Life Lessons

Hello everyone,
If there is anyone still reading, I apologize for not having posted in so long. I have been in somewhat of a funk, since Michael lost his job. But I know that God is good and He is our provider. Just let me let you in on what God has done for us during this time. We have had so many blessings that I can't even count them and they have shown up in various ways. We have had people to give us checks out of the clear blue, we have been able to pay all of our bills without being late and even continuing to pay extra on Michael's truck (Dave Ramsey's snowball), we have been blessed by friends who have carried us out to eat, friends who have paid for me to have special little girly things done, and most of all our family has really pulled together throughout this whole thing. Some of our family paid for us to go on vacation, some bought us groceries, and some paid for the kids to do things that otherwise they wouldn't have gotten to do. I thank God for all that He has done through all of this. When I thought there would be no way that we were going to pay our bills that month, God would show up and show out! For those who wonder about God let me tell you, He is the only reason we have made it through all of this. He is the one who we leaned on, cried out to, and most of all learned from. God has taught us so much about finances while going through this time in our lives. I thank Him everyday, now when I get up whether it is cloudy and rainy or the sun is shining. I have drawn closer to him and our marriage has been made stronger due to this. I no longer have the fear of saying no we can't do this or that because we don't have the money, I now relish the fact that we don't really need this or that. I have realized how little we can live off of. I love the relationship that I have with my husband and my heavenly father now because both have been made stronger. Our family has been made stronger due to this. God has not only provided but lots of times over provided. You know there is a saying that goes; It's not about waiting for the storm to pass, but learning to dance in the rain; well I am dancing through this all the way to the feet of my Father. Thank you God for all that you have taught me and are still teaching me through all of this. God, you are so wonderful, gracious, and loving. I pray that every person that reads this will have a new understanding of who God is and what He wants to do in their lives. I pray that they too will start dancing in the rain, it can be lots of fun.

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Easter Day

My little monkeys on Easter Sunday. Morgan is wearing the Easter dress that I made for her, my first sewing project. Lots of prayer went into this dress.

Happy Belated Easter

Hello everyone I hope that you all are having a wonderful day. I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter, I know that we did.

You all know how much I love God and how glad I am to relate to others what He teaches me. Well yesterday was another teaching day for me and He used a 5 year old to do it. I was really upset because we didn't buy anything for the kids for Easter. When I was growing up my parents always bought me an Easter basket in which I couldn't wait to open. I was all excited about what I was getting. So instead of the day being just about Jesus, it also became about me. Every Easter I knew that I would be getting something, so before the holiday arose I knew to start asking for something. It became all about what was I getting, not what God had done for us, not even about the beating that Jesus took for us, but what "thing" could I ask for next.

Yesterday, when I was upset it was brought to my attention that our children had not asked for anything, but instead our daughter wanted to give something away. All she was asking for was to give some Pizzelles (cookies) to a lady at church who she has come to love very much. This was my lesson; quit thinking about what we don't have or what we want but instead use what we have to make someone's day. The day is all about giving. Isn't that what Jesus did for us? He gave His life for us so that all we have to do when we sin is ask for forgiveness. He made our day, everyday, as long as we believe in him. Man, how great is that? When I saw the look in that lady's eyes and how happy my daughter had made her by not being selfish, I thought how God must feel when we come to Him with a thankful heart instead of a gimme heart. It was a lesson a long time in the making but one that was taken to the deepest part of my heart and I will never forget.

Thank you, so much God for helping me to get through these hard times and for the blessings that you have so graciously given to us unconditionally. Help me to love you more every day and to be more thankful to you for all that you do. Help me to have an unconditonal love toward others as you have toward us. And thank you so much for the lessons that you teach us even when it's through a child. I love you, God!!!

Philippians 2:3
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.

Scrappin' Trash Bags

I know that you all are going to think that I am crazy and you are right, I am, but I just wanted to post these trash bags that I made. They fit on the Chatterbox Tag-along or the Creative Memories Sidekick. They have a plastic lining so that you don't ruin the material on the outside and best of all they are reusable. This means no more hauling a trash can around or searching for a plastic bag. I have several made up ready to sale, so if you know anyone interested please let me know.

Calling all Scrapbookers

We are having a Mission Crop at our church on Sat. April 18th, 2009 from 8am-midnight. Now you are asking where is this and what is it? First, it is at the Milan Vineyard Christian Felloswship in Milan, TN. It is to help raise money for our foreign mission team who will be going to Honduras in June. The cost is $40 and this includes 3 meals, vendors, lots of games and prizes and 16 hours of scrapbooking. We always have lots of fun, so don't miss it come join us. If you are interested e-mail me countryjh@msn.com and I will send you a registration form and a flyer that will tell you what vendors will be there. Come scrapbook with us and have a great time!

It's Been Awhile

I know that it has been a while since I last updated, but things are not on their normal schedule around here. First of all I have not had both children well at the same time since the last of January. When one gets done with their antibiotic, then the other one seems to need one. Right now, Joseph is not feeling quite himself and Morgan finished her antibiotic yesterday. At lunch yesterday he told me he wasn't hungry and wanted to go to bed, when I checked his temp. it was 102 degrees, gave him some Motrin when he awoke it was up to 104. Needless to say we battled this all night last night. This morning he has eaten and his temp. has stayed around 100 degrees which is much better. We go to the Dr. tomorrow for Morgan a recheck on her sinus infection and to see about Joseph.

Michael still has no job and so far no prospects. We thought about opening a rental store again, but that door was closed, which is o.k. with me. I didn't want to have to borrow that much money, when we are trying to pay off debt. So please pray for him. He has gotten to the point of being frustrated a lot and I know that this has to be hard on him. On the good news side, we have been receiving blessings from God. One being that even though my hours were cut at the hospital from 4 days a month to 3, I have been allowed to start taking call, which will help out money wise; thank you, God. We have also had some other things to happen which I will mention at a later date. But please keep us in your prayers. I know that God has a job out there for Michael and I know that He will open that door of opportunity at just right time, but as humans we get impatient. I know that we both are at this point now, we want him to have a job and we want to get out of debt, now.

Matthew 7:7 Keep asking, and it will be given to you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened.

Happy Valentine's Day

First of all, thank you for all of your prayers. I know that God is in control, but as my husband told me this morning it's not just talking about faith it is living it, which is the hard part at times. But thank you all for everything.

Next, these are some treats that I made for Morgan and Joseph to carry to preschool for their Valentine's party today. The first ones are Joseph's rice crispy treats and the second ones are Morgan's treats. Her treats are rice crispies, peanuts, peanut butter, marshmallows, and chocolate with chocolate drizzled over the top. You need a chocolate fix? These will hook you up. Hope you all have a Happy Valentines!

Can anything else happen?

O.k. I am in need of lots of prayer. We will start off with Morgan, who was diagnosed last week with pneumonia, she is now better and hopefully will get a good report at her Dr. visit Wed. So that was lots of sleep lost because of worrying about her high temp., which would climb to 103 to 104 and wouldn't come below 100, no matter what we tried. Needless to say there were about 3-4 nights that I slept with her just to make sure she was o.k.
Next, I am planning for the Mission Crop, which is coming up in April. This is a scrapbooking crop to help raise money for our foreign mission team which will be traveling to Honduras this June. This is an all day affair with vendors, door prizes, games and 3 meals. We have lots fun but there is a lot of time and effort that goes into it, so much so that the week after I am totally worthless because I am so tired. I usually start working on this at least 4 months ahead of time, just to try and get everything right and I don't quit until the day of the crop, in which case the mission team let me crop all day. Thank you!!!
Finally, the economy has hit our household. My hours at work have been cut from 4 days a month to 3 and now my husband will be laid off at the end of the week. With all this said I know that there are worse things that can happen, but I am asking for prayer anyway. We have some other things in the works, but we both need direction and guidance from God. My husband stated to me today that he has prayed so much that he has asked God to sit down and have a glass of sweet tea and tell him exactly what he needed to do. You have to know my husband, he loves his sweet tea.
I know that God is here and has some big plans for us and I know that He will bring us through all of this better than when we started. But for my sanity please pray. I know what Matthew says about worrying, but I am human and a Big worrier. I love God with all my heart and only want to please him, but I also want to make sure that what we are about to do is His will and that He will pour out his blessings on us.
Thank you, Lord for all that you do for us everyday. I know that each day you give us is a miracle in itself and a new beginning. Thank you for my family and allowing me to be there for my children in the good times when they are happy and in the bad times when they are sick. Thank you also, for the friends that you have given me through church and scrapbooking. Thank you for giving me a hobby to take my mind off of the craziness of this world. Thank you most of all for your word, mercy, grace, and unconditional love.

1 Corinthians 13:13 And now these three remain; faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.

The Weather plus the sinus crud=not so good

It snowed yesterday, not a lot but we take what we can get here, but we were unable to go outside to enjoy it because we all have the sinus crud. I took the kids to the doctor Tues. because they were running low grade temps and had snotty noses. I know this doesn't sound like much but Joseph has been snottin' for 2 wks and Morgan had a low grade temp 1 1/2 wks ago and now it's back. The over the counter medicine has not done anything for it, so here we go. I guess we have been blessed so far that we haven't been sick since Oct. Anyway I hope that we are on the mend.

For you scrappers, I have found a new book series. It is by Rebeca Seitz and it is called "Sisters, Ink". I am on the first in the series and I really like it. I have just finished a book she wrote before she started the series, "Prints Charming", and it was great. I just loved the ending and I laughed so much that some nights my sides would hurt. They are both based on scrapbooking and what a great job she has done.

Happy Birthday, Morgan!!!

From this to

this in five years.

Well my oldest is five today and it is breaking my heart every year that she has a birthday, but I know that she has to grow up. She is a miracle from God. The story starts more than five years ago, when Michael and I got married and knew that we both wanted a family. It took 7 1/2 years for the dream of being parents to come true. After much prayer and finally laying everything at God's feet He blessed us with a pregnancy. We didn't care what sex the baby would be, all we cared was that we were going to be parents! We found out it was a girl and everything was going great until the 34th week of pregnancy. That is when I couldn't feel her move as much and I found out that my blood pressure was up. The doctors wanted to me to be on bed rest and come back the next day to check everything out. The next day my mom took me to doctor and they stated that I had Preeclampsia and wanted to take her right then, so here we go to the hospital. Once they induced my labor and the contractions started we hit another bump in the road; her heart rate started dropping every time I would have a contraction so the need for an emergency C-section came into play. She came out breathing on her own, needing no oxygen at all, and weighing all of 3 lbs. and 14 oz. She was perfect in every way. She needed to stay in the NICU for only one week, so that she could learn how to suck, everything else was going great. After bringing her home we had to account for every little bit that she ate and make sure that her body temp. stayed where it was supposed to. Now look at my baby (she will always be my baby no matter how big or old she gets), growing up and getting older. It's hard to believe that she is 5 today when it doesn't seem like it has been that long since we brought her home. I am so glad that God answered my prayers and made me a parent not once but twice. Thank you God for your wonderful miracles every day and thank you for giving me the opportunity to see them for myself.

1 Samuel 2:27-28 "I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord."

Catchin' Up

Sorry everyone for being so long on posting with the holidays plus our anniversary, it's hard to keep up in December. So here we go playing catch up. First we went with my husband's stepmom and dad to see the ICE exhibit which featured the Grinch. We all had a great time but the kids just loved it! Halfway through Joseph's hands got cold and he was ready to go. We had a big time in Nashville! They also did the Build-a-Bear thing. Joseph got a dinosaur so he was in his glory and Morgan got the bunny. They had so much fun.

Then the next weekend we had Michael's graduation. YEAH!!!! I am so proud of him, he now has a BS in Business Management. He has worked so hard for this. I had planned a surprise meal for him afterward and had the whole family over and some friends.

Then the next weekend happened to be our anniversary and we went to Gatlinburg. The first picture was the view from our condo the morning after we arrived. It was snowing as I took this picture. Beautiful wasn't it? Brian and Karen went with us and we had a great time together, but was such a long ride. Brian and Michael decided on the way out that they wanted to do the indoor skydiving. They had a great time and I think both of them loved it! Karen and I watched from the observation deck.

These are the gifts that I made for Morgan and Joseph's class at Preschool. They are Christmas tags that I made that the children could color and put on presents. I got the images from my clip art on the computer, printed different images and then cut, perforated the top and punched holes then tied ribbon to the top. I thought they turned out really nice.

The next thing is gifts that I made for various family members. The first picture is the money envelope that I made for my stepmother-in-law and father-in-law for their Christmas present. The next picture is gift card holders that I made for several members of our family. This was my first time trying either one of these and I think they turned out quite nice. I had some compliments on some of them and that always makes you feel so good about making them.

Now this is what I am most proud of this Christmas. I made this clipboard for my aunt who is a teacher, lives in Knoxville and went to school at UT and still is a big UT fan. Instead of using paper on this, I painted the clipboard then stamped it with Crayon Kids alphabet from

Stampin' Up, after that my husband took it outside and put the sealer on it, then I tied the ribbon on the top. I thought this turned out very Volish and I hope that she really likes it.

We didn't know what to do for our wonderful neighbor who is like part of the family, Ms. Cook. So Morgan came up with the idea to make her a shirt and put angels on it like they did in Preschool. So this is the shirt that we made for her. Take into consideration that it has been a long time since I made a shirt, but I think that she liked it. The angels are actually their handprints and the wings are their fingers.

Now, we celebrated Morgan's birthday Sat. since all the grandparents could be here. She had a Wall-E and Eve plus a Tinkerbell birthday party. The reason for both is that we could not find everything in Wall-E. So we had a Wall-E birthday cake and a Tinkerbell pinata. She didn't seem to mind the difference. All of her grandparents were in attendance except for Ging-Ging which we will have to celebrate with him later, plus a few of her friends. They had a blast and we had fun watching and listening to them; they are so funny.