{Happy 2012}

Hi friends, Happy almost 2012, we are partying hard here at the Loggins house, I am in the bedroom changing my blog design, Cameron and Jim are playing Xbox and Hannah is watching tv in her room, I told ya, we are partying!  I will catch you up on our Christmas tomorrow!!!

{Wrap it Up}

I wanted to share some easy gift wrapping ideas with you all, and it's very "budget" friendly.  I had already planned how I wanted to wrap my gifts but after seeing some other ideas I really liked them and decided to come up with my own, not entirely copying, but with my own twist, ha!

I used crepe paper, how crazy is that, I love the way it looks, very clean, and I already had the thin ribbon, I got creative and am so pleased, I love looking under our tree and seeing them. And I knew I wanted to have the tags hanging on the ribbon for a great embellishment.

I am so happy with the way it all turned out, and my paper came from Hobby Lobby, they have the best, it's thick, has a ton, and is half price, you can't beat that!!!  Happy Wrapping!

O Come All Ye Faithful, Joyful & Triumphant!

{Dining Room Table Re-Do}

I realized that I never did a post about the re-do of my {nightmare} of a dining room table and 6 chairs. We got this table at a resale furniture store, when we saw it on the interenet we knew this was perfect, because we wanted to redo it to make it our own.  It was in rough shape folks, but we were determined, we would conquer the table!!!! Ha! it was not as easy as we thought, it took much sanding, priming, and then some more sanding and priming, when people say lots of blood, sweat and tears were involved it is true...seriously look at these chairs...

The table, it wasn't quite as bad, but a funny thing happened, well, not so funny at the time, one of the legs broke off, we were moving it around and it fell off, we about flipped, but my handy hubby to the rescue, he got his heavy duty glues and held it in with his vice, let it dry overnight, and good as new!!

 The nasty cushions...

Aaaaand...here she is...all pretty in black and dressed up for Christmas!!!

{A Special Day}

Yesterday would have been my dad's 66th birthday, I honestly didn't know how to "be" that day, but I knew I didn't want to "wallow" in it, it's just not how I felt, it didn't feel honest.  I just wanted to take it as it came, planning to be sad or depressed just didn't feel right.  We had a great life with my dad and he died because he was sick, his heart was sick, we did everything we could to make him better, but nothing else could be done, his death was not a shock, we knew at a certain point he was not going to get better.  I am not saying it was easy at all, it was devastating, and I still can't believe he is gone and not coming back to us, not a day goes by that I dont' want to call and tell him something funny so we could laugh together, he had a great sense of humor and laughing with him was such a highlight. 

Yesterday morning at church we sang alot of Christmas songs and Jim and I just cried, Hannah knew how we felt and she felt it too, she looked up at me and said "momma, I miss Papa", and she cried, we held her close, we all felt it without having to say any words.  But in the midst of sadness I still just praised God through song, I felt happiness and sadness all at the same time, smiling through tears, all I can say is it was God...

We had our church Christmas musical last night and we had Doyle Dykes and Babbie Mason as our guest, they were so talented, and such a wonderful addition to our musical.  They gave us a taste in the morning service of what they would do in the evening and it was going to be fantastic.  I was so excited, I could not imagine a better place I would want to be than at church in the presence of God celebrating the Christmas season.  God does know what we need and when we need it, he was so with me yesterday, leading me all the way, I like to think it was just he and I yesterday, I had a good day, thank you God for being you...

{Guest Posting}

I am guest posting at a Randees Organized Chaos, she is very talented, you need to check out her crafts, she can whip out beautiful creations in no time, and she shows you step by step on how to achieve the goodies for yourself! I am so enjoying looking at her work and how she makes her home so pretty for her family!

{Christmas Goodies on a Budget}

While making my list of what holiday goodies I wanted to make this year, I also write the ingredients I will need so that I can keep my eye out for coupons and when they go on sale. Each year I like to add a new goodie to the group, I have several tried and true snacks that I will always make, alot of the snacks I make are very economical and I usually already have all the basics on hand and just need to get add key ingredients. When I say basics I mean, sugar, flour, powdered sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, brown sugar. oil...  I wanted to share some tips for making baking more economical.

I love to make "Orange Balls", an oldie but goodie from childhood that I rediscovered a few years ago and I love these "too much" haha! I won't write the full recipes, but will hit on key needs.  These cookies need a container of frozen oj, nilla wafers, powdered sugar and coconut.  Easy cookie to make!

Snicker Bar Cookies, a roll of Pillsbury cookie dough in flavor of your choice and miniature snicker bars or several large candy bars and just cut into small pieces.. again, easy

Peppermint Popcorn,  pop some low butter popcorn, spread on paper and remove kernels, finely crush some candy canes, which are so cheap it's crazy, sprinkle over popcorn, melt some white almond bark and pour over popcorn, mix and wala, LOVE IT!! and so pretty I might add!

Chex Mix, oh yeah, my fav!!! we all know the key ingred. in this recipe,  I use chex cereals, cherrios, mixed nuts, pretzels.  I buy my nuts at Dollar General, a can is under $3, this is the best place to buy it for a good price, nuts are so pricey...

Ranch flavored Oyster crackers, again DG has these crackers for a $1 a bag and its a big bag, a packet of dry Ranch dressing, put these in a large baggie add some veg. oil, shake the bag to coat, pour on a cookie sheet and bake for about 30 min. on 250, just to mix the flavors and lightly brown, so good, and makes a great snack for a holiday snack table, my kids love them!!!

I buy alot of store brand products, and that makes it more budget friendly in itself,  I love making goodies and packaging them up all cute and giving them to neighbors, friends, teachers...it makes the holidays so much fun!  As I think of other tips and hints, I'll let you know!!!  Merry Baking!

{Touches of Christmas}

I wanted to show you a couple of pictures of Christmas in our home, my mother takes the credit for both of these beautiful designs.

{Thanksgiving}

We had a nice Thanksgiving here at our house, lots of food, I ate way too much, that's why I am taking it easy til Christmas, haha!  Went black Friday shopping and it was a real mess this year, I thought, I didn't much care for stores opening at midnight, I even witnessed and barely avoided a fight, it was so crazy, I have never seen such foolishness, I did score a few gifts though.   My pictures are not that great, I just took a few snapshots.

 Making preparations in the kitchen

 Yum, pies, they were sooo good!

 And the food...

 Some visiting going on

 And eating, see I told you they were boring!!!!

{Quickie Hello}

Is everyone else is busy as I am??? Whew, there is not enough of me, ha! no, I really love making preparations for the holidays, I am so looking forward to having our family at our home for Thanksgiving, we are going to have so much fun, of course we are, there will be a ton of food involved, can I hear an amen?? haha! and we are going to be making our Black Friday plans, alot of stores are opening at midnight so we may head out then, I love hanging with all my ladies!!  I have no more runs to the store to do, I am done, did a final Walmart run this morning before it got too crazy, feels good to be done.  I better get, there are things to be done, check with ya later!!

{Banner & Edward}

I didn't realize it had been almost  a week without a post, I don't like to go that long, busy life getting in the way I guess?? haha  Getting in the holdiay spirit around here, ready for a great Thanksgiving.  I want to show you my banner that I made,  I had seen so many cute banners and knew I wanted to make one for Thanksgiving,  I looked at several different ones for ideas and created my own, here is my take, I am pretty pleased!!

P.S. I am sneaking out of my house tonight to see Edward, Edward Cullen that is!! hehe!!

{Twilight Fun}

It all started when Eclipsee came out, I heard all the hip from everyone that had been to the midnight showing of this movie, I vowed to never touch a Twilight book, I was not into vampires, a huge reader, but no vampires for me...a friend offered her books to me to just give them a try, I did, I loved, I was addicted, I read them all in about 3 weeks, I watched each movie after the book, I had to stay in order! so needless to say I have been waiting for this Breaking Dawn movie since shortly after the release of Eclipse, that's a long time.  I have been most excited about going to a midnight movie with lots of fun and excitement at the theatre with my girlfriends.  I thought who better to see this movie with than my friend who got me addicted to all this, we are beyond excited, they are doing a marathon that starts at 4 on Thurs. afternoon with showings of all the previous movies, we aren't doing that, I can't sit in a theatre that long, I am only interested in the new one. What a fun night we will have, with a bunch of silly Twihard women!!!!

{Thankful Thoughts}

I have seen all over facebook how everyone is doing 30 days of what they are Thankful for, I will do my own Thankful posts here and there, I am Thankful everyday for the things in my life, and I thank God for them everyday, I admit I cannot be held accountable to post it everyday though.  Starting at dinner tonight I plan to have my kids share with us what they are Thankful for today...I can't wait to hear what they say, I am so incredibly Thankful for their sweet faces at the dinner table, I love to look around the table at my family and you better believe I count my blessings! Jim and I are hosting Thanksgiving for the first time, when we lived in Dallas we either came to Tex. or went to my sis/inlaw in Dallas, well, this being the first in our new home we decided to host and we are so excited, lots of family are coming, I get such warm feeling in my heart when I think about it, I am so Thankful for a great extended family to fill our home with love and laughter this year!

{Enjoy November}

I have a confession, you guys know how much I love the holidays, I have already designed my Christmas cards this year, I am completely in love with getting and giving them, I stalk the postman during December!! ha!   it was so fun doing my own, I want it to be different, my own touch, now I just need to take the pictures and that my friends will not be fun, you would think that at age 13 & 9 it would be easier, but it's not, they complain like crazy, whining like 2 yr. olds, so no it doesn't get better, ha!
But, even though I am thinking Christmas cards, I love November, it's a peaceful month, no gifts to buy, just being thankful for what we have in our lives, our homes, security, food and family, never take anything for granted, and we get to eat foods we normally don't eat, hehe!  Enjoy this month...

P.S. We are hosting Thanksgiving at our house this year and I can't wait, I am thinking of some cute place cards to make, there is some cute stuff out there!  Tonight is Cameron's last middle school football game, Go Hawks!!!

{Halloween}

We had a fun low key Halloween this year. Hannah is very into the weather, she loves it, loves to watch the weather channel and tell us what we can expect the next day.  She and her friend Avery decided to be "Cloudy with a Chance of Rain" we made them these t-shirts, they had water bottles and when someone would say "what are you" they would tell them and then squirt water in the air to show them, Hannah had an umbrella Avery's mom made her this cute hat.  It was more of a "jokester" costume, it was cute and different, and very fitting for my weather gal.  She says she does want to me a meteorologist, I say go for it, that's a great career!



 (excuse the quality of the picture, I don't know what happened and it's all I had)

Checking out her "loot"

This was our first time trick or treating in our new neighborhood and we had so much fun, we hit several streets, one of the things I have always loved about Halloween night is all the excitement in the air while walking the streets, everyone is out, streets are packed, everyone is in good moods, kids are running to the next house for more candy, looking at all the fun costumes, too bad it's only 1 night a year, haha!

{A Halloween Hello & A Baby Shower}

Happy Halloween!!!!

My cute cousin Courtney is having a baby girl at the end of November and we haven't had a new baby in the family in awhile, so needless to say we are all very excited about the impending arrival of Miss Ainsley Elizabeth!!!

 She got so many wonderful things, she is all set...

 Me and Mommy to be!

 The girls with their yarn, we played a game where you cut your string to however round you think Courtney's belly is, my Hannah girl won, a sack with chocolate in it, perfect for that girl! They had so much fun that day...

 I just had to get a picture of this diaper cake, the girl who did it, did a great job!

Courtney and Mamaw, this will be her 10th great grandchild!!

Coutney and 2 of her good friends, Meagan is due just 6 days after Courtney, she is having a little boy!

After the shower we all helped load cars with her goodies and took it to her mom's house (my aunt), and we looked at the stuff she got from a shower from her mom's work the day before, so many wonderful things, this little girl is already so loved, we can't wait to see her!! 



{Fall Tour}

I realized I never showed you any pictures of "fall" around my house, I didn't edit any of these pictures so ignore the quality on some of them :) 

 Love my sparkly pumpkins...

 The whole fireplace, it's nice to have one again...

 My sparkly cat is the only new decoration I bought this year and I just love him...



 My mother "threw" this arrangement together and I just love it, she did such a good job! I have had this wooden pumpkin and we thought the arrangement would look good in it... this is my entry hall table, which I love because it involved some labor, ha!

 Wrought iron candle holder with some folliage...

 Mr tin pumpkin...

 Some pillows I made, they sit on my window sill...

 Arrangement in my kitchen, I really like this area, makes my kitchen feel cozy...

My burlap wreath, it looks really small on my front door, but it's cute :)

My Halloween area, I have had the decor for years, I got the BOO at the Target $ spot, I think it adds some super cuteness!!

So, that's the tour, I like how everything turned out,  I love fall, I especially love Halloween, it's so fun to celebrate!!

{Resale Love}

Consignment stores are my new thing here lately, I am finding the best deals on some really good stuff! I started with Goodwill back in the spring, I enjoy finding home decor and redoing it to my liking, I have bought a ton of things and they have all found a place throughout our home.  I moved on to clothes, there is alot of stuff and you really have to spend some time going through the racks, but they color coordinate so that makes it easier, they are not separated my size though.  The good thing is you won't find things with holes or tore up, everything is in good shape,  I got the best straw purse for summer, it looked brand new, you could tell it was never used,  and for around $5 I was set, and quite happy, I may have done a happy dance when I found it!! ha!  There is another store here in town called Graham Cracker and I went for the first time last Friday and it is the BEST, the kids clothing is wonderful, huge selection, I went back yesterday and got her some more things, she had outgrown her jeans so I have gotten her 4 pairs of name brand for $8 & under, church clothes, tshirts, sweater, and I got a Gap T for $5, LOVE!! she is loving her new duds!  Too bad they don't have alot for Cameron, he is so picky anyway I won't take the chance, that's okay, I get his Aeropostale shirts when they go on clearance for $5 and buy him several online, I only buy on sale. I do the same for Jim, he likes to shop at Kohls' for his stuff and mine, I get the best deals there, always have, the sales are awesome.  I also keep up with the 70% rack at Target, most of my stuff for fall this year was bought in May all for under $7, cute cute stuff, I am so glad the weather is cooling off so I can wear them, they have been teasing me all summer, haha!   I love getting a bargain! 

Every year I vow to perfect these but never do, don't they look scrumptious!!!  Happy Fall my friends!

{Race & Outback)

My mother and I did the Race for the Cure on Saturday morning, we had a good time walking and visiting, this was my first time to do it here in Texarkana, I did it for many years in Dallas, this one is a much smaller scale of people, but I kinda like it that way, you actually have room to move!  On Friday night we went to Outback for dinner, we had a gift cert. we needed to use, that is not normally a rest. we frequent, but hey some of it was free!  the food was not good, the service was good, no problems there, but Jim and Cameron ordered burgers and they were cold and kinds raw, my shrimp caesar salad was so small, I first ordered a seafood dish and had to send it back, and we had to pay quite a bit out of our pocket, I was miffed when we left, we don't eat out much and when we do I want to be satified when I leave, that was not the case.  I am going to write the corp. office and let them know of this situation, I know they will send us a coupon or whatever, no thanks, we won't be back! ha! The rest of the weekend was pretty low key, I just love being with my little family and soaking them all in!

[Mmm Good]

This just entered into my life today, my fall house is complete!!!

{I Love My Bible Study}

I have been participating in a women's bible study on Wed. nights at church, it's called "The Spirit-Filled Life" a lady in our church wrote this study and IT.IS.PHENOMENAL. I am loving it!  I really enjoy bible studies and have done them for years, this one is so real and easy, relates to life so well, not too deep, just right.   One of the evidences of the SPL is PEACE, God is the source of PEACE, we all have peace within us, we just need to pray for God to show it to us.  FORGIVENESS, the priority of FORGIVENESS, it is a choice, not a feeling. CONFRONTATION.  Sometimes, it may be necessary to "speak truth in love" regarding the offense.  Peace if possible, truth at all cost.  Did you know that you cannot expect Godly behavior from an unbeliever?  it's so true... None of us like confrontation, at least I don't,  if we name the offense to the one who is hurt and ask forgiveness and the other does not forgive, it is not our responsibilty any more, we have a clear conscience, blessed are the pure in heart.  Matthew 5:8 Put off the old, put on the new.

I am lucky to go to a church that I just love so much, at the end of our study we gather with our small group and have discussions about the lesson, and we pray together, we pray for each other, I love that, I had an issue that was bothering me, I shared it with them, we held hands and prayed for me, I was so moved and felt so cared for, those are some special ladies...

{No Regrets}

{Monday Stuff}

Who says Mondays are always tough, I have had a good day, very productive, lots of organizing in Hannah's room, that girl cannot keep her room clean, so I gave her a kick start and now she has to keep it that way, (a mom can dream, right) I did lots o' laundry, I checked several things off my weekly to do list, and I love that task, lists rule!! I cannot function without my list!!

I am feeling so fall like, my house is all decorated (pics soon), I just love our home decorated for fall, so cozy, homey, now all I need is to get my Scentsy bars, the flavors I ordered are going to be so yummy, I should get them tomorrow or Wed. then my fall home will be all complete.  The anticipation of the holidays just thrills me this time of year, love the feeling.

I made sweet and sour meatballs in the crockpot for dinner and served them over rice, they were a winner!


I really like this purse, I saw it at Payless last week and it has stuck with me, the color is Raisin, popular for fall, I always get a new fall purse for my birthday and I am considering this one, I have a few others in mind also...

{October Is Here!!!}

Welcome OCTOBER, you are the best you hold so many wonderful things