My Crazy Life...

Five Years Ago Today...

my one and only little boy, Russell, was born. Happy Birthday Russ...I love you!

Congrats to...

You do such a great job!! I am totally loving all of your projects you did for this book. Babies are so fun, I am adding number four to my fam in July. Thanks for all the great ideas!!!

Posted by: Alysia | April 25, 2008 at 01:50 PM

Eww, I love that box to store fun baby memories...I might have to do that for my little guy. The hangers are darling as well, so many fun things, so little time! We adopted our son in July and I am a weirdo about keepsakes! I think its cause he is probs our one and only!! Gotta cherish every moment!

Posted by: Annalee | April 27, 2008 at 12:44 AM

Please email me and I will send your copy of the new MM book! Thanks for all the comments! To answer a few of your questions...I got the hangers about a year ago at the Target dollar spot. They were already colored, so I just added embellishments and some paper. The little suitcases were purchased at Family Dollar. They had images on them, but they were easy to alter and cover. I always watch for inexpensive items to alter, and these were just some items in my stash.

And...I just have to share these fun photos I recently took of my little niece, Addilyn. I have to give Tawsha credit for putting this cute little layout together though!

ETA:

I just finished up a layout for the Melissa Frances Blog using this new photo of Addilyn!

I'm the Guest Designer...

for Carolee's Creations over on Georgana Hall's blog. Check it out...I will have different projects throughout the week!

I also have a couple of new projects on the Fiskars site...

You can find out more about the brag book here.

This layout is from a Q&A session...you can read more about it here.

And...an idea for creating and layering your own flowers, found here. 

Have You Seen...

  the new Making Memories Baby Love Idea Book? Like all of Making Memories Publications, it is full of so many fun ideas! I had a couple of projects in the book this time, and I have a few extra copies of the publication, so leave me a comment and I will give away a couple of books! Also, Brenda Walker...I don't think I've received your mailing info, and I owe you a prize from the last drawing! Email me when you get a chance!

Burning, Yard Work and Silly Kids...

We have been busy raking, burning, mowing, pruning, planting and more! Even though spring is being slow this year, there is still a lot that needs to be done! When you live in the country, you don't have a simple little yard to clean...there are lots of weeds and leaves to be burned...lots of pruning and raking. We been busy working on our yard and around the farm. The kids are turning into little pyros. Seriously...we have been doing so much raking and burning, that they have become quite accustomed to the whole process. They actually enjoy it so much, that they will work feverishly for hours, raking weeds and leaves into the burn pile, just because they love to keep the fire going. Russell had a little close call the other day though...he was kicking weeds into the fire and his shoe flipped right off and into the flames...it melted away as he and Grace were screaming. He was so sad, but I think it might have been a good lesson about the power of fire! Lily and Kate also enjoy the yard work. They just enjoy the dirt. I think Kate reached an all time record level of filth the other day. She was so stinkin' dirty...and then the kids went to get a soda (grandma and grandpa, who live next door, have a pop machine in their shop, and the kids love to sneak a quarter to go get a soda). I thought it couldn't get a lot worse, but Kate's cream soda just compacted the dirt into mud...    

  There are a few more stories about our adventures outside that I wanted to document... First...There has been a dead cat up on the hill behind our house for quite a while, and Russ discovered it when he was riding the four wheeler with has dad. Last fall, we bought some of those little pumpkin carving kits, and he took one of the little serrated knifes to his grandma's house to carve a pumpkin. He found it at her house the other day, and he said that he needed to bring it home. The next day, when he was getting ready to go outside, i saw him rustling through his locker to find the little knife. He put it in his pocket and I quized him about his intentions. I warned him that he was not allowed to cut my trees (we have to hide the pruners, because he gets a little carried away). He assured me that he was only going to be cutting weeds and dirt, and since they are pretty safe,  I sent him out back with Grace. Pretty soon, Grace comes running into the house to tell me that Russell is on the hill sawing away at the dead cat! GROSS!!! What a kid!

Another silly story...Zip has been finding all sorts of dead creatures around the farm...squirrels, road kill, birds. When we were outside the other day, Zip came into the yard carrying a dead black bird. Lily was yelling at him "Zip, get that Wood Packer out of your mouth!" It was so funny...now, she is always talking about Zip and the Wood Packers. She makes me laugh.

And just for fun...here are some photos of my cute little girlies playing ring around the rosies yesterday...

Fishing...

    We left late last week and headed fishing in Montana...it was tons of fun, but the weather could have been a little better (not that I am surprised). The kids had a great time fishing and playing outside. It was great to getaway, but once again...I had massive amounts of laundry to catch up on when we got home. Here are some (I say "some" lightly, because you know I have a hard time narrowing it down...as you can see...there are 28 photos) photos from our trip...

 

             

Engagement Photo Shoot...

My sweet niece, Cherilyn, is getting married in June. I took their engagement photos this weekend, and it was so much fun! They are the cutest couple! It was fun shooting engagment photos again...I used to take a lot of photos for other people, but I stopped because my life is just too busy...but it was fun to do a special shoot for Cher and Levi...

               

Happy Birthday To My Man...

I love you because:

1. You are such a hard worker

2. You are such a manly man (there isn't anything you can't do)

3. You are a wonderful father

4. You are such a jokester, and you always make life fun...never serious

5. I love every moment we spend together, and we never, ever fight

6. You have amazing family values

7. You are very successful

8. You make me happy! 

9. We have so much in common, it's crazy

Lots to Share Part II...

   So I wasn't lying when I said I had a lot to share, but seriously, I had a few other things that needed attended too ;)

So here I am, back again. I guess like I feel like I can't leave anything out, because my blog is my journal, and I am making it into a book at blurb.com, so I have to catch up on the things I've missed over the past gloomy, sad and lonely internetless days (just kidding...I survived). So....

Guess what??? It's finally that time of year again...FARMING TIME! Yeehaw. It has been a beautiful winter having my husband at home (no...seriously...so many women say it would drive them nuts to have their husband home all winter, but I like it. He is very helpful with the kids, and we get along so good). Needless to say, even though it has been a slow spring, it is offically time to become a widow again. David has been busy planting grain and doing a little plowing. Russell loves to ride with has dad in the tractor, but unfortunately, the buzz of the motor puts him to sleep almost every time. This afternoon, I took the kids out to the field and we took daddy some lunch. It was a fun little picnic, but we are still hoping for this weather to warm up a bit.

         

LOTS to share...

I'll start off with Sunday. We were able to listen to the LDS General Conference...and it was wonderful. One talk stood out to me in particular, and whether you are LDS or not, I think that any mother can benefit from this quote (Thanks Hilary for posting it...I didn't know where to find it)

"Author Anna Quindlen reminds us not to rush past the fleeting moments. She said, "The biggest mistake I made as a parent is the one most of us make. I did not live in the moment enough. this is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of my three children, sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing, set on a summer day, ages 6, 4 and 1. I wish I could remember what we ate, what we talked about and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing. Dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more, and the getting it done a little less."

We spent the afternoon at my parent's house, and we had a great lunch (hope you had a happy birthday Sheldon!), and then we went to my in-laws that evening. While the adults were inside visiting, the cousins headed outside. They always enjoy playing outside together, and it quite commonly involves getting head-to-toe filthy. My in-laws live next door (well...there are a couple of cellars between us), and all of the kids are quite common with the farm...they play on the old equipment and on the dirt piles I mentioned a couple of posts ago, but on Sunday, they found a new play spot. Back behind the grain bins, there is sort of a dirt cliff. They love to get dirty...but I was actually surprised for once when I went to check on them...this is what I found...