Pumpkin patch 08

Good grief!! How do so many days go by without a new entry? I am embarrassed. Apparently, blogging isn't a gift of mine. However, I will try to make it up to you.

We did go to the pumpkin patch (which I mentioned), and I decided to just post the evidence rather than make you wait for a page.

First, a gorgeous picture of my son. This is SO rare, I just had to share. Grant usually has shifty eyes when I want to take a picture and RARELY looks at the camera. This time, he blessed me with a smile! This pic is straight out of the camera. Imagine how great it will look when I do fun stuff to it in photoshop!!


And, of course, I couldn't (ever) forget Cole. What a doll. This is what he looked like most of the time we were at the pumpkin patch:


But, if you ever got him to stop moving, you might get this shot. Notice the smudgy, sticky stuff all over his sweet face. Typical.


Grant loved the rope swing.

And, afterward, we went to my grandparents' pumpkin patch to pick up some HUGE pumpkins. We have them arranged on our front porch and they look awesome!


Well, the kids just woke up, so it is time to be a mommy!! I'll be back to give you more updates.

Some of my stuffs!

It's amazing how quickly the days go by without a post from me. Life!! Gotta love it!

So, yesterday Grant and I had a date as we went off to his pumpkin patch field trip. He is so stinkin' cute!! He had "the best day" at the pumpkin patch with his friends. I'm having a great time watching him as he interacts with his friends. He is just changing before my eyes! Last week, I dropped him off at school and he jumped out of the car and waited for the teacher to open the door. He leaned against the corner of our car and just stood there like he was SO COOL. I watched him as he gave little head bobs and his "cool eyes" to his friends in greeting. You know, how teen boys do that with the "wus up" thing? Except, my son was much more subtle. He used his eyebrows for the "up" part. What a STUNNER!! I am going to have girls beating down my door when this boy gets older. Of course, he won't go for those girls, because good girls don't chase boys!! Hee, hee!

Anyway, we are heading off to the pumpkin patch as a family today. I always look forward to this yearly outing! Expect some pics!

In the meantime, I have a few layouts to show you, and I need to make good on my promise to show you what my friends/CT have been doing with my templates. My stuff first.

Some boxes I made with my new template and some Corina goodies! Credits here.
My super-cute niece! Credits here.
My gorgeous sister. Credits here.
My pillow box. Credits here.

I made this treat bag topper as a freebie for the Funky Playground Designs blog. Go grab it! (Oh, did I mention that I am on the site CT? I think I forgot to mention that!!)

Stuff by others:

By Juli:

Credits here.

Credits here.

By Jen:


Credits here.

Credits here.

By Andrea:
Credits here.

By Indah:
Credits here.
Credits here.

It's New Release Thursday!!

Check out my new releases!!
Find it here.

Find it here.

Find it here.

I'll be back later to show you what everyone did with these! In the meantime, if you JUST can't wait, go check out The Digichick Hybrid Gallery!

Cute stuff!

I just HAD to share a couple of things. First, I've been having fun with my new treat bag templates. These things are adorable and SO easy to put together!!




Credits here.









Credits here.







Credits here.



Next, some cute layouts. We didn't have school around here last Friday, so Katie came over to play. I took some pictures!


Credits here.








And, I've been wanting to do something with these pics, and I finally found the perfect kit!

Credits here.


I did something wonky to my formatting. Sorry about that!

An update on Chad

From my sister. This was sent last night:

Hi!

We are just amazed that Chad keeps getting better and better. Today was a miraculous day with him eating applesauce this morning, soup for lunch and soup, salad and bread for dinner! He took a shower this morning and we took him outside earlier today (before it snowed this evening!). He is talking and able to move his left side very well. He is still on his anti-seizure medication and the steroid to keep the swelling in his brain down. He had a small seizure just a little bit ago that made him really tired so we got him all settled in for bed. As of right now, Matt and I are trying to figure out if we need to stay a little longer, head home, or if I should head home ahead of Matt. If he continues to improve, we will probably head home on Saturday or Sunday. Chad lights up every time Matt is with him, and it is noticable to everyone. They feel like a lot of his recovery is because Matt is just his fun, happy and teasing self with his Dad. Please continue to pray. There is still a lot of fun and laughter, but with so many people it can also get tense. We are missing our kids but want to make sure we don't leave prematurely. Please pray for wisdom and clarity!

Thanks!

Jen

It's a Big Day!

So much is going on lately that I haven't really had a chance to build up the anticipation of my big announcement! To make a long story short . . . The Hybrid Shoppe has closed, and you can now find my designs at THE DIGICHICK! Wahoo! I am so thrilled to be there. I was a member of the site hybrid CT before turning designer, and I just LOVE the gals over there. I'm excited because the gals there are really having fun playing with my templates! So far, I have released 3 templates:
Badge Album Templates #1
Which was used to create my album posted below, and Jen Tapler's album below that, and this gorgeous album that Jen just made for her friend:


by Jen
Fancy Bags Template Set

by me

by Jill

by me
Paper Strips #1
by Jen
by Jen
AND . . . all new releases are 20% off today! Isn't this EXCITING!?!?

The personal stuff. Please pray!

I have a hard time even writing this, because I just don't know what to say. I know that some of you remember this post regarding my brother-in-law's dad.

I'll just cut and paste a couple of things so I don't have to rehash emotions.
From my dad:

Dear Family,
Last night Matt's dad, Chad, had another bad stroke. He was taken to the hospital, but this morning they released him to return home to the care of a hospice nurse with the sad news that he probably only has a few more days to live. He has pneumonia, has been put on morphine because of the pain and he has given the directive not to allow a feeding tube or any other means to prolong his life.

Matt and Jen got the news at about 10:00 AM today (Tuesday) and are already on the road together. Mom/Carol and I are taking over family/kid responsibilities with Tim and Sara's help. We will be playing this by ear as to what next events will unfold.

The Quaker Meadow Banquet is this Friday night, but Matt and Jen will not attend and now it appears we will not be going either. There is also a camp this weekend. Tim is taking leadership, and Sara, Nick and Angela are staff. I (Bob) will fill in as well. Mom/Carol will do the two soccer games on Saturday and then join us at camp.

We'll keep you posted. You know the need for prayer.

Thanks,
Dad/Bob

A prayer request from me:

I just received word that my sister's father-in-law probably has 2-3 days left to live. We call him "Uncle Matt's Dad, Chad" around here because we have been praying for his health since he was diagnosed with a very aggressive brain tumor just before Christmas. He had the tumor removed and there was a seriously miraculous healing in his body as they could not find any cancer when they did a follow-up scan a few months later. Unfortunately, the drugs he has had to take have effected other body systems. He has had terrible blood clots and a couple of strokes. His most recent major stroke was this morning. He has been sent home from the hospital with a hospice nurse and has refused a feeding tube. He is a really young guy. Early 50s. My sister and her husband have 6 kids, and I know this is going to be especially tough on them since they love Chad, but don't get to see him as often as they would like. My sister (Jen) and her husband (Matt) are driving up to Oregon from California to be with Chad in these final days.

So, I guess I'm asking for prayer for Chad's family, including Jen and Matt, for comfort and to be able to say everything they want to say. Also, for the grandkids who will take this pretty hard. It will be their first major loss and I just wish I could be with them. And, especially for Chad, who has been ready to go for a while now, but who just loves his family and is concerned about the way they will handle his passing. Chad is a born-again Christian, so he is confident in his salvation. That much we can be thankful for.

And from Jen this morning:

Hi Guys!

We got in here at about 2 am. I drove the last few hours so Matt could sleep, but he was so worried I would fall asleep that we both stayed up! When we got here Chad was set up in the living room and his color was/is awesome. Yesterday was a rough day though and his lungs were filling so fast that they didn't know if he would make it through the night. He was completely incoherent. The hospice nurse is a good friend of the family. He is in a huge amount of pain, but he's on a morphine drip which keeps it at bay. The nurse gave him a medication that has taken the swelling down in his brain. Matt stayed at Chad's side all night and at about 5 am, Matt heard Chad's breathing change and Chad's eyes were cracked open looking around. So Matt got right up in his face with a big smile and said "Hi Dad!". Chad's eyes got huge and he broke into a big crooked smile. Matt spent about 30 minutes talking to his Dad with Chad responding with hand squeezes, smiles and looking right at Matt. Kathy woke up and quickly everyone came in to spend some time with him. He is up now and there are about 20 people here. His pain is getting worse and the social worker is here, so they will be upping his pain meds in the next little bit and he will probably go to sleep. The medication that is keeping the swelling in his brain down isn't going to be able to keep up with the pace of the swelling and the hospice nurse expects that later today he will go into a coma. The pneumonia will take over and he won't have much time left. But all we can say is that the fact he was able to wake up and be coherent is a huge blessing. Matt and Amy talked to Chad about being able to go up with Jesus and how amazing it is going to be for him. He broke into a huge grin and squeezed Amy's hand. I feel blessed to be here. There is a festive mood in the house, lots of laughter and funny stories.

Thanks for letting me come up here and for taking the kiddos!

Love you tons,

Jen

Please keep this family in your prayers.

Lots of catching up to do!

I received a comment yesterday about posting some of my hybrid stuff, and I realized that I am SO behind on showing you what I have done recently!

SO, here ya go:

Been playing with Corina's goodies and made this mini album using my badge album templates and the family pictures my friend Alysun took for us this summer!

credits
More cards with Corina's kit and my templates:


A card using one of my templates (and more Corina stuff). Yes, I did cut out the flower and pop it!credits
Another with Corina's stuff:
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A birthday card for my little sister (that I PROMISE to send today).credits

Cards with Dianne's stuff. GORGEOUS paper! I actually entered a couple of these in Scrapbookgraphics' Pajama Party challenges. So far, one of them won a prize! That was fun. But, really, I made them because I FINALLY downloaded Dianne's Tuesday Afternoon kit and fell in love with the patterned papers. I just HAD to use them ASAP.




And, finally, a layout:
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We visited my grandparents last weekend and got to see the huge pumpkins! I'll post those pics in a layout soon, I'm sure!

Anyway, now you are caught up on my art. I've got some other news, though, for another post!

Love it!

Can I just say that I LOVE the sound of the toilet seat slamming down followed quickly by the FLUSH . . .

Ahh . . . and to think that in a few months I will never have to wipe a poopy bottom again!

(BTW - NO!! I have not started to potty train my two-year-and-four-month-year-old. Insanity. I was just reflecting . . . )