Coincidence or God?

Do you ever wonder just how much detail God cares about? Something happened early this morning that left that question in my mind: "Does God REALLY care about such trivial matters?" I'll tell you the story and let you draw your own conclusion.

This summer, we were out garage saling and happened upon a house that had old edition but still packaged Nascar cars and collector cards. Since we moved over to this part of the state, my life-long friend, Janiece and I usually buy small gifts for each other's kids and it's no secret that we often glean them from clearance aisles. No need to be pricey because after all, it's the thought that counts. Tony got to thinking that these might make great gifts for her boy's September and November birthdays so we picked up four of them.

This morning, I was getting Talon's ready and realized it was his 13th birthday. I was feeling kind of bad that I hadn't thought to get him something more special than OLD edition cars. And yet, I knew there probably wasn't much to be done about it since in this struggling economy we are pinching pennies every which way we can.

It was then that I noticed the year in the upper right-hand corner of the car package...would you believe they were put out the very year he was born?!

Now you tell me, was it coincidence or was it God?

Christmas Comes to Kirklin

Clean the house, get the laundry well underway and get along! A mental checklist of things to do in order to get early gift opening privileges from Mom. They complied: the bickering ceased, the washer and dryer was humming and the house was orderly in no time (amazing what can be accomplished with a "carrot" dangling in front of their faces :)

The two younger girls had a mostly "build a bear" Christmas, which sure made for easy shopping for a sick, pregnant mom. Britnee's gifts were electronics and hair accessories.

MY favorite gift were these and I cannot wait to wear flaunt them in Michigan :)

Happy Birthday, Janae

I'll blame it on my prego brain...the fact that I forgot to do a birthday post for Janae. It's certainly not because we forgot about her birthday, though. We probably work extra hard to make sure that her birthday is special. With it being so close to the holidays, her day is often forgotten by others in the shuffle of Christmas preparations.

We started by planning her school birthday treat to share a couple days in advance since her actual birthday fell on FCA's Christmas party day.

Then, as usual, because we have open Christmas presents early here due to trips to Michigan every year, we let her open her gifts a couple days in advance to keep more of a distance between the two occasions. She received Apples to Apples Jr (a very fun game!), a 'Lil Kinz pig she named Curly, a Magic Treehouse book and her very own MP3 player.

Happy 11th Birthday, Janae! In a few days, you'll be able to say, "next year, I'll be a teenager!" (we'll let everyone mull that one over for awhile :)

Perfect Gift

I have found the perfect gift for Janiece Cooper and Angie Davis.

catapults

Do cats always land on their feet? Want to throw a little baby shower? Why not relieve that corporate stress? Catch the love of your life? If you fit into any one
of these 4 categories then you have to get your hands on a catapult!! These
playful plastic toys provide tons & tons of flying fun for all ages! Includes four mini cats, babies, bosses or cupids. Hit that bull’s eye! Measures 5.75” Plastic.

Even if you like cats, this website has some unique gifts. Fun to browse!

Valentine's Day Cans

I am really behind for posting these. But for some reason, I have been leaving my pictures on my camera rather than download a few at a time.

I found this adorable project for Valentine’s Day around the beginning of February. Using a can with a pop-top, remove the bottom with a safety can opener. Empty the contents and clean it then fill it with goodies. Replace the original label with your own and decorate as desired (the example used a little tag and lots of fun fibers and ribbons so I did too.)

After verifying that one of my friends had that kind of opener, I purchased and downloaded the template for the “labels” then went out and selected my goodies for filling and the size cans I needed See the end of this post for dimensions. I used Beans and Weenies (cute li’l things) for the girls and a large pineapple can (I think I got the wrong size since I had to alter that particular label to make it fit) for Tony.

Flipping the cans top-side down, I filled them first with a little pink and red shredded paper, then the goodies, then more paper. Janae and Kerrigan got a set of Polly Pets in theirs, Britnee got two puppies (those cute little animals with a German brand name sold at Target and TSC-can anyone help me out here?) And Tony got Hershey’s kisses in his. To make the gifts look even more special I re-packaged them in a clear cellophane bag from the cake and cookie decorating dept at Hobby Lobby (100 ct for $1.99).

Many thanks to fellow blogger, Bobbie, for her help in getting the lids off the cans and even cleaning them out for me! That was totally not necessary but very, very kind. Thanks a bunch!

Interestingly enough, I had so much fun with this project that I bought my own safety can opener for my own Valentine’s Day gift! I see many more of these nifty little cans in my gift-giving future! And I think the coolest part is that the recipients think you are so awesome and clever!

You'll definitely want to click on the photo for better detail.

*Here are some approximate measuring. Each brand varies a little bit. 7.75 oz. individual serving size can of beans and weenies (2.75”h x 8.5” w), 11 oz. can of mandarin oranges (3”h x 9.5”w) or 20 oz. can of pineapple (4.25”h x 9.5”w)

One of My Favorite Parts...

...of the Christmas season