A Little Bit of This and That

night #2 - fail

2011-12-14T22:17:00.000-06:00

well, the big bed time plan didn't work tonight because blake ended up not feeling well and went to bed just before chase. hoping blake is feeling better tomorrow night so that we can try again. blake has a headache, and guess what ... so do i. i felt it coming on toward the end of the day at work, and it's been building. crossing my fingers i will be able to make it through the day tomorrow, and blake too!

tomorrow is a christmas program at chase's school. i am fortunately able to go. looking forward to talking to chase's teacher. one of my possible solutions to this whole sleep and bus dilemma is to have chase join the afternoon class instead. still a possibility.

my mom had asked me to make her a digital christmas card to send to the people she bought her dog from, and i made that tonight. i emailed it to her. one digital project off of my list ... several to go!

take care,
melinda

night #1

2011-12-13T22:19:00.000-06:00

first of all, i apologize for typing in all lower case letters, but i'm too lazy to use the shift key on the right hand side of my keyboard, and the key on the left hand side is not working. historically, it will be neat to come back and read this some day, remembering the dumb issues i've had with this keyboard which is less than 2 years old.

bedtime has been a struggle ever since school started in september. chase is new to going to any type of school, and not only that, but he goes to school in the morning after having previously been "trained" to sleep in due to my husband's work schedule. the idea was to get him closer to the school schedule he will have in kindergarten, and to give him something to do while his dad sleeps in from working until the wee hours of the morning.

well, chase does not go to bed well. he claims to be afraid of the dark. it may very well be true, but based on some of his behaviors, i really think it is more of an attention thing than anything. he seems to enjoy the negative attention it brings him from both his siblings, and me.

tonight, though ... i am hoping that i've finally figured out a way to deal with it. in the past, i've sent all three kids to bed at the same time. i sent chase to bed first tonight. chase likes to turn the bedroom light on when he's going to bed, which has always been an issue for poor blake who sleeps on the top bunk and has it shining in his face. with chase being on the bottom, the light doesn't shine in his face, and so he isn't bothered by it. for whatever reason, the two nightlights in their room are not enough light for him. anyway, he was asleep within 15-20 minutes after he was sent to bed. Hallelujah and Amen!!! (Yes, I broke out the right-shift key for that bit there!) while he was falling asleep, i did the dishes with the older two kids. they weren't happy about it because we had a lot to do, but i surprised them with a few oreos and some milk afterward as a reward. bedtime was supposed to immediately follow that for both blake and julia, but apparently blake hadn't finished a math assignment -- there were some corrections to make on a previous in-class assignment -- and so he stayed up to do that. julia was asleep within 15 minutes, and blake went to bed last, and seems to have gone to sleep well also.

you have no idea how excited i was by the quiet bedtime process tonight. i have been at my wits end and near tears with frustration over kids coming out of their rooms, lights being turned on, and that one child who just plain would not stay in bed. chase went to bed without a fuss tonight. wow.

so ... so far the new plan seems to be working. the test will be to see if he makes it in his bed all night long, but this has promise!!!!

please let this work,
a tired mommy,
melinda

Horrible blogger

2011-11-29T23:12:00.001-06:00

I'm a horrible blogger. I think its probably because as far as I know, no one reads my blog but me, hee hee (except for when I enter photos at I Heart Faces, maybe)! I wouldn't want to read a blog that didn't get posted on though, so I will try to be better about it. I've updated my blog tonight to have Christmas colors ... kind of ... and added my Christmas playlist to the side. Turn your sound down or off if you don't care to listen to Christmas music. I happen to love Christmas music!

Christmas is coming way too fast this year. Less than 4 weeks away. I have thought about setting up the Christmas tree, but I'm sure I'll get to drag it up out of the basement again, and am not looking forward to it. I'll have to enlist Blake's help, as I'll admit I'm afraid I'll hurt myself trying to drag it up the stairs if I do it on my own.

My goal for this weekend is to get some house cleaning and organizing done so that we CAN put up the tree. Hubby has been doing a bunch of that lately, which is great, but he has a tendency to go overboard. He's got the chore of laundry and keeps going through the clothes and putting things in a donate box ... except he's not paying attention to sizes and he's put things in there that we can use again in the spring, or that can be saved for Chase for when he's older. It's good that he understands I'm going through them after him, rescuing things! :)

Blake is almost done with having braces. He just got them put on in July, and will get them off in January already. I am really hoping we can avoid "Phase 2" of braces with him, which would be needed if the rest of his teeth come in crooked and messed up. So far, he still has several baby teeth in the back, as he should. He's not old enough to be losing those yet.

Speaking of age ... I laughed internally when I took the kids to a restaurant this past weekend. The hostess asked me if I just needed 2 kids' menus. Kids menus are for ages 12 and under ... and apparently Blake looks like he might be older than that? Well, I will give him that he's huge. Well, not HUGE, but he is tall for his age, and he is wearing braces ... which most people (as would I before going through this adventure) would expect to be done in the teens. He still has more baby-face than I would expect a 12-13 year old would, though. So, that gave me some internal giggles. Thank goodness for places that have menus for kids that he can still find enough to eat on, though ... this kid can't even really tolerate a Mighty Kids meal at McDonald's anymore because it isn't enough food! I have NO idea what I'm gonna do when this kid IS a teenager, hee hee!

Well, as usual, I'm trying to get too many things done and am not getting to sleep early enough, so I'm going to close up shop for now. Time to start winding down and get some rest!

Thanks for stopping by,
Melinda

I Heart Faces: Tickled Pink

2011-10-17T21:57:00.001-05:00

This time I decided to feature my daughter who was covered in pink for one of her first T-ball practices of the season this past spring. You can see some of her face ... hope it's enough to count, as this was just too much pink for me NOT to enter it. My daughter borrowed a friend's pink helmet, and another friend's pink bat, and so she ended up covered in pink ... it was just too cute! :)

This week's theme is pink in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month. My aunt was touched by this disease. She beat it several years ago, and now faces another battle with another form of Cancer. Love you, Aunt Mary Jane, and I think about you every day ... hoping for health, comfort, and as many good times as possible.

See more entries at the I Heart Faces site, at the address under the image below.


www.iheartfaces.com

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Melinda

So excited! ("Raise Your Hands" challenge at I Heart Faces)

2011-10-10T20:59:00.000-05:00

Here is my entry for this week's challenge - Raise Your Hands - at I Heart Faces! This was my little man on his fourth birthday last year ... SO excited about his new Big Wheel! I loved how expressive his face was with his hands up, so it was an easy pick for this challenge. See more entries at the link below the icon.

www.iheartfaces.com

Back to School

2011-09-12T21:27:00.003-05:00

I Heart Faces is having a Back to School photo challenge ...

I didn't do a photo shoot for Back to School ... I just took some pictures of my kids like I always do. I really liked how this one turned out though, so I submit a picture of my youngest son, waiting for his very first bus ride to pre-K!

Check out all the fabulous entries at I Heart Faces!

Beautiful Eyed Beach Bum ...

2011-08-15T22:07:00.000-05:00

When I saw the prompt, I knew I had to share this picture that I took last summer of my son at the beach when we were camping with my parents. I love my son's eyes! I did apply a pre-set by Kelsey Smith that I got ages ago called "Dance," that I did just a little tweaking on.

I Heart Faces - Beautiful Eyes Challenge

Thanks for looking, and check out more entries at the I Heart Faces link above!

I Heart Faces photography challenge: shadows

2011-04-10T17:53:00.003-05:00

I have decided to enter this photo for the shadow challenge this week. I didn't take it this week, thank goodness. It was an amazingly chilly day this January that I took this picture at the Silvermine Invitational. It was so cold that my camera would not stay on, and at one point my camera even re-set its date back to 1/1/1980!! Wiped it right out. I snuck a few shots on my camera, and on my dad's camera. My dad would tuck my camera down under his jacket to try to warm it up so that the darned thing would work! It was so frustrating as I could see the amazing potential if my camera had been in proper working order.

Still, I really have nothing to complain about, as I caught this pretty cool shot with a neat shadow of the skier!

Thankfully, this type of weather seems to be finally moving out. The big pile of snow in our back yard has been reduced to a small pile of ice, and that should melt fairly quickly. We've had unseasonably WARM weather today, but there is a threat of severe weather in addition, so that's an interesting trade. Here's hoping that everyone stays safe today with the unstable weather pattern!

See more entries for the Shadow challenge by clicking on the I Heart Faces button above! :)

Fix-It Friday #89

2011-03-04T00:35:00.004-06:00

I have no professional skill when it comes to photo editing. I just like to play in Lightroom! I saw a post on Facebook for the Fix-It Friday event at iHeartfaces.com with a link to the newest photo provided, and decided to give it a go, even though I know many other more experienced editors will be playing with the same photo. I am anxious to see what direction they take with it.

I decided to smooth out the subject's face a little, and went with a desaturated look, and added back in a pop to the blacks, reds and blues. I really like how it drew out his blue eyes, and the texture/design in his shirt. I would have liked to blur the background beyond the brick wall, but I wasn't sure how to achieve that, so I stopped with what I've got.

Here is the original with credits to the photographer, Dana Suggs:

and here is my edit:

and a second edit cleaning up the wood and the back wall with some cloning and slight gaussian blur in PSE, a slight vignette added in LR, and an addition of film grain from PSE applied to the brick wall.

You can see more on this week's Fix-It friday here:

Thanks for stopping by!

Vote for my Shutterfly book! :)

2011-01-12T19:59:00.001-06:00

Check out my book in the Shutterfly Best Gift Ever Contest!

I've entered a Shutterfly contest! My parents went on a trip to Alaska. My dad took lots of pictures and tons of them were great and really interesting! But, they sat in envelopes after they were developed, and I had no idea what some of the pictures showed.

I got the idea to make a Shutterfly book of the pictures for Christmas. I got my mom to put the pictures from their trip on a disc ... she assumed I'd do digital scrapbooking with them ... and started a book. Then I got my parents' friends' email address in Alaska and asked them for help. They helped me with the captions, and even contributed some more pictures so that the book could include pictures of my dad, who otherwise would have been missing due to being behind the camera the whole time.

The scenery was breath-taking, and the trip was very special to my parents. It was an amazing feeling to see them open the gift at Christmas!

It would be awesome if you would vote for me ... please check out the above link to see it!

A Christmas re-cap ...

2010-12-26T23:33:00.000-06:00

I didn't get to take as many pictures as I would have liked, but here are some pictures to re-cap Christmas morning at home, Christmas morning at my In-Law's, and Christmas morning at my parents' house.

At home:

At the In-Law's:

At my parents' house

It was a very busy day, and I wasn't feeling the greatest, but I enjoyed being with everyone. The kids were spoiled, as usual, and they are very happy.

Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year everyone!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas ...

2010-11-27T21:41:00.002-06:00

Well, it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas ... on my blog. Not at home yet. I was thinking about setting up the Christmas tree today since I wasn't able to go shopping, but my husband doesn't think it should be up yet ... it's not even December 1st, you know. Um ... Christmas is less than a month away. I don't think it's too early.

For some reason, I'm more into Christmas this year than usual. The last couple of years, I've been the one delaying the tree being put up because I just wasn't in the spirit. I'm glad that I'm more into it this year. We've already been through the park to see the lights. They are really pretty, though there are a lot of the LED lights replacing the less energy efficient ones ... and I think that is great ... except the LED lights are really, really bright. I would love to see an invention of LED lights that aren't quite so bright ... get on that, will you? :)

The kids looked through the Kmart toy catalog today that was in my room somehow. They pointed at nearly every item in the book. Chase pointed at a remote control car ... that he already owns in a different color and has forgotten about. It probably just needs batteries. Julia wants anything girly, and a few typical boy toys too. I was surprised when she pointed at Hot Wheels car track stuff. Seriously? You want that? But, I didn't say that because I of course do not want to support those stereo-types. They are already all to aware of them on their own.

They won't be getting many of the items they were pointing at, but that's ok. I know they will be super happy with what they well we ... I mean wii ... are getting. (Thanks, Mom) I have a feeling we're going to have a rather electronic focused Christmas this year, though I plan to give hints to my husband's side of the family regarding non-electronic toys ... like Kung Zhu track stuff for Blake and Chase, and Zhu Zhu/Barbie stuff for Julia (she's feeling left out regarding Zhu Zhus). I am hoping to goodness to avoid any little plastic figurines, and please oh please, no more NERF guns/ swords!!!

I participated in the Scrappers Give Thanks project this year. See this post to see what I made, and see this site to see what was accomplished. Thanks to the help of hundreds of people, and thanks to help from Persnickety Prints, 2000 digital and/or paper-pieced cards have been made to be delivered to children's hospitals! It's an awesome project. Oh yeah! I re-read my post after publishing, and realized I forgot to share that I won something in the give-away! I didn't participate in order to win a prize, but it's pretty cool that I did. I won a membership to a subscription site called Scrap Happy. I'll let you know what I think once I learn more about it!

I am setting a goal to make cards for next year's project throughout the year, so that I can have a big contribution next fall. Maybe you'll join me!

Well, Blogger is starting to have some issues as I type this, so I am going to sign out. Good time to visit the Powder Room and head to bed to read a book (ahem, Breaking Dawn ... again)!

Thanks for stopping by,

How to tackle Mount Washmore

2010-11-16T20:56:00.001-06:00

Mount Washmore is one of the most frustrating things I deal with on a day to day basis. But, I think Ana White may have a solution with this project: Laundry Basket Dresser I think that would make my laundry area a lot neater, and it might even encourage laundry to be managed more quickly! I also love the possibilities of other ways to use it. One commenter suggested that it could be used to hold recycling bins ... and then I thought about the idea of having a place to store sports stuff, and the list goes on and on.

I thought the idea was so cool, and it looks pretty easy, so I thought I'd share! :)

Scrappers Give Thanks ...

2010-11-14T00:28:00.003-06:00

I've made two (... and now three as of 1:30 Sunday morning) cards so far for Scrappers Give Thanks ... I know I can do better than that. But, you can do better too ... all you need to do is create at least one 4x6 (vertical orientation) post-card type card that is geared at a child. The goal is to brighten their day as they are in the hospital. You can learn more about Scrappers Give Thanks by clicking the link on the right side of my blog, or by clicking on this logo:

Here are peeks at the three cards I've made so far ...

Made with Sweet Christmas by Connie Prince


Made with Sunbeams and Daydreams by Connie Prince

Made with I Wuff You by Connie Prince

Thank you for helping make a difference!
~Melinda

Cool and rainy turns into a beautiful fall day ....

2010-10-21T22:01:00.002-05:00

Recently, after a cool, early morning soccer game (with a win!), and being locked out of my car by my own doing (Thanks again, Angela for rescuing us!), we went to my parents' house for brunch and pumpkin picking. My mom called me and invited us out ... while I was locked out of my car. Ahem. Anyway, she said she felt bad about missing the kids' soccer game, but it was just too chilly. I didn't blame her at all. But, she fed us yummy pancakes, and the kids ran around and played ... I could not complain. :) You may recognize some of these photos from my current blog header. I liked them just a little bit. :)

My mom (and dad) are now raising chickens. They started early in the spring. My mom also started raising honey bees then, but that's something to share about another time. The chickens are used to people being around. They followed us around pretty much all day. It was kind of neat, and they are actually kind of cute to watch and listen to. I had a LOT of fun taking pictures of the chickens, the one rooster (George), and the kids. My kids made a big leaf pile and of course I had to document that. We also got our pumpkins and gourds from my parents' garden, and Blake helped my mom cut down corn stalks for a nice ... whatever those are called. I have a smallish bundle by my front steps with all the pumpkins and gourds around it.

The statue in the upper right is by my parents' dog Katie's grave. *cry* My daughter got all weepy after they visited her, and I did too. Thankfully, the kids had already run off to play and didn't see me.

The kids also got to ride on the 4-wheelers on my parents' property. Blake's has a governor in it so that it can't go very fast, and a safety strap. They LOVE going for rides on the 4-wheelers. It really was a gorgeous day after the initial chilliness and even a little bit of rain. We stayed there most of the day! I know Tyler enjoyed the me-time, too.

Thank you to the CoffeeShop Blog (see the blogs I follow on the right-hand side for a link-up) for the photo template that I used in my post today, and to Linda for letting me know about them! I can see easily that I will share more photos in my posts going forward!

It's getting close to bed time, so I am going to close. Thanks for visiting!

In the orchard ...

2010-10-18T17:56:00.002-05:00

I was very frustrated with our visit to the orchards this year. We had to rush a little bit because we went after work instead of on the weekend, and the kids went straight from the car to the apple cider inside, and then straight back into the car. No pictures by the apple trees, and no pictures by the pumpkins. BUT, honestly I shouldn't complain. We are fortunate to have apple orchards that are not very far away from home.

Thankfully, I have been able to get some great orchard pictures in the past. The I Heart Faces site is having a photo challenge this week regarding orchard pictures. The trick ... I can only pick ONE picture ... so here is my photo for Week 42's challenge:

This is my oldest son exploring the ~~applie~~ apple orchard (I always type applie by mistake, ugh) when he was 3 years old. We had just eaten some apple pie ... can you see the spoon in his hand? :) The lighting was perfect and the colors were vibrant. There are two others that go with this one that have never been trumped for a favorite orchard picture (of my own) yet. But, I keep trying every year! Unfortunately, the orchard where I took this photo went under new ownership a few years ago, and we can't walk among the trees like this anymore. But, last year I did sneak over and snap a few pictures by one when they left the gate open ... you can see those pictures HERE.

I can't wait to see everyone's orchard pictures! This is my first entry for the I Heart Faces challenge ... I hope that my little man had enough of his face showing for this to count! :)

Thanks for visiting!

Happy Fall, Y'all!

2010-09-19T23:01:00.000-05:00

Well, Fall doesn't officially start until Chase's birthday (which is Wednesday), but this phrase is popping up all over in the digital scrapbooking world as the fall kits start rolling out. I love fall scrap-booking kits. The colors are so pretty, and the purchasing of said fall kits actually is what encourages me to get my butt outside on days I might otherwise not. I have to go get pictures of my kids playing in the leaves, don't I? :) Here are a couple of the kits that will inspire me to get my butt outside:

And, it also reminds me that we need to visit the apple orchards, and all those other fun fall things. (Unfortunately, I'm not sure if I'll be able to enjoy those apples, but I digress.)
It appears I'm heading back into a trend of not writing on my blog very often. Sorry about that. I know that my life is so vitally interesting to you that you must want me to write more often. (ROFL ... ahem)

August and a good chunk of September have passed. August was spent enjoying not having to be anywhere, once the last little bits of T-ball were over. We had soccer in April which went into May. Starting in May, we were running around for T-ball, and that continued through July. August was a month to do whatever we wanted. We went to a local beach a couple of times, and we went camping with my parents in the middle of August for their first and only camping trip this year (Thanks, Mom and Dad! I know it was a lot of work!). I went to a bachelorette party. And, we celebrated a cousin's birthday. August was a beautiful month.

It was only marred by the passing away of my parents' dog -- the dog they got the year I turned 17. She lived a long life, but it was very hard to realize she was gone. May Katie be resting peacefully on the other side of the Rainbow bridge.

Me with Katie on the day we brought her home.

Katie sleeping on a chair on her last camping trip - August 2010.

Now, September is over half gone. We've spent most of it, it seems, visiting the doctor or hospital, hee hee. But, school and soccer have started, and we've celebrated Chase's birthday. I will update more on those ... soon, but not tonight. I should be in bed already! :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Ever forget your blogger password?

2010-08-09T18:37:00.010-05:00

Well, I did. Rather, I forgot that I changed it to be another password ... so technically I didn't forget it, I just forgot that it went to this site. Follow that? LOL!

So anyway, another month has gone by in the meantime before I decided to try another possible password and made it on. I find the need to keep messing with my blog background whenever I am on here. That is just counter-productive, though, because then I start playing around with the options and never get a post written up!

Don't you wish that you could use your own image for the new template designer?? Well, I do. Somebody needs to tell Blogger that to make it an option. Get on that, will you? ;)

Let's see .... what has happened since my Girl's Day? I made CUPCAKES for my daughter's birthday ... on my birthday. We went to Culver's to celebrate Julia's 6th birthday. I went out on a date with my husband to see Eclipse and dinner ... and my husband was not impressed with the movie at all. He informed me I will have to go see the last two movies either on my own or with someone OTHER than him. :) We went to Micaela's birthday party at the fountain at the park. We went boating with my parents. The kids played their last T-ball games, including playing in Hallie Youth Days and Blake's All-Stars game. I took my kids to a company picnic, and then we all went to the same beach on Saturday with family and friends. Of course I will share pictures. What kind of a photographer wanna-be would I be without pictures?!

Cupcakes

Julia at Culver's on her birthday

Blake at fountain for Micaela's party

Chase at the fountain (and much braver, you may note)

And Julia at the fountain ... much more daring than last year. :)

Boating with my parents

Julia's last T-ball game of the season

Julia's trophy for completing a season of Girls T-ball

Blake making his first run during the T-ball All-Stars game (he's moving up to Coach Pitch next year!)

Blake receiving his trophy for participating in the All-Stars game.

That's enough pictures for one post. Hopefully I can remember my password so that I can update more often! :)

~Melinda

Girl's Day, Girl's Day!!!

2010-07-11T21:01:00.006-05:00

Today we had a Girl's Day to celebrate upcoming birthdays for my daughter and me. Julia will be 6 in just a few days! My mom had gotten a gift certificate from her sister for a pedicure, and she decided to invite us along to make it a Girl's Day! Isn't my mom the best???

Julia was SO into this ... a totally girly event, hee hee.

Julia had her feet given a royal treatment, and then had her toes and fingernails painted. She picked a pretty iridescent purple.

My mom and I had pedicures and manicures, and my aunt came along and had a manicure. Afterward we headed to Perkins (where I'd been wanting to go since Mother's Day) and had a late lunch. The waitress was super nice, and she gave both Julia and me free slices of pie (with candles on top!) for our birthdays which are just one day (and many years) apart. We had a great time, and I love how my finger and toe-nails look! I'm not usually into this kind of thing - mostly because of the cost - but it was such a nice thing to do with my family, and it was nice to get out ... with just the girls!

Giggle, giggle ... that tickles, mommy!

Hee, hee, hee!

See my pretty toe-nails, Mommy?

Chillin' with my aunt while we waited for my mom's nails to dry.

Happy Birthday to Julia! (Reeses Peanut Butter Silk pie)

The Fair 2010

2010-07-09T20:09:00.000-05:00

On a whim, we ended up going to the Fair on Friday. Tyler was working over-time, and I had no plans, so why would I say no when my mom called to ask? First we had dinner at a local restaurant, and then we headed to the fair. First we checked out the tractors and farm animals.

the sheep in their coats after sheering ...

Then we took in the rides. The kids were able to enjoy most of the rides that they wanted to try. A few were just NOT going to happen (those rides that they really should be older for). We never did make it down to most of the exhibits ... we only saw a few, and right before they were closing them up. It ended up being a very late night, but that was ok. I was glad the kids had fun.

My parents (and many of the near-by fair-goers) enjoyed watching Julia dance:

and then we walked back to our car ... just in time as they started shutting the rides down ... and we all crashed fairly quickly after we got home.

It was a whirl-wind night, but a great night.

It's a (beautiful) musical life ...

2010-06-21T23:33:00.005-05:00

Don't have much to say tonight, so here is some creative inspiration! :)

My daughter loves to dance and sing ... and here I've scrapped about it with a pretty collaboration kit by Connie Prince and Charlize Creations! It's called Music of My Life and is NEW at Elemental Scraps today.

Thanks for looking!

~Melinda

Ring around the baseball fields ...

2010-06-20T23:06:00.000-05:00

Friday night it felt like we played ring around the baseball fields, as another coach's mix-up caused us to have to search for another field for Blake's team to play on. After walking to another field and discovering that one wouldn't work, we ended up heading to a familiar field ... the field Julia plays T-ball on! Blake's team had a rough start, probably because of the pre-game mix-up, but came back in the end. It wasn't enough for them to win, but in T-ball they don't really focus on the score (which is great). Blake had his fair share of missed chances to stop the ball, but once again, when he was in the pitching position he got all 3 of the inning's outs! He caught the ball twice when it was hit right to him, and ran one runner out at 3rd base. He had a blast.

The only pictures I succeeded in getting Friday night were pictures of Chase playing in the sand on the near-by playground -- the only good part about Blake's game moving where it was. The sun was in our eyes because it was starting to set and so all of the parents had a hard time seeing the game. I guess it is better that it was in our eyes than theirs, but our original field might have given a little more protection from the sun.

Saturday we went to a Chinese restaurant for the second time. I'm not a big fan of Chinese food, but I DO like coconut shrimp! Yum! Tyler is more willing to try the various foods out, and he is sharing bites with the kids, so at least they are getting to try new things that way. I learned about coconut shrimp from a co-worker. I've tried peanut chicken too ... and am not sure if I like it or not. It's kind of odd - a mix of crunchy peanut butter, essentially, and chicken. Very different. Maybe next time I'll try the Honey-something chicken. Tyler wasn't that impressed with it ... so maybe that means I'll like it. (He didn't really understand the fuss about the coconut shrimp.)

Today was Father's Day. I called and talked to my dad tonight. I'm not good at talking to people on the phone. I feel so dumb, but I didn't want to let the holiday pass without letting my dad know that I love him, and that he's important in my life. He has done so much for me, and still continues to do so. I love you, Dad!

Out of Tyler's choosing, we didn't do much for Father's Day. I offered, so I can't feel to blame. We did go play catch at the middle school though, and even though the kids got a little whiny, I think it was a productive session. Tyler misses basically all of their games, and so its a good way for him to get involved. Oh! And Tyler pitched a few balls to me. Keep in mind that I am not athletically-inclined, and that I was using a T-ball bat ... I could have done worse. LOL. So, then Tyler had the bright idea of letting me pitch to him. This was after my batting practice, so he really should have known better! Ha ha. He very narrowly missed having his feet hit several times, and even almost got hit in the gut a couple of times. Oops. I haven't played softball for about 15 years! Give me a break! :)

Then we went grocery shopping, and have spent the rest of the evening at home. I got some dishes done. Next, I should run to get some laundry done ... we'll see.

That's about it for my weekend ... how was yours?

~Melinda

Thursday's game photos ...

2010-06-20T23:05:00.003-05:00

I went right up to the fence and stuck my lense through, behind the catcher area, to get most of these shots. I was too lazy to walk down past the dug-outs, and I really like the angle I got! :)

This is the position from which Blake got all 3 outs for that inning! :) He was pretty proud of himself, and so are we! It is great to see that he is starting to truly understand this game.

It was very hard to keep Julia and Chase sitting down nearby ... until my mom pulled out the ring pops! Yay for treats that make them hold still! It worked, until Julia chomped off what was left of her ring in order to be allowed off the bench ... that smart, silly girl!

Just had to share!
~Melinda

Good game, good game, good game ...

2010-06-17T23:19:00.002-05:00

I think that is my daughter's favorite part of her T-ball games ... the good-game, good-game, good-game part where they all give fives to the other team. :) It's cute. And then she gets her snack ... which might actually be her favorite part, lol.

Blake, however ... I think his favorite part is getting the other team out. He got to play the pitcher tonight for one inning, and he did great! It's T-ball, so he didn't have to pitch the ball, but he did get a runner out at 3rd, and he got two runners out at home base. If you did the math, you realize he got the 3 outs for the inning! :) He also scored some runs. I'm not sure how many, as I did not keep track. I got some decent pictures, but don't have my camera handy to load them to share with you yet.

We did make it to the circus on Wednesday, too, and it turned out to be a gorgeous day. It started out cloudy at the beginning of the show, and the sun came out during their intermission. It was starting to get "ouch" hot by the time the circus was done. Good thing it wasn't that sunny the whole time or we'd all have been sun-burned! After the circus we went to Mike's Smokehouse for lunch, which was yummy! I don't get to go there very often. As is true with many places now-a-days, you get a lot less fish for your dollar, but at least it tasted as good as I remembered it. Julia had a game Wednesday night, and she is getting better and better at staying on task on the ball field. It's amazing the difference a year makes! :)

Well, it is getting late and I have laundry to switch over, so I better head out. Thanks for stopping in. I will try to get some pictures posted ... maybe tomorrow night after another of Blake's games! :)

~Melinda

New blog template ...

2010-06-15T21:15:00.006-05:00

So, last night I sat down with the intention of scrapping with one of Connie Prince's newest kits - Brain Freeze. As often happens when I sit down to scrap, I got distracted by other things. When I went to the store to grab the links to the kit I noticed that she had a new blog template. I've been using a really pretty one:

since March or so, I think.

This bright one caught my eye, though:

As you can see, I'm not using it ... even though I love it. Why? Well, I got sucked into the template designer in Blogger. LOL! I ended up spending probably an hour changing the background and colors and stuff ... eventually ending up with what I have now. Will it stick? Eh, probably not. I am a digi-scrapper at heart, and am sure that I will miss having a pretty header, and cute tags on the sidebar. The new Sunbeams & Daydreams Blogwear will probably be my new set-up. Then, I will challenge myself to pick just one of the adorable headers to put on my blog. Maybe I should set up another blog so that I can use more than one?? ;)

Oh yeah ... that scrapping. I did eventually finish a page, meaning another late night getting to bed, hee hee. Here is the page I created with Brain Freeze (and a Heat Wave Template - available at Elemental Scraps only), which I think turned out really cute!

You can see it a little bigger in my Gotta Pixel gallery, if you want a closer look.

Tomorrow we are planning to go to the circus. Well, actually we ARE going, because I already spent an obscene (in my opinion) amount of money on the adult tickets. We have free passes for the kids. When I spread the cost out between us all, though, I guess it isn't so bad ... $28 for 5 people to see the circus. I'll try to think of it that way instead. ;)

I'll share pictures on my blog if I get any good ones. Last year we went, but it was the evening program and by the time the really pretty acts came out, it was dark and of course I was too far away for my flash to be of any use. I am hoping for lots of sunshine so that I can get some spectacular pictures. I wonder where the best place will be to sit, and how early we'd need to get there to sit there, too, lol.

If you've stuck through my rambling this long, hey ... thanks! :) As a thank you, in case you've missed it, there is a Father's Day Give-Away on Connie Prince's blog ... go see it HERE! Now, I'm gonna go harrass the children about getting to sleep so that they aren't crabby tomorrow.

Have a good one,

What did you make today?

2010-05-19T20:49:00.003-05:00

I made this!

with LOVE WITHOUT END KIT and SO SUNNY TEMPLATES by Connie Prince

It was my attempt at stress-reduction tonight. I am battling my sinuses ... and it is a bitter fight. A simple cold never stays a cold in MY system. It is almost always "promoted" to sinus infection status almost immediately. I wish I knew why ... and wish there was a way to stop it. But anyway ... it was fun trying to de-stress! What did you make today?

The Witching Hour ...

2010-05-19T20:40:00.002-05:00

A blogger/tweeting friend of mine brought up the witching hour tonight in a tweet of hers. I guess I only think of the witching hour coming once a year ... on Halloween, but as was revealed, this is apparently the term used to refer to that crazy time of the evening when your kids are constantly underfoot and driving you crazy as you try to transition from one routine to another.

This is the part where I sigh in relief that I am indeed NOT the only mom out there who experiences this!!! Do you have this happen now, if you have kids in your house? Do you remember it, if your children are now grown?

I'm sure there are ways to try and ease this "witching hour" time. And no... it does NOT include a margarita mix. ;) For me, I'm just glad to be HOME tonight, because that "witching hour" is MUCH more intense after coming home from being out and about all evening!!!

How do YOU deal with the witching hour??

Penscrappers challenge entry for May ...

2010-05-09T17:37:00.004-05:00

I really was happy with how my page turned out in March. I didn't get an entry in last month, but have created a page this month. If you click on the image above, you will be taken to the page I created. If you like it, please vote for me! :)

Here is what the page looks like ... full credits are located at the penscrappers site, which I link to above:

Thanks for taking a peek at the contest entries, and I hope you will vote for my page!

Hail-o (Hello), it's MAY!!! What is this?!

2010-05-08T21:02:00.000-05:00

We had rain/snow in the forecast for Friday and Saturday. I don't know quite what to call what came out of the sky, but come it did. Hail, sleet ... whatever it was, it sucked, LOL. I mean seriously ... it's MAY! Poor Blake was stuck playing soccer in it. LAST weekend he got to play on a very windy day, and the weekend before that he was stuck playing in the rain the whole time! Hopefully he will get to enjoy the last two games with WARM weather. :)

Some catch-up ...

2010-05-08T20:35:00.007-05:00

April 18:

I was able to talk Chase into putting on pants and a coat, but he refused to wear socks and boots. Sandals were good enough. LOL. Blake and Julia were down the block at a friend's house.

Monday, April 19:

Blake had soccer practice and pictures, so he had his shirt on.

Wednesday, April 28:

Chase sitting on the bleachers with me while Julia had T-ball practice.

Saturday, May 1:

Blake's 3rd soccer game of the spring season -- the first time I brought my camera (very odd!). He was given the spot of goalie for the first time! It was super windy and that made it very cold. I was regretting wearing capris and sandals, and regretted not having the kids wear pants too. BUT, at least it was sunny! I even managed to get either sun or wind burn!

Julia's 3rd soccer game was this day also. She wasn't really into it, and kept stopping to chat. I love this picture ... even though she should have been running! Her team had pictures today in the wind. They were supposed to take pictures the previous Saturday, but it was rainy and most of the kids didn't show up. They practiced for a while, but there was no game. Blake had to play in the rain for his whole game ... poor kid!

First day of spring soccer ....

2010-04-17T13:31:00.003-05:00

Rounded up the three amigos and headed to soccer this morning. Blake's team played at 9, and Julia's at 11. Turns out that if you played in the fall, you don't get a new T-shirt and socks. Hm ... seems like a rip-off if you get to pay the same either way. Anyway, neither of my kids had their soccer shirts on from last time. Julia's was in the laundry, and apparently Blake's is too because he doesn't know where it is. We have to find Blake's by Monday though because his team is having pictures taken this time.

For once I didn't pay a lot of attention to the game. I mostly played with Chase, which was fun. We kicked the soccer ball back and forth and chased it around. He was a little chilly, too, so sometimes he just cuddled against me, which I didn't mind at all.

We didn't have time for breakfast before-hand, so we went and picked up McDonald's breakfast in between games, and we also swung by the house to grab chairs to sit on during Julia's game. Julia is not as into it this spring (at least in her first game) as she was last fall. Drat! I was really thinking maybe this was her thing. It didn't help that she was put on defense, though ... the kids didn't get the ball down by her much, so she mostly stood around -- which Julia is NOT good at doing.

Julia has a fellow kindergartner on her team from her school. She is very excited about Miss L being on her team. It also turns out that Miss L and her little sister will be going to my neighbor's house for daycare this summer. So, Julia will be seeing a lot more of her, I guess!

Now we are home and the kids are all outside. I followed them down to Blake's friend's house and sat there while Chase played in their sand box, but then he needed to use the bathroom so we came back. Now Chase is back over there, and here I sit. I am not good at being outdoors. I want to be doing something, and Tyler is in charge of the outside - not me. Some would argue that being on the computer is not "doing something"... and sometimes they are right. When I get sucked into Facebook I am not doing anything. But, I like to scrapbook and while it is a hobby and not a job or chore, it is "doing something."

Speaking of scrapbooking, I made this page the other day and have not posted it anywhere yet:

ETA: I'm just finally posting this on Sunday ... so it's been posted everywhere now, hee hee. A friend on the same Creative Team used the same template and also did an out of bounds! Hers is WAY cuter ... go check it out HERE!

A little bit too much information ...

2010-04-06T22:22:00.003-05:00

Visit spokeo.com and type in your name and see what information they have on you. They had much more on me than I would have liked, even if most of it was out-dated. Yep, it's scary. Why am I telling you about it? Because according to their about page, if you can get your information "hidden" from their sources, then it will be removed from their site as they update. The trick, I think ... is to find out where they get all their information from. My grandpa has information on there, for crying out loud ... and he is NOT online, let me assure you!

So, there is my public service announcement for the day.

Hugs and good night!

Vote for me? Please?

2010-03-22T21:37:00.003-05:00

Penscrappers.com has a contest with a chance to win prizes, and it looks like one of the possible prizes is a Wacom tablet. I would LOVE one of those, so I jumped right in! I hope you like my page and will vote for it!

~Melinda

An angel on Earth, is now an angel in Heaven ...

2010-03-09T21:04:00.003-06:00

Little Layla Grace passed away this morning. As much as we all who were following her story knew it was coming, it is still a terribly sad day. It is riddled with the battling of praises that she is no longer in pain and fighting such a horrible disease, against the simple sadness that she is no longer here for her parents, family and friends to see what she would become.

I made this page for an ADSR (Amazing Digi-Scrap Race) challenge just a few short days ago:

(Credits are in my gallery at Gotta Pixel)

I knew her days were numbered when I made it, but I along with thousands of people wanted to spread her story and show support in some small way, in what feels like a very helpless situation. People are working toward a cure right now, somewhere. I only can hope and pray that it comes soon ...

Hugs,

In like a lion???

2010-03-01T18:15:00.005-06:00

Nah - no lions! So far March is starting out beautifully in the weather department. We're supposed to be in the 30's this week, and I didn't see any forecasts for snow. It's light out when I leave work now, and as I'm sure others agree ... that is SO nice. It was so depressing leaving work and feeling like it was time to go to bed already!

I just read that the 2 am to 6 am winter parking restrictions have been lifted in the residential areas, and that makes me glad because I just parked my car in some very slushy stuff in my yard and was not looking forward to a month of that!

Tonight I took the kids to McDonald's because I'm mentally exhausted. We started using a new program at work today, and I just could not stand the idea of having one more thing to think about tonight. So then I came home and decided to blog. LOL Does anyone else find the humor in that??! Or am I really that exhausted, lol.

We're moving! Well, sort of ... we are purchasing bunk beds from my aunt and uncle, and so we're switching bedrooms around for all of us! I am hoping we'll start making the moves next weekend already. There is some painting to do, so for a short while the 3 kids will be in one room, but I'm confident that it won't be too big of a problem. The plan has been for Julia to have the "nursery" for a long time now, and that plan will continue. Our "old" plan was to have Blake and Chase share the room upstairs, but that plan has changed with the bunk beds due to our 1 and 1/2 story house.

We are going to move upstairs! I'm actually pretty excited about this move for a few reasons. The room upstairs is large, and I think it will be nice for us to have more space. (I can see me moving the ironing board upstairs too, which will help me organize the main floor a little better too.) With twin bunk-beds in our old room, there will still be plenty of floor space for Blake and Chase. I think we'd have room for a desk in there if we needed it, and eventually I can see that happening. It should be easier to get the kids to sleep at night because I will be on the same floor to manage them, also.

So, it's pretty exciting for us. I've already bought some primer paint and a test sample of the pink paint to try out in Julia's new room! Just went to try it out ... gosh, it's light. I told my husband it was too light when we were in the store ... and that is directly on top of the blue paint instead of on top of primer ... so I bet it's even lighter then! Guess I'll have to try another color or ask them to darken it with more red or something. Why can't the colors just match the test papers like they're supposed to? LOL!

Anyway, enough rambling. It's taken me a couple hours between doing other things to create this post. I don't know how MckMama puts together such coherent blog posts! LOL!

Just was in the bathroom with Julia and discovered she's cut her hair again ... her bangs, RIGHT in the front. *sigh* What possesses kids to do this?!!! I don't ever remember doing this! It's hair ... it will grow. It's hair ... it will grow.

My last Gotta Pixel Site CT pages ...

2010-02-27T13:20:00.005-06:00

I've shared this elsewhere, but haven't posted it in forums or on my blog, really, yet. I made the extremely hard decision to leave the Gotta Pixel Site CT at the end of February. The term was up, and we had the option of continuing on the team, or not. I'd been debating about it for a few weeks now, so the timing was meant to be when I got the email about the new 6 month term.

Spring is coming, and my schedule is going to be getting busier and busier. I decided it was better to reduce my commitments, and let someone else have a chance to be a part of the team.

So, these are my last four pages to share as a part of the Gotta Pixel Site CT! Maybe I'll have the pleasure of joining the team again some day. I will miss being such a close part of the GP team. It's a great site.

First up ... with a beautiful collaboration kit by Captivated Visions and Connie Prince. The kit is called Forever and it inspired me to scrap about my wedding for, almost the first time.

Then I used this kit to help me complete one of my ADSR 5 challenge layouts. ADSR 5 is the Amazing Digital Scrapbooking Race at NDISB.com. It is a series of challenges, with teams continuing on if they complete their challenges correctly by the allotted time. It's fun:

The second designer I worked with this month was Kathryn Estry. I chose her kit League Night, because I don't have any bowling kits, and we've been bowling a few times. I thought it would be fun to see what I could come up with. Here are my pages:

You can see these pages and more, in my gallery HERE at Gotta Pixel. Gotta Pixel has my most complete scrapping gallery.

Thanks for reading,

Praying for peace for Layla Grace

2010-02-24T19:41:00.004-06:00

Praying for Layla Grace

I made this page with a photo from www.laylagrace.org. I hope they will understand I'm using the photo to generate a prayer for their sweet girl. This angel is being called home, very soon I'm afraid.

Please pray for this family, if you're the praying sort. And if you aren't ... please think positively that Layla will know no more pain, and only peace.

Hugs to our little ones,
Melinda

My favorite time of day: going to bed because ....

2010-02-23T21:36:00.005-06:00

One of my favorite things about going to bed at night is that my 3 year old usually comes to bed with me. My 3 year old goes to bed later at night so that he will sleep in later to allow my husband a little bit more rest. My husband works an odd shift. It's a different schedule, but it actually works pretty well most of the time.

At night, Chase and I head to bed together most of the time. Chase is potty-trained now ... he was by far the easiest to "train" ... and so he usually goes to bed in a t-shirt and undies. He lays down in my husband's spot, and when my husband gets home and is ready for bed, he moves Chase to his own room and bed. (We tried getting Chase to sleep in his own bed all night through, but it was a difficult battle, and it broke my heart to see him so sad ... this way makes us both happy.)

Chase cuddles up right next to me. Usually he talks to me for a while before I remind him that we really need to get some sleep, and then he settles into sleep rather quickly. There is a night light in his room, and he has to have it on, but in my room he insists on wanting the door nearly shut, even though it blocks the glow coming from his room and puts us in nearly full darkness. He feels safe with us. I love that. Chase's chatter is soft-spoken at bed-time, and he tells me about what he did that day, or his dreams, or his shows that he loves so much.

I love to lay there and listen to him and cuddle with him. I try to remember if I did this with the other two kids, but I can't remember. I have a horrible memory. In fact, I was going to remember the story Chase told me last night. I wasn't going to forget it, but I already have. I wonder if I will ever remember it?

I've been enjoying these moments even more since reading about Layla Grace and her battle with Neuroblastoma, which may soon be at an end, though of course we all hope and pray for a miracle. Layla's mother wrote recently about her regrets, and she's right that it's easy to wish the time we have with our children away ... and that we would want it back so badly if something as awful as this were to happen to a child of ours.

So, I guess what I'm getting at tonight (in a probably rambling and not well written way), is to hug your children a little tighter, hold them a little longer, listen to them a little closer, make sure you tell them that you love them, and to enjoy them ... for Layla. I'll try to remember this too. It can be hard when we get caught up in our day-to-day grind ... but our children are only children once, and no one knows how long they (the collective "they" of all people) have on this earth ... no one. We should do our best to enjoy each other while we can.

Hugs,
Melinda

A Blog Train for my Fellow Heart Moms! (digital scrappers)

2010-02-07T17:26:00.002-06:00

For those of you who are moms of heart babies and children, there is a CHD Awareness Digital Scrapbooking Blog train that has started today on Toucan Scraps' blog.

You can read more about it here!

What I've Been Scrapping ...

2010-01-31T15:00:00.004-06:00

Well, I've started out 2010 with 10 layouts. If I kept that up ... that'd be 120 layouts for the year. My goal is 150, so I'll have to step it up a little bit to make it, but that shouldn't be hard with ADSR coming up!

Here is what I've been scrapping using Unforgettable by Spinky Dink Scraps - available at Gotta Pixel:

(this layout also uses You Make Me Smile template by Connie Prince)

And using Towel Dried by Sweet Digi Scraps - available at Gotta Pixel:

(also uses Perfectly Centered Templates by Connie Prince)

Thanks for peeking!

~Melinda

Day 30 - Jan 30 2010

2010-01-30T14:59:00.000-06:00

Day_29
Originally uploaded by MindynKids

I need to fix the label on this as it says Jan 29th, but it was taken on Saturday. The other kids were in bed, and I wanted to take a shower, so I visited starfall.com and let Chase play. I ended up deciding to just hang out with him as he practiced his letters instead of taking a shower. I'll take it on Sunday instead. :)

Day 28 - Jan 28, 2010

2010-01-28T14:57:00.000-06:00

Day_28
Originally uploaded by MindynKids

Chase loves CARS, and his brother and sister have been kindly checking out this book from the school library for him. Here he is finding a tire off the "I Spy" list. :)

Day 27 - Jan 27 - Runaway

2010-01-27T14:56:00.000-06:00

Day_27
Originally uploaded by MindynKids

We had a run-away today. I went to check the mailbox right outside our door, and she ran out. I chased her for blocks and blocks. It was cold and dark ... between 10 and 11pm. I screamed for help because I kept getting so close and then she'd dash off again. She thought we were playing.

I finally caught her, but the adrenaline was gone. I ended up catching a ride home with a police officer as I had been out in just my socks (meaning, no shoes) and I was afraid I'd drop her if I slipped, and my feet were freezing.

I didn't take a picture that night ... went straight to bed, completely exhausted. So, I took this picture of her empty kennel to signify what we would have had if I hadn't caught her.

Day 26 - Jan 26

2010-01-26T14:45:00.000-06:00

Day_26
Originally uploaded by MindynKids

I did a "catch-up" photo for the 26th because I wasn't in the photo taking mood. Here is a picture of the crayons in their holder ... you can notice which colors are used more than others! :)

Day 25 - Jan 25, 2010

2010-01-25T20:20:00.001-06:00

Day_25
Originally uploaded by MindynKids

Chase colored after the big kids went to bed. I had to capture this because he sticks his tongue out, and I remember that my Grandpa Frederick did that. I got a few really great shots of this, but this is the one I decided to share. :)

I also took this alternate photo at the PlayPlace at McDonald's:

Day 24 - Jan 24, 2010

2010-01-24T20:18:00.000-06:00

Day_24
Originally uploaded by MindynKids

Tyler and Chase were playing in the bedroom, so I grabbed my camera. This is one of the shots I took trying to capture the movement of Tyler flipping Chase over. Chase was gripping his legs so hard before he was flipped that you can see the finger marks on his legs if you look close! LOL!

Day 23 - Jan 23, 2010

2010-01-23T20:25:00.000-06:00

Day_23
Originally uploaded by MindynKids

Today's prompt was to do a group photo, and it just so happened that I did this today anyway! One of the boys was trying to make a "fort" using a blanket draped from the couch, and the other joined him. I thought it was cute, so I went to take a picture, but Julia couldn't stand the idea of not being included, so she climbed under the blanket, too, and I captured this. :)

Day 22 - Jan 22, 2010 Bath Day

2010-01-22T20:26:00.000-06:00

Day_22
Originally uploaded by MindynKids

Lexi needed a bath, and today she got one. Tyler gave her a bath in the bathroom. He was resourceful. He used a leash tied to the faucet to keep Lexi from bolting, and he used the hair dryer for when she was done since it's winter and all. She looked all shiny and sleek and smelled better, too, when she was done! :)

Day 21 - Jan 21, 2010

2010-01-21T20:29:00.000-06:00

Day_21
Originally uploaded by MindynKids

A masterpiece: This is one of Blake's coloring creations that has been on the fridge for a while. I decided to document it today because I'm not sure how long it will survive before it ends up getting ripped and then recycled. Look at the details he puts into everything! I wonder how long it took him to finish this page ....

I have a new 'puter!!

2010-01-20T23:55:00.000-06:00

I bought a new computer at Best Buy yesterday. I am slowly learning Windows 7. I think I can get around for my basic stuff. I am sure, though, that I am not using it to its best potential. I am looking forward to having Lightroom 3 Beta and PSE 7 running side-by-side, with Yahoo, and a chat on Gotta Pixel going all at the same time with no sweat. ... yes, I am definitely a digi-holic and computer nerd!!!! LOL!

(added to post on 1/27/2010)

I don't have pictures on the computer yet. I need to figure out how to get ZoomBrowser set up on here. I am wondering if that stuff was backed up on Carbonite, and desperately hoping so as I also have Winzip which I paid for and I really don't want to pay for that again. It is not having winzip, though, that is preventing me from having Lightroom 3 Beta downloaded on my new computer!

I was SO excited when I saw that Best Buy had the computer I wanted in stock. They got me hook, line and sinker on their protection plans ... I bought it for the monitor, the CPU, and the printer ... yeah, I bought a printer too, and a year's subscription to Kaspersky Labs which I haven't figured out how to activate yet because I can't find the "activation key" that was supposed to be in the package, supposedly. *sigh*

In spite of the cost (which gave my husband a minor coronary this afternoon), I think this will totally be worth it. The computer is already proving how much faster it is than the old one, and I have hopes and dreams of learning more about designing all those digital goodies that I love to collect and play with so much. the prospect is all together just way too exciting, hee hee.

Well, believe it or not folks, I think I am going to call it a night. What?! It's 9:30 pm, Melinda! Well, this Melinda did not go to bed last night, errr, this morning until 1 am because this Melinda was getting info off the old computer written down (favorite web sites, passwords and stuff) ... and guess what, totally forgot to write down my contacts from my email program (crap!) and then moving that all out of the way to get the new one hooked up.

I had no idea of how much work went into that. It was always Tyler who ended up doing set-up in the past.

But, so far so good ... now I'm gonna go get some shut-eye. :)

G'night, all!

Day 19 - Jan 19, 2010

2010-01-19T20:30:00.000-06:00

Day_19
Originally uploaded by MindynKids

FROST

We had a beautiful frost this morning. It made for slippery sidewalks that led Julia to fall on her way to school on the sidewalk, but she was ok. I really liked how pretty the crab apple tree looked with the frost on it!

Day 18 - Jan 18, 2010

2010-01-18T20:33:00.000-06:00

Day_18
Originally uploaded by MindynKids

This was the view as I left work on Monday, January 18th. The sky was a beautiful purplish hue, and the moon stood out beautifully in the sky. I couldn't pick just one, so I made a little collage to share today's photo!

Day 17 - Jan 17, 2010 Potty SUCCESS!!!

2010-01-17T20:32:00.000-06:00

Day_17
Originally uploaded by MindynKids

Chase stayed dry ALL day today! He had NO accidents! Chase has had the ability to do this for a long time, but has been lazy about using his diaper when he was watching TV or doing something he didn't want to take a break from. BUT, today he did it ... dry ALL day! Could this be the beginning of the end of diapers??!

New computer shopping woes continue ...

2010-01-17T10:24:00.001-06:00

Really need to vent ... I can't GET one!! Apparently HP didn't meet deadlines in getting their computers out to stores, because it says they are on back-order on the Best Buy site, and only available online. Guess who has to pay for shipping if she wants to order it online?

And, it wouldn't get here till next weekend or early next week anyway.

So, now I get to wait ... another week.

The only plus to this is that I feel pretty well educated about the computers out there. I don't know how much of a difference it is to go from a dual-core to a quad-core, but I know quad-core is higher tech, and is supposed to help with multi-tasking. I know that DDR3 SDRAM is newer and supposed to be faster that DDR2, even if it is the same amount. Of course, any increase in hard drive size without an increase in price ROCKS, and I am finding that is true already. What was $599 before had a 640 or 750 GB hard drive, and now it has 1 TB. So, I am glad I was forced to wait for that.

But, darn it all ... the new stuff is out there for me to see, and I can't go get it!!

I think I'll call Best Buy and see just how long of a wait we're talking, and I'm going to check out HP online whom just sent me an email about a Martin Luther King JR Day sale!

Made the Friday Fab 5 at Elemental Scraps

2010-01-16T23:42:00.005-06:00

My layout, "Squeal!" was chosen as one of the Friday Fab 5 at Elemental Scraps! I'm pretty new to the site, and was really honored to have a layout of mine chosen! Here it is:

You can see what other layouts were chosen right HERE. A fellow CT member, Terry, also had a fabulous layout chosen!

Just had to share, and now I'm off to bed! :)

Day 14, 15, & 16

2010-01-16T20:16:00.005-06:00

Day 16 - January 16, 2010
Today after a bath, I took this picture using natural light in our living room. Then I spiced up the original in Lightroom 3 Beta:

Day 15 - January 15, 2010
Yesterday, I made potato dumplings for us to have at a meal later. Probably tomorrow. I made them with the left-over mashed potatoes that Tyler made. I'm not a cook, so this was rather notable ... hee hee:

Day 14 - January 14, 2010
Blake lost another tooth today ... one of his front teeth on the lower right in this picture. It had been staying in just barely for several days. Finally today he pushed one last time with his
tongue and it came right out! Oh! I almost forgot! Blake also got a MUCH needed hair cut today too! :)

Day 11, 12, 13

2010-01-13T21:57:00.002-06:00

Another set of 3 ... I am getting old. It's almost 10 pm and I feel like I'm going to turn into a pumpkin any second! LOL!

Another failed attempt at getting a new computer. The guy on Sunday said to come in on Wednesday if I wanted to get the model I wanted on Sunday, and said they could do a comparison to see if something similar was coming out this weekend ... my model was not there, and they could not tell me anything. FAIL!

Tuesday: I waited till late again to get a picture ... decided to photograph Lexi. Would she go into my freshly mopped kitchen so that I could take her picture?? NO! She decided that Tuesday was the time to decide she is afraid of my camera. *sigh* BUT, I got this half-way decent shot of her. I'm keeping the rest of them too ... got some interesting pictures of her trying to get away, lol ... poor puppy.

Remember these?? Chase found this in the basement on Monday when I had Blake and Julia helping to take the last of the Christmas decorations to the basement ... you don't see these very often anymore do you? My mom got this on ebay or at a thrift sale ...

And now I am caught up again! :)

My Dad's Christmas Present

2010-01-11T21:35:00.002-06:00

Click here to view this photo book larger

I can share now that Christmas is over! This is the book I made for my dad (and mom) for Christmas ... it is pictures from their trip to Alaska this summer! Shutterfly did an AWESOME job printing this book, and everyone is raving about it. I can't wait to make more books with them! It is not cheap, but it was so worth it. :) I plan to do year in review books now of my kids' photos!

~Melinda

Day 10

2010-01-10T22:06:00.000-06:00

My computer shut down and re-started on me for what I decided would be my last time today ... as my computer was re-starting, I went and got ready and took Chase with me to Best Buy to buy a new computer ...

It didn't work out. They were severly understocked because they are getting NEW models this next weekend. SO ... I left empty-handed. I was sad!!!!

But, now I have new models to look forward to picking from ... I just hope I can afford one!

~Melinda

Day 09

2010-01-09T21:50:00.000-06:00

Blake and Chase played on the Leapsters together on the loveseat before bed tonight. :)

Day 6, 7, 8

2010-01-09T15:39:00.002-06:00

So, I warned I'd fall behind. I did. I wasn't feeling well. I'm finally starting to feel better today! Yay!!! I haven't been feeling good till the 9th day of 2010 ... that's pretty pathetic, lol.

Anyway, here are my catch-up photos for Project 365!

Chase playing while I speed-scrapped at Gotta Pixel. Interestingly enough, we were talking about the Leapster during our chat! :)

A wreath my mom bought me to match my dining room's theme ... and I really like it!

my work-space as we were prompted ... I was so glad for an easy prompt because I was not feeling well and just wanted to get to bed!

Thanks for peeking!

~Melinda

Day Five -- dinner for one :)

2010-01-05T20:21:00.003-06:00

Tyler has been working days the last two days. My mother-in-law took care of Chase for us because our babysitter only does after-school (and we have to find a new one starting February 1st because she's decided she's going back to school!) ... anyway, tonight Tyler picked up the kids from daycare and then headed to his mom's to get Chase, and they all had supper there. SO ... I got to have dinner all to myself, and a house all to myself for about 30 minutes. It was nice and relaxing, and I started making MORE chocolate chip cookies right before they got home, lol. I needed chocolate after this salad! There wasn't much dressing, and there were onions and bacon in the salad and I needed chocolate to balance out the salad. I need chocolate every day ... yeah, I know ... weird, huh?

The good news is that there are no more chocolate chips in the house ... if there were, I might end up gaining weight if I kept up this baking trend for the rest of 2010!;)

I am starting to feel a little better. My intestines had a "traffic jam", so I get to add a powdery concoction to my daily rituals until everything is back to normal. I feel the worst right after I eat, I've noticed ... hoping I feel better within a few days or I'll have to go back to make sure I haven't messed up my gall bladder too. :-p

Wish me luck! I don't like being (literally) full of crap! ROFL!

~Melinda

Day Four - an awesome Christmas gift :)

2010-01-04T22:20:00.001-06:00

I'm not feeling the greatest, so I'm making this as short as I can ... my Aunt made this for my family ... a great big bag to carry stuff, and 5 water bottle carriers -- one for each of us! It was a great idea for our family ... can't wait to put it to use for all our running around next spring, summer, and fall!

Day 3 - proof that I baked

2010-01-03T22:01:00.003-06:00

So yesterday a fellow P365 scrapper noted that I'd shared my supplies, but not proof that I'd followed through ... hee hee. So, I took that as a challenge to share proof of my labor.

And here is my proof! :)

Are you hungry now?

Last of 2009, first of 2010

2010-01-03T14:36:00.003-06:00

Last digital scrapbook page created in 2009:

Julia got her very own Leapster for Christmas. I scrapped about it using Plugged In by Connie Prince. You can pick your favorite store to pick it up ... Gotta Pixel, Elemental Scraps, or ScrapMatters. :)

First created in 2010:

Chase was a Rock Star for Halloween ... he loves music, and loves to rock out to it. :) I used Connie's I Love Rock and Roll Kit and Shabby Paper Pack which you can also find at your favorite shop mentioned above. :)

I had a bit of stretch there with no scrapping going on. I downloaded Adobe Lightroom 3 Beta and between that taking up loads of my (very aged) memory, and working on some other things with a designer friend of mine, I didn't get much scrapping done. But, it was a welcome little break. I am going to aim, once again, for 150 layouts. I made it to 133 in 2009. It shouldn't be too hard to reach that goal this year if I continue on the CT's I am currently on! :)

I will post my 365 photo later ... as another 365 participant and friend, Katie, said on her blog, I may not always post my photos daily, but I will take them and share. Until I fall off the bandwagon ... that's coming from me! ;)

Do I Dare? Project 365 Day 1 ... & 2

2010-01-02T21:39:00.008-06:00

Ok, so today on January 2, 2010, I decided to participate in the 365 challenge. The last time I started this project was in April ... of 2007. I didn't last very long because I got a job, finally, and life got hectic and I let the challenge slip by.

I'm making no guarantees right from the start, but the Project 365 Challenge at Gotta Pixel is going to motivate me to try again. The photo prompts are helpful, because after a while you look at what you are photographing and go ... how will this look any different than day X or day Z? Or at least that is what happened to me. It also doesn't help if you feel like your house is a mess and you don't want any photographs to document that mess, and so you find yourself stuck on where you can take pictures. ROFL!

Anyway, in order to keep on track I am going to share two photos I took today. One is something that could be taken any day ... a toy of my youngest son's, so I chose that to be my Day 1 photograph (but the idea for the photo was posted today by Stacy for the Gotta Pixel 365 Challenge prompt) for the photo I missed taking yesterday (because I decided to actually attempt the challenge today).

Today's photo ... is "historic" because I don't bake very often. I know... my poor, deprived children. I was waiting patiently for my butter to reach room temperature (yeah ... ended up sticking it in the microwave for a bit), so I snapped a picture of my collection of ingredients. Not a bad Day 2 photo, if I do say so myself! :)

So there ... I am now on track, and now the challenge truly begins ... to see if I can follow through with this challenge! LOL!

Pepper Ants in my belly!!!!

2009-12-22T21:52:00.004-06:00

Today immediately after work, my cell phone rang and I assumed it was my husband encouraging me to rush home so that he could get to work. I missed the call because my supervisor was letting me snag a few more cut-out cookies to take home to my kids. I returned his call on my way out the door so that he would know I was on my way. But, that isn't why he called.

He explained that Chase was hysterical ... as in screaming hysterically, and he had to call me. He explained what happened. He made macaroni and cheese for supper. As has been done for several months (at least) now, he and the older two kids have started referring to the topping as "ants" ... a/k/a PEPPER. My husband always shakes pepper on top of macaroni and cheese (if you can't guess, this is NOT my thing, hee hee.). Well, today ... Chase decided to FREAK OUT at the idea of ANTS being on his macaroni and cheese! His brother said something about it, and Chase started crying! He nearly puked from how upset he was that there were "ants in [his] belly!!" He cried and he cried, and he started punching his belly. Poor thing! He was still holding his belly and crying when I got home. Tyler had made him a whole separate batch of macaroni and cheese WITHOUT "ants" on top, and he still wouldn't touch them. He was eating peanut butter toast when I got home.

He was fine while we were in the store (we went shopping tonight too), but he's back to holding his belly again now that we're home. I don't think he's even aware of it. He says his belly hurts every once in a while though. I did explain to him before we went to the store that they were being silly, and it was just pepper. I sprinkled some in my hands and showed him what it was. He seemed to understand because now he's saying the pepper hurts his belly. LOL.

Maybe he really is sick ... or maybe it's just the "ants." ;)

Shameless (almost) plug ...

2009-12-20T17:42:00.002-06:00

If you know me, you know I'm a wanna-be photographer. I take decent pictures, and great pictures on occasion. I have a chance to win (and so do you) a copy of LIGHTROOM ... an awesome program any photographer would love.

All I have to do to get a chance is to tell you about it here on my blog! So, here is my shameless plug. ;)

Read HERE at www.mckmama.com to see how you can get entered too! :)

~Melinda

Oh Martha Marta!!

2009-12-13T20:57:00.006-06:00

For the month of December, I had the pleasure of working with Marta Van Eck's designs, which really helped me to flex my fantasy muscles (hee hee) and create some scrap-art.

I chose to play with her Christmas Carol packs. She has an Element Pack, a Patterned Papers Pack, and a Scene Papers Pack (and she is currently having a sale).

I don't feel particularly skilled at making fantasy pages. I am, in fact, intimidated by them in general. I decided to try my hand at a scene layout, and did an extraction to do so. The magnetic lasso tool is my usual stand-by for extractions, but I really wanted to use a masking tool in case I made mistakes. I don't know the "usual" way to make a mask, so I "snuck" my mask by using the "Smart Brush Tool" set to "Brighten" for the background, and then selecting the inverse (I think) to select my mask. I somehow ended up applying it as a clipping mask type of deal. Not sure I if I could recreate it if I tried, but if you know an easier way to make a mask in PSE, please let me know. LOL.

Anyway, when you make a mask, you can add to or take away from the mask without destroying your picture. I'm sure there is a better way to explain this, but anyway, that is what I did. Eventually I got the mask to work and I made this:

It looks like I worked really hard, doesn't it? But, honestly, it was super easy to make. The hardest part was the extraction!!! The scene paper I chose had the tree and fireplace already set for me. I added the ornaments, and the wreath on the wall. I added a few presents by the tree (there were already a few), a rocking horse, the filled vase, the chair and pillow and I was done! (Well, I added shadowing too.) I am not saying I'm a pro, but my layout looks like I knew what I was doing, doesn't it? It was really easy! So, if you can pull off an extraction, I'd definitely give this a shot. Marta made it too easy for me! :)

I made a second page using the elements and her patterned paper pack. It comes with 18 papers! They are all really beautiful and unique. I made this layout using one of my favorite photos of Chase when he was a baby. I've scrapped 3 layouts using this photo, but this one is probably my favorite ... (I LOVE BLUE!).

So, ~~Martha~~ Marta ... thank you for stretching me to think outside the box and make these two beautiful pages! (or at least I think they rock!)

~Melinda

The Blizzard

2009-12-09T23:33:00.000-06:00

On December 9, 2009 we had a blizzard. And I had to go to work in it. Yuck. I went out to let the dog out, and took a couple pictures and a video ... and realized a little too late that I'd forgotten to attach Lexi to her runner. Oops! Here are the pictures I took, and the video! I do swear a little at the very end when I realize Lexi is gone and trample off to get her. Thank goodness the snow slowed her down. She's gotten away a couple other times where I've had to chase her a couple of blocks! She doesn't do it because she hates us ... it's because she wants to smell everything and lay claim to the neighborhood by marking her scent ... but it is SO frustrating when you're the one chasing her!!!

Anyway ... blizzard 2009:

Lexi in snow that is really deep for her! She was NOT impressed and wanted to go right back inside ... at first!

My tall next door neighbor next to the very large snow drift in front of his garage. We had one like this too. It was too large for my husband to start the snow plow right there, if I remember what he said correctly. :)

And last but not least ... the video capturing all the snow (and wind) and my stupidity:

Lessons learned:
1.Don't ever forget to attach your pup to the runner, or have a fenced in back yard! (ours used to be, but a section is down for the winter).

2. Do not get plowed out by the above mentioned wonderful neighbor and then take your time inside (seriously, was not that long that I was inside) and let the snow plow go by and block your driveway back up again so that you end up 30 minutes late for work because you have to dig out again!

3. When there is a blizzard like THIS one ... call in to work, for crying out loud! I should have just gone back to bed! :-p

What a chance!!! A computer giveaway!

2009-12-09T20:07:00.002-06:00

BlogHer and MckMama are working together to give away an HP Touchsmart computer! You can read all about it here so that you can enter too ... and I am posting about the contest here for another chance to win for myself!

I can't even imagine how nice it would be to try out some brand new technology. I could truly use an upgrade! A 30 GB Hard drive is a drop in the bucket for a digital scrapbooker, lol. And maybe I could actually get into designing myself if I had a better computer ... the possibilities are endless.

And so ... won't you please check it out? But don't enter, please ... I want to win! LOL!!! :)

~Melinda

And it's December

2009-12-06T21:53:00.006-06:00

Just like that, December is here, and Christmas is going to be here way before I am ready. I have my dad's present, though! I am pretty proud of how it turned out too. Still working on my parents, my husband and the kids. DH keeps shooting down my ideas for the kids. Originally I wanted to get a Wii for us all and call it good, and months ago he was fine with that, but he's changed his mind. I guess it's just not meant to be. Seriously considering calling the family Y membership a present for me and DH and telling him to skip anything else, though. We both need it, and I can get it taken out of my paychecks to save us a bit on the monthly dues.

Anyway, Christmas is on my mind. I've scrapped several wintry/Christmas-y pages recently:

(Deck the Halls by Sarah Meyer - look for it at Digitals)

(Winter Days by Connie Prince - look for it at Gotta Pixel and Elemental Scraps)

(Deck the Halls by Connie Prince - available at Gotta Pixel and Elemental Scraps)

(Deck the Halls by Connie Prince - available at Gotta Pixel and Elemental Scraps)

(Hey Santa by Connie Prince - available at Gotta Pixel and Elemental Scraps)

I have also gotten to play with some pieces by Dustybear as a part of the Site Creative Team. I saw these pieces and went digging for boy or baby boy pictures that I had not scrapped yet. I wanted to find some with references to space, and was sure I could find some but found these adorable baby photos that screamed to be scrapped instead:

Kit: Spacey Papers, and Spacey Elements 2 by Dustybear

Both are from when Chase was little -- 4 months old and about 5.5 months old. I think these pieces really brought out his blue eyes, and gave that dreamy sleepy-land look I was looking for. Don't you agree? I used Traci Reed's "Basically Gorgeous" photo actions that work in PSE to spice up these pictures. I use her actions a lot, and they usually turn out fabulously (depends on how good the picture was to begin with, of course). There aren't a lot of options for using in PSE, you know!

It was really fun to look back through my pictures of the children even just a couple of years ago. I know they are growing and changing, but somehow since they are doing it before my eyes ... I am not seeing it, if you know what I mean. So, looking back at these pictures I see the baby face that has been going away, and the individual characters that are developing in my children. It really is a fascinating thing, and makes me appreciate my hobby that much more, because it leads me on these trips into my past a little more often than your average person, I'd be willing to bet.

Enough rambling ... it's 10 o'clock! I need to get to bed. Have a great week everyone,

Don't miss it!

2009-11-22T19:08:00.001-06:00

The links for my blog train items (in the post below) will automatically be inactivated on 11/23/09 ... so please pick up your items soon!! There are two separate cluster frames that will go great with the papers and other elements in the blog train! :)

Thanks!
Melinda

Hop on board the birthday train! Choo!! Choo!!!

2009-11-21T00:01:00.002-06:00

This month, Gotta Pixel is celebrating its 4th birthday. And we have been having a blast with all the exciting events going on, but we are also giving away over $2,000 worth of Prizes! Each week new things are being given, and new events going on, and this week is nothing short of it! We are kicking off this weekend with a HUGE Blog train! And its just for YOU! The entire team has collabed together to bring you an amazing shabby chic collection with something sure for everyone! This just kicks off the events we have listed here, as well as the Grab Bag Event going on, that is packed full of savings.

Here is My Gift to you for our Blog Train:

THIS LINK HAS EXPIRED ... THANK YOU FOR DOWNLOADING! :)

This is just one stop on your blog trip. Here is a list of all the participating blogs that have something special waiting for you, The links will remain active on these blogs until 22nd of November at 11:59 pm EST. Should you get lost along your way, you can always visit here, or the Gotta Pixel Blog for complete list of participants:

GottaPixel: http://www.gottapixel.net/blog
Liz : http://www.sweetdigiscraps.blogspot.com/
KarenS (Alpha): myownfont.blogspot.com
Karen Lewis : http://scrappingmum.blogspot.com/
Kristmess Designs : http://kristmessdesigns.blogspot.com/
Sara Ellis: http://scrapsillysara.blogspot.com/
Crisdam Designs: busyfingers-digiscrap.blogspot.com
Heather T : http://oohlalaartsy.blogspot.com/
Laura Burger: http://digidesignerlaura.blogspot.com/
Sarah : http://blog.sarahbdesigns.net/
Connie Prince: http://scrapinfusions.blogspot.com/
simply.scraps: simply-scraps.net
Kathryn Estry: http://kathrynsdigitaldesigns.blogspot.com/
Marta Van Eck : http://www.martavaneck.blogspot.com/
Jennifer Barrette : jenniferbarrettedesigns.blogspot.com
Colie's Corner: http://coliescorner.blogspot.com/
Elka Romero : http://elkaromero.com/
Julie Marie : http://juliemariedesigns.com/blog
Captivated Visions : http://blog.captivatedvisions.co.uk/
Doohikey Designs: http://doohikeydesigns.com/
Cherie Shields: http://cshieldsdesigns.blogspot.com/
Creations by Rachael: http://www.creationsbyrachaelb.com/wordpress/
Lorie M : http://digiscrapdesigns-by-lorie.blogspot.com/
Dustybear: http://dustybeardesigns.blogspot.com/
Melinda: http://mindys365project.blogspot.com/ --- you are here
Leigh :http://tricertifiedx2digitalworld.blogspot.com/
Kim: http://time2scrap.blogspot.com/
Danyale: http://bygonesscrapbooks.blogspot.com/
Cindy: http://cindyb-scrappinlikecrazy.blogspot.com/
Wendy: inadigitaldaze.blogspot.com
Dana : http://scrappydoosordonts.blogspot.com/
Kerri : kayjaysdays.blogspot.com
Chbranch: http://fmndesigns.blogspot.com/
Katie: http://felixfam.blogspot.com/
Lisa: http://scrappylisa.blogspot.com/
Leilani: http://leidee-q.blogspot.com/

(Links for all of the other blogs have all been checked and should work now! Please try any you may have missed!)

WOW! Thank you for all the kind comments! I'm glad you like it! :) Hope you'll stop by again! :)

Feeling creative ...

2009-11-21T00:00:00.001-06:00

I am on the Site Creative Team for Gotta Pixel, which is why you see the blog train post here today! :) I have made a few pages this month that I thought I'd share with you today as long as I've got your attention. ;)

I got the chance to play with Silvia Romeo's Halloween Magic kit and made these pages:

And, just yesterday I picked up Karen Lewis' kit Serendipity and made this page for Connie Prince's Speed Scrap:

and this page about her next game on June 4th:

I hope you enjoy the blog train, and that you enjoyed a peek at my work! It is fun to share these pages, as well as print them for my family to keep. I hope you all save your work, too!

Hugs and have a great day,
Melinda

Photo fun

2009-11-17T20:59:00.002-06:00

I learned a tip for making side-by-side photo layouts for posting on my blog from mckmama.com today, and here are my first two attempts.

The directions didn't work exactly as planned (it did not prompt me for more pictures), but I was still able to work with it! :)

Chase at the Children's Museum this past Saturday.

Chase while raking leaves recently.

These were some pictures that I liked that were quick at hand to play with.

Thanks for the tip about the canvas size, MckMama! :)

Gotta Grab It ...

2009-11-15T22:05:00.007-06:00

Gotta Pixel started this event a long time ago now, where all of the designers are asked to make their own kits using the same color swatch. During the sale period, they put their kits out there (sometimes broken down into papers and elements and such separately) for just $1.00. After the sale is over, the items go back to a regular price determined by the designer.

Well, the color swatch for this round is so pretty!!!! It's purples, blues, and browns, in the stalest explanation ever. :) So, since I can't explain it ... here is an advertisement image from the store (it's clickable! Go see!!!!)

My designer friend, Sarah Meyer, came out with a beautiful paper pack, and element pack for the Gotta Grab It event (also clickable):

And I've been busy today and have already played with it!

This is Julia on her field trip to Como Zoo in June when she got her face painted. I couldn't resist playing with it again.

These pictures are just from yesterday! We ended up at the Children's Museum after my MIL's* retirement party because it was really close by and we've never been there before. (MIL = Mother In Law) It wasn't quite what I was expecting, but the kids had a great time. As you can see! I made this page for the Speed Scrap held tonight by Colie's Corner. :)

So, if you're a fan of purple and blue like me, you should click over to Gotta Pixel to see Sarah's and all of other designers' amazing kits that you can snag for just $1 each for a short time. :)

Thanks for stopping by!

~Melinda

He's FREE!!!!

2009-11-12T18:32:00.003-06:00

A while back, I created a page about Chase:

Chase became FREE when he was 6 months old. It was an amazing feeling knowing that my son was doing well enough with his heart condition that he could be free from medicine. The doctor said he might even have out-grown it, and possibly never deal with SVT ever again!

Today, I read about an online-friend whose son is now FREE of his SVT, and the chance of his SVT returning is now 1% ... ONE PERCENT!!!! That is phenomenal! No more medication. No more heart monitors. No more stethoscopes. No more vagal maneuvers, or trips to the ER.

Stellan is now FREE to be himself, as Chase was at 6 months old. And I cry tears of happiness with a level of understanding of just what that means for Stellan and his family. Our journey was no where near as scary as Stellan's was, but now they seem to both have the same happy ending. :)

~Melinda

International Digital Scrapbooking Day!!!!

2009-11-07T15:01:00.004-06:00

I am on the Site Creative Team for Gotta Pixel, and want to encourage you to stop in Gotta Pixel's store and take advantage of this awesome sale! Because I'm on their CT, I get to see all the awesome goodies that are in the store on a regular basis, and know that you will be getting an AWESOME deal! DSD only comes once a year ... and Gotta Pixel is celebrating their birthday to boot! So, go have fun with all the stuff you KNOW you've just GOTTA have! ;)

~Melinda

Apple Orchard tradition ...

2009-10-18T19:24:00.004-05:00

Just about every year we have made it to the orchards. I LOVE going. In fact, our apples are gone and I want to go get some more! :) I lurrrvvves me some Honeycrisp apples!

This year we made it out just before the cold snap! Yay! And I found a great kit to play with to show off a couple of the pictures I took! It is called Fall Pickins by Colie's Corner:

The colors in this fall kit were fabulous ... the red is my absolute favorite. :)

You can read more about this year's trip and see a few more pictures by hopping HERE.

Don't Sing to Me!

2009-10-11T16:38:00.006-05:00

As you may have read earlier, we had a birthday party on the 27th for our littlest man's 3rd birthday. Chase wasn't thrilled about being sung to. In fact, he down-right pouted about it!

For October, I get to play with designs by simply.scraps and Colie's Corner, at Gotta Pixel, and I chose a really funky birthday kit to play with. I will totally and freely admit that the title swayed my purchase:

He didn't exactly CRY, but he did sure pout. :)

and here is his pout from his 2nd birthday!!!

Thanks for looking,
Melinda

Oreo Cows, Pumpkins and Apples

2009-10-07T21:08:00.006-05:00

I went in search of the amazing fall colors, and they were found. :) I of course didn't want to just take pictures of trees ... so I was very excited when on a quiet country road I was able to stop and take this picture (helped the colors along in post-processing to look more like they did in real life). :) If you haven't guessed ... these are the "Oreo Cows" as my oldest son lovingly referred to them. I thought it was hilarious!!! If you haven't guessed, this will HAVE to be scrapped. Blake was a bit grossed out when I explained that I'm pretty sure this type of cow is the kind made into hamburgers. Hamburgers??!! Yes, Blake ... hamburgers. Blech!! And did you know what chicken nuggets and chicken sandwiches are made of? Chickens? Yes! Blech! And ham, bacon, and sausage come from pigs! Blech!

(Do you think he switched to being a vegan?? ... his order later tonight at McDonald's should tell you how concerned he was .... cheeseburger with apples. Hee hee.)

After snapping some pictures of the fall foliage, we went to the orchards ... they were quiet! I am sure they are very busy on weekends. We started at McIlquhams where I actually bought a couple of decorative elements that were inexpensive, and then headed across the way to Connell's - me snapping pictures as we went.

Check out Chase's new GREEN boots!!! (He loves these things!)

After picking out a pie and caramel apples, we went outside and I planned to take a picture of the kids by the huge fence erected by the apple trees ... when I happened to notice the gate had been left open into the orchard!!! So, I quickly herded the kids over to an abundantly laden tree (yes, nice big words, right?) and snapped a few pictures. They looked perfect on my little bitty screen ... here is what I actually got. Hee hee:

I wish a "posed" shot didn't always have a "posed" grin too ... I need some tips, lol. :)

Chat later ... for now .. enjoy these ...

2009-10-01T00:12:00.004-05:00

WALLFLOWER by Bella Gypsy

I got to play with this warm and beautifully colored kit by Bella Gypsy this week:

(using a picture from my friend, Katie)

My 3 kids in quite possibly their first group photo! :)

I really need to get to bed, but I just had to share!!!

Party time

2009-09-27T21:08:00.002-05:00

Please forgive me for the IM-speak ... it shortens things like "in-law" and I've used initials for privacy of my husband's family also. :)

Yesterday we had a birthday party for Chase. It was supposed to be a joint birthday party with our niece (SIL's daughter), E, but her mom and dad aren't together and dad had her because he made plans and didn't tell her mom. Anyway, SIL did bring the ice cream cake she had promised anyway (how sweet!).

I haven't thrown a party since Blake turned one. Yes, that's how much fun it was, lol. Not that it wasn't NICE ... it was just very expensive and honestly, not worth it. We had a lot more people over for Blake's first birthday. I'm glad we didn't do that again. On Chase's birthday, we went to Cassandra's volleyball game at SIL's invitation. While we were talking, the idea of a get-together for the kids' birthday came up, and I suggested doing it here because SIL hasn't gotten her own place yet since coming back from Basic Training and AIT (don't ask me what that is - I don't know). She offered to bring an ice cream cake for it, and I said ok.

So anyway, we had my MIL and FIL over, our nieces H and B, and my SIL. My Mom was at a conference, and my Dad didn't want to come over all by himself with a house-full of IL's, I bet, hee hee, and I seriously wouldn't have known what to do with more people! (Sorry Grandma and Aunt MJ!)

We had tacos and chips, and I think it was pretty yummy! Then the kids played for a while, and we had ice cream cake and sang to Chase. Have I ever mentioned how much Chase HATES being sung to by a crowd?!

(this one doesn't show his true pout even!)

He did please the crowd, though, when he named the colors of the candles correctly (which didn't surprise me or Tyler, but I bet Grandma and Papa might have been surprised. :) )

We almost forgot to have Chase open his gifts before everyone left. Gifts are hard! My parents gave me money to purchase something for Chase, and I tell you ... I couldn't pick anything out!!! It was awful! Everything either made noise, or had a zillion parts, or he was too young, or he was too old. What do you get a 3 year old?! I wanted to get him a simple toy guitar, but Kmart's selection SUCKED -- it was either Hannah Montana, Barbie or an actual training guitar, which he is definitely not ready for. I ended up buying a Princess doll for E's gift, and got Chase a totally lame gift from us ... a hard-cover book of Curious George stories, and a travel-size Magnadoodle, which is just for him (which I think is nice because his brother and sister trashed the one that was supposed to be for all 3 of them.)

The present from my IL's was much better received -- a Wow-Wow Wubbzy kickety-kick ball, and an electronic drum set type toy. WOW, that thing is loud! But, he immediately loved it.

Everyone was gone by 7pm, and I was in bed by 9pm, lol. I was, and still am, so tired!

We missed having our birthday duo, but it was still a nice day. Happy celebrated birthday, buddy!! :)

Soccer star?

2009-09-26T22:17:00.007-05:00

This is the second week in a row where Blake has had compliments piled on him by his coaches following the game. He must really be good! I know nothing about soccer, so I am not a good judge. :) One of the other boys on the team is surely either a natural, or has been doing this a while. He plays offense, though, and he has really good control of the ball.

Blake usually (remember, non-soccer expert talking) is put on defense. From my perspective, he does seem to get in there when the ball heads down his way, but I can't usually see how successful he is at getting the ball away. The coach that came to praise him afterward today said that Blake always seems to be in the right place at the right time, that he thinks Blake is a natural, and that he wished he had Blake's long legs! I thought that was a pretty nice compliment! I don't know how right he is, and he admitted he's no soccer expert either, but it was nice to say either way. So, way to go Blake! :)

Last night, Connie Prince held a speed scrap at Gotta Pixel. She's had one the last couple of Friday nights, and I love evening scraps - no matter what kind they are. :) But, I like Connie's speed scraps especially, so even if you don't consider yourself a speedy scrapper ... stop in next time. She'll make it worth it -- she always does! ;)

Here is what I came up with:

Using directions from the Speed Scrap, and JUBILANT by Connie Prince ... the colors were perfect! :)

I also created this page recently ... to remember Blake's final T-ball game of the season which was on July 25th:

which is my second page with Lena and Tabatha's MAYHEM, available at Gotta Pixel. It is a rockin' boy kit!!! Gotta love them boy kits! :) Check out the rest of my gallery by clicking on the image to the right ... you know you want to see more, and you can learn more about how to MAKE these pages by jumping into the forums at Gotta Pixel too! Did you know that Gotta Pixel was my first digital scrapbooking home? Yep! Make it yours too! :)

And poof ... my baby is 3 ...

2009-09-22T22:07:00.003-05:00

I'm not very happy about it, quite honestly. I know he's growing up, and he's smart and cute and all, but gosh darn it he IS my baby after all. I'm not normally one of those moms who shares their child's every milestone. After all ... Chase is #3, and so it's all been done before by his siblings, lol. ;) And normally I don't post a whole lot about birthdays. Actually, birthdays have been pretty low-key around here the past 6 years. It seems like we never have money to spend on a birthday party around birthday time. And, truth be told ... that's where we're at right now too. I sure wish we'd waited to buy Tyler a vehicle until October ... even just ONE month later would have saved us $311 to spend elsewhere. *sigh*

Anyway, the fact is, today my baby is three years old. He is no longer reliant on mom for milk (um, yeah ... he nursed way longer than the other two -- though just at night for quite a while). He is almost potty trained -- went almost all day in the same pair of underwear on Sunday! He is starting to not sleep in mom and dad's bed at all at night, though occasionally he get's mom's soft spot who misses her baby and lets him fall asleep with her .... . He is verbal. He is independent. He is a daredevil (see previous post). He is adorable, and he is my baby.

'Nuff said ... I need to get to bed and quit rambling!! :)

Happy 3rd birthday to my littlest man,
Love,
Mom

NOW it's Sunday ...

2009-09-20T17:39:00.004-05:00

I didn't get to sleep in quite as late as I'd hoped, but it has been a nice day. The kids played outside quite a bit today. I took advantage of this "quiet time" to clean house. I am now satisfied with my dining room, bathroom, and living room. I am happy with my kitchen floor, but the rest needs work (DH says he'll be doing dishes tomorrow ... scratch that, I bet the concrete work he'll be doing with my Dad will take over instead). I even organized/ chucked stuff from under the sink in the bathroom -- it suddenly occurred to me to use Ziploc baggies to organize. I now have all the following in baggies: ointments, bandaids, plastic covers for the thermometer, 3 rolls of ribbon for using in Julia's hair, and a baggy full of hair things for Julia. It should make finding things a lot easier. I also used a "snack size" baggie to store the coupons that I want to keep handy in my purse.

Chase has been wearing the same pair of underwear since he woke up this morning. I will try to get a picture of him in them soon. :) He has been doing great at going to the bathroom -- he has no issues with going, except sometimes in public places. But, lately he's been able to go in public places too. He really has done fine unless he's been wearing a pull-up or underwear. Well, I decided to keep him underwear the last couple of days. Yesterday he didn't make it at first ... had an accident once ... but today he's been doing great! It is pretty exciting to think that he might be out of diapers/pull-ups very soon! :)

In the digi-world I got to play with Mayhem by Bella Gypsy -- one of the newest designers at Gotta Pixel. I started out with a template this week, by Brenda Miller. I knew I needed several pictures, so I went into search mode. I found the perfect series of photos to play with this kit. "Daredevil" and the perfect colors?! A match made in heaven! LOL

This was, I'm sure, one of many heart-stopping moments that Chase has in store for me. :) Not that Julia and Blake aren't full of their own moments, but their motor skills are a little more advanced, lol.

Now, on to Monday we go ... it is sure to be a busy week. Leslie's daughter turns 3 tomorrow, and Blake has soccer practice. Chase turns 3 on Tuesday. Wednesday I have a meeting at work. Before we know it, Saturday will be here and we'll have more soccer. Oh yeah! I should add pictures from yesterday's game for Blake ... (forgot my memory card for Julia's practice/game *sigh*)! Lots to do. :)

Have a great week,
Melinda

Is it Saturday, er, Sunday yet?

2009-09-15T22:11:00.004-05:00

I am so tired! I know, I know ... so why am I writing this post and not in bed? I think my body might go into shock if I was in bed before 11 pm. LOL. Seriously, I will be trying to get to bed soon after I write this, but I'll have to let Lexi out one last time for the night, and then I need to straighten up ... so yeah, gonna be a bit. :)

Tuesdays tend to be an exhausting day for me. I suppose my body is protesting after getting to sleep in on Sunday. But, I managed to wake up on time today regardless. (Yes, it did involve a 30 minute snooze-fest with my alarm clock, but 6:45 is still on time. ;) )

I woke up to a stink in my house ... unfortunately, Lexi got a few nibbles on some grapes that the kids dropped on the floor. I didn't know it, but grapes can be toxic to dogs, and since Lexi isn't big, I'm glad she spit out the one that I'm aware she nibbled on. At any rate, it gave her some loose stools, and she wasn't able to hold them in and went in her crate during the night. So, I spent the first 15 minutes of my morning (when I should have been waking up the munchkins so that they had their "wake-up" time) cleaning out the crate after shoving the stinky dog outside (who was given a bath later this afternoon, thank you DH!!!).

Then, I got the kids up at 7 am and they proceeded to be too tired to get dressed for another 15 minutes or so ... and why do I have to brush my teeth? I don't WANT to wear that shirt, mommy! and I don't want to wear those shoes! ... sigh. I quick dropped the kids off at the corner by the school (instead of in the parking lot as usual), and dashed to work where I was 2 minutes late. I just had to get stuck behind a school bus and then one of those (good, but frustrating) people who actually goes the speed limit as it is posted. There has to be an easier way to do this waking up stuff ... what is it? Please share.

In case my day wasn't enough stress as it was, I decided to go shopping (with the kids, of course) after work because we needed a "healthy snack" for Julia's class for tomorrow (I decided on individual cups of cinnamon apple sauce ... yeah, high fructose corn syrup, I know), and I wanted to look for soccer cleats for the kids. We had gotten a pair that were size 2.5 from my MIL who I think picked them up at a thrift sale or from someone she knew, but Blake said they didn't fit, and we had none for Julia. All of the other kids on the team had cleats, so I decided to bite the bullet and buy some. They must serve some real purpose ... I hope. The kids were being exceptionally hyper, and Blake and Julia pulled out those shoe measuring tools and Blake stuck his on there to "play" and I glanced at it and he should need a size 1 to 1.5 for shoes. So, why on earth wouldn't those (too big) cleats fit him? Oh, he says, they do fit! *D'OH!* So, I saved some money and only bought cleats for Julia. Now, she better keep playing, lol.

To de-stress, I sat down to play with Kristmess' Autumn Rain Page Kit. I went in search of a photo that would fit with the elegant droplets that I wanted to play with, and found a picture of my daughter all dressed up in her (then-new) Halloween costume last October. At first I was determined to do an extraction layout and it was going to be fabulous. Then I pulled my extracted Julia onto the purple background and cringed ... the skirt pieces and headband pieces are see-through, and I couldn't get rid of all of the white background bits without spending hours ... so I decided to do an OOB instead (out of bounds). As I played, the layout unfolded itself easily into what you see here:

WOODLAND FAIRY CREDITS

It is amazing to me how much stress I can release in creating one simple page. NOw I am still tired, but I am not as frazzled as I was ... except for that nagging voice telling me to go to bed ...

I guess I better just listen this time, eh?

Good night, and thanks for reading! :)

The Cabin

2009-09-13T22:10:00.001-05:00

Tyler was successful in talking me into going with him to the cabin. He has only been trying all summer long, and probably last year too. All I knew was that it was a good drive away, and that from his description there was going to be nothing to entertain the kids, and I just didn't want to be stuck somewhere with 3 very bored children. I'm sure you understand.

We made the not-as-lengthy-as-I-expected drive to the cabin ... which was out in the middle of nowhere for sure, lol. The driveway was almost non-visible. He says that is on purpose. A tree is fallen over the driveway part-way through. I worry that we'll scratch the roof of the truck, but we drive through and as far as I know there is no scratch up there.

The view is nice. The cabin doesn't look like much, and it needs a lot of work. But, there is a nice clearing, and a pretty view of the river. The bank is pretty steep, though. There were some fall colors popping out randomly on the drive up. I was able to see some from the cleared space by the cabin too. It is very quiet there, and I can see the appeal to Tyler, immediately. I just wished for a few things ... a chaise lounge, more for the kids to do, and a easier/faster way to cook the pork chops that he ambitiously brought along. Oh, and no flies/gnats/mosquitos ... but I wish for that no matter where I am.

The kids had a pretty good time, and they even spent a little bit of time down in the river -- well, Blake and Julia did. Chase wasn't allowed to try to climb down the bank, and I started to go down once but Tyler cautioned me there might be bees nests hiding and I went right back up. I am first to admit I am NOT a nature girl. I like the water, so I was willing to go down ... but NOT if there might be bees, lol.

I made a page with this picture I took not all that long before we left. I know that it was later because Julia had been wearing a bright yellow soccer team shirt most of the time. :)

If you like what I made, you can play around with this kit too. It's called "Autumn Rain Page Kit" by Kristmess Designs and is available at Gotta Pixel.

I will be back soon with soccer pictures, and maybe video if I can figure out how to upload it (has been a while!).

Thanks for stopping in!

First day of school - 2009

2009-09-01T18:03:00.000-05:00

Blake on the first day of 1st grade:

No lookin' back, Ma ... I'm all grown up.

My little miss confident on her first day of Kindergarten:

Too excited for words. :)

Blake had his first full day today, and Julia had a half-day with me present. Blake jumped back into the school routine nearly without a hitch. Julia, being the little drama girl she is, did decide to be a little clingy with me at school for that half-day, which I found entirely amusing as she never did this when she went to two year's worth of Head Start. :) Julia is taken with her student teacher, and has decided she likes Ms. Lange.

Blake reports that he has Dillan in his class, which is hopefully not going to be a bad thing ... they get along really well, and Dillan is a nice boy, but I worry about them getting too chatty. Same thing with Julia and Devondre in her class, though ... she really likes him! Hee hee.

Well, that's enough about the first day of school ... 178 days to go. :)

Scrap Star Contest

2009-08-17T00:11:00.004-05:00

I am currently running in the Scrap Star Contest at Gotta Pixel. This contest is how the site will pick its new Site Creative Team. I am on the Site "CT" right now, but because of a change in the terms I need to try out so that I can hopefully STAY on the team. :) By being on the team, I get to work with designs by many of the fabulous designers for free in exchange for trying to show off their kits in the best possible way. I do my best!

Here are my two pages from the contest so far:

Challenge 1 was to use "Comical" by simply.scraps in a way that didn't fit the comic-book/superhero theme of the kit. I pulled the space elements out of the kit and ran with them. :)

Challenge 2 was to use "Spring" by HeatherT in a "white space" layout with an imperfect photo.

I will be back with more details tomorrow, and links!

A conversation about cleaning

2009-07-23T22:14:00.005-05:00

Blake: Mom, we've got our pajamas on now and we're going to bed. (5-10 minutes after they were sent upstairs ... a record?) Good night, mom!

Me: Good night!

Blake: Mom, I wanna tell you something.

Me: Ok, what.

Blake:It's so much nicer up here when the upstairs is all picked up and there isn't stuff all over.

Me: Um, hum! (You think?!)

The kids were sent upstairs right after we got home to finish cleaning up their mess. Blake and Julia don't work so well together though, so I sent Julia to pick up in Chase's room instead, and left Blake upstairs to work on the bigger mess. (They were upstairs a good chunk of the day while I was at work, but they were up there together and so all they did was make each other scream and play a little bit.) I set the timer, and each time the timer went off I went and assessed the work. If it was obvious they had been working hard, they were fine and got more time to keep going (10-15 minute time slots). If they weren't, they lost a toy -- as in its gone for good.

Blake lost an ambulance toy (that is basically broken anyway), and Julia lost a Barbie dress and her Disney Princess tea set (pieces missing and broken). Then, I gave Blake a break upstairs and "let" him collect and crush cans instead, and had Julia work upstairs on what was left. She was all set to freak out over how much work she had to do when she realized Blake had done most of it and calmed right down. Man, she gets overwhelmed easily. But, I can relate to that.

I used the time while they were cleaning up to work on the kitchen ... so it was time well spent for me too.

Well, it's 10:20 and I'm exhausted so off to bed I go. Just thought I'd share that little conversation between Blake and me from the top of the stairs. :)

Happy 5th Birthday, Julia!

2009-07-14T23:09:00.005-05:00

All we did today was celebrate by singing Happy Birthday and blowing out the candles on 5 cupcakes. No birthday party, and I didn't have a gift for her yet. She did get a gift from Tyler's parents. She loves it ... it's princess figurines and comes with little plastic dress-up clothes. Lexi will love them.

My in-laws head to Tyler's sister's graduation from Boot Camp today ... in South Carolina, and my parents are in Alaska this week. So, definitely no parties this week. We haven't had a party for Julia ... ever. We've always been moving or just about to move around her birthday, pretty much. Would like to have a party, but as usual ... not sure we can afford to! *sigh*

Anyway, happy 5th Birthday, Julia! She told everyone she saw today that it was her birthday so no one was off the hook! LOL!

Love you sweet girl,
Mom

Meet Lexi ... and other news

2009-07-07T22:20:00.003-05:00

On July 2nd, we brought home Lexi ... a (believed to be) Pomeranian-Cocker Spaniel mix puppy that is 9 months old. The family she was living with was not able to take care of her the way they felt she needed, so they found her a new home with us!

She was called "Puppy" for 9 months, so we chose a 2 syllable name for her that we all liked. (Tyler changed his mind after a day or two, but by then we were all used to the name and couldn't think of anything else.) I think she is starting to respond to her name and know it is her we are talking about ... so that is exciting!

She loves Tyler and follows him everywhere ... and she likes the kids too. The kids all like her pretty much. They all (though Chase the least until tonight) tend to freak out a little bit when she gets jumpy (she sure likes to jump!), but they are getting used to her being around. When he's out of the way, Chase thinks it is hilarious to watch her run around and he giggles. It's pretty cute!

It's definitely an adjustment having a puppy in the house. She has peed on the floor at least 4 times. She likes to pick up socks or other clothes on the floor. She likes to chew on the kids' Little People and other small toys. She bit the head off of a small plastic dinosaur from a kit Chase got for Christmas ... but that was no big loss as I rather dislike those small plastic figurines anyway. She had us up very early after her first night here, and I don't get to sleep in after my alarm anymore because as soon as she hears it she starts to whine because she wants out of her crate. We have a runner cable that Tyler installed outside, so Lexi has a safe way of being let outside without direct supervision (plus the yard is fenced and gated if the kids haven't forgotten to close one or both gate(s).)

She's not exceptionally fond of being put in her crate yet ... hoping that will ease as time passes. But, other than that, she seems pretty happy here!

Well, I AM going to be in bed before 11 pm tonight, so off I go. I just wanted you to meet Lexi!

Oh yeah... and we're buying a house! (If you know me, you know which one, lol.) Closing will be sometime later this month. Hopefully NOT the last day of the month ... they are going to start thinking I plan this stuff to happen this way if this keeps up! The last day of each month is a busy day in my department. So, that is our other news. I am excited to make it official and will be so relieved when my parents can move on without the added stress/worry of owning this home!

Thanks for reading!
Melinda

Busy Month!

2009-06-28T21:06:00.002-05:00

I was just looking at my calendar on the refrigerator last night and realized how full it was. We aren't really used to having such a full calendar. I suppose life will just get busier and busier as the kids get older.

In the past week we had two t-ball games. We also went to the Shrine Circus, a musical production of Willy Wonka, and the kids went camping (and WE had a date!!). Wow! No wonder I'm exhausted.

This upcoming week will be a little bit less full. On Tuesday I am taking the day off to go on a field trip with Julia for the end of Head Start. Then we have two t-ball practices that night (so yeah, Tuesday is going to be exhausting). On Wednesday, Julia has a t-ball game, and then that is it for the week! Of course, the 4th of July is on Saturday, so there is a get-together on Saturday, but the week itself is relatively calm.

I am hoping we will hear back on the appraisal early in the week. My parents are leaving for a trip just before my birthday, so I would like to know where everything is going to go with the house before they head out.

Speaking of birthdays, no plans as of yet. I suppose I should continue to think on that! (Julia's is the day after mine.)

Well, I just finished a scrapbook page from the circus so off to my gallery I go to add it!

Thanks for checking in,
Melinda

Am I talking to myself?

2009-06-15T18:33:00.002-05:00

Sometimes it really feels that way. I know that my husband and I both feel like we have to say something about 5 times before our children will really listen to us. They might hear us the first time, but they don't always listen.

Right now, we are really struggling with Julia. Julia hasn't been listening much at all (and she's also been flipping on the whine a lot too). It is extremely frustrating.

Recently Julia disappeared out of the house and went three houses down to a friend's house. At 8:10 pm when Blake came in from working outside with Tyler, I asked him if Julia was coming in too. Blake said Julia wasn't out there, and that the last he'd seen her, she was at his friend's house. While I checked all over the house, Tyler went for a walk. Sure enough, Blake's friend's house is exactly where she was. Julia was immediately sent to bed. She has been told repeatedly to stay in the yard and to stay on the sidewalk, and we both feel she understands the rule but is disregarding it anyway.

Then yesterday while Tyler and Blake went to get rid of some yard clippings, Julia was playing outside while I was trying to get Chase down for a nap. Julia came inside while I was doing this, and I told her she could stay inside and watch TV (so that I'd know where she was). Very shortly after the doorbell rang. It was the neighbor coming to tell me about a problem they've been having with her. She has been going into their house without waiting for anyone to answer the door. He said they've talked to her about it 10-20 times already, and they weren't going to tell us about it, but today she'd walked in while they were napping and it was just enough.

The whine factor is another recently flaired issue. I have a new method with this, though, and it has so far been working. I point out to Julia that I don't like the way she is talking. (Recently I gave her a job of washing the dining room walls when she was particularly whiny/having a fit. I told her I'd find her a job to do each time she gets whiny.) She changes her words/tone immediately. Whether it sticks is the issue, and I will find her a job to do each time she can't find a better way to solve her problems.

What do you do when your five year old is totally disregarding long-established rules?? Time-out is not working, and grounding feels so pointless. She doesn't remember why she's stuck at home ... just that she is, and mommy is being mean. So what do I do "in the present" to stop this?! Any ideas?

2,5,8 and sometimes 3 and 6

2009-06-08T22:55:00.002-05:00

What are those numbers? Those are the numbers that CHASE can recognize! Yes, Chase! I was pleasantly surprised when we were looking at the "My First UNO" cards and Chase pointed to the 2 card and said, "Two!" I thought maybe it was a fluke, so we went through some more cards, and ran into "Five!" Later I picked up my telephone and pointed to the numbers on the key pad to see what he knew, and he also picked up 8. Just amazing!

Flipping the card over, Chase recognizes the letter O.

I think it's ok for me to brag about this! I have no idea where he learned this (Noggin?), but I am so proud of him!

~Melinda

I Can Fly, Mommy!

2009-06-06T13:31:00.003-05:00

I was inspired to create this page... posted it last night in my gallery at Gotta Pixel. Didn't it turn out pretty?

Kits used: Lovey Buggies elements and papers by Kristin Aagard, and clouds from More than You Know by She's Full of Scrap -- all at Gotta Pixel.

And today I've created:

with Kisses from Heaven by Armina Designs - Gotta Pixel

No more teachers, no more books ...

2009-06-05T16:01:00.003-05:00

Today was Blake's last day of Kindergarten. Julia had her last regular day of Head Start yesterday. (Julia will have Summer Camp for one week in a couple of weeks also, and then a field trip to Como Zoo like Blake did last year on the 30th.)

I took yesterday and today off from work. It has been nice, even with having to get up to get Julia on her bus yesterday, and taking Blake to and from school today. This house has been a disaster area, and I've only skimmed the surface, but I'm starting to see some progress. Not as much as I'd like, but I will keep working at it over the weekend. Tyler is going to be working overtime hours tomorrow, so I should be able to get some stuff done then. I wanted to vacuum this afternoon in the living room, but Tyler was watching Animal House so I decided to wash dishes instead. I'm thinking about trying the FlyLady site again. I should go check it out. I have to adapt quite a bit of how it works because it's intended for a stay-at-home-mom, really ... (some of the day's first steps that I remember are getting dressed to the shoes. Yeah, I do that every day to get ready for work, lol).

I dressed Blake in the same shirt that he wore for his first day of school. I didn't realize it until after I'd handed it to him, and then I smiled because of how appropriate it was. I restrained myself from making him stand by the same tree I took a picture of him in front of on the first day of school, aren't I nice?

See the drink holder? You aren't seeing the prettiest side, but that was my first attempt at a hybrid project. I'm going to be making another one for Julia's teacher for when she finishes Summer Camp. I will share a picture of that then. :)

Blake will be a first grader in the fall, and Julia will be in Kindergarten. She'll be a young 5, where he was almost 6 when he started. I talked with our neighbor, and her daughter will be in Kindergarten too. She already knows who her daughter's teacher is due to allergy concerns and that teacher knowing what living with allergies is like. Good for her. Blake's Kindergarten teacher told me at his Exit Conference yesterday that Blake and Emily S will not be in the same class next year. She thinks that will be good for him. Apparently she really distracts him! LOL! I saw her picture in the yearbook ... she's a little cutie! And a blond like him. :)

I've just signed up Blake and Julia for swimming lessons in August. Who knew you could do swimming lessons in the evening? Swimming lessons will start at 6:45 pm, so we'll even have time for supper before going. Yay! So, we have T-ball through the end of July (including the Youth Days) and then swimming starts August 3rd. NO rest for the weary! LOL!

And I think we'll do soccer in the fall ... that starts in September. That will give the kids a chance to try out some different things and see what they like! :)

Well, I've walked away from this post several times ... I guess I better post it! I'll come back and add a picture of Blake with his teacher, soon. (ETA: DONE!)

Scraps

2009-06-04T09:43:00.002-05:00

I made a page with one of the static electricity smiles from the other day:

Kit: Spring Time by She's Full of Scrap

And I made this one with the photo from Memorial Day:

Kit: More than You Know by She's Full of Scrap

Aren't they pretty?