Etched Glasses

Last month, we were able to get away for a long weekend at the beach. It was heavenly!! Lots of naps and relaxation and a chance to catch up on the stack of magazines that were gathering dust on my nightstand.

As I was reading the latest Southern Living (one of my favorite magazines!), I ran across an article on etching glass. This is not something I had ever thought of doing - but they made it look so easy...

...and they had this adorable idea! Don't you just love them??



These would be perfect for summer dinner parties - nobody would lose their glass! I fell in love with them as soon as I saw them and NEEDED a reason to make them. With Mother's Day only a few weeks away, I decided they would be the perfect gift for my mom. We have a large family, and every time we get together for dinner we pull out the faithful red plastic cups and everyone writes their name on a cup. It accomplishes the intended purpose...but THESE glasses would be SO MUCH CUTER!!

So, I picked up 16 glasses from Walmart:



And I set out with my trusty Southern Living magazine and the listed supplies. I used my Cricut to cut out the numbers directly on the clear contact paper. Then I simply put the contact paper on the glass, brushed the etching cream on, let it sit for 10 minutes, and then rinsed under running water. Take the contact paper off...and you have an etched number on your glass. Oh my goodness, this seriously could not be any easier. Truly!!

An inexpensive, easy, handmade gift - I love it!





My stencils weren't quite as fat and chunky as the numbers on the Southern Living glasses...so my glasses didn't look quite the same. But I still liked the way they turned out. I might play with some different fonts next time. The possibilities are really endless! I even thought about trying some with a monogram. They would make a unique wedding gift.

Which reminds me...I need to go get some glasses and make a set for me! If you want to try it out for yourself, the instructions are on the Southern Living website here.

The Gender Reveal Party

About a month after we found out I was pregnant, I ran across the cutest idea for a fun twist on finding out what we were having. A friend from my college days was pregnant with her 4th, and she posted this idea with some pictures on her Facebook page. As soon as I saw it, I knew I wanted to do the same thing!

So here is how it goes:

On our sonogram day, we told the technician that we wanted her to write down the gender and put it in sealed envelope - without telling us the results! So she warned us when she got to that part of the ultrasound and we turned our heads. We left the doctor's office that day with a sealed envelope - the inside telling us whether the baby was a boy or girl. I will admit that it was difficult to not tear that envelope open - but I knew it would be worth it in the end to keep the secret! Of course, it was even more difficult since the sonogram was on Wednesday...and we weren't finding out the result until Saturday!

I then took the envelope to a friend that makes cakes. Her instructions were to make the cake either pink or blue on the inside, depending on the results inside the envelope - but to make the outside of the cake gender neutral so it wouldn't give anything away.

We picked up the cake on Saturday morning, and that afternoon we had a party with our family to find out the baby's gender. I decorated the dining room in both pink and blue...it was so fun!



We even had pink and blue fruit dip!





I sent Chris to pick up the cake that morning and it was SO CUTE! Far beyond what I had imagined! Of course, when he walked in and showed it to me, I was caught off guard because the outside was blue. But he told me that our friend said the outside in no way indicated what the inside would reveal. So that left me even more confused...was she giving a hint, or was it to throw us off because the inside would be pink?? Only time would tell!







Tanner had a soccer game later that morning, and then the whole family came over after the game for our "baby reveal" party. I had everyone guess what they thought we were having - by writing their name on either a pink or blue piece of paper. The overall result was 5 "boy" guesses and 7 "girl" guesses.

Chris, Tanner and I then cut open the cake for the big reveal.

It's A Boy!!!

We are very excited about having another boy in the family! There is nothing quite like the snuggles and kisses that a little boy gives his mommy!

Let's Try This Again!

I can't believe it has been almost 10 months since I have posted on my blog! It seems like the more time that went by, the more pressure I felt to have something really great to post. Which made me procrastinate even more...and the vicious cycle kept repeating.

And some great stuff has happened in the past 10 months, so I'm not sure why I didn't post before now. But it is time to start fresh, and try once again to keep this blog updated on a somewhat regular basis. Or at least more than once every 10 months!!

So here goes...

For the biggest news in our world, we found out on December 26 that we are

HAVING ANOTHER BABY!!

To say that we were surprised would be an understatement. After trying for over 4 years for another baby, we didn't think it was going to happen. In fact, after much prayer and discussion, we had decided to adopt through the foster program here in Texas. We took our training classes in October and we were very excited about the direction God was leading us. Our home study was scheduled, and we were only a month away from being certified foster parents.

And then I took the pregnancy test...and got the big surprise. Actually, if the truth be told, I took 4 tests over the course of 2 days because I couldn't believe it!

So, the fostering/adoption plan has been put on hold...and we are now preparing for the arrival of the newest Adams family member at the end of August. We are very excited and feel so blessed that God has given us this gift. We know that His timing is always perfect!

In my next post, I will tell you how we found out what we are having - a boy or girl! I would include it in this post...but it is getting close to 9:00 and this pregnant mommy gets tired very early these days!!

Sports Party

We had Tanner's 5th birthday party today. It was a "Sports Carnival" and the kids seemed to have a great time.

I had a lot of fun with all the little "details" for this party. About 3 weeks ago, I still hadn't decided on a theme for this year's party. And I am a big theme person!

Well, Target came to the rescue! I ran in one day to pick up a few things and of course I had to stop by the Dollar Section since it is right by the front doors and always calling my name. Lo and behold, they had a whole line of sports related party stuff. Even though it is the "Dollar" section, I am frugal. So, I probably would not have stopped except that it was all 50% off. Whohoo!! Even more exciting was when I checked out, it was actually 75% off!! Double Whohoo!! Of course, there were some things that I was waffling on at .50 but I had to go back and buy them since they were only a quarter!

And thus was born the sports party for Tanner's 5th birthday. Good thing the boy likes sports!

We started off with "craft" time. I love crafts and thus I often subject those around me to craft time! They made little sports flags with some VBS clearance items I found at Hobby Lobby. I made the flags from foam sheets and then the kids decorated them with the foam sports-related stickers. I punched holes in the sides of the flags for a dowel rod. Craft time only lasted about 10 minutes. I think I was hoping for longer...but these are 4 and 5 year olds so I should probably be happy with 10 minutes!








After they finished their flags, the carnival began. Every child was given a strip of tickets. They then went to each station, where they turned in their ticket for a chance to play. After playing at each station, they were able to pick out a prize for their goody bag.


We had four sports stations. Basketball - where they tried to get a basket in the hoop. Baseball - where they tried to hit a ball. Soccer - where they kicked the ball around some cones. And finally ladderball - throwing the balls onto the rungs. The last ticket was for popcorn - which was actually Cracker Jacks, even better!

Everyone had a lot of fun trying the different sports and thankfully I have a large family who was willing to help man the stations!
















Once we finished that, we had cupcakes decorated like baseballs and basketballs. I saw these online and they were super easy to make. I usually enjoy doing fun cakes - but I went for something a little easier this year!










After cupcakes, we opened presents. This year was the year of Legos - I think he got 8 different sets! Yikes!! I think I have spent about 3 hours today helping him assemble the various sets. My control-freak side meticulous, organized side is starting to twitch at the idea of keeping them separated and not mixed up. We had a talk before opening them about the importance of only working on one set at a time and keeping them in their respective bags. We will see how long that lasts!

All in all, it was a fun party - from organizing and planning it to actually enjoying it with my sweet Tanner and his friends!

Here are a few more fun "details" from the party.

Every kid had their own water bottle labeled with their name. It was super easy to do . I just made them on the computer and added some sports clip art. I then attached them to the bottles with packing tape.


For their goody bags, I found some reusable lunch bags in the Target clearance bonanza - for only .25! They had sport themed bags which I picked up for the boys, and some pink ones for the girls. I then customized them with everyone's initial. For the boys bags, I used orange and brown felt and for the girls bags I used some fabric scraps. I sewed the initials to the larger squares, and then used spray fabric adhesive to attach them to the bags. It actually went pretty fast - and I was very pleased with how they turned out. For less than .50 a bag, I was happy!!

Before:


After:







Happy Birthday Tanner! Still can't believe my baby is 5!!

My Big Boy

My dear Tanner,

It is hard to believe that you turned five today. I am misty-eyed just writing this letter, feeling like you have crossed some sort of imaginary line and entered boyhood. While I realize that you haven’t been a “baby” for several years, there is just something about turning five that makes it official for me.

I remember like it was just yesterday the day I found out I was pregnant with you. Your daddy and I were so excited to get that positive test result, after months and months of negative tests. I also clearly remember the day we found out you were going to be a boy. We were having our 13 week sonogram and the technician asked if we wanted to know what we were having. We were shocked because we never suspected that they would know that early! In fact, we hadn’t even decided at that point if we wanted to find out in advance or let it be a surprise. But there was just something about the simple fact that someone else knew what we were going to have, and all we had to do was ask and we could know. Well, it only took a little discussion to decide we couldn’t handle the suspense, and she told us we were having a boy!

I remember the first time I held you and fell so deeply in love with that precious little baby in my arms. You were truly a gift from God and our lives were changed forever the day you were born. I never realized how much I could love someone until that day!

Over the years, you have brought incredible happiness to your Daddy and me. Your love for life, beautiful smile, and sweet spirit bring us such joy. We feel blessed beyond what we deserve that God chose us to be your parents!

Our prayer for you is that you would follow the Lord all the days of your life and serve Him with all your heart. We realize that ultimately you belong to the Lord, and our desire is to raise you in such a way that you understand and value the importance of a personal, close relationship with Him. God has a unique and special design for your life, and there is nothing I desire more than to see you accomplish what He has planned!

I love you Tanner and I am so honored to be called your mother. And I will continue to enjoy and soak up those sweet little hugs and kisses for as long as you are willing to give them. I know the day will be here sooner than I like when you won’t be so free with them!

Loving my sweet, little 5-year-old!
Mommy

My little sister

My youngest sister, Miranda, is currently in Kenya serving as a communication intern with World Concern for 6 weeks.

God miraculously provided for her and I am so excited about this great opportunity that she has!!

Miranda is such an awesome young lady that loves the Lord, and I am very proud of her.

Check out her blog here (or click the picture below) and you can follow her adventures over the next 6 weeks. It should be interesting - I hear they even have a curfew every night so they don't get crushed by stampeding elephants. Crazy!

The Holy Trinity

Chris informed me the other day that he and Tanner had a long discussion about God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit as they were driving in the car.

The Holy Spirit?? Really??

Apparently Tanner brought it up and was very interested in the topic. Chris said he even informed him that "Jesus is the Word"...very matter of factly.

Deep stuff for a 4 year old! Sunday school must be working :)

That night, it was obviously still fresh in his mind as we sat next to his bed for our nightly prayer.

Part of Tanner's prayer went like this:

"God, please come inside me. And the Holy Christ come too."

I tried not to giggle as he continued with his prayer. I think it will be awhile before he fully understands the Holy Trinity...but he is working on it!!