Can God really do anything????

Just tonight I was telling Kaylee - "sugar and spice and all things nice" is what little girls are made of. And boys - "frogs, snails, and puppy dogs' tails" . . . . . . . she looked up at me and ask "How does God do that??" I had to laugh.

Yesterday, Kaylee had a helium balloon outside - with many firm warnings that on a windy day it wasn't a good idea. The balloon wiggled its way to freedom and was soon out of sight above the trees. She cried - it was her daddy's birthday balloon. I reassured her that it was gone for good, we couldn't get it back and we'd never see it again. Then she dried up the tears and very seriously asked me to pray that Jesus would bring back her balloon. My response was negative - that wasn't exactly possible.

She said "but mommy, you just told me that God could do ANYTHING." (Leave it to a child to remind you of deep spiritual truths). I swallowed hard and prayed a simple prayer that Jesus would reward a child's faith (since I was seriously lacking in faith just then). :-)

I am really tempted to be the answer to her prayer by going to the balloon shop and getting her another one - - - but I think I'll just wait . . . :-)

Valentine's

HE LOVES ME!!!

And I Love him!!!

(purple is my favorite color)

My new hobby . . .

Well, I can't believe that a whole month has past since I blogged last. We are gearing up for the TN Bible Methodist's Youth Retreat this week end. Our church here in Ethridge is hosting the event this year. Todd is planning to spend Friday night at the gym with the teenage boys and I have opened our home up for some of the girls. We don't have a number of how many yet, but I have agreed to take up to 14 girls for over night - (oh what was I thinking?!?) I will try to let you know if we survive the night - we're not so young as we used to be. ;-)

I also might mention that we have been having some really great services at our church. We have had several visitors in the last month - and that is always encouraging! Our pastor, Bro. Wes, is really pouring his heart into his messages and I believe that God is really using him.

ANYWAY - on to what I was originally going to blog about - my new hobby. I have been trying my hand at a new craft called TAGGIES.

It’s a TAGGIE! Based on the idea that babies and kids
love to rub satin edges, clothing labels and tags.

Promotes motor skills and sensory stimulation.

Makes a great gift babies and toddlers alike
-the perfect gift for any occasion.

My new venture - 'Buttons, Bobbins, & Beyond'

The taggies are made soft fleece - one side solid and the other print.

The ribbons on the edges are satin solids or various prints and textures.

The Pooh print - various scenes of the Hundred Acre Wood friends

Yellow rubber ducky with aqua/blue - my favorite!

The taggies are approx. 11x11 (plus the ribbons). They are great size for travel, church or bed. The cozy fleece is comforting to cuddle with and your baby or toddler will enjoy many hours with their unique 'Taggie. I have some other prints/patterns that I hope to have finished soon.

This idea began around Christmas - when I made some taggies for my kids. I am selling these items locally and also some on ebay. Anything to make a few extra dollars while staying at home with my kids. It has been an enjoyable project so far. In the near future I hope to venture into sewing embroidery.

Christmas . . .

A few pictures of the kids on Christmas morning.

Kaylee with new apron. She loves to help mommy in the kitchen.

Kaylee with her new play food set.

This riding tractor was for all the kids but you might imagine that Matthew liked it the best.

Later on Christmas day - at the Grandma & Papa Stinebrickner's. This was the first for the Stinebrickner cousins to be together. Kaylee is holding baby Nicholas.

Julie & William , baby Nicholas (2mo)

We had a really good day! Having kids this age make Christmas very fun and exciting. The only negative was missing my family in PA. (But hopefully we will get to visit them soon.)

Snow, snow, snow . . .

It was a great day in Tennessee when we got 3 inches of snow. But almost better than getting that snow was the fact that it stayed around for about 24 hrs. It seems that we always get snow and then it warms up and disappears within a few hours. The kids had a blast as you can see!

This hill behind Grandma Stinebrickner's house was just the perfect size for the kids (and for me). I never liked sledding that much considering that most of what I remember growing up was sledding on the PV hill. That hill, as many of you know, is very steep, long and dangerous. I much preferred ice skating as a winter sport. ;-)

Erin was so funny. She would run down the hill after the kids in the sleds. When they bailed at the bottom, she'd climb in and get a ride back to the top. (She's no dummy!)

Grandma Stinebrickner with Kaylee, Erin, & Matthew.

Christmas decorations . . .

The following pictures are being posted because SOMEONE wants to see my Christmas decorations.


I DO NOT claim to have any artistic decorating ability. Our tree looks rather sad at times since it has be decorated, and re-decorated, and re-decorated, and re-decorated (you get the idea?) by the kids.


Close up of the ribbon and red poinsettias.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!!!!

Pictures of this and that . . .

This Thanksgiving we were blessed to have a house full of family and friends to share the day. As always around here, we had plenty to eat.






Kaylee caught getting into the candy cupboard. (One special memory from Grandma & Grandpa Brown's house was the candy cupboard. Guess that's why I have one now.)

Matthew's new facination right now is Christmas lights. Loves to plug them in and hopefully they work. He had found this tangled mess of lights and needed Papa's help fixing them.

Erin - such a delightful child - trying to be just like Mommy!

Good friends! Recently had a sleep-over.

Not sure how Matthew ended up in the middle of story time?!?