Magnus es, domine, et laudabilis valde: magna virtus tua, et sapientiae tuae non est numerus. et laudare te vult homo, aliqua portio creaturae tuae, et homo circumferens mortalitem suam, circumferens testimonium peccati sui et testimonium, quia superbis resistis:

     I usually start surfing the blogs at this time of year, looking for easy projects to do with my kids,ones that look good hanging through thanksgiving. I do love the projects that come home from school, but lets be honest... the glued feathers and pine cones to paper plates usually fall off and start looking shabby a few weeks in. :) (not that I don't LOVE them)







What you will need: (I know...can you believe this is all???)

~1/2 yard of burlap- you can get this at Joane's fabric for around 3 dollars a yard!



~any color of neutral craft paint and foam brush



~black sharpie (Lindsay will have to buy a new one since these are stricken from her new home!) ;)



~Jute or black ribbon



~glue gun



You can make these for your kids rooms with their names, or for birthdays, holidays, or even weddings!.. so fun and easy!



Mindy is giving away a Joannes Fabric gift card for $10 for one lucky Earth monkey mom reader so you can buy the supplies to make this project!!   It's simple to enter...1) "like" her  Pretty in Paint FB page, "like" Earth Monkeys FB page (if you don't already)  and leave a comment below that you did, and one lucky random reader will be chosen to win!!!

For those of you that don't know Mindy...  she is the mother of two children, a wife and creator of all that is beautiful~along with her business of making any piece of unloved furniture amazing, she inspires others to try their hand at adding character to their own homes. Her blog "Pretty in Paint" is a fun and inspiring look into her world. You can also find her on facebook at www.facebook.com/prettyinpaint

Photo by Tara Behnke

From the overwhelmingly beautiful moment when Ty, Paige, Ed, Jeff and Pauly (and the entire EM:HE crew) knocked on our door, to the emotionally surreal "reveal"... I feel like I have been asking God one question... Why us?

Recently l spent an evening at the Earth Monkey Mom Clothing Exchange. I overhear a mom talking with Linz about how she loved the blog, and that being a first time mom sometimes her days are hard and it was great to have other moms to relate to. I feel so far from what she was talking about now that my kids are older, but it took me back to a time when my 3 were little and here is where my story starts. I call this.......





So I have now been a parent for 9+ years, we all have our stories but one day stands out very vivid in my mind.... At that time my kids were almost 5,3 & almost 1. My oldest, max was in pre school so during his school times, nearly every week I would have play dates with my friends Jeni and Stacia, whom both had one child at the time. So it was me, Jack and my baby Elie hanging out. We had been working really hard to get Jack potty trained, he was 31/2, which I felt was ridiculous. Jack had been playing in a little room when I noticed his wet pants, and let me tell ya, I was instantly set off! "Jack, why did you pee your pants? Why didn't you tell mommy?" So I drag him in the bathroom, so annoyed, here we go again! But Jack had more to offer then a pair of wet pants. (This is where the story gets gross) My little man had pooped his pants, but this was no normal situation. His poop had somehow formed itself into a ball, baseball size to be exact! (no exaggeration!) So I spend a moment trying to figure out the best way to maneuver this thing, I shimmy the undies off trying to avoid the "ball" rolling down his legs, hold the "ball" in the undies

like a sling and gently roll it out into the toilet. Problem 2: my dear friend Jeni lived in a new house, one with low flow toilets in it, you get where I am going? Well Jack's "ball" was not in the water so I had to get it there....

I grab a handful of tp and caress the "ball" down into the water. (editors note: I just spit my drink out of my nose picturing Kim "caressing a poop ball!") 



Honestly without the difficult times, what would we have to talk about? This is such a short time in your life, and one day you will look at that child and think he is the smartest, funniest little turd in the world!

 For those that are new around here...our guest contributor Kim,

Is a married mother of three very "active" children. She manages an Italian restaurant and in one of the original "Saucy Sisters". Saucy Sisters is a sauce and salad dressing company that produces fresh sauces with bold flavors. Striving to make the home cook look like a genius, the Saucy Sisters will take your kitchen to a whole new level!

You Can find Saucy Sisters products at:

Redrock Italian Eatery

               The Rogue Valley Growers Market 

(during Market season)

 Soon in a grocery store near you!

                                      Visit their website at: www.saucy-sisters.com and

                                    "Like" Saucy Sisters on FB

Every post is more fun with a giveaway! So share this EMM blog on your page, "like" Saucy Sisters, come tell us that you did both and one lucky random winner will win one of our great sauces!!!

     I got to witness a miracle this week.  It had nothing to do with a house built in 5 days (although that is unbelievable!), or the famous people milling around with us commoners, it wasn't about the logistics of what it takes to organize 3000 people or the fact that the McPails are blessed more than there are words with this gift of a new home.  What blew me away this week was the fact that hundreds, even thousands of "local" people came together and donated time, money and "things" to build an Extreme Makeover home.  I have been contemplating what would move so many people to give to this cause, to help people that they don't even know...what I am overwhelmed by is  the fact that people do it because they want to be involved, and make something huge happen for the simple reason of wanting to help.  (aside from the ones that were there just to see TY :) ) "OOOOOO" you say..."your deep!  Nice observation dummy".  So it may not be a huge revolution but it is a cool thing to contemplate...You see, I saw Rush from Ark built, hustling around every time I was there, the ladies from Terra Firma were there one night when I left and 2:00 AM and they were already there working away when I came back the next morning.  Four  seasons (and other nurseries) created a landscape fit for a castle, while Food for Less donated crates of water and Gatorade for the workers.  Gates furniture donated so much furniture its unreal (Ill be there next time I need something!!!)  Almost all of the building materials were donated, the vehicles that were used to drive around, and the trailers were loaned, local book stores and toys stores helped out...and honestly there are so many more businesses that donated that it would take days to list!!!  And they all did it just to help!!!  CRAZY!!  One more thing I have to mention...I put a call out to a few women who I knew would pull through and donate an item of something they sell to a silent action to benefit the family build fund...before I knew it, almost 100 "moms" had posted things to auction from their businesses!!!  I am still blown away by the fact that a group of awesome women raised around $7000!!!!  So stinking cool!!!



     I had a chance to get involved in rounding up a few last minute donation needs and what I realized is that it was totally easy to find local business people that were glad to help, but a big corporation??  Their hands are tied.  I was discouraged every time I called a big chain store and got the same answer about the fact that it would have to go to corporate and...bla, bla, bla...but the minute I got a local business owner on the phone, they were excited to help!  This has left such an impression on me that I am giving myself a challenge...



And as a thank you...we are giving you %10 off 

I'm sitting here trying to write some snappy paragraph to lead you into the reason why I am copping out and posting "an oldie but goodie" and not posting one of our Earth Monkey special contributors, but honestly I am so crazy tired, I can hardly type...so here it goes...I reached way back for this one but I though we could all use a little laugh...All of the Extreme Home Makeover stuff with surface again, but tonight, stick a fork in me because I am done!





Gena:

1. I am never having kids... I maintained this one for 5 years after we got married, but when the baby bug bit, there was nothing I could do. Still to this day I run into people who say, "Remember how you said you were never going to have kids." 


2. My Kids will only play with wooden toys... you know because the plastic ones are so ugly... today you would be hard pressed to find a toy or anything "kid" in my house that isn't plastic florescent or colored on with sharpie marker.


3. My kids won't watch TV until they're 3 and then only educational programming... ahahahahahahahahahaha... had I known that TV is the only way to calm my crack monkeys down I  think I would have just skipped that one.


4. I will never make more than one meal, my kids won't be picky... If there are pickier kids on the planet I haven't met them. My oldest pukes at the site of green peas and I make 6+ meals a day mon-fri to suit everyone's tastes.


5. My kids won't wear anything with cartoons on them.... I still don't like this but my monkeys are freaks for thomas and cars 2 and want to wear anything and everything that dawns those characters... but what's a mom to do?


6. Marriage and kids won't make me frumpy... bwahahahahha... anyone who read my post a couple of weeks ago should be spitting their coffee through their nose right now... ya... moving on....


7. When I'm a stay at home mom my house will never be messy... I seriously used to say this... I know... I'm an idiot, it's actually probably messier since we're all home all day everyday... who knew???

This is Lindsay's aunt Lee, her cousin Jill and her mom Cindy (If I am found dead..they should be considered suspects)

     I am fairly sure that my whopping 5'2" stature would not be intimidating to anyone or anything other than our family guinea pig.  My arms resemble spaghetti noodles (ya know, the angel hair kind, cooked)  and my mean face, well even  my kids laugh at that one.  But even with all of my physical limits, I'm pretty sure the fire that was spewing from every poor of my being was enough to make the two 6' tall men that I launched into quiver...(or at least make them think, "thank God I'm not married to that!")

This is Kara, designer extroadinaire!  And she is as sweet as she is creative! and shoot...Jason maybe (sorry!!!) he plays video games on his lap-top all day! OK, so really he designs some of these crazy cool houses!  Brilliant!

So I wish I could tell you all of their names.. lets just say if you are wearing a black shirt AND black hat...you are super important! ;)

Rush from Arc Built is top dog out here!!!!! (but I bet he wouldn't admit it!)

Mark is a rockin security guard!  Several of these guys stand out in the heat for hours on end, and still smile!!!  and Scott...well, I think he just rides around in the golf cart all day looking cool! a lot of "these guys" travel with Extreme Makeover Home Edition... thats a lot of time away from home!

It's not often that you see this many workers all gathered around, but today, they took a few minutes to honor the fallen, and the families of  9/11.

It was a touching moment!!!

    This could be the most challenging post I have written yet...not because the subject matter is deep, or revealing, but it is that I don't know if it's possible for me to do it justice...



     As most of you know by now, our own Earth Monkey mama, Lindsay and her family we're chosen to receive an Extreme Home Makeover!!! I struggle to even find the words to describe the intense excitement, joy, and amazement that I am feeling about this entire process...it really only pales to the birth and adoption of my children (sorry babe, this is better than our wedding!;) )



     I am hoping today that I can give you a glimpse into the work that is going into the creating, building and fruition of this amazing home! I am going to keep my words few (I know shock hu??) because honestly, I am so tired, and overwhelmed that I feel like my brain is more of a mush ball!