She's selling my stuff!

Ha! I knew that title would grab your attention. I just wanted to toot a little. A while back, a designer that I am on a CT for asked if any of us wanted to try our hand at putting together frame clusters with her kits for her to sell in her shop. So, I tried it, and I guess she liked it, so here they are!:


I'm so excited, I could pee my pants! Of course, my name is not on the frame clusters, but rest assured, I did "design" them. Well, ok, I didn't "design" them, but I did put things together. AND, she didn't really have a frame in the original pack of elements, and I figured out how to make a frame with some of her stuff. SO cute! I'm so proud. I just had to share!

Sweet Hailey

My niece!

Connor layout

This is my nephew Connor. I did this layout as part of the "Call it Clean" Growth Challenge at Gallery Standouts. They wanted a Graphic Layout (something that you might see in a magazine) except no grunge. (Lots of people do grungy graphic. SO cool!)

Here is my first version:



This is what they said: "love the concept here and the font you chose for your title. we're not quite sure the warmth or coolness of the photo matches your background color - which means you could probably play with either - change the photo or the background - well done Kelleigh!"

And this is my second version:


I like my second version a whole lot better. I think the photo filter is exactly what they wanted (and that is the feedback I am hearing), and I love that I added some journaling to give the title a bit more substance. This was a lot of fun! Kind of crazy opening myself up for critiques, but I really do want to stretch myself, so I was up for it! The other entries are AWESOME. I'm certainly not even in the running for winning the challenge, but it sure was fun to participate!

Couple of miracles - just had to share!

Last winter (December, I think) my sister's father-in-law was diagnosed with a brain tumor. He had surgery to remove the tumor, but while they were in there they discovered that the tumor had little fingers. So, while they got it out, there was a pretty good chance it would grow back. He wasn't given a whole lot of hope, however Chad went home and began research on fighting cancer. He closed his practice (he is an optometrist) and devoted himself to getting better. I believe he took chemo, but he decided against radiation because it was determined that this type of brain tumor was fatal anyway, so his quality of life wouldn't be that great if his last days were spent in radiation.

Chad cut out all sugar from his diet, I believe he also cut out red meat, and I know he eats a lot of seafood. In addition to lifestyle changes, Chad and his wife also began attending church again and recommitted themselves to God. People all over the country, and probably the world, were praying for Chad. I know that Grant prayed for "Uncle Matt's dad, Chad" every night. We prayed with intensity.

A couple of weeks ago, Chad had his appointment to see how his cancer was doing. Were the tumors back yet, and if so how much time did he have left? Amazingly, Chad's tests all came back FREE from cancer. We are still floored at the miracle that God has done. I mean, you hear about this stuff, but it is not very often that you experience such a miracle so close to home.

This spring, I did a Beth Moore Bible study called "Believing God." One of the major themes throughout the book is "God can do what He says He can do." So, why is it that we think this miracle is so amazing? God can heal. As I prayed for Chad, I was bold enough to ask for a total healing. It was hard to stay focused on that prayer and not doubt that it could happen, but I was determined to pass this test of faith and truly believe God. You can't believe what this answer to prayer has revealed to me. YES, God can heal, and he DOES. Of course, I know that God doesn't always answer our prayers the way that we want them to be answered. I know that sometimes his answer is "no" or "wait." I know that God can take ANY situation and turn it around for His glory. These are all things that I have always known and never questioned. But, do you ever find yourself just expecting the answer to be "no" or "wait?" I certainly do. I sometimes feel like asking for something as big as a total healing would be selfish or too bold and just setting myself up for disappointment. But, what about having faith as small as a mustard seed?

Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." Matt. 17:20

And, NOTHING is impossible for God! What a huge lesson about faith and prayer this has been for me!

So, we found out about Chad on Monday, and on Friday of the same week, we heard some pretty frightening news about Matt, his son (my brother-in-law). Matt had gone to the doctor for a couple of reasons, including his back, which he has had some problems with. The doctor ordered a CAT scan. The doctor called Matt with the results, and started asking him questions like: Have you worked in hazardous conditions involving gases or chemicals? Yes. Have you traveled to foreign countries in the last 3 years? Yes. Do you have anyone in your family who has had a brain tumor? Yikes! Apparently the CAT scan showed a mass at the back of his brain. Matt then had an MRI. As we waited for the results of the MRI, we prayed HARD. My sister and her husband have 6 kids ages 10 and under. Matt's dad JUST received amazing news of his total healing. There was such a roller-coaster of emotions as we praised God for the healing and agonized in prayer for Matt. We already knew that God could do what He said He could do. But, would He do it again?

YES!! Matt texted my mom with this message: "Matt doesn't have anything in his head." Praise the Lord!! Hee, hee!

Amazing miracles still do happen in this day and age. Isn't it awesome that God revealed his power to us in this way? I'm so thrilled I can hardly stand it!

Turning Two

My Boy

Finally pictures of the birthday boy!

I'm planning to do a page or a mini-album or something of Cole's b-day celebration, HOWEVER, I know that a few of you have been waiting for some pics, so here ya go. (His hair really is blond. It just looks red in this lighting!)

Livi

I'm having fun creating layouts today! This is my niece!

Grandma layout

This is my mom and my niece at Dani's wedding. So cute!

Don't worry. I didn't forget about the birthday pictures! I'll post those soon!

So, I'm in Portland today. Mitch is at a convention thingy, and since he had a nice room in a nice hotel, I asked my mother-in-law to watch the kids while I tagged along with my hubby! We arrived last night just in time to have Mitch run off to the dinner (spouses not invited) while I got our bags up to the room. I found a nice little sports bar in the hotel (not that there is anything really nice about a sports bar) and ate dinner while reading my book. So, I had a view of the Willamette River on one side while I sat about 1 yard away from a local newscaster. Well, two, actually. The sports guy (I have no idea what his name was, but Mitch knew right away) and Mike Donahue (whom most Oregonians know). Interesting.

YES, I packed up my HUGE screen iMac and brought it along. I'm having fun!! No one here to interrupt me. Total freedom! I am not, however, feeling inspired to write, so I will spare us all and just sign off. Bye!

My baby is turning 2 today

Why does this have to happen? My sweet, wonderful, adorable child is turning two today. And, he is seriously turning into a little monster. I admit that about 10 seconds ago, I realized that he is entering the terrible twos. My first never did that (or at least my mommy brain doesn't remember), but this guy is just freaking out on me. All I hear all day long is "Maaa!" said in the most horrific, whiney voice. "Maaa! Maaa! Maaaaaaaa!" following me all the way to the bathroom. Then, when I dare to close the door, he bangs and yells "MaaaMaaaaMaaaaaaaa!"

I totally get it, though. I've taken enough child development classes to know that the child is just frustrated. He wants to communicate so desperately. He throws tantrums when I can't figure things out, but he is SO much happier when I at least try. Sometimes I am just tired, so I kind of ignore the whine and fuss, which just gets me into more trouble come tantrum time. It is best to ask questions: "Do you want some milk? No. Some water? No. Show me what you want . . ."

We have decided that our son is multi-lingual. For yes, he says, "ysss", "si", "weeee!" and "da". Isn't that interesting?! When we ask him questions to figure things out and we finally get it, he throws his arms up in the air and says, "Weeeee!!!!" with a huge smile. Ah. So cute.

OK, so I guess I am enjoying this stuff. I'll take the good and the bad, as long as I get THAT boy. He is my favorite 2-year-old boy in the world. Hands down.

My parents and three youngest sisters are here for the week, so we get to celebrate Cole's birthday and Father's Day with them. The "party" is tomorrow, so I'll post some pics of my birthday boy then! Happy Flag Day everyone!

And here, for your reading pleasure, is my birth story ('cause I know you were just DYING to read it again . . . ):

Try it Hybrid #1 Freebie!

I had such a blast really going hybrid with this most recent layout. I created a template that I want to share!

Basically, it is an 8.5x11 template that you add your pictures, journaling, digital papers and embellishments to, and then you print it out on your standard sized printer. Next, you follow the instructions and sketch included in the download to complete a layout that is similar to this. Of course, when you use different supplies, your layout will look totally unique.

I hope that if you use this template you will let me know so I can see what you have done with it! Just leave me a note in my comments!


Click here to download the freebie!

And, here is my layout!

Such a Big Boy

Katie's gift

I made this little mini-album for Katie!

Kaie's last day

Well, today is Katie's last day. I'm so sad! I am kind of afraid to tell Grant, because I don't think he would really understand. We'll see her again soon, but not all day like we see her now. Sad.

So, I made this page the other day. These pictures are from a while back.




And, I made this page today from a photo I took off of Dani's wedding album site. Hee, hee! This is my nephew, Daniel.

Another Mint Tin Album

I made this for my mother-in-law for Christmas last year, and I've always wanted one for myself. I finally did it!

Cancun Tin Album

Well, I did it! I completed a mini album about our Cancun trip. I figured it would be a good idea to just do mini albums instead of a new album for each trip that we go on for the next 30 years. Mitch agreed.

Some updates and funnies

Last weekend we borrowed some movies from our friends. One of the movies was the new version of The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, the first in the Narnia series. Grant loves to watch "Hernia" and play "Hernia" with Katie. They sneak around the house plotting to kill the white witch. It cracks me up every time he says "Hernia".

A friend came over on Wednesday and we worked on a mini album for her dad. (We got over 20 6x6 pages done! Complete with embellishments!) As a thank you, she brought me Dutch Bucks! Hmmm . . . Precious Annihilators. What a wonderful gift!

So, we went to Dutch Bros. and as we were pulling away Grant says, "I'm gonna get you Dutch Bucks for your birthday."

"That would be wonderful!" I replied. "And you really only need to get me three or six because I could buy one coffee with three Dutch Bucks or two coffees with six."

"Mom, I'm gonna get you more than that. I'm gonna get you more than any girl deserves. Guess how much I'm gonna get you. I'm gonna get you affout a hundred Dutch Bucks."

(Just writing that made me feel all warm and fuzzy again.)

On Saturday, we worked on a lot of projects around the house. One of the items we checked off our list was pulling the twin sized bed and trundle down from upstairs and setting them up in Cole's room. That's right. We took down the crib (and I only cried a little) and moved our baby into a big boy bed.

If you had asked me last year when the best time to move a child into a big bed was, I would have said, "Wait as long as possible." See, Grant didn't move out of his crib until he was 2 1/2, and we only did that because we needed him to have crib separation before the baby came and claimed his bed. Grant LOVED his crib and was content to sleep there (and stay IN the crib) for longer than we allowed. He did do fine when we moved him into a big bed, though.

Cole will be 2 in a couple of weeks, so this is A LOT earlier. However, Cole has been leaping in and out of his crib for quite a while now. It got to the point that we would say, "Okay, time to go to bed. Go hop in bed and I will be in there in a minute." Seriously. Who says that to a 23 month old? Of course, Cole was happy to show us how grown up he could be, and followed our instructions. So, we figured he could handle a big boy bed.

So, like I said, we brought the beds down, borrowed sheets from Grant, grabbed a pillow off the guest bed, spread out the quilt my grandma made Cole, and (after Grant tested it to make sure it was comfortable) Cole snuggled right in. We pulled out the trundle about 1 1/2 feet so that if he rolled out of bed, it would be gradual. Cole said night-night and took a nice, normal 3 hour nap. No problems at all.

Of course, we wondered how he would handle night time. He was not as excited to go to bed that night, so instead of reading a story in Grant's bed, Mitch had Grant come to Cole's bed for their story. Cole seemed quite proud to have this event take place in his big boy bed. They said goodnight and Cole snuggled in. No problems! Sure, he stayed awake singing and banging his feet against the wall for a little while, but that is not unusual. He slept through the night without getting out of bed, and then in the morning, he waited patiently until I came to get him out of bed. In fact, he stayed on the bed, leaned over and grabbed a couple of toys from his toy box and just played until I got there. How cute is that? We have trained our boys, haven't we!? Cole has now had 4 sleeps in his big bed and is handling it wonderfully! (Of course, the mommy rule is to never say these things out loud because as soon as you do, the child will do just the opposite of what you are praising him for. What am I thinking?)

On to other matters.

We put our garden in on Saturday. Two kinds of tomatoes, green beans, three bell pepper plants, cucumbers, mini pumpkins and an assortment of herbs to add to our herb garden. Plus, we planted my grandpa's giant sunflower seeds and a $1 box of wildflower seeds (which we may come to regret). Grant learned about growing things in preschool, so he was giving me instructions as we planted. Very cute.

This is Katie's last week. SO sad. We are still planning to see her over the summer and at certain events, plus she DOES go to our church, so we will see her there, but it is just not going to be the same. I'm working on some projects for her. This is one that I finished yesterday:

We will miss her!