Such a HAPPY Day!

... but any day is a happy day when God is in it!

I have to tell you that my family and I have been so blessed.

Not with riches or fame or any of the stuff many seek after, 

but we have so much love and such a wonderful family life. 

I can't ever thank God enough for the life he chose for me! 

This post will be short and sweet, text wise, but filled with pics

otherwise :) That's still good for you, right?

It has been a busy week, so prepare yourself for photo OVERLOAD!!!

First off let me share a card I created for this weeks Word Art Wednesday.

I am so humbled to be the guest designer of this faith filled, Jesus loving, not afraid to 

praise His name, Challenge Blog. 

Word Art Wednesday Challenge 146

This weeks inspiration:

I HAVE BLOG CANDY!!!

Since I am the August guest designer for Word Art Wednesday,

I thought it fitting that I have a small giveaway.

The big prize in my  package is this movie:

God's NOT Dead: DVD

Of course I will have a few crafty things to throw in the mix, 

but this is the main prize. 

To be entered in the Blog Candy Give-Away,

This candy will be available for the whole month! 

All you have to do is enter one of the WAW challenges for August. 

Simply link up to one of the challenges and then leave me a comment here on my blog post

 letting me know you entered! 

I will add a badge to my sidebar with a link so you can find it easily.

(I am accepting comments on all of my WAW  blog posts ... you do not have to comment on 
all or one in particular to win. Just link up to WAW! Thanks :)

NEWS THIS WEEK!

My little man turned 10 years old

And my beautiful little girl, Hannah, asked Jesus into her heart this past Sunday!

She cried, raised her hands in praise, and welcomed Jesus into her heart.

What a beautiful and special day it was! 

And my mom, dad, husband and I were all there with her.

Praise God!!!

Thank you for stopping by!

I hope you have a blessed day.

                                      Heather

March Digi Release and Blog Hop with FBD

Good Morning.

It is time for our Fresh Brewed Designs Blog Hop and Digi Release.

Our first hop stop is at Freshly Brewed Challenges. 

If you have already visited the challenge blog 

 and are arriving here from Lisa's blog, you are right on track! 

Pack your bags, we're going on a trip!

Hop along with us to check out some fantastic, NEW,  travel themed digital stamps.

I am excited to share the new digi HANNAH with you today.

This young lady is different from most of this month's release.
She can be used for  your travel themed creations OR much more.

I also used the New Suitcase Digital Stamp
to create this fun background paper.

*idea from our DT member Lori because I was braindead*

I changed the image color to pink, printed it on Kraft paper and voila!

Thank you so much for stopping by.

I hope you enjoyed your visit here at my blog. 

I am the last stop in this hop.

Feel free to hop on over to Fresh Brewed Designs Shop 

to check out all of the new digis. 

Remember, comment on each hop stop for a chance to win a free digi from this release.

The hop ends on March 12, 11:59 PM EST

Have a blessed day!

Dance Baby Dance

My little girl is growing up WAY TOO FAST and these pics I found while hopping through my own blog are just even more proof of how fast time goes by. I have seen so many photos of my babies this morning. Some that were just so cute and silly that I laughed, some that were so sweet and precious that I cried and some that reminded me of all God has brought them through. The photos of when Han was so sick a few years ago and all of the things we went through as a family. The photos of my son lifting his arm in praise and in prayer in church. The different times and changes we have been through. Some good, some helped us grow and others we desperately need to get back.

My little girl auditioned for Competitive Troupe at her dance school. I was so proud to stand back and watch her perform and dance. She is quite the little dancer. She was BEAMING when she found out she made the team. The last time she was able to compete was approximately 3 years ago when she was at a different (but not so great) dance school. She LOOOOVED it and is so happy to be able to do it once again.

Here are a few photos of my little dancer, then and now :)

Just go ahead and know I am a babbling mess right now. 

Oh how much they grow in  just a few years!!!

My sweet little wonderful baby girl

It was not that long ago that I first held her in my arms, looked into her eyes for the first time and got to hold and love her. OK... I cant even see to type anymore..... ahhhhhhh!!!

Back on track...

I bought her some more 'grown up' looking dance wear as a surprise for her making troupe. I ordered it Sunday and told her all about it Monday! HAHAHAH!!! I just could nto stand it! She will be sporting some really cute (clearanced) tops and some fun shorts including a pair of zebra print shorts that she is SUPER excited about :D They should be here by the weekend or early next week. She wants them now!

I made this card for her to be given with the outfits. At least she doesn't know about the card :D hehehe!

Our challenge at Freshly Brewed Challenges is to create a Distressed Card. 

I distressed the edges of all of my patterend paper to make it really girly and soft looking

Loves To Dance Digi

Thank you for stopping by today! 

Don't forget our BLOG HOP this weekend!!!

KIDS CHALLENGE AT The Latte Lounge

Fresh Brewed Designs is sponsoring the June Kids challenge at The Latte Lounge! Here's what the ladies at TLL had to say :

We LOVE Junior Crafters!

And we LOVE to give out prizes!!

We are ready to start our JUNE challenge!

We have chosen a theme of

Dreaming of a Sunny Day

We know that while school is out for summer

most of our young artists have other things to do

and like to play outside and run around!

But there are rainy, yucky days

when you get SO BORED!!

Instead of saying there's "Nothing to do"

why don't you make a card or art project?

Post a picture of your project in our

June Kids' Challenge

and you'll have a chance to WIN prizes!!

Here are a few cards my little Hannah made for this challenge. It was so sweet... when I asked her if she wanted to make some and showed her the challenge she was ALL EXCITED (knowing I was sponsoring) and asked me which images she won if she won! lol. I told her that hers would not count, but she would have fun creating. She picked out some of her favorite 'Sunny Day' images as well as Pinata Payback which turned into a card about a boy she 'does not like' lol :D

Well, here they are. I think they turned out really cute! The only thing I did to help her was cut the card base and the patterned papers. she layered them herself. I just gave her the markers, paint, giltter and tape and said, have fun!!! I think she did :)

Hannah Belle Lady Bug

Grace Summertime

Cutie Pie in Cloud Rubber Stamp

Cutie Pie in Cloud Rubber Stamp

Pics :)

Here are a few pics of my sweeties before church. They decided to dress themselves... :) Han was fine, TR seemed to not care that mom told him it was almost 100 degrees outside.... :D

They are pretty cute if I do say so myself :)

Hope you are having a blessed weekend.

My Daughter

So ... I am way behind on my card posts ... but I WILL get caught up!
I waned to share some pics of my daughters dance competition and from her making the Dream Team with her class.

Hope you enjoy~

Smile!!!

Good Morning everyone!!! Today is the last day of the Busy Beauties Boutique blog hop! You can find all the details HERE

I have been hating this cold weather. There were people in northern states on the news last night saying they felt sorry for us .. a little... but they would love to see 30degree weather. I CAN NOT IMAGINE being below zero, I am not envious at all!! But I am still going to complain about my 30 degree stuff... ((it gets colder at night, lol. .. does that count?)) We are just not used to this here. UGH!!! Anywho, I thought what better way to break free from the dreary grey cold than with a bright fun card that screams blue skys and sunshine!!! At least we can pretend right?

This card is created using Sweet Rosey. I used all scrap paper and am not even sure what brand the flowers are. (I'm horrible, I need to keep up with these things more! sorry!!) I hope these colors and the sweet little Rosey remind you of those beautiful warm spring / summer days and give you a little break from the horrible cold we are having.

challenges: Cute Card Thursday: New (image), Belli Challenge: bling

I also wanted to share with you something my daughter made. My mom created the dolls body, my daughter stitched on the face. Then my mom taught her to use the sewing machine. Hannah sewed the entire dress and apron all by herself with minimal direction and guidance. I would have had my hands all in there trying to help and worried she would sew her fingers off, lol. My mom was so patient and just stood back gently talking and directing her. Why can't I be more like that in so many things? Here are a few photos to show her creation off. I just love it!!
((If Sweet Rosey does not warm you up, them maybe my beautiful little girls smile will! :o) ))



Have a beautiful day and God Bless!!!

ICS 44

So sorry I am late again this week. What is up with me? I have been battling a sick dog for the past week. We have taken her to a few vets and called a few more, but they can not seem to pinpoint the problem. :(. So I just wait. Thank you to Stacy and Callie and some other wonderful friends who have offered help and advice. I have been trying all of it!

On to my card. I made this card using Dawn's very fun and cute sketch #44. I love it!!! I really do plan to use this one again this week for another card I hope to have time to make.

Do you love this image as much as I do?? I think it is the CUTEST reindeer ever!!! i smiled from ear to ear when I first saw him. Want to know where I got him ... I will tell you!!! :D However, you will have to wait for him. He is a new Busy Beauties Boutique image, created by my very talented friend Mrs. Carolyn bounds, that will be available soon. We are having a hop, fun, and lots of cards to share with you that day!

I colored him with my prismacolor markers, stickles and added rhinestones. The colors I chose were red, brown and kraft for the challenge at The Little Paper Shop.

Hope you all are having a great week and have a blessed Thanksgiving.

Kid's Stuff

I wanted to share with you some projects from the kids. While Hannah made the Purple People Eater treats, Tommy Ray asked me to draw him a karate boy for his friends in his class. While I did not do a wonderful job, I think he is still cute. Tommy Ray likes them and that's what counts :). I love his big proud smile and his friends liked them as well ... except for the little girl that got a root beer sucker and started to cry :(. Good thing we had one extra and TR it traded with her :). Everyone left happy.

I have been drawing these little girls for a while now. I was going to save them and release them all together ... but Hannah made the cutest card with one and I just had to share it. Consider this a peek of what is to come. I have 4 girls ready so far and have been able to hold on to them for months now. (they are not part of my Friday release next week) I hope you like her. They are called Hannah Belle's (a nickname we used to call our Hannah). Anyway, I came back in the rook after Hannah had colored her and was just so surprised how Han had colored her. I love the little skull on her dress. Hannah then told me all the other ways, colors, and holidays she could be used for :D. She is so creative. I hope you have enjoyed this post. I will be back tomorrow with one last card before Halloween, then you get a break from me :) lol. Hannah has a 2 dances on Saturday and church on Sunday so I will not be around much to create. Here is a pic of her in the

hairbows I made for her jazz class. I will be sure to check in on you all and leave you love :)

Bloom

This image is another to be released image to Fresh Brewed Designs. This image was inspired by my daughter Hannah. She is so sweet and dances all over the place. She makes me smile and laugh and also scares me to death. She is taking Ballet, Jazz and production this year. The production class dance is based on jazz and hip hop (not really our thing and is very loud ... but she loves the dance and thank goodness thinks they are speaking another language, lol!). She has been doing a lot of freestyle at home and 'break dancing' before she goes to bed. She flips and flops all over the place ... lol .. and I fear she is going to knock an arm off or something. :) But she is the most sweet and graceful ballet dancer. It melts my heart to watch her.

I used the sketch from Card Patterns and the challenge from the Creative Card Crew: Babies and Children for this card. Have a wonderful week. I know it is Monday ... but it will be over soon:).

Dance

For this card I used the sketch provided on Spoon Full of Sugar. The image, well, you guessed it, another hand drawn image that I plan to add to my shop soon. I have loved watching Hannah in her ballet classes. She just lights up and dances so gracefully. Much different than the moody thing that lays on the couch and grouches half the morning, gets happy and then has to start school ~ grouchy again, gets over it, happy, goes to play ~ happy, fights with brother ... and the list goes on. :) Man I dread the teen years and when the 'mood swings' really hit. I will need LOTS of prayer:). No, really, she is the most amazing little girl around ;). She is so funny and so smart and has a wonderful heart. I am so very blessed. God has turned her life around with her eczema and all the things that troubled her last year up until around August of this year. I can not tell you how amazing it was Wed night when she did not want to sleep with socks on her hands. REALLY? It has been 5 years!!! And last night too ... she did not wake up screaming and needing them. I am so happy for her. I know she will be much more comfortable without them.

OK, sorry. I guess I am a bit of a chatterbox this morning. While Hannah thinks this looks more like her friend Crystal at her ballet class, Hannah was the inspiration for this image. I do hope you like it as much as I do. I know it is because I see Hannah when I look at it .. but it just makes me smile and feel warm and peaceful inside.


I am off. I hope you all have a wonderful Friday!!! I am having an image release and blog hop and prizes NEXT FRIDAY October 23. Mark your calendar and share part of your day with us:).

Hannah Bug's Color Challenge ~ HBCC1

Hannah and I participated in a new challenge just (or mostly) for kids. Hannah's challenge is a color challenge and in honor of her new cutie blog bg she chose white, teal and yellow for this weeks cards. Hannah Bug :) is a very bright and talented young lady and I was so happy to have stumbled upon her challenge. My Hannah and I enjoyed making these cards together. I asked her to write something about her card, but she was just not 'into that' right now :). My Granny is coming down today from NC and they are too excited to sit still for very long. Hannah used scraps from my stash as well as hers. She used a digi from paper popcicles, colored hers with her crayola markers and my skin copic. She added white dots with my gelly roll pen. The papers were already cut to this size in my scrap box (lucky girl, lol). The only help she had was using hte glue. She can not touch the white glue because they tend to be made from milk and she is allergic. She placed everything down where she wanted them and then added the flower with a glue dot.
For my card I used paper by American Crafts, flower from the paper studio, cuttlebug folder: Divine Swirls, Martha Stewart border punch, a button and doodling.

Her challenges are held on Saturdays. Be sure to go and check them out. :o) Thanks for the fun Hannah Bug ((is it ok if I call you that?))

A little bit o everyting!

Well, whew! Today .. this week .. has been a whirlwind. I am sure this post will be full of ... !!! and lol's, so be prepared :)! If you have read my last post you know about our Duke trip Monday and I will not get into all of that again. Today I took my hubby to get 2 wisdom teeth pulled. He is now in the living room, mouth packed with gauze ... yet he is STILL sitting in front of the computer, sheet music pulled up, guitar in hand, singing! Yup! SINGING!!! So imagine singing "I need a savior" through a mouth full of gauze or tea bags! lol! Good grief! i wish he would rest and chill out but he will not listen. I am supposed to be the stubborn one here, so what gives?? ;)

The kids are running around screaming, laughing and playing. I think that is one of the most amazing sounds ever. I love to see their eyes light up completely when they smile! God has blessed me so much and I am so thankful. His goodness and grace and love fill up each day in so many different ways, ways even I do not expect him to. I could never do enough to show him how much I love him.

Hannah's teacher called today. I am not sure if any of you know about online schools like Connections Academy or not, but that is what we are trying out this year. It really is the same thing as homeschooling .. just a little different :). Hannah will have a teacher that calls and checks in from time to time. Her school will be online where she will have live classes and a schedule. There are lots of things I will not get into, but we are both excited about it. Tommy Ray is interested in his books, so I think he will settle into the schedule fairly easy. I hope:). After speaking to Hannah's teacher I feel more comfortable about it all. The only thing I am unsure of is how to use the website; but know when I get into it and 'try' I will figure it out. Last year was so hard with Han being sick I think I have put it all off because I remember how our bad days were and was dreading the new school year. I know that this year will be different and better than last.

Both kids now have their guitars, singing very loudly and fighting. I honestly have no idea what I have been typing! lol!!! Now my husband came in with sheet music to sing and play for me too:). I am off and hope to be back on this week with a card. If not, I will be back Saturday with my last Hanna Stamps project. I have made myself not look at challenges this week just because I know i have not had time :). So PLEASE don't tell me what i have been missing :o).

I think I am going to set Hannah up her own blog for school and to showcase her art in the near future if you want to ckeck it out:)

Have a wonderful and blessed week. Love ya!

Wishing and hoping and dreaming and praying

((sung in my head like on the movie My Best Friends Wedding.... I loved that movie when it came out and watched it over and over i remember. :) ))

This card was made for my CCC challenge on Cafe Mom as well as the Pink Elephant Sketch Challenge here in the blog world. I made my card as an example seeing as how I can't enter my own challenge ;). I got this 'image' off of a page my daughter was printing coloring pages from after she was done with her schoolwork today. I thought it was so cute, and seeing as how he is just going to end up in a drawer... I don't see how I would be breaking any rules doing this? He has a name C? something lol. I just thought he was too cute to pass up.

As you al know my kids have food allergies. My daughters are more severe than my sons but he is showing signs of season allergies and I can't say what the future holds. I pray they will outgrow some of them (the peanut is guaranteed to stay) So, I have been buying all foods for all of us by my daughters fod rules. NO: soy, corn, milk, eggs, or peanuts. Going to the grocery store makes me want to pull my hair out. It was very discouraging at first, but I am getting the seing of it and accepted that there are not many foods out there that they can have. I have to prepare most things from scratch and altered to meet their allergy needs. ALL breads have milk, eggs, soy and or corn syrup in them. All but maybe 6 cereals have soy or corn syrup. ALl soups, soy. All salad dressings (I did find one today that was a small bottle for $4). Even dried fruit has: CORN SYRUP! I really could go ON AND ON about what contains these things we can not have.. but it would be so much easier to list the things they can have. I wont do that either ;) but you get the picture. Back in the days of freedom (or more freedom than now) my kids liked noonie soup :) as they called it (ramen noodles) but they are SO FULL of JUNK! They were asking for them or wishing they could have them the other day after seeing them on the shelf. I said "we cant have those" as I Have been doing a lot lately. My mom found these noodles at our local grocery store. I read them and decided to try my hand at my own version. They tasted better to me than the 'real' ones. I did cook the noodles in water while my broth and seasonings simmered. I rinsed them in cold water, drained and then added them to the soup. They kids liked them for the most part. They were not as salty and maybe I could have added a tad more garlic, it is a recipe that still needs a little adjusting, but they were actually good enough that I would even eat them. If you have kids with allergies and want a list of the 'safe' foods I have found feel free to email or leave a comment and I will get back to you. If you have any information you would like to share with me about this or eczema please do that as well. I would love to learn and share with you. My husband has been working night shift the past 3 nights after the fire keeping looters out. He worked 6pm until 11 am Monday and almost that same schedule yesterday. Then he got up and went in at 3 today and just got home... so I guess I will go and sit with him a bit and hope we both don't pass out on the couch. I want to sleep in my bed tonight. :)