Tez's blog

THe Blog has moved

2010-06-08T21:53:00.000-07:00

My baby blog grew up and I'm now found on a new page:

SuperMomByDay.com

Please update your bookmarks and come on over for a visit!

Our Philosophy of Education

2010-05-31T09:49:00.000-07:00

Last year was our first year of homeschooling and I feel like we did more of "school at home" than "homeschooling" I'd like that to change and embrace homeschooling. While planning for our upcoming school year with curriculum choices I was challenged to make a philosophy of education and really evaluate what was important to our homeschool and why we are doing this. Ev & I spent some time brainstorming what was important to us and this is what we came up with:

Our Philosophy of Education

We believe that parents are responsible for training their children.

We believe that parents should be the models of Christian behavior and that children are always watching.

We believe that parents are ALWAYS training their children. Through example, unconditional love, nurture, praise, encouragement, natural consequences and consistent age appropriate punishment; discipline is achieved in all areas of life.

We believe that studying God’s Word and memorizing scripture keeps our hearts in tune with the Lord’s will. Our main goal in life should be living Godly lives that please, honor and bring glory to the true and living God.

We believe that God created us for relationships with Him and with other people; we will work towards having a heart for and to serve others

We believe that learning time should be structured and deliberate in order to help our children gain strong work ethics and a sense of responsibility.

We believe that practical life skills are just as important as academics.

We believe that our bodies were made for movement and we believe that physical education should center around building life-long habits & developing a healthy lifestyle through fitness & nutrition

We believe that we are tasked to be good stewards with what the Lord gives us including money, possessions, and our time.

We believe that being a good steward doesn’t come naturally and needs to be instilled through example and purposed training.

We believe that communication skills are essential to life and employment including reading, writing and oral communication we will strive for excellence in these areas foremost.

We believe that each of us processes information with a unique combination of learning styles and needs.

We believe that natural curiosity should be nurtured and will lead to a love of learning.

We believe that our goal as parents is to raise our children with the ultimate goal of being responsible, self-sufficient, God fearing adults who personally claim their faith and have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

We believe that it is important to study “normal subjects” so that our children are able to merge into the world that is larger then our home at the time we decide.

We believe strong problem solving skills are important. We will encourage our children to try many different approaches looking at a problem, and with gentle guidance lead them to a solution. Sometimes frustration will occur but “giving up” is not an option.

We believe that children should be exposed to and challenged to try new things.

We believe that we live in a modern world and that it is important to stay abreast of technology for use in life and employment.

We believe that God has a plan for each of our lives, and that academics helps us to discover that plan, trust Him to lead us in fulfilling that life purpose, and as a result, give Him glory for what He has done through us.

CATSCRAP CT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-05-28T06:31:00.000-07:00

Oh my gosh you guys I have been bursting at the seams, dying to share. I made the catscrap CT!!! If you don't know what a CT is look here. Now my all time favorite designer Creashens (Shen), picked me up onto her CT a while back. Shen (my all time favorite designer) sells at Catscrap (my all time favorite store). The store is loaded with talent, and I can't even begin topick favorites because they're all so good!

I've been hanging out there and doing some of their challenges ~ and even winning a few challenges. I've been shopping there forever and I can't tell you enough how much I crazily love this team. They put out their CT call (where they announce they are adding to their Creative Team and ask you to send in your application) on May 1 and I applied May 1. THEN I had to wait 2 weeks for the call to close. Then I had to wait like 5 days to hear the email response (Which freaked me out cuz I thought it was a rejection until I saw how long it was) and then I had to wait until TODAY for the announcement. So like I said, it's been KILLING me to wait.

Only 13 lucky ladies made the team out of I don't know how many applications, they were SWAMPED i'm sure! My first requirement was to make an All About Me Page so here it is. My soul bared on paper:

50 State capitals song or is it capitols?

2010-05-26T13:47:00.000-07:00

I guess as a homeschooling mom I better look that one up! I'm pretty sure it's capitols :)

Lyrics:
Baton Rouge Louisianna, Indianpolis Indiana,
and Columbus is the capital of O-hi-o.

There's Montgomery Alabama,
south of Helena Montana
then there's Denver Colorado,
and Boise Idaho.

Texas has Austin
then we go north,
to Massachusetts Boston
and Albany New York.

Tallahassee Florida
and Washington D.C.,
Sante Fe New Mexico and Nashville Tennessee.
Elvis used to hang out there a lot, you know.

Trenton's in New Jersey north of Jefferson Missouri,
You got Richmond in Virginia,
South Dakota has Pierre,
Harrisburg's in Pennsylvania and Augusta's up in Maine,
and here is Providence Rhode Island next to Dover Deleware.

Concord, New Hampshire, just a quick jaunte,
to Montpelier, which is up in Vermont,
Hartford's in Connecticut so pretty in the fall,
and Kansas has Topeka
Minnesota has St. Paul.

Juneau's in Alaska and there's Lincoln in Nebraska
and it's Raleigh out in North Carolina, and then,
there's Madison Wisconsin and Olympia in Washington,
Pheonix Arizona
and Lansing Michigan.

Here's Honolulu, Hawaii's a joy
Jackson Mississip-pi
and Springfield Illinois,
South Carolina with Columbia down the Way,
and Annapolis in Maryland on Chesapeake Bay,
They have wonderful clam chowder.

Cheyenne is in Wyoming and perhaps you make your home in
Salt Lake City out in Utah where the buffalo roam.
Atlanta's down in Georgia and there's Bismark North Dakota,
and you can live in Frankfurt in your own Kentucky home.

Sa-lem, in Oregon, from there we join,
Little Rock in Arkansas,

6 years ago today

2010-04-07T09:12:00.000-07:00

6 years ago on Apr 7th my little brother took his life. There hasn't been a single one of the following 2190 days that I haven't felt the pain and sometimes anger of losing him. He was one of those with a magnetic personality, someone you just wanted to be around because he was fun, sweet and had a laugh that made you want to laugh too. Alorah asked me yesterday why I was crying so much and I explained that it was the anniversary of Uncle Trev's death. Her response was I thought his birthday made you sad. I explained that while it does, at his birthday you remember what an amazing person he was and you can remember good times, at his anniversary all I can think of is the pain, the horror of that night and the loss. That night is so vivid in my head and it overtakes it all. I have dreams and flashes of it, and I feel sad every moment.

Every year I commemorate him on my blog. And I posted this a few years back in the hope of remembering the positive times on this day. I love you so Very, VERY Much, Trevor Micah, and I miss you even more.

Settlers of Catan

2010-04-04T13:00:00.000-07:00

About a year and a half ago I found this awesome strategy game called Settlers of Catan. It was on a homeschool blog and I was looking for fun homeschool games. It was invented in Germany in 1995, and has just gotten popular here in the states. According to my lil brother who came back from Amsterdam a year ago it's also all the rage in Europe. He was amazed when we pulled it out to play at Christmas. (He was also amazed that we had Nutella). We had to special order it as it wasn't available in any stores at the time. I was stunned to see it in Target yesterday ~ stunned. I am so cutting edge :)

So about 6 months or so ago we invited our good friends the Kerrs over to play this super fun game with us. We knew that they loved board games as well and frankly they are two of our favorite people and we're always looking for an opportunity to hang with them. Long story short they got HOOKED on the game as well and not only figured out that we were initially playing it quite wrong but that it can also be a ticket to divorce court. Just kidding, but do be forewarned that if you are super competitive this game can get intense.

So it's kind of become our "thing". We collaborate on dinner than get the kids comfortable with a movie and get our Catan on. It's my idea of a perfect night. Especially when my mad strategy skills kick in and I win like last night. BOOYAH!!!

Shaun & Bonnie:

The Game Board

Shaun seriously contemplating his strategy.

Ev setting up his pieces.

Bonnie contemplating as well

My hand

Shaunie boy CONCENTRATING!

And these sweet kids concentrating as well :)

My Isaiah was soooooo sweet with Bri, Bri last night.

And my darling husband who hates the paparrazzi I can sometimes be.

The Only prescription is more cowbell!

2010-04-04T09:20:00.000-07:00

We were watching a show last night ~ a very serious drama. This song came on and I was CRACKING UP. All I could picture in my head was this skit.

Naughty Mommy

2010-03-29T12:22:00.000-07:00

So the challenge this week over at Catscrap is to "makeover" an old page. This is the second page I created after I started digital scrapbooking, not horrible but definitely not my cup of tea now that I've found a groove and a style I like. I've always loved the title though!

Sorry I don't have any credits on it, as it was before my gallery posting days. Here is the updated version:

From Dainty kit by Creashens (catscrap.com & twolittlepixels.com)
Heart on a string
Stitches

From Pitter Patter kit by Creashens (catscrap.com & twolittlepixels.com)
hearts
tan paper
Pink Paper

From Smitten kit by Creashens (catscrap.com & twolittlepixels.com)
patterned papers

Alpha:
Luv Song by CD Muckosky (littledreamerdesigns.com)

Journaling
You were so sad that your Daddy left the garage while I was taking some photos of you. I don't know if you thought he was going somewhere special without you? But three year old you was devastated and being the naughty Mommy that I am I snapped every second of it. Naughty Mommy!

Makin Tortillas

2010-03-28T10:18:00.000-07:00

As the resident Mexican in Ev's family (j/k) I was given the job of making tortillas and my grandmother's Mexican rice for my brother-in-law's birthday dinner which was a bit of a Mexican Fiesta. Gourmet Chicken Mole, Rice, Beans, homemade guacamole, homemade salsas, tortillas & nopales. I set to work about 1:30 in the afternoon and shortly thereafter Z wandered inside.

Turns out yesterday we were in like a bizarro world or maybe it was just opposite day. The girls worked outside in the yard with Dad while the boys stayed inside and cooked with me. Strange and Bizarre because the boys, Isaiah in particular is typically glued to his Dad's side. We're talking glued. Mom is chopped liver compared to Dad. But something about watching me make tortillas sucked him in. After watching me make about 5 he said ~ hey can I go wash my hands and help? I was like ~ ummm yeah, definitely. We had a great time and he was an amazing helper. Although some of his tortillas ended up looking like Texas, for the most part they looked like Hawaii, which was our goal :)

He rolled I cooked. Totally takes me back to my Mexican roots and makes me think of my Grandmother.

Need some extra flour to roll with. I think this is what I love most about my granite counters. I love the way they look, but I especially love rolling tortillas straight out on the smooth cool surface.

Gotta put a bit more flour out each time you roll. It's important because that's how you get that extra layer of flour on your shirt :)

Making a good ball is important to the process and to getting Hawaii shaped tortillas

My helper was pretty proud of himself. I forgot to take pictures of the finished product but we ended up with 3 dozen for Uncle Christian's birthday fiesta.

Latest Set of Layouts

2010-03-27T10:33:00.000-07:00

Time to post a few more layouts I've done recently. As of late I've been in a really scrappy mood. I'm on the CT for Creashens and I get to create with all her GORGEOUS product (still pinching myself) and she has some fabulous girly kits in the past few weeks. Check out the links!

Everything from the NEW pitter patter kit by Creashens available at catscrap and twolittlepixels

Everything from Smitten kit by Creashens available at catscrap and twolittlepixels

Everything for this layout is from Brand New Day kit by One Little Bird available at Catscrap.com

Journaling reads:
Moments like this remind me that every day is a gift. They remind that I need to treasure every moment, that my time with you is limited. and there is no rewind or do over button. Moments like this remind me that my job as a mom isn't a trial or a "job". They remind me what a priviledge it is to have you as a part of my world. Moments like this remind me of the specialness of you. They remind me that you are unique and no one in the world is knot together like you. They remind me that you are a miracle, that I was chosen to guide and teach you and what an awesome responsibility it is to be your parents. Moments like this show me that you love moments with me. That it doesn't take much to bring you joy, that you are really very simple to please. Moments like this show me how easy it is to build a memory that lasts a lifetime.. Moments that you will treasure as well. Moments like this remind me that it's the simple moments.

If you think I'm cute . .

2010-03-18T21:41:00.000-07:00

Was cruising through photos to scrap tonight and I came upon this picture. I loved this shirt!!!! SO appropriate for my blonde, blue-eyed boy that looks JUST like his daddy. I can't even explain to you the delight I had having a blue-eyed child. I am so taken with his Daddy and how handsome he is, that it is such fun to have his clone. Just a quick post because I love this photo and the message on his shirt :)

Confession Time

2010-03-05T22:16:00.000-08:00

I was sharing with friends our most embarrassing moments and it made me giggle so hard that I thought I'd give you a moment to giggle too. These are my most mortifying, beet red moments. Please take pleasure in my discomfort :)

#1. Babysitting

I grew up for a large portion of my life on Military Bases. Texas, Hawaii, different ones in California. The only place we weren't on base was in Ohio. In high school we lived on Beale Air Force Base outside of Wheatland, CA in the Yuba City area. An important element to my story is that on base, all the houses are cookie cutters, exact replicas of the one next door. Not like in a newer subdivision where every 3rd or 4th house is the same. I mean EVERY house exactly the same as the one next door.

My sister taught in a private school in Marysville and recommended me as a babysitter to one of her friends that lived on base. I showed up to babysit little Megan (toddler age) late one afternoon and was delighted by the family. I knew Megan and I would be fast friends. I fed her dinner and we headed out for a walk. We returned to her cul de sac around dark. Megan lived at the end of the cul de sac. I took her out of her stroller and we headed inside, down the front hall into the living room, WHERE TWO PEOPLE WERE IN THE BUFF!!! As I averted my eyes I noticed that the house was decorated quite differently than Megan's house. I stammered out "This isn't Megan's house is it???" and fled next door to Megan's real house. I don't think I ever told Megan's mom about that awkward encounter, but it is burned into my mind. I just wanted to die, I wanted a hole to open up in that random stranger's house and just take me away.

#2. Fairy Tale Town
This one tops number one, it's a whopper.

We were visiting FairyTale town here in Sacramento (my kids call it Humpty Dumpty Park). I had Alorah age 3 and Isaiah a few months old. Isaiah rode around in this SWEET stroller. It's called a sit and stroll. It's a car seat that have wheels folded into the bottom. You push a lever and wheels pop out to make it a stroller and a handle extends from the top. Here's a photo

Anyway, it was getting late and the park was closing. In fact I think it was already closed and they may have asked us to leave. We were parked at the rear of the park so rather than go all the way to the front, I decided we should just save time and go through one of the turnstile gates at the back of the park. Example, not the actual gate:

I sent Alorah through first and Isaiah (in the stroller) and I followed behind. We made it 2/3rds of the way through and got stuck. STUCK, because as I tried to reverse my way back into the park, I discovered that it doesn't reverse. NOT AT ALL! Alorah had already made it through the gate and was waiting on the other side as I sat stuck. I very calmly asked Alorah to please sit on the curb and wait for Mommy & brother while I internally panicked. I decided to just wait a minute until a park worker came through to close up and find me. I waited 10 minutes until I started crying. Another 10 minutes until I started yelling and another 10 minutes until someone found me. All while my 3 year old sat on the curb. See God knows, if it had been Isaiah 3 on the curb, he would've taken off. But it wasn't it was my obedient first born. Who asked a few times why Mommy was crying and yelling but stayed put none the less. It was a long 30 minutes until I was found by a young clueless worker, who had no idea what to do. And an even longer 20 minutes until the fire department arrived to get me out. It was horrible but we survived :)

I hope you got your laugh for the day in or at least a chuckle.

Gotta tell ya . . .

2010-02-20T19:26:00.000-08:00

I've had a full plate lately. It almost seems like it's been busier than the holidays for some reason. I'm teaching a group of 9 homeschool girls and parents the ins & outs of Photoshop Elements with the ultimate goal of designing a 100 page yearbook by year end. It's been very time consuming and it's stretching my brain :) What I didn't count on is how rewarding it would be. The girls LOVE photoshop & digital scrapbooking. I mean seriously LOVE it! Not to mention that the stuff they're creating is knocking my socks off!

The only problem with teaching others and having my socks knocked off is that my creativity has all but dried up. I'm using every ounce of it to teach, not my own creations. So today, I said enough is enough! Creashens new kit is soooooo fabulous I HAVE to use it. So I paired it up with a new template challenge on Catscrap.com and this is what I came up with. For me, the journaling is a bit lame . . . after I posted it I came up with way better journaling about swirling skirts and dainty legs and all kinds of metaphors for life . . . but oh well. I created :)

Everything from Creashens new kit DAINTY available at catscrap.com and twolittlepixels.com

We're in a contest!

2010-02-02T08:18:00.000-08:00

Alorah & I made this video for a contest with our homeschool charter school Visions. Well, actually all the Williams contributed! It went live today and is supposed to be voted on by the public. The top winner gets a HUGE prize! Would you mind taking a few minutes out of your day to rate our video (5 out of 5 stars would be ideal) and help the Williams kids win big!

http://www.youtube.com/user/VisionsVideoContest#p/u/16/H7s7jFkY-_E

Homeschooling

2010-01-27T11:10:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite things about homeschooling is all the outside activities and classes plus getting creative at home to help them learn. It's not all workbooks and seat work. In fact I would say that's a 1/3 of our curriculum. The other 2/3 are activities.

To study ancient egypt we learned about archeology and did a dig. We learned about the mummification process (which is extremely fascinating ~ did you knkow that they pulled the brain out through the nose?) and we prepped a mummy that we'll bury in the backyard. We had an egyptian feast and ate with our hands (which was a bit questionable because Ev thinks they had wooden utensils to eat and a book we read said they ate with their hands) All in all, we learned the fun way, not just reading a textbook. The textbooks give us the facts but we try to make them come alive.

We also get creative in areas beyond history. For math, my Zaiah - Zaiah who can't sit still to save his life (even if he is sitting still his feet & legs are moving) likes to jump up and down our stairs while reciting his math facts. We play dominos and card games that make you add. We do fun read alouds & historical fiction, and we have a great time in art & technology. We did some culinary art this past learning period and one of our snacks were these adorable snowmen:

Ingredients: Banana slices, mini chocolate chips, carrot slivers, apple wedge & grape all on a skewer ~ don't forget the pretzel arms.

Ev & Zaiah have been having an amazing creative bonding time in Daddy & Me jr. carpentry. They just finished up a 3 week project ~ Z's new toolbox. Z used a compound Miter Saw & Router. He countersunk something our other, not sure on the lingo. My point is he did some serious woodshop work for an 8 year old AND he did it all while working with his Dad. If Zaiah could spend time with anyone he'd always pick his Dad hands down. But Dad is closely followed by Grumps, any of the Uncles, Papa D & Papa. Mom is chopped liver . . . well not really :)

I used one of my cricut fonts as a template for the words, then Ev and Z carved it out with a router(?), I think that what they used. Now Z wants to paint the inside of the letters. Ev is expecially proud of his hammer carving :)

Woops, One More!

2010-01-19T11:26:00.000-08:00

See, I do keep forgetting. I was just looking through my gallery and saw I missed this one too.

Everything is from the Count on me kit by Creashens available at catscrap and twolittlepixels

Keep forgetting!

2010-01-19T11:03:00.000-08:00

I keep forgetting to post my layouts as I create them. Here are two more for my creative team with Creashens

Everything from the Wondrous kit by Creashens available at catscrap.com and twolittlepixels.com

AND Snow Bunny with all elements from the Razzle kit by Creashens available at catscrap and twolittlepixels

Lake Tahoe 2009

2010-01-05T16:47:00.000-08:00

As I posted in the previous sledding video, we had an amazing time in Tahoe. We spend the week between Christmas and the New Year up there with my brothers, parents, sister & her girls, and overall it's just FUN. We spent a day having snowball fights, another day sledding, another day building snowmen, another day sledding and there were tons of games in between. It was really a fun time for us because MOST of our kids were able to dress themselves and get themselves outside (after we pulled out all their stuff for them). It's so different after having babies for so many years to have older kids that are just fun to play with. I had a great time playing around with my camera up there and all the new tricks Jen Stewart taught me. Enjoy!

Snow Angels were one of the first activities in the snow

Z was covered in snow!

Proudly displaying his snow angel

There was tons of snow eaten, it's a wonder there were no gastrointestinal issues!

Another snow eater

My niece Haley Lynn eating snow

The cutest 4 year old I know

Help, I've fallen and I can't get up!

Don't know what the pouting was about, but it's typical.

My boy filling a saucer with snow in anticipation of the snow war. They divided into teams, built snow forts, made ammo and attacked!

The cutest 6 year old I know

She is seriously cute!

My dad the photographer, playing with his new camera

Isaiah was constantly taking off his jacket and he would come inside from playing with his shirt DRIPPING! We only heard a complaint once about being cold.

Cutest 7 year old boy I know

Love those blue eyes!

My poor dad had all the 3, 4, 5 & 6 year olds on his team. I think they won the snow battle though!

More snow eating

My handsome husband preparing to attack me with a snowball. YES, he got snow on my camera. NO, he didn't get in trouble :)

Poor Ev, on that day he got everyone ready, sent them outside then by the time he got himself ready they all wanted to come in. I went in the house and guilted them all into coming back out and playing with their dad. This is him waiting on the snow fort for them.

After another hour or so of playing, Ev carried them back to the cabin. Love his baby blues too!

Another day Dad took the kids outside to build snowmen. The big kids built one and then the two little ones built one. Here's my niece Haley rolling her snowball through the snow for the snowwoman (they all decided)

Lainie's snowball

Man that is hard work carrying snowballs

Dad built the base

Then they stacked their snowballs

Every snowwoman needs a hat.

Isaiah got in big trouble from the girls for eating one of the snowwoman's arms.

Carving out the face.

Adding eyes.

Hunting for her mouth.

The finished product ~ Emily.

Ev & I couldn't get enough of this little one. My niece Lauren is absolutely the cutest 3 year old I know. She's best friends with my Micah T. they left a few day before we did and Micah missed her terribly.

Helping out.

Rolling big snowballs for the 2nd snowMAN.

The second snowman, Thomas, ended up with apple eyes, a cheesstick nose and raisin mouth.

They were proud of their work!

Most of the snowpeople makers, where's Zaiah?

Eating an extra arm.

My dad and I went out one evening to shoot photos of Tahoe at Sunset. That night the sunset wasn't quite spectacular, but the time with my dad was.

I don't know if I've ever been on a sandy beach covered with snow. It was beautiful and I especially loved this snowman someone had built on the shore.

My dad shooting

These two played the hardest with the kids, so they needed some down time. Football helps!

Home from Tahoe

2010-01-02T11:12:00.001-08:00

Every year we spend the week between Christmas and New Years up in Tahoe with my family. I have tons of pictures, etc to share but first I thought I'd post this clip of my Zaiah Zaiah. The kid was fearless on the sled and flew down the hill like lightning. I was videoing Micah building a "fire" when I caught Isaiah flying down on his sled. We deemed this the best sled run of the trip :)

Fun times

2009-12-20T19:17:00.001-08:00

This is how we roll!

Our Christmas Nativity

2009-12-18T10:41:00.000-08:00

A few years back (4 to be exact) The Williams family made a special book for my mom. We put the Christmas Story according to Luke in a book along with photos of our interpretation. I just stumbled upon these photos and they put such a smile on my face I thought I'd share. The kids ages in these photos are: Alorah (7), Isaiah (4), Alaina (2), Micah (10 months)

1:26 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,

1:27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.
1:28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
1:29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.

1:30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.

1:31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
1:32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:

2:1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.

2:2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)
2:3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.
2:4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)
2:5 To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

2:6 And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

2:7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger;
because there was no room for them in the inn.

2:8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

2:9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
2:10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
2:11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

2:13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

2:14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
2:15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.
2:16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

I don't know where in the story this photo is supposed to go or if I just snapped it cuz he was cute.

I hope the season doesn't get away from you and that you remember the reason for the season. Happy Birthday Jesus.

Wow, I won!

2009-12-09T14:52:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite digital scrapbook stores is Catscrap not only cuz my FAVORITE designer Creashens is there :) But because I love all the different styles there too. It's a smallish community and everyone is quick to praise you. Love that. They also have really cool challenges that make you scrap outside your box. One of the recent challenges was to scraplift another scrapbooker. The scrapbooker they chose is one of my FAVORITE scrapbookers Scarletsierra (sara), she has a very distinct style and her work is simply gorgeous.

Here is her original page:

Here is my scraplift:

Mask from Any Given Day kit by Creashens at catscrap.com

Everything else from Love Story kit by Something Blue Studios available at catscrap.com

I won the challenge and a $10 gift certificate for catscrap. Sooooo cool!

- MVI_0465.AVI

2009-11-29T18:20:00.001-08:00

Muppets Bohemian Rhapsody

2009-11-24T23:13:00.000-08:00

This is so wickedly awesome!

Big Baller

2009-11-23T16:56:00.000-08:00

Here's a bit about my oldest boy Isaiah who just finished up his first season of football. He fell in love with the sport. He LOVE, LOVE, LOVED it! He's played basketball, baseball and now football. Neither basketball or baseball did he respond to as much as football. Poor guy cried when Ev & I were too sick to take him to practice :( Can I tell you again how much he loved it. When we did tryouts he could have gone in either of two different age levels 5-7 or 8-11. He turned 8 midway through the season so they decided to put him on the 8-11 year old team. He was the littlest guy in the age division by far, and wasn't as developed as a player as the other guys on the team, but overall I'm glad that's the level they put him on. I think if he had been with the littler guys he wouldn't have been challenged as much and probably would've been bored. He picked a few things from the bigger kids that I wasn't too thrilled with but mostly they were so sweet with him. One of the kids in particular really took him under his wing ~ telling him where he was supposed to be on plays, putting his arm around him & high 5ing him for encouragment

Isaiah's big job throughout the year was on defense. His job was to rush the quarterback. He was a bit too small for offense. The quarterback would throw it was over his head on passes and he got to play runningback a few times and did well, but again there were bigger players that were a bit more effective. He rocked in his role of rushing the quarterback. He put pressure on him and caused quite a few turnovers this year, but it seemed like he was always a second too late for the sack.

Don't know who this kid is but I love the expression on his face:

This last Saturday was the championship game against the 49ers. Isaiah rocked it with the SACK! In the picture below you can see they quarterback's flag in Isaiah's hand and the ball still in the quarterbacks hand.

On the left side of the picture you can see Zaiah holding up the flag. The whole side line was yelling for him, his teammates ran up and congratulated him, it was so cool!!! Ev said, he's like Rudy.

Here's the championship team for 2009 with their gold ball:

One last picture because I love the way it turned out. The kid with the ball is TJ, one of Isaiah's teammates. This kid was REALLY GOOD!!! I'd say he was 50-75% responsible for them being the champions. He was REALLY GOOD! He was also the one who was so kind and encouraging to my Zai.

Missing him.

2009-11-15T19:45:00.000-08:00

All Papers & Elements from Bugga Boo kit by Creashens catscrap.com & twolittlepixels.com

Template number 4 by fizzypop designs catscrap.com

I'm not sure what triggered it today. I don't think the feelings of pain and loss ever, ever go away and today I miss him badly. Sometimes a song on my Ipod will find me washing dishes with tears streaming down my face, or a picture of him will flash up on my computer, or my kids will ask about him. Most days are good and I remember him fondly, but every now and then I remember that I'll never see him again. I'll remember the pain of the phone call telling me he was gone. I remember racing to his house in the dark of the night, the flashing red & blue lights in front of his house and wrapping my arms around Tom, not even trying to fathom the horrors that he saw. I'll remember the anger that he chose to leave us. Then all I feel is loss . . . It's nothing that can ever go away. If there was a pill I could take to numb that pain I would. It hurts in a way no one else can understand, unless they've lived it. But even then it's different for all of us. Today. I'm just missing him.

Some recent pages

2009-11-08T09:56:00.000-08:00

It's been awhile since I've posted my LO's. Doesn't mean I haven't been scrapping, just haven't been posting on the blog :) I'm still LOVING my gig scrapping on Creashens Creative Team. Still not sure how I got the gig as the talent on that team is through the roof. I'll keep at it until Shen realizes I'm not in their league :)

All Papers & Elements from Count on me kit by Creashens and K Studios @ www.catscrap.com

Template Sidekicks no 1 by fizzypop designs @catscrap.com

Everything from Frankie loves Hollie by Creashens (October Digital Artists Magazine)

Everything from "Anne with an E" kit by Creashens at Catscrap.com

Inspired by this LO by Kayleigh: http://www.myscrapbookart.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=204921&cat=all&limit=last1

Papers:

sweetness by Creashens (catscrap.com & twolittlepixels.com)

Staple:

sweetness by Creashens (catscrap.com & twolittlepixels.com)

Stitches :

lulu & rocko by Creashens (catscrap.com & twolittlepixels.com)

sprung by Creashens (catscrap.com & twolittlepixels.com)

sweetness by Creashens (catscrap.com & twolittlepixels.com)

Journaling:

these pictures of you were taken when you were 3 years old and a chubby little thing looking back I am amazed at how much you’ve changed with those roundcheeks and arms. I just want to go back in time and squish you.

Now at six years old you are just as tall as your brother TWO years older than you. You are a bean pole with LONG skinny legs. Almost no fat on you. I am daily amazed by the changes.

Oh no he didn't!

2009-11-05T16:57:00.000-08:00

Ev has this crazy relationship with his lawn. He loves the way it looks and goes to GREAT pains to keep it looking perfect. He spends 3 hours on Saturdays working on his lawn and has a process that he follows every time. He fertilizes,aerates (sp?) etc at specific times of the year, and when we hear neighbors or people walking past commenting on what a beautiful lawn it is, Ev swells up with pride.

We had a friend (a perfectionist friend mind you) that offered to mow the lawn for Ev once when he was out of town. He politely refused.

So imagine my great surprise when Ev asked me to take a picture of Alorah's first time mowing the lawn. He had her mow the whole back yard (not the front because it's a big hill). That told me in not too many ways that he still wasn't feeling well after his bout of illness.

He was feeling well enough to ham it up a bit :)

Halloween

2009-11-03T12:24:00.000-08:00

Halloween was a not so great time for the Williams household. The parents were down sick, REALLY sick. Ev had 5 days straight of fever & I had 4. It was bad and unfortunately it fell on Halloween. We couldn't let the kids suffer though :( Thankfully we were able to call in reinforcments in the form of Papa D. He was a lifesaver. He took them to McDonalds for dinner and then home to get costumes and then out trick or treating. THANK YOU POPPY!!! I had a super high fever but was able to snap a few photos ~ sorry that half of them are blurry, I was so out of it I didn't even notice :)

Alaina the fairy (Alorah & I made her AWESOME skirt) :

Isaiah as Darth Vader:

Micah as Thomas the Train

Isaiah again:

Alorah as Hermione Granger:

Ev's race

2009-10-26T11:47:00.000-07:00

We spent the morning yesterday out at the four bridges half marathon. My husband, the stud, pulled off 13 miles after 7 weeks of training. It was all a friends idea, but that friend got injured a week b4 the race so poor Ev had no running partner. In my humble opinion he still rocked it. I told him he'd get an A for effort just for trying. But I knew full well that my stubborn, darling husband would power through and do it.

Apparently it was a pretty tough course with quite a few hills (my dear trash talking friend and you know who you are *smiley*, Ev says you couldn't have done it in less than 2). Ev had a goal in mind and pretty dang near nailed it. He averaged 11 minutes a mile which was a bit higher than his goal, but again, I think he's amazing.
While he ran, the kids did a 1 mile spooky scamper. Isaiah my speed demon finished up 5th (out of a TON of kids) and Grumps ran with the girls. I didn't get any shots of Isaiah at the finish because the finish wasn't where I thought it was and by the time I made it over there he was done. I caught all the kids mid-course and then the girls at the end.

The kids before their race:

Then we waited around for Ev to finish. The kids stood along the fence and high fived runners coming in to finish. As he came around the last turn in the race, Grumps put the kids over the fence and they ran across the finish with him. The announcer said everyone's names as they came across the line and when Ev came across they said "Evan Williams and his posse" (sp?) My kids were the only kids to run across the finish (it happened so fast I only fit Alorah and half of Zai in the frame). Pretty cool idea, Grumps!

Then, I'm assuming because they crossed with dad, they got medals.

Here's a pic but for some reason I was distracted and didn't get the medals in the photo.

Lastly one of Ev's clients ran Four Bridges as well. It was cool to meet one of his clients and put a face to the name as I rarely am involved with his day to day and the people he works with. I am after all in my busy homeschooling, mommy world. One that doesn't lend itself to a ton of freetime or workout time which is probably why I won't ever run a half marathon with or without Ev.

I might start training for a sprint triathlon though?! He inspires me. I am up to a mile in the pool at a quite respectable time! Running just isn't my thang , I'm not too coordinated on land. However, I think I might have gills :) Enough about me, this post is about my hubby and how proud I am of him. He's a stud! Can you tell he floats my boat?

Blueberry Picking

2009-10-20T21:48:00.000-07:00

Back in August, Ev took a day off work and we took off to Apple Hill for some blueberry picking. It was exciting when we got there that we had the whole field to ourselves. It was the tail end of the season and the owner let us know that this was probably the last week for picking and there probably weren't a ton of blueberries left. We couldn't wait to get out there and see who would pick the most. It was a bit discouraging because most of the bushes were bare and we only got a few berries off each bush. But then we hit the bottom back corner of the field and it was full! Whenever someone would find a full bush they would call out to the others "nothing to see here, no blueberries to be found" and we'd all laugh ~ it was after all a competition! We filled the bottom of our buckets with Ev and Alorah tying for the most blueberries ~ I think Ev may have even edged her out a bit. It was such a fun family day. We came home and made blueberry cobbler ~ blueberry pancakes ~ and froze a bunch for later. These are the memories I cherish.

Lake Tahoe trip

2009-10-19T20:52:00.000-07:00

Gorgeous isn't it? I sometimes forget how lucky I am to have such beautiful locals in my backyard ~ Lake Tahoe, San Francisco, Napa . . . Lucky, lucky girl am I.
Lake Tahoe is one of my favorite places ~ up there with Hawaii. Every year we go up with Family to the snow for the week between Christmas and New Year. Growing up my family had a cabin Tahoe and I have so many fond childhood memories, mostly of the snow.

Back in August, one of Ev's clients offered us his cabin in Tahoe for a few days . . . get this ~ for NOTHING, just offered to let us use it. Months later I'm still astounded. Even more astounding is that this cabin is ON THE LAKE!!! His own private beach & pier on Lake Tahoe, seriously! We were so excited. He called on a Friday and we went up early Saturday morning. Ev's partner, Mike & his wife Monica also have a condo in Tahoe ~ not too far from the cabin. So they came over and we spent a lot of Saturday, late into the night with them and their two children (Nico & Sienna).
Here's the view from the pier:

Monica & Sienna:

Nico, Alaina & Sienna looking for crawdads:

At first the kids weren't quite brave enough to get in the water with crawdads (there were a gazillion of them) but Alorah & Sienna finally worked up the nerve to head in with a net.

I was NOT brave enough to touch the little buggers, so Monica took on the job of releasing the crawdads after capture and thorough inspection.

My Doodlebug is getting so big!!!

Ev & Mike enjoying life. Doesn't get any better than this . . . Wait, where are the brews, boys?

The backside of the cabin (reminded me of Hansel & Gretel's story)

We also took out the little rowboat and kayak's. It was Alorah's first time in a kayak but we just gave her an oar and sent her off. She did AWESOME of course!

After a day on the lake, we built a fire on the beach & roasted marshmallows:

I don't know what was going on with Nico in this photo, but man it's funny!

The next morning we went fishing off the dock with super bait (didn't catch anything, but it was fun!)

A view of the beach & pier from the house:

A view of the beach & yard from the pier.

Conversation with Micah

2009-08-10T14:58:00.000-07:00

Mr. Micah T. What a character, and also a ray of sunshine to all that meet him. I was having a conversation with him today, and just knew I had to record it. It's broken into 2 parts for your viewing pleasure. Don't forget to turn of the music on the right hand side of the blog.

Sorry the quality is so dark. I don't have mad videographer skillz.

Feelings ~ how to deal

2009-08-09T17:54:00.000-07:00

There's this 11 year old girl that lives in my house ~ entering 6th grade. An age and time you couldn't pay me enough money to repeat. There's been a lot of emotion lately and she doesn't seem able to express it. Lot's of varying feelings and not a whole lot of communication. My prayer lately has been how to help her cope. How to help her manage that big jumble of feelings and hormones and emotion. God gave me a clue in a concrete way. Isn't he good? I just got a message in my inbox from Elisabeth Corcoran author of Moments for Moms. She was helping her son to identify and express his emotions. She wrote a list and read that list to him as a "bedtime story". So detailed and perfect. I will share it my precious girl and pray it will help her.
Elisabeth says to feel free to use it!

Here's the list:

Happy

Definition: in high spirits; satisfied

Synonyms: blessed, can't complain, cheerful, content, delighted, ecstatic, glad, grateful, joyful, laughing, peaceful, playful, thrilled

When you might feel this: When you get your way, when God answers a prayer, when you get a gift, when you do well on a test, when you get to do something fun…

How can you know this is what you’re feeling? You smile, laugh, feel good inside, want to keep feeling that way

What can you do to express this feeling in a healthy way? Laugh, thank Jesus, thank the person who helped you feel this way, you can look up a verse about being happy (Psalm 68:3)

Angry

Definition: being mad, often extremely mad

Synonyms: annoyed, displeased, enraged, furious, irritated, offended, resentful

When you might feel this: when someone irritates you, takes a toy away, turns the channel when you don’t want them to, interrupts you, makes you do something you don’t want to do or at a time you don’t want to do it

How can you know this is what you’re feeling? You might get hot, you might want to kick or punch something, you want to yell

What can you do to express this feeling in a healthy way? Quietly tell the person that you’re angry and why, tell Jesus about it and ask him to help you handle your anger well, talk to your Mom or Dad about it, journal about it, punch your pillow, count to ten, breathe deeply for a few moments, take a quick walk up and down the driveway, go play basketball, you can look up a verse about what God wants us to do about our anger (Ephesians 4:26)

How you shouldn’t express this feeling: Yell at the person, yell at someone else, slam doors, be disrespectful, hurt someone or yourself, keep it to yourself

Sad

Definition: unhappy, depressed

Synonyms: blue, dejected, despondent, down, down in the dumps, downcast, gloomy, heartbroken, heavyhearted, hurting, melancholy, troubled, weeping

When you might feel this: when someone says something that hurts your feelings, when you’re left out at school, when you don’t do well on a test or in a game, when you miss someone, when someone breaks a promise

How can you know this is what you’re feeling? You may cry, may feel tired, may not want to talk to anyone, you may want to be left alone

What can you do to express this feeling in a healthy way? You can talk to Jesus and ask him to help you feel better, you can talk to your Mom or Dad, you can journal about it, you can spend some time alone in your room or doing something by yourself, you can lie down for a little while, you can cry, you can make a list of five things you’re thankful for, you can look up a verse about being sad (Psalm 42:11)

Scared

Definition: frightened

Synonyms: afraid, anxious, fearful, panicky, startled, terrified

When you might feel this: during a thunderstorm, doing something that is a phobia

How can you know this is what you’re feeling? You might feel butterflies in your stomach, you might feel hot, your hands might get sweaty, you might have trouble sleeping or concentrating

What can you do to express this feeling in a healthy way? You can tell someone that you’re scared, tell Jesus and ask him to make you more brave, journal about it, hold someone’s hand, you can look up a verse about Jesus being with you when you’re scared (Joshua 10:25)

Lonely

Definition: feeling friendless

Synonyms: abandoned, alone, apart, by oneself, companionless, deserted, isolated, lonesome, rejected, unbefriended, uncherished

When you might feel this: when you’re on the bus and not sitting next to anyone, when you don’t know anyone in your class or at lunch, when you don’t know anyone in a new sports team or club, when one or both of your parents are out of town, or when you’re out of town

How can you know this is what you’re feeling? You feel like you’re missing someone

What can you do to express this feeling in a healthy way? You can call, email or write the person you’re missing, you can tell Jesus about it and ask him to remind you that He’s with you, you can journal about it, you can look up a verse about Jesus being your friend (I John 4:11)

Worried/Confused

Definition: anxious, troubled, don’t know what to think about something, don’t understand something

Synonyms: afraid, apprehensive, concerned, distracted, distraught, distressed, disturbed, fearful, nervous, uneasy, upset,

When you might feel this: when you hear your parents’ fight, when you’re left home alone

How can you know this is what you’re feeling? You might feel butterflies in your stomach, you might imagine things to turn out badly (for instance, you might think that if your parents’ fight, it might mean they’ll get a divorce)

What can you do to express this feeling in a healthy way? You can talk to Jesus about this, you can talk to your Mom or Dad about this, you can journal about this, you can list off five things you’re thankful for, you can look up a verse about worrying (Matthew 6:34)

Blessed LO

2009-08-06T12:31:00.000-07:00

Everything from the new About collaboration by K Studio, Something Blue Studios, and creashens at Catscrap.com

Gallery Standouts

2009-07-22T11:19:00.000-07:00

When I do a Layout for myself or for my creative team I post it in a gallery at one of the digital scrapbooking sites that I frequent. People then view the galleries for inspiration, etc. If people really like the Layout they nominate it for Gallery Standouts on the site which is a huge honor. The Gallery Standouts thread has a ton of gorgeous Layouts in it every day that I love to peruse.

One step above the site GSO (Gallery Standouts) is a blog called gallery standouts, where they search through all the galleries out there and post the top nine layouts of the day. This blog is GORGEOUS!!!! The layouts that make it on there are simply amazing ~ my number one source for inspiration. Not to mention that I've been dying for quite a while to be mentioned on that particular blog. Well today it happened!!! They picked my confession LO and posted it on the blog. How thrilled am I, I can't even contain it :) You can see it here.

Hose Tag

2009-07-14T21:09:00.001-07:00

I have one wacky kiddo. Well I guess they're all a little wacky or I couldn't claim them as mine :) Last week Isaiah asked if he could play hose tag, and I was all for it, unfortunately none of his siblings were. He decided that he would just play hose tag by himself and as he was spraying himself with the hose, he was cracking up. Tons of water fun lately in the Williams house . . . but what else do you do in summer?

Missing teeth

2009-07-12T11:19:00.000-07:00

Can you beleive how many teeth this kid is missing. I'm kicking myself that I didn't take this picture sooner cuz the top left one is already growing back in. But the kid is missing FIVE teeth at the same time. 3 on top and 2 on the bottom. It was quite funny to watch hime trying to eat corn on the cob, I finally cut all the kernels off for him :)

Guess what I had for lunch?

2009-07-08T02:00:00.000-07:00

I am so fortunate because I have the most amazing playdough chefs living in my home. Look what they made me for lunch!

The burger & fries are made out of playdough, but not the fry container & mcflurry:

The Chefs with their masterpiece:

Slip & Slide Fun

2009-07-07T16:28:00.001-07:00

For those of you that haven't ever been over here ~ our house is set back from the road by a nice steep hill. It's one of the features I love most about our home ~ being back from the road, our brick staircase out front and the big front yard. I had mentioned a while back that it would be a ton of fun to slip & slide down that big hill out front. When Ev woke up Sunday morning he decided that it would be slip & slide day, sometimes he just get these wild hairs. We set it up Sunday afternoon and the kids had a blast (all except Lainie who was sick on the couch with a fever) Isaiah was of course the most adventurous so most of my photos feature him and some stunt :)

So here you go slip & slide fun:

Micah didn't quite get the run & jump idea so he just scooted down on his booty :)

My handsome toothless son:

Micah went down holding onto Isaiah's ankles:

This was hilarious. Alorah had only made it halfway down the hill and was standing up to walk back up, when Isaiah came barreling down behind her, so glad I had the camera out to capture it:

Then they decided to reverse roles, but it's not as much fun when you're expecting it:

Our Gorgeous Kitty "Tiny" layed on the grass right next to me and watched all the action:

And then Micah wanted me to take a picture of his eye???

A couple new Lo's

2009-07-02T11:21:00.001-07:00

This was a fun Layout to do. I did it for a challenge at catscrap. I had to meet 4 requirements:
It had to have grey on it, it had to have hearts on it, it had to include lyrics to a song and it had to have the title in one font. Here's what I cam up with:

Paper:
Pretty Krafty 2 kit by Creashens (catscrap.com)
Swell Set #1 by Creashens (catscrap.com

Hearts:
Bye Bye Birdie Kit by Creashens (catscrap.com)

Mask:
Distressed Photo Masks 2 by Vinnie Pearce (catscrap.com)

Stitches:
Essential stitches by Syrin (catscrap.com)

Journaling:
You will lose your baby teeth * At times you'll lose your faith in me * You will lose a lot of things * But you cannot lose my love * You may lose your appetite * Your guiding sense of wrong and right * You may lose your will to fight * But you cannot lose my love * You will lose your confidence * In times of trial your common sense * You may lose your innocence * But you cannot lose my love * Many things can be misplaced * Your very memories be erased * No matter what the time or space * You cannot lose my love * You cannot lose * You cannot lose *You cannot lose my love

Here's another fun one I did. I felt like playing with extractions and I had a confession to het off my chest :)

Paper:
Pretty Krafty 2 by Creashens (catscrap.com)

Alpha:
ELementary my dear vol 1 blue/green by Lisa Warren (littledreamerdesigns.com)

Painted Strips:
Painters Tape by CD Muckosky (the-lilypad.com)

Journaling:
Ok, here’s the confession. I didn’t want boys. And I always swore that God knew better than to give me boys. I am a girly girl raised in a house with FIVE boys. The last thing in the world that I wanted was a boy. Or so I thought at the time. Boys are this whole foreign world that I never understood. Boys are dirty, gross and obnoxious. They laugh at body functions. How do you even begin to relate?

Then after months of planning and praying we finally got pregnant with you. We didn’t find out the sex of the baby (you) but I just KNEW you were a boy. I thought . . . How do you hold a baby boy, surely you can’t cuddle them close and sing to them the way I did with Alorah. How am I even going to know what to do with you?? But you showed up and it just came natural. You loved to be held and sung to. You slept with mom every night. I had fun with all the boy clothes. It soon became very apparent that you were one of those “ALL boy” boys that rough and tumble kind. But you have this whole other side. You used to sit and play with my hair and tell me I was beautiful. You pick me flowers. You come to my rescue when I fall down hills. I’ve discovered that boys can be pretty cool and there’s this amazingly special bond between a mom and son. Thank you son for coming along and changing my way of thinking.

And last but certainly not least, here's a layout I did for my Creative Team using Creashens newest kit Yours and Pretty Krafty 3

Paper:
Pretty Krafty 3 by creashens (catscrap.com & twolittlepixels.com)
Yours kit by creashens (catscrap.com & twolittlepixels.com)

All Elements
Yours kit by creashens (catscrap.com & twolittlepixels.com)

Journaling:
Who knew that our love would grow even stronger from that day forward? It was just the beginning
of this wonderful journey with you. Although
we’ve had our share of ups and downs,
probably more downs than ups.
We’ve fought through and
stayed committed to one
another. Love hasn’t
wavered even through
pain and strug-
gles. I think our
best days are
just around
the corner.

Because LO

2009-06-20T16:36:00.000-07:00

Paper:
Red by Creashens ~ as I am (catscrap & twolittlepixels.com)
Black by Mossa ~ crayon art

Word art:
Decorative Page prompts by Vinnie Pearce (catscrap)

String:
Silver Spoon Kit ~ Creashens (catscrap & twolittlepixels.com)

Flowers:
Blue by Vinnie Pearce ~ school days (catscrap)
white by Vinnie Pearce ~ paradiso (catscrap)
Red by Vinnie Pearce ~ wishes & dreams (catscrap)
Green by Lisa Sisneros ~ these little moments (little dreamer designs)
Pink by Creashens ~ pillowtalk (catscrap & twolittlepixels.com)
white & pink by Vinnie Pearce ~ school days (catscrap)

note paper:
She's so sophisticated by Scarlet heels (catscrap)

Journaling:
Because of the five of you I have battled through the depression that sometime consumes me. Because of the 5 precious gifts the Lord has given me I will always fight to keep my head above water. I want to give you the best I & life have to offer. I’m going to stay strong Because I love you and know the blessings you are.

I love you ~ Zai LO

2009-06-15T14:31:00.000-07:00

Paper:
Rewind by Creashens (Catscrap.com)

Mask:
Masks #1 by Creashens (Catscrap.com )

Note & staple:
Pillow Talk by Creashens (Catscrap.com)

Buttons:
Pillow Talk by Creashens (Catscrap.com )

Flourish:
Primavera Collab kit (Catscrap.com)

Journaling:
You certainly march to the beat of your own drummer my son. I
can’t count the number of times
your dad and I have looked
at one another and asked
where did this kid come
from? You on the beach
chasing birds, in your
oversized army coat
and crazy Smokey
the Bear bandana
this was the year
you started the
trend all day
everyday
bandana!
even as-
leep

Micah's giant band-aid

2009-06-14T18:20:00.000-07:00

One of my biggest pet peeves is that the kids help themselves to band aids. I keep them stored in one of the drawers in my bathroom and the kids (especially Micah & Lainie) help themselves whenever they have the most minor scrape or even bump. It's annoying because they leave the empty wrappers in the drawer and when it comes time for an actual NEEDED band-aid there is never one to be found. AND I have to dig through all the empty wrappers to find out there isn't a band-aid.

This afternoon Micah had an altercation with a motorcycle driving Isaiah and ended up with a minor scrape. He promptly headed to the bathroom and must have found a sea of empty wrappers, because this is what he came out wearing. As he called it a GIANT band-aid. He was a bit perplexed by my fit of laughter.

Baby Love LO

2009-06-09T14:44:00.000-07:00

I think this may be one of my favorite LO's I've ever done. It was just in my head and had to come out :)

All Papers and Elements:
Squeeze by Creashens (catscrap.com and twolittlepixels.com)

Journaling
What a sweet baby you were. Only crying if something was wrong ~ hungry, wet, etc. You were snuggly to hold and you loved to be cuddled.to hold and you loved to be cuddled. You especially loved music and wanted to be sung too all the time. You hummed and sang yourself to sleep in your crib from the time you started making sounds. Your siblings were you greatest entertainment and you loved to have them around. You would laugh and talk to them. Your disposition was just happy all the time. You woke up smiling and snuggly and you spent the day happy. You slept through the night at 6 weeks and kept it up. I think if I could guarantee that all my babies came out just like you I would have 100 of them. I pray that we don’t have to pay for it in the teenage years. You’ve always been so agreeable, happy, joyfilled and loving that I hate to think of it changing as a teenager and we get paid back I Thank the Lord for you daily. You see you came along in a time of my life filled with great sadness. I had just lost my very special little brother and my heart had a gaping hole. You helped fill that hole and helped me see the joys in life again. Your smile healed a lot my son. For that I know you are a Gift straight from the Lord. Micah T ~ I love you more than words can ever express. I don’t want you to feel any expectations that you have to always be happy tp feel love from your mom. I’ll always love you no matter what the future holds. You are special just because that ‘s how God knit you together. The Joy in your life comes from him.

Uno Mas

2009-06-05T01:47:00.000-07:00

Paper
Pure by creashens (catscrap.com & twolittlepixels.com)
Sprung by creashens (catscrap.com & twolittlepixels.com)

Frame
Sprung by creashens (catscrap.com & twolittlepixels.com)

Masks
Masks no 1 by creashens (catscrap.com & twolittlepixels.com)

Journaling:
Wild Thing, you make my heart sing. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more joy filled child. You are almost ALWAYS happy. You wake up smiling and snuggly. You are always singing or humming to yourself. You get along well with your friends ~ no fights over toys. You love your siblings although if you do get angry with them you can turn quick ~ Isaiah is typically the spatula that turns you. You have been a delight since birth my sweet, sweet boy ~ you truly do make my heart sing, I love the one on one time we spend together because you are just so animated. You talk and talk and ask question after question after question after question, till I’m exhausted and I tell you mom needs a break can we just be quiet for a minute and you say “sure mom” and sit holding my hand. You tell me I’m beautiful probably more times than I’ve ever heart. You are the delight of my heart.

Newest LO's

2009-06-04T18:58:00.000-07:00

Here are two new layouts using Shen's fabulous designs:

Paper:
Lifelines 1 by Creashens (catscrap.com & twolittlepixels.com)

Glitter Swirls:
Sprung by Creashens (catscrap.com & twolittlepixels.com)

Tag:
pillowtalk by Creashens (catscrap.com & twolittlepixels.com)

Journaling
What makes me happiest . . . is watching you interact with our children. They are so blessed to have a dad like you. Someone so hands on and involved in all the little details. A dad that rolls around on the ground wrestling and then does homework. A dad that never shied away from diaper duty or wiping butt duty, one that gently brushes tangled hair and explores the bamboo forest. you bless me.

Papers:
Pure by Creashens (catscrap.com & twolittlepixels.com)
Sprung by Creashens (catscrap.com & twolittlepixels.com)

All other elements
Sprung by Creashens (catscrap.com & twolittlepixels.com)

Journaling:
4th grade
proved to
be your
favorite
year
yet.
Mrs.
Buckner
was kind
and gentle.
She had
you excited
about
learning
and loving
the whole
process

She lost her first tooth!

2009-06-04T14:12:00.000-07:00

I heard screaming in the other room and then running down the hall to find me. Turns out they were screams of joy because the tooth Lainie's been working on for a week finally came out :)

Here's the gappy smile:

I hit the jackpot!!!!

2009-06-02T13:50:00.000-07:00

Well not the cash jackpot . . . but a scrapping jackpot.

In the digital scrapbooking world (for all you non-scrappers out there) they have something called creative teams (i've talked about them a bit before). It's where a designer assembles a creative team of highly talented scrapbookers to scrapbook with her products and promote her products in exchange for free use of said product. When I first learned about CT's I applied to quite a few and landed them. Unfortunately I quickly learned that there are quite a few designers out there that don't mesh with my style and aren't products that I would necessarily choose to work with. So I learned to be picky in applying, because my time is important and it wasn't enjoyable to scrap with stuff I didn't love.

The problem in getting picky is that there are probably less than 8 desginers i truly LOVE, unfortunately those are designers that are also LOVED by MANY. Which means I face stiff competition to get on those teams. I've applied to a few of those this year only to receive rejection after rejection :(

About a week ago I noticed that one of my VERY favorite designers put out a GUEST call (Where you get to join the team but only for a month). If you look through my gallery you'll notice that I use at least one of her products on just about all my pages. I decided to send in my info and at least give it a try. I was chatting with Ev when I got a reply email. I saw the subject line and thought ~ brace yourself for another rejection. I opened it up and Lo & Behold ~ it was an invitation to join the team . . . not just as a guest but as a PERMANENT member!!!

HAPPY DANCE!

So now I am happily creating for Creashens (you can see the announcement on her blog). She sells at Catscrap.com and twolittlepixels.com

Here are two of her newest kits ~ GORGEOUS and such a pleasure to play with. I'll be posting a layout soon.

Lifelines 01:
Sprung:

Thanks guys for reading my excited ramblings ~ I am seriously stoked to be creating with this team of women . . . you should see the layouts they're producing!

The NEW kitchen!!!

2009-04-16T10:43:00.000-07:00

Ok, it's done. Seriously, it's done. EVERYTHING!!! We've been functional in the kitchen for a few weeks now but they had lots of little things to do. Fix the threash hold, fix a drawer, touch up paint, etc. Well they finished the last little bit yesterday and now it's done!!!

I'm honestly not trying to brag or anything but it's stunning!!! I walk in and I'm still in awe, I feel like I live in a magazine. This has truly been a blessing and I've loved the people that have gotten us to this point. It's been a stressful process but overall a positive experience.

We were going to have a party to show everyone but it's just not in the cards. So here's the big reveal :)

We're ALMOST there!!!!

2009-03-23T21:03:00.000-07:00

Sorry, I still do not have permission to post pictures but I do want to give an update. We are inches from the finish line!!! The painting was completed last week which was the last major construction thing we needed done. Ev installed most of the appliances this weekend (thanks to Dan & Ang for helping with the heavy lifting) and is installing the dishwasher as we speak ~ the last one to go in. Can I just say how much I love that my husband can do handy things like that. All that's left is minor details here and there. Even though we have appliances we can't cook yet because we have no pots, pans, knives, etc. We have to wait for the smoke cleaning people to return all that on Thursday. So if all goes according to plan we should have a home cooked meal on FRIDAY!!!

I can't wait to cook on my new range. It's dual fuel so I have a gas cooktop. I have NEVER had a gas cooktop. Never in married life, never growing up, NEVER. I can't wait for instant heat and instant shut off. I feel so pro :) Since I can't post with out pictures here's what the backyard looked like while they were painting! They stretched out two huge ladders over buckets and laid all the doors on the ladders ~ then sprayed. We now have 30 doors and 11 drawers. A major upgrade from the 3 drawers we had in the old kitchen. Now we can actually have a junk drawer :)

Bob Loblaw

2009-03-11T16:03:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite shows of all time is Arrested Development. That show was just plain hilarious. At one point in the show they needed an attorney and hired Bob Loblaw. You have to say that name out loud to get the full effect. Cracks me up. Here's the link, watch to the end.

Bliss LO

2009-03-03T23:01:00.000-08:00

Paper:
Kraft ~ Oh Dear kit by Creashens (catscrap.com)
Blue Flowered ~ Wishes & Dreams kit by Vinnie Pearce & Kitty Chen (catscrap.com)
Dark Blue ~ Monoblendz Paperie by Anna Aspnes (designerdigitals.com)

Stitching:
Seasons kit by Agnes Lahur (littledreamerdesigns.com)

Flowers:
Safari Street kit by Vinnie Pearce (catscrap.com)

Masks:
Fotoblendz 11 by Anna Aspnes (designerdigitals.com)
Textured foto masks by Anna Aspnes (designerdigitals.com)

Journaling:
This is my absolute favorite picture of you and me, Lainie Boo. You sitting in my lap, totally still and content watching the waves lap the beach. Your chubby little tummy and adorable ponytails. Me with Micah growing in my belly. Pressing a kiss to your preciously little head. That day was absolute bliss. We had no idea of how life was about to change. You would no longer be the baby of the family for much longer with the arrival of baby number four. But for that day it was blissful to just hold you and delight in the feel of you pressed into my lap. You are so dear to me my precious girl and I treasure moments like these.

What a blessing

2009-02-27T12:05:00.000-08:00

I still don't have any pictures today but I did want to post a little thought. I was reminded during my prayer/study time today how blessed our life is. We had a fire that could have destroyed but was caught early and stayed small (a blessing), Even though the fire was small, we had to rebuild and now (almost) have a beautiful dream kitchen (a blessing). The process has been pleasant ~ our builder & project manager have been FABULOUS to work with. All of the contractors that have come into our home have been wonderful. (A blessing) Ev and I have gotten along really well through all the decisioning and we're still together :) This minor/major project has been a reminder in how good God is. I need to count my blessings more than focus on negative.

I have a peaceful, loving marriage.
I have safe, healthy children.
I have a home.
Ev has a job.
We make enough money.
I have people that love me immensely and without judgment.
I am blessed.

The kitchen cabinets are in!!!

2009-02-26T15:47:00.000-08:00

And they are GORGEOUS!! I love the appliance garage, the crown molding on the top, and the soft close drawers. Even when you try to slam the drawers they WON'T!!!! I've had so much playing with those. It looks like we have another week and a half to two weeks left so we are in the home stretch. We still have to do tile on the floor and backsplash (2-3 days), countertops (1 day), paint the cabinets & walls (3-4 days), finish electrical (1 day) and trim everything out. So we are in the home stretch, baby!

I would love to post pictures of what the kitchen looks like now, but by special request of my husband I can not. We are going to have a kitchen party once it's done with all of our friends and family and Ev really wants everyone to be surprised by the finished project. For those of you that are far away or can't make it here, once the kitchen is done and it's been revealed (oooohhh, ahhhhhh) I'll post pictures :)

I will post a picture of the cabinets as they brought them in for assembly . . .

Riding Shotgun

2009-02-24T09:18:00.001-08:00

Paper:
Just a hint 2 paper pack by Lynn Grieveson (designerdigitals.com)

Brushes:
Sloppy Alpha Brushes by Katie Pertiet (designerdigitals.com)
Dripped Stains 5 by Anna Aspnes (designerdigitals.com)

Mask:
Fotoblendz 11 by Anna Aspnes (designerdigitals.com)

Font:
2 peas sandbox

Border:
Doodle Frames and Masks by Jenna Desai (the-lilypad.com)

Journaling:
You love riding on the back of dad’s bike. You love your
specialized helmet with the little monkeys on it, and I love how it matches your eyes. You laugh and laugh when Daddy makes the bike hop. You just love bike rides.

Quick update

2009-02-23T16:36:00.000-08:00

Well as of late last week we had walls and a ceiling again! Last Wednesday we had the drywall installed and then Thursday they textured the walls & ceiling. It looks like a real room again. Today is the last day that this room will be this empty ~ got word this morning that the cabinets are coming TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!! I'M BEYOND WORDS EXCITED!!!! Can you tell???

In prep for the new cabinets (including a new bank of cabinets in the dining area) we ripped out the railing that divides the family room from the kitchen area. It looks SOOOOO different.

Alorah Layout

2009-02-16T10:45:00.000-08:00

Papers
Vinnie Pearce ~ Romance me kit (Red) Safari Street (white) CATSCRAP.COM

Flowers
Vinnie Pearce & Kitty Chen ~ wishes and dreams kit CATSCRAP.COM

Stitches
Julia Makotinsky ~ Happy Kit LITTLEDREAMERDESIGNS.COM
Scarletheels ~ She's so sophisticated kit CATSCRAP.COM
Jen WIlson ~ Canada Eh

Staples
Anna Aspnes ~ Mama kit DESIGNERDIGITALS.COM

Frame
Creashens ~ Afternoon Cha kit CATSCRAP.COM

Background
Vinnie Pearce ~ Romance me kit CATSCRAP.COM

A kitchen update

2009-02-13T16:45:00.000-08:00

Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I've been too busy living life to blog about it :)

Here's a bit about where we are on the kitchen. We made all of our decisions and I picked out everything I wanted in a kitchen with no ideas on what the pricing was. When the pricing finally came back from Matt our builder ~ it was a little high (chuckle, chuckle no it was ah . . . way out of the budget.) So we had to make some modifications! I sacrificed a few things (the granite I REALLY wanted) we made a few adjustments and tweaks and picked out some new materials. That process took a bit. But all the decisions were made and I'm THRILLED with all our choices.

This week a lot of progress was made.

Ev tore out the old linoleum flooring to make way for our new tile:

Before he could tear it out we let the kids have a marker party on the floor:

Ev tore it out this past weekend 1/7 & 1/8
Then they came in this week Mon - Wed and redid the electrical. They put in the recessed lighting (one of the things I was praying would fit in the budget ~ and it DID!) and rewired & positioned all the switches and brought everything up to code. The inspector came on Wed and all was well!

My new switches are GFI (don't know what that means) and have cool lights on them :)

Recessed lighting and the ceiling all ripped out:

The whole kitchen is sealed off with plastic and then zippers at all the doors so we can zip it open when there's no construction and then they can zip it closed while they're working. We were getting sick of the plastic look so the kids and I took a whole afternoon to die cut snowflakes and decorate one of the sheets of plastic:

We continued on with the marker party and decorated another doorway :)

the A-1 asbestos guys chipped in when we weren't looking and left us a smiley!

With the open ceiling and no walls it got pretty cold in the house. They just came out today and put in insulation ~ it's much warmer now! I'll post those pics later.

Goofy Girl LO

2009-02-11T07:16:00.001-08:00

Paper:
Creashens Rewind kit (catscrap.com)
Anna Aspnes ~ weathered neutrals (designer digitals.com)

Stitches:
Natalie Braxton ~ ice cream sundae toppers (the-lilypad.com)
Jackie Eckles ~ Quirky Stitches V1 (littledreamerdesigns.com)

Flowers
Vinnie Pearce ~ purple phase (catscrap.com)

Leaves
Vinnie Pearce ~ my pet elephant (catscrap.com)

Buttons:
Vinnie Pearce ~ pieces of me kit (catscrap.com)

Alpha
Vinnie Pearce ~ purple phase (catscrap.com)

Journaling:
What a goofball you are. Always joking, always giggling your goofy giggle. All who meet you fall in love with you. You just capture hearts with the way you are. I love you my angel girl, goofy and all

New LO ~ Sweet

2009-01-08T11:26:00.001-08:00

Here's the latest:

Everything from the-lilypad.com
Almost everything from BYOC Jan

Papers:
Checks & Dots Paper Pack by Jenna Desai
Just some Papers Pack by Kasia Designs

Embellishments:
Stitched scraps ~ Anne DeJong

Alpha:
Sock Hop Alpha ~ Cd Muckosky

Swirls:
Wax Werx ~ CD Muckosky

Flowers:
Paper Daisies by Kaye Winiecki

RicRac:
Celebrate the Everyday kit by Emily Merritt & Natalie Braxton

Journaling:
What a wonderful day
this was. I was trying to enter t
he CK Hall of Fame and I needed
some amazing pictures
what better subjects than you.
You were playful and totally
got into the shoot.
I loved every moment
of working with
you guys and it did
turn out that I got
some amazing pictures,
even though I didn’t end
up submitting that year

The kitchen scoop

2009-01-06T16:30:00.000-08:00

Well a lot's changed since that initial kitchen photo. We first thought we wouldn't even put in a claim as we have a pretty high deductible. Our insurance broker recommended a collegue (sp?) of his that specializes in fire construction come over and give us his thoughts before we made our decisions. Matt from Regional Builders came over the next day at 8pm after a long day in court (not his court case but as an expert witness) He impressed us right away and had some really good recommendations. Basically whatt it all boiled down to was that nothing could be patched ~ we had to replace flooring, tile and cabinets. Add into that aspestos & smoke cleaning and a call to our insurance was a no brainer.

We still had a working oven and decided that we would still like to have a partial kitchen for Christmas morning so we held off on the demo. The smoke cleaning went ahead as planned before the holidays and yesterday (1/5/09) the demo started. A-1 remediation came out today and finished the demo ~ taking the kitchen down to the studs in some areas. It's barren in there. I was able to post some before & during pictures. I will keep you updated throughout this process. We still have some big decisions to make and hopefully no strife will occur between myself and Ev because we're such opinionated people :)

Gotta say one of the things I'm happiest about so far is how pleasant all of the contractors have been ~ i haven't had to deal with a typical rude, brash contractor attitude. Everyone has been great! Can you tell I didn't have pleasant contractor experiences during our house flip???

BEFORE DEMO
AFTER DEMO
BEFORE DEMO
AFTER DEMO

Micah's dressing himself

2008-12-21T21:12:00.001-08:00

Well actually he's been dressing himself for quite a while now, but occassionaly he just can't get it right. He came in so frustrated the other day and "Needed Help Mom, NOW!" I just had to giggle and before I could fix him up I had to tacke a picture and giggle.

The latest adventure

2008-12-03T13:15:00.000-08:00

So the latest thing to happen was a kitchen fire. I put on a teapot for tea and went outside to play with Micah for a few. without going into all the details because I don't feel like typing it all out :) The house was filled with smoke and there were flames in the kitchen. The smoke was too thick that after a minute of trying I had to go out and call the fire department.

We spent six hours last night cleaning. There was a layer of soot on EVERYTHING and the whole house reeks of smoke ~ Giving me a headache. So these are the pictures after we scrubbed it. The tile is burned, the cupboards are burned and the floor is burned. Then the walls & cabinets above are blackened from smoke and bubbled.

It could have been A LOT, A LOT worse, but it was still very scary to experience.

Petals LO

2008-11-26T00:11:00.000-08:00

I know another LO, I need to do an update on the family soon! It's coming I promise. Lot's of stories to share :)

Papers
Weather Neutrals by Anna Aspnes (designerdigitals.com)
Captured with love by Kasia Designs (catscrap.com)

Paint circles:
Amber Clegg (scrapartist.com)

Stitches
Amy's Stitches by Syrin (catscrap.com)

Flowers
Accessorized Paper Flowers by Leora Sanford (littledreamerdesigns.com)

Alpha
Grocery Bag alpha by Leora Sanford (littledreamerdesigns.com)

Font
ck serendipity

Journaling:
You love picking me flowers. All things nature you adore. My world is filled with the beautiful gifts you present to me and I wouldn’t change that for the world. Keep on letting me see the world through your eyes. You help me stop and smell the roses.

My girl LO

2008-11-18T16:53:00.001-08:00

Here's another one. I've got to submit my application by the 25th so I'm trying to fill up my gallery with all the pages that have been in my head. So here is another one :)

All paper & embellishments:
Shabby Crib kit by Vinnie Pearce (catscrap.com)
Alpha:
White Alpha by Scarletheels (catscrap.com)

Journaling:
Oh how you loved your Lainie Boo when she joined our family. You called her “Waina” and wanted to hold your “Waina” all the time. We used to have to lock the door to our room when she was sleeping in the cradle in there. Because you would go and try to open the door, if you got it open you would just go and grab her out of the cradle. We found you once dragging her down the hallway and you were so proud of yourself. When Waina got older and was sleeping in her crib in the same room with you, we often had to intervene after bedtime. You would go get in her crib and jump around playing with her. We would hear these huge belly laughs coming from both of you in that room. You’ve adored your sister from the moment she came home. I hope it never changes.

Eldest LO

2008-11-15T00:22:00.000-08:00

I've been scrapping like made in attempt to make it on my dream creative team. Here's my latest one.

Stitching
Essential Stitches1 by Syrin (catscrap.com)

Frame
Afternoon Cha By Creashens (catscrap.com)

Papers:
Explore Solids by Catrine (catscrap.com)
As I am kit by Creashens (catscrap.com)
Astrid collaboration kit (catscrap.com)

Overlay:
Tatered 2 by Lynn Marie (catscrap.com)

Alpha
In the news Alpha by Scarletheels (catscrap.com)

FOnt:
Danette

Journaling
It’s
tough
to be the
oldest in the
family. To have
to be more reposible
For your parents to have
high, high expectations of
you. You’re almost like a
practice child, we’re llearning
along with you as we’ve never done this before either. It’s tough to have younger siblings bothering you and always getting into your things. It’s tough, we know it is.But you rise to the challenge, you are kind & compassionate with your siblings. you
give Mom & Dad grace when we make
mistakes. You are reliable and
resposible. You rise to the
expectations put upon you
you excel in your school
work and don’t complain
We are so proud of the
young lady you have
become and the
effort you put
out. You are
a more than a
blessing
to us and
we love
you.

I've been scrapping like made in attempt to make it on my dream creative team. Here's my latest one.

2008-11-12T21:16:00.000-08:00

I am pathetic especially considering the friend that I got this link from can type 87 wpm. Seriously ~ did I ever got to typing class??

36 words

Typingtest

How fast are you?

Siblings LO

2008-11-11T09:33:00.000-08:00

Papers;
Afternoon Cha kit by Creashens (catscrap.com)
Natural harmonies 2 by Creashens (catscrap.com)

Overlay
Tattered Overlays 2 by Lynn Marie (catscrap.com)

Green Stamps:
Bye Bye Birdie kit by Creashens (catscrap.com)

Red flourish:
Bye Bye Birdie kit by Creashens (catscrap.com)

Red branch:
Bye Bye Birdie kit by Creashens (catscrap.com)

Frame:
As I am kit by Creashens (catscrap.com)

Title Alpha:
Bye Bye Birdie kit by Creashens (catscrap.com)

Font:
CK Renaissance

Photo:
Jen Stewart Photography

Journaling:
Sure there’s the ocassional bickering and arguing . . . some days it doesn’t feel occasioanl. But overall you love each other and look out for one another. You take the time to stop and examine your brother when he says something hurts. You just care. It’s important to love each other because you’ll have one another forever. Siblings are a gift from God.

Summer Dreamin LO

2008-11-09T23:36:00.001-08:00

This is probably one of my favorite Layouts I've ever made. I just love it!!!

Papers:
Afternoon Cha by Creashens (catscrap.com)

Brushes:
Stamped Block no2 by Katie Pertiet (DesignerDigitals.com)
Snap Shot frames by Rhonna Farrer (twopeasinabucket.com)

Fonts:
One Fell Swoop
CK magnificent

Photo by Jen Stewart Photography

Journaling
This is my favorite picture of the summer. It just says carefree to me. The little bit of dirt on you barefeet with your white flowing skirt. Only in childhood can you truly be this
carefree. Times are quickly changing my girl. You are entering fifth grade and it seems like a lot of changes have come about. It makes me wonder how many more prefect carefree summers you have ahead of you. It makes me want to keep you little my girl. But the changes are coming.

Lainie singing

2008-11-07T17:49:00.000-08:00

Lainie Boo learned Jesus Loves me with hand motions at school. It's too cute so I had to record it. My favorite part is when she sings "Little Ones to him Below"

One of a kind LO

2008-11-03T21:49:00.000-08:00

I haven't scrapped just for fun in a LONG time. I've been doing lots of designing for other people and still have a lot to do . . . but I just wanted to play and get my hands dirty tonight. SO here you go. I used another picture from Jen's photoshoot a while back.

Papers, frame, stitched flowers, buttons from Afternoon Cha kit by Creashens (www.catscrap.com)
Border stitch by Syrin (www.catscrap.com)
Alpha is Dusty Blue Chipboard alpha by Katie Pertiet (www.designerdigitals.com)

Journaling :
My little doll, how much joy you bring to so many people
You have that goofy smile and quirky sense of humor.
People fall in love with you instantly - you just capture their hearts.
I love to watch you interact and I smile at your goofy jokes.
you have so much to offer this world and I’m so thankful
for how God made you

2008-10-30T14:58:00.000-07:00

A WHILE back I spent an evening at the river with my BFF, and her children. The Bell Family.
She wanted to get some photos of the littles (who are not so little anymore) for her hubby's birthday. So we headed out to the river for some shots. Here are a few of my favorites and then there's a slide show to see the rest. It's very poor quality and IRL the pictures are quite nice ~ not blurry like the slideshow :)

My Zaiah boy

2008-10-16T00:06:00.000-07:00

SEVEN years ago today this little dude came on the scene and changed our lives forever. HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY my big guy. I love you so VERY much. Thanks for rockin' my world and I thank God for you so many times a day . . . more than I can count.

My current favorite song

2008-10-14T20:35:00.000-07:00

My favorite song changes frequently but this is my current fave. "You Picked Me" by A fine Frenzy. They're saying it's going to be on the Twilight soundtrack ~ which is another of my favorites (the book at least)

New LO

2008-10-13T08:55:00.000-07:00

Alphabet:
Slim & Trimmed Alpha by Birgit Kerr
Brushes:
A La Mode Brushes by Mary Ann Wise (designerdigitals.com)
On the Edge Flourishes3 by Katie Pertiet (Designerdigitals.com)
Swirly Doodles By Meredith Fenwick
Frame:
Photo Edges by Something Blue Studios
Paper:
Believing in you kit by Weeds & Wildflowers (scrapartist.com)

Journaling
Nothing says summer like an ice cold, sweet, dripping & melting popsicle. You ran sissy’s jogathon with her this year and you were rewarded by Mrs. Marques with what you called a popsipickle. You savored each and every bite. Most of it ended up in your tummy but the rest was on your face.

A simple LO

2008-10-02T17:29:00.000-07:00

Here's a simple Layout I used to teach Christian some tricks in photoshop:

Point Reyes Camping 2008

2008-09-22T22:17:00.000-07:00

Well we finished up another fabulous camping trip with Mammy & Grumps in Point Reyes, CA.
The kids had so much fun and I swear they were smiling and happy the whole time. Ev & I both felt like we were free to completely enjoy them and had so much fun doing so. This was the first year in our 7 year tradition that no one needed naps. It was so nice and I was able to really enjoy their ages. Whereas in the past it hasn't been as much fun with a baby :) The kids picked up some neat new tricks from Grumps their favorite being the Mariachi impression he did of our Mexican camping neighbors from last year. Really quite hysterical, If I had a Mic I'd capture it for you all to hear. I caught Micah singing "Yo no Tengo tu Amore"

We arrived on Wednesday after an early start (10 am) and set up camp. While Ev, Mammy & Grumps were setting up the site I was on kid patrol. The campsite was fairly deserted and they got to ride their bikes all around and go to the playground on their own. Then we discovered ripened blackberries on the bushes that ran behind our site and down to the little stream. The kids picked and ate, and then picked an ate. They were purple by the time camp was set up. We just chilled out for the rest of the day and had dinner, s'mores, etc.

Before the camping trip I was very thankful that Micah had not potty trained because I would rather change diapers then troop up to the bathroom a million times a day. Micah on the other hand had different ideas and went the entire day with out a single accident. He quickly acclimated to peeing in the bushes and continued to do so all through out the trip. He's been in big boy underwear since we got back.

Thursday we woke up and get everyone dressed and packed up lunches for a trip to Muir Woods (a new addition to our trip). It was so beautiful and peaceful there among the redwoods ~ almost made me want to hug a tree! They had this AWESOME treasure hunt that guides you through the paths and makes you read the signs to find letters to a clue. The treasure hunt book would tell you to take 30 paces and find a tree with a cave then read the sign and find on the third line, fourth word, third letter. Then you write down the letter. It was so informative and enjoyable as we hunted. At the end of the path you have to use your clue to find a hidden treasure box. The kids LOVED it and I highly recommend it to all families!

Friday we went and got oysters & clams and then hit the Beach (Limantour?) but it was beautiful. We ran and tried to beat the waves and Micah in particular laughed & laughed as he ran with Grumps. Then we headed back to the site where Ev & Grumps shucked oysters for eating raw & grilling and Mammy steamed clams in this AMAZING beer concoction. We had a fan-tabulous dinner and then showered & relaxed for the rest of the night telling stories around the campfire.

Saturday we went wine tasting (which was pretty fab too) and then headed off to drakes beach where the kids played in the sand, built sand castle, climbed on rocks and overall had a great time. We topped it off with Hot Chocolate in the cafe and then headed back to camp for our last night. I was coming down with a cold and wasn't feeling the hottest. We had S'mores and relaxed by the campfire. We had some pretty crummy neighbors that pulled in that night and built this HUGE bonfire that was killing the trees in their site. The only thing good about those neighbors was the guitar. He played and sang beautifully ~ in fact he sang the song in my slideshow at the end of the post and it really made Ev & I want to learn the guitar.

Sunday Ev woke up feeling crummy and we were pretty grumpy and ready to head home. The three of them packed up camp while I played with the kids at the campground. It took forever to take down our Taj MaHal of a tent which is ginormous! And then we headed home to unload and do tons of laundry.

Here's a slideshow of our adventures!

Can you spot the kitty?

2008-09-21T16:33:00.000-07:00

The other day the kids were packing for our camping trip and gathered up all their webkinz on the couch. Tiny (our kitty) climbed into the pile and made herself a spot. She is really a character and fits in with our family perfectly. She has the Siamese smarts (she plays tag with the kids) without any of the siamese snootieness. (I know ~ it's not a word.)

What Lainie did the other night!

2008-09-11T21:52:00.000-07:00

We were getting the kids ready for bed after their baths the other night when I heard Lainie whimpering in the bathroom, then full blown crying. I wandered in and found that she had twirled a comb in her hair all the way up to the scalp. I tried getting it out for a few minutes but it was so tangled and knotted that I decided we probably needed to just cut it out. Ev, usually the voice of reason and with a whole lot more patience for this stuff than I usually have, worked on it for a while and was finally able to free the comb. I came to my senses and took a picture about halfway through him working on it. It was MUCH worse in the beginning :)

My First OOB

2008-09-05T21:28:00.000-07:00

I am SOOOOO Excited! This is my first attempt at an OOB (out of box extraction in Photoshop) and I think it turned out AMAZING!

Paper
Explore Solids Kit by Catrine (catscraps.com)
Weathered Neutrals kit by Anna Aspnes (designerdigitals.com)

Stitches
As I am kit by Creashens (catscrap.com)
Saffron Villa kit by Anna Aspnes (designerdigitals.com)

Frame
BUtterfly kisses by Rhonna Farrer (twopeasinabucket.com)

Ribbon
Odaddy collaboration (catscrap.com)

Flowers
Beth Kit by Lynn Grieveson (designerdigitals.com)

Buttons
Nanyang by Lynn Grieveson (designerdigitals.com)
French Summer kit by Lynn Grieveson (designerdigitals.com)
Nelly kit by Lauren Reid (littledreamerdesigns.com)

Lace
Lacey Days by Kate Teague (twopeasinabucket.com)

Font
CK love note

Journaling
I love the way Mrs. Stewart captured your interactions on this day. You love one a nother and you are always your best playmates.

Killer Video

2008-09-05T16:00:00.000-07:00

Tash is loving Vampire Weekend too and tipped me off to their video on you tube. LOVE IT!

911 call

2008-09-03T12:36:00.000-07:00

I know, I know it's staged. But it still cracks me up :) Both Mammy and Ev sent me this today ~ gotta share it!

Chicken Fights and New Music (For real this time)

2008-09-03T10:01:00.000-07:00

My sister and her 3 girls were in town a few weeks back. One of the days they were here we went over to Mom & Dads with them and Chicken Fights quickly began. I have 4 brothers. It started out with the twins as the "horses" and then Tom got a "rider" and then Tev hopped in with a rider too. The cousins always have a great time together. Between my sisters, Aunts & cousins all the kids have someone close in age to play with.

Tahlie going down ~ of course Jordan won!
The victory dance:
Taur & Tom with Alorah & Zaiah ~ not sure who won this battle.

And then there were THREE horses & Riders

Eventually there were 4 horses and riders involved. I think Jordan still took them all :)

Lasly I know I posted a week or so ago that I had new music up on the blog but for some reason it wouldn't all upload. So I just spent awhile and got it all uploaded. One of my favorite groups that I just discovered is "Vampire Weekend" (Micah digs them too) Check them out on the right ~ their songs are 03. A-Punk and 11. The kids don't stand a chance. You should listen to them all though ~ all my current favs are in there :)

Lainie's First Day LO

2008-08-30T20:02:00.001-07:00

I've been scrapping up a storm lately. So last night I took the pictures of Lainie's first day of school and combined it with the poem I found on digishoptalk.com to make her a page of her first day of school.

Paper:
Sock Monster Finds 2nd set of solids girls by Jen Wilson (JenWilsonDesigns.com)
Frames:
Stacked Photo Clusters by Katie Pertiet (www.designerdigitals.com)
Flowers:
Happy kit by Julia Makotinsky (littledreamerdesigns.com)

Journaling:
I Trust You'll Treat Her Well
Author: Victor Buono

Dear World:
I bequeath to you today one little girl...in a crispy dress...with two brown eyes...and a happy laugh that ripples all day long.. and a flash of light brown hair that bounces in the sun when she runs.
I trust you'll treat her well.

She's slipping out of the backyard of my heart this morning...and skipping off down the street to her first day of school. And never again will she be completely mine.
Prim and proud she'll wave her young and independent hand this morning and say "Goodbye" and walk with little lady steps to the schoolhouse.

Now she'll learn to stand in lines...and wait by the alphabet for her name to be called. She'll learn to tune her ears for the sounds of school-bells...and deadlines...and she'll learn to giggle...and gossip...and look at the ceiling in a disinterested way when the little boy 'cross the aisle sticks out his tongue at her. And now she'll learn to be jealous. And now she'll learn how it is to feel hurt inside. And now she'll learn how not to cry.

No longer will she have time to sit on the front porch on a summer day and watch an ant scurry across the crack in the sidewalk. Nor will she have time to pop out of bed with the dawn and kiss lilac blooms in the morning dew. No, now she'll worry about those important things...like grades and which dress to wear and whose best friends is whose. And the magic of books and learning will replace the magic of her blocks and dolls. And now she'll find new heroes.

For five full years now I've been her sage and Santa Claus and pal and playmate and mother and friend. Now she'll learn to share her worship with her teachers ...which is only right. But no longer will I be the smartest woman in the whole world. Today when that school bell rings for the first time...she'll learn what it means to be a member of the group...with all its privileges and its disadvantages too.

She'll learn in time that proper young ladies do not laugh out loud...or kiss dogs...or keep frogs in pickle jars in bedrooms...or even watch ants scurry across cracks in sidewalks in the summer.
Today she'll learn for the first time that all who smile at her are not her friends. And I'll stand on the front porch and watch her start out on the long, lonely journey to becoming a woman.
So, world, I bequeath to you today one little girl...in a crispy dress...with two brown eyes...and a flash of light brown hair that bounces in the sunlight when she runs.

I trust you'll treat her well.

"Our life" scrapbook album

2008-08-28T21:20:00.000-07:00

THIS IS AMAZING!!! I am so going to "scraplift" this idea!!!
She made a scrapbook out of a LIFE game board. You could absolutely find one of these at a thrift store or garage sale. Hmmm . . . I'm going to make a mini album for the school charity auction. Maybe I should make this . . . I think it would get some bids . . . I'd bid on it anyway :)

Here are the instructions to make it.

Sisters LO

2008-08-26T23:32:00.001-07:00

Paper
Sakura Spring kit by Annie Manning ~ Paint the moon designs (Oscraps.com)

stitches
Essential Stitches 1 by Syrin (catscrap.com)

Ribbon
Ultimate Flat Pack by cinnamon designs (cinnamon-designs.com)

Font
CK DOuble Mou

Frame:
Stacked Photo CLusters #2 by Katie Pertiet (designerdigitals.com)

title alpha:
scratchy alpha by cinnamon designs (cinnamon-designs.com)

Photos:
by Jen Stewart Photography

Journaling
She is your mirror, shining back at you with a world of possibilities. She is your witness, who
sees you at your worst and
best, and loves you anyway. She is your partner in crime, your midnight companion, someone who knows when you are smiling, even in the dark. She is your teacher, your defense attorney, your personal press agent, even your shrink. Some days, she's the reason you wish you were an only child. - Barbara Alpert

Unbelievable LO

2008-08-23T00:26:00.000-07:00

Paper
These Little Moments kit by Lisa Sisneros (littledreamerdesigns.com)

Stitching
Essential stitches 1 by Syrin (catscrap.com)
Stitches shapes by Syrin (catscrap.com)

Title
Crackled Alpha by Aja Abney (scrapartist.com)

Flowers
Beth Kit by Cori Gammon (designerdigitals.com)

Paint
Messy Paint Smear by Michelle Martin (scrapartist.com)

Staple:
RAD collection by Kim CHristensen

Journaling:
Do you know how amazing you are.
Truely?
Do you know how your inner beauty shines through in everything you do?

New Year of school , New Glasses and new music

2008-08-22T18:08:00.000-07:00

In anticipation of school starting we always go through all the exams. The kids see the doctor for their physicals, they see the dentist for a cleaning and they do their annual eye exam in the weeks before school starts. This year Alorah was complaining about headaches when she reads so I made sure to mention that to Uncle Terry (Our optometrist ~ a very close friend of Ev's dad's). Uncle Terry said Alorah had a TAD bit of far sightedness, so small that he said we could either choose to get glasses or see if it corrects itself. Since I've been hearing the headache complaint for quite awhile I decided we should do the glasses and see if that helps, because she would only complain when she was reading a book for a longer period of time. The glasses have helped her and she is thrilled with them. She picked these pink frames that I just think are adorable on her!

As you read in the post below, Wednesday was the first day of school. We always get new shoes for school and a new outfit, and then the morning of, we take pictures out by the post in the front yard. Apparently the tree out front grew by leaps and bounds this year because the morning of ~ the tree blacked out all the kids and the pictures turned out horrible. So I made Ev climb up and pull down the branch so it didn't block the kids faces. He moaned and complained about it but did it, so now the kids are all squinting into the sun :) I really need to learn more about metering . . . JEN???

Here's Isaiah all spiffy and shiny in his new clothes, shoes & bookbag (more on those later)
Here's Isaiah's first friend that he ran into from last year, T.
Alorah all pretty in her new dress, shoes & spiderweb hairdo.
Seeing one of her best friends first thing that morning.
The 5th grade girls (quite a few of them)

Oh and as for the new music, I posted some new songs over on the right ~ for those of you that groove to my tunes. For those of you that don't . . . too bad for you :)

My Baby Girls First Day of Kindergarten

2008-08-20T19:34:00.000-07:00

Today was my baby girls first day of kindergarten. I thought it would be a very sad day but I was fine. I didn't cry as we took her to classroom. I didn't cry when I left her sitting at her desk as she waved goodbye and gave her daddy a thumbs up sign. I didn't cry as I pulled away from school. I was fine all day and even laughed as I picked her up from school. I asked her if she loved kindergarten and she replied "not really". Then she changed her mind and filled us in on her day. I did great today until I read this poem. Then the reality sunk in that she was no longer mine, that I was now sharing her with the world, and I sobbed.

I Trust You'll Treat Her Well
Author: Victor Buono

Dear World:
I bequeath to you today one little girl...in a crispy dress...with two brown eyes...and a happy laugh that ripples all day long.. and a flash of light brown hair that bounces in the sun when she runs.
I trust you'll treat her well.

She's slipping out of the backyard of my heart this morning...and skipping off down the street to her first day of school. And never again will she be completely mine.
Prim and proud she'll wave her young and independent hand this morning and say "Goodbye" and walk with little lady steps to the schoolhouse.

Now she'll learn to stand in lines...and wait by the alphabet for her name to be called. She'll learn to tune her ears for the sounds of school-bells...and deadlines...and she'll learn to giggle...and gossip...and look at the ceiling in a disinterested way when the little boy 'cross the aisle sticks out his tongue at her. And now she'll learn to be jealous. And now she'll learn how it is to feel hurt inside. And now she'll learn how not to cry.

No longer will she have time to sit on the front porch on a summer day and watch an ant scurry across the crack in the sidewalk. Nor will she have time to pop out of bed with the dawn and kiss lilac blooms in the morning dew. No, now she'll worry about those important things...like grades and which dress to wear and whose best friends is whose. And the magic of books and learning will replace the magic of her blocks and dolls. And now she'll find new heroes.

For five full years now I've been her sage and Santa Claus and pal and playmate and mother and friend. Now she'll learn to share her worship with her teachers ...which is only right. But no longer will I be the smartest woman in the whole world. Today when that school bell rings for the first time...she'll learn what it means to be a member of the group...with all its privileges and its disadvantages too.

She'll learn in time that proper young ladies do not laugh out loud...or kiss dogs...or keep frogs in pickle jars in bedrooms...or even watch ants scurry across cracks in sidewalks in the summer.
Today she'll learn for the first time that all who smile at her are not her friends. And I'll stand on the front porch and watch her start out on the long, lonely journey to becoming a woman.
So, world, I bequeath to you today one little girl...in a crispy dress...with two brown eyes...and a flash of light brown hair that bounces in the sunlight when she runs.

I trust you'll treat her well.

All about US album

2008-08-12T08:41:00.000-07:00

I've gotten a few requests for info on my All About US album that you can see here on Jen's blog. Some of you want the questions from the album. You set up the album with two sets of the questions, the page on the left "His" and the page on the right "Hers". The questions were inspired by Lisa Bearnson and a CKC album she did a few years back. Just copy and paste if you want to use them :)

PAGE TITLE: Vital Statistics

Full name:

Date of birth:

Place of birth:

Current occupation:

Height:

Hair Color:

Eye Color:

Secret birthmark/mole:

Shoe size:

Favorite color:

PAGE TITLE: Let’s Get Personal

Cutest nickname:

Random act of kindness:

Favorite inside joke:

Ticklish spot:

Words I love to hear:

Quirks:

Hidden talents:

Bad habits:

Pet Peeves:

Best feature:

PAGE TITLE: LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT

The Details:

What I really thought:

PAGE TITLE: Playtime

Best party ever:

Favorite plaything:

Favorite play place:

Most expensive toy:

Favorite funny face to make (see picture):

Favorite play clothes:

Favorite dumb joke:

Favorite board game:

Sport I’m best at:

Sport I’m worst at:

PAGE TITLE: WE ARE IN THE MOOD FOR FOOD

Favorite late night munchie

Favorite fast food

Favorite ethnic food:

Most romantic restaurant:

Mom’s best recipe:

Favorite guilty pleasure:

Favorite food on a stick:

Yummiest candy bar:

Favorite cereal:

Worst Restaurant:

Strangest food ritual:

Favorite Drive thru:

Food that reminds me of me:

Food that reminds me of you:

PAGE TITLE: World Records

Longest time one of us kept the other waiting:

Most expensive traffic ticket:

Longest time apart:

Longest day:

Shortest night:

Scariest close call:

Most embarrassing moment:

Best apology:

PAGE TITLE: Stranded on a deserted Island

Book I’d miss the most:

Food and drink I’d crave:

Cd I’d hate living without:

Friend I’d want to talk to:

Hygiene product I’d miss:

Who I’d want to save us:

What I’d like best about it:

What I’d like least about it:

Tool I’d need most often:

Magazine I’d want:

What I’d be most afraid of:

How long would I be stranded:

What would get on my nerves:

What I’d do when I first got home:

PAGE TITLE: Favorites

Favorite holiday:

Favorite book(s):

Favorite Tv show:

Favorite movie(s):

Favorite song(s):

Favorite website:

Favorite thing I ever made:

My favorite thing to do when it’s quiet:

Favorite weather:

Favorite car:

PAGE TITLE: Little known Facts

Jobs I’ve had:

What I always wanted to be when I grew up:

One thing I’ll never throw away:

Something I wish I could throw away:

My most treasured personal possession:

Something that triggers a memory:

Something I’m embarrassed to admit I like:

My favorite thing about my spouse:

My dream vacation:

PAGE TITLE: Stepping out

My idea of a perfect evening:

Couple we enjoy doubling with:

Favorite “stepping out” attire:

My idea of a classy place:

My idea of a real dump:

My favorite public display of affection:

I’m never too tired to:

My favorite way to start the evening:

My favorite way to end the night:

My idea of staying out late:

2008-08-07T23:41:00.000-07:00

I use a program called ACDSee 10 Photo manager to organize my 47 gigs of digital scrapbooking supplies. This program is amazing. I allows mt to place tags on each piece of my kits ~ brads, paper, stitches, frames, etc. Then rather than weeding through 47 gigs to find a purple brad or a staple. I just click staple and they all come up. Amazing program, but it takes quite a bit of time to create your system and then file all your product into that system. I THINK i'm done!

All of it tagged :) Now there's no excuse not to scrap!

My New Baby

2008-08-06T19:36:00.000-07:00

I just upgraded my Canon XTI camera to a more advanced SLR ~ the Canon 40D with more features that I am ABSOLUTELY in love with. I sold off my XTI and a few accessories on Craigslist so this baby was almost FREE! The camera strap that I also LOOOOOOVE, was one of my anniversary presents from my darling husband.

Invitation to the Tea

2008-08-05T17:48:00.001-07:00

At our school we have a tea for the mothers and the teacher before school starts. It's a time to meet the other moms and review Mrs. O's expectations for the year. This year as the room mom I am hosting the tea. Here is the invite I just sent out. Pretty Happy with how it turned out.

Car Wash, at the Car Wash Baby . . . (yes, I'm singing)

2008-08-03T11:00:00.001-07:00

Last weekend we spent some time scrubbing down Ev's truck which was FILTHY! Everyone got into the task, especially since it was a paying job and they're all saving up for a webkinz. I helped too, but because I'm always behind the camera, you just can't see me :)

Not so little anymore

2008-07-29T22:13:00.001-07:00

My computer sat idle for a few minutes today as I did laundry. I looked up and saw the screensaver of all my different pictures flashing by and happened to be captivated by this picture:
It's not one of my best pictures ever, but I was captivated by the subject. I hadn't seen that face in a long time. THe one with the super chubby cheeks, and slightly chunky body covered in baby fat chubs. the one who dressed herself that morning in wildly mismatched clothes. This girl is gone forever and I didn't even get to say goodbye.

Look at her here and study her face, it still has a hint of baby too it.

And here you can see just how little she is with the roundness of just leaving babyhood

Sadly I know exactly when, what the date was, when she left behind her childlike body and chubby cheeks to transform into a long lean body of a young lady entering kindergarten.
Alaina was VERY, VERY ill for a week straight and on May 24th 2008 I saw the drastic changes in her face. She lost all her baby fat that week and came out totally changed. THe roundness is gone and she's ready to move onto this next stage.

I was also struck today by looking through all these pictures of how many more pictures I should be taking. At least one a day right. I am after all the family historian :)

Are you a font Fanatic????

2008-07-24T13:25:00.000-07:00

Then this should crack you up! I got it from Cathy Z's blog.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Blankie Boy LO

2008-07-22T01:00:00.000-07:00

Fonts:
Texas Hero Font
Tempus Sands

Brushes:
Snapshot frame kit by Rhonna Farrer (2peas)
Sweet Pea Bonus by Rhonna Farrer (2peas)

Mask:
Border Edge Die Cuts by Katie Pertiet (designerdigitals.com)

Paper:
Mono Blendz Paperie by Anna Aspnes (designerdigitals.com)

Journaling:
You call your blanket “silky” and silky is your best friend in the whole wide world. In my mind I can hear that little giggle you have when I find silky after a massive, house wide hunt, cuz Lord only knows where you take that silky. If we leave silky somewhere like church, we have to go back there and find someone to unlock the classroom, because you CAN NOT sleep without your silky. You hate when you have to be parted from silky, so he can take a bath. But man you love to be wrapped up in silky when he comes out of the dryer. Silky is your constant companion and brings you more comfort than even your mom.

Ev's first triathlon

2008-07-21T05:51:00.000-07:00

So it turns out after talking to both Mammy (Ev's mom) and Ev, that they're both a little offended that I haven't blogged Ev's first triathlon. Ev never reads my blog so I didn't think he'd care. In fact he'd much rather that I didn't even have a blog. So I was a little surprised that he had a problem with it . . . and how did he know it hadn't been blogged??? Maybe he's secretly reading the blog???

Mammy was offended (I know you weren't really Mammy, you were just joking) because they were her pictures. I forgot my camera on race day so I relied totally on Mammy's pictures. She jokingly asked if they weren't good enough to make the blog. SO NOT TRUE. I've just been Blog lazy lately. So here they are folks . . . the triathlon pictures from Ev's first triathlon six weeks ago. I am so proud of all the training and hard work he put in to this event. It took a lot of dedication and he did a great job.

Here's the stud muffin before the event. The order of the tri is swim, bike, run. So he had this wet suit on to swim in the lake. I thought it looked like something batman would use to swim in. The night before the event he was packing all his stuff and prepping his bike for the race, and I was assisting him. Out of nowhere he busts out with "Where is my supersuit?", "Woman, get me my supersuit!" Those of you that have seen the Incredibles, should be giggling about now :)

Ev on the banks of the lake waiting for them to call his age group into the water:
Ev in the water:
Here he is coming out of the lake after what was the hardest leg of the race for him. He practically learned to swim just for this event . . .

In the transition area getting ready for the biking leg of the race:
After the bike he was heading out for the run, I couldn't believe he had a smile on his face!

Isaiah stood at the entrance to the finish line and high fived all the racers coming in. They all kindly took the two seconds and high fived him, which he was pretty happy about.

Ev coming into the finish.
After the race, coming over to say hi!