fabric & flowers

If you give my mom fabric or flowers, she can do just about anything with them.  She has been helping me decorate my house since we got married.  I don't know what I would do without her.  

Take a look at what she's made....

Flower arrangement by our bathtub

Curtain in our bathroom

Flower arrangement in a box on a bookshelf in our bedroom

Cornice Board and pillows in our bedroom

Crazy Quilt Pillow on our bed

Flower arrangement on our kitchen table

Curtains in Kitchen

Detail on the curtain kitchen

Curtain on the back door 

Curtains in the living room

Detail on the living room curtains

And my favorite....a crazy quilt banner in one of our hallways

Now that we have curtains, the virtual tour of our house will be coming soon!  I just have to decorate our mantle and we will be good to go.  I can't wait to "invite" you into our home!!

grandbaby fever

My dad called las night to check on me and see how I was feeling.  

I think he mainly called to ask me if it was morning sickness.  I think he has "Grandbaby Fever" again.  He absolutely adores Carson and can't wait to have another grandbaby.  How funny is it that my Dad has "Grandbaby Fever" before I have "Baby Fever"? I'm sure "Baby Fever" will hit this house at some point.  

But for now, there is no morning sickness in the Link home.  That won't be for a while. 

I'm off to school!!

sick

Last night was not that fun for me.  I was up almost all night throwing up.  At 3:00 in the morning when I realized it wasn't going to stop, I got online to put in a sub for today and threw some lesson plans together to send to my team.  I slept in until about 9am and starting feeling totally fine around noon.  I took almost a 2 hour nap after lunch, but I was still very productive around the house this afternoon and evening.  Hopefully I rested enough because my tummy is starting to feel funny again.  

I got an e-mail from our computer teacher this morning say that one of my students said "Good Morning Mrs. Poo Poo" to her.  He had apparently already given the sub lots of problems in the first 45 minutes of the day, so I'm pretty sure he spent most of the day in the office.  If I have to stay home from school another day this is probably what will happen.  

Women Tell All Recap

Sorry this is so late girls. It's been a crazy week, so I'm going to make this short and sweet.

I am definitely thinking he is going to pick Melissa. She is really growing on me. A girl that I teach with has met her, and said that she is a very down to earth girl.

Molly just gets on my nerves. She seems like she is acting on the show and her eyes are always huge and scary looking....haha!!

I am really curious to see what Chris meant by his closing statement. What is going to happen next week?

And I am totally excited that everyone loved the idea of Jillian being the next Bachelorette. I think she would be fabulous for it.

And speaking of the next Bachelorette. A girl that one of the teachers at my school used to teach with is trying out to be the next Bachelorette. Isn't that crazy? She just really wants to settle down and have a family. Does she really think that she is going to find that on T.V? I mean they are 1 out of 15 being successful. The odds aren't too good.

I'm excited to see who Jason picks next week!! Who do you think that he will pick??

giveaway!!

If you don't, you should check this out.....

One of my friends from college is doing a giveaway on her blog.  She makes these adorable necklaces.  Go check her stuff out here and leave her a comment to enter her giveaway.  

my little helper

Thanks for helping me with the laundry this morning, Izzie!!

jason is an IDIOT

That is all I can say right now......

He is going to go down in history as the DUMBEST Bachelor ever.

I'll post more later, but I'm in shock right now.

fine china

Yesterday we decided to take back our China that we got for our wedding.  We got 7 place settings as wedding gifts, and I wanted 12 place setting.  It was going to be way to expensive to buy 5 more place settings to finish it off, so we decided to take them back and get a full set of something a little less expensive.  

We ended up getting these from Crate & Barrel.

I think we came out pretty good.  We got a full set of 12 place settings of the Staccato dishes from Crate & Barrel plus $300, that I'm going to use that to buy fabric for curtains for our living, kitchen and bedroom!! Finally!! Yay!!

And speaking of fine china, you should check out Andy Davis' song called Fine China.  It's a good one.

happy valentine's day (late)

Matt and I had an all day celebration.  We figured since it was on a Saturday, we better take advantage of an all day celebration of this non-sense holiday!!  We had such a wonderful day!! 

 

We started out the morning with sleeping late, and by sleeping late we mean, sleeping until 8am! I made one of Matt's favorite breakfasts, Pigs in a Blanket, and then we exchanged Valentine's gifts.  We decided beforehand that we didn't want to do anything big.  I gave Matt some butterfingers, extra sunglasses to keep in my car, and some other random things.  He gave me The Fray CD and the David Cook CD.  (I'm glad I put that I wanted The Fray CD on my blog, but he read my mind on the David Cook CD!)

We got out of the house around 10am and didn't get home until 6ish.  

We took back a couple of things, bought my coupon box, and bought a much needed dust pan.  At Cinemark you can go to the first showtime of each movie for $5.  So we went to see Slumdog Millionaire for FREE.  We had a giftcard from Christmas.  Thanks Cinnamon!!

Sidenote: While we were in the parking lot, there was this guy just parked in the middle of the road.  He was dropping his wife off, but it was taking forever and he is was our way.  Of course, Matt honked, but I don't blame him.  We found a really close parking spot, and then we notice that the guy that we honked at found one right in front of us.  The older man got out of his car and came straight to Matt and got in his face, "You got a problem, Big Boy! You got a problem, Big Boy!"  Matt just walked off and then the man said "Kiss my A**!"  It was so bizarre.  Especially since he dropped his wife off then parked his car like 5 ft away.  After we got into the movie theater, we got scared that he might do something to our car.  Matt went outside and took a picture of his license plate, just incase.  Thank goodness for iPhones!!

So, after the movie we went to The Cheesecake Factory.  We also had a giftcard there!! Thanks Ryan, Ashley and Carson.   It was nice to have a late lunch/early dinner and beat the crowd.  We split a White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake...Yummy!!

After "lupper" we ran a few more errands and made a stop at Redbox (our 2nd favorite place to get movies other than Netflix).  We got Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist.  It wasn't awful, but I can't really recommend it to you.  

Hope you had a very Happy Valentine's Day!

Thanks sweetie for a wonderful day!  I love you!!

heaven in a bowl

Matt and I discovered heaven in a bowl tonight.....Blue Bell Banana Pudding Ice Cream. I'm not big fan of banana flavored stuff, but this ice cream ain't messing around. It tastes like the real deal. Matt loves banana pudding, so he thought this was fabulous. After eating his whole bowl, Matt asked me how fattening I thought this was. I just told him it wasn't our business. We don't want to make the ice cream feel fat!

The best part about this ice cream was that we got it on sale at Kroger for $2.99. It was a Valentine's Day only special, though. But, all Blue Bell ice cream is on sale for $3.99 for the rest of this week, and if you go here you can get $1.00 off a half gallon of Blue Bell ice cream!

So go get some Banana Pudding ice cream for $2.99 at Kroger!!!

tried and true designs

My Mom has been making these adorable diaper bags for over 26 years.  

All bags are denim,  personalized and machine washable.  When we were kids and out grew carrying a diaper bag, it became our church bag.  We put crayons and coloring books in it to keep us entertained during big church!

She also makes bandana bibs, name bibs, burp clothes, tag blankies and bibs, and teacher bags. 

I have made two slideshows with some of her bag designs.   One has the girl bags and the other one has the boy bags.  These are most of the designs that she has, but not all of them.    All the pictures without names are bags that she has completed except for the name.  The fabric in the picture is what will be on the inside of the bag.  

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Prices:

Diaper Bags: $30-35 (depending on design)

Teacher Bags: $40

Bandana Bibs: $10

Name Bibs: $15

Tag Bib: $15

Tag Blankie: $15

Burp cloths: $10

Look who came to see me!

On Wednesday night Matt went and played basketball at the church with all the guys.  Ashley and Carson came over so I could help her make Carson's scrapbook.  We had so much fun playing!!  Carson makes the cutest little noises.  He is such a fun age right now.  

Then I got lucky tonight and got to see that sweet boy at my parent's house tonight too!!

He was super happy!  Lolly and Pops just gave him his Valentine's Day present.  

crafts & coupons

I have always loved making crafts.

And I have recently fallen in love with coupons.

I have always loved a good deal, so I'm surprised that I have just now gotten into the world of coupons.  And let me be the first to tell you that their is a "coupon world."  There are all sorts of blogs where people talk about saving with coupons and give tips.  There are websites with FREE coupons.  And recently, I got a free 4 week membership with www.thegrocerygame.com.  It was fun while it lasted, but I didn't find it necessary to keep my membership.  It really got me started saving.  Using coupons is definitely a game.  You have to find the best sale price and then use your coupon along with the sale price.  

Every Sunday afternoon I clip coupons and put them in my "not so cute" coupon holder.  (that has no labels.)  

They fall out and sometimes I don't even take the time to sort them.  I just put them in the front.  It takes a while on Sunday afternoon to get them all clipped and then sort through the ads to find the best deals, but I think it's worth it.  I save anywhere from $20-$50 dollars each week on groceries.  

I was recently reading on my old Bible Study leaders blog and saw these.  

Aren't these the cutest coupon holders ever?

They originally got the idea from here.  They bought the boxes from Macy's, and covered the dividers with scrapbook paper.    I think it is worth stealing.  

I'm going to make one.  Do you want to make one with me?  I have tons of scrapbook paper that I am trying to get rid of.  I would love to share it with you.  We could have a coupon box making party!!  

i saw that one coming

Bye, Bye Naomi

I'm not surprised one bit that Naomi went home last night on the Bachelor. Her family was crazy. Her mom had some funky beliefs. She said alot of contradicting statements last night.

She told her Dad that they had talked about her beliefs, and that he knew where she stood. Then in an interview she said that she wished that they had talked more about religion and her spirituality. Hmmm....

She also said that she could care less if they believe the same things. Then she said that she feels like they are so right and that when two people have the same hearts and care about the same things you can do magic. Well they obviously they would never make it because they don't have any of the same beliefs.

I'm still lovin' Jillian. She really opened up to Jason about her Mom, and that was very important. (especially since her Mom mentioned it to Jason) That really showed that she trusts him. I loved her family. They looked like they had a good time and there was no forced conversation.

I can see how Molly is the way that she is. Her family seemed to be the very country club, snobby, rich type people. I still don't like her. And her smile looks evil. Maybe that's why I dont like her.

Melissa is my second favorite. She is cute and funny and excited about Jason. I do, however find it odd that none of her friends know much about her parents, and she won't talk about her parents that much. That would be scary to move on the next level in relationship without seeing her family.

I really have no idea who is going to send home next week. It's all going to depend on the dates. I don't think he really likes one over another at this point. And I don't really think there is a front runner. We'll just have to wait and see.

I have to say that I am like Jason less and less as the show goes on. I am not excited for Deanna coming back. I really hope that the scene where they show him crying over the balcony is not over her. I never really liked her, and he should NOT take her back after what she did to him.

Germ-X & Vitamins are my Friends

Last week I heard that the elementary school down the street had 140 students out on Wednesday because of the flu.  Last year I caught everything that the kids got.  Hopefully I built up my immune system last year.  I am hoping and praying that I don't get the flu this season.  I got my flu shot. So let's hope it's the right strand and it keeps me well. 

I've been putting germ-X on me and my kiddos a hundred times day, telling them to sneeze or cough in their elbows, and I've even starting taking Vitamins.  

I had three kiddos absent today.  (Probably with the flu.) Let's cross our fingers that I don't get the crud that is going around.  

brittany's wedding shower

A couple weekends ago my Mom, two of her friends and I threw my best friend a shower.    Showers are the greatest thing ever.  They are fun if you are given them for sure, but I had a lot of fun giving one.    

The hostesses and the bride to be

The yummy "brunchy" spread

I put together an extra gift from the hostesses for Brittany.  We gave Brittany a stock of cleaning supplies, but with a wedding twist.  I read this poem to her as I gave her each cleaning supply.  

Dear Brittany-

We gather together with you to celebrate the DAWN of a new ERA. Marriage is a journey. Some days it will be pure JOY, but 
let's take a moment to talk about the others.



There may come a time when you realize your big BRAWNY guy isn't 
necessarily MR. CLEAN. When this and other little glitches 
occur, don't SHOUT or send up an SOS. Go EASY ON him. Hopefully the TIDE will change quickly, tensions will VANISH, and things will BOUNCE back to normal.



We think you and Preston are a FANTASTIC couple with a ZEST for life and a sincere appreciation for each other. We fully support you
as you and Preston PLEDGE to spend your lives as one.

We wish you all the best... including love, happiness and lots of time to 
SNUGGLE

Love,

Katy, Pam, Dondi, and Beverly

tgif

Warning:  This is a very Random Post.

I am so glad it's Friday.  The week seemed to have gone by really slow.  Yesterday was the 100th day of school.  I make a really big deal out of it, so it was a really exhausting day.  It was especially exhausting because a couple of my kids decided to be "royal toots" yesterday.  I went to a workshop today about working with children with autism.  I was good for the first couple hours, but it went downhill around 11am.  So I'm glad that's over and I can get on with my weekend.  

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I am anxiously waiting for my husband to come home this evening.  We didn't get to watch the Grey's Anatomy/Private Practice duo show last night.  We went to Chuy's with 8 of our new friends from church.  We had such a good time.  I know I say this al the time.  But we are so blessed by our new church.  Anyways, I'm so excited to watch the show when Matt gets home. 

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We have a lot going on this weekend.  Tonight we are going up to the church to play board games with our ABF.  It should be a good time; playing games is one of my favorite thing to do.  Tomorrow I have a baby shower and a wedding shower for two high school friends, and Matt is going golfing with 2 of his friends.  Hopefully I will finish picking all the pictures for our wedding album.  And on Sunday we are going to officially join The Heights Baptist Church, so we have a Membership Celebration to go to Sunday evening.  

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I REALLY want The Fray's new CD.  

That's all.  

Too Cute

I just wanted to show off my nephew, Carson.  He is about to be 7 months old and is too cute for words.  Lolly and Pops (my Mom and Dad) babysat him on Monday night while Ryan and Ashley had a night to themselves.  I enjoyed having a little photo session with him.  He is such a fun age.  I love you little Carson!!

Eat More Chicken

Remember the last time I had to boil chicken.  It was not a pretty sight.  

We eat chicken alot, so it was time to boil some more.  I was dreading it so bad.  I was a little motivated on Sunday when Split Chicken Breast were on sale at Kroger for 99 cents.  I bought 10 packages!!  I got $70 worth of chicken for $24. I froze 5 package and  I had all intentions to boil the other five packages of chicken on Monday night.   I just couldn't motivate myself to do it, especially with the Bachelor on TV.  

Tonight Nonnie came to the rescue!!

I called to ask her how much salt I need to put in it and she offered to cook them in her nifty presser cooker.  (lightning speed compared to the crock pot)

I got lots of chicken cooked and Izzie enjoyed her stay at Nonnie's house.  

Thanks for your help Nonnie.  I love you!!

Let's Be Friends

Tonight was baking day for my Amish Friendship Bread.  It turned out delicious!!  It was so big that I decided to put half of it in the freezer to eat later.  

My friend Ally has some variation to the recipe when you actually cook the bread,  so I'm excited to try them out with my next starter bag.  

I have 3 starter bags to give away.  Leave me a comment if you are interested.  

I'm  off to watch Big Loser.  (right after I ate  piece of sugary, not so healthy, Friendship Bread)

Isn't that ironic?

Sunday Funday

We started off the afternoon hanging out with some Honeymooners at The Bowen's house. They have a giant projector screen upstairs that is great for sports watching. Naturally, the guys all went upstairs while the girls hung-out where the smaller TV and the food was!! I watched the last 2 minutes of the first half. I spend all my time chatting with the girls and eating junk food. I didn't even watch any commercials.

We left at half-time to head over to Matt's sisters house. We celebrated Bryan's birthday with the whole family.

A while back, I made some Snickerdoodles and brought them to Matt's parents house over Christmas. My nephew Preston probably ate 10 in one night. He asked me if I would have "those cookies" the next time I saw him.

I had to keep to my promise, so I made Sweet Preston his cookies.

He was so excited to eat them, even though he had already eaten some birthday cake. After he had already eaten 2 or 3. He asked me if he could have another one. I told him he needed to ask his Mom, and he said, "She said no." He was trying to do everything he could to get another cookie!

I think I watched the whole 4th quarter. It was a pretty excited game at the end. Our other nephew Peyton was so funny to watch the game with. He is only in 2nd grade, but he knows more about sports than I do. All the other cousins were playing and dancing, and he was with all the adults watching the game. At the end of the game, when we were al hoping the Cardinals would pull it out, he keep saying. "If this were Madden football, I could win!" Silly boy.

Here's Uncle Matty and Peyton.

Right before we left, all the kids were getting a little rowdy. Matt had to get onto Preston for throwing something. Preston was not to happy about that, so he told Matt to "Shut up." Matt got onto him and let his Dad know. Of course he got in trouble, but as we were leaving he came and told Matt, "I'm sorry and I FORGIVE YOU!" I thought it was so cute that he had it all backwards, but he was totally sincere.

Then we topped the night off with a great episode of The Office!

Bye Bye, Stephanie

If you aren't a Bachelor watcher, you can stop reading now!!

I knew Stephanie wasn't going to end up with Jason. I liked her, but I didn't like her for Jason. She seems like a very sweet girl, but she is older than Jason and they just didn't have that special spark. I got really annoyed that the voice she talked to Sophia in, was the voice that she used for everyone else. I was happy to see the way that she handled the outcome though. She is definitely more mature than most of the girls on the show.

He likes 'em young. I just read on the website that he is 32. Molly is 24, Naomi is 24, and Melissa is 25.

That is why Jillian is perfect, because she is 29. I'm still lovin' Jillian. She's honest. I know he didn't really like to hear that she was hear for the adventure, but surely he sees that she is falling for him.

I was disappointed with the girls on the group date. I was disgusted that they asked the girls how they like it in the bedroom. Even though I am married, I woudn't answer that question on a radio station. That is personal stuff.

I really can't decide if I like Melissa or not. Some times I like her, then sometimes I don't. I am interested to see how her hometown date goes next week, since he doesn't get to meet her parents.

I am really surprised that Naomi didn't go home, especially after his little talk that he had with her. I would be scared after she told the story about her Mom. But I would be extremely scared after she said that she thinks she is alot like her Mom.

Molly is cute, but kind of full of herself. I think she will be in the top 2 girls.

I'm excited for home-town dates That is when it starts getting really good.

Amish Friendship Bread

Have you this before?  It is beyond me.  

My friend Nicole gave it to me after the Honeymooner Guy/Girl Night.  She made it for the guys.  Except they renamed it to be called "Bro Bread."  After talking with her about the recipe, she said she had a starter bag.  I have heard of starter bags for bread, but I never really understood them.  So here's what I understand....

Some one gave Nicole a bag of this "stuff" called a starter bag.  She "fed" it and mushed it up for 10 days until it was ready to cook.  Before she started to bake it, she scoop out a little of the "stuff" to make 4 new starter bags.  I got one of the starter bags.  So now I'm going to "feed" it.  You put milk, flour and sugar in it twice and mush it every other day.  And you don't put it in the refrigerator, so it begins to ferment.  It's kind of gross if you think about it.  And on the 10th day after you add the milk flour and sugar, that is when I will scoop our some and put in 4 new bags.  Then I will give it away to some friends.  If I give it to 4 people, I won't be able to make the bread until someone give me a bag.  Or I can keep one and bake bread every 10 days.  I don't get it.  

So who started it?  And why can't you make your own starter bag?   Why does it take 10 days to make it?  How is it okay to not refrigerate it?  What if everyone in the world that had a starter bag decided not to make their bread, would Amish Friendship Bread just die?

The 10th day, which is baking day is tomorrow.  So I'm excited to see how my Friendship Bread, or "Bro Bread" to Matt, turns out tomorrow.  I'll let you  know.  And maybe if you are lucky you'll get a starter bag.