His Brown-eyed Girl...

My daddy...

...affectionately called me his "little A.A. " and his "Brown-eyed Girl"...

...carried me on his shoulders often...

...bought us kids "family day cokes" every Saturday (hence my addiction love for pop :) ....

...told me that I would never be too big to sit on his lap...

...unknowingly led me to Christ at a Union Rescue Mission service, as he preached...

...lost the majority of his hearing by the time I was in Elementary school...but still took the time and energy to listen to me...

...walked me down the isle ( I was only 19...still his little girl :) and pronounced JJ and me "husband and wife"...

...continually models endurance and strength in his life...

...makes me smile and feel so loved every time I see him...

...was and is a wonderful father... an encouragement...and a blessing....


Happy Father's Day, Daddy :)  I love you.

Father's Day PRINTABLE Tags...

Well, it's the Thursday before Father's Day... have you made plans... bought a gift...written a card?
You'd better get to it!

(This is actually an inner monologue going on in my head... I haven't done anything for Sunday except make these tags for you!!!  ...I'd better get busy!)

To use these tags, just download, print on card stock and cut on the gray lines...  (first cut them into rectangles, then cut off the corners...) ... hole punch, add some string or baker's twine and you're set!

Once again, I'd love to know if you plan on downloading! ... not to mention, I need to get to know some of my bloggy friends a bit better! :)

 

DOWNLOAD HERE

File and finished product for personal use only... not for resale or profit of any kind.

Blessings,

V is 4 months...

It's been a crazy weekend to say the least... I headed home to KS Saturday morning for an unexpected family issue, but am back and ready to tackle my busy week!  Here are a couple pics of little V that I meant to post last Friday.  ... doesn't he have the most adorable smoochable little mouth?!!

...so I'm thinkin' Father's day printable this week?  ... tags? ...little cards?? 

Blessings,

PRINTABLE Kid's Quotes Mini Book

Okay... I'm really excited about his download!  It started out as a project I was going to work on for a friend... A friend on Facebook asked if I could design something to record all those cute things that her kids say.  She thought maybe a little book to stash in her purse might be nice...you know to have it handy when those random and  priceless words pop out of nowhere!   As I was thinking about what I could design, it occurred to me that this would make a great printable download for all my bloggy friends (that's you guys)!  So thanks for the awesome idea, Lesli :)

Here's what we've got:

Each little section features a place for the date, the child's name, and ample space for the quote. There is also a little section at the bottom where  you can select a descriptive word or phrase to further help describe the incident :) 

Now the fun thing is that this can be used a number of different ways...

1. Mini Book:  print 1 or 2 sheets front and back, cut along all the thin solid green lines, fold on green dotted lines and staple with cover.

2. Medium Book: print 2-4 sheets front and back, cut sheets in half on middle thin solid green line, fold on green dotted lines and staple with cover.

3. Print whole sheets and keep in sheet protectors in a binder

4. Cut out into individual rectangles and display/use individually... on the fridge, on the bathroom mirror, send to Grandma, etc...

It's a 2 page download... the second page is the cover, for if you make a book.  Leave it the original size for the medium book or cut in half (there are cut marks to help you) to use for the mini book!

DOWNLOAD HERE  The file sharing is hosted by Google Drive, so you must be signed into your google account to access.

File and finished product for personal use only... not for resale or profit of any kind. 

***I have one request for you, now!  Pretty please, if you could... would you leave a comment letting me know that you downloaded the super cool printable!!  You don't have too... but I would LOVE to know if it's getting downloaded at all and if future downloads are worth my trouble :)  Also,  I'd definitely like to hear suggestions/ideas for future downloads!  THANKS!***

Blessings,

Monday Encouragement...and a Happy Thing!

It's Monday, 9:00 am and I'm dragging already!  Oh, it's going to be a long week!  JJ is "unavailable" because of work, so I'm doing the single mom thing.  The To-Do list is much longer than my energy level right now... But...
 

"Do you not know?
   Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
   the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
   and his understanding no one can fathom.
 He gives strength to the weary
   and increases the power of the weak.
 Even youths grow tired and weary,
   and young men stumble and fall;
 but those who hope in the LORD
   will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
   they will run and not grow weary,
   they will walk and not be faint."

Isaiah 40:28-31

This is the hope I cling to for this long week ahead...  How about you? :)

How about some colorful Sharpies to brighten your outlook also?.... Don't write your To-Do lists in black ball-point this week... How about fuschia or Turquoise instead?!  Sharpies are definitely a Happy Thing :)

 

Blessings,

HOME SWEET HOME...My Office/Work Space Tour

I am spoiled... I have an entire room devoted to my office/work space.  I used to dream of the day when I could have such!!  Jeremy says I've earned it...now that I do so much design work beyond just recreation...(he's so sweet).  Regardless of why... I LOVE THIS ROOM!  It's colorful, happy, and spacious... and it's ALL MINE!   I'm so excited to show it to you...

Believe it or not, it was painted this color before we moved in!  ...so me.   It's kind of a muted sea foam color.

 

 This past Christmas, Jeremy received a Home Depot gift card from his mom.  He used it to buy me these cube storage shelves... like I said, he's so sweet!

 

 

 

This is where I package up my Etsy orders... this always involves plenty of unnecessary  stickers, divine twine, and other goodies.  I love sending pretty packages! 

 

 These are actually vintage cafe style curtains... I found a huge pile of them at a flee marked several years ago.   I just draped them over the rod... When I get around to it I think I'll make a matching pillow with some of the extra panels.

...And my favorite part!!! I just taped a bunch of my favorite things to the wall... vintage magazine ads, photos, bingo cards, vintage greeting cards, scripture prints, etc...  Fun, huh?!  Who says you can't  tape stuff to your walls like back in high school!?

 

So there you have it!  Hope you enjoyed the tour :) 

 See more of our HOME SWEET HOME.... Virgil's Nursery and Our Bedroom

Blessings,

Always into Something...

Sadie... oh, Sadie.  She's always into something.
You know that old nursery rhyme..."There once was a girl with a curl in the middle of her forehead...." Yeah... that's Sadie.

A few weeks ago, I was sick and was in bed for a fair chunk of the day.  This is very dangerous when you have three active little ones!  I emerged from my room to find a novel scene.  In the back yard I found a family-sized box of Cheerios... mostly gone.  And... Cheerios EVERYWHERE.  I looked across the yard, speckled from one end to the other with the little Os.  I think Alice and Elsie started it... they were feeding "the animals" that we apparently have in our backyard.  Sadie took it to a new level, I gathered. 

Of course, there's the classic "empty the entire box of crackers" incidents also.  It hurts the most, once again, with the family-sized boxes.  And yes, if it gets emptied in the house I do put the crackers back in the box. :)

Now that it's warm enough to occasionally turn on the garden hose, I'm in a heap of trouble with Sadie.  She loves getting dirty... as most children do.  It seems as if the moment I get her cleaned up and settled back in the house, she sneaks out the back door as soon as I turn my back... 

You know,  I'm kind of like that with God.  I'm always getting into something... some mess... some sin.  Just when I get things in my spiritual life in some kind of order... I mess up, I stumble and find myself covered in mud again.  I would imagine this is frustrating to God!  He must shake his head and say "Amy...oh, Amy... she's always into something.  But God doesn't think it's cute when I sin!  He longs to see me mature into an obedient child, yet I just can't resist the messes!
BUT just like a gentle parent, because of His deep love for me, God cleans me up again... He removes my sin, as far as the East is from the West.  Then, he asks me again... to obey this time.

What a loving God we have... what blessed children we are.  :)

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9

"What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?  By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?" Romans 6:1

Blessings,