Merry Christmas

merry christmas! (special thanks to madeline for the background music.)


(make sure you press the pause on the music down below before you press play on the video.)

digiscrapping...

it's only taken me four months, but i've finally started playing around with the pictures that i had intended to crop back in september (so that i would have a stress free holiday season-ha!) for my family gift albums.

i've been doing a lot of "research"...getting organized (you know me)...getting ready to get ready.

a friend of mine suggested classes at www.jessicasprague.com and yesterday I jumped right in. after almost the entire day, including 10 video tutorial lessons and 24 pages of instructions this is the end result...


(i think brian is seriously worried that it took me so long to do ONE layout!) the instructors fit so many different techniques into one page that it did seem a little laborious for one page.

i'm happy to say that the learning curve did come into play here for the second page.


this event commemorated my parent's 40th wedding anniversary. it was a special day and worth the extra effort to do the pages (and get ready to do them.)

"now": reunions & reality

we recently (july) spent time in greensboro visiting with friends and family. it was a reunion of sorts because saturday morning we attended the wedding of some friends that we haven't seen in eons and that evening we spent with family celebrating brian's grandmother's 92nd birthday.

it was fun to reunite with high school chums and compare vital stats like jobs, number and ages of children, etc. we found the sparks of friendship were still there and many things never change.

but regardless of our guarding it, time does pass. connorman told me this week that he wanted caroline to stay a baby. perhaps he's starting to realize what a terror she could potentially be the bigger she gets? or perhaps he just loves her so much that he doesn't want her to change? knowing connor, probably both!

we try so hard not to take family for granted. "now" is a precious gift. yesterday is gone, never to return. tomorrow will never get here. now is all we have.

it's a GOD thing!

i just love it when i know for sure and certain that i’m just where God wants me. it doesn’t happen often—with such certainty, complete with God bumps.

i’ve been following angie's blog for quite a while now. she is the wife of todd, singer with selah, and has a beautiful story along with some pretty amazing insight on her blog. angie has decided to do a book club on her blog and she's chosen "crazy love" by francis chan. not coincidentally, this is the book that we had picked out for our life group this fall. we won't be doing it with our life group, but it is going to be just the book that God wants ME to read this fall. perhaps you will join me on angie's blog and read with me.

startling realization

i'm sitting here at the computer and i hear the vacuum start running. i'm the only adult here. how is it that i have a daughter old enough to vacuum without being asked...much less tall enough to work the thing? time is flying by...i'm grateful for every minute.

daddies day

i cherish my dad throughout the year, but on father's day especially i am eternally grateful for and proud of him. his character is honorable and his heart is huge. his life speaks his testimony each and every day in ways that words fall short. his example will impact many generations to come and it delights me to be able to watch him be a grampy at play...

almost as much as it delights him...

no one does horsey rides like grampy...the little girls...the little boys...
the cowboys and cowgirls scared caroline to death
she needed madeline to help her be brave...
she couldn't get enough and she was thrilled when grampy had to retire all cowboys and cowgirls over 30 pounds...
she became a devoted follower even when grampy had to pull the tools out and help mommy with a project.

thanks dad, for your help this week. i thank God that you are my daddy and that throughout my life you've shown me glimpses of my heavenly daddy. happy father's day. i love you.

angels

i was braiding madeline's hair this morning and my littlest one came in and gasped, "mama, need angels!" it took me a few moments and a near breakdown before i realized that she thought i was putting angels wings in madeline's hair and she wanted them too...even after she learned she had to sit still for a long long time to get them!! french braids will forever be "angels" at our house, lol.

on an island without a boat

potty training at our house this week...haven't gone anywhere...need a margarita! can i get an amen?

drink...

play...












play...

play...

(...only caroline could make this dangerous)















pee...

















reward...

















repeat...

















i think caroline got tired of the process too...why bother with the bottoms?

scrapbooking without trying

now that my blog is finally up and running i'm feeling a little sick of it...can anyone relate?

the first lesson i'll post is this: if you want to start a blog, find a blog you like and ask the author to tell you all their settings! that very well may be the best advice i will ever publish...

the thought of starting another project right now was daunting, but i know it will be a treasure worth working on. i was motivated by two simple facts. first, i don't have any way of keeping track of all the cool things i learn from my kids. and i need to be reminded of those things daily. connor asked me if there were birthdays in heaven last week...don't they say the coolest things? i had to get that one down somewhere. second i'm willing to admit that their albums are a bit behind. if you looked at their scrapbooks you'd think i had three 18-month-olds. there's a blessin' right there--thank you God that i don't have three 18-month-olds! so last week when i learned that i could make my blog into a book i thought, 'sign me up...scrapbooking the littlest moments in life and blogging in one'.

don't worry i'm not giving up on the albums! when is the next scrappin' weekend?