Archives for October 2012

October 31, 2012 By 349 Comments

Tuesday {+ Giveaway DAy}

**GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED**

Tuesday’s kindness acts are done.  Boom.  This is how we rolled yesterday:

#1  Doughnuts to school.  I was a kindergarten teacher so I know first hand what a hard and under paid and joyful job being a teacher is.  I was thrilled to be able to bless Harper’s school staff with something simple and yummy like doughnuts.  Yesterday morning’s kindness acts started early…I literally rolled out of bed and left the house in the clothes I slept in plus boots and a jacket.  It’s cold here in Tennessee now.  I was looking H.O.T.  My friend Brea said she looked like “death on a cracker” the other day.  Yep, that was me yesterday morning.

And here’s a little Krispy Kreme tip for you the Krispy Kreme lady shared with me.  If you call ahead with an order of 10+ boxes they will give them to you for $5.10 a box.  I did not know this prior…now I know and am passing the info along.

#2  Flowers for Mrs. Sherry.  Mrs Sherry is the custodian at Harper’s school and I figured she would appreciate some pretty fall flowers and some yummy cookies.  You can never go wrong with either.

#3  Gift card for a single mom.  God bless you single mommas our there.  You work crazy hard and deserve some extra love.  I thought a pedicure and some extra grocery money would do the trick.

#4  Treat for photographer.  We had family pictures taken yesterday afternoon and our regular go to photographer Cheyenne of Shots by Cheyenne was completely booked.  She passed on the info of her partner Laci of Barefeet Photography and Laci was able to get us in…and was amazing…to say the least.  When I saw this picture…big tears people…big, big tears.  I adore this child.  And Laci is having an awesome “pay it forward” photo session giveaway right now…CHECK IT OUT HERE.

And while I’m “God blessing” people…God bless Laci for putting up with a hot mess of wee Kelleys.  The boys had MDO yesterday which means no naps, plus they had Halloween parties.

Well let’s just say I had to take my wooden spoon with me when we left the house…for all you parents who spank, you know what this means 🙂  {Side Note:  If you don’t spank, that’s cool…different strokes for different folks.  Un-Side Note}  Laci totally earned her little treat…some cookies and a Starbucks card.  Thank you so much Laci for your patience and hard work…we appreciate you.

As we drove to our photo destination Harper said, “Do you think this is what Green Lantern girl would look like?”  Ummm, yes.  Nailed it.

When we got home the back seat looked a little like this.

And Amon practiced his photo bombing skills after everyone was in bed.  I love this kid.

#5  Chalk door hangers.  I bought these awesome hanging chalkboards for super cheap a while back on Pick Your Plum.  When I bought them I had no idea what I was going to use them for and then it dawned on me.  The boys and I hit up all our unsuspecting houses before I dropped them off at school.  My favorite part was when I stepped in dog poop at one house and Huddy said, “Dogs should really learn to wipe their bottoms.”  Yes, that would solve my problem.  The door hangers made an easy little act of kindness.

**See that reflection…that is a “death on a cracker” reflection.

And when I got home this was hanging from our kitchen cabinets.  Let’s do one more “God bless”…God bless Josh Kelley.  He’s a keeper.

#6  Share Sonic happy hour.  $5 gift card taped to the order board at the beginning of happy hour and Bam!…Happy Sonic Happy Hour to the next person to pull into our spot.  And I may have ordered myself a cranberry sprite while I was there.  Getting crazy on day #2.

And today’s list is a good one.

Plus it’s Halloween…my favorite holiday.  Don’t judge.  I know some people are not fond of the holiday, but I am a big lover of it.  Sadly, I’ll be rocking it out with Amon…aka Superman…at home.  Handing out candy and being away from germs.  The wee Kelleys will be going door-to-door with Josh.  Fun will be had.

And I almost forgot…see #4 on my list for today.  Yep, it’s an art giveaway for you guys.

Up for grabs is this 10×10 Mumford & Sons Canvas…”So I’ll be bold, as well as strong and use my head along side my heart.”

Here’s how you enter:

Please leave a separate comment on this post for each entry.

Entry #1 Tell me if you’ve done some kindness acts of your own this week…or what you’re doing for Halloween…or any old comment will do.

Entry #2  Share this giveaway on your personal Facebook status or Twitter.

Entry #3 Subscribe to PPA to receive posts by email.  Check out the right side bar and enter your email address under Email Subscription.

Entry #4  Become a fan of PPA on Facebook HERE

Again, please leave a separate comment on this post for each entry.

Giveaway will end tomorrow, Thursday, November 1st and I will announce the winner in tomorrow’s post.  Canvas will be mailed directly to the winner.

Happy Wednesday!

**GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED**

Filed Under: family, giveaway Tagged With: , , , 349 Comments
October 30, 2012 By 6 Comments

Monday

And we are moving right along.  Monday’s kindness acts were completed and just so fun.  Let’s review shall we.

#1  Take balloons and treats to Amon’s cardiac floor.  Because Amon is currently home bound, figuring out this week was a bit tricky, but Amon had a doctors appointment yesterday with his surgeon, so this worked out perfectly.  Balloons for some kiddos and homemade chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese icing for the amazing staff, nurses and doctors.  Done.

Heart cupcake wrappers were a must for the best cardiac floor ever.

#2  Pump someone’s gas.  This is Pat.  She is a super sweet lady who I had the honor of buying and pumping gas for this morning.  She was on her way to work…it was 7am…I had just finished getting my sweat on and had dropped Harper off at school.  Pat is looking way hotter than me.  It was a joy to meet her.

#3  Give someone dinner recipes and the groceries to go along with it.  I know some people already have dinner prepared or at least some parts of dinner already going before they leave for work or wherever.  I wish that was me.  Ha.  But in case the recipient was that person, they had everything they needed for dinner, salad, bread and dessert ready for their next meal…plus the recipes.  We blessed Harper’s teacher Mrs. Bruno, well now she’s Mrs. Tanner.  She is absolutely divine and we are so grateful for her and all her hard work and love.

#4  Treat for our mailman.  If you never saw when I posted The World’s Easiest Cookies recipe, here it is again.  It is a must, must, must make.

It really does not get much easier than that.  The possibilities and combinations are endless.  I went with a devil’s food chocolate cake mix with white chocolate chips thrown in.  Super good.  A great little treat for our very hardworking mailman.

#5  Encouraging notes on cars.  I wrote the cards and the kids colored on them.  Then I placed them on random cars at the hospital.  While being in the hospital with Amon, I feel like a little note like this would have been a big blessing.

And #6  Share my Zumba pass.  Once I got to class, I just waited and the next ladies who came in I paid their way.  Too fun.  It was also Halloween night.  Jen, Campbell and I dressed up as kickball players…not too, too lame.

This is Janet.  Janet is this crazy cool lady who will work you like mad for one hour every Monday (5:30 Goodlettsville Community Center), Wednesday (5:30 Goodlettsville Community Center) and Saturday (8:00am SWG Studio Goodlettsville).  I have been doing Zumba for almost a year now…it’s super fun…and I am still absolutely soaked with sweat every class {See Picture…do you see the sweaty goodness}.  Janet is good…like real good.  You must try her class out.

And here is Tuesday’s list.  Can’t wait to get started.

Go spread some love.  Happy Tuesday.

PS:  Totally forgot to mention that tomorrow is a giveaway day…it’s on my Wednesday list 🙂

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October 29, 2012 By 7 Comments

Birthday Week

I hope everyone had a great weekend.  Ours was good and full and productive.

Today officially begins my birthday week…counting down to turning 30.  This is my first birthday without my Mom and I wanted to make sure that I didn’t sulk it away.  It’s easy to have a pity party, but I think it takes a bigger person to step up and think outside yourself.  Even though my Mom isn’t here anymore I still want to make her proud and thinking of others above myself definitely would make her proud.  So that’s what I’m choosing to do.  Blessing others and thinking of others and doing for others is pretty much always a good idea.  This weekend I got down to planning and preparing for my 30 acts of kindness leading up to my 30th birthday.  There were lots and lots of lists involved, but at the end of Sunday night I was ready.  Let’s do this.

I also worked on some orders.  I don’t know if you’ve seen the “Family Rules” prints all over Pinterest, but I’ve always thought about how I would do one if given the chance.  And then Trisha in Indiana custom ordered one.  She decided on a 16×20 canvas and sent me her color scheme and “rules” and away I went.  Thanks so much Trisha.

I also finished this 12×12 “Here comes the sun” canvas for Jennifer in North Carolina.  Thank you so much Jennifer…hope your mom loves it.

I also made several gifts and giveaway/auction items for friends.  I love to volunteer for giveaway or auction items and when friends ask me to be involved, it’s an honor to be able to donate pieces.

  I know several people who are struggling right now with different things…just some hard days…don’t we all struggle?  And sometimes it’s just nice to get a little special something to make our day a little brighter.  I know God has blessed me with creative juices and I want to share those.  I want Him to receive all the glory that He so deserves.

My Uncle Tom’s birthday is coming up and I know my Aunt Linda reads my blog, but I don’t think my Uncle Tom does, so I feel like I’m safe to post these.  Mums the word Aunt Linda.  I saw a pin on Pinterest where you write on a mug with a Sharpie and then bake it at 350 for 30 minutes.  I apparently never pinned it so I don’t have the exact source, but it makes a super easy and sweet gift.

Huddy got busy on his thank you notes for his birthday presents.  He was a coloring, thanking machine.

Harper got to spend some time with her sweet friend Mary this weekend.  They seriously make for the best playmates ever.  Both equally adorable and laid back and sweet…makes for a very easy friendship.

Josh and I splurged on Buffalo Wild Wings Saturday night.  So so delicious.  Seriously, BW3s would be my request for my last meal.  Their dry rub wings are probably in heaven.

The wee Kelleys are funny.  They do strange things like line all their pretzels up at snack time or hold a meeting in our closet.  I like their quirky ways.

Amon had a big weekend.  He got new pacis…which are totally strange.  I’ve never seen pacis like this.  It makes giving him his medicine easy though…we don’t even have to remove the paci.

And he got the hang of his sippy cup.  Oh the watery goodness.  He loves it.  I think he’s growing up a bit on us.  Tear.

I hope your week is amazing.  Mine is going to be great…I just know it.  Maybe celebrate with me and spread some kindness.  You can do it.  You’ll be glad you did.

Happy Monday!

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October 26, 2012 By 6 Comments

Some Firsts

Harper had her very first kindergarten field trip today.  It was super cold and then it rained, but the rain held off just long enough for us to have a bit of fun.  It was super nice being with just Harper and her little classmates are all dolls.  The kindergarten teacher in me did start to come out during lunch when it was a bit chaotic, but her classmates were all cool as cucumbers.  Super sweet kiddos.

We accidentally grew our first pumpkin plant.  Apparently you can completely not take care of a pumpkin plant and it will power on through to become a pumpkin…despite your unknowing and lack of effort.  Hardy little guy.

I ordered our first ever coloring thank you cards and I could not be more excited about my kids writing their thank you notes now.  My dear sweet Dana at Lifelines Design designed these 5×7 cards just for the wee Kelleys.  They’re pretty awesome.  {You rock Dana.}  I think she should totally add them to her store.  What about you?

And next week will be my first ever Random Acts of Kindness birthday week.  I’m turning the big 3-0 and originally wanted to do 30 acts of kindness on my birthday day, but then I had to get real with myself since I have one small wee Kelley who is quarantined from the outside world and all its germs.  So I decided to make it a birthday week full of kindness and divide my 30 kind deeds up between the week…6 kind deeds every day…Monday-Friday…6×5=30.  It took some strategic thinking, but I think I have it all worked out perfectly.  Including a giveaway for you guys too.

Next week is going to be a grand week.  Enjoy your weekend.

Happy Friday!

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October 25, 2012 By 13 Comments

So It Begins

Order making is in full swing.  This camera strap is headed to Jennifer in New Mexico.  Thanks so much Jennifer.

 

And these key fobs are headed to Jinny in Tennessee .  Thanks so much Jinny.

Sickness has hit the Kelley house.  Sol has the croup so he was home from school with me and Amon all day.  I think he was a little lonely.  I really wanted to completely quarantine him.  Nothing like a contagious awesomeness floating around our house and our little heart dude.

See that little white line on Amon’s incision…How do you feel about exposed stitches…and one that is supposed to be on the inside of his body and has made its way out?  Me, well it makes me nauseous…like gag worthy…I’m weak.

I think I should be Lysoling everything…all day long.  Amon got on board with the super hero craze today.

And apparently I’ve started falling apart as I approach the big 3-0.  I’ve never had to ice a leg/ankle/calf or whatever, ever…now I’m all broken down.  And icing something is pretty hardcore…like it’s not a massage of anything…kind of burns.  Not pleasant.  Any tips for leg injuries?

Tonight I’m working on more orders.  And once I finish up these 10 orders, I’ll re-open some more order spots.  Hope you guys had a great sick & injury free day.

Happy Thursday!

Filed Under: art, faith Tagged With: , 13 Comments
October 25, 2012 By 1 Comment

Art Sale

Just wanted to give you a heads up that I listed some canvases for sale in my Currently Available.

And it’s official…next week is definitely a giveaway kind of week.

Check back later.  Laura

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October 24, 2012 By 6 Comments

A Feel Good Kind Of Day

I have proclaimed today a good day.  And there you have it…today shall be a good day.  Amon is napping and the boys are playing outside with their stuffed monkey Duncan and stuffed frog Froggy.  I like them.

I re-opened yesterday for 10 custom orders and well, you guys are pretty awesome.  I ended up having to take down the post because I was flooded with comments and emails and that makes a girl & her artsy self feel loved.  Big love.  Thank you.  I am starting to work on those 10 custom orders today and once I finish those up I will happily take on more orders.  I just have to keep it real right now and keep myself underwhelmed…we’re still rocking out as a family of 6 and working on Amon’s recovery and those 2 things are pretty darn important to me, so I want to make sure I give them the time and attention they so deserve.  But Amon’s medical bills have started rolling in and look out!…the insurance company waits for no one.  Turns out open heart surgery and 24 days in the hospital are pretty expensive, who knew?!?!

The wee Kelleys can absolutely drive me nutso sometimes…we’re talking crazy mom with head spinning and sometimes there is yelling…it isn’t pretty…and I have to ask them for forgiveness.  But then there are those really great days that seem to cancel out those bad days.  Days when grace wins and super hero costumes make the day rad.  I want those days everyday.

Amon will be 7-months-old tomorrow.  Apparently the hospital is a time warp.  I can’t believe he is already that old…he was a wee 4-month-old when we landed in Nashville…sweet baby boy.  We finally gave the kid some food…it was about time.  He truly enjoyed it.

We gave away almost every stitch of baby gear and clothing we owned because we…and by we I mean our agency and Josh and myself…just knew we were going to be matched with an older child.  I did however keep a few of my most favorite things the kids wore.  These pigeon pjs being one of them.  Harper received these on her first birthday and it’s official…all 4 of our kiddos have sported them.  They are a little saggy crotched for Amon, but he’ll grow into them.

Afternoon snack time is maybe the cutest most laid back part of our day.  Can it be snack time all day long?

I made THIS POPCORN MIX, but didn’t get to go out and get purple candy melts.  Amon being home bound has really limited my errand running to…ZERO.  I did however have a little bit of green, a little bit of orange and a little bit of chocolate candy melts.  Do what you can, with what you have.  And I was able to snag some fun candies one super early morning before anyone was awake and all normal stores are closed…but not Kroger.

Dear Kroger (& Walmart),

Thank you for being open 24 hours for the abnormal Mom who needs to do shopping at crazy odd times.

Sincerely,

Laura Kelley

Turns out Amon is kind of vain…and well, I just don’t blame him.  Have you seen his hair…at least in the front?  He really enjoys the little mirrored spinning lady bug on his Bumbo seat contraption Brea bought him.  Kid cracks himself up.

And I’ll end on a sappy, heart melting note.  I imagine them being best friends despite the age difference.  I’m envisioning Harper having a Man-Of-Honor in her wedding and Amon having a Best Lady.  It truly is sweet and gooshy and one of those things that melts my momma’s heart into a big drippy puddle.  I like them a lot.

Happy Wednesday!

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October 23, 2012 By 2 Comments

Funfetti Deliciousness

I have been baking goodies for a sweet family for quite a while now.  They’re just the kind of family you love to love on.  Since we were in the hospital for so long, they were long over due for some goodies.

I found this Funfetti Whoopie Pie recipe on Pinterest and knew these would be in my baking future.  Anything Funfetti is a definite yes in my book.  I’m also very intrigued when a baker claims something to the be the “best”, so when I saw the icing recipe was “The Best Ever Buttercream Frosting” I just had to give it a try.  If you want me to try a recipe just claim it’s the best and I’ll do it.  I just have to find out if it really is the best.

I started looking at the recipe for the cookie part of the whoopie pies and honestly, I’m sure they are absolutely delicious, but today I just needed something quick and I remembered the Easy Whoopie Pie recipe I so adore and have made a million times.  So I made an adjustment to the easy recipe to fit my Funfetti desire.

Here’s what you need:  2 boxes of Funfetti cake mix, 4 eggs and 1 1/4 cups Crisco.  I dumped everything in my Kitchen Aid and let it do the work for me.  God bless the Kitchen Aid mixer. (Thanks Carol.)

I continued to follow the Easy Whoopie Pie recipe, by using a tablespoon to measure out each cookie size, but dipped them in sprinkles as well.  Bake them at 375 for 10 minutes on parchment paper.

And if you ask me, I will always tell you that Mr. Sprinkles are the best sprinkles in town.  I get mine at Kroger, but they are not on the baking aisle…they are on the ice cream aisle with the other ice cream toppings.  They are the BEST sprinkles…I promise.

Then I tested out the “Best Ever Buttercream Frosting” and I am happy to report this icing is pretty dang good.  It’s delicious and fluffy and oddly enough, it was even awesome right out of the refrigerator too.  And it was easy to make…no strange ingredients that are hard to find, just everyday items.  I give it a big A+.

They’re like Funfetti heaven and you should probably make some today…and share with a friend.  A big Funfetti success…I may have eaten one…or three.  Make them & enjoy.

Happy Tuesday!

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