Lady Liberty

Be Still, My Soul

Father, let the world just fade away
Let me feel your presence in this place
Lord, I've never been so weary
How I need to know you're near me
Father, let the world just fade away


Till I'm on my knees
Till my heart can sing


He is
He was
He always will be

Even when it feels like there is no one holding me
Be still, my soul
He is!

~Mark Schultz

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Love this song & definitely sums up my week......my soul has been still/at peace. And I know it's only by God's grace! Because of friends who have been praying.....& I just want to say a big THANK YOU! I also got the sweetest card today.....another one from Melanie & it was such a blessing. Made me smile.


2 Corinthians 12:9~ 'And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.'

This is why we do what we are doing.........

Below is just one of the photo-mantages from the Japan Alive article- our blankets have not been in vain..........2 Brave Women

National Scrapbooking Day

National Scrapbooking Day was this past Saturday & in honor of that we had a special crop over at Cookin' Up Creations to celebrate.....lots of games, challenges, etc. Considering all that I have going on in my life right now, I was really pleased that I was able to get a handful of layouts done. Thought I'd share them with you here.

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The page below...of the girls right after church in their Easter dresses.........we were challenged to use some kind of 'spring' punch for embellishments to our LO. I knew right off, that this Martha Stewart butterfly punch would be the perfect accent to this springtime page.
There was a layout in a Scrapbooks etc. magazine with the coolest little tree embellishment & we were challenged to copy that tree on a LO. Just so happened that I had the perfect pictures of our newly planted orchard & so the tree worked out just right on this page! This layout of Ashley & Peaches was done for the challenge to use at least one handmade flower on our page. I used an assortment of different flowers....mostly some rub-ons that I dug out of my stash, but I also made a little torn circl flower to add as the center of the largest rub-on flower.

The layout below of Alli & Rocky was done for a 'BINGO' challenge. We had to choose 4 elements from a Bingo-type card to use on our LOs. The 4 elements that I chose were: yellow, 2 punches(small circles for the title & butterfly punches which I added AFTER I had scanned this), journaling spot & a stamped title.

In the last layout I was able to complete, we were challenged to use the spring colors of green, orange & blue/turquoise.

The dumb scanner kind of cut off the top of this last LO. Not really sure why, but anyway it was ok......just a little border strip across the top, so no biggy.

Jersey Bound

I took Clay to the airport in Charlottesville this morning so he could pick up his rental car. He was headed to New Jersey for a Pest Control seminar for work. From his motel, he could see right across the river to New York City. So, of course he HAD to do some sight-seeing while there.

He sent me these two pics of the Chrysler Building that he took with his phone. He started off in a not-so-good part of town, but once he got to Time Square, he was a happy camper! He was so giddy, walking & talking to me & taking pictures right & left. Can't wait to see the rest of the pics he took with the camera when he gets back to his room & sends them to me.

Happy Mother's Day!

I woke up to a nice surprise this morning. When I came downstairs from getting my shower, Ashley was already in the kitchen baking me homemade berry muffins for breakfast. The kitchen was clean & the coffee was going. What a sweetheart! Jon stayed up way too late last night painting this for me. Didn't he do an awesome job?!

Gail gave Jon this beautiful Begonia the other day so he could give it to me for Mother's Day. So thoughtful of her!

Ashley also crocheted me this adorable owl.

After church, we met Chris & Ashley at Maw's house for Mother's Day lunch. Sad that Sarah & her family couldn't join us.

I am so blessed!!

Kyoyu Kyoyu-Share

Remember awhile back when I said one of the Hooky blogs I visit was gathering Granny Squares & sewing them into blankets to send to Japan. Well, I did up a stack & sent them off to her. You can check out all the lovely squares & blankets here at Kyoyu Kyoyu-Share.

After the first batch of blankets arrived in Japan & were handed out, they sent back a thank you note & this photo of this precious little girl who received a new blanket. They said she carried it around everywhere & would not let go of it!

And here's a photo of my granny squares all finished & done up as a blanket for some sweet little person over in Japan. What a warm fuzzy feeling it gives me inside just to think that in some small way I was able to share Jesus' love with someone across the world.

I Don't Do Change Well.............

Speaking of changes.....the reality of having TWO kids graduating was really hitting me this past week & I had asked some of y'all to pray for me. Well, what a pleasant surprise to come home from town yesterday & find this sweet card waiting for me........inside it simply says, 'So I prayed for you today'. It's from my good friend, Melanie who goes to church with me. Isn't she just THE best?! Totally made my day. Love you, Melanie!!

More change.........as many of you know, Chris has been without a car for several weeks now. Clay & Jon have been tinkering on it every chance they get, but the final consensus is that it's pretty much toast!
So, of course being the sappy-sentimental mom that I am, I HAD to take some pictures. Mason has bought Chris' car & the old van that we had to take & sell for scrap metal. Jon has had a blast stripping both vehicles of any useful parts before letting them go.



Below, Clay had to roll the car backwards to get it headed down the drive....

and since the car doesn't run anymore, Mason had to give him a gentle push-off with the tractor. See the tail-end of the Subaru in the edge of the picture below?

Wish I had the video camera......it was so funny watching Mason (on the tractor) pushing Clay in the Subaru (he was there just to steer) up the road to his house. 'You might be a redneck if.............' LOL!

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Little Mister Rocky loves Daddy to death! And of course Clay spoils the heck out of him.......as seen below..........

Just look at that spoiled baby snoozing in Daddy's arms!

Not Much....

going on around here these last few days. Love this little boquet of flowers that Alli picked for my kitchen table. Buttercups, Mock Orange & a Poppy or two. The Mock Orange smells SO good & always makes me think of Aunt Vada....I know she loves those so much.
This was found out on my front porch today. Any of you American Idol fans will understand. Michael did this to tease Alli. It's a battle between the boys & Alli with the screen saver on my computer......every time I come in here it's something different. The boys have all kinds of Scotty pictures they put up there for Alli & she comes along & switches the background to Carrie Underwood or Taylor Swift. It's so funny........quite the competition between them!

Little Treasures

Yep, this is why I named my blog what I did......it's the 'Little Treasures' in this life that make it so sweet!! Long story, but I had to take Clay to work today, so since I was already in town, I figured I'd go ahead by Maw's house & drop off some of the grad party stuff that I have so far. Trying my best to get stuff together/organized ahead of time. After dropping stuff off at her house, I decided I would treat myself to lunch at Subway. See, I've been using my points card for quite a while now & hadn't yet actually USED any of the points I had accumulated, so........I got a 6 inch sub with a drink for FREE! Now, that's the kind of little treasures I'm talking about!

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The other day on a Hooky blog, we had been talking about WHERE we crochet.....inside, watching TV, outside, in public places, while riding/traveling, waiting at Dr. appointments, etc. And also we were talking about other folks' comments about our hookiness when we were out & about. Well, I had one of these experiences today. Of course I had my hexes with me to work on in the van while Clay drove to town. He had run through McDonald's drive-thru to pick himself up some lunch before heading to work & as we pulled up to the window, the girl inside started oohing & aaaahhing over my hexes. Telling me how beautiful it was, etc. She handed Clay his food & asked me if I ever did stuff for other people. I said sometimes, but I really just enjoyed doing it....very relaxing. Well, she wanted to know if I'd make something for her & she'd pay me! LOL! Someone I didn't even know! It was really weird & Clay had to go.......not to mention the fact that we were holding up the drive-thru line. But anyways.......I still thought that was really cool.....to have this young girl really appreciating my hookiness. Another little treasure in my day today!

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And when I sat down here this evening to put pics on the computer, I found a few more little treasures. Alli had taken my camera outside the other day & taken these lovely pics of the flowers in our yard.

Now, do I call these next photos a little treasure or not? Of course I do!! Anyone with boys can appreciate these next pics! Boys are definitely a different kind of treasure, that's for sure.

Michael was plundering last night & found this crazy looking camo mask & an old coat. Kinda scarey, huh?!


Then he snuck outside without us realizing it......came around to the living room window, put his hands up on the screen & just stood there until we saw him. Did I mention scarey?! Rocky was going NUTS...barking his head off.....trying to hop up on the back of the couch to save us all from this crazy lunatic that was outside. It was so funny! He's such a ferocious little guard doggie.

And one last treasure that I'm working on now. Anyone care to guess what this is going to be?

'Stronger'

Hey, heard you were up all night
Thinking about how your world ain't right
And you wonder if things will ever get better
And you're asking WHY is it always raining on you
When all you want is just a little good news
Instead of standing there stuck out in the weather


Oh, don't hang your head
It's gonna end
God's right there
Even if it's hard to see Him
I promise you that He still cares


When the waves are taking you under
Hold on just a little bit longer
He knows that this is gonna make you stronger, stronger
The pain ain't gonna last forever
And things can only get better
Believe me
This is gonna make you stronger!

~~Mandisa