Art

I found a link to this video on The Crop Circle. It is really inspiring me right now. I do consider my scrapbooking to be art. Everyone should have some creative outlet, in my opinion. After all, we inherited creativity from our Father. Just go look outside. Is that not proof of it? God created a beautiful, colorful world. Try it! Think you're not creative? Just grab a box of crayons or finger paint. I dare you!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpunQZ4cUyI

Craftiness!

Just wanted to share some things I've been working on. This sort of thing is what keeps me happy and sane!

This is my very first layout with my very first scrapbook kit club. I subscribed to Scarlet Lime because the bright fun style which is very different from what I usually buy. I was ready to get out of my comfort zone and use something new. It's not a very good picture of the girls, but it was the only one I had of Aubrey's first pigtails and I wanted to do a page about them. She is not a very happy girl!

This is a layout I did using all old stash stuff:

While I was fiddling with the camera trying to get a good shot of her, she was busy playing in the cheese sauce of Lily's Lunchable. I wasn't paying attention to that, but you notice the guilty glances? She was looking to see if her Mama was looking at her. Little stinker!

And here is my Names of God book that I have been working on. I mentioned in an earlier post that I was doing a study of the Hebrew names for God. I have finished with the research and am almost finished with this book. This is just the cover. I'll share more another time. It has been such a blessing and a joy to do. I'm going to cherish this, I know.

A Long Post About What I've Been Up To

Part of the reason that my blog has been neglected is that I have been busy (who isn't?) and I have been gone. Another reason is that my camera had been giving me trouble transferring pictures. But I'm back to business as usual now and Kodak has helped me fix the glitch in transferring pictures, so I'm catching up now.

Lily had her tonsils removed a couple of weeks ago. That was traumatic for all of us--her being 3 1/2 and the fact that that child has had one challenge after another for her whole life! But she is like a different child now! She is eating and speaking more clearly, she is actually calmer and has a longer attention span. Who knew?? The baby had sleep apnea due to those things! It was time for them to be gone!

There is our happy girl who never used to want her picture taken and now begs for it. And "Wanna see!" when they are done--she loves a digital camera, that girl!
And while Lily was in the hospital (for 4 days because they couldn't get her to drink post-surgery), we were taking care of this happy girl. Yes, the picture is sideways because I forgot to flip it around before I uploaded it and now I don't know how to fix it. Oh well. We had her from Monday evening until Friday morning. Nothing like caring for a toddler for 24/7 to prove to you that you are getting old!

Then we had this huge (for around these parts) snowfall. We haven't had one this big in years.

We had to take a little trip out to the country and saw these amazing formations. I've personally never seen snow do that before. It looked like giant waves. And up close it reminded me of marshmallow cream. It looked just like you could run your finger into it and have a taste! The snow was deep enough that church was cancelled. That rarely happens!

That Sunday we packed our bags and on Monday we left for a Spiritual Formation retreat that Eugene was attending at Kenlake State Park outside of Murray, KY. Here is where I spent 4 blissful days resting and relaxing--no cooking or cleaning, yay!--and I spent a good bit of that time working on a project that I am going to share with you soon. I took a bag of scrapbooking supplies and my baby Cricut and had a wonderful time. Eugene actually enjoyed the speaker and the time with his colleagues. We needed that break!

These little cabins are really nice and you can't beat being able to look out and enjoy nature. Even though nothing is blooming right now, it is still beautiful to me. I see the promise of Spring in the buds on the trees and the birds and the squirrels. Here's the view of the lake from the lodge:

Of course I waited until the last day to take this and it was really overcast. But there is just something about water, isn't there? So calming and peaceful. Love it!

So there you have it. Paper projects and craftiness coming soon!

Blessings!

Memory verse

I just realized that I never posted my Feb. 15th memory verse. I have been working on it though. It's a good thing because Sunday is the day for #5. I haven't been able to memorize this many verses since I was a little girl in Sunday school. I still remember some of them, but the fact that I am actually doing this now is amazing to me. All I can say is that the Holy Spirit is helping or I wouldn't be!

I started learning this out of the NIV, then read it in the NKJV and decided I liked it better. So here goes (let's see if I can do it from memory):

Sing praise to the Lord, you saints of His,

And give thanks at the remembrance of His Holy Name.

For His anger is but for a moment,

His favor is for life;

Weeping may endure for a night,

But joy comes in the morning.

Psalm 30:4-5

There! I had to peek at a couple of words, but all in all, not too bad.

On the LPM blog, they have asked if anyone wants to share what this has meant to them. I know that I have regularly "recited" my verses and am so happy that it is a way to direct my thoughts to God and away from negative thoughts. That in itself is a true blessing!

Did some creating

I had a chance to make a page over the weekend. I saw a layout with this same title in Scrapbooks Etc magazine. I've wanted to do a page about Aubrey ever since. It is so perfect for her!

Journaling says: Always in motion. Always in a hurry. Always learning. Journaling at the bottom of the page: Traveling at the speed of "toddler".

I used some Sassafras paper, Basic Grey and Maya Road chipboard, Distress Ink by Ranger, Heidi Swapp flower some misc. cardstock and buttons.

Some weeks are just a blur

Sometimes it seems that life just goes by in a blur and at some point we look back and wonder where the time went. This last week has been one of those times. On Monday we were busy preparing for Aubrey, age one, to come and stay a couple of days while Lily had her tonsilectomy. It's always fun to have them all to ourselves. Just being in charge of their care, able to play and sing and observe their sweet baby ways is a real joy to me. We bought the kind of milk she drinks and some things we know she likes to eat and got the house "ready" for a little one.

Aubrey came over on Monday evening so she wouldn't have to get up at the same ungodly hour as the rest of her family for their trip to LeBonheur. We got to play a bit and then tucked into bed. We were anxious about Lily's surgery, mainly because we knew at her age (3) it would be difficult for her to understand what was about to happen and, afterwards, to understand her limitations and the things necessary for her recovery.

Tuesday morning we got word that the surgery had begun. All went very well and other than being scared when she woke up in the recovery room, everything looked good. We received regular updates by text message which kept us from worrying so much. We knew what was happening at every stage. I'm so thankful for the technology to do thatl. Aubrey wasn't sure what was going on when she woke up in a strange place, out of her routine and away from her Mama. But after a bit of snuggling and reassuring, she seemed to enjoy being the center of attention and spent much of the day in someone's lap reading her favorite books.

Tuesday evening we received a picture via cellphone showing Lily sitting up in bed enjoying strawberry ice cream. Yeah! This is beyond our expectations and we are delighted.

Wednesday morning, however was a different story. Lily has decided that eating and drinking are not going to happen. She must be taking food and drink in order for them to take out her IV and dismiss her to go home. No way she's going for that. So for the next 2 days, we all wait for word that the Princess is ready to cooperate. Meanwhile, the new is wearing off for us here at home and I'm getting tired! Keeping up with Aubrey and keeping her away from the buttons on the TV, DVD playerm cable box and surround sound, not to mention all the plugs and power strips in the house that she can find, is proving to be a FULL time job!

Finally on THURSDAY they decide to remove her IV to see if she will drink when her body doesn't feel so hydrated and she feels she needs to drink. By this time, eating is not a problem. The child has eaten pizza, chicken strips, grapes, french fries....you get the picture. Sure enough she does take some juice, but not enough for the doctors to be satisfied. So they say that they will start the IV back up, wait to see if she eats supper and then make a decision about going home. She and her parents have about had enough of the hospital room by now and are beyond ready to get out of there! Finally, the orders to dismiss her come up to the nurse and they head for home around 9PM. We decide that Aubrey should stay here another night so that they won't have to get her out in the cold so late. That was a hard thing for them, I know they were ready to re-unite their little family.

But Friday morning, that reunion happened. Lily and Aubrey were very glad to see each other, and of course Amy was glad to have them all at home. Lily is pretty much back to her Princess self and hopefully will be able to get the restful sleep she has been missing due to those tonsils.

I've had a really good night's sleep and some rest so life is good. It's been a long time since I had the full responsibility of a toddler for that long. It's hard work! Not that I didn't already respect all that Amy does as a stay-at-home mom, but I had a renewed respect for her! Anybody who thinks that they are lazy because they don't have a job needs to come talk to me!

Catching up on projects

Here is a page I made using some stash stuff. It has been sitting around for about a year now just waiting for the right time. This is a page about Aubrey's first day home last January. Fancy Pants paper, Bazzill Bling cardstock (pink), Fancy Pants ribbon and a felt flower I cut using a Fancy Pants diecut as a pattern. The title was cut with Cricut cartridge Plantin Schoolbook. The layout is based on a sketch from Becky Fleck's book Page Maps.