Where does time go anyway?

I just can't figure it out. Time, it just flies by.

The LOAD challenges have been going well for me. To date I have created over 30 pages in 19 days, which for me is a record. The reason the number is so high is I'm choosing to do layouts that I need to do for each of my children's albums all at once. It is a system that seems to be working for me and it is making me extremely happy to watch pages come together. Yes, I know there are a few days that are missing. I didn't do a few days just because I needed to not feel like I was rushed to post.

Day 12......Prompt: To use a title of who you are, a business card on the layout or to just do what you want. I chose to do what I wanted to work on. These photos of my children are some of my favorites. My two youngest were 18 months old and 3 years old, they were afraid of the sprinkler. Their two older sisters put a stop to that fear by showing them how to hold the sprinkler so you could get everyone wet. The key here is they didn't know the photos were being taken until much later in the event. Gotta love a good telephoto lens!

Day 13......Prompt: What one word holds meaning for you right now. The word that holds meaning for me right now is home. It took me quite some time to feel like this was actually my home. The love for it came slowly and I love being here now. The second page to this will be of pictures of the house with our stuff moved in. I just need to be able to get it looking nice for at least a day or two.

Day 14.......Prompt: What color do you feel like scrapping? Greens and Blues are some of my favorite colors. My scrapbook corner is done in these colors just because they make me so happy. So that is what led me to finish up the other half of the layout set from Day 12.

Day 17.......Prompt: Do a page for you, happy colors, favorite products or photo you love. I've always loved this photo. It was taken about 6 weeks before I found out I was pregnant with our son. We hadn't had a family photo done in such a long time that family was complaining. This would also be the last time I ever purchased 11x14 photos. I cut this one down to 9x9 to make it a little more manageable. I paired it with a casual family photo taken two years before this. It will be placed next to the family photo done earlier this month because the paper colors go together.

It is cold here

WAY to soon for it to be so cold! All the leaves haven't even started to change color, what is up with that? My flowers were beautiful then we had our cold snap, now they are wilted and dying. It is so sad, the only hope I have though is remembering that spring will come.

I was trimming the old flower seed pods from my lilac bushes last week and I was struck with the awe in seeing next years growth of flowers. God gave me a tap on the shoulder and reminded me that everything in life has new growth just waiting to grow. If I hadn't slowed down I would never had taken the time to see. Thanks God for the gentle reminder.

Day 9.......Prompt: What is the most important thing to capture in your scrapbooks? This is an a page from an ABC book I started a long time ago. Favorite photos of my children at different times of their lives. I don't want to forget anything about being a mom and wife. I want to pass my memories on to my children so they don't forget. That is why I scrapbook.

Day 10......Prompt: Scrapbook a dream or dreamy photo. This is my dreamy photo. I will never be able to get this day out of my head. It was a perfect day at the park and this was one of those pictures that you look at after you pick up your film from the printers and say wow. The title to this will be Shine, my daughter's hair was shining in the sun. So beautiful!

Busy weekend


The weekend was wonderfu but busy. We spent most of Saturday at my son's Marching Band competition, where his band took 1st place in their division and 2nd place overall. They did a great job!! Go Mt. Spokane!!


For the LOAD challenges I decided to give myself permission to skip Sunday. I am okay with it and it was nice to just not be in a rush. When I get some time I will be adding supplies used in each of these layouts. I just didn't think about it until today.


Day 7......Prompt: Do something you haven't finished. I made this double page layout a VERY long time ago! I've had pictures made up for way to long. This was such a beautiful day and it was the first time my youngest daughter swam in a lake.


Day 8.......Prompt: Just be happy doing what you are doing. I love these photos of one of my older daughters. They were given to me by my neighbor and I was able to scan them in to make pages for each of the girls.

Here I go


I'm plugging right along on the LOAD. The last couple of days I've struggled but have been pushing through.


Day 5.......Prompt: Fall colors. My two younger children playing in the leaves with their Great Grandpa. Pretty special photos!



Day 6......Prompt: Do something on your layout you have never done before. I've always wanted to print on a transparency. This was a lot of fun!!


If you like to visit other blogs for inspiration you may want to head over to Fabulously Artsy. She is doing a blogfest all month long, talk about some good talent. Enjoy!!

Layout a Day

Day 3....Prompt: Your childhood dream. This was it, being a Mom and Wife. Photo was taken Fall 1988......wow, the girls were so little!

Day 4........Prompt: We were to scraplift something. I scraplifted this technique from here for this layout. My oldest daughter was in The Wizlard of Oz, when she was a senior in high school. All the pages will be using this technique. Very fun! I also had some Wizard of Oz paper that I had picked up a long time ago so I just cut it apart. I don't think you can see it but the swirls have a little bit of glitter on them.

Layout a Day

Day 1.....I blinked. Prompt: To create a layout with Cardstock, patterned paper, letters and one embellishment. I have so many photos of my daughter Angela that are not scrapbooked I thought it would be only fitting to use some in her wedding album.

Day 2......Companion layout to the above. Prompt: What did you do this summer? We got ready for a wedding!

This day

Friday was a rainy day. One of those days that you just want to stay in bed or curl up with a book. It would have been nice if my day had gone that way but I ended having to run to my son's high school, he forgot to pack his lunch. I don't mind doing it really. I count myself as fortunate that I can be home to do things like this.

Saturday was the first time in over a month that we didn't have to be anywhere. My son was away at a Marching Band competition and the rest of us just took it easy. No where to go and nothing pressing to do. We managed to not even get the small amount of yard work, we need to do to close up the yard for winter. That will have to be done durning the week so we will be ready for the guys to blow out the sprinkler lines this Friday. Winter is on it's way. I am going to miss my gorgeous potted flowers! My geraniums grew bigger than I have ever had them grow. Everyone in the neighborhood has commented one time or another this year how pretty the front of the house looks. It has meant a lot to me to be noticed for our hard work.

I learned this past week is how important it is for me to not forget to take my thyroid medication. I forgot to take it Friday morning and proceeded to paid for it all weekend. I felt like I had been hit by a truck. It will be something I don't repeat!! I'm not sleeping well at night, not sure what is up with that. Something more to talk with my doctor about.

My LOAD pages are coming right along. It feels good to get things done but it has taken forever to get in the groove. My corner has exploded so I guess that is a good thing, at least I'm having fun. No more excuses for me to not get my scrapbooking done. I have all this beautiful product and I seem to just collect it, not using it often enough. I will be sharing my pages in the next couple of days. Just doubling up so it makes it more interesting.

One thing I have always had a hard time doing is taking good photos of my artwork. What worked at my old house doesn't always work here at the new house. I stumbled onto Erin Grotegut's blog last week and she gave out information on what is called an Infinity Board. I am pleasantly surprised on how well it is working. It really does make things look clearer. Give it a try, you might just like it.

October

Welcome to you - I am ready to embrace you and all you have for me. I am on a journey to change a little piece of myself, in hopes of moving in the right direction. I'm excited but I don't want to fail myself. I WANT this and NEED this!! It takes 21 days to make a change and I want this one to last a lifetime.

Years ago I took a challenge from Rhonna Farrer, to work on changing something in my life. I would join with other people doing the same thing. I missed out this last time she did it but have decided that today the first of October would be a good time for me to do this. For me, a challenge to change the part of my life that I KNOW needs to change! I will share my journey as I go but I need to keep it to myself for now. I need to enjoy this process and right now it is the scariest thing I am facing.

At the same time this month, I am also joining up with Lain Ehmann for another addition of L.O.A.D. I so need this to jump start my scrapbooking, which I haven't done much of the past year. It isn't to late to sign up, just scroll down on her page and she tells you how to do it! Come join us, anytime it is going to be fun!!

The Dust is settling

AND I do believe fall is starting to settle in. The nights and mornings are cooler, makes me want to pull up a good book and stay under a blanket all day. However, the days make me want to get out and soak up as much sunshine with more temperatures as I can. Daytime is still like mid-summer, 75* to 85*........I really do love this time of year.

Angela and her new family were on their way back to their home last Wednesday. I was sad to see them go but also knowing it was time for me to settle back into a real routine. It is amazing how tired I was after they left. Somehow you just seem to push through each day getting things done but I do believe I am getting caught up on my sleep.

I couldn't decide what pictures to post of the wedding so I made a little slide show. I wouldn't normally do one but with wanting to share so many pictures it seemed like the best option. Just scroll down and enjoy!

October is fast approaching and I will be taking part in the LayOut A Day Challenge(LOAD) with Lain Ehmann. I haven't done this in such a long time! I'm hoping that it will be a good start to Christmas presents I have planned for my children.

Breathing

I'm finally starting to be able to catch my breath and breathe. I have breathing room and it feels so good as I believe fall is starting to settle in.

The wedding was a magical day indeed. The whole week leading up to the wedding was relaxed and full of fun. We had family dinners with family from out of town, late nights playing cards, laughing and time getting to know my son-in-law and grandson. Nothing like getting a two for one special. My heart was forever lost to this little guy when he knew I wasn't feeling good and he picked me a daisy. He came up with the idea all on his own with no prompting from his Daddy. Yep, my heart melted and I started to feel better.

The cupcakes and cake turned out beautiful even if we did have some snafu's with the frosting. It is most important to make butter cream frosting a little thicker than what you think you will need because if you don't it will melt before you are done frosting!

More wedding photos to come. I am going to attempt to put them on a photo loop so I can share more than just a few, so stay tuned.

Happy September!

The back deck is finished and just in time! We had a rain storm the day after I finished painting, not bad timing if I do say so myself.

Back deck before painting:

Back deck after painting:

My oldest daughter is here now with her soon to be husband and they brought along his 3 year old son. For the first day the house was in an uproar, pour little guy didn't want to be out of daddy's sight and wasn't even really sure what he wanted. He was so tired! He is now fitting in very well to his surroundings, loves going up and down stairs and LOVES the tramoline! So all is good in the McDonald house.

Family from out of state has arrrived to join in the days before the wedding excitement. Having family here is just what I need, it helps me to remember what this weekend is all about. I'm far more relaxed than I exspected to be and it is so nice. Bruce is on vacation this week, which makes life so much sweeter.

Today is our last full day of just relaxing, no real agenda. Honestly, I've tried really hard to set goals for the things that need to be done on a daily basis and leaving our afternoon/evenings free to do whatever. Tomorrow and Thursday we purchase the food we need for Saturday. Thursday we also do our baking of the wedding cake and cupcakes, followed on Friday by frosting everything. I just hope I am going to be able to keep everyone's fingers out of the frosting!!

Almost there

We are about 75% done with the deck! The stairs and railings are the only thing left to be put back together with screws. The front smaller deck has been painted with just some touch up that needs to be done. Then the back deck railings are finished(except for the stairs) and I have to do the main floor of the deck which I am hoping to do today. I swear the weather better hold out and no freak rain storms in the middle of the night!! Hopefully today we will finish the back deck.

Front Deck BeforeFront Deck After

The excitement is rising around here, 6 days and my daughter Angela, Michaela and Alex arrive! Gary and Jim are driving up from California so they will be in a week, then everyone else will either arrive Thursday, Friday or the day of the wedding. We are ready to have our feet hit the ground running and I've promised myself to take as much help as I can get!! We finally found a GREAT recipe for cupcakes/cake and I even found some reasonably priced edible butterflies to go on a few of them, if you are ever looking for them be sure you go to Sugar Robot. She is wonderful and very helpful!! I will post the butterflies when they are all decorated on top of the cupcakes and cake.

I was at my local Michael's a couple of days ago, picking up a couple of last minute things to finish the archway for the wedding. I was delighted when I walked up to the clearance shelf and found this.............

a new cartridge for my slice that I purchase this past spring! Ya, look at that price $9.99!! Yep, regular price $39.99 and this is one of the new designs that came out in June. So excited!!!! It is going to be so nice to be have some wonderful sayings!!

A little Creativity


As I am getting my creative mojo back it is leading me to feel whole again. I am slowly picking up projects that should have been done long ago instead of starting new ones.


One of the projects I have been wanting to do for a long time is recover a pair of stools I found at an estate sale years ago. I bought the pair for around $5 each over 15 years ago! They have been looking pretty ratty so I found some nice canvas fabric and took a week recovering them both. Fabric cost was under $15, buttons were all on clearance so it brought my total for both stools to $30. Not bad for a solid piece of furniture that gets fought over who gets to sit on them!


Before....remembered to take a picture of them after I had already taken them apart.

After.....I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the silver buttons!!
I can feel overwhelmed with things that need to be done just like anyone. It is like once I say I am going to work on something, I tend to beat myself up over not getting it done or putting it aside for something else that I deam more important at the time. I'm glad these only took a few days and made me feel better. It helped me to begin to see the putting it off mode I have been in. Now if I can just finish redesigning my blog......hhhmmm that may have to wait until the kids go back to school!

Happy August!

It has been so hot the past few weeks! It makes me just want to stay in doors, even if I need to go grocery shopping. I'm happy that the last two days it has been in the mid 70's, a total relief. We even had a little bit of rain.

A few weeks ago I stumbled onto such a good deal! I went to my local nursery looking for a few flowers that I could possibly add to the backyard for the wedding. I was so happy to find that all the flowers were 75% off!! So I purchased a $190 worth of flowers for $50 to add to my garden. What a blessing. They are now all filling in quite nicely and will look wonderful for the wedding which is in 4 weeks.

So speaking of weddings........The invitations to the wedding are out.

The bouquet and boutonniere are made. I only need to work on the archway and a smaller bouquet to be able to be thrown, which will be happening this week.

The recipes given to me have been tried for the cupcakes and I have learned that all cake recipes are not made to be cupcakes!! So, I have been searching for a recipe that could be used for both cake and cupcakes. I have finally found it and it is the most wonderfully recipe I have used in a long time. I will be using it for a long time to come, it is right up there with the Red Velvet cake. You can find it here.

Busy, Busy, Busy

With all things wedding! Even though there has been so much to do I am having a real good time. It is super fun to watch my daughter's ideas come together. I feel totally blessed that she is allowing me to help her.

I believe except for the food we will be making for the wedding reception I'm almost done purchasing things. Which is wonderful feeling! Not to much cooking to be done strictly because we are keeping it small, under 30 people plus making it a potluck reception. We are making cupcakes and a 6" cake instead of a large wedding cake which will help in the dollar department. When you don't have a lot of freezer or storage space you have to make do somehow. The week before the wedding will be filled with baking, baking and more baking!!

The flowers are purchased and waiting to be put into bouquet and archway. I was not sure of Angela's color choices but they are beautiful and bright. More to come.......

Extreme Happiness

In just over 6 weeks my oldest daughter Angela is getting married!! Aren't they such a cute couple?? We are all so excited!!! Welcome to the family Michael!! We can't wait to meet the person who has captured out daughter's heart. We might be a big family but we don't bite...lol

So now starts the preperations for the wedding. I have promised, that I will not become a mother who has to control of things or wanting things to be perfect. Are goal is to just enjoy our time together and most of all have fun.

One year and 10 days

That is how long we have lived her in Spokane. Sometimes I still feel like I am in a dream and that I'm going to wake up living back in our other house with Bruce travelling out of town every week.

Things I have learned this past year and 10 days:

*That it is okay to be angry sometimes, even when it takes you while to figure out why
*That things on your honey do list can actually get done
*That gardening isn't so bad when you have someone to share it with
*That driving in traffic isn't so bad once you get use to it
*That figuring out your way around is scary at first but a breeze once you go out on your own
*That after living here for a year and 10 days I STILL have stuff to get rid of, but haven't added anything(well maybe a few things in my scrapbook corner)
*That it is nice to take a break from scrapbooking even for a little while
*That I can be my best friend but still miss doing things with others
*That I really do miss entertaining

So these are a few things I have learned. Are you learning anything special?

It has been 16 years

16 years ago today a little baby boy came into my life and changed me forever.

Time has gone by faster than what I would have liked but all in all my beautiful baby boy has grown into a young man that I am terribly proud of.

Son, I hope you have a wonderful new year full of excitement and fun. A mother couldn't ask for a better son than you. I love you!!

Is it summer?

The answer to this question I am not sure about because of the rainstorms we have been having about every other day. Now don't get me wrong, I am loving it!! I love waking up in the morning and stepping outside to just smell fresh air. I feel like I am up in the woods everyday. So I wonder why it just doesn't feel like summer even with the kids out of school.

Our anniversary was wonderful. Bruce took the day off for me, we took a city drive and went out to lunch. We ate WAY to much food and next time I need to remember to ask for a box even before I start eating. Then I can enjoy the rest the next day. I don't remember when we have had this much fun, really. For the last few years he has been out of town every anniversary so this was a treat. He didn't even answer his phone!!!

It has taken me 25 years to relize, that my husband is not one to follow what the world would say he should do for an anniversary, Valentine's Day or even Christmas. I can say that I'm finally okay with that.

I have been feverishly working on a few things to share so look for something special soon!

25

Twenty five years today, that is how long I have been married to my best friend, companion and lover.

We have lived in 4 states and 7 houses, three of which we bought....houses not states....lol. We have owned 11 vehicles, I don't think I am missing any. We have had 4 beautiful children, two of which are on their own and two still at home.

I don't know what the future is going to hold but my Sweet Darlin' I'm along for the ride. You still make my heart flutter!! You are the love of my life and my dream come true!!

I suffer from..........

Procrastination! I guess I've never really wanted to admit it to myself. When I know I have to do important things I am forever looking for an excuse to do something else.

So when my teenage daughter brings me a doodle she did for me a few weeks ago, it started to wake me up, to what I was doing to myself and even to my family. It said; "Leave nothing for tomorrow which can be done today" Abraham Lincoln

Then this week I visited Laine's Scrap Happy site. Guess what she was talking about.....arrrgghhh. Okay, I get the idea already!! Hello world, my name is Juel and I am a full on Procrastinator!! She has a cute utube video on her site that pretty much says it all.

So this week I've started taking care of a few things that I have been putting off, what about you??

I have no idea what to do!

A week from today I will be celebrating my 25th wedding anniversary to a man that I love dearly(even when he drives me a little crazy) The thing is.............I have absolutely NO idea what to do, really I don't! This year marks a time when we will actually be together on our anniversary and that hasn't happened in YEARS, we are talking YEARS people.

Over our life together, I've made plans only to have him end of having to work out of town. The one promising thing was, last week his work told him he was going to have to be out of town for 3 days, one of those days being our anniversary. He in not so many nice words told them there was no way he was going to work out of town on his 25th wedding anniversary.

So I come back to the question my man asked me this morning, so do you want to do anything special next week because I can't think of anything. So much of our life for years has been put on hold, it comes to times like this that you realize that and you are thankful you are in a different place now. Where do you start when you are still a little afraid of your husband being called to go out of town, even when he told them he wouldn't? Do you go alone or take your teenagers with you because they are part of your life and you desire to not have them miss out on the fun too? We don't have friends or other family members to go out and celebrate with. This is a big day in our lives, a big milestone and it will be remembered for a lifetime. I know anything we do is going to be special but I just don't know where to start.

Just can't believe it

3 weeks and school is going to be out! My son will be taking driver's ed so watch your roads for a student driver that thinks he is driving in a video game. We have been trying to take him driving at least 3 times a week and I'm happy to say he is soooo much better!! I'm even proud of myself for not being white knuckled and trying to push my foot into the passenger floor board. By summer's end he'll probably have his license and he'll be able to drive himself to 7am Marching band camp!

Speaking of Marching band, Mt. Spokane traveled last weekend to Vancouver, B.C for the Heritage Music Festival. The Marching band took first place in all 5 divisions of competition!! All the hard work and long hours throughout the year paid off. The group this year has many new incoming freshman so it is wonderful that they are doing so well.

I shared a little that I am finding my muse return. I'm so happy and thought I would take the time to show you what has sparked my creativity. First indulge me as I give you a little bit of history about me. I've always been creative. I can remember many of the special kits at Christmas time from family, that would allow you to make flowers, clay things, etc.(Do you have a favorite you remember?) I remember even trying to make my own clay from flour, baby powder and water. My mom was so mad that I had made a complete mess of the top of my dresser, from mixing everything. I learned that it was fun making a mess but you have to clean up after yourself.....lol. I always loved to draw and doodle. In high school I took an art class and enjoyed myself so much. That is where I fell in love with colored pencils, watercolors and shading. When I told my parents that I wanted to produce art they were to supportive so my drawing never went any further. Almost 16 years ago I picked up my first rubber stamp and I was able to get back to what I loved to do, color. I have always wanted to learn to draw faces so when SuziBlu opened up her Petite Dolls for beginners I found myself getting nervous. She is a gracious teacher, full of life and so willing to help in anyway she can to help you feel better about yourself in general and as an artist. So this is what I have been up to, learning to draw these fun little dolls that really aren't meant to look like anyone. Full of mixed media which I have found to be part of my muse, which I already knew because of my love of scrapbooking.

So without further ado may I introduce to you my Petite Dolls...........My princess and king with a little close up of the princess face.

Then my beautiful mermaid with lots of her friends by her side. Hope you enjoyed seeing into a little bit of my life right now. I'm sure I will be making more dolls as time goes by. They are quite addicting!! Please do not use any part of my dolls without permission, thanks.