Sunday, sunday...

It's late Sunday night. Had a BUSY weekend. As you know, we have company and then our pastor's wife went into labor Friday night. We got a call @ 4:ooam Sat, so I went to their house to watch their boys. At 4:40am their baby girl (yeah!) was born. We brought the boys to our house after they woke up. They stayed the night and we even took them to church. They were really good. It was nice for Jared to have a boy to play with. Can't wait to see the baby.

Sat. night we had a concert at the Plateau. Let me tell you... windy doesn't even begin to describe the weather!!! The equipment was blowing over, we were trying not to blow over. And my eyes water like CRAZY in the wind! So I played half of the concert with my eyes closed. Honestly, it was the worst. Colleen took some pictures. I looked at them today (my eyes had cleared enough to see). After all of the weather, dry, dry eyes, etc. when I saw a guy that was a bit crazy in the beginning talking to someone from church, getting dealt with, when I saw a new convert witnessing, I felt much better! This is why we do what we do. For souls I will do it again.

Tomorrow we are up early to go to Carlsbad Caverns!!! We actually got rain today and their is rain in the forcast for the next few days! Thanks to our New Englanders for bringing the rain with them.

The pictures are clickable if you want to see them a bit better.

See you in a few days!

Some Pictures

Thought I'd post some pictures for you, so far. We went to Ruidoso and Cloudcroft today. Possibly White Sands tonight.

Hello

Everyone's busy at the moment, so I thought I'd write to all of my faithful fans! HAHAHA! Bea and Stephanie got here fine Wednesday night. Yesterday we pretty much just hung out. Robert took today and all of next week off. So we are going to go to the mountains, either Cloudcroft or Ruidoso. Tonight's outreach and tomorrow's the concert at the Plateau. We are playing. Well, I better go. Hopefully, I'll have more exciting things to write about after we actually do something! :) Have a good day!

MIA - Web Wednesday

Hey everyone! I will be MIA off and on here for a couple of weeks. Robert's mom and our niece will be here this evening. So you'll have to be left to read my old post, sorry.

Now for the Web Wednesday part of this post. Check out http://digikeepsakesbymonica.blogspot.com/

That is the place I am on the Creative Team. Monica will be posting my LO's there as well.

Gotta run, it's lunch and I've already spent too much time on the computer getting things squared away before the visit!!!

I made it!

You all know that I LOVE digiscrapping. I applied for a postion on a Creative Team and I made it!!! Basically I'll be creating LO's using kits from the designer Monica Evan of Digikeepsakes!!! I'll keep you all up to date with the news from there. I will be working with some great ladies and getting to know others!

Mmmm Monday

Okay, here's a recipe I got from a magazine. I modified it some to make it my own.

Java Lava Ice Cream Pie

Crust:

20 chocolate sandwiches

2 Tbsp instant coffee

1/2 stick (4 Tbsp) melted butter

Glaze:

2/3 cup bottled hot fudge topping

2 1/2 Tbsp very strong coffee

1 qt vanilla ice cream. 2 cups slightly softened

1 qt coffee ice cream (with choc. chips/chunks is the best)

Garnish: mini chocolate chips

1. Coat 9-in pie plate with non-stick spray.

2. Crust: Process cookies and coffee in food processor until fine crumbs form. Add butter; process until crumbs are moistened. Press over bottom and up sides of pie plate. Freeze 30 min.

3. Glaze: Mix ingredients in a small bowl until blended.

4. Spread 2 cups softened vanilla ice cream in crust; freeze 30 min. Meanwhile, slightly soften 2 cups coffee ice cream. Spread evenly over vanilla ice cream. Freeze 30 min.

5. Spread half of glaze 1/3 cup onto coffee ice cream. Freeze 30 min.

6. Meanwhile soften rest of vanilla ice cream Spread carefully over glaze. Freeze 30 min. Meanwhile, soften coffee ice cream. Spread on pie to 1 inch from edge. Freeze 30 min.

7. Stir glaze. Spread on pie. Sprinkle with choc chips. Freeze until ready to eat.

Enjoy! If you are making this pie for a function, someone else, you may want to make two. One for them and one for you!

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Good Monday morning to you! We've been having some bad dust (dirt) storms. Sat. evening was bad! In some places there was a white out. Here when the wind blows the dirt flies. We have dirt everywhere. Yes, dirt, not just dust. I had to clean enough dirt off of our kitchen counter to plant some seeds! The office is bad too. Anyway, came out of church last night to see this beautiful double rainbow. I couldn't get a good shot of the whole thing. It was a full double rainbow from end to end. The pic doesn't even come close to how awesome it looked. Well, I'll have that recipe for you guys later. Need to get going on cleaning, laundry, etc. My friend MS is coming over to crack pecans with me today.

The kit

Here's the kit I'm going to get. This kit is jam-packed with both sunny and shabby goodness! It includes over 80 unique papers and over 280 elements, including floral and glittery overlays, brackets and mats, along with 7 alphabets!

Can't wait to use it!!!

I won!!

I entered this LO in a Scraplift Challenge at Sunshine Studio Scraps and I won!!! I get a $5 coupon to their store! I will let you know what kit I get. They have so many beautiful kits. Yeah!!
Credits:http://scrapmatters.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=lastup&cat=10639&pos=10

Water Leak LO

Here's a LO I did of the water leak we had a few weeks ago.

Credits:http://scrapmatters.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=lastup&cat=10639&pos=17

Free Friday

Perspective, something I'm learning. It's 2:00 in the afternoon here and it's been a somewhat crazy day already. This morning the toilets clogged and runneth over. Robert was home and rented a snake to unclog the pipes. Thank God he was home to fix it and that we have pipes to fix. There's a forest fire somewhere near us, but not a bad one and not by us. However, the sky is very hazy. Thank God it's not by us and that we do have very clear skies most of the time. Just got our water bill, which was higher then normal. Most likely from the water leak (outside) that we had a couple of weeks ago. The leak could've been bad, but it turned out okay, messy, but ok. Colleen hit her knee on Jared's bed, but it wasn't too bad. We had a "mix-up" in our $, that left us saying "What?!" Thank God it will work out in the end.

We had a talk w/Jared last night about how good we really have it, being Americans, etc., etc. So, I'm here telling myself the same things. It could be worse... and I do know that really these aren't all that bad. Just sometimes you need a perspective check.

Other than my going on, we are getting ready for Robert's mom and our niece to come on Wed. They will be here for about 2 1/2 weeks. Nancy, Robert's sister will be here around the 4Th of July. So that will be a fun time. The kids are at a party for Children's Choir. The weather is a bit cooler today, which is nice.

Well, I'll leave you with a quote I read today..."when you get to the end of your rope...tie a knot and HANG ON!"

Theory Thursday

What a day! Had to go to Cruces today. We were in out first road block. It was kind of cool. Actually, it was hot. We were there, total for about 20 min. So I turned off the car. It got pretty hot. It seemed like we had to wait a lot today on the road. When you're used to just pulling right out & minimal traffic, I guess a few things can make it seem like a lot. The trip was successful though. Went to Hobby Lobby for supplies for the picture board at church. We even found a pool skimmer we really needed at Big Lots! The kids were good too!!!! Thank God for MP3's!

Okay onto Theory Thursday. It's summer which in our house means Summer Reading Program (SRP). This year Colleen is a volunteer!! She has been waiting for this all her life, really! The SRP is where kids read books and get prizes for them. They fill out book logs, 4 books to a log or you write the number of pages you read. For every log and/or every 200 pages you get a prize. You have to turn in 4 logs to get a free t-shirt. The girl & boy who reads the most gets prizes, etc. There are lots of prizes for many things. Colleen has come close to the most a couple of times. So as a volunteer she gets to hand out prizes and organize the logs. Perfect for her! She does it once a week.

The above picture is a little bit of the books they read in one week. Colleen reading more. Jared loves to listen to stories on tape and they don't count.

Hope your day is going good. I need to get and do laundry. I feel a ding coming on! Need to practice my bass (there's the ding) for band practice tonight.

Lake Havasu LO

Here's the LO I just did for a Template Challenge at SM and Sunshine Studio Scraps.

Credits:http://scrapmatters.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=lastup&cat=10639&pos=2

Web Wednesday

For Web Wednesday I would be wrong not to tell you about one of my favorite sites of all, Scrap Matters. Scrap Matters is a digiscrapping site. However, besides being able to put my LOs (layouts) there, I have learned so many different things in the forum section. The ladies there are the best and most helpful. As far as digiscrap sites go SM (ScrapMatters) is the best, most comprehensive there is. I have learned the in's and out's of scrapping, backing up your files, EHDs, dryer sheet uses, etc. There is so much more to the site then scrapping. There are always challenges where you have a chance to win $5 to their store. The Design Team (staff) is so helpful. They have helped me MANY times. It's just a wonderful place. So if you scrap, digiscrap, thinking about it or want to see what it's all about go to http://www.scrapmatters.com/ and see for yourself!

**note: all of the flowers, top/bottom banner are digital scrap "stuff" that I've downloaded. I have gotten them from various places. If you want to know where I got them, please ask, & I will let you know.

Pictures

Here's a couple of pics of Josh & Zach. Aren't they cute?!?! The Celtics are about to win!!!!

Catching up

I know today's supposed to be Tool Tuesday, but I've spent some of the most precious time this evening catching up with my brothers, Josh and Zach. Josh and I talked (wrote back & forth) the most and am going back and forth with Zach. Man do they look grown up and handsome too. I am so encouraged to know that Josh is really living for God. We shared our testimonies. You know I rededicated my life when Josh was a baby. I stayed with our dad that summer to watch Josh and that is when I got my heart right. So it's really special to know that he is living for God now. I sure do wish we were all closer. You know I am very blessed to have such a family like I do. My brother Matt is saved and preaching the Gospel, sister saved, two of my other brothers are living for God. Only God could put this all together. He truely gave me beauty for ashes.

I do have a Tool for Tuesday, any form of communication you need to stay in touch with your family. Whether that be letters, the phone or the internet, Use that to keep in touch with your family.

Comments Please

Okay, some of you said that you weren't able to leave a comment on my post. I went into my settings and did clicking. Hopefully you can do it now. Please give it a try. Thanks and sorry.

Scrpiture

This morning, I read this scpriture and wanted to share it with you. "Whoever covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy." PROVERBS 28:13 You know when witnessing to people so many of them think they are right with God because they have covered their sins by rationalizing them out. They may be fine with the way they are, but to think that they are missing out on the mercy of God! Wow! So I've been pondering the mercy of God this morning, and am in awe of it. To have His mercy and be under it is amazing!

Mmmm Monday

I'm going to try something here. I want this blog to be fun and interesting. Sooo, I'm going to try something out. Themes for the days.

Here's what I have so far:

Mmmm Monday - Where I give out recipes, food tips anything food related.

Tool Tuesday - Sorry guys, these will not be tool belt type of tools. More for products I use & helpful hints.

Web Wednesday - Where I talk about & introduce you to sites that I like.

Theory Thursday - Where I talk about books, homeschool & stuff like that.

Friday - So far, Free Friday (which really means I don't know what to do here.)

Weekends -I'm off!! HAHAHA!

This may change and I may not be able to do these every day. But I need some structure for my blog, more for my mind!!

I'd love your comments, ideas or money. (That was a joke!)

Also, very important, I am REALLY bad at typing and catching my typos. Hopefully I won't make too many, but please do excuse the ones I do make.

So onto Mmmm Monday

Well, you're going to have to settle for this picture of me enjoying a free A&W rootbeer float. They were giving them out. I will have a yummy recipe next Monday. So you'll have to come back!

Have a great evening.

Help me, I'm melting...

The title says it all. We are having a sort of heat wave. Today, it's 104! With clouds which means humidity and the swamp cooler doesn't work well. It's 80 on the house. Robert is home early and is checking the cooler just to make sure that it is working right. It's supposed to be 100+ all week and maybe into the next. Hope it's cool where you are. That's it for now. I need to make some iced coffee. (Besides the heat and running around, I've been up since 5am.)

I'm Cookin' tonight!

I put together a couple of LOs inspired by the NBA playoffs!! Robert and Jared are watching the game at Chili's.

Go Celtics!!
Credits:http://scrapmatters.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=lastup&cat=10639&pos=4

More pics

Just thought I'd show you a few of the other pictures I took of Robert & Colleen today.

To my friend Anne

Anne, I went to your blog. GREAT!!! I'm so glad that you are keeping up with it again. I made comments on your blog but don't know if you got them. It was strange. Can you let me know? Thank you.
Yes Colleen is that tall and grown up. The pictures of Anna's leg are gross! I love everything you did to your blog. Please, do come here often. I will try to keep up w/it!

A quiet Sunday

Today I made this LO (lay out) of Robert & Colleen. I took a few pictures of them today, seeing how they match and all. This wasn't the cutest, but I like how they look so much alike. Colleen liked it too. If you are a scrapper and want to see mt credits go the the ScrapMatters link, I am alamama. Without further ado, as Jared loves to say lately...

Credits:http://scrapmatters.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=lastup&cat=10639&pos=6

To all of the dads!

I created this for you. The kids' pics are old ones. All of the scraps are from Scrap Matters "Mother Nature" kit and Britt-ish "Got a Date strips".

Happy Father's Day!

To all of the father's out there, I hope you have the best Father's Day!!

Second, if anyone doesn't want their name or picture/s on my blog please tell me.

Thank you!

My first post!

My first post! Well, I did it! Thanks to some great ladies, Ellie and Happy Scrap Girl, at Scrap Matters! I am actually a bit nervous. Like I've stepped into a whole new world.
Since this is my first post on my first blog I should make it "Grand", but it's still early in the morning and I haven't had my coffee yet. So here's my thoughts.
I am starting this blog to hopefully better let my family and friends know what's going on in our lives. There's always something going on and you all know how bad I am about regular email. LOL!! This will also be like a journal of sorts. So some of the posts/info may be boring, views may be different than yours, but I do hope that you will read and visit on a regular basis.
I will share photos, stories, sites, etc. I will cover such topics as digiscrapping (my newest addiction), Red Sox (who are in 1st place!!), homeschooling, recipes and just plain thoughts. So until next post, have a good day!!