Sweet Girl, Tonight I am going to put you to bed as a 2 year old. When you wake up (I’m guessing at about 3:30am, and again at 6:30am), you will officially be a 3 year old. Man, just when you got the hang of admitting you were 2, and not 15 when people asked, you’ve got another age to ...
An Open Letter To My Adventure Boy, As He’s Turning 8!
Dear Buddy, Just a couple more sleeps and you’ll be 8 years old. 8! I remember when I was pregnant with you, and your daddy and I went to the gender ultrasound. When the ultrasound tech told us you were a boy, we cried tears of happiness. Then we called to tell your great grandpa, Carl (dad‘s ...
All Are Welcome
Last weekend we hosted a birthday party celebrating another year of Mr. Awesome’s life. We closed off the bedrooms, opened every other door in our 1,500 sq. ft. home, swept the garage, moved a few things, and welcomed in over 90 friends, neighbors, co-workers, and family members. A few guests we ...
My Friend, Amy.
Amy Elizabeth Hild. September 9th, 1987 - February 25th, 2015 Amy Elizabeth Hild I’ve known Amy’s full name for well over 10 years, and I’ve never forgotten it. She used to doodle it in her math notebook all.the.time. She’d put fancy designs around her name and play around with ...
{Sneak Peak} DIY Hot Cocoa Stand for Family Pictures
This post contains affiliate links. {Sneak Peak} I'm crazy excited about this hot cocoa stand my hubby built, for our family photo shoot. The best part is that when I asked him to make it, he.didn't.even.try.to.talk.me.out.of.it! Folks, he's learning! haha I pulled the idea off of ...
Reflections from my 10 yr class reunion
Thoughts the day before my class reunion: I'm not going! But just in case I do, in the next 24hrs: Drink water Avoid carbs Whiten teeth Shave legs Thoughts just hours before the reunion: Crap, I ate carbs! Could I buy one of those girdle things? I really wasn't cute in high school, so I'm sure no ...
A Letter to my Children… & You
Written for my children, for when they are older and will understand it more. In the meantime, maybe you {my dear readers} could use this right now, too? I know I would benefit from these words being spoken to me daily. My Dear Children, I pray you are clinging tightly to Jesus. Be ready. Be ready ...
Christmas Cheer: Simple Gift
Here's a very simple gift for anyone on your list. We won big at our town Christmas Celebration (I'm talkin' grand prize kind of big. It blessed our socks off, folks!). It was such a great surprise that we chose to turn some of that money back into blessing others. I ...
The Boy Turns Five and a Half
This past Saturday our family celebrated something special. Even though we didn't celebrate in the way we normally do, because we were busy cleaning and taking care of household things we were still celebrating. The celebration was marking 5 and a half years of what we call "The Carben1 Comedy ...
DIY Table Top S’mores
Last night we made Table Top Driveway Smores. I had everything on hand already except the charcoal and the pot. Driveway S'mores Being impatient we roasted some while there was still a little flame, this makes deliciously burnt mallows. ;-) The Basics. I think this bag of charcoal will last us ...
How to Melt Old Crayons
What would you do with an ice cream bucket FULL of broken crayons? Here’s what I did: Sort by size & color.I set aside any crayons longer than about 2 inches for little hands to color with. The shorter pieces went back in the bucket — ready to be melted down into new, exciting shapes. ...