Scrapbook.com and Scrapjazz.com - new products daily!

I love being a contributing artist for Scrapbook.com and Scrapjazz.com where I can show off their new products each and every month. For May, I'm showcasing Jillibean, Prima, Three Bugs, and Bo Bunny. Look at how different each line makes the page. I had so much fun playing this month. Come on over to Scrapbook.com and check out their new products here: www.scrapbook.com!

When did he turn into his dad?

Chase used to be this quiet, rather shy kid when he was younger. Not any more! He actually likes making people laugh. My sisters remind me all the time that Chase is just like Mike was at that age, the life of the party, always making people around him laugh. After all, that was what made me fall in love with Mike 30+ years ago. And now, I watch Chase up in front of a crowd of people giving a Brian Regan comedy routine at the Spring concert, and I ask myself, "when did he turn into Mike?" I'm so glad he did....

Girls' Night Out!

My sister-in-law bought my sister and I tickets to go see a Mark Lowry concert tonite in Dayton. I'm taking off work early for a girls' evening. I....can...not...wait! Mark Lowry is, not only a fabulous singer and a hilarious comedian, but he is from Liberty and his mom was on my bowling team, many, many years ago. I am looking forward to some inspiration and laughs tonite and a good time with my family.

Soccer season - Rain delays and Cancellations!

This has been the story of our soccer season with all the rain we have gotten. I do not remember a season where we had more games cancelled due to all the rain and the miserable field conditions. Carmen's team was making up a game last night. It was a beautiful, sunny day and the game started. Right after half time (and we were up 4 to 3), the first bolt of lightning was seen in the sky. The Ref immediately delayed the game for 1/2 hour from the last lightning. The girls all congregated in one of the other mother's vans. It was the perfect photo opportunity for us. I just love how well these girls get along. The game never did start up again since a storm came through....another cancelled game!

The kits from My Creative Scrapbook...

go a long way. I'm always able to create lots of pages with the kit each month. Here are two more pages I made:

Thy word have I hid in mine heart...

that I might not sin against thee! Every year, my kids compete in the Christian Schools of Ohio Bible Memory contest. They give up hours of "free" time to study God's word and to memorize scripture. I have always said that even if they come in last place, they have not "lost" because they have memorized God's Word. Some parents think I go too overboard by pushing my kids and my kids even hear comments from their friends/family about their Mom making them do this, but I am very passionate about the way I push my kids to learn their Bible. If you look at the eternal picture, I am sure that the hours my kids have given up playing Playstation, or riding their bikes, or watching Disney channel while they were memorizing Bible verses will not matter at all when we step foot on Heaven's streets. On the contrary, when my kids are older and they are on their own and they have daily decisions to make in their walk with Christ, I am rather sure that these "verses" will come back to them and that God's Word will not return void. That's why I am passionate about pushing my kids to do Bible Memory every year. I am happy to report that 2011's CSO contests are over. Candace came in first place in Cleveland for the Jr. High level (she memorized 239 verses). Chase fought a tough battle with a Sr. from Cleveland and went over 1 hours and 45 minutes quoting verses, and came in 2nd place. I was so proud of him. Cara and Carmen both just finished their elementary CSO competitions and came in first place for their grade level. I am a proud Mom!

The album kit from My Creative Scrapbook!

I loved this kit...so full of goodies!

My Creative Scrapbook's May creative kit!

I loved working with this kit this month. The colors are so fresh, so fun, and so colorful. The kit was so full of goodies. I made this kit go a long way....

Our evening....

So I came home from work and found that Candace had burned the hamburger for our spaghetti, but she managed to "pick" out the burnt pieces enough to salvage it. Mike and Carmen were at a rainy, muddy, cold soccer game, and I headed out to take Cara and Candace to their game. On the way to the game, we get a call from the coach because, apparently, Candace forgot to tell me the game had been moved to 5:15 and we missed the game. Fortunately, the other team decided not to show so our absence didn't hurt too much. Grr....when is that girl going to learn to be responsible? I really ask myself this question several times a day. We turn around and come home to finish the spaghetti. It tasted a little "smoked" from the burnt hamburger, but it was edible. Then, after dinner, after an episode of 24, Chase went upstairs for awhile. He then came down with several of the Dr. Seuss books that I used to read to him when he was little, sitting on my lap. Apparently, he has to come up with a children's book for speech class. His favorite book was Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You? He couldn't find that one, but he came down with The Tooth Book. Waxing nostalgic, he can no longer sit on my lap, but he stood beside me as I read, once again, The Tooth Book to him. It brought back memories...lots of memories. We, as a family, sat around for over an hour and just remembered things when the kids were smaller. Where does time go? It reminds me that I need to hug them a little more, read to them, pray with them, take time to thank God for the miracles He has given me.