Burt's Bees Winner & CHEAP SKATE! Cut Back!

Random.org picked #49 as the winner of my Burt's Bees Giveaway. CONGRATS TO TRACIE at FROM THE HEART who will receive this Burt's Bees Head to Toe Starter kit.

Tracie is an AMAZING woman. She and her husband John returned a short while ago from Ukraine with their 2 newest children-Emma & Aiden. Miracles children that would have been institutionalized had John and Trac not stepped in.

In my eyes, selfless & giving. The TRUE hands and feet of Jesus! Congrats TRACIE! Email me with you address and I will mail this out ASAP! I like nice things but I am a CHEAP SKATE. WHY? Because I know you can find cool stuff out there that you don't have to pay an arm and leg for.

My Mother's Day Chaise Lounge needed some company so for my birthday The Captain let me pick out some accessories.

I got this simple lamp at Target for $12.99. Queen sign $3-Gordman's a while ago. I like being Queen of one corner of the house since THE KIDS RULE THE REST LOL!I like it because there are 2 lights and they can be turned on separately and I can bend the reading light however I want-I love it so far!

The next thing I needed was a table. I was getting discouraged and unable to find one for under $100 that I liked. THEN, at the end of the aisle "hidden" was this beauty for $39.98.Isn't it adorable? My MIL gave me the flower arrangement for my b-day and it goes great there. Plenty of room for the stacks of books and Bible studies I have! I think the "Queen's Corner" as I like to call it LOL has turned out fantastic!

I sit here every night and do a lot of reading and praying-I LOVE MY SPACE!

I have decided to cut back on blogging. We are SO busy here on the farm this month and next. I just can't keep up with posting and commenting-sorry.

We are doing swimming lessons, library time & have Bible school soon. Our Month of August is BOOKED!

We are going to Sturgis on our Harley for a few days with friends and taking our family vacation to Florida at the end of August and I am organizing for our homeschool to start back up after Labor Day!

Plus, it's summer..... Time to spend outside, with the children, at the pool and beach enjoying God's goodness, not stuck at my computer!

Time to relax and enjoy simple but beautiful moments like this......I will be back in September a FULL FORCE RESTED BLOGGER and try to post every now and again until then! You can email me at any time if you need me!

Waving Goodbye...FIRE HAZARD!

TO 38... YES PEOPLE, I am now 39-just one year left until THE BIG ONE! Why do I feel 29?

I had planned on writing a deep EMO post about my birth, birth mother, birth family, my adoption, adoptive parents aka "real parents" and the entire personal journey of my adoption for my birthday post but I'm just not ready yet! Maybe when I'm 40.

The Captain was away for my birthday on the 26th. He got home last night. He is always SO thoughtful. He got each little their own gift to give me. Which included chapstick, flip flops, a loofah, gum, mints & a praise and worship CD.
Then he took us all out to SONIC for some yummy fattening burgers, onion rings and my fave DIET CRANBERRY LIMEADE! Me & the six littles at SONIC!

GUESS WHERE THIS BIG POOF of smoke came from???The Captain insists on putting the actual number of candles in my cake every year. I prefer a big 3 and a big 9. I made a GREAT WISH! The cheesecake was YUMMY!After the cake, it was time to check out the wheat to see if it's ready for harvest. So, The Captain has the kids do the "wheat gum chew test" (YES, he made it up)First you crush your wheat up gently and separate the kernels from the "trash". Then you chew it. If the kernels are soft and mushy-it is NOT time to harvest. If they are crunchy.....

IT'S HARVEST TIME!

ALL tractors, combine, truck and farm machinery is out and rolling!
SO, as I unexcitedly welcome 39, I decided a change was in order..
ALL women over 30 have short hair right? Well for sure all women over 40 do and since I'm knocking on 40's door...

I thought 39 was a great age to have short hair for the first time since I was 4 or 5!
I'm glad I did!
I really like it!

Nothing like a good haircut and color to make a girls day!

Thank you Lord for blessing me with another year of life!

MASTER BEDROOM-I'm Late!

I'm LATE in joining Kelly on Friday but OH WELL. We've had the sickies here. Go check out her site to see more Master Bedrooms-its a great way to get ideas!Here is a picture from taken from my chaise lounge. To the right is the closet and the door on the left is the master bath. My camera has been putting these weird white circles in all my pictures? Anyone know what that is?

This picture is taken from the master bath. Our room is red with one wall and the ceiling covered in pine car siding-I LOVE IT! We have a door to the outside (on the right) where The Captain is in the process of building us a little deck. To go out and read my Bible or just chill in the morning. Our room is on the OPPOSITE side of the house from all kids bedrooms :) I designed it that way! The door on the left leads to the great room.Our bed, not quite big enough BUT in our old house, a KING BED would not have fit in our bedroom so we are stuck with this queen.

It does NOT WORK when little ones trickle in during the night. YES-WE MAKE OUR BED EVERY DAY-can't stand not to!

Our 2 bedside tables were made by my FIL and his brother when they took wood shop in school-they are very special!

The lamp is made out of a twisted rusty iron-a FAB find at Gordmans!

Goes with my rustic decor perfectly! This is where I sit and do my devotions every night. I LOVE this chaise-as I've said before... The Captain hates it! But loves me enough to let it be in our room!

I am looking for a great lamp and table to go beside it-haven't found the perfect items yet!This is the view from my bedroom out into our great room.

NO KIDS ALLOWED IN OUR BEDROOM EVER!This is the view out my bedroom window.

BEAUTIFUL HUH?

The Captain will soon be on the combine cutting this golden wheat!Hope you enjoyed the tour!

Don't forget to enter my BURTS BEES GIVEAWAY that ends tonight at midnight!

UPS delivers fireworks...GIVEAWAY!!!

OKAY, he really didn't deliver fireworks but when the 4 littles jumped on this giant bubble wrap, my head started throbbing and it sounded like fireworks!I've kind of got a sinus infection funk, fever going on and have now completely lost my voice..YES the kids are thrilled. "WHAT, WE CAN'T HEAR YOU MOMMY?"What was wrapped in the bubble wrap you ask......I got a phone call a couple weeks ago from NY, NY.
It was a lady telling me that out of thousands of entries-I was one of 25 runners up in SELF Magazines "WOMEN DOING GOOD" Contest!

The 25 runner-up entries may also be featured as “Women Doing Good” on BurtsBees.com and SELFConnected.com from the month of June 2009 to June 2010. What A GREAT WAY to get our message out! God is awesome about opening the doors of opportunity to get our cause "out there."

I didn't even know I entered. WHY? My sweet cousin Beth, entered me.

She is such a huge lover of our family, our children and our cause for adoption & Drug Endangered Children.This is what I got... A gift basket with 13 FABULOUS ITEMS From Burt's Bees! Burt's chose the 25 runners up! My favorites are these: I CAN'T WAIT TO TRY THEM!

I CANNOT WAIT to see what Miracle the Miracle Salve performs on me, how the Ageless Skin Firming Night Creme will firm me up and how the ROYAL JELLY Eye creme will decrease my creases!
The Captain will be thrilled with this Poison Ivy Soap.Since I won, I thought YOU SHOULD TOO! I will be giving away a Burt's Bees gift set (NO, NOT MINE) to one of you beautiful people!

All you have to do is leave a comment and if you are a follower, leave a second comment telling me so!