A B C's

Hello all. I have something so cool to share with you. My dear Aunt, Aleada, sent this to me and I just loved it so much, that I thought I'd share it with my blogger friends. Hope you enjoy it, it'll make you look at the alphabet a little differently.

Although things are not perfect
Because of trial or pain
Continue in thanksgiving
Do not begin to blame
Even when the times are hard
Fierce winds are bound to blow
God is forever able
Hold on to what you know
Imagine life without His love
Joy would cease to be
Keep thanking Him for all the things
Love imparts to thee
Move out of "Camp Complaining"
No weapon that is known
On earth can yield the power
Praise can do alone
Quit looking at the future
Redeem the time at hand
Start every day with worship
To "thank" is a command
Until we see Him coming
Victorious in the sky
We'll run the race with gratitude
Xalting God most high
Yes, there'll be good times and yes some will be bad
Zion waits in glory...where none are ever sad!

And always remember, that the shortest distance between a problem and a solution is the distance between your knees and the floor. The one who kneels to the Lord can stand up to anything.

Have an awesomely blessed day!

Out on the town

This past Saturday, my hubby and I went to a birthday party. Our nieces mother, Sharon, celebrated her 60th birthday. The celebration was a surprise party given to her by her husband & her 5 daughters. And everyone was asked to wear their semi-formal best. I don't know about you, but I love to get dressed up. Every once in a while, it's just fun to be able to wear something other than jeans or pajama pants...lol. And even more fun to be able to dress up and go out in public with other ADULTS...lol.

Anyway, to make a long story short, the food was awesome and I HEARD that the Martini's were delicious (I don't drink anything stronger than Dr. Pepper or Gingerale!) Everyone looked beautiful and the surprise went off without a hitch.

Oh, and the most fun part about this was, hubby and I spent the entire evening out. My mother in law, kept the kids for us and we got a hotel for the evening. Woo HOO!!! So after the party, we got to spend the night in a beautiful hotel room, without having to hear a little knock at our bedroom door at 4:30 in the morning saying, "DADDY...I've gotta potty...REALLY BAD!!" :-)

Well, here are some pix from our evening.

Here's me and my hubby. We clean up pretty good, don't we?

This is our nephew, Derron and his lovely wife, Shirlene. It was Shirlene's mother who was the guest of honor.

My hubby and his nephew, Derron. These guys are just like brothers. I love to see them having a good time together.

Me and Shirlene, sharing a rare moment.

Here's all the guys. 4 of these guys are Shirlene's brothers in law. The others are her husband, her uncle and her mothers husband.

Well, that's all the pix I have to share for now. I'm waiting to get some more. Oddly enough, I didn't get one single picture of the birthday girl or Shirlene's other 4 sisters. As soon as I get them, I'll share. They are some BEAUTIFUL women!!!

Thanks again to Derron & Shirlene for inviting us to such a special event. And a special thanks to Sharon, for welcoming us in the celebration of her birthday. Love you guys!!!

New Layout - Hold my hand

Happy Sunday, everyone. I hope you all had a great weekend. We did. Me and my hubby went out on a date (more on that in another post). We had a ball!!

Anyway, I've been diligently working on a layout for the Roots Scrapbooking site. Hope T. A. doesn't mind that I'm posting it here. She "challenged" me to do a LO with these little hands. At first I thought, "how in the WORLD am I gonna use these?" Then it came to me. I immediately thought of these pictures of Markell & Jayla. Well, here it is. Tell me what you think.

This LO is called: Hold My Hand and the quote reads, "As we grow up, my brother acts like he doesn't care. But I always know he'll hold my hand, look out for me, and will always be there."

Supplies used:

KI Memories "Classic" (patterned paper), CK Scrappin Creations Power Pad (cardstock), KI Memories "Classic" stickers, hands from Roots Scrapbooking (embellishments), "Bernhard Fashion BT (computer font) and journaling & title were printed on transparencies.

Thanks for looking! Be Inspired!!!

Friday Flower Fix

"May you enjoy the seasons of your lives together, the promise of spring, the warmth of summer, the reflection of autumn, and the calm of winter."

Have a happy weekend!

Happy Birthday, to the love of my life

Today is my dear husband, Marque's 40th birthday! It's hard to believe that I've been with this "young man" since we were both 19 years old! It appears that we're doing exactly what we vowed to do...and that's grow old together. Now don't get me wrong, 40 is not old! Personally, I think we're in the prime of our lives.

Over the years, Marque has proven that he is a man of his word. He promised that he would always work hard and do what was necessary to take care of his family. And he continues to do just that. Not only financially, but spirtually. My husband is a man of God and it's very evident by the way he leads & teaches our family.

There are so many things I can say about Marque. But I won't bore you all with the mushy details :-).

I will just say that I love you, Marque, with all my heart and I look forward to what the next 40 years will add to, not only your life, but mine as well.

Me and the kids love you SO much and we hope that your 40th year of life is as wonderful as you are to us.

Happy Birthday, Babe!

It's almost time...

For those of you who keep up with my blog, you'll remember that both Markell and Jayla play soccer, right? Well guess what? The 2007 Spring season is about to start...YAY!!! I'm serious, I LOVE that the kids play and enjoy soccer. And I just love being out there too; watching them play and chatting with all the other parents. We've been very blessed to be a part of such a close knit group of people. We've all been together since the kids started their "careers". And we even socialize outside of the soccer fields. We're like a big ole family.

This will be Markell's 8th season (he decided to take the 2006 Fall season off). UGH!!! I thought I'd NEVER get over THAT decision! But we made it through and by the middle of the season, that boy was ready to get back on the field. I can't tell you how many times he asked when registration was for the Spring season, hee hee. And for someone who's as good as he is and as anxious as he was to start back playing, January took FOREVER to get here.

Now this will be Jayla's 4th season playing. And this girl was asking about the 2007 Spring season about a month BEFORE the last season was over :-). It was SO cool to see her and all her under 6 team mates, finally get the concept of the game. I'm convinced I saw little light bulbs over their little heads as they practiced...LOL!

We took the kids to buy new cleats on Saturday and they were both SO excited. I think it just made them realize that it was REALLY almost time to get back on the field. Markell chose some really cool cleats that he THINKS will make him play like the famous professional Barcelona player, Ronaldinho. And Jayla HAD to have shiny red ones that she THINKS will make her run as fast as a cheetah (that's the name of her team)...LOL.

"Coach Daddy" even looked for some new footwear. But he couldn't justify paying over $200 for the authentic Ronaldinho cleats. Good decision, huh? :-)

Practice will begin within the next week or so and the first game in the first weekend of March. So once again, our weeks will be filled with 4 practices and 2 games. What a life!!! :-)

Of course, as the season progresses I'll share how everyone is doing. Until then, I'm just gonna enjoy getting ready for another great season.

GO Stingrays!!! GO Cheetahs!!!

Meet...ANNA!

Happy Saturday everyone. Hope you're enjoying your weekend.

I'm not sure if I introduced you all to our newest family member. If I did, it would've been around Christmas time. ANYWAY, here she is.

Everyone, I'd like for you to meet Anna! Anna is my "grandbaby". She is my 5 year old daughter, Jayla's "daughter" :-). Anna was born at Toys R Us and arrived in our home in a see through plastic box. lol. I must admit, she is a cute little thing. Ok, there's nothing "little" about her. This DOLL is 21" long and is the size of a 1 month old. There are NO doll clothes available to fit her. But Jayla's granny gave Anna some clothes for Christmas. She wears REAL clothes, size 0 - 3 months! And she smells like baby powder. Too cute!!!

Believe it or not, I've actually taken several pictures of Anna (per Jayla's request, of course). Jayla wants to start scrapbooking and she just HAS to have pictures of HER baby like I've got of mine :-). So stay tuned for some of Jayla's scrapbook LO's.
Here's a picture of me and Anna that Jayla just took. Don't I look like a tired grandma? :-)

And here's Jayla, proudly holding her "daughter". :-)

I just love little girls. It's the cutest thing to see them pretending and mimicking their mommies. What an honor it is to be a mom.

Friday Flower Fix

"If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change."

(Pink Tulip)

Have a beautiful weekend!

UPDATE: on the baby in car issue

Yes, I'm at it again. But this time, it won't be NEAR as long.

Just to update you on the issue with the baby being left in the car today at JoAnn's...the police officer called me back.

He says that he did not arrest the lady today as she was alone there with the baby. However, he did write this up and the "case" will be turned over to a detective. They plan to do an investigation to see if she's done this (or something similar) before AND to see if she has any complaints/cases with DEFACs. The officer indicated that the lady is here from Ontario, Canada and that he knows that some "cultures" do things differently. However, when a child is involved that "difference" doesn't matter. The interest is and should in the wellfare of the child and not the parents "convenience".

I may be called back at a later time if something else comes of this. So he told me to be prepared...just in case.

Time for a ride on my SOAP BOX!

WARNING: This may be a long one. So bare with me!

Ok, earlier today I went to JoAnn's...for SOMETHING...now, I can't even remember what it was.

ANYWAY, I pull into a parking spot right next to a lady that I just so happen to know. She pulled in, like a second before I did. So, I put my vehicle in park and something catches my eye in the SUV that's parked right in front of me. It was a little girl, maybe 12 - 18 months old, strapped in the backseat in a carseat. She had on a big coat, gloves and a hat (it was about 30 degrees out this morning). I immediately notice that there's no one in the drivers seat. I sat there for a second, thinking that maybe there WAS someone with her and they were at the back of the SUV or leaning down inside...or SOMETHING. But I never saw anyone. So I look to my right at the lady that I know, who is still in her vehicle on the phone. I was going to mention what I saw to her just in case I was jumping to conclusions.

I get out of my van and I'm stalling, right? Just waiting around to see if an adult comes to the vehicle with the child in it. THEN...I notice that the SUV is running!!! Now, I'm really concerned. By now, it's been about 5 minutes or so. Keep in mind, I have no idea how long this car had been sitting there prior to my pulling up. So I walk up to the store, still looking back to make sure I wasn't crazy! Then Trish, the lady I parked next to, gets out and walks towards the entrance. I stop her, say hello and ask her if she happened to notice anyone get out of that SUV. She says no. So I tell her why I was asking and she immediately panics. So we go inside and ask to see a manager. There's no one in our immediate sight that looks like that vehicle and child belong to them. The JoAnn's employee takes too long to get someone for us, so I called 911 from my cell phone. I explain the situation to them and they say they will send a car right over. So I wait just inside the store, where I can see the SUV and the police when they come. By now, over 20-25 minutes have passed.

Finally the police come and I go out to meet him. He pulls up behind the Infiniti and gets out to talk to me and Trish. I inform him that I'm the one who called. The officer was clearly upset about this and starts complaining about parents who leave their kids in a parked car so THEY won't be inconvenienced. He takes down my information and thanks me for calling. He informs us that the laws have changed a little and he's not sure if they can arrest people for doing this anymore. But indicates that he hopes that he still can because he WILL in this case. We look in on the little girl and she seems to be fine. Then a JoAnn's employee comes out and asks if the officer wants them to make an announcement in the store to see who the Infiniti belongs to. The officer says, "YES!! Cuz I'd like to talk to them!!"

Anyway, they do that and a few minutes later, this lady strolls outside and looks upset that there are people standing around her car. And not just "people" but the police too. By now, another cop has come on the scene. The first one walks up to the lady and LET'S HER HAVE IT!!! Me and Trish decide we've done our civic duty and walk into the store and we're now out of it. We look out the window and it appears that the lady is trying to EXPLAIN why she left her child in a running car, which, as far as we know, has been 40 PLUS minutes!!! Obviously longer. She and the police "chatted" for quite some time. Neither of which looked very happy.

Now, I'm in the store and have NO CLUE as to why I went there in the first place...LOL! And a few minutes later, I notice that the lady has come in with the baby, makes her purchases and leaves...as if nothing ever happened.

Let me just say, that there is TOO much going on in the world these days to do something as stupid as this. I do understand that sometimes it can be a challenge and yes, sometimes even an inconvenience to take a child into a store. Especially a carseat aged child. But you know what? I'd rather suffer through that minor inconvenience than have something horrible happen to my child. What if she had choked on something? What if someone stole the vehicle? What IF.....

Ok, so I'm done now. But what are your thoughts? Would you have called the police? Should I have left the situation alone and not worry about it? For those of you who have children, how would you have handled this?

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!

Good morning all!!

Happy Valentines Day!!! Not much to say today other than,

"There is only one happiness in life: to LOVE and be LOVED".

Hopefully, you're blessed enough to be able to do both.

Love is in the air

More than one day a year

But Valentine's Day

Makes everyone say

"I love you" to those that are dear.

~~~

Note: I would apologize for The Backyardigans valentine. But I think they are just the cutest little things. Not to mention, Jayla chose these to take for her class today. When we went shopping for cards, she said, "Mommy, I know you love The Backyardigans and I love you...so these are the ones I want!". sniff, sniff :-).

Have a LOVELY day!!!

ONE of me is enough!!!

Good morning all.

Have you ever wondered how many of "you" there are in the U.S.A.? I've often questioned if there are other people that share my name. Well, thanks to my good friend Stacey, my questions have been answered. She sent me this link this morning that gives you an idea of how many people in the US share your name. It's pretty interesting. Here are my results.

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 5 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Hmmm, they "say" there are 5 people with the name Dawn Bibbs in the U.S. That's pretty darn cool!

Check it out for yourself...see how many people share your name. You may be surprised!!! Hopefully, that's all you'll share...SMILE.

Have a groovy day!!!

Western Day

As much as I hate to take the focus off my Friday Flower Fix, I HAD to share this. Today is Western Day at Jayla's school. Her Pre-K class had to come dressed up as cowboys and cowgirls. How cute is that? Can I tell you that this chick has been worrying me about this day for at LEAST 3 weeks?? :-)

My friend, Stacey, let Jayla borrow a red bandana, a vest and a cowboy hat especially for today. But Jayla quickly informed me that "Cowgirls don't wear RED!" Who knew??? ANYWAY, I had to give Stacey back all of her stuff and get the color that cowgirls DO wear....PINK!!! Well, DUH!!

I found the "perfect" color pink bandana and of COURSE she had to have a pink hat too. Lucky for her, Michaels had ONE left! So we decorated it with some pretty ribbon and rhinestones. Then, there was the boots. Did you know that this is the PERFECT time of year to buy boots? I found these SUPER cute faux suede boots for $9!!! The only ones left in her size.

Anyway, the girl could hardly sleep last night and even got up 30 minutes early this morning. She was a little upset that daddy had to leave early for work this morning. So he'll have to see the pictures and/or wait until this evening to see his little cowgirl.

Ok, I've talked this up enough. Here she is:

Is she not the cutest little thing? I normally don't like the look of boots with a short skirt. But she pulled it off pretty well. Don't you love the boots? Hee Hee

A mother can never have too many close-ups!

Sometimes a girl even has to stand out in the cold to get that perfect shot :-). It was 32 degrees this morning when I took this.

Alright, I think I'm done now...LOL. Have a great day!

Friday Flower Fix

"You can complain because roses have thorns, or you can rejoice because thorns have roses."

You're gonna be impressed...I happen to know this is a rose :-). Have a beautiful weekend.

I tagged myself...

I did it again...I "borrowed" something from someones blog AGAIN!!! Somebody STOP ME!!! :-)

There I was, strolling down the road of bloggers, doing my daily reading, and I came across this questionnaire. Ya know, I love these things. Some people think they're a nuisance. But I like 'em.

ANYWAY....the sweet, Suzie Q, had this questionnaire on her site, so I sort of tagged myself :-). Well, here goes...enjoy! (and for the record, I'm gonna be taggin some people at the end of this...so be ready!) :)

1. If you could build a house anywhere, where would it be?
On this big ole piece of land that I drive by almost everyday. It's beautiful!!! I know you shouldn't covet, and I don't think that's what I'm doing. But I just LOVE this piece of land. And what's funny is, it's not even for sale. I just love looking at it and wishing! I already know how the house will sit and where my scrapbook room will be...LOL.

2. What's your favorite article of clothing?
I'd have to say my pajama pants (the Tweety Bird ones) and a big ole T-shirt. Second would be some comfy jeans.

3. Favorite physical feature of the opposite sex.
The eyes and the hynie. :-) (Oh c'mon...you've gotta have something nice to look at when they're coming towards you AND when they're walking away!)

4. What's the last CD you bought?
BOUGHT??? Like legally? (just kidding) I was recently GIVEN "The Evolution of Robin Thicke". Does that count?

5. Where's you're favorite place to be?
HAPPY!!!

6. Where is your least favorite place to be?
UNhappy!!!

7. What's your favorite place to be massaged?
In my bedroom! (HaaHaa...I crack myself up)

8. Strong in mind or strong in body?
I assume this is referring to me...if so, I'd have to say neither :-). Ok, ok...strong in mind (sometimes)

9. What time do you wake up in the morning?
3am, 5am and 6:45am (but I don't actually get UP until 6:50am) I don't wake up by an alarm clock, so the reason I get up so many times is to make sure I don't over sleep.

10. What's your favorite kitchen appliance?
Our toaster oven. I LOVE that thing!! It even cooks a 12" pizza.

11. What makes you really angry?
Oddly enough...I make myself really angry. Also, I must say that my kids are pretty good at doing it as well.

12. If you could play any instrument, what would it be?
The piano.

13. Favorite color.
Purple.

14. Which do you prefer, a sports car or an SUV?
SUV!!

15. Do you believe in the afterlife?
If this is referring to the "afterlife" in either heaven or hell, yes, I do!

16. Favorite childrens book.
What an odd question. I've never thought about it before. I'd have to say The Bearenstain Bears "B" Book. Too cute!

17. What's you're favorite season?
Spring & Fall

18. Your least favorite household chore.
Dusting! Where DOES this stuff come from???

19. If you could have one super power, what would it be?
The ability to be in 2 places at the same time. Is that a super power?

20. If you have a tattoo, what is it?
Nope, no tattoos.

21. Can you juggle?
Yes!!! (I'm a wife, a mother, a short order cook, etc. )

22. The one person from your past that you wish you could go back and talk to.
Hmmm, this is another interesting question. I guess I'd have to say my grandmother (my dad's mom) and my great grandmother, Mama Edna.

23. What's your favorite day?
These days, EVERYday is a blessing and therefore, my favorite.

24. What's in your trunk?
Our bag that we take to church, jumper cables, a soccer ball, a first aid kit and probably still some sand from our trip to Destin, Fl back in 2005 :-).

25. Which do you prefer; sushi or hamburger?
DUH!!! Hamburger...no question. I'm not big on eating raw food. But I will say, sushi is awfully pretty to look at.

Okie dokie, I'm done. That wasn't too bad. I enjoy when the questions are a little different. It's a fun way to get to know people. Alright, it's tag time. Let's here from you: Tangee, Tiffany, BEM, Mari, Jude, Adrienne, Diane, Veroncia, Renee, Muriel and ANYBODY else who's interested.

Toodles!!

My Top 10...

Happy Monday!

Well, here I go...borrowing stuff from folks again. :-) This time, I'm borrowing from Veroncia. She has a list of her top 10 scrapbooking supplies on her blog. And I thought, "what a cool idea". Not to mention, she did kinda "throw it out there" and asked what MY favorites were...hee hee. Don'tcha like how I made it so personal...just for ME? :-)

Anyway, here's my top 10 list (not necessarily in this order)

1. Patterned paper. I LOVE and have an addiction to patterned paper. And right now, I'm really feeling the American Crafts line. LOVE IT!!!

2. Chipboard - ENOUGH SAID!!

3. Scrapbook paints - I don't use them as much as I would like...probably because I forget that I have them (and I have several). But I do love it when I think to use them.

4. DCWV white core textured stacks. Gotta love that linen texture and the white core.

5. Coluzzle cutting system (Thanks Adrienne!). Every once in a while, you've just gotta use a large circle or large oval on a layout!

6. My Epson C88 photo printer. Even though the cartridges are expensive (to me, anyway) I LOVE the way it prints photographs.

7. Flower, flowers, and more flowers!! All shapes. All sizes. All colors. Bring it on!!!

8. Duck Easy Stick Adhesive. I love this stuff. I've even got all my Girls Night scrappin buddies using it now. I just wish it was refillable. I go through SO much of this stuff! Good thing Walmart sells it in a 4 pack.

9. Ribbon. Need I say more??

10. My computer. Where would I be without my computer? I don't like my own handwriting, but I love to "write" and type. So I do ALL of my journaling on my computer. I have TONS of fonts, so it's fun to play with different looks on my LO's. Especially, with titles.

Well, I think that's about it. However, there are so many other things that I love and would consider my favs. I just love scrapbooking so much and I guess it's safe to say that I just love everything about it.

So, what about you guys? Any favorites you'd like to share??? Be inspired!!!

Friday Flower Fix

"Life is like a flower....It grows more beautiful the more you care for it. "

Have a beautiful weekend!

I'm ALMOST famous!!! :-)

Hey ya'll, guess what? I'm one step closer to being published, which is one of my goals for 2007. I got an email out of the blue the other day from the owner of Roots Scrapbooking. She told me that she'd seen some of my work and really liked it. AND...that she wanted to feature me for the month of February on her site. How COOL is THAT??? Well, she was serious and I am the Featured Designer.

I'm not much on tooting my own horn, but even I have to admit, this is pretty darn cool! So when you get a minute, check me out and be sure to leave me comments and vote on your favorite LO.

I'm so excited...I wish you could see my face...I AM!!! NOW, I'm inspired!!! Have a groovy day!