Have a great day!

Happy Wednesday! This week is going super slow so I'm glad to finally be at Wednesday. Today I get to go purchase the paint for my craft room...woohoo! AND, I think we are going to get the table tops/organizing "stuff" from IKEA. Oh, and I'm looking at a new window covering too. Not sure what color to go with on that but we'll see.

Okay, onto the card. What do you think? I used lots of colors and patterns on this card which I don't normally do but I kinda like it. The sentiment is simple and something that can be used for several occasions. Oh, and it is for a sketch challenge HERE. When I need a sketch and the sketch from CPS, Mojo Monday, or one of the other more popular challenges won't work for my image I like to go to Allison's blog as she has challenges listed there everyday. It is a great list!

Alright, I'm off to start my day. I hope your Wednesday is wonderful! See ya all soon!

Easter Baskets

Happy Tuesday everyone! I had a fun day yesterday. We went shopping for the new flooring and light fixture for my soon to be craft room. We came home with some flooring but couldn't get the light fixture from the Lowe's in our neighboring town. I can't seem to purchase it online either so I'm not sure what I'm going to do at this point. Such a tough life I have, huh? Teehee!

I just thought I'd share with you the Easter baskets that I made for Jon and Kyler this Easter. They were super simple, origami folded baskets. I found the directions for it HERE. The super cute bunny behind is from the same blog and you can find the directions HERE. I bought the super fun basket and egg punch online. I honestly didn't think I'd use it this year due to the fact fact that I just received the punch a couple of days prior to Easter but I think it looks like the bunny just dropped the basket and is leaving. The approximate size of the baskets is 4"x4". Not too much candy and not too little...perfect!

Anyway, I used a full sheet of 12x12 Close to Cocoa cardstock for the basket. The patterned paper is From The Nines (I think). Both the boys really liked them but I suppose that could have been the candy inside too.

So, onto the How To Pray For Your Children for today. I want to mention that I think I'll do these once a week, on Tuesday, from this point forward. This way you can take that entire week to pray specifically in the way that I've told you about for your children. I hope you are all enjoying this little series. I'll re-cap first and then tell you about this week's prayer focus...

How To Pray For Your Children. Week 4 of 12...
1. Pray that they will know Christ as Savior early in life.
2. Pray that they will have a hatred for sin.
3. Pray that they will be caught when guilty.
4. Pray that they will be protected from the evil one in each area of their lives: Spiritual, Emotional, and Physical. (John 17:15) I hope that you will take a quick moment to read the John scripture I linked you to because it really is excellent. I often pray that my children will have a good sense of humor. We all know that kids are up against so many bad, evil if you will, things and for them to be able to see the humor in situations is a wonderful character for them to have.

Alright everyone...I hope that you will have a super wonderful Tuesday!

What's for Dinner Tonight?

Happy Monday! I hope that you had just an amazing Easter! Our church service was wonderful and our lunch was yummy!

I thought this Lemon Pasta looked delish so I decided to share the recipe with you. I would probably add some chicken with it added just a couple of Weight Watchers points.

If you get a chance to try this let me know how you like it! Have a wonderful day!

LEMON PASTA

POINTS® Value: 6
Servings: 4
Preparation Time: 10 min
Cooking Time: 11 min
Level of Difficulty: Easy

We revamped this classic by replacing heavy cream with an egg. The dish is light and lemony, a fantastic quick meal.

Ingredients
8 oz uncooked whole-wheat spaghetti
2/3 Tbsp unsalted butter, or 2 teaspoons
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 cup(s) canned chicken broth, or less as needed
1 large egg(s), beaten
1/3 cup(s) grated Parmesan cheese
3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice, or to taste
2 1/2 tsp lemon zest, or to taste
1/2 tsp table salt, or to taste
1/4 tsp black pepper, freshly ground, or to taste
1/4 cup(s) parsley, fresh, minced
Instructions

* Cook pasta according to directions; drain and set aside.

* Add butter and oil to pasta pot; melt over medium-low heat. Add broth; stir and heat through about 1 minute.

* Remove pot from heat and add pasta, egg and cheese; toss well so egg coats pasta. Add lemon juice and zest; toss well. Season to taste with salt and pepper; sprinkle with parsley. Yields about 1 cup per serving.

Notes

* You’ll need 1 medium lemon for the zest and juice.

Salvation Is Here

HE IS RISEN!

Utah Diva's Sketch Challenge

Welcome to another week of UDI's Sketch Challenge! Since today is Saturday I bet you didn't think I'd have anything to say about Holy Week, right? Wrong. Think about this today. Today is the day Jesus lay in the tomb. He couldn't have risen if he wasn't dead, right? Today is the proof of his death. A day in the tomb.

HERE is the sketch. There is a twist on the sketch and it is called iris folding but I had no idea what it is and frankly when I saw it I had no interest in doing it so I went without the challenge. This card is made with the stamp set Messages for Mom from the Occasions Mini. I used Cottage Wall designer series paper and the butterflies were made with that paper ran through my Big Shot with the Beautiful Wings Embosslit. Oh, the sentiment is from Well Scripted. Do you think I like that set? I use it an awful lot, don't I? I think this card will be just lovely to send to one of my girlfriends, don't you?

To move along in the little blog circle we have going you will hop on over to Max's blog. She always has something wonderful so go check it out!

How to Pray for your Children, Day 3 of 12:
1. Pray that they will know Christ as Savior early in life.
2. Pray that they will have a hatred for sign.
3. Pray that they will be caught when guilty. (Psalm 119:71) The only thing I have to say here is wouldn't you rather your children be caught doing something now instead of when they are adults? Those times will be excellent teaching moments!

Only one more day ladies! I can't wait for tomorrow!

Good Friday

Morning everyone. Today is the day the world changed, did ya know that? Oh, yes...it is Good Friday. The day Jesus died for our sins. An incredible sacrifice. I just want you to know that if you read my blog and don't understand my belief I would love to talk with you about it. Just send me an e-mail and we'll chat.

Today's project is just a cute little box that I'll use to give a friend a little gift on Easter. She gave up sugar for Lent. I thought I'd give her some yummy sweets on Sunday...this box will work perfectly! I was, literally, just thinking that I have another friend that gave up desserts so I think I'll make another box for her, too. I just used So Saffron Cardstock with some patterned paper from the Pawsitively Prints designer series paper pack. The sentiment is from the stamp set, Well Scripted. A couple of punches gave me the "flower" in the center. Very easy and honestly I really liked putting together this box...it was fun and isn't that a key in stamping? Having fun?

Alright, onto day 2 of How To Pray For Your Children.

#1 was Pray that they will know Christ as Savior early in life.

#2 is pray that they will have a hatred for sin. (Psalm 97:10). More than just a hatred for sin but a recognition of sin. We are always teaching our children to say please and thank you and to be kind to others. Might I suggest that we also teach them to guard themselves from sin before it happens. Yes, this concept is difficult for little children but as they grow you can start teaching them to recognize sin and to make the decision to remove themselves from the situation before they are engaged in the activity or thought. More than just talking with them about this, model the behavior you wish to see. For example I was watching a couple of TV shows that I found I was obsessing about and really, they were not the type of thing I should be watching (not much is now a days) so I completely stopped watching them. When my boys bring it up I just tell them that those shows were not appropriate (I had to send my youngest away from the room while I watched it...that should have been a clue) and I was placing too much value on watching them so, I was done with them. I don't know that the kids get the idea right now but I believe they will in the future.

Anyway, many blessing to you on Good Friday!

Two-Step Bird Punch

Woop! It is Thursday! Tonight Todd and I will be attending our church's Maundy Thursday service. It is a service that commemorates Jesus' Last Supper. We've never attended before so I'm not sure what to expect but I do know that we will receive Communion (Eucharist). I'm am very interested in what our Pastor's sermon will be about.

Before that, however, I'll be at Care Net and I hope to find some time to dye eggs with Kyler between Care Net and the service. I hope I'm not over planning!

Today's card was made with Techno Stamper's sketch challenge from this week. I'm not sure why but when I first saw the sketch I knew I would want to make a card with it. In fact, I've had it up on my computer each day so far this week so I would remember to make a card.

Anyway, I used the Two Step Bird Punch from the Occasions Mini Catalog along with Sweet Pea Paper from the same mini. I think the splash of Taken With Teal really is striking and makes the bird/branch really pop. What do you guys think? I was happy to find a sentiment to fit in the middle square. We all need more thank you sentiments, right?

I received a wonderful list of scripture from a friend of mine titled How To Pray For Your Children and I thought I would share one each day over the next couple of weeks. I hope you will enjoy it. Feel free to leave any comments about this feature!

Pray that they will know Christ as Savior early in life. (Psalm 63:1 and 1 Timothy 3:15). I would suggest that you pray that not only will they trust Christ as their Savior early in life but for their own savior, not because you trust in Christ or tell them they should but because they trust that Jesus died and then rose again for them. This may seem like a no brainer but if you are anything like me sometimes a friend has to ask...have you prayed about that before it even occurs to me to do so. Remember God wants to hear all of our prayers...big or small. And really...this is big.

Well, I hope that you see all of God's little miracles today!