New Opportunity

I am so excited to be joining the Dayspring School of the Arts faculty teaching voice classes on Monday nights. God set up this amazing connection with this fabulous organization in Saint Louis. What a blessing to get to work with such great people!
Check it out!

Blessed Beyond Expectation

I am so blessed. When I was younger, I used to pray that I would really fit into my future husband's family. I prayed that we would have a great relationship. I expected that when I got married, I would like my father and mother-in-law. I expected that we would get along and there would not be huge struggles over my husband. I got blessed beyond my expectations. I got enveloped into a family. Papa Bear and Moma D (my in-laws) care for me like my own parents. They are continually supportive, helpful, loving, and servant-hearted. BUT, God's blessings don't stop there. Mike's extended family accepted me as one of their own. It makes being away from my family in Texas so much easier to have a wonderful family here. Not to mention I have another sister in Laura -- so cool! God longs to pour out his blessings on us whenever we share our desires with Him.

Recently, Mike's Aunt Margie and Aunt Nan came to visit so I made this scrapbook page for Jasmine's scrapbook. I used Trendy 3 page kit by Christy Skaggs.

Healer God

So, I'm really late getting this story up here, but I have to share it. Saturday before last, I dropped a glass jar of baby food from the top shelf of my pantry onto my little toe. My poor little piggy immediately turned purple, bent to the side and swelled up to twice its size. I hobbled into the living room and told that I thought I had just broken my toe; he took one look and agreed with me. We decided that if I went to the hospital, all they would do is tape it and give me Ibuprofen. Oh, and let's not forget an enormous bill for that service. So I bit my lip, taped my toe and downed a couple of pain pills. At church that night, we sang a song called "Healer" (see www.jimstern.com for info about this amazing song!) and prayed for people to get healed. Thick-headed me completely forgot that I had a broken toe. I was busy singing and praying for other people. But I guess God doesn't need for us to remember we are sick to heal us. I realized Sunday that my toe had not hurt since that worship time even though it was still purple, bent to the side and swollen. I changed the tape and went on with my day. By Sunday night when I went to change the tape again, my toe was perfectly normal. Praise God, when we are thick-headed, He's still amazing!

Haircut

So Judah has always hated haircuts. He wiggles, runs away, cries, even sometimes screams like a banshee so that strangers think I am abusing the child by subjecting him to a little trim up top. Needless to say I put off haircuts until absolutely necessary. For about three weeks I have been thinking, and saying, that his hair is getting way long. I've been garnering courage to drive him to Fantastic Sam's and force him into that black chair facing the mirror. Ughhh! This morning Judah made me realize that I had waited too long. He leaned back into his bath water, wiggled his hair, and looked a me with a smile. "Mama, my hair feels like princess hair! Is my hair as long as a princess yet?"
'Nough said.
Grab the keys and head to the barber.

Created with Trendy2 page kit by Christy Skaggs

Who Loves Me? book

I had this fantastic idea to create mini-scrapbook pages for Jazz's "Who Loves Baby?" photo album. It has pictures of really close family members on each page. It turned out really cute. The only problem is that now Judah wants one made especially for him, AND he wants ALL the family members to have a page. Yikes, what have I started!?!

I used the following digital kits (www.bits2kits.com) to create these pages:
Bella by SAS Designs
My Man by Christy Skaggs
Playdate by Christy Skaggs
Jaydan Lee by Christy Skaggs
Burnished Sunset by SAS Designs
I Can See a Rainbow by Eirene
Touchdown by Christy Skaggs
Reflection by Christy Skaggs

Daddy? You've Got to be Kidding Me!

My beautiful 7-month-old daughter Jasmine sat up in my lap this weekend, looked over at my husband, and said, "Hey, Dad!" You have to understand the backstory... My four-year-old son Judah said everything before he said "Mama." This includes sentences like "It's good!" about squash. Certainly it means that he said "Daddy" before he said my name. So, things were going to be different this time around. Since she was born, I have been coaxing and coaching her to say "Mama." We've been in intensive training since she started babbling. How is it that she says "Dad" first? There's no justice in the world!

First Blogging Experience

Okay, so this is my first blog post on my brand new blog. I'm feeling a little technologically intimidated right at this moment. My philosophy about computers has always been that if I read, poke some buttons, and use some logic, eventually I'll figure out how to accomplish whatever I need to do. It is slightly frightening to think that anyone can log on to this website and witness my bumbling attempts at creating a blog. Oh, well! I have to start somewhere.
I am starting this blog for a few reasons...
1. I am a writer trying to better her craft and all writing is practice in voice, style, grammar, etc. So the more I write, the better writer I become.
2. An avid digi-scrapper, I need a forum to post and describe photos, scrapbook pages and stories about my two darlings so my far-away family can keep in touch.
3. It will be extremely cool to look back over the posts and see how I have grown as a person and how my family has grown.
So, we are off to the races...