crop night

Friday night was scrapbook night at church. I helped plan it and was in charge of the make-n-take. I've never done a make-n-take or ever demonstrated any scrapbooking thing, for that matter. (Believe it or not!) I feel like I'm a hack who teaches herself and I couldn't possibly share what I do in a way that anyone else could learn from it.

But I came up with a project to share and it was a hit! There were only about 10 of us at the crop. The gals came up with their own spin on my layout and totally made it their own. It was so great to see all the ideas that can be born from a single idea!

The layout was about "my church"... since the event happened to be at our church. I provided the background paper, the photo of our church for the layout, the white journaling sheet, the colored cardstock for the hidden journaling card, and the foam stamps and paint. I showed them a few techniques. Distressing the white journaling block by tearing the edges and smuding on distress ink was the first. The paint and foam stamps for the title was another. The last technique was using the Basic Grey Die and Notch cutting tool to make a closure for the hidden journaling card.

But the more important part of the lesson was about including your everyday life in your scrapbook. How different would my mom or my grandma's page about "my church" be from mine? How different would this page be 10 years from now when we have a couple kids who go to church with us? And since it is something that we do every week, that makes it a pretty important part of our lives, right? It would be a shame not to document this part of our lives for our kids and grandkids to know about us.

The page also shows two kinds of journaling, and why not have both on the same page? The visible journaling is very straightforward, the things you would tell an acquaintance about your church. The hidden journaling is more for your family and close friends. These are your thoughts about your relationship with God and how your church facilitates that relationship.

So I think that last week's crop got folks inspired for our scrapbook nights. We're planning another one for April. Not sure what I will do for that make-n-take... but I'm looking forward to it.

a boy named JT and a snowy weekend

We found out Friday we are having a BOY!! The picture is the view from his "bottom"... looking at his butt sort of. John is soooo thrilled. I've provided an heir to his throne, so I can avoid the guillotine.

On Saturday we went to Michigan for a retreat weekend as chaperones with our church youth group. You know, getting used to teenagers. WHAT an adventure. There are stories, of course. But at the moment I am still thinking, writing, and talking like a teenager. I hope I remember in the morning that I'm an adult again...

Anyway, here's another ultrasound picture of our bouncing baby boy and a pic of us on a frozen lake... hope your week is off to a good start!

snow day

Is everyone having a good snow day?

No adventures for me today... worked from home to avoid the mayhem. I'm still in my pajamas (oops... where did the day go?!)

John was sent home early, so he built me a fire to go along with the snowy scenery and birds at the backyard feeder. We stayed cozy warm inside listening to the sleet hit the house.

Ok, that's enough sleet though... bring back the snowflakes...

step 1: framing

So now that we have a baby on the way, we have stepped up our efforts to finish our basement. Maybe I have mentioned before that we were planning to do this. We have planned and argued and designed and bickered and argued a lot over it in the past year and a half.

Last week we tackled a couple of the items that we contracted out. A mason came and knocked out a few rows of blocks in the opening to our partial basement. We have a lot of room over there for storage, but access wasn't easy when the opening was more like a window than a door.

We also had some work done on the heating ducts in the basement. There was a main duct across the middle of the room that would make for a really low ceiling, so we had that swapped out for a wider, less tall square duct. They also installed two new registers so our new basement space will be nice and warm in the winter.

And the biggest thing we've done so far? Framing! I didn't know I could be so excited about 2x4s. Thanks to my husband, brother, and our friend Scott, we have walls and door openings now. I can actually picture what it's going to be like when the walls are finished. And hey, maybe if we get it finished, we can find something new to argue about. :-)

Sammy weekend

John has been sitting for our friend's dog, Sammy, this weekend. We aren't dog people. But this little guy is awfully cute, so we suck it up and act like we are for a weekend.

He's really very good as far as dogs go. He's actually watching me type right now, whimpering a little because he wants me to play with him. (Dude, I'm pregnant, can I take a break from chasing you around the coffee table, please?!) Oh lord... now he is ON my lap.

He has gone insane 3 times. On Saturday I went to visit my grandparents. When I picked up my bag to go load the car, he barked at me like I was a total evil intruder. And he kept barking until I was gone. Tonight he barked at John for wearing a tobogan. Uh...ok. THEN... did you see the Super Bowl commercial for Budweiser with the dogs? Holy crap... Sammy came off the couch and went over to the tv and REALLY showed those dogs who has the bigger bark!

18 weeks

Here is the latest baby update...

How far along: 18 weeks
Last time I yacked: Still only tossed my cookies once on Christmas day.
Last thing I smelled with my super-smelling abilities: dog breath. We are dog-sitting tonight.
Last bit of food I snarled my nose at for no reason: Still not a big fan of chicken.
Last thing I craved: Still not having cravings, really. My sweet tooth came back recently. It was weired in those early months when I didn't want sweets.
Pounds gained so far: 4
Last time I felt the baby move: There was a flutter or two today... nothing big yet.

to stacy, from stacy

Look what FedEx brought today! A random box of goodies. When I first saw it I thought, "I'm not expecting any packages." And then I thought, "Hey, that box has my name on it."

Well... turns out it's a box of pita chips from Stacy of Stacy's Pita Chips. The message inside says that Stacy (of pita chip fame) wanted to send chips to everyone in America. But it turned out that was not feasible, so instead she sent chips to every Stacy she could find. Sorry if your name's not Stacy. lol.

I don't even know if I like pita chips or not... but I'm crazy-excited about this package. And look how cute the web site is... it's laid out like a scrapbook! Ooh, and I see if I collect enough UPCs, I can get an All-Natural t-shirt. Or the Stacy's lunch bag. That is rockin'. Game on, sistah!

The package has 3 different varieties of chips to try: Simply Naked-Nothing But Sea Salt, Parmesan Garlic & Herb, and Cinnamon Sugar (yum). There is a bumper sticker that says "I {heart} Stacy" that I will make sure my husband puts on his car.

There is also a postcard to send back so that a friend can receive a free box of chips. How about a game? The first person to leave a note in the comments gets the free chips. Starting... now!

Way to go Stacy... that was sure some viral marketing there. ;-)