Chirstmas decor...one thing at a time

To be honest, I'm actually NOT looking forward to getting all the Christmas decor out and up. Our tree is mammoth and it takes ALL DAY to get that thing up and running. I'm overwhelmed just thinking about it. And yet, I LOVE Christmas decorations! We've been married almost 14 years ( anny is Dec 23rd!) and it's really about time to purchase some updated Christmas decorations for around the house. Not all at once, just a little at a time.
So far, for all around great deals I hit up the Flower Factory...love that crazy place! So thinking about this space in my dining room that is aching for some new decor...I love this vintage piece. We inherited this pie cabnet from Nate's Grandparent's best friends...if you are ever in my dining room...do NOT look inside, it's a scary scary place full off seasonal half used candles, old picture frames and stragely crafted table lines
ok...back to my shopping trip...I did something REALLY crazy and took the boys there with me. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME??? They are bulls in a china shop!!
They did ok with some bribing ( I know that's so bad). I had one minor behavioral issue when Logan stood next to our cart as I told him over and over "Please move around to the front buddy" as a fellow shopper was trying to get by with her cart. Which BTW...I think that ALL stored should be required to make isles wide enough for not only 2 carts side by side, BUT ALSO allow a fair amount of room to accomidate the children who ride on the sides of carts...isn't that where most kids ride??!!
Well anyway as I repeatedly asked Logan to move around, I got nothing. He just stared at me! I asked again and again, as clearly and nicely as I could, while this lady waited for her space. Hmmmm...I must have switched to my 2nd language, cause he just wasn't understanding me. Well the fellow shopper had waited long enough, she jetted down a side isle...I might have heard a *hummphhh* as she gave up on my deaf child. Anyway, he lost his priveledge to get a bribed treat...the loss of that was enough to get his attention at that point and for the rest trip he was fine. I guess that's not too bad really.
So here's what I ended up with...

a bag of small frosted pine cones $2
a bag of large frosted pine cones $3
3 silver dollar sprigs $5
2 teal sparkle sprigs $3
3 red large ornament balls $6
3 snow covered grape vine trees $6
1 bag of snow ( this was a *not really me* purchase $2
So if I did my math right, and for those of you that know me well, yes, I did use a calculator...I spent $27...not too bad, could have been much more for all this really.
And here's what I came up with...

I think now I'm ready to tackle the BIG TREE....Lord help me!!

today's craft copy

I'll admit it right now, I am NOT creative! Seriously, I don't come up with stuff on my own, I totally copy other's ideas, and I'm not ashamed to admit it.
So at the mall retail store that I work at, we have recently started selling these great scarves. They are thin cotton with frayed edges.
So being the frugal gal that I am or at least try to be...I'm thinking I could totally make these myself. How hard can it be. Oh and BTW these scarves retail for $24.50! Cute scarves, but not $24.50 cute.
So off to the fabric store I went...found a ton of plaid cotton, lots to choose from. Kinda overwhelmed really. Anyway they were on sale too! So I choose two colors, and bought two yards of each ( $14 worth of fabric). Washed it and ironed it( was super wrinkled ughhh), then cut a 18 in wide strip ( 2 yrds long). Sewed around the edges w/ a decent seam allowance, then frayed the edges. Made a lovely pile of thread! So basically I have 4 scarves total when it's all said and done for $14!!! Here they are!!
I'm thinking these will make GREAT Christmas gifts for the kids teachers!!!

Thanksgiving ~ Rohrer style

Well Smith style too :) So many have asked "ohh are you traveling for Thanksgiving?" Yep, a big trip south to Springboro ( 10 min) and the same day we head up North to Dayton(15 min)...phewwwww...so tiring! We are blessed to have both our families in town and although it's tough to have TWO BIG meals in one day, we will take it over traveling out of state etc.
It was tough though for Logan this year, his asthma was really giving him trouble, so he spent most of his days like this I pray this will be a thing of the past.
When Nate's brother and his family come for a visit, it's a MUST that we hike through the woods behind his parents house to the park. And even though that day was the coldest it had been this season, it didn't stop us...all of us! I wanted to get pics of each of the kids during the hike... Madelyn Emma
Logan
Clayton
All the cousins, well that is except for little Caraline, wanted to put on a play for us at the outdoor theater, it was precious and stinkn' cold!!!
The kids didn't seem to care much about the cold, and the fact that it started sleeting, they wanted to stay and play at the park.
That afternoon we headed up North to my parents and enjoyed the meal with The Smith side of the fam. The kids had fun and we did it again on Sat afternoon too! This is my fav pic of the weekend, I love how much fun Logan and my nephew Seth have together, they are best buds.

Logan ended up on Sat taking a trip to the ER for more meds, his just weren't helping and he was really having a rough time moving air...uh kinda a big deal.
So Nate and I took him in and missed alot of time with our family :(
The weekend flew by...and now it's time to convince scrooge, I mean Nate to get the house decorated for Christmas!!!

The dream of every young Buckeye

Maybe it was because we were a military family, moving around from state to state. Maybe it was because of the many moves my heart was always connected to Ohio. My Dad is an OSU grad, and even as a toddler in South Dakota, I was truly a Buckeye. I remember growing up watching their games, and my sisters and I would pull out the mini-trampoline and make up cheers.
Dad loved it, I'm sure.
But the biggest game of all, every Fall was when the Buckeyes played Michigan. It IS THE BIG GAME. My Dad would get all worked up and stressed out, wondering if we could pull it off this year. It was a dream of mine to BE at THAT game someday...someday.
Nate and I *try* to get to a home game every year or so, by getting tickets off E*bay or buying tickets from outside of the stadium. Each game is very emotional for me, I LOVE being there!!!! I love the tradtion, I love all the memories it brings back to me.
Well this past week, Nate come home with a big smile on his face and said "If something good *might* happen, but I don't know yet if it will happen, would you want to know what it is now? HUHHHH????
Well then I needed to know the chance of it happening, give me a %...he said 50, so I said yet, tell me.
"well would you go to the Michigan/Ohio State game with me on Sat IF I got tickets?"
I think I about fell over, but I tried to keep myself composed, I'm the realistic one in the family...a glass is half empty.
A couple days later, Nate came home and asked me "would you go on a date with me to Ann Arbor?" AHHHHHHHH!!!!!! It happened!!! We are going!! I was so shocked and feeling so blessed! Our dear friends were so kind to let us have the tickets...I'm still overwhelmed. This was HUGE for me!
So off we went early Sat am...had to stop at Waffle House for a painful meal ( my stomach is always a wreck after I eat there, yet I still eat it. what is wrong with me?)

As we parked our car and walked toward the Big House, we saw scarlet everywhere!!! Comments were being made here and there as Blue fans walked with the crouds as well. As we walked in to the stadium...well it was CRAZY!!! I think we walked the opposite direction the whole way around to find our gate...did I saw it was nuts already...it was NUTS!!!
We found it and sat down inbetween 2 Mich fans...they didn't seem to be too excited to see us scarlet shirted fans sitting inbetween them. Although they were very nice. I tried to contain my excitement. I soaked it all in.
It was sureal that I was really THERE!

We had AMAZING Seats!!! Again, I was feeling overhwelmed with what a blessing this was, and to be there with Nate...mmmmm...LOVED IT!!!

By the 3rd quarter it was pretty clear we would win, the stands gave in to the reality and the around the stadium was a loud and clear "O!H!I!O!" The M fan behind us thought that was unsportsmanlike...sorry dude.
After the game, coach prayed with his team on the field, and lead them over to the corner where the band came and we all sang "Carmen Ohio"
Man this was good, good stuff!
As we left the stadium, holding Nate's hand I looked up to him and said " you know that this was a once - in - a - lifetime thing"...yep it was...

easy easy cuties!

I keep seeing stinkn' cute organza hair accessories that I love and I've seem them all over etsy, some up to $12 each. Well I'm too cheep and somewhat crafty to not give it a try myself, so I did. I found an on-line tutorial and gave it a shot with my girls.
Here's what we started with
of course I couldn't choose just one color, so I purchased 3 colors of organza and a few other notions. Got the candle all ready to go ( and it gave me the aroma of sugar cookies, brilliant during my sugar hiatus...ughhh)
Well then I had a bit of a trial and error moment...yep, that would be typical of moi.
Then I added a few other layers and touches and here we go...

Soooooo ya want one???? I'd love to make one for ya, and it can be made to be a pin too!!

This Summer

I know, I know...it's been quite a while since I have posted. Well life has been slightly crazy, actually mostly crazy.
Our trip to Trinidad and Tobago was AMAZING. God did some beautiful things in the lives our our daughters and the children there. He also impacted our lives, Nathan and I as we poured ourselves into the opportunities we had to serve there.

This is my buddy Navin...he was also at camp last year. Such a sweet sweet kid.

Here's our trip to Tobago, Nate and Vijay getting ready for our Glass Bottom Boat ride

Amazing to be in THIS water in the middle of the Carribean Sea!!!

So many stories from our trip and visit with the Singh family...we love them!!!
Now it's back to school and back to work and it's all be overwhelming to be honest. But God is good and He will provide ALL that we need to do His work. Today, I'm just patiently trying to wait on HIM

Our babies!

Yesterday morning Clayton and I went out on the front porch to talk with my neighbor Carole when I noticed after Clayton touched the banister he had some bugs get on his arms. As I was brushing them off, I noticed that they were also all over the banister. Kinda got grossed out at first. But then I noticed what they were...BABIES!!! They were baby Praying Mantis!!!

I called the other kids out to the porch, I'm sure by the sound of my voice they may have thought there was free ice cream somewhere.
The girls brought out their cameras ( my battery died after I took VBS pics the night before, and I can't find my charger ughhh), they had a little photo session with the couple dozen babies. I do have to say they are so cute!
In past years we have seen just a couple times an adult Praying Mantis hanging around our front porch. So I guess it's still around here somewhere. We found the pod where they hatched from under the rim of the banister, it looks just like this
, it's only like an inch or so long, amazing all those babies hatched from there!
We had our photo session and went inside. About an hour later Madelyn felt something on her arm, and there was a hitch-hiker! After that, every little ticking I felt on my body I thought for sure there was another one. Gave me the willies!

I remember from one of the girls school projects that they were not allowed to collect a Praying Mantis, because they were Indangered...hmmmm...so I thought I would find out some facts about these amazing creatures...I'm sure you are thrilled about the science lession...but it is pretty interesting stuff.

***praying mantises", because of the typical "prayer-like" stance, although the term is often mis-spelled as "preying mantis"

***The word mantis is Greek for "prophet" or "fortune teller".

***The articulation of the head is remarkably flexible, permitting nearly 300 degrees of movement in some species, allowing for a great range of vision (their compound eyes have a large binocular field of vision) without having to move the remainder of the body

***Sexual cannibalism is common among mantises in captivity, and under some circumstances may also be observed in the field. The female may start feeding by biting off the male’s head (as with any prey), and if mating had begun, the male’s movements may become even more vigorous in its delivery of sperms

***The male engages the female in courtship dance, to change her interest from feeding to mating.

***NOTE*** I found more intersting facts about the above process, however I would have to edit ALOT...so I will leave it as it is above and not go into that process any farther, quite interesting though.

***When flying at night, at least some mantises are able to detect the echolocation sounds produced by bats, and when the frequency begins to increase rapidly, indicating an approaching bat, they will stop flying horizontally and begin a descending spiral toward the safety of the ground, often preceded by an aerial loop or spin.

So...are they Endangered??? Here's what I found...
Only one Spanish species, Apteromantis aptera, is listed as Lower Risk/Near Threatened. North American mantises are not included among threatened or endangered species.
Back to our babies... by the time we left the house later that afternoon, they were all gone! I then realized that in a small window in time did we get the priveledge of seeing something very special...thanks God for sharing your creation with us!