CSN Giveaway Winner!

CSN clock

 Thank you to everyone who entered the $50 CSN Stores 
giveaway I was hosting.
The time is up and the lucky winner is...

Outdoor Mom of  Yaak Adventures!!

She has a wonderful blog where she shares stories of the 
adventures of raising a family deep in the forest of Montana.

What adventures she has too!

Congratulations Outdoor Mom! Please send me your email 
address so I can forward it on to the good people at CSN Stores.

Thanks again to everyone who stopped by and left a comment. 
It's been fun doing this giveaway. 
I'd like to do another one again soon. 
Have a wonderful week my friends :-)

Blessings,

Marcia

Smile :-)

 Everyone smiles in the same language.  ~Author Unknown 

A smile is an inexpensive way to change your looks.  ~Charles Gordy

Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been.  ~Mark Twain  

 You can grow a garden in the desert...

I thank God for the abundance He has provided, 

my husband and son for building my little garden beds,  

and  Susan Branch and her book  called "The Summer Book" for inspiring me to start it.

 

You don't need a large plot of land to have a garden, just a small one will do, and you can reap the harvest in a month or two :-)

I'm linking with Joyce at  I Love Pretty Little Things and her Friday Pretties party. 
Stop by and tell her "hi" if you get a chance.
You still have time to enter my giveaway here too.

Have a wonderful, smiley, bountiful weekend my friends!

Blessings,

Marcia

"Tatty" Old White Trunk and a bit of "Ephemera"

  I love blog land...I've learned so many new things here. Home schooling moms are all about learning new things! You know that I recently learned about "antiques" (as in me!), and now I've learned that I have "ephemera"! Now, if any of you are as vocabularily challenged as I was (I know you probably aren't, but just in case), "ephemera" is not a new disease named for future members of Bloggers Anonymous...but it is: "transitory written and printed matter not intended to be retained or preserved."  Well, I have that around here and I'm sure you might have some of it around your house too.

I'm joining in the White Wednesday blog party hosted by Kathleen over at Faded Charm, to show you my old "tatty" (Worn and shabby; in poor condition") trunk, that sits at the foot of my bed, and a bit of "ephemera" in the form of a couple of my great-aunt's travel journals and brochures from the 1930's and 40's.

 Well, that's the vocabulary lesson for today my friends. I'll bet you didn't think you'd have to go back to school when you came here ;-) If you missed my giveaway post, it's not to late to enter...here.
I hope you're having a wonderful day. 

Blessings,

Marcia

Giveaway Is Here!

Giveaway is Now Closed
 Hi my dear blogging friends. First, I want to say thank you for the birthday wishes. You are all so sweet! I told you that I'd be posting a giveaway, and it's here! The wonderful people at CSN Stores contacted me about hosting a giveaway. They are offering you the chance to win $50 towards the purchase of any of the great products at CSN's over 200 online stores.

Isn't this a beautiful set?

This company is incredible. You can find just about anything you need for any room in your house at CSN Stores. You might want to apply the $50 towards a new dining table or dinette set.

  You can choose your subject in their search engine and find so many wonderful things. I chose the word "Coastal" (I'll bet you're not surprised) in their dining room store and it brought up some wonderful Coastal Living dining sets and sideboards.

I'm really loving this blue piece :-)

As I mentioned before, CSN has over 200 stores to visit, so be prepared to spend some time shopping!

 Here are a few more beautiful things I found.

Sweet baby Mary Jane socks...

Seaside plates and clock...

Polka dot bathroom set and cherry apron... and a Cuisinart ice cream maker!

There are so many more things to choose from! Please stop by and visit CSN Stores and see all the wonderful things they have to offer!

You have several chances to enter this giveaway:!
1~leave a comment and tell me what you'd like to get  at CSN Stores with the $50~
 and
2~leave another comment if you follow me~
and
3~leave another comment if you mention my giveaway on your blog and link back to my giveaway~
(please feel free to copy and past my giveaway button)
So you could really have 3 chances to win :-)

According to CSN Stores, this contest is open to residents of both the U.S. and Canada :-)
Also remember, that if you don't have a blog or your profile is blocked, I'll need an email address to get in touch with you if you win :-)
The contest will close on August 29th. Good luck to all of you!!!
Blessings,
Marcia 

Sweet Gifts from a Sweet Friend

 I received the sweetest package from Beverly at My Sew Sweet Studio. 

It was filled with lots of wonderful gifts. Beverly is a

talented seamstress, and I always enjoy seeing all the beautiful things 

she comes up with to make. She made the beautiful purse in the photo.

She filled my box with lots of things to love and enjoy. 

 Thank you so much Beverly, for the beautiful gifts, and for the friendship

you've provided me with here in blog land :-) You are So "Sew Sweet"!

I'm linking with Joyce at I Love Pretty Little Things and her Friday Pretties
because I think all of these are SO pretty.

I'm planning a giveaway in my next post. I hope you'll all stop by to enter!

Blessings,

Marcia

Antiques...and Becoming One :-)

Hi my friends, I'd like to share something with you. 

I've become an antique :-)

"An item which is at least 100 years old and is collected or desirable due to rarity, condition, utility, or some other unique feature. Motor vehicles, power tools and other items subject to vigorous use in contrast, may be considered antiques in the U.S. if older than 50 years, and some electronic gadgets of more recent vintage may be considered antiques. Another general rule of thumb is 75 years for most objects to become antiques."

 According to Wikipedia, here in the U.S. I've become an antique ;-) Okay, so I'm only turning 50, and not 75 or 100, but that part about "other items subject to vigorous use" seals it, I just know it does :-) However I think that although Wiki "might" classify me as an antique today, I'm going to grab onto that part about "desirable due to rarity, condition, utility, or some other unique feature". It makes me feel much better about turning 50 ;-) And if that doesn't do it, I've got one more ace up my sleeve. I've got people around here that feel this way about me.

 So, I may be feeling more aches and pains these days but I have so much to be thankful for. Thank you God, for all the blessings in my now, 50 years of life! 

To celebrate, I'm going to be having a giveaway soon, so check back in the next week to find out more.

I'd also like to say "Happy 30th Anniversary" to my wonderful neighbors, Karen and Steff. We couldn't ask for better neighbors than you two, and we're even more thankful to be able to call you friends! 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone,

Blessings,

Marcia

"A gray head is a crown of glory; it is found in the way of righteousness." 

Proverbs 16:31

Surfing Lessons at Newport Beach

Hi everyone, I hope you're all having a wonderful week and finding a way to stay cool. We headed down to the beach yesterday for one of our favorite versions of cooler weather. The smell of the ocean is such a sweet scent. (I wish it could be bottled up and brought home). My kiddos don't agree, but for us older folk, it's inhale, exhale, love, love...etc.,etc.  It was overcast when we got there, but quickly burned off to what my hubby and I thought was perfect weather. However, our children were raised in the desert, and several of them said they were cold! Imagine that :-) My husband looked at me and asked how two beach bums could have raised desert rats! 

  The tide had been high shortly before we arrived, and sea shells were everywhere. We collected quite a few.  My children have learned that mom wants the "big" white ones, down by the water, and I prefer ones that aren't broken :-) "I found a good one Mom." is a phrase I hear often. There were no sand crabs around, which was a disappointment to the twins. I'm not sure why that was, but surfing lessons with daddy more than made up for it. 

I had to do this token "blog name in sand" that I've seen all over blogland, but I was a bit too close to the surf, and almost didn't get the photo before the tide rushed in. That's what happens when you choose a long blog name :-)

We saw these guys head out to help someone right after I took the photo. I'm always glad they're close by.

 My camera doesn't have a very good zoom, but that guy out there in the surf...he's mine :-) That's RussMyHoney, and boy, did he have a great time!

We all had a great time.

 Two of my kids couldn't make it, so we'd like to go back soon.
I hope you're enjoying your week. 
Blessings,

Marcia

Turquoise

 I'm not jewelry obsessed, really I'm not.  I don't even wear much jewelry these days, but I do like silver and turquoise, I always have. I'm sure most of you know that the 2010 Color of the Year is turquoise. I didn't know there was a "color of the year" until I did my post a few months back about my turquoise couches and someone was nice enough to share that info with me...but I am frequently a bit out of touch. 

Just ask my kids :-)

In preparing this post, I thought I'd share this tidbit of info in case any of you are as uninformed as I was :-)

So for today's Friday's Pretties hosted by Joyce at I Love Pretty Little Things, I'm sharing a couple of pretty pieces of turquoise jewelry. The necklaces were made by my nephew Nathan and his wife Missy. Nathan finds and cuts the stones, and Missy adds the silver. They live in Arizona, which makes it a bit more convenient for finding the beautiful turquoise :-) My photos really don't do them justice. They are absolutely gorgeous!

The bracelet is an old favorite of mine, given to me by my friend's sweet mom.
Thank you for all of the birthday wishes for my little boys. You are all wonderful! Oh, and btw, for anyone who might remember and be wondering, the IRS said they are all our kids...again :-) Yeah! 

Have a wonderful weekend my sweet friends.

Blessings,

Marcia

Mirror Images and Birthday Wishes

 Ten years ago today I gave birth to my youngest two children. Seth and Joshua came into this world nearly 5 weeks early, and weighing just 4 lbs. and 4 lbs 13 oz. After 4 children that were quite a bit larger than that, it almost seemed like they weren't quite "done" :-) They were so tiny. I gave birth to them 11 days before my 40th birthday! How's that for a birthday present? I had a friend that sent me a card that said "I'd rather be 40 than pregnant!" Inside, she wrote "Oops!" They are definitely not an "oops" in our life though. They are sweet gifts from God. They captured the hearts of our whole family from the minute they were born and we've never been the same since. 

 They are known as "mirror image" identical twins. The description fits well. Mirror image twins look alike but it is almost as if they are looking into a mirror. One is left handed, one is right handed. It's the same with that little swirl at the back of their heads, one is slightly to the left, the other is slightly to the right. In case you were wondering, it has to do with when the egg splits :-)

 Although they look alike, they are very different in personality, as any parent or sibling of twins would know. 

Seth was born a minute before Josh, so he claims to be the oldest twin. I do see this as a misnomer since they were created at exactly the same time :-) He is more outgoing, and was the one who seemed to develop the twin language they had when they were little.

Josh is the quieter of the two, at least when he first meets someone. He can be quite loud around us though!

Early on, we started dressing them in different colors. They looked so much alike that this was our best way of telling them apart. I was out running errands one time when they were little, and my son Ryan (our practical joker around here) decided to dress them in each others clothes. No one even realized it until I came home and noticed the switch. It was a bit eye opening to realized we identified them by the clothes they were wearing! 

 So in many photos, Seth is in blue and Josh is in "the other color", whatever that might be :-)

Seth and Josh, we love you both!

 Happy Birthday my sweet boys!

 And the answer is "yes" to those of you that are doing the math.

I am about to turn 50...

Yikes!

Blessings,

Marcia