what is going on at the mincy house?!

 Some months just seem to pack in the fun and excitement. That is definitely true for April & May. Graduations, weddings, end of school celebrations, baseball, swimming. Whew! All good stuff. Thought I would pop in for a little update with pics from my phone. Here we are reading Caps for Sale, one of our faves.

 We've been on a smoothie kick and I love it! My favorite is apple, frozen banana, spinach, greek yogurt, splash of milk, ice. I feel so healthy :)

 My dear husband, being a dear and getting us fresh watermelon.

 My baby and her art skillz

 More of that...
She wants to visit MADAGA SC AR

 Naptime for mama :) :)

 Storytime!

 He matched my kitchen :)

 My cute little b-ball players. First time to be on a real team with real uniforms :)

 My eldest makin' music

And last but not least, my mantra (or what I am trying to make my mantra in life!!!) I got this print downloaded free from here. 

I have been listening to these programs from revive our hearts- awesome encouragement for moms!!! And perfect for Mother's Day week.

Have a wonderful May! I have a feeling I may not see you 'til June. I have tons of home projects in store for the summer, tho- so hopefully I will have lots to share :)

lately

 Self portraits are the most fun. I am definitely going to frame them.

 I love my toaster :)

Cabinet update- still only primer on the top and red on the bottom. I have picked my color for the top and will hopefully get some color on there to try out :) (cabinets on the far left) And I love having the doors off the far set.

Shop open for business. Bring your cash. Top row only $50 each! Middle row, $75, and the bottom, $100 school bucks each. We are having a reading contest with play money as a reward. So they will grow up and expect to be paid to read :)

 These poor curtains have been in the works for weeks! Finally finished this one (rainbow panel in the middle) and need to finish the other one soon!

 OK, after years of avoidance, I have finally let yellow squeeze it's way into our house! It sneaks in and before you know it, it's sunny self is everywhere.

My mom introduced me to some fiction books about quilters. I love these books, and can't remember  the name..(email me if you want to know) and now I am inspired to quilt! I started with these little squares just to practice.

Hope all is well with you! We have been busy with school and baseball and church- all good things. I just finished our yearbook for this year- sooo fun! I made it with shutterfly (photobook) and finished it real quick today because they are having a 40% off sale and free shipping!

We also had our 6th anniversary service for our church and it was awesome, awesome! So thankful for my church. Oh, and we had our homeschool recital last Friday, and that was precious too. So that's what's going on here :)

Easter 2012 (pink/coral/orange/peach)

So thankful for our beautiful Easter day. I am so blessed beyond what I can imagine. Blessed to be redeemed by my precious Jesus. Blessed to be loved by Him and constantly drawn closer to him.





My favorite song this Easter! *especially the 2nd verse....

I will glory in my Redeemer
My life He bought, my love He owns
I have no longings for another
I’m satisfied in Him alone
I will glory in my Redeemer
His faithfulness my standing place......

And the 3rd verse:

I will glory in my Redeemer
Who carries me on eagle’s wings
He crowns my life with lovingkindness
His triumph song I’ll ever sing
I will glory in my Redeemer
Who waits for me at gates of gold
And when He calls me it will be paradise
His face forever to behold

Oh, I can't leave out the first verse!....

I will glory in my Redeemer
Whose priceless blood has ransomed me
Mine was the sin that drove the bitter nails
And hung Him on that judgment tree
I will glory in my Redeemer
Who crushed the power of sin and death
My only Savior before the Holy Judge
The Lamb Who is my righteousness
(Steve and Vikki Cook)



*she was so mad at me! Thought she was going to fall right out of the basket :)


I repainted these drawers (to match my cake ?! :) )


Painted the little strip on the top of the drawers, since they frequently get left slightly ajar ;)



Subtle colors cake.


*the idea for the chalk wall inspired by Dana Tanamachi.

Easter 2012 was brought to you today by the letter R, which stands for Redeemer! ( to free, liberate, rescue, save.) Hope you had a wonderful day, a day to remember- Jesus is Alive!

rainbow drawers

My girl's flea market dresser before...



And after! Ahh, so much better....and more her personality- (fun & bright)



Have a good Friday- I am packing everything into this last day of spring break. Took some doors off my kitchen cabinets, and priming the top cabinets. LOvE it already :) :) (yes, I am CrAzy :)

spring painting

I am amazed and delighted with spring this year. I walk outside just to sniff the air :)


What a mess! We are on spring break as of today, and I have about 10 projects in the works. This dresser, which belongs to my little girl, is getting a make-over as we speak. Can't wait to show you!

We had revival services a few weeks ago, did I tell you that? This wall is to remind me...how often do I respond with godly wisdom?? Are my words pure? Gentle? Am I easy to be entreated?! How about peaceable, full of mercy, and without hypocrisy? I'm a work in progress....


Living room...stools lined up in a train.


I love this picture of my little dog :) She likes to sniff the spring air too.


More flowers...


More spring happiness.

So much going on- my house is completely torn apart! Painting her dresser, painting the kitchen chest of drawers, painting a random drawer in our room, baking the Easter cake (it all goes together, kinda like a theme.....stripes of colors....)

I am sure you are asking yourself, why is Sara painting this and that when her kitchen cabinets are still not finished!?! Welllllllllllllllllllllllll...yeah, about that.....

I am not too sure if I like the red :) :)

I am a little ashamed :) I thought I liked it, I did like it for a few days...but it does overpower the room just a tiny bit too much. I don't know what I am going to do...I'll keep ya posted!

My camera is not working :( I am hoping to get a new battery and that that will fix it before this weekend.... Easter! Cake! Painted furniture! I need my camera! (I know I am so spoiled, I took most of these on my phone) (I could not be more spoiled...I will be thankful, I will be thankful....)

pretty

I am just crazy about flowers this spring. My first time to ever put up a window box! So much fun. I just stuck a variety of flowers in there and am hoping for the best :)


Gardening is funny- if you keep a flower alive for a week it gives you hope and happiness and you have to plant more :) I am addicted. Thank You, God for a rainbow of flowers!

Super excited about Easter. What a great holiday! Jesus is alive- time to celebrate. I can't help it- I have to make another layer cake. This time inspired by these paper napkins I found at Target:
This type of cake is easy if you plan ahead- in the week ahead of time: make the cakes and freeze. then take out the day of party and ice.

More inspiration:

Source: eddieross.com via Sara on Pinterest

spiritualizing the smartphone :)

OK, so the story goes like this. I did not want an iphone originally. I thought they were evil :) Not really, but I didn't think I needed one. (by the way, the cookies are just here to be pretty, aren't they pretty?! Just short bread with powdered sugar frosting and a gradual adding of green)

But, Dave went out and bought us both iphones for our anniversary last year (or was it the year before? I can't remember, must have been the year before). Now- I have no idea what I would do if I could not find out the weather at any minute! I have a gps with me everywhere I go, and a compass! That comes in handy if you are me:)


There are just so many fun things about an iphone....internet access 24/7, camera, texting, Oh, and I can call people too :)

But, what I feared would happen, happened. I began to be tethered to my phone. Could not go anywhere without it. Was texting Dave when he was in the same room. Was checking my e-mail constantly throughout the day....

I have always felt guilty about that. Especially when I could be talking to my kids and instead would have my nose stuck in my phone reading blogs or who knows what else.

Here comes the good part! I decided that I wanted to put off these habits- but knew I needed to put on something else- have something in that spot. To fill the void. When I am doing a mundane household chore, I would either be listening to some stupid youtube video - or watching some junk on netflix.



So I started adding apps and links to good stuff- Focus on the Family has a free app. I can just push that button and listen to the daily broadcast. This has been great for me! Then a friend reminded me of oneplace.com. Jackpot! This is just a goldmine of speakers and programs to listen to: all Christian, encouraging, and uplifting. So now I can listen to Revive our Hearts, Beth Moore, John Piper, Dr. Dobson, Messages from Spurgeon, Kay Arthur, the list goes on! That's not all! I found some readers' theatre programs that the kids and I love (I am trying to link from oneplace.com, but it's not working for me right now--the kid like Lamplighters and also Your Story Hour- I love them too- great stories about historical figures, or character stories). Wow- this is huge for our media loving family. Good stuff to put in our brains and hearts. And what I love is that it is at a touch of a button!


Now I have all of these apps and links as well as Christian music on my phone- so I am stuffing my mind with things of the Lord and good parenting advice. I have noticed a huge difference in my attitude and thoughts. More positive! (don't ask Dave because I still have a long way to go in having the right reactions and attitudes even for most of the day- but it is getting better!)

I would love to hear your experiences with your phone/tv/internet. Are you able to keep it all in balance? Do you struggle with the lure of worldly entertainment? I know I do, but I am making baby steps (with God's help) and I am proud of it! (oops, I mean thankful- not proud :) :)

doughnuts + more changes in the kitchen

We made doughnuts the other day.

Just used a basic recipe from Better Homes & Gardens. They were really good, though- with a bit of cinnamon in the batter....I ate mine totally plain and it was great. But the kids (and Dave) liked theirs with frosting.


There is a reason we made the doughnuts- it was a purely educational exercise.



See! I told you it was educational. We were reading Homer Price, and you know that chapter where the doughnut machine gets jammed and keeps making doughnut after doughnut?? How could we not make doughnuts?!? Just reinforcing the literature.


All gone :)

Oh yes, the kitchen......



I completely blame it on Spring. Spray painted the green chairs....then I decided to put a few leaves in the table, add the orange chair, take out the book shelf, take off the red curtains, add some plants to the table, put some plates on the wall, take the paper lanterns off the ceiling and hang them in the window...it all happened in one crazy day.


It definitely feels like Spring in here now!


Very bright and light and springish :) Although, I am on the lookout for fabric for the front windows...something flowery and light.


The sun is shining! The doors are open, and we are all wearing green :)