A DAUGHTER IS...

A joy bringer,

 A heart warmer,

A memory maker,

A Daughter is...

LOVE

ITTY BITTY PEN PALS

I came across the Giverslog this summer while on our marathon road trip from NM to GA and back again.  The concept is simple, to mail unexpected items weighing 13oz or less.  The woman is crazy (in a good way) and mails everything from rubber balls to easter eggs.  What fun surprises for her littles when they check the mail!!  After Meredith's scarf swap I couldn't get the idea of "little" swaps out of my mind so I emailed her and after a few emails back and forth she put together "Mini Mail."

From Meredith herself...

The mission (should you choose to accept it):
Friends, I don't know about your little ones but my Carson absolutely LOVES getting mail. He asks me every time we drive to our mailbox if there's something for him-- he gets so excited when there's ANYthing that I can pass off as a toddler-friendly piece of mail. I just know that he would be beside himself to get mail of his very own on a regular basis. Behold, I have created Mini Mail: itty bitty pen pals! The concept is simple-- to send and receive mail to and from your little ones. This will be super organized so it's not overwhelming and I can already promise you it will be SO worth your while. In this day and age of technology, isn't mail becoming a lost art anyhow? I just love the idea of little pen pals.

The nitty gritty: 

• If you choose to participate with your child/children, you will need to commit to a minimum of a 3-month pen pal partnership. 
• Your child will have 4 pen pals in a calendar year-- new pen pals will be assigned every quarter {January, April, July, October}. Since we are beginning this month your partner will take you through the end of this year, new pen pals will be assigned in January.
• Your monthly package can be as big or as small as you wish. Remember, you're mailing between toddlers. My 4 year old would absolutely FLIP if he got a note in the mail with a single treat. So, if you're not on top of your game one month and only have time to have your little draw a picture, write a quick note and grab some gummy bears or stickers-- it's all good friends. 
• But, in case you want to help yourself get ahead of the game... you can do what I just did and order a package of 10 or 25 small flat-rate USPS boxes for FREE online. Boxes will literally arrive at your door, ready to be filled month by month, free-o-charge. Mailing a small flat-rox box is $5.20 regardless of weight. You can even print your postage online, making a trip to the post office obsolete. These little boxes are the perfect size for notes, drawings, and a few surprises!
• On the 1st of every month I will post the theme and any instructions for your pen pal mail for that month. I am going to keep my guidelines very basic and allow you to take this to whatever level you'd like to go.  Raid the $1 bin at Target for some fun treats or toys to send to your pen pal.
• There will always be a letter aspect to the package-- for the first month of each quarter it will likely include a getting-to-know-you portion, a picture, and something theme-related for that month. 
• In your child's first package to their pen pal it may be fun to include something that's their favorite-- and it could vary depending on the month you're introducing yourself. October-- my favorite candy! January-- blue mittens, my favorite color is blue! Hope these keep you warm!

Mini Mail Dates:

• 1st of the month: monthly theme & pen pal mail instructions posted
• 1st of the month: pen pal partners received
• 15th of the month: packages must be IN THE MAIL.
• 29th of the month (February has 29 days this year): Blog about your pen pal package!

... right now I want to gauge interest in Mini Mail! If you and your littles would like to participate then leave a comment here with your names and their age(s). Please include the best email address to contact you. If you are unable to comment on my blog for whatever reason, you can email me all of your info to thetichenorfamily {at} gmail {dot} com with the subject Mini Mail. If I have a decent amount of participants I will get the ball rolling for October ASAP! Feel free to blog about this (you can absolutely use the mini mail image) and spread the word. The more mini mail pen pals, the merrier! 

 

Do you get as stoked as I do about your little's opening up the box to find sweet surprises JUST for them?  Then join in the fun and head over to thetichenorfamily.com to sign up!!

EEEK so excited!

SUPERNATURAL

Today has been a day.  You know the type... 

Wake up late, nothing to wear, grumpy kids, gads of errands, massive headache, and the list goes on...

However, tonight when reading the girls devotion I was overcome.

"When it seems like absolutely everything is going wrong-trust Me.  When your life feels more and more out of control-thank Me.

That's not what usually pops into your mind first, is it? ...your first respons is to complain.  That's only natural.  But whining and complaining are like jumping on a giant slide.  Once you start down, you only go faster and faster - more whining and complaining.  And at the bottom of that slide,there's nothing but a big pit of self-pity.

Put on the brakes! Don't do the "natural" thing-do what is beyond natural.  Do what is supernatural .  Trusting and being thankful in the middle of a realy bad day are supernatual responses, and they unlock MY supernatural Power in your life.  I'll see you through whatever mess you're in and fill you up with My peace, which is beyond your understanding."

SO TRUE!  When in "the trenches" it is so difficult to be thankful even when we have so much to be thankful for.  So tonight I will be thankful, I will be thankful that I woke up, I will be thankful that I have clothes to wear (even if I don't like any of them at the moment), I will thankful I have children who can fuss, I will be thankful that I have reasons to run, and I will be thankful that even when I hurt God is still good.

I WILL BE THANKFUL

FALL FUN

This summer I came across a list of 101 summer activities that became our "go to" throughout the season.  I loved having ideas ready at the drop of the hat, most requiring little or no thought or preparation, that the girls could easily chose.  So when it came time to retire our summer list I made a fall one to take its place and I am hoping that this becomes a tradition in our household.  Each season holds so many unique opportunities but when they are not in writing it is easy for them to slip by.

 I just grabbed a dollar store frame and spray painted it purple (I would have preferred orange bu used what I had on hand) popped the list in it and we were up and running.  The hubs found these amazing window crayons that work perfectly for marking off those activities we have completed.

You will notice that some of the activities go together and I did that by design.  Grace was terribly dissappointed when we weren't able to cross EVERYTHING off our list this summer so I felt this was a way for us to get the best of both worlds!  And as you can see so far we aren't doing to shabby!

Breakfast for dinner....

 Camp Out

 Balloon Festival

 Nature Hike

CASTING CROWNS

The hubs and I were able to schedule a date night due to the combined help of three babysitters (no, our girls aren't that bad everyone's schedules just conflicted) and great friends who held our seats while we ate dinner.

It seems as though real dates are fewer are farther between lately so we truly enjoyed the opportunity to just hang out and talk (which explains why dinner took so long ).  Casting Crowns never dissapoints and we were able to catch Sanctus Real as well so I was stoked.  It was funny to see how much they have changed since seeing them last (7yrs ago).  At that point they were all piling into a hatchback with a U-Haul on the back and now they are living large.

The music was great, the company amazing, and the food incredible all in all quite the success.

We even got to say goodnight to the girls...at 1230am since they refused to go to bed.

Oh well life's short, right?

Third Annual Scarf Swap!!

I signed up for Meredith's third annual scarf swap over at the tichenor family. 

I have participated each year and have loved it every time!

This time I was teamed up with Lindsey from The Whitely Girls.  It was so fun to get to know her through this process and we had to laugh over how much we had in common.  We both have two girls, August birthdays, husbands that have changed uniforms but not jobs...the list could go on and on. 

I sent her this adorable chevron check...

And she sent me this amazing zebra print!

 I love that it is black and cream not black and white. 

It makes it so much classier and gives it a cool weather feel!

LOVE!

This is me...

Everytime I find a new blog I always start wondering about the "story" behind the person.  So today I thought it might be fun to take the guess work on my end and list 21 random facts about me.

• My name is Bethany
• I am 28 years old.
• I am happily married and have been for seven years.
• I have two little girls, ages 6 and 2.
• I showed cattle for 10 years.
• I live in New Mexico.
• I am a "has been" pageant girl.
• I have a love/hate relationship with Pinterest. 
• I have my bachelor's in agricultural economics and business.
• I teach full time at a private academy.
• Half the day I spend with kindergartners.
• The other half I spend with 9th-11th graders.
• I learned to sew a year and a half ago.
• My favorite color is teal.
• I love seeing my girls walk around in something I made.
• As hard as I have tried to obtain long hair I am just a short hair girl.
• All I ever watch is HGTV or Food Network.
• My best time to "create" is between 3-6am.
• I am addicted to sleep.
• ...and gummi bears.  (But only the Haribo ones!)
• My closet is full of 5 colors, black, gray, teal, purple, and white.  Is that a bad thing?

Play along!  Post a pic and list 21 random facts about yourself.  Make sure you leave a comment if you do!

5 MINUTE CURLS

 Early this summer 5 Minute Curls were ALL OVER the blogsphere.  I was completely intrigued and tried it right away.  I am absolutely sold on the technique and Grace loves watching my hair go from stick straight to crazy curly over night.  Last night she asked if I would do hers and since it only takes 5 minutes we did it right before bed and then I sent her off to dreamland.

After a little bit of coercion her curls fell into place and she was SO excited.  Of course I forgot to take pictures before we left for school.  These were actually taken after lunch meaning she had played full out for 45 minutes by this time.  I was pretty impressed with how well they held. 

And on a grown up :) 

This was at the MLB All Star game this summer after the headband being in for only 2 hrs and let me tell you it was HOT.  My stylist was so impressed with how healthy my hair that she asked my secret.  When I told her I think she thought I was nuts but I am telling you it works!! 

BTW, the video is really long and you probably could skim through it to get the info.  I have changed things up just a bit and would love to hear how it works for you!  Happy curling!

Despicable ME!

One of my sweet students turned 16 a few weeks ago and they asked me to help out. 

She decided on a movie on the lawn theme and I was so excited to find out that she chose Despicable ME.

We worked up All Access Passes for the invites and Madison was thrilled!

Then after scouring the internet for sweet treats that would fit in with party we made MINIONS ala Cookbook Queen.  They turned out absolutely adorable! 

As soon as Madison saw them she found her favorite and hid it before the other guests arrived ;) 

That made my kitchen being covered in blue icicng absolutely worth it!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADISON!!

GO BULLDAWGS!!

It's GAMEDAY here at the Cooler household! 

Everyone is decked out in their UGA gear as the Dawgs get ready to take on Boise State.  I have to admit its taken me a while to jump on the bandwagon but after making the girls shirts I thought I should join in the fun...

I have to admit it is much more fun to watch a team that actually has a chance. 

After cheering for a losing team in both HS and college I was ready to join the hubs DAWGS.

MAD-DAWG!!!  GRRRRR!

Accent Vlog!!

After Faith needed pictures for a class project and I took a stroll down memory lane via the blog I realized how much I have missed it.  So I am jumping back in with the Accent Vlog that many of you have seen floating around.  I actually ended up turning the concept into an experiment for my rhetoric class and even my high schoolers got a kick out of it.  Clicker for remote?  Really?!?

I should preface the video by saying that the words stressed are contentions in our household ;)  My husband is from Georgia and I am from New Mexico so there are a couple of things that we don't agree on when it comes to verbage!  The most interesting part is trying to figure out who our daughters will end up siding with in the debate. 

ENJOY!!!

(Has anyone else noticed that regardless of how composed you are the screen shot still makes you look like a dork?  Just wondering...)

The instructions are to say these words: 
Aunt, Route, Wash, Oil, Theater, Iron, Salmon, Caramel, Fire, Water, Sure, Data, Ruin, Crayon, Toilet, New Orleans, Pecan, Both, Again, Probably, Spitting image, Alabama, Lawyer, Coupon, Mayonnaise, Syrup, Pajamas, Caught

And answer these questions: 

What is it called when you throw toilet paper on a house?

What is the bug that when you touch it, it curls into a ball?

What is the bubbly carbonated drink called?

What do you call gym shoes?

What do you say to address a group of people?

What do you call the kind of spider that has an oval-shaped body and extremely long legs?

What do you call your grandparents?

What do you call the wheeled contraption in which you carry groceries at the supermarket?

What do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining?

What is the thing you change the TV channel with?

EGGED!!!

After seeing the idea on www.eighteen25.blogspot.com last year I have been counting down the days until we were able to go "egg" ourselves!!!  So we stuffed 7 dozen eggs with sweet treats...

and notes that let our friends now how much we loved them!

Then we ran and printed our "calling cards."

Headed out to egg houses!

We hid eggs here...

there...

EVERYWHERE!

By the end of the day we had it down to a science...

we would pull up past our "target", leave the doors open, hide the eggs, ring the doorbell and then RUNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is definitely a repeat!

Teacher Appreciation

If I could have one wish for my girls after their acceptance of Jesus and their Lord and Savior it would be a spirit of gratitude.  The highs are that much sweeter and the lows so much easier when we can remember to be thankful so when we have the opportunity to shower those to which we are truly grateful...you better believe we are ALL over it.

I searched the blogsphere for ideas and inspiration but just wasn't smitten with anything.  I knew that I didn't want to spend a lot on money and was hoping to just make due with what we had on hand so I dug through the cabinets and found cookie mix, a flower shaped cutter and the rest is history! 

We decided that we also needed something chocolatey and who can argue with faces like these?

We baked FLOWER COOKIE pops!

Grace helped mix and cut and Faith...well Faith just kept trying to steal the dough.

My kinda gal ;)

After they cooled and the girls were fast asleep I decided to tackle royal icing for the very first time.  I piped the edges and centers...

Then flooded the petals...

Then it was on to our flower pots!  My initial thought was to paint them but the more I looked at them the mmore I liked them in their natural state so I hot glued a cute ribbon around them and stuffed them with Easter grass!

A few salted walnut and dark truffles to serve as the dirt and an AMAZINGLY yummy treat was had!

Total cost of the entire project?  Less than $1.25 a pot!  Can't beat that!

ALL IN

I LOVE our school, not just like but seriously LOVE the kids, the staff, the curriculum...

One of my favorite things of all though is chapel.  It sounds a bit trite I know but our kids adore chapel and our staff puts that much more effort in because of it.  This semester alone we have been visited by J. Hudson Taylor, Queen Esther, Gladyss Alyward, and King Xerxes.  So when it came time for me to present I struggled with how exactly I was going to portray George Muller. 

In the end I decided not to even try but instead arrived as his wife to tell of his unshakeable faith and the amazing works that were completed through him.  The kids thought it hysterical and my littles made everyone laugh when they later announced that they had known it was me all along.  But most importantly we were all challenged or at least I was Muller's consistent prayer life and his belief that God would answer the prayer if it first was spoken. 

So many times I fail to take things to the Lord because, well, He already knows and well it doesn't really matter anyway so what's the point.  Where is the faith in that?  I must pray fully trusting and completely believing that God will hear my prayers and attend to my needs.  I must learn to be ALL IN.

WE'RE BACK!!

Sorry abot the hiatus...it wasn't planned it just happen. 

And then I started wondering whether it was really worth all the time and effort it takes to be a consitent blogger.  After much thought and prayer I realized that I missed the day to day record of our family and that 30 to play had been swept aside as well.  So we're back and ready for all the fun and frustration that comes with life.  Be prepared for post overload as I try to catch up on all that has happened in the last month!

And I've told myself that even if  I don't catch up it will be ok.  Because looking back and seeing pics of my girls and their smiling faces is priceless no matter when the moments were captured!