Update On Isaiah

Hi Everyone:
I just spoke with Isaiah on skype and wanted to give you an update on how he is doing and what has been going on for him at YWAM.
Isaiah looks well and is so enjoying his time in California!  He is having alot of fun skateboarding and sight seeing.  Today his team is in Tiajuana for a leadership conference which he seems to be enjoying.  Last night they had the opportunity to visit the red light district in Tiajuana where they witnessed the tragedy of child trafficing, drug addiction, and the travesty that poverty and the lack of God create.  It is one thing to see this kind of thing on TV; it is quite another to see it with your own eyes.
Isaiah has spent time ministering in friendship to unsaved kids at the skate park and has gotten them connected to local churches and youth groups which has really excited him.
He has had the opportunity to share God and hope with ex members of the Hell's Angels and direct them to the only true source of help and freedom.
He has seen deaf ears healed, financial needs provided for both for himself and others.  He has had the opportunity to pray for others himself and see God move in their lives.
When I asked him what direction he felt the Lord leading him in he replied that since he has been there he has taken on the roll of a leader and an encourager and that that feels good to him.  He himself has had the Lord touch areas of his heart where there were areas of hurt and unforgiveness and has had the opportunity to be influenced by leaders whom he likes and respects.
Most importantly, Isaiah has had the opportunity to experience God as his own God - the personal God.  Isaiah wanted a pair of Rayban sunglasses.  He told God that he didn't care how he got them but that he would really like some Raybans.  Having no money to spend he laughed at the request and then one of the other guys on his team who has a very wealthy family and a huge brand name wardrobe approached Isaiah and said, "God has shown me that I've based my identity on these clothes and things so I'm giving them away.  I have this pair of Raybans and I'm wondering if you want them!"
LOL!  That's the God we serve, the God of more than enough, the God who fills the desires, not just the needs of our hearts!
We and Isaiah so much value all of your support.  Your financial contributions, gifts and most of all your prayers.  God is doing great things in and for Isaiah and we so look forward to sharing more with you as he continues to update us.
Tomorrow is the day that they will chose where they go for their outreach, please pray that God will show Isaiah clearly where he should be going! Pin It

Dinoroar

Benjamin's birthday is coming up and unbenounced to him we will be celebrating it on the Disney Wonder cruise ship!  OMGosh, I can hardly wait to see that sweet face light up with excitement!  I made this card tonight with some new SU supplies:

I thought this cute little dinoroar set was perfect for little boy birthday cards!  I'll post pics when I get back of the festivities! Pin It

8 Sleeps & Family Pics

Its only 8 more sleeps until we leave for vacation and Isaiah heads off to YWAM.  I have to admit that I'm starting to get a little emotional anticipating saying good-bye to him for a few months.  Doesn't matter how old they are, they're always your baby!!  I've been busy making packing lists, buying travel insurance, making sure passports are in order and doing all the online check-ins I can before we leave to make sure things run smoothly.   In keeping with that theme my new but very sweet friend and neighbor Shanna brought it to my attention that it would be good to get some family photos done before Isaiah went off to YWAM so she very generously offered her time and did some pics for us.  I am absolutely thrilled with how they turned out and just had to show them off to you here!
The one and only absolute love of my life:

Here is my young man all grown up:

I absolutely love these ones:

This is our "We did it!  He's all grown up and we're SO proud of the young man he's become." and secretly, "one down, 3 to go" he he:

A boy and his Dad:

He'll always be my baby:

Next in line for a bedroom in the basement:  Jacob, 8 years going on 17:

Eli - All boy mixed with complete sweetness:

Snips & Snails & Puppy Dog Tails - I don't care what anyone says this has got to be one of the sweetest faces ever created!!

And then there were 4:

I think being a big brother must be even better than being a super hero!

Boys will be boys!

And with being a super hero comes the "annoying little brothers"!!

Revenge:

"Ew", "get a room", "seriously?", "you guys are disgusting":

Have I mentioned how much I love my life and how I thank God for every day, every moment that I get to have these amazing 5 men in my life?  I am blessed more than I could have ever imagined.  ALL of my dreams have come true.

Thank you God for this Beautiful life you've given me and forgive me when I take it for granted.

Hug the people in your life that you never want to live without! Pin It

A New Home

It has been forever since I've had a chance to blog.  Time seems to be flying by this year and there has just been so much going on!  We have just purchased a home which we are SO excited about.  We've been renting for the last 2 years and have probably looked at over 100 homes.  Finally we found one that was the right fit!  While I didn't completely love the floor plan initially, it had everything on my check list which was the first one we saw like that.  We could use 1 more bedroom but we'll figure that out in time.  I have a ton of the 'before pics' - there are alot of things we'd like to do to this house which will happen over time but for now I thought I'd show you our new home.  As we complete our projects, I'll add the before and after pics for you.
When we bought this house, as I said, it had everything on my check list but I didn't think it was my dream home - now that we are in - I am absolutely in love with this house and SO SO thankful that God has once again blessed our family abundantly above what we could ever think or imagine!!  I've had my friend and neighbor from our other house, Rachelle over.  She is a horticulturist and has come up with an amazing plan for our back yard.  We've had the contractor over to give us quotes on a covered deck for the front and some other small jobs we need done and I've had the decorator here to help me pick out some paint colors!  I'm so excited to get started but we do have to pace ourselves - not to mention that this house is substantially larger than our last one so we dont' have nearly enough furniture - giggle.  Our house is on the nicest street in Kindersley (IMHO).  It is across the street from the river and walking path and we have green space across from us with a ball diamond and 2 playgrounds not far away!
Okay, here we go:
The front exterior: (don't love the exterior at all - there are french doors out to the front yard but no deck - (that's where the covered deck comes in).

A little closer up

This monstrosity is what you see as soon as you walk in the front door.  It is a fire place with no chimney - someone had big plans at one time but it completely closes off the whole main floor so it will be coming out!

 Here are Charlie & Daisy checking out the new diggs!  This is our living room.  That door on the far wall is the master bedroom.

 The front door from the inside - as you can see there is NO coat closet or anywhere to leave your shoes so I'll have to be very creative in coming up with an esthetically pleasing option for this busy family until we can build a mud room!

 This is my itty bitty teeny weeny little laundry room - otherwise known as the hallway to the garage - LOL!  It is also much smaller than I would have liked but is on the main floor and once the mud room is built we should be able to make this room larger.

 This is Eli's room - technically a den but with a living room, family room and rec room we needed the bedroom space so that is what it will be!  We'll be taking the french doors off eventually and just putting 1 regular door here.

 The message center.  Also not extremely functional with the small space between the cupboards and countertop but this space will eventually be made into a floor to ceiling linen closet!

 This is Benjamin & Jacob's room - basic - but who puts a ceiling light in the corner of a room - ugh.

 This is the boys bathroom.  I am not a beige person.  I love white, crisp and clean but this tub is sure enough beige and in such like new condition that it will not be going anywhere for quite some time so I will pick some colors for the wall that I think will make it more 'me'.

 This is our kitchen which I originally thought would drive me totally crazy because it is quite small but there is actually more cupboard space in here than in our other house and because the space is well designed, my kitchen is actually more organized than ever!

 This is our family room - LOVE LOVE LOVE that I have a wood burning fireplace!!

 The empty dining room

And with our table:  If you have ever been to our home you know that we have a substantial sized table.  It is heavy and solid and there was barely enough room to walk around it in our other house - you can see this room dwarfs the table - it looks so small now ;0)  I love all the space!!

The master bedroom

Our ensuite - ya gotta love the burgandy and brass - hmmm, wonder what decade this house was built - LOL!  With that being said - my burgandy tub is heavenly to have a bubble bath in.  I absolutely adore it and also is phenomenal condition so again, hoping to disquise the '80s theme with some great paint colors.

 On to the basement:  This is our guest bath

not very exciting at all...

This is just outside the bathroom and there is a giant black board painted on the wall.  This entire basement was a kids play area when the previous owners were here and we are now containing that space :0).  This will be our new workout area with the treadmill and some weights.

This space is opporsite the chalk board wall and will be our new rec room where we'll watch movies with the kids and Andy will play video games here - Alot I'm sure - LOL!

 This area will be my craft space with a craft area for the kids at the end where the built in counter top is.  The closed door just to the right of the counter will be the play room.

 The is the room above with the open door.  Right now it is Isaiah's room but with him going away, it may be turned into a guest room - much to his chagrin.  If anyone can think of an amazing way to decorate a guest room so that it also functions for a young adult male - PLEASE email me!!

  And finally out to the back yard.  This is the back of the house - the deck is quite big and actually wraps around the the left of the house.

 The yard:

Thanks so much for sharing this little tour with me.  We absolutely adore our new home and can't wait to make it ours! Pin It

Big Sale

Hi Everybody!  I just wanted to let you know, if you don't already about a great promotion that Stampin Up is running!  30% off select stamp sets in honor of National Scrapbooking Month! 

The page numbers are there for you to look up the sets if you like.  Please email me by Monday May 30th if you are interested in ordering!
I love sales and I definitely plan to order a couple of these, especially since you never know what will show up on the retiring list! Pin It

Jacob's Glasses

Well, it was bound to happen.  At least one of the four boys was going to inheret my eyes and Jacob is the one.  I got glasses when I was 8 years old and now, Jacob is 8 and just got new glasses.  I'm so thankful that glasses are so common now that kids don't get teased about them!
Jacob picked some very stylish frames!  Here is my big boy with his new glasses:

Doesn't he look SO grown up!

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Lots Going On

Wowsa!  Its been a while - sorry about that!  I do have some paper crafting treats to post but today I want to share some family stuff!  First, our biggest news is that our oldest son Isaiah is going to be spending 6 months with a missionary organization called Youth With a Mission.

YWAM is an international and interdenominational organization of Christians working to help make a difference in a needy world.  Founded in 1960, it is now one of the largest Christian ministries, with about 1,100 locations in over 171 countries.  I saiah will be involved in the DTS, which is an intensive Christian training course.  It consists of a lecture phase followed by a two-month cross-cultural field assignment.

The lecture phase takes place at the YWAM base in Los Angeles.  Its aim is to prepare people to share with those less fortunate, placing an emphasis on knowing God in depth.  

The location of Isaiah's outreach will be determined within 4 weeks of the lecture phase.  The Los Angeles base focuses on the nations of India, Nepal, Morocco, Thailand, and South Africa.  Past schools have helped start churches, participated in key construction projects, distributed goods to the poor and needy, ministered to orphans, and served in many other types of work. 

As you can imagine, a trip like this requires financial support from a number of people. If you would like to support Isaiah in a financial way, thereby being a part of what he is accomplishing, he would be very grateful.

Isaiah needs to raise $2,950 for the lecture phase (which will cover room/board, food, books, and speaker costs) and an additional $3500 for the outreach phase (which covers airfare, accommodations, food, and ground transportation). 

Please make checks out to YWAM and send to:

YWAM  Los Angeles

Attn: DTS Registrar
11141 Osborne Street
Lake View Terrace, CA 91342

Please DO NOT write on the memo line.  Just attach a separate note stating whom the check is for - Isaiah Ortman (Sept 2011 DTS).

If you would prefer to give using paypal, your credit card or debit account, you can click on the Isaiah's YWAM Donation button in the Right Hand Column right at the top.

We would love for you to keep Isaiah in your thoughts as he prepares for this great experience.  We can’t wait to see what the Lord has in store during this time. 

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For You Flower?

I love this flower stamp and I love that it matches a punch!  Stampin Up does such a great job of making their products coordinate!  It makes creating beautiful things so easy to do.

I love the color combination too.  Pink Pirouette, Certainly Celery, Chocolate chip & Crumb cake.
If this card looks familiar, its because I cased it from the Idea Book & Catalogue - I just changed up the colors!
Have a great day! Pin It

Easter Silhouette

As soon as I saw the Easter Blossoms stamp set, I knew I had to have it.  Having said that I haven't really ever sent out Easter cards - I guess I should start ;0).

This card was inspired by Renee Vanstralen - she is amazing and always has fresh, new, creativity to share on her blog.

I colored the apple blossoms with my white gel pen.  The ink is regal rose and the paper is pretty in pink.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE the decorative label punch!  The whole main image is popped up on dimensionals!
If you want the Easter Blossoms stamp set, you have until the end of April to order it and you can do that right HERE Pin It

A Birthday for Twins

My amazing twins turned 8 on Saturday.  Wow, that happened when I blinked.  The time has gone SO fast!  I only remember snippets of when they were babies, but I remember very clearly the pregnancy and the preparation - practical and mental - for the arrival of TWO babies. 
Every single day I look at them and marvel at the amazing little people God decided to trust me with - how humbling!  My little dreams come true! 
Jacob is a leader - a born leader.  Its just who God made him to be.  What a huge responsiblity to parent a child like this.  To teach him that leaders are kind, to teach him how to make tough decision, and to teach him how to lead with love.  Thank God we have the example of Jesus to follow!  He also loves to draw us pictures and write us stories and read them to us :0)

Eli is so sensitive, his is a hard worker and loves the status quo.  He is eager to please all the time and loves to bless those around him.  He is constantly writing me poems and stories, making me cards and telling me how much he loves me.  He has still kept his new years resolution and is very proud of that!  He is wise and has a very strong conscience, constantly keeping Jacob on track despite Jacob 'leading' him to do things that are questionable.  This is one of my favorite pictures EVER!

They had a skating party this year - we barely made it with the weather - it was pretty slushy and we had alot of wet ski pants when we got home but they had fun nevertheless.  They were each allowed to invite 4 kids so all together we had 11 (including Benjamin). 
As these 11 cherubs were racing around our house slamming doors, chasing each other and screaming, Andy turned to me and said - do you see now why I don't think the movie Cheaper By The Dozen is funny - LOL!

Here are the invitiations I made for their party - I cased them and changed them a little bit from the SU idea book and catalogue:
Jacob's were red:

Eli's were green:

You can find all of the supplies to make these invitations right HERE!
Go hugs the little people in your life that make your dreams come true! Pin It