Sunday, December 30, 2007
Just finished up my last assignments for 2007!
These were my last assignments to complete for the year 2007...nothing like waiting till the last minute huh? LOL...well it looks like I have one day of rest and then its back to work! These 3 LOs were made for Scrappin Sports and More. TFL
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Our poor little guy....
...we had just got back from an early dinner...we hadn't been home 10 minutes. Mason fell coming up the stairs and cut open his chin...actually it wasn't his chin but the area of skin under his chin...it was bleeding pretty good and of course he got scared. I looked at it and knew right away he was going to need stitches. So I run across the street to see if the girls were available to come and stay with Ben and Camryn and Stuart and I took Mason to urgent care. He was so brave. When we first got there I sat down in the chair with Mason in my lap...he had his eyes closed and he started to whimper...it took me back to our hospital stay at Children's...he just looked so sad. I told him he was going to be ok and the doctors were going to help him. Once we got into a room they gave him some medicine to numb the area to get ready for stitches. He looked back up at me and said, "my bones are breaking" oohhhhhh I said Mason you are going to be ok. The doctor starts putting in the stitches and the first one goes just fine...he gets a little wiggly at the second...and starts squirming during the third...by the fourth one he was feeling every thing...it was hard to watch but he made it through. He is the toughest little guy I know!
Thursday, December 20, 2007
BUSY BUSY BUSY....
This morning I went to school with Ben to help the 1st and 2nd graders make their own snowflakes...they were a big hit with everyone...I ended up telling many parents and other teachers how they could make their own...so many of them were planning on running to the scrapbook store to get their own papers...this one Ben and I made for his teacher. After I made the snowflakes with the kiddos I ran home and ate some lunch...then Camryn, Mason and I headed back to the school for a concert...it was so much fun watching all the kids walk out in their nice clothes and they just all sang their little hearts out. I have never thought of Ben as a performer...oh my goodness...he's quite the little singer and dancer. He was having a really great time. After the program ended I signed Ben out of school and we ran to Rosauers for some orange extract and made these yummy cookies...
Mom thank you so much for sending me the recipe. I made about 6 dozen and some are coming with me tonight to Book Club. While making the cookies we listened to Christmas Music blaring and had fun dancing and singing...it really got me in the Christmas Mood...finally!!! I was beginning to think I wasn't going to see it again this year. It also helps that the last several days we've received packages from Grandma's and Grandpa's, Aunts, Uncles and Cousins...this is what our tree already looks like...thank you so much to our family who sent us gifts...it will be very strange to not see anyone during the holidays. 
Today I also received this in the mail...a very large edible cookie Christmas card...I was so surprised when I opened it up and saw it was from Roger and Sandi. So thoughtful...yes you are seeing that right - Camryn is wearing her halloween costume, actually I can't keep my kids out of their costumes LOL
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
...first Pre-Test...PASSED and ready for the real thing!
After nearly 8 weeks of practice Benjamin is finally ready to change belts. He received his black tape and was ready for his pre-test.
...at the end of class tonight he proved he was ready for the real thing! Friday night at 6 he is testing for his yellow belt. I'm so pround of him...he's really doing great! The instructors are actually very hard on the kids and make them accountable for all their actions inside and outside of class. Ben has never been a tough kid...but I'm glad he's gaining more confidence and of course excelling in this new venture. You know when he first started he was really reluctanct to shout in class the way his teacher wanted him too...which was very odd since I have always said I have the loudest children in the world...I had to tell Ben that its ok to yell in class just NOT at home. Ben and I will go down in the basement and I'll practice with him...even Mason and Camryn are learning the moves...the funniest thing those two do is yell "yes, Sir!" at the end of their sentences...once in a while after I ask them to do something, I'll hear a "yes, mom...sir!" I just have to laugh.
...at the end of class tonight he proved he was ready for the real thing! Friday night at 6 he is testing for his yellow belt. I'm so pround of him...he's really doing great! The instructors are actually very hard on the kids and make them accountable for all their actions inside and outside of class. Ben has never been a tough kid...but I'm glad he's gaining more confidence and of course excelling in this new venture. You know when he first started he was really reluctanct to shout in class the way his teacher wanted him too...which was very odd since I have always said I have the loudest children in the world...I had to tell Ben that its ok to yell in class just NOT at home. Ben and I will go down in the basement and I'll practice with him...even Mason and Camryn are learning the moves...the funniest thing those two do is yell "yes, Sir!" at the end of their sentences...once in a while after I ask them to do something, I'll hear a "yes, mom...sir!" I just have to laugh.
Monday, December 17, 2007
The Moss Adams Holiday Party
...was in the Marie Anntonnett Ballroom at the Davenport Hotel. We enjoyed getting dressed up, eating a fabulous meal and spending time with new friends.
Sunday, December 9, 2007
What a weekend!
Today we took the kids downtown to the INB to watch the Nutcracker...afterwards we went out to dinner and finished our meal with a deepfried oreo...Mason ended up giving his to Ben.I was able to finish this minibook for my brother in law...he's giving it as a gift for Christmas...here are just a few of my favorite pages...
ok....we've been in Spokane now for about 3 months...we still can't get used to what we see on most nights in our front yard...they are always in 2's...the second one ran away when I tried to get this picture...he's standing to the side of me...still staring...I asked Stuart...deer won't charge will they? lol...I'm sure if they do I'll wake the entire neighborhood with my screams!
Isn't Morris just the funniest cat! He was just sleeping away :)
...I was able to make these for the neighbors and get them delivered...it sure feels great to get one more thing mark off that list!
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Just a couple of things I finished today...
...and I would have gotten more done if Jennifer and I wouldn't have talked on the phone for 90 some minutes this afternoon...LOL 
I'm Invisible...
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 gotten back 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 banana 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: "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:
* No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names.
* These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished.
* They made great sacrifices and expected no credit..
* 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. 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 see 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.
**author unknown**
(someone I consider a very dear friend sent this to me just now and since I know alot of moms read my blog I wanted to share it with you...as I read it I was completely over come by emotions...emotions that I can't quite explain...but this passage HIT ME like a brick wall...I am that invisible mom...and I know that one day I too will see the great cathedral I built and all my sacrifices will have been worth it. Being a mom, we have to give up so much of ourselves and I though I struggle everyday for having to give up ME...my career...my independence...I know I am doing the most important job right now - in the coming year I hope to find more peace with my role. I also had to stop and think if my own mom sees the great cathedrals she built or if she thinks she failed...why does life have to be so tough? I hope that in my moms eyes she is proud and feels like she did a great job raising her own children. If she doesn't then I feel like I have failed her...)
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 gotten back 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 banana 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: "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:
* No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names.
* These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished.
* They made great sacrifices and expected no credit..
* 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. 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 see 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.
**author unknown**
(someone I consider a very dear friend sent this to me just now and since I know alot of moms read my blog I wanted to share it with you...as I read it I was completely over come by emotions...emotions that I can't quite explain...but this passage HIT ME like a brick wall...I am that invisible mom...and I know that one day I too will see the great cathedral I built and all my sacrifices will have been worth it. Being a mom, we have to give up so much of ourselves and I though I struggle everyday for having to give up ME...my career...my independence...I know I am doing the most important job right now - in the coming year I hope to find more peace with my role. I also had to stop and think if my own mom sees the great cathedrals she built or if she thinks she failed...why does life have to be so tough? I hope that in my moms eyes she is proud and feels like she did a great job raising her own children. If she doesn't then I feel like I have failed her...)
Sunday, December 2, 2007
ooohhhhhh the weather outside is frightful....
oh my goodness it was beautiful outside today...it totally felt like we were inside a snowglobe! I loved it.
Friday, November 30, 2007
More digital LOs for the Digital Template Shoppe
....I love these templates you can check them out here www.creativitybysrystal.typepad.com. Here are a few digital LOs I made using the Templates...
This photo of Mason was taken right in the middle of our move...Ben took this when I wasn't paying attention...I'm not sure why he thinks I won't find out if he has had my camera...there is always evidence left behind LOL
...these photos of the kids were taken last week...it was 21 degrees on top of Mt. Spokane, we drove up there to try and get our Christmas Card photo...it was SO COLD!
Here's Ben and his teacher.
These I made for my SIL...isn't Cooper just the cutest little thing you've ever seen?
This photo of Mason was taken right in the middle of our move...Ben took this when I wasn't paying attention...I'm not sure why he thinks I won't find out if he has had my camera...there is always evidence left behind LOL
...these photos of the kids were taken last week...it was 21 degrees on top of Mt. Spokane, we drove up there to try and get our Christmas Card photo...it was SO COLD!
Here's Ben and his teacher.
These I made for my SIL...isn't Cooper just the cutest little thing you've ever seen?
Thursday, November 29, 2007
We are all booked...
...and now we just have to wait until its time to board! We are so excited, this yr. we'll be celebrating our 10th anniversary early and in the Caribbean...we'll be flying to San Juan, Puerto Rico and departing there...yeahhhhhhh I can't wait!
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Its beginning to look alot like Christmas!
Last night it snowed and we had at least 3 inches of snow on the ground this morning. The sun came out today but it wasn't warm enough to melt anything. We walked to school this afternoon to pick up the neighborhood kids...our neighbor pulled Mason on the sled thru the neighborhood...he thought it was the neatest thing ever! Once we got home everyone played in the pile of snow at the end of the Ct. - some very nice man plowed our court and left that nice big pile for the kids to play in...while the kids played I shoveled the snow off the driveway...we are expecting a bunch more snow before the week is through...I just stuffed our last envelope and our Christmas Cards are going out in the mail tomorrow. Let the holiday season begin :)
...and since we got all this snow - I got to open one of my Christmas gifts early...Stuart got me these awesome UGGs...they have to be the most comfy shoes I've ever worn...I was outside this afternoon for over an hour and my feet never got cold...I love 'em!
Monday, November 26, 2007
It's snowing!!!!
For the last couple of months I've been telling the kids we'd have a twinkie party when it snowed. Tonight we took Ben to Taekwondo and when we came out it was white everywhere! When we got home I made Twinkies...the kids thought they were the best ever! 
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Thanksgiving came and went...
...we stayed in Spokane and enjoyed a quiet day together. I cooked dinner myself and Stuart did most of the dishes...we had a sick kitty here and with the accident on the day before I thought we might lose him but he seems to be getting stronger...there's still something definitely not right but at least he's trying to eat again and isn't sleeping 24/7. Hang in there Morris...we love you!
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Monday, November 19, 2007
Digital Wedding LOs
I am using these two LOs for my November LOs at www.scrappinfreestyle.com I used the Dream Wedding Quote & Sarah Kit by Dragon Lair Designs along with a little element from the Future Paleontologist Kit by myself and Jennifer Wuthrich. ETA: I used Template #10 & 13 from www.creativitybycrystal.typepad.com - TFL
Sunday, November 18, 2007
...in the POURING DOWN RAIN...
...Stuart and I sat with other crazy people....thousands of crazy people to watch the last WSU home game. We only lasted through the 1st quarter and then we wandered thru campus until we found a dry (not so quiet) place. We parked ourselves at Valhalla for the next 3 hours or so...we saw lots of people we knew and had a ton of laughs. 
Friday, November 16, 2007
...and finally the WEDDING...
Last weekend we drove to the Tri-Cities for Ian and Chris' Wedding. Here are a few of my favorite photos...I took nearly 600 photos last weekend! These first two photos are of Chris and the kids taken before the ceremony...or maybe it was after...it was such a crazy weekend! I can't even remember if I ate lol
Ben looked so handsome!
Here's Camryn and the cupcake she picked by herself. I made all 144 cupcakes for the wedding...I never got to try the chocolate ones just the strawberry and white and the white was so yummy!!!
Here is the wedding party and Ian in Chris down by the Columbia River before entering the reception. It was such a beautiful day for a wedding and NO WIND!!! Which is hardly heard of lol!
At the Reception we all had so much fun dancing...and then Ted and I slipped away and celebrated our Birthdays...I turned 33 on Thursday and he turned 25 on Saturday! Happy Birthday Ted!!!
Ben looked so handsome!
Here's Camryn and the cupcake she picked by herself. I made all 144 cupcakes for the wedding...I never got to try the chocolate ones just the strawberry and white and the white was so yummy!!!
Here is the wedding party and Ian in Chris down by the Columbia River before entering the reception. It was such a beautiful day for a wedding and NO WIND!!! Which is hardly heard of lol!
At the Reception we all had so much fun dancing...and then Ted and I slipped away and celebrated our Birthdays...I turned 33 on Thursday and he turned 25 on Saturday! Happy Birthday Ted!!!
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