taking time to stop

 Supplies:  Patterned Paper: Joyce Paul, Familiy Ties Kit, oscraps.com; embellishments: Fei Fei’s Stuff, Familie Ties Kit, oscraps.com; fonts: Nasty,  Lombardic, Courier New

i was in the mood to do a little digi work by the fire the other day. the whole scene seemed so peaceful... my fuzzy lamb slippers and sweats lounging by the fire. time to go hunting through pictures to find one that would match the quiet peacefulness of the the late night. so here it is. the end result of a mellow winter night. a summer photo that seemed to fit the mood somehow just perfectly.

i took a little time to read the first installment of stephanie nielson's story as told by an arizona reporter who reconstructed the story of the plane crash. i cried. i was thankful, and parts of me don't know what to think. i cannot image all that she and her family have been through. but she is a beautiful person. her blog inspires me and reminds me of just how precious a gift each day really is. we are all so very blessed.


**don't forget to post your comments here for a chance to win a copy of vintage hip christmas crafts before friday!**

WIN some Vintage Hip sweetness

Vintage Hip Christmas Crafts: 9 step-by-step tutorials for layouts, decor, gifts, and more by Margie Romney-Aslett and daughters Megan and Brooke.

 

So it's getting darn close to Christmas, and I'm guessing there are a million (plus or minus) things left on your list. With cash a little tighter these days, crafty projects are not only fun, they're smart. Whether you're trying to get crafty between batches of cookies or you've got a whole weekend to revel in your creativity... this is chock Christmas projects just for you! Crafting rockstar Margie Romney-Aslett and her daughters, Brooke and Megan, have pulled together nine totally glitter-tastic ideas in Ella Publishing Co.'s latest eBook, Vintage Hip Cristmas Crafts: 9 step-by-step layouts, gifts, decor and more. Crank up the Christmas tunes, brew up a mug of peppermint cocoa and pick your crafting poison!

But wait, you say, I thought I heard something about winning something. You're right! Win a copy just for you, or as a gift for that special crafty someone. Get up to 3 chances to win. 

1. Tell me why you'd love a copy of this fab book by leaving a comment on this post. 

2. Join Ella's email list with fab ideas and coupons, and leave another comment saying so on this post.

3. Twitter or Facebook linking to the Vintage Hip Christmas Crafts book on Ella and leave another comment saying so on this post. (http://www.ellapublishing.com/catalog/ebooks/vintage-hip-christmas-crafts)

 

I'll draw a winner this Friday, December 11th. Can't wait till Friday? Well you're in luck! I've got a coupon for you, too. Use the coupon code CRAFTY09 for 25% off Vintage Hip Christmas Crafts now through 12/13. (Then, if you're the winner, you'll have a great gift for that fabulous crafty minx in your life!)

teetering on the edge

Supplies: patterned paper: Paislee Press Photogenic kit (lined & brown- as overlay) & In Good Comany kit (green), Taylor Made Indefinitely Kit (pink) oscraps.com; overlay: Paislee Press; negative frame: Rhonna Farrer House of 3; word art: Taylor Made Composure kit (oscraps.com); flower: Paislee Press In Good Comapny Kit (oscraps.com); heart: Taylor Made Indefinitely Kit (oscraps.com); font: Arial

oh wow! how did i get so far behind again? i love, love, love social networking and networks. but sometimes i'm not always the best about getting all of them updated at the same time! so here i am, getting this baby up to date... at least until the morning when it falls behind again. lol. but that's the nature of the beast i guess. keeps me out of trouble anyway!

last wednesday i took some family pictures for some friends from church. i love, love, love this family! they're funny, they're generous, they're sweet, they're thoughtful, they're the best. i am so thankful to count them as friends. anyhow, this little fella is the cutest ever. the more fun he's having, the more serious he gets. it's so darn cute. couldn't you just get lost in those big brown eyes?

we spent thanksgiving with my family, at my sister's house. very low key, and perfect. we ate, of course, and simply had a nice time together. i only fell apart once missing stan. it seems like it's the little things that set me off missing him... trying to carry a heavy table up the stairs by yourself. then your wonderful children, who mean well, try to help. my wall still stands, relatively unscathed from the incident. but the experience (silly as it seems) left my heart a little heavy. just a jabbing little reminder. so when i arrived at my sister's and my dad asked how i was... well, you know how it goes when someone asks you how you are and really means it... {sigh} i got it out, and had a really nice day with my family. i have so much to be grateful for.

my sweet niece came home with us from thanksgiving to spend the night. i told her she could come as long as she helped us clean (our project for that friday) and man did she ever! she is a cleaning machine! she helped the girls with their rooms and with our laundry. i think i may have her come over every weekend! lol. after the cleaning was done they got some play time in, jumping around. there are a few more pictures here.

on saturday the girls and i stopped by schuh farms. we've gone nearly every year to pick out christmas ornaments for the girls. it's a little farmers market in town. at christmas time she has bunches of trees each with different themed ornaments. the girls roam around until they find the one that they love more than all of the others. it's fun to see what they love each year, and how it changes over the years. we've had brides, frogs, guitars, coffee mugs, ballerinas and snowflakes, but this year we came home with an ice cream cone and a santa in a dome.

then came a few days worth of pictures just because. nothing in particular noteworthy of the day... but still a picture to walk away with. something to look back at from the beginning of the year to now.

tuesday my sister and i took my grandma out for a day of antiquing and shopping in a cute little local town. we never quite get out as often as we'd like... especially the three of us together. but it worked out rather magically and at the last minute. (that's just how we roll!) to my very special grammy... happy birthday! i love you!

i swear my girls have clothes other than this red coat! it's been so chilly outside, it seems it's made an appearance in a lot of pictures lately! guess that's how it goes this time of year.

today we were feeling motivated to get some hairdo's done. emma's was a repeat, but torrey's we made up this morning. she said all of the kids at school thought it was a peace sign. maybe next time we can really try for making it into a full peace sign with the circle and all.

Supplies: patterned paper: Family Ties Kit, Fei Fei’s Stuff (white) and Berry + Charcoal Kit, Paislee Press (red); notebook paper: Photogenic Kit, Audacious Designs; acrylic frame: Family Ties Kit, Fei Fei’s Stuff; brush and staples: Paislee Press, Chasing the Sun, Photogenic Kits; grid: Family Ties Kit, Joyce Paul Designs; heart: Adobe Photoshop; fonts: Lainy Day and Courier New

and i thought i'd give a little sneak of a project i have in december's issue of scrapbook ellaments. the article and project are here. (but promise not to tell my new sister-in-law, because it's for her!) and while you're visiting ella, be sure to sign up for their email list. you'll get a monthly link to their free eZine along with coupons and info on their latest books. but wait, there's more! i'm going to have a giveaway coming up, and signing up for the email list will give you an extra chance to win! :)

sweet nothings

sitting here sideways in my favorite living room chair, with an upside down klenex box of a makeshift mouse pad, i'm trying to figure out what to title today's post. well, nothing much came to mind after scrolling through today's array of pictures and projects, but it was a sweet day. so there you have it... a whole two sentences about absolutely nothing!

but it was, in fact, a sweet day. i designed my christmas cards, and sent them off to print. sweet! then i zipped out and FINISHED {yes, finished} my christmas shopping! double sweet! i even went to work for a couple of hours to sub for a friend at weight watchers. i'm feeling like i really got some big checks off my list today. my house is a mess, and i haven't done laundry in weeks... but hey, the shopping is done! i think i need a partner. anyone want to come live/work in my laundry room? it's really pretty big, and i'm sure we could make it very homey. no? darn. 

Supplies: patterned paper: Paislee Press: Altered Ego, Sociologie, and Philosophie Kits (oscraps.com); Overlay: Paislee Press VF Overlays; stamp frame and crisscross: Paislee Press Sociology Kit; heart: Taylor Made, Composure Kit (oscraps.com); font: Courier New

i've been on a digital scrapbooking kick the past week. and much to my surprise this morning, my stan layout made it onto the gallery standouts blog this morning. not a bad way to start the morning. plus i used one of my favorite journaling cheats... the blog copy/paste option. i guess it's not really cheating. it's just taking a snippet from my online diary and adding it to a page. but it is a fun way to start with journaling inspiration, rather than a picture. at least it is for me.

Supplies: patterned paper: Paislee Press, Philosophie Kit, oscraps.com (black, red and damask), Leiko Beck, Veteran’s Day Gift Set, oscraps.com (blue); brush and clipping mask: Taylor Made, B Side Kit, oscraps.com; font: Courier New

it's been so rainy here all week. windy and rainy. however we were lucky enough to have relative breaks in the rain (meaning they turned to showers rather than a downpour) after school for a quick picture. i'm not sure why that brightens up my day so much. i guess when it's gloomy out there's sunshine in a sweet smile from my girlies. that kind of sunshine is sure nice when it's only been coming in liquid form for a couple weeks.

Supplies: sheer tag, ribbon, crystal pins, flowers, trim, acrylic wings: Maya Road; patterned paper: Lily Bee (blue), Prima (yellow); tag: Scarlet Lime; paper flower: Tattered Angels stickers: Making Memories

i also had a new article post up at the scrap review this week reviewing maya road embellishments. i figured i'd post a couple of the projects here, and there are a few more over at tsr.  i have to tell ya, i really do love those crystal topped straight pins. i almost want to make a big tack board, just so i could to stick pretty little somethings on it with those beautiful pins. :)

Supplies: ribbon, trim, flowers, crystal pins: Maya Road; patterned paper: Scarlet Lime; card: Memory Box; paper flower: Tattered Angels; tag: My Mind's Eye; rub-on: October Afternoon; sticker: Making Memories

now that it's 1am, it's officially the day before thanksgiving. and since i am one to share stories {often over and over again to the same tolerant souls}... i think i'm going to get my day before thanksgiving down in writing since it's the anniversary of that particular day.

five years ago today, our family were together in our old minivan. it was missing a hubcap because the matriarch of our family {me} seemed to have a repeat problem of hitting curbs. after replacing it several times, we just decided to go ghetto, and leave it capless. {mind you, not that that has anything to do with the story at hand.} we were in our minivan, in process of moving back to washington. we were stationed in florida for a year, full scale move from washington to florida and back in 12 months - oh yah! well, in arizona while visiting friends on the way, torrey suddenly came down with the stomach flu. by the time we got to california, both kids had it.

so here we are, the day before thanksgiving, stuck in downtown la traffic, trying to get home before the holdiay, with two kids puking their guts out in the back seat. as i was dumping one of the full bowls out the window {there was no way we could get off in that traffic} and the man in the car next to me shot me a look i'll never forget, i turned to stan and said, "this is how i always pictured motherhood would be." we both laughed, and drove, and dumped, and laughed, and drove, and made it home just in time to make thanksgiving dinner at my sister's house with two kids that had made it back to the land of the living and eating.

some days i look at my life, with my tongue in cheek think, "this is how i always pictured it would be." and i share it with my husband and we laugh, and keep going, and dump the puke out as necessary.  there is much to be thankful for. God is good, my husband is beyond wonderful and my kids bring me joy {most of the time}. daily life is a blessing on it's own grand scale.

d-day and other details

it finally came. the day you that's been inspiring us to spend every possible moment together as a family. deployment day.  i'm pretty much a live-in-the-now sort of girl. i don't worry too much about what will happen tomorrow, or what didn't get done yesterday. sometimes i feel very blessed to be saddled with that particular personality trait in this military lifestyle. being able to enjoy every last moment until goodbye, gives you that many more precious moments to enjoy.

monday the girls and i took stan out to the base to send stan on his way into harm's way. we got him all checked in, and we ended up with 4 more hours of free time together before goodbye. i'm not sure i've ever been so thankful for the little slice of heaven on the base with the bowling alley and games. they have a whole area with foosball, ping pong, kid's pool table, play area, bouldering wall, etc. it afforded us several hours of playful family bonding. a perfect way to spend together.

there were no tears until goodbye finally hit. and it did hit hard. torrey really took it hard. there's all of the changes that come about in 4th grade have made this a bit of a different monster for her this time. with all the new reasoning skills and a drop of hormones... life seems harder to take sometimes. but with those new skills and hormones, come new ways to cope and see your world that make those hard times manageable at the same time.  i am thankful God only gives us what we can handle! the whole thing didn't hit emma until we got home. that first night brings its own kind of loneliness. thankfully it is only one night, and anyone can make it through one night.

on wednesday torrey and i were talking and she described it this way, "it's not like you're so sad you're about to cry all of the time. it's really only like that on the first day. after that, you're just kind of gloomy." it put to words the first week better than i had been able to describe. so we're trudging along, doing quite well, counting our blessings and checking off days. i am always amazed at how much seeing your blessings makes each day a blessing to be a part of. especially now, but really, for always.

i couldn't decide which picture i wanted for monday's moment in time... so i went with two. stan taking his bags and one with him and the girls. he always gets a little something special for them each time he deploys. this year, he asked a wonderful lady from church, who makes stamped silver bracelets, to make a little something special for them. he had part of a verse from 1 corinthians 13 put on the front, love never fails. and a special message to each of them stamped on the inside. i am amazed everyday at the incredible man i am married to. we're lucky girls... the whole lot of us. there are a few more d-day pictures here.

Supplies: patterned paper: Leiko Beck Designs - Veteran’s day gift kit; stitches: Kathryn Wilson, Eastbourne Kit; poloroid frame: Taylor Made, Composure Kit; staples and tag: Paislee Press, Chasing the Sun; flower brush: Fei Fei’s Stuff, Embrace Kit; dream word art: Paislee Press, Philosophie Kit; font: Century Gothic

with all of the magic moments of the past couple weeks, i've been in the get-these-puppies-on-paper sort of mood. a 10 year anniversary seemed a very good place to start on the paper putting-on path. Especially with the beautiful veteran's day digital gift set from Leiko Beck Designs. thank you oscraps and your designers for your generous support of our troops!

tuesday life started back to normal. the girls both went back to school after monday's craziness. torrey was met with the book order she'd been waiting to get her hands on. the latest installment of the diary of a wimpy kid books. if you have a kiddo anywhere near this age group, you've probably heard much about greg. it's goofy and funny, and reminiscent of the real life humorous awkwardness of jr high from the view of a kid. she had the entire book devoured in a little more than an hour. now if that next sister's grimm book will come out, i think she'll be really happy! :)

wednesday night was a kind of uninspired photo day. so it was a one with the lensbaby & the star thingy again. this time we were trying to get the catchlight in her eye into a star shape. it is in this one... although i'm not sure it's very easy to see unless it's way zoomed in... and if it's really zoomed in you can also see how blurry the picture is. so i guess it's best just like this. lol.

thursday was parent/teacher conference day, and the first day the girls got to talk to stan! they got to have a nice long web-cam chat with him in the morning before conferences. is it silly to list skype toward the top of the list of things i'm thankful?

conferences went well. it's always reassuring to hear your kids are doing ok in the middle of a bit of craziness. definitely another blessing there. that, and they both have amazing teachers.

thursday night torrey went to a slumber party. the perfect opportunity to have some one on one time with emma. she helped me make dinner and we drug out a bunch of scrapbooking stuff to make notebooks for the "treasure box" in her class. the bind it all got a work out, and we got to keep the memories. friday morning, we had a bit more hang out time before picking torrey up, so i grabbed a couple of quick pictures outside.

Supplies: Patterned Paper & embellishments: In Good Company kit by Paislee Press; font: Courier, Chicago House; photo by Becky Van Hofwegen

a quickie page i did today while snuggling under a blanket with the girls. definitely a good way to spend a rainy saturday when you're waiting for the oven repair man. wednesday the oven decided it wanted to join stan on deployment... at least the numbers 4, 5 & 6 on the touch screen did. so we cooked wednesday's dinner in the oven at 330 degrees for 30 minutes. the funny thing is... after not working for 4 days, they decided to randomly start again about an hour before the fella got here. they ust have heard he was coming! good thing it was under warranty!

i got a chance to catch the girls with the camera talking to daddy on the web-cam this afternoon. love stan's big smile... giggling with his girlies. there is so so much to be thankful for.

the calm before the storm

so tomorrow is the day. the start of the countdown to homecoming... in the past 3 days we have celebrated our 10 year anniversary, thanksgiving & christmas. one one time, and two a little early. it's been a bit of a crazy week of icky colds and precious moments all mixed together.

today we did our early christmas. stan gave the girls the little gifts he'd picked out for them. each deployment he's picked out a little something extra special for them before he goes. this year he commissioned a friend of ours to make stamped silver bracelets for the girls with a special message just for them on it. what a daddy! and as i type this i'm watching him wrestle with both of the girls pinned down at once  and lots of giggling. it's sort of a magical calm before the storm tomorrow morning. sweet, silly and perfect.

saturday we celebrated 10 years of beautiful imperfection, faithfulness and love. the man who has loved me through every up and down, but more than that...  he has supported me through trials. encouraged me through desperate loneliness. put up with my incessant practical jokes. given me so much more than i ever deserved. to the man of my dreams... i love you with all of my heart. and just for you... 11 is the new 10. {wink}

emma and i spent nearly the entire week under the weather. lots of nose blowing, coughing and resting. it slowed us down a lot this week, but sometimes there is something good about a week of down time. even if it means you can't breath! lol. just as emma and i have been coming out of the fog, torrey came down with the yuckies on friday... so i'm sure we'll be spending a lot of next week behind the power curve. so the perfect excuse for snuggling on the couch and getting a little extra mommy/daughter time on a hard week.

the school put together an amazing assembly for veteran's day. it's such a special day for the vets and the kids. it made it especially special to the girls this year that it fell before daddy left. not only that, but he was able to actually make it to the assembly, too. double delight! the kids presented a flag to each of the vets made up of handwritten names of each student and staff member in the school. i spent a good part of it in tears. mostly for another family in our school who lost their daddy last year in afghanistan. just another reminder of how some gave all for all of us to have so much... that our lives are so filled with blessings we can hardly stand it, if we only keep our hearts open enough to see them.

to all who have served this great country, or love someone who has or who does... God bless you and keep you, and God bless America.

i had such high hopes for today...

but alas, i got sick and got absolutely nothing done! poor emma was super sick yesterday, and last night i caught some of her germies. at four this afternoon i drug my sorry self out of bed to see how torrey's day at school went. so much for a productive day of scrapping! hopefully tomorrow i'll be back up and at 'em.

at least i will have my blog updated before the clock strikes 12! lol. i am hoping to get a year-in-review photo book made for the inlaws (good thing they don't have internet access!) before christmas, but haven't quite got it together yet! how did the year slip by so quickly? at least i've been able to keep up on the 365 shots! :)

thursday was a late night, almost-missed-my-picture-of-the-day sort of day, so i got a shot of some fridge art by emma. it so much reminds me of me as a kid. tons of tiny little life details all on one little drawing. i think my favorite is that her tongue is sticking out while she's drawing the picture in the picture. so so emma! :)

friday afternoon i helped finish up the gift the school is giving to the veterans for their annual veteran's day assembly. i love how this year's project turned out. i'm sure i'll have a picture of it tomorrow when stan gets one at the assembly. it's such a blessing to see so many veterans come to the school and share with the kids. anyway, i got a quick shot of torrey walking out of school for the weekend on friday for our pic of the day.

saturday we had our annual christmas party at our house, which this year was also a going away party for stan. can't help but feel blessed after an evening like that!

sunday morning emma woke up with a terrible fever. so i stayed home from church to take care of my baby. poor little princess was so wiped out all day, and by evening, i'd come down with the same yuckies. so the two of us spent a good portion of sunday snuggled in a living room chair together.

i was feeling very lucky today to have a picture at all. i hardly had it in me to get out of bed, but nonetheless, i did make it upstairs and on the porch to catch torrey after school in the waning bit of daylight. sometimes it's the little accomplishments that make your day! lol. it's 10pm and i'm feeling a little better. the fever is gone for now, and as far as i can tell, i've been able to write a somewhat coherent post. so i'm thinking i better quite while i'm ahead and say goodnight! :)

dear neglected blog, i still love you

oh my goodness, how did i get so behind... again? in the busyness of daily life, my poor blog has been one of the back burner items lately. we've been keeping very busy getting ready for stan's upcoming deployment and spending as much family time as possible together. So here is my week in review... starting with the cushy kissing reindeer slippers from target's dollar section. who knew slippers could be such fun?!

my wild little pumpkin princess with one of her self-thought-out poses after school. :)

torrey and daddy snuggling up on the couch for a daddy/daughter moment. she's going to have a bit of a hard time when he goes, i think. not that it doesn't have its effect on all of us, but this age for torrey seems to be ushering in the beginning of the tween changes for her... and daddy seems to have a magical way of teaching and growing her up. let me just say a special prayer of thanks to the person who invented the webcam!

darn daylight savings time messing with my natural light options! lol. so there may be two dozen more pictures of my christmas tree as i come into the end of the year! loving that lensbaby creative aperture deal, though.

can i just take a minute to say how much i love my husband? for the amazing man who will do just about anything {even wear green tights} for his girls... i'm pretty sure there's a special place in heaven for that man! we spent halloween night running around our usual stops visiting my parents, grandparents, great uncle, and friends from church as the neverland family - peter pan, wendy, john and tinkerbell. the man in green tights survived the whole ordeal and earned himself some serious points with his house full of estrogen!

being a little behind and backwards on our holidays, we didn't get to the pumpkin patch until the day before halloween. after school on friday, we rushed home and changed the girls out of their costumes and into some regular clothes for a quick jaunt to the pumpkin patch. (hence the eye makeup on emma.) the girls searched the muddy patch for their perfect pumpkins. i have a bunch more pictures here. it was definitely a very fallish day with the leaves whirling around in the wind. makes coming home to carve them with hot apple cider that much more special, though.

now i've gotta zip off to help with a veterans day project at the school! ah, the perfectly content and busy life of a mom. i wouldn't have it any other way!

in the waning light

being one who takes almost all of my pictures with natural light... the changing of the season is sure having an effect on my daily life! it's getting kind of hard to sneak in a natural light picture when the girls get home from school. by late afternoon so much of the light is already gone. guess it makes for a good reason to learn how to use my flash better... today i played around with the lensbaby and the creative aperture disks again. i gave the heart a try today with torrey. thought the irony of her grumpy face and the hearts sort of flying away worked. i did get a bunch of her smiling too here.

we have theis amazing japanese maple in our backyard that turns the most vibrant shade of red in the fall... then gets even brighter when it's wet with rain. i completely missed getting a picture of it since it dropped all of its leaves suddenly one day. well, by golly, i wasn't going to miss it this year! so the past couple of days i ran the girls out there for a few shots by the red tree. there are a few more shots of emma here.

this was one of those i-missed-the-opportunity-to-use-natural-light moments. so i grabbed my flash {nikon sb600}, used my on camera flash in commander mode... and did my best.

on a scrappy note... my very favorite scrapbook store is making bunches of cards for service members on veteran's day this year. they asked if i'd write up a blog post for them... which you can see here. if you're in the area & would like to come by the store to make cards for soldiers on veteran's day, there's a bit more info here. we hope to see you there!

i also have a new layout up on the ella blog along with my fabulous ella friends. the super cute tami morrison wrote the post up. while you're over at ella, check out stacy julian & lain ehmann's latest book "20 simple secrets of happy scrapbookers".

a week flies by

so here i am behind on posting again! so once again, i'll do a quick sum up of our week with project 365 pics...

spent most of the week just keeping busy with daily life... scrapping, family time and the lot. we're down to the last few weeks of having stan at home, so we've definitely been packing in every moment of family time possible. playing yahtzee, having breakfast together, reading together, wrestling around... you know, just the perfect little moments that make everyday life wonderful.
 

saturday we all slept in & stan made one of his yummy breakfasts. lucky us! we never eat as well when he's away! after breakfast emma and i headed downstairs to brush our teeth. while we were downstairs i checked her little wiggly teeth. those babies were definitely ready to come out. so i pulled them out for her & she ran upstairs to show daddy her new toothless smile. there are a few more shots here. good thing the tooth fairy had some cash on hand for her visit.

after the toothy excitement had waned a little, we pulled out our boxes and boxes for christmas decorations. yes, i know it's not even halloween yet, but well, we're celebrating christmas a little early this year. on deployment years, we always put up our christmas decorations before stan leaves. by the end of the day the tree was up & decorated. by sunday we had most of the garland up and ornaments hung from the kitchen ceiling. it's beginning to look a lot like christmas here! all of this early decorating does add to the sadness a bit... knowing that it's all up because stan's not going to be here. still, i'd rather decorate and celebrate together. just something magical about the whole thing.

with the tree and lights up, i figured it would be a good time to mess around with my lensbaby & the creative aperture star-shape thingy. (it's a cool little disk that slides into the lensbaby and changes the lights into star shapes.) the picture above is an ornament my great grandma made for me when i was in junior high. when we were decorating the tree together, i was telling the girls where all of the different ornaments came from... i was thinking, man, i'm the only one who really knows where all of these came from! note to self: take pictures of ornaments & tell their stories at some point.

well, i'm now all caught up... well at least for another 29 minutes until the clock strikes midnight & i'm behind again! lol.

are you a happy scrapper?

i remember when i first started scrapbooking "for reals" (i.e. with actual scrapbooking products) i was sure that i had to scrapbook every single picture i took. why? i'm not exactly sure, it's not like someone told me that's how it had to be... or else. but nonetheless, it was a rule i had for myself. it took all of one album to break me of this self-imposed unrealistic expectation. after 40 some pages of torrey's first two months of life, i realized i would never be able to keep up. so rather than taking less pictures (clearly not an option for me) i decided to scrap only the pictures i felt like scrapbooking. FREEDOM! without the stress of crazy mad-minded rules, a whole new world of happy scrapping opened up for me.

ella publishing's latest book, a combined effort by stacy jullian and lain ehmann,  20 simple secrets of happy scrapbookers, nails real-life right on the head. with one of lain's tips, it's how you think about it,  as inspiration i scrapped about a little change of heart that changed my perspective in a big way.  check out this very cool book today, and watch the ella blog on wednesday for a chance to win some very fun goodies!

let there be light

don't you just hate it when you sit down to write something and.... blank... nothing. there you are in your chair staring at your screen & keyboard with nothing witty or even remotely interesting to say. well, that's me today. so forgive me for this post in advance! {pretty please!}

first off, ashley harris posted a team review of melody ross's line for gcd studios on the scrap review today. check out the great layouts & tsr team thoughts on the line here.

and as for daily life:
we spent a fabulous weekend doing about as much as i can think of to write. nothing really. we spent a bunch of family time together. saturday stan took the girls bowling while i headed to a weight watchers staff meeting. we met up afterward to pick up a few deployment necessities... a shower/toiletries bag & a new duffel bag for the traveling man. the desert always seems to do a number on his bags, and they don't usually survive a deployment. i, of course, teased that he was picking up a cosmetics bag & said he should try to get one of the gift with purchase bags at macys. no dice. guess he was looking for something slightly more manly than that. lol.

we got home after dark, so i pulled out my flash {sb600} do try for some not terrible flash pictures. after much fooling around, and a child who was seeing spots, i came out with this dandy of emma that i really liked. someone on facebook mentioned that she looks like a retro silver screen star. amazing how much of a difference turning a shot to black & white can make sometimes. i liked it so much i used it on my tsr layout (above). even added the xoxo, emma joy to the bottom for that movie star face shot effect. love that facebook inspiration. thanks guys! 

the saturday picture {with flash} went so well, i gave it a second run with torrey on sunday after church. it took me only slightly less time to get it right than saturday night. oi, this lighting deal is hard to learn! in the end, with minimal retina damage, i had another picture i liked. what a lucky mom i am to have such willing subjects!

forgive the random picture order. this was friday's after school shot. torrey with my very favorite tree in our yard. it's amazingly beautiful in every season. i'm not even sure what kind it is... but it flowers in the spring, is lovely and green all summer, turns a beautiful golden color in the fall... then has leafless branches with berries in the winter. what's not to love? i'm hoping we can zip up to the mountains before stan has to leave. we try to get up into the cascades this time each year to check out God's canvas. we live in such an amazing place and there is just so, so much to be thankful for.

speaking of being thankful... emma and i read "did i ever tell you how lucky you are?" by dr seuss together the other day. i love dr seuss' take on life lessons. in addition to being thankful for all of the blessings that come into our lives, we can be doubly thankful for all of those things that don't come into our lives. and if we're having a hard time getting to doubly thankful, maybe we can work our way into feeling not so bad by being thankful "for all of the things that we're not."

When you think things are bad,
when you feel sour and blue,
when you start to get mad...
you should do what I do!

Just tell yourself, Duckie,
you're really quite lucky!
Some people are much more...
oh, ever so much more...
oh, muchly much-much more
unlucky than you!

-Dr Seuss
Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are?

everyone loves eskimo kisses

i figured i'd post a few projects i've been working on lately for lasting memories using basic grey's eskimo kisses line. love this super cute, almost scandinavian style, line. of course, it's always good getting a few of last year's christmas pictures scrapped before this christmas rolls around!

forgive the picture heavy post today... i'm playing catch up, as usual! :)

and for my past few days of project 365... i was out getting a few pictures of emma after school when stan got home from work. so she sweet talked him into getting into the picture with her. i'm always amazed how much they look alike when i see them in pictures. i always think torrey looks more like stan, but there's no denying the two of them belong together!

loved this cute little laughing shot of torrey in her new retainer. shows off her sassy, sweet personality that seems to be growing up by the minute!

emma was running (more like jumping) around after school and picking flowers in the backyard. she stood still long enough to get a couple of pictures. i was surprised how much blue was still left on the hydrangea at this time of year. there are a bunch more pictures from the past few days here and a few more detail shots of the scrappy projects here.

mixed emotions

i'm sure in the next few weeks, i'll likely have a lot of deployment talk going on here. it's a new gig each time... with the girls ever entering new phases of growing up, and me plugging along {doing my best to keep my head above water usually}. anyway, all that to say, stan had his last day of pre-deployment leave today, and the girls were back in school after our water park escapades last week. so stan and i spent a quiet day together, hanging out. perfect kind of day to get ready for the road ahead. ahhhh, the peaceful moments that make up the highlights of life.

yesterday i grabbed a quick picture of stan & torrey showing off their tongue rolling skills. yah, we've all got the gene. i've even taught my children the art of shooting peas from your rolled tongue. {p.s. this trick also works with cherry pits... just ask stan after the pelting he got while we were camping this summer. lol} wow, does it feel like it just had a mood swing between paragraphs there? wowza.

speaking of mood swings, today's picture came after emma finished up a frustrating bit of homework. that whole explain-your-answer thing in math can be very frustrating sometimes. especially when we use it to work on spelling, too. we had one too many rewrites this afternoon. my sweet little miss had a bit of a break down, which only lasted about five minutes... but gave me enough time to snuggle her through the frustration & snap a quick picture.

it's been amazing to look back on the 365 pictures throughout the year. having a camera in hand a lot of the time does lend itself to getting pictures you wouldn't ordinarily have. maybe it's being 284 days in that's made the camera seem even more like a part of the family. maybe it's just that i've got a crazy photo-taking problem. maybe it's a little of both. either way, it'll be fun to look back on them for years to come, each with their own little story & all with the underlying message... life is good.

they've got betty davis eyes

i found a new favorite photo spot in my house with nice filtered light... which also happens to make eyes light up beautifully. so the girls took turns being the subject of the 365 pictures for the past couple of days. we've spent the last couple of days laying low and enjoying family time.

stan heads back to work next week, then off on deployment sometime next month. living the usual military life, we're not exactly sure when he'll be taking off... we're on the need to know basis there, and apparently, we don't need to know yet. lol. we are hoping he'll be home for our 10 year anniversary and for thanksgiving, but one never knows. either way, we celebrating moments, even if they're not always on their given date. stan was hoping to go somewhere tropical for our anniversary, but it's not in the cards on a deployment year. i told stan not to worry... 11 is the new 10. :)

forgive the ramblings, just some random sunday reflections. give your family some extra lovin' today!

{family} first

i'm back, and once again trying to catch up on the old blog. so here we are for what seems like another week in review post through 365 pictures.

sunday was my mommy's birthday. she turned {according to my facebook friend} 35. lol. but really, i'm pretty darn blessed with a great mom.

when the rubber meets the road, when life throws you against a wall or into the dirt, she's always there... like an anchor to help you weather the storm

she has a beautiful heart, a contagious laugh and an enveloping hug

when you're sick or injured... she's there with a creative solution to your problem at hand. {the rolly office chair & my foot surgery is a personal favorite}

she's taught me how to be a friend, how to forgive and how to laugh at myself {often}

she makes people feel special, appreciated and cared for

she's always there for my near daily phone calls just to say hi and talk about nothing

she's my mom. she's beautiful. she is amazing.

{inspired by my mom & this ella book}

who says monday has to be a crummy start to the week? i had the day off work (mondays are my weight watchers work day). stan was on pre-deployment leave for the week (military speak for vacation time before you deploy). stan spent the morning fishing with a couple of fellas from church, while i got the girls off to school. we met up for breakfast then headed down to our favorite local bike trail. we rocked the 34 miles round trip in 2.5 hours... let me just tell you, my legs were so wobbly at the end, i wasn't sure it was safe to get off my bike. i'm not sure i would have charged through it that fast if it weren't for the fact that we didn't want to be late for torrey's orthodontist appointment! those kids always keep you moving. lol.

tuesday we met up with the amazing becky in seattle for some super fun family photos. if you're in the area, and are looking for a fabulously fun & creative person to hook you up with some great family pics, becky is your girl! we hit gasworks park & pike's place market, even had lunch at dick's burgers.

as if that weren't enough to make the day perfect, at least for me, stan & i had planned a surprise trip for the family to great wolf lodge. the girls had no idea until we pulled into the parking lot. we might have even mentioned to them that we were planning to spend a couple of days digging ditches at a friend's house... much to their surprise, we spent a couple of days soaking wet and pruney at great wolf's indoor water park. holy cow, is this place fun! from a mom point of view: i'd definitely recommend it to any family looking to spend a few days of fun somewhere. we will surely be back.

we stayed two nights, and played three days & added a bunch of pics of our trip here. water slides, wave pools and thousands of gallons of dumping water, oh my!

thursday, after spending one last morning slipping & sliding in the water park and pressured by a scheduled orthodontist appointment, we headed toward home. we rolled into town, and went right to the orthodontist, where torrey had her expander taken out & was gifted with a brand new retainer. how i walked out of the office with 77 pictures of the process, i attribute to the fact that my camera is just super speedy. yah, that must be it. scrolling through the pictures at home, while getting some good family laughs, i kept thinking... these are moments that most people don't have recorded... and there's probably a reason for that! lol.

now off to make & record some memories for today!

world card making day, baby... oh & a lensbaby, baby!

.

so today was world card making day. as i often say around my house, "honesty is policy"... so truth be told, i did not make any cards on world card making day. ::gasp:: instead, i spent the day with my sweet family. with stan's deployment in the not too distant future, we're squeezing in every minute of family time we can. we met up with a friend this morning who was working on a photography project for her masters. she took some pics of our family for her project... we laughed a lot, and ended with a family breakfast at one of our favorite local breakfast joints. you know, one of those places that's called one thing, but everyone in your family calls it a "pet name"? ok, maybe that's not normal...

anyway, after some inspiration from denise & hubby this morning, i decided to pull out my lensbaby. i picked it up back in july, but with the craziness of the chief's initiation, i didn't really get around to experimenting with it. it's a cool selective focus lens, which you can read all about on their site. i took a bunch of pics of the girls outside. emma pulled me aside part way through, and asked if she could sing me a song she made up. seriously, it was the cutest thing ever. all about enjoying being out in the wind in nature & how good it is to love God. how could you not help but pick her up in a giant hug and swing her around after that? well, i couldn't help it, anyway. there are more of the lensbaby & singing pictures here.

we topped the evening off by watching the 50's musical, funny face. the girls get such a kick out of watching fred astaire dance. after trying desperately last night to get halfway through 2001 space odyssey... the pace of the movie was a welcome change. if you don't remember watching it when you were younger (we didn't) or think it's a good idea to rent... let me just give you this little tidbit. i didn't realize that they were going to show just how long it would take to go to jupiter in REAL TIME. holy moly. after an hour and a half into the movie, you finally figure out the first tidbit about the plot. wowza. we didn't exactly make it through the second half... we changed it out for guys & dolls. hurray for 3 movies, 3 days, 3 dollars!

like i said before, we're getting close to deployment #6, and for webcam ability purposes it was time to update stan's laptop. amazing how quickly computers are obsolete, isn't it? well, i've been talking to him for months about switching over to a mac when the time came. i believe the phrase was, "once you go mac, you never go back." my darling husband, who is not keen on technological change, in a moment of weakness, caved. he came home with a new lappy... and he LOVES it. he has said, no less than 10 times in the past two days, "you were right!" that is one MIGHTY mac! hee hee. (and yes, i'm pretty sure he'll never go back!)

and since it was world card making day, i figured i'd share a couple of cards i made for lasting memories, using the my mind's eye's christmas line. so there it is. out little weekend i, so far, in a nutshell. hope yours is wonderful & family filled.

look! we're a {real} party

.

my all time favorite site for party decorating ideas & inspiration made my day {yet again} with a surprise email from the fab owner, jenn, the other day. she asked if it would be ok to feature stan's chief/birthday party on the hostess with the mostess blog. let me think about that one for a sec... OF COURSE!!! what a huge honor.

wanna hear a little secret? i pretty much copied all of the ideas for stan's party from different inspirations from her site. so thank you again, jenn, for the amazing resource you are to all of us regular joe's out here wanting to have super cool parties "with a modern twist".

follow hostess on facebook here, and check out all of the fabulous-ness of the hostess site here.

and quickly my 365 shots from yesterday & today. emma and emma. after school sweetie in red & a halloween costume preview.

counting BLESSINGS

.

sitting here snuggled up under a fleece blanket with my fuzzy warm socks on, listening to the rain fall outside... fall is here. just this afternoon it arrived with its crisp air, chilly breeze and, of course, rain. good ol' northwest rain. this morning i was greeted by an amazing sunrise over the cascade mountains. it's a good place to be, enjoying God's country & counting your blessings.

sunday we enjoyed a fabulous family day at church & with some friends. you know those friends you have that are seriously "like family". those people you're truly thankful for everyday. (still adding up those blessings.) when we got home, i still needed my picture of the day. good thing i've got such a handsome subject loitering around. lucky me!

saturday was STAN day! the big party i've had in the works for weeks. with big signs hung on the side of the house, jars filled with khaki foods, custom fortune cookies, and a bunch of pulled pork... we welcomed a bunch of our friends over to celebrate stan the man. with his last 6 weeks having been so busy, it was fun to see him share his stories with everyone. he's one pretty amazing guy, that one. just blows me away with all he can do & does do. (more blessings to add up). there are more party decor pictures here and here.

friday was stan's birthday. he worked & spent the rest of the day with the family. with another deployment coming up in the not too distant future, it sure is nice to have these perfect little moments together at home. life can be hard on a lot of different levels, our life is full of blessings and sprinkled with hardships. guess it's just one of those times when you can let it build you up or tear you down. the times apart just make you savor all the more your times together. each little moment grows in significance when there are 10 more you're going to miss. so for those trials that bring us together as a family, i am thankful. (i'm definitely having one of those count-your-blessings days. so very thankful for all that God's graciously allowed me to be a part of.)

it was fun to surprise stan with a big manly power tool when he got home from work on friday. i "parked" it in his spot in the garage, then watched his reaction through the window as he pulled up. priceless! he's been wanting this particular bit of manhood for as long as we've been married. just made it that much more fun to see the look on his face. ahhhh, all in all, a wonderful weekend of getting to send a little spoiling stan's way. he's one amazing man... and one of my biggest blessings.

** don't forget to check out the ella blog for a fun challenge, some freebies and a chance to win a FREE eBook by renee pearson! winners will be drawn on wednesday, so check them out right away!**

to the man of my dreams

.

to the man of my dreams

a man of honor
a man of deep faith
a man of discipline
and character
a man with amazing courage
and love
a man of compassion
and strength
my man

to the father of my children
terrific daddy
giving father
doting husband
loving son
dedicated sailor
navy chief
helpful son in law
church deacon
understanding friend

to the man i love for his spunk
his sassy-ness
his sense of humor
his dignity
his heart
his mad drum skills
his honesty
his virtue
his trustworthiness
his consistency

to the love of my life
my #1 guy
my one and only
my amazing husband... stan my man

happy 34th birthday stan!
i love you, always.

{just 34 of the things i love about you, although there are a million more.}