Judah's Debut Performance

So, last night was Judah's very first church kids' choir performance. They did a musical called A KING IS COMING TO TOWN. All of the kids were fabulous and sooo cute!




This is Judah when the actors were talking. :-)

I'm TWO!

I'm TWO!


I'm PRETTY!


Mommy and Daddy's favorite!

Pumpkin Carving

Mike is the master carver. He plots and plans. He lays out the design on the pumpkins and assures they are the perfect size.

I clean to the chorus of "Ewww, gross!" all around me. Judah thought he wanted to try cleaning out the pumpkin this year, but his contribution was to barely hold the end of the long-handled spoon for a couple of scoops.

Jazz was fascinated with the whole process. What are these strange orange things?

I like it! I really like it!

Our masterpieces! Mike carved the ship and the Jack O'Lantern with the spider for Judah. I carved the Elmo for Jazz. Everyone was delighted.

Great is Thy Faithfulness...

Great is Thy faithfulness,
Great is Thy faithfulness,
morning by morning, new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand has provided.
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.

I've been humming this song off and on all week long. Those of you that know us know that we have been between jobs for almost 3 months now. Nothing earth-shattering has happened to change that reality, but I have become so aware of the reality that my heavenly Father is more than capable of (and chooses to) take care of me. He is faithful, steadfast, unchanging AND He gives good gifts to His children (James 1:17). All I need or will ever need comes from His hand. He may send it through channels of blessing so that they may also be blessed, but He is my Source.
At the beginning of this season, Mike's mom gave us a teaching CD by a pastor in Branson, MO named Keith Moore and since then we have gotten a hold of several of his other teachings. One in particular is called Forward in Faith and can be downloaded for FREE (as can ALL of his teaching series) at his ministry website: HERE. The scripture in that teaching has just come alive for me. In fact, I think that I have never been more aware of how living and active God's word is. It seems that every time I open the Bible I see a verse that I have been reading my entire life, but somehow God opens my eyes to new depths of knowledge. The greatest part is that I know there are still untold depths to delve into. Every morning that I open God's word, new mercies I see.

Reflections...

I peeking back at some of my blog entries. I came across this one from last year and realized that it exactly captures some of the things I have been thinking about my wonderful Texas family.

Enjoy!
THANKFUL FOR...

Forest Park Balloon Glow

I used the GoDigitalScrapbooking.com July Collab kit for these pages.

Fashion Girl

So I went through all the kids' clothes today and packed up the smaller sizes to pass on to others. Then I pulled out the clothes that have been handed down to us. That would be when Jazz joined in the fun... She thought it was great fun to take an item to "Bubby" and get him to help her put it on. She paraded around the house in this outfit for about 45 minutes. Judah turned to me very seriously and asked, "When did Jazzy become a fashion girl?"



I don't know, Judah. I just don't know.

Milestone Moment

So, I had my first real conversation with Jasmine today. You know, where she answered me instead of imitating me. AND, I could understand what she said.
Here's how it went down...

I asked her to bring me a diaper so I could change her. She ran to her diaper hanger and brought one to me.
"You're my good girl!" I said.
"Goo-Girl."
"That's right! You are a good girl!"
"I know." (Very matter-of-factly.)
"You know?"
"Uh. (which in Jasminese means "Yes") Gaw-Gaw"
"Gaw-Gaw (grandma) told you that you were a good girl?"
"Yesh."
At this point she grinned at me with extreme pride. I have to admit, I was pretty proud too.

Any Eaters out there?

I love to follow Grace Upon Grace, the blog of a girl I knew when I was a child. She is sooo much better at keeping up with blogging than I am. And, her entries are quirky and thought-provoking.
Anyway, a while back she posted that she was reading a book by Michael Pollan called In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto.

I checked it out from the library and have been reading it. Wow! Pollan expresses his ideas so well that you don't feel like you are reading a book about how to eat. It's a fascinating read. I haven't dumped all of the processed food out of our pantry yet (my family would NOT rise and call me blessed for that move), but I have really started thinking about what I am putting in my mouth and in my kids' mouths. However, it's not really a worried, stressed out thinking about it. I am learning to slow down and savor each bite. I also have made a view more choices for whole foods. You know, those ones God designed, instead of scientist's copies.

Anyway, I was thinking about this today and wondered how many other people had been pondering their food choices. Have any of you read this book?

I thought I would share a page I just made. I was so happy with the way this pic turned out after snapping it while sitting in traffic on the bridge one day, I had to do something with it! Enjoy!



I used the fabulous collab kit Once Upon A Time: Available HERE!

Fun contest...

All my digital scrapbooking friends out there, take note: Susan Godfrey is having an amazing giveaway. Check out her blog HERE!

Reflections on this moment in my life...

"Planted in the house of the Lord; They will flourish in the courts of our God."
--Psalm 92:13

I was reading in the Psalms today and I vaguely remembered this scripture. Something about it was teasing the edge of my mind, and I couldn't settle down until I found the verse and read it. God is so good. His word is living and active. Recently, positions at our church had to be cut because of budget reasons. My husband's job was one of those. We were totally surprised.
For half a day we sat stunned and in a daze, staring at our bibles. Again and again, we felt a phrase in our hearts, "Your paycheck is not your income. God is the provision for your life." (not original to me, I think it was from a Phil Stern message way back) Amazingly, supernaturally really, we have peace. Not just an uneasy calm and pretended contentment. True peace. Even excitement about what God wants to do next.
It's like when you are a kid about to go on a trip. Too excited to sleep.
Two words from the scripture above jumped out at me. Planted. Flourish.
God has a place to plant us. He was not surprised by this. He knew and was smiling because He could see the awesome blessing that would come in the future. He envisioned the growth in us in the time of waiting. He pictured the stories we will tell our children and theirs about the faithfulness of our God. He was thinking about the best gift He could give us as our Daddy God. The gift of a life FLOURISHING in His house.

I created these pages using Andrea Gold's adorable kit "Snow Fun"
Fonts: Snap ITC, Smiley Monster

Debra's new kit Sweet Peppermint Play is whimsical and so lovely. Check it out here!
Fonts: Pristina, Ribbon Happy

I skipped a week because I got this new kit called Guga Dada by Maria and it really didn't fit Judah birthday pics but was great for these. Check out the kit here!
Fonts: Pea Zobrist, Perpetua Titlist, and Rhino Dino

P365

I created these using Doggone page kit by Snowflake Beach Designs. You can find it HERE!
Fonts: Stencil, Pea Zobrist, Too Many Secrets

Playing Some More Catch Up with Project 365...

I used a gorgeous kit by Doreen Stolz called Lilac Bouquet to create these pages. Get it HERE!
Fonts: Rage, Sandals

Still trying to catch up...

Created using the June Collab kit at www.godigitalscrapbooking.com
Fonts: Peabody, Pea YarYar, Prissy Frat Boy

Finally Finishing April...

Created using My Sock Monkey by Scrapalooza - Available HERE!

P365 Week 15

Soooo far behind -- I will not even start making excuses...



Created using Majula's Cherry Cake kit- Get it HERE at GDS!




Created using Andrea Gold's Euphoria page kit - Available HERE at www.godigitalscrapbooking.com!

Growing Garden

Here is my first garden planting this year. I can't believe how well it's done! I'm not exactly known for my green thumb. The rabbits have not even touched my beautiful lettuce - Yippee!

My only problem now is that I don't know when to harvest collard greens and red cabbage. OR how to cook them. Yikes! I need to call my Dad!

Happy Mother's Day!

So my husband is wonderful! He got me added memory so I can scrapbook faster, flowers, a new stainless steel water bottle. He also stopped at a roadside stand on the way home from church because he saw tomatoes and knew I would like them. Yea!
Judah hugged me, gave me a kiss and said, "That's my Mother's Day gift for you, Mama, do you like it?"
I just about melted. What a nice day!

And to end a lovely mom's day, I changed my look cause I've been getting bored. What do you think?

So grateful...

I am so grateful to be involved at a church where pastors are not afraid to say the tough stuff. I was so blessed. convicted. challenged. shaken awake by Jim's sermon this weekend. I have never truly understood what being the bride of Christ was all about. Now I have an inkling.
I am studying in 1 John right now and I am amazed at how God is speaking the same things to me through so many different mouthpieces. "Prepare yourself. Purify yourself. Be ready. Get your kids ready." Serious stuff. Not always fun to face our faults and shortcomings. But coming to God as a husband and not a master -- so worth it!
I love you, Jesus! Help me to love you more and to pass that on to Judah and Jazz.

BTW, if you have missed the "Made For God" series at Destiny, click here to listen online.

Slowly but surely catching up...

Project 365 week 14




I used a fabulous kit (Summer Garden: The Essentials) by Dancing Princess Designs. I can't wait to make lots more pages with it!
http://www.godigitalscrapbooking.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_dnld_info&cPath=29_115&products_id=3906
Fonts: stamPETE, Pea Yar Yar

Playing Catch Up with Project 365...

I used Andrea Gold's template 54 sides a and b from Template Grab Bag#13 and her page kit Possibilities. Available at www.godigitalscrapbooking.com
Fonts: Pea Bailey and Lucida Sans Typewriter
The close up pics of the kids are taken by J.C. Penney's portrait studio.

P365 week 12

I used a template set from Template Grab Bag #13 and Captivating page kit, both by Andrea Gold.
Here are the links to my galleries with full credits: GDS, DST, MSA

Supreme Team VII

www.godigitalscrapbooking.com just had their next supreme team contest and I am on this team again! Yea!
Here are my entries into the 4 rounds of the contest...

ROUND 1:

Kit: Your Day by Dani Alencar

ROUND 2:

Kit: Waiting for You by Majula

ROUND 3:

Kit: Kick Back and Relax by One Memory At A Time; WordArt: Relax by JAB designs

ROUND 4:

Kit: My Heart Sings by Dancing Princess Designs

P365, week 10 & 11

Kit: Action This Day by Bianca Argollo, Font: Pea Angedawn




Kit: Discover by Andrea Gold, Font: Pea Angedawn