Not Me! Monday... with a little sumthin' extra!

so what if you didn't get around to shower today (or yesterday), a ponytail counts right?! and so what if you're toddler threw a fit all throughout the trip to wal-mart, happens to every mom, and no need to feel bad for bribing them with a happy meal if they'll just please stop screaming!!! we all have those days, and Not Me! Monday was born of MckMama's idea to share our not so shining moments and not hide in shame!!

so what did i not do this week....

i did not forget that my cute girlie Lou-Woo had a piano lesson, just like she does every single week, nope!! and so for the second or third week in a row i certainly did not have to text our most amazing teacher and plead for an alternate time later in the week. i am so totally on top of everything... at least 'P' made it to his orthodontist appointment and to basketball practice, of course, because i never forget anything :)

and for the second week in a row, i did not "forget" it was tuesday and so i did not go to Lou-Woo's classroom to help her teacher with bulletin boards and what not. why would a person forget what day it was?!! i am so glad that i have it all together.

in an effort to get the dishes done and not have a sweet toddler hanging off of my hip,

i would never ever use a movie to hypnotize enlighten my baby 'K' for 30 minutes... okay maybe if i had done such a horrendous thing it might have been for an hour, but i didn't so i'm not panicking.

and i love my affectionate mammoth puppy, so i would not make my Man bathe him outside instead of the bathtub. i would never ask such a thing...especially since Magnus just loves to get a bath (not!) and it would be next to impossible to keep him in one place. i totally love cleaning dog hair out of the bath so it would be silly to have him bathed outside...in the semi-cold weather, that would be wrong...

i feel better, don't you?! i would love it if you'd join in, so click here to head over to MckMama's blog to link yours up!

and for all amazing readers who like free stuff, i have another Bonnots Mill candle giveaway (i have few extra of these lying around) for you tomorrow night, so swing back by for your sumthin' extra!!

and the winner is...and football stuff

i am so excited to announce who the winner of my very first blog giveaway is!!! i wish i had dramatic background music blaring in through the speakers with trumpets blasting.... oh, is that too much?! okay then the blessed recipent of an awesome, hand poured Bonnots Mill candle from my fav boutique, Flame and Flair, is brandi!!! i got a chance to head over to your blog and learn a little about you last night, cute family... thanks for playing, promise me you'll stick around awhile, okay?! shoot me an email (floodedbygrace@gmail.com) and let me know where to send the candle.

if you're bummed that random.org didn't choose you to win the sweet candle, then click over to Flame and Flair and pick yourself out a scentous candle, a sparkling piece of jewelry and a posh handbag. you'll feel all better, guaranteed.

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i love football!! with a hardcore passion, i most assuredly love football!! i get all painted up and decked out before 'P's games, make banners for his team to crash through as they storm the field to dominate the game as i clang my cowbell hootin' and hollerin' for my boy! and i don't have some weak excuse for a cowbell but a real heavy iron-right from the cow's neck-out in my family's pasture-cowbell; it's loud and i like it!! you might be giggling to yourself, embarassed for me, but don't be i love it, but more importantly my son loves it. it is completely normal to him that his mama gets all decked out for him to support and cheer for him during the game. and his friends and teammates love it! if i show up without crazy things in my hair they wonder what happened?!! fun, huh?

i will have a picture taken of me and 'P' after his last game this week but for now enjoy this stud-ly photo of my future hall of famer in his stance before the snap. he is the starting tight end on the left side and the back-up quarterback, and the d-lineman on defense. if you don't understand any of that, no big, just know that he has an awesome God-given talent that he works diligently to hone and polish.

and speaking of football, i had previously touched on the fact that my Man and i took the big kiddos to the KC Chiefs game on sunday against my the Dallas Cowboys. now i am forever & always a cowboys fanatic, but i will cheer on the chiefs all day because i just love my Man that much, however i had to stand by my team in this first meeting of the cowboys and chiefs.

so my babes were all decked out in chiefs attire, looking awesome in their red!! and i was sporting my cowboys colors, and yes they still allowed mama to walk with them. it was an incredibly fun and memorable day, especially for daddy and 'P' as this was another in a long line of bonding experiences. and 'Lou-Who' had a good time as well sitting on mama's lap and secretly cheering not only for the chiefs but along with me too!! sssshhhhh... keep it on the down-low...

there were friends and family that seemed worried about this game: my Man is kinda touchy about his team but he has grown a lot over the years and a loss doesn't ruin his whole day now. but we stood by the fact that we can cheer for our teams, talk a little friendly smack about the competition and not cross any lines. it is just a game, and i am going to be married to this splendid Man for another 60 years (by God's grace) and why choose this as one of my battles; that's just dumb!! i love him more than i care about rubbing it in that my team won (and they did win, but just barely).

i feel like this principle applies to all married couples: we should be careful about the battles we choose, cautious about drawing that 'line in the sand' because we can create an atmosphere of tension and animosity that is unneccesary. i have definitely been guilty of "standing my ground" on some things that in hindsight were simply stupid! i'm a big girl, i'll say i have made many a mistake and hopefully fewer and fewer as time goes on. it's our blasted tongues that get us into trouble and it is only relenting my stubborness to the Lord and letting Him transform my thoughts and my heart that the things that come out will be loving, humble and life-giving.

when words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent. Proverbs 10.19 how true, if i would simply listen more and talk less the Lord can speak to me first before i open my mouth, if it should be opened at all. can you relate?

whoever guards his mouth preserves his life, he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin. Proverbs 13.3 i want to edify those around me with my words, not destroy them, which i'll be honest has always been a bit of an issue for me. we all have, myself most certainly included, the ability to make someone feel about an inch tall. i am able to think on my feet, serves me well in my advertising n' sales career but have sadly used it too many times in my life to make others feel less than they should. what a terrible witness to Christ's love in me and proof that significant parts of my heart and mind were not transformed. i'm forgiven: yea!!! but no excuse to not pray for that part of me to be completely redeemed, and by the Lord's amazing grace flooding my heart and soul i have had much victory in this area of my life over the last two or three years, thank you Jesus!! :) have you been here? cut someone down, felt good for a second, make you feel sick later?

here's proof that no one's tongues got the better of us sunday.... a picture of a happy family after the game. sweet, huh..

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and just because i didn't have any scrumptious pictures of my little babe since he didn't go on the road trip to KC, here's a new fav photo of 'K' and mama just playing with the camera in the car!!

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if you get the chance swing over to the right sidebar and see what's going on in my community. we can talk and debate issues, we get a chance to interact more, so let's do life together!!

new post coming tomorrow about natural medicine and keeping healthy this winter the natural way!!

p.s. please continue to keep my dear friends, the Kaat family, in your prayers.

i need warriors!

UPDATE: i want to thank every person who has faithfully offered up their prayers on Jaymun's behalf, our God is mighty and powerful and i love Him!! sweet little Jaymun took his first breath in Heaven late this morning and is now fully jumping and playing trains (his favorite!!) with the King. he has received his full healing and not crying in pain any longer. me on the other hand is crying as i type this... not out of a disappointment or bitterness but the void of his physical life and i can't fathom the pain that my friends, Dave and Jennifer, are experiencing right now. their faith has not waivered but please pray for the Lord's extravagent love to flow over them, that the Lord would carry them and their four other children through this grieving.

if you'd like to take a peak at some super cute pictures and videos of cute boy Jaymun click here to visit them.

ORIGINAL POST:

i have posted about sweet Jaymun before, but as i write this i have gotten word that the doctors have told my friends, Dave and Jennifer (his dad and mom), that his kidneys are no longer working and this will begin all other organs to go into failure....

i serve a God miracles!! and i am praying and believing without a doubt for Jaymun's complete healing, and while i'm am unsure how the Lord will manifest that, i do trust him completely.

pray for the Kaat family often today, pray with faith abounding that the Lord would save Jaymun, pray that the peace beyond understanding would rest upon them, pray that the doctors would know how best to treat baby Jaymun.

nothing is impossible for my God...nothing!!!

Not Me! Monday with a giveaway!

so the kids wore their pajamas all day and ate cereal for breakfast and lunch.... you got halfway through your day at work and realized you were wearing two completely different color shoes or maybe the dishes have been sitting in the sink for 2 days and you are just using paper plates until you have the time to wash them... no big!! Not Me! Monday was created by friend and blogger MckMama as a way to air our dirty laundry and realize we're not the only super mom having an off week!!

would you like to see what i've most definitly not been up to this week? great!!!



while my cutie baby 'K' sat at the bar in the kitchen coloring and the big kids were reading, i did not plop down on the couch for the first time all day and eat a very large piece of rainbow cake for dinner. why would i do that? i had made a perfectly healthy dinner for the family and so i would never just put away the leftovers and devour a hefty piece of cake. i am way too concerned about being healthly 100% of the time to do that!



last monday was my sweet girl's birthday, so i did absolutely no work and just focused on home and birthday stuff!! so when tuesday rolled around i certainly did not go through my entire day, well until about 4p, truly believing that it was monday. nope!!! i did not forget about a meeting with a client or miss a pta meeting, i am so on top of everything all the time. if i had done this i would not be thinking i might need some serious help..wow...



to continue the birthday celebration my lil' Lou-Who invited just a few girls to stay the night friday. our theme (cause ya gotta have a theme!!) was dance party!! once the babe was asleep and all the boys out of our home, the lights went out, the disco ball on and i did not, no way, dance up a storm with the girls for about an hour to high school musical 2 and 3 soundtracks!! and if i had done that i was not able to sing along to each song without missing a word!!



we had a great family weekend and went on a road trip sunday (except we did leave 'K' to play with his awesome uncle E and auntie M, and they all had an awesome time!!) to the KC Chiefs game... i am a chiefs fan by marriage and a cowboys fan by choice, so it was going to be fun! i was not the only one in my Posse decked out in blue and stars with the other 3 in all red, yellow and black. i would not ever cause such division on purpose...and if i had sported my cowboys attire i certainly did not have to explain over and over that "yes, of course, i'm with them and yes they do still love me all the same!" it was a quieter ride home than on the way there (cowboys won..sorry sweet family i really did want the chiefs to win just for you my Man!!) but a great time all the same; moments that we'll always remember that you just can't recreate...



and finally i did not host an awesome hand-poured candle giveaway and only have 2 of my peeps come out and play!!! (love you both ms.tonia and melissa)... so on the off chance you didn't see the giveaway, didn't know how to comment, or any other excuse and because i just love you all so much i am going to leave the comments open until 10p tonight CST for you to enter!!! just scroll down to the post below, read through and then leave your comment; simple huh? and ms.s, if you don't leave a comment then you're are so in for it!!! mwah!!



have questions about leaving a comment? well if you don't have a google, aim, or whatever ID then choose 'anonymous' but be sure to leave your name in your comment so i can enter your name.



if you would like to play in this fun Not Me! Monday blog carnival, then you should!! head over to read MckMama's instructions on linking up your post and i hope to read all the stuff you did not do!!



now keeping reading the next post about the giveaway, leave a comment, then feel free to hang out and read any of my other ponderings!! i'll announce the winner tomorrow afternoon!!

it's giveaway time!!!!

UPDATE: i have now closed the comments on this post... i will happily announce the winner of the giveaway tomorrow evening, so stay tuned!!!

ORIGINAL POST:

who doesn't love the light of a flickering candle in a dim living room in the evening as you lounge around reading a book....wow that sounds great and maybe if you're up to taking my kiddos for the evening i might be able to enjoy some embiance like that.

but even with the constant chatter of a toddler, the clicking of my mammoth puppy running through the house with the white noise of a random television show i still so love the atmosphere that having candles lit in my house brings. along with the aromatic scents that create a yummy, cozy feeling that i just treasure.

i told you guys to stay tuned for a giveaway/contest, my first here on my blog!!! i'm really excited to share with you all!! and you will love the prize...

many of the candles throughout my home are from a fabulous little boutique, Flame and Flair, that i frequent often to find my choice candles & scents, beautiful jewelry, hard to find gifts and amazing clothing!! so if you live here in Fly Over Country along with me you can shop in the store itself, but if you can't just visit their website by clicking here...

so like i said, these Bonnots Mill Candles are wonderful, spectacular candles and i am totally in love with the pumpkin spice and the autumn spice!!! pumpkin spice is the one pictured here and it fills every square inch of my home with the scents of autumn!!

so do you want one? great!!! i would love to send one to you! one blessed reader will get the candle scent of their choice (i absolutely adore the lilac scent too) and there are a million choices! the owner and i are good friends at this point (she's great!! wonderful sister in Christ) and she even created a scent for a customer that smelled like dirt... yes i said dirt. 'P' thinks it is the best, but no i have not purchased that one. hee hee :)

so all you have to do is leave a comment telling me what your favorite season is and why and you're entered to win!! easy, huh?! would you like to get your name in the drawing twice? of course you do!! well sign up to follow me on Twitter and you're in two times to win a superb candle! i promise i don't give you 15 tweet updates in one day, unless you'd like me to... and if you're not into getting updates via text message on your phone you don't have to, no biggie!! just check your Twitter page once day to see what i've been up to in between posts and find all the other people in Twitter that you'd like to stalk check in on too!! just check out my updates here on the right side bar and click on the link to get sign up!! just be sure if you sign up on Twitter that you tell me that in your comment so you're entered twice.

so invite some your of other friends to come over and play as well and i can't wait to hear from you!! i'll leave the comments open through Sunday evening and i'll announce the winner in my Not Me! Monday post....

be blessed!!

p.s. flame and flair boutique isn't paying or endorsing this giveaway/contest, i just love her shop and want to bless one of you readers with an awesome gift :) just in case any one was wondering..