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Meditations: Saying Good-bye

Dear Friends,

I promised yesterday that I would explain why I've fallen behind in my blog posts.  For those of you that don't know, I'm the administrative assistant to the pastor of a new church start, FaithWay.
 

 
The pastor and I have been friends for years, and three years ago I joined the launch team for FaithWay. This past week, we were officially instructed by the higher-ups to cease public worship as of December 9th. We have not met critical benchmarks in both attendance and giving. 

Please keep all of us in your prayers. Many of the parishioners are only recently baptized and very young in their faith. I hope and pray that they can find a new church home that will support them in their walk. Also, please pray for me and my family. Not only do we need to find a new church home, but I am also now unemployed.

I'm hoping to get 2012 pictures pulled together soon, so stay tuned for part 2 of this post.

Scrapbook Day: Catch-up

Hey, All!  I am WAY behind in posting (I'll explain why in a later post), so today is catch-up day.  Here's all the layouts that I've made in the last couple of weeks.  As always, clicking on an image will take you to my gallery at Scrap Girls Digital Scrapbooking.  There you can find a larger image, more legible journalling, and a list of supplies.  Enjoy!

Embrace the Camera: New Boots

It's another Embrace the Camera day.  Since I haven't taken any pictures of anyone in a while, I had to get creative.  :-)  I thought I would show you what I look like getting ready to take the two younger boys to the bus stop.

Notice the mittens.  I've been told that they are for hunting, however I think they're great for helping little ones with zippers and car seats.  LOVE THEM!

And of course, there's my new boots.  I haven't owned boots in YEARS, but I also haven't had to go to the bus stop in years either! What you can't see are the fleece-lined tights under the jeans and the three shirts that I'm wearing.  I'm telling you, Michigan is COLD people. 

What is Embrace the Camera?

I've been following Emily over at The Anderson Crew for a couple of years now and thoroughly enjoy her Embrace the Camera posts.  I love her reasoning, she says it way better than I can here.  So I figured now that I'm doing this blog, I'd join in the fun.  After all, she's right, I have almost no pictures of myself!

Scrapbook Day: Birthdays, Weddings, & Other Fun Stuff

Well, I'm a day late (okay a week and a day, whatever.).  ;-)

Happy 1st Birthday to my sweet nephew, Irvin!

The challenge here was to make the challenge host smile/laugh.  The journalling says:

I was helping Jackson get ready for school one day. I gently reminded him to pull up his pants because his underwear was showing. "After all, you don't want the girls to see your underwear. You might scare them!" I said.

"There aren't any girls in my class," was his reply as he staggered around trying to pull up his pants.

"Where did they all go?" I asked in mock seriousness.

"I don't know. There's just boys now," was the reply.

Holding up the Slinky that he got for Easter, I asked, "Did you suck all their brains out, too?" At some point, he had decided that the Slinky looked like a vacuum hose and had been trying to suck his brothers' brains out with it.

With a twinkle in his eye, he said, "Yep! And they turned into boys!" 

Journalling: Wirt Library hosted LEGO night. Jack and Jon had a blast. Each child was given a stud board, one mini-fig, and as many LEGO pieces as they needed. Jon made a ship with lots of hallways. Jack made a house with a swing set, a merry-go-round, a smiling mailbox, a table, and a bunch of flowers.

I was super excited to receive a bunch of heritage photos from my Uncle. This is a layout of my grandparents wedding day. Yes, they're still around and happily married.

Scrapbook Day: Memories

It's Scrap book Day again!  As always, if you would like to see a larger image or the supplies that I used, click on the layout and you'll be taken to my Scrap Girls gallery.  Enjoy! 

Journalling: These are all pictures from my childhood home in Swanton, Ohio. On the opposite page is a picture of my 10th birthday cake. You can see the wallpaper that was in our kitchen along with the Happy Birthday sign we put up for everyone’s special day. You can also see the miniatures that my mom collected and that I inherited. On this page is our yellow refrigerator with some artwork on it. I was very proud of the yellow lion tracing. There is a picture of our living room with the striped couches, macrame plant holder that my mom made, and some of my 1st dad’s drawings. He was an architect. Then, there is the wall that my 1st dad built between the kitchen and the living room. It had the meaning of each of our names, the family Bible, the current holiday decorations, and my mother’s latest sewing project. Last is the opposite end of our living room (and my 9th birthday). The piano was on the left, on the right is the stereo (we had both a record player and an 8-track player), along with my sister’s and my school pictures. You can just see, behind the front door, the doorway that we made between the house and the garage when we turned the garage into a family room.

 Journalling:

Renee,                                                                 October 3, 2012

I just wanted you to know that you were thought of last night and you are apparently the aunt of a super hero! Jon got a Spiderman book from the library and we were reading it again last night. The front of the book has a list of characters, so I was asking him if he remembered the names of each of them. We got through Peter Parker and Spiderman. Next was Aunty Ney (Aunt May). I just laughed. I corrected him, but he still calls her Aunty Ney.

Love,
Monica

 Journalling: We got together in mid-October to celebrate Josh’s, Dani’s, Jon’s, and Jack’s birthdays. Fall around here means donuts-and-cider and bobbing-for-apples. So, we put candles in their donuts and served Caramel Apple Supremes (or just regular apple cider for those that didn’t like hot drinks). We also did bobbing-for-apples, the no-germ version. We suspended apples from the ceiling and told the kids the only rule was they couldn’t use their hands. Alex was the first to figure out how to use her shoulder. Dani and Eddie decided to work together. 



The following images do not have links to Scrap Girls, although they use Scrap Girls products.  They are for the small group I am participating in called "God's Good Gifts."  It is a scrapbooking group.  Each week we look at a different gift from God in our lives and scrapbook those gifts.  The first image is the cover page.  The other images are the first week's layouts.  If you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail be or leave a comment.

 

 Journalling: God chose me...to be His child...
to be Scott's wife...
to be the mother of four amazing boys...
given that, who am I to question when things get tough...

O Lord, you have searched me and known me.
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
   you discern my thoughts from far away.
You search out my path and my lying down,
   and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my ongue,
   O Lord, you know it completely.

Psalm 139:1-4

Heavenly Father,

Thank you!  As I look back over these photos, they reinforce once more the realization that you have a wonderful plan for my life.  Yes, there were painful moments.  However, even amidst that pain, I can see now that you were leading me towards a better future.  Thank you for the time I was able to spend camping with Grandma and Grandpa Coder; for the time I spent at Grandma and Grandpa Whitt’s; for the chance to know Richard and to learn and grow through his loss; and for the wonderful dad you brought into my life afterwards.  I also thank you for Scott.  I did such a lousy job picking men myself, but you knew exactly whom I needed and the perfect way for our relationship to begin and grow.  You are an awesome and loving father. Please, help me to always remember these blessings and to continue to look for new blessings each day.
 

Love, Monica

Embrace the Camera: Movember

Good Morning!

I was struggling with today's Embrace the Camera photo since I haven't taken any pictures of myself in awhile.  I've had an awful cold and really haven't been up to taking pictures lately.  However, Scrap Girls is celebrating Movember and I needed a new avatar with a mustache for the site.  So here I am with my lovely purple 'stache.

June 2011, Youngtown, OH, Scrap Girls' Meet-up

By the way, this is a world-wide fundraiser. At the beginning of November, men around the globe start growing mustaches to bring awareness to men’s health issues, specifically prostate and testicular cancer initiatives. I know very few of us will ever develop these diseases, but we all have fathers, brothers, husbands, or friends who might. This is a great opportunity to show our support of them and have a little fun at the same time.  If you have a few minutes and a Facebook account, please check out Scrap Girls and like as many mustaches as you can.



What is Embrace the Camera?

I've been following Emily over at The Anderson Crew for a couple of years now and thoroughly enjoy her Embrace the Camera posts.  I love her reasoning, she says it way better than I can here.  So I figured now that I'm doing this blog, I'd join in the fun.  After all, she's right, I have almost no pictures of myself!