War Eagle Girls!

This will have to be a quick one, as my youngest War Eagle Girl is stirring. I just wanted to give a little "War Eagle" to all my Auburn fans! :) How appropriate that football is on in the background! Life is good here on the ranch! Morgan is off of "school" this week for "Fall Break" and we'll be spending lots of time at the park! We're looking forward to visiting with MommaSis and Uncle Chance this weekend!!

Update on Barnes family

Hey folks,
Please continue to pray for this family. The dad (Cliff, who sustained injuries himself (broken arm and lacerations) but was released shortly after he arrived at the hospital) has graciously been given a room at the hospital to stay while his children recover from their internal injuries and they are providing his meals. The boys are both in stable condition in ICU and are expected to fully recover from the internal lacerations they sustained from the wreck. This morning around 11 Cliff informed the boys of their mother's passing. Please continue to pray for this family as they are going through such an incredibly difficult time. People from our church have been with Cliff around the clock. Angela's (the wife) mother is due to fly in later this afternoon and Cliff's family will be arriving in a day or two. The boys are expected to be hospitalized for up to a week. Our church and others are able to meet their physical needs, please pray that our Father will meet their emotional and spiritual needs through this time. I will do my best to keep you updated!!! PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR THEM!!

Prayer Request

It's Sunday evening and Justin and I just learned that a couple who sat behind us in Sunday school this morning were involved in a very bad car accident on their way home from church. Their van was hit head on by another vehicle. The mother, Angela (30), was killed instantly. The dad has been released from the hospital and the 2 boys (8 & 3) remain in ICU at the hospital. Please pray for this family. They have been visiting our church for several weeks now. Click here for more info on the wreck. It may take a minute to load, there are several pictures. The family is stationed at Ft. Rucker and do not have any family in Dothan. Please, please, please pray for this family!

Fun for Friday!

I've been thinking about doing this post for a couple weeks now and I thought there was no better day than a Friday! Especially a Friday when you wake up and it's actually COLD outside (which makes me really happy)!! I do believe Fall is finally on it's way! The nice thing about a blog is that it belongs to me so I can do whatever I want! And I guess you can choose to read or not read... but I hope you'll read because this ones going to be GREAT! Anyway, I've put together a little list of a few of my favorite things that I wish someone had told me about many months ago... so being the responsible blogger that I am... I am going to share these lovely products with y'all! And even though I can't offer each of you a "satisfaction guaranteed" warranty on all of these, I can tell you that I love them and think they are all wonderful! :) So, for what it's worth... in no particular order... here are some of my favorite things:

This first product I learned about 4 months ago and now wonder if I'll ever go without it. I'm not a fan of makeup, in fact, I only apply make up on Sunday mornings. However, this is one "make-up product" I rely on daily. It is a creamy white when you squeeze it out and it rubs in to a beautiful color that blends wonderfully with your skin color and it's SPF 15! It's good for covering those things on my face that Morgan calls "lines". I've also been known to mix it with my face moisturizer (Cetaphil) and it just makes me happy!

Ok, so this isn't exactly a product but it's one of my favorite things... Cottage Living Magazine! If I was only allowed to have one magazine this would be it. I could read every issue cover to cover and then read it again! It's worth every cent of the subscription fee and when I find it in my mailbox it makes me happy!



Next.... this is where my addiction confession comes in. If you enjoy drinking "poison" like I do... have you tried the smaller doses of "poison"? These little cans are so much better for you than their 12 oz counterpart. (This is where my wonderful logic comes in again!) I can drink one of these guys and not feel the guilt of drinking their bigger sister! For those of you who are money savvy (and pay for your groceries with bags of change!:)) are probably wondering if I know that these little guys cost more per ounce than the big sister... I do! This is where my logic kicks in and I pay more for less in this instance. Less caffeine, less poison, still DC.... these little cans make me happy!


This Aquaphor is one of those products where I have to throw my "cheapness" out the window. It's a little pricey but can be bought in "CVS brand" for a lot less and the product is just as good. I have about 3 of these little tubs floating around my house. I attribute the fact that neither of the girls have ever had a diaper rash to this stuff!! If their buns start to look a little pink, I dry them off really good and smother this ointment all over them... and voila it takes the pink away and no diaper rash ever comes!! It's BETTER than any diaper rash cream/ointment in the world!! I PROMISE! It also comes in little squeeze tubes and is great for chapped lips! This stuff makes me happy!



Moving right along to clothing and shoes. Old Navy in general makes me really happy. It's cheap and cute and what more could you want? I bought these little satin slippers on the clearance rack after our pacis burnt up on the stove. I bought them in red and black and love them both! They're satin so they are cute to dress up a pair of jeans. I'm definitely not very "fashion savvy" but I think my sister would even approve of these! Oh, and I forgot to mention the price $9.97! These shoes and the Old Navy clearance racks make me happy!



I know exactly what you are thinking... (especially my friend Anne who is a cleaning supply guru) "Oh no, she's caved in and bought the cheapest detergent on the shelf... Purex is crap!" I don't blame you for thinking this... I used to buy Purex before I had kids but then I realized it didn't really work and it didn't really smell good. Well, last week at Walmart it called my name from the shelf and begged me for a 2nd chance! Being the gracious housewife that I am, I decided to give it a second chance, it did, after all, say "Ultra Concentrated". And guess what.... I LOVE THIS STUFF! I have a front loader washer and have to be very careful about using products that aren't HE (High Efficiency) but this "Ultra Concentrated" stuff works great and SMELLS so good! I bought the Linens & Lilies and it smells so fresh and crisp, but not overbearing! And for those of you who are "environmentally sound" this detergent is ALL NATURAL! This stuff makes me happy!




Sorry for the tiny picture! Best I could do on "google". This is my Keurig Coffee Maker that I am in love with! This little guy is a little pricey ($99 at Target) and I can't say that I would have ever splurged and bought it... but that's what sisters without kids do for sisters who live in gross rental houses and have 2 kids! (Thanks, E!) Anyway, Christmas is coming soon and I thought maybe you all could ask Santa to bring this down the chimney and stuff it in your stocking! Here are a few things I LOVE about it! 1) Fill it with H20 1x a week. 2) It brews one cup at a time. 3) The filter is contained in the "K cup" and you toss it in the trash after you brew your cup. 4)No POT to clean everyday. 5)For those of you who are cheap like me... you can buy a refillable "personal" K-cup that you can refill and clean out after each brew.... but the point of this machine is that it's easy and that makes coffee brewing a little more difficult than it's supposed to be with the Keurig! This makes me happy... every morning!

Ok, so this man is named Fernando Ortega.... some of you may know him (not personally) but you may have heard of his music, others may not have a clue who he is or what he does! But I will tell you this, he makes me very happy! He takes hymns and "redoes" them (that's what people who aren't musically inclined write-- I'm sure there's a better term). My current favorite by Ortega is "There is Power in the Blood" from his "Shadow of Your Wings" album, I can crank it up really loud and put the windows down and get lost in it.... it's fantastic and so is he, and I can't think of anything better to get lost in on a beautiful day! So, I think on this lovely Friday, I'll be playing this album cranked up with my windows cranked down! Can you see me now?!

Autoplay is off!

Since I am a fan of honesty and transparency, I have nothing but thanks to offer Mr. Chilly who informed me that the music that automatically comes on when you visit our blog was not his favorite aspect of the Stickler blog... and I have to admit that it was making me crazy too! He just helped me confirm that it's time to turn "autoplay" off! You know it's bad when you keep YOUR OWN computer on MUTE because the music YOU have selected to play on YOUR OWN blog makes you want to throw your computer through the window... so, autoplay off it is... if you are interested in the music, it's over there and you can click on it! :)

I LOVE POPCORN!

I love popcorn! Especially when it's hot and buttered... however, I hate popcorn on my ceilings... so can you guess what I've been doing??

That's right... getting my scrape on! Well, as I mentioned earlier I was hoping this would be a very productive week... floors, gas, & granite! Well, the gas guys said they wouldn't run the gas to the house and the fact that it's JUST for a range didn't help my case at all! The good news is that there's always PROPANE! So, now rather than NG we're getting LP! For those of you not up with the flammable ignitors (not sure this is a word)... that would be natural gas and liquid propane! I have to admit, I'm not terribly upset about getting propane... they fill a tank and bury it (don't worry, it's not bad for the environment!) and so with the messed up logic that I have, I think "Great... one time fee... you fill it and forget about it! And how much propane do you really use on the stove?!" So, now I'll just have to get those beautiful GAS (I mean PROPANE) LANTERNS that I've been wanting for the front of the house! Well, maybe not now, as the budget is dwindling... but maybe next year!

Back to the popcorn... The floor guys informed Justin yesterday that they would be starting TODAY! Which is very exciting... unless you have popcorn on your ceiling that you would like to get off before the floors are installed! First, I will say that my husband is a trooper. He was not on board on scraping the ceilings but somehow managed to bite his tongue and let me insist on this last minute project. So, my wonderful MIL comes to watch the girls and I run to Home Depot for a pump sprayer (the kind you kill weeds with) and the biggest scraper you've ever seen. I got to the house and jumped on the ladder to attack that popcorn, as I knew the time would pass very quickly! I began by spraying a small section with warm water and then about a minute later I'd start to scrape! I was absolutely AMAZED at how easily and quickly the popcorn came off.... just one PROBLEM!! A HUGE MESS everywhere! I was very glad we did this before the floors went down. And in addition to a huge mess... now we have to caulk and paint the ceiling. Thankfully the rest of the house (with the exception of the den) is popcorn free! I stayed as long as time allowed and my very dedicated husband hauled his tail back to the house around 9 pm and scraped until 12:30 am. The popcorn is now gone in the kitchen and family room... now, only one room left! I think instead of pushing Justin really hard on scraping the den today, I'd rather have those 4 chairs for the living room... so, I'll let the popcorn stay in the den... I say this through clenched teeth as I great despise the stuff! Now, if you have popcorn on your ceilings, I hope you are not offended, please understand, this will be the first house (of many) that we have owned that we have actually scraped the stuff off! (Robin, Although I fully intended to come by this is why I didn't make it to your house yesterday, is it too late now?! As you can probably imagine, I would have much rather shopped than scraped!)

Erika and Chance paid us a visit last night and it was so much fun to see them. Of course, they never come without bearing gifts! Much to my delight, they came fully outfitted with 3 large antique school house pendants that they bought at an antique store in Appalachicola! I can't tell you how stinkin' excited I am about these little gems, I love them so much that I can't even smell the dead fish on them! :) Two will hang over the bar in the kitchen and one in my sewing room! They need a little TLC and some new wiring... nothing that a quick trip to the Home Depot won't fix! Thanks, sister, for the wonderful lights and for visiting with us! We can't wait to see you next weekend!!

39 Gallons of Paint on the Wall

I'm so grateful for many things regarding this new endeavor we've taken on... but most of all I'm thankful that I married a man who LOVES to work and does a great job at it! Our house has come a LONG way in 4 short weeks and I'm excited to share a few pictures with y'all! We're hoping this week to line up the floor installation, counter top installation, and have the gas line run! Should be another eventful week!

Our plan is to be very near completion in 4 more weeks and hope to be in towards the middle of November! Yea! We still have a long way to go but a LOT of paint will take you a long way... oh and a new roof... which was a major investment that no one really appreciates... not even me! Oh well! I mentioned a LOT of paint... 39 gallons is our running total so far and 15 tubes of paintable caulk! I asked the guys at the paint store this morning (my 6th trip) if I could get a discount... they laughed and told me if I'd honk my horn when I got there they'd bring it all out to me... when you have 2 babies that sounds even better than a discount!

Much to my disappointment Justin rented a stripper this weekend. She sure saved him a lot of time and she works a lot harder than I would ever consider working. With her help and the selfless help of Neal and Ryan, Saturday proved to be one of the most productive days thus far. All of the tile is out (at least in kitchen and side entry), 99% of the carpet is out, the appliances are out, the counter tops are out and the kitchen sink is out! Now, if you are wondering what the stripper looked like you'll have to check out these "before" and "4 week later" pictures. I can't call them after because I'm hoping we still have a long way to come! :)


Here's the link.... http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=b5enhlt.3tqmo3jt&x=1&y=-h0mlcy

Morgan's First O-R-E-O

It's a tad to early on a Saturday morning for a post with words... so I'll let the pictures speak for themselves and I'll let the music help too... (OREO theme song!).

Morgan in Mama's Dress

This is really just for my mom, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to show everyone else too! My mom made this dress for me (and of course Erika had one too) when I was a little girl and Morgan was so excited to wear it to school today! I had to let out the hem this morning before school so we were about 30 minutes late! But she wore it and it fit her just perfect. It's hard for me to even imagine her and Paige having daughters that can wear all the clothes I've made for them!

Oh, and in case you don't have your speakers on... turn up your volume... the great Elizabeth Mitchell is singing a sweet song about a Lady Bug Picnic... thought it was appropriate for our church picnic pictures! Anyone else who may want to add... go to http://www.projectplaylist.com/ and get yourself a player!

We've Been Busy!

Monet Morgan

Justin's handy work in the house!


"Demolition Daddy"


It might be time to get some ballet slippers?

"Curious" was on this morning and "everyone" was intently watching! I couldn't resist a picture!



Mama & Morgan at picnic



Daddy & Joe took home the gold in the egg toss!


Morgan and daddy doing the egg race!

We had an absolutely wonderful weekend! We had a rehearsal dinner Friday night and a wedding on Saturday. Justin did some demolition on Saturday & we watched the Auburn Tigers beat the Gators with some friends on Saturday night. War Eagle! Sunday afternoon we had a church picnic at church and had an action packed afternoon with egg tosses, egg races, tug-o-war and lots of jumping in the blow up thingies!

Last week the girls and I were headed back to the new house from Target and I was listening to HIS radio (local Christian station) and there was a pastor giving a sermon. I wasn't listening... but apparently Morgan was. From the backseat she said, "Mommy, this man is a pirate!" I figured she thought so because he had a deep voice, so I explained, "No honey, he's a pastor and he's giving a sermon!" She said, "No, I really think he's a pirate. He keeps talking about a treasure!" I laughed pretty hard as I listened to what he was preaching on... storing up your treasure in heaven! Argh matey!

Morgan is really into crafts these days; between play dough, sidewalk chalk, painting, coloring, and markers I can barely keep her occupied! I snapped a few photos of her in action! And the little Raiger thinks she's 2 and I can't keep her out of the paint and crayons too!

The new house is coming along! Not nearly as fast as I'd hope but things are happening! Justin got the wall taken down between the living room and family room, has ripped out carpet & kitchen cabinets, and has been painting too! The roofers put a new roof on last week and the painter has been there for 6 days now... but we can't seem to get him to stay past 2! He'll have to pick up the pace pretty soon! But overall we are getting excited and looking forward to being in once and for all!