The band box with the blue crocheted ribbon on the top edge was made for me by my mom. She gave it to me when I was a teenager and she covered it in wall paper that was in my childhood bedroom. The ribbon was handmade by my Great Grandmother and the box is filled with dried flowers, that I saved during my teenage years.
The other two, taller ones were made from empty oatmeal cartons. I covered them with scrapbooking paper. I like the simplicity of them. The one with the pink ribbon is now in the livingroom. It holds imprisoned legos which I picked up off the floor. They are mine until they are “paid for” by whatever means that the boys and I come up with at the time.
I’m still thinking a lot about my house, and the housework. I think partly because we are in the process of moving the boys into the finished basement. It looks so fresh and clean down there, with the painted walls free from handprints, for the moment. Spending time in that nice new space inspires us to clean up and organize the rest of the house. . . . . .
But, for now we are getting ready to go out. The house is so hot and muggy and the bookstore is beckoning. When Rich asked me this morning if I wanted to go to Crackerbarrel for breakfast, I told him I would rather go to Barnes and Noble, to get a decaf latte and a couple new magazines, or a book.
Happy Saturday!
PS. My clothes are getting way too tight. I’m only like 11 weeks pregnant and I feel yucky, bloated, and squeezed! And SO not cute!
Good to be Home 
Oh Shan, you are STILL cute, no matter what you do. Seriously. I’m not just saying that cuz I love you, I mean it. You’re adorable, so there. 🙂 I hope you guys are having a lovely Saturday. I miss you! Love, Trish
I’m sure you still look beautiful! I had to wear maternity clothes at 11 weeks when I was pregnant with my first. For some reason my stomach just popped right out! You might feel better if you start wearing some smaller maternity clothes! We are having a nice relaxing saturday, getting some small projects done, but making sure we just enjoy each other as a family.
That sounds like a wonderful Saturday! Your basement sounds very nice. Are you going to post pictures? I’m sure you are still very cute. Your house seems to be coming along quite well:)
You don’t feel cute, but you probably are SUPER cute!
You’re cute. I know it. 11 weeks already. Wow. I hope you have a good weekend! Our B&N brought the train table back!!! We went today, and I was reminding Sam that the trains were gone…and then we walked in and there it was!!! He was SOOOO excited. We’re enjoying our time together. I’m amazed that you’re thinking about housework, etc…I’m still having a hard time thinking about that…
I am sure you look adorable. I love your treasures, so nice to hold onto things that we love. I wish I could join you today. You just described my perfect day. 🙂 enjoy your time sitting at the bookstore, flipping pages in inspirational books and magazines. enjoy your latte, friend.
Ahhh, you are adorable. We think preggie mommies are so cute. I know how you feel though…..must be time for you to transition to some loose clothes. So glad you get to get out and get to the bookstore…..my kind of outing! Bob and David went off to the garden….I wanted to stay around here and straighten up. You inspire me. I have books and things to organise for homeschool. We had our day out yesterday to a special surfing beach. I was busy visiting with people (it was a church outing) and didn’t take pictures…my favorite image was of my husband, Bob, sharing from his Bible with the daughter of a friend from church.
I guess I am what you would call a “lurker” a friend told me about your site a while ago and have been following along ever since. You are very inspiring to me.
Your blog the other day about waking up and not wanting to face the day, I can relate to. I have felt that way everyday for a few weeks now but…… thank you for the reminder to just pray! To get over myself turn to the Lord and trust in Him! Why is it so simple to forget the simple things?!? Thank you for the reminder though!
I also am pregnant so maybe that has something to do with it I’m 13 weeks with #4 and am feeling “tight” in my clothes so I can imagine with #6 you are already getting the baby belly
Blessings!
Sharon
that quote is one of my favorites! How can you not be cute? PLEASE! you are BEAUTIFUL! =) I hope you had a greta time at the bookstore! What did you get for a book or magazine? Have a great Sunday with your family!
I like going to Barnes & Noble..
Have a great weekend.
Shanda, Shanda, you are cute, but not only that, you are beautiful from the inside out! Your boxes are pretty, and I like that quote too. Your outing to Barnes and Noble sounded so nice. Enjoy your weekend, and don’t feel bad about needing looser clothes. Just remember WHY you need them ~ you have another blessing on the way!!!
I don’t blame you…..I would rather go to Barnes and Noble too!! They have the best selection of books and magazines! You’ll need to look up a magazine called Artful Blogging. Very interesting mag!!
I haven’t had any remodeling done, but I am going to be switching rooms around in my home too. I can’t wait because I’ll be able to get the toys out of my living room and into a nice little playroom for my daughter! My living room looks so much simple and less cluttery without all of them in there. We just have no room….I really have to start going through her toys and giving the ones she doesn’t play with anymore (with exception to a few that hold dear to my heart) to the Toys for Tots.
Hope you had a nice time at the bookstore and just keep reminding yourself, you have a gorgeous bundle of joy in there that will be such a wonderful part of your future. : )
What a grat idea for old oatmeal containers!!! I have had one sitting around here and was wondering what to do with it!
Dont worry you will always be cute and beautiful… its just the hormones talking for you!
Love you and hope you had a wonderful day at the book store!
I love the part about imprisoning Legos. . .I’ll have to try that. They hurt SOOO bad when you step on them with bare feet!
Hey, I like that idea of having to have a payment to get back legos that have been left out! :o) Hmmmm…the wheels are spinning in my head…
Those boxes are beautiful! What a great idea to cover oatmeal containers with scrapbooking paper…I have tons of that! 🙂 Cracker Barrel sounds yummy….one of my favorite places….had a decaf latte myself today…also one of my favorite things. 🙂 Happy Saturday to you too. Hope is was lovely.
I love that quote. That is perfect for right now as we are packing and getting rid of extra junk we don’t want to take. Thanks for the inspiration! Hugs!
I am 13 weeks and I hear you, sister! I don’t feel pregnant, I just feel fat. If it weren’t for the nagging sickness every once in a while. Oh, and I made your muffins today. I made a batch of blueberry and then a batch with just cinnamon added, and then topped them with a brown sugar, butter, and flour crumb topping. I know your little one called you “jam mama”, but I’m calling you “muffin mama!” The recipe is definitely a “go to.” I got tons of compliments on them and the blueberry ones were to die for! Thanks for sharing from the richness of your life.
My Brianna’s dear friend Sarah 26, newly married, is pregant too. Bri loves that her little baby belly is already showing…the baby is named blueberry at the moment. I’ve told Sarah she must come by your site for encouragement and inspiration! I used to go to Barnes and Noble for fun magazines…now I just come to your site! Loved the egg cooking story
It’s okay to not feel cute. Just know you’re beautiful!
Hope you had a good time at the bookstore. I love the idea of covering those containers. I will have to put this idea into my notebook for the day when we have our own place again.
sorry babe– you look nothing like you described yourself.. just your cute ole self!! 🙂
I agree with what William Morris said and try to live my life that way. Every box and basket holds something that we are using. And that reminds me…. I need to go through my tiny linen closet and get rid of whatever we no longer need. Cleaning out closets can seem like a daunting job, but once it’s completed, I feel so much better! Now, if I could just knock out some walls…….!!! Thank you for sharing the boys’ egg making story! I was able to use that to get my 14 yr. old boy to get up and make his own eggs. He added cheese to his. Yum! He’s quite capable and has cooked before, but this summer, while he’s been on a growth spurt, he’s also gotten bored. So, I need to get more creative and non-boring and come up with activities to keep him busy. He did 10 minutes of weed-eater duty the other day and his leader at Youth group asked if he got paid for it. Youth Leader believes we should’ve paid for that work and is putting the pressure on. We have never paid our children an allowance because helping around the house is simply expected. In return, we provide shelter, food, clothes, shoes, toiletries, gifts for birthdays and Christmas, and the rare movie, hamburger at In and Out, etc. We also provide an example of a loving, stable marriage and parenting with boundaries. I feel like people like my husband and I are becoming the minority. So many of our childrens’ friends are spoiled, overindulged little beings. It’s hard to be surrounded by that! So, you are very encouraging to me because I do see in your example and in my daughter-in-law’s example that there are a couple of young Moms out there who have their heads on straight and their hearts in tune with the Lord. You beautiful girls, you! p.s. Fiestaware is on sale at Kohl’s right now!
that little statement in your photo was one that literally changed my entire life. I know it sounds crazy but it is now the scale I used to purge nearly everything and it makes my life so much easier!
I love your PS…I know you don’t feel cute but I’ll bet you look so cute! 🙂
USEFUL or BEAUTIFUL! i read this quote somewhere….years ago! it stuck with me. i’ve repeated it to people many times. i like it. and live by it! (after moving 7 times in 1 year…many years ago).
The boxes are beautiful and I love the uses of them. Shan, no matter how yucky you feel, you are beautiful and lovely from the heart, which shines more brightly than any outward appearance. I love you! I hope you had fun yesterday and today. Lish
One of the little hard things for me to do is to throw away an oatmeal box. NOW I know what else I can do with them (besides letting a small grandchild use one for a drum). Shanda honey, you are so lovely inside AND out. We all have days we don’t feel like it, but everyone here knows better about you! hugs sweety pie. from SC (ps~ loved the quote. I will write down in my journal.)
I think you are adorable. Can’t wait to see your little belly grow as your little blessing does.
pretty boxes. very true quote. and my clothes feel tight too – but i haven’t the good excuse you do.
I like hearing about these sorts of things – your creativity with the cartons, the clean basement (I know what you mean about how inspiring it can be to have one part of the house deep-cleaned!), and a leisurely read at the bookstore. Very nice thoughts indeed! Oh goodness, I feel the same way in my pregnancy…! Only a few of my clothes fit comfortably now; I rotate the same two or three shirts all the time… It will be worth it all, I know, but I hope I can make it through the next five weeks without popping, as I feel I will do! lol
So so so cool! Looks like something I would see and read about in Victoria Mag. How cool is that? YOU still have it from your childhood! Love that you made your own with scrap paper!