Slowly getting on track

I can't believe that it has been over a month since my last post. Wow time has gotten away from me. I was so blessed to have been able to go on vacation with just my mom and dad. It almost made me feel like I was a kid again. We went to see some family that I had not had the pleasure of seeing for quite sometime. Being military we are told where to live and for how long. This causes most of us to only see our extended family every so often. I was able to visit with my Aunt Norma and Uncle Harold and had a wonderful time. My cousin Michael and his family and my cousin Derek and his family were there also. What a great time!

My dearest Uncle Harold is not feeling so well lately. He has cancer and is fighting with all his might. I know that it is in God's hands and that His will will be done, but it still hurts. Please keep the family in your prayers. I did get an update and the family has moved Harold to Hospice and he seems to be in good spirits. I know that he is a man of God and that God is already with him and the family.

I was also able to head to Missouri to see my Aunt Neda and Uncle Jerry and my cousin Kim and her daughter Myriah, and my other cousin Curtis and his daughter Paige. I had such a great time with them and we played cards most of the night. It seems like every time when our family gets together and we usually play cards and our favorite game is  nerts (not sure of the spelling) which is like double solitary. We also played some dominoes and had a wonderful time just getting caught up. I had the realization that it had been over 15 years since I had been to their house. Wow that is way too long ago. I vow that since we do live in Texas now that it is not gonna be that long again.

So as you can see my mind has not been on crafting lately. My boys have been very busy and they just had their last soccer games of the season yesterday. I on the other hand have been very sick the past week. It started with a headache and developed into the flu and bronchitis. I have been in bed or on the couch all week and today is the first day that I have done anything since last Saturday and I have done some laundry. My hubby has been a dream this week. He has cooked, cleaned, and have taken care of the boys. He even went to work late so that he could take my 8 year old to school in the mornings and then he would pick him up at 3. I did still have the younger 2, but they somehow understood how sick mom was and didn't give me too much problem until Thursday. By that time I was aware of what was going on and could deal a little with them. I am on the mend now, but very weak. I didn't realize that the flu could knock you down this much. Oh well no time to waste hubby leaves Tuesday for a few days. Glad that it is only for a few days and he will be back soon.

Now I have to get my house back in order somehow, but I am not gonna rush it til my strength is back. Remember to give those who mean the world to you a kiss and a hug and tell them what they mean to you. Life is short and time runs away. Pray for those that are dear to you and those that are on your mind today!

Vacation Time

I am so excited!!!  I am going on vacation! Being a USAF wife is a very tough job. My husband has deployed many times and leaves for a few weeks here and there for trips. Well this time momma is leaving for a trip without my husband and kids. Yes I did say that no hubby or kids! I know you are saying what? Well I needed a break.

For those of you who live by your family you tend to have people to help you out with your kids every now and then. For us military people we tend to depend on our adopted family, our military friends, to help us with ours. I have to say that some of my dearest friends I have met in the military and miss them once one of us moves.  Every now and then a momma needs her time to recoup and gather her thoughts. That is what this trip I hope will do for me.

I am headed to Arkansas and Missouri with my mom and dad to visit some of my aunts, uncles, and cousins. Growing up we have always been a very close family. I have not had the pleasure of seeing some of them for quite a while now. I miss them so much and am so glad that we have this opportunity to visit. I could have chosen to stay at home for the week or even just stay at my mom and dad's, but I want to be rejuvenated by the love of family. Family is the one who knows the true you and I so need that right now.

I hope to return to my hubby and kids a better woman, wife, and mother after I have relaxed a bit. I will treasure this time with my parents and already miss my kids so much. I have never been away from the twins overnight and only a few times with the other 2. I know that this is a much needed trip!

I will be gone this weekend and most of next week so I will not be posting. I am gonna take this time for myself and reflect on myself and my life. I hope that y'all have a great week and that God blesses you with His Grace!

Mouse, Paper, Scissors Observation Notebook

This assignment was difficult for me.  I don't really like to write about myself or my feelings. Heidi Swapp has had us doing Daily Observations where we are suppose to write about our day and what we thought of in just little snipits. Then she gives us another something to think about. One example she had us do was to think about something that we can't live without.

Here is what I wrote:

What can you NOT LIVE WITHOUT? I have an obsession of love and hate for my computer. I love all that I can do and keep up with others. Boy I sure don’t like it when it does not do what I expect it to do or another words operator error. I like to think I know computers, but the truth is that I know just enough to get into trouble and have no way to get out. I love to look at blogs to get ideas, I read e-mail, search for new items for the house, help the kids with homework, or just keep up with my friends on Facebook. I wonder what my day would be like without my computer?

I do have to say that this Observation thing has been the highlight of my day most days. It seems that to get things out on paper makes me organize my thoughts instead of just having them bounce around in my head. It also makes me think of ideas to solve problems or ideas of things to do with the kids. I have to say I am so surprised that this part of the class has helped me so much.

Heidi also created a tutorial for us on making the cutest Observation Journal!

 

Isn't this just amazing! The paper is so georgus and it is by House of 3 I believe.

 She had us create a few closures like the circle on the above picture and the tab on the one below.

One of the other cool thing that Heidi taught us is to use Tattered Angels glimmer mist. Wow I love that stuff. The ribbon that you see was white. She showed us how to make it this wonderful green color.

This is the inside of the journal. Very sweet!

Heidi also taught us how to cut slits in the back of the paper to insert the back of the paper and the ribbon.

And of course she included elements to print out such as the observation definition. Isn't this just wonderful. I have so many ideas to create some more. Keep your eyes open!

One other thing that I learned from the Amazing Jessica Sprague that has made an amazing difference is how to adjust lighting levels on pictures. Here is an example:

Before

And after

See the difference? Isn't is dramatic? I am sooooo loving this class!!

Mouse, Paper, Scissors Begining

I know that I said that I would post more about this and it has been a while. I am having such a blast playing with PSE 6 that my dear hubby commented the other day that he wants his wife back. I tend to get addicted to new things and right now it is learning to scrapbook with PSE.

In the begining of this course Jessica Sprague does an awesome job of explaining how to get a file into PSE and what most of the buttons are and what they do. She gives you a tour of the program to give you a base to start with. I so loved that! I have had this program for a while now and was so scared to try anything. She makes things look so easy. Let me tell you if I can do this ANYONE can do it.

Our first thing to do was to load a file and to learn how to print from the program. Each printer is different and she wanted us to get familiar with our printers so that we would know how things like printing double sided papers would work. Jessica is such an amazing teacher!

These cards here were ones that were already created and all we had to do was upload and print. Amazing!

The envelopes on the other hand were created somewhat by me. We were given a template made I believe by Heidi Swapp and Jessica taught us how to add a digital paper to the envelope before printing it out. How cool is that? You can make this look so different with other digital papers. Do you see now why I am loving this class. Heidi is doing amazing showing us how to complete the projects once we have printed things out.

March of Dimes

When you walk in March for Babies, you give hope to the more than half a million babies born too soon each year. The money you raise supports programs in your community that help moms have healthy, full-term pregnancies. And it funds research to find answers to the problems that threaten our babies. We’ve been walking since 1970 and have raised an incredible $2 billion to benefit all babies.
(per March of Dimes.org site)

I just wanted to let everyone know that I will be walking for the March of Dimes this year in Abilene, TX. We are known as Team Kenley!

April 30, 2011

3125 S. 32nd St.

3 miles
Registration Time: 9:30 AM
Start Time: 10:30 AM
Chapter: Abilene Division
Phone: (325) 672-0566

When my twins were born they were born 4 weeks early. For the most part they were healthy babies weighing 5lb. 2oz. and 5lb. 9oz. Dylan did have to spend 5 days in the NICU, because of his breathing. He was placed in an isolate for a while and then just in a bed. While he was there he was also not able to keep his temp up. Thank the Lord that he only was there for 5 days and not longer like many other babies. Dustin was also in the hospital with me for 5 days due to some blood sugar problems. We were very blessed for them to not have had any other problems.

Another team member's baby had to stay in the NICU for 2 weeks after being born due to breathing problems. I am asking you to please walk with us or to donate so that we can help some of the innocent little babies get the care that they require.

Please visit my link below to donate. Thanks!
March for Babies/Whitney92

FYI:  Also I don't know what is going on but the link on the left side of my blog does take you to my page, but it just has the wrong place of the walk. I am walking in Abilene, TX and not in NY. For some reason it won't let me fix this, but I have checked and it is going to our local chapter here and not in NY.

New Venture

Well I have taken the plunge and I am taking a digital scrapbooking class over at Jessica Sprague. The class is called Mouse, Paper, Scissors and is lead by Jessica Sprague and Heidi Swapp. Jessica is the one who will teach us how to use Photo Shop Elements and Heidi will show us how to use what we learned in PSE on our paper. I am so excited!

We are on day 4 of the 1st week and I am already behind. Well that is what happens when you have 4 kids and your hubby is gone this week. This week we have been given some writing assignments. At first I was like you are kidding. I don't like to write about myself. When I started I realized that I need to write about myself and my daily life. I am learning so much about the way I think about things just by writing them down. Doing this writing may be the best thing that has happened to me in a while.

Well I have to go clean some more which is a never ending job in my house!

Valentines!

I had a blast making Valentines with my two older boys! I let Cody pick out what image he wanted to use for his Valentines for school this year and he chose the Monster Love from Lettering Delights. These are some of the new SVG's that they offer. I do have to give a warning. It took forever to cut this out using MTC and my Cricut, but it was well worth it to see the looks on the boys face. After the twins went to bed Clay, Cody, and I used an assembly line to put together the little monster. The boys were being so silly and for a few hours all we did was talk and laugh. I love days like this!

Here is Cody gluing his part of the monster. He had so much fun and yes had to taste test the candy.

Clay had the job of adding some of the small parts to the monster like the mouth, eyes, and tongue.

 This is a view of some of the monsters that were still needing their horns and hearts.

The final product was added to white cardstock and I stamped a Valentines message from The Stamps of Life. Cody and Clay then added some candy to the bags and Cody stapled on the toppers. I hope that all of Cody's classmates at school have fun today exchanging Valentines. Well that is it for now. Hope that ya'll have an amazing Valentines Day!