Goodwill Goodie Makeover Monday, An Update, and A Finish

Just gettin' this one in under the wire! 

Received another update on Jack ~

Jack had his breathing tube removed today!! He still has a lot of gunk to cough up, so here's hoping that he gets it all out so that they don't have to do it for him. :-( He also had the dressing on his tumor surgical site changed, and that was VERY traumatic as those bandages are VERY sticky! He was so unhappy about that. But, he's resting now, and hopefully we'll get him coughing some more to clear out his airways. Thank You, God, for Your continuing watch over our little man!

I have spent a lot of my time the last few days in prayer for this little guy.  I pray that blessings like this continue to appear for him in the days ahead.

Once the word was received that the surgery had went well, I suddenly had all this energy and so I put it to good use ~ praising the Lord and prepping a few makeovers! 

This week's is something that I have had for awhile.  It makes an appearance in one spot, then heads back to storage in the basement for awhile, then will pop up again somewhere.  A few years ago, I hosted a couple Homemaker's Idea Company parties and earned a lot of free and half price items.  At that time, the company was all about their baskets and using them to organize your life.  So I spent my "money" on baskets ~ lots and lots of baskets!  I ordered mainly plain brown ones because they matched all my wood furniture. 

I'm so over the brown color now, but I hate to get rid of all these baskets.  The construction quality is second-to-none and they are so easy to take care of.  You can even dunk them in a tub of water to clean.  I've sold a few, but still have lots that are sitting in the basement.  I sat staring at this particular basket the other day when a light bulb popped on ~ why not paint it!  So I took it outside and did just that.

Here's what it looked like before ~

This is how I had it displayed last year for fall ~

Because I am so happy with how it turned out and it's already re-displayed, I'm sharing the finished makeover today!   Here's how the painting of the basket turned out~

 

Yeah!  Black is much better.  I started out using a matte finish spray paint because I was afraid that glossy would be too shiny and run.  But the matte was too flat.  So after one coat of matte, I carefully sprayed a coat of glossy ~ it went on so smooth.

Once again, new life to an old treasure.  Guess what I'm going to be doing to those other baskets sitting in the basement :) !

Never Forgotten

This is my post from last year.  It still speaks my feelings about this day and so I'm just going to re-post it.  I hope that we never forget this tragic day in our nation's history.

Where were you 10 years ago?   I was in the kitchen ~ standing in shock as I watched those planes crash into the Twin Towers.  It's still brings tears to my eyes.   The wave of patriotism that followed was amazing ~ everywhere you looked there was an American flag proudly flown.  The country came together as one that day.  Those that lost their lives, that gave their lives, and that lost loved ones are still in my thoughts and prayers.


We are very fortunate that another attack has not occurred.  I believe that we have our armed forces to thank for that.  No matter what your view of the war taking place is, these men and women deserve our support, deserve our respect, and deserve our gratitude.  They have stepped up and volunteered to keep our country safe and free.  If this war wasn't being fought over there, it would be here on our land.   The next time you see a serviceman or servicewoman, thank him or her.  They were not forced to enlisted, they did it of their own freewill because they believe in this country.  This is the type of courage that our country was founded on.  The United States of America truly is ~ Home of The Free Because of The Brave!

Update on My Little Buddy

I just wanted to post an update on how my little buddy, Jack, is doing.  He had his surgery yesterday and his mom just posted an update on facebook ~

I know people have said this phrase before, that "words cannot express" how they feel about something, but it is a statement that rings very true for us. Words really cannot express how blessed we are, or how thankful. Jack's condition, although a VERY scary thing, has shown us how loving and faith-filled our family, friends, neighbors, and even folks we've never met in person truly are. We've always known how blessed we are - 3 beautiful children, wonderful family and friends, and a caring community - but this crisis with Jack has brought all of this to the forefront for us. There aren't enough words for us to thank each and every one of you for everything you've done for us - the gifts and words of encouragement for Jack and the rest of our family, running errands and helping to provide for Derek and Emma for us, and most importantly prayers for Jack and our family. If anyone ever has a crisis of faith or questions God's grace in their lives, I challenge them to hear Jack's story and know that the power of prayer WORKS and the Father's blessings rain down upon us in times of trials and fear!
As written previously, Jack's surgery was VERY successful!!! Many hours of tears, fears, hopes, and prayers led to a joyful conclusion. The neurosurgeon was able to remove all but .3 % of the tumor!!! He purposefully left this very small piece behind because it is right near the brain stem - since that controls breathing, swallowing, his heart, his central nervous system, etc, he did not feel that it was worth the risk to remove it but then put Jack's life in jeopardy by doing so. So, once the oncology report is back, (in the next 5-7 days), we'll decide the next course of action on Jack's road to recovery.
Our prayers were answered, everyone!!!!! The surgeon's hands were guided true and all of the other health professionals involved in Jack's surgery were watched over as well. Praise be to God!! We thank Him beyond measure for every one of you out there who prayed for him and kept him and our whole family in your thoughts during this difficult time. We understand that we are not unique or special.....we are not the first family to have a sick child, and, unfortunatley, we won't be the last. But we do feel special in that all of you out there sent prayers and love to our little guy, and we truly feel that that made all the difference! We are in exactly the right spot for Jack to receive phenomenal care, but your prayers were the turning point!
Jack will have a breathing tube all weekend, and he will be sedated as well in order to keep him comfortable while he is assisted in his breathing. Once the doc's feel that he is breathing well on his own and the brain stem was not compromised during surgery, he'll be slowly taken off sedation and his breathing tube will be removed. Right now, he continues to open his eyes now and again when he hears us talking to him; he squeezes our fingers when we ask him to, as well as stick his tongue out at us; he also lifted his legs! He is a tough little guy who we're sure will make a remarkable recovery.
If anything changes this weekend, we'll try to update everyone. Also, as so many of you have suggested, we'll look into getting a Caring Bridge account for Jack since there are some people who would like to be updated who are not on Facebook.
Thank you all for listening to my ramblings!!!  You know me - I talk a lot anyway!  Maybe I should let Tom do these updates from now on. ;-)
Happy Saturday, everyone! And in Jack's words before the surgery - - "Boo Michigan. Go Irish!!"

Praise the Lord!  Thank you to all who have been lifting this litte one and his family up ~ prayer really does matter.

Goodwill Goodie Finish Friday (on Monday!)

Well ~ the Finish Friday post is ready to go.  It was a weekend of ups and downs.  On Friday, I found out that one of my best little buddies was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor.  He's just 5 years old.  My mom has been battling brain cancer for almost 9 years now, so I know what lies ahead for him.  It sounds like surgery will happen this Friday ~ a long time to wait, but the up side is that the best possible neurological team will be available by then.  Then chemo.  Please continue to keep him in your prayers.  They seem to be working already ~ it appears from scans that the cancer is contained and isn't in his back ~ PTL!  One sunlight beam thru the clouds.

Sunday, the family headed up north a bit and took in the Britt Draft Horse Show.  Growing up, my family was involved with showing Welsh ponies ~ just a bit different than a draft :)  The kiddos have never watched drafts being showed, so it was a fun learning experience for them.  We arrived early enough to watch some of the show prep in progress.  Did that bring back memories!  The day ended with all 18 6-horse hitches in the arena.  What a site! 

Yesterday, we spent the day celebrating the marriage of my husband's best friend.  He experienced a very painful, out-of-left-field divorce.  Then a year ago, a wonderful woman entered his life.  She is everything that his first wife wasn't and could never be.  We are so thrilled that God has brought these two together.  They both experienced such pain when their first marriages ended.  We can see the healing that has taken place for both of them thru this relationship.  Three boys are very blessed thru this marriage!  It was a perfect day for a wedding yesterday ~ beautiful weather in a beautiful setting.  God is so good!

The makeover was ready to go on Friday, but my heart was so heavy that I just couldn't post it.  After a weekend filled with prayer and a few light beams, I'm ready to spend a little time on something that now seems so frivolous.

If you remember, this is what I worked on last week ~

Here they are, all shiny and new ~ or at least new to me!

Just a tad different!  It's crazy what a little spray paint can do.

This is how I have them displayed for now ~ that is until I get all my fall decor out.  

Fall is definitely in the air.  I may break into those fall totes this week if I can find the time.  We had some rain this weekend and the grass decided that it needed to grow.  So I'm hoping to get the mowing done today.  AWANA starts back up tomorrow evening which also marks the return of date night for DH and me!  It's nice to be getting back into the routine of school and activities. 

Tomorrow I may post this week's makeover.  Be watching!

Prayers, Prayers, Prayers!

There will be no Goodwill Goodie Makeover Finish Friday this week.  I just received word that a dear friend's youngest son has just been diagnosed with a brain tumor.  They have drained it and are awaiting surgery.  I have tears running done my face as I type this.  He is just the sweetest, sports loving kid ever!  We have gotten to be good pals over the last year and it breaks my heart to know what he will be going thru.

Please lift him and his family up in prayers.  I know that God is the Great Healer and Comforter, He has a plan for this little one.

And The Winner Is........

Drum roll please.........

The winner of my 75 followers giveaway is.......

tamera- country at heart!!!

I want to send a thank you out to all my followers ~ old and new ~ that signed up.!  Tamera, please email your address so that I can get your prize sent off!

Last Call for Entries!

Here it is August 31 already ~ last day to sign up for my giveaway.  Tomorrow I will draw for the winner ~ be watching for the post!

Today I spent a lovely day with my dear friend Hayley.  We headed out to drop off all my donations to Goodwill and then to pick up supplies for her new business venture.  She is making the cutest hair bows and blocks ~ check them out here.  It was good to have some adult conversation without little voices interrupting!  We got in a little shopping as well ~ found some great deals at Wal-Mart, some summer clothes clearanced out at $1.00! 

Home now, putting away all my deals, and waiting for the kiddos to arrive home from school.  After the dreary day yesterday, the weather has turned HOT again ~ near 90.  I'm sure they will be tired just from the heat today.

Last night, DS did well again at supper ~ ate more green beans without a word, even had seconds of the main dish ~ bacon cheeseburger pasta.  It's so nice when supper doesn't involve an argument! 

Tonight it's my night out with the girls before the wedding on Monday ~ DH's night with the kids.  I have a feeling it will be frozen pizza for supper ~ everyone's favorite :)