A Review and I Messed Up

I was given this above plaque by Dayspring to review.  

I love it and no, Dayspring didn't pay me to say that. :)  This plaque has a "mottled" or "marbled" look to it.  It has Phillipians 4:13 on it - which is a favorite verse of so many.  I personally love how the artist emphasized "HIM".  :)  I didn't measure it - but I would guesstimate that it is about 12in x 12in.  It is easy to see from across the room to act as ready reminder of where our strength does come from.   It is going in our red room.

Now on to how I royally messed up.  I was supposed to review this product a couple of weeks ago and misread that part.  Yep.  MESSED UP!  I kept putting it off because I wanted to show it off all hung on the wall in all of it's glory.  If you remember I've said this in the past that to my darling husband that most projects are team projects.  To him, hanging things on the wall is at least a 2 person project.  One person to hold the item in place while the other person says "no, a little higher and the left".  So I couldn't just hang it without risking the wrath of ROD.  So, this month has been crazy for us (like it is all of the time for all of us).  It didn't get done.  I had been thinking that it should go near our computer but then thought it fit the style of the red room better.

Sorry for the blur - this back wall is where the infamous scoreboard will go someday SOON!

The red room.  The red room is in the basement and is adjacent to the playroom which runs the length of a good portion of our house.

Right now the red room has an extra TV in it and a play tent and a couch.  Oh, and some cool antiques.  The kids consider it to be part of their play room but eventually the red room will be more of a media room.  Right now it is a nice place for them to play when it is nasty outside or maybe this summer when it is miserable hot.

So, anyway I screwed up.  But go check out Dayspring and all of the cool products that they have and no they are not paying me to say that.  

Featured and Update

Can you believe that there are 3 women with their own blogs that think My Lamp is worthy of being featured.  Thank you to   Lisa at Serendipity Chic Design for featuring me.  I'd put her logo up but I couldn't get it to work for me.  Thanks to Debbie at Debbie Doos Blogging  and to Nikki at Thrifty Decorating.  Nikki just redid her daughters room and it is just so cute and I love how it will grow with her.

So, we made it thru the "Crazy 5 days".  In all honesty - it wasn't horrible.  In fact, it was probably easier on me than Rod. :)

Yesterday we did take Maggie to Riley.  Long story short, the cancer she had was on one of her adrenal glands and it was removed.  That little adrenal gland helps to do  a lot of stuff.  Plus the chemo and the cancer has more than likely left other side effects on our girl.

Cancer just really SUCKS.  Sorry mom - I know you hate that word - but it just does.

Maggie is very petite especially compared to other kids her age.  I've heard of other kids who are survivors of her type of cancer who are petite and get some form of human growth hormone to help them catch up (somewhat) to their peers.    We aren't there yet.  I'm praying we never will be.  But yesterday they took an xray of her hand so that they can watch her growth.  So yesterday is her "baseline" picture.

On to fun stuff...

Yesterday night (after traveling home in rain storm) Maggie had her graduation from Preschool. :)

 Here is Maggie and Daddy.  She is holding up her medal and her book that she got.

 Here is Maggie and her teacher Mrs. Holmes.  Mrs. Holmes is great and was really accommodating with Maggie's hearing issues.  She planned lots of fun excursions for the kids. :)

This is Mrs Burkins and is the right hand lady to Mrs Holmes.

Thanks to them and all of the other ladies who help out!

Just wanna shout out to Riley Children's Hospital.  We stopped and saw a bunch of our old docs and nurses - Love them all.  For many of them it was the first time to see Maggie with hair.  Our one stemcell doc about spit out his drink when he realized who Maggie was. :)  I can't imagine doing the work that they do - they are great at it.  But I also know that it is nice to see the survivors - everyone kept saying how good she looked and well compared to how she looked during stemcell transplant.......she looks amazing! :)

Lord, thank you for those reminders of where you bring us from!

Better get working on supper!


OH!  I almost forgot!  In the next couple of days I will be having a really cool giveaway! So "stay tuned"!

Garage Saling

On Friday, I met up with my parents and went garage saling.

FIRST we went to the Essenhaus.  They do a garage sale every year and this year was better than years past as they were priced VERY GOOD.  For those of you that aren't local the Essenhaus has an Amish style restaurant and tons of shops.

 I got this wooden crate for 50 cents.  I'm not sure what I will use it for but it is always nice having extra storage.

 Now, don't laugh.  I got this picture for $2.  I am not excited about the print but I think that the frame is gorgeous for $2!  AND it is brand new.

 I got this green "urn" - not sure what to call it - for 50 cents.  Again brand new.  I also got this candle stand/stick for $3 - brand new.

 I love getting Christmas ornaments there as well.  We have a 9ft tree and I love to put oodles on our tree.  Plus we still have our old 7.5 ft tree that we will someday put up in the basement.  Anyway....I think the glitter reindeer was $1, there are 2 bags of gold glitter ornaments for $1/bag (price tag on them said each ornament was originally $2.99 each!) And the box holds a bunch of those icicle ornaments - box was $3.

 I got this plaque for $2.  I liked it cause it said CHOCOLATE! :)

 Then we started hitting some other garage sales. :)  I got this chalkboard for $2 - I DO have a plan for this.

I got this antique mirror for $4.  I have to figure out the perfect spot for this now.  I just love mirrors.  See the sun shining on the carved woodwork at the top?  It matches the woodwork on the bottom. :)

I got a couple of other goodies as well.  Overall it was lots of fun to hang out for the morning with my parents.  We had a good time! :)

Rod actually got home earlier than expected yesterday afternoon and we sat on the deck and watched the kids play in the sprinkler.  It was a nice evening.  :)

Lots of projects in the works.  To be honest, many of them are waiting on Rod as he believes that hanging things on walls requires a "team".   Ummmm.........sure.  So maybe while he is gone I will just do some stuff and live with his evil eye when he gets home!  big grin! :)

Crazy 5 days

I am not sure how Moms do it when their husbands go out of town for extended long trips.

I really REALLY don't think that I would still be a sane Stay at Home Mom.

Rod is working Notre Dames graduation this weekend.  He left the house at 6:15am.  and won't get home till 11pm tonite.  Then tomorrow (as of right now) has to leave here at 5:15am and will get home around 4 pm.  It is great extra money but he will be dog tired.  Yes, he gets permission to get off of work on Sundays from church to do this.

Funny story....He's been doing this for maybe 8 years (minus one when Mags was in treatment).  Every year it is the SAME service.  I should that was for when he did the Lawyers graduation - every year the same words EXACTLY!

ANYWAY....

On Monday (his normal day off since he usually works Sunday) he will go in to work a little before lunch and won't come home until Tuesday night some time.  Who knows?  Definitely not me.

Then on Wednesday as soon as we get Jared on the bus for school, Rod and I are taking Maggie to Riley to check some things out.  Not cancer related but side effects of cancer and chemo related.  Then Maggie has he Preschool graduation that night.  Rod is taking off on Wed this coming week.

The kids are outside playing.  We've already gone to the town pool to sign up for lessons.  But they have been playing basketball and croquet - not at the same time.

They are already fighting like cats and dogs.  I am afraid our neighbors will report us to the Housing Association for their screaming at each other.   Oh, WAIT!  Our neighbors ARE ON the Housing Association Board!    Oh, well.............

Here are a couple of projects I am working on while they scream and fight and play nicely together.

 Here is a very old dresser that I am going to try to make something beautiful out of - I had already started sanding it.

Jared taking pics....

 Maggie took these 2 of me working on my old trunk.  I am painting it and covering up the stencils.  She framed this one up nice, huh? :)

 See, told you they were playing croquet.

Jared obviously got a hold of the camera again.


So, sometimes schedules get crazy.  We just make due.  Filling up my days with projects.  I thought about taking the kids to the Bremen Bounce, but it is one of the first nice days we've had in a long time and I would rather they be outside!  Ugh!

Better get back outside...  I hear screaming and "I don't have to listen to you!!!"

Hopefully the housing association won't call the police!  :)

My Lamp

This lamp has sat beside my bed for quite some time.  It is an "ok" lamp.

I took it outside for its pictures and tried to get a nice closeup to show how pretty it is.  I really hate that lampshade and the shiny brassy lamp.....  But I love our deck with pergola! :)

Anyway,  I spray painted the base black.  It took a couple of coats to fully cover it.

THAT was the easy part!

Now it was the lamp shade's turn!

I disassembled the accordion from the hard plastic inner liner.  It went "OK".  All right - a little less than ok.

See the hole in the shade on the top right of it?  Yeah.  That is just one of several - all though I think that one is the largest. :)

I decided I couldn't let that stop me.  It looked ugly before and I knew I had plans for it.  I kept telling myself that it couldn't look much worse! :)

So I took out some ribbon that I had bought and my glue gun.  I started going around the lampshade giving nice little poofs.  I am sure that is not the official word for it, but that is the word that comes to mind.

Now, with my "poofs" I decided not to get all hung up in the details.  There was no way I was going to consistently measure all around this shade.  I knew I had to be ok with that - I am just too impatient.

Well, I am a BAD judge of how much ribbon I need.  I needed oodles more.  So, I went hunting and found another roll.

Great!

It didn't last long enough either.  So this wonderful project that I hoped to get done in a couple of hours then turned into a 2 day affair!

We were going out last night anyway.  Rod had to buy black dress clothes so that he could run camera for Notre Dame's graduation next week.  So we were going shopping and I ran into Hobby Lobby and picked up 2 more spools of ribbon that were on sale for $2 each.

So I got to work on my lamp shade this afternoon.  I finally got it done.

Again each ribbon row has different amounts of "poofs" in them.  But I kinda like it! :)

Maggie approves and that is saying a lot since it isn't even PINK OR PURPLE! :)

Here is a pillow from our bed so you can see why I chose the ribbon I did?

One day, maybe I will give a house tour.   Then you can see it where it should go next to our big bed.

By the way, do you see that dark blue in the corner of the pics?  Yep another Indiana storm on the way!

Don't you think that this is much better than the brassy accordion? :)

Live Big! :)

Linking up here:
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Little Lucy Lu
Sew Many Ways
Sit Relax and Read
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Debbie Doos
Between Naps on the Porch
Serendipity Chic Design
Thrifty Decor Chick
Reasons to Skip the Housework
The Stories of A2Z
Not Just a Housewife
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Catch Up

So sorry that I have been MIA for so long.  Just silly busy! :)

Let me back track and catch up.

On April 28th we were asked to go to the Kosciusko County Relay for Life Survivors Supper and to speak.  Which means that I got to speak.  I was told to tell our "story".  I was told to take as long as I wanted.  Believe me, I asked several times what time frame I had and was given very little info - which was actually very intimidating.  At the end of the night, the Lake City Roller Dolls presented Maggie with a bike (and a autographed helmet) and a tote full of other toys and Jared with a big blue bag of toys as well.  We were flabbergasted, surprised, taken-aback and all of those other words.  I was also feeling very guilty.  You see, there are other kids still in treatment that are just as deserving - if not MORE - than my kids to have received all of this.

See the smiles on our kids faces! 

Please ignore how incredibly fat I look.  I actually thought that I looked a little cute....  UGH!

Anyway....I felt very melancholy for several days - I am not even sure if that is the correct description for how I felt - I can't put my finger on it.  Maybe undeserving or that my "talk" wasn't really what was desired or.... I don't know.

The next day, after talking with the kids, they agreed that not only did they not need all of the toys but also there were other boys and girls who would definitely appreciate these toys.  They put over 1/2 the toys back into the tote and we will take those up to Memorial to the kids up there soon.  I was really proud of the kids being so willing to give stuff away.

We are hoping to go see the Roller Dolls at their first home "meet" (is that what you call it?) in August!  Between you and me, I would so love to join their team!  If only they didn't have meets on Sundays - just too hard to work it out w/ Rod's schedule.....

Friday, April 29th was Jared's bday and Saturday was the party.  There was a total of 4 boys - which was just right.  I got most of my ideas for the party from the blog My insanity.  I copied their invitation and typed it up on the computer using an old style font and glued them to some card stock that I have on hand and then hand delivered them.  Ummm, I was late in getting this done! :)

Then I decided that the boys should have shields.  So I got into our stash of cardboard that Rod (thankfully) kept after we got some cabinets for our basement.  I just used a utility knife and cut out the shapes of 4 shields.  Then I spray painted them gray that we had floating around here after other projects.  I made a "handle" on the back by attaching more cardboard with duct tape.  Then I looked online for "emblems" that knights might have had on their shields.  I picked crowns, crosses, eagles and lions.  So the first thing that the boys did was to color their emblem and glue it to their shields.  Some chose to also write on their shield.

I had gone to the Dollar Tree and picked up 2 swimming "noodles" which became their joust.  They had to hold on to their shields, joust, and their horse (a broom) and joust.  Here we had a little bit of trouble as it was a VERY windy day and the cardboard just could stand up against the wind and the boys.  But they had fun.

We also had a "wall of boxes" that was our enemy and they had to catapult a ball and knock over the wall.  We used a towel that 2 boys took each end of and they used the towel to swing the ball to the boxes.

We had cake.  Jared asked for chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and since we were at the end of the month and our monthly cash envelopes (ie Dave Ramsey) were running low, I made a Texas Sheetcake!  YUM!  (I admit, I did eat one piece!).

The boys played light sabres and basketball in the backyard.  Overall, I think that the boys had oodles of fun. I am sorry that I'm not posting more pics but I don't have permission of the boys' parents. :)

So once all of the festivities surrounding Jared's bday was done, it was time to get ready for the garage sale.  My friend Toni joined me and between the 2 of us we did well.  I didn't have as much to sell this year as I have given a lot to Goodwill.  Overall I felt good about the money we brought in.

But now my house is trashed.  Yesterday was trying to catch up with cleaning out the garage - Rod was kind and allowed me a break over Mother's day - and doing dishes and laundry.  Now is the time for the rest of the house. Getting it back to normal.  That might take me till July....  :)

More soon!

In the meantime - Go Live BIG!

Certifiably Crazy!

This weekend was filled with a Knight party for Jared and a couple of other birthday celebrations in the process.  I think that we were able to pull off a fun party for Jared at a very minimal cost.  So I am kinda proud of myself. :)

Jared is on the far right.  It was a very windy day and their shields that they enjoyed decorating struggled in the wind.  They jousted, used a catapult and did some lightsabre battles. :)  Even my dad and Rod got in on the fun. Oh, so did my mom!  The boys thought that was great! :)

So with a weekend full of "parties", I am now in scramble mode to get ready for our garage sale!  I decided that yesterday was my best day to do a couple of chores around here and then run to get some groceries!  My fabulous hubby decided to bring up most of our garage sale stuff from our basement for me.  Our subdivision has always done the garage sale on the Saturday before Mother's Day (can I just mention how puzzling that is to me - obviously a mom didn't chose that day and if a man did he was probably in the doghouse for it).  I don't like doing all the work for a garage sale for just a "one day thing" and find that  a lot of garage salers get out on Thursdays - so I do Thursday, Friday and Saturday!  I have a feeling I will still be pricing on Thursday! :)

So, I will have to do another post about Jared's "Knight" party, a special night at the American Cancer Society Survivors Supper that we were asked to attend, and some other projects that I have in the works.

I also won a copy of "31 days to clean" - which I am really excited about.  I am hoping to keep up with that challenge.  Check it out here.

Better go put little stickers on lots of stuff! :)

Go Live BIG!
Rachel