♥♥♥ What is it about Winter? ♥♥♥

That makes everyone want sweets? It can be a piping hot cup of cocoa, or a plate of warm cookies...it really doesn't matter. Just so it's sweet. Tucker has been begging for caramel apples... a lot. In fact, he said it would be 'life changing'... his words. ;) So, we piled everyone in the van and went down to the local candy store here and this was the result.
His very first. Can you just feel the excitement? lol





And after an afternoon of sledding, here is Wyatt's first taste of hot chocolate, complete with snowman marshmellows. Oh yeah baby, that's what I'm talking about!






And to top it all off, how about a batch of old fashioned mud cookies?



Come spring, I've got two words for ya. Weight Watchers. ;)

Lots of knitting time....

It's been 4 weeks now since I decided not to turn the light on while coming down the steps from the bedroom. I missed the last two steps and ended up dislocating my right foot, breaking both ankles and my fibula in my right leg. Sigh. Funny thing is, I didn't want to bother anyone by turning the light on. Yeah, I didn't really accomplish that now, did I? lol As a side note, this is the first time in 20 years of marriage that we've been without health insurance. Sigh again.

On the bright side, which I've worked really hard at keeping my mind dwelling on, I've had lots of time to knit! I'm a new knitter and as a family we took a vote and decided that Wyatt (a brand new 4!) should get the first completed projects I could manage. Here they are! Isn't he sweet? He's so proud of his new hat and scarf and knows that mommie made them just for him. ♥♥♥

If it's winter time where you are like it is here, please be careful on all the snow and ice. Oh, and turn your light on. ;)

After 33 years...

Our family has been reunited with someone that's never left our hearts. ♥ My husband's stepmom, who we affectionately call our "bonus mom", made the heartwrending decision to give up precious baby girls for adoption. She did it for their own safety and the amazing desire for them to have a better life. This was before she became my husband's stepmom and came into their life. I had been working with Sue for over 11 years to try to find them, then 3 more on my own. We filled out every form we knew to fill out, and I blasted internet adoption sites and boards with their info. We had nothing to go on, nothing. Records were locked up tight. Sadly, my mother in law passed away very unexpectedly three years ago. But I continued looking. I made a promise. I'm glad I did. 4 weeks ago I got an email from one of twins. I couldn't believe it. Could not believe it.
After many phone calls and emails, one of the girls is going to come see us today. She's flying across the country with her husband and baby girl. We can't wait. I've been working on two quickly made scrapbooks for the girls full of photos of their mom. I used premade photo albums, the kind with the pockets for 4x6 photos, altered the front covers, added in patterned paper thru out, covered the front and back inside covers, and added in embellishments. I sprinkled facts about their mom thru out the pages, too. It was such an honor to work on something so important for them. Can't wait to give it to them today.

First Memory

I'm still working on layouts for the Book of Me project. How many times, as scrapbookers, do we chose every other subject but ourselves? I'm trying to sprinkle in a few layouts about myself as the months tick by. My children love them. It feels good to record the stories. How about you? Are you working on this project, too? I'd love to hear what subjects you've loved telling about. ♥
(Melissa Frances papers and embellishments, Prima flower, Tim Holtz ink)

Lasterday

I love this word my little Wyatt uses. Kind of makes sense, doesn't it? ;) We got home lasterday from a huge family reunion that was really just quite amazing. It was the 65th annual family reunion of the Way family. This is my hubby's great grandfather's last name. There were over 100 of us there, all camping in tents and rv's. It was wonderful. The reunion is funded fully by the Family Night Auction. Now that was fun! Whoever wants to donates items to be auctioned off. There were new items, vintage items and my favorite...hand crafted arts made by family members. These included birdhouses, pottery, homemade brew, jerky, aprons, scarves, jewelry, tote bags and blankets. I made some greeting cards, paper and chipboard purse and an altered journal. All together we raised just right under $4000! This pays for the entire campground and much of the food for the 4 1/2 day event. What a great family! We're so honored to be a part of it! ♥

The Littlest Cowboy

Tucker and I have been making cards with he and Wyatt's photos of them from their first rodeo a couple of weeks ago. I love this photo of Wyatt in the stands. Isn't he sitting like a little man? :) He's three. Love that baby! I distressed all the edges in this card, inked them with Tim Holtz's Vintage Photo, added foam tape for demension under the denim strip and then used my bracket punch for the bandana trim. I like the way it turned out. The card is heavy enough that it can displayed on a little easel by the boy's grandma or aunts. Hope they like it. I'm going to go now and pinch his little cheeks! ♥

Heirlooms Mini Album

Here is my latest little mini album that I did for a challenge over at Scrap Sisters Studio. I loved doing this one! I had to pull it out of thin air, which was so much fun. Every page had to be a different shape, and have a different edge. I hand cut most of these and they're all out of different material: chipboard, stiffened felt, grungeboard, patterened paper, cardstock, etc. I used a lot of peek a boo overlays, too, which adds to the excitement to me when you're looking thru an album, kind of a teaser of what's to come! I made this to put photos of family heirlooms in so my little boys will have the stories behind them recorded forever. Enjoy!

Teacher's Gifts!

Here is a budget friendly idea for a cute teacher's gift. Useful, too! Take craft buckets and embellish them with school themed ribbon and dimensional stickers, tie on some chipboard letters and fill with school supplies. Your child's teacher will love you! (the last one is filled with those soft pink erasers, it's hard to see them from the camera angle)(and btw, how did Tucker get to be a little boy that's graduating from 1st Grade already!!!) So, what did you come up with for teacher's gift ideas? I'd love to hear!

How does your English work?

Do you say a word wrong? You know, do you know you do and you do it anyway?

Or...does a family member? Come on, you can throw them under the bus here and we won't tell, promise. ;)


My brother says simular. Yeah, you know, instead of similar. Drives me batty. I can't tell him, though. I love him too much.
My dad says wrench, like "did you wrench those dishes in the sink yet?" Makes me smile.
My little Tucker says held. "Would you held my hand?" Nobody better tell him it's wrong, either! I want to hang on to every bit of baby in him that I can.
Wyatt phrases things wrong in the most adorable three year old way imaginable. "We went to the car fixerman and he's going to fix our truck....because." Yep, that's the end of the sentence. ♥


so....what about you? got some good ones?



And now...for your viewing pleasure....the child that makes me laugh til my sides hurt.

20 Years Ago Today....

I married my best friend. We still haven't run out of things to talk about. ♥♥♥

Our new love...

Meet Sadie!





We just adopted her from the humane society yesterday! She is awesome. She's an Australian Shepherd. We don't know much about her past, but she's a young adult and is the perfect fit for our family. After I gave her a bath at the shelter, let her interact with the boys (which went fabulously!) and getting a groomer to groom her on short notice, we went back today and brought her home. She's already bonded with us pretty strongly. It's amazing how fast they can tell who loves them and will care for them. After the new pink collar and leash and the appropriately cute pink heart ID tag, she's all fixed up. :) With a new bed, bowls, a great bag of food and treats and all the special fun things she needs, she's settled right in. Can't wait to go back and see her today!

Texas Bound

A sad day in our home last Sunday. One of my very favorite uncles in my whole life passed away very unexpectedly, shaking our family very much. I quickly put together a trip to Texas for my mom, my little boy and myself, leaving Ron with our three year old for almost a week. The silver lining in our trip was being back home and taking Tucker back for the first time. It was wonderful to be with family again, and to show him the sights and flavor of being Texan. It will always be home. This was Tucker's first plane ride, a huge event by any standards. He was so excited that all of those within earshot of him enjoyed listening to him as he looked out of the window. He thought he saw Antarctica and then Egypt. :) Then the pilots invited him up into the cockpit to actually hold the controls and push the fire alarm button. I'm sure memories were made for him that will last a lifetime. Another bittersweet moment for me was crossing the causeway into Galveston for the first time in 15 years, and definitely the first time since Hurricane Ike ravaged that beautiful, historical island. Lots of tears shed there, but also lots of happy memories revisted. I took Tucker to my childhood home and took his picture on the front steps, just like my mom had done to me. He put his hand in my handprint I made with my daddy in our driveway. More tears. He played on the beach and found his first scallop shells. He saw the elementary school I went to and the hospital where I was born. He saw the place where his father and I were married and Aston Villa where we had our wedding reception. I took him to see the first home we had as newlyweds. So many memories, so much emotion. I'm thankful I had to opportunity to show him the place that will always be "home" in my heart. ♥

Jeanne Robertson "Don't send a man to the grocery store!"

This is one of the funniest things I have ever seen! Makes me miss my wonderful, colorful Southern womenfolk so much. Disclaimer...you might need to wear a Depend when you see this. ;)

Oh, if you'll scroll down and see the tunes player on the left you can pause it so you can hear her.

Greeting Card Time

It's been so long since I've had a minute to update. Thank you for bearing with me! If you have little children and are also in school yourself, you know what I'm talking about! I did manage to snag a few minutes last week to get off a few cards to some very dear friends of mine who have needed a little pick me up. Believe or not, both of them have recently been diagnosed with breast cancer. It's unthinkable how common this disease has become. The amazing thing about both of my friends though, is that no matter what they are going thru they end up being the ones who lift everyone else up. Everyday matters guys. This is not a dress rehearsal. Savor the moments, because they make up your life. ♥

ISR

Infant Swimming Resource - a new venture for our family starting this week. This is a life saving swim course designed for infants and young children. I first heard (or saw) this course when my Uncle Bit sent me a video link in an email a few years ago. I watched the video, the same one I'm providing a link to for you, and sat at my computer desk and cried I was so moved by it. Last year there was a young boy, 4, who nearly drowned in the pool I take my boys to. His mom is a good mom, but like all moms and dads is just human and got distracted for just a moment by another one of her children. When she turned back around....she couldn't see Sebastian. She started calling his name, then screaming it. Other parents stood up to see if they could help. Finally...after what seemed like forever...someone saw him. He was at the bottom of the pool. So that you can breathe I will tell you that Sebastian survived. He did not have an easy road, though. He was lifeflighted to Portland and put into a drug induced coma for several weeks. His mom, having three other children, had to leave them and live in Portland and stayed with him constantly. It was nothing short of a miracle that he recovered. The doctors really didn't know if he would. To add to my panic about this...two other children I know drowned when I was living in Texas. It happens. It only takes a moment. So...we've made the huge commitment of time to get our little ones to lessons daily until they learn something I hope they'll never need. I'll keep you posted as we progress and hope to post photos for you. I wrote to ISR for three years begging them to come to our area. I am so thrilled that they did and that we know can have our babies learn this amazing skill. I'd love to hear your comments if you've done this course. If you want more info. please check out their website or I can send you a link to our instructor.

Hugs, Angie ♥♥♥

Project Life....Week Four!

I can't believe an entire month has gone by...of the year or of this project! That means that one twelfth of it is over girls! See, it's not that hard, is it? ;) I borrowed my page title from a layout I saw Cathy Z do one time and thought it was so cute. And so true. My little guy has his first crush. Yep. How did that much time go by? He decided to rewrite his love note to go with the little gift he made up for Scarlet, so I tucked it into the pocket on the second page. Ssshhh, don't tell him, ok? :) The title is simply Thickers put on top of the page protector, and the silhouttes are from A Child's Year Cricut cartridge. Love that thing!