Annual Valentine Photo Shoot

Well, I can hardly utter the words! It is F-E-B-R-U-A-R-Y 1st tomorrow! Sure seems like life is moving at hyper speed...how in the world can we slow time down? Well, I suppose that is impossible, but what I do know is that we can capture moments. We can capture them and hold on to them for a life time thanks to our Annual Valentine Photo Shoot! Yup, we managed to talk our fave photog into another year! Yay you! And yay me! Here are the details... 1st come 1st serve, we only have 10 spots!

We will be meeting: Saturday, February 11th from 8:00am to 12:30pm. Each session is $50.00 and will be about 20 minutes long. The location is the Temecula Community Center (28816 Pujol Street) by the red caboose just outside of Old Town Temecula. Looking forward to a fun day! Amber & Marcella

Some Sweet Valentine Decor

I LOVE valentine's day...I love everything about it, the glitter, the hearts, the chocolate, the cheesy romance, the flowers, Cupid's Dinner, the cards...I love making gifts for my friends and family to remind them how much I love them. Like any other holiday....I DECORATE as much as I possibly can. As many of you know I am highly attracted to pinterest, and my friend pinned this cute idea for a bulletin board. It was just brown paper and black and red text...what caught my eye was the PLAY with words... This is my take on that pin. valentines day john 3:16 Yes I know, another 16x20. I happen to have a frame in my house that I switch my posters in and out of all year long. I will try and edit this down to an 8x10 if I get time. But for now, here ya go 16x20! Remember Sams and Costco print these for under $6! Ask a friend to get it printed for you if you do not have a membership. Also a good note, once you upload this in full resolution mode, at check out there is a button option for auto correct, make sure that auto correct is disabled ;) Hope you love this as much as I do! Amber

Sweet time with Jesus

Here in the Shoe Herd home, we do not make New Years Resolutions...we do however evaluate where we are and the things that went well, and the things we need and want to grow in based on the year before. We give Jesus a new promise for his birthday each year after we sing Happy Birthday and blow out the candles. We keep our promises in a special box so that we can review them and make sure we made good on our gift ;) This year we promised to spend more QUALITY time with Jesus as a family. My husband is an amazing model for us. A true spiritual leader in our home. He makes quiet time for Jesus every day of the week, even Sunday before we go to church and even most of the time while we are on vacation. But we miss the mark spending QUALITY TIME with Jesus AS A FAMILY. We get Quantity in with bedtime stories and prayers, but we are comming up short on the meaty stuff. So we are ready and have COMMITED to the Lord and our Family to implement "Sweet time with Jesus (Amber Lappin)." To get a jump start on how we were going to do this with little ones we went to the Christian book store! And this is what we found...

So our goal is to set aside 1 night a month (give yourself an hour) with a special family favorie dessert and our guided session. I love this book because it is for preschool kids with options to gear it towards your older children. It gives you a lesson plan with a craft and story. No detail is left out. It takes a little planning on Moms part, but the effort will be well worth your while. Did you know that out of the 168 hours in the week over 80% of kids that attend church only get that 1 hour a week learning about the Bible and the relationship they can have with the Lord? That is a whole lot of other hours not dedicated to the MOST important lesson in their little lives. The time is now to build a foundation strong enough to stand the test of this worlds time. Out kiddos are still small enough to want to spend that time with us and right now is the time that they will retain the most information in their lives. I want my children's faith to come easily and naturally and to stand the test of time. I fear an uphill battle like I had and I want to do everything I can to help them avoid as many of those as I can. I encourage you to find a way to implement some Sweet time with your family and Jesus. Time flies and if this is one way to slow it down or at least embrace where we are for a few extra minutes I am in! In His Grace, Amber

When in need!

Well, I finally did it! I finally took myself down to WESTERN EAGLE in Temecula to try out "The Food Box." I have always sent people to get the boxes and even given cash to go in on boxes, but I never went and got one for myself. In part I am sure because of pride and insecurity and the fact that we never really needed any help until recently. And I say that loosely...we are not in dire straights by any means, but times are tough and money is tight. Pinching pennies is scary and it is hard. Everything is so expensive, groceries included! So today was the day...I wanted to find out what was really in those boxes, and if we could benefit from them at all. I was pleasantly surprised by the sweet gal at the counter that was willing to "show me the ropes." In less than 5 minutes they wheeled a big cart out from the back and on it was 2 huge boxes filled with all sorts of food. And then they let you head over to the produce and pick out what you need. You just follow the guidelines on the board. No limits and no questions. Just sign your name and take your groceries for $25!

Here is what I got: Cereal (3 boxes) Soup 3 Spaghetti noodles and sauce Rice Beans Ramen noodles cookies protein bars almond milk soy milk 2 percent milk chocolate milk orange juice fresh mottzarella cheese a flat of 12 greek yogurts over 30 all beef hot dogs and a 12 pack of buns mac n cheese chips fruit juice blend cookies raviolis chili with beans canned green beans canned corn salad dressing more pasta Large box of pancake mix eggs celery tomatoes potatoes bell peppers green and yellow squash turnips onions english cucumbers jalapenos poblanos oranges apples and a bag of limes! Whew! And the items change each week so you never really know what you are going to get...but I know for sure you won't go hungry! So if your pocket book needs a break or you know someone who needs a little help here and there head on down to Western Eagle in Temecula and pick up your box today!

January 2012 Giveaway!

Hello fellow Mommies! Hooray for the New Year! Cornerstone m2m is super excited to dive into the second session of Extreme Home Makeover and we have a lot to offer you. We are going to start out with a bang with The Lovely Susan Peterson. She will be sharing with us "Fun and Educational places to go with kids and adults in Southern California." Her Book is awesome and she has a travel journal with prompts to help you and your family get the best out of your experience! And guess what!? m2m is giving away a set! 1 book with 1 journal! HELLO! That is a $35 value with Priceless memories waiting to be made! Here is the scoop: To be entered to win we want to know what your favorite fun and educational experience has been with your kiddos! Details please, we want to play too! As always just leave a comment below by using the drop box. If you are not registered and the regular button is not working just hit anonymous and be sure to leave your 1st and last name so we can announce our big winner right after Susan speaks! Have a great week! We will see you bright and early on the 19th! Don't forget your pocket book. We have registration due and Susan will have her products available for purchase at the end of the meeting!