The Story of our Life

Endings

Oh, what a long day. Today has been six years since Marcy went home to Jesus.

And I miss her and ache for her just as much today as I did then.

I've cried for most of the day - some happy tears, but mainly just sad ones.

I know she's in Heaven...dancing with Jesus. But I just wish she was here dancing with me.

Today I've been thinking about endings. Everything has its end at some time.

To everything thing there is a season. I know this.

Ferris wheel rides come to an end. Lifelong friendships end overnight. People pass away. Jobs come and go. People move.

Life is full of endings. Because if things never changed, we'd never have butterflies.

I am going to go to bed shortly. I will probably cry myself to sleep like I have many other nights over the past six years.

And thats ok. God has helped my little family come so far in six years, and I know He is wrapping His arms around us tonight, tomorrow and every day.

 
(an older layout, but one of my favorites)

 
(another favorite)

Tomorrow's another day -

xxoo,

M

 

 

Downsize & Studio Calico's Napa Valley

 I suppose I should tell ya’ll what my word for 2011 will be.

Oh, come on. You know what I am talking about.

Ali Edwards. One Little Word.

 

 

Downsize, that’s my word. In 2011, I want downsize my waist size. I want to downsize the clutter in my mind. In my home. Downsize the drama (and those who cause the drama) from my life.

 

I’ve thought a bunch about what word I would choose. I wanted to choose a word that was just for me. Something that I could use to encourage me, keep me on task. Help me achieve the life I am supposed to have.

I am so sure that this is what I want my word to be, for Christmas I asked for a Trainer. As in, someone I would PAY to make me sweat. Make me hurt. Make me lose the extra pounds I’d gained since Marcy died. Alex wasn’t too sure that I reeeaallly wanted a trainer.

But he got me on anyway.

And, man! My trainer is making me sweat. Making me do exercises that I am sure are going to break me in half. Making me hate the elliptical.

But I am going them anyway.

And I am DOWNSIZING.

Not a bunch, yet. But I am finding that I actually do love to run, love feeling like I am in control of my body. 

Since the first on the year, I have lost 5 pounds (I am expecting to have lost more come Monday, as that is my weigh in day. I am working out 5-6 days a week. Some days weights. Some days Elliptical. Some days running. Some days squats, balance balls, crunches, and push ups. . I am really liking the freedom I have in choosing what I want to do each day.

I can’t believe I just wrote that I LIKE it. But I do.

And because I scrapbooked my ‘word’, here’s the layout. I used (again) Studio Calico’s Napa Valley.

***PSA***

Let me just say this. I love Studio Calico. But, man, I swear their kits breed, at night, while stored away in my plastic boxes. I have used this kit A TON and still have a bunch left. Total bang for your buck!

***Now back to regular blogging***

 

xxoo,

M

I truly believe….

that the Lord has a bigger plan for us – bigger than what any of can imagine. I am having to hold on to that thought, as we grieve Brie passing. My heart just aches. Not for her, as she is dancing with Jesus right now. But for Eric and the kids. Her parents and siblings.

Today was Brie’s Celebration of Life Service. The entire seating area was filled at Hillside. It was beautiful & uplifting – just as Brie would have wanted it. I am not going to ask why Brie had to die so unexpectedly, but I am left wondering what good is going to come from it.

I TRULY BELIEVE THERE IS A BIGGER PLAN AT WORK HERE.

I am just anxious to watch it unfold.

Hugs those you love extra tight…

xxoo,

M

Not going to lie...

December is always a hard month for me.

It hasn't always been hard...in fact, the one Christmas we had our daughter it was wonderful. We were broke. Broker than broke. But we were happy and complete.

Now, we are far from broke. And mostly complete. Excpet for the whole Marcy left. Gosh I miss her.

We took a beautiful silver tree - with hot pink and lime green ornaments - to the cemetary last night. I've been dragging my feet about going there. I KNOW she isn't there (she's dancing in heaven). But it breaks my heart. So I just haven't gone.

I'm thankful I went. I was a bawling mess once we had her tree secured to the ground. It's. Just. So. Hard. I didnt take a photo of it (I sorta wished I had). *sigh* Some might think it is morbid to take a photo of a tree that is at your daughter's grave. The way I see it, I am documenting how we shared Christmas with her.

Ok. Enough of the sad. It's Christmas, or its almost Christmas.

I have been working on my December Daily. I am a couple of days behind, but have everything there for me to get caught up. My plan is to share the entire album when its complete.

I sorta feel like my album is 'kindergarden-ish' compared to some I've seen. I'm ok with that. I took what I had, in the time I had, and captured memories for later.

Another good thing that happened this month?

I turned 31. And, yes, it's a good thing. I am embracing it.

This is the year that I am going to quit having regrets.

One regret that I've had is that we never had a family photo done when Marcy was alive. We had no money, and even if we could have afforded it, Marcy was way too little (at barely 3 pounds), to take into public for a photo shoot. Anyway, six years later, I finally got my photoshoot. You can see it here.

Yeah, I need to loose some weight. But, other than that, I love these photos. They are us, in all of our goofy-not really sure how to smile, but trying anyway-selves!  I cannot wait to scrapbook these with my Studio Calico kit!

Speaking of Studio Calico, I have a wish list for other there. Nothing can cheer a girl up like getting goodies in the mail, so here's my list!

Fiskars Cloud Punch #1

Fiskars Cloud Punch #2

Studio Calico Weekday Stamps (there was a month set, but I missed out on them. REGRET!)

Mister Huey in Dark Calico, Warm Calico, and Classic Calico.

All of the Jenni Bowlin Inks.

Betty Crocker, Buster Brown, and Dear Abby. I can only afford to get two of them this month, but I am in love with all three. Now to decide who I must leave behind. I just don't think I can decide!

 

That list isn't too long, huh? I am anxious to get to order the new kit Studio Calico. They always cheer me up! I've gotten their kits for a whole year now, and I have to say, I have NEVER regretted subscribing with them. Pure bliss in a box!

Ok, its late. John has a friend spending the night and I should probably go find them & see what they're up to. They are being way too quiet! I'm going to leave you with a photo (becauce Roscoe is just too cute NOT to share!)

 

xxoo,

M

24 Days of Good - Ideas & Examples

I've had some questions about Ben & John's 24 days of good project. The idea was simple: for the first 24 days in Demember, do something nice for someone else, no matter how small the act.I wanted to capture the boys excitement about Christmas, and channel it for good. For just a couple of minuets a day, take the focus off of "me" and put it on someone else. I put together a little mini envelope book (we're keeping ours in the car & reading the days action on the way to school). You don't have to make a mini book...you don't have to do anything but be nice.

On each day, I have used one of Ali Edwards Advent Cards (but you could easily not use them or make your own). I used hers for ease. Each day I wrote an action down that is to be completed that day. The only rule is that when you do the action, you cannot boast about it or expect anything in return. You're doing it to be nice. And because sometimes it just the right thing to do.

Here are the actions we used. You can easily change them up. I planned ours out around when the boys would be at their dad's. When they are gone, they can easily 'make up' the missed actions when they are home.

1. Decorate their Christmas tree in their rooms using ornaments they've made/Grammy & Paw Paw gave them.

2. Go get hot chocolate after school and pay for the car behind them to get a drink.

3. Tell someone at school they are cool.

4. Take canned food to the food bank.

5. Make cookies for our neighbors.

6. Clean out their closets, and donate any jackets to the needy. Toys too.

7. Stand outside of United, and hand out a couple of giftcards. We will do two of them - $50 each. The boys will get to pick who gets the card.

8. Go pick an angel off the tree at Northwest & buy the items they are asking for.

9. Make Christmas cards for family.

10. Write a soldier and thank him/her for their service.

11. Help a family member with a chore that they don't normally like doing.

12. At dinner, pay for another family to eat. Again, we let the boys choose which family they would like to pay for. We have the waiter keep our identity secret.

13. Go to Barnes & Noble and pick out a Christmas book for home. Buy an extra copy of the book and donate it to the boy's class.

14. Donate a gift card to a restruarnt to the NICU at BSA. The boys will make the card to enclose (only words of encouragement, no names revealing us). We have the NICU nurses give it to a family who's baby is in the hospital on Christmas Eve.

15. Go to the Nursing Home and visit Meemaw. Take her a poinsettia.

16. Be a friend at school to someone who doesn't have a bunch of friends.

17. Leave a poinsettia on someone's doorstep. On the card, just wish them a Merry Christmas.

18. Write their teacher a thank you note.

19. A dinner, leave the waitress an extra tip.

20. Hold the door open for a stranger.

21. Thank the mailman. Leave him some goodies to find when he collects the mail.

22. Call a family member and tell them you are thankful for them & wish them a Merry Christmas.

23. With Alex's help, shovel snow from our neighbors driveway.

24. Go see Christmas lights as a family. Share favorite memories of past Christmas's.

These are just some ideas. We may alter/improve as the need arises. The idea is to just do something.

 

December Daily

 It is finally December 1!

I've been waiting for this day for almost a month. Why? Because I get to start my December Daily Album! Now, to be realistic, I am not doing the whole month of December. That would be silly (cause we all know December is over Christmas Day, right??!) I am only doing the first 25 days. The boys leave for their dad's the evening of the 25th, so it just makes the most sense to me.

Remember I showed you my cover? Well, I've changed it. I just wasn't liking the finished product and so I redid it. Much to my liking now! Not a ton of change, but just enough for me! Here is how my book has come along - all ready to be added to at a moments notice!

Here are the individual pages, day 1-24. I will also have a 'photo' page with the date for each day. I used Ali's Overlays and printed them right off. There will be a photo at the end of the daily pages).

   
 
 
And here is a sample of Ali's Overlays that each day will get:

Now, for day 25 and the front and back covers:

I used canvas on the front cover, and misted it with Studio Calico's Mister Huey. LOVE. Love. Love.

Here is the completed album in all of its glory:

As I have  said before, I cannot wait to get to start documenting! The boys are excited about it as well!

More later....

xxoo,

M

24 Days of Good (AE Advent Tags)

 

 

Well hello there! Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. Alex and I were home alone (the boys were with their Dad), so we invited Alex's family over. It was nice through dinner, then the gloves came off. Thats another story for another day though...

 

I bet you've seen Ali Edwards Advent Tags  on the web, yes? Well I loved the idea of using them as a countdown for Christmas - but really couldn't think of a creative way for us to make them useful at our house. Well, fast forward to last night. I stumbled a package of mini kraft paper bags. (Cue angels singing!). Make them into a mini book! And so I did! I used my printer to print out the numbers, then punched them out with a circle punch. I layered the numbered circles on squares of Martha Stewart Christmas Paper. On the tags themselves, I wrote things that required ACTION. Doing good for others. On some days...usually once or twice a week, I added things like go get a hot chocolate, rent a christmas movie, etc. Fun things. My plan to put this mini book into action is to leave it in the car, and on the way to school each day, we can pull out that days tag and see whats in store for us. Hopefully this will give the boys something exciting to look forward to on the way to school.

  

 

(sorry about the bad lighting. Its super overcast (not to mention freezing!) and windy and its all I could do to get these taken!)
 

I will be back tomorrow with my December Daily Album! I cannot believe its practically December! Where did the year ago??

xxoo,

M

Happy Halloween!

 

Happy (late) Halloween!

Ben

So Ben and I had a couple of hours today together…what to do, what to do.

 

Scrappy-Mom (that’s me) came to the rescue with a FABULOUS idea to go take some fall photos.

 

Now Ben does not like his photos being taken. Not one bit. Bring a camera out and he is squinting and scrunching his face up into a little ball. But not today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overall, its been a great day. Heading out to the pumpkin patch this evening (more photos!) then probably scrapbooking while the boys have a WII night. I have some layouts to share, but I will wait till later for those!

 

xxoo,

M

Do You Ever…?

…feel like you’re always opening your mouth when you should’nt?  I do.

…feel like you’re responsible for everything and everyone around you, and you just get tired?

…wonder what it would be like to run away to the circus, cause Im pretty sure life would be less crazy there.

…wonder if how your raising your kiddos is right? Or if the battles we fight with them even really matter?

I suppose what I am saying is that I am in a dark spot right now. Not really sure why – stress just gets me here. Hopefully it won’t stay around long though. When I am down like this my creativity just dries up. I got nada. Zilch. Zero creativity. I know it will come back, but I got to wonder when.