If the shoe fits, wear it!

Ladies Retreat

2010-04-20T08:12:00.004-05:00

I went to the BGCO Ladies Retreat this weekend with some of the most precious women from my church. My wonderful husband had both of our boys by himself Friday and Saturday. He is such a good dad and I came home to a clean house. How amazing is that.

I had such a great time to getting to know some of the ladies better and hearing a word from God. This is a pic of us on Friday morning before we loaded up to leave.

The theme this year was Interrupted. I would definitely say God interrupted me this past weekend. The speaker this year was Jen Hatmaker and God most definitely spoke through her. I have been re-evaluating my life to see if I am just "serving the saved" or am I making a difference in the kingdom. I highly recommend her book Interruped and Francis Chan's book Crazy Love. God has really been using both these to shake things up in my life a bit. It's so good when He does this so we don't get complacent and happy where we are, but it really messes with me.

I am going to sign off for now. I am going on another retreat this coming up weekend; a scrapbooking retreat this time, and I need to start getting things ready. (Isn't my husband awesome for letting me be gone two weekends in a row.)

4-6-2010

2010-04-06T10:41:00.003-05:00

I thought I would pop in and give an update as to what is going on around the Bergren house. It has been crazy getting in a routine with both boys. And Jonah changes so fast that as soon as I think I have him under control his schedule changes. We are enjoying him so much though. Levi likes to spend his days in his room where it is quiet and calm. Sometimes too much stimulation annoys him. So we just let him have his way and just get him up periodically for some cuddle time.

Here is a picture of the boys on the Easter Bunny's lap. I had not ever taken Levi to sit on the Easter Bunny's lap before and of course it was Jonah's first Easter. Can't wait to scrapbook this pic.

Speaking of scrapbooking, I haven't been getting to do near as much of that as I would like. And I don't have any pictures of the things that I have gotten to work on lately. I did get a new toy; a Quickutz Silhouette. For those of you who don't scrapbook, it is a digital craft cutter that hooks up to my computer. I can't wait to really get to sit down and play with it. Hopefully I will have something to show you soon.

1-23-2010

2010-01-23T07:16:00.003-06:00

Life with two kids is definitely different than life with just one. I feel like I am constantly feeding someone. If one of the boys isn't eating I am. So I don't get a lot done these days except keep my family fed. I did get a little crafty time this week. It took three days, but between all those feedings I did get this birthday card made for one of my friends. I use this weeks CPS Sketch. I think it turned out cute.

Well I better go eat some breakfast. Today is my birthday and my sweet husband is in the kitchen right now making me french toast and bacon (the real stuff, not turkey bacon). Steven makes the best french toast. My mouth is already watering.

Have a fabulous day.

Welcome Jonah

2010-01-07T09:42:00.006-06:00

Actually Jonah arrived almost four weeks ago. Since I have been taking care of a newborn and Levi and trying to unpack some of the boxes here at our new house this is the first chance I have had to make a quick post. So here are his stats.

Name: Jonah Preston Bergren

Born: December 22nd at 9:15am via C-section
Weight: 7lbs 10oz

Length: 20 1/2 inches

Jonah is doing great. He is sleeping as well as you can expect a baby his age to sleep. I am doing great, but that is mostly because Steven is still home taking care of all of us. He goes back to work on Tuesday. So we will see how everything goes next week.

Here is a little more updated pic of the little man. He looks exactly like his daddy. We are so proud of him and we think he is so precious.

Happy Birthday

2009-12-21T21:48:00.003-06:00

Happy Birthday to my sweet boy Levi. He is three today. I cannot believe it. Check out my friend Amber's blog post. I don't think I could have done a better job honoring my son's b-day.

12-19-09

2009-12-19T10:03:00.004-06:00

I just wanted to post a couple of things this morning before I got started on Jonah's room. (Yes he arrives in three days and no his room is not finished yet. It will get there.)

This interview ran yesterday morning on the the House FM about Levi's Toy Drive. Thanks Brent for doing the interview for us.

I did venture out to do a little shopping yesterday. Since I am 38 weeks pregnant I did not last long though. I went to Target and found this adorable soap dispenser:

to go with this adorable shower curtain for the boys bathroom.
I also found this precious onsie at Baby Gap for Jonah.

I try not to buy him clothes because we have so much for him already, but I could not pass that up.

Well I should probably get off the computer now and go get started organizing our new little guys room.

Have a great weekend!

Edit: I did get around and we did organize Jonah's room today. So I think we are now ready for his arrival.

In the past two months . . .

2009-12-14T09:39:00.005-06:00

We have moved, been taking care of a fussy little Levi, getting ready for Christmas and a new baby, as well as all the normal stuff we do at church. We have been a little busy.

We did not close on our new home on November 17th like I said in my last post. We ended up closing on our new house on November 24th (yes two days before Thanksgiving). So we are all moved into our new home. We are still unpacking and we will probably be unpacking for a while. But, we do love this new house. It has everything we were looking for and it definitely already feels like home even though there are still boxes everywhere. We are still waiting to close on our old house. So you can pray that all that gets taken care of before Jonah's arrival.

So speaking of Jonah, we are going to be having a new baby in eight days. Yes, you read that right, eight days. I cannot believe it. I am so ready to not be pregnant anymore and to hold my new little baby, but I am anxious as well. I am sure everyone feels that way with the arrival of their second child. How do you take care of two little ones at once? I know that I will figure it out and God has proven in my life over and over again that He will always give me the strength I need.

I am sure you are wondering how Levi is taking all this. He has had a rough last couple of months. He has been very agitated and I have spent a lot of time just sitting and holding him and trying to keep him happy. He has come down with a cold of some kind now. His little nose just keeps running, but he seems to be much happier now that his nose is running. Steven and I are finally getting to sleep at night and this makes both of us much happier.

We will be celebrating Levi's third birthday next week. We cannot believe he is going to turn three. I think time moves in twice as fast once you become a parent. We are collecting toys for Levi's Toy Drive for OU Children's Hospital again this year. We will be collecting toys until this Sunday the 20th. If you would be interested in donating a toy or two you can email me at cindy.bergren@gmail.com.

Please continue praying for our family. Pray that Levi stays content and happy and doesn't become agitated and start keeping everyone awake again. Pray that Jonah's birth goes well and that he is healthy. Pray that I heal from the c-section easily and quickly. Pray for Steven as he will be the one taking care of all three of us while I heal from the surgery. Pray that we will be able to close on the sale of our old house before Jonah arrives and that it all goes smoothly.

We appreciate all of you and the way you have prayed for us and loved on us over these past few years.

House Update

2009-10-18T13:38:00.002-05:00

Our house has sold once again. We close on November 17th. That is exactly one month. Let the packing begin. Unfortunately I don't feel very motivated and I get really tired really easily. Please pray that this sale goes off without a hitch.

Johnny Lingo's Eight Cow Wife

2009-10-05T20:47:00.003-05:00

Steven and I read this story a couple of weeks ago during our devotion time and I loved it. God keeps bringing it back to my hear so I wanted to share it with you.

Johnny Lingo's Eight-Cow Wife
by Patricia McGerr
Condensed from Woman's Day, November 1965
Reader's Digest pp. 138-141, February 1988

When I sailed to Kiniwata, an island in the Pacific, I took along a notebook. After I got back it was filled with descriptions of flora and fauna, native customs and costumes. But the only note that still interests me is the one that says: "Johnny Lingo gave eight cows to Sarita's father." And I don't need to have it in writing. I'm reminded of it every time I see a woman belittling her husband or a wife withering under her husband's scorn. I want to say to them, "You should know why Johnny Lingo paid eight cows for his wife."

Johnny Lingo wasn't exactly his name. But that's what Shenkin, the manager of the guest house on Kiniwata called him. Shenkin was from Chicago and had a habit of Americanizing the names of the islanders. But Johnny was mentioned by many people in many connections. If I wanted to spend a few days on the neighboring island of Nurabandi, Johnny Lingo could put me up. If I wanted to fish, he could show me where the biting was best. If it was pearls I sought, he would bring me the best buys. The people of Kiniwata all spoke highly of Johnny Lingo. Yet when they spoke they smiled, and the smiles were slightly mocking.

"Get Johnny Lingo to help you find what you want and let him do the bargaining," advised Shenkin. "Johnny knows how to make a deal."

"Johnny Lingo!" A boy seated nearby hooted the name and rocked with laughter.

"What goes on?" I demanded. "Everybody tells me to get in touch with Johnny Lingo and then breaks up. Let me in on the Joke."

"Oh the people love to laugh," Shenkin said, shrugging. "Johnny's the brightest, the strongest young man in the islands. And for his age, the richest."

"But if he's all you say, what is there to laugh about?"

"Only one thing. Five months ago, at fall festival, Johnny came to Kiniwata and found himself a wife. He paid her father eight cows!"

I knew enough about island customs to be impressed. Two or three cows would buy a fair-to-middling wife, four of five a highly satisfactory one."Good Lord!" I said, "Eight cows! She must have beauty that takes your breath away."

"She's not ugly," he conceded, and smiled a little. "But the kindest could only call Sarita plain. Sam Karoo, her father, was afraid she'd be left on his hands."

"But then he got eight cows for her? Isn't that extraordinary?"

"Never been paid before."

"Yet you call Johnny's wife plain?"

"I said it would be kindness to call her plain. She was skinny. She walked with her shoulders hunched and her head ducked. She was scared of her own shadow."

"Well, I said, "I guess there's no accounting for love."

"True enough," agreed the man. "And that's why the villagers grin when they talk about Johnny. They get special satisfaction from the fact that the sharpest trader in the islands was bested by dull old Sam Karoo."

"But how?"

"No one knows and everyone wonders. All the cousins were urging Sam to ask for three cows and hold for two until he was sure Johnny'd pay only one. Then Johnny came to Sam Karoo and said 'Father of Sarita, I offer eight cows for your daughter.'"

"Eight cows," I murmured. "I'd like to meet this Johnny Lingo."

I wanted fish. I wanted pearls. So the next afternoon I beached my boat at Nurabandi. And I noticed as I asked directions to Johnny's house that his name brought no sly smile to the lips of his fellow Nurabandians. And when I met the slim, serious young man, when he welcomed me with grace to his home, I was glad that from his own people he had respect unmingled with mockery. We sat in his house and talked. Then he asked "You come here from Kiniwata?"

"Yes."

"They speak of me on that island?"

"They say there's nothing I might want that you can't help me get."

He smiled gently. "My wife is from Kiniwata."

"Yes, I know."

"They speak of her."

"A little."

"What do they say."

"Why, just...." The question caught me off balance. "They told me you were married at festival time."

"Nothing more?" The curve of his eyebrows told me he knew there had to be more.

"They also say the marriage settlement was eight cows." I paused. "They wonder why."

"They ask that?" His eyes lighted with pleasure. "Everyone in Kiniwata knows about the eight cows?"I nodded."And in Nurabandi everyone knows it too." His chest expanded with satisfaction. "Always and forever, when they speak of marriage settlements, it will be remembered that Johnny Lingo paid eight cows for Sarita."

So that's the answer, I thought: vanity.And then I saw her. I watched her enter the room to place flowers on the table. She stood a moment to smile at the young man beside me. Then she went swiftly out again. She was the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. The lift of her shoulders, the tilt of her chin, the sparkle of here eyes all spelled a pride to which no one could deny her the right.I turned back to Johnny Lingo and found him looking at me.

"You admire her?" he murmured.

"She...she's glorious. But she's not Sarita from Kiniwata," I said.

"There's only one Sarita. Perhaps she does not look the way they say she looked in Kiniwata."

"She doesn't. I heard she was homely. They all make fun of you because you let yourself be cheated by Sam Karoo."

"You think eight cows were too many?" A smile slid over his lips.

"No. But how can she be so different?"

"Do you ever think," he asked, "what it must mean to a woman to know that her husband has settled on the lowest price for which she can be bought? An then later, when the women talk, they boast of what their husbands paid for them. One says four cows, another maybe six. How does she feel, the woman who was sold for one or two? This could not happen to my Sarita."

"Then you did this just to make your wife happy?"

"I wanted Sarita to be happy, yes. But I wanted more than that. You say she is different. This is true. Many things can change a woman. Things happen inside, things happen outside. But the thing that matters most is what she thinks of herself. In Kiniwata, Sarita believed she was worth nothing. Now she knows she is worth more than any other woman in the islands."

"Then you wanted--"

"I wanted to marry Sarita. I loved her and no other woman."

"But--" I was close to understanding.

"But," he finished softly, "I wanted an eight-cow wife."

This story just shows how much we can affect our spouses with how we value them. Wives this also goes for our husbands. When we value them it can really make a difference. It also reminds me of our value in Christ. 1 Corinthians 6:20 says we are "bought at a price". This price was the blood shed by Jesus. How much better is that than eight cows.

That is just something I have been thinking about lately.

Yes I do still blog

2009-09-17T20:17:00.010-05:00

There has been so much going on around our house since my last blog post. Which is why I haven't updated you guys since May. Here are the highlights.

1. We found out we are expecting again. We are scheduled to have another little boy on December 22. His name will be Jonah Preston. So far all of our ultrasounds have been normal. We are so thankful and excited for Jonah's arrival. Here is our latest ultrasound pic.

This was the biggest reason I haven't made a post in so long. I was sick my entire first trimester and then I got sick from a cold after I got over the pregnancy sickness. So I felt horrible for a good part of the spring and first part of the summer.

2. My nephew spent two weeks with us this summer once I got over being sick. That was so much fun and I wish I had taken some pictures. It was so good to just get to hang out with him. It was really different having a second kid around our house though. Who knew one extra person could make that many more dishes and laundry.

3. We decided to sell our house and move. So last month we put our house on the market.

This has been such a rollarcoaster. Two weeks after we put it on the market we had a contract on it. We were so excited and then we found a house we loved and put a contract on that as well. The next week all those plans fell through. The person buying our house didn't get his loan so therefore our house wasn't sold and we couldn't purchase the house we had found. So now we are back to showing our house again. And for those of you who know me this is difficult for me. I am not very good at keeping my house neat and tidy.

As for Levi he has seemed to not notice all the new things that are going on in our lives. He just keeps trucking along and growing like a weed. I can't hardly keep him in clothes. Thank goodness for Grandma Debbie and GG Juanita who just stocked us up on clothes.

So those are the major things that have kept me from this blog. Sorry to those of you who have been checking in and wondering what was going on (Kristen and Angie). I will try to keep up a little better now that I know there are people who actually read what is going on in our lives.

5-5-09

2009-05-05T10:35:00.004-05:00

We had such a busy fun weekend I was worn out. I just sat around yesterday and watched TV and took it easy. Saturday I had a Pampered Chef show and then I went to scrapbook. This is one of the pages I got done. I can't take much credit for it. I completely lifted from this blog. I just loved the layout though and how springy it is. If you love it too you can still grab some of these papers at Just4Keeps.

Journaling reads: We keep you home during the fall and winter to keep you from getting sick. So we are always so glad when it is finally spring.

And we are so glad it is finally spring. I just wish it looked like spring outside. It has been raining for a week.

Sunday we celebrated Steven's grandma's birthday. One of her gifts was a scrabble card game. I was not very good at it, but she and Steven were definitely enjoying themselves. I just thought this picture of the two of them spending time together was just precious.

I hope you all had an equally fun weekend. Now I am off to get some stuff done around the house since I didn't get anything done yesterday.

I will leave you with a verse from my quiet time this morning.

"Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid nor dismayed . . . with us is the Lord our God, to help us and to fight our battles." And the people were strengthened by the words of Hezekiah king of Judah. 2 Chronicles 32:7&8

Hopefully you will be strengthened by those words as well and have a fabulous day.

4-28-09

2009-04-28T11:15:00.003-05:00

I took a little crafty time this weekend. Here is a card I made using Sketch #81 from the Got Sketch blog. There are some really great sketches on this blog that will really get your creativity flowing. Love it.

I know you are thinking that this doesn't look much like a baby card. I don't buy a lot of theme paper anymore so I was going for the green and cream color scheme to match this box that I made to put the baby gift in. Plus, I have just been digging on vintage lately.

Well thanks for peeking in to see what we have been up to. Hope you have a fabulous day.

4-20-09

2009-04-20T11:51:00.010-05:00

I had a little creative streak this weekend. I found this great vintage image at http://www.scrapologie.blogs.com/ and I love it. She has some fun images on her blog. I am loving vintage images lately. I also used the CPS sketch for this week.

I created these two items for challenges at the Just4Keeps forum. Amber and I took that picture of ourselves on the ferry when we were going to Disney World when I visited her in December. We had so much fun.

I love using orange if you haven't been able to tell. This card was fun and fast. Except for the buttons it was completely made out of scraps. Even the white cardstock I used to make the card base was a scrap that was laying on my desk.

Now for those of you who read my blog to see what is going on with Levi and not just to see what creative exploits I have been up to. Levi had a rough week last week. He was really fussy and would get himself worked up and start breathing funny. I was not very excited about this and we had to have a couple extra visits from his nurse. But after getting some medicine in him and a little extra loving he was back to normal by the weekend. Thank goodness. He still is getting me up a couple times during the night, but I think I can learn to live with that. Here is a sweet pic of him Sunday at church. He is wearing an adorable t-shirt my friend Peta made him. I think he looks rather dapper and I can't wait to scrapbook that picture.

Fresh Strawberry Cake

2009-04-14T15:56:00.003-05:00

With spring starting strawberry prices are great and this makes me happy because I love strawberries. With that in mind Steven and I made this amazing cake last night for our friends Brent and Marybeth. It was so stinkin good I just had to share. I found the recipe in a church cookbook from Arkoma First Baptist Church. It is my friend Sarah's grandma's recipe. Got love recipes that get their start like that.

Fresh Strawberry Cake

1 box white cake mix
1 box strawberry jello
1 cup oil (we used applesauce)
4 eggs
1 big cup crushed fresh strawberries

Mix all ingredients well and bake at 350 for time said on cake box. (I actually had to cook the cake for 45 minutes)

Icing
1 lb powdered sugar
3/4 of a stick of butter
1/2 cup of crushed fresh strawberries

Mix icing ingredients well. Pour over cake while cake is still hot. Take fork and punch holes in cake and let icing soak in.

This recipe actually takes a pound of strawberries between the cake and the icing. We capped the strawberries and then mashed them with my potato masher.

This was so yummy. I am pretty sure they might serve this cake in heaven.

Enjoy!

Happy Easter

2009-04-13T11:51:00.004-05:00

Well, I hope everyone had a great Easter. We had a lot of fun. My parents came up to visit and brought my nephew Logan. Unfortunately, they did not get here in time to go to the Easter Egg hunt at church so Logan had his own personal egg hunt in our front yard. Uncle Steven hid the eggs and then Logan went to town hunting. He is so sweet, he took all the candy and put it in my candy dish so he could share. He isn't really much of a candy eater. He prefers tomatoes (I am not joking).

Sunday morning we all went to church together. Levi wore his overalls Miss Marie got him for Christmas and his new cowboy boots. He did not wear the cowboy had to church. It would have been hard to get that hat in his car seat. We just borrowed it for the picture. He is pretty stinkin cute isn't he.

Here is a close up of the boots.

Hope everyone else had an equally great weekend. I should be off to pick up my house. We are having company for dinner this evening.

4-1-09

2009-04-01T12:27:00.006-05:00

Well we are busy busy busy around here. Can't wait for Easter. That is our coming out date, by that I mean when Levi and I start getting to come out of the house. I still don't take him out tons of places because it is hard and he is getting heavy to lug around, but we will get to start going to church on Sunday mornings again. I am so excited about that. He has a super cute little overall outfit our friend Marie gave Levi for Christmas that he is going to wear with his new cowboy boots. Yes I will definitely take some pictures so everyone can see how super cute he is. He is starting to look like a little boy and not a baby anymore. :(

I have been doing a little crafty stuff here and there as usual. I finally finished the cart cover I was making for my niece so I feel free to do other projects now. I haven't figured out a good way to photograph the cart cover yet, when I do I will post a picture. I have been working on that thing forever it feels like.

Here is one of the cards I made for the Hippity Hop Easter class from Lisa Pace's blog

Steven thought I was silly with my sentiment, but I thought it was clever. Her stuff is so cute and fun to make.

This is a gift box I made. It is so simple and turns out so cute. You can get the template at the Got Crafts blog. I will definitely be making more of these. This one had a gift card in it for Steven's grandpa. His birthday was last week.

Around Christmas I picked up a new hobby, making jewelry. I wanted to make a few pieces for Christmas gifts. Now I am hooked. I have decided I like doing just about any craft project that I can finish in a couple hours. This is a bracelet I made for a friend's birthday. I am loving the pink and green color combo lately, as you can tell from my current blog colors.

I have a couple other things I have worked on, but they are either not finished or I just haven't taken a picture yet. We'll save those for another blog post. I did want to share a cool site I found the other day. It is called Simple Mom and she has some cool stuff on there. I was really impressed with her menu for the entire month of April and loved the discussion she posted about Facebook. Cool stuff, you should check it out.

I feel bad for leaving Steven out of my posts, but he is just up to his normal this time of year, getting ready for the Easter program at church. They always do such a great job with this program and I love that it is broken up in parts. It is kind of like a mini-series. Levi and I will be there with bells on. You should come too!

Well I should go get around and get started on the things I need to get done today.

Hope you have a fabulous day!

Baby's First Shoes

2009-03-21T14:25:00.006-05:00

I did it! I finally found a pair of shoes I think Levi can wear. You have no idea how hard it has been for me to not be able to buy my baby shoes. I love shoes, but they are so rigid usually that you can't get them on his crooked little feet. So this week I orderd these for him this week from the Curious Workmanship Etsy shop I found.

Aren't they adorable. I love Etsy. You can find just about anything there. You can see on the right some of the things I have seen there that I think are super cool.

Other happenings at our house. I signed up to take another online crafting class. Lisa Pace is teaching one called Hippity Hop Easter Workshop. You should check out her blog. There is some cute stinkin stuff on there. I will post some of the projects I do as soon as I get some time to work on them.

As for Steven. I know I rarely talk about what is going on with him. Right now he is out in the living room playing Burnout Paradise and listening to the basketball games. Our internet has been acting up lately and so he has been spending some time getting that fixed. So here is to hoping the internet doesn't shut down in the middle of me posting this.

Well I guess I am off now. I am hosting a Scentsy party this evening so I should go finish getting ready for that.

Hope you are having a great weekend.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2009-03-17T11:31:00.003-05:00

OK so just a quick post before I go hit the shower and get my day started. (Yes I know what time it is.) My friend Brent posted this hilarious song on his blog this morning . You have got to go check it out. I was laughing so hard.

Well, I am off. I have tons of phone calls to make and a house in terrible need of a good cleaning.

Have a great day.

2009-03-16T15:43:00.002-05:00

I know! I am going to have to start updating my blog more than once a month. I did update my header banner.

Let's see, what have I been up to the past few weeks.

I made these muffins for a friend's birthday. They were so good and I substituted applesauce for the oil and that makes them really healthy as well.

Orange Almond Streusel Muffins

Streusel Topping
1 tablespoon Original Bisquick® mix
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons sliced almonds
1 tablespoon butter or margarine

Muffins
1 teaspoon grated orange peel
1/2 cup orange juice
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 egg
2 cups Original Bisquick® mix
1/4 cup sliced almonds

1. Heat oven to 400°F. Grease bottoms only of 12 regular-size muffin cups with shortening or cooking spray, or line muffin cups with paper baking cups. In medium bowl, mix 1 tablespoon Bisquick mix, 2 tablespoons brown sugar and 2 tablespoons almonds. With fork, cut in butter until crumbly. Set aside.
2. In large bowl, mix orange peel, orange juice, 1/3 cup brown sugar, the oil, almond extract and egg. Stir in 2 cups Bisquick mix just until moistened. Stir in 1/4 cup almonds. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups. Sprinkle with streusel topping.
3. Bake 13 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately remove from pan to cooling rack. Serve warm.
High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): Increase orange juice to 3/4 cup; decrease oil to 2 tablespoons. Bake 14 to 16 minutes.

I have done a few cards here and there and I made my friend Lisa a bracelet. Unfortunately I don't have time to post pics of everything right now because I have to to go run and take care of some Pampered Chef stuff. That is what I have been the most busy working on lately is Pampered Chef. I feel like I have shows all the time. Luckily none this week just stuff to deliver.

Hope you all are having a great day.

I'm still here

2009-02-21T17:47:00.006-06:00

I just looked at the date of my last post, and I can't believe that much time has passed. Sorry! I have been trying to get my life more organized, so I have been trying to spend less time on the computer. It is amazing how much time the Internet can suck out of my day.

Well, Levi's cold did go away. He is doing great right now. He is currently hanging out in his room and we haven't heard a word out of him all day.

There really hasn't been very much going on lately. I have a lot of Pampered Chef shows this month so that is taking up a lot of my time right now.

I have also been helping with the Esther Bible study at church. That is a lot of fun and I am really enjoying meeting some new ladies and learning some new stuff out of the book of Esther.

I did find a blog and e-zine that I really like. It is called Sheetload. Once a month they publish a sketch and give you the cutting guide so you can make eight cards out of just a few pieces of paper and cardstock. I really like the versatility of their sketches. This is a card I did using their February sketch.

I haven't gotten much time to scrapbook or do much of anything crafty lately. I am still working on my niece's Christmas present. It is a good thing she is only five months old and doesn't know the difference. I will post pics when I finish it.

1-29-09

2009-01-29T16:13:00.004-06:00

Well it has been a while since I have had anything to write on here. Mostly because my life is just not that exciting. I still haven't gotten caught back up since Christmas. Crazy isn't it.

Levi has a cold right now. I am amazed at the incredible amount of snot coming out of his nose. Right now it is just a cold and not too big a deal. Say lots of prayers that it doesn't get any worse.

Today is mine and Steven's fourth wedding anniversary. So in honor of the day here is layout I did with one of our engagement pics a while back. It has definitely been a crazy four years.

Well I better put this computer away. We are going to go to dinner this evening to celebrate our anniversary. Charleston's - yum!

Big Buck Contest

2009-01-07T14:01:00.002-06:00

Yes that is right, I am here to tell you about a Big Buck contest. My friend Sarah's husband shot a really big buck the week of Thanksgiving. He is now in a Big Buck contest and needs lots of votes. So go here http://www.4are.com/bigbuck/index2.php?g2_itemId=7 and vote for Ashley's deer. You just click on the stars to vote. He will be so excited if he wins so please help him out! He is very proud of that deer.

Doctor Appointment and Recipe

2009-01-07T07:24:00.004-06:00

Levi had a check-up yesterday with his pediatrician. Everything was just fine. He gained two pounds and grew an inch in the last three months. That hasn't happened for a very long time. I guess the new food he is on is really agreeing with me. So thankful for no news.

Here is a recipe I wanted to share with you. I found this in the little cookbook that came with my crock pot.

Corn and Beans

1 tbs olive oil

1 large onion, diced

1 or 2 jalapeno peppers, diced (I used 2, we like spicy)

1 clove of garlic, minced (bust out your Pampered Chef garlic press)

2 cans (16 oz) light red kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1 bag (16 oz) frozen corn

1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained

1 green bell pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces

2 tsp chili powder

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp black pepper

Heat oil in medium skillet. Add onion jalapeno peppers and garlic. Cook 5 minutes or until onion begins to soften. Add all ingredients (including onion mixture) to crock-pot. Cover and cook on low 7 to 8 hours or on high 2 to 3 hours.

Yummy! And you gotta love a good crock pot recipe. We had this as a side dish last night with meatloaf. But it would be super yummy served over rice as a vegetarian main dish. It makes a bunch too so it would also make a great pot luck dish.

Omnipresence

2009-01-05T11:11:00.002-06:00

I was just reading a passage in the Bible (yes I read it) that reminded me of the omnipresence (I know that is a big word, but I do know a couple of those) of God. I was reading 2 Kings 5. In this passage Elisha heals Naaman of leprosy. Naaman tries to give Elisha a gift in return but Elisha refuses. Gehazi, Elisha's little helper, decides to make up a story and get Naaman to give him the gift. But, Elisha knows what he did and confronts him. Gehazi lies and said he didn't do anything and Elisha curses him with Naaman's leprosy. I was reminded that God always knows what we are doing, saying, and even thinking. Do I always want Him know those things about me? I really didn't want Him to know last week when I was cranky and acted ugly to Steven, or the times I skipped my quiet time, or when I called that guy a name when he was driving stupidly on the highway. But God does know those things. (Whoops!) He is omnipresent, always there. This is something I need to remember next time I am in a bad mood, lazy, or irritable. Do I want God to know what I am doing, saying, and thinking during those times. Makes me stop and think. It also makes me thank God for mercy and forgiveness.

1-3-2008

2009-01-03T23:06:00.008-06:00

Oh my head is still spinning from all the activity the last couple of weeks. Or maybe that is the head cold I have. Either way life has been busy.

Christmas was great this year. I don't have the finger strength to list out all the great things we received. Levi got tons of little outfits and diapers. You can never have too many diapers. Steven got enough Starbucks gift cards to last him the entire year. He also got a couple of games we can't wait to play, The Office trivia game and Star Wars Monopoly. Those could make for some fun family time around our house. A couple of my favorites are my Ott Lite and my new Viva Pinata game.

I went to Arkansas to see my family on Christmas Day. It was so good to see everyone. I had not been back since Levi was born. All the kids were so big and there were a few new ones (kids that is). Then Christmas night I took my nephew, Logan, to see Bedtime Stories. We had a great time and the movie was super cute. It had all the crazy Adam Sandler humor without the profanity or crude jokes that are in a lot of his movies. I totally recommend it.

Then of course I started coming down with something while I was there. So sure enough when I got home I started throwing up. So I was totally missing Levi and I had to steer clear of him until my stomach bug cleared up. As soon as I was better though I spent some time cuddling my little booger bear. He is such a good cuddler.

New Year's Day Steven stayed home with Levi and watched football while I went to Just 4 Keeps to scrapbook all day. (As well as scrapbooking with one of the ladies from my church on Friday night). Here are a few of the things I got done.

This is a layout I did from when my friend Sarah and her family came up right before Thanksgiving. Her daughter Hannah was so sweet with Levi. She was like a little mama. The journaling on the layout reads "Hannah would have taken care of Levi all day. She would talk to him, cuddle him, and give him little kisses on his head. When she wasn't holding him she would make sure to go check on him in his room every few minutes. It was so sweet."

Here is one of the birthday cars I made. I got all my cards done for January, so now I just need to remember to send them out on time.

This is the calendar I made to hang in our kitchen. The wording on the top reads "Lucky to have each other."

Well that is just a few of the things we have been up to lately. So much for starting off 2009 at a slower pace than 2008.

Hope your New Year has started off great.

Toys Toys Toys

2008-12-22T08:53:00.004-06:00

We definitely have some toys. They didn't all fit in this picture. Last night after the party I sorted and boxed up all the toys and I counted 247 individual toys. That is everything from rattles to baby tolls to block sets to a big farmhouse play set. The turnout and your generosity was amazing. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

EDIT: Make that 264 toys. I had a drop off this morning. You guys could not have given Levi a better birthday. Thank you again and again.

The Interview

2008-12-20T06:56:00.003-06:00

Steven recorded the interview that aired yesterday morning on The House. Just in case you missed it here you go.

http://members.cox.net/bergren/cindysinterview.mp3

Interview

2008-12-18T18:30:00.002-06:00

OK two post in one day, but I wanted to tell you guys about the interview I did today. My friend Brent McCoy is the morning show DJ for The House FM. He called me today to do an interview for Levi's Toy Drive for Children's hospital. The interview will air tomorrow morning around 7:30am so everyone should tune in. If you are not able to listen on the radio you can listen on the web. The station has live steaming on their website. (go to www.thehousefm.com, click on the i-Live link on the right hand side, then click on Listen Now at the top of the page) Here is a list of the stations you can pick up The House on.

89.7 OKC to Tulsa to Wichita - KJTH
89.1 Shawnee - KXTH
99.7 Downtown OKC
105.7 Bartlesville

107.1 Stillwater
98.5 Norman
88.5 OKC Metro - KZTH

In case you are wondering, it is not to late to donate a toy for the toy drive. We will be taking the toys we have to Children's hospital on Monday. So you can still bring toys by our house or to Waterloo. Also, feel free to join us Sunday evening around 6:00pm for cake and ice cream to celebrate Levi's birthday at our house. You can bring toys if you would like. Email me (cindy.bergren@gmail.com) if you need directions or want more info.

I'm back!!!

2008-12-18T15:41:00.004-06:00

Yes I am back from Florida. I had a blast spending time with Amber. I had a blast. My flight back was a little hectic. My plane was having mechanical issues so I had to stay an extra night. But I got home safe and sound on Monday afternoon and I was so glad to see Steven and Levi. I am sure if Levi could talk he would tell me he missed me as well.

Amber and I went to Magic Kingdom on Friday night when I got in. That was so much fun. It was like I was a little kid again. And isn't that castle gorgeous. That would make any girl feel like a princess.

Well I hope everyone is having a blast with their Christmas preparations. I will post later this evening about Levi's toy drive. So keep your eyes peeled for another post.

Doctor Appointment Update

2008-12-11T15:53:00.002-06:00

Just wanted to let everyone know Levi's appointment with his neurosugeon went off without a hitch. Everything looked great and we don't have to back to see Dr. Gross unless something goes wrong. So hopefully that means never.

Well I am off to get ready to leave for Florida in the morning.

12-10-08

2008-12-10T17:36:00.006-06:00

Do you ever have those days when you have so many things you are thinking of and so much to do you can't focus on any one thing for very long so you just walk around your house not remembering why you went "this room" and you start three or four different things but don't finish any of them. Well welcome to my day. I could not focus on anything for the life of me today. Between house work that I keep putting off, Christmas preparations, taking care of Levi (he is a total drool machine), and getting ready to go visit Amber in Florida I am having a terrible time concentrating. Which leads me to the three things I am super excited about today.

Thing 1: I am going to Florida this weekend to visit Amber. Yeah!!!! I haven't left the Edmond area since Levi was born. I am a little stir crazy and we are planning to go to Mickey's A Very Merry Christmas Party. I am so excited about getting to go to this and getting to see Amber I could just about pee my pants. (And after having Levi peeing my pants is a very real possibility.)

Thing 2: I did focus long enough today to make this card. I was super happy with how it turned out. I used a sketch (#94) from the CPS blog. Such good sketches that leave lots of room for creativity. I just love that.

Thing 3: I got some new makeup in the mail today that ordered from Etsy. It is the Mixology Mineral Makeup. I started playing with it as soon as I opened the mail and I am in love. I ordered the Mermaid and the mini liberty eye shadows. I also got one of the sample packs for the foundation. I will definitely be ordering a full size foundation as soon as I figure out which shade I like best. I definitely will be ordering this eyeshadow as well. There was a little sample with my order and I LOVED it.

So there are my three exciting things for today. Hope you all had exciting things happen today as well.

Tomorrow Debbie and I are taking Levi for checkup with his neurosurgeon. So pray that it isn't very windy and the appointment goes quickly so we can keep our little guy warm. I will let you know how that goes tomorrow.

Thanksgiving

2008-12-03T22:53:00.004-06:00

I don't know how your Thanksgiving went, but ours was great. My parents came here to Edmond and we had Thanksgiving with Steven's family. It was fun to have both our families together. I got to make pies and I loved it. I had never made a pie before. Here is the recipe for the apple cherry pie I made. It is a Pampered Chef recipe and super yummy.

Apple Cherry Pie

Ingredients:
1 package (15 ounces) refrigerated pie crusts (2 crusts)
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
5 medium Granny Smith apples (about 5 cups slices)
1 can (14.5 ounces) pitted red tart pie cherries, drained and patted dry
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
Vanilla ice cream (optional)

Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Let pie crusts stand at room temperature 15 minutes. Gently unfold crust onto lightly floured surface. Roll one crust into a 12-inch circle using lightly floured Baker's Roller(TM). Place crust in Deep Dish Pie Plate, pressing dough into bottom and up sides.
2. In large Colander Bowl, combine sugar, cornstarch and cinnamon. Peel, core and slice apples using Apple Peeler/Corer/Slicer; cut slices in half. (I just peeled my apples with a paring knife and cut them into small slices.) Toss apple slices with sugar mixture until evenly coated; gently stir in cherries. Spoon apple mixture into crust.
3. Roll remaining pie crust into a 12-inch circle; place over filling. Seal and flute edges. Whisk egg and water in small bowl. Using Pastry Brush, brush egg mixture evenly over crust. Cut four slits in top crust. Cover edge of pie with 2-to 3-inch-wide strips of aluminum foil. Bake 45 minutes; remove foil. Bake an additional 10-15 minutes or until crust is golden brown and apples are tender. Remove from oven; cool at least 2 hours. Serve warm or at room temperature with ice cream, if desired.
Yield: 8 servings
Nutrients per serving: Calories 440, Total Fat 15 g, Saturated Fat 6 g, Cholesterol 35 mg, Carbohydrate 76 g, Protein 3 g, Sodium 210 mg, Fiber 2 g
(C)The Pampered Chef, Ltd. 2008

Then my mom and I hit the Black Friday sales. I love Black Friday. Not because of the deals, but because I feel like the holiday season has officially begun. I did get most of my Christmas shopping done so I was super excited about that.

Then Saturday my sister and her husband came up to visit and brought my new niece so we could meet her. Here is a pic of Lakin and Levi hanging out together. I was so glad they came up.

Then the holiday decorating began. One of my other favorite things to do to make me feel like Christmas time has begun. So Sunday evening, Monday evening, and a good part of the day Tuesday I got my tree decorated and all the decorations put up the way I wanted them. (I have to rearrange a few times before I am satisfied which is why it takes so long.) Here is a wreath and a flower arrangement I put together to give the house a little sparkle. I have been enjoying the flower department at Hobby Lobby lately.

Well I think I must say goodnight now. Merry Christmas!!!

Learning to Trust the Master

2008-11-24T09:13:00.002-06:00

I get an email with excerpts from Max Lucado books. I love his stuff and it always makes me want to read more. Here is one I read today from his book Next Door Savior. It really spoke to me and I loved it.

A man and his dog are in the same car. The dog howls bright-moon-in-the-middle-of-the-night caterwauling howls. The man pleads, promising a daily delivery of dog biscuit bouquets if only the hound will hush. After all, it’s only a car wash.

Never occurred to him—ahem, to me—that the car wash would scare my dog. But it did. Placing myself in her paws, I can see why. A huge, noisy machine presses toward us, pounding our window with water, banging against the door with brushes. Duck! We’re under attack.

“Don’t panic. The car wash was my idea.” “I’ve done this before.” “It’s for our own good.” Ever tried to explain a car wash to a canine? Dog dictionaries are minus the words brush and detail job. My words fell on fallen flaps. Nothing helped. She just did what dogs do; she wailed.

Actually, she did what we do. Don’t we howl? Not at car washes perhaps but at hospital stays and job transfers. Let the economy go south or the kids move north, and we have a wail of a time. And when our Master explains what’s happening, we react as if he’s speaking Yalunka. We don’t understand a word he says.

Is your world wet and wild?

God’s greatest blessings often come costumed as disasters. Any doubters need to do nothing more than ascend the hill of Calvary.

Jerusalem’s collective opinion that Friday was this: Jesus is finished.

Such is the view of the disciples, the opinion of the friends, and the outlook of the enemies. Label it the dog-in-the-passenger-seat view.

The Master who sits behind the wheel thinks differently. God is not surprised. His plan is right on schedule. Even in—especially in—death, Christ is still the king, the king over his own crucifixion.

Can’t he do the same for you? Can’t he turn your Friday into a Sunday?

Some of you doubt it. How can God use cancer or death or divorce? Simple.

He’s smarter than we are. He is to you what I was to four-year-old Amy. I met her at a bookstore. She asked me if I would sign her children’s book. When I asked her name, she watched as I began to write, “To Amy …”

She stopped me right there. With wide eyes and open mouth, she asked, “How did you know how to spell my name?”

She was awed. You aren’t. You know the difference between the knowledge of a child and an adult. Can you imagine the difference between the wisdom of a human and the wisdom of God? What is impossible to us is like spelling “Amy” to him. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isa. 55:9).

I keep taking Molly to the car wash. She’s howling less. I don’t think she understands the machinery. She’s just learning to trust her master. Maybe we’ll learn the same.

Hope you all have a blessed day.

Toy Drive for Children's

2008-11-23T21:20:00.005-06:00

Time for an update. Today was a great date. We finally got a pastor at our church. I am so stinkin excited. His name is Griff Henderson and he seems to be a great guy. He even met Levi today and said a sweet prayer over him. He's definitely OK in my book after that.

I have been trying to get life ready for the holidays. I have been organizing gift lists, I started baking, and I am getting ready to sit down in a little bit and think about decorations and stuff. See if there are things I want to purchase during the black Friday sales. I have also been getting geared up for black Friday shopping as well. I always feel like the holiday season has begun when I get up and go shopping ridiculously early that Friday morning.

The other thing I have been thinking about a lot lately is Levi's birthday. He is going to be two next month. Can you believe it. I think back to being in the hospital that Christmas two years ago and I tear up every time. As most of you remember we did a blanket drive for Levi's birthday last year. So this year in honor of Levi's second birthday we will be collecting toys for ages two and under to donate to Children's Hospital. These toys will be given to the children on Christmas by Santa Clause. If there are any left they have a cart they push around and give the children toys when they are hospitalized. They will use the extra toys for this. If you are interested in donating some toys just call me or email me (cindy.bergren@gmail.com). We will take the toys up to the hospital on Monday December 22nd. We so appreciate how awesome you guys were last year with the blankets and how much you love and pray for Levi.

Speaking of our little angel. Steven and I woke up Thursday night to a sound coming from the baby monitor. It wasn't a hurt sound or an upset sound. It mostly sounded like singing. It took 45 to get him to stop "singing". (He is definitely a Bergren). This would have been so sweet except it was 1:30am. Bless my little angel's heart.

Well I am off to finish working on my holiday lists.

2008-11-17T22:42:00.004-06:00

I know I haven't posted in a while to let you know what has been going on. Sorry about that. I will start with Levi since that is really why everyone checks in here. He is doing great now. We switched him from formula to Pediasure. The poor baby got all stopped up and didn't poop for a few days. Luckily when he finally did poop I wasn't home so Steven got to clean that one up. Steven said it was so bad he had to give him a bath afterwards.

Steven lead worship at church this past Sunday. I was very excited for him and I wish I could have been there. (We don't take Levi out this time of year.) He said it went well.

As for me I have been super busy. Getting ready for the holidays, Pampered Chef shows, Bible Study, and just regular life stuff has kept me hopping. I did attend the Women of Faith conference this weekend with some of the ladies from church. Here is a pic of us at breakfast on Saturday morning. We had a lot of fun. It was a great time of worship, fellowship, and learning. My favorite part was when Sheila Walsh spoke about having faith even when things weren't going well and it didn't feel like God was answering our prayers. We have definitely learned a lot about that the past couple of years. (Can you believe it has been two years.)

I have taken up a new hobby. (My friend Kara says I collect them.) I tried my had at making jewelry yesterday. Here are a couple pair of earrings I made. I have a couple other things I started, but couldn't finish because I needed more stuff. I think I like beading and will be making a few Christmas presents. I think next I would like to learn to quilt, but it may be a while before I take that on.

Well I think that is all for this evening. I am going to go watch Stargate and clean up the house a little before I hit the sack.

Sleep tight!!!

Tag

2008-11-06T19:57:00.004-06:00

Well I guess I got tagged by my friend Jess. (At least I think I am the Cindy she tagged. If not I just started my own game. Ha!) Here is what I have to do.

1) Choose the 4th picture folder on my computer
2) Choose the 4th picture
3) Explain the picture
4) Tag 4 other people

So here it is:

This is a completely unedited picture of my dad playing putt putt. It was taken with Steven's cell phone which is why it isn't a very good picture. The pic was taken back in April when we took my niece to play putt putt when she came up to visit with my parents. Well that was kind of fun.

Now on to tagging someone myself. I only know of four people who read my blog who have blogs of their own and since Jess tagged me and Jonnelle was the one who tagged her then I will tag Amber and Melody. Lets see those pics!

11-1-08

2008-11-01T23:08:00.008-05:00

I know you have all be anxiously awaiting to see the Halloween costumes I have been diligently working on. Well here it is. We did Super Mario Brothers. It was fun and Steven and I even won best contest at the costume party we went to tonight.

I also spent yesterday morning working on some cupcakes for the cake walk at the Fall Festival at church. They were totally inspired by some I saw on Fancy Flours. I must tell you I don't know how my friend Rachael decorates cakes and cookies all the time. So you can scroll down to see the picture. I put the picture way at the end of the blog so Melody doesn't have to see. (She has a fear of the item adorning my cupcake.) So I am warning you Melody don't scroll down.

2008-10-29T22:10:00.002-05:00

Well it is Wednesday and the week is halfway gone. Where does the time go.

Levi is doing well. He is his same sweet little self. We started him on Pedia-sure this week instead of formula. The doctor said it might upset his stomach, but thankfully it did not. It has a few more calories than his formula does, so maybe he will get a little growth spurt.

I am almost done with Levi's Halloween costume. My only problem is that every time I unsnap the snaps they come off (the fleece is too thick). So I am just not going to snap them again until we put the outfit on him on Halloween. Then I won't care if the snaps pop off at the end of the evening when we take it off him. My first sewing project in 15 years. I am not super good at sewing, but I am enjoying it. I have a few more projects planned. I will post picks of the costume this weekend, so make sure to check back.

I have been up to more than just sewing. I made this memo board last weekend for my friend Emily for a baby gift. It was one of the projects for the Got Sketch 101 class I took this summer. It was a lot of fun.

I found a new website that I am in love with. It is a baking site called Fancy Flours. Talk about fun baking goodies. Their blog has some super fun ideas as well. Makes me want to go bake. I want to go take a cake decorating class at Hobby Lobby now.

I have also to add another hobby to my list: jewelry making and beading. I got a bunch of stuff at Hobby Lobby the other day to make some Christmas presents with. I haven't actually made anything yet, but you will see pics as soon as I do.

We are getting ready to start a new Ladies Bible Study at church. It is called Anointed, Transformed, Redeemed. It is going to be a great study on the life of David. It is taught by Priscilla Shrirer, Beth Moore, and Kay Arthur. It came out a conference they did called Deeper Still. I have only done a couple of the lessons so far, but WOW! Here is one verse that really stuck out to me from the first lesson.

You did not choose me, but I chose you. John 15:16 HCSB

Priscilla Shrirer goes on to say that our confidence doesn't rest in our faithfulness but in God's. Well thank goodness, cause you know God is more faithful than I am. Seriously though think about how that thought process could change our confidence level. It isn't about us and how inadequate we are, but how faithful God is. I don't know about you, but I have to constantly be reminded that life is not about me. :) Later in the second lesson she talks about being aware of God around us and how that might change our daily activities and decisions. Well, that made me stop and think. I have to admit, I am not constantly thinking about God's presence. If I was there are definitely things I do or say that I would think twice about. So that is my prayer for today. That I am constantly aware of God's presence and let that guide my decisions and activities.

Well, I will leave you with that thought. I really need to hit the sack. I need to get up in the morning and make some yummy goodies to eat at Bible Study.

10-21-08

2008-10-21T22:44:00.004-05:00

Just wanted to give everyone an update. Levi had a checkup with his pediatrician today. Everything looked the same. He had lost a pound, but that could just be the difference between a really full diaper and a nice clean one. Luckily no new news to report. Sorry we are so boring.

Levi did turn 22-months-old today. Can you believe it. So glad to still have him around.

I have decided to take up sewing. Because I need more stuff to do :). So I have some fabric bought and a couple of projects under way. My first two are a baby blanket and Levi's Halloween costume. I will post pics when I finish, if I finish. :)

10-14-08

2008-10-14T21:27:00.004-05:00

I hate being sick. Hate it. I have had a terrible head cold all weekend. I don't like feeling bad. I don't get anything done when I am sick. And I have to stay away from Levi. I miss the little guy, even though he is just in his room. Steven has been doing most of the caring for him so I don't breathe on him any more than I have to. I feel tons better today so hopefully tomorrow it will be all gone. I am ready to pick my little guy up and snuggle him.

I did get to go scrapbook this past weekend, before I got sick. Friday night my friend Jessie and I went to Just 4 Keeps. I love going there to crop. I get out of the house and if there is anything I need I can just get it while I am there. There is also always someone new to meet. So if you ever want to go and need a friend to accompany you, just call me. Here are a couple of the pages I worked on.

Yes, that is Autumn totally cheating at Putt Putt. The journaling reads: "Autumn I don't think you hit the ball with your putter once. You just dropped the ball in the hole and giggled. You are such a little cheater." You can't see it in the picture, but there is glitter all over those tags. I am totally loving glitter these days.

This is Steven's dad with Levi at Christmas. How cute were they with their matching sweaters. The sticker on this one reads: "Perfect love does not come until the first grandchild."

Well I am going to go try to pick the house up a little before I hit the sack. Goodnight all!!!

10-8-08

2008-10-08T21:59:00.004-05:00

Well the stress has passed, until next time I am overwhelmed anyway. I spent the weekend organizing. I got the guest/scrap room organized, the desk in our room, and Levi's closet. Still lots to do, but I feel much better.

Levi's UTI seems to be all better. He finished the antibiotic today and all seems well. Thanks for all your prayers.

I got a sweet little surprise this week. I have a secret friend who knows someone I know (I don't know who this is), and they sent me this cute little card pack.

I can't wait to make some cards with my new fun stuff. Thank you secret friend.

That is all for tonight. Good night all.

10-2-08

2008-10-02T22:01:00.004-05:00

Thought I would give you all a little chuckle this evening. So I have developed the habit of ALWAYS putting a clean diaper under Levi before I take the dirty one off. Last night for some reason I did not do this. (Probably because it was second diaper he had pooped in and I thought surely he was finished.) So what do you think my little angel did. You guessed it. He pooped all over his little outfit. Luckily none of it got on the bed so I didn't have to change sheets, just his clothes.

Here is an updated picture of our little pumpkin. Thanks to my friend April for the awesome pic. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers about his little UTI. We haven't seen any more signs of the UTI so hopefully it is gone. And no signs of a yeast infection either, which was a concern because his antibiotic was really powerful.

So in my last post I said we had a pretty easy week. I am never going to say that again. After adding a few things to my to do list (since it is an easy week and all) I am now officially overwhelmed. You all know the feeling, too much to do and not enough time to do it in, to do lists that never get finished. How do I solve this problem you ask. I do nothing on the to do list and watch TV for two hours today until I stop feeling so stressed out. Not sure that was the most productive thing to do. I keep thinking I am going to eliminate some of the things on my to do list, but I want to do all the things on the list (either that or it is housework and it just has to be done). Oh well, I think I just need to get better organized and not spend so much time on the computer.

That being said I wish you all a good night. I am off to try to get to bed a little earlier. Hopefully I will get up earlier and get a few more things done tomorrow.

9-30-08

2008-09-30T21:06:00.003-05:00

Well I wish I could tell you there was something exciting around our house. There isn't really. This past weekend was busy. I had a Pampered Chef show at Just4Keeps and then I went back after the show to scrapbook. Steven had choir practice on Saturday morning, so Marie sat with Levi. We are so thankful she could do that for us.

Levi did get a UTI. Bless his little heart. We had to start him on a new antibiotic. I think that is working pretty well.

We have a nice slow week this week. Levi is sleeping well and we don't have anything extra on the schedule. I am really looking forward to not having a lot going on.

So sorry I didn't have anything cool to post. Hope you are having a great week.

9-22-08

2008-09-22T22:28:00.006-05:00

So things have been going pretty well around here. Levi has been sleeping so much better. Which means I have been sleeping so much better. We are all a lot happier when Levi and I sleep.

We took Levi last weekend to my favorite scrapbook store, Just4Keeps, and had pictures made. Hopefully I will use these pics on our Christmas card and can get those done early. I will post the pictures here as soon as I get them back. Levi was looking very dapper I must say.

This past weekend Mom and Dad came up with Logan (my nephew) and we went to the fair. I love to go to the fair to eat. I gotta have my yearly Indian Taco and Chocolate Covered Cheesecake. So yummy. Logan's favorite part was playing games.

But did he win anything you ask. Well of course he did. He actually won a few different things. One of them was this little dog he won for his beautiful Aunt Cindy (that's me).

Logan says I should name him Arf. I am not sure yet.

In other news around our house, Steven's brother-in-law, Michael, left his Rockband game at our house. So what did we do tonight. Well Steven and I (mostly just me) practiced our Rockband skills. Can I tell you I am truly horrible at most video games (except Viva Pinata) but I am starting to kind of dig Rockband. And Steven and I had fun playing together. I think we may have a new date night activity.

With that being said, I must be off to bed. Sleep tight.

9-9-08

2008-09-09T21:45:00.004-05:00

Levi and I dropped Steven off at the airport today. He had a business trip in Ohio. So it is just the two of us for a couple of days. Hopefully the time flies quickly. I like having my husband at home.

In case you didn't know Sunday was Grandparent's Day. So happy day to all you Grandparents. Here are a couple of cards I made for Levi's grandparents. I have been hanging out on Melissa Phillips blog and it has some awesome inspiration. She is amazing and both of these cards were inspired by stuff I saw on her blog.

There is one more I made, but it is for my parents and they haven't received it yet. I didn't want them to see it on here before I gave it to them.

So I think I may go play a video game for a while before I hit the sack. Good night all!!!!

Ladies Bible Study

2008-09-04T21:54:00.002-05:00

Well, this morning we started Ladies Bible Study at church. We are doing a study called Conversation Peace. I have the awesome opportunity of co-leading the study with my friend Peta. I have really been enjoying the lessons I have done so far. If you are in the area and are free on Thursday mornings (9:30am) you should join us. We will have lots of fun.

I am offically a big dork!!!!

2008-09-02T21:58:00.002-05:00

Well this morning, when playing around in my email contact list, I deleted all my contacts. All 112 of them. I cannot believe I did this. I already went to the help section on gmail to see if there was a way to restore them, and there is not. So great. I went through my inbox and added addresses of people who had emailed in the last few days, but that was only 20 people or so. So now when I need an address I am going to have to go search my archived emails to find the address I need. Not the end of the world but definately made me feel like a huge dork. Well life goes on.

Good night all!!!

Weekend Update

2008-09-01T21:39:00.004-05:00

We had a great weekend. Our friend Mary Beth got married so Friday night we went to the rehearsal dinner (Steven was running sound) and then Saturday we went to the wedding. Mom and Dad came up to sit with Levi so I wasn't tied to the baby stroller at the wedding and could enjoy myself. They did bring my niece Autumn with them though. That little girl is a hoot. I wish I had taken a picture of her while she was here. She was cracking us up, she has a very defined personality. Then Saturday evening Mom, Autumn, and I went shopping. Autumn in a shoe store is a lot of fun. I think she likes to shop for shoes almost as much as I do. She got these super cute pink camo Barbie tennis shoes. Boy was she excited.

That was about the most exciting thing we found. Sunday evening Steven and I watched I Am Legend. I am a big Will Smith fan, but that movie was not good. It verged on horror flick and I am not a fan of horror flicks. I do not recommend that one.

Today (Labor Day) was just another day for us. Steven, of course, was home from work so we just got some house work done and watched some TV.

Tonight Prison Break started back up. We really like that show and it seems like there might be some interesting stuff go on this season. Last season wasn't all that great and I was really glad they brought back Sara. We are big TV watchers so we glad a lot of our favorite shows are starting back up.

Oh, I almost forgot, I have a layout in the Basic Grey idea gallery. I was so excited they picked it. The pic is one of our engagement pictures.

Well there is all the excitement in our lives the past few days. Hope you all had a great weekend.

Another update

2008-08-28T21:39:00.003-05:00

Well last night was OK. Levi only kept me up until 3am. That sounds kind of bad, but he had been keeping me up all night. So it is definitely an improvement. He has been great today though so I am hoping tonight goes even better.

Well today I got a new little niece. My sister had a little girl at 2am. Her name is Lakin and she weighed 8lb 4oz and was 20.5 inches long. So she was a big girl. I will post a pic of her as soon as I get one that isn't on my phone.

Well that is all for now. Sleep tight my friends.

Just a little update

2008-08-27T22:35:00.001-05:00

Well it appears that Levi's new medicine is kicking in. He only woke me up twice last night and I was able to settle him down without having to pick him up and hold him. Right now he is resting well and I am getting ready to head for bed. Thank you for all your prayers, and please keep praying that he keeps sleeping.

2008-08-26T21:50:00.002-05:00

Well we have a crazy last few days. Levi started another one of his fussy times, for lack of a better term. He got to where he wouldn't let us put him down. So Steven and I spent the last two days with one or the other of us holding him. I am trying to cherish my time cuddling him, but when my arms fall asleep and it is 2am I really want him to lay down. This is also the reason I haven't posted anything in a while. It is kind of hard to type while holding Levi. We started him on a new medicine today and it seems to be working so far this evening. Keep your fingers crossed that I will get to sleep tonight.

This weekend I took a break from the house and scrapbooked at Just4Keeps all weekend. I was there Friday night and all day Saturday and Saturday night. I talked more than I scrapbooked, but I had a blast. It was just the break I needed from my precious little man. Here is one of the pages I worked on. It is Levi when we put him in the pool last month. And no he didn't like it.

Here is also a page I did of my first day of kindergarten, because I like to scrapbook pictures other than just Levi.That page is on the Just4Keeps website as the homepage right now. I must say I was pretty darn cute.

Well since I have just been sitting around holding Levi a lot lately I have been keeping caught up on my TV show. I have to tell you I love Bravo. Shear Genius, Project Runway, and Date My Ex are all on my DVR list. For those of you who are Shear Genius can you believe Daniel went home. He was totally my fav. :(

Well that is about the extent of the excitement in our lives. I will try to keep you updated on how Levi's new medicine works for him.

8-13-08

2008-08-13T21:52:00.005-05:00

Sorry I haven't posted anything in a while.

Levi had a fussy spell the first part of last week. It was no fun for any of us. He didn't let me sleep much for about four days. Luckily we got a new medicine that has really helped. It is actually a sedative. It really calms him down, but it doesn't seem to knock him out. I was so glad because I really needed the sleep. Now I can't seem to get enough sleep.

Mom and Dad came up to visit this past weekend. We had fun. Mom and I went shopping and got pedicures. I decided to let them do something different to my toes. I can paint them red anytime I want, so I had them do something I can't do myself.
Steven dosen't really love my new pedicure. He doesn't understand why I only painted the ends and why I would choose black. I like it. I think it is unique.

As for Steven, I am sure you are wondering what he has been up to. He has been taking violin lessons. I will let you know if he ever plays in public. He is really enjoying himself though.

Well I guess that is all for now. Hope you have a fabulous week.

Words of Encouragement

2008-07-17T14:54:00.003-05:00

Here are a few verses I came across the other day that I found encouraging. They weren't new verses to me, but they made me feel warm and fuzzy on the inside. It was like getting a hug from God.

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. Matthew 10:29-31

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

The king is enthralled by your beauty; honor him, for he is your lord. Psalm 45:11

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Psalm 139: 13-14

So consider yourself hugged by God today! :)

Great Quote

2008-07-16T12:53:00.004-05:00

Here is a little excerpt I pulled from an e-mail I recieved here a while back. The quote is from Rick Warren (author of The Purpose Driven Live). I pulled it out of an interview he did after he had become wealthy from the sales of his book at the same time that his wife was diagnosed with cancer.

"I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore. Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life. No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on. And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for. You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems."

7-14-08

2008-07-14T16:31:00.002-05:00

Yes it has been a while since I updated. Sorry! Levi has been off and on fussy. I don't know why. I just try stuff until something works. He has been pretty good the last few days though so that is a blessing. Who knows what I will get tomorrow when I wake up though. He still is off the heating pad and his temperature seems to be doing great. We are loving that. We have actually been out to dinner a couple of times and gotten to sit down and eat. We usually only get to do that when Debbie comes over to babysit. We are definately enjoying that family time.

I also wanted to share this sermon with you guys. Amber e-mailed me the link here a while back and I though it was great. Just wanted to share.

Hope you all are having a great week.

Update

2008-06-23T14:49:00.002-05:00

I know a lot of you have been wondering how Levi is doing. The last couple of days have been a ton better. His good spells have been getting longer and longer. He has let me sleep all night the last two nights. I have been so happy about that.(Yes that is a happy dance.) We started him last week on an anti-anxiety medicine and a cramping medicine. Those appear to be helping. No more pain medicine for now.

Well, I do have to tell you about the wonderful blessing I recieved this weekend. Steven's mom comes over and babysits Levi so I can run errands on Friday afternoons. It is my time to get out and go to the bank and grocery store and whatever else I need to do. Debbie babysitting every Friday is a blessing in itself. This Friday I came home to an extremely clean house. While I was out running my errands my Mother-in-law let some of my wonderful friends into my home and they cleaned it from top to bottom. This was a huge blessing since I had not gotten any cleaning done for a couple of weeks since I was spending all my time holding Levi. One of the things that hit me the most as I was thinking about what these girls had done for me, was what a picture of community. As we have been having so much transition at our church lately, I was reminded that a church family is really about ministering to each other, serving one another, and sharing each other's joys. Galatians 6:2 says to "bear one another's burdens." That is absolutely what these wonderful friends did for me. These girls rock my face off. Thank you again Lisa, Kim, Peta, Jessie, Jerilyn, Carmen, and Amy.

4am

2008-06-15T04:22:00.004-05:00

Well it is almost 4:30 in the morning and I am sitting up with Levi. He is not a fan of being laid down tonight. So no sleep for me. Oh well it happens sometimes. I am taking the opportunity to get some computer time. However typing with one hand can be a little difficult.

In honor of Father's Day here is a scrapbook page I did a couple months ago. I thought it was a really cute pic of Steven and Levi.

"Any man can be a father but it takes someone special to be a Daddy"

Update

2008-06-12T14:04:00.005-05:00

Well I know a lot of you have been worrying about and praying for sweet Levi since I posted that he was having some problems. It looks like the pain medicine has work and whatever was wrong is better. He hasn't had any of the pain medicine in a couple of days and he has been a little angel. I haven't heard a peep out of him. Sometimes I have to go check on him because he has been so quiet. So thank you for all your prayers.

Since little man has been so good I did get some crafty time yesterday. I got my Father's Day cards made and I made this cutie pie notebook for myself. I like to have something to write in when I am having a quiet time.

My friend Leslie Pendleton came and visited me today. That was a lot of fun to sit around and chit chat. Girl time is fun. And I had a blast playing with her little guy as well. Two is a fun age.

Well I am off to read some my favorite blogs (my favorite thing to do) and then maybe some laundry. Until next time.

Levi

2008-06-10T09:13:00.000-05:00

OK I know that most of you that will visit this blog really are interested in Levi more than anything else. You think my scrapbook pages are cute, but you really want to know about the little man. Well he is doing good this week. Last week was another story. He became very upset toward the end of last week. He was unconsolable and obviously in pain. This was very hard to watch. I have a really hard time when I can't make him feel better. That is what mommies are supposed to do, make you feel better. We had to put him on some pain medicine (Tylenol w/codeine). At first he was kind of groggy acting, but I think we have that fixed and he is back to being his normal self. Fussy only some of the time. Well here is a pic of him a few weeks ago in his Sunday best. Thanks to Miss Marie for the super cute outfit.

What have I been up to?

2008-06-10T00:45:00.000-05:00

Besides taking care of Levi and trying to keep my housework under control, I have been taking a really fun online scrapbooking class. It is called Got Sketch 101. I am having a blast. Here is a layout and a card I have already created for the class.

Thanks for checking out the new blog. Hope you enjoy.