Life as Mrs. Emerson

Eli insisted I take a picture of this rock last week.  I'm hoping to spend lots of time enjoying the little things this week. I think Spring is finally here, maybe?  Dare I hope such a thing since it did snow last week?  Here are a few of the things I hope to accomplish this week: Family/Marriage/Mothering Goals 1.  Let Elijah choose one activity to do with me each afternoon. 2.  Attend Flower Buds with Elijah. 3.  Graduate from Financial Peace University. Homemaking Goals 4.  Turn Eli's torn pants into shorts. 5.  Begin making plans for Easter. 6.  Plant lettuce seeds in the landscaping. Personal Goals 7.  Try to go to bed by 11 pm each evening. 8.  Finish reading  Treasuring Christ When Your Hands Are Full: Gospel Meditations for Busy Moms 9.  Spend time outside everyday enjoying the small things. Ministry Goals 10.  Make a meal for a family in our church. What goals do you have for this week?

Simple DIY Decor Katelyn & I made for the shower.   Guess what, guess what?  I'm getting another sister since my brother is getting married in May.  This afternoon I threw my first bridal shower in her honor.  It was a lot of work but also a tons of fun.  I am so thankful that we were able to bless our soon to be sister in this way. We kept the decorations fairly simple.  My sister Katelyn & I made the chevron banner (the wedding date) using my Cricut.  (We copied a banner that I found on pintrest that was similar.)  I painted an 11 x 14 flat canvas with two coats of purple.  Then I attached the F that I purchased at Michael's.  I had originally planned on using my cricut and just cutting vinyl but I really enjoyed the 3D effect. The beautiful bride with her homemade pin.  I decided to make a pin for Amber using a pre-made burlap pin.  (I attended a baby shower in February and totally copied the idea here.)  I cut out 2 frames and stamped the word "brid

The birthday cupcakes my baby sister (she's 13) made for me. Last week was my birthday!  I am now the same age that my grandmother has claimed to be ever since I can remember.  :)  My husband bought me a lovely necklace from an unnamed jewelry store.  Although some would say this isn't frugal it really meant a lot to me.  He paid cash for it out of his fun money and negotiated a nice discount.  The necklace means even more knowing that he negotiated for it and used his fun (blow) money.  The happy hubby also bought me a beautiful bouquet of flowers which I happily arranged myself.  (It's crazy to pay $50 on a bouquet of flowers just because they are already cut at different heights.)  We went out to lunch where I received a free meal.  My mom then made dinner for me and I saw everyone of my five siblings & my soon to be sister-in-law.  What a treat! We were gifted tickets to a hockey game.  This was my first time I have ever attended a hockey game and it was so m

Our sweet Evangeline sporting her new Arkansas shirt. Every month when Evangeline hits another monthly milestone I am amazed at how quickly time passes.  She is such a bundle of joy and brings so much delight to our home.  She weighs 18 lbs 11 oz.  I don't know how long she is but she is getting tall.   We continue to delight in a "chubby cherub" and let me tell you I absolutely love each and every roll.  Evangeline has learned to roll over both ways and will be crawling before we know it.  Eva's favorite thing to do is to play with her brother.  He continues to shower her with kisses and plays with her all the time.  One of Eva's favorite things to do is to play in her Johnny Jump Up.  She bounces up and down like crazy with the biggest smile on her face.  Sometimes I place the Jump Up in Eli's doorway so she can watch him and jump up and down at the same time. Eva has also started sitting in the Bumbo seat which she loves.  We even took it w

Be sure to notice the impressive pile of sticks Eli picked up all by himself.   Last week almost felt like spring break for me since my good friend Sarah and her husband were in town.  They live about 5 hours away so this was a real treat.  Here are a few of the frugal things I did last week: I rode along with my friends to Columbus to have dinner with a sweet college friend.  She was so hospitable and even made dinner for us.  I had a wonderful time and am so thankful for her kindness.   We went to the zoo last week using our zoo pass.  The weather was beautiful and we had a lovely time.  My friend Sarah, her husband, her dad, and her 5 year old nephew all went with us.  Eli had a blast playing with Sarah's nephew at the zoo.  I didn't have any bread to make sandwiches with so I made some quick muffins.  Bread would have taken too long.  I packed muffins along with salads.   The weather has been crazy here: shorts weather one day and snowing the next.  On the warm da

Brandon standing in front of The Hermitage.   Two weeks ago we headed to Nashville to meet up with Brandon's parents.  Elijah spent 5 days staying with his Nina & Poppy Steve in Arkansas so he was not with us during our trip to The Hermitage.  Eva travels best in the morning so we planned on starting out early in the day.  We would end up arriving early to Franklin and knew that we would have a couple of hours to kill.  Brandon asked me what I would like to do and I knew exactly what I wanted to do.  I have wanted to stop at The Hermitage (the home of Andrew Jackson) for years.  I love history (I majored in biology & history in college) and Brandon minored in history while in college.  I am thankful that we can share our love of history and exploring together.    Evangeline & I had a lovely time walking around the grounds.  (I was a little disappointed about all of the construction.)  I am also related to Andrew Jackson on my dad's side of the family.  I th

Things have been so busy at our home that I completely forgot to share books that I read in January so I am including them here.   So Long, Insecurity: You've Been a Bad Friend to Us by Beth Moore: I picked up this audio book before I went on my road trip in February.  Honestly before listening to this book I would not have thought that I had any insecurities.  I definitely learned throughout this book that EVERYONE has some type of insecurities even myself.  What a wonderful thing to remember that God is bigger than even our biggest insecurity. Hands Free Mama : A Guide to Putting Down the Phone, Burning the To-Do List, and Letting Go of Perfection to Grasp What Really Matters by Rachel Stafford:  This book was probably the most disappointing book that I have read this year.  When I picked up this audio book from our library I was so excited. This looks like the perfect book for me in my current season of life.  I need to accomplish a certain number of chores each day whi

The back view of The Hermitage (Andrew Jackson's home) which we visited last week.  Last week was so much fun!  We were blessed to spend two nights in Nashville with family.  Eli spent 5 days in Arkansas staying alone for the first time with Nina & Poppy Steve.  He had such a wonderful time but oh my did we ever miss him!   Here are a few of the frugal things we did last week: We packed a cooler full of drinks for our trip.  (I under estimated how much we would drink and we ran out the 2nd day.)  After buying 1 drink in a vending machine ($2 can you believe it?) we stopped by a grocery to purchase more for our return trip.  We also packed lunch meat, cheese, and bread to make sandwiches on the way there and on the way back.  On the way back I felt led to give our food away to a homeless man along the side of the road so we actually did end up eating out.  I'm glad that we had the food in our car and were able to bless someone else.  :)   We had a wonderful t

Even Spiderman needs to wear a pull-up some nights!  We are enjoying lots of snow while Elijah is on his first overnight trip to Arkansas to stay with Nina and Poppy Steve.  We are missing him like crazy and I can't wait for him to come home.  Last Week's Goals: Family/Marriage/Mothering Goals 1.   Go on a date with the hubby to the University of Kentucky/University of Arkansas game.  Wohoo !  This was so much fun!!!   2.   Take a nap or rest 3 afternoons this week for at least an hour.   3.  Read 3 chapters of Summer of the Calves to Elijah. Homemaking Goals 4.  Deliver all tax paperwork to our CPA. - I'm going to just stay up really late one night this week to make this happen.  5.   Order garden seeds from Berlin Seeds. 6.   Spend an afternoon cleaning and de-cluttering in the basement.   It feels so good to check this one off my list!  Personal Goals 7.  Finish sewing curtains for a friend of a friend. 8.   Finish reading Found in Him by Elyse Fitzpa

Evangeline is modeling a hair-bow that I made last week.  I hope you all had a wonderful frugal week.  Here are some of the frugal things we did last week:  I made two hair-bows for Evangeline to clip onto a headband.  I am so pleased with how they turned out.  I purchased the alligator clips at Sally's Beauty Supply but you can purchase these Double Prong Metal Alligator Clips on amazon.  I am hoping to make a couple more this upcoming week. I was unhappy about my recent experience using Huggies Little Snugglers Diapers so I wrote Kimberly-Clark a letter sharing my specific concerns.  (They leaked everywhere and ruined 3 outfits.)  I was very pleased with their customer service.  They mailed me a letter of apology and a prepaid debit card for the full purchase amount of the diapers. I took home leftover salad from a church meal.  We have been enjoying it all week.  I also made stir fry using the leftover vegetables from a veggie tray. I cut my handsome husband's h