Seeing Less of Me

Is a great thing!!! I weighed myself today and found I have lost about 10 pounds since September when we got our gym memberships. I am so excited about that. Eric and I said that if we could just maintain during the holidays and vacation than we would be doing great. Well, I am actually losing right now and I hope to keep up that trend. I need to lose about 35 pounds from here to be on a more healthy playing field. I have spent most of my life being "chunky" but for goodness sakes...I'm tired of it. I want to lose this extra weight for my son, my husband, myself and mainly God. If our bodies are God's temple than I have really trashed this one and it is high time I start the clean up with His help. If you read this blog and follow along please say a prayer that I will continue to be encouraged to lose weight. I will try to periodically update you with my progress. I might even start doing some before and after pictures to help with accountability.

Until next time, have a terrific day and God bless you and yours!

Stephany

Followers Anybody???

A good friend of mine told me about adding followers to my family blog and to be honest I didn't understand what she meant until I went to blogger dashboard and typed it into the help search engine. Blogger was very helpful in telling me how to add it to my family blog. So it is now on here for anyone who want to follow this blog. Simply click on the link in the right sidebar to follow this blog and *poof* you can follow. I can't really say that I have many people read it and for that matter I don't really keep it up too well but "maybe" now I will be a little more consistent with it.

Well today started out well with us all getting ready for the day but than when Andrew and I got to BSF he told me he didn't like going there anymore. He says this quite often but every time I pick him up from class he just loves being there. Today though he was full of pent up energy. I didn't notice it before I dropped him off but I really noticed it when I picked him up. I asked his teacher if he was like that during the whole time and she informed me that "he had a lot of energy today". She also told me that he still listened and participated. He even answered all the questions after the Bible story and got them all right. I don't get how he can look as though he is totally ignoring you but then he will repeat (almost verbatim) what you said. I know that God is trying to teach me something with Andrew but for the life of me I am just not getting it. He is such an incredibly sweet child and very caring when it suits him. Most days I do feel so blessed to have the privilege of raising him. But then there are moments (not days) that I just don't care for his behavior.

One thing God is teaching me is that if I want obedience from Andrew then I have to be obedient to God first. That sounds all well and good but so hard to do sometimes. For instance, I have been very lack with doing my Bible study on a regular basis. I start off with grand expectations of how much I will get out of the Bible study and then I fall off the proverbial wagon. I need to learn to be obedient to God in having a daily quiet time with Him. I continue to pray for my own obedience to God so that things in my life will fall in line. Until then I know I can't expect from others what I am unable to do.

Here is something that has been taking up some of my time when I should really be reading God's word: Digital Scrapbooking. Last night I was able to complete four new LO's. I really need to learn to balance my time and take care of my priorities first and then some playtime. Hopefully before we go on vacation I will be able to share them with you.

Until next time, Stephany

The Excitement Is Building...

We are getting so excited about our upcoming family vacation. Andrew can't wait to meet Mickey and his Nana Becky has requested he give a great big kiss to Minnie and he has promised to do so. Can't wait to see those pictures.

I have gotten into digital-scrapping again and have 6 layouts just waiting to be finished. After finishing through October I just did not have the drive anymore but now the drive is back and I am loving it. There are so many wonderful designers out there that provide great stuff to work with and it's almost as if my pictures scrap themselves.

Onto another note, we had a good Thanksgiving. We stayed home (and by home I mean we did not travel to our family in OK) and went to some friend's house to celebrate together. It was a really lovely thing they are doing because they invite all the people from our church who don't have family here in the area to their house. As much as we are grateful for this outlet we have decided that this is our last year to participate. Poor little Andrew was one of two children there and the other was a pre-teen girl. Eric and I were the friends and playmates of him and therefore we really felt unsocial because we didn't want Andrew to feel left out. Next year we will probably try to do something at our home or who knows. After we ate dinner we headed out to see a movie because of our unofficial tradition. Friday morning dawned and I woke up at 2:30 am unable to go back to sleep. I decided to hit a couple of places for black Friday before the boys woke up. I didn't have any previous plans to be out so early but what do you do when you can't get back to sleep on such a day.  Then, once the boys woke up we had breakfast and headed out to do some more shopping. I was really starting to drag about lunchtime so we came home for naptime. After naptime we headed out again to go to Six Flags for their Holiday in the Park. It was awesome. We all had such a great time and we were able to practice how things would run at Disney World. Saturday dawned bright and early and we made it a chore day. Eric and I cleaned all but one room from top to bottom. It felt good to have the house clean (like the dusting, vacuuming and moping) again. I do a good job of keeping up with laundry and dishes but I really don't get around to the rest. I am so thankful Eric didn't marry me for my cleaning and cooking abilities.

Well, this post turned out longer than I planned so I will sign off now. Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving.

Stephany and the Stratton Gang

Man! is he SMART!!!

Our son that is. Last night while he was at a Parents Night Out at the church Eric and I went and bought his Christmas present. He has been asking for the T-Rex Rampage Hot Wheels track. Any time you ask what he wants it it always this track set. Well, Eric and I got that for him for Christmas but the cashier didn't put it in a bag. We didn't think anything of it until we picked up Andrew and remembered we had it in the back of the Tahoe. Andrew didn't see it until we got home though and now he is completely unglued. We didn't know what to say to him except that he only imagined he saw it. When Andrew woke up this morning he started in on his daddy asking Eric if he could open and play with the Hot Wheels. Eric continued the thought that it was only Andrew's imagination and he just started throwing this ultra temper tantrum. I decided to get up from bed, while they were in our bathroom hashing things out, and go get the silly thing out of the vehicle and stick it in the attic. Andrew hasn't said anything about it since before breakfast but I know it is only a matter of time because he and I are going to the gym this morning and I know he will be looking for it when we get inside of the Tahoe. I will have to go under an intense interrogation and try to lead him away from the thought of his Christmas present. Ugh, He really tests my parenting skills on a daily basis. If he continues to throw tantrums about it we are not above returning the silly track. Let hope and pray it does not come to that.

Until next time have a blessed day,

Stephany

It came

My photo book that is, from artscow. I have to say I was a little disappointed. The coloring seems very off to me and I am just not to sure about the quality of printing. Some of my yellows looked more green and my light greens turned out bright green. It made my stuff look a tad bit grainy too. Well, wouldn't you know that I went ahead and placed the orders for the Christmas books for the grandparents yesterday before I saw the book so I am going to try and not think about it too much now. I don't think I will stray from shutterfly again. That seems to be the best where quality is concerned.

Anyway, on to something new. We are still struggling with the whole potty word situation from Andrew at school. I picked him up today and his teacher let me know that he was repeating potty words again. Needless to say Andrew won't have any toys to play with tonight through tomorrow's nap time if he doesn't say anymore. The crumby thing is I had bought some really delicious break and bake cookies from the store today in hopes that we could have them as a special treat tonight. We will just have to see how tonight goes I guess.

Andrew has a new phrase he is saying to his dad and I. Anytime he truly is made sad and has that little pout with a tear in his eye he will look you straight in the eye and say "You crunched my heart". The first time he said it was because he got a spanking for repeatedly not listening and doing what he was told. Second time he said it was because  didn't jump right out of bed to make him breakfast (the poor little thing). It sure is enough to tear you up inside when he does that. How is it that a child knows how to manipulate so well?

That's it for now. He is down for a nap right now and I am trying to continue laundry. Do you every just have those days where nothing seems to get done because you have no motivation? That is where I am right now and I can't get out of it.

Until next time, Stephany

Waiting Anxiously

I ordered a photo book from Artscow.com on October 31 to see if they were really as good as Pam at Digitreats said they were. They pictures of her books look great so I am really excited but I was hoping it would have been here by now. I am not a very patient person so I have been checking my mail every day. Artscow has some really great deals and LOTS of free stuff but I just really need to know their quality before I order our Christmas photo books.

Andrew is currently at school and I am at home trying to get laundry done. In between loads I have been getting the photo books ready to print as soon as I get the tester photo book. So, now that I have those ready I think I will try to play with my blog a little.

Have a great day,

Stephany

Lots of LO's done!!!

I am actually caught up with my scrapping for the year 2008 through October. My mom read my blog a few days ago and told me I needed to add more lo's on here. So with that being said I am going to try and show you what I have been up to for the past two months.

Credits for the first two LO's: Pg 1: Alpha by Kristin Aagard’s SwimFishy Kit
Pg 2: Font: Teacher’s Pet
Bead border by Kristin Aagard’s A Little Blue Kit
Paper from Kristin Aagard’s Rainy Day Kit

Credits: Photo Frame by JE Edwards

 Credits for the Fourth of July LO's: Templates: andreagold_dtemplate19 _sideA and 24 side A & B
Fonts: Teacher’s Pet and Tracy
WA by Simply Sarah; Kits used were Liberty Everlasting Mega Kit and Kim B's Born In The USA

Credits: Template by Tracy Drane; Kit by Vicki w/AWP - Wild Child

Credits: Make it Snappy QP

Credits: Template: Noteboard by Tracy Drane
Kit: A Simple Fall Kit by Lisa Minor
Font: Tracy
Word Art by Annie’s Little Footprints

Credits: Template: By Lisa Minor
Kit: Giggles and Secrets by M Ferguson
Alpha: Glass Alpha by Kristen Aagard
Font: Highland Perk

Credits for Our Backyard Picnic: Template: lisaminor8x8_simplysarahtemplate_16 and lisaminor8x8_simplysarahtemplate_26
WA by Bethany of Elegant Wordart
Kit: All Boy by DDBN

Credits: Template: Lisa Minor’s a4
Kit: Lisa Minor’s The Big Cheese
Fonts: Waltograph and Tracy
WA by Nicole’s Dreamin

Credits: Template: lisaminor_rackettyscrappety45_8x8
Kit: Kristin Aagard’s Lil Apple

Credits: Template: lisaminor_08_8x8_b4
Kit: Grandma’s Yard by Water LO Project
WA: It was a June Freebie from somewhere

Credits: Template: andreagold_dtemplate24sq_sideB
Kit: A Little Blue by Kristin Aagard
WA by Batina

Credits: Template: lisaminor8x8_simplysarahtemplate_3
Kit: I Miss You by SYA'S BLUEPRINTS
WA by Bethany
Font: Want You Back

Credits: QP and Kit: All Boy by Nicole of Digi Delights
Journaling Paper: Sandy.bowes-blank_paper_templates

Credits: Template: lisaminor8x8_simplysarahtemplate_3
Kit: Autumn Caramel by Lisa Minor
WA: by Drehi
Font: Tracy

Credits: QP: stierney_bountifulqp_stB
Font: Smiley Monster
WA: by Bethany

Credits: Template: Lisaminor_rackettyscrappety18_8x8
Kit: Pick of the Patch by Raspberry Road Designs
Stitch: By Manu 70
Font: Impervious

As you can see I have been quite busy. I did cheat a little by using some QP's but only a couple. There are still quite a few LO's that I can't share due to them having others peoples photos on there too.

Thanks for looking and a BIG thank you to anyone I might have left out in the credits. Have a great night!

Love, Stephany

"Oh Be Careful Little Eyes"

Last night Eric and I had a moment of knowing that we were doing something right in raising. We go to check on him every night before we go to bed but after he has gone to bed. When he looks like he might fall off his bed we will usually turn him right ways up. After we did this last night Andrew started to sing in his sleep this song. It was clear until the last line of the verse which he sang kind of hurriedly "da da da da da da da da da da da". At first I wanted to weep it was just so precious but when he got to his da da's we just both started to burst with laughter. We had to leave his room right then for fear of waking him up. Ahh, those moments will hopefully live in our memories forever!

Have a great day,

Stephany

Thank you for the award

Thanks so much to Lisa-Who nominated me for this award weeks ago! I have been trying to update my blog these past few days and I thought that since she nominated me that I would go ahead and add that too. I don't really know many people to nominate so I think I will just let that go from here. Thank you again Lisa.

Changing Blog Header...

Please bear with me. I forgot what size it was supposed to be so this is going to be trial and error.

Where do they come up with these questions?

Children say the funniest things sometimes and today was no exception. My son and I go to BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) together. He goes to a class for his age group and I have my own discussion group. This year we are studying the Life of Moses. Today our classes discussed Moses as a baby. When we got home from class he was asking all kinds of questions about babies, most of which I thought I could answer pretty none descriptively. He knows that babies are carried in the tummies of mommies. But his question to me was "How do babies get out of the mommies tummies?" I have to admit that kind of threw me for a loop. He is a very smart kid so I asked him what he meant and he said "How do they get out?" I tried to shield him as best I could from his curiosity and told him "babies come out a special entry or sometimes (and here is where I should have dropped it, but no) the doctors have to open the mommies tummies to get the babies out." This made him very sad and he almost started to cry. I then told him how he came out that way and that God healed my tummy from the cut. I didn't show him my scar but I tried to help him understand that sometimes there are things we have to do as mommies to help our babies.

Maybe I went a little far in my explanation of how babies get out but what else was I to say to him? Knowing my son as well as I do he would just keep questioning me until he was satisfied with the answer, which doesn't come easy.

On another note, I finally finished scrapping through June of this year and looking forward to scrapping July, August and September to try and get caught up. This is the closest I have ever been to being caught up. Woo-hoo, it feels good.

Anyway, that's all I have right now but I will try to do better about jotting down the little things going on in our lives. Have a terrific day!

Stephany

Oh, If you want to see my LO's they are all in the slide show at the top labeled Layout's From 2008 Slide Show. And in the future I will post more on my blog before they make it to the slide show.

Stung by a yellow jacket!

Yesterday we were grilling some steak and potatoes in the back yard and didn't have a clue there was a HUGE nest of yellow jackets in a bush by our patio door. I remember walking back to the patio door to go inside with my DH Eric when I turned around I saw lots of them flying around. As I was turning back toward the door to get inside I caught a glimpse of our ds Andrew coming our direction. I didn't realize he was going to try coming in too. I thought to myself I sure hope he doesn't get stung. Sure enough about 5 seconds after that thought a blood curdling scream was heard and then crying. We rushed to the door and I grabbed him inside trying to think of what to do and figure out if he was stung. I got a piece of ice and put that on the sting spot and then I remember my best friend telling me what she did one time when she was stung by a wasp. She said she put a penny on the spot and a few minutes later the swelling was gone and by the next day you could not tell she had been stung. I look at Andrew today and don't see any traces of the sting only the memory.

As I was taking care of ds my dh went out to kill the nest and any yellow jackets flying around, all the while trying to keep an eye on the steak and potatoes.

My wonderful dh told me the penny was really a placebo for me and Andrew than it having any homeopathic healing. Well, all I know is my ds was stung and a day later we only have a memory of it as opposed to seeing some swollen sore.

I did feel bad that he got stung instead of me or dh but I know it is only one in a list of many things that might and probably will happen to him.

Have a great night and we'll talk again soon.

Stephany

ps. the steaks were really good as well as the potatoes. Yum, it is making my mouth water just thinking about it

I'm a Genius!!!

At least according to my son. The other day we went to pick up a friend's daughter from school. At the school there are paintings on the cement. One of the paintings is of the United States of America. Andrew went right to the state we live in and then I pointed out the state where the rest of our family lives. Then Andrew stepped on the state of Florida and asked what state it was. When I told him it was Florida I also added that Mickey Mouse lives there to which he declared quite loudly to me "You're a genius". I will probably never hear those words again but for one small second my son thought I was a genius.

Well, I just need to apologize for not keeping up my blog. I can't believe I let it go since July 2. We had some changes take place for us that were very personal in nature but now things are doing much better. We've got Andrew started in school, We purchased memberships to 24Hour Fitness to work out more regularly and I have been scrapping like crazy. I have not been designing because I am trying to get my personal scrapping caught up to where I can relax again. I have scrapped at least 40 LO's in the past 2 months and I continue.
I do have a freebie for those who want them. In Texas it is a tradition to take pictures in the bluebonnets every spring. I was inspired by all the photos with word art attached to them. Here are the LO's I did and the freebies will follow.

Credits: Kit by Kristin Aagard called Just A Boy (I really love this kit)

They are PNG files. You should be able to right click on them and do the save as picture. Please leave some love if you take them and give credit where credit is due. If you have any requests for word art frames let me know and I will make them for you.

Have a great day and I hope to keep up my blog a lot better from now on since I have a little more free time with Andrew in preschool 2 days a week (yea - break for both of us).

Stephany

ScrapDebris is having a "Half Price Buy Them All" Sale...

We're having an "after Independence Day" one day sale at Scrapdebris!

We hope you stop on by and pick up our kits at a FANTASTIC price!

A few notes about the sale, the ad says it, but we want to make sure everyone understands:

*Half price is for buy them all only. Individual kits are still just 1$
*Each designer is an individual, and has complete control over their kits, etc. So you will need to go to each designers page that you want and click on that designers "buy them all" button.
*We send our links out via email.  Since this could very likely be a "high volume sales" day, please have a little bit of patience in getting your links.  We like it this way here, it gives our business a very personal touch!  We do have lives outside of the digiscrap world, and we'll need to eventually feed the kids, etc! LOL

IF ORDERING INDIVIDUAL KITS:
*If you only see a few things you like from a designer, we would appreciate an email from you before ordering.  This saves us on paypal fees, and keeps our prices low.  While the individual kits are still just 1$, we can send you ONE paypal invoice for all the kits you would like from our stores.  This will save you checkout time as well.

So, stop by for some really great kits at really great prices.

Stephany

We had a blast!

This past weekend went really well for our family. Saturday was totally a day about Andrew and spending time together as a family. We went to Six Flags because Cirque Dreams was back. Last year when we took Andrew for the first time to see this he absolutely loved it. This year was no different. We could see subtle changes from last year but overall it had the same story line. Cirque Dreams Coobrilla is kind of like Cirque du Soleil. I have a LO done of our trip last year in the slide show to the right. We met some really nice people there that made our trip even more enjoyable.

Hi Shelly and Brandon, I hope your move is going smoothly. You have such a nice family and it was a pleasure to meet you and to find out you love to scrapbook as well.

On to other news, I FINALLY finished scrapping our 2007 pictures and wouldn't you know I am only 6 months behind for 2008. I need to get a photobook made here shortly through shutterfly because they sent me a coupon for a free 8x8 photobook. I am so excited. Little by little I will get all my LO's printed.

This week I have been helping at my church's Camp MAD (music and drama). I have been running snack time (sort of) my friend Lisa is helping me and she ROCKS at this stuff. She is teaching me some very good things to remember in the kitchen. We got all the food prepped and ready to go for each day of the week on Monday. Tomorrow and Friday we will be making cookies for the reception that follows the performances.

Andrew is participating in this year's Camp MAD and he just loves singing all the songs.

OH, that reminds me to share something really neat: Andrew accepted Jesus into his heart at the end of May. I just bought him a little read and share Bible that is age appropriate. We have been reading from it each day and he is always asking for me to read more to him. I love his thirst for truth and knowledge.

Well, I really should be getting to bed but I think I will work on my photobook instead because I am a little jittery tonight. I can't get to sleep.

One day I will get back to designing but right now I am going to try and learn to be a better blogger. Do keep an eye out though because there will be some cool deals at ScrapDebris soon.

Have a great night and God bless you and yours,

Stephany

Back from Sea World and Finally a Freebie!!!

Sorry I haven't been posting much lately. I am really starting to rethink my priorities and I want to become a better wife and mom.

We got back from San Antonio yesterday from our first real family vacation. It did not really go quite how I thought it should go but we did have a blast and Eric my dh and I really learned some key lessons about our ds: 1 - load him up with sugar and you will have a good time while the sugar is in his system but watch out for the let down. He was a bear. 2 - don't forget to bring a stroller (or rent  one) to carry all your stuff. Andrew enjoyed the visit to sea world more when we didn't make him walk everywhere (he is only 4 years old). 3 - Don't set your expectations too high because they will just get wiped out and everyone will be disappointed. Seriously though, I don't understand why children now days are constantly asking for you to buy them things like popcorn, cotton candy, this thing or that thing. They become like a broken record. One time I even told Andrew not to bother asking as I saw a cart with popcorn  and pickles go by. Knowing that he would ask for popcorn he said to me, "I wasn't going to ask but I sure would like a pickle." A Pickle. The one thing he had not been bothering us to buy him and BOOM he has to have a pickle. Well, thankfully we distracted him from that and kept moving right along.

I just love the shows at Sea World. My favorites were Believe with Shamu and the other Orcas (obviously) and Viva with the Beluga Whales and Dolphins. They both just brought tears to my eyes and goose bumps to my body. LOVE THEM!

But enough about out trip, I have put together a freebie sampler from the collab kit I just finished with my friend Lisa at OScrapMomO's Place. The kit is called All Better and fits great with all those bumps, scraps and boo-boo's our children so often get. The sampler includes 2 papers, one frame and one ribbon. My part of the full kit has a total of 24 papers, 10 rounded square frames, 1 round frame with matte, 6 ribbons, 1 hammer and 1 tongue depressor. You can purchase it all for just $1 at Scrap Debris as of Wednesday. If you happen to see more than one of my kits that you like send me an email with which kits you would like to buy and I will send you an invoice to purchase however many of them together. That will save you time instead of purchasing them separately.

Here is a preview of the All Better Kit:

And here is a preview of the freebie sampler for you.

Download All Better Sampler

Don't forget to get your freebie from Lisa too and check out Scrap Debris as of Wednesday for the main part of this fantastic kit. I pray you all have a great day!

Stephany

Been a long time...

I feel like it has been forever since I last posted to my blog. Things have just been a little crazy here for me. I had to plan a party for my son's 4th birthday, celebrate Mother's Day, celebrate my dh's birthday and plan for our vacation to San Antonio to see Shamu. We leave tomorrow for that, yay! On top of that we just switched internet services to save some money and service has been sketchy for about a month with that.

But with all that has gone on I did manage to get a little freebie made for you. I will be back on Monday to share that with you. Right now I am trying to get it all loaded to 4shared.

Well, I have now realized that having my son's birthday party the weekend of Mother's day was a mistake (not to be repeated). His actual birthday fell on a Wednesday so we could go either way to celebrate on the weekend. Then my husband's birthday was yesterday which is only 6 days after our son's. Need I say more on the craziness here??? We did like having family and others here to celebrate with us though.

I have one more load of laundry before I start to pack today. I think I am looking more forward to this vacation than anything else right now. DH and I went once before ds was born to Sea World and fell in love with Shamu. Now we can't wait to introduce our ds to him. He has seen pictures and seems to be as excited as we are. When we get back I will share the goodie with you.

Have a great day,

Stephany

Designer Call

My friend Lisa is looking for more Designers to come and join us for some laid back Digital Scrapbook selling. If you are interested in something like this email Lisa. She doesn't expect anything from us and it is so fun to work with her.

Have a blessed day,

Stephany

Testing Windows Live Media

I am trying out Windows Live Writer so this is just a test.  Lisa raves about this and says it is so wonderful. Please forgive the test.

I got tagged...again!

I seriously don't know many people in the blogging community on a personal basis but I will give this a try.

I've been tagged by Shawna!!!

ALL are invited to join in the Links fun!

PLEASE just follow the rules! Just copy paste THIS and everything below up until my Five links:

I thought it would be cool to have a meme where we post links. We can post up to five. Then we tell five more people to share their links. If we all share who tagged us, our links are sure to be seen!

They can be business links, favorite sites, affiliate links, whatever you want…

There are Five Rules:

1. MUST be clean. No R rated sites.

2. Only FIVE links.

3. MUST tell 5 people.

4. A link back to the person who tagged you

5. Lara’s Place is the meme originator. (an active link is appreciated)


My 5 links are:

1. The Anniston Museum - You can get a membership here for I think $25 to $30 for your family and be able to go to just about any museum in the United States (as long as it is part of the ASTC - click here to see if your museum or science center is a participant) and it good for a year. That reminds me I think it is time to renew mine!

2. The Gardner's Network - I am not a big gardener but this site really helps me keep the things I am gardening alive and kicking. I got a mini rose bush from some friends as a house warming gift when we bought our new house. I usually kill it after the first roses died off it but not this one. I replanted it in a bigger pot and voila it continued to bloom new roses for me and all I had to do was prune it every now and then.

3. Mrs. Claus' Cookbook - This site has so many baking and goody recipes that I get a sugar rush just perusing.

4. The Houston SAHM Lesson Plans - These provide things to do for your little kiddos and you if you want lesson plans.

5. Mapsco Travel Directions - I love this site because I can put in any address and it gives me very accurate directions.

I am tagging:

Lisa

Penny

Tina

Michelle

Bethany

Please nobody kill me for tagging you. I know you guys all have really good taste and look forward to seeing your favorite websites.

Have a blessed day,
Stephany

Guess what we got to buy tonight...

A new Washer! That's right, I went to change out the very last load of laundry into the dryer and found it full of water. I tried starting it on final spin and it didn't do anything but make a humming sound. I called dh in to see if he might get it to do something more than I did and still nothing happened. But alas, dh had been planning on our washer going out sometime soon so he had been looking at washers for a couple of months. We loaded up and set off for Home Depot because they were having a 10% off sale on all appliances and on top of that had a mail in rebate on the delivery. Woo-hoo! Not only am I getting a new washer but I don't have to worry about finding a home for the old washer because they will be taking it a burying it for me, lol. It is a front loading Amana, more energy efficient and Eco friendly. I must say that God's timing is always perfect even if our washer's is not. God will provide the money somehow. He always provides for our needs.

My family and I just had one of the best weekends in a long time. My sister Sandy and her family came to spend the weekend with us. At first I was a little worried how the sleeping arrangements would go but it worked out. I sure hope they had as good a time as we did. Saturday morning my dh took my bil, Chris and nephew, Dymitri to our church to help with the playground wood chips. My sister and I took the rest of the boys (her youngest two, Dylan and Deryk and my one, Andrew) to Sams Club and then went to see if any more help was needed at the church. We got there just as the last 2 or 3 wheel barrel loads of wood chips were being taken into the playground. After we all finished there we ate lunch and got ready to go see Horton Hears A Who. We loaded up with lots of goodies for the boys because 3 of them are 3 years old and younger and we didn't know if they would sit through the movie. My nephew Deryk towards the end got a little antsy so my sister took him out of the theater. That night we gave the boys baths and then my sister and I went to target for some shopping and sister bonding time. We bought the 3 youngest matching outfits to wear to church the next day (yea, I know, we're cheesy). When we got home the dh's were playing Wii with Dymitri so we joined in on some of that fun. Sunday rolled around and my bil was very kind to make us pancakes for breakfast. We all headed out to church after that and very much enjoyed the sermon. We came home for lunch and nap time only I think I was the only one who really got a nap. My sister came in to wake me up about 4:45 and tells me that all the boys are coming back from the park and they are hungry. So we head out to dinner at Panda which we found out was a total bomb. We came home and went to the backyard to play a little. DH got out the soccer ball for the boys. They weren't very interested in it so dh and I played against my sister and bil. My sister took me down. Man, I haven't played soccer in so long but I think that was my favorite part of this weekend. We went inside when it got dark and gave the boys a bath. Then we gave them ice cream because they'd been pretty well behaved and then sent them to bed. Dh and I stayed up with my sister and bil and played Hearts, which for once I got my behind thoroughly spanked. You win some and lose some. After that we played Disney Pictionary on DVD. The first round my sister and bil won but the next 2 rounds dh and I won. On Monday morning my sister and bil start checking to see what we are wearing to see if they get to pinch us for St. Patrick's day. Thank goodness my pj's had green leaf's on them. DH wasn't so lucky. My sister went so far as to plan for the holiday. She even bought her dh a green shirt so he wouldn't get pinched. All her boys had on green and she did as well. When everyone was showered and ready to go (wearing green of course) we went to lunch and pigged out on pizza. I think I have finally reached saturation for pizza. I think I could go a while without it. We then came home and let all the boys play outside in the backyard while my sister and bil loaded up their van to head home.
What a wonderful time we had with them and can't wait to see them again.

BTW, Chris, if you are reading this, "HI". Don't want to leave out a quick hi to my bil who I found out reads my blog and has an incredible memory about things I say on here.

Have a blessed day,
Stephany

I've been tagged... Whoa

I've never been tagged before so I am a little awed that Lisa thinks so highly of me. Thanks girly! No really, Thanks!

Okay, here we go:
1. What time did you get up this morning? Too early since it is my 30th Birthday. I was woke up at 3:30am by a little guy afraid of his watch.
2. Diamonds or pearls? I would have to say diamonds.
3. What was the last film you saw at the movies? The Spiderwick Chronicles.
4. What is your favorite TV show? Don't really have a favorite, I guess "Numbers"!
5. What do you eat for breakfast? I love Great Value RF Cinnamon rolls.
6. What is your middle name? Leigh
7. What food do you dislike? BBQ
8. What is your favorite CD at the moment? Toby Mac "Portable Sounds".
9. What kind of car do you drive? Tahoe
10. Favorite sandwich? Egg Salad
11. I didn't see #11
12. Person dead or alive that you would like to have a conversation with? Jesus...works for me...I would love to see Him face to face.
13. If you could go anywhere in the world for a vacation, where would you go? Disneyworld or Seaworld.
14. What color is your bathroom? Brown (don't get me started...It was this color when we bought the house and we want to change it as soon as we can. We don't need the reminder on the walls what should stay in the ca mode).
18. Favorite Sport to watch? College Football
20. Who do you expect to follow through on the tag? Am I supposed to tag someone else. I don't know anyone else closely in the digiscrap world.
21. Person you expect to complete it first? Clueless
22. Favorite saying? 50-11 (Lisa you know what I'm talking about)
24. Are you a morning person or a night person? Midday
25. What is your shoe size? 8.5
26. Favorite food for Dinner? Sour Cream Chicken
27. What did you want to be when you were little? A Police Officer
28. What are you doing today? Fed ds, toke shower, got dressed, got ds dressed, headed out to spend some money (I needed a new journal, a picture frame, and some fake flowers for pen caps), ate lunch, came home and played on the computer, played with son after his nap, ate dinner with DH and DS, went for a walk with ds, checked a friends house who went OOT, then came home and gave ds a bath, found I was tagged so now I am trying to do this for Lisa. Whew, what a long day when you think about it. I forgot, we went to the Library to drop off books and movies.
29. What is your favorite candy? Anything chocolate with caramel filling (Treasures or Giradelli (need spelling), yum).
30. What is your favorite flower? Hydrangea.
31. What day are you looking forward to most on your calendar? Don't really have one special day.
32. What are you listening to right now? My ds trying to go to sleep.
33. What was the last thing you ate ? Garlic Herb Chicken, Steamed potatoes and Steamed Broccoli from Applebee's.
34. Do you wish on stars? Not anymore. Don't have to!
35. Do you believe in Angels? Yes
36. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Pink
37. What is your pet peeve?...I don't really want to think about that on my birthday. I am trying to have a good day. Okay, politics and gas prices. You got me!
38. Last person you spoke to on the phone? Sister Sherri and niece Elora called to wish me a happy birthday. My niece sang to me in her sweet high pitch voice. So cute. (My nephews and son sang to me earlier too and it was just as special.
39. Do you like the person who tagged you? You betcha. She is one of the neatest people I know. She keeps it popping for me and also trys to relieve me of my OCD tendencies.
40. Favorite soft drink? Not really a soda drinker.
41. Favorite restaurant? Texas Roadhouse (their Prime Rib is to die for, I hd that Tuesday for my official birthday dinner)
42. Siblings? 3 sisters, Sarah, Sherri, and Sandy
43. Favorite day of the year? December 25 because it is a perfect reminder of my Lord's birth. I seem to get side tracked way too often.
44. Favorite day of the Week? Saturday because I usually get to spend it with my dh and ds.
45. Spring or Fall: That's a toughie, Spring
46. Hugs or kisses? Hugs
47. Chocolate or vanilla? Depends on my mood, mostly chocolate.
48. Do you want your friends to tag you back? Do I really have to tag others? I don't really know anyone else besides Lisa and she doesn't want to do it again, understandably!
49. What is under your bed? Dust Bunnies
50. Who is the friend you’ve had longest? My sister Sandy.
51. What did you do last night? Went to choir practice at church.
52. Favorite smell? Spring
53. What are you afraid of? Being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
54. How many keys on your key ring? too many (at least 8)
55. How many years at your current job? 3 years as a SAHM
56. Favorite city to visit? I'm with Lisa here (I'm so jealous she is going to Disney)....Orlando
57. How many towns have you lived in? Let me take a stab and say 9.
58. Do you make friends easily? More so now than before. I have matured a lot and don't have such high expectations that even I can't meet.

Wow, what a lot to learn about someone. If you would like to share about yourself too than consider yourself tagged. I don't really think I have that big of a blog following though so hope those of you that actually read this enjoyed getting to know me better.

Have a blessed day,
Stephany

Well lookie here...another Freebie

Yeah, I am now selling at Scrap Debris and I joined the ladies on a collab kit entitled Oh Boy. I loved putting this one together. I will add links to the other ladies blogs because I don't know how long their parts will be available. Here is a preview of my part and the download link will be under that. It will be available until next Sunday then it will be moving to Scrap Debris.


Download Oh Boy EXPIRED

The ladies of Scrap Debris
*Lisa of OScrapMomO's Place
*Penny Lynn of AllieKat Creations
*Tina of Bits 'O Scrap
*DigiScrapJunkie

Have a blessed week and we'll see what comes next.
Stephany

Due to some issues with 4shared...

I am feeling so much better and I can't thank God enough for everyone who prayed for my health. A BIG Thank You goes out to all of you that sent me well wishes.

I have been toying with 4shared since yesterday and finally learned how to put passwords on my files. Hopefully then 4shared will stop opening them up for free ALL the time (even the ones that are expired) this way. I also noticed that in doing a search for my initials that so really vulgar things also so up and so I will be changing my file names on there as well so hopefully you don't have to view those things. Some things are just so distasteful to put on the internet and yet it is full of JUNK. I hope my passwords don't put a hamper on anyone downloading my freebies. I will always tell what the password to that kit is when it is available.

I hope you are all having a beautiful weekend like me. It is just gorgeous. Spring is starting to show her pretty face and some flowers I planted last June that only showed the plants and no blooms NOW has ONE BLOOM, Woo-Hoo. I love that my green thumb is really starting to take off and keep things alive.

Have a blessed day and kiss all your sweet babies today (and always),

Stephany

Ugh...Strep Throat

Well, I went to the doctor yesterday and found out I have strep throat. Not sure how I got that. After I came home I crashed on the couch and proceeded to go downhill. I ran a pretty high fever for the most part of yesterday and only in the wee hours of the morning started to feel the fever breaking. I still have the very sore throat and my neck is killing me. But I would have to say that today is much of an improvement over yesterday. Still very light headed but at least I can move around. Thank you to all who have left me kind get-well's.
My ds this morning when he saw me said "I prayed for you last night at church to get better". How sweet is that. I am a firm believer in the power of prayer. My dh has been quite the champ in taking care of me. He keeps reminding me of our vows "in sickness and in health". What a sweetheart.

Have a blessed day,
Stephany

PS. I will be taking down Argyle Grunge Girl on Sunday. After that you can find it over at Scrap Debris for $1.00. All the kits are just $1.00. If you haven't had the chance to take a look around there then take this opportunity to do so.

I caught someone's BUG and a freebie

I've been running a fever and body aches for the past 3 days. I will be going to the doctor today to see if they can help in any way. But I have a freebie collab kit that I did with my friend Lisa again. It is called Splash of Spring. If you download please leave some kind words. They make me feel better too. Don't forget to get Lisa's portion at OScrapMomO's Place.

There are 3 links so be sure to download all 3.




EXPIRED (You can pick this up at Scrap Debris.com in a couple of days for $1-the whole kit)

Don't forget to leave some lovin.

Have a blessed day,
Stephany

What a wonderful weekend and a FREEBIE

I had a great time at our Women's Retreat this past weekend. I feel so renewed and filled with the Holy Spirit. God has a great way of getting our attention, mine was by smelling a skunk. LOL More on that later.

Crystal I finally got the girl kit done for Argyle Grunge. I hope you like it as well as everyone else. It personally is one of my favorites. Leave me a comment if you like this kit. Thanks!



Expired (You wil find this in the Scrap Debris store in the next couple of days for $1.00)

Have a blessed day,
Stephany

We saw a double rainbow...

tonight as we were finishing dinner. It was so beautiful. I tell you what, Our God is an AWESOME God. I have seen a double rainbow before but never one that you could see both ends on the opposite sides of each other.

Well dh and I are currently working on wiring the living room for a surround sound system that we only paid $35 for. What a great deal. We cannot say thank you enough to our friends that just wanted to get it out of their house. It had been sitting in the box since they moved here a year ago. DH has been wanting a surround sound for-ever. I can't say that wiring is an easy job. Every hole in the wall has presented new challenges. First hole dh and I had to work out a system of communitacion and the cordless drill battery DIED; second hole we realized was the same area as some electrical wires and DH didn't want to drill there (no wonder why there!); We are currently working on the third hole and it is on an exterior wall (sort of) and there is the pink insolation we are dealing with along with both drill batteries DEAD, uggggggh; I can only imagine what the fourth hole has for us. I am so tired that I want to just come back to it on another day but my DH is not a quiter and so therefore I will stay up as long as I can to help him. It's amazing what we will do for those we love, like I got to put holes in the wall, lol. Guess I better get back to it before I really do become too tired to help.

I will be posting some more LO's and freebies soon (I finally got Argyle Grunge Girl kit done) and taking down Spring's reflection around the same time so get it while you can. After that I will be sending my stuff to a friends store to try to make a dollar or two. It never hurts to try, right?

Have a blessed day and night,
Stephany

Finally Got Another Freebie Done...

Well it's about time, don't you think? I have been working on this kit for a couple of weeks off and on and finally called it done. Then after finishing it I had trouble naming it. My friend Karen stayed up late last night with me giving me ideas until she came up with Spring's Reflection. I liked the sound of that so I hope you all agree.

Update on my little man, we are still having to keep him down for another week so he doesn't spilt his head open. The staples are out and it is healing really well. Last night we were doing a devotional about consequences and I prayed that God would help Andrew to learn about them. Well, wouldn't you know he had to learn them first hand. He was picking at his head where he had surgery and I saw he had picked off a scab (I know, eewww). I decided that he would sleep in his arm splints so as not to pick any more. I pray he learned from that lesson because I don't want to have to fight the arm splint battle again. Please continue to pray for healing and willful obedience to follow the Dr.'s orders and Mommy's/Daddy's orders.

Also please pray for a dear, sweet "little" friend of mine named Meleah. She is only 10 years old but 1 inch shy of being as tall as me. Okay so that is not hard to beat since I am only 5' 1". Anyway, she just found out that she has type one diabetes. Please pray for her and her family as they are learning to adjust to this. Her mom and dad are some of the sweetest people I know. We love all of them dearly!


You are probably wondering where the link to the freebie is by this time. Well, thank you for being patient. Don't forget to leave me some sweet comments. I love to hear from you. There are 7 papers, ribbons, flowers, and frames, 3 arrows (thank you to Shawna at Scrap-n-Stuff for the shape), 1 Tag.


EXPIRED

Thanks for reading and have a blessed day,

Stephany

We get the staples out today, yea!

Woo-hoo, we are going this afternoon to remove Andrew's staples and see for the first time see how things look. I am praying it does not hurt him too much. It will also be good to let him ride his bike again. We have been playing outside a little more and even kicking the soccer ball back and forth. I have even let him play in his sand turtle if he did not get any sand in his bandage. He actually did pretty good not throwing sand. Whew, I'm excited about today.

Also, I have been working off and on on a girl kit. I am so bad a naming kits so I may finish it and then ask for opinions on names. I hope to have it finished by next week. I'm not very fast at these things. For some reason I have been struggling for a theme. I don't have a girl so I am just guessing at what I would want in a girl kit.

Have a blessed day,
Stephany

Another Update on Andrew

We went to the doctor's office on Tuesday thinking that he would get his little bandage off his head. The doctor told us that we took really good care of keeping it on him but that we would need to try keeping it on for another week. He is now supposed to get his bandage removed and staples taking out next Tuesday, yea! We did get some good news though. We don't have to make him wear the arm splints anymore. Man was he happy not to wear those. Anyway, so now we are playing the waiting game again. He has been coloring lots of pictures, playing lots of games and puzzles, playing on the computer and watching TV and movies. We have played outside a little bit but it is so windy that it makes the air really cold. He is really being a great little trooper through all of this. When we asked the doctor if we could use benadryl for any itching he said not to worry about it and to let him scratch. What a load that takes off all of us.
Please continue to pray for us as he seems to be a little hard of hearing at times. Definitely selective.

Have a blessed day,
Stephany

Recent LO's of Little "A"

Just thought I would share with you a few of the LO I have put together since the surgery.

Credits:

Template: lisaminor_rackettyscrappety2B32_8x8
Kit: Dino Kid by DigiscrapJunkie
Fonts: NevisonCasD, Ribbon happy, Palatia

Credits:

Template: lisaminor_rackettyscrappety2B33_8x8
Kit: BCS-Puggin
Fonts: Andy

Credits:

Template: lisaminor_rackettyscrappety2B26_8x8
Kit: Scouts Honor by Raspberry Road Designs
Fonts: Auburn, Hello Sark and Papyrus

Credits:

Template: lisaminor_rackettyscrappety2B30_8x8
Kit: CloseKnit Sampler by KimB Designs
Wordart: Obey_Rules (I don’t remember where I got this)
Font: A Yummy Apology

My little man is pretty much back to his old self. Youngsters really bounce back. It is really hard to keep him down and not bouncing around. He doesn't understand that he needs to be extra careful with his head. I just continue to pray that the Lord will protect him when Andrew will not. Thanks for reading about our life and praying for my little boy. He really is a precious child.

Have a blessed day,

Stephany

God answers prayers...

GOD IS GOOD! Andrew had his surgery today and everything went really well. The doctor came to see us in the surgery waiting room sooner than we expected and reassured us that everything went fine. We got to see Andrew within 30 minutes after that.
Andrew was so cute in his hospital pj's and booties. I brought my camera to take some pictures and found out there is something wrong with my memory card. It would not take any pictures. I am glad I uploaded all the pictures that were on it yesterday. Good news though, my wonderful husband, Eric, knowing that I really wanted pictures to scrap of this life event, went to the gift shop and bought me a one-time use camera. What a sweetie! When the nurses called us back in to see Andrew they said he was asking for his mommy. That didn't hit me until we got home that he asked for me and not daddy. He is a real daddy's boy and that really shocked me when it finally registered that he asked for me. He looked so sad when we first saw him in recovery, but cheered right up when the nurse gave him a rainbow Popsicle. The doctor told us he looked like a human Q-tip and sure enough he did. We have to try and keep this "cap" on his head for a week at least. Not to mention splints for his arms so he doesn't mess with his head. Andrew does not like either of them.
You can't keep this boy down though. He was trying to run all over the house after about an hour arriving home. I tell you what, this is going to be a challenge to keep him from hurting his head during the healing process. I made the decision tonight to make him a pallet on the floor in his room to sleep. I don't want to take any chances of him falling off his bed.
Thank you to all who prayed for us. Please continue to pray for healing.

Have a blessed day,
Stephany

Great News and a Prayer Request

The Tech Doctor was successful in retrieving all my files off my passport. I will be getting them back within a few days. He is taking our laptop to reload them on there. I can't tell you how excited I was to hear this great news. That's means I will have back the two months of our lives which consisted of November and December. Yea! It really goes to show that when you don't fret and give it to God, He can handle anything and everything.

My prayer request is this: My son will be having surgery this coming Wednesday and I would like prayers for peace of mind, wisdom and steady hands for the doctors, and a timely recovery. He was born with a birthmark on the side of his head that has a 10-15% chance of becoming cancerous when he grows older. With him being fair skinned that raises his chances. Right now it is hardly noticeable. But this type of birthmark becomes very unsightly once puberty hits. Thankfully he is far from puberty but we thought to get it taken care of before he starts school. God has answered our prayers in the timeliness of this surgery.
We are supposed to try and keep him down (couch potato like) for up to two weeks. Ha, we asked for sedatives. Andrew is a very rambunctious three and a half year old and that request is next to impossible. So really this is another prayer request: Sanity for our whole house.

Thanks for reading and praying for us. Some more good news is that I will try making more freebies while he is recovering. I have a request for a girl kit. I will have to look for some inspiration because I am outnumbered 2 to 1 in my house on the gender level. But I will give it a good try. Until next post I pray all is well for you.

Have a blessed day,
Stephany

ps. I will probably be taking down my freebies in a couple of days so snag them while you can!

Always Back-up Your Files

Okay I did something really dumb today and that was drop my WD passport (which had most all of my digiscrap stuff on it) on our wood floors. Silly me I have not done any file back-ups for about 1 or 2 months. I lost two months of family pictures, lots of different freebies I had downloaded, you name it. In the past week I had finished about 10 LO's but hadn't done anything with them. I think they are all gone. I am a bit sad right now but have had some time to realize that it all had absolutely no eternal value. Yes there will be two months of our lives gone but it has taught me some valuable lessons:

1. ALWAYS start your day with prayer
2. DO your Bible study (I am in Bible Study Fellowship right now and tried to put that after scrapping, wrong thing to do, lol).
3. ALWAYS back-up your files.
4. Make multiple copies.

I'm sure there is more I have learned but will just have to get over the loss.

But there may be a chance things can be salvaged. There is a computer guy in our church that helps keep our church's technology going. It is now in his hands to see if there is any hope.

Have a blessed day,

Stephany

Who wants another freebie?

I started working on this over the Christmas break and had the hardest time coming up with a name for it. Then I did some tweaking and and came up with Argyle Grunge. I don't know if that really fits it our not but I am not that good at naming kits yet. Anyhow, Hope you guys like it too. I also have a LO that I did with this kit.

Template: lisaminor_rackettyscrappityB5_8x8
Kit: Argyle Grunge by Stephany Stratton

Fonts: Bookman Oldstyle

Download EXPIRED.

Have a blessed day and don't forget to leave a nice comment here or on 4shared.
Stephany

Warm Winters Day Collab Kit Freebie

I was asked to do another collab kit with my friend Lisa (OscrapmomO). Wow, did I feel honored. I really appreciate her allowing me to practice my designing. I really have nothing else further to talk about so here I give you Warm Winters Day. Remember to leave some lovin. I like to hear nice things.


Give me EXPIRED by SSD

Here is a preview of Lisa's Part

Go to Lisa's Blog to pick up her part of Warm Winters Day

Have a blessed day,



Stephany

Please forgive me...

Thank you to Fenn for gently reminding about saving as a PNG and not a JPEG on the word art files. Here are two new links one for each word art I have given so far. I really appreciate the kind reminder and it was very helpful that you left the comment on my blog as I get those sent to my email account and are easier to pull up. Hope I have corrected the problem quickly and efficiently. The PNG files have been flattened so the font remains intact but they should now be transparent. As always leave me a comment with some love and/or needing something corrected.

EXPIRED

EXPIRED

Have a blessed day,

Stephany

Here is another freebie

It's amazing what a Sunday afternoon nap will do to you at night. Here it is 3:00 am on Monday morning and I really should be catching some zzz's just like my DH and DS. Instead I chose to stay up and finish working on a collaboration kit I am doing with one of my good friends. But I have another word art for you that I hope you like. I am still new to designing but I am loving playing around with things. Thanks to all those who are leaving me some love. I really like to read it just like all the other designers. Download EXPIRED"Leaving Your Mark".

Have a blessed day,

Stephany

Glad to be home...and a freebie

Well we got home from our "vacation" last Sunday. It felt so good to come home and start cleaning, of all things. We put all of our stuff away that day. We are very anal when it comes to coming home and putting our things away. Then we start to concoct ways to improve our house. I think painting the living room is in store for this weekend. We are also trying to finishing organizing our garage. Lots of boxs got put into the attic and many more will be ready for storing. With all that being said, it is just great to be home!

We had my best friend Shela and her family over on New Year's Eve and had a great time. We made homemade pizza's and then played some Wii. We are all very competitive. I like the Wii because it is very interactive. The kids played well together too. They left probably around 11:00pm so we got ready for bed. Andrew and Eric went to bed and I stayed up and got to hear our neighbors be very roudy. Oh well, that's to be expected, right?

We went to The Dump furniture store on New Year's day and had the worst time finding the place from the directions I got from Yahoo maps (which by the way I don't recommend using). Just when we thought found it there were no turn-in's. I had to go potty really bad so we had to go find a restroom. Stopped at a gas station and things were going fine until I came out of the store and fell flat on my face in the parking lot. What a way to start off the new year, clutzy! My mood was shot after that. When we did get to The Dump it was super cold because of the north winds and the evening sun was setting to make it very difficult to see anything in the store. I was a little relieved when we left so I could go home and nurse my wounded pride. Ha, pride really does come before the fall! It's good that I can laugh about it now.

Here is a cute story: last night when Eric and I went to check on Andrew before bed, we saw that before Andrew went to sleep he had put another pillow on the end of his bed and put his new little panda bear on it. He even put his favorite blankie over him to keep him warm. To see it really warmed our hearts. Andrew has a gentle side when he wants too.

Well here is a freebie word art that I have been meaning to send through before the new year. Sorry it has taken so long to put on here. Hope all of you had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Download EXPIRED



Have a blessed day,

Stephany