Spring Break with Elaine

Guess where I am at?  I am in Virginia Beach with Elaine.  Oh yes, Ben and Andrea are still here too!  I arrived yesterday.  I think I almost  cried when I saw Andrea with Elaine…she has grown since Christmas and she is so smiley!!  It was so nice to wake up (even though a bit early) to her sweet little noises. 
She’s a pretty happy baby ! 

Andrea and I took Elaine for a walk in the pram today.  Wally bought this pram for me.  We had just  found out that Andrea was on the way when Wally left for England ahead of me.  He was in the Air force and living in the barracks.  I like to picture him rolling the pram down the hallway and into his room after he purchased it and before he had housing so I could join him.

When Andrea announced she was pregnant Wally dug it out and and had the upholstery redone.  He cleaned all the stainless steel up and even sent away to Germany for new rubber for the wheels!  What fun to push it again today with Elaine !

When we returned from our walk, Andrea was playing the piano.  What a joy to listen as she practiced some Easter arrangements for Sunday.  What a flashback to what seems not so very long ago when she was learning to play the piano!  When she left for college, it was something I missed a lot…oh how the time does fly!  I laid there on the couch playing with Elaine thinking I am a spoiled grandma!  But I know I am really very blessed!

Cards on Parade

Well, if you won’t mind too much, I made some more cards and want to post them.  I recently bought a new embossing  folder and Sizzix die  with those good old coupons from Michaels and JoAnn’s.  I really like the Sizzix lilac die.

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      When I bought the embossing folder I had in mind to use it with some music note dies I already had.  I like the first attempt!

                  

                      A Baby Boy card I made to go with a  gift.      

                          

                      This is the inside.  I love the little feet!                        

                            

               And lastly, an encouragement card for a friend.

                         

     “For I, the Lord your God will hold your right hand, saying to you, Fear not, I will help you.”  Isaiah 41:13

Spring Time in the Rockies

                 

I remember there used to be a commercial for a hairspray called “white rain”. I’m not sure if it is still a product, but I think we get white rain in Colorado every spring!  Ok it might be snow, but it is very wet and when it goes away we have  “green” underneath!  Just last week I took down my “Let It Snow” sign and and put out my “Think Spring” sign.  Two days later we had 11” of white rain on the ground!  

                    

Easter is Coming

I love this poem.  You might have read it before.  The author is not given.   I put it out each year to help me focus on what Easter truly is about.

What if

this year at Easter

I put all the bunnies to the side,

forgot about the chocolates

and not a single egg I’d hide .

I wouldn’t fill an Easter basket

but instead fill up my mind

with sweet thoughts of that

Easter morn

and a man no one could find.

I think that that I might sympathize

with Thomas who had to feel

the nail holes in his Savior’s hands

to know that he was real.

And that is when I think that God

would help my heart to see

what Easter really means to Him

and what it means for me.

Last week I put out my Easter decorations which includes   my Easter tree.  It also helps me know what Easter means for me.

                 

I made this quite a few years ago when the kids were still little.  As I was hanging the ornaments this year the thought struck me (again) that God is just so very good. This simple tree and home made ornaments helped me teach my kids the meaning of Easter.  I’m not sure if it was impacting to them in some great way or just another affirmation that this is what Easter is about.  But I am grateful that God takes our efforts and does the unseen work in the heart.  When I put put the tree this year it was just me, no kids. But it is still teaching and reminding me just how much God loves us. I John 4:10, “This is love:  not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His son as an atoning sacrifice for sins.”

  The idea is from the book, “Family Celebrations at Easter” by Ann ,  Hibbard.  ( There is also a book for Christmas)  In the book, there are directions for making the tree and patterns for the ornaments.  It includes daily Bible readings with discussion questions and even hymns to sing for each reading.  All the work is done for you!  Check it out if you’re interested.

As I was looking at the ornaments, I was struck at how well the Easter story was covered.

This one is sweet just because I see the scribbles.  Someone was still pretty small when we made these ornaments.

Some of the ornaments depict some wonderful spiritual truths, like servanthood.   Jesus humbled Himself  and washed the dirty feet of His disciples, leaving them, and us,  with the picture to love and serve one another.

How about the truth that when Jesus died for our sins on the cross, it was God’s perfect plan.  He was reaching out to all mankind to restore the relationship that sin had broken.

 

Our sin was destroyed on the cross.  I no longer have to wear my own dirty sinfulness. Instead I have the righteousness of Jesus!  He actually took my dirty, unfit rags and gave to me His righteousness!  There is nothing I could ever do to purchase or to earn that righteousness.

II Corinthians 5:21  “For He (God) made Him (Jesus) who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him”

I hope you have a Blessed Easter, not just on Easter, but beginning today!

And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them. Psalm 139:16

Written beside this verse in my Bible is the date, March 6, 2005. March 6 is the birth date of my friend's son. But in 2005, the day after his 18th birthday Jonathan stepped into the arms of Jesus. It hardly seems possible that five years have past. I’m sure my friend thought she would never make it past five days. But not only has she made it, she has been a wonderful testimony of the goodness of God. She turned to the Word of God out of desperation in her loss, her many unanswered questions and “what if’” thoughts. Today I see in my friend the result of clinging to the Lord, it is, “Jesus Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:27).

This is the card that I made and sent to my friend.

Scrappy Days

 

Isn’t this cute?  It’s a make-n-take kit that my CM consultant put together using the Walk in My Garden Cricut Cartridge.  I am going to use this layout for my pictures of the gardens at the Biltmore Estate.

 

I made these two cards last night using an idea in my “CardMaker” magazine that came this week.

  

The inside of each card has this Happy Birthday greeting