Featured

Oh, I forgot to mention in my last post that I was featured on the Scrapbook Graphics Blog! Well, not ME, just a card I made. Check it out here. I've never been featured on a big store's blog before! Wahoo!

In a nutshell (maybe)

I have SO much going on here that I have been neglecting my blog. Sorry about that! You'll see what I have been up to soon!

In the meantime, I thought I would tell you about our trip to Cancun . . . in a nutshell. I mean, sure, some of you are just like me. You want ALL the nitty gritty details. However, some of you just want the overview. This post is to satisfy those overview people. I'll be doing layouts to satisfy the nitty gritty people later (however it might be over the next several months!).

So, here it is:

Friday: Got up butt-early (which is pretty early), hopped on an airplane, flew to Houston, hopped on another airplane and arrived in Cancun. Waited in the customs line for about 1.5 hours. No exaggeration. Took a bus to Moon Palace. Stood in 3 more lines to check in, get our room key, and pick our side trips. Went next door where we chewed on a buffet that had been left out too long. (I've never had such chewy shrimp!) Opened the door to our BEAUTIFUL room, peaked out at our ocean view, and determined that it was a good thing there were 2 full size beds instead of just one. Quickly changed into proper Cancun attire and went in search of our first official meal. We found an outdoor grill/buffet where we enjoyed some awesome chicken while listening to some rockin' Karaoke at the main stage area. All of this while looking out onto the ocean. Amazing!

Saturday: We both woke up early and jumped out of bed, anxious to check out the place. We headed toward the restaurant we noticed right off the lobby where we enjoyed a wonderful man-sized breakfast. We ate quickly because we are the type of people who just have to get things done. We were itching to get outside and see if there really were umbrellas and lounge chairs on the beach. There were. We took one look at the pools and beach, glanced at each other and rushed off to change into our suits. We spent the entire morning at the beach, by the pool, or sitting at the "swinging bar" (where you actually sat in swings . . . too cool). After a while we took a walk down the LONG boardwalk that ran along the beach to the opposite end of the resort. We saw 4 weddings taking place along the way. It was a beautiful day for weddings! We bar hopped. I discovered the "Miami Vice" when the little boy next to me ordered one. He explained that it was 1/2 Strawberry Daiquiri, half Pina Colada. He was about 11 years old. Ha! So, all the way up the boardwalk, we stopped in at every bar for a Miami Vice or Strawberry Daiquiri or Pina Colada. It was really fun. We ran into some of Mitch's friends throughout the day, so that evening we met up with a group of them for dinner. We ate at a seafood place that served AWESOME food. We laughed and laughed, talked a lot, and really enjoyed the evening. I was tired, so I went off to bed while Mitch stayed out late with the guys. It was an awesome first full day in Cancun!

Well, I thought I would be able to tell you about the entire trip in this one post, but I think I will have to finish it up tomorrow. Apparently I can't really do things in a nutshell. But, trust me, I am leaving out lots of details and sparing you all! More later . . .

"Love"

For credits, click here.

Cancun (part 1) - The Fishing Trip!

We got back from our trip to Cancun LATE Thursday night. While we were gone, it supposedly snowed here in Oregon! We were soaking up the sun the whole time! It was awesome! There is SO much to tell you about, so I am going to have to break this up into different posts, but you'll probably get a better picture of our trip from the layouts I create over the next few weeks.

In the meantime, I just HAD to post pictures of our deep sea fishing trip that we took the last full day of our vacation. I was the only gal on the boat, and I have a cool camera, so I pretty much designated myself as the record-keeper and official
photographer. This is PROOF that we caught some monsters! (Click on the pics to enlarge!)

Fishing Buddies


We all caught a bunch of little Bonita in the beginning. They ended up being bait for the trophy fish!


My Baracuda was the first big catch of the day!


Jim's Amberjack:


Mitch's trophy Dorado:



Tom was just starting to fight a fish when suddenly another fish was on! Mitch grabbed the pole and hauled it in. Both Bonita!


Michael's Bonita



Dave's HUGE Grouper! I was shocked when they hauled this one on board. It is HUGE!!



Tom's Dorado

Dee, don't read this one, yet

At the risk of ruining the surprise, I just HAD to show you what I did today.

I finished up this cute little album for my mother-in-law as a thank you for watching my boys while I go to CANCUN! (By the way, Mom, you get one, too!):

I made this little bag to put it in the other day:

Oh, and I made this little pyramid box just for fun:

And, this card for my little sister's b-day (even though it probably won't arrive in time:

And this one for my brother, whose birthday is in May.


By the way, I didn't do ALL of this today! I just cut out the birdies today. Goodness! I've got kids to watch!!

Oh. And, I did ALL of this to impress the "powers that be" over at The Digi Chick. I have received notice that I have been asked to be on their hybrid creative team! Wahoo!

This is Me

Check it out! This is my newest layout for Jessica Sprague's Digi In Deep class. I just love the layout. I didn't really change much from her example layout (which I am known to do), because I just loved it so much!


For credits, click here.


And, I have to give a great big THANK YOU to my friend Amber who brought me a PRECIOUS ANNIHILATOR a few minutes ago! I am sipping with great pleasure right now. You are awesome!!

Grant's 1st b-day mini album

I had a bunch of these random, ugly chipboard circles that someone gave me (with pictures of farm animals on them!), that I just KNEW would be perfect as a mini album.

Check it out

You gotta see this blog. Funny! (I totally thought of Tootsie when I saw it. She even comments on shoes!)

Genius Mommy Moment

Do any of you have 22-month-olds who refuse to get out of the car? As soon as I unbuckle Cole, he immediately leaps out of his seat and flings himself to the opposite side of the car. I used to bother with begging, chasing him around the car, climbing in the car and physically removing him, and all manner of embarrassing antics. No more.

My latest bit of mommy wisdom (and evil trickery): Go into the house (we park in the garage), close the door and hit the panic button on the key ring. Let it honk about 5 or 6 times, then turn the panic button off. Open the door and you will see your 22-month-old perched on the edge of the doorway, ready to leap from the car, all too anxious to be picked up by mommy and taken into the house (with little heart just racing).

Oh, and try not to laugh.

Hybrid covered notebook

My husband is a birdwatcher, and we are going to Cancun next week! He is very excited to see all kinds of new birds, and since he keeps lists of all of the birds he has seen, I thought I would make him this little notebook. Hopefully it is not too feminine! Notice I didn't use any frilly ribbon on top! Ha!


Click here for credits.

Uncle Tim

I was making a hybrid card for my brother's birthday last night and decided to just do a whole page today!


Click here for credits.

The power of suggestion

Yesterday, Grant was sick. That morning I tried valiantly to get him moving to make sure we got out the door in time to take him to school and me to Bible Study. I reminded him a million times to put on his pants. He kept complaining that they would be too cold. (Does anyone else get that from their kids? Shesh! I don't have time to warm them in the drier!) So, finally, in a fit of frustration, I walked over to him and yanked his pajama pants off. His legs were burning up! Yep. He had a fever. Cole and I were both ready to walk out the door, and here is Grant with a fever. ARGH.

So, we stayed home. Grant was Mr. Puny laying on the couch until I moved him to my bedroom. I had to lock the door from the inside to keep little brother away. Grant just wanted everyone to leave him alone. No babying that guy! So, we left him alone and he slept on and off from about 2:00 to 7:30pm. Then, he was awake! Wide awake. He felt "much better" and just wanted to play Legos with Daddy. He stayed up WAY too late (especially for a kid who was sick that day). I finally put him in bed around 10:30, but he was just NOT tired. Whatever. It was time for bed, right. He could count sheep.

So, at about 11:45, I'm sleeping soundly when someone squeezes my arm. I crack my eye open and yelp! (It always freaks me out when someone is RIGHT in my face when I wake up.) Grant got scared (nevermind the fact that he has angels with sharp swords stationed around his room to protect him) and wants to sleep with us. In my exhaustion, I said words that I would come to regret: "You can't sleep in my bed, but you can sleep on the floor right here." What was I thinking?

Grant spent LITERALLY (and I don't use that term loosely) ten minutes attempting to spread out his blankets on the floor next to my bed. He doesn't like them wrinkled and he likes to have a "warm blanket" (fleece) under him and on top of him. OCD? Naw. Finally, he whispered something about me helping him. Keep in mind that I am warm, comfortable and sleeping like a rock. My body felt nice and heavy and primed for a great sleep. However, my son needs help, so I whine a bit and help him spread his blankets. "Now, don't wake me up!"

He woke me up again. He wasn't comfortable or he was cold or whatever. He decided to go back to his own bed and needed me to walk him across the house (over freezing cold floors) to tuck him into his bed (spreading blankets, etc.). I went, I tucked. I kissed, I prayed AGAIN. I went back to my warm bed. Two minutes later I heard him SOBBING as loud as a 4 year old can possibly sob. I was torn. Do I let him continue sobbing and wear himself out, or do I go stop this nonsense so he doesn't wake up his brother? (Sigh) I went. Grant was upset because he was COLD and wanted the fleece blanket directly on top of him, then his thick comforter, then the quilt. OCD? Hmm. Grrr. I gave him a talking to about obnoxious behavior, grumpy mommies who don't get any sleep, consequences if he wakes me up again . . . all that. You should have seen his wide eyes. (I apologized for the rant this morning, it was THAT bad.)

SO, anyway, he woke up this morning feeling perky. Hoping that today would be a Katie day since she couldn't come over yesterday because he was sick. He was excited to go to school. He dressed himself without any prompting (in cold jeans). He was ready to go to school. Mitch dropped him off and one of his teachers tells Mitch that Grant doesn't look very good. Mitch explained that he says he feels great, he's ready for the day and he doesn't have a fever. He might just look tired from the night before.

Mitch got a call from the preschool administrator telling us that Grant needs to be picked up because he is not feeling well. The mommy guilt immediately sets in. Am I SURE he didn't have a fever? How many times did I ask him if he felt better? Was there every any hesitation in his voice? Yikes! Mitch picked up Grant while I picked up Katie and we met back at home. There is my son, sitting on the couch eating an apple, looking just as perky as ever.

Mitch told me that Grant was saying, "Maybe I need to go to the doctor" and "I don't look so good," on the way home. Hmm. We never take our kids to the doctor when they are sick, so Grant certainly did not hear that from us. I don't think he would get the idea of going to the doctor on his own. Do ya think he heard that from his teachers and the power of suggestion worked it's magic and became a self-fulfilling prophecy? We just looked at each other and rolled our eyes.

Grant ate a huge lunch, is asking for a snack, does not have a fever, and is coloring pictures with Katie. Looks like he forgot all about feeling sick.

An Annihilator Day

Today was an Annihilator day. It started out . . . rough. I forgot to set the coffeemaker, my husband didn't kiss me good-bye, and my house just looked trashed. I knew I needed to clean and there was no getting around it.

SO, I loaded the kids into the car and went out for an Annihilator. If you are not familiar with this precious drink, just know that it is heaven in a cup. I think it is Dutch Bros. version of a macadamia nut mocha, although I have ordered mac mochas and they taste nothing like an Annihilator. It has plenty of shots of espresso, and that is what really matters, right?

Thanks to my Annihilator, I was able to clean bathrooms. Including scrubbing toilets. Blech.

That's all I have. My Annihilator wore off. My body is crashing. I want to nap.

Then and Now: The Overalls

I wish I had a better picture of Mitch, but I am just so thankful I have this one! I did a paper layout a while back with these pictures, but I think this layout has more impact. What do you think?

This layout was done for Jessica Sprague's Digi: In Deep class (which I am just LOVING)!


For credits, click here.

We Delight in You

So, today I was asked to join Danielle Engebretson's Creative Team! Wahoo! I'm pretty excited about that. Her designs remind me of a candy shop! Here is my first layout using Danielle's stuff! For additional credits, click here.

We Celebrate You

For credits, click here.

A Weekend to Remember

Last weekend, Mitch and I went to Family Life's A Weekend to Remember conference, which happened to be just over the bridge in Salem. We've been wanting to go on a marriage retreat for a while now, and this worked out perfectly. Mitch couldn't go to men's retreat because of a prior commitment, so I decided to skip women's retreat so we could pool the money we would have spent and go to the marriage conference instead. We figured it would be a better investment. THEN, a couple days before we went, a gal from church called me and told me that a couple from our church wanted to pay for our weekend! We were thrilled!!

So, Mitch's parents agreed to watch the boys on Friday night, Saturday and Sunday (with sleep-overs!) so that we could come home at the end of the day and have a nice, quiet, relaxing evening with one another.

It was wonderful! We can't say that we really learned anything new, but the things we already knew were reinforced and we recommitted to making sure we were doing our part in our marriage to make it even better. Plus, its kind of cool when another man (with some authority) tells my husband that what he should be doing for me, while another woman tells me what I should be doing for Mitch. Sometimes it takes a third party, right?

One of the things we have committed to doing is spending "couch time" together every night. At 8:30, we sit on the couch together and read a short, one page devotion from a book called Moments With You. It sparks discussion and forces us to really communicate. As you know, that is what I like to do the best, so this is RIGHT up my alley! And, Mitch enjoys the side-benefits of showing me how much he cares by listening to me! Win-win! Hee, hee!

Anyway, I encourage all you married couples to take some time to invest in your relationship. We've been married for 10 years, and we are learning new things about one another all the time!

Taco Tongue

I started a new Jessica Sprague class yesterday, so you'll see some new layouts coming up! This is the advanced class and it is SUCH a challenge! It took me all day to finish this (mostly because I took many breaks and am trying not to be on the computer so much) while it usually only takes me an hour or so. You might not be able to recognize it, but there were so many advanced techniques used on this layout. If I can master them, it will make digital scrapbooking SO much faster and easier. If I don't practice, though, I'll lose it. I wish I could have 2 hours of guilt-free, uninterrupted scrapping time. Oh well! I love being with my kids, so I figure I'll take 10 minutes here and there!


For credits, click here.