Hmmm....

Went to the Dr. today. My sinuses and my jaw have been bothering me. Diagnosis? Clenching my teeth and a sinus infection. Ugh! Gotta hate that. My weight shocked me as well. I've always had a problem in that area, but dang! it's out of control at this point. Doctor's advice? No more than 30g of fat/day and as few carbs as possible. Also add exercise preferably in the form of a stationary bike. Why? Less chance of injury. You get hurt, you quit. Yea, that sounds familiar. Everything in life is not fun, huh? Sounds like something my parents should be saying to me. Time to slap myself and get with the program.

Now on to better subjects. I just got some new pens in the mail. Haven't been able to find them locally so got them from the 'net. Sakura gel pens. One of them is a clear "stardust" pen. Basically, it just glitters when you write. Very cool!!! My friend Linda has one and I admittedly have been coveting it. So I got 4 of my own. I probably owe Linda at least one for how much I've used hers! Then I got a Sakura Glaze Pen. This is alot like Crystal Effects that Stampin' Up! sells, you just put it on with a pen. Makes whatever you write "feelable". That's not a word I bet. Anyway, they are cool pens! Can't wait to play with them.

I'm off to pop some pills and hit the sack!

My Latest Scrapbooking Project

This is an 8x8 album that I made for my friend Gretchen who just had a beautiful baby girl.

It's done with a very simple formula that makes it so fast to put together.



It's called Snappy Scrappin'. I got this done in an afternoon at my friend Linda's house. You pick your colors and stamp a couple of sheets all over with any stamp you'd like. I chose flowers for this one so it would be "girlie". Then you follow a template for the layouts. Super quick and easy! This book has a couple of pages up front for first pictures with family. Then there is a 2 page spread for each month of her first year. The last page is a single for a picture of her on her first birthday. I recommend that the mom puts a sticky note on each month to jot down significant events in that month. (ie; first tooth 5/21) and then you tuck your pictures for the month into the page protector for the month taken. When you have time, you just go back and adhere the pictures and journalling.

Katelyn's a great holder, huh?

Bring on the Tree

Big day today at our house! Time to put up the Christmas tree.

This is Katelyn and Lilli putting up the Nativity.

Parker and Lilli are adding ornaments.

What does Buddy do? Hide with a rawhide bone!

Yup. It's the disco boy of the house, bustin' out his moves to Christmas music.

Here is Katelyn taking over the tradition of putting the angel on the top of the tree. She is happy to finally be tall enough! I'm thinking by this time next year, she'll be taller than me.

I had to spend some time at Sam's and the mall today. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Grouchy shoppers and all! Got a little shopping done. Mostly got some exercise.

Pete and the kids worked at the church to help set up for the Christmas store and a set change to the "Toy Store Christmas".

Please join us in praying for the 75 teens and their parents who will come through the church doors next Saturday morning. They will be fed a pancake breakfast and pick out a small, medium and large gift for their teen. It is a gift to be a part of this ministry. God always provides exactly the right thing! Amazing!

Thanksgiving

This was the invitation that I stamped and sent to everyone. This was the tablesetting out on the porch for the "adult table".



We started a new tradition this year. Everyone (including adults) signed our tablecloth. It was great fun! We will add to it each Thanksgiving. The kids got a big kick out of writing on the tablecloth. It took a little convincing at first, but then they got into it!







This is Kendall after she got a shot at the tablecloth! Yep, that's a Sharpie Marker (read permanent!). I thought Joy would kill me for sure! Here's the fun at the kid's table! I'm thankful that the kids have cousins close by to hang with on holidays. That is a special blessing!
















So you can see that a great time was had by all! I think for the first time ever I did not have a meltdown just before everyone arrived. It was alot of work, but absolutely worth it!

When it started to get dark, Pete started a fire in the pit. The kids always have a great time playing in the dark and making s'mores. Our friends the DePaolo's stopped by for the fire and then we all retired to the "theatre" for a showing of Napoleon Dynamite.

I'd say that it was a great holiday. We as a family have so much to be thankful for. The blessings are too numerous to list or count. Truly Lord, we are grateful.

Migraines

Pain. Intense pain. Big black hole of pain. Makes you miss things. Like a whole day. Yuk.

Can't Sleep...

I hate it when I can't sleep. I'm going to be tired tomorrow. Duh. There's a bunch of junk rattling around in my head. And the dog's insides are making some strange noises.

Things that rattle around in your head at night are strange things. There's the big stuff. I have learned to deal with that a little better. Seriously. You think about them for a little bit, realize you can't do a darn thing about them. Totally out of my control. So I pray about it and forget it until another point in time. (hopefully not at bedtime) When it rattles around in my head again, I repeat the routine. Think about it some, pray about it, forget about it. Kind of like lather, rinse, repeat.

Now the small things... for me they're the killers. Things like Katelyn wants to make spinach artichoke dip for Thanksgiving and I need to find her a recipe. How far behind am I with grading school work? What am I going to do at my next workshop? What pictures am I going to scrap next? Blah, blah, blah.... All stuff within my control. But unfinished business. When I finish this business there will be more! And so it rattles around like screws in a jar. Yup, i've got a screw or 2 (or more) loose. Sigh...

I will do my best in the morning to cross some items off my to-do list. Maybe that will help. I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving. I'm looking forward to Stamp Day at Linda's. It seems like 10 years since I've hung out with Linda! I'm looking forward to getting out the Christmas decorations. All great stuff. Just wish it would all quit rattling. I'm hoping I've blogged it out!

Goodnight, Sleep tight (hopefully).

The List... (revisited)

Time for another list. I'm loving a few new things!

1. Crocs shoes. Have you seen these? I have. Back in my old work in the medical field days. They are about as pretty as Birkenstocks only in prettier colors. I think they feel even better than my Birkis too. Best of all, they are a lot cheaper than Birkis. $30. Gotta get me some. Soon.

2. Chinese Jasmine tea. Wow. Thanks to George (who recently came back from a trip to China). It comes in tiny little balls that you put in hot water and it unfolds and looks like pretty, smallish, green leaves. Not small like coffee grounds. Very easy to drink around or spoon out. The smell is to die for! With a little honey the taste is great too. So much fun!

3. Sisters. I really like mine. When I was a teenager and she was a little bugger, not so much. But now, she's really cool. A great person. I'd do anything for her.

4. Friends who feel like sisters. Like my friend Kimberly. She challenged me to do something spiritual. It was HARD, real HARD. But girlfriend, I did it. I think I was grinding my teeth the whole time, but I did it. Do you think God minded me grinding my teeth? Maybe I'll do better tomorrow, but 30 days is a long time...

5. My PDA. Palm One Tungstun T5 if you want the specifics. My life is pretty much on it. Cute pics of my kids. My favorite songs, and all the other boring details.

6. Which brings me to Soduku!!! Was downloading free software for my PDA and came across this. It's a Japanese number puzzle. Now normally I don't like number puzzles. But these are fun! No adding! Just 1-9. Beware, they are extremely addicting. You can find Soduku puzzle books in bookstores and even Target. Apparently its a trendy thing right now.

7. Still loving my new(ish) digital camera. I just got Picasa2 (another internet freebie) and it is great for managing all my pictures. Real easy.

Okay, that's it for now!

Finally.....

I have been in a funk lately. It's awfully darn hard to get anything done when you're in a funk. But my husband was helpful and made me go for a walk the other day. Don't tell him, but it helped. And I liked it. (I'm really trusting you here...) We all went. Around the big block. Even Buddy the dog. Then we went to Super Target. It was good.

So finally I got a couple of things done. Like upacked my stuff from my Saturday night workshop. It's a lot more fun getting things out than putting them away! Don't tell my kids that. (man, I'm sharing lots of secrets today!)

I updated my poor neglected PDA. I got on a paper planner kick for awhile. And of course I remembered why I hate my paper planner... it's too darn big! Back to the PDA for me. I added some files (free stuff - yay) and put some pictures and music on it. Sweet!

Last but not least, I finally made and sent out my Thanksgiving Dinner invitations. Merely a formality, but I'm proud of them. First time I've ever made real dinner invitations. I have more high and lofty ideas for Thanksgiving. Let's see if I actually get them done.

Here's a picture of the invite:

How Can it be November??

Wasn't it summer last week? Now we're breathing down Thanksgiving's neck! And of course you know what that means...... Yup........ Christmas, New Years, the whole slippery slope!

Okay, now that that little panic attack is out of the way. On with my mindless ramblings...

I'm glad Martha Stewart is not coming to my house for Thanksgiving. Forget that she spent a Thanksgiving in jail (at least I think so, didn't she?). My house has to be better than jail! In my heart, I'm a Martha Wannabe. In real life, I'm not a total loser. I'd like things to look nice, be welcoming, and fun. In real life, I get hurried and anxious. My main focus this year is to enjoy myself and for everyone else to do the same. I'm trying to make a plan to achieve that goal. What I don't want is for me and everyone else in my family to blow their top because we are trying too hard to get stupid stuff done in way too little time. In my mind I picture table decorations, placecards, favors, my new heirloom crystal on the table, flowers and candles. Will I get that done? Not likely. And to boot, I'll feel frustrated by that. Nevermind the fact that I'm homeschooling 3 great kids and enjoying the challenges of my 1 year old neice during the work week. What I need to learn most is that I should enjoy what I do get done. Fun, peaceful, and happy memories are much sweeter than floors that can be licked (and not just by the dog) or the perfect placecards. Great times with family and friends is what is important. When the day is done, what will be remembered? The favors, the food, the table setting? Not likely (unless something disasterous happens, and then it is hysterically funny family history!).

So that my friends is November's prayer. To do what I can and be at peace about it. To focus on what really matters. To be thankful, truly thankfull for all the blessings God has given. And His blessings are many.

One last picture....

I tried to get this one in last night, but for some reason, it wouldn't work! Today's a new day, so here it is. This is Katelyn and her friend Zhaleh in their "Whack a Youth" trunk. Fun!