A Few Thoughts In My Head

Ya'll (as Paula Deen would say)!!!  There are a ton of things rolling around in my head right now!

1)  I am soooo excited about the new friends I am making via the blog party that's going on at 5 Minutes For Mom.  Check it out!!

2)  I am thrilled that I have gotten back in touch with a wonderful friend I grew up with via the blog world - Sheila @ A Little Dirt Never Hurt

3)  I am feeling so much better because I went and had a Pedi done at lunch time with Sheila. (don't let her fool ya, she's a girly girl at heart!!)

4)  I am looking forward to the next book review post I am about to do!!  This book is THE BOMB!!!  Oh My Word!  Soooooooo good!!

5)  I am hopin'...and wishin'...and prayin'...and - forgive me, I had a song moment.  I am hoping that I have a better weekend with my children.  Last weekend was too much drama to even mention on this here blog!!  There are many privileges that no longer exist in my home as of this past Saturday...haha!!!  Mom is soooooo mean!  It was so bad that my 12 yr old daughter told me she was going to run away and I actually told her that I would get the door for her - HAHAHAHAH!!  Oh the joy of adolescense!!

6)  Life is grand!

7)  The weather is B-E-A-UTIFUL!

8)  My decorating brain is on overload.  I have been asked to take care of the decorations for Pastor Appreciation Sunday Banquet.  I'm soooo excited!!

9)  I enjoyed a wonderful evening with the daughter-in-law and mother-in-law at the Taste of Home Spring Cooking Show. 

10)  My track star daughter has another track meet tomorrow.  This is #4 for the season.  She has 8 medals with 3 track meets under her belt....what a  show-off!!  I'm so proud of her!

There's just a glimpse of a FEW of the MANY thoughts that are rolling around in my head today.  ENJOY!  What's on your mind??

IT"S A PARTY!!!!!!!!!

Come one, come all!!  Join the bloggy party out in bloggy world with all of our bloggy friends!!

I've never participated in a Blog Party before.  I have recently been trying to figure out how to get more traffic to my blog.  I got an email from one of the wonderful blogs I follow, We Are That Family and she was talking about a blog party going on at the blog, 5 Minutes for Mom.  I decided to join the party!!  Nothing like a great party to get you going on a Monday.

First of all, thank you for visiting my blog.  I am a mother of 3 lovely children, 2 step-children and 4 grandchildren.  We have a blended family and I commonly refer to it as "The Conner Chaos".  Our lives are no different from anyone else's that I am reading about out here in bloggy world.  We are busy, have school activities, work full-time outside the home, church activities and somehow manage to find time to eat, sleep and clean the house (sometimes)....ha!  It's a wonder we are all sane at my home.

I started this blog two years ago with the intent of keeping family up to date with what was going on in our "chaotic" life.  It quickly turned into me becoming EXTREMELY addicted to following other blogs and finding friends out in this big 'ole world.  I have since accumulated a FEW followers and so desire to have more.  I feel like I follow a million blogs but can't seem to get followers myself.  Oh well, I'll do what I gotta do!!

I love to read, sing, play games, watch tv, scrapbook, read blogs, take pictures, fellowship with my friends and attend church. 

My two boys playing in the last snow of the season in Oklahoma (mid-March).

My lovely, sometimes with an attitude, daughter.

Hubby and I with one of the grandkids.  Isn't she a doll??

I was completely overwhelmed looking at all of the prizes being offered at this PARTAY!!  I don't know that I could narrow it down to just a few that I would want.  I'm a pretty content person and would be happy with anything.

Can't wait to stalk visit some of the other blogs that are a part of this party.  Get your button up on your blog and post something about this party to introduce yourself to everyone!!  Come on, join in!

What a Night!!

Our school is out for the next 3 Fridays.  These are our built in snow days that we did not use.  Well, earlier this week my daughter asked if she could have a friend spend the night with her on Thursday.  Of course that was fine with me.  When I get home from work yesterday, there were 2 additional girls at our house just hanging out.  I love being the home where the kids come over to hang out!!  Before I knew it, there were a total of 5 teenage girls in my home spending the night!!  WHAT?!  Yeah!  It was fun!  We were running around town at 10:00 last night looking for ice cream, renting movies and playing freeze out in the car.  Call me crazy!  I just might answer to that. 

Until our next adventure!!

Room Remodel

OK, so I have teased you for a couple of weeks about my son's room being redone.  It's official:  It's DONE!!  Well, there are a couple of minor cosmetic things that I want to do but will have to wait just a few more days.

I forgot to take before pics when everything was in place, but I did get pics of what the walls looked like before.

I started by taping off all of the wood trim.  Hubby came behind and caulked so we could have beautiful straight lines.

Here's a peek at what the walls were before.  They were just painted a solid taupe color.  All walls and ceiling.

Then came the fun part!!  Painting with RED (Crimson).  Yes, you heard me.  I have always been told that painting with red is quite an event.  To tell you the truth, it was super easy.  I did all of the red by myself and I was super excited at the results.

After painting the entire bottom half red, it was time to start painting the upper half & ceiling white.  As you all recall, I had shoulder surgery middle of December.  I was pretty concerned about how I would be able to do this.  Unbelievably, I never had one problem while painting the red on the walls.  I began feeling soreness and pain after I started putting coats of white on the upper half of the wall.  All of the stretching and having that roller movement above my head kind of took a toll on the ole shoulder.  So, I put two coats of white on 2/3 of the upper half and one coat of white on the top 1/3 of the upper half.  After that, I kindly (batting my eyes) asked my hubby if he would mind finishing up the top of the walls and do the ceiling.  He kindly obliged!!  Here's the finished product.

HOW COOL!! I think it looks so fabulous!!  We added aluminum flashing as the border to separate the crimson and white.  We also bought and installed a super cool modern ceiling fan.

Now all I have left to do is purchase a grey comforter for his bed and to put the OU on the wall.  I will post pics of that when I complete it.  It may be a few weeks.  We both need to rest....WHEW!  Enjoy!

Book Review Winner

Well, I have a couple of giveaways today.  First of all, Here Burns My Candle.  I had several comments on this post so I did an old fashioned drawing.  My son Andrew helped.

It started with everyone's name in a bowl.

Then I had my son draw a name out of the bowl.

TA-DA!!  Sheila is the Lucky winner!!!  YAY

Congratulations to Sheila from A Little Dirt Never Hurt for winning the book Here Burns My Candle.   I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

 

Also want to give a big congratulations out to Samantha at Mommy's Time Out for winning the book An Absence So Great.   ENJOY!!  Be sure to email me your address so I can get it in the mail to you.

Catching Up

Just wanted to drop a line and say Happy Easter to everyone!  We had a wonderful weekend.  Hope you did as well.

My son's room is ALMOST complete.  We will be moving the furniture back in tonight and then I can finally get the complete pictures done.  Hopefully this week I can have those up and show you the transformation.  It looks really really cool!!

My computer is in the "shop" getting fixed.  Without my laptop at home, I have found it very difficult to post anything on my blog.  We spent our entire weekend working on the room and  me preparing for dinners and easter baskets.  Nothing too exciting!

Have a great week!

Book Review - An Absence So Great

This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.

Summary:

Inspired by the engaging stories told through her grandmother’s photographs taken at the turn of the century, award-winning author Jane Kirkpatrick provides a portrait of the tension between darkness and light in the soul of a young woman pursuing her professional dreams.

Despite growing in confidence as a photographer, eighteen-year-old Jessie Ann Gaebele’s personal life is still at a crossroads. Hoping she’s put an unfortunate romantic longing behind her as “water under the bridge,” she exiles herself to Milwaukee to operate photographic studios for those ill with mercury poisoning.

Jessie gains footing on her dream to one day own her own studio and soon finds herself in other Midwest towns, pursuing her profession. But even a job she loves can’t keep those painful memories from seeping into her heart, and the shadows of a forbidden love threaten to darken the portrait of her life.

My Thoughts:
The story of a single young woman struggling to prove to herself that she can accomplish what is not acceptable in 1910.  Jessie has moved from Minnesota to help out a couple that owns a photography studio.  They have mercury poisoning and are not able to see to the studio.  She struggles with the problems of proving to herself that she can be a photographer in a "man's world" and own her own studio one day.  Set in 1910, the struggles are so majestically written that you feel as if you are also going through these same emotional woes of a young woman.  A forbidden love comes back around and causes much distress in her mind and life.  The emotional struggles felt by Jessie and the other characters in the book are portrayed in a way that you truly feel the pain of what it must've been like in those days.

Kirkpatrick has based this story on her grandmother.  She does a great job with research by interviewing her grandmother and recalling those great memories.  She also documents actual photographs that were taken by her grandmother in the book.  Looking at these old photos and feeling that you are seeing into the life and souls of these people is very intriguing.

I did not realize that there was a book before this one in a series.  I do believe I could have followed along a little better if I would have read the first book and known a little more background.  All in all, I do believe this story can still stand on its own and I would recommend reading this book.


Author Bio:

Jane Kirkpatrick is an award-winning author of sixteen historical novels, including A Flickering Light, the first part of Jessie Gaebale’s story, and three nonfiction titles. Known for her unique insights into the exploration of community, family and faith of actual historical women, the Wisconsin native and her husband have called their ranch in Oregon home for the past 25 years.

GIVEAWAY ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!

I have one book (courtesy of http://www.randomhouse.com/waterbrook/bloggingforbooks/) to give away to one lucky reader of my blog. Please leave me a comment and I will do a random draw for this wonderful book!! Can't wait to see who wins!

Mother/Son Cake Decorating

We had our annual cake decorating contest this past weekend at church.  Here's what we did:

We made a Chemistry Flask.  There was even smoke coming out of the tube.  It turned out soooo much better than I ever thought it would.  I was very proud of my son - he did a great job (with MUCH of my assistance)!

Here's a look at some of the other creative ideas that were there:

How creative is everyone!  I hope you enjoy.  This is  always so much fun for the kids and we raise money for BGMC. 

Book Review: Here Burns My Candle

This book was provided for review by Waterbrook Multnomah.

Summary:

A mother who cannot face her future.
A daughter who cannot escape her past.

Lady Elisabeth Kerr is a keeper of secrets. A Highlander by birth and a Lowlander by marriage, she honors the auld ways, even as doubts and fears stir deep within her.

Her husband, Lord Donald, has secrets of his own, well hidden from the household, yet whispered among the town gossips.

His mother, the dowager Lady Marjory, hides gold beneath her floor and guilt inside her heart. Though her two abiding passions are maintaining her place in society and coddling her grown sons, Marjory’s many regrets, buried in Greyfriars Churchyard, continue to plague her.

One by one the Kerr family secrets begin to surface, even as bonny Prince Charlie and his rebel army ride into Edinburgh in September 1745, intent on capturing the crown.

A timeless story of love and betrayal, loss and redemption, flickering against the vivid backdrop of eighteenth-century Scotland , Here Burns My Candle illumines the dark side of human nature, even as hope, the brightest of tapers, lights the way home.

My Thoughts:
I love every book I have ever read of Liz Curtis Higgs and they are truly masterpieces!!  Here Burns My Candle is no exception!!

Liz Curtis Higgs does a phenomenal job of telling the modern day story of Ruth and Naomi set in 18th Century Scotland.  The way she writes and documents in this particular book truly makes you feel that you are right there with the Kerr family, feeling every struggle and every emotion!  The struggle of trying to decide if they should side with Bonnie Prince Charlie or remain loyal to King George II.

The love story that is told between Lady Elisabeth Kerr and Lord Donald is sure to stir up your emotions.  Does she stay with the man that seems to truly love her but has a wandering mind and eye?  The rumors and ill speaking from the towns folk do not make that an easy decision.

There are so many secrets to unravel in this book and way too many family dynamics to go into here.  I highly suggest you get this book and read it for yourself!  You will be transported back to the year 1745, walking along those cobblestone streets with the folks of Edinburgh.

 

Author Bio:
LIZ CURTIS HIGGS is the author of twenty-seven books with three million copies in print, including: her best-selling historical novels, Thorn in My Heart, Fair Is the Rose, Christy Award-winner Whence Came a Prince, and Grace in Thine Eyes, a Christy Award finalist; My Heart’s in the Lowlands: Ten Days in Bonny Scotland, an armchair travel guide to Galloway; and her contemporary novels, Mixed Signals, a Rita Award finalist, and Bookends, a Christy Award finalist. Visit the author’s extensive website at www.lizcurtishiggs.com.

GIVEAWAY ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!

I have one book (courtesy of http://www.randomhouse.com/waterbrook/bloggingforbooks/) to give away to one lucky reader of my blog.  Please leave me a comment and I will do a random draw for this wonderful book!!  Can't wait to see who wins!

This Oklahoma Weather!!

Well another weekend has come and gone and what a CRAZY one it was!!!

This past week was spring break so my daughter was cramming in every moment she could to be with friends.  We had several "come to Jesus" talks.  One referring to why we don't let our friends bust out our screens and climb out the windows of our bedroom when we have 3 perfectly good doors that lead outside.  The second was why we don't let our 12 year old friend drive us around town (WITHOUT MOM KNOWING OF COURSE!!).  This spring break has been a truly trying time for me with my daughter!  Good times!!  Good times!!

The second crazy event that happened was having a 75 degree Friday and then waking up to 6 inches of snow on the ground Saturday!  WHAT????  Can't help but love this Crazy Oklahoma weather!  While growing up I always heard the older generation say, "Used my heater to go into work and my air conditioner to come home from work"  OR "stick around a while...the weather'll change". 

Because of the SNOW CRISIS, they had to cancel and postpone the Mother/Son cake decorating contest.  Bummer!  I was kind of relieved to tell you the truth because I was uber prepared and got down to 5pm Saturday evening and realized I had forgotten something that I can't purchase unless it's M - F.  (more details to come later!   I Promise!!)

I did get my son's bedroom half way painted.  I was soooo proud of myself.  We are painting his room bottom half red (OU crimson) and top half white and then using aluminum flashing as a border.  It's going to be so industrial and cool when it's done!  I can't wait!!  I've taken before and during pics.  As soon as I have the completed pics, I'll post all of that.

Have a blessed week!