AmAzing

I did something amazing today.
Well, at least amazing TO ME. I cleaned out my email 'inbox'.

For the first time in...well, never, I gleaned my emails down from
several hundred to only...drum roll please!

8!
Yes, you read right. I have only 8 emails in my inbox!!!!

Yeah! (I don't know why that makes me so happy,
but it does.)

Wanna know what else is AMAZING?

This little lady:

Her name is Helen, and she is my husband's grandma.

Helen and I share the exact same birthdate!
Except I was born several decades after her, of course.

This August Helen turned a mere 97 years old!
Way to go Helen!
You are an inspiration to us all.
At her age it's cool to state proudly how old you are, but
at my age...well, let's just say I'm 29 and holding. HA!

I hope I make it to 97 years too!!!

My Baby Boy Turns 16!

I can hardly believe that 16 years ago today I gave birth 3 weeks early to this amazing baby boy. I knew I would name him Zachary 3 years before he was born.

Zachary, when you came into the world I thought you were the greatest thing that ever happened to me. My life-long dream of having a baby boy came true.

Little did I know what an amazing, fun, confounding, exciting, frustrating, emotional yet joyful adventure it would be to be your mom!

I LOVE your sense of humor and quirkiness.

I love your serious side too. I appreciate your intelligence. You have a strong sense of family, and I love how it is important to you.

You can be a great role model to your fellow young man....and a great dancer!

I know as your mom, I often embarrass you, but I am SO proud to be your mom!

I thank God daily for "loaning" you to me!
Happy 16th Birthday!!!!
I love you, Zach!

December 2009 Round-Up

Seems I've been MIA for the month of December,
but I didn't want to move on into the new year without
filling ya'll in on some of the things we did.

We started out December with a new pet:
meet Yoshi, the bearded dragon.

Just so you know, it wasn't MY idea. It was my
daughter... and my husband, who couldn't say, "No."
after days of begging and pleading from my daughter.

The first Christmas party I attended was my
work party at the Diehl's home.
It was attended by one the 3 Wise Men (Royce) and his
assistant, Crystal. Too funny!

I got to see an old friend from highschool days-
Mark Troutner. His wife, Theresa works
at my school!

Here's my daughter, Summer, starring in the 7th
grade Christmas skit at Vineyard Christian Middle School. She's the girl on the right kneeling down and praying.

Christmas Eve celebration at my in-laws home.
Zach, Summer and their cousins Courtney, Brittney and Kalie.

Christmas morning at our home.

Christmas afternoon at my parents home.
The Louie cousins: Amanda, Tara, Chad and Carson.

Summer and Paulina decorate cakes.

Ta-da!!!


It was a fun and very blessed month.


My son passed his written driver's test a couple of days before Christmas. So now we are teaching him to drive. Scary! Please keep us in your prayers! Thanks!!!

Pumpkin Progress

Look how my spooky pumpkins turned out!
Their "scars" have healed over, and now
they look positively goulish!

Don't they look FABULOUS?!

I LOVE the drippy, GOULISH look of this one.

And how about the SLASHER look of this one?

Here's my FAVORITE one...
A special birthday gift for my 42nd birthday.
I love it!

Love is in the Air!

Love must be in the air...
'cause I noticed that Emilie's hubby brought her home
some beautiful cabbage roses for no reason at all, and
Jen's sweetie whisked her away on a romantic get-a-way here.

Then out of nowhere, my hubby came home with these:

It's not often that this happens so I was quite excited.
I wondered why, but the card just said,
"I love you very much. Thanks for being you."

I guess I'll keep him.

Clipboard for Carol

Hi Everyone!
Meet Carol. She is a beautiful person inside and out.
Carol works so hard at our church
as the Children's Ministry Director. I just wanted to
make Carol a little something to thank her for her hard work.

I saw this tutorial for making decorated clipboards at Imperfectly Beautiful.

I LOVE how it came out!
Here are front and back pics. Just use scrapbook paper and Modge Podge- easy!

I added a little tag.

I attached Carol's wishlist for Vacation Bible School this summer
and then got her a few items off her list.

Carol was quite happy and glad to cross off a few things on her list!

Thanks Carol for all you do!!!

BTW, these cute, little guys AND the original clipboard came from the .99 Cent Store!

Busy, but Blessed!

Hello! I'm back.
It's so hard to for me to find time to post these days!
It kinda bums me out...'cause I barely have time to catch up on
other people's blogs as well.

I guess I should look at it as a Blessing. It's a blessing that
my life is so full.

Full of:
a secure job,
kids,
a husband,
church,
friends,
small group,
music lessons,
tutors,
birthday celebrations,
bridal shower,
youth group benefit dinner
quiet times,
running a household,
etc. etc. etc...

Yes, thank you God for my full life!

Here's something else I'm thanking God for these days.
I finally got to say good-bye to my old friend
Mr. 17-Year-Old-G.E.-Super Noisy-I-Was-Waiting-4-U-2-Die-Dishwasher.
He served us well, and is now resting in peace somewhere...perhaps
hanging out with the Brave Little Toaster.

Now say Hello to Mr. Shiny-Energy Efficient-Super-Quiet-Whirlpool-Dishwasher!

Can I sing to you? "You are soo beautiful...to me!"