My beauty

Sure, I'm biased..she's mine after all!  But while we were on vaca last week I got some shots of her outdoors that I thought were absolutely stunning.  She makes the pictures, thats for sure!!

 

And lastly, a funny one......

 

!!!!!!



Vacation 13'

As I mentioned in my last post, we had an unexpected vacation this year!  So here I was at the last minute, scouring the internet and making phone calls to find us a place to stay and a rental car to book (with the best price, of course!), washing up clothes, cleaning the house, making lists, and packing everything plus last minute shopping for snacks for the road! 

I was beat by the time we left!

We had a great stay in good old Amish Country in Ohio once again.  It never disappoints.  We've made countless memories there in the past several years and everytime we go I kinda wonder will we grow tired of it.



Never happens.  Probably never will.

Its kind of our home away from home.  Have you ever went someplace and it just felt right?  Like you belonged there?  This is how we feel here.  Its great and we love it.

 

Though we couldn't stay at our favorite place (they were booked), we were able to stay in a cottage which was wonderful!  They had a pond and a big playground area, complete with a wooden Noah's Ark!  It was definately better than staying in a hotel.  Makayla loved running around and playing in the afternoons and the setting was very relaxing.  Just what we needed....

 







in front of the pond...

the living area of our cottage...

taking a walk w/daddy

enjoying the afternoon

pure beauty

our cottage and rental car

big girl going down the slide!

doin it all by herself!

 

Best pictures (from this trip!) of my little girl coming tomorrow!

Patriotic Outfit!

~Linking up here~

 



 

 

Makayla had some rather cute outfits for the 4th this year, if I do say so myself!  We were away on vacation this year (unexpectedly..a post on this later!) for the 4th and had a great time!

 

 

Dress ~ consignment sale..probably around $4 or $5

Necklace ~ Groopdealz..$12

Shoes ~ Payless..$12



Sparkle, firecracker, pop, boom, bang!

However your spending today or where ever your at, I hope you have a sparkling good..red, white, and blue..old-fashioned 4th of July!  No doubt I'm probably donning this beauty of a scarf when you read this!



It was a big deal!

So I had a 'breakthrough' last week of sorts!  Something I'd waited 25 months for. 

And no, Makayla isn't potty trained.  I wish. 

Something much, much more fun!  She let me paint her 'piggies'!!!!

You have to understand, since a newborn, my child had despised whenever I've tried to even trim her fingernails and toenails, let alone paint them!  I longed for the day that we'd paint our nails together..you know..have matching piggies and such.  I feared it would be 4 or 5 years before it would happen.

And then the dreaded came..she had to have a nail trim.  HAD to..they were getting gnarly looking.  So after her bath one night, I went to trim them.  And she watched!  No fussing, so crying, no pulling away.  I was in amazement.  So I figured the next night we might just try a pedicure. 

To my amazement, she just watched.  And when I was finished with one foot, she looked at it and squealed with delight!!  I got the other done and she even let me touch up the edges a bit.

 

You can tell by the last picture just how happy she was with her 'colored pigs' as we were calling them!  Life with a little girl = priceless.  :-D



DIY is so much better!

Any of you 'diy-ers' out there know that doing it yourself is so much better than store bought!

My example ~ laundry detergent and fabric softener. 

I felt like I was spending fortunes every week or every other week buying these household staples.  Last year when Damon was unemployed, I was looking for ways to cut costs and discovered you could make your own laundry detergent and fabric softener.  So I jumped on board with the idea and was so suprised at how easy and cost efficient it really was!  And to boot..they work just as well as the commercial stuff!

 

 

This is my homemade laundry detergent.  Granted, I was used to liquid detergent but since switching to powdered I haven't turned back!  I buy a box of Borax and the Super Washing Soda by A & H probably once every 2-3 months.  Each costs around $3.99.  The Fels-Naptha soap costs a whopping .98!  I make a double batch (usually) at a time, using 2 bars of grated soap and 2 cups each of the Borax and Super Washing Soda.  Then I process it in batches in my blender..but thats just for good measure.  I was afraid the flakes of the fels-naptha wouldn't dissolve properly (especially in smaller loads) so I just grind it to a powderey consistency just to be on the safe side.  Plus it gets my blender good and clean!

 

For homemade fabric softener, it couldn't get any simpler.  I buy a bottle of conditioner (the cheap stuff..like $1 or less), squirt the whole bottle in my leftover Snuggle bottle.  Then I add 3 cups of white vinegar and about 3 cups of water.  I usually don't measure the water, I just fill the bottle up until its full (btw, my Snuggle bottle is 75 oz.)..screw the cap on and shake!  Easy peasy!

 

And in case any of you are wondering, since Damon has returned to work, I still make this stuff!  Its saving us lots of $$$, so why not?!

 

Do you DIY?  If so, whats your favorite thing to make?



Lazy Sundays



This is a typical lazy sunday at our home...that is all.