An afternoon on the farm

A spur of the moment invitation after church yesterday morning led to lunch together with friends and a farm adventure for the kids-- complete with pony rides (does it get any better than that?) ;)

The kids had a really great time and I enjoyed getting some great shots of them.

We'll have to go back when the weather's nicer and the kids won't need to be so bundled up.

It's done

I'm really glad that I started a Lent journal this year-- it's been something that I've really enjoyed making. I also love how it's made me reflect on different aspects of my faith and write them down to share with others (I'm especially excited for my kids to read it when they get older!)

And yet, it also seems like the most personal thing I've done, as I feel a certain amount of vulnerability when I share it with others. Like, this is me, this is what I think and believe.

Here are the last of the pages that I made:



I read the book Sex God by Rob Bell during lent and liked a few of his quotes. He had questions in the back, so I answered one of them in my journal, in a 6x12 page, folded in half.





I took this photo when I took communion with my Bible study group.



This is the back of the page:
















This next page was for Ali Edward's Weekend Creative Challenge:



And my journaling on the back:






We watched a short video in church on Sunday morning and these words were in it:



So, now that it's done, I took it to My Scrap Shoppe on Tuesday and bound it with Marcy's bind-it-all (love that gadget!)




Thanks for looking!

Project 366, week 12

Since last weeks' photos were all taken inside of my living room, I decided to get out a little more this week. ;)

Here are my photos of the day for the past week:


Tuesday, March 18: Jonah & Austin at the front of the United church, after they had both performed the poems they'd memorized for the Morden Festival of the Arts.


Wednesday, March 19: In our morning Bible study, we took communion together. Kathy was looking into her cup and said: "I wish I had a camera. The bubbles in my cup are forming a heart." So, I took my camera out of my purse and went to take a picture. While I was doing this, someone suggested that she put it over her opened Bible. A great suggestion, but as she moved the cup to do so, the bubble formation changed and we lost the heart. :(


Thursday, March 20: Sage and I volunteered in Jonah's class for his Easter party.


Friday, March 21: The worship band (comprised of several different churches) for our joint Good Friday service. This was the only picture that I took this day, because I gave my camera to a woman from our church so she could take photos of the drama (which I was in) and I forgot to get it back from her before we left.


Saturday, March 22: Yes, it's my living room! LOL! Thought these guys looked so cute with Jonah reading over Austin's shoulder.


Sunday, March 23: Jonah and Austin waiting patiently for the sun to rise during our church's surise service, early Easter morning.

Monday, March 24: I'm torn. I took two photos that I like and can't decide which one I shoudl pick for my photo of the day. So, I've decided to let you be the judge. In the comments, tell me which one you like better. The photo with the most votes will get chosen as the photo of the day for March 24th.

I took this one of Sage and Jonah playing on the computer (Jonah has discovered the world of Webkinz.) I was pleased with the angle on this one.


Or how I discovered Sage, after supper, on Monday evening, fast asleep. (I love how she's sprawled out and wearing slippers on her hands and on her feet!)

So, please tell me which one you like better.

Thanks for looking!


ETA: By most popular vote, the photo of Sage asleep on the couch will be my photo of the day for March 24th. Thanks so much for your comments and votes. :)

Easter Blessings

Our morning started early today with a sunrise service outside (I don't think Manitoba is made for outdoor Easter services-- it was very cold!) where we sang two songs and heard a short message, as we watched the sun rise. Then we went to our church to enjoy a delicious breakfast together.

The boys were ready to leave after breakfast, but we stayed for Big Church and Sunday School. We came home for lunch and then the kids played hot and cold to find their Easter gifts-- they each got a Webkinz stuffed animal.

Since our gathering for today was cancelled (I didn't find this out until Friday), we're having a low-key day at home. I'm hoping to finish up my Lent journal and maybe scrapbook a little. I'm sure we'll continue our Monopoly game that we started last night and I'm making homemade pizza for supper.

Wishing you all a happy Easter!

Some more pages...

from the art journal that I'm making during Lent.

This one was inspired by Ali Edward's Weekend Creative project a few weeks ago:

and this is what I wrote on the back:

This is a page that I did using the lyrics from a song by Jeremy Camp that we sang in church :


This is a page the I made that talks about how I bless my kids each night before they go to sleep:

Another page inspired by the Ali Edwards project that I mentioned above:

I have a few more ideas of pages that I'd like to make before Easter Sunday, so hopefully I'll have time to do them.

As a Bible study group yesterday morning, we took communion together. I took a picture of it and want to print it out to add to my journaling. Maybe I'll start on that right now...

Thanks so much for looking and for your kind comments-- they really mean a lot to me! :)

Project 366, week 11

When I mentioned posting my photos of the day last week to a friend, she asked me: "Are you getting tired of it yet?"

My answer: no, not really.

Sure there is the odd day where I'll think, with a sigh, I have to remember to take a picture today.

But most days, it's like the project has given me permission to take photos every day. Something I really enjoy doing.

An added bonus is that I've been really happy with some of the shots I've gotten (well, quite a lot of them actually) and I'm thinking without the challenge, I would have been too lazy to get off my butt, locate my camera and take the picture.

So, I think it's been good.

My family, on the other hand... ;)

Actually, I didn't think they minded me take their photos so often, but I guess last week when Anita came over, she grabbed my camera to take a picture of Sage and Jorja together, but my memory card wasn't in it, so she couldn't. She must have said something like "Oh, I can't take your picture."

To which Sage replied, "That's okay, because my mom takes my picture all...day...long." :)

Okay, on to my photos of the day for the past week:


Tuesday, March 11: Sage was enjoying looking at the scrapbook that I made two years ago when she was 1 1/2. (And as I looked at it with her, I thought: "I don't regret creating a single one of these pages." -- such a good feeling!)


Wednesday, March 12: My dining room table, while I was working on the invitations for the Booth College graduation barbecue-- I love sitting in the sun that shines through my new dining room window.


Thursday, March 13: Jonah and a classmate enjoying Jonah's first ever kindergarten play date at our house. It's so cool when they transition from being friends with my friends' kids to choosing friends of their own. These two were a bundle of energy together.


Friday, March 14: The Easter eggs that Sage and I decorated together. If you missed my instructions for these, you can click here.


Saturday, March 15: I displayed my eggs in a basket on my dining room table. There have only been a few casualties so far. ;)


Sunday, March 16: Cameron, caught napping on our couch.


Monday, March 17: I thought this photo was cool with the photographs on the wall behind Sage.



So, I'm thinking that I need to start getting out more, because all of these photos were taken in my living room! LOL! (Oh well, that's pretty much my life right now as we wait for spring to come. ;) )

To prove that I actually did leave my house this week, I'm ending off with a photo from our church's Palm Sunday service on Sunday morning. Cameron actually took this one, because I was downstairs leading worship for R.O.X., so unfortunately, I missed it. :(

Tagged

I was tagged by my friend, Heather, to share 7 random facts about myself. So here goes...

1. I wore braces for three years, in junior and senior high, and a retainer for another two. I stopped wearing the retainer though and my lower teeth have shifted back to how they were.

2. I loved high school-- everything about it. The classes, the teachers, hanging out with my friends everyday-- it was great.

3. I cannot wait for spring! We went for a walk this morning and seeing patches of grass here and there almost made me giddy.

4. Last week, I got an order from Booth College in Winnipeg to make 100 invitations for their graduation barbecue. They wanted a Celtic theme.

5. I went out for coffee with my friend Darlene for her birthday last night. We had great time-- as usual. I'm so thankful for the friends that God has blessed me with. :)

6. I'm going to be in a play for our Good Friday service at the rec centre this week. It's quite funny but has a serious ending. It should be good.

7. Lately, I'm addicted to playing Scrabulous and Scramble on Facebook.

If you're reading this, consider yourself tagged and play along. :)

Online crop layouts

It's our monthly online crop at MSS this weekend. Here are the layouts that I made...

My challenge was to scraplift yourself: find a layout in your albums that you love and scraplift it. Here's the layout I made



which was a scraplift of this one:



I did this one for Liz's sketch and Marcy's challenge to use 5 different patterned paper, buttons and a stamp:



I did this one for Marcy's challenge to use grey, paint and three photos:



I got this one done this afternoon for Marcy's challenge to use red, something transparent and circles:



Thanks for looking!