I'M STILL ALIVE!!!!

I'm still alive! I promise!!! I feel like such a bum! It's been a month since I posted last! I've been SO BUSY!!!
I'm almost done with my Christas shopping! Last year my resolution was to buy gifts early...didn't happen! Mom and Ally came up yesterday and we went to Penn Square. What a nightmare. I waited in line at Victoria's Secret forEVER. Then the poor girl's computers were down and she had to phone in all three of my gift cards SEPERATLY. I felt bad for the workers.
I've been scrappin my little heart out! I've been doing some assignment work for Creating Keepsakes and it's kept me busy! I'll have several things in the magazine this spring. I can't wait!
Brodey cracks me up. The little boy has his quirks!
He can't stand it if he has boogies in his nose. It drives him nuts.
He says hi to his shadow. "Hi Shadow."
He blows kisses to the ladies that check us out at Wal-Mart.
He loves to put on my socks. By the time he gets them all the way up they look like thigh highs.
He knows when we drive past our neighborhood, when we pull into the shopping center were Just 4 Keeps is, and when we go almost anywhere to eat.
He knows the UPS store man by name.
He can't stand poop in his diaper and he has to stand up, be still, and hide when he does it.
I LOVE MY LITTLE MAN!!!! And this little man will be 2 on Janaury 12th. My gosh.
LUV APRIL

Quickie!

Okay! This is a quickie post!
Halloween was great! Brodey was such a big boy and went up to the door and knocked and said "Treat Treat!" He was so proud! He looked hilarious in his dragon costume! He even had a dragon growl!! LOL
I'll post more pics later. I'm getting error messages now! Geez!
I gotta run! Busy busy!
LUV APRIL

Mommy. Tooth. Hurt. Bad.

SO SAD!!!! This is what Brodey said to me yesterday after a totally sleepless night! Poor guy! He's teething his second molar and it's all swollen! When he eats he sticks the food in his cheek until it's soft and then he eats it! :( Motrin has been a big help! Hopefully it'll break through soon!
Can't wait for Halloween! I'm doing a photo shoot at Just 4 Keeps on Saturday and they are launching the new Creative Cafe! Lots of fun stuff goin' on!
Brodey has become a little chatterbox! He can pretty much say whatever he wants to. He can combine almost any word he wants into five word sentences. It's so amazing to think about how much brain effort it takes to do that! He's growing up so fast! Today we went to the mall and I bought him some warm pj's. They are so cute! They are green and have bats all over them. After I washed them tonight I was putting them on him and he raises up his legs and says "Mommy! Cool!" Well I think he's pretty cool!
I have so many scrappy projects I need to get done. I have to do Design Team stuff, class stuff, and I would love to get some layouts done for a few calls that sound fun!
If you have the November Creating Keepsakes I'm in it!!! It's my first how-to article so I'm pretty excited! The layout is called "First Days of Fall." Look for me!!! Hehe!!
Well I better go to sleep! Hopefully tonight will be a better night for my poor little man!
Goodnight!
LOVE APRIL

Rainbow BRIGHT!

Hahaha! I LOVE sending in photos to the weather stations! They just showed the photo above on the 5:00 news! This is the third time for that but it's so much fun! Rick Mitchell on channel 5 said "Wow what a great picture, April! Thanks for sending that in!" LOL
We had some pretty severe storms today! It hailed and rainy super hard! Right after it moved through, this beautiful rainbow showed up! It was a total complete DOUBLE rainbow! We were too close to it so I couldn't get the whole thing in my photo, but it turned out pretty neat anyway! I just love rainbows!
It was a pretty exciting day for me today! I picked up the new Fast and Fabulous idea book by Scrapbook Trends!!! I have two cards in it! SO excited about that!
Even more exciting is I also got the December Creating Keepsakes! I have another layout in there for Christmas! It's so special to me! The photos on the layout is our Christmas pajama photo from last year! My brother, my sister, and Brodey are all in the photo with me! SO special!!! I can't wait for my sister to see it! She will probably say she looks bad....oh sure! She never looks bad! ;)
Well I'm off to start dinner! It was pizza last night so I better cook something decent tonight! I went to Just 4 Keeps and bought all the new Basic Grey holiday stuff! Hehee!
Have a great night!
LOVE APRIL

Orr in Moore!

We went to the Orr Family Farm in Moore Friday for the second year in a row! It was more fun than last year! Brodey had a blast! He rode the horses, fed the animals, did the hayride, rode the carousel, and picked his own pumpkin! And I have 75 pictures to prove it! Haha! I edited three so far!!
Eric is telling me to go get ready. We are going to the RV show today. Hehe. Eric wants an RV so we are going to go check them out. We go to the lake almost every weekend in the summer and it would be nice to have one. So I guess I'll go get dressed. :)
LUV APRIL

Thanks Trisha

I read this on Trisha's blog and she read it on Karen Russell's blog. LOL It made me cry because I can totally relate! Thanks Trisha!

I'm invisible.

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, "Can't you see I'm on the phone?" Obviously not. No one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible.

Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this?

Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, "What time is it?"

I'm a satellite guide to answer, "What number is the Disney Channel?"

I'm a car to order, "Right around 5:30, please."

I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude - but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going ... she's going ... she's gone!

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England. Janice had just returned from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself as I looked down at my out-of-style dress; it was the only thing I could find that was clean.

My unwashed hair was pulled up in a clip and I was afraid I could actually smell peanut butter in it. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, "I brought you this."

It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe. I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: "To Charlotte, with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees."

In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work:

(1) No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names.
(2) These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished.
(3) They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.
(4) The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.

A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, "Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof?

No one will ever see it." And the workman replied, "Because God sees."
I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, "I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become."

At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride.

When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, "My mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table." That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, "You're gonna love it there."
As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.

God Bless You as you build your Cathedrals!

-Author Unknown

HOLY MOLY

Oh wow I am SO excited! I hung out at my fave scrapbook store (Just 4 Keeps) for about an hour BRODEY FREE (which rarely happens) and came home and ate dinner. Well I came over to the computer to check my e-mail and WOW!!! Simple Scrapbooks requested a layout for the March/April issue! I was jumping up and down like a fool while Eric was laughing at me! It's been a goal of mine to get into Simple Scrapbooks so you can imagine how stoked I was!!! MADE MY DAY!
I just had to share my happiness! :)
LOVE APRIL

One Page at a Time DT Search!!!!

TRUST ME!!! You want to work for this online store! The kits are awesome and the owner is SO nice! I've worked with them for almost a year now and they ROCK!
Go HERE to find out more!

The great state fair of.....OKLAHOMA!

We haven't been in years! It was so much fun! We went with Eric's mom and dad, his brothers and their girlfriends. We ate so much! I had fried Oreos, fried Snickers, cinnamon rolls, crepes, fresh lemonade, chicken on a stick, and who knows what else! This is the only photo I've edited from the fair. I have a ton more. I have some funny ones and of Brodey riding this great big slide with all of us! We also rode the big observation thing that's about 300 feet up in the air several times. Brodey loved that! I don't think he's going to be afraid of heights! ;) It was a great time!
I have to get my kits ready today because I teach a layout class tomorrow at Just 4 Keeps. I LOVE the layout so it'll be a fun class! The link is HERE!
Well I'm off to feed Brodey breakfast! Have an awesome Friday!!!
LOVE APRIL

New pic.....of ME!!!!

I hardly ever have any pics of me! We were sitting out on the front porch today watching Brodey play and Eric took a pic of me! Hehehe! It's so rare that anyone takes a pic of me that I had to take advantage! So that's why there is a random photo of me posted! Thanks Eric!!! ;)
LOVE APRIL

I gotta say...

Okay! I gotta say two thing!
First is I am so lucky to have such an awesome local scrapbook store! If I hadn't read the Edmond Outlook in August of last year, I wouldn't have the awesome friends I do, I wouldn't scrapbook as much as I do, and I wouldn't be published! I LOVE J4K!!! We had a blast this weekend at the birthday bash! I got to take pics and it was a blast!!! My knees haven't been sore from taking pictures in 5 years! Fun times!
Second, I HAVE to share THIS with you!!! You HAVE to check out that prize pack!! One Page at a Time is famous for their awesome prize packs!!! You should totally give that contest a try!
Kathy at J4K took the pic above! I had on her birthday hat and she took it with her camera! CUTE!! Hehe!
Okay I'm off to bead! My eyes are killing me! I've edited pics for the last 24 hours and they need a break!
Have a rockin' Monday!!!!
LOVE APRIL

Happy!

New scrapbook goodies makes me HAPPY!!! LOL Yes it's that easy! ;)
The new Fancy Pants goodies arrived at J4K yesterday! AWESOME!!! Crocheted flowers, decorative pins, felt, awesome paper, new stamps.....what more can a girl ask for?!?!?!
Well I can tell you!!! My One Page at a Time kit! That's what! It arrived yesterday too! CUTE Sassafrass Lass skull paper! PLUS they had acrylic skull stamps made to match and they are so dang cute! I can't wait to play with that!
I finished a couple of layouts last night with the Fancy Pants stuff! I posted them above! You can actually stamp on the felt! I used Stazon, but I'm not sure if any other ink works as well.
This is a quick post! I have to go get ready to take photos today at the Just 4 Keeps birthday bash! Come by and see me if you live in the area! They are having a sale too!
Well I'm off! Have a great weekend!
LOVE APRIL

Who IS this little boy!?!?!?!

Can you even believe how old he looks!?!?! I gave in and took him for a haircut yesterday and they chopped off most of his curls! CRY!!! He looks so much older it doesn't seem possible!
I took these today in the garage. My parents brought up some old backdrops from when I had the studio and there was a fresh roll of white paper! I HAD to play!!
I take photos this Saturday at Just 4 Keeps! It's their big birthday bash! It's gonna be fun!!
Well I gotta go! Brodey just woke up from his nap! DARN! LOL
Later!
LUV APRIL

So long summer!

Wow! Everyone is back to school! My sister, cousin, and brother-in-law's girlfriend all started college for the first time this last week! Everyone is still alive! LOL Maybe a little overwelmed, but still alive!
I am so excited! My friend, Trisha, and I are both going to have layouts published in the Scrapbook Trends Wedding Idea Book! Trisha is on the design team with me at Just 4 Keeps! I am SO excited about that!!!
I took this photo today with Brodey! I rarely get photos of us together that are not taken by myself, so I really love this one!!! (Even though it's not perfectly in focus hehehe)
Brodey and I had a great week! We went to Texas and stayed with my cousin for a few days! It was so nice to get to see them!! Brodey had such a good time playing with Will and McKennah! He loves to play with the big kids! ;)
Tomorrow I am scrapping no matter what!!! LOL Last weekend I finished one page so I am going to make up for lost time tomorrow! I am locking myself in my office and not coming out until my mother-in-law leaves tomorrow night! Hehe!
Well I'm off to bed now! I have to rest for my scrappy day tomorrow!
Sleep well!
LOVE APRIL

Oh Baby!

Yeah! So excited! I just had three layouts requested for the Memory Makers Oh Baby Idea Book! I LOVE the layouts they requested so I'm extra excited!!! What a great start to the day!
Wednesday I got to take photos of my friend's babies! It was a blast and they turned out fantastic! Every time I take photos I think back to the days when I had the studio and I miss it! But I'll do that again someday! Until then I'll take photos here and there!
We had a great day yesterday! My cousin Kerry and her kiddos are up from Texas! We met them and my Aunt Karen in Shawnee yesterday and went to the mall! SO FUN!!! The kids have grown so much and Brodey LOVED playing with them!
I took the photos the other day when Brodey and I went outside to water the plants! He looks so darn cute in that hat! Too bad that lawn mower doesn't work! ;)
MIL comes tonight!!! WOOHOO!!!! That means I can get to scrappin'! I have class layouts to do and DT work to do! So MAYBE I can squeeze in a fun layout! LOL
Well I'm off to feed Brodey some breakfast!
Have a wonderful Friday!
LOVE APRIL

Where does it go?

Where does the time go? For the last couple of weeks I keep looking at Brodey and seeing what a little boy he is becomming. It's so sad to me. I'm excited for the future and seeing him growing up, but I miss my baby.
He grows up in little ways every day. Water used to be "wawee" but now is "wawder." Love you used to be "wudgee" but now is "lodge you." Little changes like that keep reminding me that he is, in fact, growing up. Because of this, I'm so glad I scrapbook! Instead of relying on my memory, I can go back in time for a few minutes while I read over my layouts. I am so lucky that I am a scrapper!
LOVE APRIL

WOW!

WOW! I haven't posted in forever! I've pretty much stayed busy! Brodey is a HANDFUL these days! He is a regular toddler! He pee-pees in his potty, talks nonstop, is obsessed with the Backyardigans, and loves to get in trouble! He is the perfect toddler and keeps me perfectly busy!
The only time I get to scrap is on the weekends when MIL takes pity on me and comes to spend the night! I've been scrapping like a mad woman! I can't post the layouts, though, as they are for publication calls.
I will be in the December issue of Creating Keepsakes! Look for my layout there!!! SO excited!
We've been trying to take advantage of what summer is left! June was a waste because of all the rain. Brodey loves to go to the lake! It's so much fun to take him and watch him play while I remember what fun I had when I was little there!
As soon as the calls are over I'll start posting layouts again! I really love the ones I have done and not been able to post!!! The weekend doesn't come fast enough for me! I want to scrap every day! Hehehe!
Okay I'm off to bed now! Hopefully I'll start posting again!! I miss it!
LOVE APRIL

We just get better with age...

Too much stinkin' fun! My 10 year reunion was too damn fun! All the planning was totally worth it! We will probably do it again next year! LOL The link to the pics is HERE! They are wild! I posted a couple in this post. I haven't even started to edit the 4th of July photos. We all got sick the day after and I was supposed to go visit my cousin, Kerry, for her birthday this week but my aunt has the shingles. So we've been at home recovering. As soon as I get them edited I'll post them!
I haven't posted any layouts in forever it seems. I've done some, but I haven't posted any online. I've been submitting them for publication and I'm waiting until the calls go out to post.
I mailed off my Congrats cards for the Scrapbook Trends new book. I can't wait for it to come out! I think it will be a good one!
Brodey is a year and a half today. Where in the world does the time go? I stamped his feet last year on a piece of cardstock and I'm going to have to do it again tonight.
Well I'm off to cook dinner! Have a wonderful evening!!!!
LUV APRIL

Too busy!

Gosh I've been too busy this last week! This week is going to be even worse!
First, I got REALLY REALLY good news and I'll be in a certain BIG scrapbook magazine in November! I can't way anything else until then, but it's really cool!!! I've been trying to get that prepared and mailed! Lots of effort in mailing this one!
My 10 year reunion is this weekend. I've been working on it and planning it for a very long time. I'm ready for it to be here!!!
I have been working on design team layouts because I won't be here next weekend! AH!!! It doesn't sound like much, but when you factor in 17 month old it gets tricky!
My sisiter is coming up today and spending the night. My parents are coming tomorrow to get the large furniture out of her bedroom. So sad. It's been okay since her stuff has been here to remind me of her, but now it's all going away! BOOHOO!!!!
Well I'm going to go try to get into the shower and I'm off to the post office!!
Have a wonderful day!
LUV APRIL

Happy Anniversary to ME!!!

Yesterday was mine and Eric's 5 year anniversary!! We started dating in 1994, but we didn't get married until 2002.
I got Eric an IPod Shuffle. It's the smaller one since the only time he'll use it is when he is working out or back and forth to the offices.
But GOSH did I get a surprise!!! I took Eric to took work yesterday morning (we only have my X5 because Eric's H2 doesn't come in until next month) and I came back home and went to feed Brodey and this was on his high chair...

I was so surprised! I had no idea he was even getting me something!!!! SO you can imagine just how much more suprised I was when I opened it and it was this!!!

Not the engagement ring! The BAND!! I have been wanting one with diamonds on it forever! I had lost my other band and I didn't think I would get a new one for a LONG time! It was such a complete and total surprise!! It is the perfect size, too! Any smaller and it wouldn't look right, any larger and they both wouldn't fit on my short finger! LOL I am still excited!
Anyway, I just had to share!!!!! What a good day! MIL is coming today and we are going to go out to eat and to a movie tonight! So excited!!!!
Have an awesome Friday!!!
LUV APRIL

Just another hot summer day...

Just another hot summer day here in Oklahoma! :) Do you ever look back at the day around 5pm and think "where in the WORLD did the day go?" Yep I did that today. I mostly did reunion planning. Can't wait for it to come! I just want to enjoy it and not have to think about it anymore!

Gosh the mosquitos are bad this year! Every time we step outside they swarm us. So annoying!!! We were troopers, though, and sprayed on some Skin So Soft and we were ready to go! We love playing with the neighbors! We have THE best neighbors EVER!!! I would like a bigger house, but I don't want to move because I love them so much! They are so helpful, easygoing, fun! I took some photos of Brodey and two of the neighbors today! I posted them above! So cute!!!

I'm going to go! I was good today so I'm going to eat some strawberry shortcake! YUM!!!!
Goodnight!
LUV APRIL

It's HOT!!!

Wow it's already so hot here in Oklahoma! Well to me, anyway! ;) It might not be as hot as other places temperature wise, but gosh it's so humid!

Brodey and I went to Wal-Mart yesterday and got the cutest little kiddie pool for only $20! The photos above are from yesteday! He had a blast!!! Cheap fun!

Brodey is growing up so fast! He is such a little climber too! So annoying at time! LOL I will turn around and he's on top of the coffee table dancing around! OR he's on top of the couch in the office trying to roll off the side! No fear!

Eric found a computer he wants. This makes me happy, but at the same time frustrated. I get frustrated when I think of all the programs we have on this computer that I would have to move. PLUS all my fonts! AH!

My reunion is getting close! Been ordering all the things we are going to eat! I can't wait to see everyone! I think it's going to be so much fun!

Well I gotta go! The laundry is calling my name! Fun times! hahahaha!!!!
LUV APRIL

WICKED!

SO Wicked was awesome!!! I went with my cousins last night and it was nothing like the book, but it was great!! It was more comedic which was really nice! The actors were wonderful and the woman that played Elfeba(the Wicked Witch) had the most amazing voice! Gave me chill bumps every time! The photo above is from last night! So much fun!!! I always have fun with Danielle and Ryleigh! They are my girls! ;)

Well I have some really great layouts to post, but not until the kit goes live on One Page at a Time!

This is a short post! I'm headed to get Brodey a little pool and hopefully a new computer!! (fingers crossed)
Have a wonderful Monday!!
LUV APRIL

Thanks!

Thanks to everyone that came by yesterday and had your photo taken!
I did a little photo shoot for Just 4 Keeps, my local scrap store, yesterday! The first one I did was awesome and they wanted me to do another one!
All I brought was a black velvet backdrop and my camera. I wanted to show people how they can take beautiful photos at home with minimal equipment! I showed them how to use their camera and natural lighting to take beautiful photos! Thanks to everyone for coming!!
Gotta go! MIL is here and I have DT deadlines!
Off to scrap!
LUV APRIL

Are you addicted??

Addicted Scrappers is looking for two new design team members! Their kits are awesome!!! Go to Addicted Scrappers to check it out!!! The layout above is from their June kit! Fun stuff!
Gotta run! I've been busy with DT work! It's the first of the month!!!
Have an awesome Friday!
LUV APRIL

I had to share this card. I LOVE it! I made it the other day with my Serendipity Kit! I put the green ink on the stamp with my fingers and it gave it a watercolor look! I then punched a square out of the transparency sheet and stuck the button on top! I LOVE IT!
Okay gotta run!
I just had to share!
LUV APRIL

My new favorite....

My new favorite song is (You want to) Make a Memory by Bon Jovi! LOVE it!!! Here's the link if you want to listen! Click on Watch Video! The song takes a second to pick up, but gosh I LOVE it!!!

I got so much done this weekend!!! All thanks to my MIL! I finished up on my Guest Design Team layouts for Serendipity Scrapbooks and my DT layouts for Addicted Scrappers! I posted one of the layouts above! It's a photo of Brodey and my SIL, Madyson. It's from the Serendipity Scrapbooks Kit!

No plans for tomorrow. Eric will probably work. They have patients scheduled and he says if it rains he might as well go in! They will just take another day off instead so it's fine with me!



I just had to share this photo of Brodey I took yesterday! I haven't scrapped it yet! I can't come up with a title! MIL was messing with his hair and being silly and I wanted to take a photo. I took the toothbrush away from him and this was the face I got! LOL Priceless!

Okay I better run! MIL is leaving today and I have to take advantage of my free time!:)
LUV APRIL

Congrats Ry and Jeni!

YEAH! You guys are finished with high school!!!
Ry's graduation was great! Brodey was pretty restless but okay overall. We ended up not going to Jeni's in Norman. There is NO WAY Brodey would have been able to do it! All of his "good" ran out at Ry's. We ended up going to eat with Ry and everyone in her family! It was fun!! I posted a few pics above!

MIL is coming this weekend!!! YEAH!!! I have so much scrapping to catch up on! Tomorrow is the virtual crop at One Page at a Time! Details are in the post below! It's going to be fun!

Well I'm off! Brodey is in a MOOD. He's probably ready for a nap! LOL
LUV APRIL

One Page at a Time Crop and Sale!

This is going to be fun!!! Capella at OPAAT is ALWAYS coming up with AWESOME
prizes!!! Check out this jar below!!!! This is one of the prizes! Can you believe it!?!?!?! What girl wouldn't want that? ;)





OH! Check out this sale!!!
To celebrate Memorial Day weekend, if you subscribe to a 6 or 9 month subscription, you will receive 25% off of your first month!
Please use coupon code: MEMDAY0507
Coupon valid from Friday, May 25 - Monday, May 28, 2007

It's going to be a blast!! Hope you can make it!!!!
LUV APRIL

In LOVE with Love, Elsie!

WOW! I am so super excited! All the new Love, Elsie products arrived at my LSS last night!!! I was so excited to get it that I went in this morning pre-shower pre-makeup! Haha! I have it all in my hands and I AM IN LOVE!!! It is so fun and colorful! Just looking at it puts me in a good mood! I'm using the Roxie line for my DT stuff and I can't wait to play! MIL will be there tomorrow so I get scrappy time! YEAH!!!!

I have so much to do today and all I want to do it scrap! I have graduations to go to for my two cousins! Graduation season is almost over! Summer here we come! Hehe!

Okay I'm off!! Love these two layouts I posted above! I found these photos when I was cleaning my scrap room and was in the mood to do a couple of autumn pages! Hope you like 'em!
LUV APRIL

Just a quick one!

Had to pop in and put these layouts up. They are from the June Kit at One Page at a Time! Totally different colors than I'm used to and I love them!
I have to share the journaling on the Everyday Moments one.
Journaling:: We don’t capture everyday moments as often as we should. I know I don’t. I think we tend to get caught up in the need to take the “perfect” photo. Years from now are our descendents going to look back and learn anything from those perfectly posed shots? Will they learn what our life was like now? Will they get a glimpse into our everyday? I hope that my children and grandchildren will. I am going to make an effort to try not to take only perfectly posed shots. I will try to take photos that are of the everyday moments. Moments that will be forgotten too quickly. Moments like Brodey pulling every single scrapbook magazine off of my shelves and enjoying it. Moments like Brodey eating Cheerios off of the coffee table while he watches the Backyardigans. Moments like us falling to sleep together in the recliner. Those are the moments I want to remember and the memories I hope I won’t forget. How lucky I am to be able to spend and preserve those everyday moments with you. December 2006
Thought it was sweet!
Off to do more reunion planning! If you are from my 1997 class, visit our website at www.holdenvilleseniors97.com!
Gotta go!
LUV APRIL

Almost...

Graduation season is almost over! I am so glad! LOL
My sister graduated Saturday, but she goes to school another two weeks to make up for snow days. My cousins graduate Thursday night and my brother-in-law's awesome girlfriend graduates Tuesday night. AH!

Everything is peachy here! I'm busy and that's no fun! That means no scrappin' time for little ole me! Don't you feel sorry! Bwahahaha!!!

OH AWESOME news! I had THREE layouts picked up for the October 2007 issue of Memory Makers magazine! YEAH!!! This the first time I've been in Memory Makers and I'm so excited! I shipped the layouts off today! That always makes me nervous, but the peeps at the UPS store always do a good job. Knock on wood....

My high school reunion is a month away! Yikes! Make a girl feel old why don't ya?!? We are going to have a blast!! I'm planning a picnic, viewing of our slideshow, and a good old fashioned party that night! I can't wait!!!!!

Well I know this is a short post, but I gotta go! I'll be on more now since the season is wrapping up! Have an awesome Tuesday! Hehe!
LUV APRIL

All's well that ends well

Well Brodey is catheter free!!! YEAH! The doc said he looks awesome! I'm so glad Eric went with me because there is no way I could have held him down by myself! He is getting too strong! It seems to feel much better to him now that it's out. YEAH! I'm so very glad it's over and everything turned out great!!

Gosh we have had so much rain the last few days! It has made everything so beautiful and green, though!!

Brodey and I went to the zoo today! So glad he's better and we can start going again! LOVE it there!! All the school kids were there today! Brodey had fun saying hi to everyone! Hehe! Also all the Canadian geese's babies were all over the place! SO cute! I guess that's why they have been such pain in the butts every time we have been! ;)

Well I just had to put up the photo above! My handsome man! Men like flowers too!
LUV APE

Love this boy

I love this boy. This boy right here ^. He is such a little trooper. The dressing from his surgery came off today. I felt so bad. The catheter is still in, but the dressing slipped off after his bath today. He just cries when I put his diaper on. I can't imagine how it must feel. I have to admit we giggle just a little bit when he walks around. He walks like he's been riding a horse for the last week. Hehe.

He goes in tomorrow morning to get the catheter removed. I have a feeling that's going to help with the pain. It'll actually be able to lay against his body in his diaper. Eric is going with me. Thank goodness. Not sure I could handle that by myself.

The poor boy has been sleeping practically all day long. He needs it. I'll be happier when everything gets back to normal! I can't get anything done! He won't sleep unless he's on the Boppy or in bed with me. So I'll be happy when I'm free! ;)

Well he's ready for bed so I guess I'll go for now!
LUV APRIL

No fun!

Surgery is no fun! Escpecially when it's your child! That was the scariest moment of my life. By far.
Okay first I need to explain what he was having surgery for. WARNING this will be graphic, so just skip down if you have a weak stomach! ;)
Tuesday Brodey had hypospadia surgery. Brodey's urethra(peepee tube) didn't close completely when I was pregnant with him. So instead of peepeeing out of the hole in the tip of his penis, he would peepee out of a small hole at the base of his penis. The surgery was to build him a new urethra out of his foreskin tissue.

The surgery was supposed to last 4-5 hours and there was a slight chance he would have to come back for a second surgery if they could not fix it properly. We went in at 8:30 and he got to go in earlier because the surgery before him was canceled.

LUCKILY my best friend, Natalie, is an RN there. She was there with us most of the time which made it so much better! Eric got to go back with him when they gave him the gas to put him to sleep. I was crying at this point and there was no way I could do it! Eric came back and he said it was so hard to hold him while he went to sleep. Eric was a nervous wreck so he went to work while I stayed at the hospital with my MIL. My mom and grandmother went to my house to clean while I stayed there. (Yes I do have awesome relatives! Haha!) Then nurse called every hour to tell me how it was going, but I was still a nervous wreck. It is the worst feeling to have no control.

The surgery lasted about 4 hours and we went to recovery. It was so sad walking up and seeing him asleep all hooked up to everything. I got to hold him until he woke up. When he did his voice was all cracky. They had to put a breathing tube in his throat during the surgery so it was hard for him to talk for a little bit.

We finally got to take him home about 3 hours later. He got home and slept it off and was up and running around by 7 that night! Crazy. We actually had to restrain him from doing a lot. He is doing fine since then! The only time it seems to bother him is when we have to bathe him. Other than that you wouldn't even know! He sleeps A LOT during the day, though, which restricts what I can do. He wants to nurse a lot so I let him, of course!

I'm so glad it's over with! I have to take him on Wednesday to get the catheter removed. I'm nervous about that.

While I was there I saw other babies with much more severe problems than Brodey's. It makes me feel so lucky to have a normal and healthy baby boy. So lucky.

LUV APRIL

Low profile...

We are keeping a low profile for the next couple of days!
Brodey's surgery was yesterday. Next post I'll talk about it in detail! ;)
Just had to post these pics from our trip to the zoo Monday. We love it there!
Have an awesome day!
LUV APRIL