Open House

We had an open house for the staff, search committee and all those who helped us move in to our new house.  

Grace adds her loving touch to chocolate-covered strawberries.

Moriah helps by licking the spoon. 

Yum!

MamaC. gave me a wonderful recipe for Strawberry Pie and I used Splenda so it was SUGAR FREE!!!

This is my favorite part of my kitchen---the serving bar.  Love love loving it!

Cupcakes & cheesecake ball & pie....oh my!

Carrot Cake & Chocolate Mousse Cake from Central Market....YUM!

Don't forget RoRo's CinnaRolls.  (Always keep these in the freezer for emergencies!)

Always nice to use my wedding china.  I love it.  Very southern.

Come visit the all-new Cafe Martin.   Complete with Sweet Tea.

And Rude Tea, too!  (Get it.  It's UN-sweet tea, so it's rude. Harhar.)

Martin Cafe Dinner Table

We have a nasty old dinner table that has seen better days.  One leg has been super-glued at least 20 times, and still has a bad slant.  The chairs were painted.....back in the day (of which I blogged) and so the paint is now chipping off.  The top has an entire paragraph written sharpie that smeared off during a science project, plus several other "artworks" permanently etched by the younger members of the house.

But I wouldn't trade it for the finest dining furniture money can buy.

It has memories.  It has 6 chairs, which say "there's always room for one more".  It's a casual place for conversation, and a desktop for education.  It welcomes friends and family, young and old.  It's so Martin-ish, which takes quite a uniqueness to say, trust me.

When my kids were little and they wanted to eat out....which they did quite often and the hope was always for McDonalds....bleck!....I would tell them we WERE eating out at a fancy-schmancy little cafe I'd heard about called "Le Cafe Martin".  It didn't take long for them to catch on.  Even today, when Moriah wants to go to "Ladonalds", Luke will tell her we're going to the Martin Cafe....which I love.  I love that our family has it's own place to call our own where we sit together and eat and talk about the things we think about......random mostly, because we Martins excel at random, but sometimes the random leads to the eternal and that's a really good place to sit.

I like what Ronald Reagan said....

All great change in America begins at the dinner table. 

July housekeeping calendar

I'm printing this beautiful calendar for this month, created by this beautiful lady over at Time-Warp Wife blog. 

Check it out!

Day 25 - A picture of your day

Today, I had coffee with my friend, Cindy who brought over Annie costumes to be returned to our local high school.

Later, going with the youth to All Star Sports!

Somewhere in between I might clean the kitchen.

Day 07 - A picture of your most treasured item

My bed.

In peace I will both lie down and sleep,For You alone, O LORD, make me to dwell in safety.  Psalm 4:8

Mrs. Sally Homemaker

Okay, in college when I saw myself 15 years later, I never pictured myself blogging....clogging maybe....but never blogging.  Even more outside the vision of my future plans was cleaning.  Yes, I'm not a big fan of it.  I don't even like the word.  Don't judge.  I just had/have so many other things I'd rather be doing.

One of my favorite lines on Friends from my favorite character, Phoebe when asked if she wanted to help clean something:  "Oh I really wish I could.....I just don't want to."

So here I am about BLOG about CLEANING.... *Insert Close Encounters of the Third Kind theme song*

Since you now know how I feel about --the C word--, you know that I'm a pro at finding products that keep me from having to spend much time doing it.  THIS is my favorite invention to keep around to clean almost ANYthing.  I especially like to use it to whiten our sinks and clean the bathtub.  It's so easy!  You can also get the generic store brand and they work just as well.

That's all.  See, you never know what I'm going to blog about.  But now you know what I'm avoiding.
;-)

TOMS Shoes

I heart my new TOMS.

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. Ephesians 6:14-15

In these I think my feet are a little more fitted with the gospel of peace, knowing a child...somewhere...has new shoes, too.

School Shoes

Brad's favorite memory of school starting every year is going to get a pair of NEW shoes. I know this because he tells us every year around this time of year. Without fail. Every. Year. :)

You know I love him though.

So this year since we're not spending $$$ on private school or new uniforms or even lists of required supplies.....we decided to get the quintessential pair of NEW shoes. I like to shop online. It's so much more convenient and gives the UPS man something to do so here is what they chose....

So perfectly representative of each.

Thank you God for these precious little toes.

Coffee Bliss

Our new favorite thing was an anniversary gift from a dear friend in Texas. Cindy is like a 2nd Mom to me. She loves my kids like grandkids. We stayed with her & Craig while in Texas for a wedding. She had this amazing coffee maker....a Keurig. It makes one special little cup of coffee just for you, whatever flavor, even tea or cider or hot cocoa, one right after the other. We loved it! I guess we oooh'd and aaah'd enough over it that she went the next day and bought one for us for our anniversary! To my knowledge, no one has ever given us an anniversary gift except each other. (does that make sense?) We were so very blessed and thankful. Each cup of coffee makes us overflow with thanks to God....and Cindy.

This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. 2 Cor. 9:12

Fun with Frugality

I'm experimenting with ways to clothe my fast growing children, but save money. I thought I'd share, so I'll be doing a series of posts on some of my crafty recyclables and tips for the school year.

The easiest thing we created today was an old pair of faux-converse shoes that big brother grew out of long ago. Not many things can be handed down from a brother to a sister, but add a pair of cute PINK shoestrings and there ya go!!! New shoes!! Yay!

The Perfect Flip-Flop

I've been looking for the perfect flip-flop. I've worn out all of my dollar-fifty walmart specials, and needed a really good comfortable but not Grandma-looking, cute with everything pair of flip-flops for summer.

Here they are: Kohls. $25. Adidas Fit Foam Catasia Sandals..... O.M.Goodness Gracious. They are so wonderful to walk in. If I weren't married to a poor pastor, I'd buy some for all my friends and family. That's how much I love them....and you. It's the thought that counts anyway, so take a trip to Kohls and getcha some and tell your husband you NEED them. Then take a walk in them and you'll see......ahhhhh. Your toes will thank me!

Show n' Tell

So I took the Love Language test again, and I now rate higher on the GIFTS portion. I love to give but also really like to get. ;) 33% Quality Time, 30% Gifts... the rest are way down the line. Take me shopping, and I'm YOURS!!!

Brad got me this adorable Vera Bradley purse in "cupcakes pink", the "morgan" style. Isn't it lovely??!! ...Okay, well he bought it. I ordered it and had it sent to me for Mother's Day/My Birthday, which I've said before often gets smooshed together unfairly, but that's another blog and the reason I resort to such selfish acts as buying my own presents just to make sure that I get blessed evenly for each important holiday.

It was also marked down from $63 to $25 and only for ONE day!!! So of course I was doing him a favor by getting it. Don't worry, he'll get me something else that's a surprise. I just know it...

...and then I'll blog about it.... ;)

Remembering Cafe Yumm!

Inspired by Betsy's comment below, I went looking to see if I could buy online a delicious bottle of something I found while I visited her there in Oregon. We had lunch at a very healthy, and very hip little place, appropriately named, "CAFE YUMM!" They have a simple philosophy, summed up by the very eloquent ME: put a bunch of heathy foods together in a bowl and put some sauce on it, appropriately named, "YUMM SAUCE!" and there you have it! Yumm bowls come in a few varieties to choose from, fill you up and make you feel like you just had a bowl of vitamins. Almost like a salad, but more filling, with organic beans instead of greens. Sorry Kansas, we're just not health-conscious enough to render getting one here, so you'll just have to go to Oregon to try some! I highly recommend the experience, but my opinion could be a bit off, since it may just be the company that made it so good! ;)

Betsy, have a YUMM bowl for me and I'll have um.....a SPANGLES cheeseburger for you. :( Oh, how very sad. Miss you, my dear friend.

New Favorite Snack

I have a new favorite snack. *Gasp* It's NOT anything from Homemade Gourmet. I know, but sometimes it's just fun to have something to buy at the grocery store that's good for you AND fun to eat AND I don't have to put it together. I just grab some crackers or carrots or pita chips and Yummus. My favorite is SPICY THREE PEPPER HUMMUS. It's very good.

Hopie, if you're reading this....come by my house this week and I'll give you your very own. (*She loves presents.*)

Moriah's Favorite Snack.. and new words

If anyone has coupons for these, I'd really appreciate it. Moriah drinks a package of these a day. I don't mind because it's good for her, and she's picky about what she eats... but sheesh! they're expensive! At least she's off the bottle!

Little sentences spoken just this week:

While reading "Goodnight Moon": nigh-nigh side (outside)

While preparing to go outside: col side (cold outside)

Words that are spoken often recently:

bee-bee: baby

oh coo: oh cool!

peeeeee: please

Shaw?: asking about her cousin, Shawn, who spent the night for Luke's bday

Go! (usually toward Bubba & Sissy when she's annoyed with them!)

Mine! (yes, we hear this often. along with the dreaded: No!)

By far the best thing we hear....

Lah-yah! =Love You!

App Love

Maps--LOVE that little dot that tells me I'm on the right/wrong road! I would have loved to have this in all of the strange towns I've lived in over the years. (strange=foreign, not strange=weird) :) I get lost easily, so this app is like GOLD for me especially now that I deliver HG to customers all over Kansas!

iPod--I listen to You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown soundtrack and Christmas music in my car and while working out.

Pandora--So cool! I put in "Harry Connick" and all kinds of cool jazz plays non-stop!

PS Mobile-- is PhotoShop which edits my photos before I put them in my computer or on facebook.

Echofon-- is Twitter. Tried Tweetdeck. Don't like it.

"Words with Friends"--LOVE it! I play my husband (and beat him) often. I can take a turn at my leisure, and sometimes we play while sitting across the room from each other.

iRelax- Go to sleep to this a lot. ahhh...

PhonyPhone is great for Moriah, & Luke has downloaded a few others you can see there.

Martin Family Chrismas Tree

I enjoy traditions as long as they have a meaning, otherwise I'm very against tradition just for the sake of tradition...aka traditionalism, So my Christmas trees are no different. You can't see in this picture well but it's decorated with candy, candy canes and syrup. Okay not syrup...little ELF slip...and the bow on top has gingerbread man on it, and we'll be making more to decorate the tree. I like themes anyway, and when there is meaning behind it, there is purpose. This year I'm calling our tree, "Sweet Spot" because of this quote by Max Lucado in "The Cure for the Common Life".

"God gave you... a zone, a region, a life precinct in which you were made to dwell. He tailored the curves of your life to fit an empty space in His jigsaw puzzle. And life makes sweet sense when you find your spot. Look back over your life. What have you consistently done well? What have you loved to do? Stand at the intersection of your affections and successes and find your uniqueness.

You have one. A divine spark. An uncommon call to an uncommon life.

Don’t worry about skills you don’t have. Don’t covet strengths others have. Just extract your uniqueness. And do so to . . . make a big deal out of God.

Everything comes from Him . . . and exists for Him. We exist to exhibit God, to display His glory.

We serve as canvases for His brush stroke, papers for His pen, soil for His seeds, glimpses of His image.

Sweet spot. You have one... You can do something in a manner that no one else can.

And when you find it and do it, another sweet spot is discovered..."

Fall Candy #1

I love Candy Corn. But only this time of year. Any other time of year, I'm pretty sure that it's old. Tastes like childhood to me.

THE YEAR 1909

One hundred years ago.
What a difference a century makes!
Here are some statistics for the Year 1909 :

The average life expectancy was 47 years.

Only 14 percent of the homes had a bathtub.

Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone.

There were only 8,000 cars and only 144 miles of paved roads.

The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.

The average wage in 1909 was 22 cents per hour.

The average worker made between $200 and $400 per year ..

Sugar cost four cents a pound. Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen. Coffee was fifteen cents a pound.

Most women only washed their hair once a month, and used Borax or egg yolks for shampoo. (EWwwww)

Five leading causes of death were:

1. Pneumonia and influenza
2. Tuberculosis
3. Diarrhea (WHAT?)
4. Heart disease
5. Stroke

The American flag had 45 stars.

Random Fact About Me #859

When eating a package of any colorful, fruit chewy candy.....like Skittles, Starburst or Sprees, I take out the yellow, orange and green and only eat the red and purple. I figure why waste the precious calories on the ones I don't really like, and it's always nice to share. This fact has been true since my jr.high/high school days. So if there's anyone out there that only like the opposite colors I like, save the red and purple for me. I'll be your friend forever.