difficult decisions...

well, i made 3 hard scrapping-related decisions today. first of all, i am not going to try out for the little dreamer designs CT. this is huge--i LOVE michelle coleman's work, and i have been waiting for her to do a call. now, my chances of making it were slim at best, but i don't feel like i have the time to devote right now, and i had to be honest about that. also, i resigned two of my other CTs....again, very hard decisions. i have tremendous respect for both designers, but i needed to cut down. i am only waiting to hear about one CT call: weeds & wildflowers. they posted on their blog that the announcement will be sunday, and if i am lucky enough (again, i will say it once again, snowball's chance) to get that, i will take it. but i have vowed not to apply for any more CTs for a while. i realized this week that it has been a long time since i scrapped for me, for pleasure, and i feel like i will have a little more time to do that now...as my friend trish said today, "yep, you are like me. you tend to make hobbies into jobs." she is exactly right! :) i hate to let people down, and i hate to quit anything, but i feel like i am making the right decision for me.

on top of that, i am pretty sure i have a sinus infection. stuffy head, general fatigue, aching face and teeth. i am taking some antihistamine/decongestants, and i am hoping to avoid a trip to the doctor and antibiotics...

i'll be around more later--hope you all had a good day!

almost done!

i am almost done with school for this year, and i can taste summer already! my students are taking an exam right now; i have to give another exam at 2pm, then on saturday i give my last exam, and then it is SUMMER!!!! can't even begin to tell you how excited i am! it has been a difficult year for me, and i am totally burnt out. i need the summer to recharge and reconnect to my kids.

dh and i had a wonderful weekend. the kids went to my inlaws, and although we each had a ton of work to do, we really enjoyed ourselves. we ate out on friday night, saturday night, and sunday morning. saturday night was my birthday, so we went to "our" restaurant and i ate my favorite meal! then sunday afternoon we ate a late lunch at marble slab creamery. basically we acted like we used to before we had children. we slept late and did things on our own clock. we went to target and wandered around. we talked about everything and nothing. it was heavenly. truly. i didn't realize how much we really needed some time for just us.

we also decided that if i am not pregnant this cycle of clomid (my 4th), we are going to take a break. we want to take the kids to disney for christmas (can you imagine all the cool scrapping??), and we decided that if we haven't conceived by the first of next year, we will start IF treatment again and do IUI. i feel mixed about it. it is hard to stop IF treatment, but it doesn't mean we'll stop trying on our own. and i must admit that the prospect of having a break from the meds is super appealing. emotionally i am a wreck, and i know a lot of that has to do with the way the meds are messing with my hormones...either way, at least dh and i are on the same page, and that means the world to me.

ON TO SOME GOOD STUFF:

first of all, saraamarie has asked me to stay on as a full time CT member! i had so much fun being a guest this past month, and i am rocked to get the opportunity to stay on! she has some really great things coming up, so check back to see previews!

second, wendyzine at ES has asked me to do a guest CT gig for the month of may! she just released a neat new collab kit:



i have also joined kathryn wilson's CT--she is a new designer, and she will be selling her designs at dragonflaire studios. i think her designs are really neat and fresh, and i feel like she has great things ahead of her! :)

and OMG!! did you see that michelle coleman at little dreamer designs is having a CT call???? i am going to take a stab at it, although i think my chances are about as good as that of a snowball in the deepest bowels of hell! LOL but a girl has to try, right? i mean, her designs are to die for, and i am a huge huge fan!

speaking of, here is my latest layout:



i used weeds & wildflowers "going west sampler" and kathy moore's "essentials stamped alpha" for the layout. it is for the w&w ct call--again, snowball's chance--a girl has to try, right? i just love the depth to their papers and their elements ROCK!

i hope all of you have a great hump day!

i'm in the spotlight! YAY!

something totally exciting happened to me this week! one of my layouts was chosen to be spotlighted on disc talk radio! the show it is featured on is "dishin' the digi"! here is the layout if you want to see:



i used jessica bolton's awesome "home life" kit! you can get the kit at scrapbook graphics!

I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS!!!!

my busy month!

sorry i haven't been blogging much lately--

i have had the busiest month! i was asked to be on 3 guest CTs and i am having a BLAST!

saraamarie at oscraps released a gorgeous new collection called "naturals":



it is so beautiful--the papers are gorgeous and the elements are so unique!

also, sandra boddington at SBG invited me to be on her guest CT! her stuff is just gorgeous! here is a layout i did using her "loopy loop" kit and rachael giallongo's "punctuation" layout template:



and finally, i am a STUDIO TEMP at SBG this month! it has been a dream come true gig--these ladies are so wonderful, and i feel so spoiled & lucky to have been a part of them even for a month! they have some wonderful things going on over there, most notably the "queen of the crop" contest! go to http://www.scrapbookgraphics.com/queenofthecrop.htm for more info!

we are all home today--my ds had a fever and sore throat this morning. of course, i gave him so motrin, and he is acting totally fine now. i needed a day at home, even though it is going to make the last week & a half of class a little more complex to have taken the day off....

i had a productive class yesterday. i decided to scrap what was on the syllabus and instead i took in a couple of images from the VA tech tragedy and i had them write in response to that. then we just talked about it. i could tell they just really needed to talk. after all, they are college students, and it is difficult to imagine such a terrible thing happening in our own university. i mean, as we sit there in class together, the possiblity now exists in our mind that a crazy person could come in & start shooting...i am praying for all of the VA tech family. such a senseless thing. so senseless.

i went to the doctor yesterday, and he suggested that we think about artificial insemination. i mean, it is still a ways down the road, but discussion is almost moot. dh is opposed to more intervention. and i am going to have to try and deal with that. i have to have faith that God is in control, but some days that is a hard pill to swallow, and today is one of those days.

i hope all of you have a good thursday.

frustrated today...

warning!!! probably TMI: i am so frustrated today!!! INFERTILITY SUCKS!!!! and my body is pissing me off!!! i took 100mg of clomid this month, and my progesterone was great. the best progesterone level i've ever had--an almost normal progesterone....so i was expecting a longer LP. but guess what?? nope, i am spotting this morning and my temp is low--all signs point to AF, and my LP was shorter this month than last. now i am wondering if i miscalculated last month and the months preceeding or what. the moral of the story is this: this sucks. and i am so frustrated. i could cry, but i won't because i think i won't stop crying. i don't expect it to be quick, because it took us nearly 2 years last time, and i am only 1 year in this time, but i just had such hopes...sucks, sucks, sucks.

okay, on to better things: it is my spring break week. i have 44 essays waiting for me to grade them, and i haven't even started, but i figured if i can grade 11 essays a day for the next 4 days, i'll be done before the weekend. dd and i are at home, but i have errands to run this morning. ds is at his grandmas, and he will come home tomorrow, and i have to drive an hour to meet my mother, who is meeting me with him...i had hoped for a quiet week, but i have yet to spend a whole day at home.

yesterday i had to go and renew our cars tags, which took forever. nothing like standing in line for an hour with a 2 1/2 year old!! then the lady that did my tags calls last night to tell she made a mistake and we owe them $56 more. and here is the kicker: i have to have it there before 9am when the state courier comes to pick up the tag stuff. WTH? i told her, "i absolutely will not stand in line again. i already wasted an hour doing that." so i literally have to drive 20 miles to drop off a check before 9am to save their butts. (can you tell i am irritated?)

one good thing i did get done this week: i cleaned out my closet! i LOVE how great it feels to clean out and organize. it just makes everything seem better somehow. i am taking a pile of stuff to the local thrift store, and i also have a small "ebay" stack (which means scrapping money)! :)

i have done a little scrapping lately! wanna see?


i used lena brandenburg's "pure joy" minikit and faith true's "rainbow corners" and "felt glitter ric rac"! all this stuff is at TDS!


i love that paper! it is tracey gilbert monette's "scattagorically speaking" paper and her "black cluster frames," both at SBE! and that gorgeous "beauty" is from "bella stamps" by nancie rowe janitz at scrapartist!

one more:


my little boy is getting so grown up! i used tracey gilbert monette's "notebook cluster" (at SBE), lauren reid's "lazy afternoon" paper & "black sheep" alpha, ashley olson's arrow doodle, stacey jewell stahl's "paint it!" paint strokes, & word art (in the tag) by tina chambers.

i have some big guest CT news, but i have to wait to tell!!! i should be able to brag at the beginning of april, but I AM SO EXCITED!!!

finally, peace...

the kids are finally asleep--and the house is peaceful, so peaceful, but it still feels a bit unsettled to me. kevin is away on business again. i say again, although he really isn't gone that much relatively speaking...but it is so weird when he isn't here. you'd think i'd be scrapping like crazy, since there is no one here to complain about the time i am spending on the computer, but i am feeling a little uninspired tonight...i miss him. just the mere presence of him is comforting.

i had a nearly perfect moment with my little girl the night before last. i was laying down with her, and she reached over and started stroking my cheek with the back of her little fingers. she was so gentle and sweet! i will frequently stroke the side of her face like this, and to have her do it all by herself as a sign of affection for me was almost too sweet to bear! one of those perfect moments...

another amazing thing that happened this week: the department gave me another class. now, it is not a common thing to get a class the week before spring break, but the instructor fell off of her horse and broke her hip. she is going to be okay, but she won't come back for the semester. so, i became the teacher of record today for a 4000-level class. i mean, i am actually teaching junior and senior english majors--a big change for me, considering i am used to freshman and sophomores! they have been fairly nice considering i just showed up in their class and turned their world upside down. but i won't have any cohesive plan till after spring break--i mean, i don't even have the book they are reading, and it isn't one of those "order it from amazon and it will be here in 2 days" books, so i hope to have it soon. this is such a challenge for me, and i only hope i can be the kind of teacher they deserve. the extra money will be nice, though.

and speaking of extra money, i am hoping to talk kevin into a real printer: the kind that prints 12x12 layouts! :) my birthday is coming up, so i hope i can talk him into it!

OH, i almost forgot!!! tracey gilbert monette (clever monkey graphics) at scrapbook elements, asked me to be on her CT this past week! i, of course, accepted. her designs are so unique, and her CT is pretty fun so far! here are a couple of layouts using her designs:


credits: "notebook cluster, no. 1" by tracey gilbert monette, background paper & alpha by lauren reid, stars & paper planes from scrapgirls, paint strokes by stacey jewell stahl, word art by tina chambers, and arrow doodle by ashley olson.


credits: "simple blue" papers & elements by tracey gilbert monette, cardboard overlay by linda gil billdal

i am having so much fun with her stuff!

today i was reading due south by r. scott brunner, and he has a chapter about his wife's grandmother and how everyday she writes something on her calendar--little details about life: the weather, if she went out, animals she saw, etc...the point is that even though she doesn't keep a formal journal, she is recording her life, giving it meaning. it made me think about this blog. my chance to record a bit of my life, to give it meaning. i hope one day my sweet little girl will read about how happy she made me the night before last. and i hope one day my family will appreciate knowing things about my day, their day.

my husband is so sweet...

you know, it is always the little things that get me!

last night i called dh on his way home and begged him to get us takeout for dinner. now, i was thinking our normal chicken fingers or burgers, right? well, he went to our favorite local italian restaurant and he brought home my absolute favorite meal: angel hair dalvina with salad and garlic rolls & a CANNOLI!!! i don't know why i was so touched, but i almost cried!! it was just such an unexpected treat! and i was reminded right there: this is why i LOVE this man! the little things....he is great at the little things! so we ate our dinner, and then after the kids went to bed, i ate my cannoli and we watched american idol together! it was a good night.

otherwise, dd left today to spend the weekend with my inlaws, but i did a sweet layout of her:



i used rachael giallongo's "seasons collection: winter" #3 & michelle coleman's awesome "feeling groovy" paper & elements!

hope you all have a good day!

cold, damp, icky day...

it is damp and icky and rainy here today--not so cold temperature-wise, but the damp makes it cold...just dreary today, and i feel dreary as a result, ya know?

sorry i haven't blogged much lately. i spent the better part of this week grading papers, which were, btw, pretty good overall. i love my teaching so much, and i feel so lucky to be teaching. the grading is the WORST, though!! oh, well, necessary evil.

i haven't been scrapping a whole lot the last few days, but i know i am about to go through a major scrapping spurt because faith true has just released a bunch of really cool stuff at TDS--here's a taste:



AND



there is more where that came from! be sure to check out faith's store at TDS!

and a little birdie told me that lena brandenburg is working on a new paper pack and element pack! :)

so, as you can see, i am going to be a busy woman! i can't wait! and i will have so much time to work because i am at a slow point with my teaching load and dd is going to her grandmother's for the weekend!

i am thinking of taking ds to bridge to teribithia this weekend while dd is gone--has anyone seen it? how was it? i'd love to hear!

have a great hump day!

i went shopping! (warning: major enabling!)

sorry i have been a little scarce--i can't honestly say i am any more busy. i just go through spurts of not being able to scrap, and i have been going through one of those times. i just needed a little break. but now it is over :)! i have decided to try my hand at the more funky, chaotic, element-filled layout. it is so trendy right now, and i am going to scraplift somebody, i think...i'll let you know how it turns out.

i finally got to post my latest layout (i did it a week ago, but i had to hold it till one of the products was released):



i used faith true's "cupid's tapestry" kit and rachael giallongo's "wide open spaces, vol. 1" layout template! and that, of course, is my husband's and my hand...

okay, so i went shopping! first of all, i got lena brandenburg's new pipecleaner arrows:



i also got nancy comelab's photo clusters at MDM:



and toni berman's "date tickets":



i also got some cool doodles and ribbons, etc.

i won't get to scrap tonight, but i am hoping to get to work on something tomorrow! :)

my baby is sick, and i am exhausted...

evie catherine had a rough night last night--she has had a runny nose for a couple of days, but last night in the middle of the night, she spiked a fever, was coughing like crazy, and was wheezing. i got no sleep...and i had to cancel my classes today. ick. she seems a lot better this morning. she doesn't know to be sick, i don't think! it is a beautiful, beautiful sunny day here, and i hate being all cooped up. at least cater will be able to go out and play!

thanks to lena, i finally got michelle coleman's "all you need is love" kit! and i had a chance to play with it last night:



credits: "all you need is love" by michelle coleman, "purty pics actions" by holly mccaig, and stamped hearts by stacey jewell stahl.

also, i tried my hand at last week's "lifts with a twist" and got to use stacie prinzo's new papers & elements, "fly away" (available at TDS) and some of lena's cool new elements:



credits: "fly away" papers & elements by stacie prinzo (at TDS), ricrac star and yarn star by lena brandenburg (at TDS), yarn heart by lena brandenburg (at ACOT & ES), shmootzy alpha II by nancie rowe janitz (at scrapartist).

i feel a creative spurt coming on! :)

hope you all have a good day!

i am so blessed!!!

after feeling pretty sad yesterday, i am feeling totally blessed today!!

my friends are so wonderful! my friend trish did something really sweet for me yesterday, and i didn't find it till today. i want to thank her for remembering. i wouldn't have gotten through without her! also, lena got me a $10 gift certificate to scrapartist to buy a kit i have been wanting for a while. i have been helping lena moderate her CT forum, and this was her "thank you"! here is the kit i bought:



it is michelle coleman's "all you need is love"!! i have wanted this kit since the moment i saw it!! i am so thrilled!

i am also feeling a lot better about trying to conceive this next baby: i start clomid in 2 days. i have done clomid in the past (when we were ttc#2), and it does a real number on me, but i feel confident i can deal with it if it results in a healthy pregnancy. either way, i feel hopeful about it for the first time in a while. God has given me peace about finally, and i am so thankful for that!!

i hope you all have a great day!

a letter to my child...

my dear sweet baby,

you were due today. now i know babies don't always come on their due date, so you could have been born anytime in the past week or so, but because i will not have the opportunity to give birth to you, today is the day i will remember...

it seems so strange to me that i should mourn you so deeply--i was only pregnant with you for 7 weeks. and by the time the doctor told me i was pregnant, you were already dying. from the first moment i knew you existed, i also knew you were not going to survive. it was the worst pain i can imagine. the knowledge that you were there inside of me, yet unable to hold on, was excruciating. i walked around for a week pregnant, and yet not really pregnant. i waited for the inevitable. and a week after the doctor told me i was pregnant with you, i gave you back to God. i prayed and told Him that i was giving you back to Him--to be an angel to watch over us. and i asked Him for it be over. now my prayers are not often answered so quickly, but a few hours later, i began cramping and bleeding. and what was left of you slipped out of me over the course of the next couple of days.

i thought it would be over then, but it really wasn't. i don't know that i will ever totally get over it. perhaps it is because pregnancy doesn't come easily to me. but perhaps it is simply because you were my child. you were real to me. and i will never know who you were. i will never know if you would have been strongwilled like your brother and sister. i will never know what you would have looked like. i will never know how it would have felt to nurse you or hold you or sleep next to your warm little body. i will never know what you would have smelled like, or what it would have felt like to nuzzle your tiny, soft cheek. i will never know so many things. and i am so unbelievable sad about it.

so today i mourn you. and i do so mostly alone. no one else was changed by you--only i was pregnant with you. only i felt different. only i talked to you and dreamed of you. only i felt the physical pain of you leaving. and now only i feel the emotional pain of this loss. i have many friends who have supported me and loved me through this ordeal. and they continue to do so. they remember with me. but this is my burden to bear, as so many women know all too well.

but i am comforted, too. i am comforted by the knowledge that you are with your heavenly Father. i am comforted by the fact that my father was there to greet you when you crossed into heaven. i always wished that my daddy could know my children, and just think, he got to meet you before i did! i am comforted that you are an angel watching over all of us--especially your big brother and big sister. i am comforted because i know that God has a plan for our family, and that you were a part of that plan, no matter how brief a part.

i want you to know that i will not forget you ever. i pray that God will grant me more children. and i pray that i never suffer this loss again. i am, in my heart, now a mother of three. and most of the world will never know of you, but i will not forget. i will carry you in my heart.

thank you for being a part of my life.

i love you more than you can ever know.
mommy

new stuff to show off

the designers i am lucky enough to create for have been busy lately! :)

rachael giallongo is debuting her CHICK CLICKS tomorrow at the digi chick! here is a little preview of what's to come:



aren't they so cute!??

also, lena brandenburg just found out she is going to be selling at the digi shoppe! and she just released these really cool yarn element packs:



she also has yarn alphas--check out her store at ACOT or ES!

faith true just released a beautiful valentine's kit at OAKS:




otherwise, evie catherine is starting to drop her nap. i think i am going to put her down for quiet/rest time everyday, and if she sleeps, great. if not, then not great, but i can't do anything about it...she is only 28 months old, and i had hoped i get a lot of napping years out of her, but if she takes a nap everyday, she won't go to sleep till like 10pm. we put her down at her normal bedtime (7:30ish) and she lays in there and talks and plays, but won't sleep. when she doesn't nap, she will go to sleep. the catch, though, is that by the 3rd day, she is strung out (like she is today) and very difficult to deal with! then she'll collapse for an afternoon. any ideas? anyone? PLEASE!!???

going away for the weekend!!!

need i say more????

i am going away for the weekend with my friend trish, and i am so excited!!! we aren't planning anything too exciting, mind you, and her kids will be with us, but still!

I NEED SOME TIME AWAY--AND I AM GETTING IT!!!!

and i am taking my computer: i have major scrapping to do!

check in on sunday/monday!

have a great weekend, girls!

samatha brown & oktoberfest, and major enabling!

we like to watch the travel channel at my house, and so we are watching samantha brown's "passport to europe" in germany right now. if i ever get on jeopardy, i am going to totally ROCK the catagory on oktoberfest! :) did you know that real oktoberfest is actually held in september and was originally a wedding celebration? anyway, it cracks me up because kevin thinks samantha brown is hot, and i know that has to be part of the reason we watch it!

BIG TOOT--my "stitches" layout was featured in the ACOT newsletter today! i am so excited!!! it is my first publication--totally a "right place right time" kind of thing. they were featuring lena brandenburg's "booboo basics" and used my layout as an example!

i am going out of town tomorrow with my friend trish! we aren't going very far, & i am mainly going to keep her company. but kevin is going to keep the kids, and so i will get a little time away, which i need right now!

another little tidbit of info: i think i may be taking on an additional class starting as early as next week. we are 3 weeks into the semester, but apparently another instructor has just found out that his wife has terminal cancer and has only a few weeks to live. needless to say, he is taking off to be with her...i don't know how long i'll have to take over, if it works out. i am happy for the little bit of extra money, but i am just so sad for them. i cannot imagine...i am praying for them to have peace.

okay, now to the enabling!!! have you seen lena brandenburg's latest collection? it is awesome--her absolute best yet! here is my favorite kit from her new :::cool contrast::: collection! you can find lena's products at ACOT and elemental scraps! go check it out!





and here is a layout i did using the "blue meets orange" paper pack and embellishment pack by lena:



AND i have to brag about faith true's "my boy" collection! it is amazing!!! faith is selling at one of a kind scrapz (OAKS) and digi scrap divas (DSD)--



for this layout i used faith's "my playful boy" & "arthur's bug day" kits! i also used a layout sketch from "duplicates-one fish two fish" by rachael giallongo & heather roselli!! rachael has just been named a designer at the digi chick! congrats, rachael!

i hope you all had a good day!

by the way, my final ebay total was $397.48! WOOOOHOOO!!!

a new look, as promised

it took forever to figure out, but i finally posted my new blog topper!

the picture of me looks terrible, and i think it is because it is too big, but i am just so happy to have it up!

oh, and i used "the good life" kit by nancie rowe janitz and "star bazaar" by linda gb to make it. both cool kits are available at scrapartist!

what do you think???

6:44am, saturday morning...

i didn't sleep well last night, even though it was friday night and i could theorectically have slept late. kevin usually does morning duty on saturday, but i can't sleep, so here i am....

i just checked my ebay, and my auctions are up to over $300 now. they start ending in about 3 hours, so i'll be interested to see the final total tomorrow night when they have all ended. but i had hoped to make over $300, so i am satisfied! :)

i went to dinner last night with some friends from grad school who had come into town. it was so fun to see them--they are sweet girls, and it was nice to have a meal in peace (translation: with no children!). we went to the new country club here, and it was interesting. i am not a member (although we did look into it a couple of years ago when it was brand new and decided against it), and it wasn't really my crowd exactly. but it was interesting, none the less. my friends are running a half marathon today, so we actually ate the the spagetti dinner for the runners. after that was over, we went downstairs to the formal dining room/bar where regular members were eating and drinking. there was a guy playing the piano and singing, and he was really really good! he played songs like "piano man" and "american pie," and it reminded me so much of college hearing those songs. we sat at a big long table, and it appears that the normal thing here is to sit at big tables sort of family-style. my friends and i sat at the end and mainly talked to ourselves, but in the lulls, i watched people. the women there were, for the most part, older than i am. they were all dressed up in dresses or skirts or, in one case, leather pants and a sweater lined with fur. lots of makeup and accessories, but obviously expensive makeup and accessories. and although i was dressed well, etc, i felt out of place. they were all nice, but i just felt like i was in the wrong place, ya know? it was a strange sensation for me. i wonder if i would have felt that way if i had joined?

i am in a little scrapping slump. i go thorugh creative spurts, and i am on the tail end of one...it will hit again, and i will try to work through it, but i hate these dry spells!

i have some good news, but i am going to wait till it is official today! :)

i'll update later!

did i mention i am addicted to "law & order?

i am addicted to "law & order" shows. they come on everyday on TNT, and i watch them while i have my hour or two to scrap. i mean, i have seen so many now that i can usually tell what episode it is before the second "bum bump"! and so i watch them for the second or third time. but at least they make me think a little bit...i was flipping through the stations and caught a bit of tyra banks talk show. how in the world do people watch that? it was painful to me. i mean, painful. so i thank God for reruns of "law & order"!

it is quiet earlier than it usually is. evie catherine fell asleep in the car, and she actually stayed asleep when i got her out. i was able to take off her shoes and everything! she must have been exhausted!!! cater is watching "spongebob" and eating a banana and pringles (he has to eat the fruit before he gets potato chips). and once again my house is a mess, but i am on the computer instead of cleaning. i will clean this afternoon, though! i will. really. but i like the few minutes of peace..

okay, i need to vent a second about potty training. cater was potty trained in 36 hours, literally. i knew he was ready because he had all of those typical readiness signs. so he woke up on a monday and i told him, "today is a very special day. today you are going to wear big boy underwear and put all your peepee and poopy in the potty." he, of course, peed through 6 pairs of underwear. the next morning when he woke up, i told him, "today is a very special day...." at 10am he went into the bathroom, told me, "mommy, weave me awone!" and shut the door. about three minutes later he stuck his head out and said proudly, "mommy, i made a BIG poopy in the potty!" and he had. and that was basically it. he never had a poopy accident, and he had very very few peepee accidents. he was 30 months old--so right at 2 1/2.

evie catherine is 28 months old, and we are trying to work towards it, but she just doesn't seem to get it. she can tell us as she is pooping or peeing, but she will sit on the potty for 10 minutes, get up, and peepee 2 minutes later and then look down and say, "uhoh! i peepeeing." i don't know. she is very verbal, and she understands almost everything you tell her. and she is a girl--everyone told me, "girls potty train earlier than boys and second children potty train more quickly than the first." she is going to prove everyone wrong. we are working on it because she wants to wear panties. but i wonder if she is physically developed enough to do this right now...i am going to get some thick training pants with plastic covers and maybe even dig out my old cloth diapers...maybe if she could feel it? i know i just need to be patient.

i have to show off my latest layout:



i used lena brandenburg's "booboo basics" word art (available at ACOT), faith true's "arthur's bug day" (papers and elements available at OAKS), and rachael giallongo's layout template from "duplicates--silly one" by rg and heather roselli (available at TDC).

i am off to scrap!!! have a great day!

my memaw...

my memaw fell this morning. and the ambulance had to come and get her because my mother couldn't get her up. my mother just called to let me know that in spite of memaw's severe osteoporosis, she only has a small fracture in her arm. a miracle, as far as i am concerned. but it scared me. my memaw is 87, and i know that a bad fall can be the thing that puts her on the downward spiral...and my memaw is the person who kept me grounded during a turbulent childhood. her influence, i think, is the thing that helped me to be healthy and (fairly) normal. my mother and i are very very different, but my memaw and i are sympatico. she understands me, and i adore her! here is a pic of her and me together this past september:



isn't she gorgeous? she is even more beautiful on the inside! if you can, say a prayer for her. i am selfish, but i want her around a bit longer!

another big development in my house is that CATER IS READING!!! look at this sweet pic:



he read a book called "max" to his daddy last night, and i was so happy to watch the two of them. he is such a boy, so it is a struggle to get him to sit still and do "school stuff", but he has made such amazing progress! i am one proud mommy today.

ebay update: bids on 23 of my 41 auctions, and i am up to over $200!!!

hope you all have a great day!

wednesday's child...

i am a wednesday's child--you know, "wednesday's child is full of woe." i always felt really crappy about that when i was a child. but my grandmother had a cross-stitched hanging with the whole thing:

monday's child is fair of face
tuesday's child is full of grace
wednesday's child is full of woe
thursday's child has far to go
friday's child is loving and giving
saturday's child works hard for a living
but the child born on the sabbath day
is fair and wise and good and gay.

but, you know, i don't think i am that full of woe! :) (well, maybe sometimes...) my son is "full of grace" and my daughter is "loving and giving"--at least let's hope their days end up describing them. so, what day are you?

it is so nice to have kevin back home again. last night went so much better--when he got home from work, evie catherine went screaming across the house into his arms, "daddy's home!!!" it was precious, and he just lit up, ya know? and then to actually eat dinner with my husband and have a little help was blissful!

it has gotten cold here again, although most people wouldn't call it cold. two days ago it was in the mid-70s and my son was wearing shorts and a t-shirt. today it isn't supposed to get above 50 and it is breezy. i like cold weather! i just wish it would snow. nothing too harsh, just a nice 2 inches or so. you know, enough to make a snowman and take pics, but not so much that it shuts the world down.

i finally got some prescription stuff for my cold, and i am feeling world's better this morning! thank goodness!!

i still haven't worked on my blog, but i sooo want to. maybe i'll do that this afternoon!

have you seen lena brandenburg's latest element/doodle pack? it is too cute!!!



i have some pics i can use it with already!













also, i am in love with a little project a fellow CT member did. vanessa (nesser1981) used rachael giallongo's and heather roselli's "duplicates quick books--book of colors" (available at The Digi Chick) to do a book of colors for her little girl--she actually printed it out and laminated it, and i just loved it!



















otherwise, here is my latest layout using faith true's "about a boy" and her "cheat sheets, edition 1":




i hope you all have a good day!

a new week....sort of :)

a new week, at least work-wise. i so did not want to get up this morning. evie catherine as up from 3:30am-4:30am, and it is becoming a real habit for her. she is transitioning out of her crib, and wants to sleep in her tinkerbell sleeping bag. the problem is that she doesn't know what to do with all that freedom and access to mommy & daddy. we are going to get her a mattress, maybe this weekend. she has decided she hates her crib! i remember that cater had a little bit of a transition and woke up early, etc when we were going through this with him, so i know it will pass. but i am TIRED! i am still fighting this cold, and i know one reason it is hanging on is because i am not getting enough sleep.

on a good note: i got an awesome, awesome email this morning!! RACHAEL GIALLONGO has asked to be on her duplicates CT! oh, and did i mention that FAITH TRUE invited me to be on her CT as well?!! i am simply thrilled--my friend trish was so sweet about it. she said, "i am not surprised! you are good, elizabeth." she is so good to me! and speaking of, she also got on faith true's CT, so i get to be on a CT with my best friend! tell me that isn't so cool!!! i am on 5 CTs, which is my limit (at least for right now).

it is so weird to have come such a long way in such a short time! my scrapping has improved so much in the past couple of months since i have been active at DST. i tell my students all the time: "the more good writing you read, the better writer you will become!" i think it is the same with scrapping: "the more good digital scrapbook art you see, the better your scrapping becomes!" the exposure to such amazing talent has really encouraged me to step it up, and i am so thankful for that!

kevin came home last night--he enjoyed hiking, but i know he missed us so much. we fell asleep holding hands last night, which doesn't happen that often, but makes me feel loved in a way that i can't explain. holding hands is so intimate to me, and when he reached over for my hand and kissed it, i felt so cherished.

i hope to finish my first layout for faith and rachael today--i'll post it when i am done.

oh, and an update on ebay: last i checked, i already had 12 bids!!!

a new week....sort of :)

a new week, at least work-wise. i so did not want to get up this morning. evie catherine as up from 3:30am-4:30am, and it is becoming a real habit for her. she is transitioning out of her crib, and wants to sleep in her tinkerbell sleeping bag. the problem is that she doesn't know what to do with all that freedom and access to mommy & daddy. we are going to get her a mattress, maybe this weekend. she has decided she hates her crib! i remember that cater had a little bit of a transition and woke up early, etc when we were going through this with him, so i know it will pass. but i am TIRED! i am still fighting this cold, and i know one reason it is hanging on is because i am not getting enough sleep.

on a good note: i got an awesome, awesome email this morning!! [url=http://www.rachaelgiallongo.com/blog/index.html]rachael giallongo[/url] has asked to be on her duplicates CT! oh, and did i mention that [url=http://simpledigitalgirl.blogspot.com/]faith true[/url] invited me to be on her CT as well?!! i am simply thrilled--my friend trish was so sweet about it. she said, "i am not surprised! you are good, elizabeth." she is so good to me! and speaking of, she also got on faith true's CT, so i get to be on a CT with my best friend! tell me that isn't so cool!!! i am on 5 CTs, which is my limit (at least for right now).

it is so weird to have come such a long way in such a short time! my scrapping has improved so much in the past couple of months since i have been active at DST. i tell my students all the time: "the more good writing you read, the better writer you will become!" i think it is the same with scrapping: "the more good digital scrapbook art you see, the better your scrapping becomes!" the exposure to such amazing talent has really encouraged me to step it up, and i am so thankful for that!

kevin came home last night--he enjoyed hiking, but i know he missed us so much. we fell asleep holding hands last night, which doesn't happen that often, but makes me feel loved in a way that i can't explain. holding hands is so intimate to me, and when he reached over for my hand and kissed it, i felt so cherished.

i hope to finish my first layout for faith and rachael today--i'll post it when i am done.

oh, and an update on ebay: last i checked, i already had 12 bids!!!

finally!!!

well, i am finally done listing everything on ebay! i don't even want to think about how many hours that just took me!! 41 auctions--wow, i am tired!

kevin called and he is out of the woods and on his way home. he sounded tired, too, and ready to come home. i can't wait for him to be here! i missed him like crazy.

this cold is still kicking my smurf! i am tired of clearing my throat!!

i am going to have a snack now, and then i am going to pick up the house--i know it sounds very 50s of me, but i want it to be clean when he gets home. i just know how relaxed it makes me feel to come home to a clean house....

ebay...ughhh...

i am in the middle of the long, tedious process of listing all the spring/summer stuff on ebay. the trunk show season is coming up, including my kelly's kids party, and i need money for all that--not to mention that the new hanna andersson catalog came this week! oh, and there are a couple of scrapbooking kits i have to have! so, no update to the blog yet. i didn't make my header today because i was listing stuff on ebay...

evie catherine and cater are in bed, and things are finally quiet in the house. they were good today, for the most part, until the end of the night, when cater ended up in his room for time out. i can hear the strains of lynard skynard coming from his room. he likes to listen to it to go to sleep. he is so like his daddy in that way. kevin loves to listen to music before he sleeps, and i cannot do it. i need white noise of some kind to sleep, but i guess my love of music actually works against me. i actually LISTEN and it keeps me awake. i am listening to tempo, the different instruments, the voices, etc. i can't explain it, but my brain is active when music is playing.

anyway, ebay takes forever. and i am tired of listing stuff. but it must be done and it is only twice a year for me....

back to the grind. good night!

early morning musings...

it is 7:17am on sunday morning, and i have already been up longer than i care to think about....kevin is hiking in the smokies, and he won't be back till tomorrow night. so it is just me, and evie catherine has become a super early riser. it would probably help if i wasn't on the computer till late at night, although last night i did go to bed before 11pm.

i woke up to an clean house this morning. it was bliss. truly. yesterday i dusted, vacuumed, cleaned my kitchen, swiffered all the floors, cleaned the bathrooms, and did laundry. i still have a bit of laundry to finish, but it felt so good walking through the house this morning.

it especially helps to have a clean house because i have a cold. i have had a sore throat for days and yesterday i got super congested. i feel like smurf....so it is nice that i don't have that "i am sick but i need to clean the house" thing going on today--because i already cleaned the house! :)

evie catherine just looked at me and said with glee, "i'm making a mess!" she is taking all the dvds out of the cabinet, and i am just letting her. nothing that can't be picked up easily, and she is happy and occupied! she is so growing up so fast, and i am so aware with her of the passage of that time. with cater, i always had this assumption when he went through any stage that this as only the first child i would have and so i would see whatever it was many many more times. not that i didn't enjoy him, because i did, but i was so young and didn't realize how precious and fleeting it all is. we struggled to have evie catherine, and now after losing the baby this summer, i am just so acutely aware of how short it all is...i want another baby, but evie catherine may well be my last baby. only God knows his plans for me, and i am trying so much to enjoy what i already have.

i am so excited because my friend trish is going to tell me how to change the look of my blog this afternoon! i am going to make a header for it today! so keep checking back because i hope to have something pretty soon!

have a good day!

long time no blog...

it has been an embarassingly long time since i actually blogged--this is not good for a writing teacher! :) i tell my students that daily writing is a great exercise, but i haven't been practicing what i preach.

i am feeling a bit down tonight, and i don't know why exactly. i found out i didn't get on a CT i tried out for, but the designer didn't send out a rejection notice or make any announcement that i can see. i found out because one of the other applicants had a blinkie in her signature. i didn't expect to make it really, but i hate that i didn't even get the courtesy of a "thanks but no thanks", ya know? oh, well...one of my CTs seems to have come almost to a halt, and i am sad about that, too. i liked the designers stuff, but i don't know that she will be designing much longer because of some personal issues....so i am looking for another CT. i did apply to be on faith true's CT, and she gave a GREAT minikit away as part of the application. here it is:



otherwise, school has started back & i am so not in the swing of things!!! oh, and i have had a sore throat for 4 days now, and i am sick of my throat hurting, especially since it is my only real symptom.