Plum Doll, Raw Earth and Shark Bait

Yup, it sure has been nearly another month since I have crossed paths with my poor neglected blog!  Life has been so fast paced and our summer has flown by.  California has come and went, twice, and Canada is just a memory of the past.  Now back to school books, homework, cheerleading, piano, gymnastics, and whatever everyday has to surprise us with. 

I wanted to make it a point to get some kits out there that I have recently made pages for:

First Kit:  Plum Doll by Dream Big Designs.  Go check out her blog or run over to her store( she has three of them but I am linking you to scrapable.  Her blog links you to the others if you want)!

Here is what it looks like and what I did with it!

Second Kit:  Raw Earth again by Dream Big Designs where you can get it for 50% off right now!!!

Third kit:  Shark Bait  It is a collab kit with Melissa Daniel Designs and Neverland Scraps.  You can grab this kit at Polka Dot Plum!

Summer update and Dream Big Designs releases

As you can see it has been over a month since I have paid visit to my beautiful blog.  I feel so neglectful however just goes to show how busy my summer has been.  I dream of being that perfect scrapbooker that can get to all my kits and post them everywhere I used to however...with summer here, being a single mom, my husband being gone, and having the kids home 24/7 I can't find the time.  So much travel this summer for us!  I can't believe that school will be starting in less than a month!  We have traveled so much from Canada to Southern CA we have or will have done it ALL on the road!  Many many miles but  many many memories that I hope I can get documented.  But for now I want to make sure that I post about two great kits by Dream big Designs.  Run over to her blog and check out her stores to find these two kits! 
Equestrian I was able to use our photos from our trip to Northern CA to the R Ranch with my friend "K."

And the next kit although I only have one page to share I have another one in progress.  It is called Who's ready for school!  Such a cute kit!  Seriously could not be more perfect for those upcoming school photos!

I will make sure I TRY to post my next page when I finish with it...but no promises I will get to it this week!  I am really hoping that things calm down once school starts back up.  My darling daughters cheerleading season is really kicking into full gear this week with practices starting back up...So we will be back in the season until next April!  I am so glad that her daddy will hopefully be home to see her perform for her National competition in Vancouver BC! 

I am hoping to get around to posting some pics from our vacation travels but am simply beat as I usually am by the end of the night!  So I am signing off and am glad that I got this much done!  Good night!

 

Its been two months

I wanted to post a quick message to those that may be interested in our endeavors as a deployed family.  Two months has now passed since Keith has left.  My two year old has stopped asking for dada every time he wakes up and goes to bed.  My six year old has grown accustomed to all of Moms dinners and sometimes very short temper.  We have been lucky enough this fourth of July weekend to have him home for a short liberty before he heads over to the middle east.  We have planned to plan nothing and have done nothing so far.  I know this weekend will go all to fast and be over before we know it.  Hudson woke up this morning and I surprised him with his daddy home!  He was so happy and loved him for the longest time.  Faith can't get off We have had many trials, and many mountains and each storm that we encounter seems impossible to pass through.   I want to be better at documenting this journey again.  Unfortunately my time seems so very limited while home alone.  Being the sole caregiver for all owies, hunger pains and monters under the bed, really cuts into all "me" time.  I have managed to continue to scrapbook but not nearly as much as I would like. 

The kids and I just got back from our second trip of our summer plans.  First one was to our great great bestest friends in Northern WA.  We went to help celebrate a birthday and hang with friends for a few days.  Then headed home for a couple days to turn around and head to Northern California for nearly a week of camping, horseback riding and swimming at a friends Ranch.  The kids just loved the horses and Faith found a new love for riding, and appreciation for those massive animals.  They can be very intimidating but I am very proud of her getting on that horse and letting it know who was boss. 

We headed home for a few days to visit with Keith to turn around and soon will be taking off for our road trip for two weeks to southern CA. 

I am totally looking forward to all of our upcoming summer trips.  We still have our trip to the beach with my mother and father in law and our trip to Canada with a friend and her children to site see and faith is enrolled in a horseback riding camp for her birthday. 

So we have some traveling coming up and a lot of adventures in line for the kiddos.  I am so grateful to keep our schedules full so we will not be sitting around wondering about Keith and what he is doing and when we will talk next.  I know that the next year will surely fly by, but of course as we go through it, the world seems to turn so slowly.  I try to remember to cherish each moment and that they will not stay little for so long yet somewhere deep inside I can't wait to have my family back together for good and not have to worry and or wonder what the next day holds for our family. 

Shortly after Keith deployed we recieved a $500 grant from this fantastic foundation called Our military kids that provides grant money to children of deployed reservists and national guard to allow them to participate in extracurricular activities while loved ones are gone.  We have been very blessed before Faiths cheerleading season even begins to have put that $500 down and a few weeks later to receive another $250 from Faiths dentist.  Now before practice has begun we are half way to paying her whole season. 

Around father day, I entered a photo of Keith with Faith walking down a peir at Whidbey Island WA, and won 3rd place!  That 3rd place deliverd a $50 Target Gift Card!  I plan to use that  for activities for the kids while we are driving to CA to see Keith off before he heads over seas.  So if you have a chance run over to their website, Our Military Kids, and see just how awesome this organization is.

So with that said, I am up to date minus a few storms we have had to wither that I won't bother getting into.  We miss having Keith around daily and almost every moment however each day passes and we grow stronger and closer to seeing him again!

Here are a few photos from Operation deployment 2010-2011!

  

Smile Bright by Melissa Daniel Designs at Polka Dot Plum

I've had these pages completed for a while and feel awful about having not posted before now. But for all the reasons I have in my book, I'll spare you the excuses and just let you know where you can find this fab kit! Run over to Melissa Daniel's blog and/or over to polka dot plum and grab it! She also created a pastel colored one that is not as bright but I just loved this bright one and I had no time to play with the other one so here is what you get and the four pages I was able to accomplish from our last trip to disney!

Relax in Paradise by Dream Big Designs

The name says it all!  When this kit was given to me, I had just returned home from a trip to my sisters house after spending some time on her private beach.  There were oyster beds galore and crabs, rocks, jellyfish, and so much natural beauty I could have stayed there for days.  It was not the typical beach I have grown accustomed to visiting with soft grains of sand.  In fact this beach I could have never taken my shoes off.  Not with all the crabs and hermit crabs, and other creatures running around at my feet.  But the true beauty of it all surrounded every inch around us.  Onto the kit...which was just perfect for all my photos that I captured from our trip to my sisters private little corner of heaven.  It was true paradise, and couldn't have been any better to use.  Go grab it now for $2.00 at Scrapable.  You should also check out her blog and all her great layouts she has done, and all of the CT as well!  It is a huge mega kit and Cheri's first mega kit she has released!  What a fabulous job she has done too! 

Benevolence by Dream Big Designs

I am happy to say I got another double page layout done!  I was so motivated with these photos and I wasn't sure I chose the right photos but after I got started, I think that I could have used any photos with this kit and it would have still be perfect but these photos really made this kit flow together for me!  So run over to Cheris store at Scrapable and grab it for $2.00.  Take a peak at the kit and what I did with it:

Super Stuntman

Two done in Two weeks!  I have been able to move onto a kit designed by the fabulous Melissa Daniels called Super Stuntman! 

Look how cute and perfect it was for my Universal Studios photos!  If you go over to her blog or even at her store at PDP you can see all the great pages and inspiration that the rest of the CT came up with for it and some of them had nothing to do with stunts or cars!!!  It feels so great to be getting some photos scrapped from our trip to disneyland last April.  I have so many more to go, but I am excepting the fact that I just don't have the time that I used to have to make as many pages.  Being the only one at home I have little time in the evening to sit and work on the computer to come up with some pages.  So glad that I got these done though and I think they turned out AWESOME!!

Girls Just Wanna Have fun Collab kit

I have somehow managed to balance time again!  Woot Woot!  I was able to work with one kit so far since hubby has been away!  I have just celebrated my 30th Birthday with some very dear friends of mine and what better kit to use than this ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE collab kit by Dream Big Designs and Rebecca B.  Run over to Cheris blog or her store at My Life and Scrap to grab it!  Right now it is 50% off!  You can get this gigantic kit for only $2.50!!!!!!! 

I made 4 layouts with it and before you go checking out my pages, let me first say that the man standing in his tighty shorts was so far out of my element for me to even be taking photos with, however, it was very much a part of my birthday extravaganza and we had soooooooooo many stinkin laughs.  The night started with sushi at my favorite sushi bar in Portland then off to a FABULOUS female impersonator show at Darcelle IV in downtown portland.  Just as you could imagine straight out of a movie!   It was so fantastic!!!  My girlfriend I will just call her T had blisters all over her feet, bruises on her toenails as well and I had blisters too! We walked and walked and danced and laughed all night!  My 30th Birthday could not have been any better!  Thank you to my fantastic friends who were able to come help me and my twin sister L celebrate our big day!!!  My friends are soooooo funny and I am not going to begin to try to explain it here on my blog but it was such a fantastic night!  I wonder what my 30's have to bring to the table.  I hope that this year will fly by and my hubby will be home to share the rest of it with!  We miss him so much!

The first week has past

I have had great intentions yet again of keeping friends and family all updated of Keith and how he is doing while he is away, however this week has over taken me with unexpected happenings that has totally allowed to time for me to sit and type. 

So lets begin at the beginning.  Sunday May 2 we said our goodbyes and Faith said the HARDEST goodbye she will ever have to say.  As she and I stood in the airport and watched her daddy disappear behind the walkway door we held each other.  She was crying and I was tearful hopeful and curious.  Curious to what the next year holds for all of us.  How much will they grow?  Will Hudson remember his daddy?  How Faith will change in 12 months.  How many teeth will she loose?  Will Hudson be potty trained when he gets home?  I had a wealth of questions that seemed to float around me.  Now that the hardest part was over...or was the hardest part yet to come.  I guess at that point that was the hardest point or so we thought...

Of course I had no idea what the upcoming week had to hold for me.  As with the beginning of anything there is always kinks to work out, papers to finalize, and tears to wipe away. 

Both Faith and Hudson said good bye to their daddy while they were super sick.  I ended up having to take Hudson into the Dr on Monday morning and they placed him on another inhaler.  I ended up finally coming down with the bug I have held onto trying to get sick as well. 

We have battled insurances not talking to me and dental insurance coverage.  I joke with my mom about writing a book about what the other books don't cover about deployment readiness.  There are all the check lists, but those checklists don't go into detail.  Granted with every deployment comes different needs and necesities, but for the most part, they are all the same.  Unbeknownst to us, dental coverage was not included in our military coverage and required a different enrollment process and payment.  So that was never taken care, but established at a very inconvenient time standing at the dentist office trying to be seen after a tooth broke the previous night!  Also tricare can never be easy because you are never dealing with just tricare.  You will always have problems with being in DEERS when your activation always begins.  Of course I had to discover that standing in line at the pharmacy trying to fill a prescription for Hudson and myself but was unable to....GRRRRRR.

I've lost my temper and I've probably not been the worlds best mom this week.  But what I do know is that I am not perfect and I am trying.  I am trying to provide what my kids need.  What is necessary for them to go on today...right here right now.  Hudson will not get into the car without asking for dada.  Hudson will not pull into the drive way with out asking for dada.  Faith always wants to call him and tell him everything still.  All makes me very happy that they both remember and talk about him, but are a constant reminder of that one thing that is actively missing in our lives.  Hudson loves to hug and kiss flat daddy and even hugged and kissed his hug a hero doll that we had printed with daddy's picture on it.  Faith loves me to spray his cologne on her hero doll, and she really loves to skype with him though we have only managed to do that one time so far.  I am hoping when our schedule calms down from so many activities this week, we might be able to see him a couple times on the computer next week.

I have leaned on my friends and asked for help.   They have babysat and been there for me to lean on and complain about that glass of water I dumped down the front of my shirt that I had put back in the cupboard full, and the chicken I burned on the grill and the squash I forgot about in the oven, and the pile of laundry I can't seem to get to, or the dishes that are piling in the sink.  They have said they would help me when I needed it.  They have been that rock that I have needed.  Thank you friends!!!!!

I am looking forward to a weekend with them all to help me celebrate my 30th birthday next week.  I am going to try to get a massage a week to pamper myself...I deserve it.  And for tonight, lets just hope I can kick this cold in the rear. 

Keith has been busy with processing through medical getting shots, filling out papers, standing in lines, going from  one part of the bast to another.  I haven't had a lot of time to talk to him.  He has managed to provide me with paper work and answers to questions that I have.  I am thankful for having him somewhat accessable to reach in the event that I need to have something done that I can't do.  There are a few problems that have arose that we are not able to deal with while he is away, but I can't talk about those here.  Fortunately we can wait to deal with them until he gets home. 

We appreciate all the prayers and support that we have recieved.  I will continue to update as we go! 

Here's is whats really goin on

Ok, so why has it been so long...???  I have lost my mojo while we are awaiting Keith's deployment.  I have put all on hold and spent my time with my family which is obviously my priority right now.  I have the desire, but when all is said and done at the end of the day picking up my computer instead of hanging with my honey is the farthest thing from my mind.  So I will be back when I have no honey to hang with but until then, I will be here and there and anywhere.  I am grateful that all my CT's understand and are patient with me while I take on this next chapter or shall I call it my new book?  So I will be back, slowly but for now keep us in your prayers.  Ciao!

Charity

My computer has been acting up, and something has taken over my hard drive.  So this is going to be quick and I have several other posts that I need to do for other designers but for now let me show this absolutely GORGEOUS kit before my computer locks up again.  How could ou not LOVE this kit!  It is just perfect for any photos and any occasion.  Cheris CT has really put some amazing pages together.  So after you check out the pages on her blog run over to her store and grab up the kit that is on sale right now for half off over at My Life and Scrap.

Let's hear it for the boys--Collab

This kit was JUST AMAZING!  Not to mention huge!  A collab thrown together by Dream Big Designs & Rebecca B Lets Hear it for the Boys is truly a mans/boys/family or even girls working page kit  (did you follow that?)!  There are really so many possibilities for it and I was just in awe as I sat deciding which photos to use, I had so many options...so versatile!  I loved the colors the elements the papers.  From Grunge to pretty, this kit carries it all!  It is on sale right now for only $2.00 over at My Life and Scrap so stop reading, click and buy now!!!  It is a steal for $2.00 and you really get soooooooo much!!!

Are you sold yet?  You couldn't possibly have made it through this post, and if you have, take a peak over at their blogs to see all the fantastic pages the rest of the CT's have made.  DBD CT is so big and the talent is so different!  I know you will be inspired after checking out their blogs!

Family Memories by Craft-tastrophic Designs

This kit has such vibrant colors, and it worked so perfectly with my photos!  I was so excited to see the designer that I got to work with for the second half of February at Digi Scraps Drive In, and when I saw the kits I had to pick from for craft-tastrophic designs (try saying that 10 times fast I bet $100 you can't!) I was in heaven!  So hard to choose.  I eventually eeny meenied my way down and chose Family Memories.  So here is it!  What fun the competition was and what fun I had making these pages!!!

And here are a few photos from our weekend in Bellingham!  Did I mention that they placed 3rd out of 8 teams!!!  WSE girls Rocked the floor at this competition for sure!!!