Ms. Brooke

A little less than 2 months shy of two, and she's definitely a diva in training. Here are a couple recent pics of Ms. Brookie Cookie herself! ;)

Giant Busy Box....

This was a Christmas gift from my dear Aunt Amy for Brookie....and it's soooo much fun!!! The kids have found so many awesome projects within this giant busy box! Today, we made four paper bag puppets! Connor and Brookie made a cow and a lion this morning, and Connor's friend is over this afternoon and they are currently working extremely hard making an elephant and a frog, respectively!

A perfect way to keep busy on these dreary winter days.... :)

Seriously?

Did I really type the word "inpact" below in my "Much Ado About Nothing Post"? Seriously.....

Sorry all, apparently the lack of sleep has been affecting me lately. Wait, is it affecting, or effecting? Seriously? Seriously....

XOXO! ;)

A Joyful Heart...

I think of myself as a happy person, glass half-full (or over-flowing sometimes :) kinda girl. But, as of late, I've caught sight of "Ms. Grumpy Pants" reflecting in the mirror. I don't know why....maybe I'm tired? Maybe I've been burning the candle at both ends...maybe a little bit of everything all thrown in the mix. Connor will say, "Mommy, are you mad at me?"...to which I'll respond (certainly with no grumpy or slightly annoyed undertones)..."NO Connor, WHY would I be mad at you?" Tommy has accused me on quite a few occassions of being grouchy over the last couple of weeks, which then really gets my blood boiling, and makes me even more so, (even though I'm NOT grouchy...of course). ;)

Well, as I told you last time, I've made a few life-style adjustments lately. I'm revamping my eating habits, getting back into the habit of regular exercise, working on some home-improvements....but last night I came to a realization. All of this is well and good, but if I'm not doing these things with a joyful heart, than I might as well not do them at all!!!

I teach music classes for children a couple mornings a week-something which makes me oh, so happy. I consider it more of a priviledge than a job, for the most part! Our extraordinary director had a belated holiday party for all of us last night, and the theme was "Simple Gifts". After a delightfully elegant dinner, she read the words to the Quaker song which says:


'Tis the gift to be simple,
'tis the gift to be free,
'tis the gift to come down where you ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
It will be in the valley of love and delight.

Refrain:

When true simplicity is gained,
To bow and to bend we shan't be ashamed.
To turn, turn will be our delight,
'Til by turning, turning we come round right

'Tis the gift to be loved and that love to return,
'Tis the gift to be taught and a richer gift to learn,
And when we expect of others what we try to live each day,
Then we'll all live together and we'll all learn to say,

Refrain:

'Tis the gift to have friends and a true friend to be,
'Tis the gift to think of others not to only think of "me",
And when we hear what others really think and really feel,
Then we'll all live together with a love that is real.


I adore this song. I've always loved the melody, but never stopped to really let the words sink in. I love the idea of "simple gifts", and a JOYFUL heart! I am so excited to not only begin a few life-style adjustments, but also a reformation of the heart!!!! I have so much to be thankful for--so, so many gifts. And I thank you, all of my wonderful friends and family, for the simple gift of your friendship. And with a joyful heart, I'm off to paint another section of window molding! ;)

Much Ado About Nothing.....

Sooooo....first and foremost, I need to get my act into gear. Remember all of those lovely posts about running...yeah, I sure was loving it...when it wasn't bittah cold out...like it is now. Now, I'm really enjoying my evenings snuggling in for the night with a glass of wine and some chocolate, or cookies, or something delightfully sinful that's totally unhealthy...whilst crafting, or watching t.v....on my bottom...which is growing larger by the minute!

Ridiculous, I say, absolutely ridiculous! I have got to amend this situation and now. I have a bad habit of just picking at food all day long, insead of planning healthy meals, three times a day. That needs to change, too. So, I am about to begin a reformation...we'll see how it goes...I'll keep you posted! Anna's wedding is in September, and she sent me pics of some ideas for bridesmaid dresses...yep...gotta start working now so that come September, I'll be ready to squeeze myself into one of those hottie dresses! ;) HA!!!! ;)

On a totally different note, we are doing some house reformation, or renovation as the case may be, as well. We didn't build our house, but the people who did opted to put in dark stained trim, throughout. I really, really detest it, but have detested even more the thought of having to 1) replace all of the trim, or 2) PAINT all of the trim....but, we're sucking it up and getting out our painter's tape and our brushes. We're almost done with the living room, and although it does take a lot of time, it's so incredibly worth it. I finished the mantle and the window casings in the living room this afternoon, and the inpact it makes is amazing. New drapes and a few new accessories and at least one room will be good to go....it's a start, at least! :) I'll have to post before and after pics soon!

WINNER, WINNER!!!!

Thank you so much for all of your entries! ;) I took pics of the kiddos drawing name(s), but alas, the camera is downstairs and I am upstairs, and I think it might be asking too much of my lazy buns to go all the way down there to upload pictures of the official drawing! :) So, you'll just have to trust me on this one!!!! ;)

Because I have TWO kiddos, who bicker over everything, one didn't think it was fair that the other one got to draw a name and he didn't, I had to be fair to avoid an argument, so two names were drawn from from the pile.....



And..............






Heather Beach Photography was drawn by the lovely Brooke! ;)







And................







"So Happily Us" (Margaret) was drawn by the dashing Connor!






Congrats ladies!!! Email me with your info and I'll send out your gifts right away! :)
brookiecookiesbows@yahoo.com

And, to all of you who didn't win this time, no worries...I'm sure you can tell how much I love to give these things away, so we'll do a V-day giveaway in February, fo sho! ;)

Thanks so much for all of your sweet comments and words of encouragement!!!

XOXO,

Liz

Celebrating 200 Posts with a Vimeo...

Dear readers,

I woke up to an email today from my amazing and beautiful friend, T., who attends Builtmore Baptist Church....an awesome church that has an incredible outreach and ministry and welcomes those from all walks of life with open arms!

I was looking for something neat and exciting to celebrate my 200th post (woohoo! ;), and I think this is just perfect!

I am crying as I write this....what an incredible testimony to the fact that God has a plan for each and every one of us, and there is ALWAYS hope in Him!

Have a wonderful and blessed day!!!

XOXO,

Liz

Happy New Year--Time for Another Give-Away!

Okay, so I've been busy, busy, busy making these addictive little hair clips and bows....my house is suffering, my kids are sick of the bow habit...well, Connor is, at least, Brookie's like a kid in a candy store b/c my addiction now = her addiction and she has to change her bow at least three times a day! ;) I'm really excited because I've been conversing with a local clothing boutique about selling my accessories there, and we have a final meeting on Friday! Yay!

So, I've gotten a lot better at making these too...I'm learning which clips are best, which ribbon is best, how to heat-treat the ribbon to keep it from fraying, etc...I also just made my first donation to Compassion International with my proceeds, and am so excited that we are able to sponsor a child, and will receive info. about him or her in a week or two!!! I can't tell you how happy that makes me, and I hope my donation abilities are able to be greatly increased as my business grows!

So, in honor of my new found love for all things "ribbony" :), I'm having another GIVE-AWAY!!!! Yay!!!!! It makes me giddy to share these with friends, and one of my lucky bloggy friends will receive a pretty Trio set, a lot like this:




To enter, simply follow this blog if you don't already, and leave me a comment! One entry per comment!!!! We'll draw the winner on Friday, January 15th!!!!!!!!!!!

I wish I could ship all of my friends a Brookie Cookie's Bow, but I'm just not that bountiful, yet. :) However, I can give all of you a great deal....if you place an order on my Etsy site, simply leave a msg. with the order that says "These Are the Days" and you will receive a FREE clip or bow that compliments your order (I'll choose something really pretty ;)! No exclusions, or minimums to your order, either! And, if you spend $20 or more, you'll receive TWO free clips or bows!

Okay, enough promotion of this crazy new venture of mine....please, please forgive me! ;) I promise I'll only do one give-away a month from now on!!!!

XOXO!!! :)

Let it SNOW!!!

We are in the middle of a winter snow storm which has pounded us all day with gorgeous, powdery, sparkling, white snow. It's been glorious to sit sipping yummy wintery beverages (Guiness was my choice tonight) and marvel at the fact that we have nothing to do (well, sort of ;), and no place to be! Daddy brought snow inside and put it in the kid's water table while I worked upstairs on my bows (I'm addicted, by the way). I heard squeals of delight filtering up the stairs into my office, as they scooped and shoveled the snow!
After I scrambled to make dinner (time passes so quickly while I'm busy crafting) we took the kids out for a night-time snow adventure. Daddy shoveled the driveway and sidewalks, while the kids flopped in, ran on, swept up, and gobbled the snow! They had a ball, and it was so much fun. Connor remarked to me at one point that the snow was sparkling, and it WAS. So beautiful under the street lights. I didn't take pictures, because our escapade was quite impromptu, but it was breath-taking.

I did have a moment when I went chasing after Brookie as she ran down the drive way. Apparently I have no traction on my boots, and my feet flew out from under me and I landed (hard) on my hip and shoulder--taking Brookie down with me! Daddy thought it was quite hilarious as I grumbled about needing new boots, (that's next on my list tonight :). I'm gonna be feeling that one tomorrow, for sure! But other than that we had a brilliant day, and who knows, we might even take a snow day tomorrow, too!!!!

Happy Winter, everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!