"I better write that down..."

"I better write that down..." something I say to myself repeatedly throughout the day.  I've got so much going on in my head I can't keep it all straight!  Not complaining...I love being busy but sometimes I let my self get a little overwhelmed..lol!  I'm a stay at home mom of 3 and babysitter for 4 other children all under the age of two, 5 days a week.  Sometimes I feel like my brain is going to mush, with all the Curious George, Veggie Tales, and Ring around the Rosie that I have on a daily basis!  Sometimes I just need to have something that takes a little more thought process, to help balance things out.  The problem with this is that, I get so eager to do something that I end up taking on too much.  Here's a look at what's on my plate right now....in addition to the everyday, week by week things:

1.  My new found love of blogging!  But mostly reading others!!!
2.  Homemade Christmas projects....several...!
3.  Group Leader for a group of 36 women going to next year's Women of Faith in Columbus....I know it's still a while a way, but there's a lot more work putting it all together than I realized.  I started a year in advance and will be working on it continuously until it's over.
4.I'm hosting a table at our church's Ladies Christmas Banquet.  Not quite as time consuming, it's only one night, but it will be my first year, so I have to come up with a design and put it all together.
5.  A friend and I will also be hosting our 2nd Annual Ladies Christmas Party, at the Hampton Inn.  Will be tons of fun, but takes a lot of planning (Invitations, food, decorations, games, prizes and just the overall flow).  And only a few weeks to put it all together, invites are going out next week!!!
6.  Picklesimer's Rocking New Year's Eve...lol...well okay, we probably won't be rocking!  We've hosted a party for 50 or more people for a few years, took a year off last year, and haven't fully decided whether we'll resume this year or not.  New Year's Eve is on a Saturday this year and that late of a night makes for a very early morning for the Asst Sunday School director (Steve)and teacher of the 9-10 rambunctious 2 year old boys(me)!
7. Fundraising for Wilimington Christian Academy.  Now granted I'm not incharge of fundraising, but I'm trying to help out as best I can. I've never been good at asking people for money, that's why none of my "at-home parties" ever amounted to much.
8.  Knitting my girl a scarf!  Last year..or maybe it was the year before...can't remember...a friend taught me how to knit.  I made Emmalee a scarf and that was about the extent of my time spent knitting.  It was pretty pitiful looking but she wore it proudly.  She left it at school one day and never saw it again.  Yesterday she randomly remembered that poor scarf, and cried because she had lost it, and it was SO special to her.  Broke my heart!  So even though I really have no time at all to knit a scarf, I sat down last night and re-taught myself with a little help from You-Tube!

I feel like I'm forgetting something.....guess I should have written it down!  After the New Year things should settle down a bit....Nah! I'm sure I'll find something to take up my time...it's what I do!

O give thanks unto the LORD, for He is good: for His mercy endureth for ever

It's November, which means people everywhere are talking about what they're "thankful" for.  I love it!  What other time of year does it happen, that everyone takes time to remember to thank God and others in their lives. There are so many things that I'm am thankful for.  Here are just a few.....

First and foremost, I'm thankful for Jesus Christ.  That He died for a sinner like me.  And because of what He's done, I can be forgiven!  I'm thankful for my husband.  He's such a blessing to me, in so many ways, and I don't thank him enough, that's for sure.  I'm thankful for my beautiful children.  I don't feel worthy to have been given the chance to be their Mommy.  I'm thankful for friends!  Some I've had for a very long time, some I don't get to talk to nearly enough, some that I can't imagine my life with out, and some new ones that I can't wait to get to know better.  Life is hard without friends, I'm so thankful I have so many!  I'm thankful for my family, they're a crazy bunch, and so hard to define, but then so am I!  I'm thankful for my Grandparents, 2 of my favorite people in the world. They've been an awesome Christian example in their love for others, their love for each other and their love for God.  I'm thankful for all my "babies".  I've got four of the cutest babies ever that I get the privilege of taking care of each week.  They are so sweet, and I love them like they're my own.

I'm as excited about Christmas as anyone, and I have a ton of stuff that I have to get done between now and then to get ready for it, as most everyone does.  But please do not forget to take time out for Thanksgiving.  O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good: His mercy endureth forever!

All things Homemade!

So I'm on this new "homemade" kick right now and have been inspired by all of the different blogs and websites I've been reading to try several new things.  It started several months ago when I decided I wanted to make a gift for a baby shower, instead of buy the usual cute outfit, or teething toy.  I had seen a gift someone had a made at a shower once before called "cupcake onsies", so I sat down and tied to reproduce what I had seen. 

 They went over pretty well, everyone loved them.  A few months later was my little sister's baby shower and I wanted to do something more than just the onsies.  I watched a couple different tutorials online about how to make a diaper cake.  I took some ideas from each of them and started putting one together.  It turned out ok, definitely not professional but not bad for a first timer!

By then I had gotten the "bug"!  A few months later was my other little sister's baby shower and I tried again.

It turned out a little better this time, but still not exactly what I wanted, now I just have to wait for someone else to have a shower so that I can try again!!  In the meantime, while surfing through some crafty blogs I found the idea for a tea towel cake.  Similar to the diaper cake but made with tea towels.   I had been planning a housewarming party for a good friend, so I thought this would make a nice creative gift.  First attempt took only about half an hour and I think it turned out pretty well.  The picture doesn't really show all of the details but you at least get the point.

If you known me for a long time,  you know that I've never really been a "crafty" person, so I'm excited that I've found this new love in something that never interested me before.  It kind of makes me sad that I haven't been doing this stuff all along, it's something that I really enjoy, and I've never really had something that I just enjoy doing that wasn't mandatory, a hobby, I guess you would call it...lol!

So, now that I've realized my interest in "homemade" things, I've decide to expand my horizons.  This week I started making my own laundry detergent and reusable fabric softener dryer sheets.  I realize now that this is something many people have done for a long time, so it may not be as exciting for you as it is for me, but I'm totally excited about it!

For less than $10, I can do about 360 loads of laundry, that's almost a load a day for a year.  The detergent smells so good (and cleans as well or better than anything else I've tried) and who can beat the smell of Gain fabric softener.  I'm hooked! 

So now it's November and time to start thinking about Christmas gifts.  I know homemade gifts aren't everyone's thing, but if you're expecting a gift from me, expect that it will be homemade this year!  Ok, no I won't be making everything myself.  I'm not that handy!  But I do have a plan for some things that I'm going to try out.  I'd love to share them, however a few people that are reading this post, could be on the receiving end of some of my home made items, so I'll have to keep quiet for a little while longer.

In the mean time, Stephen was teasing me last night about all of the homemade things I'm making and asked if I'd figured out how to make my own deodorant.  So.....I found a recipe and will be trying that soon...I'll let you know how it goes!!

Day One of The Pickles Peck

So here we are!  I've had a blog going for over a year now and rarely posted anything on it.  I contemplated re-doing it, but decided that I'd rather start completely over from scratch and make it exactly what I want from start to finish.  So bare with me as there will probably be many changes going on over the next few weeks, along with the ramblings of all the things I've been holding in and wanting to blog about..lol!  Although I've been technically blogging for  a year now, I'm still relatively new to the whole thing, so some trial and error is bound to occur.  Thanks for stopping by and I hope you'll visit again!