Flashes of Brilliance

Layouts Day 8

2010-04-08T17:53:00.000-07:00

2 page layout of Cobi's and my trip to AZ for his 10th birthday. I made a mini album for him so this is for my book.

Maggie's night at the Spelling Bee. I love this page. It's die-cut around the edge that I matted on purple paper. The font is old Quickutz. I added stickles to the embossed flowers.

Layouts day 7

2010-04-07T15:17:00.001-07:00

This one was lifted from Christyn. Keep em' coming Christyn!!

This is actually the second page of the two page layout. whoops...

from our time last summer at the condo in Avon.

Layouts Day 6

2010-04-05T15:23:00.001-07:00

2 page layout of Bailey and Cobi in the mtns. with Dante. I put stickles on the tops of the letters in the title.

A layout of Maggie's nicknames.

Layouts day 5

2010-04-04T17:14:00.000-07:00

Pumpkin Patch layout. Leaves are felt.

Two page layout of Halloween.

Layouts Day 4

2010-04-03T09:03:00.000-07:00

Maggie in t.p. at a halloween party. The font is cricut black letter.

Dante and I at the movies. Self taken of course!

Layouts day 3

2010-04-02T13:51:00.001-07:00

Delivering letters to Santa at Macy's. I love the little tickets and the big red "S". It's fuzzy!

Maggie and her bff Ireland. they are so cute together. Lifted this from a magazine. shannon did her own version with different colors and pointier (yes, I'm making that a word) diamonds.

Layouts Day 2

2010-04-01T14:46:00.000-07:00

This one is from Christmas Day of the girls and me. Love the butterflies! Maggie with her Littlest Pet Shop horse collection.

Layouts Day 1

2010-03-31T16:02:00.000-07:00

I have many layouts to post and decided to spread them out a bit. I think 2 day should do it!

I had a great time scrapping with Shannon. Got a ton of work done and am very happy with them. I did scraplift a majority of the pages. Lots from Creating Keepsakes. And a couple from the amazing Christyn. Hope you enjoy!

Breckenridge

2010-03-04T19:11:00.000-08:00

Maggie says hello to the carriage horses.

Cobi's ice cream cone creation

Maggie poses at Maggie Pond

The kids on main street.

We decided on the spur of the moment to redeem some hotel points at Marriott and head up to Breckenridge for a night. No skiing or skating. Just hanging out together. The mountains we have in Colorado are so amazingly beautiful. We are blessed! We had such a great time and I hope we can take advantage of more free nights again soon!

We Do. Again.

2010-02-14T17:20:00.000-08:00

Almost 15 years of marriage. Not too shabby. Dante is the most generous, kind, giving, man I know. He doesn't ask for much. But works tirelessly for our family. We thought it would be fun to renew our vows this year. Our gorgeous chapel at Cherry Hills Community was the setting for about 27 couples to say those promises again. Our fabulous kids were there as well. We had lunch after and chatted with another couple as we ate. It was a wonderful way to spend Valentines' Day. I wonder what the next 15 years will bring. Marriage for any of our kids? Will we be grandparents? Traveling the world? Time will tell.

Rotisserie

2010-01-23T05:51:00.000-08:00

The contest was between boys and girls. It was between 4th, 5th, and 6th graders. And our Maggie tied for 3rd place! The word that got her was "rotisserie." A tough one to be sure. Now she tells me, "I hate that word." I understand completely. We even had a rotisserie chicken for dinner that very night. She did so amazing. Going 9 rounds and making it to the final 4. Not too shabby for her first spelling bee! So proud of girl!

Back in 4th grade again

2010-01-19T19:52:00.000-08:00

Will I ever be done with projects?! Maggie and I made a diarama of the Taiga biome. Basically what it looks like in the Rocky Mtns. We cut branches off our trees and found rocks in the front yard. Some cardstock and hot glue and bam! There ya have it. She really enjoyed placing all the animals in their spots. It was fun but I already went to school! I'm done, right? I guess not...

Happy Birthday Dad!!

2010-01-18T17:17:00.000-08:00

January 17- my Dad's birthday. 63 candles on the homemade cake! Maggie, Sterling, and Bailey helped their Papa blow out the candles. A relaxing day of football, food, and family. Love you Daddy!

Finally...

2010-01-18T17:09:00.000-08:00

I was able to complete a layout at Bailey's scrapbooking club at school! I love this picture of Bailey and I. She took it at arms length. Great job! She takes after Shannon in that ability! Got the inspiration from one of Christyn's pages on her blog. I think she's fantastic. Love her style.
I hope this is the jump start I need to get creative and busy again. Even though I did the December Daily, it's not the same as doing pages for a scrapbook.

My December Daily

2010-01-10T17:26:00.000-08:00

New Years Eve and the last page. Day 30- Dante & I at the movies.

Otis on Day 23. So cute! Day 19 with 20 showing through.

Day 12 and a hay ride.

Day 5 at the Highlands Ranch Mansion

Cover of book. Done with Shimmer Mist.

With the encouragement of Shannon, I completed (as did she) a December Daily book last year. While I need to learn how to use Bailey's new sewing machine, it's 99% complete. The idea is to take a picture and document each day of December and put them into a book. I pre-made the pages before hand and then added pics and journaling throughout the month. I really enjoyed the whole process but was glad when Dec. was over. It sure made me think about each day and even plan some things we haven't done before just so I would have pictures for a day! So I guess that part is good! These were some of my favorite pages and pictures.

Still having trouble figuring out how to do all this posting stuff. The end result isn't always how I laid it out to begin with. Bear with me!

A Teen Among Us

2010-01-10T09:57:00.000-08:00

Hard to believe that Bailey is 13! We have a teenager. I'm excited, scared, happy, anxious, and a mixture of so many more feelings. We threw a red carpet event at our house. Bailey presented awards to her friends based on the qualities (physical and personality) that she loves in them. I love the thought and time she took for that. Her friends are so sweet and some of them she's known for almost 5 years. We had amazing cupcakes that were so beautiful. She was showered with wonderful gifts and love. It was a great night full of girly shrieking and laughs. I wouldn't have it any other way!

Trying again...

2010-01-06T17:05:00.000-08:00

I want to try this again. It's been well over a year. A very hard year. But some healing has taken place. I miss my brother, Jason, so much. I still have dreams where I have to save him and there doesn't seem to be an hour that goes by that I don't have a flash of his face in my mind at some moment. But the moments are a less painful. My thoughts seem to be more on all the future things I won't have with him anymore. After talking to some friends who have experienced the same loss, I know that time helps. It never goes away, of course. But it's not as sharp as it once was. It becomes more and more of a dullness. For all my friends and family who have prayed and will continue to support me, I am truly grateful. I don't know how people get through grief without the knowledge and assurance of Jesus' love and promise.

So, I want to put down my thoughts, feelings, musings, and creative projects back on here. I miss doing it!

An update on my life and what's happened around here:

Still working at Cherry Hills Christian and loving it. It's the BEST job for a mom. I just got spoiled rotten by the parents in my class. Gift cards and goodies galore. I am so blessed! My teacher, Betsy, is so great to work for. We have a good rythm and work so well together.

Dante is the best. This past year was so hard on him because of my grief. He stood by me. We learned a lot about each other and our relationship has grown.
Bailey turns 13 on Friday. I can't believe it. I was just in high school last week. How can I have a teenager?! She's such a girly girl. She wants a red carpet event for her party. So I found a red carpet for $5.oo, got some pizzas, ordered some cupcakes, and will have 9 girls spend the night for her very special day.
Cobi cracks me up almost daily. Most recently on the way home from church, I had asked what Maggie learned. She started telling me about how Jesus stayed at the temple after Mary and Joseph had left. Then they came back to the temple and found Jesus. I asked "what did Jesus say?" Cobi says "Hello Mother." HAHAHAHAHA! Good grief, I thought I was going to wet myself.
Maggie still loves singing and dancing in Devotion Motion at church. She also took part in a wonderful play through CYT (Christian Youth Theater). Her vocabulary never ceases to amaze me. She is going to compete in the spelling bee this year.
I just realized that this sounds like a Christmas letter. Which is ok since I didn't get any cards out this year!

On a creative note, I (along with Shannon in KS) completed a book that chronicled each day in December. I hope to get pics of it up very soon.
Thanks for hanging in there through this, my first blog in 15 or so months! They won't all be this boring. I promise!

Happy Birthday Cobi!

2008-09-02T20:01:00.000-07:00

I can't believe he's 10! Double digits. That makes 2 of my kids now. Cobi is such a joy. He's funny, smart, sweet, and such an easy child. We are all blessed to know and love him.
We'll be celebrating with family and a few friends in a couple of weeks. I took cupcakes to school today. It's easy to see that the kids in his class enjoy him as much as we do. For dinner he wanted shrimp from Tokyo Joe's, his sisters got him Pokemon cards and we gave him Guitar Hero for his Nintendo DS. He's easy to please! I love this boy so much!! Happy Birthday Buddy!!

IT'S A GIRL!

2008-08-16T18:03:00.000-07:00

Otis has a sister! She's a cockapoo and her name is Mollie. She's just 3 months old and clearly very adorable.

We have been discussing a playmate for Otis for a couple of days and decided to take the plunge.

Otis is enamored and we hope they have a long and loving relationship!

That Was Fast!

2008-08-08T15:47:00.000-07:00

Summer vacation is over. It seems like we just finished last school year. As usual I'm very excited for school to begin. But that means getting up earlier every day. The kids are so anxious to start and part of that is of course the school supply shopping. This year was not as difficult as past years. We were able to recycle a lot of our stuff. But the things that I will never get used to providing for school are tissues, wipes, and ziploc bags. Did we do that when we went to school? I sure don't remember that!

So, the kids start this Monday. I will miss the first day of school as I will be at my own orientation for my school year at Cherry Hills Christian.

Right of Passage?

2008-08-03T12:52:00.000-07:00

Bailey's Gam took her shopping yesterday and Bailey came home with more jewelry than I own. OK, maybe not quite. But she felt the need to clean out her jewelry box and put her unwanted earrings in a ziploc. She then gave them to Maggie and told her "for when you get your ears pierced." I've been asking Maggie for years now if she wanted to get them done but she was adamant about not doing it yet. Too scared. But when she saw all that could be hers... she decided she was ready. So off to Claire's where a delightful young lady did the deed. There was only an "OW" from Maggie and that was that. Now she wants to know why I'm telling everybody. I told her "because it's a big deal!"

Bailey then asked if she could get double pierced. Oy vey! I said "not this young!"

I know, I know...

2008-07-29T19:57:00.000-07:00

It's been a very long time. Hope everyone is doing well. I've been very busy since last post. My bestest friend Shannon came for 5 days and we scrapped our hineys off. It was great to scrap with her again- the last time being last December-January in Kansas. Even Rachel came over and did some creating. That was fantastic!
We had a very successful garage sale and got rid of a lot toys. Feels very good to clean up the clutter.

My dear Grandma turned 80 this month. I did the math and figured out she was only 43 when I was born. That's only 6 years away for me! Frightening!! So I've put one of those ankle bracelets on Bailey like juvenile deliquents get so I can keep track of her for the next 6- 10 years. Hah! Just kidding. Sort of.

The kids and I went to the zoo last Sunday with Dad and Carolyn. My other brother Greg and his adorably expecting girlfriend were there, as was my nephew Sterling. It was so hot but a ton of fun.
Unfortunately, Bailey was not able to eat that day as she had to be cleaned out for a colonoscopy and endoscopy the next Monday (yesterday).
All went well and he took some biopsies which we will get results from in about a week. I really am hoping they find something so they can fix it and we can move on. I'm very worried that this is going to run into school starting and that will be so hard to schedule appointments. Thankfully, her stomach pains are not bad enough lately to keep her in bed. But it's a constant thing still.

I had a wonderful lunch today with my former teacher's assistant friends and Betsy my 5th grade teacher. She's not my teacher of course, she's the wonderful teacher I work for! It was so good to catch up with everyone and I get more excited about school starting with each day. I'm really anxious to start my new position being a helping friend to a girl going into 7th grade. Her name is Rachel and she has Down Syndrome. She is so loving and affectionate. I will make sure she gets to the right class, help with class work, keep her on task and just be there for her.
So I think that brings everyone up to date. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Photos from zoo courtesy of Bailey!

A New Addition To Our Family

2008-07-13T11:28:00.000-07:00

After years of thinking about it and doing nothing. After a church service this morning that made me realize we CAN and HAVE to do this.
We have adopted an 8 year old girl in Uganda! Her name is Susan. She is an orphan living with her grandmother and 2 brothers. We'll get more info on her in the coming weeks and the kids are so excited to begin writing her and sending small gifts.
We had a guest speaker from Gulu, Africa today. He is a pastor of a church there. With his wonderful accent, he spoke of children as young as 10 being pregnant. Giving up their bodies for 1 meal. I immediately thought of Bailey. I got sick. Children who are as young as 3 who have AIDS through sexual contact. How can I sit there and be o.k. with this?? Even writing about it now makes my heart pound. Jesus said that when we feed, clothe, house, and give water to those in need, we do it to Him. When I thought of how quickly I can spend the money it takes to support Susan for one month, I just couldn't stand it any more. Such a small amount. Yes, things are tight right now. Bailey's Dr. bills are pouring in. I'm not bringing in the income I do during the school year. But we eat every day. Susan gets one meal every 3-4 days. We have closets full of shoes and clothes. Does she even own one pair of shoes? I don't know yet. I think probably not. We can go to the movies, soccer games, shopping, (I could go on and on) and she loves to jump rope. We are blessed to be able to do these things.
We are all so excited about Susan and hope we can make her life which is so precious to God just a bit easier to live every day. God calls us to love those as we love Him.
Is your heart pounding?

Our Fab 4th of July

2008-07-08T18:21:00.000-07:00

Cobi pulls a popper and I catch the action on camera!! Woo Hoo!!
Miss America Maggie. She's so close to losing that tooth on the bottom!! One of the few photos I got of Bailey since she is still not feeling great.
Maggie and her friend Lili passed out in the car on the way home from watching fire works.

We had a pot luck-cookout with our neighbors. This marked our third year in this house. Can't believe how fast time flies! The 4th is my 2nd favorite holiday. I love the colors, the summer night, our friends, and thinking about the wonderful country we live in. Hope you had a fab 4th too!

We're Baaack!!

2008-07-02T14:39:00.001-07:00

This is our whole group from our trip to Avon/Beaver Creek. We had 22 people at one time!

This was our Hummer tour outside of Avon. Beautiful scenery. Sadly, one of the 3 Hummers broke down and we had to cram all those people in the other truck. We still had a blast though.

We spent the days swimming, eating, playing Guitar Hero, Wii, eating, shopping, eating, making crafts, eating, sleeping, eating, watching soccer, eating, paddle boats, eating, riding the ski lift, eating, rodeo, and horse back riding. Did I mention eating?!? Holy cow. Literally.

I never grow tired of the beauty of the mountains. We are so blessed to live in this state!

The whole reason for this trip? Dante's parents own a time share in Avon. We go every year. This year, Dante's younger brother had some of his friends come too. Lots of teens! We were also lucky enough to have his grandparents and uncle all the way from Maine! I love them! Unfortunately, Dante's grandma cut her leg on the free bus and had to have 13 stitches!! She'll be fine- she's very tough!

The highlight of the trip for me was watching Maggie on our trail ride. She is a horse freak. Loves them. She had done lessons but hasn't been able to ride since. She had her own horse- Jasmine, who she was in complete control of.

That's Maggie on the white horse!

I love going on this trip and look forward to many more. It is good to be home though!

The Hummer trail.

Our family!

Pickle

2008-06-17T08:54:00.000-07:00

A few nights ago, we all ended up in the backyard. This is rare only because there are either some of us missing or we have extra bodies belonging to neighbors here. Dante was working with Cobi on catching and throwing. The next thing I knew, the four of them were involved in a game called "Pickle." For those not familiar: there are two bases with a person on each one. A runner tries to get from one base to the other without being tagged. Thus creating a pickle. They were having so much fun! I love to see them all playing together with no fussing or fighting. I even got into the act a few times. Of course I had to work on grass stains later that night, but who cares?! It was so very worth it!

Amazing People

2008-06-10T14:16:00.000-07:00

I have amazing people in my life. My family is so wonderful. I am so thankful I was raised in a home where we were taught to pray. Between my family, Bailey's soccer team, my co-workers, Dante's co-workers, and all our friends, Bailey is covered in prayer. I know that she will get better and live a normal life once again. God is good.

At this very moment I have 7 children in my house. They are playing "Resteraunt" and having a great time. I don't know why they all end up here. But for now I'm glad. I know where they are and what they're doing!

To Rachel and Houston: Thank you for your support on this deal! I hope to be half as good as you both are someday!

Whew....

2008-06-08T17:50:00.000-07:00

My oldest, Bailey, was admitted to the hospital on Thursday the 5th. We have been battling pancreatitis but there were other problems. She had a bacterial infection and a few other nasty things that were making her very sick. Once we get those things cleared up, she will have an endoscopy to try and find out why she has had pancreatitis twice in 2 years.

Needless to say, I'm very tired. We were released from St. Lukes yesterday. Wow. It's amazing how much you miss being at home!

Dante and I spent some really great time together today. We hit Walmart, had Arby's, and then to Lowes. I got just a few flowers for the house. A few odds and ends and then home to do yardwork. It was so nice and cool outside, it made the work a bit easier.

Unfortuately, I missed the "frenzy" at my store, so I was unable to do my layout with customers. But the fabulous ladies I work with took care of it! I'm feeling more and more confident about the things I'm making for the store.

Here's a house I made with a little book inside. I love the warm colors and think it turned out pretty cute!

I don't know why this picture is way over down here! I'm still

trying to figure this stuff out!!

I'll get there! I have a feeling it's going to be a lot of trial and error.

My family is out back hitting wiffle balls. I think I'll go and watch!

My very first post!

2008-05-30T21:34:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking about this for a awhile now. What took so long? I'm not computer savvy. Seriously, not good at this technical thing. So it's a little scary. It will probably be boring for a while until I get the hang of it. Sorry about that.

So here's the background:

I'm 37 and have been married to Dante for 13 years. We have 3 children. Bailey, our beautiful red head is 11 and going into 6th grade. (yikes!) Cobi, the best boy in all the land, is 9, going into 4th grade. Our baby, Maggie just turned 8. She's heading for 3rd grade. They are all delightful. More on them at later dates.

I work at a Christian school as a 5th grade teacher's assistant in the mornings and then at a fabulous local scrapbook store in the afternoons. Details on that later...

So this is just my first try. I need some lessons from the fabulous ladies at my store. They are amazing. Yes Rachel and Christyn, I mean you!