Life with my sister

Who reading this has a vision casted for yourself in 2018? Well, I have a fun way to cast a vision for yourself, your marriage, your work and your family. I love doing this and haven't done it in a few years. Since we had a ridiculous amount of time inside this week because of the weather, I made one. Henry loved making collages with all the old magazines for his bedroom wall, so it was an activity that both of us enjoyed. Maybe you are like Julie and your response to this is," Sister, I don't have a single magazine in my home. I read online. It's 2018. hello." You can make a vision board in several different ways, you don't have to use magazines. I have started a Pinterest board to help you get your creative juices flowing. Sometimes it is so good for my mental well being just to stop and be crafty and reflect on things that make me happy. As you can see, mine is wordy. I love words. They have so much power. Pictures don't reach me like words do. E...

I just love to do fun crafty things. I also love to focus on blessings when and if possible...we all know those times can be hard though. So, a few years ago I started a blessing jar for the year. I cut some paper into strips and put it in the jar with a pen. My goal is for those in my home to stop and jot down a blessing throughout the year. Fold it up and throw it in to the jar. Easy, peasy and fun.   On New Years Eve we get out the jar and read what was in it. It is comical to recap it all and it is also so cool to see what little things made an impact on us throughout the year. My guys are something else and love to leave things like this in the jar at times. What are some fun, interactive ways you get your family focused on their blessings? we would love to hear! Abby Jo

I have to show off my latest Cricut fun. These are Easter buckets for some of my favorite kiddos. Julie giving me a Cricut for my birthday was the best thing ever. Working for a sign shop and getting the leftover vinyl is the icing. Having a friend who loaned me her Easter cartridge is the cake...she rocks! I hope the kiddos love the buckets as much as I loved making them. Abby

Henry was tickled to get behind the wheel of his new Power Wheels truck. We purchased it at a seasonal resale a few weeks ago in Memphis. Randall did an overhaul on it (tricked it out...for those of you who know the lingo!) and finally let him drive it. It was more of an attempt to drive it. Henry only pushes the pedal when he feels like it. He sure looks cute in it, moving or not. It has a radio in it so he likes to sit and listen more than anything. Watch out neighbors, Henry Patton is going to be on the go this spring! The dreaded haircut with Henry. We have been cutting his hair since he was 10 months old. He has some thick and curly hair, just like his mama and daddy. Up to this point I have had to hold him and hold him down, kicking, crying and swatting while the hairdresser cuts his hair. This past weekend he proved what a big boy he is becoming. She set the seat up for him without knowing I hold him. I played dumb and went along with it to see if he would sit down. He did. He t...

I have so many fun ideas in my head but very few make it to fruition these days with being a working mother of a toddler and wife to a husband who travels. I love my many blessings, so don't think I am complaining...just being for reals here...a girl can't do it all, all the time! So, this past weekend I decided we were going to create and that we did! It was a crazy, fun time. It felt so good to get it out of my head and see the ideas come to life. I am loving Pinterest. I am getting all sorts of handprint/footprint ideas for H. I decided to do a handprint or footprint each month this year and make a calendar of them next year. So, we made this footprint into a snowman and we went ahead and did a Valentine hand craft. It is suppose to make a heart in between, but with a squirmy 2 year old, we are just happy to get the idea of a heart. We also made some fun thumbprint cards for some special Valentine's. Henry loves to do crafts. They do them at school all the time so he is ...

This little cutie has 3 teachers at school and 2 at church. So, we got out the Cricut and made them some fun gifts. Actually, he was snoozing away in his bed and I was upstairs in the office making the gifts watching In The Kitchen with David on QVC ...because I just love that flamboyant man! Here are the finished products. It was so much fun and super easy. I see all these girls going into the business of creating products for people with their Cricut and making a killing. He is a little word of wisdom...just go buy a machine and do it yourself. It is SUPER easy and very cost effective. The machine I have is the smallest one and it does all I would ever need it to do. It is so much fun and easy clean up. That is the best kind of craft if you ask me! Have you made anything fun this season? It is such a fun time to craft. Abby P.S. Thank you for my Cricut , Jules! There is a gift for you in this photo so don't look at it too hard.

I have a new online obsession...as though I needed another. Between this blog, Facebook , Linked In and just checking my email, my floors are always way past needing a good mopping! Pinterest . If you have not discovered it yet, you need to! Leave me a comment and I will invite you. You have to be invited, which I think is a bit cheesy, but they did not ask my opinion. I like browsing through it each day because it has an inspiring, happy, calming effect and one can never have to many of those quick moments! Due to this new obsession/site I have Henry's b-day party already planned...and it is 5 months away! Abby

This is an interesting/unique spin on Food Friday. Henry and I have had Strep this week so my kitchen has been closed and honestly the thought of swallowing any type of food has been on the bottom of my list, as you can imagine. So glad to be on the mend now and excited to share this fun egg post with you. Let me start this by saying that Easter is SO much more than eggs and bunnies, it is all about Jesus. Jesus is the reason for Easter. Eggs are so symbolic of the tomb though and I love that. I have been wanting to make some blown eggs but was so intimidated by it. I am part of a club of really neat girls in town and one of them is real artsy and she showed us how to blow out eggs at our club meeting last week. I loved how simple she made it look, so I dove right on in and tried it. My sweet little mama was at my house when I did this and she captured it in photos. I will share only this one because the facial expressions on the others she took are so embarrassing! It was quite the ...

I know the Show Us Your Life blog hops are not something we usually participate in. We try so hard to not act "showy" in our posts. Yet, today...I am going to boast, brag and show off my baby boy's room, by gosh...so forgive me in advance!!! Call me proud, but I am when it comes to this room. I worked hard on this room last year and I want to show it off....Seriously, if Randall came home today and said we had to move...I would cry only because the thought of leaving this room behind. CRAZY, I know...but I am serious. Henry's room is unique but it was crafted with love. I knew I did not want an "out of the box" baby room. I spent a few months researching and looking at all sorts of things. I had a girls room folder and a boys room folder. I found out it was a boy and I happily went with the boy idea and never looked back (I secretly wanted a boy the whole time). There were times my husband, mother-in-law, mother and sister looked at me like I had lost my mi...

The county fair was in town last week. And once again we didn't go. I grew up going to the fair and loved it. But this county fair just doesn't excite me or entice me to spend great wads of money for hastily put together rides that last a very short amount of time. My kids understand, and don't even complain. I mean, they went to Disneyworld for goodness sake! Even though we don't go to the fair, we do enter projects in the fair in hopes of ribbons and money! This year was no exception. I had big plans for the kids to make brownies, cookies and a cake but my oven broke. (The heating element caught fire! It was out of use for a week!) So, the kids entries this year were slim, but worth a trip. We picked up our projects from the fair today and here is what happened! David entered two lego models. One a plane, the other a helicopter. He got 1st place-a blue ribbon- for both of them!! He also entered a pillow he made at church and got 1st place on it. He got 2nd place on a ...

Rock n roll, baby! Rocking and rolling across the floor. Henry looks so stylish in his Mandy Ann outfit Oh, the good ole days of pledging. If you can spot me, you can spot my sweet friend Amanda with the short blonde hair right next to me. We are on the bottom of the pile.We both transferred as sophomores and lived across the hall from one another long enough to develop a strong bond (I moved up 3 floors pretty quick because I had a bipolar roommate who threw my hot rollers at me one night when we went to eat pizza and did not invite her. Not cool). Amanda majored in nursing and took her schooling very seriously. She was the most disciplined 19 year old on earth, I promise! I was not. She had a cool car she called "Elmer" and we rolled the streets of Shawnee, OK like nobody's business in that thing. She and I made many memories in the very short time we had together. Today she is married to a wonderful guy, a mother of two and makes clothing for children. She made the...

Settling down in Byhalia-2004 We have been on this journey for almost a year now. I have been reflecting a lot lately. I am sure I will post about it more as it comes to the surface a bit more. I get tears in my eyes when I see how much God has blessed us with this move, after I feared it so much. I miss my "old life" and some days I wish we were there because it was so much easier, but it was not near this much fun! One of my best travel memories - Alcatraz As much as we don't do it, we love to travel together. We loved eating the best lobster at Landry's in Branson after a big game of mini golf, falling down in Union Square in San Francisco after touring Alcatraz, shopping at the markets in Mexico because another day on the beach would have turned us into leather, and now we are headed to D.C. Neither of us have ever been. Please let us know if you have suggestions for us, etc. We already have our hotel booked and have an idea of what we will tour, etc. We are wait...

OK, I don't think I will sell the ornaments. Shipping glass ornaments, individually, around the globe does not excite me in the least bit. If you want to come to Jonesboro, I can hook you up with one for $10. So, how did I make them, you ask? I went to Hobby Lobby and bought: 1 box of clear balls (the craft kind) - $3.99, sequins -$1-$2 a bag (I got 4 different bags), feathers - $2 a bag (I got 2 colors/bags), tacky glue - $3, craft ribbon- $6 (3 rolls), glitter glue - $2 ...and went to town! I have some green ball ornaments that I plan on working with this week. I will post them when I get finished. Anyway, the supplies will last me FOREVER. I plan to give these as little gifts to different ones on my guest list...and of course, put some on my tree! I hope this helps spark your craftiness...and yes, if you want me to make you a whole box for $50 and ship them, we can talk! Abby

Here are the ornaments I made this weekend. I can't wait to make more! Abby

For Real. On Tuesday night I stood at the ice machine and grinned real big thinking about Saturday morning and having no alarm to greet me. That is sad. I realized I have indeed, reached adulthood. Rand's co-worker has now had 2 hand surgeries and is on the mend. Time will only tell if he will have full mobility. Because of the accident they are not working like they were. That is a blessing. He is not working on Saturday nor after dark tonight. That thrills me. Rand and I went to a black tie event for the hospital last night that was a lot of fun. I will post about it when I get a picture of it from my photography friend. I want you to see my man in his very own tux...and of course me in my gold velvet dress that Rand proclaimed looked like a curtain. What a dear heart. My house is a mess and I have laundry out the wazoo, I best get on it. I intend to craft a bit this weekend if I can get my chores done in time. I am craving some craft time. I have not yet crafted in this new hous...

I am not one to boast too much, but this is so stinking cute! I am hosting a baby shower in a few weeks and made this diaper cake for the gift table centerpiece. Having only seen one of these before, I really had no idea what I was doing. With my hubby's engineering help and the Internet, I made this sweet little thing last night while he watched football. I think I could make these and sale them....you think? Abby