More Cousin Fun!!

We got a special visit from family last week.  My mom and sister decided to join us at Mother's of Faith.  It was fun having them there, especially since it was the first time my sister was able to come.  I was teaching, so that was different to have family there listening.  It was just a short lesson on a few mother's in the Bible with lots of opportunity to discuss and think.  After the lesson we all got to do a craft!  We made resurrection eggs.  The moms were excited to do something a little different and to just have the fellowship time.  (I'll have to get some pictures of the eggs up, didn't think to take pictures of us doing them... bummer!)

After group, we all headed back here for a healthy lunch (5 guys--- not so healthy, but grammy's favorite!) and some quality hang out time.  We had no agenda for the time, just to sit around and visit.  That's a thing to treasure, we Stansberry girls seem to have it running through our blood that there must always be something productive done.  But sometimes, the sitting is more productive and just what really needs to happen.

While we enjoyed our coffee and chat time, the boys kept busy playing and napping.  Thomas pulled out the tent for he and Ethan to play with and when Ethan went down for a nap, Thomas got a chance to hold Andrew.  Can't you just see the love of Thomas on Andrew's face.  Thomas' love for his cousins just warms my heart!!

Mother's of Faith

It's been awhile since I have shared about mom's group, or now known as "Mothers of Faith."

Our group is so great and it's a privilege to serve the mom's of our church through the leadership of this group.  We just finished going through the book "Give Them Grace by Elyse Fitzpatrick and Jessica Thompson.  It was a big challenge, but so helpful for me as a mom that desperately wants to raise my children in a godly way in the midst of this crazy, sinful world.  

We have now gone back to something we are hoping is a little more practical, Joy of the Word Filled Family, by John Barnett.  It is a great book and one I suggest everyone has on their bookshelf.  It isn't a book you have to read cover to cover.  It is written to both the husband and the wife.  They laid it out according to topic and in a way that you really can just read one chapter to help in the area you need the help in.  It's great and I'm hoping the mom's will read it and I know it will be great to teach out of!  I hope I do a better job of sharing here what we are learning then I did with the last book.

We are in our 5th season and do have our time together down to a good routine.  We've added a few new things and just cleaned it up and really are loving it!

We start at 9:30 with coffee and a delicious, homemade, somewhat-healthy treat and some fellowship.  Usually by 9:40 the kids are dropped off in their assigned spots and we are making our way to our seats for announcements and prayer.  Then we have a yummy recipe and sometimes a helpful tip.  After that we get into the teaching.  Hannah was teaching this day and you can see her in the purple chair.

 We try to keep the lesson time informal, where people can interrupt with questions.  We like sitting in a circle and try to make it feel homey.  As you can see, we have the pleasure of meeting in a beautiful home, that makes the homey-ness possible and delightful!!

While we are meeting our kiddos are out playing!  They have a planned lesson, activity, project and occasionally a time of singing.  They are even memorizing a verse!  They get to play outside on sunny days and run around.  This particular day we had 16 kiddos!!  If the little ones aren't walking yet, they have their own playroom!

This is Izzy.  She's been with us the entire time!  We've gotten to see her grow up as well!  She was 10 when we started, Thomas was about 6mos old.

Here's Allie, she's been with us since the beginning as well.  She was 9, I think when we started!  What a delight these girls are.  They love our kids and are so good with them.  They are a true gift to the moms and to the kids.

Back inside, when lesson time is down, we split up into small groups where we go over memory verses (if we are on top of things), have a discussion time based on the lesson for the day and then a time of prayer.

We continue to work on building relationships with these moms as we all strive to "Walk Like Jesus"

It's a time of blessing to me and I hope we have many more years to come!!

Holiday Boutique

Mother's of Faith (our mom's group at church) hosted it's 4th annual "Holiday Boutique."  We host it in the home of the Veliquette's where we also have our mom's group meetings.  It's a wonderful day that gives the ladies a chance to show and sell their goods and just a fun day to get together.

That being said, it was our best and worst year.  I think it was one of our best years as far as vendors went. We had a wide variety of items and more hand made stuff than in the past.  However, it was one of our worst turn outs.  There was a boutique downtown, which helped us the first year.  This year our signs between downtown and the house were torn down.  There were 2 other events also going on.  And it was freezing!!!  It was the first cold, damp weekend of the year, so I'm guessing no on wanted to leave their house.  Oh well.  Always changing and learning and applying to the next one.

Mothers of Faith hosted a bake sale table.

We made $85!!

Amy did hair bling and feathers.

We had the Kile girls with homemade Soy candles

Janell with Blessings

Home decor and such made by the Christian card company, Dayspring

Tammy with Pampered Chef

 Denise with Gigi Hill

Hannah & Ashlynn with the cutest, fooffiest tu-tus

Christ with Turkey Pumpkins, candle holders (see them hanging in the tree)

Rachelle & Alison with "Up-cycled" Aprons, Turkey Cake pops and photo albums

(the aprons were made out of dresses they purchased at goodwill)

Jen with her clutches, pillow slips and quilts

Monica & I with stocking stuffers and kids busy bags

A new friend with frame holders for your jewelry

Finally, we had Melanie in the front yard with her and her husbands beautiful Metal Art.  

Metal plaques for the yard.

The room all set-up.  It's such a wonderful event!  If you're interested in a table for next year or saw something you'd like to purchase, I can help you with that!

Mother's of Faith Summer Fun

MOF had a great summer. Just 5 things planned and organized, but we had a great turn out every time. We went to Fairytale Town, had a swim day at the Veliquette's, had a bra fitting (yes, a bra fitting down by a woman in our church who works for a fabulous company. this was our biggest hit!!) and a swim day at the Kiles and then a trip to our very own Nut Tree here in town. We wrapped the summer up with a family BBQ/swim day this past Sunday after church. I love this group of families, such a great group God brought to our church!!

Unfortunately, I forgot the camera most days, but did catch one!

Benjamin enjoyed this day the most! He was able to play with the big kids!

Most of our kids hanging out!

A special train ride even!

Precepts for Personal Devotions

Yesterday at Mom's Group I had the opportunity to share my testimony again. Last time I shared it was at Titus 2, which was a larger group and a mixed group of age ranges. That time was a little less scary than yesterday morning. Yesterday, I had to share with girls my age and girls that are my friends. The message I had to share was hard. It was a personal part of my testimony and what I learned from it was something that applies to all of us. It was humbling, but yet so rewarding. As I began to share I was so thankful that God had made those few months so hard. Not only because He grew me, but because as a result, I was able to share the lesson and hopefully encourage those ladies there.

You see I spoke on Abiding in Christ. At first, that doesn't sound so bad, but when you really study it and see what it means, it is profoundly convicting. Abiding is a constant, on going, continual process. It's not just perusing you Bible as you find the time. It's going deep into God's Word, so that you have a remaining and abiding relationship with Him. You can not remain in God and He in you if you are not constantly learning about Him. The Bible says several times that if you don't abide Him, not only will you not bear fruit, but you aren't saved. Abiding is evidence of salvation. I had to humbly share this with my fellow mom's and admit that I hadn't been abiding with Christ. I was walking weakly and superficially with my Savior. How could I do that with the Lord who saved me? As God worked in my heart and upheld me ever so faithfully I realized how much more I needed to know Him. In the past few weeks, that has turned from a need to a deep desire.

I called on the mom's to get to know their Savior in a deeper way. To abide in Him. We talked about how that is so important not only for us as individuals, but also as mom's. Our church provides us with so many opportunities to grow and we all need to make every effort to be there. After I shared, Tiffany followed up with some advice on what to do for daily devotions. It was so helpful and so practical. That's really what I wanted to share with all of you. She found an acrostic of the word PRECEPTS providing us with 8 different ideas we can meditate on as we are doing our daily reading. I hope you all can benefit from them just as I hope to.

P - is there a PRAYER to pray?

R - is there a REASON to praise Him?

E - Is there an ERROR in this passage I need to avoid?

C - Is there a COMMAND to obey?

E - is there an EXAMPLE to follow?

P - is there a PROMISE to claim?

T - Is there a TRUTH to believe?

S - Is there a SIN to confess?

So basically, you keep these 8 questions in mind as you are reading through a passage and pull out one or two things to meditate on and apply to your life. It's simply, but has so much potential to be profound. We will hopefully fill the prick and be changed. It's a great way to find something and to keep us focused in our reading. The goal is to walk away everyday from reading our Bible a little changed and knowing our Lord better.

I LOVE MOM'S GROUP!!!

We are a group of about 16 mom's that get together the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of every month to learn, fellowship and grow! We are looking at Raising Godly Kids, doing it just like the Bible says, this year. We had room in the study to put in 4 "Mommy and Me" days and what fun those are going to be. My 2 co-coordinators planned this one out perfectly. We couldn't have asked for more fun! We (meaning the kiddos) made pumpkin cookies. They were set up at kid sized tables with mixing bowls, measuring cups and spoons and had the ingredients brought to them one by one. While those were baking, they made play dough. Yep, play dough from scratch, with natural food coloring like cocoa, beet juice and spices. Here are a few shots of the fun!

Our fearless helpers, ready for action!

Thomas, stirring away.

Jake's group checking things out.

Donna's grandkids ready for the next project!

Feasting on their hard work!

2 New Blogs

I just found this new blog through the girltalk blog and love it. Tons of super yummy-looking recipes and none of them look that difficult either. Just might have to go through some and share with mom's group! We need some new meals at home. The old regulars are creeping their way back onto our table!! Check it out: http://www.easymealsformoms.com/

I've also been checking out the girltalk blog a little more as well. I was first introduced to them through the book "Shopping for Time" which I highly recommend. It's written by a group of 4 women, mother and sisters, who get together weekly for time in the Word together. They have a 5am club (rising early to spend time studying God's Word before their day starts). It's a great book and I highly recommend it. The same authors have a blog that I love. All sorts of great tips and encouraging notes. They're discussing hospitality right now and have explained how important it is and tips on how to do it successfully! Here's their site: http://www.girltalkhome.com/

Mom's Group Trip to San Francisco

Last week the Mom's Group headed out to San Francisco! We visited the Sea Lions, Pier 39 and the Aquarium of the Bay. There were 27 people in the group, from babies to Grandma & Grandpa's, it was a great group! We caravaned from Vacaville all the way to the city. We even managed to get through the toll lanes and down Embarcadero together!

The Aquarium was a little pricey, but really cool. The kids were fascinated with the tunnels that went under the water. We saw huge fish and star fish in one and then sharks in the other. Upstairs, the kids saw a really cool Octopus, and wereable to pet bat rays, sharks and then touch starfish. It was a hit with the kids and even fascinating for the parents.

Afterwards we broke up into groups, got lunch, ice cream and then got out of town to beat the holiday weekend traffic!

Touching the starfish: (Thomas said the were "yucky")

Touching the bat rays and the sharks, with one finger: (Thomas looked brave and ready, until they came near, then he just laughed with excitement!)

They had a really cool aquarium that the kids could crawl under and stand up to be surrounded by the water! There was this one with fish and the other one was with the octopus)

Most of the kids for a group picture: (we should've gotten one of the adults, if there were 27 total, that means there were tons of adults!)

Our caravan group got a quick pictre before seeing the real sea lions!:

Mom's Group Summer Fun has begun!

This summer the Mom's Group has tons of fun planned! We'll be going swimming, the park and out of town for a few days. We kicked it off by going to the zoo. Seven families carpooled out to the Folsom Zoo where we saw all the animals. The kids got almost face to face with several deers, caught the bears and tigers just after feeding time and laughed at the silly monkeys. After we were done there we headed over for a train ride and then to the park for lunch. It was a great day!

Playroom Makeover

Every other week our mom's group gets together. Part of our normal routine is sharing a tip. The three organizers take turns sharing something for the kids, the kitchen or the home. My responsibility is the home. I found this great article in Parent's magazine and pulled some info from their and a few other magazines/blogs I had read recently. They were great suggestions. I realized, once again, that I should be putting these tips up for the mom's that missed, mom's that left their papers on accident and all my blogging friends. Hope you enjoy and look for more on Thursdays!

Playroom Makeovers
Keeping Mom & Kids Happy!!

1) Designate a special area. Whether it’s a room or part of a room, the kids and you need an area where all things play are stored and usually used. When there is a spot for playing and not just storing, everyone is happier.

2) Their special carrier. Each kid needs a bag or a container for their “toys of the week.” Those special things that seem to show up everywhere that they use constantly, but will most likely give up the following week.

3) Labeled and Specified Storage. Shelf baskets, bookshelves and bin organizers that are labeled and categorized for all of their playthings. Whether it’s cars, games or craft supplies, make sure they are grouped and stored together for both easy pick-up and playtime.

4) Play areas. Areas like “The Building Zone,” “Art Center,” “Fantastic Forts” all need their own places. This tells the kids where it is safe to play and always ok to have their mess. It should be somewhere out of the way and preferably for everyone in their “Playroom.”

5) Help you kids let things go. Have several times of the year where they give their toys away, whether it’s a garage sale or passing them onto a family in need. Let them know this time is going and build it up as a great and exciting thing. When they have less toys around they are more likely to play with them.

Fun Tips:
Have a coloring table Laminate cardstock for re-use
Clear Shoe Bins Open shelving w/ open containers
Pictures for labels Re-use cardboard and shoe boxes
Frame their artwork Use lots of bright colors
Use colorful buckets for bins and hang them on the wall

A Quality Switch-a-roo

This last weekend the mom's at our church got together for a clothing exchange. This was the first one we had all participated in and it was a blast. It was free shopping!! All the mom's with clothes to give dropped them off at my house at some point on Friday, a couple of the gals and I set them up throughout my house in an organized fashion. We had different rooms designated for either men's, women's or children's, from there they were organized by size. Our goal was to make it look and feel like a boutique, we even had signs for the restroom and a fitting room.

Saturday morning we opened up at 8 for those that had brought close to share and then the rest of the group from 9 to 12. We had breakfast goodies, coffee and juice ready for the shoppers. It was so much fun and a blessing to some of our friends! Everyone walked away with something new to them or for their family. It was so much fun to see one of the gals pick out something for a date night for her and her husband. Her and her husband were both so excited with what she put together. A great way to shop and truly save money!

All the clothes leftover will be donated this week to the Oppurtunity House, which is a home for mother's and their children. It's supported by a thirft shop.
I recommend trying this with your own church! Make sure you let everyone know it's coming up a few months ahead of time so they can start collecting clothes (and so they don't send them somewhere else in the meantime) and then make sure word gets out to remind them in the weeks before. Important things I will remember for next time is the more you have involved the better (we may do whole church). It will give the shoppers more to choose from and offer more sizes and styles. We might even try it with our High School/Jr. High girls and do a fashion show and make overs. Make it a great party and a time to talk about modesty. In this economy it was a great way to have fun for free and get some new life into our closets and a great way to bless our friends with what we didn't want anymore!

Here are some pictures of the event and a few how-to's:

This is the "Women's" section. We have pant on the bench in, T-shirts on the table (separated by size and long sleeve/short sleeve. I recommend just doing by size) and the nice clothes hung and separated by sized (ask for donations of hangers, the more that can be hung, the easier it is for shoppers). We printed out signs (pink sticking up out of the middle) and then taped them to a straw and push pinned them onto the dowels. We used the ladder rungs as shelves for shoes. We bungee corded the closet rods to the ladders and then used the fireplace as the second anchor.

Men's department!

Children's department. Seperated into boys and girls and then by size and type of clothing. This was a tricky section to keep organized, but since we didn't have that many sizes or clothes it worked out ok. I used by shower rod to hang the clothes over by the computer.

The Christmas Open House

I think this might be an every year event!! Everyone had a great time! All the ladies that set up a booth thought it was worth their time and everyone that came loved it! People were able to get some of the Christmas shopping done and seemed to enjoy the time of fellowship. The Veliquette's (whose home we were at) put up wonderful signs that pulled several people in that were just driving by. So, keep an eye out for next year, we have some great ideas.

Christmas Open House

The Christmas Season is upon us. So, it's time to start your shopping!! The mom's group "organizing team" (just made that up) has also organized a Christmas Open House. We're pretty excited about it. We managed to get a dozen ladies together from our church that do direct sales or have a home based business. We'll all be together next weekend selling our "wares." Come on out and join us and get some shopping done!

We’ll be set up for your convenience at
The Veliquette Home
6645 Farrell Lane, Vacaville 95688
Saturday, November 22nd
9am to 1pm


Allison Wren – Tastefully Simple
Gourmet Food & Gifts
10% off orders, no shipping on cash & carry
Cynthia Porter – Mary Kay
Skin Care & Make-up
Gift basket giveaway, 15% off catalog orders
Kara Keaster – Gold Canyon
Candles & Home Decor
10% off orders, no shipping on cash & carry
Robin Swauger – Beauty Control
Skin Care, Bath & Body and Cosmetics
20% off orders
Candy Souza – Pampered Chef
Kitchen Tools
Drawing for product
Heather Dombrowski – Cookie Lee
Fine Fashion Jewelry, 50% off on-hand items
Jen Smith – PartyLite
Candles and Home Decor
Cathy Dailey – Creative Memories
Scrapbooking Supplies Catalog Orders

In-Stock items 15%-30% off
Jen Persicke - Creative Threads
Handbags, Shoulder bags & Diaper bags
Rachelle Coulter & Alison Russell
– Simply Sisters
Handmade photo albums, gift bags & cards
Katharine Matlock – Kalendars By Katharine
Birthday calendars
Amy Roderick

Gift Certificates for Salon Appointment

The Bake-Off

Last night was the first Mac N' Cheese Bake-off of hopefully many to come. It was a hit. Everyone had a great time and the dishes were so good. We were suprised to see just how different they all were. The judges enjoyed every bite and I'm sure the winner is proudly displaying her trophy. Plans are in the making for the next contest, Spagetti Sauce, maybe chilli or perhaps cookies!!

All the mac n' cheese makers, their trophies and the judges. (and Jake too, he couldn't wait to eat!!)



The winner!! Alexis L.

Here are our judges tasting, testing and thinking. They took this responsiblity very seriously.

Here are a few pictures of the evening.
The dishes all lined up and awaiting their judging.