Julie Brooks

Please note........

I have a new blog!!! This one will be turned off in August. Please bookmark www.juliebrooksdesigns.com

I have set up the domain mapping from Go Daddy and the new blog will be live in 24 to 72 hrs.

Thanks for ALL the emails about this blog and why it looks so crazy the last few days. Even among all the change in the last week I have had 6 new Feed Blitz subscribers!! :) Thank you for subscribing and please know my blog does not always look this messy!! Everything will be back to normal soon and regular blogging will resume.

NEW BLOG!!!!!

I have a new blog address!  www.juliebrooksdesigns.com   Please bookmark this new site. juliejeandesigns is no more. Thank you!!! It will take me a few days to update it and get it looking the way I want it....hang with me!

Fun Times!

 Can I start off by saying it's SUPER HOT here in Texas!! We are having a blast, but oh my it's HOT! My sister and I swam with the boys all day yesterday. Today we went to lunch and went shopping. Tomorrow we will be at Hurricane Harbor and Thursday we head home. I am so thankful for the time I get to spend with my family. Speaking of family today I was reminded of the importance of family and just how much you need them. It was a crummy day for my sister.... read THIS post from her blog.  I also had to deal with some not so fun stuff. All is well now and it's so neat to see how God works everything for good even though it doesn't always seem that way in the moment. God is good all the time.........All the time God is good.

Here are some pictures from yesterday........I can't wait to scrapbook them!!

Brian and the youth arrived tonight just in time for the Ranger game. It's neat to have them here in our home town experiencing the things Brian and I grew up with. The boys are so excited about spending the day at the water park with them. My boys LOVE being with our youth.

I better get to bed!!! I will regret staying up when the alarm goes off for me to run in the morning. I know I haven't said it in awhile and I need to more often..............Thank you to all my blog readers for reading my blog. Your comments and emails are such a blessing to me. Often I get emails of how God is working through this blog and that touches my heart! It's all about Jesus and I want Him to receive the glory! I thank you for reading!

Cupcakes!

The boys had fun making these cute cupcakes with Nonnie! (my mom) I think they ate more candy than they actually put on the cupcakes. :) It was messy, but fun!

We are still in Texas enjoying family and hot humid weather!!! I ran this morning at 6:30 with my dad and it was all ready so HUMID!!! No air movement at all. YUCK! We are about to jump in the pool (thanks to my parents sweet neighbor) so the boys are super excited! My sisters and I plan on getting some sun! I need it. :)

If you are looking for some digital goodies ShabbyMissJenn has some super cute new stuff!!!! I also love the new July 4th kit from Heather Ann. Here is a GREAT deal.......It's Janet Phillips July Grab Bag!!!! I always love her grab bags. :)

Ikea Mirror!

I totally cased this idea from Emily! Go HERE for her directions.

When my sisterand I saw the mirror Emily made for her sister we had to make one too! We got our Ikea mirrors and got to work! (I'm at my parents visiting all week) Yay!!! Instead of using one sheet of paper like Emily I used 2 different patterns and mixed it up a bit. The paper is from Scenic Route and the rub-ons are from Rusty Pickle. While my sister and I were making ours my mom let Garrett paint one! After the paint dried she  let him choose his own paper. He cut all the paper himself and  wanted NO help at all.....  believe me I tried. :) He is very proud of his mirror and he can't wait to hang it in his room! :)

Like I said I'm at my parents this week!!!! Brian went home today, but will be back on Tuesday with the youth. We are taking them to a Ranger game, Hurricane Harbor and shopping! :) Fun Times!! The boys are enjoying being spoiled by grandparents, aunts and uncles!!! I will post some really cute cupcakesthey made with my mom tomorrow!! I hope you all had a fun and safe 4th!!!

Beach page

 

All items are from ShabbyMiss Jenn Beach Shack kit.

I finished a page in my beach album. I have several pages going at once, but this one is finally done!! YAY! I guess I should work on my pages one at a time...... maybe that would make things go faster. :) How do you scrapbook? One page at a time? Or are you like me with several pages going at once? I love getting a peek into how others create. So please share your creative process. :)

The boys are begging to go swim so I have to cut this short. I hope I can wear them out in the pool and get several more pages finished tonight.

Wordless Wednesday

I Stamped!

Yes, I finally stamped a card yesterday! :) I have been so busy with summer activities, the boys, church and well, you get the idea. It felt good to create something with my hands for a change. I have been digi scrapin and I'm almost finished with several pages using this awesome kit from the fabulous ShabbyMissJenn!  I  joined the world of facebook. Several of you pushed me over the edge and Brian had already joined so I thought why not. It's amazing how I signed up and with in minutes I had friends from my past and present on my friends list. So fun to catch up with friends. :) It's also neat for Brian and I because we can keep up with all the students in our student ministry.

I haven't blogged in so long that my dear sweet husband told me last night that I needed to put blogging on my to do list because he hasn't had anything to read. So here is an  update just for you Brian! :)

Let see I'll start with VBS it was AMAZING and the boys loved it. We are still singing this song and this song and Carson's favorite is this one. I think this years theme was the best in a long time!!!

The boys have enjoyed many days filled with swimming!! I love it because it wears them out!!! None of them have ever slept late EVER..... most days everyone it up by 7:30am WELL.....now that summer is here and they are swimming and playing their little hearts out I have been waking them up at 9:30am. It's been so nice to have that quiet time in the mornings. Normally I would be sleeping in with them, but that brings me to my next point. I have been getting up at 6am every morning. Why you ask? Because I have a new found passion........RUNNING! Yes, you read that right I have started running and I love it. I didn't love it the first two weeks, but now it's in my blood and I hate to miss a day. Brian and I along with several others from church are training to run the St. Jude's 1/2 marathon on Dec 6th. I could not be more excited about this goal I have set for myself. To achieve this goal with my husband along beside me is even better. What sparked my interest in running? Well, I'll tell you....... A sweet family joined our church a while back, The Kinley's and she is a runner among other things, but running is what has bonded us together in addition to our love for the Lord. God brought her into my life at a time when I was looking for a way to get fit, but need that extra push. I'm so blessed as is our church to have them in our lives. You can check out her blog here.

This post is getting long so if I have anyone left reading it you must be family or a really good friend or really bored! :)  I am going to wrap this post up because I have a million other things that need to be done.

Summer is busy and keeping my boys entertained is tops on my list right now so my blogging may be a little sporadic. I will pop in and post some of my scrapbook pages that I'm almost done with so see ya then!!! 

 

 

It's Friday The 13th

And it's also my BIRTHDAY!!!!! WOO HOO!!!!

We arrived back home and have been busy with Vacation Bible School this week. The boys are having a blast. Today is the last day. Since school got out we have been going non stop! It's fun though!!! I love summer time.

I can't wait to get back into my scrapbook/stamp room I brought home tons of goodies from the scrapbook convention and they are dying to be unpacked. My parents bought me a Wacom Tablet for my birthday and I LOVE it!!!! If you don't have one and you are thinking about getting one.............GET IT!!!!!!!!!! :)

Here are a few pictures of the boys and my brother swimming at my friend Beth's on Wed! Happy SUMMER!!!!!!!!!!! Off to VBS!!!

I'm home, anniversary& birthday update, I'm leaving again.....

Summer is in full swing at The Brooks house! Brian and I are back from the beach. We took the seniors from church. Our church is so gracious and sends the seniors to Gulf Shores for their senior trip each year. We always enjoy our time with them and have so much fun at the beach. We leave our kids at home with grandparents so that we can enjoy time with the seniors. It's such a nice break. I read my entire Karen Kingsburybook and started a new one. Ahhhhh it was wonderful!! We will take our boys in September they can't wait.

Brian and I celebrated our 12th Anniversary yesterday. I love this man more than ever and I am SOOOOO blessed to have him. Everyday is a new adventure with him. :) That is what I love about him......I never know what he going to come up with next. I love you Brian!!!

Today GARRETT'S 4th BIRTHDAY!!

He is full of life, loves the dirt, enjoys being outside, loves to eat, is a mommy's boy, has to have his blankie, loves Thomas Trains or anything his brothers have, loves to wrestle with his daddy and loves going to church. I can't believe he is 4!! They grow up way toooo fast. Now that Garrett is 4 he and Carson will both be 4 until Carson turns 5 July 20th. I love when people ask me if they are twins and I say, "No" then they ask how old they are and I say, "4" then they give me this really confused look and I finally have to explain they are 10 months apart and that Garrett was born 3 months early. It's so funny to watch the reaction we always get. :)

Here are the boys enjoying summer! Our church held a block party last night for the city of Crossett. We had tons of those blow up jump houses and slides. The boys were so tired by the time we got home, but they had a blast.

The boys and I leave tomorrow for my parents. I will be at the Great American Scrapbook Convention and I'm so glad it's in Arlington so my family can help out. I will post more details about the Convention and the Doodliedoobooth later. I will have coupon on my blog you can print off and bring for a discount. We have kept most of the inventory off of the Doodliedoo site so that we would have plenty for the convention so come by and see our new stuff! After convention the Doodliedoo website will be updated and running as normal..........whatever normal might be. LOL!

I need to go finish Garrett's birthday cake and finish packing!!! I will post the Doodliedoo coupon code for the convention later. Have a great day.