Wednesday, June 25, 2008

pics and pages

you may have to click to make them larger to see the journaling. this was the first time I 'wrote' on my photo!! *GASP** I seriously, had to contain my self!

these are a couple from Christmas, I know, I know, what happened to up to date scrapping?!!




Last Friday, my preggo friend Sarah, was brave enough to put her pertruding belly in front of my camera.... and this is what I got:




(and about 175-ish more)
























































got my new lens, and was dying to try it out.... also got come cutie pie shots of my lil Missy.(but I haven't edited them)

got to go finsh decorating a cake... we're throwing a baby shower themed party tonight at Lifegroup. We finished up a service project for a local crisis pregnancy org, and we got a dresser, and we all pictched in to FILL it with all kinds of things a new mom would need. We're going to pray over the dresser and for the mom who gets it.... sooo cool!
oh and since I have a cake biz, figured I could hone up my skills by doing the cake. if it turns out, I'll take a pic!
Have a great day!!









Saturday, June 21, 2008

random whirlwind.. and not just the weather..

the title is relevant to how our week felt.. kinda 'tornado-ish'..


so last weekend we were supposed to go camping with our friends the Kouts... had been planning this event for months. and for those of you how know us, know that we are a tad aprehensive about the whole bugs, dirt,sleeping on the ground and other primative accomadations.. but our friends had wanted us to go with them last summer, and well, I was up for it, to 'experience' it and ok, seriously, so I could SCRAPBOOK the occasion. Our friends brought up the idea again, this spring, and I convinced Andrew (who's still has nightmares from the baby deer that he happened upon while frisbee golfing) to try it out!




Sooo we were all geared up, had lined up all our necessary equipment to borrow from friends, and were mentally prepared. Until God had other plans for us.


Parts of the state of IN was declared a disaster due to flooding... they had to close the interstate in some parts.. and tons and tons of property was damaged to due the monsoon-like weather we've had this month!!

So last wed, we called down to the camp, and the Lake was 25ft above capacity... the docks were covered, debris in the water and they said that if we got 5 more feet than the road leading to the campgrounds would be gone.




We had rented a boat for the afternoon also, and were able to cancel that as well as the camping lot. and the lady actually asked our friend what the reason was, when he called to cancel our reservations! UM, while mud is known to have a cooling effect, I am pretty sure we don't want to sleep in it! so bummer, but we're trying again later this weekend. the kids were disapointed, and I have to admit I was pretty devasted that I wouldn't be able to eat my quota of chocolate and marshmallows.




We ended up opting for a grill out instead of campout and pool time with our friends.. with the intention to finally nailing down our vacation, which we had been 'talking' about since March.

So finally after flipping through brochures, fighting over the internet and midnight upon us, we secured hotel resv. for here. St. Louis here we come! and we only picked the hottest time(last week in July) to head to MIS-ERY.




But we'll be staying here, for five days, and that way we can hang out in the evenings, after we've been on the go to all the attractions during the day. Holy cow, there is alot to do there! Luckily we all agree on doing the same types of stuff, so its going to be a blast.

I actually went with my family when I was younger, but things are a bit fuzzy!! LOL

There will be five kids between us, and they all get along fabulously. can't wait!

------

so to the bits and pieces part comes in to play as we were starting up the grill, ready to celebrate fathers day with my dad!

( we had already celebrated with Andrew with KFC and kite flying)


I was prepping in the kitchen and noticed that in about 5.3 seconds the sky had turned an eery shade of green. everything was calm. and then WHOOOSH!


things started flying..Andrew ran out to turn the gas off and brigham started directing everyone to get to their safe place.

Andrew came running in saying, he'd never seen wind like that, and has he was running inside, a piece of siding came hurling by him.

I ran to the front window, just in time to see our neighbors' gazebo completley up in the air!

um, scary.

and about ten minutes later it was all done. we went outside, to see the skies clearing, and our yard and street littered with branches, siding, and roof shingles.


this was one street over. by far got hit the worst.. brigham has not stopped talking about 'the house that the roof went all gone'!








and these two majorly huge trees busted down the power lines, which left us in the dark for about 6 hours!!




we managed to eat our dad's day dinner by candle light around 9 pm!! but it was tasty. I had gotten this incredible candy bar cake for dessert...totally worth it!



-----

whirlwind... of a week began...

got up in the am to go teach vbs( I was supposed to be in charge of the preschool room) totally did the room up right. It was so stinking cute.. better be, I had drug my kids in for about 10 hours the week before as I decorated the whole thing and turned the room into a backyard haven!! (pics to come)

spent the afternoon with jennifer... catching up.. way over due for gab time.

went to lunch Tuesday down at our train depot .. brigham experienced sidewalk cafe dining where it was a tad 'windy'.. he was so worried that his plate was blowing away and that his hair was blowing.... oh, my he is so high maintence!! LOL

then we met some friends at the fountain, and we all got a good sunburn.

wednesday we met my friend Trini at the zoo. Her little girl and brigham were all matchy in their browns and khaki... we had to theme them up like zoo keepers ..lol (pictures not available at this time)

after 3 hours playing we finally decided to head over to Chick filet for a late lunch. The kids got to play a bit more and the moms gabbed some more.
and then we all came home for naps!!

Thursday, we met some lifegroup friends for lunch at the park. Brigham was so excited b/c we got to play at 'grandma's park'!! the kids found the big sticks left over from Sunday's storm more facsinating than any of the play equipment!
whatever.. kept them out of our hair, so we could chat.

are you seeing a theme.... we get kids together for 'Play dates' but is it really for the kids? or the moms?? LOL
Thurs night I went with my friend to an enrichment night at her church. Its the 4th one I have been to with her. Its something pretty common with the LDS church, and it is just soo cool! I always leave, so uplifted. (spirtually and physically) the food is always so amazing, and the talks so meaningful. the night was focused on 'renewing' so we had tasty apps and a choc fountain with all kinds of yummies to dip.. and then we learned some relaxing techinques from the Alexander method... made bath salts , and whipped up some cute little scented massage pillows! I actually sewed something!! My husband was in shock, as he has 3 shirts that have been awaiting buttons, for the last 2 years!! LOL .. now, he knows, I can sew! oops!
anyway yesterday my friend Sarah came over and while the kids played, she let me take some pictures of her cute preggo self!
I am almost done editing them, and then I'll share!

went to a bday party for a little friend today.. they had turned their back yard into a super splasher water park.. with all kinds of slides and stuff(pictures to come)..
then we headed over to our annual festival.... Taste of Tippecanoe. Our friend did the website for it, so he got us free tickets.. the weather was perfect. and our friends had VIP passes, which basically were good for clean restrooms and beer. Worked out perfectly for us all night long!!
beer is always so expensive at those things.. and when the food is like so tiny, then its hard to justify paying the price for it.. anyway, we had a great time.. stayed til nearly midnight.. Tatum saw her first fireworks, and did suprisingly well!(pictures to come)
and now I am exhausted. so I'll work on posting some pics later.. too lazy to get them off the camera!
hope you've all had a fantastic week!
I am looking for some down time next week LOL

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

two great men




I am so thankful for the love you show to me. For the laughter you brought me as a child with your silly voices. For the countless hours you spent teaching and coaching my softball teams. The support you gave me throughout my musicals. The encouragement you gave me when I was too scared to try out for Purduettes. The beaming sense of pride you had for me, when I made it! For the christian upbringing you gave me.

Thank you for the talks as you drove me back to the dorms every sunday night. Thanks for the time you put into typing up (a lot) of my college papers! Thank you for always standing behind me, even if what you think I did was wrong. Thanks for listening. Thanks for not judging. Thanks for giving advice, even when it may be hard for me to hear. Thanks for the time you spend with my kids. Thanks for the laughter that you bring to them.


For the time you are willing to spend with them(even when you may have to change a diaper!).


I am so grateful to have you as a father. You are a wonderful man of God and I am so proud to see the fruits of your patient waiting come to happen. You deserve it! I love you dad.





And to this man. I am so glad to have you in my life. I am thankful for all you do for me. For the countless hours spent listening to my stories. For your paitence, when I give you too much detail. For your encouragement when I am going through tough times. Thank you for listening. Thank you for not judging. Thanks for giving me advice , even when its hard for me to hear. Thanks for helping me figure things out. Thanks for always loving me. For going along with me to things that make you uncomfortable, just because you want to see me happy. Thank you for you willingness to help around the house. For cooking. For doing dishes. For cleaning toilets. Thanks for the humor that you bring into our household. Thanks for your drive to make our family succeed, even when times get tough. Thank you for being such an awesome father. For spending so much time with the kids. For countless hours you spend teaching. For playing. For changing diapers(for a whole 9 months straight LOL). Thanks for putting up with my indesisiveness. For lifting me up. For your constant compliments, even when I don't want to hear it.For your hard work(always working 2 jobs) in providing for our family. For not being selfish.

I am so grateful to God for bringing you to me. You are the perfect compliment for me. I am so excited to see your desire to grow in Christ and lead your family with Jesus in the center.

I am so proud of you. I love you!

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

been playing with my camera....


my kids are tired of me chasing them around!! LOL
the adorable little guy here(other than Brig) is my friend Patti's son, Cameron. would you look at those eyes!!
I have actually taken a few other friends' children so I'll post them soon. Been scrapping a lot lately, and one day soon, I'll end up flooding the gallerys at a few of my favorite scrappy spots!! LOL
its just such a pain to scan and stich each 12/12 page. this is when I wish that I scrapped 8.5x11 pages!! LOL
I even kept up with challenges at scrapfriendzy and simply obsessed. they were a blast to do, and I was so bummed that I didn't get them posted!
we went back to OH last weekend to visit. A friend of ours had a baby shower, and we drove around our old stomping grounds and showed Brigham where we used to live! He kept asking where did he live. and where did Tatum live. by the end of the day, he had decided that he and Tatum had lived at the Mcdonald's by the big tree and the fountain..but just when they were babies!! LOL
I'll post some pics of our trip later! Well gotta go get dinner before lifegroup tonight. we are discussing such an awesome stretch of scripture right now... James 2.....
hope you're all keeping cool. its awful out there!!





































hope to post more pics later.... my new camera bag just got shipped... I am sooo excited !!!


I can't wait to get til it arrives on my doorstep!


Thursday, June 05, 2008

I would be a monkey

yep. tonight at lifegroup we had to describe our week based on what kind of animal we would be.



and I would be a monkey. swinging from tree to tree to tree to tree , every so often stopping to clean another's hiney. and yet not really accomplishing anything!







been overloaded with laundry and trying to sort thru the kids winter clothes and figuring out where to put the masses of summer clothes. geesh, having a girl is just torture on the resist-to-buy-adorable-tiny-people-clothes.!! seriously!!







and then I always feel guilty for buying Tatum stuff, so I have to turn around and find stuff for brig. which is a tad more difficult. boy stuff is so boring!!







luckily its we've been in a monsoon lately.so we've not been missing out on outdoor play. my stomach has pretty much been in my throat every night as the dumb tornado sirens go off. nothing freaks me out more than bad weather like that.



we had like 12 actually touch down in IN over the last few days. so scary, but I don't think there were any ppl hurt, just tons of property damage.



that will be the first Question I ask the big guy when I get to heaven. "what exactly is the purpose for tornadoes?". I understand the wind to move seeds, and the rain to make them grow. but hail? and cyclones? and 140 mile/hour winds? no thanks.







I've also been trying to learn more about my camera.. And so I've been addicted to msg boards as I soak in all the info from photo gurus. I bet I have taken close to 800 pics this week!! ahhhhh. my hard drive !! EEEK!



I rented a lens over memorial day weekend and LOVED it! last night Andrew was online researching different ones for me, and then I'd run to the boards, and get feedback.



so by the end of the week I should be ordering a 50mm 1.4 and a 70-300mm.



I took some pics of my friends kids last weekend and they were really pleased. I am taking some of another friends kids tomorrow. hopefully it goes well. I am loving having fresh new faces to practice on!


with miss T on the move, and Brigham just acting ornery.... its a bit trying to say the least!!LOL


I also became susie homeaker and baked a pie! from scratch.. crust and all!! EESH!



we had some rhubarb from our vegi co-op.. and so I made a pie.





we also get eggs from vegi co-op... they are fabulous!!





and here is the pie when it was nice and warm right out of the oven...

and then I got a little zealous, and attempted at achieving martha status.. and made another pie today. a vanilla custard pie.
sorry no pictures. it went to the neighbors.


I've also been scrapping like crazy.. trying to keep up with challenges at simply obsessed and over at scrapfriendzy. THey have really been a ton of fun, and i've been able to bust thru my stack of pictures... bummer is that we just got a new photo scanner/printer, and I can't figure it out right to stich my pages to post!!

I am hoping to get some of these projects completed in the next couple days. I just hate having things hanging over my head...

well, we've got play dates the next two days, so hopefully that will allow for the kids to schedule naps , and then I'll get some time to focus!
Tatum is down to one nap and its not the same time as Brig.. very frustrating.
but they both sleep in past 9:30, so I can't complain!!

hope you're having a great week... we're half way thru, thank goodness!!

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