Art Journal

Art Journaling week at Balzer Designs..................Check it out! I'm so excited!!

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

I'm not sure what got Clay started on it....some commercial, I think......but he kept saying since Ashley & Jon had never seen this movie before that we needed to watch it last night. Just had to share a few of my favorite quotes! ;-)

~'Mrs. Hogwallop up and R-U-N-N-O-F-T!'

~'Well, I'll be a sonofabitch.....Delmar's been saved!'

~'I've spoken my piece & counted to three.'

~'I slaughtered this horse last Tuesday. I think she's startin' to turn.'

Love this movie! Now if I could find the soundtrack......I'm dying to listen to the music!

Conversation with God

'There is not in this world a kind of life more sweet & delightful than that of a continual conversation with God!' ~~Brother Lawrence

Laundry Detergent Recipe

Have any of you guys ever tried this before & how do you like it? I've heard about it before but never tried it. My friend, Jules, was just telling me that she had made her first batch. She's done two loads of laundry so far & says she LOVES it! Curious to hear everyone's comments!


•3.1 oz bar Ivory soap (Ivory is chosen because it's all natural. You may use a soap of your choice) Fels-Naptha soap is also a good choice of soap to use. Found in the laundry soap department.
•1 cup 20 Mule Team Borax
•½ cup Arm & Hammer Washing Soda
•Water

Tools:
•5 Gallon container
•Knife
•Pot large enough to hold 5 cups of water
•Long stirring stick/spoon (for 5 gallon container)

Instructions:
Shave the soap into small strips and place in the pot with 5 cups of water. Bring the water just shy of a boil and stir until the soap is completely melted. When the soap is just about melted, pour 3 gallons of hot water into the 5-gallon container and let it sit until the soap in the pot is totally melted. Once all of the soap shavings are melted, pour the mixture into the 5-gallon container and stir.

Once the soap and water are thoroughly stirred, add the ½ cup pf washing soda and stir until dissolved. Once the washing soda is dissolved, pour in the cup of borax and stir again until dissolved.

Optional: Essential Oils for fragrance. If you like fragrant detergent, now is when you can add a few drops of your favorite essential oils.use 1/4 cup per load, will go through 110.5 loads!

**Make sure you get Arm & Hammer WASHING soda, not detergent or just soda!

Blog Candy!

Be sure to check out this Blog Candy over at Paper, Ink, Color--designs by Chrissy L.

Fun Summer Days

What a nice surprise to get out of the van yesterday at church & see Ella & the kids pull up beside us! The kids were SO tickled!! Afterward Cori ended up coming home with us to spend the night. The girls had a great time together.Just a QUICK shot of Rocky in Ashley's purse. Isn't he just the cutest little traveling partner?! Not that we've actually taken him anywhere yet....but the kids would LOVE to.
Cori, Alli & Ashley had a fun time in the pool. Alli & Cori stayed in there ALL afternoon!

In the middle of a painting session. I'm not sure exactly when it turned into not just FINGER painting, but HAND painting...LOL....but I think they had fun. After this they had popcorn while watching 'Another Cinderella Story.'

Then today we headed out.....us girls....to go see 'Letters to Juliet' at the dollar theater. It was such a good movie. Definitely one I'd watch again. The scenery was just gorgeous! Ella met us afterwards & picked Cori up. Then Ashley, Alli & I ran by McDs for a treat. Ashley got an iced coffee & I had two FREE coupons for those yummy mocha frappes. ;-) After that we stopped by Good Will on the way home. Ashley wanted to check out the book section. We ended up with 2 more Harry Potter books (#3 & 4), a Tracie Peterson book, The Scarlet Pimpernel & one of the Anne of Green Gables books. I love days like this. To think.....all this fun for UNDER $10! Can't beat that at all!!! For supper this evening Ashley & I fixed chicken parmesan......I tell ya, it was the best we've made so far! Now, to round off this fun day Chris, Ashley, Jon & I are gonna finish watching 'It' when the others go to bed. Fun Summer Days!!!

Kentucky Mission's Trip

OK, here are a just a few....a VERY few....of Ashley's pics that she took while on her trip.Ashley, Cassady & 'Woodford'.....they have a new love for Woody these days. ;-)
Ashley, Emily, Erika & Cassady

downtown Whitesburg......I love it! Reminds me of Mayberry.

Below are some of the projects they worked on as part of the SWAP program.

Ashley & some of the other girls planted flowers around the church there just to brighten things up a bit.

Seth & Jon working hard building a deck!

A front porch that they built for another home.

The youth rally they held that Friday night.

Ashley with the band memebers of 'Our Last Oath'
Zach, Cody, Ashley, Jake & Seth

On Saturday they hiked up to Bad Branch Falls.....

The guys.....just being GUYS! LOL!!

Jerry, Ashley & Ross

The group on Sunday just before loading up & heading back home. They had such an awesome time!! Thanks SO much to everyone who helped to make this trip possible!!

More Precious than jewels.......

A friend of mine that I went to college with......she & her hubby along with both sets of parents run a christian camp in CA called Lassen Pines Christian Camp. Anyways......they had a special 'girly' dinner one night & all the girls got these darling Tshirts. I commented how cute their shirts were & how I'd love to have one........well, this is what I found waiting for me today when I came home from town.


Thank you SO much, Inger! You are just the sweetest!! I can't wait to wear my new shirt......will think about you & your lovely family whenever I do. Looking forward to hugging your neck in person here in a few days.

Just a random pic of Jon & Cassady that I snagged......taken at the youth group cookout the other night at Sandi & Jerry Martin's house.

Some of my recent Scrappy-ness

I've found a new blog that I've really been enjoying here lately......check it out over in my blog list.....Balzer Designs. She is so artsy & very talented. Anyway, my layout below was inspired by some of her creations. I love how she uses all the hand-drawn lettering on her LOs.This was the youth group right before they loaded up & headed out to Kentucky. Ephesians 3:20 was their theme verse for the trip.

Ashley, the day she finally got her learner's permit. The combination of patterned papers here come from a pad I picked up at Walmart.....the colors & patterns are just so fun & summery! I cut the rainbow & clouds from a different paper that I picked up at Michaels....added some buttons, hand-stitching & a little glitter glue......Oh and another hand-drawn title. ;-)

I'm totally enjoying just 'free-styling' it here recently with my scrapping.....no sketches, no magazine ideas or challenges.......just playing with my stuff....scrapping the pics that I want with the stories that I want to go with them. Here I took two identical papers & used one for the base & the other I cut out some of the patterns & layered them over the base piece & used pop dots to elevate & give some dimension. I also used paint to kind of 'grunge up' the look......painted the chipboard letters, splattered white paint on the background & even painted the edges of my pictures. These are just a few random pics that Alli took one night while she & Michael were upstairs goofing around. These kinds of pics usually turn out to be some of my favorite memories.....just the silly CRAZY everyday stuff.

Just a fun layout of Alli & Cori.....Alli took the pic herself. I got the idea for the diamond mosaic background from one of the blogs I read.......just can't remember whose right now......so if it was yours please leave me a comment so I can give credit for the idea........I just made a sketch in my notebook & forgot to jot down the blog like I usually do. I love how this turned out....so pretty & girly!

Pics from our 10 Year Anniversary celebration at Calvary Chapel Amherst. Some more 'free-styling' here......I used just ONE piece of double-sided patterned paper for this layout. I was able to cut out the 'laugh, dance...' words that go up the side, the flowers & little birdie from the flip-side of the paper. Added a little watered down white acrylic paint to make a white wash for the background...added all my little cut-outs, hand-cut a big '10' & did my journaling.....super easy!

And lastly, pics from back in the fall of the boys stacking firewood. This was another case of using just ONE piece of double-sided patterned paper...and one little 'flip notes' from Pink Paislee that I cut in half....added my journaling & a little gold glitter glue & voila!

Happy 13th!

Well, I was going to play catch up on a bunch of pictures tonight while my 'puter is working, but it's still being kind of slow, so I'll settle for doing a few at a time. Michael celebrated his 13th birthday on July 24.....and as most of you know he got a Pomeranian puppy for his birthday! He said this was THE BEST birthday gift ever!!Michael & Rocky
After church on the 25th, we went over to maw's for a BD cook-out. Here's Michael with his BD cupcake. He had a chocolate layer cake at home. ;-)

Rocky posing for me in the front yard.

Now isn't that just the cutest little tush you've ever seen?!All tuckered out & ready for bed.

I ran across these awesome little card packs in the dollar bin at AC Moore the other day. 10 blank cards with envies for $1! I got a pack of circle shaped ones, square ones & these with the little peek-a-boo window in them.

I made this card for a couple at church who just celebrated their anniversary. I really like how it turned out.

Be Anxious for Nothing!

I experienced what I call another 'Pastor Steve Moment' yesterday........let me back up & explain. Back in June, Pastor Steve preached on faith & how our first reaction shouldn't be to worry or fret, but to go to God.....'Be anxious for nothing, but let your requests be made known to God.' He also encouraged us to journal about our needs & how God has answered our prayers, provided for us, given us miracles. etc. He said we forget so easily & it's good to be able to look back & see how God's provided in the past & to KNOW the He will provide for our needs NOW. So......I'm journaling this now, so I can look back & see how God provided. Chris noticed Sunday night when he got home from work that there was a discrepancy on his LU account saying he owed ALOT more than he should have. When he went out of here yesterday to go straighten it out I just prayed that God would go before him & take care of everything. He's been there for us in the past & I KNEW He hadn't brought Chris this far--to his senior year--to let him down. Believe it or not I didn't feel terribly stressed out like I sometimes can......I just kept praying & praising......I put the praise music on & sang along....because the joy of the Lord is our strength! Needless to say I was doing 'the Happy Dance' when Chris got home & told me everything was taken care of. It had been something to do with summer school, but would correct itself on his school account & for him not to worry. How awesome is that?! God is so faithful!!!

I Am Free!

Please forgive me for sharing yet more song lyrics......I'm on a roll.....LOL! I was reading a new blog last night.....check it out over to the left there....Joy N Jesus.......& was reading where she was celebrating the 4th & all our freedoms & I got this song by the Newsboys stuck in my head. We sing this at church alot & I love it!





Through You the blind will see
Through You the mute will sing
Through You the dead will rise
Through You all hearts will praise
Through You the darkness flees
Through You my heart screams, I am free!


I am free to run
(I am free to run)
I am free to dance
(I am free to dance)
I am free to live for you
(I am free to live for you)
I am free
(I am free)


Chorus:
I am free
I am free
I am free to run
(I am free to run)
I am free to dance
(I am free to dance)
I am free to live for you
(I am free to live for you)
I am free
(I am free)
Yes I am free

Better Than a Hallelujah

God loves a lullaby
In a mothers tears in the dead of night
Better than a Hallelujah sometimes.
God loves a drunkards cry,
The soldiers plea not to let him die
Better than a Hallelujah sometimes.



We pour out our miseries
God just hears a melody
Beautiful the mess we are
The honest cries of breaking hearts
Are better than a Hallelujah



The woman holding on for life,
The dying man giving up the fight
Are better than a Hallelujah sometimes
The tears of shame for what's been done,
The silence when the words won't come
Are better than a Hallelujah sometimes.



~Amy Grant

the Tin Man

It's times like these
I wish I were a tin man
You could hurt me all you wanted
And I'd never even know
I'd give anything just to be the tin man
And I wouldn't have a heart and I wouldn't need a soul


~Kenny Chesney

Barn Quilts

Where the broad sides of country barns once provided canvases for tobacco advertisements & notices that the circus was coming to town, today those barns are likely to sport colorful reproductions of quilt squares. Painted in bold color, these geometric designs that mimic time-honored quilt squares were the brainchild of Donna Sue Groves of the Ohio Arts Council. In 2001 she started the idea with a barn quilt trail in Adams County, Ohio. Now many communities are getting together to adorn groups of barns with quilt panels & promoting them as public art.

I had never heard of this before.....but my friend, Patti posted these pics on my scrapping board....she & her friend went around looking for Barn Quilts yesterday & these are some of the treasures they found. I'm totally in love with the idea & think I need to do one of these for our buildings out here. I can just see one on the back of Uncle Richard's building so it can be seen from the road. And Sandee.......YOU definitely need one of these!

Some Favorite Quotes

Just thought I'd share some of my favorite quotes from some recent books that I've read.



A Slender Thread ~by Tracie Peterson
'Mattie laughed....."Child, I always expect miracles. It's the only way to get through life!" '



A Quilter's Holiday ~by Jennifer Chiaverini
' The Lord provides...but He's also mighty keen on self-reliance.'

'We're all very busy, but we should never become too preoccupied with our own concerns to help those in need.'


Take Four ~by Karen Kingsbury
' Her parents had often said money & fame would never bring them joy. She could hear her dad telling them true joy could only come from having a passion for the work they'd do when they grew up, from living within their means, and ~~even more~~ from the people they surrounded themselves with.'


In the Karen Kingsbury books the kids participate in CKT (Christian Kid's theater) & their 'theme song' through out the books is Great is Thy Faithfulness.

'The Lord's...compassions...are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.' ~Lamentations 3:22-23

Great is thy faithfulness
O God my Father
There is no shadow of turning with Thee
Thou changest not
Thy compassions they fail not
As Thou hast been
Thou forever wilt be.


Pardon for sin & a peace that endureth
Thy own dear presence to cheer & to guide
Strength for today & bright hope for tomorrow
Blessings all mine
With ten thousand beside!


Great is thy faithfulness
Great is thy faithfulness
Morning by morning new mercies I see
All I have needed
Thy hand hath provided
Great is thy faithfulness
Lord unto me!

Amazing......

Let's see.....first of all I have another TEEN-AGER in the house now. Michael celebrated his 13th birthday on Saturday. We started our celebrating Friday evening by getting Vitos pizza for supper. Saturday morning we had our usual celebratory cinnamon buns & coffee for breakfast & Michael opened his gifts. He got some new shirts, a word find puzzle book, a big ole bottle of Green Tea & some dive rings for the pool. He also got money because he really couldn't decide if he wanted a new bike or a dog! Yep.....all the kids (& Clay too) have been wanting a little indoor doggy for some time now. They are always perusing the Buck Saver & Thrifty Nickel papers....so we decided we'd give him money & then we could go from there...whether it was bike shopping or dog shopping. LOL Saturday, after lunch we all played in the pool for awhile......had to try out those new dive rings, ya know. ;-) Then when Clay got home from work he took the boys to go look at a little Pomeranian puppy he had found. I told them NOT to do anything on a whim.....because for one thing I was super tired that night & just did NOT feel like dealing with a new puppy along with trying to get everything together for our party at maw's on Sunday....not to mention the fact that we would be gone all day Sunday. BUT....anyone who knows Clay knows he is the King of 'Spur-of-the Moment' & as you can guess......they came home with the cutest little Pom puppy you have ever seen!! They said they couldn't help it.....when the guy found out it was Michael's 13th birthday & this was going to be his present, he came down on the price & as they say, the rest is history. Michael says it's THE BEST birthday gift he's ever gotten so I guess that makes it all worthwhile! ;-)


Yesterday, the whole service at church was dedicated to the teens sharing about their recent trip to Kentucky. It was an amazing time! Every single one of the kids & adults that had gone got up & shared. I was so proud of my kids...they did an amazing job of sharing their hearts! All of the kids did......we really have a super group of young people at our church! I am so blessed that my kids are able to be a part of a group like this!! After church, we all headed over to Maw's house for a cook-out birthday celebration for Michael. Ella & kids were there & Sarah & kids came down to have cake & icecream with us! We still have a little bit of celebrating to do for Michael's birthday.....we like to KEEP celebrating......he asked for BBQ ribs for his BD dinner, but since Clay was working over the weekend, we planned to do that on a night when he would be home....so we'll probably do that tomorrow night. **** will add pics as soon as I can get back on MY computer again.****

Home again, Home again.....

The kids rolled into the church parking lot about 7:30pm Sunday evening & I tell ya what......they talked NON-STOP all the rest of the evening. They were so pumped about their trip! We spent the rest of night looking at all of Ashley's 300 pics that she took & also watching the video footage that Jon taped.


They went claiming these two verses as kind of the theme for their trip. The first one....Matt. 20:28- the son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister (or serve). The second one....Eph. 3:20- Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think....And according to Pastor Steve, that last verse turned out to be SO true......that God moved & worked during their days there in ways beyond what they ever could have imagined!


They were able to work with the SWAP program & build two decks & a porch during the two days that they worked on this project. They also handed out flyers inviting the community kids out to Bible School next week at Harvest Mountain Baptist Church (the church where they stayed). They delivered gift bags to community folks & handed out $500 worth of Walmart gift cards. They were able to tear down an old shed type building behind the church & also plant flowers out front just to help bring some color & spruce things up a bit. Friday night, they had a youth rally & Our Last Oath played (a band made up of guys from our church) & Pastor Steve spoke. The Holy Spirit really moved that night.....folks got saved & no one wanted to leave. On Saturday, they hiked about a mile up to Bad Branch Falls & once they were up there they had a time of sharing...in particular about how to keep the fire burning in their hearts that had started the night before at the youth rally & they also pulled out the guitar & sang some praise songs.......they even drew a small crowd up there of others that were just out hiking & stopped to see what was going on. Sunday morning was church there at Harvest Mountain & then they loaded up & headed home.


This coming Sunday Pastor Steve is basically giving over the service for them all (grown-ups & teens alike) to share about their experiences in KY. They will be putting together a video this week of everyone's photos to share also. I'm sure that will be an awesome service.

Prayers for our Hubbies

Dear Lord,
I pray for my husband from head to toe.......

~His Head- That he will look to you as Lord of his life. (I Cor. 11:13)

~His Mind- That he will have the mind of Christ & think as the Holy Spirit would lead him & not the flesh. (I Cor. 2:16)

~His Eyes-That you will keep his eyes from temptation & that he will turn his eyes from sin. (Matt. 6:13, Mark 9:47)

~His Ears- That he will hear your still small voice instructing him. (I Kings 19:12, Psalm 32:8)

~His Mouth- That his words will be pleasing to you. (Prov. 10:14)

~His Neck- That he will humble himself before you & be strong, courageous, & careful to do everything written in your word so that he will be prosperous & successful. (James 4:10, Joshua 1:8-9)

~His Heart- That he will love & trust you with his whole heart. (Deut. 6:5, Prov. 3:5)

~His Arms- That you will be his strength (Psalm 73:26)

~His Hands- That he will enjoy the work of his hands & see it as a gift from you. (Ecc. 3:13, 5:19)

~His Feet- That you will order his steps & that he will walk in your truth. (Prov. 4:25, Psalm 26:3)

Prayers for our Children

I ran across this in a devotional somewhere.....Girlfriends in God, most likely.....but anyway, I thought I'd share it here.



'I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. ' ~~III John 1:4 (NIV)



Pray that your children will:

~Know Christ as savior early in life. (Psalm 63:1, II Tim. 3:15)

~Have a hatred for sin. (Psalm 97:10)

~Be caught when guilty. (Psalm 119:71)

~Be protected from the evil one in each area of their lives: spiritual, emotional & physical. (John 17: 5)

~Have a responsible attitude in all their interpersonal relationships. (Daniel 6:3)

~Desire the right kinds of friends & be protected from the wrong friends. (Prov. 1:10-11)

~Be kept from the wrong mate & saved for the right one! (II Cor. 6: 14-17)

~Be kept pure until marriage (as well as the one they marry). (I Cor. 6:18-20)

~Learn to totally submit to God & actively resist Satan in ALL things! (James 4:7)

~Be single-hearted, willing to be sold out to Jesus Christ. (Rom. 12:1-2)

~Be hedged in so they cannot find their way to wrong people or wrong places & that the wrong people can't find their way to them!!! (Hosea 2:6)




I have another one that I'll post soon about how to pray for our husbands! There is awesome power in prayer!!