My Baby is 6

I can't believe that in just a few short hours I am going to be the mother of a 6 year old. My precious little girl is turning 6 tomorrow. At 12:20am to be exact. I remember every little of the day she was born like it was yesterday. Wasn't it just yesterday? Does this ever get easier, this passage of time? It's all I can do to not head upstairs and climb into bed with her. I miss the times just spent snuggling with her. It's amazing how quickly they outgrow that. I just want to hold her, soak her in and she is already such an individual with her own agenda and doesn't have time to just sit and snuggle anymore. How is it that you can remember every single moment of their lives in excruciating detail yet it seems as if no time at all has passed? How is it that these little beings that you grew inside of you, that you fed from your own body, that you cradled and rocked night after night can so quickly grow and become such an independent being? It's much too fast for this poor mother's heart.

Long Time No Post

So, I've completely neglected this blog. Life is just plowing along and I forget to even show up here!

Work is still a major issue. None of the problems from September have been resolved and many are worse. Not sure what I will be doing next year.

The school district here had a really bad business manager who completely mismanaged all of the funds so now they are scrambling to avoid layouts. It makes me really concerned about what my children's education is going to look like. Do I shell out the money for private school?

My scrapbooking is still going strong. I did make the leap and I will be doing all of my scrapping for 2008 digitally with only special albums done in paper. I've made a few CT changes. Sue Jones, my very first designer and someone I've grown to consider a friend decided to retire. I completely understand, but am soooo bumbed about it. I resigned from Digitals. Just didn't seem to be a good fit for me. So now I'm working with Ann-Marie, Kiki Halbert and Dawn Wilson. I also am currently guesting with Victoria Feemster and I will be guesting with Melissa Bennett in December.

That's all the news on this front.

New Job

So, I left the school district I was at for the past 2 years because there were a lot of problems there. Particularly with the administration. I was so excited to be at this new job. New beginnings. New experiences. Better conditions.

WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG

It's been a horrible experience. First of all, they blatantly misrepresented what my job would be. I am now dealing with work that the previous therapists failed to do. Angry teachers because they haven't gotten services. Angry teachers because I'm scheduling at the wrong time. A caseload that has grown completely out of control. This better get better AND FAST
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sunset

We went to a local park the other night to spend some family time together and ended up being there right at sunset. I was disappointed because we got to this point after the sun had disappeared behind the horizon and I "missed" the sunset. Silly me. I did manage to catch this little moment with Paul and the kids. Probably my favorite photo I've ever taken.

New Creative Team

I am so excited that I was chosen to be on a new Creative Team. I had been going through the cycle of getting rejection after rejection. It was especially disheartning because I knew that I had done some really great layouts over the past few months. It was hard to not start looking at those layouts as lesser quality or wastes of space. But in a rare moment of self-confidence I was able to tell myself, "I'm just not what they are looking for." That was until...






Dawn Wilson.






Can I just say how under-rated she is as a designer? She is FABULOUS (yes, I meant to scream that)! I have been having so much fun over the past week playing with all her designs.


Here are a bunch of my layouts.

New ADSR Challenge

So Scrapbook Elements put out the 6th challenge. My first thought was, "NO WAY." But it turned into a lot of fun. I am really, really happy with how it came out. I really didn't think that I was capable of creating layouts like this. We were only allowed to use 3 papers (1 plain and 2 patterned), had to use at least 15 elements (no more than 2 elements per any given designer), needed some title work, journaling and date/name information.

The credits are quite extensive:
Miss Thang-Amy Tanabe-Navy Fall Paisley paper-Melany Violette-handmade white paper-Melany Violette-Pink Felt Alpha h-Victoria Feemster-OAKS collab kit for the boys paper-Victoria Feemster-Junk Drawer Ribbon red folded ribbon (darkened)-Nancie Rowe Janitz-inked edge overlay (recolored)-KSC-SS-LYO (Scrap Girls) String and Discs Fastener-Anita Stergiou (PickleBerry Pop)-Winter Warmers flower-Anita Stergiou (Pickle Berry Pop)-Winter Warmers alpha g-Sue Jones-Which Stitch Arrowhead-Ange Barton-Twist Tie Alpha n-Digi Brandi-Beach Chipboard Alpha a-Kylie Clark-Irregular Sticker Alpha t-Dana Zarling-grungy frame (recolored)-Jennifer Barrette-Doodle Stickies flourish 1-Jennifer Barrette-Folded Paper Frames star frame-Durin Eberhart-blue round tag-Angela Young-Cardboard corner (recolored)-Angela Young-Cardboard flower-Kiki Scraps Designs-Brocade Dreams flower 2-Kiki Scraps Designs-Kashmir Bliss ribbon-Traci Reed-Boy Theory shoelace star-Traci Simms-Cherry Vanilla gemstone-Masja-Rust and Grunge paper scrap journaling tab-Andrea Burns-Spring Blossoms rose blue-Erica Hite-100% Original bar code-Amanda McGee-Comfort Special Ribbons blue and gree knotted ribbon-Lottchen-Mess Ribbon measuring tape-Sara Ellis-Snazzy Snoodle Butterfly 4-Liz Walters-star-fonts-The King And Queen, Typewriter Oldstyle, Will&Grace

Wet Leaves

Every once in a while I like to try to go "deep." Thank you Mara for pushing me in! The following is the journaling I will be including on a layout for the Amazing Digi Scrapping Race.

I’m sure my father has passed down some brilliant words of wisdom to me over the years. After all, he’s a very smart guy and I am Daddy’s Girl. Unfortunately, all those insightful tidbits and life’s lessons have slipped in and out of my mind. Most likely they have hit their mark and become so much a part of who I am that I cannot recall them as “advice given” anymore. That is, all but one…

When I began driving and became one of those “responsible motorists” that we all become at the age of 16, my dad gave me some advice that I, at first, brushed off as “Dad just being silly.” He told me, “Watch out for the wet leaves.”

Why did this small piece of advice stick with me? I mean, after all, it doesn’t answer all of life’s burning questions. It doesn’t bring us any closer to world peace. It doesn’t help me pay the bills. It doesn’t get me through life’s disappointments. Or does it?

Was Dad just warning me that wet leaves in the road can be slippery and cause me to crash my precious 1985 Toyota Tercel hatchback? Or was he trying to teach me an important and valuable deeper lesson in life? After all, I imagine those “wet leaves” situations pop up in our lives on a regular basis. Could he have really been telling me to be alert, be aware and to watch my step as I go through the day to day of my life? I think so.

What are those things in my life that side-track me? That cause me to be less than I want to be? That prevent me from living the life that I want for me, that my parents want for me, that my husband and children want for me and, most importantly, that GOD wants for me? Those are the real “wet leaves” I need to look out for. I guess that the “silly” warning from my father holds a whole lot more meaning than I originally saw. Don’t get me wrong, every time I get into my car on those damp autumn days his words come back to me as clear as the first day he said it but I think it would serve me well to remember those words at other times as well. To sit back and ask myself, “is this a ‘wet leaves’ situation?”

Now that I’ve had a chance to really ponder the meaning of Dad’s words I think this is an important lesson to make sure I pass along to my children. Right now, while they’re young it’s up to me to navigate the “wet leaves” in their lives. But soon, much sooner than I would like, they will leave my safe little nest and drive those damp autumn roads alone. I think I should take a page from my father’s book and make sure they know…

“Watch out for the wet leaves.”

Here's the layout I created with this journaling.