song in my heart

While Anna was here she gave me a music cd, and I have been listening to it at least once a day.
It's nothing fancy or professional... just some people singing.
They have so. much. joy.
It never fails to put a bounce in my step and my focus right back where it belongs.

I know He opened up my blinded eyes one day,
I know His precious blood washed all my sins away,
I know His peace, sweet peace has filled my troubled soul.
Yes, this one thing I know!

This song has been stuck in my head. And I mean stuck!

I've been thinking a lot recently about how right my Dad was when he said that the older we get, the less we feel like we know. At least for me. I know a whole lot of nothing about anything these days.
But this. This one thing I know.
And everything else pales in comparison. In fact, everything else doesn't matter. At all.

royal wedding

I watched the royal wedding with Amber this morning... how fun!
I was curious to see what it would be like.. extremely stiff and proper, but just beautiful!
Everything was beautiful.

The queen.
Westminster Abbey.
The ladies hats.
The horses and carriage.
Kate! She was so elegant and poised. Her dress was lovely... very Grace Kelly

I know that everyone is probably sick of  hearing about it, but I find it all so fascinating. I guess it's the little girl in me.
 It doesn't hurt that I've got my girl to share it with. She was in awe. She kept asking, "She's a for real princess?"

It was a good little bit of girl time for us.

visit

Anna came to visit us last week and we have so much fun every time we get together.
We are, as Anne of Green Gables would say, kindred spirits.
Seriously. I can't think of a better way to put it. We are.
In the corniest way possible.

We stayed up late, played the piano, talked cameras and photoshop, soaked up the springtime sun, shopped, laughed, cried, laughed until we cried...
And we took lots of pictures.
Rather she did, and I borrowed hers.
I only took pictures on Easter, and what a beautiful day it was!

Charley goofing off with Uncle Micah.

Auntie Anna spending some time with Amber.

The kids together with their Easter outfits.

Forget trying to make them all smile at the same time. Sometimes it's simply not possible.

Don't you love that fluffy, curly hair?

The kiddos with their Glammy.

Auntie Anna with Charlotte.

What I call mine.

bella

Meet Bella.
Bella Mae.
The newest addition to the family.

We've been thinking about getting a dog for a while now.
We wanted the kids to have one. I wanted AJ to have one... I wanted one.
Yes. I said it.
I wanted one. There was no having to talk me into it, I think it was just the right thing at the right time.

We picked her up from the Kootenai Humane Society yesterday.
She's a black lab, and she's eleven months old. A large, overgrown, playful puppy... she can hardly hold still long enough to be petted.
Her name was Odie Mae, but we didn't like it. So we changed it.
Bella means beauty.

What is a beautiful purebred Labrador doing in a shelter? I don't know. Her previous owners left her there because they said she was the runt and they couldn't sell her.

The Humane Society is a sad place. All those puppy dogs sitting in their little pens giving you sad, pathetic puppy dog eyes.

Take me home. Please.
Pretty please.

Charlotte loves Bella.
Cautiously. Curiously. She loves her.
Bella loves her back.

There are some serious benefits to buying a dog that isn't just a cute, soft, fuzzy, baby ball of fur.
Like she's already house trained.
And she understands 'sit', 'stay', 'down', and 'outside'.

I'll trade the cute baby phase for not having to clean up piddle puddles any day.
Definitely.

available again - free eyeglasses

I know.
That was quick.

I just checked on the Coastal Contacts facebook page, and it looks like they must be doing a weekly giveaway or something.
The next one opens April 20, 12 PM Eastern. That would be 9 AM Pacific for us.

What you'll need to do before April 20:

1. 'Like' Coastal Contacts facebook page to get your free coupon code.

2. If you don't have your prescription, you'll need to get it beforehand.
Your prescription for contacts will not work. You will need to get one specifically for eye glasses.
You can probably find it on the receipt from the last time you ordered eyeglasses or you can call in and get it if you've had an appointment within the last year.

3. Get on Coastal Contacts website and pick out some glasses that you like. Watch out for the ones that say 'coupons not applicable'. Obviously, you can't use your coupon to get those ones for free.

I'm not sure how fast these go, so I had my order all filled out and ready to submit as soon as it opened. 
The glasses are free but you do have to pay shipping and handling... still a great deal.

And feel free to pass it along... I had so many people tell me they wish they'd known about this promotion when I got mine. I felt bad for not sharing.
So share.
It's the nice thing to do.

the new glasses

These are my glasses.
My free glasses.

Aren't they purty?

Here's the details-
Coastal Contacts.
Suggested price: $400
Their price: $128
Price I paid: $18 shipping and handling.
They're dark purple and pink, and I likey.

Where I found this deal-
Freebies 4 Mom.
Freebies 4 Mom is a blog that keeps track of samples, promotions, and giveaways.
Check it out if you like.

Sorry I didn't share this offer before it expired, but they they're supposed to be doing this promotion again.
I don't know when they are, but I'll keep my eye on it and try to let you all know when it comes around again.
M'kay?

recipe: cinnamon bread

I got this recipe from Heidi and she got it from the Pioneer Woman.
This is actually Heidi's picture... hopefully she doesn't mind.
It looked so yummy that I had to try it.

It tastes yummy too.

I was going to try making french toast with it, but it was so good fresh that it was gone before I could... I guess I'll just have to make some more.

Bummer man.

Cinnamon Bread recipe linky.
Enjoy.

randomness

I have had an amazing week.
Amazing.
And I suppose it would have made for great ten on tuesday material because I'm about to spill random, choppy sentences with no sense of flow all over the place.
Good luck keeping up.

My grandma (mom's mom) called to let us know they'd be coming to visit.

I talked to Cal in Iraq and he said he was going to try to head this way on leave... possibly the same time as my grandparents.

In my sometimes ridiculous quest for all things free, I got a very nice pair of eyeglasses.
They're pink and purple.
Yeah.
I'm feeling a little vindicated after all the crap I've gotten for chasing after freebies. You just go ahead and be too good for free... and I'll sit here smugly in my free $400 glasses reading my free Vogue.

That felt good.

I had the day off yesterday so I took the kids to surprise AJ at work, and then we went to get ice cream at McDonalds and play at the play place.
I know. Play place. Gross.
So Amber, social butterfly that she is, was playing with the other kids... they were calling her Diamond. Diamond.
Cause that's her new new name. Diamond Sparkles Ponytail Allard.
How's that for a handle?

We've been watching the old Superman series with the kids. They love it.
Drew puts his Superman dress up outfit on and even Charlotte gets all excited and points "Momerman!".
Superman is the man.

My brother got a job.
No easy task these days.

There's a couple of other things coming up too, but I'm keeping my mouth shut in case they don't happen...  that doesn't mean I can't still get excited about them.
After all - half the fun of something is looking forward to it.

And that is all.

ten on tuesday

Some things that are floating my boat right now... subject to change on a whim.

1. Lindt dark chocolate.

Dark.
Dark>Milk. Don't mess with the dark.


2. My new nail polish. My nails make me smile.
They scream springtime.

3. These high heels. They're the ones that AJ picked for me... only mine aren't red.

They're like a burnt orange color. 

I repeat. AJ picked them.

I think that's pretty awesome.

4. These boots. Also from AJ. For Christmas.

I wear them a lot. And I mean a lot.
With almost everything.

5. Homemade ice cream. Yumm-o.
I have a new recipe for some really good homemade ice cream.
I will share it.
You will die.

6. Peeps.
What's better than a cute little birdie-shaped marshmallow dipped in sugar?
A cute litte birdie-shaped marshmallow dipped in hot pink sugar.

Oh yeeeeeah.

7. The Country Strong soundtrack.


I know it's country music. So shoot me.

8. Raising Hope.

AJ and I watch it together.
It's funny.

9. Playing outside.

If it's warm... even warm-ish, the weekends are meant to be spent outside.

Period.

10. My plant.

Let me tell you something. I am a plant killer.

I love my plant for surviving me. When I walk by it I feel a pathetic little surge of excitement.
Because it's shiny and green with little baby leaves.

preservation

I found this in one of my old cookbooks... my dad's wild game cookbook specifically.
Anyway. I thought it was cute.

free MCP action

I'm going to share one of my favorite go-to actions with you today.
MCP Take Action on Cancer Awareness black and white action.

If I want to covert a picture to black and white this is almost always the one I use. The tones come out nice and clean, and tweaking them is easy. It looks great on most portraits, and there's several options for color overlay if you like (I usually add a peach overlay at 25% on mine).

I love it.
You should try it.
Here's the linky.
The End.