History In the Making

I did a lot of praying today. I love trusting in a God who has all things under His control. All my kids have been very interested in this historical day. I'm glad they have such pride in their country. It actually surprises me that even though I'm not American, I feel just as much pride or should I say, gratitude to be living in such a fantastic country.

I thought the ceremony was amazing and very moving. I think it's fascinating that we have a President with a young family. That alone has drawn my children's attention to the whole world of politics. Kelsey keeps asking, when do we get to see him go into the...'white' house. LOL!! So sweet.

This event and many others have been making me think a lot about family in these last few weeks. This year I want to focus on more 'play' time. I still can't believe that Kelsey is now in ballet. Today was her first 'official' day. She beamed the entire time. Loved it.

There's a family in my life right now who I love so much. Great parents. Adorable, precious boys. I thank God for them. I've been wanting to share some photos that I took of the seven of them playin' at the beach. Maybe this will inspire you to get out there and spend some time 'playing' with the ones you love. Thane and Becky have graciously allowed me to share these photos with you all. They know my dream is to some day be a 'real' photographer!



















































































































Aren't they the cutest EVER!!

Okay, now to share some scrappy news. Have you been following the peeks??? This is just a small treat of what is yet to come with Collage Press. This paper called 'Sweet Shop' is so gorgeous. I can't wait until everyone can see the rest of it!












And if you are looking to 'fetch' some great paper for the little man in your life, check out these boy papers from PINK Paislee!! (Well...okay they could be for a girl too...)



And of course, these adorable papers for all the princess in our lives. You can find lots of creative inspiration for the lines here.

I blinked!!!

Somewhere along the line I blinked and my lil' Kelsey got big!! Up until this point, I’ve been keeping her home with me. When people ask her if she’s in preschool, she says ‘I’m homeschooled.’ It cracks me up! Really, we are just at home together having fun…learning on the way of course. LOL!

Well, I’ve been subbing a lot lately and especially on Fridays so we finally decided to put her into pre-school for just one day a week. She was so excited. I was so sad! It’s just one day a week. I’ll be okay. LOL. Of course, she has only gone one day and didn’t even notice that I wasn’t there to see her off (that was the hardest part for me.)

This week, on Friday, Ashley has a fieldtrip and I promised her that I would go on it with her. Then, I just found out that Kelsey has one too!! The funny part is, they are both going to the Aquarium! I’m feeling like a bad mom. I miss her first day of preschool…then I miss her first field trip because I already committed to Ashley’s class. Well…what can I say. She’s such a third child!! Hopefully I’ll run into her when we are there. Here is a photo of her on her first day of preschool (yes…I was sure to get a photo…)























I also just got off the phone from signing her up for ballet. We've been tellig her for two years that she could do it when she was older. I can't believe it's time. I would have loved to put her in during the last fall when they were preparing for the Nutcracker because that is her all time favorite story. Can you believe, because of the horrible storms, they had to cancel the ballet in December and now they are working on perfecting it for the performance in May??!! So, she is going to get to be in the Nutcracker after all. I'm so thrilled for her!

More good news!!! Scrapbook Trends contacted me yesterday and wants one of my projects for their June issue!! That’s going to be good month for me. I had to send it off already so I can’t share it. I do have a another one to share though.















Thanks for stopping by my blog! Have a fabulous day!

Finally the sneak peeks are coming...and another Pub!!!

I must not be blogging very much because it seems like I continue to talk about what's been recently picked up (sorry about that!) I'm just really excited! I have been wanting to purchase these Maya Road flowers (trinkets) and sheers for an entire year. This may surprise you but, I don't actually purchase very much scrapbooking products. I've really been watching my spending this year and of course everywhere I had a credit or gift certificate, they did not carry these gems I've been wanting! I'm certainly not complaining. Seems like every time I turn around I'm blessed with the best of the best products. These two thing were just at the top of my wish list.
















Well, I could wait no longer and I finally put in an order of Maya Road goodies. I was able to create a card right away (new stuff is always such an inspiration!) Seriously, I just put this card together two days ago. I used Scenic Route, Sonoma and Crate Paper as well as my Fiskar Threading Water Border punch along with my new goodies and came up with this card. It felt good just to 'put something together' after having taken a little break. I can't believe that I already have an email from Alisha saying the CARDS would like to publish it. Thanks for letting me share my news once again!

I worked every day last week and haven't been able to do much scrappin. Now I'm trying to get caught up with....everything!

I did want to share about one thing that I've been working on. If you are a fiskateer and haven't heard about this opportunity that I posted last night, you might want to check it out here. There has been a tremendous response and my inbox has never seen so many emails...ever!

I want so badly to share all the peeks that I've found of some of my favorite companies. I just know that I would never be able to keep up! One day I came home from work and I could not believe all the fabulous new goodies posted on the Fiskateer blog. One of my favorites is this Forever Love line by Heidi Grace.

Maya Road is also starting to share some of their peeks with us. I love this time of year! It's so fun. Check out this album!

Then there is the Pattern Paper from Cosmo Cricket....***swoon*** (not sure when I'll recover from reading through this post!) I can't even pick a favorite. They are all soooo amazing.

Do you have a favorite sneak peek coming at CHA? I know there's a lot of them I haven't seen yet. Do share!

Happy New Year!

I can't believe we are already 4 days into 2009! Yikes...my blog is still playing Christmas music and is still lookin' quite festive! I've been so busy with family and events that I haven't had a chance to do much crafting or blogging.

We also had a Memorial Service, 'celebration of life,' for Don yesterday. That was a tough one. What an amazing man. I think there were between 500 and 600 people there. Arte, my sweet husband, delivered the message and he did an excellent job. I'm sure it was so hard for him as he had to deal with his own emotions, not to mention the nerves as he looked out to see the many people who were there including all the founding Pastor's of all the church's in the area! Don's life touched so many people. He really, really loved the Lord and knew how to share the love of God in such a personal way. What a sweet time we had remembering how funny he was and how special he made everyone feel.

Really, it was a celebration and we know that he is in a happier place. It was a time of laugher mixed in with the tears. We were up with Patty at her house last night after the service. Although she is so gracious and appears to be so strong, I know that she could continue to use your prayers.
Okay...wasn't planning on posting another 'heavy.'

My parents just left to return back to Canada last night. We had a great visit and the kids got to have another 'Christmas' as they would say, opening a few more gifts. Kelsey got the noisiest toy. Has it been that long, that my Mother would forget what it's like to have a loud, annoying toy in the house? Ah well. Kelsey loves it! My Mum did leave me her Cuttlebug so I'm super excited about that. Now I just have to get some templates. I'm sure you'll be seeing some 'embossed' projects very shortly!

I do have a card to share. It's one I created a while back and is now up on Triple the Sketch. I created it for Sketch #38 using Kimberly Poloson paper and Fiskars stamp.



Thanks for stopping by! Have a fabulous week!