i spy an advent picture

We started our Advent season off with an interactive I spy. This is a homework assignment that I give the kids in my class over the Christmas holiday. This year, I added it to our Advent activity. They kids (especially B) had a ball with this. Each one got to choose some items to hide in the picture: The number 25, a flame from our Advent wreath, a sea shell, a Barbie, Fred Flinstone, Flimore, Lightening McQueen, a train, two monster bowling pins, a banana, a bowl of fruit loops. Also, hidden in our scene are five kings, two angels, two sheep, a donkey, a camel, Mary Joseph, Baby Jesus, and a shepherd. If you find all the items, please comment so that my kids can see how many friends have enjoyed their work. Feel free to share this link with others. Have a great time spying!

Advent Calendar-Activities

27-build an I spy w/ nativity pieces

26-Paint a silhouette nativity

25-Watch the Nutcracker Ballet

24-have a picnic under the Christmas tree

23-Make Christmas cards to give to your friends at school.

22-journey to Bethlehem

21-Write a letter to Santa

20-bake cookies for neighbors and firemen

19-make a hand plate. Read a Special Place for Santa. Deliver cookies to the neighbors.

18-build a gingerbread house

17-Give gifts to your Awana helpers

16-make cinnamon applesauce ornaments

15-deliver navitiees to friends

14-make gingerbread play dough

13-go look at Christmas lights

12-Go to a Christmas program

11-

10-Write love notes to each member of the family and leave them on their pillow.

9-make a gum drop tree

8-make puppets and tell the story of Christmas

7-go for a walk around the neighborhood. Drink hot chocolate afterwards.

6-Listen to Christmas music.

5-watch Jug-band Christmas

4-Go on a Christmas Scavenger hunt

3-Make fortune cookies

2-Make a bookmark for your book.

1-Go to Midnight Mass

Faith sisters & FWF

I am so excited to be on the Friends With Flair list from Unity today! Make sure to check out their blog for some amazing work from some really talented ladies. (I actually posted this a little early b/c of traveling on the holiday.)

This layout was done for My Life Time Story challenge at Faith sister. I have really enjoyed being on their DT this year. It is sad to see that time ending. I hope that you have had a chance to participate in the challenges as well. Even if that participation is just by thinking about these challenges, what would I do if I had the time to make a layout about this...? I have missed a few of the challenges and yet I feel that my book is well on it's way to telling MY story. I used my FAVORITE paper, My Mind's Eye. I love their paper. I seem to always go back to this paper pack. So much so that I will not even share one pieces of it. I also seem to focus on one technique or tool at a time. I just purchased a scallop punch so I seem to have cute home made flowers in everything right now. Also, I just re-found my tearing ruler thanks to a little red-headed assistant. I think my last five layouts have had the torn paper and scalloped flowers. I used my new November Kit of the Month from Unity. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that journal stamp. There stuff is so GREAT. It is super cute. Also, I used a Christian Paper Craft challenge from their stampers delight section. It is SO good to be scrapping again. I am so blessed to have the space, time, and friends to scrap with again. Here's the journaling: Provision:

A piece of a conversation between my grandfather and I the first week I started dating my husband. No one knew I was dating anyone at the time.
"God told me to tell you to be patient with him. Patient with who? It doesn't matter. When your grandmother and I got married, I was not the spiritual leader. Be patient with him."
God gave me an amazing man who is a compliment to me. Good and bad.

Check out the sales at UNITY today!

Decisions, decisions.

I am toying with the idea of opening an etsy shop. I am thinking of listing these lunch box love notes.

And these verse wall plaques.

And maybe these praying for your children prayer cards. I have been asked by a few friends to make them for baby gifts. Sometimes making decisions is not always that easy.

sweet

Sweet: marked by gentle good humor or kindliness; much loved; dear

Beloved: dearly loved; dear to the heart

Proverbs 16:24 Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.

Ecclesiastes 11:7 Light is sweet, and it pleases the eyes to see the sun.

Deuteronomy 33:12 About Benjamin he said: "Let the beloved of the LORD rest secure in him, for he shields him all day long, and the one the LORD loves rests between his shoulders."

Song of Solomon 2:14 He MY dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hiding places on the mountainside, show me your face, let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.

Hidden Journalling: Stay so sweet. How many times did I read that in my yearbook? I didn't want to be sweet. I wanted to be cool, hip, popular, classy, anything but sweet. Sweet is what you called kids. Sweet is what you called old ladies. I did not want to be sweet. I wanted to be effervescent and vivacious. I wanted to be memorable.

Reading and studying 1st Peter this term has changed me or maybe I have grown up a little in the last fifteen years. 1 Peter speaks of a gentle and quiet spirit. 1 Peter 3:4 "No, your beauty should come from within you-the beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit that will never be destroyed and is very precious to God."

Is sweet anything like this? Am I beginning to show God in me? Do people see me and see God instead? If this is what sweet means then I am so incredibly humble to be described as sweet. This past week alone three people have called me sweet. I pray that is more of them seeing God in me than me.

Unity and world card making challenges

I am not a card maker. But, with a great prize on the hand I attempted. For world card making day in October, Unity Stamps ran a challenge (22 exactly). For those that made a separate card for each challenge they could be put in the drawing for a year of Unity kit of the months. I wanted that prize. I managed to make 12 of the 22. This is good for me. Time to scrapbook was just not on my side. Here are my cards.

Challenge 7: Use something that soars
Challenge 12: Use a photo
Challenge 11: Stitch something
Challenge 17: No pattern paper
Challenge 8: Make a mini card 3.5 or smaller
Challenge 1: Paper piecing
Challenge 2: Make a shaker card

This is my first, I think I need more practice.
Challenge 3: Use brown, cream, red, green, and gray.
Challenge 4: Home Decor inspired
Challenge 5: Stamp on fabric

I did not have fabric so I stamped on the ribbon.
Challenge 6: Distress something

Another first for me. I am not so sure how I like it. But, I LOVE the card.
Challenge 9: Ribbon

I had a lot of fun, but I think I will stick with layouts.

Not to forget!

Charlie asked if she could rake leaves today. I said yes. It is a beautiful day, so I kicked both kids outside. Charlie in the front yard raking leaves and Brantley in the backyard crying because he wants to be with his sister. She raked for about 20 minutes before joining B in the backyard. He cried the whole time. I know it sounds like a mean mom. But, he has to learn that sometimes he has to play by himself. Charlie goes in the backyard and he stops crying. I go to get the camera to get his picture of his sad face and he is smiling and laughing. I ask him to show me a "sad" face instead of his cheesy grin. He immediately starts crying even with huge tears. I ask him to show me his cheese. No tears and a huge grin. He should try out for the Oscars. I think he would win.

Faith sisters

I a little behind on this post. I have had a really hard time keeping up with scrapbooking this fall. This is the first time I have worked on a layout since September. But, it was a good one.For more on the Life Time Story challenge go here. Here is one of my layouts for the "recipe" challenge. I am making a cook book for Dusty for Christmas. This one is our "homemade" pizza. We have so much fun making it.

This was our challenge: Count your blessings.

In addition to this we are doing a smaller version of Becky Higgins grateful project.

Brantley's blessings are always the same and in the same order. Sister, Mommy, Daddy, Me and Noah. Sometimes he says Noah over and over and over again. He loves his friend Noah from church. He grabbed my hand to day, took me over to the paper. He pointed at the wall say "Write Tank you for Noah." It just touched my heart.

Silly String

I don't know about your house but at my house silly string is HUGE. Well, to one kid. Charlie LOVES the stuff. Under all that string and hair she is laughing asking for more.
B, not so much!

Loving this BOY

I tend to post a lot about Charlie. It is not that I love her more but that she seems to do and say things that I don't want to forget. As B is getting older, he too is doing that. Here is one. I decided to make these cute nativities for Christmas presents for the "cousins" this year. As I was making them Charlie asked, "Mom, are these for me a brother or are the for your "class"". She was so excited that they were for both. I want to make sure that each child has a nativity in their room. So each kiddo got their own. Charlie got her a night before B. The next day when I got home from school Charlie says, "Mom, can you please give brother his nativity because he won't leave my baby Jesus alone." This made me smile. I gave him his nativity. And that night this is what I found when I but him to bed. He had lined each piece up against the wall in his bed. He slept with them. I don't want to forget the sweet words he whispered. Good night king. Good night king. Good night shepherd. Good night king. Good night do-eey. Good night sheep. Good night sheep. Good night Mary. Good night angel. Good Night Joseph. Good night my baby Jesus.