Look what I Won!!!!!

So I was playing around on the net yesterday and went to check out Tinkering Ink's blog. It was friday and apparently they always have a "Friday Freebie." This week it was a signed copy of this book...and guess what? I WON IT!!!!! Too cool. Thank you
Tinkering Ink and thank you random number generator!

Moving on, this weekend is Virtual Scrapbooking Night over at Splitcoast Stampers and one of the challenges was to make a page with a removable booklet for journaling it. This is my booklet. Each different color is another page and I'm going to use it to write down all those fun little "Kessa-isms" that I don't want to ever forget! The pp for the cover and the foam thicker are from the July Addicted Scrappers Sunshine and Popsicles kit.
And here's the page the booklet goes in! I am having so much fun using this kit!!! I'm loving the Cosmo Cricket papers and I'm having a BLAST fussy cutting them! lol. The everything but the cloud paper, ribbons and some of the letter stickers are from the A.S. kit. I also have to give credit to my DH who came up with the quote for the top of the page...even though I messed it up! lol. It was APPARENTLY supposed to be "Hookin' up words and phrases and clauses" Oh! I have an idea, leave me a comment and tell me what that's from. If I have more than 5 people leave comments I'll have a drawing for some goodies on...hmmm...Tuesday. Ok? Ok. (Kessa says that all the time and it totally cracks me up!)
credits: red bg - Bazzil, clouds pp - love, elsie, alpha stickers - little davis designs and ???, ribbon, Cosmo Cricket pps and photo corner, hand doodling, faux stitching, paper rick rack, AC foam Thickers

Sunny Days

I got my first kit from Addicted Scrapper and it is FAB!!!! I love it!! I sat down and whipped out this page right after I got it! I used Jessica's sketch that she did for this weeks sketch challenge on the Totally Random blog. It also works for Jennipher's "Glitz it Up" challenge on T.R. The yellow letters are all covered in glitter. Anyway...this month's girl kit at Addicted Scrapper is called Sunshine and Popsicles and it is full of all this wonderful stuff!!!!

Valley of Vision

Well I don't have a card for you, but its not for lack of trying. I got it done and just wasn't all that pleased with it, so I shan't make you all suffer through looking at it! ;) On to the good stuff!

My God,
Though hast helped me to see,
that whatever good be in honour and rejoicing,
how good is He who gives them, and can withdraw them;
that blessedness does not lie so much
in receiving good from and in thee, but
in holding forth thy glory and virtue:
that it is an amazing thing
to see Deity in creature, speaking, acting,
filling, shining through it;
that nothing is good but Thee,
that I am need good when I am near Thee,
that to be like Thee is a glorious thing:
This is my magnet, my attraction.

Thou art all my good in times of peace,
my only support in days of trouble,
my one sufficiency when life shall end.
Help me to see how good Thy will is in all,
and even when it crosses mine
teach me to be pleased with it.
Grant me to feel Thee in fire, and food and every providence,
and to see that Thy many gifts and creatures
are by Thy hands and fingers taking hold of me.
Thou bottomless fountain of good,
I give myself to thee out of love,
for all I have or own is Thine,
my good, family, church, self,
to do with as thou wilt,
to honour Thyself by me, and by all mine.
If it be consistent with Thy eternal counsels,
the purpose of Thy grace,
and the great ends of Thy glory,
then bestow upon me the blessings of Thy comforts;
If not, let me resign myself to Thy wiser determinations.

Finally a Crafty Post!

As promised I actually have some scrappy goodness to share today! I actually got this page done amazingly quickly for me. This is the current sketch challenge on Noel Mignon which you can see here. The sketch is by Virgina and you can check her out here. The majority of this lo are things from the Addicted Scrappers June Dino Mate kit which you can see here. Pretty sure there's still some left.
The title was semi-stolen from a book Tim is currently reading called Future Men by Douglas Wilson which you can check out here. I was just skimming through it and came across the paragraph that inspired this title and that I used for the journaling.

Journaling: "If our sons are to be prepared for the world God made, then their imaginations MUST be fed and nourished with tales about...Sam Gamgee carrying Frodo up the mountain and Trumpkin fighting for Aslan while still not believing in him...this type of story is required by Scripture . The Bible cannot be read rightly without creating a deep impulse to tell stories which carry scriptural truth about the kind of war we are in down through the ages."

I also want to share something I've been reading in Valley of Vision, but I'll post that later tonight (and hopefully a card from this sketch too. I've got it all in my head, just have to have time to get it to paper!)

My Heros!

My Heros. Not quite three feet tall. Not always intelligible in the speech department. Not always full of social graces. Love being tickled. Can't cross the street by themselves. But heros. To me. Because for the first time in over two years....I got a full nights sleep!!!! WOOHOO!!!!!! THAT is why this little girl and this little boy are my heros today. They both slept all night. In their OWN beds!!! And on a different note, I do have something crafty to show you, but I haven't taken pictures so it will have to wait till tomorrow.

Bubble Fun

Soo....there's pretty much nothing better for finding your "inter child" than blowing bubbles (IMHO.) Or in my case...taking pictures of my child "blowing" bubbles. You'll be able to figure out why BLOWING is in quotation marks once you've seen these pictures I'm sure.
and yet she still loves it...the taste didn't even seem to phase her.
Bet you didn't know dogs like blowing bubbles did you? 'Der didn't know it either! She wasn't so keen on Kessa sticking that thing in her face...good thing she's not a vindictive dog!

Wedding Basket

So, not too much going on today, Tim is preaching morning and evening in Grayville today so we're a little bit more busy than normal. Tomorrow is Monday and I'm hoping we can all get back into the swing and schedule of life. Tomorrow is also Tim's first day at his new job!!! WOOHOO!!!!
This is the wedding basket I put together for some friends of ours that got married yesterday. They got married here and it was beautiful!
This is a picture of part of the inside downstairs (they also had the reception here.) I was rather upset that I forgot to take pictures of everything in it (back to the basket) and of the whole thing together before I wrapped it up, but we were running too late to take it apart just for pictures. The basket is made out of cookies and its filled with Cinnamon and Sugar Biscotti, Mocha Biscotti, Almond Chocolate Cookies (which is what the basket is made of it), and Sugar Cookies. I also made a mini album with the recipes for all the goodies in it. (Sadly didn't get a picture of that either!) I plan on making another one soon just so I can get some good pictures. So that's it for today. Laters.

A Winner!

Using the random number generator the winner of the blog candy is Jodi!!!! (who says her favorite scrapping goody right now is flocked paper.) E-mail me (iact2@hotmail.com) with your mailing addy and I'll get your goodies out to you Jodi! Ok, that's all for now, but I'll be back later tonight with a longer post and hopefully some crafty things for you!

I'm Back!!!!!

Sorry its been so long since I've blogger. I'll be honest, the internet has been in and out, but mainly just nothing out of the ordinary has been going on. Just normal SAHM stuff, laundry, cleaning, going to the park, more cleaning, changing diapers, etc. etc. However, Tim has the day off today and he took Kessa to the store while I was feeding Zeke and when they came home Kessa came walking into the laundry room and gave me these!!!!
They also got me candy!!! Can I just say how blessed I am?!?!
How cute are these two?!?! I love it!!!!
And if this doesn't just melt your heart....well...how could it not?!?!

BLOG CANDY!!!!!!!! because....

I made the DT over at Addicted Scrappers!!!!!!!!!!! I'm sooo excited. This is the first time I will have ever been on a DT and there was sooo much talent in the call. I was truly shocked. Anyway, in celebration I'm going to give away some stuff! (who doesn't love blog candy?!?) So, all you have to do is leave me a comment and maybe link me up to your favorite line of scrap goodies right now and I'll draw a name on friday. So without further ado...here's the loot!

Personality

So I was reading this on Virgina's blog and thought I'd give it a try too. I'm at my in-laws and they were totally laughing and nodding their heads as I read this....(should I be insulted?!? ;)

General Description
As a Strategic Thinker, you excel by blending your strong drive to reach goals with a desire for precision, accuracy, and quality. As a result, you are well equipped to be in charge, especially in situations or projects where producing quality output is a priority.

Let's pray this turns out to be true in raisin my littles!

Typical Areas of Strength
Strategic Thinkers, like you, are goal-oriented, precise, analytical, assertive, confident, prepared; you tend to insist on high standards. You have a good eye for detail and usually push to get things done right.

Typical Areas of Struggle
You may sometimes come across as rigid, cold, picky, pushy, dogmatic, or stubborn. In your desire to achieve results, you may become overly critical, judgmental, or insistent on doing things your way.

Umm...so this is the one my in-laws were all laughing about...think maybe God is showing me something that needs to be worked on?

Your Preferred Activities
Because you are highly task-oriented, you usually desire to control two key elements of any project: goals and quality.

Can you say scrapbooking challenges?!?!

Your Communication Style
Strategic Thinkers, like you, are usually gifted communicators who strongly believe that what they are saying is absolutely correct and represents the right direction to take.

A Puritan Prayer...and a Good Laugh!

So I promised you a puritan prayer from the book Valley of Vision yesterday and here it is!

My Dear Lord,
I can but tell thee that thou knowest I long for nothing but thyself,
nothing but holiness, nothing but union with thy will.
Thou hast given me these desire, and thou alone canst give me the thing desired.

My soul longs for communion with thee, for mortification of indwelling corruption, especially spiritual pride.
How precious it is to have a tender sense and clear apprehension of the mystery of godliness, of true holiness!
What a blessedness to be like thee as much as it is possible for a creature to be like its Creator!

Lord, give me more of thy likeness; Enlarge my soul to contain fullness of holiness; Engage me to live more for thee.
Help me to be less pleased with my spiritual experiences, and when I feel at east after sweet commiunings, teach me it is far too little I know and do.

Blessed Lord, let me climb up near to thee, and love, and long, and plead, and wrestle with thee, and pant for deliverance from the body of sin, for my heart is wandering and lifeless, and my soul morns to think it should ever lose sight of its Beloved.

Wrap my life in divine love, and keep me ever desiring thee, always humble and resigned to thy will, more fixed on thyself, that I may be more fitted for doing and suffering.

And now for a good laugh for the weekend...go check this out. Its the Girl Talk Friday Funny. It's about 5 minutes long, but you have to watch the whole thing, it just keeps getting funnier! If you've never checked out Girl Talk, do that while you're over there.

Argh! @ the internet

So, I know I haven't updated since Tuesday...sorry about that. It's been raining and storming and our internet has been hit or miss since tuesday afternoon I. Mostly miss though! ARGH!!! Everytime I sat down to update the net was off...again...ARGH! Anyway, I have a GREAT puritan prayer from Valley of Vision I'm going to share with you tomorrow. However, for today, I'll leave you with the last two challenges for the Design team contest at Addicted Scrappers.

This challenge was to scrap about your routine. I chose to just scrap about one aspect of my routine, my bible study/prayer time. I also used this page for the Dream Girls challenge which was to journal in 5 different spots and have doodling. The journaling blocks/circles read (from left to right): "These are pages from my journals. They are from 2001, 2003, 2005, and 2007." "Today is June 12th, 2008 and I'm studying Acts and praying through Psalms." "Currently I have 26 prayer journals." "I started keeping journals in 1996." "Blessed Lord, let me climb up near to thee and live and long and plead and wrestle with thee, and pant for deliverance from the body of sin, for my heart is wandering and lifeless and my soul morns to think it should ever lose sight of its Beloved. - Valley of Vision"
credits: Addicted Scrappers June Dino-Mite kit felt frame, Love Elsie soft charms, Love Elsie tab sticker, unknown clear buttons, American Crafts clear journaling stickers, Your Memories by Design journaling circles, Tim Holtz grungeboard arrow, American Crafts glitter thickers, American Crafts letter stickers, paint pens, Rock Star bg paper

This was the last challenge for the DT call. We had to make 4 coordinating cards with at least two flowers and three brads or eyelets on every card. Almost all of the products on these cards are Love, Elsie. I also used yesterdays newspaper! ;)

One More Crop Project and a Lesson from Acts

I'm not positive, but I think this is the last project I have to share with you all from the on-line crop I participated in a few weekends ago. This is just a simple little chipboard heart. I think I'm going to add wire or string to the back so that it can be hung up. On a funny note, when I was making this it called for wire to make the little curls coming out of the flower and I couldn't find any...however...one of Tim's guitars was sitting in the office...with a broken string hanging from it...so...talk about using "found" objects! So...all the "wire" you see here is a guitar string (which I don't recommend using as it doesn't hold shape very well!) However, I'm not musically savvy so I can't tell you WHICH string it is (sorry Kirsten!)credits: Scenic Route chipboard heart frame, SU felt flowers, unknown definition sticker, Daisy D pp, button from stash, and guitar string ;)


I'm doing this study of Acts right now for the second time, and I'm learning a lot this time around too! What I want to share with you right now is what struck me this time around about Stephen. We're told over and over again that Stephen was "full of the Holy Spirit" and that he spoke with great wisdom and that he was full of grace. He performed signs and miracles and many people believed because of his testimony. He was taken before the Council, false witnesses were brought against him, and he was stoned. Stephen was the first martyr recorded in the Bible, he saw heaven open and Jesus sitting at the right hand of God. All of these things happened while he was fulfilling the duty he had been called to...to serve tables. Remember that as you go about the duties God has called you to today, as you serve your family.

OLW

My LO for the year celebration for One Little Word. ONE being the word. HAPPY BIRTHDAY ONE LITTLE WORD!


So....I can't figure out why blogger keeps making these photos sideways. They're saved the correct way but when I upload them they're sideways and I can't rotate them! Its a simple LO, but I wanted all the focus to be on these GREAT (imho ;) pictures of Zeke.

Weekend Crop

Not a wordy post today, I'm just going to leave you with some of the los I did at Crop for Life this past weekend. Mom and I had a blast!
Daddy's Favorite Shirt (I got it at Wal-Mart last year and it says, "He's not just my daddy, he's my HERO!")
credits: Love, Elsie doodle paper and speech bubble, mystery brads, Rockstar BG paper, Basic Black, Pixie Pink, and Pink Passion inks, cardboard as a stamp
When I was putting together "kits" for the crop we went to on Saturday I found some paper I have had literally since I started scrapping and I decided I was going to use it. The bg paper and the center pp that is white with tiny hearts on it have been in my stash forever-ever because I wasn't sure what to do with them, they aren't really my style, however, I like how this page turned out! So there's your challenge: find the oldest paper you have and use it!
credits: K and Co pp and mystery old pp, "Girl" rub-ons, ribbon, Heidi Grace rub-ons, SU felt flower, unknown heart button
credits: Memory Boutique, Daisy D, and SU paper, Autumn Leaves Swirl stamps, sandpaper, paint pens, FancyPants Biggest Board chipboard, KI Memories Smoky letters

Circle Album

Enjoy and have a great weekend! I'm going to a 12 hour crop tomorrow...so hopefully I'll get a lot done! :)

The "MINE!" Morass

Thing in the Johnson household have become increasingly....interesting...over the last few weeks. Kessa has learned the meanings of "no" (in response to a request) and "MINE!" Both of which she frequently uses in all her almost-two-year-old glory. Now, I can hear some of you out there laughing and saying, that's a two year old. That may be true, I feel God has called me to require more from my children. As she has taken to claiming everything as hers I've been increasingly reminded of things I consider "mine" and how untrue that is. (There God goes again...using my child to open my eyes to my sin!) We've spent a lot of time (though apparently not nearly enough!) talking about how everything belongs to God. We talk about how God would want us to use the things that He has "loaned" us and whether the way we were using them glorifies Him. As these things have been weighing on my heart, I've been studying Acts. God had a delightful treasure waiting for me today! Check out Acts 4:32. "Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common." This is my prayer for my children. This is the heart I'm prayerfully trying to instill in them. This is the heart God is gently trying to instill in me.
On a lighter note, I'll leave you with a LO for a DT call. (it was a sketch challenge.)
Credits: Upsy Daisy Designs pp, rub-ons, Tim Holtz grungeboard swirls, paint, DWCV alpha stickers, Stampin' Catz stamp

The End of the Road...

Well readers, its the end of the road for me in the Last Scrapper Standing contest. It was fun, but I got eliminated this week.

On the VERY happy side though, I have some good news and some GREAT news to share with you all. First...the good news. I had a ton of fun playing along with the crop at Addicted Scrappers last weekend and I'll be uploading the fun things I made over the next few days. Well for every project you completed you got so many points...I was the high scorer...and I won...a THREE MONTH SUBSCRIPTION TO THEIR KIT CLUB!!!!!!!!!!! This is too too fantastic!!!! I love their kits so I felt like I was in heaven! Woohoo!!!!

And now...the GREAT news...Thank you to everyone that was praying...because Tim got the job in town!!!! Yea!!!!! He's been driving about an hour one way to work everyday since graduation and we were praying that it was God's will to bless him with a job closer to home. He answered our prayers with a resounding YES and Tim is now the Plant Accountant for Pacific Press which is a manufacturing company about TWO BLOCK from our house! God is good, all the time. The thing that I want to remind myself and all of you about that though is that it would still have been just as true had God said NO to this job. His plans are perfect.

And finally, I'll leave you with some crafty goodness. This is what I made for my FIL for father's day (Annette if you're reading this make sure Tim doesn't see it! lol) This adorable according album fits inside a cd case!

Monochromatic Brown

Here's a lo for you all! I've got a TON of projects to show you from the crop at Addicted Scrappers last weekend, but for now I'm just going to leave you with this page of my littles. It was done with a monochromatic brown color scheme. If you want a challenge, try that sometime! lol.
Credits: PP- Stampin Up, Wild Asperagus, and some random sheets I "stole" from my mom (thanks mom!), Tim Holtz Distress embossing powder, Prima, Brown SU journaling pen, I THINK MME chipboard letters, Love Elsie tab, and DCWV alpha sticker