P365 Layouts

So, I can’t remember if I’ve shared any of my P365 digi-scrap layouts, and I don’t feel like looking back to check.  So, here they are, weeks 1 – 8!

They’re all linked to my SSD gallery if you’d like to check out the credits.

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Days 56-58

Day 56:  Here’s my Friday me-photo.  I’m trying to grow my hair longer.  Kinda got tired of the short, inverted bob look.  We’ll see how long the “long” lasts.  I plan to let it grow for a while.  It is kinda nice to be able to put it up in a ponytail if I want to.  I just need to make sure to not revert to that every day!  But I’m usually a “grass is always greener” kind person when it comes to my hair.  So, probably as soon as my hair gets the length I’m hoping to grow it to, I’ll be ready to cut it. 

Day 57:  My beautiful Claire.  I know I always say that about her.  But she is so beautiful, and the camera just loves her.  She knows how to look into it and make magic.  Saturday morning hubby went outside to clean out the shed and we all went out with him since it was such a beautiful morning.  The older two, well mostly Claire, helped hubby clean the shed out.  Claire is so helpful!  She just gets right to work and asks what she can do to help out!  So this picture was after the work was almost completed.  I was about to go back inside and snapped it real quick…

Day 58:  Love this boy!  He’s almost always this happy!  That is, unless you tell him he has to clean up the lego house he built or the fort he made in his room.  But he was outside having a great time playing this afternoon.  The light was gorgeous out there, so I snapped a couple photos, including this one…

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Back to P365

Okay, back to your regularly scheduled programming! 

Day 53:  Tonight I made a yummy salad (this one), and hubby stir-fried some snapper and some veggies, and we had that with rice.  It was such a delish meal!  As I was cutting up the veggies, I noticed how colorful and pretty they were, so here’s my pic:

Day 54:  Not sure why these pics are all about dinner, but we’ll just go with it!    So for tonight’s dinner, I grilled steaks.  I’m pretty good at grilling, but had not yet mastered steaks until tonight — they were yummy!!  So we had steaks, corn on the cob, mashed potatoes, and leftover black-eyed peas (they were much better left over than they were originally since they soaked in the salt and the bacon flavor).  I fed the girls while the boys were at baseball practice.  The older kids love eating corn on the cob with the little things that stick in the side to hold them.  After Claire was finished, she showed me her corn cob and told me that was as good as she could do.  It was then I remembered that she did not have her two front bottom teeth…..how do you eat corn on the cob without your two front bottom teeth!!?!?!?!?  I thought it was so funny, so that’s today’s picture, Claire holding her corn cob that she ate as best she could:

(btw, I know her face and the corn are both a little hot in this photo.  Didn’t spend a whole lot of time trying, but couldn’t fix it very well, and decided to just let it be.)

Day 55:  We have the worst luck with buying living room furniture.  We usually end up spending quite a bit of money on a couch and then hate it a few months later.  We bought a new couch and chair a few months back, after moving our previously uncomfy sectional up to the lake, and you guessed it, we’re less than thrilled with the new one’s comfort level now.  So we moved hubby’s old lazy boy recliner back out and moved this newer chair to the other side of the room.  We have the weirdest shaped living room and I don’t love this chair here.  But it’s right in front of the TV, and the kids seem to like sitting or laying on it if they’re watching TV.  Here’s Sadie demonstrating:

Haven’t taken my “me” pic yet today.  Probably should like shower and get dressed or something first!!

Have a great Friday!

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wow…

Wow…

I always loved, when I was a worship leader, when God would place songs on my heart to include in Sunday morning’s worship set that fit so perfectly with the message the minister was giving, without us ever having really discussed it.  I just felt that it was unquestionably and absolutely the Holy Spirit’s work and guidance.  And those services often seemed to be so much more powerful than ones I spent a great deal of time planning on my own.

Kinda seems like that’s happening now.  Or maybe this is just a topic that God is putting on people’s hearts all over the world right now.  Whatever it is, I think it’s pretty neat.

Here is a blog post that is so powerful.  An online scrapbooking “friend” for whom I hold so very much admiration (Janet), had this link on her blog.  I just read it and was floored at the subject matter… and how close it was to what I just blogged about yesterday.

You can read it here.  If you are a parent, you should read this.  No, if you are a Christ-following parent, you must read this….

http://www.caryschmidt.com/2011/02/saddest-letter-ive-ever-read/

Okay, back to P365 tomorrow.  But this is important stuff.

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Inspiration

Lately I’ve been using this blog mostly as a place to share photos and a little bit about our family life and happenings.  Today will be just a tad different.

Yesterday, a FB friend posted this article which is an interview with Bono about Christianity.  I had heard Bono was a Christian, but wasn’t sure it was true.  There are a lot of celebrities who claim to be Christian, but don’t really seem to live out it.  I’m certainly not The Judge of that, but you know what I mean, something just doesn’t mesh.

Anyway, the article isn’t that long.  Take a second to read it, if you have a chance.

Bono Interview

This morning on the way home from taking the older two to school, I was listening to the local Christian radio station (WayFM).  The song playing was “More Like Falling in Love.”  I’ve liked this song since the first time I heard it.  My Father-in-law loves it.

The lady two cars behind me at the stoplight this morning really loved it.  I just happened to see her in the my rearview mirror.  She was singing every word and really meaning it.  I know sometimes I get really lost in a song or in worshiping through a song, even in the car.  That was this lady this morning.

But it made me think more about the song.  You can listen to it here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKTW-srvr6E

Here are the lyrics:

Give me rules, I will break them
Give me lines, I will cross them
I need more than a truth to believe
I need a truth that lives, moves, and breathes
To sweep me off my feet

It ought to be more like falling in love than something to believe in
More like losing my heart than giving my allegiance
Caught up, called out; come take a look at me now
It’s like I’m falling, oh; it’s like Im falling in love

Give me words, I’ll misuse them
Obligations, I’ll misplace them
Cause all religion ever made of me
Was just a sinner with a stone tied to my feet
It never set me free

Its gotta be…(CH)

Its like Im falling in love, love, love
Deeper and deeper
It was love that made me a believer
In more than a name, a faith, a creed
Falling in love with Jesus brought the change in me

Wow…

I grew up in a really good Christian family and in church.  We were at church every time the doors were open, and we were often the ones opening them!  I’ve been involved in leading worship for most of my life.

Somehow, growing up, I was either indirectly taught or just came to believe that you are supposed to act a certain way because you are a Christian.  I don’t think it went to the extent of legalism, but it was more like, “we don’t cuss because we are Christians and Christians don’t cuss”, etc.  Stuff like that.

I just thought if you were a Christian, you acted a certain way.  It was kind of an “us vs. them” (“them” being people who were obviously not Christians) kind of way to live.

I think we had it all wrong.  It’s not my parents fault.  I can’t even actually remember them specifically teaching or telling me anything like that.  So it’s not anything they did at all.

As I’ve gotten older, and I guess matured in my faith, I’ve realized the point is not to act a certain way because-I’m-a-Christian-and-that-is-how-Christians-behave.

The point is that I’m in love with a Savior who gave everything for me.  And because He has so infiltrated my heart and my life, I now live in Him; meaning that what I do and how I behave is not because I’m supposed to, but because He has and is continually in the process of shaping and molding my heart to be like His own.

God is love.

Weren’t we all taught that as children?  What would our lives look like if we actually lived that out?

If God is in us, and He is love, why don’t we love like He does?

Believe me, I have a looong way to go with this.  But He’s working on me to live a life of love; to live a life that is not dictated by how I should behave, but that is lived in light of who He is and the grace and love He has given to me.

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Camo and Pink

Day 52:  The kids came home from Grandmama’s and I came home from the lake.  The kiddos had played hard and were not the cleanest!!  Sadie was still wearing her little camo Cabela’s t-shirt we keep at the lake for her.  Hubby brought it home from his hunting trip in South Dakota.  It’s so cute – camo and then “Cabela’s” written in pink on the front.  Of course I think she’s adorable in whatever she wears, but she was so cute in it chasing the dog (and his ball) around Grandmama’s yard!  This was a quick pic I took after we got home.

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Contest!

MCP Actions: Photoshop Actions & Online Training Classes

MCP Actions is having a contest for what looks to be a really fun new Tamron lens.  Check out MCP Actions using the above link!

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Days 50 and 51

Wow!  I can’t believe I’m over the 50-day mark now!  I’ve only “cheated” once, and I think I’ve gotten some pretty decent pictures.  I hope to continue doing this well throughout the whole year.

Day 50: Up at the lake.  We spent the day running around outside, riding 4-wheelers and golf carts, watching movies, laying around; pretty much just having a nice time.  The older two kids ended the day by watching a little TV in our bedroom.

Day 51: We’ve had gorgeous weather here at the lake this weekend.  The kids (all three!) went out to play this morning.  We just had them stay close to the front porch, so we could keep an eye on Sadie.  She wants to be big enough to run all around with the older two, she’s just not quite there yet!  But she had a great time.  Here she is giving Bubba some love!

I hate that this photo isn’t as in-focus as I thought.  It’s hard to tell exactly on the camera screen.  The tree is more in focus than Wes & Sadie are.  Oh well.  It’s still sweet!

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Just Me

Day 49:  Hmmm, now that I look at this picture, I realize that I almost look sad in it.  Definitely not sad.  It’s a beautiful day, and I’m very happy!

 

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Days 47 and 48

Well, after such a cold and miserable few weeks, Spring is flirting with us so nicely right now.  Highs have been in the 60s and it’s honestly been GLORIOUS!  I even wore flip-flops yesterday – woohoo!

It’s going to be wonderful seeing everything green up and bloom again (even though my allergies will suffer).  Here’s a pic from yesterday of the annuals in our yard.  I love how vibrant the colors are (and that is not due to post-processing on the photo)!

Day 47:

Day 48:  My precious Claire.  She is so so so beautiful, inside & out.  I know that’s very cliche to say, but it really is true.  She’s the first one to help you or even offer to help.  She’s kind and loving and affectionate.  She’s wonderful.  She also has a sensitive little heart.  Sometimes I hurt her feelings without meaning to (obviously I wouldn’t intentionally) and sometimes without even knowing I did until I find her crying little quiet tears.  My goodness, how that breaks my heart.

It’s little stuff.  Like last night, we were snuggling on the couch together.  She and her brother had already brushed their teeth, but I could still smell some bad breath from Claire.  Kids, in general, are notorious for not doing a great job of brushing their teeth (I guess they don’t understand the significance of having their permanent teeth for their entire lives).  So I told her that her breath still smelled like she needed to go try to brush her teeth again.  Hubby said she had alligator tears rolling down her face as she walked to the bathroom.  I had embarrassed her and hurt her feelings.  I apologized when she came back and hugged her tight, telling her that I would never embarrass her or hurt her feelings on purpose.  I love her so much.

I saw this on a Facebook friend’s status update this morning, and it really resonated with me:

“Motherhood is about raising and celebrating the child you have, not the child you thought you would have.  It’s about understanding that he is exactly the person he is supposed to be.  And that, if you’re lucky, he just might be the teacher who turns you into the person you are supposed to be.”

Oh Lord, that You would give me a heart that is tender like Yours.  One so in-tune with You that I will be more in-tune with my family as a result.  Help me to watch my tongue and my attitude.  Help me to teach my children, by example, what it means to live a life that glorifies my God.

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