half-tied ribbons

stick me with a fork

2007-01-23T08:48:00.000-06:00

I"M DONE with blogger. you can now visit my tech savvy, rockin' pink world of half-tied ribbons at www.halftiedribbons.com

MUCHAS GRACIAS, Jeff! Noble Design is the best web helper in the history of my short-lived experience in cyberspace! thanks for all the hard work. and for looking at pink for so long you probably are ready to...

don't come here anymore but click the above mentioned link to keep up with the latest on this life of mine!

it's been fun, here in blogspot world but i had to move on!

favorite christmas pics

2007-01-04T20:31:00.000-06:00

here's some of my favorite christmas pics from this season. i get spastic when it comes to the holidays and the camera. really, i just get in a big hurry and can't seem to be still long enough for the photo to not be blurry.... anyway, they're our memories, blurry or not. so here goes. next year we should visit grandma doris earlier before i've already taken so many pictures that i'm sick of being behind the camera and don't even bother to get it out. glad i took some good ones while we were there last spring.

i love this one of grandma ellie and lilly. something about the look on elloise's face!

here's mom's 4 grandkids. it was hilarious trying to get a good picture and this one captures the moment pretty well...cousins are grady and riley...

this is lilly with her new walking toy. oh my gosh, i can't believe she is almost walking... almost one year old...sniff, sniff!!!

abby got a big life-size groovy girl for christmas from santa. the thing is seriously bigger than she is...oh, the joys!

my silly girls. my version of "hey, get over there by your sister so i can get both of you in a picture. hey, wait a minute. look at mommy. lilly. abby. lilly. now smile." and here's the result!

2007

2007-01-04T20:23:00.000-06:00

Where did the last week go? We went to Knoxville to visit Mike's Grandma Doris and Arie over the New year and time has flown. It was a great trip thanks to our new DVD player for the Green Monster...Abby spent about 8 out of the 10 hour trip watching movies and Lilly never fussed but got lots of sleep! Our whole routine was, of course, not the same while there. I always feel like I'm in a time warp because we go to bed so late (2 am most nights) and get up so late and have breakfast around 11 am. I can't believe I've been going out there with Mike for 10 years now. We had gotten engaged by our first Christmas together and so I met his family 10 years ago. All his younger cousins have grown up since then, and heck, 2 have been born since then. Kinda cool to think about!

Lilly entertained everyone on our trip. Grandma Doris taught her how to say, "AHHHH!" after a drink from a big cup...everyone spoiled her rotten playing and walking her around. Abby has totally come out of her shell at Grandma's now. She used to have a really hard time answering questions and saying goodnight, etc. but this trip she even told Grandfather Arie "good night" and gave him the biggest hug ever. I'm so proud of my shy one. She had a blast playing with 7 year old cousin David the entire time!

I think this is the first year ever that I haven't sat down and made a list of resolutions...I'm not sure why but it could be the busyness of everything! I hope to enjoy life more in 2007 than ever before, love more, and laugh more...Happy New Year!

merry christmas!

2006-12-24T15:40:00.000-06:00

it seems like a cozy christmas day around here today. we are all feeling better and all went to church this morning. i ran into an old friend eating out and then talked on the phone to her for a while this afternoon. the weather is a little dreary but the temperature a little more crisp. i've been more of a scrooge this year than i'd like to admit, but hopefully that's all melting away. last night i took some time to read about the prophecy of Christ and his birth in the book of luke. i hope to never lose the wonder at it all. if you think about it too long, it's almost unbelieveable, yet we know it's true. we know Truth! it's amazing---- i mean, God is amazing! while my heart is touched by the beauty of God's plan, my home is warmed by my sweet family. mike and abby are making cookies right now while lilly is tucked away for a nap! we're enjoying the treasures in the simple moments of christmas! pause to reflect the real reason for our joy...trust me, it's worth it! and the chaos will be there when you're done!

OH NO!

2006-12-20T15:55:00.000-06:00

just a little update. we've been through the "ick" 3 times now. i've had it twice in one week and now abby has it and was up sick half the night last night. it's never fun when your kids are sick! it did kick me into normal mommy mode and i have felt better today. something psychological when it comes to being mom and taking care of your child, it's like magic. even if you feel awful you can take care of them. and it makes you go into nesting mode all over again, or at least it does me. the bathrooms must be bleached. every shred of dirty laundry done. the pile of dishes in the sick gone. too bad she has to sick to get me motivated to do these things.

i'm doing the countdown til' christmas and making my list (i know, it's a little late) and checking it twice. i hope to get started and done with my shopping tonight. yep, you heard right. i have only bought a few things so far and still need to pick up for a few folks. i'm way behind this year. i'm in need of a christmas miracle, and fast!

lilly is almost walking but gets around really fast on all fours. i'm not sure how she does it sometimes but she's a little houdini. just now i've gotten paper out of her mouth about 3 times. and that only covers about the 15 minutes it took me to make our bed and put away some clothes left in piles. i'm beginning to wonder if it would stunt her development a lot if she just stays in the playpen for the next 6 months or so. she has learned the meaning of "no, lilly" for sure. when told no she just looks at us so cute and starts violently shaking her head no. still sort of a game but she's getting it. soon we'll be onto bigger and better words like, "yes, mommy, i would be glad to do what you asked". dreaming. one can wish, right! good thing she's so darn cute!

high school revisited

2006-12-13T23:23:00.000-06:00

since i'm up doing needless tasks i decided now was the time to go through my old photo albums and here's what i came up with for high school week. thanks, mark! it's so funny seeing how none of the photos are a good shot and none of them are a close up at all. and cruddy photos scan sort of cruddy too.

high school years(and all my years of schooling, for that matter) are full of fond memories for me. for the most part, i've always been pretty naieve to be such a deep thinker. i was an over-acheiver and over-involved, wanting to get the most out of life that was possible, in every club yearbook shot that was taken. i was a goody-2-shoes, a band geek (clarinet), and a general know-it-all. i've tended toward self-righteousness all my life. i always did my homework and worked hard at everything i did. music was a huge part of my life but no rock concerts for me. i could be found practicing piano for hours on end, going to band festivals, and singing with the school and chruch choir. i laughed a lot then, as i still do!

school was a little different for me as my dad worked there and i lived within the school grounds. the school family was like my extended family. it was sorta like cheers. i never did too much that needed hiding, but there was no way possible to hide. everyone knew my name. my family was very close to most of the school teachers , administrators, and other employees.

i graduated in 1995 along with 64 other students, most of whom attended Drew Central for all 13 years like me. i liked the subjects math and chemistry best but my favorite teachers were the english teachers (pictured here with 2 of them on my last day of school)...spanish class was also a riot with mrs. roggenbaugh, although i retain no spanish speaking ability save that which i've recovered by watching episodes of Dora the Explorer.

i dated a couple of guys but no one from my own school and no one for very long at a time. i hated it when a girl was stuck to a guy like glue all day long! i liked my independence.

i remain very close to 2 friends who have been with me since kindergarten, Becca and Carrie! we have so many funny stories and memories!

although the picture looks suspicious, i didn't spend weekend nights on a street corner... did anyone tell me that bright red lipstick was flattering? i was a family girl and spent lots of time at home with my parents and brother. my dad said that "nothing good can happen in the piggly wiggly parking lot" where most (all but me) of the kids hung out on friday and saturday night. now it's the Fred's parking lot and no one hangs out there. somehow i dont' feel like i missed much...i didn't know that drugs existed, let alone who did them. i was sheltered! when i wasn't at home i was at a friend's house hanging out, out with the church youth group, or babysitting to earn some extra cash!

okay, it's way too late now! thanks for strolling down memory lane with me. i'd love to hear from some other bloggers besides jeff, mark, angela, and kt on this subject. oh, what entertainment we have these days!

why

2006-12-13T22:50:00.000-06:00

...is it 11 pm and i'm posting a blog instead of sleeping?

...do i have a pretty long to-do list and i just spent an hour scrapping?

...is the sky blue?

...do little doggies jump on us?

okay, enough of the questioning myself. i didn't feel like i could sleep tonight without a little scrap therapy. so i made the wonder woman and the grandmother page. i must admit i've felt a tad bit frenzied (okay, a lot) and this is what i do when i allow 'frenziness' to begin creeping up on me. i wish it drove me to exercise or to clean out the fridge or rake the yard. and i've never said to myself, "I must fold some laundry before I lose it!" but hey, preserving memories sure beats some other inviting alternatives!

i made the summer page a while back and it's not quite done yet. i'm not sure what it needs but i've been looking at it off and on for about a month and i can't figure it out. the pink cardstock is way more vibrant than the scan lets on. i think it's the funky title that i don't like but i'm too lazy to change right now until i come up with the perfect solution!

happy stuff

2006-12-12T14:11:00.000-06:00

just a little painting break to post about a little bit of stuff. i know the sayings, "the best things in life aren't things!" and all the others like it and i know that's true and believe it but sometimes things do make me smile. like this little assortment of goodies. a friend was cleaning out her mother's sewing machine and thought of me when she came across this stuff. that in and of itself is enough to bring a smile, but when it's some of my favorite things to collect, well, that takes the cake! and it's the best colors and it is from the day when a package of ric-rac costs only 15 cents or 12 on sale. and i'm thinking the vintage crayon box would make a really cool home for a preschool mini album or something...just a little happiness to brighten my day!

on another note, i'm sitting here typing with the air conditioner going full force. you read correctly and it's just not right to be running the ac just 13 days before christmas. unless you're south of the equator, right? just a thought. good thing we didn't pack up the flip flops yet :)

oh yeah, and i'm looking for some old high school photos of me to share with you a little late for high school blog week. should be fun!

priceless

2006-12-03T18:59:00.000-06:00

Ahhhh, feels so good to be home!

we went to canton.
we didn't sell clipboards.
we're glad we went anyway!
we wouldn't want to spend the rest of our lives wishing we had tried this or that!
lessons learned.
hard work done.
gonna have an online store soon!

500 clipboards $600
paint and ribbon $300
booth at canton $150
hotel room $250
gasoline $75
relief felt from breaking even $priceless

This is our booth when we first arrived at around 2 pm on Thursday and it was sleeting. We quickly set up to take it all down in about an hour after we realized there were absolutely no shoppers!

This is me working on our first purchase!

This is my favorite shot of our set-up from across the pavillion! It was too cute!

Our wonderful product!

This is Carolyn working on one that she sold!

so much for being normal

2006-11-27T20:32:00.000-06:00

i have no pictures today. i'm so tired from the clipboard sweatshop that i can barely function. carolyn and i leave on thursday morning bright and early. i'm so ready to get there and have fun. i've painted so many polka dots that i'm seeing spots lately.

mike and i did 'rock,paper,scissors' to decide who would go to walmart and who would bathe the kids tonight. sad, isn't it? i got to stay home and bathe the girls and i think it's what i would have chosen were we a normal couple and did something besides 'rock,paper,scissors' or shooting hoops (to see who has to wash the dishes) or played 'see who can match the most socks' while folding clothes....competitive, you say? nah, we just like to have fun!!!! okay, maybe a little competitive!

so much for being normal at this point!

happy thanksgiving 2006!

2006-11-22T13:39:00.000-06:00

just taking a minute to tell you happy thanksgiving! our family is blessed with so many good friends, a wonderful family, and the opportunity to do things we love on a daily basis, not to mention details of things that mean so much to us. . . God is so good!

is this not the cutest thanksgiving card, like ever? mel really pulled out all the stops (and paper punches) and it's by far one of the most favorite cards i've ever recieved. plus, it's nice to see someone using her talents to touch and encourage others on a regular basis.

grateful, so grateful, for so much!!!!

write here

2006-11-21T14:46:00.000-06:00

here is a quick picture of today's project for me. i decided to start a journal of all the things that abby says (and eventually lilly) that i want to remember. the things that make us laugh so hard, the things that bring a tear to our eyes, and everything in between. it's one of those things that i've been wanting to do and planning to do for a really long time but didn't take the time. well, now i am and have filled up a page and a half in just a week. i love remembering...

as for the details, i just covered the front of a plain ol' cheapo notebook with patterned paper, added the little tag part with the stamped title and written subtitle and then embellished a litte chipboard circle with some Heidi Swapp tape and a flower. gotta be cutesy and girly around here :)

no allowance for us

2006-11-20T22:55:00.000-06:00

this morning i was busy cleaning house and i asked abby to help me. i told her, "hey, mommy needs you to help me pick up and maybe i could give you a little money for your wallet, like an allowance...." with the best donna reed look i could muster up!

abby says, "what's a ta-lowance?"

i say, "it's when your parents give you some money for helping do chores sometimes."

she says, "nah, usually people just give me money!"

she wound up helping for FREE!!!!! what a concept...

on the road again, just can't wait to get...

2006-11-20T11:08:00.000-06:00

It's hustle and bustle around here lately. Carolyn and I found out late last week we got a booth in Canton, TX (the hugest flea market, EVER) for the December Trade Days. WOW!!!! Can you say nuts? They estimate 300,000 or more shoppers per weekend in the months leading up to Christmas. So, we quickly started ordering clipboards to paint, making phone calls for hotel rooms, and getting lists of supplies needed down on paper. Dude, I feel like I'm in a clipboard whirlwind, it's like a tornado around here trying to get everything all tidied up before the clipboards arrive tomorrow.... All this to say, if you want a clipboard within the next couple of weeks, you better get it ordered ASAP!!!! Otherwise, it will be post-Canton before I'm working on my orders again. Post-Canton is December 7 so if you're a last-minute-er like me and that works for you, you're hunky-dorey and ignore this post. If you are more of a planner and like to have all your ducks in a row way in advance, then this post is just for you!!!!

Oh, and here's two more designs I came up with...lots more possibilities so if you haven't seen something you like yet, just tell me and we can make one you like :)

hunting season

2006-11-19T21:39:00.000-06:00

today abby went hunting with mike. they were pretty funny-2 peas in a pod. it takes them quite a while to get out the door but once they do, it's a good time! mike called me about an hour and a half into the trip and said, "listen to this!". it was my baby snoring. he said she slept for quite a while and then just colored and hung out quietly. i can't believe how long she can last being quiet in a deer stand with him but i don't get a moment's silence throughout the day...my sweeet little chatterbox!

ps-they didn't catch any deer...didn't even see any...but that's not what matters. daddy and daughter spending time together, that's what matters!

last one i promise

2006-11-18T15:57:00.001-06:00

i got this email from one of my close friends earlier this week and thought it would make a good blog entry. i know everyone has learned lots of little tidbits but a few more can't hurt, right?

Things you may not have known about me.....

Four jobs I have had in my life:

1. babysitter
2. sandwich deliverer
3. financial aid advisor at university
4. piano teacher

Four Movies I have watched over and over

1. Pooh's Heffalump Adventure
2. Ferris Bueller's Day Off
3. Wizard of Oz
4. Gone with the Wind

Four places I have lived:

1. OBU dorm room-Flippin Perrin
2. Conway, AR
3. Monticello
4. UCA Married Housing

Four TV shows I love to watch:

1. Cosby Show
2.Murphy Brown
3.Grey's Anatomy
4. Dancing with the Stars

Four places I have been on vacation:

1. Destin, FL
2. Alaskan cruise
3. Washington DC
4. Lindsey's Rainbow Resort in Heber Springs, AR

Four of my favorite foods:

1. cheese dip
2. cinnamon toast
3.fried shrimp
4. Sonic's cheddar peppers

Four places I would rather be right now:

1. in my bed asleep
2. at the beach
3. shopping
4. in a new house

Name four of your favorite things to do

1. scrapbook
2. play Hi-Ho Cherry O with Abby
3. go to the movies
4. read a good book

what's more fun....

2006-11-17T23:50:00.000-06:00

than painting clipboards? painting your own shelf for your own room for your own wonderful Littlest Pet Shop collection! it's all the rage in fact!!!!

quality control

2006-11-14T10:50:00.000-06:00

here at half-tied ribbons quality control is of utmost importance. please rest assured that the items you order are hand-crafted by only the best employees...when they take a break from the disney channel to help. most of our hard-working employees wear pj's on the job, eat cherios for breakfast, take a mid-day nap and still need help wiping!

there's nothing like working from home! keep scrolling down to see what she's working on!

new business endeavor!

2006-11-14T09:22:00.000-06:00

Here's my latest business endeavor...I am painting/stamping clipboards for sale. They can be personalized in many different ways...this is just a small sample of what can be done. I can do any team colors and many different sports such as golf, tennis, baseball, basketball, and football (pictured here). There are lots of other design options including polka dots, flowers, stars, stripes. Please note that the back is stamped in the same design as the top part of the front.

Large clipboards- $15 (20 sheets of note-paper included)
Small clipboards- $10 (20 sheets of note-paper included)

Orders can be shipped priority mail for an additional charge ($3.90 and up)

Please call or email me (mkahales@yahoo.com) and let me know if you'd like to place an order or if you have any questions! Orders will be ready for pick-up within 48 hours.
Also, help me spread the word to make this a success...thanks!

How well do you know Kristy?

2006-11-12T21:06:00.000-06:00

once again, i've jumped on the quiz bandwagon. please forgive me....and go take my quiz. come on, now, it's only 5 questions!!!!! family, you're required to do this :)

Take My Quiz on
QuizYourFriends.com

growth is good!

2006-11-12T19:27:00.000-06:00

tonight I am posting because of Abby's accomplishment. it's a reminder to me that growth is good and to never give up. for quite a while she's been writing her name and few other letters. so cute....but she would always get frustrated that she couldn't yet draw a heart. she just came beaming into my blog-reading with her magna-doodle drawn heart. she did it and she was grinning from ear to ear. i'm so proud of her for not giving in to frustration and giving up. she loves to write and she tries even though it's really hard for her. i wish i had the same persistence!!! oh, the things we learn and are reminded of through our kids. never stop growing....

here's what happens

2006-11-09T23:11:00.000-06:00

when you let your almost 4 year old use the camera at her own discretion (with nearby supervision of course). she took some super shots of lilly and then a self-portrait. no camera time would be complete without one...

boo!

2006-10-31T21:38:00.000-06:00

I couldn't resist sharing these pictures even though I wanted to wait til' I get them scrapped! Now is when I need a little kodak easy share printer to go with my camera. I didn't think I wanted one but maybe it would come in handy when I need to scrapbook into the wee hours :)

AEzine challenge

2006-10-28T08:11:00.000-06:00

I completed a scrapbooking challenge this week - a layout about your creative confidence. I had a lot of fun with it and made mine an 8x10 so I can frame it and hang it in my workspace when I'm low on confidence. I'm not always quite so brazen as I was feeling this particular day...

aladdin eyes

2006-10-25T12:32:00.000-06:00

i arose this morn to put in my contacts and what did my eyes find? that aladdin toothpaste and contact lenses don't mix well. abby has a minor obsession with my contact lense cases. actually she really likes to play with tiny objects and this qualifies, plus it has two compartments to put things into and two lids to cover the compartments. this looked pretty cool, like a 4-year old's science project. the toothpaste had morphed into these little gel bubble looking things and the contact solution was a nice hue of "bliss blue" for all you stampin' up! color-holics out there! i thought about trying to rinse the contact really well and then thought better of it! it was past time for a fresh pair anyway.

ah, they keep things interesting, don't they? you never know what you'll find lurking around my house...

new stamp club projects!

2006-10-18T20:35:00.000-06:00

I momentarily remembered the reason I started this blog. It was to share the Stampin' Up! and scrapbooking stuff that I do. I've been getting ready for my fall stamp clubs and have one tomorrow night. Here's a little peek at what we'll be making. The card is a technique called "glitter window". You punch out a square in 2 layers of cardstock for the front of the card and then layer in between a packing tape window with glitter smushed in the middle. Make sense? It's really cool in person and just a neat little twist. I love the alphabet called Whimsical Alphabet used to spell Halloween but it wouldn't all fit so I just started with the "o" in the middle and worked my way out, carefully spelling frontward and backward to make the wrap-around word.

The baby food jar is just a little idea I had for us to do for the fall, Thanksgiving season. The idea is to write things that we're grateful for on the slips of typing paper and count our blessings, literally! The jar can be kept in a prominent place like the kitchen windowsill as a reminder of how blessed we are...

running on empty!

2006-10-15T12:44:00.000-06:00

I was talking to my friend, Mel, a few minutes ago. Apparently she frequents my blog and is checking out what I've written. She seemed to be tired of checking for no new news and although she loves Lilly's cute little picture, she's seen it dozens of times now and said, "Just go blog something!!!!" So here I sit. I seem to be in a writer's block...I'm not sure what to attribute it to and really, it doesn't matter anyway.

I was trying to think of what I've been up to, and well, it's kinda funny actually. I've become an exercise-aholic. Not to worry, it won't last long. Don't send the guys in white coats for me just yet. It all started when Mike decided to train for the St. Jude's Children's Hospital marathon (this December). Being slightly competitive, I decided to go for the gusto, too,and try the 5K. I mean, he can't have all the fun, right? I actually trained for and ran in a 5K about 7 years ago in Conway and met my other friend, Melanie, and became a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator because of her. Anway,2 kids and 40 pounds later, here I am. So I started my training program about 5 or 6 weeks ago. Brandy Files tries to run with me when she can and my friend, Becca, talked me into running the Swamp Sister (Nun Run) 5K at Arkansas Post. It was yesterday afternoon. AR Post is a national park in the middle of nowhere. Literally. In fact, most of the run was through the woods, beside the river, and there was no sign of getting to grandma's house anytime soon. Scary. Becca has been doing much better with her training than I have so she quickly left me eating her dust, making me the last of the runners. I wanted her to go on and do her best. I'm so proud of her. I just kept my eye's peeled for the walkers, making sure they didn't bypass me. It was a great time and I did place 3rd in the women's age 20-29 division. It was quite an honor to get my medal since there were only 3 of us in the age division :) That cracked me up!

Please check out Monticello Live and leave a comment. Make sure you say I sent you so that I have a better chance of winning the iPod (you'll see what I mean) and getting with the times. I have wished for one countless times during my recent exercise escapades. I could have used it in the 5K, big time! I had a LONG, LONG, time to think about nothing. Mostly my thoughts were,
"Where is the 1-mile marker?
Oh my gosh, I might die here in the Swamp Sister 5K and the alligators will eat me!!! Where is the 2 mile marker????
Surely I've gone at least 3 miles already.
My legs can't handle this much body,
I can't breath,
etc, etc, etc."

This all went on for over 40 minutes. All this to say, I might have done better had I had an iPod and could've been jammin' to, to, well, who knows; but I would've been jammin' fo' sho'. Just kidding, but go check out Monticello Live. It's Monticello's new online newspaper, basically, and it's great! Go! Now! Help me win!

october 1

2006-10-01T20:46:00.000-06:00

so, what does a blogger blog about when a blogger has nothing to blog about? hmmmm- i'm not sure but we're finding out! i guess the old addage "no news is good news" applies here! i can't even think of a funny that abby has said over the last few days besides blurting out the word "constipated" at a restaurant friday night. she used a big word for such a sweet little girl. i asked her if she wanted a fried pickle and she said loudly, "no, mom, that will make you constipated." not sure why she thinks that pickles will do that to the human body but go figure. my little shy one has begun to slowy come out of her shell. this week she also blurted out to me that a man had his hair in a pony tail "like a girl's hair,momma" i told her it was fine and prayed he was hard of hearing since he was standing 5 feet away in my kitchen. then told her we would discuss it later so as to not embarass the man. i didn't tell her that her daddy's dream is to have zz top hair as an old man and that's partly why the prickly go-tee right now. one can only hope that his dreams change over time.

no telling what she's telling her preschool teacher. it's probably best that i don't know everything! good thing we're just "normal, ordinary folk" and the teacher has probably heard it all before :) at least that's what i tell myself!

oh, and since i believe that i must have a picture to post with each new blog, here's a recent one of lilly eating-we seem to like taking pictures of her eating since it's such a huge part of our day. eat baby food or mush, drink bottle, clean up baby, clean up mess, repeat 50 million times. anyway, they're so cute i could spend all my time staring at them! it makes the clean up time worth it!

2006-09-30T14:48:00.000-06:00

What scrapbooking item are you?

You are Fibers!Fun and crazy at times. You are a warm fuzzy kind of person. You run around getting things done but still find time for fun! You have so many diverse interests that it is often hard to pin you down to any one thing. People love your friendly attitude and carefree ways. You often brighten other people's days. But Fibers Beware - Sometimes people don't take you seriously because of your happy-go-lucky ways. Sometimes you find yourself feeling left out from decision making that could directly affect you. Even though you like to be happy and cheerful, make sure others know that you can also be serious and in tune with reality.
Take this quiz!

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just being myself

2006-09-19T11:08:00.000-06:00

Ah, it feels so good to just be me, as Abby says. Forget the dumb "choose your identity" post. I've been enlightened by my 3 year old genius. The other day we got home and she was exhausted. In times like this, everything is a crisis. The UPS man, as I so affectionately call the cute man in brown who frequents my doorstep with Stampin' Up! boxes of goodies, knocked on the door and ran promptly off the porch. Our normal routine. I don't have to sign anything but he lets me know my package awaits me when I choose to open the door. So, I say to the tired Abigail Grace, "Hey, there's the UPS man!" She's not all that thrilled and responds in left field with, "Mommy, are there ever UPS girls?!?!?" I wish you could hear the tired, whiny inflections of her sweet little voice. I smiled and said, "Yes, of course, girls can be "UPS men" too. Why, is that what you want to be when you grow up?" Her answer was priceless, "NO, I'm too tired to be anything. I just wanna be meeeeeeee!"

I remember blogging some time ago about being able to type from the heart because there were no faces staring back at me when I blog. It gave me a sense of freedom to journal and share what was really going on in my head. Then I began to feel stifled and became acutely aware of all the faces that were really there, though separated by miles of cyberspace. Now, I'm back to being me it seems, not that what I've been saying isn't me but it's, well, surface garbage, if you will. We'll ride this thing out for however long it lasts....

So, today, I'm feeling like ME. Just plain old me. I've done things that make me who I am. I unhurriedly read and completed a Patriarchs lesson and really listened to what the Lord had for me this morning. I went and played the piano at Journey for a little while and then I came home and, and, and, SCRAPPED. And now I'm blogging! Ahhhhhh! Refreshment. Hope you have something that is totally you for those days when you're too tired to be anything and your soul just longs to be content being the you that God created. It's a wonderful thing that He wants for us what Abby wants, for us to just be us!

PS-I scrapbooked a 12x12 layout for a change. Wow-it's so BIG! I'm talking GI-NORMUOS-so big that I couldn't quite figure out how to take it's picture:) It was a layout I've been needing to do for a while but just haven't done and the collages forced me outside my little box and made it neccessary to do a 12x12....think I'll stick to my smaller books but it was fun for a change of pace!

hello again

2006-09-18T17:18:00.000-06:00

hey. sorry for the momentary lapse in blogging and blog reading. i've been receiving prods about when i would be back. my absence is partly on purpose and partly not. i realized how much time i was spending in front of the computer screen and how little i was spending on "real books" so i've chosen the "real books" for a while and a blog-fast of sorts. it's not that i don't gain lots of valuable insight from reading your blogs but i love books and needed to refocus. right now i'm reading several things and working through a bible study that is keeping me busy.

here's the rundown:
The Patriarchs by Beth Moore-a study of the book of genesis and the patriarchs. i had begun it earlier this year and never made it past week one of ten so now i'm in week four. it's so good that i catch myself wanting to go ahead and complete more than one lesson a day. i need to slow down and digest it more. lots to learn about obedience to God and living out a faithful(l) life.

The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason-stolen from Jeff's coffee table (Carolyn said I could)-ancient wisdom for finances. It's sort of old-timey Babylonian parables. It's really fun to read-I can see the conversations played out in my mind's eye like a play.

Captivating by John and Stasi Eldredge-WOW! This book is all about women. In fact, the subtitle reads,"Unveiling the mystery of a woman's soul." Although I don't like the normal stereotypes about men and women and squirm at the phrase, "Most women... or most men...." this book was great. I've finished it and will be passing it along to Mike now.

Cultivating Contentment by Luci Swindoll-I'm reading this book for a women's group that meets each week. It's a much needed look at contentment (or lack thereof). A real eye-opener and thought provoker.

Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment by Jeremiah Burroughs-circa 1620. yeah. enough said. it's like reading a dissertation and very challenging. just what i love and need in a good book. if "cultivating contentment" is baby food then this book is the meat and taters. seriously. i've got lots to think about and i'm only on page 9. it takes a lot of thought to just get through sentence by sentence. if you're looking for a literary challenge and a spiritual challenge then this is it, all rolled into one.

In other news, Abigail started preschool a couple of weeks ago and loves it. She enjoys her time there and I wish for time to stand still in more ways than one. We're extremely blessed and extremely proud.

choose your identity

2006-09-02T21:55:00.000-06:00

Okay, we're all way to techno futuristic for me right now. It struck me this week as I was zipping from blog to blog that when you click to leave a comment there's a little line that says "CHOOSE YOUR IDENTITY"... man, how do you choose an identity. Okay, when blogging I choose Kristy, half-tied ribbons Kristy. But how often do I choose an identity I shouldn't. I'm not talking about weirdo, psycho really messed up identity stuff that would involve the FBI and CIA but just on a daily basis. Am I true to my faith and my unique personality. So often, I try to be someone I'm not. There, I said it. I confess. It's all in an attempt to be better, though, I think. Pure motives. Or are they? Am I content to be me, the me that God created and loves? Confident people are so comfortable to be around and so attractive to others. That's what I crave more than anything I suppose. Confidence. There are so many ways to identify me...mom, sister, friend, daughter, worker, wife, worker/wife (just kidding), scrapbooker, piano teacher, playgroup starter then quitter for the summer, learner, reader, cleaner, babysitter, nurse, bather, should I really go on?????

No wonder my mind swims with ideas...

On another note...Angela, no offense meant by not mentioning that you were here. Attention folks, Angela was here when Abby and Rilely ran through with panties on their heads. I cannot speak for her but I'm sure her thoughts sounded something like, "Gee, I'm sure glad both my kids are old enough to go to school although this is quite entertaining,hmm, maybe we do need a third child." In my own self-righteous defense, Angela was not here for the embarassing part where my 3 year old sassed/backtalked and ran away from me and I did absolutely NOTHING to stop her. Things are looking up though!

That's the only thing I hate about blogging. I always inadvertently leave off someone when talking about friends, saying thanks, or just logging time of activities. For everyone who I've offended/am offending as we speak/read, I'm sorry. I hate that I'm so famous now through this whole blog world that it matters because enough of you poor souls are actually reading this. Til' later, goodnight and go choose your identity. Mine for now is sleeper!

Would the real Kristy H please step forward! accounted for :)

discipline

2006-08-30T20:24:00.000-06:00

Mike and I went to our first small group about discipline tonight. It was encouraging for me as a worn-out mom. I never intend to become worn out-it just sorta creeps up on me. The group was a breath of fresh air, though, really. Just knowing that others struggle with the same issues when you get to the heart of the matter helps. And being with friends for a short time also helps. Of course I laugh all the time (especially when it's inappropriate) so a good time was had by all. It's cool to be reminded that the reason for discipline is love. It motivates us as it motivates the Lord to discipline us. I ran across Kevin's blog tonight and thought it was very cool that he had already blogged about discipline and I just now found it again. Keep up the great writing, Kevin!

Here's the pictures that I couldn't resist sharing today. Abigail had her first dance class last night and really enjoyed it "now that she's a big girl". Lilly had her first carrots and enjoyed them, too. A good day, to say the least. carrots and dance, there you have it folks.

Now you all know why I don't enjoy feeding her solids so much.... she is wayyyyyyy messier than Abby ever has been and she's only 8 months old. I was still finding carrot crud in her nostrils this morning. Lord, help us all.

panty head day!

2006-08-28T21:52:00.000-06:00

I've been sitting here laughing out loud for five minutes while cropping and de-red-eying this photo. Let me tell you a story.

I was having a horrible morning. I mean, really, my 3 year old was totally disobedient and I was admittedly too lazy to do much at all about it. Yep, it's true. I had gotten up at the crack of dawn trying hard to be the Proverbs 31 lady or something equally ridiculous and by 9 am I was exhausted. Then Brandi and Riley came over and she witnessed it. My laziness. My, gee, do I give a rip that Abby just backtalked me. I do, but I've given up. For the moment. I was truly beginning to think I need counseling for raising a 3 year old for crying out loud. As my headache grew "poundier" by the minute we see Abigail and Riley run by. They usually make Indian warrior sounds and this was no exception. But this time they had Dora panties on their cute little heads. (I'm sure his Dad will be saying, "Atta, boy!") Ah, it was so what my serious self needed. To really laugh with her-and her bestest bud. He's adorable. Really. I mean, I'm not sure why God brought us all together but I think it's very cool that the 2 of them are completely opposite in almost every aspect but they don't know life without each other. Plus, it teaches you a whole heck of a lot about yourself to see you or your child's polar opposite. So thankful for friends like that-for Abby's sake and mine!

I very much wanted to save this photo and scrap it before posting it but couldn't resist. Here's to panty raids, loud noises that wake babies, and moms who think they've had enough...

captivating thoughts

2006-08-26T20:42:00.000-06:00

My brain is way over stimulated so maybe getting some thoughts out will help. This weekend's marriage enrichment time has been wonderful but it has produced mega thoughtfulness on my part. That's not uncommon in me with my melancholy personality. I process and process and process any information. I suppose I'm a melancholy personality, someone clarify for me what you think for I can't remember. I know I overthink everything to the point that it's ridiculous and it keeps me from thinking about what I need to think about. In fact, Mike and I were relating with some new old friends at lunch today how I used to ask him, "What are you thinking right now? What's going through your mind, whatever it is tell me." And he would say "Nothing!" I'm like, "Mike, there can't be nothing going through your brain, you're always thinking something, right?" And he's like, "No, you really can NOT be thinking all the time. There really can be no thought at any given moment." I'm still not sure I buy it but right now I wish I could do that. Just being and thinking nothing. All this to say: I often miss the forrest for the tree. Make sense? I guess I began thinking about totally irrelevant things today during the sessions and it has the potential to drive me crazy.

Thankfully,a friend gently reminded me earlier today, when I was having trouble focusing my thoughts, that II Corinthians 10:5 says:

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

When she quoted this to me it was a breath of fresh air and freed me so much to not let my thoughts overtake me.

I've made it a goal over the past few months to meditate on Ephesians 4:29 where Paul writes:

Don't let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, only what is useful for building others up according to their need, so that it may benefit those who listen."

In fact, I blogged about it then I think. At any rate, I can promise you that I've failed so many times while wrestling with this passage; but I can also see some slow progress (some of you might not think so but bear with me please) Over my lifetime I've learned lots of scripture and I'm obsessive about reading but sometimes I choose quantity over quality. This is the first time that I've honed in on one short little thought for so long and it's been incredible. I want to make it a life practice. God has whispered and yelled, if you will, the words of Eph. 4.29 to the point that my thoughts SOMETIMES don't make it out of my mouth. I've very much internalized it.

Maybe I got the cart before the horse, though, maybe I need to focus my attention for a while on taking each thought captive. Then I wouldn't have to worry so much about what comes out of my foot-shaped mouth being offensive, negative, argumentative, complaining, sarcastic, etc. To sum it up, I would have less trouble with the unwholesome talk. Or maybe I should just not talk so much! My wheels are turning on this. Taking thoughts captive so that they're obedient to Christ would totally solve the unwholesome talk issue for me. Any helpful comments about how to take thoughts captive and make them obedient are welcome. Tell me your thoughts. I remember a Bible study I did one time where this was one of the lessons or chapters or something. Man, I wish it weren't packed up somewhere in a box. I miss my books!

Maybe I can unpack this verse some more later after I've had some time to think, since that's what I like to do so much!

cravin' a list

2006-08-25T07:29:00.000-06:00

Here's what Lilly does with my lists while I'm bloggin'. And to think, I just fed her!

reasons

2006-08-25T07:10:00.000-06:00

I've been up since 6 am. I think I'm a morning person at heart. Already I've worked at the clinic (filing and laundry) for almost an hour, read some awesome blog entries, talked to 2 friends, and given Lilly a bottle. Waking early makes me feel so productive and I've still got the rest of my day. On the agenda for the day:work at Journey on kid stuff, organize files on computer, burn iPhoto pictures to CD's, label CD's that already are full, clean house, scrapbook at least one layout. Okay, I'll stop now. We'll see how accomplished I am by this afternoon!

Since I woke up early this morning I've been pondering and praying a little. There's so much I'm thankful for so I thought I'd share some of it with you.

Reasons I love being mom to a 7.5 month old:

1. listening to her coo and babble for 15 minutes after she wakes up

2. being able to still hold her whole little body so tight

3. seeing incredible firsts, like getting on all fours ready to begin crawling

4. she still stays where I put her (for now) (physically)

5. watching her face light up when mom or dad comes into the room

Reasons I love being mom to a 3.9 year old:

1. hearing spontaneous "I Love you, Mommy"s throughout the random day

2. getting incredible hugs and kisses

3. seeing pride in firsts, like big girl haircuts and getting ready for preschool

4. she's always physically right beside me, by choice

5. watching her face light up when mom or dad comes into the room

This is truly the short list. I know the best is yet to come, although the best is here now and was here "then". Make your own lists of reasons and enjoy today!

annoyingly awake

2006-08-23T23:27:00.000-06:00

Newsflash....Kristy is NOT getting enough sleep lately. Again! And now it's not the baby's fault. I'm not sure whose fault or what's fault it is, but definitely not the baby. I guess except for the cheapo diapers I did try and they have leaked like 5 out of 7 nights and my little sweetie woke up all wet. At first I didn't realize and just kept trying to stuff the pacifier back in her mouth. It didn't last, not to worry! At any rate, changing crib sheets is no fun anytime of day, but especially not fun at 3 am.

Tonight we had Praise Band practice til' 11:30 pm. All to get ready for the Southeast Arkansas Marriage and Parenting Retreat this weekend. I'm not on the right browser to link up within my post so go to Journey Church in my link list over here and check it out. (right after you finish reading all this). It's going to be awesome and the place where we're playing rules!!!!! Now if I could just learn what notes are in a C# minor chord we'd all be doing great :) Oh, and when to play and when to clap. It's a wonder the band allows me. Really. By the grace of God I'm in with this incredible group of musicians. I truly enjoy it! In case you come and begin to wonder to yourself, "HMMM, Why does Kristy not have a microphone and everyone else does?" There is a reason - I can't sing and play at the same time and I've never bothered trying now that I think of it. Maybe it'll become a future goal. Right after learning c# minor and when to quit playing and start clapping. Anyway, come listen, come learn, come be with all of us praise banders and have a great weekend. You're all invited!

I can think of nothing else to say and I'm not sleepy yet. This is insane. I'm wide awake but not so wide awake that I want to do anything productive like clean house or wash clothes or read. Just wide awake in a very annoying sort of way. So, goodnight. Maybe. Maybe not ;)

blog mysteries

2006-08-22T19:56:00.000-06:00

hmmmmm. My plan was to see if I could do a whole post using correct capitalization. Good thing I'm not a secretary as my typing has gotten horrendous with the recent technology boom. So far I'm doing better. Okay! My great blog mystery began yesterday afternoon. Here's the story. I got home from running errands (something I do way too much now that I have a vehicle) to find that my website was just a black screen. No picture of half-tied ribbons, no text, no links, no nothing. Just darkness. My first thought was, "AAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH! I've wasted 6 months of journaling, just like when I've been known to burn diaries, only that was on purpose and this wasn't. What in the H-E-double-hockey-sticks has happened, oh my cow. YIKES!!!!!" Really that was more like my first five thoughts but you get the picture. . Then I did what I always do in a crisis like this. I emailed Jeff asking for an explanation and hoping he'd burst into giddy laughter meaning that it was a well-intentioned prank or something. But, he had no such response. So he happily went in and changed my template. Lots! First it was some top-secret file looking thing. Then it was something else, then magic paper that I couldn't bear. So I went with the girlie tropical flower looking theme. Still couldn't like it...so then I had to email Jeff begging for him to fix it to my old trusty black and white with the half-tied ribbons picture because he had copied and pasted my blog template, not me. Crazy, I know. But the title wouldn't be so great without the great picture. Now I'm thinking that I need to go and change my password because this might just become an entertaining game for Jeff when he has any spare time on his hands. I could see him thinking, "HMMMMMM, wonder if Kristy will laugh at the Desperate Housewives" template. Scary, scary, scary. All this to tell you that I am such a complicated person. I love and hate change at the same time. I like my traditional ribbon photo and the black and white crisp look. It's a classic, if I do say so myself. And to all you folks who think I have a clue about blog templates and downloading photos and such as this....I don't. I've always made it my job to know the right folks:) So, no more asking help. I don't know how to help you. Heck, I just figured out how to place the photos in the text where I want them instead of all in a random blob together. Thanks Jeff!

Speaking of photos, here's some cards I created for a card swap and a workshop last week.

And here's the girls. Abby put Lilly in one of her toy baskets because according to her "that's what sisters do, Mom!". I think she thinks that if she says anything with confidence and that cute little smile I'll go for it and laugh. And usually, she's right!

My 2 babies are still up and it's almost 10 pm. I dread the day we go to school and have to have a bedtime because we say all the time, "Next week it's 8 o'clock bedtime." Yeah, right! It's yet to happen!

pangs

2006-08-20T21:07:00.000-06:00

I'm not sure when my blog became so random but I've been trying to think of something to write about all day. I don't like this new phase of blogdom where it's not coming so easily.

I am missing some things (and people) latley. The beginning of the school year always brings back the tiniest, short-lived pangs of missing teaching. Mike and I are totallly committed and feel very strongly about my being home with the girls as much as possible-but STILL after 4 years out of the classroom, I miss the first weeks of school. Every year about this time while students are getting ready to go back and teachers are working long, hard hours preparing themselves and their classrooms I breathe a sigh of relief that it's not me - and wish it were at the same time. I wonder if I'll ever go back and wonder if it will be too late and I will feel like an ailien in a foreign land by the time I do. I have loved the beginning of the school year all my life. It signals growth, new beginnings, change. Plus fall is my favorite season and I know it's just around the corner. I mean, summer is great in it's own relaxed way, but I'm such a creature of habit, I thrive on a routine, and who doesn't love new supplies! I will just keep wondering for a while and enjoy my time and this season of my life!

I'm also missing Susanne. It's hitting me hard that she's moving/moved. She and I connected so quickly when they first moved here. Abby and the boys played many, many hours together and we had so much in common. It was an instant close friendship (very rare for me)! Suzi, I know we can keep in touch, we'll be friends in spite of the miles, blah, blah, cliche, blah... but it doesn't help at the moment. I miss you...you are so incredibly unique. You've taught me so much and helped me so much with my walk with the Lord. I'm glad to have shared part of the journey with you. Thanks for always being you and sharing your life with me! I should stop now and go write a card instead of airing this on the blog...I hope you all have friends like Susanne!

Now that I've probably gotten everybody down I'm off to bed. Tomorrow is a new day!

noteworthy blogs

2006-08-17T21:55:00.000-06:00

There's a new trend sweeping the nation. Well, maybe not the nation, but at least my immediate circle of friends and family. I think I've already started a previous post with this but who cares. DE JA VU!!!! Mega! Back on track: I lose internet connection for 2 weeks and the blogosphere explodes! I have found lots of interesting new blogs to read and I'm still catching up. Here's a few of them. Sorry I haven't taken the time to link you guys up and update my links stuff. Maybe tomorrow! It's not that I don't love you, it's, it's, well, I'm lazy and really don't have a good reason :)

Stephanie's blog "The Clayton Clan". Mommy stuff and family updates-love to keep up with those 2 cute cousins.

Brad's Razorback Blog.Already making his 2006-07 predictions. You're brave, Brad.

Jenny's Blog "Small Town Mom"- good quotes and scripture as well as the daily mom stuff :) We go way back!

Brandy's "Sugar and Spice". More Mom stuff and good sewing machine story. Knowing Brandy and having watched her sew makes it all the more funny to me!

I'm looking for more and more posts from all of you! Everyone check them out and give them some feedback!

update at 12:44 am on Friday... couldn't sleep til' the short list was revamped. check them all out. I forgot to mention several friends and family above in my haste. Hopefully everyone is covered on the short list. Give me a shout out if you're not on there and your "peelings" (Abbyish for feelings) are hurt!!!!

houston

2006-08-15T13:09:00.000-06:00

we have contact! yeah for mike, we now have everything hooked up. internet, camera, dock for camera, usb cord to dock. it's all in place. so as promised: me in the minivan. I'm loving all the funny comments this is producing. I promise to drive to the best of my ability. It's already got a small dent over the drivers tire so it's all broken in for me. That's the spot I've always dented on every car I've driven and it came ready to go. No need for another fender bender now! Mike was actually glad about that one. We also realized that the hub caps don't match. The 2 front ones are alike and the 2 back ones are alike but the sets aren't the same. GROOVY! I just keep reminding myself that it's paid for!

Pictures of my baby with her 2 front teeth and eating cereal.She is so messy that I've almost given up. We really need to hose her off with the water faucet when she's done. Maybe she'll get the hang of it soon but I'm about to give up on cereal and go straight for the good stuff-FRUIT! Maybe she'll keep it in her mouth if it tastes decent, huh? What a doll!!!!

pictures

2006-08-11T22:01:00.000-06:00

Okay, I couldn't stand how there were no new pictures going on here for now. Here's some more of our trip to CT. This is my favorite beach picture, the feet of some of my friends. "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news." Can't remember the address for that verse but it's always stuck with me because of a song.

Also, one of us and our little trooper on our trip to NYC. I think it's in Grand Central but can't remember.

Oh, and one that Mike took while running to get out of the street before getting plowed down by a taxi. And some of you were worried about the flight?!?!?!? Just kidding! Great shot, Mike. Looks like an ad or something:) For running shoes! Glad you had yours on!

withdrawls

2006-08-11T21:51:00.000-06:00

I'm having blog withdrawls. There's so many that I read (or used to read) on a normal basis-truthfully a DAILY basis. It's been 2 weeks since I read some of your blogs. Where does the time go? All I have time to do is turn around...barely!

Our small town is hosting the Babe Ruth World Series beginning today and so we've been happily involved in that. Journey folks have had a sweat shop in the back of the church and sewn these cool little neck cooler things to hand out for free. Actually they're kinda dorky but when it's hotter than blue blazes does it really matter what you look like? We are trying to do things to show others God's love in practical ways. Anyway, for 3 weeks we've been working round the clock (slight exaggeration, but at least nightly) sewing these little things and today we began to see the fruit of our labor. It was COOL! No pun intended!

I think both girls are actually in bed and asleep. Listen carefully and you can hear my fingers pounding out the keys. I learned a new trick for Abby that's mostly reverse psychology. I tell her to lay there and try to stay awake because I'm going to do such and such. Then I will be back to check on her and see if she's still awake. Why didn't I think of this before last week. The bedtime battle remains our biggest!

I can't find my camera plug ins to download pictures yet. Maybe while I'm on a steroid high (tooth troubles) I might go try to finish up the last of the moving stuff and find them! Heck, I might just catch up on my blog reading since I see no signs of being sleepy anytime soon... oh yeah, the pictures, I will post a picture of me in the minivan soon, of Lilly's two front teeth, and of Abby's earrings. Yep, she got them pierced yesterday!

Oh, and annonymous, I think I know who you are. Watch out for me in the minivan sometime soon I hope. I might even buy a big tumor for the top to stick stuff in! Then I'd really be groovy :)

ya' never know!

2006-08-08T20:34:00.000-06:00

This is my favorite story right now and I've already told some of my blog readers but it's too good to not share. Yesterday Abby went to Riley's for the afternoon (thanks Jordyn) to play while Brandi, Lilly, and I went on a little road trip. When we got home we were in a hurry to get to a meeting so I didn't even look at the mess in his room. In the car, I said, "Abby, is Riley's room a mess?" Her reply, "Ya never know, Mom!" I had to get her to repeat herself twice before I understood and burst into laughter. Where does she come up with these things?

Other noteworthy news...I am the proud drive of a mini-van (GASP)! How did I get here? It's like I was just 16 saying "I'll never drive a mini-van!" Then I woke up and I'm 29 driving a mini-van with 2 little girls in tow. time warp. Anyway, Mike and I just read this incredible book called the Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. It's awesome. It's perfect for us and we paid cash for my wheels. It's the only way to go in our book! I still can't believe I have a car after 2 years of being a one-vehicle family. Watch out mini-van driving moms and dads. I'm in your ranks now!

ahhhhhh!

2006-08-06T22:09:00.000-06:00

just a quick note to let you all know we're finally settled in (i think). moving is such a pain but now that it's over we can breathe a sigh of relief. there's still little things left to do like recaulk the girl's tub, clean up the outside junk like the grill and other things that just got piled up, and organize a little more.

my to do list is growing for this week fast. i've got to get piano students registered after 8 months off and several other important things this week.

glad our internet is now up and running and that i'm back to the blog. thanks for still checking in though i've been taking a mandatory break :)

ps-Lilly got her first tooth and second tooth since i've been MIA...it's too cute. i need to take a picture if i can find the camera!

our house

2006-07-21T10:19:00.000-06:00

is a very, very, very fine house. with 2 kids and a dog, life used to be so hard, now....da da da da....imagine Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Everyone with me?

I've had in mind a blog post documenting our house before we get packed up and move out but first I had 2 things to do: figure out how Jeff plays music on his posts (I'm fascinated with this) and clean my house.

Neither of these happened and I got the fancy to go ahead with my "we're moving, I'm sentimental, sappy Kristy" post. So, I pulled out the ever handy Koday Easyshare Z760 and got to work. Took pictures of some of my favorite things about this old house. First, I must say that I LOVE my house. This house represents so much to me. Mike remodeled it for us while I was pregnant with Abby so we have lots of good memories here. He and our friends and family spent lots of hours of hard labor here. We really put ourselves into this house, making it "us"!

Here's some shots of my favorite things! I decided against cleaning first and to just go with it and document the way things really are here. The carport looks like I run a daycare (I don't), the table is cluttered, the LR is a mess, the baby is sleeping (AHHHHH), but this is an oddly typical day around my house!

1. my wife/mom/homemaker quote. it reminds me of what's really important and it's red and old-fashioned, such a great combo! It also hangs over the kitchen table because in my house growing up I have such great kitchen-table memories (but mostly not for meals:) sorry mom! the kitchen was the life of our house with friends over often to play cards, visit, whatever!

2. the outside front of my house. love the shaded driveway and big front window.

3. the LR with Abby watching TV on the couch. Don't know what it is about taking the cushions apart on the couch. Oh, and the framed artwork Uncle D got me for my first BD after Mike and I were married...love it! And the rocking chair that my Pappaw bought my mom while pregnant with me (awwwwwww!) I'm so sentimental...

4. the deep, white kitchen sink with tall faucet and my favorite curtains in the house. one apron belonged to my granny and the other I picked up in Canton. It is the vintage state kind-Alaska, where we honeymooned (Mark, it's fabulous, you and Angela need to go)

5. the bathroom sink was my favorite purchase for remodeling

6. Lilly's room. love it! it's my favorite room in the house because of the 2 windows (corner room) and it's painted yellow so it's always very light...

7. Abby's room-normally a beautiful mess which means a blessed, lively little girl is here, but not so much a mess today (thanks Kate) :)

8. stampin' space in all it's glory. Man, i'm gonna miss this! I know it looks very scary and you can't really tell where the floor piles end and the desk piles begin but let's face it, this is the real Kristy and how I create...very messy!

9. remnants of my last stampin' club at this locale (kitchen table). sniff, sniff, sniff. Maybe I should wait even longer than my usual 24 hours to clean it up and just enjoy it!

I'm so glad our home is not really bricks and mortar...it makes it okay to let go and move on, huh?

auto pilot

2006-07-18T13:43:00.000-06:00

The ice maker now works. I don't think I ever shared that it didn't work but when we got home from CT, the ice was all frozen together and it was making no ice!

Our house sold! YIPEE!!! We never dreamed it would happen this fast but it did and we're supposed to close early next week. I have so many mixed emotions about it. It's a positive thing overall but the whole moving with 2 kids overwhelms me now. Mike and I have moved so much that we feel like pros but now that there's kids involved. yowsers!

It's hot....really hot. Angela and I talked about taking the kids swimming today so I need to quit typing and call her.

Actually, there's about a jillion bazillion things I could be doing that are way more productive than typing this right now but I'm stalling. When I get overwhelmed I just shut-down and function on "auto pilot" and don't do anything. Then it makes me even more overwhelmed...maybe I should go make yet another list. No more stalling!

Okay, off to call Angela.

2 silly sisters!

2006-07-16T19:14:00.000-06:00

The girls are growing so fast. I had to share this picture. Lilly learned to sit up while we were in CT. Something about the lack of stifling humidity allowed her to sit without wilting over to the side I suppose....Abby has always enjoyed in getting into the crib with Lilly but now it's even more fun since she can sit and play with her big sister. Today they were playing in the crib and I walked in to check on them and commented about how cute they were. Abby replied, "Take a picture, Mommy, take a picture!" Can you tell I am the mom with the camera out way too much? We're into another phase of sisterhood now- I was lamenting the way time flies just tonight as I bathed them together and watched them interact! Although I often wish I could "freeze" time it just gets sweeter and sweeter!

home at last!

2006-07-16T18:02:00.000-06:00

Ahhhh, what a great week last week. I'm such a creature of habit and it was so good for me to be out of my routine for a while and see things from a new perspective. Keeps things interesting. Not to mention my blog "fast" for over a week now! I've got so much to share that I'm sure it will come out a big jumbled mess so feel free to ask questions and we'll make this entry more interactive than ever!!!

The whole trip to CT was such a God thing in our lives right now. Some big things it taught me or reinforced in me :

1. God is in control-no matter what we do or don't do, He's in control!

2. Although people in different places around the world (even in the US) are different and unique in so many ways, we're also all the same in so many ways, we're all human and imperfect and need God...

3. One of my life's missions is to encourage others in the Lord. This is becoming more and more clear to me and things are starting to fall into place to make me see this...over time, it's proven true and even more so last week. My main concern was encouraging the leaders of Northeast Community Church and trying to make sure they were spurred on! Brandy, a fellow missionary was asked by a man in CT what her life mission was and it really got me to thinking about mine. Thanks for sharing your conversation with Frank with the team, Brandy!

4. I am still passionate about working with children with special needs. It was incredible working with Bryan for the week and it made me realize that even after being an at-home mom for almost 4 years now, I still love other kids, espeically those with disabilities!

5. My first "mission trip" with Mike. How great God is to allow us to partner for Him-what a joy to really dig in and step out in faith together! That was so cool!

6. What an awesome group to travel with. Kevin, Tammie, Nick, Amy, Jennifer, Brandy, Misty and Ryan... you guys are great. Thanks for putting up with me. I enjoyed so much getting to know you all on another level and seeing so many strengths that I didn't know were there. As such and independent person, it was good for me to be with a team and function in a group.

A huge shout out to all you Connecicites, Connectucutians, or whatever you are called there....we love you and will remember you forever. Thanks for your graciousness, hospitality and love for each other and us. It was a great week! Celia, you rock! Mark and Nancy, ditto...Mike especially liked the vette ride! We had an awesome time serving the Lord alongside you!

journey to CT!!!!

2006-07-05T19:08:00.000-06:00

Our mission trip is just around the corner and we can't wait to go! Things are hectic preparing for Connecticut while selling a house but the excitement is contagious...tonight our group of 10 met for the final time before take-off on Saturday to pray and talk over last minute details. We know God had this group in mind for this journey long before we knew it and that He goes before us. We're assured that it will be a worthwhile week in our walk with Him!

The group has raised over $4000 in the last month and we're only $700 away from the grand total needed. If you desire to help us financially, now is the time. You can give securely online at Journey's website by clicking here or contact me for other options. It's just a click away and we'd appreciate any money thrown our way for the trip, trusting that it will be provided!

This is my last post til' we return. Catch ya' later!

We've gotten so much support, well-wishes and prayers and it's been encouraging to me and Mike. We love you all and appreciate it greatly...kind, encouraging words mean more than you know!

happy fourth!

2006-07-04T12:27:00.000-06:00

Here's our all American cuties wishing you and yours a great 4th of July! They're definitely little firecrackers (you should try getting their picture together)! I love the Fourth - the celebration of things we love about our nation, the spirit, the flag, the fireworks, the friends and family, the hamburgers, hot dogs and watermelon! Hope you're all enjoying your day as much as we are!

family camp 06

2006-07-02T17:35:00.000-06:00

We just got home today from Journey's first annual Family Camp. We had a blast just relaxing, fostering friendships, enjoying nature and doing great things with our kids. I wish I had a picture of Tammie Stokes (who's kids are both grown, well almost grown) holding Lilly. She was such a blessing on this trip and so many other times loving on my baby and others' too. It's so nice to have so much help when the kids are small and drain us and she truly enjoys it and is always smiling.

I actually shimmied up a telephone pole to about 30 feet and came down a zipline. Incredible!!!! I was shaking so hard and hugging the worker man standing on the platform so tightly that I smelled his sweat and he couldn't change my belt thingy that holds you on the zipline. I was brave, Abby says. Mike climbed the 30 foot rock wall all the way to the top. Abby's favorite things included painting pet rocks (a dog named hog), canoeing with Adelyn and Daddy like Pocohantas, riding Ashton's bike, watching Mommy on the zipcord and swimming!

We're already looking forward to next year!

playgroup remix

2006-06-26T07:27:00.000-06:00

Okay, ladies with kids and without. Playgroup is making a comeback:) We will be meeting at Western Pines Park at 8:30 am on Tuesdays. I know some of you cannot believe that you will be seeing my lovely countenance so early in the morning. Suzi was shocked when I called her at 7:15 am but no one else is available at that time (and I used to not be too). Boy, I must be getting older or maybe the world is coming to an end!

So, grab up the kiddos, come to the park before it gets too hot to breathe outside and then everyone will NAP soundly we hope! If we don't see you we'll send the Princess Posse (pictured here) to round you up so be there or be square!

fund raisers

2006-06-23T20:57:00.000-06:00

okay, I am literally sitting here with my eyes drooping waiting on Abby to fall asleep...We moved the computer to the kitchen yesterday so I have been not able to get online or check email for over 24 hours. A sort of online "fast" of sorts. Plus, I don't know when I would have anyway. Our weekend of fundraising for the mission trip is in full swing so we've been tied up with that and I had my Stampin' Up! retirement party this evening. I will have no trouble at all going to sleep tonight. And Mike offered to go work the early shift at the rummage sale tomorrow (along with Abby no less) and let me and Lilly sleep in. Is he not the best husband in the world? That's rhetorical since I already know he is! I will wait and tell you the grand fund-raising weekend total when we have it all done tomorrow-very exciting! We couldn't have done it without Doug, Diana, Tres, Wade, Brandi, and more... I hate naming names because I always leave someone off...and man, the donations for stuff to sell blew me away. We were overwhelmed with it last night at the drop off and the room was so full!!!! All you guys rock that donated!

Lindy, let me know when you start your blog. I can't wait and I'm so glad you're keeping up on here! Angela, let's take the kids swimming next week. It should be very non-busy for me so I must invent something to do :) Dawn, you're welcome, glad Hannah was here and we got some of her time!

Good night and come shop tomorrow morning at Journey!

side dishes

2006-06-21T12:22:00.000-06:00

Jeff recently posted on his blog about focus and how the most popular blogs are focused. Well, now you know why mine isn't the most popular blog. I've been thinking about my focus, and well, here's what I've come up with. I'm too well-rounded and have so many interesting facets of my life for my blog to be focused. I mean really, I'm crazy just thinking about all the different aspects of my life. Some may say I have too many things on my plate, but I say I don't. I enjoy all the side dishes. Dance, for example, is one of my favortie side dishes right now. It's so good for me to get up early and get moving. Yesterday we added a new routine that involves squats and I must say I can barely move today. We also added abs and push-ups. I'm thinking before long, I've gotta start seeing a few pounds fall off. Oh, and I started my new diet since Monday night I weighed the same thing (6 weeks running). And no, I can't tell a difference in the way my clothing fits. So my new diet consists of cereal and fruit all day long besides a "sensible" lunch. Don't you just love it when they say "sensible"....all about the portions and fruit for me!

Another side dish is organizing my home and our day... YIKES!!!! I've come up with a new plan. I am in the process of making Abby some little "chore" cards that will have magnets on the back and she can move them from the dish washer to the fridge throughout the day as she does what she's supposed to. I know, I know, it never really works, but I thought it would be worth a shot. I will try to remember to tell you if it works...

Here's to side dishes!

dressing self

2006-06-19T09:41:00.000-06:00

Abby is into dressing herself now! Can you tell???? I'm loving it and grimacing at the same time!

patience

2006-06-19T08:19:00.000-06:00

Patience is a virtue...but not one of mine. I see my impatience in full force when I get an idea in my head and want to do it NOW!!!! Nothing else can happen til' I figure out a way to get my idea DONE!!!! This happened to me Friday night with this dumb scrapbook page. I started on this layout and wanted a white gel pen to write on the black cardstock. I've sort of been on a mission for a while for a white pen that would write on cardstock or photos but have yet to find it. So, I dug around my crafting desk for quite some time, even looked for a white-out pen but couldn't find one. I finally found a white paint pen (size medium) and just made it work! It was a little big to write with but hey, it's DONE, and that's what matters to my impatient mind. I'm not even sure I like the layout-just couldn't get it quite right in my quest for writing on black paper!

Thankfully for our marriage and family, Mike likes things done, but also done the best possible way :)

I became a member of the peaNut gallery at 2 peas in a bucket. Fun stuff! You can see my layouts there now too!!!! It's a very cool website for scrapbookers. Enjoy!

freestylin'

2006-06-14T12:49:00.000-06:00

Okay, I've been lurking on kelli crowe's blog for some time. So long that I feel like she's my best friend even though we really don't know each other at all. She's so darn funny and a great scrapper to boot.Anyway, this was her week to come up with the freestyle challenge so I decided to jump in. What do I have to lose, after all. The challenge was to slice up some photos for a layout. Here's my version of slicin', a cutesy little flower thing. I wonder what my next obsession will be after the flower thing fizzles out. Abby was adorable the day of her big sister class. Her big brown eyes were wide with excitement and I just giggled watching her nod her serious little head at everything the nurses said. Man, she was taking this serious, like it was her job to be the best big sister EVER! And really, she has been and will be forever I'm sure. I love watching her entertain her baby sister and Lilly look at her and laugh and take it all in! Nothing like it!

Oh, by the way, if you have junk to donate to the mission trip rummage sale you can drop it off at Journey between 6:30 and 8 pm next Thursday night, the 22nd! Thanks!

ps-The other day on our road trip to Lake Village (really Greenville) Abby asked why I say the word "DUDE"...It's because of kellicrowe-if you hear me using the word "dude" it's because I read kellicrowe and she uses it often I think. funny how we pick up whatever language we "hear". I'm starting to remember the song, "oh, be careful little ears what you hear, oh be careful little eyes what you see, da da...for the Father up above is looking down below....." now that you have that great tune in your head...

mom's mornin' out (or in)

2006-06-14T08:37:00.000-06:00

I am writing to you kid free for the moment. Jordyn is going to babysit for me on Wednesday mornings for me to have a little break in my week! Yay, Jordyn, she's an awesome gal! I had some pictures to share so last night I did a 3 or 4 paragraph writing, got ready to upload the photos, started looking at something else online and got carried away for about 15 minutes. Then I thought to myself, "Self, you need to go to bed!" So I started frantically closing everything on the computer so I could put it to sleep and go to bed. I lost everything I had just typed, the whole reason I got online to begin with. And so goes the days of my life!

Here's Abby working on a scrapbook page and what I've named her "first page"! It's a self-portrait that she did, complete with ribbon and glitter. I'm so proud...I know, I get a little carried away about the whole scrapbooking thing, but hey, I enjoy it so much and hope she does too. Every since I was a little girl I've LOVED looking at photos and albums, it fascinates me!

We've been busy doing summer fun stuff too. Here's the girls on our first swim day at Mimi's and a cute shot of Abby and Riley riding the motorcycle in our tiny house. Always fun! It has this siren thing on it that I so wish I could disconnect without tearing up the whole thing!

Enjoy. I'm off to do something productive for a couple of hours. Or maybe just sleep for a change.

help

2006-06-12T09:17:00.000-06:00

Those of you following this blog know that we have a mission trip coming up to Connecticut...our group of 13 is flying out in just a few short weeks so we're trying to get together money for the flight! We're doing some cool fundraisers that we need you to help make successful. I've already shared about the Weight-a-Thon and have about 10 sponsors who are paying me a buck or two per pound that I lose between now and July 3rd. Thanks to everyone for your support in this fun twist on fund-raising. It's not too late to donate if you'd like to and haven't already.

Another great fund-raiser is a Black-and-White Photo Special by Carolyn. It will be held at Journey Church this Saturday, the 17th from 10-3. Please let me know if you'd like an appointment to have your kids/family/pet/pet rock...whatever you want photographed. Carolyn is a great photographer and has been really generous to donate her time and talent for a whole Saturday to help us get to Connecticut. The photo packages start a $55, an excellent deal with no sitting fee!

One more thing...the following Friday/Sat. June 23/24th we are having a rummage sale at the Journey center. We will begin at 7 am on Friday morning and then you can also catch us there on Saturday beginning at 7 am. We need stuff to sale and we need shoppers. Either way, your help is greatly needed and appreciated. More to follow on this one as we have some friends who will be cooking meat (Boston butt, BBQ chicken, or the likes) and selling it also on that Friday. YUMMY!

I digress

2006-06-08T21:47:00.000-06:00

I must say, I'm exhausted. I've created a day of chaos for myself as usual and now I'm paying for it. Not to mention that my dogs are barking (southern for 'feet are tired'). Dance class was a great work-out. If that won't shed the pounds then I don't know what will. Truthfully, I'm a little down. I've opened pandora's blog (hope I'm using this correctly, Mark) and I regret it. Well, sort of! I've definitely stirred everyone up generating the most comments of any post to date...and now it's too late to digress, but I am for now. So, instead of (or maybe, while) continuing to wallow in self-pity, I decided to read some of my favorite blogs. And what before my wandering eyes should appear (pretend I know the poem correctly here) but my name on Angela's blog. She's so cool, especially since she now claims to be one of "us" southerners! I am so thankful that she's paying it forward and involving me...I'm blown away! Angela, even if no one takes you up on it, it won't matter. It means so much to me that you would do that!!!!! :) You truly made my frown turn upside down and now it's just plastered on like I've won Miss America or something! Everyone go check it out and someone please take her up on it. Come on, you know you want to! Girl, if you aren't already linked up on here, you are now!

To copy Lee Ann, here's some good things from today:

*got the house clean thinking we had a "looker"---we didn't but now our house is clean

*ate lunch with my mom and some of her friends and ran into my HS English teacher that I really thought was awesome. always fun!

*Mel and Kris's excellent adventure-I've got the road trip bug along with the scrapbook bug so I decided to take a little trip to Lake Village to the scrapbook store and enter some pages in their contest. Only the store is really in Greenville. My first dumb question was, "Is this still Lake Village?" when we were like way on the other side passing through.I was waiting on a "okay, turn left right up there" anytime. Mel is like, "Well, sort of...." then it dawns on me that the store is in Greenville, MS. It was quite an adventure. Oh, and note to scrapbookers-you can only enter pages using stuff bought at their store. Bummer! But alas,it was not a wasted day, believe me...we had some good ol' fun & laughs! Abby cracked us up with her banter all the way home!

*Angela is doing a cool contest involving me. I feel special!

new pages!

2006-06-07T20:52:00.000-06:00

Brandi and I have scrapbooked 2 days in a row now. We're on a roll even if it is for just 1 and a half hours per day! Tomorrow it's back to cleaning house...here's 3 of the pages I've finished. I have one more that's not quite right yet! My favorite out of these is the "Spring Fever" page.

I started dance class today. Can you believe it? My teacher was so impressed that she wants to work with me 3 days a week instead of just one. Not really, but we are going to start meeting 3 days a week instead of just one. That part is really true :) I've sat at the dance recital for 3 years in a row wishing I could dance so by dingy, if my little girl doesn't want to take, I do. It is going to be a great workout for me - my legs are already sore tonight. I wonder if this will make me lose 15 pounds instead of just 10 before the sponsorship, weight-a-thon is over. It's not to late to pledge at least a dollar per pound. I feel like that guy that used to be on TV with black curly hair for the phone-a-thon for kids or something. Or maybe my ears are just ringing!

I'm trying to think of anything funny that Abby has said lately but I'm at a loss. She's totally into things just happening by themselves lately. For example, "Abby did you dump out all those blocks?" "No, Mom, they just got out of there all on their own!"

Or, my personal favorite, "I didn't hit Riley on the head with my broom. I was just holding it up in the air and it got on his head!"

Going to bed for my 7:30 am dance session!

calling you out...

2006-06-06T21:19:00.000-06:00

okay, need to address some folks and this is my platform.

Lila-Yes, Mike remembers you fondly. When we were driving through Nashville or Memphis (I can't remember which) he was talking about the house that his mom and George lived in and how you would babysit him sometimes when he didn't go to work with her. I'm so glad you're keeping up with him/us on here...thanks for the comment!

Nannaw-Where are you? I know you're checking my blog and I miss hearing from you on here. I need some comments to keep me going ?!?!?!? (even though you don't want me to go to CT and you love me just like I am - overweight and all)

Mom-ditto. leave me some feedback...

Rene Teater-thanks for lurking...I saw 2 comments from you on Lee Ann's blog so I must say, I'm a bit jealous....:) just kidding

Mel-thanks for the fun at Mud Hut and sponsoring me with $20 per pound-don't faint, I'm just kidding. I know that would buy a really cool stamp set :)

Angela-yes, I still read yours...i love that you're addicted to blogging almost as bad as I am :)

Brandi W.-glad we're hanging out more again. Thanks for being so exceedingly patient with me as I've been parenting a new baby and postpartumly delirious/psycho - - - even though you're outta that phase (sucka)!Glad we scrapped today!

Mimi-miss you while you're camping. I'll be expecting some comments soon!
hmmmmm, anyone else.

Suzanne-So glad you're blogging again. Miss you and glad things are looking up :)

oh, Jeff- love the idea of giving away a free magazine subscription. I'm trying to be nice and let someone else have it...maybe that's what everyone is doing. If it's not taken in the morning, I'll be on that. Sorta like eBay. gotta love that!

EVERYONE-please, please comment. I know I am not the best writer, I usually have nothing of great importance to say, I love self-promotion, etc. but the comments are what make this fun! Glad you're here!

Connecticut or bust

2006-06-05T20:58:00.000-06:00

Ah, I'm in the thick of a mission trip. That's right, a mission trip - how exciting is this????? Very... Back in April Jeff asked Mike and I to possibly round up a group of Journey folks to take a trip to Connecticut to help with VBS and various other summer fun-ities of a sister church. So, we said,"YES, of course, at your service, yipee, let's get this party started, wooooo hoooooo, etc.!!!!" Then fast forward about 2 weeks and YIKES, our team of 12 needs money, honey, to make this happen by July 8th (when we're leaving)! So, our little brains went to work as fast as they could and we've come up with some great things to raise our funds! I will begin sharing those with you here because I know all of you can't wait to HELP us!

The first is a Weight-a-Thon... some of us losers from the Monday night weight loss group are getting sponsors for helping us get rid of the fat! That's right, YOU HAVE THE CHANCE to pay me per pound and all the money goes to fly me (a few pounds lighter) to CT! So, get your calculator out and figure out just how much you can give me per pound that I lose from tonight til' July 3rd. I already have 2 sponsors at $1 and $2 per pound but you could be next. Just leave a comment telling me how much you'll be willing to pay for my pounds lost over the next several weeks! My goal, drumroll please, is to lose 10 more pounds and have at least 15 sponsors paying me the big bucks before the deadline!

All the fund-raising aside, I'm thrilled to be going on this trip. I talked with the lady there that we're coordinating with just a while ago and I can't wait to get there. I will be teaching kids with special needs and hopefully reaching out to their parents with Christ's love also.... and there's so much more going on, too. It sounds like they have a niche for all 12 of us who will be going...

Here's to connecting in Connecticut! Stay tuned for more ways to help!

post order happy dance

2006-06-05T09:16:00.000-06:00

My assistant and I just got done placing the club order from Thursday night. Here's our picture - no worries about quality control, right? I know, some of you were hoping that I got it done at 10:53 pm on Thursday night but I just now got up the courage to balance my Stampin Up! checkbook and see what supplies I could order. Abby helped me by pushing in the numbers I called out. It worked out great - she learned 7,8, and 9 and I think the order was correct in the end. Only a couple of times did the item number look like this 10000000000022222229981 (102981). She has trouble just hitting the key and not hollllllldddddddding it down occassionally. ah,hem....

So, after we ordered we played airplane on Mommy's feet and took silly pictures of ourselves. You know, like when you were in jr. high and you and your friend held the camera out in front of you and wasted about 15 shots. Only, now, with digital cameras you don't and it's still FUN! But somehow my teeth still look like Mr. Ed's from that angle...

Mike took some more surprise pictures last night when he got home from playing X-Box with his friends. Yes, he still goes over to play X-Box but hey, it keeps him outta the bars...I color, cut, and paste and call it scrapbooking and he plays video games. Can you believe we're grown up enough to have kids? yeah, us either. Anyway, the picture was of me and Abby asleep in exactly the same position. Hands over our heads in this weird arm looking thing...so strange that we even sleep alike! It wasn't very becoming so I'll just let you picture that one in your mind's eye!

Okay, now my assistant says she's ready to do some scrapbooking...til' tomorrow!

home

2006-06-04T21:49:00.000-06:00

Here's the page I did today... got the scrapbook bug really bad right now. Maybe I will have more to post this week! Love the Basic Grey paper, love the hand-stitching, and love the doodling. Maybe I've gotten out of my rut! Here's what the quote by Oliver Wendell Holmes says

Where we love is home. Home that our feet may leave but not our hearts.

rice cereal dreams

2006-06-03T21:59:00.000-06:00

okay, cross your fingers. i've been troubleshooting why we're getting NO SLEEP around here. it's not an easy task. so my latest theory is that the baby is hungry. hungry baby = give rice cereal. tonight she gobbled it down and i had to refrain from mixing about 1/2 c. of it and letting her go to town at it...with the visions of sleep dancing in my head.... made me dizzy...lil' is a hearty little girl, LOVED the cereal even though, to me, it looks like something that's been sitting in the dirty sink for a week! i had tried it once a couple of weeks ago but she wasn't quite ready. now she gets the idea.

here's a scrapbook page i did for a virtual stamp night while everyone else is smartly sound asleep. yet another copycat page from Jenni Bowlin.

abby was complaining earlier that her neck hurts (Abbyish for "sore throat") so we'll see what tomorrow holds. i'm going to get horizontal at least for a while. toodles!

Retirement Party

2006-06-01T21:30:00.000-06:00

Nope, not for me or Mike although I have enough gray hair to retire!

Every summer the Stampin' Up! year ends at the end of June. It is bittersweet for demonstrators because we say goodbye to over 100 stamp sets but anticipate a brand new year and catalog. I've decided to hold a "retirement party" to celebrate stamping and invite all my customers and interested parties to come and stamp with me at no cost for the project(s). We will be making one or two things using retiring stamp sets. Please come if you're interested in learning more about stamping or just want to give it a try! Catalogs will be for sale dirt cheap that evening also and even though they will be "inactive" they are chock full of great ideas for cards, gifty items, page layouts, color combos, and more!

Visit Stampin' Up! to see the catalog and a list of retiring stamp sets!

This year is my first ever Retirement Party and I'm excited to offer a Mystery Hostess workshop along with it. I will give tickets/entries and then at the end of the evening draw from the tickets who will be hostess for the night and receive benefits (at least $15 in FREE merchandise of your choice + one hostess stamp set)....

RETIREMENT PARTY....June 23rd from 4-7 pm (come and go when it's convenient for you)....at my house!

Here's how you can get your name in the drawing for hostess:

1 entry if you RSVP by June 20
1 entry for attending
1 entry for every $25 you spend
2 entries for each outside order you bring
2 entries for bringing a friend
2 entries for booking a catalog workshop
3 entries for booking an in-home workshop
3 entries for taking a recruit packet
5 entries for signing up as a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator
1 entry for calling in your order if you cannot attend

Don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions at all!

if the shoe fits...

2006-06-01T15:13:00.000-06:00

I just had to share these great photos. I took some of Lil in her cute little Waverly ensemble just now. Really, it's not Waverly but it's "oh, so Waverly" to me...anyway, when I got done with my little "ham" shots I came over to download/upload/whatever and was surprised to find these pictures of Abby wearing two of my shoes. So funny! I love it when Mike takes pictures that I don't know about. So cool to be surprised...love these girls and all the fun times like wearing mismatched shoes!

I also have our second project for tonight's club with 2 hours to spare. That's me for ya! It uses the Stampin' Up! set Buds and Blossoms and Sassy Sayings and a new technique (faux linen). You scrape glossy cardstock up vertically and horizontally with sandpaper and then stamp and sponge color on however you want. It looks really vintagey to me! Enjoy...copyright SU!

First Thursday Club

2006-05-31T19:24:00.000-06:00

I just thought I'd be catching up on sleep. Seems we've hit the ground running as soon as we got home. I have First Thursday Stamp Club tomorrow night so I'm trying to get ready for that and come up with something new for the ladies who have been stamping with me FOREVER. And trying to come up with something for the men for Father's Day. Men just usually don't get stamped cards, at least from me. It's really hard for me to make a card without some sort of whimsical flower on it. I did get in the polka dots and ribbon though, my other trademarks. Sometimes I feel like 1st Thursday gals have seen all my good tricks, but they always encourage me anyway. Thank goodness they're my friends first! We're doing a new stamping technique called rock-and-roll (I think that's what it's called). The "U" is inked up in Tempting Turquoise and then then sort of rocked around the outside in Basic Brown ink-gives it a neat finish to stamp.... all products Stampin' Up! and card layout originally by Anne Anderson with some other stamp set.

On top of getting ready for club we're trying to sell our house and so I am stressing on keeping it at least decently clean, not a small task with a 3 year old and 5 month old. But, we'll see how it looks by the 10:30 showing in the AM. Yikes, I'd better go get some stuff done and quit exercising my typing fingers :)

we're home!

2006-05-30T10:18:00.000-06:00

Sorry for no notice but we took a little trip last week. actually, a long trip but we're now home. Thanks for all your comments about missing me...We went to visit Mike's grandparents in Knoxville and then spent the weekend in KY for his younger brother's high school graduation. It was a whirlwind. Here are pictures of Lilly with Greatgrandma Doris and Greatgrandfather Arie and grandma M. Also, one of Abby with her cousins (Mike's first cousins). There are no pictures of Nick the graduate since I forgot my camera at graduation. We were the ones with the little kids now holding up progress:) I remember the days of going to Knoxville and walking in with 2 bags and that was it. One trip in from the car. Those days are long gone. Mike made about 3-4 trips up the 3 flights of stairs to grandma's condo. It looked like a small army had set up camp in the spare room! We had fun and it was great to see everyone. More later.....after I catch up on laundry, stampin' business, and mission trip business. Oh, and sleep too!

I'm a carmel crunch...

2006-05-21T20:29:00.000-06:00

You Are a Caramel Crunch Donut

You're a complex creature, and you're guilty of complicating things for fun.
You've been known to sit around pondering the meaning of life...
Or at times, pondering the meaning of your doughnut.
To frost or not to frost? To fill or not to fill? These are your eternal questions.

What Donut Are You?

Okay, okay, I promise I'm going to bed now and pondering something more important than what type of donut I am! Interesting!

quack!

2006-05-21T20:20:00.000-06:00

You Are Duck

Exotic and unusual, you are a bit of a rare bird - literally.
You're known for being soft and succulent, though at times you can be a bit greasy.

What Kind of Meat Are You?

thought this was pretty funny. not sure it really describes me, but funny none the less.all you bloggers, tell me what kind of meat you are! here's to another riduculous, meaningless thing to add to your blog when you're bored...

sleep eludes me

2006-05-16T23:30:00.000-06:00

so I post. hmmmm... why is it that after a long night with a baby last night and a day of break-neck pace frenzy...well, maybe that's a slight exaggeration - I CAN'T SLEEP!?!?!? I had a Coca-Cola at dinner. I wonder? hmmmmm, after no caffiene to speak of since Lilly was born I think it affects me more than I realize.

I will just tell you my thoughts that are running through my head. Mostly useless thoughts. But not all useless. I think if I were really honest, I would probably be a "journaler". I'm not sure when I quit keeping a journal but so far, the blog thing seems to work for me. And I would have never dreamed that I would share my journal with the whole entire world at large. In fact, I promptly throw away any journals for fear of being embarrassed that someone would know my thoughts. I'm not sure why this bothers me since they probably wouldn't be reading my journal unless I'm six feet under. And then, I somehow don't think I'll really care if they read it or not. Gee, I'm weird.No comments please!

I've memorized Ephesians 4:29 over the last 2 weeks. It says: "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their need, that it may benefit those who listen." Man, I have failed so many times at that these last couple of weeks but I can also think of at least several occasions that the verse popped into my head right before I said something I shouldn't have and I bit my tongue. I don't know how many times I've asked myself, "okay, who is this benefitting, and the answer is a LOUD NO ONE! " It's been really helpful to me. It's amazing how much I talk and how little of it is really beneficial to those who listen. It's true that we can be transformed little by little...by the renewing of our minds, by scripture that is God-breathed. I'm so thankful for that!

Now that I've shared my un-beneficial thoughts with all of you and at the same time preached about beneficial words (is that 'talking out both sides of my mouth'), I'll go try to sleep again! I wish I was sleeping as hard as Abby in this picture. She only made it halfway out of bed and snoozed some more. With her puppy and Dora's baby sister in the same position as her. There's something about sleeping kids that make parents dash for the camera. Hilarious!

Sweet dreams!

our weekend so far...

2006-05-13T22:16:00.000-06:00

This weekend has been incredible...family time, 5K, bowling party, local festival, fishing! How sweet it is!And how sweet is Photoshop????? I can't believe I haven't tried it before. It's so overwhelming it can do so much but I got brave this week doing my blog banner. Then tonight I had so many photos to share I just didn't know what to do. It was either load a huge lot of photos or do something with them. I opted for "B"! Check it out...look out Jeff! Just kidding, you rock at the graphic design stuff and mine looks like a kindergarten version, but hey, it works!

Our local festival (of sorts) is in town and we made it there last night for only $12. That is AMAZING! Abby rode some rides, got some balloon dog/crown, and a light up Mickey Mouse head thing - she was in heaven...

Mike ran in the 5K this AM at 7:30 and all 3 of his girls miraculously made it there to see him finish! I'm so proud of him - 2nd place in his age bracket for men (23 min and some seconds)!

Abby had an end-of-year bowling party for the little preschool thing we have been doing this year. It's a home-based deal where the workers bring lessons out to us each week. She's had a blast and today she and Mike bowled while me and Lil' took pics...she thought it was great that they got matching bowling shoes although hers were a few sizes too big:)

Then, the culmination of our day - fishing! It was so peaceful, entertaining, and just plain great! Abby has learned to cast, hook fish and reel them in! She caught her first fish totally by herself and then caught tons more - one was a HUGE bass. She called Uncle Timmy to tell him that it was a "wall hanger"! She was so proud and so were we-all 3 of us were so excited...Mike and I just got little ones that she called "cute" but hers was the Daddy Fish!

Hope you've all had a weekend like we have. And it's only halfway over!

addressing

2006-05-11T22:56:00.000-06:00

okay, instead of posting 15 comments on your comments I decided to do another post altogether.

Mel-Don't worry! I knew you weren't laughing at me. Just typed it trying to be funny. I will stop mentioning you in my blog because it never seems to come out right. You are an awesome friend!

Michelle and Mimi-I really can't take credit for the card. It's something I copied totally from somewhere online. Don't know where I saw it but loved it so i had to make it myself. The white background paper is Abby designed though.:)

Mom-Thanks for the offer of the old dusty videos but I might enjoy choosing one that is not a hand-me-down like the one I've been doing for 10 years off and on. Geez, you'd think I'd look great by now, huh?

Thanks everyone for the positive feedback about the new blog makeover - glad you like it!

I've stayed up way too late looking at baby clothes on eBay. It's addictive and I hate how I get sucked in...goodnight!

new look!

2006-05-11T10:06:00.000-06:00

this morning abby and i have been making mother's day cards for a while so i must take a break. we've been at it for almost an hour and got ONE done! i love making cards and i love kids but sometimes, well, you'll just have to see the cards when they get to you. priceless!!!! i feel like i need octopus arms to keep hands out of the ink, away from the paper cutter and the glue cleaned up. all in all, it's good and that i spent time doing somehting with her is what matters, right!?!?!?! naptime will come eventually and i can finish up and clean up and move on to my next project.

speaking of projects:
thanks to my newest friend Michelle I now have my own personalized blog banner. Michelle, you're awesome for helping me!YAY, team! mel came by the other day and saw my homemade photo studio and was laughing at me. i'm sure it was comical.it consisted of clearing everything off the tiny night table in front of my window (my lighting source) into the floor = mess! then throwing my black SU apron (my backdrop) over the table and putting my little prop on there (my ruler with ribbons). so homegrown and kristyfied! love the new banner, love that it's mine...love that I actually used photoshop elements!

oh my gosh, abby just handed me M's (Mike's Mom's) card. she has glued it to a big whole sheet of white CS and said, "Look what I did mom, so it won't get lost. and I put the glue all over the top of the card." Well, give it a few days to dry (a little excessive on the adhesive) and she should be ready to mail! :) I wish you could see the glue smeared on top of the card in the photo. OH MY! Sorry to spoil the surprise, M, but I have to post this picture. It will take a huge manilla envelope to mail this puppy... be looking for something BIG!

okay, gotta go before I'm stuck to something and Lil wakes up hungry!

Here's to crafting with 3 year olds...everyone should do this at least once!

silence

2006-05-09T12:50:00.000-06:00

Both girls are asleep...shhhh....do you hear it! Only the sound of my fingers pinging on the keyboard. This will be short and sweet since I rarely get moments like this. Mike came home for lunch today and found Abigail plastering herself to the side of Dax then rolling her shirt with a lint roller...then plastering herself to the side of Dax and rolling some more. Too funny! I told him since our vacuum is broken maybe we should just give her the lint roller and tell her to get after the rug in the living room....hmmmm, entertainment while cleaning. Now that's an idea worth trying!

Today I'm back on the better eating bandwagon. At last night's weigh-in at my weight loss group I found that I've gained a pound and a half this week...I almost cried. Yesterday I soothed myself over a batch of cookies that Mike had made for friends who just had a baby. Sorry, Kevin and Meridith. I soothed myself so much so that I had to make brownies for the aforementioned friends. Eating and sleeping are my "coping mechanisms" I guess you could say - not a good combo. I need to change those to fasting and praying or something like that.

Today is a new day though. I did aerobics this morning, Carolyn helped me take the stuff in the lean-2 shed to the city dump and I played outside blowing bubbles that smell like mango with Abigail for a little while. Must go find my list to scratch off the shed thing!!!!

PS-My reward when I've lost 10 more pounds - a NEW workout video! YIPEEEE! I will keep you posted I'm sure!

list maker

2006-05-06T22:25:00.000-06:00

Since I shared with you yesterday that I'm a guarded person I will add to that list of personality quirks that I said I would never post! Hey, you all know that I love eating my words (see archived post about minivans)! I am a chronic list maker. Yep, I love a list. In fact, I make so many lists that Abby mimics me and makes her own list (mostly for what she needs at Walmart). She's warped for life. If you want to know what you do or say without thinking, just have kids. You begin to notice them picking up your habits. Abigail has taught me that not only do I make lists like crazy, I also sigh quite often. I began thinking when she was about two years old, "Geez, Abby sure does sigh a lot. That's terrible!!" Hmmmmmm, I do it to - very bad habit!

Back to lists. Today I had a to-do list that I marked off 12 things! Wow! I think that's my all-time record. Granted, I do like to put little daily tasks such as making the bed on there too! My favorite was reading someone else's blog about lists (okay, I'm a copycat too) who wrote down "get to work on time". Gotta love that! Sometimes I even put something on there that I've already done but forgot to write down - - just so I can have the satisfaction of marking it off. How's that for brutal honesty? I can't believe I'm admiting to this stuff. So, here's my list! I had a very accomplished day, without even adding what I'd already done and marking through it. Hope your weekend is extraordinary!

what's important?

2006-05-05T23:47:00.000-06:00

Okay, tonight I've been doing a "virtual stampin' night" with a group of Stampin' Up! Demonstrators I'm in. It was really fun and a few of us have gotten really chatty on the email scene. Thought I would share some of my thoughts with you tonight, too!

One day last week I was visiting with Jeff and Carolyn and telling them how I've been feeling lately. I'm just sort of in a spiritual slump I suppose. I don't want this post to become overly whiny so I will leave it at that. Jeff, Mike, Brandi, and others tell me that it's not just me. Everyone seems to go through these times when things just aren't intense with the Lord as they are at other times (for lack of a better word). The good thing is that my moods change as quickly as Lilly's but God never does. Lil can be crying to beat the band one minute and then flash a grin at you bigger than Texas. No kidding; it's that fast! Thankfully I'm the same way. Yesterday I was grouchy but today I'm counting my blessings. I love looking at photos like this that remind me that there's so much more to life than everyday worries and concerns!

Here's some things I had begun to think were more important than they were:

Lilly's rash/eczema - - -rashes come and go and we now have medicine
Laundry piled to the ceiling - - -thankfully we have clothes to wear
Abby's "miss"behaving - - - I still have a few years of training and testing
House is a disaster - - -it bothers no one but me I've concluded
Gotta lose weight - - - I'm doing it!!!! YAY!!!! what's to obsess about?

What's really important? loving others in authentic relationships... I want to live on purpose for Christ no matter my circumstances, to glorify Him and be joyful about it (stolen from Jeff's life motto and changed up a bit)

Here's 2 pages that depict authenticity at it's best. Great-grandparents, I know there's 5 more of you out there but don't get jealous yet. Your pictures and pages are coming hopefully! Oh, and I worked and worked to do both photos of Mike the night Lilly was born...just was better to have one on the page so I had to show you the other one. It's one of those times I look at him in the picture and want to say, "Penny for your thoughts?"

Oh, and you probably can't read Mike's writing. He journaled to Lilly for me-isn't that awesome! It reads, "Lilly, you have changed so much and so fast. One thing that will never change is my love for you. You can hold my hand anytime. Daddy"

Now go think about what's really important in your own words! I've always been such a guarded person; I'm not sure what about the blog scene it is that makes me so free to share...thanks for listening and commenting!

kazoo for you!

2006-05-03T20:15:00.000-06:00

Tonight is an interesting night at our house. I was in the living room feeding Lilly feeling sorry for myself and having a rotten attitude about, well, about everything....and hear "We are the Champions" by Mike coming from Abby's room - not sung but by kazoo. He's apparently taken up a new instrument. Then Abby yells at him, "Daddy, I'm through!" All you parents out there know what that means and if you don't, just don't even ask....so then I hear kazoo song "oops I did it again" :)

It was perfect timing for him to make me laugh so hard I just about wet my pants (speaking of "oops, i did it again"). For some reason I've been in a funk lately. Truthfully, I think I know why I'm singin the blues...it's all because the Lord is dealing with me and the heat is turned up!

*now I'm hearing Hank Williams Jr. "Country Boy can Survive" by kazoo

*new song "taps" if you can imagine by kazoo, how am i even typing?...

*new song "Freebird"

I will do another post and address this important issue after the girls are asleep (if I'm not asleep too) and the kazoo has been hidden! Til' then, happy humming to you and yours!

PS-Thanks for making me laugh Mike, even when I'm in a bad mood and it frustrates me that you're getting me to laugh when I want to sulk for a while. I love that about you!

tag, you're it!

2006-04-30T20:44:00.000-06:00

I was just reading a post on a blog that I'm addicted to reading. She had been "tagged" by a friend to do these lists on her blog. So here's mine!

5 things you'd find in my fridge:
leftover pasta roni, an apple, grape juice, ranch dressing, Dora yogurt

5 things you'd find in my purse (diaper bag):
diapers, pacifiers, sunglasses/headband, gas drops, lip gloss

5 things in my closet:
favorite maternity jeans that I just can't let go of yet, solid pink tee, solid blue tee, solid brown tee, solid black tee (gee, I'm boring)

5 things in my car:
sunglasses/headband, Classic Disney CASSETTE TAPE (no, we're not with the 21st century yet), magnetic dollhouse book thingy, cool magnet toy that Mel gave Abby at Christmas, 3 empty water bottles (counting as 1 item)

Okay, now that you've wasted a minute or so go make your own little lists of 5 on your blog or under the comments here. Sometimes I just feel the need to post even though I have nothing really great to say. Jeff has gotten me thinking about words lately on his blog and in his teaching this morning--- and well, this was a complete waste of words! More on the word subject later!

swooped

2006-04-25T16:03:00.000-06:00

Some of my friends have bird nest blogs so I must share our bird nest too. Mike went out to trim the bushes so I could see the swingset really well - - and discovered that the 2 overgrown bushes are home to some eggs and chirping tiny bird babies. Spring is in the air I guess! I'm so thankful that he's the kind of guy that wouldn't cut the bush just because of these baby birds. He's waiting on them to hatch before he brings the shears back out. He's also the kind of guy that birds have always wanted to attack for some reason. He's been "swoooped" more than anyone I know. One time at the beach I seriously thought a seagull was going to take him off- the bird kept flying right down behind Mike's head. It was a sight! All this to say...he's a sweet guy who doesn't want to harm baby birdies BUT he's also a smart guy! Mama bird was flying really close. :)

so us right now!

2006-04-23T21:19:00.001-06:00

Carolyn brought this to me last week because it reminded her of me. Gee, I don't know what to make of that...

quotes

2006-04-22T06:18:00.000-06:00

about today's photo - Mike said, "Do you think she's comfortable?"

At car dealership last night Abby said, "Why are those cars in the 'show-off' room?"

When I hugged her after her bath, "Mom, why do you smell like spit-up?"

Tuesday Night Album

2006-04-21T10:20:00.000-06:00

Here's pages for the scrapbooking class I'm doing next Tuesday night. They are bound with a ring (with ribbon on ring)...all pages are 5x5...will post more about it later but please let me know ASAP if you want to participate. Please excuse the smudges - my lovely assistant was being abundantly helpful today :)

word to yo' mutha!

2006-04-20T10:14:00.000-06:00

Our future's so bright, we gotta wear shades, man!

Oh, the things we do for fun and to waste time around this house...

My blogging style: 5 days, 1 post....1 day, 5 posts... when you figure me out let me know!

how far we've come

2006-04-20T09:54:00.000-06:00

While I was digging through old scrapbooks looking for a picture for Dax's 'before' shot - - I came across my first scrapbook (stickers and decorative scissors galore)....how funny! I love to go through old stuff. It's amazing how far scrapbooking has come in just a few short years. Here's my first page (1999) for your pleasure! Check out the photo of the trees with us tiny in the corner. My photography skills have come along quite a bit, too, although I still have lots to learn :)

Some scrapbookers wish they could redo all those old ugly, funny pages they did. Not me, I'm proud to see how I've evolved as an artist. Just think what it will look like in 5 more years. Who knows, someday I might just try digital scrapping!

Extreme Makeover Canine Edition

2006-04-20T09:45:00.000-06:00

Our faithful friend, Dax, got a haircut. He's ready for the army now! I cried all the way home because he just didn't seem like the same dog when I picked him up. I barely recognized him. Some of you will be shocked the next time you see him. Abby said, "Wow, he's skinny now!" Weighing in at almost 75 pounds that's not even in his vocabulary. The vet had to use his horse shears to cut through the thick undercoat. Poor, poor, hairy old Dax...

This brings new meaning to the term 'buzz cut'!

PS- Mike would probably warn you to do all your laughing before you come over...I'm still a tad postpartum (how long can I claim this?)!

pss-This didn't load the pics in order but I bet you can pick out the 'before' shot

2006-04-18T05:21:00.000-06:00

Here's the rest of the pages I did Friday night. I encourage you to make memories! It's the everyday moments that I love to scrapbook the best...

Also, use your handwriting. In the age of email and internet, handwriting is fast becoming a thing of the past. I cherish the things I have that are written like cards and letters from my grandparents (I even have birthday cards from my first birthday), recipes in Granny's handwriting jotted down on spiral notebook paper, Dad's Bible with his handwritten notes and dates scribbled in the margin, mine and Mike's baby books written in our Mom's hand,etc. Plus it's cool to just know that that person once held the item in their own hand!

So, all this to say, use your handwriting no matter what you think of it. Send someone a real card that really requires $.40 to mail and takes a day or two to get there.Most people don't like their own handwriting but it is so unique for each individual. Someday someone will look at these pages and say, Great Grandma Kristy wrote this in the late 1900's and early 2000's or something similar. And practice- you can tweak it how you like it and make it better and better :)

just a swingin'

2006-04-17T17:04:00.000-06:00

headline news: the Hales have a swingset. i have wanted one for Abby for what seems like eternity and we finally got one. and it's wooden just like i wanted...fort in the top and all! :)

have i told you what an incredible dad/husband mike is? not only did i get to go scrapbook whilst he "parented" alone for 6 hours straight then worked at the hospital all day saturday - BUT he also put together a big swingset which is no minor task. all in one weekend. yep, he's the BEST! and kudos to uncle timmy for helping!

here's pictures of our gal all grown up with her own swingset now. friends are adelyn and sam who came to try it out before it was even done last night. carolyn always lends a helping hand with Lilly!

overheard

2006-04-17T12:00:00.000-06:00

overheard by Jeff:

"Adelyn, you know what I'm gonna teach my baby sister Lillian? I'm gonna teach her how to fake cough like this....ack,ack,aghhhh!"

what Abby has learned:

If I have a sore throat Mom will give me medicine.

what Jeff didn't know:

Abby has perfected what we call the fakey cough in order to get herself a dose of magic purple medicine (Tylenol that melts in your mouth).

what Jeff said:

"Ya'll are starting a young addict, huh?"

dress-up page

2006-04-17T11:52:00.000-06:00

Here is another page from Friday night's crop. I will get more of them uploaded soon hopefully. This was one of those moments that I just had to run get the camera. Abby was playing dress up and had quite the outfit going on. Gotta love her fashion sense - trucker cap with fuzzy pink stocking things and a Snow White dress...

I made my own flower by freehanding the petal and then using it as a template to cut out the blue paper...just dabbed some pink paint on there to give it some dimension and the center is a stamped image cut out and popped up off the page!

oh yeah, i scrapped tonight!

2006-04-14T23:38:00.000-06:00

oh, yeah, oh, yeah,i scrapped tonight. me and my bestest scrappin' bud snuck out to a little girls' night out at the lss (local scrapbook store). i love it! we had fun...we went to eat some greasy popeye's, i got to drink a coke (don't tell mike)...played with all my little playthings like letters, stamps, cool paper, and paint...laughed and talked about grown up things and things that don't matter.

need more of these times. here i sit staring at the 8 pages i made when i should be sleeping so i thought i would share. it's so quiet around here it's incredible. just got home. waiting on the all-nighter in may. mike, get ready...i'll be asking if i can go...please????? i know i need sleep but i also need to create. it does me good... ronnie, can brandi go too? it just wouldn't be much fun without her.

by the way, i have a thing with flowers on my pages i created tonight. i thought it was something new in my scrapbooking arena but brandi says, "hello, you've always been a flower chic!" who'd have thought it.and blogging has been around a while too :)

here's us scrappin' and here's a cute flower page. maybe it's my favorite right now. love the crisp white, really sets off the paper and photo (brandi's idea)!

here's to creating!

Never say Never

2006-04-13T11:58:00.000-06:00

There are so many things on my mind to type about right now I just don't know where to begin. Dogs dying, trips to the zoo, scrapbooking, eating words...where do I begin?

Yesterday we made a trip to the zoo with my cousin Stephanie and her 2 kids, Brayden and Valeri. It's great that I have her because Brayden and Abby were born within 2 months of one another and then Lilly and Valeri came within 2 months of one another. Pretty darn cool to have someone in the same exact ages/stages that we are in. Too bad we don't live closer but we're going to try to get together monthly from now on. I thought we'd have fun catching up and chatting but seems like we barely got to visit while taking the kids to the zoo and out to eat. We did have a blast though and couldn't have asked for better weather.

On the way to the zoo I was pondering all the words I eat. This is my new diet, only I've been on it for most of my life. Munch, munch, munch...It's a good thing my words don't have fat grams and calories or I'd be trying to lose 500 pounds instead of just 50! I'll give you an example. As a young whipper snapper I used to say, "I will never drive a mini-van" while thinking to myself, "I'm way too cool for that." No offense all you minivan driving friends;I've always loved you anyway and loved hitching rides in your smooth ridin, easy in, load haulin automobiles. Now guess what I really covet? YEP, MINIVANS...I can't believe I'm to that point. Great example. Oh, and also on zoo day I was wishing that I had gone ahead and bought one of those kid leash thingys for Abby. I can't believe that either-another I'll never situation. I used to think it ridiculous to tie yourself to your kids but as I was frantically trying to keep my eyes on Abby while pushing Lilly in the stroller and watch where we're going....you get the picture. Have I learned to never say never? Nope, and I probably NEVER will. Really, I should have gone ahead and let mom go with us after all:)

Okay, I vow to you that my next post will not have to do with 3 year olds unless it is a scrapbook page of one... another thing I'm eating... my blog is not gonna be only about my life as a mom, I'm much too interesting for that... I'm going to post a couple of scrapbook pages a week. WHATEVER! Mothering is forefront on the homefront lately so I just can't help it. So I'm Mom.. But I'm so much more. Stay tuned!

Simple Pleasures

2006-04-11T20:07:00.000-06:00

Okay, I'm into a new "routine phase" of my life. Seems like I'm either helter-skelter or have a "routine". I don't like using the word schedule because it seems to have negative connotations for most of the modern child-rearing world...Who knows? I personally like schedules. Maybe it's the special ed teacher coming out in me or something but I love to work with a chart and make a schedule. So, a few days ago I did the "perfect day" routine. It now has 3 columns to juggle since we've added Lilly. I have so many things I'd love to get done on a daily basis for me, Abby, and Lil but so far I've managed to exercise 4 times in the last week, cook dinner most nights, and clean the kitchen right after dinner. My utlimate goal is to have a set bedtime and waketime for everyone. The day that happens you will hear the Hallelujah Chorus resounding across the nation. Discipline is so good for me and it has been nice waking up to no dirty dishes and cookware piled in the sink. Now if I could just mangage to exercise at a "routine" time, get in some of Abby's little preschool work, and scrapbook EVER AGAIN!

The weather has been gorgeous the last couple of days. Here's some shots of the girls. I can't believe how much Lil is changing right before our eyes and that it's already been 3 months with her. It just gets better all the time! She's such a good and sweet little girl and loves to talk and coo. She will be giving Abby the chatterbox a run for her money it looks like.

Here's to enjoying the springtime and simple pleasures- like making pictures at the spur of the moment (which is not on the schedule)!

PS- Here are the funny things Abby has said lately:
She's gotten my big red calculator and calls it her computer. She says, "Wait, I need to check my any-mail" which means email in our language.

This morning I couldn't find Lilly's pacifier, the one with the big clip attached no less. Abby says, "I will help you find it Mom, then it won't be so mysterious anymore!" We have yet to see it...

who's bloggin' next?

2006-04-09T20:34:00.000-06:00

Wow, the blog world has just exploded I think. I wasn't going to write anything today but just found out 3 more girlfriends are blogging now...I think it's contagious. Welcome Angela, Tammie, and Diana. I'm so glad I'll get to secretly see all about what's going on in your world too ! It's so funny how I'm addicted to reading some blogs. I read 2 complete strangers' and it's like I know them or something. It's a weird personality quirk of mine. I also love it when I can see into someone's home at night. Don't know why I'm so curious as to how other people live.

I got back on the exercise bandwagon this last week since Diana started the Weight No More group at Journey last Monday. She's making us weigh in each week which I think is a splendid idea. It's really motivated me this week. I've been walking 4 times since then. It was tough to find the time but I made myself do it. Wednesday before small group I took the girls and went to the park to walk by myself. I'm so glad no one came with their camera because I'm sure it was hysterical and that I looked like a pack horse. I had Lilly (now 3 months) strapped onto my person in a little front carrier called a snuggli while pushing Abby (3 years old) in a big wheeled jogging stroller. I had it going on, let me tell ya! If you really want to make walking a workout like never before just come borrow my kids. I was concerned that Lil was getting shaken-baby syndrome though because I walk so rough. So on all the straight stretches I was holding her head tight against me and pushing the stroller one handed...not pretty! Maybe the aerobics video at home would be a better bet but just not as much fun for the general public to observe :)

Oh, and speaking of changes due to Weight No More - TODAY I HAD 7 SERVINGS OF FRUITS AND VEGGIES!!!! This is an all-time record in my life I think. I've developed a taste for green beans , broccoli, and tomatoes over the last couple of years which is amazing since I never would have touched any of these as a child. Mom always said you could develop a taste for something and, by dingies, you can. I'm proof of it!

Here's to sweating and eating healthier foods!

rambling...

2006-04-06T22:05:00.000-06:00

This week has been so hectic that I think it's been the longest time without posting for me...wow! And I have had a little discovery that makes me laugh because it's so true of me. Blogs have been around a while. Yeah, quite a while and I DIDN"T KNOW IT! Imagine that. I am so in my own little world. And here I thought I'd caught onto something cool and new then I start finding all these blogs with archives from 2004. So I'm a couple of years late...it's the story of my life. I think in AR we get the leftovers from the fashion industry and maybe we get the leftover "this is so cool" wave of things too. Oh well, better late than never!

The picture is of Abby with her little finger light. I don't know how on earth she keeps up with it in this house as it is only about 1 inch long (the light, not the house, heh, heh, heh) but she does and she loves this little gadget. It's amazing how much easier bedtime is with this light. Thanks Mimi for seeing a little purple $1 (that's what you said anyway) light and thinking it was perfect for Abster, it was. She takes it to bed and then we have to go turn it off without waking her up. Hints to all you who shower me and my girls with wonderful treats all the time - WE LOVE LITTLE TINY THINGS A LOT! They seem to fit in this house and not take up the space of huge baby dolls named Barefoot! wink, wink, you know who you are and know that I love you no matter the size of your gifts! seriously, all 3 of us gals are spoiled rotten!

Oh, and Lil laughed out loud at her Daddy last night for the first time! It was so cute and funny...I love how my friend puts it "It's so good when babies can start expressing pleasure as well as pain."

Here's to the real pleasures in life!

in trouble

2006-04-03T20:57:00.000-06:00

Okay, my 3 year old girl is letting me have it lately. Apparently I laugh way too much because over the last week or so I've heard a million times:
"Nothing's funny, Mom!"
"Shhh, don't laugh!"
"Mom, you're not funny!"
"Only me and my grandma's are funny!"
etc,etc,etc.
I will give it to her-she and all her grandmas are a riot if you ask me... but I'm so tired of being told not to laugh. It's what I do best. I know I laugh at inappropriate times but it beats the heck out of crying, right?

Another thing she says all the time (especially when she wants to hear herself talk but can't think of anything to say):
"Why do little doggies jump on us?"
She says this all the time and normally it's cute (when she's nervous at the eye dr., when someone new is around her, just because) But it's not so cute when she's gotten out of bed for the 6th time and comes in and looks at me and says, "Why do little doggies jump on us?" When she was an even littler girl her nervous phrase was "Dax is a big ol' hairy dog!" It was too cute! Dax definitely qualifies for all that weighing in at almost 100 pounds and with enough fur to live in AK instead of AR.

Here's to nervous phrases and actually recording all these great quotes from Abby like everyone tells me to and I don't do!