Funny

Yesterday, we had 5 baby blessings at church.
It took up a good half hour...when the kids were supposed to be quiet and reverent.
So, a few minutes later, as I was passing the sacrament to my 4 year old (Bam-Bam), and prompting him yet again to be quiet, he said,
"Mom, is the baby show over?"
Hehe.
I had to work so hard not to laugh out loud!

The Good

I been counting my blessings the past few days and thought I would share them here:

1) The weather has been surprisingly beautiful for the Valley of the Sun in May. I expected it to be much hotter already...and have been pleasantly surprised that there is still a slight chill in the air in the evenings.
2) I love being closer to my sister and my parents in-law. I see my children benefitting from those strengthened relationships already.
3) I cherish the fact that we live only 45 minutes from the temple. That is a blessing I hope I will never take for granted again. Living 5 hours from the temple really helped me understand what a blessing it is to live closer to "The House of the Lord".
4) Although I only go once a month, I now can take advantage of Costco and all of it's goodness.
5) I love my calling. I'm the Wolf Den Leader for Cub Scouts (my first time as a Den mother), and I love that when I see the Wolf scouts their faces light up and they are happy to see me. My co-leader is awesome too, and I still get to attend Relief Society!
6) I was asked to be the hostess for the May/June book club night. While I'm nervous a little to have people come to my home (the first big event is always the hardest for me), book club is a great way to do it because I LOVE book club and I'm very comfortable hostessing that portion of the night....now the food, etc...I'll just stress about that later.
7)We have a new little neighbor in our tree right out front. We'll be watching this sweet hummingbird and her nest to see what happens. What a FUN discovery.
8) My little boys who are home all day with me make me SMILE. Lucky has learned to jump and hop. It is very cute to watch him grow and change. Bam-Bam is slowly (with my consistent prodding) becoming less "wired" to the TV and/or video games, and is delightful to have a conversation with. (I'm sad he's spent so much time with "something in front of his eyes"...as he says. I know I needed to get things accomplished without having to worry about what he was getting into, but I definitely saw the effects of the excess televison on him.)

So, are you surprised at what the Lord has done for you?
Have you counted your blessings lately?

Whirlwind Weekend

I've had a wonderful weekend, full of laughter, joy, tears, and a lot of fun.
I was blessed to be able to attend a scrapbooking convention in Mesa on both Friday and Saturday, and definitely enjoyed every minute of that.
My friend and paper-crafting mentor came over from Silver City, so we were able to scrap and papercraft together.
She brought her good friend Lois along, and I had a wonderful time getting to know her.
It's amazing how a common hobby can bond you together differently than just spending time together.

Friday evening P and I had our date night, and we went to the temple.
It had been a month and a half and we felt that we needed to get back and enjoy the blessings of peace and an increase of the spirit that we always receive after attending the temple.
Our late dinner at Cafe Rio was delicious...and I finished those leftovers for lunch today.
We're getting a Costa Vida out here...and I am THRILLED!
It's not quite the same, but better than any other Mexican restuarants out here right now.

Saturday, between my scrapbooking classes, I squeezed in a session at my sister's stake women's conference.
I was so excited to get to be with her for a couple of hours, but to get spiritual food on top of that, I felt very blessed.
We listened to Clyde Bawden play the piano and give an inspirational message.
It was moving, and even life-changing to hear him.
If you ever get the chance to hear him in person, make the time, and feel the truth of what he teaches.
It's AWESOME!
(He gave out CD's of his music at the end of the talk, so I listened to it today...LOVE IT!)

After a late night crop, and getting home about 11:30pm, I had a talk to refine and get ready for Sacrament Meeting today.
I'm always glad when my responsibility is ended...but I don't mind public speaking.
I'm grateful for the Holy Ghost and the direction I am given by following that "still, small voice".
I was sad P didn't get to share his prepared talk...he spent a lot of time and energy and worked to prepare what the Lord wanted him to share with our ward as well.
By the time it was his turn, we had run out of time...
The bishopric promised him he wasn't off the hook yet...we'll have to see what happens.

My in-laws are staying over for appointments in the morning, and I've got a quick follow-up visit to the doctor in the morning to talk about my anemia and low-functioning thyroid.
Our plan is to make loads of fresh strawberry jam after that and then have a wonderful FHE with our family.

Oh, and just for the record, I had an odd a-ha moment this week.
It hit me that any time I comment on anyone else's blog, you can click on that link and follow it here to read my blog.
I know that, but I really thought about it this week, and realized that there are probably a lot of you out there that have "found me", but chosen not to comment.
I totally get that, but I would love to know you're here, and read your blog too! (If you have one!)
So, here's an open invitation to all of you "lurkers" to come comment on my blog and let me know you're reading!
I'm glad you're here...

Have a wonderful, productive week!
See you soon!

Memorial pictures

In honor of Susan, the school where we taught together had a memorial in her honor last Thursday.

We snapped a few pictures to remember the day.

This bench and the plaque behind it were placed in the school courtyard for "Our Friend and Teacher, Susan Ludwig".

Lucky was a mess the entire program (chalked up to an ear infection and a shortened, interrupted nap, and a little boy approaching 2!) When I took this picture, he was strapped in the stroller...he was screaming regardless of where he was, and I couldn't quite get the stroller up near the bench. Miss M and I both read original poems for the ceremony, and felt that it was very much an honor and a privilege to be part of that service. I loved that Miss M could get up in front of an entire school (full of people she didn't know!) and read her poem with no major nervousness. I miss my dear friend, and yet I am grateful she is no longer suffering from the cancer that had come back 3 times. I often feel she is watching us, laughing at the scenarios that she can see from every perspective now.

How grateful I am for the knowledge of eternity.

Reality

Moving is hard.
It's not just the physical element of rearranging and finding places for everything, it's the new EVERYTHING.
I know it will get easier as time passes, but tonight I'm feeling a little extra displaced and out of my element.
Sigh.

(How's that for reality?)

Cards Galore

In the midst of my move, I've found minutes here and there to squeeze cardmaking in.
It's been a great outlet for my frustrations and stress levels in the midst of this move.
Here are some of my creations over the past few months:

This card is much more sparkly in person. Crystal effects+glitter=shiny, sparkly effects. The stamp set and paper set match...I love that!

This shows a little more of the "matching paper" to the stamp set above.
Stampin' Up! just got the full heart punch too...and I wanted to play with that.

This was the card I gave my girls on Valentine's Day.

I had a friend ask if we could make cards for our kids that week, and I was happy to oblige.

I really needed a day "off" just to decompress.

This was the card that my boys got on Valentine's Day.

This card shows a "texturz plate" run through the Big Shot die-cutting machine.

The roses are raised...not stamped, and then run through ink.

It's very cool to see in person, and even looks really good without ink on it.

I LOVE these little corduroy buttons.

There is a faint pink stamped all over the white...even when you see it in person it's a subtle effect.

I opened a "Simply Sent" card kit that come with everything you need to make 9 cards...it was fun to pump out a lot of cards all in one sitting.

I finished making the cards I had left from this "Simply Sent" card kit I had opened and used part of before.
This little brad in the corner is what I wanted to show on this card.

I love this quote too.

It reminds me of my dear friend Susan who always said, "Life too short. Don't wait to...."

Now that she's passed away, I work hard to make sure I'm enjoying the present.

This card uses the new eyelet border punch...which I love.

P got a card like this on Valentine's day.

I'll be back again soon with a non-card blog, and in the future, I'll put my cards on my stamping blog.

See you around!

Sigh...

We've fought the flu...and WON!

All 9 of us ended up with the coughing, aching, stuffy head crud.
It was a relatively short, but intense sickness as far as running through the whole family.
There have been times it has taken us 9 weeks to run throught the flu cycle with one person in the family getting sick each week.
This time we had multiple kids sick at the same time, and Pat and I sick the majority of the time together.
It's not exciting, and I haven't unpacked a box for over a week, but we're on the mend, and I'll head back to my regularly scheduled unpacking and settling.