Too much!

I'm so tired. Just drained. It's been a crazy couple of weeks. So much has happened. I will start with the biggest news and work my way through mentioning everything else. On August 28, Grammie died. She had been diagnosed with lung cancer in July of 2011, discovered that it had also affected her brain in May of this year. She had been doing weekly chemo treatments and then went through aggressive radiation therapy as well. It completely destroyed her. The radiation really did some bad things to her. I felt helpless as I watched her suffer. She had always said that she didn't want to go that way...dwindling down to nothing and in a lot of pain. I hated watching her and knowing that she was so miserable. She started hospice care in mid July (while I was at Girls camp...that way stressful. Being three hours away and not able to go and help my mom help Gram while she started this). By her birthday (August 18), Kenny finally agreed to let Mom take her to live with her. I helped when I could, going over to help get Gram up and to the bathroom, bringing the kids over to visit, etc. On Saturday, August 25, my mom called and asked for Steve and my brother Jason to come give Grammie a blessing because she was unconscious and couldn't be woken up. I stayed with them that night, just in case something happened. After I helped get Gram ready in the morning, I went home and got the kids ready for church. I went over again on Monday morning to help. On Tuesday morning, I got ready and texted my mom to see if she wanted me to come before or after I went to the gym. She told me Grammie wasn;t up yet, so go ahead and go to the gym, then come over. I had been at the gym only about 15 minutes when she texted me to tell me that Grammie had died. Let me tell you...that was not the text I expected to see. I got there as fast as I could. I still wish I had gone there first instead of the gym. Mom had ended up getting her up and getting her to the bathroom, and all settled in. She left to go make breakfast for Grammie and when she came back, Grammie had died. If I had been there, I would have been by her bed, holding her hand and talking to her. My mom wouldn't have been alone and had to deal with it by herself for those few minutes. I feel awful about it. I wish I would have just gone over there first.
Her funeral was Sept. 1. It was really nice. Kind of overwhelming to get put together in only three days because they didn't decide on the date for it until Wednesday. Tuesday, Sept 4, we had her internment at Willamette National Cemetery. The kids started school the next day. Poor Rachie had kind of a crazy birthday since it was the day after Gram died. Our beach trip for that weekend got cancelled, and we didn't get to spend much time with Grandma Great Parker, who was in town. Life just got all topsy turvy.
I miss her so much. She was exactly the kind of person I want to be like someday.

Well, since it has been a million years since I have posted, I will start with my most recent layouts.  It's been challenging to keep up with the CT stuff while having the kids home from school.  I am hoping to get better about it once school starts and I have a bit more time to myself. 

Toothless Wonder by Missy's Bits

Bloomified kit by Missy's Bits, Dog Days of Summer template by Sugar Moon

Birthday Bash by Sugar Moon

Mommy's Helper by Sugar Moon

Sea Jewels by Sugar Moon

Wow.  Two months without a post.  That's probably a record.  Blogger looks WAY different than I remember...hope I can get used to the new look and way of doing things quickly.  I will be back in a day or two to update our blog with all the summer activities we've been enjoying.  I'm working on a big project today that should have been finished last week. Procrastination is my middle name!  :)  "See" you all soon!

Quick!  The computer is working for a few minutes!  I gotta get stuff on here!  :)  Here are the next batch of CT layouts I've done.  :)  I'm still having so much fun with them!  I want to apply for another CT that a friend of mine designs for, but I'm still chicken enough (and don't have a reliable enough computer) to wait.  Maybe once school starts up again I will see. 

These first two are from the "In My Pocket" collab kit by Missy's Bits and Barbara Ryan. 

Eek!  Just realized this one above has the wrong date. It should be 5/2005.  I don't know what happened there!

This one is "Sunny Side Up" by Sugar Moon Designs

"Vintage Tea Party" by Sugar Moon

"Superheroes and Monsters" by Sugar Moon

So, I've been busy making scrap pages.  :)  It's so much fun!  I am trying to find a good place (good quality and price) to print them out to use in the kids' scrapbooks. 

The family is doing well.  Kids are looking forward to summer break (13 more days of school!  Hooray!)  We got to go to the beach house on the Friday/Saturday before Mother's Day and spend some time with Grandma and Grandpa.  The weather was GORGEOUS and there was a kite festival in Rockaway, so we had a lot of fun.  I am looking forward to spending a week there at the end of August.  Rachie always loves going for her birthday.  Well, she thinks it's for her birthday anyway.  It's just a good time to go weather-wise and it's nice to get one more trip in before school starts up again. 

We've been doing some yard work...cut down the overgrown, ugly cherry tree in the backyard because it was killing our grass and choking out all the other trees around it.  Plus, did I mention that it was UGLY?  We put up an 18 ft. round pool in it's place and the kids are so excited about that.  :)  Last week, we had a big windstorm and it took down several branches from the neighbor's birch trees that run along the property line.  We helped him pay to have them removed.  They were ridiculously tall, at least 40 feet, and should have been removed years ago.  I won't miss the leaves and branches that were constantly in our yard from those trees, or the way they were ruining our roof, but I will miss the shade they provided, as well as the privacy.  I also loved hearing the leaves whisper in the wind.   One thing we've noticed since all the trees have been removed, is an abundance of really pretty birds that we have never seen before.  We're thinking they must have lived in the trees that came down.  I hope they stick around.  There are several varieties that are so pretty and fun to watch.  We have plans to clean up the backyard and hopefully get some problem spots taken care of this year.  I finally got the starts put in the garden last week.  I'm not doing as much this year as I normally do.  I just have tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumber, and zucchini in the garden this year.  Oh, and Rachie planted her pumpkin from school.  We have some sunflowers that we are working on in the house and as soon as they get big enough to transplant, we will do that.  Rachie especially loves how big and tall the get.  :)

Hannah had her 2nd birthday and I can't believe how grown up she is.  She has really started talking a lot in the past several weeks and is a big tease, like her daddy and siblings.  :)  I hope to get her bday pictures up here sometime in the next week or so.  I'm so far behind on everything. 

Anyway, we are doing well and hope that you are great also!  Have a happy day!

More layouts

Wow, I am neglectful!  My P365 blog is being ignored as well.  I will hopefully get both updated today.  I also need to put my recent crafty projects on my craft blog.  So much fun has been happening in the crafty dept!

Here are my most recent CT layouts.  I am loving being on the Scrapping Artistry Creative Team.  It's tons of fun!!!

The first two are made using the Sk8r Punx kit by Missy's Bits.  I saw this kit and immediately thought of the awesome pics that Kerry took of Bryce on his skateboard last summer.  She graciously let me use them (and Afton gave her ok as well).  I even got a special mention for this layout at www.scrappingartistry.com. Thanks Bryce, Kerry and Afton for being so awesome!!!

 For each kit I get, I am required to make at least 2 layouts using it to post in several online galleries in order to promote the designer's product.  I really struggled with an idea for my second layout, especially after the first one came so easily.  I found this pic of Jake from when we were on the jet boats on the Rogue River.  The colors worked with the kit, so I went for it.  He was in the middle of freaking out because we were trying to put a life jacket on him.  Everyone else on the boat (like 20 people) already had theirs on and were sitting there, waiting until we got one on Jake so we could continue our ride.  It was so embarrassing and humiliating to have an ornery two year old fighting and refusing to put on the life jacket.  We finally got it on him, but not before I got this picture of him.  Looking at that sweet face, you'd never know what a stink he was being!

 This next kit will be available near the end of the month for sale.  It's being used as a "download a day" right now at 3 scrapateers.  I love everything in it!  It's a collab between Missy's Bits and Sugar Moon Designs (together, they are Scrapping Artistry).  It's called "Shamrocks and Sunshine." 
*ETA* You can buy it at MyMemories now!

 Again, I struggled A LOT with the second layout.  I am not happy with this one at all, and I hope to get back to it eventually and redo it. 

 I have been dying to get this next kit since I first saw it.  It is called Mint Plum and it's by Missy's Bits.  I knew this picture would be perfect with the colors!

 This page actually turned out similar to what I was hoping.  I've never done the picture as a blended background before, and have always wanted to try it out.  I finally decided to be brave, and I am pretty happy with the reults.  My sweet Rachie!!

The next kit  requested is going to be fabulous with come pictures I have in mind.  I can't wait!!

Project: Organization

Way back in January, I decided to de-junk and de-clutter the house.  I did a good job for the first little while, but have slacked off lately.  Yesterday I tackled the grils' room.  It isn't finished, but it really wasn't my job to begin with, so they get to finish.  I am just frustrated because I washed all the clothes in the kids' hamper a few days ago and now, because of all the clothes all over their bedroom floor, the hamper is overflowing again.  I hate that!  I want to go get my bedroom taken care of.  It is a disaster right now...bins all over full of kid/baby clothes, stuff on the floor.  Steve and I are both bad about leaving stuff all over, so I feel like I'm single handedly fighting a losing battle all the time.  Why won't my family just pick up after themselves?  My life would be so much easier if I could convince them to do that.  I'm working on it, slowly, but surely.  :)

Five Little Monkeys

Two of my latest CT layouts.  This kit is Five Little Monkeys by Sugar Moon Designs.  I love it!  The minute I saw it, I knew that the picture of Mr. Man with his broken foot was perfect for it!  The bright colors and cute elements make me so happy!!  When I made the second LO, I didn't include any journaling because sometimes a picture just needs no words, and that's how I felt about this one.  :)

100 days!

These photos are terrible.  I can't believe that I am posting the types of pics I am lately.  It's embarrassing, especially since I own a photography business!  But, I'm too lazy to get the big camera out, I'm not super happy with my point and shoot, plus I can't find the darn charger, so we are stuck with phone pics until I figure that stuff out. 

Anyway..yesterday (Feb 21) was the 100th day of school!  Jakey stayed home sick, but Rachel was super excited for all the fun thing planned.  She had a vest that we had glued 100 things to, a baggie full of 100 things to use for games at school(we used little rings), and 100th day hat to wear and a "100 days smarter" certificate!  She had lots to tell everyone after school about all the cool things they did (went on a parade though the whole school, played games, etc) and was excited to come back to school today and finish, since they had too many "100 day" things to do for only one day of school!  :)

CT Layouts!

Here are my first two layouts since I have joined the Creative Team for Missy's Bits and Sugar Moon Designs.  This kit is Chocolate Valentine by Missy's Bits.  They both sell their stuff over at Divine Digital, so go check them out!!!

Working out

My brother is working at LA Fitness and got me a free 30 day pass to try it out.  My mom has been so awesome about going with me.  We've averaged 4-5 times a week for the past three weeks.  Never thought I'd say this, but it's a lot of fun!  I have already lost 5 pounds, and can really tell a difference in my stamina and ability.  We usually do about 30 minutes of cardio exercises and then work on the weight machines or do floor exercises like Pilates and such.  We've even done laps in the pool a couple of times.  I've never actually used swimming as an exercise before, I usually just play in the water.  Let me tell you, it seriously got my heart rate up and worked my arms doing all that swimming!  :)  I am hoping to find a way to work a membership into my budget.  I am really hoping that if I continue, I can start to look and feel better.  I'm really hoping it will help my depression as well.  :)  I'll keep ya posted!

The crazy begins...

So, remember a couple weeks ago when I said that Steve and I had both gotten new callings at church?  We've both finally been sustained, so I can tel l you what they are now.  I am the ward YW camp director and Steve is the YM President.  I am also still in the nursery. It shouldn't be too hard to do both, just a bit hectic on the days I need to leave the nursery to go talk with the girls and YW leaders, but it can be done!

I am both excited and apprehensive about Steve's calling.  Up until last October, he had been in the bishopric for five years.  After only 4 months in the nursery, he is back in a really big, really busy job at church.  I jokingly told him that the bishopric must think that he and I have a strong marriage or they wouldn't keep giving him callings that require us to be gone from home a lot.  I hope they're right!

I am excited and a bit stressed about being the camp director.  All the crazy prep work for the fundraiser, getting the huge list of supplies required for camp and organizing the pre-camp hike are all weighing on my mind.  I'm glad that I will have the YW and YM boards to help with the fundraiser.  I think once we get into the planning and such, it won't seem so overwhelming to me.  It's just thinking about it makes me want to hide in my closet.

To be honest, the hike is seriously freaking me out.  The 1st-3rd year girls are required to do a 5 mile hike as part of their certification.  It's no secret that I am out of shape...can I even hike 5 miles?  I have no idea!  Oh, and we all know how traumatized I was (and still am) from the whole lice experience two years ago.  I am not looking forward to lice checks.  Just thinking about it makes me itchy!  I'm also nervous about making the whole camp experience fun as well as a place to nurture their tender testimonies.  Plus, I snore sometimes when I sleep and I don't want to keep anyone awake at night, lol! 
It will be fine and fun and exciting, I know that.  I just tend to worry about everything, so I think it's my way of sorting through stuff and getting through it.   Woohoo!  Bring on camp!!

I made it!!!!

HOORAY!!  I made the CT team!  I am now proudly scrapping for Missy's Bits and Sugar Moon Designs at Scrapping Artistry! I am so excited!

So excited!

I remember back in high school I had gotten a new pair of cute ballet flats.  They were purple with a fun bow on the top.  I was so excited about them that I kept showing my friends and telling them how happy I was to have new shoes.  One of the guys said, "Geez, you're not hard to please, are you?"  Hee hee!  I always get excited about little things. It's a thing about me.  My primary love language (have you read that book?  I HIGHLY recommend it!) is gifts.  I love to give people gifts, and receive them.  It's how I show love and feel loved best.  It sounds selfish, but if you read the book, you see that it mostly means that I feel loved because someone took the time to think about what I might like, and I show love by doing the same thing.  Anyway...it's true.  It isn't hard to please me.  Someone can give me a sticker or a flower or make plans with me for something and it makes my day.  So, I have been feeling badly about our house for quite some time.  It just feels old and run down and knowing that we don't have the money to fix it up makes me feel icky.  Today Steve stayed home from work and he and I went to Home Depot.  We looked at and priced out what we would need to redo the downstairs bathroom...completely gut it and start fresh!  Even though we didn't buy anything, we picked out a new sink, toilet, mirror, faucet and flooring.  Only lighting and paint left to choose. I don't know when we will get it started/finished, but just knowing it is coming has made me so happy!  It's nice to see a light at the end of the tunnel!

Confidence

I did it!  After years of wanting to try it, I applied for a digiscrapping creative team!  I have been so nervous!  I have been on one creative team before, for an awesome designer.  She is a friend, so I didn't have to apply like I did for this one. I just asked and she said yes.  That was lots of fun, and I plan on applying for her CT again after I get some more experience.  Ack!  I'm anxious to hear back from this new designer and hear what they say.  :)

Changes

So, if you know me, you know I hate change.  I've always been that way and I probably always will be.  :)  Steve and I were given new callings at church today.  I'm kind of sad because we have only been in the nursery for 3 months.  I have been having so much fun being in there with him and Hannah.  There is something so sweet about watching your husband play with little kids.  Makes me fall in love with him all over again every week.  I have loved actually getting to spend time with him, especially after he was in the bishopric for five years.  Hanging out together, not having Sunday meetings, etc.  It's been a wonderful three months!  I won't say yet what our new callings are, because we haven't been officially released or sustained, but his is one that will once again require him to be gone for meetings several times a week, and mine is going to be fun, but so busy, lots of work and overwhelming!  The other couple we have been working in the nursery with are so much fun.  I used to work with Doretta in RS, and I've missed her friendship since we've been doing other things.  Makes me sad to be leaving.  My calling isn't absolutely a Sunday calling, so I'm thinking I might just go in there anyway and help out as an "unofficial" nursery worker.  I can get away with that, right?
So, how do I learn to be excited about change?  It's something you'd think I would be able to be ok with by now, since it's part of everyday life.  I think I just wish I had gotten more than 3 months of a break before jumping back into crazy time!

It's a blah day!

I just can't seem to get motivated.  I look around me and just get so overwhelmed, so I shut down completely.  Today it is pouring buckets outside and I just want to lie in bed snuggled up with Hannah and a few books in my jammies.  I did shower (even washed my hair!  Gasp!), and get Hannah dressed and we took Daddy and Jakey's suit to the dry cleaners.  That's pretty much it so far besides running two loads through the washer/dryer.  Now I'm here playing around instead of working.  I think I would like to get this office taken care of today.  Hannah has been waking up 3-4 times a night and I am exhausted.  If I get my craft stuff off the futon, I can lie down in here with her instead of going back and forth between our rooms or trying to share a bed with her and Steve.  Yes!  That will be mu goal for today!  I will be back with a picture of a clean(ish) office later!!

January

I can't believe we are almost to the end of January!  I swear the older I get, the faster life goes.  Although there are definitely some days/weeks that seem to never end.  We have just been doing our usual things this month.  I still haven't caught up from that first week of this month when everyone was sick.  The house is a totally disaster and I'm trying my best to avoid it as much as I can.  It's driving me crazy though, so I need to get busy and take care of it. 

I have decided to set aside this month and next month (we'll see, I might need March too, lol) to go through all of our junk and get organized.  I've already taken about 6 bags of extra "stuff" to DI, Can't wait to get the rest of it gone.  I tend to be a packrat...saving things in case I might need them again someday.  Problem is, I'm not organized enough to do that.  I can never find what I need when I need it, so I end up wasting tons of time looking, and then usually just give up and go buy what I need.  It's really beginning to weigh me down.  It's depressing to look at a room full of clutter, piles, boxes filled with who knows what. 

Last week, I decluttered the bathrooms (started small!) and playroom, I've been working in the office now for about two days.  I'm not spending huge amounts of time doing it because I know I will get bored or tired or overwhelmed and just stop.  Then it ends up worse than it was before I started!  I am eventually going to get this place together and then I plan on having lots of lovely time to finish projects and make things I've been wanting to make.  I personally think nap time should be a break time for me instead of "hurry up and cram as much cleaning into this time as I can."  I'm excited!

Here is what I've been working on for the last little bit.  My desk area is awful! 

Before:

After:

Still not done, but it's a big improvement!  The pile of junk on the far right side of the pic is actually Steve's desk, not mine, that's why I didn't clean that part up.  Our desks are up against each other.  

Updated!

I finally got my P365 pics up.  The link should be in the post right below this one.  The pictures are from my phone, so they aren't the best quality, but I can't find my camera charger.  Once I get that, the pics should be much better!  I will be back here asap to update you with all the happenings in our family.  :)

P365

Just a note...I am starting a P365 blog again this year.  It's the same address as before, that's easier than making a new one.  :)  I am hoping to get some pics up there by tomorrow.  It's hard because Hannah naps in the office and that is when I can get on the computer.  I will have to figure it out though!  I have lots of catch up to get done.  :)

Here's the address for my P365: http://heidis365.blogspot.com/

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone!  I will be back in a few days with pictures of our adventures over the last few months.  Right now everyone in our family is sick or getting over being sick, so it's been an eventful weekend.  Just wanted to pop in and tell you all that I am planning on keeping up with this blog better, and I am planning on starting another P365 this year.  I will be back with the blog address for it asap.  But, for noe, Happy New Year!