This Little Light of Mine

Enter for a chance to win a Paula's Bread Nutramill

2011-09-06T11:59:00.000-05:00

Go and visit the Heavenly Homemakers website for a chance to win a Nutramill. Yeah, hoping to win!

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GratiTuesday: Thankful for my Family

2011-07-19T13:16:00.001-05:00

I know it has been an incredibly long time since I have posted. So much has happened that I can't recite it all in one post but I can join the group of bloggers that express something they are grateful for on Tuesdays.

As I write this I am missing two of the most important men in my life. Eric flew out early this morning for a business trip to CT. He will be back late tonight and I will get to hold him in my arms again. We dropped off out oldest son Andy this weekend at his Grandma Becky's house and he is enjoying some Grandma only time. He is also getting to spend time with some of his cousins that he rarely gets to see which I know he is loving.

I am thankful for the wonderful family in my life who have helped in some way or another to shape me into the person I am today. Most importantly I am thankful for my heavenly Father who does the most shaping. I am thankful he doesn't give up when a part of me is harder to shape than others.

I am thankful for three men in my life that treat me like a queen! (Eric, Andy and Zach - I love you guys!)

Will try to blog more often if anything to start journaling my thoughts and catching up on my photos.

Until then, God bless!

Love, Stephany

My Sweet Boys

2010-04-05T18:00:00.001-05:00

Things are starting to go very nicely here. My wonderful husband ordered us new windows that are being installed as I type. He is also working on updating the fort for the boys so there won’t be anymore splinters (at least for the next year or so). I have been working on planning a birthday party for Andrew who is going to be 6 years old. I can’t believe it. He is such a great child. He can bring me lots of joy when he is in the right mood. Today he is at school and it is just me and Daddy at home with Zach.

I got to go and get Andy from school today while daddy stayed home with Zach napping. Andy’s PE teacher told be he was being silly in class today and that all the other kids followed his example. He loves to be silly and it is hard for him to understand when is not okay to be silly. I think he is really starting to look forward to summer break. Not sure how ready I am for that though. Andy has been taking swimming lessons and will continue until he is able to swim the length of the pool and back without any trouble. He is doing fantastic. I can’t wait to see what progress he will make in the month of April. Even though he and I have difficulty understanding each other I still would not trade him for the world.

Zach is starting to roll over from his back to his tummy now. He has been rolling from his tummy to back for about a month or so but yesterday he started rolling back to tummy. He still is not a fan of tummy time though. Zach is also working on and making great strides toward being able to sit unassisted. He is really starting to play with toys now and that makes things a little easier. Now the entertaining toys can be of some entertaining. We tried green beans a few days ago and Zach was not a fan. We had to stop the cereal because it was constipating him. He doesn’t seem to care for juice either unless he is super hungry. I was looking at pictures of Zach when he was born and saw so many changes in the last five months. He drools a lot and one would think that he was teething but I haven’t found anything. Also he insists on having his thumb to suck on over his pacifier. I have tried to discourage that but it works for him when we don’t get there to put the pacifier in.

It has been a real treat to have Eric home today. We saw just enough of one another that it didn’t become too much. It reminds me of how very blessed I am to have such a great husband, who doesn’t have to travel (at the present time), loves his job but more importantly loves his family very much. I love you sweetie! ;)

Here are a few pictures of the family this past month. Have a blessed week, Stephany

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Things can run somewhat smooth…

2010-03-02T10:12:00.001-06:00

When you live by a routine. Zach has been sleeping really well for the past 3/4 of the month and he goes right to sleep when we lay him down. I think I am actually understanding his queues better than I did with Andy. He is growing like a weed. At his 4 month appointment he weighed 15.8 pounds, he was 24 3/4 inches long and his head was 48.3 cm. The doctor told us that he was going to be pretty smart from the size of his noggin, lol. I guess large heads run in the family. Thankfully he came 3 weeks early otherwise we might have had to have another emergency c-section.

Some new things going on with Zach: he is starting to roll over, has more head control and lifting during tummy time, he’s not a fan of cereal or water yet, he is starting to like playing with certain toys (he likes his monkey maracas from Aunt Shela). He loves to have his diaper changed, he will just smile and coo away at whoever is changing his diaper. He is already wearing his 6-9 month clothes and some of that is too small. He is really beginning to suck his fingers (more so his thumb) rather than his pacifier. When we take his thumb out of his mouth you hear this huge popping sound and then see his little face squench up in this sad pout and then a blood curdling cry. He doesn’t like people to take his thumb away. I don’t know if we are going to win this battle because even when I put mittens on his hands he finds a way to get one off and immediately sticks that thumb in his mouth.

Andy gets to start swim lessons and Lego club today. Lego club is done through his school and then we are doing the swim lessons through the YMCA. Today was also crazy hair day at school so Andy wanted a mohawk. It turned out really cool but not something I want to see all the time, lol. He is doing well in school but still has some attention issues.

I need to organize my photos so I can get them on here. Our wireless router does not seem to be working at this time so that will slow down any organizing until I can ask Eric to fix it.

That’s it for now but I will try to post the pictures of Andy’s mohawk soon.

Shining God’s light, Stephany

Where is the time going?

2010-02-15T15:25:00.001-06:00

I can’t believe that our baby Zachary is 3 1/2 months old already. Things are starting to get somewhat normal around here and I’m sure they will change again very soon. Zach is growing so well and big brother Andy is really starting to become a great helper. Andy loves holding Zach and he even got the chance to feed and burp him. I don’t know if diaper changing will be on the list of things he can do besides dumping the diaper or getting me what I need during a diaper change for Zach.

I went and got my hair cut and highlighted last week and I love it so much. It was definitely well worth what was paid. The time for a change was over-due. All the men in my life really love it (Eric, Andy and Zach).

What a beautiful snow we had this past week and weekend. Andy got to play in the snow twice (once Thursday and once Friday) having snowball fights and building snowmen. Zach even got to go out in the snow and he seemed to like it.

Zach is also starting to roll to his side from his back, can sit up better when put in the bumbo, smiles very big when you change his poopy diaper, getting better at tummy time. He has great control of his head and even tries to sit up when he is being fed. He is one week shy of 4 months old and then we get to try cereal. He is getting so big. I don’t remember Andy getting this big so early. Yes, I know every baby is different. I am thankful for that. Both of my boys have different personalities and I love them both very much.

Andy is really taking an interest in pictures. Right now he has my new camera and he is just snapping away at things and people around the house. He just showed me a picture of the toilet and that made me a little nervous. We are going to try and get him signed up for spring soccer with Upwards to get some of his energy used up in an outside activity. He loves playing on the computer and the Wii. We really have to limit those though.

Well I think I will add some pictures and call it a post! Have a great day and God bless,

Stephany

Christmas has come and gone and

2010-01-06T09:04:00.001-06:00

We are still trying to remember the reason for the season. Our plans for Christmas were to go to Oklahoma to visit with family and on Christmas morning we were going to have a birthday party for Jesus as a family. Well we made it to Oklahoma but from there plans got changed up. We didn’t realize that we were going to be in a blizzard while there. We stayed at my mom’s house and were so thankful for the warmth and electricity. Andy stayed at my sister’s house to play with his cousins and we kept Zach with us.

Eric and I got to shovel snow together and then try to get my mom’s car unstuck from the parking lot where we had gotten stuck in a snow drift the day before. How’s that for a Christmas present. There were some very wonderful people who helped us with the car and also transportation. All the snow really was beautiful but we didn’t get to enjoy it because we were trying to get our family back together and make it anywhere safely without getting stuck.

Now that its a new year we are excited about what is in store. Eric traded in our 2-door Jeep Wrangler yesterday for a 4-door Jeep Wrangler Unlimited. Now we can ride together as a family in the Jeep. Yea!

Here are some pictures from our Christmas vacation. Hope you enjoy them. One day I will get to scrap again.

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Have a blessed day, Stephany

Getting ready for Christmas and getting back on a routine.

2009-12-16T09:34:00.001-06:00

Christmas time is such a blessed time to remember the real reason for this season. Jesus is the reason we celebrate! One thing I am finding this year though is how to teach Andy that this season is about giving and not receiving. Yes, there will be presents for the boys but I don’t want that to be their focus.

I am also trying to start a routine with Zach in regards to when he eats, plays and sleeps. Yesterday he decided that anything goes and we stayed up until about 12:30 this morning. As tired as I am I still try to remember what a blessing he is in our lives and I just have to smile. Sometimes I just start to weep at all the blessings I have. God is so good to us!

We are heading to visit family over the Christmas break and I am a little nervous about all the things we need to pack to take with us. I really should be making myself a list so I don’t forget anything for baby Zach or any of the rest of my family for that matter.

This Saturday I will be celebrating my 11th wedding anniversary with the most wonderful man I know. Technically, we are going to celebrate on Friday but our day is Saturday. I am so excited because we are giving each other a house remodel project. By remodel I mean we are installing a new back door on the house and replacing the wood trim that the previous owners’ dogs chewed up. Eric has been wanting to replace that since we moved in 2 1/2 years ago. I wanted to replace the door because I am tired of Andy slamming it closed when he goes out and come in. It always makes the blinds close and it really has become annoying to me.

Well, I hear the wee babe crying so I will go and answer his call. Maybe next time I can have some pictures to put up to show how much he is growing.

Love, Stephany

Two children sure make things more difficult!

2009-12-01T12:10:00.001-06:00

We still feel so blessed to have Zachary as part of our lives now. He is now going on six weeks old and definitely growing.

Over November we had our family come down for Thanksgiving the weekend before the actual day. We had a house full and enjoyed it for the most part. My wonderful mother made pretty much the whole meal because for one I am not that great a cook and two Zach would not really give me the chance to do much but feed him and pump. This was also a special Thanksgiving because my sister Sarah was here. On Monday after our get together she hoped on a plane to start her life in Hawaii. We will miss her but know that no matter where she goes she will always be in God’s hands. We pray that she will meet some really great Christian examples that live by their example.

Before that, my sister Sandy rode the train down with some ladies from her church to go shopping and to see baby Zach. Zach and I drove to the Ft. Worth Stockyards to go meet her for dinner. The food was good and we had a great time together. I need to ask her to get those pictures from the lady that came with her.

This last weekend we went to have our family pictures taken and also covered Zach’s one month picture. I will add some pictures so you can see how big he is growing.

I hope to blog a little more often and get to scrapping some again. I have so many ideas and they are just that, ideas. They can’t get done yet!

We had so many favorites that it was hard to decide which ones to purchase. I absolutely love the picture where Andy is kissing his little brother.

Well that’s all I have time for now. Hope you have a blessed day!

Love, Stephany

He is here...Zachary Alexander

2009-10-24T15:57:00.001-05:00

God and Zachary decided that this past Wednesday night would be the time to arrive instead of waiting until November 3 for when things were all planned. I had my first contraction at 8:23pm as I was getting in the car at church to go home. Andrew and I made it home and when I got out of the car I think is when my water broke. I was in complete denial that anything was happening because I didn't know what a real contraction felt like. After getting Andrew straight to bed I took a shower and was still having contractions. They were coming about every two to three minutes by that point. At 9:30 I went ahead and called Eric to tell him to get home quick. Still not knowing that I was in labor I thought we could go to the hospital incase it might be false labor. Eric got home about 10:00 and we all jumped into the car (Andrew was really hard to wake back up) to go to the hospital. Eric asked if I wanted to go to the Mansfield hospital instead of where we were registered and I told him no. Even though I was in quite a bit of pain I still wanted something to go right.

Eric did a fantastic job driving and keeping his calm even though he was a wreck inside. The roads were wet and it was still raining. Made me a little nervous because we were running red lights left and right (as careful as possible). Only once did we almost get into a wreck but God spared us all (that was a major praise). My contractions were coming every 30 seconds to 1 minute by this point. We pulled into the ER and Eric ran in to tell them that his wife was in labor. They ran a wheelchair out to me and than started getting me into triage to check my status. I remember the lady saying "Oh, she is ready" and I was thinking "Oh my goodness, this is so painful". I was feeling the urge to push before we even got to the hospital but the staff continued to remind me not to push. Obviously that is easier said than done. The doctor got there just in time and I think once they told me I could take advantage of the urge to push it only took about 4 pushes and we heard Zach's cry.

Through God's grace and mercy I ended up having a VBAC without any meds. Praise God! I was fully prepared for a c-section and a much longer recovery. Eric told me that he got to actually see Zach being born which was something he didn't do with Andrew since Andrew was an emergency c-section. What a neat privilege.

We are all so excited to now have Zach as a physical part of our family now. He is such a sweetie pie. He weighed 7lbs. 14oz. and was 19 1/4 inches long.

I will write more later but wanted to get some pictures up as soon as things were somewhat calm. Here is our new bundle of joy and happiness.

Mommy and Zach.

Daddy and Zach.

Baby Zach.

Big brother Andrew and little brother Zach.

Mommy, after a wonderful shower and Zach .

Andrew waiting to take his little brother home.

Baby Zach ready to go home.

The whole new Stratton Family.

One more cute picture of the super cute brothers.

That's it for now but when things calm down even more I will try to update some more.

Love, Stephany

Time is going by so fast.

2009-10-12T20:13:00.001-05:00

We have had a great weekend together as a family. Andy and Daddy worked on a class project which highlights Andy as the student of the week. It turned out really cute. Eric took lots of pictures of Andy today doing things that he loves and then we printed them off to glue to a poster board. Then Andy got to put stickers all over and color in with markers wherever he wanted.

Zach is still the mover he has been and I don’t know if I would change that. It helps me to know that he is okay. We only have just a little more time before he makes his entry into this world and a more physical part of our lives. We worked on getting his room almost completely ready. We are just waiting on the mattress that my mom will be bringing with her when she comes later this month.

I have been trying to volunteer my time to Andy’s teacher before Zach gets here because I know I will not have time for a while once he is here. I really like helping and I feel it is right up my alley.

I have a super awesome best friend. Shela has gone out of her way and is throwing me a baby shower tomorrow with some other friends. She is so kind and thoughtful of others. I really wish I had her gift of being lead by the Spirit so well. She is also such an encourager even when she herself is going through so much. I constantly pray I can be half as good a friend to her as she is to me. (No, I am not talking height wise. LOL, she’s taller than me by at least a foot)

Eric has been quite the rock for me this pregnancy. Although he has taken a few more cracks at me than the first time. I can’t say I blame him. His sense of humor is one of the things that can turn my gray days sunny. He is doing so much in trying to get us ready for Zach and keeping things going with Andy. He is the peacemaker in our house, especially on the days when Andy and I just can’t seem to get along.

I haven’t put any pictures up for a while so here are a few pictures:

Here is our super cool dude!

Here is me bare foot and pregnant in the laundry room, lol. The irony is I went straight to the kitchen next to make breakfast.

Here is Andy with Perry the Puppy. This is our family gift to baby Zach. We made him at Build-a-Bear last weekend. We all added one heart each. We then let Andy take over and groom him, name him and bring him home. I will be adding a red bandana to Perry to kind of match the doggy in the nursery theme.

Have a great night and God bless, Stephany

It’s hard to believe…

2009-09-28T21:01:00.001-05:00

That my time of pregnancy is almost over. Being in the third trimester I am pushing to get things accomplished before Zach gets here and then I become super tired and sore. We have been blessed by so many family and friends for the things we need that I can hardly contain myself with joy. The nursery is pretty much ready and now I just need to make sure the bags are packed and to-do lists are in order.

Andy is having so much fun and learning a ton of things in school. He loves his new teacher AND he has gotten himself a girlfriend. Her name is Samantha and she is so sweet. Andy gets extremely jealous of any other boys that try to “cut-in”. I think he sits by her at lunch every possible opportunity. On a more academic note: his reading has taken enormous strides and he is now reading (or trying to read) anything he lays his eyes on. Sometimes that is a good thing and other times it is bad. His writing is coming along pretty well and he is trying to sound things out phonetically instead of asking how to spell something. I think it is so cute the variations he comes up with. His memorization is incredible. He comes home spouting different rhymes or poems or songs his teacher uses in the class. I have even noticed this spilling into his memorization of scriptures. A few weeks ago Pastor Randy gave all the children’s parents a devotional to do with their kids that goes along with the lesson he teaches on Sunday morning. So far Andy know all three memory verses. I really am so very proud of Andy. He really is a swell little guy.

Eric is so awesome. He has been my rock to get through this pregnancy. He does so much for us that I just can’t fathom how he has so much time and energy. He takes such great care of his family. I am truly a very lucky woman, indeed.

Have a great night, Stephany

Getting Some Scrapping Time

2009-08-25T12:56:00.001-05:00

With Andrew in school now and all the chores completed yesterday I was able to go to the gym, workout, take a shower (without interruptions) and scrap. Yes, I said it! I got to scrap! I have so many to show that I am going to try and put them in this post. I have completed through day four of our Disney trip last December. I want to thank all the designers of the kits and misc. items I used. There are way to many to remember right now. But alas, here are our pictures thus far (I will put them in photo albums by days and go ahead and start with day one again):

Day One:

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Day Two:

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Day Three: (I am missing some layouts here but I will add them later)

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Day Four:

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That’s it for now. I am kind of tapped and think I will grab a bit to eat and then lay down for a nap before I need to pick up my little kindergartner. Hope you enjoy the layouts!

Stephany

First Day of Kindergarten

2009-08-24T20:05:00.001-05:00

Well today was our first day in Kindergarten and Andrew couldn’t have been more happy to start. Eric and I drove him to school, took some pictures (we actually got one with Mrs. Roos his teacher which I didn’t expect), then gave hugs and kisses and headed out. He didn’t even yell or cry for us to come back or anything. I guess I didn’t expect any crying because he did do preschool last year to prep him. When I went to pick him up he seemed happy. He said he had a great day and that he liked his teacher. I pray they get along all year. He stayed on green the whole day on the behavior chart and I am so proud. I also pray he desires to stay on green the whole year too. I am praying that he makes some really close friends that are good influences on him. I think I may walk him into class tomorrow and then join the drop off/pick up gang from then on.

I had lots on my to do list that I came home to start immediately. I got all the tile floor mopped, all of the 0 to 6 month baby clothes washed and put away, digiscrapped a little, had lunch with Eric and even had dinner on the table on time.

Praying that tomorrow is just as good as today,

Stephany

We met the teacher last night

2009-08-21T08:38:00.001-05:00

To say that things were chaotic last night at the Meet the Teacher night would be an understatement. It was crowded, there was little to no a/c and there was a LOT of information that needed to be told to the parents. Kids were getting restless five minutes into the information session in the cafeteria. When we were finally released to go to the room and meet the teacher everyone wanted to speak to the teacher at once and the room was very packed. Did I say that they had little to no a/c? I am a furnace as it is but when packed in like sardines I get downright cranky. I am not a fan of sweating unless I am working out and only then because it seems to happen too easily. We brought our school supplies with us last night so we wouldn’t have to bring them on the first day of school. Thankfully, Eric championed the effort to sort them and put them in their appropriate places for the class. I got to fill out paperwork with the promise of filling out more paperwork before we return on Monday. I stood in line for what seemed like forever with sweat beading up on my face just to ask one question.

Mrs. Roos seems very nice but with a strictness about her that I think Andrew will do well under. I am really praying that Andrew will learn how to make friends and be a good friend in return. There are lots of opportunities in his class and I don’t think any of his playgroup friends or preschool friends ended up in his class.

I am looking forward to next week but sadly enough I don’t really know if I will be one of those moms that cry sending her baby to school. I love him lots but I think we both need this break from each other to learn to appreciate each other more.

Last night I also stayed up late because I had many things on my mind. One of which being the organizing of baby clothes. We have been so blessed to receive many hand-me-downs and now I am trying to figure out how to organize them to where nothing will go to waste and not be used, including socks. I think next week I will start washing all the clothes and putting them in their final place until Zachary is here and gets to wear them. I have plans to 1. Organize, wash and put away the clothes; 2. Do some sewing on the curtains to add some length; 3. Repaint a shelf to more so match the theme of the room; 4. Try to get all the extra Wexford and Prescott glass sold and out of the house; 5. Work on scrapping some Thank-you cards for all the people who have blessed us with things for Zachary; and the list goes on… Little by little we will be ready for this little guy to make his presence known in early November.

I need to get ready for the day now so ttfn!

Stephany

Got a call from the Doctor’s office

2009-08-19T16:01:00.001-05:00

yesterday and at first I was a little worried. But I have more great news, I don’t have gestational diabetes. The call was to tell me that I am really anemic. Baby Zach is taking almost all my iron and now I am on iron supplements. I was reminded that Andrew did the same thing but not quite to this extent. I was anemic with Andrew but not so bad that I had to take more supplements.

As I am typing right now Zach is moving all about. I told Eric today that I think the reason I have not really been worried during the placenta previa was because I could feel Zach moving so much. I do get a little antsy when I realize he has not moved much in the day. That doesn’t happen often thank the Lord. Today was my first day back to the gym since about March or April. It was really hard for me and I felt like I wasn’t doing much at all. I just did 30 min on the odd elliptical machine thingy and I was wiped out. But I felt good having gone and look forward to going more even if it is only 30 minutes at a time.

Andrew and I are having a good day today. After we went to the gym we came home for me to change and then went to see Horton Hears A Who. One of the local churches were offering free movies, popcorn and water (and might I add air conditioning) every Wednesday. Andrew and I got to go today and last week. With school starting next week the movies have come to an end though.

Until next time, Stephany

Update

2009-08-17T19:39:00.001-05:00

Well, I had my appt today and the sonogram showed that the placenta has indeed moved up and out of harms way in regards to the placenta previa. I also did my diabetes testing and I hope not to get a phone call. Getting a phone call means that I have gest. diabetes and not getting a call means I don’t.

During the sonogram we got a great look at Zachary’s face. We even got to see him moving his mouth from open to shut. That really was such a sweet thing. I wish I had a picture of it. He is measuring 15 inches long and 2 lbs. 12 oz. Everything looks very healthy as far as we can tell. We are now moving into the every two week appts. and that just helps me to know that it is almost over and we will have a new bundle of joy in our arms soon.

Andrew got so spend the day with his friends and had a really good time. He never wants to leave their house (I can’t blame him, it is so warm and filled with love and very inviting). He also got to go swimming today for the first time without mommy there to watch his every move. That made me a little nervous but I completely trust my best friend Shela and she would not let any harm come his way just like her own daughters.

That’s all the good news for now. Now we are just waiting a few days more this week and we get to meet Andrew’s teacher for kindergarten. I will update then too if I get the chance. My organizing and nesting is kicking in and I am trying to start getting the nursery ready and all the clothes in some order. We have been truly blessed by all the clothing donations that we will not need to buy anything for Zachary until 2 years. Woo-hoo!

God bless and have a great day!

Stephany

Time’s Up…Sort of

2009-08-16T16:26:00.001-05:00

After a little more than eight weeks we finally get to find out tomorrow if things are okay with the placenta. I am also going to do the diabetes testing as well. This has definitely been a little harder than my first pregnancy. It is really hard to get a good night’s sleep and I am tired of the couch. But that is the only place I can really find somewhat comfortable rest.

We are starting this week to also get into a routine for Andrew starting kindergarten in one week. We are going to try getting up and ready by 7:30am every morning. I need to get myself into this routine to help Andrew transition. We get to meet his teacher on Thursday and are really looking forward to it. I know I am really praying that Andrew can make a close friend to grow up with. Through out his 5 years of life he has had good friends but I would like for him to experience the gift of a true best friend. I pray that he will learn to be that kind of friend too.

I should have some news tomorrow after my appt. Talk to you then.

Stephany

God Is So Good…

2009-08-04T21:01:00.001-05:00

I can not thank God enough for ALL the blessings in my life. We are still two weeks away from finding out anything about the placenta placement but I have a perfect peace. Zachary moves around a lot and that helps me to know and feel that he is okay. The temperature is rising again after a week of lower temps and lots of rain (yeah for the free watering and fertilizing of our yard), but God is helping me to find ways of staying cool. We got to go see a Texas Rangers baseball game this past Sunday thanks to our friend Karen and yea, they won! Andrew’s reading is coming along really well. He loves to read and be read to.

We went swimming today and he remembered what I taught him about swimming and did awesome. He still needs lots of practice but he can actually swim small distances. We are three weeks away from school starting for Andy. There is more excitement and anticipation the sadness.

That’s all for now but I hope to pop in soon!

Stephany

Lots of reading time…

2009-07-23T20:37:00.001-05:00

Over this past month I have been taking Andrew to reading time at the library on a weekly basis. Every time we have loaded up on books to bring home and read together. Over the past three weeks I have probably read about 125 books to Andrew and the reading continues. He loves our reading time and I am enjoying doing that with him. Since we are still waiting to find out how the placenta is doing in this pregnancy I don’t want to over do anything. Reading with Andrew is ‘relatively’ calm.

We are also only one month away from Andrew starting kindergarten. He seems to be really excited, as are we for him. We bought his backpack and lunch box last weekend. Now that the school has the supply list up we are collecting supplies for his first day, or whenever he has to bring the supplies by. I realize the need for us to start changing our morning routine so Andrew will be ready when he has to be at school by 8:00. Right now it takes him about 2 hours to complete his morning responsibilities (wake up & go potty, brush teeth, get dressed, and make bed). I don’t believe we are asking him to do too much for it to take 2 hours. And then I need to start planning our breakfasts to where he has a good start to his day. I don’t even know of good lunch ideas and whether or not I should make that the day before or the morning of.

Baby Zachary is moving around quite a bit now and it is so wonderful to feel if not very distracting at times. I still have not found a very comfortable way to sleep and that is really getting me down. I try to sleep on my side but end up more on my back than I should be. I have been sleeping on the couch in hopes of trying to elevate my head and upper body enough that laying on my back would not be a problem but I still slouch down enough that it probably still is not a good thing. The weeks seems to being going by so fast but I still feel that the next 3 1/2 months are going to drag by. I haven’t really had any specific cravings either but Eric has, lol. He said that with Andrew I always had to have ice cream every night. But now that we are doing this again I realize that the ice cream craving is really Eric’s and I am just happy to oblige him.

That’s all I can think of for now so I hope you are having a week and I will try to keep up more often. Here are some pictures of Andrew and me feeling Zachary moving.

And one of Andrew being silly (which he loves to do).

Stephany

Well Another 4 Weeks Have Passed.

2009-07-17T09:55:00.001-05:00

Eric and I went to see the Dr. yesterday to do the monthly check up on baby Zachary. The heart beat was around 140 to 150 and Zachary was even moving around a little while we were there. Eric and I actually got to talk with the Dr. this time and did not get constantly interrupted by Andrew. My best friend Shela was so kind in watching him yesterday even though she had such a busy day. I am so thankful for her in my life! I wish I could be near as good a friend as she is to me. Eric and I go back to the Dr. in another 4 1/2 weeks for another sonogram and also for the glucose testing (I am so looking forward to drinking the orange sugary sweetness). We will hopefully find out then if the placenta has moved or is moving. Apparently on our last sonogram it was completely covering the cervix. Oh well, God knows what is going on and has definitely given me much peace about everything.

Zachary is starting to make a point of saying Hi to me way too early in the morning but right now I am loving it because I love feeling him move. I had forgotten how hard pregnancy is when you get to the later months. I have really been having trouble with back pain and try my hardest not to take too much Tylenol for it. Eric laughed at me yesterday when we were at the doctors office. I saw another pregnant woman and her ankles were all but gone. I looked down at my ankles and started to pray that I wouldn’t lose my ankles completely. She, of course, was a little further along than I so I probably will lose most of my ankles by the time all is said and done.

Well, Andrew and I are off to go to our Moms Club meeting toady. We haven’t had the chance to make it in a few months and look forward to seeing some of the other mommies in the group with their children. Have a great day and we will try to do the same.

Stephany

Why is it we have…

2009-07-14T14:27:00.001-05:00

Some days that are good (like yesterday) and some days that are not so good? Andy did really well listening to me and being respectful yesterday and then today we have our best friends over and its the complete opposite with him. He had I don’t know how many temper tantrums, continued to tattle tale after being told to work it out, and even lied to me to get someone else in trouble. Its like he wants to earn some privileges back and then changes his mind or forgets. I know that these days will pass. Some things will get easier but others will be replaced with new challenges.

I feel like I am rambling. I think I should just go and take a brief nap and see if that clears my head. I want to remain calm but sometimes it is so hard.

Stephany

Just doing a little test.

2009-07-13T21:03:00.001-05:00

I added Windows live writer to my home Desktop computer and I want to double check that I can add pictures to my blog from my computer.

Here are a few lo’s I got finished recently from our Disney trip last December.

I guess it is pretty easy like the old version. Enjoy and I will be back soon to journal more about our lives.

Stephany

I really should journal more!

2009-07-11T11:01:00.001-05:00

I have so many thoughts during the day and I wish I could remember them on a permanent basis. But I can’t! Over the past three weeks my emotions have gone in so many directions. We still do not know anything yet in regards to the placenta previa but God has really brought me peace about it because it does not take up all my thoughts anymore. I know that God is in control and I don’t have anything to worry about that He can’t take care of.

Now my thoughts are overrun with creatively disciplining our five year old son. He really is such a sweet boy and we are trying so hard to show him our love for him and how he should love others in return but it feels like, at times, that we get a void return. Yesterday we had had enough and finally took all of his toys away. He does not get any tv or computer time either. He basically has his books, a notebook, one crayon and one pen. Last night we ended up playing I Spy for about an hour and a half and actually laughed really hard in the process. We are trying to get to the bottom of why he has been so disrespectful and disobedient to us. I know that I need to commit to more prayer on my part and learn not to raise my voice to him. I do not care for yelling and it seems like lately that’s all I have been doing. Well that and repeating myself too many times. We are so blessed to have him in our family and I hope that he will understand soon or in the near future how much we love him.

Another thing that has been circulating in my head has been praying to feel little Zachary move more. Wouldn’t you know that God answered that prayer pretty quickly. Zachary is a little mover and shaker. I have even seen him moving and that is just so cool. I think feeling him and seeing him move around more is something that has helped me realize that everything is okay.

I went ahead and put Windows Live Writer on my home desktop and hope now that I will be able to journal a little about our days more often.

Stephany

It's going to be a........

2009-06-18T15:17:00.001-05:00

BOY! Yea, we are so excited! I would have liked a girl and my family would have really liked a girl but we are so happy that it is a boy. We have the first name of Zachary (don't know about the spelling yet) picked out but not sure on the middle name. Andrew did really well at the sonogram. He sure becomes even more of a chatter box when doctors and nurses are trying to talk. Zachary had a strong heartbeat at 151 and moved around a lot! The sono tech coded the gender for us so we could be the ones to tell Andrew whether he was getting a brother or sister. When she was viewing the gender she circled one thing and said "This is the umbilical cord" and then she circled another thing and said "and this is NOT an umbilical cord". That had me laughing so hard. It was fun taking Andrew with us to find out and he was really excited when he found out it was a boy. I think he would have been just as excited had it been a girl too though. He is so ready to be a big brother, he can hardly wait.

When we went in to see the doctor we found out that the placenta is covering my cervix and also my old c-section scar. This can become quite a serious problem if the placenta does not move. We are praying, and ask you to do the same, that the placenta moves and does not grow into the old scar tissue.

Well, that's all for now. I can't think of any better news to share! Have a great day!

Stephany

Well...Lots of changes here...

2009-05-19T12:23:00.001-05:00

The big news is WE ARE EXPECTING a baby in November, yea! We are all so excited and still don't know if we are having a boy or girl. Andrew seems really excited to be getting a new brother or sister but he is acting really cranky lately. Very whiney and generally grumpy. I don't really know what to do. Eric and I are trying to do everything we can to let Andrew know that he is still #1 in our books. We love him so much. We moved his room to the bigger of the two guest rooms and got him new bedroom furniture and room decor. He now has a Disney Cars themed room. It looks really cool.

School is out as of this Thursday for Andrew and this starts summer for us. I don't really have a lot planned for us except to hit our wonderful friends up for some swim time. He is learning really well how to swim when he focuses but those moments are few it seems. We are going to try our best to stay cool!

That's all I can think of right now even though I am sure there has been other going ons. I am still trying to scrap our Disney trip from December but that is a super slow process. For almost two months I have not done much on the computer except check email. I do feel better enough to start again on some scrapping though.

Love, Stephany

Blog Changes

2009-03-31T21:47:00.002-05:00

Pardon the mess. I am trying to change up my background and header. Things are going well for us and we are looking forward to the changes ahead of us this year.
Stephany

We are now without training wheels...

2009-03-22T22:02:00.001-05:00

Woo-hoo. Andy no longer needs training wheels and he is super fast. Friday we spent at the school he is starting in the fall and just let him ride in the grass. He just took right off and only had a couple of frustrating moments. I got some pictures of him that I can't wait to scrap but lately I haven't felt like being on the computer. I did finish Day two of Disney though and hopefully this week I will be able to post them and start on Day Three as well. We are so very proud of Andy for not giving up on the whole bike thing. It is hard to get him off his bike now unless you mention dessert, lol. Anyway, that is all from the Stratton's for now.

Stephany

Still Here...

2009-03-05T12:45:00.001-06:00

I am still here even though I have not blogged in a little while. I am working on finishing up Day 2 from our Disney trip. Also, there have just been a lot of things going on in our lives and I don't have the time right now to share. Hope you are all well!

Love,

Stephany

My Husband is the GREATEST...

2009-02-21T22:37:00.001-06:00

On Wednesday of last week I was downloading some freebies and got caught with a horrible virus. We realized that even though we thought the computer was protected with antivirus software, it actually was not. Needless to say after doing so many things to try and rid the computer of the virus and being unsuccessful he had to use our recovery disks which were not updated from march of '07. Ooh well, it really made me realize that this stuff is just that, stuff. My husband did not just stop with restoring the computer to it 2007 settings, he got most all of my programs back on and running for me. I am supposed to be scrapping right now but I just had to brag on my man. Anyway, watch out for Spyware Protect 2009. That is the bug that got into our computer and totally messed up our computer registry.

Have a great night and happy scrapping,

Stephany

Disney Vacation LO's for Day One - Done

2009-01-27T15:02:00.001-06:00

At least until my photo cd gets here from our photo pass.

LO's 1 & 2. Template by Andrea Gold
Kit - Dreamin by Nicole of Digi-Designs
Font: Complete In Him

LO's 3 & 4. Templates by Andrea Gold
Kit: A Space Story by Lisa Minor
Font: Smiley Monster

LO's 5 & 6. Template for 5 by Andrea Gold and no template for 6
Kit Ella in Blue by Lisa Minor
Font: Complete In Him

LO's 7 & 8. Templates and Kit - A Space Story by Lisa Minor
Font: Tracy

LO's 9 & 10. Templates by Lisa Minor
Papers by Seebees Freebies
Mickey Sticker Head by Andrea (Clubhouse Mini)
Font: My Own Topher and Andy

10.

LO's 11 & 12. Template for 11 by Lisa Minor and Template for 12 by Mandagirl
Kit by Andrea (Clubhouse Mini) (Colored buttons by me)
Font: Complete In Him

12.

13. Template by mandagirl
Say Cheese Frame and Souven-Ears WA from Seebee’s Freebies
Papers and elements from Lisa Minor’s The Big Cheese Kit
Font: Brianne’s Hand

If I have left anyone out of the credits so far I am sorry and I thank you for your wonderful designs.

Today Andy and I are playing school. Right now I have him doing worksheets. He is on his third and saying he is done. He really has done a great job of listening to me while we play school. I got him ready to take to preschool this morning and when we got there we were told that we would probably be getting a call in one hour to come and pick him up for early school closing. There is the possibility of ice on the roads and since we Texans do not know how to drive on ice than they prefer people to stay off of them. So, we are trying to stay warm inside our home but I really need to get some groceries. That will be an errand here soon before getting dinner started.

That's all I have for now so have a great day and God bless each and every one of you!

Stephany

Just popping in...

2009-01-22T12:45:00.001-06:00

Just thought I would drop a line on our blog to say that we are all doing well and I am trying to get the scrapping bug again. Tomorrow night I get to go to my church for a craft night and I hope to start finishing up some of the Disney lo's that I started. I am only on the first day but I already have about 10 lo's started and I am not done with the first day. It is really hard to decide which pictures NOT to include. They are all so much fun!

Right now I am trying to transfer most to all of my digital scrapbooking material to my new Western Digital My Book. I got it for Christmas from my wonderful MIL along with Photoshop Elements 7. I still haven't had the chance to open that up and start playing. One thing at a time though. I am also working on laundry so my boys and I can have clean clothes to wear. I did get some lo's done that I would like to share. I used a lot of different kits, elements and templates from different designers that I would like to just say think you so much. If you would like to know who made what please leave me a comment and I will try to get back with you in a timely fashion. Have fun looking:

That's it for now but I hope to start sharing our Disney LO's soon.

Have a great day and God Bless you all!

Stephany

Oh the sweet prayers of little children!

2009-01-11T21:43:00.001-06:00

As I was putting Andrew to bed tonight we said our evening prayers and his went like this: "Father above, please help me with football season. I really want to go to college." I thought it was so sweet.

I have been trying to take a picture for everyday for the Project 365 and I have some really cute ones. I am wondering when I am going to have the time to scrap our Disney vacation though and the P365. I guess I will have to just take it one day at a time and with God's help I will be able to do it.

Goodnight,

Stephany

What a busy day!

2009-01-08T17:03:00.001-06:00

I woke up this morning with lots to get done. After kissing hubby goodbye for work and getting breakfast ready for Andy, I had to get him ready for school, pack his lunch and squeeze in a shower all in about an hour. That sounds like a lot of time to get so little done but his lunch was holding me up. I usually pack him chicken nuggets of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. But the thing is we were out of bread and chicken nuggets! I tossed in some wheat tortillas, mandarin oranges, alphabet cookies and a roarin water. The poor thing came home saying he was hungry. Can you blame him? Anyway, after dropping him off at school I came home to get some house work started. The laundry was first on my mental to-do list so I began there. In going from room to room to collect the dirty clothes I kept seeing other things that needed to be taken care of and put back in their places. Here is the list of everything I was able to accomplish (all with God's help) while Andy was in school: all bedding was washed and the beds remade, misc. clothing items washed with bedding to make full loads were hung up or folded and put away, dishwasher with clean dishes were put away and the rinsed off dirty dishes put into the dishwasher, I cleaned up the playroom and moved things around to better suit my mood at this time, I put up some posters in Andy's room to decorate the walls, made a grocery list, went to two different stores, put all the groceries away and then I had to pick up the little man from school. Five and a half hours doesn't seem like a lot of time until you look at what all can be accomplished. Most days I am running around like a chicken with my head cut off.

My friend Lisa is starting to give cooking and kitchen tips along with her digiscrap freebies on her personal blog. I really admire how much she can accomplish. She puts my list to shame, lol. But hey, my house is picked up and now I have food to make dinner with if I would just go in there and do it. I am not a fan of cooking but I am a fan of saving money and cooking and eating at home definitely help to save money. Gotta go make dinner.

Stephany

More about our WDW Vacation

2009-01-03T21:27:00.001-06:00

Day two was a pretty good day. We went to Hollywood Studios for a character breakfast at Hollywood and Vine. The food was tasty. We got to see JoJo and Goliath and Leo and June. They were very nice to pose for the photos and sign Andy's signature book. There was some sing-a-longs and a conga line which Andy refused to do. Oh well, we were told to RELAX! Here are some photos from this character breakfast:

After breakfast we went to ride Toy Story Mania. The line was pretty short and the ride was AWESOME!!!! I wish we had taken the opportunity to ride that more than once. We also took pictures with Buzz and Woody. (Okay, Off Topic side note - As I am writing this he called his daddy to come here. Eric is watching a football game and asked what he needed. Here is the interchange that followed:

Andy: I need you to come here.

Eric: But what exactly do you need?

Andy: I NEED for YOU to COME HERE!!

This continued for about four times with Eric finally getting up to find out Andy needed help wiping his bottom from going #2. Yet another example of how smart Andy is and how much we need to be on our guard as his parents.)

Back to the vacation: After meeting Buzz and Woody we did the Voyage of the Little Mermaid (not worth the time to go next time), Star Tours which Andy LOVED and throughout the trip rode three times, we watched the Jedi Training show which again Andy didn't want to volunteer because he thought he would get hurt.

Well, I feel this post is getting boring and I don't think you really care to know EXACTLY everything we did. I will just end with some picture previews and let you know that for about half the trip we really enjoyed ourselves. The other half was not that great. Andy got do experience the Pirate Adventure where he got to ride a "pirate ship" and look for pirate treasure. Eric and I celebrated our 10 year Anniversary while we were there and got some extra perks from that. We went out for a special dinner and put Andy in the Neverland Club at the Polynesian Resort. I think my favorite meal was at the Garden Grill where we got to see Goofy, Mickey, Chip and Dale and I think Pluto. The food was delicious and well worth every penny. The GG is in The Land Pavilion and served only organic food that they grew on property.

Every time we would start to get uptight about something one or the other of us would remind everyone of our catch phrase "RELAX". Once I start scrapping this vacation I will try to journal better and if you care to you can read more then.

Have a great night and enjoy some picture previews.

Stephany

Oh here is a funny story. While having breakfast at the Crystal Palace some OSU fans were seated next to us. The wife did something so hilarious that it had me laughing almost for the rest of the meal. She asked Tigger to pose with an O and then an S and then a U. It really had me in stitches because she was trying to make a statement to us OU fans seated next to them. We stuck Andy's OU hat on Pooh in return. Definitely not as funny but here is that picture:

I think that is enough for now. We probably took close to 1000 pictures while there but I won't include all of them now.

See ya later!

RELAX!!!

2009-01-01T22:42:00.001-06:00

That is what we were told over and over before we left for vacation to see Mickey Mouse in Florida. Let me see if I can remember a little bit so I can share for anyone who actually reads this blog.

The 15th dawned very cold at home. It was a whopping 29 degrees the morning we left (the day before was 79 degrees). Okay I need to back this up just a little bit to share a God-thing on the day before we left. Eric and I are super A-type personalities and we try to plan things out dotting every I and crossing every T. Eric and I decided we would head to the airport and check out where we were going to park and know exactly where we needed to go from there. We didn't realize that we had to pay just to go into the airport. We were there all of maybe 10 minutes. But here is the God-thing. As we were paying our $1 (slightly begrudgingly) the airport employee gave us a coupon for airport parking both terminal and valet. We were planning on paying $10 a day to park terminal but thanks to this coupon we were able to park VALET for $11 a day right across from where our plane was departing and arriving. Valet parking is usually $21 a day so we could see that God was taking care of us and our worries of being late for the plane. Woo-hoo!!! Okay so back to the day we left: not much happened. We got to the airport with our bags already checked in and our tickets we already checked in too. We met a nice couple from Canada visiting their children and then heading to Florida for some warmth during the winter. Andrew did a GREAT job riding in the plane for his first ride. Here are some pictures from what we got to see that morning as we soared over the clouds.

It was so pretty seeing the fluffy clouds. It was a little windy but not too much turbulence. We got to Orlando and the temps were beautiful. After loading onto the Disney's Magical Express we were off to our home for the next 10 days. We stayed at the Disney's All-Stars Movies Value Resort. We knew the Andrew loved Toy Story so we requested a room in the Toy Story section. Our room was on the Sheriff Woody side. The room was nothing really to write home about but it was cozy. Here are some pictures from our room:

Every night we would say "Good Night Woody". Andrew even got his picture riding in RC or I should say on:

We really had no plans except to go to Downtown Disney to start our relaxing vacation. We looked through all the shops and dined at Planet Hollywood. Eric and I loved what we ordered for dinner but Andrew didn't care for the PB&J that he asked for. Come to find out it was crunchy PB and Andrew doesn't like the crunch. Andrew loved the Lego store. He and Eric played with the provided legos. We took pictures on the Harley motorcycles in the Harley Davidson shop. So after dinner we started to make our way back to the resort. We got to bed early'ish. Here are a few more pictures from Downtown Disney:

How cute are these ears!!!

That about covers our first day. I will close out for now but I will return tomorrow to try to blog more about our trip.

BTW, Happy New Year! We have had a terrific day and look forward to what this year has in store for us. I know there will be changes (some good, some not so good) but I also know who holds our future and we are in God's hands.

God bless each of you,

Stephany

Seeing Less of Me

2008-12-09T11:12:00.001-06:00

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???

2008-12-03T13:55:00.001-06:00

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...

2008-12-02T19:49:00.001-06:00

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!!!

2008-11-22T08:48:00.001-06:00

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

2008-11-20T15:21:00.001-06:00

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

2008-11-13T12:36:00.001-06:00

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!!!

2008-11-08T20:43:00.001-06:00

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"

2008-10-20T13:09:00.001-05:00

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

2008-09-26T11:38:00.003-05:00

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...

2008-09-26T10:06:00.001-05:00

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?

2008-09-24T13:50:00.001-05:00

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!

2008-09-21T17:06:00.001-05:00

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!!!

2008-09-19T15:35:00.007-05:00

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...

2008-07-02T07:58:00.001-05:00

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!

2008-06-19T00:09:00.001-05:00

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!!!

2008-05-20T15:47:00.001-05:00

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...

2008-05-14T08:36:00.001-05:00

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

2008-04-11T21:17:00.001-05:00

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

2008-04-03T22:37:00.001-05:00

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!

2008-04-02T14:29:00.015-05:00

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...

2008-03-18T23:39:00.003-05:00

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

2008-03-13T20:07:00.003-05:00

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

2008-03-02T22:13:00.006-06:00

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...

2008-03-01T14:41:00.002-06:00

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

2008-02-28T08:26:00.003-06:00

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

2008-02-27T08:50:00.008-06:00

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

2008-02-25T08:02:00.007-06:00

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...

2008-02-16T22:10:00.003-06:00

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...

2008-02-07T08:40:00.001-06:00

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!

2008-02-05T09:37:00.000-06:00

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

2008-01-31T15:50:00.000-06:00

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"

2008-01-25T21:22:00.001-06:00

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...

2008-01-23T21:08:00.000-06:00

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

2008-01-19T18:24:00.000-06:00

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

2008-01-17T22:13:00.000-06:00

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:

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

2008-01-11T08:17:00.000-06:00

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

2008-01-08T16:54:00.000-06:00

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...

2008-01-07T14:29:00.000-06:00

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

Have a blessed day,

Stephany

Here is another freebie

2008-01-07T03:06:00.001-06:00

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

2008-01-04T12:09:00.000-06:00

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

Made it safely

2007-12-19T14:47:00.000-06:00

Well, aside from starting off moody yesterday, we all made it to my Mom's house in Oklahoma. We did get out of our moods and had a fairly pleasant trip too. We are all glad to be here. Just wanted to check in real quick but now I have to go. My mom just got home from work and my DH and I are leaving our DS with Grandma and going out to celebrate our 9 year anniversary. Yea!!! I will have some word art to share when I get back.

Have a blessed day,
Stephany

Visit to the Arlington Highlands

2007-12-14T15:57:00.001-06:00

We went to Michael's for an outing today to pick up a photo book to put some brag pages in for the grandparents. While there we saw they had a toddler/preschool craft time. Andrew got his heart set on painting something and so I decided to go ahead and let him have a little craft time. I figured I didn't have to clean up the mess. He did really well not making too much of a mess. He picked a little wooden truck to paint and chose the color black to paint with. After he finished painting the truck he got a little stocking to glue thing on. I will take some pictures of these things and eventually get them scrapped. I wanted to kick myself for not having my camera with me to take pictures while we were there. My little man did me proud by not throwing a tantrum or making a mess. What a sweet little guy. He even used his manners and gave the craft teacher two hugs.

When we came home I thought to take advantage of my his nap today by scrapping some more. I put him done probably around 1pm and he didn't go to sleep until close to 3pm. I would have skipped his nap altogether but he is going to stay the night at a friends house tonight while my DH and I go to a Church Board dinner. Oh stuffing, I haven't even gotten his things together. well, there is still time because we don't leave until 6pm.

Anyway, here is the LO I got finished today. I found a really cute word art from Tina Chambers that I had downloaded forever ago and thought it went perfect with my DS's character.

Credits for this LO:
Template: Lisaminor_8x8_tp1
Kit: petitmoineaux-jardinextraordinaire
Fonts: Socilly Awkward
WA: Define by Tina Chambers

Freebie Time

2007-12-13T15:52:00.000-06:00

Just thought I would try designing again. I needed a kit to go with a picture of my son and decided to make one. Simple enough, right? Well, let me know what you all think of my new kit Checkers, Stripes and Bubbles, Oh My! This is my first time using 4shared on the upload side of things. I hope I did this right. If I didn't, bare with me. I will try to fix it asap.

I also finished a LO done with my new kit.

Credits: Template - lisaminor_ht5_square
Fonts: Child's Play and Arial
KitL Checkers, Stripes and Bubbles Oh My! by me

EXPIRED

Innocence of children

2007-12-12T14:01:00.001-06:00

Okay, so today my son was supposed to be sleeping for his nap. I thought I would finish the movie we were watching yesterday (Miracle on 34th Street-the newer version). While I had the movie on I heard humming in the background. I went to investigate and low and behold my son was humming to Away In A Manger. That just melted my heart. Instead of busting him on not being asleep yet I just quietly shut the door and let him continue. I love to hear him sing and especially when he sings about Jesus. I can't wait for the day he will come to know Jesus in a real and personal way. Jesus is our hope of salvation and I pray that we can continue to teach our son and any future children that truth.
Just thought I would share one of the special things about our day today. Hope you are all having a great day and God bless each of you,
Stephany

I almost forgot to add a sweet thing my husband did yesterday for me. I will preface this by giving a little background: Anyone who is either born and or raised in Oklahoma knows that Christmas officially starts when we hear a certain jingle on the tv or radio. That is the BC Clark Jingle. Having moved from Oklahoma when my husband and I got married we missed hearing it until going home to visit family. Well, last night he sent me the link to the jingle on the internet and it just made me cry (I am a very sappy person). It was so sweet of him to share that with me. And so if you all would like to hear this special jingle than scroll down to the bottom of my blog and you can play it. It is quite a catchy little jingle. Hope you enjoy!

What an crazy weekend and some sad news...

2007-12-10T16:16:00.000-06:00

Eric and I had a very busy weekend. It started off with a Brown Bag Cookie Exchange, Dumpster Diving, Choir Rehearsal, a Christmas Parade, and then finished off with two performances on Sunday.

I went with two of my very close girlfriends on Friday night dumpster diving for the first time and had a blast. We thought our night was worthless until we went to the Container Store and found some really great items. There was quite the thrill.
Then my Church had a float in the Christmas Parade on Saturday night and that was a blast. The temperatures were nice until half way through when the wind picked up and reminded up that it was fall going into winter. The float was beautiful. Well all the parade was pretty good. I took pictures of my son with different Loony Toons characters. Pics of that will be up in a few weeks. I am a slow scrapper.
Then on Sunday I was in a Musical/Drama at my church called The Christmas Shoes. My husband played the husband of the mother who dies. By the grace of God he made it through splendidly.

Today, I found out that my sister's SIL and BIL were in a terrible wreck yesterday and the SIL did not survive. They were on their way home from vacation when they had to stop for a jack-knifed semi on the road. While stopped on the side of the road another semi behind them did not stop in time and jack-knifed as well taking out many of the cars stopped in front of it. My sister's SIL was sitting in the middle of the van they were driving in and the back of the van ended up in the front seat. I pray she was gone before then because her husband tried to pull her out and then the van burst into flames. What terrible heartache we are all feeling right now. PLEASE pray for my sister's inlaw's and husband as they endure this tragedy of losing a daughter, sister(inlaw), wife and mother right now. It will be a long Christmas for them.

I pray safety for all of you traveling this Christmas season. And let us not forget the reason we have to celebrate and that is Jesus Christ. Life is short so give a hug to all your loved ones and be friendly to those you meet along your path.

Stephany

Whew...I am tired

2007-12-04T15:35:00.000-06:00

I stayed up last night scrapping until 2:45am (technically this morning) and then woke up at 7:00 because my little angel doesn't sleep past then. I got two more finished today. I wasnted to get our Thanksgiving pictures scrapped and I think I have them finished. I'm a little sad that I didn't get any pictures of my mom or her new house really and she was kind enough to let us stay with her. We are going back in two weeks to stay for Christmas so I won't pass up the opportunity again. Here are the LO's I have completed: (I have all the credits listed in the original file but I can't remember them all right now).

This template was created by my friend Terri
Kit used was Borboleta by Isabelle Lima DESIGNS
WA - Be Thankful by Melanie
I don't remember the font right off the top of my head, sorry.

Template used created by Valarie Ostrom Template #14

Kit used was by Rose Made Designs - Thanks

Fonts are Decade and Andy

Template by Andrea Gold #155

Kit used was the Add-on kit to The Magic of Christmas by Newlife

Again, I don't remember the fonts here.

Template by Andrea Gold #153

Kit used was the MIS November Round-up Mega Kit (various designers used)Template used by KimB Designs - B-day Bonus 1

Kit used Pumpkin Pie and Pilgrim by Polka Dot Plum

Font used on Title was Decorative Chocolate BoxTemplate used Template 5 from Skittles and Scraps

Kit used was Winter Is Here by my friend Lisa Minor

Font I think is Tall PaulTemplate again is from Skittles and Scraps #5

Kit used Hiver by Maman Scrap Passion (hope I got that right - no TOU)

WA from the MIS November Roundup Mega Kit

Update on Lisa's DH and a new LO

2007-11-13T07:50:00.000-06:00

Sorry I haven't let you guys know the update yet. Her dh is doing GREAT. When they did the surgery it took less time then the surgeons thought it would and he was released from the hospital the day after. Wow, God is good! What an answer to prayer. The Lord does have great timing indeed.

Here is a LO I did yesterday while my little man was taking a nap. My friend Lisa is such an inspiration to me and she showed me that using a little white space as a background is okay. She also showed me where I could find these great frames. My son loves the play with playdoh and in this LO we were making insects and reptiles. Or at least I made the insect and he made a reptile. Here is Fun with Playdoh:

Credits:

Template: SSC69L
Frames: By I Made This Today (not by Stephany)
Font: Cry Kitty, A Little Pot and 2Peas Scrapbook

Hope you all enjoy and God bless,

Stephany

Need Prayer...

2007-11-02T11:45:00.001-05:00

I don't know if anyone will read this but I have to ask for prayer anyway. Lisa's Husband just had a disk rupture in his spine (I think that is where). He has been in tremendous pain for the past weeek but it ruptured sometime this morning. He is scheduled for emergency surgery today at 1:15pm. If you could please say a prayer for Mike (Lisa's husband), Lisa, their family and also the surgeon's that would be very helpful. Thank you!

In Christ's service,
Stephany

Okay, so I'm posting on Steph's blog

2007-10-30T21:44:00.000-05:00

She's a new blogger, and a newbie scrapper too!
But she's made a freebie to go with my "For the Toys" kit, so here it is!

EXPIRED

Welcome to my new blog

2007-10-29T22:29:00.000-05:00

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoy your visit as I ramble about my life and show off my wonderful family. I will try to be back at least once a week to give updates and have a new picture for you. My friend Lisa has so graciously taught me to digiscrap and now she is trying to teach me to design a little. With that much being said I will try to offer up little freebies here and there as I learn. I figure that since I love freebie hunting I should return the favor. I would just like to take a second and thank all of the wonderful ladies (and guys) that are so kind to offer their talents to us for free. I can't tell you how much that has helped me get started. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Have a great night and happy scrapping!
Hugs,
Stephany