A Woman's Glory

The Bible says that the glory of a woman is her long hair (1 Corinthians 11:15).  I guess that's why I spend so much time on my hair, making it look "just right" before we go somewhere, then we get in the car and I pull down the visor mirror and check to make sure it's still ok.  Yes, with nine children, I am still picky, picky about my hair.  Today, I wanted to share some hair products with you that I just love and are big family budget friendly.

You're probably already know about the "Moroccan Argan Oil' craze right now, but being as I rarely leave my house, I had no clue until someone shared it with me.  This is Suave Moroccan Argan Oil infused color care shampoo.  This shampoo is specially formulated for color treated hair. I've noticed that since color care shampoo's are gentle they tend to leave a residue on my hair and it doesn't feel clean but this shampoo makes my hair feel soft and clean.  I also am allergic to the higher end color shampoo that starts with  "B" if you know what I'm talking about.  It makes my head ITCH like crazy, but this shampoo doesn't.  It smells HEAVENLY and the cost is only $2.88 at Wal-Mart.

Pretty much everyone in our family is sensitive to the additives in the perfumed shampoos, so for those who need a more sensitive shampoo we use Suave Anti- Dandruff nourishing shampoo.  This smells so good, works great and is less expensive than other dandruff shampoos.  It also costs $2.88.

I remember my mom telling me they used to put baby powder in their hair on "between washing" days back in the 50's.  This is basically baby powder in a spray bottle.  It's Suave Keratin Infusion Dry Shampoo.  You can spray this in your hair if you have oily hair and don't have time to wash but need a quick pick me up. I think this maybe $3.  Sorry I don't remember exactly.

Last is my new favorite.  This is One n' only Argan Oil from Sally Beauty.  It's under $10 and it lasts a long time.  It smells so good!  I put about a pencil eraser size in the palm of my hand, rub my hands together and then run it through the ends of my hair.  It soaks into the hair, gets rid of the frizz and leaves no greasy feel and did I mention, IT SMELLS GOOD.  

Remember, not everyone gets the same results, but I hope this works for you as well as it has for us.

Gotta go eat lunch.  Toodles

Havin some fun....

Havin' some fun on these hot summer days!  Hope you enjoy this video.  Big brother put it together one day.

Maximize the accessorize!

Ladies, don't you get tired of diggin' through your jewelry box to find the right piece to go with your outfit only to spend 10 minutes untangling 5 necklaces?  A friend of ours had the wonderful idea to hang peg board in her closet to make it easier to pick what jewelry she wanted to wear.  My sweet hubby, the master builder, took it and ran with it.  Look how he enabled me to maximize the accessorize.


What looks like a typical, rustic bathroom cabinet to the unsuspecting eye...

Opens to reveal something amazing........

 

 

No more wasting time with a tangled mess.  Just pick and go!

 

 

 

Another one of hubby's masterpieces!

 

 



 



 

Are you a GOOD person?

 

 

 

Cows eat free at Chick-Fil-A

Don't worry, make "beef" happy.

Today, Friday, July 13, 2013 is Cow Appreciation Day at your local Chick-fil-a.  Here's the deal, if you dress like a cow and go to your local chick-fil-a, you get free food.  We would be considered a HERD so free food is pretty appealing.  If you dress like a partial cow, you get a free entree.  If you wear an entire cow costume from head to "hoof", you get a free meal. Click to see the details.

Cow Appreciation Day

Need a Cow Costume, click here

Cow Starter Kit 

21 Years and Counting

 

**WARNING! CHALLENGE INCLUDED IN THIS POST**

Twenty-one years ago in the hot July Texas heat, outside around a swimming pool, I married the most amazing man in the world.  We had met a year earlier in Austin, Texas the week after I graduated.  Our baseball team was in the state playoffs and we had both traveled to watch them and ended up staying at the same hotel.  God is good, ya'll.  When my friend and I got there he was sitting at the pool (Yeah, I guess we have a thing for swimming pools since we met by one and were married by one).  I thought he was so handsome sitting there in his sunglasses.  He looked so.......HOT!   I was 17 and he was 20. 

We grew up in the same little Texas town, we lived about a mile from each other.  We went to the same little small town school and yet never talked to each other.  Of course, he was three years older than I am and in high school that seems like a big difference.  We had started waving at each other six months before we met.  I would be leaving school and he would be coming home from work.  He started waving at me and I returned the favor, never expecting to marry him, I just liked his truck. 

I so much wanted a dog and my dad said absolutely not and somehow that came up in the conversation when we met.  He told me he would buy me a dog and I fell in love.  Twenty one years later we have had lots of dogs, he has definitely kept his end of the deal.

He was funny, he made me laugh.  I told him we had to leave, it was nice to meet him.  We had to go find a music store.  I was looking for a certain (***old school alert***) cassette tape.  He told me he could find it for me if he could go along.  "Wow! What a leader" I thought, "willing to take charge, look for challenges and stare danger in the face and laugh."  He was with two 17 year old girls, driving in a big city, that's pretty dangerous.  We hit it off and three months later we were engaged.  He bought and remodeled a house for us in a years time.  We were married the next July.

Our Engagement Picture

 
There is not enough time to tell you the joys and sorrows of our life.  I can say we were not Christians when we met and married and there were many, many rough years.  We went through things you couldn't imagine.  However, God changed our life and saved our marriage 16 years ago and it's been a wild, fun, surprising ride ever since.  I am married to the most wonderful man.  Here's a few reasons why:

• He provides for our family, he cares about the things we like and want. 
• He loves his children. 
• He is fun, he still makes me laugh. 
• He puts our needs first.  
• He can do absolutely anything he sets his mind to.  He is, single handedly, remodeling our whole house (with the help of our oldest son). 
• He loves people.
• He is faithful, steady, consistent and a man of his word.  If he says he will do something or will be somewhere, you can bet your life on it, he WILL be there and do what he says he will do.  He is merciful, he will help anybody.  He and our second son had an idea to have a  fundraiser for someone in our community in need.  He didn't even know them and raised 1,900 dollars for them.  If anyone is struggling, they know who to call. 
• He is a spiritual leader for our family.  He doesn't preach it, he lives a life of integrity in front of our children.  
• He is big and I am little.  He would protect me at all costs and I feel so safe and protected when he is with me. 
• He is a man who stands by his conviction.  He will give me anything I want and rarely says no, BUT when he has a conviction, he will say no if he has to. I am driving a suburban with 300,000 miles on it, he keeps it in great shape to make sure we are safe.  He will not go into debt just to buy a new car because he knows God has given him a conviction not to go into debt.  I love him for that.  
• He is my absolute best friend, we are together 24 hours a day most days and even though it doesn't happen very often, when I am away from him, I can't stand it. 
• He is an absolute doll!
• He is the most Godly, honest, caring, loving, selfless man I have ever met and I am so honored that he chose me as a wife.
• He encourages me to write this blog by helping out with the kids.



I love flowers!  Today he sent me 21 for 21 wonderful years of marriage.

 

 

Don't you love my kitchen?  He designed and built it.

 

 

 

   

 

This is us twenty one (really twenty- two) years later, more in love everyday.  If something happened to him, it would be like someone cutting off half of my body and still expecting me to function.

 

I know that this is not the case for all reading this, your marriage maybe a struggle.  You might be in one of those hard places we have been.  I will encourage you that God cares and marriage is very important to Him.  If you talk to Him, He will listen.  However, He doesn't want to hear you whining about your husband and how he never does anything right.  Chances are with most women, when husbands do something right, it's still wrong. 

 

***CAREFUL CHALLENGE AHEAD***

 

One of the things that brought me to a point of brokenness in our marriage (long after I had became a Christian) was a challenge that was offered to me years ago.  It was a 30 day encouragement challenge that I thought would be easy as pie.  Well, it wasn't.  It was the hardest thing I'd ever done and as a matter of fact I couldn't do it.  You see, I thought I was encouraging to my husband but really through this challenge God showed me, I was an ungrateful, disrespectful nag. 

 

I am challenging you with this same challenge that was offered to me.  You can do anything for 30 days right?  We'll see.  The challenge is:

 

For the next 30 days, 

 

• You can't say anything negative about your husband . . . to your husband . . . or to anyone else, about your husband.

 

• Say something that you admire or appreciate about your husband. . . to your husband . . . and to someone else, about your husband!

  Think you can do it?  You might be the woman who honors your husband all the time and never says a negative thing about him, this will just further your relationship with him.  You might be like I was and think, "Oh, this will be easy!"  and find out some not so nice things about yourself.  Lastly, you might be in a hard place in your marriage and think, "There's not ANYTHING about him I admire and appreciate."  Well, you married him didn't you? You must have liked SOMETHING about him.  If you have to focus on ONE thing, encourage him on that ONE THING for thirty days.  Here is a link to that challenge.   It will give you encouragement everyday on things to do and things to say if you're having a hard time.   I would encourage you to check out the ministry while you're there.

 

https://www.reviveourhearts.com/articles/30-day-husband-encouragement-challenge/

 

 

Let me know how it's going and what God does through your marriage during this challenge. 

 

Thank you for celebrating with us 21 years and counting. 

 

Our love to all of you.

 

 

    

 

 

Managing the Mess with Mel

My wonderful husband and oldest son have just added on to our house.  Stage 1 included a family closet/huge laundry room, a bathroom, kitchen/dining room remodel and the addition of another bedroom.  We are about to start on stage two which will be 2 more bedrooms and bathrooms.  They've taken a little break before they start on stage two and I've had some time to do (or have someone do) a little organizing. 

Often people make the statement, "Boy, to have such a big family, you must be organized!."  Of course, isn't ehhhhhvrybody organized??   I'm about to show you something not many people see.........my school closet, prepare yourself..........

I know......EEEK.  I was so proud of myself because I bought one of those hang over the door shoe organizers and put all of my supplies in it. 

 

 

As you can see, my "labels" didn't work so well......

Then one day, (I'm sure when someone was coming over for dinner) I just kind of threw everything in there, (I'm sure nobody else does that) and hoped one day it would clean itself.   It never did, go figure.

In comes my wonderful friend Mel.....

 

She helps bring some order to my life.  She was over on fourth of July and she "just happened" to bring some organizing stuff.  She's one of those friends who just grabs some stuff and starts workin' on it.  Isn't that a great friend?  I showed her my school closet and the next day, armed with boxes, tape, markers and stuff, she came over to help bring some order to the chaos.

The first thing she did was pull everything out of that little closet....

 

 

 The pictures don't do justice to the mess that was in my dining room.  How did I get all that in a little closet? 

Next, she sorted everything.  We sorted every crayon, every piece of paper, picture, battery, dust bunny, you get the idea.   Then she put everything in a box. She brought some of those individual clear plastic shoe boxes that you can buy at the dollar store for a couple of bucks and some recycled empty boxes.  She labeled every box.  She wrote on a blank note card what was in the box, i.e, batteries, light bulbs, music heads : )  She put the cards inside the box and taped them to the inside end of the box so I could see what was in the box. It was way more than three special steps.  Special agent OSO would have been worried! 

Then we started putting things back until everything was labeled and put in it's proper place so it could be found easily.  I read a quote one time that said, "There is a place for everything and everything has it's place."   That's a good word.

 

She even made a little box for stamps to go inside this basket.

 

 

My hubby put a cool light in the closet that I can't show you here.  It automatically comes on when I open the door.  Off, On, Off, On, open, close, open, close, no switch, love it!   Remember we're from Texas, we're kinda kuntry.  Don't get out much like you city folk.

 

 

 

I was inspired so I fixed the labels on my shoe organizer.  I used Post it brand removable label roll tape.  Now I'm a mean, green, labelin' machine.  My family's runnin'; they think I'm gonna put'em in a box and label 'em.

 

 

Get yourself a buddy and try this, but plan ahead.  Mel got to my house after lunch yesterday and left at 10:00 last night.  I wouldn't try it without a buddy, it wouldn't be half as much fun.  Thanks so much Mel.  We love it.  Next is the Laundry Room ; )

 

 

 

 

Let all things be done decently and in order.

1 Corinthians 14:40

 

Here's a great website to check out if your struggling with getting the clutter under control. It's called the FlyLady.  The FlyLady's taught me to swish and swipe the bathroom every morning.  Visit her website to see what exactly that means.

 

flylady.net

 

 

 

 

 

Crock Pot Mac n Cheese

Today for lunch we are having crock pot Mac n' Cheese.  This recipe taste great and is very easy.  Plus you don't have to heat up the kitchen on these hot summer days.  My crock pot is a very good friend to me.

CROCK POT MAC N CHEESE

• 1/2 lb uncooked elbow macaroni (we use gluten free but you can use any kind)
• 3 cups shredded cheddar cheese divided
• 3 cups whole milk
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 - 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard powder

Mix all ingredients except 1/2 cup cheese in a slow cooker, then sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.  Cover and cook on low for 5 hours.