Three One Six

This week I had the opportunity to do something I absolutely LOVE!

My church, Southland Christian, took on the awesome task of partnering with a program, Lifeline Christian Missions, to help feed children in Haiti. The goal is to pack 1 million meals, that will feed 3,000 kids for an entire year! Wow!

Chris and I (along with 6,000 other volunteers) knew as soon as we heard this that it would be something we would do.

The first time we did it (either last year or the year before I can't remember??) we thought it would be fun to bring the girls also so that they could get the feel for what service truly is and also see that there are so many kids that need help, and that they can be a part of the mission of helping! I really wanted them to just experience it and hold that act of service in their hearts. 

When we did it the first time it was so rewarding knowing how many kids would not go without food because of what our church was able to do for them. Ella & Ava had a blast doing it too! Bonus! lol

This year when the time came, we were all so excited!

The night we went, it was PACKED! It is such a great atmosphere, you just help where you can at your table, music is blaring, everyone is there for one purpose... to help pack food for all those kids!

When you get done with a bag this is what it looks like... this is a meal :)

There are different ingredients that go in the bag to make the meal. Each person at your station has a job and fill the bags, seal the bags, box them, label them and then go to the next!

Of course we wear hair nets ha not to stylish but hey, it's only an hour or so. ;)

Chris carried big tubs of soy and rice around to tables as they got low.

The girls were putting soy and rice and vegetable mix in the bags. I was helping them and then packing the boxes and taping them up to send off.

After the meals that are planned are fully packed for that shift, we all sat down to learn a little about what we did that night, how many meals we packed... and what a success the night was!!

These are some facts about Haiti kids... from the screen so not very good pics ha sorry

So sad to read these facts... but rewarding to know that we made one little step in helping them!

That night us, along with the other volunteers, packed 132,000 MEALS! woohooo!

Up to then this week the church as a whole had packed 743,000 MEALS! crazzzzy!

Quickly on the way to 1 million!

It was such a great time!

To learn more about this and the three one six series at Southland you can click HERE.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life."

John 3:16



 

Blog Swap Reveal!!

Nothing gets you in the Christmas spirit more than a Christmas BLOG GIFT EXCHANGE!

 I mentioned before that Raven and her BFF Leslie came up with a great idea to do a gift swap between some blogging ladies and then have everyone blog about it today! I was lucky to get paired up with the oh so sweet Rachel over at In My life I Love You More!

First of all, my gift arrived in a big box with a cute address label and everything!

How cute is this card...?

Girl has got some major skills!

I want to know what pen that is and how to make those snowflakes?? LOL Adorable!!!!

The box had TWO gifts inside.. that's right... two ?!?

A super cute box with a beautiful ornament tied on...

AND...

Look who else got a present? Soooooo sweet of her to think of my baby ha!

He was SO excited to get a prize :)

He opened his first... and look what he got... :)

Precious.Adorable.Love It! ;) So sweet!

Then onto moi... PUMPED about my gift... she must know me well to know I have a mild obsession with these...

 (excuse the crazy hair, had been laying on the couch and this was taken by a 9 yr old lol!)

A MAC special of not one, but FOUR lip glasses in a cute little ornament ball!

LOOOOVEEE it :)

They are so pretty!

How great are those?

Love them!

Thank you so much sweet Rachel! I am so glad we got paired together and you were just so thoughtful with your gifts! I appreciate it so much! I hope you enjoyed your gifts too :)

To read her blog post about the swap today go visit her here and don't forget to follow her blog too!

She has some great ideas and her blog is super cute!

Now just a little Pinterest for today... :)

I love this for a party or get together... small shots of Taco Dip! Great idea!

Seven layer dip shots -- great for a party so people don't have to be crowded around a big bowl of dip. Layers: 1. Refried Beans 2. Sour Cream 3. Guacamole 4. Pico De Gallo 5. Queso Dip 6. Cheese 7. Green Onion

Two kitchens I am highly obsessed with...

Love that island!

Has anyone tried this magnetic spray paint??

Think I may try this week..

Love this dress for a holiday party...

Are you dying over that fur Chanel scarf? Ahhh!

Love these bracelets!!!

I am doing this for Christmas... already got the supplies ha! Chocolate and Sprinkles dipped glasses to drink milk out of! Love this! Great for a birthday party too!

Wish my bottle of Vaseline looked like this haha love the bling... Here are some great things to use it for if you don't know these...

- It makes your eyelashes grow: Lather Vaseline all over your eyelashes overnight and watch them thicken, even without a prescription! 

-To Soften dry and cracked elbows. 

-Dry cuticles: Store a mini-Vaseline container in your purse and utilize for emergency dry cuticle moments. 

- It is a misconception that Vaseline clogs pores, so smear it all over your face, neck and arms for softer skin. 

- It eases eyebrow plucking: Tame your eyebrows and lube up the under-skin so you can pluck with ease.  

- To make your accessories look brand spankin’ new: New job interview? Scuff the crap-ol-la out of your patent leather heals thanks to pitcher night? Put a small dab on your shoes and shine away! 

- It’s your new exfoliating body wash: Mix with sea salt and come out of the shower feeling soft. And sexy. Can be used to smooth and soothe skin after shaving. 

- Bonus - For Halloween - Once you carve your Halloween pumpkin, rub Vaseline on the exposed edges. it keeps it from rotting or going dry.           

Now some inspirational words for all of us...

I have to admit I have moments like this. Ha, don't quite say it like this, but think it often LOL it comes with this business I think ;) 

Mac n Cheese isn't a vegetable?? LOL

and Bless Your Heart is my favorite saying...just sayin.

Love this.

Sorry for the long post but this was a special Monday! 

Hope all you other gift swappers were as pleased as I was :) Can't wait to go read all of them!

Weekend Recap!

What a weekend... it has been jammed pack! I don't think I have stopped all weekend!!

Wanted to do a quick recap because tomorrow is a BIG day... Glitz & Glam Blog Exchange Post (which I opened tonight and Rachel did soooooo amazing I am so excited to share!!! LOVE my gifts!) and also Pinteresting Monday :)

First let me tell you that we Chris finally cut out tree and made it pretty :) So we decorated it all morning Saturday and I did the inside while he did the outside, and I think it turned out pretty good!

Our tree :)

Skirt is just some faux fur from Hancocks Fabrics... I couldn't find a skirt I liked this year so this is sufficing ha, it kind of looks black in this pic but IRL it's pretty cute!

I still have some greenery to add to this and I'm sorry for such a bad pic but it was from my phone... but our mantle with our 5,000 stockings lol!

New Nutcrackers are from Homegoods... I think they were cheap like $15 or so....? They are very blingy, I love them :) Got some for the kids rooms also!

(Kids Xmas Rooms coming soon in a post!)

Speaking of the kids and Christmas... our Elf on a Shelf, Jingles, has been totally crazzzzzy this weekend!?!

Take a look for yourself...

 (thank you Pinterest!)

Making Snow Angels (and a mess) out of flour in the kitchen!

Reading a story when we got home to all the gazillion stuffed animals and even the little action figures and army men from Jake's room!

We even woke up this morning and he was on the shelf with his arm around Barbie (forgot to get a pic!) and as soon as Jake saw it he said "Oh my gosh, Jingles married Barbie last night!"

Hahahahaha. Too funny. We were dying. ;)

We went ice skating this weekend to the new Ice Rink down at Triangle Park in Lexington... it was pretty fun!  Crazy crowded, but fun!

Today we went to church, went to a chorus performance of Ella's and then took some pics for Christmas cards and such this afternoon... pretty cute ;)

Chris's parents came down also and got a quick pic in too...

We had such a fun weekend!

I have gotten 3 new favorite CD's and they are just basically on repeat on my car now 24/7...

I already told you how great the Michael Buble CD is... but now let me tell you I am obsessed with the JB Under the Mistletoe CD haha laugh if you want, but it is good and you will agree!! :) And also, got the new WOW Christian Christmas Songs CD at Sam's over the weekend and it is soooooo good! It's a two disc set and all the songs are awesome, I am loving it!!

I am working on a Polyvore Christmas Wishlist for this week too... Just for fun :)

(And for CJ ha)

Check back tomorrow for the reveal of my blog swap gift!!

And some good Pinteresting too!

Ho Ho Ho!

Happy December!

Notice anything different around here? ;)

I am now in 100% Christmas mode!!!

New cute header with a little blinged out Santa Hat ...

(Thank you PinkLouLou, my Christmas bloggy lifesave! XO!)

If you have music on your computer, then you are also listening to my new Christmas Music Playlist!

 I am currently trying to find some more of my favorite Christmas music to put on but for now this is all I had time for.

We got our tree last night... I told Chris I swore we had a 12ft. last year ... He thought it was a 10ft. ... I found a beauitful tree and had to have it. Loved it. Here it was at the tree lot with the kids posing ;)

Yes, I know it's big. Thank you to all my facebook friends who said we were the Griswalds hahahaha ;) And yes Jake has on a girls scarf but he was cold and that was all I had lol poor thing.

Well we got it home and unfortunately, hate to say it, but it's too big :(

(excuse the mess, I have tubs and christmas and messes everywhere today! Driving me INSANE!)

So tonight we are going to have to trim the trunk down (hopefully that will work!) to make it fit then I can get to decorating! Will share pics once it's finished!

Short post today... got lots of work to do and then need to clean up my messy house ha!

Hope you are officially in the Christmas mode too now!

XO,

"How To" Tie Blanket & Mr. Jingles

Happy Hump Day!

This is a fun gift idea I've been wanting to try for a long time and just never got around to it! But now I have :) And I am making like 4 of them for Christmas gifts!

I plan on taking them to get monogrammed after I finish them all (which takes about 30-45 minutes per blanket) with names or initials in matching colors :)

If you're local in Lexington, and in need of monogramming, don't forget about Sew JWL who does an awesome job!! Her last day for Christmas orders is December 13th so better hurry on up!

So here goes the Tie Blanket ... step by step... so easy! Great gift for one of your friends or for kids :)

If you are making for a big kid or just a throw size, then you will need 2 yds of each color fabric you choose. For a full adult size I would get 3 yards.

1. Pick out two cute felt fabrics

(I went to Hancocks, but Hobby Lobby had some cute ones too! They were like $6 a yard I think)

2. Cut the ends off of both fabrics all the way around the entire piece to make it even and get rid of any curled up ends.

3. Pin the fabrics up against each other and make sure they are matched up perfectly on each corner.

(you can actually pin if you need to, to get an even cut. I did not do that just tried to stay straight)

4. Take a ruler to one corner and measure up 6 inches and then cut.

5. Go to the bottom of that same section and measure 6 inches and cut. Then cut out that are to make a sqaure. Repeat this for the other 3 corners.

6. Start at one corner and measure up 6 inches and this is where you will begin to cut your strips... do this all the way around the entire fabric! About 1 inch thick, depending on how many you want to tie!

7. What a full side will look like after you have cut each strip.

8. Pic after cutting strips around all 4 sides of the fabric.

(Notice I added a model to this pic lol! He has to be right in the mix of everything!)

9. After you've cut all the strips on all sides, start tying knots! Just tying the two pieces of fabric together in a strip... do two knots! SKIP EVERY OTHER STRIP to start with, it makes it easier and also doesn't stretch the fabric as bad.

10. Once you tied every OTHER knot, go back and tie all the ones inbetween to end up with every strip tied into two knots :)

That's it!! How cute is that? They are super soft and cozy too :)

I am going to have the solid color side monogrammed for something extra!

I can't tell you who this is for in case they sneak across this blog and read it ;) ... BUT I still have 3 more to do and I hope the others turn out just as cute as this one!

Guess who showed up at our house today?

(if you don't have kids in your house you probably won't get this haha sorry!)

Our Elf on the Shelf... Mr. Jingles!

He was just relaxin, taking a "bubble bath"...  in marshmellows! :)

Left a treat for Ella, Ava & Jake too ...

They were super excited he is back for the year haha

They are already trying to decide where he will be in the morning??

Who knows??? ;)

Lastly, I found a little something I am excited to add to my Christmas list...

(Sorry bad pic! Was in a hurry and on phone!)

How cute are these "Lexington" cups?

Found them at Peggy's on Clay Ave and they are the plastic ones where you can use them over and over and are dishwasher safe (I think!) with the lid and straw.

Love it! :) Great gift idea too!

(I didnt even check the price, but I do think they were under $20)

I can't WAIT for my Glitz & Glam Blog Exchange gift to arrive and for sweet Rachel to receive my gift too :) Monday we will be blogging about the swap!! WooHoo!!

PS. Tomorrow is December 1st and I have a surprise :)