Sorry...

I know I've been MIA lately, but that's because my computer is upstairs and it is sweltering hot up there. I decided to give a little update from my iPod, but I'm quickly realizing it's not very efficient. LOL So, just know that when the weather finally gives us a break, I'll be back. Until then... C'ya!

Oops!

I just went thru all my previous post and realized I haven't posted the majority of my other cards! So I thought I should post them real quick. I didn't used to keep record of what kits I used or where I got them, so I don't have that info for most of these. But, here they are in order from week 3-6:

Week 3 - "Protector"

Week 4 - "Righteous" Kit: "LuckyFish" by Vicki's Blog and Mel's Lightbulb Moments (flowers from other random kits)

Week 5 - "Creator"

Week 6 - "Almighty"
You can find the first 2 here and #7 in the previous post.
And NOW I'm going to bed, LOL. C'ya

His name is King

I finally finished another card for my "His Holy Name" project over at Faith Sisters. This is week 7 and the name of the week is "King". I found a lot of great verses for this study, but I chose the 2 that I did because I know that God is my King forever, and I should praise him and give him glory and honor always and in all ways.

I've found that if you start thinking about your blessings one at a time then one thing leads to another and soon you have a full list of things to be thankful for. Count your blessings today, and Praise our King for them!

Here is my card:

Kit - You Are Beautiful by Verena Karolyi Designs, Crown - My CT Rocks

I'm going to bed now. My eyes are burning. LOL. But I'll be back soon. God bless you, and until next time... Cya!

Cartwheels

Well, I finally finished it. This one took me a LONG time to get it the way I really liked it. It was hard, too! I tried SO hard not to make it too girlie. Zach would've had a fit! So I made sure to get his final approval before I commited to it. lol I also wanted it to feel like it flowed smoothly, like a cartwheel. And The template I used was only a jumping off point. I made several changes to it along the way, and wanted to make sure the pages mirrored each other. Aaahhh... I'm glad to be done with this one, but happy with the end result as well. And so I give you... Cartwheels!

Here's a closer look at each page.

Everything I used is from the kit "My CT Rocks!". It was a HUGE CT Appreciation gift from a LOT of different designers from all over the web. The colors in the kit were perfect for this layout, because his shirt is black and hers is pink, both major colors in the kit. Plus the kit had this awesome green in it that I could use to make it not so girlie with all the pink. So, I'm happy with it, and I'm happy that Zach's happy with it :) What do you think?

I'm not sure what I'll be working on next, but when I get something done I'll be back. Until then...C'ya!

Happy Anniversary to me! :)

Well, no, it's not today. It was on Wednesday, the last day I posted.
I woke up Wednesday and our plans for the day were this: I had a Dr.s appointment at 10am, Charles had an appointment to clean someones carpet at 2pm. That was it. Nothing special. Charles had to work that night, so we didn't plan to do anything.
Well, Tyler and Chris had been at my Mom's working all day and when they finished there they took off for Hagg Lake. It was such a HOT day! We had just finished dinner and Charles was getting ready to head upstairs to get ready for work when the boys finally got home. As soon as they walked in the door Chris told Charles to "call into work and tell them you wouldn't be there". And that he and I were going out to dinner. I laughed and told him "we just finished dinner". Tyler said "Then go to a movie!" While Charles was calling in (I was completely surprised that he actually did it!) I was looking up showtimes. But there was nothing either of us wanted to see. All of a sudden Charles says "You want ice cream?" I don't eat ice cream much, it upsets my tummy, which he knows, so I said not really. He says "How about Daiquiri Ice from Baskin Robbins"? ooOOoo That's TOTALLY different! That's my favorite and I don't get it often, so I jumped all over that!
After all this discussing, and then showering and getting ready, by the time we were ready to go it was 9 :00! That's usually settle down time, not going out time. But go out, we did. First we went to Baskin Robbins and I decided I wanted a scoop of bubblegum ice cream and a scoop of daiquiri ice in a waffle cone. Charles got 2 scoops of cookie dough ice cream in a waffle cone. Mm! it was so GOOD! We sat out is front of BR for a few minutes, but decided to go out to the Hillsboro airport and find someplace to park and watch the airplanes come and go. Sounds romantic, huh? lol. Well..... first we found out there isn't anywhere out there where you can sit in the direct path of the airplanes, so it wasn't as cool as we thought it'd be. Then secondly, remember when I said "It was such a HOT day!"? Yeah. My ice cream started dripping all over me! I had it on both lags of my capris, a BIG drip rolled right down my chest and tummy, and it was all over my cheeks and nose! UGH! SO not what we had planned. I was now a hot, sticky mess, but Charles was totally entertained! lol. At this point we decided we'd better just head back home. It was now 11 pm and we were totally ready for bed. It was a good night. It was a great surprise from the boys and I'm thankful for their sweetness. Happy 14 years Honey, and wishes for MANY more to come.

Yesterday, Friday, the kids and I went out to the Wilson River again with our bestest friends, the Cookmans, Kim and her kids plus Sam Wilson. It was 95 degrees yesterday, so I decided I was actually going to wear my swim suit this time, just in case. MAN, am I glad I did. Kim had worn hers also and we waded into the river as soon as we got down there. This time we decided we liked the bank on the other side of the river better, so we took all our stuff and laid it out over there.We had a blanket all laid out for sitting in the sun, but I think we sat on it for a total of about 10 minutes. We were in the water pretty much the whole time. Ok, we never did get wet past out waists, except when the kids would splash us, but that's farther then I have been in the water anywhere in a LONG time. It's just always to cold for me. But yesterday It felt amazing!
The boys were, of course, jumping off the rock again. And then they decided to move up river a little bit and dive off an even bigger rock! The first one is about 8 feet high. The second one is probably double that. Don't worry, I have pictures AND videos! Tyler actually hesitated for a LONG time before he jumped off the big rock. He's never nervous about anything, but he was visibly nervous about this for a long time. Of course, he did finally do it, a couple times in fact. Chris did too, just not as high up on the rock. One time they jumped together!
Zach,Cody and Logan spent almost the whole time we were there catching tadpoles and little fish, which they brought back home with us. Cody are still alive this morning, Zach's are all dead and got flushed down the toilet :( He was very sad. He said he "really liked those little guys."

I haven't worked on anything scrappy lately, just been either too busy or too tired, but I have uploaded my photos from the CAT Walk, Noah's birthday and both trips to the Wilson, 1 & 2. Check those out and I'll try to get back to work on my scrapbooking :) Until then... c'ya!

2 beautiful new kits in store!

I want to show you 2 new kits in the SunshineStudioScraps.com shop.
The first one is called "A Summer's Day" by Flutter Expressions. It's full of glitter and bling, stars and strings. It's just a really cute kit. I'm particularly fond of the alpha. Very cute! For more details you can check it out here.
The second kit is called "Gardenesque" by Scrapidea-timkova. And, as the name implies, it's perfect for any of your garden photos. Whether it's a vegetable or flower garden, what's growing or who's visiting. It's a very full kit, with 16 beautiful textured, patterned and realistic papers, more than 80 unique elements and a full alpha-lower, upper and numbers. Check it out for yorself here.

Ok, back to work! I'm busy on a 2-pager today. I think it's going to turn out really cute. I'm calling it "cartwheels". I'll be back when it's done! Until then... C'ya!

"Ordinary Moments"

One more post before the end of the day. Yep, another 2 poster day!

I completed my layout. I've named it "Ordinary Moments". Actually, that's the name of the kit as well :) and it's found here. It's by one of my new favorite designers, Sweet Tomato. She has such cute kits! And I love her photo masks as well. She sells at PrettyScrappy.com, FaithSisters.com and DesignsInDigital.com. Go check her out for yourself. But first, check out my page! As it says in the photo, this picture of Steph was taken at Meldrum Bar Park in Gladstone, right on the Clackamas River, at Noah's birthday party. (Oops! I just realized I left out 'Bar' on the tag in my layout! lol) Charles actually took this picture and he did a great job! :)
The template I used is from Christy Haig. You can find it here at SunshineStudioScraps.
Well, that's it for tonight. I don't know what I'm working on next, but when I get it completed you know I'll be back to share! Until then...C'ya!

One of those times, and "Having Fun!!!"

Have you every just woke up one morning and felt completely off? Just not yourself. Don't quite know what's different, don't know why, just... not not the same. I was having a GREAT weekend. Friday was one of those low-key, kick back and relax days. Saturday was my nephew, Noah's, birthday party. They had it out in a park by the Clackamas river. The weather was gorgeous and we were able to get out and play in the water, get some sun, relax and enjoy each others company. I had a great time!
Then I wake up Sunday morning. Something woke me early in the morning and I noticed I was seeing the little flashes that I get as a warning for a migraine. I wasn't in any pain, so I just went back to sleep. But when I woke up to go to church, I felt miserable. My head and whole body hurt. And something deep within me was hurting also. I just felt like a black cloud had taken up residence in my heart. I was so sad. About EVERYthing. Every little thing was amplified beyond what I could handle. And the big things? I cried for several hours over my Papa, our financial situation, the lack of customers for Charles' business, my fear that my husband and children can't see how much I love them because I feel like I'm always yelling, disciplining (the children, not my hubby, lol). Even now, writing this, it bring tears to my eyes and a lump in my throat. These feelings hung over me all the way through yesterday, Monday. Last night I took a shower and went to bed, praying for help, to be lifted from the pit... again. When I woke today I feel much better. I was able to get out of bed and go with Charles to do what we had planned, and that's huge. Especially considering that our plans involved cleaning my Grandparents house for them while they were at Papa's brother's funeral. Have you ever had days like this? No, it's not my 'time' ;) That was a week and a half ago... lol. I don't know what is was. I go back to the Dr. tomorrow for a follow-up of a blood draw a month ago that showed I was anemic. I think I'll talk to her about it.

Anyway! I wanted to show you my newest layout. For my 2nd kit this month from SunshineStudioScraps.com I chose an adorable one called "Family Reunion" by Whimpy Chompers. It has the cutest elements! It's perfect for any family gathering or bar-b-q photos you might have. I went back in my photo album a little bit for the photos I wanted to use in this one. Last summer we had my whole family over here for a backyard weenie roast and s'mores. We had a great time and I've been meaning to use these photos since then. This was THE perfect kit for them. My page is called "Having Fun!!!".
I used an old template from the April 9-15 Template Challenge @ SUN. The photos were taken August 1st, 2008.
That's all I have for now, but I'm already working on my next one. So I'll be back soom. Until then...C'ya!

"Playing in the River"

On Sunday, it was 81 degrees here at our house and the boys were just itching to get out and do something. So we went out to play in the Wilson River. It's only about a 25-30 minute drive from here, but the difference in temperature was amazing! On the way out there I kept watching it go down and down. By the time we arrived at the spot we were looking for it had dropped down to 62 degrees! I immediately put my jacket on and grabbed the blanket out of the back of the vehicle. But there was no stopping the boys at this point. They were determined to get into that water! Tyler had been to this spot before and knew the perfect spot for jumping in from the rocks. Of course, it nearly gave me a heart attack, but I think that's half the fun for him. Fortunately after jumping a couple times each they were done and happy just sitting in the water or skipping stones across the river. We were all amazed at Charles. Here we would all be searching for the perfect smooth, flat stone, and he would just pick up whatever was there and chuck it out there, no matter the shape or the size, and everyone of them would skip! It was nuts. Here's a layout I did with some of the pictures:

The kit I used is called "Perfect Harmony" by Mary's Scrapdesign's found here at SUN. I also used a template from the July Template Challenge, also at SUN.

I completed my Desktop Calendar today. I got my template from GoDigitalScrapbooking.com from their Decorate Your Desktop Challenge. The kit I used was a 4th of July freebie over at GirslGoneScrappy.com. It's called "Firecracker Collab." Here's my Desktop:

I took all the pictures at the CAT Walk on the 4th. We had fun this year dressing up a little with our lei's and getting our faces painted by the clown that's there every year. She's a real sweet heart and she does a great job.

This weekend is my nephew Noah's birthday party. His birthday is actually on the 5th, but we try to keep it seperate from the 4th of July celebrations. He is now 11 years old! I know, I say it everytime, but I can't believe how fast they grow up. Seriously! My sister and her family stayed here again this last weekend and I was SO impressed by how grown up Noah was behaving. He sat for an hour or more playing a puzzle game on my iPod, one that can get very frustrating, but he sat there so quietly, calmly, completeing level after level. I'm so proud of him. Hold up a minute, I gotta give him a little shout-out. Hey, Noah! I Love you, Buddy! Happy Birthday! :)Speaking of... I need to go get his birthday card made! I'll be back when I have some more show 'n tell. Until then... c'ya!

Survivors '09

Every year at the CAT Walk they take a group photo of all the Cancer Survivors. This years group was much smaller than previous years. I'm not sure why...
I made a layout from a couple of pictures I took of them. One being Papa and the other of the group. If you look closely at the group photo you'll see a little girl with blonde ponytails, just left of the middle. We were behind her and her family in the CAT Walk a couple years ago. It was so hard seeing her, so tiny and so weak being pulled in her wagon, I cried most of the walk. It was good to see her this year being wiggly and giggly, like a normal little girl her age. Here is my LO:
The kit I used is called "Lavender Fields". It's a collab done by the SUN girls. I did this for the July 4th Saturday scraplift challenge, over at SUN as well. I hope you like it!
I'm off now to work on another. I don't know which one yet. I have several that I want to get done right at the moment. I'll just go where inspiration takes me and I'll be back to share when I get something done! Until then... c'ya!

Sweet Stuff...

OK, so I started working on my page for "His Holy Name", but with all the excitment of the weekend, I got a little distracted. Don't worry, I haven't quit on it, I've just laid it aside for a tiny bit. :) See, I took tons of pictures on Saurturday, Independance Day here in America, and while I was looking for free kits and templates to work on those I found an awesome template over at ElementalScraps.com in their Template Challenge. I also found a Photo Challenge over at CreativeVictorianDesigns.com. You have to use a photo of a persons profile and I knew just what photo I was going to use. So I combined the 2 challenges and this is the layout I came up with:
The kit I used is from SunshineStudioScraps.com. It's a collab called "Chocolate Cherry Delight". Here's a peek at the kit:

Isn't it Gorgeous?! The image is linked so you can click on it to go check it out for yourself in the store.

Unfortunately, I also have some bad news today. My Papa's brother, Pat, who also had cancer, passed today after a very long and painful struggle. My Papa has wanted very badly to go see him one last time, but was never able to with his own struggles with his health. Please continue to keep my Papa in your prayers, for his own health and for the loss of his brother. I'm worried about how he's going to hande the loss. They weren't even able to speak for the last several months. (I think Pat had lost the ability to talk?) His whole family is in my heart and prayers tonight. God bless them with peace and comfort.

An update...

LMBO! I guess I better put you all at ease over Tyler's work dilemma. Don't worry, all is well. See, the friend of his that called from work didn't realize that he and another co-worker had traded hours/days. She worked for him yesterday, and he's working for her today. Lol, just a little miscommunication. No worries.

This afternoon I'll be working at our youth groups fireworks tent in our church parking lot. So, if your buying fireworks in our area this year, please come to the Forest Grove Assembly of God church or the Fred Meyer parking lot in Cornelius to buy your fireworks! All proceeds go to helping send our youth group to Snow camp in the winter and to the beach in the summer, plus buy new games and such for the building. Our church has a very large group that meets on Thursday nights. It is really more of an outreach to our community kids. Then on Sunday evenings we have a smaller youth group that meets to minister to our church youth. God does some amazing things with those kids. It's an awesome thing to witness!

Right now I'm working on trying to get caught up on my "His Holy Name" challenge from FaithSisters.com. I've been very bad about keeping up on that one. In fact, I have only done 6 out of 13 challenges. But I refuse to give up. I will get caught up and I will complete it. Just to remind you... This challenge is actually a year long challenge. Every other week they give you a new name we call our Heavenly Father, and you scrap a page however you want with it. I'm making mine 4x6 double-sided cards that I keep in a box that I scrapped. So far I have completed Holy, Sovereign, Protector, Righteous, Creator, and Almighty. The one I'm working on now is King. I'm studying the bible for verses that refer to Him as King and choosing the ones I want to use on my layout. When I am done with my card I will be back to share it with you. So, until then... c'ya!