A challenge!

Very first Challenge up at the Shabby Miss Jenn Designs Team blog! The challenge can be found HERE. It is a scraplift of this LO - so do come and play! And the sweet SMJ has decided to offer up a $25 GC to a random entrant and also three people will get to pick a kit for free!!! Can't beat that! So come and create with us!

Having some good family time around here - Kyle was off again today and we just hung out mainly. I did go into my work to touch base there again since I start work next week. I am kind of excited to get back into it - although I in no way look forward to having to get up and ready three mornings a week (really every morning b/c the two days I will not be working I will be getting ready to get Braelyn off to school). But I am excited to do a job that I can see continual progress in - KWIM?! I can get things done - I must be that type of person who needs to knock things off of a list! Anyway - so I am trying to enjoy this last little bit of being home with the kiddos.

Tonight we got Selah's big mattress for her bunk. If you remember we had her crib just set in under the top bunk. Well she climbs in and out all on her own so we decided why not just get the mattress. So tomorrow morning we will get the rest of the bed parts up and set the mattress on it. I have the comforter already from when I bought Braelyn's so they would match, so now I just need to run to BB&B and get her sheets! We also bought a lateral filing cabinet for our office. So Kyle will also be setting that up and we can get our stuff into it! In the afternoon we are heading out to my Aunts house in Allegan to go sledding with the girls! I think most of my family is going and my mom is going to make her homemade pizza so I am totally looking forward to that!

New Years Eve - fun night with our friends - possibly dinner out if I can get a sitter for an hour or two and then we are hosting the party here so that we can put our kids to bed since we don't have a sitter. I think this is at least our 4th annual (if not 5th annual) party with this group and I just love it. I totally love our group of friends and what we've become over the last few years. I feel like we all get along so well and we have such a good time together - girls and guys! It's fun to all be in the same stage with kids and motherhood/parenting!

OK - if you comment - please do tell what tradition you have had on New Years - even if it is something small that you do at the stroke of midnight!

How was everyone's Christmas? Ours was great! Lots of new toys for the kiddos, and Kyle and I did pretty well too! I have already begun to take a few things down this morning (nativity, stockings, etc...) My tree will stay up until Jan. 1 or 2 as will our outdoor decorations! I put together a few spreads of pictures for you just so you can see what we did!

Kyle and I, and the girls did our christmas present opening on Christmas Eve morning. We had a big breakfast together and then took showers and started opening! Gracyn slept which is kind of good because we really didn't get her anything from us. Mean I know, but she has all the baby toys she could ever need and she got stuff from Grandparents and Santa! Braelyn and Selah had to open all the presents together because it was all for BOTH of them! Mean again, but that way they understand that they need to share it! They got a Step 2 makeup vanity set, an ATV race track (okay so Dad needed ONE boy type toy!), and a Fisher Price karaoke set. They loved it all! Kyle got slippers, a CD, a book, and a firepit. I got a belt, robe, picture frames, and a new purse! He did great!

By 5:00 we were heading to my parents to do our Christmas Eve party! Lots of good food again and we had fun opening presents, of which the girls got the FisherPrice twin time doll house! We got some gift certificates for dinner and a movie and the kids got all new PJ's and sweatsuits! For our exchange we got a Cuisinart fondue set and a kids puzzle and kinetics type set too! We just hung out the rest of the night together as a family - the kids all played great! There are 12 cousins running around so it can get crazy, but it didn't really! We played kind of a fun game too called One Big Family.

Christmas morning we woke up for stockings by 7:00 (Braelyn was in bed by 6:00 with us asking us for one whole hour to go open stockings). Santa gave some great new books, bath soaps, candy, DVD's, kidsong CD, and some makeup/chapsticks. Gauge also got some goodies! After stocking and getting ready we went to Kyle's parents for breakfast. Afternoon naps and then it was off to a movie (Kyle and I, and his parents - tradition) and then to dinner, which my parents and kids joined us for! Good day altogether! We saw Charlie Wilson's War. Not sure what I thought of it. Wasn't great, wasn't horrible.

That brings us to today. Morning wasn't so good because I am trying to deal with Gracyn and insurance. She still has not been added to our policy and she is about 3 months old now. ARGH. Hate insurance. So guess who has thousands of dollars of bills staring at me?! Yep - sucks, and although I know it will get taken care of, I shouldn't have had to spend hours on phone and what not with three kids. My niece came to play with the girls for a while to help out. Tonight is Chuck-E-Cheese again for my nieces party. Kyle works today and tomorrow - then off again until next Wed.! Love all the family time!

So hope you all had as nice a Christmas and have a great short week!

3 more sleeps 'til Christmas!

That's what I say to my kiddos! They count down in sleeps like many kids do (I think). Braelyn got a lamb advent calendar from school at the beginning of Dec. and each day she glues on a cottonball and there are only 3 more spots to fill in! So it's Sat. night here - I am sitting doing some more tagging in ACDSee program and Kyle is upstairs with Braelyn in our bonus room having a sleepover. Today was pretty good - started off a bit rough and is ending on a good note. I was having a rough morning over just frustration with Kyle and the kids - did some cleaning therapy, Kyle took the girls out for a while, then they napped and I was here alone relaxing from 3-5:00! That's what I needed I think. Kyle's parents picked up Braelyn and Selah to take them to Saugatuck for a carriage ride and then for dinner. That left Kyle and I with just Gracyn (which seems like a cinch), and so we went to dinner with my parents at my favorite local steakhouse! Walgreens was next for a few stocking candies and stuff!

Last night we had Kyle's extended family Christmas party - good times. Good food again! Ugh - I am nost sure how I am going to lose weight with all these parties! I can't wait for the 1st of the year when me (and probably one million other people) decide to diet! I never can stick to a diet or exercise though. I have NO will power and I LOVE horrible food. I HATE to exercise too. I do know that I can cut out my pop intake and drink more water and that will help alot! Kyle and I also said we need to not have candy and cookies in the house. Easier said than done! Another resolution I would like to have is to put more faith in God in my life. I am realizing that some of my problems daily are because I am not just letting Him take over. I am not giving Him everything. I guess I am not totally sure yet "how" to give that all to Him. What does it look like to give Him my finances, my attitude, my plan for our lives. So hard. Would it be for me to not think about it. Would it be for me to just give up on some of these things? We'll see - but that is what I resolve to do I guess!

I am so excited to open gifts with just my family on Christmas morning. I have a family. We have traditions now - how crazy. I mean it is just weird for me still to this day to say "my family" and mean literally my family - not my family growing up. Braelyn is 3 1/2 and it still shocks me. Each year gets more fun with the girls because they "get" it more and more every year. Braelyn had a birthday party for Jesus on Fri. at school and she is so excited that we get to celebrate again on Tue.! We asked her where Jesus is and she said in Heaven, then we asked her if He is anywhere else and she said. "He's in my heart"! Awe - melt my heart. That is Christmas - having Jesus in your heart!

Off to tag some more in my scrapping program and Kyle just came down with Braelyn now - guess the sleepover is over - LOL!

Night!

Mid week!

Today is mid week - we're almost back to the weekend! And what a fun weekend at that! We have another Christmas party with Kyle's maternal family side and then actually now that I think of it - nothing on Sat. or Sun.! Although Sunday lunch at my mom's again is sounding pretty good! Last Sunday we went after church to Ruby Tuesday's b/c my mom and Kyle's mom didn't do lunch and it was just us in the whole restaurant I swear! Which is kind of nice with kids! We just did the soup and salad bar. Anyway - off my side note! So this week is going fast as usual. Braelyn had school yesterday - she is still loving it and I love the cute things she makes and the new stuff she talks about. Selah kind of likes her time with me too I think! Today we got a call from my mom to go and play there since my other two nieces were there. Always good times. I took my computer to do some tagging in my ACDSee program that I need to get done. We had a good spaghetti lunch and the girls played well! Now I am back home and tonight Kyle and I are going shopping to finish a few things off! We'll do dinner too. I did a swap with my sister Tammy last night and tonight - so we had 7 kids lastnight and they have 7 tonight - YIKES! Talk about crazy. Lisa - I don't know how you do it!

I really don't have a ton more to say - so this might be my shortest blog post in a while. Hope you are all knee deep in wrapping paper and tinsel! ENJOY the season - it's almost over. :(


Oh yeah - and here is one LO to share!

Oh yeah - and one more - the Lilypad blog challenge LO - are you all playing along on this??? Come on - great stuff here!

OK - and last, but if you ask me certainly not least: Our Christmas card for those who did not actually get the hard copy! (and if you didn't please accept this as your card! Muah)

My wonderful sister in law Nina took the photo and made the card!!! I love it personally! She alwasys does such an AWESOME job - thanks Nina!

So this just got long didn't it??? I was so trying not to let it get long - LOL! SORRY!!! You folks are great that stick with me! Muah again!

Chistmas is here for us!!!

So first off just want to say thanks to you gals for the encouragement once again! I love you guys! I am no longer feeling overwhelmed and it only lasted a big day!!! Well, Christmas is officially here for us! Last night was our first Christmas party and tonight is another! Last night was Kyle's imediate family and tonight is my mom's side of family! The party last night was great! There was great food (just do a bunch of appetizers!) and Santa made a guest appearance too to hand out a few small gifts and Braelyn and Selah told him what they wanted on Christmas morning! Then they got to open a bunch of great gifts from their cousins and grandparents! Just had a great time with family! Braelyn went home with her cousins Cobe and Brooks and Sadie and spent the night there! Sounds like she had fun and didn't want to come home! Kyle and I cleaned all morning - did like a 72,000 fling boogie (those of you who have ever checked out Fly lady will know what I am talking about! We do a 72,000 fling boogie instead of 72 fling boogie!) We made room for some more new fabulous toys! We also have been working on getting my new desk set up and I had a ton of frames that needed updated pics! Busy fun stuff!

Here are a few pictures of our fun last night!

Jen, Me, Sarah

Uncle Ryan with Selah

Santa with Gracyn

Grandma, Josh, and Grandpa doting on Gracyn

Some of the kids with Santa Uncle Larry with Selah

Me and Braelyn

Selah in her new sleeping bag

Kyle - playing with his girls and their girly toys. He got a little teasing b/c the others have largely boys so they had all boy cool toys - LOL. Poor guy!

There ya go - just some random pics - red eye and all! I am sure my captions are all way off so hopefully you get it! Blogger sucks for the pic posting reason and I am short on time right now to fix it! Have a great rest of your weekend everyone! Off to next party!

MandaKay

Overwhelmed

Have you ever just felt overwhelmed? I am sure you have. I think we all feel overwhelmed on a regular basis. December is no exception either. I am totally overwhelmed with my kids today. I want to enjoy them, I want to play with them, I want to kiss and hug them and yet I find it tough. There are things to do. That and the fact that they just keep pissing me off. Braelyn wakes up and cries for 20 minutes along my bedside - waking me, Gracyn, and finally Selah up. Good way to start the day. Selah permanent markered over Bitty Baby. Braelyn's bitty baby at that. Ugh. Yesterday she found diaper creme and smeared it all over bitty baby and my floor - the white creme. But the biggest overwhelming factor is that i feel stressed about my house/job. You see, Kyle can go to work, as a project manager and build a great buildingin about 4-6 months. It is VERY hard work, but in the end he has accomplished a great task. Everyday he sees progress (okay honey - maybe not every day!) Here I sit at home, vacuuming my dang wood floors for the 4th time this week already, just to have a mess be made on them again. I think we all feel this way some times moms. Just like what we do doesn't ever feel finished. And in reality - our job as a mother will NEVER be done. Sure - some days we feel accomplished, but I wonder if I will ever see the real end results. I am jealous of the fact that Kyle gets to see such amazing things get finished. Anyway - maybe that is one reason I actually look forward to going back to work for a few days a week. I see immediate results. Now I do know in my heart that I have the greatest job there is in raising kids. I don't doubt it, but I feel VERY innadequate. I feel like I am doing such a poor job. I know I could do better and yet I don't. Anyway - rant is over now and I feel better. Thanks for listening to that and I know that I am not the only one who feels this way so that is a great feeling too.

We had a great weekend! Kyle and I went with another couple friend up to Drummond Island so the guys could muzzle load hunt. Gracyn came with, while Cassie and my mom took over with Braelyn and Selah! I think they really enjoyed their time with Cassie as well as my mom and dad. But they did seem excited to see us (at least to see Kyle). But basically in Drummond Beth and I stayed right in the cabin. It was FREEZING outside and so we did a bunch of scrapbooking and we both took our bible studies and did that too. Good conversations about some of that stuff! My BSF was probably the toughest week thus far so it was good to talk with people about it. And we had gotten into conversations about heaven and all the unknowns. And on no ironic coincidence did God show me the following day in my study that we are to have a childlike faith - like not questioning all of the unknowns. So amazing to me how He reveals His word to me. So good weekend, and with no internet I actually stuck to scrapping! You can see some of my pages below! I will get them uploaded to my galleries as soon as I get a spare second.

Update on Gracyn after Dr. She is 13 lbs 7 oz - so about 97% they said in weight. She was 50% in height. So she is kind of a chunker. Love it - my first half way chunky baby! She took her shots like a champ too!

Well, I hope you all have a good day - off to feed Gracyn and then start lunch. Tonight we are having Kyle's parents over for roast and they are giving us their desk so I am sure I will be busy organizing that! Our office could use a good organizing! I hope to check in again this week - since I have been slacking on the blog lately!

MandaKay

Randomness

So here is just a bit of randomness about my girls - thought I better remind myself b/c I want to put this info on a LO - but just don't have the time at the moment.

Braelyn - at 3 1/2 (almost!) -

is being pretty productive in school - learning so much - I think she is a good student

does not like her bunk bed she says - tries to get out of sleeping in it every night.

favorite foods - spaghetti and cinnamon rolls (our Sunday morning tradition - the cinnamon rolls)

wants make-up (and we don't have any. Yet!!!)

has been into putting clips in her and Selah's hair

is cute as a button

doesn't pronounce things all right yet. School is "cool", toy is "coy", video is "ideo"

fights with her sister - constantly bossing her around

Selah - almost 2

always has her hair hanging in her eyes b/c I refuse to cut bangs and she refuses to wear clips for very long

is NAUGHTY - or shall I say more mischevious

she talks ALOT - says darn near everything

loves singing Jingle Bells right now - and pretty much every song I sing to her. She picks up on songs right away.

does a cute little butt dance

antagonizes her big sister insesantly

like a lot of foods, but is one of the messiest 2 year olds I know as far as eating goes.

NEVER listens to me the first time - almost always needs to be told 3-4 times - usually the fourth time of yelling gets thru to her.

Gracyn - 2 months

She rolled from her tummy to her back on Sat. night!!! Not just once - TWICE. I thought it was a fluke thing.

sucks her thumb quite a bit now - finds it most the time.

she is smiling more and more. Likes to be talked to and smiled at

she has amazingly strong neck muscles and actually loves tummy time - has from the beginning.
growing more and more everyday

Oh yeah - and she is starting to sleep thru the night pretty consistantly - has for about a week or two!!!

Fun stuff with these three girls!

We had a good weekend - I just LOVE family time with Kyle home! The girls actually stayed busy this weekend - hardly any t.v. time! This morning we have been taking it easy again - staying out of the windy cold! I have done a bit of cleaning up and of course the girls have done a bit of tearing apart - LOL! Never fails. We'll do our lunch and then naps and I have BSF tonight. Kyle went out last night and did some shopping for me - boxed things up and then I wrapped the boxes. We said we weren't really going to do gifts - but apparently we are! I have no real great ideas for him. I think I will go out tonight and miss lecture so I can do some shopping alone! Horrible I know, but I really want to get it done! Our tree is overflowing from the bottom already! Tomorrow I have to help out at Braelyn's school b/c she is special helper so Sarah is taking the other two girls, and then at night we have Kyle's work dinner/party and Kyle's parents are coming here to watch the girls. We have been using babysitters alot and I feel so bad about it all the time. I HATE asking and I just feel guilty most the time for having other people watch our kids. Kyle's parents and my parents are SOOO awesome and help out ALOT. They do not make me feel guilty in the least - it's just that I feel guilty b/c I know they have other grandkids. Kyle and I always say though that we want to be the kind of grandparents some day that help out a TON. I hope to NEVER forget how awesome it is to have someone help you out as a parent and how nice it is to run some errands alone or just to go to dinner, small group, weekends away, etc... THANK YOU to those who help us out - you truly cannot know how much we appreciate it.

Wed. Gracyn has her 2 month appointment - can't wait to get her weight and height again! Also means shots too unfortunately!

I'll leave you with some new LO's. (I can't see any of my pictures/LO's from the last few posts, so hopefully I have not shown these already) OK - apparently I will not be showing my LO's - you will just have to click on my gallery link above to see what I have been working on.

Have a good day everyone!

TAG

So, I was tagged by Amy (well if you call this line meaning I'm tagged! "and i tag you if you're reading this")

1. Name one person who made you laugh last night.

The girls in my bible study small group

2.What were you doing at 0800?

getting up and feeding the girls

3. What were you doing 30 minutes ago?

eating toast with honey

4. What happened to you in 2006?

Selah was born Jan. of '06

5. What was the last thing you said out loud?

"We're not leaving quite yet Braelyn"

6. How many beverages did you have today?

seeing that I've only been up for a while...OJ is it.

7. What color is your hairbrush?

black

8. What was the last thing you paid for?

some Pampered Chef must have's

9. Where were you last night?

Stopped at neighbor to order the pampered Chef stuff and then headed out to BSF (Bible Study)

10. What color is your front door?

just stained wood

11. Where do you keep your change?

in my wallet most the time unless it gets too full - then I give it to girls for their banks

12.What’s the weather like today?

WINDY, and I think cold - haven't gone out yet!

13. What’s the best ice-cream flavor?

Hmmm....I like a lot, but I do like Ben and Jerry's Heath Crunch, and I usually get a heath flurry at ice cream stores

14. What excites you?

when me and the girls have a good day.

15. Do you want to cut your hair?

I always want to cut my hair. Love changing my hair!

16. Are you over the age of 25?

Just barely, in my heart NO

17. Do you talk a lot?

Yes, probably too much when I am with people I know

19. Do you know anyone named Steven?

yep (what happened to 18?)

20. Do you make up your own words?

oh, for sure!

21. Are you a jealous person?

yes and no, depends on situation.

22. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘A’.

(whip whip) Amy!

23. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘K’.

Kim

24. Who’s the first person on your received call list?

Beth

25. What does the last text message you received say?

can't get text messsages

26. Do you chew on your straw?

nope

27. Do you have curly hair?

nope

28. Where’s the next place you’re going?

pictures tonight

29. Who’s the rudest person in your life?

I plead the fifth on this. No really I don't know too many real rude people

30. What was the last thing you ate?

Mac n cheese & Peanunts

31. Will you get married in the future?

I hope never to get married again!

32. What’s the best movie you’ve seen in the past 2 weeks?

Bee Movie

33. Is there anyone you like right now?

yep - Love my husband

34. Did you cry today?

nope

35. Why did you answer and post this?

Because Amy sent it to me and she carries a whip around and is not afraid to use it! ;)

There you go folks - hope you learned a bit about me! If you decide to do the tag please do link me so I can see!!

It's beginning to look......

alot like Christmas. Do you hear me singing over here? So, no, there is no snow here yet, although there were big white fluffy flakes coming down while we trimmed the tree last Fri., but none of it "stuck". I am just singing that because I just love the Christmas lights popping up all over, and my stockings hung, etc...! I also LOVE listening to my Christmas music too. This is the CD I can't get enough of this time of year!

Here are two Christmasy LO's I just finished up too!

Not much else to report on here - I'll actually keep it short for once today!!! Have a GREAT week, although I am sure I will pop in here again sometime this week!

MandaKay

Have you all spent way to much money yet this weekend???

Have you all spent way to much money yet this weekend??? I know we have over here!!! Kyle and I don't really shop very often for "stuff". We like to grocery shop, but neither of us ever just go to Target, walk around, and leave with toys and "stuff". This weekend we did just that! Our kids really only get new toys at Christmas and birthdays. And they only get new clothes when they need them. I realize too after this weekend that I have no urge to do this again until next year - LOL! I don't really like the feeling of handing over wads of cash without end. Some people use buying stuff as therapy. Not me. Not Kyle. It just stresses us out! :) We're probably weird like that! Anyway we are MOSTLY done with our Christmas shopping. We haven't drawn a family on my side yet, so I will have to get one gift for one other family, and then for Kyle's dad, but mainly I am done!!! I even have stuff wrapped and under the beautiful tree!

Thanksgiving was GREAT! We hosted Kyle's side of family, which consisted of 21 people. It was CRAZY fun! The 9 kids (well - really I guess only 8 since I can't say Gracyn really played LOL) played so well together. Braelyn thoroughly enjoyed playing with her BOY cousins. She sees her girl cousins that she has so many of on my side quite a bit, so this was a refreshing change! They seemed to allow her to fit right in with them okay too! Our house was cleared out by about 5:00 and I went to my mom's to grab her paper ads. They had two of my aunts and uncles over and some cousins to eat a cream turkey sandwich dinner and play games so she invited me and Kyle back with the girls. When I got home Selah was MELTING DOWN. She did not get a nap so she was BAD. I decided we better stay home and let them sleep. I gave them a bath and then mentioned to Kyle that one of us should go to Meijer to get some shopping done before the rush! They had some good Thanksgiving day sales too! Well, seeing that we BOTH like to shop together he suggested we maybe put the girls down for bed at my mom's since she was home anyway, so we trucked over there for dinner. Selah fell asleep before we left the driveway. Braelyn, Kyle and I ate and then Kyle and I left with Gracyn. We hit BOTH of the Meijers by us and ended up with pretty much everything! By 10:30pm we were back for the girls (although I played two rounds of chicken foot dominos - which was quite fun actually - I had NEVER played and my parents play it ALL the time!) Fri morning we just stayed in - didn't want to battle crowds just to save $20 here and $20 there. You folks are insane! We did hit a few places at night and ate at Olive Garden for dinner. Of course for the girls we also got Krispy Kreme donuts and sat and watched airplanes at the airport too - had to do something for them! Truth be told though I also had to feed Gracyn so the airplane watching was partly for that! Today we hung out home again until 12:00 and then ran a few more errands. Girls are napping now and then we will take them to Chuck-E-Cheese for dinner and games. Kyle's parents are going to join us! So that is our weekend in a nut shell! If you stuck with me thru our boring life story this far - good job!!! :)

I have had NO time to scrap in the last 4 days, but I have two LO's to share that I did early last week for Shabby Miss Jenn - these two new kits are AWESOME and HUGE!

Other than that I have just been printing up my calendar and other projects too.

Tomorrow is the big Thanksgiving dinner at my parent's house which I am super excited about again. Two thanksgiving meals on two different days - now that is perfect. I feel bad for all of you that have to go to two meals on the same day - that is just not fair! I am thankful for two good meals on two totally different days! Bring it on!!!

Hope you all are having a great weekend with your families!

Busy week - and a lot of religeous stuff today.

What's new right? Aren't we all just so busy! The hussle and bussle of holiday stuff. This week will go so fast for me. How about you. I hope we all at least take some time to be thankful, and to praise God for all He has given us. That's why I like Thanksgiving - it MAKES me think about it for a bit. So here is a little list from me to start the holiday off already today.

1. My husband

2. my kids

3. my extended family (mom, dad, brother, sisters, in-laws, etc...)

4. my house being my shelter

5. my '97 Tahoe - it's such a reliable truck for me - even if we barely fit in it anymore as a family!

6. my job - they are just great people over there - they are soooo flexible!

7. the good food we get to eat (especially the candy I love!)

8. I'm even thankful for my miniature dachshund that is snuggling on my lap

9. the cloudy misty day that it is today

10. for my friends - what would I do without my friends

11. for God's word to me

12. BSF - my bible study - wow have I learned a TON already. Very convicting stuff

13. for Braelyn being able to go to Christian school this year. Not sure if that will always be the case, but I am thankful right now for what she is learning

14. for my church

15. OK - I am totally thankful for digital scrapping b/c it is going to give my kids years of memories and it's something that I enjoy doing that lets me just be me and relax!

16. I am thankful for life. For my life, for my husband's and kids life.

17. thankful for having so much more than I even deserve!

18. Thankful that my sins are fogiven.

19. Thankful that each day is a new day

20. thankful for the smell of my roast cooking in the oven.

There are 20 just to start. We have so much to be thankful for! OK - so last night I made it only to lecture for Bible Study Fellowship. Kyle and I had flown around ALL day - like Sam's Club, Meijer, Mall, Logan's. So we did not get back home until 7:45pm. I knew I had missed small group part of BSF, and I debated just skipping it all together. So glad I didn't. That is always the way it goes. So anyway, here are the principles from this week - I know Sarah and Lynette might appreciate this!

Matthew 8

Who's in Charge?

1. Jesus' Authority over Disease (8:1-17)

Principle: Miracles point to Jesus' divine power to heal the damage of sin.

Challenge: Where can I let Jesus heal me?

2. Jesus' Authority over Disciples (8:18-22)

Principle: Jesus has authority to direct the lives of His disciples

Challenge: Where is Jesus directing me? Do I believe that Jesus has authority over MY life?

3. Jesus' Authority over Disaster and Demons (8:23-27)

Principle: Trusting in Jesus' control gives peace, and calms fears.

Challenge: Where do I need to trust in Jesus' control? What is the storm in MY life that I can turn over to Him?

Some things to think about. My notes today from BSF go further into all of these issues. Just good stuff! If any of you that read this from close by me want to start BSF - let me know and I will get you the date of next orientation. There is no problem jumping in at any time - you just start off from where we are. I can guarantee you it will be an awesome experience!

Have I shown you this yet???

Isn't she the cutest??? This was taken a week ago! She is really starting to smile when we talk to her. She has great neck support too. Very alert.
Here is another LO. This one is for the Lilypad Blog challenge. I have NEVER blended two papers together so that was new and interesting for me. Here I blended two of Nancy's papers. The LO is one of my hubby and the guys sitting down to a hearty meal at hunting camp. Did you see too that The Lilypad is having a Black Friday sale - 50% off. This only comes once a year I would say for the Lilypad so be sure to check it out!

Kyle came back with quite a few pictures and he said one or two other guys took some good pictures too so I would love to do a hunting album for him and the guys.

OK - long enough post again. Thanks for listening! Have a Happy Thanksgiving if I don't check in here before then! Tomorrow night we have our annual friend dinner!

My hubby's coming home!!!

After 7 days of being single mom, I am finally going to get some relief!!! My husband left for deer camp last Monday morning. I have been flat flying ever since. It's quite a chore to get three (wait - 4 including myself) girls ready for going out, ready for bed, fed, etc... The girls did fairly well all week though. Yesterday and today I am hitting my breaking point though. I really can't wait to see Kyle either - I miss him and his companionship. The girls miss his rough housing. Luckily my dad came over the other night and him and my mom played with them - some of their normal "dad" games too - duck duck goose and a little wrestling. They also love musical chairs.

:::A break from your normal broadcast to just give you a snippet of info. Braelyn is currently screaming like a one year old in her room. I sent her to her room for pushing and fighting with her sister for the umpteenth time this morning. Man do they fight a lot!:::

Ok, so anyway, I did not get as much done as I would like this week - scrapping wise. I did finish up my calendars and now I need to decide if I want to print them, or if I want to bring them in to get printed. I get one free one from shutterfly, but they will only use their bottom grids and I just don't think that looks as nice. So the one I have printed there will be my work one! I have at three others to print - which would be quite time consuming right now, and not to mention -a TON of ink. I printed out one CD calendar and might print up one more - not real sure though. I am thru letter I in Braelyn's Alphabet book - so slowly making progress on that too. Gracyn's Baby Daze book is up to date too - just not printed yet - I need an album to put that in. And then I also try to scrap just for fun - with Lilypad and Shabby Miss Jenn goodies! I love being on these two teams b/c they are totally my go to for designers! I have no problem playing with these goodies! Here is one LO that is just for fun to show off and I have two more that I will share this week sometime! It is up in my galleries if you want credits!

Today I am heading over to my mom's for a good lunch and then home for naps for the girls. My friend might come over for a bit to scrap since Kyle is gone thru the day. Then tonight I get to see my hubby!!! Tomorrow he has off of work b/c they will be home late and then we will spend the day together as a family! I won't post until Tue. or Wed. for sure - and then look at that - it's Thanksgiving and Kyle will have that whole long weekend off too! I hope you all enjoy your last weekend day and we'll chat at you soon!

Not much to really say for some reason. I have been busy busy, but not really a whole lot worth blogging about. We had a great weekend - went on a family date Sat. night which was great. We went to see the Bee Movie. Very highly recommend. No scary part which I appreciate with youngens. Selah didn't do real great, but what can you expect from a 22 month old with no sit. Braelyn loved it. Gracyn was great - we had a good "hidden" seat so I could nurse. We went to the theater in Grand Haven - which is about 20 minutes away and not our normal theater. We had a Goodrich Quality Theater gift card and our local Goodrich Theater did not have the Bee Movie. So off we went up the road a bit and we LOVED the theater. Matinee and kid price is only $3 - so we all got in for $9!!! Regular night movie price for adult is only $6 - as apposed to $7.50-$8.00 at our local theaters. AND it had stadium seating! Good price! So that is a new option for those of you who live near here! After movie we just did dinner at Russ' and then dessert at Cold Stone. Did I tell you though what a process everything is with three kids??? Just getting them in and out of car for Kyle and I is sometimes hectic.

Not a ton going on this week. I have my 6 week post partum check-up and hopefully get my hair done. Some color and a cut! Braelyn of course had school today - gymnastic day field trip - she had fun - and then school again Fri. It is so wierd not working and being home everyday - even though I am not home everyday -LOL! I do look forward to going back though for the break from kiddos. Fri. night I am having a little scrap get together and that is it for the weekend. I am going to have to find some more stuff to do! Anybody want to play??!!! :)

I have been working hard on Christmas projects and what not - so many ideas - it's almost overwhelming! Oh - guess what else? My LO of Gracyn's first hospital bath is featured on DiScTalkRadio this week! I am so excited. This is the first time on of mh LO's was chosen for this online radio show!!! Check it out if you are interested or do digital scrapping - lots of good info on this show! And I leave you with one LO for this week's Lilypad Blog Challenge.

Ciao folks!

No Hugging

Really - what is this world coming to? Now you can't hug in school. For fear of lawsuits. Seriously. Ugh - I get so frustrated. No showing love kids - that would be a horrible thing to do. I mean we'd rather have you be cold and standoffish to people please. What the heck kind of message is that? Anyway - my vent is over - but I couldn't believe that when I was watching the Today show this morning. And on a short note - what is up with kids toys now days??? They can't make safe kids toys now? Every toy seems to have some danger to it.

Christmas gifts. I have been working my little toosh off preparing Christmas presents. Calendars, preparing to make tile coasters, recipe cards to add to my growing key ring, etc... It is kind of putting me in the mood for Christmas. :) Here are a couple previews!

Recipe Card

CD Calendar preview (probably will make one for my desk at work and one for Kyle's work trailer!

The bottom of my two page calendar ( I have finished all of my bottoms with birthdays and anniversaries!) Now just to get to the tops with some good pictures!

The CD calendar is made using Shabby Miss Jenn Designs premade calendar - LOVE it! The two page calendar is made with Shabby Princess' two page calendar. No work to it. I finished the CD calendar last night in about 1 1/2 hr.! Now to just print.

Oh yeah - I made one more little thing - my Starbucks mug insert! I LOVE drinking my hot chocolate out of my personalized mug!

Did I leave you with enough inspiration? I have uploaded a few new LO's to my galleries too so feel free to check those out from the link on the side. I didn't want the post to be too picture heavy!!! I don't do crafty things with my hands really, but digitally - I am on a roll!

The week is going well - trying to just stay in for the most part to keep everyone well. We had a nice double date on Tue. night with just some great conversations (Thanks Tam and Brian), and last night we stayed home and had a scrumptious meatloaf (thanks for the recipe Amy - that is my next recipe card!). Kyle took a walk with the girls in the pitch black back in our field and saw 4 deer - they thought that was great. Tonight is dinner at the in-laws, and tomorrow Kyle is out with the guys getting their hunting food. Braelyn has school tomorrow again so we will be out and about I am sure tomorrow. I have done a fair amount of cleaning - although you'd never be able to tell - LOL! I am looking forward to Sat. night b/c we are doing a family date night. We are forgoing the babysitter b/c our favorite gal had to work so we decided to not try any harder to get a sitter and to all go out to see "The Bee Movie". A family movie - yikes - I hope it goes well. Selah has never been to a theater. Gracyn should be fine - we'll just sit in back and I can nurse while we watch if I need to. So there is the run down. I can't believe it's Thur. night already - where does the week go? I love it.

Have a great weekend everyone!!!

There's bad days and then there's good days

We all have them. Good days and bad days. this weekend was a bit of both. Even good minutes and bad minutes. Good hours and bad hours. They go hand in hand I guess. Can't have it all good all the time and that's okay. I think the bad times made me a little stronger. Made me question myself.

The weekend was a bit different than we had planned. Pretty much stayed home. Fri. night was dinner home. Sat. morning we went to breakfast and figured out that Selah has hand foot and mouth disease (coxsackievirus?). Her niece Ainsley has it and she must have gotten it from last Sat. at the pumpkin party. Anyway - so she needs to stay home for about a week. So, Sat. afternoon and night were spent just hanging out here at home. We picked up pizza and Braelyn played with her cousin Paige for a while - she LOVED that! Sunday we made a quick run to the mall (20 min.away) to get Braelyn her Children's Place winter coat. Wanted to get it before it was gone and cold weather I think has finally set in here! Selah stayed right in the stroller and we were literally in and out! Kyle went to his mom's for lunch yet since they needed to discuss Thanksgiving and Christmas plans - nice to have some of that on the calendar and planned out! I can't wait for Thanksgiving! It will be at our house again so I will need to do a bit of prep for that, but I just LOVE Thanksgiving! More than Christmas actually! Good food and the meaning of it for me is great - true holiday for thanks! Christmas has a great meaning too obviously - I am just often a little disappointed by the materialism of it. So last night I made blueberry muffins and Braelyn and I made Tollhouse cookies. They both turned out good - which is suprising for me! :)

This morning I was awake on time and finished up my bible study for BSF. Totally good lesson again. We are studying Matt. and Jesus' words. What a teacher he was. I think the part that I will like in lecture tonight will be on the treasures in heaven from Matt. 6. So often we store up treasures here on earth. I place more value on money than I should. We all do it. It's impossible not to in this world. I worry about saving it. I worry about spending it. Then ironically Jesus goes right into his next sermon about not worrying. What? OK - stop. Stop worrying about money or lack of it. Stop worrying about tomorrow. Just simple words from Jesus that hit home. Yesterday I was a bit stressed/depressed about some issues and then I read Matt. Love when God sets you straight. I am going to have faith that God will take care of me. And really - I don't NEED all the stuff I have been stressing about. Sure - I have a list of some things I want, but I will not just go out and buy them. How many of us right now have lists because of Christmas. Things we want to get for our kids, for our spouses, for us. We do pretty lean christmas' around here. Kyle and I usually buy VERY little for eachother. Like I believe some christmas' we have bought nothing for eachother. I like to have the kids see us exchange a little something though so we will probably fill a stocking of little things for eachother, but really we don't NEED stuff. I NEED a relationship with Jesus Christ. I NEED to tell others about him. I NEED for my treasures to be in Heaven, because at the end of the day that is what is going to matter. And STUFF just clutters my house - LOL! OK - that was another ramble!

So after feeding the kiddos I felt I needed to do something fun with them. We went for a walk. Braelyn rode her bike. Selah and Gracyn did great in the stroller. Braelyn kept saying she wanted to ride all the way to Grandma's house so that is what we did. It was a great workout for me! Sounds like snow flurries are on their way here so I figured it may be the last day b/c I HATE the cold. It was just brisk this morning. Actually sweating when we stopped!

So did you all have good weekends? Hopefully the sickies haven't hit your houses yet - and hopefully won't! Pretty basic week here - BSF tonight, dinner out tomorrow night, nothing Wed., Thur. dinner at in-laws. Fri. - Kyle out with friends briefly, Sat. night I think Kyle and I will do a DATE night! Movie and dinner or Movie and dessert. We will go see Dan in Real Life - can't wait!!! So I will chat at you later in the week - OK?!

All kinds of good stuff

All kinds of good stuff today folks! First off - everyone's blogs I visited last night and today are great - all kinds of kiddos dressed up so cute!

Both the girls LOVED trick-r-treating this year! We did have a little rain which made it quite cold, but all in all it was good. We left our house at about 5:40 to go to my mom's church for "trunk-r-treating" and then we stopped home and did a few neighbors, headed out to Kyle's grandparents for a stop and to feed baby, and then to our church by 7:30pm. Next year we will just be staying here in our neighborhood though. Way too much running around and church was WAY too busy for my liking! I though we lost Braelyn for a couple minutes - luckily she was with Grandma and Grandpa. So Halloween was great!

I NEED to share a few photos of the sky last night though. We were blessed with the most BEAUTIFUL rainbow I have EVER seen! Not only a great rainbow (with a slight second rainbow next to it), but also a gorgeous sunset. Here are my photos.

These pictures don't do it justice whatsoever. I was telling Braelyn what a great God we have to allow us to see such beauty! She thought it was pretty awesome! At school we are working on orange and pumpkins this week so she pointed out the orange sky to me since I was so busy looking to the east at the rainbow. I would have totally missed that gorgeous sunset if it weren't for her!

More photos - these are some pictures from a local farm I took Braelyn and Kylie to yesterday morning with a little school group I went to last year. Lots of fun there too!

Now to scrapping stuff!!! I have a LO to show off for a kit that is SOOOO fabulous! The designers at The-Lilypad along with Meredith Fenwick, Jan Crowley, and Janet Phillips did a Christmas kit for Songbird Avenue. Songbird Avenue composts a kit every month that strictly funds charities. This month the charity the proceeds are going to is Toys for Tots - which is an AWESOME and fitting charity for this month - with Christmas approaching. What a great cause and just by buying a kit that you will use over and over you are helping out!

And tomorrow stay tuned to The-Lilypad blog - I am going to be blogging there about some new and fun stuff coming to TLP! So very exciting. This Saturday (really the whole weekend) is also National Digi-Scrapping Day so there are fabulous things going on all over in the digi-community!

A good friend Bethany made me such an ADORABLE little baby gift and gave it to me yesterday at the farm. I love getting home-made little goodies from shabby fabulous people! These were so cute - little blocks that she gussied up with papers and a letter on each block spelling Gracyn. Thanks Bethany - so sweet of you!

OK - folks - I am checking out. I have dinner in the crockpot, 3rd load of laundry waiting to be folded, and Gracyn is fussing so off to motherly duties again! Have a great day and happy weekend!

Pumpkin Party

Wanted to pop in on my busy day to show a few pics from the pumpkin carving party. It was a great time. We had some white chicken chili and reg. chili, chips and dip, party potatos, rolls, etc... Of course we carved pumpkins. The kids did a pumpkin face craft that I had brought. Campfire with guitar and songs. Fireworks. What a night. I have to get better pictures from my family with better cameras though. I got a few "decent" shots, but most were bad. I fixed every single one up with NeatImage, which helped quite a bit actually, but not good enough.

This first one I actually got into a LO already yesterday afternoon - it is for the Lilypad blog challenge this week.

And here are a few more pics!

Kyle and Braelyn worked on their two pumkins - Both were pretty greusome. Braelyn's was a skull, and Kyle's was just a puking pumpkin. See the bottom pic!

Lindsey (my cousin) helped Selah do her pumpkin. They did a cute pumkin heart eyes and a cute mouth.

I carved Gracyn during the 10 minutes that I wasn't holding her. No just kidding, but I felt like i had her all night and missed out on quite a bit of the festivities b/c of it. Such is life with a 4 week old I guess.

Lindsey and Selah - being cute as ever!

And here are the finished pumpkins - Notice Kyle's pumpkin puking in the back, Braelyn's to the right. Selah's in the middle, and Gracyn's front/center. I just did a bunch of circles, squares, & stars around it. It was a tiny pumpkin so I thought that would be best.

This morning was one of those mornings that NOTHING went right. Braelyn and Selah fought ALL morning. Selah was HORRIBLE. I don't even know how to explain it, nor do I know what to do. She got like three time outs - as did Braelyn. I just want them to play nice together and I want Selah to not whine. I am not sure how to instill this in them. I try to be nice and calm about it, but I just can't. Any advice on what to do or how to handle this would be great! Since I have already told you all about my week I guess I can sign off. Back later in the week!

MandaKay

A week???

It's been almost a week since I last post. For a while I was doing 2 -3 posts a week. Guess that's life! My main reasons is that I am only on the computer when I am sitting and nursing (which is actually a lot! I figure I might as well be doing something as productive while I am nursing right?!) Anyway - it is quite tough to type out a story or journal entry one handed. I can do words or comment on LO's and blogs occasionally if I am set up right, but to do a whole blog entry is tough. There's my excuse - not that I feel I need to justify! :)

Life is good here. I really still feel like the adjustment from 1 to 2 kids was harder than from 2 to 3. Gracyn is my best baby yet - still cries and is fussy, but partly I am probably more relaxed too. My house is going to be cluttered with toys at times. I might have to change a diaper or two in the middle of the night. The kids are going to spill on my newly cleaned wood floors. What's a mom to do? I am trying to just let some of it go. There will come a time when I can have a clean house for more than one day - and then guess what - that will get boring. Someday it will be just Kyle and I, and our kids will be grown. Yikes - what will we do with all our time then??? I pray we as a couple stay close enough that we don't go thru that awkward stage after our kids move out that we don't know what to do with eachother. I don't think we will. My sister teases us b/c we seem to go away alot and get sitters (like our last weekend). She teases, and I know it's true - but her and I both know it is necessarry for a marriage to do those things. I love that time - just driving on the road - 6 hours - sometimes saying nothing, sometimes chatting up a storm - just being together. Have I mentioned how much I love my hubby - he's such a goof - makes me smile so much. Generally it is a "roll your eyes" kind of smile b/c of how crazy he is, but deep down my heart is beating with delight!

Aren't I so scatter brained? That is one thing I have been thinking about today. Here are three things about me that I just am (ETA: or aren't, actually). I am NOT a deep thinker. I am NOT real emotional (except when pregnant - LOL). And I am VERY scatterbrained. I just randomly think of things and forget them two minutes later. I can be praying to God and then venture off into my own random thoughts and then get back into the prayer again. In BSF we are really challenged to pray - like before each day's study and for others in our group, etc... I struggle with prayer. I do not think I am a very good "pray-er" I cannot/will not pray in front of people and even to myself I think "gosh - I am so not good with words". Oh well - I do know that I am in constant conversation with God every day. Like I said - I start to pray, think of other things, pray again more, etc... I at least have the faith that God knows what I am saying and thinking. And by the way - I have asked Him to help me to concentrate more and to be better with my words. He has answered my prayer more and more daily, but man do I wish I could pray like Kyle's Grandpa (who is a reverend).

OK - what else. Tonight we are heading to my mom's for the annual pumpkin carving party. Good food. Good times. We'll dress the girls up for a bit just for fun (Braelyn will be the ladybug costume from Old Navy, Selah a flower - an old costume of Braelyn's, and Gracyn just a halloween orange shirt) and then carve pumpkins and I am bringing a little pumpkin craft too for the kids. I feel like my week - starting Monday is kind of busy for me. Probably my busiest since having Gracyn. (which by the way - was almost a month ago already!) Monday I have to take Gauge to the vet and then BSF at night. Tue. I am the parent helper at Braelyn's school, home for naps, and then late afternoon off to Kyle's mom's work for some trick or treating early. Wed. I am going to trade a few kids off to my mom and take Braelyn and my niece Kylie (since my mom babysits her on Wed.) to a local farm where the kids get to do some fun stuff. And of course Wed. night is halloween so we will be heading out early to make it to all our stops. We go to our church for a big halloween event (big blow up stuff, food, candy, games) and probably visit my mom at her church to show off the kids at her church's Trunk or Treat event, and of course hit a few neighbors! I think Thur. and the weekend are kind of slow though - thank goodness. Two mornings with out Gracyn for a while - what will I do??? That girl has been attached to me. So, that's our week in a nutshell - not like you all really care though - LOL! Just more of a reminder for me!

And here are two more LO's. Like I said I do have my computer beside me while nursing so I tend to just work on LO's since I can do that one handed for the most part! So I may seem like i am scrapping a lot, but hey - what else is a mom to do while sitting down anyway. I really do still clean and cook and do domestic stuff (probably not near as much as hubby would like yet, but my house stays quite clean I would say!)

This first LO is using Shabby Miss Jenn's newest kit Uncle Patrick's Banquet. I LOVE purple so this kit jumped right out at me when I saw it! Yummy colors in my eyes! I will get good use out of this kit!

And, oh boy, are you guys going to LOVE Nov. at the Lilypad!!! There are some new, fun, exciting things that are about to hoppin over there! The above LO is done using some new goodies from a new "mystery guest designer" debuting Nov. 2! You better HOP on over next week Fri.! I am scheduled to do the blog post and I am super nervous b/c of all the stuff I get to "show off" and talk about! Exciting I tell ya! But there are some other goodies on this LO that have already come out - the straight ribbons by Natalie Braxton (the ORIGINAL ribbon queen) and now some new paper clipped ribbons by Natalie's up and coming rival - Amy Martin! And of course I used Nancy's famous frames, and Amy Wolff's highlighting brush for the words. The girls were having fun painting a week or so ago - I just let them go to town - with washable paints of course! I think I will do an identical LO for Braelyn just change out the pictures! Keeping it easy and real for me folks!

So there you have it. That's it for me today folks. Who knows when you'll see me next! Ta ta for now! Keep it real!

P.S. - wanna see what I have on my christmas list???

Bamboo Fun tablet by Wacom. I have never had a tablet nor wanted one, until now. I think it would be fun to play with. Probably would be easier to nurse and scrap too! :) Hubby will kill me if I told him I wanted this. I am sure I won't get it, but a girl can dream, right?

You are seeing my scatterdness come out now aren't ya???