Guess what? I WON!!

Remember the scrapbook contest over@ growing in grace? Well, I was notified yesterday that I won. So anyone up for a scrap night? Maybe this is just the boost I need to get me going on my 4yro's baby book. The site is geared to younger women or moms of young women. I enjoyed it from the point of view these are things I wished someone had taught me. (ie.. the basic homemaking & beauty tips & the spiritual tips are timeless)While I was there I read some very encouraging posts, one led me to Apples of Gold. This site was a little more of where I am right now. I saw the add for a new movie that I'm really looking forward to seeing. Fireproof . I know that given where I am & many of the marriages around me this seems like a very timely message. Marriage is hard and I think any tool we can have to encourage couples is important. Here's some more info on the movie.

Happy Mother's Day

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Here's an email that I received this week. This is for you Mom!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

This is for the mothers who have sat up all night with sick toddlers in their arms, wiping up puke laced with Oscar Mayer wieners and cherry Kool-Aid saying, "It's okay honey, Mommy's here".

Who have sat in rocking chairs for hours on end soothing crying babies who can't be comforted. This is for all the mothers who show up at work with spit-up in their hair and milk stains on their blouses and diapers in their purse.

For all the mothers who run carpools and make cookies and sew Halloween costumes. And all the mothers who DON'T.

This is for the mothers who gave birth to babies they'll never see. And the mothers who took those babies and gave them homes.

This is for the mothers whose priceless art collections are hanging on their refrigerator doors.

And for all the mothers who froze their buns on metal bleachers at football , hockey or soccer games instead of watching from the warmth of their cars, so that when their kids asked, "Did you see me, Mom?" they could say, "Of course, I wouldn't have missed it for the world," and mean it.

This is for all the mothers who yell at their kids in the grocery store and swat them in despair when they stomp their feet and scream for ice cream before dinner. And for all the mothers who count to ten instead, but realize how child abuse happens.

This is for all the mothers who sat down with their children and explained all about making babies. And for all the (grand) mothers who wanted to, but just couldn't find the words.

This is for all the mothers who go hungry, so their children can eat.

For all the mothers who read "Goodnight, Moon"
twice a night for a year.
And then read it again. "Just one more time."

This is for all the mothers who taught their children to tie their shoelaces before they started school. And for all the mothers who opted for Velcro instead.

This is for all the mothers who teach their sons to cook and their daughters to sink a jump shot.

This is for every mother whose head turns automatically when a little voice calls "Mom?" in a crowd, even though they know their own offspring are at home -- or even away at college.

This is for all the mothers who sent their kids to school with stomach aches, assuring them they'd be just FINE once they got there, only to get calls from the school nurse an hour later asking them to please pick them up. Right away.

This is for mothers whose children have gone astray, who can't find the words to reach them.

For all the mothers who bite their lips until they bleed when their 14 year olds dye their hair green.

For all the mothers of the victims of recent school shootings, and the mothers of those who did the shooting.

For the mothers of the survivors, and the mothers who sat in front of their TVs in horror, hugging their child who just came home from school, safely.

This is for all the mothers who taught their children to be peaceful, and now pray they come home safely from a war.

What makes a good Mother anyway?

Is it patience? Compassion? Broad hips? The ability to nurse a baby, cook dinner, and sew a button on a shirt, all at the same time?

Or is it in her heart? Is it the ache you feel when you watch your son or daughter disappear down the street, walking to school alone for the very first time?

The jolt that t takes you from sleep to dread, from bed to crib at 2 A.M.
to put your hand on the back of a sleeping baby?

The panic, years later, that comes again at 2 A.M. when you just want to hear their key in the door and know they are safe again in your home?

Or the need to flee from wherever you are and hug your child when you hear news of a fire, a car accident, a child dying?

The emotions of motherhood are universal and so our thoughts are for young mothers stumbling through diaper changes and sleep deprivation...

And mature mothers learning to let go.

For working mothers and stay-at-home mothers.

Single mothers and married mothers.

Mothers with money, mothers without.

This is for you all. For all of us.

Hang in there. In the end we can only do the best we can.
Tell them every
day that we love them. And pray.

Release your inner hippie

Well Big C had a birthday this week. So I wanted to do a post about him. However he hates "mushy /sappy" posts, where I tell you all how great he is. :) So I thought I 'd give you a glimpse of what I get to live w/. There are 2 things that Big C is known for. He is a self proclaimed "redneck" A term that unfortunately doesn't mean what it used to mean. I prefer the term Country or Southern Boy. So of coarse he calls himself a redneck. This would be his ideal family picture.
This was his favorite mode of transportation up until a few months ago.
Until he met me this was his idea of sports.
And his idea of classic music is
The other thing that he is known for is being cheap. He prefers the term frugal. So of coarse I call him cheap. ;)You know he's developed a reputation when the Sunday after this commercial aired he had three different people stop him to tell him that they saw a commercial that reminded them of him. Turn off the music to enjoy this.

So what does all this have to do w/ you inner hippie you might ask? A few months ago we watched Evan Almighty. One of the special features was tips for living green. As we listened to the various list I just started to laugh. I mean who knew that being cheap was living green? I mean Big C does so many of the things on the list because they are economical, not because he's environmentally conscious. Not long after that I came across this great book. As I read ,I saw that we already embraced many of the values that were in this book and could see the "logic" behind many others. As a result we are living much greener than we used to. I wouldn't go so far to say we're crunchy but, we're pretty close. He was telling this to a co-worker who is a self proclaimed hippie. She laughed & said that there was no such thing as a crunchy con, just those that need to release their inner hippie. So now we have a running joke at home about BigC's inner hippie. It just goes to show what a very complex man I married.
So what about you? Do you or someone you love have an inner hippie?

Here's another great contest.


Scraping was really my first crafty hobby & still my favorite. Looks like a place I'll want to visit again.

Check out this contest

I was searching for some lapbook stuff & came across this contest along w/ some new blogs I want to read.

Freebies

Do you have a Magic School Bus fan? I just saw a great deal over at the FIAR Board. Get a free book here.
While there I checked out her other list of freebies. There was a free planet hero DVD

But the best was the 4oo free prints.
(Now if you want to be a real pal leave me a comment because if you let me refer you I can earn more free prints.) The free prints are a limited time offer.

purse of the month

Here's April's project. I'm still not sure why it was such a pain. But there wasn't one of us in the class that didn't have some sort of problem w/ it.

Just a preview of May's project. It's a charm square project. The pack I picked is call Red, White, & Bold. I've had my eye on this pack since we started in January. I can't wait.