good friday

It's Good Friday!

Jesus died for us today. 

it's something I was taught at a very young age and something that I always keep in mind.

His sacrifice

his pain

but today on good Friday it always feels a little more real. 

I wake up in my comfy bed listening to my family rustling around getting ready for the day and I wonder what did Jesus do that morning? 

I change dirty diapers, fix lunch, let the dog outside, put up Julia from school, do the dishes

but all the while i am playing the events of Jesus carrying his cross

falling down, getting spit on, yelled at and rocks thrown at him.

he was stripped naked, nailed, and stabbed in the side

I think about the pain Mary was feeling as she watched her son go through this.

I look at my daughters and can't imagine.

but as sad and painful today is

three days later

He comes back!

Happy Easter! 

I hope you enjoy it and spend lots of good happy times with the ones you love.

I think I have the best eater egg of them all :)

walking dead

So I have a little addiction

if we are friends on Facebook then you already know this :)

and if you are not watching then you better figure out a way to watch it! 

yes it's about zombie apocalypse and usually things like that  just seem stupid to me (like vampires and wizards i just roll my eyes it's so fake and sci-fi)

but there is this guy....

and this baby.....

o and this guy....

I think he looks a lot like this guy......

but seriously this weekend is the season finale and as much as I can't wait for it-I don't want it to be over.

kitchen update

Up date on the kitchen:

the plan was to rip up the old floor and put in some kind of tile well.....

 Under that horrible ugly red/painted white and blue floor was.......

 original perfect condition hardwood!  so now we are changing plans and going to sand, stain and finish them

We ordered our cabnets and started taking out the old.

so as of now all our groceries and dishes are sitting in the dinning room

 We sanded the walls and put in our new screen door. now we are just waiting for the cabnets and then we can get moving again. but in the mean time my husband finally got rid of his pink walls in the computer room and replaced them with a calming yet professional green color paint. at least that's the color  we think it is :)

 this whole remodeling adventure is a long process and at times I feel like my husband's perfectionist side is going to be the death of me. BUT I wouldn't want to do it with anyone else. we are having fun and learning and growing and making our house our home.

hopefully next time I update more things will actually be done :P that's just my non-perfectionist side and a tint of my impatient side coming out

revamp the lamp

I get bored with things pretty easily

here is one of my first crafts that I posted 

now I am ready to revamp it

 

love it!

workshop

Last weekend I attended a workshop.

Kimberly is the photographer at Studio 714

she hosted this workshop and we learned about lighting and posing

it was so much fun!

here are some pictures I took of our model Jessica:

please spring!

do you like the new look? 

I'm still debating :) Go figure I change my mind after I do it.

so it might not be the same next time you come over 

but i want something that showcases the things i talk about the most here. 

my family, photography, crafts and helping others.

now on to what we have been doing

praying for spring!

we are having severe cabin fever!

the netfix movies have helps some

but my kids want out!!!

so I picked up a few things to try and send mother nature the message:

bubbles, side walk chalk and jelly beans

hurry up warm weather!!!!!!

Easter mini

I held another theme mini session! 

These are so much fun

but for the month of march we did an Easter bunny theme.

my great friend Ashley came allong and brought her bunny Timid

the kids all loved her! and we got some super sweet pictures!

Kendell's warmth

Meet the Patrick family.

Their story is one of  loss and a way to turn that loss into good.

Stephanie and Brian were on top of the world when they were pregnant with their first child. His mommy would dream about the little boy she had growing inside her and to keep her occupied she learned how to crochet. she wanted to make her baby a blanket to keep him warm at night. little did she know how much that blanket would actually change her life.

at 20 weeks pregnant God called Kendell home.

Stephanie's world came crashing down.

but her faith and Brian helped her get through this dark time and turned it into something truly amazing.

 Stephanie took her new little hobby and now makes blankets and hats then sends them all over the country for grieving mommies in memory of the babies lost way to soon. She does this with no commission or sometimes even knowing the family that needs them. just to let someone going through the hardest thing imaginable have some comfort. and something tangible to say I had a child that is no longer here and this was their blanket.

Stephanie and Brian now have two beautiful children here with them. here is baby mason wrapped up in his Big brother Kendell's blanket.

 Stephanie needs help in order to keep making these blankets and giving a small but very meaningful gift to so many. Stephanie sometimes has to take out of her own pocket to purchase the yarns and needles. so I am asking anyone that has yarn that is just sitting in that pile of things you never get around to crafting. please consider donating it. I will pick them up and personally make sure Stephanie receives the supplies. you can visit the Facebook page here or email me at chachimarie86@yahoo.com
My wonderful readers have come through time and time to help others and I know you can do it again!

No soliciting

Now that warmer weather is on it's way 

The door to door sales men have been knocking at least every other day.

selling anything from cable, home security, selling candy bars, girl scout cookies, bathroom remodeling, fences, garage doors, and even to paint our house numbers on the sidewalk.

I have a hard time saying no

 I am not interested in any of their services but I don't want anyone to think I am rude. 

smile, listen to the sales pitch, nod, agree, maybe sign up for an appointment and I have been suckered into handing over a little cash. I paid $15 for our house numbers to get painted.....not something I wanted to do.

all because I don't want that man to think badly of me, some lady he will never see again!

It's so silly!

I need to grow some balls right!? :P

I belong to a MOPS group at church and the other month we had a police officer come talk to us about the crimes around our town and what we as mothers of smaller children should keep in mind when playing outside or walking in the parking lots. I learned a lot. and I got up the courage, yes I needed courage to ask lol. I asked about the door to door sales people. he said in our town it's illegal and most of them know that but pretend to not know. and they move on to the next street. I talked about how I am at home alone most of the time with the kids. it's makes me feel unsafe when a strange grown man walks up to my door.

"there is no law that says you have to answer."

OMG! duh!!!!! I felt so silly. of course. 

So last week the dog started going nuts barking up a storm

I wasn't expecting anyone so I tipped toed to the front door and saw it was some sales man dressed in a uniform with a clip board.

I turned slowing around and whispered to Belle

"shh! we are going to play hide and seek."

she smiled and put her finger up to her lips and said "ok. shhh...."

I do have to say the man did do a good job on our house numbers.

but It felt really good not to have to be a fake interested consumer.

and why do companies do this anyway? do they really get that much business from door to door sales?

any who I am planing on making this sign very soon:

grandma Jo

Brian's Grandma Jo 

I love her

she's something else.

I swear she has a never ending stock of stuff that she has collected over the years and she never uses or doesn't remember why she got it in the first place. 

 and every time you visit she has a pile of things waiting for you.

I have never left her house without a car full of stuff.

most of it is unwanted and gets taken straight to goodwill (shhh)

but some things i treasure and feel so honored that she thought of me when she put the object in my pile.

this was one of those times

Grandma Jo handed me a quilt that was obliviously in the beginning stages

she told me it was the last quilt her mother was in the process  of making before she passed away.

She told me that she wanted me to have it and make something with it. she said she feels like I would be the only one she knows that would actually take care of it. and that meant so much to me. so I knew I had to do something. but I admit I was nervous.

I don't do perfect.

and this was perfect

perfect squares

perfect stitches

perfect lines

perfect.

I was very intimidated.

so here is what I did:

 I don't want them to get dirty or ripped by little children so I keep them on my bed. I was able to make four pillows and plan on giving Grandma Jo the other two.