You Capture- Decorations

     You Capture! this week is all about the decorations.   We were also told to be creative in the editing process.  Yes ma’am!

     I had quite a time getting pictures.  5 of the 9 people in this house caught a stomach virus.  That includes hubs.  Poor fella was brought down the hardest and for the longest time.   I am way behind on my soap orders.   I am way behind on too many other things.  BUT, I did get a few pictures taken.  Priorities people!! 

     I took a few at church.

Love this basket!

I love the candy in the basket.  My sweet tooth, however, what not happy the candy was fake. 

A lighted arrangement.

This one was an accident and ended up being my favorite of these poinsettas.

Our Hanukkiah.

For more You Capture! pop over to I Should Be Folding Laundry.

God bless!

~Rhen

WFMW- Fighting Crazy Winter Hair

        This tip was posted orginally back in January of 2008, but we are in full crazy winter hair mode.   You know what I am talking about.  You and your family are all bundled up, run into the store, pull off the hat (or hood) and BOOM, crazy hair.  It sticks to their faces.  It stands out all over the place. 

     You try to smooth it down, but it pops back out defiantly.  How in the world can hair stand out, stick to you and go up your nose at the same time?  Please tell me I am not the only one who experiences this!

     In addition to crazy hair, I have 6 girls, and a couple of them are extremely tenderheaded.  Detanglers are great but can be expensive to keep buying, and they always run out when you need them most. 

     So, what do I do?  I make my own!  All you need is a small squirt bottle, water and hair conditioner.  Put about 1 tablespoon of conditioner in the bottle, add water and gently shake until it is fully mixed together.  This can be used on wet hair as a detangler or on dry hair to detangle and control frizz.  A spritz or two calms the crazy winter hair static problems as well.

     I just pop my little spray bottle in my purse when we are heading out.  When we get to our destination a quick, light spray and we shed that whole I-just-rubbed-party-balloons-all-over-my-head look.  Woo Hoo! 

     Do you have a great tip to share?  Need a few tips?  Head over to We Are That Family, and see what other people are saying.

Shalom,

~Rhen

Leave a comment with a link to your blog so I can come and visit!

This post was originally posted Jan. 23, 2008, but I wanted to share it again with a little updating.

Who won?

     It is time to select a winner! 

     And the winner of the handmade goat’s milk soap, Point of Grace Christmas cd and handcrafted necklace is:

                                                           #75 Sarah!

     Congratulations Sarah!  I am contacting you now.  Please get back to me ASAP.

     Didn’t win this one?  It’s ok.  I am working on a new giveaway now.  I will have it up and running soon.

     Until then, take a moment to peruse my Work at Home Women Directory page to see awesome goods and services all provided by amazing women who are providing for their families from home.

     If you know any woman out there who works from home, and has an online business, please feel free to give me the info so I can include it!

Things I Love Thursday

     I was sitting on the couch this morning, drinking my heavenly WFMW tip (oh yum!), when I was inspired about my Things I Love Thursday post.

     I love my teapot! 

     I love to hear it whistle at me.

     Isn’t it adorable?!

Hot tea, hot chocolate and even that fake, freeze dried coffee hubs likes to drink! 

Most of all I like the whistling.   

It takes me back to when I was little.  My mom had a whistling teapot that she loved to hear whistle. 

If I could afford $155.00 for a teapot I would get this beauty.

This one is a little more economical at $100.00

But for now I will just enjoy the come hither whistle of my sweet little teapot!

Before you leave make sure you enter into my Christmas giveaway.

For more TILT visit the Diaper Diaries. 

You Capture! Lines

     This week’s focus for You Capture! was “lines”.

     My first thought was of the lines on my face, but then I again, I am not going there!

     *wink*

     I found these lines on the reading board at the library.

     I colored in the lines.

     Ms. Giggles (2) colored outside of the lines.

     I try to stay to the right of the lines.

     I try to fill in these lines.  This is my new prayer journal.  These lines are just waiting to be filled with prayers, praises, thanksgiving, questions and blessings.

     For more You Capture! visit I Should Be Folding Laundry. 

Enter my GIVEAWAY while you are here!

God bless,

~Rhen

Love that new computer smell!

     I just love that new computer smell! 

     Especially if that computer is free!

     How can you not love free?

     Head over to MckMama to enter in for your chance to win your very own HP Touchsmart 600.

     Seriously.   All you have to do is COMMENT!   Isn’t she an angel?!?!

     Click HERE to get to her blog and enter in.

     Good luck- just not too much luck ’cause I wanna win that bad boy!

WFMW- My very own Starbucks!

     I have to admit to ya’ll that I am a Starbuck’s girl.  Oh mamma, give me a grande Java Chip anyday!  Now that it is the Christmas season they have brought another one that just calls to me. 

     The Peppermint Mocha Latte. 

     Oh sweet heaven in a cup! 

     The problem with this whole Starbucks thing is that I can’t go forking over a fiver everytime I want some chocolate-y coffee.    Sigh.

     BUT, I figured out a little rendition of the Peppermint Mocha Latte of my own. 

     I combined a hot cup of fake coffee, you know the crystalized stuff, and a cup of hot chocolate.   It was delish!  I have made several of them over the past few days, and I am loving it!  No trip into town.  Not to mention it is cheap and easy to make. 

     Today I found a way to add that little something to my new found drink.  Peppermint food flavoring!  I have cinnamon,  peppermint, vanilla and almond.  The peppermint was fab, and now I am working on trying the others. 

     Being cheap frugal and a nut for chocolate helped me to discover my very own Starbucks knockoff, and that works for me!

     For more WFMW visit We are that family. 

     While you’re here, why not enter into my Christmas giveaway!?! 

God bless,

~Rhen

Ms. Dimples and her first toy review!

     Picking toys is no easy task, but there is a toy website called ebeanstalk, dedicated to selecting good, safe baby toys to make our decisions much easier!    BUT they need help from moms like me to help pick the toys.  See?  We moms are s-p-e-c-i-a-l!

     The toy they sent is called Skwish from Manhattan Toy, who makes great developmental toys.

      The Skwish may be made of wood but it can be squished!  When ever Ms. Dimples (6 mos) would lean on it the Skwish would flatten out some and then pop right back to shape!  It fascinated her.  Okay, it fascinated me as well.  I had to squish it a few times myself .   

     Ms. Dimples loves pushing the beads around on their posts.  They move very freely with little effort from her.  She bangs it, squishes it, chews on it, slobbers on it, carefully studies it, flings it and the Skwish is always ready for more.  No chipping, twisting, breaking or pinched fingers! 

     The Skwish is made for babies newborn and up with target age for this toy is 3 months, but I found that all she did was bop herself in the face with it.  When she got to 4 months she could easily grab it and chew on it.  By 6 months the moving beads fascinated her.  I love that she is really developing her fine motor skills with this toy. 

     She likes the rattle it makes.  I like that the rattle is not loud and obnoxious.  Win-win on the noise factor!

     A few of other things I like about the Skwish are:  I like that it is unique looking, easy for her little hands to grab and explore and it is teaching her, fascinating her and delighting her in new ways the older she gets.   Even our 2 year old enjoyed trying to figure out how the beads are on there. 

     If you have a baby, or are looking for a gift for a baby 3 months to a year, the Skwish is a great, unique gift that will be on their favorite toy list for a while.  This toy is a shoo-in for simple, inexpensive, fascinating and fun toy of the Christmas season!

 Here is Ms. Dimples playing with her Skwish.   Cute, cute, cute!  Not that I am biased on that whole cute thing or anything like that.  *wink*

     ~Rhen

I was not paid for this review.  I was, however, provided with a Skwish toy for free so that my family and I could review and give our honest assessment to help families in choosing toys for their children.

Come enter my Christmas Giveaway! 

A Giveaway- just because I like you!

     This giveaway is now closed.  Thank y ou for dropping by.  I hope you take a moment to explore my blog!

     I really do ya know! 

     This giveaway has TWO sponsors.  Myself and a young jewelry designer I know. 

     We have paired up to bring you a giveaway perfect for the Christmas season. 

     One winner will receive a prize pack containing several different items!

    

          The First item is a one of a kind, handmade glass necklace.   

     This gorgeous necklace was donated to the giveaway by Sassy Sweet Designs.

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     The next item is a Point of Grace Christmas CD.   The women of Point of Grace have absolutely beautiful voices that harmonize wonderfully in It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year, Winter Wonderland, Jingle Bells, For Unto Us and more.

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     The final items are 3 bars of handmade goat’s milk soap.  You get your choice of scent(s).  The goat’s milk soap contains several different oils rich in vitamin E, pure essential oils, goat’s milk and no lard or pork byproducts.  It is gentle enough to be used on your face, and cleanses well enough to be used everyday.    You get your choice of one or any combination of the following scents:  Lavender and Oatmeal, Fresh and Clean, Citrus Exfoliating Blend, Holiday Spice or Clove ~n~ Honey.  Bars weigh approx. 4 oz each.

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     You could win 3 bars of goat’s milk soap, Point of Grace cd and a handmade glass necklace (minus the basket)!  What a great Christmas gift for yourself or someone you know. 

     How do you win?  Easy!  Take a brief moment to pop over to Sassy Sweet Designs and check out what she has.  In a comment, tell me which item do you like the best.  What catches your eye?  That’s it! 

     Of course, I also give you more ways to earn entries.  Here are a few other ways you can earn more:

♦Subscride to my blog (RSS feed)- 1 entry

♦Follow me on Twitter- ContentedRhen- 1 entry

♦Tweet about this giveaway (leave url in a comment)- 1 entry

♦Email 5 or more people about this giveaway- 2 entries

♦Give a little mention about this giveaway on your blog (leave url in a comment)- 2 entries

♦Purchase 2 or more bars of soap from me- 10 entries

♦Purchase jewelry from Sassy Sweet Designs- 10 entries

Now for a few rules and some info:

♦Please leave a seperate comment for each item you do for an entry.

♦Open to US residents only.

♦You do not have to have a blog to enter.

♦Contest will run until Monday December 14th at 11:59 pm (EST).

♦A winner will be drawn via random.org

♦The winner has 48 hours to respond or another winner will be selected. 

♦If you have any questions about anything you can email me at cottonblossom424 at yahoo dot com.

God bless!

~Rhen

 

You Capture! My Happy Story

     This week Beth had us focusing our lenses on what makes us happy.  Oh my goodness, that was much harder than I thought.  I spent quite a while trying to decide, but a trip to our library and our 2 year old brought this theme into focus for me.    Thank goodness for camera timers!

     Shhhh!  Be vewy, vewy quiet.  I’m hunting Ms. Giggles (2).

     Hmmm, nothing yet…

     I think I spot something………

     Oooo, clever girl………

     You can run, but you can’t hide……

     Gotcha!

     Next week’s assignment is “lines”.  My first thought was those little things appearing around my eyes.  Nah!  Not going there.  LOL    This will be a fun challenge.  Wanna join in?  Grab your camera and start clicking!

     For more You Capture! pop over to I Should Be Folding Laundry. 

God bless,

~Rhen