Bedtime Blessings & Dr. John Trent

First of all, let me say that I HATE going outside my comfort zone. Last August I taught a session at the ECAO annual conference. I did not have the money to go to the conference so I taught a session. I got free entry into the conference and they covered another session. I thought I was horrible. Someone in my class did not think so. She asked me to present at the annual Advocacy Conference in Enid in March. If the first one was outside my comfort zone the second was more so. I said yes. I went to that conference today. I again think I did a horrible job. Who knows? I again chose to present on the family nights that I (with two fellow teachers) have hosted for the last three years. And, while I was getting ready for the conference, I sent an e-mail to Dr. John Trent the author of a set of books called Bedtime Blessings asking for permission to use a few of his blessing in my presentation. Not only did he say yes, but he offered to send me the newest version of both books. I am so excited b/c I gave my copies away to a friend a few months back. Bedtime Blessings I am so excited! How incrediblly kind was that? I did not expect it at all.

Friends with Flair

I have had so much fun the last three weeks joining the hop instead of just looking. Make sure that you check out Unity's website to see the rest of the list at Unity's blog . I saw these super cute lunchbox notes from this site Say Please in a post on Stacy Julian's blog. I decided that I had enough "phrases" from my 3 months of unity kits to make my own! Oh, how I wish I had the sayings from all the past kit of the months but at least I have 3 months worth. I will just "dream" about what the new sayings will be and how great they will be to drop in my kids lunch boxes! I made a set for my son and one for my daughter. I made them really simple incase they get thrown away. I also left the back blank so that I could jot a handwritten note if I wanted to. I did use one saying from Stampin Up. I did not have an even number of saying from Unity. I really like the way they turned out. Also, Unity fans scroll down and look at the picture of the butterfly in the post on the secret passageway. Charlie (my daughter wanted to use my "stamps" to decorate her butterfly. She used the imagine saying with a butterfly. I got it in a random set of 50 stamps that I ordered. I don't know what set it comes from but she loves it. Have a blessed and inspired day!

secret passageway

There are some days when I feel like a good parent. Today is one of those. On Tuesday, Dusty caught Charlie writing on her wall in her closet. She was making a secret passageway. We had a long talk about not writing on the walls. On Wednesday, we painted a secret passageway. I want to encourage her creativity and imagination. It took everything in me to let her do it and not straighten it out or make her rewrite her letters correctly. Her e's are upside down and then right side up because she said she did them wrong. Her a's look like b's and her w is an m. I makes me crazy but it is hers. She took her secret passageway and it led her under her bed where she played forever yesterday. I hope this is one of those things that get's remembered instead of forgotten. I had to add new pictures. When Dusty got home they decided that it needed a doornob. So off they went to the store. $7.00 later she has a very cool secret passageway w/ doornob. When she is in her secret passageway (which takes her all over the house) she whispers "tippy toe, tippy toe" over and over until she is at her destination. And, her door creaks when she uses it. :) I love this kid!

Dancing with a duck

Brantley is in love with ducks. I know it is crazy and yet he is. We got this silly duck that sings "Raindrops are falling on my head" as a dirty santa gift this Christmas. He loves to dance with it.

Friends with Flair

These are some verse canvases I have in my house. The first one is Brantley's verse. I used the stars that I got when I signed up for my KOM last July. I LOVE them! I have used them a ton since getting them. I love the simplicity of this canvas. The second one has not been posted to my blog yet. It is not Unity but I wanted to get it posted. Have a blessed day and enjoy the inspiration.

Faith Sisters Childhood friend

Stacia was one of my best friends in 4th grade. She was my next door neighbor. She was the one that first introduced me to the Breakfast Club and Grease. We had some great times. Now, almost 25 years later we live in the same metro area and we have not seen each other in Oklahoma once. I have a lot of those "in this time" friends. She really is a neat girl. Also, I used a Unity kit of the month stamp for the journaling that I haven't written yet.

Friends with Flair

I am in love. In love with Unity that is. I have been stalking the blog hop for months. Today I am actually joining. Here you can find the entire list http://theunitystampco.blogspot.com/ I found these incredible stamps last May. I ordered this amazing stamp that i wanted to use for my Christmas cards for this year. That would be the Christmas cards I never made. Instead I made a really cute ornament for everyone.
And so, my love affair began. I became a kom member in July. I was able to receive 3 kits before I had to cancel due to the cost of Charlie's surgery. I am hoping that when I get that paid off this next August I will again be able to subscribe. So for now, I will continue to play with my amazing stamps, stalk lease incredible ladies blogs for the cutest ideas, and drool over the new kits and dream of what I would do with those incredible stamps. I used the cute bird from the July kit. I just love it!

This layout is one I did for my DT work for www.faithsisters.com it was late to post. It was for the challenge of childhood homes.

Love Tickets

I read one of my favorite blogs this summer (stacy julian) http://stacyjulian.com/blog/?p=59 and got this great idea from all three of her posts. We have a chore chart for each of the kids. B doesn't use his yet. Chuck loves her. She can earn 14 flowers/butterflies each day. For each one earned she gets a nickel. These are her "chores". For the love tickets she has to go above and beyond. She has to do something that shows her love for someone without being asked. She collects these tickets to turn them in for "things." For 3 tickets she can choose to get a sonic slush, go to the little park in our neighborhood, go to the library, get an extra bedtime story, play a board game or stay up 10 minutes later at night. For 5 tickets she can play her leapster, v-smile or watch an extra 30 minute show. (On good days she only gets 1 1/2 hours of tv. For 10 tickets she can go to the science museum, go to the zoo, go to the big park (route 66), get a snow cone or get french fries & play at McD's. So far, she loves these more than real money. She would rather cash in her tickets for extra time up. If she asks for a ticket she does not get it. She also does not get one every time she does something nice. I want to reward her for showing love but I don't want her to expect something in return when she does something nice. There are some days when I have had a really hard day at school and she is being so obedient and a good listener that I will give her a love ticket. She also gets them quite a bit for how she treats her brother. Today she got one for helping him take his shoes and jacket off and making sure that they were put away. She really is a great kid!

Dt for faithsisters--childhood memory

I loved this challenge. I have no pictures from Japan so I googled and came up with these pictures. I love how it turned out. Check out all the lovely work from my friends too. www.faithsisters.com

Love Days like these

Me: Charlie, How do you know that mommy loves you?
C: You give me lots adn lots of kisses.
Me: How do you know that Daddy loves you?
C: He gives me lots, lots, lots, lots, lots, lots, lots, lots, lots, lots, lots, lots, lots, lots, lots, and lots of showers.