I'm going to remember this...

A Christmas Version of 1 Corinthians 13 

As you prepare your heart and home for Christmas this year, consider the following words of wisdom and have Christ be the center and essence of your celebration. 

If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights and shiny balls, but do not show love to my family, I'm just another decorator. 

If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies, preparing gourmet meals and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime, but do not share the true meaning of Christmas, I'm just another cook. 

If I work at the soup kitchen, carol in the nursing home and give all that I have to charity, but do not demonstrate kindness to strangers, it profits me nothing. 

If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels and snowflakes, attend a myriad of holiday parties and sing in the choir but do not focus on Christ, I have missed the point. 

Love stops the cooking to hug the child. Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the husband. Love is kind, though harried and tired. 

Love doesn't envy another's home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens. Love doesn't yell at the kids to get out of the way, but is thankful they are there to be in the way. 

Love doesn't give only to those who are able to give in return but rejoices in giving to those who can't. 

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. Love never fails. 

Video games will break, pearl necklaces will be lost, golf clubs will rust, but giving the gift of love will endure.      -Author Unknown 

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

Scrap Etc. Creative Cafe

So, have you ever been to The Creative Cafe at Scrap Etc? If you haven't, you really should go. Really. I mean, for $2 - $4 you can make some of the cutest little projects you've ever seen! In December you can make Christmas decorations, gift card holders, ornaments, and even a mini-album. All you have to do is check the blog and come to the store on the dates listed. 

Can't make it? Call or email me and I'll pick up a kit for you. You can pay me back later. And I'll even enter your name into the prize drawing at the store. If you win, you can thank me later :)

See you there! 

So thankful

Just a few of the reasons I am thankful today (not in any particular order... just the way my random mind thinks of them!):

1. I get to be a wife

2. I get to be a mom

3. Brad doesn't complain that the house is a wreck most of the time.

4. Bennett doesn't complain that I don't cook all that much.

5. Our dog is always excited for me to come home.

6. Our cat is purring on my lap as I type (and not biting me :)

7. Ice cream

8. The gym :)

9. Partners to work out with me to keep me honest and motivated.

10. Our church

11. Living Waters Sunday School

12. My Bible Study girls

13. The kindergartners in my choir

14. The Office

15. Book Club

16. My mom 

17. My sis

18. Chap Stick

19. Hondas

20. Scrapbooking

21. Sales - good ones!

22. Static guard

23. Hand Sanitzer

24. Turkey

25. Rudolph the red nosed reindeer

26. Twlight - the books.

27. Cameras

28. Bennett's hugs

29. Brad's love for trying new things

30. Bennett's teacher

31. Email

32. Crops

33. Colored Christmas lights

34. Icees

35. Soft claws

36. My grandfather

37. My dad

38. Brad's parents

39. remote controls

40. cell phones

41. The silence button on the cell phone

42. The fact that Brad doesn't care about football

43. The Christmas tree is up

44. The blow-up Santa and reindeer in the front yard

45. Dyson vacuums

46. Simona, who cleans the house once every other week.

47. Those special pens that I LOVE to write with

48. Coach purses

49. Comfy shoes

50. Cold water to drink

51. Friends who stand by me no matter what - you know who you are :)

52. Yard sales

53. My Silpada earrings that dangle. so cute

54. Bennett's excitement about learning.

55. Bennett's singing.

56. Charlie Brown - and listening to Bennett laugh so hysterically.

57. Laptop computers with wi-fi

58. DVRs

59. Scrapbooking magazines

60. Chick-fil-a

61. Cereal

62. Ebay

63. Fall leaves

64. Pictures that remind me of EXACTLY how I was feeling in that moment

65. recycling

66. Our under-cabinet lights

67. The bug man (our exterminator)

68. Traditions

69. Bobbi Brown (cosmetics!) :)

70. Hobby Lobby

71. Amazon.com

72. Grace

73. Beth Moore

74. Facebook

75. Praise music

76. Dishwashers

77. The sound of rain when I'm sleeping

78. Clean sheets

79. Aveeno sun screen

80. Sandestin

81. Walt Disney World

82. Online bill payment

83. Our financial guy

84. Shutterfly

85. Publix

86. Coupons

87. Cool weather

88. Christmas

89. Playing Go Fish with Bennett

90. Date nights

91. My travel hair dryer - why don't I get one for home too?

92. Good health

92. The ability to stay at home (even with Bennett in school)

93. Cheese

94. Lay's Baked Ruffles chips

95. Twix

96. Raisinettes

97. Surprises

98. Coke zero

99. CAbi jeans

100. Hydrangeas

Some things are big. Some are little. Some I hardly ever think of as something to be thankful for. But I am thankful. And I praise God for giving me each and every thing on the list - and the 1000's of other things I could name. I am so blessed. Blessed beyond anything I could ever deserve.

I hope you are feeling thankful too today! Happy Thanksgiving! Love, amy

You win some and you lose some.

And tonight, I lost $10.25 and 2 hours of my life on a terrible movie. A movie that I had waited for for quite a while. A movie whose books were the best I've read in a long long time. Maybe ever. Books that made me ignore my household duties and sometimes even my child. Twilight.

Now, I know that some have said that the movie was great. I've even heard some say that they want to watch it upwards of 6 times in the next day or 2. Not me. I have to be honest. 

They left out SO much. And yes, I know that they had to leave some stuff out - it was a long book. But why did they add junk - like a field trip and the diner. They left out so much of the personal stuff between Bella and her high school friends. They moved to quick into the Bella/Edward love story. Just not right.

And the 'special' effects?? Come on. The 'spider-monkey'? The spinning legs? The 'flying' through the air? The sparkly skin? He just looked furry. And that wasn't what the Cullens' house looked like. Or Charlie's. Or the high school. And since when was Forks the epitome of cultural diversity? I never knew. 

I'm going to re-read the book now. It's late, but I have to try to get back some of what they ruined. Not that I'll ever get that $10.25 back. Or that 2 hours of my life. Just read the book - and be happy with your imagination. That's my advice. And that's free :)

He prays.

So, for the past few months Bennett has been praying for very specific things. Every night. The same things. And if he says the first part (which is the memorized prayer), then he gives me specific instructions so that I can pray for the things on the list.

Most of this started when the fire and tornado drills began at school. Bennett's obsession with fire safety was born and we had to turn off every light, appliance, check the smoke alarms, at be on the look-out for smoke at all times. It really was a worrisome couple of weeks - Bennett was super 'concerned' about fires. Any beeping noise - even the faintest microwave beep - produced questions like 'Was that a fire alarm?' Brad even turned on the fire alarm in the house to prove how loud it was and un-missable it is. All it did was hurt our ears - the obsession continued.

So, we prayed. He prayed, mostly. He prayed for God to keep us safe from fires. We prayed that if there was a fire, that we would know what to do and asked Him to watch over us throughout the night.

As you can imagine, the tornado drills produced similar fears - and we prayed that God would keep tornados, hurricanes, and even earthquakes away from our house. I smiled with Bennett prayed 'Please Lord, if those things have to come here, please keep them at the bottom of the hill'.

The next drill that was introduced was the intruder drill. I am sad that we even have to have these drills, but we do. And the kids hide quietly in the closet. And Bennett started praying for God to keep the robbers, thieves, and burglars away from our house. And one night a few weeks ago I smiled as Bennett prayed 'Dear Lord, please let all the robbers, thieves, and burglars already be asleep so that we will be safe tonight.' Smart boy. If they're asleep, they can't rob us :)

One night along the way he started using the word 'calamity'. Every night he prays (or instructs me to pray) just like this:

Dear Lord, Thank you for this beautiful day. Lord, please protect us from any calamities like tornadoes, earthquakes, hurricanes, fires, robbers, thieves, or burglars. Please, Lord, if these things happen here, keep us safe. Please give me good dreams tonight. Not bad ones. Just good ones. and Thank you, Lord for sending your son to die on the cross. I love you Lord. Amen.

And every night I am sure that God hears those prayers. And I bet he smiles like I do :)

And, just tonight, as I went to pick Bennett up from Bible Blitz at church he was on the stage and he was going to pray for the whole assembly. God humbled me because my heart was proud. I was feeling proud that Bennett was going to pray. So this is what he prayed:

Dear Lord, Thank you for this beautiful day today. And Lord, um, Lord, well, uh, please, uh, Lord, Please don't let my cat get fleas ever again. Amen.

Fleas. Hmmm. And again I smiled. Laughed a little, to be honest. And I bet God did too :) What a sweet boy. Just the fact that he talks to God about the big and the little things is an answer to my prayers.

Oh, and I checked and Roger doesn't have fleas. And he hasn't for the last 6 weeks. Thank you God! 

Now I'm going to pray and thank God for my little boy. My little boy who reminds me how to talk to God. And again, I'm thankful. So thankful.

I've been tagged...

so you get to find out 6 random (& mostly strange) things about me. Aren't you glad you came to my blog today? :) You can thank Katie for taggin' me!! 

So here we go... please promise that you won't think I'm too crazy when you get done!!

1. I am a germaphobe. If I touch anything in any public place I MUST use hand sanitizer when I get in the car (or of course before I eat). I pass out 'soap' to anyone in the car with me or at the table with me. I do not touch public restroom door handles, faucet handles, or paper towel knobs after I have washed my hands. And if I find myself in one of those ridiculously disgusting bathrooms that don't have papertowels... well, then I get out the hand sanitizer ASAP. And yet, somehow, I survived fishing my sunglasses out of the toilet at the zoo.  Go figure. Oh, and yes, I have passed this on to my child.

2. I hate the feeling of my feet being wet on a tile floor.

3. I clean the hair out of my brush every day. And if you don't, well that kinda grosses me out. Just ask Laci.

4. I can't fall asleep unless I am facing the side of the bed that I am closest to. Can't face the middle. Doesn't matter what side I am on, but I have to face out.

5. I've never owned a car that is not a grey or silver Honda. '85 grey civic hatchback. '99 silver civic. '03 silver odyssey. I don't plan on owning breaking the trend :)

6. I love it when my dirty clothes hamper is totally empty. And I kinda hate it when I have to put the first thing in it. I guess it means more work to be done.

Ok, so there you have it. Six of the random things about me. There are many more, but I'll spare you (until I get tagged again!!)

I have tons of photos that I need to post including the projects that I worked on at Wrapper's Delight. Maybe tonight. Or tomorrow. 

Yard sale tomorrow at Meg's house! I have tons of toys that I bought last year on clearance at Target (to sell on ebay, but never got around to it!). If they don't sell, I'm promising to sell them on ebay next week. If I type it, then I HAVE to do it, right? :)

Have a good weekend!

Super giveaway!!

Did you know that there is a giveaway in your future? Yup, there is!  Just check out the Scripts blog right here...Scripts Blog

I just joined Scripts (Scrap Etc's kit club), and although I am supposed to be saving November and December's kits for Christmas (that is what I told Brad I would do...) I'm not sure that I'll be able to wait!! Have you seen what is in the kit for November!!!  Wowee :)

So, check it out. You won't be sorry!

She will be missed.

On Friday afternoon, Brad's grandma (Bennett called her Mooma Boerman) went to live with Jesus in heaven. She will certainly be missed, but we rejoice in her renewed health in heaven as well as her reunion with Grandpa. I'm sure there's quite a party going on up there even as I am typing.
Brad is in Michigan today through Tuesday. The funeral is tomorrow, and I am glad that he is able to visit with his family for a while. He said that it is snowing there. We miss him here.

Bennett was the Bible Bearer today and it was quite a proud moment for me. He was so excited to carry that heavy Bible up to the pulpit. (And much to my relief, he did not drop it :)

Now if I can just teach him to say 'bearer' instead of 'burier'... :)

I bet that Mooma Boerman and Grandpa were smiling down on him as he carried that Bible so proudly this morning!

What have I done to deserve this??

Now, you know that my kid is a cute kid... I mean, really, (for the most part) he is! And, no one can say that he has not had plenty of time (5 years, 7 months, and 1 day to be exact!!) to get used to having his picture taken.

In the good 'ole days I used to be able to point the camera at him and instantly get a good shot. Smiles. Eye contact. Sometimes even a hand gesture. No more. I've noticed this crazy 'I-can't-look-at-the-camera' phenomenon for a few months now... the camera comes out, and instantly Bennett's eyes avoid the camera and his mouth does something crazy. EVERY TIME!

Take this for instance...

Admittedly, this one is not so bad. BUT, Brad was saying 'Hey! Bennett! Look at the CAMERA!!!' and this is the best we could get. I was hoping to document the first time we scrapbooked together. Maybe not.

On Halloween I was asked by Bennett's teacher to come and take pictures of the kids in the on-site Pumpkin Patch. Guess which child was the ONLY one that I had to take multiple pictures of to get one that was semi-decent... you guessed it! Bennett...

No, Bennett, look AT THE CAMERA!!!

AT THE CAMERA!! OVER HERE! do you see me??? over here.... please!

Ok, good smile, but can you open your eyes?

In this one, I can only assume that he is going for the 'gangsta' look. That or he is just trying to make me mad...

And this one...

Here we are. Sitting in a trailer full of people on Halloween night. Everyone else (who I removed for privacy's sake) is looking at the camera. Smiling. What is happening to Bennett??? Anyone? Another great picture, ruined.

This one was taken at Angie's birthday celebration. This was like the 5th picture that we took - and the best one. What's going on with his eyes? Is he scared? Scared of cake and presents? I think not...
Ok, and I present you with the picture that made me laugh out loud just seconds after taking it. It also is the inspiration for this post...

There really are no words for this one. Are there?

So, I am asking - no I am BEGGING - please, please, give me my normal cute camera-loving kid back. I am going to have a really hard time scrapbooking if I can't get some better pictures :)

Today's the big day...

You know what today is? No, not the election... it is Angie's birthday!! My little sis turns 29 today! Happy Birthday Ang! 

I can't imagine what I'd be without Angie in my life... who would I shop with? who would I complain about certain family members to? who would help convince me that we are the normal ones in the family? who would share our inside jokes? I just can't imagine the past 29 years without her!

So, when you are out voting today, please say a little birthday prayer for Angie. She is such a blessing to my life and I hope that this year is a great one! 

Oh, and Bennett said that he thought that as a birthday present I could vote for Angie for President. Actually, it's not a bad idea :)

Love you, Ang!

New scrappiness

So, I talked about it all week... thought about what I was going to do... tons of ideas going through my head... and I finally got around to getting into my scrapbook room and got some stuff done! Here it is...

This one is about the night Sadie and Roger met for the first time. We were very concerned about the possibility of Sadie snapping Roger in two - but of course, just to prove us wrong, it was love at first sight :)  I can't remember all the product, but I think it was Creative Imaginations, Sassafras, Cosmo Cricket, Thickers, and Creative Cafe polka dot felt.

This layout is about the Spring Soccer season when Brad was assistant coach with RT. It was a really fun season.  It uses Bazzill cardstock, Prima, Piggy Tales barn doors, and black chipboard letters. I'll only turn in the left half to Scrap Etc. for my DT submission...  

This layout is titled 'I know how thankful feels', which is from a great song that is on a CD that Meg made for me. LOVE that song!! I'll try to add it to my player over there on the side... This layout uses my fave new company, October Afternoon, as well as Bazzill cardstock, Heidi Swapp letters, and those little letters by My Little Shoebox.  The pic was from the pumpkin patch a few weeks ago. 

Finally, here is a wall hanging that I did that I will give to mom when I get it back from the store (don't worry, she never looks at my blog... :)  It says 'Surely two of the most satisfying experiences in life must be those of being a grandparent or a grandchild.'  I used some twine, a box from Piper Lime - have you seen the inside of these boxes??? So cute! (The pattern from the cardboard box is on the back of the hanger, but I didn't take a picture... doh!)  Anyway, the paper is October Afternoon, the flowers are Sassafras and the barn door is by Piggy Tales.  I like the way it turned out.  

I've been trying for an hour now to get the last pic to upload, but it won't... so just imagine a picture of the little door up there open and a picture of B and his Nana there smiling at you... can you imagine it? Go on, I know you can!! :)

I hope you are having a great weekend! Thanks for looking at my stuff!  Amy