Monday, March 30, 2009

Contest Time!

Well - It is official, I am helping hostess a wonderful site - Scrapbooking Fun (link to the right) or [url]http://scrapbookingfun.5forum.biz/[/url]. Right now, there is a drawing for a 5 item recipe in the poems and recipes section. Check it out!

I hope you all have a wonderful day.

It is a Monday - car doesn't work, running behind in my daily routine, but still - it isn't raining and breakfast just came out of the oven (egg bake). Hopefully I will get my camera up and going and can post some swap items I was working on this weekend!

Friday, March 27, 2009

A wonderful site!

This bit seems to wander here and there, so I am sorry, but I am having trouble organizing thoughts in a consise manner right now.

I just found that not only do they have a newsletter, but a forum and store and more as well. If you have a chance, check out www.faithfullyyours.net. The ezine sent this am was so spot-on for me!

Busy-ness - doing all this "busy work" that needs to be done, but not taking time out for God first - oh boy. I get so down on myself when I forget, but then remember Ezekiel 11:19, "I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh." (NIV). Yesterday was one of those days when my heart was more like stone than flesh. Today I started out closer to the way I wish (I need to get up before some people around my house - or at least while they are still in the shower).

Proverbs 31 devotional addressed the above as well this morning. One of the verses, Psalm 103:1-2, "Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits." (NIV) spoke directly to me. It is amazing how things that come are much better handled, not only when I have had my quiet time, but when I take the time to praise God first and thank Him for all the wonderful things He has done in my life. Try it - it is one of those things I cannot explain (like giving to God first) -- things just work out for the best - NOTE - I did not say easy, fun, or anything like that, just for the best.

I do need to get my faithbooking back on track and will try to do so soon.

Other projects:

For a swap over at Inspire Swap Chat, I just finished my butterflies and flowers (below). It is a simple swap of altered items. It was fun and kind of got me thinking outside the box again.

Inspiration Challenge from Faithfully Yours I want to try -

This rather clever reminder was emailed to me today. It’s a good reminder that our housework isn’t the only thing that needs to be completed. Sometimes we need to do some “heart-work” as well.

We challenge YOU to create something with the poem below, it can be a wall hanging, a scrapbook page, a card, whatever you want. Upload it to the gallery by Friday April 10th, 2009. We will pick a random contributer to win a $10 gift certificate to the Faithfully Yours store!

WASH DAY–Author unknown

Monday-Wash Day
Lord, help me wash away all my selfishness and
Vanity, so I may serve you with perfect humility
Through the week ahead.

Tuesday–Ironing Day
Dear Lord, help me iron out all the wrinkles
Of prejudice I have collected through the years
So that I may see the beauty in others.

Wednesday– Mending Day
O God, help me mend my ways so I will not
Set a bad example for others.

Thursday– Cleaning Day
Lord Jesus, help me to dust out all the many faults
I have been hiding in the secret corners of my heart.

Friday– Shopping Day
O God, give me the grace to shop wisely
so I may purchase eternal happiness for myself and all others
In need of love.

Saturday– Cooking Day
Help me, my Savior, to brew a big kettle of brotherly
Love and serve it with clean, sweet bread of human kindness.

Sunday– The Lord’s Day
O God, I have prepared my house for you. Please
Come into my heart so I may spend the day and the
Rest of my life in your presence.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

A fun creation!






















I had a blast coming up with this bunny. It took some figuring to get everything correct, but I am happy with how he turned out. Simply pull up the ears to open a hidden journal box.

A fun Birthday Card



This was just for fun (challenge over at Scrapping Fun) - a pop-up birthday card. Two boots pop up on the inside. I am still working on getting pop-ups to work how I want them to work, but it was easy to create.

BTW: Happy National Chocolate Covered Raisins Day!

Monday, March 23, 2009

National Organize Your Home Office Day and National Chip and Dip Day

Hmm - think the chip and dip day sounds fun to me!

Well I did organize my scrap area - no longer scattered over two tables - down to just my one in the corner (how it should be for now).







I finally got some scrapping done - it is so much easier when I can find my table. I did the above for a challenge over at Scrapbooking fun (http://scrapbookingfun.5forum.biz) for interactive layouts. Both folders open with pictures of either chores or relaxing things.

It is gray and rainy - but that is ok - the fire is warm and we are working on school. I think another cup of coffee sounds nice. Have a great day!

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

God's wonderful blessings

If you are squeemish, you may not want to read this post.

Ok, I admit, maybe not quite what I thought earlier today, but I have been praying for His strength all week. Boy does God always come through. I just feel like/want to sing God's praises for His help for a very tough day.

Cow with a broken leg/hip. Nothing can be done - God provide me with a son whose aim with a gun is true. He was able to kill the animal with a single shot. Her death was immediate. I am so thankful God has given my son both the strength to carry out a difficult task as well as the ability to do it quickly. I also praise God that we have a good friend who came over with her tractor to help us move the animal (she was to big to lift). God also is to be praised for the friends who loaned us a trailer to use to get rid of the deceased animal. I praise God also that another good friend's son was able to come and help be sure we got the jugular vein cut once the animal was destroyed. I also thank God that the animal did not go through nearly as many tremors as we expected. I thank Him that the internet is loaded with others who have had similar experiences so I could prepare everyone with details about blood and muscle spasms, etc..

Another praise - another (much younger)son who gets very uptight about animals who die has come through just fine. He didn't like any of the things that had to happen, but he understands and can appreciate that the ability to shoot straight is valuable, the ability to continue when the pressure is mounting is valuable and God's strength carries us through these things, not ours alone. I know this to be true as my instincts said ignore it and it will go away. Yeah - right. I praise God for being who He is - that He is all powerful and all knowing. That He provides strength when needed (when my son was getting ready to shoot, I was holding on tight to the barn - taking an animal's life is not something to be done lightly - God's strength carried all of us through).

Was any of this easy - no. Was it fun - no. Was it needed - yes. God will always provide us the strength we need to carry through difficult tasks. We may not enjoy them (this cow was raised from a calf by the kids), but we will be strong enough to complete the task.

My last praise to list in this post is for some on-line scrapping friends. There is no way they could know what was going on at my place, but Helen's Chuckle for the day listing was great! Laughter truely releases a lot of tension and it worked wonderfully to get everyone to just relax. After taking care of things, I was checking out the site and found this gem:

Sheriff stops at a ranch in rural MO
and talks with an old farmer.

He tells the farmer, 'I need to inspect
your ranch for illegal grown drugs.'

The old farmer says, 'Okay, but don't
go in that field over there.'

The Sheriff verbally explodes saying,
'Mister, I have the authority of the
Sheriffs Department with me.' Reaching
into his rear pant pocket and
removing his badge. The officer proudly
displays it to the farmer.
'See this badge? This badge means
I am allowed to go wherever
I wish..on any land. No questions asked
or answers given.
Have I made myself clear?
Do you understand?'

The old farmer nods politely and
goes about his chores.

Later, the old farmer hears loud screams
and spies the Sheriff running for
his life and close behind is the farmer's
bull.

With every step the bull is gaining ground
on the officer. The Sheriff is clearly
terrified.

The old farmer immediately throws down
his tools, runs to the fence and yells
at the top of his lungs.....

'Your badge!
Show him your badge !

Friday, March 13, 2009

Another Day

Well - after errands and all - day started out just fine. However, after errands, things got worse. Got home to find several things that were not very good and required a lot to hopefully make them better. Had two choices - let myself be overwhelmed, which is what I started to do, then as I was walking, I remembered that God cares and wants us to bring everything to Him. I did and it helps - now I know He will be giving me the strength I need. I also talked with a friend who is lifting the whole situation in prayer. It is a hard prayer to pry Thy will be done - especially when I know what I want, however, it is best.

On a happier note - I had been upset with kids this morning as they weren't putting the hose away correctly after using to fill water tanks (the waterer froze about 3 weeks ago - when the thaw comes, we can fix it). Anyway - when the hose gets kinks - they tend to break in cold, so putting the hose away correctly is very important.

Well - due to broken items, the easy old way to roll the hose up no longer exists - so my ingenius kids come up with something else. It uses a bucket and a little brother -
















Guess what - little brothers are great tools after all!

A blog to check out

http://lifeonelayoutatatime.blogspot.com/ is the blog - if you have time, go visit. BTW - love the music that plays.

Off to run - I need to pick up various animal feeds and such and want to get an early start. Have a great day.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Archiver's Fun





















Took off a bit early for the airport and had some time to stop by Archiver's so I could use my coupons!!!!

Red cardstock is always in demand around here, so of course some of that, and then 30% of some red rings for my Bind it all! Of course I couldn't just leave without looking at their clearance items - it is a tough economy - it saves money - right ROFL!

Well - above are some shots of some of my new pp - can't wait to get started!

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Scrappy Fun!





























One advantage of snow storms - if possible, I stay home and hang out in front of the fireplace doing some scrappin!

Above are some pieces for the Animal Crackers Swap over at Scrapping Fun (link in post below or over at right). The Zoo tag for my die-cuts is done, but I am not sure if the other two pieces are complete yet or not.

I just tried using my web cam to take the pics - it was easier than I thought (ok, forgot I had a web cam until setting it up so my mom can call the kids using hers).

I need to work on my technique, but it was easier than taking a picture and downloading to my pc.

Monday, March 9, 2009

Scrappy Times!




Been keeping busy. Above are some challenges from the March challenge over at Scrapbooking Fun (link is http://scrapbookingfun.5forum.biz/forum.htm). I only have 3 completed for the month so far, but I will be working to see if I can get them all!

I also found another fun site today through All Momements Remembered. It is called Craft Critique. Link is http://www.craftcritique.com/2009/03/its-big-prize.html. If you have time, take a look around their site for some cool ideas!

Friday, March 6, 2009

National Frozen Food Day!!

What fun!!! Now I don't need to worry about cooking dinner (though ds would be very dissapointed - he is expecting stuffed porkchops). Actually it is amazing at what different days are called. I do like frozen things on hand - it does help with last minute food.

I have been scrappin - though mainly stuff for others or swaps - I have been working on my Resourcefully and Cleverly Created items for my swaps over at Scrapbooking Fun! If you want to stop in and join us, check out http://scrapbookingfun.5forum.biz/forum.htm. There are some fun swaps going on!

Daisy (the cat)found a broken daisy from a bouquet - couldn't resist taking it out of the pocket. She is fun

Just realized - no scrappy posts to display - guess I need some pics!

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Home again


Thanks to everyone who was sending prayers our way. After my grandfather's stroke, we got home later last night. He is doing as well as we could hope for and should be home in a few weeks. His stroke was located in the right frontal lobe, so his ability to walk and eat and all has not been impaired.

I took the picture above this morning. We had the dogs out and I couldn't resist - the icicles hanging down looked lovely in the morning sun.