Cinderella learned a lesson~

Cleaning is something that I enjoy...I know, its a tad bit weird, but thats okay- I've never claimed to be normal. Sometimes I don't like the "every day cleaning" like the laundry, the dishes, the tidying up...only because it doesn't stay looking nice for very long (an hour...maybe) but I love to DEEP clean. I love the scrubbing of grime, the wiping down of dust and cobwebs and the organizing part of it. I love the feeling I get when I get to look at things all put neatly in a row, stacked and in order. I like the clean smell, the polished look and the feeling of accomplishment. I love that I get to enjoy it day in and day out...and its especially nice when I know its going to remain "CLEAN" for a long period of time.

A few weeks ago I decided to dive into a few of my cupboards for some DEEP CLEANING. They were at the "HAVE TO CLEAN POINT"... opening the cupboard doors had become something that we all dreaded to do because it was to the point of "OPEN at your own risk", as things "may or may not" come tumbling out onto you. I had been wanting to get some really cool clear plastic jars with nice screw on lids to put all of my spices, sugars and baking goods in. I saw some fancy ones on a craft blog with some awesome vinyl lettering on them (I LOOVVVVED THEM)... telling whats inside (yes, even though you can SEE through the clear plastic, very UP TO DATE and cool)...BUT never found them within my price range (FREE). So I put off my organization task for...hmmmmm lets see..... YEARS! FINALLY, I decided that its ridiculous for me to put money into something that- FIRST of ALL, NO ONE but me will see and- SECOND OF ALL when I would rather spend that money else where...like on stuff to FILL THE JARS. SO...I got resourceful and used all of those empty plastic containers from my cottage cheese, yogurt and sour cream that I had sitting about in my "Tupperware/Gladware" cupboard. I labeled each container with some good ol' pieces of white scrap paper and wrote the contents with a sharpie marker. I know, its been done for years...I'm not the first to think of such an ingenious idea...but in a world where being "cheap" is often frowned upon unless you can be cool and hip about it, I thought I would do it anyway... and thats what makes it so fantastic. I did it and didn't care that it wasn't expensive or cool. My project turned out great, I accomplished the task I had set out to do...everything is tidy and neat up in my cupboard and I don't get pounded with bags of powdered sugar and walnuts every time I open the cupboard doors. That was the purpose in WHY I wanted to organize and clean the cupboards out anyway, it wasn't about having fancy looking content jars (okay...at first it was, but then I figured out the real purpose in my cleaning escapade). I just lost focus for a short time--glad I was industrious and used what I had. I do have to say it looks pretty nice when I open up the cupboards and I can see what I have, (even though at first glance someone might think I am stocking up on dairy products and storing them in the wrong spot). I can open a container,use its content and put it back in nicely without having to "hurry and shut the doors" before it comes barreling down on me.

They aren't exactly COOL "Martha Stewart" containers...but hey, they serve their purpose the same as the fancy ones...and they were FREE and that was right up my alley!

Moral of my story..."Cool is AS COOL DOES!"

My containers are pretty "COOL" because they do what I need them

to do and didn't cost me a penny...

and thats pretty "cool" to me!

It's in the BLOOD!

Years ago when I took Cameron to one of his MANY ER visits-- for one of his MANY injuries, the Doctor was doing an x-ray of his arm. He was looking at the film to check for breaks and fractures...he asked how old Cameron was--I think at the time he was 11-12...the doctor then let out a little chuckle and said, "This boy is going to be your biggest son yet." Looking at his growth plates, the doctor could see that Cam still a lot of growing to be done. At the time, Todd and Erik were 6'4 and 6'5 (give or take a little, I don't remember for sure, but somewhere around there). I didn't think there was any way that Cam would ever be taller than his brothers. BUT as the years have come and gone, Cam has continued to grow bigger and bigger...always measuring bigger than his brother's did during their high school years, always taller, always out weighing them...but for some reason I thought Cam would stop growing before he past them up. GUESS I should have listened better to the Doctor, Cam is now a junior and has officially past Erik up. Erik has been the tallest of the boys for several years now, but only by 1/2" or so (taller than Todd)....but no more...Cam has Erik by more than 1/2"...and he's STILL GROWING!! Guess our kids come by it naturally, having 2 TALL parents and many tall uncles and aunts....BUT~

IT still leaves me to wonder~

HOW TALL WILL THIS BOY GET?!

Only time will tell~

The "Little Red Cup"...

I'm "older"...old enough anyway, but this cup...I THINK might even be older than me. At first glance you might think that this "Little Red Cup" is just an ordinary cup...a washed out red, marked up from small children scraping their teeth on its sides, and made from a thin plastic... but don't let its distressed looks deceive you...its got a long history and many stories to tell. I was first introduced to this cup as it sat by the sink at my Grandparents house. It was the "community cup". When we went to visit Grandma and Grandpa and needed a drink, this is the cup we drank out of...ALL OF US. It was unheard of to reach in the cupboard for a clean, pretty cup, we all used the community cup...it was just the way it was. It prevented a pile of cups from having to be washed, and regardless of who you were... man, woman or child...this is the cup that you filled to quench your thirst with. The "Little Red Cup" was stability, it was comfort, it was the norm...and it was what you did at Grandma and Grandpa's. THEN one day I went to Grandma and Grandpa's to find the cup was gone. It was put away, up in the cupboard with all of the rest of the cups and there in its place was a NEW cup. YES, the new cup was in better shape, it was made from a sturdier, thicker plastic. It was a little bigger and was a pretty bright YELLOW, but I missed the cute "Little Red Cup". It was what I had grown up with and it didn't seem right to have it nestled away in the cupboard. But thats where it now resided.

"Little Red Cup" had many other responsibilities besides sitting by the side of the sink...it (along with a few of its brother and sister cups) was also used to serve orange or grape juice to all of the grandchildren as Grandpa made his famous breakfast of "Eggs, fresh side bacon and toast". I remember Grandpa pouring cold juice into my "Little Red Cup", as I held it firm and still, as to not spill it's content. For some reason the juice served in "Little Red Cup" always tasted better than when it was served in any other cup. After growing up and returning to visit my sweet grandparents, I always pulled "Little Red Cup" down from the cupboard and had a glass of juice from the sweet red plastic cup. It made me feel like a kid again.

When Grandpa and Grandma passed away, my dad asked me if there was anything of theirs that I wanted. I really couldn't think of anything...I just wanted something that reminded me of them. I didn't want their couch, I didn't went the bedroom set, I didn't want the TV...I'm more sentimental and hold onto things that have history or memories for me. Thats when I told Dad that I would love to have the "Little Red Cups" from the kitchen cupboard. Dad said that he would see what he could do. I was thrilled when he showed up with 2 of the "Little Red Cups". I don't know what happened to the rest of the collection nor do I care...I was just happy to get the 2 that I did. No, I don't have them sitting by my sink as a community cup. I think that the "community cup" theory died with Grandma and Grandpa's generation...but I do drink juice from them periodically, but mostly I pull them down and look at them and enjoy all the wonderful memories they bring back. I am hoping as my grandchildren grow up and pay many visits here in my home that I can give them the same kind of love, stability and comfort that my grandparents and the "Little Red Cup" gave me.

A little CLaSS!

I have had so much fun making these adorable rosettes....I wear them with everything, on my scarves, hanging from my beaded necklace and pinned on my cardigans. They are so classy and just as fun to wear as they are to make. I have several other swatches of fabric that are just waiting for me to find a few minutes to make them into beautiful flower pins as well....

I love free time...just wished I had a little bit more of it.

Wearing an Original!....who would have thought!?

Just an average oatmeal colored cardigan?......I think not.

With a little "creativity" and a few hours of time I made it and Original!

I saw a cardigan similar to this one in a catalog, but for about double the price of what I paid for mine. I added the cute ruffle and rosettes on top and WALAAAAaaaa...its

and...A One OF a KiND, no one but ME has a cardigan like this one...

And I love it...I wished I had bought more of these simple cardigans when I had the chance,

but in different colors...

just think of the possibilities...hmmmm...I might just have to pick up a few more anyway!

"Let him EAT cAkE"....

Its PROM time again! I can't believe that I have another one old enough to be going to the Prom...my youngest son to be exact! Its always fun to see "who asks who" and what unique ways the boys come up with to ask the girls and then to see the fun ways that they girls always answer the boys.

Cameron asked this sweet girl that he has known since he was born...I won't reveal her name to protect her identity (*wink*). To ask her, he gave her a 25 lb. bag of flour with a note on it...more or less it said that he was asking her to go to the prom but to find out who "HE" was she would have to look in the "flour" because thats where the answer to that question was. Prior to him giving her the flour he opened up the large bag and put tons of candy inside with it....making her think that they answer might be in one of the wrappers. BUT he also had her brother (Cam's best friend) in on it. Cam had given his friend a rose with a note that said something like, "Opps, I spelled "flower" wrong, Will you go to prom with me? From Cam"...(this would be given to her after she had search the bag feverishly and had given up) The real "Flower" is where the answer was....not in the big bag of cooking flour ( I am sure I can't explain this as cute as it really was, especially since I didn't help him come up with the idea...he talked with his older brother and they came up with it). This poor, sweet, worried girl sifted through the flour, literally, for hours trying to find out who was asking her to prom. I think she went through it several times and of course the NAME of WHO was asking her wasn't even there...the next morning (yes really) her brother gave her the rose with Cam's name...

THEN CAME TIME for her to ANSWER Cam.

She made an adorable chocolate cake with fondant and homemade roses on top!

It was beautiful, to pretty to eat!!!

We took the flowers off and put them in the fridge so he could eat them later (ha ha ha).

Cam had to look "inside" the cake to find the answer of whether she would go with him or not~

He peeled back the fondant...and began to cut the cake~

As he cut, he hit something with his knife...pulled the cake apart and found a small metal bowl.

Inside the bowl he found a note and many, many red jolly ranchers....

The note read, "Cinnamon is red but strawberry is too,

if there is more cinnamon I'll go to prom with you".

So then began the tedious work of tasting all of the jolly ranchers to see what flavor they were. After just a few he smiled and said...."my tasters are beginning to think they all taste the same".

He finished tasting them all and discovered that there

was an even number of cinnamon and strawberry jolly ranchers.

He was bummed and convinced that he had missed one somewhere so he went about tasting them all again. AND once AGAIN they came out with an even number.

He started thinking that the extra one must be hidden in the cake, so he proceeded to "TEAR" the cake apart. I told him (yes, I was in on the plan) that it was

probably a "TASTE" that was hidden in a piece of the frosting (I wanted him to eat the entire cake...ha ha ha) . So he started eating handfuls of frosting and cake. It didn't take long before he said "Mom, I'm going to throw up"...

so he went and laid down on the bed and waited for his stomach to settle.

I went in his room and asked if I should just throw the cake away or what. He said "Nooooo", and he came back in and ate some more...pretty soon he said he just couldn't eat anymore. Unbeknown to him, I had a note that was given to me, to give to him after he had reached his wits end...(I guess he'd reached that point).

The note said, "Hmmm...Were the Jolly Ranchers even? I think so!!! Maybe you should check the "FLOURS" on top of the cake." He quickly tore the flours apart to find another "Cinnamon" jolly rancher hidden deep inside of one, after which he smiled and said, "I knew it all along. MOM, YOU were just trying to make me eat that entire cake before you gave me that note weren't you?"....

I just smiled.

He was really excited to find the mystery "cinnamon jolly rancher" and

to find out that her answer is YES~

Crazy, fun times make great memories that last a life time!

Blessings...blessings...and more blessings!

Kenron is growing up so quickly. He is now officially 6 months old (as of yesterday). He is such a sweet, sweet baby. He is always so happy. He likes to watch people as well as what they are doing. He studies faces and features and is anxiously learning about his surroundings. His face lights up when you talk to him and he has such a cute little laugh. Last week Dana's parents came down from Montana for a visit. Since he still isn't able to visitors much or go out into crowds of people, Todd and Dana decided to have have him blessed while Dana's parents were out.

All of our children weren't able to be there...

but we grabbed a quick picture of those in our family that were able to come.

Kenron was all about smiling and being happy that day...but he wouldn't look at the camera no matter where I stood with it...so we have all of his pictures with the "side of his face"...oh well, he is cute no matter which way he looks.

I love this picture with Dana's brother, Justin.

Kenron was smiling at Justin as Justin was smiling at him...it was priceless.

We had a really nice day and are so glad that "Kenron Zane Wilkerson" is a huge part of our lives. He makes the snow a little brighter, the days a little better and life a lot more pleasant. He is such a joy and we are all so glad that he is part of our growing family.

Grandma loves you "Little Mr"!