddish in color, and the full moon and Mars are guaranteed to be spectacular to view on this date. Earth will pass between Mars and the sun on May 22. Astronomers call that an opposition of Mars, because Mars will be opposite the sun, rising at sunset. I had taken some high powered binoculars with us and sure enough, there was Mars...red and glorious. It kept slipping behind the clouds so I didn't get a picture. But here are some beautiful photos of the sky that night as the moon rose out of the sea and the clouds were going by covering and uncovering it. It was one of those once-in-a-lifetime moments.
I thought this was a perfect post for Friday Foto Friends.
5/26/16
Tired but happy...
I am so exhausted today. Five days at the beach. Five days of relaxing and unwinding. Five wonderful, glorious, fun filled days. Then a 7 hour drive home and an all nighter of unpacking.
Love the trip. Hated the putting everything up part when I got home. But happy to say I did find a new piece of Pyrex while I was gone. There is a place I always go called Homespun Crafters Mall that is the best kept secret in Surfside Beach, just a few mile away from Myrtle Beach. It is full of vintage items, handmade items, home decor, fabric and much more. I will share some of my finds with you later, but today I want to share the Pyrex excitement.
I was looking for several items and one was anything in the Shenandoah pattern. I spotted this baby on a bottom shelf inside a stack of bowls. I don't like to go over $15 for a piece I really, really want but have been known to spend as high as $20 (rarely, but I have done it). So I bent down, picked it up and held my breath. The price? A mere $7.00 so I snatched it up so fast it would make your head spin. When I got done shopping, I went up front to pay. As she went to ring it up, she said my favorite words in the world....."This is on sale 20% off" . That's right. I got this baby for $5.60!!!!
I just about screamed with excitement right there at the register. Is this a deal or what?
5/24/16
Submerged
As I was driving along with a friend yesterday, we were talking about school being out soon. Then we started talking about what all is going on in our lives the next few weeks. THEN I realized VBS is on June 5th. I am in charge of decorating the stage and figuring the crafts for the 3 - 5 year olds. I do believe I need to get busy with planning. So of course, me being me, I headed to Pinterest.
I see a lot of pool noodles in my future. We can cut notches in the noodles to make them spiral like coral reefs.
These cute little crabs would be good for my children's church kids to make to help decorate.
If we are going to be Submerged then I need to figure out how to make a submarine.
Some Japanese lanterns (I think that is what they are called) cut in half with some streamers would make some awesome jelly fish.
Not to mention some cute fish.
And of course, the ultimate submerged creature....an OCTOPUS. I have decide to get a giant beach ball for his head, painted and with pool noodles for his legs.
It appears I have my work cut out for me the next week.
I see a lot of pool noodles in my future. We can cut notches in the noodles to make them spiral like coral reefs.
These cute little crabs would be good for my children's church kids to make to help decorate.
If we are going to be Submerged then I need to figure out how to make a submarine.
Some Japanese lanterns (I think that is what they are called) cut in half with some streamers would make some awesome jelly fish.
Not to mention some cute fish.
And of course, the ultimate submerged creature....an OCTOPUS. I have decide to get a giant beach ball for his head, painted and with pool noodles for his legs.
It appears I have my work cut out for me the next week.
5/23/16
Moving and downsizing advice
After completing a massive downsize move, I feel the need to hand out some advice to a couple of my readers who are going to go through a downsize later this year. My move was not planned, but I had an opportunity I didn't want to pass up so between 2:00 on a Sunday afternoon and 8:30 on a Monday morning, I made the decision to take the offer.
1. Start now in preparing for it. Moving in a week from a 3 bedroom 2 bath to a 2 bedroom 1 bath is a major undertaking. Especially when you are like me and like your "stuff". How one woman could collect so much stuff is beyond me. Keep in mind I have had 3 yard sales in April so I thought I was done with "stuff". Turns out I was wrong.
2. Everybody I know packs everything in the house that is sitting out or in kitchen/bath cabinets first. If the move is including downsizing to a smaller home, I recommend to start with your closets first. Don't fall prey to the adage of "I'll move the closet stuff from closet to new closet and sort later." You will get there and realize there are not as many new closets and in some instances not as big as the old closets. Nothing worse than getting organized in your new home, making it all pretty and then realizing you have to stack those extra closet storage containers in a room until you can get a chance to go through them. Do it now. You will wear yourself out if you have to face that after the move is complete. Voice of experience here.
3. I am a very sentimental person. But some things that I was sentimental about was just because I liked them, not because they had a special meaning. And when you don't have enough room for everything, it is amazing how pragmatic you can become and sentimentality takes a back seat really fast.
4. Think before you get excited to find a good size box to pack in. Remember as you are packing that big box, at some point somebody is going to have to lift it or move it. I tried to be very cautious about that and some were a little heavier than others, but the guys that helped me move had no problems in lifting them. The problem came when I had to lift them to move them out of my way or set them on a table or chair to unpack them. Really didn't think that through very well. So be cautious and don't over pack a box.
5. One thing I have always done when I moved was the minute we knew we were moving and had a move date, I went through the entire house and took every single thing off the walls. That way, we had all that done and out of the way. It will amaze you how good you feel when you know you have made a start.
6. About a week before you move, make up your favorite fragrant dish (spaghetti, beef stroganoff, chilli, etc.) Freeze it and have it ready to move from the old fridge to the new fridge. This way, your first official night in your new home you can pop it in the oven and have a delicious dinner without worrying about where is this and where is that and having to clean an entire kitchen in the midst of unpacking.
7. It is also a good idea to pick up some plastic silverware, Solo cups and plates. That way the last couple of days you are packing, you are not facing a pile of dishes to wash before you can pack. And when you get to the new house, you can eat while you are unpacking without having to start accumulating dirty dishes before all the clean stuff is even put away.
8. If you are not going to be using a moving company to move you, it is a good idea to cart as many items as you can that are breakable in your car for the few days before moving day. This way your valuables are not tossed around in a big truck. My daughter and I made sure to bring all my tea pots, tea sets and obviously my Pyrex all in one load so we knew that those all went somewhere safe while the rest of the moving was done.
9. Have fun with it. Don't let it get you down. You will be so excited about your old place, but you will also feel moments of sadness leaving the familiar. I guess it was especially hard on me since that was where we lived when Allen got sick and that's where we spend his last days preparing for the end. In ways that made it harder to leave and in ways it made it easier.
10. Make sure you get a good night sleep every night before, during and after the move. No matter how much you want to get it all done, don't stay up past your normal bedtime to do it. You will be totally exhausted and won't even be able to enjoy the new house.
3. I am a very sentimental person. But some things that I was sentimental about was just because I liked them, not because they had a special meaning. And when you don't have enough room for everything, it is amazing how pragmatic you can become and sentimentality takes a back seat really fast.
4. Think before you get excited to find a good size box to pack in. Remember as you are packing that big box, at some point somebody is going to have to lift it or move it. I tried to be very cautious about that and some were a little heavier than others, but the guys that helped me move had no problems in lifting them. The problem came when I had to lift them to move them out of my way or set them on a table or chair to unpack them. Really didn't think that through very well. So be cautious and don't over pack a box.
5. One thing I have always done when I moved was the minute we knew we were moving and had a move date, I went through the entire house and took every single thing off the walls. That way, we had all that done and out of the way. It will amaze you how good you feel when you know you have made a start.
6. About a week before you move, make up your favorite fragrant dish (spaghetti, beef stroganoff, chilli, etc.) Freeze it and have it ready to move from the old fridge to the new fridge. This way, your first official night in your new home you can pop it in the oven and have a delicious dinner without worrying about where is this and where is that and having to clean an entire kitchen in the midst of unpacking.
7. It is also a good idea to pick up some plastic silverware, Solo cups and plates. That way the last couple of days you are packing, you are not facing a pile of dishes to wash before you can pack. And when you get to the new house, you can eat while you are unpacking without having to start accumulating dirty dishes before all the clean stuff is even put away.
8. If you are not going to be using a moving company to move you, it is a good idea to cart as many items as you can that are breakable in your car for the few days before moving day. This way your valuables are not tossed around in a big truck. My daughter and I made sure to bring all my tea pots, tea sets and obviously my Pyrex all in one load so we knew that those all went somewhere safe while the rest of the moving was done.
9. Have fun with it. Don't let it get you down. You will be so excited about your old place, but you will also feel moments of sadness leaving the familiar. I guess it was especially hard on me since that was where we lived when Allen got sick and that's where we spend his last days preparing for the end. In ways that made it harder to leave and in ways it made it easier.
10. Make sure you get a good night sleep every night before, during and after the move. No matter how much you want to get it all done, don't stay up past your normal bedtime to do it. You will be totally exhausted and won't even be able to enjoy the new house.
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