January 16, 2011

Yesterday, our family (minus Jesse & Angie) gathered at Mom & Dad's to honor Dad's 75th birthday.....what a milestone!!!! His birthday was actually on the 12th but since Brian & Andrea live so far away and Brian is working in the evenings during the week, we try to hold these functions on the weekend.

As with any get together we have hosted since "the boys" arrived in May & July of 2008.....it is never boring, lol. Now that they are rounding the corner to the ripe old age of 3 they are two sticks of dynamite ready to explode at any given moment.....and they often do. Sometimes, it is an explosion of laughter and other times an explosion of a tantrum.

Here are some photos from the afternoon........our guest of honor with his hip new MP3 player!!!


























Here are a series of 5 photos where Caiden (thanks to Tanti's prompting) turned in to a vicious dinosaur and proceeded to attack Trevor. I love the look on both of their faces in this first photo. Caiden mustering up all his dino-powers and Trevor is like "um, Tanti....are you going to save me?"



















And, the attack of the Caidendinosaurus begins.....


















Classic!!!!!!!!!


















Trevor attempts to use his Spidy-powers to stop the Caidendinosaurus from attacking....


















Hee-hee, I love when I snap at just the right moment.....this looks like slo-mo!




















Trevor LOVES his trucks!

















And, he REALLY loves his CARS! Here we have Doc Hudson, Sheriff, Ramon, Tex, another Ramon, Lightening McQueen, Sally & Mator.....the entire cast from the movie, Cars! He is just a little obsessed :)

Okay, this one is kinda gross but it is just so TREVOR....mouth wide open being a goofball! He was eating lasagna in case you were wondering.

And this is classic Caiden......on the opposite side of the spectrum from Trevor (most of the time). Don't get me wrong, this boy can let his presence be known, too. I love this photo and cannot wait to scrap it!!!!

That was how January 16, 2011 was lived.........who could ask for anything more?

~Helen~

Praying for Tuscon, AZ Community

My computer was down all last week and I spent much of last night and today (after church) catching up on some CT responsibilities. There is much I could blog about but only one thing keeps coming to my mind again and again and that is the community of Tuscon, AZ.

Yesterday, this community was brought to its' knees when a gunman opened fire at the Safeway grocery store where Congresswoman, Gabrielle Giffords, was hosting a public event called Congress On The Corner. Six people lost their lives including a 9 year old girl. A little girl who was born the day one of this country's most memorable tragedies.....9/11. I find it so incredibly hard not to think of the fact she came in to this world on a day filled with violence and left this world in yet another act of violence.

Briefly watching the news coverage yesterday has left me recalling the event that took place in my church in 2009. An event that made world news as well. While everyone reacts differently during times like this and everyone has their own feelings I can say without a doubt that I know a little of what the Tuscon residents are going through tonight. Right now they are probably still numb and in shock. They are gathering together..........uniting..........drawing strength from each other as they try to sort out their emotions. Over the next few weeks as news stations move on to other headlining events, this town and everyone affected are still going to be in some stage of grief. It will be a very long time, maybe years, before a sense of normalcy is regained for many. However, never again will they be the same. You just can't remain the same person when evil comes so close and leaves behind his destruction.

However, we can overcome the pain and sorrow....the loss of security....the sense of hopelessness. Through Christ we can overcome it all. My prayer is in the words of this song by Fee. A song with lyrics inspired by the event of March 8, 2009. I pray as everything has fallen apart for these families that they have the hope that is in Christ Jesus....that they allow Him to provide them strength to carry on.



EVERYTHING FALLS
Fee
You saidyou'd never leave or forsake me
when you said,
this life is gonna shake me
and you said
this world is gonna bring trouble on my soul
this I know

Chorus:
when everything falls apart
your arms hold me together
when everything falls apart
you're the only hope for this heart
when everything falls apart
and my strength is gone
I find you mighty and strong
you keep holding on
you keep holding on

when I see
darkness all around me
when I see
that tragedy has found me
I still believe
your faithful arms will never let me go
and still I know

Chorus:
when everything falls apart
your arms hold me together
when everything falls apart
you're the only hope for this heart
when everything falls apart
and my strength is gone
I find you mighty and strong
you keep holding on
you keep holding on

Bridge:
Sorrow will last for the night
but hope is rising with the sun
(it’s rising with the sun)
and there will be storms in this life
but I know you have overcome
You have overcome

Chorus:
when everything falls apart
your arms hold me together
when everything falls apart
you're the only hope for this heart
when everything falls apart
and my strength is gone
I find you mighty and strong
you keep holding on

Chorus:
when everything falls apart
your arms hold me together
when everything falls apart
you're the only hope for this heart
when everything falls apart
and my strength is gone
I find you mighty and strong
you keep holding on
you keep holding on

Happy New Year!!!

I am back!!! The last few months of last year (lol) were just a blur. I went on a deep cleaning spree in my home and the results are beyond what I could have imagined. You really don't grasp how the clutter around you effects your mentality until it is gone and you have a clean & organized living space. I walk in my front door everyday now and go "ahhhhh".

With a new year comes a new word to focus on. I have decided on the word {habits}. It seemed as I progressed through the year 2010 my horrible habit of procrastination was becoming more and more evident....in my home, my health, my weight, my spiritual growth and even getting out the door to arrive places 'on time'. That is something I have never had a problem with. Well, it was seriously grating on my nerves. It just seems the right fit to choose the word {habits} for 2011. I want to change the bad/negative habits to good/positive ones.

I sat down and made a list of 11 {habits} I wish to focus on in 2011. Of course, if you know me well you knew I would scrap a layout about my word and list. Here it is.....

























Each photo corresponds to something on my list. My list (in no particular order) is:

1. Keep up with Project: Love, Me layouts each week (more on that project in a bit)
2. Call 1 person a week and check-in - ask for prayer requests
3. Snail mail 1 person/month a "thinking of you" card
4. Set $$ back each week for my Vegas trip (Digiscrap-apalooza)
5. Have quiet time/Bible time each day
6. Clean out car once a week of clutter
7. Keep to a daily house cleaning schedule
8. Blog personally a minimum of once a month
9. Keep up with CT responsibilities each week
10.Have gifts for special events 2 weeks ahead of time
11.End 2011 knowing I did my best change my {habits}


Project: Love, Me - this is a weekly scrapbooking challenge I am participating in that will help me document "me" for the entire year. Life is screaming by at break neck speed anymore. I don't know how it is even possible I turned 40 in 2010. The fact is, I did and the time is not going to slow down. With this project, which you can read more about HERE, I plan to dig deep down and record the things that make me, me! In 10, 20 or 30 years from now I can pick up this scrapbook of 52 layouts and recall what my dreams were....what made me laugh.....what made me cry.......what angered me in the year 2011. It will also give family members coming up behind me a piece of myself for them to remember me by.

Here are the first two layouts I have done for the project. The first is the opening page of the scrapbook..........the "pre-prompt" page.

























This is the page I created for Prompt #1 (there will be 52 prompts all together). Our first prompt was to create a page of what we dream about now....in the present day. I realize the font I used is very hard to read but I truly love it (Saint Andrews Queen is the name of it). My chosen "dream" was to reach a healthy weight and why. It is very hard to put your feelings out there like this but at the same time, so rewarding.
























I will be back with more since once of my new {habits} is to blog more often. For now, I must go get laundry folded and put away.

xoxo

I didn't wait quite as long as the last time to post a new entry. Thought I would jump on and post some layouts I have done over the past month or so. Here goes....

This uses a template from Scrapping with Liz @ Scrap Orchard called Scrap Strip Templates as well as the kit, Summer Blues Grab Bag from LCC Amy Stoffel which is now broken in to 6 different kits!

This was to showcase Scrapping With Liz's Faded Masks set. I used the kit, Family Ties, by Tracie Stroud.

This is my own design using the kit, Dreamsicle, by LCC Amy Stoffel.

Again, using Dreamsicle. This was a scraplift of another Scrap Orchard member, Britanee. Her layout can be found HERE.

LCC Amy Stoffel & Wild Dandelion Designs teamed up to create to Preppy 101 kits. One is for the boys & one is for the girls. I used the boy theme, of course! This is my design.




5th Avenue by LCC Amy Stoffel....I {heart} this kit! It is such a great "big girl" kit!! Again, this is my own design.

This is a combination, template by Scrapping With Liz called Simple Square Temps along with the kit, Smarty Pants by LCC Amy Stoffel.

One of my favorite layout designs I have ever created without a template!! Again, this is the kit I spoke of above called Summer Blues Grab Bag that is actually now broken in to 6 separate kits in Amy Stoffel's store.

Summer Blues Grab Bag items again and my own design.

I just did this one and absolutely LOVE how it turned out. It is my design and I used the kit, Mercado Salvage by DeCrow Designs & Tangie Baxter (Studio Tangie). This fun little layout was created for an upcoming challenge I will be hosting at Scrap Orchard.

This is a template by Scrapping With Liz called, Front Page Temps and I used it to showcase a large number of photos. I am getting ready to work on one of these for the other nephew, Caiden as soon as I see if I have enough photos. Ps- I used the kit, Little Charmer by Amy Stoffel for the Paper/Elements and the Alpha is from Retro Whimsy.

Once again, Summer Blues Grab Bag by LCC Amy Stoffel. Can you tell I love love loved this kit??? My design :)

Another one using Retro Whimsy (my design) as well as Torn Bits 3 Element Pack from Creashens.

And last but not least, my design, using the kits Perfect Summer from Designs by Kat & By The Seaside from Designs by Julie Bullock.

And there you have it......I will be back hopefully this week with a post about my two weekends with Trevor & Caiden. I have lots of pics from those adventures :)

xoxoxo
Helen
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I'm still here!!!

Wow! July 5th was the last time I posted here. That makes me so very sad :( So much has happened since then I don't know where to even begin. I will kinda make some notes of the highlights and use that as a reference on posts to make in the future with more detail.

Let's see....the big event that took place after my last post would have been Trevor's birthday. We celebrated his 2nd bday out at Brian & Andrea's place. I made his birthday cake like I did for Caiden. I realized with this last cake I do not have the patience for cake decorating. Way too much precision is needed. I will buy their cakes next year from Kruta!!! Funny note from that afternoon was when Trevor, not being closely supervised, decided to jump in his little whale shaped pool (Tanti Helen bought him) and go for a swim in is clothes and shoes! It was so hilarious!

July 15th marked the beginning of a major event at Scrap Orchard (the digi scrap site I live at). We started a month long contest with daily/weekly challenges allowing people to earn points (like a raffle ticket) for some AWESOME prizes like an IPad, Iphone, big $$ gift certificates, etc. I was promoted to an Appletini at the site (fancy name for moderator & party girl). I have been learning the ropes as well as working behind the scenes with my other 'tini girls to plan a promotion we are hosting for September! It has just been non-stop at the Orchard. I am also still the Facebook girl there as well.

Because of my recent promotion and even before that to be honest, I opted to step down from 3 of my 5 creative team jobs. It wasn't because of the scrapping requirements as much as the blogging requirements. Even if a designer didn't have a kit released, there were still blog posts to be done. I found being on 5 teams meant a minimum of 10 blog posts per month. Hence the reason I have not been on my own blog. Now I am just on the teams of LCC Amy Stoffel and Scrapping With Liz. I am already feeling the burden lifted and I have even scrapped some pages recently "just for the heck of it".

Speaking of Amy, she recently contacted me and asked me to write the catchy little kit descriptions for all her new releases. I am so honored she asked. And all because of a blog post I did for her that caught her eye with my words.

We just celebrated Mom's birthday this past weekend by gathering at Olive Garden (her favorite restaurant) and then going back to their house for cake. It was a house full of people and two toddlers running around like wild things......FUN!!

Did you notice the new ad at the top of my page??? The one that reads Digiscrap-apalooza?? I am so incredibly psyched to be planning a trip to Las Vegas in the spring of 2011. The chance to meet all these fabulous (and oh so crazy) gals I have been chatting with online now for 2 years just makes me giddy with excitement!

Well, that's all I have time for right now. Sorry, no pics today. But, now that I have a little more time on my hands I hope to be back sooner than 5 weeks and 2 days from now!!

Hugs!

Squeeeeeeeeee!!!!!

Since my last post {far too long ago} I finished Breaking Dawn; watched Twilight twice; watched New Moon three times and today..........................I saw Eclipse on the big screen. That would be the reason for my squeeeeeeee!!! The best movie so far in so many ways. The directing was amazing.....makeup & wardrobe was right on.....special effects were intense and I have to admit that even Kristin's acting skillz improved some. The absolute best part though???? More of Jacob without his shirt. Yep, I admit it.....the boy is just too smokin'! I fell in love with Edward from the books and know beyond a doubt had I never read the books and just watched the movies that would not be the case. The books go into so much more detail about why Edward does what he does and is how he is. I also fell in love with Jacob long before seeing the movies or laying eyes on Taylor Lautner. Yes, he was childish but come on, he was 16, had raging boy & wolf hormones but he truly loved Bella and wanted to protect her no matter the cost! The body that came with the movies was icing on the cake in my book! Just sayin'.

Here are some scrapbooking layouts I did using Amy Stoffel's Breathe Me kit. The first one says it all..............I refuse to choose between them. Nope, I will forever love them both for different reasons!!!

I love this one because it shows the books and since these are the first books I have read in a LOT of years it is a special layout for me!

Ok, moving on from my obsession of all things Twilight!! Like I said, it has been far too long since I have blogged. Probably because I am so busy blogging & creating for designers as well as keeping up with things at Scrap Orchard so I can post FB posts for them. I am not complaining, however, I do miss my own personal bloggy time.

I recently revamped my scrapbook room and took it from a messy, scary and basically not some place to be creative to organized, cheerful and a place I am proud to be in! Here is a few shots of the cuteness....

Yeah, I think I should have a "wear your sunglasses" warning on the door to the room, lol. Isn't it so stinkin' cute? Sorry, I know that is brag-a-docious but I just love the colors!!

Getting ready to head out and meet a friend for dinner and do some planning for an upcoming single's event later this month.....a progressive dinner! So, I need to cut this short.

xoxo

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EdwardBellaJacobAliceJasperEmmetRosalieCarlisleEsme

If you are a Twerd aka Fanpire aka lover of the Twilight Saga Series then you understand the title of my post!

I just finished the 3rd book in the series, Eclipse. Today I move on to Breaking Dawn. I am told it will blow my mind so I am very excited to start it.

I was asked if I was Team Edward or Team Jacob. My answer is complicated much like Bella is, lol. It wasn't until near the end of New Moon (#2) that I was able to get past Edwards physical characteristics of being a vampire such as 1. no heartbeat 2. icy cold 3. rock hard 4. sucks blood to sustain his existence. However, who he IS inside is what makes me swoon over him. He is steady---loving to a fault---protective (not controlling)---a gentleman. Jacob has great qualities, too. First off, he is human (when not phased into a wolf, that is). He is majorily hot in more ways than one :) He is more spontaneous & silly than Edward BUT also can be a bit too childish & unpredictable. I love Jacob but it is Edward I choose in the end. I guess that could change before I am done with Breaking Dawn. I have been wrong about so many things when it came to this book series.

Ahhhh, the first in the series....what hooked me!!

#2.....I fell for Edward near the end!

#3 Nail biting from one chapter to the next....


#4 I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A sideline book based on a character very briefly introduced at the end of Eclipse. I have this in my possession ready to read when I am done with Breaking Dawn

I would love to get this, too :)

And there it is.....my addiction laid out before you :)

xoxo

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