My baby boy is 12 today!  I put together a little slide show of pics of him from 2 -12.

My heart overflows tonight.

Tonight I am so grateful to my savior who has reached down and grabbed my girls heart. She was fretful and upset over things that had happened today. We talked a bit about them and I sent her to bathe. After her bath she came to me questioning me about sin and then as I brushed her hair she said " I asked Jesus into my heart tonight before my bath" Oh man I can not tell you how my heart overflowed. I have prayed with her and tucked her in and I sit here now with tears in my eyes.. Thank you Lord for this amazing blessing. Thank you for your sacrifice. Thank you for loving Josephine and capturing her heart.

Picnic at Conoco

This is our family's verses for today -

Psalm 9:1-2

¹ I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart; 
       I will tell of all your wonders.

 ² I will be glad and rejoice in you; 
       I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

 Today did not go as we had planned. We got up a little late, got everyone dressed and made a picnic lunch. We told the kids little hints about where we were going but did not give it away. Got in the car and stopped at the gas station. After filling up and putting ice in the cooler bag we got ready to set out.  But the car only clicked when we put in the Key - oh no - try again - OH NO.  SO we call for a tow. This click sound sounded bad.  The tow truck was going to take a bit so we all piled out of the car and decided to eat our picnic right there in the grass under a tree at the Conoco gas station!  Dwight and I were pretty downcast. Making plans for getting everyone home and trying to think of who could take over our duties at Church Tomorrow. We also had to let the kids know the special outing (which was the Zoo) was off.  But then well the mood changed - Thanks to Sammi, our 10 year old daughter.  She said lets think of our blessings and count them, that might help.  What a smart girl ;)   

Here was some of the list-

 - We have road side assistance with our insurance so the tow would be free

 - There was a shady place for us to wait

 - there was a nice breeze

 - we had a picnic lunch to enjoy

 -  we were together

 - We had cold drinks

 - We were close enough to home the kids and I could walk home.

 and more

  this little exercise in remembering all God had blessed us with even in a rough time changed our whole families attitudes. We joked and played as we waited. When the road side assistance arrived he discovered one of our battery posts had corroded on the inside and it snapped off as he was looking at it. But he jumped started us and we where able to go to Auto Zone where they helped us install a new one. It was now too late to go to the Zoo as our oldest had to babysit later. So we went to Dairy Queen and got Dilly bars then spent about an hour at the library.  In the car Josephine our 7 yr old said - "This was the best day ever!"  and you know Dwight and I felt like it was a pretty great day.  Even with all the car issues and worries - taking those few minutes to adjust our attitudes and listening to Sammi's wonderful idea lifted our hearts and  minds to the things that matter.  We thank God that Sammi's heart was soft towards Him and that He gave us the wisdom to listen.  Thanks to God that our car repairs were minor and he gaves us this wonderful day and Picnic at Conoco.

Great Depression Cooking....

 This evening I stumbled across an amazing video on youtube. In it you are introduced to Clara - a woman who is sharing her recipes for wonderful simple hearty and inexpensive meals she learned as a teen during the Great Depression. Her stories and recipes all are very interesting and I plan on trying several of them.  There is also a link to her website and looks like she has a dvd coming out soon and perhaps a cook book! 

 My 7 yr old Josephine came up and snuggled with me and we watched her youtube videos together. Jo kept saying - "lets watch the next one" and saying how sad some of the comments made her as well as asked lots of questions about the Great Depression. As a history lover I can not think of a better way to spend a friday evening than that.  Of all my children Josephine seems to have the keenest interest in History. I am glad I can share that love with her.

Go here to see the videos - Great Depression Cooking on youtube

Birthday Bonks - 

Did you know that in Ireland....

The birthday child is lifted by hands and feet, and "bumped" on the floor for good luck. The number of bumps given is the age of the child, plus one for luck!

WE DO!! the layout is  SarahAnn getting her bonks a few years ago!

Birthday Memories

My youngest Daughter has a birthday coming up next week - she will be 7 yrs old! Where did the time go? So this already had me thinking of birthdays then the Sweet shoppe blog gave a challenge to post about a birthday memory on your blog. Perfect timing! So a birthday that really stands out in my mind is one form my early childhood I was 5 yrs old and we had a huge party in our backyard. All the relatives came and I remember being hot in my long polyester dress. But that year I got soo many gifts and most of them revolved around baby dolls and house keeping play. I got a highchair and a cradle, a dustpan and broom set, some toy dishes. I was in heaven! I know we played on the big wood teeter totter we had in our yard and that I stayed up past dark - which in June can be pretty late for a 5 yr old. I also remember clearly that my Dad was there. Something that rarely happened. It is such a lovely memory. I feel blessed to have it!.

See Jo Read

Happy Birthday Sammi!

Today we celebrate 10 yrs of life with our sweet girl.  Look how grown up she is!  This is a photo of her today with her new Bitty Twins - she has named them Hanna (the dark haired one and Lia (the blond one)   She is now busy playing dolls with her younger sister.  We will have cupcakes and a special dinner later. Then on Friday her BFF Sarah will come over for a sleepover. 

Somewhere over the rainbow...

there are cute little kiddies all dressed up!   Sammi, Jo and Seth decided to be Dorothy, the Scarecrow and the Tin Man for Haloween.  We already had the Dorothy dress but we needed the shoes and the other costumes.  So I got busy!  I think they look very cute.  You can go to the Picasa Zoo Boo album to see more pics and details on the c0stumes.

Have a Happy Halloween.

Welcome Martin!

  Isn't that the cutest name?  We welcomed a new nephew into the family last week.  Dwight's brother and his wife added a baby brother for our niece Elisabeth.  He is so sweet looking.  Here is a layout I made with one of the photos they sent.

Skate on Dude!


This is how Seth (an Jo and SarahAnn) spend most of their day after school. We got them roller skates for Easter and they have been outside rolling away ever since. It was a bit rocky at first an there was lots of tumbles and falls but pretty quickly they have all seemed to get the hang of it! By the way - why is it so hard to find reular old fashioned skates? you know the white or black leather boot kind? We searched all over but ended up having to get this kind with the plastic rollerblade looking boots. They work fine but I guess I was looking for the nostalgia factor! We have had lovely spring weather the past week with temps in the 60's and 70's. But on the night of April 31st we had a light dusting of SNOW! hello winter is over already! Glad I had not put out any flowers yet. Ok enough blabbing , we have school work to do (only about 6 more weeks till our official summer break!)

Spring is here finally!

At least for a few days. It was over 70 yesterday and suppose to be today. We went to the park and played after church yesterday and it was soo nice. Tim had gone with some of the teens from Church to a park near there and came home with a slight sunburn - better break out the sunscreen! I have not scrapped much the last week. But I was able to do a scraplift challenge and complete this Layout of Jo in her Easter Dress this year, I made her dress from an Ottobre magazine pattern and love how it turned out. To see the layout credits click on the name

Easter Dress

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!



Santa has come and filled our stockings with goodies! now we are off to dream of sugar plums until the young ones wake us up. Or if it is like last year- until I wake them ;) I hope you and yours have a blessed day filled with wonder and love!

Happy thoughts #3 and 4

So I missed yesterday!  I was busy scrappin away!  I will show you the layouts I did another day.

So my Happy thought for yesterday is how much I love my nieces and nephews. Today I am thinking of my sister's children. When they where little and I was just a teen I adored playing with them and taking them places , doing crafts.  They are grown up now and 3 of them have children of their own who I have never met.  But I cherish them too!   So Thank you Cristina, Juan, Shawnda, Rosa and Marcos for making me an Auntie!

My other thought is about my DH Dwight again.  Cause I just love him to pieces!  Today I was feeling pretty crummy and tired.  So he took the children to church and to play practice by himself.  Which let me rest.  What a great guy!

Happy thought #2

So I better post todays thought before today is over!

I was working on a scrapbook layout tonight and Dwight came by as I had finished it and told me how pretty it was - and it made me really happy!  Love you Sweetie!

Let's talk happy!

So I decided I need an attitude pick me up.  I have been more negative lately and more "on edge"  and I really do not like being this way.  I really want to see the good in others first and not all the other stuff that get in the way of making true and pleasant connections!  

So I am starting by posting something postive each day (or almost each day)  through the new year.   

Todays:

We went to the homeschool thanksgiving gathering this afternoon and it was such a pleasure to watch my kids connecting with the other children and enjoying the day.   Jo played a little Turkey in a sketch/game they did and Sammi who was the pilgrim had to keep bumping Jo when it was time to "gobble, gobble"   and I just thought it was so cute and funny and it made me giggle!

what is your happy thing?

And I wanted to offer up a Thank you to Di Hickman for all the work she put into posting wonderful sketches for us on her blog!  Click on her name to go see for yourself!  and here is my card from her most recent sketch

Trick Or Treat!

 here are my little trick or treaters. 

Sammi was a Cheerleader - I made her outfit. 

Josephine was a princess - you can not see it well in this pic but I added ribbons and gems and flowers and beads to this plain white dress I got second hand.  

Seth  was a fallen piece of the night sky - all his idea!  so creative.  We glued glow in the dark stars and planets to his cloak from last years costume and even had a few on his face.  

 Sammi had to go home after a few houses with an upset tummy, but Seth and Jo went to quite a few houses and got loaded down with goodies!  we of course filled up Sammi's bucket from our own trick or treat stash.  

Hope your Halloween was super spooky and fun!

Family

Today I am in love with this layout I made of my lovely Niece Cristina and her Family. I love this photograph of her and her family. She look so radiant and happy in it and sometimes it is tough for her to be this happy right now. I love the classic feel to the photo and the little charm hanging on the ribbon. I like how everything nestles together. It gives such a nice feel of warmth.
Even with the bold patterns and colors I feel like the Photo really does shine. Oh yes and I love the photo action work I did. (click layout to see credits)

Happy 4th of July!

Layout made with Kim Hill's Bang Goes the 4th kit at CGessentials

For us July 4th is all about traditions and family, flags and red white and blue. This morning we went to the Parade - it was soo hot but I always love going. We Always have donuts for breakfast while we wait for the parade to start. One of my favorite traditions is to dress the kids up in patriotic clothes. This year I took it a step further and dressed my girls doll's to match. My good friend Peggy sent me Jo's adorable red gingham dress and then I sewed a similar one for her doll - notice the tiny fabric "yo-yo" with the little blue button. For Sammi I had made her new Molly doll this cute red , white and blue outfit last month. Then I made a cute matching top for Sammi - a skirt is in the works but not quite finished. I think they look adorable.

SO now all you TTS ladies - Tell me about a tradition you like to do to celebrate. It does not have to be for the 4th of July it can be any celebration. Be sure to post a link in the Thread at TTS.

The Recital

As promised here are Video's of Sammi and Seth reciting their poems. Jo's is in the previous post.

Jo and Seth both recited "The Purple Cow" by Gilette Burgess
Sammi recited "The Mummy" by Shel Silverstein.

We have been enjoying homeschooling and having this time together. We hope you enjoy the little recital!