wow...

Just a quick post tonight. I received this e-mail last week:

One day after I received my designer's copy of the book. I think the general consensus of all of us who contributed to this books is "WOW!" It really is an incredible book...full of fun ideas. If you want to check it out, there's a little sneak peek up on the Paper Crafts website -- click HERE. I've never seen a book put together quite like this one before -- it's really unique and has several pages that flip out to show extra ideas. It's a real book (hard cover and all), not just a magazine-style idea book. I love it -- hope you have a chance to check it out!

In other news, I borrowed this book from the library last week. I'd heard it was good, and Meagan told me her teacher was reading it at school (not to the class...to herself when they had their reading time). So I got on the "wait list" at the local library and picked it up on Friday. I read a couple of pages Saturday...enough to know I liked the author's writing style...and then a little bit on Sunday afternoon. Then, last night I had a terrible sore throat and couldn't go to sleep, so I picked it up and started reading again. It was all over tat that point and at about 4:30 am this morning, I finished the book and went to sleep for a couple of hours. I was totally engrossed and could NOT put it down. Loved it. It's definitely not the type of book I would normally read...but I'm so glad I did! Now I can't wait to read the sequel -- I'm on the waiting list again, but there are 3 people ahead of me, so it looks like it will be a while. Oh well, maybe by the time I get it I'll be caught up on my sleep from reading the first one.

Zachary's 15 month well-child check was this morning. He's a tall, slender type of kiddo...24 lb.s (40%), 33 inches (95%). He had to have his immunizations today. AND we found out that he has a sinus infection - which I think he's had for some time now. We took him in about 3 weeks ago and the Dr. thought he had pneumonia (did I spell that right?), but we were able to control his breathing/wheezing with the nebulizer, so she decided it wasn't pneumonia...then he had a terrible couple of weeks with throwing up and rashes, and needless to say none of us have gotten a lot of sleep for the last few weeks. Hopefully the antibiotic will kick in quickly and he'll feel better and we'll all feel better!!

happy spring...

That's what our cute neighbor said this morning when she came to our door with a plate full of cupcakes. Even though it's only 50 degrees outside, it isn't snowing, so we're going to take a leap and go ahead and welcome in spring. :o)


Aren't these the cutest little butterfly and bumblebee cupcakes?!? The kids were excited to sit down and eat their mid-morning snack! Meagan thinks Shantelle is a cupcake artist (she also brought us Frankenstein cupcakes for Halloween)...Seth thinks Shantelle is a really nice mom because she makes yummy treats...I think Shantelle is a really sweet neighbor.

i'm finally back...

wow, I haven't been here for a while -- life has been busy and crazy and fun and did I mention busy? We came home last night from our little spring-break getaway...it was great to be away for a while, but now there's so much to do. Let's see, I think I'll just do a quick little run-down of what's been happening and come back with more details when I'm not quite so crazy:

• Saturday was a fun, but busy, day -- we had a ward Easter Egg hunt in the morning and a fun family egg hunt and dinner that evening



• The kids had a fun time decorating their easter buckets Saturday afternoon



• St. George was great. We left after church on Easter and drove down in the rain...



• We were able to spend a little bit of time with Brad's Grandma Jolley who is knocking on the door of 102. 102 years old - can you imagine?!?



• Monday was nice - the sun was shining and we were able to really enjoy the pool at the condo



• We also went to the sand dunes, hiked on some fun trails, spent some time at the batting cages, ate out a lot, and looked at some houses we liked (we'd love to move down there...)



• We ate dinner with Brad's mom on Wednesday night...mmm, her homemade bread is the BEST and it alone is worth the 4 hour drive!



• We drove home yesterday and hit several SNOW showers - yuck!!!



• This morning I had a dentist appointment and now my jaw is killing me.



• We decided we didn't do enough driving this week, so we drove back to Utah county to run some errands



• I delivered some fun projects to the Primedia offices today -- there are some super FUN idea books in the works -- can't wait to see themj!



• I got some other fun publication news - can't wait until I can share...



• I saw the SCRAPBOX commercial this week! Did you see it??? If you want one, you can still get the discount by mentioning my name -- seriously, they are the BEST.



• Did I mention I recently acquired a 2nd Scrap Box? It holds all of my Making Memories and O'Scrap supplies -- I LOVE being organized!!



• Speaking of O'Scrap...big news on that front...can't wait to share some projects and news from them - keep checking their website, I believe they're updating soon.



• I've been taking a photography class at BPS - I'm learning so much...love it!



• My challenge went up yesterday on the Making Memories Blog - I loved creating this page - no, it's probably not my best work and it's not earth-shattering, but it's great to get a few things documented that are important to me.



• We also picked up my wedding ring today -- it looks SOOOOOO much better. I love being able to wear it again and not want to cry when I looked at it -- plus it's all sparkly and shiny again! :o)

hmmm...okay, as I mentioned, I've got tons of work sitting here in front of me, so I'd better get busy...but I wanted to do a quick update and share a couple of photos - I'll be back soon with more! :o)

something amazing happened...

Yesterday, I turned my camera over to an anxious and excited 9 year old girl...and something amazing happened....I actually ended up in a photo or two. I know, I could go on and on about how I look fat, how my hair is messy, how I have a big zit...on and on and on. But I won't - because I'm just so happy that now I have PROOF that I am here - I play with my kiddos - I interact with them - I talk with my husband - I am here, living life...not just taking photos of everyone else living life!!! :o)

And I think she did a pretty darn good job too -- she snapped about 100 photos over the course of the afternoon - of course, they're mostly of Zach, because he's the most cooperative of the boys, but I was impressed with her ability to capture his photo, even if he is constantly on the go. I think I am going to let her use my older camera whenever she wants - it's interesting to see a different perspective other than my own - and she seems excited and interested in learning how to take photos.

Today was a typical Monday with a list of things to do that was nearly a mile long (I LOVE making lists -- mostly because I love to see a list with lots of check-marks at the end of the day...it's just so satisfying). The day's about over and there are only a couple of things I didn't get finished, and those things got moved along to tomorrow's list already, so they'll be done soon. And besides the items on my list, I also did a few other things:

• booked the condo in St. George for Spring break (we just happened to check right after someone cancelled their reservation - yahoo!)



• listed a few of my old stamp sets on E-bay (my very first e-baying venture)



• enjoyed listening to the lawnmower as Brad mowed the back lawn



• enjoyed smelling the fresh cut grass even more than hearing the mower, lol



• and blogged!!

So, here's to handing over the camera, getting ready for a vacation, enjoying the moment, and checking items off the list! :o)

projects and report cards...

I'm up late working and thought I'd take five...and post on my blog. I'm working on a few assignments that aren't even due tomorrow. I know, it sounds silly, but usually I'm working fast and furious against the clock - these projects aren't even due for at least 3 more days, lol! I'm not sure that it's a good thing that I'm "working ahead" though, it gives me time to second-guess myself and do more than I probably need to do. For example, one assignment is to create a card. I finished one and wasn't thrilled with it. About half way through creating the second one, I decided I hated it and it now resides in the trash can. On to card number 3 - it's okay...not my favorite, but I like it enough. However, before I finished card number 3, I got another idea for a fourth card, so I made it too. Pathetic, huh? I'm sure only one card will be used, so it will be fun to see which one gets picked.

We had SEP conferences this week at school. Meagan and Josh are both such great students...I am lucky that school is not an issue for either one of them. They both got straight "E's" on their report cards. (When did elementary schools get away from the ABCDF system....and go to the EG(whatever else there is) system?) An "E" is the equivalent to an "A" for us old folks. Their teachers had nothing but good to say about each of them. Their behavior and citizenship is as good as their academic grades. Needless to say I'm very proud of them both! It was also interesting to see how they reacted to the praise from their teachers - pretty laid-back and elusive about all of it. Josh is that way, always - gets it from his dad. Meagan, on the other hand, asked me what she got for getting such good grades -- do you think she gets this from me?!? (shhh...mom....be quiet...). We decided to purchase some of the new American Girl Mystery books as her reward. She loves reading, and books are one thing I've never denied the kids - I love that they love books - so it worked out well. We'll see how Josh would like to be rewarded...not that he's asked, but I want to be fair. (I get this from my jelly-bean-counting mother - but that's a post for another day! *wink*)

Several weeks ago, I created a layout for Making Memories using the new craft line. It was a project for an online scrapbooking event...and since it's over I thought it would probably be okay to share on my blog. The photos are of my parents - love them - and all the product is MM. Okay, I guess I better get back to work and try to be a little less pokey about my next assignment. :o)

you are invited...

...to the first birthday celebration of the Making Memories blog!! The best thing about this party is that the guests get all the presents. They're giving away something fun every hour, on the hour, today. Hurry over and leave a comment on THIS post...they want to know what you love about their blog and how they can improve it. Then you're eligible to win a birthday gift for yourself! The sooner you post over there, the more chances you'll have to win!! Enjoy the party...and good luck!! :o) If you read about the party and linked over from my blog, and you win...let me know!!! Happy Birthday MM Blog!

winners...

Yes, that's plural...I said winnerS! Meagan and I decided it would be fun to choose two names instead of just one. Thanks to everyone for reading my long-winded post on Monday. It's great to hear that many of you had weekends just as productive and fun as mine - don't you just love spring?!? Okay, so....the winnerS are:

Kassie said...
Hey, Wendy! You do have a keeper! I'm lucky, I got one too.We spent Saturday cleaning up the yard, which means all the debris from the construction of the new addition and got our garden boxes ready to go. glad I didn't get the urge to plant anything since it's supposed to snow tonight!Happy Monday!
Monday, March 26, 2007 10:39:00 AM

and

Anonymous said...
Sometimes it's hard to put into words how lucky we are to have husbands that are wonderful, but you did a great job!! I am very blessed to have a husband like that too! I'm just glad everyone at my house is getting over the sickies hopefully once and for all!!! That alone is a good thing. Janet - Wisconsin
Tuesday, March 27, 2007 2:18:00 PM

Meagan drew from the posts...sorry we didn't take the time to take pictures this time, so you'll just have to trust us! ;)

So, Kassie and Janet, please e-mail me with your addresses and I'll get a little surprise in the mail to you! This is always so fun, I'm sure I'll do it again soon, so keep checking in! Have a great night, everyone!

spring has left the building...

Seriously, the weather is stinky. We've had some super nice, warm, sun-shiny days over the last week or two. Today, we're supposed to get several inches of snow. Dang, I am so tired of winter, but apparently old man winter thinks he needs to make one last visit to our little valley before he goes on vacation for a few months. I decided to go ahead and cut a bunch of my daffodils and bring them inside so we can enjoy them for a few days. Normally I wouldn't cut them...but since they probably couldn't weather the storm, I opted to bring a bunch of them inside so we can have a little bit of Spring inside over the next few days even if the snow is falling outside. I put them in my very favorite vase...one that held a beautiful flower arrangement that the sweet people at Making Memories sent to me when Zach was born. Seth decided he was going to help me arrange the flowers...he felt bad for the little bent flowers that I wasn't going to put in the vase, so he figured he'd put them in all by himself. Silly kid.

great weekend...

Mondays are always so tedious for me...laundry, picking up, errands, etc. -- all the things that take all day and when you're done you feel like you have nothing to show for it. Oh well, such is life. Hopefully Monday will slip by quickly and we'll be to Tuesday before I know it!

The weekend, however, was nice and productive and fun. I spent a good portion of the day Friday shopping -- picked up some supplies for some scrapbooking/paper crafting projects I'm working on, bought some cute framed prints for the kid's bathroom, along with a fun green rug and some cute towels, picked up some new clothes, and a cute little baby shower gift for a cute new mom-to-be. After we came home I decided that it was the day I was going to tackle the playroom...it took a good 5 hours, and lots of help from the kids...but it's clean! LOVE it! I have a huge box of garbage to get rid of, and another huge box to take to the D.I. Now I want to get some fun things to hang up on the walls down there.

Saturday was busy as well. I got my hair done (which ALWAYS puts me in a good mood) while Brad took care of the kids. He took them to Dairy Keen and to Grandpa and Grandma's while the sprinklers were being repaired. Brad sold his fishing boat, I cleaned the kid's bathroom and put up the new pictures and accessories, and went grocery shopping. I spent some time preparing Sunday's meal and preparing my Primary lesson...and then I couldn't go to sleep...so I spent a few hours editing photos, watched a movie, and finally went to sleep at 6 am...only to get up at 8am Sunday morning to get ready for church. It wasn't bad though, the exhaustion didn't hit until late Sunday afternoon, so I was fine.

Sunday mornings always fly by -- getting the kids ready for church seems like it takes way longer than it should, but we managed to do it with minimal yelling/screaming/fighting from the kiddos. My friend and her family are staying at a condo in Midway, so they came down and went to church with us and then came over to our house after church. I have known Tiffany for several years, she's one of my good friends that I met through the channels of scrapbooking -- a wonderfully friendly and kind woman who is also very talented and organized. We had never met her husband and four kids, but I have to say they were just as fun and easy to get along with as she is. The kids all got along great, the husbands seemed to enjoy visiting with each other, and of course Tiffany and I had lots to talk about! We had a nice lunch and then spent the afternoon relaxing and visiting. We went to my parent's house and spent some time visiting, then came home at 7:00 to meet with our new Home Teachers. By the time they left, I was completely exhausted and crashed into bed.

This is the part where I get to brag a bit on my sweet husband. Not only did he take care of the kids most of the day Saturday, and when I crashed into bed early on Sunday, but he cleaned up the kitchen, finished washing the bigger pans and bowls that wouldn't fit into the dishwasher, got the kids into bed and got up with any of the night-time wake-ups, and still got up and went to work early this morning. And this isn't just a one-time occurance. He does things like this all the time (well, I don't usually crash into bed early, he does things even when I'm awake). He is such a good husband and dad. He works hard at his job to support us, and when he comes home he works just as hard at being a super dad to the kids. He always find the energy and time to play with the kids, even if he's exhuasted from a long day at work. He always supports me in whatever I'm doing -- whether it's taking care of the kids so I can work, or going shopping with me, or getting my wedding ring repaired (*wink*), or just doing whatever he needs to do to make our home a better place. Sometimes I have to just sit down and pinch myself...he's such an incredible person and I'm so lucky that he's my husband -- it's been almost 14 years and I love him more and more every day!

Wow, this turned into a bit of a rambling novel. If you read the whole thing, wow! and thank you. I think if you made it this far, maybe you deserve something special. Yep, you do. If you read this entire post, leave a comment telling me one GOOD thing that happened or one FUN thing you did that made last weekend a great one for you, and I'll draw a name and send you something fun from my stash of scrapbook supplies! I'll pick a name tomorrow evening. :O)

**I had to come back and edit my post to add a layout I created a while back...it just doesn't seem right to post without a project or photos or something fun to look at!! And now I'm going to leave my office and try to have a productive day -- hope you do too!

right on time...

Just popping in to share a fun little project I created recently. Seth LOVES Thomas the Tank Engine...he's basically inherited Josh's trains and built upon the collection. Zach loves them too, but Seth tries to keep them as far away from Zach as possible. Anyway, I made this little clock to hang in the boy's room. It's just one of those cheapie clocks from Wal*Mart with some Thomas paper added to the back. I took pictures of his trains and made them into tags with the Making Memories tag maker (LOVE that thing!) to replace the numbers. Seth loves it...he doesn't really care about telling time, obviously, but it's a fun little addition to his room. :o)

In other news...Brad's having his turn with being sick. I hate when he's sick enough to actually admit it to me (you know he's sick if he's admitting it -- usually he's just stubborn and won't even tell me that he isn't feeling well). He's trying to rest, but the kids are all over him - they just love him so much they can't stay away.

We took my wedding ring to a jeweler today to get an estimate to get it fixed. It's a long, sad story, but to sum it up quickly...for our 10th wedding anniversary we bought a band with diamonds to add to my engagement/wedding ring. The jeweler basically trashed my ring. I won't even go into details, but today the jeweler just kept saying she couldn't believe someone could do all of this and it's about the worst job she's ever seen. nice. So hopefully I'll be getting it all spiffed up soon. We're going to get a few more estimates...I need to remember to take some before and after photos (even though the thoughts of the current state of my ring make me so sad...) If any of you local readers know of a GOOD, reputable jeweler, please let me know!

it's short day...

Do all elementary schools have a "short day" now? We didn't have one when I was in school. We started at 8:15 and got out at 2:30, every single day. My kids don't start as early, and they go a little later...except on Wednesdays. On Wednesdays they get out at 2:25. That's over an hour earlier than normal. It's not bad (except when you have a child in afternoon kindergarten, so they have school for a whopping TWO hours - sheesh, those days it didn't even seem worth the effort, lol!) Anyway, for some reason it seems that I try to pack more into my days on Wednesday - I know, maybe I'm just not the brightest light in the fixture...but for some reason I do it. And today, BLOGGING is on my list of things to check off, so here I am! :o)

Last Sunday night I got a phone call at about 9:00 pm. I was surprised to hear a voice on the other end of the line asking me to help out with a TV commercial for The Scrap Box. The deal was pretty good...except for one thing - it was the next day. Oddly enough, Brad happened to have the day off, so early Monday morning I was packing up all (yes ALL) the contents of my Scrap Box, loading them into the van, and heading out to Salt Lake to the KJZZ studios. It was a long day, but a very interesting experience. You just never think about all the work that might go into a 30 second TV spot....ours was all day + just shooting footage, without actors and actresses - The SCRAP BOX is the Star, lol - and that doesn't count all the hours that still have to be put into editing, music, and everything else they do behind the scenes. Anyway, sometime next month, if you're local, you can see the commercial on local channels. I know it will air during Good Things Utah and Oprah...and I don't know for sure when else. If you look closely you might recognize my family photos and a page I put together on set. fun stuff. Unfortunately, we put my camera in the bottom of the ScrapBox as a prop, so I didn't take a single photo all day.


So yesterday was catch-up day. Brad did a lot of the picking up and laundry on MOnday, so that was great! I did more laundry and cleaning and some work, and by the time we got home from piano lessons, I was ready to call it a day. Unfortunately, with the time change, we still had a lot of daylight left, and the kids weren't even close to being done with their day! So we played outside, because it was in the 60's yesterday (nice). We had dinner from Dairy Keen...I know, I know -- but I'm making up for it today - dinner's already in the crock pot for tonight.


Today is supposed to be nice too -- can't wait to spend some time outside with the kids. Hopefully it will be both a productive and FUN day again. I like going to bed at night knowing I had a full day and accomplished much. And, because it's hard to do a post without a photo or a project, here's a little something to share: A photo edited using Mindy Bush's actions...I just bought these and I'm having a blast learning how to use them!



And here are a few quick and easy cards using Layout leftovers... Cheeky papers (of course), Heidi Swapp stars, and misc. letter stickers. :)

a fun little project...

A few months ago I decided that I wanted to create a special little journal just to keep little tid-bits I wanted to remember...and probably create scrapbook pages about sometime in the future. You know what I mean...little things the kids say or do, little events, or just day-to-day things that I might take for granted today, but in a month or two, will be a distant memory. So this is what I came up with:

I love the MM Cheeky line, and I am finding so many uses for my McGill Tab punch...I've used it so much in the last couple of months - love it! I bought the blank journal at Borders, and went to town. It felt good to create something just for me. I love it, and I'm enjoying filling it up with cute little things (and sometimes no-so-cute little things) that I want to remember. :o)

and now it's friday, PM...

Sorry to keep you waiting...I know I said I'd choose a winner for the grommet tool, Friday AM, and I did, but I didn't have a chance to post until now. My brother dropped by this morning to see if he could recover my pics from the corrupt camera card - he's done similar things for me in the past, but this time, I'm afraid they're just gone forever. It's such a bummer, but to keep things in perspective, I just got off the phone with a friend who just had her computer crash...and she has a YEAR'S worth of photos and videos on her hard drive - not backed up anywhere else. An entire year. Yikes. She is upset and hoping that the guy that just left her house with her hard drive will be able to recover them. So, that's my PSA for today -- back up your photos!!! :o)

So, on to the fun news. We have a winner. I couldn't believe how many posts I woke up to this morning. Allison, whoever you are, you led a lot of people to my blog for this fun little give-away! I hope you all see something you like - come back and visit...you never know when I might have something fun to share! :o)

So, I printed out everyone's name and put them in a hat:

Seth was my handsome (freshly bathed and nearly naked) assistant:

And this is the name he pulled out:

I was worried there might be more than one LISA, so I'd have to do a draw-off...but there was only one! So, LISA, e-mail me your info and I'll get your new grommet tool in the mail to you! :o)

Thanks for playing everyone!

bad news and good news...

First, the bad news...somehow between the time I took my camera card out of my camera and inserted it into my computer (this had to be all of what, 5 seconds?!?) the card decided to become corrupted. Yes, you guessed it, ladies and gentlemen...the photos are GONE. I am so glad I saved all of my photos onto my hard drive the end of last week -- because I wanted a clean card when I started my photography class over at Big Picture Scrapbooking on March 1st -- however, that means that the 150+ photos I took on Sunday while the kids played out in the snow are GONE forever. I am so bummed. I'm glad I have the few small images I uploaded to my blog...but terribly bummed about the others.

Now, the good news...Making Memories accidentally sent me two Grommet Tools. I e-mailed them to see if I should send one back and their response was this: "Don't worry about sending it back. Why don't you give it away on your blog?" So, that's what I'm doing. If you're interested in receiving a brand new grommet tool, just leave me a message! I'll draw a name Friday morning, so check back!

it's getting warmer...

...finally! On Saturday I went grocery shopping. At noon it was 17 degrees. brrrrrrr. On Sunday, we got out of church at 2:00 - it was 40 degrees! We came home and had lunch, then the kids couldn't wait to go outside for some fresh air. It's not very often you can play in the snow without a coat, but they put on their gloves and had a hay-day. Meagan (with a little help from dad, seth, and josh) built a showman. A few years ago, my friend gave me this fun little bag with all of the makings for a snowman (minus the snow, of course) - a scarf, eyes, carrot nose, pipe, and buttons. After adding the face and buttons, she filled the bag up with snow and plopped it on the snowman's head...afterwhich she affectionately dubbed her creation "Marge {the snowman} Simpson," which I thought was quite clever, lol. Zach didn't really care much for the snow - or the grass that is starting to peek through - but he was so happy to be outside.
I can't wait for all of the snow to melt and Spring to REALLY be here!