More common than I knew

I've been suffering from insomnia a lot lately. It's something I struggle with off and on and have since I was a teenager. And I have to say, seeing my husband hop into bed and be asleep within minutes doesn't help my frustration level. Anyway, as I try to deal with all the stress and depression, my sleep suffers. And apparently, so do 2/3 of moms. Jason found this article today:

http://health.msn.com/health-topics/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100261592&gt1=31036

It was very enlightening to learn that I'm not alone and some of my nighttime activities are pretty common (with the family asleep, I get a lot of house cleaning done, although I don't do it by candle light as the woman in the article does--c'mon lady, turn on a light!). It was good to know I'm not alone.

Technique class next weekend

My September technique class is this Friday. We will be learning emboss resist and using the brayer. Seating is limited, so please let me know if you would like to attend, the cost is $12, we will be making three cute cards.

Eleven already

The first one to join us, Bailey has been a delight from the beginning. Although the memory of her birth has faded a little over time, I still remember the absolute joy I felt the moment I laid eyes on her. As she turns eleven, she has such a fun personality. Her favorite thing to say about herself is that she's awesome, but she can be humble and sweet at the same time. I know that she has such a wonderful spirit and has very strong faith for a girl her age. I know that we are entering difficult territory as we enter the 'tween years, and I hope that we are able to enjoy her as much as we can as we find the middle ground between holding on to our little girl and letting her grow up and be independent. Happy birthday to my wonderful eleven year old girl!

Class reminder

This Friday night is my scrapbook class. Seating is limited, so if you want to attend, please let me know.

How gorgeous is this?

The last few days I have just been a scrapping maniac. Tonight I'm continuing work on Bailey's book, and I found some paper I wanted to use for one side of my layout, but I didn't have quite what I wanted for the second page. So I went digging through my supplies and found some Stampin' Up! stencils that I have had for a little while but haven't really had the chance to use. To be perfectly honest, they intimidate me a little bit, but I really liked the ones that I bought and have thought about using them in the house somewhere. Well, as I was flipping through them, I found this one which will (I think) lend itself beautifully to my page and is pretty much what I was looking for. But I was still a little apprehensive about how this was going to work out and how it would look on the page. On the other hand, I figured if if didn't turn out I could just flip the card stock over and use the other side for something else. Well, needless to say, I was thrilled at how this turned out. This is just a portion of my 12x12 page, but I had to scan it in and show it off. I think I am in love!

Preserving memories

I was talking with my husband the other day about my scrapbooking addiction...er, I mean hobby. I just freed up some desperately needed space in my craft room by moving all the scrapbooks that have been completed down to his office and that got us talking about it. I made a comment, a little tongue in cheek at the time, about how I shouldn't feel guilty about not doing my own family history because at least I spend a lot of time preserving and recording our family history. As I started thinking about my comment, I realized that part of it really is correct. I may spend a lot of time and money doing this hobby, but my kids have had every moment of their lives (well, at least up until 2005, which is where I'm at with the scrapbooks) documented, photographed, and preserved. I've developed a new way to approach them (mostly because I'm terribly behind, and this seems to help bring back the memories and stories I wanted to tell in their books). I will work on one kid's book for a year, and then go back for the same year and do the second kid, and then the third before I move on to the next year. I'm at the end of 2005 in Bailey's book:

First Week of School

This summer flew by and the kids are already back in school. We did our best to prepare for the first day and had all the supplies bagged and ready to take to their classrooms the night before, not to mention the cute little pencil holders for each teacher. The morning of their first day, I got up with them to help Lindsay fix her hair and Cole asked me to make his spiky. I went to go find Bailey and discovered that she was already gone--at 7:20 (school begins at 8:15 and they can't be on campus before 8, so that's incredibly early). Normally, before they take off, we'll get a bunch of pictures of the kids together, but obviously we couldn't this year, so J and I grabbed the supplies and headed up to the school while Lindsay and Cole rode their bikes. We met up with the kids in front of the school and then found Bailey so we could snap a few pictures, but by then it was time to go in. So we quickly walked each kid to class and snapped another quick pic in front of their classrooms.

I know I say it every year, but it always makes me feel so old to hear the grades the kids are in. We now have a sixth grader (!), a fourth grader, and a second grader. We met with the teachers the Thursday before school began, and we really like all their teachers so far. We are the most excited about Cole's teacher this year because he has Bailey's fourth grade teacher and she just rocks. The last couple of years we've really had a hard time with Cole being bored in school and creating problems or just plain not doing his work. He had the same teacher the last couple of years as well, and we really liked her for him because she really liked him and we felt like he really needed that confidence boost. But, I'm now ready for him to get another perspective--and I'm hoping for more discipline in the classroom where he is concerned as well. And his teacher is not disappointing. The fourth day of school, I got an email from his teacher (already!) about him not doing his work in class. But the fantastic thing about it is that she's right on top of letting us know (versus finding out when progress reports go out), and we've been emailing with her to try to find a solution. So it's very exciting to hope that we can get him on the right track in what I think is a critical year as far as school is concerned--taking responsibility for yourself and your grades I really think begins around fourth grade. So we're very excited for this year and looking forward to seeing the kids learn as much as they can.
Lindsay even discovered that a girl in her class wore the exact same outfit to school. It was too cute!

September Technique Class

This month's technique class we will be learning to emboss resist and using the brayer to create a background. These are the projects that are included in this class:


Class will be held on Friday, September 3rd from6-9 pm at my house and the cost is $12. Seating is limited to please let me know if you want to attend.

August Scrapbook class

This month I'll be hosting a scrapbook class for the first time in Arizona. We will be completing two 12x12 pages:

The event is on August 27th from 6-9 pm and the cost is $15. Please bring adhesive and a paper trimmer with you. If you want to complete the projects at class, you can bring the photos, but they are not mandatory. For the birthday page, I used 3 photos: 5x4 3 1/2 x3, and 3 1/2 x 2. The school page has 4 photos: 6x4, (2) 3x3, and 4x3. All other supplies will be provided. If you cannot make it to class but want to purchase a kit, please email me.

Some changes to my blog

You might notice a few additions to my blog. I've been working to get it more up to date with easy links to things that are important to me. One of those links takes you right to my new Etsy store where you can check out my handmade cards and goodies and purchase them. If you or anyone you know is looking for something special, please check out my store by clicking the blue circle to the right. Thanks!

August card class

My card class is scheduled for August 20th at 7 pm at my house. We will be making these three cards and the cost is $8. Space is limited so contact me today to reserve your spot.

A Little Someting

I don't usually do gifts for the teachers at the beginning of the year. This time of year is so busy, it's hard to get the kids ready for school without trying to be creative and come up with a gift for them. This year, though, since I'm not working any more, and I had seen this idea from another demonstrator, I wanted to do a little something for them. It's not much, but I thought they were pretty cute. I'm going to personalize each one before I give them out, maybe saying something about how I hope the year isn't dull. Anyway, I hope they like them, and I'm excited to begin a new school year.

The benefits of having a computer nerd for a husband

I'm very excited because I was finally able to merge my two blogs--my person and my Stampin' Up!. I was finding it very difficult to keep up with both blogs, and my Stampin' Up! blog was definitely suffering. Well, with a new upgrade to our websites from Stampin' Up! and a little help from my computer nerd husband, I only have one blog. :D I will be using this blog as both a personal and a business blog, but I hope that you enjoy it whether you're here for business or personal reasons.