What a great day . . .

we had yesterday! Our church joined several others to participate in Serve Day - a day where we volunteered at projects around the city in a concerted effort to "be the church" rather than "go to church" - a day where we focused on "demonstrating God's love through acts of kindness".

Our group worked at our neighbour's helping them get the first layer of bricks laid for three retaining walls that they were installing.

We had 7 adults working on our team; we divided up into 3 smaller teams, each team working on one of the walls. We worked for 3 1/2 hours before we had to quit because we ran out of bricks.

1st wall:






2nd wall:








3rd wall:









Because we ran out of bricks, we couldn't finish the 3rd wall, but at least the hard work of digging the trench and filling with gravel as a foundation for the bricks got done!!

But what a great day! Later in the afternoon, our church hosted a BBQ and then we held a short worship service, celebrating the kingdom work that we were involved in during the day. Some great stories were shared... and my prayer is that our efforts to demonstrate God's love to those around us are just tiny tiny seeds that were planted... seeds that will germinate and grow into something beautiful - something that will bring joy to the heart of God!!

two more days...

and two more exams and we're officially done with school for this year!!!! I can hardly wait!!

It's be wonderful to put away the books... to empty the binders.... to recycle the reams of paper that have accumulated over the year... to lighten up LOL

Unfortunately, it won't mean that life slows down for us - we'll just head in a slightly different direction and keep the engines running at full throttle!! I almost don't even want to think about it...

but it's all good stuff!! Two of our kids are serving at the Bible Camp for at least part of the summer. Our 2nd oldest has been working there since mid-May and just loves it! Our youngest goes out on Friday just as soon as the last final exam is written and she's counting down the hours before she's out there with her brother!!

Our oldest daughter plans to work in the church as a summer intern, helping with all the various Childrens' programs & camps that will be offered this summer.

How blessed we are to have our kids looking forward to serving Christ in all these various ways... what a great way to start the summer!!!!

blog candy . . .

and more!!!!

On the devotional blog for women, (Woman to Woman) there's a great interview with Lori McCroskey from Clear Dollar Stamps.

Not only did I find it inspiring, but it made my heart smile as I read Lori's story because it is always such a joy to find women who strive to keep their love for Jesus "front & centre" - women who continually strive to bring glory to God in all they say & do, whether it's running after toddlers, in their business practices, or in the conversations that take place in their homes.

May you be encouraged & blessed as you read an interview with Lori.


p.s. about the blog candy.... Lori has been very generous in offering 4 stamp sets.... if you think you'd like the opportunity to be on the receiving end of her generosity, find out here.

graduation . . .

is just a couple of days away for DD. All grads will be recognized in the worship service on Sunday so I've been working on cards for DDs friends.

Here are a couple of them:



I'm praying for a great day of celebration on Saturday. We woke this morning to a less-than-stellar weather forecast for the day: rain (maybe mixed with a little snow) and a grand high of 7C!!! Oh my... I may have to re-think what I will wear...

a challenge...

and chance to win....

Sue from Stampin Things is giving this unit away to ONE of Patter's blog subscribers!!!!!

What do you need to do to possibly win this unit? You must create a card, tag, layout, or altered item using PUNCHES (not die cuts)!! It must be a NEW creation, and you must post it to an online gallery or blog with a link to the contest over here. Your gallery post or blog post MUST contain a list of the punch or punches you used"


Although I don't own very many punches, I thought it would be fun to try to create a card. If nothing else, I might find my missing mojo!! I looked through the SCS gallery for Clean & Simple cards (keyword CAS) for some inspiration.

I came up with this card using these punches:

Marvy 1 1/2" sqaure
Marvy corner rounder
Fiskars lace border
1/8" hole punch



I don't know if I quite like it, but it was fun to try something a little different. If I happen to win the punch storage unit, it'll be a bonus. And if not, then I'll be thrilled for the one who does!!!