Happy Birthday Sam!

My older son turns 16 today.

How the years fly by!

It seems like just yesterday he was a sweet toddler toting around Match Box cars and asking me "Would that be fine?" when he wanted to do something.

In honor of the big 1-6, I thought I'd share 16 things about Sam.

1. He is very reliable. I love knowing that I can count on him.

2. He's a gentleman. He hold doors open for me and carries heavy things without being asked.

3. He loves his curly hair and refuses to cut it- even though it drives his dad crazy!

4. He's growing out his facial hair. He feels it makes him look older.

5. He can't wait to get his driver's license. He's been saving up for a vehicle and hopes to find an older truck to drive.

6. He is an excellent drummer. He's been taking lessons for around four years.

7. He has a wonderful sense of humor and is quite witty.

8. His preferred clothing include Star Wars t-shirts and camouflage shorts.

9. He is good at anything he tries.

10. Although he's not quite as tall as his dad, he is broader in the shoulders and a bit heavier.

 He certainly doesn't look sixteen.

11. He is very creative.

12. He's very smart and has excellent problem-solving skills.

13. He is very shy until he gets to know you. Then he's quite a talker.

14. He has a beautiful smile- his whole face lights up.

15. He wears sunglasses everyday- sometimes even indoors!

16. He's a gentle giant. He enjoys playing with toddlers and puppies. 

This boy is so precious to me. I love him to the moon and back.

I am indeed blessed to be his mom.

Thanks for stopping by and God bless.

For this child I prayed

1 Sam. 1:27

This post is linked to The Dedicated House
 and Ivy and Elephants.

Happy Birthday Ethan!

Today this boy, my baby, turns 14.

It's so hard to believe that he's already so old. He'll be a freshman this fall.

It really doesn't seem like that long ago I was carrying him around on my hip.

Sweet memories.

In honor of his birthday today, I'd like to share fourteen things about Ethan:

1. He loves to tease people--- almost to the point of being annoying. He especially likes to tease his dad and his big brother.

2. He has beautiful blue eyes that sometimes change in intensity.

3. He is very smart and a fast learner- especially for things that he is interested in.

4. He has plans to start his own business- and already is making it happen. I am so proud of his initiative.

5. He is very loving. He often puts his arm around me when we're out in public. He doesn't care who sees.

6. He has a wonderful sense of humor.

7. He is an awesome guitar player.

8. He prefers to wear t-shirts and athletic shorts- no matter where he's going. 

9. He is an excellent archer.

10. When he becomes interested in something, he learns everything he can about it.

11. He loves football- watching it, playing it, talking about it. . . He can amaze you with his vast knowledge of football facts.

12. He is an excellent shot with his rifle.

13. His face is covered in freckles- he hates them, but I think they're darling.

14. He is incredibly polite and knows how to handle himself when dealing with people.

I am grateful to be this boy's mom. Our family is incredibly blessed to call him our own.

Thanks for stopping by and God bless.

For this child I prayed

Sam. 1:27

Happy Birthday Sam!

This precious boy turns 14 today. In celebration of this day, I thought I'd share 14 facts about Sam.

1. He was due on Dec. 25, but made his entrance into this world on Dec. 1. I was more than a little nervous about him being born so early, but he came out so perfect and tiny.

2.  He was a very content and quiet baby. Even when he was hungry, he usually just let out one "Waa!"

3. He learned sign language when he was one, so he was signing to us before he could talk. I worked full-time so my sister and mom watched him a lot. (My sister is deaf which is how the sign language came into play.) It was darling watching his little chubby hands tell us that he wanted pretzels or water.

4. He loved his brother from the start. He was only twenty months old when Ethan came along, and I don't remember a moment of jealousy on his part. I have all kinds of photos of him smooching his baby brother.

5. He went through a period where he asked permission to do everything. He would look at us and in his little chipmunk voice say, "Would that be fine?"

6. He has always loved Legos- and actually still plays with them. Even though he's turning fourteen, besides a basketball hoop, Lego sets were the only thing he put on his wish list.

7. He is so quick to help out. Now that he's so big and strong, he actually takes pride in being able to lift heavy things and bring in several bags of groceries at one time. I usually don't have to ask him to help me; if he sees that I need something, he gets up and does it.

8. He's quite the gentleman: he opens doors for others, uses manners, and is courteous.

9. He's very shy. . . almost to the point of coming across as aloof or rude. But if you get him talking about something he loves, there's no shutting him up!

10. He is already 5'10", 190 pounds, and wearing a size 11 shoe. Yowza. He's just at the beginning of puberty- I'm wondering how big he's going to get!

11. He is so smart. He learns so quickly. Now that I home school, I see this more clearly than ever.

12. He is really into Aviator sunglasses. I've bought him three pairs already. When he's not wearing them, they are usually resting on his head. I even caught him trying to wear them in church the other day!

13. He loves Oreos- and has loved them since he was about two years old!

14. He has a dimple at the top of his right cheek. He wasn't born with it though. When he was in preschool, he fell against the edge of a table and it left a little dent. We think it adds charm:)

I am blessed beyond belief to have this young man in my life.

Happy Birthday Sam. I love you to the moon and back.


Thanks for stopping by and God bless.

Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

1 Peter 5:7

Happy Birthday, Ethan!

     Twelve years ago, I was blessed with a beautiful and tiny baby boy. He was hungry from the get go. He must've read the book on nursing before he came out because I didn't have to show him what to do!
     For the first eleven months, he was pretty quiet (except for some long crying jags), and didn't really have much personality. Then something happened. . . I don't know what, but he all the sudden was overflowing with character! He developed a sense of humor and loved being the center of attention. Oftentimes he'd do something silly and say, "See dis new tick?" (see this new trick). We never knew what he'd say or do.
     Around the age of two, he developed a licking habit- instead of giving kisses, he gave licks. I recall standing at the Walmart checkout and feeling him lick from one hip and across my bottom to my other hip. I can only wonder what the people in line behind me thought.
     When he was three, he decided that he could no longer wear socks with his shoes. Boy, did his feet stink! He took a stance on this and many other things, and it was usually opposite my opinion.
     At four and a half, he started writing notes to people- with a little help with his spelling. One day he asked for a snack and I told him to wait a little bit. He sat down with a marker and a pen, and after having me spell "Don't" and "Me," he handed me a note that said, "U don't love me." I laughed so hard, then got him a snack.
     I truly could tell you stories about this boy all day long. If you came over to my house, I could sit you down with scrapbooks and show you photos, too.:)

     I like to say that Ethan is like an exclamation mark. He's loud, he gets excited easily, and he's always moving. He's full of enthusiasm and he talks with his whole body.
     I love listening to his stories. I love watching him play his guitar. I love watching his expressions and reactions. I love that he's still a Mama's boy.
     I am so blessed to have this boy in my life. I am so proud of him.
     I love you to the moon and back and to infinity and beyond, Ethan.

     Thank you for stopping by and God bless.

I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him.

1 Samuel 1:27

This post is linked to Be Different Act Normal and I Heart Naptime.

Out of the Office. . . Camping

    Greetings from an East Texas campsite. I'm spending a few days with my handsome fellas over Spring Break, so there won't be a Layout of the Week this week. But tune in tomorrow for another Thrifty Thursday!
     Thanks for stopping by and God bless!

Happy Birthday Sam!

     Today* this beautiful boy turns thirteen!

     It really is hard to believe that he's now a teenager. This is the boy who first made me a mom.  I had a very easy pregnancy with him and a very fast delivery. Twenty-five days before he was due, he decided it was time to make his entrance. I was so nervous about him coming early, but he was so perfect when he was born. He was only 5 lb. 13 oz. So tiny, so beautiful.
     He was such a good baby. He hardly cried- when he needed something, he'd just let out one little "Waaa."
     When he was just five days old, I had to leave him to go to class. I was almost done with nursing school. He was due to come over my winter break and I'd only have one semester to complete my degree. Instead, he came with two weeks left in my second to last semester. One of the hardest things I've ever had to do was leave him to go to school. Tears were streaming down my face. My hubby told me everything would be fine. He worked evening shift, so he was going to be with the baby while I was gone.
     Sam was always such a happy and content baby. As he grew, he would smile on command. I called it his "Cheeser" smile. Whenever we'd say, "Do it again, Sam," he would flash a giant smile. He was such a pretty baby that one time when I took him to the feed store, an older gentleman behind the counter said, "He's too pretty for a boy!"
     He loved cars and trucks. He actually said the word truck before he said Mama. He loved Lincoln Logs, K'nex, and Legos. He could build almost any set we put in front of him. He has always been such a smart boy.
     He learned sign language when he stayed with my mom and sister, so he was able to communicate many ideas before he could even talk.
     He was the only baby on my side of the family, so he got lots of attention.
     When his brother came along, he was totally in love with him. He never had a minute of jealousy. They were buds from the beginning.
      It has been a huge blessing to be home with my boys as they've grown. I wouldn't trade it for a million bucks. I love being there for the good and the bad.
    I love hearing Sam's stories. I love watching him get excited over the things he builds. I love watching him enjoy something funny on tv. I love it when he comes up behind me and gives me a spontaneous hug.
     I am so proud of this boy. I am blessed to call him my son. I love you to the moon and back, Sam.

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.

2 Peter 3:18

 

 

This post is linked to Between Naps on the Porch.
* Sam's b-day is Dec. 1. This was a delayed post.

Happy Halloween!

                                                                     2008

May the force be with you this Halloween.

                                                                       2009

May you stay safe from goblins

                                                                                            2010

and ghouls.

                                                            2011

From our family to yours, we hope you have a happy and safe Halloween!

Thanks for stopping by and God bless.

Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.

Habakkuk 3:18

Boo-tiful Memories

     I want to show you a book that I started years ago. It's a chronicle of my boys in their Halloween costumes. It starts with my older son's first Halloween and goes up to last year. I used an 8"x8" scrapbook.

Every year at this time, we get this book out: Halloween through the years with the Sextons.

 

 

Here's the title page,

and here are a few of the yearly layouts.

 

It only requires a little bit of work one time a year.

 

I usually add three or four photos, a little bit of Halloween themed paper, journaling, and a few embellishments.

 

This is a very simple album idea whether you have a toddler or an older child. You can dig out a couple of old pictures from years past and stick them in a themed album.

 

     I think scrapbooking is such a wonderful way to document memories. I can't tell you how many times my family and I have brought out scrapbooks and laughed and reminisced.

     My children were delightful as toddlers. I never knew what they were going to say. When they would say or do something funny or amazing, I wrote it down- sometimes on a scrap of paper, sometimes on the back of a piece of mail, and sometimes in a notebook. Later on when I made a scrapbook page or mini album, I went to my notes to get the journaling.

     When you're a busy mom, you think you'll remember the cute things your child does, his favorite things, the tv shows he watches, but you don't always. That's why I feel it is so important to write these things down.

     Even if you keep your photos in a photo album, make sure you write down the stories. Get a notebook. Start today. You'll cherish these stories down the road.

     For instance, in this Halloween album, I included silly stories that I wouldn't have remembered without reading them. Like how one Halloween my older son's breath was condensing on the inside of his mask and he kept licking it off and he told me, "Mom, there's something wet on the inside of my mask and it tastes good!" Or the year my boys were Storm Troopers complete with the appropriate weapons, but my younger son had already broken his gun before we even got outside to take pictures. So he just held a pretend gun. Or when my younger son was so little to pose for Halloween photos that we had to put a towel under his rump so he wouldn't slide off the slick chair.

     Sometimes I sit down and read in my notebook of boy stories, and I get to laughing so hard, I almost cry.

     When documenting your memories, you don't have to go overboard, you don't have to be fancy. I'm not. Just get those memories in print. Trust me, you'll be glad you did.


     Thanks for stopping by and God bless.

I will delight myself in Your statutes;

I will not forget Your word.

Psalm 119:16

 

 

This post is linked to Skip to My Lou, Todays Creative Blog, Making the World Cuter, Brassy Apple, Tip Junkie, and Craft-O-Maniac.

Layout of the Week

     Hey Guys, just a quick post today. I'm cancelling the Layout of the Week for this week only due to some rearranging that's being done at our house. My craft space is currently being relocated from our spare bedroom to the master bedroom. This is no easy task as I have a lot of junk crafty stuff.
     Our spare bedroom started out as a nursery. As the boys grew up, they were relocated into the larger bedroom. The nursery became a play room. As they got older, they didn't need as much room to play, so I moved my scrap booking stuff in there and it became my play room. Well, my boys are getting bigger and I feel it's time for them to have their own spaces. So I came up with the overwhelming bright idea to move my roomfull of stuff to a smaller area.
     Like many of my ideas, this plan worked better in my head. I now have some of my stuff in the master bedroom. I still have half a room full of stuff in the extra bedroom. Some stuff has even trickled into the living room. I hate messes and dissarray, so this slow process is driving me crazy and it's cutting into my crafting time.
     The rest of my weekly features here on the blog will not be affected. I will be back next week with a scrap booking tutorial and maybe even a photo of my new work space! In the meantime, stay crafty, my friends!
     Thanks for stopping by and God bless.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering,

kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

Gal. 5:22-23

Experiencing Technical Difficulties. . .

     Hi Guys, due to technical difficulties with ye 'ol computer, the layout of the week will be postponed until next Wednesday. We're running Clean PC as we speak.
     
     Hopefully things will be back in order for me to show you my thrifty treasures tomorrow!:)

     Here's a little story for you. My boys were invited by a friend to go see the new Batman movie last week. They had a great time and were full of stories when they got home. The next day, my younger son Ethan was talking in a gravelly "Batman" voice and wanted to know why Bruce Wayne talked normally, but Batman talked in a different voice. I told him it was probably part of Bruce Wayne's alter ego. Ethan continued speaking in his "Batman" voice throughout the day. Later as he stood next to me folding laundry and constantly talking with his new voice, I had had enough. I asked him to stop talking like that. He looked at me and said, "Why, is it scaring you?"

     Thanks for stopping by and God bless.

Happy Birthday Ethan!

Today, this delightful boy turns 11 years old.

Eleven years ago today, two weeks before my due date, I woke up knowing that I would be giving birth that day. Seven hours later, I was holding a precious, tiny bundle in my arms. He had a cowlick on the right side of his forehead, a tiny button nose, and he was ready to eat right away. He was perfect. I was in love.

For the first year of his life, he had a quiet personality, prone to bouts of crying for no reason. And he looked like an angel- a very well-fed angel. He was very loving and gave everybody big wet kisses. He loved music and would dance in rhythm to whatever music was playing. He would play with his plastic blocks, but instead of building with them, he would use one as a bat and one as a ball and whack them all over the living room. It was really quite impressive that he had such good timing for a baby.

Right before he turned one, he turned into quite a character!  He loved catching his older brother in a headlock with his big meaty thighs. He loved to throw things. He loved to wrestle. He loved to eat and thought he had to eat whenever anybody else was eating. He really loved balls and monkeys.

There were times he gave me a hard time and I would get so frustrated, but now I look back at them with a smile. Like when he was one and he decided that he no longer liked to sit in water for his bath. So I had to put a stool in the tub for him to sit on so that only his feet would be in the water. Or when he was three and needed to wear jeans to preschool on the first cool day of fall. I put them on him and he said, "These shorts are too long." It took quite a bit of convincing him to wear them. Or when he started kindergarten and informed me that it was not the place for him- that he'd rather stay home with me.

I remember him getting so upset with me because I wouldn't strap him to our plastic basketball goal with a rocket and shoot him in the air. I remember finding a bird wing in the boys' playroom. I remember getting poked with a plastic sword through the head rest in the car. I remember not being fast enough to pick up his gum that had fallen to the floor in a store before he had it back in his mouth. I remember watching him swan dive onto the floor at McDonalds instead of jumping to his feet.

The stories are endless. The memories are priceless. I am so blessed to call this boy my son.
Happy Birthday Ethan! I love you to the moon and back.

Thrifty Thursday #24

     Hey Guys! Hope you all had a nice Fouth of July and got to spend it with loved ones. When I took my younger son out to the fireworks store (and spent more than I had planned!), one of my usual thrifting haunts was open- surprisingly on a holiday. Naturally, I had to stop for a quick visit.

I found this beautiful serving bowl for $.75. I fell in love with it. Once I got it home, I noticed that it says Arcopal, France on the bottom. I plan to Google it to make sure it's microwave safe. 

If you've read my blog at all, you probably know that I LOVE cute little China plates. Normally, I keep add them to my collection of dessert plates, but I have something else planned for these guys. Be watching in the next week for a project using these.:)

The one with gold trim on the right was only a dime. There were 1 or 2 more just like these that I wish I had picked up.

I got this old edger for my hubby. Quite a bargain at only $1!

And finally, I just wanted to share my favorite photo from last night. My two favorite boys watching fireworks.

Thanks for stopping by and God bless.

God's arm is not too short to reach

Isiah 59:1

This post is linked to

On My Craft Table Now

     Today I've got an update on my monthly album. I'll be honest- I had gotten a little behind on keeping it up to date. It's so much easier if I'll just sit down at the end of the month with my photos and calendar and get this done. Anyway, I'm caught up and this is what it looks like.

Some of the photos are wallet size and some were 4"x6" that I cropped.

 I try to fit as many photos as I can on each layout. This album helps me to take more photos- I grab my camera more often. For the journaling, I just make a list of what we did during the month (for example: March 14-went to the beach, March 23- family birthday party for Dad). Very easy and very quick.

 Because of the envelopes, there's room for extra photos- see the piece of pattern paper sticking out on the left. I also place other things in the envelopes like our church newsletters and invitations or announcements that we've received during the month.

This album is such an easy project. You prepare it ahead of time by using six pieces of pattern paper and alternating them with six 12"x9" envelopes that are cut in half. Once you place them in the album, each layout needs a journaling strip (I used ledger paper that I cut to size) and the month placed on there with stamps or stickers. The background doesn't need to be fancy or busy because it will wind up getting covered with photos. You can bind it all with office rings.

This is a nice style to use with vacation photos as well. All those envelopes have lots of room for travelling mementos.

My family and I just got back from a three day camping trip at the Frio River. My, it is beautiful there! You can see clear down to the bottom of the river! Rivers aren't like that where we live. We fished, swam, and floated the river. We had the best time:)

Thank you for stopping by and God bless.

The Lord has done great things for us and we are filled with joy.

Psalm 126:3

 This post is linked to At the Picket Fence and Get Outta My Head Please

Notebooks Made from Vinyl Records

     I hope everybody had a nice and relaxing Memorial Day. I would like to thank all those who have served our great country.

     My hubby took our boys to see a movie today, so I used the quiet time to try to clean up my craft space. I was hoping I could make some progress in an hour, but it wound up taking me three. I do have to say that it was worth the time; I now have some table space to work on!
     While I was cleaning, I found this project that I started, but hadn't finished,so I took a few minutes to complete it so I could share it with you guys. It's a notebook with a vinyl record for a cover.

I cut a piece of chipboard for the back cover to 5 1/2"x 8", trimmed some graph paper (used a regular paper trimmer on the graph paper and chipboard cover), then cut my record to the right size (using a box cutter, ruler, and lot's of muscle. Important: place something beneath the record such as a cutting board as you don't cut your table. Also, it will take many swipes with the blade before the record cuts.). For the first one, I bound it with my Bind-It-All.

This is what the inside looks like. I chose graph paper because I thought it would make a unique notebook.

For the second one, I wanted to show you another way to bind it just in case you don't have a Bind-It-All and want to make a notebook like this. I used my Crop-A-Dile to punch the holes in the record and inside pages, then used office rings to bind it.

I think I like this one better.
You could also use the album cover and trim it for the notebook cover- or use it as the back cover with a record as the front cover. This option allows you to add or remove pages.
As you may have guessed, I got the records, the graph paper, and even my Crop-A-Dile at the thrift store!

On another note, we went fishing on Saturday and my oldest son, Sam, caught this monster bass. He was so tickled. He wasn't looking forward to going, so I'm glad he caught the first (and biggest) fish of the night.

This little ball of trouble is my younger son, Ethan. He LOVES to go fishing. He has quite a competitive nature and takes his fishing very seriously. I love watching him reel a fish in- he gets so excited!

     Thank you all for stopping by and God bless.

     This post is linked to Brassy Apple, My Girlish Whims, and Craft-O-Maniac.




 

Birthday boy

This beautiful boy turned 11 today. It was not that long ago when he followed me around chattering to me with his little chipmunk voice and drinking out of a sippy cup. Now he won't even give me a kiss in front of school anymore. Where does the time go?

He is such a blessing to our family. He's very good natured, easily entertained, very bright, and has a wonderful sense of humor. God was smiling when He gave us this bundle of joy. I say prayers of thanks everyday for this boy- and his brother, of course.

On another note, one of my favorite blogs, "Today's Creative Blog" has "Get Your Craft On" Tuesdays. I linked up one of my projects. You can check the blog out here: www.todayscreativeblog.net

This blog rocks!!! Nearly everyday a different creative blog is featured. For a blog surfing fanatic like me, this is superb!

Quality time

Three against one- the boys and the dog wrestling with their daddy. Don't know who was having the most fun. Love this photo.

hilarious!

These boys just crack me up. The other day while driving in the car, Sam, my older son, asked, "Dad, how do blind people drive?" Before we could even answer him, his younger brother Ethan very seriously said, "Sam! That's why they have the dogs!!!"

He was serious. I explained that is not what seeing eye dogs are for.

I don't know if I have ever laughed so hard at those boys!