This is My life

Like a kid on Christmas Eve...

Back when I was a little kid, Christmas Eve was one of the best and worst days of the year.  It was the best because I knew that the next morning was going to be amazing -- stockings filled to the brim, presents galore, and lots of really yummy food.  But, the bad part was, all the anticipation of the above mentioned things kept me from sleeping. I would toss and turn for hours thinking about everything the next day would entail.

And that is how I felt last night.  As I get ready to launch the new site, and think of all I still need to do before tomorrow and all the things I want to do over the course of the next few months I cannot sleep.  I just get jittery and excited and my head is spinning with ideas (and a few worries ;) Last night I just tossed and turned for a good part of the night and was glad when it was finally 4:30 am so I could get up (yes, this is my normal waking time).

Things are going good...I am SO THANKFUL for so many people encouraging me, telling me that a site like this is just what they need, that they "get" it and the heart behind it.  It makes the long hours and the computer glitches totally worth it!

Okay, back to work for a bit before I take the rest of the day off to hang out with my family and some friends. We are going to enjoy a walk to a waterfall, some yummy chicken sate, and chatting about some of the things we love best!

The site will probably go live around 7:00 am EST on the first (since that will be approximately the normal posting time). But, if things are ready before that, I might satisfy some peoples curiosity earlier.

So you might have seen...

A few snippets here and there about something new called THE DAILY DIGI.  As the new year approaches, I feel like it is time for something new.  Something new for me, something new for the digital scrapbooking community. And so, on January 1, THE DAILY DIGI will go live bringing with it a dream in my heart.  Here is an excerpt from the about page.

After a few years of spending too much time online, there came a day when I just stopped. I just stopped surfing the net, stopped participating in message boards, stopped eying all the galleries.  It wasn’t because of a lack of desire -- these are all great places to “hang out” and my passion for scrapping was still strong.  Instead, it came from a desire to spend less time in front of a computer and more time in front of the people I love.

The problem was, as much as I loved the break from the computer screen, I realized I was missing out on a lot of really cool stuff!  It was from the message boards, galleries, and blog-hopping that I learned so much over the past few years! It was in these places that I learned to scrap, that I learned how to use my camera better, and that I found out about the many, many amazing designers and scrappers in the digital community.  I didn’t want to be tied to my computer all day and yet I didn’t want to miss out on so much great information and inspiration!

And one day I had a thought.  That thought turned into a dream.  And now that dream has become a reality. 

THE DAILY DIGI is going to be a place full of inspiration, information, and ideas that will come in easily digestible amounts.  In ten minutes or less each day you will find tips, tools, and tricks to help you in this digital age we live in.  I want you to feel inspired, to feel challenged, AND to feel the freedom to step away from the computer and start doing all those things that you have been dreaming of in your heart.

The dream and vision for this site started almost ten months ago. At the time, however, life got in the way -- a new baby, an unexpected move, and all the other stuff that gets in the way.  But as our life has started to settle down the dream in my heart grew.  And finally, I couldn't ignore it any more.  This dream of mine is turning into a reality and I am so, so excited.

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But like with many new things, we have to say goodbye to old things.  When we move we say goodbye to family and friends, when we graduate we say goodbye to classmates, when we start new jobs we say goodbye to coworkers.  Change almost always comes with a cost.

And so, it is with great sadness that I will be closing down my store at Scrapbook Graphics, effective January 15.  SBG has been my digital home for almost two years and I am so very sad to leave.  But, in the interests of the new site (and my family!)  I think it is important that my attention not be in to many directions. All the love I have put into designing templates will be able to go into bringing all of you the very BEST information and inspiration there is.

However, I do want to clarify a few things:

1. I WILL have one final grabbag that will run January 1-6. I have been doing these grab bags for almost two years and I couldn't let that go without a big goodbye!  And inside will be a 70% off coupon for my whole store...because after the 15th, all of my products will be retired. 

2. Because I LOVE creating templates and seeing what you make with them, I will still create some and give them away here on my blog and at times on the new site.  However, I will not regularly be creating and selling product.  This may not be permanent, but is a reality for the present time.

3. I will still be hanging out here on my personal blog :) Even with the new site, my personal blog will stay open.  It serves a very different purpose and I can't imagine giving it up.

Looking forward to 2009...oh what will the year bring?

We Had Ourselves a Merry Little Christmas...

Yep, Christmas is over!  And while I am just itching to take down all the decorations and reclaim my house from the wrapping paper and toys everywhere, I *am* trying to enjoy all that this season is and to soak up this very precious time with my sweet little family. 

Our Christmas was good -- just our family (and then some friends for lunch and the afternoon).  It is fun to see how different traditions from our families have been passed down and to see how we as a family have created our own.  Isn't that one of the best parts of holidays?  The tradition -- the feeling that no matter where you are, what you are doing, or what life looks like at the moment that there is consistency in parts of our lives.  There are things that we can count on.  There are things that just are. 

A recap of the festivities...

Christmas Eve dinner has always been spaghetti in my family.  Don't know why, but I love it anyway.  It tastes good and it super easy.  I think Katie enjoyed herself, don't you?

Then it was on the baths and gifts.  In my family, we have always opened a gift on Christmas Eve.  Well, to be honest, there were always SO many presents that we sometimes started a few days before that.  And opened more than one.  But, you get the idea.  One thing we DIDN'T do growing up but something I have enjoyed with my kids is new Christmas jammies on Christmas Eve.  Alaina is old enough that she remembered and so was super excited. 

Now, I am not typically one for matchy-matchy stuff for my kids. But, hey, this is Indonesia and these are the ONLY Christmasy-type jammies to be found and it took me several hours and several stores to come close to finding their sizes.  Katelynn was not included in this festive tradition because she has one of her own -- all four of my kids have worn the same outfit for their first Christmas.  Yep, thankful for all springish birthdays and 9-12 month clothes on Christmas morning.

After presents came cupcakes for Jesus' birthday.  This is a tradition passed down from Jason's family.  I love the idea of a birthday cake for Jesus and we have done it in the past, but the problem always was that after eating a huge turkey dinner on Christmas day we weren't hungry for cake.  So, we decided this year that we would start doing it on Christmas Eve.  It was perfect.

And a candle to celebrate a Lord and Savior who WAS, who IS, and whoever forever WILL BE.

Then on to Christmas morning...

All the kids still snug in their beds (while visions of coffee and lots of it danced in my head)

A quick kiss from Santa Claus caught by the camera I had programmed to take pictures throughout the morning.  A more "candid" look at Christmas. That would be foil in my hand -- I was trying to prep the turkey before the festivities got started.

One cute little dude with serious bed head

Sweet miss Katelynn and her Santa Claus Daddy who didn't think he had to smile because "no one would be able to tell."

Three VERY happy kiddos riding new bikes and falling and crying at oh, I'd say maybe 6 o'clock in the morning.

Every year we read the Christmas story before opening gifts and let the kids "act it out" using their LITTLE PEOPLE nativity set.  One of the best purchases we have ever made. I love having a nativity set that they can play with!

Miss Katie is supposed to opening her first gift, but really, she would rather just crawl on top of it.

Alaina, the card-making queen, reading her sweet card to Levi

Levi the basketball superstar goes in for 2 (and if you look closely at his rear end you can see that he must have sat on some tape or something because his pants are sticking together! LOL!)

And saving the best for last -- a popcorn maker!  Oh how we have missed popcorn and oh what I wouldn't give for microwave popcorn that didn't cost over $1 a bag!

It was a wonderful day and it reminded me, once again, how precious these people are and how blessed I am to call them mine.

Hope your Christmas was sweet and blessed as well!

It's already Christmas...

On my side of the world, it is already Christmas.  But I suspect for most of you reading this, you are just taking a breather from the madness of getting everything ready for "tomorrow."  I am just hours away from little people waking up and begging to go downstairs!  As I listened to Christmas music last night and made our traditional Christmas Eve meal and made birthday cupcakes for Jesus, I was finally got in the "mood" for Christmas.  Just in time, I guess!

But before Christmas starts around here, I should catch you up on us a bit!  We have had a busy few weeks (like most people!) and I can say I am definitely ready for all of that to be done.  Starting this afternoon after the dishes are washed and the turkey put away, things will slow down (at least in some ways ;)

School got out last Friday -- the kids were excited, I was excited, it was great.  The kids and I made ornaments and cards for their teachers which was great -- I totally recommend choosing a gift for teachers that they kids can help with!

We made these really easy button ornaments.  I strung the ribbon first and then let the kids add buttons and push pins.  We also did a few with hot glue instead of push pins.  In all, we made 5 -- one for each teacher, one for each classroom aide, and one for the high school helper in Caleb's class.  We couldn't leave her out!

Lots of cards and glue and glitter and buttons for the teacher Christmas cards.

After my language test on Friday, I went and helped out with Caleb's classroom Christmas party.  The teacher had little stations for the kids and I set up a craft for them.  We made photo ornaments with paint and glitter and lots and lots of stickers!  It was so fun!

On Saturday we headed back to the cottage where we spent Thanksgiving.  It was good to get a few days away, a few days to rest before "really" starting our vacation at home.  It rained most of the weekend, so there were lots of stories and games and cuddles and hot baths.

There was also a great deal of playing "Supergirl" and "Superboy."  Thankfully, in this picture Levi is dressed.  He has a fascination of being a n.a.k.e.d. Superboy -- other than a cape, what does Superboy really need to wear? LOL!

We also made Christmas tree treats which were eaten about 2.5 seconds after they were completed.

Katie was happy to watch and munch on a cone :)

I hope everyone has a fabulous Christmas Day!  I am going to go get mine started (meaning, I really need coffee!)

{hanging my head in shame}

Has it really been a WEEK since I blogged.  Oh my!  Seriously, I have never had time fly as fast as it does here.  I guess that must mean I am having fun, right? 

In my defense, we have been extremely busy (just like everyone else this time of year).  With school, work, language school, every day life with kids, Christmas programs, helping find a house for some friends, shopping, celebrating nine years of marriage, etc, I am gasping that Christmas is in just a week.  I am so thankful I did the smart thing and skipped class last week so I could shop all day.  I got almost everything done and after one more trip out with the kids the following day, we were done (minus buying bikes for the kids).  I even have 95% of it wrapped and stuff to go into stockings.  I have NEVER been done shopping this early.  Now if I could only convince Jason to celebrate early...

You have my promise that my blogging will be better over the next few weeks -- THREE weeks of break.  I cannot WAIT until tomorrow!

Since I only have a few minutes (story of my life! LOL!) I will give a very fast recap of the last week in pictures...

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Catching Katelynn helping herself to cereal out of the cabinet...she seems to be quite proud of herself!

Catching Levi sitting across the street with a can of Pringles (note to self: cereals and snacks must be moved to another cabinet). Isn't it funny how it looks like Levi thinks HE caught ME doing something naughty

Seeing my sweet Alaina be the CUTEST Mary ever...sorry to all the other women who got to be mom to a Mary this year.  I will proudly wear my mommy goggles and gasp at her shear beauty :) Now if only Joseph could let baby Jesus be the star of the show...

My sweet Katelynn...and yes, I am glad we have no traffic on our street so I can subject my kids to pictures in the middle of the road

The oh-so-crazy anniversary evening out that involved McDonalds fried chicken and a very flat tire...the latter led us to a dodgy tire place next to a very smelly trash heap very late at night.  I can only hope our ten-year is so romantic.

Enjoying the quiet in the evenings after the kids go to bed and trying very hard to get into the Christmas spirit...having trouble with that one though!

Catching Caleb "reading" to Levi outside on the back patio

Too much time in the Photobooth on my Mac as I try to entertain the boys until 3:30 when Dad and Alaina arrive home...

Soaking in the gorgeous scenery around town and LOVING the view out of the girls room every night as the sun starts to set

Hope everyone has a great day!

How things change...

Every year I buy a few ornaments.  I always buy the kids one each -- something that is representative of who they are, what they like.  I try to keep them nice, though, because my goal is that when they leave the house they will have a nice little collection of ornaments that they would actually hang on a tree. 

I also buy one (at least) to add my own personal collection.  If possible, I try to pick something that represents us and where we are in life.  The picture above was from last year -- pretty appropriate for a family that went to Disney World 50 times in seven months!

I am glad I have this little tradition -- especially since we have celebrated Christmas in a different house every year.

And here we are, Christmas 2008, in Indonesia.  Crazy how things change...

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I am hoping today is a good day.  I am hiring a driver and heading into town for the whole day, by myself.  I can't tell you how good that feels.  I have never gone into town on my own, much less had a whole day to shop and do what I want to do and not have to worry about insane traffic, not knowing where we are going, or little people who have to use the bathroom every 2.5 minutes. 

My plan is to do most of our Christmas shopping today. There are a few things Jason and I want to shop for together (like bikes for the kids) but I am hoping to get everything else done today. We'll see how far I get!

The Girls House...

On Monday we had the day off of school.  I had so much fun taking some pictures for some of the teachers at the school.  One of them wanted some photos for prayer cards and the others tagged along so we could take pictures of all four of them.  They are all roommates and really cool people -- I would consider any guy extremely lucky to get one of them.  They all ride motorcycles and don't cringe at watching the slaughtering of a goat -- they even help skin it.  They are always up for the next adventure around Indonesia and to top it all off -- they are amazing teachers. I hope they are all here long enough for my kids to have them! 

I love this next one...it is them walking along the reflexology path!








Thanks, ladies, for a great morning out!

Oh sweet Katelynn...

When did you decide to grow up and make your mama start thinking about a first birthday in JUST THREE MONTHS.  Seriously, wasn't it just a few weeks ago I was miserably pregnant and wishing for you to finally make your appearance? This time is bittersweet for me. I don't know if I am sad to be moving out of the baby stage or excited for all that is to come with no babies in the house....

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So, miss Katie has decided to get big on me.  Her six teeth (that she loves to bite me with) and her mischievous ways (she has figured out how to get into the cereal cabinet and help herself) makes me realize my baby is growing up so fast. I thought we were doing okay for a while -- she didn't sit up until almost 8 months and had no interest in crawling, eating, or anything else.  And then last week, on Thanksgiving, she decided she would learn to get up on all fours.

Within a few minutes, she decided she would show us that she can crawl, too.

Then, the next day, she decided that crawling wasn't enough.  She thought she would learn to pull up to standing...

Within a few more days she decided that crawling up the stairs was next on her "to be accomplished" list.  I don't have a picture because instead of getting my camera I am too busy hyperventilating with worry that she is going to smash those six teeth of hers right onto the hard tile steps.

One thing hasn't changed, though -- her squenched up "I am so cute look at THIS face" that she loves to make.

And another one, just because she wanted the moment saved forever...

Finally...

Well finally, FINALLY, I have interent in my house and I have a fairly decent connection.  Now, it is nothing compared to what is available in the States.  Downloads are still very slow (25kb/sec) but at least checking email, browsing the web, having multiple pages open, etc. is easier.  And because the connection is at home,  I can download and walk away (so it doesn't matter to me so much that it is slow -- at the hotel, it was murderous).  I have barely downloaded any new scrapping stuff in months because I just wasn't able.  I haven't done anything with my creative teams because I couldn't. 

Hopefully, that will all change.  I MISS scrapping.  I MISS being able to respond to emails. I miss blogging on a regular basis. I MISS being able to follow through on stuff. It has all been a very big lesson on patience and I hope I have learned it well enough so I don't have to go through it again!

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It's a three day weekend for us.  So good to be with family, to have some down time, to be able to read and snuggle more.  We attended a very interesting event yesterday, I will be back Monday to share some of the details.  But first, I wanted to say the the DECEMBER GRAB BAGS are in the store.  And here are some layouts I did last weekend with them

(2 page spreads can be clicked to make larger)

Four months and five days later...

...I finally have a phone line.  Now maybe, just maybe, I can get a reliable and useable internet connection. That would be really great since I have NO connection at my house right now.  Haven't for two days.  Trips to the hotel at 5 in the morning are not my idea of fun.