Leafy Love

eta: This weekend only! There is an adorable digital kit that is FREE in honor of ScrapStreet's elephant crop going on right now. Stop on by, read up, say hello!
http://scrapstreet.blogspot.com/2008/11/crop-weekend.html

Despite a day of rain, Matthew's stomach flu and Doug's injured leg, we finally did get our leaves pictures! I only took 83 photos (aren't you proud? lol) and they aren't that great, to be honest. I caught a couple... and yes, we blew the leaves, didn't even touch a rake yesterday!

The last two are funny: look at Matt's jump in the right side of the second-to-last and the last photo is McKenna "helping" Daddy - looks like she's ready to attack!

in case you didn't see them...

in a gallery near you. I'm tickled to have been chosen as Back Porch Memories' Guest Designer for November - and now I can reveal what I've done with their amazing November kit! I was absolutely scared to death to use this WRMK (in fact, I even turned it down as a kit choice with TTT), but as it turned out, I adored this kit!! It was fun to use such cute stuff!

Scraproom Overhaul part 3!

Onto the table we go!!! Scary, isn't it? I don't even know what's ON this table... let alone how long that deco scissor drawer's been open, lol!

By the way, I found out my camera was on the sport feature, that's why my photos have been coming out so wacky...

By the end of the day, I had the tabletop completely cleaned off and ready to use... and I did! That small stackable drawer unit:
used to have:

• punches
• deco scissors
• scrapbooking markers - the really old kind

now it has!

• rubons
• scrapbooking markers - the new kind
• Sharpies

There is a large 3-drawer in white (not pictured) that once had:

• handmade theme swaps (not kidding!!!)
• baggies in the middle
• random handbags in the bottom.

Now it has!

• alphas in the top,
• chipboard in the 2nd and
• wooden alterables in the bottom.

Will show ya that pic later.

See? I scrapped in my own scraproom!

Scraproom Overhaul begins...

That last post was getting a little long. So here is what I've accomplished in the last 24 hours.

Ahhh... success!! Well, at least success under the table, not on top, yet! This is pre-vacuuming, but I'm so proud! OOhh... See that brown cardboard box? That's my secret santa box for my ScrapStreet secret sister! No peeking!

Oops... guess I left a little mess of a pile on my computer desk... I'm on it!

Scraproom Overhaul!!

It's time!! (Ugh, yeah, again...) I've had it with my scraproom and scrapcrap!! Time to clean, purge, reorganize and start anew.


I've contacted my local scrapbooking Yahoo group and I found a Kindergarten teacher and a girl scout troop that will accept donations from me! It's actually motivating me more knowing this stuff will go to a good cause. Look: before pictures! These start from the left side of the room and circle around to the right... YIKES!

My bookshelves... kinda where all the house stuff lands.

I once was pretty organized... see all those little shoebox totes? All labeled and organized. I wish I hadn't gone with plastic, but since it's already bought, I'll probably continue with these totes...

See the gray tub in this picture? Yesterday and today, this is what I tackled first - go look at the photo in my next post to see what I got out of it!
Those Priority boxes are themed and the crate all the way in the back right corner under the table is scraps indexed by color. Hear me rolling my eyes? Seriously... why keep THAT many scraps? Recycle, here I come!

Oh, Dear. This is the wall that scares me... Again with the frightening plastic, but there is a nice 40-tier tower tucked in there somewhere.This is just junk! I see a box that was packed when we thought we were moving... a year ago! And oh, how my letters are screaming for some organization!! Not the letters nicely filed in tackle boxes, the sets that are in my kids' primary-colored stacking baskets... cripes!Ok, so this shelf doesn't look TOO bad. From back here. That's gymnastics references to the left. OOPS... maybe I lied about not looking too bad. Next to the pile on the left is another horizontal pile... you caught me. Finished layouts from at least 2 years ago that need homes. *blush*
Then I see some cardstock in Verticals... Smurfs in the hanging basket. :D Oops - blurry! This is "dh's" desk... Top shelf full of albums. Most unfinished - I see a POLICE album still in the box, never touched. I see a pregancy album for Matthew. The dark blue, I think, is the police album I DID start for dh. The white might be my scrapbook for our trip to London. In 1991. Spiral? Who knows...
Oh! below that shelf... the purple is pregnancy with McKenna, one of Matthew's 2nd year (I think) album and ... gosh, what IS that beige colored one? This is the cubby and cabinet below those shelves. The white is my unfinished wedding scrapbook. The photo album is college-aged pics, from 11 years ago-ish. Oh! There is one shelf for dh's police reference books and under that... ?

To the right of that desk, shelves and cubbies, a file cabinet. This is the junk on top of it.

Old albums that really need to be scrapped Creative Memories-style... One day, in my spare time.

thanks.

I know I didn't say much except behind some closed doors, but Doug had knee surgery on Wednesday. After waiting around all day the simple arthrscopy stayed simple. Thank God. It appears that we have some answers after he rehabbed and p.t.'d after weeks and one pain just wasn't going away. The surgery was justified after all - doc saw torn cartilidge and repaired right then. He said other than a bruised ACL, Doug's knee is "beautiful", including the miniscus tear, which is now healed. Long day. Boring day. Simple day. Doug's feeling it today, I have him on round-the-clock meds, which he hates, but it's just imperative. Should be off crutches and mobile by Saturday.

Matthew's going to Georgia with my parents this weekend, so say prayers, k? It's the first time I've let him go longer than a sleepover, and certainly the first time on a plane without me. I know he travels well and he is just over the moon about seeing his cousin, his "favorite person in the whole wide world." What a guy!

We also have our first competition of the season on Saturday, something I feel completely unprepared for, but it's happening anyway. I'm guessing it'll be a rough meet, but one that will jump start us and give us feedback for the rest of the season.

That's it. Quick recap. Hoping no more major disasters before the New Year. I really need a New Year. =)

lk

did ya hear?

There's a new card in town!
http://minicards.blogspot.com/

October begins...

...with Doug in p.t. and possibly just 6 weeks to go.

Matthew finally adjusting in school. He and his teacher have a behavior calendar and he's been in the "green" for two weeks now. We practiced a fire drill (as per his homework and to relieve some of his fire fears); he was scared but brave.

McKenna still not sleeping through the night but the 4th molar is in. Walking, running and climbing as usual.

I'm still running around like a chicken but it's getting easier. I have my weekend choreographing I've been doing and that's a nice active outing. I've also walked every nice day after I drop Matthew at the bus.

Only gotten a little scrapping done, with TTT's October Fancy Pants kit, but I have 2 kits from ScrapStreet ready to go, too. Just lookin' for the time. :)

My parents are home from Nicaragua, safe and sound. They had a very tiring but endlessly joyful medical and missions trip. My aunt could again, however, use some prayers.

Off to apple & pumpkin picking today with my mom, hopefully avoiding the rain!

Vintage Moon is kicking my ass!

Seriously! I can't put it down = good. But I can't pick anything else up = bad! I can't seem to get excited about anything else I have ready to scrap with, I only have eyes for Vintage Moon. *sigh* Tried to pick up pink and purple, my fav girlie colors for a girlie layout and... nada! The only problem with Vintage Moon? I've run out of it. :( Here's what I did for TTT and for me:

healing is the process

Yes, we're home and healing in all ways. Simplifying life, I guess you could say. I've been so busy taking care of the rest of the family, I've forgotten to take time out for myself... to take time out for Jesus. I did that today, spent most of service in tears and made a new friend who began a friendship by offering a tissue. Love that. Listen to CENTER in my playlist. HE was talking to me today. I'm blessed in so many ways.



If ya have a spare moment, say a prayer for my parents who are down on a medical missions trip in Nicaragua. All I know right now is that they've arrived safely and have begun the first of 9 18-hour days. They'll be sharing the Message tonight with some who have never even seen a church. How amazing that they may know Jesus by nightfall.



After putting the Bible down, I find myself in scrap therapy. Have done a few sketches lately and have been asked to be a feature sketch artist, which is really fun. I'll share more on that when I can. Here's one of the latest, a Pink Sketch. It just makes me happy.

Toby, 3

I can't thank you, my online friends and family, enough for your love and support. However, all the hopes and prayers in the world couldn't have kept Toby with us. His anemia level had dropped another 2 points and if he was a walking amazement at the levels 10 and 8, he was a walking miracle at 6. All this was highly indicative of a bone marrow defiency, most likey cancer. He just wouldn't give up - couldn't, I guess. Such a stubborn, strong-willed pup, living on meds and for us, I guess.

We got him thru his 3rd birthday Saturday, which he enjoyed throroughly even tho it rained all day. He got a special treat of ice cream and Milkbones, and you'da thunk he'd struck gold. Eventually, he ditched the Milkbones and dove straight into the cup of ice cream.

Sunday was absolutely beautiful and sunny and peaceful and he spent most of the day outside, laying in one or two of his favorite sunny spots.

He had breakfast of bacon and dog bits and later passed peacefully at the vet.

Telling Matthew was not as hard as we had thought. He's still asking question after question and is sad every once in a while, but it passes quick as it comes.
It's quiet around here now, the healing process set to begin.

Thanks, again. I couldn't have, and will not, get through these times without friends like you.

LK

I sure could use some good news.

Updates:

Doug is the same. Mom & I have almost talked him into a 2nd opinion @ the hosp for special surgery in NY. We just don't really trust his (dad's) ortho and would like to hear about it from someone else. He'll have another MRI scheduled in a few weeks to determine if surgery is needed.

McKenna - all results from bloodwork came back perfect except for a "questionable" but "nothing to worry about" value under Lime. Anyone know anything about it? I'm going to call in to the doc to ask more ques. This "questionable" value was 41. That's all I know. Her ortho appt is Wednesday, both 2-year recheck of her hips from her baby dysplasia and for him to look over this injury, the two apparently unrelated. She's limping a lot less, mostly in pain only at night.

Toby, the dog - things don't look good. His hematocrit (sp) levels came back today very low, both indicative that he's not producing new red blood cells/platelets and that this is most likely bone marrow cancer. After his significant dive in health last weekend, he got better but has planed since. He's just so not himself. Doc is giving him till Tues., another 5 days on this course of meds and vitamins to see if his anemia #s come up. If they do, we'll keep going. If they don't, he recommends euthanizing. Nothing looks promising. His 3rd birthday is tomorrow, the 6th. He's on antibiotics (3 pills), prednizone (6 pills), iron supplement (3 tsp/day) and vitamins (3/day).

Life is going on, but I sure could use some good news.
Got this quote today via email:

September 05, 2008
Quote of the Day
"I have always believed that whatever good or bad fortune may come our way we can always give it meaning and transform it into something of value."
– Hermann Hesse

School, Kindergarten and Buses, oh my!

So we survived the 1st day of school & the 1st bus ride... but just barely.

The morning went great - breakfast, dress, even a little Wii before school. Doug's parents and my mom and neighbor came down to the buststop and we got cute ordinary pics and Matthew went on no problems, hesitations or anything! He loves his driver, Mr. Fisher. A friend who was dropping her kids off to school said she saw Matthew get off the bus and walk in all macho and with a huge smile to his new big school. What a relief!

Although 2 gf's and I have some reservations about this new K teacher, today (day 2) seemed to go better. Still comparing notes and stories and deciding where to take it.

While Doug, McKenna, nighbor and my dad waited yesterday after school, the bus home was a diff story... apparently they had a substitute bus driver for the way home and she had no idea where she was going! Not only was she 25 minutes late, but she tried to drop Matthew off in the next development over. He came off that bus sobbing! I felt so bad! Called school and bus garage and made sure it wouldn't happen again, and today was perfectly smooth. Met his afternoon bus driver and she is very nice. Just a very few minutes late and she was smiling and talking and called Matthew by name. Whew!

Oh, and I'm a soccer mom!! Matthew absolutely loved soccer last night. The first thing he asked me this morning was if he had soccer today! Although the league is still reorganzing - he's now on Team Venezuela and his first game is the 13th. Would you believe the phone just rang and it was his new coach?! Funny! Anyway, he's SO cute all dressed and was really diggin' the soccer stuff! What a man!

We have Toby's appointment in about 45 minutes. They'll redraw blood and we'll find out if this treatment is working. I'll keep y'all posted.

Did I mention that 1/2 of McKenna's bloodwork came back and all is perfect. That's not lime and things like that, but so far, so good. She's even been limping less, so I go back to state that I really think it's an injury - either knee or pulled muscle in calf or thigh... let's hope!

at the 99th hour...

and Toby is still with us. He's such a fighter, such a dog with a stong will and soul. He's up, if I dare say, a bit more today... still smiling and wagging when he has the strength. And sometimes when he doesn't. I'm scared to say I even think some of his color is coming back. He has now successfully surpassed the 72 hours they gave him. The emergency vet's heart and chance combined with our home vet's will and opportunity have kept him with us longer than we expected just days ago. I now find myself between the predicaments of uber-worry and a hint of hope. It hurts to hope, for I'm afraid losing him in hope would be harder than losing him in time of despair. Our next milestone will be keeping him close to us until 2:20 Thursday afternoon when our vet will tell us if this treatment is working. Lucky for him, we don't mind completely and totally spoiling him with love, hope, hugs and table scraps.

No less important, of course, Doug is wobbling around, finding new love in fantasy football and McKenna, our dear sweet McKenna's limping and pain seem to becoming fewer and futher between. We're still awaiting her blood test results and her peds ortho appt will be next week. Not to be outdone, Matthew starts Kindergarten and soccer tomorrow and has his own very quiet apprension. He's such a strong kid for us.

I cannot thank all of you, my friends and family and church prayer committee for your kind comments, wishes, virtual hugs, actual angelic offers and, most of all, prayer. We live and breath on prayer, and now, my family, Toby included, does, too. If ya wouldn't mind a few more days of it, would sure could use it.

Thanks again my friends. Please, if there is anything I can do for you...

when it rains, it pours.

...seems that phrase has been going on around here for, say... a month now? This is in case you're wondering, or might find yourself wondering. An update on my house:

You may know by now that my husband, Doug, broke his leg playing weekend softball at a charity event - out of work for at least 6 weeks. Just found out from his MRI that after that he'll probably need surgery for a torn miniscus - another 6-8 weeks. We're looking at his return to work as sometime in December, all this now his own sick time.

We came home from camping early bc Mom & I spent the day in the e.r. with McKenna, who developed a weird limp overnight. We came home to go to peds, to go for bloodwork; we're waiting on those results (of course, over a holiday wknd), and she has a peds ortho appt next week as well (remember her hip problem as a little baby?) We just can't narrow down what this is, but Motrin works. Even today, she's needed three doses of Motrin just to get her to walk comfortably. No idea what this is or even where the pain is coming from, other than her right leg, calf/knee/thigh area. Could be anything from an infection in the joint, lime, recurring hip problem, or just a sprain or muscle strain. Let's just hope for the latter.

On top of that, I had to take Toby (our Boxer dog) to the vet yest because he's had a tiny bit of a personality change - eating habits, activity, pale in his mouth. Between our vet and the emergency vet, they gave him 12-72 hours left to live. Shock. He's not even 3 and he's so severly anemic, they don't know if they can keep up. They recommended blood transfusions and hospitalizations, which we wouldn't have hesitated had Doug not been out of work. Without overtime and him being able to work with the plumbing business, and me having trouble getting to work bc Doug's home and can't care after the 2yo, we just can't afford all that. It's killing us that we can't do everything we need to for Toby. They're treating him aggresively with antibiotics, prednizone and an injected steroid, as they used to treat anemic dogs before they could do transfusions. His #s are so low, tho, they're not even sure the transfusions would work. He's now survived 24 hours since diagnosis, I'll keep you updated.

I'm just mentally, emotionally and physically exhausted. Wondering how much more I can take. Trying to relieve stress by walking and being outside as much as possible, but I really want my life, my healthy family and my sanity back. It could be a long rest of the year. Prayers welcomed. and needed.

lk

Welcome, August!

Can you believe it? August already! July was jammed-packed with busy, busy fun, so I'm hoping to slow down a bit for August. After all, with August's end comes Kindergarten... waaaaah!! So not ready and setting up a support group for the day... ;)


Along with Aug 1 comes the TTT dt kit layouts reveal! i was thrilled and honored to work with Chatterbox Botanico with MME 29th Street. Also had lots of Maya Road stuff and even a little American Crafts. Yes, all this in 1 kit! Check some of our stuff out!


Go here and click on my name or scroll up to TTT monthly kits. There are 3 kits every month, didja know? Aaahh... I'm so loving this job!

Did ya see the mag this month? Holy moly, that and so many more good things to come {like a whole box full!!! ;) } I haven't done this in a while, but I wanted to show you my favorite layout from the Aug mag. Jorinde van Dongen so impressed me!


Be Original by Jorinde van Dongen. Digital Supplies: Background paper: AC Bleser, Circles, Postage stamps, Butterfly, Glitter swirls: Sue Cummings, Template: Tidyflowers by Melanie Colosimo, Other elements: Acryldenkerwolke kit by Jule.

Don't forget to check out the ScrapStreet digi blog daily! I've been having so much fun not only posting on Wednesdays, but also reading everyone else's post! There is seriously something informative or inspirational EVERY day! Check it out!

whew! what a week!

We spent just a wonderful month with my 7 year-old nephew and, just this week, 8 lovely days with my brother, SIL & older nephew. Older Nephew will stay a few more days just to get some fun time in with us. :) We are exhausted and spent a lot of time in the sun... got picture to prove it: 260 + 127 + 17 +287 + 411 + about 200 = 1302 pictures on the month!! Holy wow! Good thing I don't scrap every living picture I take, huh?


*Back to work now, have about 4 weeks left of summer hours.

*Might join the cast of Pippin around here community theatre.

*Been having a great time (in my "spare" time) working on kit projects for my TTT August Kit - Chatterbox Botanico and MME 29th Street Market - plus LOTS of other goodies. See here for details.

*Wednesday is fun around here: My ScrapStreet.blogspot.com Digi Dashboard post goes up, as does some more work @ the TTT board!

*Looking forward to a little bit slower summer from this point!

fun, fun, fun - sleep or crop?

Fun at Scrapbook Nook! Just in case you're in need of some more inspiration from the Nook, GO NOW! lol... I already have one in and want to do (1... 2... 3...) all the more!! Go have a looksee - you can play once or alllllllll weekend long, baby. :)

How about some sleep? Or lack thereof? Come on down to ScrapStreet for the (not-at-CHA-and-we're-trying-not-to-be-bitter) SNS SLEEPOVER!!

33 random facts about me

...for my happy day, and I challenge you to do the same!
Off the top of my head, no rhyme or reason:

1. my hair is my natural color.
2. my eyes are blue.
3. i am 5 foot, 3/4 of an inch; and yes, that 3/4 really matters.
4. i wear flip flops and rarely anything else in warm weather.
5. i wear skechers boots and rarely anything else in cool weather.
6. i own at least 10 pairs of sneakers.
7. that i wear to work & i'm usually color-coordinated.
8. i wear contacts.
9. and glasses when no one else can see me.
10. i wear my husband's plumber shirts or softball t-shirts to bed.
11. i use crest.
12. and an oral-b rotating tooth brush thingy.
13. i went to at least 9 schools from pre- to high school.
14. i was born in alabama.
15. some things should be kept secret.
16. i love my ipod!
17. this one should be a secret, too.
18. i listen to literally all music. all.
19. ok, last secret.
20. i have to chew equally on both sides of my mouth.
21. i have to eat anything colored, equally. watching me eat m&ms or skittles is a hoot.
22. i love my job.
23. Wall-E is my new favorite movie ever. (ok, ending with 10 scrapbooking facts:)
24. i adore anything fancy pants and cosmo cricket.
25. my flowers are in a huge bj's pretzel plastic jar. i outgrew my nicely altered formula can.
26. my scraproom is in complete disarray. what? it's on the to-do list.
27. i don't own any die-cut machine. at all. none.
28. most of the time, you just see paper and photo on my pages. and usu an alpha.
29. i use good ol' scotch double-sided. ya know, the yellow label.
30. i avoid ribbon.
31. i'm a very messy scrapbooker.
32. i don't scrap chronological, but i pack them chronological (in my 3-rings).
33. even tho i scrap practical, in real life, i'm anything but.

exciting week ahead!

I'll be a bit scarce this week - it's going to be a doozy!
eta: there is good news, too - read to the end!

We start vacation bible week tomorrow - theme is Game Day Central and it should be a blast! I'm a little nervous about being a small group leader, but I get to work with 3rd graders which I'm totally buzzed about! I can't wait for the latter part of the week when the kids are asked to give their heart to Jesus. I'm going to try to save the tears till Thursday!

I also go back to work tomorrow, too. Really looking forward to (1) summer workouts and (2) working during the day! The girls are already prepared so it should be a great summer just creating and fixing and perfecting. Plus, I should start choreographing this weekend! First floor music up is a for a talented kid and it's almost belly dancing music - it rocks! We have to say good bye - NO! "See ya later" to one of our nicest and hardest working kids as she travels to Rhode Island for a year with her miliary family; we'll miss her, but we know she'll work hard and return to us strong and Kennett ready! Love you DG!

So with VBC in the morning, work in the afternoon, and family time in the evening, this week will be tough but fun and quick! Looking forward to next week when I should get my morning online time back and maybe even fit in a birthday celebration. ;)

If ya need me, you know where to find me! I'm only an email away!

eta!!! I'm totally stoked to accept a dt position at TransparentTouches.com! You know I've been a fan for a lonnnnnnnnng time and I'm honored and excited, even through today's complete exhaustion! More to come!

someone's excited!

Happy 4th of July to all my U.S. friends!!
Little McKenna actually hid from the fireworks on the 3rd, but she seems pretty excited for tonight's. I know this is silly, but she's just so funny!

Ok, to listen, you'll have to turn off my music. I can't figure out how to do it on Playlist, so go all the way down to the bottom of this blog and the Playlist is the 1st thing in the center bottom footnote.

top 25 so far ~

...and I'm so honored! MyScrapbookNook has chosen me in a multitude of talent, as one of the top 25 finalists for their new dt. I'm both proud and honored and giddy at the thought! I'm okay with whatever happens next. Whether I'm chosen for the next few steps, or need some more room to grow, this was a nice pat on the back. Look, I only apply to forums that I think I would be a good fit or match - I don't just apply to apply for supply, kwim? So to make it a little further on a board that I grew to love so quickly is a nice affirmation. And the talent there! WOW!

So will ya wish me luck for whatever happens next? Thanks!

started, finished...

How much fun! I started this with a sketch from ScrapStreet's Birthday SNS and finished it with a Nook challenge - it just makes me smile.

I'm also bringing this to AMM - super wonderful hugs to Michelle & her daughter. I hope there are many, many, many more happy and healing days to come!

Layout details:

Pocketful of Sunshine by Lindsey Krauss.

Supplies:

Paper: SEI

Flowers: AC Plastic

Brads, Metal letters: MM

Glitter: Crayola

Metal Clips: ?

Chipboard letters: Scenic Route, Basic Grey

Pen: SharpiesSketch: Jenn Hennegen