Faith and Family

Last Friday, I said I'd be back to share about the baptism of my husband, Chris and our two younger children, Jacob and Sarah. It's been a busy week filled with lots of wonderful things, including track, band and choir banquets, but I do want to take you back to last Saturday because it was a lovely ceremony that filled my heart with sheer joy!

Chris' testimony brought me to tears, as he spoke of his parents and the wonderful Christian home he was raised in. He shared how he turned away from the church during college and made his way back when we married "for the sake of our children". He went on to tell how that turned into a longing for a personal relationship with Christ. Jacob was next, saying that he wanted to be a true follower of Christ and live with Him in heaven someday. And Sarah finished by sharing how she had accepted Christ while talking and praying with Chris and saying how much she loves Jesus.

I praise God for His faithfulness and love and thank Him for the gift of salvation He offers us through His Son, Jesus Christ. I am so blessed to be a child of God. There is nothing better in this life than to be His and I am so overwhelmed with joy that my children call him Father too.

My heart's desire is for my children to grow so deeply rooted in their faith that nothing can move them from their relationships with our Lord. When growing up, my family went to church in spurts and then stopped when I was a teen.

It wasn't until my daugther's death and moving in with my aunt, that I started attending church again and began to realize how much I needed God. When Chris and I married, we agreed that He needed to be an important part of our family. Early on in our marriage, it was challenging getting to church on Sundays. I worked retail, which required me to work every other weekend. Chris was a real trooper, faithfully taking our 2 little guys every Sunday, even when I couldn't go.

Eventually, moving out to DeKalb allowed me the privilege of being a SAHM, which was a good thing because at that point, we had 2 more little ones. After settling in, we found a home at DeKalb Christian Church. Pastor Tom's sermons touched my heart and began to remove the layers of guilt that I had carried with me over past sin. I was baptized at DCC 7 years ago, and through God's word and Spirit, I discoverd that I had worth and that He loves me. I learned how to forgive. I learned how to love. And I learned the value of passing on my love of our Lord to my children.

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope it's as beautiful and sunny where you are, as it is here. I'll be back later this weekend to share some projects. In the meantime, enjoy your day! Blessings ~ Patti

Butterfly Trio

My daughter Sarah makes the most beautiful glass bead jewelry! For Mother's Day, she made each of her grandmas a necklace that reflected their personal style using one of their favorite colors.

Because the necklaces were so lovely and Sarah took such care in making them, I wanted her to have something pretty to put each necklace in.

Using recycled candy tins, Sarah and I made a little trinket box for each necklace with the Unity Stamp Co. Butterfly Beauty set, patterned paper from SU! and Basic Grey, Stickles, ribbon and bling. The boxes were super easy to make and the grandmas were simply delighted with their special gifts.

It's been so neat to see how well Sarah's beading and my stamping compliment each other. I think I could even get into doing beading, but I'm trying to resist. ;)

Hope your week has been a good one. I'm sure glad Friday is upon us, it's been a hectic week at work and I'm ready for the weekend again. It's going to be another good one! My husband, Chris and our two little ones, Jacob and Sarah are getting baptized at our Saturday evening church service! Very exciting! I'll definately be back to share the details on Sunday.

Until then, I hope you have a fabulous weekend! ~Patti

Unity Stamp Co

I was so excited to recieve my first order of Unity stamps last week! I host a stamp gathering every other month for some of my friends in which we share projects and it was so fun to be able to share something so new! This set is Butterfly Beauty.

The images in this set are so large and so lovely and come with an assortment of inspirational words. I really like the red rubber Unity uses for their sets, it produces a nice clean image. The one con to the sets is the packaging. Very cute brown organdy drawstring bag, but not real efficient for storage purposes, so I've put mine in a SU! container.

This card was just for fun, but I think I'll send it off to my dear friend Carol. She's an amazing woman, a blessing to my life and her genuine, caring spirit makes her a true beauty.

Thanks for making time to visit today! Hope your week is going well! Blessings~ Patti

Project Details
Stamps: Unity Beautiful Butterflies, SU!
Paper: SU! Close to Cocoa, So Saffron, Cameo Coral, Whisper White, Misc DP
Ink: SU! Basic Brown, Close to Cocoa
Embellishments: Stickles, Prima flower, Bling, SU! Wire Works

Prom 08

As promised, here's a picture of Josh and his friend Amy all decked out for prom. They made such a handsome couple. Amy's dress was the brightest pink I've ever seen and Josh was a little worried he'd have to sport a pink tie, but we found the perfect match...it's got black, burgundy and bright pink stripes. It was great paired up with his black pin-striped suit and light grey shirt.

This year's theme was Hollywood, so when Josh asked Amy to prom he used a director's scene board that he found at Factory Card outlet. He wrote on it, Scene: Prom Take: 1 Cast: You and Me? It was very clever!

I'm told prom was a lot of fun despite the fact that it left Josh feeling very tired the next day. Prom, coupled with Post Prom, didn't get over with until 3:30 in the morning! Although I didn't wait up, Josh woke me when he got home, gave me a hug and we mutually decide to get some sleep and talk about all the details the next day.

It's pretty cool to be the mom of teenagers! Although, there are challenging moments, there are so many awesome things going on that make for great memories.

He Drives!

We fit alot into our busy week, but one of the most fun things was seeing our oldest complete his driving test and take off on his first solo drive! Josh has proven himself a great driver. He did his student driving during some of Illinois' harshest winter weather and even did a lot of night driving. He's really in tune to what's going on around him, making him a good defensive driver. He was definately ready to take off on his own!

For his first solo drive, Josh picked up his friend Amy and went to get his hair cut. Tonight is the DHS Jr.-Sr. Prom, so he wanted a new look. I'll be back later this weekend to share Prom photos.

In the meantime, I'm off to do laundry and clean house. (My mom's coming up tomorrow. ) Josh, Justin and I are taking her to see Les Miserable for Mother's Day! A treat for me too! :)

Be Still

Being still isn't something that comes easily for most of us. Our lives are so full of so many different activities, people and things. I was sure feeling the weight of those things earlier this evening.

Taking a moment to be still and focus on God, to really listen to Him, always puts things back into perpsective. Tonight, He's telling me I need rest. So, I'm going to keep this post brief.

I'm sharing another page for my desk flip book featuring Paper Trey Inc's Everyday Blessings set on Basic Grey Paper with a spritzing of Glimmer Mist. I think this is my favorite page so far. It's so simple, but so lovely.

I hope you have enjoyed your week. So much has been going on here! I hope to find some time to share more tomorrow. Until then, blessings~ Patti

Priceless Day!

This is a quicky, as it's another busy week. With May upon us, I'm sure it will feel busy from now until summer break. It's all good though, so I'm just going to hang on and enjoy the ride. ;)

Today I'm helping to host a luncheon for our school Secretary. She's been at our school for almost 20 years, so she is definately "priceless"! I've learned so much from her this year, not only about my job, but about patience, remaining calm during crisis and resolving conflict.

I love my job! It's such a pleasure working at Chesebro School...each day brings something new! And with it, an opportunity to plant seeds in the hearts of young people and nurture them to grow.

Enjoy your new day! Thanks for stopping by to share it with me! ~Patti

Project Details
Stamps: SU! Priceless
Paper: SU! Cameo Coral, So Saffron, Whisper White & Spring Flowers DSP
Ink: Cameo Coral
Embellishments: Stickles, bling, flowers