This is My life

And speaking of scrapping...

I had a lot of fun creating a whole bunch of brand new templates!  Can't wait to start scrapping with them!  Click on the image to go to the store and see full previews of everything inside!

Scrapping Again

After our move to Indonesia, I got in a scrapping rut.  I was busy, in language school, and had internet issues (and therefore no new products).  Even when I did sit down to try and scrap, it just didn't come naturally so I didn't push it.  I went weeks (if not more) at a time without creating anything.

After opening THE DAILY DIGI I started scrapping again. I would do layouts here and there for the posts and although it took me a while to get in my groove, it was starting to be fun again.  I was getting comfortable in my style and was loving the story-telling process.

And now I am at another new point...scrapping for fun. I am starting to scrap pages because I want to, not because I have to.  I am finding my happy little creative place and making pages that tell the story of our lives.  I love the process...creating, to printing, to putting in albums, to sitting with little people reading stories together. LOVE IT.

I have been adding all of my pages to my RECENT PAGES album to the left, but here are some of my recent favorites:

This one deserves a little side note, I think.  Katelynn is sweet and funny and a lot of fun.  However, she has been, by far, the hardest of our babies (which I know isn't saying much).  With all the other kids, when they have cried, I have known what is wrong and how to fix it.  With Katie, there are many times when she cries or whimpers and we have no idea why.  We try and we try and we can't make it better.  My mother heart breaks for her and it breaks for me because it has been hard to connect with her.  That said, we are really moving out of that phase.  She seems to want to be competent and the more ability she gains to move around, do what she wants, go where she wants, be with her brothers and sister, the happier she gets.  Just like we saw a big improvement when she learned to sit up, we are also seeing another big improvement now that she can walk, climb stairs, go down stairs, etc. I love seeing her little personality come out and seeing who she will become.

"thank you for wishing for my happiness.  thank you for keeping our family together when i know sometimes you wanted to leave. thank you for waiting for me to get home so i could tell you all about my day.  thank you for cooking for us every day. thank you for not belittling my dreams and desires.  thank you for letting me be me.  thank you for letting me make mistakes. thank you for spending one on one time with my when i was young.  thank you for letting me sleep in your room.  thank you for teaching my to love bright and happy colors.  thank you for forgiving your mother and setting an example for us.  thank you for sending me to camp. and most of all, thank you for loving me for me."









 

I'm a mother...

For as long as I can remember, I wanted to be a mother.  It is never something I questioned or debated.  It was what I wanted.  Even when I came to the point of desperation in life where I just did not want to live anymore, the hope of someday having a family kept me alive.  Mother's Day, for me, is such a special day.  It isn't because of the pampering and the presents (though those are nice) but really, it is a day for me to quietly reflect and be thankful for all that I have been blessed with.  How could not feel blessed when I look at these precious children? 

Even when they are being silly and uncooperative...

Because really, how much cuter could they get?

I can't decide if I like this next one best in color or in black and white...





This one cracks me up.  Jason had to run home to grab a wallet so the kids and I waited around. They decided to have races with each other.  In this one, they were all crouching down to start the race...and Katie thought she would join in! 

And then she got left in the dust!

Hope your Mother's Day was fabulous!

Just one page...

Yes, we finally got the boys (and Alaina) hair cuts.  It was a much overdue necessity!

She's a Star!

So...Saturday we spent most of the day at a massive house in town where Alaina was doing some modeling for an Indonesian clothing company.  It was a long day but the kids did great and Alaina is $100 richer. 

The house we were in was rather unbelievable.  NO idea how big it was...maybe 10 or 15,000 sq feet?  There are THREE people living in the house (one of those being a 5 month old baby) and EIGHT people working there to "keep the place running."  That does not even count drivers (yea, drivers, for the FOUR cars).  Seriously makes you give thought to Scriptures that talk about how the rich will have their fill in this life.  I am glad that my mansion will be ready for me in eternity and for now I can just be happy with what He has blessed me with.

Here are a few other pictures...

Alaina getting beautified

Her friend Sienna, a classmate of Caleb, was with her most of the time

And here is a page I did to remember the day

And a few other recent pages

It's About Time!

I keep meaning to pop in here and then keep forgetting. But I wanted to share something I am excited about: THE DAILY DIGI now has a little STORE!  Steph and I both wanted a place to sell the stuff we make (me: templates, her: fonts) and also we wanted to help the other Stephanie find a home for her amazing doodles where digi and paper scrappers can access them.  In the process, the two Stephs have collided to form Steph2!  They have created some of the most amazing things!

Here are some pages I created with their stuff!

One of the things I wanted to do with having a store again and restart my grab bags.  I love being able to give a lot of product for just a little bit of money.  And this time I have included full previews so you can see what you are getting.  I know they won't be as big of a hit as they were at the fantabulous Scrapbook Graphics but the process of creating them was reward enough.  I have MISSED it!

________

Okay, I leave you now with a promise to try to be better about posting here.  I have a lot I want to share!

The Funny Things they Say...

I spend so much time laughing at the things my kids say. I seriously don't know where they come up with it.  Here are a few of my recent favorites:

ALAINA:

(a Kindergartner talking to a 3rd grader) "I have some questions about the world.  Do you know it good?"

CALEB:

Caleb is sitting on my lap and my arms are wrapped around him.

Me: Ouch!  Caleb!  Why did you just bite my arm??
Caleb: Because I needed to close my mouth!

LEVI: (our little stinker...SO much like his dad!)

Me: Levi, don't throw your blanket.  Just walk up the stairs.
Levi (throws his blanket again)
Me: Levi, didn't I JUST say don't throw your blanket?
Levi:  I didn't throw it, it just keeps falling!

**************

And here are a few quick pages I did yesterday...

A few pictures...

Easter here kind of snuck up on us.  For the past two weeks we have either been hosting friends or visiting friends.  That left very little time for traditional Easter stuff -- new clothes, beautiful Easter baskets, etc.  In fact, we were so tired this past weekend that we didn't really do any of it.  We went to church on Sunday and had lunch with friends, but other than that, you wouldn't have really been able to tell it was Easter.  The kids opened gifts from Grandma last night and we will give them their baskets tonight as well as have Easter dinner. Love that the joys of Easter can be celebrated any day. He is still a Risen Savior, even if it is Monday :)

Here are a few pics from yesterday.  There is a restaurant right near church that we love.  Good food, free water (a rare thing in Indonesia), and a big lawn for the kids to play in while we wait for food.

This picture was hard to get -- Katelynn just wanted to play so she kept stiffening her body and letting herself fall to the ground.

Another one of the four kids...this bench is at the entrance of the restaurant and they climbed up and were being completely silly....just the way I like 'em!

I just love this one of the girls...all of the kids are just so great with Katelynn. Loving her, taking care of her, playing with her. 

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter.  And happy Monday.  I, for one, am glad to get back to life as usual.

It's Almost Over...

Spring break that is.  Can't decide how I feel about that...on the one hand I am super sad to give up all the amazing family time we have had and am sad to know we still have seven more weeks of the school year to go before we all get to hang out again.  On the other hand, the last two weeks have been totally crazy -- friends visiting, our house helper having to leave us, traveling to Malaysia for five day, getting some stuff for TDD ready.  And well, I am just ready for all of that to be done.  It was all GREAT -- so fun to see friends, so fun to travel back to where we used to live, so fun to do some new and creative things. But as a creature who thrives on routine, I think I am looking forward to Monday morning coming and a schedule reemerging.

But for right now, I am going to hang out with the hubby for a bit, fill up some Easter eggs, and get a good nights sleep to make up for the four hours I got last night.

And since it has been a while, here are some pages I scrapped tonight -- just for me and just for fun. I used a few templates I made for something special I am working on. (click for full credits).

You can see a few of the highlights of our trip to Malaysia in my photo a day album.  Happy Easter!

Grounded

For the past few weeks I have felt like I was floating...wafting to and from, never knowing where the wind was going to blow next.  It didn't seem like aimless floating, though.  I felt like I was on some journey on my own little magic carpet ride...God showing me so much stuff...so many things He wanted me to see.  In the last month my heart has been prodded, moved, convicted, encouraged, and broken for so many things.  Some of them personal.  Some of them global.  Some of them sweet and special.  Some of them horrific.  I feel like my eyes and heart have been opened to some amazing things.  I feel like I have been floating...

In a comment to my last post, a reader mentioned an exercise that would help bring up feelings/thoughts that you were otherwise having trouble articulating.  Here is what she said,

I wanted to share an exercise I learned from the National Writing Project a few years back. It is extremely powerful and cleansing.

In a quiet place by yourself, grab a paper and pencil and timer. Begin thinking about your subject (I would pray too and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal what He wants). Set the timer for 5 minutes and as fast as you can write every word, thought, and phrase that comes to mind. No grammar rules apply. No complete thoughts or sentences necessary. Whatever pops into your head scribble it down. If you begin to draw a picture - go with it. It's your time to let it all out. If you end up with only a list of words that's okay. The hard part is to keep your brain from trying to write paragraphs. I find that if I stick to only single words and short phrases I unearth a lot more - (but that might just be me). There is no order to this wherever you feel led to write something on the paper do it. You may find your self somewhat ordering thoughts...just let your subconscious do the work. The only rule - DON'T THINK TOO HARD!

When you are finished you go back through it and begin to weed out, or to see the pattern of what you were trying to dig up and articulate, but never found the way - until now.

So, this morning I did just what she said.  Jason is watching the kids so I have had some time to myself.  I grabbed my paper and a pen and just started writing.  It was really neat to see little themes emerge.  I was also surprised to see myself draw a picture.  I hadn't planned to, and even though it said you could, I didn't think I would.  And yet, out it came. Of everything I wrote down the one major theme in all of it was BEING GROUNDED.  I have experienced some amazing things over the last few weeks.  I don't know why God took my on this little journey, but He did.  But now, more than anything, I want to be GROUNDED.  I want to end this floating feeling that has been part of me for the last five weeks.  I want to start my descent, start coming back down to the reality of daily living. And then I want to wait and see why I have seen what I have.  I feel like God is going to do something...that He is preparing me...that He is saying, "You 'aint seen nothing yet!"

After I completed the exercise I saw that one thing I am really feeling is being pulled in many, many directions. I wrote some of the words down in a circle to see how I was being pulled -- mom, wife, scrapper, doer, helper, example, money, cook, inspire, school, etc...

After I  looked at the circle of words I made, my first thought surprised me.  it wasn't, "You need to cut some things out."  Actually, I was convinced to ADD some words.  And then those words, all in a circle -- with lines stemming out from the middle -- looked like a flower.  So then I drew a stem and rooted it.  Grounded it.  And propped it up with words like the WORD, PRAYER, and LOVE. Only in those things will I find my stability, my strength, my nourishment. And then I just need to point my face to the SON and let the branches grow as they will.

I will be GROUNDED in Him and see where He takes me...