Julie.....

my step mom of 30 years passed away yesterday. I am sad.

I spoke to her back in March, which I spoke about in THIS post.

Life sometimes is just so confusing. People are sometimes just so dang stubborn.

She's no longer in pain. She played a major part in shaping me into the person I am today.

She & I had closure with eachother.

Rest in peace Julie and thank you for the good times. I loved you.

______________________________________________

Today's M2M: Take opportunities to give thanks by taking turns around the dinner table to express what you are thankful for.

Amen! I have so much to be thankful for.

Take time today to reconnect with someone, or pray for someone if you are estranged. Life is just way too short & too precious! Off to write a letter to my first born.....

Aquarium of the Pacific......

A fun day...just me & my babies!

The busy life of a mom & a crafty one at that!

Wow! It's been almost a month since I have posted! Sorry about that! Seems like that is how I start out everything things days on here! Thank you Marcia for reminding me that I even have a blog....

Life is just, well....life!

What we've been up to around here.....

JT is gone again to Mississippi at Pathfinder's Mission & will be home this Saturday - ooo - that's tomorrow! Yipppeee!

My handsome hubby trying to hide in the background & pretending he's not 6'5"!!!


Work is staying busy for him - yay!!! And you can always see what is happening with his work at SmethersConstruction.com although I am a bit behind there as well!

This Thursday, he & one of our friends, Eric, are starting a bible study just for men: In The Trenches and we are very excited about that! They both have a passion for working with men and helping them discover who God wants them to be! Yes, I am blessed, my husband is amazing!

Brandon - sad to say he has lots of time to think. He is currently in jail - got there August 26th & has a release date of May 18th - if all goes to plan. I'm sad, I never in a million years dreamed that I would have a child someday that would spend time in jail.....but, I know God has a plan and that Brandon is building himself one great testimony!

My song to Brandon - please take the time to watch, listen & pray for my boy....

The Words I Would Say

Mackenzie - well, she is just as precious as ever! She is in AWANA's and is a Cubbie! She loves it & I love watching her sing & dance and helping her learn her verses!

My beautiful girl fresh out of the bath...


Mackenzie, proudly wearing her Cubbie vest...


Jonas - that boy is crazy! And super smart. His latest thing is - he has taught himself to write his name! He's 2! That's insane!

One of the first......


Yes, the boy plays dress up with his sister
(this will be shared with his wife someday - ha!)


Fresh out of the bath & sniffing some Scentsy!!!


a Playdough creation....


Me? Well, still doing Little Hands To Heaven with them daily, working Thursday's and Sunday's at the church, selling Scentsy (I have my own domain now, have 2 people signed up under me & am officially addicted to the wonderful products!), and then I am still enjoying my sewing & hat making creations!


Scentsy's November Warmer of the Month! Meet "Holly"!!!


I have been a part of The Spotted Box now for several months. This month had lavendar sachets in them, November will have little knitted hats and December will have Boo-Boo Bags (or they can be used as bean bags).

November's hats - there are 62 in this picture!!!


December's Boo-Boo Bags.....


I have also been making bath melts & hair detangler!!!

Fun times around here!!!!

Oooo - and how can I leave this out! I just spent 6 days with my friend Naomi who flew here from San Jose and hung out with us!

a picture I just found on my camera that Naomi took with my girl!!!


Well - lunch time for the kiddos so off I go!

Be blessed!!!

Ooo - and yes, I know my Raiders.....ugggg......

Long time no see.....

Oh - been away....
Busy....
See.....

You can now go to http://www.smethersconstruction.com/ for hubby's business!

The men in my life cuddling....


Date night....

a recent custom I did....

still loving my Scentsy business....

Come find me at www.safecandleshop.com!!!

new hair do....

goofy girl....

bath time cuteness!

Stephen Curtis Chapman - saw his at Women of Faith!!

My first born.....

Seems his poor choices are finally catching up with him. Please keep him in your prayers.

Homeschooling......

I started yesterday & have picked an awesome curriculum that I can use for both kiddos so my Jonas won't feel left out & am so excited - after just one day - they are getting it!

Each week is a finger play - and it is all centered around the bible! This week is A - and the verse of the week is "A soft answer turns away wrath" Proverbs 15:1. There is an awesome story to get the verse across & Mackenzie got it! Daddy walked int he door & she told him all about it & then both kid performed the finger play for him.

The curriculum I'm using is Little Hands to Heaven and am just trying to get myself on track with a routine.

It's great - each week has a new letter, new verse, new fingerplay - has art, math & most importantly builds on character!!!!

Getting on track....again.....sigh.....SOML!

Ha! SOML = story of my life! Even though I do not really have the kids in school my goal is to get back on track for the school year! I just purchased some simple curriculum to do with the kiddos and will be starting right after Labor Day - or possible sooner depending on how long it takes to get here. Mackenzie is just 4 and would not be starting Kindergarten until next year, however, she is ready. That girl is a smarty pants (I know - what parent doesn't say that about their child - well at least the little ones) :blush: I got something that I can do with both kiddos at the same time and is all spelled out for me just to really help me get into a "schedule" - then, next year, my plan is to do it more by the "picking & choosing" method! That means - not just one author basically for everything.

So - other than that...hmmm...what's new?

Jonas - he is starting to talk more - or at least trying to. Mackenzie loves to memorize scripture & she loves to teach him. He copies her - although his words you just can't understand yet - but he;s trying! Jonas is huge! He is just a few pounds behind his sister and he is all boy! Loves to drive cars up your legs, make airplane & train sounds, tell his sister "no sissy!" and is a messy guy!

Mackenzie - oh gosh - just typing her name reminds me of the service this weekend. Pastor Todd brought up about how our kids were given to us to grow us. Yes, I know those weren't his exact words but it was about that. My Mackenzie - she will definitly help me grow in the patience, gentleness, and kindness department! She is so precious. Yes, very dramatic & emotional but very precious! I feel blessed everytime that girl speaks - she is just so amazing!

JT - gosh - all that know him know how awesome he is. He is working hard to take care of us and is doing great with physically working, bidding jobs, helping others, being a wonderful husband & father - and has some things going on that are TBA.

My Brandon - well - just pray for him. I have no idea what he's up to & have not heard from him since the last time he called, chose to swear & I hung up on him. Sigh...another SOML.

Okay - kiddos are getting a abit louder & furniture is being used as a trampoline...ooooo - did I just admit that - my kids would never do that!

Ooo- quickly - me - God, hubby, kids, sewing, working at the church, Scentsy.....that's me....

Wild Olive tees...for kids now!!!

Well - if you know me, you know I love their tees! They now have tees for kids coming out! Here's some info - straight from their site:

We are excited to announce the launch of our Wild Olive Kids line! We will be offering tees for both boys and girls in sizes ranging from 2-12. Our tees will be available just in time for back to school shopping. You can expect to find them in our stores around August 12th. We cannot wait to see our kids gettin’ their verse on! To see larger images of the tees, click here.

and - they have another charity tee! Here's info on that:

We are also thrilled to announce another Charity tee, CHOSEN. Through August 31st, 25% of our profits (instead of our standard 10%) from the sale of “CHOSEN” will go to benefit a charity near and dear to our hearts, Love without Boundaries. Love Without Boundaries began in 2003, after a group of adoptive parents realized that people united by a pure love for impoverished children truly can make a difference. Love without boundaries strives “To provide the most loving and compassionate help possible to orphaned and impoverished children in China, and to show the world that every child, regardless of their needs, deserves to experience love and be treated with dignity and care.” In just five short years, the foundation has grown from providing a handful of surgeries to touching the lives of thousands of children today through foster care, medical, education, and nutrition programs. To find out more about Love Without Boundaries, you can visit their website here.

Check out Wild Olive - click here!

Mommyhood....

Has consisted of doing lots of art projects lately! I am thankful that I was part of a couple of co-ops with Oriental Trading Company and have gotten a bunch of fun projects for the kiddos to do! I had some icky dental surgery on Monday so I am grateful to have had these to keep the kiddos busy! Here are some of the projects we've done this week:

Pinwheels have been the biggest hit - especially in front of the swamp cooler!

Fans:

Monkey magnets:

Jonas' basketball pillow - he did the stitching!

Mackenzie's purse - she did the stitching on this!

Fish catching games:

Lovely animal masks:

And - we made some yummy homemade Strawberry jam!

Wordless Wednesday

Chuck E. Cheese....

where a kid can be a kid.....even us 40 somethings....

Wordless Wednesday on Thursday...ha!!!