Awesome giveaway!

If you have kids, you'll want to check out the giveaway that's going to be going on from June 30th-August 3rd at J. Leigh Designs blog. I know my kids would totally freak out to be able to have this in our backyard. Here's hoping for an awesome win!

Special People

Sometimes in life, you're lucky enough to meet people who just make the world a little brighter and make you view things in a whole new light. I am fortunate to have a friend like that. She makes me happy to be me because she helps me to see myself through someone's eyes other than my own. She makes me smile and laugh constantly and just brightens my day whenever I see her, talk to her or even chat on the computer. She's an amazing person who loves the Lord and inspires me with all she does. She's just a truly beautiful person and I thank God for her.

When does my vacation begin???!!!

I am taking a few minutes (some of the only free ones today) to just say hello to the people who check my blog frequently and to let everyone know that I'm going absolutely nuts right now. Today is quite possibly the busiest day I've ever experienced and it is driving me crazy. On top of that, I leave tomorrow to go up north camping for the weekend and am just praying that it doesn't rain. I'm thinking that rain, tents, and tubing don't really go together all that well. I am just completely overwhelmed right now and feel like I don't have a spare second to relax or do anything for myself. Next weekend is my youngest sister's wedding and after that, things should settle down a little and hopefully I'll regain a little of my sanity. So, I won't be posting again until sometime next week, if I'm lucky! For now, I'm off to pick up the dog from the groomer, then onto my appointment with the seamstress for my dress for the wedding and then off to a meeting....aaaahhhhhh!!!!

This is home

Some of you know that my 18 year old cousin passed away tragically at the end of January. It has been very hard for our family and there are so many questions that will probably never be answered. I don't know all that he was going through, but he was obviously a very sad and tormented soul and I just pray that he is at rest now. I miss him so much and there isn't a single day that goes by that I don't think about him and just wish there was some way we could have stopped this from happening. There is a song that was playing constantly during the week following his death, while all of the funeral home activities and then the funeral were happening, and I just felt like it was what he might be saying. I truly feel that he saw the enemy and for whatever reason, he couldn't overcome the hold that it had on him. I just pray for him and hope he realizes just how loved he was and still is. I've just been thinking about him a ton over the past couple days and thought I would share this song.

Rest in peace, sweet Andrew William. I will hold you in my heart always.

Love of a Lifetime

Today, Brian and I celebrate 10 wonderful years of marriage. It's hard to believe that it's been that long already, but I guess it's like they say...time flies when you're having fun! It's amazing to look at how far we've come in those years too. Three children, a strong and ever-growing faith and a maturity in our relationship are just a few of the things we've experienced. God has blessed us so greatly and I look forward to all of the years ahead that we will share together. There is nothing better than being married to your best friend since the age of 6, let me tell ya! We have so many memories together and there is no one in this world that I feel more comfortable with. He is really just an amazing, thoughtful, loving, supportive (and the list could go on and on) husband and I am so thankful that God chose him for me! So here's to 10 years of a blessed marriage and to many, many more! Brian and I truly share a love of a lifetime (that was our wedding song, for anyone who doesn't know)!

Let Your Light Shine!

I had such a wonderful thing happen to me today and I wanted to share. I had posted on freecycle last week that I was looking for some stamping/scrapbooking supplies and a lady had contacted me and said that she had some that she would give me. I emailed back and forth with her a few times and today, after I picked the boys up from school, I went out to pick it up.
When I got there, she came out her front door carrying a big box, with a huge smile on her face and said "You must be Danielle!" She came up to me and gave me a big hug (yes, a hug, and I've never met the woman before today and only emailed her very simple emails) and said "Let me show you what I have for you, I think you'll really like it." She proceeded to open up this box and show me dozens of stamps (seriously, at least 30), a bag full of embellishments and tons of cute cardstock and paper, along with a few ink pads and shape punches. I was so excited! I couldn't believe she was just giving me all of this. She told me that when she saw my post, she realized just how much stamping stuff she had and that she was just hoarding it and wanted to give it to me. I thanked her like crazy and she just smiled so sweetly and told me I was welcome and to enjoy everything.
When I got into the van, Riley said "Mom, is she a Christian?" and Gavin said "Yes, look how nice she is and she gave Mom a hug and everything!" I told them that I didn't know if she was a Christian or not, but that she sure was very nice and Gavin said "I think she is. She looks like a Christian."
When we got home, we went through the box of goodies together and found several stamps and some papers that said things about praying and God and Riley said "See, she must be a Christian!" By now, I was thinking so too and I decided to email her and tell her what my boys had said and just let her know that she had really brightened my day by being so sweet and generous and that her kindness had had a real impact on my boys and she proceeded to send this email back to me...



Hi, Danielle.

From the lips of children and infants, You have ordained praise.. Matt 21:16 NIV

Isn't it amazing that kids can see things so clearly sometimes? Yes, I am a Christian. I love the Lord very much. I'm glad it shows. Your boys are very smart. You can tell them it has to do with- "this little light of mine..." I'm not sure if you're familiar with the children's song. The light of Jesus is in my heart, and I want to let it shine. (Matt 5:15-16) They can let the love and light of their Lord shine where ever they go, too. It's a good thing.

How neat! Thanks for sharing that with me. In the midst of a very chaotic and stress-filled day, this really cheers me up!

I'm glad that you have been blessed by the items. We like to use them to make cards for people as ways to minister and encourage them. We have enough to share though.

May God bless you and your precious family.
Sincerely,
Sharon


I was just blown away by this. God used two of His children to brighten each other's day and to bless one another. God is so good and I like to think of that unexpected hug from someone who is a stranger to me, as a little hug from God.

How Cool Would This Be?!

I just found this bike and there's actually a contest going on right now to win one! This would be so awesome to have while we're camping. It would sure make running up to the camp store to get ice and firewood easy! No need to drive the darn 2 miles an hour in your car (ok, I'm exaggerating, you don't have to go quite that slow but it sure feels like it) I could just hop on this bike and ride up to the store and throw all the stuff in the back. I could even haul Asher around in it! It's just awesome!

You can click on the picture to check it out and even enter to win it yourself, if you want!

Stamping and Sailing

What do the two of these have to do with each other, you ask? Absolutely nothing, but they are the most recent fun and interesting things I've been up to!

A sweet gal named Jeni introduced me to the wonderful world of stamping when she brought her supplies to the last meeting of our Women's Bible Study for us to make cards for our teacher. It kind of lit a little creative fire inside of me and then winning some awesome supplies from Ellie at Ellie's Stamp Garden, well that just sent me over the edge and I had to go out and get some more goodies and try this whole stamping thing out! I have had some serious fun with it and am actually going to go pick up some more supplies that I am getting for free from a lady on freecycle! If you've never heard of freecycle, you are seriously missing out and need to check it out here! Anyway, I've made a few creations now and can't wait to have the time to make more! Here is my very first creation...I have to admit that I "borrowed" the little flower and button embellishment from the card that Ellie sent me. I don't think it's too shabby for being my first!




Now, onto sailing! Brian and I went out sailing with some friends of ours, Dan and Mary (Dan actually was Brian's boss at a former job). They have a great sailboat and we hadn't been out sailing with them in 5 years, so on Saturday we headed out. It was kinda chilly, but with some jackets and the sun that was shining, it was absolutely beautiful! We sailed for around 3 hours and then went out to dinner with them. It was a great day with great people and we really enjoyed it and have decided that we are definitely going to go out another day this year! Praise God for the beautiful day and wonderful friends!

Brian looking all official, like he's playing a crucial part in our sailing endeavor!



Mary enjoying the sail.



Brian and Dan hangin' out on the boat.



The Blue Water Bridge in the distance. We left from Lexington and had already been out for over an hour and it would have taken 3 more hours to get under it...so we didn't do that. LOL



Brian and I enjoying the beautiful day, sailing with great friends!

My Asherbabyboo is growing up!

Today we took Asher for Young 4's Round-up and they asked if there is a full day option if I would be interested. I hesitated and then said yes. Brian says he's proud of me because he knows I really thought I would have another whole year left with him before he went to school and now that's not the case, and I'm having a slightly hard time with it. They confirmed today that because of his stuttering, this will definitely be a good thing for him, and that's the only reason why I'm not completely against the idea of him going. He's so excited too and I think it will be really good for him. He's very smart and I think he'll have fun playing with all the kids and everything. I'll definitely miss him being here though. So, my last baby is growing up and I guess in a way, I am too. It's just a new season and something to get used to and I think I can handle that...maybe.

They wanted a recent picture of him that they could keep in his file, so I took some this morning.

Here is the one we gave them.


Here are the other shots I got while trying to get a good one. He's such a little goofball!



Such a little sweetie!

Loose Teeth Vintage Inspired Sundress with Petticoat GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Oh man, I want this! This is such a cute dress! I really need to learn how to sew.

Loose Teeth Vintage Inspired Sundress with Petticoat GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Chocolate Milk Pools = Even More Enjoyable Night Out With A Friend

Oh the sticky, icky mess. Gavin got himself, Riley and Asher a glass of chocolate milk and decided to put the gallon in on the shelf laying sideways. Just seconds after I hear the fridge door shut, I hear a gushing liquid sound. I turn around to see chocolate milk pouring out from the bottom of the fridge door. I quickly open the door and grab the gallon, but the damage is already done. There is chocolate milk dripping into the door and down onto the floor, it is dripping from the middle shelf to the bottom shelf and pooling in the drawers on the bottom of the fridge and under them and there is a massive pool on the floor. Aaaahhhhhh! As if I need something like this to clean up, along with the rest of the mess that seems to continuously plague my house! It literally took me 15 minutes to get it all cleaned up (including pulling the fridge out so I could get to the chocolate milk that had pooled underneath it).

The one good thing that came from this whole ordeal...I am now looking even more forward to dinner and hanging out with my friend, Ann tonight! I was already excited, but now I am in even more need of a night out! Not to mention, Ann's pretty much one of the coolest people ever and an amazing woman of God! I think maybe I'll have her pray for me tonight that my children and their antics don't drive me completely out of my mind! LOL

Beautifully Broken

Ya know, I was talking to this girl I know about a situation that's going on in her life and I shared some things about myself with her that I haven't shared with many people. I wanted her to know that she's not alone in what she's going through and that things absolutely can work out and even be better than they were before. As we were talking about it, we were talking about how we're all just a bunch of messed up people trying to find our way. We've all made our mistakes and I'd venture to say that most people have done something at some point in their life that they would rather other people didn't know about. How awesome is it that God knows every single detail about us and yet He still loves us so completely and doesn't hold our past mistakes against us? I think that's just an amazing truth and it helps me to realize that if God is willing to forgive people, I should too. Not only should I forgive other people, but I should forgive myself for my past mistakes. Those things don't define me and I'm no longer a slave to them. There's a song that Brian, the boys and I all really love and walk around singing frequently that goes right along with this, so I thought I would share. Don't continue to be a slave to the mistakes of your past. Jesus bore all our shame and guilt when he died on the cross, so that we would no longer be enslaved to it. Embrace that, be thankful for it and most of all, praise God for it!

Here is the song and the lyrics are below...


I was fallen from the first
I am not a stranger to the darkness
Walked the road of prodigals
And crawled upon my knees to You

From the ashes and the dirt
You fashion beauty from the wounds I’ve carried
Nothing lost, and all redeemed in You

Beautifully broken in Your eyes
You see the man my sins disguise
You took my place
You saved my life
Miraculous love, sweet sacrifice
Beautifully broken
You were beautifully broken

So You see me as Your own
Holy in the light of Your redemption
By the blood and by the thorn
We’re called to life

In this weakness You find strength
You find sinners who are saints
And I find amazing grace
In this sacrifice
In this death is life