Morning to Night and somewhere in the Middle

Thursday Ramp Up!

2011-11-04T10:30:00.000-05:00

When did the weekends start including Thursday's? In our house it seems like it's the first day in the long 4 day event filled section of the week. We don't typically have things going on on a Thursday and yet I realized I include it, do you do that?

Here's how my Thursday went (yesterday)...
three hours spent at work (my day off, but fine as I was getting stuff done that couldn't get my attention otherwise). 45 minutes devoted to computer crap (25 min alone for Facebook because it's slower than the jar of molasses I bought 3 years ago). 1 hour to righting my kitchen (which also included the junk mail pile up). Low and behold it was time for the kids to be home!!! I knew I was heading to the gym with Kirsten, no open swim meant Luke was uninterested, and the library had emailed to remind me my books would be late if I waited one more day....so off we went.

I parked in the 5 min drop off zone at the library, because I only needed to drop off 4 and pick up 3 books ( I knew where they were) super quick 10 minuets tops! Kirsten spent a couple extra minutes picking out a book and we were back in the car in what I would swear was only 10 minutes only to find that my car wouldn't start-urghhhhh!!!

I feel it's necessary to explain the special relationship I have with my car right now. It's been in the family for six years and I've worked it considerably to an end. Several years ago I had that glamorous lifestyle of a newspaper delivery driver. It included approx 88 stops a day. To some it wouldn't seem so bad but to car door it's the death. At one point we had replaced the drivers side door and it was good to go until another 8 months on the job and the same drivers side door took a hiatus from life again. It won't open from the inside and I should mention that in the same process of opening and closing your door 90 times a day also can cause the window to no longer work properly so it won't go all the way down and you need muscles of iron to get it back up, on a good day, so not a good idea to put it down. It will open with the handle from the outside but its the boot scoot boogie over the passenger side to get out (especially great in a skirt of a dress, very lady like)

So here I am downtown at 4:45 pm turning the key in the ignition. It's the dreaded sound "click, click, click....stop. turn. click, click, click" So...as I've already shut my door, Kirsten slides out so I can crawl over (don't worry...remember I'm on the way to the gym so no dress today). I also have escaped the power of the costly phone bill and head into the library. Did you know they still have pay phones around? It's .50cents to use one these days, which I happened to have. As luck would have it my husband was just about to leave work and he'd be down promptly.

On my way back to the car I noticed that the break lights were on...mmmmm...I've had this problem in the past as well. Something to do with the dangling car starter boxes hanging just by the break pedal (should probably have that looked at). So the lights left on for 10 minutes was enough to drain the power. A little jiggling of the boxes, get out check the lights, more jiggling, more checking and after 3 rounds we were good. Now to wait for Scott. Since I had just picked up the next book in the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich and Kirsten had a book, we let the waiting commence.

My next dilemma however occurred to me that Scott wouldn't be able to park next me unless I could save the spot to my left. No problem I would wait for the driver to come out and stand in the spot flagging people to move on or start my car for me. Totally not weird and I'm sure my twelve year old daughter will not be mortified. However time is ticking and the owner is not out. It's a five minute zone, the car was there before we got in it's been about fifteen, twenty minutes what's the deal?. My pulse is starting to pick up, how will I hook up the cables with Scott's car? My hands are sweaty, what will I do? I'll be stuck down here all night! Where's the owner of this car it's a five minute zone!!! Just as it seemed that Scott would have to park on the sidewalk (which I'm sure he wouldn't want to do, but choice would there be?) The lady came out and got into her car just as Scott was coming around the corner. There would be no standing in the empty spot looking like a crazy person (never mind the fact that I've shown off my clown car several times already)

We started the car, I argued with Kirsten about my lack of enthusiasm for working out at this point, in which she won. I kissed my Knight goodbye with promises to let the car run and charge for awhile (lets face it I still needed to find a spot to park downtown by the gym) and off we went.

The rest of the night was mostly uneventful with the exception of the two girls complaining about running an eight minute mile while I'm laboriously slugging through my twelve minute mile...but at least I made it into the building, right? Seriously.

Out of the Norm

2009-10-28T10:36:00.003-05:00

So I had spent the weekend away with a group of ladies for crafting and much needed rest and relaxation. I thought for sure I would come home to a house that had been at least tidied up. Why would I think this? Call it the fairytale thinking, no actually Scott my DH has been so much better about cleaning up and getting the kids to help but I came home instead to a son not feeling so great and a daughter that was hanging out with friends and my DH was just trying to get through the weekend-lol, apparently mom does make a difference. So last night after getting home around 11 I decided that was the best time to clean the kitchen, and let me tell you how nice it was to wake up this morning to a clean kitchen. Now the rest of the house will be a breeze to clean. It's not normal after working all night to feel like cleaning at all but I did drink a diet coke at closing, that might have had something to do with it.

I wanted to leave you with a few more blocks. This is a 6x6 block I just found and I love how it turned out. My MIL reminded me of the little ice cube blocks I had stored away. So I added 3 to the top, and it was so cute!

This one is made with a paper flower technique that believe it or not my older sister told me about. FYI sister is not the crafty one, but she's learning. This one's drilled for lights too.

This was the first one I made with the painting. I wish I had drilled for lights in this one but I did photograph it with a t-light behind and it pulls the look off just the same.

Introducing "Glassy Art"

2009-10-26T19:07:00.005-05:00

Here's my new adventure in life. After a scrapbooking weekend where I did almost no actual scrapbooking, I'm ready to release pictures of my new art. Thanks to my friend Teresa for the idea and visuals to begin with, and my scrapbook friends for more inspirational ideas.

This first one is a hand stamped snowman image with glitter around the edge and framing the snowman. There is a 3/4 inch hole in the back for a string of white lights. The pics show it with and without lights:

This next one does't have a hole in the back for lights but I've shown a picture with a light behind it. You could use a t-light or a battery operated light:

That's all for now, I'll put more up this week.

This one's for you Sarah

2008-07-10T13:30:00.004-05:00

This was the first day of summer, I took pics from my newspaper route-beautiful!

Kirstens Bedroom

These are early pictures of my garden (pay no attention to the chipped paint on the house, I'm hoping we'll be painting this summer)

I need to take new pics, these don't do it justice

My crab apple tree has only bloomed twice since we've lived here, It's so pretty!
My favorite daisy

I took the kids up the north shore to Gooseberry falls on the 4th of July. It was a perfect day!

Kirsten's slumber party, it was a great time (we went rolling skating first)
That's all I have time for right now, but I thought it would be better than nothing :) Enjoy!

Gretch

I realize...

2008-01-24T09:50:00.000-06:00

I realize that Duluth is not dealing with as cold of temps as they are further up north on the Iron Range or in Alaska, but most of those people don't have a newspaper route that causes them to be outside for 2 hours in the middle of the night. I get out of my car about 80-90 times a day. There isn't much time for a warm up when your opening the door every minute. Now, I've learned how to keep somewhat warm-it's called 4 pairs of pants and running. However the problem with running while wearing 4 pairs of pants and 3 shirts plus a winter jacket and all the accessories (hat, mittens, scarf, ear headband) is that you sweat! And sweating in 35 degree's below zero weather is none to pleasant. I'm anxiously awaiting spring when sweating in 40 degree's above 0 doesn't cause me to go into hypothermia when I change.

Things on the home front have been good. Luke just got his report card and it was good-no major problem area's. His language arts slipped a little so we struck a reading deal. He has to read for half an hour everyday to earn his computer time. If you can log an extra hour he gets another half hour and so on and so forth. He thought it was a great idea, we'll see. Kirsten's report card hasn't come home yet (don't worry she's not hiding it, the teacher had an emergency with her own son over the weekend).

I'm anxiously awaiting next weekend (Feb 1-3). I'll be going on another scrapbooking retreat with some of the same girls from last time plus a few that I've not met yet. I'm really excited as I feel that I need this weekend off more than ever. I can't wait to lounge around and not have any obligations to anything or anyone.

This weekend I will be serving at our church's food shelf called Fruit of the Vine. It's the 3rd largest food shelf in Duluth, serving around 400-500 families a month. Last weekend we had a free medical clinic with a doctor, nurses to check blood pressure, glucose, prescription medication lists, people were on hand to pray with those that wanted it, a chiropractor, also a message therapist, and several other things going on. I loved being able to help out. It never fails to amaze me to watch God work as you reach out to his people. Our church is dedicated to the Kingdom work. We do all sorts of things to reach out to the needy, the poor, the unchurched, the spiritually hungry.

I've learned so much about the person that God created me to be. I love being vulnerable in the presence of the Holy Spirit. God has dissected things in my past and put healing on issue's that I had been harboring all the way back to my youngest years. I've come full circle in the past year. I continue to find more passion for God's work and I'm filled with compassion for God's people, regardless of where they've come from or there present circumstances. I'm able to see people the way that God does and I've even experienced some heartbreak in a way that showed me the way God's heart breaks for his people. I really feel that God is leading me to take on a small group leader roll of some sort. I can't yet see what kind of small group he wants for me, but I do know it's down the road quit a ways. I would like to start a scrapbooking group of some sort but I'm not sure how God would want it used for his purpose, so I continue to pray for direction for that. I also believe that I will lead a small group in a home setting as well but again through prayer I know God will reveal that in time. I'm able to hear God speak to me. It's an amazing feeling to know that your not making choices blindly but that God is guiding you through every bit of life. I continue to pray for more understanding, knowledge, more compassion, gifts of healing, discernment, and anything else he wants to pour into me.

On another note, Scott and I are joining a new fitness facility today called Snap Fitness. Were really looking forward to it. I'm excited to see Scott really take a step towards wanting to be healthier before it becomes a big issue. I'm also just excited to have something else to do with him. We've grown so much in our relationship over the past year. It seems that we have more understanding for each other's needs and were generally just more in tune with one another. I love him more deeply than ever before. God- 1,387,456/ me- 0 :)

I've put in a few random pictures for you to look at.

This is Luke making his invention. In fourth grade all the students have to come up with and make an invention to be judged. It can be something completely new or a better version of something already available that improves on the design. Luke made a "Food Carrier" He put a screw with a hook in the bottom of a basket for hanging bananas and the basket hold apples and oranges. There is 4 other hooks on the outside rim for holding bags of onions, garlic, peppers etc... All the classes in the school get to vote and the top 20 go to the area judging show. Luke's was chosen! I was floored since we only put it together the day before it was due (talk about last minute! 8) Anyways, the judging event is on Feb 1rst.

Don't worry I'm still here!

2008-01-10T13:14:00.000-06:00

I haven't stopped blogging, I was just missing in action from the Internet for a short time-what a busy month December is for us! I have lots to share so here goes...

Last I left you we were going to go to Bentleyville. However something big and huge happened the next day on Dec. 13th that I'll remember forever. I had been listening to a radio station that would normally play all oldies rock/pop stuff bat Christmas time they play 24/7 Christmas music. For the 12 days of Christmas (or in this case, the first 12 days in Dec.) they played games to get you qualified for a grand prize drawing. Now, as some of you may know, I like to play games and I can get a little competitive. So on Mon. the 11th one of their games was a trivia question. In order to win you first needed the answer and to be caller 5. The question was: "What is the name of the magician in the movie Frosty the Snowman". Now I knew, that I knew the answer but couldn't quit remember, but a quick yahoo search confirmed that it is of course Professor Hinckle. I dialed figuring there was no way I'd get through, but the phone rang and I had won because caller 5 didn't have the right answer. At the time I was just excited that I had won because it was fun to play. I didn't even know what I had won other than the qualifying for the drawing, which I quickly dismissed and went on with my day. So 4:06pm on Wed. the 13th I turned on the radio, because I wanted to hear the person win. The drawing wasn't until 5:00 but I didn't want to miss listening. About 10 seconds after switching on the radio the phone rang. The conversation went something like this:

"Is Gretchen there?"

"This is"

"Please hold..."

I got switched to hold with the same music that was currently playing on the radio-The Little Drummer Boy. It took me a few seconds to realize that I was on hold with the radio station. My hands started to sweat, there was instant shaking in my body and my mind was going about 20,000 miles an hour-"why would the radio station be calling me?" "there's no way I could have won, the drawing isn't for another hour" (by this time I'm pacing and feeling some butterflies) "maybe there calling because I didn't pick up my other prize yet" "that's dumb, why would they do that" (I hate having conversation's with myself) "(I was doing the math in my head, 3 qualifiers on air for 12 days plus any number of qualifiers in the local sponsoring stores= any body's guess as to the number of entries)"why would they put me on hold on air?" (if you've ever called a radio station you would know the difference between the office putting you on hold and the on air putting you on hold) I could tell that the "someone" was waiting for the song to end, I waited with lots of anticipation. The rest went something like this:

"Hi, who's this?"

"Gretchen...?"

"Gretchen, guess what?"

"what? (somewhat hesitantly)"

"Santa Claus has chosen you to be our grand prize double cash shopping spree winner!"

by the time the word "chosen" was spoken: "OH, MY GOSH! THAT'S INCREDIBLE! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU"

"We hope this helps make your Christmas an extra good one."

"Oh my gosh, you have no idea..." (lots of crying, shaking thank yous-you get the picture)

I couldn't believe that I had won this amazing prize. God had been looking out for us, because at the time it looked like buying anymore presents was out, as our finances were on the rocks (all ok now).

The prize was $2000! 4 $250 gift cards to spend at the 4 local stores that sponsored the contest and $1000 cash! WOW!!!!!!

So about a week later after calming down and receiving the gift cards (the cash was to come later) Scott and I went shopping. We both got new winter jackets. We got a beautiful pine coffee table. I got arch supports for my feet. I also got an alpaca fleece pullover, and a sweatshirt. We spent 3 certificates in an hour. It was really fun picking things out without batting an eye, $200 dollars for a jacket? ok-get it. 75$ for a sweater-sure! 250$ for a table-no problem-great idea! We had to spend the money in the stores so it was really fun. The stores were Duluth Pack, which sells all things outdoor related plus The North Face brand (which is what my jacket is). Columbia clothing downtown, which sells mostly men's Ralph Lauren, Polo, Columbia (that's where Scott got his jacket and my alpaca fleece-boy did we feel out of our league in that store). Unpainted Sawmill Furniture, which of course sells all natural wood furniture (obviously where the coffee table came from). And The Good Feet store, which sells arch supports to correct your arch's and to help with problem pain issues, such as your back, neck, knees, feet etc... (I got a pair of supports and found out that one of my arch's is flatter than the other and is the reason for many of my pains). I'll take pic's of some of our fun stuff when my batteries recharge. With the cash, we were able to get new cell phones, and finish our Christmas shopping. It was a lot of fun and I'm extremely grateful!

Here are a few pictures from Bentleyville. More topics to come in the week.

Waiting in line for the bus from the parking lot (the other girl is Jocelyn, our friend-in case your wondering, she's one month YOUNGER than Luke who is 10)

Oh' yeah this one's gonna get us the best picture of the year award (or get us qualified for makeovers :)
This is the entrance

Downtown

Inside the cookie house

What's better than smore's in the summer? Smore's in the winter!

Look, this is how to be a seal

Holding the world in their hands

Well, that's all I have for now (really I'm just tired of blogging for today) but I'll be back soon. Thanks, and goody bye :)

2007-12-12T12:36:00.000-06:00

Hello everyone!

Life with the Kelley's is nothing short of crazy, chaotic, stressful, fun, etc... I'm sure it's much the same in every other house, as we "prepare" for the all important celebration.

I've decided to not do all the baking I was hoping to get too-yes I had to face the fact that the supermom award would once again NOT go too me, maybe next year:) (I won't hold my breath) LOL

I think this Friday night were going to go to Bentleyville. For those that don't know, it's the coolest light display in our area. They offer cookies, hot cider, s'mores that you make over the open burning bins, popcorn, Santa, free knit hat, music and lights galore. Everything is in cute little huts built specifically for the event. I'll try to take some good pictures.

Here are pictures of the album I made for my mother-in-law, Judy. Not to worry, she's computer illiterate, so she won't see this. :)

This is Judy's niece that is living with them now, she's from Virginia, and her name is Samantha.

I love these two pages. I used my fun swirly stamps, I think it turned out great!

The kids in the picture below are some of Judy's cousin's grand kids. (what that makes them to Judy is some generation of cousins, but don't ask me to figure it out-I don't do math:)

The four people in the large group of people are Gordy, Randy, Diane, and Judy (the short one). This is the first time that all 4 had been together in 13 years. And than of course the other picture is with Grandpa :)

I'm now working on a calendar to complete her gift this year. (If your my family and wondering why I'm not making a calendar for you, the answer is simple, give me pictures and I could work with it-no pictures, no fun album's) lol :)

I hope that all your holiday "things" are going well. Have a great rest of the week!

2007-11-29T10:24:00.000-06:00

Hi Everyone! I know it's been a while, but here I am. Thanks for waiting:)

I had a great weekend off and really enjoyed my shopping extravaganza! I was able to get the kids done and some stuff for several other people, plus we all got new pillows-what a difference that makes at night, ahhhh sweet dreams :)

I tried taking some nice pictures of my decorations, so here's a few of those.

My new stocking holders. This was my 5$ find after Christmas last year. This same set is 25$ at Target this year. Ahhhh, see it pays to shop the crazy sales. The other side of the mantel has a Santa and a tree.Scrappy's favorite hiding place. It figures, since it won't be staying. The first time he was down there, we went looking for him forever. It's not easy to find a black dog on a dark green fabric (guess that's something to keep in mind if we ever get to change the carpet)

my "homage" to snowmen.

The kids were really excited when I'd put up their little tree on the landing for them to decorate. I also got them a few new ornaments, they had a great time putting it all together.

Luke helped me get the impossible garland up in the doorway from the kitchen to the living room. I thought it would be fun to have it there and tie on the cards we receive, little did I know that the arch was plaster! (there's a little repair work to do once the garland comes down-oops :))

I couldn't resist buying this cute basket at Michael's, it's filled with cinnamon scented pine cones. I'll put a candle can in the middle once I get it made.

Here's one of the candle can's I made for one of Luke's two teachers. Luke picked the colors. I have 3 more teacher gifts to make and than 4 daycare moms and anyone else who I think this would be good for :) I used formula cans and I've been stocking up. I love this idea because it's so easy and they can be tailored for anyone. Find me a girl who doesn't love candles (than I'd say, fill it with chocolate :)

It's been great getting all my stuff out for Christmas this year. When I get the outside done, I'll take pictures there too. I have little things in the kitchen and bathroom too. Last year before my dad died I had bought quit a few new items and since everything came to a halt when it happened, opening my bins has been like opening presents with all the things I didn't put out and use last year.

As the day comes closer and closer, marking a year since my dad died, I'm reminded of just how very precious time is. We are only on this earth for a short time compared to the eternity we will spend in Heaven. I love the Joy that God has spread in my life and I plan on living in that glory this Christmas season. I'm taking the time to enjoy the little things, like Luke helping with decorations, the kids putting up their tree, time spent as a family playing games. I even managed to get us all to sit at the dinner table with no t.v. last night (I hope to make it a regular Wed. event-the only day with nothing going on). I love the memories were building every day. Making life special here and now before it's too late.

Take a minute today, too reflect on what your doing to let go of the needless stress's in your life, surrounding the holiday season. What are you doing to capture the moments?

I havn't forgotten

2007-11-16T10:40:00.000-06:00

I haven't forgotten that I have a blog, there's just nothing interesting going on in the Kelley household.

I did start putting up Christmas stuff. I know some of you think it's too early, but I love the Christmas season and after last year I intend to enjoy it 110%. I always love taking out the decorations and there's always that irritating head shake as I realize what a crappy job I did in my haste to put it all away the previous year (when will I ever learn). I had some stuff get ruined this time so I ended up throwing out some things, but have no fear my favorite crafty homey gift store "birch street gifts" I'm sure will have just the right items to replace them with :)

The kids had their conferences this week and their doing Great! The Luke that Ms. Palm describes is not the same Luke that I've had to explain 5 times previously every year. He's really doing well and making a great effort. He got all B's with 2 C's which if you knew all the previous struggles you would know is HUGE!!! Kirsten is above grade level in math and at grade level in reading (last year at this time she was below reading level) so that was awesome to hear. She of course has always embraced school and thrives at it.

Other than all that I really have not a lot happening. I will soon though as I get a start on Holiday projects. The kids want me to make their friends in class the snowman soup packs (I'll share that a little later:) so I'll need to start that and I'm still working on the Christmas cards, and lots of other goodies.

Tonight is the Christmas City of the North Parade. Which always promises to be really cold and fun. I'll get pictures to share.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow...

2007-11-09T09:28:00.000-06:00

This is what I woke up to this morning (after my paper route was done, it wasn't there before)

pay no attention to the tent in the background-I know it's time to put it away, now stop laughing at me! :) the focus is on the snow

Now, I know it's been a few days since my last blog, so here's a few things that I've been thankful for:

I went out shopping on Sunday for winter jackets for Luke and Kirsten. While I ended up going all over to various stores, grumbling at the lack of sizes, and the outrageous prices. While knowing full well that the kids need really warm jackets, because lets face it, Duluth is down right cold! (the part about being thankful is coming, I promise) I was getting more and more mad that I couldn't find their sizes in anything that was worth buying for less than 50$ (last time I checked my money tree still wasn't producing the good stuff). We finally did find coats that both kids really liked and it didn't break the bank too badly, but after we left the store I had a reality check. I had just been able to buy my kids the jackets they so desperately needed. At the moment that I needed it God directed us to the right place with the right stuff. Not only that but we had the money when we needed it, and they have all the winter stuff they need. I was so thankful at that moment that they were taken care of and we weren't having to make due or head off to the salvation army, like when I was little. And man was I really thankful when we woke up to the snow this morning and I knew that they were prepared and wouldn't be cold.

This week I've been working on these wedding invitations and while they've taken quit a bit of time, I've been thankful that I'm able to help out a couple when they needed it. To add something special to their wedding that they might have had to really skimp on. I've loved doing it and I'm thankful that God has given me the talent.

final look for the card

This may seem petty but, I was really thankful when the kids school pictures came home this week and they look awesome! In previous years we've had some really not so great one's but these are great-don't you think? I may be a little bias but I'm pretty sure there the best ever!

Now, I have to tell you about my daughters amazing writing abilities. Again I may be a little bias but I think she's headed for a scholarship

If you can't read it, here it is in her words:

I wish I had a vendible garden. I would put carets in my garden and also beans in it too. I would put in green seilery and lattices and potatoes zoukenys and I can't forget the one and only tomatoes.Do you no why I want a vegdebl garden so much.becuse vegdebls are so so helfey for you and I would put one jest onw friut in it too. It would be a apple tree and mabey a fouw flowres in it too and mabey a fouw boushes in it too and the vegdebls would help my family out too.Sl rmeber eat helfey and wather owt. the end.by Kirsten.

(someday she too will discover spellcheck :)-but for now it helps make this so cute.

Kirsten has been writing lots of stories lately. Her most current piece is about a sea lion that grows up to join the army to learn how to fight the sharks, and has to leave his mom forever. When the story is completed I will put it up-it's currently 2 pages long! and yes, she's only 8! I think she's amazing!

Not to forget about Luke, he is doing exceptionally well in school this year. The last 2 spelling tests he's only missed 2 out of 20! That's a huge victory compared to the 5 or 6 out 12 from last year. I'm actually looking forward to his conference next week. I've never seen him thrive with academics so much. He really loves science and is enjoying all the experiments. I love watching him enjoy it! It's very refreshing.

As promised here's is some more of my current craft finished products

the top picture is on hinges and lifts up

I hope you all have a great day!!!

Sat whirlwind

2007-11-03T16:47:00.000-05:00

Wow, today's been busy! I miss the days when I got to have a day off in the middle of the week, but I also still want both weekend days off as well-guess you can't have everything. I should have married for money not love if that's what I wanted :)

So today we tackled the basement closet, dun, dun, dun!!!!!! What a disaster. I think Scott said it best when he said "How did we let it get this bad?" now I wish I could say that it wasn't my fault, but unfortunately I have to admit that I was as much at fault as he was. We had also had some water problems when the last bit of rain storms moved through, needless to say we threw out just about everything-YUCK!!!!!! What a horrific mess!!! I'm glad it's finally done, and it will help to have it all cleaned and organized going into the holiday season.

Today I'm thankful for the car door we were able to find and buy at a junk yard for under 200$. I'm really thankful for the guy at Goodyear that has gone above and beyond to help fix it for us at a very low price. I'm so very thankful that we can close the car door now and not have to worry about it. Thank you, God, for putting the right people in our path that were able to help us out-the person at Dodge that found a silver door, the guy at the junk yard that worked quickly to take the door off the damaged car so that we could have it quickly, and the guy at Goodyear who wants to make it as safe as possible.

So as you read, we had a problem with our car door-the good car of course. About 12 houses away from being done with my paper route yesterday morning it stopped closing. I had to finish the route and drive home, while holding the door closed, and steering with one hand (it's not easy trust me). After calling around all morning to find a door we found lots but the colors were gold, black, purple, or green. Not good choices since our car is Silver. Finally Scott called the Dodge dealership and they found a salvage yard not listed in the phone book that had what we needed. My father in law went out to get it and it was 35$ less than what was quoted plus a free tire!

The nice man at Goodyear spent 6 hours on it today and it still needs an adjustment to the outside handle that he'll take care of on Monday but it looks fine and it works better than ever.

Anyways that the drama for the day-really fun interesting stuff :) if your still reading-sorry :)

Have a great day!

Fun Friday

2007-11-02T09:35:00.000-05:00

Today I will start Fun Friday! On Friday's I will try to post my current project with "how she do that" answers if needed :)

I'm also going to start the 22 days till Thanksgiving Day Thankfulness. Which means every day I'll post something different that I'm thankful for.

Today I'll also give you the rest of Halloween pictures if possible :)

Today I'm thankful that my son is breathing well and able to run around in this cold air without any problems, so thank you God for his current health and please continue to strengthen his lungs.

What do you mean, my halo looks crooked? It's just taking a little rest :) (I used stamps with glitter on both mine and Kirstens faces to get some fun Halloween makeup effect in the mix-come on it's not like I can do it any other time of the year-and tell about it :)

Here is the wedding card that I've made for my sister's best friend. (Sarah it's all you :) The wording will be printed on the white behind the vellum, simple and elegant-this is what I'll be working on this weekend.

Now here's a couple of the layouts I got done over my crop weekend

It's that big Spooktacular day!

2007-10-31T10:35:00.000-05:00

Happy Halloween !!!!! We have a busy day ahead. For those that would like to know, there was no diva hair moments this morning as Kirsten donned her costume :)

Luke however had managed to put his costume on inside out, upside down, legs in the arms-it was a mess! But I, the supermom

Took matters into my own hands and turned out the best ninja ever!

I'm so glad he'll be around to protect us all tonight, as even I will be in costume (not my superhero suit:( )

Tonight I will be the "momma angel" I know it's not real origianal, but you can't expect me to be the "momma ninja" now can you? Seriously do not want to see this mom in a bodysuit-I'll save you all from that horror:)

Here is the final member of the family in his costume (daddy, and Rascals are being party poopers)

Herrrreeeeeessssss SCRAPPY, THE FEROCIOUS LOBSTER!!!!!!!

here's some pics of pumpkin carving. I will send pics tomorrow of the fun from tonight!

She couldn't believe that she had to scoop out he guts herself (I've always done it for her, but times have changed and this year they were on their own)-Luke was much better about it, as he yelled Wooo-Hoo, Oh YEAH!!!!

Ok well that will have to happen later as I'm having problems uploading pics :(

I'll be back with more on Halloween tomorrow!

fun project/gift idea

2007-10-30T13:24:00.000-05:00

Here is the pocket folder that I created over the weekend. I had seen it done in the scrapbook store while in WA at Lasting Memories. I loved the concept and this is what I did with it.

This Bible verse reads: "Be Joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1Thessalonians 5:16-18

This verse reads: "If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer." Matthew 21:22
Here is how to make your own: Start with a plain two pocket folder, I used white found at Office Max, colored would work fine too.
Reverse the fold so that the pockets are now on the outside and the folder looks wrong side out-as shown in the photo above. Now your going to quarter fold both sides so that the pockets are folded inside and you now have 4 even pages/pockets and it looks like an accordion, like this:

I started mine by inking all the edges using inks in the color palette of my paper. Now you all you need to do is cut and glue (I used a glue stick) all your paper and embellish as you wish. Tips: I cut the front paper, to be used on the front of the pockets, with an extra 1/2 inch in length to fold over the pocket. I also covered the back 3 sections with some solid card stock to finish the look instead of leaving it white (not shown in any photo)

Here is a link to the blog from Lasting Memories where I got the idea-it'll give you some other ideas

http://lastingmemories.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/08/index.html

(look under August 17th)

I also thought themes like shopping list, monthly receipts, coupons would be good or using as a unique photo album with the pockets for holding mementos.

Hope you enjoy!

My weekend getaway

2007-10-29T16:34:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone! Wow I had a great weekend! I feel like life has been on the fast lane (otherwise known as the carpool lane to some of you:") since Thur. I spent most of Thur running after the toddlers and preparing meals. That was busy enough. Friday I woke up at normal time and got the kids off to school than it was crunch time. As some of you know I went on a scrapbooking retreat over the weekend and as of Friday morning I had packed 0 items. Agggghhhhh!!!! last minute packing is becoming my specialty, but not one I want to have. Miraculously I managed to pack everything and the kitchen sink, run for soup bread (my meal contribution), coffee, picked up my friend Erin, and made it back ontime to pack Ann's saburban and head out of town with those 2 plus Teresa by 11-on the dot on time!!!!!! For anyone that really knows me, you know that's a major accomplishment :) ( not one of my finer qualities)

The cabin we went to was awesome, here's the link if you want to check it out. Although the website doesn't do it justice http://www.cropalotcabin.com/ Here's a few pics from the weekend. I'll post some of the projects I worked on tomorrow with "how she did it" steps :)

these are pics of the packing fiasco that occured in my kitchen

This is the craft room were all the magic happens :) Where inspiration meets eager crafters.

the living room was a great space, but not enough seating (must bring floor pillows next time-note to self)

This is all I have for now. I will post again later. Thanks for reading!

The Life of my Asthmatic son...

2007-10-24T11:08:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone! I thought today I would talk to a bit about Luke's asthma, as it's a pretty serious condition for him.

Some of you may or may not remember that when Luke was a baby he had had apnea breathing, which in short means that he would stop breathing for a short period of time (you know no big deal, we were only first time parents-piece of cake). He was almost a full 3 weeks early and weighed 6 lbs 3 ounces but it was enough for his lungs to not be real strong. The day I had him he turned blue in my arms the 2 times I tried to hold him. I remember panicking a little but the nurses and doctors didn't have many ideas for what had happened. I won't go into all the details of that first week as it's just exhausting but the long and short of it all is that after a week in intensive care he was brought home on a heart monitor. Ten years ago it was a box about 8x10 inches and wieghed around 15lbs (more than twice the wieght of Luke). It had 3 cords that would stick onto his chest and stomach with tape and attached to a 50ft cord.
So that was it, here was our baby with a box and 50ft. I remember how happy I was that my mom had bought us a bassinet with wheels and a basket underneath. We would put the box in there and the baby in the baskett and wheel him around the apartment. I remember the cords needed to be put through the tab of the diaper and out the bottom of his clothes (I was a whiz at changing a diaper, anyone who can do the basic diapering and toss in 3 cords to boot is a champ:)

Over the years we've had some bad spells and he's developed allergies to anything on four legs that sheds, air pollens, dust, mold etc...So the allergies are what cause his flare ups along with extreme weather changes (yeah were living in the wrong area for that) Heat is bad and so is extreme cold (seriously where would we go to escape? It's all bad)

We typically seem to have problems in the fall and again in the winter, with the season changes. Two years ago we started a series of doctors visits that seemed to always include chest exrays and head exrays. The conclusion was that his chest and sinus' were blocked (duh!) however it wasn't a sinus infection. So he began a drug called Prednisolone, for flare up's. It's a very good drug with some side affects, one of them being an increase in appetite and another being extra energy (like he needs that). He also started advair diskus (the purple circle thing you see on tv) twice a day (for daily control over his asthma), and singulair (for control over his allergies). All this was very good. He's been able to run around and partake in normal child activities including baseball in the summer. He enjoys bowling league in the school year, ice skating, sledding, and running around all year long. Up until about 8 months ago all was very good. However when I started working at home we ran into insurance problems-there is none. So his doctors have been good about supplying his advair but the singulair is 200$ a month so we switched alavert over the counter and that has proven to be just as good.

We seemed to be doing pretty good keeping control all summer but as the fall weather turns to the colder wintery weather he's been having problems again and I knew our time of not having him be seen was out so I brought him in. Let me tell you what it's like to watch your child actually struggle to breath. Sometimes I wish it was just a small short spell from being knocked out because he was playing too hard, because of course than he'd recover and all would be ok. But when your child has asthms like Luke does, it's very exhausting. He will typically stand up and lean on something instead of sitting just so he can open his air ways. The skin on his chest will stretch over his ribs real tight while he labors to take a normal breath (something most everybody takes for granted). You can hear the wheezing sound as the air travels through his air ways which are inflammed and sore (this is caused from the broncchial infection that causes asthma flare up's). He gets a really rasppy cough that will stress his lungs every time he coughs. Also sleeping at night is so tough he usually has really dark circles under his eyes and has a loss of appetite (in his case thats really not good, he was down to 46.2lbs yesterday!) The whole thing is complete misery. He can take a nebulizer albuterol treatment every 4 hours in times like this but when it gets really bad like it was yesterday he would like to have it every 1-2 hours to be somewhat comfortable. As a mom it's really hard to tell your child they can't have the medicine that you know would bring comfort. So off to the doctor we went. He just finished a week of the Prednisolone last week but the doctor felt a much more intense treatment would help so he's taking that again only now its for 2 weeks. I should mention at this point what a great kid Luke is because this medicine in the worst tasting thing I think any parent could give to a kid. I of course have had a teeny tiny lick of it and that was enough for me to know that I would never want to ingest any. It's kind of like nyquil to the power of 10. Usually he has to take 2 tsp with food which looks like this

however right now its 3 tsp for 4 days, than 2 tsp for 3 days, than down and down it goes until it's done. He's such a trooper. He shoots the whole thing into his mouth and chases it with milk :)

I pray that someday my little man won't have to deal with this anymore. I know that God can heal him and I leave it in his hands. I'm really grateful that there's a medicing he can take to "fix" him for a while. Now it's just a matter of how long this will sustain him.

The "inhumanity" of it all

2007-10-23T12:16:00.000-05:00

As many of you know we are the proud parents of not only 2 great kids but also 2 lovable dogs, Rascals and Scrappy (both appropriately named). Here's a typical "brotherly" occurrence in our house: (first a little background)

Luke is home from school today with asthma trouble (don't worry I've called the doctor and all will be fine-it's the same stuff, different day). I had read online that taking a bath is good for asthma flare ups, so in went Luke. Now, Rascals loves to hang out in the bathroom when someone is in the shower or bath. Whether its the possibility of getting away from the rest of the house, getting to lick up puddle's, or the thought that taking a shower could be fun if he could just work up the courage to jump in-were just not sure but he loves to be in there. So Luke is in the tub and there's Rascals waiting, and waiting, and waiting some more...

(note, Scrappy is just checking on Rascals, he doesn't really care what else is going on) ...Than he decides to check into matters a little more and discovers the coolest looking toy ever (the kids usually shower now so there isn't a whole lot of tub vs. toy action anymore)

At this moment I'm getting the look that says "please, mom? I just want that one?", at this point I'm sure the person behind the curtain has assisted a little because the next noise I here as I'm folding laundry and chasing toddlers is an annoying squeaking that doesn't stop. I went in to tell Luke to stop and found this instead

He had gotten the toy and I'd forgotten that it squeaks (which is why it became a bath toy to begin with-water in the squeaker=no more squeaking, but apparently it had dried out over time)-I'll have to take care of that later, as for now it's in the grips of a very happy doggy.

But this is were Rascals always runs into problems and it's called Scrappy (notice in the middle of that name it spells crap which is what Rascals is thinking)

Now most of us wouldn't let something that weighs only 3 lbs push us around but Rascals has adapted to the theory of give in and no one gets hurt. Although sometimes I think he gives up a toy in exchange for being left alone for a few minutes. Every time Rascals is happy with a toy or a chew bone Scrappy comes around the corner and attacks! and usually comes away with the prize.

I think this picture says it all for Rascals

"Oh, sorry buddy, maybe tomorrow"

I'm welcoming myself into "blogdom"

2007-10-22T13:45:00.000-05:00

Here I am! I've decided to start a blog. I think this will be the best way to stay in contact with my family and friends that are scattered all over the place. As an added bonus I can put down my random rambling thoughts-translation: I can talk a lot about nothing and no one can make me stop :)

I had a pretty busy weekend but it was fun all the same-I guess. On Friday both Kirsten and Luke had a friend over (no school). I had Kirsten and her friend help make caramel apples, we had lots of fun and they taste great!

On Saturday the kids had their bowling Holloween party. For most people it meant getting their kids ready in a basic costume and out the door they go, but for me it meant an hour an half to prepare the prettiest little golden angel you ever have seen only to have her burst into tears because there were too many curls! Such drama!

Haaaa, sigh, what could I do but laugh? We were running as close to late as you could get (we didn't want to miss the costume judging). I got her hair pinned up and passed the "acceptable ok" and out the door we went. We got there just on time for the judging (mind you Luke had stayed at a friends house overnight and came with them, so I didn't even have to help him into his ninja costume) So the judging gets done and the kids start bowling as the judges make their decision. After all that Kirsten's friend takes the prize for her great Poccahontis costume (really good) and Luke gets the prize in his age level for being a ninja! It took him only 2 minutes or so to put it on! UNREAL!!!!!!

Oh well, after all it wasn't really about all that anyways, right? :)and Luke was really excited. The kids had fun bowling in the neon lights (Kirsten's wings glowed-it was cute) and eating lots of food and candy.

Kirsten than had a birthday party to go to (this was the fifth one since school started!)So we dropped her off and after bringing the "boys" home (Luke and Scott) I went to Michaels and True Colors (for a little thing I like to call retail/crafting therapy). I found a few items to create our annual christmas card and I bought the Oppisites Attract Cricut cartridge (birthday money from inlaws :). I spent a good part of my free time over the weekend constructing "the card" and here is the finished result. I won't show you the inside so you can have something to look forward to :)

Here is how I plan to keep my Christmas season organized. I made this little book to jot down notes, wish lists, ideas, card list etc... It turned out cute so here's a pic

Well that's all for now, I'll try to get some more out throughout the week!