ANNOUNCING.........

..........a new kit! Here's a sneak peek! Think I'll go and create a quick page for ya to enjoy!

The name is "Friendship Company"

Look below the sneak peek for a couple of layouts I did using the kit. (Note: the flower in Sawyer's page is from the mini kit that will be free on my blog beginning on Thursday!)

A Great Find.....

Tim and I went out today to visit a man who visited the church last week, however we didn't find him home. We decided that since I kinda messed up our thrift store shopping on Thursday (remember our rather lengthy trip to Petersburg, VA for lunch.....yeah, that trip!) that we would hit a few today on our way back home from visitation. And our last stop was the new Goodwill that opened last summer. And look what I found for the girls (and boys) to play with when they come to visit! A Barbie Doll Hotel! Go ahead and guess how much it cost me! I have recently seen smaller houses in the thrift stores for $30 and $40! YIKES! There is NO way I would pay that much for it! NOT used! So, have you made your guess? Go ahead and think about it before I tell you........that I only paid $6! That is correct! $6! Now, granted it is not in perfect shape, there are a couple little breaks, but it still folds together nicely and has plenty of furniture to start out with! And as you can see in the second picture, I have plenty of dolls for both girls and boys to play with! I only have one of the 4 Barbies sitting on the bed and I was fortunate enough to find a Ken the last time. And also a super hero, Spiderman! Who happens to be sitting on the roof in the 2nd picture, lol! Yes, Ken is in the tub! I can't wait for the kids to get to play with me......I mean with the house and the dolls! :) If you click on the pictures you will get a bigger and better view of the toy! I set Spiderman up to look like he was talking to Barbie. I think she is trying to get him to come down off of the roof! :) What?!! I still have an imagination! :)

Can you say, "Senior Moment?"

Well, today has been one of those days! I'm certainly glad I don't have many like today! It wasn't a BAD day, it was just ALL wrong! And, here's the rest of the story...

We have had plans for our granddaughter, Kara Bear, to spend the weekend with us this month for a month or so now. So the plan was that Tim and I would meet Jessica and Kara half way. So earlier this week Jessica and I finalized the plans as to where we would meet and at what time.

Since it is a 3 hour trip to the meeting place, I worked for several hours last night printing out Photoshop tutorials so I could play on the laptop on the trip today. Yesterday I swept and mopped floors because I knew Kara and I would be playing in the floor.

Tim got up at 6 am, got his shower then I got up and took my shower and finished packing the cooler with drinks, including a sippy cup of milk for Kara. I packed some granola snacks for Tim and I and fixed some peanut butter crackers and chex mix snack and dried cranberries for Kara. I figured Jessica would have snacks for her, but packed them just in case. You know how moms are! (and I am still a mom, even if a bit older! :)

We left the house at 8:30. About 5 miles up the road when I started unpacking the laptop and accessories to play, I realized I had left ALL the tutorials on my computer desk! NOT a good way to start off the day! So, I messed around a little bit in Photoshop and quickly realized I needed the tutorials! So, I just packed up the laptop and accessories back in the computer bag and read my Sunday School lesson. At least I had not forgotten to bring the 3 new books and pocket note pad and crayons for Kara! After finishing the Sunday School lesson, I just enjoyed the beautiful day of sunshine! We made a potty stop about half way there.

At about 11:40, we reached our exit. "Monica" took us to an address that was NOT Ruby Tuesday! The direction she took us was different that what I had pictured on the little google map I had with me. So, we headed back in the opposite direction from where Monica had taken us and just kept driving and looking until we ended up what seemed to be several miles down the road. Anyway, we finally found Ruby Tuesday and it was about 4 minutes til 12, which was our scheduled meeting time with Jessica. We knew she would have the same trouble, so we waited in the parking lot for her.....and we waited.....and we waited.....and we waited. We knew it would be unlike Jessica to travel without a phone so she could call, so she must be in trouble! We called Jessica's house, why, I don't know. We called Michael's cell, but he wouldn't see the message until he got out of work at 2. So we didn't have any other numbers. We waited some more. At 12:30 we decided to go on in and eat lunch and hoped she would soon show up. We finished eating around 1:10. Still no Jessica and Kara. We are really starting to get worried now! We sat in the parking lot for a bit longer. Then I suggested we drive back up towards the exit and look around in the gas stations to see if we see them waiting on us. Nothing. We parked the car and I called Michael the 2nd time and told him we had not heard from Jessica and we were afraid something was wrong. Then I called Liz to see if she possibly had Jessica's cell phone number. The first think she said was, "You are doing that today?" I didn't think anything about the comment. Liz did not have a cell phone number for Jessica. Liz suggested I call Jessica (our dd) as she might have the number since she had just made a trip to MD in November. She did not have it. Jessica also said that Jessica D had not mentioned on her facebook about coming to meet us today. I said she was just probably busy getting Kara ready to leave. So she said she would do some more searching and see what she could find and call me back. In the meantime, Tim and I sat and waited some more. Then Tim said, we really should wait at Ruby Tuesday in case she shows up there. So we went back to Ruby Tuesday and waited some more!

I don't remember what time it was, but finally we got a phone call from Jessica. First words out of her mouth were, "I'm fine, but I'm so sorry you are there waiting! It's not til next week that you are to pick up Kara! I hope you aren't mad at me!" I just had to LAUGHOUTLOUD! I was just so relieved to hear that she was OK that I didn't care about anything else! But I told her there was nothing for her to be sorry about since it was my fault! I told her to call Michael before he got my second message and immediately began to panic!

What can I say?! We asked Monica for directions to 2 Goodwill stores on the way home, both turned up zero, so we gave up and decided today was just one of those days and headed for home!

While I was talking to Jessica I told her one thing about all of this was that it made me realize that I needed her cell phone number and I wanted to know what car she would be driving next week. They also provided Michael's work number. And we will all be laughing about it years from now!

Now you know THE REST OF THE STORY! And tomorrow is a new day! Blessings of the day.....Jessica and Kara are safe, we made it back home safe, God is Good!

Oh, and Tim says he isn't making the trip with me next week! Imagine that! :)

"Lucky" to be in Heaven.....

Today marks the 7th anniversary of my dear daddy going to heaven. I miss him bunches but would not wish him to be back in this rotten world in a million years! I am soooo blessed to have been placed in his watch-care as a child! While I didn't always feel that way while growing up, I have become a bit wiser in my old age, lol! Why is it while growing up in a Christian home you just don't always feel like you are blessed? Sometimes I felt like it was a curse. But that's only because I was a rebellious Christian! After I got married and started raising a family of my own, I quickly realized how important my Christian upbringing had been! So, really, the credit for my children turning into decent, God-fearing/serving/honoring children all began with my dear parents! And I know they are "listening" so I just want to say THANKS to them from the bottom of my heart! I will always love and miss them! I Love You, Daddy!

My sweet, thoughtful daughter-in-law, Jessica, had this sweet e-mail for me this morning (I asked her permission to post it here) which brought BIG tears:

Hi Mom,

Well, every March 3rd I think of you. I know you miss your sweet Daddy every single day, but there's something different about the anniversary. I only got to meet him once, it was July 4th weekend 2002 when Michael and I were just dating, and I remember he never stopped smiling (the exact same smile you have that never goes away). His family was all around and you could tell he was never happier. He had never-ending hugs for each one of them. He talked all about the tracts (or whatever they were called) that he made to constantly get the word out to the world about his sweet Savior. What an amazing man! He is truly missed, but I am so happy I will see him again in heaven! You know that's where he wants to be!

I love you, Mom.
Jessica

Thanks, Sweetie!

FREE QP for YOU

I thought I would share the QP I made from the layout below of Kara. Hope you can use it!

This is made with the Nick Nack Patty Wack Mini kit that is free in my store for the Patty Wack challenge at A Moment in Scrap. Click on the preview for the 4Shared download link.

Challenge Layout

Here's my page that I did for the challenge I am hosting this month. Click on the preview to go to the challenge forum for instructions and a free download.

Credits:
Kit: Nick Nack Patty Wack Add-on
Font: Andy

Here it is.......Nick Nack Patty Wack

Well, here it is! My newest kit! 25 papers and 78 elements BIG!! Couldn't put all of the elements on the preview and lots of the ones there you can't see! The second preview is of the papers only that are included in the kit. Click on either preview to go to the kit in my store.