Today's Assignment...

Hi all happy Sunday!
As you know,
this week celebrates Dr. Seuss's birthday.
The kids at James' school are encouraged
to dress up like their favorite Seussical character.
James picked Thing One.
So this afternoon I'll be turning this...

Into this...

Umh yeah, wish me luck! :)
I know I could have discouraged his idea,
I just let his enthusiasm & toothless grin get to me.
No worries,
I'll be posting a full on tutorial just in case
you need to make a Thing One costume for yourself! ;>

Loving The Olympics

The Hinsons are loving the Olympics!

Here's Joseph's ice skating routine...

The video's a tad dark,
but ya think the judges would give this a 9.9?!

The Tooth Fairy Strikes Again

Good morning all and happy Friday!
Just a quick note to let you know that the tooth fairy has struck again.
Oh how our little James' LOVES the tooth fairy!
When I picked him up from school yesterday afternoon,
this was grinning at me so proudly.

And this is a view of him this morning.
Don't cha love how his hair and his money are spread out like peacocks?!

Sometimes he drives me c-r-a-z-y but boy do I love that kid!
Remember this post??
Have a great day... it's almost the weekend!!!

Let's Help A Sista Out?!

Hi all!
I hope your week is going well.
I've got a million things on my to do list today,
but while this was heavy on my heart
I had to blog for a moment.

If there are two things you will learn about me:
1. My heart has been called to adopt.
2. I love prizes!
So, I'm coming to you with a call to action.
I need you to visit the blog
Bring Drew Home,
donate $10 towards their adoption
AND
automatically be signed up to win the most incredible prizes.
Incredible prizes =
Wild Olive Tees,
Custom Vinyl Lettering,
Jewelry,
Children's clothes, toys, hair bows, artwork...
YES, we're talking good stuff. 
This precious family is traveling
to bring their son home in just a few weeks.
That is if they've raised all the needed money.
When I donated last Friday they had only raised < $100.
They're up to $1,000 now but still have quite a way to go.

Thanks for checking out their blog.
Like I said, adoption is close to my heart.
Now GO, we've gotta help a sista out!

A Tweet Candy Jar

Hi all!
Remember the Home Is Where Your Mama Is snack jar?
The last one was so fun,
I decided to try another one.
This time I used a smaller jar.
I think it was $2 at the Dollar General,
which by the way is my new favorite store.
I added a birdie and branch in brown vinyl.
I used the Home Decor cartridge
with my beloved Cricut.
To make the bird a little more girly
I topped her off with a tiny flower on her head.
Then for the last detail,
I added another flower to the lid.
I stuffed it full of yummy candy,
wrapped it and sent it to school with James.
This was his teacher's Tweet Valentine.

So do tell, what do you think?!
I'm linking up with TCB & DIY Showoff.
Click on the link to check out other fabulous projects.




Today's Creative Blog,
my long time favorite & first bloggy crush.
What can I say,
TCB had me at the black & white paisley! :)

Check out the DIY showoff as well,
they host fabulous project ideas!
Thanks for flittering by. :)

Valentine's Day Recap

Hi all!

I hope you're having a fabulous weekend.

Today Big Daddy's at a conference in the 'ham 

so the kids and I are going to spend the day 

cleaning, organizing and playing.

Well, I'll probably being doing most of

the cleaning and organizing while

they do the majority of the playing.

But whatever, we'll all have our own kinda

fun and we'll all sleep good tonight. ;>

I'm a bit behind but couldn't go without 

sharing our Valentine's Day weekend with you.

If there's one thing the Hinsons love, it's a holiday!

We're not picky either, we just love to celebrate. :)

Valentine's Day was no different,

and since it fell on a Sunday, 

we celebrated all weekend! 

We started our Valentine's love fest 

with James' school party.

He gave out goody bags stuffed with ring pops.

It was pure torture for him to sit so close 

to that candy and not get to eat them!

Mama & James partied it up at his school party.

The kids had cups of ice cream 

and a buffet of toppings to chose from.

Since the boys were out of school on Friday

we made a quick trip to Decatur,

to eat at my new favorite restaurant, Fulin's.

We exchanged gifts early (no surprise)

after we got our baths Saturday night.

Look at those kids, they love them some prizes!

Joseph got an itunes gift card.

I also picked up this sign in the dollar spot at Target.

It reads,

Beware Of The Dog.

That Cat Is Not Trustworthy Either.

Now look at Pepper,

that crazy dog was sticking her tongue out at me!

James got a new Mighty World figure.

That child can occupy himself for hours with those things.

Love anything that holds that kinda power!

Daddy got a few treats 

but he had to show off his card. :)

Remember, I said it was after our baths,

so you're catching me a la natural. ;>

Lastly we topped off our Valentine weekend

with church, Sunday School and then 

breakfast at the All Steak, yum! 

Thanks for sharing in our fun.

I hope your Valentine was filled with family, 

good times, and LOVE. 

Ash Wednesday Recap

Hi all!
I hope you're having a fabulous week.
Sorry I've been MIA.
So many things to do and
what seems like so little time.
Prioritizing right, that's what I've been missing.
Anyway, just know that my heart has not
strayed from my blog...
only my body! :)

As you know yesterday was Ash Wednesday,
the beginning of the Lenten season.
Every year James favorite question
during Lent is,
"What'd you give up?!"
He's so nosy,
wonder where he got that from? ;>
And when he asks,
don't try to say you didn't give up anything,
even if you are baptist.
His little mind just doesn't understand.
So here's our run down,
Andy gave up sodas,
James gave up cheeze its, nope
cookies, nope,
meat uh NO (he doesn't even like meat).
He finally decided on whip cream.
He assures me that it'll be a sacrifice
because whip cream is put on everything that's good. :)
Joseph is committing to work out every day of Lent.
Yeah, I should've jumped on that bandwagon!
When it finally came to my turn I answered,
I'm giving up clutter.
I wish you could have seen the look on James' face.
My answer was totally unacceptable in James' world.
Here's the lecture that followed...
Mama, you have to give up food.
No James, you can give up other things.
But Mom, we always give up food.
James, I'm giving up clutter because by clearing out
clutter then we are less stressed and have more room for Jesus.
So, you're gonna do more work??
Yes James, I'm gonna do more work for Lent!
Who is he, the Lent Nazi?!

After our evening inquisition we headed to church.
The Ash Wednesday service was so moving.
Having the ashes placed on my forehead
as a reminder of the ugly-ness of sin,
well, I couldn't help but tear up at the altar.

In typical James fashion,
as the beautiful service was coming to a close,
he leaned over and whispered...
I think Daddy's gonna take us out to eat,
because Ash Wednesday is kind of a big deal,
so I think we should celebrate!
Then once the service was over he
parted his hair to the side and said,
Hey, can you see my ashes?!
Our James is just a party looking for a place to happen.

Now I'm asking for a favor,
please share with us (James)
what you give up/take on
during the Lenten season?
May your 40 day journey bring you closer
to the one that saved us all.
God's blessings, Sarah :)

Happy Chinese New Year YA'LL

Hi all,
happy Chinese New Year!
You'll have to visit Emily Margaret's blog
for the full scoop on our intro into this holiday.
But, just for laughs here's a snippet from tonight's lesson:
Mama: "For three to five days of the New Year, there are Lion Dances in front of stores to scare away evil spirits. The Lion Dances bring good luck!"
Joseph: "They do line dancing??"

Mama: "No sweetie, they do lion dancing!"

All I can think is
Happy Chinese New Year YA'LL! ; >

DIY Valentine's Day Card

Hi all, happy Valentine's Day weekend!

We've had a wonderfully l-o-n-g holiday celebration,

but more on that later. :)

For now I'm here to help you last minute kinda love birds. 

So, if your gifts aren't wrapped and awaiting gift time,

or you'd love to add to them with a quick DIY project,

scroll down.

 Since I did pretty good on gifts, 

I decided to make Andy's Valentine's card.

This is the front...

and here is the back...

and of course a sweet quote for the inside.

I think it spices up this plain red gift wrap.

Thanks to Polk Dot Thought for the inspiration.

You made my Valentine card selection easy,

I could even say you saved my butt! ; >

Now go make one of these for your hubby,

you know he'll love it!

Lessons I've Learned The Hard Way: Self Waxing

Hi all!
I hope your having a fabulous week. :)
The boys are gearing up for a 4 day weekend,
SWEET!
We love our un-rushed days at home together.
Since Valentine's Day & the Chinese New Year are this weekend,
Andy is treating us to a special lunch tomorrow.
We'll be eating at Fulin's,
which may be my new favorite restaurant.
It's Chinese food of course. ; )
Now on to today's topic...

I feel that it's important to share the life lessons
we've learned with each other,
you know keeping it real so to speak.
So for all you girly DIY'ers, this ones for you.

I have stumbled upon a new product.
It's Sally Hansen's Hair Remover Wax Strips.
They are precut and to warm the wax,
all you have to do is rub them together in your hands.
The best part?
You get 34 wax strips for less than $10.
Since they are cheap and easy to use
I've happily ditched my salon waxing trips!

My normal routine is to wax right before
I take my bath at night.
That allows my red face a good 12 hours
to simmer down before I apply make-up.

Now on this particular night
the boys were a little rowdy.
They happened to walk in on me waxing
and were very entertained!
Yes, they even tried it out on themselves.
All was going good.
I had finished my lip,
and the first brow was great.

As I applied the last strip to my second brow,
the boys broke into a wrestling match.
Mind you this was no normal wrestling match.
Joseph had pinned James down
and was applying the wax strip over his mouth.
It's one thing if they want to try it on themselves
but we'll not be inventing a new form of brotherly torture!
So as I broke up the fight I walked away from the mirror.
Obviously not thinking about what I was doing
I continued to smooth down that last strip.
In my Mama mode I gave them I tongue lashing,
threatened to wax their rear ends
and without looking,
ripped off the strip.
I knew there was a problem when the strip I removed 
appeared to have a caterpillar attached to it.
As much as I didn't want to,
I had to look.
This my friends was the reflection staring back at me.
Can you see the horror in my eyes?!?

I sent the kids off to get their showers

and tried to compose myself.

Then I knew what I had to do,

I showed Andy what I'd done.

God love that man!

I don't remember a single word he said

I just know that I went back to the bathroom

drying up my tears and laughing.

Then I did the only thing I knew to do,

I thinned the other one.

Luckily, not as much.

Here is a picture of my retouched brows,

yes, I'm laughing at myself in this picture.

I've spent the past week using a brow pencil
to fill in the obvious gap.
Yes Andy, just like old ladies do. ;)
So far no one has commented.
That leads me to believe it's either un-noticeable or really bad!

Take it from me and the lesson I've learned the hard way,
self waxing is great as long as you don't referee
a wrestling match while doing it! :)

Let's Talk About Bathrooms

Hi all!

As much as we dread our weekends

coming to an end,

I enjoy the freshness and excitement 

that Monday morning brings.

Maybe it's because Monday brings a fresh start 

of doing and being better than the week before.

Maybe it's because everyone returns to their

previously scheduled routines,

and I LOVE ROUTINES!

But is it possible that I love Mondays

because I clean my bathrooms 

every-single-Monday-morning?!

Hum, let's explore that a little further.

I started my ritual of Monday morning bathroom 

cleaning back in the summer.

I used to take Joseph to football practice at 6am

and then come home and clean like a wild woman.

His two hour practice gave me just enough time to

get my bathrooms done and take a quick shower.

So by the time 8am on Monday morning rolled around

I was dressed for the day 

AND 

both my bathrooms were clean.

Talk about being on top of the world!

With my least favorite chore done

I always felt like I could tackle my week,

regardless of what life threw in my direction.

Since a big part of my cleaning is having the right supplies,

I thought I'd share them with you.

Photo disclaimer: 

Yes there are dishes in the sink,

remember we're cleaning bathrooms right now,

not the kitchen. :)

I start with my feather duster.

Everything gets a quick swipe on a weekly basis.

Next I clean the shower/tub.

I pour Pine-sol down the sides 

and add in some hot water.

Next I grab my blue handled sponge 

and scrub like there's no tomorrow.

Since I'm lazy,

while I scrub I knock all the bottles off in the tub.

That keeps my soap bottles from getting grimy.

Next I rinse the shower/tub with scalding hot water

AND if I'm feeling froggy I put all the bottles back in place.

Next comes the potty...

GROSS!

My potty cleaning is probably no different than yours

except I'd like to share a great product.

See that white bottle of Iron Out in the photo?

Well it works great for getting ballpark mud

out of white baseball pants.

But it's also my secret weapon against the potty.

In our bathroom we have one spot that 

always has a rusty looking stain even after being cleaned.

So, my trick is to clean it with the Iron Out

and then follow it with Pine-sol or Clorox toilet cleaner.

Fresh, clean, stain free with minimal elbow grease! ;>

Finally I move onto the mirrors and vanity.

If I have time/feel like it/can no longer ignore it

then I wipe down the cabinets.

Otherwise and quiet frankly most often,

I just use Lysol wipes on the counter and sink.

Once I've torn the bathrooms apart and then 

put them back together I wash all the rugs & towels.

Whew, talk about starting your week off right. :)

So, that my friend is how I took a dreaded, 

procrastinated chore and turned it into a weekly date.

Now I'm off to clean my dirty kitchen.

But I'm wondering...

What's your cleaning routine?

Do you have any products you just can't clean without??

Have a great week! :D

Be Mine Valentine Craft

Good morning all!
Yesterday's moments by the fire
were just what I needed to feel recharged.
Before I left for the school pick-up line
I decided to tackle a quick craft.

I knew exactly where to go for inspiration,
my sweet Cricut machine.
I must confess that lately I haven't
found as much playtime as I'd like.
But after yesterday I'm challenging
myself to make more time for therapy,
umh, I mean crafting! ;>


With Valentine decor on the brain
I started cutting patterns and phrases.
Before long I had a cute conversation heart.
Now, where to put it??
That's when I remember my one lone apothecary jar.
It started out as a set of three.
Did you know those things are breakable?!
So, here's the union of my crafty creation
and lone apothecary jar...

Now the details,
I used the Cricut slit feature on the largest heart.
That allowed me to run a ribbon through the back
and then layer a smaller heart on top.
I also filled it with Valentine M&M's.
I'm pretty sure the jar will be empty long
before Valentine's Day.

Do tell, what do you think?
Have you already decorated for Valentine's Day
or are you in the slacker club with me?!
Have a great weekend friends!

Find Rest In A Blah Day

Hi all,
I hope you're enjoying this cold blah wintery day.
I tried being productive earlier this morning,
and then,
well I finally just gave into the blah-ness of the day.
It's been such a busy week
and the weekend promises more of the same.
So for now I'm relaxing by the fire,
catching up on blog reading,
thinking about all the things I should be doing,
and being so thankful I'm choosing not to do them!
Have a great weekend!!!

Home Is Where Your Mom Is

Hi all!
Last week I finally revived my crafty creation mojo.
Not that I haven't wanted to be crafty,
I've just been b-u-s-y.
So, here's what got me going.
I have a sweet friend who is going through a divorce.
She and her adorable girls moved into our neighborhood,
a few doors down from us.
Since we'd already shown up at her house once without a gift,
I had to get with it.
My inspiration?
Home Is Where Your Mom Is.
Ever since I found out she & her girls would be starting over,
that line kept running through my mind. :)

I started with a Multipurpose Container,
$3 at the Dollar General.

Once at home it was time to fire up my trusty Cricut sidekick.

I cut all my letters on brown vinyl.

Next it was time for the tricky part...

appropriately space and place the letters . 

Much harder than it seems. :)

Now the yummy part,

add in all the goodies!

Ok at this point,

I must have gotten a little excited.

Because before I knew it I had added ribbons.

Oh how ribbons can take any project 

from drab to fab. 

Check out the cute heart on top.

No detail too small! :)

So please tell me, 

do you think it's as fabulous as I do?!

I really enjoyed my crafty creation.

I loved that it was an inexpensive

and practical gift .

Because anyone who's ever moved with children

knows you need handy snacks.

And, long after the snacks are gone

she has a sweet reminder that 

Home Is Where Your Mother Is.

Thanks for stopping by.

I can't wait to hear what you think! :D