why i {heart} hobby lobby

I have been eyeing a gorgeous spring-like wreath, but alas... it is $100!! So, one day while perusing Hobby Lobby, I decided to get crafty and see if I could make my own. I bought everything seen here for 50% off... of course, you have to wait until the items go on sale! My motto for Hobby Lobby is: if it's not on sale this week, it will be next week. So true! My total for the day was under $14.00 for the hanging basket and all the greenery and flowers.
The finished product on our front door

I'm hoping the splash of pink is a combination of "Happy Valentine's Day" and "Welcome Spring!"

good deals this weekend

On Friday evening after work, I had a little bit of time before meeting the fam for dinner. So I headed over to Target to browse... by myself. Ahhh... the peace and quiet.

Anyway, I found myself in the shoe section, and there was a whole rack of clearance shoes.

These two pairs of shoes made it home with me... a fun chocolate brown suede pair that have sheepskin lining inside AND a wild fuschia pair with a cute flower on top.
And the best part yet... they were $3.74 and $4.98 respectively. Oh my. What a deal!

The other great deal of the weekend happened last night. Jerry's work was one of the sponsors for the Wichita Thunder hockey game, and we got free tickets. The boys had a ball, we enjoyed the new arena, ate soft pretzels and cotton candy, did LOTS of people-watching, and had a fun night as a family!

(Sorry for the cheesy photo -- the husband gets sacrificed in order to get a shot with both kids looking at the camera. Ha!)

Disneyland {Day 2}

Here are some snippets from our action-packed second day at the Happiest Place on Earth...Standing in front of Sleeping Beauty's castle
About mid-morning, we were able to see a show with lots of the characters, along with the Disneyland Band, perform in front of the castle. Notice there is still snow on the rooftops!

Grayson checking out Lightning...

...and then Tow Mater, too.

We spotted Buzz Lightyear just as we finished riding the Buzz ride! We chased him down so that Grayson could get a picture with him. He's a hard guy to find in the park. :)

Grayson and Aunt Laura driving a car at the Autopia

Grayson wanted to ride Splash Mountain for the first time. We rode it together... and got soaked!! It was fun, though.

The latest new thing at Disneyland is a show called "World of Color". Think -- Bellagio Fountains on steroids, with lights, lasers, and all kinds of Disney characters and music.

Basically the lights were mixed in with the spraying fountains, and the characters were lit up on the water via lasers. It was pretty amazing. Here is a picture from "The Little Mermaid" -- see the red crab on the right?

The Grand Finale of World of Color

Disneyland {Day 1}

There were still some Christmas decorations up... Grayson with Goofy in Toontown
One of G's favorites -- the Tea Cups!

We walked through Mickey's house and got to meet him in his Movie Barn out back :)

Driving the cars at the Autopia

So serious...

Quick stop for a yummy Mickey-shaped pretzel on Main Street... the people-watching is the best!!

One of G's favorite rides this year was the Astro Orbitor (think Dumbo, but in rocket ships and much higher and faster). It was fun to look down over the park as we rode!

Flying high in his spaceship!

The other favorite ride this year was Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters... it was fierce competition amongst the family members!

As we were leaving that evening, we saw a lady making these incredible caramel apples... of course in the shape of Mickey, and done with rainbow colors in honor of the newest show "World of Color." It was amazing to watch her decorate the apples (the ears were marshmallows) and get the lines of the colored sugar soooo perfect.

And, they were yummy to eat, too! We shared one. Mmmm.

snow day times two... sort of

I need to take a quick Disney break, and interrupt with our cold, snowy news!! When we landed on Monday at noon, Wichita had gotten about 4-5" of snow. Our first snow of the winter! Later that afternoon, it started snowing again, and we have about 6" of snow on the ground. Grayson LOVES to shovel snow. It's amazing!
Carter thought the snow was neat... for about 5 minutes and then he was cold.
Our backyard

It just kept coming down!!

Wichita schools have been closed for the past 2 days because of the dangerously cold temperatures. The windchill was -14 and the temperature was 0 degrees this morning when I took Grayson to school! :) But, G's school has been open -- only having a snow day on Monday -- since they don't offer busing or have kids walking to school in the frigid air. Needless to say, we're ready for it to warm up a bit, but the snow does make everything soooo pretty!

Surf's Up Breakfast with Mickey and Friends

We just arrived home after spending two days at Disneyland with our favorite Mouse! We got to stay with my Aunt Laura, and the four of us (Grayson, Mom, Aunt Laura, and me) packed a lot of fun into a short time. Here is our very first breakfast -- a character breakfast -- at the Paradise Pier Hotel.
meeting Mickey for the first time this weekend... notice his Aqua Socks ;)

AL loved Pluto!!

Gotta have some Mickey pancakes and waffles from the buffet

this was our first time EVER -- to see Daisy Duck!

Praying my way into 2011

It's hard to believe that it is already 2011!

As I told someone earlier, I feel like I had just gotten used to writing 2010 when I was at work, or writing checks, etc. Now I have to change it to 2011!

Several of my blogging friends have done great posts on New Year's resolutions. Jerry and I have talked about some of ours, but I wasn't quite ready to do a post on them. You never know who reads my blog...

Anyway, I have been stumped as to what my first post of the new year should be.

So, since I couldn't come up with anything, I decided to stay quiet.

Typical introvert.

But, today I was hit with what I should be posting.

It seems like our prayer list just keeps getting more lengthy by the day. We know SO many people who are struggling.

It makes me stop and count my blessings. And be oh so thankful.

So, I'm praying my way into 2011.

Praying for...

a friend who is battling breast cancer and currently going through chemo

our church who is struggling

two good friends in the loss of jobs this past year

a friend whose husband was just deployed today, and leaves behind a sweet wife and two little girls

friends and family who are suffering through the pain of divorce

the family of a woman in my mom's group at church who died suddenly last week

my boys' salvation and for their future wives

The list could go on and on.

Please join me and let's be praying in 2011!!