A New Term

I am proud & honored to say that I've been chosen to serve once again for another term on the Master Chef Challenge Team at Cookin' Up Creations. My new term begins tomorrow & runs through December. I'm excited to be working with all the talented ladies on our new team.For the announcement of the new team....we had to write up a short bio & do a layout about ourselves with the theme of 'I Am'.....to be interpreted any way we chose. Of course I had to be different......I had these new graduation photos that Papaw had recently sent me & considering the fact that I just had one graduate from college & one from high school I did a layout showing everyone that I am One Proud Mama.



Today is the last day of our Birthday Crop at CUC....we've had a challenge-a-day posted for this past month & we have until the 5th to get all our projects done, uploaded into the gallery & linked. You need to have 15 projects completed to be in the grand prize drawing. I already have my 15 done, but I'd really love to be able to complete ALL the challenges for this month. I only have 5 more to do over the weekend....so I'm thinking it just might be do-able.

This challenge was to use a 'Dad inspired' song as a title or journaling on a masculine LO....along with some ribbon. We were supplied with a list of song titles to pick from & I chose this Alan Jackson song.....thought it was perfect for Jon getting his permit. Thanks Cindy for the title alphas!!

This challenge is pretty straight forward.....we were to do a Then & Now layout. However we chose to interpret that. I dug this old pic of Clay taken back when WE were in college & a more recent one of him last Christmas. Again....thanks Cindy for the chipboard title alphas. ;-)

This challenge was entitled 'Pin the Tail on the Donkey'.....we had to use some sort of pin on our LO.....safety pin, stick pin, etc. My little jewelry tag flipped when I scanned it, but it's attached to the twine with a little tiny safety pin. Sarah was almost 16 here & Chris was 4. They were jamming out to Amy Grant's 'Baby Baby'.

More old pics of Sarah & Chris having fun together. The challenge here was to use 'confetti'....or a repeated element over & over.....at least 20 of a certain element. I chose to do the little flower punchies.

This was a scraplift challenge......we were linked to Tammy's personal album & we got to choose one of her layouts to lift. I loved the squares & thought it lent a home-spun feel to the layout....perfect for this picture of the strawberry preserves that Clay & Ashley made.

Just wanted to point out the flower here.....made with some jean material I saved with the gray flower layered on top & the pearl trim behind (picked up at Good Will for .50)......it all ties in with the kids' jeans, Ashley's gray sweater & her pearls.

I just got done typing up descriptions for each of these layouts & then lost internet connection & poof....all my typing disappeared into cyber space. Grrrrrrr!! So, when I got back on, I just decided to save & post what was here.......no way I'm retyping all that again. :-P

Instilling the Desire to Learn

I'm still reading Stormie Omartian's The Power of a Praying Parent & today's chapter was entitled 'Instilling the Desire to Learn'. I'm praying this prayer over our upcoming school year......

For my kids at home:
'Lord, give them...a teachable spirit & an ability to learn. Instill in them a desire to attain knowledge...& may they have JOY in the process! I pray they will respect the wisdom of their parents & be willing to be taught by them.'

For Ashley:

'May she have the desire to be taught by the teachers You bring into her life. Handpick each one, Lord, & may they be godly people from whom she can easily learn. Take out of her life any teacher who would be an ungodly influence or create a bad learning experience. Let her find favor with her teachers & have good communication with them. Help her to excel in school & do well in any classes she may take. Make the pathways of learning smooth & not something with which she must strain & struggle. Connect everything in her brain the way it is supposed to be so that she has clarity of thought,organization, good memory & strong learning ability.'

'Lord, enable (all of them) to experience the joy of learning more about You & Your world.'

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'All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children.'

~Isaiah 54:13~

Knitted Dishcloths

First of all, I wanted to share this picture of the little tulip bowls that Ashley got today. It was the first time we've ever come across the smaller size of the little turquoise ones. They are just SO stinkin' cute.......& I LOVE the color! The other day when were at Sarah's house.....she was showing me her knitted dishcloths & I got a hankering to start working on my stash for Christmas gift-giving........
So I started this when I got home Tuesday evening & just finished it up today. She was also showing me her bamboo knitting needles & saying how much she liked them........so, since I had a 50% off coupon for ACM yesterday, I decided that was the perfect time to pick up a pair of my own to try out.

I just started a new dishcloth with my new bamboo needles & so far I really like them too! I think I'm 'hooked'. ;-)

Yard Saling

Clay worked this past Thursday & yesterday & was off today, so he had decided that it would be fun to get up & go to some yard sales. Michael & Alli didn't want to go, so Clay, Ashley, Jon & I headed out early this morning to see what we could find. We didn't have anything particular in mind at all.........Two of my favorite finds were this OLD teal colored fan that Clay found for $3! it is awesome & boy does it blow! It's mine for in the kitchen. ;-)Another favorite that I found is this old cast iron bundt pan for $1! I have a plain ole tube pan, but have always wanted a bundt pan, so I'm tickled. I also got a few Tupperware pieces at this same place....a set of measuring cups (like I already have)....I got them for a quarter for Ashley to put in her Hope Chest.


Found this nifty LU messenger bag for Ashley.....just $1

And also at the same place, Ashley & Clay were looking through a box of Tye Beanie Babies.....in like-new condition with all the tags still attached.....they were picking out a couple of cute ones & thinking out loud which ones Anna or Daniel might like....they were .50 each........but when the lady heard them talking, she came over & said she'd give them the whole box full for $4. Below are just SOME of what we got....Michael & Alli had already gone through & picked the ones they wanted when I came to take the picture.

Ashley also picked up a couple of those little tulip shaped bowls for a quarter apiece, Clay got some pool chemicals for just $3, I think & Jon came away with a Play Station 2, two game controllers.....a game thrown in for good measure & also 2 guitars to go with their Guitar Hero games they already had. AND, Clay & Jon we about to snatch up an awesome fitness center/weight training set for $50.......but they walked away to look at some other stuff & contemplate for a minute when some other guy came up & bought it out from under them. Oh well.........I have NO idea where we would've put it if we had gotten it. But it WAS a good deal. Anyway......we had fun & found a few little tresures along the way. Something different to do on a Saturday morning.

Maintaining Good Family Relationships

Seems like Maw & I are always talking about this & when I read this chapter in my Stormie Omartian book the other day, I just knew I wanted to share it here.

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'How many family relationships are left to chance because no one prays about them? Far too many, I suspect. It's sad to see families split apart & individual members have nothing to do with one another when they are grown. It's heartbreaking to think of that happening with our own children. Yet it doesn't have to be that way.

In Isaiah 58, God tells of all the wonderful things that will happen when we fast & pray. He says, "You shall raise up the foundations of many generations; & you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach." (Isaiah 58:12) God wants us to restore unity, to maintain the family bonds in the Lord, & to leave a spiritual inheritance of solidarity that can last for generations.'

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"Let us pursue the things which make for peace & the things by which on may edify another." (Romans 14: 19)

"Be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous." (I Peter 3:8)

"Behold, how good & pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity." (Psalm 133:1)

"...that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind...." (I Cor. 1:10)

Father's Day Art

Well, yesterday was Father's Day.....that's such a 'Duh' statement, I know! LOL! Clay had to work as usual & so we saved our celebrating until he got home yesterday evening. We fixed him a special supper....London Broil on the grill, baked potatoes & a big salad. Then Ashley baked him a home-made cherry pie for dessert made with the cherries they had picked at Mason's earlier in the spring. It was Sooooooooooooo Yummy! I ate the last little sliver that Clay had left for breakfast this morning. Shhhhh, don't tell. I don't usually eat such a bad-for-me breakfast but that last little sliver was just there & I didn't want to leave it for the kids to squabble over, ya know. So I got rid of it. ;-)This is the card that I made for Clay & below is a sampling of the kids' artwork they did for him. Alli's & Michael's both were such light sketchs that they didn't scan very well at all & I honestly just didn't feel like messing with them last night so will have to maybe photograph theirs & post them later. Any of you guys watch Pawn Stars on TV? If so, then you know who Chumlee is.


Jon drew this 'Bobble-Head' picture of Chumlee for Clay. Isn't it good? Jon had kept it a secret...not letting anyone else see it until he gave it to Clay. Needless to say, everyone got a big kick out of this!

Ashley's artwork is a wooden plaque coverd with scrapbook paper. She free-handed the tree & cut it out & glued it down. Then added all the little embellishments & details. The journaling is all different kinds of quotes about Fathers that she had looked up to use. It looks so much better even in real life.

Finally......

I'm back online again. We thought we were just fighting with internet connection problems late last week only to find out that our modem was dying. We finally got that figured out & the company said they would be sending us a new modem......then we had to wait. Finally got the modem in the mail yesterday & Clay was able to get us up & running last night. Now, I'm playing catch-up with emails, message boards, blogging, etc. I decided I would just load all the pics into one post & catch-up that way. Will go back later & add the scrappy stuff. So without further ado.... My little crocheted bunting for the 4th of July....hanging in my kitchen window.

I was outside one evening last week trying to take some sunset pics for the Photo Fun challenge & I took this one. As for the sunset pics......I took a progression of them

Going.....

I think this one is my favorite!

Going......

Gone!

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We had storms here Saturday & Sunday evening. Sunday....for whatever reason.....Jon & Alli decided they were going to put on the leftover rain ponchos that we had from graduation & go out & play in the rain. It didn't last long because it started thundering & I made them come in, but I still got them to pose for me. LOL!

More crocheted goodness. The girls are excited about going to the Harry Potter premier in July & had asked if I would make them scarves to wear. So, here ya go......two lovely scarves in the Gryffindor colors.

Now, Jon is wanting me to make him a tie in these colors. Was thinking of just doing a skinnier version of the scarves......remember, like those knitted ties that Clay used to wear back in college.
Some birthday cards that I made for one of the challenges at CUC. We were to make 4 BD cards & use at least 3 of the colors shown in the CUC header. I chose to use blue/green/yellow/white.

And lastly.....a scraplift challenge at CUC. I chose to lift my good friend, Wanda. Loved her LO & this is my take on it. I just love this pic of Jon & Alli......they have such fun together. And I also want to point out the photo mat here............I won a RAK over at My Scraps & More & Lisa M. sent along this adorable card with a sweet note inside. I loved the card & thought the colors worked perfectly with this LO & so I decided to use it as my photo mat. The perfect way to save her card & remember her sweet thoughtfulness every time I look at this page. ;-)

Little Things Challenge

Over at Scrapping the Everyday Miracles we were challenged to look at the Little Things in our lives that are everyday miracles from God. Something we maybe would've overlooked...something maybe we haven't looked at quite that way before...something simple that reminds us of how great our God is....it is seeing God in the simple things...everyday he has miracles all around us...we just need to take the time to look. So, let's focus on the Little Things!

The twist that went with this challenge was that we had to use computer journaling (which I NEVER do) & we had to use paint or mist in some way. I chose to use these pics that I took around our yard back in the early spring of all the beautiful flowers! They just seemed like the perfect 'everyday miracle' to me. And I chose to use the verse in Matthew chapter 6......'consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin; And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.'

Ready, Set, Blow!

Challenge #8.....we were to use at least 3 older products & a paper-piecing.Everything I used on this LO is a year old or MORE! The background paper, all the paper in the little hats.....they were all old Desgin Team papers....the title letters were cut with some OLD stencils & the journaling tag is OLD K & Co.

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The pics are a little dark, but oh well! They are of Jon's 16th BD party at Maw's house.

'Clever Title'

My mind's blank at the moment......seems like each day consists of a Photo Fun challenge & more scrappy challenges & I'm running out of clever title ideas. Maybe I need to ask for clever titles from 'Fatcat'......she's always good at that. ;-)Day #7 of the Photo Fun challenge was a 'High Angle'. So, I went out in the front yard yesterday afternoon & took this pic straight up into the big ole Maple tree. Love how it turned out.

Challenge #5 at CUC was entitled 'Over the Hill'. Now tell me, what colors come to mind when you think of 'Over the Hill'? Yep, you got it......Black & White. So, our challenge was to do a totally black & white LO.....B/W pics with B/W papers.....the twist was that we were allowed to use ONE other color. I don't usually do many B/W photos, but for some reason, I had this old Halloween pic in the back of one of my picture envelopes & I decided to use it. Had lots of cool vintagey Halloween paper to choose from & obviously I chose orange for my OTHER color. Just look how little Dillon, Alli & Cori were here. I think Alli was about 5.

Challenge #6 was a FREE DAY....to catch up on other challenges or just scrap for ourselves. Whatever we chose. So, I played 'catch-up'. Challenge #7, was a 3.6.5 challenge......get it....since BDs come once a year.....once every 365 days......we were to use 3 of one thing, 6 of something else & 5 of yet another. Didn't matter what we chose or how we combined it. On my layout I have THREE kids, holding THREE cats......SIX little cut-out circle embellishments & FIVE photos. These were also some OLD pics.....back in 2000. Just look how little my babies were then!

I Thought 'LOG' was a Color

Yesterday's Photo Fun prompt was 'Books'. So I decided to take a quick photo of the books Im reading right now.On top is a favorite devotional book for me right now. My secret prayer partner at church gave this to me for Mother's Day. I have finished reading 'The Power of a Praying Wife' & am almost done with 'The Power of Praying for Your Adult Children'. I'd definitely recomend this book to all wives/moms!!

Also in my stack is Wanda Brunstetter's 'On Her Own'.....which has kind of been set aside for the moment simply because it's mine & I need to read the library books first so I can get them back on time. The library books I have are by Shelley Shephard Gray. I finished up 'Hidden' the other day. It's the first in a series of three & I'm now reading the second one, 'Wanted'. I just happened upon her while browsing the shelves at the library the other week. Another really good author of Amish stories.

Challenge #4 at CUC was to do a birthday themed layout with one of the following as your title:

~Aged to Perfection

~Birthday Bash

~Birthday Boy/Girl

~Blow Out the Candles

~Celebrate!

~Hip, Hip Hooray....it's My Birthday!

~Look Who's (insert year)

~Oh Dear, Another Year

~Party Time!

~You Take the Cake

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These pics were from Chris' 22nd birthday & Maw's 71st.

This last layout was done for a 'menu' challenge. Before the crop started we each had to pick our 'menu'......for example, here is what I chose.....

Appetizer- shrimp with mango chutney & avacados

Salad- mixed green salad with goat cheese

Main course- Steak Diane

Side Dish- Parmesan mashed potatoes

Beverage- fresh brewed raspberry infused iced tea

Dessert-birthday cake for everyone!

Then, once the crop got underway....they posted what each menu item stood for & that's what we had to use to create our layout.......

appetizer- flowers or stars

salad- stitching (real/rub-on/pen-stitching)

main course-2-3 photos

side dish-ONLY 2 patterned papers

beverage- handwritten journaling

Dessert- we had several items to choose from & I chose paint.

I had been hanging onto these funny pics of Charlie snoozing amongst the firewood this past winter......with Elliot's quote from 'Open Season' in the back of my mind. 'I thought 'LOG' was a color.'

Photo Fun

So, here's my interpretation of the first 5 Photo Fun Challenges.......1. A self-portrait

2. Favorite shoes......I am so NOT a shoe girl.....I have shoes out of necessity, but I'm not one of those who just LOVES shopping for new shoes. And I'm not even really sure that have a 'Favorite' pair. I'm much more of a Barefoot kinda girl.

3. Hands...I decided to take a pic of MY hand....love Pop's mom's wedding ring. A special treasure for sure!

4. Clouds....yesterday we had NO clouds....totally blue sky & this morning....well, this is what we have this morning. Overcast with a 40% chance of a storm today.

5. Breakfast today.....actually I haven't eaten anything just yet, but figured I'd take a pic of my morning coffee. This is what I do first thing each morning & then I eat breakfast a little bit later.