Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Phillipians 4:8

It's me again...finally!

Wow! Has it been almost two months already!! Where does the time go. Well, here is what's going on in our world:

Regan is doing well. She has managed to stay healthy for most of the winter, except the sniffles here and there. She still enjoys any type of crafty activity. We try to do the 'special' things, painting, perler beads and such while sister is sleeping and can't make a mess. She is learning to write her whole alphabet. I gave her a notebook that has lines (like we used in school), and a sample page, so she could practice. She is doing very well, with little instruction.

Yesterday, daddy bought her first gun! A tiny .22 that is pink! She asked me yesterday if I thought it was 'bubble gum' or 'barbie' pink!. I asked her what she was going to shoot? She said a turkey! I didn't have the heart to burst her excitement by telling her that things bleed when you shoot them! (she is still deathly afraid of blood). She and daddy tried shooting a pop can today, but her coordination isn't quite ready.

Sage is turning into a little stinker! and she knows it! You have to have one eye and one ear on her every minute. If things are too quite, you know she is getting into trouble! When I caught her in the sunroom making a mess this week I said 'What are you doing?' - 'notty, pankin, buns' was the response. Translation? "Being naughty, you need to spank my buns!" Today, she snuck in the pantry unnoticed and consumed about 40 mini marshmallows before we found her! (don't think they are settling too well, as she has throw up twice since.)

Her vocabulary has astounded us the last month or so. She is starting to put a lot of 2-3 word phrases together. She loves to make conversation with you. Her favorite story to tell us is of a bird we saw stuck to a wiper on a car at Meijers and how it got off and flew away.

She is sleeping in the 'big girl' bed, on the bottom of the castle now (Regan has moved up top). She was climbing out of her crib anyway, so we figured we may as well move her and get rid of the crib. We had a couple weeks of challenges, with her getting out of bed and climbing up top. We seem to have turned a corner with that problem now. Yesterday, I had to start safety pinning her PJs zipper to prevent being woke in the middle of the night, to her in only her diaper, freezing cold!

Paul's work is going well. They are still selling lots of fireplaces, so that is a blessing. I am even more excited that, starting in May, he will be able to start taking some saturday's off! It will be very nice to have a little more time together again.

He has been enjoying some weekly 'playtime' with his old buddies. They have a soccer team together. This is their second season doing this. It is nice for him to see his old friends again. Occasionally, he joins them for their night-cap, them beer, him pop! :)

I am really enjoying my position with Scrap Girls! We are now called Layout Artist's instead of Layout Designers (apparently people were confusing us with product designers). I found out this week that 2 of my layouts will be published this fall, in different magazines. Then I also found out, by complete surprise, that I had already been published! I submitted a layout to a magazine last fall and never heard back from them. I found it in the magazine this week when I was browsing it for some other Scrap Girls work!! It was pretty exciting! It is not standard procedure to publish something without contacting the artist. The company seems to be working out some bugs!

The Ladies Bible Study I am leading is going well. I have two 'virtual' members joining us. Two girls I have met from Scrap girls. One is in Tennessee, the other in Luxembourg (Europe). Everyone seems to be enjoying the book. I have taken on the added responsibility of writing extra questions. The book is wonderful, but lacks much scripture lookup/study. Some of the ladies wanted more than just personal/thought provoking questions that the book provides. So, the extra questions are for those that want something a little deeper.

Well! I guess that is enough for now! I will leave you with a few layouts...

This one has been published:


this one will be published in the fall:



This one, just for fun!!