Trades of Hope Christmas Sale

I was so excited when I got this email today from one of our founders from Trades of Hope!

Compassionate Entrepreneurs, "you had so many orders in the last 24 hours that you caused an online traffic jam! This is AWESOME news for our artisans. You have blessed them so much! We know that, even though this is great news, some of you could not get your orders in due to slowness in the system. We apologize for this! To help, we are extending the sale to this Saturday, 12/6, at noon EST.

You have made this such a Merry Christmas for so many around the world! Keep it up!"

But what is even more exciting is that I realized in the middle of the night (when I couldn't sleep) that I am less than $100 worth of orders from earning a MOSQUITO NET for a family in AFRICA!  How awesome it would be to  help a family AND help our artisans as you shop for Christmas!

I love the mission & the heart of Trades of Hope!

So the sale is on for a few more days!  You can shop at mytradesofhope.com/parties/6836.

Trades of Hope Turkey Trot

Would you like to get a jump start on your Christmas shopping & earn some products for yourself as well?  Join my Turkey Trot this month!  Email or message me on Facebook & I'll get your started!

For God So Love the World

Overcoming Obstacles on Pinnacle Mountain

Last weekend, we had the chance to visit some friends on a mini-vacay to Little Rock.

First, we met our friends Lauren & David and their cute little baby, Caroline. 

I was so sad that I forgot to take any pictures.

Oh well, we'll just have to go & visit them again sometime soon. :)

Then, we met my sweet college friend, Ashli, & her husband for dinner.

She showed us this old Catholic Church just a few doors down from her condo.

Ethan was so amazed with the disciples on the doors.

On Friday, we spent several hours at the Museum of Discovery in downtown Little Rock.

We all had a blast exploring the various exhibits!

In fact, when it was time to leave, we had to drag a few little ones away.

Then, we walked to around downtown, across a bridge & into a submarine!

This is the USS Razorback.  Very interesting tour!

The tour guide told us we had to climb in just like the servicemen used to do it!

It's amazing how they managed to live life in this very small space!

Did you know the USS Razorback is named after the 

Razorback Whale & not after the

University of Arkansas Razorbacks?

On Saturday morning, we set out to hike up Pinnacle Mountain.

I agreed to hiking because I'm a "boy mom" who really does NOT like

to sweat!  I really don't like the sun either.  But I felt like it was time

to do something the boys would enjoy.

And yes, this may be a cinch for a lot of people, but it was

no easy task for this girl!

I was slow but ok until we got to the steeper area with lots of boulders.

And I would have been fine just sitting on the bench when we got 

to "marker 9," but no one would let me stop. 

(Why didn't we take a picture of the huge boulders we had to climb?)

It reminded me of the "Biggest Loser" episodes when the contestants are

pushed to their limits.  I was very thankful for Eric, Robin, & Jimmy pushing me to 

go all the way to the top!  It was really pretty, but I was so exhausted & hot that 

all I could think about was 'how in the world am I going to get back down?'

The kids had a wonderful time!  They hiked up that mountain so fast!

They had fun exploring God's beauty!

Ethan found his "secret lair" and kept climbing this tree.

It scared his brother & it should have scared me...

but like I said, I was exhausted & wasn't thinking very clearly.

He & Kallie even started exploring the rocks on the "steep side"

of the mountain.  Again, I should have been worried...

but it was kind of nice not to.

My cool teenager took care of the worrying for me.

And my sweet husband enjoyed his "marriage enrichment activity."  

He exercised quite a bit of patience as we navigated the mountain together.

What wonderful memories we made together!

Ethan Is 3!

**Note:  As I was looking through my blog today, I noticed I had several "drafts" that I never completed.  So you might just see a few OLD pics in the next few days.  It's fun to look back & see how much my boys have grown!

Grant's Graduation Film Reel Cake

A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of creating a graduation cake for one of our dear friends.

He is heading to Liberty University in the fall to study Film Production,

so a movie inspired cake was in order!

I first asked him to give me a list of his top 30 movies.  I created some film strips

with a film strip bulletin board border that I found at a party supply store.  I found

images of his favorite movies & cut & pasted them to the film strip boarder.  Then,

I laminated the film strips.

I created the film reels using scrapbook paper & aluminum foil.  

I covered one side with foil (the side that wouldn't be seen) 

and glued the scrapbook film reel to the other side. I free-handed the black

figures on the gray paper.  I also laminated the scrapbook reels.

(Practicing with cake pans & dishes to make sure this would look right.)

(Practicing a little more...)

(Trying to envision how this would all come together...)

I iced all the cakes with "silver screen" colored buttercream icing. 

I couldn't complete the assembly until we traveled 3 hours to their home.

Thankfully, the cakes made it safely!  

(My husband is a great driver!)

Finally got it all assembled!

And there you have it!  

The film reel graduation cake!  I hope everyone enjoyed eating

it as much as I enjoyed creating it!

We're so proud of you, Grant!  We look forward to 

seeing how God uses you to change the world!