hodge podge   January 31, 2010

hello and happy sunday!
hope you all had a fabulous weekend:)
aside from the laundry, cleaning, and regular house stuff, we had a full and fun weekend:)
daddy had to go out of town for a church seminar.
while daddy was away, we:

painted, danced, celebrated our birthdays all over again, and danced some more!

we also:

baked some raspberry pretzel hugs, oh yum!

we took photographs of mommy’s rocio rockets’ challenge this month:

for january, we needed to:
add paint, felt [does velvet count?], bling, and glimmer.
3 out of 4 isn’t bad right? LOL

and for the cards, we made some thank yous:

and then used them right away for our xmas thank yous!

and last but not least, this is a layout that i did for a becky fleck sketch:

this is featuring basic grey’s sugar rush collection…yum!

we also:
enjoyed a girl night out with the brownies, at their songfest event!
had a fun visit from grandparents
created a beautiful class by debby schuh
soaked in all my girltime during class and over a delish dinner + dessert!
caught up and relaxed with hubby
back to church as a family of four
took a fabulous cardio sculpt class
toured another preschool- top choice for all so far!
had a pretty uneventful dinner out, yippee!

and off to create cards or clean my scrap stuff…

happy sunday all!

Merry Christmas!   December 25, 2009

from our home to yours…
and Happy Birthday Jesus!!!

the bell.   December 23, 2009

i stumbled across this, while blog hopping…

THE BELL
I KNOW WHO I AM
I am God’s child (John 1:12)
I am Christ’s friend (John 15:15 )
I am united with the Lord (1 Cor. 6:17)
I am bought with a price (1 Cor 6:19-20)
I am a saint (set apart for God). (Eph. 1:1)
I am a personal witness of Christ. (Acts 1:8)
I am the salt & light of the earth (Matt 5:13-14)
I am a member of the body of Christ (1 Cor 12:27)
I am free forever from condemnation ( Rom. 8: 1-2)
I am a citizen of Heaven. I am significant (Phil 3 :20)
I am free from any charge against me (Rom. 8:31 -34)
I am a minister of reconciliation for God (2 Cor 5:17-21)
I have access to God through the Holy Spirit (Eph. 2:18)
I am seated with Christ in the heavenly realms (Eph. 2:6)
I cannot be separated from the love of God (Rom 8:35-39)
I am established, anointed, sealed by God (2 Cor 1:21-22 )
I am assured all things work together for good (Rom. 8:28 )
I have been chosen and appointed to bear fruit (John 15:16 )
I may approach God with freedom and confidence (Eph.. 3: 12 )
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Phil. 4:13 )
I am the branch of the true vine, a channel of His life (John 15: 1-5)
I am God’s temple (1 Cor. 3: 16). I am complete in Christ (Col. 2: 10)
I am hidden with Christ in God (Col. 3:3).. I have been justified (Romans 5:1)
I am God’s co-worker (1 Cor. 3:9; 2 Cor 6:1). I am God’s workmanship (Eph. 2:10)
I am confident that the good works God has begun in me will be perfected. (Phil. 1: 5)
I have been redeemed and forgiven ( Col 1:14). I have been adopted as God’s child (Eph 1:5)
I belong to God
Do you know
Who you are?

many blessings,
erin

my heart is f u l l . . .   November 8, 2009

for so many, many reasons.
friday, i was invited over to a dear friend’s to scrap:) i always enjoy time with her, she is such a love:) pure heart. generous. supportive. was all prepared to work on some MLS assignments for next month, until another friend arrived. and she, being the amazingly talented girl that she is, simply blew us away.
she attended CE with me, along with four other dear friends. think carol wingert + vintage + christmas. i’ll share photos soon:) thank you so very much, rocio, what a generous and creative gift you are! after we wrapped up that session, i did tackle the start of mls…and i’ll be sharing that soon as well.
saturday, my dh took care of our two lil ones, including dishes, laundry + potty training, while i made a trip up to oakland’s childrens hospital to visit with tanner’s mom, my friend i’ve known since kinder, and one who i cherish dearly. we had grown apart from eachother’s daily worlds, since her move to reno. and kept in touch over the years as our children grew. and that time with her…there are just no words. there were no judgments. no doubts. nothing but embraces, love, understanding, smiles and tears. she is so grounded in her faith, and threw out the why me? when her son was diagnosed with this rare JXG disease a year and a half ago, and has strengthened her walk with Him daily through the toughest decisions a young mother would ever have to face for her dear son. my respect for her has grown, and while the Lord has chosen to take many of my own babies up their to heaven with him, the time spent with wendy only validated why you can NEVER ask why me? and i thank Him daily for trusting my dh and i with our two miracles, miss e and miss m right now:)
after some lunch and rest time, it was time to get all pretty for our xmas photo shoot with my talented friend, krista. we chose to wear non traditional colors, and i just cannot wait to see how the shoot turned out! we met up in ohlone park and it was a bit chilly, but gorgeous out! thank you krista for taking time away from your precious family to be with mine:)
we had some yummy chicken, rice, and fruit…before dh and the girls headed out to a basketball ice cream social, complete with bouncy houses, face painting, balloon animals and just running around with friends! what a trooper dh, they had a ball! my mom friends threw me a lil bday get together…and i had no idea how much some of us have in common. they are all so unique, strong, independent, and beautiful ladies i am honored to call my friends:) thank you so much, k, for opening up your beautiful home for us!
today, we enjoyed early service, sunday school and bible study. and had a yummy togo’s feast, and then chillaxed!!! and i got a much needed nap in, given sat’ party went til the wee hours of the mornin- 2am was it? miss m and i hung out and got alot of laundry done and some dancing and coloring while dh and sister went to basketball. and we met my parents, brother and his fiance at our fave spot for my bday dinner.

once we were home, and the girls were in bed, i found an email from my cousin about a little boy named noah:

he has been battling cancer since he was 3 years old. he is now 5, and the drs say he will not make it until xmas. when asked what he would like for xmas, all he wanted were cards. he is trying to get 1000 of them. if you are so inclined, please send noah a little love, encouragement and hope for his xmas party that his parents are throwing him this weekend:

Noah Biorkman
1141 Fountain View Circle
South Lyon, MI 48178

and i’ll leave you with this photo:

taken by krista, during our first shoot with her in january.
x0×0 + blessings,
erin

an amazing day…   November 4, 2009

for this little boy, tanner bertauche! loving Him, and loving you, tan tan!

please, please, take a moment to pray for him, his drs, and all health care providers at oakland’s childrens hospital:)

blessings,

erin

our community.   October 1, 2009

driving home today, from dance, i started thinking about how blessed we are to have the community we do:

this past week;
monday, while running errands, ran into two women i met scrapbooking over 4 years ago, and hadn’t seen since. it was like running into an old friend, yet realistically, we had cropped maybe twice together that long ago.
had a great speech meeting, and appreciate how far we have come with the resources available. even though our current therapist is our 4th, miss m is doing amazingly well, and has no delays anymore! and i know if we have problems down the road, that i can call 3 friends who have similar issues and can get a referral in a heartbeat if needed.
ran into more moms from school with older siblings and caught a glimpse of what life is like there.
a dear friend sent a sweet card, just because. so, i did the same x 3.
miss m had a low grade fever and cough, so she stayed home from swimming.
miss e and i had a great time! she has come a long way, and we chatted it up with two friends there, from different areas in our life.

tuesday: miss m and i ran some errands, and saw our favorite bagger at the grocery store, who just adores her. and vice versa. the nice lady at the bakery handed her a cookie, oh yum! so, we picked up some more to bring to teachers at school, current and past:)
miss m had a GREAT speech session, and that always allows me time to catch up on laundry:)
we were laying low, seeing how she was, and just had lunch inside, and then she took a big nap!
miss e greeted us with a giant smile, she had a great time at school, specifically with science! love our science teachers!
miss e then started and finished all 12 remaining pages of her homework, and was very proud of herself! granted she didn’t have to turn it in until today, she is that excited about homework and school, GOTTA love that!

wednesday: both girls in school, and i get to spend those 3 hours with a very sweet baby! oh, what a love she is! while running errands, we ran into a dear friend r, who had just returned from teresa collins’ event in vegas! sounds like quite the gathering. and she was happy. full. inspired. just like we all were, when we returned from CE. so what it is about!!!
spoke with a dear friend, had her and her family in our prayers…thankfully, they were answered!
miss n brought a wonderful salad for lunch, and miss m crashed again…must be going through a growth spurt! she slept in the car, wasn’t going to attempt the transfer, and then, slept while picking up emi, driving over to emi’s class, and didn’t wake up until i had to to get miss e to class on time! marathon nap over 3 1/2 hours for miss m, who definitely needed it! she had a ball in playcare, while i chatted with another mom friend while we watched our girls do all kinds of fun tricks at class! daddy cooked dinner and mopped the floor and cleaned our bathrooms for us. thank you dh!
we had a ball with the wiggles dvd and reading before bedtime! i started and finished OCTOBER’s MLS assignments, i’ll be sharing soon!

thursday: since i had stayed up too late working on assignments, i was tired. shame on mommy, i was on such a roll getting to bed early, too.
miss m and i ran a bunch more errands, found costumes on sale and deals for school gear at 60% off for next year, and then we just hung out at home. played on the bike, scooter, trike, and with bubbles, and then our cousins came over for a yummy lunch playdate! my cousin and i caught up and had a great lunch while the two played trains and danced to the wiggles:)
after school, we were invited to join friends for some fro yo, and i just LOVE that miss e truly lights up when she plays with k and j! she hugs them when she sees them and the three of them are so very excited to have another playdate coming up! miss e had dance later this afternoon, so after miss m ran around with their brothers and hopped laps of my mom friends, we packed it up. my girlfriend’s salon is next to miss e’s dance studio, so after class, we got a quick trim since bball photos and school photos are coming up!

and my dh has been seriously killin me the past few nights. he is on a roll, soo funny:) love you dh, love you girls, love you dear friends, love you school, love love love our community.

blessings,
erin

happy easter!   April 12, 2009

He is risen!

Good Friday   April 10, 2009

Gracious Father,
as I sit in this Your house of prayer, I ask that You send me Your Holy Spirit.
Move me, by Your Word that I may walk through Tenebrae with my Savior.
Remind me of His passion and the great cost He paid for my eternal salvation.
In His name I ask this.
Amen!

the good stuff.   March 15, 2009

and plenty of it! wow- this past weekend was one of the best!
here’s some highlights:
total increase in energy.
just hung with the fam. [normally, i'm doing 3-4 things at once, even when just hangin out] yeah, so didn’t do that friday. watched hsm, had popcorn. snuggled in blankets with my girlies. then, got my groove on and finished a mini for helen/mls DT assignments for april. one of those, even happier moments when i completed it, knowing all the quality time i had just had with my fam!
emiko had another GREAT hit at her softball game. gma and papa came to watch. we got it all on video. miss mari pants cracked them up. they all had a fabulous day/evening together. playing. playing. playing. after lunch, i celebrated at pmp for suzy’s two year anni at her store front. the space was filled with LOVE, beautiful women, and i was so honored to be a part of it:) after finishing gg assignments and DT stuff for MLS, i wasn’t sure how much i would accomplish. but, proud to say, that i got another 3 layouts completed and 1 started:) i’ll be guest designing next month twice…and i’ll share soon:)
i have to say that i’ve met so many beautiful, true, inspiring, and funny women through this awesome hobby we all so passionately share, and i’m so very thankful to have you in my life!
miss char- you sooooooo got your groove on, and am so happy we were finally at the same table! you rocked the mls!
miss kristin- soooooooooooo good to talk with you! you’ve no idea how much i/we all miss you! cannot wait til july!!!
miss maria- you and your sweet family are in my prayers. so so happy you are back, and your layout turned out amazing!
miss rocio- you are just so beautiful, inside and out. so very proud to call you my dear friend.
miss nicole- oh, how i love you! so excited you’re back home, i know, i call sj your home. just adore you and your family. and looking forward to getting our exercise, scrap, and more on!
miss nanice- i miss you.
miss carla- your laugh is so infectious. you’re such a good mamma. love your heart.
miss satyn- love your smile and your style.
and last but certainly not least…
miss suzy- you’re crazy. you’re silly. you’re passionate. you’re kumquat. you’re positive. you’re understanding. you’re supportive. and i love you so much sweet friend!!! and so does my emi-girl!
today: church was solid. so where we all need to be. our entire family. once mari can sit through an entire service, it will be quieter. i won’t say better, because it will just be quieter. she is good at being 2. nothing wrong with that. an elderly member of our congregation confirmed that. nothing wrong with a young family sitting in the front pews. she admires that.
after lunch, emiko had her softball pictures. and then, we headed up to miss suzy’s for an awesome princess castle book class by the wonderful miss pattie! emiko and i had the best time! and she even made daddy a bonus lil creation. will share photos soon. she cannot wait to fill her princess book with photos of our upcoming trip!
signing out. need sleep now.
love you all.
many blessings,
erin

my dearest friend.   February 17, 2009

i love you so.
will be praying for you and your family’s safe arrival tomorrow for your first of many destinations.
you are so strong.
you are so loved.
you are so the multi of all multi-taskers.
you are just amazing.
i will miss you.
take care.
i can’t wait til you come home next month and share all your stories!
and oh, holding avery today totally made me want another one!!!