Forget You

I am really irritated with Winter right about now. I’m so ready to be done with the rain and the colder temperatures. It’s muggy and nasty out today on top of being cold. In a little while I have to bring Alexis and Brandon out in it to the eye doctor. Alexis needs a check up related to her pink eye. It seems to be getting better. (Knock on wood!)

This weekend we got a brief break from the colder temperatures. It actually hit seventy degrees! I grabbed Brandon’s bucket of sand toys and we went to the lakefront after Jordan’s hippotherapy appointment to go play in the sand. It’s not the same if you have to wear a jacket, but at least we got out a bit.

The sun kept trying really hard to peek through the nasty clouds. At least it wasn’t raining. I had to giggle at the kids playing in their jackets because usually when we go they are in swimsuits. These photos should make for interesting scrapbook pages at least.

As you can tell, they didn’t mind much. They must have a case of cabin fever like I do.

Where is Alexis? Pouting because it was cold. I swear that child doesn’t have an ounce of body fat and she gets cold really easily. She ended up sitting by Ronnie. We didn’t stay long because as the sun started going down we were ALL cold.

I edited the goodness out of Lexie’s photo because I’m planning a preteen scrapbook page about having an attitude. She’s going to love it. (Not!)

Since it’s Monday I have a few layouts to share as well from my JessicaSprague.com creative team work.

Journaling: Things to love... 1. Your super sweet smile that makes me smile right back at you. 2. The way you can't get through singing a song without falling down and playing the clown. 3. Your independent nature. (If you can do it yourself, you will.) 4. The way you are entirely fearless. 5. The way you say "Mommy". 6. Watching you do gymnastics at the gym. 7. How cute you are. And the list goes on and on!

Supplies: Cosmo Cricket's Girl Friday Papers, In The Making Design's Things To Love Template, Kitschy Digital's Thrift Store Grab Bag, Cosmo Cricket's Girl Friday Candy Candy, Cosmo Cricket's Girl Friday Borders, Creativity By Crystal's Doodley Do 12x12 Borders, and Creativity By Crystal's Merry & Bright Papers.

Journaling: "Yes, you're lovely. Never ever change. Keep that breathless charm. Won't you please arrange it? 'Cause I love you just the way you look tonight." -Frank Sinatra The lyrics to this song always remind me of you. I think you are the most lovely girl both on the inside and out. You amaze me with your kindness and your wonderful, outgoing personality. I am inspired by you! 11-2010

Supplies: Cosmo Cricket's Delovely Papers, Cosmo Cricket's Delovely Candy Candy, and Creativity By Crystal's Merry & Bright papers.

Be Our Guest

Guess who is the guest blogger over at Flamingo Scraps today? Me! Click here to go check out the post where I share two layouts and a card that I’ve created with their products.

http://flamingoscraps.blogspot.com/2011/01/guest-blogger-heather-landry-pink.html

Pick Me

Today was a calmer day. My morning was spent with Jordan at therapy. She has physical and occupational therapy for two hours every Thursday. Brandon and I normally sit in the waiting room and chat with the other parents and siblings. There’s one girl in particular that I like talking to. Today we sat in the van and waited because I didn’t want to share my pink eye germs. Brandon sat in my lap for a while and pretended to drive. After a while, he got bored with that and I pulled out my camera to distract him. We posed and stuck our tongues out and smiled. I’m not sharing the photos because my eyes look horrible. It was just a fun way to entertain him.

After we dropped Jordan off at school Brandon and I came home and ate lunch. His new favorite lunch is salad. He could eat it every single day. It makes me smile because it wasn’t that long ago that he wasn’t eating many vegetables. He loves cucumbers the most now and will pick them out and eat them first. It’s really cute.

I finally ended up picking out the stuff to review at CSN Stores. Instead of picking the super cute laptop bag that I totally wanted I went the responsible route and picked out a crock pot because I really needed one. It makes things a lot easier to be able to throw the ingredients together in the morning and have a finished dinner. I got this one! You can fit an entire chicken in it. Perfect!

I had enough money left over to pick up a small toaster which I also needed because my little white one is on it’s very last leg. I used it this morning and I had to pop up the waffles manually. Yikes! This is the one I got. I like that I can adjust it to cook bagels, waffles, and toast.

In case you haven’t noticed I’m slowly switching all of my appliances over to black and stainless steel. Eventually my fridge, oven, dishwasher, and everything else are going stainless too. It’s pretty! I can’t wait to test the new goodies and post my review.

Shimmer

I took my migraine medicine this morning but between this migraine and the pink eye that Lexie shared with me… I’m getting some pretty weird visual disturbances. Not cool. I woke up today with gritty, disgusting eyes and when Ronnie made fun of me I threatened to rub them on him so he could have this wonderful experience with me. He left for work pretty quickly after that. I’m totally mean!

It really makes me realize how much I depend on my eyes though. It’s  hard to do things with blurry vision. Right now I’m sitting here typing and I’m relying on the little spell checker things to pop up so I know if I misspelled anything. Then I squint to see the screen so I can see what went wrong. I tried laying down and taking a hot shower. Nothing has helped. Plus, I just can’t be still that long. Hopefully it’ll go away soon! Today is my only entire day off of errands to scrapbook but I don’t see how I’ll be doing that.

Both of the girls went to school today. Alexis’ pink eye has improved and her cough is better. Jordan went yesterday too since her cough finally went away. It’s been totally wild here lately with illnesses and appointments. I think I need a vacation! Brandon still has his cold. He’s miserable and snotty. I’m thinking that the pediatrician is going to have to call in some antibiotics for him because he can’t seem to shake it. Plus, he keeps licking his lips because they are dry from him sleeping with his mouth open. He has succeeded in making a ring of chapped skin all around his mouth.

That didn’t stop him from having a blast in the tub last night though. If you believe all of that stuff about signs and horoscopes it definitely makes sense that he’s a Pisces (fish). He loves playing in the tub and frequently whines when we pull him out.

Yesterday, Alexis went to see her new psychiatrist for the first time. He asked us all kinds of questions and he really seemed to be interested in what we had to say. He had drawings that his patients had done completely covering the walls. It seems like he genuinely loves what he does. He switched Alexis off of her Risperdal which is an antipsychotic medication onto a medicine called Abilify which is approved for bipolar children. The side effects are much less intense as well. One of my biggest concerns was that one of her last blood tests determined that she has high cholesterol at nine years old! It’s a side effect of the medication she was on. I am hoping for an improvement with her on the new medication.

Today is Wednesday which means it’s time for a blogging/journaling question!

What colors have you used to decorate your house? Do you use one color more than others or is your house decorated in all of the colors of the rainbow?

When we first bought our house the builder told us we had to choose one color for the entire house. I wanted the kitchen and living room to be yellow and we have really high ceilings in there so I told him to go ahead and paint the entire thing light yellow. Then we would just paint the bedrooms ourselves.

They used watered down yellow paint that after a year (which just so happened to be how long the house was under warranty for) started flaking off. We have repainted the front room a nice neutral brown. Our bathroom is a little darker brown. Alexis’ bedroom is an orangey brown… My couch in the living room is brown. Hmmm. I’m sensing a theme. I have accents in the living room that are green. (Green curtains and a green chair.) I really would like more color.

Jordan and Brandon’s shared bedroom is a bright teal blue that went with her Finding Nemo theme when we redecorated her room when she was about one year old. I like the color so it has stayed. The kid’s bathroom is purple with a Winnie the Pooh themed shower curtain.

I would love to redo some of the paint and furniture in our house but first I have to replace the carpet that the builder put in with a really shoddy pad. It looks decades old and we haven’t even been in the house for ten years. Anyone want to guess what the color is? A light brown/beige. Yep. That settles it. My house is covered in brown. What about yours?

I’m off to go try resting again. This migraine is winning. Sigh.

Whatcha Think About That?

Two blog posts in one day! I’m back to say that I’m so excited to do another review for CSN Stores. I’ve been browsing their site for something to review and the first thing that caught my eye was this super cute laptop messenger bag.

I just love the bright colors and the fun floral design and the strap looks really comfortable. I’m also browsing kitchen appliances because I broke my crock pot recently and my toaster is on it’s last legs. I’ll let you all know what I chose to review as soon as I decide! The best part of shopping at CSN Stores is that there are over 200 stores worth of  beautiful inventory to browse.

Sweetest Thing

I haven’t been online as much as usual due to the fact that all of the kids are taking turns being sick. Jordan is finally better after missing a week and a half of school. Now Alexis and Brandon are sick. Alexis is home from school today and they have a pediatrician appointment later. I am not looking forward to sitting in the sick waiting room. (AKA The Petri Dish!) I need to buy a hazmat suit just to take them to the doctor’s office. So far I’ve managed to keep from catching the cold that they are passing around but I’m sure it’s going to get me when I least expect it.

I’m a little goofy due to lack of sleep because I spent the night being kicked in the back by a three year old with razor sharp toenails. Brandon wanted to “sweep with Mommy because he didn’t peel good” last night. I took pity on him with his little booger filled nose and tucked him in with me and kicked Ronnie to the couch. Poor Bubs spent the night struggling to breathe. Since he hasn’t quite managed blowing his nose yet, I had to suction him out with a bulb syringe. He was NOT happy. It didn’t help much though and he was extremely restless all night long. At one point he slept sideways with his legs kicked over me, then he turned and put his head at the foot of the bed which put him at the perfect angle to kick me in the behind for the rest of the night. Awesome right? Ugh.

I’ll tell you one thing… that kid is lucky I love him. Ronnie’s gotten growled at for turning over too frequently. LOL I am very cranky when people wake me up before it’s time to get up.

Before I fall asleep here at the keyboard I have two layouts I did for creative team work at JessicaSprague.com that I want to share.

Here’s the first one featuring a baby Jordan photo. Awww! I miss her being this little. Not just because she was a lot less sassy either. LOL

Journaling: The darling dimples that you posses could melt the hardest heart. Your sweet belly laugh is extremely irresistible and your snappy brown eyes are beyond captivating. There's not doubt about it my baby girl, you are the sweetest thing ever! Love, Momma

Supplies: In The Making Design's Indulgence Paper Pack, In The Making Design's Indulgence Element Pack, and Creativity by Crystal's Doodley Doo 12x12 Borders.

I also did this one with a photo of Ronnie and I out on our anniversary date. It doesn’t happen often so I figured I’d better document it.

Journaling: Ronnie and I celebrated our 10th anniversary by having dinner at the Beau Rivage Casino and seeing Rodney Carrington's performance there. We had a wonderful time together! It was nice to be out as a couple. 1-15-2011

Based on a template by Pam Callaghan that will be available soon on the Ideas For Scrapbookers blog! Make sure you go follow the blog here... http://ideasforscrapbookers.blogspot.com/

Supplies: Cosmo Cricket's Everafter Paper Pack, Cosmo Cricket's Everafter Element Pack, Kitschy Digitals' Fabric Covered Buttons Kit, and Tia Bennett's Crochet Flower.

Now I’d better go drink some more coffee so I can wake up enough to drive these heathens to the pediatrician. I think an entire pot might do it. Wish me luck!

My Opinion

I’ve been a BzzAgent for a few years now and I am currently in a bunch of campaigns where I get to review things. I thought it would be fun to do a post about some of my thoughts on the campaigns that I’m currently in.

The first campaign I’d like to talk about is The Factor Tree. The Factor Tree is a math site that is supposed to help make math second nature for students. I received a free trial on the site and Alexis did her initial test and she thought it was fun. The only issue I had was that some of the coins were hard for her to tell apart due to their size on the screen.

She has been practicing her multiplication tables on the website daily and her math grade this past week went up from a C to a B. Definite improvement! I am considering purchasing the membership for her to continue when our trial is up. It’s definitely a useful site and she doesn’t mind doing it.

The next campaign I’m in is one for Cosmopolitan magazine. I have to admit it’s a guilty pleasure of mine. I’m already a subscriber. I was before I joined the campaign. Sometimes I just want to read something fun and Cosmo fits the bill. I especially like looking at the hairstyles and fashion because I wish I had more time to do things like that!

I’m also in a campaign for Cellphone Postcards. I used their online service to upload a photo but you can also do it from your cell phone. I used a photo of my kids at Christmas to send as thank you notes to the people who bought them presents for Christmas. I got one of the cards in the mail as a sample so I could see the quality of the card and I was very impressed. They are quite sturdy and are even laminated to withstand rough shipping. I will definitely be using them again.

I’m still in the Cover Girl’s 50th anniversary campaign. They are giving away prizes and samples on their Facebook page. They are also donating $50,000 dollars to Make a Wish. $1.00 for every person who joins! So if you haven’t joined, it’s for a good cause and you could win free stuff too!

Last but not least I’m in the Stouffer’s Stuffed Melts and Soups campaign. I went and picked up the product at the store using my coupon yesterday. I cooked it for lunch today and I have to say that I am pleasantly surprised at how very good it was. I’m not the only one who thinks so either. The kids were begging for bites of my sandwich melt and they loved it too. They weren’t so much on the soup but they never really eat soup. I thought it was all delicious and I will be purchasing it again. Especially during the Winter time when a warm lunch is welcome!!!

I’ll be back tomorrow with some layouts I’ve created for the Jessica Sprague creative team! I’ve got some more laundry to do for now.

Rockin’ In The Free World

I have a post up on the Ideas For Scrapbookers blog today featuring a new sketch and a free digital template to match. Here’s a preview of the sketch. If you want the template please click the link below the image to go to the IFS blog where you can download it.

http://ideasforscrapbookers.blogspot.com/2011/01/january-template-two.html

Long, Long, Long

I’ve settled in to watch the first episode of American Idol tonight. I’m hoping that it doesn’t suck but honestly… I’m thinking that it will TOTALLY suck. You just can’t have American Idol without Simon. I shouldn’t be admitting this but  I’ll miss his meanness!Honestly, he was one of the only reasons that I watched it in the last few years. So this will be interesting!

It has definitely been a looooooong day today. Alexis got up in a completely foul mood and it never got any better. Jordan is still home from school. I brought her back to the doctor’s office this morning and they said that she now has an upper respiratory infection. She has missed an entire week of school now and she won’t go back again until Monday at the earliest. They started her on steroids but when we got home and she took it… she promptly threw it back up and declared that it was disgusting. Sigh. I wasn’t able to give her another dose because I didn’t know how much she kept down.

She’s missing all kinds of fun stuff at school. They had their 100th day of school celebration today and she missed a field trip last week. So today we made a 100th day poster in between around the clock breathing treatments. I hope that she gets better soon. She’s miserable! Plus, I’m so tired of cleaning up bodily fluids. Ewww! I won’t go into details.

I managed to scrapbook a page today for tomorrow’s Ideas For Scrapbookers post while Jordan and Brandon were making posters so I’m grateful for that! Scrapbooking really helps relax me. I have to try to fit it in somewhere so I don’t go totally nuts!

Today is Wednesday so it’s journaling question time! Today’s question is…

Tell me what are your five biggest pet peeves. What irritates you to no end? What aggravates the living daylights out of you? Spill! Then link your blog where you answered the questions back to me in the comment section and I’ll come comment!

1. I hate when people block the ENTIRE aisle at the grocery store while they are reading the label of a product. Scoot to the side please! And if I say “Excuse me.” because I’m hoping to get by sometime this century do NOT shoot me a dirty look. You’ll get one right back! Didn’t your Momma teach you any manners?

2. I really dislike elevator music. It all really bothers me because it’s so terrible! Especially when I hear music from the 90’s that was so cool at the time butchered. It makes me feel ancient and I’m not that old yet.

3. Endless household chores drive me insane. It’s not that I mind cleaning so much. It’s just that it never ends. I clean and clean and clean then I turn around and go back in a room I just cleaned and it’s dirty again.

4. I don’t like disrespectful children. I have taught my children to say “Please”, “Thank You”, “Yes, Ma’am”, and “No, Sir”. I do not like it when kids say YEAH or WHAT to other adults. It drives me nuts and I don’t allow my children to do it. I also make them clean up when we visit other people’s houses. I’m mean!

5. Driving is my least favorite thing to do in the world. It’s not so much that I don’t like it, it’s that I got in a really bad accident once and I get freaked out if people around me don’t drive well. I figured out that I had this intense dislike (road rage?) for driving when I heard Jordan pipe up from the back of the car when she was one year old… “Where’d you learn how to drive Moron?!” Since then I’ve watched what I say out loud but I still think it! 

That’s it for me! I can’t wait to read your answers.

Love Story

Ronnie and I went out on a date for the first time in months on Saturday night to celebrate our 10th anniversary. We got Ronnie’s sister and Mom to watch the kids overnight and we drove to Biloxi, MS to the Beau Rivage casino to see Rodney Carrington.

We had a delicious seafood dinner that was beyond yummy and I even managed to stick to my diet while we were there. (Awesome right?) We gambled a little bit and lost what we gambled. That’s why we never gamble much! We killed enough time before the show and then it was time to go to the theater.

The show itself was hysterically funny. I was actually crying at one point because I laughed so hard. It’s not for everyone though as Rodney has quite a potty mouth. My husband really enjoyed it too. He’s his favorite comedian. I was at the point where I didn’t care where we went as long as we got out of the house.

We stopped for a cup of coffee on the way out of the casino so we could stay up for the drive home. We got home around midnight and ended up getting up early the next morning to go get the kiddos. They drive us insane, but we miss them when they are gone.

We all went to get groceries together and several weird things ended up in my cart unbeknownst to me. (A plastic sandwich container? Okay people.) We came home and cleaned house and played around on the Wii. I’ve actually been doing the Wii Fit stuff regularly and it’s showing! Since November I’ve lost almost 20 pounds.

On Sunday we slept. Everyone was so tired from all of the sleepovers and staying up late that we slept in and chilled out around the house. It was a very low key day which was just what we all needed.

This morning we all went in as a family to Alexis’ therapy appointment in Hammond. Ronnie drove us out there and it was good for him to get to see what goes on and for him to be able to put his two cents in on Alexis’ behavior. I’m really hoping that her new psychiatrist next week will have some answers for us.

Jordan has been sick for a few days now. It started out as a sinus infection and I brought her in to the doctor on Friday. It’s not getting any better. She missed school on Thursday and Friday  and I think she’ll be home tomorrow too. I’m going to have to bring her back into the doctor. She’s starting to sound croupy with her deep cough. That’s how she gets when she’s developing pneumonia so it has me freaked out. We’ve started up her breathing treatments and she is not at all thrilled with it.

Last but never least, I only have two layouts to share this time. This first one is from JessicaSprague.com! It’s a digi of course.

Journaling: *Jan. 2011* Brandon can't read yet so Jordan takes time to read him their favorite books. He definitely loves when she reads him a story.

Supplies: Echo Park's Be Mine Paper Pack, Echo Park's Be Mine Element Pack 1, Echo Park's Be Mine Element Pack 2, Creativity By Crystal's Inspired By Susan Weinroth Template # 8, Kitschy Digital's Fabric Covered Buttons Kit, and Creativity By Crystal's Doodely Do 12x12 Borders.

Here’s a paper one that I did!

Journaling: Alexis looked beautiful in her Christmas dress. 12/2009

I decided to punish myself from buying new Cricut cartridges until I've used some of ones that I bought already and haven't used. I used the Winter Wonderland cartridge to make the poinsettia flowers and the HUGE snowflake and mat that the photo is on.

My friend Nancy inspired me to use up some of my older Basic Grey Fruitcake paper on this one. I based this layout on a sketch by ScrappyCath Designs.

I’ll have the next journaling/blogging prompt up on Wednesday so stay tuned for that!

What Makes You Happy?

Here is the first installment of the reinstated journaling/blogging prompt! If you would like to participate, all you do is post the answer to the question on your blog with a link back to my blog. If you leave me a link to what you’ve written when you comment on my post I’ll visit your blog and leave you a comment in return! I frequently end up using the blog posts that I write as journaling on scrapbook pages as well and you might find yourself doing that too!

Today’s Question: List ten things that make you happy right now. They can be serious things or silly or both!

1. Playing Thomas Mega Blocks with Brandon makes me super happy. Even when he’s being bossy and won’t let me play the way I want. (He’s a little bossy britches when it comes to trains!)

2. The fact that Alexis had a good day today. She was happy this morning and cooperative. It was GREAT!

3. My new laptop makes me deliriously happy. I love the bigger screen, and the HUGE amount of memory.

4. Watching Jersey Shore makes me happy. Mostly because I don’t think I was ever THAT stupid. (Maybe I just don’t remember?)

5. Playing with my blog design and making a new header gave me something to do today to keep me occupied. What do you think of the new design?

6. Ten things? (Who comes up with these questions anyway?!) Ummm… coffee makes me happy. It perks me up and it’s sooo yummy! Random fact: My kitchen is decorated in a coffee theme. I am THAT addicted.

7. Warm feet make me happy. Well, they would. (Where did I put those slippers?) Today Ronnie told me we can’t move to Tennessee like I want because I would whine all Winter about how cold it is.

8. A clean house thrills me in a way nothing else does. There’s something so satisfying about having everything in it’s place. This does not mean that cleaning house makes me happy…

9. Listening to the kids playing together peacefully makes me so happy. This evening they all played on Lexie’s laptop together and they took turns without me having to fuss at them. It was awesome.

10. Ronnie makes me happy. The silly goofy things he does that let me know how much he loves me make me smile. He brings me coffee when I’m tired. (See number 6! He knows the way to my heart.)

In My Head

There’s been a lot going on in my head lately. I’m an anxious person by nature. I’m super organized and I like to be prepared for the unexpected. Realistically I know that it’s not possible to be prepared for everything. Sometimes things happen and you feel like you’ve been sideswiped or stepped on. Yesterday was one of those days.

Alexis has been seeing a psychiatrist since she was 4 years old. Many of you are aware that she has some severe mental health issues going on. I haven’t had the best relationship with her psychiatrist. He never listened to my opinion and didn’t seem to be taking me seriously when I explained just how bad things had gotten here at home. He would just brush off my concerns and suggest another medicine or MORE medicine.

As a result, I found Alexis a therapist who worked outside of the practice where the psychiatrist worked. I also got Alexis on the waiting list to see a new psychiatrist. Her name finally came up and we got an appointment on January 25th to see the new doctor. Wednesday was our last visit with the old psychiatrist and I asked him for her most recent case note, her weight/height chart, and her recent blood work to bring to the new doctor. He printed them out and the secretary gave me the papers as we left.

When we got in the van I opened the envelope because I was curious to see what his impressions of Alexis were at this visit. He never says much, just throws more medication at her. Under her lengthy list of diagnosis I was extremely upset to find the following notation…

“Emerging symptoms of Conduct Disorder.”

I knew she had Oppositional Defiant Disorder. She was diagnosed with that over a year ago. Conduct Disorder is a step up from Oppositional Defiant Disorder and it is SCARY. Kids with Conduct Disorder are more likely to use drugs, end up in jail, and are violent. It makes her more likely to hurt animals, run away, have drinking problems, and much more. I was speechless. I came home and started looking up information on Conduct Disorder and I just cried. I’m scared for her and for our family. My heart just breaks because I love her so much and I don’t want any of these things for her. At the same time… I can totally see why he would think that based on her behavior. Apparently he was listening more than I thought he was.

The only thing I can do right now is pray. Nothing else has worked. I know there’s no miracle medication that will make it all magically go away. We will keep working with her therapist and new psychiatrist and trying to do the next right thing for her. I’ve learned that with Alexis I can’t predict the future or be prepared. I just have to do the best I can each and every day and hope for the best.

Today Jordan is home sick. She and Brandon have been running all over the house like wild heathens. It’s hard to believe that this morning she had a fever and was sneezing all over. They’ve taken every toy they own out as well as some of Lexie’s. They read books together too. Their current favorite book is called “I’m Dirty”. It’s about a bulldozer who gets messy while he’s cleaning up. I think it’s a super cute book.



The pediatrician’s office didn’t have an appointment today to see Miss Jordan so she’s going in early tomorrow morning. I think she has another sinus infection. She’s going to miss her field trip tomorrow because of it and she is not a happy camper. I feel bad for her but not bad enough to let her go to Little Chef where she’ll sneeze in whatever the kids are making. Eww.

I have a few layouts to share today. I’m trying to get back into my scrappy groove but I’m feeling a little off lately. Not sure what’s going on with that. I guess it could be all of the worrying I’m doing.



I made this layout with an adorable Fancy Pants pack that Juliann sent me! It's just so cute. I cut the banner out and popped it up. If you look closely you can see th shadows from the dimensional adhesive. I made the lollipop flowers by misting them with Pearl Glimmer Mist and crumpling them. I added Stickles to the edges to make them stand out a bit.

Journaling: 2/2010 You are the most adorable Valentine I've ever seen. I love you Jojo!

Isn't that sticker on her forehead cute? She cracks me up every day!  I used a sketch by Liz Qualman as the inspiration for this layout. Her sketches are so great!



Ha! The title on this layout is kinda ironic given the fact that Jordan is screaming her head off in the photo. This year she did a lot better thank goodness.

Journaling: 12/2009 Landry Family Christmas Photo

This is based on a PageMaps sketch. I don't usually do 8.5x11 pages but I really liked this sketch!
That’s all for now, but I’ll be back later this evening with the journaling/blogging prompt. I had a ton of interest in it so I’m going to start it up again after I feed these children who think they need to eat three meals a day! LOL

You Are Beautiful

Just a quick post to tell you all about a wonderful promotion Cover Girl is running right now. They are donating $1.00 for every person who signs up under their 50th anniversary tab on Facebook to the Make a Wish foundation.

As the mother of a special needs child, this is a cause near and dear to my heart. I don’t normally post things like this but I had to!

Click on the image above to be taken to the sign up page. It only takes a minute, and if enough of us do it… we can really make a difference!

Curious Girl

Just a quick question for my followers and readers… I used to do a journaling/blogger prompt once a week over a year ago. Would anyone be interested in reading/blogging those again? I feel like I haven’t had much to say lately and that it’s mostly been layout sharing. I miss writing!

Winter Wonderland

I wanted to share this layout now before I have to cook dinner! This week is going to be extremely busy with appointments. We were even supposed to go to an appointment today but Brandon and I were feeling under the weather. I’m hoping tomorrow is a better day because I have to drive Jordan all the way out to Children’s Hospital in New Orleans. I’m a bit nervous due to the fact that there has been lots of construction since the last time I drove down there. Wish me luck!!

Here’s the layout!

I just totally love this photo of the kids. The color combination of the Sassy Season kit was perfect for the playful feel I wanted for this page.

Journaling: I hope when the three of you are older you remember all of the good times that we have had. I hope you remember sticking your fingers in the frosting on our gingerbread house before it was finished. I want you to remember Dad and I smiling and laughing at all of you for sneaking bits of the gingerbread house candy. I hope you remember being happy because we really truly try to make every day the best for each of you. We want the holiday season to be so special. We think that the best present we get every year is the time we get to spend with the three of you. All our love, Momma and Daddy (December 13, 2010)

Supplies: In The Making Designs' Sassy Season Paper Pack, In The Making Designs' Sassy Season Element Pack, and In the Making Designs' Good Times Template.

Are You Sad?

Brandon certainly was in this photo. It even makes ME sad to look at it. =0(

My grandma took this photo of Brandon sitting out of some of the Thanksgiving festivities. It made me wonder what he was thinking about and why he had wandered off by himself. He is so painfully shy sometimes that it makes me worry about him. He gets really overwhelmed when there are a lot of people around.

Journaling: Today you went off by yourself and sat down really sadly. I wonder what you were thinking?

Supplies: Echo Park Hybrids' Little Boy Paper Pack, Echo Park Hybrids' Little Boy Element Pack, and Echo Park Hybrids' Little Boy Element Pack 2.

Love Is Free

And so is this template! I almost forgot to post that I have a free digital template up on the Ideas For Scrapbookers blog today. Here’s a sneak preview but you’ll have to click the link below the image to go to the blog and download it!

http://ideasforscrapbookers.blogspot.com/2011/01/sharing-another-sketchtemplate.html

Return to Serenity

The past few days have been relaxing and quiet. Those are two words that are not often mentioned in our home! The girls went back to school on Monday and I can honestly say that Brandon and I are working on getting an Olympic medal for being bums.

We’ve stayed in our pajamas and watched movies almost all day. We’ve played Thomas Mega Blocks and Wii. We’ve cuddled and wrestled and made huge messes. I haven’t even cared!

I’m working on being more laid back this year in case you haven’t been able to tell in the previous paragraphs. My “One Little Word” for this year is “serenity”. I’ve been working on being less stressed and I have to say… I’m getting there!

The girls are doing really well in school and here at home so that helps. Alexis loves her teacher and is making good grades. Her behavior around the house lately has been markedly improved. I’m hoping that it continues because we can all use the peace!

Jordan broke my heart this morning when she told me that she didn’t want to be different from other kids. She said that she doesn’t like having cerebral palsy and she asked me how she got it. That’s a mighty tricky subject to discuss with her since it wasn’t under the best of circumstances. I gave her the simplest answer that I could. (Because she was born too early.)

She took that at face value but then kept asking me why she had to be different. I told her it’s because she’s special and is meant for great things. I truly believe that. Then I pointed out that she’s not the only kid we know with cerebral palsy so she can’t be THAT different. She really liked that comment. Of course, my heart was broken over the whole discussion. She’s so smart for six years old. Sometimes I just can’t believe the things she comes up with.

I’ve been doing a lot better health wise. Thankfully the migraines have disappeared for a  while and my vision is returning to normal (mostly). That means I’ve been able to scrapbook more so I have a few layouts that I’d like to share.

Journaling: At 8 mos. old the doctors finally decided that you were ready to come off of your oxygen. I have never seen you happier than you were today with it off! Jordan Jasmine (Jan. 2005)

These photos are not as great as I'd normally use but I treasure them for their sentiment so I had to use them!

Supplies: Cosmo Cricket's Earth Love Candy Candy, Cosmo Crickets' Earth Love Paper Pack, Cosmo Cricket's Earth Love Element Pack, and Creativity by Crystal's Merry & Bright Paper Pack.

Before I say anything else about this layout, I should warn you not to use your punches on cork! I almost ruined one of mine when it got stuck. It was not pretty. I do think that the end result is pretty but next time I’d try to cut it on my Cricut with the deep cut blade and multi-cut feature.

I created this layout using the Pyrus kit from Scraptastic Club that came out in November. It’s on sale now for only $15.00 so head on over there and snatch one up quickly before they sell out!

While I was going through my older Scraptastic Club kits to find the Pyrus kit I came across the My Mind’s Eye Alphabet Soup for Boys one that I had bought and never touched! Of course, I had to pull it out and play with it too. (It’s on sale for only $10.00 at Scraptastic Club right now. She’s having a HUGE sale!)

I’m really enjoying my scrappy time lately. I sure did miss it when I was so busy and sick  in December.

Brand new

It’s a brand new year and I’m not too sure if I am ready for it yet. I haven’t made up my mind what resolutions I’m going to make this year. I did decide to do Project 365 again after taking a break in 2010. This year I’m going to do it digitally! It should save me a lot of headaches as far as printing out photos and hand journaling. I’ll share the layouts as I go.

Speaking of layouts, I finished my first one for my assigned designer over at Jessica Sprague. I’m assigned to In The Making Designs this month and I just love her minimalistic style. I created this layout featuring her Rosette template.

Journaling: I love everything about Christmas morning! Hearing the kids squeal over their new presents makes me happy and seeing their sweet sleepy smiles completely melts my heart. Spending Christmas morning with my kids makes all of the chaos and expense totally worthwhile. December 25, 2010

Supplies: In The Making Design's Basically {striped+checked} Paper Pack, In The Making Design's Basically {spotted+dotted} Paper Pack, In The Making Design's Sassy Season Element Pack, Cosmo Cricket's Mr. Campy Paper Pack, and In The Making Design's Rosette Template.

Before I go I should share these two photos of my kiddos on New Year’s Eve! We didn’t do too much. We watched Toy Story 3 with the kids and then did a few sparklers under the carport because it was raining. It didn’t put a damper on their spirits though.

Brandon did a lot better this year. He was able to stay outside with the  headphones on and he wasn’t scared. In fact, he kept clapping and telling Ronnie thank you for lighting the fireworks. It was really cute.