Giveaway!! Shabby Shae! Plus coupon code, everybody wins!

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COMMENTS ARE NOW CLOSED!!

I have a fabulous giveaway for you!!  My friend Micah has a new etsy shop! She makes gorgeous flower pins in every color imaginable.  They come in various sizes, and some have clips so they can be worn in the hair - see the pic of my sweet middle one below. 

Want to dress up an outfit or give it an extra sparkle?  These flower clips are perfect.  I'm a little partial to the ones with beads; I have the daisy one pictured above, and this poppy one as well.

(There's a story with the poppy one.  My coat is a men's coat.  I didn't really realize it when I bought it; it's black and fuzzy, and well, as I wore it I noticed a) how very warm it is and b) how very masculine it looks.  Then I saw it in the store again ... in the men's section, where apparently it was supposed to be.  Oops.  I "feminized" it with a poppy flower pin!)

Here's my middle one with her hair clip.  Sweet, huh?

She doesn't just make flower clips though.  She makes the cutest little makeup bags too.  See?

I know you want one.  It's your lucky day because Micah is giving away either a flower pin or a bag to one lucky winner.  The winner can pick whichever one she chooses - either from her etsy shop or her blog, and Micah will drop it in the mail to you.

How do you win?  Leave me a comment letting me know what you would choose if you should win.

Want extra entries?
Follow the Shabby Shae blog via google friend connect for one additional entry.
"Like" Shabby Shae on facebook for one additional entry.
Leave me a comment letting me know you've done these (and if you already follow or like, LMK that; it counts too!)  Be sure to leave a separate comment for each thing, so you can have up to three entries.

hehe ... let me sound like an infomercial for just a moment.  But WAIT!  There's MORE! 
Micah is offering a 20% off coupon code for her etsy store!  Use code melaniefriends20 for 20% off the entire inventory of her store.

Giveaway is open until midnight central on Wednesday.  Coupon code is valid until midnight on February 13. 

I will choose and post the winner on Thursday.  Be sure that I have a way to get in touch with you if you are the winner.

Have fun shopping!

L.E.N.S. Challenge - Eyes

Pin It The eyes of Bella are upoooooooon you ...
(so my sincere recommendation is that you watch out!)

This cat belongs to the oldest, and I believe the oldest is the only person she likes. Except she sleeps with the middle one. Any waking hours, she's trying to attack the middle one, but at night she curls up on her bed. Weird.

Bella is a weird cat. She will plead for attention and loves for someone to pet for for an indeterminate amount of time. Sometimes minutes, sometimes seconds. When she's done, she attacks. I always try to warn people when they come over. Yeah, she looks all sweet and all but stay on your guard because she will be purring and rubbing on you one second and swiping at you the next, and there will be no warning. (hm ... kind of like a peri-menopausal woman ... not that I know any of those or anything.)

She was laying in the sun the other day and appeared quite mellow so I took a couple of pictures. Then she decided that she wanted to scratch my arms and eat my camera. I'm 41 and not quite so agile, plus to take pics of a cat laying on the floor, I was laying on the floor. It's lucky I made it out of that situation with all of my parts intact.

But hey, doesn't she look sweet in this pic?

This week the LENS challenge is eyes! Come on over to Home Is Where You Start From to see the other entries!

Weekly Wrap-Up

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I am really enjoying the weekly wrap-up!  It's great to have a journal of sorts to come back to!

WOOHOO for completing 100 days and week 20!! 

The oldest started Institute for Excellence in Writing this week.  She completed lesson 1 and we are delighted about that.  I think she is going to enjoy it, and that is a fabulous thing.  Ask me in a few weeks how it's going.  Week 1 went well, for whatever that's worth. 

We are still hanging out in Ancient Greece and OH MY there is so much to be learned here!  I think the girls are learning a lot too.  (Seriously though - I had no idea!  I don't know if I slept through history class or what, but so much of this is new to me!)

They drew pictures of the Parthenon:

and we continued reading about Archimedes.  Interesting indeed.  If you had EVER told me that I would find such information interesting, I would have laughed at you.  Sad, but true.

In my effort to be honest, there are some projects that the girls put a little LESS effort into.  Giggle.  I'd be remiss to share the good stuff only ... so ... here are their paintings for the week.  You might guess that they really weren't so much into the painting this week.  Wednesday is the day that most of our painting is done, and Wednesday was pretty rushed this past week, so I think a lot of paint got slapped onto the page.  Oh well ... they can't all be fabulous, right?

(To interpret -- rain clouds and apparently some MAJOR rain falling on flowers.)  We have ALL giggled at these all week.

Science is still all about plant life.  I'm trying to act excited about it.  I suspect that I'm failing miserably.  I think we finish it this week, and it is just about time to plant some herbs, so maybe that will make it a little more interesting.  Hopefully!

In our homeschool co-op, the oldest is working on a drama project about theater and something to do with English Restoration.  I should probably get her to fill me in because I don't have the first clue.  They did this great project though, and I have to share it.

So, that's it for our week.  I'll be linking up with Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers today, so hop on over and see what everyone else is doing this week!

The Homeschool Village - Accomplishments

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The "theme" at The Homeschool Village this month is accomplishments.

We've had a few lately, and I am DELIGHTED.
The main thing -- tomorrow we will complete week 20 and lesson 100 in all of our classes except math!  It is amazing to me to be exactly on schedule!  I planned for some breaks in February (woohoo, Grammy is coming!) and March (woohoo, Spring Break!) and expect that we'll finish up for the year in May.  Did I mention DELIGHTED?  :D  (oh, and math?  We're actually AHEAD on math!)

We are planning to continue math over the summer (on a very relaxed schedule), and will work on handwriting with the middle one and typing with the oldest one, but that will be it.  We have discovered that we do not love having to re-learn anything, especially math!  And, if we can take some things that we don't want to take the time to learn/work on during the normal school day and put them on our summer list, then more the better!  Something different, keeps them from laying around in front of the TV/video game/computer/whatever all day ... it's all good!

Another accomplishment ... well ... kind of ... is simply that this has been a good week.  If you read my blog, you know that last week wasn't fabulous.  This week has been much better, and I am so glad!  Having a talk with the kids last week and trying to set the rules and calmly enforce them has been good.  I did have an epic fail one day when it seemed more expedient to just give in rather than hold to the rules, but other than that, it's been nice for everyone to know what is expected from them, and the consequences of not meeting those expectations.  I think it's made for a calm and even giggly good week.  :)

And one more ... did you see my chili post?  ;)  MAJOR accomplishment there! 

Wordless Wednesday -- Dear Jason

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Okay, we need to be clear from the very beginning that Wordless Wednesday + Melanie just isn't something that is going to happen.  Ever.  The very thought of posting a picture with no commentary ... well, it makes me shudder.  I am physically incapable.

That said, I'm breaking up with Jason.  I thought I would share the letter I'm sending.  (Yes, I'm breaking up via blog post.  Sad but true.  I guess this ranks as just a little bit better over breaking up with someone on facebook.)

Dear Jason,

We've had a great relationship.  We've spent a lot of time together.  Especially over the last couple of months.  I had even considered having my mail forwarded to your Deli, as I seemed to be eating there more frequently than at home.  Your chili?  It's delightful.  I have awakened several mornings thinking about it and planning my day so that I could go visit you for lunch.  You never disappointed.  I guess I've been planning to cheat on you all along though.  First there was a packet of chili mix that I tried.  It was okay, but not quite what I was looking for.  Then there was the box.  It was a little bit better, but still didn't have that special touch that yours had.  There were a few "from scratch" recipes that I tried, and all were *close* but were missing something.  Finally though, I have found a new love.  A friend mentioned a recipe in THIS cookbook.  I have had this cookbook for over a year now and never noticed this little recipe in there.  I'm sorry, Jason.  I tried this recipe today.  Not only is it as good as yours, I think it's even a little better.  I customized it with some Rotel tomatoes and served it over brown rice and I just have to say - it is a little bit of heaven in a bowl.  It almost pains me to say that our visits are going to be much fewer now.  It isn't you.  It's me.  Fear not though -- I have not been able to buy or duplicate your fabulous red pepper hummus, and I get serious cravings for your black currant iced tea.  And sometimes a girl just wants a sandwich that she neither has to make nor clean up after.  I'll still visit the Deli every now and then.

I hope we can still be friends.
melanie

What do you think?  Too harsh?  ;)  (btw - I still totally LOVE Jason's Deli, but I am absolutely DELIGHTED to find the exact chili recipe I wanted!  Pioneer Woman Cooks for the win!)

Oh, and the PIC part of Wordless Wednesday:

YUM!!

Not Me!

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It's been a while and I am not bursting to tell y'all all the things I haven't done recently.

It is not me whose facebook status is currently "my kids are weird."  I would never speak that way about these little darlings.  And if I DID have that as my status, I would never tell them.  And if I DID, they would probably not respond very matter-of-factly with "We're not weird.  We're interesting.  There's a huge difference."  I am not sitting here laughing at them at this very moment thinking that all of this weirdness MUST have come from their father.

(And there is absolutely no way that the oldest one is giving the middle on a science lesson, involving the word "rectum" which is apparently a word the middle one just heard for the first time. She apparently thinks it's a cool word, and is shrieking as the oldest one fills her in on what it means.)

We did not give the middle one iced coffee with her lunch, and she is not currently running around in the circle that the house makes between the kitchen, dining room, living room, and family room, and I am not using the phrase "electric chihuahua" to describe her at this moment.  (Well?  Have you met her?  Don't you agree that "electric chihuahua" describes her pretty well?)

I do not feel the urge to go take a nap just watching her.

In other news ... have I spoken of my addiction to chili?  And the realization that as much as I love the chili at Jason's Deli, it's really not in anyone's best interest for me to eat there every single day?  (Well, except possibly Jason's best interest!  A cup of chili is pretty cheap, but add to it a drink and at least two other meals because I seem to travel in a pack and my frugal choice is suddenly less than frugal.)  Well, I am not currently trying yet another chili recipe to find one that I absolutely love.  I've not gone through about seven different recipes in the past couple of months to get it just right.  Nope, not me.  I know my family is not pleading with me to just find one I like so I can stop experimenting on them trying new recipes.  (Today's version is The Pioneer Woman's.  I'm feeling hopeful.)

Oh, and one more.  It was not my son who burst into spontaneous prayer the other day as we left ... ahem ... Jason's Deli (giggle) and pulled into the parking lot of the BIG HEB.  His prayer did not go something like this:  "Please God, don't let us be going to HEB.  Please God."  I did not giggle and tell him "God said we needed groceries so we're going to HEB."  He did not then pretend to go to sleep in the car.  And I did not dissolve into laughter, as did his older sisters.  Love the master manipulation techniques of a five year old! 

Goodness gracious ... we have laughed and giggled more today than we have in the past few weeks!  Woohoo for giggly days!

1000 Gifts - 101 - 110

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It's Sunday night, and I'm sitting here cuddled up with my sweet son and typing up my list.

101.  I am thankful for this moment.  There is peace in my house, quiet in my heart, and joy in my soul.  It's very nice.

102.  I am thankful that an injury my son had tonight wasn't worse.  I'm a pretty laid back mama with injuries most of the time and this one scared me a little.  He is completely fine though, just a humongous knot on his head.

103.  I am thankful for a two week menu planned and grocery shopping done.  It sure does make life easier for me to just look at what's planned and not have to try to figure out what we want to eat.

104.  I am thankful for wool socks.  We live in Texas; it's not cold very often.  I only have one pair of wool socks and they are so absolutely perfect for our cold days when I can't get my feet warm.

105.  I am thankful for my children.  If you read my blog, then you know this last week will not go down in history as THE BEST WEEK EVER.  Despite some bratty moments here and there (um ... mine AND theirs) these kids completely rock and are such a blessing to me. 

106.  I am thankful for one of the oldest's friends, who put our Wii back into service.  We still can't find the other remote (which was somehow lost as the two younger ones were fighting over it) and since the lost one was the main one, we couldn't use the wii at all.  The friend came over, pushed about three buttons and VIOLA~!!  Back in service!  (And ... um ... the two little ones are still grounded from it until either the two weeks are up or they find the other remote.)

107.  I am thankful for having received a lot of support and good advice last week regarding not only THAT parenting issue, but a couple of other ones as well. 

108.  I am thankful for the children's chorus that the girls are a part of.  Saturday night they had the opportunity to sing with the symphony and we loved it!  Even the little one enjoyed the symphony.  It was a fabulous night!

109.  I am thankful to have another opportunity to do Beth Moore's Living Beyond Yourself Bible study.  I have started this study at least two other times now and haven't been able to complete it.  I know it's a fabulous study, so I am very excited to start it up again with a fabulous group of ladies.

110.  I am thankful for sugar-free mocha lattes at a cafe here in town.  Sooooo yummy and diabetic friendly too!

What gifts have you received this week?  I'm linking up with A Holy Experience today, so click on over and read some more lists.  :)

(btw ... check back in a few days!  I have a giveaway coming up ... a GIFT so to speak ... I'd love to have One Thousand Gifts to give away, but can't quite do that.  I do have ONE though ... but I'm not saying what it is until I have it in hand.  What could it be?  Hmmm ...  giggle ... )