Happy New Year to the Frog Faithfuls :)

It's a new year and a new day :) Praise God!

Time at the helm of my computer has been at a premium, but that's okay! We all know how life is...and it's both crazy and a blessing, so although I have missed sharing life and cards with you, I have been thinking of you quite often!

So what's been happening since our state soccer championship WAAAAAAY back in November?? Well,

10. We served over 200 meals again this Thanksgiving to Go at church! What a wonder to see a group of God's faithful servants working side by side to GIVE!

9. Our 2 girls have been busy with social calendar duties, snow boarding, parties, snow shoveling (see #8) and sleeping in on their vacation days 'til NOON!

8. We've had two blizzards resulting in several snow days from school (YAY!). Between storms we had a week of 50 degree weather melting all the snow in between. No worries...the second storm dropped 11'' in a day and its all still here!

7. My 1 son came home twice (both holidays) and stayed a few days so we got to see him...his hair has grown out for the first time in his life and I barely could recognize him, but he's still my adorable boy!

6. My DH was one of the three "wise guys" in our annual Christmas Eve service with his memorable line: "Look over yonder doth break the shine of a bright star!" Memorable because he had to practice it over and over for several weeks to get it right so we all learned the line!

5. Card making time was also at a premium--squeezed in over a period of weeks a few minutes at a time...I kept changing the design, as I never seemed happy with it....I ended up making 70+ cards between our own family cards, my SBS sister cards, John's "mailman thank you" cards and friend cards....and this year I made them by myself mostly....everyone else was really really busy :) LOL!!

4. We got our tree early!! December 21st! It's still up of course.....I'm thinking it can come down Martin Luther King Day....but then, I will be gone for a wedding....hmmmm....maybe Valentine's day!

3. I got a new laptop computer :) YAY! Now if I can get a wireless router, I can blog anywhere and not have to compete for the computer room! It's almost too good to imagine!

2. My mom finally got out of a hospital and is in a rehab program where she is doing well, getting up and about and looking fab! For my faithful prayer partners....thanks more than I can say!

And NUMBER ONE!!
My prayer life is increasing 10000-fold. With today's economy issues, raising teenagers, work stresses {you would NOT believe the paperwork burden on special education..especially in NY!}, family and friend illnesses, severe winter driving, and a tiring tiring schedule, I can only do any of this with God's help. The book of James has really been a godsend! I've been reading it over and over again!

How's this for encouragement-- James 1:1-6
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. and then James 1:12: Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

I've also read the book The Shack this month (thanks for the loan, Carolyn!). Oh my goodness friends...you have GOT to read this book! Get it out of your library if you don't want to buy it or borrow it as I did, but definitely read it! Don't worry if the description of the content seems disturbing at first...really, you must look into reading it! It'll only take a weekend...of course it took me three weeks reading a bit at a time....but I know this....YOU WILL BE BLESSED!

You are all in my heart and my prayers! Be well and blessed, dear friends!
Love ya!

Copics, anyone?

Having a heck of a time uploading pix from blogger tonight! I'll keep trying!
Oh, and if you want some copics, check out this great blog candy!!

We are state champions!

I'm off to church, but I wanted to let you know.....by the grace of God, WE ARE STATE CHAMPIONS!

Well co-champions actually. Our girls played (and we cheered) for 3 hours in pouring rain to end 4 overtimes with a 0-0 tie. Thank the Good Lord they have done away with the final "shoot out", so we were declared State Co Champions with Marathon school....which is to say we have two state champions! I told the girls that they are heroes for playing soccer for that long soaking wet! The pouring rains never let up...but they were troopers! We finally got home last night at 11 pm.

The County sheriffs escorted our girls' bus from the expressway exit with sirens and lights to the school (about 15 milies) and the surrounding towns' fire trucks joined the escort from the town line to the school (about 5 miles). It was so sparkly and bright! At the school, they had fireworks and of course all the parents and community members clapping like crazy! It was a three hour ride from the championship site to home and we all rushed to get to the school before the bus (safely in the fog and rain, of course!) It was a great weekend and a tiring night, but all is good!!!

Pictures later!!
O Happy Day!

It's the people who really make it special

The cruise was really nice...being waited on, sitting around on deck, food 24/7, sunny and warm temps, gorgeous landscape and of course all the WONDERFUL stamping opportunities...but if not for the people I met and hung out with? No chance of living one of life's greatest memories. Here's a final salute to those who made my vacation so very wonderful! And to new friends, some of which will be in my life from now on--I just know it! ;) Here's me and Mo one more time :)

Then our wonderful hostesses, Gina, Nichole and Emily and Nicky (did I mention my great love and respect for these independent wonderful women??)

Then there was our amazing and sweet as can be waitress, Imelda who did a different trick or two at dinner time to entertain us (her giggle at her own jokes is what made us laugh so hard!) and our host for our Mexican Cuisine class, Chef Luis who promised to "light our fire" when we asked...and along with him, the "partners" we shared our griddle with in the class, Russ and Doreen. It was such a fun time on that beach in Cozumel!!

And then there were our nightly dinner buddies, whom we were honored to call friends by the second evening. What fun it was to review the thrills and excitement of our daily adventures! I think that has been the biggest adjustment back to real life: not seeing these ladies every day! A big shout out to {back row} Pam, Barbara, {front}Cara and Carol!!And finally a grand salute to two of my new BFF's...{that means "Best Friends Forever"}, Jolene and Danielle. We met these wonderful souls in the hotel we stayed in Saturday before setting sail and we were blessed to connect with them every day of the trip. These new friends are more than special :) Love you girls!

Trying to stay in the Carribbean as long as possible...

Finally, some of the sights of my cruise....some are labeled, some not :) Here are the carvings and swan ice sculture that awaited our welcome luncheon. It's all food :) And the ice serpent on the last day at sea.

Port Canaveral from the ship (above) and as we sailed away (below). Also some pictures from the safety drill we had to do before leaving port.

And some deck pictures including the "exercise deck" (Deck 12) and my perfect view from the deck chair on deck 11.

And then there were the dining room (s). I say it that way, because it was actually a THREE LEVEL dining room. We were in "Top Hat and Tails" the middle level room, but above us was the "Sound of Music" with these beautiful scultures and mural on the stairs. So wonderful!

Here's the promenade where all the shops were and where we had to cross at times to get to the back of the ship from our room in the forward section!
And although we saw most of the Shows on board, I only took pictures of the ice show. The show's theme was Under the big top, so here are some of the Circus performers :)

And here are some of our projects made with the stamp sets especially designed for our cruise adventures. Bellas are in back, PTI is on the lower left and Gina K on the lower right.

More pictures to come, but as I said...I want the cruise to last as long as humanly possible; especially with snow falling outside :)

Happy week!

Some favorites and HERE WE GO AGAIN!

Hi all! I know you have patiently been waiting for my cruise pix....we due to technical difficulties at Wally World...the CD's I need to show you pix of my adventures is taking a few days longer...but no worries! I can show you my favorite projects we did! The 3 companies prepared almost 40 projects for us to do while we were cruising...I really don't think I can show them all, although I may throw in a few here and there now and then...but I wanted to show you some of my very favorites.

This first one was a "satchel" project we did with Gina K's stamps. We used a scor pal to score the two pieces of DP we glued together, scored then folded. The cards were simple layered notecards. We colored a bit of the flowers to coordinate with the paper and voila! I did not yet color the last two cards. The flap on the satchel closes with a button magnet that Gina K sells! It was fun to make and so pretty! :)

This set was designed by Nichole Heady of Papertreyink. She is all about the simple and elegant. We used her Floral Frenzy set and the wonderful Kraft cardstock she sells. It was definitely more complicated a project, but not hard. Just lots of steps, which she walked us through beautifully. We also used her Polka Dot Basics set. I don't have either of these stamp sets, but now they are on my Christmas wish list! The little purse holds the cards and the folder has a note pad in it. How adorable is this set!?

This little set was designed by stamping bella's Nicky and she is such a sweetheart! The box was already punched and scored and we just put it together and layered on the flower. Then we made these little adorable cards using Stamping bella stamps...they were all simple and fun to make. The cards go in their little cellophane envelopes and fit in the box. Adorable, yes?

The images from Gina K and Stamping Bella were all included in our goody bag! Oh and did I mention they also gave us a score pal?! Scor pal donated one to EVERY ONE ON THE STAMPING CRUISE! How wonderful it was to get my own!!

My girl is #14.
Now, for some really really exciting news!! We have been going to games and games and games of soccer...our girls' team won their division, their class and their regional game and now

My daughter's team is once again GOING TO THE STATE SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIPS!!! WOO HOO!!!

We have been there 3 of 4 years, going to the final game twice before and winning it all once, two years ago. What a joy to be able to experience this with our Danish daughter too, as she is playing on the team as well. God is so so GOOD!

It's gonna be quite a week!

Enjoy yours! Off to church!

Be blessed!

A winner! and Home again from an Incredible adventure!!

Hi all!

First, I want to congratulate Doris on being the closest guess to how many pieces of "stuff" was in my kit for my travel book....the answer was 122 (all those brads!) and her guess was the highest at 65! Email me with your address in Poland, Doris and you will be receiving a Gina K stamp set and acrylic block, both part of my goodie bag!

I will post the pictures of all my stuff, projects and fun when I get my pictures back from processing...

Yes, I said processing. Well, Kim Marie, why didn't you use your digital camera, you ask....well........that's a different post in itself.....

I do have a few cruise pictures to post, though, sent to me by my new friend Pam, who was one of my delightful dinner companions and stampers that I met during one of the best things I have ever done in my life! This is Maureen and I at dinner one night. Maureen is the friend I went with on the boat. She was not even close to being called a hobby stamper...she enjoys the fellowship of stamping, but was just content to watch other's enjoy the craft. Now, I have to say, she is quite sold on the whole thing!

And here are Maureen, me and Barbara, another dinner table friend....why we even ate breakfast together! This pic was snapped by Pam as well...she had come in from taking pix of the sunrise...we are sitting in the Windjammer restaurant...a 24/7 food fest! Isn't the sea scene just so lovely??

The best part of the cruise was meeting kindred spirits...here are the women we spent time with every evening.....sweet, wonderful woman of strength, creativity and fun! Here are Cara and Carol in the pink and black, and Pam and Barbara in the suit and dark top

Makes you think all we did was eat on this ship, huh? Ha! More info to follow...I promise!

Next post, I hope to share some pix with some new BFF's of mine....and some superstars :)

Love you all!

PS My girl's team is once again going to the state playoffs....omigosh...so exciting! Pray for us! No injuries!! :) Game is Tuesday night!

Packing....and some blog candy to win??

Well, it's time....to start packing....the lists have been in my head for weeks, parts of lists on little pieces of paper all over the house and car. I have the clothes packing in one place, the stamping stuff pack list in another place...the toiletries list in another place...the documents/$ list in another...and now they all have to come together in a beautiful symphony of two check-ins and a carry-on. Oh no, not all the stuff has come together! All the pieces of paper. Whew...tired just thinking of it :) Now the hard part of actually gathering it all.....but while I'm doing that....

Nichole of Papertreyink, one of my fav companies and a sponsor of this cruise, suggested that we bring a trip scrapbook to put together while we are on the trip. I have decided to do that, to see if I can, really. Here is my "starter kit" that I am bringing.

Since I will be away and not blogging, I decided that "away-blog candy" was in order. So--can you guess how many pieces are in this kit?? Yes, counting each thing (marker, prisma, etc. separately? but not the ziplock bag or bowl holding the embellishments, silly) Make your best guess and comment here, then tell people on your blog about a chance to win something fun that I bring back from my wonderful wonderful stamping cruise! I will award the prize to the answer closest to the right one, or pick randomly from all the right choices. You have until October 28th to guess, then I will choose a lucky duck!

I will miss you! Have a great time this week and know that I am thinking of all of you and wishing wishing wishing wishing you could come with!! I won't be online tomorrow and I leave Saturday, so BON VOYAGE!

Blessings to all!

You make me JUMP for JOY!

You all are the spring in my step!!

Thanks for being there, supporting me and being so so kind! Your comments always bless my days!! This is a bookmark I made for those who blessed me by prayerfully and financially supporting my mission to Mozambique. I added (not shown) an African designed and colored ribbon to the top and one of Gina's K's zoo brads to the bottom corner of Mel's adorable Zack zebra image from the Jumping for Joy set, including one of them with my report letter. The DP is actually flocked! I fell in love with this paper and finally found a perfect use for it...I bought it over a year ago from Oriental Trading Company (OTC). Their scrap booking supplies run the gamut from fair to GREAT, so it's a guess which you'll get when you order...the prices are pretty good though!

Have a joyful Monday! Happy Columbus Day holiday to my US friends!

Happy Anniversary!

Do you remember that my DH gave me the cruise I am taking next week for my 25th Wedding anniversary? It's coming up on November 5th, but I plan to celebrate every day I'm cruising!

This is a card I made for my friends, Jack and Sandy, who are also celebrating their 25th anniversary this fall as well. I received this House Mouse stamp from WishRAK. No, not the image! A sweet stamper sent me the ENTIRE STAMP when I only asked for images (this is now the only HM stamp I have.) Isn't is sweet?? Stamping friends are the BEST, aren't they?!

Have a very Blessed Sunday!

Happy Birthday, Lizzie!

It's my best friend from high school, Lizzie's, birthday today! Happy Birthday to her!!

I actually call her on her b'day to sing and chat for--oh an hour or so-- so I'm not posting a card for her, but I will post a gift and some cards I made for my friend Mary Angela's birthday last week. I love the new rub ons so much, I could almost trade a few stamp sets for more rub ons...I am trying not to add a new obsession!! But it's way too much work, isn't it??

These are stampin up's fresh cut cards and the Fresh Cut stamp set. They are so easy and versatile! I looked at SCS for ideas and kind of went from there. I love the colors! I used Ranger Ink's Distress inks and the SU 5-petal punch. Thanks Deby for loaning me the punch...I really should buy one. I made these into a 6 card set.


Here is a frame and a "pencil mug" that I made using SU's rub ons. You can't really drink from the mug and then wash it without rubbing off the rub ons, so I told my friend to use the mug to hold the pencils on her desk. I'd love to see a picture of her with her 3 boys in the frame!

I think they turned out okay, don't you?

Enjoy Lizzie's birthday, everyone!

Oh and visit my SBS9 sister Natty's blog for some BLOGVERSARY CANDY!!

What the heck?!

Hi friends!

I had a boy once in my class that always said that title phrase when he was surprised by something. I just loved how he said it...with the emphasis on 'heck'. So....SURPRISE! I'm actually sitting in one spot and posting...I know, right. What the heck?!

Believe me, it's been so painful not to be sitting down and checking in. I have been creating a few projects here and there as needed and I promise to post them this week without hesitation....I haven't posted in soooo long!

Here's a start.....

We had my daughter's soccer team over for a "Night before the game" spaghetti dinner. The typical fare with a twist from my DH who made the girls delicious Chicken Parm and Linguini with a tossed Spring mix and spinach salad and garlic bread.

But I made the dessert! Brownies with mini M&M's for sprinkles....with a purple and gold tag for each girl personalized with their name and jersey number! I used Melanie M's set Just So Sporty set from Gina K Designs. Aren't they so cute?! The girls loved them and one girl even put the tag in her locker at school! That is a nice compliment from a 17 year old!
















You can kind of see that a few are not hoodies with numbers, but words...using Mel's set, I also made some brownies with special tags for coaches and for soccer fans, too...for the coaches wives and kids. How fun, huh??

I am getting ready for my cruise this upcoming weekend...and I haven't had even ONE MINUTE to pack...I have to pack clothing and stamping supplies for both me and my friend who is joining me....pray I have the time I need!

My daughter's soccer team is doing VERY VERY WELL! After 3 of 4 of this week's games, we are now at 11 wins, 1 loss and 2 tie games....this is so exciting as they have their hearts set on another state title. (they won two years ago). We have been so crazy keeping up with them, I can barely believe I will be on a cruise this time next week. Wow.

To my blogging sisters, I want to catch up soon on all the blogs, but it is so overwhelming I shall have to take it one bite at a time. You are all amazing women...thank you for your patience! To my blog readers who aren't in my SBS9 group: Thanks also for your faithful visits...you are ALL blessings to me! More to share tomorrow!!!
Love ya!
Kim Marie